Coming off one-sided losses in the UFC, bantamweights Hugo Viana and Ramiro Hernandez are set to collide at UFC on FOX 10 in Chicago, Ill., on Jan. 25.
Ben Henderson vs. Josh Thomson will headline the card at the United Center.
Vian…
Coming off one-sided losses in the UFC, bantamweights Hugo Viana and Ramiro Hernandez are set to collide at UFC on FOX 10 in Chicago, Ill., on Jan. 25.
Viana (7-1) returns to the cage following the first official loss of his MMA career. The TUF: Brazil contestant dropped two weight classes after his 150-pound catchweight bout with John Teixeira at UFC 147. After an impressive knockout win over Reuben Duran in his bantamweight debut, “Wolverine” was dominated and finished by T.J. Dillashaw at UFC on FOX 7.
Hernandez signed a deal with the UFC after racking up a 13-4 MMA record with nine stoppage victories, but he failed to win in his Octagon debut at UFC Fight Night 28, when he was submitted by Lucas Martins in 70 seconds.
Stipe Miocic’s camp wanted a fight with Gabriel “Napao” Gonzaga, and the UFC approved the idea. Now that the heavyweights are set to collide at UFC on FOX 10 on Jan. 25, the Brazilian is curious to hear why he was a target for Mioci…
Stipe Miocic‘s camp wanted a fight with Gabriel “Napao” Gonzaga, and the UFC approved the idea. Now that the heavyweights are set to collide at UFC on FOX 10 on Jan. 25, the Brazilian is curious to hear why he was a target for Miocic.
“I really don’t know why he called me out,” Gonzaga told MMAFighting.com. “He’s above me in the rankings and asked to fight me. Either he’s scared to fight someone else or he believes I’m an easy win for him – and he’s wrong.”
Gonzaga needed less than two minutes combined to win his last couple fights in the UFC, scoring knockout victories over Shawn Jordan and Dave Herman. He hasn’t watched Miocic’s win over Roy Nelson yet, but believes he has the tools to beat him.
“I try my best to be the most well-rounded fighter I can be to fight anyone, and I believe our styles matches perfectly,” he said. “Jiu-jitsu is always an option, but there’s no gi in MMA, so I always have to use my boxing and muay thai to open some spaces. I have way more experience in every aspect of the game, not only jiu-jitsu.”
“Napao” is 4-1 since his return to the UFC, and a win over Miocic could get him back to the Top 10.
“I wasn’t sure what did I want in the past,” he said on his retirement in 2010, “but now I know that I want to be the UFC champion.”
“I believe I can beat anyone, but you have to have some luck when the time comes. I lost to Randy Couture because of an accident during the fight, and I believe things could have been different if I had better luck.”
Gonzaga has earned a shot to the UFC gold in 2007, after he stopped Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic, but was defeated by Couture four months later. More experienced, “Napao” believes he can beat anyone, including Cain Velasquez, to become the best in the world.
“(Velasquez) is a tough fighter, but everybody looks up to the champion and studies his games,” he said. “He has some flaws in his game, and I’d need to be ready for this fight.”
UFC on FOX 10 takes place at the United Center in Chicago, Ill., and is headlined by the clash of top-ranked lightweights Ben Henderson and Josh Thomson.
World Series of Fighting gave Rousimar Palhares a second chance, and he says he won’t blow it.
After the world of mixed martial arts crucified the grappling wizard for holding the submission too long against Mike Pierce at UFC…
After the world of mixed martial arts crucified the grappling wizard for holding the submission too long against Mike Pierce at UFC Fight Night 29 in Barueri, Brazil, “Toquinho” is working hard to avoid more issues in his next bouts.
“We’re working hard to make sure that it never happens again,” Palhares told MMAFighting.com. “I wasn’t focused and I didn’t realize that I was doing it. Now that I can see it, I hope I can work hard on that. We’re training the right way, fixing the issues. It’s perfect now.
“I never wanted to cause any harm to anyone, and I always believed I’d be able to find a new promotion to fight. I’m really happy that everything is back to normal in my life.”
Palhares is expected to make his WSOF debut in March, but no opponent has been lined up yet. Jon Fitch, another welterweight under contract with the promotion, has said in the past that he wouldn’t fight the Brazilian after what he did to Pierce. However, “Toquinho” is confident that WSOF won’t have any problems finding an opponent for his debut.
“I’ll fight anyone,” he said. “I’m here, I’m ready. I’ve signed the contract and I’m happy to get back to the cage. I want to be back in the best shape of my life. I’ve found my weight class, and now I’ll be able to show everything I can do.
“The only thing that bothered me is the fact that (Fitch) said he doesn’t like me, but I never did anything to him. He said things without knowing me. I hope I can show him who I really am so he’ll change his opinion about me. I have nothing against him.”
