Bleacher Report’s Tony Preston:Cung Le, a Sanshou kickboxer and mixed marital artist, recently told ESPN that he will not be fighting in 2011.Instead, Le is going to be in five motion pictures this year. Due to his filming schedule, he says that a fi…
Bleacher Report’s Tony Preston:
Cung Le, a Sanshou kickboxer and mixed marital artist, recently told ESPN that he will not be fighting in 2011.
Instead, Le is going to be in five motion pictures this year. Due to his filming schedule, he says that a fight this year is “impossible.”
Le last fought in June 2010, in a fight against Scott Smith.
That bout saw Le claim victory over Smith by way of a second-round knockout. The fight was a rematch of their clash in December 2009, in which Smith pulled off a stunning third-round knockout over Le, despite Le having dominated. Le’s career record is 7-1, every fight ending by knockout.
Before his two fights with Smith, Le fought his biggest name opponent to date in Frank Shamrock for the Strikeforce middleweight title.
Bleacher Report’s MMA News Recap for Wednesday, May 4.UFC 132: Evan Dunham Out George Sotiropoulos To Face Rafael Dos AnjosCung Le will not fight in 2011.UFC 129 Video Highlights: Georges St-Pierre vs Jake Shields.UFC 130: Extended Video Trailer for Ed…
Bleacher Report’s MMA News Recap for Wednesday, May 4.
UFC 132: Evan Dunham Out George Sotiropoulos To Face Rafael Dos Anjos
Cung Le will not fight in 2011.
UFC 129 Video Highlights: Georges St-Pierre vs Jake Shields.
UFC 130: Extended Video Trailer for Edgar vs. Maynard III.
Georges St-Pierre vs Anderson Silva: How GSP would make the weight jump.
Rashad Evans talks Twitter feud with Jon Jones and upcoming fight with Phil Davis.
Anderson Silva’s customized Camaro SS.
UFC 129: Jose Aldo Needed Antibiotics, Says Head Trainer.
Last Saturday, the UFC orchestrated their largest live show ever, filling the Rogers Centre in Toronto with 55,000 adoring fans screaming for fellow Canadian fighters like Georges St-Pierre, Mark Bocek, and Mark Hominick.
It was a historic night suture…
Last Saturday, the UFC orchestrated their largest live show ever, filling the Rogers Centre in Toronto with 55,000 adoring fans screaming for fellow Canadian fighters like Georges St-Pierre, Mark Bocek, and Mark Hominick.
It was a historic night sutured with incredible bouts, memorable finishes and a lackluster main event defense by the sport’s premiere poster boy Canadian St-Pierre.
Once the decision was rendered after GSP’s hand was raised at the end of the fifth round, fans immediately balked at the champion’s fourth consecutive unanimous decision defense, wondering if he has what it takes to be a memorable champion.
After UFC 129 concluded, the big question mark continues to swirl above the welterweight champion’s head: where does he go next, who does he fight? It’s not Anderson Silva or Nick Diaz.
A superfight with middleweight kingpin, Anderson Silva, has be desirable for the last year, but after such an uninspiring victory over a one dimensional challenger, most pundits question whether St-Pierre would have the heart and power to deal with the Spider’s ferocious striking.
UFC president Dana White has mentioned in numerous interviews that both Silva and St-Pierre would have to collect victories at UFC 126 and 129—both have been accomplished, one more astounding than the other.
Now that both champions have disposed their respective challengers, does the UFC brass really want to send it’s cautious bread-winner to the “spider wolf” that lingers at 185 lbs?
Regardless if you think GSP’s wrestling could dictate a fight against the Brazilian or not, even in his later 30’s, Anderson possesses strength, size and striking that would cause obstacles for the smaller opponent.
In addition, timing is a factor along with the fact that St-Pierre has been hesitant about moving up to middleweight in some of his recent interviews, Zuffa boss man Lorenzo Fertitta tweeted a post-fight question asking fans if they would rather see GSP vs. Anderson or GSP vs. Nick Diaz.
