UFC 142 primer: Anthony Johnson a slight underdog to Vitor Belfort

Vitor Belfort is booked to face Wanderlei Silva during the summer of 2012. He also fights in two weeks at UFC 142 in Rio de Janeiro. The fight must be a walkover, right? Not according to the oddsmakers.

Johnson, who is moving up 15 pounds to middleweight, is a small underdog at +110.

Don't be surprised when Johnson stands toe-to-toe with Belfort. He'll appear to be the bigger man.

Check out the extended preview for UFC 142 and you'll see Johnson looks massive as he preps for his cut to 185 pounds (5:17 mark).

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/ufc-142-primer-anthony-johnson-slight-underdog-vitor-012817622.html

Eddie Alvarez Thiago Alves  Andre Amade  Dean Amasinger  Jimmy Ambriz

Luke Rockhold mauls Keith Jardine then calls out UFC middleweights

During the lead up to his first title defense, Luke Rockhold oozed confidence all week. He had good reason. He was facing what turned out to be an overmatched fighter in Keith Jardine.

Rockhold took care of business easily, waiting out the wild style of Jardine to land a huge right and followed it up with 17 more unanswered shots to force the referee to stop the fight at 4:26 of the first round.

The champ was happy to win, but had little interest in calling out Strikeforce's No. 1 contender Tim Kennedy. Minutes after the victory, Showtime's Mauro Ranallo asked about Rockhold defending his title against the Strikeforce roster.

"I like fighting and I like getting paid," Rockhold said then hesitated. "Right now, all the best guys in the world at middleweight are in the UFC. Those are the guys I want. I want to fight the best in the world. I think they should bring over some top contenders. I believe I am one of top guys and I want to take on the best."

That's probably not what Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker wants to hear. Strikeforce, with the backing of its new owner Zuffa, recently re-signed with Showtime. The last thing it wants is to be viewed as a minor league with all of its champions looking to jump to the UFC.

Jardine (17-10-2) getting a title fight and then performing the way he did tonight doesn't help the cause. Jardine, 36, is now 3-7-1 since 2008.

Rockhold (9-1) has every reason to be confident about his chances against UFC middleweights. He trains at American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, Ca., one of the best gyms in the world. AKA houses a load of UFC fighters, including Cain Velasquez, Josh Koscheck, Jon Fitch, Mike Swick and Gray Maynard.

Rockhold diagnosed Jardine's style pretty easily.

"It played out like I thought it would. I thought I could time him with that right hook coming forward. I thought he was a little slow with that overhand right," Rockhold said. "I started connecting and I started getting confident."

That right hook is exactly what he landed to begin the finishing scenario.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/luke-rockhold-mauls-keith-jardine-then-calls-ufc-051719689.html

Hiroyuki Abe Cyril Abidi  Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah  Terrance Aflague

Falling Action: Best and Worst of Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine

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Luke RockholdHope you enjoyed your free preview weekend of Showtime in all its MMA-tastic glory. Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine went down more or less exactly as expected on Saturday night, with every favorite notching a victory and every underdog taking a beating that was almost perfectly in line with how long their odds of success were.

With the event over and the Showtime preview curtain drawn closed, it's time once again to sort through the action in search of the biggest winners, losers, and everything in between.

Biggest Winner: Luke Rockhold
He took a tough situation and made it look easy. Granted, a win over Keith Jardine doesn't mean what it did five years ago, but you can't complain about a first-round knockout. Rockhold was calm when he needed to be and ruthlessly aggressive when he saw his opening. He looked like a champion, in other words. His appeal for the UFC to send him some challengers was also a pretty savvy move. Zuffa won't bring him over to the big show? Then let the big show come to him. Framing it that way lets the fans know that he wants bigger challenges just as badly as they want to see him challenged, but without alienating his employers in the process. For now, Strikeforce could match him against either Tim Kennedy or Robbie Lawler without eliciting too many groans, but if Rockhold keeps winning that talent pool is going to become a puddle very quickly.

