Frank Mir’s career has featured peaks and valleys.He was once the most feared heavyweight in the UFC, a man that snapped Tim Sylvia’s arm like a toothpick. However, a motorcycle crash soon followed that threatened to end his career.Mir came s…
Frank Mir’s career has featured peaks and valleys.
He was once the most feared heavyweight in the UFC, a man that snapped Tim Sylvia’s arm like a toothpick. However, a motorcycle crash soon followed that threatened to end his career.
Mir came surging back in 2007 and 2008 with wins over Antoni Hardonk, Brock Lesnar and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Frank found himself as the interim UFC heavyweight champion.
This honor was short-lived, and he dropped subsequent fights to Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin in a couple of the most brutal knockout losses in recent memory.
Frank has since rebounded again by knocking out Mirko Cro Cop and now looks to get back into the upper crust of the heavyweight division when he fights Roy “Big Country” Nelson at UFC 130 on May 28th.
Jake Shields clearly wanted to get Georges St-Pierre to the ground at UFC 129 and he tried to do just that for a round or so. Then, at some point, he lost focus and decided to try and trade shots with the champion. It was a horrible idea an…
Jake Shields clearly wanted to get Georges St-Pierre to the ground at UFC 129 and he tried to do just that for a round or so. Then, at some point, he lost focus and decided to try and trade shots with the champion. It was a horrible idea and Shields never got back into the fight at all.
It was the first loss for Jake Shields in over six years and clearly he was not happy with his performance after the fight.
MMAjunkie.com was there to get his thoughts. Shields told MMAjunkie, “Obviously I’m not happy. I went in there, and I came up short. Georges has great stand-up, and he kept me away. I couldn’t get him down. He did a great job of stuffing my shots.”
Shields failed to close the distance, get the clinch and take the fight to the ground. He admitted that he was no match for the boxing and overall standup prowess of the champion. “I guess I need to go back, work on my boxing, and get better,” Shields admitted.
Shields showed remorse over not trying to get the fight to the ground but he had few weapons to turn to when he when his takedown attempts failed.
Shields lamented about his gameplan and how it was a failure. “I don’t know. He stuffed my first couple shots. I don’t know why I started boxing him. I should have just started shooting. It’s easy to look back now and be like, ‘I really screwed that up.’ Georges is a great fighter. He fought great. He was evasive, and I couldn’t get after him. He had a great game plan.”
Shields vowed to make improvements and to eventually make it back to contender status. “Hopefully before I retire, I’ll get another title shot,” he said.
It seems that negotiations appear to be resolved, as a non-title superfight between Fedor Emelianenko and Dan Henderson looks to be scheduled for an upcoming Strikeforce event later this year. According to MMAjunkie.com, the superfight between the…
It seems that negotiations appear to be resolved, as a non-title superfight between Fedor Emelianenko and Dan Henderson looks to be scheduled for an upcoming Strikeforce event later this year.
According to MMAjunkie.com, the superfight between the two former Pride FC stars, is expected to be contested at heavyweight and is planned for July 30th, likely to serve as the headliner and to be held on pay-per-view.
The website also reports that both Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker and UFC executive Lorenzo Fertitta are looking to secure the potential bout. UFC president, Dana White said he won’t get involved.
“Lorenzo’s working on it,” White said during last week’s UFC 129 pre-fight press conference.
“Me getting anywhere near that thing? You’ll never see that fight.”
Emelianenko will look to rebound with a win over Henderson, as the Russian has suffered back-to back losses for the first time in his career. Meanwhile, Dan Henderson is only a month removed from capturing Strikeforce light heavyweight gold after earning a knockout victory over former champion, Rafael ‘Feijao” Cavalcante at Strikefore: Feijao vs. Henderson.
A location for the bout has not been confirmed, although reports have suggested the Sears Centre in Chicago is a possible destination.
Lyoto Machida silenced his detractors and reentered himself into the title picture following his knockout of Randy Couture at UFC 129. Machida, who was on a two-fight losing streak, attempted a flying crane kick that landed precisely on his oppone…
Lyoto Machida silenced his detractors and reentered himself into the title picture following his knockout of Randy Couture at UFC 129.
Machida, who was on a two-fight losing streak, attempted a flying crane kick that landed precisely on his opponent’s chin, dropping him in the process. It’s a win he desperately needed and a win he credited to his training regiment.
“I increased my training, demanding more from my sparrings, and I felt comfortable in every single situation,” Machida explained to TATAME.com following his victory.
Machida continued saying he focused more on his karate and implemented different training techniques and a nutrition plan in order to prepare for the light heavyweight bout. And while he did change a few things during his training camp, “The Dragon” said he stuck to his roots that helped him become UFC light heavyweight champion not too long ago.
“I felt myself more aggressive… I kept my style, but with an upgrade,” Machida said.
He credits the upgrade to his father, Yoshizo Machida and actor / martial artist, Steven Seagal, who helped Machida perfect his flying crane kick, ultimately earning “Knockout of the Night” honours.
“When I started my preparation, after I did a hernia surgery, I couldn’t do everything in training, so my father told me to train three or four types of kicks and use them in sparring, but very carefully, because they hurt a lot, it’s like the elbow. When I came to Canada I met Steven Seagal, and he told “Lyoto, this kick will hit”. But I wasn’t worried to use it or not, I’d do it if the opportunity came. I came more relaxed to the second round and hit that.”
The highlight reel knockout has drawn comparisons to friend and teammate, Anderson Silva, who also landed a front kick that knocked out his opponent, Vitor Belfort at UFC 126.
And now that Machida has regained his form after picking up the win, there have been fans demanding Machida take on newly crowned champion, Jon Jones as there are some who believe Machida’s style could potentially pose problems for the 23 year old.
