Author: Ben Fowlkes

‘Mayhem’ Miller Says Fight With Nick Diaz Was Almost Signed Last Week

Filed under: Strikeforce, FanHouse ExclusiveJason “Mayhem” Miller has spent the better part of the last year campaigning for a fight with Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz. Now it seems as if that door may be closing for good.

“We almost ha…

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Jason “Mayhem” Miller has spent the better part of the last year campaigning for a fight with Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz. Now it seems as if that door may be closing for good.

“We almost had the fight together,” Miller told MMA Fighting on Wednesday.

Almost, but not quite.

After getting ganged up on by Diaz and his teammates on live network TV in April, the goal of getting Diaz alone in the cage seemed to nearly consume the “Bully Beatdown” star. He printed t-shirts, started a website, and did countless interviews all about how badly he wanted the fight. Now that Strikeforce has decided to match his nemesis up with Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos instead, Miller can’t help but feel a little disappointed.

“I figured that maybe if I made enough noise about it, it would come to fruition,” Miller said. “I knew that one of two things was going to happen. Either I was going to get the fight with Diaz and expose him, show that he’s not some damn unstoppable, pitter-pat punching tank, but just some dude who can get beat up. Or, the other option, I was going to expose him for what he is, which is a guy who picks favorable fights constantly.”

While His Management Negotiates, Fedor Emelianenko’s Legacy Suffers

Filed under: StrikeforceIf I had one MMA-related wish to use in 2011, I’d wish for Fedor Emelianenko to fight at least half as often as his promotional team at M-1 Global renegotiates. If I had two wishes, I’d wish that one of those fights would be ag…

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If I had one MMA-related wish to use in 2011, I’d wish for Fedor Emelianenko to fight at least half as often as his promotional team at M-1 Global renegotiates. If I had two wishes, I’d wish that one of those fights would be against someone who matters in the Strikeforce heavyweight division – Alistair Overeem or Fabricio Werdum, I’m not picky.

Alas, I have no wishes. Neither does Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker, apparently. If he did, Emelianenko would likely be wrapping up the final fight in his three-fight deal with the promotion on January 29.

As it is, Coker couldn’t get Emelianenko into a cage this January with anything less than a net and a tranquilizer gun.

It’s the kind of thing that makes you wonder, if this is how Emelianenko is planning to spend the remaining years of his career, how will the MMA world remember him when it’s all over?

Chris Leben Talks DUI Arrest, Upcoming Bout with Brian Stann

Filed under: UFC, FanHouse ExclusiveIt’s been a year full of headlines for UFC middleweight Chris Leben, both good and bad. After making UFC history by notching two victories in the span of two weeks this past summer, Leben seemed to be in the midst of…

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It’s been a year full of headlines for UFC middleweight Chris Leben, both good and bad. After making UFC history by notching two victories in the span of two weeks this past summer, Leben seemed to be in the midst of a career renaissance, going 3-0 in the first half of 2010.

But in October Leben appeared to take a step backwards when he was arrested in Hawaii on suspicion of DUI. While he has a court date coming up in February of 2011, Leben said on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour that he doesn’t expect to face any serious consequences as a result of the incident.

“George [W.] Bush got a DUI and he ended up being the president,” Leben told MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani. “I really feel as though nothing’s really going to happen with it, honestly. I don’t want to talk about it too much, and it’s still in the works. But I don’t think it’s going to be a big deal.”

WEC 53 Live Blog: Ben Henderson vs. Anthony Pettis Updates

Filed under: WECGLENDALE, Ariz. — This is the WEC 53 live blog for Ben Henderson vs. Anthony Pettis, the main event of tonight’s WEC on Versus event from the Jobing.com Arena.

Henderson defends his lightweight title for the last time against Pettis. …

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GLENDALE, Ariz. — This is the WEC 53 live blog for Ben Henderson vs. Anthony Pettis, the main event of tonight’s WEC on Versus event from the Jobing.com Arena.

Henderson defends his lightweight title for the last time against Pettis. The winner will receive a future UFC title shot against the winner of Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard.

The live blog is below.

Falling Action: Best and Worst of WEC 53

Filed under: UFC, WECSo let me get this straight: J.R. Smith dunks a basketball and it’s named the day’s top play in all of sports by ESPN’s Sportscenter. Meanwhile, at WEC 53 Anthony Pettis pulls off a head kick that would make Jackie Chan blush, and …

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So let me get this straight: J.R. Smith dunks a basketball and it’s named the day’s top play in all of sports by ESPN’s Sportscenter. Meanwhile, at WEC 53 Anthony Pettis pulls off a head kick that would make Jackie Chan blush, and that’s No. 2?

Now, I don’t want to act like a jerk about something that’s relatively minor (which is, of course, what you say right before you act like a jerk about something that’s relatively minor), but seriously? What Pettis did was practically superhuman. Just to even think you could pull off a kick like that is so ambitious that it borders on delusional. To actually do it against the WEC lightweight champion in the fifth round of a title fight, that’s a once in a lifetime moment.

Then again, I suppose it doesn’t compare to a slam dunk. That only happens every single night during basketball season, and that doesn’t even count the “And 1” tour.

WEC 53 Provides a Fitting End to an Underappreciated Brand

Filed under: WECGLENDALE, Ariz. – There must have been some misunderstanding. When the fighters on the WEC 53 fight card were told that Thursday night’s event was the last WEC show, perhaps what they heard was that it was the last MMA event ever.

If …

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GLENDALE, Ariz. – There must have been some misunderstanding. When the fighters on the WEC 53 fight card were told that Thursday night’s event was the last WEC show, perhaps what they heard was that it was the last MMA event ever.

If that were the case it might – just might – explain how the WEC managed to pull off such an unforgettable event.

How unforgettable was it? For one thing, it wasn’t until the fifth fight of the night that a bout finally made it out of the first round. Even then, it was a three-round war between Brad Pickett and Ivan Menjivar that drew a standing ovation from the crowd – and that wasn’t even the best fight of the night.