UFC Betting Sites – The Best MMA Online Bookies
UFC best betting sites and the best MMA odds and gambling news
Brock Lesnar is one of the most polarizing fighters in mixed martial arts (MMA), so his extended absence for a repeat case of diverticulitis is sure to have a noticeable impact on the sport in the coming months.While the droves of Lesnar’s haters are s…
Brock Lesnar is one of the most polarizing fighters in mixed martial arts (MMA), so his extended absence for a repeat case of diverticulitis is sure to have a noticeable impact on the sport in the coming months.
While the droves of Lesnar’s haters are sure to see his absence as only a good thing for MMA, there are definitely some negative side effects to be felt as well.
As we adjust to MMA life without Lesnar, here are a couple reasons why Lesnar’s illness will both help and hurt MMA.
As the Extreme Sports channel continues to wind its repetitive way through a dozen WEC shows, we’re going to take a look at their 38th instalment, where Donald Cerrone challenged Jamie Varner for the lightweight title.The broadcast began in the f…
As the Extreme Sports channel continues to wind its repetitive way through a dozen WEC shows, we’re going to take a look at their 38th instalment, where Donald Cerrone challenged Jamie Varner for the lightweight title.
The broadcast began in the featherweight division as Jose Aldo faced Rolando Perez.
Both of these guys were lightning fast with their strikes and kicks, with Aldo just edging it in the speed stakes.
So when it looked like it could go either way, Perez went for a left, only for Aldo to connect with a knee to the chin that sent Perez down.
Aldo went down for a few more strikes before the referee stepped in to give Aldo the TKO win.
Then it was up to welterweight, as Danillo Villefort took on Mike Campbell.
This was a great back-and-forth battle. After a brief feeling-out period, Campbell scored with the takedown. Villefort countered with the rubber guard so Campbell picked him and slammed him down.
Villefort came back with some nice ground work, going for a couple of leg locks. The fight then went up and down before finally returning to the ground, where Villefort took control, took Campbell’s back and secured the ground-and-pound TKO win.
Bantamweight action followed, as Scott Jorgensen went up against Frank Gomez.
Gomez began his night with a couple of kicks, which Jorgensen countered with a takedown. He immediately went for a guillotine, switching it to a power guillotine before Gomez succumbed to the inevitable.
Then it was onto the big rematch in the featherweight division, as Urijah Faber faced Jens Pulver.
This was another step on Pulver’s downward spiral. Little Evil began with a takedown but Faber quickly got back to his feet.
Seconds later Faber connected with a left to the body that rocked Pulver. Faber went in for the kill, eventually taking the fight down and synching in a guillotine for the submission win, handing Pulver his third successive defeat.
The main event saw Donald Cerrone challenge Jamie Varner for the lightweight title.
This was one of the best spirited fights I’ve ever seen. These two showed each other a tremendous amount of respect, but that didn’t stop them from having a great battle.
For just over four rounds we saw an exciting back-and-forth battle. Each man had their moments. Varner put on a great display of ground-and-pound and striking, while Cerrone’s ground work and kicks looked lethal.
But in the early stages of the fifth, Cerrone caught Varner with a knee to the head while the champion was still grounded.
With the blow ruled an unintentional foul and Varner unable to continue, it went to the scorecards, with Varner taking the win by technical split decision. An unfortunate ending to what was a great fight.
In conclusion: Out of the three WEC shows I’ve seen, this has been the best of the bunch.
There was plenty of great action on offer here, with Faber’s destruction of Pulver the highlight of the night for me, although the Varner/Cerrone encounter would have edged it had it not been for the early ending.
So in all, WEC 38 gets the thumbs up from me. But don’t worry if you live in Britain and you haven’t seen this one yet, because it will definitely be repeated soon.
Don’t forget to check out my website at twoshedsreview.blogspot.com. I’ve just posted some of my old fiction there!
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com
MMA Junkie reported earlier today that UFC officials announced that Anthony Johnson was forced to withdraw from his June 26 bout with welterweight newcomer Nate Marquardt (31-10-2) for UFC on Versus 4. His replacement is UFC welterweight…
MMA Junkie reported earlier today that UFC officials announced that Anthony Johnson was forced to withdraw from his June 26 bout with welterweight newcomer Nate Marquardt (31-10-2) for UFC on Versus 4.
His replacement is UFC welterweight up and comer Rick Story (13-3).
There was no rest for Story after having beat Thiago Alves at UFC 130: Rampage vs Hamill this past weekend, he will be back in the Octagon in less than a month.
Story really controlled the action against an always dangerous Alves and despite the striking prowess of Alves he even got the better of Alves in some of the striking exchanges.
