Recently in MMA Category

Stumbled on this while on mixedmartialarts.com. It's a good read. Take a look.
By Kirik Jenness

"What can I do to get better?"

Every trainer hears that question like Dan Quinn hears voices. The usual answers are "use less strength when you roll." Or "do some road work." Or "keep your hands up." All that stuff really doesn't matter though. Half the people that ask the question are looking for a short cut; what they are really saying is "You don't have to remember my name as I not going to be here next month."

The real answer to the question is don't quit. It is a cliché, but a black belt really is a white belt who never quit.

When a fight gets tough, one of the things I look hardest for as a ref is the moment a guy breaks. It isn't math, but some aspect of the body or face lets you know the fighter no longer wants to be in the cage; he is not a fighter any more. So I get him out as early as I can thereafter.

Just to give some perspective, here's all of the MMA events listed on Mixedmartialarts.com as officially sanctioned for Saturday (just to give you an idea of how far the sports has come.)

Daley's Warriors SlugFest MMA 8/15/09 7:30 PM
Thunderstruck MMA 8/15/09 7:30 PM
There's Gonna Be A Fight Tonight MMA 8/15/09 7:30 PM
EFC XXVI MMA 8/15/09 7:00 PM
New Breed Fighters XXIV: Wilkies Warriors Against the World MMA 8/15/09 7:00 PM
fury unleashed MMA 8/15/09 7:00 PM
PFC 6 MMA 8/15/09 6:30 PM
Call 2 Arms II - Called out MMA 8/15/09 6:00 PM
UMMAXX 8 MMA 8/15/09 6:00 PM
Yankee Lake Ballroom 14 MMA 8/15/09 7:30 AM
Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg MMA 8/15/09
King of the Cage (Canada) - Island Pride MMA 8/15/09

This great news; although I haven't been on the site for very long, and with only some regularity, I don't know if the most events held in North America on one night or anything like that. The ones I'll keep an eye are Sunbury, Pa.'s Tim Boetsch, who is fighting for King of the Cage., York's Jimmy Chappell at New Breed Fighters, and of course, all things Strikeforce.

I've got a feeling you're going to be hearing a lot more about this promotion - R.I.E., aka, Respect Is Earned - they are putting on an event just outside Philly later this month - so here's a little intro from their Web site.

Owner and founder of Respect Is Earned, LLC, David Dussault, has developed a successful social-networking business team of 23,000+ who, since 1999, has led the market in health and sports nutrition. Along with developing his business, Dussault is well experienced in the VIP/Event hosting industry, co-hosting events upwards of 8,000 attendees. His success in both industries has made Dussault financial independent, and he has been a multimillionaire since the age of 29. With his proven success in building solid businesses, these numbers will only continue to grow in the future.

Jerry Spiegel

Guilderland cops looking into whether article on restaurant fueled attack

By BRENDAN J. LYONS, Senior writer
First published in print: Friday, April 3, 2009

ALBANY -- A professional fighter from Troy has been charged with misdemeanor assault in connection with an attack on a Times Union reporter and his friend as they left a Guilderland restaurant last October.

The arrest of 36-year-old Jerry Spiegel of Troy comes as law enforcement sources said Guilderland police are continuing to examine connections between Spiegel and an Albany restaurant that Steve Barnes, a food critic, had written about last year.

A second assailant involved in the unprovoked attack outside Creo Restaurant on Oct. 17 has not been identified. Barnes, a senior writer who writes reviews on his Table Hopping blog, was attacked in the parking lot at 9:30 that night when he was leaving Creo with a friend, Joshua Carr.

Spiegel is a mixed-martial arts fighter and boxer who has fought locally in the light-heavyweight division. He turned himself in to police late Thursday and was arraigned in Guilderland Town Court on two counts of misdemeanor assault. Bail was set at $1,000. It was not immediately clear if Spiegel posted bail, but he was accompanied by his attorney, Joseph Granich.

I spoke with Greg Sirb, executive director of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission earlier today, starting off with the upcoming event - the state's first MMA event - happening in a little more than two weeks in York County.

Sirb said he is "Excited as hell," to attend the event. He added that Wisehaven's intimate setting - the venue only seats about 800 - will be "perfect." It's better to pack in a small house to start off, and then move to a bigger venue, he said.

Sirb said he'd definitely be at the April 19 event, or more specifically, "me and probably about four or five of my guys, inspectors. ... we approve all the matches. There's not a damn thing that goes down without us being involved."

As far as the buzz about the sport around the state, Sirb said it's "Even more crazy than it was before - everybody's calling."

He also announced two other events in the state state: April 30 at the Convention Center in Oaks, which is just outside Philadelphia, promoted by David Dussault, and May 16 at the Cambria County War Memorial Arena in Johnstown, promoted by T. Regala.

As for UFC 101, which UFC officials its president and fighters have said will happen on Aug. 8, Sirb said the event is still under discussion.

I don't watch hockey, but a co-worker of mine was raving about this one recent fight between Nashville's Jordin Tootoo and the Sharks' Brad Staubitz.

Apparently Staubitz was using elbows after he clinched with Tootoo, which upset Nashville's general manager. Boo-hoo. Who knew there were rules in a hockey fight? Actually, I'd like to see hockey fights incorporate even more techniques, like knees from the clinch. Next thing you know, NHL stars will take the off-seson in Thailand to train some muay Thai. Hey, if we can have former NFL players trying their hand at MMA, why not hockey players?

Excerpts from hockeygodonline.com: "GM David Poile shockingly reportedly called the league office after this fight because he felt that Staubitz used tools learned by ultimate fighting and he felt that was improper. Doug Wilson, Sharks' GM, was irate that Poile would call the league and not himself to discuss the incident further between them first."

Remember this one? It's like a hockey fight without the ice.

Mark Jovich, promoter of the Central Pennsylvania Warrior Challenge, just posted the card for the first-ever MMA event in the state, to be held on April 19.

There's a ton of local guys on the card. Here are some of the more well-known names:

Biff Walizer vs. Bill Childs

Justin "Skiz" Scott vs. Justin Inch

Jay Haas vs. Steven Wolfe

Duane Bastress vs. Jason "Frosty" Zearfoss

James Chappell vs. Ron "Night Train" White Jr.

Mike Oberdick vs. Lewis "The Beast" Rumsey

Ryan Heflin vs. Ray Eltringham

There's a total of 20 fights on the card. In the days leading up to the event, I'll be profiling all of the local guys, so stay tuned.

The event is sponsored by Tattoo Fightwear, J & J Fight Cage Rentals, Central Pennsylvania Martial Arts Academy and Fight Resource.com.

To see the full card, click here.

Details
The Central Pennsylvania Warrior Challenge holds Professional and Amateur Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) competition that allows fighters to gain valuable experience in a safe and professionally run martials arts event. Our goal is to provide a quality mixed martial event that promotes the sport, fighters, and schools of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) The "Warrior Challenge" will be a quarterly held event to allow fighters to compete for a championship title belt and retain that belt by defending his/her title each quarter. Additionally the Warrior Challenge will also host 3 & 5 fighter team competitions.

Directions
Wisehaven Banquet & Expo Center 2985 E. Prospect Road York, Pennsylvania 17402 http://www.wisehavenyork.com

Like I've said before, imagine this ...

In this ... the banquet hall at Wisehaven.

Just checked the state athletic commission Web site, and it confirms what I've been talking about for some time now - the first MMA event in the state, here in York County.

On the commission's calendar, for the date April 19, there is the entry, "MMA -Pro/AM," with the location, "Wisehaven Banquet Hall and Expo Center-York."

That would be Mark Jovich's Central Pennsylvania Warrior Challenge.

On Wednesday, Mark told me that as far as preparation for the event, "We're wrapping everything up. The frustration part's over. I think it's going to be really enjoyable."

This weekend, Jovich will get his first cage - he's already set up a cage-rental business when he's not using them - and said he and his crew will put it together and take it apart several times to make sure it's good to go.

As far as the card, Jovich said he's busy trying to finalize it, and he should have it on his Web site this weekend. He's had inquiries from across the country, he said.

"No injuries, nobody's hurt, nobody dropped off the card," he said. In fact, he's got around 70 fighters who he couldn't fit on this card who might get the chance in either June or July.

