The UFC 140 fight card is a an extremely large, early Christmas gift for the MMA fan everywhere, but especially to those just north of the border. The event takes place from the Air Canada Center in Toronto, and here are some of the highlights of the c…
The UFC 140 fight card is a an extremely large, early Christmas gift for the MMA fan everywhere, but especially to those just north of the border. The event takes place from the Air Canada Center in Toronto, and here are some of the highlights of the card:
– Seven out of twelve bouts will feature Canada’s best fighters. Mark Hominick, Claude Patrick, Mark Bocek, Krzysztof Soszynski, John Makdessi, Yves Jabouin, and Mitch Clark will all be in action. Another, star Rory MacDonald, had to withdraw from his fight due to injury
– A title fight between two of the best mixed martial artists in the world with headliner Jon Jones vs Lyoto Machida.
– Three all time great mixed martial artists and possible future Hall of Famer’s are fighting on the card with Tito Ortiz, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Frank Mir.
Here is a fight-by-fight preview of the UFC 140 card.
Jesse “The Ghost” Gross is ready to make things right in his young MMA career as he has taken a last minute tilt against tough, unorthodox, Michigan puncher Daron Cruikshank this Saturday night at The Meltdown in Sarnia. Gross burst on the MM…
Jesse “The Ghost” Gross is ready to make things right in his young MMA career as he has taken a last minute tilt against tough, unorthodox, Michigan puncher Daron Cruikshank this Saturday night at The Meltdown in Sarnia.
Gross burst on the MMA scene in 2009-2010 with six consecutive wins before a very controversial loss against Brad Cardinal in May of this year derailed his run. If not for a questionable referee stoppage “The Ghost” could have easily remained an undefeated 7-0 in his career.
Gross then made his debut in Bellator in July and lost a tough one to Alexandre Bezerra via rear naked choke. It has been a tough time for Gross to meet the expectations he set with his impressive start. His opponent this weekend knocked out Cardinal in the first round in June.
The Meltdown, is presented by The Score Fighting Series. The event goes down from Sarnia, Ontario, and is a packed card filled with local MMA stars.
Find out who “The Ghost” picks in Meltdown’s Clements vs Clementi in the full interview video attached.
Here are some interview highlights…
On his opponent Daron Cruickshank
“I have a last minute fight here against Daron Cruickshank. I’ve known Daron since I started fighting. I made my amateur debut and I think he made his debut or his second fight the same night so,” he said.
“We came up together in amateur in XFC and he was the welterweight champion and I was actually the lightweight champion so. We were always the same size and I was always asking him when he is gonna drop down because I thought he should be fighting at lightweight, now he’s finally made the drop down and crushed through some top ten Canadian lightweights now.”
“He is making quite a name for himself over here now he just became the Ringside lightweight champion by beating Mike Ricci and he’s no slouch.”
“Ill tell you right now he definitely has better wrestling than I do, If he chooses to take it down it’s going to be a tough night for me to try to stop it.”
“Because he is such a good wrestler he gets away with a lot of wild stuff because people can’t take him down. He’ll go out there and try to throw a lot of flashy kicks, like spinning this and flying whatever. I’m hoping to be a step up from strikers he’s faced in the past so he won’t be able to get away with that.”
On what this fight means to his career and future in MMA
“I’ve got my back stuck against the wall and I’m gonna fight to get out of it.”
Dwight Wakabayashi is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA and correspondent for MMACanada.net.
The Mixed Martial Arts Expo is set to return to The Greater Toronto Area this weekend, December 3 and 4, in what promises to be another action packed event for martial artists and fans to enjoy.
The MMA Expo features martial arts tournaments, MMA …
The Mixed Martial Arts Expo is set to return to The Greater Toronto Area this weekend, December 3 and 4, in what promises to be another action packed event for martial artists and fans to enjoy.
The MMA Expo features martial arts tournaments, MMA exhibits and some of the hottest stars from the fastest growing sport in the world.
