Not only is Anderson Silva beloved by UFC fans all over the world, but he is a also a cultural icon in his native land of Brazil. It is with this reason, that Silva is expected to be offered a deal to star in his own television show according to …
Not only is Anderson Silva beloved by UFC fans all over the world, but he is a also a cultural icon in his native land of Brazil.
It is with this reason, that Silva is expected to be offered a deal to star in his own television show according to GracieMag.com.
GracieMag.com reporter, Junior Samurai, confirms that the UFC middleweight champion is set to sign a contract with Brazilian TV network, Rede TV!, to host a weekly television program in anticipation of his upcoming title bout at UFC Rio this summer.
The Web site also said that the idea of featuring Silva hosting his own program, was part of a marketing strategy by 9ine, the publicity firm who manages prominent Brazilians such as soccer star Ronaldo and Silva, himself.
The Curitiba native has appeared on several programs throughout Brazil including,Fantastico, Domingão de Faustão, Legendários and Altas Horas.
The main idea is to promote the UFC and Silva on Brazilian television.
UFC Rio is scheduled for August 27, live from the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro.
“Writing is about making connections,” taught Carol Bly, the critically acclaimed American creative nonfiction author.And it’s easy to make connections between Georges St-Pierre and Manny Pacquiao, who fought on the consecutive Saturday nig…
“Writing is about making connections,” taught Carol Bly, the critically acclaimed American creative nonfiction author.
And it’s easy to make connections between Georges St-Pierre and Manny Pacquiao, who fought on the consecutive Saturday nights of April 30 and May 7, respectively. Disregarding the fact that one successfully defended his world title in MMA while the other one of his very own in boxing, we can acknowledge several similarities.
This slide show presents parallels between the two great champions and, since no two things are exactly the same, also their differences—from which we can glean more lessons about the world of professional combat sports. (As Yogi Berra quipped, “Their similarities are different.”)
Bleacher Report’s Sal DeRose:Now that both Gray Maynard and Frankie Edgar are out of UFC 130 due to injury, the whole lightweight division has been set back.Not only that, but everyone involved loses. The UFC, fans, pay-per-view numbers—everyone.The …
Bleacher Report’s Sal DeRose:
Now that both Gray Maynard and Frankie Edgar are out of UFC 130 due to injury, the whole lightweight division has been set back.
Not only that, but everyone involved loses. The UFC, fans, pay-per-view numbers—everyone.
The rematch and third installment of the Edgar/Maynard series was supposed to take place at UFC 130. Now, neither fighter will get the chance to settle the debate as to who really is the UFC lightweight champion.
The UFC loses out in a huge way. Both the UFC and pay-per-view numbers go down hand-in-hand with this lost from the card. Now, instead of promoting the lightweight championship, they promote a less-sexy matchup in Quinton “Rampage” Jackson versus Matt Hamill.
Are people really going to pay to see that? Only a hardcore MMA follower will. Is that really worth the money? A main event with almost no implications?
UFC featherweight Pablo Garza’s Octagon career is off to a blazing start—two finishes in two appearances in the last five months earned him $159,000 in bonuses for Knockout and Submission of the Night performances—yet just a year ago,…
UFC featherweight Pablo Garza’s Octagon career is off to a blazing start—two finishes in two appearances in the last five months earned him $159,000 in bonuses for Knockout and Submission of the Night performances—yet just a year ago, he was thinking of calling it quits on the sport he happened to come across.
His first UFC bout came last December, where a flying knee disposed of Fredson Paixao in the organization’s first ever 145-pound contest to the tune of $30,000.
At UFC 129, in the opening fight of the night, he secured a first-round flying triangle choke to pocket the largest submission bonus in UFC history, pulling in $129,000. Despite all in the initial success, the 27-year-old is still uncomfortable splurging on a $300 Playstation 3.
“The first bonus with training and trying to be a full-time fighter, I basically paid off a lot of bills I had in collections and did all that,” Garza told Bleacher Report. “Just got financially settled. Paid off a bunch of stuff. As for this bonus, I’m going to save it. Invest it or something.”
“The Scarecrow” never dreamed of fighting in the UFC like many of the competitors stepping in the cage today. He didn’t wrestle in high school, and his only competitive background came as a point guard at Jamestown College.
But three years ago, he began boxing with a friend. Then a month later, he followed his friend into mixed martial arts, where within the year, his current gym, Academy of Combat Arts, formed.
“Last year, in January, I told myself I was done—I couldn’t do it anymore. I had too many bills and stuff I had to do,” said the three-year veteran. “Me and my coach and I had a long talk and he convinced me, just give it one more year, and in that year, if nothing comes of it, then you know what? Hang it up if you want.”
Garza stuck with it, and within two weeks of an exhibition bout defeat to Michael Johnson on The Ultimate Fighter season 12 airing, he submitted to Zhang Tie Quan in the WEC for the first loss of his professional career. Still, the reason he was fighting was more or less because people kept saying, “You’re pretty good at it. You might as well keep doing it.”
He listened. Then came his back-to-back victories in the Octagon, which have transformed the kickboxing instructor from the University of North Dakota into a fast-rising UFC prospect.
“I think [featherweights] have [taken notice], but with that being said, there’s so much more that I need to be working on,” he said. “The competition is extremely deep especially now with Kenny Florian going down to ’45 and Tyson Griffin going to ’45. The competition now is going to be really intense.”
