Another busy week for the world of MMA has concluded. A current UFC champion announced an injury that may keep him out for the remainder of the year, a former UFC champion will welcome a former Strikeforce champion to the promotion, and another fo…
Another busy week for the world of MMA has concluded.
A current UFC champion announced an injury that may keep him out for the remainder of the year, a former UFC champion will welcome a former Strikeforce champion to the promotion, and another former UFC champ will battle a legend of the sport.
UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva recently revealed that he suffered a shoulder injury prior to his UFC 134 title defense against Yushin Okami. Silva defended his belt, but it looks like he may be forced out of action as a result.
Vitor Belfort announced his return to action against former Strikeforce middleweight title holder Cung Le at UFC 139 in November.
Former light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz will lock horns with Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at UFC 140 in December.
When Junior dos Santos received word that he would headline a UFC heavyweight title fight alongside Cain Velasquez on UFC on FOX, the Brazilian felt ecstatic and proud.Upon learning the news, dos Santos said the title bout not only earns him the recogn…
When Junior dos Santos received word that he would headline a UFC heavyweight title fight alongside Cain Velasquez on UFC on FOX, the Brazilian felt ecstatic and proud.
Upon learning the news, dos Santos said the title bout not only earns him the recognition of being featured prominently in a main event, but more importantly, it earns the UFC more recognition as a company on a larger scale.
“It’s a huge moment in my professional career, and it’s a huge moment for the UFC and for the sport of MMA,” dos Santos told Heavy.com.
“Having the heavyweight title championship live on Fox is a tremendous opportunity for the growth of MMA, the growth of the UFC, and it opens up a lot of big opportunities for us, the athletes.”
The bout was originally scheduled to headline UFC 139, but dos Santos said the slight change of the event will not impact his training camp.
Velasquez has been out recovering from a torn labrum, which he suffered in his title bout against Brock Lesnar at UFC 121. Despite the long layoff, dos Santos expects Velasquez to come prepared and healthy.
“Cain is a tremendous athlete, and a great fighter. I doubt he’s been twiddling his thumbs the whole past year,” he said.
“He’s a professional fighter with a huge opportunity in front of him, just like me. I have no doubt he will be giving his best, as I will be giving my best.”
And as he prepares to walk into Anaheim, dos Santos’ intention is to walk out as the new UFC heavyweight champion.
With the Halloween approaching, we find Rachelle Leah working on her Spider Woman moves [pic above]. Josh Barnett earns top dollar at $150,000 for Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix Semi-Finals. Hungry Jon Fitch tweets: “Started training.
With the Halloween approaching, we find Rachelle Leah working on her Spider Woman moves [pic above].
Josh Barnett earns top dollar at $150,000 for Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix Semi-Finals.
Hungry Jon Fitch tweets: “Started training like I’m in a fight camp this week. If anyone gets hurt I’ll be ready.”
TUF 8 Finalist, Phillipe Nover signs with Bellator, added to November 26th card airing on MTV2.
Strikeforce medical suspensions handed to five fighters including Antonio “Big Foot” Silva and Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos.
After a 19-month layoff, Cung Le will finally return to fighting when he faces Vitor Belfort at UFC 139 on November 19. That’s a lengthy layoff for anyone, but especially long for Le, who turned 39 years old in May. But while most lengthy periods of inactivity are the result of injury issues or contract disputes, the flashy fighter wasn’t gone due to rehabilitating from surgery or holding out for more money. He was busy making films.
While he had spoken to the UFC several months ago about possibly joining them, things didn’t come together for the two sides until after the UFC moved its original UFC 139 main event of Cain Velasquez vs. Junior dos Santos up one week to the UFC on FOX premiere.
That left a hole at the top of the card, and Le was more than happy to fill it.
“I feel honored and very excited,” Le said on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour. “It’s just nerves and everything going on. It’s been pretty exciting.”
Le said he wasn’t quite sure how he got out of his Strikeforce deal to move over to the UFC, leaving specifics to his management, but said he originally began lobbying UFC executives Lorenzo Fertitta and Dana White for the opportunity during the Zuffa “Fighter Summit” back in May.
At the time, Le was coming off the taping of back-to-back-to-back film projects and spending time with his family. He says Fertitta told him they’d look to work a fight out for him depending on his movie schedule, but nothing of substance happened until about two weeks ago, when talks were reignited. In a short time, he was approached with an offer.
“Vitor was the only one offered to me, and when they said, ‘Hey Cung, we’d like you to fight Vitor,’ I said yes,” he said. “Go big or go home.”
Le said his interest in the matchup comes from the two fighters’ backgrounds. Both he and Belfort gained their reputations as strikers. All seven of Le’s pro MMA wins are by knockout and prior to that, he gained renown as a pro kickboxer. Belfort, meanwhile, is considered one of the sport’s all-time great knockout artists.
“We’ll find out who’s more dangerous come November 19,” he said.
Le said he had signed a six-fight deal with UFC, but said that when it comes to his future, he plans to take things one fight at a time. Le said that in hopes of extending his career as far as it will go, he keeps himself healthy, eating well and consistently training. He also noted he hasn’t had a lengthy MMA career which might have led to wear and tear on his body.
The first of those fights comes in San Jose, California, which is Le’s hometown. He also trains at the city’s American Kickboxing Academy gym. Last Saturday, Le was in Cincinnati and watched in person AKA’s huge weekend at Strikeforce, when the gym’s fighters (Luke Rockhold, Daniel Cormier, Muhammed Lawal and Mike Kyle) went 4-0. That made Le hungry to return home and get back in the gym to represent his team, and his town in the biggest fight of his career.
