The original bad boy of The Ultimate Fighter, Chris “The Crippler” Leben is nearly finished with a one-year suspension stemming from a failed drug test at UFC 138.Leben last fought in November, where he lost to Mark Munoz in the main event. The stoppag…
The original bad boy of The Ultimate Fighter, Chris “The Crippler” Leben is nearly finished with a one-year suspension stemming from a failed drug test at UFC 138.
Leben last fought in November, where he lost to Mark Munoz in the main event. The stoppage came after the second round when a cut over Leben’s eye left him unable to see.
Upon his return, Leben will look to get back to his winning ways, as The Crippler won four of his last five fights heading into the contest.
Here is a look at five potential opponents for Chris Leben upon his return.
In a battle of PRIDE champion vs The Ultimate Fighter champion, the UFC has just added an intriguing lightweight battle to UFC on FUEL: Cung Le vs Rich Franklin. Takanori Gomi was once thought of as the best lightweight fighter on the planet. The …
In a battle of PRIDE champion vs The Ultimate Fighter champion, the UFC has just added an intriguing lightweight battle to UFC on FUEL: Cung Le vs Rich Franklin.
Takanori Gomi was once thought of as the best lightweight fighter on the planet. The former PRIDE champion meets The Ultimate Fighter: 6 winner Mac Danzig on November 10.
This is the third time that “The Fireball Kid” has squared off against a champion of the popular reality series, although he didn’t have success in his first two bids.
After falling prey to the submission game of both Kenny Florian and Nate Diaz, Gomi is hoping that the third time is the charm when he takes on Danzig.
Likewise, Danzig has faced two TUF winners in the past, however, he holds a 2-0 record in those bouts after winning a decision against Efrain Escudero and knocking out Joe Stevenson.
Danzig has been hit-or-miss in his recent octagon appearances. Losing five of his last eight bouts, many felt that “Mac” was going to be the first TUF winner to flame out after he fell short against Clay Guida, Josh Neer and Jim Miller in consecutive battles.
Collectively, the fighters are 4-4 in their most recent bouts. Who will earn an important win in Macau? Will Gomi have a hometown advantage by fighting in his native continent? Who is favored to win this bout?
Stay tuned to B/R MMA for all the latest breaking news.
Chael Sonnen has become a bit of a legend when it comes to getting under his opponent’s skin. For that reason, it should be no surprise that the Team Quest wrestler has found yet another creative way to mock UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones.For…
Chael Sonnen has become a bit of a legend when it comes to getting under his opponent’s skin. For that reason, it should be no surprise that the Team Quest wrestler has found yet another creative way to mock UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones.
For those of you who don’t know, Sonnen owns a pizzeria in West Linn, OR called Mean Street Pizza.
While promoting locally-owned businesses is hardly their primary concern, TMZ.com picked up on the most recent deal that the restaurant is offering their clients.
You can order the Jon Jones Special, which is “Loaded With Chicken and Full of Cheese”.
“Hurry Up! Get this deal now before our chicken runs out and we have to cancel’
The icing on the cake might just be the jokes made at the expense of Jones’ July DUI. Did I mention that the special comes with a six pack of beer? No worries, because Mean Street Pizza offers a delivery option.
Alongside the popular choices of pepperoni and mushrooms, Mean Street Pizza offers some of the more rare options like meatballs.
Personally, I’m surprised that the poster doesn’t advertise that this deal has no balls.
What do you think? Is it possible that this was an advertisement intended for local customers, but somehow got national attention? Or just another thinly-veiled attempt for Sonnen to keep his name in the headlines?
In the aftermath of UFC 151’s cancellation, there is a lot of debate regarding the decision of UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones to refuse a bout with Chael Sonnen. Ultimately, the refusal was a death sentence for the PPV, and UFC 151 now holds …
In the aftermath of UFC 151‘s cancellation, there is a lot of debate regarding the decision of UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones to refuse a bout with Chael Sonnen. Ultimately, the refusal was a death sentence for the PPV, and UFC 151 now holds the distinction of being the only canceled event in UFC history.
Why didn’t Jones take the fight? It appears that his camp believed that Sonnen had been training in secret for this fight, considering that injured challenger Dan Henderson is a friend and teammate.
With only eight days notice, Jones did not want to risk putting together a new game plan against an opponent who could have potentially been training for an extra week. Never mind the fact that Jones has been preparing for this fight since April and was light-years ahead of his opponent in terms of preparedness.
World-ranked bantamweight fighter Eduardo Dantas is the reigning Bellator bantamweight champion and was considered to be one of the top stars in the world’s largest non-Zuffa fight organization.Yesterday, Dantas took part in Shooto Brazil 33, where he …
World-ranked bantamweight fighter Eduardo Dantas is the reigning Bellator bantamweight champion and was considered to be one of the top stars in the world’s largest non-Zuffa fight organization.
