Author: McKinley Noble

Report: Wanderlei Silva Says UFC Is Asking Him to Fight Gegard Mousasi

Update: MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani is relaying the following message from UFC president Dana White, who says that Alexander Gustafsson vs. Gegard Mousasi is still slated as the main event.”Gus is still fighting! It’s April fo…

Update: MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani is relaying the following message from UFC president Dana White, who says that Alexander Gustafsson vs. Gegard Mousasi is still slated as the main event.

“Gus is still fighting! It’s April fools. Stay of twitter and the net today!”

That directly conflicts with Wanderlei Silva‘s last Twitter message, which still suggests that he is set to replace Gustafasson.

Reports continue to suggest that UFC light heavyweight contender Alexander Gustafsson won’t be medically cleared to fight Gegard Mousasi at UFC on Fuel 9 in Sweden—and Wanderlei Silva may be stepping in to save the day.

According to a recent post on Silva’s official Twitter feed, the UFC has approached the PRIDE FC veteran about stepping in to face Mousasi on less than a week’s notice:

 

That kind of turnaround would essentially leave Silva with no time to prepare for his opponent, although Silva is stating that he is uninjured and currently in the middle of training.

It’s very hard to believe that Silva is 100 percent healthy, as his most recent Octagon outing saw him endure a hellacious back-and-forth brawl with Brian Stann during the main event of UFC on Fuel 8 in Japan’s Saitama Super Arena.

However, no mandatory medical suspensions were announced after the event, since Japan has no main athletic commission (leaving the UFC to act as its own enforcer).

This would also mark Silva’s second consecutive fight in his usual weight class, as “The Axe Murderer” recently did a stint in the middleweight division at 185 pounds.

(Silva has also fought in two catchweight bouts.)

Moreover, the aging MMA legend has had a remarkably uneven track record since joining the UFC, as Silva currently hosts a 4-5 record in the promotion, not counting his two previous UFC losses to Tito Ortiz in 2000 and Vitor Belfort in 1998.

 

McKinley Noble is an MMA conspiracy theorist. His work has appeared in NVision, PC World, Macworld, GamePro, 1UP, MMA Mania & The LA Times.

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UFC Champ Jon Jones Slams ‘Weak’ Chael Sonnen: ‘He Has No Championship Soul’

Light heavyweight phenom Jon Jones seems to think that he’s figured out exactly why Chael Sonnen is unable to win MMA titles—it’s apparently a matter of soul.That’s what “Bones” stated in a recent UFC 159 pre-fight interview for his upcoming titl…

Light heavyweight phenom Jon Jones seems to think that he’s figured out exactly why Chael Sonnen is unable to win MMA titles—it’s apparently a matter of soul.

That’s what “Bones” stated in a recent UFC 159 pre-fight interview for his upcoming title defense, bluntly breaking down the shortcomings of the “American Gangster” while referring to him as “beautiful” and “weak” at the same time:

The beautiful thing about Chael is that he uses his words and that’s about all he has, really. He’s just a gang of quotes that no one’s going to remember.

He’s weak in every way, shape or form. He taps before submissions are even sunk in. I could put one hand around his throat and he’s probably going to tap.

Brash statements aside, the record books do show a correlation between Jones’ critiques and Sonnen’s career fighting record.

In 12 losses out of 40 professional bouts, Sonnen has lost eight of them by way of submission.

Most commonly, the former middleweight has dropped matches by triangle choke, armbar or a combination of the two, which marked his first loss to UFC middleweight kingpin Anderson Silva.

Against Jones, Sonnen may face similar trouble, as the evolving champion has submitted two elite Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black bets in Lyoto Machida and Vitor Belfort—a feat that Sonnen himself has never accomplished.

Moreover, Jones has proven himself difficult to tap out, as he gritted through an extremely tight armbar attempt from Belfort at UFC 152 before turning the tables.

As the “Bones” puts it, that kind of championship mentality is what separates men like himself and boxing legend Muhammad Ali from guys like Sonnen, whose lack of faith consistently causes him to come up short in title fights:

Guys like Muhammad Ali said a lot of things that were bold statements. The difference between guys like Muhammad Ali and Chael is that guys like Muhammad Ali actually believed. No matter how much [Sonnen] tries to convince himself that he’s going to win this fight or that he’s a champion without a belt, he just doesn’t believe. And that’s why he comes up short in every opportunity he gets to be a champion.

He doesn’t have a championship soul, work ethic, nothing. I’m not going to quit in front of all these people. I’m not going to quit on my dreams. I’m not going to tap on my dreams. You’re going to have to take them from me.

Sonnen has stirred quite a bit of controversy in the build-up to this fight, with many MMA fans and pundits stating that the UFC Tonight host only got this match (and a coaching stint on The Ultimate Fighter) due to his silver tongue.

Still, it’s hard to say that Sonnen’s ability to hype a fight has hurt his career. In the last three years alone, he’s headlined two UFC pay-per-views against his former nemesis Silva while setting himself up for a third main-event role against Jones on April 27 in New Jersey’s Prudential Center.

