(“Now, Demian! Use the muscle-spasm death touch that I taught you!”)
Demian Maia‘s welterweight debut at UFC 148 was over before it really began, thanks to a poorly timed muscle spasm suffered by Dong Hyun Kim. But the former middleweight title contender will be getting another chance to make an impression against Rick Story. Their bout is scheduled to take place at UFC 153 (October 13th, Rio de Janeiro), a card that is quickly stacking up with top Brazilian talent. Story recently outpointed newcomer Brock Jardine at UFC on FX: Maynard vs. Guida, which snapped a two-fight losing streak against Charlie Brenneman and Martin Kampmann.
Speaking of Brenneman, “The Spaniard” has booked his return fight after being choked out by Erick Silva in June. He’ll be appearing at UFC 151: Jones vs. Henderson (September 1st, Las Vegas) against TUF 11 competitor — and former Crocodile Hunter bodyguard — Kyle Noke, who is coming off of two losses at middleweight and will be making his welterweight debut.
In other booking news…
(“Now, Demian! Use the muscle-spasm death touch that I taught you!”)
Speaking of Brenneman, “The Spaniard” has booked his return fight after being choked out by Erick Silva in June. He’ll be appearing at UFC 151: Jones vs. Henderson(September 1st, Las Vegas) against TUF 11 competitor — and former Crocodile Hunter bodyguard — Kyle Noke, who is coming off of two losses at middleweight and will be making his welterweight debut.
– The UFC has confirmed more fights for their UFC on FX 5: Browne vs. Bigfoot card (October 5th, Minneapolis). Notably, a heavyweight matchup between Matt Mitrione and Rob Broughton — originally scheduled for this weekend’s UFC on FOX 4 card, until Broughton pulled out due to injury — has been re-set for the UFC on FX 5 lineup. Broughton has dropped consecutive decisions to Travis Browne and Phil De Fries, while Mitrione will try to bounce back from his decision loss to Cheick Kongo at UFC 137. And on the other end of the fighter-size spectrum, TUF 14 bantamweight winner John Dodson will make his latest flyweight appearance against much-hyped newcomer Jussier da Silva, in a match that could very well produce the #1 contender in the 125-pound division.
Please direct your predictions to the comments section.
This Friday night, Thiago “Pitbull” Alves and Martin “The Hitman” Kampmann will come off of recent wins in 2011 to face each other at UFC on FX 2 live from the Allphones Arena in Sydney, Australia.Featuring Ian McCall vs. Demetrious Johnson and Joseph …
This Friday night, Thiago “Pitbull” Alves and Martin “The Hitman” Kampmann will come off of recent wins in 2011 to face each other at UFC on FX 2 live from the Allphones Arena in Sydney, Australia.
Featuring Ian McCall vs. Demetrious Johnson and Joseph Benavidez in the UFC Flyweight Tournament semifinals, as well as Court McGee vs. Constantinos Philippou, and a fairly-loaded undercard filled with international talent, UFC on FX 2 in Sydney looks to pick up where UFC on FX 1 in Nashville left off.
As usual, we’re pretty amped up for this card and we like the ways this could turn out, but as is protocol for us in the MMA world, there’s a little bit of information that we might need to keep in mind as we look ahead to this card.
The predictions are on the house. Here’s hoping they turn out better than the first attempt.
(NOW we get why Kyle’s friends often refer to him as “The Poke” Noke.)
After collecting three straight stoppage victories in as many UFC contests, EliteXC and TUF 11 veteran Kyle Noke was quickly building up a reputation as one of the top up-and-comers in the middleweight division. Being one of the few successful Australian fighters to grace the UFC (sorry, Elvis), Noke carried a bit more pressure on his shoulders than the average TUF alum, especially when heading into his UFC Live 5 match against resurgent TUF 3 veteran Ed Herman. Unfortunately Noke (and therefore the Australian MMA community), would fall to a first round heel hook in that fight, placing all Aussie UFC hopes in the hands of a man nicknamed after an animal relative to Africa.
