Last night’s UFC 138 turned out to be a surprisingly entertaining event with each bout on the main card ending in a finish.In the main event of the evening, Mark Munoz went to war with Chris Leben in the UFC’s first ever five-round non-title fight. &nb…
Last night’s UFC 138 turned out to be a surprisingly entertaining event with each bout on the main card ending in a finish.
In the main event of the evening, Mark Munoz went to war with Chris Leben in the UFC’s first ever five-round non-title fight.
The fight, however, would not go the full 25 minutes, as it would only take Munoz two rounds to finish Leben, who was forced to throw in the towel after suffering a huge cut above his eye.
Adding his name to the list of top contenders, here’s how Munoz stacks up with the top five middleweights in MMA.
If you really think Chael Sonnen is going for the gusto with Anderson Silva, you probably have not heard much of Nick Diaz.That’s right, I said it.Going for the gusto—in between fairly comprehensible interviews that make people think he wants out…
If you really think Chael Sonnen is going for the gusto with Anderson Silva, you probably have not heard much of Nick Diaz.
That’s right, I said it.
Going for the gusto—in between fairly comprehensible interviews that make people think he wants out of MMA when he’s actually seen as one of the elite in the sport—is what Diaz does.
He finds things about certain guys he has a beef with, and he sets it off from there by finding ways of proclaiming that they aren’t who or what they claim to be.
He didn’t do it against Hayato Sakurai or B.J. Penn because he respects them, which is fine because Sonnen doesn’t care to trash guys like Yushin Okami or Brian Stann or the like when all they’re saying is that they’re going to beat Sonnen.
However, what has Sonnen really said to Silva?
He wants to slap Silva’s wife on the butt, he thinks Silva sucks, he doesn’t understand how Silva could get beaten up for five rounds and win a fight based on what he did in eight seconds of the last round, he wants to beat up Vitor Belfort—who Silva kicked in the face on Super Bowl Weekend in 2011—and he believes Silva is a phony that Ed Soares was protecting.
There are other things that he’s said in the past regarding Silva, from downplaying his black belt and his fan base to calling the UFC middleweight title “12 pounds of tin”, but if anything, it’s Silva that’s played Sonnen.
He’s shaken Sonnen up by not really responding to him and he’s viewed Michael Bisping—of all dudes, the TUF 14 Finale headliner that got knocked out by a man who tapped out to Silva in Round 2—as a more credible challenge.
Sonnen could challenge the image of Silva, he could challenge the record of guys Silva has fought, he could yell, “Where you at, motherf**ker?” in a camera before being announced the winner of his fight, and he could piss Silva off royally by claiming that Silva is faking a shoulder injury in order to avoid the rematch, but instead, he tells Silva what Silva critics could say in 15 seconds and he goes the WWE-PG route in order to goad Silva into the rematch.
Now, if Sonnen had done it original ECW style and challenged Silva to a Barbed Wire Match in the cage—with barbed wire around the gloves, if possible—or a Taipei Cage Fight, where both fighters’ wraps were dipped in glue and covered in shards of broken glass before they stepped in the Octagon for the title fight, then I would be nice to Uncle Chael.
In any case, I digress…
Diaz is known for causing some controversies one day at a time, and the fighter fans love to hate outside of the cage has gotten all the way underneath the skin of the GSP fan base with his actions and his behavior.
Calling one of the best fighters in the sport right now a faker while he’s injured? No wonder GSP got pissed.
One of the most dominant members of MMA’s pound-for-pound ranks goes up against the man some might consider in time to be the best pound-for-pound fighter—emphasis on “fighter”—on the planet, and it’s all because Diaz dared to say that St-Pierre was scared, homie.
Sonnen should consider something similar to what Diaz is done if he wants us to take him seriously as a guy that can do in Silva again, win the fight, and test clean afterwards.
Now, I’m not saying Sonnen should start a brawl or flip off Silva through a YouTube video or tell Ariel Helwani that people get slapped in West Linn if a guy like Helwani conducts himself the way he does, but if he wants to not get dethroned by the baddest boy in MMA since Tito Ortiz as far as being the best trash-talker in the sport, he’s going to have to steal a page or two from Diaz’s playbook.
If he can do so without getting into more money laundering issues or more failed drug tests for abusing his TRT, then maybe we can dial back on Diaz’s claim toward being the baddest dude in MMA now.
So, come on, Chael—if you want Silva that badly, don’t be scared, homie!
Chris Leben is one of the toughest and craziest fighters in MMA today. But tonight at UFC 138, Leben was unable to continue his fight with Mark Munoz after losing vision in his left eye. Leben is one of the biggest names in the middleweight d…
Chris Leben is one of the toughest and craziest fighters in MMA today.
But tonight at UFC 138, Leben was unable to continue his fight with Mark Munoz after losing vision in his left eye.