Biggest Loser: Adlan Amagov
It looks bad enough when you wind up and hit a guy with a very illegal knee early in the first round. It looks even worse when that same guy comes right back at you with a very legal knee that floors you en route to a quick finish. Amagov seemed to be doing well against Lawler in the opening seconds, but that flagrant foul halted his momentum and only made Lawler mad. Then Amagov found out for himself what it's like to be on the business end of a Lawler blitz. Strikeforce seemed hot on the young Russian coming into this bout, and that enthusiasm was not entirely unfounded. But this loss shows that he's still in need of a little more seasoning -- and maybe a primer on the unified rules -- before he's ready for the big fights.

Most Predictable: Keith Jardine
Again, you can't blame Jardine for stepping up and taking his shot when Strikeforce offered -- what's he supposed to say, 'Thanks, but I don't deserve it'? -- but the rest of us saw this coming. Jardine's toughness has never been a question, but his skills have eroded with age. So has his chin. As nice a guy as Jardine is, we've got to be honest and admit that he'd done nothing to justify a title shot. Yes, he's had a full, interesting career. And sure, anything can happen in a fight. At least, theoretically. At the same time, just because a given outcome is not impossible that does not make it likely. 'Anything can happen' is what you tell yourself when you're about to do something that you know is a bad idea. It's a way of reassuring yourself that while failure may be likely, it's not guaranteed. That's fine for some pursuits, like buying a lottery ticket. But maybe it's not the right way to go about booking title fights.

Most Impressive in Defeat: Tyler Stinson
When the fight stayed standing, he had Tarec Saffiedine looking worried and confused. It was just when it hit the mat that Stinson seemed woefully out of his element. If he had better takedown defense or even just more of a sense of urgency about getting off his back, maybe this one would have gone a different way. Instead, he came off looking like a decent prospect with some obvious holes in his game. That's not the worst thing that can happen. Saffiedine is a good fighter who's struggled less with bigger names, so Stinson can take some minor solace in that. He can also get back in the gym and improve his wrestling, and then maybe the next time he gets a shot like this he'll earn more than just a moral victory.

Least Impressive in Victory: Tyron Woodley
If you've been waiting for Woodley to develop into something more than just a wrestler with perfunctory ground-and-pound, your wait continues. He had little trouble taking Jordan Mein down and keeping him there, but once on top he seemed to put it in cruise control. Woodley's ground attack appears designed solely to avoid stand-ups and submissions. Anything else -- say, I don't know, damaging his opponent in search of a finish -- is a bonus. There were very few bonuses to be had against Mein, and so Woodley contented himself with staying on top and out of harm's way. That's smart, in a way, and it resulted in a decision victory. But as far as career advancement goes, it's maybe not the best strategy. Woodley is 10-0 in his three years as a pro, which means he ought to be able to do a little more than just wrestle at this point. This fight was a great opportunity for him to show off a more well-rounded game, or at least a little more aggression once he had the fight where he wanted it. He took the cautious approach instead, and fans surely took note.

Most Passionately Compassionate: Mo Lawal
After knocking out Lorenz Larkin with a torrent of rapid-fire right hands, Lawal's biggest concern seemed to be the lack of concern displayed by referee Kim Winslow. He seemed disgusted with how long she allowed the beating to continue and could even be heard on the broadcast chiding her for it as they stood awaiting the official announcement. Winslow claimed she wanted to give Larkin the chance to show he was still in it, but this was after he'd already been knocked out of it and then briefly back in again. Apparently Lawal doesn't like being forced to hurt his fellow man more than is absolutely necessary, which is strange, considering his stated goal of ending "Feijao" Cavalcante's career in a rematch. Let's hope Winslow isn't the ref for that one.

