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Sweet thread, don't know why I didn't think of it, props!

Quinton “Rampage” Jackson Is Expecting Lyoto Machida To “Run Away From Him”.
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Detroit will be infused with adrenaline on Saturday, November 20, as the Ultimate Fighting Championship® returns to the Motor City for the first time since UFC IX in 1996. In the main event, two former UFC® light heavyweight champions collide as Quinton “Rampage” Jackson takes on Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida at UFC 123: RAMPAGE vs. MACHIDA, presented by Bud Light and live from the Palace at Auburn Hills in Detroit, Michigan.

Also on this stacked UFC 123 card, former welterweight champions will settle their score as UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes and former two-division champion BJ Penn face off in the rubber match of one of the greatest trilogies in fight history.

“When you think of Detroit, the first names that come to mind are legends like Joe Louis and Tommy Hearns,” UFC President Dana White said. “This is a real fight town with diehard fight fans, so I’m happy to be the guy bringing big fights to the Motor City.”

“We’re bringing the best UFC fighters here on November 20th,” added White, who is heading to Detroit on Thursday, September 16th, to meet with the media and officially announce UFC 123. “Rampage Jackson and Lyoto Machida are two of the top light heavyweights in the world. I expect this fight to be a war, as both of these guys want to get back in the title run. The co-main event is Matt Hughes vs. BJ Penn, two of the best fighters in UFC history. They have both beat each other and jumped at the opportunity to fight a third time.”

“We’ve stayed in constant touch with the UFC for several years now in working together to develop an opportunity to place one of their electrifying events at The Palace of Auburn Hills,” said Stu Mayer, Senior Vice President, Sports & Events for Palace Sports & Entertainment. “We’re both extremely pleased that it’s finally become a reality. UFC 123 will no doubt be embraced by the greater Detroit area and throughout the state of Michigan.”

Tickets for UFC 123 will go on sale Monday, September 20 at 10 a.m. ET and will be priced at $400, $300, $200, $150, $100 and $50. Tickets are available at Palacenet.com, Ticketmaster.com, charge-by-phone (800.745.3000) and all Ticketmaster retail locations.

UFC® Fight Club™ members will have the opportunity to purchase tickets to this event Friday, September 17 starting at 10 a.m. ET via UFCFightClub.com. A special internet ticket pre-sale will be available to UFC newsletter subscribers on Saturday, September 18 starting at 10a.m. ET. To access this presale, users must register for the UFC newsletter through UFC.com.

UFC 123 will be available live on Pay-Per-View on iN DEMAND, DIRECTV, DISH Network, TVN, BellTV, Shaw Communications, Sasktel, and Viewer’s Choice Canada for a suggested retail price of $44.99 US/$49.99 CAN for standard definition or high-definition broadcasts (where available). UFC 121 will also be available on Pay-Per-View in Spanish in the United States.

A ferocious competitor known for his aggressive slams and knockout power, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (fighting out of Memphis, Tenn. / professional record: 30-8) has been in there with the best and has beaten the best. A former Pride® veteran and UFC light heavyweight champion, the Memphis native’s UFC stint has seen him score knockout victories over Chuck Liddell and Wanderlei Silva and decision wins over Dan Henderson and Keith Jardine, making it clear that the 32-year-old can stand in the Octagon with anyone.

“I started this camp very early,” Jackson said. “I stayed in shape from the last fight and the weight hasn’t been an issue this time. Every single minute of this camp will be focused on technique, not getting back in shape or shaking the ring rust after a long time off.

“If Machida decides to fight me, it will be an exciting fight for one round before he goes to sleep. I am expecting him to run from me, though. He’d wear sneakers into the Octagon if he could! But don’t worry, I will hunt him down and get him anyway.”


A black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and Machida Karate, Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida (fighting out of Belem, Brazil / 16-1) has proved he is dangerous anywhere the fight goes. The former UFC light heavyweight champion won his first 16 professional fights and is focused on getting back into the title picture. Winning five of his first six fights in the UFC, the 32-year-old has finished three bouts, including a submission win over Rameau Sokoudjou and knock out victories against Thiago Silva and Rashad Evans.

