Fan favorite and Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight, Pat ‘HD’ Barry (7-4) has his next fight scheduled for this May in New Jersey when he meets former Strikeforce fighter Lavar Johnson on the main card of the UFC on FOX 3 show. Barry has been a fan favorite for awhile, using his humor to win over […]
Fan favorite and Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight, Pat ‘HD’ Barry (7-4) has his next fight scheduled for this May in New Jersey when he meets former Strikeforce fighter Lavar Johnson on the main card of the UFC on FOX 3 show.
Barry has been a fan favorite for awhile, using his humor to win over fans as well as his heavy handed knockouts.
During a spot as a guest on the SiriusXM Fight Club, Barry offered his thoughts on why fans are so in to him.
“I think the difference… I’m still learning as I’m going, as I do this what I think that the people are…what I know they are gravitating towards more than anything else is that I’m straight flat honest. You know what I mean, I got no (grumbles) ‘I’ll kick you in the face,’ I’ve got none of the normal fighter lines and what not. I tell my everyday story and I think a lot of people are relating to that. That’s what they can do, they don’t look at me as sitting on top of a mountain at some level they can’t reach, like Hulk Hogan or the Rock. They can look right or left and I’m standing right there next to them and they can see that this is an everyday regular guy who has ups and downs ‘like I do’. If he can do it, I can do it too.”
Barry and Johnson are set to meet on May 5 at the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, NJ in the opening main card bout of the UFC on Fox: Diaz vs. Miller event.
Former UFC lightweight champion Frankie ‘The Answer’ Edgar (14-2-1) has his rematch with newly crowned title holder Bensen Henderson, following some fierce negotiations between Edgar’s manager Ali Abdel-Aziz and the UFC matchmakers. There had been talk of passing Edgar over for a new face, but after ‘The Answer’ re-matched each of his last two opponents, […]
Edgar and Henderson faceoff – Photo by Al Bello/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Former UFC lightweight champion Frankie ‘The Answer’ Edgar (14-2-1) has his rematch with newly crowned title holder Bensen Henderson, following some fierce negotiations between Edgar’s manager Ali Abdel-Aziz and the UFC matchmakers.
There had been talk of passing Edgar over for a new face, but after ‘The Answer’ re-matched each of his last two opponents, BJ Penn and Gray Maynard, the Ultimate Fighting Championship relented granting Edgar a chance to regain his title.
Part of those negotiations did involve the promotions president, Dana White, who was very vocal when speaking to the media that he wanted Edgar to drop to featherweight for an immediate title shot with 145-lbs champion Jose Aldo.
According to Abdel-Aziz, dropping down to featherweight wasn’t even a consideration for his fighter.
Abdel-Aziz was a guest on “The MMA Show with Mauro Ranallo” on Wednesday, along with UFC bantamweight champ Dominick Cruz, to talk about Edgar’s rematch and the negotiations that took place between the two sides.
“It wasn’t at all (something Edgar considered),” Edgar’s manager Ali Abdel-Aziz told The MMA Show today. “It was out of the picture.”
“(Edgar vs. Henderson) was a great fight. Ben is a great fighter and a great champion, but we thought Frankie won the fight,” his manager said. “Frankie’s really excited to get back into the gym and get his title back. This is what he wants to do. I just want to thank the UFC for giving him the opportunity. This is why they are the best promotion in the world.”
“We met with Dana and Lorenzo (Fertitta) in New York last night,” he said. “We had a great meeting and they offered him an immediate title shot against Aldo, but Frankie said no, he’s staying at 155 for now. He’s going to try and get his title back and maybe after that he goes to 145.”
Henderson earned a decision over Edgar just a few short weeks ago in Japan in the main event of UFC 144.
With days left before a featherweight title match versus Joe Warren, Bellator Summer Series tournament winner Pat Curran (16-4) credits his evolution as a fighter for getting him to this point of his career. Curran has already battled for a Bellator title, losing to former lightweight champ Eddie Alvarez in April of last year. He […]
With days left before a featherweight title match versus Joe Warren, Bellator Summer Series tournament winner Pat Curran (16-4) credits his evolution as a fighter for getting him to this point of his career.
