Featherweight Freddy Assuncao has been fighting his entire life and with two brothers who share the same career.
Twin brother Raphael and older brother Junior have competed in organizations such as the UFC. Needless to say, having two talented fighte…
Featherweight Freddy Assuncao has been fighting his entire life and with two brothers who share the same career.
Twin brother Raphael and older brother Junior have competed in organizations such as the UFC. Needless to say, having two talented fighters for siblings has the younger Assuncao well prepared for what MMA brings his way.
Assuncao, who fights Baz Cunningham on Friday at Aggression MMA 8 in Canada, got his start in martial arts when his mother realized he needed an outlet for his aggression.
The 14th season of The Ultimate Fighter kicks off next week, and Spike has released this eight-minute preview to give you a lil’ taste — and already, we can see it’s not business as usual. TUF 14‘s much-ballyhooed elimination fights took place at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, which is quite a step up from the cheaply-assembled TV set the guys usually fight in. For the first time in TUF history, viewers will be able to vote on the season’s best knockout, submission, and fight, with the recipients all scoring $25,000 checks at the TUF 14 finale. Also, the cast includes a pair of brothers, bantamweights Josh and BJ Ferguson. Tune in next Wednesday at 9 p.m. to see how it all shakes out…
The 14th season of The Ultimate Fighter kicks off next week, and Spike has released this eight-minute preview to give you a lil’ taste — and already, we can see it’s not business as usual. TUF 14‘s much-ballyhooed elimination fights took place at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, which is quite a step up from the cheaply-assembled TV set the guys usually fight in. For the first time in TUF history, viewers will be able to vote on the season’s best knockout, submission, and fight, with the recipients all scoring $25,000 checks at the TUF 14 finale. Also, the cast includes a pair of brothers, bantamweights Josh and BJ Ferguson. Tune in next Wednesday at 9 p.m. to see how it all shakes out…
It’s clear that Michael Bisping doesn’t enjoy being around or talking to Jason Miller.However, Bisping had to spend several weeks coaching opposite Miller while on the set of “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 14.Needless to say, the top 10-ranked Bisping i…
It’s clear that Michael Bisping doesn’t enjoy being around or talking to Jason Miller.
However, Bisping had to spend several weeks coaching opposite Miller while on the set of “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 14.
Needless to say, the top 10-ranked Bisping is pleased that filming is over and he can focus on their Dec. 3 matchup in Las Vegas.
“I find him very, very annoying and I know people on ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ did and I was no different,” Bisping said today during a media call to promote TUF 14. “During the show I hated him and the end of the show I hated him and on December 3, I’m going to kick his {expletive} so it’s all good.”
Miller’s approach when stirring up Bisping was much different than the one Jorge Rivera used prior to being knocked out by Bisping earlier this year at UFC 127.
Rivera and his team made videos mocking Bisping that lit up the web and “The Count” didn’t think very highly of them.
However, Bisping says that Miller’s much different and that he’s just “idiotic.”
“Well, it all depends,” Bisping said. “Miller’s annoying, but for a completely different reason just because he’s idiotic. He just comes up with stupid {expletive} constantly. Rivera was different because it wasn’t just him, it was his entire team and they were cool, calm, and collected about it. They made videos, they did all kinds of stuff, and they crossed the line. They talked about my family and stuff like that, stuff that I really don’t want to go into and drag up again and even give Rivera the press. It takes a pretty low individual to do things like that.
“Jason’s not like that he’s just a bit idiotic as I said and he tries to wind me up a few times on the show as you’ll see. They were all very, very, very feeble attempts, you know, his mouth is definitely bigger than his brain. He tried a few things, you’ll see, they were very childish, and easy to overcome and get one over on him. So, yeah he didn’t wind me up to that extent.”
While Bisping admits that Miller did get on his nerves during the filming of the show, he also says that he didn’t need to think twice when accepting the position as coach on TUF 14.