“I know what it’s like to be the champion and I want to be the champion again,” Machida said. “I respect Rampage and I think he is an incredible fighter, but I’m going to expose his weaknesses – I’m going to win this fight on November 20 and go after the light heavyweight title.”

A fighter that is seeing a renaissance during an already brilliant career, Matt Hughes (fighting out of Hillsboro, Ill. / 46-7) has won his last three fights, putting himself back in the title picture once again. After a unanimous decision win against Matt Serra, a KO victory over Renzo Gracie and a submission victory over Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Ricardo Almeida, the 36-year-old has cemented his UFC Hall Of Fame status as he looks to get his welterweight title back.

In a move back to the 170-pound class after a very successful run as champion at 155 pounds, former UFC lightweight and welterweight champion BJ Penn (fighting out of Hilo, Hawaii / 15-7-1) will meet Hughes in a highly-anticipated rubber match. After Penn won their first fight via submission at UFC 46 and Hughes evened the score via TKO at UFC 63, both fighters are hungry to break the tie. Penn, a highly decorated Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, has always been known as a finisher, and with fighters such as Kenny Florian, Diego Sanchez, Sean Sherk, Joe Stevenson, Jens Pulver and even Hughes on that list, the 31-year-old Hawaiian is one of the sport’s most dangerous competitors.

Ultimate Fighting Championship® – www.ufc.com

Owned and operated by Zuffa, LLC, and headquartered in Las Vegas, Nev., UFC® produces over twelve UFC live Pay-Per-View events annually and 30 live arena events around the world. UFC programming is distributed in the United States on Viacom, Inc.’s Spike TV and on Comcast, Inc.’s Versus network. Globally, UFC programming is broadcast in over 130 countries, territories and jurisdictions, reaching 430 million homes worldwide, in 20 different languages. Ancillary businesses now include UFC.com with over 5 million unique visitors per month, the best-selling UFC “Undisputed” videogame franchise distributed by THQ, UFC Gym™,

UFC Fight Club™ affinity program, UFC Fan Expo™ festivals, branded apparel, trading cards, articulated action figures and other media including best-selling DVDs and a U.S. bimonthly magazine.

Ultimate Fighting Championship®, Ultimate Fighting®, UFC®, The Ultimate Fighter®, Submission®, As Real As It Gets®, Zuffa®, The Octagon™ and the eight-sided competition mat and cage design are registered trademarks, registered service marks, trademarks, trade dress and/or service marks owned exclusively by Zuffa, LLC and licensed to its affiliated entities and other licensees in the United States and other jurisdictions. All other marks referenced herein may be the property of Zuffa, LLC, its affiliates or other respective owners.

“Sugar” Shane Mosley Has Thought About Fighting MMA.
Posted September 15, 2010 Comments(0)


46-6 professional boxer and undefeated lightweight boxing champion Shane Mosley is one of the few elite boxers that not only likes the UFC, he also has thought about entering the Octagon. Unlike recent dud James Toney, Mosley seems smart enough to realise world class striking skills aren’t enough to capture gold at the highest levels of mixed martial arts, and he expressed during a recent live chat with Fanhouse readers:




“I was thinking about trying it, but they have the advantage in the wrestling and takedowns. They’re totally different sports. I’ve definitely thought about it. If a boxer doesn’t have training in mixed martial arts, fighting on the ground, they’re not going to win. You have to do more than throw a punch. I think the UFC is great, there are great fights coming up there, I support it. I like Rampage Jackson a lot because I know him and I’ve admired Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture.”

There’s no chance of seeing an elite boxer in the UFC or any MMA promotion for that matter until the purses become close to what these guys are making. In the meantime it’s still fun to speculate on how a prime boxer would do, but it’s only that..speculation.

McKee Says UFC Debut on Horizon
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Thursday, September 16, 2010
by Loretta Hunt (lhunt@sherdog.com)











Gambling with his career may have paid Antonio McKee great dividends.

Criticized for a record heavy on decisions and a “boring” fighting style that relied heavily on his wrestling, McKee pledged that he’d retire from the sport if he notched his 19th judges’ nod against Luciano Azevedo at Maximum Fighting Championships 26 last Friday in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

Instead, the MFC lightweight champion stopped Azevedo in the first round after opening the Brazilian with elbows. It marked McKee’s first stoppage in six opponents and three-and-a half years.

