Author: Matt Erickson

Strikeforce Heavyweight Title or Not, Josh Barnett Says He Must Win – and Finish

Filed under: Strikeforce, NewsIt’s been a while since Josh Barnett has walked around a champion. And no doubt, he’d like to get back there again.

But the one-time UFC heavyweight champ (though brief after testing positive for banned substances) and o…

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Josh BarnettIt’s been a while since Josh Barnett has walked around a champion. And no doubt, he’d like to get back there again.

But the one-time UFC heavyweight champ (though brief after testing positive for banned substances) and one-time Pride Openweight Grand Prix finalist may have to wait a while. Even if he wins the Strikeforce heavyweight tournament he’s in the semifinals of, and even though the promotion’s heavyweight champ was cut last month, Barnett isn’t guaranteed a shot at the belt if he wins the tourney.

No matter, he said. Some gold would be nice, but he’ll still be going after Sergei Kharitonov with the same plan to finish him regardless of what might be on the line, now or later.

“Titles are spoils of war,” Barnett said Tuesday during a media call for the semifinals of the tournament, which takes place Sept. 10. “You have to go out there and win battles before you can raid the dead of all their belongings.”

Of course, that doesn’t mean Barnett would turn down a shot to be fighting for the new Strikeforce heavyweight title if CEO Scott Coker says later that’s the new plan. (Though Coker said Tuesday the tournament winner won’t be the new champion, and a plan for that belt is still under consideration.)

“Honestly, I would love it if the finals of this tournament were for the heavyweight title – I would love that,” Barnett said. “I would think that’s great. That would add a nice punctuation mark on the end of it. But that doesn’t change my attitude toward getting the job done. You have to beat your opponent, otherwise you get to walk home with a black eye and wounded pride.”

Barnett (30-5, 1-0 Strikeforce) won his debut with the promotion with a second-round submission over Brett Rogers in the tournament quarterfinals in June. That was his first fight in nearly a year.

But since his last loss, to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in Pride nearly five years ago, Barnett has won seven straight – and just one by decision.

It’s that finishing ability that Barnett is known for – a whopping 83 percent of his victories, 25 of 30, have come by stoppage. And Barnett said it’s his job to continue that against Kharitonov to reach the tournament finals.

And though he didn’t call anyone out by name, Barnett said any fighter, regardless of style background, who fights to win on points isn’t exactly tops on his list.

“A lot of people take shortcuts in terms of using athleticism and defensive tactics to try and have the right game plan to go out there and win in the mixed martial arts 10-point must system,” Barnett said. “The finishing ability is put aside a little bit. But to learn to really finish takes more skill. It comes down to finishing. I go out and finish people.”

Kharitonov (18-4, 1-0 Strikeforce) has won five of his last six and will be fighting for the third time in less than a year – something he hasn’t done since 2005. Of his four losses, three have been stoppages.

Barnett, who knew of Kharitonov during their Pride days, though they never fought, said his opponent looked good his last fight, a win over former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski, but was quick to point out that might not mean much against him.

“He was always a perennial contender and in the upper echelon of the heavyweights,” Barnett said. “He looked in the best shape he’s ever been and looked pretty dominant against Arlovski – but then again, I’m not Arlovski.”

Barnett and Kharitonov headline Strikeforce’s Sept. 10 show in Cincinnati, which will air live on Showtime. The second semifinal features Daniel Cormier, who entered as an alternate for Overeem, against Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva.

 

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Daniel Cormier Has Message for Wrestling’s Critics: ‘Learn Takedown Defense’

Filed under: Strikeforce, NewsDaniel Cormier has a message for critics of wrestlers, and it doesn’t sound like he’s going to budge on it anytime soon.

Cormier, one of the most decorated college and amateur wrestlers ever to break into mixed martial a…

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Daniel Cormier has a message for critics of wrestlers, and it doesn’t sound like he’s going to budge on it anytime soon.

Cormier, one of the most decorated college and amateur wrestlers ever to break into mixed martial arts, has found himself smack-dab in the middle of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix against Antonio Silva in the semifinals. And while he believes the fight is his most important test to date, he isn’t going to apologize for being a wrestler.

Simply put, the unbeaten heavyweight believes if his opponent can’t stop his takedowns, well … too bad.