“It’s a dream,” Le said. “It’s like coming full circle. My first MMA fight was in San Jose, and now my first UFC fight is going to be in San Jose. Definitely, I’m very excited about it.”
After a 19-month layoff, Cung Le will finally return to fighting when he faces Vitor Belfort at UFC 139 on November 19. That’s a lengthy layoff for anyone, but especially long for Le, who turned 39 years old in May. But while most lengthy periods of inactivity are the result of injury issues or contract disputes, the flashy fighter wasn’t gone due to rehabilitating from surgery or holding out for more money. He was busy making films.
While he had spoken to the UFC several months ago about possibly joining them, things didn’t come together for the two sides until after the UFC moved its original UFC 139 main event of Cain Velasquez vs. Junior dos Santos up one week to the UFC on FOX premiere.
That left a hole at the top of the card, and Le was more than happy to fill it.
“I feel honored and very excited,” Le said on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour. “It’s just nerves and everything going on. It’s been pretty exciting.”
Le said he wasn’t quite sure how he got out of his Strikeforce deal to move over to the UFC, leaving specifics to his management, but said he originally began lobbying UFC executives Lorenzo Fertitta and Dana White for the opportunity during the Zuffa “Fighter Summit” back in May.
At the time, Le was coming off the taping of back-to-back-to-back film projects and spending time with his family. He says Fertitta told him they’d look to work a fight out for him depending on his movie schedule, but nothing of substance happened until about two weeks ago, when talks were reignited. In a short time, he was approached with an offer.
“Vitor was the only one offered to me, and when they said, ‘Hey Cung, we’d like you to fight Vitor,’ I said yes,” he said. “Go big or go home.”
Le said his interest in the matchup comes from the two fighters’ backgrounds. Both he and Belfort gained their reputations as strikers. All seven of Le’s pro MMA wins are by knockout and prior to that, he gained renown as a pro kickboxer. Belfort, meanwhile, is considered one of the sport’s all-time great knockout artists.
“We’ll find out who’s more dangerous come November 19,” he said.
Le said he had signed a six-fight deal with UFC, but said that when it comes to his future, he plans to take things one fight at a time. Le said that in hopes of extending his career as far as it will go, he keeps himself healthy, eating well and consistently training. He also noted he hasn’t had a lengthy MMA career which might have led to wear and tear on his body.
The first of those fights comes in San Jose, California, which is Le’s hometown. He also trains at the city’s American Kickboxing Academy gym. Last Saturday, Le was in Cincinnati and watched in person AKA’s huge weekend at Strikeforce, when the gym’s fighters (Luke Rockhold, Daniel Cormier, Muhammed Lawal and Mike Kyle) went 4-0. That made Le hungry to return home and get back in the gym to represent his team, and his town in the biggest fight of his career.
“It’s a dream,” Le said. “It’s like coming full circle. My first MMA fight was in San Jose, and now my first UFC fight is going to be in San Jose. Definitely, I’m very excited about it.”
After a year of inactivity, former Strikeforce competitor Cung Le will make his anticipated Octagon debut against Vitor Belfort at UFC 139.The bout was announced after it was learned a heavyweight bout between Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos, orig…
After a year of inactivity, former Strikeforce competitor Cung Le will make his anticipated Octagon debut against Vitor Belfort at UFC 139.
The bout was announced after it was learned a heavyweight bout between Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos, originally scheduled as the main event, would headline UFC on FOX.
“I’m very excited and honored to be a part of the UFC. I want to thank Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta for the opportunity and I’m going to fight my heart out,” Le said.
The Sanshou practitioner hasn’t dedicated much of his time to mixed martial arts due to a part-time acting career; however, his performances have impressed fans and critics alike who have dreamed of the middleweight contender transitioning to the UFC to compete against the world’s best fighters.
Belfort certainly falls into that category of a “dream fight,” and the intriguing thought of witnessing Le’s striking versatility against Belfort’s hand speed and knockout power will be something to watch on November 19.
The San Jose native is eager to face Belfort, despite the Brazilian’s remarks towards him.
“Let him talk. I don’t like to talk so he can do all the talking. I’ll let him have that job and we will work it out in San Jose,” he said.
“Vitor is very dangerous, but I’m very dangerous too. We have two dangerous guys in the ring and we are going to see which one of us is more dangerous.”
There is no denying that Cung Le is a full blown star. From his fights in the cage to showing up in movies like Pandorum with Dennis Quaid prove it. Still, I can’t understand why Dana White has allowed Le to take up a main slot in a UFC pay-per-v…
There is no denying that Cung Le is a full blown star. From his fights in the cage to showing up in movies like Pandorum with Dennis Quaid prove it.
Still, I can’t understand why Dana White has allowed Le to take up a main slot in a UFC pay-per-view card. Against Vitor Belfort no less.
The “Phenom” is a draw, not to mention that Belfort is coming off a win against Akiyama. Sure Le is a draw in his own right and can fight too, but there are also a lot of drawbacks to using a full-blown action movie star who also competes in MMA.
You can never be sure how reliable he is going to be. For a businessman like White, I’m surprised that he either didn’t consider or didn’t care about the possible reasons that this could end badly.
After a 19-month layoff, 
After a year of inactivity, former Strikeforce competitor