Apparently, an overwhelming amount of spectators—including myself—voted for the latter.
Does the UFC really have many options at welterweight now? St-Pierre has either fought the current “contenders” already and beat them with little effort or needs to fight a cross-promotional belt holder.
As incredible as it would be to watch the lead up to a GSP vs. Nick Diaz fight, the actual fight, the finish, the post fight presser, this potential bout has its own complications as well. Once news broke of Zuffa purchasing Strikeforce, the media renzy began to speculate who from the UFC should fight who from Strikefoce.
Needless to say, there are numerous co-promotional matches that would have the intrigue to draw big numbers and make fans salivate.
Beyond having current heavyweight destroyer and champion Alistair Overeem and Cain Velasquez fight, many enthusiasts started clamoring for Diaz vs. GSP as their first choice after Jake Shields, due to Diaz’ stubborn forward movement and his ability to “not be scared.”
That’s a humorous generalization of course, but not too many challengers have solved Diaz’ stand up puzzle. Even if the fight gets to the ground, the Cesar Gracie protégée boasts a black belt in the ground art and has proven himself many times on the mat in MMA.
Unfortunately, Nick Diaz will not be GSP’s next challenger either.
Unlike a potential fight with Anderson, Diaz has contractual obligations with Showtime via Strikeforce, which Dana White has made clear the UFC has no plans of disrupting—at the moment anyways.
I’m not lawyer—god knows my wallet wishes I was—but I wouldn’t be surprised if Zuffa has a few loopholes they could exploit if they were really interested in getting fighters like Nick Diaz and Gilbert Melendez in the octagon sooner.
Let’s assume Strikeforce’s Showtime contracts have another year and the UFC doesn’t have plans to disband them as soon as possible—that means no Nick Diaz.
When discussing the possibility of Diaz or Silva, the time factor also has to be weighed into the equation. Contractually, Diaz wouldn’t be ready for another year or so and Anderson is rumored to be fighting contender Yushin Okami on the Rio card this summer.
Will the UFC really shelve St-Pierre for a year or more to wait out the other two fighters’ predicaments? I highly doubt that will happen. GSP will be fighting at least once more before the year ends. But, against who, it’s hard to say—the top regular top contenders have already been eradicated.
To avoid tedious repeats, let’s delete Jon Fitch, BJ Penn, Thiago Alves, Sean Sherk and Matt Serra. What does the welterweight division have left?
Scraping at the bottom of the welterweight barrel with Jon Fitch vs. BJ Penn 2, scrapped due to double injury, the only contender fight ready to produce a realistic challenger (I use this word loosely) is ex-WEC champion Carlos Condit vs. Dong Hyun Kim scheduled for UFC 132.
Maybe on paper, an argument could be made for Nate Marquardt vs. Anthony Johnson. Unfortunately, the favorite to win in that contest is very unlikely to face his longtime Greg Jackson training partner.
In summary, the most realistic challenger to Georges St-Pierre’s welterweight title will more than likely go to Carlos Condit.
Fans, get excited for GSP’s sixth consecutive decision defense….
Tourism in Ontario has definitely taken a bit of a beating over the past decade . What with 9/11, SARS, the Avian bird flu and Justin Bieber, the list for keeping tourists out of Ontario was just getting longer and uglier by the day. But that all …
Tourism in Ontario has definitely taken a bit of a beating over the past decade. What with 9/11, SARS, the Avian bird flu and Justin Bieber, the list for keeping tourists out of Ontario was just getting longer and uglier by the day.
But that all ended this past weekend, when a little company, better known as the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), put on a spectacular show at the Rogers Centre in downtown Toronto, providing one of the most exciting live sporting events Canadian fight fans have ever seen.
Apparently, even from the nosebleed section…
James: Hey Pat, how did you enjoy the fights at UFC 129?
