Tag: MMA

Shinya Aoki Credits Tatsuya Kawajiri for Having Iron Heart

If your weekend didn’t entail having your ass fixed to the couch for much of it, you may have missed Dream 15 where Shinya Aoki dominated Tatsuya Kawajiri en route to a first round, tap out win (by Achilles Lock). Following Aoki’s one sided decision loss to Gilbert Melendez in April, a lot of people […]

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If your weekend didn’t entail having your ass fixed to the couch for much of it, you may have missed Dream 15 where Shinya Aoki dominated Tatsuya Kawajiri en route to a first round, tap out win (by Achilles Lock). Following Aoki’s one sided decision loss to Gilbert Melendez in April, a lot of people were probably expecting the submission wiz to come out aggressively, and sure enough, the Dream champ immediately took the fight to the ground and did his thing. Of course, ‘his thing’, sometimes entails the horrific bending or breaking of human appendages, and in a post-fight interview with Sports Navi, Mr. “Love Em or Hate Em” Aoki had this to say about Saturday’s win (thanks to MMA Bay for the quote):

“When I caught (Kawajiri) and tried to submit him, I heard a loud crackle sound. He did not tap so I thought ‘Ok, this match just became a death-fight’ and I was going to destroy his leg. I knew Kawajiri never taps so I could not win without breaking his bone. I was hoping for an open-fracture. No one could have endured [that submission] like Kawajiri. His heart is iron.”

It’s not every day you read post fight comments that include the words ‘open fracture’ and ‘death fight’, but hell, it makes for good copy (although the comment about the ’open-fracture’ shouldn’t sit well with most).  As far as the “heart is iron” comment, it’s true, Kawajiri did try to hang in there for what was probably several agonizing moments. As far as his next gig, Aoki’s made it clear that he wants to rematch Melendez in the Dream ring; it’s worth a look no?

UFC Confirms Demian Maia vs. Alan Belcher for September 15th

While some believe Anderson Silva has or is quickly running out of opposition in the UFC middleweight division (of course Chael ‘Let Me Tell You Something’ Sonnen vehemently disagrees), the promotion continues to churn out sweet match-ups at 185. Today the UFC confirmed that, as expected for some time, Demian Maia will take on Alan […]

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While some believe Anderson Silva has or is quickly running out of opposition in the UFC middleweight division (of course Chael ‘Let Me Tell You Something’ Sonnen vehemently disagrees), the promotion continues to churn out sweet match-ups at 185. Today the UFC confirmed that, as expected for some time, Demian Maia will take on Alan Belcher, September 15th, in Austin, Texas. Even better, you’ll be able to catch the fight for (somewhat) free, as the tilt will headline a UFC Fight Night card on Spike.

Now of course the fight will be Maia’s first since UFC 112 in April, when he dropped a Unanimous Decision loss to Silva, in a bout that many have tried desperately to erase from their memory (no; sniffing felt markers doesn’t work…). Belcher is coming off a slam-em-choke-em victory over Patrick Cote in May, to essentially extend his winning streak to 5 (we don’t have to agree with the official ruling that he lost by Split Decision to Yoshihiro Akiyama if we don’t want to).

So, there you have it. Another no-brainer, ‘what’s-the-game-plan?’ bout with a lot riding on the outcome for both dudes. In addition to the Maia / Belcher fight, the UFC has also announced that Mac Danzig will get an opportunity to right the ridiculous wrong he was handed at UFC 115, as he’ll face Matt Wiman again on September 15th. You likely recall that Wiman was awarded the technical submission win over Danzig last month, despite the fact that the former TUF winner was probably more conscious and aware of his surroundings than some of the people in attendance.

Jake Shields Would “Love to See” Nick Diaz and Gilbert Melendez in the UFC

Heading into Jake Shields’ final Strikeforce bout against Dan Henderson, there was a lot of speculation that the middleweight champion was being set up to lose before exiting from the promotion, an view which was fed ‘all you can eat buffet’ style by UFC Pres Dana White. Of course, Shields earned the UD win over […]

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Heading into Jake Shields’ final Strikeforce bout against Dan Henderson, there was a lot of speculation that the middleweight champion was being set up to lose before exiting from the promotion, an view which was fed ‘all you can eat buffet’ style by UFC Pres Dana White. Of course, Shields earned the UD win over the decorated fighter, and is reportedly a pen stroke or two away from signing with the UFC.

Well, now that Shields has been officially released from the promotion, the fighter has begun to talk a little more openly about his former employers, and in an interview with BJ Penn.com, he wasn’t exactly overly warm…In fact, Shields offered this, while talking about the futures of his Cesar Gracie teammates Nick Diaz and Gilbert Melendez.

“I don’t want to knock Strikeforce because that’s not my style even though they did treat me like shit which was unnecessary because I never talked bad about them. Honestly I would love to see Gilbert and Nick in the UFC. Even though Strikeforce is a good show, everyone knows it’s the number two show. They have a handful of good fighters but all the top competition is in the UFC and I feel that Nick and Gilbert are good enough to fight at the highest level. I would love to see them come over and once I get signed I’ll have to put that in Dana’s ear.”

For more from the interview head here.

