UFC on FOX 2 headliners ‘Suga’ Rashad Evans and Phil ‘Mr. Wonderful’ Davis will meet in the Octagon this Saturday night (Jan. 28, 2012) in Chicago, Illinois pitting two strong wrestlers against one another. Davis is a former NCAA champion, while Evans competed for Michigan State University. Despite the disparage in wrestling credentials it’s Evans […]
Photo via UFC.com
UFC on FOX 2 headliners ‘Suga’ Rashad Evans and Phil ‘Mr. Wonderful’ Davis will meet in the Octagon this Saturday night (Jan. 28, 2012) in Chicago, Illinois pitting two strong wrestlers against one another.
Davis is a former NCAA champion, while Evans competed for Michigan State University. Despite the disparage in wrestling credentials it’s Evans who feels that he holds the edge inside the cage.
Speaking to MMAWeekly, the former UFC light heavyweight champ talked about being in Davis head, feeling that his opponent is already doubting his wrestling ability because this is mixed martial arts and not a wrestling competition.
“Of course I’m in his head because Phil Davis knows a few things and he knows no matter what, I’m a better wrestler than him. He can win an NCAA championship or whatever, but he knows if I was in that weight class that year he wouldn’t have won anything,” Evans told MMAWeekly Radio.
“When it comes to MMA wrestling, he’s definitely not a better wrestler when it comes to that. That bothers him and it actually makes him a little bit afraid as well.”
Evans fully expects to be taken down but doesn’t plan on staying there. Check out the more of the interview at the first link, or listen to the podcast by clicking play.
Brazilian fighter Junior Assunção (13-5) has seen himself cut from the Ultimate Fighting Championship for a second time. Assunção finds himself being released from the top promotion following a loss to Ross Pearson last month at UFC 141. The two would battle for three rounds with Pearson earning a unanimous decision. A stunned Assunção posted […]
Brazilian fighter Junior Assunção (13-5) has seen himself cut from the Ultimate Fighting Championship for a second time.
Assunção finds himself being released from the top promotion following a loss to Ross Pearson last month at UFC 141. The two would battle for three rounds with Pearson earning a unanimous decision.
A stunned Assunção posted the news on Twitter (@juniorassuncao1) Monday night.
– I JUST GOT CUT FROM THE UFC!! WOW… APPARENTLY THEY DID NOT LIKE MY LAST FIGHT. THANKS @ufc FOR THE OPPORTUNITY. TO MY FANS, I’LL BE BACK!
– THX FOR THE SUPPORT! IM NOT IN CONTROL OF ALL THIS. MY MANAGER SAID IT WILL BE OK. WAS IN A GOOD WIN STREK BEFORE THE LAST FIGHT.SORRY GUYS
– The Boss himself told me the fight was good, got a performance $, was in a good win STREAK before that last fight. I DONT UNDERSTAND!
– “If I knew I was getting cut I would got the easier fight” I told my Maneger. CAN SOMEONE HELP ME UNDERSTAND? gotta suck it Up and improve
Most fighters find themselves in this position after two straight losses, but Assunção had won six straight before making his Octagon return. He would face Eddie Yagin at UFC 135, dropping to featherweight for the first time, earning a unanimous decision at the Colorado event. Assunção would then go on to lose to Pearson resulting in his release from the UFC.
UFC featherweight champion José Aldo (21-1) joined an exclusive club under the Zuffa umbrella with his most recent win earlier this month at UFC 142. Aldo successfully defended his belt for a fifth time by knocking out opponent Chad Mendes at 4:59 of the first round of the Rio de Janeiro event, joining the likes […]
UFC featherweight champion José Aldo (21-1) joined an exclusive club under the Zuffa umbrella with his most recent win earlier this month at UFC 142.
Aldo successfully defended his belt for a fifth time by knocking out opponent Chad Mendes at 4:59 of the first round of the Rio de Janeiro event, joining the likes of Anderson Silva, Georges St-Pierre, Matt Hughes, and Tito Ortiz in that category.
With all of this success, there has been plenty of talk of Aldo making the jump up to 145-lbs after running through much of the competition at featherweight.
