Tag: quick quote

BJ Penn Taking It Easy Following Diaz Loss, Says Hendo vs. Shogun “Best Fight” Ever

Tweet Just over three weeks ago, former two division UFC champion BJ Penn lost a tough fight to Nick Diaz in the main event of UFC 137. Penn came out very battered in the match and announced to the world that he would “take some time off to enjoy life, train and teach.” Many took […]

Just over three weeks ago, former two division UFC champion BJ Penn lost a tough fight to Nick Diaz in the main event of UFC 137. Penn came out very battered in the match and announced to the world that he would “take some time off to enjoy life, train and teach.”

Many took it to mean that ‘The Prodigy’ had announced his retirement.

It’s still uncertain what Penn’s plans are, he seems uncertain himself, and in his latest blog, the Hawaiian fighter gives fans some idea of what he’s been up to since the October 29th loss.

For the past couple of weeks, ever since my fight with Diaz, I have just been taking it easy. When I am not relaxing at home, I am just hanging out with old friends from high school and spending time with my daughter and family.

I have been back in Hawaii for a while now, but I haven’t been doing much as far as athletics go. This is partly because I think I sprained my finger or something, so because of that I have just been kind of laying low and enjoying life.

However, after sitting around the house for so long my body started to get achy. So two weeks ago I started to run again. I just couldn’t take sitting around the house anymore without exercising and my body feels so much better now that I have started working out again. I still haven’t gotten into the gym and done any type of martial arts training yet, but the runs are definitely fun and, like I said, they make my body feel better.

…I think Dan Henderson versus “Shogun” was the best fight I have ever seen in my life. What a fight! It was very close; I think the first three rounds were close. I didn’t feel like Dan really pulled away from “Shogun” in any of those rounds. I know at one point Dan dropped him and went in for the kill and unloaded but “Shogun” handled it and came back to win the last two rounds.

It was great to see two legends of the sport put it all on the line like that. Dan is just a beast and like I said, it was the best fight I have ever seen.

Be sure to check out Penn’s full blog at Bleacherreport.com.

‘Cyborg’ Santos Says Strikeforce Considering Dropping Women’s145-Pound Division

Tweet Strikeforce women’s 145 lbs champion Cristiane ‘Cyborg’ Santos (10-1) says the promotion is looking at dropping the division to focus on the women’s 135 lbs division. Santos spoke to Tatame.com about the situation, noting that Strikeforce officials had asked if she’d consider dropping to 135 lbs in the future. Actually there’re still two weight […]

Strikeforce women’s 145 lbs champion Cristiane ‘Cyborg’ Santos (10-1) says the promotion is looking at dropping the division to focus on the women’s 135 lbs division.

Santos spoke to Tatame.com about the situation, noting that Strikeforce officials had asked if she’d consider dropping to 135 lbs in the future.

Actually there’re still two weight divisions: 135lbs and 145lbs. It’s already hard for me to drop to 145lbs, I gotta work a lot and they’re thinking about one division only, they asked me if I could do it. I can try, it’s not impossible. Let’s see… I guess that, in the future, there’ll be some news.

‘Cyborg’ is currently scheduled to defend her 145 lbs title this coming December against Japanese fighter Hiroko Yamanaka in the co-main event of the Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Masvidal event set for December 17, 2011 at the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego, California.

Check out the champs other comments about her training, the future of female fighters under Zuffa, and more by hitting the link.

Alistair Overeem “I Am Here To Prove That I Am – Without Question – The Best Heavyweight On The Planet”

Tweet The last Strikeforce and DREAM heavyweight champion, as well as the 2010 K-1 World Grand Prix champion, Alistair Overeem (35-11, 1NC) is set to make his Octagon debut next month in the headliner of UFC 141 against former Champ Brock Lesnar. Ultimate Figthing Championship execs had offered ‘The Reem’ the next title shot against […]

The last Strikeforce and DREAM heavyweight champion, as well as the 2010 K-1 World Grand Prix champion, Alistair Overeem (35-11, 1NC) is set to make his Octagon debut next month in the headliner of UFC 141 against former Champ Brock Lesnar.

Ultimate Figthing Championship execs had offered ‘The Reem’ the next title shot against the winner between Cain Velasquez vs. Junior dos Santos, but the Dutch fighter opted to stay busy instead taking the fight with Lesnar on December 30th.

In his recent blog for Yahoo.com, Overeem says he’ll be ready “to prove that I am – without question – the best heavyweight on the planet.”

I think I have earned a UFC world title fight, by winning every major title outside the UFC, but I am here to prove that I am – without question – the best heavyweight on the planet. You don’t do that sitting on the sidelines or working out in the gym, you do that by fighting and beating the best available opposition in the biggest fights that can be made.

Myself vs. Lesnar is a huge fight and I jumped at the chance to fight him.

But I don’t underestimate this man. Winning UFC belt from Randy Couture in his fourth pro MMA fight and defending it against Frank Mir and Shane Carwin was very impressive. I am also impressed by Lesnar’s fighting spirit; he has twice come back from a very serious illness and fought very tough opposition right away. He obviously has a lot of confidence in himself in fighting me after more than a year out and surgery on his stomach, and I admire that about him, but I am even more confident in myself. I will knock this guy out.

He is great at takedowns and controlling people on the ground, but he I can stop his takedowns and he is no match for me on the feet.

I am going to rip Brock Lesnar apart, piece by piece.