Garza discovered the natural scrappiness he brings to the cage years ago when facing bullying due to being one of few Mexican-Americans in North Dakota throughout junior high and high school. Once he found martial arts in his mid-20’s, he taught and trained while doing factory work producing windmill blades and bartending on the side to get by.
His pursuit to hit the big stages of professional prizefighting like the UFC from his small-town life wasn’t easy, but despite the tough competition awaiting him in the Octagon, Garza admits, “It’s a lot easier now for me.”
Danny Acosta is the lead writer at FIGHT! Magazine. Follow him on twitter.com/acostaislegend
The judging system in MMA has been a perennial topic of hot debate. Whether it’s due to inexperience or a lack of monitors, fans and fighters are fed up with controversial decisions. What if extra rounds were added to every fight? Just think about it. …
The judging system in MMA has been a perennial topic of hot debate.
Whether it’s due to inexperience or a lack of monitors, fans and fighters are fed up with controversial decisions.
What if extra rounds were added to every fight?
Just think about it. What if the first championship bout between Lyoto Machida and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua went five more rounds? How about an extra two rounds in the grudge fight between Rashad Evans and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson? Machida versus Rampage?
UFC heavyweight contender Roy “Big Country” Nelson recently spoke to ESPN.com about the addition of three-minute rounds.
This would extend the rounds in every professional MMA bout to five, and championship bouts would be decided in 10 rounds.
“They want to add more championship rounds. That’s where I say switch everything to three minutes and go 10 rounds. Then you have a lot of ups and downs,” said Nelson.
The increase in momentum shifts would add to the general excitement for MMA fans. Also, fighters won’t have the luxury of eating time off the clock in an attempt to feel out an opponent. With three-minute rounds, it could encourage fighters to be more aggressive to avoid losing the shorter rounds.
“You’ll probably see a lot more action because you’re constantly trying to win the round,” Nelson said. “Guys wouldn’t be feeling out for two minutes. It’s boom, you’ve got to go right away.”
The ambiguity of MMA judging has definitely raised eyebrows over the years. A last-minute takedown could be the difference between winning and losing, even if you’ve edged out the majority of a round.
“I’d say judges lose sight. One guy will dominate for four minutes, the other guy dominates for a minute, and they give the round to the second guy,” said Nelson.
“I’ve watched fights where I actually take a stopwatch and say, ‘No, he won four minutes of that round, but the judges gave it to the other guy.’ They just remember that last minute. Three minutes is short enough that the whole round stays in your head.”
A controversial fight that many point to, including Nelson, is the UFC 123 light heavyweight tilt involving Machida and Jackson. The judges awarded the split decision to Jackson, who edged out the first couple of rounds. There wasn’t much action in the bout until Machida pounced on an opening in the final round and stunned Jackson with a combination of punches.
“Split that up and Machida wins, hands down,” stated Nelson. “The first two rounds could have been 10-10, because nothing happened. Then Machida dominated late.”
While intriguing, the sport could be a long way away from this kind of adjustment, but the chances of such a major change happening isn’t unrealistic. Even Keith Keizer, who is the executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, sees logic in Nelson’s proposal.
“Three-minute rounds is less stuff to judge,” said Kizer. “It’s easier to run a mile than a marathon. Five minutes is a long time, and it does make judging difficult.”
Now that both Gray Maynard and Frankie Edgar are out of UFC 130 due to injury, the whole lightweight division has been set back.Not only that, but everyone involved loses. The UFC, fans, pay-per-view numbers—everyone.The rematch and third install…
Now that both Gray Maynard and Frankie Edgar are out of UFC 130 due to injury, the whole lightweight division has been set back.
Not only that, but everyone involved loses. The UFC, fans, pay-per-view numbers—everyone.
The rematch and third installment of the Edgar/Maynard series was supposed to take place at UFC 130. Now, neither fighter will get the chance to settle the debate as to who really is the UFC lightweight champion.
The UFC loses out in a huge way. Both the UFC and pay-per-view numbers go down hand-in-hand with this lost from the card. Now, instead of promoting the lightweight championship, they promote a less-sexy matchup in Quinton “Rampage” Jackson versus Matt Hamill.
Are people really going to pay to see that? Only a hardcore MMA follower will. Is that really worth the money? A main event with almost no implications?
The biggest thing that could result from that fight would be Rampage losing, which would send him down the light heavyweight ladder. He can’t even earn a title shot, seeing as Jon Jones isn’t fighting until the end of the year, and his next opponent is almost assuredly Rashad Evans.
The fans want an end to this debate. Is Maynard the real UFC lightweight champion? Or is it Edgar? This question has been going on since they announced their UFC 125 bout. As fans we want a definitive champion, and a draw in the championship fight doesn’t give you that definitive answer.
Not only that, but again, how many fans are willing to pay the price to watch this card? Especially with a good—and free—undercard.
The lightweight division is hurt the most from this. Pettis has already waited long enough for his title shot after beating Ben Henderson at WEC 53 and becoming the last WEC lightweight champion.
Now on top of Pettis, you have top lightweight fighters like Melvin Guillard and Jim Miller, contenders who now have to wait even longer for their title shot.
UFC 130 is still a pretty good card, but no one wins from having the top fight being pulled. Not one single person.
Not only is Anderson Silva beloved by UFC fans all over the world, but he is a also a cultural icon in his native land of Brazil.