Following his conviction by a court of law in Sweden, the UFC organization has elected to terminate its relationship with Reza Madadi based on its Fighter Code of Conduct and the provision of its promotional agreement concerning fighter conduct.
Does anyone else wonder how Matt Hughes managed to stretch the above paragraph into an 8 hour work day?
“Do you want this in Times New Roman or the standard Calibri body, Dana? Dana?”
Madadi was last seen competing in his home country at UFC on FUEL: Mousasi vs. That Other Guy, where he improved his octagon record to 2-1 with a third round submission via D’arce victory over Michael Johnson. In retrospect, we should all just assume that Madadi’s arrest and possibly his decision to compete in MMA in the first place was all part of an elaborate ruse designed to draw attention away from Barack Obama so he could steal the Hope Diamond. BOOM BABY!
After the jump: A Colombian purse snatcher gets hit by a bus. I don’t know, it seems relevant to me.
(Further proof that handbag thievery is a dangerous game to get into.)
Following his conviction by a court of law in Sweden, the UFC organization has elected to terminate its relationship with Reza Madadi based on its Fighter Code of Conduct and the provision of its promotional agreement concerning fighter conduct.
Does anyone else wonder how Matt Hughes managed to stretch the above paragraph into an 8 hour work day?
“Do you want this in Times New Roman or the standard Calibri body, Dana? Dana?”
Madadi was last seen competing in his home country at UFC on FUEL: Mousasi vs. That Other Guy, where he improved his octagon record to 2-1 with a third round submission via D’arce victory over Michael Johnson. In retrospect, we should all just assume that Madadi’s arrest and possibly his decision to compete in MMA in the first place was all part of an elaborate ruse designed to draw attention away from Barack Obama so he could steal the Hope Diamond. BOOM BABY!
After the jump: A Colombian purse snatcher gets hit by a bus. I don’t know, it seems relevant to me.
The Swedish tabloid Expressen is reporting that UFC lightweight Reza “Mad Dog” Madadi was arrested Friday on a charge of grand theft in his home country. Bloody Elbow summarized and translated the article for details of the alleged heist:
“One of Sweden’s most successful star athletes, in his sport, is suspected for a smash-and-grab burglary on Stureplan in Stockholm. The loot was luxury handbags worth a million kronor (SEK) [approximately $150,000]. The sports star, who denies [the] charges, was arrested after a dramatic car chase.
Madadi was not specifically named in the tabloid article, which referenced prior legal troubles of the Iranian-Swedish fighter — including a 2009 arrest for an alleged cash depot robbery* — but court documents later confirmed that Madadi was indeed arrested last Friday. Madadi is said to have a public defender representing him and is fighting the charges and maintaining that he is innocent. If he is convicted, BE reports that he could face up to six years in prison.
Madadi’s last fight was a submission win over Michael Johnson at UFC on Fuel 9 in Sweden. The lightweight was scheduled to face TUF 15 winner Michael Chiesa next in Seattle this coming July until he encountered visa problems and was removed from the card.
After the jump: lots more details from the handbag heist, via the Expressen article.
The Swedish tabloid Expressen is reporting that UFC lightweight Reza “Mad Dog” Madadi was arrested Friday on a charge of grand theft in his home country. Bloody Elbow summarized and translated the article for details of the alleged heist:
“One of Sweden’s most successful star athletes, in his sport, is suspected for a smash-and-grab burglary on Stureplan in Stockholm. The loot was luxury handbags worth a million kronor (SEK) [approximately $150,000]. The sports star, who denies [the] charges, was arrested after a dramatic car chase.
Madadi was not specifically named in the tabloid article, which referenced prior legal troubles of the Iranian-Swedish fighter — including a 2009 arrest for an alleged cash depot robbery* — but court documents later confirmed that Madadi was indeed arrested last Friday. Madadi is said to have a public defender representing him and is fighting the charges and maintaining that he is innocent. If he is convicted, BE reports that he could face up to six years in prison.
Madadi’s last fight was a submission win over Michael Johnson at UFC on Fuel 9 in Sweden. The lightweight was scheduled to face TUF 15 winner Michael Chiesa next in Seattle this coming July until he encountered visa problems and was removed from the card.
After the jump: lots more details from the handbag heist, via the Expressen article.
It was just before 5 AM on Friday morning when the alarm went off in the exclusive handbag boutique “Bottega Veneta” on Birger Jarlsgatan in Stockholm. The boutiques CC TV registered how three people struggled to get inside.
