Thursday, August 30, 2012

Introducing... Mikkel Parlo

Danish standout Mikkel Parlo (7-0) is featured in this week's 'Introducing...' article. Tomorrow night, the 22-year old will face Cage Warriors...

Source: http://forums.ufc.production.sparkart.net/showthread.php?t=125334&goto=newpost

Jermaine Andrè  Yoji Anjo  Ao Hailin  Shinya Aoki  Andrei Arlovski 

UFC 151 off after cancellation of headlining title-fight between Jon Jones-Dan Henderson

A day ago the MMA community was consumed with the upcoming bout between UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jones and Dan Henderson. The scrap, set for September 1 at UFC 151, was one of the most anticipated match-ups of the year. Unfortunately, it was also apparently a proverbial stopper inside a sink.

Earlier this afternoon it was revealed Henderson had been forced out of the meeting due to a knee injury. The UFC then offered Chael Sonnen as a replacement, though Jones turned the fight down. As a result, the entire card has been cancelled.

Greg Jackson Reacts to Star Student’s Situation

Jones? decision has also set of a firestorm of opinion from fighters, fans, and even UFC President Dana White with camps split between blaming Jones for refusing to face Sonnen and faulting the UFC for putting together a relatively weak overall show.

Fortunately, Jones will not be out of action for long as he has agreed to take on Lyoto Machida on September 22 at UFC 152 (possibly numbered as UFC 151 given the day?s events). The show also features a title-fight between flyweights Joseph Benavidez-Demetrious Johnson as well as Michael Bisping-Brian Stann in a middleweight meeting.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

Source: http://www.fighters.com/08/23/ufc-151-off-after-cancellation-of-headlining-title-fight-between-jon-jones-dan-henderson

Tadhg Steamfist Dixon Joe Doerksen  Chris Dolman Edson Drago  Tomasz Drwal

Lyoto Machida, Shogun, Joe Lauzon: The UFC on FOX 4 Postscript

Now that the dust has settled on UFC on FOX 4, it's time for measured, analytical observations derived from the data gleaned from watching a bunch of high-level fighters try to take each other's heads off.�Wait, did I say "measured, analytical observations"?�Ha.� I've been told my post-fight stuff is best described as "jibba-jabba", so maybe you should be the judge.

  • When it came down to trying to "impress" their way into a shot at the UFC light-heavyweight belt, former champ Lyoto Machida sure did it with his slick KO of TUF winner Ryan Bader. You know who did the exact opposite of "impress"?�Mauricio "Shogun" Rua.�Sure, Brandon Vera fought hard and fought better than we've seen him do in ages, but Shogun looked nothing like the guy that wrecked Forrest Griffin and Machida in their rematch. If anything, Shogun looked? old.� All those wars have taken their toll.
  • [Kevin Iole: Machida stands out, earns title shot at UFC on Fox 4]

  • Where does Bader go from here?�A definitive loss to Tito Ortiz and now to Machida has put him firmly in the realm of "I Shall Never Be Champ". Should Bader consign himself to be the official gatekeeper of the 205-pound weight class? He's tough, skilled and dangerous, he's just not there yet in terms of challenger for the belt, and�it's possible he'll never get there.
  • Two judges had it at one round apiece for Joe Lauzon and Jamie Varner going into the third round of their fight, while one judge had Rounds One and Two for Varner.� What that means is, if Lauzon had never gotten that submission, but kept up the intensity, he would've likely taken the split decision.� What THAT means is that even on short notice, Varner was able to deliver the goods against a pretty damn decent opponent.� There will always be a place for Lauzon in the Octagon, as evidenced by the obscene amount of Fight of the Night dough he's gotten over the years; however, there's a spot there for Varner, too.� Whatever corner he's turned in his career seems to have made him someone worth paying attention to.
  • [Related: Heavyweight champ Junior dos Santos calls out noisy rival]

