Filed under: Bellator
Alexis Vila earned by far the biggest victory of his mixed martial arts career when he knocked out Bellator featherweight champion Joe Warren in the first round of the promotion's bantamweight tournament. For Vila, it was an achievement that had special meaning because of everything he's been through on his way to making his mark in MMA, at the age of 40. Vila was a bronze medalist in wrestling at the 1996 Olympics, when he represented his native Cuba. A year later he defected to the United States and began exploring the possibility of becoming a professional fighter -- but that process was nearly derailed when he was sent to prison for three years after what he says was an accident, but the authorities labeled a terrorist act. In an appearance on The MMA Hour, Vila described how his prison experience motivated him to make something of himself in MMA. "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." In 2004 Vila crashed his SUV into a crowded terminal at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. No one was hurt, and Vila has always maintained that it was simply an accident. But authorities initially believed Vila had committed a terrorist act, and charged Vila with committing airport violence, a felony that could have put him in prison for 20 years. He eventually pleaded guilty in exchange for a lesser sentence. Even before that incident, Vila had been through a lot. He still struggles with his decision to leave his family and his country behind in 1997. "My dad is really sick over there but there's nothing I can do. I can only send money, not visit," Vila said. "I tell my mom, I send money so you guys can have a better life." If Vila wins his next two fights and is crowned the Bellator tournament champion, he'll have a lot more money to send back home. After all he's been through, that's what motivates Vila.
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Source: http://mmafighting.com/2011/09/27/defection-prison-weigh-heavily-on-alexis-vila/
Tank Abbott Hiroyuki Abe Cyril Abidi Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah
The UFC's schedule is intense right now. UFC 135 comes later this week. With Ultimate Fight Night 25 and UFC 134 in the rear mirror, it gave Dana White a chance to catch the fans up on what happened in his first UFC 135 vlog.
The UFC president's personal videographer Eliot shot a lot of behind-the-scenes footage of fighters shortly after their fights at UFN 25. There's awesome exchanges between winner Matt Riddle and loser Lance Benoist as well as Shamar Bailey and Evan Dunham (4:35).
Any chance White thought this was a good time to put MMA sportsmanship on display because of what just happened with Floyd Mayweather and Victor Ortiz? He says, no. Either way, it's a good showcase for MMA.
Also check out the beginning of the hype for UFC 135's title fight between Jon Jones and Quinton Jackson. Someone from MMA Meltdown radio show in Denver asked the timeless prefight question about when the UFC would be coming back to the city? For some reason, that sent "Rampage" rolling off the stage in laughter.
You can watch UFC 135 here on Yahoo! Sports
Cyril Abidi Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama

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.
Other popular stories on Yahoo! Sports:
? Mr. Automatic: Rivera ties career saves record
? Foster expected to play Sunday vs. Miami
? Former NBA player's embarrassing car sales pitch
Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama Gilbert Aldana
Thunder is doing a collaboration with Hobo Wine and Dylan Rieder. Learn all about it here.
Source: http://theskateboardmag.com/blogs/templeton-elliott/2011/09/23/thunder-x-dylan-x-hobo-wine/
Gilbert Aldana José Aldo John Alessio Houston Alexander Ricardo Almeida

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.
Other popular stories on Yahoo! Sports:
? Mr. Automatic: Rivera ties career saves record
? Foster expected to play Sunday vs. Miami
? Former NBA player's embarrassing car sales pitch
Matt Andersen Alex Andrade Jermaine Andrè Yoji Anjo Tank Abbott
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
Alex Andrade Jermaine Andrè Yoji Anjo Tank Abbott Hiroyuki Abe
The Euro contingent of Nike SB hits Sardegna on the Textrure Tour. See the article in A Brief Glance #8.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MostlySkateboarding/~3/gyIBAajQtik/texture-tour-in-sadegna.html
Eddie Alvarez Thiago Alves Andre Amade Dean Amasinger Jimmy Ambriz