Official MMA Thread

[NCRadioMan]

Originally Posted by NCRadioMan

Preliminary Bouts: (on EASportsMMA.com)
Jay Hieron (170.25) vs. Joe Riggs (170.5)

Forgot to mention, this was an Epic Fail. The EA servers crashed. They didn't anticipate how many would log on to see this fight. Saw about 3/4 of the first round.

[NCRadioMan]

Nate Diaz vs. Rory Markham welterweight fight UFC 111

Nate Diaz (11-5 MMA, 6-3 UFC) moves up a weight class to fight Rory Markhman (16-5 MMA, 1-1 UFC) next month on the preliminary card of UFC 111.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) first reported the likelihood of the bout last month, and UFC executives recently made it official.

UFC 111 takes place at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. The fight card, which includes two title fights, will be complete once a previously reported welterweight bout of Thiago Alves vs. Jon Fitch is officially announced for the main card.

[NCRadioMan]

Gracie vs. Beltran at UFC 109

Just three weeks removed from a regional-show win over Houston Alexander, the "Mexicutioner" will make his UFC debut.

The UFC today officially announced that heavyweight newcomer Joey Beltran (10-3 MMA, 0-0 UFC) has agreed to step in for Mostapha Al Turk and face fellow octagon rookie Rolles Gracie (3-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) on the preliminary card of Saturday's "UFC 109: Relentless" event.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) first reported the likely switch on Monday.

UFC 109 takes place Saturday at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. The main card airs live on pay-per-view.

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Nelson vs Struve UFC Fight Night 21

A heavyweight bout between "The Ultimate Fighter 10" winner Roy Nelson (14-4 MMA, 1-0 UFC) and fast-rising contender Stefan Struve (19-3 MMA, 3-1 UFC) is set for next month's UFC Fight Night 21 event.

A source close to one of the competitors today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) bout agreements have been signed for the long-rumored bout.

Nelson posted a Twitter message earlier today that he had been granted a fight with boxer James Toney, though MMAjunkie.com confirmed it's simply the latest prank from "Big Country."

UFC Fight Night 21, which serves a lead-in for the debut season of "The Ultimate Fighter 11," takes place March 31 at Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, N.C., and airs on Spike TV. Top lightweight contender Kenny Florian is expected to meet UFC newcomer Takanori Gomi in the night's main event.

WAR Nelson! I will have see about tickets for this one.

[ActionAndy]

I like Gomi but I don't like his odds against Florian. It'd be nice to see some more Japanese fighters, they seem to be really underrepresented in the UFC. When the hell is Akiyama fighting again?

[NCRadioMan]

Strikeforce, UFC draw big TV numbers
By Dave Meltzer

The television head-to-head battle on Saturday night between UFC and Strikeforce turned out to be a win on both sides.

Strikeforce’s live event on Saturday night from Sunrise, Fla., largely built around the mixed martial arts debut of football legend Herschel Walker, drew 517,000 viewers. It is the second-most viewers for an MMA event on Showtime, trailing only the 571,000 viewers on Aug. 15 for the Gina Carano vs. Cris “Cyborg” Santos fight.

As is usually the case when Strikeforce has a major event, UFC countered on Spike TV with the cable debut of a taped major event, in this case airing the Dec. 12 UFC 107 show, headlined by B.J. Penn vs. Diego Sanchez and Frank Mir vs. Cheick Kongo.

That show had a 1.64 rating and 2.2 million viewers. It would be the second-highest rated for a replay of a UFC PPV event in history. Most UFC PPV replays put against a Showtime event are in the 1.2 rating range.

This trailed only the 1.7 rating that a replay of the UFC 91 show, headlined by Randy Couture vs. Brock Lesnar, did. Even though it was taped, it was the most watched television show on cable on Saturday among men in Spike’s key demographics, males 18-34 and males 18-49.

The show drew more viewers than many UFC live events on the station, including beating all but one live Fight Night special in the last 17 months. The show peaked with 2.5 million viewers for the Mir vs. Kongo fight at about 11:45 p.m.

Sounds like UFC trounced SF..........however:

A huge reason the UFC got more viewers was because Showtime is a premium cable channel with 12 million subscribers, while Spike is in nearly 98.6million homes. So if you compare numbers Strikeforce actually outperformed the UFC by a ratio of 4.3/2.2 or about 2:1 if you put the numbers to scale based on actual viewership vs. potential viewership. 4.3% of Showtimes potential viewership watched Strikeforce while 2.2% of Spikes potential viewership watched UFC. These are rough numbers, but you get idea of how they performed against eachother.

