While some believe Anderson Silva has or is quickly running out of opposition in the UFC middleweight division (of course Chael ‘Let Me Tell You Something’ Sonnen vehemently disagrees), the promotion continues to churn out sweet match-ups at 185. Today the UFC confirmed that, as expected for some time, Demian Maia will take on Alan […]
While some believe Anderson Silva has or is quickly running out of opposition in the UFC middleweight division (of course Chael ‘Let Me Tell You Something’ Sonnen vehemently disagrees), the promotion continues to churn out sweet match-ups at 185. Today the UFC confirmed that, as expected for some time, Demian Maia will take on Alan Belcher, September 15th, in Austin, Texas. Even better, you’ll be able to catch the fight for (somewhat) free, as the tilt will headline a UFC Fight Night card on Spike.
Now of course the fight will be Maia’s first since UFC 112 in April, when he dropped a Unanimous Decision loss to Silva, in a bout that many have tried desperately to erase from their memory (no; sniffing felt markers doesn’t work…). Belcher is coming off a slam-em-choke-em victory over Patrick Cote in May, to essentially extend his winning streak to 5 (we don’t have to agree with the official ruling that he lost by Split Decision to Yoshihiro Akiyama if we don’t want to).
So, there you have it. Another no-brainer, ‘what’s-the-game-plan?’ bout with a lot riding on the outcome for both dudes. In addition to the Maia / Belcher fight, the UFC has also announced that Mac Danzig will get an opportunity to right the ridiculous wrong he was handed at UFC 115, as he’ll face Matt Wiman again on September 15th. You likely recall that Wiman was awarded the technical submission win over Danzig last month, despite the fact that the former TUF winner was probably more conscious and aware of his surroundings than some of the people in attendance.
UFC Fight Night 22 is now official after Spike TV made the announcement on Monday. The event will be headlined by middleweight fighters Demian Maia (12-2) and Alan Belcher (16-6). The co-main event has lightweights Mac Danzig (19-8-1) rematching Matt Wiman (12-5).
UFN 22 will be held at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, […]
UFC Fight Night 22 is now official after Spike TV made the announcement on Monday. The event will be headlined by middleweight fighters Demian Maia (12-2) and Alan Belcher (16-6). The co-main event has lightweights Mac Danzig (19-8-1) rematching Matt Wiman (12-5).
UFN 22 will be held at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas on Sept. 15 and will act as the lead-in for Season 12 of “The Ultimate Fighter” television series. Season 12 will feature welterweight coaches UFC champion Georges St-Pierre and top contender Josh Koscheck.
Maia is coming off a loss to middleweight champ Anderson Silva at UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi last April and is 6-2 in the UFC, having won four “Submission of the Night” awards. While his opponent Belcher is 7-4 in the UFC and riding a two fight win streak, with victories over a returning Patrick Côté at UFC 113 and Wilson Gouveia at UFC 107.
The rematch between Danzig and Wiman comes after the controversial stoppage in their last fight at UFC 115 in May. Wiman was on top and had Danzig in a guillotine choke when referee Yves Lavigne stopped the bout thinking that Danzig was unconscious. Danzig immediately jumped up and protested the call but to no avail. The UFC immediately booked the rematch and both men will now meet for a second time at UFN 22 in September.
The full rumored card for UFN 22 is as follows:
Middleweight bout: Alan Belcher vs. Demian Maia
Middleweight bout: Mac Danzig vs. Matt Wiman
Lightweight bout: Jim Miller vs. Gleison Tibau*
Lightweight bout: Cole Miller vs. Ross Pearson*
Lightweight bout: Efrain Escudero vs. John Gunderson*
Welterweight bout: Nick Catone vs. Tomsz Drwal*
Light-heavyweight bout: Jared Hamman vs. Kyle Kingsbury*
Strikeforce has decided to pass on using a tournament to settle their new middleweight champion after releasing their former champ, Jake Shields.
