Prior to their UFC 126 co-main event fight, Rich Franklin and opponent Forrest Griffin joked about the loser getting tattooed. At least it seemed like a joke.
But don’t ever say Rich Franklin isn’t a man of his word. True to his promise, Franklin — who lost the fight via unanimous decision — visited a tattoo shop on Friday to begin the process of getting inked.
“I don’t believe it,” Griffin told MMA Fighting. “We didn’t even shake hands on it. I definitely would not be getting it if I lost. I’d be like, ‘Yeah, yeah, of course,’ but then if I lost, you would have to knock me out to get me in that chair.”
Wanderlei Silva hasn’t fought for almost a year when he won a Unanimous Decision over Michael Bisping last February at UFC 110, but that hasn’t kept the outspoken Brazilian from consistently making MMA headlines. Silva had been expected to fight Yoshihiro “Sexyama” Akiyama last June at UFC 116 but was forced to pull out […]
Wanderlei Brown is Living in America
Wanderlei Silva hasn’t fought for almost a year when he won a Unanimous Decision over Michael Bisping last February at UFC 110, but that hasn’t kept the outspoken Brazilian from consistently making MMA headlines. Silva had been expected to fight Yoshihiro “Sexyama” Akiyama last June at UFC 116 but was forced to pull out after sustaining 3 broken ribs during training. Chris Leben was a late replacement for Silva and won the fight with an impressive Triangle Choke in the 3rd round. Shortly after, Leben called out Wanderlei Silva as the next fight he wanted. At the time Silva thought a match-up with Leben would be a great fight for him and told MMAFighting “He won’t pass the first two rounds with me”. However, the anticipated fight between Leben and Silva was never meant to be as Dana White decided to give Leben to Brian Stann per Stann’s request.
Meanwhile, a smack-talk happy Chael Sonnen would go on to get his title-shot against UFC Middleweight Champion, Anderson Silva, which he ultimately lost. Shortly after that fight, Wanderlei Silva expressed his disdain for Sonnen’s smack-talk and scolded him in the back of a van, as seen: here. During that conversation, Sonnen said his next fight would be a rematch with Anderson Silva, but as we all know Sonnen shamed his way out of lost that immediate title-shot after he tested positive for PEDs following the UFC 117 fight. Sonnen then turned his attention to Wanderlei as he began to stew over that van scolding and entered into a Twitter war of words with Wandy that many thought was leading to a meeting in the Octagon. But then, Sonnen went and got himself all mixed up in some money laundering scheme, thus sidelining his UFC career for awhile.
Oh no! Now who would Wandy fight? Enter Brian Stann, the former Marine and virtual newcomer who abolished Chris Leben with knees and strikes in the first round. Stann, who has proved to be a refreshingly humble fighter is now one of the top Middleweights to watch out for and when asked who he’d like to face next, he quietly and respectfully asked for Wanderlei Silva. Dana White seemed all for this bout, but Silva wasn’t quite up for marketing or accepting this one. According to MMA Junkie, White said:
“We were actually trying to hook [Silva] up with Brian Stann. He doesn’t want to fight Brian Stann. He’s like, ‘[Expletive] that. Everybody is going to hate me if I fight Brian Stann. Everybody loves Brian Stann.’ But that’s the fight we’re trying to make right now.”
And “make” they did as the two Middleweights were signed on to meet at UFC 130 this May. But… then a highly regarded fellow Brazilian nemesis, Vitor Belfort lost a title-shot with Anderson Silva at UFC 126 due to a high kick so majestic, Steven Seagal lays claim to its very invention.And Wanderlei Silvacame forth with the request that he and Belfort settle a long overdue score. Silva challenged Belfort via Brazilian outlet, Tatame:
“And now, where are you running to? I’d give him the number one (on the line to fight me) easily, I’m challenging him … I want him”.
And now friends… he’s got him! Wanderlei Silva is out of UFC 130 and Wandy vs. Vitor Belfort II is set for UFC [yet to be numbered] Rio. Let’s hope after all his hard hyping work, this fight actually happens and Wanderlei doesn’t end up on the losing end of this rematch as he did their first time in the cage, as seen below:
*Editor’s note: Don’t knock that sweet little Wanderlei/James Brown photoshop pic we did; though we actually could have used this old pic of Wandy in his younger days:
UFC 126 is officially in the books, so we thought it would be fun to look back at some of the highlights from our pre-fight and post-fight interviews. Check out the highlight video below.
UFC 126 is officially in the books, so we thought it would be fun to look back at some of the highlights from our pre-fight and post-fight interviews. Check out the highlight video below.
Filed under: UFC, NewsThe UFC 126 Prelims last Saturday was the highest-rated in the 18-month history of the UFC Prelims on Spike TV, the cable television network tells MMAFighting.com.
According to Spike TV, the lead-in program to the pay-per-view ea…
The UFC 126 Prelims last Saturday was the highest-rated in the 18-month history of the UFC Prelims on Spike TV, the cable television network tells MMAFighting.com.
According to Spike TV, the lead-in program to the pay-per-view earned a 1.2 household rating and an average audience of two million viewers. The one-hour show also registered a 1.7 rating in both Men 18-49 and Men 18-34, handing Spike TV the No. 1 spot in the hour for those demographics.
Filed under: UFCIt may not have been the Super Bowl of MMA events, but at least UFC 126 has one thing over football’s climactic game: it didn’t force us to watch Fergie mime human emotions for an extended period of time.
It may not have been the Super Bowl of MMA events, but at least UFC 126 has one thing over football’s climactic game: it didn’t force us to watch Fergie mime human emotions for an extended period of time.
After a main event that resembled the finish to ‘Karate Kid’ just a little more than we were prepared for, it’s time to break down all the action and see who were the biggest winners, losers, and everything in between after Saturday night in Las Vegas.
Biggest Winner: Anderson Silva
Admit it, when he spent the first couple minutes floating around the cage and blocking invisible punches, you thought to yourself: ‘Dear God, not again.’ Then he front-kicked Vitor Belfort in the face and you leapt three feet in the air while proclaiming him the greatest fighter to ever live. Such is the rollercoaster of emotions that comes with any Silva fight. Beating Belfort might not be the crowning jewel in his already stellar career, but doing it in action movie fashion can only add to his mythical status. Even if he retires tomorrow he’ll be remembered as one of the greatest mixed martial artists of all time. Although if he retires before fighting GSP – who, one hopes, won’t screw things up by losing to Jake Shields – it will be a minor tragedy.
(Two very different ends of the agony/compensation spectrum. Images courtesy of MMAFighting.com)
The UFC shelled out over $1.6 million in disclosed salaries and bonuses to the fighters who competed at UFC 126, and damn, some of these dudes are making…
(Two very different ends of the agony/compensation spectrum. Images courtesy of MMAFighting.com)
The UFC shelled out over $1.6 million in disclosed salaries and bonuses to the fighters who competed at UFC 126, and damn, some of these dudes are making bank. Good to see it. The numbers are below, courtesy of MMAJunkie. Keep in mind that these salary totals don’t include additional income from sponsorships, undisclosed "locker room" bonuses, and (potentially, for some headliners) percentages of the pay-per-view revenue, or deductions for taxes, licensing fees, and insurance.
Anderson Silva: $275,000 (includes $75,000 Knockout of the Night bonus; no disclosed win bonus) def. Vitor Belfort: $275,000
This one’s gonna leave a mark.
The 
It may not have been the Super Bowl of MMA events, but at least 
