Despite losing to Fabricio Werdum many consider Fedor Emelianenko the number one heavyweight in the world and many fans were wondering if the recent loss would force The Last Emperor to consider retirement. It seems that Fedor has dismissed those thoughts and would prefer to fight 4-6 more times , though he doesn’t have […]
Despite losing to Fabricio Werdum many consider Fedor Emelianenko the number one heavyweight in the world and many fans were wondering if the recent loss would force The Last Emperor to consider retirement. It seems that Fedor has dismissed those thoughts and would prefer to fight 4-6 more times , though he doesn’t have any immediate interest in the UFC. Fedor made the statement during the M-1 Americas Selection tournament semi-finals:
“For now M-1 Global works with Strikeforce and we are concentrating on that, the contract is not over yet. So for now we don’t have any interest in the UFC. So far I feel very comfortable fighting, very good with my fighting, and I’m planning of fighting as long as I can physically. As far and I’m concerned we should discuss the possibility of signing another contract for 4-6 fights.”
One has to think that Strikeforce will want to keep Fedor in their heavyweight roster which includes Alistair Overeem, Fabricio Werdum, Antonio Silva, and Bobby Lashley. While nothing has been signed, and there’s no word on who Fedor will fight next expect to see Fedor in action before the end of the year.
Remember, way back in the day (three years is a long time for some), when all the talk was about if and when a recently ‘retired’ Randy Couture might square off with Fedor Emelianenko? Well, if you’ve been clinging to hope that someday, somehow, someway, that super fight might still take place, um, things aren’t […]
Remember, way back in the day (three years is a long time for some), when all the talk was about if and when a recently ‘retired’ Randy Couture might square off with Fedor Emelianenko? Well, if you’ve been clinging to hope that someday, somehow, someway, that super fight might still take place, um, things aren’t looking so good.
Earlier today we passed along the news that in a recent press conference, Fedor announced that he’s interested in signing a new multi-fight deal with Strikeforce, possibly for 4-6 fights. Yup, as we noted this AM, based off the frequency of Fedor’s fights, the Russian could be pushing 40 by the time that contract’s fulfilled. As far as Couture, well the legendary fighter’s upcoming UFC 118 bout with James Toney is apparently the second last bout on his current UFC deal, but as it’s looking like right now, Captain America isn’t looking to move. In a recent interview with MMA Weekly, Couture had this to say about his upcoming free agency:
“I’m sure the UFC, if things continue the way they’ve been continuing, will want to sign me to a new contract,” Couture said on Thursday. “That’s a long ways away as far as I can see. Right now, I’m not looking past James Toney, and be ready for that.”
No surprises there. Couture also added that his future bouts will likely take place at 205. So, really, it’s looking like the closest we’ll get to Fedor vs. Randy is by simulating it on EA Sports MMA. On the plus side, it’s just awesome Couture’s not even talking retirement; we could still see him throwing down two years from now.
PHOENIX, Ariz. (Aug. 11, 2010) – There is a very strong possibility that STRIKEFORCE Women’s Welterweight (135 pounds) Champion Sarah Kaufman will be watching a future opponent during the first-ever STRIKEFORCE women’s single-elimination tournament at STRIKEFORCE Challengers on Friday, Aug. 13, at Dodge Theatre in Phoenix, Ariz., live on SHOWTIME®.
Kaufman will be on hand to […]
PHOENIX, Ariz. (Aug. 11, 2010) – There is a very strong possibility that STRIKEFORCE Women’s Welterweight (135 pounds) Champion Sarah Kaufman will be watching a future opponent during the first-ever STRIKEFORCE women’s single-elimination tournament at STRIKEFORCE Challengers on Friday, Aug. 13, at Dodge Theatre in Phoenix, Ariz., live on SHOWTIME®.