Squaring off will be rising Strikeforce star Tim Kennedy (12-2) and Brazilian Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (12-2).
The promotion made the bout official on Friday to Sherdog.com, who confirmed the fight will take place […]
Strikeforce has decided to pass on using a tournament to settle their new middleweight champion after releasing their former champ, Jake Shields.
Squaring off will be rising Strikeforce star Tim Kennedy (12-2) and Brazilian Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (12-2).
The promotion made the bout official on Friday to Sherdog.com, who confirmed the fight will take place at the “Strikeforce: Houston” event on Aug. 21 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Tex. A second title will be on the line at the August event, with light-heavyweight champ Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal taking on Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante.
Kennedy, a former member of the US Special Forces, has risen quickly through the Strikeforce ranks by winning all three of his bouts under their banner. He recently defeated Trevor Prangley last month at the “Strikeforce: Los Angeles” event, marking his first appearance on one of the promotions main televised show instead of their Strikeforce Challenger series.
“Jacare” Souza earned a unanimous decision victory over Joey Villaseñor in May’s “Strikeforce: Heavy Artillery” event, matching Kennedy’s record of 12-2. The Brazilian submitted Matt Lindland in his only other Strikeforce appearance in December at the “Strikeforce: Evolution” event. He’s had notable bouts against Jason Miller and Gegard Mousasi under the DREAM banner.
Strikeforce had been talking about holding an eight man tournament to decide it’s next middleweight champion so the recent announcement comes as a bit of a surprise. This probably means the promotion failed to find eight middleweight fighters willing to face-off for the belt, which may be an ill-omen for Strikeforce’s future.
All bouts rumored for the Aug. 21 event:
Light-heavyweight title bout: Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal vs. Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante (for light-heavyweight title)
Middleweight title bout: Tim Kennedy vs. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (for vacant middleweight title)
Lightweight bout: Jorge Gurgel vs. K.J. Noons
Heavyweight bout: Bobby Lashley vs. TBA
(Photo via Scott Clark/Sherdog.com)
Impact Fighting Championship held it’s first event in Brisbane, Australia Saturday night featuring many notable mixed martial arts names such as Josh Barnett, Karo Parisyan, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou, and Carlos Newton.
Sherdog.com was on scene and provided updates on the bout as well as the full results.
Picking up an easy victory was top […]
(Photo via Scott Clark/Sherdog.com)
Impact Fighting Championship held it’s first event in Brisbane, Australia Saturday night featuring many notable mixed martial arts names such as Josh Barnett, Karo Parisyan, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou, and Carlos Newton.
Sherdog.com was on scene and provided updates on the bout as well as the full results.
Picking up an easy victory was top ten ranked heavyweight Josh Barnett, who improved to 26-5 with a first round TKO victory over Geronimo dos Santos in their main event bout.
Barnett got a takedown to full mount within 10 seconds of the opening bell, and it looked like the bout wouldn’t even see 30 seconds. Though “Mondragon” made it back to his feet, Barnett finished another takedown, again straight into full mount, and exploited the Belem native’s nascent ground skills by posturing up and pounding away.
Dos Santos turned away from Barnett, who hammered right hands into the Brazilian’s earhole. After a salvo of clean rights, referee “Big” John McCarthy stopped in to halt the bout at 2:35 of the first frame. Dos Santos complained to McCarthy that the bout was stopped too early. As Dos Santos reached his feet in protest, the hulking Brazilian was rubber-legged, zig-zagging across the cage.
“The referee stopped the bout; that’s the only reason I quit,” said Barnett after the bout. “If he thought it was going to get any better for him, he’s wrong.”
Don’t get too excited for “The Baby Faced Assassin” just yet, the loss marked the third loss in four fights for dos Santos who was fighting for the first time out of his native Brazil.
