Author: McKinley Noble

Michael Bisping: Vitor Belfort Will Turn into a ‘Walking Punching Bag’

Michael Bisping is sick and tired of waiting on Anderson Silva, but the famous Englishman can’t ignore the challenge of former champion Vitor Belfort.Despite the threat that Belfort poses to “The Count” in the stand-up, Bisping insists that he’ll be th…

Michael Bisping is sick and tired of waiting on Anderson Silva, but the famous Englishman can’t ignore the challenge of former champion Vitor Belfort.

Despite the threat that Belfort poses to “The Count” in the stand-up, Bisping insists that he’ll be the one dishing out most of the damage after his opponent tires himself out.

During a recent chat with MMA Fighting, Bisping insisted that his game plan simply relied on Belfort faltering after the first round:

It’s well documented, rightly or wrongly, that Vitor gasses quickly. He does slow down after the first round. Obviously, early for me is going to be the most dangerous. The longer the fight goes, he’ll start turning into a walking punching bag. At least that’s the plan.

It’s easier said than done. He’s going to come out hard and fast, and he will be dangerous. He’s a big middleweight. He’s been a heavyweight (tournament) champion, and was a light heavyweight champion back in the day. But these are the kind of fights I’m going to take if I want to back up my talking.

Bisping also reiterated that his UFC on FX 7 main event bout in January against Belfort should be for an interim middleweight championship, wanting to “keep the division moving” in Silva’s absence.

Although Bisping suffered a highlight reel worthy knockout against current light heavyweight contender Dan Henderson a few years ago at UFC 100, he hasn’t been stopped on strikes since then.

Out of the eight men that Bisping has battled since his loss to Henderson, the heaviest hitters were arguably Wanderlei Silva and Brian Stann, both of whom Bisping fought to judges’ decisions. Bisping is coming off a win on a 5-1 run, while Belfort has racked up four first-round stoppages with a 4-2 record in his own recent six fight stretch.

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Strikeforce Confirms January Card Lineup, Nate Marquardt as Main Event

Strikeforce may have built their last great push with Ronda Rousey and the heavyweight division, but their final card will be headlined by a welterweight UFC veteran.Amid a string of fight confirmations for the upcoming “Strikeforce: Challengers” event…

Strikeforce may have built their last great push with Ronda Rousey and the heavyweight division, but their final card will be headlined by a welterweight UFC veteran.

Amid a string of fight confirmations for the upcoming “Strikeforce: Challengers” event in January, the official Strikeforce website has established Nate Marquardt vs. Tarec Saffiedine as their main event.

Here’s how the card looks so far, according to the event’s webpage:

• Nate Marquardt vs. Tarec Saffiedine
• Daniel Cormier vs. Dion Staring
• Gegard Mousasi vs. Mike Kyle
• Ryan Couture vs. K.J. Noons

(Update: Four more bouts have been added to the event page, listed as follows.)

• Ronaldo Souza vs. Lorenz Larkin
• Pat Healy vs. Jorge Masvidal
• Roger Gracie vs. Anthony Smith
• Tim Kennedy vs. Trevor Smith

Having Marquardt on top of the card makes sense, as the Strikeforce welterweight champion will be the only fighter actually defending a title belt next year at Oklahoma City’s Chesapeake Energy Arena.

Although Daniel Cormier is the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix champion, the nature of his belt doesn’t lend itself to any kind of title defense.

Originally, “Strikeforce: Champions” was meant to host three title fights in the main event, but middleweight champion Luke Rockhold and lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez both pulled out of the card due to injury.

Moreover, the Strikeforce light heavyweight title has been vacant ever since Dan Henderson returned to the UFC last year. Additionally, both that belt and the promotion’s heavyweight championship title have been noticeably vacant since 2011, with the later being abandoned by exiting superstar Alistair Overeem.

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Anderson Silva’s Conditioning Coach: Fighting GSP at 170 Would Be a ‘Crime’

Is it really “criminal” to expect pound-for-pound Anderson Silva to drop from 185 to 170 pounds for a superfight with Georges St-Pierre?According to his conditioning coach, it’s practically highway robbery.In an interview with Fighters Only Magazi…

Is it really “criminal” to expect pound-for-pound Anderson Silva to drop from 185 to 170 pounds for a superfight with Georges St-Pierre?

According to his conditioning coach, it’s practically highway robbery.

In an interview with Fighters Only Magazine, Silva’s personal conditioning coach said that while the middleweight champion could make the weight cut, it would leave him depleted enough that GSP would have an extremely unfair advantage:

It would be a crime for Anderson to try and fight at 77kg. He could maybe make the weight but the physical loss that he would suffer would be too much.

We have to respect St. Pierre, who besides being a great fighter is a monster physically. The Canadian would get a considerable conditioning advantage if they fought at welterweight division limits.

St-Pierre is known for pushing his opponents into grueling five-round fights, often drowning them under a steady assault of strong strikes mixed with unstoppable takedowns. In his last seven title defenses, GSP has dominated 34 rounds (roughly 170 minutes) of action in the Octagon with only BJ Penn getting stopped early. 

