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UFC on FX 3 – Mike Pierce Wins By Unanimous Decision, Not Split After Judging Gaff

Last Friday night, you were probably left scratching your head when the judges awarded UFC welterweight Mike Pierce a split decision win over Carlos Eduardo Rocha by scores of 30-27, 27-30 and 30-27 as part of the main card for UFC on FX: Johnson vs. McCall. I myself, admittedly wasn’t paying that close attention to […]

Mike Pierce punches Carlos Eduardo Rocha in a Welterweight bout during the UFC on FX 3 event at Bank Atlantic Center on June 8, 2012 in Sunrise, Florida – Photo by Josh Hedges via UFC.com

I myself, admittedly wasn’t paying that close attention to the fight, so I thought maybe one judge was really into Jiu-Jitsu and scored it for Rocha for his submission attempts. Or maybe that one judge had just screwed it up.

It should have been obvious that it would have been the latter after all the refereeing and judging gaffs at the Sunrise, Florida event.

Pierce had in fact won the match by scores of 30-27 across the board with judge Ric Bays, of the Florida Boxing Commission, scoring the fight incorrectly for Rocha.

On Wednesday, Pierce sent an email to MMAjunkie.com about the scoring mistake.

“When they read 30-27 for Rocha, I was like, ‘What the (expletive)? Great, here we go again.’”

…

“So he scored it for the wrong corner – is that supposed to make me feel better?” Pierce said. “Look, these guys are supposed to be professionals like me. Maybe I hold myself to a higher standard, but if all I had to do was keep track of who’s winning a round every five minutes, it would be an easy day at the office. I don’t know what’s worse: Scoring it for Rocha 30-27, or saying he accidentally put the scores down wrong on the card. Come on, pal – you only have two options: red or blue. Bruce Buffer even starts out by introducing us from the red or blue corners. I’m pretty sure my girlfriend’s 12-year-old couldn’t even (expletive) that up. It seriously makes you wonder where the hell they get these people.”

If the split decision had stood versus Rocha, it would have marked the fourth straight result for Pierce who has gone 2-2 in those matches. The win over Rocha allowed Pierce to bounce back from a loss to Josh Koscheck last February at UFC 143.

Bellator Season Six Lightweight Tourny Winner Rick Hawn Didn’t Think He’d Ever Make 155-Lbs

Bellator Season Six lightweight tournament winner Rick Hawn (14-1) will look to capture his first title this summer when he faces current champion Michael Chandler. Hawn, who was also a tournament finalist at welterweight in Season Four, opted to drop down in weight after his loss to Jay Hieron last year, has made the most […]

Rick Hawn

Bellator Season Six lightweight tournament winner Rick Hawn (14-1) will look to capture his first title this summer when he faces current champion Michael Chandler.

Hawn, who was also a tournament finalist at welterweight in Season Four, opted to drop down in weight after his loss to Jay Hieron last year, has made the most of the change despite his initial trepidations.

Hawn, who trains in Montreal at the famous Tristar gym under coach Firas Zahabi, had to get talked into dropping down to 155-lbs by his coach, thinking that it wasn’t possible for him to make that weight.

So far he’s shown himself to be a very dangerous fighter at lightweight, with two knockout finishes and one decision victory to earn the Season Six crown.

Speaking to MMAMania.com, Hawn talked about the move to lightweight as well as his upcoming title fight with the Bellator champ this summer.

Did the disappointment from last year’s tournament and how that all went down motivate you in the lightweight tournament this year?
Rick Hawn: Definitely. I didn’t move down to lightweight because I lost. It was just basically to make better use of my size and my body type. It was definitely motivation for this year. I really wanted to make it back to the finals and make up for that loss and I was able to do it. It’s been a great year. My coach Firas Zahabi had to talk me into coming down to lightweight. I wasn’t keen to do it or even thought it was possible, but it was definitely a great decision.

This being your first time ever dropping down to lightweight, was it difficult having to make the cut three times in three months for the tournament?
Rick Hawn: Well not having a practice cut before the first fight was a little scary but I came in and it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be for the first fight. Coming around the second fight, it was very difficult. That one was really bad so going into the third fight, we decided to get me down a little lighter so it’d be an easier cut just because it’s so tough to make those cuts every four weeks. The last cut was very easy.

You’ve got Michael Chandler assuming at the end of the summer series or the beginning of the seventh season. He’s a terrific wrestler but something I’ve seen is that judo players have the best balance of any fighters in mixed martial arts. Do you think that’s going to really help you out in countering his wrestling attack?
Rick Hawn: I think so. I think it’s a really great match-up. I’ve never fought a good wrestler as he is so I’m interested to see how it’s gonna play out. Obviously I’m gonna train a lot of wrestling for his style but I think with my background, it gives me a good advantage with him as opposed to a lot of other fighters he’s fought.

