Tag: MMA

Report: Strikeforce Looking to Negotiate Champion’s Clause With Fedor

It was just a couple of days ago that likely thousands of MMA fans did a re-read, while surveying a report from Sherdog, where Strikeforce boss man Scott Coker made the case that Fedor Emelianenko should fight the promotion’s champion Alistair Overeem next (alas, some staffers here at Fix needed to read it five times..). […]

fedor hitting nogueira

It was just a couple of days ago that likely thousands of MMA fans did a re-read, while surveying a report from Sherdog, where Strikeforce boss man Scott Coker made the case that Fedor Emelianenko should fight the promotion’s champion Alistair Overeem next (alas, some staffers here at Fix needed to read it five times..). Yes, at first read it didn’t really sit well, Fedor loses to Fabricio Werdum but still gets a title shot? Has that ever happened bef…or right Brett Rogers. Now, to be fair, Coker didn’t outright shoot down Fedor’s request for an immediate rematch with Werdum, but with comments like “We just saw Fedor fight Werdum,” it didn’t sound like it was his first choice.

Well, MMA Fighting has an updated report out which helps make a lot more sense of Coker’s idea. According to the story, Strikeforce spokesperson Mike Afromowitz has confirmed to the outlet that the promotion is hoping to negotiate a champion’s clause with Fedor. Meaning, that if Fedor wins the belt, he cannot sign with another promotion. In other words, with one fight on his Strikeforce deal remaining, if Fedor were to beat Overeem he could not cruise to say another promotion, let’s just say for the hell of it, one that by chance uses the letters U.F.C. (like another champion, who let’s say has a name with the letters S.h.i.e.l.d.s., and didn’t have a champion’s clause).

So, as you can see, there’s some shrewd business tactics at work here by Coker- if Fedor beats Overeem, he has to stay;  if he loses, his Strikeforce contract comes to an end having gone 1-2. Still seems a little off though no?

Report: Michael Bisping vs. Vitor Belfort in the Works for UFC 120?

It’s been an up-and-down ride for Michael “The Count” Bisping since he decided to drop down from light-heavyweight to compete at 185lbs. The ups, important wins over notable dudes like Denis Kang, Chris Leben and most recently Dan Miller; the downs, a UD loss to Wanderlei Silva, and of course, most horrifically, his ‘close your […]

bisping

It’s been an up-and-down ride for Michael “The Count” Bisping since he decided to drop down from light-heavyweight to compete at 185lbs. The ups, important wins over notable dudes like Denis Kang, Chris Leben and most recently Dan Miller; the downs, a UD loss to Wanderlei Silva, and of course, most horrifically, his ‘close your eyes kids’ KO loss to Dan Henderson last July. While Bisping seems to be somewhat of a polarizing figure in terms of the fans, it’s hard to deny that he’s been involved in some pretty memorable and entertaining tilts.

So, with his recent win over Miller, it remains to be seen what the UFC will do next with one of Britain’s biggest MMA names. According to a report from MMA Bay, “A source close to the situation” (so take that for what it’s worth) has informed the British outlet the UFC is looking at matching Bisping up against Vitor Belfort, October 16th, at UFC 120. The story states that a “verbal agreement” for the fight has been obtained by “at least one fighter.”

What to make of this? Well, clearly a bout between the two noted strikers (with an asterisk by Belfort’s name for his KTFO power) would likely be pretty damn sweet, but it’s somewhat surprising considering Belfort was reportedly in line to fight the winner of Chael Sonnen and Anderson Silva. You may recall that the middleweight was supposed to fight the champion Silva in April, before Belfort trashed his shoulder and hit the DL. In other words, Belfort fans shouldn’t start whining just yet about not receiving an immediate title shot.

James Toney Says “”MMA Ain’t No Different Than Boxing”

For years now the debate as to how a ‘high level’ boxer would do competing in MMA has raged (even more than the old ‘how would Bruce Lee have done in the Octagon?’ discussion). Of course, some boxers / kickboxers have transitioned into the sport and done rather (hello Mr. Marcus Davis), but the key […]

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For years now the debate as to how a ‘high level’ boxer would do competing in MMA has raged (even more than the old ‘how would Bruce Lee have done in the Octagon?’ discussion). Of course, some boxers / kickboxers have transitioned into the sport and done rather (hello Mr. Marcus Davis), but the key component here is that they trained in various disciplines, you know, to follow up on the ‘mixed’ part of MMA.

James Toney signing with the UFC was such big news, because even though he’s past his prime at 41, he’s still a heavyweight champion. Now, since the news blazed across the internet that Toney would indeed fight Randy Couture August 28th, there’s been a ton of speculation as to how and what the boxer is doing in preparation for his MMA debut. According to some reports, Toney’s been pretty slick on the mats, even tapping out “King Mo” Lawal. So, while keeping this in mind, consider the following comments Toney made at a recent presser to hype UFC 118 (thanks to MMA Junkie for the quote)

“Why should I be scared of an MMA fighter?” Toney asked. “What’s different? MMA ain’t no different than boxing. Boxing is much tougher because you’re in there constantly punching and pounding.  Right here, you’ve got Randy Couture who’s going to be scared and constantly try to hug me like a little girl, and I’m going to make him pay for that.”

Toney also stated that he will knock Randy out, wait for it…even from his back. We’ll let you decide if the ‘charismatic’ fighter is just taking utter sh-t.  To read more from James ‘I Got This’ Toney head here.

