Nam Phan and Cole Miller Wage War: UFC on FOX 4 Preliminary Card Rundown

It was a mixed bag of results for the bouts on the UFC on FOX 4 preliminary card, which aired live on Fuel TV prior to the main card broadcast on FOX, and in terms of action, the six bouts delivered.

  • In the first fight of the evening, flyweight scrapper John Moraga utilized his well-credentialed wrestling chops to prevent jiu-jitsu specialist Ulysses "Useless" Gomez from bringing the fight to the ground, and once Moraga found his groove on the feet, he lit Gomez up with a storm of short punches and elbows against the cage.  Gomez crumbled under the onslaught, giving Moraga the win via knockout at 3:46 of the first round.

  • In featherweight action, dueling judoka Manvel Gamburyan and Michihiro Omigawa took turns blasting each other in the striking exchanges ? Gamburyan dinging the Japanese fighter with a flying knee, a well-timed high-kick, and various punches, Omigawa tagging the Armenian with a torrent of jabs and crosses.  But the TUF 5 runner-up found success with his takedowns, and though Omigawa was usually back up in an instant, points were scored.  When time ran out, the judges gave Gamburyan the well-deserved unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27).
  • Heavyweight Brit Oli Thompson may have had the advantage in terms of muscle, but fellow UK product Phil De Fries seemed unfazed.  Rocking Thompson in the first with a decent portion of fist-salad, De Fries established early on just how dangerous he could be, and when he began mixing in an aggressive ground assault, for Thompson things went from bad to worse.  The ending sequence came when De Fries got his foe down, secured back-control and applied a face crank; Thompson tapped out at 4:16 of Round Two.

  • Featherweight Josh Grispi needed a win in his return bout against jiu-jitsu expert Rani Yahya, but he made the mistake of playing the Brazilian's game and it cost him.  From takedown to guard pass to North/South choke submission, it was all Yahya, and Grispi was forced to tap out at 3:15 of the first round.
  • The light-heavyweight contest between wrestler Phil Davis and Brazilian Muay Thai specialist Wagner Prado ended in the most unsatisfying way possible.  In one of the first full-fledged striking exchanges on the feet, Davis accidentally put his fingers in Prado's eye.  Prado was instantly in pain, and the blood around his eye was enough for the doctor to call it.  The bout was rendered a "no decision" at 1:28 of Round One.
  • The "main event" of the preliminary card, which saw ultra-tough featherweights Cole Miller and Nam Phan throw down, did not disappoint in terms of pace and violence.  Eschewing their vast collective jiu-jitsu experience for the opportunity to stand and box, Miller and Phan battered each other relentlessly for all three rounds.  In the first, Phan quickly overcame Miller's sizeable reach advantage to repeatedly land a vicious left hook to the chin. But Miller made adjustments by the time Round Two rolled around, and his straight rights began knocking Phan's head back over and over again.  The final frame saw no abatement in the dogfight, and when time ran out, the judges gave the split decision to Phan (29-28, 29-28, 28-29).

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Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/ufc-fox-4-preliminary-card-rundown-001722294--mma.html

Cyril Abidi  Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah  Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama 

Reza Madadi saves drowning child and father

Swedish UFC fighter Reza Madadi is on a huge win streak. His victories include wins over Yoislandy Izquierdo, Rich Clementi, Carlo Prater and death. He saved a drowning toddler and his father in Sweden on Aug. 3.

After kayaking in the Stockholm Archipelago, he was headed to lunch when he saw a 1-year-old fall off of a pier into the water. The child's father jumped in after his son. Instinct kicked in for Madadi, who once trained to be a firefighter, and he jumped in after the father.

"Everyone just panicked but I didn't even think, I just acted on instinct," Madadi said. "I could tell the man was very upset, but at the same time relieved. It's easier said than done to act fast in situations like these. The problem is that many people start to think, but there is no time for thinking."

Madadi brought them to safety. The coolest part of the report is that when people who were watching from the shore asked to take a picture of Madadi with the family, he said no out of respect of the shaken up family.

Fighters have been in the life-saving business before. Nick Ring came to the aid of a couple being mugged in Calgary. Jon Jones did the same the morning he won the UFC light heavyweight belt.

Thanks, MMA Mania.

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Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/reza-madadi-saves-drowning-child-father-192040872--mma.html

Gilbert Aldana  José Aldo  John Alessio  Houston Alexander Ricardo Almeida 

UFC on Fox 5 Gets Henderson-Diaz, Shogun-Gustafsson, and Penn-MacDonald

It seems the initial speculation was correct, UFC on Fox will be home to Benson Henderson's next UFC lightweight title defense as he meets Nate Diaz on December 8. As if that weren't enough to appease the masses, the UFC has decided to overcompensate for their recent Fox woes by also adding a light heavyweight title eliminator between former champion Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and Alexander Gustafsson, as well as former welterweight champion B.J. Penn's returns to the Octagon to face off with rising star Rory MacDonald.

