Chris Vile What's Cookin' teaser
Chris Vile impresses at a single spot in Birmingham, England in this teaser for What's Cookin'.
Jimmy Ambriz Matt Andersen Alex Andrade Jermaine Andrè Yoji AnjoÂ
Jimmy Ambriz Matt Andersen Alex Andrade Jermaine Andrè Yoji AnjoÂ
After nearly a year of talks falling by the wayside, it would seem Bellator has finally acquired former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Renato Sobral. While the original intent was to match “Babalu” with former Bellator Middleweight Champion Hector Lombard, who is now UFC property, a potential tournament run culminating in a finals match-up with fellow [...]
Source: http://mmafrenzy.com/29846/bellator-signs-babalu-sobral/
Ricardo Almeida Eddie Alvarez Thiago Alves Andre Amade Dean AmasingerÂ
UFC president Dana White made a shockingly bad decision during a conference call Monday with mixed martial arts reporters when he said that the winner of Saturday's UFC on Fox 4 main event between Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and Brandon Vera would get the next title shot.
Light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, who defends his belt on Sept. 1 against former Strikeforce champion Dan Henderson, has already crushed all four fighters who are competing on Saturday's card at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Ryan Bader meets ex-champion Lyoto Machida in the co-main event.
But it was Vera's so-so record that prompted outrage among media and fans. Vera enters Saturday's bout at the Staples Center 1-2 with a no contest in his last four fights. His best win at light heavyweight was over Krzysztof Soszynski.
When Jones was told on Twitter the Rua-Vera winner would get a title shot, he wrote, "Scratching my head." He wasn't alone in being perplexed by White's call.
So, late Monday, White changed his mind and opened the picture up. He said the fighter who looks the best on Saturday will get the title shot against the Jones-Henderson winner, giving Bader and Machida a chance, as well.
"When the fans speak, we listen," White said in a news release. "So whoever scores the best win, whoever gets the fans excited by going out there on Saturday and looking the most impressive, he will get the winner of Jones vs. Henderson. It is down to what these four guys do Saturday night in the Octagon. Winning isn't enough, they've got to win impressively. Any one of these four fighters can take things into their own hands and make a title shot happen."
Rua lost his title to Jones at UFC 128. Before the fight that day, Jones broke up a mugging, then went out and stopped Rua at 2:37 of the third in a stunningly one-sided performance.
Rua has gone 1-1 since, beating Forrest Griffin and losing to Henderson in what has been called the best fight in UFC history.
"I want the winner of Jones vs. Henderson," Rua said. "The fight I had with Henderson was a great fight, the fight of the year, and it was a very close fight. I am OK with that. It was a great fight. But the loss to Jones, I can't live with. I could have done so much better and I want to fight him again. First, though, I have to beat Brandon Vera and winning isn't good enough. I have to be very impressive, but that it what I have trained to do."
Vera took the change in stride. He has been upbeat and confident despite the naysayers who roared when he was put into a main event. White's announcement doesn't change much for him, because Vera has been saying all along he plans to win impressively.
If he does that, he'll make a very strong case for himself.
"Beating Shogun, and beating him the way I want, corrects all the mistakes I've made and wipes away all the bad performances," Vera said. "Beating Frank Mir is probably my best performance, but people don't realize that was nothing compared to what I do all the time in the gym. I'm going to show off what 'The Truth' really is on Fox."
Alex Andrade Jermaine Andrè Yoji Anjo Tank Abbott Hiroyuki Abe
The Oregon State Athletic Commission has finally released the total disclosed payroll for "Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Kennedy." Topping the payroll is middleweight champion Luke Rockhold, with former champ Robbie Lawler earning the second highest amount. Newly crowned welterweight champion Nate Marquardt earned the third highest on the payroll that totalled $645,923 on the night.
Bernard Ackah Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama Gilbert Aldana José AldoÂ
After Rory MacDonald suffered a massive cut and had to back out of his scheduled bout with BJ Penn, both fighters had requested specific cards for the bout to be moved. Neither fighter will apparently get their wish however as the bout will apparently co-headline this year's final Fox event. The bout was first reported by Nate Quarry on last night's episode of "MMA Uncensored."
Andre Amade Dean Amasinger Jimmy Ambriz Matt Andersen Alex AndradeÂ
Gather around, friends, because it's time for another detailed look at the UFC on FOX 4 card. In this post, the microscope is used on the main card, which features four light-heavyweights hoping for another chance to get smashed by UFC champ Jon Jones, a pair of often-scrappy lightweights, and the return of a welterweight veteran of "The Ultimate Fighter" whose digestive issues are so restrictive, he can pretty much eat only air or else his esophagus explodes. Are you excited for Saturday night's absolutely free UFC event? I know I am! I can afford free!
Eddie Alvarez Thiago Alves Andre Amade Dean Amasinger Jimmy Ambriz
UFC on FOX 4 may have "big picture" relevance because of the light-heavyweight four-way scrum that will determine UFC champ Jon Jones' next opponent, but one shouldn't overlook some of the event's other gems ? not the least of which is the match-up between Joe Lauzon and Jamie Varner. Originally slated to face Terry Etim until Etim bowed out with an injury, Lauzon is primed and ready to explode all over Varner, showering the former WEC champ with submission attempt-shrapnel and fistic debris. Cagewriter caught up with Lauzon on Thursday, a day that saw the Massachusetts native venturing away from the fighters' hotel and exploring other parts of Los Angeles.
First of all, how are you? Are you healthy?
"I'm good. There are always little injuries that add up a little bit, but I'm doing good."
You're an old timer now in terms of the fight week experience. How is it out there?
"It's not too bad. I have a bunch of guys that are here with me usually, and this week as always. We like to get out of the hotel room - I used to just sit in the hotel room a lot and that would get a little stale. So we try to keep busy. Today we went down to Venice Beach and just kind of moved around a little bit. I did some training today, nice and light, just to kind of break a sweat and keep things as normal as possible."
Did you prepare any differently knowing your opponent was going to be Jamie Varner?
"Not really. It was kind of short notice, it was only a couple of weeks. We switched from getting ready to fight Etim, who is really long and has kind of herky-jerky footwork and keeps you real far away with kicks, to Varner, who is a smoother boxer. Not so much a kickboxer, but a straight-up boxer with good wrestling. So we didn't have a ton of time to get super-detailed about stuff. I was in good shape so we just reorganized our drills, and switched it up a little bit."
Is there any pressure to perform?
"Not more than usual. I always put a lot of pressure on myself to try to have a spectacular fight and put people away. It's big show, it's on FOX, but it's really not any different than other shows besides having a little bit of extra media. It's still a fight. If it was on the undercard of a Fight Night, it'd be the exact same thing."
Any thoughts on who you'd want to fight next?
"Nope. I'm one-hundred percent Jamie Varner now, and I'm not even thinking about what's going on after."
Hypothetical: what if it was the PRIDE FC days and the Japanese offer you a wheelbarrow full of money to fight Jon Jones. Do you take the fight?
"Absolutely. If they're going to pay me to try to fight Jon Jones, I'm going to shoot a little single[-leg takedown], and if it doesn't go my way, I'm getting the hell out of there. And then I'll take that wheelbarrow full of money.
Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/joe-lauzon-few-words-battle-142906171--mma.html
Gilbert Aldana José Aldo John Alessio Houston Alexander Ricardo AlmeidaÂ