Tag: quick quote

Middleweight Bryan Baker Plans On Setting Traps For Opponent Jared Hess Tonight At Bellator 50

Tweet Having already defeated the greatest opponent in his life, chronic leukemia, Bellator middleweight Bryan ‘The Beast’ Baker (15-2) is set to make another run at the promotions 185 lb title. Baker was diagnosed with chronic leukemia back in 2010, a couple of weeks before participating in Bellator’s Season Two Middleweight tournament. ‘The Beast’ lost […]

Having already defeated the greatest opponent in his life, chronic leukemia, Bellator middleweight Bryan ‘The Beast’ Baker (15-2) is set to make another run at the promotions 185 lb title.

Baker was diagnosed with chronic leukemia back in 2010, a couple of weeks before participating in Bellator’s Season Two Middleweight tournament. ‘The Beast’ lost in the finals to Alexander Shlemenko and has since gone on to put his bout with cancer behind him, as well as go on to win twice more in a Bellator cage.

Tonight Baker is set to participate in the opening quarterfinal bouts of the Bellator Season Five Middleweight Tournament against Jared Hess (11-2-1).

Facing a strong wrestler, Baker told MMAMania.com that he plans on keeping his distance and use his striking “to lead (Hess) into booby traps.”

“I’m expecting a hard fight. He’s a fighter who has a lot of heart. At the same time, I’m expecting a wrestler. That’s what he is and what he’s always been. I believe my striking has surpassed his and I believe that he’s gonna stick to what he’s confident in and he’ll try wrestling. I’m no amateur to wrestling myself. I just had to get my reaction back down with wrestling a little bit. I’ve got some guys helping me out from the Olympic training center in Colorado and my wrestling has been on point. I’m ready to show how my striking is going to lead him into booby traps. That’s what I’m going to set him up for.”

“I just really understand that with striking if you are really trying to knock your opponent out with every punch, they’re gonna be able to drop under it and they’re gonna be able to use your momentum against you. I believe my striking has evolved to where I don’t throw my whole body into it. I’m just gonna stick and move, touch him where I want and chop away before he’s able to actually get a vision of what he’s trying to take down. Everywhere I am in a fight, I have a sense of comfortability. Even if I do get taken down, it’s not a loss. I’ll be like, “Ok, he took me down, but it’s right back to work.” I feel I’m just as good with submissions as I am with my stand-up if not better. Wherever the fight ends up, I keep my comfortability at all points of the fight. “

The Bellator 50 main card kicks off at 9PM EST (6PM PST) on MTV2 and features a four bout televised card.

Bellator Middleweight Brian Rogers Looking To “Sprawl And Brawl” For Three Rounds Against Tough Finisher Victor O’Donnell

Tweet Bellator Fighting Championships is set to feature the opening quarterfinal bouts of their Season Five Middleweight tournament this weekend as part of the main card for Bellator 50. Fighting in that tournament will be Brian ‘The Predator’ Rogers (7-2) who meets a tough finisher in Victor O’Donnell (10-2), who has nine bouts by stoppage […]

Bellator Fighting Championships is set to feature the opening quarterfinal bouts of their Season Five Middleweight tournament this weekend as part of the main card for Bellator 50.

Fighting in that tournament will be Brian ‘The Predator’ Rogers (7-2) who meets a tough finisher in Victor O’Donnell (10-2), who has nine bouts by stoppage out of his ten professional wins.

Bellator 50 is scheduled to take place this Saturday, September 17, at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. The main card will air live on MTV2 in the U.S. and on theScore in Canada.

Rogers knows he’s in tough Saturday night, but will look to “sprawl and brawl” for three rounds, unless he can finish O’Donnell early with his fists.

Check out part of MMAMania.com’s interview with Rogers below, and be sure to read the full interview by hitting the link.

Your first round opponent is Victor O’Donnell. He’s a fellow Ohioan. What are your thoughts on the guy?
Brian Rogers: Well I’ve seen him around, he fought one of my teammates Forrest Petz a few years ago and he’s a tough submission guy. He’s got eight submission wins total and he’s fought some good names. His record speaks for itself. He’s never been finished and nearly every one of his wins has been by stoppage so I know he’s a really strong opponent.

