Inside Nippon Top Team: Kitaoka, Kawajiri and Otsuka Train for DREAM.17

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In 2008, three of the most ruthless grapplers in MMA, DREAM champion Shinya Aoki, former Sengoku champion Satoru Kitaoka and two-time Deep champion Masakazu Imanari, founded Nippon Top Team.

Three years, and a host of brutal submission victories later, a significant number of top fighters and former foes have joined the quirky trio to make Nippon Top Team the most star-studded team in Japanese MMA.

MMA Fighting was allowed inside the doors of Nippon Top Team to capture Satoru Kitaoka mercilessly piledrive and submit his sparring partner, a slimmed down Tatsuya Kawajiri prepare for his featherweight debut and Takafumi Otsuka work his wrestling with former Shooto champion Hideki Kadowaki, all in preparation for their respective bouts at DREAM.17 on Sept. 24.

 

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Source: http://mmafighting.com/2011/09/22/inside-nippon-top-team-kitaoka-kawajiri-and-otsuka-train-for-d/

Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama  Gilbert Aldana  José Aldo  John Alessio 

Jon Jones Calls Rampage Jackson a 'Mr. T Wannabe'

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DENVER -- MMA fighting spoke to Jon Jones on Thursday about his UFC 135 title fight against Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, his new beard, going on a media tour with Jackson, some of the criticism he's received as of late, Jackson's issues with him, how he sees this fight playing out and more.

 

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Source: http://mmafighting.com/2011/09/22/jon-jones-calls-rampage-jackson-a-mr-t-wannabe/

Eddie Alvarez Thiago Alves  Andre Amade  Dean Amasinger  Jimmy Ambriz

You tell us: What to do with Luke Rockhold?

You tell us: What to do with Luke Rockhold?

Luke Rockhold was one-fourth of American Kickboxing Academy's dominant evening at Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Kharitonov. He predicted an AKA sweep, then delivered with a five-round decision win over Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza to win Strikeforce's middleweight belt.

But what does that belt mean? After Strikeforce was purchased by the UFC, the promotion's future is hazy. Some of Strikeforce's biggest stars, like Alistair Overeem, Nick Diaz and Cung Le, have been cherry-picked by the UFC. With a talent pool that gets shallower with every UFC signing, what would you do with Rockhold?

Give him a bout with Tim Kennedy: He lost his last title shot, but since dropping a tight decision to Jacare, Kennedy won a decision over Robbie Lawler. He seems to be the most likely fighter to Rockhold in Strikeforce, and Rockhold told Cagewriter that he would be open to this fight.

Grant Jacare's wish for a rematch: At the post-fight press conference, Souza said he wanted to fight Rockhold again. This is not a surprise, considering how close Saturday's bout was. Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker was open to the idea, but wouldn't commit either way. Rockhold said that he would like to see Jacare win another fight before a rematch.

Ship him to the UFC: At 26, Rockhold is young, talented and hasn't lost since 2007. Should he really spend the best years of his career languishing in Strikeforce, the promotion that Mo Lawal called a dying cancer patient? Rockhold told Cagewriter that he isn't quite ready for a fight with Anderson Silva, but he would love to get tested in the UFC.

So what would you do with Rockhold, Cagereaders? Tell us in the comments or on Facebook.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/You-tell-us-What-to-do-with-Luke-Rockhold-?urn=mma-wp6849

Tank Abbott Hiroyuki Abe Cyril Abidi  Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah 

Exclusive pictures from Ultimate Fight Night 25

Check out Tracy Lee's exclusive pictures from Ultimate Fight Night 25 in New Orleans. See Jake Ellenberger's quick win,  Alan Belcher's return and more from the UFC's first trip to Louisiana.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Exclusive-pictures-from-Ultimate-Fight-Night-25?urn=mma-wp7032

Ricardo Almeida  Eddie Alvarez Thiago Alves  Andre Amade  Dean Amasinger 

Dana White Talks UFC 135, Boxing Controversy and Spike Airing Bellator

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DENVER -- MMA Fighting spoke to Dana White following Wednesday's UFC 135 press conference about a whole host of topics: Jon Jones popularity, whether Jones has changed since winning the belt, Jackson's spying accusations, Matt Hughes' future, working with Nate Diaz, the Nick Diaz-BJ Penn fight, the bizarre conclusion of the Floyd Mayweather-Victor Ortiz boxing match, Larry Merchant's post-fight interview with Mayweather, Spike.com airing Bellator prelims and why he gave Wanderlei Silva another shot.

 

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Source: http://mmafighting.com/2011/09/21/dana-white-talks-ufc-135-boxing-controversy-and-spike-airing-be/

Jimmy Ambriz Matt Andersen  Alex Andrade  Jermaine Andrè  Yoji Anjo 

Free clips for Chris Sharma ?King Lines? climbing video?

Interested in downloading high-quality clips of Chris Sharma climbing? Today I checked out the website for Chris Sharma’s King Lines movie - and there’s a new addition! Early versions of the DVD didn’t feature all of the extras properly, so the website features downloadable clips from the extras. This won’t replace the need to buy the DVD, but [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/rock-climbing-blog/~3/v-YQWecn-lk/philsheard

Matt Andersen  Alex Andrade  Jermaine Andrè  Yoji Anjo  Tank Abbott