For Aldo, in a recent interview with Tatame.com, the decision to move up in weight will eventually be up to his coach/manager Andre Pederneiras.
What are your plans now? The next step is to keep defending my title for a long time. We’re achieving our goals now, I’m seeing some of my personal dreams coming true, so we gotta keep working and I’m sure we’re gonna break much more records.
Many fans would like to see you on the lightweight, but Pederneiras said you’d only do that if you get a chance at the title. What do you think about that? That I leave for Andre to decide. He takes care of my career. He knows better. If he thinks I should fight, I will. If he thinks it’s not the time yet, I’ll stay here. I’m feeling great on the featherweight. I really wanted to test myself a while ago, since I was at WEC, but Andre knows better. I’ll fight if he wants me to, otherwise I’ll just stay here.
When you saw Chad Mendes was knocked out you ran to the fans, like you once did in WEC. What were you thinking? Actually I was running to one side of the octagon but I ran to the other. It was big, man. Since Ultimate matched we up people were being very affectionate, fans sent me messages, so I thought to myself: if I win this thing, I’m gonna run to the fans. Thank God everything worked out, I could run. The fans liked it, everyone liked it, so it was great.
Former WWE star Bobby Lashley (7-1) had a better 2011 going 2-0 in the year after a 1-1 run with the Strikeforce promotion in 2010. He has worked hard to improve himself, working with Josh Barnett recently after the two competed against one another in Japan in a pro-wrestling bout. Lashley is looking to take […]
Former WWE star Bobby Lashley (7-1) had a better 2011 going 2-0 in the year after a 1-1 run with the Strikeforce promotion in 2010.
He has worked hard to improve himself, working with Josh Barnett recently after the two competed against one another in Japan in a pro-wrestling bout.
Lashley is looking to take some big steps back into the spotlight in 2012, telling Fighters Only Magazine recently that he’s been offered a contract with Bellator Fighting Championships and is currently on the list as a potential opponent for Fedor Emelianenko.
“It was a contract that was just put on the table… I got the call yesterday so I don’t even know any of the details of the deal. I think Bellator is a great company and I would love to be able to fight for them.”
Lashley also spoke about the possibility of a fight with the legendary Fedor Emelianenko. “The guy’s got a tremendous amount of fights under his belt… I’d like to fight him.”
According to Lashley, Fedor’s managers are currently looking for the Russian MMA veteran’s next opponent, and his name is on the list of potential matchups. “I’m going to throw everything at him that I can. Of course, my wrestling’s there, I don’t give a damn what he’s doing. I’d put my wrestling up there with almost anyone right now.
“I think that my wrestling would trump some of the things that he has. I know he’s a great fighter, but if I fought him then of course I’m going to try and wrestle him down…I wanna fight the best, so if I have an opportunity to fight Fedor, let’s do it. If I have an opportunity to fight anyone right now let’s just damn do it.””
Lashley earned the Shark Fights Heavyweight title last November, by earning a first round submission over late replacement Karl Knothe at the Lubbock, Texas event. His other win in 2011, took place at a Tital FC 17 show in March, where the former WWE star earned a unanimous decision over John Ott.
UFC bantamweight, and former WEC champion, Miguel Torres (39-4) is set to face Michael McDonald at the upcoming April’s UFC 145 event in Atlanta, Georgia. Torres grew his fan base as an exciting fighter who always looked to finish his opponents no matter how much damage he sustained. Since losing his WEC title, Torres has […]
UFC bantamweight, and former WEC champion, Miguel Torres (39-4) is set to face Michael McDonald at the upcoming April’s UFC 145 event in Atlanta, Georgia.
Torres grew his fan base as an exciting fighter who always looked to finish his opponents no matter how much damage he sustained.
Since losing his WEC title, Torres has taken a different approach to fighting moving part of his camp to the Tristar gym under coach Firas Zahabi. This has helped develop Torres into a more conservative fighter who has gone 2-1 fighting to decision results in all three matches.
Speaking to Heavy.com, Torres explained his reasons for changing his style of fighting.