It appears the 40-year-old McKee’s dicey campaign has gained him considerable attention, which he spoke about on the Sherdog Radio Network’s “Savage Dog” show on Wednesday.

“Well, I’m there already, brother,” said McKee, when asked if the UFC was his ultimate goal before he retired. “I’ve got to be quiet about it right now. Just wait until they tell you that, but I’m there.”

McKee said his inability to finish fights in the past came from a deep internal struggle within himself.

“After that fight was over, I felt bad for that guy,” he said. “I split that dude’s head open. I just changed his face for the rest of his life. That gash was so deep and so long that he had to receive staples -- not stitches, staples. I don’t want to be that monster. That’s the monster that came from the streets and when I told you I had to go back to the ghetto and grab a part of me that I tried to get rid of I brought him back and that’s scary to me because I don’t think nobody can deal with that individual.”

McKee, who has wins over UFC veterans Carlo Prater and Derrick Noble and hasn’t lost since 2003, said he went to church last Sunday following the fight and cried with his daughter for forgiveness.

“I don’t get off on that, so I prayed and asked God for the strength to start submitting people because I don’t want to hurt people like that,” said McKee.

He also called for the removal of grounded elbow strikes, a tactic that has been omitted from some promotions’ rule sets because of the damage it can cause fighters.

McKee pointed to his stoppage performance as a way to silence critics, including HDNet’s Bas Rutten and Guy Mezger, who regularly commentate MFC events on the network.

“This wasn’t about the fans,” said McKee, who teaches out of the Bodyshop Fitness gym in Lakewood, Calif. “This was to shut up Bas Rutten, Guy Mezger. This was to shut everybody up. I can do what I want to do. I control the top game. I don’t get submitted. You haven’t ever seen me fight out of a submission.

“I’m the baddest n----er on the planet at 155 pounds and right after that, look what happened? I got a call from the UFC who said, ‘We got a four-fight deal.’”

When asked about his contract status with the MFC, McKee said Friday’s bout was the final fight of his deal with the Canadian-based organization.

“I did my obligation of three fights and like I told (MFC President) Mark Pavelich, like I told Kurt Otto of the IFL: you will have no one to beat me,” said McKee.

MFC Media Relations Director Scott Zerr wouldn’t comment on the lightweight champion’s contract status.

“There is nothing official on McKee going to the UFC,” wrote Zerr in an email to Sherdog.com late Wednesday. “In fact we have spoken to Antonio and he has denied making any statement that he has signed with the UFC.”

If McKee did eventually grace the Octagon, at 40 years of age, he’d be one of the older fighters in recent memory to make his debut with the promotion.

“Genetically, I can do it when I’m 45,” said McKee. I don’t drink. I don’t smoke. I’m not on steroids. I take care of myself. I can fight till I’m 60 if I want to.”

Extra passionate and zealous at times during his interview on Wednesday, McKee said he’d figured out how to finally propel his career forward.

“I’m going to make everybody a believer now because I now understand that if it’s violence and blood which you want, I’m going to give it to you the best I can,” he said.

Marquardt Stops Protesting Palhares
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Thursday, September 16, 2010
by Brian Knapp (bknapp@sherdog.com)

Former middleweight King of Pancrase Nate Marquardt made Rousimar Palhares pay for letting down his guard.

Marquardt stopped Palhares -- a Brazilian Top Team representative who had never before been finished -- on first-round punches in the UFC Fight Night 22 headliner on Wednesday at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas. Referee Herb Dean intervened on Palhares’ behalf 3:28 into round one.

Palhares had his chance and blew it. In top position after a hard-earned takedown and subsequent scramble, the leg lock expert dropped down for an attempted heel hook. Marquardt slipped from his grip, and Palhares motioned toward Dean to complain about his opponent’s leg being “greased.” Marquardt pounced, blitzed the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt with a crackling right hand and finished him with unanswered punches from the top.

The commission and referee reportedly found no sign of grease on Marquardt’s leg before or immediately after the match.

