Saturday, May 2, 2009
Friday, May 1, 2009
Deadspin and S.I.'s Jon Wertheim Talk About Dumping Dana White
(Courtesy of CageWriter.com)
Vote on Top 100 UFC Bouts of All Time on Spike.com
PRESS RELEASE:In celebration of UFC 100, Spike TV will present a 5-part special, highlighting the best 100 bouts in UFC history, as voted on by the fans. Voting will begin on May 1 on Spike.com (Ultimate100.spike.com) where fans can choose their top 100 fights from an extensive list of bouts selected by the UFC and Spike TV.
Each episode of "UFC's Ultimate 100: Greatest Fights" will count down the top 100 with action-packed moments from each contest. The first one-hour installment will premiere Sunday, July 5 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT, with the next three episodes airing Monday July 6-Wednesday, July 8 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT. The final episode airs Saturday, July 11 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT, which will conclude a re-broadcast of the entire voted UFC bout.
UFC 100 will air Saturday, July 11 at 10 p.m. live on pay-per-view from the Mandalay Bay Events Center, in Las Vegas.
Don Frye Heads Shark Fight 4 on Saturday in Lubbock, Texas
PRESS RELEASE:Texas based Shark Fight Promotions has partnered with Sports Action Network (SAN), a multimedia website that specializes in the coverage of combat sports, to stream "Shark Fight 4" live on May 2. A portion of the proceeds from each pay-per-view (PPV) purchase will go directly to the Children's Miracle Network, a non-profit organization that funds medical care, research and education to improve the lives of sick and injured children. MMA fans can purchase this action packed event for only $9.95. "Shark Fight 4" will stream live on both www.Sportsactionnetwork.tv and www.Sharkfights.com.
"When executives from Shark Fight Promotions approached us about streaming Shark Fight 4, live as a PPV webcast on Sportsactionnetwork.tv, we accepted without hesitation. Shark Fight Promotions has a great reputation in the industry. They put on quality shows with well matched fights that MMA fans want to see. I am also honored to be associated with a fight promotion company that consistently gives back to the community. A family with a sick child will benefit from every Shark Fight 4 PPV purchase," states George Boley Jr., Programming Director for Sports Action Network.
"Shark Fight 4" Official Fight Card:
-Don Frye vs. Rich Moss
-Rex Richards vs. Darill Schoonover
-Shannon Ritch vs. TJ Wallburger
-Jesse Taylor vs. Eric Davilla
-Wayne Cole vs. Marcus Sursa
-Phil Cardella vs. Johnny Flores
-Louis Luna vs Douglas Frey
-Brandi Hainey vs. Jessica Miramontes
-Aaron Garcia vs. Josh Shephard
"Shark Fight 4", a premier MMA super fight event sponsored by Miller Light, will take place Saturday, May 2 in Lubbock Texas, at the Citibank Coliseum. The action packed fight card will feature two Texas Championship Title fights, in addition to the feature fight of the night where MMA legend Don "The Predator" Frye will take on Judo Champion Rich Moss. In addition to an action packed night of fights, several MMA superstars will be celebrity guests at the event.
A representative from the Children's Miracle Network will also be in attendance, along with a local family receiving care and treatment with the help of the organization. The family's young child is currently receiving cancer treatment at UMC Children's Hospital in Lubbock, Texas, just one of more than 170 Children's Miracle Network hospitals worldwide. To learn more about the Children's Miracle Network or to make a donation please visit www.childrensmiraclenetwork.org. For additional event information or to purchase the "Shark Fight 4" PPV web cast, please visit www.sharkfights.com.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
UFC 100 Viewing Party on The Beach
PRESS RELEASE:With the mega-card UFC 100 already sold out, the Ultimate Fighting Championship organization will hold a closed-circuit screening of this historic pay-per-view at Mandalay Bay Beach Saturday, July 11. Don’t miss your chance to watch all the action on an LED Video Wall under the stars at the UFC 100 viewing party.
