Author: Steven Rondina

Randy Couture and 5 Former UFC Stars on the Outs with Dana White

We’ve seen a lot of fighters become stars over the years. Very few of them have stayed on good terms with UFC President Dana White. Former heavyweight and light heavyweight champion Randy Couture is now living in Dana White’s dog house. He is by no mea…

We’ve seen a lot of fighters become stars over the years. Very few of them have stayed on good terms with UFC President Dana White.

Former heavyweight and light heavyweight champion Randy Couture is now living in Dana White’s dog house. He is by no means alone.

So who are the other fighters, past and present, that have drawn the ire of the UFC’s top dog? Who is going to be glossed over when Zuffa brass talk about the UFC’s most important fighters?

Find out right here!

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UFC 160 Picks Up Junior Dos Santos vs. Alistair Overeem

In addition to the heavyweight title fight between Cain Velasquez and Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva, UFC 160 has another big fight scheduled. Really big, actually. As reported by Ariel Helwani on UFC Tonight, UFC 160 will also feature a bout betw…

In addition to the heavyweight title fight between Cain Velasquez and Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva, UFC 160 has another big fight scheduled. Really big, actually.

As reported by Ariel Helwani on UFC Tonight, UFC 160 will also feature a bout between former UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos and former Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem. The two fighters have been in a heated war of words ever since Overeem failed a drug test that nixed a fight between the two at UFC 146.

This is a fight that fans have been itching for, but many feared would never come to fruition. Overeem was a heavy favorite in his UFC 156 bout with Antonio Silva, and there were rumbles that a win would move him directly into title contention. Silva, though, shocked the world with an electrifying knockout that had fans leaping from their seats.

Dos Santos, like Overeem, is coming off a rough loss. While “Cigano” scored a quick knockout over Velasquez to earn the belt at UFC on Fox 1, and followed that up with another knockout of Frank Mir, his rematch with Velasquez was downright lopsided.

Velasquez bullied dos Santos with his high level wrestling and inimitable pace, which earned him scores from judges of 50-45, 50-44 and 50-43. Both fighters coming off a loss, though, set this fight up.

UFC 160 is set to take place on May 25 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. In addition to the aforementioned heavyweight tilts, we will also see a matchup between crafty kickboxer Stephen Thompson and TUF7 winner Amir Sadollah.

Stick with Bleacher Report for more information on the card as it develops.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Wrestling Cut from Olympics: Twitter Reactions from MMA World

Wrestling has been a cornerstone event in the Olympics for literally thousands of years. That made it all the more surprising that it was suddenly, and unceremoniously cut from the 2020 Olympic Games. MMA, as everyone likely knows, has maintained a clo…

Wrestling has been a cornerstone event in the Olympics for literally thousands of years. That made it all the more surprising that it was suddenly, and unceremoniously cut from the 2020 Olympic Games.

MMA, as everyone likely knows, has maintained a close tie to the sport, and has seen more than a few athletes jump over and have great success. Naturally, reactions from mixed martial artists were swift and unanimously negative to the news. So what are fighters, journalists and Olympians saying about the news?

Bellator welterweight champion Ben Askren, who competed in the 2008 Olympic Games, is dumbstruck by the news:

Silver medalist from the 2004 Games, and fast-rising mixed martial artist Sara McMann did not like the news one bit:

UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson and light heavyweight champion Jon Jones expressed the same sentiment:

Aaron Simpson posted this, and unloaded a series of links and retweets on saving wrestling in the Olympics:

Former light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida voiced his support:

Former welterweight champion and famed coach Pat Miletich was beside himself over the news (and Hall of Famer Matt Hughes gave him a retweet):

Lightweight grinder Gray Maynard was as displeased as anyone:

TUF16 winner Colton Smith said basically what all of us were thinking:

Shane Roller and Johnny Bedford chimed in:

Stay tuned with Bleacher/Report for more reactions and interviews surrounding this development.

UPDATE

As the day wore on, more and more fighters chimed in, including other Olympians. Ronda Rousey, who won a bronze medal in Judo said:

Mark Coleman, who competed in the 1992 Games in Barcelona, said:

Dan Henderson, who competed in the 1992 and 1996 Olympic Games spoke out during a UFC 157 conference call earlier today:

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Eddie Alvarez: Bellator, Viacom “Bold-Faced Lied” to Judge at Injunction Hearing

There’s a lot going on with Bellator these days, so when it was announced that Bellator’s CEO, Bjorn Rebney, would be appearing on the MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, it became a must-listen for fans of America’s second-largest promotion. After discussing…

There’s a lot going on with Bellator these days, so when it was announced that Bellator‘s CEO, Bjorn Rebney, would be appearing on the MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, it became a must-listen for fans of America’s second-largest promotion.

After discussing Bellator‘s ratings and relationship with Spike TV, the subject turned to Eddie Alvarez, who he said he “remains hopeful” to have return to the Bellator cage. Alvarez and Bellator have been butting heads over his desire to leave the promotion for the UFC, and while he was initially friendly on the subject, he flatly stated he “expects him to fulfill his contract.”

Pressed on the issue, Helwani asked, “Why not just let him join the UFC?” Rebney responded that “when you sign a contract, you do it so that people can’t say, ‘This doesn’t work for me anymore’…you can’t have a change of heart on that.”

At this point, Helwani stated that Alvarez called on to the show, but Rebney declined what would likely be an airing of grievances in public, though stated he would be willing to talk to Alvarez in private.