“I Fell Like I Hit The Lottery,” Brandon Vera On Facing ‘Shogun’ Rua

UFC light heavyweight Brandon ‘The Truth’ Vera (12-5, 1NC) has seen some highs and lows over the past year-and-a-half, seeing himself cut from the top promotion to headlining the upcoming UFC on FOX 4 event against former UFC and Pride champion, Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua. Vera had been scheduled to face fellow light heavyweight James Te-Huna […]

Brandon Vera

UFC light heavyweight Brandon ‘The Truth’ Vera (12-5, 1NC) has seen some highs and lows over the past year-and-a-half, seeing himself cut from the top promotion to headlining the upcoming UFC on FOX 4 event against former UFC and Pride champion, Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua.

Vera had been scheduled to face fellow light heavyweight James Te-Huna at next months UFC on Fuel TV: Munoz vs. Weidman event in San Jose.

An injury to Vera’s nemesis Thiago Silva, who had been set to meet Rua at UFC 149 in Calgary, as well as injuries to Brian Stann and Michael Bisping, helped to reshuffle several event cards leading to a headlining bout between Vera and Rua for the upcoming FOX show.

Speaking on “The MMA Show with Mauro Ranallo” podcast Vera talked about being offered the match with ‘Shogun’ and it’s meaning to him.

“I don’t have anything to lose anything anymore,” he said. “I’ve reached the bottom. There’s nothing else to lose. This is the fight I’ve always dreamt about. Besides Randy, he’s the guy I’ve always wanted to fight.

“This for sure is going to be one of the fights that defines me as a person and as a fighter. This will be one of my greatest performances ever. I’ve never felt this good or alive in a really long time, since the fight with Randy (at UFC 105).”

“All I said was, ‘F*** yeah, let’s do this,’” he said of his conversation with his manager. “I felt like I hit the lottery. Like f***, I’ve never had an opportunity like this in my life. This is big. This is huge.”

And while most fans on social media have been quick to call this a squash match, Vera is confident he’ll prove them all wrong by coming out on top of what has the potential to be a five-round muay Thai war between two of the best strikers at 205 pounds.

“I’m super excited to be standing with Shogun. I’m super excited to see what happens,” he said. “Brandon Vera’s back. I’m going to make myself relevant to the MMA world again in one evening, in one fight.”

UFC on Fox: Shogun vs. Vera (aka UFC on FOX 4) is expected to take place on August 4, 2012 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The bout between Rua and Vera will air on FOX television and include a currently, eleven bout card for the LA show.

Paul Daley Granted His Release From Strikeforce

British welterweight Paul ‘Semtex’ Daley (29-12-2) had been actively seeking a release from contract from Strikeforce. On Sunday, he got his wish after his management team, Fight Management Limited, announced the parting of ways in a press release. “I’m happy that Strikeforce has granted my request to be released from their roster as I found […]

Paul 'Semtex' Daley

British welterweight Paul ‘Semtex’ Daley (29-12-2) had been actively seeking a release from contract from Strikeforce.

On Sunday, he got his wish after his management team, Fight Management Limited, announced the parting of ways in a press release.

“I’m happy that Strikeforce has granted my request to be released from their roster as I found it difficult to fight so infrequently,” Daley stated. “My whole career I’ve wanted to fight as often as possible as it keeps me in the best form and condition.

“I felt that I put on nothing but entertaining fights while at the organization. The KOs of (Duane) Ludwig and Scott Smith were some great memories for me, as well as the back-and-forth fight of the year I had with Nick Diaz. My manager has already started speaking to some promotions about my future today following the official release papers from Strikeforce, and I’m looking forward to the next part in my journey.”

Daley had runs with both Strikeforce and the UFC promotions. His most recent bout saw him face Kazuo Misaki in a Strikeforce cage last March in Ohio. ‘Semtex’ would come up short, losing a split decision to his Japanese opponent. The loss ended a two fight win streak.

The British fighter may be better remembered for his departure from the UFC following a decision loss to Josh Koscheck back in May 2010 at UFC 113 in a welterweight contender bout. After the bell in the third round, a frustrated Daley took a swing at Koscheck only partially landing. UFC president Dana White announced his immediate dismissal from the promotion.

Daley’s manager, Wad Alemeddine, noted that he was disappointed to see Daley leave the Strikeforce promotion.

“I am personally disappointed to see Paul leave Strikeforce,” he stated. “He is without question one of the most charismatic personalities and talented MMA athletes to come out of the UK. We have parted ways with Strikeforce on good terms.

“Now that Paul is a free agent, I’m expecting plenty of interest in him from promotions both within the sport of MMA and K-1 Kickboxing, as he’s interested in competing in both. With his strong fan-following and exciting fight style I expect Semtex to be very busy wherever we go next.”

Bellator Champ Michael Chandler Wants To Be The No. 1 World Ranked Lightweight

Bellator lightweight champ Michael Chandler (10-0) has a long way to go before he will be considered the World’s No. 1 ranked 155-lbs fighter, but the undefeated champ feels that it’s the reason “God put me in this sport”. Chandler recently broke the top ten rankings of several mma websites, coming in at No. 9, […]

Michael Chandler

Bellator lightweight champ Michael Chandler (10-0) has a long way to go before he will be considered the World’s No. 1 ranked 155-lbs fighter, but the undefeated champ feels that it’s the reason “God put me in this sport”.

Chandler recently broke the top ten rankings of several mma websites, coming in at No. 9, after his recent victory over
Japanese veteran Akihiro Gono, who held over six times the number of pro-matches as Chandler possessed.

Speaking to MMAFighting.com, the Bellator champ talked about his quick win versus Gono and it’s meaning to him in his quest to be Number one. Chandler also attended this past weekends MTV Movie Awards, sitting in the fourth row with Muhammed ‘King Mo’ Lawal and Pat Curran, but you’ll have to hit the link to read those comments.

“For me, that’s awesome. Being considered top 10 in the world is an amazing thing. My goal is to be No. 1. God put me in this sport for a reason. But I’m trying not to focus on the rankings too much, just beat the next tournament winner and next tournament winner and next tournament winner after that.”

Since defeating Alvarez, Chandler went on to defeat veteran Akihiro Gono via first-round knockout in less than a minute on May 4. The veteran Gono announced his retirement immediately after the bout, but Chandler still views the win as an important learning experience.

“The thing about Gono, he was a little bit older and toward the end of his career, but he’s still dangerous,” Chandler said. “The fact that I was fighting a guy who went to a draw with Chael Sonnen, beat Hector Lombard, fought Dan Henderson, Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua, those guys, you know he’s dangerous. You know he’s got 40-something fights on me, I’ve only get 10 fights, he’s got 50-something. The fact we were able to go out and get a dominant win shows that I’m working hard and shows my explosiveness in the cage and how serious I’m taking this.”

Chandler captured the Bellator title last November by submitting former champ Eddie Alvarez in one of the most memorable fights of 2011. Chandler will face Rick Hawn next at an undetermined date.

Update: Alexander Gustafsson Injury Report False, Fighter Hoping To Return End Summer

Unsubstantiated reports of a hand injury to UFC light heavyweight Alexander ‘The Mauler’ Gustafsson have proven to be false, as the fighter waved off the rumor earlier today with MMAjunkie.com Radio. A Facebook post from former champ Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua had stated that Gustafsson had been out with a broken hand and was not expected […]

Alexander Gustafsson – image via UFC.com

A Facebook post from former champ Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua had stated that Gustafsson had been out with a broken hand and was not expected to return till October. Rua posted the note listing off opponents who were not eligible to fight him after his original opponent, Thiago Silva, withdrew from their UFC 149 bout due to injury.

Gustafsson noted that he’s hoping to return later this summer and is waiting for a call from UFC matchmaker Joe Silva for his next matchup.

“I hope I can fight the end of the summer or somewhere around there …”

“(But I have) no idea what the UFC will do. I take it one fight at a time, and I don’t what the UFC has planned for me. I don’t know what the plans look like. Hopefully I’ll fight somewhere around that time, though.”

Check out our original post below from earlier today.

Alexander ‘The Mauler’ Gustafsson

Rua was discussing available possible opponents for his upcoming UFC 149 appearance in Calgary, Alberta after his original opponent, Thiago Silva, was forced to withdraw due to injury.

The original message was posted by ‘Shogun’ on his Facebook.com/MauricioRua.Shogun in Portuguese, and was re-posted by BloodyElbow.com with an English translation Monday night.

The name Rashad Evans has been talked about but he is injured. Same goes for Minotouro. Gustafsson was another option but it seems like he has a broken hand and will only be back in October. For us the only options left at the time are Phil Davis, who is fighting Wagner Caldeirão in August, and Ryan Bader, who is fighting Lyoto in the same event. But I still believe these fights can be rearranged. UFC 149 is pay-per-view and the one on Aug. 4th is open TV in the US.

Gustafsson was was actually in the cage versus Silva for the Brazilian’s last bout, earning a unanimous decision at UFC on FUEL TV 2 in Sweden. It was ‘The Mauler’s’ fifth straight victory inside the Octagon putting his record at 6-1 with the top promotion.