Tag: UFC 118

Randy Couture Dismisses Report that James Toney Tapped Out “King Mo” Lawal

A couple of months ago a few thousand eyebrows were likely raised, when Strikeforce Light-Heavyweight Champion “King Mo” Lawal confirmed reports, which said soon to be mixed-martial-artist James Toney caught him with a submission during training. At the time it was reported that Toney had utilized a standing guillotine to tap Lawal, however, in a […]

Mark-Coleman-Vs-Randy-Couture

A couple of months ago a few thousand eyebrows were likely raised, when Strikeforce Light-Heavyweight Champion “King Mo” Lawal confirmed reports, which said soon to be mixed-martial-artist James Toney caught him with a submission during training. At the time it was reported that Toney had utilized a standing guillotine to tap Lawal, however, in a more recent interview with Ariel Helwani, the boxing champ said it was a rear-naked-choke. Interesting how there’s a little bit of discrepancy there no?

Well, just a couple of weeks away from the highly anticipated bout between Randy Couture and Toney, it sounds like “The Natural” is calling BS on the boxer’s supposed new found submissions skills. Speaking to MMA Fighting recently, the legendary fighter said this, when asked for his thoughts on the widely (cleverly) circulated story that Toney subbed Lawal.

“Nah, I don’t believe that,” Couture chuckled. “He’s probably doing some wrestling with Mo Lawal. That wouldn’t surprise me. I know he’s not training with Dean Lister. Dean called me himself when that one broke and said, ‘I’m not training with that guy. Don’t believe that stuff.’ But it doesn’t matter. All the talk is just talk. No matter who he can get to say he’s tapped them out in training, on the day he’s still going to walk down to the cage and get in there with me and that’s when all that stuff stops.”

Who’s going to argue with Randy? To bet on that fight or any other scheduled for UFC 118 head here.

Randy Couture Isn’t Buying James Toney’s Tales of Gym Submissions

Filed under: UFCOAKLAND – On a clear Saturday afternoon in August Randy Couture slipped on an Oakland A’s jersey, a UFC baseball cap, and a comfortable pair of jeans and headed out to the ballpark to partake in that most easily embarrassing of all publ…

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OAKLAND – On a clear Saturday afternoon in August Randy Couture slipped on an Oakland A’s jersey, a UFC baseball cap, and a comfortable pair of jeans and headed out to the ballpark to partake in that most easily embarrassing of all public sports outings: the ceremonial first pitch.

Not that Couture was worried. He’d done this only a few weeks before in Chicago, and after fighting in a cage for most of his professional life, playing an abbreviated game of catch in front of a crowd that’s still mostly trickling into the stadium is a relatively low-stress activity.

It was just another appearance. Another thing he had to do to satisfy the PR gods.

But with his big fight against boxing legend James Toney at UFC 118 just a few weeks away, and with the summer action movie “The Expendables” to promote along with these occasional UFC-related obligations, it begs the question: when does Couture even find time to hit the gym these days? Is it possible he’s not completely convinced that Toney is a challenge worth getting too worked up over?

UFC 118 Betting Odds (And No Respect for Frankie Edgar)

The only people close to being as upset as Chael Sonnen and his camp were after getting unexpectedly submitted by Anderson Silva in the fifth round would be the people who wagered their mortgage on Chael Sonnen pulling off the upset…only to see their +350 unexpectedly snatched from them with two minutes remaining. Ouch.
Anyway, we’re just […]

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The only people close to being as upset as Chael Sonnen and his camp were after getting unexpectedly submitted by Anderson Silva in the fifth round would be the people who wagered their mortgage on Chael Sonnen pulling off the upset…only to see their +350 unexpectedly snatched from them with two minutes remaining. Ouch.

Anyway, we’re just a couple of weeks away from the next card, so time to get over it, move on, and take a look at UFC 118 betting odds.

