Author: McKinley Noble

Strikeforce Champ Nate Marquardt Willing to Fight Teammate GSP for UFC Belt

Even though Nate Marquardt doesn’t want to fight one of his teammates, the Greg Jackson MMA fighter says he won’t turn down a title shot against UFC champion Georges St-Pierre.During a series of media interviews in Las Vegas on Tuesday, Marquardt spoke…

Even though Nate Marquardt doesn’t want to fight one of his teammates, the Greg Jackson MMA fighter says he won’t turn down a title shot against UFC champion Georges St-Pierre.

During a series of media interviews in Las Vegas on Tuesday, Marquardt spoke about the potential situation on The Ultimate Show, stating that he’ll fight anyone for the UFC welterweight title—even if it happens to be his longtime training partner:

Georges [St-Pierre] is my friend. He’s been a training partner since before he won the belt. Honestly, I love the guy, but I’m not in a position to turn down a fight. I’ll fight whoever I have to. I have to for my family and for my welfare. So, like I said, I can’t turn down fights.

But before Marquardt can expect a UFC title fight, he’ll have to defeat Tarec Saffiedine in the main event of Strikeforce’s final card on Jan. 12 at the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City.

It will be Marquardt‘s first (and only) defense of his welterweight championship belt, as the former middleweight is expected to return to the UFC after Strikeforce closes its doors this month.

This follows over 18 months of exile after being cut from the promotion by Dana White after Marquardt failed his physical exam prior to headlining UFC Live 4, due to a positive test for elevated testosterone.

Since then, Marquardt dropped from the middleweight to welterweight division, claiming Strikeforce’s vacated 170-pound championship in a one-sided victory over formerly undefeated Tyron Woodley last July.

If Marquardt does challenge GSP, however, it won’t be the first time that Greg Jackson MMA teammates have had to fight each other.

At UFC 154, former interim welterweight champion Carlos Condit fought St-Pierre in a title unification match, causing their head coach Greg Jackson to vacate the event entirely. Now that St-Pierre has defeated Condit, he’ll defend his title next against the Strikeforce welterweight champion who preceded Marquardt—Nick Diaz.

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UFC Lightweight Champ Benson Henderson Tops Jon Jones for ‘Best Fighter of 2012’

Jon Jones, Anderson Silva and Georges St-Pierre all had great years, but none of the sport’s biggest names were bestowed the title of “Best Fighter of 2012.”That honor goes to none other than UFC Lightweight Champion Benson Henderson.Acc…

Jon Jones, Anderson Silva and Georges St-Pierre all had great years, but none of the sport’s biggest names were bestowed the title of “Best Fighter of 2012.”

That honor goes to none other than UFC Lightweight Champion Benson Henderson.

According to the UFC’s official website, “Bendo” proved himself to be the promotion’s best fighter of 2012, thanks to a slew of flawless performances inside the Octagon.

Moreover, no other champion defended their belt as often as “Smooth” did last year, and in a season laden with devastating injuries, the 155-pound champ managed to stay healthy and maintain an unbeaten 3-0 record against top competition like Frankie Edgar and Nate Diaz:

Three championship fights. Three wins. 15 rounds of action. Doing that alone earns UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson the top spot as Fighter of the Year for 2012, but in a year when injuries were a constant and crippling issue in the sport, Henderson also gets kudos for being one of MMA’s true iron men.

Henderson’s goal right now is to clean out the division and make a run at Anderson Silva’s all-time title defense record. Well, right now, Henderson looks like he just may have a shot at it.

Most interestingly, the UFC rated Henderson ahead of Jon Jones, arguably the promotion’s most dominant champion today. However, Jones’ 2012 was much more controversial than his 2011—the year the promotion crowned “Bones” fighter of the year.

For added context, here’s the full list of fighters whom the UFC cited as the year’s top 10 performers, along with their 2012 records and achievements:

1. Ben Henderson (3-0)
2. Jon Jones (2-0)
3. Demetrious Johnson (2-0-1, new champion)
4. Matt Brown (4-0)
5. Cain Velasquez (2-0, returning champion)
6. Stefan Struve (3-0)
7. Cub Swanson (3-0)
8. Mike Pyle (3-0)
9. Anderson Silva (2-0)
10. Constantinos Philippou (3-0)

Out of the list, the UFC’s top 10 includes a new champion in Johnson (flyweight), a returning champion in Velasquez (heavyweight), with welterweight veteran Matt Brown leapfrogging several fighters to come in at No. 4. Brown is also the only fighter in the promotion who pitched a perfect game over four fights, with his last win coming over Mike Swick at UFC on Fox 5.

Bantamweight belt-holders Dominick Cruz and Renan Barao are the only current champions to not make the list this year, with Cruz out of action since 2011 and Barao yet to defend his title. Runners-up included several contenders such as Chris Weidman, Fabricio Werdum, Johny Hendricks, Alexander Gustafsson, Rory MacDonald, John Dodson and Donald Cerrone.