Is there any motivation to avenge your teammate because I know he defeated Forrest Petz.
Brian Rogers: Yeah, I want to get the win for myself and it would be nice to get it for Forrest too. Cleveland has a bit of a rivalry with Cincinnati, Team Vision versus Strong Style and it would be really nice to get that win on the pretty big stage.

How do you see this fight playing out on Saturday night?
Brian Rogers: I’m pretty sure Victor will stand for a little bit but ultimately he’ll look for the double leg takedown and go for the submission. I’ll have to be ready to ‘sprawl and brawl’ for up to three rounds and hopefully I can clip him early and be done with it.

Evan Dunham – UFC Lightweight Division Is “A Pond Full Of Sharks”

Tweet That is the sentiment that former high flying UFC lightweight Evan ’3-D’ Dunham (11-2) feels about the promotions 155 lb division, “it’s a pond full of sharks in my opinion.” Dunham meets one of those sharks this coming weekend at UFC Fight Night 25 on September 17 against Shamar Bailey, with the two squaring […]

Photo by Getty Images via UFC.com

That is the sentiment that former high flying UFC lightweight Evan ’3-D’ Dunham (11-2) feels about the promotions 155 lb division, “it’s a pond full of sharks in my opinion.”

Dunham meets one of those sharks this coming weekend at UFC Fight Night 25 on September 17 against Shamar Bailey, with the two squaring off on the Facebook prelim card. ’3-D’ enters the bout on a two fight losing skid, after going 11-0 with losses to Melvin Guillard and Sean Sherk.

’3-D’ spoke to UFC.com about his upcoming fight, as well as his thoughts on the status of the UFC’s lightweight division. Be sure to check out the full interview at UFC.com.

“They will be coming at me harder and I usually thrive when people want to make it a fight,” he said. “It’s cool with me and just reinforces the idea that I belong in there as well. I still have a lot to prove and a lot more fights in me that I want in the UFC. If he wants to try and take away what I’ve worked hard for then he’s got something coming.”

“There are a lot of really tough guys that are hungry in the division, and it’s a pond full of sharks in my opinion,” he said. “No fight’s an easy fight, and you hear everybody say it, but I truly believe it’s the toughest division in the UFC. What really gets me up in the morning is that I’m living my dream and fighting in the organization that I love. There’s no other place in the world that I’d want to be. So knowing that every fight is going to be a war definitely makes you train hard, and you can’t slack if you want to make it, and I definitely don’t.”

Rafael Cavalcante Wants Rematch With ‘King Mo’ Lawal After Saturday’s Win

Tweet With wins this past Saturday, September 10, Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Kharitonov event former light heavyweight champions Rafael ‘Feijão’ Cavalcante (11-3) and Muhammed ‘King Mo’ Lawal (8-1) are both eying each other as their next opponent. Lawal mentioned Cavalcante as a possibility for his next fight at the post-fight press conference, looking at the fight […]

With wins this past Saturday, September 10, Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Kharitonov event former light heavyweight champions Rafael ‘Feijão’ Cavalcante (11-3) and Muhammed ‘King Mo’ Lawal (8-1) are both eying each other as their next opponent.

Lawal mentioned Cavalcante as a possibility for his next fight at the post-fight press conference, looking at the fight as a way of avenging the only loss to his record and the loss of the Strikeforce title.

Cavalcante went on to lose the title to Dan Henderson, but after rebounding with a win Saturday night sees ‘King Mo’ as an excellent matchup event if it isn’t for a title.

(Interview via Tatame.com)

King Mo, who defeated Roger Gracie, asked for a rematch. Are you interested on it?
Sure, a lot… I want this fight. If it’s not worth the title, I’m even more ready for it. I don’t know if the belt will have no holder (as Dan Henderson left), but it could be worth the title.

What are your thoughts about the fight (with Yoel Romero)?
I couldn’t do my best because I broke my arm on the first round… When I tried to punch him, he dodged and my forearm hit his head and broke. I went to the hospital after the fight to do an X-ray and it’s really broken… He pressured me on the second round, but I overcame that. What made a big difference on this fight were my trainings, I was able to show I’m back.

