Nick Diaz may be on his way back to the Octagon sooner rather than later.How? B/R’s Jeremy Botter noted how last week.Essentially, Nick Diaz is suing the Nevada State Athletic Commission for a violation of his constitutional rights to due process. If D…
Nick Diaz may be on his way back to the Octagon sooner rather than later.
Essentially, Nick Diaz is suing the Nevada State Athletic Commission for a violation of his constitutional rights to due process. If Diaz wins this case, then it is likely we will see the fighter who represents the 209 more proudly than anyone else step back inside the cage in 2012.
But who are the likely opponents? Which opponents make the most sense for Diaz? Nick is a top five welterweight and he is coming off of a narrow defeat that was debated among MMA fans worldwide.
Let’s take a look at the five best fights for the welterweight contender.
MMA fans will get a card worth waiting for on Saturday night, as the UFC brings some of its most exciting fighters to Las Vegas for the third UFC on Fox event.In the main event, lightweights Nate Diaz and Jim Miller—both coming off of impressive …
MMA fans will get a card worth waiting for on Saturday night, as the UFC brings some of its most exciting fighters to Las Vegas for the third UFC on Fox event.
In the main event, lightweights Nate Diaz and Jim Miller—both coming off of impressive victories—will fight for a chance to face the champion. Miller was last seen submitting Melvin Guillard while Diaz defeated Takanori Gomi and Donald Cerrone to put him in the No. 1 contender’s bout.
Many expect it to be a long and highly competitive fight between two of the division’s toughest fighters, and both fighter’s past fights prove it.
In the co-main event, Josh Koscheck and Johny Hendricks will fight in a matchup of two of the best wrestlers in the welterweight division. Hendricks knocked out the former No. 2 welterweight Jon Fitch at UFC 141 to get the biggest win of his career.
Koscheck defeated Mike Pierce in a closely-contested bout from UFC 143. He’s also coming off of a victory over Matt Hughes.
Also on the main card, submission ace Rousimar Palhares returns to take on Alan Belcher. Palhares is coming off a heel hook victory over Mike Massenzio while Belcher is on a three-fight winning streak—the longest of his UFC career.
Heavyweights Pat Barry and Lavar Johnson will open the main card, which airs at 8 p.m. ET.
Other bouts on Fuel TV include Tony Ferguson vs. Michael Johnson, John Dodson vs. Tim Elliot and John Hathaway vs. Pascal Krauss
(No, Frankie, I will not judge your next title fight, so quit asking.)
After retiring, former UFC fighter Ricardo Almeida announced that he would begin judging MMA events. He’s been doing that for awhile now in his home state of New Jersey, and this Saturday’s UFC on Fox 3 will be the Renzo Gracie black belt’s first time judging fights on the big stage.
Almeida will not be judging fights where he has a conflict of interest (see fighters he coaches or that are affiliated to him or his Renzo Gracie lineage like Jim Miller, for example) but we do already know that he will be one of the judges scoring Josh Koscheck vs. Johny Hendricks and several more from the card. Almeida tells ESPN’s Franklin McNeil that he is both nervous and prepared to judge UFC fights.
“Yeah, I’m going to be nervous. It’ll be like I’m walking into a fight myself. But the spotlight only makes me want to be sharper and do a better job,” Almeida tells McNeil.
(No, Frankie, I will not judge your next title fight, so quit asking.)
After retiring, former UFC fighter Ricardo Almeida announced that he would begin judging MMA events. He’s been doing that for awhile now in his home state of New Jersey, and this Saturday’s UFC on Fox 3 will be the Renzo Gracie black belt’s first time judging fights on the big stage.
Almeida will not be judging fights where he has a conflict of interest (see fighters he coaches or that are affiliated to him or his Renzo Gracie lineage like Jim Miller, for example) but we do already know that he will be one of the judges scoring Josh Koscheck vs. Johny Hendricks and several more from the card. Almeida tells ESPN’s Franklin McNeil that he is both nervous and prepared to judge UFC fights.
“Yeah, I’m going to be nervous. It’ll be like I’m walking into a fight myself. But the spotlight only makes me want to be sharper and do a better job,” Almeida tells McNeil.
“It will be pretty intense, but I will be on my toes with this UFC event, because I know all eyes are going to be on me.”
There are possible pitfalls to fighters judging fights (what happens if Almeida announces his come-back by awarding himself a decision win in the Koscheck vs. Hendricks bout, for example? We jus’ kidding! Please don’t tweet Almeida about that or sue us.), but the positives of having an informed person who knows the sport first-hand seems like a step in the right direction. Props to New Jersey’s commission head Nick Lembo for asking Almeida to become a judge.
Both Koscheck and Hendricks have expressed their approval of Almeida judging their and other fights. I’m sure that goodwill will last exactly until the point Almeida scores a big fight differently than a fighter says he should.
(Hendricks ain’t scared of no TSA | Photo by Esther Lin for MMA Fighting)
Maybe you thought, dear fight fan, that UFC welterweight contender Johny Hendricks sports a lumberjack/late 19th century bureaucrat type beard just to get your girlfriend all in a tizzy. Well, you’d be wrong.
Hendricks told reporters this week that the burly-man beard he grows during training camps actually serves a deeper purpose. “It reminds me that I have a goal I’m trying to reach, and that’s a fight,” he said.
“That’s a fight this Saturday [against Josh Koscheck at UFC on Fox 3]. After the fight, win or lose, I do my job and I go home and shave it. The next morning, I’m still in that fight mode, I go to the bathroom and check the mirror and, ‘oh, I’m clean-shaven.’ At that moment, it hits me. Everything goes away.”
The full video interview is after the jump.
(Hendricks ain’t scared of no TSA | Photo by Esther Lin for MMA Fighting)
Maybe you thought, dear fight fan, that UFC welterweight contender Johny Hendricks sports a lumberjack/late 19th century bureaucrat type beard just to get your girlfriend all in a tizzy. Well, you’d be wrong.
Hendricks told reporters this week that the burly-man beard he grows during training camps actually serves a deeper purpose. “It reminds me that I have a goal I’m trying to reach, and that’s a fight,” he said.
“That’s a fight this Saturday [against Josh Koscheck at UFC on Fox 3]. After the fight, win or lose, I do my job and I go home and shave it. The next morning, I’m still in that fight mode, I go to the bathroom and check the mirror and, ‘oh, I’m clean-shaven.’ At that moment, it hits me. Everything goes away.”
The full video interview is after the jump.
Hendricks said that after he shaves he goes back to being family man and normal human being. In the MMA Fighting video below, he also talks about getting his aggressiveness and confidence back and being honest about wanting the 170 pound belt, so watch it already! And don’t forget to check out our live blog and commentary for UFC on Fox 3 Saturday night. You won’t get that much information and sass in one place, anywhere else.
This weekend is a mixed martial arts fans’ dream, with three major promotions holding world class fight cards available for fans to view free of charge. Three shows and 27 fights to watch this weekend.UFC on Fox 3 is on Saturday night an…
This weekend is a mixed martial arts fans’ dream, with three major promotions holding world class fight cards available for fans to view free of charge. Three shows and 27 fights to watch this weekend.
UFC on Fox 3 is on Saturday night and will feature 12 fights and they will all be available via Facebook or free television on Fox TV or Rogers Sportsnet in Canada.
Bellator 67 will take place on Friday night and will hold nine fights and is available on Spike TV or MTV2.
Canada’s longest standing promotion Maximum Fighting Championships will present MFC 33: Collision Course and have 6 fights available on HDNet Fights.
Too many fights to choose from? You can’t possibly surf and catch them all so let’s throw all the fights in a mixer and mix a cocktail card of the best six of the 27.
Here are Six Must See Fights to choose this weekend.
(If either Mitt Romney or Barack Obama are looking for a new campaign slogan, may we offer the following.)
You know, we may have our fun at Josh Koscheck’s expense more than others here at CP, but it’s only because we know that he can take it as well as he can dish it out. The TUF 1 veteran has made his name off the heel/asshole moniker for a good seven years now, and in fact brought the term to new heights during his gig as coach on the twelfth season of The Ultimate Fighter, incorporating hypothetical ass-play and male nurse jokes into his repertoire of empty threats. He’s been called a dick by everyone from Phil Baroni to Brian Ebersole, and though he won’t admit it, we know Ariel Helwani would probably say the same.
And at the forefront of Koscheck’s embittered rants these days seems to be none other than the esteemed members of the MMA media, who apparently have given Koscheck slim to zero chance against Johny Hendricks in their upcoming clash at UFC on FOX 3 this Saturday. Now, we’re not sure which media outlets are writing Koscheck off, because, even though we dislike the guy, we still think he has a really good chance of pulling out a victory. The current betting odds seem to share this notion, but according to Koscheck, we’ve all claimed that he is simply too old to deal with Hendricks, and is basically a lamb being led to the killing field. When Koscheck spoke with these MMA media “retards” yesterday ahead of his clash with Hendricks, he let his feeling be known. That’s right, feeling:
I have a lot of ulterior motives that motivate me. There are a lot of people like you out here who write all these stories and shit like, ‘Oh, he’s old, he’s this, youth versus age….’ Bullshit. You guys are all fucking retards who think that. Retards. I’ve been hearing a lot of it — a lot of tweets and shit. I laugh at you idiots. Man, you guys are crazy…Who’s that guy, Bernard Hopkins? Didn’t he just kick someone’s ass the other day? And how old is he? Oh…he lost? Well, I mean, he was the champion, right? I mean how old is that guy, 47? C’mon, he’s still fighting. Let’s be real. Look at Randy Couture. Is that a rare case? Dan Henderson. Look at Dan Henderson’s 40, right? Is that a rare case? Chuck Liddell was what, 37-38? Real rare. You guys are retards for writing that shit.
