Tag: UFC News

Report: Thiago Alves Medically Cleared for UFC 117

If you’re having a bad day and are in need of some good news, MMA Junkie is reporting that Thiago Alves has been medically cleared to begin fighting again by the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board, and as a result, the punishing welterweight will face Jon Fitch at UFC 117, August 7th. Just a […]

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If you’re having a bad day and are in need of some good news, MMA Junkie is reporting that Thiago Alves has been medically cleared to begin fighting again by the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board, and as a result, the punishing welterweight will face Jon Fitch at UFC 117, August 7th. Just a refresher, in case your job entails inhaling computer duster hourly, Alves had been scheduled to fight Fitch at UFC 111, until pre-fight testing revealed an abnormality in his brain. The American Top Team fighter underwent successful surgery and is now free and clear to resume brutalizing dudes in the Octagon. The report from Junkie included this comment from the NJSACB’s Nick Lembo:

“Mr. Alves is medically cleared as of today to resume his career as a professional mixed martial artist in the UFC,” Lembo wrote in an email to MMAjunkie.com. “It is a pleasure to be able to clear Thiago and allow him to return to what he loves doing after all he has been through.”

Awesome. So, there you have it, Alves will finally get a chance to avenge his previous, 2006, TKO loss to Fitch. If you haven’t been keeping score, the only other guy to beat Alves since (over 8 fights which included bouts with Matt Hughes, Josh Koscheck and Karo Parisyan) is Georges St. Pierre. The only dude to beat Fitch in 13 Octagon appearances is also GSP, so yeah, this fight is kind of a big deal.

“Rampage” Jackson Says He Wants Rematch With Forrest Griffin Next

Since “Rampage” Jackson lost by UD to arch nemesis Rashad Evans at UFC 114 last month, there’s been a lot of speculation as what’s next for B.A. Baracus 2.0 (yes we’re aware that the Mr.T version graced the TV screen well before the internet ravaged the world). During Jackson’s ‘he said what now?’ tiff with […]

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Since “Rampage” Jackson lost by UD to arch nemesis Rashad Evans at UFC 114 last month, there’s been a lot of speculation as what’s next for B.A. Baracus 2.0 (yes we’re aware that the Mr.T version graced the TV screen well before the internet ravaged the world). During Jackson’s ‘he said what now?’ tiff with Dana White, the former light-heavyweight champ maintained that he had always wanted a crack at Lyoto Machida, rather than coach TUF (and then fight Evans). This, coupled with the fact that White was recently quoted saying that Machida may fight Jackson next, led many of us to conclude that indeed, “Rampage” and “The Dragon” would soon throw down.

Well, you might want to hold on just a second there folks, as in a recent interview with the U.K.’s MMA Bay, Jackson had this to say when asked about who he wants to fight next:

“I want to rematch Forrest; you know what I’m saying? Forrest is a good fight; he has good strategy. It’s a fighter’s fight, stand-up and stuff like that. So I want to get a fight with Forrest. I heard that he would be available and everything, so I would like to go fight Forrest.”

“The main reason I want Forrest is not just because he beat me, but how he acted, like he really thought he won.”

If you recall, Griffin worked his way to a UD win over Jackson at UFC 86, in what was a pretty damn close fight. Jackson clearly didn’t agree with the decision, or apparently, how Griffin “acted” afterwards. To hear more from Rampage on the subject, check out the full interview here.

Dana White Says Chuck Liddell’s UFC Career is Over

Remember rolling your eyes as a kid when you were told that history was important to learn, because it ‘has a funny way of repeating itself’ (which is kind of an odd way of putting it, as often historical repetition involves war, atrocities, political scandal…you know, all that ‘funny’ stuff). Well if you watched UFC […]

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Remember rolling your eyes as a kid when you were told that history was important to learn, because it ‘has a funny way of repeating itself’ (which is kind of an odd way of putting it, as often historical repetition involves war, atrocities, political scandal…you know, all that ‘funny’ stuff). Well if you watched UFC 115 last night, then you know that Chuck Liddell made out the same way as he did last April, KO’d.

Now you may also recall that after getting knocked out by “Shogun” Rua last year, UFC Pres Dana White wasted little time declaring that Liddell should retire. Chuck didn’t announce his retirement, however, did “Dancing with the Stars”, and yadda, yadda, yadda, showed up in tremendous shape for last night’s bout with Franklin. Unfortunately for Liddell of course, once again, he got laid the hell out…

So, naturally,  White is once again calling for Liddell’s retirement. In the post-fight press conference last night, the UFC boss man offered this, when asked if Liddell should hang em up (thanks to MMA Junkie for the quote).

“Yeah, and I hope he agreed tonight,” the UFC president said. “I don’t think he won’t.”

Sounds familiar doesn’t it? Now due to similar things that were said last April, MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani pressed White on whether or not this time around, Liddell’s UFC career really is over; White responded with  “I guarantee you tonight was the last night.”  Well, if that is in fact the case (and really, this time it should be no?) it’s been a hell of a ride for “The Iceman.”