[NCRadioMan]

Lots o' bits today:


Coker: Overeem to defend title in May; Herschel on CBS?

On The Fight Show with Mauro Ranallo: (audio)
- Alistair Overeem will defend the Strikeforce Heavyweight Title in May. Opponent is yet to be determined. (It's about freaking time.)

- Erin Toughill will be the next opponent for Cris Cyborg, targeting a late summer title fight.

- The 145 pound women's tournament will have a Summertime launch.

- Nick Diaz will go up and down in weight, fight out of his weight class but also defend the welterweight title.

- Herschel Walker will want to fight again and Strikeforce will support him. The $600 purse took care of licensing fees, as he as not fighting for a purse and donated his purse to charity.

- Despite WEC and UFC pay per views, Strikeforce is still targeting April CBS show.

- Jake Shields offered fight contract but not yet signed.

- Mousasi vs King Mo: will happen but not yet confirmed.

"UPDATE" - Herschel game for another fight in April according to Sherdog.com:
A CBS representative told Sherdog.com Wednesday that the network would be open to hosting Walker’s next fight on the April card.

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker said he planned to call Walker and his trainers on Thursday to a gage their interest in another bout. Coker didn’t rule out an April return.

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Griffin vs. Nogueira likely for UFC 114 in Las Vegas, not UFC 113 in Montreal

An intriguing light heavyweight matchup between perennial fan favorite Forrest Griffin (17-6 MMA, 8-4 UFC) and recent Brazilian import Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (18-3 MMA, 1-0 UFC) is still happening in May, but both fighters have a few extra weeks to get ready.

MMAjunkie.com (http://www.mmajunkie.com) has learned from sources close to Griffin that the contest, which was originally believed to be taking place at UFC 113 in Montreal on May 8, is actually targeted for UFC 114 in Las Vegas on May 29.

Bout agreements for the matchup, which is likely for a co-main event slot, are expected to be finalized shortly.

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Jon Fitch vs. Thiago Alves II completes UFC 111 pay-per-view main card

A welterweight bout and long-awaited rematch between Jon Fitch (21-3 MMA, 11-1 UFC) and Thiago Alves (16-6 MMA, 9-3 UFC) officially has been added to next month's UFC 111 event and completes the March 27 fight card.

MMAjunkie.com (http://www.mmajunkie.com) first reported the UFC 111 bout, which was initially expected to take place at UFC 107, back in December.

UFC 111 takes place at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., and Fitch vs. Alves is one of five fights slated to air on pay-per-view.

(A source close to the event told MMAjunkie.com that a one-hour "UFC Prelim" special will likely air in conjunction with UFC 111 on Spike TV.)

The official UFC 111 lineup now includes:

MAIN CARD

Champ Georges St-Pierre vs. Dan Hardy (for welterweight title)
Shane Carwin vs. Frank Mir (for interim heavyweight title)
Thiago Alves vs. Jon Fitch
Martin Kampmann vs. Ben Saunders
Mark Bocek vs. Jim Miller

PRELIMINARY CARD

Nate Diaz vs. Rory Markham
Ricardo Almeida vs. Matt Brown
Fabricio Camoes vs. Kurt Pellegrino
Jared Hamman vs. Rodney Wallace
Tomasz Drwal vs. Rousimar Palhares
Ricardo Funch vs. Matthew Riddle

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Wisconsin Signs MMA Regulation Bill Into Law

Wisconsin became the 43rd state to sanction mixed martial arts when Gov. Jim Doyle signed into law a bill to regulate the sport.

The state's Department of Regulation and Licensing will govern the fights, adding MMA to its duties overseeing pro boxing contests.

Unlike other states, Wisconsin's law passed through the legislative process in just a few months. The bill was first introduced in September 2009.

MMA fighters and notables that have links to the state include Eric Schafer, Pat Barry, Duke Roufus, Anthony Pettis and Jameel Massouh. Organizations have run unsanctioned events in the state for years but will now fall under state jurisdiction.

New York is the most prominent state that does not sanction MMA, but Gov. David Paterson recently unveiled a bill to regulate it in the Empire State.

The other states that have yet to sanction the sport are Alabama, Connecticut, Vermont, West Virginia, Alaska and Wyoming. The last two states, however, have no athletic commissions in place.

[ActionAndy]

If Overeem ends up fighting Fedor...

[NCRadioMan]

Unfortunately, Fedor is scheduled to fight on the CBS April card so he won't fight Overeem......yet.

[Tripp]

Joe's commentary for the ice incident was the funniest thing I've ever seen.

