Jon Olav Einemo certainly won’t be accused of having a tomato can tossed his way in his UFC debut, as boss man Dana White has confirmed in a Seattle Times live chat that the heavyweight will face none other than former contender Shane Carwin first. (Thanks to MMA Junkie for the heads up). Of course, […]
Jon Olav Einemo certainly won’t be accused of having a tomato can tossed his way in his UFC debut, as boss man Dana White has confirmed in a Seattle Times live chat that the heavyweight will face none other than former contender ShaneCarwin first. (Thanks to MMA Junkie for the heads up). Of course, Einemo isn’t exactly a shrinking violet that just started doing this ‘UFC stuff’; the Norwegian heavyweight is 6’6, a former ADCC Submission Wrestling World Champ, whose only MMA loss came against Fabricio Werdum.
Clearly someone at the UFC thinks this guy might know a thing or two about fighting. The bout is expected to take place at UFC 131.
We’ve said it before, and hell, let’s say it again, this Saturday’s welterweight tilt between Dan Hardy and Anthony Johnson could be pretty, pretty, pretty sweet. Not only can both can bring it and then some on their feet, but because both dudes are coming off losses, the UFC Fight Night tilt has a lot […]
We’ve said it before, and hell, let’s say it again, this Saturday’s welterweight tilt between Dan Hardy and Anthony Johnson could be pretty, pretty, pretty sweet. Not only can both can bring it and then some on their feet, but because both dudes are coming off losses, the UFC Fight Night tilt has a lot riding on it. Whoever wins will re-stake their claim as a notable welterweight; the loser, well, they’ll take one more step to the ‘win or else’ UFC cut list.
You may have noticed that things have been kind of quiet on the Hardy trash chat front, apparently because the Brit believes Johnson is pretty “chill”, and thus there’s no point. If you’re like us and enjoy the less than reserved talk, it’s been a little bit of a letdown, but Hardy’s provided plenty of laughs in the past so who’s counting. In a recent interview with ESPN U.K., however, the punishing welterweight provided a lil bit of verbal gold, when asked what Johnson should expect come Saturday night.
“At the end of the first round, don’t be surprised to see him go back to the corner and ask ‘how many guys am I fighting?’ I’ll be hitting him a lot, and he’ll be swinging and missing.” …”The biggest difference is my speed,” said Hardy. “He’s a powerful guy and he’s got a few techniques that he relies upon. But to have any success with them he’s got to land them, and I’m very confident that I’ll be quick enough to hit him with three or four punches before he knows what’s happened.”
On the good news front today, MMA Weekly is reporting that despite the recent tragedies in Japan, the nation’s Tatusya Kawajiri will still make the trek next month to fight Strikeforce Lightweight champ Gilbert Melendez. Glad to hear it.
The April 9th bout will be a rematch, as Melendez earned a UD win over Kawajiri back […]
On the good news front today, MMA Weekly is reporting that despite the recent tragedies in Japan, the nation’s Tatusya Kawajiri will still make the trek next month to fight Strikeforce Lightweight champ Gilbert Melendez. Glad to hear it.
The April 9th bout will be a rematch, as Melendez earned a UD win over Kawajiri back in the good ole’ Pride days. If the name Kawajiri doesn’t ring a bell or you’ve never seen him fight, you have some MMA homework to do….
To bet on the April 9th Strikeforce card, which will also feature Nick Diaz vs. Paul Daley, head here.
The process of mining anyone who’s been a training partner of Jon Jones and Rashad Evans for their opinion on the former teammates budding feud, has begun full swing. It’s a ‘hot button issue’ right now, and of course, we’re totally on board (until extremely odd Youtube videos surface from either dude, or they begin […]
The process of mining anyone who’s been a training partner of Jon Jones and Rashad Evans for their opinion on the former teammates budding feud, has begun full swing. It’s a ‘hot button issue’ right now, and of course, we’re totally on board (until extremely odd Youtube videos surface from either dude, or they begin using a catchword like ‘winning’, which quickly saturates every medium known to man).
One of the pivotal players in the Jackson Team’s success has been Keith Jardine, who long before Jones became a member, was working his way up the UFC rankings alongside Evans. In fact, Jardine and Evans were two of the first notable competitors to annoy Dana White by saying they wouldn’t fight each other. Well, in an interview with ESPN, Jardine was quick to compliment Rashad for what he did for the Jackson Team, and pointed to that now ‘infamous’ interview Jones had with Ariel Helwani, for the sh-tstorm that is now unfolding.
“It all started from that interview that Jon did, talking about the possibility of fighting with Rashad [with Ariel Helwani on Versus],” Jardine said. “That’s just something that doesn’t need to be said. Of course they could have been made to fight, and they both knew it. But for Jon to go out and say that made Rashad look like a punk, and that’s kind of what happened to start it all. It was already sensitive, so it blew up after that.”
Jardine qualified that comment by saying “Jon’s just a kid,” and that the new champ probably “regretted” what he had said to Helwani afterwards. Perhaps…perhaps not (cue sinister music). Plenty more to come on this no doubt.
So it’s looking like Tito Ortiz will look to score his first win since 2006, against yet another powerful wrestler in Ryan Bader, July 2nd at UFC 132. You may recall how Tito did against an opponent with similar qualities last time out, namely Matt Hamill….yeah, not so well. MMA Weekly is reporting that the […]
So it’s looking like Tito Ortiz will look to score his first win since 2006, against yet another powerful wrestler in Ryan Bader, July 2nd at UFC 132. You may recall how Tito did against an opponent with similar qualities last time out, namely Matt Hamill….yeah, not so well. MMA Weekly is reporting that the bout is a done deal.
At any rate, Ortiz and Bader have been at it on Twitter, and as you see, Tito’s up for the fight.
@ryanbader want some? You will get some. Let’s go!!!!!
After Jon Jones finished rag dolling “Shogun” Rua Saturday night, his former training partner Rashad Evans came into the Octagon to confirm they would be fighting next. It was a wee bit awkward, yes, but nothing too heated went down. In fact, if you were hoping for some ‘why you doing this to us man?’ type […]
After Jon Jones finished rag dolling “Shogun” Rua Saturday night, his former training partner Rashad Evans came into the Octagon to confirm they would be fighting next. It was a wee bit awkward, yes, but nothing too heated went down. In fact, if you were hoping for some ‘why you doing this to us man?’ type drama, the whole bit kind of fell flat. Well, the next time Mr. Jones and Mr. Evans meet, things might not be so ‘civil.’
Bloody Elbow has posted an interview today with Evans, where the former champ didn’t exactly hold anything back, while discussing his now former coach Greg Jackson and of course Jones. In addition to voicing his displeasure with his long time mentor Jackson, for letting things get to this point, here is just some of what Evans had to say about his next opponent.
I feel disrespected by Jon because when I think about when we trained or when we were chilling, was the s**t even real? Or was he just trying to be a master manipulator and try to manipulate the situation so he could get what he wanted out of it? I don’t know and that is a question that I have in my mind but when I get down to it…that doesn’t even matter because we are going to get in there and we are going to fight. People want to say “oh my God Jon is this and that” but Jon Jones is Jon Jones to me. He’s another fighter I have to face.
Yup, sh-t’s getting real son. The whole interview, references to Judas and all, is definitely worth a read.
