Leonard Garcia Gets Brown Belt in Gaidojitsu

WEC featherweight contender Leonard Garcia got a nice pre-Christmas present when he last arrived at Jackson's MMA in Albuquerque, New Mexico: a fresh brown belt.

To clarify, Garcia says it's a brown belt in jiu-jitsu. He had been a purple belt for one and a half years, and had all the stripes to prove it.

Clay Pittman, a third degree black belt under Carlos Machado, and Greg Jackson, founder of Jackson's MMA, awarded the advancement to Garcia.

"I had this big certificate waiting for me when I got there," Garcia said. "That was a real honor."

Garcia will definitely put his belt to the test should he face new WEC featherweight champ Mike Brown in 2009.

B.J. Penn Kicks Off Video Blog

As things start to heat up in anticipation of UFC lightweight champion B.J. Penn's mega-fight showdown at UFC 94 for Georges St. Pierre's welterweight strap, Penn has started up a video blog.

Check out the first episode - dated December 3rd...

Find more videos like this on BJPENN.COM

"The Ultimate Fighter saved my career," says Tim Credeur

Tim Credeur almost stopped fighting before being tapped to be on The Ultimate Fighter.

"I don't know if I was going to quit fighting completely, but I hit 30 and I had been doing this a long time," he told MMAWeekly Radio recently.

"I didn't really see any foreseeable future in terms of me having to support my family. I was kind of in a situation where I was finishing school and it was time for me to get on it about the fight thing or do something else. I have a wife I love very much. Seeing someone you love going through all those trials and tribulations for you trying to follow your dream is kind of tough. I couldn't see myself making the sacrifices and her having to make it too anymore unless there was going to be some light at the end of the tunnel."

The Louisiana native took a few fights before submitting his application to The Ultimate Fighter for consideration. "I took a fight at the end of September with a guy who had 60 or 70 fights and I took a fight at the end of October on one of Rich Clementi's cards and I beat a pretty tough guy from EliteXC."

Luckily for the fans, Credeur was accepted to The Ultimate Fighter and made it to the semi-finals of season 7, losing to Jesse Taylor by decision. When Taylor was kicked off of the show, he came back and lost a unanimous decision to C.B. Dollaway. Credeur recently defeated Cale Yarbrough at UFC Fight Night 14.

"I sent my application in to The Ultimate Fighter and that was it. If I wasn't going to get in The Ultimate Fighter, I would have called it quits," he said. "Just because it was getting to be time where I could see it being the twilight of my career, and still fighting in small shows just wasn't an option for me anymore. I think The Ultimate Fighter saved my career. We'll see how it goes from here."

Credeur is currently preparing for a fight against Nate Loughran on Wednesday night at the UFC's Fight for the Troops on Spike TV.

FOX News Fight Game on Interview with UFC's Lorenzo Fertitta

Affliction Fedor vs. Arlovski "Day of Reckoning" Promo Video

"A Fight For Charity" Offers Up Free MMA on Dec. 19 in Atlanta

On Friday, Dec. 19 at Wild Bill's Fight Night in Atlanta, GA, the promoters will stage a completely FREE fight night to benefit charity in Atlanta. The event has been titled "A Fight For Charity."

All fight fans will receive free admission to the fights by simply donating a new toy. Drop off spots will be made available within days. They will include all MMA and kickboxing gyms in Atlanta as well as mainstream gyms and other locations.

"This has never been done before in Georgia and probably never before in the country," said David Oblas of Undisputed Productions. Oblas is co-promoting the charity fight night along with Steve Mudder and Amy Lynn of Full Throttle Entertainment.

"This is something that we've been planning for a long time and something that is very important to all of us. We anticipate raising more than 3,000 toys for charity. There are so many people that have already jumped on board to offer their assistance to this charity fight night on Friday, Dec 19 at Wild Bill's. This is going to be an absolutely remarkable event in Atlanta and will put the sport of MMA in the most positive light possible."

With tickets being free to the public, the promoters are encouraging companies to use this as a terrific opportunity for a company outing or a Holiday Party.