We don’t know how to break this to you, Josh, so we’ll just come right out with it. YES, guys like Randy Couture and Dan Henderson are rare cases. Because for every Randy Couture, there are at least three Ken Shamrocks who are dangerously close to getting beaten to death in the ring. But for Christ’s sake, you’re 34, Josh. Your age should be the least of your, or our, concerns. But maybe we’re just being naive.
Again, we can’t seem to find these supposed articles that have earned the ire of Koscheck, but we’ve come to the realization that “Kos” is likely just making things up at this point to fuel the ever-present hate within him. Then again, if you believe that Twitter is where the real MMA reporting gets done, you are either FrontRowBrian or, well…a retard.
Join us after the jump for the full interview.
(If either Mitt Romney or Barack Obama are looking for a new campaign slogan, may we offer the following.)
You know, we may have our fun at Josh Koscheck’s expense more than others here at CP, but it’s only because we know that he can take it as well as he can dish it out. The TUF 1 veteran has made his name off the heel/asshole moniker for a good seven years now, and in fact brought the term to new heights during his gig as coach on the twelfth season of The Ultimate Fighter, incorporating hypothetical ass-play and male nurse jokes into his repertoire of empty threats. He’s been called a dick by everyone from Phil Baroni to Brian Ebersole, and though he won’t admit it, we know Ariel Helwani would probably say the same.
And at the forefront of Koscheck’s embittered rants these days seems to be none other than the esteemed members of the MMA media, who apparently have given Koscheck slim to zero chance against Johny Hendricks in their upcoming clash at UFC on FOX 3 this Saturday. Now, we’re not sure which media outlets are writing Koscheck off, because, even though we dislike the guy, we still think he has a really good chance of pulling out a victory. The current betting odds seem to share this notion, but according to Koscheck, we’ve all claimed that he is simply too old to deal with Hendricks, and is basically a lamb being led to the killing field. When Koscheck spoke with these MMA media “retards” yesterday ahead of his clash with Hendricks, he let his feeling be known. That’s right, feeling:
I have a lot of ulterior motives that motivate me. There are a lot of people like you out here who write all these stories and shit like, ‘Oh, he’s old, he’s this, youth versus age….’ Bullshit. You guys are all fucking retards who think that. Retards. I’ve been hearing a lot of it — a lot of tweets and shit. I laugh at you idiots. Man, you guys are crazy…Who’s that guy, Bernard Hopkins? Didn’t he just kick someone’s ass the other day? And how old is he? Oh…he lost? Well, I mean, he was the champion, right? I mean how old is that guy, 47? C’mon, he’s still fighting. Let’s be real. Look at Randy Couture. Is that a rare case? Dan Henderson. Look at Dan Henderson‘s 40, right? Is that a rare case? Chuck Liddell was what, 37-38? Real rare. You guys are retards for writing that shit.
We don’t know how to break this to you, Josh, so we’ll just come right out with it. YES, guys like Randy Couture and Dan Henderson are rare cases. Because for every Randy Couture, there are at least three Ken Shamrocks who are dangerously close to getting beaten to death in the ring. But for Christ’s sake, you’re 34, Josh. Your age should be the least of your, or our, concerns. But maybe we’re just being naive.
Again, we can’t seem to find these supposed articles that have earned the ire of Koscheck, but we’ve come to the realization that “Kos” is likely just making things up at this point to fuel the ever-present hate within him. Then again, if you believe that Twitter is where the real MMA reporting gets done, you are either FrontRowBrian or, well…a retard.
Koscheck was relentless in his assessment of the media’s supposed assessment of him, continuing:
You guys are crazy, and I can’t wait to prove all you guys wrong. Every one of you. Keep counting me out. Keep doing it for all the years, because I’ll be fighting for like four or five more years, just keep counting me out. Every time you write a story about me, just say I’m too old, too washed up, too many fights, too many miles. I like that, because I got a lot to prove. I got a lot of people to prove wrong on Saturday night, and I’m looking at every one of you. You guys are probably all writing that shit about me. Keep writing it.
Once again, we’ve gotta call into question where Koscheck is getting his news from. He’s been the favorite going into every fight in recent memory against anyone not named Georges St. Pierre, yet acts like he’s the Rodney Dangerfield of the welterweight division. The guy is listed at a mere +100, but if you were to ask him, you’d think he stood as good a chance against Hendricks as one of Chris Cyborg’s average opponents. But we digress.
So what do you think? Will Koscheck’s new training camp reignite his apparently washed up MMA career? Rest assured, it hasn’t changed his outlook on life.
