Daniel Cormier Explains Why He Didn't Try to Take Down Jeff Monson - Daniel Cormier
Daniel Cormier Explains Why He Didn't Try to Take Down Jeff Monson Video by Daniel Cormier
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Daniel Cormier Explains Why He Didn't Try to Take Down Jeff Monson Video by Daniel Cormier
Bjorn Rebney’s top five fights for Bellator’s upcoming season
Bellator's spring season starts on Friday with a featherweight championship bout between Joe Warren and Pat Curran plus four featherweight tourney bouts. Cagewriter caught up with Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney and found out which fights he's most looking forward to this season. Here they are, in no particular order, complete with Rebney's comments.
-- Joe Warren vs. Pat Curran on March 9 for the Bellator featherweight title: "Joe has so much at stake, and Pat has built such a resume fighting under our banner," Rebney said.
-- Ben Askren vs. Douglas Lima on April 6 for Bellator welterweight title: "It's kind of an old-school MMA match-up. You know exactly what Ben's going to try to do. It reminds me of the old days when you thought, I know. He's going to try to take him down and submit him. Ben's going to try to put him on his back, and Lima's going to try to stand and knock him out. He just made a couple folks' top 10, of which he is deserving."
-- Eddie Alvarez vs. Shinya Aoki on April 2o: "For obvious reasons. I'm a huge fan of Ed, and he's just jumping out of the frying pan into the fire with that one."
-- Megumi Fujii vs. Jessica Aguilar, which sources close to the bout say is May 18: "It's No. 1 vs. No. 2, and it's two wickedly talented women who rely on no spin, no promotion. They're just two women who fight at the highest level in the world and they're going to get to face each other."
-- Giva Santana vs. Bruno Santos on March 16 in the middleweight tournament: "Being a southern California guy, Giva Santana is a guy I followed for a while. He's an old-school guy who has deserved a shot on a big stage but because he's perceived as being one dimensional, because everything ends via armbar, he hasn't been given that shot. Him and his Santos fight. I never pick a guy because I always want everyone to have an equal shot but I look at a guy like that, and he really is reminiscent of the old-school guys. He's got a discipline that he relies on and believes it heart and soul, and it almost has a spiritual connection to it. His fight in the first round of the tournament because he's a terrific human being. This is his opportunity."
Roy Nelson will try drop to 205 lb. if he gets 100K Facebook likes
Roy Nelson, the UFC heavyweight who is known as much for his rotund figure as his 16-7 record, is thinking about making a change, but with a caveat. He made a bet with a friend, and Nelson will try to drop to light heavyweight if he gets 100,000 Facebook likes.
Bet is I will try to get to 205 if I can add 100k to Facebook.com/RoyNelsonUFC in two weeks. I love to win bets. Plus he will have to give me a part in his next movie.
For his fight with Fabricio Werdum, Nelson weighed in at 246 lbs. He's six-foot, a normal height for light heavies. Considering how he has slimmed down and added muscle since his stint on "The Ultimate Fighter," dropping to 205 lbs. isn't out of the question.
As of right now, he has 62,000, and 13 days to continue to add likes. You can help him in this by visiting Nelson's Facebook page and simply pressing like. Feel free to visit the Cagewriter Facebook page and give it a like, too.
Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/roy-nelson-try-drop-205-lb-gets-100k-211852793.html
Ronda Rousey takes Strikeforce bantamweight belt with another armbar
Ronda Rousey backed up her months of smack talk, submitting Miesha Tate to win the Strikeforce bantamweight championship in Columbus, Ohio, on Saturday night. Though this fight went longer than any of Rousey's other matches, which were all finished in less than a minute, she still didn't need more than one round.
Miesha Tate came out swinging, but Rousey got her down to the ground. She moved to side position, got the armbar and stretched it into an ugly position. Somehow, Tate got out and took Rousey's back. Rousey got out and stood up.
Moments later, she used her judo skills to hip toss Tate to the ground and moved into mount position. Tate flipped over, giving up her back. Rousey grabbed Tate's arm, stretched it out, and forced Tate to tap at 4:27 in the first round. With that, Rousey became the Strikeforce's women's bantamweight champ.
"She was much more savvy on the ground than I anticipated. She's good, and she's legit, but I don't feel that bad about [the injury]," Rousey said after the fight. It appeared Tate's arm was injured from the armbar.
[ Related: Rousey shows business savvy minutes after winning title ]
Bad blood started between the two women when Rousey pushed for a title shot against Tate, who did not feel Rousey had earned a shot. The disdain between the two grew as they promoted their title fight. They squabbled during an interview with Cagewriter and threw a number of other barbs in various outlets. The animosity turned physical during Friday's weigh-ins. Tate pushed her forehead against Rousey's during their face-off, and Rousey used her head to push Tate back.
An Olympic bronze-medalist in judo, Rousey has submission skills that no one has been able to solve yet. In five fights, she has submitted all five of her opponents with an armbar.
Earlier in the evening, former champ Sarah Kaufman won a bloody brawl against Alexis Davis. She wants the next shot at Rousey, and Rousey said she wanted the fight.
"I would welcome it for sure," Rousey said. "I was impressed with her performance."
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“UFC 145: Jones vs. Evans” Official Televised Lineup
The televised lineup for "UFC 145: Jones vs. Evans" is now official, with four fights gracing the FX-aired preliminary card portion of the broadcast and a five-fight main card set up for pay-per-view; the final three preliminary card bouts do not yet have an official medium for broadcast.
