Cain Velasquez UFC Live Chat

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Cain VelasquezUFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez will chat live with MMAFighting.com readers on Thursday at 12 PM ET.

Velasquez has been out of action since winning the heavyweight title from Brock Lesnar at UFC 121, but he's getting ready to return to the Octagon against Junior dos Santos at UFC 139. Thursday's live chat is your chance to ask Velasquez about his progress in recovery from shoulder surgery, his training for dos Santos, and anything else you want to know.

Post your questions and read the heavyweight champion's answers below.

 

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Source: http://mmafighting.com/2011/08/25/cain-velasquez-ufc-live-chat/

Patrick The Predator Côté  Randy The Natural Couture  Dan Cramer Alberto Crane

Maui Sunset Cruises: The Perfect End to a Perfect Day

If you are looking for a spectacular finish to your tropical vacation, a Maui sunset dinner cruise is the perfect solution. Just imagine yourself sitting across the table from your favorite someone, enjoying a breathtaking Hawaiian sunset over tantalizing cuisine and live music. There is no better way to sit back and enjoy all the [...]

Source: http://www.prideofmaui.com/blog/cruises/maui-sunset-cruises-the-perfect-end-to-a-perfect-day.html

Gerard Gordeau Jonathan Goulet Wilson Gouveia Jason Grace

Duarte gets big win over Gurgel, Healy wins too at Strikeforce Challengers 18

Jorge Gurgel's been involved some of the best donnybrooks in recent memory. Tonight in Las Vegas, he tried a more measured approach but it backfired against a more precise striker in Joe Duarte. Duarte got the nod from all three judges, 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28, on his way to unanimous decision in the main of Strikeforce Challengers 18 in Las Vegas at the Palms Casino Resort.

Duarte (10-2) was expected to explode onto the scene back in 2008, but caught a bad draw on Season 8 of "The Ultimate Fighter" when he met Phillipe Nover in the round of 16 at lightweight. Nover, who eventually stormed to the finals of TUF 8, beat Duarte via choke and dumped him from the show. Twenty-five at the time, Duarte went back to work and rebuilt his reputation. Tonight, was a nice coming out party on Showtime in his Strikeforce debut.

Gurgel, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, decided to engage in a standup battle. Duarte took a few minutes to loosen up, but once he did he busted up Gurgel's face behind a solid jab. His counters with the right hook and uppercuts hurt Gurgel. Duarte also scored four takedowns in the fight to score with the judges.

Gurgel is 14-8 and 2-3 with Strikeforce. An alum of TUF 2, Gurgel also fought seven times for the UFC.

Healy has to work for win No. 27

At Thursdays weigh-in, Pat Healy looked like a giant standing in front of Eric Wisely. Most in attendance were expecting Healy, with 43 pro fights under his belt to manhandle his opponent, but that's not what Wisely had in mind. Healy won via unanimous decision, but Wisely made him work every step of the way.

For Healy it was his second straight win and he's now 7-2 at lightweight. The 28-year-old has turned the corner after toiling for a longtime at welterweight against a tough slate of opponents. His experienced came through tonight against Wisely, who was in constant motion the entire fight.

Healy used his size to get the fight to the ground in all three rounds. Once he got on top, he had massive trouble settling Wisely into a manageable position. In the first, Wisely threated with an armbar and Healy never really got off. The next round was Healy's best as he finally got to side control. In the final round, it was much of the same and Wisely fought hard from his back. Wisely is truly a featherweight, but he did enough against a big lightweight to warrant another shot with Zuffa.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Duarte-gets-big-win-over-Gurgel-Healy-wins-too-?urn=mma-wp5734

Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah  Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama 

Lorenzo Fertitta Eyeing Four UFC Events in Brazil for 2012

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RIO DE JANEIRO -- MMA Fighting spoke to UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta at Wednesday's UFC 134 media workouts, held at the Copacabana beach in Rio. Fertitta talked about the great response the UFC has received from fans and media leading up to the fight, plans to bring the UFC back to Brazil next year, the economic impact the event will have on the city and the organization's plans for the first UFC on FOX event in November.

 

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Source: http://mmafighting.com/2011/08/24/lorenzo-fertitta-eyeing-four-ufc-events-in-brazil-for-2012/

José Aldo  John Alessio  Houston Alexander Ricardo Almeida 

UFC reportedly has deal with FOX; Network has big press conference announcement set for Thursday

The rumor merry-go-round continues to twirl with regards to the UFC and a new television deal.

First it was the Wall Street Journal reporting that Zuffa (parent company to the UFC) was closing in on a deal with Comcast/NBC. Now Sport Business Daily says FOX has stepped up to grab the mixed martial arts giant in a package that could be worth as much as $90 million per year.

