It’s been a few months since we’ve heard any news about Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. After the former UFC light heavyweight champion dropped a unanimous decision to Glover Teixeira on the UFC on FOX: Johnson vs. Dodson card&…
It’s been a few months since we’ve heard any news about Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. After the former UFC light heavyweight champion dropped a unanimous decision to Glover Teixeira on the UFC on FOX: Johnson vs. Dodson card—his third straight defeat—he fulfilled his contractual obligations and was searching for greener pastures outside the UFC.
He didn’t go quietly, telling ESPN in a pre-fight interview: “I can’t wait to leave the UFC and have nothing to do with them anymore.”
Late on Monday night, the former Pride veteran hinted at some good feelings, and sent out a tweet that some big news about him was coming:
Not long after that, One FC chairman and CEO Victor Cui sent out a tweet of his own, possibly alluding to Jackson taking his trademark chain and fight-entrance howl to The One FC:
“Looking fwd to seeing you next month!” Cui said. The tweet has since been removed from his timeline.
If it is indeed true, this would come as a surprise to many, as it had been widely assumed Jackson would wind up in Bellator, or perhaps under the World Series of Fighting banner.
In less than two years, the Singapore-based One FC has quickly become the biggest MMA promotion in Asia. They have put on nine events in several countries inside the continent, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Singapore.
They have had several former UFC fighters on their fight cards, but none with as big of a name or the drawing potential of Jackson. The One FC has only had a handful of light heavyweight fights in its almost two-year existence, with the most notable fighter being Renato “Babalu” Sobral.
Having a fighter of Jackson’s popularity should easily help to secure other 205’ers who would like a shot at the 34-year-old veteran. How much “Rampage” has left remains to be seen; he hasn’t won since defeating Matt Hammill at UFC 130, over two years ago.
He has never hidden his affinity for fighting in Japan, or his disdain for the UFC. Maybe now he finds happiness in the latest chapter of his career, back on the continent where he began his ascent to stardom—this time further south.
Michael Stets is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report
UFC 161 took another major hit Monday as the promotion announced that following the injury to Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, the co-main event for the card has been scrapped with Mauricio “Shogun” Rua also being yanked from the upcoming show in Winnipeg. Ea…
UFC 161 took another major hit Monday as the promotion announced that following the injury to Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, the co-main event for the card has been scrapped with Mauricio “Shogun” Rua also being yanked from the upcoming show in Winnipeg.
Earlier Monday, reports began to surface out of Brazil that Rua was going to face former middleweight title contender ChaelSonnen on short notice, but the deal to secure the “American Gangster” apparently fell through at the 11th hour.
UFC officials confirmed via Twitter late Monday night that Rua was indeed off the card, and the show would proceed with 11 total bouts instead of 12.
Prior to the UFC’s official confirmation of the change to UFC 161, Rua also headed to Twitter to confirm similar news.Originally written in Portuguese, Rua stated that the deal to secure Sonnen as an opponent fell through, but he expected to be back in action on the upcoming UFC on Fox Sports 1-1 card on Aug. 17 in Boston.
UFC 161 has suffered numerous changes over the last few weeks, including the main event between interim bantamweight champion RenanBarao and Eddie Wineland being removed from the card after the Brazilian suffered a foot injury in training.
With the main event gone, the UFC opted to call on heavyweight contender Roy Nelson to step in and fill an open main card slot against StipeMiocic, who was already expected to compete on the show.
Then over the weekend, Nogueira fell out of his scheduled bout against Rua, and as of Monday, the entire fight including the former UFC light heavyweight champion was pulled from the show.
This is the second time in less than a year that a card has been scheduled for the western part of Canada only to see it ravaged by injuries.
UFC 149 in 2012 started out as star-studded event, including featherweight champion Jose Aldo defending his belt in the main event. By the time the show actually took place, almost the entire main card had changed from when it was first announced, including the headline fight, which ended up Barao against Urijah Faber in an interim bantamweight title fight.
UFC officials gave no other word on Rua‘s next fight or update on why the fight with Sonnen did not come together.
Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report.
Life after fighting. It’s not a subject many MMA fighters like to even broach, much less discuss with great certainty, but at some point every athlete has to come to the end of their career. While most fighters point to the difficulty of giving up the …
Life after fighting.
