Tag: News

M-1’s Showtime Return on October 14 to Feature Three Title Fights

Filed under: MMA Fighting Exclusive, M-1 Global, NewsM-1’s return to Showtime television is set for October 14, and will include a trio of title fights, the promotion’s global director of operations Evgeni Kogan told MMA Fighting on Tuesday.

The night…

Filed under: , ,

M-1’s return to Showtime television is set for October 14, and will include a trio of title fights, the promotion’s global director of operations Evgeni Kogan told MMA Fighting on Tuesday.

The night’s main event will feature the return of M-1’s heavyweight champion Guram Gugenishvili, who will take on Kenny Garner in a rematch of their October 2010 title fight. Gugenishvili had been expected to fight on M-1’s July card but suffered a left wrist injury prior to the bout and withdrew.

The unbeaten Gugenishvili is 11-0 so far in his pro career, with 10 of his wins coming via submission. Garner was a secod-round guillotine choke victim in round two of their previous encounter, making him only the second man to make it out of the first round against him.

Since losing that fight, Garner has won two straight, improving to 7-3.

In a light-heavyweight championship match, reigning king Vinny Magalhaes will face Mikhail Zayats. Magalhaes, an Ultimate Fighter season eight competitor, has won four fights in a row, all by finish. On April 28, the submission specialist won the vacant belt by defeating Viktor Nemkov via mounted gogoplata.

Magalhaes is 8-5 with 1 no contest overall. Zayats is 14-5 after winning four straight bouts, all by stoppage.

In the second co-main event, lightweight champ Jose Figueroa will attempt to defend his belt against Daniel Weichel.

Figueroa (10-4) seized the championship in March with a second-round TKO of Artiom Damkovsky, marking his third straight win. Weichel, meanwhile, has won nine of his last 10 bouts, including four in a row. His last win came at M-1’s July event, when he earned a unanimous decision over Beau Baker.

Kogan told MMA Fighting that a venue for the event is still being worked and “is about to be locked in.”

M-1 Challenge 27 will be the promotion’s third card aired on Showtime. It will air at 11 pm. Its first two events drew 189,000 and 161,000 viewers, respectively, to the premium cable network.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

UFC Vets Josh Neer, Keith Wisniewski Return at UFC on Versus 6

Filed under: UFC, NewsA pair of veteran fighters – both with UFC experience and with more than 80 professional fights between them – are returning to the promotion and will face each other this fall at UFC on Versus 6.

Verbal agreements are in place f…

Filed under: ,

A pair of veteran fighters – both with UFC experience and with more than 80 professional fights between them – are returning to the promotion and will face each other this fall at UFC on Versus 6.

Verbal agreements are in place for welterweights Josh Neer and Keith Wisniewski (pictured) to meet on Oct. 1 in Washington, D.C. Sources close to the fight confirmed the matchup to MMA Fighting on Tuesday morning, which was first reported by MMA Junkie. Neer and Wisniewski have 83 pro fights between them – 42 for Neer, 41 for Wisniewski – yet both are under 30 years old.

UFC on Versus 6 is the promotion’s debut in the nation’s capital city and will be the company’s final live show on the cable station in its current four-fight deal. The card will be headlined by a bantamweight title fight between champion Dominick Cruz and Demetrious Johnson.

Neer (31-10-1, 4-6 UFC) returns to the big show for the first time since a decision loss to Gleison Tibau at UFC 104. Neer has gone on a four-fight win streak since being choked out by Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez 15 months ago, and all four wins have been stoppages.

On Saturday, Neer stopped Blas Avena with a first-round TKO at a Superior Cage Combat show in Las Vegas. And in June, he defended his Shark Fights interim welterweight belt against Jesse Juarez. Since being cut by the UFC, Neer has won six of seven fights with just the Alvarez loss, at Bellator 17, a blemish on his record.

