CNN rolling out one-hour feature on female fighting this Sunday night

CNN will devote an hour to mixed martial arts this weekend with its "Fighting Girls" piece on "CNN Presents."

[...] Today, it's one of the fastest growing sports among men? and now women.  But why would any woman climb into a cage for all-out combat for what amounts to almost nothing?  CNN's Amber Lyon steps into the Octagon to find out.

One hour ? four riveting stories.  Don't miss CNN Presents hosted by CNN's Soledad O'Brien and Dr. Sanjay Gupta this Sunday, October 23 at 8:00 pm ET, re-airing at 11:00 pm ET and 2:00 am ET.

Las Vegas' Michelle Gutierrez is one of the featured fighters. A former boxer, she trains at Throwdown in Sin City.

"The most rewarding part of fighting is the feeling you get when the cage door shuts. It's you alone, fending for yourself, kind of like taking care of yourself in the worst conditions," she states. "It's unlike anything else."

She's a Twitter maniac, but says trash talk isn't needed in fighting.

"My goal in MMA is to break the mold. To be girly, but tough; a striker and a submission artist; a class act that gets along with everyone and avoids the catty call outs," Gutierrez said.

She lifted that rule for a few celebs during a conversation with Bleacher Report last year.

"I would go after Lindsay Lohan because she's so skanky, you know? Snooki is skanky too but there's somewhat of a normal girl underneath all of that hairspray and tan but Lindsay is so pale and sick looking. She needs to get off drugs, go eat some food and go for a run or something," Gutierrez said.

Gutierrez is also the mother of a five-year old.

"I want to be successful at this sport to make my daughter proud. I want her to see that a girl can do anything they want; even fight for a living. And I want to make a name for myself so that I know my mother would have been proud as well."

The CNN piece should be interesting. In the past, the network has been a bit skittish about the sport. How it'll cover the female side of the sport is anyone's guess.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/CNN-rolling-out-one-hour-feature-on-female-fight?urn=mma-wp8352

Yoji Anjo  Tank Abbott Hiroyuki Abe Cyril Abidi  Daniel Acacio

Condit let down, but still focused on St. Pierre and the belt

Condit let down, but still focused on St. Pierre and the beltCarlos Condit has been through a roller coaster while preparing UFC 137. He started out by preparing for a bout with B.J. Penn. After Nick Diaz's no-show for multiple press obligations, Condit was given the title shot. Today, he found out Georges St. Pierre was injured, and that Condit's title shot would have to wait until December or January.

Still, Condit told Cagewriter that he's not angry about the turn of events.

"It's a letdown, but it's the nature of the sport. I'm going to stay positive, keep training, and be even better when the fight comes."

He said taking another fight in the meantime just doesn't make sense.

"Nothing's been offered, and me and my manager discussed it, and taking another fight doesn't make sense on a lot of levels. As far as my career goes, it doesn't make sense, from a money standpoint, it doesn't make sense."

GSP's injury will not keep him out of training for too long, so Condit will wait for GSP and the title shot.

"In this situation, Georges isn't out six or eight months or anything like that. He's sprained his knee. It's going to be a short recovery, and hopefully we'll be able to get this thing done, and get in the cage by the end of the year, or early next year at the latest."

Both Jake Ellenberger and Josh Koscheck hinted that they would be ready to take the fight, but Condit is focused on the belt.

"I have the opportunity to fight for the title, and I have my heart set on Georges. When and if I beat Georges, I'll take on Ellenberger. I'll give him a rematch. I'll fight anyone, but right now, I have my heart set on Georges."

In the meantime, Condit will not change his training routine.

"My job is to get up every day and go to the gym and train, and improve my skills, and improve myself as a fighter. That's what I'm going to do tomorrow. I'll be able to eat a little bit more, and enjoy not so strict of a diet, but that's about the only difference. "

What will that cheat food be?