  • I said before that Mike Swick scoffed at the concept of "ring rust" with his performance against Damarques Johnson, and I still stand by that statement. In fact, I'd hazard to guess that Swick's next venture into the cage will be even more impressive, as he will be even further re-acclimated to competition. In other words, yo, Swick's next opponent ? watch out!
  • Cole Miller is now 0-2 as a featherweight, but I thought he gave Nam Phan a heck of a fight.�He just fought someone who was probably slightly better than him on the ground (jiu-jitsu black belt vs. brown belt), and who was definitely more seasoned with their hands. Miller should give the 145-pound weight class another shot. That insane height and reach advantage has got to pay off eventually.
  • Whatever was holding Josh Grispi back is still there, preventing him from realizing the potential we'd seen when he was rocketing up the ranks.�With the loss to Rani Yahya ? in a bout that hardly seemed competitive ? Grispi should be sent back to the minor leagues to iron out what's wrong. He's got all the talent in the world, he's just not pulling the trigger.
  • Oli Thompson looked perfect for the next Bellator heavyweight tournament.� I hope they can find him a slot in it.

Other popular content on Yahoo! Sports:
? Jeff Passan: The 10 best contracts in baseball
? Andy Reid's son Garrett found dead at Eagles training camp
? Adrian Wojnarowski: Kobe Bryant open to ending career in Europe

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/lyoto-machida-shogun-joe-lauzon-ufc-fox-4-142138047--mma.html

Ao Hailin  Shinya Aoki  Andrei Arlovski  Ricardo Arona  Noboru Asahi

Cat Zingano signs with Strikeforce, meets Amanda Nunes in Sacramento

Strikeforce has added another up-and-coming talent to its roster.

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker on Wednesday announced the signing of Cat Zingano, who will make her debut next month against Amanda Nunes at "Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Healy."

"Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Healy" takes place Sept. 29 at Power Balance Pavilion in Sacramento, Calif., and features a lightweight title fight between champion Gilbert Melendez and Pat Healy.


Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/mmajunkie/~3/xOehGZYQKwU/cat-zingano-signs-with-strikeforce-meets-amanda-nunes-in-sacramento.mma

Akihiro Gono Gabriel Gonzaga Lyman Good Gary Goodridge Gerard Gordeau

Tim Sylvia Plans To Send Andrei Arlovski Into Retirement With His Fists

A battle of former UFC heavyweight champions will take place at ONE FC 5: Pride of a Nation Friday morning, as Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski square off in the Philippines. The card, which can be purchased for streaming at the ONE FC website, will feature the fourth meeting between Sylvia and Arlovski. Sylvia (31-7) [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/mmaconvert/~3/N8gZWX0C6Ig/

Gabriel Gonzaga Lyman Good Gary Goodridge Gerard Gordeau Jonathan Goulet

Initial autopsy report inconclusive in South Carolina fighter?s death

An initial autopsy performed on Tyrone "Teestea" Mims, an amateur fighter who died on Saturday night after competing at a regional fight show in South Carolina, has proven inconclusive, according to the Charleston County Coroner.� Toxicology tests are pending.

Mims was stepping into the cage for the first time, and was competing at an event called "Fight Night at the Point VI."� He allegedly suffered minimal damage during his bout, and witness accounts had him dominating throughout the first round.��But Mims began appearing exhausted in the second round, and�when the 30-year-old seemed unable to improve his position, the referee stopped the bout.� Mims was taken backstage; when his condition deteriorated, he was taken to Medical University Hospital, where he died.

Mims, a Georgia resident, was taking part in a reality show titled "Georgia Boy's Grits-n-Glory."� The show released the following statement:

One of the fighters, who happened to be our own Tyrone "Teestea" Mims, was fatally injured tonight, possibly as a result of his fight.� The promoters and the South Carolina Fight Commission consulted with the fighters and all involved and decided as a result of the death of one of their own we should call off the rest of the fights.� The promoters and the Athletic Commission did everything in their power according to protocol and this accident was beyond their control.� We apologize for the inconvenience and hope you'll understand as we deal with the gravity of the situation.� Our thoughts and prayers are with Teestea and his immediate family, which include his five children.

This is the second mixed martial arts-related death in South Carolina history.� In 2010, amateur fighter Michael Kirkham died from a brain hemorrhage after suffering a knockout at an event in Aiken, S.C.

As per state regulation, amateur fighters must pass an eye exam, be screened for HIV and Hepatitis, and pass a cursory examination by a physician prior to getting in the cage.� It is unknown if Mims had completed those requirements.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/initial-autopsy-report-inclusive-south-carolina-fighter-death-025710893--mma.html

Robert Berry David Bielkheden Michael Bisping  Dan Bobish Vagam Bodjukyan

Watch ?All Access: Ronda Rousey? here

Check out the second episode of Showtime's "All Access: Ronda Rousey" right here. It's 23 minutes long, but well worth your time. There is some not safe for work language, so turn the volume down.

Things to watch out for:

1. How both women break into laughter after their face-off, and what they discuss next. I expect fighters to be intense during their weigh-in day faceoffs because it's so close to fight time. Breaking into laughter months in a staredown months before the fight is what I expect.

2. "It's brutal. She's an Olympian." Rousey has no problem throwing around Nick Diaz.

3. "I get to hit stuff and make noise."

4. Rousey's face when she sees her ESPN the Magazine cover, and the discussion with her mother. On the downside, she sees a video of her online exposed much more than she had agreed to.

5. Sarah Kaufman's friend doesn't know when she's fighting. Also, Victoria, BC, being insanely beautiful.

[Related: Kevin Iole: Sarah Kaufman lacks Ronda Rousey's glamour, but that won't matter]

6. Greg Jackson being as Greg Jackson as possible, yelling, "You're doing extremely well!" All coaches should rock grammar like Jackson.

7. Why you shouldn't ask Kaufman or her coach if she's working on armbar defense.

8. The narrator's voice. Without looking, who can identify that voice?

9. "Women being put in their place is part of what's wrong this world." Well said.

Related MMA video from Yahoo! Sports

Other popular content on the Yahoo! network:
? Kobe Bryant's wife does 'not want to be married to someone who can't win' titles
? Kansas City Chiefs fan shows his allegiance with a glass eye
? Video: Gold medalist Missy Franklin appears on Leno hours before her first day of school
? Y! TV: Kim Kardashian, Kris Humphries divorce unlikely to be finalized this year

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/watch-access-ronda-rousey-222659869--mma.html

Ao Hailin  Shinya Aoki  Andrei Arlovski  Ricardo Arona  Noboru Asahi

GIVEAWAY: 5 Dan Henderson Walkout Shirts and Signed Hat

I wanted to pass along a killer giveaway we are doing at FighterStyle to the NinjaShoes Forum Community. We are giving away 5 Dan Henderson Walkout Shirts and a Signed Hat by Clinch Gear for UFC...

Source: http://ninjashoes.net/forum/showthread.php?79096-GIVEAWAY-5-Dan-Henderson-Walkout-Shirts-and-Signed-Hat&goto=newpost

Dennis George Kultar Gill Allan Goes Takanori The Fireball Kid Gomi Akihiro Gono

Benson Henderson?s title defense, B.J. Penn vs. Rory MacDonald and ?Shogun? vs. ?Mauler? will headline UFC on Fox 5

The last two UFC on Fox 5 cards have been lackluster, and there hasn't been a title fight on the network since the UFC's debut there. UFC on Fox 5 will change those two trends. USA Today reports the next network show will be on Dec. 8 at a site to be determined.

The three fights added to the show's slate:

-- Benson Henderson will defend his lightweight heavyweight (Ed. note -- Sorry, still recovering from Olympics) belt against Nate Diaz, who is riding a three-fight win streak. Diaz earned the title shot with a submission of Jim Miller in May.

