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Brad Pickett Talks Damacio Page, Title Shot, and Surviving an Early Storm

Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, but Brad Pickett was pretty darn close.”I believe that if I would have beaten Renan Barao I might have gotten a title shot,” Pickett told Bleacher Report.”I had a really close fight with Scott Jorgense…

Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, but Brad Pickett was pretty darn close.

“I believe that if I would have beaten Renan Barao I might have gotten a title shot,” Pickett told Bleacher Report.

“I had a really close fight with Scott Jorgensen who earned a title shot in his next fight. I went the distance and lost to Demetrious Johnson who also ended up getting a title shot. I beat Ivan Menjivar and he’s getting close to a title shot,” said Pickett. “The bantamweight competition is stiff.”

Unfortunately for Pickett (20-6), he fell short to Barao by rear-naked choke at UFC 138, ultimately eliminating himself from any title contention.

But Picket is back and ready for yet another run at things.

However, before Pickett can put his eyes on the prize, he’ll need to defeat a highly dangerous Damacio Page (12-6) when the two meet in a 135-pound contest at UFC on FUEL in Sweden.

Pickett believes he’s the more complete fighter, but will have to prove so when action begins in the lone bantamweight matchup of the evening on Saturday, April 14th.

“To be honest, I think technically I’m better than him in almost everything. However, but not by a massive margin. He’s good in several ways,” said Pickett. “I’ll probably have the edge but it’s a crazy sport.”

“He throws hard and he’s dangerous. Anything can happen. It’s going to be a dangerous first round for me with how fast he comes out,” said Pickett. “I have to have my defense ready and hopefully nothing crazy happens.”

While Pickett may hope nothing crazy happens, history doesn’t necessarily support his hopes.

Of their 44 combined fights, only nine times have they made their way to the judge’s scorecards.

Pickett’s first priority will be slowing down the haymaker-attempts by Page.

“We both have the ability to finish one another. I know he’s going to come out fast so the finishing component is right there in front of us,” said Pickett. “We’re not guys who necessarily grind out our fights.”

With that being said, Page isn’t in for a walk in the park either.

He’ll be facing one of the more well-rounded mixed martial artists—not only in the bantamweight division—but in the entire UFC.

A well-rounded fighter with the skills to take the fight anywhere he pleases.

Pickett concluded by stating,

“I’m just as dangerous in the third round as I am in the first.”

For additional information, follow Garrett Derr on Twitter.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Joe Rogan Interview

The post Joe Rogan Interview appeared first on Cage Potato.

We called up Joe Rogan earlier this week hoping to shoot the bull about tomorrow’s UFC card. Instead, we got a full education about humanity’s impending peak point, the thievery of war, Ashton Kutcher, and psychedelic Internet dance-porn. But that’s how it goes with Joe, whether you’re listening to his stand-up comedy CDs or watching him explain things to Mike Goldberg during UFC broadcasts — not only are you entertained, but you actually feel smarter afterwards. Of course, he did run down the GSP/Penn matchup for us, as well as share stories about his early days with the UFC and fill us in on his upcoming comedy special. So read on and be enlightened…

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CAGEPOTATO.COM: I saw on your website that you did some standup gigs in Austin, Texas last weekend. How would you compare the Austin crowd to the Dublin crowd you played to the week before?
JOE ROGAN: They’re both great in different ways. Ireland is a lot like England — they really appreciate American standup comedy over there. I don’t know what it is about American comedy and the U.K., but it seems to work. I’ve even met a few American expatriates who live over there and do standup. But Dublin was great, and the fans in Austin are always awesome — it’s one of my favorite places ever.

Out of curiosity, is it possible to score good weed in Ireland?
Not good weed. No. You can get passable weed. Unfortunately for the Irish, marijuana is just as illegal as heroin or cocaine or anything else. I believe the way they prosecute it is by how much the drug is worth, rather than how dangerous or harmful to society it is.

I just got your last comedy CD Shiny Happy Jihad, and in the liner notes it says “All together in 2012.” What’s going to happen in 2012?
That’s like the million dollar question, right there. Who knows what’s going to happen. I’m not a scientist, or an archeologist, or a futurist, so for me it’s more fun than anything. But the idea behind it, according to people who take it very seriously, whether they’re the people who decipher the Mayan calendar, or the Terrence McKennas of the world — there’s a guy named Terrence McKenna who actually created a mathematical algorithm that predicted what he called “waves of novelty,” meaning human innovation throughout time and history, and he believed that what we do as human beings, as far as creating new things like the wheel or matches or the Internet, that what we’re doing is part of a mathematical program. Meaning that we are doing something that you can actually track with mathematics. And his algorithm showed that human innovation is pre-destined. It’s just what we do, like bees make beehives, ants make anthills — human beings make technology. We change our environment, we alter things. And that eventually we were going to reach a peak point, or a point of what they call “ultimate novelty,” and that this is going to be a moment where something is invented, something happens, that changes the world as we know it.

