TEMECULA, Calif. — The light heavyweight tournament matchups for Bellator MMA’s next tentpole event were announced by CEO Scott Coker on Friday night during the main card of the promotion’s event.
Former UFC contender Phil Davis squares off…
TEMECULA, Calif. — The light heavyweight tournament matchups for Bellator MMA’s next tentpole event were announced by CEO Scott Coker on Friday night during the main card of the promotion’s event.
Former UFC contender Phil Davis squares off with former Bellator champ Emanuel Newton, while former Strikeforce champion Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal faces Linton Vassell. UFC veteran Francis Carmont will fight Philipe Lins in an alternate bout for the tournament.
Bellator MMA: Dynamite 1 takes place Saturday, Sept. 19 from the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif.
The event is headlined by the Bellator light-heavyweight title bout between former UFC champion Tito Ortiz and the undefeated Liam McGeary.
Additionally, Strikeforce and UFC vet Josh Thomson makes his promotional debut against Mike Bronzoulis.
TEMECULA — A heavyweight bout between Lorenzo Hood and Raphael Butler has been scrapped at Bellator 141 at the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, Calif.
According to Bellator officials, Hood suffered an injury in the locker room w…
TEMECULA — A heavyweight bout between Lorenzo Hood and Raphael Butler has been scrapped at Bellator 141 at the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, Calif.
According to Bellator officials, Hood suffered an injury in the locker room warming up to face Butler. Hood apparently felt a pop in his knee and didn’t want to risk further injury by competing. However, the injury didn’t warrant a trip to the hospital.
Both men will receive their show money from the promotion, but no win bonuses will be doled out.
A women’s featherweight bout between Marloes Coenen vs. Arlene Biencowe will now serve as the main card opener.
Rogan was critical of the UFC’s booking of Rousey against former boxing champ Holly Holm, chalking the matchmaking up to “a lack of talent” in the women’s bantamweight division.
Rogan made the case for No. 4 rankedAmanda Nunes getting the next crack at Rousey over the then-ranked No. 9 Holm, but Sonnen seems mostly apathetic to the field in general.
“Miesha Tate is the right contender if you want to follow the rankings but that’s been done twice,” Sonnen told Austin. “The division lacks parity. It’s a tough sell and we’ve already seen it twice and it wasn’t close the first two times. I like that there’s new blood. I like that Holly Holm is in there in terms of Miesha being out, but I get Joe Rogan’s point with Amanda Nunes. You could have gone with her but at this point, what the hell’s the difference? We’re buying it for Ronda and that’s just the truth.”
While Rogan’s critique over the division coincided with lavish praise of Rousey, Sonnen wasn’t as eager to dish out hyperbole for the champ.
“As far as fighting Ronda goes, these girls have one tremendously big obstacle which is that they don’t have the competitive history [of Rousey]. Ronda’s skill set is not unique. Jon Jones‘ skill set is unique. Jon Jones goes out there and does video game moves that the announcers can’t even call because they’ve never seen them before. Ronda’s a very basic and straightforward fighter, however, she’s a masterful competitor.
“She’s been at it her whole life through the Judo circuit, been to two different Olympic games. She’s shaken hands with another girl, competed with the lights on and found a way to get her hand raised.”
Sonnen insists it’s Rousey’s experience and mindset that set her apart from her challengers, not so much being an elite athlete.
“These other girls don’t have that,” Sonnen said of Rousey’s competitive career. “The division is brand new. It’s two, maybe three years old. They don’t have the amateur backgrounds, the professional backgrounds or anything extensive. They’re not great competitors. That’s what separates Ronda. It’s more of an intangible than a physical. She’s a competitor and these other girls aren’t.”
Rousey defends her bantamweight title to Holm Jan. 2 at UFC 195 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Angry Mighty Mouse.Demetrious Johnson says he’s done listening to MMA’s “uneducated fools.” “You just don’t understand the positives and the technique that I bring to the table.”
‘They’re going to lose a lot of talent.’ Melvin Guillard says he hears a lot of gripes over the UFC-Reebok deal from his American Top Team teammates.
Rogan was critical of the UFC’s booking of Rousey against former boxing champ Holly Holm, chalking the matchmaking up to “a lack of talent” in the women’s bantamweight division.
Rogan made the case for No. 4 rankedAmanda Nunes getting the next crack at Rousey over the then-ranked No. 9 Holm, but Sonnen seems mostly apathetic to the field in general.