Curran has already battled for a Bellator title, losing to former lightweight champ Eddie Alvarez in April of last year.
He took the lessons of that loss, opted to drop to 145-lbs for the Summer Series and walked away the winner beating Luis Palomino, Ronnie Mann, and Marlon Sandro to earn the $100,000 contact as well as a second shot at Bellator gold.
“I’m always evolving as a fighter, from my ground game to my striking,” he said. “I’m young at 24 and I have the attitude that I can always learn. I’m always trying to better myself in that sense. After every fight I look back on the tapes and I improve on the mistakes I see I need to correct.
“I have to give a lot of credit to my cousin Jeff because he introduced me to the sport. I’m originally from Florida, but since I moved to Chicago when I was 20 he threw me right into the fight game. (Now) I’m in the gym training every day around vets like him and Bart Palaszewski. I see how they act and how they train and I look up to them. It makes it a lot easier for me.”
“This weight division is stacked. Everyone is a good fighter,” he said. “The weight class is always evolving, always getting better, and you have to keep evolving to keep on that level.”
Curran faces Warren this Friday (March 9, 2012) in the main event of Bellator 60 at The Venue at Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Indiana. The main card is set to air live on MTV2 while the prelim card is expected to stream live at Spike.com.
Earning what has to be one of the greatest come backs in mixed martial arts history, UFC middleweight fighter Tim ‘The Barbarian’ Boetsch (15-4) is coming off a third round TKO win over Yushin Okami during last weekends UFC 144 event in Japan. After being manhandled for two rounds by Okami, Boetsch came out firing […]
Earning what has to be one of the greatest come backs in mixed martial arts history, UFC middleweight fighter Tim ‘The Barbarian’ Boetsch (15-4) is coming off a third round TKO win over Yushin Okami during last weekends UFC 144 event in Japan.
After being manhandled for two rounds by Okami, Boetsch came out firing after the bell, landing a head kick which spelled the beginning of the end for ‘Thunder’.
Now ‘The Barbarian’ has his eyes set on former Strikeforce champ, and current UFC light heavyweight contender, Dan Henderson. Well him or anyone in the top five of the UFC’s 185-lbs division.
Boetsch, who was a guest on Wednesday’s podcast of “The MMA Show with Mauro Ranallo“, explains why he called out Henderson and who he wants instead if he can’t face the ‘H-Bomb’.
“I’ve been a huge Dan Henderson fan. He’s obviously a legend in the sport and people are wondering what the heck he’s doing next in the UFC. I just thought it’d be an interesting matchup, but I’m open to taking on any of the top five middleweights and climbing up the ladder. Whether it be a Michael Bisping or a Mark Munoz, I just want to fight the best guys in the world and continue to beat them up.”
Also featured on today’s episode were Strikeforce women’s bantamweight contender Ronda Rousey, UFC light heavyweight Nick Penner, UFC bantamweight Jeff Curran, and Spike TV’s David Schawarz.
UFC middleweight champ Anderson ‘The Spider’ Silva (31-4) is expected to face Chael Sonnen this summer in Brazil for his next title defense, a rematch of their August 2010 bout at UFC 117. Fans know Sonnen to be quite the trash-talker, which has helped to increase the amount of interest for all of his fights, […]
Photo by Getty Images via Yahoo! Sports
UFC middleweight champ Anderson ‘The Spider’ Silva (31-4) is expected to face Chael Sonnen this summer in Brazil for his next title defense, a rematch of their August 2010 bout at UFC 117.
Fans know Sonnen to be quite the trash-talker, which has helped to increase the amount of interest for all of his fights, but more particularly the rematch with Silva.
‘The Spider’ though, feels that all of Sonnen’s talk is actually “bad for the sport” of mixed martial arts and says that Sonnen has crossed the line by talking about his family.