UFC Champ Dominick Cruz Feels He’s Beaten The Best “Urijah Faber” Already

Tweet The score is 1-1 and the game is about to go into extra innings, or overtime depending on your sports metaphor preference. UFC bantamweights Urijah Faber and champion Dominick Cruz are on a collision course for their third meeting after ‘The California Kid’s’ dominant win over Brian Bowles this past weekend at UFC 139. […]

Photo via UFC.com

The score is 1-1 and the game is about to go into extra innings, or overtime depending on your sports metaphor preference.

UFC bantamweights Urijah Faber and champion Dominick Cruz are on a collision course for their third meeting after ‘The California Kid’s’ dominant win over Brian Bowles this past weekend at UFC 139.

It was over four years between their first two meetings, with Faber taking the first fight by submission back in March 2007, and Cruz securing the unanimous decision win this past July at UFC 132.

In that particular bout, both men talked about how much they’d each evolved since their first meeting. This time though, both fighters will know better what to expect from the other.

Whatever that may be, the champ says he’s already beaten the “best Faber there’s been” and will be ready for whatever the No. 1 contender has to offer.

“The way that he beat Bowles, I think it warrants a title fight for him,” Cruz said of Faber. “That’s fine with me. I’ve got no problem. It was going to be him or Bowles, I knew that coming into that fight, and I was ready to take on either one of them. He beat somebody in the Top 5 of the division. That’s the first time he’s been matched up with someone in the Top 5 of the 135-pound division.”

“…He beat me fair and square that fight but I don’t look at myself anywhere near where I was then,” Cruz said. “My last fight with Faber I feel I fought the best Faber there’s been so far and I beat him. So I know I’m going to do it again.”

Cruz was a guest on The MMA Hour with host Ariel Helwani on Monday, discussing this past weekends No. 1 contender bout.

Be sure to hit the link to read all of the champ’s comments.

Stephan Bonnar Appologizes To Josh Koscheck For T-Shirt Fiasco

Tweet Ultimate Fighter season one runner up, Stephan ‘The American Psycho’ Bonnar (14-7) picked up his third straight victory at last nights (Nov. 19, 2011) UFC 139 event in San Jose, California. Bonnar turned in a solid performance against opponent Kyle Kingsbury on the pay-per-view opener of the event, showcasing his ground game and erasing […]

Photo by Josh Hedges for UFC.com

Ultimate Fighter season one runner up, Stephan ‘The American Psycho’ Bonnar (14-7) picked up his third straight victory at last nights (Nov. 19, 2011) UFC 139 event in San Jose, California.

Bonnar turned in a solid performance against opponent Kyle Kingsbury on the pay-per-view opener of the event, showcasing his ground game and erasing a previous three fight losing skid which looked as if it might be the end of his time in the Octagon.

It wasn’t the dominant win that was most interesting, it was Bonnar’s confession after the victory to color commentator Joe Rogan that peaked everyone’s interest.

“I have a little confession to make. I had this big plan to get this win, and then call out Koscheck. But you know what? Something about fighting makes you be honest with yourself. The truth is, he asked me not to make those shirts, and I did it anyway. So Koscheck, I apologize. You taught me a valuable lesson. From now on, fighters gotta approve of those shirts, and they’ll get paid for every one of them.”

Bonnar had an ongoing legal feud with former welterweight contender Josh Koscheck after ‘The American Pyscho’ produced t-shirts depicting Koscheck (shown), along with other UFC fighters, in a cartoon fashion emulating the 1980′s trading cards “Garbage Pail Kids” collectibles.

Through legal action, Koshcheck had the sale of the shirts parodying himself stopped, incensing Bonnar to the point that he responded by challenging the smaller fighter.

Now it appears that is all in the past with Bonnar’s apology Saturday night, well at least for ‘The American Psycho’. I guess we’ll have to wait for Koshcheck’s response in his next interview.

Junior dos Santos On Crutches Eleven Days Before Fight, To Undergo Knee Surgery Soon

Tweet Capturing the Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight title is one of the great moments in Brazilian fighter Junior dos Santos career, defeating Cain Velasquez in the main event of UFC on FOX Saturday night in Anaheim, California. ‘Cigano’ did it with a highlight reel knockout, landing a solid right hand to his opponents head and […]

(Photos by Donald Miralle/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC vs Getty Images)

Capturing the Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight title is one of the great moments in Brazilian fighter Junior dos Santos career, defeating Cain Velasquez in the main event of UFC on FOX Saturday night in Anaheim, California.

‘Cigano’ did it with a highlight reel knockout, landing a solid right hand to his opponents head and following it up with more strikes to finish the fight at 1:04 of the first.

At the post fight press conference, Dos Santos admitted to the gathered media that he was very worried in the fight because just eleven-days before he had spent two days walking around on crutches after tearing his meniscus in his knee.

“I got a very serious injury in my knee, my meniscus. You know, 10 days ago I couldn’t walk very well. I stayed two days with [crutches], but I asked my doctor to help me because it’s the fight of my life and I can’t miss that fight.”

The newly crowned champ did not want to go five rounds with Velasquez and had hoped it would end early, which is exactly what he did.

Reporter Ariel Helwani spoke to Dos Santos physician who stated the new UFC champ would require surgery for the torn meniscus.

“He has a lesion on the meniscus, on the lateral meniscus. A big lesion that should have to have surgery to fix. Eleven days ago we treated him, was everything good. Ten minutes before the fight he told us ‘My knee, I have something in my knee.’ (I said) Calm down. You are a tough guy. You are our warrior. You can go. Now he is the champion.”

His doctor feels that the new champ should be out for one month, citing Dos Santos high level of physical fitness as the reason for a probable quick recover.