Filed under: UFCRIO DE JANEIRO — After eighteen months away from the cage and three surgeries, it’s hard not to wonder what kind of shape Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira will be in for UFC 134.
From his hip to his knees, the 35-year-old Brazilian has under…
RIO DE JANEIRO — After eighteen months away from the cage and three surgeries, it’s hard not to wonder what kind of shape Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira will be in for UFC 134.
From his hip to his knees, the 35-year-old Brazilian has undergone a complete physical overhaul since his knockout loss to Cain Velasquez, and questions about whether it’s left him in better or worse condition for Saturday night’s fight with Brendan Schaub seem to follow him wherever he goes.
“I don’t think he would take a fight with a guy like me if he wasn’t a hundred percent,” Schaub said on Thursday. “Especially in front of his home crowd.”
One hundred percent might be stretching it a little bit, but Nogueira insists he’s better off now than he has been for years.
“The last three years before I had the surgery, we couldn’t find out exactly what the problem was,” he said. Now, after three surgeries, he feels like he’s got a whole new body to work with. “I’m walking better, everything. When I would bend down before, there was a lot of pain.”
Still, the recovery from all those procedures didn’t come easy. It was ten months of physical therapy, sometimes for up to six hours a day.
“It was a big rehab,” Nogueira said. “It was really hard, but I think the rehab also made me in good condition for my core, my back strength. …It helped me train, I think. I feel good for this fight.”
At the same time, Nogueira wanted to fight on the UFC’s Rio card so badly that you might wonder whether he rushed his recovery, and you wouldn’t be the only one, he admitted.
“I asked the guys, like Anderson Silva, Rafael ‘Feijao’ [Cavalcante], my sparring partners. I said, guys, I want to fight in Brazil. They said I should take some more time, but I said, one month. Let’s train for one month, and then you’re going to say I can do it. After one month I was training hard, my wrestling got better, my jiu-jitsu got better. I pulled the guys together and they told me, yeah, you’re ready.”
Against Schaub, Nogueira’s wrestling ability could be the difference between victory and defeat, which is why he brought in former U.S. Olympic coach Eric Albarracin to help him train for this fight.
Albarracin said he could see Nogueira’s past wrestling training there under the rubble of his current game in the gym, and it was only a matter of sharpening it up and bringing it out.
“As I started working with him, it came back,” Albarracin said. “I could see it. I thought, I don’t have to teach him too much. He knows how to wrestle.”
So does that mean Albarracin thinks Nogueira could put Schaub on his back with a double-leg? At that, the wrestling coach grinned.
“That’s the plan,” he said. “He can do it if he needs to.”
The ability to take the fight to the floor could prove to be vital against the bigger, faster Schaub, who’ll come into the fight with a reach advantage and a heavy right hand, and will most likely look to put both to work.
“If I put him down, I’ve got a chance to use my jiu-jitsu,” said Nogueira. “I have more experience than him. For sure, he’s physical and he’s younger than me, but I’ve got good endurance.”
In the past, it’s been Nogueira’s ability to keep rising from the grave that’s proved to be one of his greatest assets. On Saturday night, we’ll get to find out whether he still has one more resurrection left in him.
RIO DE JANEIRO — When you’re trying to conduct an interview through a translator, not everything gets through with perfect clarity. When you’re trying to do it through two translators, that’s when it starts to feel a little like communicating through smoke signals.
Take Wednesday afternoon’s workouts, for example.
When a Brazilian reporter attempted to ask Yushin Okami whether he thought UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva deserved to be called the world’s best pound-for-pound fighter, that question then had to be translated from Portuguese to English for Okami’s trainer/translator — at this point, ‘pound-for-pound’ became ‘weight-for-weight,’ which confused everybody and necessitated a minute or so of word-wrangling between the two translators — then into Japanese for Okami, who listened intently like a man trying to work out an Algebra question in his head before answering in Japanese, so that it could be translated into English by his trainer and finally into Portuguese by the UFC’s translator.
It’s like a game of telephone, only the subject always has something to do with grown men beating each other up for money, so at least there’s a context you can guess at. From what we heard out of Okami, who was all business in the midst of Wednesday’s Brazilian beach party, my guess is he expects to leave Rio as the UFC middleweight champ, even if he won’t say how he plans on accomplishing it.
“I understand many people are saying Anderson Silva is the [best] pound-for-pound fighter, but it really doesn’t matter to me,” Okami said via his translator. “I’m going to beat him, and I’m going to be the middleweight champion.”
And how will the fans in Brazil feel about that, if Okami really does ruin their party in the UFC 134 main event on Saturday night? He doesn’t know, and, not surprisingly, he doesn’t particularly care.