Marquardt is making his welterweight debut after struggling to put together the necessary win streak to build towards his second title shot in the division. Furthermore, he struggled in fights against the larger wrestlers of the division, namely Chael Sonnen and Yushin Okami.
With the drop to 170 pounds Marquardt will probably be one of the bigger welterweights in the division with the idea being that he will probably better be able to deal with the strong grapplers in the lighter weight class.
This is obviously a big chance for Marquardt to make a mark in his welterweight debut and quest for a title shot. However, nobody has more to gain in this fight than Story who has quietly positioned himself to being on the cusp of the upper echelons of the welterweight division.
Story lost in his UFC debut at UFC 99 to John Hathaway, but since then has rattled off six straight victories. In his last three fights he has put a damper on two fellow up and comers in Dustin Hazlett and Johnny Hendricks along with the victory over Alves as mentioned earlier.
A win over Marquardt definitely puts Story on the radar for title contention and would probably be one or two fights away from fighting for UFC gold.
Carlos Condit will be fighting Dong Hyun Kim on July 2 at UFC 132 and the winner of this fight might be the perfect follow up for the winner of Maquardt vs Story and a strong case for a title shot to the winner of that could be made.
Obviously Marquardt is no pushover in his own right, having 43 professional fights to his name and always being near the top of the middleweight division. That being said, Story is a pretty decent wrestler and despite lacking the technical striking prowess of the better strikers in the division he definitely tries to make up for it by keeping the pressure on.
Marquardt is a pretty technical striker himself and the question will be whether he is able to stay away from the wrestling of Story, if yes then one could probably expect Marquardt to get the knockout or out-point Story for the decision victory.
If Story can employ the game plan he implemented so effectively against Alves for his fight with Marquardt, he might be able to grind out another victory.
In any case the fight is an excellent opportunity for both fighters, despite being at different stages in their careers, both Story and Marquardt are working towards a title shot and a win for either fighter does a lot to get them closer to that goal.
Georges St-Pierre the current welterweight champion is taking on the the Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz in October at UFC 137.
Although Diaz maybe the underdog against St-Pierre, he is probably the most complete fighter St-Pierre has fought in a while and his aggressive nature in fights is something St-Pierre hasn’t seen from an opponent in a while.
Story is aggressive in his own right so if he does get to that title shot fans of the welterweight division will be privy to two title fights where the challengers bring the fight to the champion, something that hasn’t happened in a while at welterweight.
Marquardt is good friends with St-Pierre and should he win in a few weeks it will be interesting to see how that situation unfolds. Maybe this was part of the plan, have Marquardt move down and St-Pierre move up to middleweight for a super fight showdown with middleweight champion Anderson Silva.
Leon Horne has been contributing to Bleacher Report for three years now. He focuses mainly on mixed martial arts, but he has also written about tennis, football and hockey. Just send him a message if you want to talk sports or discuss any opportunities. You can follow him on Twitter for updates
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com
Shane Carwin’s return to the Octagon to face Ultimate Fighter coach Junior Dos Santos for No. 1 heavyweight title contendership at UFC 131 this Saturday is almost one year after his last appearance in what was a tough loss to former UFC heavyweigh…
Shane Carwin’s return to the Octagon to face Ultimate Fighter coach Junior Dos Santos for No. 1 heavyweight title contendership at UFC 131 this Saturday is almost one year after his last appearance in what was a tough loss to former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar.
Carwin’s matchup with Dos Santos was a question of being in the right place at the right time. Lesnar coached opposite Dos Santos in the 13th installment of the The Ultimate Fighter, and he was scheduled to fight the Brazilian at UFC 131 in Vancouver.
Unfortunately for Lesnar and to the benefit of Carwin, the diverticulitis that kept Lesnar out for close to a year spanning 2009 and 2010 came back, and the former champ was forced to pull-out of his fight with Dos Santos and undergo surgery to correct the problem.
Carwin, already in training camp to fight UFC newcomer Jon-Olav Einemo at UFC 131, was the only credible candidate available to step in for Lesnar on short notice.
Carwin couldn’t have asked for a better scenario, and at 36 years of age, he needs a little bit of luck to help get him back to a title fight as soon as possible, seeing as how time is not on his side.
Talking about father time, one of the things that tends to happen as an athlete ages is their physical skills and abilities begin to erode until there comes a point that they can’t compete anymore.
Having rarely gone out of the first round or the first minute in a fight for that matter, Carwin’s body still has plenty of athleticism to compete with the best. However, in his loss to Lesnar last summer, Carwin looked a little too hard to finish in the first round, and the behemoth of a man seemed to have punched himself out.
At the end of Round 1, Lesnar got back up from a beating that lasted for close to four minutes of a five minute round and controlled the action until the close. At the start of Round 2, Carwin looked exhausted and it didn’t take long for Lesnar to put him on his back and work towards an arm triangle submission victory and second straight title defense.
Fans and media felt the reason Carwin lost was due to his apparent lack of cardiovascular fitness and that he would always be a fighter that has to look to finish early to win.
Carwin went through some surgery of his own this winter for severely pinched nerves in his neck and had some time to reinvent himself as well.
In episode four of Here We Go: Camp Carwin, Shane explains how he has changed his diet, lost 30 pounds, all the while maintaining his explosiveness and athleticism. The episode also claims that the camp has focused on improving his endurance in the Octagon.
Of course, cutting down on body fat percentage and eating a healthy diet is going to help one’s level of physical fitness; there is no disputing that fact.
However, something that seems to have been lost in the shuffle is that what happened to Carwin in the Lesnar fight wasn’t necessarily as much a question about Carwin’s cardiovascular fitness, but rather the expression of an underlying medical condition.
Carwin took to his twitter account after the Lesnar fight and explained that what he had was not a problem with his cardiovascular fitness per se, but actually the expression of a medical condition called lactic acidosis.
“What happened to me July 3rd is called ‘Lactic Acidosis’. It was brought on by a few things and mainly not breathing while exerting energy. I was all cramped up, nausea and major head ache.” Carwin tweeted shortly after the fight with Lesnar.
I am no medical expert and won’t go into the details, more information on the condition can be found at Medline Plus.
Interestingly, in the description of the condition one of the most common causes of onset is intense physical exercise, something a professional fighter is doing every time they compete.
Carwin did say that it was brought on mainly because he didn’t breath, and that may very well be the case, and improvements in his breathing rhythms along with his new diet and weight may be the key to success.
That being said, if lactic acidosis is something that has happened to Carwin in the past, it may happen again. One has to imagine that the longer a fight goes on at an intense pace the chances Carwin experiences the symptoms he experienced in the Lesnar fight probably increases drastically.
There is not doubting Dos Santos’ abilities, he is a great boxer and doesn’t give his opponents a chance to catch their breath (just ask Roy Nelson), so Carwin will probably be pushing the limits once again and it will be interesting to see whether his body locks up on him or not.
The fact that Carwin has only left Round 1 on one occasion over 13 fights, along with his tremendous knockout power, might mean the big man probably doesn’t have to worry too much.
Furthermore, if his cardio is as good as he says it is, then making sure he breaths properly and is patient with his punches might be enough to keep him from locking up against Dos Santos this Saturday Night.
Leon Horne has been contributing to Bleacher Report for three years now. He focuses mainly on mixed martial arts, but he has also written about tennis, football and hockey. Just send him a message if you want to talk sports or discuss any opportunities. You can follow him on Twitter for updates: 
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com
The dust after UFC 130 could not settle due to the harsh winds of controversy. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson—former UFC and Pride champion as well as the night’s main event winner—was at the source of the issue.In a post-fight interview with MM…
The dust after UFC 130 could not settle due to the harsh winds of controversy. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson—former UFC and Pride champion as well as the night’s main event winner—was at the source of the issue.
In a post-fight interview with MMAHeat.com’s Karyn Bryant, Rampage acted in a way many would deem inappropriate, saying he wanted to “motorboat” Bryant while doing the motions and getting close enough to her to make it uncomfortable (although it is worthy to note that Bryant wasn’t bothered).
Rampage, having done questionable things to female reporters in the past (see here and here), is no stranger to such actions.
Needless to say, Rampage’s antics have created controversy amongst the MMA community…controversy about how there is no controversy!
Rampage’s behavior was criticized by Cagewriter.com’s Maggie Hendricks who concluded that Rampage’s act was “old and tired” and that by giving him publicity the MMA media was making a mistake.
Her thoughts on Rampage’s behavior made it to the infamous Underground forums where they were lambasted by rabid keyboard warriors and even UFC commentator and comedian Joe Rogan who said:
“I think Rampage occasionally gets out of line, and I think some of what he does in interviews in unfortunate. I also think that’s a part of his charm. He’s not a fucking dentist, he’s a cage fighter, and he’s one with a very unique personality. I don’t think he should be given a free pass for some of the questionable things he does, but I do think that this woman in question is all kinds of cunty.”
Joe Rogan too has gone “off the handle” at times in the past. Rogan’s words have turned legions of MMA fans against Hendricks and in doing so have caused even more controversy.