Tickets for the UFC 100 viewing party are $50 and go on sale at 12 Noon PT Friday, May 1. Tickets are available through any Mandalay Bay box office and all Las Vegas Ticketmaster locations (select Smith’s Food and Drug Centers, and Ritmo Latino). To charge by phone with a major credit card, call the Mandalay Bay box office at (702) 632-7580 or Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. Tickets also are available for purchase at UFC.com, www.mandalaybay.com or www.ticketmaster.com.
The party starts at 6:45 p.m. PT. Limited tickets are available -- so act now to be a part of history.
"I started hearing about UFC 100 around UFC 90. I am blown away by how excited fans were for this event," said UFC President Dana White. "So I made sure to stack this card with the greatest fights and greatest fighters in the world, and keep ticket prices consistent with our other big events. Once again, our fans responded with a record sellout. This is another great milestone for the UFC, and July 11 is going to be an amazing event."
In the UFC 100 main event, the undisputed UFC Heavyweight Championship will be decided when reigning titleholder Brock Lesnar faces interim champion Frank Mir in one of the most highly anticipated rematches in heavyweight history.
The co-featured bout of the evening will see UFC Welterweight Champion Georges "Rush" St-Pierre put his title on the line against feared striker Thiago "Pitbull" Alves, a man many believe has the style and size to dethrone the seemingly unbeatable champion.
And rounding out the trio of superfights is a pivotal middleweight matchup pitting the coaches of the ninth season of The Ultimate Fighter, Dan Henderson and Michael "The Count" Bisping, against each other in a bout that will push the winner even closer to a 185-pound title shot.
Mandalay Bay Beach, an 11-acre tropical pool environment, features real California sand, a wave pool and the only climate-controlled, poolside gaming in the city. Mandalay Bay will be the hottest place on the Strip for UFC action when it hosts UFC 100, the closed-circuit viewing party and the two-day UFC Fan Expo.
Tavares Notches Third Postive Test for Pot, CSAC Weighing Options
Bantamweight Jeremy Tavares, who last competed at Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Diaz, has emerged as the sole positive drug test from the event.
Tavares tested positive for marijuana, his third positive test in four professional fights, assistant Executive Officer Bill Douglas confirmed to MMAInsider on Wednesday.
Tavares lost to Shingo Kohara by KO at the April 11 event. His record stands at 0-4.
CSAC will recommend a revocation of Tavares' fight license at a June 22 meeting, said Douglas.
Tavares tested positive for marijuana, his third positive test in four professional fights, assistant Executive Officer Bill Douglas confirmed to MMAInsider on Wednesday.
Tavares lost to Shingo Kohara by KO at the April 11 event. His record stands at 0-4.
CSAC will recommend a revocation of Tavares' fight license at a June 22 meeting, said Douglas.
MMA Live Talks Kyle Maynard, Anderson vs. Forrest, and More...
The latest edition of ESPN.com's MMA Live features Kyle Maynard following his unsanctioned MMA debut, the Anderson Silva vs. Forrest Griffin match-up for UFC 101, an update to Strikeforce's June 6 fight card, Bellator, and more.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Couture On Stallone and Expendables
MMAInsider recently sat down with UFC Hall of Famer and former heavyweight champion Randy Couture, who's on a brief hiatus from work in Sylvester Stallone's "The Expendables," set for release next April. Couture spoke about his role in the movie, working with Stallone, and his rendezvous with the Nogueira brothers on set in Brazil.
MMAInsider: You spoke about Stallone's intensity in the filming process.
Couture: He has an intensity about him. I'm sure he's wearing a lot of hats. He's the writer, he's directing, he's starring in it. There's an intensity there. But at the same time, it's not overwhelming to the point where you don't feel comfortable. He's very in tune with the actors. "This is your line, this is how we want this to come across." So he's easy to work with, and easy to work for.
MMAInsider: He's a big fight fan, too.