“There was never any hesitation in accepting the role of coach,” Bisping said. “In my opinion, to be offered the role of coach on ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ is very prestigious and I thank the UFC for the opportunity. So, I never contemplated whether I should take it, the reality is, is that there’s a downside. The downside is that it means almost 10 months out of the camp, which I like to stay active. It means taking the fight against Jason Miller, which with respect that probably doesn’t get me a title shot by beating him. So, those are the downsides.
“But obviously it’s a great opportunity and as I said it shows that the UFC holds me in high regards to be offered something like that. I never wondered for a second if I would take the job.”
With that being said, will a victory against Miller at the conclusion of the show place Bisping any closer toward a title shot?
Well, a win would place Bisping on a four-fight win streak and he feels that would place him at the top of the middleweight division.
“Well, maybe beating Miller is the guy because I’ve got a big (win) streak,” Bisping said. “I’ve only been beaten once at middleweight. I’ve been around the UFC for a long time, I’ve been beating tough guys consistently for a long time now. I feel like I’m going to get a title shot real, real soon. I’m still improving all the time, I’m dedicated, I work hard, and I feel that my time is now.
“I do get frustrated when I hear ‘Anderson Silva‘s wiped out the middleweight division’, he hasn’t wiped out the middleweight division, he’s got to fight me yet, and I feel like I match up very well with him. I’m not disrespecting Anderson, I think Anderson gladly so is regarded as the pound-for-pound best in the world and I’m a big fan of him. But I feel that I’ll give him a good fight and I feel I might show better against him than some of the other fighters he’s faced.
“So, yeah, hopefully I beat Miller and I do a good job, do it in style, who knows maybe that will get me the title shot. If not, I say definitely one more fight and I should get that shot pretty soon.”
In order to ensure that he’s fully prepared for Miller, Bisping is training in sunny California and while he’s not a hundred-percent sure if his entire camp will stay there, he won’t be taking “Mayhem” lightly in the lead-up to their December headliner.
“I think the plan is we’re going to do a month in California and a month somewhere else,” Bisping said. “A destination yet to be confirmed, but I’ve been taking the fight very seriously and I’ve had a very good fight camp. I’ve been bringing in some very good guys to help me prepare. The reality is, Jason is a tough fighter and I never, ever underestimate anybody and I’ll be training accordingly. The final pieces of the puzzle are just about to be getting put into place right now.
“I’ve been training out in California at the moment, but I’m still very, very much a part of the Wolfslair. The Wolfslair is kind of an international fighting gym now, obviously ‘Rampage’ is out of the States, Cheick Kongo is in the States, and we’re signing other guys that are from the States. Yeah, I’m based in California but who knows where the camps going to be right now.”
The Ultimate Fighter 14 will be the last season of the Ultimate Fighter to air on Spike TV but last doesn’t mean least. The show’s 14th season stars polar opposites and sworn enemies Michael Bisping and Jason “Mayhem” Miller and features one of MMA’s m…
The Ultimate Fighter 14 will be the last season of the Ultimate Fighter to air on Spike TV but last doesn’t mean least. The show’s 14th season stars polar opposites and sworn enemies Michael Bisping and Jason “Mayhem” Miller and features one of MMA‘s most exciting weight classes, the featherweight division.
Today, a media conference call was held to promote the debut of the show which is only one week away.
As is usual with Miller and Bisping, there were plenty of fireworks and verbal jabbing going on throughout the duration of the conference and Bleacher Report was there to hear it all.
Right away, the call was heated.
“I’ll say this about Michael [Bisping],” said Miller, “He is a complex character, an individual that you could write many tomes of knowledge on.” Miller continued, “As the season went on, I hated his guts.”
Bisping didn’t hesitate, immediately replying “If you’re saying I’m a complex character, Jesus [expletive] Christ, you have about 15 personalities!” Bisping did not let up on his assault, saying, “I definitely hate him. I think most people around him find him very very annoying.”