– They were banging against the door with a metal object. It took probably five minutes before they were inside, an employee of the store says.
– In spite of the prolonged process, the police did not get there in time.
– When the thieves came inside they cleaned out the boutique of the most expensive bags and ran out again. They knew exactly what they wanted, continues the employee, who estimates the value of the stolen good to about a million kronor (SEK).
– The police took up the hunt for the get-away car and managed to stop them.
– “We have two in custody. One of them is suspected of grand theft, and the other for aiding grand theft,” says prosecutor Olof Calmvik.
* When reached for comment from his Moroccan prison cell, Lee Murray simply stated that he was not impressed with Madadi’s alleged performance.
(Jorge Masvidal, a man after our own heart | Photo CombatLifestyle)
Undefeated TUF 15 champion Michael Chiesa will now face former Strikeforce lightweight title challenger Jorge Masvidal on the UFC on Fox 8 card which goes down on July 27th in Seattle, WA. Chiesa was originally scheduled to face Swedish submission machine Reza Madadi until visa issues forced him out of the bout this week. Seems to be a lot of that going around…
The news was broken on Fuel TV’s UFC Tonight program last night. Chiesa is coming off of a submission win this past February at UFC 157 and Masvidal most recently fought and won three weeks ago in his UFC debut at UFC on Fox 7.
The Chiesa/Masvidal fight is an interesting one because of what a big opportunity it is for both guys. Masvidal gets a big name in just his second UFC bout and a chance to become more known to fans. Chiesa’s opportunity is more of personal growth than anything, since it is a chance for him to fight a super tough veteran of the division and see how he stacks up – though with the negative being that only niche fans really know how good Masvidal is.
Who ya got, Nation? “GameBred” or “The Fighting Hippie?”
(Jorge Masvidal, a man after our own heart | Photo CombatLifestyle)
Undefeated TUF 15 champion Michael Chiesa will now face former Strikeforce lightweight title challenger Jorge Masvidal on the UFC on Fox 8 card which goes down on July 27th in Seattle, WA. Chiesa was originally scheduled to face Swedish submission machine Reza Madadi until visa issues forced him out of the bout this week. Seems to be a lot of that going around…
The news was broken on Fuel TV’s UFC Tonight program last night. Chiesa is coming off of a submission win this past February at UFC 157 and Masvidal most recently fought and won three weeks ago in his UFC debut at UFC on Fox 7.
The Chiesa/Masvidal fight is an interesting one because of what a big opportunity it is for both guys. Masvidal gets a big name in just his second UFC bout and a chance to become more known to fans. Chiesa’s opportunity is more of personal growth than anything, since it is a chance for him to fight a super tough veteran of the division and see how he stacks up – though with the negative being that only niche fans really know how good Masvidal is.
Who ya got, Nation? “GameBred” or “The Fighting Hippie?”
(The plaque is nice and all, but Chiesa would have gladly entered the TUF 15 tournament for two dollars.)
Although we can’t exactly accuse Spencer Fisher of violating our ban on MMA fighters retiring only to immediately unretire, he came about as close as humanly possible when he told various media outlets that his trilogy-completing fight with Sam Stout at UFC on FX 4 last June would probably be his last. As we originally remarked, it seemed about as fitting an end to his MMA career as Fisher could have asked for — his pair of previous fights with Stout had not only fueled an intense rivalry between the two (not on the level of Paraguay vs. Uruguay, but still), but had earned the duo Fight of the Night honors on two separate occasions. That he suffered a razor-thin split decision loss should not have cheapened the significance of the moment, at least in our minds.
In either case, it appears that Fisher is not quite ready to call it quits, as he has been booked to face fellow UFC vet Yves Edwards at UFC on FOX 8, which transpires from the KeyArena in Seattle, Washington on July 27th. Fisher has dropped 5 of his last 6 contests, whereas Edwards has gone win-loss in his last 5 fights and is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Strikeforce newcomer Isaac Vallie-Flagg at UFC 156. For Fisher’s sake, we hope he wins this, because ending your career on your own terms sure beats joining the And Now He’s Fired club.
And now let’s address the possible person of interest pictured above, who has also been booked for UFC on FOX 8…
(The plaque is nice and all, but Chiesa would have gladly entered the TUF 15 tournament for two dollars.)
