Tag: toronto

Krzysztof Soszynski Meets Igor Pokrajac at UFC 140 in Toronto

Filed under: UFC, NewsA potential misspelling nightmare bout has been booked by the UFC for December.

Krzysztof Soszynski will face off with Igor Pokrajac in a light heavyweight fight at UFC 140, which is expected to take place in Toronto on Dec. 10….

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A potential misspelling nightmare bout has been booked by the UFC for December.

Krzysztof Soszynski will face off with Igor Pokrajac in a light heavyweight fight at UFC 140, which is expected to take place in Toronto on Dec. 10. The two fighters were originally paired up for a fight at UFC 131 in June, but an injury pushed Pokrajac off the card.

UFC 140 will be the promotion’s second trip to Toronto in 2011. The first visit, in April, took place at the Rogers Centre and set a North American record with more than 55,000 fans. This card, though, will take place at the Air Canada Centre with an expected main event between heavyweights Frank Mir and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

Soszynski (26-11-1, 6-2 UFC) has won back-to-back decisions since suffering his first TKO in nearly three years with a loss to Stephan Bonnar in July 2010. In June, Soszynski beat Mike Massenzio, who had filled in for Pokrajac. And in that fight, Pokrajac had filled in for Anthony Perosh.

Soszynski, a Season 8 cast member of “The Ultimate Fighter,” has won three fight night bonus awards in his eight UFC fights, including consecutive Submission of the Night wins against Shane Primm and Brian Stann in his first two fights for the promotion.

Pokrajac (23-8, 2-3 UFC) is coming off a March win over Todd Brown at UFC on Versus 3. He has won two of three fights, including a submission over James Irvin last year. His one loss in that stretch was a unanimous decision setback against Bonnar at the TUF 12 Finale in December.

UFC 140 also is expected to feature a light heavyweight bout between Tito Ortiz and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, which was originally scheduled for this past March before Ortiz pulled out with an injury. Other fights on the card include Brian Ebersole vs. Rory MacDonald and Mark Hominick vs. Chan Sung Jung.

 

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Rory MacDonald vs. Brian Ebersole and Claude Patrick vs. Rich Attonito Added to UFC 140 in Toronto


(The UFC’s second Toronto card is coming together nicely.)

Keeping with it’s latest trend of beating reporters to the punch when it comes to breaking news of fight bookings, the UFC announced that a pair of welterweight bouts have been added to UFC 140 on December 10 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto today, via UFC.com.

British Columbia-born wunderkind Rory “Ares” MacDonald (12-1) will take on “Hairrow” stylist and cartwheel-kick aficionado Brian “The White Anderson Silva”  Ebersole (48-14-1, 1 NC) on the card, while former CagePotato TUF 11 guest blogger Rich “The Raging Bull” Attonito (10-4) will see action against durable Toronto-based fighter Claude “The Prince” Patrick (14-1).


(The UFC’s second Toronto card is coming together nicely.)

Keeping with it’s latest trend of beating reporters to the punch when it comes to breaking news of fight bookings, the UFC announced that a pair of welterweight bouts have been added to UFC 140 on December 10 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto today, via UFC.com.

British Columbia-born wunderkind Rory “Ares” MacDonald (12-1) will take on “Hairrow” stylist and cartwheel-kick aficionado Brian “The White Anderson Silva”  Ebersole (48-14-1, 1 NC) on the card, while former CagePotato TUF 11 guest blogger Rich “The Raging Bull” Attonito (10-4) will see action against durable Toronto-based fighter Claude “The Prince” Patrick (14-1).

3-1 in four UFC bouts, MacDonald continued to impress in his last outing, defeating seasoned veteran Mike Pyle by TKO at 3:54 of the opening frame at UFC 133 in August. He also holds Octagon wins over Nate Diaz at UFC 129 and Mike Guymon at UFN 20 and a heartbreaking loss to current welterweight contender Carlos Condit in the final seconds of their UFC 115 bout.

A veteran of 64 professional bouts, Ebersole will be a tough test for MacDonald, but he may have already made a slight error in judgment that may work in the favor of his opponent, who was formerly known as “The Waterboy” for his penchant for using anger to propel him to perform better in the cage. In an interview he did with MMAFighting’s Ariel Helwani following his UFC win over Dennis Hallman, “TWAS” was asked if he was interested in fighting MacDonald who had dispatched of Pyle earlier in the night, to which Ebersole replied that the fight “didn’t interest him.”

