Report: “Rampage” Jackson Verbally Agrees to Fight Lyoto Machida Nov. 20th

After “Rampage” Jackson lost to Rashad Evans in May, we immediately celebrated with childish joy, when Dana White stated afterwardS that B.A. Baracus 2.0 may face Lyoto Machida next. It’s a match-up that makes total sense- two former champs coming off a loss- it should sell a ton of PPV’s; let’s do it up right? […]

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After “Rampage” Jackson lost to Rashad Evans in May, we immediately celebrated with childish joy, when Dana White stated afterwardS that B.A. Baracus 2.0 may face Lyoto Machida next. It’s a match-up that makes total sense- two former champs coming off a loss- it should sell a ton of PPV’s; let’s do it up right? Now, when Jackson was quoted saying recently he was hoping to do a rematch with Forrest Griffin that also sounded pretty sweet, but maybe because we haven’t seen Machida vs. Jackson before, that bout remained as our starting QB (having a fine back-up ready to go is one of life’s most valuable lessons…)

Well, in a story this AM from MMA Junkie, the outlet is reporting that “sources close to the organization” have informed the outlet that Jackson has verbally agreed to fight Machida, November 20th. The charismatic former champion also posted this on his Twitter yesterday:

“almost ready 2 sign the bout agreement! i would tell yall who im gonna get down with,but i cant spell his name….hahaha”

Now, Rampage’s usual bit about his linguistic skills aside, we’re thinking that joke can’t be referring to the word Griffin. So, it would appear that a bout between Jackson and Machida is a couple of pen strokes away. It’s a huge fight that will say a lot about where each guy sits in the division.

Frank Mir vs. “Minotauro” Nogueira II Confirmed for Sept. 25th

The UFC has announced today that the promotion is moving forward with the expected rematch between former champs Frank Mir and “Minotauro” Nogueira, for September 25th in Indianapolis. Why not right? Both dudes got bombed out in their last bouts (Nog by Cain Velasquez / Mir by Shane Carwin); both guys continue to be threats […]

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The UFC has announced today that the promotion is moving forward with the expected rematch between former champs Frank Mir and “Minotauro” Nogueira, for September 25th in Indianapolis. Why not right? Both dudes got bombed out in their last bouts (Nog by Cain Velasquez / Mir by Shane Carwin); both guys continue to be threats in the heavyweight division, and of course, there’s a little bit of drama in the background to make things that much more interesting. You may recall that after Nogueira was throttled by Mir at UFC 92 in December, 2008, the legendary fighter announced afterwards that he had been suffering from a knee injury, as well as a staph infection, heading into their bout. You may also recall that Mir wasn’t really down with the whole ‘excuse’ thing…

In the press release announcing the rematch today, Dana White was quoted saying:

“Ever since Frank Mir beat Nogueira for the heavyweight title in 2008, Minotauro has asked me for this rematch because he wants to prove that the first fight was a fluke,” said UFC President Dana White. “On September 25th, he gets his wish, and I don’t think there’s any fighter more motivated than he is to even the score. As for Frank Mir, he wants to get back in the title picture, and if I know him, he was the first man to knock Nogueira out at UFC 92, and now he’ll want to be the first man to make him tap out.”

So, just a thought, but if you’re Nogueira, maybe this time it might be wise to drop out of the fight if you get seriously injured or sick again no?

Anthony Johnson to Return in Fall- Possibly at Middleweight

If you’re new to the sport of MMA you may be thinking right now ‘Anthony Johnson…why does that name sound so familiar?’ Well, although Johnson hasn’t fought since last November due to a knee injury, if you tune into Spike regularly you’ve probably seen more than a few highlights of him leaving dudes in an […]

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If you’re new to the sport of MMA you may be thinking right now ‘Anthony Johnson…why does that name sound so familiar?’ Well, although Johnson hasn’t fought since last November due to a knee injury, if you tune into Spike regularly you’ve probably seen more than a few highlights of him leaving dudes in an unconscious heap. Well, according to a report from MMA Weekly, due to Johnson’s aforementioned knee injury and subsequent surgery, the already massive welterweight has just a wee bit of weight to lose before returning to action this fall. Source? Johnson’s agent Ken Pavia recently said this on MMA Weekly Radio:

“Anthony Johnson at one point weighed the same as Ricco Rodriguez, which is kind of scary. He weighed the same as Ricco Rodriguez, except he had abs,” …”He had a knee injury. He had surgery, took some time off to let it heal, it was giving him some problems, but now he’s in rehab and doing rehab for his knee.”

Now, if you’re a long time observer of the sport you may be thinking ‘dear God, which Ricco are we talking about?’ As let’s face it, the former UFC champ’s weight hasn’t exactly been static over the last few years…Well, the report clarified that Johnson got up to 230 at one point… So, due to being on the DL for quite some time and the need to shed a lil weight, Pavia also told MMA Weekly that they are looking at October / November for Johnson’s return. And yes, middleweight is an option.

Things are always more violent when Johnson’s around- it will be good to see him back.