Pat: James, they were amazing! I was way the f#%k up there…really! Second-last row from the back. Talk about nose bleeds! I needed oxygen climbing those steps! I must be turning into an old fat bastard!! LMAO, was worth it! Next time, better seats!
James: No problems enjoying the action from up there?
Pat: Nope, none whatsoever. The energy was freeeeeeeaking amazing!
James: Good to know. Sure beats paying $10,000 on eBay for floor seats.
[Sad, but true.]
Aside from putting on a great show this past weekend, the UFC is also predicted to have brought in anywhere in the neighbourhood (spelled the proper Canadian way with the extra “u”) of 30 to 40 million dollars of additional revenue into the province, making Toronto the No. 1 MMA market in the entire world.
During his featherweight title defense at UFC 129, Jose Aldo did not appear to be himself against his opponent, Mark Hominick. While he did successfully defend his title, there was something slightly off about the champion on this night, as he looked r…
During his featherweight title defense at UFC 129, Jose Aldo did not appear to be himself against his opponent, Mark Hominick. While he did successfully defend his title, there was something slightly off about the champion on this night, as he looked relatively fatigued during the final round of the bout.
His head trainer at Nova Uniao, Andre Pederneiras, told Sherdog.com that the Brazilian was on antibiotics for an infection he received just days prior to the event.
“He suffered a cut on his toe [on April 23] and it got infected with bacteria,” Pederneiras said.
“He went through heavy medical treatment with antibiotics and anti-inflammatory pills from Sunday to Tuesday. He took the heavy dosage so that he wouldn’t have to take more drugs closer to the fight.”
The rumors surrounding his suspected illness only grew following his fight with Hominick, when his cornerman Marion Sandro was seen criticizing Aldo after he complained about wanting to take more antibiotics.
“Antibiotics wouldn’t have helped at all,” Sandro told Aldo. “You’re the champion, kid. F–k the antibiotics. Everything is OK. You fought well, smooth and composed.”
Aldo is likely to fight much sooner following his fourth title defense, as it is expected he will square off against unbeaten featherweight Chad Mendes at UFC 133. Although another challenger could emerge at UFC 131 when Kenny Florian will make his featherweight debut against Aldo’s teammate Diego Nunes.
Pederneiras said he is aware of the possibility that both Aldo and Nunes might have to fight each other, but the Nova Uniao trainer said their potential bout is not any of his concern.
“I think it will be against Chad Mendes,” Pederneiras says of Aldo’s future opponent.
“But Diego and everyone from Nova União knows that if they have to fight against each other, they will. I just don’t know how we would manage it, but they know they’re fighters and it’s their job. If the boss orders it, we’ll work on that situation. They’ll fight against whoever they’re matched with.”
Bruce Lee is the modern grandfather of Mixed Martial Arts.There is no denying his impact on the sport—the fighters, the coaches, the fans and even its promoters. In some way or another, almost every person touched by MMA will praise Bruce Lee for…
Bruce Lee is the modern grandfather of Mixed Martial Arts.
There is no denying his impact on the sport—the fighters, the coaches, the fans and even its promoters. In some way or another, almost every person touched by MMA will praise Bruce Lee for the contributions he’s made to the form of martial arts.
But Lee would’ve been the first to tell you that the phrase “martial arts” should not be used as a means to encompass all forms; rather, to classify an ever-evolving way of training and learning.
“Styles tend to not only separate men—because they have their own doctrines and then the doctrine became the gospel truth that you cannot change. But if you do not have a style, if you just say: Well, here I am as a human being, how can I express myself totally and completely? Now, that way you won’t create a style, because style is a crystallization. That way, it’s a process of continuing growth.” – Bruce Lee
Lee’s impact on the sport was, is, and God willing forever shall be irreplicable. Here are five ways Bruce Lee most definitively changed today’s fastest growing sport in the world.
