Author: kmowatt

We’re pretty damn excited about the upcoming February 20^th tilt between Michael Bisping and Wanderlei Silva, after all, both guys like to bring it standing and due to the whole ‘TUF’ vs. ‘old school Pride’ backdrop, it’s been marked on our calendar for a while. It would kind of suck if the bout ends in 20 seconds, but that’s a risk you run in a sport where someone’s brain can be introduced to a kick, before you’ve even had a chance to crack a beer.

Silva’s long time foe, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, has been helping Bisping prepare for the upcoming bout, who should know a thing or two about “The Axe Murderer” considering they’ve fought 3 times. Speaking to Britain’s Telegraph publication, Bisping offered this interesting (but not terribly surprising considering the source) quote:

“We have been discussing tactics for the fight, little tips and discussions about Wanderlei’s movement and shots, and Rampage thinks I will beat Wanderlei easily. He has inspired me and has kept confidence in the camp high.”

Bisping goes on to say that this assumption is based on the fact that Wanderlei “throws aggressive shots with reckless abandon,” and therefore, if he can remain composed his technique will rule the day. Can’t really argue with that, as Wandy does have a habit of winging his punches like he’s trying to dislocate his shoulder, but this is also the same dude whose knees are forever linked to the saying ‘done and done.’

To bet on “The Count” vs. “The Axe Murderer” head here.

Ok fine. If you’ve been following MMA Fix throughout this week, yes, we’ve been gravitating towards fighter quotes that are less than complimentary towards their fellow Octagon competitors. Whatever, we’re cynical pricks; aren’t we all? Be honest…

The latest comment to catch our eye comes from Brandon “The Truth” Vera, who due to his nick name, one must pay careful attention to whatever the light-heavyweight says. Speaking at a press conference this past weekend, Vera reportedly offered this rather ‘honest’ statement, when asked about whether or not fighting former champ Chuck Liddell would be a step down in competition. (Thanks to Sherdog for the quote)

“Yes,” said Vera. “I’m not lying. I would much rather fight somebody I’m supposed to lose to.”

Well, there you have it; you wanted the truth so you got the truth from “The Truth.” Now would we like to see Vera and Liddell throw down? Of course, but Vera’s right; he would be the favorite if the two were to meet. Some people had him winning his last bout against Randy Couture, and prior to that, Vera cruised to a win over Krzysztof Soszynski. Really, at this stage, what would he gain by being the latest name tied to the sentence ‘yeah, Liddell lost again.’

We love “The Iceman,’ he’s a legend, but Chuck’s lost 4 of 5 bouts which even had his buddy Dana White calling for his retirement. That doesn’t usually happen if you’re ‘the man to beat.’ Who knows, maybe Chuck will bomb out Tito and make another run…

It’s likely safe to say that if Mirko “Cro Cop” loses to Ben Rothwell at the upcoming February 20^th, UFC 110 card in Sydney, Australia, the heavyweight’s days as a UFC fighter will be over faster than you can say ‘g’day mate’. As we’ve ranted on about here endlessly in the past, everyone’s still waiting for Cro Cop  to kick somebody’s head six ways from Sunday in the Octagon.

After being stopped by rising contender Junior dos Santos in September Cro Cop apparently decided to make some changes to his training routine. In a recent interview  (thanks to MMA Bay for the heads up) the Croatian bomber talked about training in Amsterdam, a nation which, contrary to how it’s depicted on movies and television, has a lot more to offer than just weed and hooker window shopping.

“The problem before was that I was sparring with friends who were doing me a favour by being there and so I could not go so hard on them, looking for the knockout. In Amsterdam, it was a struggle of life or death. I was looking for the knockout and so was my opponent. In future I will spending a full month in Amsterdam. Stand up is what I am best at but we have not neglected ground or wrestling.”

Does this mean Rothwell’s in for a shellacking Feb. 20^th? We’ll believe it when we see it. To bet on that fight (which should be a doozy) or any others at UFC 110 head here.