Could it be the invention of a time machine? Could it be the Large Hadron Collider gets fired up finally and causes a fuckin’ black hole that envelops the earth? Who knows what it is. Maybe it’s something that hasn’t even been thought of yet, that’s going to be invented based on previous inventions and it’s going to change the whole world. Or, maybe nothing. But the end date that he came up with for this novelty theory was December 21st, 2012, which is the exact same date to the day as the end of the long count in the Mayan calendar — that’s what the Mayans predicted to be the end of the age. And that human beings go in a 20+ thousand year cycles, and we have these rises and falls in human history, these moments where things change absolutely and completely, and will never be the same again. And this is going to happen on December 21st, 2012. The Mayans had predicted so many fascinating things, like thousands and thousands of years ago.

Do you also believe in the existence of the Illuminati, like your friend and jiu-jitsu teacher Eddie Bravo?
Well, what does that really mean? Do I believe that there’s a secret handshake that some of the top senators and bankers engage in? No, not in that sense. But I think it’s pretty obvious that the world is being controlled by the people with all the money, and that’s always been the case. I wrote a blog post after “Fight for the Troops,” about how when we were over there we got to talk to all these guys who were missing hands and shit, and these kids who thought they were over there doing a great service to the world by being a part of this invasion of some foreign country that never did anything to us. Their motives were entirely pure but they were being led. I completely support soldiers, but they have no idea what the fuck is going on, why they’re going to certain countries, why they’re taking orders — they’re just doing what they’re supposed to be doing. They’re being soldiers, they’re following orders

There’s a guy named Major Smedley Butler, who was the commander of the United States Marine Corps, and he wrote a speech in 1933 called War Is a Racket, which is fascinating if you read it in 2009. Because in 1933 this guy was talking about how when he was going to all these different places in the name of liberty and justice, really what he was doing was clearing the area for oil companies and making the area safe for bankers, and that basically war is just a means that the elite use to control the rest of the world. They go in and clear areas out so they can profit from them. And that’s been the case since the beginning of time. War is about profit and controlling resources. So do I believe in the Illuminati in that sense? Yes, I do. I do believe that wars are created for profit. And they always have been. And there’s evidence, these aren’t just speculations.

If you look at just this country over the last 50-60 years, in 1961 there was a document that was released called the Northwoods Document, which became available in the Freedom of Information act fairly recently, and this document was signed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff but was vetoed by Kennedy, and it was basically a plan to attack American civilians and to make it look like Cubans were doing it, in order to generate enthusiasm for a war against Cuba. It’s a false flag attack on Americans. They had plans to blow up an American jetliner, attack college students, all this shit just to get people to be enthusiastic about a war with Cuba. And the Gulf of Tonkin incident, the reason why we got into Vietnam — which never happened. It was a fake attack, it was another false flag incident, another incident of the people in charge conspiring to create an excuse to go to war. So it that sense, the elite controlling the world, that’s fucking real.

Let’s switch gears and talk about the UFC for a bit. How much preparation goes into each one of your UFC commentary appearances? Do you do a lot of research, or do you just kind of wing it?
The beautiful thing about being a real fan of MMA is that I do research every day, just because I’m interested. Every day I wake up in the morning, I check my message board, I check my e-mail, I check the news, and once that’s out of the way I go to the MMA boards. I check out MixedMartialArts.com, MMA Weekly, Sherdog, and a bunch of other websites, and often times I hear news on the websites before I hear it from the UFC. But I don’t think of it as research. I would be doing it anyway, because I really love the sport. So when I’m doing my preparation, it’s really just me being interested in MMA.

Has the UFC ever gotten upset about anything you’ve said on air?
No. They don’t like it when I talk about other organizations, and when they were trying to buy PRIDE, they asked me not to mention PRIDE, so I didn’t. I never mentioned the organization in particular, but I always mentioned the fighters that were competing in PRIDE. And it was kind of a touchy situation, because I’d be the only one talking about them. Goldberg wouldn’t touch it. I would bring up Nogueira or Fedor, all these other guys. But they didn’t want free publicity for PRIDE. That was pretty much the only thing they’ve asked me not to do.

So they’re okay with you occasionally being critical of fighters, like when you were burying Mauricio Rua’s performance during UFC 93?
No, they don’t have a problem with that, because my criticism is totally based on honesty. I couldn’t say “Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua looks like he could just step in right now and fight the cream of the crop at 205.” I mean, you’re talking about a guy who was gassed out of his mind, fighting Mark Coleman, who was just standing there with his hands down, and he couldn’t do anything to him. It was a very disappointing performance for both men. Mark’s 44 years old, he hadn’t fought in two years, he didn’t have a real camp, he kind of trained himself for the fight, and he showed tremendous guts and courage just to stand in there and keep swinging. And there were a couple points where I thought if he had more energy he could have stopped the fight. When he had Shogun down and he was punching him, I was like “Is this going to be the end of this fight?’ But he just didn’t have the physical energy in him.

My criticism is never like a personal thing, like “oh my God, this guy sucks, he’s terrible,” it’s always 100% honest, like “what am I looking at?” If I have to assess fighters objectively based on how I believe they would perform against the elite in the division, I mean, I couldn’t imagine any scenario with Lyoto Machida vs. Shogun, other than Lyoto running circles around him and beating the shit out of him while he’s exhausted. I couldn’t imagine Lyoto not stopping him, watching Shogun’s performance. Does that mean that it’s not possible that Shogun can return to the Shogun of old? It’s very possible. But at that moment in time, he was severely underprepared. Because that wasn’t supposed to be like a tremendous test for him. So no, I’ve never gotten talked to for criticizing fighters.