But fret not, ye Fosters enthusiasts, for Noke’s path to redemption will begin in the land from which he was birthed. Yes, “KO” recently announced that he will be taking on Jared Hamman at UFC on FX 2, which goes down at the Allphones Arena in Sydney, Australia. Hamman, whom we will forever be in debt to for knocking CB Dolloway out of the UFC, will also be looking to build up a win streak; he was most recently flattened in the first round by Constantinos Philippou at UFC 140. This match has yet to be confirmed by the UFC.
Join us after the jump for some juicy featherweight and bantamweight gossip…
(NOW we get why Kyle’s friends often refer to him as “The Poke” Noke.)
After collecting three straight stoppage victories in as many UFC contests, EliteXC and TUF 11 veteran Kyle Noke was quickly building up a reputation as one of the top up-and-comers in the middleweight division. Being one of the few successful Australian fighters to grace the UFC (sorry, Elvis), Noke carried a bit more pressure on his shoulders than the average TUF alum, especially when heading into his UFC Live 5 match against resurgent TUF 3 veteran Ed Herman. Unfortunately Noke (and therefore the Australian MMA community), would fall to a first round heel hook in that fight, placing all Aussie UFC hopes in the hands of a man nicknamed after an animal relative to Africa.
But fret not, ye Fosters enthusiasts, for Noke’s path to redemption will begin in the land from which he was birthed. Yes, “KO” recently announced that he will be taking on Jared Hamman at UFC on FX 2, which goes down at the Allphones Arena in Sydney, Australia. Hamman, whom we will forever be in debt to for knocking CB Dolloway out of the UFC, will also be looking to build up a win streak; he was most recently flattened in the first round by Constantinos Philippou at UFC 140. This match has yet to be confirmed by the UFC.
Also rumored for the UFC’s return to Australia will be TUF 5 alum Cole Miller’s featherweight debut, which will pair him against seasoned TUF 14 vet Steve Siler. Fresh off a second round submission of T.J. O’Brien, the 6’1”, Miller was already lanky for a lightweight, but will now be entering Corey Hill territory at 145 pounds. Stay away from the leg kicks is all were saying, Cole. After getting eliminated via a Diego Brandao steamrolling in his run on The Ultimate Fighter 14, Siler rebounded at the TUF 14 Finale with a decision win over Josh Clopton.
And in UFC on FX 1 news, bantamweight prospect Mike Easton will be looking to improve upon his second round TKO over Byron Bloodworth when he takes on WEC vet Ken Stone. Stone, who suffered brutal back-to-back knockouts at the hands of Eddie Wineland (via slam) and Scott Jorgensen (via punches), finally learned what it was like to be the one standingover an unconscious body when he choked out Donny Walker back at UFN 25.
UFC on FX is set to go down on January 20th from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. Yours truly will be handling the liveblog duties, so make sure to stop by and inform me of how poor a job I am doing.
When we watched this video, we lost The Game. VidProps: PanicPulse/YouTube
Ed “Short Fuse” Herman impressed some of us last night when he went all Paul Harris on poor Kyle Noke, catching Noke with a heel hook and torquing that motherlover until Mario Yamasaki noticed Noke’s “owwie” face and tap simultaneously, stopping it with a minute left in the first round. No official word yet, but expect Noke to be walking gingerly for the next few weeks.
If you’re not familiar with the much-feared heel hook, take a quick peep at this video where the lovely Joanne Spracklen demonstrates the mechanics, and keep in mind that the twisting action at the heel puts a lot of strain on the knee of that leg. And when we say “a lot of strain”, we mean that ligaments pop and tissues tear when you start cranking on this.
Joanne illustrates the standard heel hook, whereas Herman pulled off the inverted variety, moving Noke’s leg to the other side of his hips and twisting the toes out away from the body; the effects are every bit as devastating.
Do NOT try this at home. Seriously, people talk about how kids are resilient and can bounce back from anything, but surgery on knee ligaments will slow even the best of them way down.
Plus, i’m being told that mine is past the manufacturer’s warranty period, and now i have to pay out of pocket to get him fixed. And that’s why we can’t have nice things.
