Dana White had harsh words for Frank Mir following UFC 130, saying that he was not happy with Mir’s performance for the second consecutive fight.While Mir’s fight with Roy Nelson might not have been the most exciting fight in Mir’s career, White was si…
Dana White had harsh words for Frank Mir following UFC 130, saying that he was not happy with Mir’s performance for the second consecutive fight.
While Mir’s fight with Roy Nelson might not have been the most exciting fight in Mir’s career, White was simply too hard on Mir.
The fight itself was actually pretty exciting in the early going.
Mir and Nelson were engaging in wild exchanges with Nelson trying to land right hands, and Mir trying to land clinch knees to the head. Mir landed a bunch of heavy shots that would have ended the night if it wasn’t for Nelson’s tough chin.
The fight was also a pretty grueling and competitive one when it became a wrestling match.
Clinch fighting often doesn’t look like much, but it’s extremely tiring, especially when you’re pushing around a 260-pound man for 15 minutes.
Still, in the immediate aftermath, Dana White called the fight “borderline embarrassing.”
I disagree.
Realistic Expectations for Frank Mir
Frank Mir fought just about as well as you can expect Frank Mir to fight.
Mir has powerful strikes, but he’s not fast enough or technical enough to be able to stand and trade in the pocket.
As such, his striking attempts are going to come from range or in the clinch, and in fits and starts.
Mir is also not a great wrestler, so when he attempts to take somebody down, he’s going to have to spend a lot of energy doing so, and it’s not always going to be pretty.
At the present time it should be pretty easy to see that Mir isn’t going to be able to beat guys like Brock Lesnar and Cain Velasquez. Despite Mir’s recent dedication to strength and conditioning, he’s simply not on the same level as those guys athletically.
That doesn’t mean Frank Mir is irrelevant.
Mir is still a top-10 heavyweight. He just isn’t a top-three guy. In order to appreciate what Mir can do, (which is a lot) we need to accept that fact and move on.
There are still tons of interesting fights for Mir that could be entertaining or relevant.
Mir is a great challenge for up and coming contenders like Brendan Schaub or perhaps even a Travis Browne. He’d also be a worthwhile opponent for any other top-10 opponent.
Once people accept the fact that Mir doesn’t need to be able to win the belt to be relevant, people might finally start to enjoy his fights instead of saying, “he’d still get destroyed by Lesnar,” every time he fights.
When you think of Brian Stann you think of an American hero. A decorated Marine turned Mixed Martial Artist. When you think of top Middleweight contenders, you do not think of Brian Stann.I however believe that Stann is very underrated among his peers….
When you think of Brian Stann you think of an American hero. A decorated Marine turned Mixed Martial Artist. When you think of top Middleweight contenders, you do not think of Brian Stann.
I however believe that Stann is very underrated among his peers. Stann deserves a challenging opponent to see how he fits in with other legitimate fighters.
Stann was the light heavyweight champion in the UFC’s sister organization WEC. He has defeated Steve Cantwell twice, and just knocked out Jorge Santiago, and he crippled the crippler Chris Leben.
He asked for Chris Leben! He said he was not afraid like most people are and he knocked out Leben.
Stann is thriving very well in the UFC and he should get a shot at someone like Nate the Great or even Yushin Okami.
Stann is tough as nails and he shows that he can take a punch and that he can dish them out as well. With three losses in his MMA career it’s time to see what this man is really made of.
Stann has proved he can put on a good show and he can beat some of the best. The “All American” needs to be tested by a worthy Middleweight.
Following a lackluster card at UFC 130: Rampage vs. Hamill, it may be easy for one to disregard the importance of Rick Story’s impressive upset over Thiago Alves.While Story was meant to be something of a stepping stone for Alves—just another fig…
Following a lackluster card at UFC 130: Rampage vs. Hamill, it may be easy for one to disregard the importance of Rick Story’s impressive upset over Thiago Alves.
While Story was meant to be something of a stepping stone for Alves—just another fight to display his development as a well-rounded fighter—Story utilized superior wrestling, strength in the clinch, and a ridiculous chin to win a unanimous decision.