Fighting Silva on neutral territory would be enough to think about. Fighting him in Brazil, where people have been “very warm” to him so far, according to Okami, is something he seems to be trying to put out of his mind entirely.
“I kind of knew that [the UFC] would ask [me] to come to Brazil. I knew it was coming,” Okami said, adding later, “I don’t think about where I fight; I always think about who I fight. This time I’m going to fight Anderson Silva.”
Of course, that part of the equation is something he experienced before, when the two met in Honolulu in 2006, where Okami came away with a victory via disqualification after Silva hit him with an illegal upkick. That was many fights ago for both men, however, and lately Okami has been training in Oregon with Chael Sonnen, who took Silva to the brink last summer before succumbing to a fifth-round submission.
While Okami said that his first meeting with Silva gave him “a lot of lessons,” he suggested that his approach in Saturday’s title fight would be more than just a facsimile of Sonnen’s game plan.
“I and Chael are different fighters, so obviously I cannot just imitate his fighting style,” said Okami. “I need to adjust my style to fight Anderson Silva.”
On Wednesday it quickly became apparent that the challenger was merely the supporting cast in the eyes of Brazilian fans. Silva was practically the whole show, and Okami was merely a necessary, though forgettable part of the scenery to them. He showed up early, became one of the few fighters to treat the workout portion of the open workouts at least semi-seriously, then answered questions and spent the rest of the time scowling in a corner by himself, waiting to leave.
As part of the pre-fight hype for this event, he’s finally gotten his due from UFC president Dana White, who called him the “best fighter to come out of Japan.” As far as UFC success alone, that’s probably true.
At the same time, it’s hard to tell how much of that is genuine appreciation for Okami’s skills and how much is a marketing tactic.
Fortunately, Okami doesn’t seem too influenced one way or another.
“I’m very glad to hear that coming from Mr. Dana,” Okami said of White’s praise. “But I’m doing this to be the best in the world, so I’m going to prove it in the next fight.”
And how, exactly, does he plan to beat the man who many consider to be the “weight-for-weight” best in the world? There was one question he heard often, and one he certainly seemed to understand, but he wisely chose not to give a straight answer to it.
For now, all Okami is saying is that his strategy will be different from Sonnen’s — and it will work. That’s the language of pre-fight certainty that all fighters understand. No translation necessary.
RIO DE JANEIRO — When you’re trying to conduct an interview through a translator, not everything gets through with perfect clarity. When you’re trying to do it through two translators, that’s when it starts to feel a little like communicating through smoke signals.
Take Wednesday afternoon’s workouts, for example.
When a Brazilian reporter attempted to ask Yushin Okami whether he thought UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva deserved to be called the world’s best pound-for-pound fighter, that question then had to be translated from Portuguese to English for Okami’s trainer/translator — at this point, ‘pound-for-pound’ became ‘weight-for-weight,’ which confused everybody and necessitated a minute or so of word-wrangling between the two translators — then into Japanese for Okami, who listened intently like a man trying to work out an Algebra question in his head before answering in Japanese, so that it could be translated into English by his trainer and finally into Portuguese by the UFC’s translator.
It’s like a game of telephone, only the subject always has something to do with grown men beating each other up for money, so at least there’s a context you can guess at. From what we heard out of Okami, who was all business in the midst of Wednesday’s Brazilian beach party, my guess is he expects to leave Rio as the UFC middleweight champ, even if he won’t say how he plans on accomplishing it.
“I understand many people are saying Anderson Silva is the [best] pound-for-pound fighter, but it really doesn’t matter to me,” Okami said via his translator. “I’m going to beat him, and I’m going to be the middleweight champion.”
And how will the fans in Brazil feel about that, if Okami really does ruin their party in the UFC 134 main event on Saturday night? He doesn’t know, and, not surprisingly, he doesn’t particularly care.
Fighting Silva on neutral territory would be enough to think about. Fighting him in Brazil, where people have been “very warm” to him so far, according to Okami, is something he seems to be trying to put out of his mind entirely.
“I kind of knew that [the UFC] would ask [me] to come to Brazil. I knew it was coming,” Okami said, adding later, “I don’t think about where I fight; I always think about who I fight. This time I’m going to fight Anderson Silva.”
Of course, that part of the equation is something he experienced before, when the two met in Honolulu in 2006, where Okami came away with a victory via disqualification after Silva hit him with an illegal upkick. That was many fights ago for both men, however, and lately Okami has been training in Oregon with Chael Sonnen, who took Silva to the brink last summer before succumbing to a fifth-round submission.
While Okami said that his first meeting with Silva gave him “a lot of lessons,” he suggested that his approach in Saturday’s title fight would be more than just a facsimile of Sonnen’s game plan.
