White video scrum: Henderson and Le wanted to be in the UFC, Showtime?s deadline is quickly approaching

The defection of Strikeforce fighters to the UFC was inevitable, but even the most cynical MMA viewer has to admit it's happening at an accelerated pace.

Cung Le is gone from Strikeforce and slated for a fight in San Jose at UFC 139 against Wanderlei Silva. Dan Henderson just left the promotion as well to headline that same UFC card against Mauricio "Shogun" Rua.

Strikeforce, purchased by Zuffa back in March, has now lost its heavyweight, light heavyweight and welterweight champions to the UFC. How much longer is Showtime interested in broadcasting a promotion that's losing all its big stars?

"It depends on whether they want to seriously stay in the business, in the mixed martial arts business," White told the gathered media following the UFC 135 prefight press conference. "There's a deadline on the deal. [...] I think it's another month [they need to decide] if they want to be in the business."

White said the problem with smaller promotions is their desire to get a television deal come hell or high water.

"Everybody that comes into this business thinks pay-per-view or free TV is the answer, is the Holy Grail, it's the answer to everybody's problems. [Expletive]. Either one of those two things will put you out of business. They get into these bad deals with companies, and next thing you know, you're $30 million in the whole," White said. "I would classify everybody who's done a television deal out there besides us has done a bad deal. Everyone."

As far as Le and Henderson, White said in matter-of-fact fashion that both wanted to fight in the UFC. He also called the Rua-Henderson match up a great fight and that the winner is probably in line for the next 205-pound title shot after Rashad Evans gets his crack.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/White-video-scrum-Henderson-and-Le-wanted-to-be?urn=mma-wp7143

Cyril Abidi  Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah  Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama 

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

Video picks: Koscheck vs. Hughes, a fight the fans deserve

Josh Koscheck finally got Matt Hughes. It's a fight he wanted two or three years ago, but claims Hughes ducked him and all of his American Kickboxing Academy teammates (Jon Fitch and Mike Swick). Now Koscheck wants a piece of Hughes' hide for what he calls a lack of respect.

"Matt Hughes definitely disrespected me when he called me a kid. I'm a lot younger than him, I'm a lot faster and a lot stronger, I'm a better fighter than him," Koscheck said of the 38-year-old Hughes. "The new kid on the block is going to come up and take out the old man."

Aside from personal reasons, Koscheck. 33, thinks this is a fight that fans have been yearning for:

"Fighting Matt Hughes is a good comeback fight for me," he said. "I think the fans deserved this fight a long time ago, and now we're getting the opportunity to do it," said Koscheck.

Check out ProMMARadio's Larry Pepe and Damon Martin from MMAWeekly as we break down the fight on RawVegas.tv using the Las Vegas betting odds. Koscheck is a minus-600 favorite, while Hughes fetches plus-400 as an underdog.

You can watch UFC 135 right here on Yahoo! Sports

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Video-picks-Koscheck-vs-Hughes-a-fight-the-fa?urn=mma-wp7114

Andre Amade  Dean Amasinger  Jimmy Ambriz Matt Andersen  Alex Andrade 

UFC 135 postfight: Hunt, Jones, Seagal, and Hughes

UFC 135 postfight: Hunt, Jones, Seagal, and Hughes

It was a night that possessed a little bit of everything in Denver at UFC 135.

There was another impressive performance by the young UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jones, plus he brought some sanity to the world of Steven Seagal. We witnessed what was probably the sad end to Matt Hughes' career, a big upset from a guy who the UFC tried to pay to stay away and stamina issues in the high altitude.

- Jones, and his opponent Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, earned an extra $70,000 for Fight of the Night. Josh Koscheck got the same for Knockout of the Night and Nate Diaz pocketed the extra cash for the Submission of the Night.

- Fighting on just 19 days notice, Koscheck took out Matt Hughes. It was the second straight time Hughes lost via first round KO/TKO. His 38th birthday is less than three weeks away and he's got nothing left to prove. Hughes has plenty of money and will always be taken care of by Dana White and the UFC. White thinks it's just a matter of time before the former welterweight king officially says he's done.

"I think he's going to retire. I just don't think Hughes wants to use the word retire," White said during the UFC 135 press conference. "I just talked to him out in the hallway and he's going to fly out to Las Vegas (home of UFC's corporate offices) in the next month or so, and sit down and talk. I'm pretty sure he's going to hang it up."

