(Be warned, Dana, Barnett only comes as a package deal.)
Well, you can add Josh Barnett to the small list of people that Dana White has said will never fight in the UFC again, but will now likely fight in the UFC again. Money does strange things to people, doesn’t it?
Believe it or not, the man who once offered to urinate in DW’s mouth for a steroid test, and stated that he believed “a trained monkey” could do the UFC President’s job will almost definitely be getting a call from the UFC if he is able to walk away victorious from his upcoming Strikeforce Heavyweight tournament final match with Daniel Cormier on May 19th. Here’s what The Baldfather had to say:
The way that Showtime wants to do it is when that fight finally happens, whoever wins it, they wanna do another fight on Showtime, so that guy would probably come to the UFC. We’ll see what happens, you know? Josh and I have been playing nice with each other for a little while, since he got into the UFC. It’s more than just, ‘Does he win? Does he do this?’ You gotta be able to come to terms with the guy and be able to deal with him. If he wins the fight, I can’t see why he wouldn’t come here, unless we weren’t able to make a deal with him.
(Be warned, Dana, Barnett only comes as a package deal.)
Well, you can add Josh Barnett to the small list of people that Dana White has said will never fight in the UFC again, but will now likely fight in the UFC again. Money does strange things to people, doesn’t it?
Believe it or not, the man who once offered to urinate in DW’s mouth for a steroid test, and stated that he believed “a trained monkey” could do the UFC President’s job will almost definitely be getting a call from the UFC if he is able to walk away victorious from his upcoming Strikeforce Heavyweight tournament final match with Daniel Cormier on May 19th. Here’s what The Baldfather had to say:
The way that Showtime wants to do it is when that fight finally happens, whoever wins it, they wanna do another fight on Showtime, so that guy would probably come to the UFC. We’ll see what happens, you know? Josh and I have been playing nice with each other for a little while, since he got into the UFC. It’s more than just, ‘Does he win? Does he do this?’ You gotta be able to come to terms with the guy and be able to deal with him. If he wins the fight, I can’t see why he wouldn’t come here, unless we weren’t able to make a deal with him.
To be fair, Barnett did make it easier for Zuffa to axe Brett Rogers, and has passed every test put in front of him since pissing hot and subsequently crushing Affliction three years ago, so perhaps he has earned the right to fight in the sport’s highest promotion once again. The fact that he has made mincemeat out of his last eight opponents surely helps push forward this notion, but what do you think? Will we be seeing Josh Barnett in the UFC by the end of 2012?
A word to the wise, Dana: Be wary of outsiders with a history, either speculated or proven, of steroid usage. It can really come back and bite you in the arse.
(The California State Athletic Commission’s methods may have not been considered normal, but at least now no one can say they just gave Barnett a slap on the wrist.)
Current Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix participant and former UFC heavyweight champion Josh Barnett was issued a conditional license to fight in the state of California once again by the California State Athletic Commission Monday during a special meeting called to consider his case. Barnett failed a pre-fight drug test for steroids in 2009 as he readied to fight Fedor Emlianenko in the now defunct Affliction fight promotion. His license to fight in California was subsequently suspended and a later appeal for it to be lifted was denied.
Since that time, Barnett has been licensed and fought in both Ohio and Texas. However, Strikeforce has the next round of their heavyweight tournament scheduled to take place in California in mid-May, and Barnett is slated to face off against Dan Cormier. The commission’s next regularly scheduled meeting is set for April but, as they explained today, that would not have been enough time to allow Strikeforce to effectively promote the card. So a special meeting was requested and approved for Barnett. Before today’s meeting, Barnett was subjected to, and passed, another drug test.
(The California State Athletic Commission’s methods may have not been considered normal, but at least now no one can say they just gave Barnett a slap on the wrist.)
Current Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix participant and former UFC heavyweight champion Josh Barnett was issued a conditional license to fight in the state of California once again by the California State Athletic Commission Monday during a special meeting called to consider his case. Barnett failed a pre-fight drug test for steroids in 2009 as he readied to fight Fedor Emlianenko in the now defunct Affliction fight promotion. His license to fight in California was subsequently suspended and a later appeal for it to be lifted was denied.