“I and Chael are different fighters, so obviously I cannot just imitate his fighting style,” said Okami. “I need to adjust my style to fight Anderson Silva.”
On Wednesday it quickly became apparent that the challenger was merely the supporting cast in the eyes of Brazilian fans. Silva was practically the whole show, and Okami was merely a necessary, though forgettable part of the scenery to them. He showed up early, became one of the few fighters to treat the workout portion of the open workouts at least semi-seriously, then answered questions and spent the rest of the time scowling in a corner by himself, waiting to leave.
As part of the pre-fight hype for this event, he’s finally gotten his due from UFC president Dana White, who called him the “best fighter to come out of Japan.” As far as UFC success alone, that’s probably true.
At the same time, it’s hard to tell how much of that is genuine appreciation for Okami’s skills and how much is a marketing tactic.
Fortunately, Okami doesn’t seem too influenced one way or another.
“I’m very glad to hear that coming from Mr. Dana,” Okami said of White’s praise. “But I’m doing this to be the best in the world, so I’m going to prove it in the next fight.”
And how, exactly, does he plan to beat the man who many consider to be the “weight-for-weight” best in the world? There was one question he heard often, and one he certainly seemed to understand, but he wisely chose not to give a straight answer to it.
For now, all Okami is saying is that his strategy will be different from Sonnen’s — and it will work. That’s the language of pre-fight certainty that all fighters understand. No translation necessary.
RIO DE JANEIRO — Forrest Griffin isn’t crazy about being in Brazil for UFC 134 this week, and he doesn’t see the point in pretending he is.
“It’d be a great place to come on vacation,” the former UFC light heavyweight champion explained on Wednesday. “Not a great place to work.”
Why? Take your pick of reasons. Griffin has plenty.
“I can’t read the labels on the food. I don’t know what’s going on. I can’t get anybody to cook my sweet potatoes. The scale tells me weird numbers, I don’t know what the f–k they are. I’ve got to do math every time I get on the scale. You guys don’t have distilled water. …Do you want me to keep bitchin’? Because I will.”
And yet, despite all the complaining and the utter lack of enthusiasm, there he was at Wednesday’s open workouts on the famed Copacabana beach, briefly doing something that sort of resembled a workout. Almost. Well, not really.
He got on the mats, at least. He stretched out, heaving his long limbs around in slow, tortured circles like a father getting ready to play a reluctant game of catch with his son after work, driven entirely by a vague sense of duty. Only for Griffin, the game of catch never came. He stretched, he contorted, he threw a punch or two at the air. He worked his way along the edge of the mat, smiling and waving just enough to please the crowd, then he made his exit.
Maybe he’s saving the rest for Mauricio “Shogun” Rua on Saturday night.
When the UFC first told him it wanted him to book the rematch for UFC 134 in Brazil, Griffin’s thoughts on the matter were pretty simple.
“Oh God, please no,” he said.
Gradually, he moved through the stages of grief, he explained, arriving finally at acceptance. As in: “When I got off the plane, I accepted I was in Brazil,” he said.
The first time Griffin and Rua met was at UFC 76 in 2007. That one took place in Anaheim, and Griffin probably wasn’t eager to make even that short trip. If he had it his way, he might only travel from his home to the gym and back. Lately, even that little excursion doesn’t sound as if it’s quite so fun for Griffin, who admitted that he doesn’t have the same kind of fire for the sport that he had several years ago.
“It’s different,” he said. “Life changes, you know? I do this for a whole new set of reasons now.”
Reasons like money. The same reason most people get up and go to work every day. The difference is that, unlike most people, Griffin has to bleed for his cash. And so he does.
“My parents [have] got to retire. My wife’s parents [have] got to retire. My little brother wants to go to college. I’ve got a daughter coming. She’s probably going to want to go to college, and she’s probably not going to be a genius, either. I’ve got to make some money, got to win. Winning pays a lot more than losing.”
But going up against an opponent who’s fighting to not only even the score, but also to revitalize his career after getting dominated by Jon Jones in his first attempt at a UFC light heavyweight title defense, you’ve got to wonder whether the paper chase alone will be enough motivation for Griffin.
Rua’s fighting in front of his countrymen, and he’s fighting a guy who made him look bad in the later rounds of their first fight. The difference this time, Rua said at Wednesday’s open workouts, is that he “trained for four months for this fight. The first time I [fought] with Forrest, I [didn’t] train hard, but now I’m ready.”
The good news for Griffin is, that’s more or less exactly what he’s expecting out of Rua.
