Five bantamweights who should make the drop to flyweight

Five bantamweights who should make the drop to flyweightUFC president Dana White said this week that the promotion will soon have an announcement on adding a flyweight class. Bringing in 125-lb. fighters will not only add some fast-paced excitement to cards, but will also create a welcome home for fighters who were undersized at bantamweight's 135-lb. limit.

Five fighters who would welcome a 10-lb. drop:

Joe Benavidez: He is on a three-fight win streak, but he couldn't get past bantamweight champ Dominick Cruz on his first title try. At 5-foot-4, Benavidez could come up with another title run at flyweight and avoid the possible problem of having to challenge his mentor, contender and former champ Urijah Faber.

Chris Cariaso: At bantamweight, the 5-foot-3 Cariaso is 2-1 in his last three fights, all decisions. Smaller opponents could give him the chance to break out.

John Dodson: The newest Ultimate Fighter is pint-sized, personable and exciting in the cage. In other words, he's the exact kind of fighter to become the face of a new division.

Louis Gaudinot: At "The Ultimate Fighter" 14 finale, Gaudinot could not get out from underneath Johnny Bedford. The size that kept him from winning will be an asset at a smaller weight class.

Demetrious Johnson: "Mighty Mouse" made an impressive run for the bantamweight belt, but lost to Cruz. He has another shot to impress as a bantam when fighting Eddie Wineland at UFC on Fox 2, but don't be surprised to see Johnson and his 5-foot-3 frame drop to flyweight.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Five-bantamweights-who-should-make-the-drop-to-f?urn=mma-wp10513

Hiroyuki Abe Cyril Abidi  Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah  Terrance Aflague

?Disabled? MMA fighter Nick Newell, without a forearm or hand, submits opponent

Nick Newell's dream run continued on Friday during a Legacy Fight championship event. He remained unbeaten at 6-0 in his young MMA career with a win over Denis Hernandez at XFC 15. What he's accomplishing without a forearm or fist on his left arm is simply incredible.

Watch him finish off Hernandez (3:44 mark) with a nifty heel hook.

Newell, who debuted in MMA in June of 2009, began his athletic journey in his school where he won 153 wrestling matches. Newell knows his MMA career serves a bigger purpose.

"My goal is to prove that people with disabilities can go out and win," [Newell told MMAFighting.com in 2009]. "It's more of a message I'd like to send, that if you have a goal, go out and do it. Try it, whether it's fighting or something else. Whether you want to be the best at your job, or at sports,  just do your best. Give it everything you have. Winning is very important to me, but at the end of the day, even if I lose, as long as I know I gave it everything I had, there's no shame in that."

Newell, 25, may never make it to the big-time in the UFC, but he's going to give it a run.

"That's every fighter's goal, you know? To fight for the UFC," he said [in 2009]. "I think it'd be great. Regardless of whether I have a disability or not, I always want to win and be the best."

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Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/-Disabled-MMA-fighter-Nick-Newell-without-a-fo?urn=mma-wp10338

Tank Abbott Hiroyuki Abe Cyril Abidi  Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah 

?Lil? Nog? pulverizes Ortiz?s ribs to score easy stoppage, Tito wants one more fight before retiring

?Lil? Nog? pulverizes Ortiz?s ribs to score easy stoppage, Tito wants one more fight before retiring

Tito Ortiz has fought a lot of battles, but there's only so much the body can take.

For the second straight fight, Ortiz's midsection gave out as he lost to Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in a first round stoppage due to strikes at the 3:15 mark of the first at UFC 140 in Toronto.

Ortiz was emotional following the fight saying he wanted to fight one more time before walking off into the sunset.

"Im going to take a little time off. I'm going to enjoy Christmas with my family," Ortiz told UFC analyst Joe Rogan. "I have one more fight left on my contract so hopefully Dana [White] will let me honor that out, get me one more fight."

