Tag: Fedor Emelianenko

UFC 130 Notebook: Rampage on Jones, Fedor vs. Henderson, Herschel Walker & More

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.”

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Fedor vs. Henderson (Unofficially) Officially Signed for July 30th Strikeforce Card

Different styles make for an interesting fight.

Though Zuffa officials have yet to announce the fight, Sherdog.com reports that Dan Henderson and Fedor Emelianenko have officially signed bout agreements to face one another. This match-up has been in the works for a while now and will add some major firepower to the July 30th event at the Sears Center in Chicago.

This is a big fight for everyone involved. Following two consecutive stoppage losses to Fabricio Werdum and Antonio Silva, Fedor’s unbeatable mystique has been shattered. With Strikeforce’s top heavyweights competing in the Grand Prix Tournament from which he was exiled, this bout gives Fedor a shot at a meaningful win against a highly respected legend. After all the talk of his possible retirement from the sport, a victory here would prove that Fedor is still very relevant in the MMA landscape.

Different styles make for an interesting fight.

Though Zuffa officials have yet to announce the fight, Sherdog.com reports that Dan Henderson and Fedor Emelianenko have officially signed bout agreements to face one another. This match-up has been in the works for a while now and will add some major firepower to the July 30th event at the Sears Center in Chicago.

This is a big fight for everyone involved. Following two consecutive stoppage losses to Fabricio Werdum and Antonio Silva, Fedor’s unbeatable mystique has been shattered. With Strikeforce’s top heavyweights competing in the Grand Prix Tournament from which he was exiled, this bout gives Fedor a shot at a meaningful win against a highly respected legend. After all the talk of his possible retirement from the sport, a victory here would prove that Fedor is still very relevant in the MMA landscape.

Henderson comes into this bout riding a two fight win streak that saw him exit the Nationwide Arena as the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion. Although the two will meet at heavyweight and Henderson’s title won’t be on the line, belts always lose a little of their luster when their owner suffers a loss.  [UPDATE: Scott Coker says this fight will take place at a catchweight of 220lbs).

The pairing also gives Strikeforce some much needed time to determine the number one contender at Light Heavyweight. The Mousasi-Kyle fight was expected to yield Henderson’s next opponent, but that bout got scrapped and replaced with Mousasi-Jardine, which resulted in a painful draw. This fight allows Henderson to stay active while Strikeforce determines a worthy challenger. To that end, some of the evening’s other fights should clear up the division’s hierarchy.

Other expected bouts for the event include:

Roger Gracie vs. Muhammed Lawal

JZ Cavalcante vs. Ovince St. Preux

Evangelista Santos vs. Tarec Saffiedine

Building the Greatest UFC Pay-Per-View Ever: What Matchups Make the Cut?

What if their were no boundaries in UFC matchmaking? For one night only, fans could look forward to an entire MMA event consisting of a full card of main-event worthy fights. What fights would you want to see? Fedor Emelianenko versus Randy Couture? Ho…

What if their were no boundaries in UFC matchmaking?

For one night only, fans could look forward to an entire MMA event consisting of a full card of main-event worthy fights.

What fights would you want to see? Fedor Emelianenko versus Randy Couture? How about Brock Lesnar against Alistair Overeem?

It’s time to step outside the world of reality and linger in dream land for a bit. If the UFC was to build the greatest pay-per-view ever, here are 13 matchups that should make the cut.

Begin Slideshow

Nick and Nate Diaz and the Top Five Brother Duos Ever

Since MMA’s inception, the general concept of family has been an integral part of a sport that is often billed as individualistic. Now more than ever the sport has seen family competition, with fathers training sons, brothers fighting on the same cards…

Since MMA‘s inception, the general concept of family has been an integral part of a sport that is often billed as individualistic.

Now more than ever the sport has seen family competition, with fathers training sons, brothers fighting on the same cards, and overall family camaraderie on high display.

The Gracie family popularized the idea of one style being better than another, with numerous fighters and families have tried to disprove the Gracie theory, with not very many proving successful.

Take Royce Gracie for example at UFC 1. After his impressive wins over Art Jimmerson, Ken Shamrock, and Gerard Gordeau, Gracie realized his family’s true purpose: proving his family’s style was the best in the world. Surely a better feeling than any belt or dollar can give a fighter.

Flash forward to UFC 128 in New Jersey. Dan and Jim Miller of Sparta, N.J., fight in front of their hometown crowd at the Prudential Center. Though Dan lost and Jim won, nothing will take away the experience the brothers had that night.

And so, brotherly love has been redefined in and outside of the octagon. However, one question remaining is which brotherly duo is the best MMA has to offer?

Begin Slideshow

UFC 130 News: Frankie Edgar on His Injury—’I’m Going to Need Surgery’

Bleacher Report’s Mike Hodges:After learning he would be forced off UFC 130, UFC lightweight-champion Frankie Edgar has been recovering properly in order to prepare for a third encounter against challenger Gray Maynard later this year. While al…

Bleacher Report’s Mike Hodges:

After learning he would be forced off UFC 130, UFC lightweight-champion Frankie Edgar has been recovering properly in order to prepare for a third encounter against challenger Gray Maynard later this year. 

While already undergoing treatment for his back, Edgar spoke to Ariel Helwani on “The MMA Hour” and discussed his injury, which could lead to surgery in the near future to further correct the issue.

“I think eventually I’m going to need surgery,” Edgar said. “Hopefully these shots will slow down the process and give me a couple more years without having to do the surgery.” 

On the show, Edgar said he has received four epidural injections to help address the issue, and he added it will take up to four days to determine whether the solution is successful or not. Should the shots not determine a successful outcome, Edgar said he will receive another set of shots in his nerves. 

Edgar said he had to get back surgery 11 years ago and occasionally has pain that prevents him from training for a day or two.

However, his recent spell has been more severe and has put him in so much pain that it was apparent he could no longer train for his title bout against Maynard—a decision that has disappoint Edgar and his training camp.

Click here to read the entire article.

Georges St-Pierre Returns to Training After UFC 129 Eye Injury Scare

Bleacher Report’s Michael Evans:Georges “Rush” St-Pierre retained his UFC welterweight championship for the sixth consecutive time on April 30, defeating top ranked contender Jake Shields with relative ease.  What makes the feat all the more ex…

Bleacher Report’s Michael Evans:

Georges “Rush” St-Pierre retained his UFC welterweight championship for the sixth consecutive time on April 30, defeating top ranked contender Jake Shields with relative ease.  What makes the feat all the more extraordinary is that St-Pierre did it with vision in just one eye. 

Despite fighting nearly blind for most of the fight, the champion was able to keep Shields from taking him down the entire five round affair.

St-Pierre suffered from hyphema, a bleeding in the eye.  He was required to wear an eye patch and use medicated drops until it healed.  He has since improved and has been cleared to resume training.

One of St-Pierre’s trainers, Bruno Fernandes, is also an eye specialist.  He said that in severe cases of hyphema the person can suffer permanent damage to their vision.  Although Georges had only 10 percent of his vision at one point, his case was not severe and he has made a full recovery.

Click here to read the entire article.