Tag: Dana White

UFC Already Examining Security for Sonnen vs. Silva 2 in Brazil

Filed under: UFC, NewsCHICAGO — UFC President Dana White reiterated on Wednesday that the winner of the upcoming Chael Sonnen-Mark Munoz fight on Fox will take on middleweight champion Anderson Silva some time this summer. And White said that he could…

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Chael SonnenCHICAGO — UFC President Dana White reiterated on Wednesday that the winner of the upcoming Chael Sonnen–Mark Munoz fight on Fox will take on middleweight champion Anderson Silva some time this summer. And White said that he could see putting together a blockbuster Sonnen-Silva rematch in Brazil, possibly in front of tens of thousands of people in a soccer stadium.

That raises an interesting question: Is White concerned about an ugly scene breaking out if Sonnen continues saying the ugly things he has said about Brazlians in general and Silva in particular?

“We’ve already started worrying about that,” White said. “We will have presidential-type security down there for him. The biggest fear would be should Chael win that night. We’d have to f–king dig a tunnel underneath the Octagon.”

But White said he likes the idea of Silva fighting his most hated rival in front of his Brazilian fans. And he said the proper security procedures could ensure a safe environment for Sonnen and everyone else in attendance.

White pointed to a 1993 boxing match between Greg Haugen and Julio Caesar Chavez before 132,247 fans at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City as a precedent for an American fighter going into extremely hostile territory against a beloved champion.

“Greg Haugen said the most horrible things you can ever say about Mexicans,” White said. “They walked him in, people were throwing beers at him as he went in, it was crazy. But the fight went off and it was one of the biggest fights in boxing history.”

White would like to make Sonnen-Silva 2 one of the biggest fights in MMA history, and he said both Silva and Sonnen will be ready to go, should Sonnen beat Munoz. Sonnen is getting his trash talking started early by accusing Silva of ducking him by faking a shoulder injury, but White said that’s just trash talk from Sonnen.

“He knows this: There’s no such thing as faking an injury in the UFC,” White said. “If I’m trying to make that fight and you tell me you’re injured, you come see our doctors, we check them out and verify they’re injured. There’s no faking injuries in the UFC.”

 

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Dana White Says Jason Miller Has the Worst Stand-Up He Has Ever Seen

It has only been a few days since Jason “Mayhem” Miller lost to Michael Bisping at The Ultimate Fighter Finale, and UFC president Dana White had strong words for the former Strikeforce veteran in an interview with MMAfighting.com.”I still don’t know,” …

It has only been a few days since Jason “Mayhem” Miller lost to Michael Bisping at The Ultimate Fighter Finale, and UFC president Dana White had strong words for the former Strikeforce veteran in an interview with MMAfighting.com.

“I still don’t know,” said White, who was busy promoting the next UFC on Fox show earlier today in Chicago.  

“It was bad. To be honest, believe me, my Twitter has been blowing up with all the Mayhem fans blasting me, but facts are facts. It was the worst standup I’ve ever seen in my life. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen worse standup. The guy’s been in the business for over 10 years. It looked like it was his first fight ever. It was the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen.”

After an intense season of The Ultimate Fighter, with Miller and Bisping coaching opposite of each other, the trash-talk hyped up the fight to a point where a loss for either guy would be a serious blow to their goals of title contention.

Miller won the first round in many fans’ eyes during the five-round main event, but Bisping eventually wore down his opponent and won via TKO in the third round. It was the second loss in the UFC for Miller, who was last seen fighting in the Octagon against Georges St-Pierre before the current UFC welterweight champion had held the belt.

“Some of the punches that were thrown by Mayhem Miller in this fight, you could go to a girls’ Tae Bo class and see better form, better stand-up. It was embarrassing,” White said.

He also gave his opinions on Bisping, who picked up his fourth victory in a row.

“Michael Bisping is easy to hate so people want to discredit him because they don’t like him, but Bisping is the real deal,” White said. “He’s a tough guy.”

Bisping will now face jiu-jitsu ace Demian Maia at UFC on Fox 2, which goes down January 28 at the United Center.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Dana White: Mayhem Miller Has ‘The Worst Standup I’ve Ever Seen’

Filed under: UFC, NewsCHICAGO — With a few days to reflect on it, UFC President Dana White remains baffled by how easily Michael Bisping beat Jason “Mayhem” Miller at Saturday night’s Ultimate Fighter Finale.

“I still don’t know,” White said of Mill…

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Mayhem MillerCHICAGO — With a few days to reflect on it, UFC President Dana White remains baffled by how easily Michael Bisping beat Jason “Mayhem” Miller at Saturday night’s Ultimate Fighter Finale.

“I still don’t know,” White said of Miller’s performance. “It was bad. To be honest, believe me, my Twitter has been blowing up with all the Mayhem fans blasting me, but facts are facts. It was the worst standup I’ve ever seen in my life. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen worse standup. The guy’s been in the business for over 10 years. It looked like it was his first fight ever. It was the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen.”

White said Miller’s issues in his third-round technical knockout loss go beyond ring rust or nerves and seem much more fundamental.

“Some of the punches that were thrown by Mayhem Miller in this fight, you could go to a girls’ Tae Bo class and see better form, better stand-up. It was embarrassing,” White said.

Miller was the fan favorite against Bisping, who has long been promoted by the UFC as a valuable fighter for the U.K. market but hasn’t caught on with American fans. White said he’s become accustomed to fans booing Bisping, but he maintains that Bisping has proven himself as an elite middleweight and a legitimate future title contender.