Kaufman will be on hand to watch as STRIKEFORCE women’s welterweight contenders Miesha “Takedown” Tate, Carina “Beauty But The Beast” Damm, Hitomi “Girlfight Monster” Akano and Maiju Kujala compete in the tournament. She likes the idea and is looking forward to the night of fights.
“I think it’s a real interesting concept,” said the undefeated Kaufman, who will also sign autographs for fans along with STRIKEFORCE Women’s Middleweight (145 pounds) Champion Cris Cyborg at the official weigh-in, which will begin at 5 p.m. local time at Dodge Theatre, tomorrow/Thursday. “It has to be tough to have to train for potentially three different opponents. But at the same time when you train you should be training everything anyway. Hopefully you’re at a level where you can tweak what game plan you are going to go with.”
A draw to determine the semifinal matchups for the two-round tournament will take place at the weigh-in on Thursday. The tournament winner will become the official No. 2 contender in the STRIKEFORCE women’s welterweight division.
The winners of each semifinal bout on Friday will face off in the tournament final later that night, just before the main event matchup between Joe “Diesel” Riggs (32-12) and Louis Taylor (6-1) that will be fought at a catch weight of 182 pounds.
Kaufman said she expects to see all for women use their ground fighting skills and that there isn’t a dominant striker amongst the four. She sized up each of the four women who will fight on Friday:
MIESHA TATE: “She’s definitely known as a wrestler. I think all the girls will use their wrestling but I think Miesha especially will use the entire cage and angle for the takedown and try to get a finish and control from the ground.”
CARINA DAMM: “She is known for her unorthodox striking. She is coming up in weight so it will be interesting to see how she does against the heavier girls. She does a lot of showboating and uses some Capoeira. I think she uses that to mentally throw her opponents off. So we’ll see if she uses that. I’m not really sure where her strong suit is but I would say it’s on the ground.”
HITOMI AKANO: “She has amazing judo and I know she works with Josh Barnett. All the Japanese girls are tough competitors and just don’t quit. So I expect Hitomi to be tough to beat.”
MAIJU KUJALA: “She’s probably the best striker of the group. I haven’t seen a lot of her and she remains the mystery girl of the four. She has described herself as a slow fighter so I’m interested to see what she’ll bring to the cage on Friday.”
Tickets for the STRIKEFORCE Challengers event are on sale at the Dodge Theatre Box Office, all Ticketmaster outlets, by phone at (800) 745-3000, and online at www.livenation.com and www.strikeforce.com .
Dodge Theatre doors will open at 5 p.m. local time. The first preliminary bout will begin at 5:30 p.m. and the first main card bout will begin at 8.
The SHOWTIME telecast will begin at 11 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the west coast.)
STRIKEFORCE Challengers is a proving ground for up-and-coming MMA fighters. The series is designed to provide today’s top prospects with the opportunity to step-up their level of competition and demonstrate their ability in a nationally televised event.
About STRIKEFORCE
STRIKEFORCE (www.strikeforce.com) is a world-class mixed martial arts cage fight promotion which, on Friday, March 10, 2006, made history with its “Shamrock vs. Gracie” event, the first sanctioned mixed martial arts fight card in California state history. The star-studded extravaganza, which pitted legendary champion Frank Shamrock against Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Cesar Gracie at San Jose’s HP Pavilion, played host to a sold-out, record crowd of 18,265. Since 1995, STRIKEFORCE, sanctioned by ISKA, has been the exclusive provider of martial arts programming for ESPN and, after 12 years of success as a leading, world championship kickboxing promotion, the company unveiled its mixed martial arts (MMA) series with “Shamrock vs. Gracie.” In May 2008, West Coast Productions, the parent company of STRIKEFORCE, partnered with Silicon Valley Sports & Entertainment (SVS&E), an entity created in 2000 to oversee all business operation aspects of the San Jose Sharks and HP Pavilion at San Jose. In March 2009, STRIKEFORCE signed a multi-year agreement with SHOWTIME® to stage live events on the premium cable television network. The promotion has since also produced two live, primetime events on the CBS Television Network.
