Junior dos Santos Looking to Exploit Shane Carwin's Lack of Cardio at UFC 131 - UFC 131
Junior dos Santos Looking to Exploit Shane Carwin's Lack of Cardio at UFC 131 Video by UFC 131Eddie Alvarez Thiago Alves Andre Amade Dean Amasinger Jimmy Ambriz
Junior dos Santos Looking to Exploit Shane Carwin's Lack of Cardio at UFC 131 Video by UFC 131Eddie Alvarez Thiago Alves Andre Amade Dean Amasinger Jimmy Ambriz
Devon Sawa has been appearing in movies since 1993. His roles range from the mean boy Scott Wormer in "Now and Then" to the maniacal "Stan" in Eminem's epic music video to action hero Owen Elliot in the TV series "Nikita." He is also a huge MMA fan, and he talked to Cagewriter about how he feel for the sport.
Sawa started training in boxing and Muay Thai around six years ago, and was drawn in by the sport.
"I used to party a lot, and go to clubs a lot and do that whole thing, I just decided that I needed a different thing in life. I needed a change. I started boxing, and went to Thailand and tried Muay Thai. As I got into it, I started watching it. At first it was just UFC, and you know how it goes from there. All of a sudden I'm watching PRIDE, and waking up at 3 in the morning to watch DREAM, and it kind of snowballed."
He rarely misses fights since he rarely has to work on Saturday nights, though he's not happy about missing this weekend's boxing match because of a flight. Like many MMA fans, he has a hard time narrowing down his favorite fighters.
"I have to say GSP because I'm a Canadian. I'd love to see him go back to the old GSP but he's winning, and that's good. I'm a big Chael Sonnen fan. He's an exciting fighter to watch. I know he's got his thing, and he's a great promoter out of the Octagon, but when he's in there, he delivers. He makes it interesting, but he gets in the Octagon and he really does perform."
Like many MMA fans, he is still thinking about the five-round war between Dan Henderson and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua.
"My favorite fight right now is the Hendo fight, because it just happened and you're still feeling the buzz from it."
Sawa hasn't attend too many live fight events, but he did attend a card that is now infamous.
"I was at a Strikeforce show where I was right up front, and it was awesome. I was there for the Mayhem Miller brawl with the Diaz brothers. I was turning to leave, and all of a sudden there's an all-out brawl in the cage."
He is currently starring on the CW show "Nikita," and finds that his MMA training comes in handy both on the show and in pursuing other roles.
"I didn't start MMA so that it would go into my work, but it has. I do this show "Nikita," and it's action-based. I have an episode coming up where I do a little Muay Thai, and I've used jiu-jitsu in another episode. Those skills come in handy."
Next year, he will play the friend of an MMA fighter in "The Philly Kid," a movie Sawa describes as a Rocky-type, feel-good story. Training alongside fighters at Legends MMA, he knows what goes into fight preparation.
"I train just for hobby. You watch these guys, and they put so much into it. There's so much they do just to get there. And it's one-on-one. They show their skills, and I've got a lot of respect for those guys. It's the ultimate test. Whose better conditioned? Who has better skills? If it ends up on the ground, can you handle that?"
Watch Sawa on Friday nights in "Nikita" on the CW.
Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Why-actor-Devon-Sawa-loves-MMA?urn=mma-wp10090
Gilbert Aldana José Aldo John Alessio Houston Alexander Ricardo Almeida
Greg Jackson's resume speaks for itself and that's why top prospects continue to gravitate to the Albuquerque-based mixed martial arts gym.
Diego Brandao and John Dodson are the latest bright lights that are working with the MMA guru. Both made the finale of their respective weight divisions for Season 14 of "The Ultimate Fighter."
During this TUF 14 vlog, Brandao says he's getting a lot of new attention down in his home country. A native of Manaus, Brazil, Brandao says his mother just found about his success on the show and Saturday night appearance in the finals joking that she'll be "drinking lots of beers and getting drunk" to celebrate (2:55 mark). Brandao said he was also fired up by the fact that Brazilian legend Wanderlei Silva gave him a pep talk this week.
The effervescent Dodson is also featured on this vlog
It's going to be interesting to follow Dodson's career and his relationship with the fans. He joked about being a snitch and a mole. Will he be able to shake that label in the future or only add to his legions of haters with his delivery during interviews like this?
You can also follow Dodson and Brando a little more vlogs 1 and 2.
Dodson faces the much bigger T.J. Dillishaw at 135 pounds while Brando battles Dennis Bermudez tomorrow night on Spike.
Gilbert Aldana José Aldo John Alessio Houston Alexander Ricardo Almeida
The UFC's begun to roll out the schedule for its second show on Fox. The promotion hit a home run including Rashad Evans on the card against Phil Davis. Evans is a dynamite pitchman and an action fighter.
ESPN.com reported this morning that the fight was made for the United Center.
Davis and Evans were slated to fight back in August at UFC 133. The former Penn State wrestler is unbeaten in the UFC, while Evans, a former UFC 205-pound champ, has won three straight since a rough loss against Lyoto Machida.
Evans probably needs another impressive win to lock up the next title shot against Jon Jones. Jones defends his belt next weekend at UFC 140 against Machida. Dan Henderson moved himself into the mix for a title shot with his win two weeks ago at UFC 139. Following his dominant win in August, Evans said he would not wait around for Jones. Now he faces a risky test in Davis.
Other rumored fights for the UFC on Fox 2 card include Chael Sonnen versus Mark Munoz. MMAMania.com reported last week that the middleweight showdown was a done deal. The UFC has yet to confirm the bout.
Bernard Ackah Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama Gilbert Aldana José Aldo
UFC 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.