For the April 19 event, there are still a few VIP tickets left - that's the firts two rows around the cage and the mezzanine section. Click here to order.

from mmaweekly.com:
B.J. Penn is uncertain of what the future holds for his complaint against Georges St. Pierre. He wasn't sure what to expect of his plea to the Nevada State Athletic Commission, and after an inconclusive meeting with regulatory body, he is weighing his options.

"Honestly, I didn't know what to expect," he told MMAWeekly.com after the Tuesday meeting. "We didn't even know if we were going to get a chance to talk, but honestly I don't even know exactly what happened yet. I've still got to sit down with the lawyers and see. I don't even know how to judge this or gauge this. I'm a fighter, not a litigator."

The NSAC took no formal action against the subject of Penn's complaint, St. Pierre and cornermen Phil Nurse and Greg Jackson, but Penn felt the meeting might be a positive step in the right direction, even if it wasn't exactly what he had hoped for.

Today I spoke with Greg Sirb, executive director of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission. He said promoter and fighter forms, as well as a complete set of rules for MMA are available now on the SAC Web site.

Promoters who pre-registered with Sirb have been mailed out their promoter's packets, he said.

As far as a first show, he said, "We're just waiting to see."

With the sport's approval a little than 24 hours behind us -- well, technically, it's not really official until Friday -- I've been thinking about things ... I know, I know, dangerous prospect. Anyway, you could've probably figured these out on your own, but I thought I would write 'em down.

-- We're going to see an explosion (pardon the pun) of MMA organizations here in the state, both on a local, regional and state-wide basis. In addition, promoters from outside the state will try to set up shop here. Greg Sirb, executive director of the state athletic commission, said the first event should be in either late April or early May.

-- I wouldn't be surprised if we don't see the UFC in the state for a while. The Las Vegas-based company holds many of its events right there in Sin City. They also seem to be concentrating a lot of their energies on building up markets like Canada and England. That being said, it would serve them to make an appearance here on the East Coast, something I don't think they've done in a while. Staging an event in Philly, it being fairly close to New York, might help show politicians in the Empire State all of the benefits they're misisng out on by not having it there. Let's not forget the Holy Grail of MMA: UFC title fight(s) at the most famous arena in the world: Madison Square Garden.

-- OK, so if not the UFC, then who? Sirb said we might see a big show in the state by the end of the year. Well, Strikeforce just bought EliteXC, so I see them expanding outside their comfortable base of San Jose, Calif. EliteXC held several shows on the East Coast, so is it that much of a stretch to see Strikeforce do the same?

LIke I said, just a few random thoughts. If I think of any more, I'll let you know.

MMA now legal in Pa.
The Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission voted unanimously to sanction the combat sport in the state.
By TED CZECH
York Daily Record/Sunday News
Two fighters enter a cage or a ring, years of grueling training behind them, to match their skills and strategy in what some have called the purest form of combat - mixed martial arts.

It won't be long before Pennsylvanians get to see the sport that has skyrocketed in popularity around the country and the world, right in their own backyard, said Greg Sirb, executive director of the state athletic commission.

On Monday, the commission unanimously approved the rules and regulations that it drafted about two years ago.

"Everybody felt real comfortable with the rules," Sirb said of the commission. "We're excited to join the ranks of Ohio and New Jersey to give our kids the chance to display their crafts in Pennsylvania."

Here's a press release that was just sent out by the Pa. Dept. of State:
State Athletic Commission's Newly-Approved Regulations Take Effect Feb. 27

HARRISBURG - Pennsylvania has joined the growing number of states to allow Mixed Martial Arts, or MMA, events, now that the State Athletic Commission has approved final regulations for the sport, Secretary of the Commonwealth Pedro A. Cortés announced today. The new regulations take effect Feb. 27, 2009.

"I commend the work of the State Athletic Commission on the regulations, which were crafted to ensure participant and spectator safety," Cortés said. "These efforts will assure licensure and testing of participants for communicable diseases, as well as require emergency medical care and insurance for participants. Regulation of the sport also will help ensure that events are orderly and crowd control is maintained."

Cortés noted that MMA has actively sought regulation. Pennsylvania joins a growing number of states, including New Jersey, Ohio, Maryland, California, Nevada and Florida that permit Mixed Martial Arts.

The State Athletic Commission anticipates regulating four to five MMA events per month, which may generate as much as $80,000 per year in revenue for the commission. As a self-supporting entity, the State Athletic Commission receives no taxpayer dollars from the state's General Fund.

The commission and staff worked for more than a year to prepare the final regulations, which are commensurate with current boxing rules. Health and safety of the fighters and public protection are key themes of the regulations. Many facets of the sport were addressed, including age and medical requirements, fees, promoter activity, and ring requirements.

The regulations require that all professional ($22 fee) and amateur ($10 fee) MMA fighters must be licensed and take a pre-fight physical exam by a commission-approved doctor. All fighters must be at least 18 years old. Other exams may also be required, particularly for boxers over the age of 36. All female fighters will be required to take a pregnancy test before each event. All fighters also must provide an annual physical (on a commission form) as well as a negative HIV, Hepatitis C and Hepatitis B exam at the time of licensing, and exams cannot be more than six months old. Insurance is required for all fighters and referees, and an ambulance and emergency personnel with emergency equipment must be at ringside at all times.

Tom and I talk about what going on MMA-wise in York and the state, and also discuss some of the other events going on this weekend, including UFC 95.

No Holds Barred: The Need for a Warrior Culture

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman discusses a
wide variety of topics linked together by emphasizing that the average
people (i.e., most of us) need a warrior culture.

In what is to become yet another controversial commentary, discussed
are what the U.S. government believes is its greatest threat, why that
assessment by the government is actually a threat to (most of) you,
why you thus need a warrior culture, and how the combat sports are
related to developing that culture. We discuss some battles going on
involving the use of the Internet right now, and how some in the
combat sports are using the Internet in a positive way, including the
North American Fight Association (NAFA)
and the Abu Dhabi Combat Club (ADCC) Facebook discussion group (http://
www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=10187160539).

We also tie in the need to support all the combat sports, and hear
comments from Ken Hershman of Showtime and the legendary mixed martial
arts fighter Frank Shamrock about boxing and mixed martial arts. And
we hear comments from Miguel Cotto and the legendary trainer and
cutman Miguel Diaz about Cotto's return to action Feb. 21 in Madison
Square Garden against Michael Jennings, his first fight since
suffering his first pro loss to the controversial Antonio Margarito in
July 2008.

You can play or download No Holds Barred at
http://nhbnews.podOmatic.com/entry/2009-02-19T00_40_28-08_00.

You can also download No Holds Barred at http://www.mediafire.com/?0rtmtkauxix.

Biff, a LionHeart student, Phil Davis, Ricardo de la Riva, Jeff Rockwell and Lou Armezzani.

Local lightweight pro Biff Walizer has been soaking up the MMA like a sponge in preparation for upcoming fights in Kentucky next Saturday and one on Sept. 12 in Atlantic City.

Biff gets wrapped.

Last week, Biff and some of the other fighters at LionHeart Fighters in State College attended a seminar led by Ricardo de la Riva and Tony Passos. De la Riva is a BJJ blackbelt who holds wins in BJJ tournments over three Gracies.Passos is a black belt under de la Riva.

Biff and some of the LionHeart Fighters also drove to Pittsburgh to train striking with K-1 fighter Mark "The Shark" Miller:

Features Rich "Ace" Franklin, who will be fighting Matt Hamill at UFC 88 on Sept. 6.

Catching up on Pennsylvania MMA news - LionHeart Fighters' Phil Davis submitted his opponent with an anaconda choke (Big Nog's signature move) at an MMA event - Extreme Fighting Challenge - in Ohio earlier this month. That brings Davis' record to 3-0 as an amateur. Word is he's planning to turn pro soon. We'll keep you updated.

Tucker Max, who wrote a book by the same name about his drunken sexual exploits, is now filming the movie version. He somehow recruited UFC light heavyweight champ Forrest Griffin and UFC lightweight fighter Mac Danzig to play cops in the movie.

Forrest was a cop for a few years in Athens, Ga. And Danzig probably could've been one, he's so strict about his lifestyle, being a vegan and all.