Since that time, Barnett has been licensed and fought in both Ohio and Texas. However, Strikeforce has the next round of their heavyweight tournament scheduled to take place in California in mid-May, and Barnett is slated to face off against Dan Cormier. The commission’s next regularly scheduled meeting is set for April but, as they explained today, that would not have been enough time to allow Strikeforce to effectively promote the card. So a special meeting was requested and approved for Barnett. Before today’s meeting, Barnett was subjected to, and passed, another drug test.
According to California statutes, the burden to show fitness for licensure fell on Barnett. He made his case by emphasizing time passed since his last positive test (he also tested positive for anabolic steroids in Nevada in 2002), the tests he has subsequently passed, and his charitable and coaching work. Barnett mentioned everything from his organizing with the Red Cross a benefit concert for victims of the recent Japanese tsunami, to his support of women’s MMA to his coaching of youth wrestling, but still denied ever having “intentionally or knowingly” taken steroids.
After opening remarks from California Deputy Attorney General Karen Chappelle and Barnett’s attorney, “The Baby-Faced Assassin” made his own. “This is truly an international sport. I can fight anywhere in the world but I want to fight in California…. Hopefully I can convince you to allow me back in this great state and do what I love,” Barnett told the commission.
However, other remarks in his statement, describing his “utter shock” at his positive test in 2009 appeared to confuse several members of the commission as well as draw the ire of Ms. Chappelle. When questioned by the commission why he would have been shocked by his 2009 positive test, Barnett said that he had never “intentionally or knowingly” taken steroids. A commissioner followed by asking if Barnett was contending that the 2009 test results were not accurate.
While Barnett said that he “could not speak to the test” he maintained that he had never knowingly taken steroids and that there was a whole host of possibilities that could explain the results, including tainted supplements.
Ms. Chappelle seemed to feel that Barnett’s answers were somehow attempting to call in to question the validity of the 2009 test. She pointed out that her office had subpoenaed drug experts from the testing laboratories to prepare for an appeal process in 2009 but that, when he had the chance, Barnett chose not to appeal the test results. She said it was her understanding that Barnett would simply apologize for the 2009 positive test in this meeting and ask to be licensed once more.
Barnett’s attorney attempted to clarify and save face, stating that Barnett simply wanted to appear to ask to be able to fight on the strength of the fact that he has passed several tests since 2009, and has done community work.
The commission had three main options with Barnett: They could once more deny his application to fight in California. They could grant him an unconditional license to fight, or they could grant him a conditional license to fight, whereupon they could attach particular mandates to his license.
Barnett was grilled for a bit longer on the details of his community work and how, exactly, he feels he is smarter and better prepared to avoid future positive drug test results, but ultimately, the commission decided to go with the third option.
Commission Chair John Frierson explained succinctly, “we need good fighters in the state of California…I speak with the Governor often and he always asks me, ‘why don’t we have more big fights?’,” before entering a motion to grant a conditional license to Barnett.
Eventually, the motion was seconded and voted in favor of and Barnett was granted a license to fight in California, on the condition that he be subjected to random biological fluid tests prior to any fights in the state, with the timing to be at the discretion of the state’s staff.
Strikeforce executive Scott Coker was in attendance at the commission hearing but did not speak.
After the decision was rendered, Barnett once more addressed the commission, saying, “I intend to make everyone on the commission…believers. I hope to see you at fight and I hope to change your opinions.”
Commission Chair Frierson replied, “Please don’t let us down. We need good fights and we need good people.”
Filed under: StrikeforceMo Lawal can admit it now: things didn’t go the way he thought they would when he first walked though the doors of the American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, Calif. in the spring of 2011. What happened was simple, really. He c…
Mo Lawal can admit it now: things didn’t go the way he thought they would when he first walked though the doors of the American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, Calif. in the spring of 2011. What happened was simple, really. He came in with all the swagger you’d expect from a man who goes by the moniker of “King” Mo, and then he found out the hard way that he wasn’t the only MMA royalty on those mats.
Or as he put it: “I got beat up.”
And we’re not talking just normal bumps and bruises, either. We’re talking good old-fashioned butt-whoopings. One right after another, after another, after another.
