UFC 130, May 28

UFC 130
Saturday May 28
MGM Grand Garden Arena
Las Vegas, NV
Airing on PPV

MAIN CARD (PPV)

* Frankie Edgar (#1 Ranked Lightweight) vs. Gray Maynard (#2 Ranked Lightweight) for UFC Lightweight Championship
* Quinton Jackson (#4 Ranked Light Heavyweight) vs. Matt Hamill
* Jorge Santiago (#8 Ranked Middleweight) vs. Brian Stann
* Frank Mir (#7-tie Ranked Heavyweight) vs. Roy Nelson (#10 Ranked Heavyweight)
* Stefan Struve vs. Travis Browne

PRELIMINARY CARD (Spike)

* Thiago Alves (#6 Ranked Welterweight) vs. Rick Story
* Miguel Torres (#5 Ranked Bantamweight) vs. Demetrious Johnson (#7 Ranked Bantamweight)

PRELIMINARY CARD (unaired)

* Michael McDonald vs. Chris Cariaso
* Kendall Grove vs. Tim Boetsch
* Renan Barao vs. Cole Escovedo
* Cody McKenzie vs. Bart Palaszewski

Jai Bradney  Ebenezer Fontes Braga Chris Brennan Marcelo Brito  Rob Broughton 

UFC 129 videos blog with Dana White (Episode three)

Tony DeSouza  Edwin Dewees  Nick Diaz  Tadhg Steamfist Dixon Joe Doerksen 

Even Fox News Ruins Christmas

Tadhg Steamfist Dixon Joe Doerksen  Chris Dolman Edson Drago  Tomasz Drwal

SB Nation's Luke Thomas is in attendance at the Rogers Centre for UFC 129: St. Pierre vs. Shields...

Marcelo Brito  Rob Broughton  Mike Brown  Junie Browning Paul Buentello 

Ultimate Fighter's Ramsey Nijem Talks Tension on Team Dos Santos

by Michael David SmithOn this week's episode of The Ultimate Fighter, Junior dos Santos had some trouble in the ranks of his coaching staff, and he had to reprimand his assistant, Lew Polley, for pushing his fighters too hard in practice.

Ramsey Nijem, a member of Team Dos Santos, said in his weekly interview with MMAFighting.com that he was glad dos Santos said something, because Polley had been taking his intense coaching style to extreme lengths.

Nijem also discussed the new member of Team Dos Santos and this week's fight between Len Bentley and Ryan McGillivray, and he offered an interesting preview of his own (not quite) nude scene in next week's episode. The full interview is below.

 

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Mac Danzig Karen Darabedyan Viacheslav Datsik Marcus Davis  Tony DeSouza 

UFC 129 Complete Collection Part 4 Of 12: Ivan Menjivar vs. Charlie Valencia

Welcome back fans and friends to another entry into my new ?maxi-series? entitled ?ufc 129 Complete Collection?. UFC 129 is one of the can?t-miss events of the year, and in a rare move, all twelve fights will be available to fans over three mediums: Facebook, Spike TV, and Pay-Per-View. Even better, all twelve fights have [...]

Jermaine Andrè  Yoji Anjo  Ao Hailin  Shinya Aoki  Andrei Arlovski 

UFC 129 Weigh In Results

Phil Cardella Roan Jucao Carneiro Shane The Engineer Carwin  Jason Hollywood Chambers Ryo Piranha Chonan 

UFC to stream UFC 129 pay-per-view broadcast on UStream.com (UPDATED)

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

The UFC is going to a new platform for promoting pay-per-view events online, as UStream.com announced on Friday that Saturday's UFC 129 event will be available on the live video streaming website on a pay-per-view basis.

UStream on Friday announced that the UFC will be bringing tomorrow's UFC 129 event to the site for $44.95. The organization is taking advantage of UStream's new pay-per-view "ticket" system, which allows users to purchase tickets for certain events on the site.

The UStream broadcast will begin at 9PM ET, though HeavyMMA's pre-game show will also be made available beginning at 6PM ET. UFC 129 takes place from the Rogers Centre in Toronto, headlined by the Welterweight Championship bout between Georges St. Pierre and Jake Shields.

Penick's Analysis: This is just another in the UFC's deals to expand their reach and expand the options for viewing their events online. They have really attempted to be ahead of the curve in their technological and social networking endeavors, and this will be another way to continue in that. Though it's not likely to attract the fans that were attempting to stream the events for free, UStream still receives a lot of traffic and could be a decent source of revenue for the organization.

The original version of this article mistakenly stated UStream had previously been sued by the UFC. UStream had been subpoenaed for IP addresses of users who were uploading UFC content, but they have not been sued by the UFC over the airing of events on the site. Justin.TV, a similar live video streaming site, was instead the site named by the UFC earlier this year in a lawsuit.

Todd Duffee  Marvin Eastman  Stav Crazy Bear Economou  Yves Edwards  Justin Eilers 

Sec. State Clinton admits U.S. Created Mujahideen that became Al-Qaeda

If you don't want to watch the entire clip....she makes this statement starting at about 2:45

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0Cc3LfhQ-o&feature=player_embedded#at=177

Clinton says we had no...

Phil Baroni Don Barr Pat Barry  Vitor Belfort  Robert Berry

UFC 129 ?St. Pierre vs. Shields? Weigh-In Results, Pics & Video

The UFC 129 weigh-ins took place this afternoon at the Ricoh Coliseum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Weigh-in notes: As expected, the Canadian fans in attendance went nuts for Georges St. Pierre right after they tried to boo Jake Shields out of the building. Neither appeared to have any trouble with their weight. The crowd chanted [...]

Fedor Emelianenko Yasubey Enomoto Mark Epstein Tom Big Cat Erickson Martinsh Egle

Evolving Machida puts pressure, respect aside against Couture at UFC 129

TORONTO - A lifetime practitioner of traditional martial arts, former UFC champion Lyoto Machida has followed the modern incarnation of MMA since its 1993 inception.

As with anyone who's done the same, Machida has observed and admired the career of UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture from the very beginning.

