Demian Maia Fighting With New Purpose Since Birth of First Child

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VANCOUVER, British Columbia — MMA Fighting spoke to Demian Maia at Wednesday’s UFC 131 media workout about Saturday night’s fight against Mark Munoz, where he thinks the fight will play out, his development as a striker, fighting after the birth of his first child, his improvement as a fighter since his UFC 112 fight against Anderson Silva and more.

 

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VANCOUVER, British Columbia — MMA Fighting spoke to Demian Maia at Wednesday’s UFC 131 media workout about Saturday night’s fight against Mark Munoz, where he thinks the fight will play out, his development as a striker, fighting after the birth of his first child, his improvement as a fighter since his UFC 112 fight against Anderson Silva and more.

 

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Sarah Kaufman vs. Liz Carmouche Targeted for July 22 Strikeforce Event

Filed under: Strikeforce, FanHouse Exclusive, NewsA Strikeforce 135-pound match pitting two of MMA’s top female stars is being targeted for a July 22 Challengers Series card, MMA Fighting has learned.

Sources with knowledge of the situation confirmed …

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A Strikeforce 135-pound match pitting two of MMA’s top female stars is being targeted for a July 22 Challengers Series card, MMA Fighting has learned.

Sources with knowledge of the situation confirmed that a bout pitting former champion Sarah Kaufman against Liz Carmouche is in the works, and has been verbally agreed to.

The 25-year-old Kaufman hasn’t fought in Strikeforce since losing the belt to Marloes Coenen back in October 2010. Afterward, she took a fight in a Canadian promotion to stay active, defeating Megumi Yabushita via TKO.

Carmouche, meanwhile, is coming off a strong performance in her first real time in the Strikeforce spotlight. Though she ultimately lost in the fourth round due to a triangle submission, Carmouche dominated champ Coenen for most of their title bout in March. Had Carmouche won, it would have been considered one of the biggest upsets in women’s MMA history. Though Carmouche came in undefeated at 5-0 and had won her only prior Strikeforce fight, she had taken the fight on short notice, replacing the injured Miesha Tate. She had less than two weeks to prepare for the fight.

Carmouche is now 5-1, while Kaufman boasts a 13-1 record.

Strikeforce Challengers 17 will be the promotion’s first-ever event in Las Vegas. It takes place at The Pearl at The Palms. Strikeforce just announced the event last week, and so far only one other fight is known, the main event matching Roger Bowling against Bobby Voelker in the rubber match of their trilogy.

 

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Fight Journal: ‘Mayhem’ Miller Edition

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Prior to last week’s announcement that Jason “Mayhem” Miller would be a coach opposite Michael Bisping on the 14th season of The Ultimate Fighter, MMA Fighting’s E. Casey Leydon spent an entire day with the MTV star, which included an intense training session with some of MMA’s biggest stars at the Reign Training Center in California.

Check out the exclusive video below.

 

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Prior to last week’s announcement that Jason “Mayhem” Miller would be a coach opposite Michael Bisping on the 14th season of The Ultimate Fighter, MMA Fighting’s E. Casey Leydon spent an entire day with the MTV star, which included an intense training session with some of MMA’s biggest stars at the Reign Training Center in California.

Check out the exclusive video below.

 

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The MMA Hour With Renzo Gracie in Studio, Pellegrino, Roufus, Herrig, Rosa, Young

Filed under: UFC, FanHouse Exclusive, VideosThe MMA Hour returns on Monday, and five personalities from around the mixed martial arts world will be stopping by.

* MMA legend Renzo Gracie will visit our studio for the very first time.

* Kurt Pellegrin…

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The MMA Hour returns on Monday, and five personalities from around the mixed martial arts world will be stopping by.

* MMA legend Renzo Gracie will visit our studio for the very first time.

* Kurt Pellegrino will discuss why he is temporarily walking away from the sport.

* Female MMA fighter Felice Herrig will discuss her recent win and what’s next for her.

* UFC newcomer Jason Young will discuss his UFC 131 bout against Dustin Poirier.

* MMA trainer Duke Roufus will talk about Anthony Pettis and Danny Downes’ losses at the TUF 13 Finale.

* And Aaron Rosa, another UFC rookie, will discuss his UFC 131 bout against Joey Beltran.

Of course, we’ll be taking your calls. Give us a shout at: 212-254-0193 or 212-254-0237.

*** You can now stream the show live on your iPhone or iPad by clicking here.

Watch the show live below beginning at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT. Subscribe to The MMA Hour on iTunes: audio feed here; video feed here. Download previous episodes here. Listen to the show via Stitcher here.

(Editor’s note: The show is now over, but the video should be back Tuesday.)

 

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Dana White: Jim Miller Still Ahead of Clay Guida Despite Win Over Anthony Pettis

Filed under: UFC, FanHouse Exclusive, NewsClay Guida defeated former No. 1 contender Anthony Pettis via unanimous decision at Saturday’s TUF 13 Finale, but according to UFC president Dana White, the dominant win didn’t help “The Carpenter” secure a li…

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Clay Guida defeated former No. 1 contender Anthony Pettis via unanimous decision at Saturday’s TUF 13 Finale, but according to UFC president Dana White, the dominant win didn’t help “The Carpenter” secure a lightweight title shot.

White told MMA Fighting on Saturday that Jim Miller “is still ahead of [Guida]” in the organization’s lightweight rankings despite Guida’s win on Saturday night.

Miller (20-2) has won his last seven fights in a row. He is scheduled to meet Ben Henderson at UFC on Versus 5 on Aug. 14 in Milwaukee.

Current lightweight champion Frankie Edgar was scheduled to defend his title against Gray Maynard at last week’s UFC 130, but injuries suffered by both fighters forced the bout to be canceled. It has yet to be rescheduled, but White said last week that he hopes to rebook it in the fall.

Miller’s only two losses have come against Maynard and Edgar. The AMA Fight Club member lost to Maynard at UFC 96 in March 2009 and dropped a unanimous decision to Edgar at Reality Fighting 14 in November 2006.

 

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A Visit to the Octagon Nation Tour

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The UFC’s Octagon Nation Tour 2011 kicked off last month in Toronto prior to UFC 129. The 72-city tour, which consists of two Octagon-sized tents and an 18-wheeler truck filled with memorabilia and games, set up shop outside the MGM Grand Garden Arena prior to UFC 130, where hundreds of UFC fans lined up to check out the experience and to meet fighters and Octagon Girls.

MMA Fighting visited the tour, challenged some fans to a punching and weigh-in contest and spoke to UFC CMO Bryan Johnston, Urijah Faber and Arianny Celeste about the experience.

Check out our exclusive video below.

 

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The UFC’s Octagon Nation Tour 2011 kicked off last month in Toronto prior to UFC 129. The 72-city tour, which consists of two Octagon-sized tents and an 18-wheeler truck filled with memorabilia and games, set up shop outside the MGM Grand Garden Arena prior to UFC 130, where hundreds of UFC fans lined up to check out the experience and to meet fighters and Octagon Girls.

MMA Fighting visited the tour, challenged some fans to a punching and weigh-in contest and spoke to UFC CMO Bryan Johnston, Urijah Faber and Arianny Celeste about the experience.

Check out our exclusive video below.

 

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