“Miesha Tate is the right contender if you want to follow the rankings but that’s been done twice,” Sonnen told Austin. “The division lacks parity. It’s a tough sell and we’ve already seen it twice and it wasn’t close the first two times. I like that there’s new blood. I like that Holly Holm is in there in terms of Miesha being out, but I get Joe Rogan’s point with Amanda Nunes. You could have gone with her but at this point, what the hell’s the difference? We’re buying it for Ronda and that’s just the truth.”
While Rogan’s critique over the division coincided with lavish praise of Rousey, Sonnen wasn’t as eager to dish out hyperbole for the champ.
“As far as fighting Ronda goes, these girls have one tremendously big obstacle which is that they don’t have the competitive history [of Rousey]. Ronda’s skill set is not unique. Jon Jones‘ skill set is unique. Jon Jones goes out there and does video game moves that the announcers can’t even call because they’ve never seen them before. Ronda’s a very basic and straightforward fighter, however, she’s a masterful competitor.
“She’s been at it her whole life through the Judo circuit, been to two different Olympic games. She’s shaken hands with another girl, competed with the lights on and found a way to get her hand raised.”
Sonnen insists it’s Rousey’s experience and mindset that set her apart from her challengers, not so much being an elite athlete.
“These other girls don’t have that,” Sonnen said of Rousey’s competitive career. “The division is brand new. It’s two, maybe three years old. They don’t have the amateur backgrounds, the professional backgrounds or anything extensive. They’re not great competitors. That’s what separates Ronda. It’s more of an intangible than a physical. She’s a competitor and these other girls aren’t.”
Rousey defends her bantamweight title to Holm Jan. 2 at UFC 195 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Angry Mighty Mouse.Demetrious Johnson says he’s done listening to MMA’s “uneducated fools.” “You just don’t understand the positives and the technique that I bring to the table.”
‘They’re going to lose a lot of talent.’ Melvin Guillard says he hears a lot of gripes over the UFC-Reebok deal from his American Top Team teammates.
Coaching on The Ultimate Fighter seems to have been a bit of an emotional roller coaster for interim UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor.
Filming of season 22 lasted six weeks and just wrapped, but McGregor was the only constant variable prior to filming. Fellow contender Chad Mendes was origianlly paired to coach opposite McGregor, but plans shifted when featherweight champ Jose Aldo withdrew from UFC 189 in July. Mendes stepped in for Aldo, but the reality show lost a coach.
In came Team Alpha Male’s Urijah Faber, out went McGregor’s enthusiasm.
“They give me Urijah as a coach but they won’t let me fight him,” McGregor revealed in a newly released clip filmed weeks ago. “My energy was gone from it. I didn’t want to do it. [The show] did not mean anything to me. But the more I think about it and seeing the fights to get into the house and just being around it, this is the life I have chosen.
“This is the life I have created. To be here and have this opportunity is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Rather than be off with it and feel like I need to get away from it, I am embracing it now.”
McGregor has since been booked to face Aldo Dec. 12 at UFC 194 in Las Vegas, Nevada to unify the featherweight title, but the Irishman says he would have liked a tune-up against Faber.
“Really, it would be nice to have a fight at the end of it,” said McGregor. “We could easily fit a fight in on the Dublin card in The O2[3Arena] in October. Filming wraps at the end of September, I believe[sic]. I could go in and make light work of Urijah. I could maul him inside one round and be fresh.
“Then we could do the Jose fight towards the end of the year on one of these dates that’s being thrown around. They wouldn’t have it so we’ll just be coaches and that will be that.”
5 MUST-READ STORIES
The beef lives on. UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey is still throwing shots at boxer Floyd Mayweather. “When he learns to read and write, he can text me.”
Everyone loves Anthony. Both former Bellator champion Eddie Alvarez and contender Edson Barbozawant a fight with former UFC lightweight champion Anonthy Pettis in December.
Hey guys, I’m trying to take Ronda Rousey to the Marine Corps Ball this year and I need your help to reach out to her and her fans. Please share this post and video. Thank you!!
Found something you’d like to see in the Morning Report? Just hit me up on Twitter @SaintMMA and we’ll include it in tomorrow’s column.
Coaching on The Ultimate Fighter seems to have been a bit of an emotional roller coaster for interim UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor.
Filming of season 22 lasted six weeks and just wrapped, but McGregor was the only constant variable prior to filming. Fellow contender Chad Mendes was origianlly paired to coach opposite McGregor, but plans shifted when featherweight champ Jose Aldo withdrew from UFC 189 in July. Mendes stepped in for Aldo, but the reality show lost a coach.
In came Team Alpha Male’s Urijah Faber, out went McGregor’s enthusiasm.
