Who can Tito fight to close out his career? Griffin facing the end too says he?d take the fight

Who can Tito fight to close out his career? Griffin facing the end too says he?d take the fight

Even when Tito Ortiz went winless during five fights over four years between 2006-2010, he could still trumpet the fact that he wasn't taking major abuse. He can't do so after his last two losses where he took a ton of damage especially to the body against Rashad Evans and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. That has Dana White torn on whether to let Ortiz have one final fight with the UFC.

If White feels he's not putting the 36-year-old in harm's way then the task becomes booking an opponent that can be sold as a legitimate fight.

Before UFC 140, Ortiz reiterated his desire for a third shot at Forrest Griffin. Griffin appeared on Sunday on the Las Vegas-based radio show "The MMA Fight Corner" to respond to Tito's challenge.

"If people will pay to see that fight then I'll get paid to fight that fight," Griffin said on FoxSportsRadio920. "But do people want to see it?"

Griffin, who's only 32 years old, surprised listeners by admitting that his career could be coming to an end shortly.

"For me, now I'm realizing that I don't have much left. This is the end of the road me. I want a couple more fight fights. Good ones. Fights where I don't get knocked out in the first round," laughed Griffin. "Fights where I like get hurt, bleed a little, but I kind of like rally. Something of that nature."

Griffin has been rocked and finished in three of his last five fights. He's also battled injuries. Those five fights took place over the course of 36 months.

Tito's lack of massive power and the fact that the two already hooked up for two pretty entertaining three-round fights sounds like the perfect match for Griffin, who continued to joke about his recent struggles against heavy hitters.

"I'm cool with wrestling now. I don't mind the wrestling so much. It's the getting hit hard that I don't seem to like anymore. I don't mind it but my nervous system seems to be really in disagreement with it these days," said Griffin.

Griffin was mainly non-chalant when asked about who else he'd like to fight. The most important thing for the former UFC light heavyweight champ is to fight in the U.S. Griffin cuts a ton of weight and doesn't like being out of his comfort zone in the States the week before the fight.

Listen to The MMA Fight corner on Wednesdays (8-9:30 p.m PT) and Sundays (9-10 p.m. PT) on FoxSportsRadio920.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Who-can-Tito-fight-to-close-out-his-career-Grif?urn=mma-wp10714

Jermaine Andrè  Yoji Anjo  Tank Abbott Hiroyuki Abe Cyril Abidi 

Matt Brown vs. Chris Cope, Justin Edwards vs. Mike Stumpf Slated for UFC 143

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A pair of welterweight bouts in Matt Brown vs. Chris Cope and Justin Edwards vs. Mike Stumpf has been lined up for UFC 143, the UFC announced Friday.

The two verbally agreed-upon bouts happens on the Feb. 4 SuperBowl weekend card in Las Vegas, headlined by Nick Diaz vs. Carlos Condit for the interim UFC welterweight title.

Brown (12-11) out of The Ultimate Fighter season seven has struggled the last two years, dropping four of his last five fights. In his most recent fight, Brown tapped out to a Seth Baczynski guillotine choke at UFC 139 in November. Despite the losses, Brown remains on the UFC roster for his always-game fighting style and willingness to take fights as a replacement.

Cope (5-2), who competed on TUF 13 earlier this year, won his UFC debut against Chuck O'Neil in June, but lost by TKO to Che Mills at UFC 138 in November.

Edwards (7-2), also out of TUF 13, went one for three in UFC fights in 2011. His big win came against Wanderlei Silva's prospect Jorge Lopez at UFC Fight Night 25 in September. His last fight was a decision loss to John Maguire at UFC 138.

Stumpf (11-3) made his UFC debut in September, losing by triangle choke to T.J. Waldburger at UFC Fight Night 25. The 28-year-old fights out of Team Curran in Crystal Lake, Ill.

 

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Source: http://www.mmafighting.com/2011/12/23/matt-brown-vs-chris-cope-justin-edwards-vs-mike-stumpf-slated/

Alex Andrade  Jermaine Andrè  Yoji Anjo  Tank Abbott Hiroyuki Abe

Thailand sport climbing: can you help?