Couture: Yeah. The Nogueira brothers were up there. They put on an exhibition round of fights for the guys and (Stallone) made them soldiers in the movie.
MMAInsider: Bad guys or good guys?
Couture: Well, it's all a matter of perspective in this movie.
MMAInsider: Because you're all bad guys in this move, right?
Couture: Not really, but sort of. They're soldiers, the elite band of this dictator Garza, so depending on what side of things you're standing on, they're either good guys or bad guys. We're mercenaries that are going in to overthrow the dictator, so are we the good guys going in to do that? On their side of the fence, we're the bad guys.
MMAInsider: You've got an unusual character name.
Couture: "Toll Road." If you're gonna get by me, you're going to have to pay.
MMAInsider: Is Stallone teaching you anything about film acting?
Couture: Each and every time I get to be a part of the process, it's a learning experience. To see other guys work, you're going through the whole experience again. It's just like fighting. Each and every time I fight I learn something new, and learn something in the training process. I found a new coach for this role, and some of the other roles I've been reading for lately. I'm learning a bunch of new ways to wrap my brain around the lines, and the characters and carrying that into this experience. In a couple of the scenes, me and Stallone have an exchange with the other actors. He wanted to make it flow, make it quick, to make it how it would be if you were intense and under pressure. He wanted a rhythm to the language -- just puke it out there. Because when you're under stress, you don't think about what you want to say -- it just comes out.
MMAInsider: What do you do to get yourself in that heightened state that's necessary for action movies?
Couture: I think finding something to relate to from my own personal experience. Then I have to get warmed up. I can't just jump into that. I have to think about that, go through the lines with the notes in the margins and trying it a few times on my own to get into it, and then you're there.
MMAInsider: What was it like being around the Nogueira brothers on set?
Couture: They're very nice guys. I think everybody on set was used to that boxing mentality because we were scheduled to fight at the end of the summer. I walked right up to them and started talking; they're all gunked up, their faces painted and everything else. It was cool.
MMAInsider: Did they enjoy the process?
Couture: I wondered. I didn't get a chance to spend any personal time with them. It's long days, man. Twelve-hour days, from five to five. I wondered what they think about that, sitting around a bunch.
MMAInsider: How long do you film for?
Couture: June 24th is the date that I wrap up, which is perfect time, because that's when I need to be getting into camp. I think I'm going to be bringing some of my stand-up guys to the set in Louisiana, spend some time sharpening my tools, getting into the right direction.
MMAInsider: You spoke about Stallone's intensity in the filming process.
Couture: He has an intensity about him. I'm sure he's wearing a lot of hats. He's the writer, he's directing, he's starring in it. There's an intensity there. But at the same time, it's not overwhelming to the point where you don't feel comfortable. He's very in tune with the actors. "This is your line, this is how we want this to come across." So he's easy to work with, and easy to work for.
MMAInsider: He's a big fight fan, too.
Couture: Yeah. The Nogueira brothers were up there. They put on an exhibition round of fights for the guys and (Stallone) made them soldiers in the movie.
MMAInsider: Bad guys or good guys?
Couture: Well, it's all a matter of perspective in this movie.
MMAInsider: Because you're all bad guys in this move, right?
Couture: Not really, but sort of. They're soldiers, the elite band of this dictator Garza, so depending on what side of things you're standing on, they're either good guys or bad guys. We're mercenaries that are going in to overthrow the dictator, so are we the good guys going in to do that? On their side of the fence, we're the bad guys.
MMAInsider: You've got an unusual character name.
Couture: "Toll Road." If you're gonna get by me, you're going to have to pay.
MMAInsider: Is Stallone teaching you anything about film acting?