“They give me Urijah as a coach but they won’t let me fight him,” McGregor revealed in a newly released clip filmed weeks ago. “My energy was gone from it. I didn’t want to do it. [The show] did not mean anything to me. But the more I think about it and seeing the fights to get into the house and just being around it, this is the life I have chosen.
“This is the life I have created. To be here and have this opportunity is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Rather than be off with it and feel like I need to get away from it, I am embracing it now.”
McGregor has since been booked to face Aldo Dec. 12 at UFC 194 in Las Vegas, Nevada to unify the featherweight title, but the Irishman says he would have liked a tune-up against Faber.
“Really, it would be nice to have a fight at the end of it,” said McGregor. “We could easily fit a fight in on the Dublin card in The O2[3Arena] in October. Filming wraps at the end of September, I believe[sic]. I could go in and make light work of Urijah. I could maul him inside one round and be fresh.
“Then we could do the Jose fight towards the end of the year on one of these dates that’s being thrown around. They wouldn’t have it so we’ll just be coaches and that will be that.”
5 MUST-READ STORIES
The beef lives on. UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey is still throwing shots at boxer Floyd Mayweather. “When he learns to read and write, he can text me.”
Everyone loves Anthony. Both former Bellator champion Eddie Alvarez and contender Edson Barbozawant a fight with former UFC lightweight champion Anonthy Pettis in December.
Hey guys, I’m trying to take Ronda Rousey to the Marine Corps Ball this year and I need your help to reach out to her and her fans. Please share this post and video. Thank you!!
The pair of UFC lightweights emerged in 2007 as castmates on the fifth season of The Ultimate Fighter, but have somehow avoided having to scrap.
Hosting a Q&A session Tuesday, a fan told Lauzon he’d asked Diaz why the two haven’t been booked. According to Diaz, he just plain likes Joe too much.
“I also love Nate,” Lauzon replied. “I think it’s kind of a natural thing that we’ll probably fight at some point, maybe. But I would always try to fight someone else before I fought Nate. Just because I like Nate a lot. It would probably be an exciting fight, but I like Nate too much.”
Diaz was a particular point of interest to fans and Lauzon spent a goodly portion of the chat just telling Diaz stories.
“I love Nate Diaz,” said Lauzon. “We were both on [The Ultimate Fighter] together. We were on opposite teams. He actually arm-locked me the very first day for the tryouts. The tryouts were to pick teams and I got matched up with Nate. I hadn’t done jiu jitsu in two months because my brother, we don’t get along so well sometimes, we were doing kickboxing sparring and he double-legged me through the ropes into a hard piece of metal.
“I had a huge lump and I couldn’t do anything off my back for two months. So the first day, it’s the first time I’ve done any sort of jiu jitsu and of course I’m paired up with Nate and he arm-locks me right off the bat. It was such a nice arm lock.”
Despite his propensity to start brawls in casinos, Diaz is also the type to sprint across a lobby to hug your mom and dad. Well, Lauzon’s at least. If you’ve got beef with Nate, you’ve got beef with Joe.
“Everyone’s like, ‘He kind of looks like a jerk.’ Lauzon said of Diaz. “He seems like a dick.’ I try to explain that the Diaz brothers don’t like doing media, but if you met Nate Diaz you would love him. Nate is the man. I wish it would come off a little bit clearer how awesome those guys are. He’d give you the shirt off his back. The 209 don’t give a f**k.”
The pair of UFC lightweights emerged in 2007 as castmates on the fifth season of The Ultimate Fighter, but have somehow avoided having to scrap.
Hosting a Q&A session Tuesday, a fan told Lauzon he’d asked Diaz why the two haven’t been booked. According to Diaz, he just plain likes Joe too much.
“I also love Nate,” Lauzon replied. “I think it’s kind of a natural thing that we’ll probably fight at some point, maybe. But I would always try to fight someone else before I fought Nate. Just because I like Nate a lot. It would probably be an exciting fight, but I like Nate too much.”
Diaz was a particular point of interest to fans and Lauzon spent a goodly portion of the chat just telling Diaz stories.
“I love Nate Diaz,” said Lauzon. “We were both on [The Ultimate Fighter] together. We were on opposite teams. He actually arm-locked me the very first day for the tryouts. The tryouts were to pick teams and I got matched up with Nate. I hadn’t done jiu jitsu in two months because my brother, we don’t get along so well sometimes, we were doing kickboxing sparring and he double-legged me through the ropes into a hard piece of metal.
“I had a huge lump and I couldn’t do anything off my back for two months. So the first day, it’s the first time I’ve done any sort of jiu jitsu and of course I’m paired up with Nate and he arm-locks me right off the bat. It was such a nice arm lock.”
