Renzo Gracie Wants to Fight in UFC’s Return to Brazil

Filed under: UFC, FanHouse Exclusive, NewsRenzo Gracie’s camp wants you to know that his MMA career isn’t close over and that he wants to fight on the UFC card in Brazil on Aug. 27.

MMA Fighting recently spoke to Gracie’s manager, Ali Abdel Aziz of Do…

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Renzo Gracie‘s camp wants you to know that his MMA career isn’t close over and that he wants to fight on the UFC card in Brazil on Aug. 27.

MMA Fighting recently spoke to Gracie’s manager, Ali Abdel Aziz of Dominance MMA Management, about the 43-year-old’s desire to fight on what will be the first UFC card in Gracie’s home country since October 1998.

“It’s Renzo’s dream to fight in a UFC in Brazil,” Abdel Aziz said, “but it’s up to the UFC and Dana [White] to make it happen.”

The MMA Hour With Leben, McCorkle, Rebney, Magalhaes and Gutierrez

Filed under: MMA Videos, UFC, FanHouse Exclusive, Bellator, VideosHere’s who we have lined up for Monday’s two-hour live edition of The MMA Hour:

* UFC middleweight Chris Leben will stop by to preview his UFC 125 fight against Brian Stann.

* Heavywei…

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Here’s who we have lined up for Monday’s two-hour live edition of The MMA Hour:

* UFC middleweight Chris Leben will stop by to preview his UFC 125 fight against Brian Stann.

* Heavyweight Sean McCorkle will discuss what went wrong in his fight against Stefan Struve at UFC 124.

* Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney will explain the organization’s new TV deal with MTV2.

* Matt Mitrione will grace us with his presence for another installment of “The Mitrione Minute.”

* Former TUF finalist Vinny Magalhaes will talk about his recent win at M-1 Challenge 22.

* Women’s MMA fighter Michelle Gutierrez will talk about her career and upcoming fight in January.

* And MMA Fighting’s Ben Fowlkes will stop by to look back at WEC 53 and talk other MMA news.

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

Watch the show live below beginning at 1 PM ET / 10 AM PT. Download previous episodes of The MMA Hour on iTunes here.

Bjorn Rebney on Bellator’s MTV2 Deal, Alvarez-Melendez, Brookins Litigation

Filed under: FanHouse Exclusive, Bellator, News Describing Bellator’s recently announced deal with MTV2 as a “perfect alliance,” company CEO Bjorn Rebney hailed the union as a proper evolutionary step for the young promotion.

Speaking on Monday’s edit…

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Describing Bellator’s recently announced deal with MTV2 as a “perfect alliance,” company CEO Bjorn Rebney hailed the union as a proper evolutionary step for the young promotion.

Speaking on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour, Rebney said that the new deal with the national cable platform positively addressed most of the issues and problems that plagued Bellator’s recent deal with FSN.

Most notably, its events would be broadcast live around the country, at a consistent start time.

“There are no preemptions, there are no delays,” he told host Ariel Helwani. “It was problematic for me as the CEO of the company. It was problematic for fans who wanted to watch over the last two seasons.”

Backstage With Scott Coker

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Scott Coker is arguably one of the most powerful figures in mixed martial arts. He’s also one of the most elusive ones, too. The Strikeforce CEO calls the shots for the upstart San Jose-based organization, but isn’t as visible at events as other promoters.

In the latest installment of our ongoing “Backstage” series, MMA Fighting sat down with Coker prior to Strikeforce: Henderson vs. Babalu II in St. Louis to discuss his history as a fight promoter, why he is hard to find on fight nights, what’s next for Strikeforce and so much more.

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Scott Coker is arguably one of the most powerful figures in mixed martial arts. He’s also one of the most elusive ones, too. The Strikeforce CEO calls the shots for the upstart San Jose-based organization, but isn’t as visible at events as other promoters.

In the latest installment of our ongoing “Backstage” series, MMA Fighting sat down with Coker prior to Strikeforce: Henderson vs. Babalu II in St. Louis to discuss his history as a fight promoter, why he is hard to find on fight nights, what’s next for Strikeforce and so much more.

Chris Leben Talks DUI Arrest, Upcoming Bout with Brian Stann

Filed under: UFC, FanHouse ExclusiveIt’s been a year full of headlines for UFC middleweight Chris Leben, both good and bad. After making UFC history by notching two victories in the span of two weeks this past summer, Leben seemed to be in the midst of…

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It’s been a year full of headlines for UFC middleweight Chris Leben, both good and bad. After making UFC history by notching two victories in the span of two weeks this past summer, Leben seemed to be in the midst of a career renaissance, going 3-0 in the first half of 2010.

But in October Leben appeared to take a step backwards when he was arrested in Hawaii on suspicion of DUI. While he has a court date coming up in February of 2011, Leben said on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour that he doesn’t expect to face any serious consequences as a result of the incident.

“George [W.] Bush got a DUI and he ended up being the president,” Leben told MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani. “I really feel as though nothing’s really going to happen with it, honestly. I don’t want to talk about it too much, and it’s still in the works. But I don’t think it’s going to be a big deal.”

Former Olympian Rhadi Ferguson to Make Strikeforce Debut on Jan. 7

Filed under: Strikeforce, FanHouse Exclusive, NewsA light heavyweight bout has been added to the Jan. 7 Strikeforce Challengers show in Nashville, Tenn.

Rhadi Ferguson, a former member of the 2004 U.S. Olympic Judo team, has agreed to face Canadian Io…

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Rhadi FergusonA light heavyweight bout has been added to the Jan. 7 Strikeforce Challengers show in Nashville, Tenn.

Rhadi Ferguson, a former member of the 2004 U.S. Olympic Judo team, has agreed to face Canadian Ion Cherdivara (1-0) on the televised portion of the card, MMA Fighting has confirmed with Strikeforce director of communications Mike Afromowitz. The event will be headlined by Tyron Woodley vs. Tarec Saffiedine.