What's gone wrong with the relationship between Jon Jones and some MMA fans? The brightest young star in the sport is starting collect a sizable group of haters. The fans in Toronto at today's UFC 140 weigh-in greeted Jones with lots of booing.
Jones easily made weight at 205 pounds and was respectful during the staredown with Lyoto Machida (204), but he heard from the Canadians. We weren't sure why the fans in Toronto booed Jones, so we asked for feedback on Twitter.

That's a small sample, are Cagewriter readers on board with this growing anti-Jones sentiment?
Only Dennis Hallman had major issues with his weight. It's almost shocking considering the bad press he got from the blue Speedo he wore at UFC . Hallman wasn't even close to lightweight at 158.5 and failed to get down to the allowable 156. He was fined 20 percent of his purse.
UFC 140 weigh-in (Courtesy MMAjunkie)
MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view)
Jon Jones (205) vs. Lyoto Machida (204)
Frank Mir (260) vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (239)
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (204.5) vs. Tito Ortiz (206)
Brian Ebersole (170.5) vs. Claude Patrick (171)
Mark Hominick (145) vs. Chan Sung Jung (145.5)
PRELIMINARY CARD (ION Television)
Igor Pokrajac (205) vs. Krzysztof Soszynski (206)
Jared Hamman (185) vs. Constantinos Philippou (185)
Dennis Hallman (158.5)* vs. John Makdessi (155.5)
Yves Jabouin (136) vs. Walel Watson (135.5)
PRELIMINARY CARD (Facebook)
Mark Bocek (156) vs. Nik Lentz (156)
Rich Attonito (170.5) vs. Jake Hecht (170.5)
John Cholish (156) vs. Mitch Clarke (154.5)