(photo credit: THQ)

It seems just like yesterday that we here at MMA Fix were waiting anxiously to get our hands on the UFC Undisputed game, plugging the fact that hours would be wasted, calories unburned, as we played the game endlessly. Did that happen? Of course, but after a couple of weeks playing the game, we also realized that Undisputed wasn’t perfect; career mode was ‘meh’, and the fact there was no southpaws in the game really sucked.

Well the 2010 version of the game is set to come out on May 25^th, and the game’s maker, THQ, has started to release details about what’s been added to the series. (Thanks to MMA Weekly for the news release) In addition to some new faces in the game, THQ has announced that, yes, the southpaw stance will be in the game, and that several new disciplines like Sambo, Karate, and Greco-Roman Wrestling have been added to the create a fighter mode (Sorry to drone on like nerds but that’s awesome…).

As far as improvements to the career mode (in the first version you could fight the same guy 8 times…not realistic, and neither is the expectation that hot girls are reading this) apparently the 2010 version has a new “Game is Watching You” system; opponents will monitor your strategy and adapt accordingly, as will the in game commentary. Looks like they’ve included a fighter personality component too…hopefully you can let the expletives fly.

 2010 will also have a tournament mode which is really cool. Looking good.

With the MMA world still abuzz about Chael Sonnen’s impressive win over Nate Marquardt Saturday night, ‘dude check this out’ quotes from the outspoken middleweight continue to rip around the internet. Heading into UFC 109, Sonnen largely focused his ‘Sonnens’ on middleweight champion Anderson Silva rather than his next opponent; a verbal assault that challenged Silva’s rep as a bad ass fighter, among other things…

You ain’t see nothing yet. Speaking after his victory Saturday Sonnen continued to fire ‘barbs’ at Silva. So much so if you’re a die hard Silva fan you may want to close this page immediately; Sonnen is taking a direct piss on widely held MMA conventions. According to Sonnen, now hold on to your hats and toupees, he thinks his chances are better against Silva than Vitor Belfort (thanks to MMA Junkie for the quote)

“I hope Anderson (Silva) wins (at UFC 112) because I think Vitor (Belfort) is a lot tougher fighter,” Sonnen said after UFC 109. “If I had to choose between the two, I’m going to take the low road and take the easier opponent to the championship.”

Hmm. Not everyday you hear that now is it? Vitor’s one tough dude, no question, but this is a guy that Dan Henderson cruised to a victory over, while Hendo didn’t make it out of round two against Silva. Is Sonnen just saying this to mess with Silva? Probably. Are we over analyzing all this? Probably.

In the wrong hands Twitter can be damn annoying; particularly with people who ‘tweet’ every excruciating detail of their life that no one gives a sh-t about: ‘pulling up to 7-Eleven,’ ‘in 7-Eleven’, ‘just got to the chips at 7-Eleven,’ ‘buying sour cream and onion at 7-Eleven,’ ‘eating my chips while driving; totally not paying attention to the ro…” You get the drift.

That said, in the power of certain others, namely fighters who give us bloggers something to write about (hello Mr. Josh Koscheck) Twitter is a gift straight from the heavens. Check out this ‘tweet’ that ‘Kos’ apparently bestowed unto the post-modern world yesterday:

“Why is Tito Ortiz such a bitch? Talking shit to coleman right after his loss.After @ChuckLiddell fucks him up. I want my shot 2 fuck him up”

Damn. Someone’s not a “Huntington Beach Bad Boy” fan, even though the two are bleach brothers. Will this fight happen? Of course not, but as we posted earlier regarding Mr. Ortiz, love or hate him, dude gets people talking…(if you consider that a good thing).

Tito aside, Kos vs. Paulo Thiago II…after UFC 109 it looks better now than ever no? (In case you missed it, Thiago left Koscheck’s buddy and teammate Mike Swick in an unconscious heap)