[RX]
When we watched this video, we lost The Game. VidProps: PanicPulse/YouTube
Ed “Short Fuse” Herman impressed some of us last night when he went all Paul Harris on poor Kyle Noke, catching Noke with a heel hook and torquing that motherlover until Mario Yamasaki noticed Noke’s “owwie” face and tap simultaneously, stopping it with a minute left in the first round. No official word yet, but expect Noke to be walking gingerly for the next few weeks.
If you’re not familiar with the much-feared heel hook, take a quick peep at this video where the lovely Joanne Spracklen demonstrates the mechanics, and keep in mind that the twisting action at the heel puts a lot of strain on the knee of that leg. And when we say “a lot of strain”, we mean that ligaments pop and tissues tear when you start cranking on this.
Joanne illustrates the standard heel hook, whereas Herman pulled off the inverted variety, moving Noke’s leg to the other side of his hips and twisting the toes out away from the body; the effects are every bit as devastating.
Do NOT try this at home. Seriously, people talk about how kids are resilient and can bounce back from anything, but surgery on knee ligaments will slow even the best of them way down.
Plus, i’m being told that mine is past the manufacturer’s warranty period, and now i have to pay out of pocket to get him fixed. And that’s why we can’t have nice things.
MILWAUKEE – This is the UFC on Versus 5 live blog for all the preliminary bouts on tonight’s UFC card.
UFC on Versus 5 is the promotion’s debut in Wisconsin and takes place at the Bradley Center in downtown Milwaukee, the state’s largest city.
The preliminary card features eight fights, including a middleweight bout between C.B. Dollaway and Jared Hamman and a bantamweight contest between former WEC champion Eddie Wineland and former title challenger Joseph Benavidez.
No glove touch, but we start anyway. Figueroa takes the center and Reinhardt circles to the right on the outside, then back left. Reinhardt is on his horse, not engaging, and grinning at Figueroa, now talking to him and clapping at him. The crowd is booing wildly. Figueroa finally catches him to throw a partially blocked kick. This has Kalib Starnes written all over it. Figueroa lands a right and drops Reinhardt, then locks in a standing guillotine. Reinhardt is trying to power out of it, and he eventually gets a little slam out of it and winds up on top. He transitions to Figueroa’s back and starts to work for a rear naked choke with a body triangle locked on. Figueroa gets out, though, and lands a shot from up top. They stand up, and when Figueroa engages, Reinhardt immediately drops to his back. They stand up again, and Reinhardt lands a decent right of his own. Back on the feet, Figueroa again lands a couple good shots and gets Reinhardt back on the ground, where he proceeds to land some pretty stiff shots from standing. Reinhardt does a somersault and rolls over. He has basically given up and is just laying there as the ref looks at him when the horn sounds. It’s a 10-8 round for Figueroa on our card thanks to Reinhardt’s running.
Round 2: We’re going to do a second round of this thing, and this time they touch gloves. Reinhardt again is on his horse, then shoots when Figueroa engages. There’s a scramble, and Figueroa ends up on top in full mount. Reinhardt rolls over and covers up and he’s not long for this fight. Pretty quickly, the ref steps in and it’s done. So, too, likely, is Reinhardt’s UFC career after the running in the first round.
Round 1: The legendary Mario Yamasaki gets things going. No glove touch. Volkmann shoots in early and they have a scramble in the clinch, but not much comes from it. They break apart and dance. Decent body kick from Castillo, who shortly thereafter misses a nice high kick. Then he lands an outside leg kick, followed by one on the inside. Volkmann shoots again and gets a soft takedown and looks to pass from half guard. He ties up Castillo’s right arm, then works for a side choke. But trying to hold on to that position costs him, as Castillo works his way out and gets top position. Volkmann settles back into guard, then nicely wall walks back to his feet as they clinch up. They separate around 1:50 and move back to the middle. After trading rights, Castillo lands one of the loudest body kicks in recorded history (we think) to Volkmann’s left ribcage. But Volkmann survives it and the two wind up in a scramble on the ground. It’s a tough first round to score, with each guy looking pretty effective. But MMA Fighting will give it, highly unofficially, to Castillo 10-9.