It’s not a subject many MMA fighters like to even broach, much less discuss with great certainty, but at some point every athlete has to come to the end of their career.
While most fighters point to the difficulty of giving up the rush of competition, there’s also the very real question of how they will financially support themselves once that cage door closes behind them for the final time.
While some former UFC competitors like Chuck Liddell and Matt Hughes not only lived out their dreams on the biggest stages in the sport while pulling in millions of dollars, they’ve also been granted careers after fighting with their former employers that give them financial stability beyond what they made competing in the Octagon.
For every Liddell and Hughes, there are hundreds of fighters that maybe only made it to the UFC for a handful of fights or even fought there for several years, but never got to the level where they were pulling in six-figure paydays.
Add to that the fighters who do earn the biggest paychecks that don’t have a financial plan for what happens when that money finally does dry up.
A 2009 study done by Sports Illustrated reported that a whopping 78 percent of former NFL players were either bankrupt or in financial peril within two years of leaving the league.NBA players were just as likely to fall into financial ruin with 60 percent of them reporting bankruptcy within five years of retirement.
UFC lightweight Danny Castillo doesn’t know what it’s like yet to make NFL or NBA money.Those players routinely pull in millions upon millions of dollars in lucrative, guaranteed contracts, but the life of a professional fighter even at the UFC level doesn’t earn those kinds of dollars and certainly doesn’t enjoy much job security.
It’s why Castillo is joining a larger group of fighters looking towards the future when the gloves are off, and their UFC career is over.
“I know I can’t fight forever and it just seemed like the perfect opportunity,” Castillo told Bleacher Report about his new business.“I had the money, I haven’t bought a house yet and I just don’t think it’s a good move to put myself in 35 years of debt when I don’t know exactly what I’m going to do with my life or if I’m even going to have kids.I’ve been holding off and I just thought it would be more of an asset to have money coming in from a business so when I do buy that house I’ll have something to pay the mortgage.”
Living in Sacramento where he trains alongside other UFC veterans like Joseph Benavidez and Chad Mendes, Castillo recently opened a new hot pilates studio called P2O, and if the early returns are any sign for the future, he’s got plenty to look forward to once his fighting career is over.
The idea for the business actually happened when Castillo and his team essentially transported their camp to Las Vegas for a few months to help team leader Urijah Faber coach his squad of fighters during The Ultimate Fighter: Live.
“I got the idea for pilates when Urijah had us out in Vegas for TUF.All of the guys, most of Team Alpha Male were out in Las Vegas coaching and filming TUF and we were just down for different ways to work out and we saw that hot pilates had a lot of popularity out there,” Castillo explained.“So, we went and tried it, and it was one of the tougher workouts.”
In large part, Castillo also credits Faber with the idea to open a business in the first place.Throughout his entire MMA career, even long before he was in the UFC, Faber has dabbled in the business world away from fighting.
“I’m fortunate enough to have Urijah Faber as a friend, and not only as a friend, but as a mentor,” Castillo said.“Just to be around a guy like Urijah, who is so busy and so active, and seeing how he does such a good job of balancing business and pleasure and all of this at the same time is during a training camp. It’s nuts.Having him as a mentor and seeing the way he’s able to balance it has helped me tremendously.”
In 2010, Faber co-founded Form Athletics, an apparel brand that eventually sold to K-Swiss, and while the terms of the deal were not disclosed, the former WEC champion likely took home a hefty paycheck for the work he did to start the company.
Faber has also recently started work on MMADraft.com—a website devoted to the amateur side of MMA where he will also run the first ever MMA combine at this year’s UFC Fan Expo in July—as well as Optical Panacea, an MMA fighter artwork and photography project.
The former WEC champion has also created an empire in Sacramento with his gym and team, as well as multiple houses he’s purchased to give fighters a place to live when they come to train or live in Sacramento and work with Team Alpha Male. All in all, Faber has proven he’s a very smart fighter and businessman, and he’s trying to instill those same qualities in the younger guys around him.
