Official MMA Thread

[ActionAndy]

Wow. Can't wait to see Brett Rogers' dental bill...

[NCRadioMan]

UFC owners considering selling stake of company

Dana White has appeared on Bloomburg T.V and stated that part of the UFC is potentially up for sale to the right buyer.

Apparently the Fertitta brothers, who each have a share of about 40% of the company are considering letting between 10 and 15% of the company be sold. White himself owns a 10% share, and acts as the UFC president, although the Fertittas are the real controllers of the company.

White says in the interview that the partner would essentially be a silent investor, and wouldn't have much of a say in the actual running of the company itself. Before anyone out there gets any ideas about getting a piece of the UFC for themselves they will probably need a couple of hundred million dollars spare that they don't need.

What should be made of this news isn't that clear in itself. The Fetittas are facing large losses with their failing casino empire, although the UFC alone is making hundreds of millions per year, so they probably aren't hurting for cash just yet. They famously bought the UFC for a couple of million dollars only a few years ago, and might just be getting a cash injection to help grow the brand more quickly. Given that they might not have much income coming in at the moment except from the UFC itself, a large injection of capital might be what they need to take the brand into even more homes and countries.

[NCRadioMan]

DREAM 12 Update! Sakuraba Vs. Galesic
http://nightmareofbattle.wordpress.com/

Three and one modified fights have been added to the white cage which will be set up just six days from now.

Zelg “Benkei” Galesic has got a change in opponent as he will now face Kazushi Sakuraba instead of Melvin Manhoef, who is out due to injury.

Katsuyori Shibata returns to take on fellow pro-wrestler Tokimitsu Ishizawa (Kendo Kashin) who is looking to get his second ever MMA victory.

In a Welterweight fight, champion Marius Zaromskis will face Korean Myeon Ho Bae in what looks to be a non-title affair.

And finally, in a Featherweight fight, ZST Bantamweight champion Keisuke Fujiwara will take on Tomoya Miyashita.

Update: It looks like Overeem’s fight will be the last one, they’re currently in the final stages of securing an opponent. Daisuke Nakamura’s participation will most likely not happen again.

Update #2: I like some of the added fights but some fans in Japan (people who have already bought tickets, ppv, etc.) aren’t too happy with them advertising fighters on their posters/videos, and not delivering. Especially this event and DREAM.11 there have been a lot of this going on.

Also, Sanae Kikuta recently said in an interview that he wants to fight Kiyoshi Tamura on NYE. Tamura isn’t on this card, Nakamura will most likely not be on it. Is something going on between Tamura’s camp and FEG? Will Kikuta fight on Dynamite!! this NYE?

OLYMPIA DREAM.12
Date: October 25th, 2009
Place: Osaka Castle Hall in Osaka, Japan

LW: Katsunori Kikuno vs. Eddie Alvarez
LW: Parky vs. Kuniyoshi Hironaka
WW: Marius Zaromskis vs. Myeon Ho Bae
MW: Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Zelg “Benkei” Galesic
MW: Yoon Dong Sik vs. Paulo Filho
MW: Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tokimitsu Ishizawa
FW: Yoshiro Maeda vs. Chase Beebe
FW: Keisuke Fujiwara vs. Tomoya Miyashita
HW: Alistair Overeem vs. TBA
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This Saturday!


Event: UFC 104

Location: Los Angeles, Calif.
Venue: Staples Center
Broadcast: Pay per view

Light Heavy Weight Championship
Lyoto Machida vs Mauricio Shogun Rua

Cain Velasquez vs Ben Rothwell
Yushin Okami vs. Chael Sonnen
Joe Stevenson vs. Spencer Fisher
Sean Sherk vs. Gleison Tibau
Anthony Johnson vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida

(undercard to be broadcast on Spike TV)
Ryan Bader vs. Eric Schafer
Patrick Barry vs. Antoni Hardonk
Kyle Kingsbury vs Razak Al-Hussan
Rob Kimmons vs. Jorge Rivera
Stefan Struve vs. Chase Gormley

good weekend of fights. Anybody else think Shogun can take Machida?

[NCRadioMan]

Originally Posted by Steelergar

good weekend of fights. Anybody else think Shogun can take Machida?

Yeah, I think he has a great chance of it. Should be a good fight.

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Dana White comments on Dan Henderson -”We couldn’t come to terms with Dan Henderson… Business, nothing personal with Dan, I have a great relationship with him… but he was looking for an obscene amount of money. You never know what’s gonna happen, we’ll see what happens, but as of now, yeah, negotiations are done.”

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A lightweight bout between Gray Maynard (8-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) and Nate Diaz (11-4 MMA, 6-2 UFC), two of the top fighters to come out of the fifth season of "The Ultimate Fighter" reality series, is set for UFC Fight Night 20's main event in January.

Diaz's camp announced the bout via its official Web site, GracieFighter.com, and MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) has confirmed Maynard will likely earn a future title shot if victorious at the show.

Although not officially announced, UFC Fight Night 20 takes place Jan. 11 in Fairfax, Va.

