Dana White gives female fighting another shot

Dana White gives female fighting another shotAs shocking as it was to hear a fired up Dana White talk about the long-range future of Strikeforce on Showtime, it was nothing compared to his attitude shift on women's MMA.

The women's divisions will remain in tact in the new Strikeforce/Showtime deal announced yesterday. In the middle of 2011, it appeared female fighting was going to take step back when Strikeforce was dissolved. By popular demand, women's fighting will still be showcased at close to the highest level of the sport. .

"Every weekend you guys are asking me about the women's division ... and women and women and women, and the fans are always terrorizing me on twitter about the women's division. The women's division is very popular. We're gonna keep it," White said during a teleconference (7:45 mark).

Stars like Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos, Miesha Tate, Sarah Kaufman and Ronda Rousey still have a home where they can get major exposure. White is sticking to guns about the issues he has with women's MMA. It needs work, but he's willing to give it a chance saying both the 135 and 145 pound divisions will stay.

"Again you guys hear me talk about this all the time. The depth in some of these divisions. 'Cyborg's' division has that problem. She's a huge star. She's a champion. We're gonna keep that division. People are excited to her fight. We're gonna keep it," said White (9:40 mark).

Zuffa management may lean toward some crossover fights between the divisions while the depth issues is being worked on.

"If you look at Cyborg's division, it's not a very deep division with a lot of talent. You can stack the other division deep with talent because that's what you have to do," said White comparing it to the early days of UFC when there were no lightweight, bantamweight and featherweight divisions in the promotion (20:15 mark). "In order to run a show and establish champions with great contenders you gotta go deep in every one of those weight divisions."

So as big as the news was for the elite male fighters at 205, 185, 170 and 155, yesterday's announcement benefited female fighting more than anything. With the might and money of Zuffa/UFC plus the ability to talent evaluate, the talent pool in female fighting at the highest levels should explode. Then the question is, will fans want to pay to see it and will it bring eyes to the TV sets? That's a debate for another day. At least right now, women get the opportunity.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Dana-White-gives-female-fighting-another-shot?urn=mma-wp10812

Hiroyuki Abe Cyril Abidi  Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah  Terrance Aflague

Women's MMA News and Notes: McMann vs. Akano, Fujii Returns, Carano's Future

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Despite a shortage of talent, the interest in women's MMA seems to be stronger than ever, thanks in large part to Cris Cyborg, Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate. Still, there are other talented women making headlines out there, and they deserve some of our attention too.

Below is a roundup of news and notes from the world of women's MMA.

* ProElite has signed an intriguing 135-pound fight for its upcoming card on Jan. 21 in Honolulu, Hawaii. Sara McMann, the 2004 Olympic silver medalist who has compiled a 4-0 MMA record thus far, will meet top-ranked Hitomi Akano on the undercard of the event headlined Kendall Grove vs. Ikuhisa Minowa. The 31-year-old McMann defeated Raquel Pa'aluhi via third-round submission in the first ProElite show back in August. Akano, who famously lost to an overweight Cris Cyborg in an Aug. 2009 Strikeforce bout, enters the fight with an 18-8 record and riding a two-fight winning streak. She recently defeated Roxanne Modaferri via unanimous decision in July.

* Megumi Fujii (pictured), one of the best pound-for-pound female fighters in the world, has agreed to meet Karla Benitez in the first-ever DREAM women's bout. The fight will take place on the promotion's New Year's Eve show, which is being dubbed "DREAM - Fight for Japan: Genki Desu Ka! New Year! 2011." Fujii (24-1) is 2-0 since suffering the first and only loss of her career to Zoila Gurgel at Bellator 34 last October. Benitez (6-1) will enter the bout looking to get back on track after losing her first pro MMA fight in her most recent bout in October.

* Speaking of Gurgel, the Bellator 115-pound champion, who underwent knee surgery to repair a torn ACL several weeks ago, tweeted recently that she is healing "ahead of schedule," and if things keep up this way, she could be back in action in approximately five months.

* "Haywire," starring Gina Carano, will be released in theaters on Jan. 20, so that means expect to see a whole lot more of Carano in the coming weeks. Which leads us to ...

* Carano is featured in the latest edition GQ Magazine. More on that here. Now, if you're wondering whether Carano will ever fight again, we asked Stephen Espinoza, the new EVP and GM of Showtime Sports, who also used to be Carano's a lawyer, that very question on Monday's episode of The MMA Hour.

"I've actually been trading calls with Gina," he said. "She's really, really focused on the film, on 'Haywire.' She just smiles and winks. You know her well enough. She's got that sort of mysterious wink once in a while when she sort of says, I don't know, but will sort of wink and you kind of feel like there's something else there. But I know she is, in her heart, a fighter and always has that urge, just like any boxer does or anyone that is really committed to the sport. So if there is any opportunity to do so, I think you could see her [fight again] pretty quickly."

* It feels like Rousey, who is still pushing for a fight against Miesha Tate at 135 pounds instead of Cris Cyborg at 145, continues to break barriers everyday. For example, she was a guest on Joe Rogan's popular podcast, "The Joe Rogan Experience," on Wednesday, which most MMA fighters can't say, let alone any women's MMA fighters. You can watch/listen to the show here.

