Ellenberger quickly KOs Shields in UFN 25 main event

Ellenberger quickly KOs Shields in UFN 25 main event

Jake Ellenberger notched a quick win over Jake Shields in the main event of Ultimate Fight Night 25 in New Orleans on Saturday.

Shields twice attempted takedowns to start the fight, but Ellenberger shook them both off. Shields clinched with Ellenberger, who then delivered a knee to the body and another to the head. The knee to the head knocked Shields to the ground. Ellenberger jumped on top and threw several hammerfists until the fight was stopped at 0:53 of the first round. Shields appeared to be disoriented as he tried to continue the fight against referee Kevin Mulhall.

Ellenberger was elated about his performance.

"I was just trying to keep the pressure on him, and I came away with the W," said Ellenberger, who pocketed a $55,000 knockout of the night bonus for his efforts.

Though it was a tough loss, just walking into the cage was a win for Shields. Three weeks ago, his father -- who also served as Shields' manager and cornerman during fights -- passed away. Shields said before the fight that his father would have wanted him to fight, but that doesn't mean actually fighting was easy for him. He was not happy with the stoppage.

"I feel frustrated. I went down with a good hit. I wanted to keep fighting, but the ref thought it was time to stop it," Shields said.

For Ellenberger, this convincing victory catapults him into the UFC welterweight title picture. He has five wins in a row, with four of those wins coming by a stoppage. He is known to be a finisher, and he showed that off tonight.

Shields, the one-time Strikeforce middleweight champion, lost in his last bout, a title shot against Georges St. Pierre. This loss puts him at 0-2 on the year.

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Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Ellenberger-quickly-KOs-Shields-in-UFN-25-main-e?urn=mma-wp7000

John Alessio  Houston Alexander Ricardo Almeida  Eddie Alvarez Thiago Alves 

?Pops? Browne looks to win more bonus money for his kids

Travis Browne is back and looking to build on his devstating victory over Stefan Struve at UFC 130. He got the Knockout of the Night bonus that night. With some of that $70,000, he took his family to Hawaii on vacation. Browne joined Yahoo! Sports' Kevin Iole to talk about what the last few months has been like.

Browne faces Rob Broughton tomorrow night in Denver at UFC 135. Watch the RawVegas.tv break down the fight using the Las Vegas odds.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/-Pops-Browne-looks-to-win-more-bonus-money-for-?urn=mma-wp7174

Thiago Alves  Andre Amade  Dean Amasinger  Jimmy Ambriz Matt Andersen 

Will UFC on Fox help boxing?s cause? De La Hoya says yes

Golden Boy Promotions and boxing had a huge week with the Floyd Mayweather-Victor Ortiz fight. Meanwhile, the UFC was putting together all the details on its first network television show on Fox on Nov. 12. It's short term vs. long term. Boxing promoter Oscar De La Hoya understands that and had nothing but good things to say about the Fox deal.

"I congratulate Dana White for doing an amazing job," De La Hoya said. "My utmost respect to Dana White. I believe he's a brilliant guy. He's a tremendous guy to have in a combat sport."

There is no jealousy coming from DLH because he believes the Fox deal could pave the way for boxing to get back on network TV.

"I can feel very confident in saying that, sooner rather than later,  it will be back on network television," De La Hoya said. "When you put good fights together people want to watch, and when you have any type of network television behind boxing you will create good ratings."

De La Hoya said Golden Boy is working on taking those steps. Would boxing sacrifice HBO, Showtime and most importantly pay-per-view money to put free fights on network television? We'll see. Frankly, it's probably not up to the boxing promoters. Television executives will make the decision and they certainly need to be re-sold on the viability of the combat sport that was on network television until the early 80's.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Will-UFC-on-Fox-help-boxing-s-cause-De-La-Hoya-?urn=mma-wp7104

Cyril Abidi  Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah  Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama 

Alexis Vila?s long road to Bellator includes defection, prison

Alexis Vila?s long road to Bellator includes defection, prison

Cuban wrestler-turned-fighter Alexis Vila became a well-known name in MMA on Saturday, when he knocked out fellow world-class wrestler Joe Warren in the opening round of Bellator's bantamweight tournament. Before starting in MMA and putting together a 10-0, Vila's past includes an Olympic bronze medal, a world silver medal, a defection to the United States from Cuba and a stint in prison.

Vila was once part of Cuba's dominant freestyle wrestling team, winning a bronze at the 1996 Olympics. He defected to the U.S. in 1997, leaving behind his family and country, and began coaching at Michigan State where he worked with future UFC fighters Rashad Evans and Gray Maynard. Then, he got into a car accident that changed his life.