Round 2: After a few seconds of dancing, we clinch up along the fence. A few traded shots lead to Volkmann on his butt looking for a choke, and Castillo trying to work ground and pound. Yamasaki warns Castillo for holding Volkmann’s shorts and says he’ll take a point if he does it again. Volkmann wall walks back up, and then Castillo is warned for grabbing the fence, though it looked mild. A weird scramble leads to Volkmann on his back briefly, then on his knees, and he wrestles Castillo to his back and is in half guard. Then work for position, and Volkmann briefly has a choke that he can’t lock up as Castillo tries to reverse position. He works for it again, and it’s an arm-in modified guillotine. But Castillo will survive the round. Round 2 goes to Volkmann on our card, 10-9.
Round 3: Castillo lands a nice right hand 10 seconds in. Forty seconds later, the next action is a nice inside leg kick from him. They hit the ground briefly, but Volkmann has the edge there before Castillo scrambles quickly out and back to his feet. The crowd cheers the cat-and-mouse game. A short exchange in the middle leads to Volkmann again taking top position on the ground, controlling Castillo’s head and neck from half guard. He looks for some short elbows, but mainly this is a control game with Castillo’s right arm locked up. Volkmann isn’t doing much with the position, and it doesn’t look like it’s a choke he can lock down from where he’s at. Castillo wiggles out, but Volkmann gets to side control and looks for more elbows and again traps an arm and controls Castillo’s head. Castillo throws right knees from the ground, but that’s all he can do. The crowd is booing what it deems a stalling game by Volkmann. Castillo rolls over, and Volkmann works for his back. But nothing will happen. It’s a 10-9 third for Volkmann, and MMA Fighting scores the fight for him 29-28. No doubt some judges will have it 30-27 for him.
Result: Jacob Volkmann def. Danny Castillo, unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Round 1: They touch gloves, surprising given yesterday’s heated moment at the weigh-ins. These guys are both tall. Not Stefan Struve tall, but tall. We dance for 30 seconds, looking for position. Both throw a few kicks and rights that miss. Miller blocks a high kick and pushes forward, but O’Brien just misses a big uppercut right that has the crowd making one giant “Ooooooh!” sound. O’Brien lands a nice body shot that has Miller thinking that wasn’t very nice. And O’Brien then comes forward with a nice combination. He blocks some of Miller’s combos a short time later, then checks an outside leg kick. With 90 seconds left, Miller lands a big right, then just misses another but follows it with an outside leg kick. He lands a pair of stiff left jabs, then a third. O’Brien blocks a high Miller kick, then comes forward with a body shot. It’s a pretty close first round, but we’ll go 10-9 Miller – though it could go either way.
Round 2: We trade leg kicks and look for openings to start the first minute of Round 2. Miller then backpedals to re-set. O’Brien comes forward and has Miller backing up just for a second, but Miller drops him with a left and starts to work kicks from up top while O’Brien lays on his back. But a really nice scramble by O’Brien has him to his feet – but just for a second. Miller dives back in and cranks on a guillotine, and he’s got it good. Though O’Brien is trying to get out, he can’t and he has to tap.
Result: Cole Miller def. T.J. O’Brien, submission (guillotine), 2:38 Round 2
MILWAUKEE – This is the UFC on Versus 5 live blog for all the preliminary bouts on tonight’s UFC card.
UFC on Versus 5 is the promotion’s debut in Wisconsin and takes place at the Bradley Center in downtown Milwaukee, the state’s largest city.
The preliminary card features eight fights, including a middleweight bout between C.B. Dollaway and Jared Hamman and a bantamweight contest between former WEC champion Eddie Wineland and former title challenger Joseph Benavidez.