Parisyan faced a tougher opponent in Aussie Ben Mortimer. Their bout was the first fight of the evening after “The Heat” requested the change from the main card so he could get his fight over with quickly so family back home could stop worrying about him.
For the better part of two rounds, Parisyan’s oft-praised judo dominated proceedings, as he notched four throws that landed him firmly in side control. Parisyan looked to have victory secured twice in the first round, as he spun for far-side armbars from side mount, but Mortimer escaped both, and even landed some sharp right hands on Parisyan’s face.
In Parisyan’s fourth trip to side control in the second round, Parisyan threatened with a kimura that forced a scramble. In said scramble, Parisyan rode Moritimer from the side and locked up a Caol Uno-style rear-naked choke. After securing the choke, Parisyan then sunk his hooks and coaxed the tap at 4:18 of the second round.
“I need more time. My body looks like a third-grader body. But I’m trying to get back,” said Parisyan in self-critique.
The full ‘Impact FC: The Uprising’ results are as follows:
Heavyweight bout: Josh Barnett def. Geronimo dos Santos via TKO (punches) – R1, 2:35
Light-Heavyweight bout: Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou def. Joaquim Ferreira via TKO (punches) – R1, 1:20
Welterweight bout: Karo Parisyan def. Ben Mortimer via submission (rear-naked choke) – R2, 2:35
Heavyweight bout: Jeff Monson def. Ubiratan Lima Marinho via unanimous decision
Catchweight (160 pounds): Tom Waters def. Jacob Mahony via TKO (punches) – R2, 1:38
Heavyweight bout: Fabio Fernandes def. Api Hemara via submission (rear-naked choke) – R1, 3:58
Lightweight bout: Thiago “Minu” Meller def. Jai Bradney via submission (guillotine) – R1, 1:32
Welterweight bout: Brian Ebersole def. Carlos Newton via unanimous decision
‘MMA Live’ – Close Call (7/8/2010)
MMA ref Josh Rosenthal had a huge number of fans questioning why he didn’t stop the fight between Shane Carwin and Brock Lesnar. He explains himself fairly well, but Carwin fans will continue to point out that had the situation been reversed that Lesnar would have got the call. […]
‘MMA Live’ – Close Call (7/8/2010)
MMA ref Josh Rosenthal had a huge number of fans questioning why he didn’t stop the fight between Shane Carwin and Brock Lesnar. He explains himself fairly well, but Carwin fans will continue to point out that had the situation been reversed that Lesnar would have got the call. Agree or disagree?
MMA Live recaps Brock Lesnar’s come-from-behind triumph over Shane Carwin at UFC 116. Lesnar’s next opponent, Cain Velasquez joins the guys from San Jose to assess his chances. Chris Leben checks in following his second win in as many weeks.
There were several heads that turned in the mixed martial arts world when UFC President Dana White green-lighted Mark Hunt entering the UFC, even though the fighter is currently on a five fight losing streak. A fan took to asking White about the hire via Twitter:
Fan asked: Y was Hunt Signed, he has a […]
There were several heads that turned in the mixed martial arts world when UFC President Dana White green-lighted Mark Hunt entering the UFC, even though the fighter is currently on a five fight losing streak. A fan took to asking White about the hire via Twitter:
Fan asked: Y was Hunt Signed, he has a losing record and has lost 5 in a row. Big fan of u & UFC but don’t understand signing, plz explain.
Dana: part of the pride deal we contractually owe him fights from our purchase of the company
It’s a strange situation as it’s been three years since the UFC bought out Pride, and still there are several sources reporting that the UFC has awarded Hunt a four fight contract. There is some word that Hunt’s weight was an issue as he was way over the 265 limit, and that Hunt has slimmed down enough to be contractable for fights. Either way Hunt is expected to fight on September 25, 2010 at UFC 119 where his opponent is expected to be Sean McCorkle. Will Hunt be able to make waves in the UFC? Probably not, but he could still be quite exciting to watch.