Report: Strikeforce Looking to Negotiate Champion’s Clause With Fedor

It was just a couple of days ago that likely thousands of MMA fans did a re-read, while surveying a report from Sherdog, where Strikeforce boss man Scott Coker made the case that Fedor Emelianenko should fight the promotion’s champion Alistair Overeem next (alas, some staffers here at Fix needed to read it five times..). […]

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It was just a couple of days ago that likely thousands of MMA fans did a re-read, while surveying a report from Sherdog, where Strikeforce boss man Scott Coker made the case that Fedor Emelianenko should fight the promotion’s champion Alistair Overeem next (alas, some staffers here at Fix needed to read it five times..). Yes, at first read it didn’t really sit well, Fedor loses to Fabricio Werdum but still gets a title shot? Has that ever happened bef…or right Brett Rogers. Now, to be fair, Coker didn’t outright shoot down Fedor’s request for an immediate rematch with Werdum, but with comments like “We just saw Fedor fight Werdum,” it didn’t sound like it was his first choice.

Well, MMA Fighting has an updated report out which helps make a lot more sense of Coker’s idea. According to the story, Strikeforce spokesperson Mike Afromowitz has confirmed to the outlet that the promotion is hoping to negotiate a champion’s clause with Fedor. Meaning, that if Fedor wins the belt, he cannot sign with another promotion. In other words, with one fight on his Strikeforce deal remaining, if Fedor were to beat Overeem he could not cruise to say another promotion, let’s just say for the hell of it, one that by chance uses the letters U.F.C. (like another champion, who let’s say has a name with the letters S.h.i.e.l.d.s., and didn’t have a champion’s clause).

So, as you can see, there’s some shrewd business tactics at work here by Coker- if Fedor beats Overeem, he has to stay;  if he loses, his Strikeforce contract comes to an end having gone 1-2. Still seems a little off though no?

Report: Michael Bisping vs. Vitor Belfort in the Works for UFC 120?

It’s been an up-and-down ride for Michael “The Count” Bisping since he decided to drop down from light-heavyweight to compete at 185lbs. The ups, important wins over notable dudes like Denis Kang, Chris Leben and most recently Dan Miller; the downs, a UD loss to Wanderlei Silva, and of course, most horrifically, his ‘close your […]

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It’s been an up-and-down ride for Michael “The Count” Bisping since he decided to drop down from light-heavyweight to compete at 185lbs. The ups, important wins over notable dudes like Denis Kang, Chris Leben and most recently Dan Miller; the downs, a UD loss to Wanderlei Silva, and of course, most horrifically, his ‘close your eyes kids’ KO loss to Dan Henderson last July. While Bisping seems to be somewhat of a polarizing figure in terms of the fans, it’s hard to deny that he’s been involved in some pretty memorable and entertaining tilts.

So, with his recent win over Miller, it remains to be seen what the UFC will do next with one of Britain’s biggest MMA names. According to a report from MMA Bay, “A source close to the situation” (so take that for what it’s worth) has informed the British outlet the UFC is looking at matching Bisping up against Vitor Belfort, October 16th, at UFC 120. The story states that a “verbal agreement” for the fight has been obtained by “at least one fighter.”

What to make of this? Well, clearly a bout between the two noted strikers (with an asterisk by Belfort’s name for his KTFO power) would likely be pretty damn sweet, but it’s somewhat surprising considering Belfort was reportedly in line to fight the winner of Chael Sonnen and Anderson Silva. You may recall that the middleweight was supposed to fight the champion Silva in April, before Belfort trashed his shoulder and hit the DL. In other words, Belfort fans shouldn’t start whining just yet about not receiving an immediate title shot.

James Toney Says “”MMA Ain’t No Different Than Boxing”

For years now the debate as to how a ‘high level’ boxer would do competing in MMA has raged (even more than the old ‘how would Bruce Lee have done in the Octagon?’ discussion). Of course, some boxers / kickboxers have transitioned into the sport and done rather (hello Mr. Marcus Davis), but the key […]

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For years now the debate as to how a ‘high level’ boxer would do competing in MMA has raged (even more than the old ‘how would Bruce Lee have done in the Octagon?’ discussion). Of course, some boxers / kickboxers have transitioned into the sport and done rather (hello Mr. Marcus Davis), but the key component here is that they trained in various disciplines, you know, to follow up on the ‘mixed’ part of MMA.

James Toney signing with the UFC was such big news, because even though he’s past his prime at 41, he’s still a heavyweight champion. Now, since the news blazed across the internet that Toney would indeed fight Randy Couture August 28th, there’s been a ton of speculation as to how and what the boxer is doing in preparation for his MMA debut. According to some reports, Toney’s been pretty slick on the mats, even tapping out “King Mo” Lawal. So, while keeping this in mind, consider the following comments Toney made at a recent presser to hype UFC 118 (thanks to MMA Junkie for the quote)

“Why should I be scared of an MMA fighter?” Toney asked. “What’s different? MMA ain’t no different than boxing. Boxing is much tougher because you’re in there constantly punching and pounding.  Right here, you’ve got Randy Couture who’s going to be scared and constantly try to hug me like a little girl, and I’m going to make him pay for that.”

Toney also stated that he will knock Randy out, wait for it…even from his back. We’ll let you decide if the ‘charismatic’ fighter is just taking utter sh-t.  To read more from James ‘I Got This’ Toney head here.