Fighting | UFC Betting Sites - The Best MMA Online Bookies

Paul Bradley: ‘I’m Not Messing Around Anymore’

The greatest fear in mixed martial arts is awaiting the judges’ scorecards.The only thing worse is actually hearing the decision announced.And if you’re on the receiving end of that bad news, it could stick with you for a long, long time.Enter Paul Bra…

The greatest fear in mixed martial arts is awaiting the judges’ scorecards.

The only thing worse is actually hearing the decision announced.

And if you’re on the receiving end of that bad news, it could stick with you for a long, long time.

Enter Paul Bradley (18-4).

“I’d be lying if I said losing that split decision to Mike Pierce doesn’t still bother me right now,” Bradley told Bleacher Report.

“It sucks. The fight was so close that it could have gone either way. But at the same time his next fight was against Koscheck,” said Bradley. “That gives me confidence knowing that I’m where I need to be.”

But Bradley wasn’t where he needed to be at all as he was surprisingly released from the UFC just days later.

Instead of contemplating where to turn next, Bradley left his homestead in Minnesota and hit the road.

“After the fight I spent 55 days training in San Diego and after the new year I spent 30 more days at Team Takedown. I’m putting everything I have into this. If I go broke then I go broke,” said Bradley. “It’s a sacrifice I need to make.”

Bradley’s goal is as simple as can be.

Get back to the UFC.

Before Bradley can return to the big stage, he’ll need to prove he’s worthy of another chance beginning Saturday, April 7.

And according to Bradley, the games are over.

“I’m not messing around anymore,” said Bradley. “From now on I’m getting in there looking for a quick finish and then move on to my next opponent.”

“I’m going to be looking for the finish right away. I’m not trying to play around in these small shows and get caught. The goal is to go in and dominate by submission or knockout from here on out,” said Bradley.”

There’s no timetable for when fans can expect to see Bradley back in the UFC, but when he does return—watch out.

“If all goes well, I would say at the very least two fights, but it’s hard to say. Realistically I would like to think between two and five fights. Saying that, there also aren’t any guarantees,” said Bradley. “I’m thankful for all my sponsors that have stuck by me.”

“Once I get back in the UFC I’m going to stay there.”

To learn more about Paul Bradley or possible sponsorships opportunities, follow him on Twitter.

For additional information, follow Garrett Derr on Twitter.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Freddie Roach Names the 5 Best Boxers in Mixed Martial Arts

Freddie Roach is a legend of the boxing game. He’s revered as a trainer of champions and has a brilliant mind for the sport.So when Roach names his five best boxers in mixed martial arts on Inside MMA, you know we’re going to pay attention.Here’s Roach…

Freddie Roach is a legend of the boxing game. He’s revered as a trainer of champions and has a brilliant mind for the sport.

So when Roach names his five best boxers in mixed martial arts on Inside MMA, you know we’re going to pay attention.

Here’s Roach’s list:

5. K.J. Noons
4. Nick Diaz
3. B.J. Penn
2. Georges St-Pierre
1. Anderson Silva

Roach has worked with four of the names on this list, so it’s no surprise they are included.

I respect Roach’s opinion on boxing, obviously, but he’s missing a few names on this list.

At least in terms of lightweights, Frankie Edgar is a much better boxer than Noons. Granted, Noons does have a pro boxing record, but he never really faced anyone of any value. I’d go as far as to say Noons wasn’t even considered a decent boxing prospect. He’s constantly vaunted as one of the best boxers in MMA, but I just don’t see it. Edgar is quicker, much more technical and strings together better combinations.

Junior dos Santos also deserves to be on this list. He has some of the best boxing in the world, not just in the heavyweight division, but in the entire sport. He’s a better boxer than St-Pierre for sure.

I can’t argue with Silva, Penn or Diaz being on this list. All three are excellent technical boxers, at least when it comes to translating the skill to MMA.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 145: 5 Reasons You Must Watch Jones vs. Evans

A rivalry concludes next month, as UFC champion Jon Jones meets ex-training partner Rashad Evans in Atlanta, Georgia. Although the title will be defended, both of these men are also fighting for pride.UFC 145 will solve a long-standing feud between the…

UFC 145 will solve a long-standing feud between the two former friends. Both men used to train with world renowned trainer Greg Jackson at his gym in New Mexico. That was the case, until Rashad Evans dropped out of a title fight with Mauricio “Shogun” Rua due to injury, creating an opportunity for Jones.

Jones won the title and the rest is history. Words have been exchanged and both have made their beef known with one another.

It is time to settle this beef at UFC 145. This event will show us who the better man is.

Begin Slideshow

Muhammed Lawal’s Strikeforce Release Shows Need for Comprehensive Twitter Policy

By all accounts, Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal had a pretty rough Tuesday.Lawal was first fined $39,000 and suspended for nine months by the Nevada State Athletic Commission during a hearing just a stone’s throw from the old Las Vegas Strip. This was a kick…

By all accounts, Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal had a pretty rough Tuesday.

Lawal was first fined $39,000 and suspended for nine months by the Nevada State Athletic Commission during a hearing just a stone’s throw from the old Las Vegas Strip. This was a kick in the pants for a guy who, by his own admission, has had more than 16 knee surgeries (with over $100,000 in medical bills) to treat the lingering staph infection that almost took his leg and his life.

During the commission meeting, Lawal was asked by commissioner Pat Lundvall if he “speaks or writes English.” Keep in mind that this question, innocent or not, came nearly seven minutes into the commission meeting, so Lundvall was well aware that Lawal spoke English.

