Welterweight striker Thiago Alves is hoping that despite a year layoff he’ll be able to take out world consensus number two 170 division fighter Jon Fitch. The two are set to lock horns this Saturday at UFC 117 in a fight that many MMA fans have been waiting for. Alves, who lost to […]
Welterweight striker Thiago Alves is hoping that despite a year layoff he’ll be able to take out world consensus number two 170 division fighter Jon Fitch. The two are set to lock horns this Saturday at UFC 117 in a fight that many MMA fans have been waiting for. Alves, who lost to Fitch in their first meeting, recently talked to UFC.com about how his career has changed and how he has evolved as a fighter:
“I’m more mature. I’m a professional fighter, not a rapper or movie star, and now I know the right things that I have to do. I actually became a student of the game. Fighting has always come easy for me, but I became more passionate about learning the fighting aspect. I have paid attention, worked harder than ever, and it’s paying off. It will show.”
If Alves can pull off the win it would certainly put him in line for a one and title shot, while a win by Fitch would seem to suggest that the wrestler should deserve another shot at GSP. Fitch has only lost once in 13 tries in the Octagon, proving that he deserves to be up there with the best. The different styles between these two should prove to be interesting. The MMA News will carry live coverage for UFC 117 as well as complete pre and post coverage.
UFC 117: ROY NELSON talks Carwin’s loss to Lesnar from Steve Cofield on Vimeo.
In the video above, “TUF 10″ winner Roy “Big Country” Nelson (15-4) talks about his preparations for his upcoming UFC 117 bout with Junior dos Santos. Nelson also offers his opinion on the recent heavyweight title fight between champ Brock Lesnar […]
In the video above, “TUF 10″ winner Roy “Big Country” Nelson (15-4) talks about his preparations for his upcoming UFC 117 bout with Junior dos Santos. Nelson also offers his opinion on the recent heavyweight title fight between champ Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin.
In another interview with the Las Vegas Sun, “Big Country” is happy to have a shot against Dos Santos as a victory will help catapult him to a title fight.
Nelson isn’t looking past his Brazilian opponent as he considers Dos Santos the top heavyweight in the UFC division, so a win over him will mean an easier fight for the title.
“If I could pick my way to the top, this is one of the fastest ways to do it,” Nelson said. “I wanted to fight for the belt my very first fight, so this is OK with me.”
“Hands down, I think he’s (Junior dos Santos) the best guy in the UFC right now,” Nelson said. “This is my title fight, because I look at it as I think this guy can beat the guy who has the belt. I think Junior is the best.”
He came to win the title and say yes to the fights others say no to.
“If I didn’t think I was the best in the world, I’d be fighting in another organization,” Nelson said. “I’m always the guy who wants to challenge myself.
“If you’re in (professional sports), you either know you’re a star or you’re not. If you question that, and think you can be replaced, then you probably can.”
(photo via UFC.com)
After another first round stoppage, Jon “Bones” Jones really looks unbeatable right now. It took him all of 1:56 seconds to stop opponent Vladimir Matyushenko in last nights main event in San Diego as part of the UFC on Versus 2 show.
Speaking to the media at the post fight press conference, Jones […]
(photo via UFC.com)
After another first round stoppage, Jon “Bones” Jones really looks unbeatable right now. It took him all of 1:56 seconds to stop opponent Vladimir Matyushenko in last nights main event in San Diego as part of the UFC on Versus 2 show.
Speaking to the media at the post fight press conference, Jones said he’s still maturing as a fighter and that he’s hoping to be matched up with one of the top three fighters in the division. He also noted that there is one fight that he’d take at heavyweight and that is against boxer James Toney, who made some recent comments towards Jones.
“I’ve got a lot of work to do, and there’s a quote that says, ‘A real black belt is a black belt because he’s aware of how much he doesn’t know.’ I’m just aware that I’m still a kid in this sport, and I have a lot more maturing to do as a man and as an athlete. I’m just going to stay on the ground.”
“Every opponent I’ve had are really tough guys,” Jones said. “Right now, I’m passing these tests with flying colors. I really don’t want to sound arrogant, so I’ve got to be careful the way I word this, but I want to fight someone who’s really going to give me a really tough test. That has to be the champion or whoever. I want to fight someone who’s supposedly much better than me … so I can really step up and evolve to a different level.
“There’s the champion (Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua), and he’s the toughest guy right now. He’s very well-rounded. He’s a great striker. Just like the top three contenders. I really want to push myself against the No. 1, 2 and 3 guys now. I really feel like that needs to happen. The top three guys are the guys I’d like to fight – except for (teammate) Rashad (Evans), obviously.”
“Randy Couture, he bumps up to heavyweight all the time, and he always looks very impressive against the slower guy,” Jones said. “And now I actually have a heavyweight that I wouldn’t mind fighting. That’s James Toney – ‘Mr. I’m going to slap Jon in the face.’ I’d bump up for that fight any day.”