For the former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion, a man who had racked up seven straight wins in just a year and a half of professional competition, this wasn’t just a surprise — it was a travesty. It was a challenge to everything he thought he knew about himself and his abilities. It was unacceptable. And he had his best friend and former Oklahoma State wrestling teammate, Daniel Cormier, to thank for it.
Cormier convinced Lawal to come up to the Bay Area gym after he heard that his old friend wasn’t totally satisfied with the training he was getting down in Orange County. Lawal had recently suffered the first loss of his career in a Strikeforce 205-pound title defense against Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante in August of 2010, and now he was looking for a new home after rehabbing a knee injury.
“I was asking him to come up here,” said Cormier. “I heard he was looking to move and we talked a lot. I told him it was the best place for him.”
After weeks of going back and forth, Lawal finally made the move. But when set foot on the mats after being out of action for a while, he was in for a rough welcome.
“I remember him struggling early on,” Cormier said. “His timing was off. He hadn’t fought in almost a year. He just wasn’t himself.”
His first day of sparring, as Lawal remembered it, he went up against his buddy Cormier. He started off getting the worst of it, and things only deteriorated from there as his cardio showed the effects of his injury layoff.
“I was kind of getting beat down,” Lawal said. “I’m not going to lie.”
The next day of sparring, Lawal got matched up with a tall, lanky surfer kid by the name of Luke Rockhold — a middleweight who Lawal took one look at before deciding that his fortunes in the gym were about to change.
“I was like, yes! I’m going to smash him!” Lawal said. The way he saw it, Rockhold was a pretty boy who wasn’t going to like getting hit in the face. He was, in Lawal’s eyes, “a fake Ken doll.”
But before they strapped on the gloves, Cormier tried to warn his friend that it might not be as easy a sparring session as he thought.
“I told him, Luke is a guy you have to watch out for. He goes a thousand percent all the time.”
Lawal wasn’t convinced. This guy? The one who looks like he stepped out of an Abercrombie & Fitch catalog? He was the one who was going to give a former Strikeforce champ and NCAA All-American a hard time? Please.
“I was like, I can’t wait till I spar with Luke,” Lawal said. “I’m going to put them thangs on him.”
A few rounds later, Lawal found out what Cormier was talking about. Rockhold popped right back up after Lawal took him down. He fired off kicks that seemed to come from odd angles and yet always found an open target. Lawal found himself getting punched, kneed, and kicked in places he thought he’d been defending well.
“I got beat up,” Lawal said. “…I got exposed. Because I came from training in Orange County, which was a good camp, some good guys out there, but the whole level of intensity, I felt like I was in Holland or something. I was like, these guys are trying to knock me out.”
Cormier had tried to tell him what he was in for, but maybe it was something he had to experience for himself to understand. That’s how it was for Cormier when he first joined the team, he said.
“Other guys may train hard and spar hard, but it’s different here, where you have so many top guys and they’re all there every single day. I think that’s probably the biggest thing. There’s a core group of guys who are here every day, and they’re all mostly top ten in the world. It’s a daily grind. You don’t go to the gym and not have to deal with Luke Rockhold, [Josh] Koscheck, [Jon] Fitch, Cain [Velasquez] — they’re all there every time you step on the mat. There’s no easy days.”
Cormier knew his old friend would benefit from those daily battles, but he also had selfish reasons for enlisting him, he admitted.
“I just know that my best years, whether it was wrestling or whatever, Mo was right there close to me. The comfort that I have training with that dude, his ability to talk you up when you’re having bad days, just having a friend around helps so much.”
Still, it wasn’t just himself he was trying to help by bringing Lawal onto the team, Cormier said.
“I knew it would be good for him, but I also knew it would be good for Luke. We didn’t have that many smaller guys for him, so Luke had been sparring me and Cain. That’s not a good day for any [middleweight].”
With Lawal now on the AKA roster, Rockhold had a sparring partner closer to his size who could help him improve his wrestling, and Lawal had one who would force him to work on his stand-up skills. It was a symbiotic relationship that benefited them both, even if it resulted in the two of them showing up places with matching cuts and bruises when they traveled together to promote their respective fights on Saturday night’s Showtime card in Las Vegas.
“I’m going to be real with y’all,” Lawal said while sitting next to Rockhold at a recent media Q&A at the MGM Grand. “This man right here is a top three middleweight in the world. You see my eye? I’ve got a little black eye, that’s because of him. He kneed me in the face and punched me.”
