Author: Blake Dreisbach

Chael Sonnen on Joe Rogan’s Podcast (Video)

Before the release of Chael Sonnen’s book, The Voice of Reason: A VIP Pass to Enlightenment, which comes out Tuesday, the former UFC title challenger made an appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast to talk about everything in the sport of mixed …

Before the release of Chael Sonnen‘s book, The Voice of Reason: A VIP Pass to Enlightenment, which comes out Tuesday, the former UFC title challenger made an appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast to talk about everything in the sport of mixed martial arts.

Rogan, the color commentator for the UFC, has featured fighters in past shows, including Jason “Mayhem” Miller, Bas Rutten and Ronda Rousey.

Sonnen is currently preparing to rematch UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva at UFC 148. Silva won their first bout by submission in what many consider to be one of the best comebacks in the history of the UFC. Sonnen dominated the action throughout, but was forced to tap when Silva applied a triangle choke with several minutes left in the fight.

“I don’t know if the human being is meant to do that,” Sonnen said of fighters going 25 minutes in the Octagon. “St-Pierre keeps taking a lot of criticism. Well, the reality is you are asking him to do a monumental task, which is to go hard for 25 minutes. Human beings get tired when they go for the kill so they got to time it right, and Georges does plan it right.”

Sonnen rebounded from the loss with two victories over Brian Stann and Michael Bisping. He submitted Stann and took Bisping the distance in a fight that many people thought could have gone either way.

Silva has also fought twice as well, defeating Vitor Belfort and Yushin Okami. Both of his victories came by way of knockout to improve his overall UFC record to 14-0

UFC 148 will go down in Las Vegas on July 7 and also feature a rematch between former light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz and Forrest Griffin. An interim title fight in the bantamweight division is also in play with Urijah Faber awaiting an opponent.

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Antonio Silva Says Junior Dos Santos Has Good BJJ Skills

It’s going to be a classic striker-vs.-grappler matchup when UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos defends his title against former champion Frank Mir later this month at UFC 146.Or is it?Heading into the anticipated matchup between two of the mos…

It’s going to be a classic striker-vs.-grappler matchup when UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos defends his title against former champion Frank Mir later this month at UFC 146.

Or is it?

Heading into the anticipated matchup between two of the most dangerous heavyweights in the sport, many fans are expecting one of two things to happen—either JDS will knock out Mir, or he will fall into a submission like so many have before him, including his mentor Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira did last year.

Fellow Brazilian Antonio Silva, who will also be fighting on the card against Cain Velasquez, is a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Judo and Karate, and believes JDS has the BJJ skills to back up his very impressive stand-up skills.

Silva told Tatame.com:

It’s complicated. (Nogueira and Mir) fought twice and unfortunately Mir won them both, but he shouldn’t take it personally because when you put your emotions in there it’s when you get off track…I’m sure he’s not taking this personally. After two, three rounds Mir will get frustrated and won’t handle it well.

Dos Santos carried a 13-1 record into his title fight last year, where he knocked out Velasquez to win the belt and improve his overall UFC record to 8-0 with five knockouts. His other victories include those over Fabricio Werdum, Shane Carwin, Roy Nelson and Gabriel Gonzaga.

Mir will enter the bout having gone 3-0 in his last three fights with wins over Nogueira, Mirko Cro Cop and Nelson.

One question fans might want to ask themselves is, will JDS make the same mistake Nogueira did if he drops Mir and goes in for the finish? It’s unlikely he will go for a submission, but it will be interesting to see if he tries to if he gets the chance.

Silva continued:

I’d say Cigano’s a brown or black belt at Jiu-Jitsu, absolutely…He’s very good, fast, versatile and doesn’t get stuck on the positions, he can move fast and stand-up quickly. He’s on a good moment of his career. Every time he’s in Rio he trains much Jiu-Jitsu. Because he knocks many guys out people start thinking he’s just good at that.