Ortiz went down on a huge knee from "Lil Nog" with 3:36 left in the first. On the ground, Nogueira pounded away at Ortiz's body. He got off 67 shots, many of the vicious elbows and punches to Tito's right side.

?Lil? Nog? pulverizes Ortiz?s ribs to score easy stoppage, Tito wants one more fight before retiring

He did major damage on the 53rd and 54th shots. On strike No. 60, Ortiz winced and rolled to his side. Two more heavy shots to the ribs and Ortiz stopped defending himself. He had to be saved. When the former UFC light heavyweight champ sat up, he immediately grabbed the area around the ribs on his left side.

Ortiz, 36, set a record tonight walking into the UFC's Octagon for the 26th time. He's never fought for another MMA promotion.

"My goal in my career was to go 15 years, be the longest UFC figher in this cage. I've done that tonight. I'm gonna get one more. I'm going to give it my all, get a W and that'll be all for me."

Whether Nogueira was trying to or not, he found a weak area on Ortiz. Tito admitted it after the loss.

"He caught me clean in the same place I got hit versus Rashad [Evans]," Ortiz said. Evans essentially ended their fight at UFC 133 by landing a knee on Ortiz's sternum. "He hurt me. I tried to get up. Everytime he hit me there I felt the wind go out of me."

Nogueira, a big star in Japan with PRIDE, is starting develop a strong reputation with the UFC. The 35-year-old is 20-5 and 3-2 in the UFC. He needed this one badly having lost to Phil Davis and Ryan Bader in his last two fights.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/-Lil-Nog-pulverizes-Ortiz-s-ribs-to-score-easy?urn=mma-wp10602

Cyril Abidi  Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah  Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama 

Dana White?s video blog shows behind-the-scenes at UFC 139

Dana White's first video blog from UFC 140 fight week looks back at UFC 139, which White calls one of the best cards ever. As always, the video blogs that give behind-the-scenes looks at fight cards are about seeing the smaller, nuanced moments that fight fans don't normally get to see when watching a card.

Some moments that stuck out from this one include seeing Tom Lawlor with his "Let's Get Physical" outfit for his walkout while getting pumped up by his cornermen,  watching Jon Fitch comfort his teammate Kyle Kinbgsbury after a loss and Cung Le wanting the doctor to straighten his nose on-site instead of at the hospital.

After Dan Henderson's amazing fight with Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, we get to see White congratulate both men, who are barely being able to speak through their exhaustion. It ends with Wanderlei Silva apologizing to UFC chairman Lorenzo Fertitta for his last loss, even after Silva had just TKOed Le.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Dana-White-s-video-blog-shows-behind-the-scenes-?urn=mma-wp10484

Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah  Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama  Gilbert Aldana 

UFC 140 gallery: Big Nog?s arm, Jones? choke and more

Start your day with pictures from UFC 140 by Tracy Lee. Check out Jon Jones' choke of Lyoto Machida, how Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira reacted to his wrecked arm, Mark Hominick knocked out by Chan Sung Jung and more from the UFC's trip to Toronto.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/UFC-140-gallery-Big-Nog-s-arm-Jones-choke-and?urn=mma-wp10658

Tank Abbott Hiroyuki Abe Cyril Abidi  Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah 

MMA Wrap-Up: UFC 140 Edition

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UFC 140 was an arm-snapping, face-smashing good time for some, but the main event saw Jon Jones finish another former champ before finally turning the boos to cheers, at least for the moment. Now the MMA Wrap-Up returns to ask what it will take for fans to actually get behind the dominant light heavyweight champ. Trust me, it's good fun. Even if it's not, it'll all be over in a couple minutes, so how bad could it be? Don't answer that.