In what would represent a major push into the mainstream for the UFC, Fox has agreed to a deal that will see the broadcast channel air as many as four MMA events per year, according to several sources. The multiyear deal would mark the first time the UFC will have consistent airtime on a broadcast network. Fox execs refused to comment on the deal, but sources with knowledge of the negotiations said bidding had gone as high as $90M per year. The Fox deal is believed to be for seven or eight years.

UPDATE: John Ourand from SBJ tweeted that FOX has a major announcement on the way later this week.


UFC president Dana White wouldn't confirm the deal to MMAjunkie.

"You guys will know when we have a TV deal," said White.

White appeared with Yahoo! Sports' Kevin Iole on Friday's "MMA Insiders" on ESPNRadio1100/98.9 FM in Las Vegas.

"We do not have a deal. We're out there talking to everybody. When you're out there talking to everybody there's going to be lots of rumors," White said (19:10 mark). "In a perfect world, what would really work out great is if you could be on CBS and FOX and Comcast/NBC. Just like the NFL is. That would be the perfect world, but this sport has a lot of room to grow."

White has been very selective over the years with the UFC's programming partners.

"I will not do a dumb deal. We're not going to do a deal that doesn't make sense. We could've been the first mixed martial arts on network television, but none of the deals made sense," White said. "And as you saw all those guys [that were on network TV like EliteXC on CBS] ended up going out of business."

The UFC has been looking for a multi-platform deal. The promotion would like programming on network TV and several cable channels. Currently, it's running live fights and additional programming with preview shows and past fights on Spike and Versus. That will change in a deal with FOX.

As part of the deal, most of the weekly programming that UFC has on Versus and Spike TV will move to FX starting in January. That includes several fight cards, plus shows like the reality series "The Ultimate Fighter." Fox-owned Fuel also will wind up with some UFC content. But rumors that Fox will rebrand Fuel as a UFC channel are not true, sources said. Fox was attracted to UFC programming, which has produced some of the highest viewership figures ­-- and most attractive demos --­ on Versus and Spike TV.

According to SBJ, Viacom-owned Spike dropped out of the bidding because of lagging numbers:

The UFC's talks with Viacom-owned Spike ended before that. Sources said Spike ultimately passed over concern that its UFC shoulder programming stopped growing. Shows like "Unleashed," "Knockouts" and "Countdown" averaged 1 million viewers in '05. This year, they are averaging 492,000. Spike holds the rights to UFC library programming through '12, including old fights and shoulder programming such as "UFC Unleashed."

The most recent live event on Versus actually trended up at UFC on Versus 5.

UFC's Sunday night event in Milwaukee on Versus also drew 766,000 viewers from 9:00-11:09pm ET, marking the net's most-viewed program for the week ending August 14. That figure is up 3% from 744,000 viewers for the last UFC event on Versus on June 26.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/UFC-reportedly-has-deal-with-FOX-Network-has-bi?urn=mma-wp5963

Tiki Ghosn Dennis George Kultar Gill Allan Goes

UFC sounds ready to welcome back Henderson with possible fight at FOX/UFC debut

Dan Henderson's recent run has surprised many. When he left the UFC at the age of 39 to sign a deal with rival Strikeforce, there's was little chance he'd ever return to the bigger promotion. Never say never.

Hendo has put together an impressive win streak, is without a contract and the UFC is looking for a mega-fight to put on FOX. Henderson, now 41, may be in the right place at the right time. Reading this interview with Brazil's Tatame, UFC owner Lorenzo Fertitta is sounds excited for a Henderson return:

What do you expect from UFC on FOX's first edition [Nov. 12]? Do you already have a main event set?

We don't have a main event set yet, we'll find out probably after this Saturday, these fights in Rio, then we'll set a main event. But it'll be something big. It'll be a big fight.

We reported this Monday that Anderson Silva could put his middleweight title on the line against Dan Henderson, one he beats Yushin Okami?

I would love to do that. Anderson just needs a win.

Silva defends his UFC middleweight title this weekend against Yushin Okami in Brazil at UFC 134.

Henderson is coming off three straight devastating Strikeforce wins over Fedor Emelianenko, Renato "Babalu" Sobral and Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante. The Fedor fight was at heavyweight while the Feijao/Babalu bouts were at 205 pounds.

Henderson is a small light heavyweight and it appears Zuffa would love to see him back in the mix at 185 pounds. Henderson (28-8, 5-2 UFC) fought Silva at UFC 82 on 2008. The former Greco-Roman Olympic wrestler dominated Silva in the first round, then strayed from his gameplan in the second and was choked out by the champ.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/UFC-sounds-ready-to-welcome-back-Henderson-with-?urn=mma-wp6171

José Aldo  John Alessio  Houston Alexander Ricardo Almeida 

Stephan Bonnar to Meet Kyle Kingsbury at UFC 139 in San Jose

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Just about a week after the completion of the card he was supposed to fight on, Stephan Bonnar has a new date for his return.