“Even after the losses, I had to Bowles and Benavidez, I wasn’t training properly or game planning,” Torres said. “I was going out there with the mindset that whatever happens happens. It’s a different world we live in now, and every dominant team has a school of fighters who only train for the fight. They are well-rounded in every aspect, so you can’t go out there looking to get into a fight and hoping you are going to get a guy. Your opponent knows what you are going to do if you are doing the same thing every time. You have to rise above your last performance every time out. You have to modify your style where it is going to create the most problems for your opponent.”
“I totally understand where the fans are coming from,” Torres said. “I watch my old fights, when I had the title, and I would go out there with my hands down, charging forward. It’s exciting for the fans and is going to make it a great fight, but from my standpoint it wasn’t smart because I was taking unnecessary damage. Win or lose, I was going to take damage. It showed heart, dedication and that I was going to war because I’m a fighter, but for the cerebral aspect of my health it wasn’t smart. I have a family, a future to look forward to, and I couldn’t continue to fight that way if I hoped to keep my mental faculties together for the rest of my life…”
“I’ll be training in Florida for three to four weeks, then I’ll go up to Montreal to train with Firas,” said Torres, who Friday booked his next fight for UFC 145 against Michael McDonald. “I start every camp in my own gym, and now that I’m training with Firas and not getting hurt like I used to, I stay training. Before, I would get a cut on my face or a serious injury to one of my hands or feet and I would be forced to take a month off. Being out for a month puts your body out of shape and you spend the first part of camp just trying to get back to where you were. Now when I train for a fight, it’s steady. I win my fight and I’m back in the gym immediately working on the things I need to improve on.”
For many this past week the announcement by the Nevada State Athletic Commission that former Strikeforce light heavyweight champ Muhammed ‘King Mo’ Lawal (8-1, 1NC) had tested positive for a banned steroid came as quite the shock, including to Lawal himself. Since then, ‘King Mo’ and his manager Mike Kogan, have been talking to the […]
Lawal stops Larkin in the second round (Photos by Esther Lin/Forza LLC/Getty Images via Forza LLC)
For many this past week the announcement by the Nevada State Athletic Commission that former Strikeforce light heavyweight champ Muhammed ‘King Mo’ Lawal (8-1, 1NC) had tested positive for a banned steroid came as quite the shock, including to Lawal himself.
Since then, ‘King Mo’ and his manager Mike Kogan, have been talking to the media expressing their shock at the finding and have busily been working behind the scenes to clear Lawal’s name.
Both men recently spoke to ESPN.com about the positive test for Drostanolone and their efforts to get to the bottom of why it happened.
In the interview with Josh Gross, Lawal discusses the exact types of supplements he took before his Jan. 7 bout versus Lorenz Larkins, so if your a chemist maybe you can help the former champ out by checking out the full list by hitting the link above.
Josh Gross: Just to start off the top, you’re saying you didn’t take any anabolic steroid — is that right? Muhammed Lawal: Yeah, I didn’t take any anabolic steroids, man. That’s not my way of doing things. My track record shows. I came from college to the Olympic and world competition. I was drug tested then and up until now, you know what I’m saying. This is the first time anything like this has happened in my life. I’m shocked just like everybody around me is.
Gross: So, you’ve never taken anything is what you’re saying. In your entire sporting career, you’ve never taken anything that would have put up a result like this? Lawal: Never, never. I don’t need to. I’m all about competition, game planning and training hard. I’ve gotten to where I’ve gotten to through hard work, smart training and coaching. No type of performance enhancements.
Gross: You’re addressing your situation in the media. What do you hope to accomplish by addressing publicly like this? Also, steroid use is an issue in mixed martial arts. Are you concerned about being labeled a steroid user, perhaps a cheater, and what effect that may have on your career? Lawal: That’s always the issue. I don’t want to be labeled as that, but you have people that don’t like me that will say that regardless. In the public eye, you’re always guilty before innocent. All I got to do is worry about the people that have been there for me since day one, my family and my friends. I want to prove my innocence to those people first and foremost. I’ve been a clean athlete. I’m still a clean athlete. I don’t know what happened here but we’ll get to the bottom of this. I’m kind of in disbelief. I’m having a hard time eating and sleeping because of all of this. I’m just hoping the sooner we can get the ball moving, we can get my name cleared.
