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Nick Thompson Trades Cage for Court, Retiring from MMA to Practice Law

Filed under: Fighting, FanHouse ExclusiveOn Monday morning, Nick Thompson was at his desk at O’Flaherty, Heim, Egan and Birnbaum, a Wisconsin law firm in which he specializes in criminal and personal injury law. Less than 36 hours earlier, Thompson was…

Filed under: Fighting, FanHouse Exclusive

On Monday morning, Nick Thompson was at his desk at O’Flaherty, Heim, Egan and Birnbaum, a Wisconsin law firm in which he specializes in criminal and personal injury law. Less than 36 hours earlier, Thompson was in a cage, fighting the former Olympic wrestler and current Bellator welterweight champion Ben Askren. Upon losing a unanimous decision, Thompson, a 29-year-old who once held a place among MMA’s top 10 welterweights, retired from competition.

For a fighter who had competed in nearly every top organization including the UFC, Strikeforce, EliteXC and Sengoku, it was a surprising decision, but one that was a long time coming.

Thompson says the beginning of the end came in July 2008, when he fought for a championship and passed the Minnesota bar exam in a one-week span. At the time, he had just just turned 27 years old and was in the best stretch of his career, winning 20 of his last 21 fights. He had just completed the best training camp he’d ever experienced as a pro, had cracked the top 10, and took that wave of momentum into an EliteXC championship match with Jake Shields. Everything suggested he was in the prime of his career and would give Shields a run. But when the fight came, Thompson was overwhelmed, and tapped out to a guillotine choke in just 64 seconds.

In the aftermath of the loss, Thompson faced the reality of what happened.

Ben Askren, Jay Hieron and Michael Chandler Win at Bellator 40

Filed under: BellatorBellator welterweight champion Ben Askren won a one-sided unanimous decision in a non-title match, and Jay Hieron and Michael Chandler advanced to the finals of their respective Season 4 tournaments on Saturday night at Bellator 40…

Filed under: Bellator

Bellator welterweight champion Ben Askren won a one-sided unanimous decision in a non-title match, and Jay Hieron and Michael Chandler advanced to the finals of their respective Season 4 tournaments on Saturday night at Bellator 40.

As is so often the case, Bellator put on an entertaining show on MTV2, but it will be largely overlooked because it took place on a night when there was a bigger MMA event going on in the Strikeforce card on Showtime. That’s a shame for Bellator, which is putting good fighters in the cage consistently.

Askren is one of the best wrestlers in MMA, and it was no surprise that he completely dominated Nick Thompson. All three judges scored the fight 30-27 for Askren, who’s the best welterweight outside the UFC and Strikeforce.

Lyman Good Ready for Bellator Tourney, With Thoughts of Ben Askren Rematch

Filed under: FanHouse Exclusive, BellatorLyman Good is an “all-in” professional athlete. So consumed is he with reaching his maximum level of ability, the Bellator welterweight often surrenders his Upper East Side New York City apartment for months at …

Filed under: FanHouse Exclusive, Bellator

Lyman Good is an “all-in” professional athlete. So consumed is he with reaching his maximum level of ability, the Bellator welterweight often surrenders his Upper East Side New York City apartment for months at a time, sleeping at his gym in lower Manhattan to fully commit himself to training.

Extreme? Perhaps a little, but that’s the type of effort he believes it takes to reach the levels he’s after.

“It allows me to focus, rid myself of any distractions or anything,” Good told MMA Fighting after a recent workout. “A lot of it has to do with sacrifices. I think in the end, a lot of it boils down to who’s the one willing to commit himself the most, sacrifice the most and dedicate themselves the most. So the fact that I sleep about three months before the fight in my actual training facility is a good addition to my arsenal. You’re either neck deep, or you’re not.”

Warriors on the Rise: 2010’s Breakout Fighters

Every year, a handful of MMA fighters ascend from obscurity to contendership, from prospect status to championship gold — from nothing to something. In honor of The Warrior’s Way, which hits theaters next Friday, we’d like to salute MMA’s breakou…

Every year, a handful of MMA fighters ascend from obscurity to contendership, from prospect status to championship gold — from nothing to something. In honor of The Warrior’s Way, which hits theaters next Friday, we’d like to salute MMA’s breakout class of 2010, whose careers exploded this year, and who are all poised for even larger accomplishments in 2011.