“You’ve got to think outside the box and I have the clothing line that we’re pushing and I’ve got great partners in that.We’ve got a lot guys doing their own thing,” Faber told Bleacher Report recently.“Chael Sonnen, Anthony Pettis is doing his own business, he’s got his bar out there and he’s involved in the gyms and he’s starting to develop his own brand of kickboxing.We’ve got ScottyJorgensen, who is out there and has his own gym.Danny Castillo opened his hot pilates studio, Chad Mendes is always thinking about how he can get involved in the business side of things of doing hunting stuff. We’ve got guys thinking outside the box.It’s exciting to have things to work on and work on things towards the bigger picture.”
Castillo learned from Faber how to balance life inside and outside of fighting to get the most potential out of training while not forgetting there is more going on than just the bout ahead of him.He played a large part in the construction and opening of the pilates studio, and even teaches a kettle bell class at his new facility.
Castillo promises none of it is taking away from his preparation for the upcoming bout he has against Bobby Green at UFC on FX 8.As a matter of fact having this new business has given Castillo some peace of mind to allow him to focus on just getting better and enjoying the fight, and not solely focused on winning at all costs.
“I think my business takes the pressure off of me,” Castillo said.“The money pressure isn’t there anymore because I have a supplemental income on the side.In turn, I’ll actually be able to have fun in fights instead of being stressed out and focused on winning, but in the back of my mind worrying about paying bills and only making one check. That’s one thing I wasn’t planning on it, and now that it’s happened and the business is doing well I don’t have to worry about the extra added financial pressure of fighting.”
Make no mistake, Castillo plans on winning his next fight, but there is no longer this overhanging black cloud that looms if he doesn’t come away victorious.There’s very little enjoyment in any occupation if it all comes down to one ultimate outcome, and with his new pilates studio flourishing, Castillo’s mind is at ease to just go fight, go win and then go home.
“Since I’ve been in the UFC, it’s been hard to have fun because my debut was against Joe “Daddy” (Stevenson) and everyone was saying the WEC guys weren’t going to do well and I was just going to get my ass kicked.There was that pressure and the whole pressure of being in the UFC and the fight jitters, they were there.The fight after that I started to loosen up a little bit, then I had the bad fight against Jacob Volkmann, and my pay was up so I was used to having a $40,000-plus win (bonus),” Castillo explained.“Not that I live an extravagant lifestyle or anything, but I become dependant on that money. Dependant on the win bonus.
“Now I’ll be able to have fun and I’m really looking forward to this fight.I believe you’ll see a different Danny Castillo and if anything it’s given me more motivation to actually go out there and have fun.”
Castillo is also giving back from his business as well.The money from his grand opening classes was all donated to the American Red Cross, and he plans on doing more work in and around his community in Sacramento.
With his business up and running smoothly, Castillo can now turn his attention to the fight he has in July without wondering what happens next in the worst case scenario, while also plotting a long term course for when his career comes to an end.
Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and all quotes were obtained first hand unless otherwise noted.
As much as it appears UFC 161 fighter Roy Nelson isn’t on Dana White’s Christmas card list, he certainly should be with his willingness to step up and help the promotion at every turn. Despite a notably rocky relationship over the past few years, Nelso…
As much as it appears UFC 161 fighter Roy Nelson isn’t on Dana White‘s Christmas card list, he certainly should be with his willingness to step up and help the promotion at every turn.
Despite a notably rocky relationship over the past few years, Nelson has always been the go-to fighter when the UFC need someone to help save a card.When UFC 160’s co-main event was in jeopardy because Mark Hunt couldn’t secure a travel visa to get into the United States, Nelson was the fighter that matchmaker Joe Silva had on speed dial in case of an emergency.
Now with UFC 161 taking more knives to the chest than a character on Game of Thrones, Nelson got the call once again to help shore up an ailing card that already lost a main event and, just a day ago, lost a co-main event fighter as well.
Nelson was offered the fight and accepted without even knowing who he’d be facing.While the arrow finally landed on Ohio fighter StipeMiocic, the call was made to several other prominent UFC heavyweights, who all politely declined to take the same position that Nelson accepted without question.