Shane Carwin Says Body Seized Up; Credits Brock Lesnar for Performance

The word ‘holy’ was immediately followed by millions of ‘expletives’ Saturday night , when Shane Carwin caught Brock Lesnar in the early going of their UFC 116 tilt, and proceeded to pound away at the champion for what seemed like days. Of course, Mr. Lesnar survived the rated ‘M- for Mature’ beat down, only to […]

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The word ‘holy’ was immediately followed by millions of ‘expletives’ Saturday night , when Shane Carwin caught Brock Lesnar in the early going of their UFC 116 tilt, and proceeded to pound away at the champion for what seemed like days. Of course, Mr. Lesnar survived the rated ‘M- for Mature’ beat down, only to sub Carwin in round two.

Although Lesnar had the piss beat out of him in round 1 (and thankfully for clean-up crews afterwards that wasn’t literally the case), as round two began he seemed relatively okay, while Carwin didn’t exactly appear to be fresh. Well, speaking on his official blog, the imposing heavyweight explained why that was the case.

“When I had him in trouble the ref keep saying he was going to stop it and then towards the end of the 1st my body began to seize up. In between rounds I could not move my legs and had what felt like a whole body cramp. My cardio was fine but my body was not. What can you do? You have to stand up and face your opponent.”…“Heading into the second I knew I need to finish the fight or I was going to be in trouble. Much like the Champion he is I am sure Brock was thinking the same thing. I had zero take down defense as my legs were dead to me and the rest is as they say history.”

So there you have it. It should be interesting to see who the UFC matches Carwin up against next. Somehow we’re thinking Carwin won’t be much fun to fight…

Dan Henderson Likely Returning to Light-Heavyweight

 
It wasn’t long ago that things were in play to have Dan Henderson become the new Strikeforce Middleweight Champion; with Jake Shields ready to test free agent waters, what better way to find a new waist for the belt then to have him fight the former Pride champ? (At 183 and 205lbs lets not forget- […]

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It wasn’t long ago that things were in play to have Dan Henderson become the new Strikeforce Middleweight Champion; with Jake Shields ready to test free agent waters, what better way to find a new waist for the belt then to have him fight the former Pride champ? (At 183 and 205lbs lets not forget- guess that was kind of a big deal…) Of course, other than flooring Shields in the first round Hendo didn’t make out so well, and spent most of the next 20 minutes scrambling from his back.

Well, with Shields now officially exited from the promotion (and likely walking towards the monolithic UFC door), Strikeforce boss man Scott Coker has announced that they will put together a middleweight tourney to crown a new champ at 185. Naturally, one would think Henderson is a lock for the competition, but in a recent interview on MMA Weekly Radio, Coker stated this:

“Dan I believe when I talked to him over the weekend, I talked to Jordan, his manager, and they said they probably want to fight at 205 instead of 185,” said Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker when appearing on MMAWeekly.com Radio. “(They) felt that the weight cut was too much, and Dan would welcome to fight Babalu again, Gegard Mousasi, for a 205-pound contender’s bout.”

Huh. Of course, as Coker mentioned, there a few interesting options for Hendo at 205 and since “Babalu” Sobral recently called for a rematch with the accomplished wrestler, why not? (Hendo beat Sobral by Majority Decision in 2000, back when the acronym ‘MMA’ meant nothing to 90% of the population). Maybe Henderson vs. “King Mo” Lawal down the road? Former teammates? We’d be watching.

Anderson Silva “Not Anxious” About Chael Sonnen’s Pre-Fight Comments

With UFC 116 in the books many in the MMA world will turn much of their attention to the upcoming August 7th, UFC 117 tilt, between reigning middleweight king Anderson Silva and challenger Chael Sonnen. On paper, the fight already screams ‘can’t miss,’ as everyone will be looking to see if Sonnen’s wrestling will rule […]

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With UFC 116 in the books many in the MMA world will turn much of their attention to the upcoming August 7th, UFC 117 tilt, between reigning middleweight king Anderson Silva and challenger Chael Sonnen. On paper, the fight already screams ‘can’t miss,’ as everyone will be looking to see if Sonnen’s wrestling will rule the day over Silva’s highlight reel striking and ground game. Of course if that wasn’t enough to hype the bout, throw in Silva’s recent ‘WTF is he doing?’ performance against Demian Maia and a steady flow of pre-fight trash talking from Sonnen, and you’ve got some real drama cooking.

Really, thanks to the onslaught of ‘Sonnens’ that Chael has directed at Anderson (in case you haven’t noticed the middleweight has a knack for saying things that either induce laughter or rage), Silva’s debacle at UFC 112 has kind of taken a back seat. From belittling Silva’s friends and jiu-jitsu instructors in the Nogueira twins, to outright saying the champ has been ducking him, Sonnen hasn’t been ‘reserved’ while offering his pre-fight analysis. As far as Silva’s take on Sonnen’s comments? He recently told Tatame this:

“I’m cool… I’m not anxious about his statements, I don’t worry about those things. He is promoting this fight the way he cans. He’s a great athlete, he’s having a chance to fight for the belt, so let’s go. When you get there, everything changes. Inside that cage the speech changes, everything change. The last one who spoke too much didn’t like the outcome, but it’s normal. People have their mouth and their right to say whatever they feel like.”

This is going to be good…real good. To bet on UFC 117 head here.