Yesterday, Dantas took part in Shooto Brazil 33, where he met Tyson Nam in the evening’s main event. In a result that shocked fans, Dantas was knocked out with a punch at 1:40 into the first round.
Fortunately, Bellator President Bjorn Rebney is already bald; otherwise he would likely be ripping out his hair.
This marks the second time in only 10 months that a Bellator champion has been defeated in a non-title bout. Light heavyweight champion Christian M’Pumbu lost a unanimous decision to Travis Wiuff in October at Bellator 55.
Bellator is known for putting together exciting contests between hungry up-and-comers who are eager to make it to the big leagues. However, their champions tend to miss out on the respect shown to the top fighters of other major organizations.
Perhaps Bellator should do away with allowing their champions to compete in non-title contests. There is too much risk of hurting the perceived value of the belts, and there is little upside.
The loss for Dantas is a big setback for Bellator, as Tyson Nam isn’t a member of BFC’s roster. Now that Nam has a big victory under his belt, it’s likely that the UFC has him on their radar, which could make things difficult for Bellator to acquire his services.
How does this affect Bellator as a whole? What are your thoughts on an unknown fighter like Nam pulling off such a major win? Should he sign with Bellator or hold out for a UFC contract?
Jon Jones is currently set to defend the UFC middleweight championship against Vitor Belfort after refusing to face Chael Sonnen.Wait, that can’t be right. Anderson Silva is the UFC middleweight champion.Jon Jones is currently set to defend the UFC lig…
Jon Jones is currently set to defend the UFC middleweight championship against Vitor Belfort after refusing to face Chael Sonnen.
Wait, that can’t be right. Anderson Silva is the UFC middleweight champion.
Jon Jones is currently set to defend the UFC light-heavyweight championship against top middleweight contender Vitor Belfort, after refusing a bout with middleweight contender Chael Sonnen.
Although that sentence doesn’t make much more sense than the first, that is the current landscape of the UFC light-heavyweight title picture. With reports that Shogun Rua and Lyoto Machida have both turned down a crack at the reigning champion, the UFC turned to the stars who fight at 185 pounds for relief.
While it is commonplace for stars to drop down to a lower weight class, rarely do we see elite fighters decide to bulk up in order to fight bigger, stronger opponents.
Is the light-heavyweight division so shallow that middleweights are getting title shots? Let’s take a look at the current roster and see why Dana White is looking past the members of the light-heavyweight division when in need of a 205-pound contender.
Once the strongest division in all of MMA, the light-heavyweight division recently had a roster that included Jon Jones, Shogun Rua, Dan Henderson, Rampage Jackson, Lyoto Machida, Forrest Griffin, Rich Franklin, Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture, Tito Ortiz, Matt Hamill, Thiago Silva, Ryan Bader, Wanderlei Silva, Phil Davis, Rashad Evans, Antonio Nogueira, Alexander Gustafsson, Keith Jardine and an occasional appearance from Anderson Silva.
These days, star power is quite limited. Liddell, Couture and Ortiz are retired. Wanderlei, Franklin and Anderson Silva call middleweight their home, with Rashad reportedly to follow behind them. Rampage, Jardine, Lil Nog and Griffin are likely nearing the end of their pugilistic careers.
Who does that leave? Are Jones, Henderson, Shogun, Machida, Hamill, Bader, T. Silva, Davis and Gustafsson the only members of the division who are still relevant and have more than two or three years left in their careers?
Excluding Jones and the opponents he has previously bested, fresh contenders are available in the form of Dan Henderson, Thiago Silva, Phil Davis and Alexander Gustafsson. Unfortunately, Gustafsson is the only one of the bunch who is healthy and coming off of a win.
If Glover Teixeira gets past Rampage this Fall, he could potentially be a title contender as early as January. But is the UFC really going to give a title shot to someone with only two fights in the organization?
Top prospects Jimi Manuwa and Ryan Jimmo look promising, however, both men are unproven entities who we cannot yet bank on.
Perhaps it is time that the UFC cash in their chips and collect on their Strikeforce investment. Dangerous fighters Gegard Mousasi, Rafael Cavalcante and Roger Gracie are members who could breathe new life into the division.
Randy Couture once recognized that the division above his was weak, so he moved up to heavyweight and recaptured the UFC heavyweight championship from Tim Sylvia. Are the UFC middleweights trying to capitalize on a perceived weakness in the class above them?
In all fairness to both Vitor Belfort and Chael Sonnen, this is hardly new territory for either man, as they both have a history competing at light heavyweight. Belfort was once the UFC light-heavyweight champion and Sonnen had recently announced his return to 205.
In a battle of PRIDE champion vs The Ultimate Fighter champion, the UFC has just added an intriguing lightweight battle to UFC on FUEL: Cung Le vs Rich Franklin.