Rockhold just shrugged and smiled before showing off his own battle wounds courtesy of Lawal and explaining that “iron sharpens iron.”
Which is kind of the whole point, as you can tell when you glance around the room at a place like AKA. The mats are crowded with UFC and Strikeforce fighters, former and current champions who make sure that there are no days off inside those walls. And that, Lawal said, is exactly what he needed. That’s why unbeaten prospect Lorenz Larkin is in trouble once the cage door closes on Saturday night, he explained.
“He’s undefeated. He’s a tough, young kid, hungry like me, but I’m starving,” Lawal said. “I’m an Ethiopian right now.”
That’s the good part about taking your beatings in the gym. There, no one’s watching. No one’s keeping score. There, the pounding is intended to make you better, or at the very least tougher. It’s on Saturday night, when the cameras are rolling and the crowd is cheering, that you find out if it worked.
Alistair Overeem has been a wrecking machine for the last few years, winning eight straight MMA fights and five straight kickboxing fights without really even being threatened. Overeem doesn’t just win, he wins in dominant fashion.
So after his most recent dominant win, over Brock Lesnar at UFC 141, Overeem has climbed another rung up the ladder of our heavyweight rankings, moving into the No. 2 position, behind only UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos.
There’s still a lot we don’t know about Overeem: How will he react to fighting dos Santos, an opponent who hits just as hard as he does? How would he do if a good wrestler put him on his back? Does he have a good enough gas tank to last deep into a five-round title fight?
But what we do know about Overeem is that he has just concluded a 2011 in which he beat Fabricio Werdum and Brock Lesnar. Among heavyweights, only dos Santos beat better opponents than that last year, and only dos Santos ranks ahead of Overeem in our newest Top 10, after the jump.
Top 10 heavyweights in mixed martial arts (Editor’s note: The individual fighter’s ranking the last time we did heavyweights are in parentheses.) 1. Junior dos Santos (1): As great a striker as Overeem is, I favor dos Santos in their eventual heavyweight title fight because I think dos Santos will prove to be quicker to the punch and capable of out-landing Overeem. I don’t think Overeem is the man to take the title from dos Santos.
2. Alistair Overeem (3): The last time Overeem lost an MMA fight, it was to Sergei Kharitonov in 2007. Overeem is a completely different fighter now than he was then — physically he has undergone a transformation that has seen him put on about 30 pounds of muscle, and he’s a much more effective striker now. It’s remarkable how far Overeem has come.
3. Cain Velasquez (2): Although dos Santos quickly dispatched Velasquez in their November fight, Velasquez has the combination of wrestling pedigree, athletic ability and heavy hands that makes him a threat to take the title back from dos Santos, something I could easily see him doing in the coming year.
4. Frank Mir (8): After getting knocked around by Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira early in their fight, Mir did a great job of holding on, waiting for his opportunity and finding the winning submission. A fight with Velasquez next would make a lot of sense for Mir, and if he wins that he’d be next in line for a title shot.
5. Fabricio Werdum (5): Werdum will make his UFC debut against Roy Nelson at UFC 143, in a fight I expect him to dominate. Werdum is better in every phase of the sport than Nelson.
6. Daniel Cormier (6): Cormier will fight Josh Barnett, likely in the spring of 2012, in the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix final. Barnett will be Cormier’s toughest test to date, but I expect Cormier to pass that test with flying colors.
7. Brock Lesnar (4): If Lesnar is really retired I’ll remove him from the heavyweight rankings, but I’ll keep ranking him for now while we see if he changes his mind. It would be easy to view Lesnar’s MMA career as a disappointment considering how his losses to Overeem and Velasquez went down, but it was a lot of fun to watch this incredible physical specimen could dominate good opponents like Heath Herring, Randy Couture and Frank Mir, and I’ll never forget the heart he showed in his comeback victory over Shane Carwin. He’s been great for the sport.
8. Shane Carwin (7): Back injuries have taken a toll on Carwin’s career. He’s expected to return in mid-2012, but athletes in their late-30s with bad backs don’t often return to top form.
