On Aug. 27th, the Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to Brazil for the first time in 13 years. With arguably one of the most stacked cards of 2011, the co-main event features the second battle in the war known as Forrest Griffin versus Mauricio Sho…
On Aug. 27th, the Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to Brazil for the first time in 13 years.
With arguably one of the most stacked cards of 2011, the co-main event features the second battle in the war known as Forrest Griffin versus Mauricio Shogun Rua.
The last time these two faced was at UFC 76 in Anaheim when Rua was making his UFC debut.
With Rua’s success in Pride, many believed he would dominate the Ultimate Fighter winner.
However, the 29-year-old gassed in the middle of the fight and Griffin took control, dominating the last two rounds.
With only 15 seconds remaining in the final round, Griffin sunk in a rear-naked choke, and Rua was forced to tap.
A lot of things have changed since then, including the light heavyweight title changing hands five times.
Both Griffin and Rua held it at one time, only to lose it in dominant fashion, with Rua’s recent loss to Jon Jones back in March.
With Rua sliding down in the rankings and Griffin moving up after wins against Tito Ortiz and Rich Franklin, the two will collide once again, this time in Rua’s backyard.
Shogun hopes to even the score, and here are five reasons why he will.
In the Ultimate Fighting Championship, if a fighter’s losses begin to pile up, he will most likely be shown the door. For most fighters, three losses is enough to earn you a pink slip and a spot in the unemployment line. However, this is not the case f…
In the Ultimate Fighting Championship, if a fighter’s losses begin to pile up, he will most likely be shown the door.
For most fighters, three losses is enough to earn you a pink slip and a spot in the unemployment line.
However, this is not the case for former light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz.
Ortiz, clearly past his prime, has not won any of his previous five fights. His last victory came back in October of 2006 when he defeated Ken Shamrock to end their bitter rivalry.
Four of those five fights came against fighters who would wear UFC gold at one point in their career in Rashad Evans, Chuck Liddell, Lyoto Machida, and Forrest Griffin.
Only Liddell has the privilege of saying he finished the Huntington Beach Bad Boy.
Ortiz’s most recent fight was against collegiate wrestler and student of his Matt Hamill at UFC 121.
This was a fight that Ortiz could have won. However, he underestimated Hamill’s wrestling skills, which lead to an underwhelming performance on Ortiz’s part and another unanimous decision loss.
According to ESPN.com, after the fight, Ortiz was asked to call it quits.
“The UFC called me after that fight and said ‘we want you to retire’. I was shocked,” said Ortiz.
“I thought they were kidding around. I took it as they didn’t want to pay me, to give me what I’m worth.”
Ortiz would go on to say that he pleaded with both UFC matchmaker Joe Silva and president Dana White for one more chance to show that he was healthy and could still compete at the highest level.
“I pretty much begged for my job, to show how much I want to fight, but I still have it in my heart to compete, to fight. I told them I want to still fight against the top guys, I want to put on a show.”
As mentioned earlier, Ortiz has battled with some of the top fighters in the light heavyweight division and to his credit, he has not been dominated.
But, a fighter who hasn’t won in almost five years and is still employed with the UFC is unheard of in the fight world.
Ortiz has been one of the main reason’s for the UFC’s growth over the years as a sport, but a legend status can only go so far, just ask Chuck Liddell.
Dana White has stated several times that a loss to Ryan Bader at UFC 132 will spell the end of the line for the 36-year old former champ.
With so much on the line, Ortiz seems ready to go.
“Next month I’ll be fighting one of the top guys in the world again, ranked in the top three, and I’m going to show how much I’m really worth. I’ve put in a great eight weeks in camp for Ryan Bader. I’m healthy and ready to compete.”
Think back to the summer of 2009. Rumors were swirling about the Ultimate Fighting Championship bringing its December pay per view, UFC 107, to the city of Memphis for its first UFC event. The original main event set was to be an ep…
Think back to the summer of 2009. Rumors were swirling about the Ultimate Fighting Championship bringing its December pay per view, UFC 107, to the city of Memphis for its first UFC event.
The original main event set was to be an epic battle between the city’s native son, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and fellow Ultimate Fighter coach Rashad Evans. Tempers were high during the entire 10th season of the show and fight fans were anticipating an all-out brawl.
The brilliant idea would undoubtedly sell out in minutes and be watched by millions around the world.
However, as quickly as the rumors emerged, they disappeared, as Rampage decided instead to take a movie role to play B.A. Baracus in the summer blockbuster “A-Team,” a role Rampage has always longed to play.
