Gabe Ruediger Believes Joe Lauzon is “Overrated”

One of the interesting storylines heading into UFC 118 is the Octagon return of Gabe Ruediger; if that name doesn’t immediately jump out at you, think “Ultimate Fighter,” ice cream, cake, colonics and…yup, he’s the dude on TUF 5 that got booted for failing to make weight. Ruediger agreed to step in (on short notice) […]

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One of the interesting storylines heading into UFC 118 is the Octagon return of Gabe Ruediger; if that name doesn’t immediately jump out at you, think “Ultimate Fighter,” ice cream, cake, colonics and…yup, he’s the dude on TUF 5 that got booted for failing to make weight. Ruediger agreed to step in (on short notice) for the injured Terry Etim, who was supposed to fight Joe Lauzon.  

Now, of course, Ruediger wouldn’t be making his UFC return if he had been losing on the minor circuit, and heading into Saturday’s bout he’s won 6 straight. The fight, which will be broadcast on Spike, gives Ruediger a fantastic opportunity to at least, slightly muzzle, the thousands of critics that have been on him ever since TUF 5. What makes the bout even more interesting is that Lauzon was one of Ruediger’s cast mates during the show, and as the veteran recently discussed on BJ.Penn.com, it sounds like there’s a little bit of ‘dislike’ going on there. In terms of Lauzon as an opponent? Here is some of what Ruediger said in the interview:

“Joe’s overrated; you know, he’s had some success in the UFC, but who’s he fought? When everything is said and done; Jason Reinhardt? I don’t care. I mean look at his record. Kyle Bradley’s tough but is he that tough? When he fought tough dudes he lost. When he fought Sammy Stout he lost. I’m not impressed with him and I know I’m going to smash him.”

Not sure Jeremy Stephens would agree with the above analysis, but hey, that’s just like…our opinion. To bet on Saturday’s festivities head here.

Kenny Florian Says He’s Improved in All Areas Heading into UFC 118

Due to James Toney ‘WTF did he say now?’ antics regarding Saturday’s tilt with Randy Couture, plus the understandable speculation about how Frankie Edgar vs. BJ Penn II will play out, the fact that Kenny Florian is also fighting Gray Maynard at UFC 118 has kind of gotten lost in the mix. Not that we […]

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Due to James Toney ‘WTF did he say now?’ antics regarding Saturday’s tilt with Randy Couture, plus the understandable speculation about how Frankie Edgar vs. BJ Penn II will play out, the fact that Kenny Florian is also fighting Gray Maynard at UFC 118 has kind of gotten lost in the mix. Not that we should talk of course, as we’ve been drawn to the Toney pre-fight sh-t show just as much as the next guy, but when you think about it, Florian vs. Maynard is huge. Both guys are top contenders; both have taken out some notable fighters, and a win for either dude is crucial. If Maynard wins, he’s gotta be a lock for a title shot; if Florian wins, then things could get really, really, complicated (depending on what happens with Edgar vs. Penn II).

It will be interesting to see how Florian handles Maynard’s size, power and wrestling, especially since “KenFlo” has improved leaps and bounds since he was grounded and pounded to a UD loss by Sean Sherk. Speaking to Heavy.com about this Saturday’s tilt, here is some of what Florian had to say:

“This is the biggest challenge of my career, my way of proving to myself how far I’ve come,” Florian said. “My striking is at higher level. My jiu-jitsu, conditioning, and even wrestling are all better. I’m going to play the same game I always play. I’m going to be aggressive, go forward and wait for a mistake. Hopefully that mistake will come at some point and hopefully I’ll be there to capitalize on it.”

Should be a doozy. To bet on it head here.

Report: Dana White Confirms Chael Sonnen to Receive Immediate Rematch with Anderson Silva

If you woke up on the ‘wrong side of the bed’ today (which depending on what you consumed last night could mean various things),  you may be happy to find out that reports are firing around the internet, saying that Chael Sonnen will receive an immediate rematch with Anderson Silva sometime this winter.  According to […]

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If you woke up on the ‘wrong side of the bed’ today (which depending on what you consumed last night could mean various things),  you may be happy to find out that reports are firing around the internet, saying that Chael Sonnen will receive an immediate rematch with Anderson Silva sometime this winter.  According to a report on MMA Junkie, UFC top dawg Dana White confirmed on ESPN’s SportsCenter that Silva will indeed fight Sonnen when he returns from his rib injury, although no date is apparently fixed. In addition, a ‘tweet’ from the LA Times’ Lance Pugmire (thanks to Cage Potato for the heads up), stated:

UFC will stage Anderson Silva-Chael Sonnen rematch on New Year’s Eve or Super Bowl card, depending on Silva’s hurt ribs.

Pretty exciting stuff no? If you’re a Sonnen ‘booster’ then you know your boy is getting another (and really, well deserved) crack at Silva, and if you’re more about “The Spider”, then you get to see how a healthy champ fairs in the rematch (we’ll leave aside the whole ‘everyone’s injured when they fight, blah, blah, blah’ debate for another time).

