Tag: UFC 118

Announcing the Semi-Official Potato Nation ‘Welcome to Boston’ Meet-Up!

(Photo courtesy of ChampionsBoston.com)
As many of you know, CagePotato.com will be in Boston this week for UFC 118 and the UFC Fan Expo. To commemorate the occasion, CP’s dedicated superfan-lackeys Viva Hate and ReX13 have organized a Potato Na…

Champions Sports Bar Boston
(Photo courtesy of ChampionsBoston.com)

As many of you know, CagePotato.com will be in Boston this week for UFC 118 and the UFC Fan Expo. To commemorate the occasion, CP’s dedicated superfan-lackeys Viva Hate and ReX13 have organized a Potato Nation meetup on Thursday night for folks who live in Beantown or will be visiting for the fights. (Seriously, they made a Facebook page and everything.) Here are the details…

When: Thursday night, from "8:30 or so" onward
Where: Champions, a very classy-looking sports bar located on the second level of the Boston Marriott Copley Place (110 Huntington Ave.), with an astounding beer selection and more TV screens than a drunk person could possibly count.
What: Drinking; lots of drinking. The opportunity to hang out with your Internet friends. Trying to convince the waitress to put one of the TVs on Fox Sports Net so we can watch Bellator.

If that’s not enough to get you out to Champions, we have one more thing to share…

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Kenny Florian Not Worried About Maynard’s Wrestling, Thanks to Help from GSP

Filed under: UFCEvery fighter wants a chance to compete in front of a hometown crowd. At least they think they do. There’s no hassle with airports, no strange restaurants, no frantic searches for a health food store so you can stock your hotel room wit…

Filed under:

Every fighter wants a chance to compete in front of a hometown crowd. At least they think they do. There’s no hassle with airports, no strange restaurants, no frantic searches for a health food store so you can stock your hotel room with gluten-free whatever. It’s familiar. It’s home. And it doesn’t hurt that you get to walk out on fight night to a unanimous chorus of cheers.

But sometimes home isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Not when every local media outlet wants a piece of you and every person who ever sat next to in a high school geometry class wants you to get them a ticket to the fights.

That’s the situation Boston native Kenny Florian is in this week. On Saturday night at UFC 118 he takes on Gray Maynard in a fight to determine who will get the next crack at the UFC lightweight title, and he does it in front of a hometown crowd that will place its hopes and expectations for a local victory onto his narrow shoulders.

“It can be a little distracting,” Florian told MMA Fighting. “But it’s stuff I’ve dealt with before. People want you to get them tickets to every fight. You have to win every fight. You always have your fans supporting you and people in your corner expecting you to do well. That’s just how it is.”

Wednesday Morning MMA Link Club

(Nick Thompson is stretchered to safety after getting smoked by Taisuke Okuno at Sengoku 14. Check out FIGHT! Magazine’s exclusive gallery of photos from the event right here.)
Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogos…

Nick Thompson Okuno Sengoku 14 photos MMA japan
(Nick Thompson is stretchered to safety after getting smoked by Taisuke Okuno at Sengoku 14. Check out FIGHT! Magazine‘s exclusive gallery of photos from the event right here.)

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…

– BJ Penn Hopes James Toney Does Well Against Randy Couture (MMA Convert)

– Facing your "Mirs": Where do Lashley and King Mo go from here? (Watch Kalib Run)

– 5 Things To Watch For At UFC 118 (Heavy.com/MMA)

– Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua’s Return Delayed Until Mid-2011 (Versus MMA Beat)

– Why Nick Diaz vs. ‘Mayhem’ Miller Is the Fight Strikeforce Needs Now (MMA Fighting)

– Exclusive Interview With Bellator Middleweight Tournament Winner Alexander "Storm" Shlemenko (LowKick)

– Outstanding Wrestlers and the Lessons Learned (Five Ounces of Pain)

– Kickboxing Legend Andy Hug, R.I.P. (MMA Scraps)

– This Rampage vs. Machida trailer will be the greatest thing you will see today, guaranteed (MiddleEasy)

The MMA Hour With Frank Mir, Kenda Perez, Pat Miletich, Robert Drysdale

Filed under: MMA Videos, UFC, Strikeforce, FanHouse Exclusive, VideosMonday’s live (and super-sized 90-minute) edition of The MMA Hour, features another packed lineup of guests from around the world of mixed martial arts.

