Tag: FanHouse Exclusive

Fabricio Werdum: Last Time I Got Overeem’s Left Arm, This Time the Right

Filed under: Strikeforce, FanHouse ExclusiveThere are two days in Fabricio Werdum’s life that stand out above all others in his mind, the Strikeforce heavyweight told MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour. One is the day his …

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There are two days in Fabricio Werdum‘s life that stand out above all others in his mind, the Strikeforce heavyweight told MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour. One is the day his daughter was born. The other? Well, you can probably guess.

June 26, 2010. That was the day Werdum submitted MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko in the first round, handing the Russian his only true loss to date in MMA competition.

Since then, Werdum told Helwani, he’s watched the fight maybe 500 times, picking up on new details with each viewing. And since locking on the submission early in the fight worked so well against Emelianenko, he’s now focused on doing the same thing to Strikeforce heavyweight champ Alistair Overeem in the upcoming Strikeforce heavyweight tournament, and he doesn’t care if the Dutchman knows it or not.

Scott Coker on Strikeforce Tourney: ‘I Would Buy It on Pay-Per-View’

Filed under: Strikeforce, FanHouse ExclusiveIf you think it’s easy to set up an eight-man tournament featuring some of MMA’s most high-profile heavyweight fighters, think again.

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker explained to MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani on …

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If you think it’s easy to set up an eight-man tournament featuring some of MMA’s most high-profile heavyweight fighters, think again.

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker explained to MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour that simply putting together the tournament was a trial in and of itself, but the labor was made easier by one thing: the fighters’ desire to get in the cage and mix it up.

“You’re dealing with eight managers, from eight different camps, wanting eight different things,” Coker told Helwani. “But in the end, everybody wanted to fight in the tournament, and they said, ‘Sign me up.’ From Fedor [Emelianenko] to Alistair [Overeem] to, you know, Andrei [Arlovski], they all wanted to be in the tournament, because in the old days, let’s say, in Pride, the tournament was very, very popular. I think this is kind of a throwback to that era.”

Dr. Rhadi Ferguson Discusses His Scholastic Approach to Fighting

Filed under: Strikeforce, FanHouse ExclusiveAs someone who is a longtime coach, a motivational speaker and holds a Ph.D. in education in addition to being an Olympian, a black belt in judo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, you can expect Rhadi Ferguson to hold …

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As someone who is a longtime coach, a motivational speaker and holds a Ph.D. in education in addition to being an Olympian, a black belt in judo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, you can expect Rhadi Ferguson to hold a more scholarly outlook towards mixed martial arts.

This was especially the case when I spoke to Ferguson (2-0) this week as we approach his Strikeforce debut this Friday at Strikeforce Challengers 13 in Nashville, Tenn. In an exclusive interview with MMAFighting.com below, Ferguson spoke candidly about his realistic expectations as someone making his MMA start at 35, his belief of a major misconception of judo in MMA, the importance of having a spiritual adviser and much more.

One Side Claims Fix, Other Cites Confusion in Controversial Decision

Filed under: Fighting, FanHouse Exclusive, NewsAs Hermes Franca waited for the decision of his fight against Ferrid Kheder to be read inside the cage in a Cartago, Costa Rica high school gym, the UFC veteran thought his losing streak was history. Inste…

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As Hermes Franca waited for the decision of his fight against Ferrid Kheder to be read inside the cage in a Cartago, Costa Rica high school gym, the UFC veteran thought his losing streak was history. Instead, to him, it was the beginning of something even worse than defeat.

If it was a simple loss, Franca could have handled it, but what happened next could not be so easily settled in his mind. According to some, Franca was simply the victim of a bad decision. But according to others, he was robbed, the victim of a fix.

“This is like a bad joke,” Franca told MMA Fighting. “It’s unbelievable. I won the fight. The judges gave it to me. I got my hand raised. And then they said I didn’t win.”

“What happened was confusion,” said Jean-Francois Billon, who helped organize the show. “It’s a big story for a little thing. Nobody had bad intentions. Nobody was cheating.”

What started out as a fight in the cage became a fight for the truth.

Jon Jones Explains Why He’s Not a Fan of Thiago Silva’s Slaps

Filed under: UFC, FanHouse ExclusiveAs Jon Jones’ Twitter followers might have noticed on Saturday night, the UFC light heavyweight wasn’t a fan of Thiago Silva’s slapping maneuver against Brandon Vera late in their UFC 125 bout.

Jones called Silva’s …

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As Jon Jones‘ Twitter followers might have noticed on Saturday night, the UFC light heavyweight wasn’t a fan of Thiago Silva‘s slapping maneuver against Brandon Vera late in their UFC 125 bout.

Jones called Silva’s treatment of Vera “disrespectful,” and added “i’d love to give him a slap in the face.”

To many people on the internet, it looked like an instant rivalry. As Jones explained to MMA Fighting this week, it’s not that he has anything personal against Silva, but rather against blatant displays of disrespect between professionals.

Longtime UFC Veteran Marcus Davis Released After UFC 125 Loss

Filed under: UFC, FanHouse Exclusive, News After losing in his lightweight debut at UFC 125, longtime UFC star Marcus Davis has been cut, his manager Joe Cavallaro confirmed to MMA Fighting.

After a strong opening two rounds in his bout with Jeremy St…

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After losing in his lightweight debut at UFC 125, longtime UFC star Marcus Davis has been cut, his manager Joe Cavallaro confirmed to MMA Fighting.

After a strong opening two rounds in his bout with Jeremy Stephens, Davis was knocked out midway through the third round.