“They checked it before I fought,” said Marquardt, who improved to 9-3 inside the UFC. “The thing is I came out really warm because I wanted a good sweat. I wanted to be slippery. I just saw an opportunity and jumped on it.”



In what was a coming out party of sorts, unbeaten Brazilian prospect Charles Oliveira submitted “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 8 winner Efrain Escudero with a third-round rear-naked choke in the co-main event. Escudero met his demise 2:25 into round three.

Just 20 years old, Oliveira dazzled with high-risk strikes -- some of which landed, some of which did not -- and punished Escudero with kicks to the legs and body. Outside of a few elbow strikes from top position on the ground in the first round, Escudero was effectively neutralized throughout their encounter.

Oliveira seized an opening in the third round, as he clinched with Escudero, bounced of the cage and brought the MMA Lab representative to the ground in a spectacular takedown. He then caught a rising Escudero in a scramble, cinched the choke, tightened his grip and waited for the tapout.


Miller outpointed Tibau.
AMA Fight Club representative Jim Miller outstruck and outworked Gleison Tibau en route to a unanimous decision in another key showdown at 155 pounds. Scores were 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 for Miller, who improved to 7-1 inside the Octagon and strengthened his position in the lightweight division. Miller wobbled Tibau with stout punches in rounds one and two, as he found the mark with a powerful jab in the first and a blistering straight left in the second. One of the sport’s largest and most powerful lightweights, Tibau survived the blows and scored with a pair of takedowns. However, Miller stayed aggressive from his back, kept the Brazilian on his heels and returned to his feet without much resistance. The two Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belts spent much of the third round dueling in the clinch, but Miller scored effectively with combinations and stuffed his foe’s only attempted takedown. The defeat snapped Tibau’s two-fight winning streak.

Cole Miller Tags, Submits Pearson

American Top Team’s Cole Miller submitted “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 9 winner Ross Pearson with a second-round rear-naked choke in their featured lightweight tilt. The tapout came 1:49 into round two, as Miller posted his fourth victory in five appearances.

Blessed with a five-inch height and four-inch reach advantage, Miller used his length effectively throughout the match. Believed to be the lesser striker, he stood toe-to-toe with Pearson, pausing occasionally to try and draw the Team Rough House standout into a ground battle.

Pearson never took the bait, and a little less than two minutes into the second period, Miller cracked him with a mean left hook against the cage. He followed with another punch on his downed foe, seized back control and went immediately to the choke. From there, surrender was a formality, as Miller handed Pearson his first defeat inside the Octagon.

“I’m just happy I came out here and did what I said I was going to do,” Miller said. “I see all these wrestlers, point-fighting strikers and lay-and-pray jiu-jitsu guys -- they’re all doing the same thing. Nobody’s trying to finish, pass guard, mount, nothing. Just control the clock. This isn’t football. People have to come in here and fight.”

UFC Fight Night 22 Prelim Results & Play-by-Play

Konrad, Grove Advance to Bellator Heavyweight Final
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Thursday, September 16, 2010
by Brian Knapp (bknapp@sherdog.com)





Two-time NCAA national wrestling champion Cole Konrad swallowed the hopes of Damian Grabowski with three rounds of takedowns, top control and ground-and-pound.

Konrad defeated the previously unbeaten Grabowski by unanimous decision in the Bellator Fighting Championships Season 3 heavyweight tournament semi-finals at Bellator 29 on Thursday at The Rave in Milwaukee. Scores were 30-26, 30-27 and 30-27, all in Konrad’s favor.

“Obviously, I’d like to finish it for everyone here,” Konrad said. “I’m just trying to continue to develop. I’m far from being the well-rounded fighter I want to be.”

The tone was set early, as Konrad took Grabowski off his feet with a powerful double-leg takedown inside the first five seconds. The Polish import spent the entire first round on his back, pinned hopelessly underneath Konrad, who stayed active from the top with knees to the body and short punches and hammerfists to the head.

Rounds two and three followed a similar narrative, though Grabowski enjoyed a brief glimmer of hope in the third. The 30-year-old Pole tripped Konrad to the canvas and threatened him with a guillotine choke. Konrad freed himself, re-established a safe distance on his feet and went back to work, scoring with two more takedowns. With that, Grabowski’s 13-fight winning streak was over.