Bonnar will fight Kyle Kingsbury in a light heavyweight bout at UFC 139 in November. The UFC announced the fight on Tuesday.

UFC 139 is scheduled for Nov. 19 in San Jose and features a main event heavyweight title fight between champion Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos.

Bonnar (13-7, 7-6 UFC) was scheduled to meet Karlos Vemola at UFC on Versus 5 in Milwaukee earlier this month, but had to pull out in June with a Grade II tear of his MCL. After a three-fight skid, Bonnar has won two straight. He won his rematch with Krzysztof Soszynski at UFC 116 by TKO in a Fight of the Night performance. And he dominated Igor Pokrajac for a unanimous decision win at the TUF 12 Finale last December.

Bonnar, the TUF 1 light heavyweight runner-up to Forrest Griffin, has made some waves the last six months or so with a line of shirts started by his company, NGauge Inc., called Trash Talkin' Kids. The shirts featured cartoon representations of UFC fighters, including Josh Koscheck - which Koscheck threatened a lawsuit over. The shirts have been shelved in favor of a new brand, Punch Buddies. But Bonnar and Koscheck, housemates on TUF 1, have traded barbs through social media. When Koscheck announced Monday he was moving to middleweight to fight at UFC 139, there was speculation that Bonnar might drop down to fight him. But instead, they'll have to share the same card - just probably not the same locker room.

Kingsbury (11-2, 1 NC, 4-1 UFC), a product of Season 8 of "The Ultimate Fighter," has won four straight in the UFC after losing his debut to Tom Lawlor at the TUF 8 Finale. His decision wins over Jared Hamman at Fight Night 22 and Fabio Maldonado at the TUF 13 Finale in June were both Fight of the Night winners.

The fight will be a homecoming for Kingsbury, who went to high school in the San Jose suburb of Cupertino, where he wrestled and played football. He was a walk-on for Arizona State's football team. He lives and trains in San Jose.

UFC 139 will take place at the HP Pavilion and will be the UFC's debut in the city, which is about 40 miles south of San Francisco. Aside from the heavyweight title fight and Koscheck's return to middleweight, UFC 139 is expected to feature a bantamweight contenders bout between former champions Brian Bowles and Urijah Faber.

 

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Source: http://mmafighting.com/2011/08/23/stephan-bonnar-to-meet-kyle-kingsbury-at-ufc-139-in-san-jose/

Cody Guinn Jorge Gurgel Andre Gusmao Alexander Gustafsson

Figueroa, Volkmann early winners at UFC on Versus 5

MILWAUKEE -- Jacob Volkmann and Edwin Figueroa took early victories at the UFC on Versus 5 card at the Bradley Center on Sunday night.

Volkmann wins decision

Jacob Volkmann took a grappling filled-decision on the second fight of the card, earning 29-28 on all three judges cards.

Castillo set the tone early in the first round with leg kicks, but then Volkmann stopped them with a takedown directly into a tight choke. Somehow, Castillo escaped. They returned to their feet, and Castillo hit Volkmann with a nasty kick to the ribs.

The second round was dominated by wrestling. Volkmann stopped Castillo's takedown attempt, and though Castillo showed flashes of control, Volkmann controlled. Again, he twisted Castillo into a choke, but was unable to finish before the fight ended.

Volkmann's wrestling again dominated the third, as did his inability to apply a proper choke. He finished out the fight in definite control, but at the same time, his lack of finishing power was showcased.

This win marks Volkmann's fourth in a row, while the loss stops a winning streak for Castillo.

Figueroa gets TKO

After a bizarre start to the fight, Edwin Figueroa took over for a TKO.

Early in the first round, Reinhardt motioned for Figueroa to engage, the Texan did that, cracking Reinhardt with a knee and then grabbing him in a guillotine. Reinhardt responded by getting out and taking Figueroa's back, but he was unable to secure a choke. That allowed Figueroa to come back with strong striking and finish the round out in control.

In the second, Figueroa took over, quickly securing full mount. He finished with a bevy of punches, ending the bout just 50 seconds into second round. This is Figueroa's first win in the Octagon, as he lost his UFC debut to Michael McDonald.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Figueroa-Volkmann-early-winners-at-UFC-on-Versu?urn=mma-wp5803

Todd Duffee  Marvin Eastman  Stav Crazy Bear Economou  Yves EdwardsÂ