PHIL DAVIS

Notable 2010 victories: Brian Stann (unanimous decision, UFC 109), Alexander Gustafsson (submission R1, UFC 112), Tim Boetsch (submission R2, UFC 123)
Between his pink shorts, action-figure physique, and aggressive grappling, Mr. Wonderful has become an unmistakable figure in the UFC’s light-heavyweight division. A year ago, he was a relatively unknown 4-0 prospect trying to re-invent himself as a cage-fighter after a brilliant collegiate wrestling career at Penn State, which culminated in a 2008 NCAA title. Davis made his Octagon debut this February, and has since sent four straight opponents back to the drawing board, beginning with former WEC champ Brian Stann, and ending with a Submission of the Night performance against Tim Boetsch. Having proven himself against gritty veterans and promising rookies, we’re about to find out if Davis can keep his dominant run going against the next level of UFC contenders.

COURT McGEE

Notable 2010 victories: Kris McCray (submission R2, TUF 11 Finale), Ryan Jensen (submission R3, UFC 121)
Court McGee’s life is an object lesson in never, ever giving up, no matter how dire the circumstances. A former drug-addict who was declared clinically dead after an overdose in 2005, McGee got clean and devoted his life to MMA. His stint on The Ultimate Fighter 11 this year was almost cut short after he lost a bum decision to Nick Ring, but McGee re-entered the competition as an injury replacement, and went on to choke out James Hammortree, Brad Tavares, and Kris McCray to earn the season’s middleweight trophy. In his first post-TUF test at UFC 121, he survived getting bombed out on by Ryan Jensen in the first round, and turned the momentum around when Jensen began to fade in round two. In the end, Jensen was tapping like the rest of them, and Court McGee had secured his reputation as one of toughest (and most likable) bastards TUF has ever produced.

Scott Coker Talks Co-Promotion and Negotiations with Fedor, But is Conspicuously Mum About CBS Negotiations

("CBS? They suck. I’m not sure I want to work with them anymore.")During today’s Strikeforce: Henderson vs. Babalu conference call, the promotion’s CEO Scott Coker touched on some pressing questions, but was noticeably mum on others.
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("CBS? They suck. I’m not sure I want to work with them anymore.")

During today’s Strikeforce: Henderson vs. Babalu conference call, the promotion’s CEO Scott Coker touched on some pressing questions, but was noticeably mum on others.

"You’re going to see big things," Coker teased when speaking of the California-based promotion’s plans for next year, but he didn’t say whether or not a return to CBS is in Strikeforce’s stacked deck of cards. In an interview he did earlier this month with Sherdog, Coker said that a reputable TV deal would have to be in place for him to entertain a co-promotion deal with the promotions, which could be a telling sign that CBS has taken his number off of speed dial.

He did mentione Showtime when discussing the ongoing, yet unfruitful negotiations with Fedor Emelianenko’s M-1 Global management team, but didn’t give a clue about the status of Strikeforce’s relationship with CBS, which many assume is dead in the water thanks to the Team Cesar Gracie-Jason Miller brawl that took place during their last telecast in April.

"It’s been quite a long road here with the M-1 camp trying to get this done. I agree with [M-1 director of operations] Evgeni [Kogan] that there’s some light at the end of the tunnel," Coker explained. "We would welcome Fedor to have a long term deal with Strikeforce fighting on Showtime and we’re trying to get this done. It’s not done yet, there’s nothing signed. So really there’s nothing to announce."

Eight MMA Fighters Who Desperately Need a Stoppage Victory

By CagePotato contributor Dan “siksik6” Teague
#8: Gray Maynard When fans and fighters complain about wrestlers in MMA, they’re talking about Gray Maynard. He takes fighters down because that’s what he’s good at. In Maynard’s nine-figh…

By CagePotato contributor Dan “siksik6” Teague

#8: Gray Maynard

When fans and fighters complain about wrestlers in MMA, they’re talking about Gray Maynard. He takes fighters down because that’s what he’s good at. In Maynard’s nine-fight UFC career, he has just one stoppage, a KO of Joe Veres over three years ago. He’s earned his title shot not because of his performances, but rather because what the hell else do you do with a guy who’s undefeated and has won eight straight fights, including one over the current champ? Cole Miller said it best: Taking people down should be a means to an end. Gray needs to start having some refs pull him off of people if he’s ever going to have any drawing power.

#7: Ben Askren

Ben Askren is just starting to make his way into mainstream MMA discussions. However, it’s not exactly a heralded arrival. The kid makes picking strawberries look like it belongs in the X Games. His last “stoppage” was a controversial sub over Ryan Thomas, who promptly and correctly displayed his best WTFIYP face. Before that it was a north-south choke over some guy you’ve never heard of in some organization you’ve never heard of back in August of ’09. For his last fight, in which he won the Bellator welterweight strap, he came about as close to finishing Lyman Good as I did. I was on the couch eating Mayfield Butter Pecan ice cream. It was delicious. As a title holder for an up-and-coming organization, Askren needs to show more of a killer instinct if he ever wants his fights to be broadcast by anyone other than Fox Sports South.