Chris Weidman takes UFC on Fox 2 decision

CHICAGO -- On 11 days notice, Chris Weidman took a less-than-stellar split decision over Demian Maia. The judges saw it 29-28, 29-28, 29-28 for Weidman at the United Center on Saturday night.

Though both men are accomplished grapplers, the first round started with nothing but stand-up. Neither fighter truly got an edge in striking, though it was Maia who got the first takedown. The two got back to their feet quickly, and Maia followed up with aggressive strikes.

Weidman got the takedown to start the second round, but again, they did not stay there for long. Maia's face started to show damage from the repeated hits Weidman delivered, but Weidman's movement around the cage slowed as the round went on. As Weidman slowed, Maia delivered more kicks and punches. Weidman tried for a takedown with a minute left, but Maia easily avoided it. In the final 20 seconds, Weidman was able to get the takedown, and turned over for a choke, but the round ended before he could secure it.

Weidman returned to the clinch in the third round, moving towards Maia and landing knees and punches. They continued their evenly matched striking fest, though both fighters were clearly exhausted.

The crowd in Chicago wasn't enthused about the action, but that's what happens when two grappling aficionados decided to engage in a fist fight.

UPDATE: After the bout, UFC president Dana White tweeted that the scores were read wrong. Weidman actually won by a unanimous decision.

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Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/chris-weidman-takes-ufc-fox-2-split-decision-014653119.html

Cyril Abidi  Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah  Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama 

BLVD, Etnies, Hernandez, Indy, DC, and Paradise Videos

BLVD has a team session at the syndrome park. Etnies has a quick video of Kyle Leeper in the park. Joe Krolick has some Classic Clips with Evan Hernandez. Independent Bearings has a sick team montage. Strange Notes has a Six Pack with Steve Alba. DC has video from the NVRBRKN pop-up shop opening. paradise has a best of montage from 2011.

Source: http://theskateboardmag.com/blogs/templeton-elliott/2011/12/15/blvd-etnies-hernandez-indy-dc-and-paradise-videos/

Andre Amade  Dean Amasinger  Jimmy Ambriz Matt Andersen  Alex Andrade 

A confident Dana White defends policy of confidentiality on fighter pay and welcomes government scrutiny

CHICAGO -- Dana White has his mind made up. You're never going to know what UFC fighters truly make and that's just the way it has to be.

"So just because you don't know everything, you don't have to know anything, and to be honest with you? It's none of your [expletive] business how much these guys are making. They're making a lot of money. [...] How much money is none of your business. I'm not asking how much money you're making," said White (3:10 mark).

White believes that the salary information, so readily available in the other pro sports has ruined things for the athletes. He pointed to the recent $214 million megadeal inked by Detroit Tigers first baseman Prince Fielder.

"His whole life is going to change. He thought it was bad before with the (expletive) he had going on in his life? Everybody and their mother is coming after that 214," White said (2:10 mark). "Believe me when I tell you. Mark my words, Prince Fielder talk to me in five years and tell me what it was like when the news put out there that you were making $214 million dollars. I'm not going to do that to my guys."

The UFC often gets a bad rap for fighter pay because the only numbers revealed are those given to state commissions. The promotion beefs up the pay with behind-the-scenes discretionary and pay-per-view bonuses. White is often asked if all the complaints about pay would go away if Zuffa simply revealed all the details.

"Even when we sat down and had that first FOX meeting, the guys at FOX were like, holy [expletive]! They're like, 'Why don't you plaster this everywhere? This is the thing that will put you guys over the top. This is the thing that people love to see and talk about. Look at Mike Tyson.' And I said, 'Yeah, look at Mike Tyson,'" White said. "I've had these conversations with Mike. Mike said that when his money was reported, his [expletive] life was miserable. I'm not doing it."

Some believe the UFC's reluctance to be more transparent prompted the Federal Trade Commission to open an anti-trust violation investigation to look into Zuffa's practices.

"My understanding is that yes [the FTC has] opened a non-public investigation based on the acquisition we made of Strikeforce," said UFC owner Lorenzo Fertitta.

CBSSports.com's Gregg Doyel said this is a sign of awful things to come for the UFC.

The FTC vs. the UFC? That's a heavyweight fight. That's Dana White's worst nightmare. The FTC looks for antitrust violations, picking apart monopolies as the unfair bullies they are -- and as far as I'm concerned, the UFC is guilty as charged.

The story set off White.

"There was guy yesterday, he wrote this story and you could tell this thing was like 'I want some attention. I want some attention. Maybe he'll get mad and say some [expletive].' [...] When we get stories written about us like that, I know it seems like I get crazy and come off too personal ... well, [expletive] yeah it's personal! What you're saying is untrue," said White (0:51 mark).