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Dana White Calls UFC Champ Jon Jones ‘A Little Diva’ During CES 2013 Interview

Dana White seems to think that Jon Jones’ stardom has gone to his head.During an interview with New Media Expo at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, the UFC president took the stage to speak at length about social media, the grow…

Dana White seems to think that Jon Jones’ stardom has gone to his head.

During an interview with New Media Expo at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, the UFC president took the stage to speak at length about social media, the growth of the Ultimate Fighting Championship and where MMA is headed.

As the sport has grown more popular, so too has the profile of certain UFC stars. With that in mind, White also had some choice words for some of his own fighters, especially light heavyweight champion Jones.

Stemming from comments Jones made during an MMA Fighting interview last year about being treated “like a piece of meat” in the wake of the cancelled UFC 151 event, White didn’t hesitate to call Jones a “diva” for how the champion conducted himself:

Speaker: But [the UFC 151 fallout] continued to roll, because that fighter [Jones] said about how he felt like he was treated “like a piece of meat” and you guys were going at it.

Dana White: That’s a little diva, there. You know what I mean? “Being treated like a piece of meat.” That’s a diva.

White is famous within the social media industry for galvanizing the UFC’s social media effort to give the company a widespread net over platforms like Facebook, Twitter and other such tools.

White’s own public outrages on Twitter—which sometimes include public spats with other athletes and even his own fighters—are pretty commonplace for MMA fans, but they nonetheless make headline news outside of major MMA news circles.

Jones has been a major problem for White in recent months, not just due to playing a part in “killing” UFC 151, but also for an infamous DWI charge that caused the promotion a major publicity black eye.

MMA fans who want to see what White is talking about will likely tune in to FX Networks later this month as Jones takes the spotlight in the upcoming 17th season of The Ultimate Fighter. Interestingly, Jones will be coaching against Chael Sonnen, the man who stepped up to replace an injured Dan Henderson at UFC 151 before Jones pulled out of the event altogether.

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Rumor: Ronda Rousey Could Make More Than $150K in UFC 157 Debut

Update: UFC president Dana White has responded to the rumor on the Underground forum, stating that Rousey’s reported pay for UFC 157 is false.According to White, “mma interviews whoever the hell they are is full of s—.” White’s me…

Update: UFC president Dana White has responded to the rumor on the Underground forum, stating that Rousey’s reported pay for UFC 157 is false.

According to White, “mma interviews whoever the hell they are is full of s—.” White’s message was posted on the popular MMA forum under his username “dfw jr” at 9:30 a.m. ET on Monday.

Original Story: Even if Ronda Rousey doesn’t win her first title defense at UFC 157, she could still make more money than Ben Henderson and Dominick Cruz.

According to a rumor from MMA Interviews, Rousey is lined up for a $75,000/$75,000 salary via her upcoming main-event bout in Anaheim.

That’s $75,000 to show up and $75,000 extra if she wins, for an assumed total of $150,000 in one night. As MMA Interviews points out, that’s not even all of it—and challenger Liz Carmouche is reportedly making far less in comparison to the women’s champion:

MMAinterviews was told from a source close to Liz Carmouche’s camp that Ronda Rousey will be earning $75,000 to show and $75,000 to win, plus a cut of pay per view when she defends her UFC title against Carmouche at UFC 157. Carmouche will only be earning $12,000 to show and $12,000 to win according to the source.

Rousey’s manager Darin Harvey refuted the rumor, but wouldn’t give any details about the terms of his fighter’s contract with the UFC.

Harvey only stated that “Dana White takes very good care of his stars” and “you cannot go by commission numbers.”

Historically, the UFC only releases a very conservative reported salary for fighters, which doesn’t include sizable perks like post-fight bonus money, PPV percentages and in some cases, “locker room bonuses” for good performances in the Octagon.

If the rumor is indeed true, that automatically puts Rousey in the middle of the pack amongst current UFC champions.

For comparison’ sake, this is a breakdown of each champion’s most recently disclosed base pay or show/win salary from various commissions, not counting any bonuses or PPV deals:

• Cain Velasquez: $100,000/$100,000 (UFC 155)
• Junior dos Santos: $400,000 (UFC 155, Former Champion)
• Jon Jones: $400,000 (UFC 145)
• Anderson Silva: $200,000 (UFC 148)
• Georges St-Pierre: $200,000/$200,000 (UFC 100)
• Benson Henderson: $39,000/$39,000 (UFC on Fox 5)
• Frankie Edgar: $51,000/$51,000 (UFC 125, Former Champion)
• Jose Aldo: N/A
• Dominick Cruz: $20,000/$20,000 (UFC 132)
• Ronda Rousey: $75,000/$75,000 (Rumored, UFC 157)
• Renan Barao: N/A
• Demetrious Johnson: N/A

Interestingly, Aldo, Barao and Johnson have yet to fight in states and territories where the local athletic commission reports fighter salaries.

