The official weigh-ins for UFC 134 will take place today at the site of Saturday night’s event at HSBC Arena in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. The homecoming for UFC middleweight champion and proposed pound-for-pound kingpin Anderson Silva has been eagerly an…
The official weigh-ins for UFC 134 will take place today at the site of Saturday night’s event at HSBC Arena in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.
The homecoming for UFC middleweight champion and proposed pound-for-pound kingpin Anderson Silva has been eagerly anticipated.
He’ll look to continue his flawless ways inside the octagon when he meets former foe and top middleweight contender Yushin Okami.
In the co-main event, former UFC light heavyweight champions Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Forrest Griffin meet in a rematch of their September, 2007 scrap, where Griffin rebounded from a rough start and submitted the BJJ black belt with 15 seconds left in the third round.
Former Pride and UFC heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira also makes his return after over a year hiatus. He’ll step right back into the fire of the deepening heavyweight division when he faces the Ultimate Fighter Season 10 finalist Brendan Schaub.
The festivities are scheduled to kick off at 3 p.m. ET. Join us for live updates as the fighters hit the scales.
Birds chirp, Anderson Silva sings and Burger King smiles. Burger King recently kicked off their campaign starring the UFC middleweight champion, and the first commercial was released on Wednesday. In the video above, fans get to see “The Spider” lip sy…
Birds chirp, Anderson Silva sings and Burger King smiles.
Burger King recently kicked off their campaign starring the UFC middleweight champion, and the first commercial was released on Wednesday.
In the video above, fans get to see “The Spider” lip syncing as he honors a BK stacker with the soothing tunes of Minnie Riperton’s Loving You.
It was announced in July that Silva signed an endorsement deal with the Whopper-maker for a campaign that is expected to run throughout 2011.
As initially reported by MMA Mania, a Burger King rep had the following to say about signing the legendary fighter.
“Anderson has a great identity with the brand, is an idol of many audiences, especially young people, our main customers. We believe he has much to contribute to make the new campaign more fun and impactful.”
We all know Silva can fight, but what do you think about his singing chops?
The UFC may be the largest MMA promotion in the world with the best stable of talent, but there are a multitude of world-class fighters competing in other organizations scattered over the globe. Fighters like Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair O…
The UFC may be the largest MMA promotion in the world with the best stable of talent, but there are a multitude of world-class fighters competing in other organizations scattered over the globe.
Fighters like Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem and Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez are often listed in the top five of their respective divisions, and neither guy has ever stepped foot inside the Octagon.
As UFC president Dana White continues his campaign for global expansion, there is a great chance that some of the names on this list will one day compete under the bright lights of the UFC.
If you call yourself a hardcore fan, there shouldn’t be many surprises on this list. If not, this list should serve as your guideline and get you up to speed on top fighters who are rarely noted.
Former UFC middleweight contender Nate Marquardt is not included on this list, as he has yet to fight outside the UFC since being released from the promotion.
Without further ado, here are the 35 best fighters outside the UFC.
Chael Sonnen has never been one to hesitate in vocalizing his beliefs, and he believes UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva being favored over top contender Yushin Okami is an absolute injustice. “Yushin’s got to be a clear favorite. Yushin’s much …
Chael Sonnen has never been one to hesitate in vocalizing his beliefs, and he believes UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva being favored over top contender Yushin Okami is an absolute injustice.
“Yushin’s got to be a clear favorite. Yushin’s much better than Anderson. Yushin beat Anderson the last time they fought,” said Sonnen in an appearance on Bruce Buffer’s “It’s Time” show on the Sherdog Radio Network.
“It’s real hard to imagine how Anderson would win, but that doesn’t mean he can’t. He’s pulled it off a few times before. I think the hardest part in selling this fight, as they say, is convincing people that Anderson’s actually got a chance.”
Okami and Silva last squared off in January 2006 at Rumble on the Rock 8, where Silva was disqualified for landing an illegal upkick that left Okami unable to continue.
Five years later, Silva has broken a plethora of UFC records, secured a world title and crafted one of the greatest legacies the sport has ever seen.
Okami’s UFC tenure has been impressive as well. He carries a 10-2 record inside the Octagon, with his only losses coming to Sonnen and former middleweight champion Rich Franklin.
A former opponent, Sonnen now trains alongside Okami and is expected to corner him in the championship bout at UFC 134 on Saturday in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which should serve as a significant story in itself.
Since losing to Silva in August 2010, Sonnen has unleashed Armageddon in verbal attacks on the champ, Black House gym and the entire country of Brazil.
Born in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Silva has taken great offense to Sonnen’s comments about his country and teammates.
As far as the fight is concerned, there is some validity to Sonnen’s madness.
Silva is the proposed pound-for-pound kingpin, but like every other fighter, he has his weaknesses. A consistent weakness in The Spider’s game has to be his wrestling.
Sonnen dominated Silva for four and a half rounds with relentless takedowns and suffocating top control. Okami will present Silva with similar problems. He’s a strong wrestler with nasty ground-and-pound and shutdown top control.
The primary difference between Sonnen and Okami is the Japanese star’s underrated Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
Okami is a very intelligent fighter on the ground, and Silva shouldn’t bank on late fight heroics in this fight. He’s going to have to get after Okami early and stay off his back.