At Saturday's historic UFC 129 event, Machida will put personal adulation aside and take on "The Natural" in a pivotal main-card matchup "The Dragon" hopes will snap a two-fight losing streak and restore him to the upper echelon of the UFC's 205-pound division.

Jai Bradney  Ebenezer Fontes Braga Chris Brennan Marcelo Brito  Rob Broughton 

Rory MacDonald - "The Waterboy" Grows Up

Andrei Arlovski  Ricardo Arona  Noboru Asahi Marcus Aurelio  Mikhail Avetisyan

Rogers Centre Bracing for Biggest Crowd in UFC History

Filed under: UFC, News

TORONTO -- Just how big is UFC 129 going to be? Apparently, 55,000 tickets weren't quite enough. Early Thursday afternoon, the UFC put a few more seats on sale after workers finished production setup and carved out some extra space. There will be around 20 video screens, including an extra, center-hung 100-foot screen to complement the stadium's existing 110-foot video board in centerfield. The audio setup will have more than 80 points, twice as many as some rock concerts the stadium has hosted.

For months, UFC president Dana White has been looking at mock-up photos and models of the final project, but he finally got his first look in person this week. White, who once said he never wanted to do a stadium show unless the promotion could replicate "the UFC experience," came out thrilled.

"I'm telling you right now, you're going to be blown away," he said.

Mikhail Avetisyan Luiz Azeredo  Luciano Azevedo  Ba Te er  Ryan Bader 

Matt Hughes -vs- Diego Sanchez Coming This Fall

http://www.mmafighting.com/2011/04/28/ufc-hall-of-famer-matt-hughes-meets-diego-sanchez-this-fall/

Image: http://www.blogcdn.com/www.mmafighting.com/media/2010/05/mhugheshofesther.jpg

Out of...

Ricardo Almeida  Eddie Alvarez Thiago Alves  Andre Amade  Dean Amasinger 

Yves Jabouin 'Feels Blessed' to Make His UFC Debut at Rogers Centre

Filed under: MMA Videos, UFC, FanHouse Exclusive, Videos

TORONTO -- MMA Fighting spoke to Yves Jabouin about his Octagon debut at UFC 129, fighting Pablo Garza, being a part of the growing Tristar Gym team, picking up his first WEC in his last fight, learning from his friend Georges St-Pierre and more.

Vitor Belfort  Robert Berry David Bielkheden Michael Bisping  Dan Bobish

Former NHL enforcer is trying MMA in June

On skates, Donald Brashear could always fight with the best of them.

Can he do it bare-footed and against trained professional fighters? Brashear wants to find out.

According to the Canadian Press, the former NHL henchman, who's still playing hockey in the minors, has signed a deal with Ringside MMA to fight in June in Quebec City.

"Despite Brashear's lack of experience in MMA, he's a very athletic guy, he's in good shape, he's gutsy, he's learning pretty fast and showed an early interest and motivation," a Ringside MMA spokeswoman said. "Plus, he's no stranger to fighting."

Keep in mind, Brashear is also 39 years old. The 6-foot-3, 237-pounder will have to get approval from local authories before he steps into the cage.

Brashear may want to look at MMA sparring videos with another former NHL player George Laraque. Sure he was facing one of the best in the world, but Laraque was schooled a few months ago by Georges St-Pierre.

We're guessing the biggest test for Brashear will be conditioning and avoiding the potential adrenaline dump that happens in fighting. Baltimore Ravens safety Tom Zbikowski, who's crossed over to professional boxing, said fighting is unlike any conventional sport.

"You have to control it in boxing, because in football maybe that first series you get real excited. The warm up in boxing is far, far more important than in football," Zbikowski told ESPN1100 in Las Vegas.

During his 17-year career, Brashear piled up 2,634 penalty minutes in 1,025 NHL games.

Dan Cramer Alberto Crane Marcio Pe de Pano Cruz Luke Cummo  Jeff Big Frog Curran

10,000 Post Milestone

It has been a journey and I'm proud to say that one of my first posts and threads contains views that I still maintain.

Mariusz love is still the...

Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah  Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama  Gilbert Aldana 

Martin Kampmann Says Betting On GSP Over Jake Shields Is The Way To Go

Martin Kampmann Says Betting On GSP Over Jake Shields At UFC 129 Is The Way To Go.





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Aleksander Emelianenko Fedor Emelianenko Yasubey Enomoto Mark Epstein Tom Big Cat Erickson

Ok Google, your good.

im doing an anatomy worksheet and i swear to god i typed in this

"What is the"

And the first option on the list is

"What is the location and...

Phil Baroni Don Barr Pat Barry  Vitor Belfort  Robert Berry

With addition of five Facebook fights, every UFC 129 match is ‘televised’

If you were worried about missing the atmosphere of 55,000 fans at Rogers Centre next weekend, you'll get a pretty good feel for it across three platforms. In addition to seven guaranteed fights on pay-per-view and Spike, the UFC announced all five of the remaining undercard fights will stream free on the UFC Facebook page.

UFC 129 viewing schedule (via Bloody Elbow):

Main card:
Georges St-Pierre vs. Jake Shields
Jose Aldo vs. Mark Hominick
Jason Brilz vs. Vladimir Matyushenko
Randy Couture vs. Lyoto Machida
Mark Bocek vs. Ben Henderson

On Spike:
Nate Diaz vs. Rory MacDonald
Jake Ellenberger vs. Sean Pierson

On Facebook:
Claude Patrick vs. Daniel Roberts
Ivan Menjivar vs. Charlie Valencia
Jason MacDonald vs. Ryan Jensen
John Makdessi vs. Kyle Watson
Pablo Garza vs. Yves Jabouin

Don't forget you can watch UFC 129 on PPV right here on Yahoo! Sports.

Gilbert Aldana  José Aldo  John Alessio  Houston Alexander Ricardo Almeida 

Ronnie Mann expected to fill slot in ?Summer Series? tournament

Assuming he checks out medically after last night?s action, the next time British sensation Ronnie Mann steps foot inside the Bellator ring it will be as part of a field competing this summer in hopes of an opportunity at featherweight champion Joe Warren?s belt. Five Ounces of Pain was able to confirm the likelihood of [...]