However, given the huge discrepancy between the heavier weight classes and the lighter weight divisions, it’s fair to guess Rousey may walk out of UFC 157 as the promotion’s fifth most well-paid champion. All “Rowdy” needs to do for that to happen is defeat challenger Liz Carmouche on Feb. 23 at the Anaheim Honda Center.

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UFC on FX 7 Injury Watch: Why Belfort vs. Bisping Card Is Still at Risk

Injuries have become more than a way of life in the UFC. Now, they’re a constant shadow covering over every event, with each one hitting at the absolute worst possible time.That’s why MMA fans should be very paranoid about UFC on FX 7.Like so many othe…

Injuries have become more than a way of life in the UFC. Now, they’re a constant shadow covering over every event, with each one hitting at the absolute worst possible time.

That’s why MMA fans should be very paranoid about UFC on FX 7.

Like so many other fight cards last year, this event is pretty much all about the main event with nothing else to support it.

If everything goes off without a hitch, Vitor Belfort and Michael Bisping should both make it to Brazil’s Ibirapuera Arena for their bout.

But what if one of them doesn’t?

Unlike UFC 158, a card stacked with two headliners and four possible replacements, UFC on FX 7 appears to have no back-up plan. There’s no safety net if anything happens to Bisping or Belfort, and it’s made even worse by the fact that they’re the only two stars on the card.

With only 13 days left, that’s plain dangerous.

If Belfort goes down, there’s no hometown headliner, and the UFC doesn’t have another big-name Brazilian fighter coming off a win to play foil to Bisping’s “arrogant foreigner” character.

Should something happen to Bisping, practically the only person who could fill in would be Hector Lombard—and since UFC champion Jon Jones has made it clear that you can say “no” to Dana White, there’s no telling if he would take that fight on such short notice.

Anderson Silva won’t be riding in on a white horse like he did with UFC 153.

Chael Sonnen is out of the middleweight division. Chris Weidman and Luke Rockhold are still injured.

Unless Ronaldo Souza is hiding out as a secret understudy, there’s no other decent option.

And practically no one else would take a fight with Bisping or Belfort in less than two weeks, either, as they’re two difficult opponents to prepare to fight against.

Hopefully, nothing happens during the injury watch for UFC on FX 7—at least, not to the headliners.

Even though the UFC would probably never cancel a Brazil card (overly-ravenous ticket buyers would make it a wash), it would still be a major step down for the main event to suddenly be something like Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Ben Rothwell.

McKinley Noble is an MMA conspiracy theorist and FightFans Radio writer. His work has appeared in GamePro, Macworld and PC World. Talk with him on Twitter.

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UFC 157’s Liz Carmouche Breaks Down Invicta FC 4 with King Mo, Julie Kedzie

Just ahead of the Invicta FC 4 card on Saturday, the company hosted a special guest for its last preview show, with UFC 157 headliner Liz Carmouche joining the crew.Carmouche herself is a former Invicta FC fighter, earning a call to the UFC on the back…

Just ahead of the Invicta FC 4 card on Saturday, the company hosted a special guest for its last preview show, with UFC 157 headliner Liz Carmouche joining the crew.

Carmouche herself is a former Invicta FC fighter, earning a call to the UFC on the back of a stellar 2-0 stretch in the all-women’s promotion.

Alongside fellow Strikeforce veterans Muhammed Lawal and Julie Kedzie, Carmouche talked at length about the fight card from top to bottom, giving especially some high praise to strawweight headliner Carla “Cookie Monster” Esparza:

I think it’s definitely going to have to go to Carla. I’ve trained with her personally and she’s a tough little person… Her wrestling is just unstoppable. I really think that cancels out Bec [Hyatt], unfortunately. So I’m definitely going to have to give this to Carla. But I think it’ll be a good fight.

Australian prospect Bec Hyatt stepped into the match as a late replacement after two opponents fell out of the event, making her a clear underdog.

However, “King Mo” Lawal anticipates that viewers might be in for a surprise, noting that the unpredictable nature of the matchup might swing in Hyatt’s favor:

[With] Bec stepping in to take this fight on short notice, obviously, she’s very confident. There’s probably something she knows that we don’t know. She comes from Australia, [has a] good kickboxing background, good jiu-jitsu. Maybe she can pull it off, land a knee, land a submission. We won’t know until Saturday.

Esparza and Hyatt will headline Saturday night’s card ahead of 12 other fights, including a noteworthy rematch between bantamweights Shayna “Queen of Spades” Baszler and Alexis Davis. You can catch Bleacher Report MMA‘s live blog right over here, with recaps to follow this weekend.

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