Tag: quick quote

Bellator Lightweight Semi-Finalist Lloyd Woodard On Breaking Patricky Freire’s Arm

Last Friday night saw the opening round of Bellator’s Season Six Lightweight Tournament. Headlining the card at the Laredo Energy Arena in Laredo, Texas was a lightweight tilt between tourny favorite Patricky ‘Pitbull’ Feire and Lloyd ‘Cupcake’ Woodard (12-1). Their match did not disappoint, with each fighter scoring some big shots throughout their fight. In […]

Lloyd Woodard submits Patricky 'Pitbull' at Bellator 62

Last Friday night saw the opening round of Bellator’s Season Six Lightweight Tournament. Headlining the card at the Laredo Energy Arena in Laredo, Texas was a lightweight tilt between tourny favorite Patricky ‘Pitbull’ Feire and Lloyd ‘Cupcake’ Woodard (12-1).

Their match did not disappoint, with each fighter scoring some big shots throughout their fight.

In the second round, both fighters would stand in the pocket trading punches with the ‘Pitbull’ getting clipped by a knee before attempting a takedown. Woodard would take the opportunity to sink in a kimura submission to force the tap at 1:46 of the second, but only after Freire refused quite forcing ‘Cupcake’ to bust his elbow.

As a guest on ‘The MMA Show with Mauro Ranallo‘ podcast, Woodard talks about earning the submission victory against a black belt but wasn’t “cool” that he had to break the arm to do it.

“I felt a little bit of dislocation, a little bit of crunching,” the member of the Dogpound Fight Team said. “It wasn’t like a snap break but it was definitely twisting, I felt rotating, I felt like something might give. My adrenaline was going real high so I can’t give you all the details, but I’m glad I got the tap. It wasn’t cool that I had to break his arm, but I’m glad I got the win.”

“I think people were sleeping on me for this tournament and didn’t realize I’m here to win,” the 27-year old said. “I’m a tough kid who went out with Mike Chandler and put up a good fight. He outworked me that day but it’s not going to happen again. I look forward to cracking his head at the end of the tournament, but first thing’s first, I have to get through Rick Hawn. It’s going to be a ball — it’s an hounour and a pleasure to beat him up and advance in this tournament.”

Woodard faces Rick Hawn next month at Bellator 66 in the tournaments semi-finals.

Hawn, who moved down to lightweight after losing in the Season Four Welterweight Final last May, earned his way into the semi-finals by defeating Ricardo Tirloni by first round knockout at the Bellator 62 event.

Strikeforce Champ Ronda Rousey Headed To Stockton To Train With The Diaz Brothers

To be a truly successful mixed martial artist nowadays fighters have to constantly evolve, and that means training throughout the year even without a scheduled fight. It’s the same for Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion ‘Rowdy’ Ronda Rousey (5-0), who despite her perfect record of five straight armbar submissions, is headed to Stockton, California to improve […]

Strikeforce Champ Ronday Rousey – Photo by Rey Del Rio – FOXSports.com

To be a truly successful mixed martial artist nowadays fighters have to constantly evolve, and that means training throughout the year even without a scheduled fight.

It’s the same for Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion ‘Rowdy’ Ronda Rousey (5-0), who despite her perfect record of five straight armbar submissions, is headed to Stockton, California to improve her fight game.

Rousey is headed to the Team Cesar Gracie gym, made famous by the quality fighters who train there such as Nick and Nate Diaz, Strikeforce champ Gilbert Melendez, and Jake Shields.

‘Rowdy’ told MMAWeekly Radio that she was headed off to Stockton next month which would mark the first time in her mma career that she has fought outside of her normal gym.

“Yeah, I’m going up there from the 3rd to the 16th (of April) and it’s going to be the first time ever since I started doing MMA that I’m going to be training for an actual extended period of time away from my core camp, who I’ve always been with.”

“When I did judo I used to go around all the time, like every month or so I would go away for a week or two weeks to go train somewhere else,” said Rousey. “For some reason it’s something I never did in MMA, so they invited me to come train up there, and they’re good at a bunch of things that I need to work on so I’m super excited. It’s going to be the first time I’m training away from home in a long time.”