The good people at Affliction tell us that Fedor Emelianenko, the reigning WAMMA heavyweight champion, visited Affliction Clothing's new store at 7811 Melrose Ave. in Los Angeles on August 12, to meet and great a large crowd of fans and sign autographs.

... and finishes triumphant, but as I said before, could have been classier about it.

Here's the site. Looks like some good names, like the return of Rich Franklin at 205 where he takes on Matt Hamill, Pa.'s own Tim "The Barbarian" "The Replacement Killer" Boetsch, Dan Henderson, and Karo Parysian.

-- So Florian beat Huerta. The UFC had said a while back that this fight would be to determine the number one contender to BJ Penn's lightweight belt, but then reportedly backed off from that days before the bout. One could make the connection the souring on the signifcance of the fight was due to Huerta's disparraging comments in FIGHT! magazine, where he doubted their loyalty and said they paid him $50 a day for a promotional tour. So, the question is, now that Florian won, will he get a title shot, or is Dana White's next move going to be to let BJ Penn jump up a weight class to take on welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre?

-- Cheick Kongo (who some call "Cup Check" because of the four or so knees he fired at CroCop's nuggets in their fight) beat Viking Dan Evenson (who was waaay into his entrance music, by the way) ... so where does Kongo go from here? I'm still not too impressed with this guy - Herring gave him problems .. let's see how he does against tougher competition on the ground, like maybe Shane Carwin or Brock Lesnar, or even Frank Mir.

Ok, here's three fights that really impressed me so far this year. The biggest factor I look for is a battle that is evenly fought, where either guy could win it at any time, where it almost boils down to a battle of wills, who's gonna quit first, or who pulls something out of his butt and wins the fight:

-- Jonathan Goulet vs. Kuniyoshi Hironaka at UFC 83

-- Carlos Condit vs. Hirmitsu Miura at WEC 35

-- Forrest Griffin vs. Quinton Jackson at UFC 86

and the latest addition:
-- Georges St-Pierre vs. Jon Fitch at UFC 87

Toward the end of the year, I might add a few more fights and more detailed descriptions of each one (maybe some video too).

Caught a few of the fights on saturday night. Here are some thoughts:

In Lesnar/Herring and St-Pierre/Fitch, we saw the polar opposites of sportsmanship. Lesar thrashed Herring for three rounds. Totally dominated him with wrestling, but didn't seem to know how to put the veteran fighter away, a la jiu-jitsu or ground-n-pound. We did see another vicious one-punch knock-down, like he did to Frank Mir, so people better start fearing his hands.

It was a great victory for Brock. I was happy for him, until he started taunting and laughing at Herring. Before the final bell rang. Nah. That ain't cool.

St-Pierre vs. Fitch went the full 25, and gets my nomination for Fight of the Year, but more on that in a minute. St-Pierre was the first fighter to pass Fitch's guard and also handed Fitch his first loss in the Octagon. Fitch proved to the world he deserved his title shot, absorbing punch after punch, elbow after elbow, takedown after takedown.

After the grueling contest, St-Pierre got down on his knees and shook Fitch's hand. If I were to guess, he was thanking Fitch for giving him the fight of his life. Fitch in turn got down on his knees, knowing that he gave St-Pierre his biggest challenge. He then picked St-Pierre up to display him to the roaring hoard.

That's the way MMA should be. That's what makes it so special. The camaraderie between fighters. There is some unexplainable bond that is forged when you push someone to their physical and mental limits. No matter what happens in the lives from that point on, St-Pierre and Fitch will never forget that night.

BJ Penn, who seems to be making a habit of post-fight cage appearances, materialized and yelled to St-Pierre to make a re-match between the two happen. St-Pierre, in a not-so-enthusiastic repsonse, said he would fight anyone who was worthy. "Eee can't andle my widdum," anyone?

I haven't posted these recently, but here it is. This week's episode is on trainer Mark DellaGrotte.

World Victory Road's Sengoku, Japan's other major MMA organization (in addition to DREAM) has some major news.
First, this from nightmareofbattle.com:

The SENGOKU Middleweight GP which starts at SENGOKU V on September 28th is taking shape. Four participants have been announced and there are some great names in there. The four participants are Kazuhiro Nakamura who signs with SENGOKU and drops to Middleweight, SHOOTO Light Heavyweight Champion Siyar Bahadurzada who returns to the ring for the first time since his loss against Kazuo Misaki at SENGOKU I, 2007 Strikeforce Middlweight Tournament winner Jorge Santiago, and Evangelista Cyborg from Chute Boxe. The winner of this GP will probably face Kazuo Misaki in the first ever SENGOKU Middleweight Title fight.

Update: It will be an 8-man GP and they want three of the four final participants to be Japanese. The semifinals and final fights will take place in November.

and from bloodyelbow.com:

Frank Trigg joined BloodyElbow.com editor Luke Thomas on today's episode of "MMA Nation" and revealed that Fox Sports Net (FSN) is "working diligently" on a deal which would bring World Victory Road's "Sengoku" events to the American cable network.

Trigg cited the forthcoming deal as a major factor in his signing with the Japanese promotion, since a basic cable broadcast would provide more exposure for his Triggonomics apparel line than WVR's currently Japan-only pay-per-view showings. Trigg is set to face Makoto Takimoto - a world class judoka who took gold at the 2000 Olympics and currently holds a 4-4 record in MMA - at the fourth Sengoku event on August 24th.

Affliction Veep Tom Atencio talks with MMAnews.com. Here's line-up he gives (so far) for the organization's second show, Day of Rekoning:

Paul Buentello Vs. Roy Nelson
Andrei Arlovski vs. Josh Barnett
Antonio Duarte vs. Albert Rios
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Vladimir Matyushenko
Mike Whitehead vs. Jason High (sp?)
Pedro Rizzo vs. Ben Rothwell
Chris Horodecki vs. ???
Renato Sobral vs. ???

Looks like another stacked card. Contrary to earlier reports, Atencio says no one at Affliction had even spoken with Tito Ortiz about a contract, so we'll see if that changes in the near future.

On Thursday, a photographer from the Daily Record and I went over to Baltimore Street Tattoo in Hanover to see Jerod Phillips of Tap or Sleep fightwear get his latest tat. The assignment was for a story that will run in the paper and online in the future, but I thought I might talk about it for a minute or two.

Jerod already has "Tap or Sleep" in black on the inside of his upper right arm. On Thursday, he got it outlined in red on his outer left forearm. Hopefully, I'll be able to get a photo up here soon to show you how it came out.

Talk about commitment to your product - you're willing to get marked for life - selling the product should be a cake-walk.

Everything was cool, except something bizarre happened across the street. Apparently a deer ran full-bore into some poor schmuck's garage door, then took off like it never happened. I saw the guy get home and although I couldn't hear what he said, I'm sure he was pissed. But, he eventually just grabbed a rubber mallet and pounded out the dents. I figured the deer got spooked from the rain storm that had been coming down just before that - maybe it nearly got hit by lightning.

Maybe that'll be my first tattoo: Ok, I want a deer - with a nice rack - running into a garage door. Betcha nobody else'll have that.

And just a plug for Baltimore Street Tattoo: classy, but down-to-earth shop with friendly people working there. Trey, who owns the place and did Jerod's tat, was very accomodating. I wouldn't be surprised to see his place become a player in the MMA scene when it's legalized in the state, given how many fighters get tatted up.

Ryo Chonan beat Anderson Silva in PRIDE with a flying scissor heel hook. Hear what he has to say about that in this short, but hilarious clip.

UFC.com has the video of the 87 Seek and Destroy weigh-ins up. Click here to see it.

DREAM, the Japanese MMA organization that rose up from the ashes of PRIDE, rolls on, having determined their grand prix lightweight champion in Joachim "Hellboy" Hansen and now is set to crown its middleweight grand prix champion.

In one bracket, we have Melvin Manhoef vs. Gegard Mousasi.

On the other side, there's Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza vs. Zelg Galesic.

Here's the quick and dirty: Manhoef is a feared striker, but has been susceptible to anything ground-related. Mousasi seems comfortable either standing or grappling. I see Mousasi getting the submission or decision win by ground dominance.