"Pizza or enchiladas," Condit said with a laugh.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Condit-let-down-but-still-focused-on-St-Pierre?urn=mma-wp8327

Matt Andersen  Alex Andrade  Jermaine Andrè  Yoji Anjo  Tank Abbott

White?s behind-the-scenes video blog that you can?t miss

UFC president Dana White has used his fight week video blogs to give fans a behind-the-scenes look at UFC events, ranging from seeing the many celebrities who attend fights to the random stops White will make in promoting the UFC.

This one is a little different and worth your time because it will give you a better idea of the gamut of emotions that fighters experience after a loss. It's a little long, and full of not-safe-for-work language, but turn those speakers down and press play.

Melvin Guillard switches from angry (slamming a chair) to brokenhearted (sobbing in a heap on the floor) rather quickly. He still had plenty of energy left over after his loss to Joe Lauzon in less than a minute, and it had to be exerted somewhere. On the other side of the spectrum, Kenny Florian is despondent after his five-round loss to Jose Aldo, and Gray Maynard is sadly appreciative to his cornermen after brushing off Frankie Edgar.

Seeing all this anger, pain and sadness makes you wonder why a fighter would put himself through such a grind just to lose, but the video blog answers that question in short glimpses of the winners. Edgar's glowing smile, Aldo's celebratory conversation with Anderson Silva, and White handing out bonus checks to the Fight of the Night and Submission of the Night winners show why they risk so much for a win.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/White-s-behind-the-scenes-video-blog-that-you-ca?urn=mma-wp8522

Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah  Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama  Gilbert Aldana 

St-Pierre suffered his knee injury in training Tuesday afternoon

St-Pierre suffered his knee injury in training Tuesday afternoon

Georges St-Pierre was days, if not hours away, from scaling back in his preparation for UFC 137 next weekend. Training for a fight is always a risky proposition and GSP failed to escape these final moments of training without injuring a knee.

At 1:51 p.m. ET Tuesday, GSP tweeted this photo of him working his kicks. A little over four hours later, he spoke of visiting the doctor.

St-Pierre suffered his knee injury in training Tuesday afternoon

His trainer Firas Zahabi gave his account of the afternoon incident to Sherdog:

"He was sparring today and he hurt his knee. I had a feeling it was bad, but then, once he cooled down, he started limping. There's no way he would be able to fight. It was a weird thing. I can't really explain it. Of course, everybody is disappointed," Zahabi said. "[...] We made a lot of sacrifices. We had a lot of people come in to help us train. We put a lot of man hours into getting ready for this fight. But it's not going to waste, it's just being put on hold."

We could get a clearer picture of GSP's recovery timetable Wednesday. There's a UFC 137 media teleconference scheduled for 2 p.m. ET.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/St-Pierre-suffered-his-knee-injury-in-training-T?urn=mma-wp8338

José Aldo  John Alessio  Houston Alexander Ricardo Almeida  Eddie Alvarez

Video analysis: Dana White meets with Showtime, what?s cooking?

Dana White spent time in New York this week, surprisingly he sat down with officials from Showtime.

The UFC president has repeatedly gone on record saying he doesn't want to deal with the network, but now that Ken Hershman, Showtime's former Executive Vice President and General Manager of Sports & Event Programming, has left for HBO, new doors could open.

Yesterday, White teased fans and the MMA media by suggesting something new could be on the horizon.

We checked in with Yahoo! Sports' lead MMA writer Kevin Iole to find out what he's heard about the latest round of talks between the promotion and the network. It was believed that the two would be going their separate ways after the Strikeforce deal is finished, maybe not.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Video-analysis-Dana-White-meets-with-Showtime-?urn=mma-wp8654

Alex Andrade  Jermaine Andrè  Yoji Anjo  Tank Abbott Hiroyuki Abe

Party on Halloween with Sonnen, Silva expected to dress as a ?duck or chicken?

Party on Halloween with Sonnen, Silva expected to dress as a ?duck or chicken?

Chael Sonnen is doing everything he can to get that rematch against Anderson Silva, so he'll be front and center in Las Vegas this weekend around UFC 137. That includes hosting a Halloween party at XS, one of Sin City's hottest clubs.

