Bleacher Report’s Jeremy Botter returns with a video look at next month’s big light heavyweight title fight between Jon Jones and Dan Henderson. Jones and Henderson face off in the main event of UFC 151, which takes place Sept. 1 in Las Vegas.&nbs…
Bleacher Report’s Jeremy Botter returns with a video look at next month’s big light heavyweight title fight between Jon Jones and Dan Henderson.
Jones and Henderson face off in the main event of UFC 151, which takes place Sept. 1 in Las Vegas.
Jones’ advantages going into the cage are many, but what unique skills does Henderson bring that might allow him to upset the man many are calling the greatest light heavyweight of all time at just 24 years of age?
Check out Jeremy’s take on the fight, and then leave your own in the comments below.
One of the worst parts of conducting fighter interviews is that, for the most part, you know what kind of answer you’re going to get. As a matter of fact, you often know the exact answer you’re going to get before you even ask the question.A lot of tha…
One of the worst parts of conducting fighter interviews is that, for the most part, you know what kind of answer you’re going to get. As a matter of fact, you often know the exact answer you’re going to get before you even ask the question.
A lot of that falls on the interviewer. It’s up to us to tell interesting stories that haven’t been told before, and that means coming up with questions that haven’t been asked before. But that’s not always an easy thing to do, especially when you’re faced with conducting 10 or 15 interviews in a single week and writing the resulting stories.
Luckily, there are guys like Donald Cerrone who make our jobs easier.
Cerrone has a habit of saying whatever is on his mind at any given moment. He doesn’t care if it might offend your delicate sensibilities. It doesn’t really matter if you care at all.
Witness Cerrone’s response to a recent LowKick interview asking him that grand old question that every fighter gets asked before a fight: who’s the next guy on his hit list?
“I plan to win!”, Cowboy told Lowkick.com in an interview this morning, “I will fight him and yes, he is my brother, but I want to get paid and I will go through anyone they set before me.”
“Anthony Pettis‘ bitch ass! Anthony, quit hiding behind your sore shoulder and come to the dance.”
I love Cerrone’s style, both inside the cage and out. And I love the idea of him fighting Anthony Pettis next.
One of my favorite hilarious-yet-annoying stories is the way out-of-shape bad movie actor Steven Seagal has inserted himself into the mixed martial arts world. This guy—despite being at least 30 years removed from doing anything resembling r…
One of my favorite hilarious-yet-annoying stories is the way out-of-shape bad movie actor Steven Seagal has inserted himself into the mixed martial arts world.
This guy—despite being at least 30 years removed from doing anything resembling real martial arts training on a regular basis and having never made a single good movie—is still being written about, talked about and interviewed whenever one of the major Brazilian fighters appears on a card.
Hell, this is at least the third story I’ve written about Seagal in 2012. If you had told me three years ago I would be spending time writing about the dude from those amazingly bad action flicks in the 90’s, I would’ve laughed in your face. And yet, here we are.
You’ve heard the story of the alleged confrontation between Gene Lebell and Seagal on a movie set. Long story short, Lebell says he made Seagal crap his pants, quite literally, with a chokehold. Seagal vehemently denied the story on a recent episode of The MMA Hour:
There was never any confrontation with him ever. In any way, shape or form. And I swear to god on my children – and they are the most precious thing in my life – if he is saying that he is a pathological scumbag liar. I keep answering that. Either he made up this lie or someone made it up.
Calling Judo Gene a scumbag isn’t the best move. For starters, everyone in the world knows that Judo Gene is, even at his advanced age, one of the baddest men on the planet. He also has a touch of the crazy eyes, which makes me think he would have zero problems just absolutely wrecking someone if they provoked him.
Gene doesn’t have to worry about putting his own boots to Seagal, because he’s got a young world champion at his side who’s ready and quite willing to do that. Check out what Ronda Rousey had to say about Seagal’s comments towards her coach:
Would you ever admit it, A, and B, I mean, obviously the guy’s a liar. He told everybody he taught Anderson Silva that kick. I mean, seriously, the guy doesn’t have a very good track record.
No, [Steven Seagal is not legit]. “He’s Aikido. I mean, Aikido’s cool, but who in MMA does Aikido? Who has an Aikido background? ‘So and so coming to the cage is a world champion with a background in Aikido.’ You never heard that once. Have you heard that once? That’s for a reason.
I don’t want to give anyone another quote, alright, I’m going to give you another quote. I would beat the crap out of Steven Seagal.
If he says anything bad about Gene to my face, I would be forced to do something. I would have to make him crap his pants a second time.
I’m going to say this just once and then let it lie: Ronda Rousey would absolutely destroy Steven Seagal. Yes, in a real fight.
It all started with Anderson Silva.He’s the greatest fighter in the history of mixed martial arts. He’s the most dominant UFC fighter of all time, and easily the greatest champion in the history of the promotion.He’s vanquished every foe he ever faced …
He’s the greatest fighter in the history of mixed martial arts. He’s the most dominant UFC fighter of all time, and easily the greatest champion in the history of the promotion.
He’s vanquished every foe he ever faced in the UFC with ease—except for one notable occasion—and he finished that foe emphatically the second time around.
He’s also nearing the end of his career. As much as we’d like him to, Silva won’t be pulling a Randy Couture and sticking around for another decade. He’s got about two years left in this game, tops, and even that comes as a blessing for those of us who enjoy watching him. After all, it was just two years ago that he was already speaking of retirement in imminent terms.