Just three years after September 11, Vila crashed his car into a terminal at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. No one was hurt, but authorities thought he was attempting a terrorist act and charged him with airport violence. He could have gone to prison for 20 years. Vila plead down for a three-year jail sentence.

He talked about his time in prison on the MMA Hour:

"I was in prison for three years," Vila said. "It's no good. I'm a little guy so people who don't know me try things all the time. So I fought a lot. They didn't believe that I could fight. I said when I get out and I fight I'm going to be the champ."

At five-foot-four, Vila doesn't have an imposing figure, but he does have the kind of cauliflower ear that can only be earned through years of brutal training. His tormentors in prison likely learned the same lesson as Warren did on Saturday night: You don't mess with a little man with a bad left hook.

Next, he'll take that striking and world-class wrestling to Arizona, where he'll fight Marcos Galvao in the Bellator semifinals on Oct. 22.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Alexis-Vila-s-long-road-to-Bellator-includes-def?urn=mma-wp7441

Alex Andrade  Jermaine Andrè  Yoji Anjo  Tank Abbott Hiroyuki Abe

Jones adds to trophy case, finishes ?Rampage? in fourth

Jones adds to trophy case, finishes ?Rampage? in fourthThe light heavyweight division should be extremely scared.

Jon Jones is still learning on the job, yet he's putting the division to shame. Jones schooled Quinton "Rampage" Jackson in every area of the game and finished the former champ via rear-naked choke at the 1:14 mark of the fourth round in the main event of UFC 135 in Denver.

This was Jones' first defense of the UFC light heavyweight title, a belt he won back in March by destroying another highly accomplished veteran in Mauricio "Shogun" Rua.

The 24-year-old Jones (14-1, 8-1 UFC - only loss via disqualification) has barely been threatened in nine UFC fights. Keep in mind, Jones started his MMA career just three and half years ago. His control of the fight Saturday night was awe-inspiring.

The veteran Jackson (32-9, 7-3 UFC) is still a very good fighter, but he never found a way to ward off the versatile attack coming from Jones.

"The goal was to prove we can strike with Quinton Jackson," Jones said. "He kind of insulted me saying I have no punching power. So my trainer Mike Winkeljohn cleaned up my striking to prove a point."

During the lead up to the fight, Jackson said Jones was all hype. After three-plus rounds of absorbing dozens of nasty kicks, punches and elbows as well as fighting off takedowns, mark down Jackson as a believer.

"I'm in the best shape of my life. I expected to be able to close the distance. I couldn't do it," Jackson said. "He's great guys. I thought it was hype. The kid is good. I have to take my hat off to him."

[Related: Phenom Jones outclasses Jackson at UFC 135]

Jones adds to trophy case, finishes ?Rampage? in fourth

When Jones references his striking, he's talking about his hands, which are still a work in progress. But there's no denying his kicking game is as dangerous as anyone who's ever stepped into a cage.

Over the first 15 minutes, Jones brutalized Rampage's lead leg with kicks to the inside and outside. By the fourth round, Jackson was limping badly.

In the opening seconds of the round, Jones showed off some of that improvement with his boxing by landing a left hook that hurt Jackson. The 33-year-old backed up to the cage and Jones took him down. Rampage was sitting up against the cage when Jones delivered a big knee to his chest. It had to knock the wind out of Jackson because he slumped to his side. He was there for the taking.

Jones worked him to his back and rolled it over. He slapped on a choke and Jackson tapped six seconds later.

"Before the fourth round, my corner felt he was starting to break a little bit, so we came out and finished the fight," said Jones.

[Related: After yet another thorough win, can anybody stop Jon Jones?]

Jones' kicks really set things up over the course of the first three rounds, but Jackson was quick to point out the champion's wrestling pedigree also made him hesitant to attack.

"Jon is a great wrestler so you don't want to take too many chances. Jon keeps his fingers in your face so it's hard to get close to him," Jackson said of Jones, who possesses an incredible 84-inch reach. "Jon is good. I'm telling you, the kid's here to stay. I don't know ... whoever he fights next, I don't know who's going to beat him. He had me mesmerized."

Jones adds to trophy case, finishes ?Rampage? in fourth

Up next is Jones' former training partner Rashad Evans. Evans, also a former UFC 205-pound champion, had a bitter split with Jones and their gym in Albuquerque, NM. earlier this year. The trash talking between the two has been going on for the better part of nine months. It should make for a dynamite promotion.