Jackson would later announce his retirement from MMA so that he could focus on his acting career.
Jackson has since returned to the octagon, signing a three fight deal and has gone 1-1 since. He and Evans would finally meet to settle their differences, but Jackson came out on the losing end in a fight that UFC President Dana White referred to as a “snoozefest.”
Jackson would then fight former light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida in Detroit, Michigan and narrowly squeak out the decision victory.
Now, as Jackson focuses on his next opponent, wrestler and TUF alum Matt Hamill at UFC 130, the idea of his retirement from MMA has once again come about.
According to Five Knuckles, Rampage has said that when he gets that next big movie role, that will spell the end to his career in MMA.
“Honestly, I’ve been known for keeping it real and I have to keep it real,” Jackson said. “As soon as movies start paying me more than I make to fight, I’m gone. It don’t hurt to make movies. It don’t hurt that bad. Everyday I train. Everyday I’m like, ‘Man, I can’t wait until I get another big movie.'”
Jackson would go on to say that he, unlike Randy Couture, has no plans of fighting until he is 40. He also does not want to come work for the UFC office after he is done fighting, like legend Chuck Liddell, who was forced into retirement by UFC President Dana White.
“I’m not coming to work inside the UFC office when I retire. That’s not me,” Jackson said. “I’m an entertainer, I like making people laugh. I like doing movies, action moves and stuff like that. I might even try to be a comedian one day, who knows?
When asked about what the fans would think, Jackson stated that some fans are being selfish with wanting him to continue to fight.
The fans, according to Jackson, do not realize that he has four kids that he still needs to put through college and working in Hollywood would not only pay more, but it would also be less physically demanding.
Jackson talked about how he does not want to lead the fans on and make them think that he is going to be in MMA for another 10 or so years, but wants them to have a good time while he is still around.
“I’m just here to fight people,” Jackson said. “I’m here to just make you laugh and give you exciting fights. I’m not cocky like these other guys. I’m not a big arrogant fighter and stuff like that.”
Although this is not the first time fight fans have heard this song and dance from Rampage, it seems that his days inside the octagon are numbered.
However, a win over Hamill would put him right back in title contention, and a date with current champ Jon Jones may keep Jackson around for a little longer.
At UFC 129 last Saturday, underrated welterweight Jake Ellenberger stepped in on two weeks notice to fight Sean Pierson. Ellenberger showed that taking a fight on short notice was no problem for him, as he knocked Pierson out in the first round. He sho…
At UFC 129 last Saturday, underrated welterweight Jake Ellenberger stepped in on two weeks notice to fight Sean Pierson.
Ellenberger showed that taking a fight on short notice was no problem for him, as he knocked Pierson out in the first round. He showed how his striking has improved since his last fight as he caught Pierson with a beautiful counter left hand that ended the Canadian’s night early.
However, the punch that gained Ellenberger the victory would bring about some down time as he broke the fourth metacarpal in his left hand that required him to get surgery this week.
Ellenberger stated that the surgery went well and he should be back to training in six to eight weeks.
With the victory, Ellenberger has now won four consecutive fights over top fighters such as John Howard and Mike Pyle. Ellenberger finds himself close to breaking into the top 10 in the welterweight division and has said that he wants to fight the biggest and the best the division has to offer.
Although Ellenberger cannot immediately get back to work, according to MMAWeekly, he already knows who he wants to be his next opponent, recently defeated No. 1 contender Jake Shields.
“I would love it. I would still love that fight,” Ellenberger said about Shields. “It’s definitely up to the UFC, you know Joe (Silva) and Dana (White), what they want to do, but yeah if I could pick who I fight it would definitely be (Jake Shields).”
Shields, like Ellenberger, also fought at UFC 129, but received a different result than Ellenberger.
Shields was dominated by welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre in route to a decision loss where Shields was not able to utilize his strength, his jiu-jitsu.
GSP stuffed all of Shields take down attempts and forced the American to beat him in a stand-up brawl, which Shields could not.
Ellenberger has known to be critical of Jake Shields in the past, however, he knows that the former Strikeforce Middleweight champion is still very dangerous, which is why he wants to fight him.
“I definitely still think Shields is on that level; he’s a top guy.” he said.
“Fighting a guy like GSP, that’s a tough feat in it’s own, but Shields is still a top ten guy in the division. I’m ready, I really feel I’m ready.” Ellenberger said.
As “The Juggernaut” recovers from his recent injury, he will await the call on who his next opponent will be. Whether it is Shields, or another top welterweight, Ellenberger will be ready.