Jacare is a tough submission wizard, but I don' t think he's ever faced a striker on the level of Galesic, who is known as "Little Mirko." So, it's gonna be Mousasi vs. Galesic in the finals, with Mousasi taking home the grand prix championship.

Tracy Lee's combatlifestyle has all the pics from the UFC Seek and Destroy press conference. Here's some of the best:

Dana White stands behind Rampage ... er, in front of Rampage.

Battle of the Titans: Brock Lesnar vs. Heath Herring

The dapper St-Pierre vs. regular guy Fitch

Roger Huerta: "Extra! Extra! Read all about it!"

Ken-Flo; Man, I sure hope I don't have to review my own loss on the next episode of MMA Live!

From fiveouncesofpain:

Following up an exclusive story we first reported yesterday, former IFL lightweight wunderkind Chris Horodecki has officially signed a contract with Affliction.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com confirmed the news earlier this afternoon with one of his agents, Matt Stansell of North County Fight Club. According to Stansell, Horodecki has inked a three-fight deal.

MMAjunkie.com is also reporting that Horodecki will debut for the promotion during its next card on Oct. 11 in Las Vegas. An opponent has yet to be named.

This was uploaded on Youtube on Wednesday.

Ok, so the Olympics are about to start in China - who here is gonna watch?

*crickets*

Seriously, I might catch a few events, but all that talk about so-and-so is "poised to medal" and the emotional back-stories is a bit overwhelming ... and since when is the word "medal" a verb?

When you think about it, some of the major components of MMA are already at the games: wrestling, judo (throws and submissions), boxing and tae kwon do, which begs the question: is it really a stretch to just put those sports together and make a place for MMA at the Olympics?

Knowing the International Olympic Committee's stringent requirements for accepting sports into the games, I suspect not. It's too barbaric, they'll say, but really, isn't that how the games started, with armed and unarmed combat inside a coliseum, a blood-thirsty crowd and fights to the death?

Here's an excerpt from the pankration - the ancient Greek sport that uses throws, takedowns, strikes and submissions - entry at Wikipedia:

"In the lead-up to the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, a modern non-nude version of pankration was tipped as being a new sport in the Olympiad, especially due to its being an event in the ancient games. However, its application was not approved. The International Olympic Committee was unconvinced that Greece could handle the total number of sports proposed. To placate the IOC, the organizers removed all new medal sports and pankration missed out."

My conclusion is that it's OK that MMA is not an Olympic sport, because - even though it's now on network TV and legal in many states - it still has that air of a fringe sport, which, I think, for me and many others, is part of its attraction. It's not for everyone. Not everyone can handle it. And that's fine - it will thrive without everyone's blessing - and they can go back to curling or badminton.

If you get the urge to talk Olympics, check out the York Daily Record's blog on the Olympics, called "The O-Zone", here.

Here's an email from LionHeart Fighters in State College:
Last minute news...

Phil (Davis) is fighting in Colombus, Ohio this Saturday, Aug. 9th, at The Extreme Fighting Challenge.
For venue and ticket info go to:
http://www.extremefightingchallenge.net/

Ya gotta love the attitude of our guys...ready to throw down. Anywhere. Anytime.
Bradley and Rockwell are going along to coach.

Go get 'em fellas.

George "Phoenix" McGinnis of York Mixed Martial Arts Academy sent me an email about a new site called jiujitsushare, which touts itself as the "myspace of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu." From a quick look around, it seems to live up to the nickname.

The site was set up by Phil Migliarese of Balance Studios in Philadelphia, a Relson Gracie-affiliated school.

Here's a quote from George:
"The site seems pretty cool and I think it will produce a lot of good ties between other schools as well as information sharing. The site has clips, photo's, club information and communication tools. If you have the chance, sign your club up. If you are a student and or friend of the YMMAA, sign up as a student or solo practitioner under our school or an affiliated club."

Ever wonder what goes through a fighter's mind before, during and after a fight? How about a championship fight? Jamie Varner, who recently - successfully - defended his WEC lightweight title, wrote a revealing blog for mmaweekly.com:

I wanted to come back and give you a recap of my final week before my first title defense and what it has been like since that fight.

In my last blog entry I was about a week out and walking around at about 170 pounds. I was just starting my cut to 155 pounds. That week I had to get my shorts and shirts finalized and make sure everything was set and all of my helpers knew where and when I might need them.

I arrived in Vegas with Trevor Lally on the Wednesday before the fight. Vegas was as hot and nasty as it has been in Phoenix this summer and the air felt thicker. As we arrived and got all checked into the hotel that was across the street from the Hard Rock Hotel, a lot of the WEC support staff and fighters were all arriving and getting checked in to the hotel. I found an LA Fitness that was nearby and I headed over to make sure they had what I needed to get the weight off.

EliteXC's next show is Sept. 20 at the University of New Mexico's basketball arena, dubbed "The Pit" in Albuquerque, NM. I believe it will be seen exclusively on Showtime. Rumored to be on the card are Joey Villasenor, Paul "I retired at age 25" Daley, Dave "Pee Wee" Herman, and this fighter:

Michelle "The Karate Hottie" Waterson

Just talked with Mike Lynch from WAMMA (World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts), who said Affliction is having a press conference right now in Las Vegas.

Here's some of what he told me: The Andrei Arlovski/Josh Barnett fight in October at Affliction's second event will be for the number-one contender slot to Fedor Emelianenko's WAMMA Undisputed Heavyweight belt:

<

Although nothing is solid yet, WAMMA would like to see other WAMMA belts contested soon, for example: Robbie Lawler vs. Matt Lindland for the middleweight belt or Takanori Gomi vs. Eddie Alvarez for the lightweight belt, Lynch said.

Mike "The Rocker" Lynch - any relation to George Lynch from Dokken?

Lynch did dispel rumors - which I contributed to - that the alleged upcoming Matt Linland/Vitor Belfort fight would be for the WAMMA middleweight belt.

"Not to take anything away from Matt or Vitor ... (but) We could never sanction that as a championship fight," he said. "Lindland is ranked seventh and Vitor is unranked."

Lynch added that the fight may be a possibility in the future if both fighters move up in the rankings.

York County's own Biff Walizer, a lightweight pro out of Windsor Townhip, is scheduled to get back into the fighting game, after a series of mishaps and injuries. He's been training in York and also with Team LionHeart in State College.

Biff has a fight later this month with this promotion:

And, if all goes well then, he's got another fight on Sept. 12 in New Jersey with Ring of Combat:

Ortiz with gf Jenna Jameson.

From si.com:
Tito Ortiz is set to become the highest paid MMA fighter in history when a "ground-breaking" deal between the free-agent fighter and Affliction is announced as early as Wednesday during a press conference for Affliction's next card, which will be held Oct. 11 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.

"I guarantee you that my contract will be like no other," said Ortiz, stopping short of giving away the specifics of a deal that could include responsibilities outside of the ring. "It will be a ground-breaking record contract for sure, without a doubt. There's so much money to be made right now in mixed martial arts and it's all about the fighters trying to make that money. It's going to be a long-term deal where I put my heart and soul into the company and help build them. That's something I'm interested in doing. They're going to bring me on, not just as a fighter but also doing some of the back work also."

Ortiz, who became a free agent on Monday after an 11-year career with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, met with Donald Trump on Tuesday to finalize the deal and is expected to be at Wednesday's press conference where his first opponent will be Renato "Babalu" Sobral.

Former The Ultimate Fighter competitor Blake Bowman does.

Steve Cantwell slugs Brian Stann.

I watched the WEC on Versus Sunday. The card was packed with talent and exciting fights. Light heavyweight champ Brian Stann lost to Steve Cantwell, who he had previously beaten by TKO. Does this immediately set up a rubber match, or will Stann have to scratch and claw his way back up tot he top, just as Cantwell did?

Jamie Varner kicks Marcus Hicks.

Jamie Varner thrashed Marcus "The Wrecking Ball" Hicks in his first defense of the WEC lightweight belt. Hicks came in as a solid competitor, undefeated, with good hands and a wicked guillotine. But Varner chopped right through him, slipping out of Hicks' signature choke and then using his superior boxing to get a TKO.