Tell me a little about how you got into doing commentary for the UFC.
I never set out to be a sports commentator. All of it is just completely by chance. The first time I did it, when I was doing post-fight interviews for the old UFC, that was really just for fun. What they were paying me was barely enough money to get me to show up. For me it was just a fun thing, like hey, here I am in Dothan, Alabama, watching live cage fights. I’d only seen the UFC on television at that point, I’d never been to a live event before, and all of a sudden I’m flying all over the country. But I never thought of it as a job or anything serious.

When I was on Fear Factor, Dana White would get me free tickets — when you see all those celebrities cageside, he gives those guys free tickets and takes care of them — and I just thought I was going to watch some fights. I’m a comedian, not a sports commentator. But he talked me into doing it, and it’s probably the greatest job I’ve ever had, by far. It’s the only job I’ve ever had in my life, outside of standup comedy, that doesn’t feel like a job. There’s never one day where I don’t look forward to it. Even when you’re in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and the food sucks, and it’s raining every day and it’s depressing as shit, once you’re in the arena you’re like “Goddamn, here we go, whoo!” It’s fun. I think it’s the greatest sport in the world, and it’s an amazing way to decipher and decode human behavior and psychology, and to learn about people in a very deep way. You watch people fight and you see people exposed, characters exposed, personality flaws, you see heart, you see courage, you see willpower, indominatable spirit — when you see all that stuff, it inspires you. Just being cageside for that stuff, and seeing some of the great fights that I’ve seen, the gutsy performances that I’ve seen, it really gives you a deep insight into human beings and what they’re capable of. And every week we have fights, the bar gets raised.

Do you have a specific prediction for how Saturday’s BJ Penn/Georges St. Pierre fight is going to end?
No, I never predict anything, because first of all, how the fuck could you know? I think predictions are silly. If you look at strengths and weaknesses, that’s one thing, but I think the most you could ever really say is “who the hell knows what’s going to happen?” When I look at BJ’s abilities and Georges St. Pierre’s abilities, I can’t imagine this being anything other than amazing. It’s just gonna be an incredible fight. Both guys are fighting for history. Both guys are fighting for their legacy. Both guys are at the top of their career, at the peak. Georges St. Pierre, even though he had a tough go of it last time against BJ, has improved remarkably since then. He’s a much better fighter now. And I think BJ’s a far better fighter than he was during the first fight. His conditioning is through the roof. You look at the Joe Stevenson fight, the Sean Sherk fight — he can keep a furious pace now, that he could not keep before, and keep it deep into the third round, and hopefully the fourth or the fifth if the fight goes that long.

Georges St. Pierre is the quintessential athlete. I mean, the guy moves like a fuckin’ gazelle. His ability to spring forward with his legs — when you’re watching it live you really appreciate it. That dude is a freak athlete, and that term’s kind of overused, especially by me, but that’s the best way to describe that guy. He’s awesome on his feet. And that’s one of the reasons why he’s been able to take guys down so well. His wrestling is excellent, but also his shot, his ability to explode forward is almost unprecedented in MMA. But jiu-jitsu wise, it’s gonna be real hard to submit BJ. His jiu-jitsu has always been at the top level of the game. He’s widely regarded by top jiu-jitsu experts who have rolled with him as just being on another level.

But on the other hand, the way Georges St. Pierre finished Matt Hughes, I was just blown away. Matt Hughes is no BJ Penn, don’t get me wrong, but Georges is showing some real improvements in his jiu-jitsu. And not just his jiu-jitsu — his wrestling and his standup look better as well. His standup against Jon Fitch looked super sharp. It’s just an awesome fight. To see BJ Penn in shape, motivated, with great conditioning, doing all the things he needs to be prepared for this fight physically. As long as he comes in healthy, his skill set is amazing. BJ’s got some of the best hands in MMA, he’s a great boxer, his jab is excellent, his head movement is excellent. His skin is like a fuckin’ coconut, it’s almost impossible to cut. He’s a great, great fighter. He’s born for this. So I just think this is gonna be a fuckin’ amazing fight, and I can’t wait.

Tell me one thing about Mike Goldberg that would shock most people.
A lot of people get on him for asking dumb questions during the broadcasts, like why doesn’t he know these things — of course he knows the things he’s asking me. He’s asking to educate other people. When he says, “Joe, is his arm in danger here?” He knows that the guy’s arm is in danger! But when there’s a funky position on the ground, he wants me to speak to the people that have just started watching MMA. They see a tangle of bodies on the ground and they go “what am I supposed to be looking at here?” If you don’t know jiu-jitsu, it’s very difficult to decipher. A punch to the face is very obvious, a kick to the head, very obvious, but when you see a guy trying to pull off an omoplata, you’re like “what the hell’s he doing?” So Mike Goldberg knows the answers to a lot of those questions he’s asking me. He’s just doing it to improve the knowledge of the viewer. And he’s a great guy. He’s really a super-nice guy and a good friend, and I always look forward to seeing him.

