Author: kmowatt

Now that the countdown clock has kicked into high gear for the upcoming March 27^th bout between Dan Hardy and UFC Welterweight Georges St. Pierre (yes time does in fact speed up as a fight draws nearer- just don’t ask any physicist), seems like you’re hard pressed not to find some coverage on Hardy in the UK press.

At any rate, most of the pre-fight coverage regarding Hardy has focused on his ongoing ‘hate-hate’’ relationship with Mike Swick and Josh Koscheck. Really, Hardy, hasn’t had too much to say in way of smack talk towards GSP; being one of the world’s best pound-for-pound fighters usually limits your opponent’s dissing opportunities. In Hardy’s blog on the UK ESPN site, however, the welterweight has made some interesting comments, stating he’ll have the advantage the longer their UFC 111 bout last.

The longer this fight goes, the more it sways in my direction. No doubt. I get better the deeper a fight goes on, and the more time I can put pressure on GSP the more he’s going to get discouraged that he hasn’t been able to get me out of there. I love the longer fights, I hope this fight is going to be the one that really gives me the mental examination that I crave.

Huh. That’s an interesting take on it. Not sure Thiago Alves, BJ Penn or Jon Fitch felt like GSP was wavering past the third, but they weren’t as heavy underdogs either. Maybe GSP will feel some pressure to get Hardy out of there?

Since Josh Barnett ‘tweeted’ a couple of days ago that the “rumor is” both Tim Sylvia and Antonio Silva had turned down an opportunity to fight the banished heavyweight in Japan, speculation has been percolating as to who whether or not Barnett’s return was imminent. Well, according to a report this afternoon from MMA Weekly, the former UFC champion has signed a deal with Dream and will likely fight March 22^nd.

The report did not mention any possible opponent, and with the news that Alistair Overeem is probably locked to fight Bret Rogers in May, the rumored list of opponents is getting shorter. Fighters Only Magazine is reporting that British heavyweight Neil Grove continues to be a possibility.

So, should anyone be surprised that Barnett is heading back to “The Land of the Rising Sun,” which also, by quinky dink, is under no obligation to honor the fighter’s latest suspension for allegedly testing positive for banned substances? We just answered our own question. (Perhaps you were one of many, who wept uncontrollably in despair and anger last summer, when Mr.Barnett’s urine kyboshed his Affliction bout with Fedor Emelianenko…it’s okay, it’s the tough times that make you grow…)

Well, ‘black sheep  of MMA’ drama aside, here’s hoping that at least Dream throws Barnett a quality opponent rather than someone of the tomato can variety.

According to multiple reports, a non-title bout between Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem and Bret Rogers, is in the works for Strikeforce’s upcoming May 15^th event. Apparently Overeem made the announcement on his Twitter account, but soon after took it down, although reports from MMA Fighting and MMA Junkie confirm that the fight is indeed being negotiated.

In case you’re somewhat new to this ‘ultimate fighting’ stuff, and have largely consumed a MMA diet of UFC action to date, you’re probably asking ‘’who the eff is Alistair Overeem?’ Now although this really is a sign that you’re not taking the sport as seriously as us nerds, and would get schooled in a heated ‘best Sakuraba moment ever’ debate, it’s somewhat understandable since Overeem hasn’t fought for Strikeforce since December, 2007…yup, that’s one patient promotion there folks. A lot of organizations would have stripped the belt from the Dutch fighter months ago.

It’s not like Overeem has been spending his time enjoying the ‘sights and sounds’ (and there are plenty) of Amsterdam, he’s actually fought a lot between K-1 and MMA, just not in N.A. In fact, if you want to get an idea of Overeem’s game, check out his NYE ‘humans aren’t meant to be kneed’ victory over Kazayuki Fujita.

In a recent interview with MMA Junkie, Overeem claims that Fedor Emelianenko isn’t interested in fighting, and that he’s looking forward to smacking Roger’s “face and mouth.” Should be good, but really, shouldn’t Alistair be defending his belt here eventually?