 

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Source: http://www.mmafighting.com/2011/12/22/womens-mma-news-and-notes/

Jimmy Ambriz Matt Andersen  Alex Andrade  Jermaine Andrè  Yoji Anjo 

MMA posters from Japan: Fedor fight card competes with UFC Japan

MMA posters from Japan: Fedor fight card competes with UFC Japan

MMA posters from Japan: Fedor fight card competes with UFC Japan

In 2011, is it proper anymore to ask which card you're more excited to see?

Is it only hardcore UFC haters who'll say DREAM's 2011 card is better than UFC 144?

Above are the competing posters. Below is DREAM's attempt at getting people fired up for its card headlined by the Fedor Emelianenko fight against Satoshi Ishii.

Personally, I'm stoked to see the fight. What does Fedor have left and is Ishii ready to compete against the top level of MMA just six fights into his MMA career?

Tip via Bloody Elbow

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/MMA-posters-from-Japan-Fedor-fight-card-compete?urn=mma-wp10820

Yoji Anjo  Tank Abbott Hiroyuki Abe Cyril Abidi  Daniel Acacio

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/

Yoshihiro Akiyama  Gilbert Aldana  José Aldo  John Alessio  Houston Alexander

Frank Mir breaks Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira?s arm to win at UFC 140

Frank Mir breaks Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira?s arm to win at UFC 140

Frank Mir was the first man to ever knock out Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. At UFC 140 on Saturday night, he also became the first man to submit Nogueira.

Nogueira started the bout by landing short punches, then moving in for a takedown attempt. The two clinched, but it was Mir who got the takedown. Nogueira worked his way back to his feet, and the two continued to clinch against the fence.

The fight took a turn when Nogueira unloaded several strikes, knocking down Mir. It appeared that Mir was close to being finished when Nogueira rolled to try and get a submission. Instead, Mir got the submission, rolling into a Kimura and breaking Nogueira's arm. The fight was stopped at 3:38.

[UFC 140 video highlights: Mir vs. Nogueira]

Mir, the one-time heavyweight champion, is on a three-fight win streak which includes a KO, submission and a decision. His record is 16-5. Nogueira's last bout was a thrilling knockout at UFC 134, but the loss gives him a record of 33-7-1.

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Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Frank-Mir-breaks-Antonio-Rodrigo-Nogueira-s-arm-?urn=mma-wp10621

José Aldo  John Alessio  Houston Alexander Ricardo Almeida  Eddie Alvarez

Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Masvidal Weigh-In Results

Weigh-ins for tomorrow's "Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Masvidal" event took place today in San Diego, where lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez, Jorge Masvidal, and the rest of the Showtime-televised main card successfully made weight.

Source: http://mmafrenzy.com/26923/strikeforce-melendez-vs-masvidal-weigh-in-results/

Tank Abbott Hiroyuki Abe Cyril Abidi  Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah 

Jason Miller agrees with Dana White about his performance

Jason Miller agrees with Dana White about his performanceAfter Jason "Mayhem" Miller lost to Michael Bisping at "The Ultimate Fighter" season 14 finale earlier this month, he took a verbal beating from UFC president Dana White. He called it the worst stand-up and the most lopsided fight he has ever seen.

A disappointed Miller is now training in Holland, and responded to White's comments on his own website.

Dana White was right. He made some disparaging comments about my performance, and I agree with him. I displayed the worst of everything that night in the octagon. I was tense in round one and I locked up after that. I didn't perform to my potential, and I take full responsibility for it. That wasn't a UFC caliber performance, and I'm not happy about it.

After reading about Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira blame his loss on referee Herb Dean, it's refreshing to hear Miller take such responsibility for his loss. He also said that he is taking this loss as a challenge, and ended it with a little bit of an inspirational speech.

My challenge to you, and myself, is to continue to press on and make the most of your adventure here on earth. At the end of your life you want to be sure that you've made your best effort to make a collection of epic stories. Some sorrowful ones, some happy ones and some downright amazing, but the challenge for you is to find and make the most of each of these adventures.

That was the exact inspiration I needed to go finish my Christmas shopping.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Jason-Miller-agrees-with-Dana-White-about-his-pe?urn=mma-wp11006

Tank Abbott Hiroyuki Abe Cyril Abidi  Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah 

Long national nightmare is over: Lesnar vs. Overeem on for UFC 141

Any worries about the main event for UFC 141 were quelled by a tweet from UFC president Dana White.

Long national nightmare is over: Lesnar vs. Overeem on for UFC 141

Alistair Overeem was granted a conditional license for his bout with Brock Lesnar in Las Vegas after the Nevada Athletic Commission was unhappy with Overeem not taking pre-fight drug tests to their satisfaction. He had to take another test, but now that he has passed it, next week's fight is on.

Overeem started his training for Lesnar in Las Vegas, but moved back to his native Holland when his mother's cancer became a concern. He said during Monday's press call that there have been distractions, but he knows how to deal with them.

"It was a distraction but, I've been through a lot in my career. I have like 65, 70 fights," Overeem said. "So you learn how to deal with distractions, setbacks. I mean I'm a three-time champion and I've been through a lot, so it's all about adaptation. I'm pretty good at that I think."

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Long-national-nightmare-is-over-Lesnar-vs-Over?urn=mma-wp10957

Cyril Abidi  Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah  Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama