Tag: quick quote

Shogun “My Belt Is Official, An Interim One Won’t Change Anything.”

There’s increasing speculation that there will be an interim light heavyweight title up for grabs, with a possible matchup between former champions Lyoto Machida and “Suga” Rashad Evans upcoming. Machida has expressed interest in fighting Evans while waiting for current champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua to heal, but Evans doesn’t seem to agree, wanting to […]

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There’s increasing speculation that there will be an interim light heavyweight title up for grabs, with a possible matchup between former champions Lyoto Machida and “Suga” Rashad Evans upcoming. Machida has expressed interest in fighting Evans while waiting for current champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua to heal, but Evans doesn’t seem to agree, wanting to wait for his chance at Rua in early 2011. Tatame talked to Shogun, who doesn’t seem to put much stock in an interim title:



“That’s Lyoto’s interest, but to want something is not the same as to have… Let’s see what he’ll get, but for me it doesn’t change a thing. If they will fight for an interim title, it doesn’t change much for me. My belt if official, so if they fight for an interim one before, it won’t change anything”

A matchup between Machida and Evans would be exciting, but calling it an interim title match wouldn’t make any sense as Rua will be back by March. Still there’s not too many choices left for the UFC who has already announced that Evans is the sole number one contender. Hurry up and get better Shogun, and lets get the real title fights underway.

Thiago Alves Would Like To Welcome Jake Shields To UFC.

Former number one contending UFC welterweight fighter Thiago Alves is looking at getting revenge for an earlier career loss to Jon Fitch at UFC 117 on August 7 but that’s not the only thing on his mind. In a recent interview with Tatame he also talks about Georges St. Pierre, Kos, and gives an […]

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Former number one contending UFC welterweight fighter Thiago Alves is looking at getting revenge for an earlier career loss to Jon Fitch at UFC 117 on August 7 but that’s not the only thing on his mind. In a recent interview with Tatame he also talks about Georges St. Pierre, Kos, and gives an interesting comment concerning Jake Shields:


“For sure, it’d be great. He’s fucking good, I don’t know why he was not on UFC yet. Thanks God he decided to come to UFC and, if they ask me to “welcome” him, it’d be my pleasure to show how things work inside the UFC (laughs).”

Sounds like Alves is brimming with confidence, and it seems like he’s got some serious respect for former Strikeforce champion Jake Shields. Alves will have to get by the consensus number two welterweight in the world first in Jon Fitch, who should bring his A game to test the Brazilian fighter. This long awaited rematch should be a good one, or it could end up being a snore fest if Fitch decided to decision his way to a victory. Either way The MMA News will be on hand for UFC 117.

Mark Hunt Taking The Proper Steps To Prepare For His UFC Debut

Former K-1 World Grand Prix champion Mark Hunt (5-6) will get his chance inside the octagon now that the UFC has signed him. The 36-year-old fighter realizes that in the past he failed to prepare properly for fights in the past and that this failure contributed to his five straight losses in MMA, as […]

Mark_HuntFormer K-1 World Grand Prix champion Mark Hunt (5-6) will get his chance inside the octagon now that the UFC has signed him. The 36-year-old fighter realizes that in the past he failed to prepare properly for fights in the past and that this failure contributed to his five straight losses in MMA, as well as his last loss in K-1 against Semmy Schilt in 2008.

Now the “Super Samoan” is looking to make the most of his upcoming opportunity at UFC 119 against Sean McCorkle this coming September by preparing properly for this fight.

“I never had to make weight before. I never gave a damn what I ate. I’ve already stopped eating KFC, chocolate, that stuff,” Hunt says. “I’ve got a personal trainer, never had one of them before. I’m not a big person, I’m only 5-foot-10 or something.”

“It’s been two or three years of bad training for me. Not my training partners, but how hard I trained,” Hunt confesses. “I’m looking to go overseas to train for the first time, to really get some good training partners. If I do things like I should do them, it shouldn’t matter who I’m facing, ever.”

“It is what it is now. I wish I could change the way I did things now, but I’m here for a reason,” says Hunt. “For me now, I know this is my last chance. I won a K-1 world title, then I fought MMA. I wanted to win, but I didn’t have that drive to be a champion. I feel like now, I really want to be an MMA champion.”

Check out the rest of the interview with Hunt over at Sherdog.com, but don’t expect the “Super Somoan” to reveal anything about being signed by the UFC carrying a five fight losing streak into the octagon. Guess we’ll have to wait till after UFC 119 to find out.