There was a point in time where we almost lost him to the WWE. They were offering him a ton of money to go over there and do their broadcasts, and it was real hard for him to pass on it. I had a talk with Dana and those guys and I said “I don’t want to tell you what to do, but me and this guy have great chemistry, and I like having him around.” And fortunately they were able to keep him.

What’s going on with Game Show in My Head? Is that coming back for another season?
I don’t know. We only did eight episodes — which I recorded way back in April — and they all aired this month. We’ll see. But I don’t think it’s CBS’s kind of show. There were several moments where they were a little uncomfortable with how it turned out. But their shows are like real slow underhand lobs — not that there’s anything wrong with that, but they like those family sitcoms that aren’t going to hurt anybody.

How often did you have to deal with the show’s producer, Ashton Kutcher?
I only met him once. He seemed like a nice enough guy. He’s one of those guys who has never done anything to offend me — neither in television, in print, in interviews — but he’s a good-looking, handsome, young multi-millionaire, and that just makes people think that he’s gotta be a douchebag

My co-editor Ben Fowlkes wanted me to ask you about the episode of NewsRadio where you face off against Andy Dick in an MMA match. Whose idea was that?
Man, that was over ten years ago. We did a lot of stuff on NewsRadio where we came up with things on the fly, and it was probably one of those things where we were rehearsing, and said “well what could we do here? How about if Joe has an MMA fight against Andy?” It was probably just said as a joke.

What was your best memory from that show?
I have a lot of great memories from that show. That was an awesome gig. I was on another sitcom called Hardball for a couple episodes before that, but nobody really saw it, and all of a sudden I’m on this NBC sitcom with all these great actors. I’m sitting there working with Phil Hartman — I had never even met a famous guy before, and now here I am working with Phil Hartman? That was just craziness. It was just a very fortunate time in my life. But NewsRadio really didn’t become successful until it was off the air. While it was on, very few people watched it. At one point in time we were like #88 in the ratings. And the reason I remember that is because the writers used to jokingly wear t-shirts with the number we were in the ratings. And this guy showed up with an 88 one day, and I went “What the fuck, dude, for real?” When it went into syndication it grew in popularity and eventually became this cult hit, so to speak. But it wasn’t a hit when it was on the air. Which I think was good because it kept people from getting big heads, and it kept out a lot of nonsense that goes with a successful program, where the network interferes with the artistic side of it.

Are there any other projects you’re working on that we should know about?
I’m working on a new stand-up comedy special for SpikeTV. Right now we’re just trying to figure out when to do it. Basically I’ll do a CD or DVD — the last thing I did was Shiny Happy Jihad — then after its over I just start writing again, because my hardcore fans will know all that material, so I have to come up with new stuff. And it usually takes about a year to have enough material for a completely new hour that I feel 100% comfortable with. Then I add to it and really tighten it up, and get everything correct and in a place where I’m happy with it. And then I try to film it for a CD or DVD or something along those lines.

What was the last thing that made you lose your shit laughing?
There’s this thing on my website right now created by these guys Tim and Eric, and it’s called Dance Floor Dale…

I just saw that. It’s amazing.
It’s fuckin’ awesome. It’s so out there. One of the most ridiculous animated psychedelic things I’ve ever seen in my life. Hilarious, genius shit. And it’s one of the things that highlights the freedom and beauty of the Internet — how could you put that anywhere besides the Internet? I don’t even think HBO would allow that. It’s one of those things where you could only do it on the Internet.

(BG)

Swing by JoeRogan.net to tell Joe you love him, get your hands on Shiny Happy Jihad if you haven’t heard it yet, and keep an eye out for Joe’s next standup special on SpikeTV. And don’t make too many plans for 2013, okay?

The post Joe Rogan Interview appeared first on Cage Potato.

UFC’s Yoislandy Izquierdo Talks ‘Daily Dedication and Sacrifice’ of Training MMA

Yoislandy Izquierdo is a name you should learn to remember. The Cuban-born MMA fighter is a lightweight prospect who will be making his debut at UFC on FUEL TV 2 against battle-hardened Swede Reza Madadi.But Izquierdo is ready.Hard work is nothing…

Yoislandy Izquierdo is a name you should learn to remember.

The Cuban-born MMA fighter is a lightweight prospect who will be making his debut at UFC on FUEL TV 2 against battle-hardened Swede Reza Madadi.

But Izquierdo is ready.

Hard work is nothing new to the man who pours hours and hours into training daily. He had to leave his home several years ago and work his way up to the best MMA promotion in the world.

“I left Cuba at the age of 23 years under political asylum,” Izquierdo told Bleacher Report through his manager Alfred Munoz, who translated.

“I was working for an export auto company a short time ago, but I am now a full-time fighter,” said Izquierdo. “I realized I wanted to be an MMA fighter for a living when I saw I had a talent in the sport and enjoyed practicing it.”

That talent in the sport is quite considerable. Izquierdo first fought in April 2010 and is now 6-0 in professional MMA, with three wins by TKO and one win by submission to his name.

But fighting isn’t easy.

“The most difficult thing about being a professional MMA fighter is putting forth daily dedication and sacrifice in training,” he said. Nevertheless, Izquierdo isn’t one to back down from a difficult task or to be daunted by a challenge; he looks at the difficulties in a positive light.

“The best thing about being a pro fighter is seeing how all of my sacrifices and hard work are not done in vain when I give my all in the fights. At the same time, the admiration and support I receive from my fans feels great.”

Despite the fame and praise of being a successful MMA fighter, Izquierdo hasn’t forgotten the people who helped him get this far.

“I would like to thank all of my fans, because in some way or another, they have had a huge part in my career. I would like to also thank my family, trainer and manager,” he said.

Yoislandy Izquierdo vs. Reza Madadi is scheduled to air on the Facebook preliminaries for UFC on FUEL TV 2 on April 14th. It will be Izquierdo’s seventh MMA bout, and his first fight in the UFC.

Follow @MattSaccaro

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Jon Jones’ Coach Mike Winkeljohn: "Rashad Threw Greg Jackson Under the Bus"

Coach Mike Winkeljohn’s office is a busy place. I sat down with him there recently inside the Jackson/Winkeljohn MMA Academy in Albuquerque. And despite getting interrupted by fighters, cleaners, and pop divas, the striking specialist and I manag…

We spoke of Coach Wink’s working relationship with his partner Greg Jackson, why Wink told Greg to “work Jon’s corner” against Rashad Evans, the problems Rashad poses to Jon Jones, why the betting odds for that fight are fair, what’s next for Keith Jardine, what’s up with Melvin Guillard, the fact that Cowboy was recently kicked in the face by a horse, and who has the best footwork on the team.

Below are some choice quotes from the interview. Watch the video for more.

On his working relationship with Greg Jackson

“Greg’s very good at what he does and I like the way we work. We work as a team. I’m more behind the scenes, I kind of enjoy it that way. I get to fine-tune a lot of skills that the guys have, and because Greg goes out and about and talks to everybody, he’s got the reputation, and I get to work with some of the best fighters in the world.”

On what he said to Greg Jackson to get him to work Jon Jones’ corner

“I was always going to corner Jon, I’ve been working with him from almost day one. And Rashad had left camp. And Rashad’s actually cool with that. We’ve spoken many times and he’s got no problem. He understands everyone’s out to make a living and do their thing. We’ve got a good rapport.

But he upset me in that he kept throwing Greg under the bus. Enough is enough. You have your disagreements, I understand that, but there’s more important things out there. And it’s time for Greg to work in Jon’s corner. Jon’s here everyday, helping everybody else out. I mean John’s that guy. He goes out of his way to help everybody here on the team. So I told Greg, work his corner.”

On Rashad being quick to close the distance

“That’s one of Rashad’s best weapons. That and being pretty heavy when he’s on top. I trained Rashad for years so I think he’s explosive I know he’s got the one-punch knockout, so I’m worried about that. And being heavy on top. With that being said, he’s not going to get him. We understand what Rashad needs to do. And Jon’s a great student of the game, and he’s not going to beat us.”

On game planning against a friend

“No it’s actually kind of exciting. It’s not that hard at all. You know what, everyone’s got a job to do at the end of the day. It’s not life or death, I know people can get hurt. But I work with Jon Jones now. Rashad had left. I still consider him somebody who I’d welcome into my house. But Jon’s a guy who I hope I keep training for the rest of his career.”

On how the Rashad fight plays out

“I see it playing out like the Rampage fight. Jon’s going to impose his will, start picking Rashad apart. Rashad’s going to have a very hard time closing the gap. My job is to have Jon’s footwork, his levels, and is striking in such a manner that Rashad can’t get there, can’t take him down, can’t be heavy. But we’re prepared for that as well, and Jon’s going to come out on top. It’s going to be great.”

On the odds (Jones is currently at -500)

“Yeah I think that’s fair. Everybody’s seen what Jon’s done to the rest of the division… …[Rashad’s] going to have to get lucky with some shots and need more skills than he has.”

On the state of Keith Jardine’s career

“Keith’s coming toward the sunset of his career, there’s no doubt. You know, nothing lined up, he’s in here working all the time, still working on his skills, trying to get better. He wants to end his career the right way. Nothing has been chosen yet.”

On Melvin’s slide, which coincidentally is perfectly aligned with his joining the Blackzillians.

“You know what, he came to us, and I think we got him calmed down. Greg got him where he’s calm enough that he could get back up. And then I started working on footwork and getting him to start throwing some knees and focusing on throwing the power punches at the right time. And Melvin started running through people.

I enjoyed what we did. He was not happy with something. I’m not sure it was because I know the striking sure in the heck was great. We have people around here that can wrestle and do all kinds of crazy things off their back. So I’m not sure why he was looking around. But he has split since. That said I wish him the best for Melvin and I hope he figures it out.”

On Donald Cerrone’s loss to Nate Diaz

“There was a lot of emotion, no doubt about it, he wanted to beat Nate at his own thing. It was one of those bad nights. Because Cowboy can move his head, he can slip punches. It was one of those days that he just took punches and decided to stay there. He had been kicked in the face by a horse, too, a couple of fights back. That worried me two fights ago. I didn’t know it was going to still affect him for this fight. He’s never complains about it but I know it hurt him.”

On who has the best footwork on the team.

“John Dodson is using his speed and his footwork to gain small angles and knock people out. He was always just throwing punches in bunches but now he’s got incredible footwork that way. Probably Little John’s probably got the best. Diego Brandao is starting to understand how to hunt people, but he’s still open on some things.”

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Dennis Siver Predicts 2nd Round TKO, Talks 145 Debut and More

Change isn’t always a bad thing.In the case of rising UFC star Dennis Siver (19-8), it could be a great thing.”This will be my first fight as a featherweight,” Siver told Bleacher Report. “I have to get used to my new weight and I’m excited to see how …

Change isn’t always a bad thing.

In the case of rising UFC star Dennis Siver (19-8), it could be a great thing.

“This will be my first fight as a featherweight,” Siver told Bleacher Report. “I have to get used to my new weight and I’m excited to see how I perform at 145.”

Siver makes the transition to the featherweight division after winning four of his last five with his only loss coming to Donald Cerrone at UFC 137.

“The Menace” Siver is now slated to take on the experienced Diego Nunes (17-2) in a main card showdown when the UFC travels to Stockholm, Sweden on April 14th.

In order to be declared victorious in his 145-pound debut, Siver will need to forget about the past and focus on what lies ahead.

“You know, I’m coming off a tough loss. He (Cerrone) was the better man that night. He hurt me and finished me,” said Siver. “Of course it was hard to swallow and I was really disappointed.”

“But you come back stronger after a loss. So there is even more motivation to win this next fight,” said Siver.

Despite never having fought at 145 pounds before, Siver has the advantage heading in.

In fact, this won’t be the first time Siver has fought in the country of Sweden nor will it be a change in atmosphere.

Instead, Siver will travel just less than a day to arrive in Stockholm with no jet-lag.

The only challenge Siver will face is Nunes himself when the two square off in less than a week.

“I think Joe Silva did a great job in this fight. Diego and myself match up great but I think I’m physically stronger than him. My spinning back kick is also much more powerful,” said Siver.

“I’m not scared of Diego or any of my opponents. The only thing I can say is let the best man win. He has a great heart and he loves to fight and bang,” said Siver. “But I will do my best to beat him to satisfy my fans, my sponsors, and the UFC.”

There’s no telling how long these two will last inside the Octagon as they’ve combined for 25 finishes over the course of their careers.

However, if Siver‘s predictions are accurate, fans won’t get to witness a third and final round of action.

“I predict that I will finish him with a 2nd round TKO.”

For additional information, follow Garrett Derr on Twitter.

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B/R Interview with One-Armed, Undefeated MMA Fighter Nick Newell

Nick Newell is an exciting lightweight fighter, currently fighting in the XFC. His record is 6-0, with each one of his wins ending in the first round.He started off his professional career with a TKO victory. He then went on to secure five submission w…

Nick Newell is an exciting lightweight fighter, currently fighting in the XFC. His record is 6-0, with each one of his wins ending in the first round.

He started off his professional career with a TKO victory. He then went on to secure five submission wins including two armbars, two rear-naked chokes and one heel hook. He will be fighting at XFC 17 on April 13 in Jackson, Tenn., against Chris Coggins.

Born missing his left hand and most of his left forearm, Newell has overcome adversity and shown what having heart and determination can do.

Newell sat down with Bleacher Report’s Gregory Chase for a talk about his upcoming fight, his background, how he got into MMA and how he competes as a fighter while only having one full arm to work with.

Check out the video above, or read the transcript below!

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GC: Sitting here at Ultimate MMA with Nick Newell in Connecticut. You have a fight coming up on April 13 at XFC 17: Apocalypse against Chris Coggins who is 5-1. How do you see this fight going?

NN: I’m gonna win wherever the fight goes. I’m prepared for a five-round battle, even though it is only a three round fight, and you know, I’m going to be looking to do what I normally do and that’s push the pace and make it MY fight. If I can finish it quick, then I’ll finish it quick. But Chris is a tough guy, and he’s got a great record. He beat a guy who has wins over UFC guys, and he was good as an amateur too, so he’s got a lot of experience, and he’s tough; well rounded fighter, so I expect it to be a good fight, but in the end I’m gonna win because I’m going to be better than him wherever the fight goes.

GC: Coggins is coming off of three submission victories, and you have your own run of submission victories right now. What does mean to you? How does that change up your gameplan? How do you approach this fight differently?

NN: You know, I’m a brown belt in jiu-jitsu, under Andrew Calandrelli. I’m not too worried about his submissions. Obviously I’m going to respect his game, but if you’re going to beat me on the ground, you’re going to have to be pretty damn good. I’m comfortable if it goes to the ground. I think that him saying that he’s going to knock me out tells me that he’s uncomfortable going to the ground with me. He has three submissions out of all his wins, I have five, and he’s got three armbars in a row, so obviously I’m going to watch out for that. But I also have two armbar wins as a pro and I have another armbar win as an amateur, so does that mean I’m an armbar guy, too? (laughs). I’m prepared for whatever he gives me, whatever he brings my way.

GC: Have you done anything different to prepare for Coggins?

NN: No, my training camp is usually the same. I’m going to work hard regardless. He wanted to do a catchweight fight at 152 pounds, so that kinda made me train a little bit harder, because I’m a little worried about making weight more, but no matter who I fight I always have a ton of respect for them. I just train as hard as I can and just get ready for anything…because something can click in a guy and he can be different from one day to the next, so you never know what you’re going against.

GC: He’s going to be fighting in his home state; does the crowd ever affect you at all? Do you let that get to you?

NN: No, I mean I don’t even really hear the crowd. When I fight, I just hear my coaches, that’s about it. When I go through my head, I do a lot of visualizations. I visualize myself, everyone cheering for me (laughs). So no matter what happens, I’m just gonna picture that. My last fight I fought a guy in his home state and everyone cheered for me too, so it doesn’t really matter to me. But I think I’m a pretty respectful guy and stuff like that. I don’t really care if people boo me, but I try to give them a bunch of reasons not to (laughs).

GC: One of the biggest hypes about you is how successful you are, and yet you only have one hand to work with. You’ve had one hand since birth, you didn’t have it then lost. Have you found in MMA that your left arm sort of wants to do what the right does, or does it just feel completely natural?

NN: This is how I was born, it’s all natural for me. It would be nice sometimes to have a little length…to be able to throw a cross. But I compensate well and I mix it in with my elbows. That actually gives me a style that’s kinda really unorthodox , and it’s hard for a lot of people to get a read on. You know, so there’s the give and the takes. I can’t throw a cross, but it’s forced me to get better at everything else I throw, and it’s helped my gap with my elbow and mixing up the attacks and coming in at weird angles.

GC: In training how do you adapt with your arm, where do you see the biggest disadvantages with it, and where do you see the biggest advantages?

NN: It’s all just natural. There’s not much of a difference. My grip is a little tighter, but I just have to get deeper. If other people did moves as deep as I do, then their grip would be crazy tight too, there’s really no difference. The one thing is that before I started, if I was getting attention before I started they’d say “Oh, this guy could never fight! How’s he ever gonna tap someone out or grab someone?” or do something like that. You know, I did it, I went and I did it, and now I’m doing it and people are saying “Oh, that’s an advantage!” now. People are just gonna say things no matter what, but I have a lot of supporters too that are behind me 100 percent, so I’m trying to focus more on that stuff [smiles].

GC: Are there rules or regulations that you have run into because of your arm? You had mentioned on Inside MMA that it was hard to get fights for yourself, for instance.

NN: Yeah, not a lot of people wanted to fight me, locally. They all wanted to protect their records. They try to use my arm as an excuse to duck me, because they knew that they were going to lose. When I was just an amateur, I didn’t really have that much trouble finding a fight, or my first pro fight or anything like that. But once people kinda figured out that I was good, they kinda used it as a way like “Oh, I’ll kill that guy!” If you can kill me, why don’t you fight me, you know, if it’s an easy win?

GC: Did you run into anything as far as requirements of wearing padding. Is there any kinds of rules in place that say what you can or can’t throw as far as strikes?

NN: Here’s the thing, the issue that a lot of people bring up, and I’m actually happy that you brought this up. Because a lot of people are like “Oh, he’s hitting with his arm, that’s cheating!” I hit with my elbow, so there’s no special rules, there’s nothing different. I don’t hit with the end of it [points to arm]. If I did, it would hurt me more than it would hurt the other guy. It would jam my arm. I just don’t hit with the end of it. There’s nothing sharp or anything in here, it’s just an elbow just like everyone else, and if I had to wear an elbow pad I think that my opponent should have to wear one too.

GC: Now you were recently on Inside MMA, you went down and there was Roy Nelson and Cung Le there, what was that experience like?

NN: That was cool. It was a little bit hectic because I just flew in, got something to eat, did the show, went to bed and flew out the next day. But it was cool. I’ve met Bas (Rutten) a couple of times, and he’s always been a cool, like kinda crazy guy. So it was good seeing him again. And it was my first time meeting Roy Nelson and Cung Le; both very cool guys and very down to earth…funny guys behind the scenes. I was surprised that we were all the same height (laughs)! Those guys are some tough dudes.

GC: So take me through the mentality and your thought process when you saw MMA and said to yourself, I want to do that or could do that. Did you have doubts because of your arm, or had you already overcome that from wrestling back in high school? What was your thought process starting out in MMA?

NN: Yeah, I don’t ever doubt myself. If you don’t believe in yourself, then you’re pretty much just quitting on yourself before you even get started. I have an undying belief in myself and commitment to succeed and be the best at what I do and dedicate myself to that I’m 100 percent for it. When I first started, it was more of a hobby, I wanted to learn MMA moreso than just jump in there and fight. I wanted to make sure I had it down and I was good at it before I got myself into it. And then I went to go see a bunch of local fights, and like anyone that goes and sees fights that’s trained a little bit, they’re like, “Oh I think I could beat these guys,” you know, so after that I was like, “I’m fighting, that’s it!” and it’s been history ever since.

GC: It’s quite an inspirational and compelling story of how you got into the XFC, for those who don’t know about you and your friend Abi and everything that you went through, could you give us some background and your insights on this journey you have been on.

NN: Basically, Abi and I were like brothers, training partners, one of my best training partners. I had planned…he lived in Massachusetts, and I used to go and train with him up there. I was up there the night before and the next day there was a tryout for the XFC by my house, maybe like 20 minutes away. I had planned on going to it the whole time, but he didn’t even really plan on going. I had to kinda talk him into it almost. Not almost, I DID have to talk him into it. I was like “C’mon just stay at my house.” He was like, “I’m hungry though.” And I was like “Okay, I’ll take you to get food”. I took him to Taco Bell, or something stupid like you shouldn’t be eating the day before a tryout [smiles]. We went and tried out the next day. We both made it to the finals, but he won it, and he deserved it.

He was the best guy there by far that day. He won a contract with the XFC, got injured, couldn’t fight, and then when he was just starting to make his comeback, he got into a motorcycle accident and passed away. So basically after that, John from the XFC heard the news and they were really excited to have Abi fight for them, so they basically said I could take his contract and fight in his place. I was pretty honored that they would let me do that.

Obviously, I would like if both of us were fighting together on the same card, you know, but I’m honored to fight for the XFC. It’s a wonderful opportunity.

GC: And they changed the name of the event to Tribute, right?

NN: Yep, and they did a nice piece on Inside MMA on Abi. They made the whole show a tribute to him, which was very nice, since I know how much he loved MMA.

GC: So tell me about Brian Myers, I read something that he was your roommate in college?

NN: Yes, he was.

GC: Did he really help acquaint you with MMA?

NN: Well, not really, he wasn’t a fan of MMA. I mean he likes it, but he’s not INTO it, he doesn’t know any of the moves. He’s HARDCORE Pro Wrestling. I mean he’s in the WWE now, Curt Hawkins. But he did help me get into MMA because he loved Monday Night Raw so much that he used to watch it every week. And it was back when Raw was on Spike TV, and then after Raw they said “Hey, there’s this new show: The Ultimate Fighter.” And I was like “What IS this?!”. I had watched fights before, but I didn’t’ really get it until I watched TUF, and then I was like “Oh, okay this is cool, I gotta start doing this.” So Monday Night Raw and pro wrestling got me into MMA.

GC: Out of all the fighters from the Ultimate Fighter show, who would say is your favorite?

NN: Talent wise, I’d say the first season and the fifth season probably had the most talent. There’s a lot of guys coming through right now that are pretty good. My favorite fighters are guys that haven’t been on TUF, but I have a respect for and I’m a fan of a lot of guys that were on the show.

GC: Is TUF something you would want to do?

NN: Right now, I’m with the XFC and they’re treating me pretty well. I just want to fight the best fighters out there. If the UFC comes calling one day, I’ll be ready, but I’m happy where I am right now. Whenever they’re ready to have me…definitely.

GC: So in your career so far, and training, have you found a particular move or technique that you like or favor more than others?

NN: Back in the day…when I didn’t know what I was doing as much, I used to have moves I did better than other ones, but right now I’d say I’m pretty well-rounded. Expect everything to come from me. I’m getting my triangles just as good as my rear naked chokes.

GC: You said you had some mottos that you live by in another interview, what are some of those mottos, or any other words of wisdom you have followed? Any good advice you were given?

NN: Never quit because something is too hard. Just believe in yourself and just know that you can do anything. You can’t stop someone who is determined to do something. If you want something bad enough you have to go out there and get it, and no matter what obstacles you face out there you can still do it. What they don’t see is this [puts hand on chest], that’s the heart. You can see that I have one hand and you can judge me by that, but you can never see what’s inside of me. A lot of people have everything on the outside, but have nothing on the inside. And I can tell you that I will fight to the death [smiles]!

GC: Now on your website you are labeled as a motivational speaker. So if you had one message to get across to everyone, what would it be?

NN: Like I just said, you can’t just sit around and expect the world to give everything to you. Sometimes things don’t go your way. Sometimes you’re born with one hand, or your family didn’t have a lot of money, or you have to work a couple jobs to afford something you wanted or pay to go to school. It’s not always fair, but the people that are determined, that are willing to push through that, and know what they want and set their goals and work to achieve them…you can do anything you want in this world.

GC: Now aside from wrestling and fighting, what is one thing about you, that fans don’t know, that you would like them to know, something cool about you that doesn’t come out through regular interviews. What’s something about you that you want people to know about?

NN: I don’t know, basically I’m just a nice guy, I’m chill, I like to relax. I try to be respectful of everyone. I graduated from Western New England University…

GC: What was your degree?

NN: In Communication. I’m basically like everyone else, but I just like to beat people up in my spare time [smiles].

GC: Last question, What is your official prediction for the huge fight between Nick Newell vs. Chris Coggins at XFC 17? Who wins, what round, what method?

NN: [Exhales]…I’m going to have to go with Nick Newell on this one [smiles]. I would tell you how, but then I would give away a little bit of what I expect!

GC: Well, that will wrap it up. I want to thank you Nick for sitting down with me and I wish you the best of luck at XFC 17 and in your career going forward.

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