Daniel Cormier gets Frank Mir for his final Strikeforce fight

Daniel Cormier has his final Strikeforce opponent, and its a UFC heavyweight. According to USA Today, former champion Frank Mir will fight Cormier, the Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix champ, in a yet-to-be announced Strikeforce event in October or November. The fight will air on Showtime.

Mir's manager tweeted, "@thefrankmir just asked me to tweet for him "that he's very excited about this opportunity and is very grateful to the @ufc for making this fight happen."

Mir last fought at UFC 146, where he was knocked out by Junior dos Santos in the second round of a championship bout. Before the loss to JDS, Mir had wins over Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Roy Nelson and Mirko Filipovic.

The match-up is an interesting one for Mir to take, as he has had difficulty with wrestlers in the past. Of the three losses in his last 10 fights, two came to fighters with significant wrestling backgrounds. Cormier is a two-time Olympic wrestler.

He was the surprise winner of the grand prix that started with Fedor Emelianenko and Alistair Overeem as the favorites. He beat Antonio Silva and Josh Barnett on the way to the championship. His record now stands at 10-0. After this bout, Cormier is expected to join the UFC, like every other heavyweight on the Strikeforce roster.

Who will take this bout? Speak up in the comments, on Facebook or Twitter.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/daniel-cormier-gets-frank-mir-final-strikeforce-fight-125450289--mma.html

Jimmy Ambriz Matt Andersen  Alex Andrade  Jermaine Andrè  Yoji Anjo 

Aaron Simpson wears No. 42 on shorts to honor Pat Tillman (PHOTO)

As Cagewriter wrote previously, Aaron Simpson wore a 42 on his shorts to honor former NFL player and fallen Army Ranger Pat Tillman during Simpson's UFC on Fuel 4 decision win over Kenny Robertson. Learn more about the Pat Tillman Foundation here.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/aaron-simpson-wears-no-42-shorts-honor-pat-033046014--mma.html

Alex Andrade  Jermaine Andrè  Yoji Anjo  Tank Abbott Hiroyuki Abe

Mark Munoz and Chris Weidman fighting for a title shot at UFC on Fuel 4

In Monday's discussion of middleweights looking to inch closer to a shot at Anderson Silva and the championship, two names were not discussed: Mark Munoz and Chris Weidman. Since they already have a fight, they don't need to lobby for the right fight, like Michael Bisping, Alan Belcher and Brian Stann do.

They'll face each other on Wednesday night at UFC on Fuel 4. For Munoz, a win means a shot at Silva.

"With a win over Chris Weidman, I'm going to prove that I should have the title shot," Munoz told MMAjunkie.com Radio.

Weidman told MMA Fighting he is also seeking a title shot. After a lackluster win over Demian Maia in January, he wants to make it crystal clear he deserves the next shot at the belt.

"I'm fighting to make a statement in this fight," he said. "It would be my fifth win in the UFC in a row, I've fought a lot of tough guys, veterans in this sport. I really didn't have any easy fights, so I want to make a statement. I would love a chance against Anderson Silva, I think I really match up good against him, and I mean, I would love a shot, so we'll see. I really just want to make a statement in this fight. I want to make it blatantly obvious that I should be the one fighting Anderson Silva. That's the goal."

Both men have NCAA Division I wrestling backgrounds, though Munoz was a national champion for Oklahoma State while Weidman wrestled for less-acclaimed Hofstra. They are also coming in riding win streaks: four in a row for Munoz and five in a row for Weidman.

Who will walk out of the main event closer to the title shot? Tell us in the comments, on Facebook or on Twitter.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/mark-munoz-chris-weidman-fighting-title-shot-ufc-141001181--mma.html

Yoshihiro Akiyama  Gilbert Aldana  José Aldo  John Alessio  Houston Alexander

Tony Hawk Foundation No Longer Supporting Pre-Fab Parks

The Tony Hawk Foundation announced today that they will no longer give grants to park projects made from wood, steel, polymer structures, or precast concrete featuring steel transition plates. This means only high quality concrete parks will be supported by the Tony Hawk Foundation. Get your grant applications in before the February 1, 2012 deadline.

no prefab parks

Source: http://theskateboardmag.com/blogs/templeton-elliott/2011/12/15/tony-hawk-foundation-no-longer-supporting-pre-fab-parks/

Dean Amasinger  Jimmy Ambriz Matt Andersen  Alex Andrade  Jermaine Andrè 

Who?s next for Anderson Silva? A solution to the middleweight mess

There seems to be absolutely no consensus on who should get the next middleweight title shot. Current champion Anderson Silva easily dispatched of Chael Sonnen, one of the few fighters who has challenged him in recent years, and the talent pool after Sonnen is thin. Several fighters have said they deserve the chance to stop Silva record-breaking title defense streak, but no one has distinguished himself.

As MMA is a head-to-head sport, isn't there an easy way to settle this discussion? Say, a tournament? It's not a novel idea, as the UFC is in the midst of a tournament to decide their first flyweight champion. Bellator's whole promotion is based on a tournament. Strikeforce learned with their heavyweight grand prix that surprises sometimes emerge.

To help the UFC out -- because I'm so kind -- here is a basic, eight-man tournament. The rules:

1. The tournament has already started. With several important middleweight fights having already happened this month or scheduled for a bout soon, it was the best way to include every deserving fighter and keep the division moving.
2. Three-round fights. If a bout ends in a draw, the fight will go to a fourth and decisive round.
3. If you're injured, you're out. Fights have to happen every three or four months to make this work. It's not exactly fair, but neither is life.
4. There is no seeding. Draws are decided on when fighters could most easily face each other. Without an official ranking system, seeding would be silly.

Here's the bracket:

The whole thing could take place over the next year, with the final fight happening at the UFC's Fourth of July show. The winner would face the middleweight champ in a show in early autumn.

And what could Silva do as the tournament unfolds? There's a simple -- if nearly impossible -- solution. He should fight Strikeforce middleweight champion Luke Rockhold. In Strikeforce, Rockhold has little else but rematches in front of him. He and Silva have both said they want to fight each other. Sure, iron clad contract rules will keep the fight from happening, and UFC president Dana White nixed the idea. However, contracts can be broken and White has changed his mind in the past.

Could this work? Too crazy to work? Tell us in the comments, on Facebook or Twitter.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/next-anderson-silva-solution-middleweight-mess-212338364--mma.html

Yoshihiro Akiyama  Gilbert Aldana  José Aldo  John Alessio  Houston Alexander