Lyoto Machida Says he’s Learning from First Loss

While a lot of people thought that Lyoto Machida really lost for the first time in his career when he was awarded a controversial Unanimous Decision victory over “Shogun” Rua last October, it was understandable that he and his family / training partners, didn’t really see it that way. It was a close bout, and […]

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While a lot of people thought that Lyoto Machida really lost for the first time in his career when he was awarded a controversial Unanimous Decision victory over “Shogun” Rua last October, it was understandable that he and his family / training partners, didn’t really see it that way. It was a close bout, and after all, Machida’s their boy; so heading into the rematch with Shogun they defended the judge’s previous decision. Things have changed dramatically since then, clearly, as Rua ruined Machida’s unblemished victory KTFO style in May.

So it will be interesting to see where Machida goes from here and how he handles the loss. The fact that we’re discussing Machida’s first loss, after fighting professionally since 2003 and facing dudes like Rashad Evans, Thiago Silva and Tito Ortiz in his last five fights, is pretty damn amazing. Well, in a recent interview with the Brazilian publication Tatame, it sounds like Machida is already on the rebound.

“Everything is a learning experience for me, a challenge. I’m trying to learn the most I can from this event. My father taught me that a true samurai loses seven challenges on his life, so this was only the first one. Many times we can only learn from the pain.”

Wow. He even got the samurai bit in there and everything. If that speech doesn’t belong in some martial arts epic what does? See, they don’t call him “The Dragon” because he’s really into Harry Potter. Your thoughts Mr. “Rampage” and hopefully next opponent Jackson?

Report: Dean Lister Coaching James Toney in Jiu-Jitsu

As James Toney continues to prepare for his expected, August 28th, UFC debut against Randy Couture, the boxer’s training camp continues to receive a lot of scrutinizing attention. Guess when you declare publicly that, despite having little to no experience in mixed-martial-arts heads of fighters may go “into orbit”, people are going to be real […]

james toney

As James Toney continues to prepare for his expected, August 28th, UFC debut against Randy Couture, the boxer’s training camp continues to receive a lot of scrutinizing attention. Guess when you declare publicly that, despite having little to no experience in mixed-martial-arts heads of fighters may go “into orbit”, people are going to be real curious as to whether or not you’ll back that sh-t up.

Well, recently it was revealed that not only is Toney training with Strikeforce champ “King Mo” Lawal, but reports surfaced that Toney may have actually tapped out the accomplished wrestler (could it have been a deliberately leaked bit of ‘counter intelligence? Dum, dum, dum, dum). Now in a recent story from MMA Fighting, the outlet is reporting that Toney has hired Dean Lister to help him out with his ground game; yeah, we’d say a former ADCC champ would probably do the trick. Although the story cited anonymous sources for the report and that Lister did not respond to MMA Fighting’s inquiries, the article points out that Lister is also Lawal’s BJJ coach. Connect the dots now….

On the flip side of all the Toney hype, it was reported in the latest episode of MMA Live, that the UFC newcomer is reportedly “dragging his feet over the bout agreement signing with Randy Couture.” Temporary hiccup or…?

Tito Ortiz Still Wants Third Bout With Liddell

The fact that Chuck Liddell had zero sympathy for Tito Ortiz when news surfaced that the former champ was undergoing neck / back surgery again, was less surprising than hearing Dana White using the f-bomb in an interview.  In fact, not only was Liddell really pissed about their third fight being cancelled, “The Iceman” has […]

Tito-Ortiz-vs-Chuck-Liddell

The fact that Chuck Liddell had zero sympathy for Tito Ortiz when news surfaced that the former champ was undergoing neck / back surgery again, was less surprising than hearing Dana White using the f-bomb in an interview.  In fact, not only was Liddell really pissed about their third fight being cancelled, “The Iceman” has made it clear that in his not-so-unbiased-opinion, Ortiz never intended to fight.

Well, now Ortiz is in full rebuttal mode, defending his decision to undergo his second major back surgery in 18 months. In fact, in the most recent episode of Spike’s Inside the Ultimate Fighter podcast, “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” had this to say about Liddell insisting Ortiz is just ducking him (thanks to MMA Fighting for the quote).

“I think we should still fight, just because of the s— he’s been saying. Saying that I’m afraid of him and I’m a p—-, this and that. Go f— yourself man. Are you kidding me? Has he ever defended his world title longer than me? No. Has any light-heavyweight ever defended the world title longer than me? No. I’m only 35 years old. I’ll be back in the cage again, and I’ll be dominating.”

Ortiz reportedly went on to say that he’s even cheering for Liddell against Rich Franklin this weekend, just so the door remains open to a third fight. Wow. Hoping your foe doesn’t get hurt in a fight just so you can personally hurt him later…now that’s some hatred. To bet on UFC 115 head here.