While Sonnen is a longshot to win, Jones is the clear favorite, aiming to break the UFC record for consecutive light heavyweight title defenses set by Tito Ortiz (five).

But if the young champion somehow loses, the potential fallout could wreak havoc in the 205-pound division for years to come. Not only would it damage Jones’ long-term plans for a dominant legacy, but it could also create a new rush of contenders looking to take Sonnen’s belt.

 

McKinley Noble is an MMA conspiracy theorist. His work has appeared in NVision, PC World, Macworld, GamePro, 1UP, MMA Mania & The LA Times.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

TUF 17 Star Uriah Hall on UFC Champ Ronda Rousey: ‘She Totally Kicked My Ass’

Middleweight prospect Uriah Hall may be the resident terror on Season 17 of The Ultimate Fighter, but it turns out that he’s no match for the famed grappling of Ronda Rousey.During Episode 10, the UFC’s women’s bantamweight champion joined Chael S…

Middleweight prospect Uriah Hall may be the resident terror on Season 17 of The Ultimate Fighter, but it turns out that he’s no match for the famed grappling of Ronda Rousey.

During Episode 10, the UFC’s women’s bantamweight champion joined Chael Sonnen and “Team Darkside” for a training session, prompted by the success of surprise-standout competitor Kelvin Gastelum.

As briefly shown during a short training montage, even a relatively small athlete like Rousey has no trouble putting middleweights on their backs, a true testament to her Olympic-level judo skills.

And as Hall told the New York Post in a recent interview, even he couldn’t manage to escape Rousey’s patented flips, clinch trips and lightning-quick armbar technique, despite outweighing her by at least a solid 50 pounds:

I said to myself, ‘I can get out of this.’ Then she caught me and I was like, ‘Oh my God, this s*** is real.’

You can’t grab her and if you do grab her, you’re f***ed. Thank God they didn’t show that, because she totally kicked my ass.

Rousey’s submission skill with the armbar is widely praised as one of the most dangerous weapons in MMA, as the champion has finished nine opponents with the move so far—six of them during her professional MMA career, to boot.

Moreover, not a single female fighter has made it out of the first round with Rousey, with former challenger Liz Carmouche lasting the longest at four minutes and 49 seconds.

But Uriah Hall doesn’t have to worry about a submission threat of Rousey’s caliber, as he’ll be facing a currently-announced opponent from his season’s lineup on April 13 during the TUF 17 Finale card.

Out of the entire show’s cast, the strongest grappling threats are arguably Kelvin Gastelum, Josh Samman and Jimmy Quinlan, who have all wrestled their ways to victories during the season so far. Hall is still a favorite to win the tournament, especially due to a fantastic spinning heel-kick knockout win that UFC president Dana White called the “nastiest” in TUF history.

 

McKinley Noble is an MMA conspiracy theorist. His work has appeared in NVision, PC World, Macworld, GamePro, 1UP, MMA Mania & The LA Times.

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Bellator 94: Felice Herrig Apologizes for Post-Fight Scrap with Heather Clark

Before their recent bout at Bellator 94, strawweight MMA fighters Felice Herrig and Heather Clark were already taking shots at each other.But while their heated weigh-in staredown drew extra eyes to their match on March 28, neither woman showed great s…

Before their recent bout at Bellator 94, strawweight MMA fighters Felice Herrig and Heather Clark were already taking shots at each other.

But while their heated weigh-in staredown drew extra eyes to their match on March 28, neither woman showed great sportsmanship in a post-fight scuffle after the final round.

Herrig later posted a public apology for her actions on Twitter, explaining the reason for the bad blood between herself and Clark.

According to Herrig, Clark had been trying to fight her for “almost 2 years” while allegedly insulting her for supposedly not wanting to move up to 125 pounds:

First off I want to apologize to any of my fans that thought what I did was unsportsmanlike. Looking back on it now I probably shouldn’t have reacted that way but my emotions got the better of me.

Heather has been on a mission for almost 2 years now trying to fight me and has done the typical trashing of me to try and get that attention to do it. My management told her she didnt need to go that route and simply needed to prove she could make 115lbs and we would consider it. Instead she kept up her hypocritical insults and continued to fight at 125lbs.

After Herrig and Clark finished a competitive match at Bellator 94, Herrig yelled in Clark’s face, celebrating her own fourth straight MMA victory. Clark responded by backhanding Herrig across the face, which prompted Herrig to strike back before referee Jorge Ortiz separated them.

Herrig also noted in her Twitter message that she was “tired” of “bigger girls” challenging her to matches outside of her natural weight class.

To date, the 28-year-old Texan has not fought outside of the 115-pound division, where she’s currently rated as the No. 5 fighter via MMA Rising’s Unified Women’s Mixed Martial Arts Rankings.

Prior to their fight, Herrig also shoved Clark at the Bellator 94 weigh-ins, pushing back the taller, bigger fighter after they both made weight at the strawweight limit.