Couture: Each and every time I get to be a part of the process, it's a learning experience. To see other guys work, you're going through the whole experience again. It's just like fighting. Each and every time I fight I learn something new, and learn something in the training process. I found a new coach for this role, and some of the other roles I've been reading for lately. I'm learning a bunch of new ways to wrap my brain around the lines, and the characters and carrying that into this experience. In a couple of the scenes, me and Stallone have an exchange with the other actors. He wanted to make it flow, make it quick, to make it how it would be if you were intense and under pressure. He wanted a rhythm to the language -- just puke it out there. Because when you're under stress, you don't think about what you want to say -- it just comes out.
MMAInsider: What do you do to get yourself in that heightened state that's necessary for action movies?
Couture: I think finding something to relate to from my own personal experience. Then I have to get warmed up. I can't just jump into that. I have to think about that, go through the lines with the notes in the margins and trying it a few times on my own to get into it, and then you're there.
MMAInsider: What was it like being around the Nogueira brothers on set?
Couture: They're very nice guys. I think everybody on set was used to that boxing mentality because we were scheduled to fight at the end of the summer. I walked right up to them and started talking; they're all gunked up, their faces painted and everything else. It was cool.
MMAInsider: Did they enjoy the process?
Couture: I wondered. I didn't get a chance to spend any personal time with them. It's long days, man. Twelve-hour days, from five to five. I wondered what they think about that, sitting around a bunch.
MMAInsider: How long do you film for?
Couture: June 24th is the date that I wrap up, which is perfect time, because that's when I need to be getting into camp. I think I'm going to be bringing some of my stand-up guys to the set in Louisiana, spend some time sharpening my tools, getting into the right direction.
Wanderlei Silva Hypes Cyborg vs. Gina Carano
According to Wanderlei Silva, Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos was pretty much born tough.
"It's amazing," he told MMAInsider. "I trained with her in Brazil. She's incredible, like a man. The last training camp I see, she trained with a man. She's dangerous. Sometimes when you train with a woman, you just play. But with her, every time you need to train, because she's tough."
In interviews, Santos has credited the "classic" Chute Boxe line-up of Silva, the Rua brothers, and of course, her husband Evangelista, with turning her into a professional fighter.
Silva says he immediately noticed Santos' work ethic.
"Before she go into the gym when she was younger, she played professional handball, then one hour, she goes for the bicycle, trains for two hours, then does one hour on the bicycle," he continued. "She's crazy."
Santos won her Strikeforce debut emphatically at "Shamrock vs. Diaz," stopping Hitomi Akano with strikes in the second round. But the victory was tainted when she missed the bout's 145lb. weight limit by seven pounds, and could not get to within the six pound overage allowed by the California State Athletic Commission.
The bout was eventually cleared by CSAC, with Santos' final weigh-in registering 150.5 lbs.
Her victory set up an expected showdown between Santos and Gina Carano for an August Strikeforce currently in the works. The fight is anticipated to be the biggest in the short history of women's MMA.
Silva thinks the two should fight heavier.
"It's too much for Cyborg," he said of the 145lb. class. "Because Gina's her next opponent, Gina's more big too. It's possible to make the fight for 155. 155 is better for both. Because you cut a lot of weight, the performance is not the same. It's hard for Gina and hard for her."
Whatever class they fight at, though, he's excited to see it.
"The girls make history, because it's the first big match for women," he said. "The first main event for women. I'm thinking Gina and Cyborg open the market for the girls."
"It's amazing," he told MMAInsider. "I trained with her in Brazil. She's incredible, like a man. The last training camp I see, she trained with a man. She's dangerous. Sometimes when you train with a woman, you just play. But with her, every time you need to train, because she's tough."
In interviews, Santos has credited the "classic" Chute Boxe line-up of Silva, the Rua brothers, and of course, her husband Evangelista, with turning her into a professional fighter.
Silva says he immediately noticed Santos' work ethic.
"Before she go into the gym when she was younger, she played professional handball, then one hour, she goes for the bicycle, trains for two hours, then does one hour on the bicycle," he continued. "She's crazy."