HT: Sherdog.com

Shinya Aoki Wanted To Kill All The People That Mocked Him When He Fought Melendez.

Shinya Aoki has a reputation for having perhaps the best leg submissions in mixed martial arts, and scoring yet another win via submission at DREAM.15 against Kawajiri seems to support this point of view. Aoki rebounded from a lack luster fight against Strikeforce fighter Gilbert Melendez, and Aoki doesn’t seem to have forgotten what […]

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Shinya Aoki has a reputation for having perhaps the best leg submissions in mixed martial arts, and scoring yet another win via submission at DREAM.15 against Kawajiri seems to support this point of view. Aoki rebounded from a lack luster fight against Strikeforce fighter Gilbert Melendez, and Aoki doesn’t seem to have forgotten what critics and fans said about that fight. He recently addressed a question regarding his thoughts on getting married, as he said he wanted to do after the fight, and the answer went off track(via MiddleEasy.com)



She supported me in April [at Strikeforce Nashville]. After I lost, many people blamed me, but she helped me through it all. The people who mocked me in my fight versus Melendez, I wanted to kill them all. Even in this fight, too many people said ‘Kawajiri would win!’. I felt like telling these people ‘Go to hell!’. Oh, what was the question? About my marriage…

Gotta love Aoki’s showmanship and his pants.

Kenny Florian’s Thinks Training In Montreal With GSP Has Improved His Wrestling Skills

Kenny “KenFlo” Florian has been consistantly one of the best lightweights in the UFC, but he’ll need all his skills when he takes on Gray Maynard at UFC 118 on August 28 in Boston. Maynard is well known for being a great wrestler and on paper looks to be a very hard challenge for […]

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Kenny “KenFlo” Florian has been consistantly one of the best lightweights in the UFC, but he’ll need all his skills when he takes on Gray Maynard at UFC 118 on August 28 in Boston. Maynard is well known for being a great wrestler and on paper looks to be a very hard challenge for Florian’s style of MMA. Florian, however, has shown an ability to add new skills to complete his fighting style, and this time he’s been training in Montreal with GSP, according to the Boston Herald:


“I feel that I’ve evolved a lot since the time when I fought another wrestler with similar skills, Sean Sherk. I feel that this is coming at a great time in my career. I’m ready for a challenge and I really consider it the biggest fight of my career, the biggest challenge of my career.”

Barring a third match between BJ Penn and Frankie Edgar, whoever wins this match will become the number one contender for the lightweight crown, and both fighters are more than ready to assume that role.

“I Was Hoping For An Open Fracture,” Shinya Aoki On Submitting Tatsuya Kawajiri

DREAM lightweight champion Shinya Aoki faced Tatsuya Kawajiri this past weekend in the main event of DREAM.15 in Japan. Aoki submitted Kawajiri with an achilles lock in the first round, and felt that he’d have to break his opponents leg to get the win.
In a post-fight interview with SportsNavi, Aoki talked about his win […]

Shinya-AokiDREAM lightweight champion Shinya Aoki faced Tatsuya Kawajiri this past weekend in the main event of DREAM.15 in Japan. Aoki submitted Kawajiri with an achilles lock in the first round, and felt that he’d have to break his opponents leg to get the win.

In a post-fight interview with SportsNavi, Aoki talked about his win showing a lot more respect and poise than he did against Mizuto Hirota at the NYE Dynamite!!! 2009 event. He broke Hirota’s arm in the fight and then promptly gave the middle finger to his injured opponent as well as the crowd before leaving the ring.

At some moments in the fight, it seemed like you tried to re-grip Kawajiri
When I caught him and tried to submit him, I heard a loud crackle sound. He did not tap so I thought ‘Ok, this match just became a death-fight’ and I was going to destroy his leg.

Did you believe you would win when you first grabbed his leg?
I knew Kawajiri never taps so I could not win without breaking his bone. I was hoping for an open-fracture.

Could you feel Kawajiri’s ‘lionheart’ in this fight?
Yes, yes. No one could have endured [that submission] like Kawajiri. His heart is iron.

You did not wear your famous long spats. What was the reasoning behind your decision?
There was no reason and there’s no reason to wear long spats in every fight.

You said something to Kawajiri after the fight, what was it?
“I could show you 100% [meaning either he could have fully destroyed his leg or he didn’t give the fight his full potential] but I chose not to because I respect you. Thank you for this fight.”

The original interview was conducted in Japanese, translated by GryphonJapan, and cleaned up by MiddleEasy.com.