“Between a show floor chock-full of martial arts competitions, demonstrations, seminars, exhibitors, our gorgeous MMA Expo Hottie models and a stellar line-up of MMA celebrities, Ontario MMA fans are in for another action-packed MMA weekend,” stated MMA Expo founder and president, Gerald Chopik.
Some of the MMA stars on the roster include Carlos Newton, Canada’s first-ever UFC Champion, Carlos Condit, Melvin Guillard and Ryan Ford.
Sponsored by Headrush is rising star, the 6’11” Stefan “Skyskraper” Struve and Mac Danzig.
Canadian MMA star Sam Stout, sponsored by Xyience will be appearing at the JAKT apparel booth along with UFC veteran Jake Shields and UFC Ring Girl Brittney Palmer.
The MMA Expo, now a division of Fight Media Inc., will also host the world-renowned North American Grappling Association (NAGA) Championships, the first NAGA event to be held in Canada.
Fitness Kickboxing Canada seminars offer fitness enthusiasts and fight fans the unique opportunity to earn Can-Fit-Pro, CPTN & NSCA points, as well as train hands-on with Team GSP Ultimate Fighter series winner Jonathan Brookins.
Also new to the show floor this year is an MMA TEAM Challenge, which pits martial art schools and gyms head-to-head over a gruelling six-lane obstacle course, MMA Expo Lifestyle Fashion Show and the MMA Art Exhibit.
Jesse Ronson is set to take a nice leap forward in his career on Saturday night when he gets a chance to test his skills against a tough veteran in Tony Hervey at The Meltdown, presented by The Score Fighting Series. The event goes down …
Jesse Ronson is set to take a nice leap forward in his career on Saturday night when he gets a chance to test his skills against a tough veteran in Tony Hervey at The Meltdown, presented by The Score Fighting Series. The event goes down from Sarnia, Ontario, and is a packed card filled with local MMA stars.
Ronson is a very technically sound yet slick striker who is 7-2 in his career and an impressive 3-1 in 2011. Look for this fight to possibly take Fight of the Night honors on Saturday night.
Find out who “The Body Snatcher” picks in UFC 140 fights Jones vs Machida and Hominick vs Jung in the full interview video attached.
Here are some interview highlights…
Was he disappointed in how The Global Warriors event went down
“I was pissed when that event fell through. I’ve had probably 200 people ask me the same question. It probably took years out of my life just to deal with it.
“I’m not gonna lie obviously I partied for like a week straight and bulked up and therefore the diet was pretty strict leading up to this fight.”
On getting on The Meltdown card and his opponent Tony Hervey
“I was glad to get on the Meltdown card, I wanted to get on Instinct MMA, I called out one guy in particular Derek Gauthier and I tried to get a fight with him but it didn’t happen and he just ended up fighting Ricky Goodall so.
“I was looking all over for a fight, called out Brad Cardinal I called him out too.
“Tony Hervey, they call him the Lionheart, and I watched his fight with Gomi and I don’t know if he has the heart of a lion or the chin of a cinder block because he can take a beating and keep coming, and I like that.
“I see this fight being a striking war. I consider myself more technically sound and I gotta be on my guard with his wild looping shots. Then again, with my power, he doesn’t want to take any of my shots either.
“Every lion can be tamed.”
Dwight Wakabayashi is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA and correspondent for MMACanada.net.
Chris Clements finally gets a chance to test his skills against a veteran UFC name this weekend when he fights Rich Clementi in The Meltdown, presented by The Score Fighting Series. The event goes down from Sarnia, Ontario and is a packed card filled w…
Chris Clements finally gets a chance to test his skills against a veteran UFC name this weekend when he fights Rich Clementi in The Meltdown, presented by The Score Fighting Series. The event goes down from Sarnia, Ontario and is a packed card filled with local MMA stars.
Clements is coming off a spinning back kick win in July, and I took the time to visit him at his home gym, the Adrenaline Training Center in London, Ontario this week to get his vibe heading into Saturday’s fight.
Find out who “The Menace” picks in UFC 140 fights Jones vs Machida and Hominick vs Jung in the full interview video attached.