“I think I’m one of those guys that just straight fight and fight anybody.I’m always down for the UFC. If they call me up and say ‘Roy do you want to fight?’, I’m always like ‘Sure, let’s do it.‘ I don’t cry—let’s fight.I’m always down to do that,” Nelson told Bleacher Report recently.“A lot of other fighters in our business are actually more businessmen, which is smart. I am now the smartest man, and I think that’s the reason why Dana said it [(too), because I’m the UFC’s smart man.I just take any fight.While other guys in the business would be like ‘Are you kidding? I’m not going to take a fight in two weeks.Are you freaking kidding me?‘
“There’s definitely guys that called me out and turned down fights.I guess all the big wigs, who you can think of.I think D.C. (Daniel Cormier) was one of them, I think Travis Browne turned it down so he could fight (Alistair) Overeem.”
There is something to be said for playing it smart and not taking a fight on two weeks notice if a fighter is not truly ready for the battle ahead.When the fight is over, rarely does anyone remember six months or a year later the story that led up to a particular loss—they only that the loss happened.
Nelson also understands why some fighters are hesitant to take any fight, much less one against him, with only a few days to prepare.
“I understand it from a business stand point.Who would take a fight on two weeks notice?That would not be smart from a business stand point,” Nelson stated.“We make our money off of wins, and in our business, we make money off of entertainment and selling tickets and pay-per-views and stuff.I guess those guys get paid off of wins, so I guess it doesn’t make sense to put yourself in the hole to try and get a win off of two weeks of actual training.”
Nelson isn’t ignorant about the business side of mixed martial arts, but he also knows that every chance he gets to fight is a chance to get more experience and provide for his family. If his body and mind are ready for the fight, then Nelson sees no reason not to step into the fray and challenge whoever the UFC throws in front of him.
“My goal to be a fighter is to have that pretty gold strap around my waist and also take care of my family,” Nelson said.“That’s (all) anybody that gets into the fight business wants to do—the fighting part and also the business part.That’s pretty much what I want.I had a good talk with Lorenzo (Fertitta) and he wants to see me get paid the most money I can ever make in my life—he wants to see that happen. I appreciate that, Lorenzo.”
The “pretty gold strap,” as Nelson calls it, always seems to be a little further out of reach for him than other fighters, but according to UFC president Dana White, it’s not because he doesn’t personally get along with the former Ultimate Fighter winner.
It’s because he’s not facing the best heavyweights in the world.
“Roy loves to say I’ll never give him a title shot,” White said in the interview with Yahoo! Sports.“But dude, beat someone and then I’ll give you the shot. Roy is knocking off these guys ranked six through 10, but when he gets to fighting the top five guys, he can’t do the same thing. You’re not going to get a title shot for beating No. 6 and No. 8. You have to beat the top guys.”
Still, Nelson is the guy the UFC called to step in and fill a very needed slot on the UFC 161 card, and despite their best attempts to get a higher ranked opponent to face him, none were willing on such short notice.
Nelson doesn’t like the politics that seem to go hand-in-hand with a fighter earning a title shot in the UFC, but it’s all part of the game. Strategically, chess pieces are moved around the board, but there’s no denying that the UFC hierarchy has a full load of kings and queens and sometimes Nelson is left feeling like a lowly pawn.
“Anything can happen in MMA.You can fight for the championship, you cannot fight for the championship, they’re in the fight business and sometimes it’s about making marquee fights,” Nelson commented.“I think Dana even mentioned when Overeem lost to (Bigfoot Silva), he lost a lot of money because he lost.They have their hopes and dreams on who they want to fight and the matchups.I think Dana even mentioned Cain (Velasquez) fighting in Houston, and I think that’s because of the Hispanic (community) down in the Texas area.So I think they want Cain to win because it makes sense.
“If you have Roy Nelson as the champion, they don’t want the UFC to hit mainstream. Cause that would actually happen if Roy did (win), because there are a lot of Roy Nelson’s out there.”
Nelson certainly has endeared himself as the “every man” in the UFC.He’s not walking around with the chiseled physique that some of the other fighters wear like a badge of honor.What Nelson does so well, however, is go out and put on fights the fans want to watch, and very few times—win, lose or draw—do opponents go out of their way to ask to face Nelson again.
“I just want to go out there, and I know every time I go out there I just want to get better and better and better.If I lose, I learn from that and get better.If I win, I take that and get better,” Nelson said.“I know I can give a fight to anybody, and nobody will ever want to fight me again.”
Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and all quotes were obtained first hand unless otherwise noted.