Neer first fought in the UFC on the first Fight Night card in August 2005, losing by submission to Drew Fickett. He returned at Fight Night 3 and submitted Melvin Guillard, currently one of the UFC’s top lightweights, and then beat Joe Stevenson at Fight Night 4. Losses to Josh Burkman and Nick Diaz, at UFC 61 and 62, sent him packing. But he returned at Fight Night 13 and stayed put in the UFC for five straight bouts, going 2-3 with wins over Din Thomas and Mac Danzig, and decision losses to Nate Diaz, Kurt Pellegrino and Tibau. His fights with Nate Diaz and Danzig both were Fight of the Night winners.

Wisniewski (28-12-1, 0-1 UFC) is in the midst of a six-fight winning streak that includes a submission of UFC veteran Pete Spratt and a dominant decision win over UFC vet Chris Wilson in April. Wisniewski’s lone UFC fight came against Nick Thompson at UFC 56, a unanimous decision loss.

After his loss to Thompson, Wisniewski signed with Bodog Fight and lost a split decision to Jorge Masvidal. He then hooked up with the IFL and lost to Rory Markham. That loss was followed by a pair of split decision setbacks. In fact, the way Wisniewski sees it, his six-fight winning streak could just as easily be 10.

“There were three split decisions and one draw that was going to go into overtime, and I couldn’t continue,” Wisniewski told MMA Fighting in April. “Two of those, I’ve gone back and watched and I’m certain that I won. Two of them, maybe I lost but they could’ve gone my way – they were really close decisions.”

Wisniewski, whose most well-known fight, perhaps, was when Shinya Aoki snapped his elbow at a Shooto event in Japan in 2005, runs the Duneland Vale Tudo gym in Northwest Indiana that is the home to UFC fighters Eddie Wineland and Darren Elkins. But it was likely his win over Wilson in April that put him back on the UFC’s radar screen – like he hoped it would. Wilson returned after a yearlong layoff, though training with the Nogueira brothers in Brazil, and was dominated by Wisniewski – including a 30-26 – at Hoosier Fight Club 7 in April.

UFC on Versus 6 takes place Oct. 1 at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. It will be the promotion’s final live event on the Versus cable channel in a four-fight deal in 2011. The UFC will move its broadcast home to the Fox networks in 2012, including FX and Fuel TV.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

TUF 14 Roll Call: Cast Announced for ‘The Ultimate Fighter: Team Bisping vs. Team Mayhem’

(Props: Spike)

Spike TV has released the full cast of TUF 14, which premieres September 21st on Spike. The 32-man bracket features a diverse spread of talent including WEC vets looking for a comeback (Bryan Caraway, Micah Miller), well-known prospects from outside the Zuffa umbrella (Matt Jaggers, Eric Marriott), up-and-comers from notable camps (Jackson MMA’s John Dodson, Cesar Gracie’s Josh Clopton), and total unknowns (Roland Delorme? Bryson Wailehua-Hansen?).

Episode 1 of ‘Team Bisping vs. Team Mayhem‘ is a two-hour orgy of elimination-round fights, in which the 32 featherweight and bantamweight hopefuls will be slashed down to 16. Mark it on your calendars, and check out the full list of names after the jump.

(Props: Spike)

Spike TV has released the full cast of TUF 14, which premieres September 21st on Spike. The 32-man bracket features a diverse spread of talent including WEC vets looking for a comeback (Bryan Caraway, Micah Miller), well-known prospects from outside the Zuffa umbrella (Matt Jaggers, Eric Marriott), up-and-comers from notable camps (Jackson MMA’s John Dodson, Cesar Gracie’s Josh Clopton), and total unknowns (Roland Delorme? Bryson Wailehua-Hansen?).

Episode 1 of ‘Team Bisping vs. Team Mayhem‘ is a two-hour orgy of elimination-round fights, in which the 32 featherweight and bantamweight hopefuls will be slashed down to 16. Mark it on your calendars, and check out the full list of names after the jump.

