Yesterday we passed along the news that Fedor Emelianenko is calling out Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem to be his next opponent in 2010 (we used to say victim, but these days, we’re not so sure). Fabricio Werdum is a no go until 2011 due to elbow surgery, so apparently, Fedor and his M-1 Global […]
Yesterday we passed along the news that Fedor Emelianenko is calling out Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem to be his next opponent in 2010 (we used to say victim, but these days, we’re not so sure). Fabricio Werdum is a no go until 2011 due to elbow surgery, so apparently, Fedor and his M-1 Global crew have decided that the Russian heavyweight should throw down with Overeem next.
Well, as well all know (some more than others), often in life you don’t get what you want, and while speaking to MMA Fighting Overeem pretty much dismissed any chance that he’ll face Fedor in 2010.
“No, unfortunately not. The reason is because if I enter the Final 16 and win (in October), I will fight the K-1 Final in December. My decision was made because nothing was certain and Strikeforce and M-1 didn’t act fast enough when I made my decision to start K-1 training. Now I read on the internet that Fedor and his management want to fight me all of sudden. Do they really need two months of thinking and negotiating? I think it’s a little strange to be honest.”
In addition to his K-1 commitments, Overeem also raised the completely rational yet meddling point, regarding the fact that since Fedor just lost to Werdum, why would he get a title shot? (Does Brett Rogers want to field this one?) In Alistair’s Dutch eyes, Fedor is ranked #3 and Antonio Silva is #4, and thus, those two should fight. Well, considering Fedor’s seemingly ever decreasing options, maybe he’ll just have to do that.
Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem didn’t take long to reply to the recent request by M-1 and Fedor Emelianenko for a matchup between the two. Unfortunately it doesn’t seem like it’s going to happen any time soon, as Overeem is leaning towards a K-1 fight in October, and even after that doesn’t seem to […]
Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem didn’t take long to reply to the recent request by M-1 and Fedor Emelianenko for a matchup between the two. Unfortunately it doesn’t seem like it’s going to happen any time soon, as Overeem is leaning towards a K-1 fight in October, and even after that doesn’t seem to have any interest in Fedor until he faces Fabricio Werdum. MMAFighting had the quotes:
No, unfortunately not. The reason is because if I enter the Final 16 and win, I will fight the K-1 Final in December. My decision was made because nothing was certain and Strikeforce and M-1 didn’t act fast enough when I made my decision to start K-1 training. Now I read on the internet that Fedor and his management want to fight me all of sudden. Do they really need two months of thinking and negotiating? I think it’s a little strange to be honest. If Fedor challenged me right after the fight it would have been something to take in consideration, but the M-1 management started to say that all the polls on several websites stated that people rather have a Fedor vs. Werdum rematch then a fight against me. There we have another lie by M-1 because every poll I have read stated the opposite and showed that everybody want to see Fedor versus me. Check their current poll at their own Web site (laughs).
Fans have been waiting for this matchup for some time, and it looks like were going to be waiting for a while still. Overeem vs. Fedor is certainly the most compelling heavyweight matchup outside of the UFC, and Strikeforce has got to be wanting this one as well as it would be great for ratings. Looks like it’ll be 2011 before the two lock horns, which seems like a long time away but there’s not much that can be done about it.
Super popular UFC ring girl Arianny Celeste will be on the November cover of Playboy magazine, according to UFC president Dana White. Celeste will be the second UFC ring girl to grace the magazine, the first being the very fit Rachelle Leah.
Celeste is a real fixture with the UFC promotion, having been […]
Super popular UFC ring girl Arianny Celeste will be on the November cover of Playboy magazine, according to UFC president Dana White. Celeste will be the second UFC ring girl to grace the magazine, the first being the very fit Rachelle Leah.
Celeste is a real fixture with the UFC promotion, having been with the company for four years, and having a huge following of fans via facebook, twitter and her website. While she’s published risky photo’s in the past this will definitely be a more revealing shoot, and fans have to be drooling at the prospects of seeing her in the magazine. The MMA News will bring the cover picture when it’s released.