Aldrin de Jesus  Todd Duffee  Marvin Eastman  Stav Crazy Bear Economou  Yves Edwards 

McDonald in for Kid against Cariaso

Yoshihiro Akiyama  Gilbert Aldana  José Aldo  John Alessio  Houston Alexander

Fedor vs Hendo: M1 want catchweight

ShareThis

Joe Hybrid Duarte Aldrin de Jesus  Todd Duffee  Marvin Eastman  Stav Crazy Bear Economou 

Kid Yamamoto Out of UFC 130

Filed under: UFC, News, Japan

Looking to get in the win column in the UFC for the first time, Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto will have to wait a while longer.

The Japanese legend made his UFC debut in February, losing a unanimous decision against Demetrious Johnson in a fight "Mighty Mouse" dominated with takedowns. Yamamoto was expected to face Chris Cariaso at UFC 130 next month, but the UFC reported Wednesday an injury has forced him off the card.

Stepping in to fight Cariaso in the bantamweight bout will be Michael McDonald on less than five weeks notice. The fight is expected to take place as part of UFC 130's preliminary card.

Eddie Alvarez Thiago Alves  Andre Amade  Dean Amasinger  Jimmy Ambriz

UFC 129 Complete Collection Part 1 Of 12: Yves Jabouin vs. Pablo Garza

Get ready, fans and friends. I?m about to embark on my most ambitious project since the fourteen-part ?Heavy Wait? series that gave an ultra in-depth look into Strikeforce?s Heavyweight Grand Prix. Starting today, right now, I?m beginning a twelve-part series focusing on every single fight from an event that may one day be remembered as [...]

Bernard Ackah  Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama  Gilbert Aldana  José Aldo 

Michael McDonald meets Nick Pace at UFC 133 in August

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

The UFC has announced an exciting bantamweight bout for UFC 133 this summer, as Michael McDonald and Nick Pace will square off at the event in August.

McDonald is coming off an exciting back and forth bout with Edwin Figueroa in his UFC debut last month at UFC Fight Night 24. The decision win was McDonald's 12th career victory, and fifth straight. It also earned him "Fight of the Night" honors and the bonus that comes along with that.

This fight was actually initially supposed to take place on that card, but an injury to pace caused him to pull out of the fight and Figueroa took his place. Pace was defeated by bantamweight buzz-saw Demetrious Johnson in his debut in Zuffa in the WEC last year, but he successfully made his UFC debut at The Ultimate Fighter 12 Finale in December with a sweet submission over Will Campuzano. However, Pace failed to make weight for the fight, keeping him out of the running for the night's "Submission of the Night" award.

No date or location has been officially set for UFC 133, though it has been reported that it's being targeted for Philadelphia in August. One other bout has been announced for the card in Jorge Rivera vs. Alessio Sakara.

Penick's Analysis: This was a good fight for last month's event and it remains a good fight for this event. Provided both stay healthy heading in it should be an exciting bantamweight matchup and will give both a chance to build more momentum off the impressions each made in their respective Octagon debuts.

John Alessio  Houston Alexander Ricardo Almeida  Eddie Alvarez Thiago Alves 

The Premiere Edition of Loser Leaves Town: UFC 125 Edition

Dan Cramer Alberto Crane Marcio Pe de Pano Cruz Luke Cummo  Jeff Big Frog Curran

Ultra Hot Rachel in the Cage and the Ring wearing

hottie

Chris Dolman Edson Drago  Tomasz Drwal Joe Hybrid Duarte Aldrin de Jesus 

Dana White confirms Anderson Silva vs. Yushin Okami coming to UFC Rio in August

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Anderson Silva and Yushin Okami will indeed meet for the second time at UFC Rio this August.

UFC President Dana White confirmed the Middleweight Championship bout in comments made to USAToday.com, and it is expected to headline the UFC Rio event on August 27 from the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the UFC's first trip to the country of Brazil since 1998.

Okami technically holds the last victory any opponent has had against Silva, a disqualification win in their bout at a Rumble on the Rock event in 2006 prior to Silva's UFC debut. Since that fight, Silva has gone on one of the most dominant runs ever seen in the sport with 14 straight wins, 13 of which have come inside the Octagon.

The 29-year-old Okami has seen his fair share of success since that 2006 fight. Going 12-3 in 15 fights since then, a stretch that includes a 10-2 mark in the UFC, Okami finally earned a title shot last November with a win over Nate Marquardt, and the UFC will honor that number one contender fight despite the discussions of a St. Pierre-Silva superfight.

Link to Original Source Article

Penick's Analysis: This is going to be a great middleweight fight, and it really is the final truly deserving opponent that Silva hasn't faced in this division. It's a very easy fight to sell, as Silva will look to avenge the last "loss" on his record, and Okami has earned his shot. This is going to be a good title fight, and it's one that Okami deserves. And having Silva headline the UFC's return to Brazil is the right move.

Marcus Aurelio  Mikhail Avetisyan Luiz Azeredo  Luciano Azevedo  Ba Te er 

UFC 129: St. Pierre Vs. Shields

Eric Butterbean Esch Efrain Escudero Rashad Evans Urijah Faber Tank Abbott

Round 5 Announces Release of Limited Edition Georges St. Pierre Figure at UFC Fan Expo in Toronto

The following press release was sent to MMATorch this morning...

Round 5 To Distribute Fan Expo Toronto Exclusive Georges St-Pierre Limited-Edition Figure On-site At The Direct Energy Centre & Announces Chance for Round 5 Collectors to Have Their Likeness Turned Into a Collectible Figure at the Toronto UFC Fan Expo

Markham, ON (April 25, 2011) ? Round 5 President Damon Lau officially announces the release of the Georges ?Rush? St-Pierre UFC Fan Expo Toronto 2011 Exclusive figure and gives details on how Round 5 collectors can have their own likeness turned into a Round 5 figure.