9. Josh Barnett (9): Barnett has a huge opportunity to show against Cormier that he still deserves to be considered among the truly elite heavyweights in the world — which he always was until his third failed drug test made him persona non grata in American MMA. Although the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix hasn’t gone quite as planned, the Barnett-Cormier final is a great, great matchup.
10. Antonio Silva (10): Bigfoot has been inactive since his knockout loss to Cormier, but he should be a great addition to the UFC heavyweight division. He’s currently recovering from shoulder surgery, and if the timing works out it would make a lot of sense to have him make his UFC debut against Carwin.
Alistair Overeem has been a wrecking machine for the last few years, winning eight straight MMA fights and five straight kickboxing fights without really even being threatened. Overeem doesn’t just win, he wins in dominant fashion.
So after his most recent dominant win, over Brock Lesnar at UFC 141, Overeem has climbed another rung up the ladder of our heavyweight rankings, moving into the No. 2 position, behind only UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos.
There’s still a lot we don’t know about Overeem: How will he react to fighting dos Santos, an opponent who hits just as hard as he does? How would he do if a good wrestler put him on his back? Does he have a good enough gas tank to last deep into a five-round title fight?
But what we do know about Overeem is that he has just concluded a 2011 in which he beat Fabricio Werdum and Brock Lesnar. Among heavyweights, only dos Santos beat better opponents than that last year, and only dos Santos ranks ahead of Overeem in our newest Top 10, after the jump.
Top 10 heavyweights in mixed martial arts (Editor’s note: The individual fighter’s ranking the last time we did heavyweights are in parentheses.) 1. Junior dos Santos (1): As great a striker as Overeem is, I favor dos Santos in their eventual heavyweight title fight because I think dos Santos will prove to be quicker to the punch and capable of out-landing Overeem. I don’t think Overeem is the man to take the title from dos Santos.
2. Alistair Overeem (3): The last time Overeem lost an MMA fight, it was to Sergei Kharitonov in 2007. Overeem is a completely different fighter now than he was then — physically he has undergone a transformation that has seen him put on about 30 pounds of muscle, and he’s a much more effective striker now. It’s remarkable how far Overeem has come.
3. Cain Velasquez (2): Although dos Santos quickly dispatched Velasquez in their November fight, Velasquez has the combination of wrestling pedigree, athletic ability and heavy hands that makes him a threat to take the title back from dos Santos, something I could easily see him doing in the coming year.
4. Frank Mir (8): After getting knocked around by Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira early in their fight, Mir did a great job of holding on, waiting for his opportunity and finding the winning submission. A fight with Velasquez next would make a lot of sense for Mir, and if he wins that he’d be next in line for a title shot.
5. Fabricio Werdum (5): Werdum will make his UFC debut against Roy Nelson at UFC 143, in a fight I expect him to dominate. Werdum is better in every phase of the sport than Nelson.
6. Daniel Cormier (6): Cormier will fight Josh Barnett, likely in the spring of 2012, in the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix final. Barnett will be Cormier’s toughest test to date, but I expect Cormier to pass that test with flying colors.
7. Brock Lesnar (4): If Lesnar is really retired I’ll remove him from the heavyweight rankings, but I’ll keep ranking him for now while we see if he changes his mind. It would be easy to view Lesnar’s MMA career as a disappointment considering how his losses to Overeem and Velasquez went down, but it was a lot of fun to watch this incredible physical specimen could dominate good opponents like Heath Herring, Randy Couture and Frank Mir, and I’ll never forget the heart he showed in his comeback victory over Shane Carwin. He’s been great for the sport.
8. Shane Carwin (7): Back injuries have taken a toll on Carwin’s career. He’s expected to return in mid-2012, but athletes in their late-30s with bad backs don’t often return to top form.
9. Josh Barnett (9): Barnett has a huge opportunity to show against Cormier that he still deserves to be considered among the truly elite heavyweights in the world — which he always was until his third failed drug test made him persona non grata in American MMA. Although the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix hasn’t gone quite as planned, the Barnett-Cormier final is a great, great matchup.
10. Antonio Silva (10): Bigfoot has been inactive since his knockout loss to Cormier, but he should be a great addition to the UFC heavyweight division. He’s currently recovering from shoulder surgery, and if the timing works out it would make a lot of sense to have him make his UFC debut against Carwin.