<
Carlos Condit with the fight-winning knee on Hiromitsu Miura.

The Carlos Condit vs. Hiromitsu Miura fight for the welterweight belt was definitely an edge-of-your seat, nail-biter and contender for Fight of the Year. It was, all at once, a battle of indomitable spirit, technique and stamina. Miura, an accomplished judoka, threw Condit to the mat several times. The Japanese fighter also swept the rangy Condit numerous times, and each time unleashed a furious ground-and-pound. Condit, the chmapion, seemed to just stay ahead of Miura each round. Toward the end of the fourth, with both fighters spent, Condit launched a right knee from nowhere, with just enough behind it to knock Miura to the ground.

Looks like it's set for Oct. 11 at the Thomas and Mack Center at UNLV.

Here's what's been rumored on the card:
Josh Barnett vs. Andrei Arlovski
Jay White vs. Roy Nelson
Matt Lindland vs. Vitor Belfort
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Vladimir Matyushenko
Plus possibly Tim Sylvia, Pedro Rizzo and Renato "Babalu" Sobral

LionHeart Fighters, a new and huge MMA facility in State College had three fighters at the Battlefield Fighting Championships in Virginia. Here's a highlight video from that event.

Vitor Belfort knocks Terry Martin through the ropes at Affliction: "Banned."

I'm wondering if they mean the World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts' middleweight belt, since, as far as I understand, Affliction doesn't have its own belts, but recognizes - and promotes - WAMMA champions. And pardon the translation - the Web site is Brazilian, so they do the best they can with English.

By Guilherme Cruz, tatame.com

The knockout over Terry Martin at Affliction's first edition didn't only put Vitor Belfort back to victories, but can get him a title fight. Belfort's broken hand might not be a trouble for his next fight. "The doctor will analyze it, but I may stay four weeks out. I'll come back in October 11th to fight Matt Lindland for the belt", told the athlete, that will face the Fábio Negão's opponent on Affliction's first event.

"It'll be a great fight, we'll see who is the best of the world there", said Belfort, that guarantees his style will be a problem for Lindland. "I saw his fight with Negão and he's a warrior... He comes be over you, but I don't think he has the strength to stay over me", analyzes Vitor, that wants another knockout on his career. "I'll go to knock him out... My punches are well-aimed and when it hits he won't stand", guarantees Belfort.

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton "Rampage" Jackson appears to be in better spirits as he relaxes with two of his kids. Tracy Lee posted these recent photos on her Web site, combatlifestyle.

It wasn't all that long ago that Rampage lived up his name, getting arrested and then committed to an institution.

Looks like we may see Rampage vs. Silva III in the fall after all.

Not sure that this has been optioned yet, but here's the trailer ... It's called "The Real Angle." About halfway through they show Kurt training MMA and talking about fighting Randy Couture. This would lead us to believe he's still interested in competing.

I respect Kurt a lot, but I gotta tell you, in one shot, as he's going to his daughter's dance practice, he's walking like an old man. I'm just concerned for his health, and I'm not sure any state doctor would allow him to fight. ... and one more thing - who the hell is he talking to on that cell phone all freakin' day long???

Here's a preview of Icon Sport's latest event (Icon being owned by ProElite), featuring Phil Baroni, Kala Kolohe Hose, Mark Oshiro and Bao Quach

Found this at sherdog.com, just wanted to share. This is that wicked flying knee The Pitbull threw on Ben Rothwell at Afflction.

powered by ODEO

We're back with a vengeance ... not really, just always wanted to say that. Anyway, Tom Joyce and I give you our opinions on the latest goings-on in the wild-and-wooly world of MMA. Enjoy, dammit!

Starts tomorrow night at 10 p.m. on Versus.

Nice!!! We got lightweight champ Jamie Varner vs. Marcus Hicks, lightheavyweight champ Brian Stann vs. Steve Cantwell and welterweight champ Carlos Condit vs. Hiromitsu Miura.

What does Affliction do for an encore? Just get the guy that drew some of the largest PPV numbers for UFC, Tito Ortiz. No big whoop.

From Yahoo! Sports:

Sources have told Yahoo! Sports that free agent Tito Ortiz will fight Renato "Babalu" Sobral in the co-main event at Affliction's next fight card, on Oct. 11 at the Thomas & Mack Center on the UNLV campus in Las Vegas. The main event will feature a heavyweight bout between WAMMA champion Fedor Emelianenko and Andrei Arlovski.

Affliction vice president Tom Atencio would not confirm the Ortiz-Babalu fight. He said details for the fight card will be released during an Aug. 6 news conference that most likely will be held in Las Vegas.

Atencio also indicated that he didn't think Affliction could speak with Ortiz until Aug. 4 because of a 60-day non-compete clause in Ortiz's UFC contract. Ortiz's last fight for UFC was on May 24 at UFC 84. If the 60-day clause is accurate, the deal ended last weekend. Atencio said the biggest stumbling block for an Ortiz deal would be the financial terms.

Look for this ad in the latest FIGHT! magaizne, available at Borders, CVS, Safeway, Waldenbooks, etc:

That's local boy Jerod Phillips' company, Tap or Sleep, who puts out MMA T-shirts, hats, sweatshirts, and stuff for the chicks too. Here's the cover of the magazine:

In other Tap or Sleep news, sponsored fighter Josh Bernal increased his record to 6-0 with another win this past weekend by reverse triangle, Phillips said.

One more thing: Make sure to check out WEC on the Versus network Sunday: UFC fighter Cole Miller, and former TUF competitor Blake Bowman will be cornering Cole's brother, Micah Miller, in his fight. All should be wearing Tap or Sleep.

Hopefully, Rampage is on his way back, because who wouldn't want to see Silva-Jackson III?:"the UFC is said to be interested in a November return for Rampage with a third fight against Silva."

By Josh Gross, si.com:
On July 15, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, the former UFC light heavyweight champion, lived up to his nickname. But not in a positive light.

After treating the 55 Freeway near Newport Beach, Calif., as a demolition derby, crashing into multiple cars with his raised Ford truck (which had his image emblazoned on the side), Jackson soon found himself behind prison bars.

"I was very scared for him," said a source close to Jackson who asked not to be identified.

Rampage's seismic shift from an idolized mixed martial artist began after he relinquished his title on points to Forrest Griffin UFC 86 on July 5. The decision to fire Juanito Ibarra, his trainer, manager and occasionally spiritual mentor, came shortly thereafter. A lack of food and sleep compounded unsettling behavior, and TMZ photos of Jackson face down in the street at the rear of his Bigfoot-inspired truck -- its left front tire shredded -- documented the result of a dangerous chase with police

George McGinnis, instructor at York Mixed Martial Arts Academy, sent out this emial on how YMMAA did at the Keystone Games in the judo tournament:

Among the Keystone Games competitors today (July 27th 08) were YMMAA representatives George McGinnis and Wayne Schaffer. To accompany them with technical support was long time friend and coach, Charles Parker.

McGinnis and Schaffer competed in both Masters and Seniors. McGinnis would go on to place 3rd in Men's Masters middle weight and Schaffer would go on to place 2nd in Men's Masters light. McGinnis was bumped out of the Seniors division his fourth fight in by a controversial (Ipon) call that even had the audience pleading with disappointment. Schaffer was eliminated his 3rd fight in by Ipon.

Here's a few words regarding the event and the importance behind Judo. McGinnis: "I have been doing B.J.J now for a few years but I have to admit that previously one of the major draw backs to my overall game was take downs. Since I have committed time and consistent effort to Judo and becoming more well rounded, events like today help me gauge were I am one event to the next. I'd like to thank my friend Chuck for being persistent and patient with me through my Judo development. Today was for you my friend!" McGinnis, Parker and several others are scheduled to compete in numerous B.J.J / Judo tournaments over the next two months.

From sherdog.com:
Internet street-fighting sensation Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson will return to the cage as part of a primetime EliteXC show on Oct. 4 at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Fla. Ferguson's inclusion on the card, scheduled to air live on CBS, was announced on Saturday.

No opponent was named for the Bahamian-born heavyweight, who grew up 30 miles away in Miami, Fla.