Cage Potato’s Ben Goldstein was not at all amused by Rampage’s actions nor by Rogan’s commentary on the situation. He expressed his angst at the lack of attention the whole incident was getting. He rightly summed up the reaction of the MMA community when he wrote:
“[T]he majority of sports fans don’t give a rat’s ass. It’s just not part of their conversation. Nine out of 10 UFC fans will side with Quinton Jackson and Joe Rogan every time, because Rampage and Joe are awesome, and motorboating is hilarious, and who the fuck is Maggie Hendricks anyway?”
In his last paragraph, Goldstein provided a warning: That the employees (be it athletes or commentators) of other sports organizations couldn’t act in such a manner and that a time will come when those belonging to the UFC can’t either so Rogan and Rampage better get their acts together soon.
Goldstein’s ideas can be reiterated in one sentence: If the UFC wants to be considered a first-rate sports organization, its employees should act like they’re part of one.
While no one can or would say that Rampage violating a reporter is commendable (and this article is in no way trying to endorse his actions or dismiss them), this particular situation highlights an issue of great importance that if often ignored in MMA, the issue of the UFC’s image.
UFC President Dana White is heavily criticized by pundit and keyboard warrior alike for his brash personality and propensity for foul language (“Count the F-bombs” could be a drinking game when listening to White’s interviews). Like-minded people criticize Rogan for similar reasons.
The argument is that the UFC can’t ascend to the highest pinnacle of sports along with the NFL and other such sports organizations unless people like White and Rogan are kept quiet and replaced with more conservative figures that will “play the game” and act like a proper CEO or commentator.
However, this notion may not be true. The truth may actually be that the UFC can’t ascend to the highest pinnacle of sports WITHOUT people like Dana White and Joe Rogan and the attitude and style they represent the company with.
The fact of the matter is this: The primary demographic for the UFC is males ages 18-34.
The lower half of that demographic is extremely receptive to the UFC in large part because the President of the UFC dresses like them (Dana White can often be seen sporting shirts that wouldn’t be out of place in a college campus or a frat party) and talks like them.
To put it into perspective, if Dana White were so bad would he really have been invited to the prestigious Oxford Union Society?
Having Joe Rogan as commentator is also part of this appeal. He is a popular comedian for that age group and is also a well known marijuana advocate (which increases his stock with parts of the demographic considerably), not to mention his stint on Fear Factor.
Part of the reason that the UFC is so popular is that White and Rogan help to give it an edge that the NFL, nor the NBA, nor any major sports organizations have. The fans relate to the UFC because they see people more like themselves at the press conference and behind the commentator booth, not like their parents or grandparents.
This has lead to success in the past and is leading to success now. But can it lead to success in the future? Is Goldstein right when he says that the UFC will have to change its ways to be taken seriously?
The answer is a complicated one and may not be settled for a generation.
First, the UFC is swiftly becoming—if it hasn’t already—a truly international sports organization and will therefore not be as subject to the whims of prude American society as it extends its reach over the globe.
Second, it is possible that the current generation of younger (lets say 18-24) UFC fans will become parents that don’t mind behavior the likes of which can be seen by White and Rogan. If this is the case, the UFC’s demographic will expand to the older parents as well as their children, since their parent’s will have no qualms with the UFC unlike many of the older people do today.
If this is the case, the UFC will have almost all of society captivated. They will have the parents since they used to be fans. They will have the kids since the kids will be raised on the sport. And they will have the teens since the sport of fighting naturally appeals to testosterone laden youths.
Third, it is possible that the opposite happens and the fans of today become parents that are put off by the UFC’s antics. If this happens, the UFC has two options. They can either maintain their image and stay with their traditional demographic. The other option is streamline their image and in doing so capture the current fans attention as they become true adults.
If this happens, the sport can still become popular since the NFL is popular with all male demographics and it doesn’t have the “edge” the UFC has.
So, “at the end of the day, what is the answer” you ask? The short term future of the sport depends on the UFC’s current image that appeals so strongly to the zeitgeist of the modern (American) male. It has fueled the companies growth and will continue to do so in the coming years. But in the long term, the answer remains to be seen and will not be known until the bulk of the current UFC fans start having babies.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com
Every Friday, Bleacher Report MMA will be featuring our “Hottie of the Week.”In this first installment, we will be featuring the oh-so-sexy Kelli Hutcherson.The 22-year-old California native has made a name for herself very quickly in the MMA world, an…
Every Friday, Bleacher Report MMA will be featuring our “Hottie of the Week.”
In this first installment, we will be featuring the oh-so-sexy Kelli Hutcherson.
The 22-year-old California native has made a name for herself very quickly in the MMA world, and for good reason. Not only is Kelli very easy on the eyes, but she is also a fun-loving, down to earth, charismatic girl.
While she may not be up there with the Arianny Celeste’s of the world just yet, Kelli has all the tool needed to get there in a hurry.
Sit back, relax, and enjoy.