Author: Patrick Drottar

Kenny Florian to Continue Fighting, Will Return to Lightweight Division

After losing his title match against Jose Aldo, it was unclear whether or not Kenny Florian would call it quits or not. This was the 35-year-old’s third title shot, with two in the lightweight division, and he has yet to be victorious and wea…

After losing his title match against Jose Aldo, it was unclear whether or not Kenny Florian would call it quits or not.

This was the 35-year-old’s third title shot, with two in the lightweight division, and he has yet to be victorious and wear UFC gold.

Florian has proved in the past that he is a talented mixed martial arts analyst, and there’s a future for him there whenever he decides to hang up his fight gloves.

However, the Boston native is not ready to call it quits just yet.

It was announced earlier today by MMAFighting.com that Florian will not only continue to fight, but will also make a move back to the lightweight division,

“I still love this sport tremendously and still want to be a part of it,” Florian said.

“I know myself, and it’s not even just being competitive, but it’s just being there, learning and competing. There’s still very much a fire burning there so I’m going to do it.”

This will be the fourth time Florian has moved up or down in weight classes, as he started in the UFC competing as a middleweight on the first season of the Ultimate Fighter. Quickly after finishing in second on the show, Florian would move to welterweight.

After two fights at welterweight, Florian decided to make the first move to lightweight, where he was 9-3 in 12 fights, with losses coming to Sean Sherk and BJ Penn in title fights, and Gray Maynard in a No. 1 contender fight.

Florian made his debut in the featherweight division after his loss to Maynard, where he dominated Diego Nunes, earning himself a title shot against Jose Aldo.

When asked how much longer Florian would continue his career in the octagon, he stated that there was no timetable set.

This will most likely be Florian’s last chance at making a run for the title, and it may be his toughest test as the lightweight division is full of talented contenders.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Kenny Florian to Continue Fighting, Will Return to Lightweight Division

After losing his title match against Jose Aldo, it was unclear whether or not Kenny Florian would call it quits or not. This was the 35-year-old’s third title shot, with two in the lightweight division, and he has yet to be victorious and wea…

After losing his title match against Jose Aldo, it was unclear whether or not Kenny Florian would call it quits or not.

This was the 35-year-old’s third title shot, with two in the lightweight division, and he has yet to be victorious and wear UFC gold.

Florian has proved in the past that he is a talented mixed martial arts analyst, and there’s a future for him there whenever he decides to hang up his fight gloves.

However, the Boston native is not ready to call it quits just yet.

It was announced earlier today by MMAFighting.com that Florian will not only continue to fight, but will also make a move back to the lightweight division,

“I still love this sport tremendously and still want to be a part of it,” Florian said.

“I know myself, and it’s not even just being competitive, but it’s just being there, learning and competing. There’s still very much a fire burning there so I’m going to do it.”

This will be the fourth time Florian has moved up or down in weight classes, as he started in the UFC competing as a middleweight on the first season of the Ultimate Fighter. Quickly after finishing in second on the show, Florian would move to welterweight.

After two fights at welterweight, Florian decided to make the first move to lightweight, where he was 9-3 in 12 fights, with losses coming to Sean Sherk and BJ Penn in title fights, and Gray Maynard in a No. 1 contender fight.

Florian made his debut in the featherweight division after his loss to Maynard, where he dominated Diego Nunes, earning himself a title shot against Jose Aldo.

When asked how much longer Florian would continue his career in the octagon, he stated that there was no timetable set.

This will most likely be Florian’s last chance at making a run for the title, and it may be his toughest test as the lightweight division is full of talented contenders.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC: Brandon Vera Calls Suspended Thiago Silva a ‘Juice Monkey’

Next weekend at UFC 137, light heavyweight Brandon Vera will step into the octagon for the first time since early January to face Elliot Marshall. The last time Vera fought, he lost a unanimous decision to contender Thiago Silva and was handed his walk…

Next weekend at UFC 137, light heavyweight Brandon Vera will step into the octagon for the first time since early January to face Elliot Marshall.

The last time Vera fought, he lost a unanimous decision to contender Thiago Silva and was handed his walking papers from the UFC.

However, after the fight, it was revealed by the Nevada State Athletic Commission that Silva’s drug tests had come back positive for steroids. At first denying it, Silva would later come clean and admitted to using a urine adulterant following the fight.

Silva had injured his back prior to the fight, and because he had been out of action for so long, decided to take injections into his back so that he could still fight.

Because of his actions, the fight was ruled a no contest, Silva was suspended for a year and Vera was brought back into the organization and given a second chance.

Vera, who was dominated in the fight and suffered a broken nose, was not shy when it came to talking about Silva’s antics in the cage as he taunted while holding Vera down on the ground.

“I think he was just celebrating, but now that I know that he was a juice monkey, for sure, I think he’s a piece of sh**,” he said.