The fight itself? Like Rampage said, who knows? If Jones keep improving and adding to his arsenal with each fight, the guy who'll eventually beat him may be in junior high school right now.

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Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Jones-adds-to-trophy-case-finishes-Rampage-in?urn=mma-wp7288

Yoji Anjo  Tank Abbott Hiroyuki Abe Cyril Abidi  Daniel Acacio

?Rampage?-Jones prefight trash talk off to blazing start

Jon Jones is still learning on the job. Being a big star fighter and genuinely dumping on your opponent isn't easy. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson may not be the fighter he was in his twenties, but he's better than ever when it comes to delivering awesome lines to denigrate his opponent.

In a piece of marketing genius, the fighters appeared together on "The Jimmy Kimmel Show." Jackson stole the moment. That's not a rip on Jones, he's simply not seasoned enough and frankly, it's just not in his nature to trash talk in brash fashion.

Jones defends his UFC light heavyweight title belt against Jackson, a former 205-pound UFC champ, in Saturday's main event at UFC 135.

Jackson dropped some classic lines about Jones being cocky (1:04 mark). He also countered Jones talk about being a criminal justice major by saying he understands now why the young man would've been a great detective (2:40 mark). That was a thinly-veiled shot about the fighter's spygate scandal a few weeks back. Jackson's funniest material was about his mother not being welcomed at fights (3:12 mark).

SB Nation doesn't give Jones an out on this one. That site says Jones loses in these exchanges because he's a phony.

At today's final prefight presser, there were more contentious exchanges between champ and challenger.

"I'm glad Jon Jones is underestimating me. He'll be very surprised on Saturday. I think this is the best camp of my career because I was very motivated," Jackson said. "Muscle Farm had a great facility. It was state of the art. I haven't been this motivated in a long time."

Jones doesn't understand where the "underestimating" stuff is coming from.

" I'm positive that I've never stated that Rampage doesn't have the tools to beat me. Never did I say that in any interviews. He's a unified Champion and has knocked out some of the best in the world. I'm not underestimating Rampage at all. That would be a very, very ignorant thing for me to do, to underestimate somebody with such a great status," said Jones.

But he does believe older fighters are easier to beat because of accumulated damage.

"I think a big part of getting knocked out, it comes more and more with the older guys in the sport. Your ability to take punches goes away. I have a fresh chin. I have a fresh passion and a fresh heart and I think that's gonna get me out of a lot of things. I have a passion to not wanna get hit and because of how serious I take this sport, that's why my chin hasn't been tested. I put a lot of time in evading and movements," said Jones.

You can watch UFC 135 here on Yahoo! Sports

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/-Rampage-Jones-prefight-trash-talk-off-to-blazi?urn=mma-wp7109

Alex Andrade  Jermaine Andrè  Yoji Anjo  Tank Abbott Hiroyuki Abe

Reminder: Win tickets to UFC 135 from Edge and Cagewriter

Reminder: Win tickets to UFC 135 from Edge and CagewriterToday is your last chance to win tickets to UFC 135 from Edge Shave Gel. Here are the details: Visit Cagewriter's Facebook page, and like us. Then, post on our wall why you should have the Edge in getting to see the fights. We'll pick a random winner from the wall posts. Get your entry in by Thursday, Sept. 22 at noon ET. You also still have time to vote for the new face of Team Edge. Choose between Phil Davis, Chad Mendes, Brian Stann and Michael McDonald.

We'll announce the winner of the tickets to UFC 135 Thursday at 4 p.m. ET on the Cagewriter Facebook page. You have to be able to pick up tickets at the Pepsi Center Will Call with a picture ID. Good luck, and thank you for reading Cagewriter!

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Reminder-Win-tickets-to-UFC-135-from-Edge-and-C?urn=mma-wp7134

Thiago Alves  Andre Amade  Dean Amasinger  Jimmy Ambriz Matt Andersen 

First bouldering at Stanage Plantation, Derbyshire, UK

Location: Stanage Plantation Date: Sunday 27 July Sunday shone this weekend. A planned trip to the gym was quickly canned and instead we made a trip out to a new bouldering spot. After a recommendation that Stanage plantation had some good climbing (thanks Jonny!) we checked my bouldering guide book and set out. If you’re reading this wondering [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/rock-climbing-blog/~3/PAQVWyt9-Yc/philsheard

Jimmy Ambriz Matt Andersen  Alex Andrade  Jermaine Andrè  Yoji AnjoÂ