Category: UFC (Page 34 of 45)

Dana White invited to speak at Oxford

NEW YORK - MARCH 24: Dana White, president of the UFC, speaks at a press conference for UFC 111 at Radio City Music Hall on March 24, 2010 in New York City. (Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images)

From HeavyMMA.com:

UFC president Dana White has been officially invited by the Oxford University debate club to speak in to its members on October 13.

Officials from the promotion made the news available earlier today.
White joins a rather exclusive list of speakers invited to the club, including several past presidents and other famous individuals such as Malcom X and Albert Einstein.

“Anyone who knows anything about me knows I always speak my mind and am very passionate about what I do, and the Oxford Union was founded on exactly those principles,” White stated in an official press release. “I’m looking forward to meeting the students, and I know they have a reputation for asking tough questions and expecting straight answers from their guests. That’s exactly what they’ll get from me.”

White’s visit to Oxford University comes just a few days prior to October 16’s UFC 120, which is set for the O2 Arena in London, England featuring a middleweight contest between Michael Bisping and Yoshihiro Akiyama, along with a welterweight tilt between Carlos Condit and British superstar Dan Hardy.

Check out more articles from HeavyMMA.com.

Breaking down BJ Penn’s legacy

PHILADELPHIA - AUGUST 08:  (L-R) Lightweight champion BJ Penn battles Kenny Florian during their lightweight championship title bout at UFC 101: Declaration at the Wachovia Center on August 8, 2009 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images)

E. Spencer Kyte of HeavyMMA.com discusses BJ Penn’s legacy following UFC 118.

Heading into his second meeting with Frankie Edgar, fans and critics anticipated a more focused, more aggressive B.J. Penn to step into the cage. They believed their first fight was perfect storm of Edgar fighting a strategic battle on a night that Penn looked off, and that the man widely considered the greatest lightweight of all-time would show the skills that earned him that distinction in the first place.

Nothing changed.

Penn looked very much like the fighter who stood across from Edgar in Abu Dhabi; glossed over and searching for answers, Penn was once again beaten to the punch, taken down and dominated en route to his second consecutive lose to the new ruler of the lightweight division.

Read the full article here.

10 Things Learned at UFC 118

E. Spencer Kyte of HeavyMMA.com compiled a list of 10 things he learned from UFC 118.

The Shifting Legacy of B.J. Penn

Before the fights Saturday night, I wrote a piece at my blog for the Vancouver-based newspaper I work for asking if we’ve all been buying into the B.J. Penn mystique for far too long. Watching “The Prodigy” look decidedly non-prodigious, it looks like maybe we have.

Make no mistake about it: Penn is a supremely gifted talent who could be one of the greatest fighters of all-time, but his legacy might be moving closer to “imagine what could have been” territory.

Some fighters work every day to prove why they are considered the best in the world (see St-Pierre, Georges), while others are willing to accept the accolades and get by on their natural gifts. That is where Penn rests right now, and he’ll stay there for eternity if he doesn’t make some changes.

Read the full article here.

UFC 118 Picks & Predictions

PHILADELPHIA - AUGUST 08:   Lightweight champion BJ Penn (R) battles Kenny Florian during their lightweight championship title bout at UFC 101: Declaration at the Wachovia Center on August 8, 2009 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images)

UFC 118: Edgar vs. Penn 2 takes place tonight from the TD Garden in Boston and the card is stacked with intriguing fights from the main event UFC Lightweight title bout to the MMA vs. Boxing match featuring James “Lights Out” Toney and UFC Hall of Famer Randy “The Natural” Couture. Here are my picks for tonight’s event.

UFC Lightweight Championship Bout: Frankie Edgar (12-1) vs. B.J. Penn (15-6-1) – Edgar won a close decision in the first match where Penn was heavily favored. This time around, we should expect to see the Penn we thought we would see the first time around. While Edgar has a good skill set to beat Penn, as he is quick with sharp strikes and good wrestling, he doesn’t have the natural talent that Penn has. Look for Penn to work his jab and put together combinations on Edgar, slowly breaking him apart before choking him out in round four.

UFC Heavyweight Bout: Randy Couture (18-10) vs. James Toney (0-0) – This fight has gotten more hype than any other on the card as it marks the first time a legitimate boxing champion is stepping into the octagon. While Toney has one-punch knockout power, Couture is too smart to be beaten that easily. Couture will push Toney up against the cage early and work his dirty boxing before eventually scoring a takedown and finishing with a submission. Toney is too big and slow to be able to keep Couture from getting him to the ground.

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UFC 118 Preview: Frankie Edgar vs. BJ Penn

PHILADELPHIA - AUGUST 08:  (L-R) Lightweight champion BJ Penn battles Kenny Florian during their lightweight championship title bout at UFC 101: Declaration at the Wachovia Center on August 8, 2009 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images)

E. Spencer Kyte previews Saturday’s UFC 118, inlculding the big bout between Frankie Edgar vs. BJ Penn.

Frankie Edgar (12-1-0) vs. BJ Penn (15-6-1)

This might be the fight I’ve been most excited about seeing all summer. No disrespect to the UFC 116 or 117 mains, but this one was so unexpected the first time around that I really want to see if (a) Frankie can do it again and (b) BJ comes with a different level of ferocity than we saw in Abu Dhabi.

Edgar rightfully earned the title in my books the first time around; his executed perfectly, darting in and out, scoring points, and avoiding damage, and he most certainly could do it again. He also scored a takedown, and could turn to his wrestling a little more this time.

That night in Abu Dhabi, Penn looked lethargic to me. I don’t know if anything was wrong – illness, injury, bad cut, whatever – but he didn’t look like the guy who had dismantled Diego Sanchez just four months earlier. If that same guy shows up, he’s losing two-in-a-row for the first time in four years.

I expect a better BJ to show up in Boston, but Edgar will be better too; now that he has the belt around his waist, there is no way he wants to give it up. These are two of the best lightweights in the world and it should be another exciting contest.

Read the full preview here.

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