Krzyzstof Soszynski Believes Pressure on him Heading into UFC 116

With a ton of hullabaloo surrounding this Saturday’s heavyweight tilt between Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin, especially now that Wanderlei Silva is no longer competing (anytime you lose an “Axe Murderer” people are going to be pissed), the rematch between Krzyzstof Soszynski and Stephan Bonnar may be getting a little lost in the shuffle. Their […]

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With a ton of hullabaloo surrounding this Saturday’s heavyweight tilt between Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin, especially now that Wanderlei Silva is no longer competing (anytime you lose an “Axe Murderer” people are going to be pissed), the rematch between Krzyzstof Soszynski and Stephan Bonnar may be getting a little lost in the shuffle. Their first tilt in February was pretty good, until of course, the referee shat the bed (the fight ending cut on Bonnar occurred as a result of an accidental head butt and not a punch)

Since competing on TUF 8 Soszynski has performed pretty well (aside from a UD loss to Brandon Vera) and although a loss to Bonnar wouldn’t be catastrophic, it might put him on the bubble. Bonnar has lost three in a row, however, and although the defeat to Soszynski doesn’t really count, the former TUF star lost to Mark Coleman and Jon Jones before that. One loss was kind of expected, the other…not so much.

Of course, due to Bonnar’s starring role in the fight that ‘changed it all’, Dana White has stated in the past that both Bonnar and Forrest Griffin will always have a home with the UFC. This is likely why in a recent interview with MMA Fighting Mr. Soszynski stated:

“I have a feeling that’s why all the pressure’s on me,” Soszynski said. “He’s got a home. He’s never going to leave the UFC. If he’s one of Dana White’s boys, then I’m the one that has to win this fight. He’s got a job, he’s got nothing to worry about. If I lose to Stephan Bonnar, I might lose my job.”

To bet on Saturday’s fights head here.

Report: MMA Sanctioning in New York Hit With Setback

For years UFC boss man Dana White, Zuffa’s considerable resources, not to mention a dozens of other MMA interests, have pushed hard to get the sport sanctioned in New York State. After all, it’s a huge market, and let’s face it, no sport is complete until you can have an event in NYC with Jay […]

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For years UFC boss man Dana White, Zuffa’s considerable resources, not to mention a dozens of other MMA interests, have pushed hard to get the sport sanctioned in New York State. After all, it’s a huge market, and let’s face it, no sport is complete until you can have an event in NYC with Jay Z, Rudy Giuliani and Derek Jeter in attendance. Okay. Maybe that’s not so important, but, you don’t have write for Forbes Magazine to figure out that getting MMA legal in New York would be huge for the sport.

Unfortunately news is surfacing today, however, that the sanctioning fight has taken a solid shot to the chin, the choke is sunk, has given up full mount, or whatever stupid play on words you would like to use. According to a report from NY Daily News, the State’s “Assembly Democrats stripped approval for the wildly popular violent sport from a budget bill,” effectively punting MMA from the ‘state’s to do list’ for now. As the following quote demonstrates:

“The majority of voices who spoke about this issue in our conference were not supportive of approving it as part of the budget,” said Assemblyman Steven Englebright (D-L.I.), a fight fan.

The story goes on to say that Englebright does not believe the Assembly will revisit the issue, this, despite the fact, that the Senate has already approved MMA and NY Governor David Paterson is also in favour of sanctioning the sport. Sorry NY fans. Awful news. For a while there things were looking up but….Maybe a road trip to Boston for UFC 118 is in order? Or does mentioning that just make it worse?

Shane Carwin Says UFC “Has Taken Good Care” of His Family

With Fedor Emelianenko now having a ‘real’ loss on his record, this Saturday’s UFC 116 tilt between champion Brock Lesnar and interim champ Shane Carwin has become even more important, as their will be little doubt that the winner is the world’s #1 heavyweight. Not that the fight wasn’t receiving a lot of hype already, […]

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With Fedor Emelianenko now having a ‘real’ loss on his record, this Saturday’s UFC 116 tilt between champion Brock Lesnar and interim champ Shane Carwin has become even more important, as their will be little doubt that the winner is the world’s #1 heavyweight. Not that the fight wasn’t receiving a lot of hype already, which is more than understandable, considering the size, power and agility of each man (just ask Frank Mir what it feels like to be rag dolled by both).

Some of the interesting storylines heading into the fight have surrounded Shane Carwin, who first, fired back at critics and the UFC’s “talking heads” who said he wasn’t doing enough media, and more recently, when the imposing fighter posted what he was going to get paid (one wouldn’t use the word ‘transparency’ to describe Zuffa’s pay structure). Carwin says he’s not inline to get a piece of the pay-per-view pie (which Lesnar knows is delicious), and will make 80 grand if he wins. When asked by MMA Fighting’s Ben Fowlkes recently, if he’ll be looking to renegotiate provided he wins Saturday, Carwin said this:

“I do not think so. Beating Brock does not make you Brock. I will still need to insult most of the fighters in my division, flip off the fans, insult the biggest sponsors the UFC has and then and only then will I renegotiate with Zuffa. Dana and Lorenzo have taken good care of my family and I. They have given us more than they are obligated to and we are happy.”

(Cue drums and the obligatory cymbal please) See, there’s some nice verbal work from Carwin. To bet on Saturday’s card head here.