“Michael Bisping is easy to hate so people want to discredit him because they don’t like him, but Bisping is the real deal. He’s a tough guy,” White said.

White has resigned himself, however, to the fact that Bisping will never be as popular in the United States as he is in England. And he says he’s not bothered by the fact that Bisping got confrontational with the fans who booed him at the Ultimate Fighter Finale weigh-ins.

“Bisping is who he is,” White said. “There are certain people, there’s something about them that you’re not going to like. Michael Bisping is one of them and so is Josh Koscheck. These guys could try to go out there, make everything better, say nice things, and you’re still not going to like them.”

As for the weigh-in incident, White said fans have to expect fighters to react that way when they’re taunted the day before the fight.

“The day of the weigh-ins, these guys have been away from their families for eight weeks, they’re cutting weight for the last two days, they’re miserable and nasty, and if you say something to him, he’s a fighter, what do you think he’s going to say?” White said. “This isn’t the NFL, this isn’t the NBA, this is the fight business.”

 

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Fedor Emelianenko: "I Have a Desire to Compete in the UFC"

Fedor Emelianenko’s management team M-1 might not be able to bring the former PRIDE star into the UFC; however, Emelianenko still envisions himself competing inside the Octagon at some point.The 34-year-old has been long wanted by UFC fans and, more im…

Fedor Emelianenko‘s management team M-1 might not be able to bring the former PRIDE star into the UFC; however, Emelianenko still envisions himself competing inside the Octagon at some point.

The 34-year-old has been long wanted by UFC fans and, more importantly, by UFC President Dana White, to test his skills against some the heavyweight division’s top competitors. At one point, a heavily-rumored bout between Emelianenko and Brock Lesnar had surfaced, but it never materialized as “The Last Emperor” opted to sign for then-rival Strikeforce. 

However, after going 1-3 in Strikeforce, Emelianenko was released from Strikeforce and now wants the opportunity to compete in the top organization in mixed martial arts. Emelianenko exclusively told news.sportbox.ru (translated by MMAMania.com) he has a desire to fight in the UFC, despite the ongoing negotiations.

“Of course I would like in UFC too, but to this day, all the times we had negotiations with them.. possibly they have allergy on me (laughs), and for some reason we can’t make an agreement now,” Emelianenko said. “Vadim (Finkelstein) met them, but for example if we had some agreement in talk, the contract that they sent then were different. But I have a desire to compete in UFC.”

When PRIDE FC disbanded in 2007, Emelianenko was the most sought-after free agent in MMA at the time. While popular fighters like Wanderlei Silva, Maurcio “Shogun” Rua and Mirko Cro Cop made their way to the UFC, it was the Russian heavyweight who White actively pursued more than anyone. 

While Emelianenko might have the UFC high on his priority list, he isn’t necessarily on the UFC’s radar any longer.

The constant rift between M-1 and the UFC/Zuffa LLC had reached it’s climax in 2009 after the Russian’s management team tried to negotiate co-promotion on all UFC events featuring Emelianenko. The UFC immediately declined. 

While Emelianenko continues to fight internationally, his transition to the UFC will likely never happen, and it might be the only detriment to his legendary career. It will ultimately leave UFC fans pondering on what could of been of the Russian’s UFC career.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC: 15 Contenders Who Could Rule Their Divisions in 2012

The UFC is more stacked than it’s ever been.With the emergence of Jon Jones, Frankie Edgar and Dominick Cruz as perennial champions, a lot of fighters are being overlooked heading into 2012.But along with the UFC’s dynamic capitalization of the WEC’s B…

The UFC is more stacked than it’s ever been.

With the emergence of Jon Jones, Frankie Edgar and Dominick Cruz as perennial champions, a lot of fighters are being overlooked heading into 2012.

But along with the UFC’s dynamic capitalization of the WEC’s Bantamweight and Featherweight divisions, the sheer evolution of the modern day mixed martial artist has given fans and experts the privilege in witnessing top-notch bouts on an event-to-event basis.

With that said, beyond the explosive knockouts, come-from-behind victories, unprecedented upsets and toe-to-toe battles of 2011, it’s time to reign in the new year.

Wily veterans, top prospects and near-contenders are continuously fighting for their chances to revenge a championships loss, or spark a new era of excellence in their respective divisions.

Here are 15 fighters who have the opportunities to shock the UFC community and capture 2012 gold.

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5 UFC Fighters You Should Not Expect to See on FOX This Year

The UFC agreed a landmark deal with Fox on August 18th, 2011. They will get to show four events for free every year. The deal is looking to bring a lot of new fans to the UFC.As a kind of preview for the deal, the UFC put on UFC on Fox 1. The fight’s h…

The UFC agreed a landmark deal with Fox on August 18th, 2011. They will get to show four events for free every year. The deal is looking to bring a lot of new fans to the UFC.

As a kind of preview for the deal, the UFC put on UFC on Fox 1. The fight’s headline was Cain Velasquez facing Junior Dos Santos for the heavyweight title. The fight would only last just over a minute.

Just one week later, UFC 139 would take place and the main event—Shogun vs. Henderson—was viewed by many as the best fight ever! Many people asked Dana whether he regretted not putting this fight on Fox.

Dana stated that he was happy as it would have led to complaints, and that they needed to ease fans into UFC. This suggests Dana will keep certain fighters off the Fox channel for while. This slideshow will look at the fighters I don’t expect to see on Fox. 

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