Author: By Mike Straka

Montreal native Valerie “Trouble” Letourneau knows just how important a win over fellow Canadian Jessica Rakoczy would be for her prospects in the UFC’s strawweight division.The two Canadians face off Saturday in Montreal’s Bell Centre. “I believe an impressive win will be a statement for the division,” she said. “Hopefully I can get a top 10 fighter, and climb my way to the top of the division after this fight.”And as Paige VanZant proved over the weekend with a dominant performance against Felice Herrig, the strawweights are gaining sign … Read the Full Article Here

Jim Miller relishes the role of the spoiler. He doused a red hot Charles Oliveira with a first-round submission way back in 2010. He followed that up with a TKO of the surging Kamal Shalorus. Both guys showed a lot of promise for the lightweight division. Both were derailed by the Jim Miller express train.Now he’ll have a chance to do it again against Beneil Dariush in New Jersey’s Prudential Center on Saturday night. The rising star is on a three-fight win streak and has looked more and more well-rounded with every outing.“He’s a dangerous guy,” Miller said. &l … Read the Full Article Here

Undefeated light heavyweight Corey Anderson (6-0) has been “Beastin 25/8” since he was in the third grade, when he started a wrestling journey that has led to a fight career in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s light heavyweight division.When he faces Gian Villante on April 18th at Newark, NJ’s Prudential Center, the world will get to witness the hardworking TUF 19 winner whose nickname declares that “24/7 just doesn’t cut it.”That’s also why the Rockton, Illinois-based Anderson picked up and moved to New Jersey, where former lightweight champ … Read the Full Article Here

Like jazz music, mixed martial arts has a rhythm and sound that is often improvised on the spot.Fighters can come in to a bout with a strategy and a game plan but when your game plan isn’t working, you’ve got to be able to jam to a different tune, and Ron Stallings understands this better than anyone.“I’m a musician and I like to relate everything to music and rhythms of pattern,” Stallings said. “Most fighters look at this like a hurt game where they’re saying, ‘I’m gonna kill you.’ I look at it as an art form. I play jazz, and lot … Read the Full Article Here

One of the drawbacks to having “Hands of Stone” is that after a while, they become heavy, and the one carrying those stones may need to take a rest to recharge the batteries.That’s exactly what Sam “Hands of Stone” Stout did since dropping his last fight, and he is recharged coming into his UFC 185 matchup against Ross “The Real Deal” Pearson in Dallas, Texas on Saturday, March 14.“Training is going well,” Stout said. “I took a good six months where I hit a little pads here and there. I stayed in shape but I didn’t train for a f … Read the Full Article Here

Sergio Pettis faces Ryan Benoit at UFC 185 in Dallas’ American Airlines Center on Saturday, and for the second time he will be on a UFC card that his older brother Anthony is headlining.And that’s just fine with him.“The last time we both fought on the same card we got good results,” said Sergio, who is making the cut from bantamweight to flyweight for the first time in his UFC career.“The cut is always tough but I’m feeling good,” he says.Pettis has had trouble making the cut in the past, so all eyes will be on him on weigh-in day, however, under th … Read the Full Article Here