Strikeforce?s Three Stars: Cormier, Lawal and Mein

Strikeforce?s Three Stars: Cormier, Lawal and Mein

Who stood out from the thrilling card delivered by Strikeforce on Saturday night in Cincinnati? Read Cagewriter's picks, then tell us your stars in the comments or on Facebook.

No. 1 star -- Daniel Cormier: When Strikeforce announced the heavyweight Grand Prix, did you ever expect that one of the finalists would be Cormier? The two-time Olympian was given a golden opportunity when Alistair Overeem left the tournament. Cormier seized the moment, knocking out the much larger Antonio Silva in the first round. Unfortunately, he injured his hand in the process. The timing of his finals bout against Josh Barnett will depend on the severity of the injury.

No. 2 star -- "King Mo" Lawal: After a layoff of more than a year, Lawal showed no signs of injury or ring rust, knocking out Roger Gracie in the first round. After the win, he said he is interested in going after the Strikeforce light heavyweight belt again, but not if it's a bout to win a vacant belt. Lawal and Cormier's wins were part of the 4-0 night by American Kickboxing Academy.

No. 3 star -- Jordan Mein: One of the best performances of the evening was on the preliminary card, as Bas Rutten-trained Mein took out Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos. With his father in his corner, the 21-year-old Mein handled Santos' leg and body kicks before unloading a flurry of strikes on Santos' face in the third round and then finishing with five right elbows.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Strikeforce-s-Three-Stars-Cormier-Lawal-and-Me?urn=mma-wp6833

Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah  Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama  Gilbert Aldana 

?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

Thiago Alves  Andre Amade  Dean Amasinger  Jimmy Ambriz Matt Andersen 

UFC 135 Videos: Jon Jones vs. ?Rampage? Jackson, Josh Koscheck vs. Matt Hughes Highlights

ESPN has highlight videos from last night's UFC 135 event, where UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones dominated Quinton "Rampage" Jackson before scoring a fourth-round submission and welterweight contender Josh Koscheck knocked out UFC hall of famer Matt Hughes at the last-second of the opening round.

Source: http://mmafrenzy.com/24484/ufc-135-videos-jon-jones-vs-rampage-jackson-josh-koscheck-vs-matt-hughes-highlights/

Jimmy Ambriz Matt Andersen  Alex Andrade  Jermaine Andrè  Yoji Anjo 

Koch takes UFN 25 decision over TUF winner Brookins

Koch takes UFN 25 decision over TUF winner Brookins

Erik Koch took a unanimous decision win at Ultimate Fight Night 25 over "The Ultimate Fighter" winner Jonathan Brookins. Koch won the fight 30-27, 29-28, 30-27 on the judges cards.

Koch was strong in the first round, landing more strikes and controlling Brookins against the fence. After Koch got the better of Brookins in striking in the second round, Brookins tried for a takedown. He had a hard time bringing the fight to the ground and when he did, Koch landed on top of him. They worked back to their feet, where Koch landed leg kicks. Brookins finally got the takedown in the final minute of the second, but was not able to do much with it except take knees from Koch as they returned to their feet.

Koch continued to win the striking game in the third round, as he stuck to the game plan of punch-punch-kick and using his speed to throw Brookins off. He also continued to be successful in holding off Brookins' takedown attempts.

A one-time WEC fighter, Koch has rattled off four straight wins. His record is now 13-1, with the lone loss coming to Chad Mendes. Brookins, who won the 12th season of TUF, falls to 12-4. His last previous loss was to featherweight champ Jose Aldo.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Koch-takes-UFN-25-decision-over-TUF-winner-Brook?urn=mma-wp6989

Andre Amade  Dean Amasinger  Jimmy Ambriz Matt Andersen  Alex Andrade 

Takeya Mizugaki 'Exploded With Emotions' After Knockout Win

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DENVER -- MMA Fighting caught up with Takeya Mizugaki after his second-round TKO against Cole Escovedo at UFC 135. Mizugaki discussed if this was his best UFC performance so far, his post-fight celebration and if he wants to fight next when the UFC returns to Japan early next year .

 

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Source: http://mmafighting.com/2011/09/25/takeya-mizugaki-exploded-with-emotions-after-knockout-win/

Yoji Anjo  Tank Abbott Hiroyuki Abe Cyril Abidi  Daniel Acacio

The ?24 hours of MMA? begins tonight with HDNet?s Titan Fighting

Football has to take a back seat this weekend. That's not entirely true, but it has some company with a jam--packed fight weekend. Outside of short break Saturday morning, there's live fighting on television from tonight at 10 p.m. ET until late Saturday night/Sunday morning.

The ?24 hours of MMA? begins tonight with HDNet?s Titan Fighting

Titan Fighting 20 - Kansas City (Friday 10 p.m. ET)

Brett Rogers make his return after serious issues outside the cage to fight UFC veteran Eddie Sanchez. Former lightweight WEC champ Jamie Varner is also back.

