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Ken Shamrock Says Everyone Except the UFC Wants Shamrock vs. Royce Gracie III

Add Ken Shamrock to the list of those who would like to see Royce Gracie fight at UFC 134 in Rio.The rub is that Shamrock feels he would be the ideal opponent to face off against the Brazilian MMA legend.“That fight, Royce Gracie (versus) Ken Sh…

Add Ken Shamrock to the list of those who would like to see Royce Gracie fight at UFC 134 in Rio.

The rub is that Shamrock feels he would be the ideal opponent to face off against the Brazilian MMA legend.

“That fight, Royce Gracie (versus) Ken Shamrock, should happen,” Shamrock recently told Fight Network. “The fans want it, I want it, Royce wants it, Brazil wants it.”

Shamrock then went on, ripping the promotion that could make the fight happen, saying “the only problem with that is you have a bunch of people who have big egos who believe that the UFC created this whole thing when they absolutely did not. People like myself and Royce Gracie and (Mark) Coleman and many, many other people created this UFC phenomenon, so that they can sit there and control it which is what they’re doing today, trying to control it for themselves. So they’re not gonna let that fight happen.”

If the two UFC Hall of Famers were to meet, Shamrock thinks their presence on the UFC 134 fight card would result in big pay-per-view numbers for the promotion.

“There’s no doubt in my mind, and anyone else will tell you, that if this fight was to happen, this would be the biggest pay-per-view to date, but they will not let that happen,” Shamrock said. “(The UFC) would have to swallow their egos for that to happen, and these guys have too big of egos to let that happen.”

Shamrock’s vitriol most likely stems from the loss of a lawsuit he filed against the UFC’s parent company, Zuffa, LLC. In the suit, Shamrock alleged that the promotion had violated the terms of his contract when they released him with one fight remaining on that contract. The judge in the case found in favor of Zuffa, however, and Shamrock was subsequently ordered to pay Zuffa’s attorney fees and other costs, totaling $175,000.

Shamrock and Gracie have battled twice before, with Gracie winning their first fight at UFC 1 via rear-naked choke submission. The second time they met, in a “superfight” at UFC 5, the fight was declared a draw after 36 minutes of action.

UFC 134 will take place August 27 at the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The fight card will be headlined by a middleweight title bout between champion Anderson Silva and the last man to gain a victory over him, Yushin Okami.

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UFC 130 Preview: Frank Mir: Roy Nelson Would Be "Effective at Light Heavyweight"

UFC heavyweights Frank Mir and Roy Nelson have both seen plenty of success in their respective careers and whoever emerges from their UFC 130 matchup will move either one step closer to a heavyweight title shot. While Nelson has faced his fair sh…

While Nelson has faced his fair share of quality competition throughout his career, Mir believes the rotund heavyweight would have a better chance at 205 pounds.

“You know, I’ve always felt that Roy probably could be very effective at (light heavyweight),” Mir recently told MMADigest, courtesy of MMAUniverse.com.

Since trimming down and adding muscle to his frame, Mir considered the idea of moving down to the light heavyweight division prior to his bout against Cheick Kongo at UFC 107.

While he admires the success Nelson has achieved competing in the heavyweight division, Mir is skeptical of “Big Country” and his chances of competing against the upper echelon of the division.

“The whole big belly thing is cool, but I think he will struggle with some of the better heavyweights in the UFC,” Mir said.

Nelson’s most recent loss came at the hands of heavyweight standout Junior Dos Santos at UFC 117, while Mir’s recent losses came up against some of the bigger, stronger guys such as Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin.

It’s those two losses that has Mir believing Nelson’s time will be limited in the heavyweight division.

“He could still beat guys at heavyweight, but will he be an unstoppable force? Nah, he is giving up a lot of height. I can speak from experience, quality size matters.”

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UFC 130 Main Card: Gray Maynard on Frankie Edgar: "I Just Want to Beat Him"

Following UFC 125, things don’t seem to sit right with lightweight contender Gray Maynard. Maynard went back and forth with UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar for five rounds, only for the bout to be declared a draw. The final decision didn’t go ov…

Following UFC 125, things don’t seem to sit right with lightweight contender Gray Maynard.

Maynard went back and forth with UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar for five rounds, only for the bout to be declared a draw. The final decision didn’t go over too well with fans or UFC president Dana White, which is why both competitors will headline UFC 130.

Originally, former WEC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis was slated to face the winner, but after a controversial decision, an immediate rematch was inevitable.

“I beat him two years ago and then it was a draw at UFC 125—this dude has never beaten me. How do I not get to fight him again?” Maynard said in an interview on MMA.Mirror.co.uk.

“I was hurt. Then I got a call from Dana and he was cool as hell. He was like ‘Hey, the fight’s yours.’ I was like ‘Man! Thank you.’”

Maynard went into his title bout against Edgar riding a seven-fight winning streak, holding victories over Nate Diaz, Roger Huerta and Kenny Florian. Maynard already holds a victory over Edgar, and since thier highly contested bout left a bitter taste in his mouth, Maynard is focused on defeating his opponent.

“He’s my whole life now. I wake up and he’s on my mind. I go to sleep and he’s on my mind. I just want to beat him.”

UFC 130 is scheduled for May 28, live from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

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Shinya Aoki vs. Jamie Varner Targeted for Dream 17

Sherdog.com is reporting that former WEC Lightweight champion Jamie Varner is in talks to face Dream Lightweight champion Shinya Aoki at Dream 17.Aoki was set to face Brazilian fighter Williamy Freire, but visa problems are preventing the 23-…

Sherdog.com is reporting that former WEC Lightweight champion Jamie Varner is in talks to face Dream Lightweight champion Shinya Aoki at Dream 17.

