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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 […]

As James Toney continues to prepare for his expected, August 28^th, 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 […]

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.

Mirko “Cro Cop” Ready for Pat Barry at UFC 115

It wasn’t too long ago that MMA nerds around the world tirelessly debated ‘whose fighters are better? UFC or Pride?’ Well, Zuffa ended up purchasing Pride, and yadda, yadda, yadda, vets from the now deceased Japanese promotion like “Rampage” Jackson, “Shogun” Rua, “Minotauro” Nogueira and Anderson Silva have all gone on to win UFC gold […]

It wasn’t too long ago that MMA nerds around the world tirelessly debated ‘whose fighters are better? UFC or Pride?’ Well, Zuffa ended up purchasing Pride, and yadda, yadda, yadda, vets from the now deceased Japanese promotion like “Rampage” Jackson, “Shogun” Rua, “Minotauro” Nogueira and Anderson Silva have all gone on to win UFC gold (in other words, they’ve hung in there just fine…)

Of course, one of Pride’s biggest stars, who has yet to truly deliver in the UFC is Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic; a dude that because of his ability to violently disturb vital body functions with his kicks, arrived in the Octagon with a ton of hype. The Croatian has gone just 3-3 in the UFC, however, and hasn’t really looked like his old brutalizing self. Well, in a recent interview with UFC.com, Cro Cop stated that part of the reason for this, was a serious knee injury he had that required three surgeries.

“I had a very bad injury two years ago and of course it reflected on my kicking,” he said. “I was afraid to kick, especially because the wound was still fresh. It was suicide according to the doctor, but I decided to take a fight (at UFC 99 against Mostapha Al Turk) and I decided to take another fight with (Junior) Dos Santos (At UFC 103), which wasn’t a smart idea in that condition, but I’m a fighter. I like the sport, I like fighting, I like competition, but obviously you need to make decisions with your head and not with your heart. Now, the leg is finally completely recovered.”

Well, here’s hoping Cro Cop is healthy so his bout this weekend with fellow bomber Pat Barry, is as good as everyone hopes. To bet on UFC 115 head here.

Josh Koscheck Apologizes for Recent Remarks Directed at GSP

Earlier in the week we passed along comments Josh Koscheck reportedly made at the TUF 12 media day, when the welterweight contender said he was hoping for more stringent, Olympic standard, drug testing to be introduced into MMA. Koscheck was talking about such matters because “B.J. Penn and his camp” had apparently warned him that, […]

Earlier in the week we passed along comments Josh Koscheck reportedly made at the TUF 12 media day, when the welterweight contender said he was hoping for more stringent, Olympic standard, drug testing to be introduced into MMA. Koscheck was talking about such matters because “B.J. Penn and his camp” had apparently warned him that, yup, here we go again, Georges St. Pierre is “on steroids.” The MMA Junkie report also included a quote from ‘Kos’ stating that he hopes the welterweight “doesn’t grease up” and “gets off that juice” before the two fight again post-TUF 12 (comments that Koscheck made while also insisting he personally wasn’t accusing GSP of cheating, but rather, he was just passing along “hearsay”…)

Well, here just a few days later, it seems as though Koscheck has taken a minute to reconsider what he said last weekend, and the renowned fighter has issued an apology to GSP (there’s nothing like unsubstantiated rumors to really class up a fight). In a follow up report from MMA Fighting, Koscheck was quoted saying:

“Media stories on comments I made about rumors of GSP are in no way factual,” Koscheck said. “I’m known for polarizing comments, and I got caught up in hyping TUF and our fight. I was wrong, and apologize to GSP for trying to invalidate his hard work and talent.”

And there you have it folks…time to move on?

Junior Dos Santos vs. Roy Nelson Confirmed for UFC 117

While speaking with MMA Fix’s Dave Farra late last month, Roy Nelson did his best ‘can’t confirm-won’t deny- even a dimwitted Doberman can put this together’ act, indicating that he would most likely fight Junior Dos Santos next. Well, Mr. Nelson is a man of his ‘read between the lines’ word, as the UFC has […]

While speaking with MMA Fix’s Dave Farra late last month, Roy Nelson did his best ‘can’t confirm-won’t deny- even a dimwitted Doberman can put this together’ act, indicating that he would most likely fight Junior Dos Santos next. Well, Mr. Nelson is a man of his ‘read between the lines’ word, as the UFC has confirmed today that the heavyweight will indeed face the fellow contender Dos Santos, August 7^th at UFC 117.

So, there you have it, and with Matt Hughes vs. Ricardo Almeida already confirmed, the main card for the Oakland event has 3 pretty sweet bouts set. It will be interesting to see what kind of game plan Nelson comes out with. Now of course, both Brendan Schaub and Stefan Struve know all too well just how “Big Country” the TUF 10 winner’s fists can be, but Dos Santos also hasn’t had much trouble scrambling opponent’s consciousness with his striking. Someone should really bring Struve in on this as he should be the expert; Nelson bombed out the reedonkously tall Dutchman in 39 seconds, while Dos Santos needed 54 seconds…Wonder who Struve will be cheering for?

Dos Santos hasn’t really had his ground game tested thus far in the UFC, and while he trains with the Nogueira brothers and is reportedly pretty good on the mat, Mr. Nelson is a BJJ black belt (equipped with one of the finest bellies the sport has to offer…). Pretty damn important fight as the winner will probably get in line behind Cain Velasquez for a title shot.