"Fighting back at home, again, for the second time, is going to be great," Ferguson said. "Way more fans this time, way more friends. We're going to do it again, and hopefully, I'll pull off another victory ... win by another KO and have a bigger party this time. I'm not sure who I'm fighting yet, but I'm looking forward to a hard fight."

There's a judo tournament tomorrow (Sunday) at the Keystone Games, for anyone who may want to compete or watch.

It's being held at the York Expo Center, Memorial Hall West, and weigh-ins are from 9-10:30 a.m.

Thanks to George McGinnis from York Mixed Martial Arts Academy for letting me know about this.

The games also demo'd a new sport this year - beach wrestling. Don't know how they're going to swing this - Pa. is land-locked - are they gonna truck in the sand??? Anyway, here a video of the way they do it at Virginia Beach:

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Nick "The Strap" Thompson.

By Mike Russell, of The Fight Network
The long speculated moratorium of the International Fight League now has a date. According to IFL senior vice president of communications Joe Favorito, the team-based MMA promotion will turn out the lights July 31 as its assets are sold to a yet-to-be-named buyer, confirmed today by several anonymous sources as the UFC ownership group Zuffa LLC.

"As of July 31 my role at the IFL will be no more as the company goes into its final stage of being sold and/or closed down," Favorito stated via email.

Favorito, who cited the financial deficit of the company as the reason for the sale says he is proud of what the IFL was able to accomplish in the sport.

"We are very proud of what we did here in just over two years, building a brand from nothing into something that people in the industry and outside of the industry actually noticed, and I enjoyed working with so many different people and helped tell some great stories," added Favorito. " At the end of the day sometimes the finances don't make sense, but it certainly wasn't for lack of trying."

The buyout, which will mirror Zuffa's takeover and subsequent closure of the now defunct WFA and PRIDE FC organizations in 2007 will see the UFC and WEC's parent company take control of the rights to current IFL contracts as well as the promotion's video library.

Founded in 2006, the IFL has been a breeding ground for up-and-coming mixed martial artists such as Wagnney Fabiano, Chris Horodecki, Ben Rothwell, Ryan Schultz and Roy Nelson who may now all be headed to the WEC or UFC.

As of time of writing, representatives from Zuffa had not responded to a request for comment on the acquisition.

photo courtesy of CBS Sports

Complete weigh-in results, courtesy of mmajunkie.com:

MAIN CARD (CBS)

Champ Robbie Lawler (184.5) vs. Scott Smith (185) (for EliteXC middleweight title)
Thomas Denny (159) vs. Nick Diaz (159.5)
Jake Shields (169.5) vs. Nick Thompson (169.5) (for vacant EliteXC welterweight title)
Shayna Baszler (139) vs. Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos (140)
David Douglas (157) vs. Marlon Mathias (161) (swing bout)

MAIN CARD (SHOWTIME)

Justin Eilers (218) vs. Antonio Silva (257.5) (for vacant EliteXC heavyweight title)
Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante (203.5) vs. Travis Galbraith (202)
Brian Caraway (140.5) vs. Wilson Reis (139.5)

PRELIMINARY CARD

Mike Cook (232.5) vs. Carl Seumanutafa (255.5)
Drew Montgomery (224) vs. Brandon Tarn (252)
Jeremy Freitag (205) vs. Anthony Ruiz (206)

The Axe Murderer and The Natural.

Since his move to the U.S., Wanderlei Silva has been training at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas. But I didn't think he'd be there forever...

From Wanderlei Silva's myspace page: "We are proud to officially announce the Wand Fight Team training and conditioning center! This brand-new, world-ckass facility will be housed in a 10,000 SqFt new construction at 4631 Dean Martin Road, in the entertainment capital of the world, Las Vegas. Complete membership details are coming."

From Tatame:
Q: How is your knee now?

A: Well, I came back to training last week and I'll go to Canada at August 4th to do an intensive treatment. A medical team from there called me to do a different kind of treatment, so I'll go there with (André) Dida, and maybe he do some fights there too.

Q: Did UFC say anything about your next fight?

A: I spoke with my manager now and he said they called him and said it would depend on October's event. I might face Mark Coleman on December, but nothing has been signed yet. He wanted to face me on November, and I really wanna face him, I hope this time he don't run from me. He said no to me a couple of times, but I believe now it will happen.

Q: Thierry Sokoudjou said he'd like to face you, but now he'll fight with Luis "Banha" Cane...

A: That fight will be great. Banha is a complete fighter and great on the ground, and Sokoudjou it's the opposite. I wanna Banha to win, of course, he's "Brazil".

Q: What do you expect from Chuck Liddell vs. Rashad Evans?

A: It was settled to June, right? It's a tough fight, Liddell is fucking good and Rashad too, but Liddell has more chances...

Q: And between Lyoto Machida against Thiago Silva?

A: I don't bet on this fight... I've trained with both guys and I believe it's 50% each. I think Lyoto will try to do his game and Thiago will go to knock him out.

Q: Do you think Toquinho (Rousimar Palhares) can beat Dan Henderson?

A: I think Toquinho will submit Henderson. Toquinho is fucking great. If he put Henderson down, he'll easily submit him.
__________________

This episode features recaps of the recent Affliction and UFC cards and a preview of Saturday's EliteXC "Unfinished Business" event.

Arlovski

Emelianenko

From Kevin Iole, Yahoo! sports:
LAS VEGAS - Fedor Emelianenko will defend his newly won World Association of Mixed Martial Arts heavyweight championship belt on Oct. 11 against Andrei Arlovski in the UFC's backyard.

Affliction's second MMA promotion will be at the Thomas & Mack Center on the UNLV campus, in the shadow of the UFC's corporate offices, according to a venue official.

Affliction made its promotional debut last Saturday at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., with Emelianenko submitting ex-UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia in just 36 seconds.

Affliction vice president Tom Atencio said Wednesday an announcement on its next show would come Tuesday. But arena director Daren Libonati, who is a big MMA supporter, said he was excited to have Emelianenko back in his building.

Libonati was instrumental in bringing the now-defunct PRIDE Fighting Championship to the U.S. for the first time on Oct. 21, 2006, with a show at Thomas & Mack that featured Emelianenko defending his heavyweight title against Mark Coleman.

"We're really excited to have Affliction in the building and particularly to have Fedor and all those other great names," Libonati said. "I remember working so hard with all those people at PRIDE and the ultimate goal was to put on a show (at Sam Boyd Stadium, UNLV's football stadium) where the PRIDE champions would have defended their titles against the UFC champions.

"That's what we were working toward in those two (PRIDE) shows we did back then, but it never worked out. We always want to bring big events here, and any time you have Fedor in your building you have a big event."

Arlovski is a former UFC heavyweight champion who was impressive on Saturday's Affliction show in stopping Ben Rothwell.

By Thomas Gerbasi, ufc.com

Three of mixed martial arts' biggest stars - former UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin, former PRIDE two-division champ Dan Henderson, and longtime welterweight contender Karo Parisyan - will be pushed to the limit in bouts just made official for September 6th's UFC 88 card in Atlanta.

Franklin will return to the light heavyweight division for the first time in over three years when he takes on The Ultimate Fighter 3 standout Matt 'The Hammer' Hamill, who is coming off the biggest win of his career over Tim Boetsch in April.

Henderson looks to fight his way back into the 185-pound title mix when he battles once-beaten grappling wizard Rousimar Palhares, who made quite an impression on UFC fans in May when he submitted out veteran Ivan Salaverry in one round.

Parisyan will also be tested in his welterweight bout against Japan's Yoshiyuki Yoshida in what may be the greatest clash of judo black belts ever seen in the Octagon.

Tickets are on sale now for UFC 88: Breakthrough, which will be held at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. In the main event, Chuck 'The Iceman' Liddell returns to take on unbeaten 'Sugar' Rashad Evans.

Paul Bradley

From Chad Dubin, of LionHeart MMA:
State College, Pa. - LionHeart MMA continued it's successful entrance into the world of professional Mixed Martial Arts with fighters accumulating an impressive 3-1 record over the weekend.

Former University of Iowa wrestler Paul Bradley led the LionHeart charge by capturing the 185 lb. Destiny Fight Championship Belt with a victory over formerly undefeated professional, Dimarco Harris. Bradley used a punishing ground and pound attack to win a unanimous decision and improve his record to 7-0.