 

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Source: http://www.mmafighting.com/2011/12/12/mma-wrap-up-ufc-140-edition/

Jimmy Ambriz Matt Andersen  Alex Andrade  Jermaine Andrè  Yoji Anjo 

Baker, Deathwish, Shake Junt, and Heroin X-Mas Demo

This year's x-mas demo was held at Lincoln Park skateboard park. There were so many kids this year it was insane. The product toss seemed to last a good ten minutes, so if you didn't show up make sure you show up next year for the ten-minute product toss jam and to see some good skateboarding by your favorites.

Source: http://theskateboardmag.com/blogs/jeremy-adams/2011/12/12/baker-deathwish-shake-junt-and-heroin-x-mas-demo/

Matt Andersen  Alex Andrade  Jermaine Andrè  Yoji Anjo  Tank Abbott

UFC 140 prelims: Hecht pulls off great comeback, Cholish and Bocek also winners

UFC 140 prelims: Hecht pulls off great comeback, Cholish and Bocek also winners

A fight can change in a split second when you hit someone behind the ear. Jake Hecht drilled Rich Attonito from an odd position, but the effect was the same.

Attonito went out for a second and Hecht took advantage pounding him out at the 1:10 mark of round two in the second fight of the night at UFC 140 in Toronto.

It was a startling turnaround after a first round where Attonito worked over Hecht on the ground. The UFC veteran aggressively pursued a takedown in the opening seconds of the second round. Hecht showed good balance through a single-leg takedown attempt, so Attonito dropped down to his knees for a double-leg try.

With Attonito's head sitting in his abdomen, Hecht threw a wicked elbow that hit his opponent on the ear. The next elbow was planted directly to Attonito's temple. The effect was just like getting hit with a standing hook. Attonito's legs gave out and he went down. Hecht (11-2, 1-0 UFC) poured it on with 13 unanswered right hands on Attonito, who turtled up. Referee Josh Rosenthal had to stop it.

Attonito (10-5, 3-2 UFC) cruised in the opening round. He scored a takedown with 3:38 left and worked body-head combinations until the close of the round. Hecht never got off his back, but he avoided a fight changing shot from the bottom by staying active and at least threatening to land a submission. Maybe Attonito was overconfident when he left himself in a prone position so long going for that second round double-leg attempt.

UFC 140 prelims: Hecht pulls off great comeback, Cholish and Bocek also winners

Cholish impressive in debut against Canadian Clarke

John Cholish has trained under some of the best grapplers in the world and it showed tonight. The New Yorker got the fight where he wanted and showed a slick ground game in finishing Mitch Clarke at the 4:36 mark of the second round.

Clarke looked solid at the start, but quickly grew sluggish.

Cholish, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt under Renzo Gracie, saw his opening in the second. The fight's momentum shifted Cholish's way after he scored a takedown in the middle of the second. Clarke got up, but for some reason decided to take it to the ground himself. After a scramble, he found himself in a submission predicament. Clarke survived a quick kimura attempt, but Cholish was able to transition and take his back.

It was over from there as Cholish got both hooks in and flattened out Clarke. With multiple strikes, he opened up a cut. Referee John McCarthy had to save the defenseless Clarke after he absorbed abuse for nearly 30 seconds.

In battle of grapplers, Bocek too much for Lentz

Nik Lentz is a pretty good one-trick pony, but tonight, he met his match against a better wrestler and grappler.

Mark Bocek landed takedowns in all three rounds and maintained top position for over 13 of the minutes on his way to a unanimous decision victory, 30-27 on all three scorecards, in fight No. 3 of the night at UFC 140.

Lentz's style isn't pretty, but he came into the match riding a 15-fight unbeaten streak. This was a good win for Bocek (10-4, 6-4 UFC) against a guy who's very crafty on the ground.

Lentz's issue tonight was working with a one-tracked mind on the ground. He either played defense or went for Bocek's neck.

Bocek, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, wasn't going to fall victim to a choke. Lentz threatened with a solid attempt in the first and second, but Bocek freed himself and regained top control in both cases.

Bocek was far from dominant, but when a fighter has top control for that long, there's no way judges are going to side with the fighter who spent the majority of his time on the bottom.