Aoki was set to face Brazilian fighter Williamy Freire, but visa problems are preventing the 23-year-old from fighting on the card.

The Dream champion is riding a four-fight win streak, with his latest victory coming via a first-round neck crank submission against Lyle Beerbohm. That was Aoki’s first victory under the Strikeforce banner and his first win in the United States.

Varner has been on a bit of a skid as of late, having been dropped from the Zuffa organization after going 0-3-1 in his last four fights—his latest defeats include a title loss to Ben Henderson at WEC 46 and a submission loss to Shane Roller at the WEC’s last event before the merger with the UFC last December.

The former WEC champion is set to face Tyler Combs at XFO 39 next Friday, only a few weeks before the proposed bout with Aoki.

MFC lightweight champion Antonio McKee was in discussions to replace Freire, but the 41-year-old appears to be off the card.

Dream 17 is scheduled for May 29th and includes the promotion’s first ever tournament at bantamweight. This is also the first event after the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit the country only a few months ago.

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Strikeforce Middleweight, Tim Kennedy, Wants Robbie Lawler as Next Opponent

Strikeforce middleweight, Tim Kennedy, must be having a good week. Kennedy, a former special forces sniper and green beret, spent time in Afghanistan looking for Osama bin Laden. Kennedy is happy justice has been served shown by his MMA-fight?urn=mma-w…

“If somebody hurt my family, I wouldn’t want to sit there and watch that guy executed. I would just want to know that justice was done,” Kennedy said.

On top of letting out his feelings towards bin Laden in the interview, Kennedy also talked about who his next opponent will be.

TK: “It’s not 100 percent yet, but it looks like it’s going to be at the end of July on the Dan Henderson/Fedor card, and I’m already gettin’ in my training camp, gettin’ ready to go, so for me, I’m fighting at the end of July. I just have to get somebody to say yes to fight me.”

SC: “Any clue who the candidates are?”

TK: “I’m hoping for Robbie Lawler, that’s who I asked for at the end of my last fight with Manhoef. He’s the number two guy in Strikeforce behind Jacare, and if I’m not fighting for the title, give me Robbie Lawler. Let me fight that guy.”

If Kennedy and Lawler were to be added to the July card, they would be added with a lot of good names on the card.

The card features former Strikeforce light heavyweight champ Muhammad Lawal versus Reoger Gracie. It also features the other former light heavyweight champ, Rafael Cavalcante versus Ovince St. Preux.

Of course though, the big fight on the card is a bout between Fedor Emelianenko and Dan Henderson.

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UFC Twitter War: Mark Hominick Would Love to Fight the Korean Zombie

“Korean Zombie would be an awesome fight!”—Mark Hominick via Twitter May 6, 2011 “People have been asking about Korean Zombie. It would be a great fight and would love to do it if it was offered.”—Mark Hominic…

“Korean Zombie would be an awesome fight!”—Mark Hominick via Twitter May 6, 2011

“People have been asking about Korean Zombie. It would be a great fight and would love to do it if it was offered.”—Mark Hominick via Twitter May 7, 2011

[Goose bumps]

In front of his home crowd last weekend at UFC 129 in Toronto, Mark “the Machine” Hominick managed to “wow” over 55,000 fans who were all live in attendance at the Rogers Centre, by nearly defeating current UFC Featherweight Champion, Jose Aldo, in what was an intense back-and-forth battle between two amazing warriors.

Despite the fact that Hominick sustained a massive hematoma (imagine a huge bump on his head about the size of your fist) that nearly ended the bout prematurely, the ringside doctor did a fantastic job in ensuring the safety of Hominick, and by doing so, allowing the action to continue.

And continue it did.

Fireworks exploded as Hominick battled Aldo into the deep waters of the championship rounds, winning the stand-up war throughout most of the fight, particularly in the fifth and final round.

Give credit to Aldo however, for doing an excellent job in taking this fight down to the mat and controlling Hominick from the top position throughout most of the earlier rounds.

This was a battle that many experts had predicted would become the “Fight of the Night,” and without question, it didn’t disappoint.

And speaking of “Fight of the Night,” guess who else had previously won that honour (not to mention, “Fight of the Year”)?

You guessed it…the “Korean Zombie,” Jung Chan-Sung.

In fact, quite recently, Chan-Sung also managed to pick up the honour of “Submission of the Night” by defeating Leonard Garcia (re-match from their “Fight of the Year”) by using a twister (spinal lock) submission in his UFC debut at UFC Fight Night: Nogueira vs Davis, back in March of this year.

Very impressive!

Both Hominick and Chan-Sung bring incredibly entertaining and exciting styles of fighting into the Octagon, and the thought of this potential match-up has me considerably more excited than just about any other fight that the UFC currently has scheduled on the horizon.

Now, obviously Hominick loves the idea of this fight, and I’m pretty sure that all of the fans would love to see it as well, but I can’t help but to wonder just how the “Korean Zombie” would feel about taking on the “Machine?”

“I want Mark Hominick.”—Jung Chan-Sung via Twitter

There you go, fight fans.

I’m not one to beg, but please, please, please Dana White…make this fight happen as soon as possible!

Thank you.

These are my opinions. If you don’t like them…I have others. Check them out at www.mrjamesryan.com

Do NOT click this hyperlink! You have been warned!

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