Although we can’t exactly accuse Spencer Fisher of violating our ban on MMA fighters retiring only to immediately unretire, he came about as close as humanly possible when he told various media outlets that his trilogy-completing fight with Sam Stout at UFC on FX 4 last June would probably be his last. As we originally remarked, it seemed about as fitting an end to his MMA career as Fisher could have asked for — his pair of previous fights with Stout had not only fueled an intense rivalry between the two (not on the level of Paraguay vs. Uruguay, but still), but had earned the duo Fight of the Night honors on two separate occasions. That he suffered a razor-thin split decision loss should not have cheapened the significance of the moment, at least in our minds.
In either case, it appears that Fisher is not quite ready to call it quits, as he has been booked to face fellow UFC vet Yves Edwards at UFC on FOX 8, which transpires from the KeyArena in Seattle, Washington on July 27th. Fisher has dropped 5 of his last 6 contests, whereas Edwards has gone win-loss in his last 5 fights and is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Strikeforce newcomer Isaac Vallie-Flagg at UFC 156. For Fisher’s sake, we hope he wins this, because ending your career on your own terms sure beats joining the And Now He’s Fired club.
And now let’s address the possible person of interest pictured above, who has also been booked for UFC on FOX 8…
Since making mincemeat of his three opponents during his run on the fifteenth season of The Ultimate Fighter, Michael Chiesa has collected two straight victories in the octagon via rear-naked choke (sound familiar?). Although he’s heard a fair share of criticism in regards to his standup game (again), Chiesa’s smothering Jiu-Jitsu attack has been the kiss of death for all of his opponents thus far in his MMA career.
Unfortunately for Chiesa, he’ll be facing an equally dangerous submission artist when he takes on Swedish prospect Reza Madadi, also at UFC on FOX 8. Like Chiesa, Madadi has collected both of his octagon victories via submission and is coming off a third round, come-from-behind Brabo choke victory over TUF something-or-other runner-up Michael Johnson at UFC on FUEL 9.
Who do you like for this pair of lightweight battles, Potato Nation?
Eh, still more exciting than the Rocky musical. Photo courtesy of Josh Hedges/Getty Images.
Let’s start off by stating the obvious: The last-minute main event of yesterday’s UFC on Fuel TV 9 was an anti-climactic ending to an otherwise gratifying afternoon of sanctioned violence. As hard as we tried to convince ourselves that Swedish prospect Ilir Latifi could be an interesting opponent for highly-regarded Strikeforce import Gegard Mousasi, the actual fight was completely unspectacular. This isn’t to say that either fighter deserves criticism for his performance, but rather, that this sort of thing will happen when a guy who earned a UFC contract by virtue of being willing to replace his injured training partner headlines an event on four days’ notice.
Despite walking out to the Rocky theme, it immediately became clear that a Balboa-esque upset – or even a Wepnerian display of resilience – was not in store for Latifi (though the cuts on his face were vintage Chuck Wepner). Latifi was completely incapable of avoiding Mousasi’s jab, which prevented him from getting close enough to The Dreamcatcher to actually put his wrestling prowess to use. As carefree as Mousasi looked – did he even blink during those rare occasions when Latifi landed punches? – he was in complete control throughout the bout, jabbing his way to a unanimous decision victory.
Eh, still more exciting than the Rocky musical. Photo courtesy of Josh Hedges/Getty Images.
Let’s start off by stating the obvious: The last-minute main event of yesterday’s UFC on Fuel TV 9 was an anti-climactic ending to an otherwise gratifying afternoon of sanctioned violence. As hard as we tried to convince ourselves that Swedish prospect Ilir Latifi could be an interesting opponent for highly-regarded Strikeforce import Gegard Mousasi, the actual fight was completely unspectacular. This isn’t to say that either fighter deserves criticism for his performance, but rather, that this sort of thing will happen when a guy who earned a UFC contract by virtue of being willing to replace his injured training partner headlines an event on four days’ notice.
Despite walking out to the Rocky theme, it immediately became clear that a Balboa-esque upset – or even a Wepnerian display of resilience – was not in store for Latifi (though the cuts on his face were vintage Chuck Wepner). Latifi was completely incapable of avoiding Mousasi’s jab, which prevented him from getting close enough to The Dreamcatcher to actually put his wrestling prowess to use. As carefree as Mousasi looked – did he even blink during those rare occasions when Latifi landed punches? – he was in complete control throughout the bout, jabbing his way to a unanimous decision victory.
