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Tito Ortiz: Trilogy Battle With Chuck Liddell Won’t Tempt Him Out of Retirement

Any hopes of a trilogy battle between Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell have been firmly dashed.The recently retired MMA legend has categorically stated he plans on staying retired and no amount of persuasion will tempt him to fight “The Iceman”…

Any hopes of a trilogy battle between Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell have been firmly dashed.

The recently retired MMA legend has categorically stated he plans on staying retired and no amount of persuasion will tempt him to fight “The Iceman” or any other fighter, for that matter.

“Chuck got the better of me when we fought together, but there are guys he lost to that I beat. Styles make matches,” Ortiz told ESPN.

“We were both great champions, but who defended the title most? That’s what it comes down to.”

“No, I’ve had my time. Our battles are behind us, it’s time to mend fences and look to the future. There’s no grudges, let bygones be bygones, and I’ve got my family to take care of now.”

“My son Jacob says he wants to take after me, but he’s got to get his Masters first. He can go to whatever school he wants, but he has to get his degree before he can compete.”

“At 10 years old he’s second in the State [at wrestling], he loves wrestling, but education is No. 1.”

In the co-main event at UFC 148, “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” went head-to-head with Forrest Griffin in a rubber match that would signal the end of his storied career. It wasn’t the happiest of curtain calls as Ortiz ended on the losing side via unanimous decision—his third straight loss.

As Ortiz intimated, the former UFC 205-pound titlists have had their battles and it’s time to call it a day, more so given the fact Liddell is also retired and has already beaten him on two separate occasions—both by way of technical knockout.

The newly inducted UFC Hall of Famer leaves the stage knowing that he holds the record for most successful titles defenses (five) in the 205-pound class.

That said, with regards to MMA, the 37-year-old Ortiz (16-11-1 MMA, 15-11-1 UFC) was one of the pioneers of the sport and also one of its staunchest supporters. His epic battles with Ken Shamrock and Liddell will always remain ever-present in the hearts and minds of MMA’s hardcore cognoscenti.

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UFC 149: Renan Barao Will Wait to Fight Dominick Cruz, but Urijah Won’t

According to MMAFighting.com, if Brazilian sensation Renan Barao comes out victorious in his UFC 149 interim title clash with Urijah Faber, he’s intent on waiting for a title shot against bantamweight champ Dominick Cruz. Though that might be the case for Barao, Faber on the other hand doesn’t plan on staying idle whilst “The Dominator” recuperates from his injuries.

“I think I would want to want to wait to fight Dominick Cruz,” he said. “That’s a fight that I would really want. And I would want to convert my interim title into a definitive title for the weight class.”

Originally, Faber was slated to throw hands with Cruz at UFC 148, however, following news that the champ had torn his ACL (Anterior Crucial Ligament) during training, the 25-year-old Barao was ushered in to take his place in the now confirmed main event of UFC 149.

There’s no telling how long Cruz will be out of action, but it could be anything up to a year or more.

That said, it seems Barao, who is currently riding an incredible 29-fight unbeaten streak, is intent on keeping his date with destiny if all goes well on July 21.

Conversely, former WEC 145-pound titlist Faber, who was set to face off against Cruz in a trilogy decider, is adamant that if he wins the interim belt he won’t be putting his career on hold in anticipation of when Cruz returns to fold.

“I’m not waiting for Dominick in any way, shape, or form,” Faber said. “It makes sense for Carlos Condit to wait around for Georges St-Pierre. It’s a huge fight for him, but for me, of course, everyone wants to see the fight with Dominick and I, but I’m not going to put my life on hold because of his injuries. Fighting’s what I do, it’s how I make my living, it’s what I love to do, and I’ll be fighting whenever they give me the opportunity.”

Faber (26-5 MMA, 2-1 UFC) handed Cruz his sole loss to date (submission via guillotine choke) more than five years ago. At the time, Faber was the current WEC 145-pound champion.

However, the Alliance MMA fighter returned the favor at UFC 132, winning and successfully defending his 135-pound crown by way of unanimous decision.

UFC 149 is scheduled for July 21, 2012, at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Canada.

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Anderson Silva vs. Georges St-Pierre: Could GSP Finish What Sonnen Started?

Anderson Silva’s kryptonite is the standout wrestler, which has been evinced most notably by the two encounters he’s had with Chael Sonnen. With that in mind, Georges St-Pierre is probably the most well-rounded fighter in mixed martial arts today and his wrestling is up there with the best of them, but with all his attributes he can’t finish what Sonnen started.

At UFC 148, Silva survived a torrid opening stanza, but then went on to blitz Sonnen in the second frame to record a 10th successive title defense.

UFC 117 saw “The Spider” subjected to the worst beating since his four-year tenure in the Zuffa-based promotion—Sonnen employed his supreme wrestling ability to the fullest—taking him to ground at will. Still, it wasn’t enough to secure victory as he found to his cost.

The rematch was going the same way, but in the second round Silva stuffed several of Sonnen’s takedowns. Eureka! Silva had learned from the first fight—he’d been working on his takedown defense.

If that’s the case, where would St-Pierre succeed in toppling Silva?

Even if he could take the fight to the mat, Silva has shown on numerous occasions he can survive whatever onslaught comes his way—submissions and/or ground-and-pound attacks. Ask Sonnen and his mentor Dan Henderson. Both were the recipients of well-timed submissions.

The last time St-Pierre executed a successful submission was way back in 2007, when he submitted Matt Hughes via armbar.

Furthermore, his last real stoppage (B.J. Penn not included) was his rematch with Matt Serra in 2008.

With that in mind, Silva has that aspect covered.

A stand-and-bang affair will no doubt favor Silva as he’s one of MMA’s most prolific strikers.