Leben is one of the biggest names in the middleweight division. Despite this, he has fallen short when it’s mattered the most.
Here’s a look at the other fighters who have choked under pressure.
Chael Sonnen is the “CHAEL SONNEN” of all fighters: here. Chris Leben and Mark Munoz had to be separated at UFC 138 weigh-ins. Video: here. Jake Ellenberger calls out Nick Diaz and his “patty-cake” style.
Chael Sonnen is the “CHAEL SONNEN” of all fighters: here.
Chris Leben and Mark Munoz had to be separated at UFC 138 weigh-ins. Video: here.
Jake Ellenberger calls out Nick Diaz and his “patty-cake” style fighting: here.
Thiago Alves needed 2 extra hours to make weight for UFC 138: here.
Big John McCarthy likely to referee for UFC on Fox 1: Cain Velasquez vs. Junior dos Santos
Chris Leben says he could beat Chael Sonnen: here.
Nate Marquardt to fight Yoshiyiki Yoshida at BAMMA 9 in February: here.
Bristol Marunde vs. Jay Silva headlines tonight’s Superior Cage Combat III in Las Vegas: here.
It’s been a few years since we’ve seen Amber Nichole inside the Octagon, but judging by these recent pics, we can see why she’s getting her own 2012 calendar. Dear Dana, please bring her back next year as a guest ring girl. Thank you.
Just like with everything else in life, celebrities seem to all be copping a move right out of Justin Bieber’s playbook when it comes to cross-promotion by publicly calling for a piece of UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva’s time.
“Wat up, though? This is big Snoop Dogg. Anderson Silva, man, come hang out with yo’ boy Snoop Dogg, man. You just won a new championship belt,” Snoop explained. “Come bring it to the show so I can show you mine and we can mix and match and put some of that….in the air.”
(Video courtesy of YouTube/westfesttv)
Just like with everything else in life, celebrities seem to all be copping a move right out of Justin Bieber’s playbook when it comes to cross-promotion by publicly calling for a piece of UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva‘s time.
“Wat up, though? This is big Snoop Dogg. Anderson Silva, man, come hang out with yo’ boy Snoop Dogg, man. You just won a new championship belt,” Snoop explained. “Come bring it to the show so I can show you mine and we can mix and match and put some of that….in the air.”
Anyway, the video ends with a strategically placed concert itinerary of Snoop Dizzle’s Brazilian leg of the tour starting this weekend in Fortaleza and rolling through Rio, Florianopolis (KenFlo’s birthplace) and Paulinia.
Chael Sonnen has often been outspoken on his place in the sport of mixed-martial-arts, and in a recent interview with Fighthype.com’s Percy Crawford, he gives his thoughts on his drawing power and if his rematch with UFC middleweight champion Anderson …
Chael Sonnen has often been outspoken on his place in the sport of mixed-martial-arts, and in a recent interview with Fighthype.com’s Percy Crawford, he gives his thoughts on his drawing power and if his rematch with UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva is bigger than Georges St-Pierre vs. Nick Diaz.
“I’m the biggest draw in the industry today,” said Sonnen, who is coming off his second-round submission victory over Brian Stann at UFC 136. “I sell more tickets, more pay-per-views, and more merchandise than any fighter in history. Comparing GSP to me is like comparing Kimbo to Ali.”
A recent megafight between St-Pierre and Diaz was announced for next year after Diaz defeated B.J. Penn in the main event of UFC 137. It is scheduled to take place at UFC 143, which is close to when Sonnen could be rematching Silva.
Sonnen called out Silva in the post-fight interview after his fight with Stann and offered him a loser-leaves-town match during Super Bowl weekend. Silva declined the offer.
“Shocked,” replied Sonnen. “He comes from a fighting culture. I was blown away that he would insult his entire heritage like that. Behind the scenes, I knew he was a coward, but in a million years, I never thought he would show it publicly.”
Recent news of Silva possibly splitting up with long-time manager and translator Ed Soares also has Sonnen wondering about just how much he has affected the pound-for-pound star outside of the cage.
“I like Ed [Soares] and he is very good at his job,” Sonnen said. “He has protected a phony, got him paid and pushed more than anybody, and created a false legacy for a bum. Ed should be praised and copied, not fired. I have great management and I’m lucky to be with them, but if I wasn’t, I would hire Ed….and I’m not kidding.”
Sonnen’s fight with Silva could go down in Brazil, which will feature another possible opponent for the 34-year-old in Vitor Belfort, who has called out Sonnen in the past.
“Vitor mentioned my name because he knew I was busy and knew he wouldn’t have to get locked in there with me. Well guess what, Vitor? I am busy, but I still got time to kick your ass. Challenge accepted.”
If you really think Chael Sonnen is going for the gusto with 