Lentz (21-4-2, 5-1-1 UFC) has made his bones by wrestling and working top control of his own. He just couldn't control the direction of the grappling tonight and lost as a plus-135 underdog.

You can watch UFC 140 right here on Yahoo! Sports

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/UFC-140-prelims-Hecht-pulls-off-great-comeback-?urn=mma-wp10560

Alex Andrade  Jermaine Andrè  Yoji Anjo  Tank Abbott Hiroyuki Abe

Jon Jones wins the chess match, puts Lyoto Machida to sleep to defend his title at UFC 140

Jon Jones wins the chess match, puts Lyoto Machida to sleep to defend his title at UFC 140

Jon Jones refers to the often brutal sport of mixed martial arts as "a game he loves to play." It's seems like a strange way to refer to MMA, but Jones showed again tonight that he's quickly becoming the master of the game.

The UFC champ was getting outmaneuvered early in the fight, but as always made the necessary moves to first cut Lyoto Machida and then turns the lights out with a standing guillotine in the second round to successfully defend his UFC light heavyweight title at UFC 140.

"He's just smart. He kicked really hard. He knew his range. He has great tactics and definitely he was a very tough puzzle," Jones told UFC analyst Joe Rogan.

Jones, who won the title back in March at UFC 128, has successfully defended in two times. All four of his wins in 2011 have come via stoppage.

Amazingly, he's posting these dominant victories by different means each time out. His physical gifts are off the charts, but it's the way he's mastering the mental game that makes him look more unbeatable each time out.

Machida (17-3, 9-3 UFC) is also a brilliant tactician, who really confused Jones in the opening round. The champ looked sloppy with his fists and landed a few leg kicks, but it was the challenger who landed the heaviest shots with a few well-timed flurries. When drilled Jones with overhand left with 5o seconds left, Machida locked up the first round.

"He didn't have me hurt, but he did punch me pretty good and it wobbled me a bit," Jones said. The champ looked at eating that punch as a positive. "It was good. One of my biggest critic points is that I can't take a punch, so I'm glad to prove it to myself, and to everyone that I can take a legit hit."

Jon Jones wins the chess match, puts Lyoto Machida to sleep to defend his title at UFC 140

Instead of turning up the aggression on Jones, Machida dialed it down a bit in the second. He let Jones get comfortable again.

With three minutes left in the round, Jones landed a right that stopped Machida in his tracks and worked the clinch for a big slam takedown. That's Jones' world and he immediately went to work from half guard. At 6-foot-4, Jones is a huge 2o5er. He imposed his size from the top and scraped a nasty elbow across Machida's forehead. The result was a deep gash that leaked blood into Machida's eyes.

"I know Lyoto's a black belt so I was expecting a lot more motion on the bottom, but he didn't move a lot and i was able to open him up," said Jones.

Machida got to his feet, the stop was stopped to check the cut for a few seconds and then reset. The fighters separated momentarily and both tried to throw the left hand. Machida's was a wide left hook and Jones was a short chopping left. The Jones shot landed and Machida went to his knees. His head was exposed as he stood back up where Jones landed a knee and locked on the standing guillotine along the cage.

The taller athlete cranked up and eventually Machida's right arm went limp. Referee John McCarthy stopped it and when Jones released the choke Machida fell flat on his face. He was out cold.

"It's not really a move that I practice. I think it's something that comes natural from wrestling for years. But yeah, it was a great lock. I realized that I had it, that I just needed to be tough and hold the position and eventually he'd run out."

Jones is showing off new weapons all the time. The fact that he finished off a top five light heavyweight with a move he's never practice is more proof of his greatness.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Jon-Jones-wins-the-chess-match-puts-Lyoto-Machi?urn=mma-wp10631

John Alessio  Houston Alexander Ricardo Almeida  Eddie Alvarez Thiago AlvesÂ