At The Battlefield Fighting Championships in Fredericksburg, Va., LionHeart fighters went 2-1. NCAA Champion, Phil Davis, won by submission in the second round over previously unbeaten Casey Miller at 205 lbs. Davis' college teammate, Aaron Anspach won his MMA debut with a unanimous decision over James Johnson at 265 lbs. and Lou Armezanni lost in the 185 lb. Battlefield Fighting Championship Title bout to Kris McCray by TKO.

LionHeart Founder, Chad Dubin, was impressed with the performance of his fighters over the weekend. "I've been real happy with the improvement in all our fighters over the past couple months. At this point, it looks like we're right on target with the fighter development and training methods we've implemented here at LionHeart."

For more information on LionHeart MMA visit www.lionheartfighters.com or call Chad Dubin at 814.280.1982.

From mmanews.com, by Chris Howie:

This past weekend Aleksander Emelianenko was scheduled to face Paul Buentello in heavyweight action during the FSN portion of Affliction: Banned but due to medical complications the fight was cancelled.

A source close to the situation spoke to MMANews.com's Michael Moody on a condition of anonymity and explained that the blood tests came back right before Aleks and Buentello were scheduled to weigh in and that is why there was so much confusion around the stage and why the fighters did not weigh in. Gary Goodridge ended up stepping up on extremely short notice and filling in for the Russian heavyweight.

The tests were positive for Hepatitis B which resulted in the CSAC cancelling the fight. Hep B is the result of transmission from exposure to infectious blood or body fluids containing blood. Possible forms of transmission include (but are not limited to) unprotected sexual contact, blood transfusions, re-use of contaminated needles & syringes, and vertical transmission from mother to child during childbirth.

A positive Hepatitis B test is no laughing matter and this could spell the end of Aleks' fighting career as many of the people close to the situation pointed out. I can't imagine many fighters willing to step up to fight Aleks with the possibility of catching the disease. He most definitely will not fight in the United States again and it will be interesting to see if this positive test results in organizations from all over the world black listing the brother of heavyweigh king, Fedor Emelianenko.

MMANews.com will have more on this story as it develops as we imagine a second opinion will be taken to make sure the test wasn't flawed.

Who wants more MMA??? Better yet, who doesn't? Well, ask and you shall receive. EliteXC is having its second show on CBS live, this Saturday at 9 p.m., called "Unfinished Business."

We've got a rematch from the previous show where the middleweight title fight between champ Robbie Lawler and challenger Scott Smith ended with an eye-poke. Then, there's Jake Shields taking on Nick "The Goat" Thompson for the welterweight strap.

Nick Diaz will also see action against Thomas "Wildman" Denny. I wonder if KJ Noons will be there to put his mug on him.

Event promo:

Open workout:

Seems like every MMA pundit on the Internets has a radio show, so I figured what the heck. Here's the first edition of The MMA Explosion Radio Show. Took me a while to think up that title ... Anyway, I'm joined by Tom Joyce, my co-worker here at The Daily Record and videographer/producer virtuoso. Have a listen.

powered by ODEO

Well, it was truly an amazing weekend. Fedor Emelianenko destroyed Tim Sylvia in 36 seconds at Affliction: Banned and Anderson Silva made short work of James Irvin in just more than a minute.

If anything, it proved that MMA fans can't get enough ... MMA. UFC's ratings were high, and Affliction's attendence was somewhere aroudn 14,000 and their gate was over $2 million. Of course, they had to pay their fighters more than $3 million, but so what, right?

Seriously, I think everyone at Afflction, M-1, AdrenalineMMA and WAMMA should be very happy with the way things turned out. There's already talk of the second Afflction show - could we see Fedor vs. randy at that one, or maybe Arlovski or Barnett, fresh off their devastating wins over Rothwell and Rizzo, respectively, might step up to take on The Last Emperor.

WAMMA exec Michael Lynch - he was the guy with the rocker long hair in the ring, handing the belt over to Fedor - told me a few weeks back WAMMA woudl like to offer a lightweight belt, possibly in the fall. Sounds good to me, let's have Takanori Gomi vs. Joachim Hansen II ...

From mmaweekly.com:
In a bizarre turn of events in Osaka, Japan, Joachim Hansen became the Dream lightweight champion stopping Shinya Aoki in front of an energized crowd at the Osaka Jo Hall.

These two met at Pride Shockwave 2006 with Aoki submitting Hansen, but on this occasion, with the Dream Lightweight Grand Prix title on the line, it was Hansen that came out victorious.

Eddie Alvarez had earned his shot in the final by defeating Tatsuya Kawajiri earlier in the night, but could not compete against Aoki due to an injury suffered in the Kawajiri bout.

DREAM.5 Results:
-Joachim Hansen def. Shinya Aoki by TKO at 4:16, R1

-Alistair Overeem def. Mark Hunt by Submission (Armbar) at 1:11, R1

-Yoshihiro Akiyama def. Katsuyori Shibata by Submission (Sleeve Choke) at 6:34, R1

-Hideo Tokoro def. Takeshi Yamazaki by Unanimous Decision, R2

-Kuniyoshi Hironaka def. Motoki Miyazawa by TKO (Doctor Stoppage) at 8:57, R1

-Joseph Benavidez def. Junya Kudo by Submission (Guillotine Choke) at 2:42, R1

-Joachim Hansen def. Kultar Gill by Submission (Armbar) at 2:33, R1

-Eddie Alvarez def. Tatsuya Kawajiri by TKO at 7:35, R1

-Shinya Aoki def. Caol Uno by Unanimous Decision, R2

-Daisuke Nakamura def. Andy Ologun by Submission (Armbar) at 3:41, R1

I was going to post photos and videos of the Affliction Banned and UFC weigh-ins, but we're having problems with posting media ...

But, there is some late-breaking news out of Affliction - instead of scrapping the A. Emelianenko-Buentello fight when Emelianenko had paperwork problems, Affliction match-makers picked up the phone and called UFC/PRIDE veteran Gary Goodridge.

I applaud Affliction for this - they could have given viewers one less fight - I mean, fights have been canceled without being replaced. But to get Goodridge at the last minute - fan-freakin'-tastic.

This is happening on Monday and has a few names you might recognize. Should be good, and we get to see who will be the top lightweight in the organization. Then, maybe with some cross-promotional events, we can have that champion go against champs from Strikeforce, EliteXC, Cage rage, WAMMA, etc. There is already one cross-promotional fight on the DREAM.5 card: We have Alistair Overeem, who is the Strikeforce heavyweight chmapion, on the card against former K-1 powerhouse Mark Hunt.

Here's the line-up:
For the lightweight grand prix championship:
Shinya Aoki vs. Caol Uno
Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Eddie Alvarez
(semis and finals held the same night)

Reserve bout:
Joachim Hansen vs. Kultar Gil

Other fights:
Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Katsuyori Shibata
Motoki Miyazawa vs. Kuniyoshi Hironaka
Mark Hunt vs. Alistair Overeem

Aleks

Buentello

From sherdog.com:
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The heavyweight bout between Aleksander Emelianenko (Pictures) and Paul Buentello (Pictures) scheduled for Saturday's Affliction debut event has been cancelled.

According to Bill Douglas of the California State Athletic Commission, Emelianenko did not meet his licensing requirements.

According to mmajunkie, the latest with Affliction Banned is that the entire card will be televised in one form or another. In other words, teh first three fights will be on Fox Sport Net, starting at 8 p.m., and the rest of the card will be on Pay-Per-View, starting at 9 p.m.

That's great news. This show just keeps getting better and better, the closer it gets to bell-time.

The other thing about the event is that it is nearly sold out. With a couple days left, they've sold more than 10,000 tickets ofor an arena that holds between 12,000 and 13,000.

While most of the MMA world will be tuned to Affliction and the UFC on Saturday, three fighters from LionHeartFighters in State College will be fighting in Virginia on the Battlefield Fighting Championships event.

Lou Armezzani will take on Kris McCray in a middleweight bout.
Phil Davis clashes with Casey Miller at 205.
Aaron Anspach (245) battles James Johnson (265) at heavyweight.

Check back here to see how the guys did ... and maybe some Affliction and UFC news too.