Konrad will face UFC veteran Neil Grove in the heavyweight final. Grove blitzed through Alexey Oleinik in 45 seconds, as he whacked the Ukrainian submission specialist with a knee to the head, a clubbing right hand and follow-up punches on the ground. The unanswered blows, coupled with Oleinik’s vulnerable position beneath his opponent, led to the stoppage -- the eighth first-round finish of Grove’s career.

“If you fight, you come out to win, not score points,” said Grove, who will carry a four-fight unbeaten streak into the final. “My job is to finish.”

Tuesday, September 21, 2010
by Marcelo Alonso (malonso@sherdog.com)

Fabricio Werdum file photo: Dave Mandel | Sherdog.com




After a career-changing win against Fedor Emelianenko on June 26 in Strikeforce and a mid August surgery that removed 27 bone fragments in his elbow, Fabricio Werdum’s life has markedly changed.

"I’m really happy. The surgery was such a success and I’ve been working so hard with the physical therapy that I’ve already made some movement on the ground a few days ago using 70 percent of my power,” said the Brazilian heavyweight, who couldn’t fully extend his arm for the last two years. "My main goal is to work on my shrunken tendon. Besides physical therapy, I’m using a ‘Dim Fist’ machine overnight. That machine works on extending my tendon."

While his elbow mends, Werdum -- who earned a shot at Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem by handing the Russian legend his first loss in nearly a decade -- will embark on a seminar tour around the world.

"On October 16, I’m going to Madrid (Spain) where I have more than 200 students. My brother said that we must have more than a 100 people in that seminar,” he said. “On the 17th and 18th, I’ll teach a seminar in Bordeaux (France). On October 22nd, I’m going to Abu Dhabi to see Marcus Oliveira in the finals of the ADFC tournament. On the 23rd, I’m doing a seminar in Seville (Spain), then on the 30th, I’ll be in a seminar in Croatia. By November 4, I have to return to U.S. to celebrate my daughter’s birthday. On November 5, I’m going to Tokyo, Japan and right after that I return to California to start my MMA training. I believe that by March, I’ll be back to the ring.”

The 33-year-old Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt knows he’ll have an expanding field of heavyweights to return to, which was recently strengthened with the signing of former UFC champion Josh Barnett.

"I thought it was a great acquisition to the event. Barnett is a really tough heavyweight,” said Werdum. “ I haven’t thought about facing him yet. My goal now is either a rematch with Fedor or (one) with Overeem for the belt. But actually the most important thing for me is not who they will choose, but that my body is 100 percent recovered, so I can show to the ones who thought I was lucky that I was actually ready and pretty well-trained to fight Fedor.”

Chael Sonnen's license revoked

Email Print Comments24 Associated Press

LOS ANGELES -- The California State Athletic Commission suspended UFC middleweight title contender Chael Sonnen for one year Wednesday after revealing he tested positive for steroids following a loss to Anderson Silva last month in Oakland.

CSAC executive officer George Dodd said Sonnen's drug test revealed an abnormally high testosterone-to-estrogen level, an indicator of steroid use. A second test showed similar results.

"The use of anabolic steroids and other banned substances are not tolerated by the commission," Dodd said. "Anabolic agents put the health and safety of both the user and his opponents at risk."

The suspension casts a pall on memories of perhaps the UFC's most exciting fight of the year to date. Sonnen was a trash-talking underdog who improbably controlled the first four rounds of his fight against Silva, but lost to the long-reigning middleweight champion on a dramatic fifth-round choke at UFC 117 in Oakland's Oracle Arena.

The suspension squashes the UFC's plans to pit Sonnen against Silva in a rematch early next year. Steroid-related suspensions in mixed martial arts and boxing typically are honored by other states' athletic commissions, and the UFC won't schedule suspended fighters for new bouts.

Sonnen is expected to appeal the ruling within 30 days, but can't receive a hearing on his appeal until Dec. 2 in Sacramento. Sonnen hasn't commented publicly on the suspension, and his management team didn't immediately return phone calls.