“I know one thing: when people beat me up I want to fight them again. You train hard and you take it real serious when someone beats you. I had that fear in the back of my head for the last nine weeks, so I did the best I could. I knew he was going to come out hungry and ready. I’m kind of expecting him to just close the distance and come at it and get going.”
And at that point, with Rua in classic “Shogun” attack mode and an arena full of rabid Brazilian fans screaming in his ear, will a love of money and a sense of self-preservation be enough to pull Griffin through?
Maybe it depends how much he loves money. Or how much he fears being without it.
“I don’t want to play it up or whatever,” Griffin said, “but I was poor once and I’ll never be poor again.”
It might not be what we’re used to hearing from pro fighters, but at least it’s sincere.
RIO DE JANEIRO — Forrest Griffin isn’t crazy about being in Brazil for UFC 134 this week, and he doesn’t see the point in pretending he is.
“It’d be a great place to come on vacation,” the former UFC light heavyweight champion explained on Wednesday. “Not a great place to work.”
Why? Take your pick of reasons. Griffin has plenty.
“I can’t read the labels on the food. I don’t know what’s going on. I can’t get anybody to cook my sweet potatoes. The scale tells me weird numbers, I don’t know what the f–k they are. I’ve got to do math every time I get on the scale. You guys don’t have distilled water. …Do you want me to keep bitchin’? Because I will.”
And yet, despite all the complaining and the utter lack of enthusiasm, there he was at Wednesday’s open workouts on the famed Copacabana beach, briefly doing something that sort of resembled a workout. Almost. Well, not really.
He got on the mats, at least. He stretched out, heaving his long limbs around in slow, tortured circles like a father getting ready to play a reluctant game of catch with his son after work, driven entirely by a vague sense of duty. Only for Griffin, the game of catch never came. He stretched, he contorted, he threw a punch or two at the air. He worked his way along the edge of the mat, smiling and waving just enough to please the crowd, then he made his exit.
Maybe he’s saving the rest for Mauricio “Shogun” Rua on Saturday night.
When the UFC first told him it wanted him to book the rematch for UFC 134 in Brazil, Griffin’s thoughts on the matter were pretty simple.
“Oh God, please no,” he said.
Gradually, he moved through the stages of grief, he explained, arriving finally at acceptance. As in: “When I got off the plane, I accepted I was in Brazil,” he said.
The first time Griffin and Rua met was at UFC 76 in 2007. That one took place in Anaheim, and Griffin probably wasn’t eager to make even that short trip. If he had it his way, he might only travel from his home to the gym and back. Lately, even that little excursion doesn’t sound as if it’s quite so fun for Griffin, who admitted that he doesn’t have the same kind of fire for the sport that he had several years ago.
“It’s different,” he said. “Life changes, you know? I do this for a whole new set of reasons now.”
Reasons like money. The same reason most people get up and go to work every day. The difference is that, unlike most people, Griffin has to bleed for his cash. And so he does.
“My parents [have] got to retire. My wife’s parents [have] got to retire. My little brother wants to go to college. I’ve got a daughter coming. She’s probably going to want to go to college, and she’s probably not going to be a genius, either. I’ve got to make some money, got to win. Winning pays a lot more than losing.”
But going up against an opponent who’s fighting to not only even the score, but also to revitalize his career after getting dominated by Jon Jones in his first attempt at a UFC light heavyweight title defense, you’ve got to wonder whether the paper chase alone will be enough motivation for Griffin.
Rua’s fighting in front of his countrymen, and he’s fighting a guy who made him look bad in the later rounds of their first fight. The difference this time, Rua said at Wednesday’s open workouts, is that he “trained for four months for this fight. The first time I [fought] with Forrest, I [didn’t] train hard, but now I’m ready.”
The good news for Griffin is, that’s more or less exactly what he’s expecting out of Rua.
“I know one thing: when people beat me up I want to fight them again. You train hard and you take it real serious when someone beats you. I had that fear in the back of my head for the last nine weeks, so I did the best I could. I knew he was going to come out hungry and ready. I’m kind of expecting him to just close the distance and come at it and get going.”
And at that point, with Rua in classic “Shogun” attack mode and an arena full of rabid Brazilian fans screaming in his ear, will a love of money and a sense of self-preservation be enough to pull Griffin through?
Maybe it depends how much he loves money. Or how much he fears being without it.
“I don’t want to play it up or whatever,” Griffin said, “but I was poor once and I’ll never be poor again.”
It might not be what we’re used to hearing from pro fighters, but at least it’s sincere.
Filed under: UFC, NewsRIO DE JANEIRO — If the UFC held an outdoor open workout on Venice Beach on a rainy winter weekday to promote an upcoming event, you’d probably call them crazy. At the very least, you’d call them poor planners, and you’d be right…
RIO DE JANEIRO — If the UFC held an outdoor open workout on Venice Beach on a rainy winter weekday to promote an upcoming event, you’d probably call them crazy. At the very least, you’d call them poor planners, and you’d be right.