LAS VEGAS – Dana White may not like it, and he’s been adamant in his belief Chael Sonnen has been punished enough.
But the UFC boss said Saturday after UFC 130 that as long as the former middleweight title challenger remains under suspension by the California State Athletic Commission, he won’t step foot inside the Octagon.
MMA Fighting asked White following the post-fight press conference if he would allow Sonnen to fight in a state that would grant him a license, despite the CSAC suspension, or overseas, where the UFC does its own self-regulation. And White said that won’t happen, even though he knows there are states that would grant Sonnen a license and allow him to fight.
“We don’t do that,” White said of the possibility. “He’s going to have to pay his dues and straighten his stuff out with (the CSAC), even though I think what’s happened to him is wrong.”
Sonnen’s difficulties started after he dominated middleweight champion Anderson Silva deep into the fight before tapping to an armbar-triangle at UFC 117 in Oakland, Calif., last August. After the fight, he failed his drug test, then ran into further trouble with the CSAC when his testimony was called into question for its accuracy. And further complicating things for Sonnen, he plead guilty to a money laundering charge stemming from a real estate deal.
That all added up to the CSAC extending his suspension from six months to indefinite. He won’t be eligible to apply for a license in California until the end of June. And White thinks the CSAC has given his former top contender a raw deal.
“I think Chael has paid his dues,” White said. “Can you keep a guy from making a living for having a big mouth? He’s a big mouth. He says dumb (crap). He says stuff that doesn’t make sense sometimes. He lives on his own little planet. I can tell you this: You go throughout the history of boxing and look at some of the guys that have been licensed in boxing and what they’ve done.”
White was reminded that Strikeforce heavyweight Josh Barnett doesn’t have a license in California and has long had difficulties in that state following a failed drug test in August 2009. Yet Barnett will fight in Strikeforce’s heavyweight tournament in Texas in less than three weeks, a state that granted him a license despite his current ban in California. And since Zuffa owns Strikeforce now, along with the UFC, couldn’t the same thing, theoretically, be done for Sonnen? Sure, White said. But it won’t happen.
“We will honor it. We won’t let him fight anywhere,” White said. “We’ll honor that suspension until it’s cleared up. (The CSAC would) regulate me – they’re my boss too. You show me a guy who fought the government and won. Show me that guy. I want to meet him. I don’t want to be the guy to try. I do what I’m told.”
Rampage vs. Jones With his win over Matt Hamill in the main event of UFC 130, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson has seemingly put himself in line for another chance to hold the UFC light heavyweight belt. The problem, however, is that Jackson has a…
Rampage vs. Jones
With his win over Matt Hamill in the main event of UFC 130, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson has seemingly put himself in line for another chance to hold the UFC light heavyweight belt.
The problem, however, is that Jackson has an injured right hand.
“He’s one of the top two or three in the world,” UFC President Dana White said about Jackson. “If Rampage is ok, it will be with (Jon) Jones. We have to get Rampage looked at by a doctor.”
The former champion said the injury occurred late last year.
“I didn’t want to tell nobody about it,” Jackson said. “I hurt my hand in Japan in December drinking and messing around on a friend. The doctor said it was fractured, but I said “kiss my *ss, I’m fighting.”
Should Jackson not be able to make the fight, White has a back-up plan.
“If Rampage can’t go, we’d either do Machida since he’s ready to go or have Jones wait for Rashad (Evans),” White said. “Rashad is 100% sure he’s going to win this fight (against Phil Davis), and he wants to turn right around and fight Jones.”
Over the past few years, Evans and Jackson have had their issues with one another. The two are still not the best of friends.
“No, not at all,” Jackson said, when asked if he was surprised about the issues between Evans and Jones. “I figure anyone that knows Rashad is gonna have a feud.”
Fedor vs. Henderson is official
The long discussed attraction pitting two of the most accomplished MMA fighters in history is finally set to take place.
Former Pride heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko will take on Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Dan Henderson. Henderson is also the former Pride middleweight and light heavyweight champion.