-- In the co-main event, Alexander Gustafsson will fight Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. Gustafsson has five wins in a row at light heavyweight, but has been ignored by the UFC for a title shot. Perhaps a win over Shogun, who just beat Brandon Vera on the last Fox card, will do the trick.

-- B.J. Penn and Rory MacDonald's bout, which was postponed because of a cut MacDonald sustained in training, was rescheduled to this card.

With a title fight, a possible title contender's fight and the mainstream starpower of Penn, the UFC is giving Fox a welcome change from the less-than-thrilling recent cards. Though the UFC reported an increase in ratings from their May show to the August one, it was modest. The May show also experienced a steep drop-off in ratings from the two previous shows on Fox, so the improvement shown on the August show still didn't get the UFC anywhere near the four million viewers who watched the first two UFC on Fox shows.

Will you tune in? Tell us in the comments, on Facebook or on Twitter.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/benson-henderson-title-defense-b-j-penn-vs-130338352--mma.html

Mike Brown  Junie Browning Paul Buentello  Josh Burkman  Mikey Burnett 

Antonio Banuelos signs with Legacy Fighting Championship, debuts vs. Josh Sampo

Antonio Banuelos has signed with Legacy Fighting Championship and will debut for the promotion at Legacy FC 14 next month.

With Rafael De Freitas out with an injury, the former UFC and WEC fighter will meet Josh Sampo in the co-main event. Legacy promoter Mick Maynard on Tuesday confirmed the news to MMAjunkie.com.

Legacy FC 14 takes place Sept. 14 at Houston's Arena Theater, and the main card airs on AXS TV (formerly HDNet).


Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/mmajunkie/~3/qigbZz0LZ_o/antonio-banuelos-signs-with-legacy-fighting-championship-debuts-vs-josh-sampo.mma

José Aldo  John Alessio  Houston Alexander Ricardo Almeida  Eddie Alvarez

Former Wrestlemania opponents John Cena-The Miz reunite on WWE Monday Night RAW

Last night on RAW, John Cena�defeated The Miz who won a prior WWE Championship match against Cena a few year’s back at Wrestlemania. Their rematch was unannounced and slipped into the middle of RAW, and while it was a solid effort capped off by the usual Cena win, it was st ill unfortunate to see the company treat the Cena-Miz rivalry as such a small deal.

Of course, it’s been a long, winding road for Miz over the last year after going from long-reigning champ to tagging with R-Truth to get squashed by Cena and The Rock�to being fed to the likes of Brodus Clay. But, despite losing to Cena once again, the WWE Intercontinental Champion continued to demonstrate a certain meanness in his offense and look (maybe it’s just the 5 o’clock shadow )that’s getting his character back on track.

Check out the bout between Miz/Cena below:

PHOTO CREDIT – WWE

Source: http://www.fighters.com/08/28/former-wrestlemania-opponents-john-cena-the-miz-reunite-on-wwe-monday-night-raw

Karn Grigorian Karen Grigoryan Kendall Grove Clay Guida Jason Guida

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

MMA to air on NBC Sports Network?

MMA Fighting reports that MMA organization the World Series of Fighting received its promoter?s license from the Nevada State Athletic� Commission� which allows it to promote its first fight in Nevada.� The organization is scheduled for November at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas. MMA Fighting has obtained documents which indicate that NBC Sports Networks will [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Payout/~3/Bp8liwal2g0/

Jeff Big Frog Curran Dai Shuanghai  Mac Danzig  Karen Darabedyan Viacheslav Datsik

UFC 150 Main Card Predictions- Kamikaze Overdrive

UFC 150- Henderson vs Edgar 2 Saturday August 11th 2012UFC 150 Main Card Predictions- This Episode of the show covers Predictions for the 5 Main Card Fights on the UFC 150- Henderson vs Edgar 2 card. The Undercard Predictions are available here: h...

