Author: Jordy McElroy

Frankie Edgar Says Title Bout with Gilbert Melendez Makes Sense

Frankie Edgar has finally wrapped up his exciting rivalry with Gray Maynard.He stood up to “The Bully” on Saturday night at UFC 136 in stunning fashion, picking up the fourth round TKO stoppage over his longtime rival.With the Edgar and Maynard trilogy…

Frankie Edgar has finally wrapped up his exciting rivalry with Gray Maynard.

He stood up to “The Bully” on Saturday night at UFC 136 in stunning fashion, picking up the fourth round TKO stoppage over his longtime rival.

With the Edgar and Maynard trilogy in the books, there is one question on the mind of fans and every UFC lightweight.

What’s next?

UFC President Dana White has listed Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez as a potential contender for the UFC title.

In a post-fight interview at UFC on Versus 6, White stated that the UFC is looking to bring Melendez over “ASAP.” Could a champion versus champion bout be on tap in the lightweight division?

“I’m down with anything man, I’ll fight anybody. I think [a bout with Gilbert] definitely makes a lot of sense. Ben [Henderson] and Clay [Guida] make a lot of sense too. I’ll fight whoever they want me to,” Maynard said at the post-fight press conference for UFC 136.

Melendez is slated to defend his title against Jorge Masvidal on Strikeforce’s December 17 card, but there is always a possibility he signs with the UFC and vacates his belt.

While Melendez should be at the top of the list for a shot, top lightweight contenders Henderson and Guida are also in line. The two are scheduled to do battle on the UFC’s first show on Fox, which is set to go down on November 12.

White has yet to commit to any particular contender as the surefire No. 1 contender to Edgar’s UFC title.

MMA Pound-for-Pound Rankings

The lightweight division can finally breathe again, as the Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard saga finally came to a fitting conclusion on Saturday night at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas at UFC 136.After getting dropped several times in the first rou…

The lightweight division can finally breathe again, as the Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard saga finally came to a fitting conclusion on Saturday night at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas at UFC 136.

After getting dropped several times in the first round, Edgar brought about deja vu and rebounded in the following rounds.

Maynard completely abandoned his wrestling game and found himself getting lit up in the standup exchanges by the faster and more technical striker.

The climax came at 3:54 of the first round, when Edgar dropped Maynard with a massive right hand.

Fans in the arena were on their feet as they watched the champion follow up with unanswered ground strikes to put an end to the most exciting rivalry of 2011.

Meanwhile, UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo also kept his strap intact at UFC 136, taking a tough unanimous decision over a game Kenny Florian.

Florian had his moments on the feet, but Aldo’s explosiveness, underrated ground game and otherworldly striking proved too much for the multiple division title contender.

With the win, Aldo continues to prove that he’s one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world, but was it enough to remain ahead of UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones?

Here are the latest MMA pound-for-pound rankings.

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Rashad Evans Releases Statement on Jones vs. Machida Title Bout

The year 2011 hasn’t gone exactly the way Rashad Evans planned.Multiple injuries have caused the former light heavyweight champion to pull out of two proposed title bouts. The first occurred a month out from his scheduled title bout with Mauricio “Shog…

The year 2011 hasn’t gone exactly the way Rashad Evans planned.

Multiple injuries have caused the former light heavyweight champion to pull out of two proposed title bouts. The first occurred a month out from his scheduled title bout with Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 128.

Evans injured his knee during training and was forced to withdraw from the fight. Jon Jones, Evans’ teammate, took his place and defeated Rua to become the new UFC champion.

After Jones’ win, he and Evans had a huge falling out, which ended in Evans leaving Jackson’s MMA and longtime mentor Greg Jackson.

Evans made his long-awaited return after over a year of hiatus against MMA legend Tito Ortiz. It looked like it was just another day at the office for Evans, who dominated and stopped Ortiz with strikes in the second round.

The win made him the No. 1 contender for the UFC title, but unfortunately for Evans, he injured his right thumb in the bout.

When the UFC came calling for the championship fight against Jones to take place on December 10, Evans’ response was disappointing to say the least.

“After my last fight against Tito Ortiz, I dislocated my right thumb, which required it to be set back in place and held with pins. 24 hours ago, my physician removed the pins. At that time, I learned that it would require another three weeks of rehabilitation before engaging in any exercise or training that would require the use of my hand,” Evans told MMAWeekly on Thursday.

With Evans unable to take the fight, UFC President Dana White made the decision to give the title shot to another former light heavyweight champion Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida.

“Dana White and I spoke earlier today, and I fully understand his decision to put Machida against Jones for the title at UFC 140. Given the rehabilitation time I require for my dislocated thumb, I would not be 100 percent ready by December 10,” said Evans.

UFC 140 will take place at Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Even though he won’t be able to compete, Evans will be watching closely as two of the most unorthodox fighters in the sport vie for the world title.

“The UFC has to keep making fights that entertain the fans. I would have done the same thing as Dana in his position. I’m asking for the fans to support me as I rehabilitate my hand, and I promise I will be back fighting very quickly,” Evans said.