If people weren’t listening to what Cain Velasquez had to say a couple of weeks ago, they likely are now; that’s what happens when you need less than 3 minutes to cruise through “Minotauro” Nogueira, one of the sport’s greatest fighters ever (either that or say something that borders on slander and usually people will listen up).

Although the winner of the upcoming March 27^th Frank Mir / Shane Carwin bout is scheduled to fight Brock Lesnar in July, Dana White has gone on record saying, that Velasquez will step in to fight the champ if either guy gets injured. Although any of them would make for an awesome fight (yes Mir vs. Lesnar III has the edge in ‘no I hate you more’ factor), it would be damn interesting to see how Velasquez would fair against the ‘Minnesota Monster.’ In a recent interview with MMA Fighting the undefeated heavyweight talked about what kind of strategy he would employ against Lesnar.

“I think I’d have to wear him out for the first two or three rounds, because he’s so big and strong. I’d need to be weary of him at the beginning.”

“I think that’d be my best option, trying to do that. He’s a great athlete, and he has wrestled in the NCAAs, and you have to be a top athlete to do that, but I think that would be my best bet.”

Hell, sounds good to us, it would be fascinating to see how Lesnar looks in the championship rounds. Thankfully we’d be watching from home instead of inside the Octagon.

Recently, we’ve talked about the fact that talk regarding the upcoming March 27th welterweight title fight between champion Georges St. Pierre and challenger Dan Hardy, hasn’t exactly been burning up the internet. With the bout now just a few weeks away, perhaps this will change, especially if Hardy continues to get opportunities to share his ‘gift for gab.’

Case in point, today This is Nottingham has posted an article from Hardy himself, where he talks about being in the spotlight (ok maybe it’s getting brighter), filming prefight coverage for the UFC, as well as, his critics like Josh Koscheck, who have publicly decried the UFC’s decision to give the British slugger a title shot. In fact, Hardy’s post is so full with ‘oh snap’ and ‘oh no he didn’t’ goodness, we were hard pressed to pick just one quote.  (Thanks to MMA Bay for the tip) Here’s a couple:

“I am very amused Josh Koscheck is still bitching his lungs out that he deserves a title shot, not me. British fans will know Koscheck as the Fraggle-haired guy who got sparked out in one round in London a year ago, (to Paulo Thiago) only to take his loss out on an innocent chair backstage, scoring a split decision points win over the unsuspecting piece of furniture.”

Wow. Now Paul Daley was the first (we believe) to use the ‘fraggle’ bit, but he and Hardy are buddies, so borrow away…Hardy also ‘takes a piss’ at Jon Fitch (who apparently hasn’t improved according to Hardy) , Mike Swick, in fact, the entire AKA team. Yup, this is going to get interesting.

Since Randy Couture’s ‘there’s no surprises here’ victory over Mark Coleman last month, there’s been talk on the world wide web, that “The Natural” would face another of the promotion’s more popular veterans in Rich “Ace” Franklin next. Although Franklin may not be the ‘world beater’ that he used to be and is coming off a loss to Vitor Belfort, he did earn a UD victory over Wanderlei Silva last summer, and was extremely competitive against Dan Henderson.

In other words, one would think that Couture vs. Franklin would be damn entertaining, no? After all, we’re talking ‘Captain America’ vs. ‘Cyborg Soldier’ here folks; need we say more? (Praise a higher power immediately if you haven’t seen Franklin’s movie debut….)

Well according to a report from MMA Bay, Couture recently confirmed on the outlet’s radio show, that indeed a fight between him and Franklin is in the works. Couture apparently said that the UFC was initially looking to match him up against the former middleweight champ at UFC 115 in June, but now, the promotion is eyeing August events in Boston or Germany.

Now, the question that begs to be asked, if Couture is able to defeat Franklin, will the UFC take a serious look at giving Couture a crack at the light-heavyweight belt? Right. Stupid question. Now go watch “Cyborg Soldier.”