Source: http://www.mmanews.com/video/mrj86/1264

Daiki DJ taiki Hata He Peng David Heath Delson Heleno Dan Henderson

Diego Sanchez, Don Cerrone, Cain Velasquez: The Morning News Roundup ? 8.7.12

Any day when the news doesn't involve a fighter getting injured, a fighter failing a drug screening or a fighting going to jail is a good one, and hey, today looks like a good one.� A well-liked scrapper is switching weight classes again, a co-main event fighter has given his upcoming bout a thumbs-up, a heavyweight wants his title shot, and another fighter went to the doctor, but that's it.� No cuts requiring stitches, no marijuana metabolites and no 40-person brawls ? as the indomitable Ice Cube would say, "It was a good day."

  • Winner of the inaugural season of "The Ultimate Fighter" and longtime fan-favorite fighter Diego Sanchez announced that he's moving down to lightweight.� Again.� If you'll recall, his last trip down to the 155-pound weight class ended with a showdown against B.J. Penn, and that match-up wasn't even competitive.� However, Sanchez's recent return to welterweight yielded mixed results, so you know how that goes.

�

  • UFC lightweight stalwart Don Cerrone says that he's cool with fighting Melvin Guillard this weekend at UFC 150.� Which is good because it's only the co-main event and Cerrone signed the bout agreement months ago and if he were to suddenly say he wasn't cool with it the UFC would probably sue him for breach of contract plus damages.

�

  • Who will be next to challenge UFC heavyweight champ Junior dos Santos?� Will it be Dutch behemoth Alistair Overeem, who's currently serving a suspension for excessive horsemeat?� Or should it be former champ Cain Velasquez, who turned Antonio Silva into a Dexter-ish blood-splatter pattern on the Octagon floor back at UFC 146?

�

  • Brazilian light-heavyweight striker Wagner Prado reportedly saw a doctor yesterday for his eye injury, which he incurred via accidental foul at the hands (or fingers) of Phil Davis on UFC on FOX 4 Saturday night.� No word yet on the prognosis, but it's great that Prado is getting professional help.� Eye injuries are no joke.�

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/diego-sanchez-don-cerrone-cain-velasquez-morning-news-132037148--mma.html

Ian Freeman Don Frye Tony Fryklund Kazuyuki Fujita Masakatsu Funaki

Pat Miletich on UFC 151?s Cancellation

Former UFC champion and current Strikeforce analyst Pat Miletich recently spoke out to MMA site Bloody Elbow on the cancellation of UFC 151. "The Croatian Sensation," while understanding of the pressure facing the UFC, he was critical of the company's handling of the situation. Miletich, who has ran an established training center for years, was understanding of Greg Jackson's reasoning to suggest that UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jones decline a fight with Chael Sonnen.

MMAFrenzy.com

Source: http://mmafrenzy.com/30167/pat-miletich-on-ufc-151s-cancellation/

Leonard Garcia Andrew Gardner Tiki Ghosn Dennis George Kultar Gill

ROUNDTABLE: Did the UFC make the right decision in canceling UFC 151? What could have been done without Jon Jones?

UFC_151_poster_180_5.jpeg
Did the UFC make the right decision in canceling UFC 151? If not, what should (or could) they have done to keep the show on without a Jon Jones fight?


RICH HANSEN, MMATORCH COLUMNIST

Depends who you ask. If you ask the 20 non-main event fighters who aren't getting paid until weeks or months later when they get rescheduled, then it was a horrible decision. I mean, babies won't be fed, wives won't be clothed, homes will be foreclosed upon, locusts and plagues will descend. If you ask UFC management, who was looking at a grand total of 42 PPV buys and not one more ticket sold from the moment Jones pulled out until the night of the fight, then yeah, good call Skippy. If you ask me, with no financial stake in the decision, I too am ambivalent. I mean, on one hand the UFC just sent a major slap in the face to Jake Ellenberger, Jay Hieron, Dennis Hallman, Yasuhiro Urushitani, et. al. by making it clear that the UFC cares more about their own bottom line than the bottom lines of the mid-card (and below). But on the other hand, the idea of a UFC PPV in an empty airport hangar, with a card devoid of even one drawing card would wind up being the source of even more ridicule than the cancellation of the event itself.