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Rashad Evans Has Pins Removed, Cleared for Training in 3 Weeks

Rashad Evans is back on schedule.The former UFC light heavyweight champion had the pins removed from his injured hand on Wednesday, and he’ll have to undergo three weeks of physical therapy before he can return to full training.Glenn Robinson, Evans’ m…

Rashad Evans is back on schedule.

The former UFC light heavyweight champion had the pins removed from his injured hand on Wednesday, and he’ll have to undergo three weeks of physical therapy before he can return to full training.

Glenn Robinson, Evans’ manager, confirmed the news to HeavyMMA.com on Wednesday night.

“Rashad is going to rest up for three weeks, and then he’ll be ready to start his training camp,” said Robinson. “He’s ready to go.”

Evans is expected to challenge former teammate Jon Jones for the UFC light heavyweight title.

There have been rumors swirling around about the possibility of the highly-anticipated bout taking place at UFC 140. Unfortunately, the extra three weeks off will prevent Evans from putting together a proper training camp needed in order to meet the December 10 fight date.

In what will likely be one of the biggest grudge matches of all time, Evans hopes to be fully prepared in his attempt to dethrone Jones.

With treatment set to begin next week, Evans is scheduled to make an appearance at this weekend’s fan Expo in Houston for UFC 136.

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Dana White: Gilbert Melendez Signing with UFC, Immediate Title Contender?

Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez could be coming to the UFC sooner than expected.According to UFC President Dana White, the UFC is currently working on a deal to bring the Cesar Gracie student over to the big show “right now.”This puts…

Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez could be coming to the UFC sooner than expected.

According to UFC President Dana White, the UFC is currently working on a deal to bring the Cesar Gracie student over to the big show “right now.”

This puts Melendez’s upcoming December 17 Strikeforce title bout with Jorge Masvidal in question.

“We’re looking to bring Gilbert Melendez over ASAP,” White told MMAWeekly.

Melendez has long been considered one of the premier lightweights in the sport. Most MMA rankings have him placed at third behind Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard.

He is coming off dominant wins over tough opposition in Shinya Aoki, Tatsuya Kawajiri, Josh Thomson and Mitsuhiro Ishida.

With his position in the lightweight division, the question on most people’s minds is whether or not Melendez will receive an immediate title shot upon entry into the UFC.

Ben Henderson, Clay Guida and Melvin Guillard are all potential title contenders. If these guys win in their next outings, could Melendez still leap frog them in the UFC title picture?

“It’s a possibility [Melendez gets the shot],” said White. “The thing is with that division, it’s so stacked, there’s a lot of possibilities. Do you take a kid, depending on what happens, like a guy like Melvin Guillard and throw him right into the title?

“I don’t know. We gotta see, and usually, timing has a lot to do with that. We’ll see what happens with the timing. They have this title fight between Edgar and Maynard and praise the Lord nobody gets hurt, broken hand, or this and that, or all these other things. It can happen, so, we’ll see. We’ll go with the flow.”

Guillard is slated to face Joe Lauzon on Saturday at UFC 136. Henderson and Guida will do battle on the historic UFC on Fox 1 card slated for November 12.

Melendez will surely be watching the coming UFC bouts with much interest. Only time will tell how this situation plays out.

In any case, a storm is brewing, and “El Nino” is looking to bring the thunder to the UFC lightweight division.

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Will Lyoto Machida Be out Until 2012?

Despite being healthy and ready to fight, it looks like Lyoto Machida may be out of action for the rest of the year.In a Tweet sent out on Sunday, “The Dragon” told fans that he likely wouldn’t be fighting again until next year, but he never gave a rea…

Despite being healthy and ready to fight, it looks like Lyoto Machida may be out of action for the rest of the year.

In a Tweet sent out on Sunday, “The Dragon” told fans that he likely wouldn’t be fighting again until next year, but he never gave a reason why he was being sidelined for such an extended period of time.

Machida’s only bout this year took place in April at UFC 129, where he knocked out UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture with a highlight-reel crane kick.

Since the win, there have been rumored bouts pitting the former light heavyweight champion against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Phil Davis.

The UFC ultimately decided to match Rua against Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Dan Henderson, and Machida was paired with Davis at UFC 140.

Unfortunately for Machida, the bout with Davis was deemed a no-go due to the rising 205-pound star needing more time to recover from a serious knee injury.

Considering Machida’s stature in the light heavyweight division, it’s interesting to think that he could be kept out of action for so long without even an attempt at finding a replacement opponent.

With Strikeforce crumbling, bouts against Gegard Mousasi, Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal, Roger Gracie or possibly even fellow Black House student Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante all make sense for Machida.

Is it possible that Machida is overreacting, and the UFC is currently working to find him an opponent?

If this is the case, a decision should be made in the coming days. There aren’t too many upper-echelon fighters out there willing a take a fight on short notice with someone like Machida.

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