In Brazil, however, the rules are different. Especially if you’re bringing UFC fights to a city of passionate sports fans who have never seen an MMA event of this magnitude. And especially if you’ve got Anderson Silva on the guest list.
Throngs of energetic fans packed the sands of Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday afternoon just to get a look at their MMA heroes. What’s usually a low-key fight week photo op quickly turned into a beach party, and soon it became abundantly clear that UFC 134 wouldn’t be just another fight card. Not in this city.
People in costumes danced to imaginary beats. Fans broke out in impromptu chants. A Brazilian reporter tried to handle a microphone in one hand and his cell phone in the other, all while wearing a pair of boxing gloves for some reason.
Did any of them even notice it was raining? Did any of them care?
“Fighting’s popular in Brazil,” said UFC light heavyweight Forrest Griffin. “Who’d have thought?”
Griffin was one of the first fighters to hit the mats in the afternoon, though he didn’t stay there long. The hired hands in raincoats who penguin-walked with towels under their feet to dry off the training surface never even had a chance to get out of his way. Griffin waved to the crowd, did about three minutes worth of stretches and calisthenics, then decided to call it good.
When a Brazilian reporter asked why he didn’t attempt an actual workout, Griffin went into his usual deadpan.
“I don’t know. Why didn’t I?” he shot back. “I mean, think about it. Why would I want you guys to see my bag? You got to pay money to see my bag. Or at least buy cable TV.”
When asked if that meant there was something significantly different in his bag for his rematch with Mauricio “Shogun” Rua on Saturday night, Griffin admitted it was mostly going to be the usual stuff on his part.
“It’s new to Brazil though, dammit,” he said.
But then, these fans didn’t really come to see Griffin, and he knew it. It was UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva who most of the chants and cheers were reserved for. That is, once he finally fought through the afternoon Rio traffic and walked up to claim his belt, which the UFC’s Reed Harris had carefully protected from the rain using a white beach towel.
Silva might be regarded as one of, if not the best pound-for-pound fighter when he’s competing in the U.S., but it Brazil he’s much more than that. He’s a superstar. He’s Michael Jordan, Hulk Hogan, and maybe one of the Kardashian sisters, all rolled into one.
Cameras swarmed him as he stepped briefly on the mats, and the frantic Brazilian media members nearly knocked each other to the ground trying to get a word or two out of him. While a UFC open workout in the states might only garner attention from MMA websites and a few local news outlets, in Rio it seems that everyone with a video camera and a microphone was willing to run one another over to get a glimpse of the champ.
That seemed fine with Silva, who showed up in glasses and earphones and removed neither as he held court all in Portuguese (with no translation provided by either his camp or the UFC), showing a level of enthusiasm one doesn’t typically see out of him at most fight week media responsibilities.
But this one was special. This one was for his countrymen, who jumped up and down in the sand and cheered him like he was royalty, even if he didn’t bother to do much of a workout, which was, ostensibly anyway, the whole purpose of the afternoon.
Then again, it was a rainy winter’s day in Rio. Not that anybody noticed.
Filed under: UFCUFC 134 in Brazil promises to be memorable for a variety of reasons. Here are just a few of them, in no particular order or importance.
I. “Yushin Okami is not only the biggest middleweight I’ve ever fought,” Mike Swick told me once, “…
UFC 134 in Brazil promises to be memorable for a variety of reasons. Here are just a few of them, in no particular order or importance.
I. “Yushin Okami is not only the biggest middleweight I’ve ever fought,” Mike Swick told me once, “He might be the biggest middleweight I’ve ever seen.” In fact, it was a decision loss to Okami that convinced Swick he was in the wrong weight class, since he just could compete with Okami’s size and strength. It may not always come across on TV, but Okami isn’t just a good wrestler — he’s a powerhouse. He’s the kind of fighter who can, if he has to, take you down and lay on you until the judges declare him the winner. For a champion whose biggest weakness is his takedown defense, that’s a legitimate problem.
II. But how much time will Okami get to work on the ground, anyway? Let’s be honest here: if Okami tries to go all human blanket on Silva for five full rounds, the Brazilian crowd is going to let him have it. No referee is going to admit it, but a continuous stream of boos has hastened more than one ref stand-up in MMA history. It shouldn’t, of course. The third man in the cage should remain oblivious to everything outside of it. That’s easier said than done, however. Sure, Bob Dylan had the fortitude to get booed every night when he went electric, but does Mario Yamasaki have that same iron will that Dylan had? Could Herb Dean power through “Like a Rolling Stone” even as the hate poured down on him? I’m not so sure. Let Okami get a couple rounds of takedowns and ground control under his belt, and we may find out.
