Author: Michael David Smith

In Brock Lesnar, UFC Has a Pay-Per-View Powerhouse

Filed under: UFCTo establish himself as the undisputed heavyweight champion of mixed martial arts, Brock Lesnar still has to beat Shane Carwin Saturday night at UFC 116. But there’s no question that Lesnar — just five fights into his MMA career — is …

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Brock LesnarTo establish himself as the undisputed heavyweight champion of mixed martial arts, Brock Lesnar still has to beat Shane Carwin Saturday night at UFC 116. But there’s no question that Lesnar — just five fights into his MMA career — is already the undisputed champion of pay-per-view.

Lesnar isn’t just the biggest pay-per-view draw in the UFC, he’s by far the biggest pay-per-view draw MMA has ever had. When the UFC brought Lesnar on board two and a half years ago it added an outsized personality, a legitimate athlete who won an NCAA heavyweight wrestling title, a ferocious competitor with the drive and determination to become the best fighter in the sport, and a celebrity who had already become a proven pay-per-view draw in pro wrestling — all in one enormous 265-pound package.

Chris Leben ‘Making History’ With 2-Week Layoff for UFC 116

Filed under: MMA Videos, UFC

Although the UFC doesn’t have an official record book, Chris Leben is believed to be on his way to setting a new UFC record on Saturday night at UFC 116, fighting on only two weeks off for the shortest layoff ever since th…

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Although the UFC doesn’t have an official record book, Chris Leben is believed to be on his way to setting a new UFC record on Saturday night at UFC 116, fighting on only two weeks off for the shortest layoff ever since the UFC stopped having one-night tournaments.

Leben, who beat Aaron Simpson on June 19 and then agreed to fill in for the injured Wanderlei Silva against Yoshihiro Akiyama on July 3, says it’s a source of pride to him that he could do something no UFC fighter has ever done before.

Yet Another Setback for MMA in New York

Filed under: UFCMixed martial arts is still illegal in New York, and that won’t change any time soon.

Despite optimism from the UFC and its fans that MMA would be legalized and regulated in the state soon enough that a UFC event at Madison Square Gard…

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Mixed martial arts is still illegal in New York, and that won’t change any time soon.

Despite optimism from the UFC and its fans that MMA would be legalized and regulated in the state soon enough that a UFC event at Madison Square Garden could happen this year, the New York Daily News reports that Democrats in the State Assembly decided to pull MMA regulation out of a budget bill that could be voted on as soon as Tuesday.

MMA Top 10 Pound-for-Pound: Emperor’s Reign Ends

Filed under: UFC, WEC, Strikeforce, Rankings, OverallFedor Emelianenko has been at the top of my list of the Top 10 pound-for-pound fighters in mixed martial arts for a year and a half, since he beat Andrei Arlovski in January 2009. He’s obviously not …

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Fedor Emelianenko has been at the top of my list of the Top 10 pound-for-pound fighters in mixed martial arts for a year and a half, since he beat Andrei Arlovski in January 2009. He’s obviously not at the top anymore, after Fabricio Werdum submitted him in just 69 seconds on Saturday night.

But is Fedor still in the Top 10? Not on my list.

Some people would say Fedor’s body of work merits inclusion in the Top 10, but this isn’t a list of the greatest fighters of all time, it’s a list of the greatest fighters right now. And the soon-to-be 34-year-old Emelianenko, even though he is the greatest fighter of all time, isn’t one of the 10 best right now. My list, the first one I’ve ever put together without Fedor on it, is below.

All 3 Women in the Cage Did Their Jobs Well in Cyborg-Finney Fight

Filed under: Strikeforce
Cris Cyborg’s second-round TKO win over Jan Finney on Saturday night was terribly one-sided and a little sloppy, and not a great fight. But both fighters — as well as the third woman in the ring, referee Kim Winslow — did the…

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Cris Cyborg‘s second-round TKO win over Jan Finney on Saturday night was terribly one-sided and a little sloppy, and not a great fight. But both fighters — as well as the third woman in the ring, referee Kim Winslow — did their jobs to the best of their abilities on Saturday night and deserve credit, not the scorn they’ve received in some quarters.

Cyborg, of course, showed once again why most MMA observers consider her the best female fighter in the world. Since bursting onto the American MMA scene with EliteXC two years ago, she’s 6-0 and has dominated all six opponents.

Fabricio Werdum Submits Fedor Emelianenko

Filed under: Strikeforce, M-1 Global, NewsThe best fighter in the history of mixed martial arts lost in a shocking upset on Saturday night, as Fedor Emelianenko was submitted by Fabricio Werdum early in the first round of their Strikeforce fight in San…

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The best fighter in the history of mixed martial arts lost in a shocking upset on Saturday night, as Fedor Emelianenko was submitted by Fabricio Werdum early in the first round of their Strikeforce fight in San Jose.

Fedor knocked Werdum down with a combination of hard punches at the start of the fight, doing exactly what he wanted to do and taking control early on. But then he made a huge tactical error, going to the ground with Werdum, who’s the best Brazilian jiu jitsu practitioner in the sport.