Despite his propensity to start brawls in casinos, Diaz is also the type to sprint across a lobby to hug your mom and dad. Well, Lauzon’s at least. If you’ve got beef with Nate, you’ve got beef with Joe.
“Everyone’s like, ‘He kind of looks like a jerk.’ Lauzon said of Diaz. “He seems like a dick.’ I try to explain that the Diaz brothers don’t like doing media, but if you met Nate Diaz you would love him. Nate is the man. I wish it would come off a little bit clearer how awesome those guys are. He’d give you the shirt off his back. The 209 don’t give a f**k.”
Prior to Cain Velasquez losing his heavyweight title to Fabricio Werdum at UFC 188 in June, American Kickboxing Academy’s Javier Mendez had some concerns about the altitude in Mexico City.
Werdum moved his entire training camp to Mexico to spend five weeks acclimating to the high altitude. Velasquez arrived just two weeks before fight night.
“I told Cain we needed to come down early to get used to the altitude,” Mendez said during the first episode of the UFC 188 Embedded series. “He said, ‘No.’ He’s trained here before and he’s fine. I kept pushing the issue and he gave in and decided, ‘OK, I’ll go two weeks early. It worked out great. He’s in great, great cardio shape.”
Well, that wasn’t the case. Werdum would go on to submit an exhausted Velasquez in the third round to become the undisputed UFC heavyweight champ.
Now, Mendez is taking full responsibility for the ill planning.
“I screwed up,” Mendez told Talking Brawls. “I screwed up the last time. The bottom line is it was my responsibility to prepare my fighter in the best possible way and that night I didn’t. I failed. I failed at my job. Regardless of Cain saying it was his fault, it wasn’t. It was my fault. It was my responsibility to look into the altitude and all that. I screwed up and I won’t make that mistake again.
“Fabricio is a really, really good fighter and you can’t make a mistake. Obviously, it showed. They didn’t make mistakes and we made plenty.”
A surprise to no one, Mendez is attributing much of Velasquez’s performance on the high elevation.
“For me, 100 percent [altitude] was the main factor,” said Mendez. “It was the best Cain I’ve ever had. He was 100 percent healthy. He was in the greatest shape. He was going through everyone here no problem. No injures, no nothing. Then to go over there and he looks like the worst Cain I’ve ever had. I don’t know how to explain it.”
In his years spent training Velasquez, Mendez says he’s never seen ‘Cardio Cain’ sucking wind like he was that night.
“Going into the fight, one minute into it, when he took Fabricio down, then he gets up and I notice he was breathing pretty heavy and I’m like, ‘Oh, s**t.’ I knew there was problems right there. I went, ‘Oh my god.’ I’ve never seen that from him. I was very concerned going through the fight, he was in trouble the whole time. Nothing we were doing was working. His legs were gone. It was like Fabricio was Superman. ‘Hit me with everything you got, he aint hurting me.’
“That’s exactly what it looked like to me. There was nothing we could have done on that night to win. It was just a matter of time of when Fabricio was going to take that belt that night. Cudos to him. They did the work. That’s what the fight game is all about. You’ve got to be prepared. He did his job. His coaches did their jobs. I didn’t.”
Despite the one-side performance, Velasquez was awarded a rematch against Werdum penciled in for early next year. A date and venue hasn’t been set, but Werdum told reporters in Brazil that the particulars would be announced this week following a meeting with UFC president Dana White and CEO Lorenzo Fertitta.
As for the rematch, Mendez doesn’t sound like he’ll be doing much tinkering.
“We just have to come in in condition,” said Mendez. “We’ve got to come in the way we were last time. We’re fighting in a different place now. The fight will showcase itself. We’ll see who did their homework that night. In my opinion, we don’t need to do anything other than what we did last time. The only difference was the altitude training. We screwed up there, but it’s not going to happen in the second one because I don’t think we’re fighting in Mexico or in high elevation. We’ll be fine. We’ll just do the same thing we did.”
‘UFC is extremely disappointed with Anthony Johnson’s recent actions.’ Anthony Johnson agrees to undergo counseling and to make a donation to a women’s charity after berating a woman at his gym and posting a rant about it on Facebook..
Six-hundred-and-ninety-eight fighters, and counting, have competed on The Ultimate Fighter since its debut in 2005. The hybrid reality show/athletic competition has produced heroes who have clinched UFC gold and been involved in the most important octagon moments in history. It has also produced villains whose names are reviled in the MMA community and beyond. However, for every fighter who became a recognizable character in combat sports after the cameras stopped rolling on their season of TUF, there is a legion of competitors who faded into obscurity. Life After TUF catches up with individuals who did not find fame and fortune in the UFC after their time on TUF. In the first of this series of posts I tracked down Noah Inhofer from The Ultimate Fighter 3.