Well, at least he still has the Audi. ... seriously, it sounds to me that he needs some medical help and I hope he gets it. I wish Rampage the best.

From TMZ.com:
Sources say around 4:30 PM yesterday, friends who were hanging out with Rampage, waved down an Irvine police car after they were worried about his behavior. This, of course, following the insane chase the day before in which the UFC fighter hit several cars in his monster truck and was arrested at gunpoint.

We're told Irvine cops saw Rampage, deemed him a danger to himself and others, and took him to a hospital for observation. Rampage was very coopertive with police.

Cops won't officially confirm if it's a psychiatric hold.

Aleksander Emelianenko vs. Paul Buentello

Aleks says he will fight to the death, if necessary.

If you're a top heavyweight - or even a LHW or middleweight, and you're not employed by the UFC, chances are you're on this show.

Fedor always seems to nullify any height advantage his opponents may have. I mean, look at him, does he seem worried that Tim Sylvia is 6'8"?

Don't know if I posted this before, but the UFC 87 - Seek and Destroy site can be seen here.

It breaks down the fights, give some clips on each fighter, and all that good stuff.

What I find interesting is that they are billing it as "The Most Explosive Fight Card of the Summer." Hmmm, wonder if they tacked that on there after everyone realized what a great card Affliction Banned is, at least on paper.

One correction, Brock Lesnar was fighting MMA legend Mark Coleman, who is now injured and has been replaced by tough competitor Heath "The Texas Crazy Horse" Herring.

Oh, and the main event is for the welterweight title: Georges St-Pierre vs. Jon Fitch. Well, UFC is right - sure does sound like an explosive card.

James Irvin lands one of his signature moves, the flying knee.

by Jason Probst (jprobst@sherdog.com)

It is early April. Amped by the adrenaline boost off the biggest win of his career, James Irvin (Pictures) shadowboxes outside his residence on a crisp, blue-sky California morning. He's a new man in the wake of his eight-second destruction of Houston Alexander (Pictures).

"I've finally realized I belong here," Irvin says excitedly, eyebrows arched, head nodding, fists stabbing the air. His eyes brighten at what the new horizon holds. "I've realized I can take these guys. I can be a champion."

Irvin then jokes that, for all his training with Randy Couture (Pictures), Quinton Jackson (Pictures), Tito Ortiz (Pictures) and others, he might just be tempted to lay another surprise on the mixed martial arts world, considering the dues he's paid in the last five years.

"One of these days, I might just come out and shoot a double-leg takedown," he says. "Surprise everybody."

For Irvin, surprises are the norm. And since his disastrous UFC debut in February 2005, when he was stopped in the opening round against Mike Kyle (Pictures), his career has been punctuated by a head-scratching montage of rousing wins and hard-luck setbacks.

Fast forward to late June. Irvin's on the treadmill at his gym, Ultimate Training Center, in Roseville, Calif. Opened last year, the facility keeps Irvin busy teaching classes when he's not prepping for a fight. "My training partner came running in, and my manager, Mike, is all excited, yelling, 'We're fighting Silva!' I'm thinking, 'Awesome! We're gonna fight Wanderlei.' But then I said, 'No, you gotta be kidding me.'"

From UFC.com:
The Return of The Dragon - Machida vs Silva at UFC 89 By Thomas Gerbasi

Unbeaten light heavyweight sensation Lyoto 'The Dragon' Machida will look to keep the momentum going from his May victory over Tito Ortiz when he returns to the Octagon to face fellow unbeaten (and fellow Brazilian) Thiago Silva in what should be an explosive clash on October 18th's UFC 89 card at The National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, England. Tickets are on sale now, but are going fast.

By the end of the year, we'll hopefully get some clarity within the stacked, highly-competitive UFC LHW division. Machida and Silva will determine who still owns an unbeaten record in the division.

If Chuck wins, he will probably fight Forrest Griffin for the title by the end of the year, with Machida getting the next shot. Otherwise, it gets a little jumbled, with other contenders chomping at the bit like Wanderlei Silva, Sokoudjou, and maybe even Rampage if he can get his legal troubles squared away and the UFC still wants him.

Thanks to tmz.com

From Tmz:
Former UFC light heavyweight champ Quinton "Rampage" Jackson got busted just minutes ago, and is currently in custody on the way to the clink, but not before he was ordering on the ground, cops nearby with guns drawn.

Law enforcement sources tell us, Rampage was in a car crash near Newport Beach (that's near Laguna Beach in the O.C.) and then split the scene. Cops gave chase and eventually caught up and charged him with felony hit and run and felony evading arrest.

Here's the deal about the dumbest hit and run ever. Notice the truck he tried evading police in -- the one with the giant picture of him plastered on the side!

We're told there could be additional charges. No word yet on whether Rampage resisted arrest.

Bad week. He got his ass handed to him last week (courtesy of Forrest Griffin) and just got it handed to him again.

Afflction news release:
Renato "Babalu" Sobral, Megadeth's Dave Mustaine and Josh "The Babyface Assassin" Barnett got together at Eric Paulson's CSW Gym in Fullerton for some time on the mat and to discuss their performances at Affliction Banned, this Saturday at Honda Center.

Featuring the biggest fight card ever, Affliction Banned will feature Fedor Emelianenko vs. tim Sylvia, Andrei Arlovski vs. Ben Rothwell, Josh Barnett vs. Pedro Rizzo, Matt Lindland vs. Fabio Nascimento, Renato Sobral vs. Mike Whitehead and Aleksander Emelianenko vs. Paul Buentello with a special performance by Megadeth. Tickets for "Affliction Banned" range between $50.00 and $1,000.00, and are on sale at Honda Center's Box Office and also online at Ticketmaster.com.

"Affliction Banned," presented by Affliction Entertainment, became so stacked with talent that it had to be separated into two live shows produced for broadcast. The night's activities will kick off with a one-hour, free live telecast on FSN (Fox Sports Net) in the United States and on The Fight Network in Canada starting at 5 PM Pacific (8 PM/ET), dubbed "Affliction Live." Following that is "Affliction Banned" -- five incredible fights on pay-per-view starting at 6 PM/PT (9 PM/ET) via iN DEMAND, TVN, Shaw Communications, Viewers Choice Canada, DirecTV, DISH Network, Bell ExpressVue and Star Choice in the United States and Canada for a suggested retail price of $39.95.

Posted at Tatame on 7/10:
(For those of you who don't know, Tatame is a Brazilian Web site and magazine dedicated to MMA and BJJ, so that's why the translation might be a little rough.)
By Guilherme Cruz
Photo Marcelo Alonso

Away from the octagon since September 2007, Maurício Shogun talked with TATAME after a magnetic resonance and is confident in his return to the UFC octagon. "My knee is very good, thanks to God. I was going to begin my hard train this week but I spoke to my doctor and he decides to make the exams this week. I have been doing Boxing and physical train, and I think next week I will return to the Jiu-Jitsu and gradually train more", said Shogun, who watched, last Saturday, the man who defeated him at his last appearance win the UFC belt, but for a while Shogun don't think in a return fight against Forrest Griffin.

"I will train hard to face anyone. I had a defeat on my debut and I can't choose my opponent. It is not settle yet, but I expect to return on December, it's better for me", said Shogun, that will open a branch of the Universidade da Luta, at Curitiba, on 21st this month. "On 21st there will be a event only for the press and on 22nd there will be the open class to more than 800 students. Wanderlei Silva will be here", said the athlete.

Phil "The New York Bad Ass" Baroni knocked out Scott Jensen at Cage Rage, and then as he was checking on the guy, got head-butted by someone in Jensen's posse. Baroni showed true class by not going after the guy. I like how Baroni was barely fazed by it, while Mr.Yellow Sweatshirt and Studded Belt nearly fell over. Apparently, after that, Jensen's girlfriend, Hayley Finch, gave Baroni the finger and called him a "wanker" - it was in England, after all. Boo-hoo. Hope that made you feel better, Hayley.

Phil Baroni squares off with Scott Jansen for their welterweight fight at Cage Rage 27 - Step Up on Saturday. It's the New York Bad-Ass' first fight at 170 pounds. Let's hope Phil returns to form in this fight.