“It’s not my job, it’s not Jon Fitch‘s job, it’s not Josh Barnett‘s job to actually teach someone takedown defense,” Cormier said Tuesday during a media call. “It’s their job to learn takedown defense. If they can’t defend the takedown, then they deserve to lay on their back for 15 minutes.”

While other fighters accused by fans and other fighters of being “lay and pray” practitioners have often tiptoed around the accusations, Cormier is more to the point.

Cormier (8-0, 5-0 Strikeforce) was inserted into the heavyweight tournament as an alternate after Zuffa suddenly cut Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem earlier this summer. After six straight stoppage wins to start his pro career, including five in the first round, Cormier has won back-to-back decisions, both scorecard sweeps.

Against Devin Cole in January, Cormier landed three takedowns. But against Jeff Monson in June, he attempted just two and instead dominated the fight in the standup game. According to FightMetric, Cormier out-struck Monson 110-19 in the fight. So as his overall MMA game progresses, Cormier knows he’ll have to fall back on other skill sets besides his world-class wrestling.

“I think it’s always good to put on exciting fights,” Cormier said. “I like to fight. This is my job. If that means I have to stand with him and fight, then I have to fight. What if I can’t take him down? But at the end of the day, it’s about winning.”

Which might just be Cormier’s way of saying that standing and banging may look fun from outside the cage, but he may think twice about being on the receiving end of “Bigfoot” Silva’s paws – especially since Silva is coming off a devastating TKO stoppage of Fedor Emelianenko in February.

“Why should I or anyone else that knows how to wrestle give up their biggest advantage?,” Cormier said. “If a jiu-jitsu guy can get you down, he’s going to use his jiu-jitsu. If a striker can keep you standing, he’s going to use his standup ability. It’s your job, which MMA is, which fighting is, to learn all areas of the game.”

Silva (16-2, 3-1 Strikeforce) has won three straight and nine of his last 10, including a TKO win over one of Cormier’s American Kickboxing Academy heavyweight teammates, Mike Kyle. And though he is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, he’s only submitted two fighters in his 16 wins. It’s his heavy hands that seem to be feared the most.

Cormier, though, said that while getting hit in the face was foreign to him from his wrestling background when he started MMA, training at AKA – especially with UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasequez – has gotten him used to it.

“Nobody likes to get hit,” Cormier said. “Wrestlers, kickboxers – nobody likes to get hit. But it doesn’t affect me. I train with the No. 1 heavyweight in the world on a daily basis, so I actually get hit a lot. And not only from Cain, but from King Mo (Lawal) and Mike Kyle and all the guys I train with. I’ve adjusted to it because they beat me up so much.”

Cormier and Silva fight Sept. 10 in one half of the semifinal bracket of Strikeforce’s continuation of the heavyweight tournament in Cincinnati. The other side of the bracket features Josh Barnett vs. Sergei Kharitonov. The winners are expected to meet sometime in early 2012 for the tournament title.

 

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Sam Stout Out, Cowboy Cerrone In vs. Dennis Siver at UFC 137

Filed under: UFC, NewsIt’s not quite what Donald Cerrone wanted, but it’ll have to do.

After his quick TKO win over Charles Oliveira at UFC on Versus 5 earlier this month, Cerrone said he would step up and take another fight as soon as possible – esp…

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It’s not quite what Donald Cerrone wanted, but it’ll have to do.

After his quick TKO win over Charles Oliveira at UFC on Versus 5 earlier this month, Cerrone said he would step up and take another fight as soon as possible – especially if it was on the UFC 135 card in Denver, not far from his native Colorado Springs.

The UFC couldn’t oblige him with a spot in Denver, but “Cowboy” will step up for Sam Stout to face Dennis Siver in a lightweight bout at UFC 137 in Las Vegas at the end of October. The UFC announced the new fight Monday night, which was first reported by ESPN.com.

Cerrone (16-3, 1 NC, 3-0 UFC) is on the most impressive run of his professional career. Though he started his career 7-0, his current five-fight winning streak has featured two dominant unanimous decisions, including a rout of Jamie Varner in their WEC 51 grudge match, two submissions and his TKO of Oliveira. In that stretch, he has two Fight of the Night awards and a Knockout of the Night against Oliveira.

Cerrone hasn’t lost since a guillotine submission against Ben Henderson in their WEC lightweight title fight in April 2010. It was his second straight loss to Henderson after losing a close decision to him at WEC 43 for the interim lightweight belt. His only other loss came to Jamie Varner in a split decision at WEC 38 in January 2009 in a lightweight title fight.