UFC president Dana White wrote on Twitter that Silva's next fight will be against Vitor Belfort, the Brazilian former light heavyweight champion. Belfort was scheduled to fight Yushin Okami at UFC 122 on Nov. 13 in Germany, but will meet Silva instead -- likely at UFC 125 in Las Vegas on Jan. 1.

Nate Marquardt will replace Belfort in the main event at UFC 122 against Okami, White said.

Ok you can sthu anytime now Chael

Maldonado Replaces Blackledge at UFC 120
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Tuesday, September 28, 2010
by Mike Whitman (mwhitman@sherdog.com)





The UFC has signed Brazilian light heavyweight Fabio Maldonado to fight James McSweeney at UFC 120 on Oct. 16 at the O2 Arena in London.

Maldonado will fill in for McSweeney's original opponent, fellow Englishman Tom Blackledge, whose reason for pulling out of the event could not be confirmed.

A member of Team Nogueira, Maldonado (17-3) will carry a 10-fight winning streak into the Octagon. Of Maldonado's 17 victories, 14 have been finishes, and he has never been knocked out. The 30-year-old also competes in professional boxing and is undefeated in 22 fights, with 21 of those wins ending by KO. Though the Brazilian typically trains out of Nogueira's gym in Rio De Janeiro, recently he has spent time training with UFC lightweight Thiago Tavares in Florianopolis, Brazil.

McSweeney (4-5), a cast member of “The Ultimate Fighter” season 10, was himself a late replacement for Blackledge's original opponent, James Te-Huna, who was forced to withdraw due to injury. The Jackson's Mixed Martial Arts fighter has gone 1-1 in UFC competition. Although he typically fights at heavyweight, McSweeney is making the cut to 205 for his upcoming fight in London.

The event will be headlined by top UK middleweight Michael Bisping, who will take on K-1 and Dream veteran Yoshihiro Akiyama in the main event.

Gleidson Venga contributed to this report

Ribeiro-Wilcox to Headline Strikeforce Challengers 12
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Tuesday, October 05, 2010
by Joe Myers (jmyers@sherdog.com)




Strikeforce officials on Monday announced that a lightweight bout pitting Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro against Justin Wilcox will headline Strikeforce Challengers 12 on Nov. 19 at the Jackson Convention Complex in Jackson, Miss. The event will air live on Showtime at 11 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast).

Ribeiro is a decorated submission expert and one of the top 155-pound fighters in mixed martial arts. A four-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion, he won once as a purple belt in 1996 and three straight times (1999-2001) as a black belt. His 20 MMA victories include 14 stoppages, 12 by submission. Ribeiro has defeated such notable fighters as Joachim Hansen, Eiji Mitsuoka and Mitsuhiro Ishida. Ribeiro’s losses have come against some of the lightweight division’s top talents -- Tatsuya Kawajiri, Gesias Cavalcante and Shinya Aoki.

He returned to the cage after a 10-month absence in May and lost a controversial split decision to the undefeated Lyle Beerbohm at Strikeforce “Heavy Artillery” in St. Louis.

Wilcox, a 31-year-old former NCAA wrestling star and bodybuilder, has won his last four fights. In his most recent outing in March, he registered a unanimous decision over Shamar Bailey at Strikeforce Challengers 7 in Fresno, Calif.

A member of the American Kickboxing Academy, Wilcox wrestled for Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. There, he befriended teammate Josh Koscheck, who turned his college wrestling buddy onto MMA and eventually brought Wilcox into the AKA family. Along with Bailey, Wilcox holds wins over “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 5 alum Gabe Ruediger, Strikeforce fighter Bobby Voelker and Japanese mainstay Daisuke Nakamura. His three losses have all come to notable foes in Ishida, Chad Reiner and Bellator Fighting Championships veteran Dan Hornbuckle.

In another featured televised bout, unbeaten lightweight Ryan Couture will face an opponent who has yet to be determined. The son of UFC hall of famer Randy Couture, he won his Strikeforce and MMA debut with a first-round triangle choke submission of Lucas Stark at a Challengers show in August.

The younger Couture is a member of the Las Vegas-based Xtreme Couture Mixed Martial Arts fight team. Before winning his pro debut, the 28-year-old compiled an amateur record of 5-1-1, with all five wins coming by submission.