A few months ago, Rousey trained with Nick Diaz previous to his fight with Carlos Condit for the UFC interim welterweight title.

According To Gray Maynard The UFC Lightweight Division Is Like A “Good Soap Opera That Draws You In”

Former back-to-back UFC lightweight contender Gray ‘The Bully’ Maynard (10-1-1, 1NC) has his next match scheduled for this June in Atlantic City when he meets fan favorite, Clay ‘The Carpetner’ Guida, in the main event of the UFC on FX 4 show. Maynard suffered his first career loss in his last bout, falling to former […]

Former back-to-back UFC lightweight contender Gray ‘The Bully’ Maynard (10-1-1, 1NC) has his next match scheduled for this June in Atlantic City when he meets fan favorite, Clay ‘The Carpetner’ Guida, in the main event of the UFC on FX 4 show.

Maynard suffered his first career loss in his last bout, falling to former champ Frankie Edgar by knockout at the UFC 136 show.

In a recent interview with Heavy.com, Maynard describes the UFC’s lightweight division as a “good soap opera that draws you in,” as well as how the matchup with Guida came about.

“The fight between Clay and I actually came out as a rumor a long time ago,” Maynard said. “Someone put it out there we were going to fight in Montreal, and even though it wasn’t true, it drew solid attention. The UFC saw this, and Joe Silva thought it was a great fight – so they made it happen.

“Since it has been out there, I’ve pretty much been gearing up for him for a while now. Guida has good takedowns, but I feel that is my area and what he lacks as a true athlete he makes up for in heart and toughness. Clay is well known for his cardio, but he also likes to mix it up and throw hands. He has a good chin, great heart and it’s a fun fight.

“The lightweight division is like a drama. It is like a good soap opera that draws you in because it’s not built up off bulls**t hype. There is no fake build-up where guys are talking a bunch of s**t in order to get fan’s attention. It’s all in the actual fights people are seeing, and it is the most competitive weight class in the UFC, hands down. The skill and heart displayed in our division is without comparison. We go out there, put it all on the line and get after it from bell to bell.”

Check out the entire interview by hitting the link above, and see what ‘The Bully’ has to say about leaving AKA, training in Brazil, and his overall mood now that he’s changed things up.

Earning Bellator’s Season Five Heavyweight Tournament “Bittersweet Moment” For Eric Prindle

Bellator heavyweight Eric ‘The American Soldier’ Prindle (7-1, 1NC) was declared the winner of the Season Five tournament, earning the $100,000 contract and title shot with champ Cole Konrad after opponent Thiago ‘Big Monster’ Santos failed to make weight. Santos hit the scales just shy of twelve-pounds overweight for their rematch, which had already been […]

Bellator heavyweight Eric ‘The American Soldier’ Prindle (7-1, 1NC) was declared the winner of the Season Five tournament, earning the $100,000 contract and title shot with champ Cole Konrad after opponent Thiago ‘Big Monster’ Santos failed to make weight.

Santos hit the scales just shy of twelve-pounds overweight for their rematch, which had already been delayed by one week from Bellator 61 to Bellator 62, after Prindle came down with “flu-like” symptoms and with Santos reportedly even more overweight.

For Prindle, it’s a “bittersweet moment” for the former American soldier who trained hard for several months for the expected rematch after their first meeting ended in a “No Contest” due to a low blow. He says he even feels “disrespected” by his opponent for failing to make weight.

“He kind of disrespected me. Obviously he hasn’t been training to make weight so he kinda looked past me which bit him in the butt. It really upset me because I trained hard as hell and wanted to use the stuff that Erik Paulson and Josh Barnett at CSW taught me. I’m an MMA fighter, a professional, and I want to be able to fight if a fight’s set up. The yo-yo effect on my emotions bothered me. (Winning the tournament)’s a bittersweet moment, and I don’t want to say I didn’t earn it, but the fight is the fun part. I did all the work and everything and I was ready to go but Santos disrespected me and Bellator.”