Oblas added, "This is a great idea for a company Holiday Party that will cost you absolutely nothing! Have your company donate 100 new toys and we'll give you 100 free fight tickets. It's that easy! And your donated toys will be going to charity! I can't think of a better scenario than that. In a time of economic hardship this is the perfect Holiday Party for all companies!"

For companies interested in sponsoring the charity fight night on Friday, Dec 19 at Wild Bill's or donating bulk toys, please call the Fight Hotline at 404-626-2126 or reply to this email.

"This charity fight night will have 4,000 plus fans packed inside Wild Bill's on Friday, Dec 19. This charity fight night will be one of the largest single day charity events in Atlanta, I guarantee you that. Many more details will be released later, but we haven't even scratched the surface with this event," said Oblas. "This is a perfect opportunity for companies to sponsor a high profile event during the Holiday season."

For more information visit www.FullThrottleMMA.com or www.UndisputedProductions.com.

Torres Says Curran Should Get a Shot... but Bowles Should Be First

"Jeff Curran, he's a good fighter. He's been fighting longer than me. He's been in this sport for a long time. Me and him have a lot of similar qualities in our fighting style. I think a fight with him is going to be inevitable," says current WEC bantamweight champ Miguel Torres.

"We were supposed to fight in my hometown a couple of times, and for whatever reason, it never worked out. I think one time I tore my ACL. Then he went up in weight. And we never got to match up again. Now he's come back to 135. I'd be glad to fight him someday."

Just not right now says Torres, who feels that Brian Bowles, with his recent win over Will Ribeiro, has earned it more than Curran.

"I think Brian Bowles went out in the 135s and has proven himself more than anybody. Jeff Curran called me out, talking some smack. He's just trying to get a fight without having to work for it. I see a lot of what Brian does... he wants his time; I think it's his time to get a shot."

To be sure though, Torres is not in any way writing off a future bout with Curran. In fact, it's one he feels has to happen, and he's got the local nailed down, as well.

"It's going to have to happen in Chicago... It's going to have to happen for sure. And I think Chicago would be the prefect venue. He has a huge following. He has a huge gym. I have a huge following in my hometown. It would sell out for sure, easily."

But for now, the No. 1 bantamweight fighter in the world feels it's Bowles' turn for a crack at his title.

FOX News Fight Game Talks Affliction with Tom Atencio

Krzysztof Soszynski Says Boredom Gave Way To The Pranks On TUF 8

The most recent season of the "Ultimate Fighter" saw some of the most elaborate pranks ever played on the show and most of them were courtesy of Team Quest fighter, Krzysztof Soszynski, and his bag of tricks.

The fighter recently told MMAWeekly about the secret where he came up with all the ideas for the pranks on the show.

"I was just bored," Soszynski said. "It was so boring in that house, it was all about boredom. It was just my way to release the stress and the boredom. Other guys got into the boos, other guys got into the pee drinking, none of that stuff is what I like to do. So it was just a way to release some boredom."

During the one hour show each week, fans see the random house activity along with training footage and of course the fight, but what people don't regularly see is all the other time that fighters are left with when the training is done for the day.

"20 hours of downtime for six straight weeks, it was just so boring in there that it was just one of my ways of releasing that," he said about the pranks. "They just came to me. Some of them were fun, some of them were dumb, some of them were stupid, some of them were childish, but hey I got through it, I got through the 6 weeks and I was happy with it."

Soszynski said one prank that didn't end up getting played was actually trapping a fighter in their room, but he says the Spike producers wouldn't allow them to go that far as the door being locked would have been seen as a fire hazard so they had to put a nix on that idea.

What's Up With the Miguel Torres Tumbling Routine?

As mixed martial arts has developed into a combat style in and of itself, we typically see fewer obscure techniques in fights that are usually associated with a specific traditional martial arts discipline. There are a few exceptions though.

One such recent exception was Miguel Torres' forward roll combined with an axe kick. He used the technique, which he dubs the "suicide kick," in his latest title defense, against Manny Tapia at WEC 37 on Wednesday night.

"The suicide kick? I have a lot of tricks in my bag. My coach hates it when I do stuff like that. It's real high risk," Torres commented about the technique after the fight.

"I think it was after a left that I caught him with, he was a little bit stunned when I went for it. I think I barely missed him. Right after the kick, he kind of smiled at me and was like, 'that was a nice kick.'"