So where does this leave Vitor Belfort? Who, as you likely know, has been the focus of speculation as to whether he might face Sonnen next while Silva is sidelined, well, yesterday he tweeted that he’s fighting in November. Why not see how “The Phenom” does against Yushin Okami?

Randy Couture Talks Strategy for James Toney

Several staffers here at MMA Fix have been growing out their fingernails for some time now in anticipation of next Saturday’s tilt between Randy Couture and James Toney (chewing your nails is a safer option than popping pills all night no?) Yes, we fully expect “The Natural” to own Toney, but that doesn’t change the […]

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Several staffers here at MMA Fix have been growing out their fingernails for some time now in anticipation of next Saturday’s tilt between Randy Couture and James Toney (chewing your nails is a safer option than popping pills all night no?) Yes, we fully expect “The Natural” to own Toney, but that doesn’t change the fact it’s going to be reeedonkously stressful.  If Toney does in fact pull off the win, the MMA world better be prepared to receive an earful and then some from the boxing champ and his crew (which in this case will probably be the entire boxing community).

Thankfully since the fight was announced, Couture hasn’t gone around saying something stupid like ‘I’m ready to test my hands with any boxer’; he understands that Toney is a beast with his fists and that’s it. In a recent interview posted on the official UFC site, Captain America talked a little bit more about what kind of strategy he might employ against Toney, and everything he had to say sounded damn sweet to us (thanks to MMA Bay for the quote).

“There are some serious holes in his game and it’s my job to point those out. If James comes with that traditional boxing posture, he can expect to get the hell kicked out of his lead leg. He can expect a right to come at his head followed by a swift double-leg, a swift clinch, then we’ll tie him up, dirty box, punch, elbow, knee, shoulder, anything I need to do to put him on the floor. There’s a whole load of other things that go on inside the cage. He better hope he can catch me.”

Now that’s what’s up Randy; that’s what’s up. To bet on the bout head here.

“King Mo” Lawal Blasts Uneducated Fans

 Since “King Mo” Lawal began his rapid ascension up the MMA ranks the accomplished wrestler has never been share about telling you ‘like it is.’ From repeatedly stating he’ll fight anyone in the world, to his classic back-and-forth with “Rampage” Jackson, Lawal has consistently captured headlines through his actions both in and out of the […]

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 Since “King Mo” Lawal began his rapid ascension up the MMA ranks the accomplished wrestler has never been share about telling you ‘like it is.’ From repeatedly stating he’ll fight anyone in the world, to his classic back-and-forth with “Rampage” Jackson, Lawal has consistently captured headlines through his actions both in and out of the ring.

Following his thoroughly dominant UD win over Gegard Mousasi in April, Lawal was soundly booed by some ‘fans’ in attendance, who we’re guessing didn’t appreciate him utilizing his wrestling abilities to take out one of Strikeforce’s biggest stars. Disliking a fighter for whatever reason is one thing, but booing just because a guy exploits another fighter’s weakness, demonstrates you rank extremely low on the MMA IQ scale. Anyways, we’re thinking that incident might have had a little something, something, to do with the following comment Lawal reportedly made on the Ring Psychcology podcast (thanks to Bloody Elbow for the quote).

“Some are cool, some are idiots. They’re fans-they don’t know what the f**k they are talking about. That’s why I’ll say it again: ‘f**k the fans.’ A lot of them ain’t educated. They’re just bandwagon jumpers…”

Indeed, some are cool, some are idiots…we’ve been called both. Lawal’s bout with Rafael Cavalcante Saturday should be interesting; to bet on it head here.

Dominick Cruz Surprised by Split Decision Ruling at WEC 50

Okay, we’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, if you don’t watch the WEC simply because it doesn’t have the letters U, F or C, or even worse, because you ‘only like watching the bigger dudes’, you sir or madam are truly deserving of a rather cruel insult. Someone else can take care of […]

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Okay, we’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, if you don’t watch the WEC simply because it doesn’t have the letters U, F or C, or even worse, because you ‘only like watching the bigger dudes’, you sir or madam are truly deserving of a rather cruel insult. Someone else can take care of our dirty work. If you watched WEC 50 last night then you know that the card once again offered not one, but several, ‘fight of the night’ quality bouts.

As expected, the bantamweight title fight between champion Dominick Cruz and challenger Joseph Benavidez didn’t disappoint, and was chalk full of entertaining violence. Although it was a pretty close fight and Benavidez threw everything he had at Cruz, it was pretty clear by the fight’s end that the champ should retain the belt. Of course, this is MMA, and what one judge thinks constitutes winning a fight might be vastly different than what 90% of the population thinks. So when it was announced that Cruz had won, but by Split Decision, what did the 16-1 fighter think? (Thanks to MMA Junkie for the quotes)

“In my humble opinion, I thought I won all the rounds,” Cruz told MMAjunkie.com following the fight. “I thought I won it pretty unanimously. That’s all I can say. I thought I won it.”….”I think that the crowd has a big part to play in the judges’ opinion sometimes,” Cruz said. “Also, he caught me with a real slick knee up against the cage that made me bleed real bad. I would assume the blood could have swayed the judges as well.”

In case you’re wondering, it was Nelson “Doc” Hamilton that had Benavidez winning the fight.