Author: JP Smith

UFC 133: Phil Davis Doesn’t Plan on Losing to Rashad Evans

During the past few months, many of the UFC’s top fighters have been plagued by injuries, the latest being light heavyweight champion and Greg Jackson prodigy, Jon Jones. The highly anticipated bout between two former friends, Rashad Evans and Jo…

During the past few months, many of the UFC’s top fighters have been plagued by injuries, the latest being light heavyweight champion and Greg Jackson prodigy, Jon Jones.

The highly anticipated bout between two former friends, Rashad Evans and Jon Jones, has been postponed due to Jones getting injured during training when he tore a ligament in his right hand.

Evans’ last scheduled bout with then-champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua was also postponed when Rua was injured during training. Evans chose to wait for Rua to heal and for his shot at regaining the light UFC heavyweight title, a decision that he has come to regret.

This time, while not a title shot, Evans will not be waiting on his opponent as the undefeated and very hungry, Phil “Mr. Wonderful” Davis steps up to replace the champion in what could be a three-round war between two of the sport’s best wrestlers.

While Evans and Jones continue their newfound grudge via Twitter, Davis is focused on only one thing: his fight with Evans at UFC 133.

Stepping up and seizing the opportunity is nothing new to Davis. He stepped up to replace Tito Ortiz in his last fight against former PRIDE fighter, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira also known as, “Little Nog”. Davis beat Nogueria by unanimous decision, controlling him with his superior wrestling.

According to Eric Fontanez at MMA Weekly, Davis is preparing for a battle against an opponent of equal, if not better wrestling skills.

“He’s someone I should definitely be concerned about with my skill set…I expect a pretty good fight,” Davis said.

“I invite the opportunity to face someone of his level of wrestling and I think I’ll be fine.”

Regardless of Evans’ wrestling ability, Davis plans on controlling the fight.

“I like to think I’m going to be the one controlling the pace of any fight,” he said. “And I don’t think this will be any different.

“I will take this fight wherever it wants to go.”

Even though Davis is undefeated, he will be facing an experienced former champion with only one loss on his record and who has been in deep water before.

Considering each of these great athletes wrestling experience, this fight could turn out to be a high-paced wrestling match. Regardless, Davis is facing the biggest test and challenge of his career.

For Davis, it’s just another opportunity, one that leads to a light heavyweight title shot and one he doesn’t plan on losing.

“Losing was never something I planned on doing.”

Davis told MMA Heat’s Karyn Bryant that it makes no difference to him who he fights.

“To me it’s not about fighting people. I don’t care if you can beat this guy or that guy. I want to have the belt.”

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MMA: 10 Best Left-Handed Fighters Today

Left-handed fighters, better known as southpaws, have caused trouble for many right-handed fighters throughout history. The history of boxing dates back to ancient Sumer, ancient Egypt and ancient Greece, but The southpaw stance began with western boxi…

Left-handed fighters, better known as southpaws, have caused trouble for many right-handed fighters throughout history.

The history of boxing dates back to ancient Sumer, ancient Egypt and ancient Greece, but The southpaw stance began with western boxing well over 200 years ago and has since transitioned over to Mixed Martial Arts.

Standing with the right foot forward and left foot back, the southpaw is the exact opposite of a right-handed orthodox stance and poses many potential dangers to fighters that haven’t trained properly for a southpaw.

Some of the most famous southpaw boxers include, Marvin Hagler, Hector Camacho, Winky Wright, Joe Calzaghe and Manny Pacquiao.

Boxing has now made its way into MMA and is trained as one of the top three disciplines, along with Muay Thai and grappling.

In this slideshow, we will examine the top 10 best left handed fighters in MMA today, starting with the No. 10 ranking and moving down to the best southpaw at No. 1.

Begin Slideshow

UFC 130: Roy Nelson Talks UFC Fan Expo, Mullets and Frank Mir

MMA H.E.A.T.’s Kayrn Bryant caught up with “Big Country” Roy Nelson at the UFC Fan Expo in Toronto for a quick Q&A session regarding his upcoming heavyweight fight with Frank Mir at UFC 130: Edgar vs. Maynard III and the secret to…

MMA H.E.A.T.’s Kayrn Bryant caught up with “Big Country” Roy Nelson at the UFC Fan Expo in Toronto for a quick Q&A session regarding his upcoming heavyweight fight with Frank Mir at UFC 130: Edgar vs. Maynard III and the secret to keeping a healthy mullet.