With the MMA world still ablaze about Anderson Silva’s recent come from behind victory over Chael Sonnen, Fedor Emelianenko’s earth shattering loss to Fabricio Werdum in June, kind of seems like a distant memory. In fact, between Sonnen’s headline grabbing pre-fight trash talk and Silva barely getting past the challenger on Saturday, talk about just who […]
With the MMA world still ablaze about Anderson Silva’s recent come from behind victory over Chael Sonnen, Fedor Emelianenko’s earth shattering loss to Fabricio Werdum in June, kind of seems like a distant memory. In fact, between Sonnen’s headline grabbing pre-fight trash talk and Silva barely getting past the challenger on Saturday, talk about just who and when in the hell Fedor will fight next had nearly dried up. That is until now….
The official M-1 Global site has posted a report today that includes several interesting comments from Fedor, and the organization’s Director of Operations, Evgeni Kogan. “The Last Emperor” attended a M-1 event in Atlantic City last weekend, and during a press conference tied to the card, he apparently was asked several questions about the future of his fight career. In regards to the always popular ‘what about the UFC?’ question, Emelianenko apparently was quick to shoot down any further Octagon talk, stating “for now we don’t have any interest in the UFC.”
Before you start thinking ‘well, all he said was “for now”’ and start pre-planning your first Brock vs. Fedor party, the Russian heavyweight also had this to say when asked about how many more fights he believes he has left.
“So far I feel very comfortable fighting, very good with my fighting, and I’m planning of fighting as long as I can physically. As far and I’m concerned we should discuss the possibility of signing another contract for 4-6 fights.”
Wow. 4 to 6 bouts with Strikeforce? With the frequency that Fedor fights that could take what? 4-5 years?…Kogan was also quoted saying that talks with Strikeforce are going “smoothly” and that they’re looking to extend Emelianenko’s contract.
Top Canadian fight promotion The Fight Club (TFC) today announced the addition of a clash between top Canadian welterweight Ryan “The Kid” McGillivray (10-4-1) and Strikeforce/WEC/IFL/KOTC veteran Adam Lynn (13-8) to it’s fight line-up for “TFC 11: Full Force,” which will take place on Friday September 10th. The “Full Force” main event will showcase a […]
Top Canadian fight promotion The Fight Club (TFC) today announced the addition of a clash between top Canadian welterweight Ryan “The Kid” McGillivray (10-4-1) and Strikeforce/WEC/IFL/KOTC veteran Adam Lynn (13-8) to it’s fight line-up for “TFC 11: Full Force,” which will take place on Friday September 10th. The “Full Force” main event will showcase a rematch between TFC Light Heavyweight Champion Martin “The Stress” Desilets and UFC veteran Victor “The Matrix” Valimaki. The belt will be on the line as these two lock horns once again, as TFC 11 will be held at the Shaw Conference Centre in Edmonton, Alberta. Doors will open at 7 PM, and the fights will begin at 8 PM. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster, http://www.thefightclub.ca/, or (780) 451-8000.
With the TFC World Welterweight Title declared vacant due to the departure of Ryan Ford from the organization, TFC’s top welterweight contender, Ryan “The Kid” McGillivray (10-4-1), is now in the spotlight. “The Kid” has only been competing in mixed martial arts for the past four years, but has quickly established himself as one of the top Canadian prospects in the welterweight division. All of Ryan’s fights have been in and around his hometown of Edmonton, so he is very well-known in the local MMA community, and he has built a loyal and enthusiastic fan base. And with eight of his ten victories coming via submission, fans know that they can always expect an exciting fight for McGillivray.
“We have a number of really talented welterweights competing now for a shot at our title. One of them is certainly Ryan McGillivray,” said TFC President Mark Sinclair. “Ryan is coming off a big win over Calgary’s Andrew Buckland, and will now get a chance at “TFC 11: Full Force” to test himself against a world class welterweight in Adam Lynn.”
Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Adam Lynn (13-8) now lives in Orange County, California. Prior to getting into MMA, Adam served in the U.S. Marines from 1998 until 2002. Not surprisingly, with Adam’s MMA background, he wasn’t a cook or navigator in the Marines, but rather a heavy machine-gunner.
“It was a pretty cool job,” says Lynn, who also states he did not get into the fighting arts through the marines’ unarmed combat training. “I had a guy in my platoon who was a judo black belt – the marines really had nothing to do with it; during off-time, we would get together and he would show me some stuff, and that’s how I got started. Then I pushed it from there.”
Lynn has competed for some of top MMA promotions, including the WEC, IFL, Strikeforce and King of the Cage. He has competed against some of the sport’s top names, including Strikeforce Welterweight Champion Nick Diaz, Jay Hieron, Rich Crunkilton, and Josh Thomson. After the disappointing loss to Thomson at Strikeforce’s “Playboy Mansion” event last year, Lynn has won two straight, with his most recent fight in May of this year at KOTC’s “Excessive Damage,” where he won a hard-fought decision over standout Ricky “IE Bad Boy” Legere, Jr. (12-4).
With both McGillivray and Lynn coming off the biggest wins of their careers, and with a possible title shot looming, the fans in attendance for “TFC 11: Full Force” on September 10th will be in for what is sure to be a tornado of a fight.
Here is the fight card as it stands now:
• 205 lbs: Champion Martin Desilets (10-2) vs. Victor Valimaki (16-6) for the TFC World Light Heayweight title
• 170 lbs: Ryan McGillivray (10-4-1) vs. Adam Lynn (13-8)
• 155 lbs: Mitch Clarke (7-0) vs. Josh Machan (7-3) for the TFC Canadian Lightweight title
• 170 lbs: Ryan Machan (11-5) vs. James McCutcheon (3-2)
• 170 lb: Rio Wells (3-0) vs. Chuck Pelc (2-1)
Look for additional fights to be announced for “Full Force” in the coming weeks. The event will be shown on The Fight Network on tape delay, and news on a press conference will be announced soon. For more information, please visit our website at http://www.thefightclub.ca/
UFC heavyweight striker Pat Barry seems more like a fan at times than a high quality mixed martial arts fighter, but no one can deny the enthusiastic charisma he possesses. Barry recently talked about being asked to train for a month with UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar, and also to fly down to Croatia […]
UFC heavyweight striker Pat Barry seems more like a fan at times than a high quality mixed martial arts fighter, but no one can deny the enthusiastic charisma he possesses. Barry recently talked about being asked to train for a month with UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar, and also to fly down to Croatia and become a sparring partner for Mirko “CroCop” Filipovic. Pretty cool by any standards; here’s the quotes via MMATorch:
“Brock Lesnar has asked for me to come and be his sparring partner for a month before he fights Cain Velasquez. How cool is that… A month with the heavyweight champion of the universe Brock Lesnar, the biggest scariest dude on earth, and then a month with a legendary striker like Cro Cop…Even Dana White said that Cro Cop is not your friend, you know what, I’ve spoken to that dude (Filipovic) like every other day since the fight. He’s called from Croatia to see what’s going on and how my healing’s coming… Something that is really cool and that no one really knows about, Cro Cop says he might fight again in November. And [Filipovic] says as soon as my hand is healed, he would like to fly me to Croatia for a month to come and be his sparring partner.
“He said, you are faster than I am and you hit harder than I do, or something like that, but I could tell that when we grabbed each other, he’s like I could tell you weren’t very strong. Like you haven’t been wrestling with guys bigger than you or stronger than you… So I’ve got a lot of giant serial killer Croatian guys out here, that are wrestlers that I could throw at you… But I would really like you to come out here and be my sparring partner for my next fight.”