Of course, the three biggest sources of blame are getting off scott-free here. Dan Henderson, Lyoto Machida, and Dana White are far more responsible than their convenient scapegoat Jon Jones (although Jones really should have done them a solid, and isn't blameless). Henderson was injured for weeks before he told the UFC he was injured. Even if he thought he was going to be ready for September 1, he had a responsibility to keep the UFC in the loop so they could make backup plans. You know, as opposed to cancelling the card in a panic. Had the UFC known in time, they could have discreetly gotten another fighter (even Chael) to start training hard on a parallel course so that if Henderson pulled out, UFC management could have said, "Hendo is out. But in our infinite wisdom we strategerized a backup plan, and Jon Jones will now defend agaonst (fill in the blank)." If Chael was willing to take the fight on eight days notice, he clearly would have taken it on 24 days notice. And if Jones is willing to fight Chael on September 22, then he would have been willing to fight Chael on September 1 had he known immediately upon Henderson's injury.

While we're holding feet to the fire, Lyoto Machida also could have done the UFC a solid by accepting the September 1 fight with Jones. Seeing as how he already fought the man once, he's seen all the tape. He's with an elite camp who is more than well aware of what Jon Jones brings to the table. It's not perfect for Machida to take Jones on nine days notice, but it's not like Jones would have been training for Machida for three months either. Had Machida manned-up, we might still have a fight week to gear up for.

And of course, the UFC is to blame here. I understand that they are running approximately seven events per day this year so the cards are thin as a result. But this is a bed they made for themselves. They signed off on a model where they're booking a zillion fight cards, and a lot of those fights that are going to Fox, FX, and Fuel would have been solid PPV fights. But I don't remember anyone pointing a gun at Dana White's head forcing to run so many cards. What happened to UFC 151 was completely predictable. The last time Jon Jones fought, Che Mills was in the co-main event, okay? Numerous people were speculating about what would happen to UFC 145 if Jones or Rashad Evans got injured, and now we know the result.

It's fine for the UFC to book a thin undercard when they have a potentially massive main event, but there's a different between thin and non-existent. In a perfect world, injuries don't happen, every card that is booked stays fully in tact, I win the damn lottery, Brad Walker loses 75 pounds without blowing out both hamstrings, and Dan Moore gets his green card. But that aint the world we live in. So in conclusion, everyone is to blame, s*** happens, UFC 152 is less than four weeks away, and I'm glad to have more than three days between PPVs.


FRANK HYDEN, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

I don't think they made the right decision canceling. As soon as Anderson Silva tells me that he's willing to fight I run with that. I don't care if they already starting the process of canceling, you've got a chance to have the greatest fighter of all-time filling in on short notice. No one in their right mind would complain about that. Considering that Chael Sonnen and Chris Weidman were also willing to fight on short notice, there's no reason to cancel now. Match Sonnen and Weidman against each other, and then ask around to see if anyone is willing to fight Silva on short notice. I'm sure there would be at least a couple guys willing to do that.