Stout (17-6-1, 6-5 UFC) was coming off his first stoppage win in the UFC, a brutal Knockout of the Night win over Yves Edwards at UFC 131 in June, giving him four bonuses in his last five bouts, the three previous being Fight of the Night winners.

Earlier this month, Stout’s brother-in-law, notable MMA trainer Shawn Tompkins, died unexpectedly. The UFC did not give a reason for Stout’s withdrawal from the fight, however. Coincidentally, this will be the second time Cerrone has filled in for Stout. The Canadian was scheduled to fight Paul Kelly at UFC 126 in February, but was injured and replaced by Cerrone, who won in his UFC debut.

Siver (19-7, 8-4 UFC) has been on a tear of his own ever since his first stint in the UFC, which saw him cut after going 1-3 with consecutive losses to Gray Maynard and Melvin Guillard. After one win outside the promotion, Siver has won seven of his last eight in the UFC. The four-time bonus winner has won four straight, including an upset of George Sotiropoulos in February and a decision win over Matt Wiman in July.

The UFC’s lightweight title picture has been on hold for a while waiting for the rematch between champion Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard, whose January draw led to an immediate rematch that was delayed by training injuries to both fighters. The two will meet again at UFC 136 on Oct. 8. Waiting in a jumbled up line for a potential next crack are the likes of Guillard, who also fights at UFC 136, Clay Guida, Ben Henderson – and now, likely, the winner of Cerrone-Siver will enter the discussion.

UFC 137 takes place Oct. 29 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas and features a main event welterweight title fight between Georges St-Pierre and Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz, who is vacating his belt to challenge St-Pierre. The co-main event, though not officially announced for that spot, is expected to be a welterweight contenders fight between former champion BJ Penn and Carlos Condit.

The card also features a pair of heavyweight fights between Matt Mitrione and Cheick Kongo and Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic and Roy Nelson. And Sengoku featherweight champ Hatsu Hioki will make his UFC debut against George Roop. Though it is not known where the Cerrone-Siver fight will fall on the card, it stands a good chance to wind up on the main card.

 

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UFC 134 Bonuses: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira Leads $100,000 Winners

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In what may have been the biggest international showcase for the UFC in its history, the promotion handed out some of its biggest bonuses, as well.

Fight night bonus awards in the amount of $100,000 each were given to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Edson Barboza and Ross Pearson after the historic UFC 134 card in Rio de Janeiro. It was the UFC’s first trip to Brazil since 1998.

There was no submission in the 12 fights on the card at HSBC Arena in Rio, so UFC president Dana White said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference he got to save a little money. Previous six-figure bonuses have been awarded at UFC 129 in Toronto, where fighters got $129,000 bonuses after fights in front of a UFC record of more than 55,000 fans. And at UFC 100, bonus winners also got $100,000 each.

Nogueira won Knockout of the Night for his first-round stoppage of surging heavyweight contender Brendan Schaub. Nogueira, fighting for the first time in front of his home country after more than 40 career fights, and just a mile from his gym and three miles from his home, returned after an 18-month layoff to record the upset. Schaub had won four straight fights.

Nogueira had to beat out several other candidates for the KO award, including debuting Brazilian Erick Silva, who stopped fellow countryman Luis Ramos just 40 seconds into the first round. And on the main card, Stanislav Nedkov upset Luiz Cane with a first-round TKO and Shogun Rua beat Forrest Griffin with a first-round finish, as well.

In the main event, Nogueira’s Blackhouse teammate Anderson Silva defended his middleweight title for the ninth straight time with a TKO of Yushin Okami. And that, too, could have vied for the knockout bonus.

Barboza and Pearson each won $100,000 for Fight of the Night for a close bout that saw Barboza, from Brazil, win a split decision. Pearson seemed to win much of the standup battle, though Barboza scored a knockdown early in the second round. Barboza improved to 9-0 overall and 3-0 in the UFC. The Fight of the Night bonus was his second straight.

 

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In what may have been the biggest international showcase for the UFC in its history, the promotion handed out some of its biggest bonuses, as well.

Fight night bonus awards in the amount of $100,000 each were given to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Edson Barboza and Ross Pearson after the historic UFC 134 card in Rio de Janeiro. It was the UFC’s first trip to Brazil since 1998.