Since an old friend told me about his climbing trips to Thailand it’s been one of my boxes-to-tick. Climbing by the beach and then relaxing in the blue seas sounds too good to be true. I’m about to find out - I’ve decided to do it later this year… Photo kindly shared by HalonaCoast on Flickr I’m [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/rock-climbing-blog/~3/38U5UCpl448/philsheard

Thiago Alves  Andre Amade  Dean Amasinger  Jimmy Ambriz Matt Andersen 

UFC 140 wrap video: With ?horsepower meeting technique? Frank Mir treated ?Big Nog?s? arm like a ?bag of potato chips?

UFC 140 wrap video: With ?horsepower meeting technique? Frank Mir treated ?Big Nog?s? arm like a ?bag of potato chips?

Knockout punchers traditionally get the most love from fight enthusiasts. Rightly so. There's something scary watching an Anderson Silva fight knowing something devastating is going to happen any second.

Frank Mir certainly isn't in Silva's league with his striking, but it's tough to argue that he shouldn't be feared on a similar level. At UFC 140, for the second time in his career, he snapped a limb in the Octagon.

Mir described the finish of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira as horsepower meeting technique.

"When I grabbed it and started cranking it. It just crushed like a bag of potato chips," Mir told Sherdog in this video.

To watch Mir speak about snapping a limb in such calm fashion is scary stuff.

"That aspect of being able to devastatingly finish people, that's something to be fearful of," Mir said. "[...] Trust me, the guys who got knocked out tonight they're at the after party right now. People that are going to the hospital that are having rods put in their arm and get things casted up, not so much."

Mir also gained a lot of satisfaction out of submitting the guy who had the reputation as the best jiu-jitsu practitioner in the history of the sport at heavyweight, but the cherry on top was not wilting when he got blasted and nearly finished by "Big Nog's" fists.

"It showcased a few things people always draw into question. My ability to want to keep on pushing in a fight when it's going bad," Mir told Sherdog on this video.

Mir's description of the sequence of events that lead to the submission is a few minutes of must-watch video. So is the beginning when he talks about not being ready to fight at the start. It took Nogueira crushing him on the chin to go in auto-pilot mode.

"His warm up and mindset was much better than mine. When I got in there it was weird. I was looking around. I just did not feel activated. I didn't feel sharp," said Mir.

A warning to the rest of the heavyweight division, if you rock Mir, you better finish him because a 50-percent Mir in survival mode is about as scary as it gets in the big boy division.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/UFC-140-wrap-video-With-horsepower-meeting-tec?urn=mma-wp10683

Bernard Ackah  Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama  Gilbert Aldana  José Aldo 

Check out this gallery from Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Masvidal

Tracy Lee caught plenty of great images from Saturday's Strikeforce fights, including Cristiane Santos' dominance, Gilbert Melendez's win, and plenty of undercard action.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Check-out-this-gallery-from-Strikeforce-Melende?urn=mma-wp10926

Cyril Abidi  Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah  Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama 

2012 MMA crystal ball: Where are these 34-somethings 12 months from now?

2012 MMA crystal ball: Where are these 34-somethings 12 months from now?Retirement is inevitable for every athlete. Whether it's voluntary or forced is up to the athlete. In fighting, it's too often forced. There's no exact age or time. Some guys have to walk away in their early 30's, others like the incredible Randy Couture, make it into their late 40's.

The end of the 2011 was unkind to several legends of MMA who are past their 34th birthdays. As a result, their careers are gasping for their last breath of air.

In 2012, we could see the end of the road for Tito Ortiz, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Matt Hughes. Then there's Brock Lesnar.

He's not a legend, but he is the pay-per-view king of the sport and yet his future could be in question following UFC 141. Lesnar has battled serious health issues and after his loss to Cain Velasquez 15 months ago, many question his passion for the sport.

During our "The MMA Insiders" show on ESPN1100/98.9 FM in Las Vegas, Yahoo! Sports' Kevin Iole, MMA analyst Frank Trigg and myself talked about who will be standing at the end of 2012.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/2012-MMA-crystal-ball-Where-are-these-34-someth?urn=mma-wp11097

Dean Amasinger  Jimmy Ambriz Matt Andersen  Alex Andrade  Jermaine Andrè