Dana White Expects to Know ‘Ultimate Fighter’ Coaches on Friday

Filed under: MMA Media Watch, UFC, WECIn the week and a half since the Finale of The Ultimate Fighter Season 12, speculation has run rampant about who the coaches will be for the show’s 13th season, which will begin taping in early 2011. UFC President …

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Dana WhiteIn the week and a half since the Finale of The Ultimate Fighter Season 12, speculation has run rampant about who the coaches will be for the show’s 13th season, which will begin taping in early 2011. UFC President Dana White said on Wednesday that he’s about 48 hours away from knowing the coaches’ identities.

“We should have it done by Friday,” White said at a press conference in Rio de Janeiro, where he announced that the UFC would host a fight card in Brazil in August.

So who are the likely choices?

Wednesday Morning MMA Link Club: The Sweetest Bitch You’ll Ever Meet

(After Nate Diaz has sex with a guy, he will rip their heads off. Props: YouTube.com/FreeFights4You)
Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere. E-mail [email protected] for details on how your site can join the MMA…

(After Nate Diaz has sex with a guy, he will rip their heads off. Props: YouTube.com/FreeFights4You)

Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere. E-mail [email protected] for details on how your site can join the MMA Link Club…

– Ailing Cruz, Upstart Jorgensen Aim for History Books at WEC 53 (Versus MMA Beat)

– ‘Strength and Honor’: Ben Henderson vs. Anthony Pettis Hype Video (MMA Scraps)

– Stefan Struve Wants to Get to 280 Pounds for Lesnar, Carwin, Etc. (MMA Fighting)

– The 10 Best Fights in WEC History (Heavy.com/MMA)

– Watch This Preview of ‘The Saint of Stevia: The Legend of Dan Quinn’ (MiddleEasy)

– Kimo-Therapy: UFC Veteran To Assist the Needy This Christmas (FightMagazine)

– Frank Mir vs. Brendan Schaub Expected for March 2011 (LowKick)

– Jens Pulver Not Done Yet, Plans to Fight in January (Five Ounces of Pain)

– Roger Huerta Saves Little Girl’s Life, Proves Status As Superhero (SBNation.com/MMA)

– Fedor Emelianenko: If I Never Fight In The UFC, They Will Be Sorry, Not Me (MMA Convert)

The Big Announcement: UFC Absorbs WEC, Featherweights/Bantamweights Debut in January

(Props: MMAFighting)
The cat’s out of the bag, and the "major announcement" turned out to be pretty damn major after all. Dana White announced during a media call today that the UFC is absorbing the WEC beginning in January 2011; the UFC…

(Props: MMAFighting)

The cat’s out of the bag, and the "major announcement" turned out to be pretty damn major after all. Dana White announced during a media call today that the UFC is absorbing the WEC beginning in January 2011; the UFC will now feature seven championship weight classes. Here’s how it’ll work…

Jose Aldo is automatically the UFC Featherweight Champion; he’ll defend his UFC featherweight title at UFC 125 on January 1st against a yet-to-be-determined opponent.

WEC 53 (December 16th; Glendale, Arizona) will be the final WEC event. The winner of the bantamweight title fight between Dominick Cruz and Scott Jorgensen will become the UFC Bantamweight Champion. The winner of the lightweight title fight between Ben Henderson and Anthony Pettis will automatically face the winner of Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard at UFC 125.

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Two Title Bouts Announced for WEC 53

Filed under: WEC, NewsBen Henderson and Dominick Cruz will make title defenses against Anthony Pettis and Scott Jorgensen, respectively, at WEC 53 on Dec. 16 in Glendale, Ariz., the WEC announced Monday.

The event at the Jobing.com Arena will mark the…

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Ben Henderson and Dominick Cruz will make title defenses against Anthony Pettis and Scott Jorgensen, respectively, at WEC 53 on Dec. 16 in Glendale, Ariz., the WEC announced Monday.

The event at the Jobing.com Arena will mark the first time the WEC — and Zuffa — has promoted a card in Arizona, a location determined by fans through AMP Energy’s “Hometown Takedown Contest”.

MMA Top 10 Bantamweights: Dominick Cruz Tightens His Hold

Filed under: WEC, Rankings, BantamweightsIf there was any doubt that Dominick Cruz was the best bantamweight in mixed martial arts, he erased that doubt Wednesday night by defeating the tough but ultimately overmatched Joseph Benavidez in a split decis…

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If there was any doubt that Dominick Cruz was the best bantamweight in mixed martial arts, he erased that doubt Wednesday night by defeating the tough but ultimately overmatched Joseph Benavidez in a split decision that gave Cruz his second victory over the No. 2 fighter in the division.

Benavidez is a great fighter (he’s 12-0 when fighting anyone other than Cruz), but it’s his friend and training partner Urijah Faber who has handed Cruz his only career loss, and is likely to fight Cruz again some time early next year, this time for the bantamweight title.

Once Faber makes the move down to bantamweight, I think he’ll be a Top 10 fighter in the class — and he might just beat Cruz again and move to the top. For now, he’s absent from the Cruz-dominated bantamweight rankings, which are below.

‘WEC 50: Cruz vs. Benavidez’ Aftermath — Press Conference Highlights, Payouts, Villains + More

(Props: YouTube.com/Heavy)
— If you thought last night’s WEC main event wasn’t as close as the judges scored it, Dominick Cruz would respectfully agree with you. As the reigning bantamweight champ said after his fight with Joseph Benavidez (…

(Props: YouTube.com/Heavy)

— If you thought last night’s WEC main event wasn’t as close as the judges scored it, Dominick Cruz would respectfully agree with you. As the reigning bantamweight champ said after his fight with Joseph Benavidez (skip to the 2:59 mark above): 

"In my humble opinion, I thought I won all the rounds…I think that the crowd has a big part to play in the judges’ opinion sometimes. Also, he caught me with a real slick knee up against the cage that made me bleed real bad. I would assume the blood could have swayed the judges a little as well."

Benavidez was also surprised that one of the judges saw it his way: "I figured I didn’t do enough to win, but I wasn’t watching the fight, so when the judge did say my name it was quite a surprise. I was like "wow, could this happen? Is this, like, the work of God or something?" For the record, FightMetric gave every round to Cruz for outpointing Benavidez in striking (103-46 total) and takedowns (5-0 total).

— $10,000 performance bonuses were handed out to the following fighters…
Knockout of the Night: Newcomer Maciej Jewtuszko for using a spinning back elbow and a pair of nasty uppercuts to wreck Anthony Njokuani in 96 seconds.
Submission of the Night: Anthony Pettis for finishing Shane Roller via triangle choke with just nine seconds left in the fight, after wearing Roller down with his impressively-flashy striking attacks. (How ’bout that capoeira head kick in round one?)
Fight of the Night: Scott Jorgensen and Brad Pickett for their 15-minute smash-up which went all over the cage and didn’t slow down for one second. Round two was easily one of the best MMA rounds of 2010.

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