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Fedor Emelianenko ‘Closer Than Ever’ To Fighting In UFC

It’s been a long-traveled, winding road on the journey to all-time great former Pride champion Fedor Emelanenko fighting in the UFC, and it’s been one that’s ultimately ended without any fruit to bear. However, almost seven years after talks to have Fedor fight then-UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar fell apart, there’s apparently more hope now

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However, almost seven years after talks to have Fedor fight then-UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar fell apart, there’s apparently more hope now to seeing ‘The Last Emperor’ in the Octagon than there ever has been. Speaking through a translator to Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour today (Mon., June 13, 2016), Emelianenko revealed that it’s a distinct possibility he’ll fight in the UFC, but a mutually beneficial deal would have to be reached between both sides:

“Yes. In a word, yes. That possibility does exist. I always wanted to fight for UFC and I would fight for UFC, but at this moment we’re looking at the deal and the deal has to satisfy both parties — them and my organization. Until there’s no friction, until we are 100 percent in terms of seeing eye-to-eye, we are all basically in limbo.”

There were some rumors that Fedor would somehow be the returning Lesnar’s opponent at the midsummer blockbuster UFC 200. Emelianenko confirmed that opportunity was never presented to him, but he would consider it if it was:

“All I wanted to say is for now we never received a proposal like that,” Emelianenko said. “But if somebody were to make that proposal, we’ll definitely look at it closely.”

The probability of him stepping into the Octagon was thought to be gone forever when Emelianenko retired in 2012, but after his return last New Year’s Eve, ‘The Last Emperor’ feels as if he’s back to reaching his prime fighting shape:

“I did get that feeling,” Emelianenko said. “I feel like I am back. A fighter is measured by the last fight. I’m looking forward to illustrate I am back in my usual form.”

Finally, Fedor stated that he was indeed closer than ever to making his UFC debut, and that an offer had been put on the tabe by Dana White & co. But he once again stressed the small details that he still had to hammer out with the promotion:

“Right now, I’m much closer compared to when I just came back to MMA. Yes, we did receive an offer. But there are some finer points that we wanted to discuss.”

With some small issues apparently left to discuss, at least there’s a small chance we see the man who many consider the best heavyweight of all-time set foot in the Octagon. But will it ever be more than the rumors we’ve been reading for years?

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Wanderlei Silva Reveals He Has Multiple Symptoms Of Brain Damage

This is sad to hear… Former Pride FC middleweight champion, UFC veteran and legendary Brazilian fight icon Wanderlei Silva has gone through the mill in the last two years. After his fighting career came to a grinding halt in March 2013, the battles continued outside the arena of combat for ‘The Axe Murderer,’ including a

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This is sad to hear…

Former Pride FC middleweight champion, UFC veteran and legendary Brazilian fight icon Wanderlei Silva has gone through the mill in the last two years. After his fighting career came to a grinding halt in March 2013, the battles continued outside the arena of combat for ‘The Axe Murderer,’ including a lengthy rivalry with the UFC and the Nevada Athletic Commission. After avoiding Nevada dope testers before his scheduled fight with Chael Sonnen after TUF (The Ultimate Fighter) Brazil 3, Silva was handed a lifetime ban by the commission, and so began his three year struggle.

The knockout artist who’d made his name in IVC and Pride back in the Japanese MMA days was now unable to make a living, and he began making his opposition to the UFC very clear. After UFC president Dana White made his feelings clear about Wandy, a feud was born between he two, with Silva even claiming he’d known about ‘fixed fights’ in the UFC during his time there.

053014-ufc-Wanderlei-Silva-2-pi-mp.vresize.1200.675.high.11[1] — Silva’s 2013 knockout win over Brian Stann is widely considered one of the most exciting UFC fights of all time…

Siva took to social media and released Youtube videos that damned the UFC’s practices and alleged maltreatment of their fighters. Unable to compete stateside and still locked in the air tight UFC contract he’d signed to, even the far east wasn’t an option at this stage. Finally a breakthrough came this year, as th promotion released their hold on Silva, allowing him to sign a contract with Bellator MMA and Rizin FF, but hs troubles weren’t over just yet.

Silva was ran down by a car while riding a bike in his native Curitiba, Brazil and required shoulder surgery as a result of the accident. Thankfully Wandy’s helmet saved his life, but it’s apparently spurred ‘The Axe Murderer’ to look a little deeper in to his brain’s health, and the results aren’t great.

Addressing fans on his official Instagram account, the 49-fight mixed martial arts veteran had a sombre message to deliver. He first pays tribute to the recently passed Kimbo Slice, before revealing he is suffering from 12 out of 15 symptoms of brain damage, including memory loss.

Rest in peace, first Randleman now Kimbo, I fear we do not know all the consequences caused by our profession, and the consequences on the body and mind, as I said to my friends who are pro fighters “This bid to forget things it is good, when you forget the bad things.” (jokes) The sad part is I attended a lecture about concussion (brain injury caused by impact) of 15 symptoms presented by the expert, I have 12! When u lose dehydrates liquid in the brain, much in increasing the chance of having severe brain damage as a result of the blows! “! It has several of my friends, it is very different from the old days” We are stuck half-mad “and now who will take care of us? Who have not saved some money, will go through difficulties unfortunately we do not have any help at all! All on our own!