Cavalcante says that he’s headed back to Rio de Janeiro and may possibly undergo surgery to repair his broken arm, but will look to return quickly. When he does, he may just get that fight with ‘King Mo’ Lawal.

‘Bigfoot’ Silva Says He Was On Autopilot After Daniel Cormier Hit Him

Tweet In the co-main event of last weekends Strikeforce World Grand Prix Heavyweight tournament semi-final event, Brazilian fighter Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva (16-3) was rocked twice in the first round against opponent Daniel Cormier. According to Silva, that he was shocked by the power in Cormier’s hands after getting dropped the first time in their fight. […]

photos by Josh Hedges/Mike Roach/UFC

In the co-main event of last weekends Strikeforce World Grand Prix Heavyweight tournament semi-final event, Brazilian fighter Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva (16-3) was rocked twice in the first round against opponent Daniel Cormier.

According to Silva, that he was shocked by the power in Cormier’s hands after getting dropped the first time in their fight. ‘Bigfoot’ goes on to say that he was on autopilot after that moment and “wasn’t controlling my body anymore.” Silva would get dropped again in the first round after Cormier landed a vicious uppercut which basically put an end to the fight.

Speaking to Tatame.com, Silva recounts the loss offering credit to his opponent for a good performance. Be sure to check out the full interview as ‘Bigfoot’ gives his opinion on who will win in the Cormier vs. Josh Barnett finale plus much more by hitting the above link.

Here is part of the Tatame interview:

What went wrong?
I had a game plan, but I could never imagine he’d punch me like that. I wasn’t underestimating him, but after he punched me I couldn’t see a thing, I wasn’t controlling my body anymore. I was doing things automatically, I could only see shadows. When I stood up I was dizzy. I was really dizzy after that jab, but I went for it. If I’m losing, at least I’ll lose while fighting. It happened, he deserve the credits. I was well prepared, but he punched me. We didn’t even really fought.

Did you hope he’d try to take you down right on the beginning or were you surprised by his striking?
No, I knew he’d like to trade punches with me for a while, and I was well trained on the ground. I did an excellent job with coach Everaldo, De La Riva, Ze Mario (Sperry), Nogueira… I’ve trained a lot, so I wasn’t worried. I knew we’d bang for a while and then he’d try to take me down, but he punched me hard first. When a heavyweight punches you is really hard… I felt, felt his coup and I thought I’d be ok on the ground, but when I stood up I was dizzy. It happens. The bests in the world have lost and then turned it over. It’s another obstacle I’ll have to overcome.

Josh Koscheck Finally Has His Fight With Matt Hughes

Tweet According to former No. 1 contender Josh Koscheck (15-5), he’s been asking for a fight with UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes for years, but the former champ has always dodged him. Now Koscheck will finally get that fight, stepping in as a late replacement for an injured Diego Sanchez at UFC 135. The […]

According to former No. 1 contender Josh Koscheck (15-5), he’s been asking for a fight with UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes for years, but the former champ has always dodged him.

Now Koscheck will finally get that fight, stepping in as a late replacement for an injured Diego Sanchez at UFC 135. The two will co-main event the Denver event which takes place on September 24 at the Pesi Center in Colorado.

In a Blog series at Sportsnet.ca, Koscheck discussed his last fight, a loss to UFC champ Georges St-Pierre last December, as well as his thoughts on finally facing Hughes.

Here’s an excerpt:

But then last week I got word Matt Hughes, who has avoided me for years, needed an opponent for UFC 135 in Denver on Sept. 24. I’ve called out Hughes for so long but he’s always avoided me. When he was on top and one of the top in the division, he used his position to avoid fighting me and all the AKA guys.

But when Diego Sanchez pulled out hurt with three weeks to go, I knew the UFC would have no choice but to try to talk Hughes into fighting me. Like I knew he would, he tried to suggest fighting Jon Fitch instead, knowing full well Fitch is still recovering from shoulder surgery.

I tweeted that I’d accepted the fight and was ready, just to put pressure on Hughes to quit bitching and take the fight. I wanted to make it so that if he did turn the fight down, all the fans would know that he bitched out.

He had nowhere else to go and I’ve finally got my fight with Matt Hughes.