(Okay, so here’s my movie idea: A washed-up UFC heavyweight tries to make his way back into the big leagues by posing as a woman. Everything goes according to plan until he falls in love with a tough-talking ring girl played by Jennifer Lawrence. Working title: ‘Holy Crap, Gabi Garcia Is Enormous.’)
Garcia, who walks around well above 200 pounds, told Tatame that she plans to show up to the fight around 205. No matter what number she hits on the scale, she will dwarf Yabushita, a veteran Japanese jobber with a 19-22 record, who has lost to the likes of Rin Nakai, Sarah Kaufman, Shayna Baszler, Tara LaRosa, and Marloes Coenen. Yabushita is on a six-fight losing streak, hasn’t competed in 18 months, and hasn’t won a fight since April 2010. Basically, Gabi Garcia vs. Megumi Yabushita is the female equivalent of Bob Sapp vs Bobby Ologun.
(Okay, so here’s my movie idea: A washed-up UFC heavyweight tries to make his way back into the big leagues by posing as a woman. Everything goes according to plan until he falls in love with a tough-talking ring girl played by Jennifer Lawrence. Working title: ‘Holy Crap, Gabi Garcia Is Enormous.’)
Garcia, who walks around well above 200 pounds, told Tatame that she plans to show up to the fight around 205. No matter what number she hits on the scale, she will dwarf Yabushita, a veteran Japanese jobber with a 19-22 record, who has lost to the likes of Rin Nakai, Sarah Kaufman, Shayna Baszler, Tara LaRosa, and Marloes Coenen. Yabushita is on a six-fight losing streak, hasn’t competed in 18 months, and hasn’t won a fight since April 2010. Basically, Gabi Garcia vs. Megumi Yabushita is the female equivalent of Bob Sapp vs Bobby Ologun.
In March of this year, it was revealed that Garcia failed a drug test for Clomiphene — the same estrogen blocker that Chael Sonnen tested positive for earlier this year — and was stripped of the medals she earned at the 2013 IBJJF World Championships. However, the United States Anti-Doping Agency ruled that Garcia “had not acted negligently and was not at fault for the positive test,” and did not suspend her.
Real 1 will also feature the MMA debut of Kron Gracie, who will compete in a 160-pound main event against an opponent to be named later. At this time, we can not confirm rumors that he will be fighting a nine-year-old child.
* UPDATE: We were wrong. Yabushita is no stranger to the female David vs. Goliath game. Check out her win over 330-pound Russian judoka Svetlana Goundarenko way back in December 2000:
Tate (14-5) recently earned her first win in the UFC, out-pointing Liz Carmouche at UFC on FOX 11 in April. Nakai (16-0-1) is an undefeated Queen of Pancrase — although the promotion has occasionally had to bend the rules to keep her impressive record intact. Random fact: Nakai’s height is listed at 5’1″, which makes her even shorter than John Dodson. We can’t wait for her first post-fight interview with Helwani.
Does anybody else feel like Tate vs. Nakai is a direct response to Bellator’s latestmoves? I picture Joe Silva huddled on his laptop saying, “Oh, you think you can beat us on freak show fights, huh? We can do this all day, homie.”
After the jump: Videos of Rin Nakai working out topless — tastefully shot from behind — and bouncing on an exercise ball while giggling. #fitnessmotivation
(…everything else is virtually identical. / Image via McKinley Noble)
Tate (14-5) recently earned her first win in the UFC, out-pointing Liz Carmouche at UFC on FOX 11 in April. Nakai (16-0-1) is an undefeated Queen of Pancrase — although the promotion has occasionally had to bend the rules to keep her impressive record intact. Random fact: Nakai’s height is listed at 5’1″, which makes her even shorter than John Dodson. We can’t wait for her first post-fight interview with Helwani.
Does anybody else feel like Tate vs. Nakai is a direct response to Bellator’s latestmoves? I picture Joe Silva huddled on his laptop saying, “Oh, you think you can beat us on freak show fights, huh? We can do this all day, homie.”