WEC 51 “Aldo vs. Gamburyan” is set to take place on Thursday, Sept 30th from the 1st Bank Center in Broomfield, CO and Versus will air the program live starting at 9 PM ET. The card will feature featherweight champion Jose Aldo vs. Manvel Gamburyan and The MMA News will carry live coverage […]
WEC 51 “Aldo vs. Gamburyan” is set to take place on Thursday, Sept 30th from the 1st Bank Center in Broomfield, CO and Versus will air the program live starting at 9 PM ET. The card will feature featherweight champion Jose Aldo vs. Manvel Gamburyan and The MMA News will carry live coverage for the event.
CHICAGO, Ill. (August 24, 2010) – Mike “300″ Hayes came out with his hand raised in victory at Bellator 21 last June at the Bellator Season 2 finale in Hollywood, Fla. Not only did the hard-hitting Washington state-native earn a convincing unanimous decision over South Carolina native Steve Banks during the event, but he was […]
CHICAGO, Ill. (August 24, 2010) – Mike “300″ Hayes came out with his hand raised in victory at Bellator 21 last June at the Bellator Season 2 finale in Hollywood, Fla. Not only did the hard-hitting Washington state-native earn a convincing unanimous decision over South Carolina native Steve Banks during the event, but he was also granted entry into the Bellator Season 3 Heavyweight tournament. While this would normally be viewed as a major achievement for an up-and-coming heavyweight, Hayes was left with a bad taste in his mouth and was admittedly not happy with his performance and inability to finish the fight.
“I was very disappointed with how the fight went down that night, I felt very flat and wasn’t able to stick to my game plan,” said Hayes. “This was my first fight in a large arena and I was caught up in the moment, it won’t happen again.”
Hayes went back to the drawing board after the fight. Returning to the Ring Demon Jiu-Jitsu gym in Redmond, Washington, Hayes decided to focus on his gas tank to prepare for Bellator’s grueling 12-week, eight-man heavyweight tournament. For a guy that was dubbed “300″ by an ex-trainer for the Spartan-like attitude he brings to the gym, this tournament is second nature.
“I have been focusing extremely hard on my cardio and conditioning, I want to be ready for anything in this tournament” said Hayes. “I have also been training my groundwork extensively. I want to be able to take guys down and use my power to finish fights.”
Hayes brings an impressive 12-3-1 professional record to the tournament and is currently riding a four fight win-streak. Hayes will likely have the toughest fight of his career at Bellator 26 this Thursday night at the Kansas City Power & Light District against on of the most feared heavyweight submission fighters in the sport, feared Russian submission specialist Alexey Oleinik (27-5-1). Among the most dangerous heavyweight submission artists in the sport, Oleinik owns 23 submission victories out of an astounding 27 wins.
Hayes would be lying if he stated that he wanted to put his ground game to the test in this fight, explaining, “I will be focusing on one thing, making sure this fight does not go to the ground.”
Hayes and Oleinik will be fighting for the last remaining spot in the Bellator Season 3. With a win Hayes would join undefeated Polish sensation Damian “The Polish Pitbull” Grabowski, fast-rising two-time NCAA Division I Wrestling Champion Cole Konrad and Neil Grove, fighting out of England by way of South Africa.
Tickets for the event – which will also be broadcast LIVE nationwide on FOX Sports Net along with action-packed highlight shows that will air on NBC Saturday nights – are on sale now at ticketmaster.com
For more information, visit Bellator.com, follow Bellator on Twitter @BellatorMMA or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Bellator
About Bellator Fighting Championships
Bellator Fighting Championships is a Mixed Martial Arts promotional company headquartered in Chicago. Bellator’s founder/CEO, Bjorn Rebney, is an experienced fighting sports and entertainment professional with a deep commitment to the purity and integrity of the sport of MMA and its athletes. Bellator Fighting Championships’ executive team is comprised of top industry professionals in the areas of live event production, television production, fighter relations, venue procurement, sponsorship creation/development, international licensing, marketing, advertising, publicity and commission relations.