Alistair Overeem Says Fedor is a “Little Bit Out of the Picture”

Many MMA fans continue to try to make sense of the sport’s landscape, just two days removed from Fedor Emelianenko’s stunning loss to Fabricio Werdum. Fedor’s first defeat in a decade just wasn’t supposed to happen; not against Werdum, despite the Brazilian’s ever increasing abilities. Really, when you think about it, Fedor was kind of […]

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Many MMA fans continue to try to make sense of the sport’s landscape, just two days removed from Fedor Emelianenko’s stunning loss to Fabricio Werdum. Fedor’s first defeat in a decade just wasn’t supposed to happen; not against Werdum, despite the Brazilian’s ever increasing abilities. Really, when you think about it, Fedor was kind of effed with this fight either way. If he won, Fedor’s critics would say all he had done was beat a guy that got bombed out by Junior Dos Santos. Someone, “The Last Emperor” could have elected to fight, if he hadn’t ‘dodged’ tough competition in the UFC…But, Fedor lost, so here’s more on the flip side of that undesirable coin…

For many of Fedor’s critics, Saturday’s result was likely proof that the Russian legend’s reign as the world’s #1 P4P fighter has long been over (beating Hong Man Choi just didn’t do it for a lot of people…). Of course Alistair Overeem was also adversely affected by Saturday’s result, as now the Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion may never face Emelianenko, in what could have been the promotion’s biggest fight to date. Speaking to Sherdog.com, the Dutchman had this to say, when asked about Fedor’s future:

“Fedor’s a little bit out of the picture,” said Overeem. “He has one more fight on his (Strikeforce) contract and I don’t know against who he’ll fight. He might retire after that anyway. He might retire now. He’s the X-factor.”

Out of the picture huh? Not surprising considering Overeem also claims that Fedor turned down a fight with him in May. MMA is a ‘what have you done for me lately’ sport, but, we’re thinking Fedor still has some big wins in him yet. Check out the entire Overeem interview here.

Chuck Liddell Concedes “Not Taking Shots Like I Used To”

Over the last few weeks MMA fans have seen two of the sport’s greatest legends take losses in Chuck Liddell, and more recently, Fedor Emelianenko. Of course, there are some huge differences in each storyline,  as Fedor hadn’t lost since December, 2000, (and that was due to a cut he incurred seconds in) while Liddell […]

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Over the last few weeks MMA fans have seen two of the sport’s greatest legends take losses in Chuck Liddell, and more recently, Fedor Emelianenko. Of course, there are some huge differences in each storyline,  as Fedor hadn’t lost since December, 2000, (and that was due to a cut he incurred seconds in) while Liddell has been stopped three times in a row (with the losses to Rich Franklin and Rashad Evans in particular being of the ‘dude he’s f—ked up’ variety).

While UFC Prez Dana White made it abundantly clear following Liddell’s UFC 115 loss to Franklin, that “The Iceman” would never fight in the UFC again, the former champ hasn’t really done a ton of media much less talk about whether or not he’s hanging up the gloves. Well in a recent interview with MMA Canada.net, which featured a lovely looking woman asking the questions, and as a result, some rather interesting / understandable choices regarding camera work, Liddell had this to say about his latest loss (thanks to MMA Fighting for the tip):

“I’ve been an aggressive fighter my whole life,” he said. “It’s one of those things that it’s hard to change after so long. I probably should have been more conservative, protect myself a little more. I guess I’m not taking shots like I used to.”

Yes. Unfortunately not. In terms of retiring? Chuck was pressed on the question a couple of times but wasn’t saying much, other than he’s “going to talk to Dana.” It’s all still sounding very familiar no? To watch the entire interview head here.

Scott Coker Says Fedor vs. Werdum II Possible

(photo courtesy Esther Lin/ Strikeforce)
Last night the Earth was without oxygen for just a second, as thousands upon thousands of MMA fans worldwide gasped in unison, while seeing Fedor Emelianenko tap out to Fabricio Werdum’s first round triangle-choke. Yes, many acknowledged the skills of Werdum heading into the bout, but few expected him to hand […]

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(photo courtesy Esther Lin/ Strikeforce)

Last night the Earth was without oxygen for just a second, as thousands upon thousands of MMA fans worldwide gasped in unison, while seeing Fedor Emelianenko tap out to Fabricio Werdum’s first round triangle-choke. Yes, many acknowledged the skills of Werdum heading into the bout, but few expected him to hand Fedor his first ‘legit’ loss in over 30 fights (some may have been hoping- right Dana?)

So, what the eff is next for “The Last Emperor” now? The script seemed to be that Fedor would beat Werdum and then fight Strikeforce’s Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem. Well, considering that the winner of last night’s bout was supposed to fight Alistair, Fabricio is a lock for a title shot right? And Fedor will have to look elsewhere in the Strikeforce heavyweight division? Umm, seems not necessarily….

In a few reports today, it looks like the general ‘vibe’ stemming from last night’s post-fight press conference, is that Strikeforce is open to giving Fedor a rematch with Werdum. Both men said they’re willing, and while discussing the promotion’s heavyweight picture, Strikeforce boss man Scott Coker was quoted saying this (thanks to MMA Junkie for the quote):

“To me, Fabricio and Fedor is going to be a mega-fight that we should promote,” Coker said. “I also think that Fabricio vs. Alistair, the rematch against our champion, is something Alistair is going to want and would be another big fight. I think that the fight between Fedor and Alistair should still happen, as well.”

So, while Coker didn’t commit to an immediate rematch, he didn’t say that Alistair vs. Werdum was a lock either….Guess only time (with M-1 Global’s two huge cents in there) will tell.