Here are some interview highlights:
What has he been up to since his last fight:
“I have a baby on the way.”
“I didn’t get too out of shape after the Briere fight. I was supposed to fight right away in October for The Score against Marcus Davis, but it kinda interfered with the wedding and I didn’t want to take a fight like that lightly. Then Shawn’s passing set us back again, so it just wasn’t a good time for me.”
On if he is back ready to face Clementi:
“I’m happy with the opponent. I just wanted a UFC vet, and Rich Clementi is a very well known UFC vet so that’s what I was looking for. I wanted to test my skills against a world-level opponent, so I’m happy that they found me someone like that.”
“The big difference is I was preparing for Forrest Petz, who is a striker and right handed, to one week’s notice now I gotta prepare for a left handed grappler pretty much, so it’s a big change up in the game plan. But all in all, I’m prepared for anyone, any time.”
On whether we will see a confident ground game:
“Yeah, I have a really good ground game, close to 70 percent of my training is on the ground. I don’t spend a lot of time on my striking, I was just kinda naturally good at it.”
“When I’m in a fight situation, I just see a chin and I want to hit it.”
On his fighter Jess Ronson and his match up with UFC veteran Tony Hervey:
“Tony Hervey is a very tricky guy, I’ve seen a lot of video on him. I’m also Jesse Ronson’s manager, so I had to accept the fight.”
“He’s a little bit more wild than Ronson, he may have a little bit more natural athleticism than Ronson, but Ronson’s so technically sound, his boxing and his kickboxing and he angles and stuff like that is just…technically sound will beat athleticism every time.”
Dwight Wakabayashi is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA and correspondent for MMACanada.net.
MMA fans in Ontario are in for a blast in the next few weeks as two great shows are set to go off in our region. Of course, UFC 140 is the big show set for December 10th, at the ACC in Toronto and will feature an incredible main event title match betwe…
MMA fans in Ontario are in for a blast in the next few weeks as two great shows are set to go off in our region. Of course, UFC 140 is the big show set for December 10th, at the ACC in Toronto and will feature an incredible main event title match between Jon Jones and Lyoto Machida. The card will also feature plenty of fights involving this regions top fighters in Mark Hominick, Claude Patrick and Mark Bocek.
Before the big show comes through, The Score Fighting Series and Avantguard Production’s stacked show “Meltdown in the Valley” is also poised to go down Saturday, December 3rd at the RBC Center in Sarnia, Ontario.
Meltdown will showcase Ontario’s best fighters outside of the UFC with headliner and local star John “Haggis Basher” Fraser and Chris “The Menace” Clements scheduled in separate bouts.
The 34-year-old Fraser is a veteran submission wizard and holds a 9-3 record in the cage with eight of those wins coming via armbar or choke. Fraser fights out of Supreme Martial Arts in Sarnia and will be facing fellow submission artist Travis Reddinger in the main event. Fraser is coming off a masterful submission win over Chuck Mady at PFC Border Wars in July. Fraser will be looking to boost his stock with a win and get the attention of the UFC brass.
Ringside and PFC welterweight champion and highlight reel artist Chris “The Menace” Clements is also fighting on the card and has informed me that UFC veteran Rich Clementi has just been secured as his opponent. Clements supplied yet another highlight reel knockout in July with a spinning back kick victory over up and comer from Alberta Travis Briere. The 35-year-old welterweight is also gunning for that one shot in the big show and a solid win over UFC veteran Clementi may be the mark he needs.
The Meltdown card is stacked with a great mix of Canadian veterans and young up-and-comers and should be an electric night of mixed martial arts. The Score Fighting Series has established itself as a very solid, professional regional fight production.
Aside from the local headliners, two very highly anticipated fights are on the card as Canadian pioneer John Alessio will face former Strikeforce and WEC fighter Paul Healy and two of the regions best big men will clash with Misha Cirkunov facing Ali Mokdad.
Jesse “The Ghost” Gross is ready to make things right in his young