Author: Jeremy Botter

Chael Sonnen’s Best UFC Brazil Press Conference Quotes

UFC President Dana White took Chael Sonnen to Brazil for a press conference held this morning to announce that the much-anticipated UFC 147 bout between Sonnen and Anderson Silva was actually being moved to UFC 148.And, as he usually does, Sonnen stole…

UFC President Dana White took Chael Sonnen to Brazil for a press conference held this morning to announce that the much-anticipated UFC 147 bout between Sonnen and Anderson Silva was actually being moved to UFC 148.

And, as he usually does, Sonnen stole the show. 

You can watch the full press conference in the video embedded above, but I’ve transcribed some of Sonnen’s golden moments below. 

 

On the fight being moved to Las Vegas:

Look, Las Vegas is the fight capital of the world. This is the biggest fight in the history of combat. Boxing, wrestling, fighting; anything that’s mano-a-mano, there’s nothing that’s bigger than this. It’s going to take place on July 7th. We’re going to the biggest city. We’re going to the fight capital of Earth. We will be the biggest sporting event in the history of combat.

My plan wasn’t to walk in here and tell you guys we’re not coming here. My plan was to come here, take your money, my new belt and go back to America. But instead, I’m going to have to wait. I’m going to have to stomp him on July 7th, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do.

 

Does he think the Brazilian people are offended by his comments?

Well, first off, my impression has been great and I think there’s been a misunderstanding. I don’t have anything against the Brazilian people. I got something against a Brazilian that’s sitting a few feet from me and maybe with a couple of other gentlemen. But your women are all okay with me, so feel free to give me a call or pay me a visit.

But as far as my impression? It’s a lot like America. You know, when I was a little kid, I remember going outside and sitting around with my friends. We’d talk about the latest technology and medicine and gaming and American ingenuity. And I would look outside and Anderson and the Brazilian kids are sitting outside playing in the mud.

And I’ll tell you something else. I think it’s disgusting and I think it’s an embarrassment to the sport that he would come around with that fake belt when the entire world watched me defeat him on live TV. He goes and gets himself a fake belt and sits up here and pretends to be champion. He’s obviously thriving off of all of the new fans of the sport by putting out misinformation and trying to mislead everybody. But as sure as night follows day, I sit before you undefeated and undisputed.

 

After Silva talked about his legacy:

This guy says the craziest stuff, man. He’s surrounded by yes-men. It’s unbelievable that he actually thinks like that. He talks about his legacy. He’s so close to the trees that he can’t see the forest. Come to America and ask people what they think about him. Oh yeah, this guy is the real deal. He became the No. 1 contender when he beat the great Chris Leben. He then defended his belt against the great Patrick Cote and the amazing Thales Leites. What a star this guy is.

What about the fact that I called him out for six years? “Oh, you’re disrespecting my family.” Yes, I did, and what did you do about it? Not a damn thing, and you’re not gonna do anything on July 7th. Get your excuses ready now, Anderson. I told everybody before the first fight that our skills are not even close and that I’m going to destroy him.

And I will tell you again now: Our skills are not even close. So go to your Ed Soares school of excuse-making and get some handy, because you’re going to need them on July 7th.

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Hector Lombard Signs with the UFC; Who Should He Face in His Debut?

The UFC middleweight division has a new player, and his name is Hector Lombard.Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney confirmed the news today to MMAFighting’s Mike Chiapetta. Rebney said that it made no financial sense, at least based on the current Bellator model…

The UFC middleweight division has a new player, and his name is Hector Lombard.

Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney confirmed the news today to MMAFighting’s Mike Chiapetta. Rebney said that it made no financial sense, at least based on the current Bellator model, to keep Lombard around:

“We have a business model where we make decisions based on analyzing data,” he said. “Since the first day we came into being, we made decisions based on real models, not hypotheticals. The UFC model is largely based on pay-per-view, and the offer they made to Hector is going to be monetized via pay-per-view. While pay-per-view could play a role in our future, today it doesn’t. So, we did our due diligence to review the UFC contract, analyzed it in terms of charging our audience to see Hector vs. putting him on free TV, and we decided to allow the UFC to sign Hector, where I am extremely confident he will win the UFC middleweight title on pay-per-view.”

Now that the news is official, we can look forward to Lombard’s debut. We have no idea when he’ll actually step into the Octagon, but I’m assuming it’ll be this summer at some point. He won’t get an immediate title shot at Anderson Silva, partly because Silva already has a fight booked with Chael Sonnen, and partly because Lombard isn’t quite on the level of a guy who can come into the UFC and get an immediate shot at the gold.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at a few of the options available as Lombard’s first UFC opponent and offer up predictions on who I think would win each fight.