:: Frankie Edgar is the UFC lightweight champion. He pretty much (and shockingly) dominated B.J. Penn in Abu Dhabi. Oddsmakers don’t care. Edgar is a huge dog across the board, listed at +250. Penn is listed from -317 to -350. Now, of course, we think Penn is the more talented fighter, if not the greatest lightweight of all time. But facts are facts, Edgar won the first match, and maybe his style is one that just gives Penn fits. We think Penn wins this fight, but huge value in taking Edgar now at +250. Grab him at BetUS here.

:: Similarly, in the UFC, we’ve learned that nobody really deserves to be a -700ish favorite. But Randy Couture is listed as just that (-600 to -700) against James Toney. Like with Penn, we think Couture wins this one. But we also know Toney is more than capable of connecting a shot that would mean lights out for Couture. We LOVE the value in this one, so grab Toney at +465 here.

More Injuries Strike UFC 118 Lineup; ‘Godzilla’ Returns

(Sakara and Etim, the latest victims of the UFC’s brand-new curse.)
After losing Phil Baroni and Jorge Rivera due to injuries, UFC 118 (August 28, Boston) is inching towards "cursed" status with another pair of late withdrawals that have co…

Alessio Sakara UFCTerry Etim UFC
(Sakara and Etim, the latest victims of the UFC’s brand-new curse.)

After losing Phil Baroni and Jorge Rivera due to injuries, UFC 118 (August 28, Boston) is inching towards "cursed" status with another pair of late withdrawals that have completely re-arranged the Spike TV prelim broadcast. First off, Alessio Sakara has been forced out of his fight against Gerald Harris due to a knee injury. Harris, who was originally a replacement for Rivera, will now face the returning Joe Vedepo, who has won four straight fights by stoppage outside of the UFC since being released in April 2009. Unfortunately, the fight is no longer slated for the Spike broadcast, meaning that Harris will need another dramatic stoppage to get some TV time. At this point, it hasn’t been confirmed which fight will move up to the prelim broadcast in its place.

The injury fairy also paid a visit to Terry Etim, who bows out of his UFC 118 fight against Joe Lauzon due to a broken rib. Lauzon will instead meet — get this — Gabe "Godzilla" Ruediger, the TUF 5 contestant who became a national punchline due to his love of colonics and ice cream cake, and was eventually dismissed from the show for not making weight. More recently, Ruediger has built up a six-fight win streak competing in California, picked up the Tachi Palace Fights lightweight title, and has helped turn Paris Hilton into a killing machine.

We’ll let you know as soon as UFC 118’s lineup is finalized.

Gabe Ruediger Replaces Terry Etim Against Joe Lauzon at UFC 118

Filed under: UFC, FanHouse Exclusive, NewsGabe Ruediger’s long road back to the UFC is finally complete.

The controversial cast member on the fifth season of The Ultimate Fighter, who failed to make weight on the show for his fight against Corey Hill…

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Gabe Ruediger‘s long road back to the UFC is finally complete.

The controversial cast member on the fifth season of The Ultimate Fighter, who failed to make weight on the show for his fight against Corey Hill after being seen eating ice cream cake and getting a colonic and was then subsequently kicked out of the house by Dana White, has agreed to step in on short notice to fight Joe Lauzon at UFC 118 on Aug. 28, MMA Fighting has learned.

The spot opened up for Ruediger after Terry Etim was forced to pull out of the fight due to a broken rib injury.

Alessio Sakara Out of UFC 118, Gerald Harris Likely to Face Joe Vedepo

Filed under: UFC, FanHouse Exclusive, NewsA knee injury has forced surging Italian striker Alessio Sakara off the UFC 118 card, and the UFC middleweight who was scheduled to fight Gerald Harris is likely to be replaced by returning Joe Vedepo.

A sourc…

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A knee injury has forced surging Italian striker Alessio Sakara off the UFC 118 card, and the UFC middleweight who was scheduled to fight Gerald Harris is likely to be replaced by returning Joe Vedepo.

A source with knowledge of the situation informed MMA Fighting of the change.

Sakara had originally been scheduled to face Jorge Rivera, who himself had to withdraw from the event after breaking his arm. Harris replaced Rivera, and now Harris will likely face a replacement fighter himself.