This is going to be a good fight.

Sherdog.com MMA Blog: Tuesday, October 5
UFC Cashes Out in NY ShareThis
By Jake Rossen (jrossen@sherdog.com)


Tuesday, October 5 12:00 am PT: According to Monday’s edition of The New York Post -- picked up by FightOpinion’s Zach Arnold -- the UFC’s parent company, Zuffa, has dumped nearly $75,000 into the campaign of governor’s office candidate Andrew Cuomo. You do not need a flow chart to understand that Zuffa would like Cuomo to be their state muscle when legislation for legalizing MMA comes up again. (It was shot down earlier this year by the Assembly; New York remains one of only two states with specific laws prohibiting MMA.)

Cuomo, the state’s current Attorney General, is the Democratic nominee; his rival, Republican Carl Paladino, has been under media scrutiny for making unfounded accusations about Cuomo’s fidelity during a prior marriage. As usual, politics make MMA seem tame in comparison.

Is this the final furlough in what’s amounted to a 13-year struggle to get the sport recognized in one of the most economically viable states in the nation? Cuomo hasn’t issued a statement one way or the other, and Paladino is said to have “reservations” about MMA. Funding politicians is no guarantee they’ll be sympathetic to your cause. Polls show Cuomo may have as much as a double-digit lead over Paladino.

Either man would have to navigate around the efforts of Bob Reilly, a state Assemblyman who holds some influence over the Assembly and has a Draconian view of combat sports fed by a child’s understanding of the activity. Reilly’s “Chicken Little” act will eventually be tossed, though the state’s MMA fans might have to wait until he retires or moves to a new career. Someone has to keep that Elvis off of TV.

Tito Ortiz to fight Ryan Bader at UFC 132
Updated: March 21, 2011, 5:09 PM ET

By Franklin McNeil
ESPN.com

NEWARK, N.J. -- Former light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz will face contender Ryan Bader on July 2 in Las Vegas, UFC president Dana White told ESPN.com on Monday.

Ortiz (15-8-1) will look to snap a three-fight losing skid, while Bader attempts to bounce back from the first loss of his professional career. Bader was defeated by newly crowned 205-pound champion Jon Jones on Feb. 5.

"I like this fight," White said. "It's a good fight stylistically; they're both wrestlers. Tito is coming off several losses, and Bader is coming off a loss."

White said that Ortiz likely needs a win over Bader to retain his spot on the UFC's roster.

"The last [fight] was a must-win for Tito," White said while overseeing tryouts for Season 14 of "The Ultimate Fighter." "Tito lost his last fight [by unanimous decision on Oct. 23 to Matt Hamill] and told me, he pleaded to me and Lorenzo [Fertitta], about how nobody has beaten him up, that he can still do this, to give him another chance, and this and that and everything else.

"We'll see what happens."

White expects Bader to be a difficult opponent for the 36-year-old Ortiz. Bader (27) will bring a record of 12-1-0 into the fight, which will be held at UFC 132.

"I would want to fight Tito Ortiz," Bader said in Australia last month. "Just because I grew up watching him. I want to have one of those guys on my resume like a Randy Couture or Chuck Liddell. Purely out of respect, he's one I'd like to fight before my career is over."

"Bader didn't look that bad [against Jones], now that you know what just happened to [Mauricio Rua]," White said.

Jones dominated Rua, before stopping him in the third round Saturday night, at UFC 128 to capture the light heavyweight title.

Franklin McNeil covers mixed martial arts and boxing for ESPN.com. ESPN.com mixed martial arts writer Brett Okamoto also contributed to this report.

Rod Mar for ESPN.com
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, left, found himself outgunned in the later rounds.


Phil Davis may not have wowed the masses, but he passed a major test in his natural progression as a professional mixed martial artist.

An NCAA wrestling champion at Penn State University in 2008, Davis trudged through what amounted to a baptism by fire and took a unanimous decision from Pride Fighting Championships veteran Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in the UFC Fight Night 24 main event on Saturday at the KeyArena in Seattle. Davis swept the scorecards 30-27 and undoubtedly grew from the experience.