Vera went on to say that he was shocked at how Silva dominated him on the ground, and now that it was revealed that he had cheated, it all makes sense,

“The whole fight I just kept asking myself, ‘What the hell is going on? Why is this?’ You know,” Vera said. “I train with Phil Davis, ‘Hapa’ Travis Browne, the Nogueira brothers and Junior dos Santos. I train with some big dudes, man.

“Nobody has ever been able to hold me. The whole time during the fight, while we’re on the ground, I’m just thinking to myself, ‘What is going? Why is it like this?’ And it just wore on me the whole time.

“…as soon as we hit the deck, it just felt like I was a little child.”

Neither Vera or Silva have tried to contact each other after the fight and “The Truth” has no plans of it.

“Not till I smack him in his face again,” he said.

Vera will get another chance to prove that he deserves to stay in the UFC, and if he can get by Marshall, a rematch between the two may be in order.

Silva’s suspsension began on January 1 of this year and he will be able to reapply for his license at the beginning of next year.

If Vera is still around, he will be waiting for the Brazilian to return.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

5 UFC Fighters Who Struggle to Stay Healthy

In the world of mixed martial arts, injuries are a common occurrence.2011 was a rough year for the UFC as several of their main events were cancelled or altered because of injuries.The third fight between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard, the title fight…

In the world of mixed martial arts, injuries are a common occurrence.

2011 was a rough year for the UFC as several of their main events were cancelled or altered because of injuries.

The third fight between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard, the title fight between Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Rashad Evans, and Jon Fitch and BJ Penn‘s rematch are just a few examples of fights that were cancelled due to injuries this year.

The latest fighters to be hit with the injury bug are heavyweight contender Shane Carwin and welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre.

Carwin is now faced with his second surgery in as many years and will be sidelined until the middle of next year, while GSP suffered an apparent leg injury just a couple weeks before his title fight with Carlos Condit.

Carwin joins a select few fighters who have had to deal with injury setbacks on more than one occasion.

Some of these fighters have been out of the octagon for years and it remains unclear on whether fight fans will ever see them again.

Here are just a few examples of fighters who have the most trouble when it comes to remaining healthy.

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UFC Live: Cruz vs Johnson: Winners and Losers from Saturday’s Fights

The card for last night’s fights was full of exciting fighters and promised a lot of action in Washington, D.C.If you blinked, there was a chance that you would have missed an incredible finish.We saw the rematch between Ultimate Fighter winners M…

The card for last night’s fights was full of exciting fighters and promised a lot of action in Washington, D.C.

If you blinked, there was a chance that you would have missed an incredible finish.

We saw the rematch between Ultimate Fighter winners Mac Danzig and Matt Wiman. The last time these two fighters matched up, the fight ended in controversial fashion.

Wiman sunk in a guillotine choke and the referee had thought that Danzig had tapped, but if you take a look at the replay, it was clear that Ohio native was fine.

Danzig was out to prove that he was the better fighter, while Wiman was looking for the same result as their first fight.

Fight fans also saw the return of Anthony “Rumble” Johnson who had not fought since March when he successfully defeated former No. 1 contender Dan Hardy.

Against him was underdog Charlie Brenneman who had a successful upset victory against Rick Story in his last fight.

In the co-main event we witnessed the biggest height differential in UFC history as 6’11 Stefan Struve went up against 5’11” Pat Barry.

And in our main event, the bantamweight division looked to show everyone watching on versus two of their top fighters from the relatively new division to the UFC.

With a night full of action, let’s take a look at the winners and losers from last night’s fights.

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UFC 135 Jones vs. Rampage: 5 Reasons You Need to Watch This Fight

On September 24, the youngest champion in UFC history, Jon “Bones” Jones, will defend his belt for the first time against former light heavyweight champ Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. When these two get into the cage, there will, undoubtedly, be fireworks …

On September 24, the youngest champion in UFC history, Jon “Bones” Jones, will defend his belt for the first time against former light heavyweight champ Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.

When these two get into the cage, there will, undoubtedly, be fireworks as both men are prone to their stand-up.

Jackson believes people are afraid to stand with him because of his dangerous boxing, but Jones is not one of those people.

Even though Jackson has been in the UFC since 2007 and has beaten some of the best fighters in the world, he is actually the underdog against the young Jones.

Jones is a complete MMA fighter and Jackson has not been the same fighter since he decided to begin a career in the movie business and let everyone know of his plans to soon retire.

However, this does not stop Rampage from wanting to recapture the belt he lost back in 2008 to Forrest Griffin and to show that he is still one of the top fighters in the world.

He will face a tough test in Jones, who’s title victory back in March was one of the most one-sided title fights in UFC history.

Jones embarrassed then champion Mauricio Shogun Rua and made winning the belt look easy.

“Bones” is a new breed of mixed martial arts that is slowly causing legends in the sport, like Rampage, to pass the torch. Just don’t tell Rampage that.

This fight should be exciting for a lot of reasons, but here are five reasons to watch the fight.

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