There was no submission in the 12 fights on the card at HSBC Arena in Rio, so UFC president Dana White said at Saturday’s post-fight press conference he got to save a little money. Previous six-figure bonuses have been awarded at UFC 129 in Toronto, where fighters got $129,000 bonuses after fights in front of a UFC record of more than 55,000 fans. And at UFC 100, bonus winners also got $100,000 each.

Nogueira won Knockout of the Night for his first-round stoppage of surging heavyweight contender Brendan Schaub. Nogueira, fighting for the first time in front of his home country after more than 40 career fights, and just a mile from his gym and three miles from his home, returned after an 18-month layoff to record the upset. Schaub had won four straight fights.

Nogueira had to beat out several other candidates for the KO award, including debuting Brazilian Erick Silva, who stopped fellow countryman Luis Ramos just 40 seconds into the first round. And on the main card, Stanislav Nedkov upset Luiz Cane with a first-round TKO and Shogun Rua beat Forrest Griffin with a first-round finish, as well.

In the main event, Nogueira’s Blackhouse teammate Anderson Silva defended his middleweight title for the ninth straight time with a TKO of Yushin Okami. And that, too, could have vied for the knockout bonus.

Barboza and Pearson each won $100,000 for Fight of the Night for a close bout that saw Barboza, from Brazil, win a split decision. Pearson seemed to win much of the standup battle, though Barboza scored a knockdown early in the second round. Barboza improved to 9-0 overall and 3-0 in the UFC. The Fight of the Night bonus was his second straight.

 

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UFC 134 Undercard Live Blog: Thiago vs. Mitchell, Assuncao vs. Eduardo, More

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Paulo Thiago vs. David Mitchell at UFC 134.This is the UFC 134 live blog for all the Facebook preliminary bouts on tonight’s UFC: Rio pay-per-view at the HSBC Arena in Brazil.

Highlighting the undercard is a welterweight tilt between Paulo Thiago (13-3) and David Mitchell (11-1). The first bout is scheduled to begin around 6 p.m. ET.

The live blog is below.


Yves Jabouin vs. Ian Loveland

Round 1: Here we go. A little history for the first UFC card in Brazil in 13 years. And we start with the only fight of the night not involving a Brazilian. Jabouin is from Canada, Loveland from the U.S.A. Crowd sounds very loud as they meet in the middle. Loveland comes at Jabouin early. Spinning back kick from Jabouin, a Tristar Gym product. Loveland is a wrestler, and he tries to tie things up momentarily. And about a minute in, we get another kick from Jabouin, then some nice short punches from Loveland. Another Jabouin kick is caught by Loveland, and he takes Jabouin to the ground with it. Loveland trying to work some short ground and pound from half guard. He tries to pass, but winds up in butterfly guard. Loveland gets to half guard and looks for an arm, but abandons it. The ref stops the fight and has Stitch Duran cut off a loose piece of tape from Loveland’s glove – but doesn’t put them back on the ground on the restart. That’s a big advantage for Jabouin, who was being controlled on the ground by “The Barn Owl.” Good left body kick from Loveland, but Jabouin counters with a kick to the ribs of his own. Right hand from Loveland backs Jabouin up. Loveland rushes in and just misses with a few wild punches. Jabouin throws a low kick. Then another, which Loveland counters with a nice punch. Jabouin throws another back kick that just misses, then absolutely rocks Loveland with a right that backs him up – and just misses a follow-up knee. That made the round a lot closer, but we’ll give it to Loveland for his control and aggression – though it’s close.

Round 2: Pretty easy takedown from Loveland in the first three seconds and into side control, but a nice reversal from Jabouin, who gets back to his feet. Loveland gets a guillotine for just a moment, but it’s not there and Jabouin now has top position on the ground in Loveland’s guard. Loveland tries for a triangle that isn’t there, then sweeps and gets to half guard looking for ground and pound. Back on the feet, the pace slows for a few ticks. Jabouin throws a left kick and follows it with a beautiful spinning back kick that pushes Loveland to the cage. They re-set, and Jabouin again throws a spinning back kick at the same time as Loveland looks for a front kick, and Jabouin’s lands in the nether regions. We get a very brief pause, but Loveland’s OK. Spinning back fist from Jabouin lands – he’s a tilt-a-whirl in there tonight. Loveland gets another takedown, though a nice Jabouin sprawl limits its effectiveness. Big body shot from Jabouin, and then a double-leg takedown from Jabouin with 10 seconds left should give him the round. We’ll score it 10-9 for Jabouin, and that makes it 19-19 on the MMA Fighting card heading to the last round.