As MMAjunkie.com recently reported, the event is likely to take place at the 11,000-seat Patriot Center on the campus of George Mason University.

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Rolles Gracie (3-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC), part of MMA's legendary Gracie clan, has signed a multi-fight deal with the UFC and is expected to meet fellow heavyweight Mostapha Al-Turk (6-5 MMA, 0-2 UFC) at UFC 109 in February.

Gracie and his management team announced the signing via Twitter on late Tuesday.

Although not officially announced by the organization, UFC 109 is expected to take place Feb. 6 in Las Vegas.

Gracie, the son of Rolls Gracie (who's uncle was Helio Gracie), made his pro debut in 2007 with the International Fight League. The second-degree Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt defeated Sam Holloway via submission but wouldn't fight again for nearly two years.

Gracie returned with the China-based Art of War promotion this year and moved his record to 3-0 with a pair of additional submission victories over Baga Agaev in May and Peter Graham in September.

He now meets Al Turk, who's likely fighting for his life in the UFC. The former Cage Rage fighter lost to Cheick Kongo at UFC 92 in his octagon debut, and six months later, fought late replacement Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic at UFC 99. Aided by an illegal (but accidental) eye poke, Filipovic posted a first-round TKO victory.

Al Turk had won six of seven fights (all via first-round stoppage) prior to the back-to-back losses.

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Bas Rutten, shares a little insight into his life before he became a MMA announcer, fighter, spokesperson and entertainer. If you never watched him while he announced for PRIDE, check him out on his current show HDNET Fights.

First car: fiat 850 and they called them a backpack in Holland. The engine was in the back; you could speak to each other if you were past 60 mph.

First job: deliver newspapers, then went to cleaning dishes in a kitchen and a farm which was good because you get paid by the amount of work you did.

How much did you get paid: I got paid great with the farming because I was such a hard worker. You got by the amount of bushels you had of vegetables like asparagus. So I got paid something like $20 an hour and that was 25 years ago!

What did you want to be when you were 10 years old: I wanted to be a cook. Then when I saw Bruce Lee I wanted to a fighter. And I am actually a certified cook in French Cuisine.

What was your dream as a child: I wanted to be Spiderman. I was climbing trees a lot. I had a real bad skin disease and asthma as a kid. So, I spent a lot of time in the woods and had the ability to go from treetop to treetop.

Are you a dog or cat person?: Dog, I have one right now. But actually I have also had cats, but I have a dog right now. My wife doesn't like cats and it is a real nice dog. A little Bijon poodle.

[LasciviousXXX]

Good lineup for DREAM (at least for me anyway). I always look to their cards for good matchups, but they do need to have their cards set in stone before announcing them IMO.

Yeah I think Shogun has a decent chance, I just hope he doesn't do it. I completely loathe him and his brother Ninja. Personally I want to see Machida knock his ass out

[goalie204]

personally I don't think shogun has a chance against Machida, unless Machida is affected by the fans calling him a slow/un-entertaining fighter. He has nothing to prove tho IMO and should stick to his counter striking techniques. Shogun is known to be aggressive and machida is known as a counter striker. I think if Machida is in his zone (which i suspect he will be) shogun is going to get KTFO, which i look forward to seeing, and if anyone wants to bet sticks on it, i'm in

[NCRadioMan]

Chris Horodecki Signs WEC Deal

Former IFL standout Chris Horodecki has signed a deal to join the WEC, WEC general manager Reed Harris confirmed Thursday.

The 22-year-old Polish-born Canadian, who was the lightweight star on the Bas Rutten and Shawn Tompkins-headed Los Angeles Anacondas squad for the now-defunct IFL, will look to make an impact in the WEC's 155-pound division currently led by champions Jamie Varner and Ben Henderson and contenders Donald Cerrone and Ed Ratcliff.

Horodecki opened his professional MMA career in 2005, five days past his 18th birthday, and would win four fights for the TKO promotion in Canada before joining the IFL where he would extend his record to 11 consecutive victories.

Despite his name-making run in the IFL, he fell short in capturing the promotion's lightweight belt in an upset loss to Ryan Schultz in the finals of the IFL World Grand Prix In December 2007.

After the collapse of the IFL, Horodecki signed with Affliction but an injury prevented him from competing in January. Horodecki fought in June at the "Ultimate Chaos" and picked up his first career submission win, a rear-naked choke over King of the Cage veteran William Sriyapai.

Horodecki trains closely with former Xtreme Couture trainer Tompkins and one year ago co-founded the Adrenaline Training Center in London, Ontario with Mark Hominick and Sam Stout to carry on the Team Tompkins methods.

Horodecki is expected to make his WEC debut in December.

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Paulo Filho Out of Dream 12

In another setback for a talented but troubled MMA fighter, former World Extreme Cagefighting middleweight champion Paulo Filho is off Sunday's Dream 12 card.

