Author: Ben Fowlkes

Ralek Gracie Says Dream Still Hasn’t Paid Him For Fight in May

Filed under: DREAM, News, JapanYou can add Ralek Gracie’s name to the growing list of fighters who are upset with Japan’s Dream organization, and his complaint against his former employers is all too familiar.

Gracie (3-0) told MMA Fighting’s Ariel He…

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You can add Ralek Gracie‘s name to the growing list of fighters who are upset with Japan’s Dream organization, and his complaint against his former employers is all too familiar.

Gracie (3-0) told MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani on Monday afternoon’s edition of “The MMA Hour” that the FEG-backed promotion has not paid him a single penny of what he’s owed for his win over Japanese legend Kazushi Sakuraba at Dream.14 on May 29. And after waiting patiently for more than four months for the check to arrive, Gracie is through keeping quiet about it.

“I fought [Sakuraba] on May 29 and under my contract I was supposed to be paid 30 days after my fight, in full, and I haven’t been paid yet,” Gracie said. “The Dream organization puts on a wonderful show. They’re, in my opinion, the top show in terms of production, but on the back end, as far as handling the finances, they haven’t really taken care of me in a way that I expected and a way I feel is honorable and a way they should.”

With Bout Verbally Agreed to, Jon Jones Says He’s ‘Obsessed’ with Ryan Bader

Filed under: UFC, FanHouse ExclusiveUFC light heavyweight contender Jon Jones kept a close eye on the Ryan Bader-Antonio Rogerio Nogueira bout at UFC 119, and with good reason. Rumor had it that the winner would also claim the grand prize in the ‘Jon J…

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UFC light heavyweight contender Jon Jones kept a close eye on the Ryan Bader–Antonio Rogerio Nogueira bout at UFC 119, and with good reason. Rumor had it that the winner would also claim the grand prize in the ‘Jon Jones sweepstakes,’ and after Bader took the unanimous decision victory, that rumor now seems to be crystallizing into fact.

Jones and Bader have both verbally agreed to face each other on Super Bowl weekend, Jones’ agent Malki Kawa tells MMA Fighting.

And now that the match-up is closer to being official, Jones said he’s already turned his attention toward learning everything he can about his next opponent, even if he wasn’t overly impressed with what he saw out of Bader in Indianapolis.

“I thought Bader was exposed,” Jones told MMA Fighting on Monday evening. “At first, Bader had me a believer in his double-legs. I thought with his strength and his power, he could double-leg down anyone. But Nogueira exposed him in the wrestling department, big time. That was interesting to see.”

Falling Action: Best and Worst of WEC 51

Filed under: WECIt seems like every time the UFC has a mediocre pay-per-view that sets fans to complaining, that’s the WEC’s cue to bring its entertaining brand of little guy fighting back to Versus, if only to show us that you can still get something …

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It seems like every time the UFC has a mediocre pay-per-view that sets fans to complaining, that’s the WEC’s cue to bring its entertaining brand of little guy fighting back to Versus, if only to show us that you can still get something for nothing (as long as you have a decent cable TV package).

It happened again on Thursday night. Fresh off of a disappointing UFC 119 main event, WEC 51 delivered from top to bottom, and did it all without the hefty price tag of a pay-per-view. With the money we all saved, we can now finally afford to buy some UFL merchandise. Do they sell merchandise? It doesn’t matter.

Now that the fights are in the books, let’s look at the biggest winners, losers, and everything in between from WEC 51

Gamburyan: I Won’t Be Surprised if I Knock Aldo Out With a Flying Knee

Filed under: WECIf you like your fighters humble, friendly, and loquacious, look elsewhere. Manny Gamburyan is not for you.

Gamburyan isn’t the guy you’re going to see eagerly signing autographs and doing fist-pose photos with fans in crowded shoppin…

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If you like your fighters humble, friendly, and loquacious, look elsewhere. Manny Gamburyan is not for you.

Gamburyan isn’t the guy you’re going to see eagerly signing autographs and doing fist-pose photos with fans in crowded shopping malls. He’s not the cuddly, PR-friendly fighter. He’s five-and-a-half feet of angry Armenian, and he doesn’t care that you don’t think he has a chance in his title shot against Jose Aldo at WEC 51 on Thursday night.

“I get excited when I hear that. I love being the underdog,” Gamburyan told MMA Fighting. “That’s how it was when I fought Mike Brown too, right? I wasn’t supposed to win that either, right? I’m something like a 6-1 underdog. That’s better for my fans and my friends, because now they can bet on me and make lots of money.”

Leonard Garcia Embraces His Fear in Bout With Mark Hominick at WEC 51

Filed under: WECLeonard Garcia isn’t ashamed to admit it: sometimes he’s scared when he walks into the cage on fight night. In fact, he prefers it that way. If the opponent he’s fighting isn’t at least a little bit terrifying, then what’s the point?

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Leonard Garcia isn’t ashamed to admit it: sometimes he’s scared when he walks into the cage on fight night. In fact, he prefers it that way. If the opponent he’s fighting isn’t at least a little bit terrifying, then what’s the point?

“I don’t want to walk into a fight thinking I can win,” Garcia told MMA Fighting. “I want to walk in feeling a little worried about the guy. The fights that scare me are the ones where I think I do my best. I feel like it’s really important to have a guy in front of you that scares you.”

That’s how it was when he met Chan Sung Jung in his last bout, he said, and look how well that one turned out. And when he faced Hiroyuki Takaya at WEC 32?

“I was scared to death,” he said. “And Jens Pulver, too. All three of those fights, it was like pins and needles the whole time. I felt it walking in.”

The Unsolicited Advisor: Save Your Disdain for the People Who Deserve It

Filed under: UFCFrom the moment Bruce Buffer announced that Sean Sherk had won a split decision over Evan Dunham at UFC 119 last Saturday night, the experienced MMA observer could have written the script for what was about to happen next.

Sherk, exhau…

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From the moment Bruce Buffer announced that Sean Sherk had won a split decision over Evan Dunham at UFC 119 last Saturday night, the experienced MMA observer could have written the script for what was about to happen next.

Sherk, exhausted after three exciting rounds of fighting, walked over to where Joe Rogan was waiting to interview him. Only before he could even hear the end of the first question, in came the flood of boos, drowning everything else out even as Rogan tried in vain to talk some sense into an angry and probably mostly drunk mob.

This is where, if an alien were watching his first UFC event in a misguided attempt to learn something about Earth culture, he’d be forced to conclude that sometimes we just hate stuff for no reason. Here’s Sherk, a former UFC champion and veteran of the sport, who just gave us three hard rounds, and now fans are booing him simply because he won.

Only they’re not booing him. Not really. We know this, in the same way we know that fans aren’t really cheering the sight of Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore so much as they are cheering the idea that a guy like Ashton Kutcher, which is to say a guy with no discernible talent, could get a woman like Demi Moore.