All UFC 129 fighters receive medical suspensions, including GSP
Posted by Staff (05/03/2011 @ 8:00 am)
According to HeavyMMA.com, all 24 fighters who competed at UFC 129 last weekend have received medical suspensions, including welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre.
Out of the 24 suspensions given out, UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre and six others earned the lengthiest with 60 day suspensions. The other six include Mark Hominick, who fought featherweight champion Jose Aldo in the evening’s co-main event, Randy Couture, Jason Brilz, Kyle Watson, Charlie Valencia, and Sean Pierson. Hominick and St. Pierre were the only ones out of the seven to avoid being knocked out.
From the evening’s preliminary card, Nate Diaz was given a suspension of 45 days following his loss to Rory MacDonald, while Jake Ellenberger will be out the same amount of time following his knockout victory over Sean Pierson.
UFC 129 took place at the Rogers Centre in Toronto and featured St. Pierre’s welterweight title defense against Jake Shields. In the co-main event of the evening, featherweight title-holder Aldo managed to outpoint Hominick on the judges’ scorecards.
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Posted in: Mixed Martial Arts, UFC
Tags: Ben Henderson, Georges St. Pierre, Jake Shields, Jason Brilz, Jose Aldo, Lyoto Machida, Mark Bocek, Mark Hominick, MMA, MMA News, Randy Couture, UFC, UFC 129, Vladimir Matyushenko
Ten Things Learned from UFC 129 in Toronto
Posted by Staff (05/02/2011 @ 9:19 am)
Spencer Kyte of HeavyMMA.com outlines ten stories that emerged from UFC 129 at Toronto’s Rogers Centre on Saturday night.
LAST NAME EVER. FIRST NAME GREATEST.
Quoting Toronto’s Drake seems fitting in the wake of the UFC’s debut in his backyard, but also because the lyrics ring true for UFC 129; this was the greatest event in UFC history.
Plus, Drake was in the building.
The magnitude of this event will remain the benchmark for the organization for some time. It was the UFC’s first stadium show, and it was a resounding success both inside and outside of the cage.
Each of the first four fights ended with a finish, with Pablo Garza’s opening bout flying triangle choke earning Submission of the Night honors, and John Makdessi replacing Shonie Carter as the man attached to a spectacular spinning back fist knockout inside the Octagon.
When you add the 55,000 exhilarated fans who packed the Rogers Centre with the tremendous layout and outstanding production of the event, it will be hard to top this event. Of course, you can be sure that Dana White and the UFC will try, and after being blown away in Toronto, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them pull it off down the line.
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Posted in: Mixed Martial Arts, UFC
Tags: Georges St. Pierre, Jake Shields, Jose Aldo, Lyoto Machida, Mark Hominick, MMA, MMA Commentary, Randy Couture, UFC, UFC 129
Jon Jones injured, Davis to step in against Evans
Posted by Staff (04/27/2011 @ 8:00 am)
UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones has been forced out of his UFC 133 bout against Rashad Evans, and Phil Davis has stepped in for the August bout writes Nate Lawson of HeavyMMA.com.
Light heavyweight champion Jon Jones will not meet Rashad Evans later this year.
Neil Davidson of the Canadian Press broke the news today that the champion was forced out of the contest and that the fast-rising Phil Davis will step in against Evans at UFC 133 this August.
According to MMAjunkie.com, Jones has been sidelined due to a torn right hand ligament, and the recovery will apparently be a lengthy one. A timetable has not been set, though.
Jones defeated former champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 128 last month to earn the light heavyweight strap. Immediately following the fight, former champion Evans entered the cage, and the pair agreed to fight for the championship later this year.
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Mayhem Miller vs. Aaron Simpson added to UFC 132
Posted by Staff (04/25/2011 @ 8:59 am)
HeavyMMA.com writes that Jason “Mayhem” Miller will face Aaron Simpson at UFC 132 in July.
Returning middleweight Jason “Mayhem” Miller has been under contract to the UFC for less than two days, and he already has a fight scheduled. That’s a far cry from his Strikeforce days, where Miller would go months without getting a single fight booked.
Miller will face tough wrestler Aaron Simpson at UFC 132 in July. HeavyMMA.com confirmed the news with sources close to the promotion on Saturday morning. The Miller/Simpson bout is expected to be a part of the night’s pay per view telecast.
Miller hasn’t fought loss an August victory over Kazushi Sakuraba in DREAM last year, and hasn’t competed in North America in just over one year, ever since his involvement in the famed Nashville brawl with members of the Cesar Gracie camp. Miller inked his new UFC contract late this week.
Simpson earned a unanimous decision over Mario Miranda in March, getting back on track after consecutive losses to Chris Leben and Mark Munoz.
UFC 132 is headlined by a UFC bantamweight title bout between Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber.
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Vitor Beltort vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama set for UFC 133
Posted by Staff (04/22/2011 @ 8:05 am)
HeavyMMA.com writes that Vitor Belfort will return to the Octagon at UFC 133 when he faces Yoshihiro Akiyama.
Vitor Belfort will return to the Octagon for the first time since a stunning knockout loss to Anderson Silva in January when he faces Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 133.
The event is scheduled for Aug. 6 in Philadelphia.
Silva used a front kick to the jaw to finish Belfort in their middleweight title fight in January. It was Belfort’s first fight in the UFC middleweight division after dismantling Rich Franklin in a catchweight bout in his return to the promotion.
Akiyama will look to put an end to a two-fight losing streak. He was scheduled to face Chael Sonnen in March, but Sonnen’s suspension by the UFC put an end to the bout. Nate Marquardt replaced Sonnen, but Akiyama was forced to pull out of that fight after the tragic earthquakes in Japan left him unable to travel.