Round 3: Early kick from Jabouin is countered by a short combo from Loveland. Jabouin looking for his next opening, then lands a couple outside leg kicks. He stuffs a Loveland takedown attempt, and at this point Jabouin looks like he has a little more left in the tank. Jabouin shoots for a takedown and gets it, but Loveland pops back up immediately. Right uppercut by Loveland just misses. He counters with a right that lands, then some jabs. Jabouin shoots, but pushes off when he sees it’s not there. Spinning back fist again lands, and Loveland ties him up looking for a takedown that doesn’t happen. High right kick from Jabouin is partially blocked. With two minutes left, Loveland probably needs to mount some decent offense. A side kick from Jabouin lands. Spinning back kick to the body lands, which is followed by two near misses with head kicks. Loveland’s takedown is stuffed, and Jabouin gets a small takedown on the fence. Back up, Jabouin lands a right and the last few seconds see a short flurry and a takedown attempt from Jabouin that isn’t there. We’ll give the third to Jabouin, 10-9, and the fight to him 29-28 – though it could be a 30-27 from some judges.

Result: Yves Jabouin def. Ian Loveland, split decision (27-30, 29-28, 29-28)

Felipe Arantes vs. Yuri Alcantara

Round 1: Nice hand for Alcantara, a Brazilian. Arantes, also a Brazilian, trains out of New Jersey. And Alcantara moves in quickly with a combination against the fence. Then he counters a leg kick with a nice combo. Spinning back kick from Arantes is nice, but Alcantara comes back with a nice elbow. Another Arantes kick is checked by Alcantara. Southpaw stance for Alcantara, and he throws a big looping left that is blocked. He catches a kick, then clinches and gets an easy takedown. Arantes on the bottom in half guard as Alcantara tries to pass. He can’t, and settles back into half guard. Nice left hand from the bottom by Arantes. Alcantara tries to soften Arantes up with some body shots. Then he postures up and delivers a handful of lefts to the head, passes guard to side control and then tries to mount. He can’t, and it’s back to half guard. Arantes is cut under his right eye. Mario Yamasaki stops the fight with a minute left in the round to stand them back up – though they hadn’t been dormant down there for very long. Good left jab form Alcantara. Spinning back kick from Arantes doesn’t land in the last 10 seconds. MMA Fighting scores the round for Alcantara, 10-9.

Round 2: High kick from Arantes is partially blocked. We trade jabs and kicks, but nothing of much consequence until Alcantara gets the fight back to the ground, then passes to side control. He spins and works his way to mount quite nicely, and Arantes could be in a world of trouble now. But Arantes is able to wriggle out when Alcantara looks for an arm triangle from the top. Alcantara has to settle for full guard again, but soon after Yamasaki again stands them back up. Arantes lands a nice knee from the clinch, but Alcantara uses the clinch for a nice takedown against the cage and lands some body shots from half guard. It’s another 10-9 round for Alcantara on our card.

Round 3:

Erick Silva vs. Luis Ramos

Round 1:

Raphael Assuncao vs. Jonny Eduardo

Round 1:

Paulo Thiago vs. David Mitchell

Round 1:

 

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Paulo Thiago vs. David Mitchell at UFC 134.This is the UFC 134 live blog for all the Facebook preliminary bouts on tonight’s UFC: Rio pay-per-view at the HSBC Arena in Brazil.

Highlighting the undercard is a welterweight tilt between Paulo Thiago (13-3) and David Mitchell (11-1). The first bout is scheduled to begin around 6 p.m. ET.

The live blog is below.