[ActionAndy]

That card was so underwhelming that I'm nto sure I can say anything illuminating here. Nice to see a Danzig victory. Felt awful for Coleman but knew all along that Capt. America was going to take the wood to him. Just wish he could have gone out in a blaze, yknow?

Is Mark Coleman the only human who actually looks sick and unhealthy at two hundred and five pounds of muscle? Wanna know what Tito said to him...And why Tito thinks it's adult behavior to talk down to someone who just suffered a defeat like that.

Still think Sonnen needs to talk less but my god was that dominance. (Mind you that it bordered on laynpray, but still--Nate offered nothing).

At least Silva v Bisping oughta be a barn burner...

[goalie204]

it definitely did not border on lay n pray.

[NCRadioMan]

Originally Posted by ActionAndy

Is Mark Coleman the only human who actually looks sick and unhealthy at two hundred and five pounds of muscle?

He looked more like 66 than 46. That should not have been promoted as the Main Event.

Oh, and Frank Trigg been hittin' the Rogaine along with the mat. He hasn't had that much hair in 10 years.

[NCRadioMan]

UFC 109 took place Feb. 6 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas and aired on Spike TV (two preliminary-card fights) and then pay-per-view (main card).

In addition to Couture, other top earners from the card included Matt Serra ($150,000), Chael Sonnen ($64,000), Demian Maia ($62,000) and Coleman ($60,000).

The full payouts included:

Randy Couture: $250,000 (no win bonus)
def. Mark Coleman: $60,000

Chael Sonnen: $64,000 (includes $32,000 win bonus)
def. Nate Marquardt: $45,000

Paulo Thiago: $30,000 ($15,000 win bonus)
def. Mike Swick: $43,000

Demian Maia: $62,000 ($31,000 win bonus)
def. Dan Miller: $15,000

Matt Serra: $150,000 ($75,000 win bonus)
def. Frank Trigg: $30,000

Mac Danzig: $40,000 ($20,000 win bonus)
def. Justin Buchholz: $8,000

Melvin Guillard: $28,000 ($14,000 win bonus)
def. Ronys Torres: $4,000

Rob Emerson: $24,000 ($12,000 win bonus)
def. Phillipe Nover: $10,000

Phil Davis: $10,000 ($5,000 win bonus)
def. Brian Stann: $17,000

Chris Tuchscherer: $20,000 ($10,000 win bonus)
def. Tim Hague: $7000

Joey Beltran: $12,000 ($6,000 win bonus)
def. Rolles Gracie: $15,000

The UFC 109 bonuses were worth $60,000 and awarded to Serra (Knockout of the Night), Thiago (Submission of the Night), and Chael Sonnen and Nate Marquardt (Fight of the Night).

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Hidehiko Yoshida is retiring

The retirement match of Olympic gold medalist Hidehiko Yoshida has been announced. The fight will take place in J-Rock MMA event “Hidehiko Yoshida Farewell Fight ~ASTRA~” at the Nippon Budokan on April 25th.

Also on the card will be Michihiro Omigawa, Makoto Takimoto, Kazuhiro Nakamura, and future king Tatsunao Nagakura.

No word yet on if this new ASTRA will be a new promotion or just a one time thing.

Update: Yoshida said at the press conference that his number 1 most interesting/fun fights were the ones against Wanderlei Silva. Both Japanese fighters and foreign fighters are on the candidate list.

Update #2: Yoshida said that the reason for his retirement is that since the Mark Hunt fight in PRIDE he has had pain in his left shoulder which has been tough on him (he has had A LOT of other rumored injuries as well) and almost made him retire in the past. He wants to continue with his own Judo dojo after retirement.

Update #3: Former WVR PR Kokuho said that they have both Japanaese and foreign fighters outside of Yoshida Dojo for the event and they’ll announce these names as time goes from now on. For now this is only a one time thing but if they receive cooperation from a lot of promoters and gyms, they’ll hold more events in the future.

Update #4: Kokuho said that they want Yoshida’s last fight be a meaningful one. Kazuhiro Nakamura then appealed for a fight with his teacher.

Update #5: The fights will be 3×5 minutes and the plan is 7-8 main fights and 3-4 opening fights. There will be a retirement ceremony for Yoshida after the main event. Yoshida is very familiar with the Nippon Budokan.

Hidehiko Yoshida Farewell Fight ~ASTRA~
Date: April 25th, 2010
Place: Nippon Budokan in Tokyo, Japan

Participants:
Hidehiko Yoshida, Makoto Takimoto, Michihiro Omigawa, Kazuhiro Nakamura, Tatsunao Nagakura

[ActionAndy]

Originally Posted by goalie204

it definitely did not border on lay n pray.

