Ever since Anderson Silva and Lyoto Machida knocked their respective opponents out with Aikido’s signature front kicks to the face, Sensei Seagal’s phone must have been ringing off the hook.The thing is, one man, even a great man like Steven Seagal, on…
Ever since Anderson Silva and Lyoto Machida knocked their respective opponents out with Aikido’s signature front kicks to the face, Sensei Seagal’s phone must have been ringing off the hook.
The thing is, one man, even a great man like Steven Seagal, only has so much time to coach internationally renowned fighters. Amid a string of obligations including acting commitments in 46 straight-to-DVD movies and the policing of America’s most dangerous streets, Seagal can squeeze in only those competitors who truly need his help.
Luckily for the master, we’ve narrowed down the candidates, selecting eight fighters desperately in need of some education.
The following slides showcase competitors in dire straights, highlighting those individuals who, without knowing a series of fairly impractical wrist-locks, may find themselves fighting irrelevancy in the MMA world.
What would we do without Steven? Let’s hope we never have to find out.
Upon his entrance into the UFC in 2007, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson was one of the most sought-after talents in the sport and he would go on to achieve a lot of success for the company.Jackson’s legacy can be matched by very few fighters and he will alwa…
Upon his entrance into the UFC in 2007, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson was one of the most sought-after talents in the sport and he would go on to achieve a lot of success for the company.
Jackson’s legacy can be matched by very few fighters and he will always be remembered as one of the most exciting fighters in mixed martial arts history, but he doesn’t appear to have the same desire to compete any longer.
Jackson’s recent performances have disappointed many fans as of late, including UFC president Dana White, and it has led some to question his longevity.
White considers the 34-year-old Jackson to still be among one of the more popular fighters in the light heavyweight division, but he believes the former UFC light heavyweight champion could of accomplished more in his career.
“I think he could have been so much better if he applied himself,” White told MMAFighting.com. “He had all the tools. Incredible chin, knockout power in both hands, incredible charisma and personality.”
Prior to signing with the UFC, Jackson was one of the most successful fighters competing in the now-defuct Pride FC in Japan. Jackson was renowned for his colorful personality, along with his knockout power and vicious body slams.
Collecting wins over fighters like Kevin Randleman and Ricardo Arona, Jackson would make a successful transition to the Octagon where he found himself victorious over Chuck Liddell and Dan Henderson, unifying both the UFC and Pride light heavyweight title.
But amidst all his success, White said some of Jackson’s losses have taken their toll on him and have caused him to become emotional.
“He’s crazy, Rampage takes losses really hard,” he said. “‘Rampage’ wants to fight one more fight on his contract, and his last fight, and he’ll never make that money ever again for the rest of his life. A lot of those guys in the UFC don’t realize that until its too late.”
Jackson is currently rehabbing a knee injury that will keep him out of action momentarily, but if and when he decides to return, it’ll be interesting to see what remains left of his legendary career.
Radio show host Jim Rome had the dubious honor yesterday of informing UFC President Dana White of the Nevada State Athletic Commission‘s denial of a license for heavyweight Alistair Overeem and their ruling that he would not be allowed to reapply for nine months. White responded by saying he assumed Overeem would have gotten a more severe punishment and that he is unsure if Alistair will still have a job with the UFC.
“I thought he would get a year. Easily a year,” White said. “I’m not a fan at all. You’re not going to hear me today on your radio show defending Alistair Overeem. Believe me.”
Luckily for Alistair, White has brought back plenty of guys who have failed drug tests or otherwise violated the law. Hell, Alistair has already failed a drug test so he might be a felony away from receiving a title shot when and if he returns. But for Overeem to blow it so epically when so much was on the line? That might be unforgivable.
“I know he lied to me,” White told Rome. “I don’t like it…if they’ll sit in front of you and lie to your face, [they’re] not the kind of guys I want to do business with.”
Check out audio from Rome’s interview with Uncle Dana after the jump.