Yves Jabouin vs. Ian Loveland

Round 1: Here we go. A little history for the first UFC card in Brazil in 13 years. And we start with the only fight of the night not involving a Brazilian. Jabouin is from Canada, Loveland from the U.S.A. Crowd sounds very loud as they meet in the middle. Loveland comes at Jabouin early. Spinning back kick from Jabouin, a Tristar Gym product. Loveland is a wrestler, and he tries to tie things up momentarily. And about a minute in, we get another kick from Jabouin, then some nice short punches from Loveland. Another Jabouin kick is caught by Loveland, and he takes Jabouin to the ground with it. Loveland trying to work some short ground and pound from half guard. He tries to pass, but winds up in butterfly guard. Loveland gets to half guard and looks for an arm, but abandons it. The ref stops the fight and has Stitch Duran cut off a loose piece of tape from Loveland’s glove – but doesn’t put them back on the ground on the restart. That’s a big advantage for Jabouin, who was being controlled on the ground by “The Barn Owl.” Good left body kick from Loveland, but Jabouin counters with a kick to the ribs of his own. Right hand from Loveland backs Jabouin up. Loveland rushes in and just misses with a few wild punches. Jabouin throws a low kick. Then another, which Loveland counters with a nice punch. Jabouin throws another back kick that just misses, then absolutely rocks Loveland with a right that backs him up – and just misses a follow-up knee. That made the round a lot closer, but we’ll give it to Loveland for his control and aggression – though it’s close.

Round 2: Pretty easy takedown from Loveland in the first three seconds and into side control, but a nice reversal from Jabouin, who gets back to his feet. Loveland gets a guillotine for just a moment, but it’s not there and Jabouin now has top position on the ground in Loveland’s guard. Loveland tries for a triangle that isn’t there, then sweeps and gets to half guard looking for ground and pound. Back on the feet, the pace slows for a few ticks. Jabouin throws a left kick and follows it with a beautiful spinning back kick that pushes Loveland to the cage. They re-set, and Jabouin again throws a spinning back kick at the same time as Loveland looks for a front kick, and Jabouin’s lands in the nether regions. We get a very brief pause, but Loveland’s OK. Spinning back fist from Jabouin lands – he’s a tilt-a-whirl in there tonight. Loveland gets another takedown, though a nice Jabouin sprawl limits its effectiveness. Big body shot from Jabouin, and then a double-leg takedown from Jabouin with 10 seconds left should give him the round. We’ll score it 10-9 for Jabouin, and that makes it 19-19 on the MMA Fighting card heading to the last round.

Round 3: Early kick from Jabouin is countered by a short combo from Loveland. Jabouin looking for his next opening, then lands a couple outside leg kicks. He stuffs a Loveland takedown attempt, and at this point Jabouin looks like he has a little more left in the tank. Jabouin shoots for a takedown and gets it, but Loveland pops back up immediately. Right uppercut by Loveland just misses. He counters with a right that lands, then some jabs. Jabouin shoots, but pushes off when he sees it’s not there. Spinning back fist again lands, and Loveland ties him up looking for a takedown that doesn’t happen. High right kick from Jabouin is partially blocked. With two minutes left, Loveland probably needs to mount some decent offense. A side kick from Jabouin lands. Spinning back kick to the body lands, which is followed by two near misses with head kicks. Loveland’s takedown is stuffed, and Jabouin gets a small takedown on the fence. Back up, Jabouin lands a right and the last few seconds see a short flurry and a takedown attempt from Jabouin that isn’t there. We’ll give the third to Jabouin, 10-9, and the fight to him 29-28 – though it could be a 30-27 from some judges.

Result: Yves Jabouin def. Ian Loveland, split decision (27-30, 29-28, 29-28)

Felipe Arantes vs. Yuri Alcantara

Round 1: Nice hand for Alcantara, a Brazilian. Arantes, also a Brazilian, trains out of New Jersey. And Alcantara moves in quickly with a combination against the fence. Then he counters a leg kick with a nice combo. Spinning back kick from Arantes is nice, but Alcantara comes back with a nice elbow. Another Arantes kick is checked by Alcantara. Southpaw stance for Alcantara, and he throws a big looping left that is blocked. He catches a kick, then clinches and gets an easy takedown. Arantes on the bottom in half guard as Alcantara tries to pass. He can’t, and settles back into half guard. Nice left hand from the bottom by Arantes. Alcantara tries to soften Arantes up with some body shots. Then he postures up and delivers a handful of lefts to the head, passes guard to side control and then tries to mount. He can’t, and it’s back to half guard. Arantes is cut under his right eye. Mario Yamasaki stops the fight with a minute left in the round to stand them back up – though they hadn’t been dormant down there for very long. Good left jab form Alcantara. Spinning back kick from Arantes doesn’t land in the last 10 seconds. MMA Fighting scores the round for Alcantara, 10-9.

