B.J. Penn is a UFC legend. One of only two men to ever win UFC titles in different weight classes, Penn is now a seasoned veteran looking towards ending his career sooner rather than later. Penn has been in the UFC for ten years, and he knows the…
B.J. Penn is a UFC legend. One of only two men to ever win UFC titles in different weight classes, Penn is now a seasoned veteran looking towards ending his career sooner rather than later. Penn has been in the UFC for ten years, and he knows the game well.
Penn has never been intrigued enough by a big gym to leave his home state of Hawaii. Penn has always done thing his way, and that’s the way he likes it.
Penn’s most recent bout was a February matchup with Jon Fitch. He opened strong in the first round, but was dominated in the third and the bout ended in a draw.
The career of Murilo “Ninja” Rua, MMA veteran and brother of former UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, has ended. Rua fought on the BAMMA 6 last Saturday, losing to Tom Watson.After the fight, “Ninja” announced his retirement from th…
The career of Murilo “Ninja” Rua, MMA veteran and brother of former UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, has ended. Rua fought on the BAMMA 6 last Saturday, losing to Tom Watson.
After the fight, “Ninja” announced his retirement from the sport of mixed martial arts, ending the career of a well-known and beloved fighter. Rua was the former Elite XC middleweight champion and fought in Pride Fighting Championships for years along with his brother.
Rua announced the news of his retirement on Twitter. He stated:
“Congratulations to my opponent Tom Watson in the victory tonight, he was better and deserved. I would like to announce officially my retirement from PRO MMA fights tonight. It was an amazing run, and it’s a very tough moment but there comes a time for all in life, and it’s time to move on. I am proud of all I did in MMA and all experiences I had. I will continue to work with MMA, doing seminars, [t]eaching classes, training fighters, and doing my share to help our sport that I love so much.”
Rua would go on to thank the people that helped him in his career. Rua said:
“I want to also thank to all the trainers that helped me from day 1 as a white belt until now. All training partners that pushed me so much, all sponsors that believed and still believe in myself. All my friends in the press. Many thanks to Bad Boy MMA and BVA Bank and mostly, I want to thank my true friends, my family, my mom and dad, my wife that I love so much, my kids who are my joy and my brothers. I want to thank my manager for being my friend, and I want to sincerely thank my brother [Marucio Rua] for all support and making me so proud. Life goes on, memories will stay forever, and MMA will still be my life forever. Thank you so much you all! — Murilo “Ninja” Rua.”
He will be missed but it is nice to see a fighter know when to hang it up.
Joe Rogan has been with the UFC since 1997, four years before Zuffa bought the then-failing company for $2 million and brought it to prominence. Rogan is the play-by-play man for the UFC for a reason, he knows MMA top to bottom and he loves the sport l…
Joe Rogan has been with the UFC since 1997, four years before Zuffa bought the then-failing company for $2 million and brought it to prominence. Rogan is the play-by-play man for the UFC for a reason, he knows MMA top to bottom and he loves the sport like no other.
Rogan isn’t always taken seriously by the casual fan, but people who’ve been around the sport for a long time know how good he really is. His dedication to MMA and the UFC does not go unnoticed.
In this video, Rogan breaks down the UFC 130 matchups and describes how he sees the fights panning out. Rogan knows a lot about these fighters, and his opinions should not be ignored. After all, Rogan is the man who sits outside the Octagon at every event and gets paid to pay very close attention to the athletes.
Anderson Silva and Yushin Okami first squared off at the now-famous January 2006 Rumble on the Rock tournament that featured Jake Shields, Robbie Lawler and Carlos Condit as well. Their first encounter ended in a controversial disqualification win for …
Anderson Silva and Yushin Okami first squared off at the now-famous January 2006 Rumble on the Rock tournament that featured Jake Shields, Robbie Lawler and Carlos Condit as well. Their first encounter ended in a controversial disqualification win for Okami when Silva threw an illegal upkick while Yushin was down.
We will probably never know why it happened. Did Anderson not understand the rules? Did he do it on accident thinking the Pride rule system was being used? We may never know exactly what was going through his head on that day.
Either way, this fight marked the last loss for UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva and it is one that he wants back.
Silva has more of a reason than usual to train hard. Fighters yearn to avenge their losses to prove they are the better man indeed. Silva is even more motivated due to the fact that he feels Okami could have continued in their first fight and chose to take the easy way out.