The winner of this fight could face the winner of the upcoming bout between Sonnen and Brian Stann at UFC 136. Sonnen has already stated that he doesn’t have any qualms about facing his teammate, but he would love to get another crack at Silva.
The world may have anointed Silva as the greatest fighter on the planet, but Sonnen isn’t quite ready to cave into the masses. When asked to predict a winner in a dream fight between Silva and welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, Sonnen didn’t have to think long before answering.
“I think it would be one-sided…a very easy match for GSP,” Sonnen said.
After a quiet exit from her scheduled June 18 bout with Sarah D’Alelio, Gina Carano is finally ready to make her MMA return. According to Dave Meltzer in an update on the Wrestling Observer, Carano is expected to compete on the December 17 Strikef…
After a quiet exit from her scheduled June 18 bout with Sarah D’Alelio, Gina Carano is finally ready to make her MMA return.
According to Dave Meltzer in an update on the Wrestling Observer, Carano is expected to compete on the December 17 Strikeforce card, which also features the lightweight title bout between Gilbert Melendez and Jorge Masvidal.
Carano’s last professional fight was over two years ago against Strikeforce featherweight champion Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos. After getting stopped in the first round, Carano took an extended leave from her MMA career to go shoot the upcoming Hollywood film Haywire.
In February, Carano officially announced she would be returning to MMA. Strikeforce lined up D’Alelio as an opponent on the June 18 card, but Carano was pulled from the card for unknown reasons a little over a week out from the event.
The last time fans heard from Carano was in a prepared statement from her camp two months ago.
“Gina is feeling much better after having undergone some medical attention and is looking forward to getting back into training very soon. She would like to express thanks to Team Jackson for a wonderful training camp, Strikeforce and the fans.”
Carano has avoided all media attention since the release of the statement.
News of her December return should not only excite fans, but it should also clear up a multitude of rumors, including the proposed “Face of Women’s MMA” being pregnant.
A few months after Jake Shields suffered his first loss in six years, the Cesar Gracie camp is preparing for a second crack at UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre. Former Strikeforce champion Nick Diaz will be standing opposite the French-Canad…
A few months after Jake Shields suffered his first loss in six years, the Cesar Gracie camp is preparing for a second crack at UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre.
Former Strikeforce champion Nick Diaz will be standing opposite the French-Canadian phenom this time around, and Gracie is every bit of as confident in the controversial Stockton native as he was in Shields.
“It should be a really good fight,” Gracie said in an interview with Full Contact Fighter. “Nick is really going to press the action. He’s going to force GSP to fight. I was just really happy that Nick is going to get the opportunity to show just how good he is now.”
Diaz has seen significant strides in his overall game since his last UFC appearance in November 2006. While his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has always been considered the most dangerous aspect of his game, Diaz’s improved boxing could rival his grappling base.
Training with WBA and WBC World Boxing Champion Luisito Espinosa and Olympic Boxing Gold Medalist Andre Ward, Diaz has quickly become one of the best boxers in the entire 170-pound division.
Will it all make any difference against St-Pierre, arguably the best wrestler in MMA?
“Georges is a great athlete and pretty smart fighter,” said Gracie. “His athleticism often lets him dictate where the fight is going to go, and if he’s comfortable where he can take the finish, without taking too many risks, he will.”
St-Pierre, who hasn’t finished a fight in over two years, has often been criticized for utilizing “safe” tactics to coast to decisions.
From a purely coaching perspective, St-Pierre’s way of fighting doesn’t faze Gracie. He is only worried about guys on his own team.
When he looks at things from a fan’s perspective, Gracie has a much different opinion of the champ.
“The thing is, it’s really not my business how he fights. He’s not on my team, so, I truly don’t care how he fights,” Gracie said. “Now if you’re asking me as a fan, yeah, that style is not what I like to watch. I like to watch guys that just completely go for it, take chances, and give crowds what they want, which is ‘Ultimate Fighting,’ not ‘ultimate stalling’ or anything like that.”
It may not be Gracie’s business how St-Pierre fights, but it is his business in making sure Diaz is fully prepared come fight night. Perhaps the most well-rounded fighter in the world, St-Pierre is a tough guy to plan for.
When looking at past bouts, Gracie sees similarities between Diaz and former two-division champion B.J. Penn. Like “The Prodigy,” Diaz is a world class boxer with a flexible guard, which allows him to seamlessly flow through sweeps and submission attempts.
“I think [GSP] is going to approach this fight somewhat like the B.J. Penn fight,” Gracie stated. “I think he’ll try to fight Nick the same way, where he’ll tie up with him, try to keep him up against the cage, do a little dirty boxing and try to get him arm weary, maybe get some takedowns and see how that goes. He’ll probably be cautious from the top position but try to inflict damage depending on how it’s going.”
St-Pierre and Diaz are expected to headline a stacked UFC 137 card on October 29 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
While Diaz looks to win his first ever UFC title, St-Pierre seeks his seventh successful welterweight title defense, which would tie the record of MMA legend and UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes.
The official weigh-ins for UFC 134 will take place today at the site of Saturday night’s event at HSBC Arena in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.
Birds chirp,