Mousasi’s “standing lay-and-pray” (his words, not mine) may not have made for the most exciting fight, but his strategy was undeniably effective. A boring fight probably won’t advance Mousasi in the UFC’s official rankings as far as a devastating finish would have, but a loss to an unknown nobody would have certainly done irreparable damage to his credibility. It’s better to take an ugly victory than get reckless looking for a quick finish – especially against a wrestler you’ve only had a few days to prepare for.
One last thing before we move on to the rest of the card. For his performance against Mousasi, Ilir Latifi will be given another shot in the UFC. Considering he saved the main event from cancellation, this comes as a surprise to absolutely no one.
Elsewhere on the card…
– Despite winning the first round by utilizing an effective clinch, Ryan Couture was simply no match for the far more experienced Ross Pearson. Couture was ineffective outside of the clinch, and he was unable to take Pearson down. Once Pearson found his rhythm against the inexperienced Couture, he patiently waited for the right opportunity, and capitalized on it while Ryan Couture was getting back to his feet after a trip. With the victory, Pearson improves to 15-6 in his career. Not bad at all for a guy who fought on a broken foot. [Update: Turns out it wasn’t actually broken, just jacked up…]
The comparisons of Ryan to Randy – especially after what has only been Ryan’s eighth professional bout – aren’t exactly fair, but even Peyton Manning started off as “Archie’s boy.” Besides, when Natural Light (who is not actually called this, fortunately) landed a spot in the co-main event for his UFC debut, it was probably inevitable that fans would attribute this to his last name and his father’s career rather than the strength of his Strikeforce resume. This isn’t to say that Ryan Couture won’t develop into an outstanding fighter, but rather, that he isn’t quite there yet. It’ll be interesting to see how he rebounds from this loss.
– For all intents and purposes, Matt Mitrione vs. Philip De Fries appeared to be a classic loser leaves town match. The fact that it ended in less time than Bucky Boyd vs. The Tree seems to confirm this notion. And regardless of how much job security guys who stand and bang and make less than $50,000 to show typically have, knocking yourself out by running into your opponent’s hipbone just has to earn you a pink slip…right?
Look on the bright side, Philip: There’s a strong possibility that you’ll take home an award during this year’s Potato Awards. Granted, MMA Fail of the Year isn’t our most coveted award, but at least it’s something.
– Fight of the Night honors went to Brad Pickett and Mike Easton, who took part in a highly entertaining three round scrap. Pickett managed to take the fight by being the busier fighter, out-striking Mike Easton throughout the contest. Still, Easton managed to keep things close by taking Pickett down in the second round, and even managed to win the bout on one judge’s scorecard. I don’t see how one judge could give Easton the fight, but in the end, the right call was made.
– Diego Brandao looked more impressive last night than he has at any other point during his UFC career. Granted, that isn’t saying too much, but he looked like he has figured out how to pace himself while choking out Pablo Garza. Also from the main card, Swedish featherweight Akira Corassani kicked things off with a unanimous decision upset over Robbie Peralta.
– Knockout of the Night went to Irish phenom Conor McGregor, who absolutely crushed Marcus Brimage in his UFC debut, demonstrating he’s more than capable of living up to his hype. McGregor has already been given a spot on the UFC’s Fox Sports 1 debut in Boston this August. The bonus money couldn’t have possibly come at a better time for McGregor, who revealed during the post-event press conference that he had been receiving welfare leading up to the fight.
– Submission of the night went to Swedish lightweight Reza Madadi, who finished Michael Johnson via third round d’arce choke. Madadi improves his UFC record to 2-1, and his overall record to 13-3 with the victory.
– All end of the night bonuses were worth $60,000.
Full Results:
Main Card:
Gegard Mousasi def. Ilir Latifi via Unanimous Decision
Ross Pearson def. Ryan Couture via TKO (punches), 3:45 of Round Two
Matt Mitrione def. Phil De Fries via KO (punches), 0:19 of Round One
Brad Pickett def. Mike Easton via Split Decision
Diego Brandao def. Pablo Garza via Submission (Arm-Triangle Choke), 3:27 of Round One
Akira Corassani def. Robbie Peralta via Unanimous Decision
Preliminary card:
Reza Madadi def. Michael Johnson via Submission (D’arce Choke), 1:33 of Round Three
Tor Troéng def. Adam Cella via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke), 3:11 of Round One
Adlan Amagov def. Chris Spång via Unanimous Decision
Conor McGregor def. Marcus Brimage via TKO (Punches), 1:07 of Round One
Ryan LaFlare def. Ben Alloway via Unanimous Decision
Tom Lawlor def. Michael Kuiper via Submission (Guillotine Choke), 1:05 of Round Two
Papy Abedi def. Besam Yousef via Split Decision
(Only Brandao can make a mouthful of Tropical Skittles seem so Goddamn intimidating. Photo via MMAWeekly.)