No glove touch, but we start anyway. Figueroa takes the center and Reinhardt circles to the right on the outside, then back left. Reinhardt is on his horse, not engaging, and grinning at Figueroa, now talking to him and clapping at him. The crowd is booing wildly. Figueroa finally catches him to throw a partially blocked kick. This has Kalib Starnes written all over it. Figueroa lands a right and drops Reinhardt, then locks in a standing guillotine. Reinhardt is trying to power out of it, and he eventually gets a little slam out of it and winds up on top. He transitions to Figueroa’s back and starts to work for a rear naked choke with a body triangle locked on. Figueroa gets out, though, and lands a shot from up top. They stand up, and when Figueroa engages, Reinhardt immediately drops to his back. They stand up again, and Reinhardt lands a decent right of his own. Back on the feet, Figueroa again lands a couple good shots and gets Reinhardt back on the ground, where he proceeds to land some pretty stiff shots from standing. Reinhardt does a somersault and rolls over. He has basically given up and is just laying there as the ref looks at him when the horn sounds. It’s a 10-8 round for Figueroa on our card thanks to Reinhardt’s running.
Round 2: We’re going to do a second round of this thing, and this time they touch gloves. Reinhardt again is on his horse, then shoots when Figueroa engages. There’s a scramble, and Figueroa ends up on top in full mount. Reinhardt rolls over and covers up and he’s not long for this fight. Pretty quickly, the ref steps in and it’s done. So, too, likely, is Reinhardt’s UFC career after the running in the first round.
Round 1: The legendary Mario Yamasaki gets things going. No glove touch. Volkmann shoots in early and they have a scramble in the clinch, but not much comes from it. They break apart and dance. Decent body kick from Castillo, who shortly thereafter misses a nice high kick. Then he lands an outside leg kick, followed by one on the inside. Volkmann shoots again and gets a soft takedown and looks to pass from half guard. He ties up Castillo’s right arm, then works for a side choke. But trying to hold on to that position costs him, as Castillo works his way out and gets top position. Volkmann settles back into guard, then nicely wall walks back to his feet as they clinch up. They separate around 1:50 and move back to the middle. After trading rights, Castillo lands one of the loudest body kicks in recorded history (we think) to Volkmann’s left ribcage. But Volkmann survives it and the two wind up in a scramble on the ground. It’s a tough first round to score, with each guy looking pretty effective. But MMA Fighting will give it, highly unofficially, to Castillo 10-9.
Round 2: After a few seconds of dancing, we clinch up along the fence. A few traded shots lead to Volkmann on his butt looking for a choke, and Castillo trying to work ground and pound. Yamasaki warns Castillo for holding Volkmann’s shorts and says he’ll take a point if he does it again. Volkmann wall walks back up, and then Castillo is warned for grabbing the fence, though it looked mild. A weird scramble leads to Volkmann on his back briefly, then on his knees, and he wrestles Castillo to his back and is in half guard. Then work for position, and Volkmann briefly has a choke that he can’t lock up as Castillo tries to reverse position. He works for it again, and it’s an arm-in modified guillotine. But Castillo will survive the round. Round 2 goes to Volkmann on our card, 10-9.
Round 3: Castillo lands a nice right hand 10 seconds in. Forty seconds later, the next action is a nice inside leg kick from him. They hit the ground briefly, but Volkmann has the edge there before Castillo scrambles quickly out and back to his feet. The crowd cheers the cat-and-mouse game. A short exchange in the middle leads to Volkmann again taking top position on the ground, controlling Castillo’s head and neck from half guard. He looks for some short elbows, but mainly this is a control game with Castillo’s right arm locked up. Volkmann isn’t doing much with the position, and it doesn’t look like it’s a choke he can lock down from where he’s at. Castillo wiggles out, but Volkmann gets to side control and looks for more elbows and again traps an arm and controls Castillo’s head. Castillo throws right knees from the ground, but that’s all he can do. The crowd is booing what it deems a stalling game by Volkmann. Castillo rolls over, and Volkmann works for his back. But nothing will happen. It’s a 10-9 third for Volkmann, and MMA Fighting scores the fight for him 29-28. No doubt some judges will have it 30-27 for him.