Prindle was spoke to Mauro Ranallo on “The MMA Show” on Friday 23 March 2012, which also included guests Bellator commentator Jimmy Smith, media personalities John Morgan and Mike Chiappetta, Topps trading cards rep Jeremy Fullerton, as well as couple of other guests.

With Move To Welterweight, Demian Maia Ready For New Challenges At 170-Lbs

Former UFC middleweight contender Demian Maia (15-4) has his next fight scheduled but this time the Brazilian is dropping down to welterweight and will meet South Korean Dong Hyun Kim at UFC 148 this July. Maia makes the move after going 1-2 in his last three bouts, losing to wrestlers Mark Munoz at UFC 131, […]

Former UFC middleweight contender Demian Maia (15-4) has his next fight scheduled but this time the Brazilian is dropping down to welterweight and will meet South Korean Dong Hyun Kim at UFC 148 this July.

Maia makes the move after going 1-2 in his last three bouts, losing to wrestlers Mark Munoz at UFC 131, and Chris Weidman at UFC on FOX 2. Both losses were via unanimous decision. The win in that short span came against Jorge Santiago this past October at UFC 136.

The former No. 1 contender spoke to Tatame.com about the new challenges he’ll face with the move to welterweight as well as his upcoming fight with Kim, noting that he expected a tough opponent for his first match at 170-lbs.

“It couldn’t be any different, I knew they’d give me a hard guy. I had many tough fights in the UFC and I can’t wait for anything other than tough guys too (in this new weight division). It’ll be a hard test but I’m hoping it all works just fine in this weight cut and that I do a good fight and win”, the Brazilian fighter said.

“I could tell he has good stand-up skills, a lined Boxing style, is left-handed like me. He’s not just good at Judo, which is his strong point, but his Boxing ain’t that bad, so we can go anywhere, and I’m guessing he won’t have a problem in fighting me on the ground because he’s a Judo expert”.

Rich Franklin More Comfortable Competing At Middleweight Than Light Heavyweight

Former UFC middleweight champion Rich ‘Ace’ Franklin (28-6, 1NC) has recovered from shoulder surgery and is set to return to the Octagon this summer against former Strikeforce title holder Cung Le. The two are expected to meet at UFC 148, which is scheduled for July 7, 2012 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las […]

Former UFC middleweight champion Rich ‘Ace’ Franklin (28-6, 1NC) has recovered from shoulder surgery and is set to return to the Octagon this summer against former Strikeforce title holder Cung Le.

The two are expected to meet at UFC 148, which is scheduled for July 7, 2012 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The bout marks Franklin’s return to the UFC’s middleweight division after competing at light heavyweight and 195-lbs catchweight bouts. ‘Ace’ last fought at 185-lbs in April 2008, earning a second round TKO win over Travis Lutter.

In an interview on Thursday on “The MMA Show with Mauro Ranallo”, Franklin talked about moving back to middleweight and his plan to get back down to 185-lbs, feeling that is a more comfortable weight for him than competing at 205-lbs.

“I never 100% loved being at 205, anyways,” Franklin told Mauro Ranallo on The MMA Show, “but I was in a position where I was stuck at 185 since the UFC didn’t want to do a third Anderson Silva fight. It put me in a gatekeeper position at 185 and it wasn’t attractive at the time so I moved to 205.”

“I’ve been at 205 for a while now and the guys are big,” the native of Cincinnati, Ohio said. “I’ve tried to put on weight but, even still, frame-wise I’m much smaller than most of the guys at 205. Take a look at the face-off picture with Forrest and I and you can see how much bigger he is than me. It’s a big factor to deal with. You could get away with it 10 or 15 years ago but now everyone is so technical so you have to have every advantage you can get.”

“We talked to the UFC about moving to 185 and they were interested so we said, ‘OK, let’s give it a go,” the veteran with a 28-6 record said. “Since I’m older I’m already tracking what I’m eating and the approach I’m taking to the weight cut so I can do it systematically so it won’t be that rough during fight week. I’ve been here at 185 before so I don’t think making weight is going to be a problem at all.”

Also featured on Thursday’s podcast were UFC lightweight Gray Maynard, Dan Miller’s coach Mike Constantino, UFC president Dana White and UFC Canada operations head Tom Wright.