This comes on the heels of Sonnen hijacking ESPN's MMA Live to further promote his cause. The middleweight contender asked hosts Jon Anik and Kenny Florian what they thought Silva would dress as for Halloween.

"A or B: Will Anderson Silva go as a duck for Halloween or will he dress as a chicken? I'm gonna go B, I think he goes as chicken, he already has the costume," said Sonnen.

He also made an interesting point about Silva's manager Ed Soares.

"Apparently the Ed Soares excuse factory is open for business. A champion doesn't call somebody out. If you're the champion, you get called out. I think it's a little odd and unprecedented that Anderson Silva is now trying to pick a fight," Sonnen said. "He's doing the same thing I am, he's calling out Michael Bisping because it's an easy fight. Well, I want an easy fight too, which is why I'm calling him out, so I get it."

Watch UFC 137 right here on Yahoo! Sports

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Party-on-Halloween-with-Sonnen-Silva-expected-t?urn=mma-wp8534

John Alessio  Houston Alexander Ricardo Almeida  Eddie Alvarez Thiago Alves 

UFC 137 shocker: GSP injured and off the card, Diaz-Penn now three-round main event

Dana White flew across country today to New York, when he landed, he and mixed martial art fans were greeted with some lousy news. The main event next week at UFC 137 has been scrapped because of an injury to UFC welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre.

UFC 137 shocker: GSP injured and off the card, Diaz-Penn now three-round main event

Carlos Condit will go on the shelf and wait for a healthy GSP to retur with Nick Diaz vs. B.J. Penn moving to the main event.

MMAFighting's Ariel Helwani spoke with GSP's trainer Firas Zihabi, who sent mixed signals in these comments:

"He's out for a month," Zahabi said of GSP. "I would say at least a month he can't train. So unfortunately, he's out of the fight, that's for sure. He's not in any condition to fight, that's for sure. No doctor will clear him."

That sounds like a pretty serious injury or does it?

This suddenly changes the tone of the event for Nick Diaz. Diaz freaked out a month ago as his title fight with main event status approached against St-Pierre. Does this change things for Diaz from a mental standpoint?

Other popular stories on Yahoo! Sports:
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Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/UFC-137-shocker-GSP-injured-and-off-the-card-D?urn=mma-wp8321

Tank Abbott Hiroyuki Abe Cyril Abidi  Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah 

Chael must battle Tito for the ?People?s Champ? moniker

Chael must battle Tito for the ?People?s Champ? moniker

After a busy summer, Tito Ortiz has had some time to think. That's not always a good thing with the loquacious former UFC light heavyweight champ.

Chael Sonnen recently stated that he's the "People's Champ," based on the fact that his loss against Anderson Silva at UFC 117 was less than legitimate. Now Ortiz wants a piece of that People's Champ pie.

"I showed that I'm able to compete against the best guys in the world, and I think that will help show people that if they believe in themselves, if they believe in their dream, they can accomplish anything," Ortiz said. "That's why I changed my name to 'The People's Champ.' I want everyone to know that I'm here for the fans. I want them to know that they can bounce back from anything.

In a video gaming story on ESPN.com, Ortiz pointed to a recent experience with fans as another reason for the name change.

"I signed over 15,000 autographs last weekend at the UFC fan expo," Ortiz tells me as we talk about his career resurgence, including a roster spot in the upcoming "UFC Undisputed 3" video game. "The first day I stood there for seven and a half hours. The second day I was there for over six hours. They had to kick me out. It was a lot of fun."

Based on his miracle win over Ryan Bader and fighting a heel in Rashad Evans at UFC 133, Ortiz did see a big transformation in his image. But is it enough, to make you call him the People's Champ? Or is there now a People's Champ for each weight division. I vote for Roy Nelson at heavyweight, Nick Diaz at 170, Melvin Guillard at 155

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Chael-must-battle-Tito-for-the-People-s-Champ-?urn=mma-wp8317

Ricardo Almeida  Eddie Alvarez Thiago Alves  Andre Amade  Dean AmasingerÂ