The focus then shifted to Josh Barnett and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. Rebney said that while he has “always liked Barnett” and that he is a “great personality,” he was not sure about adding him to the Bellator roster, but did not rule it out. On Jackson, he put forward a similar story, saying that Rampage has always been a great fighter, but came well short of saying that they were pursuing him.

The ugliness in the Bellator bantamweight picture then came up. As a reminder, Eduardo Dantas lost a charity fight to Tyson Nam in a small Brazilian event last year, halting a rapid rise to fame for Dantas and making many question the quality of the Bellator 135-pound fighters. While Rebney did not dismiss the questions surrounding Dantas‘ rank, he chalked up the loss to Nam as a result of Dantas‘ exciting, go-for-broke fighting style.

Dantas will be fighting long-time training partner Marcos Galvao this Thursday on Spike TV.

Shortly after Rebney left the call, Alvarez was brought on the line and dismissed Rebney‘s friendly demeanor and the notion that Bellator was matching the UFC’s contract offer, saying that Bellator was the guilty party and are “not living up to their end” of his contract. He then openly said that the Bellator and Spike TV representation “bold-faced lied” to the judge at their court hearing last month, saying that they confabulated a pay-per-view title fight with current lightweight champ Michael Chandler in order to win their case.

Alvarez, Chandler and Chandler’s management team deny ever being approached regarding a rematch.

He then reiterated the sentiment that Bellator, simply, wasn’t matching the UFC’s offer. When asked if the bridge between himself and Bellator had been burned, however, Alvarez immediately said he was not unwilling to return to his long-time promotion, but once again stated they simply were not giving him as lucrative an offer as the UFC.

Asked what he thought of Rebney‘s refusal to talk to Alvarez, Alvarez coyly asked, “What does it say to you?” and stated he had nothing to hide, while implying Rebney does. In spite of all that, Alvarez stated he did not want to sit out the remainder of his contract with Bellator, that he “is already itching to fight” after three months and was looking to avoid a trial.

You can listen to the full interviews here.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Gray Maynard Pushing for Fourth Fight with Edgar, Coaching Spot on TUF

One of the most popular trends in MMA these days is fighters keeping their name in the headlines by calling out opponents. Gray Maynard is no different. Maynard has been on the shelf for several months now, most recently pulling out of a bout with Joe …

One of the most popular trends in MMA these days is fighters keeping their name in the headlines by calling out opponents. Gray Maynard is no different.

Maynard has been on the shelf for several months now, most recently pulling out of a bout with Joe Lauzon at UFC 155. Lauzon would lose to another top lightweight, Jim Miller, which forced Maynard to set his sights on newly minted top contender Anthony Pettis.

With Pettis now planning to drop to 145 lbs to fight Jose Aldo for the featherweight belt, Maynard is once again without a hypothetical opponent. That in mind, he is now setting his sights on an old foe, Frankie Edgar. These, and much more, come from Maynard’s Twitter:

Indeed, Maynard seems to be throwing all his calling-out eggs into the Frankie Edgar basket.

Maynard and Edgar combined to create one of the best MMA trilogies of recent years. Still, courtesy of a draw in their initial rematch, a fourth fight between the two would effectively serve as a rubber match, with the record currently standing at 1-1-1.

The match makes perfect sense for Maynard, who is in desperate need of a big fight after a knockout loss to Frankie Edgar, and a much-loathed fight against Clay Guida. A bout with Edgar, especially one built up through a season on The Ultimate Fighter, would keep him in the limelight and keep him relevant at the top of the lightweight picture.

That said, Edgar’s future remains uncertain. Even though Edgar was a highly successful lightweight, his small size worked against him in some fights, particularly those with now-champion Benson “Smooth” Henderson. This resulted in a well-received drop to featherweight that scored him a title fight with Jose Aldo.

Edgar lost in somewhat-controversial fashion to Aldo, making it a mystery whether he will stay at featherweight for another fight with Aldo, return to lightweight or perhaps even drop down further and make a run at bantamweight.

Either way, a fourth match between Edgar and Maynard would likely be welcomed by fans.

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TUF17: Twitter Reacts to Uriah Hall’s Scary Knockout

Today was a big day in the MMA world. Anthony Pettis will be fighting for the featherweight belt. Somebody tested positive for PEDs (no word on who quite yet). The UFC held a conference call for UFC 157. Bellator did the same with Randy Couture, Greg J…

Today was a big day in the MMA world. Anthony Pettis will be fighting for the featherweight belt. Somebody tested positive for PEDs (no word on who quite yet). The UFC held a conference call for UFC 157. Bellator did the same with Randy Couture, Greg Jackson and Frank Shamrock.

What ended up making the biggest splash on Twitter, though, was the massively hyped uber-knockout on The Ultimate Fighter. From the very start of the season, one of the most thoroughly proliferated clips was Dana White discussing some sort of magical knockout.

Well, that magical knockout was tonight. Team Sonnen’s Uriah Hall ended up landing a scary spinning hook kick that separated Team Jones’ Adam Cella from his senses (and, possibly, his head from his neck). 

The Twitter reaction was huge and sudden. To keep you from having to wade through it all, though, here was the best of the best!

Dana White shed a bit more light on the aftermath of the lethal clip:

Jon Jones, too, would discuss Cella’s post-fight status:

Various fighters gave us their reactions (which were probably the same as what we thought):

Of course, the MMA media chimed in:

And the Bleacher Report crew was no different. Duane Finley chimed in:

Hunter Homistek had this to say:

The lovely and talented Damon Martin had high praise for Uriah Hall:

An amazing fight. Make sure to watch the replay. Or if you’re on the West Coast…disregard all this stuff you just read, tune in and then come back.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com