Radio show host Jim Rome had the dubious honor yesterday of informing UFC President Dana White of the Alistair Overeem Denied License by NSAC, Can Reapply in Nine Months” href=”http://www.cagepotato.com/alistair-overeem-denied-license-by-nevada-state-athletic-commission-can-reapply-in-nine-months/” target=”_blank”>Nevada State Athletic Commission‘s denial of a license for heavyweight Alistair Overeem and their ruling that he would not be allowed to reapply for nine months. White responded by saying he assumed Overeem would have gotten a more severe punishment and that he is unsure if Alistair will still have a job with the UFC.
“I thought he would get a year. Easily a year,” White said. “I’m not a fan at all. You’re not going to hear me today on your radio show defending Alistair Overeem. Believe me.”
Luckily for Alistair, White has brought back plenty of guys who have failed drug tests or otherwise violated the law. Hell, Alistair has already failed a drug test so he might be a felony away from receiving a title shot when and if he returns. But for Overeem to blow it so epically when so much was on the line? That might be unforgivable.
“I know he lied to me,” White told Rome. “I don’t like it…if they’ll sit in front of you and lie to your face, [they’re] not the kind of guys I want to do business with.”
Check out audio from Rome’s interview with Uncle Dana after the jump.
(My qualifications? HERE’S my stinking qualifications!)
It looks like we’ll have to start drafting up new t-shirts to falsely promise you guys, because according to a recent interview with MMAFighting, UFC President Dana White was rather frank about his desire for both former light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz and former lightweight and welterweight champion B.J. Penn to be placed in the UFC Hall of Fame in the near future. Though the jury is still out on whether or not Penn will return to the octagon following his hasty retirement in the aftermath of UFC 137, DW had nothing but positives to say about “The Prodigy” when asked on the possibility of his placement in the HOF:
Definitely. The thing about B.J. Penn is that what he brought to the lightweight division, there was a point in time when we first bought this company when people thought guys in the lighter weight divisions couldn’t be stars and couldn’t see pay-per-views and couldn’t cross over. B.J. Penn was definitely that first crossover guy for us. He’ll be back. It’s tough, when there are 16,000 people in the arena chanting your name, it’s tough to walk away from that. B.J. Penn is a fighter. You hear some of these guys, and Tito was one of these guys, he said he wanted to be famous. B.J. Penn is a fighter.
So there you have it, Penn will join long-time rival Matt Hughes, as well as Randy Couture, Ken Shamrock, Dan Severn, Mark Coleman, Royce Gracie, Chuck Liddell, and Tapout co-founder Charles “Mask” Lewis in that deluxe octagon in the sky. After a pair of unsuccessful title bids at 155, Penn won the welterweight title in his welterweight debut by defeating the then untouchable Hughes by first round rear-naked choke at UFC 46. Penn would vacate the UFC shortly thereafter, citing a lack of challenging fights, and would not taste UFC gold again until beating the ever-loving shit out of Joe Stevenson at UFC 80 to claim the vacant lightweight strap. He would defend the belt three times until being upended by Frankie Edgar at UFC 112.
When addressing the possibility of Tito Ortiz joining those illustrious ranks, White did not shy away from the pair’s well-documented rocky history, and in fact stated that, in retrospect, it helped make the UFC what it is today.
Hear more from The Baldfather after the jump.
(My qualifications? HERE’S my stinking qualifications!)
It looks like we’ll have to start drafting up new t-shirts to falsely promise you guys, because according to a recent interview with MMAFighting, UFC President Dana White was rather frank about his desire for both former light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz and former lightweight and welterweight champion B.J. Penn to be placed in the UFC Hall of Fame in the near future. Though the jury is still out on whether or not Penn will return to the octagon following his hasty retirement in the aftermath of UFC 137, DW had nothing but positives to say about “The Prodigy” when asked on the possibility of his placement in the HOF:
Definitely. The thing about B.J. Penn is that what he brought to the lightweight division, there was a point in time when we first bought this company when people thought guys in the lighter weight divisions couldn’t be stars and couldn’t see pay-per-views and couldn’t cross over. B.J. Penn was definitely that first crossover guy for us. He’ll be back. It’s tough, when there are 16,000 people in the arena chanting your name, it’s tough to walk away from that. B.J. Penn is a fighter. You hear some of these guys, and Tito was one of these guys, he said he wanted to be famous. B.J. Penn is a fighter.
