The main event could easily take up this entire article, but this card is stacked and that means there are a lot of questions to ponder coming in. It will be interesting to hear the jawing that comes from Jon Jones and Rashad Evans on the UFC Primetime…
The main event could easily take up this entire article, but this card is stacked and that means there are a lot of questions to ponder coming in. It will be interesting to hear the jawing that comes from Jon Jones and Rashad Evans on the UFC Primetime special before the event, and that is definitely something that I am looking forward to for sure. But, I could talk about Jones and Evans all day, and there are 11 other bouts on this card.
Some of the bouts that I am looking forward to are the bouts between Chad Griggs and Travis Browne, Mac Danzig and Efrain Escudero, John Makdessi and Anthony Njokuani and the return of Mark Hominick just to name a few. This is one of the most stacked cards in a long time, and the great part for the fans is that UFC 146 is an even more impressive card.
In the next few slides, I will reveal the seven questions I’m burning on leading into fight night in Atlanta.
It’s official at this point that Bellator Fighting Championships is relevant, exciting and constantly improving its presentation, image and stock of top-notch talent. Bellator is the unofficial second biggest mixed martial arts promotion on the planet,…
It’s official at this point that Bellator Fighting Championships is relevant, exciting and constantly improving its presentation, image and stock of top-notch talent. Bellator is the unofficial second biggest mixed martial arts promotion on the planet, and there is plenty of reasons to want to watch.
Bellator hasn’t gotten the greatest ratings on MTV2 lately, but all of that should change in 2013 when the organization will be broadcast on Spike TV. Bellator provides a tournament format that harkens back to the old UFC days and features homegrown talent from all corners of the globe.
One of the facets that has made it less appealing is that their champions often sit on the shelf for long periods of time waiting for the tournaments to play out. Although now it seems that will be less of an issue with tournaments happening at greater frequency. And with the total, unrelenting support of CEO Bjorn Rebney, Bellator is poised to take it to the next level along with the UFC, and help bring the sport of mixed martial arts into the mainstream once and for all.
There is a case to be made for several men as the greatest professional wrestler of all-time. Your grandfather might tell you about Buddy Rogers or Lou Thesz. Your dad can spin tails about the amazing Ric Flair and “Handsome Harley Race.” A vampire or …
There is a case to be made for several men as the greatest professional wrestler of all-time. Your grandfather might tell you about Buddy Rogers or Lou Thesz. Your dad can spin tails about the amazing Ric Flair and “Handsome Harley Race.” A vampire or the Highlander might even make an argument for Jim Londos or Frank Gotch.
But to me, the Rock stands alone at the top of the list. With apologies to Lex Luger, the “Great One” was the real total package.
What makes him the greatest of all-time? Read on, reminisce and enjoy.
When Fedor Emelianenko’s camp told Sportbox.ru that he was considering signing with the UFC, every MMA fan put on their “Joe Silva Hat” and let the fantasy matchmaking begin. Our creative juices began to flow, and we started to piece things together in…
When Fedor Emelianenko‘s camp told Sportbox.ru that he was considering signing with the UFC, every MMA fan put on their “Joe Silva Hat” and let the fantasy matchmaking begin. Our creative juices began to flow, and we started to piece things together in our minds.
“He can finally fight Overeem!”
“Why did Brock have to retire?”
“Will he finally rematch Werdum?”
Then, reality kicked in.
Dana Whiteclaims to have no interest in bringing over the longtime Pride Heavyweight champion, but we all know that isn’t exactly the case. What he means to say is that he has no interest in giving Vladim Finkelstein and the M-1 goons the ridiculous demands that they feel Fedor warrants. Additionally, they have no interest in catering to Fedor as if his trio of embarrassing losses never happened.
If Fedor were to accept his current place in the food chain and agree to a modest offer from Zuffa, Dana would be happy to have him. Why? Because when the day is done and we put all personal animosity aside, we know that Dana White is a brilliant businessman.
Regardless of his three-fight skid in Strikeforce, Emelianenko is a brand all of his own. Fedor lovers would buy his pay-per-views to cheer him, and Fedor detractors would be happy to watch him go down in flames. It would be a win-win for everyone.
So the question lies: If Fedor were to finally come over to the UFC, who would they put him against?
Clearly, Dana has no interest in giving “The Last Emperor” an immediate shot at gold after his string of misfortune against some of the worlds finest. However, this doesn’t change the fact that Fedor could boost PPV numbers in a co-main event against a high-level heavyweight.