But it's not even that Torres necessarily intended to land the kick. As he explained, "I do that kick sometimes to bait the guy to come into my guard, so I can do the up-kick or a leg lock or something. He was pretty savvy about getting away."

So there you have it... the Miguel Torres suicide kick.

Cung Le Featured on Saturday's Strikeforce on NBC

PRESS RELEASE:

Strikeforce World Middleweight (185 lb. limit) Champion, Cung Le, will seize the spotlight during an all-new "Strikeforce on NBC" episode on Saturday night.

The special, 30-minute program, devoted entirely to the one-of-a-kind knockout artist, will showcase Le's stoppages of Mike Altman and "Mr. Unbreakable" Brian Warren and will revisit his crushing knockouts of "The Ultimate Fighter" season three veteran, Sam "The Squeeze" Morgan, and Tony "The Freak" Fryklund.

Also included in the show is a feature segment that touches on the personal life of Le, who fled a war-torn Vietnam, just days before the fall of Saigon, as a baby in his mother's arms in 1975.

Le's victories over Altman and Warren were ranked number one and two, respectively, according to the results of an online poll that gave fans the opportunity to vote for their all-time favorite Strikeforce knockout on the promotion's official website, www.strikeforce.com, last week.

A former junior college and high school wrestling star, Le has pioneered the Chinese stand-up fighting art of San Shou, which aided his run to a perfect 16-0 record in the sport of professional kickboxing and an International Kickboxing Federation (IKF) world championship. His kickboxing conquests, which included three victories in K-1 North America "Superfights," have aired repeatedly on ESPN and ESPN2.

Two years after making his highly-anticipated mixed martial arts (MMA) debut, Le notched what is undoubtedly the greatest win of his career - a third round TKO of former UFC middleweight champion and MMA legend, Frank Shamrock on March 29th of this year. The live SHOWTIME televised victory earned Le the Strikeforce middleweight crown.

Le recently returned home from a two month stay in Berlin, where he completed his third acting stint for the silver screen, a supporting role in the science fiction thriller, "Pandorum," which co-stars award-winning actors Dennis Quaid and Ben Foster (3:10 to Yuma, Alpha Dog). The film is slated for release next fall.

"Strikeforce on NBC," the first 52-week mixed martial arts series in network television history, airs every Saturday, immediately following NBC's hit poker tournament series, "Poker After Dark" (check local listings). MMA legend Ken Shamrock and award-winning ESPN announcer, Lon McEachern, co-host each program and provide expert, play-by-play commentary.

Ken Shamrock On Hand for Dec. 13 Charity Event

PRESS RELEASE:

Members of the Lions Den Elite Fight Team Join Other High Profile Athletes for Extreme Sports Charity Event

Convicted Artist is proud to announce that several Lion's Den Elite fighters, including Ken Shamrock himself, will be participating in the "Battle of Orange County" fundraising event taking place on December 13th at the No Limits Mixed Martial Arts & Fitness Center in Irvine, California. This "First of its Kind" Extreme Sports & Artists Charity Event will benefit the Life Rolls on Foundation, an organization that supports and benefits young people with spinal cord injuries. The Life Rolls on Foundation's mission is to ensure that spinal cord injury patients are able to live an active life.

According to Steven Arredondo of ConvictedArtist.com, "This is definitely going to be the fundraising event of the year! High profile athletes involved in Boxing, MMA, Surfing, Skating, and Motocross are coming together for this very worthy cause. All proceeds from this event will go to the Life Rolls on Foundation. We received a tremendous response from elite athletes across the U.S willing to participate. Some athletes will be on hand to do meet and greet with the fans, while others, such as the Lion's Den fighters, will be competing in "The Battle of Orange County" MMA fight event, where some of the top MMA schools in the nation will compete in submission wrestling super fights."

The main event in The Battle for Orange County features Lion's Den Elite Team fighter and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Denis Gomes who will go head to head with five-time world Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Champion Givanildo "The Arm Collector" Santana of No Limits MMA. The co-main event features Lion's Den Elite fighter and UFC Veteran Mike Van Arsdale who will battle the currently undefeated KOTC veteran Chad Davis.