On Sunday, Globo.com (h/t MMAJunkie.com) reported that Antonio Rogerio Nogueira was forced to withdraw from his summer showdown with Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.Any time a high-profile competitor suffers an injury, speculation over their replacement ensues.I…
On Sunday, Globo.com (h/t MMAJunkie.com) reported that Antonio Rogerio Nogueira was forced to withdraw from his summer showdown with Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.
Any time a high-profile competitor suffers an injury, speculation over their replacement ensues.
If ChaelSonnen gets his way, he would be Nogueira’s replacement—and Shogun’s new opponent. Sonnentweeted shortly after the news broke of Nogueira’s injury that he would volunteer his services to as a fill-in at UFC 161.
Whether Sonnen‘s efforts will prevail is yet to be learned, but discussions are underway and Rua vs. Sonnen is at the very least a possibility at this point.
On Monday, Fighters Only spoke with Shogun about the shakeup, questioning him on Nogueira’s injury.
“I think everybody wanted to watch this bout again, since we had a great duel at Pride [Critical Countdown 2005],” he explained. “I am sorry for Minotouro not to fight, it would be a very good fight, I am sure.”
The first time the two squared off, a young Rua used a mixture of effective strikes and takedowns to earn himself a unanimous decision win.
However, Nogueira proved to be one of the stiffest tests Shogun had faced to that point in his career and the experience of the bout left him with nothing but respect for his fellow countryman.
“I respect Lil Nog so much, I have absolutely nothing against him,” he said. “He’s a very nice guy. We’re opponents inside the Octagon, just it. I wish him a good recovery for him to return soon to do his good job.”
It will be interesting to hear the tune that the always-classy Rua sings should Sonnen end up as his UFC 161 foe. The American is notorious for getting under his opponent’s skin, something he has been particularly diligent about when matched up with Brazilian fighters.
Shogun neglected to comment about a potential scrap with Sonnen, but if the pairing is booked, you can bet noise will follow.
Not necessarily from Rua, but there will certainly be noise.
A featured light heavyweight bout is expected to take place at UFC 163 coming up in August when former champion Lyoto Machida faces former NCAA champion Phil Davis in Brazil. The fight was reported on Monday by MMAWeekly.com, with verbal agreements in …
A featured light heavyweight bout is expected to take place at UFC 163 coming up in August when former champion LyotoMachida faces former NCAA champion Phil Davis in Brazil.
The fight was reported on Monday by MMAWeekly.com, with verbal agreements in place for the 205-pound showdown taking place on the card headlined by featherweight champion Jose Aldo facing Anthony Pettis.
Following his last fight at UFC 157 in February, which ended in a win over Dan Henderson, LyotoMachida was expected to be the new No. 1 contender for the UFC light heavyweight title.Unfortunately for him, the current champion remains Jon Jones, and their last fight ended with Machida losing by submission in one of the most memorable finishes in recent UFC history.
Machida‘s loss to Jones, coupled with a close and somewhat unexciting fight against Henderson in February, seems to have bumped him back in line in the contender’s race, but he will still get the chance to fight at home in Brazil for his next bout.
Hoping to add his own name to the list of top contenders in the division, Phil Davis jumps back into the deep end at light heavyweight after picking up wins over Wagner Prado and Vinny Magalhaes in the last year.
Davis has been looked at as one of the best prospects at 205-pounds for the last few years, with a tremendous wrestling base and ever developing stand-up skills to match his grappling.
Davis stumbled in his marquee matchup against Rashad Evans at UFC on Fox 2 last year but now looks to redeem himself against another former champion when he faces Machida in August.
The other piece of the puzzle that all but falls into place with this Machida vs. Davis matchup is the next fight taking place with the UFC light heavyweight title on the line.
For the last few weeks, all signs have pointed to a showdown between Jones and Swedish born fighter Alexander Gustafsson, with both fighters taking to Twitter to rally for the bout to take place.
With Machida now locked up for a fight of his own at UFC 163, it’s all but assured now that Jones vs. Gustafsson will be the next light heavyweight title fight to take place sometime later this year.
Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report
It’s been a few months since we’ve heard any news about Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. After the former UFC light heavyweight champion dropped a unanimous decision to Glover Teixeira on the UFC on FOX: Johnson vs. Dodson card—his third straight defeat—he fulfilled his contractual obligations and was searching for greener pastures outside the UFC.