The pay-per-view event will go down May 26 in Las Vegas. Other main-card matchups include Roy Nelson vs. Dave Herman, Shane del Rosario vs. Stipe Miocic and Mark Hunt vs. Stefan Struve.

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Kimbo Slice Knocks out Most Recent Opponent in 36 Seconds

After four successful boxing bouts that seen Kevin Ferguson, also known as Kimbo Slice, knocking out all but one of his opponents, the former mixed martial artist picked up his fifth victory inside the squared circle over the weekend in …

After four successful boxing bouts that seen Kevin Ferguson, also known as Kimbo Slice, knocking out all but one of his opponents, the former mixed martial artist picked up his fifth victory inside the squared circle over the weekend in just 36 seconds

His opponent, Jesse Porter, only held a 3-4 professional record and lasted long enough to be knocked out with a right hand moments into the bout. Overall, Ferguson’s five opponents’ combined record equals  five wins and nine losses.

It was his second bout since turning 38 earlier this year, and while his age may have already caught up to him in some ways, he is still staying active in a combat sport and showcasing the KO power that helped him make it into the UFC in 2009.

Ferguson left Mixed Martial Arts with a 4-2 record, having fought in EliteXC, The Ultimate Fighter and twice in the UFC. He went 1-1 in the promotion before being dropped after his loss to Matt Mitrione at UFC 113. His wins include those over Houston Alexander, James Thompson and Tank Abbott.

It has been over two years since Slice was seen fighting in MMA, but he did take quite an amount of publicity with him into the boxing world.

He knocked out James Wade in the first round of his debut bout last year and also had a come-from-behind knockout win in a fight he was losing against Brian Green in March. His other boxing wins are those against Charles Hackmann and Tay Bledsoe.

It’s hard to say where he is going with his boxing career, but don’t count on his opponents getting any better than this for a while.

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Georges St-Pierre Talks Rehab, Rory MacDonald and His Return to the Octagon

With the landscape of the welterweight division changing drastically over the last year, MMA fans are anticipating the return of reigning UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, who has been out of the Octagon since March 2011 and is expected to m…

With the landscape of the welterweight division changing drastically over the last year, MMA fans are anticipating the return of reigning UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, who has been out of the Octagon since March 2011 and is expected to make his return later this year.

“In July, I’ll be training again,” St-Pierre told UFC Central on Sports Net. “I think November is a realistic time for me to come back and fight.”

Since St-Pierre’s last win over Jake Shields at UFC 129, a new interim welterweight champion has been crowned in Carlos Condit, who defeated Nick Diaz at UFC 143. That fight emerged when St-Pierre injured his right knee and suffered an ACL injury late in 2011.

To make the division even more interesting, top contenders Johny Hendricks and Jake Ellenberger stopped previous title challengers, making a strong case to be considered for a shot at the title.

Still, GSP remains at the top of the division and a top pound-for-pound fighter in the sport. He recently has been seen cornering fighters he trains with, including rising contender Rory MacDonald.

“When you haven’t fought for a long time, you want the butterflies,” GSP said. “The feeling of fighting, you want to keep it alive inside of you. A good way to do it is to corner some of your training partners.”

He was last seen cornering MacDonald at UFC 145, where the 22-year-old defeated Che Mills by TKO.

“It’s how you come back from adversity that shows how good you are,” St-Pierre said of MacDonald’s victory. “It happens to everyone. It happened to me when I fought Frank Trigg. He caught me with a good punch in the beginning, and I had to readjust myself.”

GSP’s return fight is expected to come against Condit, who decided to wait for the undisputed champion to return after winning the interim belt.

It will be his seventh time defending the title he won from Matt Serra in 2008. His wins since then include those over Jon Fitch, BJ Penn, Thiago Alves, Dan Hardy, Josh Koscheck and Shields.

