Former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Muhammed ‘King Mo’ Lawal was asked to comment on the recent ruling by the Nevada State Athletic Commission to restrict UFC heavyweight Alistair Overeem from re-applying for a fighter license for nine months after the Dutch fighter tested positive (14:1 T/E to be exact) for high levels of testosterone. Lawal […]
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Former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Muhammed ‘King Mo’ Lawal was asked to comment on the recent ruling by the Nevada State Athletic Commission to restrict UFC heavyweight Alistair Overeem from re-applying for a fighter license for nine months after the Dutch fighter tested positive (14:1 T/E to be exact) for high levels of testosterone.
Lawal feels that the Commission was more lenient with Overeem than they were with him. Overeem’s lawyer based their case on the heavyweight not knowing what was in an injection he received from a physician for rib pain.
‘King Mo’ went before the same Commission for a positive test after a bout last January, with evidence indicating that a supplement he was taking, which was improperly labelled, was the cause of his high testosterone levels.
The result for both fighters was basically the same, Overeem can’t re-apply for a license for nine months and Lawal had his license suspended for the same amount of time.
“I haven’t been paying attention to the Overeem thing to be honest, because I knew Overeem would get different treatment, so why watch it — so I can get mad? I think it’s pre-determined,” Lawal responded when asked by Mauro Ranallo on The MMA Show today about his opinion of the whole situation. “I had information showing what the supplement was, how the company put it in — I had the bottle to show them that the company didn’t put the actual name drostanolone on the bottle, they put a compound i. (The commission) didn’t care to see it, they said, ‘We’ll see it next time.’”
Also featured on the Podcast was UFC middleweight Mark Munoz, former Strikeforce champ Frank Shamrock, and journalist Dave Meltzer.
UFC light heavyweight contender Dan Henderson was a guest on “The MMA Show with Mauro Ranallo” on Tuesday, to talk about his upcoming title fight with Jon Jones. Henderson talked about Jones title defense against Rashad Evans this past weekend at UFC 145 and what he felt he’d have to do to defeat the champion.
“I’m going to have to definitely mix it up. I’m going to have to definitely hurt him by throwing hands but at the same time I might try to take him down from the outside or the clinch. I need to mix it up. It’s going to be a mixed martial arts fight, for sure.”
Also featured on Tuesday’s Podcast were Bellator middleweight Andreas Spang, Invicta FC fighter Shannon Knapp, Brazilian journalst Fernando Kallas, Marcus LeVesseur’s manager Mickey Dubberly, and MMA Mind Power Luca Senatore.
UFC light heavyweight contender Dan Henderson was a guest on “The MMA Show with Mauro Ranallo” on Tuesday, to talk about his upcoming title fight with Jon Jones. Henderson talked about Jones title defense against Rashad Evans this past weekend at UFC 145 and what he felt he’d have to do to defeat the champion.
“I’m going to have to definitely mix it up. I’m going to have to definitely hurt him by throwing hands but at the same time I might try to take him down from the outside or the clinch. I need to mix it up. It’s going to be a mixed martial arts fight, for sure.”
Also featured on Tuesday’s Podcast were Bellator middleweight Andreas Spang, Invicta FC fighter Shannon Knapp, Brazilian journalst Fernando Kallas, Marcus LeVesseur’s manager Mickey Dubberly, and MMA Mind Power Luca Senatore.
With all of the changes being made to this May’s upcoming UFC 146 event, there is bound to be some uncertainty, especially if your former UFC heavyweight champ Cain Velasquez or his opponent Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva. Velasquez had been scheduled to face Frank Mir in a No. 1 contender bout in the co-main event of […]
With all of the changes being made to this May’s upcoming UFC 146 event, there is bound to be some uncertainty, especially if your former UFC heavyweight champ Cain Velasquez or his opponent Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva.