Depending on how Toney does against Couture, this could be an interesting matchup as well as another test for Jones in his young career.
(photo via UFC.com)
It took 1:04 for the “Fireball Kid” Takanori Gomi to prove to the mma world that his debut loss was more nerves than a decline in his ability to fight as he became the first fighter to finish Tyson Griffin in the octagon. Gomi unleashed a heavy right hand after countering a […]
It took 1:04 for the “Fireball Kid” Takanori Gomi to prove to the mma world that his debut loss was more nerves than a decline in his ability to fight as he became the first fighter to finish Tyson Griffin in the octagon. Gomi unleashed a heavy right hand after countering a leg kick, which sent Griffin to the mat forcing the stoppage in the first round.
Backstage, Gomi talked about the fight unsure of whether Griffin became overconfident after the opening exchanges and whether the victory held any meaning for Japanese fighters overall, which many critics have said is on a decline when compared to fighters coming from North America.
With the victory, the “Fireball Kid” hopes to eventually warrant a title shot one day but will concentrate on his next fight first.
“One thing (Tyson Griffin) is in really good shape. I’ve seen some of his fights so I know a little bit of his training, so he came in pretty good shape. He had reason to be confident but I don’t know if he got overconfident. I threw a couple of things around his chest, didn’t seem to phase him too much. It could be that’s when he got into this ‘Hey this guy can throw all he wants and I can take it.’ So a little bit into the bout he might have bit off more then he could chew.
“I don’t know that I necessarily am singlehandedly am going to turn the reputation of Japanese fighters around. I don’t know that I really have to, you’ve got (Yushin) Okami out there fighting tonight, I have every reason to believe he is going to win. Man he’s been a good fighter for a long time.
“I don’t see it as my mission to win people over to Japanese fighters. Like the fighters here I see my mission getting the fans excited showing them a good time. If they come to think ‘Hey, Japanese fighters are worth paying the money to see too,’ that’s fine. ‘Course I wouldn’t mind winning a championship sometime in there.
“Eventually, I want to get to the champion, I’m just so excited that his name alludes me, it’s not that I don’t have respect for him. When I get to him, there’s a few people, Kenny Florian, BJ (Penn) is another guy. I think I’m getting ahead of myself here, what I really wanna do now is go back and train and get really into top shape before I take on anybody it’s kind of one fight at a time.”
High level heavyweight fighter Josh Barnett is still awaiting his reinstatement with CSAC following a positive drug test, but he’s been busy fighting outside of North America. After a recent first round win at Impact FC over Geronimo dos Santos, many mma fans are starting to wonder if Barnett will eventually sign with Strikeforce, […]
High level heavyweight fighter Josh Barnett is still awaiting his reinstatement with CSAC following a positive drug test, but he’s been busy fighting outside of North America. After a recent first round win at Impact FC over Geronimo dos Santos, many mma fans are starting to wonder if Barnett will eventually sign with Strikeforce, as some rumors have pointed. Barnett, for his part, recently talked to Punch Drunk Gamer on the UFC heavyweight division vs. it’s Strikeforce counterparts:
What makes the UFC heavyweight division so stacked is that it is the UFC’s heavyweight division and that is the most important factor in this whole equation. The perception is that just by fighting in the UFC, it makes you better but do I think that talent wise the Strikeforce heavyweight division can rival the UFC? Sure I do and it is getting to that point, although no matter how you look at it, right now it is not better. Strikeforce is starting to realize the importance of heavyweight fighters to the fighting community and its fans.
Barnett is riding a six fight win streak, and despite his “positive testing issues” he’s still a very capable heavyweight fighter who could certainly make for some compelling matchups.
UFC’s most rotund heavyweight contender Roy “Big Country” Nelson is set to take on dangerous striker Junior dos Santos at UFC 117 on August 7, 2010 at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California with a number one contender spot going to the winner. Nelson, who surprised MMA fans by scoring two back to back […]
UFC’s most rotund heavyweight contender Roy “Big Country” Nelson is set to take on dangerous striker Junior dos Santos at UFC 117 on August 7, 2010 at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California with a number one contender spot going to the winner. Nelson, who surprised MMA fans by scoring two back to back KO’s of the Night, certainly wants to keep the streak going and jab his way to victory, as he explained in his recent interview with Tapology:
I’m hoping that I can just throw a jab out there and knock dos Santos out with that and get Knockout of the Night. I’m hoping that it’s not Fight of the Night because I hate wars. I think it will be an exciting fight and it’s a pivotal fight in the division. I’m hoping that I can put myself in position to become champ by the end of the year.
It would be uber surprising if Nelson KO’d dos Santos with a jab, but stranger things have happened. This is definitely one of the biggest matches at UFC 117, and one to watch closely.