The limited edition GSP figure will only be available at the UFC Fan Expo in Toronto, and will feature GSP in his black gi and signature headband he wore at "UFC 94: St-Pierre vs. Penn 2" where he defeated BJ Penn via 4th round TKO to retain his welterweight crown. Also included in this release is a die cast replica of the UFC title belt.

?The biggest fight in UFC history is happening in Toronto, and as a Canadian company we felt that we had to really give our hardcore collectors something incredible,? said Lau. ?We don?t expect that these will be available for more than a few hours, so if you want one, you should arrive early.?

Only 1000 units of the GSP Fan Expo Toronto Exclusive figure have been produced, the figure will retail for $25.00 and can be purchased only at the Round 5 booth at the UFC Fan Expo in Toronto on April 29-30.

Round 5 will also provide attendees of UFC Fan Expo Toronto with the unique opportunity to receive a one-off Round 5 figure created in their own likeness.

?We will randomly attach ?Golden Tickets? to the back of select GSP figures, these tickets will entitle the purchaser to have their head scanned, and printed onto an existing Round 5 body,? Lau said. ?These figures will be official Round 5 products and will be one of a kind pieces.?

Round 5 will have a 3D imaging scanner at their booth. Five lucky collectors will win the opportunity to have their heads scanned. The resulting unpainted heads will be attached to their choice of existing Round 5 bodies.
About Round 5

Since 2008, Markham, Ontario based Round 5 has been the industry leader in creating officially licensed UFC collectible figures of top tier and emerging UFC fighters. Round 5 is dedicated to creating products that accurately capture the likeness and trademark poses of the athletes they represent, and most importantly, to remaining true to the sport of MMA and its personalities.

Round 5 products are sold in over 50 countries around the world, and can be found on www.round5mma.com, and at major department stores in the United States, and Canada.

Dan Cramer Alberto Crane Marcio Pe de Pano Cruz Luke Cummo  Jeff Big Frog Curran

MMA on TV

Welcome to ?MMA on TV?, Five Ounces of Pain?s weekly update on the upcoming MMA-broadcast schedule. Miss the latest episode of ?MMA Live? or ?UFC Unleashed?? Wondering when HDNet, Spike TV, or Showtime are airing a replay of their latest offering or interested in finding out where to tune into live shows occurring over the [...]

Murilo Bustamante  Grant Campbell  Gesias JZ Calvancante  Luiz Cane  Dos Caras Jr  

Charles Oliveira vs. Nik Lentz added to UFC Live 4 line-up

Brazilian sensation Charles ?do Bronx? Oliveira will look to bounce back from the only loss of his career in June when the UFC returns to the Versus network with UFC Live 4, an event headlined by Nate Marquardt?s welterweight debut in the form of a fight against powerful peer Anthony Johnson. According to an official [...]

Todd Duffee  Marvin Eastman  Stav Crazy Bear Economou  Yves Edwards  Justin Eilers 

Chuck Liddell Thinks Jake Shields Will Take The Title From George St-Pierre

Chuck Liddell Thinks Jake Shields Will Take The Title From George St-Pierre At UFC 129.








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Luke Cummo  Jeff Big Frog Curran Dai Shuanghai  Mac Danzig Karen Darabedyan

Bisping doesn’t like Belcher or his tattoo artist

Is there anyone who doesn't want to talk smack about Michael Bisping? Alan Belcher slammed Bisping the other day so the Brit responded in typical "Count" fashion by smashing his Johnny Cash tattoo.

"He's got a lot of nerve calling me an [expletive] when he walks round with that on him [see picture above]," Bisping told Fighter's Only. "Although lets be fair, the real [expletive] is the tattooist who drew that."

Got to hand it to Bisping. That's a pretty funny comeback to being called an a-hole.

Belcher, returning from serious eye issues, said he could be back in the Octagon in September. During a conversation with Sherdog, he called out Bisping.

"Bisping is an [expletive] who disrespects the sport and his opponent. A fight between me and Michael Bisping is something everybody wants except for Michael Bisping. It would be amazing to sign that fight and have him come to my backyard," Belcher said. "He always gets to fight in Britain and other places, but it'd be good to see him come down to Louisiana. I'd love for that to be my comeback fight."

Belcher wants homecourt advantage versus Bisping when the UFC lands in New Orleans on Sept. 17.

Tip via MMAFix

Phil Cardella Roan Jucao Carneiro Shane The Engineer Carwin  Jason Hollywood Chambers Ryo Piranha Chonan 

Ben Askren, Jay Hieron and Michael Chandler Win at Bellator 40

by Michael David SmithBellator welterweight champion Ben Askren won a one-sided unanimous decision in a non-title match, and Jay Hieron and Michael Chandler advanced to the finals of their respective Season 4 tournaments on Saturday night at Bellator 40.

As is so often the case, Bellator put on an entertaining show on MTV2, but it will be largely overlooked because it took place on a night when there was a bigger MMA event going on in the Strikeforce card on Showtime. That's a shame for Bellator, which is putting good fighters in the cage consistently.

Askren is one of the best wrestlers in MMA, and it was no surprise that he completely dominated Nick Thompson. All three judges scored the fight 30-27 for Askren, who's the best welterweight outside the UFC and Strikeforce.

 

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Dan Bobish Vagam Bodjukyan Kotetsu Boku  Tony Bonello Stephan Bonnar

Barboza to Face Pearson in Rio

Tank Abbott Hiroyuki Abe Cyril Abidi  Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah 

Former NHL enforcer is trying MMA in June

On skates, Donald Brashear could always fight with the best of them.

Can he do it bare-footed and against trained professional fighters? Brashear wants to find out.

According to the Canadian Press, the former NHL henchman, who's still playing hockey in the minors, has signed a deal with Ringside MMA to fight in June in Quebec City.

"Despite Brashear's lack of experience in MMA, he's a very athletic guy, he's in good shape, he's gutsy, he's learning pretty fast and showed an early interest and motivation," a Ringside MMA spokeswoman said. "Plus, he's no stranger to fighting."

Keep in mind, Brashear is also 39 years old. The 6-foot-3, 237-pounder will have to get approval from local authories before he steps into the cage.