So there you have it, Penn will join long-time rival Matt Hughes, as well as Randy Couture, Ken Shamrock, Dan Severn, Mark Coleman, Royce Gracie, Chuck Liddell, and Tapout co-founder Charles “Mask” Lewis in that deluxe octagon in the sky. After a pair of unsuccessful title bids at 155, Penn won the welterweight title in his welterweight debut by defeating the then untouchable Hughes by first round rear-naked choke at UFC 46. Penn would vacate the UFC shortly thereafter, citing a lack of challenging fights, and would not taste UFC gold again until beating the ever-loving shit out of Joe Stevenson at UFC 80 to claim the vacant lightweight strap. He would defend the belt three times until being upended by Frankie Edgar at UFC 112.
When addressing the possibility of Tito Ortiz joining those illustrious ranks, White did not shy away from the pair’s well-documented rocky history, and in fact stated that, in retrospect, it helped make the UFC what it is today:
Despite my personal problems with Tito, he belongs in. He was the champion when we first bought this thing. The fact that Tito is still here, Tito and I have had our moments, but it doesn’t change what he did for the company. The beef between me and Tito, Chuck and Tito, the fact is, that played a huge role in helping making this thing as big as it is.
In case you’ve all forgotten, there was a time when Tito Ortiz was more than just a punching bag for future and former world champions and the butt of endless commentary based jokes. After decisioning Wanderlei Silva and winning the light heavyweight championship at UFC 25, Ortiz defended the strap more times than any fighter in the division’s history (5), scoring victories over the likes of Evan Tanner, Yuki Kondo, and Vladimir Matyushenko. Recently, Ortiz announced that his trilogy-completion bout against Forrest Griffin at UFC 148 would be his last bout as a professional.
And even Donald Trump will tell you that Ortiz is a hell of a businessman. Aside from being one of the most consistent pay-per-view draws in the promotion’s history, Ortiz’s trilogy with Ken Shamrock as well as his epic pair of bouts with “The Iceman” have been responsible for more UFC merchandising profits than any other fighter can lay claim to.
So what do you think of these additions to the HOF, Potato Nation? And secondly, who do you think deserves a place in the Hall of Fame beside these two gents in the near future? Be advised, the first person to say Jon Jones is going to get their ass whipped.
Chael Sonnen was the recipient of a shock pen prank whilst being hounded by aggressive reporters on his recent trip to Brazil to promote his upcoming UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) 148 title rematch against Anderson “The Spider” Silva…
Chael Sonnen was the recipient of a shock pen prank whilst being hounded by aggressive reporters on his recent trip to Brazil to promote his upcoming UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) 148 title rematch against Anderson “The Spider” Silva.
UFC President Dana White, who was also in tow, witnessed firsthand the Sonnen drama unfold, and this is his take on the scenes which could be scripted for a Hollywood movie.
We had proper security with us. We had like seven guys with us. These are guys that mapped out the whole route. We literally landed at the airport in Rio, a shuttle took us through customs, jumped on helicopters and the helicopters took us right to the hotel. I came through the front door. We put him (Sonnen) through a side door. We had him in a holding room. We went down to the press conference and he had a scrum. The reporters were getting really aggressive with him at the scrum. Somebody got him with shock pen and all kinds of stuff like that. He went out the side door. I went out the front door. Helicopters took us back. We got on a plane and got him out of there. I wanted to make sure we got in and out and got him safe. I’m still getting texts, ‘Did you and Sonnen get out of Brazil alive last night? I haven’t heard from you. Give me an update.’ I made him (Sonnen) ride in a different car than me.
Prior to and after his first unsuccessful tilt at Silva’s middleweight crown back at UFC 117, Sonnen, the 35-year-old Oregon native has been nothing short of a continuous thorn in the Brazilian’s side—he’s called him out on numerous occasions and questioned his manliness and to boot took a swipe at his family.
Furthermore, the former NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) Division I standout has disrespected the Brazilian denizens as well as some of its most famous MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) exports—The Nogueira brothers—Antonio Rodrigo and Antonio Rogério, Wanderlei Silva, Lyoto Machida, Vitor Belfort and Jose Aldo.
Whether it’s divine intervention that the original event—UFC 147 in Brazil—has been moved to UFC 148 in Las Vegas is anyone’s guess. Still, on July 7 Sonnen (27-11 record in the MMA, 6-4 in the UFC ) will be vying for UFC gold against a man who has the hopes of Brazil resting firmly on his shoulders.