III. There are two ways to beat Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. One is to be a vastly superior fighter, as Jon Jones was. The other is to deal with his bull rush in the early going, absorbing and/or deflecting his aggression as best you can, then turn it up in the later rounds when he’s burned through his jetpacks. The latter is what Forrest Griffin did the first time they met, whether intentionally or unintentionally, and it’s his best chance in the rematch. He’s bigger, stronger, and if he can make Rua carry some of that weight and wear himself out, that’s when Griffin can put him away. Skill-for-skill, Rua is probably the more gifted fighter, but Griffin has a way of just hanging around. Some nights, that’s enough.
IV. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira hasn’t fought in a year and a half. During that time, he also had knee and hip surgery. Now he’s coming back to fight Brendan Schaub, who’s looking to continue the legend-slaying tour he began with a knockout of Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic in March. Anybody else seeing disaster in the works for Big Nog? He’s the kind of fighter who seems to have crammed three careers worth of action into the last decade, and now he’s not looking quite so spry or resilient anymore. Schaub is a big, young, hungry heavyweight. Unless Nogueira can pull off a hail mary submission off his back — possibly after being knocked there by a Schaub right hand — it’s hard to see how he wins this.
V. If you’ve been looking for a chance to get to know more Brazilian fighters, you’re in luck. In all, fourteen Brazilians are competing on this card, ranging from ones you might know (ever hear of this Anderson Silva guy?) to ones you might not (Erick Silva and Luis Ramos, for instance, who will be debuting in the UFC against one another). In other words, even though he’ll be there to corner his buddy Okami, this might not be the night for Chael Sonnen to regale the boys backstage with his particular brand of cultural insult comedy.
VI. Once more unto the breach for Ross Pearson. The British lightweight was on his way up the ladder until that surprising loss to Cole Miller, then he bounced back with a decision over Spencer Fisher. The time for gradual build-ups is apparently over, because now he gets the Brazilian buzzsaw, Edson Barboza, who’s been known to make audience members cry just from witnessing his brutal leg kicks in person. Okay, so that last part is just a rumor I’m trying to start, but the point is it could be true. Pearson has a seriously tough night ahead of him against Barboza. Even if he pulls off the upset, chances are he’ll be hobbling through the airport in the morning.
VII. How good is Dan Miller‘s leglock defense? We’re about to find out. Miller’s never been submitted in his MMA career, but he’s also never fought an enemy of knee ligaments everywhere quite like Rousimar Palhares. “Toquinho” has won three of his last four with submissions below the waist. As long as he can keep his head in the game and avoid another costly mental lapse like the one he suffered against Nate Marquardt, he has the potential to be a real problem for Miller, who could really use a win right about now.
VIII. Pity poor Ian Loveland and Yves Jabouin. Theirs is the only fight on the card that doesn’t feature at least one Brazilian. Will that make it a novelty for the Rio fans, or just the perfect moment to visit the concessions stand? It is on the prelims, and early on in the night, too. If the crowd is operating on Brazilian time, they may miss it entirely.
IX. There’s just no way Anderson Silva will be anything but one hundred percent serious while fighting in his home country, right? I mean, it’s one thing to screw around in Abu Dhabi, but Rio? No chance he decides to samba for five rounds here. Not in front of family and friends, not to mention his big time corporate sponsors and his reactionary boss. Not on your life, right? Right?
She doesn’t mind controversy in general, really. Something has to bring attention to women’s MMA and, at least the way Rousey sees it, all the fighters trying to out-nice each other isn’t going to do it.
“My goal is not the be the most liked girl in women’s MMA,” Rousey told Ariel Helwani on Tuesday’s edition of The MMA Hour. “I want to be the most talked about girl in women’s MMA. If there’s a lot of controversy, people saying I suck, I’m cocky, or it was a good fight or an amazing move — as long as there’s polarizing opinions and people want to discuss it.”
Rousey, who won an Olympic bronze medal in women’s judo in the 2008 Beijing games, improved her MMA record to 3-0 with a first-round armbar victory over D’Alelio on August 12. Referee Steve Mazzagatti’s stoppage at the 25-second mark of the bout drew immediate criticism, as D’Alelio clearly didn’t tap to the submission.
After the bout, D’Alelio admitted that she’d made some verbal indication of pain when Rousey jumped into the armbar, and that was apparently good enough to bring the bout to a halt.