 

Brian Stann

Stann makes the most sense to me. He’s near the top of the division, and a win by Lombard would certainly elevate him to the point where he can be given a title shot.

The same thing goes for Stann, though. A win over Lombard would be a big deal, and would finally give one of the UFC’s most marketable stars the push he needs to earn a title fight. 

Stann also makes a lot of sense from the perspective of trying to put together an exciting fight. Stann has suffered greatly against wrestlers in the past, but Lombard’s striking background makes him the perfect style matchup.

Prediction: Lombard

 

Mark Munoz

Munoz is another guy who, like Stann, is near the very top of the division and just needs one win to earn a ticket into the title picture. Lombard would have considerable difficulty with Munoz’s wrestling, so he’s not a great opponent if you’re looking to give Lombard a free pass into a fight with Silva.

Prediction: Munoz

 

Chris Weidman

Weidman has a lot in common with Munoz. He’s a fantastic wrestler and grappler with enough ground skills to stifle Lombard. His striking isn’t very good, however, and that gives Lombard a real weakness to exploit.

Prediction: Lombard

 

Winner of Alan Belcher vs. Rousimar Palhares

Belcher and Palhares will tie up on May 5th at UFC on FOX 3 in New Jersey. The winner of the fight would be considered one of those guys who is almost ready for a title shot, but still needs one more big win to get a crack at Silva.

That makes the winner a perfect match for Lombard.

Both fights would be tough for Lombard. Belcher’s all-around game has improved drastically in recent years, while Palhares has that disgustingly awesome grappling game that makes him a dangerous opponent for anyone in the division.

Predictions: If Palhares, then Palhares. If Belcher, then Lombard 

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Alistair Overeem and Nevada Commission Combine for Embarrassing Performance

If you’re a true MMA fan, you knew Alistair Overeem was scheduled to go in front of the Nevada State Athletic Commission today for a hearing regarding his 14:1 T/E test failure back on March 27.Overeem did show up. He was there, in person, taking his m…

If you’re a true MMA fan, you knew Alistair Overeem was scheduled to go in front of the Nevada State Athletic Commission today for a hearing regarding his 14:1 T/E test failure back on March 27.

Overeem did show up. He was there, in person, taking his medicine.

Or at least explaining how medicine he was unintentionally given by a rogue doctor caused his test failure.

The rogue doctor was the highlight of the proceedings, which were streamed online. Dr. Hector Oscar Molina is a self-described family medicine practitioner in Texas. He used to be a plastic surgeon, but those days seem to have ended when one of Molina’s patients was hospitalized after a botched breast augmentation surgery.

These days, he’s running a male performance-enhancement clinic in Texas where they’ll write you prescriptions that last up to a full year. And then there are the family violence charges Molina incurred exactly two years ago today.

Molina was a one-man circus during the meetings. As the story goes, he gave Overeem a shot on Jan. 12 after Overeem came in complaining of pain in his ribs. Molina gave him an anti-inflammatory shot, but mixed in a little bit of testosterone for good measure.

Overeem said Molina never told him he was mixing in the special ingredient, and Molina confirmed that he never said anything of the sort to Overeem.

Molina changed his story constantly when grilled by the Nevada commissioners. But amazingly enough, Molina’s terrible testimony and background worked in Overeem’s favor. The commission voted to keep Overeem out of action for nine months, retroactive to his March 27 test date.

Huh? 

Explain something to me, if you can: King Mo Lawal goes in front of the commission and takes a full measure of blame for ingesting a substance that caused him to test positive for steroids. He gets a nine-month suspension.

Overeem goes in front of the same commission, puts the blame on a quack doctor and gets the same suspension? 

How is this possible? And how is it possible that the commission closed out the proceedings by telling Overeem that they’re huge fans of his and they hope he’ll have the grace to come back and fight in Nevada someday?

They were actually apologetic that they were forced to suspend him at all.

I shouldn’t be surprised by today’s events. Money talks, especially in a city such as Las Vegas. But it’s a disheartening to see, especially after the treatment Lawal was given just a short time ago.

Preferential treatment should not be handed out when dealing with PED offenders. And the personal fandom of commissioners shouldn’t even be stated during events like this one. They have no place on the record, and certainly no place when doling out punishments.

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Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen Makes UFC 148 the Most Stacked Card in History

You have any plans on or around July 7 this year?No? Then you should probably plan on heading to Las Vegas.Go ahead and get your flight now, because in a few weeks the Fourth of July holiday time frame will send air prices skyrocketing. Tickets are alr…

You have any plans on or around July 7 this year?

