Tyron Woodley on Nate Marquardt?s use of testosterone and preparing for their bout

For his return to Strikeforce and championship bout with Tyron Woodley, Nate Marquardt said he is off the testosterone replacement therapy that led to his firing from the UFC. The one person who will be affected by Marquardt's hormone levels is his opponent on July 14.

But Woodley doesn't know if Marquardt is telling the truth, and doesn't care.

"It doesn't matter to me. I don't play into if he is or not. To me, a guy that's been on it his whole career, I think it's very hard to jump off that stuff," Woodley said to Cagewriter.

"Your body becomes dependent on it. If you bring in testosterone outside your body, it probably stops producing it because it thinks you're going to get it from the outside. Whether he's on it or not, I'm winning this fight. It's not going to be a factor."

With the Strikeforce welterweight belt on the line, Woodley says the stakes are high for Marquardt. Why would he change now?

"Be honest. When you have a fight this big, and it's for the world title, and you've been on it for your whole career, you're going to come off when it's for the marbles? I just don't know about that."

Woodley was surprised when he heard Marquardt call him a boring wrestler.

"I remember his agent and my agent making a fuss about an interview I did. Actually had an interview pulled because I talked about testosterone. I said to those guys, people are going to ask me about it. I'm going to give them my honest reply. When I'm asked if I think he's going to be on it, I said yeah. It made it seem like 10 seconds of the interview was the entire interview. But then I saw an interview he gave, and he called me a  boring wrestler. So it's OK for you to put out stuff where you're slinging mud, but I put out an interview, and I'm just stating facts. You tested positive three times. I'm not drawing something out of air. If they ask me a question. I'm going to answer it."

Marquardt's testosterone levels will not affect what the 10-0 Woodley will do in their bout.

"I have to prepare as if I'm fighting a robot. He's shown he's not going to give up. He'll stick in there and try to fight, try to win. I think his experience is the only real threat. He's been in there and faced a lot of top guys."

Woodley's plan for his first five-round bout is to keep up his energy throughout.

"I've got to be able to do damage five rounds, for five minutes. Every minute of the round, I've got to be active. I've got to open look for openings, opportunities. I watched a couple of his fights, but outside that, I'm working on myself."

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/tyron-woodley-nate-marquardt-testosterone-preparing-bout-123113674--mma.html

Bernard Ackah  Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama  Gilbert Aldana  José Aldo 

Chris Lytle willing to fight ? if you?re a millionaire staging an underground bout

Chris Lytle retired last August. He ended on a Submission of the Night win with a guillotine of Dan Hardy. It was the perfect ending to a fight career that had no championships, but plenty of memorable bouts.

Could anything make him fight again? He told MMA Junkie there might be a circumstance where he would fight again. Well, maybe if you're really rich, really classy, and want some underground entertainment that takes no preparation.

"Now, this is going to sound a little crazy, but I know there's someplace where you know like (UFC president) Dana White and his real rich friends ? some of the richest people in America ? sit around and in some dark room and have cocktails and smoke cigars, and they're betting a million (dollars) on these little underground fights," he said. "Hey man, just bring me out there for a day. I'll do one of these underground fights, and nobody has to know about it.

"That would be fun for me because it'd be the competition I enjoy. I would do that. So if you hear any real rich people putting on these fights, let me know. I'll show up."

If Lytle wasn't already one of your favorite fighters, he's likely just jumped into your top five. If you happen to be a gajillionaire who can lay out plenty of cash for Lytle, hit him up on Twitter. If not, check him out at a free MMA seminar he's running on Saturday.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/chris-lytle-willing-fight-millionaire-staging-underground-bout-211548590--mma.html

Jimmy Ambriz Matt Andersen  Alex Andrade  Jermaine Andrè  Yoji Anjo 

Antonio Silva ?could not see a thing? in UFC 146 loss to Cain Velasquez

Antonio Silva sustained a cut in his loss to Cain Velasquez that gushed a whole lot of blood. Much of that blood went into his eyes, so it's not surprising that Silva said he couldn't see a thing in the fight.

"One of the main reasons I got defeated was that. I couldn't see a thing, there was a lot of blood and my eyes were burning. I tried to defend myself and not get hit at, shaking my head to see if I could get rid of that blood, but there was no way around it. From that moment on my corner was my eyes."

It's bad enough to not be able to see. Can you imagine not being able to see and having Velasquez repeatedly hit you? Silva tweeted that the cut required 13 stitches.

Not surprisingly, he received a medical suspension after the bout. He is out of action until July 23, possibly up to November if his nose is broken. Both possibly out of action until November, Velasquez and Jamie Varner received the longest suspensions because of hand issues.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/antonio-silva-could-not-see-thing-ufc-146-154132751.html

Eddie Alvarez Thiago Alves  Andre Amade  Dean Amasinger  Jimmy Ambriz

UFC switches to EA for video games

The UFC has teamed up with video game maker EA to distribute the next edition of the UFC's fight-based video game. The news was announced E3, a convention for the gaming industry, on Monday.

"We've hooked up with the biggest video game company on the planet. We can now distribute this game to the 175 countries, 22 different languages, and over half-a-billion homes worldwide that we're in," White said. "This is a huge day for the UFC, a big day for the fighters, and more importantly, for you, the fans."