“I think the referee was right to stop the fight,” Rousey said. “They tell you the second that you walk in, like right before you walk in, they tell you, ‘If you’re in a submission, anything verbal, like if you yell or scream or anything like that we’ll call the fight.’ So she was very aware that that was the case. It’s not like she didn’t know that that was the rule or something like that, because they literally tell you right before you walk out.”
In case you couldn’t tell, Rousey isn’t one to hold her tongue, nor is she aiming to be the Ms. Congeniality of the women’s MMA world. She had enough of that on the U.S. Olympic judo squad, she said, and she doesn’t think it helps raise her profile or that of the sport to do it now.
“When I was in the Olympics and I was representing the United States I had to be very proper, like, yes, this is the right thing to say and I won’t say anything about how I think [George] Bush is a retard,” Rousey said. “I’m just going to go say what they want me to say and look bright and shiny and go win.
“But doing MMA, you’re representing yourself. You’re not representing your country. I feel like what women’s MMA needs is not some nice girl. Everyone’s playing the nice card and they’re not willing to go under any kind of criticism and I really feel that that’s not what we need if we want to get as much exposure as possible. We need someone more like a Tito Ortiz-type personality — not that I’m trying to be that much of a d–k, no offense to Tito. But I want to be one of those people who people either love then or hate them and groups of people actually have heated discussions about it. I want there to be attention on the sport, and if I have to attract some bad attention to get that, then fine I’ll be willing to be that person.”
Not that Rousey is exactly new to being a bit of a renegade, she admitted. Like most male fighters, she did her share of fighting outside of a sporting context, even if it only brought her trouble.
“I’ve never gotten away with a fight in my entire life. I even got jumped by a bunch of guys once and I beat them up, and they sued me for assault. Every fight I got into in school, I always got a suspension or community service, and it’s just never been worth it to me. If I could get in a fight without there being legal repercussions, I would be in a fight every single day. I don’t go out to clubs at all, because I know if someone grabs my a– I’ll punch them in the face.”
But now that she’s trying to make a career out of MMA, Rousey isn’t afraid to make herself a lightning rod for criticism, or to use her looks to get attention from fans, even if all her peers might not like it.
“I fought for a long time to get in the Olympics and win an Olympic medal wearing, like, a bathrobe, and I ended up with ten grand and a handshake,” she said. “What do you really want me to do? If it was a perfect world where I could walk in there, just roll out of bed and go in there and make the same money, then fine. But I fought for pride for a long time and ended up with nothing but a box full of medals. If I want to make this a career I have to play up the looks side. The people that criticize it are the people that aren’t in that situation.”
The fact the more attractive female fighters stand to make more money shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone, Rousey said, even if it’s a topic some in the sport would rather ignore.
“I mean, it’s more entertaining to watch two [attractive] girls wrestling around than two ugly girls wrestling around,” said Rousey. “I’m sorry I had to like, point out the elephant in the room, but that’s the truth. That’s what people want to see and that’s what’s going to sell tickets and that’s what’s going to make money and that’s what’s going to get all of us a better salary. So yes, I think it’s very important for there to be good-looking girls fighting.”
Instead of depending on Gina Carano to be the face of women’s MMA, she said, the sports needs “a couple of girls that are very skilled and decent-looking and we wouldn’t be in a position where, if one girl goes off to do movies, then the whole sport itself is screwed.”
It might not be exactly what every fight fan wants to hear, but then, that’s sort of the point. If by speaking her mind, Rousey then makes herself more of a subject of conversation, she seems fine with that.
And while she wouldn’t name her next opponent aside from hinting that it would be “an interesting fight,” she does have some plans for her fighting future.
“In the perfect world, after this contract was over I’d like to fight Gina Carano and then I’d like to fight Cris “Cyborg” [Santos].”
At least there’s one thing Rousey will never be accused of, and that’s setting her sights too low.
She doesn’t mind controversy in general, really. Something has to bring attention to women’s MMA and, at least the way Rousey sees it, all the fighters trying to out-nice each other isn’t going to do it.
“My goal is not the be the most liked girl in women’s MMA,” Rousey told Ariel Helwani on Tuesday’s edition of The MMA Hour. “I want to be the most talked about girl in women’s MMA. If there’s a lot of controversy, people saying I suck, I’m cocky, or it was a good fight or an amazing move — as long as there’s polarizing opinions and people want to discuss it.”
Rousey, who won an Olympic bronze medal in women’s judo in the 2008 Beijing games, improved her MMA record to 3-0 with a first-round armbar victory over D’Alelio on August 12. Referee Steve Mazzagatti’s stoppage at the 25-second mark of the bout drew immediate criticism, as D’Alelio clearly didn’t tap to the submission.
After the bout, D’Alelio admitted that she’d made some verbal indication of pain when Rousey jumped into the armbar, and that was apparently good enough to bring the bout to a halt.