Brashear may want to look at MMA sparring videos with another former NHL player George Laraque. Sure he was facing one of the best in the world, but Laraque was schooled a few months ago by Georges St-Pierre.

We're guessing the biggest test for Brashear will be conditioning and avoiding the potential adrenaline dump that happens in fighting. Baltimore Ravens safety Tom Zbikowski, who's crossed over to professional boxing, said fighting is unlike any conventional sport.

"You have to control it in boxing, because in football maybe that first series you get real excited. The warm up in boxing is far, far more important than in football," Zbikowski told ESPN1100 in Las Vegas.

During his 17-year career, Brashear piled up 2,634 penalty minutes in 1,025 NHL games.

Andrei Arlovski  Ricardo Arona  Noboru Asahi Marcus Aurelio  Mikhail Avetisyan

Snake blood shots in Thailand the secret to success for fighters on the comeback trail

Mike Swick, Phil Baroni and Roger Huerta may seem like strange bedfellows, but they have one thing in common - their mixed martial arts careers have taken turns for the worse. Baroni and Huerta have had trouble evolving and keeping up with the competition while Swick has battled a variety of health issues.

During his down time, Swick's a huge world traveler and loves to chronicle his adventures on video. His latest sojourn included Huerta and Baroni during a trip to Thailand.

The fighters learned how to handle a cobra, then watched a handler kill the snake and cook it up. If that wasn't insane enough, two of the fighters did shots of cobra blood (NSFW - language).

Swick's journeys have taken him everywhere. This trip also included being shot by Thai cops. Last year, he got into a dicey situation in Ethiopia.

Ao Hailin  Shinya Aoki  Andrei Arlovski  Ricardo Arona  Noboru Asahi

QUOTABLES: UFC welterweight Jon Fitch discusses his shoulder injury, wants B.J. Penn rematch when he returns

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

"I'm going to have to get the labrum worked on, and I also have a tear of one of the rotator cuff muscles that's going to need to be repaired, too... It's functional. I can move around and do stuff with it. I could probably even fight with it. But going through a camp and going through six-hour days of workouts, eventually it's going to break down. I don't think I would get through a full fight camp without it breaking down completely... It's really depressing. My most favorite thing in the world to do every day with my life, I don't get to do now for a few months.

[A rematch is] the best fight for each of us. I think it would be dumb for either of us to take a fight with anybody else but each other before we settle it. Either me or B.J. would love to just fight the winner of Jake (Shields) and [Georges St-Pierre]. But I think it's realistic that if Jake wins that fight, that there will be a rematch. And if GSP wins that fight, he only fights a couple times a year. So he'll probably take a break, and there will be time for [Penn and me] to fight. If GSP moves up to fight Anderson (Silva), there's still time for him to do that and me and B.J. to fight. There's a lot of options. I hope it works out favorably for me. But I can't ask the world to stop turning just because I have an injury."

-Jon Fitch talks to MMAJunkie.com about his shoulder injury and his desire to still have his rematch with B.J. Penn upon his return.

Penick's Analysis: It sounds like it's not as severe necessarily as it could have been feared, as it's not a complete rotator cuff tear and he can still function with it. Hopefully it's not the type of injury that will have a very real negative effect on his skill set when he's able to return. I'd agree with him that the Penn rematch makes the most sense for both fighters after their draw, but it really depends on a lot of factors right now, mostly just how long he'll be out, but also when Penn is able to return, what GSP does after the Jake Shields fight at UFC 129 and how the rest of the welterweight division handles their business while he's out of action. But with their first encounter ending in a draw, the two will meet again.

[Jon Fitch art by Cory Gould (c) MMATorch.com]

Gesias JZ Calvancante  Luiz Cane  Dos Caras Jr   Phil Cardella Roan Jucao Carneiro

UFC 129 Predictions

Filed under: UFC

One of the biggest mixed martial arts cards in history takes place on Saturday night, with the UFC smashing its attendance record by selling 55,000 tickets to fans who will get to see the UFC's most popular fighter, Georges St-Pierre, defend his welterweight belt against challenger Jake Shields.

What: UFC 129: St-Pierre vs. Shields

When: Saturday, the Facebook stream starts at 6PM ET, the Spike TV fights start at 8 and the pay-per-view fights start at 9.

Where: Rogers Centre, Toronto

Predictions on the five pay-per-view fights below.

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More: UFC 129 Fight Card | Watch UFC 129 Live Online | UFC 129 Results

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Tadhg Steamfist Dixon Joe Doerksen  Chris Dolman Edson Drago  Tomasz Drwal

UFC 134: Rio, August 27

UFC 134: Rio
Saturday August 27
HSBC Arena
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Airing on PPV

* Anderson Silva (#1 Ranked Middleweight) vs. Yushin Okami <#2 Ranked Middleweight) (for UFC Middleweight Championship)
* Mauricio Rua (#2 Ranked Light Heavyweight) vs. Forrest Griffin (#6 Ranked Light Heavyweight)
* Ross Pearson vs. Edson Barboza
* Thiago Tavares vs. Spencer Fisher
* Luiz Cane vs. Stanislav Nedkov
* Maiquel Falcao vs. Tom Lawlor
* Yuri Alcantara vs. Mackens Semerzier

Tony DeSouza  Edwin Dewees  Nick Diaz  Tadhg Steamfist Dixon Joe Doerksen 

The Best Of WCW Monday Nitro DVD Cover & Listing

The cover art for WWE’s upcoming The Very Best Of WCW Monday Nitro DVD set has been released. It features Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Sting, Ric Flair, Diamond Dallas Page, Rey Mysterio, Bill Goldberg, The Giant and Eric Bischoff.
To view the cover art, click here.
The three-disc set is scheduled for release on June 7, 2011.
The content listing is as follows:
Disc 1
WCW History Lesson
Flyin? Brian Pillman vs. Jushin Thunder Liger
4th September, 1995
Hulk Hogan vs. Big Bubba Rogers
4th September, 1995
“Macho Man” Randy Savage & Hulk Hogan vs. Ric Flair & ...

Edson Drago  Tomasz Drwal Joe Hybrid Duarte Aldrin de Jesus  Todd Duffee 

Jorge Rivera vs. Alessio Sakara booked for third time at UFC 133 in August

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

The UFC is hoping the third time's the charm, as they have once again booked a fight between Jorge Rivera and Alessio Sakara.

The organization announced on Tuesday that the bout is coming to UFC 133 in August.

The fight was originally scheduled last August for UFC 118 in Boston, but injuries to both fighters kept them off the card. They were rescheduled for UFC 122 in Germany, but on the day of the fight, Sakara fell ill and was pulled off the card at the last minute.

Both fighters were then scheduled in different bouts early this year, and both had their three fight winning streaks snapped. First up, Rivera was defeated by Michael Bisping in Australia by TKO in the second round, his first loss since UFC 85 in 2008. Sakara was then defeated by newcomer Chris Weidman at UFC on Versus 3 in March, his first loss since UFC 82.

No location or date has been set for UFC 133 yet outside of being in the month of August, but previous reports suggest the event will be coming to Philadelphia, Penn.

Rashad Evans Urijah Faber Tank Abbott Hiroyuki Abe Cyril Abidi 

Randy Couture Leaves The Door Cracked For A Fight After UFC 129

Randy Couture has made it crystal clear in the past week that he plans to finally retire from mixed martial arts following his fight against Lyoto Machida at UFC 129. Well, he’s not really backing off those statements, but he did leave the door slightly cracked in this RawVegas.tv interview with Steve Cofield. In order [...]

Vitor Belfort  Robert Berry David Bielkheden Michael Bisping  Dan Bobish

Video analysis: Iole sets the record straight on MMA vs. boxing salaries

With each passing day, MMA is getting closer to the interest shown towards mainstream sports. With that comes more transparency and a deeper look at everything that concerns fighters including their salaries. It was week reported last week by ESPN the Magazine that Brock Lesnar was the highest earner in 2010 at $5.3 million. If that's the true figure, it seemed a bit short of Manny Pacquiao's $32 million. Those are the top dogs, but what does that mean for boxers and MMA stars in the two-through-30 range?

This money talk in MMA even prompted HDNet's Inside MMA to get into the issue a few weeks ago about Nick Diaz. The suggestion was made that Diaz needed to leave MMA to get the money he deserves. Kenny Rice said Diaz might make as much in one boxing match as he's made in 16 of his 32 MMA fights combined (1:08 mark).

That was odd assertion considering Diaz just made $325,000 in his last two fights. Is that fair for a guy who's roughly the 15th biggest star in MMA?

Yahoo!'s MMA/boxing expert Kevin Iole checked in with us to explain how there's no middle class in boxing and that it's highly unlikely Diaz would fetch anything close to 175k for a boxing match.

Patrick The Predator Côté  Randy The Natural Couture  Dan Cramer Alberto Crane Marcio Pe de Pano Cruz

Hominick Talks Aldo

Nick Diaz  Tadhg Steamfist Dixon Joe Doerksen  Chris Dolman Edson Drago 

Recap Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley, Melendez vs. Kawajiri, Mousasi vs. Jardine, Aoki vs. Beerbohm - Strikeforce

The official recap of April 9th Strikeforce Diaz vs. Daley. Relive the main event between Nick Diaz and Paul Daley, plus Gilbert Melendez, Tatsuya Kawajiri, Gegard Mousasi, Keith Jardine, Shinya Aoki, and Lyle Beerbohm.

Ray Cooper  Kit Cope  Wesley Cabbage Correira  Patrick The Predator Côté  Randy The Natural Couture 

Video analysis: How awful was the Mousasi-Jardine decision?

This is such a beautiful presentation of something so delicious!!

Tweet This! Share this on Facebook Email this via Gmail Post this to MySpace Share this on FriendFeed Post on [...]

Josh Barnett  David Baron  Phil Baroni Don Barr Pat Barry 

Gilbert Melendez On Strikeforce Buyout and Kawajiri Rematch - Gilber Melendez

 

José Aldo  John Alessio  Houston Alexander Ricardo Almeida  Eddie Alvarez

The Ultimate Fighter Season 13 Finale, June 4

The Ultimate Fighter Season 13 Finale
Saturday June 4, 2011
Pearl at the Palms
Las Vegas, NV
Airing on Spike

* Anthony Pettis (#9 Ranked Lightweight) vs. Clay Guida
* Finalist No. 1 vs. Finalist No. 2
* Jonathan Brookins vs. Jeremy Stephens
* Josh Grispi vs. George Roop
* Tim Credeur vs. Ed Herman
* Scott Jorgensen (#6 Ranked Bantamweight) vs. Ken Stone
* Fabio Maldonado vs. Kyle Kingsbury
* Reuben Duran vs. Francisco Rivera

Junie Browning Paul Buentello  Josh Burkman  Mikey Burnett  Murilo Bustamante 

UFC 132, July 2

UFC 132
Saturday July 2
Mandalay Bay Events Center
Las Vegas, NV
Airing on PPV

* Dominick Cruz (#1 Ranked Bantamweight) vs. Urijah Faber (#4 Ranked Bantamweight) for UFC Bantamweight Championship
* Wanderlei Silva vs. Chris Leben
* Ryan Bader (#7 Ranked Light Heavyweight) vs. Tito Ortiz
* Brian Bowles (#2-tie Ranked Bantamweight) vs. Takeya Mizugaki (#8 Ranked Bantamweight)
* Melvin Guillard (#8 Ranked Lighweight) vs. Shane Roller
* Carlos Condit (#7 Ranked Welterweight) vs. Dong-Hyun Kim
* Evan Dunham vs. George Sotiropoulos
* Dennis Siver vs. Matt Wiman
* Jason Miller vs. Aaron Simpson
* Erik Koch vs. Cub Swanson
* Andre Winner vs. Anthony Njokuani

Rich No Love Clementi  Mark The Hammer Coleman Wes Soldier Combs  Ray Cooper  Kit Cope 

UFC 132: Dominick Cruz: Urijah Faber Isn?t Going To Be Able To Adjust To My Style

Wesley Cabbage Correira  Patrick The Predator Côté  Randy The Natural Couture  Dan Cramer Alberto Crane

UFC 129 Press Conference - GSP and Shields already sick of the media - UFC 129

MMA is bigger than ever, with that comes a lot of media responsibilities from the main event fighters. Jake Shields and Georges St. Pierre are growing weary of speaking to idiots like us.