MMA Legend and UFC Hall of Famer Ken Shamrock will be on hand for meet and greets along with former WBC Intercontinental heavyweight title holder Ross Puritty, former two-time Heavyweight Champion and cast member of "Rocky V" Tommy Morrison, LRO model Briana Walker, free-style motocross rider Ronnie Faisst, sports commentator and ring announcer "Big Dog" Benny Henderson Jr., Arizona Cardinals player and Lion's Den Scottsdale partner Scott Peters and many other high profile athletes and celebrities. All of these athletes have joined together to help raise money for young people affected by spinal cord injuries.

There will be live music and a variety of other great entertainment acts for attendees to enjoy throughout the day leading up to the main "Battle of Orange County" fight event, including skateboard competitions featuring well known, top skateboarders, and a very impressive silent auction.

"Battle for Orange County" is scheduled to start at 4:00pm at the No Limits Mixed Martial Arts & Fitness Center, located at 1962 Barranca Parkway in Irvine, California. General admission is only $45.00, which includes food, entertainment, photos and downloadable video of event. All proceeds will go to the Life Rolls on Foundation. Tickets for this event can be purchased at ConvictedArtist.com or by calling 1-866-926-8499.

For those that cannot be in attendance, the fights and after party will be streamed live online at ConvictedArtist.com, NoLimitsMMA.com and Boxinginginsider.com. Donations can also be made on line or by phone during the event. For additional information and media requests, please contact Steven Arredondo at 714 235-7522 or via e-mail at steven_e_arredondo@yahoo.com

Frank Trigg Looking for a Nanny...

Frank Trigg's baby boy was born on Sept. 2 at 8:12 p.m. His name is Stone James Bennett Trigg, named partially after MMAWeekly.com founder Ryan Bennett. Bennett was a close friend of Trigg's and helped the fighter break into broadcasting.

Trigg's wife, Nici, has gone back to work and with their conflicting work schedules, the Trigg family is looking to hire a nanny. "We're in the process of hiring a nanny full-time. That's one of the things that we have to do next," Trigg told MMAInsider Blog. "Nic and I have such opposite schedules. We have a lot of stuff to do all the time, so you have to have somebody here to kind of help out with the kid."

Before you apply for the position, Trigg isn't just taking anyone. Your credentials have to include being bi-lingual, a degree in child psychology and versed in child CPR.

" You have to be able to speak two languages. You have to be educated," said Trigg. "And you have to take child psychology and child CPR classes to qualify."

Several WEC 37 Fighters Undergo Drug Testing

As is typical for most athletic commissions, the Nevada State Athletic Commission on Wednesday night required WEC 37 main event fighters Miguel Torres and Manny Tapia to submit to the state's drug testing process.

In addition to the main event WEC bantamweight title bout, Nevada also tested several other fighters at random. At WEC 37, these fighters included Shane Roller, Cub Swanson, Bart Palaszewski, Josh Hendricks, Joseph Benavidez, Brian Bowles, and Wagnney Fabiano.

Drug test results are sent to an independent facility for processing and are not immediately available. Results should be known within a matter of days.

M-1 Global to Kick Off 2009 at The Playboy Mansion

According to a report on the M-1 Global web site, the second season of the promotion's M-1 Challenge will begin on Feb. 21, 2009 at The Playboy Mansion in Beverly Hills, Calif. M-1 Global president Vadim Finkelstein recently inked a contract with the world renowned venue.

Season two will also increase from 10 to 16 teams that will be divvied up into four divisions.

The teams making up season two are: the Imperial Team and the Legion Team from Russia, the World Star Team, the U.S., Spain, Japan, France, Korea, Finland, the Netherlands, Brazil, the U.K., Canada, China, Turkey, and Australia.

Season two will also feature three pairs of teams squaring off at each event. As of the time of publication, the Feb. 21 event at The Playboy Mansion is set to pit the Russian Imperial Team vs. Team Spain, Team Japan vs. Team U.K., and Team U.S.A. vs. Team Brazil.

The event will be broadcast live on HDNet in the United States.

M-1 Global follows in the footsteps of Strikeforce, the first mixed martial arts promotion to hold and event at The Playboy Mansion.