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UFC 146 Video: Extended Preview with Junior Dos Santos and Frank Mir

UFC 146 is a little over two weeks away, and with a five-fight main card packed with heavyweights, fans are expecting it to be one of the best cards of the year.In the main event, former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir gets another chance at the tit…

UFC 146 is a little over two weeks away, and with a five-fight main card packed with heavyweights, fans are expecting it to be one of the best cards of the year.

In the main event, former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir gets another chance at the title when he takes on reigning champion Junior dos Santos.

Santos, a Brazilian power-puncher, has knocked out some of the top heavyweights in the world, including Fabricio Werdum and Cain Velasquez. He won the title last November and has gone unbeaten throughout his UFC career.

Mir, who is stepping up as a late replacement for Alistair Overeem, is coming off three wins, including a brutal and impressive finish of Santos’ mentor Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. He submitted the Brazilian submission wizard with a Kimura lock in the first round of their bout at UFC 140. Other wins include those over Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovich and Roy Nelson.

In the co-main event, Cain Velasquez and Antonio Silva will square off in a duel between two fighters looking to prove they still belong at the top of the division.

Velasquez was knocked out by dos Santos in his last fight, while Silva was knocked out by Daniel Cormier.

Other main card bouts include Shane del Rosario vs. Stipe Miocic and Mark Hunt vs. Stefan Struve. Hunt vs. Struve is the only main card fight to remain the same since the card was announced.

The card will take place May 26 on pay-per-view, and will be broadcast live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

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UFC 146: Frank Mir Says Junior Dos Santos Has No Chance on Ground

In what could be his last possible chance to regain the UFC heavyweight title, former champion Frank Mir (16-5) knows where his best chance of success is in his upcoming bout with Junior dos Santos (14-1) at UFC 146, and it’s where he th…

In what could be his last possible chance to regain the UFC heavyweight title, former champion Frank Mir (16-5) knows where his best chance of success is in his upcoming bout with Junior dos Santos (14-1) at UFC 146, and it’s where he thinks his opponent has “no chance.”

“Obviously, we’re fighting a guy who’s made his career now of not going to the ground,” Mir said on HDNet’s Inside MMA. “The only time I’ve ever seen him take a shot is if he’s pretty handily winning the fight. He just does it to, maybe a change of pace to throw something out there. But as far as, you see when people engage him, he’s a ‘throw punches and run’ kind of guy.”

“He doesn’t wanna sit there and get grabbed and taken down,” Mir continued. “He’s not gonna fight that battle. If he was capable of doing it, we probably would’ve seen it already. The fact is that he avoids it like it’s poison. I think for two reasons—one, I don’t he’s probably that very good on the ground, and two, he is so good on his feet.”

Without more than a glimpse of dos Santos on the ground in his UFC career, it should be pointed out that his only loss came by an armbar in 2007. Mir has submitted nine of his opponents, including Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, who he submitted with a vicious kimura at UFC 140.

On a card that has already had some major changes, including a main event between JDS and Alistair Overeem being replaced with JDS vs. Mir, fans expect it to be a great night of fights featuring 10 of the UFC’s best heavyweights.

In the co-main event, former champion Cain Velasquez will fight Antonio Silva in a must-win fight, as both of them are coming off of first-round KO losses. Velasquez was beaten for the first time in his career last November when dos Santos knocked him out. Originally, Mir was supposed to fight him on the card before Overeem got removed.

“The only difference that I feel with dos Santos is that dos Santos is the better boxer, quicker hands,” Mir said. “He just isn’t as multi-faceted as Velasquez is. As far as, when you fight dos Santos, I don’t think it’s any secret, he has no chance of winning the fight if it goes to the ground. If we go into a wrestling match, he’s in trouble. He has to keep it where he’s best at, and you know, he’s the best boxer in the heavyweight division.”

The pay-per-view event will go down May 26 in Las Vegas. Other main card matchups include Roy Nelson vs. Dave Herman, Shane del Rosario vs. Stipe Miocic and Mark Hunt vs. Stefan Struve.

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