In all likelihood, Lundvall was simply trying to establish, for the record, that Lawal understood English. This is common practice in hearings like this one. But you also cannot fault Lawal for receiving the comments with a hint of racism.

Look, Pat Lundvall is not a racist. Is she a terrifying woman, akin to the scariest teacher you ever had during your middle school years? Yes. I’ve been to plenty of NSAC meetings, and Lundvall always managed to scare me just by showing up. She can be rude and condescending, but she’s not a racist.

So yes, I can understand why Mo lashed out the way he did.

I’m not sure why he was released from Strikeforce, however. These incidents involving Twitter never seem to have much of a center mass. Forrest Griffin made rape jokes, but a simple explanation allowed him to keep his job. Miguel Torres? Not so much.

Dana White himself regularly calls people much worse names than the one Lawal called Lundvall.

Is it because Lundvall is a public official? If that’s the case, shouldn’t the same grace extend to Steve Mazzagatti?

A lot of this can be solved with a comprehensive Twitter policy. As of right now, there are no concrete rules as to what you can and cannot say on Twitter. UFC officials urge fighters to “use common sense” during meetings at the annual Fighter Summit in Las Vegas, but it’s becoming quite apparent that “using common sense” isn’t going to be a great rule of thumb going forward.

It’s quite easy to avoid stepping over the line when you know your job is in jeopardy if you do so. It becomes immensely difficult to avoid that line when it’s a nebulous, moving object.

The UFC is a very smart company, and they are privately owned. They are allowed to hire and fire whomever they want, whenever they want and for whatever reason they want. If they believed King Mo crossed a line yesterday in directing his wrath at Lundvall, fine. That’s their prerogative.

But it’s past time to make this thing easier on the fighters. If you’re going to encourage off-center Twitter behavior with financial rewards, you need to lay down some very specific ground rules governing what they can and cannot say.

That way, when you bring down the hammer for dumb social media comments, you’ll at least have a reason.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 146: Dana White Talks About Dos Santos vs. Overeem and Roy Nelson

The UFC is putting the best of the heavyweight division on its upcoming UFC 146 card in Las Vegas, and to headline the event, reigning heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos will take on former Strikeforce champion Alistair Overeem in what should …

Overeem will enter the bout with a 36-11 record, including 15 knockouts and 19 submission wins. His opponent is also a finisher with 10 knockouts in 15 fights.

“This is a fun one,” White said of the main event at the UFC 146 press conference. “Again, the card is stacked with great heavyweight fights. I love this main event with Alistair and Junior dos Santos. Junior dos Santos has been knocking everyone out, except for Roy, and Alistair looked so good in that fight versus Brock Lesnar so, interesting fight.”

Dos Santos is coming off his impressive knockout victory over Cain Velasquez while Overeem was last seen defeating and retiring Lesnar.

After a rough stretch of fights in 2006 and 2007, Overeem made the move to the heavyweight division where he has since gone on to become both a K1 and MMA champion. His wins include those over Lesnar, Brett Rogers, Mark Hunt, Fabricio Werdum and Todd Duffee.

“For me, the question is how is Dos Santos going to deal with the kicks and the knees and the elbows,” White continued. “Since he has been in the UFC, I’ve never had to see him deal with that, the stuff that he is going to have to deal with from Alistair Overeem, fought a pretty one-dimensional fight. He’s Chuck Liddell-like. He’s defending the takedown and drops bombs, but he’s never dealt with anybody who tries to throw kicks and knees, works the clinch like Alistair Overeem does. I’m really curious to see how Junior dos Santos plans on dealing with that.”

Other main-card bouts, all of which feature heavyweights, include Cain Velasquez vs. Frank Mir, Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Shane del Rosario, Mark Hunt vs. Stefan Struve and Roy Nelson vs. Antonio Silva.

If anyone was wondering if Nelson would be dropping to 205, he’s not. Having gone 1-3 in his last four bouts, this is a must-win for him, and it’s also a very serious test against one of the division’s biggest fighters.

“I’m done with it,” White said of trying to convince Nelson to drop to light heavyweight. “I’ve been encouraging him to shave his face and cut his hair too, but he doesn’t want to listen to that either.”

Despite losing and taking tremendous amounts of punishment against Werdum, Mir and Dos Santos, Nelson was never stopped. His 16-7 record shows him losing six fights by decision and only one by knockout, which came when he was dropped by Andrei Arlovski in 2008.

White admits Nelson is a good fighter, but it’s for the wrong reasons.

“I’m cool. I like him,” White continued. “He’s a tough guy with a ton of heart, goes in there and gives it his everything. My thing is, I’d love to see him take this thing serious. When you got a chin line that, and a heart like that, you can’t deny the guy has a great chin, a great heart. He can knock people out too. If he really could get to 205, he’d be a force.”

UFC 146 will be available on pay-per-view on May 26.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 146: Reasons to Get Excited About Junior Dos Santos vs. Alistair Overeem

The Ultimate Fighting Championship officially kicked off preparations for UFC 146: Dos Santos vs. Overeem with a press conference in Las Vegas. The featured bout will put UFC Heavyweight Champion Junior dos Santos against former K-1, DREAM and Strikefo…

The UFC Heavyweight division has been in a state of flux in recent years. With a limited talent pool, putting on top-draw fights between fighters not named Brock Lesnar has proven difficult. However, with the addition of Overeem and other transplants from the Strikeforce brand, the division appears to be on its way to the forefront.

I would be lying if I said that just watching the faceoff yesterday didn’t get me pumped up for this main event. If for some strange reason you need a reason to get excited for this fight, here’s a few to help you along the way.

Begin Slideshow