“I think the referee was right to stop the fight,” Rousey said. “They tell you the second that you walk in, like right before you walk in, they tell you, ‘If you’re in a submission, anything verbal, like if you yell or scream or anything like that we’ll call the fight.’ So she was very aware that that was the case. It’s not like she didn’t know that that was the rule or something like that, because they literally tell you right before you walk out.”
In case you couldn’t tell, Rousey isn’t one to hold her tongue, nor is she aiming to be the Ms. Congeniality of the women’s MMA world. She had enough of that on the U.S. Olympic judo squad, she said, and she doesn’t think it helps raise her profile or that of the sport to do it now.
“When I was in the Olympics and I was representing the United States I had to be very proper, like, yes, this is the right thing to say and I won’t say anything about how I think [George] Bush is a retard,” Rousey said. “I’m just going to go say what they want me to say and look bright and shiny and go win.
“But doing MMA, you’re representing yourself. You’re not representing your country. I feel like what women’s MMA needs is not some nice girl. Everyone’s playing the nice card and they’re not willing to go under any kind of criticism and I really feel that that’s not what we need if we want to get as much exposure as possible. We need someone more like a Tito Ortiz-type personality — not that I’m trying to be that much of a d–k, no offense to Tito. But I want to be one of those people who people either love then or hate them and groups of people actually have heated discussions about it. I want there to be attention on the sport, and if I have to attract some bad attention to get that, then fine I’ll be willing to be that person.”
Not that Rousey is exactly new to being a bit of a renegade, she admitted. Like most male fighters, she did her share of fighting outside of a sporting context, even if it only brought her trouble.
“I’ve never gotten away with a fight in my entire life. I even got jumped by a bunch of guys once and I beat them up, and they sued me for assault. Every fight I got into in school, I always got a suspension or community service, and it’s just never been worth it to me. If I could get in a fight without there being legal repercussions, I would be in a fight every single day. I don’t go out to clubs at all, because I know if someone grabs my a– I’ll punch them in the face.”
But now that she’s trying to make a career out of MMA, Rousey isn’t afraid to make herself a lightning rod for criticism, or to use her looks to get attention from fans, even if all her peers might not like it.
“I fought for a long time to get in the Olympics and win an Olympic medal wearing, like, a bathrobe, and I ended up with ten grand and a handshake,” she said. “What do you really want me to do? If it was a perfect world where I could walk in there, just roll out of bed and go in there and make the same money, then fine. But I fought for pride for a long time and ended up with nothing but a box full of medals. If I want to make this a career I have to play up the looks side. The people that criticize it are the people that aren’t in that situation.”
The fact the more attractive female fighters stand to make more money shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone, Rousey said, even if it’s a topic some in the sport would rather ignore.
“I mean, it’s more entertaining to watch two [attractive] girls wrestling around than two ugly girls wrestling around,” said Rousey. “I’m sorry I had to like, point out the elephant in the room, but that’s the truth. That’s what people want to see and that’s what’s going to sell tickets and that’s what’s going to make money and that’s what’s going to get all of us a better salary. So yes, I think it’s very important for there to be good-looking girls fighting.”
Instead of depending on Gina Carano to be the face of women’s MMA, she said, the sports needs “a couple of girls that are very skilled and decent-looking and we wouldn’t be in a position where, if one girl goes off to do movies, then the whole sport itself is screwed.”
It might not be exactly what every fight fan wants to hear, but then, that’s sort of the point. If by speaking her mind, Rousey then makes herself more of a subject of conversation, she seems fine with that.
And while she wouldn’t name her next opponent aside from hinting that it would be “an interesting fight,” she does have some plans for her fighting future.
“In the perfect world, after this contract was over I’d like to fight Gina Carano and then I’d like to fight Cris “Cyborg” [Santos].”
At least there’s one thing Rousey will never be accused of, and that’s setting her sights too low.
RIO DE JANEIRO — After eighteen months away from the cage and three surgeries, it’s hard not to wonder what kind of shape Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira will be in for UFC 134. 
RIO DE JANEIRO — When you’re trying to conduct an interview through a translator, not everything gets through with perfect clarity. When you’re trying to do it through two translators, that’s when it starts to feel a little like communicating through smoke signals. 
RIO DE JANEIRO — 
RIO DE JANEIRO — If the 
Griffin was one of the first fighters to hit the mats in the afternoon, though he didn’t stay there long. The hired hands in raincoats who penguin-walked with towels under their feet to dry off the training surface never even had a chance to get out of his way. Griffin waved to the crowd, did about three minutes worth of stretches and calisthenics, then decided to call it good.
