There has been a lot of rumbling over former NBA Superstar Shaquille O’Neal in talks with Dana White and a possible MMA career. O’Neal will address the rumors to Inside MMA tomorrow night on HDNet..
There has been a lot of rumbling over former NBA Superstar Shaquille O’Neal in talks with Dana White and a possible MMA career. O’Neal will address the rumors to Inside MMA tomorrow night on HDNet. O’Neal reportedly tells hosts Kenny Florian and Bas Rutten : “Once I started training MMA, I starting winning championships.” O’Neal spent this past 2010-2011 season with the Boston Celtics before retiring from his basketball career this year at the age of 39. At 7′ft. 1 inches tall and 325 pounds, he was the heaviest player ever to join the NBA. Inside MMA airs Friday night at 9:00pm ET.
The sneaky marketing team over at M-1 Global decided to use an image of Arianny Celeste in their official poster for their upcoming Ukranian event. As word spread over the internet, Miss Celeste was none-too-pleased.
The sneaky marketing team over at M-1 Global decided to use an image of Arianny Celeste in their official poster for their upcoming Ukranian event. As word spread over the internet, Miss Celeste was none-too-pleased and immediately ratted out M-1 to the UFC. Celeste tweeted:
They’re Russian! Couldn’t they have made Celeste an offer she couldn’t refuse? Or is that the Italians? I hate when I mix up my stereotypes. At any rate, maybe this was M-1 Global’s Director of Operations Evgeni Kogan‘s way of trying to make Dana White laugh since he recently told Sports Illustrated how much he enjoys White’s humor: “I look at his interviews and it just makes me laugh, it’s just funny… It’s laughable that those things are said….all the stuff that happens behind the scenes, it changes the picture very significantly.”
Let’s see if White gets a good chuckle from this poster incident.
Meanwhile, M-1′s main attraction, Fedor Emelianenko finally gave an interview and reaffirmed his belief that his bout against Dan Henderson was stopped prematurely. Fedor also says he didn’t have a contract with Strikeforce [or Zuffa] and that he is under contract with Showtime Network. Highlight’s from Fedor’s interview via Low Kick below:
A lot of people are arguing about the stoppage in your last fight with Dan Henderson. Do you think the referee made the right call to stop the fight?
I think the fight was stopped early. But that’s my opinion. We all know that the referees are trying to protect fighters from serious injuries. I don’t want to judge anyone. The refereeing was fair, and if there was some sort of mistake, I don’t think it was intentional.
According to Dana White, you were fired from Strikeforce. Is there any truth in this statement?
That’s Dana White’s style to make comments. I didn’t have a contract with Strikeforce. My current contract is with Showtime. So I think people shouldn’t pay attention to these “loud” comments.
I don’t have any obligations for UFC or Strikeforce. Our new contract ensures we don’t have to work directly with these organizations. We have already experienced certain difficulties while working with PRIDE and Affliction. We are trying to avoid any unpleasant consequences.
Man, I’ve been waiting like four days to find out why Nate Marquardt was not medically cleared to fight in UFC on Versus 4 and was subsequently fired from the UFC. I even woke up.
Nate Marquardt and Chael Sonnen. What do these 2 men have in common?
Man, I’ve been waiting like four days to find out why Nate Marquardt was not medically cleared to fight in UFC on Versus 4 and was subsequently fired from the UFC. I even woke up early here on the west coast to make sure I didn’t miss anything or see if another media outlet got a jump on the story before Ariel Helwani today. And then there it was, Marquardt’s hour long explanation on The MMA Hour of how he had low testosterone levels and was under Hormone Replacement Therapy and blah blah blah… And I felt like Ralphie in A Christmas Story when he finally deciphered Little Orphan Annie’s decoder ring secret message: “Don’t forget to drink your Ovaltine.” I thought, “A crummy testosterone aid? Son-of-a-bitch!”
I mean surely, we were all expecting much more to be the case when Dana White exclaimed on Versus during the live fights:
“Nate Marquardt is going to have to man up and tell the world why he didn’t pass his medicals. When he does that, I think everyone will understand why he was cut from the UFC.”
And here we are…a vast majority of us, I think, that remain pretty unclear as to exactly why he was cut. I mean, Thiago Silva and Chael Sonnen are still listed as fighters in the UFC. Did I miss something? And is it pretty messed up that we’ve become kind of jaded to learning that these fighters are caught taking PEDs for whatever medical issues they have? I remember being so pissed when I learned Sonnen’s stellar performance against Anderson Silva was tainted by a failed piss test. Now, I’m just bored that Marquardt’s story wasn’t more intriguing. I was calculating the days it takes for marijuana to leave the body and thinking, “hey maybe he has a disease and requires medical marijuana usage. Poor fella! Yeah, that’s it. He doesn’t smoke for recreation.” Then I thought…”STD?” …Because that would have been a fun revelation. “Hey, is he pregnant?” I admit that one crossed my mind for a second, but more for my own amusement.