After the jump: Videos of Rin Nakai working out topless — tastefully shot from behind — and bouncing on an exercise ball while giggling. #fitnessmotivation
(I love the serious, half-bored expressions on the Japanese fans’ faces, as if Giant Silva vs. James Thompson is something totally normal that happens all the time. / Photo via Sherdog)
To put it another way — Bellator isn’t the best MMA league in the world, but it has the potential to be the craziest, and that makes it undeniably compelling. The promotion surely recognizes this, which could help explain the new signings of MMA freak-show veterans Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou and James Thompson. Both fighters have been added to the main card of Bellator 121, June 6th at the Winstar World Casino in Thackerville, Oklahoma (aka, the event that just lost its legitimate headliner).
After the jump: Videos of Sokoudjou and Thompson beating the crap out of Bob Sapp.
(I love the serious, half-bored expressions on the Japanese fans’ faces, as if Giant Silva vs. James Thompson is something totally normal that happens all the time. / Photo via Sherdog)
To put it another way — Bellator isn’t the best MMA league in the world, but it has the potential to be the craziest, and that makes it undeniably compelling. The promotion surely recognizes this, which could help explain the new signings of MMA freak-show veterans Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou and James Thompson. Both fighters have been added to the main card of Bellator 121, June 6th at the Winstar World Casino in Thackerville, Oklahoma (aka, the event that just lost its legitimate headliner).
After the jump: Videos of Sokoudjou and Thompson beating the crap out of Bob Sapp.
(Sokoudjou vs. Bob Sapp, DREAM.11, 10/6/09. Listen to Lenne Hardt’s introduction of Sapp from 1:15-1:30. Damn, I’m getting kind of emotional over here.)
(James Thompson vs. Bob Sapp, Super Fight League 1, 3/11/12)
“I talked to Diaz today, and I made him an offer, so we’ll see what happens,” White said. “He had been talking about going to 185 pounds. [Lyoto] Machida has been talking about going to 185 pounds. So we wanted to see if he wanted to fight Machida at 185…They said they’d get back to me.”
“I talked to Diaz today, and I made him an offer, so we’ll see what happens,” White said. “He had been talking about going to 185 pounds. [Lyoto] Machida has been talking about going to 185 pounds. So we wanted to see if he wanted to fight Machida at 185…They said they’d get back to me.”
“I wanted Machida to fight Vitor Belfort, but Vitor Belfort is his own matchmaker, apparently,” White joked. “He wants to make his own fights.”
Wow. Diaz vs. Machida…interesting. You might even call it “kind of neat.” At first glance, a longtime welterweight fighting a longtime light-heavyweight might seem like the kind of freak-show fight best suited for a batshit regional promotion that doesn’t have a reputation to protect. But if you look at the tale of the tape, the matchup isn’t as crazy as it sounds. Diaz is 6’0″ with a 76″ reach, while Machida is 6’1″ with a 74″ reach. Plus, Diaz has had experience fighting above welterweight, winning catchweight bouts against Frank Shamrock and Scott Smith during his Strikeforce run, while Machida would be dropping below 205 for the first time.
The biggest problem with the matchup has to do with styles. If there’s anything that Diaz and his crew hate, it’s motherfuckers who play that slip and run game. Machida’s entire game-plan is based on being evasive, and baiting his opponents into charging at him. In other words, the fight is custom-designed to frustrate the hell out of Diaz. Maybe Nick and his manager Cesar Gracie will recognize this and turn the fight down; maybe the lure of another marquee UFC fight will be too much to resist. Would you want to see it?
(“…and as part of your signing bonus, we’re going to hook you up with a tricked-out, 2014 stretch Winnebago.” Photo props: Bellator MMA via mmanytt.se)
Viacom is expected to announce plans to go head-to-head with pay-per-view juggernaut Zuffa LLC and its UFC 168 offering at next week’s Bellator 97 event on Spike TV.
An unveiling of Bellator fighter Quinton “Rampage” Jackson’s plans with the promotion will likely include a pay-per-view boxing match with former multi-division boxing champ Roy Jones Jr., multiple sources close to the event today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).
The fight is expected to take place at the end of the year, though a date and weight class for the bout could not immediately be confirmed. It’s also unclear how the event will be branded given Bellator and parent company Viacom’s focus on MMA.
“We’ve been talking to Roy and his people over a potential ‘Rampage’ vs. Roy fight for over seven months,” a representative from Jackson’s longtime team, Wolfslair MMA, told MMAjunkie.com. The rep requested anonymity due to the ongoing negotiations related to the matchup.