Let me clairfy--Sonnen destroyed Nate. Nate's total offense amounted to two guillotine attempts and a failed kimura. However Sonnen only infrequently attempted to improve position and was never really threatening to finish. An asbolutely dominant performance nonetheless--wasn't trying to say anything about the strength of the victory.

[goalie204]

ahh i see what you're saying. Ya Sonnen was hurting Nate but it looked like points and attempts to inflict damage, he never went balls deep and tried to end it.

Decent card for UFC 109. I'm glad Maia won and I enjoyed the paulo thiago fight, he has a chance to go far in the UFC plus he is a combat fighter which I prefer to watch over sport fighters because they know how to finish people without a ref. W hat do you guys think of Sonnen having to fight Maia to see sho the #1 contender is? Maia dominated Sonnen with ease and finished him in their last fight. Also Sonnen is suspect against top level BJJ guys, say whatever you want about the 1st Filho fight in the 2nd one Filho looked like he came out of a rehab clinic for the fight and Sonnen still couldn't finish him.

[ActionAndy]

Well Belfort is out of UFC 112...But it looks like Silva will still be fighting? Considering Sonnen won't be ready by then, will he be fighting at LHW again?

[NCRadioMan]

Uh oh. Not the injuries again.

MMAWeekly.com on Tuesday reported that Martin Kampmann was out of his UFC 111 bout with Ben Saunders. Midwest fighter Jake Ellenberger is stepping in to take his place.

We later confirmed that Kampmann’s withdrawal was due to a severe cut over his eye, but it just doesn’t really hit home until you see the photo that accompanies this article.

Even with the severity of the cut, the Danish fighter is already planning his return.

“Out of UFC 111. I got a huge cut in training and can't do any contact for a while,” Kampmann wrote on Twitter Tuesday night. “Bummed out about it. But hoping to fight again in May!!”

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Mousasi Leaves M-1 Global

"After careful consideration, I have decided that it is in my best interest to part ways with M-1 Global," Mousasi wrote in the e-mail. "During the time I spent under their wing, M-1 Global, as a promoter and management company, allowed me to achieve many great things. I appreciate all they have done for me."

"My management is being taken care of by someone close to me," he wrote.

Mousasi recently returned following a two-week trip to the U.S. to train with UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre. He said he would like to come back to the states to train with Strikeforce lightweight contender Josh Thomson and his American Kickboxing Academy team in San Jose, Calif.

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Following his ugly loss to Joey "The Mexecutioner" Beltran last Saturday at UFC 109, Rolles Gracie has reportedly been cut from the UFC, joining Mark Coleman, Phillipe Nover, Tim Hague, and Frank Trigg in the list of fighters who didn't make it out of that show with their jobs intact.

[yachties23]

Originally Posted by NCRadioMan

Uh oh. Not the injuries again.

MMAWeekly.com on Tuesday reported that Martin Kampmann was out of his UFC 111 bout with Ben Saunders. Midwest fighter Jake Ellenberger is stepping in to take his place.

We later confirmed that Kampmann’s withdrawal was due to a severe cut over his eye, but it just doesn’t really hit home until you see the photo that accompanies this article.

Even with the severity of the cut, the Danish fighter is already planning his return.

“Out of UFC 111. I got a huge cut in training and can't do any contact for a while,” Kampmann wrote on Twitter Tuesday night. “Bummed out about it. But hoping to fight again in May!!”

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Mousasi Leaves M-1 Global

"After careful consideration, I have decided that it is in my best interest to part ways with M-1 Global," Mousasi wrote in the e-mail. "During the time I spent under their wing, M-1 Global, as a promoter and management company, allowed me to achieve many great things. I appreciate all they have done for me."

"My management is being taken care of by someone close to me," he wrote.

Mousasi recently returned following a two-week trip to the U.S. to train with UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre. He said he would like to come back to the states to train with Strikeforce lightweight contender Josh Thomson and his American Kickboxing Academy team in San Jose, Calif.

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Following his ugly loss to Joey "The Mexecutioner" Beltran last Saturday at UFC 109, Rolles Gracie has reportedly been cut from the UFC, joining Mark Coleman, Phillipe Nover, Tim Hague, and Frank Trigg in the list of fighters who didn't make it out of that show with their jobs intact.

Remember when Dana was calling Nover the lightweight Anderson Silva? And BY GOD, check out that cut on Kampmann's head. Damn.

[NCRadioMan]

Originally Posted by yachties23

? And BY GOD, check out that cut on Kampmann's head. Damn.

Ah that's nothing compared to the 5+ inch scar on my forehead. You should have seen it open. Looked like horror movie makeup. http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/attach...1&d=1251486373