“After UFC 127 I kind of asked for Dennis Hallman or Matt Serra because they’re veterans [who have] big records — kind of like Chris Lytle — they bring out that samurai spirit in me and I know it would be a good battle of not just athleticism, but kind of like a chess match. I saw Matt Serra here tonight; he’s looking a bit out of shape. I don’t know if he’s retired or what his story is, but if he’s still competing I guess he’s kind of the one guy before he retires I would like to compete against him,” Ebersole explained. “There’s a couple of older guys — I know Renzo [Gracie] just got a contract. I don’t know if the UFC would give me Renzo, but right now I know I’m not in line for a title shot and I’m not looking at the top guys so I would like to fight guys that really interest me and those are the veterans. Those are the guys that have stories that I’ve watched as a fan in this sport. I don’t want to fight the Rory MacDonald who’s 21 years old and [has] two or three fights. I don’t know anything about the kid. That doesn’t excite me.”

Patrick and Attonito, meanwhile, have unanimous decision wins over a common opponent, Daniel Roberts in their last respective bouts and will both be looking to climb the ladder with a win over the other.

Although it hasn’t been announced yet, a featherweight bout between former number one contender Mark “The Machine” Hominick and “The Korean Zombie” Jung Chan-Sung is also rumored to be in the works for the card, as is a lightweight bout between John Cholish and Canadian UFC newcomer Mitch Clarke.

 

 

 

 

Dana White Talks About the Economic Impact of the UFC in Toronto (Ontario.ca)

Tourism in Ontario has definitely taken a bit of a beating over the past decade . What with 9/11, SARS, the Avian bird flu and Justin Bieber, the list for keeping tourists out of Ontario was just getting longer and uglier by the day. But that all …

Tourism in Ontario has definitely taken a bit of a beating over the past decade . What with 9/11, SARS, the Avian bird flu and Justin Bieber, the list for keeping tourists out of Ontario was just getting longer and uglier by the day. But that all ended this past weekend, when a little company, better […]

UFC Betting

Dana White Talks About the Economic Impact of the UFC in Toronto (Ontario.ca)

Firas Zahabi Believes Nick Diaz Fight May Be Next for Georges St-Pierre

Filed under: UFC, Strikeforce, NewsAfter his fighters went 4-1 on the biggest UFC card in history on Saturday, Firas Zahabi said his biggest star’s left eye will be OK – and that a champion vs. champion fight may be in his future.

Zahabi, head traine…

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Georges St-PierreAfter his fighters went 4-1 on the biggest UFC card in history on Saturday, Firas Zahabi said his biggest star’s left eye will be OK – and that a champion vs. champion fight may be in his future.

Zahabi, head trainer at the Tristar Gym in Montreal, home of UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, told Ariel Helwani on “The MMA Hour” on Monday that his star pupil’s left eye, which St-Pierre said he could not see out of midway through the fight onward, was not a serious injury.

Jose Aldo, Mark Hominick Lead Record $129,000 Bonuses at UFC 129

TORONTO – In the spirit of the biggest show in its history, UFC 129, the Ultimate Fighting Championship handed out record post-fight bonus awards on Saturday of, appropriately, $129,000 each.

Jose Aldo, Mark Hominick, Lyoto Machida and Pablo Garza we…

Jose Aldo, Mark Hominick Lead Record $129,000 Bonuses at UFC 129.TORONTO – In the spirit of the biggest show in its history, UFC 129, the Ultimate Fighting Championship handed out record post-fight bonus awards on Saturday of, appropriately, $129,000 each.

Jose Aldo, Mark Hominick, Lyoto Machida and Pablo Garza were each given bonuses for their performances at Rogers Centre in Toronto. UFC president Dana White announced the winners and bonus amounts at the post-fight press conference after Saturday’s pay-per-view – the first stadium show in company history in front of 55,724 fans, who accounted for a record $12.075 million gate in U.S. dollars.

UFC 129 GSP vs Shields: Trial by Numbers: Breaking Down the Toronto Main Event

History is in the making when the biggest UFC event in history so far takes Toronto, Canada by storm.  UFC 129 is only days away and the anticipation for this card can be cut with a paring knife. The main event, showcasing one of the best …

History is in the making when the biggest UFC event in history so far takes Toronto, Canada by storm.  UFC 129 is only days away and the anticipation for this card can be cut with a paring knife. The main event, showcasing one of the best pound-for-pound MMA fighters in the history of the sport, […]

UFC Betting

UFC 129 GSP vs Shields: Trial by Numbers: Breaking Down the Toronto Main Event