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MMA Light Heavyweight Rankings
Posted by Staff (04/19/2011 @ 9:14 am)
HeavyMMA.com released their latest rankings. Here are their rankings for the top light heavyweights in the sport.
Jon Jones’ destruction of Shogun Rua at UFC 128 signaled the end of the PRIDE years and heralded the rise of a new fighter who could dominate the division for years to come. Instead of speaking about potential challengers for the title, fans and journalists have been left trying to figure out who in the world could possibly present a stiff challenge for Jones. It’s hard not to get caught up in the hype train, but so long as Jones maintains the maturity he’s displayed thus far, he’ll be fine.
Will he be the first true mainstream superstar to come from the world of MMA? That remains to be seen. For now, he’s content with simply evolving. Oh, and ruling the light heavyweight division with an iron fist.
1. Jon Jones
Jones utterly dominated former champion Shogun Rua at UFC 128 in Newark which lands him atop this poll without any debate. Now comes a fight with Rashad Evans. What? He’s fighting Rashad Evans? It’s true. The former teammates had a falling out and will now square off for the light heavyweight strap sometime this fall.
2. Rashad Evans
Evans, a long time Greg Jackson student, has left the Albuquerque, NM camp and set up shop in Florida to prepare for newly crowned champ Jon Jones. Thought to be heading down to middleweight should Jones win the belt, Evans had a change of heart when “Bones” announced he’d fight his then teammate on national television.
Check out the full rankings.
MMA judging reform needs to happen now
Posted by Staff (04/18/2011 @ 9:30 am)
HeavyMMA.com’s Spencer Kyte feels like he’s beating a dead horse, but he writes that MMA judging has serious flaws and now is the time to correct them.
Hearing Mike Williams announce the judges had come to a unanimous decision in the main event of Bellator 41 had me hopeful. Then Joe Warren was declared the winner and I knew the topic of one of the pieces I would spend my Sunday writing.
We’ve been down this road many times, but just because we’ve covered how atrocious judging in mixed martial arts can be at times doesn’t mean we shouldn’t continue to talk about it. This epidemic is not something that should be glossed over or left alone, looked at as a “well what are you going to do?” situation that is impossible to resolve.
Each bad decision should be met with the same amount of criticism and scrutiny, whether it comes from the UFC Octagon, the staggering heat of Bellator’s cage in Yuma, Arizona or some bush league show in Costa Rica where Ferrid Kheder gets gifted a win over Hermes Franca. The inexcusable mistakes of incompetent officials must be brought to light if we ever want to see them come to an end.
None of the three officials scoring the bout between Warren and Marcos Galvao should be allowed to determine the outcome of a fight again, at least not without undergoing some kind of training and testing course first. The fact that none of the three gave Galvao the victory when just about everyone else in attendance and watching at home is alarming enough, but that one of the three gave Warren all three rounds is appalling.
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Shogun Rua vs. Forrest Griffin 2 official for UFC Rio
Posted by Staff (04/17/2011 @ 9:56 am)
A light heavyweight rematch between Mauricio Rua and Forrest Griffin is set for Brazil this August at UFC 134 according to HeavyMMA.com.
A light heavyweight tilt rematch between Forrest Griffin and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua is set for “UFC Rio.”
UFC president Dana White confirmed the news to MMAFighting.com earlier today.
The two first met back at UFC 76, the event where Rua made his debut with the promotion. The former PRIDE superstar failed to capitalize, however, as he was submitted by Griffin in what was one of the more improbable victories in the history of the UFC.
Since then, Griffin has earned and lost the 205 lb. title, while Rua has done the same. The Brazilian is coming off a technical knockout loss to Jon Jones which lost him the title, while Griffin is still on the road back with consecutive wins over Tito Ortiz and Rich Franklin.
“UFC Rio,” also known as UFC 134, is set for Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on August 27 and features a middleweight title fight between champion Anderson Silva and top contender Yushin Okami.
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UFC Rio: Silva, Okami Booked For Main Event Title Bout
Posted by Staff (04/14/2011 @ 9:03 am)
Yushin Okami, the last man to beat Anderson Silva, will finally get his shot at the title when he faces Silva again at UFC Rio according to HeavyMMA.com.
Yushin Okami was the last man to beat Anderson Silva. At “UFC Rio,” he’ll finally get his long-awaited crack at the middleweight title.
UFC President Dana White confirmed the bout with USA Today on Wednesday afternoon. The news puts an end to the idea that welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre will move up to challenge for Silva’s title.
Okami defeated Nate Marquardt in November to earn his shot at the middleweight title. He defeated Silva via disqualification back in 2006 when Silva used an illegal upkick at a Rumble on the Rock show. Silva is undefeated since that lone loss, while Okami has gone 12-3 in the same span.
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UFC 129: St. Pierre vs. Shields Primetime starts on Wednesday
Posted by Staff (04/12/2011 @ 8:04 am)
Spike TV officially announced the debut of “UFC Primetime: St. Pierre vs. Shields,” which begins this Wednesday on the cable network according to HeavyMMA.com.
Spike TV has announced that “UFC Primetime: St. Pierre vs. Shields” will debut this Wednesday night at midnight ET/PT.
The show – which will follow St. Pierre and Shields as they prepare for their UFC 129 bout in Toronto on April 30 – began production last weekend in San Diego. Primetime crews followed Shields around the city as he prepared to corner teammate Gilbert Melendez while attempting to find time to do his own training as well.
The full press release for the show can be found below:
New York, NY, April 11, 2011 – In anticipation of their world welterweight title clash at UFC® 129: ST-PIERRE vs. SHIELDS, UFC® champion Georges St-Pierre and challenger Jake Shields will be featured on UFC Primetime®, a weekly, three part series premiering Wednesday, April 13 at Midnight ET/PT on Spike TV.
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