Anderson Silva didn’t lash out publicly at Dana White when the UFC president declared he wanted to move the rematch with Chael Sonnen to Las Vegas, USA — but on the quiet he was very upset. It took the UFC president 75 minutes to convince him to fight Chael Sonnen in Las Vegas instead of Rio de Janeiro and this was the reason for the press conference delay yesterday, reports Gustavo Noblat of OGlobo.com.
The talk was heated — initially Anderson refused to change the venue of what could be the rematch of the century…The upcoming confrontation was set to occur at Stadium Engenhao in Rio, and would have been the biggest show of UFC history with 80 thousand tickets to be sold. But the date coincided with international events in the city and White alleged Rio would not have the infrastructure to hold the fighting event.
The champion was frustrated and insisted on fighting in Brazil. Anderson told Dana that Sonnen had been disrespectful with him, his family and all the Brazilian. “He deserves to taught a lesson here, I owe this to my people”, repeated Silva. But Dana was adamant. “If there is no way to make the event in a stadium, it has to be in Las Vegas,” said the company president.
(He only points at the ones he loves. / Photo via Sherdog)
Anderson Silva didn’t lash out publicly at Dana White when the UFC president declared he wanted to move the rematch with Chael Sonnen to Las Vegas, USA — but on the quiet he was very upset. It took the UFC president 75 minutes to convince him to fight Chael Sonnen in Las Vegas instead of Rio de Janeiro and this was the reason for the press conference delay yesterday, reports Gustavo Noblat of OGlobo.com.
The talk was heated — initially Anderson refused to change the venue of what could be the rematch of the century…The upcoming confrontation was set to occur at Stadium Engenhao in Rio, and would have been the biggest show of UFC history with 80 thousand tickets to be sold. But the date coincided with international events in the city and White alleged Rio would not have the infrastructure to hold the fighting event.
The champion was frustrated and insisted on fighting in Brazil. Anderson told Dana that Sonnen had been disrespectful with him, his family and all the Brazilian. “He deserves to taught a lesson here, I owe this to my people”, repeated Silva. But Dana was adamant. “If there is no way to make the event in a stadium, it has to be in Las Vegas,” said the company president.
Dana explained that Las Vegas is a city that has structure to promote the UFC from one day to the next. The capital of betting and fights is there, remarked the boss. He reminded Silva of the appeal that the bout will have in the United States, landing as it does in the week of the celebrations for Independence Day.
He spoke about the potential of the pay-per-view sales it would generate and in the end, he guaranteed a good percentage of the pay-per-view share to Anderson. As with so many things in life, money talks louder than anything.
After a lot of discussion Anderson concluded by turning to White and asking “Okay, so tell me — what do you want from me?” White answered, “I want you go to Las Vegas and perform well, make it a great fight.” It was then the champion formally accepted the mission. “If it has to be like this, I will beat this guy wherever. He deserves a lesson.”
Dana was excited with the ‘yes’ of Anderson. He told him he was the “perfect UFC ambassador in Brazil” and also reaffirmed that the Brazilian “is the best fighter ever made in MMA — today everybody talks about Jon Jones but for me you are the best by far,” said a smiling White…
The UFC plans to invest in academies in Brazil with the brand Anderson Silva/UFC. The event recognizes in Anderson the biggest MMA talent of all time and wishes to use his image even when he retires.
“Anderson knows this partnership with UFC is for life,” Jorge Guimaraes told Noblat. “There are no motives to get into friction with the event, so we accepted to fight in Vegas. We don’t go against the UFC, we go on the same side — after all, Anderson is their employee.”
The duel could have been kept in Brazil but it would take place at a smaller location than a soccer stadium. “A fight of this magnitude has to be at a grand place and Las Vegas is a good venue,” Jorge said.
Of course, this isn’t the first time that Anderson has been a pain in Dana’s ass. But I can sympathize with the frustration of Silva, who must be feeling the disappointment of the Brazilian fans right now.
Upon his entrance into the UFC in 2007, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson was one of the most sought-after talents in the sport and he would go on to achieve a lot of success for the company.