By contrast, Silva has only gone the distance twice in his last seven fights—both times nearly losing on points to Demian Maia and Chael Sonnen.

If cardio proved to be the difference, that would make sense—St-Pierre has only fought at 170 pounds his entire career while Silva has floated between 185 and 205 pounds during the last few years.

Regardless, both GSP and trainer Firas Zahabi have both openly stated that the welterweight limit is the only realistic place where they’re willing to let the fight happen, claiming that it’s actually very fair if the larger Silva is significantly “weakened” by a significant weight cut.

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UFC-Bound Sara McMann Not Ready for Ronda Rousey Yet

It seems like fate that Ronda Rousey and Sara McMann will eventually fight each other.However, McMann doesn’t want it to be her first fight in the UFC and acknowledges that the match wouldn’t be right without the proper build.Although the multi-time wr…

It seems like fate that Ronda Rousey and Sara McMann will eventually fight each other.

However, McMann doesn’t want it to be her first fight in the UFC and acknowledges that the match wouldn’t be right without the proper build.

Although the multi-time wrestling medalist is only six fights into her MMA career, she’s defeated worthy competition like top-ranked Shayna Baszler and experienced Japanese veteran Hitomi Akano.

However, during an interview with AXS TV’s Inside MMA (via MMA Mania), McMann recognized that it may be best to first raise her own profile a bit higher:

I think that they planned on having things follow the same route that we were gonna follow with Strikeforce. But, from what I understand, there needs to be a proper build-up to a fight like that. People don’t really know me that well. They know her. So, it just doesn’t make sense, really, to have it without a strong following for me, too.

Unlike Rousey, McMann never had a chance to fight in Strikeforce. She came into the promotion for the Daniel Cormier vs. Frank Mir card before the company had its final two 2012 events completely shut down.

Nonetheless, she’ll be heading to the UFC once her contract is settled.

From a matchmaking standpoint, Rousey vs. McMann should seem like an attractive prospect, especially if both opponents remain undefeated during their initial UFC runs.

In a nutshell, they’re mirror images of each other.

Both women are multi-medalists who have gone unbeaten in MMA with specialized skills in grappling. McMann hit her career highlight with the 2004 Athens Games’ silver medal for freestyle wrestling, while Rousey later won the 2008 Bejing Games’ bronze medal for the United States in women’s judo.

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UFC: The 8 Biggest Concerns for the UFC Moving Forward

For mixed martial arts to be successful, the UFC has to be successful.That’s been the narrative for the sport ever since its leading American promotion hit the mainstream, and there have been many bumps along the way.No matter where you look, there’s a…

For mixed martial arts to be successful, the UFC has to be successful.

That’s been the narrative for the sport ever since its leading American promotion hit the mainstream, and there have been many bumps along the way.

No matter where you look, there’s always a battle being fought as the UFC strives to live up to Dana White‘s claim that the sport will one day be on the same level as football, basketball, hockey and baseball.

Heck, just being equivalent to NASCAR would be a feat.

But what problems does the UFC face going forward?

Plenty, as a matter of fact—and these are the eight biggest concerns facing the promotion in the coming years.

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Jose Aldo Considering Move to Lightweight If He Beats Frankie Edgar

Jose Aldo suffers one of the harshest weight cuts in the roster of featherweight fighters.In fact, that’s likely a key reason the UFC pulled an infamous video (from a UFC Brazil preview) that chronicled the champion’s brutal preparation…

Jose Aldo suffers one of the harshest weight cuts in the roster of featherweight fighters.

In fact, that’s likely a key reason the UFC pulled an infamous video (from a UFC Brazil preview) that chronicled the champion’s brutal preparation for the scales. It could’ve been a bit too graphic for the company’s public image.

Footage showed a desperate Aldo practically destroying his body to shed extra weight on the day of the UFC 129 weigh-ins, mentally breaking under the pressure in the process.

That’s why a move to lightweight could be an attractive prospect for the Brazilian, whose bad weight cut nearly resulted in him losing his UFC title to Canada’s Mark Hominick. As Aldo explained to Los Angeles-area reporters during a media session (via MMA Fighting), his next title defense at 145 pounds could be his last one.

“I’ve considered going to lightweight,” said Aldo. “As soon as my trainer decides that I can go up, then I will. This fight with Edgar will be a turning point. If I can win [against] him well, then I can prove that I can go [to lightweight].”

“He has a very strong reputation thanks to destroying several opponents,” Aldo continued. “That’s the motivation for me to face him and that will be probably my last biggest challenge [at featherweight].”

Ironically, many pundits and fans have stated that former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar is really little more than a blown-up featherweight, as the New Jersey native typically gives up a lot of size and mass against other 155-pounders.

However, that didn’t stop “The Answer” from stamping a 9-3-1 record in the lightweight division, capping it off with victories over BJ Penn (twice) and Gray Maynard, along with close-decision losses against current champion Ben Henderson. Aldo and Edgar will face-off in Las Vegas at UFC 156 this February, the promotion’s first pay-per-view event in 2013.

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