Dominick Cruz Not Surprised to Be Facing Joseph Benavidez Again

The next couple of weeks are looking pretty, pretty, pretty sweet for MMA fans; first we have this Wednesday’s WEC, Saturday night will feature Strikeforce’s “King Mo vs. Feijao” card, as well as, Sengoku 14 (that’s a promotion in Japan for you MMA-lite fans), and then next Saturday of course is UFC 118. Not too […]

Dominick_Cruz

The next couple of weeks are looking pretty, pretty, pretty sweet for MMA fans; first we have this Wednesday’s WEC, Saturday night will feature Strikeforce’s “King Mo vs. Feijao” card, as well as, Sengoku 14 (that’s a promotion in Japan for you MMA-lite fans), and then next Saturday of course is UFC 118. Not too shabby.

First things first is Wednesday’s WEC, which will feature a rematch between bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz and Joseph Benavidez, and if you’ve seen these guys throw down before you know that there’s a damn good chance you’re going to be entertained. Cruz earned a UD win over Benavidez last September, and based off that experience, it doesn’t sound like he was too surprised when Benavidez took out Rani Yahya and Miguel Torres. Speaking to MMA Weekly about his upcoming title defense Cruz said:

“I always knew he had the potential to do what he did for those fights,” Cruz told MMAWeekly Radio. “Everything about fights comes down to style match-up, and if you stand in front of Joseph and let him punch you, you’re going to get punched. The key is fighting him a specific way, making sure he can’t unload on you.”… “You’ve got to be able to change your style up, and unfortunately those guys weren’t quite able to figure it out.”

It’s also interesting to note that Cruz took the belt from Brian Bowles, who ended the long reign of Torres, who in turn was taken out by Benavidez. Well, we think that makes the fight interesting at least.

To bet on Wednesday’s action head here.

Report: Mirko “Cro Cop” to Replace Injured “Minotauro” Nogueira vs. Frank Mir

If you’re a huge “Minotauro” Nogueira fan and have had September 25th marked down on your calendar, in anticipation of your boy getting another shot at Frank Mir, well, you may want to put the coffee down (or any other object that could be thrown courtesy a temper tantrum). According to a report from Fighters Only […]

cro cop

If you’re a huge “Minotauro” Nogueira fan and have had September 25th marked down on your calendar, in anticipation of your boy getting another shot at Frank Mir, well, you may want to put the coffee down (or any other object that could be thrown courtesy a temper tantrum). According to a report from Fighters Only Magazine Nogueira has been forced to withdraw from UFC 119 due to an injury. In a follow up report from MMA Junkie, a source has confirmed with the outlet, that a rib injury has in fact punted the legendary heavyweight from the card.

So, for big time Nog fans this news has to be very disappointing, as Nogueira has consistently said that a serious staph infection and a messed up knee, were key reasons as to why he got absolutely pasted by Mir at UFC 92. Looks like Nog learned his lesson in terms of trying to fight through an injury no?

Now, the sh-tty news regarding Nogueira’s injury aside, Fighters Only is reporting that Mirko “Cro Cop” will step in to fight Mir at UFC 119. Our first reaction was ‘cool—wait—what?’ Now Cro Cop has clearly fought some of the best in the sport, and if he has indeed agreed to fight Mir then that’s awesome, but it wasn’t long ago we were hearing reports that he was humming and hawing about retirement. Now he’s stepping up against one the world’s best on 6 week’s notice? Guess he’s still looking to make a run.

Ontario, Canada’s Largest Province, Passes MMA Legislation for 2011

Filed under: NewsMixed martial arts, with the UFC leading the charge, has cleared another hurdle in the goal of bringing the sport to as much of the world as possible.

UFC president Dana White’s stock response when asked where the promotion wants to …

Filed under:

Mixed martial arts, with the UFC leading the charge, has cleared another hurdle in the goal of bringing the sport to as much of the world as possible.

UFC president Dana White’s stock response when asked where the promotion wants to go next has been: “We’re taking this thing everywhere.” But up until this point, “everywhere” has not included Ontario, the largest province in Canada.

But after plenty of campaigning by the UFC, MMA can cross another name off its list. According to Ontario’s official website, the provincial government has passed legislation that will regulate MMA starting in 2011.