Round 2: High kick from Arantes is partially blocked. We trade jabs and kicks, but nothing of much consequence until Alcantara gets the fight back to the ground, then passes to side control. He spins and works his way to mount quite nicely, and Arantes could be in a world of trouble now. But Arantes is able to wriggle out when Alcantara looks for an arm triangle from the top. Alcantara has to settle for full guard again, but soon after Yamasaki again stands them back up. Arantes lands a nice knee from the clinch, but Alcantara uses the clinch for a nice takedown against the cage and lands some body shots from half guard. It’s another 10-9 round for Alcantara on our card.

Round 3:

Erick Silva vs. Luis Ramos

Round 1:

Raphael Assuncao vs. Jonny Eduardo

Round 1:

Paulo Thiago vs. David Mitchell

Round 1:


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Saturday’s UFC 134 Prelims Get Full Spike, Facebook Treatment From Rio

Filed under: UFC, NewsThe last time the UFC was in Brazil, there was no such thing as Spike TV or Facebook.

But for Saturday’s UFC 134, the promotion’s first trip to the South American cradle of MMA since 1998, fans can watch all 12 fights on a combin…

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The last time the UFC was in Brazil, there was no such thing as Spike TV or Facebook.

But for Saturday’s UFC 134, the promotion’s first trip to the South American cradle of MMA since 1998, fans can watch all 12 fights on a combination of Facebook, Spike and pay-per-view.

This will be the 15th consecutive event that the UFC has utilized Facebook to air preliminary card fights, dating back to January. And for the ninth straight event, each fight on the card will be broadcast in some form. The first five UFC 134 prelims will stream live on Facebook, followed by a pair of fights on Spike leading into the pay-per-view broadcast.

A pair of fights between Brazilians and Americans leads the Spike broadcast. A middleweight bout between Rousimar Palhares and Dan Miller kicks things off, followed by a lightweight bout between Thiago Tavares and Spencer Fisher.

Palhares (12-3, 5-2 UFC) fought exclusively in his native Brazil until signing with the UFC in 2008. His last three wins have been by submission. Miller (13-5, 1 NC, 5-4 UFC) has struggled since starting his UFC career 3-0. He suffered a three-fight skid with decision losses to Chael Sonnen, Demian Maia and Michael Bisping, but rebounded with back-to-back wins over John Salter and Joe Doerksen. But in March, he lost a unanimous decision to Nate Marquardt in his native New Jersey.

Tavares (15-4-1, 5-4-1 UFC) started his career 12-0 but has gone just 3-4-1 in his last eight fights. In March, he was knocked out by Shane Roller at UFC on Versus 3. Fisher (24-7, 9-6 UFC) is also coming off a loss. Ross Pearson took a unanimous decision from him at UFC 127 in Sydney in February, giving the Iowa-based fighter three losses in four fights.

On the UFC’s Facebook page, fans will get a Brazilian-heavy lineup. An opening bantamweight bout between Canada’s Yves Jabouin and American Ian Loveland is the only fight on the card to not feature a Brazilian. Three fights on the Facebook prelims feature Brazilians debuting in the UFC against fellow Brazilians. And Paulo Thiago (13-3, 3-3 UFC) looks to end a two-fight skid against David Mitchell (11-1, 0-1 UFC).

To gain access to the Facebook fights, which will begin at 6 p.m. Eastern, viewers must “like” the UFC on Facebook. As of Wednesday afternoon, the UFC had more than 6.2 million fans at the site. When the UFC first started streaming prelims fights on Facebook in January, it had approximately 4.5 million fans at the social networking site.

The UFC began streaming preliminary fights in January with its Fight for the Troops 2 show at Fort Hood, Texas. Since then, the promotion has included free Facebook fights for each event, regardless of the main card’s platform – be it on pay-per-view, Spike or Versus. For the historic UFC 129 card in Toronto in April, five prelims were aired on Facebook, followed by a pair on Spike leading into the pay-per-view – meaning for the first time, fans were guaranteed the opportunity to see each fight on the card. That has continued for each of the eight events since then, including Saturday’s card in Rio.

UFC 134 features a main event middleweight title fight between champion Anderson Silva and Yushin Okami, the last man to beat him – albeit by disqualification when Silva delivered an illegal upkick and Okami couldn’t continue. The co-main event features a rematch between former light heavyweight champions Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Forrest Griffin. And also on the main card, heavyweight Brendan Schaub looks for his fifth straight win in a matchup against Brazilian legend Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

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