This is a list of the five best opponents for Fedor if he signs with the UFC.
Rich Franklin was the UFC middleweight champion, boasting an incredible record of 22-1-1 after a March 2006 win over David Loiseau. “Ace” seemed like he would dominate the UFC’s 185-pound division for many years to come—that is, until Anderson Si…
Rich Franklin was the UFC middleweight champion, boasting an incredible record of 22-1-1 after a March 2006 win over David Loiseau. “Ace” seemed like he would dominate the UFC’s 185-pound division for many years to come—that is, until Anderson Silva came to town.
Silva defeated Franklin in devastating fashion at UFC 64, and again had his hand raised in the rematch at UFC 77.
Since the second loss to “The Spider,” Franklin hasn’t looked like the dominant force he once was, compiling a record of 4-3 and looking to be in the twilight of his career at 37 years old.
However, if the UFC offered the former high school math teacher a third fight with Silva, don’t expect Franklin to turn it down. Don’t expect him to lacking confidence going into the fight, either.
“If I was able to put another title run together and the UFC wanted to do another fight with Anderson, I would be willing to do another fight with Anderson,” Franklin told MMACanada.net.
“And I believe—and this is just because the champion mentality in my head—but I believe that given another shot, I could win that fight.”
Between his two bouts with the pound-for-pound great, Franklin only managed to survive for slightly over four minutes of action inside the Octagon.
Franklin, who begins speaking around the 2:45 mark of the video, also addresses how his injury rehabilitation has gone, his upcoming UFC 148 bout with Cung Le, and recently being called out by Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.
Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal has probably had better weeks. Early Tuesday, the Nevada State Athletic Commission issued the fighter a nine-month suspension and a substantial fine. Later in the day, he found himself released from his Strike…
Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal has probably had better weeks. Early Tuesday, the Nevada State Athletic Commission issued the fighter a nine-month suspension and a substantial fine. Later in the day, he found himself released from his Strikeforce contract.
Lawal’s NSAC hearing was based around the fact that his drug test for his January 7 fight against Lorenz Larkin came back positive for the steroid drostanolone. Lawal, a former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion, was victorious in that bout, earning a knockout at the 1:32 mark of Round 2.
When the positive test results were announced, Lawal and his manager, Mike Kogan, were quick to name the culprit, an over-the-counter supplement that Lawal had taken, S-Mass Lean Gainer.
To the best of my research, this product was taken off the shelves some time in mid-2011, for exactly the same reason that we’re facing right now. Its primary and only relevant ingredient of that particular product is a substance known as Methyldrostanolone, which is basically just a pill format of Drostanolone
Kogan and Lawal did not contest the findings, instead they hoped for leniency during the hearing, as Kogan said on the MMAHour:
We had no intent of taking any illegal substance and we believe we have enough evidence and enough character references to make that point very clear.
That hope for leniency did not seem to come to fruition. When the hearing was held, Lawal was suspended for nine months and forced to give up 30 percent of his purse from the Larkin fight and his entire $15,000 bonus while the fight result was changed to no-contest.
When handing down punishment, the NSAC seemed to hone in on the fact that Lawal had signed his pre-fight medical questionnaire without mentioning an injury or the over-the-counter supplement (S-Mass Lean Gainer) he used to rehab from that injury. During the course of questioning Lawal on the pre-fight form, Commissioner Pat Lundvall asked Lawal if he understood English and if he could read English.
Those two questions did not sit well with Lawal, a Tennessee-born graduate of Oklahoma State University. Following the hearing, Lawal took to Twitter and posted:
I honestly feel like Lundvall was a racist [expletive] asking me if I can read or speak English. Go on somewhere with that [expletive]
Not long after that post, Lawal was released from his Strikeforce contract. According to Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker, via MMAFighting:
Following the outcome of today’s hearing with the Nevada State Athletic Commission and his subsequent reaction, STRIKEFORCE has released Muhammad Lawal from his contract.
Later in the week, Lawal, speaking to CSNBayArea, issued an apology to Lundvall for calling her “the b-word,” but said he remained offended by her line of questioning.
I was out of line for calling the woman the b-word and I was wrong for that. I was kind of mad about the comments, I was offended by the comments made towards me and I was out of line. I was too emotional. I apologize for that. With that being said, I still feel that I was offended, but I’m in the wrong for what I said.
Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal has probably had better weeks. Early Tuesday, the Nevada State Athletic Commission issued the fighter a nine-month suspension and a substantial fine. Later in the day, he found himself released from his Strikeforce contract.