Result: Jacob Volkmann def. Danny Castillo, unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Round 1: They touch gloves, surprising given yesterday’s heated moment at the weigh-ins. These guys are both tall. Not Stefan Struve tall, but tall. We dance for 30 seconds, looking for position. Both throw a few kicks and rights that miss. Miller blocks a high kick and pushes forward, but O’Brien just misses a big uppercut right that has the crowd making one giant “Ooooooh!” sound. O’Brien lands a nice body shot that has Miller thinking that wasn’t very nice. And O’Brien then comes forward with a nice combination. He blocks some of Miller’s combos a short time later, then checks an outside leg kick. With 90 seconds left, Miller lands a big right, then just misses another but follows it with an outside leg kick. He lands a pair of stiff left jabs, then a third. O’Brien blocks a high Miller kick, then comes forward with a body shot. It’s a pretty close first round, but we’ll go 10-9 Miller – though it could go either way.
Round 2: We trade leg kicks and look for openings to start the first minute of Round 2. Miller then backpedals to re-set. O’Brien comes forward and has Miller backing up just for a second, but Miller drops him with a left and starts to work kicks from up top while O’Brien lays on his back. But a really nice scramble by O’Brien has him to his feet – but just for a second. Miller dives back in and cranks on a guillotine, and he’s got it good. Though O’Brien is trying to get out, he can’t and he has to tap.
Result: Cole Miller def. T.J. O’Brien, submission (guillotine), 2:38 Round 2
In the sport of MMA, many different countries have been represented by fighters, and pride runs deep within the fans themselves. With many American and Brazilian fighters in the UFC, there seems to be very few from the other end of the globe. Eng…
In the sport of MMA, many different countries have been represented by fighters, and pride runs deep within the fans themselves.
With many American and Brazilian fighters in the UFC, there seems to be very few from the other end of the globe. England and Japan are represented to a point, but the continent of Australia has had very little representation in comparison.
Australia is home to some of the most deadly animals on the planet, and home to many unique species. But the wildlife is not the only dangerous creatures to come from the land down under.
The Australian UFC Middleweight contender, Kyle Noke, will be facing dangerous Ed Herman at UFC on Versus 5 on Sunday. Noke will be looking to improve his winning streak to six with a victory over Herman.
MMA Sports Writer Gregory Chase spoke with Noke about his upcoming fight, his experience with TUF, his thoughts on Chael Sonnen, and more.
GC: Let me start by saying thank you for your time and that I enjoyed watching you on The Ultimate Fighter and your fights since then.
KN: Ah, thank you!
GC: And that last win over Camozzi was incredible, that was definitely exciting to watch! But if you don’t mind, I’d like to ask you some questions about your upcoming fight.
KN: Yeah, no problem at all!
GC: You’re fighting Ed Herman, a fellow Ultimate Fighter show contestant. How do you see the fight playing out? What do you think his game plan is?
KN: You know, I’m not too sure of his game plan. I think he may try to keep it on the feet, you know…which is good for me because that’s where I like to keep it. Hopefully, we can implement ours on the night and not worry about his.
GC: Now you would like to keep it standing, but you both have excellent ground game, how do you think stylistically you match up?
KN: I think we match up good, you know. Whether the fight stays on the feet or on the ground, it makes for an exciting fight!
GC: You were originally going to face Tom Lawlor. Do you feel you are fully prepared for this fight? And what, if anything, changed during your training camp once it switched to Herman?
KN: Yeah, I think I’m fully prepared, you know, the switch up wasn’t too far out, the UFC gave me enough notice. So we were able to adapt and change for Ed Herman so, you know, it’s just a slight adjustment. Like I said, we had plenty of time, so it was all good!
GC: Was there anything specific you worked on in preparation for Herman as opposed to Lawlor?
KN: Not really, you know, I guess we didn’t exercise so much on the takedown defense, with Tom Lawlor being a great wrestler. But we still concentrated on it with Ed Herman because he has good takedowns, but that’s probably the only change we did.
GC: Do you feel like this an easier fight than Lawlor, tougher, or about the same?