When prodded a little further, Bisping had even more to say about his rival. “He’s idiotic,” Bisping bluntly stated. “You just put up with stupid [expletive] constantly…[Miller] tries to wind me up a few times on the show as you’ll see. They were all very very feeble attempts. His mouth is definitely bigger than his brain. He tried a few things, they were very childish and easy to overcome.”
Miller later spit back, “I think you’re way worse [of] an idiot than I am and I’m going to smash your face and choke you,” he said. Bisping immediately made a witty retort, dissing Miller for the recent controversy regarding Miller’s arrest for putting his sister in a headlock, “Nice to see you’ve been warming up on your sister!”
Bisping’s onslaught continued later in the conference. “This is a big opportunity for Jason. He went from fighting on the undercard to fighting in a main event against me.”
Miller was appreciative of the opportunity and expressed (faux) regret at having to fight Bisping, saying “I have to take my hat off to him, but that being said, I cannot do anything other than beat [Bisping] up, so I apologize. Thanks for the opportunity, I will say that.”
Never one to take things lying down, Bisping fired back with a promise, “It’s quite alright. I’ll be sending you back onto the undercard real soon. Enjoy those quiet little crowds.”
There were other highlights aside from trash talk (which was certainly plentiful). One such moment was when Bleacher Report’s own Josh Carey asked Bisping about his training camp.
Interestingly, the Brit’s camp is currently in California. “As if right now I’m living in California…the plan is do a month in California and a month somewhere else,” Bisping said.
However, this doesn’t mean he’s left England’s prestigious Wolfslair gym. “I’m still very much part of the Wolfslair. The Wolfslair is kind of an international fight gym now. Obviously “Rampage” [Quinton Jackson] is out of the [United] States, Cheick Kongo is out of the [United] States.”
Miller, too, had his non-controversial moments, such as when he shared what it was like to coach. He said “Coaching reinvigorated my passion, it got me amped to train…I had one priority going into the show: to make sure I give my full attention to coaching these guys.”
At the end of the day, while both men may not like each other, there was one very important thing they could agree on: this upcoming season was going to be good.
“This will be huge for TUF franchise, it will be the best season they’ve ever done,” said Miller. “We didn’t have one lackluster fight the entire season…they were worth the damn price of a DVD box set”
Bisping concurred, saying something that no one thought would ever leave the Brit’s mouth, “[Miller] is completely right.”
The Ultimate Fighter season 14 debuts one week from today, on September 21st on Spike TV. If the media conference call is any indication of what will happen, the season will be the most amazing in the show’s history.
I believe this upcoming UFC Fight Night has the distinction of being the first ever UFC card to totally steal the name of an earlier UFC event. And I’m not counting episodes 1-100 of “Ultimate Knockouts”, or my suggestion for “U…
I believe this upcoming UFC Fight Night has the distinction of being the first ever UFC card to totally steal the name of an earlier UFC event. And I’m not counting episodes 1-100 of “Ultimate Knockouts”, or my suggestion for “UFC Seek and Destroy 2: Still Seakin’” that Dana has yet to return my calls […]
Coming off of arguably the biggest win of his career over Fedor Emelianenko, Dan Henderson looks primed for one more run in the UFC. Hendo, who just turned 41 at the end of August, is open to the move, and actually said he would even be up to fig…
Coming off of arguably the biggest win of his career over Fedor Emelianenko, Dan Henderson looks primed for one more run in the UFC.
However, the 14-year fight veteran has expressed which fight he wants to be involved with next: a title unification bout with the winner of Jon Jones vs. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.
Bones and Rampage square off at UFC 135, which takes place on September 24, and in an ideal world, Henderson would like to return to the Octagon at UFC 141.
Here’s five reasons this would be a good business decision for the UFC.
Featherweight Freddy Assuncao has been fighting his entire life and with two brothers who share the same career. 
It’s clear that 