Santos won her Strikeforce debut emphatically at "Shamrock vs. Diaz," stopping Hitomi Akano with strikes in the second round. But the victory was tainted when she missed the bout's 145lb. weight limit by seven pounds, and could not get to within the six pound overage allowed by the California State Athletic Commission.
The bout was eventually cleared by CSAC, with Santos' final weigh-in registering 150.5 lbs.
Her victory set up an expected showdown between Santos and Gina Carano for an August Strikeforce currently in the works. The fight is anticipated to be the biggest in the short history of women's MMA.
Silva thinks the two should fight heavier.
"It's too much for Cyborg," he said of the 145lb. class. "Because Gina's her next opponent, Gina's more big too. It's possible to make the fight for 155. 155 is better for both. Because you cut a lot of weight, the performance is not the same. It's hard for Gina and hard for her."
Whatever class they fight at, though, he's excited to see it.
"The girls make history, because it's the first big match for women," he said. "The first main event for women. I'm thinking Gina and Cyborg open the market for the girls."
Dan Hardy Embraces Yanks, Trains With Roach
UFC welterweight Dan Hardy considers himself an Englishman in LA.
The 26 year-old Nottingham native spends most of his days with his girlfriend in the City of Angels. Only training camps take him from the city.
In addition to his usual work with grappling guru Eddie Bravo, Hardy is the latest MMA fighter to find Freddie Roach's Wild Card gym. It's also around the corner from his LA apartment, which made directions easy.
"There's always things to work on," Hardy said of the experience. "I'm not perfect at any range, so I've always got to keep working. It's just a good opportunity to work with a guy like Freddie. It's interesting to hear his opinions on MMA, how he sees the range is different from MMA and boxing.
He also worked with Michael Moorer, a multi-title boxing champion and one of Roach's early students that now coaches.
"He's a great southpaw," Hardy said of Moorer. "It's interesting getting his viewpoint on southpaws fighting orthodox fighters, because Marcus Davis is a southpaw as well. I've got some good input from the guys, like controlling the range and landing cleaner shots without getting caught. Kind of similar to my last fight."
Last week, he went to Germany to visit with US troops, and heads back to his hometown afterwards to begin preparation for a contentious fight with Marcus Davis at UFC 99.
"It's just a perfect fight for me, and I think he realizes that his time's come with his hold over the UK," said Hardy. "This is going to be the last fight against a British fighter."
The 26 year-old Nottingham native spends most of his days with his girlfriend in the City of Angels. Only training camps take him from the city.
In addition to his usual work with grappling guru Eddie Bravo, Hardy is the latest MMA fighter to find Freddie Roach's Wild Card gym. It's also around the corner from his LA apartment, which made directions easy.
"There's always things to work on," Hardy said of the experience. "I'm not perfect at any range, so I've always got to keep working. It's just a good opportunity to work with a guy like Freddie. It's interesting to hear his opinions on MMA, how he sees the range is different from MMA and boxing.
He also worked with Michael Moorer, a multi-title boxing champion and one of Roach's early students that now coaches.
"He's a great southpaw," Hardy said of Moorer. "It's interesting getting his viewpoint on southpaws fighting orthodox fighters, because Marcus Davis is a southpaw as well. I've got some good input from the guys, like controlling the range and landing cleaner shots without getting caught. Kind of similar to my last fight."
Last week, he went to Germany to visit with US troops, and heads back to his hometown afterwards to begin preparation for a contentious fight with Marcus Davis at UFC 99.
"It's just a perfect fight for me, and I think he realizes that his time's come with his hold over the UK," said Hardy. "This is going to be the last fight against a British fighter."
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Monday, April 27, 2009
ESPN Highlights of Kyle Maynard's Unsanctioned Fight
Congenital amputee Kyle Maynard fought in a controversial unsanctioned fight on Saturday night in Auburn, Alabama. ESPN covered the fight, filing the above story.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Mayhem Miller Lays Out the Bully Beatdown
The next episode of Bully Beatdown airs Sunday night at 9:30 p.m. PT/ET on MTV.
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