BANTAMWEIGHTS

JOHN ALBERT
Fighting out of: Puyallup, Wash. / Victory Athletics
Record: 6-1-0
Age: 24

JOHNNY BEDFORD
Fighting out of: Watuga, Texas/ F3 Alliance
Record: 17-9-1
Age: 28

CARSON BEEBE
Fighting out of: Western Springs, Ill. / Gilbert Grappling
Record: 6-1-0
Age: 22

ROLAND DELORME
Fighting out of: Winnipeg, Manitoba / Winnipeg Academy of MMA
Record: 6-1-0
Age: 27

TJ DILLASHAW
Fighting out of: Sacramento, Calif. / Team Alpha Male
Record: 4-0-0
Age: 25

JOHN DODSON
Fighting out of: Albuquerque, N.M. / Jackson’s Mixed Martial Arts
Record: 11-5-0
Age: 26

CASEY DYER
Fighting out of: New Castle, Ind. / No Affiliation
Record: 6-1-0
Age: 21

BJ FERGUSON
Fighting out of: Louisville, Ky. / All-American MMA
Record: 6-2-0
Age: 29

JOSH FERGUSON
Fighting out of: Louisville, Ky. / All-American MMA
Record: 7-3-0
Age: 22

LOUIS GAUDINOT
Fighting out of: Yonkers, N.Y. / Team Tiger Schulmann
Record: 5-1-0
Age: 26

MATT JAGGERS
Fighting out of: Connersville, Ind. / Team Wolfpack
Record: 20-7-0
Age: 25

TATEKI MATSUDA
Fighting out of: Boston, Mass. / Team Sityodtong
Record: 6-2-0
Age: 25

PAUL MCVEIGH
Fighting out of: Glasgow, Scotland / Dinky Ninjas
Record: 18-6-0
Age: 29

BRANDON MERKT
Fighting out of: New Richmond, Wisc. / The Academy
Record: 11-0-0
Age: 27

DUSTIN PAGUE
Fighting out of: Centreville, Va. / MASE MMA
Record: 9-4-0
Age: 23

ORVILLE SMITH
Fighting out of: Indianapolis, Ind. / Integrated Fighting
Record: 11-3-0
Age: 30

FEATHERWEIGHTS

STEPHEN BASS
Fighting out of: Savannah, Ga. / Lloyd Irvin MMA
Record: 10-0-0
Age: 28

DENNIS BERMUDEZ
Fighting out of: Massapequa, N.Y./ Long Island MMA
Record: 7-2-0
Age: 24

DIEGO BRANDAO
Fighting out of: Albuquerque, N.M. / Jackson’s Mixed Martial Arts
Record: 13-7-0
Age: 23

MARCUS BRIMAGE
Fighting out of: Coconut Creek, Fla. / American Top Team
Record: 3-1-0
Age: 31

BRYAN CARAWAY
Fighting out of: Sacramento, Calif. / Team Alpha Male
Record: 15-5-0
Age: 26

JOSH CLOPTON
Fighting out of: San Francisco, Calif. / Skrap Pack
Record: 4-0-1
Age: 29

AKIRA CORASSANI
Fighting out of: Gothenburg, Sweden / Team Kaobon
Record: 9-3-0
Age: 28

KARSTEN LENJOINT
Fighting out of: Nottingham, United Kingdom / Wolfslair Academy
Record: 7-1-0
Age: 30

ERIC MARRIOTT
Fighting out of: Independence, Mo. / Grindhouse MMA
Record: 20-5-0
Age: 25

MICAH MILLER
Fighting out of: Coconut Creek, Fla. / American Top Team
Record: 17-4-0
Age: 24

DUSTIN NEACE
Fighting out of: Granite City, Ill. / Hit Squad
Record: 22-17-1
Age: 24

JESSE NEWELL
Fighting out of: Ventura, Calif. / Knuckleheadz Boxing
Record: 6-1-0
Age: 24

BRIAN PEARMAN
Fighting out of: Springfield, Mo. / Springfield Fight Club
Record: 7-1-0
Age: 26

JIMMIE RIVERA
Fighting out of: Elmwood Park, N.J. / Team Tiger Schulmann
Record: 8-1-0
Age: 21

STEVEN SILER
Fighting out of: Ogden, Utah / Riven Academy
Record: 18-9-0
Age: 24

BRYSON WAILEHUA-HANSEN
Fighting out of: Honolulu, Hawaii / MMA Development
Record: 5-1-0
Age: 24

Royce Gracie Wants One More UFC Fight, but Ready to Move on Without It

Filed under: , ,

Mixed martial arts pioneer Royce Gracie will be in Rio this weekend when the UFC heads back to his home country, the nation that is credited with giving birth to the sport. Gracie, of course, won’t be competing at UFC 134 in Brazil, but that doesn’t mean he’s not still hopeful of one more match.