Jason Miller has a lot to prove to UFC fans tonight at the Season 14 "Ultimate Fighter Finale."
He's built a nice following amongst hardcore MMA fans by augmenting his fight career with satellite radio and television shows, but his opponent says Miller's standing in the MMA world is built on a myth.
"While I've been in the UFC fighting the best fighters in the world, he's been flying around the world fighting a bunch of washed-up journeymen and not doing a very good job of it," Bisping told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "The only reason he's here now and the only reason he got "The Ultimate Fighter" spot is because he's a loudmouth TV personality."
Miller (24-7, 0-1 UFC) laughs at that assertion. He's a highly sought after teacher of the sport in southern California. Even with all of his side gigs, he still has his eyes on the fighting prize.
"It's paramount. That's what kicked off all this other stuff," Miller said. "I wouldn't have a radio career or a television career without fighting. The past year, I really put in the effort into doing the things in the gym that are going to help my fight career."
Miller will flash a little of that entertainment-world star power with "King of Queen" stars Kevin James in his corner. The 30-year-old Miller met James during the filming of MMA-themed film "Here's Comes the Boom."
Below is James speaking about the UFC-approved film.
Tips via Adam Hill, Las Vegas Review-Journal and Ariel Helwani, MMAFighting.
For live undercard, main card and postfight coverage follow Cofield and Maggie Hendricks on Twitter this evening.
Vans kicks off their new interview series, In The Chair, with Geoff Rowley.
Source: http://theskateboardmag.com/blogs/templeton-elliott/2011/12/08/in-the-chair-with-geoff-rowley/
Filed under: UFC
TORONTO -- Just when you thought Strikeforce might be going the way of the WEC, UFC president Dana White told reporters on Thursday that Zuffa's other promotion is sticking around. We just don't know in what form yet, or with which fighters. "It's staying," White said of the organization, adding that he hoped to have more information to release on it next week, hinting that big changes might be in the works. "Just sit and wait and watch what I do. Trust me, it's going to be just fine. Like I said last time I talked to you guys about this, I'm getting into this and I'm going to handle it. Watch and see." Media members weren't the only ones curious about the fate of the organization, whose contract with Showtime is set to expire in February of 2012. A fan also took the opportunity during the UFC 140 pre-fight press conference to question the UFC president on what he planned to do with the Strikeforce fighters , specifically heavyweight Grand Prix finalists Josh Barnett and Daniel Cormier. "We'll see what happens," White said. "I know I keep saying this every week, but that deal should be wrapped up any day now, and then I'll make the decisions on who goes where and what's going to happen. So we should know hopefully by Monday." The question that leaps to mind is, why maintain an organization that's been looted of most of its top draws, and which has recently struggled to move the needle at all when it comes to generating fan interest in its events on Showtime? After all, didn't Zuffa try that model already with the WEC, when it ran the organization as a separate entity on a separate channel before eventually folding the roster into the UFC? If it didn't work then, what makes White think it will work with Strikeforce, which has already lost its heavyweight, light heavyweight, and welterweight champions to the UFC, with the remaining beltholders suggesting that they're eager to follow? Only don't tell White that the WEC was a failure. He insisted on Thursday that the WEC "did work," even if it no longer exists. "We had a television deal -- a great television deal with the WEC," he said. "It was very successful. The fights were awesome. There were people that loved watching the WEC fights. It absolutely worked." And yet, it didn't work so well that Zuffa felt compelled to keep it around. If you're a Strikeforce fighter these days, that track record might not instill much confidence, but White insists that the organization won't be fading into the ether any time soon, and Strikeforce's Scott Coker said earlier this week that he was optimistic about the organization's future on Showtime. "In the history of Strikeforce since the relationship with Showtime was developed, we put on, I think some of the best fights in the history of MMA," said Coker. "We've done our part to grow the sport, and that's going to continue. There's still a lot of great fighters on the roster. And we're going to keep building these fighters. We're going to continue putting on great fights. To me, that's not going to change. So everybody can tune into Showtime and watch in 2012, and we're going to put on some amazing, amazing fights." Then again, as White pointed out, the WEC also put on some amazing fights. In the end, it wasn't enough to ensure its long-term survival as a separate entity under the Zuffa banner. One can't help but wonder whether Strikeforce will be able to avoid the same fate.
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Source: http://www.mmafighting.com/2011/12/08/wait-and-watch-what-i-do-with-strikeforce-says-dana-white/

The UFC took its game to another level in 2011, so why not go over the top with a year-end celebration?
The long sought after network exposure arrived with the Fox deal, so it shouldn't surprise anyone that the fellas at Zuffa went big for a company Christmas party that included a Snoop Dogg performance at Red Rock Casino Resort. Here's some raw video from the performance (NSFW).

A jubilant Dana White, who is pictured with the Fertitta Brothers and Snoop, gave a big thanks to his staff.

It must've been a helluva party. White, who is seemingly on Twitter 20 hours a day, checked back in Monday afternoon.

Tip via TerezOwens.com