White said everything about the promotion is on the up and up.

"If the government wants to come in and look inside and take a peak and look around, they're more than welcome," White said. "Many of you have heard stories and all kinds of things ... mark my [expletive] words right here, right now, today ... we're not going anywhere. And everything we say is true."

As far as we know the FTC is still looking at Zuffa. White certainly came off sounding very confident nothing will come from the investigation.

White pointed out that there is no sport that has been more heavily scrutinized by governments all levels. The promotion has survived and thrived to become what White called the best sports story of the last 50 years.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/confident-dana-white-defends-policy-confidentiality-fighter-pay-175442433.html

Hiroyuki Abe Cyril Abidi  Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah  Terrance Aflague

Mike Russow?s ?dream came true? at UFC on Fox 2

CHICAGO -- As Mike Russow walked out to fight Jon-Olav Einemo at the United Center on Saturday night, his face lit up. The UFC heavyweight and Chicago police officer was cheered on by the 15,000+ fans in attendance at the United Center.

The cheers were even louder after Russow's decision win was announced. He said his emotions were hard to describe, but fighting in the UFC in his hometown was a vision realized.

"It was a dream come true. I've been thinking of that my whole life. Just to have my friends and family yelling for me," Russow said.

Though he told Cagewriter earlier this week that he was planning to keep the fight standing, he ended up using his wrestling to take Einemo down and control him. Einemo is an elite grappler, so it's surprising that Russow would want to go to the ground with him.

"It wasn't the game plan, but that takedown was open."

Russow is now 4-0 in the UFC, and hasn't lost since he dropped a fight in PRIDE to Sergei Kharitonov in 2007. Still, he's not ready to call out any heavyweights for his next bout.

"I have a long ways to go. I'm 4-0, but I gotta keep making baby steps. I'll let Joe and Dana decide."

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/mike-russow-dream-came-true-ufc-fox-2-065039936.html

Hiroyuki Abe Cyril Abidi  Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah 

Alistair Overeem charged with battery in Las Vegas

Alistair Overeem, the UFC's no. 1 heavyweight contender, was charged with misdemeanor battery for an incident at the Wynn Las Vegas on New Year's weekend. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Overeem faces up to six months in jail and a fine of $1,000.

A citation issued by Las Vegas police stated at about 3 a.m. on Jan. 2, Overeem pushed or shoved a woman in the face, "causing her to stagger back."

David Chesnoff, Overeem's attorney who is known for defending people with a public profile, said Overeem was not arrested, but summoned to court. He also maintained Overeem's innocence.

The incident happened just days after Overeem beat Brock Lesnar by technical knockout, earning him the right to fight for the UFC heavyweight belt.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/alistair-overeem-charged-battery-las-vegas-153945273.html

John Alessio  Houston Alexander Ricardo Almeida  Eddie Alvarez Thiago Alves 

The more you climb, the better you?ll climb

I have had a few days away from climbing - in fact, my last session was 3 weekends ago at Froggatt - and so I got back to the gym this week. My local gym has an auto-belay setup so I was able to do some indoor routes without company. And I struggled! Struggled to get [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/rock-climbing-blog/~3/m7EzE0aQ8xw/philsheard

Thiago Alves  Andre Amade  Dean Amasinger  Jimmy Ambriz Matt Andersen 

Strikeforce Weigh Ins Overeem Werdum Barnett Rogers Griggs Noons Masvidal - Strikeforce

SHOWTIME Sports presents the official weigh-in for the Strikeforce World Grand Prix Heavyweight Tournment. Check out all ten fiighters on the super-sized June 18th fight card: Chad Griggs, Valentijn Overeem, Daniel Cormier, Jeff Monson, KJ Noons, and Jorge Masvidal. Plus headliners Brett Rogers, Josh Barnett, Alistair Overeem, and Fabricio Werdum.

Source: http://mmalice.com/strikeforce/strikeforce-weigh-ins-overeem-werdum-barnett-rogers-griggs-noons-masvidal-video_ef4f0192c.html

Ricardo Almeida  Eddie Alvarez Thiago Alves  Andre Amade  Dean Amasinger 

MMA Marketplace: ?Big Country?s? Built Roy Tough shirt

Usually, before a title fight, we'll match up walkout shirts of the two contenders. For UFC 143, Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit brought the boring, expected shirts. Instead, it was co-main eventer Roy Nelson who has the best walkout shirt of the weekend.

Hopefully, he won't hear from Ford Motor Company's lawyers over the Built Roy Tough shirt, because it's both creative and a good look. It coming in gray and costing just $24.99 is the cherry on top.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/mma-marketplace-big-country-built-roy-tough-shirt-141408408.html

Tank Abbott Hiroyuki Abe Cyril Abidi  Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah