Fighting | UFC Betting Sites - The Best MMA Online Bookies

Bellator FC: The Top 5 Reasons You Need to Go Watch Bellator

Tonight, Bellator will be presenting its 61st event live on MTV2. The sixth season is already off to a good start, as seen by Pat Curran’s dramatic KTFO of Joe Warren last week. As we head deeper and deeper into season six, the list of reasons to go wa…

5. It’s one of the only other options available.

Zuffa dominates the industry. That’s been a true fact since the fall or PRIDE FC. It’s been a true fact as the UFC has battled it out with, and ultimately defeated, the likes of Elite XC, Affliction and yes, even Strikeforce.

Now that Strikeforce solely exists as a subsidiary of Zuffa, Bellator is the only other major MMA promotion currently on television. Aside from a handful of smaller promotions with smaller TV deals, Bellator is the only option left if you want something different. Good thing it’s an excellent option.

4. It’s going to Spike TV in a year, but Bellator isn’t in a holding pattern.

Next year will probably be the biggest year in Bellator’s history, and it will also be Bellator’s best chance to truly get into the mainstream MMA consciousness. But Bellator isn’t playing it safe this season.

Every tournament is loaded with stars, the champions are all set to defend their titles and Bellator even has a video game on the way. In a year that could be booked solely around saving all the best fights for Spike TV, Bellator is putting its best foot forward and ending its run on MTV2 with a bang.

3. The champions continue to prove that they’re top fighters.

I can admit that some of Bellator’s divisions are weaker than others (a lot weaker in some cases), but several of Bellator’s champions have entered into “best in the world” discussion.

There’s a lot of hype around Pat Curran right now, and deservedly so. Eddie Alvarez, now the former champion, was known for years as one of the best lightweights not in the UFC. Hector Lombard is so well respected that it’s recently been rumored that the UFC is interested in signing him.

Simply put: A promotion is built on the shoulder of its champions, and Bellator continues to prove that most of their champions could hang with anyone else in the world, including UFC and Strikeforce fighters.

2. An unknown can go from “who?” to “one of the best in Bellator” in only a few fights.

Maybe you consider this a negative? Me, I love a Cinderella story. I love the idea that I could go into a Bellator tournament not having a clue who one of the participants is, and then by the end of the tournament I’m giving some serious thought to that guy becoming a Bellator champion.

Bellator’s tournament format keeps creating stars, and that’s an invaluable tool for the promotion. And it also results in some stellar fights, which brings me to my next point.

1. The fight quality continues to improve.

Could anything else be No. 1? Ever since Bellator came to MTV2, I have been able to count on one hand the number of events I actually considered bad. It’s true that not every fight is a five-star classic. Some fights are a bit mundane, even boring. There have been entire Bellator events where I haven’t seen an interesting fight.

But the vast majority of the time, Bellator is an amazing promotion to watch. The number of highlight-reel moments they continue to produce is astounding. Bellator is not without its flaws, and I’ll be examining and debating those flaws soon, but the fight quality of Bellator has only continued to get better as the years have gone by.

And I hate to pull the “true fan” card, but this is something I really believe in: if you’re a true MMA fan, the quality of the fights should be the No. 1 deciding factor for whether or not you want to follow a promotion. You want exciting fights and amazing moments, more often than not? Go watch Bellator.

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.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 145: Mark Hominick Back to "The Machine" and Film "Fight Spirit Pride"

Mark Hominick will be looking to return to the original ways of “The Machine” when he faces veteran Eddie Yagin at UFC 145 in Atlanta. “The Machine” nickname has been well earned over the years as Mark is well known and respected for his almost robot-like dedication to discipline, focus and constant training and improvement.

2011 tested him in many ways inside and outside the cage and understandably, we saw a different Hominick in the cage than we were used to. It is hard for anyone in the world to dictate a fight against UFC Featherweight champion Jose Aldo and Hominick battled as hard as he could even though he lost a decision.

We didn’t see the real “Machine” in his next fight either, a shockingly quick loss to Chan Sung Jung at UFC 140 in Toronto. His back against the wall, Hominick is looking to get back to what got him to this point in his career with a win against Yagin.

“Exactly, that’s what I’m focused on. You know the last one, there were so many things in my head in play that I wanted to prove so much and I fought out of character and I payed the price for fighting out of character. So this one, I’m just focused on getting a win,” Hominick said this week, while he trained at his gym, The Adrenaline Training Center.

