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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6mianXHwAU&feature=player_embedded

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Former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir sat down with MMA:30's Dave Farra and discussed his long history with the UFC, the motorcycle accident that almost ended his career, and where he is now with Dana White and the UFC. Mir also gives his thoughts on Fedor, Overeem and other heavyweights coming over to the UFC, and talks about his upcoming fight with Roy Nelson at UFC 130.

Yves Edwards Justin Eilers Jon Olav Einemo Per Eklund Jason Ellis

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Fans hoping for fireworks on Memorial Weekend courtesy of the UFC were probably a bit disappointed. The show was better than just snakes and sparklers but thanks to the two main events, the show provided ?in house? fireworks rather than ?major production? fireworks that it had the potential to deliver. By far the hottest thing [...]

Martinsh Egle Eric Butterbean Esch Efrain Escudero Rashad Evans Urijah Faber

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UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture talks about his fight with Lyoto Machida at UFC 129 and about fighting before 55,000 people at the Rogers Centre in Toronto. Get more MMA and UFC news at the World's top MMA News website http://www.mmaweekly.com.

Rob Broughton Mike Brown Junie Browning Paul Buentello Josh Burkman

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The latest edition of the ESPN UK UFC Podcast is now live, featuring MMATorch UK Specialist Chris Park along with Gareth Davies of the UK Telegraph and Ben Blackmore of ESPN UK. This week the three of them look at this weekend's UFC 130 event, focusing on the main event between Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Matt Hamill as well as the co-main event between Frank Mir and Roy Nelson. Link for this week's show are below:

iTunes Link:

http://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/espn-ufc-podcast/id422840754

ESPN UK Links:

http://www.espn.co.uk/ufc/sport/video_audio/92638.html

http://www.espn.co.uk/UFC/sport/story/91246.html

Grant Campbell Gesias JZ Calvancante Luiz Cane Dos Caras Jr Phil Cardella

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Ultimate Fighter Season 11 winner Court McGee has been booked for a showdown with apt finisher Dongi Yang this fall when the UFC stops in New Orleans for the first time in nearly a decade. Booked for ?Battle on the Bayou,? the middleweight pairing will pit two men against each other who not only have [...]

Andre Amade Dean Amasinger Jimmy Ambriz Matt Andersen Alex Andrade

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

UFC Light Heavyweight Champion will almost assuredly not fight Rashad Evans in his next fight, as UFC President Dana White said on Wednesday that the organization will need to make a decision on his next opponent well before Evans' bout with Phil Davis at UFC 133 this August.

The front-runner for the shot will be Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, provided he dispatches Matt Hamill at UFC 130 this weekend.

"We probably will make a decision after this weekend," White said after the UFC 130 pre-fight press conference (transcribed by MMAJunkie.com). "I think that if 'Rampage wins,' you've got to be more interested in the 'Rampage' fight because 'Rampage' deserves it. He's at the top. [Lyoto] Machida is coming off of a win over Couture, but I think Machida needs another fight. But with the way my luck's gone lately, who knows? We'll see what happens."

As for why they wouldn't wait until the August 6 bout with Evans and Davis, White said logistically it just wouldn't work out, and with Jones expecting an October return the timing just wasn't right.

"Let's say, hypothetically speaking, Rashad Evans fights and he wins the fight against Phil Davis," White said. "Let's say he wins that fight in 30 seconds and comes out without a scratch, feels like a million bucks and is ready to go and wants to fight Jon Jones in December. We will have already shot the commercials. That stuff is three months out. It would be impossible to do."

One of the talking points in the on-going Evans-Jones saga has been why the UFC didn't just pull Evans from the Davis fight to keep the fight with Jones alive when Jones was told he didn't need surgery. White said it was considered, but again with uncertainties surrounding Jones and when he can actually return, along with the injury issues they've been facing recently, they didn't want to go with an uncertain fight when they had one set up.

"We talked about it," White said. "Could we have made that fight? Maybe. But with what's going on with us lately, we're not into maybes. They don't know the exact timeframe (for Jones' recovery), and maybe he would be ready to go. But maybe he wouldn't. We don't want to go on maybes. We knew Phil Davis could take the fight, so we made that fight.

"The other thing you don't want to do is have [Jones] start training again prematurely without knowing 100 percent (that the hand is healthy)."

But White did want to make one thing clear: Jones didn't duck a fight with Evans. White said there was never a time where Jones said he didn't want the fight with Evans, and ultimately it was the UFC's decision to keep Evans-Davis on and book someone else against Jones.

Now Jones will simply await the outcome of Saturday's main event, and if Jackson should defeat Hamill, it will likely be Rampage vs. Jones in October for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship.

Penick's Analysis: It would have been great if they would have been able to pull Evans from the Davis fight to make the bout with Jones happen, but I understand the reasoning behind doing what they're doing here. They've had a lot of shakeups on cards here recently, and when Jones is still recovering from an injury there could be setbacks, and Evans will have already been out for well over a year when the fight with Davis happens. And if Rampage beats Hamill convincingly on Saturday, that will make for his first title fight in over three years.

READER QUESTION: Who would you most like to see get the shot at Jones this fall, and is the UFC making the right decision in keeping Evans booked in a fight with Davis? Web visitors, comment below in our new Reader Comment Area (linked to Facebook). App users, send us your thoughts at mmatorch@gmail.com or visit our desktop website to comment.

Cyril Abidi Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama

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always has been. why do they keep bringing him back? i made a gif to demonstrate.

Image: http://rubbermallet.org/struvepwned.gif

bwahahahahahaha!

Marcelo Brito Rob Broughton Mike Brown Junie Browning Paul Buentello

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With UFC 130 in the books, the MMA Wrap-Up returns to look the value fans got for their money out of Saturday night's main event, and what lasting repercussions it might have heading into a busy summer stretch.

Check out the full video below.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

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*:drinks:
DRINK -FIGHT & FUCK iTS ON!!!!!!!!!!!*

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

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UFC 130 was, as a whole, an unfortunately underwhelming event. But it was not a bad event, far from it in fact. UFC 130 saw a host of big fighters fighting in big fights, with several interesting wars of attrition and some big highlight-reel KO?s But which stars shined brightest, and what moments will fans [...]

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

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The next season of the Ultimate Fighter is set to feature a colorful coach known for his outspoken ways and controversial behavior inside the ring. Whether the previous sentence refers to Jason ?Mayhem? Miller or Michael Bisping ? perhaps both ? will be left up to the reader?s discretion. However, what is certain is their [...]

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

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Bellator Fighting Championships will kick off their summer series featherweight tournament next month at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Fla. with Bellator 46.

Taking place on June 25, four featherweight quarterfinal fights will be broadcast live from the venue on MTV2.

17-2 Brazilian featherweight Marlon Sandro - a teammate of UFC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo - makes his Bellator debut in his opening round bout against Genair da Silva, while the other matchups feature some new and old names for the Bellator roster.

"I am coming to the United States to become a world champion," said Sandro. "I see Bellator as the place to really make a name for myself here in the U.S. I'm here to put on great fights, entertain the fans, and fight my way to the Bellator Featherweight World Championship."

Season two lightweight tournament winner Pat Curran takes on Luis Palomino, Ronnie Mann meets Adam Schindler, and rounding out the quarterfinals is a bout between Nazareno Malegarie and Jacob Devree.

"I've fought at featherweight for most of my career, so I'm really excited to get back to a weight class where I can really do some damage," said Curran. "I had some great results as a lightweight, but I'm really going to make some noise in this summer featherweight tournament."

The tournament is expected to play out over three events - one a month in June, July and August - with the featherweight division getting the only tournament. A number of non-tournament fights will also take place during the summer, and a rematch between Joe Warren and Patricio "Pitbull" Freire for the Bellator Featherweight Championship is also expected to take place during one of the events.

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A 20-year-old shouldn't be able to walk into the UFC and compete, but that's exactly what Michael McDonald is doing. A few seconds of watching him fight and you understand why he's so advanced for his age. Speaking to him gives you an even better indicator.

With the help of RawVegas.tv, we hunted down McDonald in Las Vegas. He's a very poised, grounded kid. McDonald is spiritual and admitted that he doesn't drink or party, and he's abstinent.

McDonald faces UFC newcomer Chris Cariaso on the undercard of UFC 130. The fighters have a history with Cariaso taking out a McDonald teammate in a past fight. It was a frustrating night for McDonald who worked the corner. He wants to exact a bit of revenge for his buddy. McDonald is a huge minus-300 favorite over Cariaso.

Marcus Aurelio Mikhail Avetisyan Luiz Azeredo Luciano Azevedo Ba Te er

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The Fight Network presents Part 1 of a two-part preview show previewing UFC 129: St-Pierre vs. Shields on April 30 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, ON

Andrei Arlovski Ricardo Arona Noboru Asahi Marcus Aurelio Mikhail Avetisyan

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Get ready, fans and friends: it?s time for another edition of ?TUF Talks?. The finale to my ?A Closer Look at UFC 130? event has been postponed until tomorrow due to the fact that I never want to miss an edition of this, one of my premiere series. ?TUF Talks? is a summary/commentary hybrid that [...]

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Any given Saturday night?

Former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Mauricio Rua is confident that any 205-pounder ranked in the top five of his weight class can dethrone current division kingpin Jon...

Yoshihiro Akiyama Gilbert Aldana José Aldo John Alessio Houston Alexander

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DREAM lightweight champ Shinya Aoki submitted Rich Clementi with a second-round face crank in their featured non-title bout, while Masakazu Imanari and Hideo Tokoro advanced to the finals of DREAM's Japan bantamweight grand prix at Sunday's "DREAM: Fight for Japan" charity event in Saitama, Japan.

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

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KELLER'S UFC 130 BLOG
MAY 28, 2011
LIVE FROM LAS VEGAS, NEV.
AIRED ON PAY-PER-VIEW

As usual, I'll comment on the fights and also production and announcing related to the PPV broadcast. For a more detailed account of the blow-by-blow of the fights and another perspective, check out Jamie Penick's report elsewhere on the Main Listing.

1 -- JORGE SANTIAGO vs. BRIAN STANN -- Middleweight Fight

PRE-FIGHT: Lots of talk pre-fight about Santiago's return to UFC after not working hard enough and losing during his first stint? Rogan and Goldberg also talked about Stann, as a former Marine, being especially motivated to win on Memorial Day weekend?

ROUND ONE: Stann dominates the second half of the first after landing a punch to take Santiago down and then following up with several more.

ROUND TWO: Before the round begins, ref Herb Dean warns Santiago to close his fist when he punches to avoid eye-pokes? Santiago attempted a takedown, but Stann stuffed it? Santiago landed a spinning backlist, but Stann barely flinched. Santiago later went for a big flying knee, but missed. Rogan talked up Santiago's Japan fights to stress that he is better than he's looking here? Stann KO'd Santiago late with a punch that took Santiago down with a thud and several follow-up punches before Dean called for a stoppage at 4:29.

WINNER: Brian Stann at 4:29 via TKO.

POST-FIGHT: Rogan interviewed Stann in the Octagon afterward. He dedicated his win to the families who lost a soldier this week. Rogan asked about his steady improvement in technique since joining Greg Jackson's camp. Stann said it's tough to transition from Japan to UFC, and he thinks he'll be a good UFC fighter in the future. Gracious and nice. It prompted Mike Goldberg to break out "class act" very early tonight?

STAR RATING (**+): Good although largely one-sided. The spinning backlist and attempt at a flying knee were highlights for Santiago, but it was clear Stann didn't fear Santiago's power.

2 -- RICK STORY vs. THIAGO ALVES -- Welterweight Fight

ROUND ONE: Story controlled Alves against the fence the vast majority of the round? Some nice exchanges where both landed some punches? Story's corner told him "perfect" afterward. His trainer added: "We're not going to finish him in the second; we're going to finish him in the third. But get him ready for it"?

ROUND TWO: Alves takes Story down at 2:00, but Story wrestled his way to feet 30 seconds later and repositioned Alves against the fence. Rogan said he was taking a page out of Randy Couture's book? Rogan said at end of the round that desperation mode sets in for Alves, who is trying to keep his status as an elite welterweight after his loss to GSP?

ROUND THREE: Alves showed some life with a knee while being backed against the fence. Story held his ground, but Alves seemed to gain some confidence? At 4:10 Alves landed a knee while in the clinch and Story seemed to collapse in his arms briefly. Rogan and Goldberg agreed this would be an interesting five round fight, as Alves seemed to come on strong in the third, but not enough to offset losing the first two rounds. He really pushed hard in those closing seconds to give himself reason to stand proud in the end, but Story held up his end of things. Story approached Alves right afterward and they shook hands and smiled, knowing they had a good, competitive fight at the end?

WINNER: Rick Story 29-28, 29-28, 29-28. That makes sense, although some fans booed.

POST-FIGHT: Rogan interviewed Story as the boos continued. Story said he feels great and Alves is "tough as hell." He thanked his coaches for the gameplan and making work so hard to prepare? Story said he though Alves would be more prepared to block his takedowns? Rogan said, "You just moved up the ladder here tonight, kid." He said nothing but top contenders here on out. Story said that's what he was looking for?

IN ATTENDANCE: They showed Lil John and Warren Sapp in the crowd. Both were hamming it up.

PLUG: Ultimate Fighter Finale next Saturday night, with a push of Clay Guida in a featured match. Then a push for the June 11 Shane Carwin vs. Junior Dos Santos main event? Then in the fourth straight week, a plug for the Strikeforce World Grand Prix with a brief mention that it's live on Showtime, but without a Showtime logo on the screen. Goldberg noted that tickets are still available? It's going to be a busy four weeks, then a brief deep breath, and then July 4?

3 -- STEPHAN STRUVE vs. TRAVIS BROWNE -- Heavyweight Fight

PRE-FIGHT: The angle is Brown is undefeated and Struve is attempting to prove he belongs in the top tier of the division with a big win? Struve is 23, Brown 28. Struve is 6-11, Brown is 6-7. Struve outweighs Brown by only about ten pounds, though?

ROUND ONE: BrownE KO'd Struve at 4:08. Struve left himself wide open on an apparent set up for a knee or a kick, so Brown with lightning speed landed a Superman punch. Struve went down like a stack of Lincoln Logs. BrownE landed two hammer fists afterward before the ref could rush in to call it off. BrownE yelled barbarically a few times afterward in celebration? BrownE was aggressive from the start, but Struve hung in there until that final blow?

WINNER: Brown via KO at 4:11.

POST-FIGHT: Rogan interviewed Brown and said he trains to do that every day. Rogan said, after the slo-mo of the Superman punch: "It doesn't get any sweeter than that." Brown broke down in dedicating the fight to a Rick Martin in the crowd?

STAR RATING (**+) Almost all for the punch. Wow. What a perfectly timed and landed Superman punch. It helped that Struve was so tall that his collapse to the mat was just epic.

IN THE CROWD: Larry Fitzgerald and Brian Dawkins. I used to work at KFAN radio in the early 1990s with Larry's dad, Larry Sr., who was a sports talk show host long before Larry Jr. was a nationally known athlete. We were guests on each other's weekend shows at various times. Larry always landed the biggest national guests on his show at that time including Michael Jordan.

4 -- FRANK MIR vs. ROY NELSON -- Heavyweight Fight

PRE-FIGHT: The usual attention is paid to Nelson's unique physique. Rogan touted his conditioning going three rounds with Junior Dos Santos. He said his conditioning is actually good despite his body fat percentage. Rogan chuckled at Nelson coming out to Weird Al Yankovich's "I'm Fat" (a spoof of Michael Jackson's "Bad.")? UFC is now listing the fighters' Twitter accounts under their names during ring intros. Mir has 65,000 followers; Roy Nelson has 29,000 followers? Rogan said Mir has basically become a vegetarian and it's greatly improved his conditioning and ability to recover. Jon Fitch, Jake Shields, and Mac Danzig are vegetarians, and Kendall Grove at least tried going vegan but I"m not sure if he stuck with it. Rogan concluded, "A lot of fighters are resorting to that." Interesting use of the word "resorting" in that instance? Dan Hardy stood behind Nelson outside the Octagon cheering Nelson during ring intros? Nelson quickly offered a glove touch during ref instructions and there was no put-on animosity at all? Mir looked all business, though? Both men weighed in at 265. As Rogan noted, two "very different 265 pound bodies." Rogan said if Nelson changed his diet and got in decent shape, he could easily fight at 205?

ROUND ONE: Mir reversed position when Nelson shoved him against the cage early. Mir looked a little quicker and more effective early. Nelson again pushed him against the cage. If it was pro wrestling, I'd say they were calling the next spot? Mir threw a barrage of knees and punches against Nelson at 2:30. Nelson absorbed it as Mir smiled. As Goldberg noted, Nelson showed during the Dos Santos fight he can take a lot of punishment? Nelson landed a wild right, but then Mir ducked a second swing and then impressive judo tossed Nelson with a foot sweep. He moved to his back, but Nelson stood. Nelson shoved Mir against the fence again with 10 seconds left? Mir wins the round, but fun opening five minutes?

ROUND TWO: A minute in Mir ended up on top of Nelson on the mat in a loose half guard. Nelson gave up his back, but worked his way back to his feet by 1:45? At 3:30 both guys looked tired and moved back to center ring. They exchanged some punches and knees and kept at each other, with Nelson against shoving Mir against the cage? Rogan gave Nelson a hard time, saying he doesn't do himself a service by coming in with this much bodyfat. He said he's not a legitimate heavyweight, he's a light-heavyweight who loves food. It's not that he loves food. Vegetarians love food. It's his choice of food and quantity of food mixed with genetics. I bet Mir loves food as much as he ever did, he just chooses healthier options than Nelson? Another round to Mir, but it was less pretty? Nelson gasped for breath in his corner. Rogan said that tells everyone what they need to know about how this fight is going. His corner didn't have much to say to him, instead letting him just catch his breath?

ROUND THREE: Nelson was still gasping at the start of the round. They slapped hands and Mir smiled as they started the final round? Nelson looked like he was exhausted and had nothing left. His kicks were six inches off the ground and his punches were half-hearted? Mir took Nelson down on his back at 1:00. Rogan said he couldn't have been more wrong giving the grappling advantage to Nelson, noting that Mir has just dominated that aspect of the fight. Mir covered Nelson's mouth to thwart his breathing? Nelson's conditioning cheated the fans out of a good third round, although he was still resilient enough and Mir was tired enough pushing Nelson's weight around that Mir couldn't finish him? In the final minute MIr landed some heavy blows as he had Nelson on his back gasping for oxygen. Mir shifted to his back and Nelson stood again with 30 seconds left? I'm tempted to go 10-8 in that just because Nelson was so gassed, but Mir just didn't quite have the pace in his attack to justify it. But I could understand it since Nelson just had nothing left offensively, and just enough defensively to survive?

WINNER: Mir via judges' decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26). So one of the judges did go 10-8. Nelson humorously raised his arms after the judges' scorecards were read as if his name was going to be announced. He was joking, of course.

STAR RATING (**): Dragged too much in the second half of the fight, but there was enough at stake and enough technique early to keep it above one-star in entertainment value and overall sense of relevance and something being learned by the fight - which is that Mir is a level above Nelson right now. MMATorch readers, in a poll we put up a few hours before the fight, picked Mir by a 52-48 margin, with 19 percent picking by decision, 18 percent predicting a Mir TKO, and 15 percent predicting a submission win for Mir.

POST-FIGHT: Mir told Rogan he punched Nelson a lot, but he's got a hell of a chin. Mir said he promised Rogan he wouldn't lose and he plans now to just keep getting better. He said he dreams of becoming champion again.

IN THE CROWD: Mike Judge and David Spade.

5 -- RAMPAGE JACKSON vs. MATT HAMILL -- Light-Heavyweight Fight.

PRE-FIGHT: Rogan said Hamill believes he's a superior grappler and has enough power to get Rampage's respect. Goldberg said Hamill wanted this fight and he and his camp feels they're ready for this. Rogan said the question is whether Rampage wants to do this anymore, and he's basically said as soon as acting pays more than MMA, he's gone. Rogan said that's not the best approach. He said the question about Rampage has been his training, not his effort once he's inside the Octagon? Rampage is just 32, Hamill is 34. Hamill has a three inch reach advantage. Rampage has a huge experience edge, but that also means more damage and wear and tear. Hamill is 11-2, Rampage is 31-8?

ROUND ONE: Rampage stuffed an early Hamill takedown attempt and then tried to land a couple punches, but Hamill backed off. Hamill threw a lot of kicks early aimed at Rampage's lead leg and body. Rampage looked to be picking his spots to land something big? Hamill tried several takedown attempts, but he forecast them enough that Rampage easily blocked them and then countered with punches. Rampage seemed to gain confidence as the round progressed? Rampage looked like he could have finished Hamill if he got aggressive and had 30 seconds more to work with?. Hamill's corner called for the cut man right away, but he was late getting to Hamill, which annoying his corner. Hamill had cut lip. Rampage had a cut above his right eye?

ROUND TWO: Hamill tried to come out aggressively with a head kick, but Rampage quickly fired back with punches that sent Hamill backward defensively? Rogan called Hamill's takedown attempts "sloppy"? Rogan said Hamill's only hope appears to be if Rampage slows down. That sounds about right? The crowd booed mid-round as both fighters began to Tito-Forrest-Round-3 it with a casual fight-not-to-lose approach? Rampage just showed no fear of Hamill at all. Hamill didn't even seem to be in Rampage's league and Rampage was just phoning in a win on points, almost bored with the process or on cruise control, as if he was also thinking about his post-fight nightclub plans. His corner pushed Rampage to finish him in round three?

ROUND THREE: More of the same, although even the fans lost their desire to put forth the effort to boo since the fight clearly wasn't going to change. Rogan said to sell himself for a UFC Light-Heavyweight Title fight, he needs to do more than breeze by Hamill, and that wasn't happening here? With 90 seconds left, Rogan and Goldberg guessed Rampage was taking a deep breath to ready himself for a big flurry at the end. That flurry didn't come. The boos rang out in the final 30 seconds. Rampage seemed to take Hamill's wind with a knee to the gut. Rampage threw a half dozen punches late, but Hamill clinched and looked up at the clock. Hamill dropped to the mat at the end as Rampage threw his arms up. Goldberg and Rogan gave Hamill credit for fighting all three rounds despite being discouraged with every takedown attempt and eating a lot of Rampage punches?

WINNER: Rampage Jackson via decision (30-27 by all three judges).

STAR RATING (*+): The starting point is one-star and this really never got far above that. Whatever bursts of offense Rampage showed were offset by stretches of boredom. Our MMATorch Poll put up a few hours before the fight card saw readers pick Rampage to win by TKO early (36%) or TKO late (25%), and by decision (13%), so in that respect Hamill did better than readers anticipated. Only 24 percent picked Hamill to win?

POST-FIGHT. Hamill looked dejected, but did shake hands with Rampage after the decision was read. Rogan interviewed Rampage who made a bug-eyed funny face and then said, "I didn't get taken down." He said he tried to take Hamill out, but he entered the right with a fractured hand but fought for the fans anyway. The crowd booed, as they always do when fighters offer up injury excuses. He said he tried to make it as exciting as he could, but Hamill was tough. He said he'd give himself a 5 out of 10. He said he wanted to try some new things, such as showing Rogan he could land some kicks. He said the first round at the bar is on him "only if you're a hot drill with double-Ds." The crowd continued to boo.

-PRELIM: They aired Gleison Tibau's win over Charle Oliveira from the prelims and the post-fight interview.

IN THE CROWD: Football players Sam Bradford, Marcedes Lewis, and Demarco Murray were shown.

-WRAP-UP: Rogan and Goldberg wrapped up the card and hyped next Saturday's free Ultimate Fighter Finale on Spike TV. Rogan said Nelson owes it to himself to get in better shape. He said Mir is a true heavyweight, whereas Nelson isn't. They did their best to spin positives from Rampage-Hamill such as Rogan noting Rampage's takedown defensive impressed him. Rampage limped backstage with an icepack on his fractured hand. Goldberg said Rampage is going to make another run at the title. Rampage vs. Jon Jones sounds like a fight that Rampage could get motivated for and it'd be a real test for Jones.

QUOTEBOOK

Joe Rogan on Jorge Santiago: "Like a lot of talented people, he didn't work hard."

Mike Goldberg on Jorge Santiago: "When asked about his return to UFC, he simply said, 'I'm home.'"

Joe Rogan on Roy Nelson: "People look at him and say, 'He's a professional athlete?' Hell, yeah. And he'll kick your ass."

Joe Rogan: "Conditioning, I give the edge to Frank Mir? If anything has been a problem with Roy Nelson's fight, it's quite frankly that Roy shows up for fights fat. That is his Achilles Heel."

Mike Goldberg on Roy Nelson: "He showed off his tremendous physique yesterday at the weight-ins." Rogan in response: "Tremendous is a good word."

Joe Rogan on Roy Nelson: "He's got at tremendous heart to go with that tremendous belly."

WEBSITE VISITORS, COMMENT ON THIS EVENT AND MY BLOG IN THE READER COMMENT BELOW?

Alex Andrade Jermaine Andrè Yoji Anjo Ao Hailin Shinya Aoki

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Do you believe men have free will or that everything is just cause and effect?

I believe that people have free will but I also believe its a very hard concept to understand so even I have trouble...

Luiz Cane Dos Caras Jr Phil Cardella Roan Jucao Carneiro Shane The Engineer Carwin

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Kyle Bradley Jai Bradney Ebenezer Fontes Braga Chris Brennan Marcelo Brito

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Some have questioned Quinton Jackson's level of desire to fight Matt Hamill this weekend. Now we know what's been clouding his mind. In this hilarious Boost Mobile commercial, "Rampage" is serving as official bull[expletive] detector.

Watch him go after a banker, a weatherman and a Cris Angel look-a-like.

Rampage got everyone worked up with a recent quote about the Hamill fight.

"If they get to know me, I'm not really excited about anybody I fight. It's my job to me; it's my career. I don't get excited no more," Jackson said. "I've got almost 40 fights. I don't get excited about anybody I fight. I just go in and do it."

When pressed on the topic, Jackson explained:

"I think Matt made a mistake when he actually said he's going to break my will, and that I'm going to overlook him. That actually lit a fire up under my ass, and actually made me train a little bit harder just so I could break his will. So I could make sure I outclass him," said Jackson.

Tip via MMAConvert

Yoji Anjo Ao Hailin Shinya Aoki Andrei Arlovski Ricardo Arona

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Bellator 45 was a big event to end a big fourth season. It featured Bellator newcomers, former tournament finalists, and the crowning of the very first Bellator Light Heavyweight Champion. Now once again it?s time to ask: what?s next? What does the future hold after Patricio Freire and Christian M?Pumbu took home a pair of [...]

Randy The Natural Couture Dan Cramer Alberto Crane Marcio Pe de Pano Cruz Luke Cummo

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While one Couture has exited the sport after a long and illustrious career, another will try to continue to build his legacy.
Ryan Couture, son of UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture, will be returning to the cage come this June when he returns to the upcoming Challengers card.
He will be returning to take [...]

Eric Butterbean Esch Efrain Escudero Rashad Evans Urijah Faber Tank Abbott

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Roy Nelson was in studio for ESPNRadio1100's "The MMA Insiders" show on Friday.

Nelson took part in the 10-minute "opening round." Adam Hill and Nelson covered the five big MMA stories of the week - ringside monitors for the judges, Brock Lesnar's illness/heavyweight division, Jon Jones' hand injury, WEC vs. UFC 155 pounders and the Chael Sonnen saga.

The Sonnen story took a twist later on Friday with California changing the date when he could re-apply for a license. Nelson stuck around for Part 2, and in Part 3, Jon Jones joined the show.

If you're in Las Vegas next week, "The MMA Insiders" will be live from the Thomas & Mack Center on Friday from 6-7 p.m. PT before the Tuff-N-Uff fight card.

Lorenzo Borgomeo Kyle Bradley Jai Bradney Ebenezer Fontes Braga Chris Brennan

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MMAjunkie.com lead staff reporter and MMA insider John Morgan is a guest on today's official UFC 130 pre-event show, "Fight Day."

The show, hosted by Dave Farra and Megan Olivi, also includes Strikeforce lightweight champ Gilbert Melendez, UFC 133 headliner Phil Davis, HeavyMMA's Matt Brown and ESPN.com's Brett Okamoto.

You can watch the show, which airs live from Las Vegas, from 6-7 p.m. ET (3-4 p.m. PT) at www.heavy.com.

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UFC 130 “Rampage vs. Hamill” takes place later tonight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event airs live on pay-per-view at 9pm ET/6pm PT. The pay-per-view broadcast will be preceded by prelim specials on Spike TV at 9pm ET/6pm PT and Facebook at 8pm ET/5pm PT. In the main event, [...]

Chris Brennan Marcelo Brito Rob Broughton Mike Brown Junie Browning

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Credit to http://topmmanews.com/2011/05/28/bfl-8-quick-results/

---Quote---
Jesse Taylor submits Denis Kang via Rear Naked Choke in Round 1,...

Gilbert Aldana José Aldo John Alessio Houston Alexander Ricardo Almeida

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Dan Bobish Vagam Bodjukyan Kotetsu Boku Tony Bonello Stephan Bonnar

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Ebenezer Fontes Braga Chris Brennan Marcelo Brito Rob Broughton Mike Brown

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Following his 10th consecutive win, Strikeforce welterweight champ Nick Diaz briefly shares his thoughts following his title defense against a tough contender Paul Daley.

Marcio Pe de Pano Cruz Luke Cummo Jeff Big Frog Curran Dai Shuanghai Mac Danzig

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The following is a flashback to a vintage Torch Newsletter cover story on the legal battles in Michigan in the hours leading up to UFC's debut in Detroit 15 years ago. This was in infancy of the sport of MMA (even before the term "MMA" had become the standard name for the sport), and officials in Michigan worked hard to stop the show up until the final hours of the event. The event itself provided the bloodiest evidence to date for the critics who found this young sport too barbaric to officially sanction. The Torch was one of only two or three established media entities covering UFC nationally at this point, chronicling the early legal battles as critics attempted to ban the sport.

TORCH NEWSLETTER COVER STORY
MAY 25, 1996 - ISSUE #389
By Wade Keller and Christ Zavisa

DETROIT, MICH. - Friday night in Detroit, Mich. at a sold out Cobo Hall, Dan Severn eked past Ken Shamrock via a 2-1 judges' decision after the match went to a 30 minute draw. The ringside judges weren't the only judges with an influence on UFC. Friday afternoon, lawyers from Semaphore Entertainment Group and the State of Michigan clashed in the courtroom of Judge Arthur J. Lombard in Wayne County Circuit Court.

Twice before, UFC had prevailed Federal Court, once in Detroit and once in the Appeals Court in Cincinnati. On Thursday, May 16, the Cincinnati Appeals court remanded the case back to County Circuit court claiming they had no jurisdiction in the case.

The State of Michigan was co-represented by the same legal duo that had struck out in Federal Court - Michael Lockman of the State Attorney General's Office and George Ward of the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office. SEG was represented by Norman Lippit, a highly respected, high-priced attorney from Michigan who made his first legal mark some 25 years ago as the head of the Detroit Police Officers Union representing officers in court on controversial cases. Lippit is considered one of the ten best defense lawyers in the state.

The proceedings were set to begin at 1 p.m., but all the arguments were done behind closed doors in the judges chambers until 2:30. "The court is not here to regulate public morality or express approval of disapproval of any event," Judge Lombard said.

Lombard said that violence is inherent in many sports, especially contact sports. However, he stated that the violence of UFC was clearly different than that in hockey or football since the end goal of those sports is to score points to win while in UFC violence is its own end. "If these acts occurred spontaneously on the street, a crime would be committed," Lombard said.

Lombard stated he had rented and watched two commercial tapes of previous UFC events. His decision was based partly on the viewing of these tapes and partly with the recent deregulation (in 1995) of wrestling in Michigan.

The State argued that the case was a very simple one. The law says that "prizefights are illegal unless regulated by the State of Michigan through normal boxing channels." Lockman repeatedly tried to get the judge to accept this view. Since UFC is a fight and it offers cash prizes for the winners, Lockman maintained it was a clear and obvious violation of the law.

Judge Lombard said after he viewed the tapes, some of what he saw did resemble boxing, while much of it resembled wrestling, while still other portions were martial arts. "The more UFC looks like boxing, the more the Court would likely enjoin it. The less it looks like boxing, the less likely the Court would enjoin," said Lombard.

Lombard then refused to grant the State's request for an injunction. He offered what he called "suggestions" to both parties. Lombard told UFC they could stage the event if two modifications were made in their rules to eliminate the similarity with boxing. (1) There were to be no closed fist blows, and (2) there were to be no headbutts. Lombard said the main concern of the Court was "to protect the participants" (fighters).

Both Lockman and Ward strongly argued against this modification urging the event be stopped altogether. At one point Ward's argument suggested he thought Judge Lombard had just banned "open fist blows," which didn't build confidence in Ward's knowledge of fighting. When it was obvious the case was not going their way, Ward and Lockman argued for "strict rules to be laid down in Court" that the fighters would have to follow or risk being arrested and held in contempt of court. Judge Lombard refused to pursue that line. "The Court is not here to write rules for this," he said.

SEG President Bob Meyrowitz was sworn in and promised the Court he would carry out the two rule changes. Just before the case ended, SEG attorney Lippit skillfully had it placed in the record that Meyrowitz should not be a defendant in any matters since SEG is the legal defendant. Judge Lombard agreed and this seemed to be setting up some type of safety net which would protect Meyrowitz (and other SEG employees) from personal prosecution.

Over the next several hours, a debate was constantly in session around the Westin Hotel, directly across the street from the Court and homebase for the event. Some felt the UFC would be radically altered by the ruling making it look more like Pancrase and less like previous UFC events. It was speculated the fighters who relied on striking would be at a serious disadvantage. Among the fighters in that category would be Don Frye, Gary Goodridge, and Zane Frazier. Others felt that SEG would do little or nothing to alter their rules and would go on with the event under normal rules.

The fighters were told of the decision in the late afternoon and there was very little concern expressed by any of them. This should have tipped off many people that SEG was not going to really bow to Lombard's suggestions. In fact, one trainer, when asked how the rule changes would affect his fighter, deadpanned, "I have not heard of any rule changes." That was an hour or so before the event started.

Throughout the card, there was little evidence of rule changes. Headbutts were used during the event, starting with the first match. Closed fist punches were the primary reason UFC9 was the bloodiest UFC event to date. The first 20 minutes of the SuperFight saw nothing but a mix of closed and open hand blows, the vast majority of which fell short of the target. Referee John McCarthy shouted "Open hands!" at the fighters often during the card, but never issued a substantive warning nor did he punish in any way fighters for using closed fists.

Detroit Police Chief Isaiah McKinnon told the Detroit News after the event that the fighters violated the rules prohibiting headbutting and closed-fist punching. McKinnon watched three of the matches for what he called a "fact finding mission." As he left he said, "I've seen enough. They're not going by the rules the judge set down." He told the Detroit Free Press that he could understand rules violations done "in the heat of moment." He said he would review the tape to see if the violations were blatantly in disregard of the law or perhaps were just done "in the heat of the moment."

Because the judge's rules were not part of a court order, UFC and its fighters were not in contempt of court. Monday the prosecutor's office indicated they will be reviewing a tape and may find grounds to arrest fighters based on the Michigan law banning prize fighting.

SEG has said they do not plan to return to Wayne County. Michigan politicians may still decide to pass a bill banning UFC style fights.

Kate McKee, who covered the event for the Detroit Free Press, told the Torch Monday she was most appalled at the conduct of the crowd. She had viewed UFC on tape in recent weeks and didn't think it was "appalling" or "barbaric." What she didn't expect to experience in person was the "red faced, angry, whipped up blood thirstiness" of the fans in attendance.

McKee lead her headline story with the following: "The Ultimate Fighting Championship at Cobo Arena on Friday night was just what local politicians feared and just what 10,000 audience members wanted." She cited fans screaming, "Let him bleed."

UFC in concept is designed to see which fighter and which disciplines are most effective in a freestyle situation. UFC9, though, provided the bloodiest evidence yet for opponents of the sport.

Dean Amasinger Jimmy Ambriz Matt Andersen Alex Andrade Jermaine Andrè

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MMAFrenzy.com will have live results and play-by-play from tonight's "UFC 130: Rampage vs. Hamill" event in Las Vegas starting at 6:45pm ET for the preliminary card and 9pm ET for the pay-per-view main card, which includes Quinton "Rampage" Jackson vs. Matt Hamill and Frank Mir vs. Roy Nelson.

Follow our live UFC 130 coverage after the break...

Grant Campbell Gesias JZ Calvancante Luiz Cane Dos Caras Jr Phil Cardella

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkseY35AZjU&feature=player_embedded
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Just awesome.

Jermaine Andrè Yoji Anjo Ao Hailin Shinya Aoki Andrei Arlovski

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UFC 130 weigh-in (Courtesy MMAjunkie):

MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view)

Matt Hamill (205) vs. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson (205)
Frank Mir (260) vs. Roy Nelson (260)
Travis Browne (247) vs. Stefan Struve (255)
Thiago Alves (170) vs. Rick Story (170)
Jorge Santiago (185) vs. Brian Stann (186)

PRELIMINARY CARD (Spike TV)

Demetrious Johnson (135.5) vs. Miguel Torres (135.5)
Tim Boetsch (186) vs. Kendall Grove (185)

PRELIMINARY CARD (Facebook.com)

Rafaello Oliveira (155) vs. Gleison Tibau (155)
Chris Cariaso (135) vs. Michael McDonald (136)
Renan Barao (135) vs. Cole Escovedo (135)

Michael Bisping Dan Bobish Vagam Bodjukyan Kotetsu Boku Tony Bonello

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Who takes this one?

Image: http://s-ak.buzzfed.com/static/imagebuzz/terminal01/2009/11/16/16/hippo-eats-croc-8243-1258407879-34.jpg

Image:...

Luciano Azevedo Ba Te er Ryan Bader Siyar Bahadurzada Bao Ligao

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Dana White continues on with his video blogging for UFC 130 with part two online. Check it out below, as White showcases Jon Jones working on a Bud Light commercial, features segments from the UFC Fighter Summit and more. Check it out below:

App Users Click Here For Video: http://youtu.be/i6mianXHwAU

Mike Brown Junie Browning Paul Buentello Josh Burkman Mikey Burnett

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Recently, it was announced that longtime MMA veteran Jeff Monson, who once challenged for the UFC Heavyweight Championship, had finally landed himself in another major-level promotion. When Monson makes his Strikeforce debut on June 18, 2011 as part of Strikeforce?s ?Overeem vs. Werdum? event, he?ll be stepping into the cage against hot prospect Daniel Cormier, [...]

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

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Do you want to watch Rafaello Oliveira vs. Gleison Tibau, Michael McDonald vs. Chris Cariaso, and Renan Barao vs. Cole Escovedo for free? Of course you do.

Good news. You can catch the first three fights from UFC 130 right here.

The first bouts start at 6:45 p.m. ET. Check them out here, followed by Tim Boetsch vs. Kendall Grove and Miguel Torres vs. Demetrious Johnson on Spike before the main card on pay-per-view at 9 p.m. ET.

Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama Gilbert Aldana José Aldo John Alessio

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Georges St-Pierre and Jake Shields get on the scale the day prior to their UFC Welterweight Title bout. Watch UFC 129 Live on Pay-Per-View or www.UFC.tv - Tomorrow, April 30th at 6/9PM PT/ET

Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama Gilbert Aldana

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It?s finally happened, fans and friends. After ten live, weekly events on prime-time television, after ratings that at times fluctuated wildly, after several amazing fights and some not-so-good ones? Bellator?s fourth season is over. With the end of Bellator 45 comes the end of Bellator?s first season on the MTV2 network, and it was quite [...]

Vitor Belfort Robert Berry David Bielkheden Michael Bisping Dan Bobish

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What does the future hold for Ben Askren? The immediate future is more or less set in stone: Askren will defend his Bellator Welterweight Championship against Jay Hieron, the well-traveled multi-promotion veteran that stormed into Bellator and won its Season Four Welterweight Tournament. But if Askren beats down such a respected veteran in the same [...]

Shane The Engineer Carwin Jason Hollywood Chambers Ryo Piranha Chonan Dan The Sandman Christison Logan The Pink Pounder Clark

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On Wednesday night's episode of "The Ultimate Fighter," Tony Ferguson crossed the line when in a drunken argument with castmate Charlie Rader. It started with Rader pouring water on Ferguson's head, and with the amount of alcohol and testosterone flying around, things went too far. Ferguson brought up Rader's custody problems with his son, saying, "Hit me, don't hit your son."

Ferguson discussed the incident in his post on the SB Nation MMA blog:

Why did I bring up Charlie's son? I have no idea, but I have a guess. My birth father wasn't there for me growing up. Somehow Charlie's situation mixed in with my adrenaline from fighting and the booze all worked together to bring up my own issues. I learned a lot about myself watching that on tape and how I felt about certain things in my life. I was under a lot of pressure, I was trying to bottle up frustration and it didn't work. Well, it worked for a while, but ultimately did not.

I said some things I shouldn't have said. I was in a weird place. I was having crazy dreams in that house. The entire experience took me out of my own independence and removed all of my release valves.

I really regret saying what I said to Charlie and we've talked about it since the incident. I've spoke to Clay Harvison and Chuck, too. We are in a better place now than we were that night.

In the post, Ferguson mentions that they started drinking immediately after the fights, and adrenaline was still pumping through his veins.

Every TUF castmate I've spoken to has mentioned how weird the experience is. They're in a house for six weeks with no television, books, visitors or privacy. They get to train, drink, and entertain each other. This is not to excuse Ferguson's behavior, but just to point out that this isn't a normal situation, and abnormal behavior comes out of it.

Eddie Alvarez Thiago Alves Andre Amade Dean Amasinger Jimmy Ambriz

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@jonnybones @gunstore!

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

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Zuffa is holding its annual Fighters' Summit in Las Vegas this week, and Strikeforce and UFC fighters have been tweeting pictures from the sessions that cover everything from injuries to using social media. Bantamweight Eddie Wineland snapped this picture of several MMA legends, just sitting and listening to presentations.

That's UFC middleweight champion and Yahoo! Sports pound-for-pound king Anderson Silva and former PRIDE champion Wanderlei Silva in the foreground. Sitting in the table in front of them is UFC Hall-of-Famer Matt Hughes, and who appears to be former welterweight and lightweight champ B.J. Penn. Between them, they have five major championships and a record of 122-29-3.

Mikhail Avetisyan Luiz Azeredo Luciano Azevedo Ba Te er Ryan Bader

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Shane Carwin was just as surprised as everyone this afternoon to find out that Brock Lesnar was being forced out of the UFC 131 main event with Junior Dos Santos and that he was being tapped as the replacement. In fact, to read his take on it, it seems his management stepped up to take the fight for him without even talking to him first, but he was fine with that.

Here's what Carwin had to say on his official site:

"I was training and my phone was blowing up so I looked over and saw some missed calls from Dana and Joe Silva. I reached out to my manager to see what was going on and he informed me that we are taking Lesnar's spot for 131.

Junior is a serious fight and not the type of fight that you would normally take on a 30 day notice but I have a dream to chase and I do not have a lot of time to chase it. This is an opportunity to put myself in contention for the title. I know my Coaches will have me ready so I have everything to gain.

My manager said 'This is where you belong' and I am going to make sure I do everything I can to prove him right.

Please help make UFC 131 one of the biggest cards in the year.

I hope Brock is able to recover. I look forward to facing him again one day."

Carwin was already scheduled to compete on the card in a bout with Jon Olav Einemo, so he's already in the midst of his training camp for this event. Now, he'll have a chance to earn another shot at the UFC Heavyweight Championship with a win over Dos Santos on June 11 in Vancouver.

Penick's Analysis: They lucked out in having Carwin ready to go on this event already, as he's the next best fight for this spot after Lesnar. This is still one hell of a heavyweight fight, even though it's not nearly as big as the fight between Lesnar and Dos Santos would have been. Still, after being out nearly a full year himself, Carwin finds himself in a very opportunistic spot, and this fight with Dos Santos is a huge opportunity for him to get back to a shot at the title once again.

[Shane Carwin art by Cory Gould (c) MMATorch.com]

Alberto Crane Marcio Pe de Pano Cruz Luke Cummo Jeff Big Frog Curran Dai Shuanghai

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttNHbz7Yx4Q

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttNHbz7Yx4Q

Josh Burkman Mikey Burnett Murilo Bustamante Grant Campbell Gesias JZ Calvancante

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UFC On Versus 4
Sunday June 26
Consol Energy Center
Pittsburgh, PA
Airing on Versus

MAIN CARD (Versus)

* Nate Marquardt (#4 Ranked Middleweight) vs. Anthony Johnson
* Pat Barry vs. Cheick Kongo
* Matt Mitrione vs. Christian Morecraft
* Martin Kampmann vs. John Howard

PRELIMINARY CARD (Unaired)

* Manny Gamburyan (#7 Ranked Featherweight) vs. Tyson Griffin
* Joe Stevenson vs. Javier Vazquez
* Charles Oliveira vs. Nik Lentz
* Joe Lauzon vs. Curt Warburton
* Matt Brown vs. Rich Attonito
* Michael Johnson vs. Edward Faaloloto
* Matt Grice vs. Ricardo Lamas
* Charlie Brenneman vs. T.J. Grant

Eddie Alvarez Thiago Alves Andre Amade Dean Amasinger Jimmy Ambriz

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Logan The Pink Pounder Clark Steve The Snake Claveau Rich No Love Clementi Mark The Hammer Coleman Wes Soldier Combs

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While one Couture has exited the sport after a long and illustrious career, another will try to continue to build his legacy.
Ryan Couture, son of UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture, will be returning to the cage come this June when he returns to the upcoming Challengers card.
He will be returning to take [...]

Mark Epstein Tom Big Cat Erickson Martinsh Egle Eric Butterbean Esch Efrain Escudero

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Heat between Jon Jones and Rashad Evans has been building up for some time now after the 23-year-old Champion said he'd fight Evans if the UFC wanted them to fight, despite previously staying in line with Greg Jackson's policy of teammates not fighting teammates. The led to a fracture in Jackson's camp, and Evans' departure, and when Jones stepped in for the injured Evans against Mauricio "Shogun" Rua at UFC 128 in March and captured the belt himself, the organization targeted the two for a bout at UFC 133 in Philadelphia this August.

A nagging hand injury that Jones has battled since college took him out of that fight, however, as a number of doctors that he had seen suggested surgery on torn ligaments in his hand was the necessary next step.

Now, though, Jones is no longer getting that surgery after visiting with another specialist, and his manager Malki Kawa revealed on Twitter today that Jones will be able to return to action earlier than expected. However, he's not stepping back into the fight with Evans immediately, and the former Champion will still need to defeat Davis to get back into a fight with his former teammate.

In comments made to MMAJunkie.com, Kawa expanded upon his Twitter statements to give a clearer picture of the situation with Jones at the moment.

"He has a torn ligament, and the only way you can actually repair it is by surgery," he said. "If you're not a fighter or someone who uses his hand, you can just completely leave it alone, and the pain might go away, but you're always going to have that tear there, so the doctors asked us what we wanted to do. Initially, Jon didn't want to have surgery. But as we kept getting additional opinions from doctors we all trusted, they all recommended having surgery based on the initial report from the UFC's orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Steven Sanders."

That was, however, until Jones saw Dr. Vahey and got the second opinion, giving him an option of of not needing to go under the knife just yet.

"The actual thumb itself, the actual ligaments that attach to the knuckles, are torn," Kawa said. "In between the forefinger in the thumb is some additional damage in those two areas, which is why that area gets so swollen... Based on the reports, Dr. Vahey also thought surgery was necessary. But when he had Jon in front of him and starting working with his thumb and doing the necessary tests, he determined Jon's range of motion was satisfactory despite the pain. He told Jon, 'Look, your thumb is not 100 percent, but it's close enough that I feel comfortable saying if you don't want surgery, you don't have to have it.'

"At that point, we were facing a decision as to whether we wanted to do the surgery or not. Jon went back to his initial feeling, which is to just gut it out. Jon was prepared to listen to the doctor's advice, but Dr. Sanders told us Dr. Vahey was the best in the business when it comes to hand injuries, and Dr. Vahey told us he thought surgery was a little bit invasive at this point and perhaps too much."

After getting the second opinion, Jones is now under medical advisement to not train until June 11, at which time he'll prepare for his return fight, which may or may not come against Evans depending on what happens on August 6 between Evans and Davis.