“Yeah of course, Chael talks too much. He talked about my family. He’s got no respect for my wife. No respect for the people in Brazil. It’s a problem,” Silva said. “I understand it’s a promotion, but this is no promotion. This is bad. I don’t like this. The people in Brazil don’t like this. It’s bad for the sport.”
Soares brought it a little stronger.
“He can say whatever he wants to say, but he has to be prepared to face everything that he’s saying when he steps inside the ring in June. I think Chael is going to experience something he’s never experienced before,” Soares said. “[…] He’s going to feel such an intense pressure walking into that stadium with probably 55,000 fans … he’s going to feel that.”
Silva and Soares also talked about the release of UFC Undisputed 3, the work that was done to mimic Silva as a fighter, and more.
Former Bellator lightweight champ Eddie ‘The Silent Assassin’ Alvarez (22-3) saw his seven fight win streak stopped by Michael Chandler last November in a fourth round submission loss which also saw Alvarez lose his title. Alvarez tells “The MMA Show with Mauro Ranallo” that he had been looking for an immediate rematch with Chandler but […]
Former Bellator lightweight champ Eddie ‘The Silent Assassin’ Alvarez (22-3) saw his seven fight win streak stopped by Michael Chandler last November in a fourth round submission loss which also saw Alvarez lose his title.
Alvarez tells “The MMA Show with Mauro Ranallo” that he had been looking for an immediate rematch with Chandler but was turned down by Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney. His only option was to re-enter next seasons tournament if he wanted to regain his title.
Instead of doing that, Alvarez is taking a different route and is looking to pit himself against some of the worlds top fighters. He is tentatively booked to face DREAM champ Shinya Aoki in a rematch, saying he’s signed the papers and is waiting for Aoki to sign to make it official.
“I was a little upset about the whole thing. I thought the promotion would have my back. I didn’t even hear I wouldn’t get the rematch until I heard it through the media… ”
“I’ve worked nine years in my career to get where I am. I’ve earned the right to fight guys in the top five, the top 10,” he said. “The reality of it is I can’t become No. 1 by fighting the guys in Bellator’s tournament, not even by beating Michael Chandler again — that’s more of a pride thing. I already went through a tournament (Bellator’s inaugural season one lightweight bracket) and became champion. I didn’t make a lot of title defences because I was waiting for the tournaments to unfold.
“I get a slack from the internet from people saying I haven’t fought people in the top 10. It’s nothing I can do — it’s a matter of getting guys in the promotion, getting guys to sign. Everyone in the top 10 is signed to another promotion so it’s hard to get your hands on a guy that’s ranked up there so instead you have to fight a lot of unranked opponents, and in the case of Bellator, there’s a lot of tough unranked opponents so you take a risk.”
“I already signed the contract for Aoki. We’re waiting for Aoki to sign. I believe he will sign it and I’m keeping my fingers crossed,” Alvarez said. “I’ve been asking Bjorn for that fight for a long time since I’ve been Bellator champion and I hope to get it. I just want to fight in big fights. Aoki’s finally a guy who’s ranked in the top of my weight class.”
Alvarez has also become the latest addition to the Florida based Blackzilian team, telling host Mauro Ranallo about the change in gyms. The Blackzilians also recently signed another high profile fighter in former Strikeforce heavyweight champ, and current UFC No. 1 contender Alistair Overeem.
The bout between Alvarez and Chandler was certainly one of the best fights of 2011, but was overshadowed by the Dan Henderson vs. Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua match taking place on the same evening.
Also featured on Monday’s “The MMA Show” are UFC welterweight Josh Koscheck, UFC heavyweight Dave Herman, Blackzilian coach Mike Van Arsdale, and AKA coach ‘Crazy’ Bob Cook. Michael Bisping had been scheduled to appear but phone issues cut the interview very short.
Fan favorite and Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight, Pat ‘HD’ Barry (7-4) has his next fight scheduled for this May in New Jersey when he meets former Strikeforce fighter Lavar Johnson on the main card of the UFC on FOX 3 show.