A plethora of fights have recently been announced for the UFC’s return to Sweden on April 6th, starting with a featherweight scrap that is all but guaranteed to deliver some high-level thrills. Since winning the TUF 14 plaque back in December of 2011 following a dominant run on the show, Diego Brandao has gone just 1-1 in the UFC, dropping a unanimous decision to Darren Elkins in his sophomore appearance at UFC 146 before scoring a UD win of his own over Joey Gambino at UFC 153. For his next appearance, the 5’7″ Brazilian will be forced to somehow negate the distance created by 6’1″ Pablo Garza, who recently bounced back from a two-fight losing streak (including a UD loss to TUF 14 runner-up Dennis Bermudez) by retiring Mark Hominick at UFC 154.
These subtle Cake references doing anything for you guys? OK, I’ll stop.
Although Garza hinted at a drop to 135 following his win over Hominick, it appears as if he will be looking to build a little momentum at featherweight before doing so. That, or Garza came to realization that he already resembles Brian Robeson at the end of Hatchet come fight night and dropping another ten pounds would likely kill him.
Also on par for UFC on FUEL 9 is a lightweight pairing between Reza Madadi (1-1 UFC) and TUF 12 runner-up Michael Johnson (4-3 UFC), both of whom are coming off losses at UFC 153 and UFC 155, respectively. Middleweights Tom Lawlor and Michael Kuiper will also meet at the event. Lawlor most recently dropped a controversial decision (controversial meaning “bullshit” in this case) to the highly-touted Francis Carmont at UFC 154, whereas Kuiper last scored a second round TKO over Jared Hamman at UFC 150.
The full lineup for UFC on FUEL 9 is after the jump.
(Only Brandao can make a mouthful of Tropical Skittles seem so Goddamn intimidating. Photo via MMAWeekly.)
A plethora of fights have recently been announced for the UFC’s return to Sweden on April 6th, starting with a featherweight scrap that is all but guaranteed to deliver some high-level thrills. Since winning the TUF 14 plaque back in December of 2011 following a dominant run on the show, Diego Brandao has gone just 1-1 in the UFC, dropping a unanimous decision to Darren Elkins in his sophomore appearance at UFC 146 before scoring a UD win of his own over Joey Gambino at UFC 153. For his next appearance, the 5’7″ Brazilian will be forced to somehow negate the distance created by 6’1″ Pablo Garza, who recently bounced back from a two-fight losing streak (including a UD loss to TUF 14 runner-up Dennis Bermudez) by retiring Mark Hominick at UFC 154.
These subtle Cake references doing anything for you guys? OK, I’ll stop.
Although Garza hinted at a drop to 135 following his win over Hominick, it appears as if he will be looking to build a little momentum at featherweight before doing so. That, or Garza came to realization that he already resembles Brian Robeson at the end of Hatchet come fight night and dropping another ten pounds would likely kill him.
Also on par for UFC on FUEL 9 is a lightweight pairing between Reza Madadi (1-1 UFC) and TUF 12 runner-up Michael Johnson (4-3 UFC), both of whom are coming off losses at UFC 153 and UFC 155, respectively. Middleweights Tom Lawlor and Michael Kuiper will also meet at the event. Lawlor most recently dropped a controversial decision (controversial meaning “bullshit” in this case) to the highly-touted Francis Carmont at UFC 154, whereas Kuiper last scored a second round TKO over Jared Hamman at UFC 150.
The full lineup for UFC on FUEL 9 is below.
-Alexander Gustafsson vs. Gegard Mousasi
-Philip De Fries vs. Matt Mitrione
-Mike Easton vs. Brad Pickett
-Ryan Couture vs. Ross Pearson
-Diego Brandao vs. Pablo Garza
-Michael Kuiper vs. Tom Lawlor
-Marcus Brimage vs. Conor McGregor
-Michael Johnson vs. Reza Madadi
-Akira Corassani vs. Robert Peralta
-Papy Abedi vs. Besam Yousef
-Adlan Amagov vs. Chris Spang
-Ben Alloway vs. Ryan LaFlare