“I’m not worried about where it puts me in the title hunt or anything like that. I’m just looking to go out there, I want to put on a great performance and a great win and that’s what I’m focused on.”

It’s clear that Hominick has a lot of respect for and knowledge about Eddie Yagin.

“He’s a veteran. He’s had almost fifteen years of fighting. I remember fighting in 2002 in Hawaii and he was one of the headline fights back then. He’s fought in basically every organization that’s around. He’s fought in the day when you know he’s 5’5 and fighting at 170 so, he’s just a scrapper. He comes to fight so it’s a great matchup for me and I’m looking forward to it.

Fight fans throughout Canada and the world are looking forward to seeing the return of “The Machine” on April 21st.

Please see the entire video interview attached as Mark talks about the new documentary film “Fight Spirit Pride” which follows his career between 2006 to the present, with an exclusive behind the scenes look at balancing his career in the UFC and being there for his ailing father.

He also talks about the valuable relationship that Adrenaline and Team Tompkins share with Team Curran in Chicago.

Dwight Wakabayashi is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA, MMA Editor at CKSN.ca and guest blogger for Sportsnet.ca

Catch him on Facebook and Twitter at wakafightermma.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Chael Sonnen Talks TRT, Says More Crazy Things That Make No Sense

Chael Sonnen is never at a loss for words, which makes him the ultimate guest if you’re running a MMA-themed television or radio show. Last night, Sonnen appeared as a special guest on Spike’s MMA Uncensored Live, and he was in rare form when disc…

Chael Sonnen is never at a loss for words, which makes him the ultimate guest if you’re running a MMA-themed television or radio show.

Last night, Sonnen appeared as a special guest on Spike’s MMA Uncensored Live, and he was in rare form when discussing Rampage Jackson and his usage of testosterone replacement therapy, better known as TRT.

I like him. Look, he’s a crybaby, but I find it entertaining. I like it when he goes on his campaigns about entitlement and how he should be given easy fights.

I don’t agree with any of it, but, you gotta understand, everybody’s gonna stumble, at times, but to miss weight at a fight poorly, when you’re paid what he’s paid — he’s the second-highest paid fighter in the industry now that Brock Lesnar is retired — it kind of puts him in a different ballpark. A lot of things are expected of him, and he’s not quite delivering.

But as far as retirement talk, the guy ought to be able to have a bad performance here and there. Randy Couture, the greatest of all time, had bad performances, but he always came back.

If you’re gonna associate the guy with TRT, make sure you also associate the fact that it’s legal and it’s not banned. Second thing with TRT is people are really getting confused. They look at TRT and they’re missing the stuff that really is good.

TRT is eight, nine or ten on the list of things they could take to help their careers. Secondly, any time a person says ‘performance enhancer,’ stop talking to them, because they don’t have the intellect to debate with you.

TRT use in mixed martial arts became a hot topic after Sonnen’s testosterone levels came back high for his bout against Anderson Silva at UFC 117 nearly two years ago.

Craig Carton, the host of MMA Uncensored Live, got a good verbal dig in on Sonnen when he said “you tested positive for as much testosterone as an elephant when you fought Silva.”

Sonnen replied:

No, no, no. Absolutely not. Not only did I not take more of it, I was never even accused of that. Josh Gross, who’s incompetent beyond measure, went on ESPN and said that I did, so it became my reality and I went with it. I was never even accused of that.

Is it legal or is it not legal? If a person’s taking a legal substance, that’s the end of the conversation. You’re sounding a lot like Josh Gross.

Let’s clear up some of the reality distortion field here. Sonnen’s testosterone levels when he fought Silva were at 16.9:1. The average male testosterone ratio is 1:1. If you’re taking testosterone replacement therapy, you are still required to have testosterone levels within a reasonable limit. The California State Athletic Commission allows for up to 4:1.

Which means Sonnen had a testosterone limit of nearly 17 times that of a normal human, and over four times the allowable limit.

So yeah, he was accused of taking too much testosterone. But let’s not let that get in the way of a good story

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Chael Sonnen Calls Rampage Jackson a Crybaby, but Not a Cheat

Chael Sonnen has called Quinton “Rampage” Jackson a crybaby for whimpering about the supposed arduous fights the UFC has been assigning him, according to ESPN.
“I like him, but look, he’s a crybaby,” Sonnen told MMA Uncensored….