Velasquez had been scheduled to face Frank Mir in a No. 1 contender bout in the co-main event of the Memorial Day weekend event, but with Mir moving up to face champ Junior dos Santos, Velasquez is now scheduled to meet Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva. Silva meanwhile, had been set to meet Roy ‘Big Country’ Nelson, with Nelson now set to face Gabriel Gonzaga on the pay-per-view card.
The question for Velasquez and Silva, is their match a No. 1 contender bout or not.
Neither Javier Mendez, who coaches Velasquez at the American Kickboxing Academy, nor ‘Bigfoot’s’ manager Alex Davis have been told. Both men explain the situation to Mauro Ronallo on Monday’s episode of ‘The MMA Show with Mauro Ronallo‘.
“I don’t even know if this takes us out of the No. 1 spot, I don’t know,” said Javier Mendez, Velasquez’ trainer at the American Kickboxing Academy. “The view where we’re at, we were in the No. 1 status position if we beat Frank Mir. Now we’re up in the air if it is considered that or not. I’d like to logically think it would be considered, but it’s hard to say.”
Silva’s camp echoed the words of Velasquez’ in regards as to if the new matchup is a title eliminator.
“That hasn’t been told to us yet — I mean, nobody’s said that — but I would say that if ‘Bigfoot’ beats Cain he will make a huge statement and it will definitely put him right there in line somewhere,” said Alex Davis, the manager of Silva.
“(The UFC) had the option of bringing Werdum in or bumping ‘Bigfoot’ up, but with the problems in Brazil, for them to take Werdum off that card — if it’s losing Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen — I kind of expected it,” Davis said of Silva filling the co-main event slot. “I don’t have to be a rocket scientist to understand (Bigfoot) was one of their best options.”
Bellator Season Five Bantamweight Tournament finalist Alexis ‘Exorcist’ Vila (11-2) was bumped from the Season Six tourny this past Friday in the opening quarterfinals to Luis Nogueira via unanimous decision. Following the second loss in the Bellator cage, the first two of Vila’s career, the former Cuban born Olympic Wrestling Bronze medalist was released from […]
Alexis Vila
Bellator Season Five Bantamweight Tournament finalist Alexis ‘Exorcist’ Vila (11-2) was bumped from the Season Six tourny this past Friday in the opening quarterfinals to Luis Nogueira via unanimous decision.
Following the second loss in the Bellator cage, the first two of Vila’s career, the former Cuban born Olympic Wrestling Bronze medalist was released from contract.
At 41-years of age most fighters would be looking to hang up their gloves, for Vila he has his eyes set on the Octagon and wants to do it as part of the UFC’s flyweight division.
Speaking on the MMAjunkie.com Radio show, Vila talked about dropping weight and getting back to his wrestling versus his next opponent.
“I know that [bantamweight is] not my weight class, so I want to prove I’m the best flyweight in the world,” Vila said.
“I think I have to go back to putting people down with my wrestling,” he said.
Now, he needs to find a home where he can put that on display. A fan of current UFC flyweight contender Joseph Benavidez, Vila, who once auditioned for “The Ultimate Fighter 14,” would like to test himself inside the octagon.
Vila said he has many more years of fighting ahead.
“I take care of myself, do the right thing, train, and that’s it,” he said.
When you are the champion of one promotion the world’s top promotions, it is inevitable that you will get asked how you might match up against champions from rival organizations. For Bellator bantamweight champ Zach ‘Fun Size’ Makovsky (14-2), who defends his title this Friday (April 13, 2012) versus Eduardo Dantas, he isn’t ready to […]
Bellator Bantamweight Champ Zach Makovsky
When you are the champion of one promotion the world’s top promotions, it is inevitable that you will get asked how you might match up against champions from rival organizations.
For Bellator bantamweight champ Zach ‘Fun Size’ Makovsky (14-2), who defends his title this Friday (April 13, 2012) versus Eduardo Dantas, he isn’t ready to sing his own praises just yet but matched up versus UFC champ Dominick Cruz, he feels he’s got a “pretty good chance” of beating ‘The Dominator.’
