As we enter the last week of 2011, join us in celebrating the year’s most memorable images — from tense face-offs to action shots, ring girl pin-ups to gnarly post-fight injuries, and other assorted insanity. If we’ve left out any of your favorite MMA photos from the past year, drop us a link in the comments section. Enjoy…
As we enter the last week of 2011, join us in celebrating the year’s most memorable images — from tense face-offs to action shots, ring girl pin-ups to gnarly post-fight injuries, and other assorted insanity. If we’ve left out any of your favorite MMA photos from the past year, drop us a link in the comments section. Enjoy…
Having previously trained with Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, Wanderlei Silva knows what he is capable of inside the Octagon.Rua’s recent loss to Dan Henderson at UFC 139 brought up questions about the Brazilian’s consistency and longevity while competing in t…
Having previously trained with Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, Wanderlei Silva knows what he is capable of inside the Octagon.
Rua’s recent loss to Dan Henderson at UFC 139 brought up questions about the Brazilian’s consistency and longevity while competing in the light heavyweight division. “The Axe Murderer” said Rua was not himself against Henderson.
Silva, who is a former training partner and close friend of Rua’s, said the former Pride Grand Prix winner is not meeting expectations and needs to revitalize his training regimen in order to compete at the highest level.
“Shogun has a lot to revamp in his training. Everyone believes he can beat anyone at 100 percent, so he has to go into these fights at 100 percent,” Silva told Sherdog.com.
“I was sad about his loss,” he added.
Rua has faced criticism regarding his health since debuting in the UFC in 2007.
Rua has constantly battled through injuries, which have resulted in some poor performances and have prevented him from realizing his potential.
His injuries have ultimately limited his success in the UFC. That was evident in his title bout against Jon Jones, where Rua was coming off another knee injury and hadn’t fought since capturing the light heavyweight title nearly a year prior against Lyoto Machida at UFC 113.
Silva said if Rua is able to stay healthy and able to compete more consistently, then he will challenge for the title once again. Silva said he would favour Rua in potential rematch against the 24-year-old Jones.
“Shogun is the most talented guy I’ve ever seen,” he said. “He’s the guy to beat the champion, but he has to be 100 percent.”
In its heyday, the PRIDE Fighting Championships was arguably the greatest mixed martial arts promotion, rivaling that of the UFC.Many legendary figures in our sport have been cultivated under the PRIDE banner, gaining worldwide recognition thanks to th…
In its heyday, the PRIDE Fighting Championships was arguably the greatest mixed martial arts promotion, rivaling that of the UFC.
Many legendary figures in our sport have been cultivated under the PRIDE banner, gaining worldwide recognition thanks to the platform that the organization provided.
One of the many platforms to stardom that PRIDE offered was their touted Grand Prix tournaments, which yielded many notable champions over the years that remain relevant in mixed martial arts today.
What’s in a nickname? There are thousands of mixed martial artists competing today, and a large portion of them have earned a handle that fits their style, personality or sometimes even their resemblance to a movie character (e.g. Rich “Ace…
What’s in a nickname?
There are thousands of mixed martial artists competing today, and a large portion of them have earned a handle that fits their style, personality or sometimes even their resemblance to a movie character (e.g. Rich “Ace” Franklin).
Some nicknames are blatantly obvious. Take the Nogueira brothers, twins that fight in different weight classes: The heavyweight Antonio Rodrigo is commonly referred to as “Big Nog,” while light heavyweight Antonio Rogerio is “Lil Nog.”
Or how about former Croatian Police Officer Mirko Filipovic? It didn’t take much thought to come up with “Cro Cop.”
Other monikers may just fit the fighter. When lightweight Donald Cerrone enters a room wearing cowboy boots and his cowboy hat, would you call him anything but “Cowboy”?
Based on where he grew up and coupled with his laid back attitude and long hair, what else would you call “The California Kid” Urijah Faber?
Or take former Marine Brian Stann, is there a more fitting alias than “All American?”
Let’s take a look at 10 fighters that have been given nicknames befitting of their action inside the cage.
Rob Tatum is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA. You can also find Rob’s work at TheMMACorner.com. For anything related to MMA, you can follow Rob on Twitter@RobTatumMMA.
As we approach the end of December, more specifically UFC 141, it’s important to remember how we got here.This year may have offered the best fights ever in a 12-month span.From Anderson Silva and Jon Jones KO title defenses, to two championship bouts …
As we approach the end of December, more specifically UFC 141, it’s important to remember how we got here.
This year may have offered the best fights ever in a 12-month span.
From Anderson Silva and Jon Jones KO title defenses, to two championship bouts between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard, this year has encompassed unbelievable knockouts, submissions, comeback victories and legendary showdowns.
To be honest with you, constructing this list was a lot harder than I initially expected, considering the magnitude of fights and depth of talent that the UFC gives its fans on a monthly basis.
With that said, along with the expectations of UFC 141 being a legitimate PPV event to ring in the new year, here are the top 10 UFC events of 2011.
I apologize in advance if anybody is offended because their favorite fighters, or fights, fail to make this list. There were simply too many jaw-dropping events.
And a quick heads up. George St. Pierre and BJ Penn are not on this list. Probably the only time over the past five years in which you can’t call me crazy for not throwing them on here. Enjoy.
Last night UFC Light-Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones made history in defeating Lyoto Machida, joining the ranks of Rampage Jackson and Shogun Rua as one of the few Dragon Slayers.With the way “The Dragon” controlled the fight in the first round, Machida…
Last night UFC Light-Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones made history in defeating Lyoto Machida, joining the ranks of Rampage Jackson and Shogun Rua as one of the few Dragon Slayers.
With the way “The Dragon” controlled the fight in the first round, Machida showed that he does have what it takes to dethrone the champ. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to keep it up and, for the first time in his career, lost via submission.
At 33 years old, Machida’s career is far from over as he still has enough time and steam to make another run at the title. The road back to redemption will be long and difficult, but everyone loves a comeback.
So, here are the top five fights Machida can take, and if he wins enough of them to earn another title shot we may stop calling him “The Karate Kid” and instead refer to him as “The Comeback Kid”.
Having previously trained with Mauricio “Shogun” Rua,