Chael Sonnen has called Quinton “Rampage” Jackson a crybaby for whimpering about the supposed arduous fights the UFC has been assigning him, according to ESPN.

“I like him, but look, he’s a crybaby,” Sonnen told MMA Uncensored. “I find it entertaining. I like it when he goes on his campaigns about entitlement and how he should be given easy fights.

“I don’t agree with any of it, but, you’ve got to understand, everybody’s going to stumble, at times.

“But to miss weight at a fight poorly, when you’re paid what he’s paid – he’s the second highest paid fighter in the industry now that Brock Lesnar is retired – it kind of puts him in a different ballpark.

“A lot of things are expected of him and he’s not quite delivering. But as far as retirement talk, the guy ought to be able to have a bad performance here and there. Randy Couture, the greatest of all time, had bad performances, but he always came back.”

Following his unanimous decision loss to Ryan Bader at UFC 144, the former light heavyweight titlist has gone on a rampage (no pun intended), criticising the Zuffa-based hierarchy for his recent spate of defeats and everything else in between.

First, Rampage (32-10 MMA, 7-4 UFC) tweeted he was discontented with the status quo of the company and thus would be leaving the firm after his next fight.

He then upped the ante by tweeting he could compete in better fights elsewhere, and as a result, requested that the firm release him from his existing contract. In addition, Rampage took a swipe at Joe Silva, saying the matchmaker should be “shot in the face.”

That said, the former PRIDE combatant is set to honor the aforesaid contract (one last fight) and is scheduled to take a bow when he faces off against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.

However, before that fight can materialize, Rampage will have to undergo minor surgery on both of his knees, which suggests his next and final outing for the UFC could transpire sometime later this year.

Though Uncle Chael thinks the 33-year-old Memphis native comes across as a whiner, he was quick to point out that he doesn’t believe Rampage is a cheater, apropos his use of TRT (Testosterone Replacement Therapy), which Rampage admitted using prior to his bout with Bader.

There’s two things there. If you’re going to associate the guy with TRT, make sure you also associate the fact that it’s legal and it’s not banned.

Second thing with TRT is people are really getting confused. They look at TRT and they’re missing the stuff that really is good. TRT is eight, nine or ten on the list of things they could take to help their careers.

Secondly, any time a person says ‘performance enhancer,’ stop talking to them, because they don’t have the intellect to debate with you.

For additional information, follow Nedu Obi on Twitter.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Roger Gracie Confirms Move to Middleweight; Signs with Team Blackhouse

In a move that many fans were calling for following his loss to “King Mo” Lawal, Roger Gracie and his manager Ed Soares confirmed with Ariel Helwani that he intends to move to middleweight for his next bout.Gracie will now have some of the best trainin…

Gracie will now have some of the best training partners in the world like Anderson Silva, Lyoto Machida, and the Nogueira brothers to prepare himself for his next MMA bout.

The grappling champion hasn’t been seen inside a cage since his KO loss to “King Mo” last September.

A move to 185 pounds will even up the obvious strength disadvantage Gracie had at 205 pounds, but will also give him a considerable length advantage as the BJJ black belt stands at a very lanky 6’4″.

There are a number of possibilities for Gracie at middleweight in Strikeforce.

He is coming off a loss so the promotion may way want to give him an easier fight to get him back on track. They could also match him up against someone like Robbie Lawler, who’s an established name and would be at an extreme disadvantage against Gracie on the ground.

However, the real matchup fans are hoping to see is Gracie vs. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza.

The two have met each other on the grappling mats on many occasions. The most controversial meeting between the two took place in 2004.

Gracie was able to injure Souza’s arm but saw him stall out the remaining time to win on points.

Souza is already under Blackhouse management but trains at X-Gym, which does leave open the possibility of a match against Gracie.

Regardless of whether or not the dream MMA match between the grappling stars comes together, the Strikeforce middleweight division just got a lot more interesting.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 146: The Ultimate Fighting Championship, Where the Big Boys Play

“World Championship Wrestling. Where the big boys play,” said Tony Schiavone and every single WCW announcer in a marketing campaign that seemed to last for years. It was a marketing campaign that didn’t quite work. “Where the bi…