Kimbo Slice to Guest as HDNet Airs K-1 World Grand Prix Live

The K-1 World Grand Prix 2008 Final taking place at the Yokohama Arena in Tokyo Japan will be broadcast live on HDNet to fans in North America.

Joining the broadcast team of Michael "The Voice" Schiavello, four-time K-1 World Grand Prix Champion Ernesto Hoost, and FEG USA's Mike Kogan, will be Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson. Kimbo was invited by FEG and HDNet to be a guest commentator for K-1's US debut.

The K-1 World Grand Prix 2008 Final, an 8-man kickboxing tournament for the K-1 Grand Prix crown, features the world's best heavyweight strikers including Moroccan/Dutch Bad Boy Badr Hari; legendary triple K-1 World Champion Peter Aerts; French monster Jerome LeBanner; Russian wonder Ruslan Karaev; and two-time former champion Remy Bonjasky.

The broadcast also includes super fights featuring New Zealand's "Sugar" Ray Sefo vs. seven-foot-plus giant Hong Mann Choi; and Australia's Paul Slowinski vs. Dutch demon Melvin Maenhoff.

For complete card and bout order visit: http://www.k-1.co.jp/k-1gp/btop.htm

HDNet's World Grand Prix coverage kicks off Dec. 6 at 12:00 a.m. PT with an encore presentation later that evening at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m.

ESPN's MMA Live Episode 30: WEC 37 and UFC Fight for the Troops

ESPN's MMA Live takes a look at Wednesday's WEC 37 and previews next Wednesday's UFC Fight for the Troops.

Proud Papa Alberto Crane Heading Back to the Cage

Alberto Crane had a lot to be thankful for this year. Just two days prior to the Thanksgiving holiday, Crane's wife gave birth to twin daughters. The proud papa now has three little ones. In addition to recently added twins Sona and Serineh, the Crane household already included 18-month-old son Sevan.

Not only has Crane been busy... umm... at home. He's also been busy working on his career, as well.

"(I'm) fighting Saturday, Dec. 6, at a King of the Cage in Albuquerque at Isleta Casino against a last minute replacement," Crane told MMAInsider.

The win would extend Crane's latest winning streak to three. He started his career 8-0 before dropping back-to-back bouts in the UFC and another at UWC following his exit from the Octagon. A win on Saturday night would be good momentum for the next step in his professional career.

"I'm also opening up a school in L.A. this next month," said Crane. "It was going to be Dec. 15, but looks more like Jan. 5."

Although he's lately been out of the spotlight that shines on the Octagon, Crane has been a busy man, looking to work his way back to the top.

Ultimate Fighter 8 Finalists Set

Zuffa took over anything and everything MMA on television on Wednesday with the WEC on Versus and The Ultimate Fighter and UFC Unleashed on Spike TV.

The final two episodes of The Ultimate Fighter aired back-to-back on Wednesday night to determine the finalists that will clash on Dec. 13 in Las Vegas.

In the light heavyweight division, Ryan Bader scored the win over Elliot Marshal to face Vinicius Magalhaes in the final round at the Palms. Magalhaes defeated Krzysztof Soszynski to make his way to the showdown with Bader.

Phillipe Nover and Efrain Escudero will clash in the 155-pound division final. Nover took care of George Roop to earn his berth, while Escudero choked out this season's bad boy, Junie Browning.

Ultimate Fighter 8 Light Heavyweight Final:
-Ryan Bader vs. Vinicius Magalhaes

Ultimate Fighter 8 Lightweight Final:
-Phillipe Nover vs. Efrain Escudero

UFC and WEC Slam Wednesday Night TV with MMA

It's a Zuffa night of MMA on television on Wednesday night. The UFC finishes up the eighth season of The Ultimate Fighter on Spike TV with the final two episodes of the season beginning at 10 p.m. ET/PT.

WEC 37 takes over Versus at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT. The main event features a showdown between bantamweight champion and No. 1 ranked Miguel Torres and No. 7 ranked Manny Tapia.

MMAWeekly.com will have live results of both the WEC 37 preliminary bouts and the main card bouts. The first preliminary fight is scheduled to being at about 5:45 p.m. ET / 2:45 p.m. PT.