But for now, Machida is content to wait and see the division work itself out and look to inch closer to title bout one fight at a time.
“I don’t think too much far away, I take step by step. I know every fight is important to become better. I don’t have that pressure to become the champion again. I’ll get that chance,” Machida said.
Notorious MMA fighter and host of MTV’s Bully Beatdown, Jason “Mayhem” Miller has a bone to pick with Strikeforce over his contract or lack thereof. Miller was involved in the infamous “Strikeforce: Nashville Brawl” which …
Notorious MMA fighter and host of MTV’s Bully Beatdown, Jason “Mayhem” Miller has a bone to pick with Strikeforce over his contract or lack thereof.
For his participation in the scrap, Miller received a three month suspension, a $5,000-$7,500 fine and was pulled from the card of his scheduled bout with Robbie Lawler, but that’s not specifically what Miller’s beef is about.
Once the fines were paid and suspension was up, Miller still had heard no word from Strikeforce as to when, where or who his next fight would be.
According to Ben Fowlkes of MMAFighting.com Miller stated, “All I knew is that I sat on the bench for a year…that’s all I knew.”
Even though Miller was still under contract with Strikeforce, the promotion apparently “refused to offer him a chance to fight and without ever explaining why”, said Fowlkes.
When Miller’s contract with Strikeforce was up, he signed with the UFC and it wasn’t until then, that he learned the reason he was never given another fight with Strikeforce.
Fowlkes said, Dana White explained that Miller had been banned from Showtime and CBS for the Nashville incident; news that neither Strikeforce management nor CEO, Scott Coker thought was important enough to tell Miller.
“I asked, and guess what? Nobody would tell me. This is a political environment. Nobody’s going to tell you. They’re just going to be cowards about it. That’s the way of the world. Nobody’s going to tell the crazy ultimate fighter guy to his face, ‘Hey, screw you.’ They’re not going to do that,” Miller told MMA Fighting.
Miller has had one fight since his suspension against MMA legend, Kazushi Sakuraba in Japan with the DREAM promotion, which he won by submission.
Since Zuffa LLC’s acquisition of Strikeforce and now that Miller’s contract has expired, he will face Aaron Simpson at UFC 132 in his first UFC middleweight bout and first fight back in the UFC since losing a welterweight matchup against Georges St-Pierre in April of 2005.
A week ago, the world was buzzing about Nick Diaz’s possible professional boxing debut, but after watching his teammate and close friend Jake Shields drop a unanimous decision to welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre at UFC 129, the Stockton native i…
A week ago, the world was buzzing about Nick Diaz‘s possible professional boxing debut, but after watching his teammate and close friend Jake Shields drop a unanimous decision to welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre at UFC 129, the Stockton native is eager to slip back into a pair of four ounce gloves.
“Obviously, there’s a storyline behind it,” Diaz’s trainer Cesar Gracie said in an interview with MMAJunkie.com.
“Shields just lost a decision, and Nick wants some revenge for that. Nick is very confident that he can defeat St-Pierre.”
As Strikeforce welterweight champion, Diaz has amassed a 10 fight win streak and three consecutive title defenses. He has made multiple comments in the past about his dissatisfaction with the lack of competition and big payday.
Recently, he has turned his interest to the world of boxing and a plethora of possible debut opponents have already been rumored, including Fernando Vargas and IBF champion Jeff Lacy.
What would it take to keep Diaz under the MMA umbrella and set up a superfight with St-Pierre?
“Look, [UFC executive] Lorenzo [Fertitta] can do whatever he wants at this point. The guy signing the checks is the guy making the decisions,” said Gracie.
“There’s a couple of roadblocks, and I think the least of which is Nick’s contract with Strikeforce. That would be a roadblock if we chose not to take the fight against Georges St-Pierre.
“But obviously, that wouldn’t happen. The biggest thing is that Nick’s Strikeforce contract dictates that he can box in 2011, and we’ve gone pretty far into that process. It’s still a work in progress, but we’re just about there.”
A bout between St-Pierre and Diaz could instantly become a blockbuster. Diaz’s aggressive style could force the UFC champion into some interesting positions, but does he have what it takes to succeed where Shields failed?
Skeptics would point out Diaz’s previous struggles with strong wrestlers. Towards the end of his UFC tenure, he lost three consecutive bouts to Diego Sanchez, Sean Sherk and Joe Riggs.
St-Pierre is often considered the best wrestler in all of MMA.
It could be a tough style match-up for Diaz, who hasn’t faced a high caliber wrestler since leaving the UFC, but Gracie isn’t worried about skeptics. He believes that Diaz matches up well with St-Pierre, and a bout between the two could present fans with the intriguing welterweight title fight they’ve all been waiting for.
“[Nick’s] a guy that could press the action against GSP and not let GSP dictate the pace. GSP has been a great champ, and hats off to him, but there has been criticism that he’s not really taking risks,” stated Gracie.
“With Nick, you have the ultimate risk-taker. He will fight you at your game. He throws caution to the wind, really, because he’s more interested in beating you up than winning on points. I think that makes for an intriguing match-up between the two.”
At the UFC 129 post-fight presser, UFC President Dana White seemed open to the possibility of a bout between St-Pierre and Diaz, but a few hurdles would have to be cleared for the fight to actually become a reality.
Diaz will likely continue in his pursuit of a professional boxing bout, unless he gets the lucrative MMA bout he’s been waiting for.
“It would take Lorenzo and Dana to really come into this and show us how it could happen,” said Gracie.
“It would have to make financial sense for everybody. So, we’re waiting just like everybody else to see what they have in mind, and I’m more than happy to listen to their suggestions.”
