B/R MMA at the MMA Expo: Brittney Palmer, Carlos Condit, Clay Guida and More

The Mixed Martial Arts Expo rolled into the Pearson International Center in Mississauga this past Saturday, December 3, and many UFC fighters and stars were on hand to thrill Ontario fans. UFC fighters Clay Guida, Melvin Guillard, Carlos Condit, Sam St…

The Mixed Martial Arts Expo rolled into the Pearson International Center in Mississauga this past Saturday, December 3, and many UFC fighters and stars were on hand to thrill Ontario fans.

UFC fighters Clay Guida, Melvin Guillard, Carlos Condit, Sam Stout, Matt Mitrione, Stefan Struve and Jake Shields made appearances and signed autographs for the fans.

Bleacher Report MMA was on the scene to get some video footage and talk to UFC stars such as Mac Danzig, Ryan Ford, Carlos Newton and Brittney Palmer (See the video for all interviews and fighter appearances).

Thousands of fans were in attendance for the MMA Expo, which is in its sixth year of existence. The event proved a great opportunity for fans to mix and mingle with their favorite UFC stars and personalities.

The Expo also hosted the NAGA Toronto grappling and jiu jitsu championships in the same hall, featuring all ages and all levels of grappling from beginner to expert.

MMA Expo president Gerald Chopik deemed the event a success due to the strong turnout, and the atmosphere was clearly electric and felt by all.

“Thank you for helping making it the best show ever. Every fighter/celebrity I spoke with said it was an awesome time and they love the Toronto fans and atmosphere best of all,” Chopik posted on facebook.

The action and fun doesn’t stop there for MMA fans in the Greater Toronto Area, as UFC 140 takes place this Saturday, December 10.

Please check in here all week for all of my UFC 140 event week coverage

 

Dwight Wakabayashi is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA and correspondent for MMACanada.net.

Catch him on Facebook and Twitter at wakafightermma.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Hump Day Headlines with Stephanie Ann Cook

Chael Sonnen hosts thes 2012 Fighters Only World MMA Awards tonight. How many attendees will he piss off? Rashad Evans vs. Phil Davis to headline UFC on Fox 2. UFC on FX: Melvin Guillard vs..

Chael Sonnen hosts thes 2012 Fighters Only World MMA Awards tonight. How many attendees will he piss off?

Rashad Evans vs. Phil Davis to headline UFC on Fox 2.

UFC on FX: Melvin Guillard vs. Jim Miller hits Nashville on Friday, January 20th.

Thiago Alves vs. Martin Kampmann announced for UFC on FX 2.

Anderson Silva is GQ Brazil’s, Man of the Year.

Bobby Voelker extends contract with Strikeforce promotion.

UFC on Fuel 1 hosts Diego Sanchez vs. Jake Ellenberger.

Jimmo Signs With UFC; Debuts Opposite Vemola at ‘UFC on FX 1? Jan. 20


(Jimmo will trade his precious metal to finally test his mettle in the UFC)

The UFC announced today that it has signed Maximum Fighting Championship light heavyweight champion and CagePotato guest blogger Ryan Jimmo to face Czech wrestler Karlos Vemola on the inaugural UFC on FX 1 card January 20 in Nashville, Tennessee.

“The Big Deal” will put his 16-fight undefeated streak on the line as he steps into the Octagon for the first time against Vemola, who is 1-1 in two UFC starts.


(Jimmo will trade his precious metal to finally test his mettle in the UFC)

The UFC announced today that it has signed Maximum Fighting Championship light heavyweight champion and CagePotato guest blogger Ryan Jimmo to face Czech wrestler Karlos Vemola on the inaugural UFC on FX 1 card January 20 in Nashville, Tennessee.

“The Big Deal” will put his 16-fight undefeated streak on the line as he steps into the Octagon for the first time against Vemola, who is 1-1 in two UFC starts.

We spoke with Ryan today, and as expected, he was ecstatic about “the big deal,”  but couldn’t disclose any of the details of his new multi-fight contract as per Zuffa policy.

“I’m very happy and excited to be joining the UFC and to be given this opportunity to prove myself on the world’s biggest stage. I started training 27-years ago with my father and have worked very hard to get to where I am. I’d like to thank Joe Silva, Dana White and the Fertittas for giving me my shot and everyone who helped me achieve this goal including my manager Bobby, all of my sponsors, training partners, family, friends, and Mark and the MFC for helping me get here,” Jimmo said. “Without all of their help and support I never would have gotten to where I am. Karlos Vemola is a stiff test for my first UFC fight and I’m going to make sure I entertain the fans and put on a great fight on January 20.”

A handful of other match-ups for the event, which will be headlined by a lightweight tilt between Jim Miller and Melvin Guillard, were announced for the card, bringing the number of scheduled bouts to eight.

UFC on FX 1
Saturday, January 20, 2012
Bridgestone Arena
Nashville, Tennessee

Jim Miller vs. Melvin Guillard
Eric “Red” Schafer vs. Jorge “El Conquistador” Rivera
Josh ‘The Dentist’ Neer vs. Duane ‘Bang’ Ludwig
Christian Morecraft vs. Pat ‘HD’ Barry.
Mike Brown vs. Vagner Rocha
Reza “Mad Dog” Madadi vs. Rafaello Oliveira
Ryan “Big Deal” Jimmo vs. Karlos Vemola.
Kamal Shalorus vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov

Better Know a Fighter: Chris Clements

(Clements v. Travis Briere, end comes at the 2:44 mark.)

Aside from The Ultimate Fighter 14 Finale, December 3rd also features an interesting welterweight battle between UFC veteran Rich Clementi and up and coming KO artist Chris Clements under the Score Fighting Series promotion. And after doing a quick check-up on Clements, we thought he was a guy that was worth talking about, so let’s, shall we?