Tito Ortiz Hoping to Return in October for UFC 121

Remember that 90’s television show “Sliders”(no one would be terribly shocked if you don’t), where Jerry O’Connell and his crew used wormholes to slide between parallel universes and alternate histories? Extreme nerdiness aside, it was kind of cool, you know- what if the Soviet Union had conquered the U.S. etc? What if the Allies had […]

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Remember that 90’s television show “Sliders”(no one would be terribly shocked if you don’t), where Jerry O’Connell and his crew used wormholes to slide between parallel universes and alternate histories? Extreme nerdiness aside, it was kind of cool, you know- what if the Soviet Union had conquered the U.S. etc? What if the Allies had lost WW II? That kind of ‘yeah I wonder’ stuff.

So where in the unholy hell are we going with this? Well, remember earlier this year when the internet was ablaze with speculation regarding the health of Tito Ortiz, and yadda, yadda, yadda, he was booted from TUF and didn’t fight Chuck Liddell? Well, what if that fight had happened in June? Would Chuck have handed Tito another ass whooping instead of being KTFO by Rich Franklin? Would Tito’s latest UFC stint already be on the ropes? Would people be talking about Chuck making another run instead of how he should retire? Alas, we’ll never know….(if you’re thinking about writing some sort of alternate MMA history script slowly move away from the keyboard now).

While Liddell still has yet to make a final decision as to whether or not he’s going to finally hang up the gloves, Ortiz has announced on his Twitter account, that it looks like his back could be ready for a return sometime this fall.

“Can I be ready by Oct 28th UFC at the Honda center? We will know in 10days!”

It’s going to be interesting to see who “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” will meet up with next. Would you be willing to bet the house it won’t be Liddell?

“King Mo” Lawal Says James Toney “Cool as Hell”

Since James Toney launched and then successfully completed his public campaign to sign with the UFC, it’s probably safe to say that the rather ‘talkative’ fighter has ruffled a few feathers amongst MMA fans. After all, from declaring ‘heads will go into orbit,’ fake dialling 911 for upcoming opponent Randy Couture, and stating that ‘MMA […]

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Since James Toney launched and then successfully completed his public campaign to sign with the UFC, it’s probably safe to say that the rather ‘talkative’ fighter has ruffled a few feathers amongst MMA fans. After all, from declaring ‘heads will go into orbit,’ fake dialling 911 for upcoming opponent Randy Couture, and stating that ‘MMA ain’t no different than boxing,’ Toney has been pretty, shall we say, ‘confident’ for a dude that’s still learning how to do deal with something other than a punch.

Of course, there have been reports that Toney is taking his upcoming UFC debut pretty serious, case in point, bringing in Strikeforce Light-Heavyweight Champion “King Mo” Lawal to be one of his training partners (guess you could do worse…). In a recent Fight Hype interview with the rising fighter / champ, Lawal had this to say about Toney’s personality and his MMA game.

“Ah, he cool as hell man. Him and Dave cool as hell. I see all of these zombies want to talk shit about him, but before you say he’s this or he’s that, walk up to him and meet him. If you see him, go and have a conversation with him to see what kind of dude he is. James is good people, man, and he’s great with his fans. James is working hard man and I said it before, he’s going to surprise a lot of people.”

We’ll leave it up to you to determine whether ‘surprise’ means 1) Toney shocks the MMA world by lasting more than 2 minutes with Couture, or 2) he actually beats “The Natural”. There’s kind of a big difference there.

Anderson Silva Says Chael Sonnen “Disrespecting” His Previous Opponents

Anyone who’s been following Chael Sonnen’s pre-fight, smack talking fest as he heads into his August 7th bout with Anderson Silva, shouldn’t be surprised to find out that the champion seems to be getting a little tired of Sonnen’s verbal assault. We’ve gone on plenty a time about Sonnen’s gift for controversial gab, and as the […]

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Anyone who’s been following Chael Sonnen’s pre-fight, smack talking fest as he heads into his August 7th bout with Anderson Silva, shouldn’t be surprised to find out that the champion seems to be getting a little tired of Sonnen’s verbal assault. We’ve gone on plenty a time about Sonnen’s gift for controversial gab, and as the fight draws nearer, his trash talking seems to be getting more attention (belittling one of, if not the world’s best fighter tends to get noticed…)

What’s the latest newsworthy ‘Sonnen’ from Sonnen? Well in a clip from the upcoming UFC 117 preview, the punishing wrestler once again let the insults fly in Silva’s direction, stating, amongst other things:

“He fought a one-legged Canadian, he fought a math teacher from Ohio and he fought a bunch of guys who weren’t even good enough to hold their spot in the company…His running is done, his 15 minutes of fame are up and I’m gonna bring it to an abrupt halt.”

Pssst; Patrick Cote and Rich Franklin, we think he’s talking about you….And far as Silva’s opinion on having his resume criticized, one that most observers seem to think has entrenched Silva in the world’s best P4P position? Speaking to Tatame.com recently the middleweight champ said this:

“What he’s saying is disrespecting me; he’s disrespecting me and all opponents I’ve faced. Dan Henderson, in my opinion, is the best Wrestler that there is out there on MMA”.

August 7th here we come. To bet on the fight head here.