Source: http://mmafrenzy.com/27870/ufc-145-jones-vs-evans-official-televised-lineup/
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson Hopes to be Released from the UFC
Quinton "Rampage" Jackson has long cultivated a love-hate relationship with the fight game and has more than once found himself at odds with his current employers, the UFC. Since he lost to Ryan Bader at UFC 144, Jackson has made it known that he's looking to part ways with the UFC sooner rather than later. Last night, Jackson took it one step further, stating his desire to be released from his contract with the promotion now.
Source: http://mmafrenzy.com/27867/quinton-rampage-jackson-hopes-to-be-released-from-the-ufc/
Ohio and New Jersey revoke Strikeforce fighter’s license for falsifying application
Brandon Saling, the registered sexual offender fighter with a neo-Nazi tattoo who lost to Roger Bowling at Strikeforce on Saturday, had his license revoked in Ohio and New Jersey. According to the Ohio Athletic Commission, he falsified his application, answering "no" when asked if he had a criminal background.
Though having a background as a sex offender and championing the ideology of Adolf Hitler is reprehensible, it's not enough to necessarily keep someone from fighting. Lying, on the other hand, will get you bounced. Bernie Profato, the head of the OAC, talked to MMA Junkie about the matter:
"There's a dual thing there," Profato said. "He'll have to answer to the falsification, and two, if you read the law, it says they don't have to license you for a felony. Now, it will be whether they ever license him again because of being listed as a sexual predator."
Saling has two separate convictions: one of gross sexual imposition in 2004 and a domestic violence charge in 2008. He started fighting in 2008 and has a pro record of 8-6. He can appeal the OAC's decision at a hearing on April 11. UFC president Dana White commented that Saling might want to find another line of work.
Whoops! Ian McCall/Demetrious Johnson bout should have been a draw
In the first ever UFC 125-lb. match, an error by the athletic commission in Australia screwed up the result. Ian McCall and Demetrious Johnson's bout should have been scored as a draw, and their fight should have gone to a fourth, sudden-death round.
After the fight, MMA Junkie's John Morgan reported that the score announced was not the score written on the judges cards he received. During the post-fight press conference, UFC president Dana White reported that the fight was actually scored as a majority draw. By the rules of the flyweight tournament, it should have gone to a fourth and decisive round, but the error was discovered too late.
[Also: Ronda Rousey can break out in Strikeforce title bout vs. Miesha Tate | Rousey photos]
"Controversy has stuck to us like glue. Human error happens. Johnson-McCall was a draw. Fight was supposed to go to a fourth round. The commission has taken responsibility," White said.
The two will rematch to decide who will take on Joseph Benavidez, the other flyweight tournament winner at UFC on FX 2 on Friday night. For McCall, it's another chance to give the fans a show.
"We get to fight again. I feel vindicated," McCall said.
Johnson was looking forward to fight Benavidez for the promotion's first flyweight title, but now the process will take longer.
"I thought I had the victory, and it sucks because it prolongs stuff," Johnson said.
One consolation for Johnson and McCall is that they won the $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus, and they both received their win bonuses. They will now have to schedule another fight to see when they can get a step closer to the championship belt.
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The Greatest “Escape”
SOMETIMES ALL YOU NEED ARE A FEW PIECES OF GEAR AND A RUGGED LANDSCAPE TO ESCAPE and sometimes all you need is a sea kayak on the open water. Some of the most beautiful places on Earth are best seen from the quiet solitude of a kayak. Whether it’s discovering a hidden cove, a [...]
Source: http://whitewaterraftingblog.oars.com/post/the-greatest-escape
Martin Kampmann pulls a rabbit out of the hat to shock Thiago Alves with less than a minute left
Little was going right for Martin Kampmann until Thiago Alves made one vital mistake.
Kampmann was on the wrong side of a standup beating over the middle 11 minutes of the fight when he seized on the opportunity to lock on a guillotine choke to finish Alves at the 4:12 mark of the final round.
It's the second straight win for Kampmann, who's too often been on the wrong side of close decisions over the last few years. There was little doubt where this one was going with a minute left, that's why Alves' decision to shoot for a takedown was so confusing.
With 1:04 left in the fight, Alves rocked Kampmann with a straight right. The stunned Dane retreated to the cage. Alves got off a nice head kick that was partially blocked and then a combination. For some reason, he shot in for a takedown and left his head under Kampmann's left arm.
"I felt I really had to finish the fight. It wouldn't do me any good to keep it standing, so I thought I had a chance to go for the submission. I squeezed because I knew that was my window and I didn't want to miss it."
He didn't. Alves drove through the takedown. When it hit the ground, Kampmann had the choke locked on and rolled over. His topside guillotine was on tight. It took just a few seconds for Alves to tap. Alves, a striker by nature has suffered four submission losses in his career.
Kampmann (19-5, 11-4 UFC) knew he needed something dramatic.
"What are you talking about? I was doing great," joked Kampmann with UFC announcer Jon Anik. "Thiago caught me with some good shots. I'll be honest. He was gassing me out."
With a few minutes left in the fight, Alves had outlanded Kampmann 74-53.
Kampmann is a good striker, but his defense wasn't up to par against a good muay thai fighter like Alves. Frankly, the Brazilian was also better in the grappling game.
"I wanted to strike with him, but I wanted to take him down as well. He's got really good takedown defense," Kampmann said. "Usually when I get people on the fence I can get them down. He's got good defense. so I felt I was definitely behind."
This is a rough break for Alves, who's struggled for years with his weight. With the cutting issues behind him, Alves (19-9, 11-6 UFC) put together a sterling performance for nearly 14 minutes. Unfortunately, you have to finish all 15 minutes.
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