No? Then you should probably plan on heading to Las Vegas.

Go ahead and get your flight now, because in a few weeks the Fourth of July holiday time frame will send air prices skyrocketing. Tickets are already $600 from Houston to Las Vegas; that’s roughly six times the average price for a plane ticket more than two months out.

Yes, it’ll take a bit of planning on your part. But you’ll want to be there. Trust me. Why?

Because the addition of the new main event—between old rivals Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen—makes UFC 148 the most stacked card in UFC history.

This is no joke. Take a look at the pay-per-view card and then tell me I’m wrong. You can’t do it.

  • Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen (UFC middleweight title)
  • Dominick Cruz vs. Urijah Faber (UFC bantamweight title)
  • Forrest Griffin vs. Tito Ortiz
  • Cung Le vs. Rich Franklin
  • Michael Bisping vs. Tim Boetsch

For comparison’s sake, here’s the card for UFC 100:

  • Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir
  • Georges St-Pierre vs. Thiago Alves
  • Dan Henderson vs. Michael Bisping
  • Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Alan Belcher
  • Jon Fitch vs. Paulo Thiago

There’s really no comparison, after all. UFC 100 had three big fights, each featuring two big-name competitors. UFC 148, as currently scheduled, has five fights with a total of nine big-name fighters. And Tim Boetsch isn’t the biggest name in the business, but he’s on a roll in the middleweight division and deserves his bout with Bisping.

Granted, injuries and illnesses could wreck this card like they have so many others over the past two years. I’ve learned that no fight is set in stone until it happens. But right now, as things are currently planned, there can be no question that UFC 148 is the biggest, most-stacked event in UFC history.

I’ll be there. Will you?

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Frank Mir Believes He Poses a Big Threat to Junior Dos Santos

Frank Mir has been with the UFC for over 10 years. That’s an amazing statistic, especially when you consider that Mir is a heavyweight. As a general rule, heavyweights don’t really have that kind of staying power.Very few heavyweights have put together…

Frank Mir has been with the UFC for over 10 years. That’s an amazing statistic, especially when you consider that Mir is a heavyweight. As a general rule, heavyweights don’t really have that kind of staying power.

Very few heavyweights have put together the kind of career Mir has over the past decade. He’s a multiple-time champion. He’s the only man to submit and knock out Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. And despite those dark times when it seemed like Mir was nearing irrelevancy, he once again finds himself in the title picture as he replaces Alistair Overeem against Junior dos Santos next month at UFC 146.

Mir was the only logical choice to replace Overeem. Sources close to the UFC told me two weeks ago that should Overeem be pulled from his title fight, Mir would be the guy to replace him. Cain Velasquez couldn’t be put back in a title fight due to the way he lost his last bout to Dos Santos. Antonio Silva lost his last bout to Daniel Cormier. Fabricio Werdum couldn’t be ready in time, and he’s needed for the UFC’s Brazil card in June. And, despite a fan campaign that was borderline ludicrous, Mark Hunt was never an option.

Mir appeared on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani today, where he said he assumed that he would be the guy to replace Overeem:

“I just kind of did the math in my own mind,” Mir explained on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour. “My team around me, we all pretty much felt that if dos Santos were to stay on the card, and Overeem was not able to challenge for the title, then I was the most logical person to step in. So as we were still training for Cain (Velasquez), there was that at the back of my mind, okay, be prepared for this to happen also.”

As a replacement opponent, Mir makes sense. He has the biggest name out of the potential replacements, and he’s riding a three-fight winning streak. There’s also the storyline of dos Santos going for revenge against the guy who twice beat his mentor in Nogueira.

Mir understands fan disappointment in not being able to see Overeem gunning for the title, but he believes he still makes for a compelling opponent for the heavyweight champion:

“I still pose a very large threat to dos Santos,” Mir vowed. “I still think it’ll be an interesting cat-and-mouse game between me and Junior, because what I want to be able to impose on him, he’s going to try to avoid, and vice versa.”

Mir has a better chance of winning the heavyweight title than most people are giving him. He obviously has the kind of submission game that makes him a threat on the ground, and Dos Santos will want to avoid the takedown at all costs. If the fight stays standing, Dos Santos should have a boxing advantage, but we have seen Mir drastically improve his kickboxing game over the past two years. 

Yeah, we all wanted to see Overeem. But this was the right choice when you consider the controversy surrounding Overeem at the moment.  

Dos Santos vs. Mir will still be a compelling fight.

