Another middleweight clash has been added to the UFC 183 card in Las Vegas.
The pay-per-view card, which already features three 185-pound bouts including the main event between Anderson Silva and Nick Diaz on Jan. 31, will mark the return of…
Another middleweight clash has been added to the UFC 183 card in Las Vegas.
The pay-per-view card, which already features three 185-pound bouts including the main event between Anderson Silva and Nick Diaz on Jan. 31, will mark the return of Thales Leites against Tim Boetsch, the promotion announced Wednesday.
Leites (24-4) has looked unstoppable in his return to the UFC, scoring wins over Francis Carmont, Trevor Smith, Ed Herman and Tom Watson in a 12-month span, including devastating knockout finishes in his last couple appearances against Carmont and Smith.
Boetsch (18-7), who is 6-3 since cutting down to the middleweight division, enters the bout coming off a “Performance of the Night” TKO victory over Brad Tavares in August. “The Barbarian” also holds win over the likes of Hector Lombard, Yushin Okami and C.B. Dollaway.
Another Gracie is heading over to Bellator, but this one will actually get inside the cage.
A couple weeks after the announcement of Royce Gracie as the new brand ambassador for Bellator, the promotion signed undefeated Neiman Gracie, who enters the promotion with a 2-0 record after a pair of submission wins under the World Series of Fighting banner.
“I just signed a multi-fight deal with Bellator MMA,” Gracie announced on his Instagram page. “I’m very happy to be part of this great company! I’m happy to represent jiu-jitsu in this great event.”
Neiman Gracie told MMAFighting.com his contract with WSOF was over when he got an offer from Bellator, and he expects to make his Bellator debut in February.
The Renzo Gracie protégé, who tapped Darren Costa and Dustin Holyko at middleweight and 175-pound catchweight bouts in WSOF, respectively, will fight at 170 pounds in Bellator.
Another Gracie is heading over to Bellator, but this one will actually get inside the cage.
A couple weeks after the announcement of Royce Gracie as the new brand ambassador for Bellator, the promotion signed undefeated Neiman Gracie, who enters the promotion with a 2-0 record after a pair of submission wins under the World Series of Fighting banner.
“I just signed a multi-fight deal with Bellator MMA,” Gracie announced on his Instagram page. “I’m very happy to be part of this great company! I’m happy to represent jiu-jitsu in this great event.”
Neiman Gracie told MMAFighting.com his contract with WSOF was over when he got an offer from Bellator, and he expects to make his Bellator debut in February.
The Renzo Gracie protégé, who tapped Darren Costa and Dustin Holyko at middleweight and 175-pound catchweight bouts in WSOF, respectively, will fight at 170 pounds in Bellator.
Jose Aldo successfully defended his UFC featherweight title on Saturday night, and his win over Chad Mendes was huge for his country.
Wallid Ismail, former MMA fighter and longtime MMA promoter as the president of Jungle Fight, told Ariel Helwani on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour that a loss in the main event of UFC 179 would have been terrible for the future of the sport in Brazil.
“Jose Aldo saved Brazilian MMA,” Ismail said. “He saved, no doubt about it. If he had lost our last belt, it would have been really bad for Brazilian MMA.”
Aldo, who defeated Mendes via unanimous decision in an epic battle Saturday night in Rio de Janeiro, remains as the only Brazilian to hold a UFC belt today.
“I really think Fabricio Werdum is going to get the title,” Ismail said. “Man, just something really strange (has to happen) for Fabricio not to get our second belt in Mexico. I have no doubt about it.
“And you know the best part? Both (fighters) came from Jungle Fight,” he added. “Jose Aldo’s only loss happened at Jungle Fight (against Luciano Azevedo, in 2005), and the beginning of Fabricio Werdum’s career was at Jungle Fight. This is great.”
“Brazilians need to be focused. Any fighter in the world who starts to (become) an actor and be a lot in the TV, the next step is they lose focus,” he said. “I talked about it to Bethe (Correia). She was in the media a lot, and I told her ‘Bethe, now is the time to be focused. Enough of media.’ Fighters need to train hard.”
Jose Aldo successfully defended his UFC featherweight title on Saturday night, and his win over Chad Mendes was huge for his country.
Wallid Ismail, former MMA fighter and longtime MMA promoter as the president of Jungle Fight, told Ariel Helwani on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour that a loss in the main event of UFC 179 would have been terrible for the future of the sport in Brazil.
