Lorenzo Fertitta seems to be confirming fights left and right. In a Q&A with fans on Twitter, the Zuffa and UFC CEO confirmed a pair of important summer bouts, including a showdown between former heavyweight champions Cain Velasquez and Frank Mir, …
Lorenzo Fertitta seems to be confirming fights left and right.
In a Q&A with fans on Twitter, the Zuffa and UFC CEO confirmed a pair of important summer bouts, including a showdown between former heavyweight champions Cain Velasquez and Frank Mir, and the rubber match between legendary light heavyweights Tito Ortiz and Forrest Griffin.
Mir, who is riding a three-fight win streak, has steadily climbed back into title contention. He horrified fans at UFC 140 by breaking the arm of former Pride heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.
Meanwhile, Velasquez is looking to rebound after getting knocked out in 64 seconds by Junior Dos Santos at UFC on Fox.
Along with losing the heavyweight title, the loss to Dos Santos marked the first time Velasquez had ever been defeated in his professional career.
Rumored for July 4th weekend, the six-year rivalry between Ortiz and Griffin will finally come to an end.
Ortiz, who is coming off back to back losses to Rashad Evans and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, has already gone on record in saying this will be the final bout of his MMA career.
Even though he hasn’t made any direct statements, Griffin could be looking to wrap up his career as well.
A little over a week out from his August 2011 bout with Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, Griffin wrote an article for Yahoo! Sports explaining his long and winding career.
It quit being fun when I realized I wasn’t getting better. I’m plateauing or almost getting worse sometimes. One of the essential elements to have in this is your perceived expectation of the future, and I’m a painful realist, so I realized that I’m not going to get better; this is it. It’s only gonna get worse from here on and you fight as much as you can, you fight until you don’t have it anymore, and then you fight a couple of more times after that.
Ortiz drew first blood in the rivalry by defeating Griffin at UFC 59. Griffin returned the favor in November 2009 at UFC 106.
Both bouts between the two light heavyweights have gone the distance and ended in a split decision.
(Hey Tito, do you mind taking a look at this fungus I’ve got growing on my foot? I figured if anyone could spot a bizarre infection, it would be you.)
It’s looking like Tito Ortiz will be getting his wish to go out on a hotly contested decision like he’s always wanted. Though the event or location has yet to be determined, Lorenzo Fertitta announced to the Twittersphere last night that the rubber match between Ortiz and Forrest Griffin will in fact be happening, and, just like Ortiz requested, could transpire on Fourth of July weekend.
After saving his Zuffa career by submitting Ryan Bader at UFC 132, Ortiz has dropped two straight to Rashad Evans and Antonio Rogerio Nogueria, both coming by way of TKO. Griffin is also coming off a first round TKO loss, which he suffered in his rematch with fellow former Light Heavyweight champ Mauricio Rua at UFC 134.
Ortiz and Griffin first met way back at UFC 59 in the spring of 2006. At the time, Griffin was on a four fight win streak including his TUF 1 Finale victory over Stephan Bonnar. Ortiz had scored two straight after being knocked out by Chuck Liddell at UFC 47, and would follow his split decision victory over Griffin by beating the piss out of poor Ken Shamrock twice in a row. Their second meeting, which went down at UFC 106, saw Griffin emerge victorious by an equally controversial split decision.
Speaking of trilogies…
(Hey Tito, do you mind taking a look at this fungus I’ve got growing on my foot? I figured if anyone could spot a bizarre infection, it would be you.)
It’s looking like Tito Ortiz will be getting his wish to go out on a hotly contested decision like he’s always wanted. Though the event or location has yet to be determined, Lorenzo Fertitta announced to the Twittersphere last night that the rubber match between Ortiz and Forrest Griffin will in fact be happening, and, just like Ortiz requested, could transpire on Fourth of July weekend.
After saving his Zuffa career by submitting Ryan Bader at UFC 132, Ortiz has dropped two straight to Rashad Evans and Antonio Rogerio Nogueria, both coming by way of TKO. Griffin is also coming off a first round TKO loss, which he suffered in his rematch with fellow former Light Heavyweight champ Mauricio Rua at UFC 134.
Ortiz and Griffin first met way back at UFC 59 in the spring of 2006. At the time, Griffin was on a four fight win streak including his TUF 1 Finale victory over Stephan Bonnar. Ortiz had scored two straight after being knocked out by Chuck Liddell at UFC 47, and would follow his split decision victory over Griffin by beating the piss out of poor Ken Shamrock twice in a row. Their second meeting, which went down at UFC 106, saw Griffin emerge victorious by an equally controversial split decision.
Speaking of trilogies…
It looks like Urijah Faber and Bantamweight champ Dominick Cruz will be locking horns for a third time this summer, though a date and location is still pending. Faber, who is currently 0-3 in title matches after losing his WEC Featherweight crown to Mike Brown at WEC 36, will be looking to erase the memory of a close but unanimous decision he dropped to Cruz in the pair’s first rematch at UFC 132. A fight apparently so close, that it warranted an immediate rematch. These things happen in MMA. As we know, the two are set to coach opposite one another on the next season of TUF, which will surely have its fair share of stank bref jokes, pranks and blah blah blah cut, print, glass plaque. Moving on.