The bout will take place July 30th on Showtime. Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker confirmed that the match-up would be fought at a catchweight of 220 lbs.
“Dan told me, ‘I’ll fight him at any weight. I’ve always wanted to fight him. I think I can beat him,’” Coker said. “Then, the managers get involved, and they set the weight.”
After Emelianenko lost to Antonio “Big Foot” Silva, there was discussion that Emelianenko should drop to light heavyweight. Coker never had those talks with M-1.
“We didn’t ask him that (to drop to 205),” Coker said. “Fedor’s a heavyweight. They (Fedor’s management) made that clear to me.”
The non-title affair will emanate from the Sears Center in Chicago, IL.
Big Country could need a new home
UFC President Dana White was very disappointed in the performance of heavyweight Roy Nelson in his decision loss to Frank Mir.
“I thought Roy looked terrible tonight,” White said. “I thought it was embarrassing. It was a sloppy, ugly heavyweight fight.”
When asked if Nelson was finished with the company, White was very non-committal.
“I don’t know,” White said. “I have a meeting with Roy next Friday, and we’ll see what happens. I am not happy with the performance.”
The Next Story
After taking a close decision win victory over highly ranked Thiago Alves, Ricky Story wasted little time calling out his next opponent.
“Me and my coach Pat White were discussing this,” Story said, “and the guy we want is Jon Fitch – since he should be next in line.”
Story believes he would fare well against the perennial top contender.
“I think that fight would be a good fight,” Story said. “My former teammate Mike Pierce had a close fight with him. I have all the confidence in the world going into that fight.”
“I think it should be like this one with Thiago Alves.”
In the build-up to the Alves fight, Story became well-known to the entire UFC audience. He was one of the feature fighters on the UFC 130 countdown show.
“I think the countdown show was pretty awesome,” Story said, “I didn’t expect to get that much time. That’s the point they were trying to drive home-that I belong in the fight.”
White believes the hype.
“I really like this kid,” White said. “He fought a great fight.”
Strikeforce television update
Recently, the UFC has expanded coverage of its live fights by broadcasting preliminary fights on both Spike TV and Facebook.
Now, Strikeforce is following in UFC’s path. The preliminary fights from the June 18 show will be shown live on HDNet.
The broadcast will feature two top contender battles in the lightweight division. In one fight KJ Noons will take on Jorge Masvidal, and in the other fight, Justin Wilcox will take on Gesias (J.Z.) Calvacante.
“After those fights, the deck gets reshuffled,” Coker said, “and we’ll determine then who fights Gilbert Melendez.”
Along with the lightweight bouts, Strikeforce will also show three other undercard fights. In total, there will be five preliminary fights televised in the two-hour block.
Walker “itching” to return
Former NFL running back turned MMA fighter Herschel Walker has been inactive since a January 29 victory over Scott Carson.
At that time, Walker was non-committal about taking another bout.
Now, Strikeforce President Scott Coker believes Walker, at age 49, wants to get back into the cage.
“He doesn’t have a fight scheduled, but he’s getting the itch,” Coker said. “He’s quite an amazing athlete. We’ll do it when he’s ready.”
LAS VEGAS — MMA Fighting spoke to UFC president Dana White about Saturday night’s UFC 130 event, whether he felt the boos from the fans during the main event were justified, why he was disappointed in Frank Mir vs. Roy Nelson, his overall thoughts on the card, Brock Lesnar’s health status following colon surgery and his pick in the Stanley Cup Finals.
LAS VEGAS — MMA Fighting spoke to UFC president Dana White about Saturday night’s UFC 130 event, whether he felt the boos from the fans during the main event were justified, why he was disappointed in Frank Mir vs. Roy Nelson, his overall thoughts on the card, Brock Lesnar’s health status following colon surgery and his pick in the Stanley Cup Finals.
Dana White had harsh words for Frank Mir following UFC 130, saying that he was not happy with Mir’s performance for the second consecutive fight.
LAS VEGAS – 
LAS VEGAS — MMA Fighting spoke to UFC president