Strangest Sight: Mauro Ranallo interviewing Dana White
A year ago it would have been difficult to imagine a Strikeforce broadcast punctuated by a cageside interview with the UFC president. And now there he is, standing alongside the voice of MMA on Showtime, doing an interview that is noticeably less enthusiastic than the screaming pre-fight pitches he's used to doing with Joe Rogan. In fairness, this time White didn't have a pay-per-view to sell, but neither did he look terribly happy about his camera time. I guess some things you do because you want to, and other things you do because you have to. For White, all things Strikeforce seem to fall into the latter category.

 

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Source: http://www.mmafighting.com/2012/01/09/falling-action-best-and-worst-of-strikeforce-rockhold-vs-jard/

Eddie Alvarez Thiago Alves  Andre Amade  Dean Amasinger  Jimmy Ambriz

UFC 141 postfight: Hettes sends a message to Internet Tough Guys

Jimy Hettes is enjoying his new found fame. That includes reading nice and nasty comments on the Internet about his game.

Following Hettes' whitewash of Nam Phan at UFC 141, the 24-year-old said he spent the days leading up to the fight reading negative messages from goofs online.

"I like looking at the Internet and seeing everyone count me out. And really say how I'm going to get my butt kicked and stuff like that," Hettes said (4:00 mark). "In my hotel room, me and my buddy Kris [McCray] were looking at the comment laughing. 'This kid's not gonna win because he doesn't have any muscles.' So it really fuels me."

Hettes is also driven by the talent he works with in New Jersey. That group is headed by UFC lightweight champ Frank Edgar along with McCray. Hettes said working with the bigger fighters makes facing the featherweights seem almost unfair.

He's just 2-0 in the UFC, but Hettes (10-0, nine submission wins) appears destined for some big things.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/ufc-141-postfight-hettes-sticks-internet-tough-guys-232014719.html

Cyril Abidi  Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah  Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama 

Free clips for Chris Sharma ?King Lines? climbing video?

Interested in downloading high-quality clips of Chris Sharma climbing? Today I checked out the website for Chris Sharma’s King Lines movie - and there’s a new addition! Early versions of the DVD didn’t feature all of the extras properly, so the website features downloadable clips from the extras. This won’t replace the need to buy the DVD, but [...]

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

Andre Amade  Dean Amasinger  Jimmy Ambriz Matt Andersen  Alex Andrade 

Video analysis: Iole and Meltzer question Lesnar?s strategy at UFC 141

Brock Lesnar chose to slug it out with Alistair Overeem at UFC 141. He lost and then walked away from the sport.

It was a shocking approach to take against one of the more accomplished strikers in the division, especially knowing Lesnar's strength is the takedown game.

Yahoo! Sports' experts Kevin Iole and Dave Meltzer spoke about Lesnar's gameplan and why it unfolded the way it did.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/video-analysis-iole-meltzer-lesnar-strategy-ufc-141-223717827.html

Jermaine Andrè  Yoji Anjo  Tank Abbott Hiroyuki Abe Cyril Abidi 

UFC 141 postfight: Hettes sends a message to Internet Tough Guys

Jimy Hettes is enjoying his new found fame. That includes reading nice and nasty comments on the Internet about his game.

Following Hettes' whitewash of Nam Phan at UFC 141, the 24-year-old said he spent the days leading up to the fight reading negative messages from goofs online.

"I like looking at the Internet and seeing everyone count me out. And really say how I'm going to get my butt kicked and stuff like that," Hettes said (4:00 mark). "In my hotel room, me and my buddy Kris [McCray] were looking at the comment laughing. 'This kid's not gonna win because he doesn't have any muscles.' So it really fuels me."

Hettes is also driven by the talent he works with in New Jersey. That group is headed by UFC lightweight champ Frank Edgar along with McCray. Hettes said working with the bigger fighters makes facing the featherweights seem almost unfair.

He's just 2-0 in the UFC, but Hettes (10-0, nine submission wins) appears destined for some big things.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/ufc-141-postfight-hettes-sticks-internet-tough-guys-232014719.html

Houston Alexander Ricardo Almeida  Eddie Alvarez Thiago Alves  Andre Amade