Tag: UFC 175

Lyoto Machida Talks UFC 175 Title Fight with Chris Weidman

As the next man on deck to challenge UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman for Octagon supremacy, former light heavyweight kingpin Lyoto Machida has a lot on his plate.
With just two fights at 185 pounds, “The Dragon” still has much to prove as he at…

As the next man on deck to challenge UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman for Octagon supremacy, former light heavyweight kingpin Lyoto Machida has a lot on his plate.

With just two fights at 185 pounds, “The Dragon” still has much to prove as he attempts to knock off the division’s top contenders, including the champ.

But if there’s anything that can be taken from Machida‘s heralded fighting career, it would be his ability to stick to a game plan and stay out of trouble.

“He has a good wrestling game and hits hard,” said Machida in a recent interview with Guilherme Cruz of MMA Fighting. “He has a good cardio but I believe a lot in what I do and in my work. I believe in me.“

As one of the very best wrestlers in the promotion, Weidman‘s game is sometimes puzzling. The fact that he packs a punch and a mean submission game on top of excellent takedowns suggests Machida will have his work cut out for him at UFC 175.

“As a champion, I know he would never take risks if he really didn’t need it,” said Machida when asked about the impact that Weidman‘s recent knee surgeries will have come Fight Night. “I don’t think he will be in disadvantage because of the surgeries. He wouldn’t risk his title, so I believe he will be 100 percent ready.“

Needless to say, the 35-year-old Brazilian is more than ready to avenge former Black House teammate and former pound-for-pound great Anderson Silva when he meets Weidman on July 5.

“I sure do (know how to beat him),” added Machida, “but I won’t tell you how now [laughs].“

 

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Wanderlei Silva on TUF: Brazil: ‘Production Decided to Paint Me as the Villain’

Former Pride champion Wanderlei Silva isn’t happy with the way he’s being portrayed on the third season of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil and blames the production team for selective editing of the show. 
“The Axe Murderer” expressed his d…

Former Pride champion Wanderlei Silva isn’t happy with the way he’s being portrayed on the third season of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil and blames the production team for selective editing of the show. 

“The Axe Murderer” expressed his displeasure with what audiences have seen from him on the reality series in an interview with MMA Fighting:

They edited a lot of things, and unfortunately, the production decided to paint me as the villain…But that is not right, because he said horrible things about us, and disrespected me at every moment during filming. This good guy you’re watching on television is not how things are for real…Behind what happened there is the motives and the reason why I was mad that day…I called him a m———-r, but I don’t speak English. I didn’t really know what it means and I don’t consider it a cuss word.

Silva was supported by just 30 percent of his countrymen according to a recent poll, which was taken after his infamous TUF brawl with archnemesis/opposing head coach Chael Sonnen, prompting him to release a video claiming that Sonnen is racist. 

Sonnen, as usual, had no problem responding to the video, but was was succinct with his rebuttal this time around: 

“The American Gangster” remains adamant that Silva won’t make it to their scheduled UFC 175 showdown on July 5, so he has been pushing for a fight with ex-middleweight champion Rich Franklin instead, per Fox Sports. 

Sonnen is 3-4 in his past seven fights, though three of those losses came against then-middleweight champ Anderson Silva (twice) and UFC light heavyweight titleholder Jon Jones. 

Coincidentally, Silva has the same record in his last seven matchups inside the Octagon, most recently delivering a brutal knockout over Brian Stann at UFC on FUEL 8 last March. 

Is selective editing truly to blame for Silva’s erratic behavior on the TUF set, or has Sonnen simply gotten into his head at an extreme level?

 

John Heinis is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA editor for eDraft.com.

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Dana White: ‘Hilarious’ Vitor Belfort Isn’t Getting Licensed Anytime Soon

UFC middleweight contender Vitor Belfort is getting anxious for his crack at championship gold, but he has a long road ahead of him before that happens, according to UFC President Dana White. 
At the UFC 172 post-fight media scrum, White explained…

UFC middleweight contender Vitor Belfort is getting anxious for his crack at championship gold, but he has a long road ahead of him before that happens, according to UFC President Dana White. 

At the UFC 172 post-fight media scrum, White explained that despite the fact that The Phenom was asking for Lyoto Machida’s crack at Chris Weidman earlier in the week, the request is completely unrealistic since he’s a long way from getting licensed by the Nevada State Athletic Commission, per Guilherme Cruz of MMAFighting.com:

He’s gotta solve his problems with the Nevada State Athletic Commission and when he does that, we’ll figure it out … He’s got a lot of work to do. That s–t just doesn’t happen like that.  You gotta get on the agenda. He’s got a lot of work to do. He’s fooling himself if that’s what he really thinks, he took a couple of home tests and he’s ready to roll. Or whatever he did. 

White also joked that the Brazilian slugger is “always fun” and “hilarious” when speaking about the situation. 

Belfort was originally scheduled to square off with Weidman at UFC 173 on May 24, which takes place in Las Vegas, but he was replaced by Machida following the NSAC’s ban of testosterone replacement therapy (TRT). That bout has since been pushed back to UFC 175 on July 5 after The All-American suffered a knee injury that required minor surgery, via UFC.com.  

The 37-year-old Belfort has remained a hot topic of criticism in the fight community since he failed a drug test for the anabolic steroid 4-Hydroxytestosterone back in October 2006, yet he has been an open TRT user in recent years. 

He has also refused to release the results of his February 7 drug test, and since he was not licensed by the NSAC at the time, he is the only one who has the power to do so, according to Ariel Helwani of MMAFighting.com.

The knockout specialist, who scored three straight KOs over Michael Bisping, Luke Rockhold and Dan Henderson, hasn’t fought on American soil since he made short work of Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 133 in August 2011.

Belfort, the No. 2 middleweight in the UFC’s official rankings, has been on the sidelines since his November victory over Hendo and is still awaiting his next assignment in the Octagon. 

Will Belfort fight for UFC gold before the end of the year, or will his road back to the cage prove to be a lot more difficult than he initially thought?

 

John Heinis is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA editor for eDraft.com.

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Ronda Rousey: Cris ‘Cyborg’ Is ‘Not Even a Woman Anymore’ from Steroid Use

UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey has no love lost between herself and Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino, and she has shown no problem in vocalizing that sentiment to fight fans. 
However, never has the “Rowdy” one gotten as heated on the su…

UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey has no love lost between herself and Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino, and she has shown no problem in vocalizing that sentiment to fight fans. 

However, never has the “Rowdy” one gotten as heated on the subject as she did in an interview with Yahoo Sports’ Kevin Iole, where she went off on a tangent over Justino’s failed drug test for anabolic steroids back in January 2012. 

“I’ve said before, I don’t care if she’s injecting horse semen into her eyeballs, I’ll fight her, but that’s just my personal decision,” Rousey said. “… This girl has been on steroids for so long and [has been] injecting herself for so long that she’s not even a woman anymore. She’s an ‘it.’ It’s not good for the women’s division. It’s not good at all … “If she comes in the UFC and I beat the [expletive] out of her and then I retire and become an action movie star, then the UFC is still going to be stuck with her. The division could die. She could ruin the whole sport.”

Justino has won two MMA fights by TKO since her failed drug test—both matchups were contested under the Invicta FC banner—and the latter bout against Marloes Coenen was where she captured the promotion’s inaugural featherweight title. 

The Brazilian slugger has said on several occasions, as recently as last month with Iole, that she only used stanozolol to aid her in cutting weight, not for added strength or muscle mass. 

Obviously, count Rousey in the camp of people not buying that argument. 

Rousey, one of the UFC’s most recognizable faces, boasts a perfect 9-0 record inside the cage and has recorded a first-round finish in all but one of those bouts (which also ended with a submission). 

Her most recent victory was a TKO win over fellow former Olympian Sara McMann at UFC 170 in February, the first time she finished an opponent with strikes, though some felt the stoppage was premature. 

After rumors of squaring off with Justino, Gina Carano, Cat Zingano or Holly Holm next, the UFC decided to head in a different direction and pit the champ against Alexis Davis at UFC 175 on July 5. 

The bout marks Rousey‘s third title defense in just over six months, a feat rarely seen in combat sports. 

Davis enters the championship fight on the strength of five-straight victories, most recently winning a close split decision over Jessica Eye at UFC 170. 

Are Rousey‘s comments warranted given Justino’s past, or is the 27-year-old superstar going way over the top here?

 

John Heinis is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA editor for eDraft.com.