“Jose Aldo saved Brazilian MMA,” Ismail said. “He saved, no doubt about it. If he had lost our last belt, it would have been really bad for Brazilian MMA.”
Aldo, who defeated Mendes via unanimous decision in an epic battle Saturday night in Rio de Janeiro, remains as the only Brazilian to hold a UFC belt today.
“I really think Fabricio Werdum is going to get the title,” Ismail said. “Man, just something really strange (has to happen) for Fabricio not to get our second belt in Mexico. I have no doubt about it.
“And you know the best part? Both (fighters) came from Jungle Fight,” he added. “Jose Aldo’s only loss happened at Jungle Fight (against Luciano Azevedo, in 2005), and the beginning of Fabricio Werdum’s career was at Jungle Fight. This is great.”
“Brazilians need to be focused. Any fighter in the world who starts to (become) an actor and be a lot in the TV, the next step is they lose focus,” he said. “I talked about it to Bethe (Correia). She was in the media a lot, and I told her ‘Bethe, now is the time to be focused. Enough of media.’ Fighters need to train hard.”
UFC president Dana White officially announced Grace Tourinho as the managing director for UFC in Brazil on November 2013, and her tenure will end one year later.
Tourinho, who first started working for the promotion in early 2013, will leave…
UFC president Dana White officially announced Grace Tourinho as the managing director for UFC in Brazil on November 2013, and her tenure will end one year later.
Tourinho, who first started working for the promotion in early 2013, will leave the promotion next month, according to a report from Veja. Sources close to the situation confirmed the news to MMAFighting.com.
The UFC is looking for a new managing director for their office in Brazil, a source said, but has no timetable for any announcement on this matter. Marshall Zelaznik, the UFC’s managing director of international development, will replace Tourinho until the promotion finds a replacement.
The UFC has a couple trips set for Brazil in 2014. The next Fight Night card is scheduled for Uberlandia on Nov. 8, headlined by Mauricio Rua vs. Jimi Manuwa, and Lyoto Machida facing C.B. Dollaway at a UFC Fight Night show in Barueri on Dec. 20.
Kron Gracie, one of the best jiu-jitsu fighters on the planet, will finally make his transition to MMA.
Kron Gracie, a multiple-time jiu-jitsu champion and ADCC 2013 gold medalist, is set to make his MMA debut at Real Fighting Championship in Japan on Dec. 23, his father Rickson Gracie told MMAFighting.com.
“They haven’t found an opponent yet, but it’s set. Travel, hotel, everything set for him to fight on Dec. 23,” Rickson Gracie said. “He will fight at 155 pounds.”
According to a report from MMA in Asia, Real Fighting Championship will take place at the Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo.
Kron Gracie, who holds submission victories over Shinya Aoki, Leandro Lo, Claudio Calasans and JT Torres in grappling competitions, is training with the likes of Gilbert Melendez, Nick Diaz and Nate Diaz for his MMA debut.
“Kron is super dedicated, training hard,” Rickson Gracie said. “His camp is going great. It’s a good moment for his career, he wants to prove himself. I’m really proud.
“He’s doing part of his camp there (at Cesar Gracie’s gym), and part at his gym in Los Angeles. The best thing is that Gilbert and the Diaz brothers will fight at the end of the year (and in January), so they are all in the same training rhythm.”
Rickson Gracie, who retired undefeated in 2000, wants his son to have a different start in MMA compared to his first vale tudo bouts in the 1980’s.
“I try to be an advisor, give him support,” he said. “He will have to deal with his first MMA bout, fighting in a different country. It’s stressful. We don’t want to see him now against a guy with 30 professional fights. The idea is having him fight a guy with background in a martial art and with some MMA fights.
“We don’t want to throw him into the fire like the family used to do in the past. ‘Oh, it doesn’t matter is he’s 45 pounds heavier than me, I’ll fight him.’ In the vale tudo days, we could understand that. There was no time limit, it was a whole different strategy. But in a MMA fight with weight classes and five-minute rounds, where you can explode without gassing, you have to work differently.
“I try to protect Kron in a way that he won’t face the worst challenge in his first MMA fight, and then he will be ready to fight the best.”
Kron Gracie used to compete at 180 pounds in jiu-jitsu and grappling tournaments, and will cut down to 155 for his first MMA bout. His father sees a bright future for his protégé in this new challenge.