Filho, who a couple of years ago was widely regarded as the No. 2 middleweight in the world, has been removed from the official Dream.12 fight card. Dream has not made any official announcement, but MMArocks.pl is reporting that Filho didn't show up in Japan for his scheduled fight with Dong Sik Yoon, and that Tarec Saffiedine will now fight Dong instead.

Filho took almost a year off from MMA in 2008 while he battled drug and personal problems, and when he finally returned to the cage he showed up overweight, out of shape and looking uninterested in fighting in a loss to Chael Sonnen -- the first loss of his MMA career.

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Yushin Okami vs. Chael Sonnen: The Big UFC 104 Fight You Won't See on TV

Saturday's UFC 104 card features two bouts pitting Top 10 fighters against each other. One of them, of course, is the main event, Lyoto Machida vs. Shogun Rua. The other one won't even be televised.

Yushin Okami vs. Chael Sonnen is Saturday night's second-best fight, at least if you judge the quality of the fight based on how highly ranked the competitors are. In Bloody Elbow's consensus rankings, Okami is the fourth-best middleweight in the world and Sonnen is 10th. No other fight on the card even features one Top 10 fighter, let alone two Top 10 fighters against each other.

And yet the UFC, which is showing seven live fights on Saturday night between pay-per-view and Spike TV, for some reason isn't showing Okami vs. Sonnen. It makes no sense.

I've never understood why the UFC doesn't promote Okami, who has won seven of his eight UFC bouts and was the last fighter to beat middleweight champion Anderson Silva, when Silva was disqualified in their 2006 fight for an illegal kick. I also think Sonnen, who's smart and articulate, is an easy fighter to promote. Okami vs. Sonnen should be one of the marquee fights on this card.

Instead it's the No. 8 fight on an 11-fight card, and if the fans at home are lucky maybe they'll get to see it on tape delay. That's some consolation, but not enough: UFC fans should be able to see this fight live.

http://mma.fanhouse.com/2009/10/23/y...ht-you-wont-s/

I was going to mention that earlier NCRADIOMAN but just never got around to it. I think Okami was even the #2 ranked middleweight before he injured himself in training.

[BORIStheBLADE]

I wouldn't be surprised if Machida wins.

Whats your guys take on Cain Velasquez vs Ben Rothwell ?
I have a feeling Ben Rothwell going to win.

[NCRadioMan]

Originally Posted by Steelergar

I was going to mention that earlier NCRADIOMAN but just never got around to it. I think Okami was even the #2 ranked middleweight before he injured himself in training.

Yeah, Okami is awesome. UFC is wasting him for some reason. I bet SrikeForce would promote the hell out of him with great success.

Originally Posted by BORIStheBLADE

I wouldn't be surprised if Machida wins.

Whats your guys take on Cain Velasquez vs Ben Rothwell ?
I have a feeling Ben Rothwell going to win.

I'm picking Rothwell but who knows. Rothwell's a 2 and a half-1 underdog

[BORIStheBLADE]

Originally Posted by Steelergar

I'm picking Rothwell but who knows. Rothwell's a 2 and a half-1 underdog

Underdog? Damn... I guess since he is 6-0-0 people think hes going to win?

[NCRadioMan]

Originally Posted by BORIStheBLADE

Underdog? Damn... I guess since he is 6-0-0 people think hes going to win?

Rothwell is good but Cain is a big step up in competition than what Ben has faced. I hope he pulls it off.

Unbelievable Fixed Contest is a joke. Luckily DREAM starts in 45 minutes.

[chippewastud79]

Some good fights tonight.

The main event decision was an absolute joke. Shogun dominated that fight and you could see it on Machida's face right before the decision was read. Very classy by Shogun after the fight despite what appeared to be a terrible decision.

Cain dominated his fight against Rothwell and regardless of the end of the fight would have likely ended it shortly there after.

Stevenson looked completely dominant in his fight and had a great end in a knockout.

And Anthony Johnson looks like an absolute freak. As much weight as he cuts he looks like he was fighting in a different weight class. It will be interesting to see if he can continue to cut so much weight or will just decide to move up.

[Bear]

Originally Posted by chippewastud79

Some good fights tonight.

The main event decision was an absolute joke. Shogun dominated that fight and you could see it on Machida's face right before the decision was read. Very classy by Shogun after the fight despite what appeared to be a terrible decision.

Total B.S. decision on that fight. It's one thing for the judges to favour the defending champ, but for that fight to be a unanimous decision for Machida was brutal.

[chenvt]

When they said "unanimous", how many thought they were talking about Rua winning by unanimous decision? What a crock

[LasciviousXXX]

I have to say that as much as I dislike Rua he deserved the win on that one. I had it pegged 3 rounds in Shoguns favor and even then the 2 rounds that I gave to Machida were generous.

I expected at worst a split decision in Shogun's favor but never did I expect a unanimous decision for Machida. Horrible judging IMO

Originally Posted by chippewastud79

And Anthony Johnson looks like an absolute freak. As much weight as he cuts he looks like he was fighting in a different weight class. It will be interesting to see if he can continue to cut so much weight or will just decide to move up.

I read that he didn't make weight. By a lot. 5lbs.