After almost a year of waiting for his next fight, “Big Country” makes his first octagon appearance since his fight with Junior Dos Santos in August of 2010.

Nelson engaged in a heavy-handed brawl with the TUF 13 coach, which he lost via unanimous decision but has nothing to be ashamed of.

Along with Dos Santos, Nelson put on the kind of show that both fans and UFC President, Dana White like to see and his fight before last, Nelson won the KO of the Night bonus against Stefan Struve.

On May 28, 2011, Nelson will take on former two-time UFC heavyweight, Frank Mir in a fight that many are looking forward to after Mir’s lackluster, knock-out performance against Mirko “CroCop” Filipović.

Bryant mentioned Nelson being a down to earth guy who is very “relatable” to which Nelson replied, “We all put our pants on the same way.”

She then asked Nelson what his answer is when people say that he doesn’t “look like a fighter.”

“I’m not wearing a football jersey or baseball jersey. That’s usually the look,” was Nelson’s response.

Some speculate that Nelson’s power is in his hair, much like the biblical figure, Samson.

According to Nelson, it’s all in the preparation and styling of his “spectacular” plumage. “It’s just good shampoo…a couple of combs a day. It’s just got to be healthy.”

Nelson’s mullet is healthy indeed. It looks like he’s grown it a few extra inches since his last fight. “It’s business in the front and all party in the back,” he said.

Nelson said that he enjoys “giving back to the fans” at the UFC Fan Expos. “They’re the ones that actually make our sport; no fans, no sport.”

Bryant asked Nelson if he and his upcoming opponent were “friendly.” Nelson said, that he and Mir have known each other for 11 years, that Mir and his wife come over for visits and they “talk all the time.” He even had Mir autograph a picture for him.

Nelson says that this is not a fight he especially wants, being that he and Mir are long time buddies. He compared their friendship and the fight to Jon Jones vs. Rashad Evans with Nelson being Rashad and Mir being Jones.

Make sure to check back with BleacherReport.com/mma for more UFC 130: Egdar vs. Maynard III fight card news and live coverage.

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MMA News: Jason “Mayhem” Miller Talks About Beef with Strikeforce & UFC 132

Notorious MMA fighter and host of MTV’s Bully Beatdown, Jason “Mayhem” Miller has a bone to pick with Strikeforce over his contract or lack thereof. Miller was involved in the infamous “Strikeforce: Nashville Brawl” which …

Notorious MMA fighter and host of MTV’s Bully Beatdown, Jason “Mayhem” Miller has a bone to pick with Strikeforce over his contract or lack thereof.

Miller was involved in the infamous “Strikeforce: Nashville Brawl” which aired live on CBS in April of 2010.

For his participation in the scrap, Miller received a three month suspension, a $5,000-$7,500 fine and was pulled from the card of his scheduled bout with Robbie Lawler, but that’s not specifically what Miller’s beef is about.

Once the fines were paid and suspension was up, Miller still had heard no word from Strikeforce as to when, where or who his next fight would be.

According to Ben Fowlkes of MMAFighting.com Miller stated, “All I knew is that I sat on the bench for a year…that’s all I knew.”

Even though Miller was still under contract with Strikeforce, the promotion apparently “refused to offer him a chance to fight and without ever explaining why”, said Fowlkes.

When Miller’s contract with Strikeforce was up, he signed with the UFC and it wasn’t until then, that he learned the reason he was never given another fight with Strikeforce.

Fowlkes said, Dana White explained that Miller had been banned from Showtime and CBS for the Nashville incident; news that neither Strikeforce management nor CEO, Scott Coker thought was important enough to tell Miller.

“I asked, and guess what? Nobody would tell me. This is a political environment. Nobody’s going to tell you. They’re just going to be cowards about it. That’s the way of the world. Nobody’s going to tell the crazy ultimate fighter guy to his face, ‘Hey, screw you.’ They’re not going to do that,” Miller told MMA Fighting.

Miller has had one fight since his suspension against MMA legend, Kazushi Sakuraba in Japan with the DREAM promotion, which he won by submission.

Since Zuffa LLC’s acquisition of Strikeforce and now that Miller’s contract has expired, he will face Aaron Simpson at UFC 132 in his first UFC middleweight bout and first fight back in the UFC since losing a welterweight matchup against Georges St-Pierre in April of 2005.

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