Roan Jucao Carneiro Shane The Engineer Carwin  Jason Hollywood Chambers Ryo Piranha Chonan  Dan The Sandman Christison 

Strikeforce: Shinya Aoki Easily Submits Lyle Beerbohm

by Michael David SmithShinya Aoki is one of the greatest submission specialists in mixed martial arts, so it was no surprise that Lyle Beerbohm was no match for him at Saturday night's Strikeforce event.

But it was a bit of a surprise just how easy Aoki made it: The whole fight lasted just a minute and a half, and Beerbohm all but invited Aoki to submit him with an odd game plan: Beerbohm charged forward and pressed Aoki against the fence in the opening seconds of the first round, a clear mistake that put Aoki in his wheelhouse when they fell to the ground.

 

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Per Eklund Jason Ellis Aleksander Emelianenko Fedor Emelianenko Yasubey Enomoto

UFC 129 live stream Online

UFC 129: St-Pierre vs. Shields is an upcoming mixed martial arts event to be held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on Saturday, April 30, 2011 at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario.
...

Tom Big Cat Erickson Martinsh Egle Eric Butterbean Esch Efrain Escudero Rashad Evans

Executive Iceman: Chuck Liddell puts together UFC 129 fight card for 'St. Pierre vs Shields' in Toronto (Video)

Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah  Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama  Gilbert Aldana 

Jon Jones injured, Rashad Evans gets Phil Davis at UFC 133

Jon Jones vs. Rashad Evans was quickly developing into the new “Rampage vs. Evans” saga, where both men, despite having been friends and training partners in the past, have now issued a verbal assault on one another through the media and social networking.
The fight in of itself began to pique the interest of [...]

Jason Hollywood Chambers Ryo Piranha Chonan  Dan The Sandman Christison  Logan The Pink Pounder Clark  Steve The Snake Claveau 

Bellator 42's Ronnie Mann eyes win in promotional debut, wants tourney slot

While obtaining a work visa is often a mere formality for foreign fighters hoping to compete on U.S. soil, the process does take time.

It was an unfortunate lesson learned for Bellator Fighting Championships prospect Ronnie Mann, who had his promotional debut delayed two weeks while the process was sorted out.

But England resident Mann insists the hassle will not prove a hindrance to his performance. And while he had to make a few adjustments in his training, Mann now insists he's in peak form heading into Saturday night's Bellator 42 event.

Gilbert Aldana  José Aldo  John Alessio  Houston Alexander Ricardo Almeida 

UFC's Nate Marquardt says his move to welterweight was Georges St. Pierre's idea

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Nate Marquardt's decision to move down to the welterweight division from his long time middleweight home came as a surprise to a lot of people, especially since his championship aspirations don't seem to meld with a division championed by friend and training partner Georges St. Pierre. But according to Marquardt, it was St. Pierre himself that influenced him to make the move.

"Actually, he brought it up me," Marquardt said in comments made to ESPN.com. "He asked me what I was walking around at and said, 'Wow. You should drop to 170.'

"I was like, 'I don't know. You're the champion there. I want to be a champion.' He told me not to worry about it, that if that's what is best for me I have to do it. I didn't even think about it until he said it. Once I went back to my own camp, it made sense to me."

Marquardt's will experiment with the move to welterweight for the first time on June 26 when he meets Anthony "Rumble" Johnson in the main event of UFC on Versus 4 in Pittsburgh, Penn. The longtime veteran and one-time UFC title challenger isn't expecting any issues with the weight cut, and though the move puts into view a possible fight with St. Pierre down the line, Marquardt isn't looking that far ahead.

When I started my career I was a lightweight," Marquardt said. "Over the years, I put on weight. When I started fighting for the Pancrase middleweight division, it was at something like 181 pounds and I was under that weight. I know what I'm doing. I've been fighting professionally for years. I've fought in Japan before, cutting anywhere from zero to 14 pounds in one day. I know how to do it and I have a lot of guys around me who know how to do it."

"Honestly, I'm not thinking about [a fight with GSP] and if it's ever an issue I'll deal with it then. I don't know if [St. Pierre] is planning on moving up but I definitely know he's considering fighting Anderson. I think that's a great fight and I think he has the perfect style to beat a guy like Silva."

Link to Original Source Article

Penick's Analysis: I think it's a lot more likely that we'll see St. Pierre move up to the middleweight division and vacate the Welterweight Title before we'd see these two actually fight, and I think that was probably in St. Pierre's mind when he suggested the move to Marquardt. Marquardt has the skills to be the top fighter in the welterweight division, he just needs to put everything together after a few rough outings in big spots over the last couple of years. But if he can make the cut without any negative effects to his game and can get past Johnson in this first fight, he's going to be a big player in the welterweight division moving forward.

Yoshihiro Akiyama  Gilbert Aldana  José Aldo  John Alessio  Houston Alexander

Brock Lesnar Talks Undertaker Confrontation, TUF 13, Junior dos Santos - Brock Lesnar

Brock Lesnar Talks Undertaker Confrontation, TUF 13, Junior dos Santos Video by Brock Lesnar

Phil Baroni Don Barr Pat Barry  Vitor Belfort  Robert Berry

Jon Jones injured, UFC now targeting Rashad Evans vs. Phil Davis for UFC 133 in August

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones will be out of action for a while due to injury, and the UFC is now targeting the man he was supposed to face next, former teammate Rashad Evans, in a fight against Phil Davis at UFC 133 in Philadelphia.

According to a report from MMAJunkie.com, Jones suffered a torn ligament in his right hand in his victory over Mauricio "Shogun" Rua last month at UFC 128, and the recovery time is expected to be lengthy.