There’s a caveat to that, as he’s not looking for just any match. There’s only one fight he wants, and only one organization that can give it to him. Even though Gracie realizes that time is running short to make it a reality, he hopes to have a shot to avenge the one loss he still thinks about. He wants to fight fellow legend Matt Hughes.

“That’s the only one,” Gracie said on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour. “I want to be able to show up to the fight. [Last time], I didn’t show up. It happens.”

Gracie said that the first fight against Hughes — a first-round TKO loss at UFC 60 back in May 2006 — was the only time in his career he didn’t have his A-game, not peaking on the right day.

“That’s the only one missing,” said Gracie, who avenged his only other in-ring loss by defeating Kazushi Sakuraba.

Gracie said that he has spoken with UFC president Dana White about the possibility, but that he doesn’t know if it will ever happen. Hughes, meanwhile, has a match coming up with Diego Sanchez at September’s UFC 135.

At 44 years old, Gracie still keeps himself in good shape, saying he lives “a professional athlete’s life,” by running every day and consistently training. He also travels an extensive schedule, teaching seminars and spreading the message of Gracie jiu-jitsu.

Still, he’d carve time for one more training camp for one last shot at the UFC, and one more shot at Hughes. He said he wouldn’t be interested in any other offer from any other organization, suggesting he is mostly at peace with the possibility of never fighting again.

“If it happens, good.” he said. “If it doesn’t happen, good.

“Been there, done that,” he continued. “You have to know when to stop in this sport. It’s very hard. I saw an interview from BJ Penn. He was saying it’s very hard to stop because when you’re a fighter, you’re a fighter. But you have to know when to stop.”

So for now, Gracie will continue teaching his art and in the more near-term, he’ll travel to Rio to revel in the homecoming of the sport he helped build the foundation for.

Whether or not he gets that last fight, he has much to be grateful for and there is much to celebrate him for. Regardless of the outcome of one match against Hughes, his contributions to the sport will always be an enormous reason for MMA’s growth, and now he gets to enjoy it firsthand in the country in which he grew up.

“It’s good it’s in Brazil,” he said. “It’s back where it all started with my father. It’s coming back home. There’s so much talent in Brazil, so many guys that will probably never get discovered. It’s a chance for them to come out and train more. After all, UFC today became a job, it became a sport. Kids wake up in the morning and say, ‘I want to be a UFC fighter one day, just like they do in baseball.”

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under: , ,

Mixed martial arts pioneer Royce Gracie will be in Rio this weekend when the UFC heads back to his home country, the nation that is credited with giving birth to the sport. Gracie, of course, won’t be competing at UFC 134 in Brazil, but that doesn’t mean he’s not still hopeful of one more match.

There’s a caveat to that, as he’s not looking for just any match. There’s only one fight he wants, and only one organization that can give it to him. Even though Gracie realizes that time is running short to make it a reality, he hopes to have a shot to avenge the one loss he still thinks about. He wants to fight fellow legend Matt Hughes.

“That’s the only one,” Gracie said on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour. “I want to be able to show up to the fight. [Last time], I didn’t show up. It happens.”


Gracie said that the first fight against Hughes — a first-round TKO loss at UFC 60 back in May 2006 — was the only time in his career he didn’t have his A-game, not peaking on the right day.

“That’s the only one missing,” said Gracie, who avenged his only other in-ring loss by defeating Kazushi Sakuraba.

Gracie said that he has spoken with UFC president Dana White about the possibility, but that he doesn’t know if it will ever happen. Hughes, meanwhile, has a match coming up with Diego Sanchez at September’s UFC 135.

At 44 years old, Gracie still keeps himself in good shape, saying he lives “a professional athlete’s life,” by running every day and consistently training. He also travels an extensive schedule, teaching seminars and spreading the message of Gracie jiu-jitsu.

Still, he’d carve time for one more training camp for one last shot at the UFC, and one more shot at Hughes. He said he wouldn’t be interested in any other offer from any other organization, suggesting he is mostly at peace with the possibility of never fighting again.

