With Strikeforce now officially closing its doors, the influx of talent to the UFC roster has made for an interesting week in the sport.While we keep an eye on fighters like Josh Barnett who haven’t officially signed with the promotion yet, most o…
With Strikeforce now officially closing its doors, the influx of talent to the UFC roster has made for an interesting week in the sport.
While we keep an eye on fighters like Josh Barnett who haven’t officially signed with the promotion yet, most of the top Strikeforce talent is now ready to make its transition to the Octagon.
For some of these fighters, the move has been a long time coming. For others, it’s something that they had only dreamed of. But no matter their apparent “destiny,” they will all be getting a chance to make a name for themselves on the biggest stage for mixed martial arts that the sport has ever seen.
It’s bittersweet to see Strikeforce close its doors, but the opportunity to see some of the big fights that we’ve been asking for makes it a bit more palatable. No longer do we have to worry about Showtime contracts. It’s finally time for some dream fights.
These are the seven best former Strikeforce fighters who are now ready to move onto the UFC.
UFC on FX 7: Belfort vs. Bisping is almost upon us, and the hype is really starting to pick up for this very important main event bout. The staredown after the press conference between Bisping and Belfort was even more intense than we expected it to be…
UFC on FX 7: Belfort vs. Bisping is almost upon us, and the hype is really starting to pick up for this very important main event bout. The staredown after the press conference between Bisping and Belfort was even more intense than we expected it to be, and now, we’re just waiting for these two warriors to step into the cage.
They’ll do so on Friday night in the main event on FX. The middleweights are believed to be in somewhat of a middleweight contendership bout, which adds to the importance of the fight. If Bisping wins, most expect that he will earn a UFC title fight against Anderson Silva.
As a veteran in the sport, Michael Bisping has always teetered on the edge of being an elite fighter, but has never fully cemented himself at the top of the sport. Apparently Dana White and Joe Silva have as many questions about Bisping as the rest of us do as he has not ever been given a UFC title fight before.
These questions have always held Bisping back, and he’ll hope to answer them on Saturday night.
Here are the five most important questions that we have about Michael Bisping going into his fight against Vitor Belfort.
UFC on FX 7: Belfort vs. Bisping is almost upon us, and the hype is really starting to pick up for this very important main event bout. The staredown after the press conference between Bisping and Belfort was even more intense than we expected it to be…
UFC on FX 7: Belfort vs. Bisping is almost upon us, and the hype is really starting to pick up for this very important main event bout. The staredown after the press conference between Bisping and Belfort was even more intense than we expected it to be, and now, we’re just waiting for these two warriors to step into the cage.
They’ll do so on Friday night in the main event on FX. The middleweights are believed to be in somewhat of a middleweight contendership bout, which adds to the importance of the fight. If Bisping wins, most expect that he will earn a UFC title fight against Anderson Silva.
As a veteran in the sport, Michael Bisping has always teetered on the edge of being an elite fighter, but has never fully cemented himself at the top of the sport. Apparently Dana White and Joe Silva have as many questions about Bisping as the rest of us do as he has not ever been given a UFC title fight before.
These questions have always held Bisping back, and he’ll hope to answer them on Saturday night.
Here are the five most important questions that we have about Michael Bisping going into his fight against Vitor Belfort.
Eleven-time UFC and WEC veteran Brock Larson will make his return to television on Friday night, as he battles former Strikeforce Challenger Eduardo Pamplona as part of AXS TV’s Resurrection Fighting Alliance 6 fight card.After purchasing Titan Fightin…
Eleven-time UFC and WEC veteran Brock Larson will make his return to television on Friday night, as he battles former Strikeforce Challenger Eduardo Pamplona as part of AXS TV’s Resurrection Fighting Alliance 6 fight card.
After purchasing Titan Fighting Championships in October 2012, the RFA has continued to grow and put on quality events. RFA 6 will take place at the Scottish Rite Temple in Kansas City.
Larson, founder of the Minnesota MMA promotion Cage Fighting Xtreme (CFX) has been in battles with the likes of Mike Pyle, Jon Fitch, Mike Piece and Carlos Condit throughout his career. At 35 years old, he is still competing at a high level and will look to build on the back-to-back wins he had to close out 2012 against Lucas St. Claire and Anthony Lemon.