“The Menace” is a 9-4 product fighting out of Ontario, Canada who has collected all 9 of those wins by way of KO or TKO inside the first two rounds. He often trains with the likes of Mark Hominick and Sam Stout, because there can only be so many MMA gyms in that tundra known as Canada, am I right or am I right? *High fives self*

A little known fact about Clements: he is the man responsible for retiring UFC vet Jonathan Goulet back at Rinside MMA-Payback in November of 2010, the video of which is after the jump.


(Clements v. Travis Briere, end comes at the 2:44 mark.)

Aside from The Ultimate Fighter 14 Finale, December 3rd also features an interesting welterweight battle between UFC veteran Rich Clementi and up and coming KO artist Chris Clements under the Score Fighting Series promotion. And after doing a quick check-up on Clements, we thought he was a guy that was worth talking about, so let’s, shall we?

“The Menace” is a 9-4 product fighting out of Ontario, Canada who has collected all 9 of those wins by way of KO or TKO inside the first two rounds. He often trains with the likes of Mark Hominick and Sam Stout, because there can only be so many MMA gyms in that tundra known as Canada, am I right or am I right? *High fives self*

A little known fact about Clements: he is the man responsible for retiring UFC vet Jonathan Goulet back at Rinside MMA-Payback in November of 2010, the video of which is below.

First off, was anyone even aware that Goulet was retired? We can’t say we blame him; his fighting style, though exciting, has earned him 9 losses via KO or TKO, including the true record for fastest knockout in the UFC. I’ll raise a glass for you tonight, “Road Warrior,” in the hopes that you one day find the tanker truck full of gasoline that you rightfully deserve.

Anyway, back to Clements. Three of his four losses have come against notable opponents like John Alessio, Jesse Bongfeldt, and Rory Markham, so he will definitely be out to prove something against Clementi, who has been struggling a bit as of late. Despite holding 25 of his 42 wins by submission, we last saw “No Love” get absolutely dominated on the ground by Shinya Aoki at Dream 17 “Fight for Japan” and somehow manage to talk shit to Aoki whilst doing so.

That being said, three of Clements’ aforementioned losses have come via submission to opponents with arguably lower level grappling credentials than Clementi (not sure about Alessio), so it will be intriguing to see if Clements is able to keep the fight standing, where, as far as we can tell, he holds a combination of technique and power that would give Clementi all kinds of trouble. Just check out that spinning back kick in the top video, fricken’ beautiful.

So what do you guys think, could a win over Clementi potentially earn Clements a call from the UFC? Are these guy’s last names making it way too difficult to understand who I’m talking about? Will Clementi go all “Degeneration X” on Clements like he did against Melvin Guillard at UFC 79?

All these questions and more will be answered come Saturday night.

-Danga 

UFC on FX 1 Set for Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tickets on Sale Nov. 30

The inagural UFC on FX event will take place from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on Jan. 20.Lightweights Melvin Guillard and Jim Miller are set to headline the event with Duane Ludwig vs. Josh Neer and Pat Barry vs. Christian Morecraft also being slated…

The inagural UFC on FX event will take place from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on Jan. 20.

Lightweights Melvin Guillard and Jim Miller are set to headline the event with Duane Ludwig vs. Josh Neer and Pat Barry vs. Christian Morecraft also being slated to face off in Nashville.

MMAjunkie.com today first reported the news with an official announcement forthcoming from UFC.

Tickets will be made available for purchase to UFC Fight Club members on Wednesday Nov. 30 at 12 pm ET.

Newsletter subscribers to UFC.com can get their hands on tickets Thursday at 12 pm ET with the general public being allowed to purchase tickets on Friday at 12 pm ET.

In addition to the aforementioned matchups, Kamal Shalorus vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov and Rafaello Oliveira vs. Reza Madadi are expected to compete inside Bridgestone Arena.

The remainder of the card is expected to be completed in the upcoming weeks.

For additional information, follow Joshua Carey on Twitter.

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UFC News: Melvin Guillard vs. Jim Miller Headlines UFC on FX 1

The main event on UFC on FX 1 will be a clash between two top 10 lightweights: Jim Miller and Melvin Guillard.  MMAJunkie is reporting that UFC officials announced the headlining fight of the UFC on FX debut on Thursday, 11/17.  Many regarded…

The main event on UFC on FX 1 will be a clash between two top 10 lightweights: Jim Miller and Melvin Guillard.  

MMAJunkie is reporting that UFC officials announced the headlining fight of the UFC on FX debut on Thursday, 11/17.  

Many regarded Miller as the No. 1 contender at 155 pounds heading into the UFC Live: Hardy vs. Lytle event, winning seven fights in a row in convincing fashion.  

However, Ben “Smooth” Henderson simply dominated the AMA Fight Club product for three rounds on that card, so few are surprised to so Henderson being the next man to challenge Frankie Edgar for the gold at UFC 144.  

Meanwhile, Melvin Guillard looked as solid as any other lightweight division riding a five-fight win streak heading into his UFC 136 bout with Joe Lauzon.  

“The Young Assassin,” who many felt would secure a title bout with a victory, clearly took his jiu-jitsu savvy foe lightly.

Guillard tried to be a little too flashy on his feet, allowing Lauzon to tag him with a counter left and slap on a rear naked choke.

The winner of this fight will probably be only two to three wins away from a title shot, while the loser will be on thin ice in the UFC after two consecutive losses.  

FX is owned by FOX and will be replacing the UFC’s free cards on SpikeTV.  The live-version of the reality series “The Ultimate Fighter” will also air on FX in 2012.  

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