Davis once again steps into what will be the biggest fight of his career after defeating Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at UFC Fight Night 24. The 26-year-old replaced an injured Tito Ortiz in that fight and moved his record to a perfect 9-0, but the win didn't come easy and he initially planned to take more time off to continue improving his skill set.

He'll now take on a former champion in Evans, who will return for the first time since a victory over Quinton "Rampage" Jackson in May of 2010. A knee injury forced him out of his fight with Rua at UFC 128, which enabled Jones to step in and take the fight, and a win over Davis will keep that title fight in line for Evans.

UFC 133 is expected to take place from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Penn. on August 6, the UFC's first trip to Philadelphia since UFC 101 in August of 2009.

Link to Original Source Article

Penick's Analysis: This is a highly unfortunate development. Everything was laid in place for an epic fight between Evans and Jones with their history and the split of Evans from Greg Jackson's camp, and the two had already made plenty of public comments that were really going to make this a major, major fight. Phil Davis has a major opportunity to play spoiler, and though he had a rough time with Nogueira and will absolutely be a major underdog against Rashad, he does have the capability to derail a fight between Jones and Evans. A win won't send Davis into a title fight in this division, though, as it would more than likely just opens the door for Quinton "Rampage" Jackson if he beats Matt Hamill or the winner of Forrest Griffin-Shogun Rua II. Hell, if Hamill beats Rampage the UFC might throw him in there for a rematch with Jones if Evans loses. There's a lot to lose for Evans in this fight, but at the same time he's not going to sit out and wait longer for another fight when his opponent is injured like he did with Rua. Hopefully this doesn't keep Jones out for too long, but it's long enough that it is taking Evans into a different fight, so that's certainly not good news.

UPDATE: The UFC has confirmed the news. This fight will take place at UFC 133 in Philly. From the UFC's announcement:

"Undefeated 'Mr. Wonderful' Phil Davis has verbally agreed to face former UFC world light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans in Philadelphia on August 6," said UFC President Dana White. Evans was originally supposed to face new champ Jon 'Bones' Jones but Jones is unable to compete due to injury."

Yoji Anjo  Ao Hailin  Shinya Aoki  Andrei Arlovski  Ricardo Arona 

Gina Carano Finds An Opponent, Marloes Coenen vs. Miesha Tate Penciled in For Late Summer SF Event

There will be two high profile women’s MMA bouts to keep your eye on this summer. Women’s MMA leading lady Gina Carano returns to action on June 18 and according to MMA Weekly, her opponent will be relative unknown Sarah D?Alelio. The leading candidate appears to be Sarah D?Alelio, according to MMAWeekly.com sources. If the [...]

Josh Burkman  Mikey Burnett  Murilo Bustamante  Grant Campbell  Gesias JZ Calvancante 

New Mirko Crocop Update: Part 2

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Marvin Eastman  Stav Crazy Bear Economou  Yves Edwards  Justin Eilers  Jon Olav Einemo

UFC 129 Conference Call Highlights: St. Pierre, Shields, and White

The UFC is less than two weeks away from the biggest show in promotional history in the form of UFC 129, a card set to draw the largest North American crowd for a MMA event since the sport?s inception. The company held a conference call today featuring headliners Georges St. Pierre and Jake Shields, and [...]

Roan Jucao Carneiro Shane The Engineer Carwin  Jason Hollywood Chambers Ryo Piranha Chonan  Dan The Sandman Christison 

Icarus of the East: The final days of Pride FC (Part one)

Martinsh Egle Eric Butterbean Esch Efrain Escudero Rashad Evans Urijah Faber

5 Oz. MMA Link Club

Welcome back to another ediition of ?MMA Link Club?, Five Ounces of Pain?s weekly smorgasbord of offerings from our brothers and sisters in the MMA community. Enjoy? Get to Know UFC Featherweight Champ Jose Aldo (MMAConvert.com) Demian Maia Talks About Fights Past and Present (CagePotato.com) Matt Mitrione Feels He’s Among the UFC’s Top Heavyweights (Versus.com) [...]

Roan Jucao Carneiro Shane The Engineer Carwin  Jason Hollywood Chambers Ryo Piranha Chonan  Dan The Sandman Christison 

Daley Vs. Diaz Stare Down

David Baron  Phil Baroni Don Barr Pat Barry  Vitor Belfort 

No Competition Here: Dana White Says That The MLB And NFL, Not Other MMA Promotions, Are His Rivals

Who, or what, is the UFC?s competition? Before Strikeforce, there was Affliction. Before Affliction, it was Elite XC. And on and on it goes: PRIDE FC, the IFL, so on and so forth. At least, that?s how most MMA fans and insiders see things. That?s certainly not how Dana White sees things, though. In a [...]

Martinsh Egle Eric Butterbean Esch Efrain Escudero Rashad Evans Urijah Faber

Aldo Talks Hominick

Dan Cramer Alberto Crane Marcio Pe de Pano Cruz Luke Cummo  Jeff Big Frog Curran

Randy Couture says he will Retire after UFC 129 - Randy Couture

Randy the Natural Couture visits the Inside MMA set via satellite to announce that UFC 129 will be his last show

Joe Doerksen  Chris Dolman Edson Drago  Tomasz Drwal Joe Hybrid Duarte

UPCOMING EVENT: Bellator 42, April 23

Bellator 42
Saturday April 23
Lucky Star Casino
Concho, OK
Airing on MTV2

MAIN CARD

* Tim Carpenter vs. Christian M'Pumbu (Light Heavyweight tourney semifinal)
* Richard Hale vs. D.J. Linderman (Light Heavyweight tourney semifinal)
* Josh Arocho vs. Ronnie Mann
* Luiz Alberto Nogueira vs. Jerod Spoon

PRELIMINARY CARD

* Chris Bell vs. Jared Hess
* Shane Howell vs. Mark Oshiro
* Owen Evinger vs. Brandon Shelton
* Chris Guillen vs. Mark Holata

Yasubey Enomoto Mark Epstein Tom Big Cat Erickson Martinsh Egle Eric Butterbean Esch