But starting with Friday night’s UFC 141 main event of Brock Lesnar vs. Alistair Overeem — promoted as the “biggest” fight of the year — and continuing on to Josh Barnett vs. Daniel Cormier in March, the action among 265’ers is about to start heating up. With that mind, we decided to pay tribute to the greatest and most important heavyweight MMA fights from this past year. Enjoy, and let us know if we left out any of your favorites…
What happened: The smaller man fought like a giant. Cormier landed his punches at will and easily shrugged off Silva’s attempts to take the fight to the ground. Entering the tournament as an alternate, Cormier punched his ticket to the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix finals with a hook/uppercut combo that stiffened the Brazilian Frankenstein. What we learned: Undersized doesn’t always mean outgunned — and a big chin doesn’t always mean a strong chin.
(Will Lesnar vs. Overeem bash out a place on the list, or will it inevitably fall short of the hype?)
But starting with Friday night’s UFC 141 main event of Brock Lesnar vs. Alistair Overeem — promoted as the “biggest” fight of the year — and continuing on to Josh Barnett vs. Daniel Cormier in March, the action among 265′ers is about to start heating up. With that mind, we decided to pay tribute to the greatest and most important heavyweight MMA fights from this past year. Enjoy, and let us know if we left out any of your favorites…
What happened: The smaller man fought like a giant. Cormier landed his punches at will and easily shrugged off Silva’s attempts to take the fight to the ground. Entering the tournament as an alternate, Cormier punched his ticket to the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix finals with a hook/uppercut combo that stiffened the Brazilian Frankenstein. What we learned: Undersized doesn’t always mean outgunned — and a big chin doesn’t always mean a strong chin.
#5. ANTONIO RODRIGO NOGUEIRA vs. BRENDAN SCHAUB UFC 134, 8/27/11
What happened: After smashing Mirko Cro Cop in his previous outing, Brendan Schaub was looking to put another aging veteran out to pasture. But with Brazil’s adoring fans at his back, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira stayed calm and confident until his found his opening, blitzing Schaub’s jaw with power-punches. And the crowd goes wild… What we learned: Never count out an MMA legend against a TUF finalist.
#4. JUNIOR DOS SANTOS vs. CAIN VELASQUEZ UFC on FOX 1, 11/12/11
What happened: A historic five-round fight on network television that only lasted 64 seconds. Once JDS connected on an overhand right to Cain’s ear, Velasquez’s title reign quickly entered “one and done” status. What we learned: Nobody, except for maybe Alistair Overeem, should try standing and trading with Junior Dos Santos. The UFC heavyweight belt is one seriously hot potato.
What happened: Riding a late-career surge, Dan Henderson decided to challenge a heavyweight icon. The frantic one-round thriller ended with Henderson slipping in a knockout uppercut from behind. Hendo picked up one of the greatest wins of his career, and the once-invincible Russian increased his losing skid to three. What we learned: When legends decline, they decline fast. But as long as Dan Henderson has his H-Bomb, he’s a danger to anybody in the sport, from middleweight to heavyweight.
#2. FRANK MIR vs. ANTONIO RODRIGO NOGUEIRA UFC 140, 12/10/11 What happened: Looking to redeem himself from his previous TKO loss to Mir in December 2008, Nogueira came out strong and managed to rock Mir standing. But instead of going for the kill with follow-up strikes, Big Nog tried to finish on the ground with a submission. Mir reversed him and snapped his arm with a kimura at 3:38 of the first round. What we learned: Hubris can sink even the most experienced fighters, and Frank Mir still enjoys a good bone-breaking.
What happened: Pat Barry knocked Kongo out twice — then Kongo knocked Barry out for good. One of the greatest “back from the dead” fights in MMA history What we learned: Referee Dan Miragliotta knows what he’s doing sometimes. Growing a Kimbo-beard can give you brief periods of invincibility.
Some very nice pictures of a model/ring girl/probably actress named Patrycja Mikula: here. Dana White is opening his view to MMA female fighters: here. Holiday ideas for the diehard MMA fan: here. Strikeforce: Melendez vs..
Some very nice pictures of a model/ring girl/probably actress named Patrycja Mikula: here.
Dana White is opening his view to MMA female fighters: here.