And if there’s one thing I know, an angry Anderson Silva is a scary man.
After watching MMA as a dedicated fan for six years now, a pattern has emerged time and time again that frustrates both the fighters and the fans.A series of bad decisions by judges have finally left me fed up with the ten point must system in mi…
After watching MMA as a dedicated fan for six years now, a pattern has emerged time and time again that frustrates both the fighters and the fans.
A series of bad decisions by judges have finally left me fed up with the ten point must system in mixed martial arts. For the most part, the system works in boxing when there are only punches to consider, but in mixed martial arts it causes problems, confusion and sometimes anger.
There have been several MMA results in the last year that led me to this position. The most glaring instance was the matchup between Nam Phan and Leonard Garcia at the Ultimate Fighter 12 finale in December. Phan clearly won the fight, yet somehow lost on a split decision. There have been other results where the unfairness of the ten point system was even more apparent. Joe Warren’s fight with Marco Galvao could easily have gone to Galvao. Diego Sanchez probably should have lost his last bout to Martin Kampmann, and Kampmann was also snubbed of a potential win last October when he lost via decision to Jake Shields.
UFC President Dana White always says to never leave it in the hands of the judges. It is true that the finish makes mixed martial arts more exciting, but why should guys fear the scorecards? The system should work, but it no longer does. Some have suggested changes such as a decimal system or a half point system, but nothing has happened.
I see there being two major problems. The first major problem is the ten point must system itself, which needs to be changed to prevent unnecessary bad decisions and draws. The second major problem is with the judges themselves.
The ten point must system needs to be changed, and no one seems to have the “right” answer. Why not let a council of mixed martial arts professionals decide? I propose starting a council of maybe 1,000 or so individuals, a group of trainers, fighters, writers and executives.
We can call it the MMA World Council, and call a yearly meeting similar to the UFC fighter summit where these informed individuals vote on rule changes to the unified rules of MMA. They could find a better solution to scoring bouts than the ten point must system that mixed martial arts adopted from boxing years ago.
The group of MMA experts and advocates could use democratic principles to propose changes, and vote on those changes. The democratic approach of letting everyone vote is not only fair, but could breed partnership between MMA organizations. Rather than competing against one another, the members could work together to help further the sport as a whole.
The second major problem is with the judges. As it stands, judges are simply not informed well enough on the ins and outs of MMA fighting. The UFC is bringing in monitors for UFC 130 and beyond, but the judge can choose to use them or to ignore them entirely. I think the real problem is that the judges need to know more about MMA, its multi-faceted game and how to decide who is really winning.
Either the existing judges must be better educated about the sport, or the UFC, Strikeforce, Bellator and others must find new judges. These groups need to hire former fighters and referees to judge until the average judges learn that a takedown means nothing when the other guy pops right back up and delivers a punch, or that a guy rushing ahead and getting picked apart shouldn’t be awarded points just for moving forward.
Monitors are a baby step in the right direction, but the sport can’t always hide behind the mantra of “never leave it in the hands of the judges.” At some point we have to start making these people accountable for what they put on their cards, and possibly monitor them to make sure they’re competent enough in MMA to be a judge in the first place. I hope that the use of monitors is the first step of many to improving the ten point must problem that’s currently hurting mixed martial arts all across the board.
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson is preparing for a UFC 130 clash with Matt Hamill this Saturday, May 30, 2011 in Las Vegas. As he nears the bout, he has included some brief glimpses into his life via some videos.Rampage is often funny, cordial and fun-loving…
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson is preparing for a UFC 130 clash with Matt Hamill this Saturday, May 30, 2011 in Las Vegas. As he nears the bout, he has included some brief glimpses into his life via some videos.
Rampage is often funny, cordial and fun-loving and is rarely serious unless he is competing in the UFC. He has voiced recently that he plans to only compete in mixed martial arts for a few more years and then he will step away from the fight game.
Jackson had a change of opponents in the months leading up the fight, and now he will square off against Matt “Hammer” Hamill on Saturday.
Jackson seemed to be less than excited when he has spoken about the bout. In the past, he has been known for gaining large amounts of weight in between fights.
Will he be in great shape for UFC 130? The world will know on fight night.
B.J. Penn is a UFC legend. One of only two men to ever win UFC titles in different weight classes, Penn is now a seasoned veteran looking towards ending his career sooner rather than later. Penn has been in the UFC for ten years, and he knows the game well.