Tim Sylvia Stops Paul Buentello; Jens Pulver Takes Another Loss

If you checked out the official “War on the Mainland” website as you possibly hummed and hawed about ordering last night’s PPV, you might have thought to yourself ‘ah–they probably just skimmed on the site a little bit to throw more dough on the PPV’. Well, if you took in last night’s broadcast, it didn’t […]

tim-sylvia

If you checked out the official “War on the Mainland” website as you possibly hummed and hawed about ordering last night’s PPV, you might have thought to yourself ‘ah–they probably just skimmed on the site a little bit to throw more dough on the PPV’. Well, if you took in last night’s broadcast, it didn’t take long to have that notion completely refuted did it? (Unless you don’t care for graphics and production values that are post 1993—then you were probably stoked)

Wondering if you had been transported back a decade plus aside, War on the Mainland did feature some pretty sweet bouts, including the Matt Horwich / Thales Leites fight which was great (Horwich won the middleweight title by 4th round submission) and Tony Lopez KOíng Jason Lambert with a knee to take the light-heavyweight belt.

In the main event tilt between Tim Sylvia and Paul Buentello (which only added to the night’s ‘nostalgic’ feel of course), the former UFC heavyweight champ added another belt to his trophy case, by dropping Buentello in the second round. Sylvia’s first title defence? None other than Mr. Pedro Rizzo…okay,  granted, there’s a bit of a ‘classic’s theme going here but we’ll still check it out.

And apparently having BJ Penn loathe him all these years wasn’t the reason behind Jens Pulver’s ongoing woes. As we passed along Friday, Penn apologized to Pulver last week for all the naughty things he’s said about the former champ, but the veteran still couldn’t end his losing streak. After getting dropped by Diego Garijo, Pulver got caught with a follow up guillotine choke—dude’s lost 6 straight.

BC Medical Body Calling for National Ban of MMA in Canada

(Funny, these quacks aren’t calling for a ban on hockey.)
When a syndicated story run in the majority of Canada’s  newspapers begins with "Ladies and gentlemen; boys and girls; children of all ages! In this corner, weighing in at a stagg…


(Funny, these quacks aren’t calling for a ban on hockey.)

When a syndicated story run in the majority of Canada’s  newspapers begins with "Ladies and gentlemen; boys and girls; children of all ages! In this corner, weighing in at a staggering mass of popularity, we have the blood sport known as mixed-martial arts!"

Pause for applause.

"And, in our other corner, sporting a stethoscope and look of genuine consternation, we have . . . Canadian doctors!" it usually isn’t a positive story for the sport of MMA.

A story appearing in several major Canadian newspapers today reports that
the organization that represents doctors in British Columbia is urging its counterparts from across the country to call on the federal government to impose a national ban on mixed martial arts.

According to the report, the B.C. Medical Association held a caucus meeting and passed a resolution stating it wants the full-contact sport banned in Canada last month and now the body, which acts as the voice of doctors in B.C. is planning to bring that resolution to the Canadian Medical Association’s annual general meeting at Niagara Falls, Ont., from Aug. 23 to 25.

If the national group votes in favor of adopting the resolution, it will lobby the federal government to work with the provinces to bring an end to MMA contests in the country.

"We know there are a number of serious injuries that can occur, including broken limbs, lacerations and brain damage," said Dr. Ian Gillespie, president of the B.C. organization.

Apparently Gillespie doesn’t drive a car, ride a bike or walk down the street in the presence of traffic, since each of these activities carry similar inherent risks.

read more

Report: Ben Saunders Cut by the UFC

If someone approached you last November and told you that in less than one year’s time, Ben Saunders would no longer be in the UFC, you probably would have told that person they were out of their damn mind (unless of course that person had just stepped out of steaming hot DeLorean). What went down […]

saunders

If someone approached you last November and told you that in less than one year’s time, Ben Saunders would no longer be in the UFC, you probably would have told that person they were out of their damn mind (unless of course that person had just stepped out of steaming hot DeLorean). What went down in November? Saunders KO’d Marcus Davis with a series of ‘close your eyes kids” knees, at UFC 106, to run his Octagon record to 4-1. Things were looking swell for the “Killa B.”

Well unfortunately for the American Top Team welterweight, since then Saunders has gone 0-2, losing to Jon Fitch by UD (which most expected), and most recently at UFC 117, he dropped another decision to the vet Dennis Hallman (that likely surprised a few people). In this business of ‘what have you done for me lately?’, Saunders has apparently announced via his Facebook account, that he’s been cut by the UFC. (Thanks to Bloody Elbow for the quote)

“Sorry everyone I tried to fight my best these past two fights but ended up getting out worked. The UFC has officially cut me. The good news is they told me to work on my wrestling and ground game and then come back. So that is all I am going to be doing, improving dramatically and show them I belong.”

Based off some of Saunder’s earlier performances, cue footage of win over Brandon Wolff, we’re thinking he’ll be back in the Octagon soon enough.