But more importantly, Silva has never been stopped in the entirety of his career, rocked maybe, but never stopped, whereas St-Pierre has courtesy of Serra.

That said, St-Pierre has the requisite skill set in his arsenal and the heart to boot to contest with any fighter in his welterweight class as well as the middleweight division.

However, that will not avail him if he were ever to tussle with Silva at either 185 pounds or at catchweight—St-Pierre can’t and won’t finish what Sonnen started, though he will be finished himself.

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Dan Henderson Only Accepted Jon Jones Fight Because He Believes He’ll Win

According to ESPN, Dan Henderson will attempt to wrest the 205-pound title from the grasp of Jon Jones when the pair meet in the main event of UFC 151, however, the old warhorse only accepted to fight the young phenom because believes he’ll be vi…

“I’ll never go into a fight or accept a fight if I didn’t think I could beat the other guy up,” Henderson said.

Furthermore, contrary to the general consensus, the 41-year-old Californian denizen has no intentions of pinning all his hopes on his trademark H-Bomb to end the night’s proceedings.

His main stratagem is to win rounds. Nonetheless, if an opening occurs to detonate his famous overhand right, he’ll take full advantage of it.

“My focus is to win every round, not to land the ‘H-bomb,’” Henderson said. “I’ll make sure I win every round and if I hit him good along the way, hopefully it knocks him out.

“A lot of people who think [Jones is unbeatable] have never fought before. They see what he’s done from the outside. He’s done well with his style but I feel like he’s never fought anybody like me. [My style] really goes well against someone like him.”

Henderson is right in his assessment of “Bones” Jones with regards to some of the populace who believe he’s unbeatable—any fighter can be beaten on any given day.

However, at this moment in time, his record would suggest otherwise.

Save for the one blemish on his résumé—a disqualification for illegal use of elbows against Matt Hamill, which in all honesty should be dismissed as an aberration—the 24-year-old is unbeaten and no one thus far has even come close to tilting his coveted crown—even four former light heavyweight titlists.

To date, Jones’s (16-1 MMA, 10-1 UFC) rise to the MMA summit has been meteoric. In spite of all his achievements, Henderson believes he’s somewhat wet behind the ears and still has room for improvement.

“He’s young and sloppy a little bit,” Henderson said. “He still has a lot to learn, technically.”

If Henderson (29-8 MMA, 6-2 UFC) does upset the apple-cart and assumes the position of UFC light heavyweight champion he will have added to his already prestigious collection of belts which include the PRIDE middleweight and welterweight titles and also the Strikeforce light heavyweight belt.

And with that in mind, a title defense could be in the offing, but then there’s that small matter of getting past Jones.

“I’d like to do that but first I need to make sure I beat Jon Jones,” Henderson said.

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Chael Sonnen ‘Puts Butts in Seats’ for MMA, Says Ron Frazier

Former Xtreme Couture boxing coach Ron Frazier believes Chael Sonnen is good for MMA because he puts butts in seats, according to a recent interview with Fighthype.com:
“Chael is good for MMA because he puts butts in the seats; whether you love …

Former Xtreme Couture boxing coach Ron Frazier believes Chael Sonnen is good for MMA because he puts butts in seats, according to a recent interview with Fighthype.com:

“Chael is good for MMA because he puts butts in the seats; whether you love him, you hate him or you want to see him get his head smashed, he’s good for MMA.

“You know what? These guys, whether it’s boxing or MMA, they do a lot and they sacrifice a lot of their health, and people don’t realize the things they have to go through, so you know what? He came up with a marketing ploy to help him out. He’s a smart guy.

“People don’t realize this is Chael‘s second go around in the UFC. They don’t even remember the first time he was there.”

It has been well-founded that the West Linn, Oregon native’s penchant for sublime rhetoric and promotional savvy are the reasons he’s become an overnight celebrity not only in the MMA stratosphere, but far and beyond.

The former NCAA Division l standout’s promotional acumen was overly self-evident during the build up to his long awaited rematch with UFC middleweight titlist Anderson Silva at UFC 148.

The event, which took place at the MGM Grand Las Vegas, turned out to be the richest live gates in the history of the Zuffa-based promotion, setting records which included 15,016 attendees and an estimated $7 million in purchased tickets.

That surpassed the previous record set back in 2006 at UFC 66: Chuck Liddell vs. Tito Ortiz ll. Then, the attendance figures were reported to be in the region of almost 14,000 while the live gate attendance garnered $5.4 million in ticket sales.

According to President Dana White, the pay-per-view numbers for 148 could tally with UFC 100: Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir ll, which generated a record 1.6 million buys.

Frazier, who once trained the likes of Randy Couture, Vitor Belfort and Forrest Griffin also discussed in the interview the issues surrounding TRT and PEDs in MMA.

In addition, he expressed his thoughts on the performances of both Silva and Griffin in the 148 event, as well as Ortiz’s retirement.

Apropos Sonnen, love him or loathe him, for better or for worse, the self-proclaimed “American Gangster” in his own inimitable way, has put an indelible stamp on MMA.

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Most Vicious Verbal Attacks in UFC History

In the realm of mixed martial arts, trash talking comes with the territory, and the UFC is not exempt from it, either.However, sometimes a fighter can overstep the mark and what starts out as a platform for promotional purposes escalates into something…

In the realm of mixed martial arts, trash talking comes with the territory, and the UFC is not exempt from it, either.

However, sometimes a fighter can overstep the mark and what starts out as a platform for promotional purposes escalates into something far more vicious and sinister—verbal attacks that would shock even the most hardened fan.

Such attacks towards an opponent range from verbal degradation, threats of actual bodily harm and in some cases, murder.

Let’s take a look.

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