Palhares’ manager, Alex Davis is happy to have his fighter back to the game.
“I’m really happy for the opportunity that Ray Sefo and Ali Abdel-Aziz gave him,” Davis said. “I’m sure he’ll do big fights at the WSOF. I still believe he didn’t deserve to get cut by the UFC. He would have become the welterweight champion there, and I’m sure he’ll become the WSOF champion.”
UFC Fight Night 36 gets a new fight as Nicholas Musoke returns to the cage to fight Viscardi Andrade in Jaragua do Sul, Brazil, on Feb. 15. MMAFighting.com confirmed the news with sources close to the situation, following an initial…
UFC Fight Night 36 gets a new fight as Nicholas Musoke returns to the cage to fight Viscardi Andrade in Jaragua do Sul, Brazil, on Feb. 15. MMAFighting.com confirmed the news with sources close to the situation, following an initial report from Combate.
Musoke (11-2, 1 no-contest) stopped long-time UFC veteran Alessio Sakara in his Octagon debut at UFC Fight Night 30 in Manchester, England, finishing the fight with an armbar in the first round. The Swedish fighter, who currently rides a seven-fight win streak, returns to the welterweight division for his next bout.
After losing to William Macario at TUF: Brazil 2’s semifinal, Andrade (15-5) stopped Bristol Marunde in 96 seconds to earn his first UFC win at UFC 163 in Rio de Janeiro. Fighting out of Sao Paulo, Brazil, Andrade has nine finishes in his MMA career, being five by way of knockout and four via submission.
Chinzo Machida is back to the win column, and he did it in devastating fashion.
The older brother of former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida needed only one round to put Brian Wood out cold with a flying knee at Resurrec…
Chinzo Machida is back to the win column, and he did it in devastating fashion.
The older brother of former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida needed only one round to put Brian Wood out cold with a flying knee at Resurrection Fighting Alliance 11 in Broomfield, Colo.
“I was doing well, then I connected the knee and it was over,” Chinzo Machida told MMAFighting.com. “It was a nice knockout. Everybody’s talking about it.”
Chinzo Machida (2-2 in MMA) added another win to his record eight years after a TKO victory at Jungle Fight 4 in 2005, but he wasn’t obsessed by the need of scoring a stoppage win.
“I was focused to get the win. I wasn’t worried to get a knockout or something like that,” he said. “I went there to do my job, to do my best, and it all happened naturally.”
Chinzo Machida revealed his younger brother told him to use the flying knee when Wood went for a takedown, and it worked out perfectly.
“Lyoto and Kenny Johnson, my wrestling coach, told me that he was a wrestler, so that type of knee is a good way to counter against a wrestler,” he said. “One week before the fight, Lyoto told me to work more on that. I trained it a little, but I didn’t train the way it happened in the fight.”
Machida’s win at RFA happened less than a month after his brother’s first-round knockout over Mark Munoz at UFC Fight Night 30, but the featherweight liked his finish more.
“Two consecutive knockout wins are something positive for the family,” Chinzo said. “A head kick is nice, but that’s too common. A flying knee is tougher to connect perfectly. My knockout was better, but Lyoto’s was nice too [laughs]. I’ll choose mine this time [laughs].”
Chinzo Machida wants to return to the cage as soon as possible, and he expects a busier 2014.
“I spoke with Ed Soares and asked to fight more often,” he said. “He’s planning 10 or 12 events next year, so I want to fight three or four times. I already wanted to fight in January, but I believe the card is completed already so I should fight again in March or April.”
Joe Proctor will finally make his return to the UFC, taking on former TUF 15 teammate Cristiano Marcello at UFC Fight Night 36 in Jaragua do Sul, Brazil, on Feb. 15.
The UFC confirmed a initial report from Combate on Tuesday.
After …
Joe Proctor will finally make his return to the UFC, taking on former TUF 15 teammate Cristiano Marcello at UFC Fight Night 36 in Jaragua do Sul, Brazil, on Feb. 15.
The UFC confirmed a initial report from Combate on Tuesday.
After a successful debut at TUF 15 Finale, when he scored a knockout win over Jeremy Larsen, Proctor (8-2) suffered a unanimous decision loss to Ramsey Nijem at UFC on FOX 5 on Dec. 8, 2012. Proctor was expected to face Al Iaquinta at UFC 159, but the bout was scrapped when both fighters sustained injuries.
Marcello (13-5), a Pride veteran and a fellow TUF 15 competitor, looks to get back to the win column after suffering a unanimous decision loss to Kazuki Tokudome at UFC on Fuel TV 8 in Japan. Prior to that bout, Marcello went 1-1 with a win over Reza Madadi and a loss to Sam Sicilia.