“If it happens, it would be an incredible fight,” the rep said. “Boxing and MMA have both been discussed, and (Bellator Chairman and CEO) Bjorn (Rebney) has been in these discussions every step of the way. I can’t say much more than that. We’ll see what happens.”
Bellator MMA officials declined to comment on the possible event.
Alright, two things…
(“…and as part of your signing bonus, we’re going to hook you up with a tricked-out, 2014 stretch Winnebago.” Photo props: Bellator MMA via mmanytt.se)
Viacom is expected to announce plans to go head-to-head with pay-per-view juggernaut Zuffa LLC and its UFC 168 offering at next week’s Bellator 97 event on Spike TV.
An unveiling of Bellator fighter Quinton “Rampage” Jackson’s plans with the promotion will likely include a pay-per-view boxing match with former multi-division boxing champ Roy Jones Jr., multiple sources close to the event today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).
The fight is expected to take place at the end of the year, though a date and weight class for the bout could not immediately be confirmed. It’s also unclear how the event will be branded given Bellator and parent company Viacom’s focus on MMA.
“We’ve been talking to Roy and his people over a potential ‘Rampage’ vs. Roy fight for over seven months,” a representative from Jackson’s longtime team, Wolfslair MMA, told MMAjunkie.com. The rep requested anonymity due to the ongoing negotiations related to the matchup.
“If it happens, it would be an incredible fight,” the rep said. “Boxing and MMA have both been discussed, and (Bellator Chairman and CEO) Bjorn (Rebney) has been in these discussions every step of the way. I can’t say much more than that. We’ll see what happens.”
Bellator MMA officials declined to comment on the possible event.
Alright, two things…
– Although the Junkie report suggests that the Rampage vs. RJJ match could go head-to-head with UFC 168, it would be promotional suicide to put this stunt-fight up against a UFC event that features the Anderson Silva vs. Chris Weidman rematch and Ronda Rousey’s next appearance against Miesha Tate. Viacom is crazy — crazy enough to hire Rampage Jackson, at least — but surely they’re not that crazy. At the moment, the latest 2013 date without a fight event already scheduled is December 7th.
– I’ll just state the obvious: The only purpose of this boxing match is to screw with the UFC. Anderson Silva and Roy Jones Jr. have been going back and forth about a potential boxing match for over five years, and Jones even flew out to Las Vegas for UFC 162 to discuss it with UFC president Dana White. But now that Silva torpedoed every UFC super-fight possibility by losing to Weidman, Bellator is locking RJJ down for a boxing match on their turf. Well played, you devious bastards.
Until we hear Rampage Jackson and Roy Jones announcing that they’ve signed contracts for a certain date, we’re just looking at this as a weird possibility for now. But don’t act like you wouldn’t watch this freak show.
The Tiffer incident garnered Mayorga a three-month suspension from the Nicaraguan Cock-Fighting and Shave-Ice Commission (loose translation). Apparently he got his sentence reduced for good behavior, because the same Nicaraguan fight promotion, Omega MMA, is booking El Matador in another match in his hometown of Managua, just two months after he tried to paralyze his opponent. Hey, I’m sure he’s learned his lesson, right?
It’s unclear which weight class Mayorga vs. Martinez will be held at, as if that matters. I’m guessing they’ll just come into the fight weighing whatever, tie some razor blades to their feet and beaks, and go to work. And if you say you’re not interested in this fight, please turn in your CagePotato I.D. Card at the front desk, because clearly you don’t appreciate a great freak show, you maricon.
(Feel free to skip past the first 35 seconds of bullshit. / Props: OFFICIALLEVELPAGE)
The Tiffer incident garnered Mayorga a three-month suspension from the Nicaraguan Cock-Fighting and Shave-Ice Commission (loose translation). Apparently he got his sentence reduced for good behavior, because the same Nicaraguan fight promotion, Omega MMA, is booking El Matador in another match in his hometown of Managua, just two months after he tried to paralyze his opponent. Hey, I’m sure he’s learned his lesson, right?
It’s unclear which weight class Mayorga vs. Martinez will be held at, as if that matters. I’m guessing they’ll just come into the fight weighing whatever, tie some razor blades to their feet and beaks, and go to work. And if you say you’re not interested in this fight, please turn in your CagePotato I.D. Card at the front desk, because clearly you don’t appreciate a great freak show, you maricon.