Larson’s opponent will be Black House MMA’s Eduardo Pamplona, a veteran who has fought all around the world while training with some of the greats in the world, including Anderson Silva, LyotoMachida and the Nogueira brothers.
Joining Larson on the fight card will be two fellow Minnesotans who will be making their television debuts, Nick Compton and Mike Waverek.
For Compton, the move up to the big show has been a long time coming. A finalist for 2012 MNMMANews Fighter of the Year and winner of Most Improved Fighter of the Year, Compton will head to RFA with a 6-2 professional record after a very impressive year.
Things started off tough for Compton in 2012 as he lost a very close split-decision to another one of Minnesota’s top up-and-comers, Damion Hill, but it only seemed to motivate him. He remained very active for the remainder of the year, defeating Bobby Ferrier, Billy Christianson and Randy Kittelson before 2012 came to a close.
Compton will battle Bobby Cooper, replacing his own teammate, Dan Moret, who was forced out of the bout due to an injury.
Cooper is considered one of the RFA‘s top prospects, holding a professional record of 7-4. He’s already been challenged by some of the other top up-and-comers in the area, including ChidiNjokuani (younger brother of UFC fighter Anthony Njokuani). It will be a step up in competition for Compton who, at 30 years old, is still looking to make a name for himself in the sport on the national level.
Mikey Waverek will also get a chance to make his name on a bigger stage, having put together a 6-2-1 record as an amateur thus far. A well-conditioned fighter, Waverek has spent much of his amateur career competing at 160 and even 165 pounds, but will settle into his natural weight class of 155 in this one.
As a young fighter, Waverek has used his high-quality wrestling skills and raw power to control many of his opponents. His bruising style earned him an impressive first round TKO win over JurrellSkelton this past November. He’ll have his sights set on doing that against undefeated (4-0) Kansas native Dusty Spaulding.
Spaulding, 4-0 as an amateur, has competed mostly in the 145-pound division, which should mean that Waverek has a significant advantage in terms of size and strength. Spaulding is a tough fighter with solid grappling, however, and he has experience in the RFA cage. This will be an interesting challenge for the Minnesotan who has his sights on making his pro debut in 2013.
All of these fights and others will take place as part of the Resurrection Fighting Alliance 6 event on Friday, January 18th. The event will be shown live at 9pm CST on AXS TV.
2012 was a huge year for mixed martial arts when it came to blockbuster fights that we had been wanting to see for quite some time. Whether it was with UFC or Strikeforce, Zuffa continued to establish itself as the promotion that houses almost all of t…
2012 was a huge year for mixed martial arts when it came to blockbuster fights that we had been wanting to see for quite some time. Whether it was with UFC or Strikeforce, Zuffa continued to establish itself as the promotion that houses almost all of the top talent in mixed martial arts as it made its presence felt on network television.
But while it was a great year for Zuffa, individual fighters within the company did not necessarily reap the benefits. In fact, some of them flat out got the shaft.
Sure, you could always say that having a fight on a Strikeforce or UFC card is good no matter who you are going up against, but that’s not always enough. In a sport like MMA where a fighter’s window to physically compete at an elite level can close at any time, there’s a sense of urgency to get to the top as soon as possible.
For one reason or another, these 10 fighters had their chance to move up the rankings stifled in 2012 and Zuffa needs to strongly consider making it up to them in 2013.
2012 was a huge year for the advancement of mixed martial arts and particularly the UFC into the national spotlight as a major sport. While it’s still likely a couple years away from being up there with the NFL, MLB and NBA, the UFC has grown in …
2012 was a huge year for the advancement of mixed martial arts and particularly the UFC into the national spotlight as a major sport. While it’s still likely a couple years away from being up there with the NFL, MLB and NBA, the UFC has grown in ways that could have never been imagined during its early days.
While the fighters on UFC 1 seemed to be fighting for a ham sandwich, the big name fighters in the UFC today are now earning six or even seven figure paychecks for a single fight.
What’s amazing is that these fighters all earn more than what their reported pay is. Whether it’s undisclosed bonuses, sponsorships, merchandising or countless other forms of revenue building, the top fighters in the UFC are in serious baller status and will only earn more going forward.
So who are the company’s biggest (reported) earners? I’m glad you asked! Here are the top-10 highest paid UFC fighters according to the company’s official, reported payout.
Eleven-time UFC and