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Vitor Belfort ‘Embarassed’ by TUF Brawl Between Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva

Wanderlei Silva’s fellow Brazilian countryman, Vitor Belfort, is “embarrassed” by the brawl between “The Axe Murderer” and Chael Sonnen that aired on Sunday’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 3. 
Monday, Belfort wrote a Facebook post&n…

Wanderlei Silva‘s fellow Brazilian countryman, Vitor Belfort, is “embarrassed” by the brawl between “The Axe Murderer” and Chael Sonnen that aired on Sunday’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 3. 

Monday, Belfort wrote a Facebook post in Portuguese that said Sonnen and Silva acted inappropriately for two athletes who are supposed to be role models. MMA Fighting has since provided the English translation: 

“The brawl between Wanderlei Silva and Chael Sonnen at TUF Brazil embarrassed me. First, because MMA is not violence, it is a fight between two guys that are prepared for it and inside an Octagon. That’s what I do. I don’t brawl, I fight. Second, there’s no room for this kind of behavior in a sport like MMA in a time that the sport has its rules inside and outside the Octagon. Third and most importantly, MMA can’t influence this behavior that ends in assault as if it were the appropriate model of behavior. Millions of young kids suffer with violence inside and outside their schools, and the television can’t be driving this behavior, so the athletes need to represent control no matter what.”

Belfort is no stranger to Silva, as they coached the inaugural season of TUF Brazil just over two years ago.

He also defeated his fellow Brazilian slugger via blistering knockout at UFC Brazil all the way back in October 1998. 

“The Phenom” has never met Sonnen inside the cage, but the two have traded plenty of verbal shots in recent memory. For now, a grudge match has never come to fruition. 

While videos of the now infamous TUF brawl are coming and going at a rapid pace, here is the latest version available—courtesy of MMA Mania. 

“The American Gangster” and Silva are scheduled to finally settle their differences at UFC 175 on July 5, though Sonnen doesn’t seem to believe his rival will make it to the summer showdown so he is already angling for a matchup with Rich Franklin. 

Belfort is awaiting his next fight after becoming the first man to knock out Dan Henderson at UFC Fight Night 32 in November—avenging an October 2006 decision loss to “Hendo.”

Does Belfort make a valid point in his Facebook post or is he blowing the TUF scrap between Sonnen and Silva out of proportion?  

 

John Heinis is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA editor for eDraft.com.

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Chael Sonnen Calls out ‘Math Teacher’ Rich Franklin

As the MMA world debates the legitimacy of the brawl between Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva on the set of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 3, it appears that “Uncle Chael” is interested in moving on from their long-hyped feud. 
Last night, just…

As the MMA world debates the legitimacy of the brawl between Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva on the set of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 3, it appears that “Uncle Chael” is interested in moving on from their long-hyped feud. 

Last night, just a few hours before the impromptu scrap was aired on TUF, “The American Gangster” called out a former UFC middleweight champion for his swan song. 

Sonnen is referring to Rich Franklin, who was a math teacher for Oak Hills Local School District in his hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio before he was a marquee fighter, per UFC.com. 

In an interview with Submission Radio on Saturday, “Ace” expressed an interest in completing a trilogy with Anderson Silva, the man who won the middleweight title from him back at UFC 64 in October 2006. 

While Franklin was able to quickly earn his way into a rematch just a year later, the result was nearly identical, as he got stopped with knees from the clinch in the second round (as opposed to the opening frame). 

Sonnen, who also has two losses on his ledger to “The Spider,” wasn’t going to let that little piece of information deter him from trying to get under the 39-year-old’s skin. 

What would you like me to call u? Mr Franklin? Rich? Richard? Dick? Ace? Just call me the 1 who ended ur career. Now I’ll take a berry blast

— chael sonnen (@sonnench) April 14, 2014

Franklin is in the midst of a 17-month layoff from the cage, most recently suffering a brutal one-punch knockout at the hands of ex-Strikeforce champ Cung Le at UFC on FUEL 6 in November 2012.

During his hiatus from the sport, he has opened up a juice bar in Los Angeles, Calif., per MMA H.E.A.T.

The nearly 15-year fight veteran has alternated wins and losses in his past seven fights (3-4) and hasn’t put together a win streak since 2007. 

While Sonnen is set to fight Wanderlei Silva at UFC 175 on July 5, he has stated outright he doesn’t expect the scheduled matchup to happen. 

In the event “The Axe Murderer” is unable to square off with Sonnen this summer, would Franklin be a suitable replacement?

 

John Heinis is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA editor for eDraft.com.

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