UFC 135 postfight: Hunt, Jones, Seagal, and Hughes- Steven Seagal has become a strange character around these big UFC events.

He worked a bit with Anderson Silva and Lyoto Machida before they scored big knockout victories earlier this year. Following those wins, the 59-year-old Seagal surprisingly claimed he taught the fighters their slick finishing moves. Silva and Machida were gracious and let the old guy soak in some attention.

Jones, another fighter who can produce those highlight reel finishes, took a different approach with Seagal. He spoke to the 7th-dan degree black belt in Aikido, who asked if he could come visit Jones in the locker room on fight night.

"I didn't think that would be a good idea. My training staff works very hard on me and I'm their prodigy. I wouldn't want to disrespect them by welcoming in someone's else master into our room, our house, our family," explained Jones.

- White made it point to mention that he brought Mark Hunt to press conference. With his upset win over Ben Rothwell, the New Zealander has now won two straight with the UFC.

Hunt's story is pretty cool. The UFC owed Hunt fights because he was carryover from the PRIDE deal in 2008. The promotion offered to pay Hunt, who was just 5-6 at the time, to stay home. Hunt insisted he wouldn't take the money unless he fought for it.

"I give him all the respect and credit in the world," White said. "I'm glad that he opted to come over here and fight, and I'm proud that he fought in the UFC."

Hunt fought in Japan at 290 pounds. With the help of the American Top Team camp in south Florida, he re-worked his body down into the 260's.

- Quinton Jackson seemed to take the loss in stride.

"It is what it is. I trained really hard. I can't beat myself up," Jackson said. "I'm disappointed because I wanted to make my boxing coach [proud]. I wanted to be his first world champion. Other than that, I'm just happy because I made a lot of money," Jackson said with a big smile.

- Following the victory in the cage, Jones said that Rashad Evans had ruined his moment for a second straight time. Halfway through the presser, Jones was blunt in responding to a question about what he said.

"I don't want to talk about Rashad today," said Jones.

He did open up a bit at the close of the presser when asked about Evans knowing his secrets because they trained together.

"I will say this about Rashad, he does not have my number. He's not even close to having my number. Me and Rashad, we sparred a few times and every time we sparred, I know what could've happened," Jones said. "He talks about one day at practice where he held me down and he lives that day in his head every day. So, we'll see."

- White snapped back when told about rumors that Jones and Evans could meet as early as Dec. 10 in the main event of UFC 140 in Toronto. He said there's no way that's happening, but promised to deliver a great main event.

UFC 135 postfight: Hunt, Jones, Seagal, and Hughes

- Nate Diaz spoke repeatedly about fighting Takanori Gomi in a controlled manner. He didn't want to get caught by the Japanese knockout artist. White raved about Diaz's performance, but laughed at the assertion that the fighter fought conservatively.

"If that was playing it safe, I can't wait until he goes crazy," joked White. "He punched from the minute the belt rang until the end when he finished it. He was in his face, stalked him and put it to him."

- White raved about the Denver crowd inside the Pepsi Center saying it got so loud his ears actually hurt. He said the promotion will return, but was non-committal on when.

- Speaking of returns, Jackson reiterated his desire to fight in Japan next February when the UFC goes back there for the first time since 2000. White said every guy who used to fight in Japan and just about everyone who's never fought there has asked to be on the card.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/UFC-135-postfight-Hunt-Jones-Seagal-and-Hugh?urn=mma-wp7316

Jimmy Ambriz Matt Andersen  Alex Andrade  Jermaine Andrè  Yoji Anjo 

Featherweight Erik Koch brings GTL to the UFC

Erik Koch is from Cedar Rapids, Iowa and trains in Milwaukee, Wisc. Neither place is known for its sunshine, so Koch's George Hamilton-esque tan was noticed by reporters at the Ultimate Fight Night 25 open workouts.

At least he admits that the tan is not au natural, though someone should break it to Koch that a glass of milk is a way better source of vitamin D.

Koch will face "The Ultimate Fighter" winner Jonathan Brookins on Saturday. He was supposed to face Cub Swanson at UFC 132, but Swanson pulled out due to an injury. Koch is coming into this fight on a three-fight win streak. His one loss under the Zuffa banner is to Chad Mendes on a fight that Koch took on short notice.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Featherweight-Erik-Koch-brings-GTL-to-the-UFC?urn=mma-wp6932

Yoshihiro Akiyama  Gilbert Aldana  José Aldo  John Alessio  Houston Alexander