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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 […]

With UFC 116 in the books many in the MMA world will turn much of their attention to the upcoming August 7^th, 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.

Report: Shane Carwin Says He Felt Brock Lesnar “Go Out”

Earlier today we went on and on about how entertaining last night’s UFC 116 main event tilt between Shane Carwin and Brock Lesnar was, a fight that saw the heavyweight champ come back from taking a brutal beat down in the first, only to sub Carwin in the second. Whether you’re a fan of Lesnar […]

Earlier today we went on and on about how entertaining last night’s UFC 116 main event tilt between Shane Carwin and Brock Lesnar was, a fight that saw the heavyweight champ come back from taking a brutal beat down in the first, only to sub Carwin in the second. Whether you’re a fan of Lesnar or not (and let’s face it- the guy doesn’t really kill himself trying to be charming or loveable…) you have to give him props for weathering that hellish fist storm.

Well the debate regarding whether or not Josh Rosenthal should have stopped the fight, when Carwin was pounding away on Lesnar, is in full swing. As we passed along earlier, after last night’s fight Lesnar thanked Rosenthal for not jumping in, stating he “wasn’t hurt” and that he could feel Carwin’s punches becoming “less and less.” In a follow up report from MMA Junkie, however, it’s pretty clear that Carwin’s view on how Lesnar was doing in round one is; well, not exactly identical….

“I felt Brock go out a few times,” he today told MMAjunkie.com via text message. “But it is the ref’s job to call the fight, and mine is to finish the fight.”

Huh. Interesting. The report also included stats from CompuStrike.com which reflect that Carwin apparently landed 57 punches in the opening round- that couldn’t have been much fun for Brock. As far as UFC boss man Dana White’s take on the officiating, he was quoted saying that Rosenthal “did a fantastic job.”

Victorious Brock Lesnar Thanks Ref For Not Stopping Fight in Round One

If your evening last night didn’t consist of watching UFC 116 somewhere, somehow, but not necessarily with someone, then you effed up big time. Yes, we say things like this a lot, but in this case…dude…the card was gold. It’s not always certain that a highly anticipated championship fight lives up to the hype, but […]

Of course, the reason last night’s main event tilt can now be labelled with the ‘where were you when’ tag, is because Lesnar came back from quite the ass whooping in round one, to tap out Carwin with a second round arm-triangle-choke (if you predicted that finish then you are a god amongst men). While Lesnar’s comeback was nothing short of spectacular, it’s likely some people were miffed that the fight wasn’t stopped in round one, when Carwin was throwing down punch after punch. Speaking after the fight, Lesnar had this to say about referee Josh Rosenthal’s decision, not to intervene (thanks to MMA Junkie for the quote).

“I really have to thank the referee for allowing that thing go on,” Lesnar said. “I wasn’t hurt. I thought if I just kept moving – I could feel Shane’s punches slowly becoming less and less. I thought, ‘If I get out of here, then I’m going to exert a bunch of energy.’…”I realized there was a short time left, and I just tried to stay busy.”

It may not have looked pretty, but really, Lesnar did appear to be okay. Time to move on right Cain?

Trevor Wittman Calls Shane Carwin “Gift from God”

Anytime Brock Lesnar is set to fight it’s pretty normal for the imposing heavyweight to receive a ton of pre-fight attention, after all, nothing resonates more with the mainstream media than a previous stint as a professional wrestler…This time around the story line surrounding Lesnar is even more intriguing, as it wasn’t long ago that the champion’s career was in doubt due to a nasty case of diverticulitis (and let’s not forget Lesnar’s remarks regarding healthcare, which got that spotlight scalding bright).

In addition to Lesnar’s stardom and abilities (Dana White told Ariel Helwani he believes the Minnesota Monster is the UFC’s biggest commodity), what puts tomorrow night’s UFC 116 main event at the top of the ‘must see’ list, is opponent Shane Carwin. While he may not have the high profile of Lesnar yet, the massive heavyweight has also quickly become a UFC star, in part due to his 5-XL fists which have pounded out every Octagon opponent he’s faced thus far.

So, how special is Carwin? Well in a recent interview with MMA Fighting, renowned Grudge trainer Trevor Wittman said this, when asked to recall his initial assessment of the former collegiate football / wrestling star.

“I went home that night thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, with his size and ability, I finally got my gift from God, a heavyweight champion,’” Wittman told MMA Fighting.

Gift from God? Pretty hard to top that in the compliment category. Someone up there is blessing MMA fans with a pretty huge fight that’s for damn sure; to bet on it head here.

Yoshihiro Akiyama Clarifies Recent Comments About Chris Leben

You may recall last week hearing the sobs of Wanderlei Silva fans around the world, as word came down that “The Axe Murderer” would not fight at UFC 116, due to multiple injuries. It was a tough couple of days, no doubt, but we got through it… together. Now the man that Silva was supposed to […]

You may recall last week hearing the sobs of Wanderlei Silva fans around the world, as word came down that “The Axe Murderer” would not fight at UFC 116, due to multiple injuries. It was a tough couple of days, no doubt, but we got through it… together. Now the man that Silva was supposed to fight, Yoshihiro Akiyama, was in fact truly devastated that he would not fight the former Pride champion this Saturday. When informed he would fight Chris Leben instead of Wandy, Akiyama’s reaction was rather similar to when we’re told last call is over- not good. The renowned judo competitor stated Leben wasn’t “a big name,” and that further, a no show for UFC 116 might just be in the cards (yeah- that would have gone over real well…) .

Of course, thankfully, Akiyama made the trip overseas and is set to fight Leben tomorrow night, and in the meantime, the Japanese middleweight has apparently been doing a little bit of damage control. Talking to MMA Junkie this week, Akiyama tried to clarify his recent comments, that probably didn’t score many points with Leben and his supporters.

“I’m very familiar with Chris’ popularity in the States, but compared to Wanderlei overseas, he’s a much bigger name in Korea and Japan,” Akiyama said through an interpreter. “For me, to improve the popularity of MMA in Japan is one of my goals as well.”

It also sounds like all is well between Dana White and Akiyama, as the UFC Prez was quoted saying “I understood,” in regards to “Sexyama’s” bitter disappointment that he’s no longer fighting Silva. Should be a good bout regardless. To bet on the tilt head here.