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M-1 Champion Vinny Magalhaes Enters Free Agency; UFC Among Top Suitors

Vinny Magalhaes may be coming back to the organization that made him a household name among MMA fans.Magalhaes was the Season 8 runner up on The Ultimate Fighter, which he lost to Ryan Bader. A subsequent loss to Eliot Marshall gave Magalhaes his walki…

Vinny Magalhaes may be coming back to the organization that made him a household name among MMA fans.

Magalhaes was the Season 8 runner up on The Ultimate Fighter, which he lost to Ryan Bader. A subsequent loss to Eliot Marshall gave Magalhaes his walking papers.

Since leaving the UFC, the submission ace has been on an absolute tear. In his last eight bouts, Magalhaes is 7-1 with five wins coming via submission and his only loss coming by way of decision.

In April last year, Magalhaes defeated Viktor Nemkov via submission (mounted gogoplata) to win the M-1 Light Heavyweight Championship. He defended his title in October against Mikhail Zayats.

After the Zayats bout, Magalhaes’ relationship with M-1 really went south. Magalhaes spoke with MMAJunkie.com Radio about why he’s leaving M-1 and the title behind.

“The first thing I said when I heard about it was, ‘I’m never going to fight for these guys again,'” Magalhaes said. “A few months later, that’s still my thought.” (MMAJunkie.com)

The “it” Magalhaes is referring to was official Evgeni Kogan, openly rooting for and coaching Zayats during the bout.

Magalhaes attempted to get out of his contract early but instead chose to wait it out. With his M-1 contract complete, Magalhaes is free to open negotiations with other promotions and there’s a familiar name at the top of his list.

“…we’re negotiating with the UFC right now,” Pacitti said. “There are others, but the UFC is certainly in line. The UFC is definitely attractive.” (MMAJunkie.com)

The UFC likely thinks Magalhaes is an attractive free agent as well, given that he’s a familiar name within the organization and truly brings “world class” skills to MMA.

In the ADCC tournament, Magalhaes was able to defeat defending champion, Fabricio Werdum.

Although Magalhaes did say he is listening to other offers and will take whichever company gives him the best offer, he made no attempt to hide his desire to fight in the UFC.

“Tell me one fighter who doesn’t want to be in the UFC. If he doesn’t want to be in the UFC, then he probably just doesn’t want to fight.” (MMAJunkie.com)

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MMA: Dan Hardy vs Matt Hughes: Would Anyone Care?

In random rivalry news, British slugger Dan Hardy made it clear in a recent interview with MMA Weekly Radio that he has a disliking for UFC hall-of-famer Matt Hughes and would love to meet the legend in the octagon.The timing of Hardy’s call out is odd…

The timing of Hardy’s call out is odd to say the least as the fighter is currently on a four-fight losing streak and will certainly be fighting for his job when he faces Duane Ludwig at UFC 146.

Is Dan Hardy already posturing for an extra fight should he lose to Ludwig?

The UFC rarely matches a winner against a loser, so even if Hardy is able to win, this fight still makes no sense as the aging Hughes is currently riding a two-fight losing streak himself in which he showed his chin isn’t what it used to be.

Hughes has paid his dues and he deserves a chance to leave the sport on a high note, but is this really the retirement fight that Hughes has in mind? Hughes hasn’t publicly responded to Hardy’s comments as of yet but with Hardy’s lack of wrestling it would certainly present Hughes with a beatable opponent.

Hughes is a legend of the sport, but his days of being a main draw are long gone. Hughes hasn’t headlined a card since 2008 and its clear that his next fight will certainly be his last.

Hardy didn’t go too much into detail as to why he doesn’t like Hughes other than to say he was a “blood thirsty kill freak.”

Nothing sells in MMA quite like a personal beef between fighters and Hardy has a history of being able to sell fights but given how irrelevant he has become and the overall irrelevancy of both fighters, is this a fight that MMA fans could really get excited about?

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Can Nate Diaz Be a Legitimate Title Contender in the UFC?

Once Nate Diaz’s hand was raised in victory at UFC 141, fans started to wonder if this was finally going to be the fight to propel his career toward a title shot.Diaz now has 15 fights in the UFC. His record is 10-5 and he has been involved in fiv…

Once Nate Diaz’s hand was raised in victory at UFC 141, fans started to wonder if this was finally going to be the fight to propel his career toward a title shot.

Diaz now has 15 fights in the UFC. His record is 10-5 and he has been involved in five “Fight of the Night” bonuses.

Unfortunately for Diaz, he hasn’t come out on top when it matters the most.

Coming off a very impressive performance against Donald Cerrone, Diaz is now poised to fight for the Lightweight Title if he can get past Jim Miller at UFC on FOX 3 on May 5th.