Strikeforce Challengers 19 - Las Vegas (Showtime 11 p.m. ET/PT)

The card features prospects like Lavar Johnson and Lorenz Larkin. Ryan Couture and veteran Jason High are also on the televised portion live from the Pearl at the Palms in Las Vegas.

The ?24 hours of MMA? begins tonight with HDNet?s Titan Fighting

DREAM 17 - Saitama, Japan (HDNet Saturday 3 a.m. ET/Midnight PT)

DREAM's had a light slate in 2011, but returns with a great card. It features the quarterfinals of a bantamweight tournament headlined by Bibiano Fernandez, Abe Cullum and Hideo Tokoro. Former WEC 135-pound contender Antonio Banuelos (18-7, 8-4 WEC) also makes his DREAM debut. Other feature fights include Shinya Aoki vs. Rob McCullough and Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Joachim Hansen. Gerald Harris, Ikuhisa "Minowaman" Minowa and Caol Uno are also fighting.

UFC 135 preliminary fights -Denver (Facebook 5:30 p.m. ET)

Junior Assuncao vs. Eddie Yagin
Takeya Mizugaki vs. Cole Escovedo
James Te Huna vs. Ricardo Romero

Bellator 51 prelims - Canton, OH (Spike 7 p.m. ET)

UFC 135 undercard fights -Denver (Spike 8 p.m. ET)

Tony Ferguson vs. Aaron Riley
Nick Ring vs. Tim Boetsch

The ?24 hours of MMA? begins tonight with HDNet?s Titan Fighting

Bellator 51 main card - Canton, OH (MTV2 9 p.m. ET)

Like DREAM, Bellator has its own 135 tournament kicking off. Joe Warren, the promotion's 145-pound champion, begins his quest for the bantamweight title as well. If he wins the tournament, he'll get a date with champion Zach Makovsky.

Joe Warren vs. Alexis Vila
Wilson Reis vs. Eduardo Dantas
Chase Beebe vs. Marcos Galvao
Ed West vs. Luis Nogueira

UFC 135 main card (pay-per-view 9 p.m. ET)

Jon Jones vs. Quinton Jackson
Matt Hughes vs. Josh Koscheck
Travis Browne vs. Rob Broughton
Nate Diaz vs. Takanori Gomi
Ben Rothwell vs. Mark Hunt

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/The-24-hours-of-MMA-begins-tonight-with-HDNet-?urn=mma-wp7164

Hiroyuki Abe Cyril Abidi  Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah  Terrance Aflague

Shore Break, Toy, Palace, Dakine, Tim Tim, and Theotis Videos

Shore Break Baby has some sick random footage from the crew. Toy Machine has a new Video Drone with Collin Provost. Palace has a teaser for their new video Tres Trill. Dakine has an Ad Day video with Andrew Cannon. Chad Tim Tim takes his Travel Well cruiser out on the town. Kenny Hoyle joins Theotis Beasley for a sponsor me video review.

Source: http://theskateboardmag.com/blogs/templeton-elliott/2011/09/22/shore-break-toy-palace-dakine-tim-tim-and-theotis-videos/

Ricardo Almeida  Eddie Alvarez Thiago Alves  Andre Amade  Dean Amasinger 

Short break re-energizes Pellegrino, comes out of retirement to fight ?Pitbull? in Bellator

Short break re-energizes Pellegrino, comes out of retirement to fight ?Pitbull? in Bellator

Kurt Pellegrino is a complex character. He always has been and always will be, so to no one's surprise the 32-year-old lightweight is coming out of his short-lived retirement to fight Patricky "Pitbull" Freire in November at Bellator 59.

Pellegrino fought 11 times for the UFC before deciding to walk away from the sport in late May.

"It's hard to make a decision like this, but I feel its best for me to step away for now and time will tell what the future will bring for me," Pellegrino wrote on his website. "I don't want to retire, but I need to find myself and find my love for this sport again. Hopefully you will see me in the cage again, but if not thanks to everyone for the memories, it's been an awesome ride."

The three and half months off did wonders for Pellegrino.

"I started working out again real hard," Pellegrino told MMAjunkie. "The summer has been amazing. I fell in love again with the sport. I had some demons. I had to kind of just walk away and be with my family for once."

The fight taking place 70 miles down the Garden State Parkway from his home in Pt. Pleasant, N.J. sealed the deal.

"I have an opportunity to fight for Bellator in my backyard where I started this whole game," Pellegrino said. "I started fighting in Atlantic City. I won two championship belts in Atlantic City."

Freire and his brother Patricio, both nicknamed "Pitbull" have emerged as two of Bellator's bigger stars over the last year or so. Pellegrino, who's been in there with guys like Joe Stevenson, Nate Diaz, George Sotiropoulos and Gleison Tibau, is a great litmus test for Pitbull (9-2). Freire is 2-1 with Bellator, posting wins over Toby Imada and Rob McCullough. He lost a decision to former Missouri wrestler Michael Chandler in the most recent Bellator lightweight tournament final.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Short-break-re-energizes-Pellegrino-comes-out-o?urn=mma-wp6844

Matt Andersen  Alex Andrade  Jermaine Andrè  Yoji Anjo  Tank Abbott