A late replacement for injured former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz, Davis kept his perfect record intact and likely vaulted himself into the Top 10 at 205 pounds. Still, besting Nogueira was no easy task. Even the preparation took its toll.

"I was falling apart when I was in this training camp," Davis said. "I had all types of injuries. I didn't know if I could make this fight. I just stayed prayerful."


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Davis did not let adversity discourage him, as Nogueira shut down his takedowns in the first round and kept the fight upright, where the Brazilian had a distinct advantage. Davis switched from a double- to a single-leg takedown attack in the second and third rounds and enjoyed far better luck and swung the momentum in his favor. Near the end of Round 2, he grounded Nogueira, transitioned to a rear position and grinded away with punches and knees.

"I know he's tough," Davis said. "He's resilient."

The 26-year-old Harrisburg, Pa., native again put the Brazilian on his back in the third round, and though his offense was limited to sporadic punches from inside Nogueira's crafty guard, he did more than enough to sway the scorecards in his favor. Nogueira, who turns 35 in June, has dropped back-to-back bouts for the first time in his career.

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Anthony Johnson brutalized his friend and part-time tormentor Dan Hardy for most of three rounds.

Anthony Johnson dominated former welterweight title contender Dan Hardy with superior strength and wrestling, as he grounded the Team Rough House representative at will and pitched the equivalent of a shutout in the co-headliner. All three judges scored it 30-27 for Johnson, who made a triumphant return from a 16-month layoff.

Johnson knocked Hardy to the ground with a head kick inside the first minute, and it went downhill from there for the charismatic Brit. Blessed with a considerable size and strength advantage, Johnson leaned heavily on his amateur wrestling background and grounded his mohawked foe repeatedly throughout the one-sided 15-minute bout.

Hardy sealed his own fate in the third round, as he drove for an ill-advised takedown and again wound up on his back. Johnson went to work from the top, transitioned to Hardy's back and twice threatened to finish him, first with an arm-triangle choke and then with a neck crank. Hardy did not go away, but Johnson closed out the most significant victory of his 12-fight career with some powerful right hands on the ground.

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Two rounds in, DaMarques Johnson's face bore the marks of a man who had been in a fight.

"The Ultimate Fighter" Season 7 winner Amir Sadollah struck DaMarques Johnson into second-round submission from the mount in a featured welterweight matchup. Exhausted and battered, Johnson asked out of the fight 3 minutes, 27 seconds into Round 2.

After a competitive first round, Sadollah found another gear in the second. The supremely conditioned Brooklyn, N.Y., native attacked the body with knees and went to the head with textbook multi-punch combinations. Johnson, who stepped in for an injured James Wilks on two weeks' notice, wilted under the relentless pressure.

With a little more than two minutes left in the second round, Sadollah clinched with his fatigued foe, swept his feet out from under him and moved to the mount. From there, he secured wrist control with no resistance, tied Johnson's right hand around his own neck and unleashed a volley of short but powerful elbows that resulted in the submission.

"I want to be the best. I want to fight the best," said Sadollah, who posted his fourth win in five outings. "That's why I'm here. I love this."

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Sweet revenge! Chan Sung Jung turned the tables on Leonard Garcia in their rematch.

Chan Sung Jung submitted former WEC featherweight title contender Leonard Garcia with a second-round twister, as he avenged his controversial April defeat to the Jackson's Mixed Martial Arts representative in a featured showdown at 145 pounds. Garcia, his body painfully contorted, tapped out 4 minutes, 59 seconds into Round 2.

Jung, a late replacement for injured "The Ultimate Fighter" Season 12 semi-finalist Nam Phan, dominated the rematch. The 24-year-old Korean Top Team representative took down Garcia with roughly 90 seconds remaining in round one, threatened him with an armbar and later moved to full mount. In round two, Jung again pushed the fight to the mat, where he dropped heavy elbows on the tough Texan. He transitioned to Garcia's back with less than half a minute left in the second round, set up the twister in an ode to a certain Brazilian jiu-jitsu savant and coaxed the tapout.

"I've watched Eddie Bravo's videos on YouTube for a long time," Jung said through his translator. The victory snapped the first two-fight losing streak of the South Korean's career.