Regardless of the minor controversy, Herrig’s win in her second Bellator MMA appearance cements her status as one of the top-ranked and more recognizable female fighters in her division.

Herrig has gone on an undefeated 4-0 run since 2012, with her last loss coming against Carla Esparza, the current Invicta FC strawweight champion. Clark, a Greg Jackson’s MMA team member, has fallen to 1-3 in her last four fights, with Bellator 94 marking her first set of career back-to-back losses.

 

McKinley Noble is an MMA conspiracy theorist. His work has appeared in NVision, PC World, Macworld, GamePro, 1UP, MMA Mania & The LA Times.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC Champ Jon Jones Proposes to His Girlfriend on Easter, Shares Twitter Photo

Although Jon Jones is characterized as a ruthless force within the UFC, he’s also one of the sport’s most polarizing figures.Hence, several detractors of Jones’ overt religiousness have frequently directed criticism to his relationship with longtime gi…

Although Jon Jones is characterized as a ruthless force within the UFC, he’s also one of the sport’s most polarizing figures.

Hence, several detractors of Jones’ overt religiousness have frequently directed criticism to his relationship with longtime girlfriend Jessie Moses.

While Jones is widely known to the MMA community as a devout Christian, his unmarried relationship status with Moses has drawn some scrutiny since the young couple has had three children to date.

But this past Easter, Moses officially accepted a marriage proposal from Jones, who posted the scene to Twitter in a “breaking news” update:

 

Moses recently gave birth to Jones’ third daughter (Olivia Haven Jones) this past March, as the champion posted in a previous “breaking news” Twitter message. Shortly after his daughter’s birth, Jones teased future intentions to change Moses’ last name.

With his marriage proposal now public, Jones has not yet cited plans for a wedding date.

Moreover, the 25-year-old light heavyweight champion is currently busy preparing for his fifth UFC title defense, which will tie an all-time record set by former UFC champion Tito Ortiz.

That upcoming match takes place in the main event of UFC 159 on April 27 at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., as Jones faces former middleweight contender Chael Sonnen.

Should Jones emerge from the Octagon victorious, he will have become only the second man to ever successfully defend the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship in five consecutive performances, as well as being the youngest UFC fighter to ever accomplish such a feat.

Jones and Sonnen were originally set to meet at the now-infamous UFC 151 card, which was cancelled due to a variety of unusual circumstances.

After Dan Henderson, Jones’ original opponent, pulled out of the bout with a knee injury, several UFC light heavyweights turned down the fight, with only Sonnen willing to compete with little more than a week’s notice.

Unfortunately, Jones also pulled out of the event once Sonnen stepped in as a replacement, citing the need for a new training camp and more preparation. Without its headliner, UFC 151 was shut down by Dana White, who blamed Jones and his trainer, Greg Jackson, for the fallout.

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UFC Reportedly Signs 14-0 Chinese Bantamweight Fighter Jumabieke Tuerxun

Chinese fighters are a rare sight in the UFC, but the promotion has recently signed an interesting addition to its bantamweight roster with Jumabieke Tuerxun.Via MMA Junkie:Tuerxun (14-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) is an unbeaten bantamweight who went 4-0 in 20…

Chinese fighters are a rare sight in the UFC, but the promotion has recently signed an interesting addition to its bantamweight roster with Jumabieke Tuerxun.

Via MMA Junkie:

Tuerxun (14-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) is an unbeaten bantamweight who went 4-0 in 2012. The new comes via the UFC through the Chinese website Weibo, though the promotion has not made a formal announcement. iJudgeFightsfirst reported the news stateside.

Tuerxun is notable as only the second fighter the UFC has ever signed from China, with the first being Zhang Tiequan.

Carrying a perfect 14-0 career MMA record, the undefeated Tuerxun has never competed outside of his home country, much like Tiequan earlier in his career.

However, Tuerxun has the advantage of being much younger with a better-looking resume.

At just 26 years old, Tuerxun has gained seven of his 14 wins by knockout or submission, while also winning a bantamweight title in the Hong Kong-based Legend Fighting Championship.

“The Wild Wolf” also made his professional MMA debut just four years ago, although he has not fought many world-ranked opponents.

That will change once Tuerxun makes his UFC debut, as the world’s largest mixed martial arts promotion actively houses several of the world’s best 135-pound fighters.

No date or event has been selected for his first fight, although it’s likely that the UFC will employ him for an upcoming event overseas.

Generally, the UFC signs up many of its Asian fighters for events between Japan and China, where the company has held three events since February 2012.

Should that prove to be the case for Tuerxun, it’s reasonable to expect he may debut with the UFC if it returns to China this year.

The UFC made its historic first visit to the region during UFC on Fuel 6, which featured a headlining bout between former middleweight champion Rich Franklin and Strikeforce veteran Cung Le. Tuerxun has fought in Macau previously, as well as Hong Kong, where he carries equal name value.

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