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UFC 145 Report Card: Grades for Jones, Evans, McDonald and More

It’s time to take our usual look at Saturday’s completed fight card and assign grades to each of the fighters involved in the big Atlanta card. How did Jon Jones, Michael McDonald, Rashad Evans and the rest of the stars of the event fare?Read below to …

It’s time to take our usual look at Saturday’s completed fight card and assign grades to each of the fighters involved in the big Atlanta card. How did Jon Jones, Michael McDonald, Rashad Evans and the rest of the stars of the event fare?

Read below to find out.

A+

Jon Jones: Jones said after the fight that this wasn’t the best performance of his career, and perhaps it wasn’t. But Jones still completely dominated yet another top light heavyweight, and that equals high marks in my book.

Jones has a wrestling background, but looking at his striking against Evans, you’d think he’d been a high-level kickboxer before making the transition to MMA. It’s simply stunning that Jones has only really been training his striking game for a little over four years. He used creative strikes, effective angles and his huge reach advantage to batter Evans from pillar to post for much of the fight.

Sure, he didn’t finish the fight, but that doesn’t matter one bit. He still made a great former light heavyweight champion look like he didn’t belong in the same cage. There’s something to be said for that, and it can be summed up in one word: greatness.

A

Michael McDonald: His fight against Miguel Torres was designed to, at least theoretically, turn McDonald into a bantamweight star and contender. He delivered on that in spades with his violent first-round knockout.

Travis Browne: This guy is 6’7″, 250 pounds, and he’s still able to execute moves like the spectacular double flying knee he used on Chad Griggs? That’s a dangerous combination. Browne is a potential heavyweight star in the making.

Brian Stann: Stann didn’t fight on the card, but he did participate in the Fuel TV coverage of the event. And once again, “The All American” proved that he’s a smooth, polished television presence with the ability to break down the important parts of upcoming fights and describe them in a way that is easily digested by the average fan. He’s a true asset for the UFC in every way.

B+

Rory MacDonald: MacDonald dominated Che Mills on the ground, but he had some difficulty in the striking game. That’s the only thing preventing him from earning an A for his performance as he’s still the best welterweight prospect in the UFC.

Ben Rothwell: Rothwell’s newly-slimmed figure proved that he’s been working hard to get in fighting shape, and his knockout of Brendan Schaub showed that he’s got the power to finish people in the heavyweight division. And his post-fight interview was one of the more memorable moments of the entire evening.

C

Rashad Evans: Evans was clearly outmatched by Jones, but he still landed a few power punches here and there. I wish he’d used more of his wrestling game, but he gave that up pretty quickly after realizing he was going to have a difficult time getting Jones to the ground. Evans should still be proud of his performance against the guy many now consider to be the best fighter in the world.

Mark Bocek: It wasn’t pretty, but his wrestling-match win over John Alessio did the job. Unfortunately it was one of the more boring fights of the entire card and it didn’t win him many new fans.

Eddie Yagin: Yagin was an unheralded fighter who was expected to lose to Mark Hominick. Instead, he outstruck the struggling former title contender for two rounds and scored the upset decision win. It wasn’t pretty, but it was exciting enough to earn Yagin a hefty Fight of the Night bonus.

Matt Brown: Brown’s win over Stephan Thompson was ugly, but it was effective. Brown endured nearly being knocked out twice in the first two rounds and earned a hard-fought decision win. We already knew Brown was tough, though, so we didn’t learn much about his game.

D

John Alessio: You have to feel for Alessio. The former title contender worked so hard to get back into the UFC, and then got stuck in a wrestling match against a better grappler. He outstruck Bocek on the feet but couldn’t do anything on the ground. I don’t expect Alessio to get his walking papers just yet, though, especially after taking this fight on such short notice. The UFC tends to reward fighters who help them out.

Stephan Thompson: “Wonderboy” had a ton of hype going into his fight with Matt Brown. He looked good when the fight stayed on the feet, but had extreme difficulty in blocking takedowns and the ground game in general. He’s still an incredible striker, but he needs to work the other aspects of his game if he wants to last very long in the UFC.

F

Chad Griggs: Griggs is a tough dude, but he had very little answer for Travis Browne on the ground. “Gravedigger” is planning a move to light heavyweight, which is a good move since he’s drastically undersized against other UFC heavyweights. I’m not sure how much success he’ll have against the light heavies unless he works on his ground game.

Che Mills: Joe Rogan hyped Mills as a fantastic striker, and he is. But he had nothing to offer once Rory MacDonald put him on his back. He’ll struggle with that issue against any wrestler he faces at welterweight, which limits his potential and how far he might be able to go.

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