Because of that history, because of his enduring status as the greatest of all time, Silva has earned the right to pick and choose his opponents. It’s that simple. If Silva only wants to face big-name opponents, well, that’s the kind of opposition that should be offered to him.
But that lofty status puts the UFC in a sticky situation. One of Dana White‘s biggest selling points for mixed martial arts and the UFC—as opposed to, say, boxing—is that he makes the fights that the fans want to see. And outside of a few select scenarios—Fedor Emelianenko versus any top UFC heavyweight, for example—he’s largely been able to deliver on that promise.
The UFC middleweight picture is becoming increasingly muddled by the day. Who’s the next guy in line for a crack at Silva? Some folks say the winner of September’s bout between Michael Bisping and Brian Stann should get the shot. Tim Boetsch is making waves in the division. And Chris Weidman made an emphatic case for himself with his dominant win over Mark Munoz.
“I mean, because he had an impressive win over Mark Munoz and [Demian] Maia?” Soares paused and rolled his eyes before adding “Sure.”
Soares went on to say that Silva would have to consider anyone the UFC puts in front of them, because they don’t really have a choice.
And for the longest time, I would’ve agreed that was the case. If the UFC wants a fight booked, they’re going to find a way to book it. Sometimes this takes little more than an intense conversation with Dana White. Other times, they need to open up the checkbook and add one or two zeroes to make it happen.
The point is, they’ve always gotten it done. Well, besides that Fedor situation I referenced earlier, but that one can be overlooked given the difficult demands put forward by M-1 Global during the negotiations.
That may not be the standard for much longer, though.
Let’s say Silva really and truly doesn’t want to fight Weidman. And let’s say there is no dollar amount he’ll take in order to accept the fight. Let’s say that White can’t get Silva to give in.
What happens then?
I don’t know if you’ll see a sea change in the way fighters respond to fight requests. Very few guys are on Silva’s level, and very few of them have the clout to turn down the UFC. Jon Jones is getting close to that level. Georges St-Pierre is already there, but he’ll never turn down a fight because, well, he just isn’t that guy.
But eventually, there will come a day when fighters take a more active role in choosing their opponents. All it takes is a few top-level superstars. And when that day comes—and I think it’ll come around sooner than you think—the UFC’s mantra of “making the fights the fans want to see” will be a lot more difficult to deliver on.
Josh Koscheck and Javier Mendez didn’t exactly have an amicable parting earlier this year.Koscheck trained at Mendez’ American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose ever since leaving college. After he made a few (million) bucks in the UFC, he even opened a p…
Josh Koscheck and Javier Mendez didn’t exactly have an amicable parting earlier this year.
Koscheck trained at Mendez’ American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose ever since leaving college. After he made a few (million) bucks in the UFC, he even opened a pair of AKA-affiliated gyms in Fresno. Things were going so well, or at least they seemed to be. AKA and its legion of members always stress that they’re something like a family, and from my own personal experiences during visits to the gym over the years, I can confirm that to be true.
But not every family is a picture of serenity. Problems develop between siblings or children and their parents. Sometimes it’s repairable, but sometimes you just have to go your separate ways. That’s what happened between Mendez and Koscheck, and it was an ugly ending to a long-term relationship.
Koscheck told vague bits of his side of the story earlier this year. He gave his AKA gyms a new name and told folks that he never wanted to step foot back in San Jose. Then he blamed the entire thing on Mendez. Once he’d gotten that out of his system, I figured the whole thing was over.
Boy, was I wrong.
In a clip from the new AKA reality show Fight Factory, Koscheck is seen having the following discussion with former teammate Jon Fitch:
Koscheck: “I hope the gym burns … to the ground. Is that bad?”
Fitch: “As long as I’m not in it.”
Koscheck: “Hopefully nobody’s in it … well maybe one person. But if it burns down I’m cool, and we’ll be good.”
Now, in fairness to Koscheck, I’d like to add a little bit of context.
The first portions of Fight Factory were filmed in the early portions of this year, back when the split between Koscheck and Mendez was still fresh. So this isn’t some kind of lingering hatred from something that happened months ago. For Koscheck, the wound was still sore at the time this clip was being filmed.
That’s not to say that everything between Mendez and Koscheck is all roses and Candyland at this point, of course. It probably isn’t, given the severity of these feelings from Koscheck’s side.
Hotshot combat sports clothing company Roots of Fight has released its latest short film covering an icon of the fighting industry. This time, the company is turning the spotlight on the man many consider to be one of the founders of mixed martial arts…
Hotshot combat sports clothing company Roots of Fight has released its latest short film covering an icon of the fighting industry. This time, the company is turning the spotlight on the man many consider to be one of the founders of mixed martial arts: Bruce Lee.
What, you thought I’d say Steven Segal?
The video, which you can see above, takes a look at the influence Lee’s own martial art, JeetKune Do, has had on modern combat sports. Current UFC stars and MMA legends appear in the video to discuss Lee and his role in creating what we know and love today.
“He was the first one to create mixed martial arts because he took the first forms of fighting and made his own form, JeetKune Do,” said UFC middleweight contender Mark Munoz, “which is about taking each style and make it part of your own.”
Roots of Fight is also releasing a sweet new extension of its Bruce Lee clothing line, available exclusively at the official Lee website.
One of my favorite hilarious-yet-annoying stories is the way out-of-shape bad movie actor Steven Seagal has inserted himself into the mixed martial arts world.