Found something you’d like to see in the Morning Report? Just hit me up on Twitter @SaintMMA and we’ll include it in tomorrow’s column.
Prior to Cain Velasquez losing his heavyweight title to Fabricio Werdum at UFC 188 in June, American Kickboxing Academy’s Javier Mendez had some concerns about the altitude in Mexico City.
Werdum moved his entire training camp to Mexico to spend five weeks acclimating to the high altitude. Velasquez arrived just two weeks before fight night.
“I told Cain we needed to come down early to get used to the altitude,” Mendez said during the first episode of the UFC 188 Embedded series. “He said, ‘No.’ He’s trained here before and he’s fine. I kept pushing the issue and he gave in and decided, ‘OK, I’ll go two weeks early. It worked out great. He’s in great, great cardio shape.”
Well, that wasn’t the case. Werdum would go on to submit an exhausted Velasquez in the third round to become the undisputed UFC heavyweight champ.
Now, Mendez is taking full responsibility for the ill planning.
“I screwed up,” Mendez told Talking Brawls. “I screwed up the last time. The bottom line is it was my responsibility to prepare my fighter in the best possible way and that night I didn’t. I failed. I failed at my job. Regardless of Cain saying it was his fault, it wasn’t. It was my fault. It was my responsibility to look into the altitude and all that. I screwed up and I won’t make that mistake again.
“Fabricio is a really, really good fighter and you can’t make a mistake. Obviously, it showed. They didn’t make mistakes and we made plenty.”
A surprise to no one, Mendez is attributing much of Velasquez’s performance on the high elevation.
“For me, 100 percent [altitude] was the main factor,” said Mendez. “It was the best Cain I’ve ever had. He was 100 percent healthy. He was in the greatest shape. He was going through everyone here no problem. No injures, no nothing. Then to go over there and he looks like the worst Cain I’ve ever had. I don’t know how to explain it.”
In his years spent training Velasquez, Mendez says he’s never seen ‘Cardio Cain’ sucking wind like he was that night.
“Going into the fight, one minute into it, when he took Fabricio down, then he gets up and I notice he was breathing pretty heavy and I’m like, ‘Oh, s**t.’ I knew there was problems right there. I went, ‘Oh my god.’ I’ve never seen that from him. I was very concerned going through the fight, he was in trouble the whole time. Nothing we were doing was working. His legs were gone. It was like Fabricio was Superman. ‘Hit me with everything you got, he aint hurting me.’
“That’s exactly what it looked like to me. There was nothing we could have done on that night to win. It was just a matter of time of when Fabricio was going to take that belt that night. Cudos to him. They did the work. That’s what the fight game is all about. You’ve got to be prepared. He did his job. His coaches did their jobs. I didn’t.”
Despite the one-side performance, Velasquez was awarded a rematch against Werdum penciled in for early next year. A date and venue hasn’t been set, but Werdum told reporters in Brazil that the particulars would be announced this week following a meeting with UFC president Dana White and CEO Lorenzo Fertitta.
As for the rematch, Mendez doesn’t sound like he’ll be doing much tinkering.
“We just have to come in in condition,” said Mendez. “We’ve got to come in the way we were last time. We’re fighting in a different place now. The fight will showcase itself. We’ll see who did their homework that night. In my opinion, we don’t need to do anything other than what we did last time. The only difference was the altitude training. We screwed up there, but it’s not going to happen in the second one because I don’t think we’re fighting in Mexico or in high elevation. We’ll be fine. We’ll just do the same thing we did.”
‘UFC is extremely disappointed with Anthony Johnson’s recent actions.’ Anthony Johnson agrees to undergo counseling and to make a donation to a women’s charity after berating a woman at his gym and posting a rant about it on Facebook..
Six-hundred-and-ninety-eight fighters, and counting, have competed on The Ultimate Fighter since its debut in 2005. The hybrid reality show/athletic competition has produced heroes who have clinched UFC gold and been involved in the most important octagon moments in history. It has also produced villains whose names are reviled in the MMA community and beyond. However, for every fighter who became a recognizable character in combat sports after the cameras stopped rolling on their season of TUF, there is a legion of competitors who faded into obscurity. Life After TUF catches up with individuals who did not find fame and fortune in the UFC after their time on TUF. In the first of this series of posts I tracked down Noah Inhofer from The Ultimate Fighter 3.