There had been animosity between the two groups in the past. EA put out their MMA video game not long after the UFC's THQ-powered game, a move White was not happy about. EA used Strikeforce and Bellator fighters, and White threatened to keep fighters signed with EA out of the UFC. White went so far as to say, "EA sucks" in a 2010 interview because of their initial rebuke of MMA.

Previously, the UFC worked with THQ on their video game, but the rights were transferred to EA for an undisclosed sum. THQ has already been through drastic staff reductions and more are likely in the future because of losing this game.

Now, the UFC will be working with the company who made their name with sports-based video games. EA is the group behind the Madden NFL football, FIFA soccer, NCAA football, NHL and NBA Live games.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/ufc-switches-ea-video-games-125218130.html

Tank Abbott Hiroyuki Abe Cyril Abidi  Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah 

Maurico ?Shogun? Rua vs. Brandon Vera is the new main event for UFC on Fox 4

A shoulder injury to Brian Stann forced big changes for the UFC's next event on Fox. Now, instead of Stann facing former Bellator champ Hector Lombard, the main event will feature a light heavyweight match-up. Former champion Maurico "Shogun" Rua will take on Brandon Vera on Aug. 4 in Los Angeles.

Rua was supposed to fight Thiago Silva in July, but that bout was scrapped because of an injury to Silva. Vera was training for a fight with James Te Huna earlier in July, but Te Huna now needs a new opponent.

Lombard is opponentless. With the UFC so packed with fights over the summer, there aren't many healthy middleweights available to take on Lombard in his UFC debut. The UFC just had to juggle middleweights around to handle Vitor Belfort's injury and removal from the UFC 147 main event.

Who should Lombard face? Tell us in the comments, on Facebook or Twitter.

UPDATE: Lombard will fight Tim Boetsch, who was available because Michael Bisping had to pull out of their UFC 149 bout with an injury. Lombard/Boetsch will take place at UFC 149.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/maurico-shogun-rua-vs-brandon-vera-main-event-025344218.html

Bernard Ackah  Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama  Gilbert Aldana  José Aldo 

BLVD, Etnies, Hernandez, Indy, DC, and Paradise Videos

BLVD has a team session at the syndrome park. Etnies has a quick video of Kyle Leeper in the park. Joe Krolick has some Classic Clips with Evan Hernandez. Independent Bearings has a sick team montage. Strange Notes has a Six Pack with Steve Alba. DC has video from the NVRBRKN pop-up shop opening. paradise has a best of montage from 2011.

Source: http://theskateboardmag.com/blogs/templeton-elliott/2011/12/15/blvd-etnies-hernandez-indy-dc-and-paradise-videos/

Gilbert Aldana  José Aldo  John Alessio  Houston Alexander Ricardo Almeida 

Jason ?Mayhem? Miller retires from fighting at UFC 146 loss and dismissal from UFC

Jason "Mayhem" Miller is a man of his word.

The now-unemployed fighter said before his bout with C.B. Dollaway that if he'd lost, he'd retire. He dropped a decision at UFC 146 on Saturday, then was cut from the UFC.

On Monday's "MMA Hour," he said he's walking away from fighting after winning 23 bouts and losing nine.

"Every fighter gives the same answer when they say they're retired. Pretty much every fighter says 'I'm retired until I need money.' I'm a pretty smart dude, I have other avenues open to me."

Miller hosts MTV's "Bully Beatdown," and is, as he puts it, a smart dude. He gets business and selling his own brand, which is why he uses the flamboyant entrances that Dana White blasted.

He also shed light on the "backstage incident" White referred to when discussing Miller's dismissal at the UFC 146 post-fight press conference.

"It was my mask," Miller said. "Burt suddenly started yelling about my mask. I had a gas mask for the troops underneath my paper bag, and Burt started telling me right as I'm walking out for the fight. I'm trying to get focused instead of arguing about a paper bag. Maybe it was my fault for, I don't know, I thought we had an understanding once I start walking out to the cage that now I'm working, but obviously we're not on a playing field of mutual respect."

He is referring to UFC backstage director and jack of all trades Burt Watson. UFC events being the well-run events they are has much to do with Watson and the respect fighters afford him. If there is just one rule that supersedes every other in the UFC, it's listen to Burt. Fighters, employees, media and anyone doing business with the UFC knows this. Whether Miller is right or wrong is not important.

Now, Miller will have both the time and freedom to figure out his next move. He tweeted on Tuesday:

Don't worry. I'm not dead. Just analyzing it all so I can share my human experience with you.

Though his next move won't be in a cage, it will still be interesting to see what Miller does with his post-fighting life

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/jason-mayhem-miller-retires-fighting-ufc-146-loss-192114145.html

Cyril Abidi  Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah  Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama 

Rich Franklin Pre-Fight Interview vs Silva at UFC 147 - UFC 147

After a 16-month layoff, Rich Franklin is ready to step back into the Octagon and face the "tornado"known as Wanderlei Silva. Will "Ace" be able to make it 2-0 against Silva at UFC® 147?

Source: http://mmalice.com/ufc-147/rich-franklin-pre-fight-interview-vs-silva-at-ufc-147-video_03bb864c3.html

Andre Amade  Dean Amasinger  Jimmy Ambriz Matt Andersen  Alex AndradeÂ