(MMA Rule #334: Black may not crack, but brown sure as shit does.)
Coming off a brilliant technical submission victory over Antonio Rodrigo Nogueria at UFC 140, a statement that I still have trouble comprehending, it looks like Frank Mir will square off against Cain Velasquez in a battle of former champions, also tentatively scheduled for this summer. Velasquez has been out of action since falling to a first round KO at the hands of Junior Dos Santos, losing his Heavyweight title in the process. Again, no date or venue has been announced. It will be interesting to see how this one plays out; you have to imagine Velasquez will be a little gun shy on the feet, as many fighters are after a KO loss. And despite the fact that he’s never been submitted before, it’s still hard to imagine Velasquez will want to tangle with the likes of Mir on the ground. Then again, Mir has shown a tendency to be overwhelmed by powerful strikers in the past.
Most followers of MMA have a specific fighter that they take a liking to, maybe it was due to their combative style, personality or something out of the ordinary that got them hooked, nonetheless, from that day onwards, the fighter in question became t…
Most followers of MMA have a specific fighter that they take a liking to, maybe it was due to their combative style, personality or something out of the ordinary that got them hooked, nonetheless, from that day onwards, the fighter in question became their favorite combatant above all others.
And for said fans, being privy to certain facts about their much-loved fighter is not only a need, but sometimes a necessity, however, some of those facts can be either inaccessible or may have gone straight off the MMA radar altogether.
Still, it’s even harder to keep up with all the information flying around especially if you have several or more fighters on your list of favorites.
Following an impressive return to the Octagon last weekend at UFC 143, Fabricio Werdum is now eyeing a top contender for his next bout.The Brazilian’s performance against Roy Nelson was one of the best showings of his career, as he looked to have impro…
Following an impressive return to the Octagon last weekend at UFC 143, Fabricio Werdum is now eyeing a top contender for his next bout.
The Brazilian’s performance against Roy Nelson was one of the best showings of his career, as he looked to have improved on some of the weaker areas of his game—especially his striking—as he picked his shots and landed multiple knees to his opponent.
The win has now improved Werdum’s UFC record to 3-2 and could potentially put him near the upper echelon of the heavyweight division. As far as a future opponent for “Vai Cavalo,” he didn’t want to drop any name in particular, but he said he would consider a bout with Frank Mir.
“Anybody, I’m prepared to fight anybody. I’ve never picked out opponents my entire life,” Werdum told TATAME.com. “If it’s Frank Mir, excellent. If it’s not, it’s ok. I just wanna show I’m in the top 10 of the division.”
And Werdum feels there’s no other place than to solidify his presence in his homeland of Brazil.
“I hope I can fight in June in Brazil,” he said. “God bless me, UFC will give me the chance to bring this joy to people in Brazil.”
Werdum’s return to the UFC made up for his past performances that saw him record victories over such fighters like Brandon Vera and Gabriel Gonzaga, but it was his knockout loss to current UFC heavyweight champion, Junior dos Santos, that ended his tenure in the company.
The loss certainly left a bad taste in his mouth and it has motivated Werdum to challenge for a title shot within the next year.
“I have to fight Cigano again. When he got here, people didn’t know him in the UFC and I took that fight,” he said. “When UFC offers me this fight, in three, four fights from now, I hope he accepts it.”
This UFC Undisputed 3 video game director thought it would be fun to play a prank on Frank Mir during motion capture exercises and make him do the Hokey Pokey. Frank caught on to the.
This UFC Undisputed 3 video game director thought it would be fun to play a prank on Frank Mir during motion capture exercises and make him do the Hokey Pokey. Frank caught on to the prank and turned the tables. I’m pretty sure by the look of fear in this guy, he needed to change his pants.
THQ released this hilarious video today of Frank Mir’s final day of motion capture filming for the next edition of UFC Undisputed. Apparently this dude from THQ thought it would be funny to get all of the fighters in the game to do the Hokey Pokey — either for his own satisfaction since he was likely picked on in high school or because he was planning on releasing the footage as a special feature or Easter egg.
Well, either Frank caught on to the ploy or someone tipped him off. Either way, he made the prankster shit his pants.
Check out a few more of our favorite MMA pranks after the jump.
(Video courtesy of YouTube/UFCTHQ)
THQ released this hilarious video today of Frank Mir’s final day of motion capture filming for the next edition of UFC Undisputed. Apparently this dude from THQ thought it would be funny to get all of the fighters in the game to do the Hokey Pokey — either for his own satisfaction since he was likely picked on in high school or because he was planning on releasing the footage as a special feature or Easter egg.
Well, either Frank caught on to the ploy or someone tipped him off. Either way, he made the prankster shit his pants.
Check out a few more of our favorite MMA pranks below:
Following an impressive return to the Octagon last weekend at