None-the-less, here we are facing another fighter who has failed his drug test due to elevated levels of testosterone in his system. I, for one am disappointed in Nate for taking a substance so close to his fight, because his wife couldn’t stand his mood swings, thereby risking how his pre-fight drug test would be determined. After all, he’s failed drug tests before, so of course you’re going to get tested beforehand. But I’m even more disappointed that this was the big story I’ve been waiting to hear. Thanks for wasting my time and eager anticipation, Nate. Dana White was right about one thing, Nate needed to “man up” and tell us why he failed. Maybe that was a hint from Dana and maybe we were made to wait because Marquardt’s “man up” levels had fallen too low.
After failing to be medically cleared for tomorrow night’s UFC on Versus 4 headlining bout, Nate Marquardt has been fired from the UFC according to Dana White, who posted in a Twitter video: “I’m sure.
After failing to be medically cleared for tomorrow night’s UFC on Versus 4 headlining bout, Nate Marquardt has been fired from the UFC according to Dana White, who posted in a Twitter video:
“I’m sure you heard that Nate Marquardt is out. It’s true. He failed his medicals. Not only is he out of this fight, and out of the main event on Versus, he will no longer be with the UFC.”
Marquardt was supposed to make his Welterweight debut against Rick Story, but Story will now take on Charlie Brenneman who needed a match up when TJ Grant pulled out of his bout following an illness. Marquardt has not responded via Twitter or any other outlet. We can see why White would be pissed he lost his headlining match up so close to the fight, but it must have been a pretty big bombshell to make him drop “The Great” so fast. Afterall, even Chael Sonnen remains on the UFC roster.
Tito Ortiz faces Ryan Bader at UFC 132 with the stress that his job is on the line. In a three part blog, ESPN presents Ortiz in his own words. Tito reminds us that he.
Tito Ortiz faces Ryan Bader at UFC 132 with the stress that his job is on the line. In a three part blog, ESPN presents Ortiz in his own words. Tito reminds us that he should be respected as a pioneer in the UFC brand and that he is “The Last of the Mohicans“. He also explains that he hasn’t exactly lost all his fights since 2006 (even though his fight record may reflect straigh losses). Ortiz says he broke down those last few fights to Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta and thinks he earned their respect to keep fighting, which is why he was given another shot after his loss to Matt Hamill. He admits he would have liked an easier opponent than Ryan Bader but accepts the top challenges for the top dollar he gets paid.
Excerpts from his blog below:
After Chuck Liddell beat me in December 2006, I took on Rashad Evans, who went on to be a world champion and has lost only once since. And I beat him. It was only a “draw” because I got a point taken off for the one, single time when I grabbed the fence. It was a draw, but I was the better fighter in the cage. I won.
Then I fought Lyoto Machida, a great fighter who also went on to win the world title. I almost caught him in a triangle and tapped him out. He admitted he thought he was going to pass out. I lost and it sucked, but I was competitive.
Next was a rematch with Forrest Griffin, whom I beat earlier in our careers. I didn’t get the decision this time, but a lot of people felt I won two rounds to one. Again, I was more than competitive with a top-5 guy.
My last fight, against Matt Hamill in October, I lost. It was totally my bad; I didn’t prepare for his takedowns because I didn’t think he’d be able to take me down. Real dumb, my bad, and I am still pissed at myself.
But, again, I am not getting dominated. I’m not getting knocked out like Liddell was late in his career. I am still competitive with the very best guys in the division and haven’t taken a step down in competition since the day I lost my belt in 2003.
I think Dana respected that I had the fire to say, “Hell no, I don’t want to retire! I want to fight!” and argued that I should fight on. So they’re giving me this shot against Ryan Bader, another top-5 guy who has only ever lost to [current UFC light heavyweight champion] Jon Jones.
Would I have liked Dana to give me an easier opponent? Sure! But, hey, they pay me top-attraction money, so I get top-attraction guys …
I’m the Last of the Mohicans. Out of the fighters who helped build the UFC from what it was in the 1990s to what it is now in 2011, they’re all gone except for me. Chuck Liddell has retired; Randy Couture has retired. I’m the last man standing, and now everyone thinks Ryan Bader is going to put me down, too.
I don’t want to go. I’m not going to go. I am going to push the pace and win this fight July 2. My back is right against wall. I’m coming out swinging.
UFC 132 goes down Saturday, July 2nd. To place your bets on Tito Ortiz vs. Ryan Bader, click the icon to your favorite online sports book at the top right of our page.
