As Clay Guida prepares for his showdown with WEC Lightweight Champion Anthony “Showtime” Pettis on Saturday, fans will be anticipating the action that is about to ensue inside the cage.”The Carpenter” is a wildman and has produced some very entertainin…
As Clay Guida prepares for his showdown with WEC Lightweight Champion Anthony “Showtime” Pettis on Saturday, fans will be anticipating the action that is about to ensue inside the cage.
“The Carpenter” is a wildman and has produced some very entertaining fights—some of which have been fight of the year candidates.
The fight will be free and broadcast live on Spike TV this weekend, and it’s one you don’t want to miss. Both fighters are in line for a title shot, taking their determination and will to win to an all-time high. Combine that with the granite chin of Guida and the dynamic striking of Pettis, and it will be one great fight.
Like Guida, the following fighters are also never in a boring fight and have produced many fireworks whether they won or lost.
Mauricio “Shogun” Rua has faced many top fighters in his MMA career. But the former UFC light heavyweight champion considers Jon Jones the best. Rua fought Jones at UFC 128 in March. Rua was dominated the entire fight, losing by TKO in the …
But the former UFC light heavyweight champion considers Jon Jones the best.
Rua fought Jones at UFC 128 in March. Rua was dominated the entire fight, losing by TKO in the third round.
Shogun has beat UFC greats Mark Coleman, Chuck Liddell, Lyoto Machida and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. Rua has also defeated current Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem twice.
“After the Jon Jones fight I gave it a lot of thought, I reflected a lot, I thought about my training…everything. I came to some conclusions, but I don’t want to take anything away from Jones, he’s a good fighter.
I have given it a lot of thought because I hope to fight him again one day.”
Despite beating both Lyoto Machida and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson in the past, Rua will have to wait in line for a title shot.
Although it’s something he doesn’t want to do, he knows it is “a part of the game.” Rua’s climb to the top begins with the first man he ever faced in the UFC, Forrest Griffin.
Despite being heavily favored to win, Rua lost the fight by rear naked choke.
Rua will have a chance to avenge that lost and get back on top in his home country of Brazil, at UFC 134.
Misery loves company, and more so by consanguinity. Only two months after Mauricio “Shogun” Rua lost his UFC Light-Heavyweight Title to Jon Jones via TKO, now it’s elder brother Murilo’s turn to lose, by KO to BAMMA Middleweight Champion T…
Misery loves company, and more so by consanguinity. Only two months after Mauricio “Shogun” Rua lost his UFC Light-Heavyweight Title to Jon Jones via TKO, now it’s elder brother Murilo’s turn to lose, by KO to BAMMA Middleweight Champion Tom “Kong” Watson in London on Saturday night.
LONDON—British Association of Mixed Martial Arts middleweight champion Tom Watson put on a career-best performance as he stopped Murilo Rua in the third round of the BAMMA 6 main event on Saturday at Wembley Arena.
Watson and Rua went to war in Round 1. Rua ate a brutal right hand that rocked him, but he stormed back into the fray.
In the second, Watson stepped up his pace, as his chopping kicks to Ninja’s lead leg caused the Pride Fighting Championships veteran to hobble uncomfortably. It looked like it was only a matter of time before the Englishman’s attack caught up with him.
Round 3 followed the same script. A forlorn Ninja, urged on by younger brother and cornerman Mauricio Rua, went for one last takedown attempt. It failed, and his time was up.
A crushing kick knocked the Brazilian’s head back and left him staggering. Referee Marc Goddard intervened but not before a couple more punches hit their intended target.
Also last night, and unknowingly sharing the misery with the Rua brothers, UFC veteran Matt “The Law” Lindland suffered his own stoppage, getting choked unconscious by rising Polish prospect Mamed Khalidov in KSW 16 in Gdansk, Poland.
Mamed Khalidov continues to establish himself as one of the top middleweights outside of the UFC or Strikeforce after submitting Matt Lindland with a first round guillotine choke at KSW 16 in Poland.
Khalidov, who was the last person to defeat current UFC middleweight Jorge Santiago, showed a strong performance in his home country, and overwhelmed the veteran with superior work throughout the fight.
After putting Lindland in the unfamiliar position of being on his back, Khalidov opened up his offense, looking to rain down strikes on the former Olympian.
The fighters worked their way back to their feet, and Khalidov took the opportunity to slap on a guillotine choke and pulled guard. Within moments, Lindland was asleep and Khalidov was once again a winner, his third in a row overall.
So, are these unmistakable signs heralding that the rest of the world is truly catching up?
That its fighters are now seriously staking their respective places among the crème de la crème of international MMA?
Some quarters may question Ninja and Lindland’s rightful place among top MMA fighters today.
Still, the fact remains that, last Saturday night, they lost to comparatively lesser-known fighters in separate countries in Europe. (My apologies if I sound “America-centric.”)