We will first be joined by Ke…

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Monday’s live (and super-sized 90-minute) edition of The MMA Hour, features another packed lineup of guests from around the world of mixed martial arts.

We will first be joined by Kenda Perez, the host of the Best of Pride Fighting Championships on Spike TV, who will tell you how you can win a chance to go on a date with her at UFC 118.

Later, former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir will stop by to discuss Saturday night’s UFC 118 and his upcoming main event against Mirko Cro Cop at UFC 119.

We will then be joined by MMA rookie and multiple-time BJJ world champion Robert Drysdale to talk about his budding fighting career.

And finally, MMA legend turned announcer Pat Miletich will make his first appearance on the show to weigh in on Saturday night’s Strikeforce: Houston event.

And of course, we’ll be taking your calls. Give us a shout at: 212-254-0193 or 212-254-0237.

Watch the show below beginning at 1 PM ET.

Meet James Toney’s Secret Weapon

(Instead of bringing a knife to a gunfight against Couture, Toney’s bringing an unarmed combat instructor)
If you caught the UFC 118 countdown show last night, you were introduced to James Toney’s new trainer, Kenpo karate black belt and hand to hand …

(Instead of bringing a knife to a gunfight against Couture, Toney’s bringing an unarmed combat instructor)

If you caught the UFC 118 countdown show last night, you were introduced to James Toney’s new trainer, Kenpo karate black belt and hand to hand combat instructor Trevor Sherman.

I was kind of taken aback since the last I had heard Toney was working with the beloved former plaintiff of a CP court case, Juanito Ibarra.

It turns out Ibarra and Toney parted company back in May, and since we can’t afford to defend another frivilous lawsuit after paying for new CP smart cars for Ben and I, we’ll say it was Ibarra’s choice to leave and just leave it at that. It’s not hard to believe, since he’s never been a difficult person to deal with in the past.

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Gabe Ruediger Believes Joe Lauzon is “Overrated”

One of the interesting storylines heading into UFC 118 is the Octagon return of Gabe Ruediger; if that name doesn’t immediately jump out at you, think “Ultimate Fighter,” ice cream, cake, colonics and…yup, he’s the dude on TUF 5 that got booted for failing to make weight. Ruediger agreed to step in (on short notice) […]

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One of the interesting storylines heading into UFC 118 is the Octagon return of Gabe Ruediger; if that name doesn’t immediately jump out at you, think “Ultimate Fighter,” ice cream, cake, colonics and…yup, he’s the dude on TUF 5 that got booted for failing to make weight. Ruediger agreed to step in (on short notice) for the injured Terry Etim, who was supposed to fight Joe Lauzon.  

Now, of course, Ruediger wouldn’t be making his UFC return if he had been losing on the minor circuit, and heading into Saturday’s bout he’s won 6 straight. The fight, which will be broadcast on Spike, gives Ruediger a fantastic opportunity to at least, slightly muzzle, the thousands of critics that have been on him ever since TUF 5. What makes the bout even more interesting is that Lauzon was one of Ruediger’s cast mates during the show, and as the veteran recently discussed on BJ.Penn.com, it sounds like there’s a little bit of ‘dislike’ going on there. In terms of Lauzon as an opponent? Here is some of what Ruediger said in the interview:

“Joe’s overrated; you know, he’s had some success in the UFC, but who’s he fought? When everything is said and done; Jason Reinhardt? I don’t care. I mean look at his record. Kyle Bradley’s tough but is he that tough? When he fought tough dudes he lost. When he fought Sammy Stout he lost. I’m not impressed with him and I know I’m going to smash him.”

Not sure Jeremy Stephens would agree with the above analysis, but hey, that’s just like…our opinion. To bet on Saturday’s festivities head here.