What is the general perception of Diaz’s character?

Most fans who doubt his legitimacy to be a title contender blame it on the way he conducts himself in and around the Octagon.

In fact, if we were able to think about Diaz without taking into account the baggage that surrounds the attitudes of he and his brother, we would see a man who has improved tremendously since he first stepped into the Octagon in 2007.

Diaz has always been known as a submission specialist, and now he is showing us how good of a striker he can be.

In his last fight against Cerrone he broke a CompuStrike record by landing 82% of his strikes. Couple the improved striking with a great ground game and you have framework of a fighter who can compete for the title.

Each time it appears Diaz is on the cusp of a title shot, he falters. Maybe it’s because he amps himself up a bit too much, becomes careless or just maybe it is because he is never going to be an elite UFC fighter.

If you would have asked me if Diaz would ever be a serious contender after his fight against Rory MacDonald at UFC 129, I would have said “not a chance” without any hesitation.

However, a return to the lightweight division combined with his newfound love (and success) of the stand up game has put me on the Nate Diaz bandwagon.

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UFC News: Hendo Refutes Dana White’s Claims That He Would Fight Teammate Sonnen

Despite recent comments from UFC President Dana White, UFC light heavyweight title contender Dan Henderson told ESPN on Monday that he would not fight Team Quest teammate and friend Chael Sonnen at middleweight, regardless if he was the 185-pound champ…

“Hendo” set the record straight by saying reigning UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva is the only man that could persuade him to drop down a weight class once again.

However, even that rematch is not very high on Henderson’s agenda.

“I don’t have any real desire to fight at middleweight. The only guy I’d cut weight for is Anderson Silva, win or lose that could still happen,” Henderson said.

“But it’s not high up on my list at all. Silva’s the only guy I’d cut weight for. I’ve got the light-heavyweight thing in my mind and that’s it. I’d fight Anderson Silva but I’m only interested in the UFC light-heavyweight title right now.”

Henderson said that his over a decade long professional relationship with the self-proclaimed “American Gangster from Oregon” would prevent him from ever stepping inside the octagon against him.

“Chael lives up in Oregon but I know him real well. He was with me and Randy [Couture] when we first started our team,” Henderson stated to ESPN.

“He’ll fight whoever has that belt. Dan doesn’t seem too picky, I think he would fight Chael Sonnen [if he won the belt from Silva],” White said last week.

After turning down a fight with Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in January, White said Henderson had no interest in a fight with former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida either.

While Hendo argued that he was never actually offered a fight with “The Dragon,” the heavy-handed wrestler has made it clear that he has no intention of coming off the sidelines until he has a chance to compete for the light heavyweight gold.

Meanwhile, Sonnen is expected to rematch his archnemesis, Silva, in Sao, Paulo Brazil in June of this year, with a venue still yet to be announced.

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3 Questions: Mystery UFC on FX Show, Bellator’s Main Event

Welcome to my new Monday feature “3 Questions,” where we take a look at the three biggest issues surrounding the upcoming week in mixed martial arts 1. What’s the deal with this mystery UFC on FX show? I was more than a little surprised yeste…

Welcome to my new Monday feature “3 Questions,” where we take a look at the three biggest issues surrounding the upcoming week in mixed martial arts

1. What’s the deal with this mystery UFC on FX show?

I was more than a little surprised yesterday when Gray Maynard vs. Clay Guida was announced as the main event for UFC on FX 4. Not because of the fight itself, because I knew for over a month that the fight would be booked at some point—we just weren’t sure when, exactly, it would happen.

I was surprised because the event was called UFC on FX 4, and there was no UFC on FX 3 event on the calendar.

A little digging allowed me to confirm with UFC officials that the June 22 show in Atlantic City that was previously believed to be UFC on FX 3 will now, in fact, be UFC on FX 4. A new FX event, currently believed to be held June 8 at an undisclosed location, will be announced shortly. And no, it will not be the Ultimate Fighter Live Finale—that’s a separate event entirely.

Will we find out more about this secret show in the days ahead? I think we will.

2. Will Bellator’s planned main event for Friday night actually happen?

Eric Prindle and Thiago Santos seem destined for catastrophe. They originally met in November, and things were going along swimmingly until Santos punted Prindle in the junk so hard that the referee actually stopped the fight. That nasty incident was followed by an even nastier one the next day when Prindle decided it would be a great idea to tweet a picture of his ruptured ball.

The rematch was booked for last Friday night, but it never happened. Why? It depends on who you believe. Bellator and everyone else involved with the fight said that Prindle fell ill and couldn’t compete. Sources close to Bellator told me that Prindle was trying to cut too much weight and became sick as a result, so the doctors stopped his cut and wouldn’t allow him to compete.