At a time when legends like Mark Kerr have finally revealed the turmoil they’ve put their body through in the pursuit of glory, it really does make you think about the long term impact this sport can have. Perhaps we’ve only scratched the surface thus far, and although fighter safety has improved in all respects, this does little to help legends like Wanderlei Silva and many others who fought in the early years of MMA.

Silva’s Rizin FF/Bellator MMA debut is yet to be announced.

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Wanderlei Silva Run Over By Car While Riding His Bike

The post Wanderlei Silva Run Over By Car While Riding His Bike appeared first on LowKick MMA.

Pride FC and UFC fan favorite Wanderlei Silva, although no longer fighting in the premier organizations, remains one of the most revered and followed characters in the sport of mixed martial arts. His stints in Pride during the Japanese MMA boom and also his classic UFC wars make ‘The Axe Murderer’ one of the most well known faces in the game. He also stood against the UFC in a drawn out battle before eventually being released from his contract to fight for Rizin FF this year.

The 39 year-old Brazilian has been in his fair share of brutal fights over the years, but his most recent bruiser happened on the way home from the gym. According to Wand’s official Facebook page, the feared striker was knocked down by a car as he rode his bike home from a training session.

Translation: Note: please be advised that the wand had an accident, where he was hit by a car when I was returning from bike to your house after a workout, with that over the shoulder and caused a lot goes through surgery today. We ask your prayers for our champion. Ascom

Terrible news for Wanderlei and his fans who were looking forward to seeing the Brazilian banger back in action by late summer. His former issues with the UFC have seen Silva out of fighting since his wild knockout win over Brian Stann in 2013, but his signing with former Pride boss Sakakibara’s Rizin FF meant we’d get to see Silva play out his twilight years where he originally made his name, in Japan.

Rumours of a long wished fight with Fedor Emelianenko will have to wait, as all we know at this stage is that Silva has undergone shoulder surgery following his accident.

We’ll keep you updated as any more news comes in.

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Wanderlei Silva Issues Challenge To Kimbo Slice

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Former Pride FC middleweight champion and UFC veteran Wanderlei Silva is once again ready to fight. After a drawn out legal battle with the Nevada Athletic Commission and the UFC, ‘The Axe Murderer’ is now signed to Bellator MMA and Rizin FF. The Brazilian striker was released from his UFC contract in January this year, and his lifetime ban by the NAC was overturned. He is set to face fellow legend and former two-time opponent Kazushi Sakuraba in a tag team grappling match for Rizin. Paired with Kiyoshi Tamura against ‘Saku’ and Hideo Tokoro, Silva also hopes to fight under MMA rules for both Bellator and Rizin this year.

With a renewed vigour for combat competition clear in his latest media appearance, chances are Wanderlei will come in great shape for the busy months ahead. Speaking with MMAFighting.com, ‘The Axe Murderer’ was a far cry from the down and out and somewhat spiteful character we’d seen over the last two years. Check out the best bits from his interview hosted by Ariel Helwani:

“I was not happy with the terms (under the UFC), I was not happy with fighting, I just did not want to fight any more. But the Bellator and Rizin changed that, I got released from my contract, and now I want to fight again, they took away my problems. I think something went wrong, I was coming from the old school, I tried talking to (Dana White) but he said bad things about me. I like him, I respect him a lot, he helped changed the sport, so we finished our history and now we are going to start a new history.”

Now free of the ‘shackles’ the Zuffa promotion had once held him with, Silva still has very hard feelings towards the NAC, who have upheld a three year ban on the Brazilian competing in Nevada, in relation to a drug test he fled from in 2014. In Silva’s defense, they never really had the right to do so under the old rule set, as Silva wasn’t even a licensed fighter at the time. He continued:

“The Commission has no place telling someone who can and can’t work, I have to work to put food on my family table. How can they catch someone, and then two months later after they fight, then they reveal the test failure? If he is famous it’s one rule, if he’s not so famous it’s another….

continue

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Mark Hunt Discusses One Of The Lowest Moments In His Life

The post Mark Hunt Discusses One Of The Lowest Moments In His Life appeared first on LowKick MMA.

Popular UFC heavyweight Mark Hunt has been there and done it in the combat sports world. From winning the K-1 Grand Prix, fighting and beating some top names in the Pride FC years, and joining the UFC to score some huge wins against all the odds, ‘The Super Samoan’ has one punched his way in to our hearts and minds. Unlike during his spectacular trademark finishes, Hunt has refused to walk away from the sport, even after being offered $450,000 by UFC president Dana White to retire before his first fight for the promotion.