“I can see him doing more than that,” Rickson Gracie said of his son winning a UFC title one day. “He’s focused, he wants to bring jiu-jitsu back to MMA. He’s not doing crosstraining to work on his weaknesses. He won’t start boxing, kickboxing, wrestling. He will use his jiu-jitsu to neutralize the wrestler, the striker, and work on his expertise.
“I don’t want him to learn how to knock someone out with a punch. He would need another life just to learn how to deal with fighters who come from this background. He has to learn how to avoid fighting his opponent’s game.”
Kron Gracie, one of the best jiu-jitsu fighters on the planet, will finally make his transition to MMA.
Kron Gracie, a multiple-time jiu-jitsu champion and ADCC 2013 gold medalist, is set to make his MMA debut at Real Fighting Championship in Japan on Dec. 23, his father Rickson Gracie told MMAFighting.com.
“They haven’t found an opponent yet, but it’s set. Travel, hotel, everything set for him to fight on Dec. 23,” Rickson Gracie said. “He will fight at 155 pounds.”
According to a report from MMA in Asia, Real Fighting Championship will take place at the Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo.
Kron Gracie, who holds submission victories over Shinya Aoki, Leandro Lo, Claudio Calasans and JT Torres in grappling competitions, is training with the likes of Gilbert Melendez, Nick Diaz and Nate Diaz for his MMA debut.
“Kron is super dedicated, training hard,” Rickson Gracie said. “His camp is going great. It’s a good moment for his career, he wants to prove himself. I’m really proud.
“He’s doing part of his camp there (at Cesar Gracie’s gym), and part at his gym in Los Angeles. The best thing is that Gilbert and the Diaz brothers will fight at the end of the year (and in January), so they are all in the same training rhythm.”
Rickson Gracie, who retired undefeated in 2000, wants his son to have a different start in MMA compared to his first vale tudo bouts in the 1980’s.
“I try to be an advisor, give him support,” he said. “He will have to deal with his first MMA bout, fighting in a different country. It’s stressful. We don’t want to see him now against a guy with 30 professional fights. The idea is having him fight a guy with background in a martial art and with some MMA fights.
“We don’t want to throw him into the fire like the family used to do in the past. ‘Oh, it doesn’t matter is he’s 45 pounds heavier than me, I’ll fight him.’ In the vale tudo days, we could understand that. There was no time limit, it was a whole different strategy. But in a MMA fight with weight classes and five-minute rounds, where you can explode without gassing, you have to work differently.
“I try to protect Kron in a way that he won’t face the worst challenge in his first MMA fight, and then he will be ready to fight the best.”
Kron Gracie used to compete at 180 pounds in jiu-jitsu and grappling tournaments, and will cut down to 155 for his first MMA bout. His father sees a bright future for his protégé in this new challenge.
“I can see him doing more than that,” Rickson Gracie said of his son winning a UFC title one day. “He’s focused, he wants to bring jiu-jitsu back to MMA. He’s not doing crosstraining to work on his weaknesses. He won’t start boxing, kickboxing, wrestling. He will use his jiu-jitsu to neutralize the wrestler, the striker, and work on his expertise.
“I don’t want him to learn how to knock someone out with a punch. He would need another life just to learn how to deal with fighters who come from this background. He has to learn how to avoid fighting his opponent’s game.”
UFC president Dana White, coaches Wanderlei Silva and Chael Sonnen were very critical of the production team of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 3 in 2014, and the UFC decided to change a few things for the next season of the reality show.
During tryouts in Rio de Janeiro on Monday, UFC announced that the filming of the fourth season will take place out of Brazil for the first time. Like in the TUF: Latin America season, the filming will take place in Las Vegas.
Dana White said at the UFC 179 post-fight press conference on Saturday night that they already chose the next coaches for TUF: Brazil 4, but can’t announce yet.
UFC president Dana White, coaches Wanderlei Silva and Chael Sonnen were very critical of the production team of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 3 in 2014, and the UFC decided to change a few things for the next season of the reality show.
During tryouts in Rio de Janeiro on Monday, UFC announced that the filming of the fourth season will take place out of Brazil for the first time. Like in the TUF: Latin America season, the filming will take place in Las Vegas.
Dana White said at the UFC 179 post-fight press conference on Saturday night that they already chose the next coaches for TUF: Brazil 4, but can’t announce yet.