KN: Oh, it’s about the same. Tom is a tough guy as well, so is Ed. You know, from all the fights I’ve watched of Ed, it’s hard to put him away. He’s a tough guy and he’s always gonna come at you, so I think it makes for a great fight!
GC: You’re on an impressive five-fight winning streak right now, the longest of your career. How does that affect you mentally in your upcoming fight? Is there any nervousness to keep it going, or is it all motivation?
KN: It’s all just motivation, you know. I don’t let it affect me at all. I just take every fight as they come. It’s just another fight, so I’m looking forward to getting in there and doing it!
GC: So on a less fight-oriented note, how was your experience on The Ultimate Fighter with Chuck Liddell? What was the most significant factor you took from that experience?
KN: You know, the experience itself was great, obviously wouldn’t be here without it. It is tough being on the show on the same hand, people don’t realize it. You’re away from your normal camp, it’s not the way you’re used to getting ready for fights and stuff.
If I had the opportunity to do it again, yeah I would do it again, make it in the UFC. The show wasn’t THAT bad where I didn’t want to do it. And with Chuck Liddell, it was awesome, you know, he was a great coach, a really cool dude, and I learned a lot from the guy.
GC: So would you ever want to eventually go back and be a coach yourself?
KN: Yeah sure, if they offered me that opportunity, I would love to do it, it would be an awesome experience, I think!
GC: What is one thing from being on that show, which viewers do not see, that you thought was great, or really enjoyed?
KN: I’m not sure, I think they get to see a lot of it. I guess just the friendships you make. I came away with good friends from the show, so I guess that’s one thing to take away from it.
GC: Now you were the bodyguard and trainer for Steve Irwin for a while before he passed. During your time with the great “Crocodile Hunter,” did you learn anything from your time with him that has carried over to MMA in your life or in the cage?
KN: Sure, you know, he always had a great passion for everything he’d done. He instilled that passion for me and that drive in me, and I think I wouldn’t have committed 100 percent like I am now. I don’t think I would be so committed to this sport, if I hadn’t worked for him and met him.
GC: Aside from your upcoming fight, care to make any predictions for the rest of the card?
KN: You know, that’s a tough one. I’ve been REALLY bad with my picks lately, but um, I think Dan Hardy is gonna win that one. You never know.
GC: How do you think he’s going to win?
KN: I think maybe a knockout. But you never know, because Chris Lytle will always find a way to win sometimes, and when you think he’s about to get knocked out, he comes back.
GC: You are currently a Middleweight in the UFC, how do you think a fight with you and Champion, Anderson Silva, would play out?
KN: Um, I don’t know. I would love that opportunity. That’s what we’re all fighting for, is that opportunity itself. I sure Greg Jackson would come up with a game plan if that ever happened.
GC: Now would you feel comfortable striking with Silva, or would you like to focus more on the ground?
KN: You know, I would take the fight wherever it went. I’m confident in my standup, I’d try and stand with him. But it’s the same as all my fights, I’m comfortable standing and if that doesn’t work so good, I’ll go to the ground.
GC: Also, being in the Middleweight division, what is your take on Chael Sonnen’s words toward Anderson, Brazilians and other fighters in general? What’s your perspective on his talk?
KN: I don’t really like guys who disrespect people and talk about them, you know. I think all your actions should be done inside the cage.
I understand he trying to hype a fight, but when you disrespect the whole country like that, it’s kind of disrespectful. There’s taunting a guy and hyping a fight, then there’s going too far, and I think that he went too far.
GC: If you had one thing about you that you wanted the fans to know, that they didn’t already, what would it be?
KN: Oh, I don’t know (laughs). I would never quit. I think just my fighting ability. I’m gonna get in there and try and fight every fight with all my heart and try to finish and put on the best show I can.
GC: Well Kyle Noke, thank you so much for your time and answering some questions. I look forward to watching your fight against Ed Herman on Aug. 14, and I wish you much success!
KN: No problem, thanks a lot, thanks for the interview!
MILWAUKEE – This is the 
In the sport of 
