Dana White Marvels at Anderson Silva’s Performance at UFC 126

Filed under: , , ,

LAS VEGAS — MMA Fighting spoke to UFC president Dana White following UFC 126 about Anderson Silva’s finish of Vitor Belfort, a potential Silva vs. GSP fight, why the UFC booked Jon Jones vs. Shogun Rua and his thoughts on Miguel Torres and Forrest Griffin’s wins.

Filed under: , , ,

LAS VEGAS — MMA Fighting spoke to UFC president Dana White following UFC 126 about Anderson Silva’s finish of Vitor Belfort, a potential Silva vs. GSP fight, why the UFC booked Jon Jones vs. Shogun Rua and his thoughts on Miguel Torres and Forrest Griffin’s wins.

UFC 126 Preview Video

Filed under: , , ,

LAS VEGAS — MMA Fighting’s Mike Chiappetta and I look at all the intriguing storylines heading into Saturday night’s much anticipated UFC 126 pay-per-view event in our UFC 126 preview video.

Filed under: , , ,

LAS VEGAS — MMA Fighting’s Mike Chiappetta and I look at all the intriguing storylines heading into Saturday night’s much anticipated UFC 126 pay-per-view event in our UFC 126 preview video.

UFC 126 Weigh-In Highlight Video

Filed under: , , ,

LAS VEGAS — The UFC 126 weigh-ins will go down as one of the most memorable ones in recent memory due to the staredown between headliners Anderson Silva and Vitor Belfort. Watch the staredown below and the full weigh-in highlight video is after the jump. Full results here.

Filed under: , , ,

LAS VEGAS — The UFC 126 weigh-ins will go down as one of the most memorable ones in recent memory due to the staredown between headliners Anderson Silva and Vitor Belfort. Watch the staredown below and the full weigh-in highlight video is after the jump. Full results here.

Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort: Staredown of the Year Candidate

(Oh, I’d say it’s beyond ‘real’ at this point. Props: SurferKenTV3 and Biggie Smalls)
In case you missed it at Wednesday’s press conference, here’s video of the rather intense staredown between UFC 126 main eventers Anderson Silva and Vitor Belfor…

(Oh, I’d say it’s beyond ‘real’ at this point. Props: SurferKenTV3 and Biggie Smalls)

In case you missed it at Wednesday’s press conference, here’s video of the rather intense staredown between UFC 126 main eventers Anderson Silva and Vitor Belfort. Silva claims there’s nothing personal about Saturday’s match with "The Phenom," although Silva was reportedly upset that Belfort accepted the fight in the first place, considering they were former training partners. Weigh-ins for UFC 126 go down tonight at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas at 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT, so brace yourself for more uncomfortable closeness between the two Brazilian stars.

After the jump: Belfort tells his hero Ariel Helwani that Anderson’s attitude is just giving him more motivation for the fight.

read more

Tim Kennedy’s Opponent Switched Again, Will Now Face Melvin Manhoef in Columbus

(Melvin Manhoef highlight reel, via StillW1ll)
After his decision loss to Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza in August, Strikeforce middleweight contender Tim Kennedy has had quite an adventure finding his next opponent. First, everybody in the worl…

(Melvin Manhoef highlight reel, via StillW1ll)

After his decision loss to Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza in August, Strikeforce middleweight contender Tim Kennedy has had quite an adventure finding his next opponent. First, everybody in the world was ducking him. Then, he was slated to have a tie-breaker match with Jason "Mayhem" Miller. Then, Strikeforce decided to nix that idea and put Kennedy up against exciting prospect Luke Rockhold, who has been inactive for a year due to a shoulder injury. Well, that’s off now too. Due to a reported leg injury suffered in training, Rockhold has been forced to withdraw from his meeting with Kennedy at Strikeforce: Feijao vs. Henderson (March 5th; Columbus, OH). Replacing him? None other than balls-to-the-wall striker Melvin Manhoef.

Manhoef has one of the most impressive finishing percentages in MMA, with 23 of his 24 career victories coming by way of KO/TKO. However, he’s lost four of his last six fights — three by way of submission, and one by Hail Mary KO at the hands of Robbie Lawler. Manhoef last competed at Dream.15 in July, when he lost to Tatsuya Mizuno by kimura. Kennedy’s keys to victory are very simple: Slow the pace down, check (or dodge) Melvin’s brutal leg kicks, and get the fight to the ground as soon as possible. Let’s hope this is the last opponent swap for Kennedy, because we’re actually kind of psyched to see this one go down.

Rich Franklin Believes Forrest Griffin Fight Isn’t Hard to Predict

Filed under: , , ,

LAS VEGAS — MMA Fighting spoke to Rich Franklin prior to his UFC 126 fight against Forrest Griffin about who has the edge going into the fight, his budding modeling career, his prediction on Silva vs. Belfort and a side bet he has with Griffin going into the fight.

Filed under: , , ,

LAS VEGAS — MMA Fighting spoke to Rich Franklin prior to his UFC 126 fight against Forrest Griffin about who has the edge going into the fight, his budding modeling career, his prediction on Silva vs. Belfort and a side bet he has with Griffin going into the fight.