“If it happens, good.” he said. “If it doesn’t happen, good.

“Been there, done that,” he continued. “You have to know when to stop in this sport. It’s very hard. I saw an interview from BJ Penn. He was saying it’s very hard to stop because when you’re a fighter, you’re a fighter. But you have to know when to stop.”

So for now, Gracie will continue teaching his art and in the more near-term, he’ll travel to Rio to revel in the homecoming of the sport he helped build the foundation for.

Whether or not he gets that last fight, he has much to be grateful for and there is much to celebrate him for. Regardless of the outcome of one match against Hughes, his contributions to the sport will always be an enormous reason for MMA’s growth, and now he gets to enjoy it firsthand in the country in which he grew up.

“It’s good it’s in Brazil,” he said. “It’s back where it all started with my father. It’s coming back home. There’s so much talent in Brazil, so many guys that will probably never get discovered. It’s a chance for them to come out and train more. After all, UFC today became a job, it became a sport. Kids wake up in the morning and say, ‘I want to be a UFC fighter one day, just like they do in baseball.”

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Bjorn Rebney Says Bellator Jumping to Spike TV Is Not That Simple

Filed under: Bellator, NewsWith the UFC joining forces with FOX instead of inking a new deal with Spike TV, it only seems natural that Bellator will eventually fill the MMA void for Spike TV. But as much as fans and pundits alike have already pegged Be…

Filed under: ,

With the UFC joining forces with FOX instead of inking a new deal with Spike TV, it only seems natural that Bellator will eventually fill the MMA void for Spike TV. But as much as fans and pundits alike have already pegged Bellator as Spike TV-bound, Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney says it’s not that simple.

“Viacom is hugely, hugely successful entertainment empire that has motion pictures and television networks underneath that umbrella and they do extremely well on multiple fronts,” Rebney said Monday on The MMA Hour. “And there’s a lot of really smart people who makes decisions as to who goes where and who does what, when certain programming premieres and when certain programmings does the things that it does.”

Even though Bellator is under a contract with MTV Networks, which owns MTV, MTV2, Comedy Central, Spike TV and many other channels, it depends on the overall strategy of MTV. Where Bellator ends up in the near future will be left up to programming executives and it’s not his call.

“My job is really, truly to build this brand,” Rebney said. “To produce unbelievable shows, deliver them to our partners and try to keep signing world class fighters like the Pat Currans of the world, the [Rene] Nazares and the Mike Chandlers and the Eddies (Alvarez).”

Bellator debuted in 2009 with ESPN Deportes and then ran season two and three on Fox Sports Net in 2010. This past April, Bellator left the land of tape-delay when the Chicago-based company signed on with MTV 2.

Whether or not Bellator finds itself on Spike TV, the promotion, now around 10 months into its three-year deal with MTV Networks, is very happy with its current situation, consistently putting up solid numbers for MTV 2.

“What happens in the future will ultimately happen in the future wherever it goes, but boy, have we been happy in our place with MTV2, what’s going on and the building out of stronger ratings and bigger numbers and the expansion of the demo,” he says. “It’s just been awesome.”

Rebney would agree though, that the UFC’s deal with FOX was a positive for everyone. Rebney says UFC’s presence on FOX and its family of networks will only introduce the sport to more fans.

“I think it’s good for Bellator, I think it’s good for the sport of MMA and it remains to see how that will work out with the UFC, but on its face, it sure doesn’t look like a bad situation.”

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

UFC 134 Fight Card: Silva vs. Okami: Odds, Predictions, Analysis and News

UFC 134 will mark the first time time the UFC has presented an event in Brazil since October 1998. The fight card, which will see UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva defend his title against Yushin Okami in the main event, will take place at Rio d…

UFC 134 will mark the first time time the UFC has presented an event in Brazil since October 1998. The fight card, which will see UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva defend his title against Yushin Okami in the main event, will take place at Rio de Janeiro’s HSBC Arena on Saturday, August 27. Silva is […]

UFC Betting

UFC 134 Fight Card: Silva vs. Okami: Odds, Predictions, Analysis and News