Makovskky is a former NCAA Division I wrestler who has used his skills to become the first Bellator bantamweight champion by winning the inaugural tournament back in October 2010. Since then he has gone on to win two more times in non-title fights, making this fight in Atlantic City at Bellator 65 his first title defense.
Speaking on The Verbal Submission show at MMAMania.com, Makovsky offers his thoughts on how he’d match up versus Cruz, training with the likes of Frankie Edgar and Eddie Alvarez, plus a lot more. So be sure to hit the link to read the entire interview, or press PLAY to listen to the podcast.
Gerry Rodriguez: The champion of the UFC, Dominick Cruz, is a pretty big dude. How do you think you would match up with him?
Zach Makovsky: I don’t know. It’s hard to say. He’s obviously I think the best guy out there right now. He’s been beating everyone and beating everyone pretty handily. He continues to improve in all areas. His fight against Demetrious Johnson was different in that he had to focus more on his ground game which looked very good. There’s really not many holes in his game. I think someone who can take him down and control him there is gonna give him problems but it seems every time he’s taken down, he pops up pretty quick. I don’t know how I’d do. I think I have a skillset where if I take him down and keep him there, I’d have a pretty good chance.
Ben Thapa: When you did train with Eddie Alvarez and so on, is there something you noticed that they’re particularly good at that you need to catch up to or were you almost there and they were just more established?
Zach Makovsky: There’s definitely things that Frankie Edgar and Eddie are better than me at but it plays into their style too. If they’re good at some things, that’s more how they fight and how they approach their fight. Like Eddie is much better than me at stepping in and landing solid shots in combinations but he also gets hit more than me so it’s kind of a trade-off where I’m trying to pick up stuff from them but not like steal it outright. I want to figure out how to work it into my style. I really think Frankie’s movements and takedowns are awesome and when Eddie steps in to hit you, that’s good too but I’m trying to figure out how to work that in from my style. I’m always trying to learn from everybody I see.
Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): When you close your eyes and picture victory against Dantas, what do you see?
Zach Makovsky: I see a tough fight especially in the first two rounds. I think I’m gonna slowly wear him out and control the fight. I think he’s gonna be really hard to finish. If I had to guess, maybe a unanimous decision but I think maybe a late finish with a submission in the fourth round.
Bellator Fighting championships CEO Bjorn Rebney is facing the loss of two of the promotions biggest names in former lightweight champ Eddie Alvarez and current middleweight title holder Hector Lombard. Alvarez is on the remaining few fights of his contract while Lombard’s contract finished late last year. Speaking as a guest on MMAWeekly.com Radio, Rebney […]
Bellator Fighting championships CEO Bjorn Rebney is facing the loss of two of the promotions biggest names in former lightweight champ Eddie Alvarez and current middleweight title holder Hector Lombard.
Alvarez is on the remaining few fights of his contract while Lombard’s contract finished late last year.
Speaking as a guest on MMAWeekly.com Radio, Rebney talked about some of the contract negotiations with both fighters. Here is what he had to say about Alvarez, who is set to face Shiny Aoki in just a few short weeks in the main event of Bellator 66.
“We’ve got two fights left, we’ve got the (Shinya) Aoki fight then we’ve got one more after that. he guy has been just unbelievably good and positive for this organization. He’s been good and positive for Bellator, he’s also been good and positive for the entirety of MMA. Much like our situation with Hector Lombard, right now Hector’s a little bit further along cause I signed him earlier than I signed Ed, but you remember Hector and Ed were signed in 08?.
“It’s coming up on four years and that’s the length of the deal when you win world titles and the extensions are done. We don’t have any champion’s clauses in our contracts, which locks guys in for life, so those contracts are going to come to an end. You’re going to have a brief exclusive negotiation period, and when that ends you’re going to have the right to match an offer that anybody else would make, and we’ve got the right to match.”
“We’ll see what happens in the Aoki fight, and we’ll see what happens in Ed’s last fight under the banner and then we’ll address the Ed situation, much like we’ve addressed the Hector situation.”