After Watson and Khalidov’s convincing finishes of their respective opponents, regardless of the fans’ esteem of their more renowned victims, these two victors are climbing one more rung up the international MMA ladder.
Here is the first installment of the Bleacher Report MMA Rankings. Each month on the first and 15th of the month we will publish divisional rankings. On the first of each month we will post our pound-for-pound rankings. The rankings were voted on by nu…
Here is the first installment of the Bleacher Report MMA Rankings. Each month on the first and 15th of the month we will publish divisional rankings. On the first of each month we will post our pound-for-pound rankings.
The rankings were voted on by numerous writers on Bleacher Report and do not reflect any of their rankings personally. The rankings are an average of each writer’s vote for each weight class.
During the past few months, many of the UFC’s top fighters have been plagued by injuries, the latest being light heavyweight champion and Greg Jackson prodigy, Jon Jones. The highly anticipated bout between two former friends, Rashad Evans and Jo…
During the past few months, many of the UFC’s top fighters have been plagued by injuries, the latest being light heavyweight champion and Greg Jackson prodigy, Jon Jones.
The highly anticipated bout between two former friends, Rashad Evans and Jon Jones, has been postponed due to Jones getting injured during training when he tore a ligament in his right hand.
Evans’ last scheduled bout with then-champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua was also postponed when Rua was injured during training. Evans chose to wait for Rua to heal and for his shot at regaining the light UFC heavyweight title, a decision that he has come to regret.
This time, while not a title shot, Evans will not be waiting on his opponent as the undefeated and very hungry, Phil “Mr. Wonderful” Davis steps up to replace the champion in what could be a three-round war between two of the sport’s best wrestlers.
While Evans and Jones continue their newfound grudge via Twitter, Davis is focused on only one thing: his fight with Evans at UFC 133.
Stepping up and seizing the opportunity is nothing new to Davis. He stepped up to replace Tito Ortiz in his last fight against former PRIDE fighter, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira also known as, “Little Nog”. Davis beat Nogueria by unanimous decision, controlling him with his superior wrestling.
According to Eric Fontanez at MMA Weekly, Davis is preparing for a battle against an opponent of equal, if not better wrestling skills.
“He’s someone I should definitely be concerned about with my skill set…I expect a pretty good fight,” Davis said.
“I invite the opportunity to face someone of his level of wrestling and I think I’ll be fine.”
Regardless of Evans’ wrestling ability, Davis plans on controlling the fight.
“I like to think I’m going to be the one controlling the pace of any fight,” he said. “And I don’t think this will be any different.
“I will take this fight wherever it wants to go.”
Even though Davis is undefeated, he will be facing an experienced former champion with only one loss on his record and who has been in deep water before.
Considering each of these great athletes wrestling experience, this fight could turn out to be a high-paced wrestling match. Regardless, Davis is facing the biggest test and challenge of his career.
For Davis, it’s just another opportunity, one that leads to a light heavyweight title shot and one he doesn’t plan on losing.
“Losing was never something I planned on doing.”
Davis told MMA Heat’s Karyn Bryant that it makes no difference to him who he fights.
“To me it’s not about fighting people. I don’t care if you can beat this guy or that guy. I want to have the belt.”
Mauricio “Shogun” Rua is one of the best fighters at 205 lbs, but his coach Rafael Cordeiro hopes he can recapture his dominance that made him a champion. But since the former UFC light heavyweight champion has reunited with his longtime coach, Co…
Mauricio “Shogun” Rua is one of the best fighters at 205 lbs, but his coach Rafael Cordeiro hopes he can recapture his dominance that made him a champion.
But since the former UFC light heavyweight champion has reunited with his longtime coach, Cordeiro said he plans to fix some of his weaknesses that were present in his loss to Jon Jones at UFC 128.
“The training here will make him stronger, but we’re not a miracle house,” Cordeiro told Sherdog.com.
“This is a place where he’ll work hard, a place where he’ll make sure he’ll never again fight like he did against Jones.”
The talks of Rua joining Kings MMA came at the request of Cordeiro, who will help the Brazilian prepare for his upcoming bout against Forrest Griffin at UFC Rio. Rua and Griffin last met in 2007, in a bout that saw Griffin upset his opponent in unpredictable fashion, in which Griffin earned the victory via rear naked choke.
At the time, Rua was making his debut for the UFC and was highly touted as the best light heavyweight in the world.
Cordeiro added that bringing Rua into Kings MMA was discussed prior to his title bout against Jones.
“We talked before the Jon Jones fight, but some family issues prevented him from coming to the U.S.,” Cordeiro said.
“It was easy to convince him because of our friendship and affection.”
And it is because of their friendship that has Cordeiro convinced Rua will evolve and perform better at UFC Rio.
“I was his coach from the time he was a white belt until he was a black belt. No one knows him as I do, and I can say there is a lot we can add here to improve on his game.”