Prindle told a different story, saying that Santos was the one who tried to cut too much weight and that it was his fault the fight was scrapped.

Either way, it’s been re-scheduled for this Friday night. Given the history between these two thus far, you can expect something wacky to happen here.

3. Can Team Faber rebound on Ultimate Fighter Live?

Dominick Cruz pretty much had his way with Urijah Faber on the second episode of Ultimate Fighter Live.

The guy believed to be one of Cruz’s worst draft picks knocked out Faber’s top pick in the first round, earning control of the fight picks for Team Cruz. And then Cruz utterly punked Faber when it came to the actual fight pick for next week, surprising Faber and telling him to pick anyone they wanted to step in the cage with his top pick Justin Lawrence.

Crickets. That’s pretty much the only thing you heard as Faber looked blankly at his team while they did the same thing in return. It was an emasculating moment for the entire team, as it gave off the impression that nobody wanted to fight Lawrence. Cruz briefly let the moment linger, then selected Cristiano Marcello to face Lawrence.

This is a big fight. Lawrence and Marcello were two of the major favorites to face off in the finals, and they’re now squaring off in week three. Can Marcello help Team Faber get its mojo back?

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Bellator 62: 4 Fighters to Watch in Season 6’s Lightweight Tournament

This Friday Bellator FC will put on another live MMA event, and another opening round of a season-six tournament. For this week’s Bellator 62 event, it’ll be the lightweights who step into the cage. Bellator’s lightweight division is well-known amongst Bellator fans as one of the most exciting divisions in the entire promotion, and I personally am more excited for the lightweight tournament than I am for any other tournament in season six.

To explain why, here’s a quick history lesson on the four big names set to compete in Bellator’s Season Six Lightweight Tournament.

First up we have Patricky Freire, who together with his brother Patricio Freire continually stole the show last season. Patricky burst onto the Bellator lightweight scene when he KO’d former WEC champion Rob McCullough, and then he gave fans an amazing “Bellator moment” when he KO’d Toby Imada with a beautiful flying knee that was followed up by some vicious punches. The 2011 loss was the first (T)KO loss for Imada since 2006, and only the fourth (T)KO loss in a career that has seen him fight almost fifty times.

Like his brother, Patricky would end up fighting to the finals of the Bellator season-five tournament he competed in. Unlike Patricio, Patricky would end up falling to Michael Chandler. In one of the bigger scandals of season five, Chandler kicked Patricky in the groin three times, only earning a single point deduction on the third and last groin kick.

Another notable star of Bellator’s Season Six Lightweight Tournament is Rick Hawn, one of two finalists from Bellator’s Season Four Welterweight Tournament. Hawn entered Bellator a perfect 8-0 with six (T)KO wins, and would KO his first opponent in Bellator in order to qualify for Bellator’s Season Four Welterweight Tournament. Hawn would end up winning by both unanimous and split decision before losing a controversial split decision to Jay Hieron.

Bellator’s Season Six Lightweight Tournament also features Brent Weedman, a well-traveled veteran who started competing in 2005 but has already amassed almost thirty professional fights. Weedman is another welterweight dropping down to lightweight, and lost to Jay Hieron in Season Four Welterweight Tournament’s semifinal round. Weedman also competed in Bellator’s Season Five Welterweight Tournament, losing in the quarterfinal round. Weedman’s overall record is 18-7 with only two stoppage losses and with seventeen stoppage wins.

And finally, Bellator’s Season Six Lightweight Tournament also features Rene Nazare. A master at Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Nazare is 11-1 with an even split of four wins by (T)KO and four wins by submission. Nazare has certainly looked impressive in Bellator so far, finishing his first two opponents in the first round and his third opponent in the second round. Despite having competed in Bellator four times, this is the first Bellator tournament Nazare has ever competed in.

Of course, Bellator 62 also features four other lightweight fighters, although all four aren’t as well-known as the four fighters I’ve highlighted here. And if the opening round of the lightweight tournament wasn’t enough, we have the much-anticipated rematch between Eric Prindle and Thiago Santos to finally declare a winner for Season Five’s Heavyweight Tournament.

Putting it simply: Bellator 62 is loaded with top stars and entertaining fighters from one of Bellator’s best and deepest weight divisions, so go watch Bellator 62 and #gowatchbellator!

If you’re a Twitter user and want to get in on the discussion and/or offer up your own insight, feel free to use #gowatchbellator in your tweets to help spread the word.

Oliver Saenz, also known as PdW2kX, is a freelance journalist, opinion columnist, hardcore MMA fan and lifelong video game nerd. For more news, views, previews and reviews on all things Mixed Martial Arts as well as video games, be sure to visit FightGamesBlog.net.

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