MMAFrenzy.com

Source: http://mmafrenzy.com/29910/ufc-on-fox-5-gets-henderson-diaz-shogun-gustafsson-and-penn-macdonald/

Houston Alexander Ricardo Almeida  Eddie Alvarez Thiago Alves  Andre Amade 

Lyoto Machida ?impressive? in knockout of Ryan Bader

UFC president Dana White said the next light heavyweight title shot would go to the light heavyweight who was the most impressive among the main event and co-main event at UFC on Fox 3. Was Lyoto Machida's knockout of Ryan Bader impressive enough? Tell us in the comments, on Facebook or on Twitter.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/lyoto-machida-impressive-knockout-ryan-bader-014404802--mma.html

Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah  Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama  Gilbert Aldana 

UFC on FOX 4, Mauricio ?Shogun? Rua, Referee Cam: Morning News Roundup ? 8.2.12

The news cycle is ramping up thanks to the impending UFC on FOX 4 event on Saturday.  What does that mean?  Essentially, just that the UFC apparatus has put all the puzzle pieces in a pile in and around the Staples Center in Los Angeles, and the multitudes of media are flitting about assembling their own portions of the puzzle for mass consumption.  Cameras are held aloft at open workouts, microphones are stuck in the face of any fighter of relevance, and there are questions ? loads and loads of questions.  Here, then, is your morning news roundup, which is pretty much just a bunch of pieces that, when taken together, form an Ansel Adams-esque panorama of inevitable violence.

  • You ready for some video?  Here's Mauricio "Shogun" Rua at yesterday's open workout.   Here's something on Mike Swick.  Here's media superstar Ariel Helwani rapping with Lyoto Machida.  Here's Helwani with Brandon Vera.  Here's Helwani with Shogun.  You know, the funny thing about Helwani is that I sometimes see him walking around his neighborhood (we live about 15 minutes away from each other), and he's always got that microphone in hand and he's interviewing everyone ? the mailman, passing joggers, homeless people.  Everyone.  That, folks, is commitment to your work. 

 

  • Saturday night will see the introduction of the "ref cam", which is exactly what it sounds like.  While this nifty contraption has never before been used in the Octagon, it has been done in other promotions.  Want a bit of trivia that you can use to impress your friends?  The first time a ref cam was used in MMA was back in 1997, in the Australian UFC.  The Australian UFC had absolutely no connection to the real UFC, they were simply a promotion in the Land Down Under that didn't care one bit about observing copyright and trademark laws.  Some good fights, though.  Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu legend Mario Sperry won one of their tournaments.

 

  • Yours truly was a guest on the Darce Side Radio show, which is an Internet podcast hosted by MMA journo Mike Stets.  UFC on FOX 4 fighter Nam Phan was also on.  You can check the show out here.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/ufc-fox-4-mauricio-shogun-rua-referee-cam-084032499--mma.html

Eddie Alvarez Thiago Alves  Andre Amade  Dean Amasinger  Jimmy Ambriz

Dana White reverses course, gives title shot to fighter with best performance Saturday

UFC president Dana White made a shockingly bad decision during a conference call Monday with mixed martial arts reporters when he said that the winner of Saturday's UFC on Fox 4 main event between Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and Brandon Vera would get the next title shot.

Light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, who defends his belt on Sept. 1 against former Strikeforce champion Dan Henderson, has already crushed all four fighters who are competing on Saturday's card at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Ryan Bader meets ex-champion Lyoto Machida in the co-main event.

But it was Vera's so-so record that prompted outrage among media and fans. Vera enters Saturday's bout at the Staples Center 1-2 with a no contest in his last four fights. His best win at light heavyweight was over Krzysztof Soszynski.

When Jones was told on Twitter the Rua-Vera winner would get a title shot, he wrote, "Scratching my head." He wasn't alone in being perplexed by White's call.

So, late Monday, White changed his mind and opened the picture up. He said the fighter who looks the best on Saturday will get the title shot against the Jones-Henderson winner, giving Bader and Machida a chance, as well.

"When the fans speak, we listen," White said in a news release. "So whoever scores the best win, whoever gets the fans excited by going out there on Saturday and looking the most impressive, he will get the winner of Jones vs. Henderson. It is down to what these four guys do Saturday night in the Octagon. Winning isn't enough, they've got to win impressively. Any one of these four fighters can take things into their own hands and make a title shot happen."

Rua lost his title to Jones at UFC 128. Before the fight that day, Jones broke up a mugging, then went out and stopped Rua at 2:37 of the third in a stunningly one-sided performance.

Rua has gone 1-1 since, beating Forrest Griffin and losing to Henderson in what has been called the best fight in UFC history.

"I want the winner of Jones vs. Henderson," Rua said. "The fight I had with Henderson was a great fight, the fight of the year, and it was a very close fight. I am OK with that. It was a great fight. But the loss to Jones, I can't live with. I could have done so much better and I want to fight him again. First, though, I have to beat Brandon Vera and winning isn't good enough. I have to be very impressive, but that it what I have trained to do."

Vera took the change in stride. He has been upbeat and confident despite the naysayers who roared when he was put into a main event. White's announcement doesn't change much for him, because Vera has been saying all along he plans to win impressively.

If he does that, he'll make a very strong case for himself.

"Beating Shogun, and beating him the way I want, corrects all the mistakes I've made and wipes away all the bad performances," Vera said. "Beating Frank Mir is probably my best performance, but people don't realize that was nothing compared to what I do all the time in the gym. I'm going to show off what 'The Truth' really is on Fox."

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/dana-white-reverses-course-gives-title-shot-fighter-141434320--mma.html

Dean Amasinger  Jimmy Ambriz Matt Andersen  Alex Andrade  Jermaine Andrè 

UFC 150 Quick Results

The UFC returns to action tonight live from the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado. The event will be headlined by a lightweight championship fight between Frankie Edgar and the champ, Benson Henderson. The bout will be co-headlined by a bout between Donald Cerrone and Melvin Guillard, Guillard will be forfeiting an undisclosed of purse amount after missing weight yesterday.

MMAFrenzy.com

Source: http://mmafrenzy.com/29847/ufc-150-live-results/

Hiroyuki Abe Cyril Abidi  Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah  Terrance Aflague