His humble attitude and extremely likeable character sees ‘Hunto’ rise in popularity consistently, and his victories in the UFC octagon speak for themselves. Stunning knockout wins over Stefan Struve, Cheick Kongo, Roy Nelson, Frank Mir, Chris Tuchscherer and Bigfoot Silva have seen the fan friendly heavyweight come close to a title shot, but he is yet to reach that goal. But things haven’t always been this good for ‘The Super Samoan,’ as you’ll find out during this harrowing tale.

To the viewer it may have looked as though it was all gravy for Mark Hunt during his time in Pride FC, especially during his win streak that saw victories over Mirko Cro Cop and Wanderlei Silva. As it often happens, things weren’t all that great for Hunt at the time, as he discloses in his new book available on Amazon ‘Mark Hunt Born To Fight.’ Props to the Reddit forums for the quotes:

Mark Hunt vs. Fedor Emelianenko, 2006:

I was getting a little run together in Pride, feeling like myself again. I was regaining faith in my hands and my ability to drop whomever they put in front of me.

Unbeknown to me, when I’d fought Mirko I was in a title eliminator. Whoever took that fight was to be fighting Fedor for the Pride belt. After the Nishijima fight I was called to a hotel suite, and when I saw the Russian champ coming out of the room as I was about to go in, I started to glean what was going on. I had a little chit-chat with Fedor in the hallway and asked him what they had for me.

He shrugged and said, ‘They had this for me,’ nodding to his bag.

When I got into the room I found Sakakibara-san, a few guys who looked like muscle and a Korean guy who acted like he was in charge. Also in the room was a table struggling under the weight of many giant piles of crisp currency, stacked neatly.

‘How are you, Mark?’ Sakakibara-san asked.

‘I’d be doing better if I had some of that,’ I said, pointing to the table.

‘Do you want some? Would you like us to pay you in cash? We can if you like, Mark.’

No shit. They could have paid me for my next ten fights and it wouldn’t have made a dent in that pile. I declined, though. The Russians all liked to be paid in cash but I figured it would be a pain trying to explain to Aussie Customs why I was bringing a big bag of foreign currency home.

In that hotel room I got a little preview of the future downfall of Pride, but at the time I didn’t concern myself with any of the organisation’s shady, behind-the-scenes dealings. I only concerned myself with the guy in front of me, and in that hotel suite they told me that soon the guy in front of me was going to be exactly the right bloke – the world’s biggest badass. Well, second biggest anyway…

continue

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Wanderlei Silva Freed By The UFC, Can Now (Hopefully) Fight Fedor

Although Wanderlei Silva has been under lock and key for over a year now by the UFC, now the ex-Pride FC champ fulfil this writer’s dream fight… UFC and Pride FC legend Wanderlei Silva ran in to trouble in 2014, as he fled the Nevada State Athletic Commission dope test when they turned up at his gym in

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Although Wanderlei Silva has been under lock and key for over a year now by the UFC, now the ex-Pride FC champ fulfil this writer’s dream fight…

UFC and Pride FC legend Wanderlei Silva ran in to trouble in 2014, as he fled the Nevada State Athletic Commission dope test when they turned up at his gym in Brazil. Causing a whole world of trouble for the UFC, meaning The Ultimate Fighter Finale and following UFC 175 main event’s got scrambled, and eventually going full villain against the promotion that once made him a millionaire.

Indeed Silva had the hump with the UFC, and would go on to accuse the promotion and Dana White of fixing fight, screwing the fighters and monopolizing the market. Well at his re-hearing with the NAC today, ‘The Axe Murderer’ got some great news. No longer was he restricted to the contract the UFC held over him, and he was now free to fight again. His words:

Courtesy of MMAMania

“I was wrong, apologize. In July of last year, I posted a number of comments on Facebook and Twitter, which included repeated claims that the UFC ‘fixed fights’ and that I could ‘prove it.’ I hereby retract any such statements in their entirety as I failed to understand that the term ‘fight-fixing’ specifically refers to the illegal action or practice of dishonestly determining the outcome of a contest before it occurs. I understand the UFC’s reputation would be harmed if my fans and others actually believed the UFC engaged in fight fixing, and I have no evidence to support such a claim. I apologize for any misunderstanding my comments may have caused.”

His Attorney

“It’s a good day for Wanderlei,” attorney Ross Goodman told MMA Fighting. “We were able to get his lawsuit settled and more importantly, we got Wanderlei released from the UFC. Now he’s free to do whatever he wants to do.”

There’s been much talk of Silva joining Bellator MMA as a middleweight, to the rejoive of many of his fans. He won’t have to tread over the minefield of the new Reebok owned UFC landscape, and also has a great chance at winning the championship over at BMMA, and potentially reviving some of his previously dominant glory days.

So what do you think, could Silva be a force outside the UFC? How about a fight against Fedor Emelianenko at openweight? Now that would be amazing. It’s a fight I persoanlly have wanted to see for so many years, and the new Rizin Fighting Federation ran by the ex-Pride owner could blast the poor numbers of their first show out of the water with this fight!

Stay tuned.

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