"We met with Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta and let them know we would like to set up a fight to get back in the cage as quickly as possible," Kawa said. "Because of the timing and everything, we don't know yet who that will be. It could very likely still be Rashad if he gets by Phil Davis, but we could fight sooner, maybe September, October or November depending on what the UFC wants to do."

Link to Original Source Article

Penick's Analysis: The mistake from Jones' camp in all of this has been being public about every aspect of this. It was admitted that this would have been surgery to correct something that wasn't affecting his training, and that in turn has fueled Evans to state that Jones is faking things to get out of fighting him now. It's just given him ammunition where there didn't need to be any, and has made him look bad in this whole situation. I wouldn't be entirely surprised to see the UFC pull Evans from the Davis fight to make this one right away, but if they don't then it will be Jones fighting either Evans or Rampage Jackson if Rampage beats Matt Hamill later this month.

Tadhg Steamfist Dixon Joe Doerksen Chris Dolman Edson Drago Tomasz Drwal

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Quinton "Rampage" Jackson is a former Pride superstar, a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion and a 40-fight veteran of the sport. It would be easy for him to not take an opponent the likes of Matt Hamill seriously into their UFC 130 main event fight, and that's precisely what Hamill believed Jackson would do, and that overlooking of him would then allow him to surprise the former champ on May 28.

However, after Hamill expressed that sentiment in an interview, even saying he planned on breaking Jackson's will, Rampage said this week that it served as extra motivation to make sure that didn't happen.

"I think Matt made a mistake when he actually said he's going to break my will, and that I'm going to overlook him," Jackson said during a media conference call on Thursday to promote the event.

"That kind of lit a fire under my ass and actually made me train harder to make sure I don't overlook him and to make sure I outclass him."

Jackson commented recently that the fight with Hamill didn't excite him when it was first brought to his attention, but he clarified his comments during the call to make it clear that the simple concept of fighting isn't exciting for him.

"That's a big misconception," Jackson said. "If [MMA fans] really get to know me, I'm not really excited about anybody I fight. It's my job to me; it's my career. I don't get excited no more. I've got almost 40 fights. I don't get excited about anybody I fight. I just go in and do it."

The job aspect of fighting has Jackson targeting an exit from the sport in two years at 35, an age which he's said for a long time he wants to retire. But he doesn't understand the backlash against him for looking ahead to acting and getting out of fighting, and ultimately he doesn't care.

"You can't fight until you're 60," he said. "If anyone is smart they'll want to have an exit plan from any contact sport... That stuff don't bother me at all what they say or what they think."

"It's my life, it's my family I take care of, and I have my goals and my plans, things I'm going to do to make me happy. That's all I really care about, me and my family. The fans I'm just here to entertain them, but do I care about them the way I do my family? Hell no."

The two will meet in the main event of UFC 130, coming live to pay-per-view on Saturday, May 28 from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

[Rampage Jackson art by Cory Gould (c) MMATorch.com]

Josh Barnett David Baron Phil Baroni Don Barr Pat Barry

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Of all the wars the UFC has seen fit to stage throughout the years, it should be noted that the battles outside the Octagon are equally as important. And one long fight has surpassed all others. The battle with PRIDE, wars with Affliction and EliteXC and later Strikeforce, the struggle to turn the UFC into [...]

Noboru Asahi Marcus Aurelio Mikhail Avetisyan Luiz Azeredo Luciano Azevedo

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Chael Sonnen may not be out quite as long as was thought, as the California State Athletic Commission has altered their previous ruling on him, and he will be free to apply for a new license in the state and elsewhere after his current license expires on June 29.

The commission sent out a press release clarifying his current predicament. Initially they had cited a rule that would have barred him from applying in California until one year from his meeting with the commission this week. However, after further review, they realized that rule does not apply in this case.

"Upon reviewing the May 18, 2011 decision of the commission, an error in the applicability of Rule 399 was made," the release stated (via MMAJunkie.com). "The rule states that, 'Any applicant who has been denied an application for a license may not file a similar application until one year from the date of the last previous denial by the commission. Any application filed within the one year period may be denied without the necessity of a hearing. Anyone who has had his license revoked may not petition for reinstatement or apply for a new license until one year after the date of such revocation. Any petition for reinstatement filed within the one year period may be denied without the necessity of a hearing.'

"Since the commission did not revoke or deny Mr. Sonnen's license, the rule does not apply."

Sonnen will still need to appear in front of the commission again should he decide to apply for a license in the state, but a denial at that point would mean he could not apply for one year from that denial.

Sonnen's name will remain on a registry that tracks fighters' medical and administrative suspensions until June 29. Initially, were Sonnen to apply in another state after that, the CSAC was going to request that those commissions contact them, though with this new ruling it's not known whether that will still be the case.

This does not clear him for The Ultimate Fighter, however, as the cutoff date for him to settle his issues in Nevada to get a second's license in order to be a coach on the show is June 5, and he won't be able to apply in the state until after June 29. That said, he may now be able to return to action for the UFC late this summer, and a planned bout with Michael Bisping could still be an option.

Penick's Analysis: This is good news for Sonnen and his fans, and allows the UFC to use him elsewhere after June 29. Since his license will have expired, he can go elsewhere without the UFC needing to commission shop. However, if he's going to continue with his testosterone therapy, he may need to go through the official process of getting it cleared by any commission he goes in front of in the future. The knowledge of his treatment is now all out in the open, and considering he's claimed he can't live without the treatment, he'll need to get it cleared or go through the same thing again if his testosterone levels are elevated. But at least in the short term, this is a much better result for him and his supporters than what was initially expected this week.

Wes Soldier Combs Ray Cooper Kit Cope Wesley Cabbage Correira Patrick The Predator Côté

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Chael Sonnen's career is in limbo. The confusion over how his testosterone replacement therapy was handled and reported, plus a positive test following his UFC 117 loss to Anderson Silva, has him facing an indefinite period on the sidelines. Dana White broke his silence on last week's California State Athletic Commission ruling and didn't sound pleased.

"I'm pretty bummed out about the Chael Sonnen thing and the way that the whole thing was handled. You know, this guy… I don't know if there's ever been a penalty laid down, I mean Tyson, I think when Tyson bit the ear, Tyson got a year. Um… it's pretty crazy," White told Heavy.com.

White says Sonnen's getting a raw deal.

"Um… listen, it's not that he'd have to retire, but right now was his opportunity. This kid had the opportunity to coach The Ultimate Fighter, he had the opportunity to get a big fight set up, should he win that fight… everybody knows what happened with Anderson Silva, this was a key moment in this kid's career and me, personally, you know, you've heard me say it for the last almost 11 years, we always support whatever the athletic commission says," White said. "This kid got, this kid got it stuck to him, man. He paid his dues in every way shape and forum and, uh… I think he's been treated a bit unfairly."

The CSAC denied Sonnen after his most recent attempt at regaining his license to fight. It was thought initially that Sonnen would be unable to re-apply until the summer of 2012. The CSAC admitted it misinterpreted a rule and now Sonnen can try again in late June.

Quotes via FightOpinion.com

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

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Monday, May 30, 2011

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Friday, May 27, 2011