ERIC HOBAUGH, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

This is such an interesting question with so many variables. First, we should talk about who is at fault for this entire situation. It's Dan Henderson's fault. If he had told the UFC when his injury occurred, this whole thing could have been avoided. We have enough reasons to dislike Jon Jones, the cancellation of UFC 151 should not be one of them. Seriously, do you think Fedor would have taken on Randy Couture on one week's notice? HELL NO! It is not Jon Jones' fault, but we can still dislike him for the DUI, allegedly being in the company of two women who were not the mother of his children when he got the DUI, his super arrogance, and his disrespect of so many fighters in MMA. The UFC could have moved the card to free TV and made the fans happy. I agree the card would not have made a great PPV, but how many crappy PPV shows have we seen in recent memory? I think this is a case of Dana White being mad, because he lost control of one of his largest superstars. I think Jon Jones will become an even bigger thorn in the side of Zuffa after he starts to get some of the fame that will come along with his forty million dollar Nike sponsorship. Jon Jones did the right thing by waiting for his next opponent. Many fighters will do what the UFC and White ask, because they cannot make a living in any other organization. I think as long as fighters are doing exactly what White wants, things are fine. When fighters do not surrender to his whims, White makes these split- second, poor decisions like the cancellation of UFC 151 and everyone loses. Cancelling this UFC was a mistake and handling it any other way would have been better.


BRAD WALKER, MMATORCH COLUMNIST

From a business standpoint absolutely not. Jones vs. Sonnen would have still been an entertaining fight, with Jones coming out as the victor. If Dana White had not rushed to cancel the card we may have wound up with an equally as good fight with Anderson Silva fighting at light heavyweight against an unknown opponent. That would have made for every bit of pay per view sales as Jones vs Hendo or Jones vs Sonnen. The call to cancel was too quick and too erratic, and far too dramatic by Dana White, that was a huge mistake that hurt fans, fighters and publicity all at once.


DAN MOORE, MMATORCH UK CONTRIBUTOR

The UFC were in a no win situation last week, a lot of it self inflicted, some of it just unfortunate circumstance. To start with, they left themselves wide open when putting the card together. Relying on Jones vs. Henderson, and to a lesser extent Koscheck vs. Ellenberger. When Koscheck was unfortunately injured they failed to find a marketable replacement, and went with Jay Hieron. Despite two solid outings in Bellator recently, Hieron isn't a name many people would pay over $50 to see in a PPV main event.

When you've got a (usually reliable) 42 year old in the main event, surely it would have been prudent of the UFC to have a Plan B, Plan C and Plan D, but they didn't. It was however extremely unfortunate that the withdrawal happened so late in the day, and no one should shoulder the blame for that. They were left with Ellenberger vs. Hieron and that wasn't going to entice but the most diehard fanatics. I do wonder if they ever considered bringing the Bisping vs. Stann fight forward 3 weeks. It's a very marketable match up, and I'm sure both fighters would have been game if the money was right. Maybe it was a week too late, but it would have saved the card, and a ton of negative press in the process.


JASON AMADI, MMATORCH COLUMNIST

The only way to answer this question with absolute certainty is to open up the Zuffa books, look at their costs, and compare those numbers to projected figures for what they would take in for the show.

But since no one really has access to that kind of information outside of Zuffa, we have to assume that the loss they would have taken for continuing with the show would have been greater than the cancellation.

There isn't anything they could have done to save the show in the time they had to put things together.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/roundtables/article_14254.shtml

Gary Goodridge Gerard Gordeau Jonathan Goulet Wilson Gouveia Jason Grace

Rich Franklin Pre-Fight Interview vs Silva at UFC 147 - UFC 147

After a 16-month layoff, Rich Franklin is ready to step back into the Octagon and face the "tornado"known as Wanderlei Silva. Will "Ace" be able to make it 2-0 against Silva at UFC� 147?

Source: http://mmalice.com/ufc-147/rich-franklin-pre-fight-interview-vs-silva-at-ufc-147-video_03bb864c3.html

Dan Hardy Lee Hasdell Musse Hasselvall Daiki DJ taiki Hata He Peng

UFC Tonight Recap: Kenny Florian Discusses Jon Jones, Ariel Helwani Talks Flyweights, Chris Weidman

UFC Tonight wasn’t quite the news-breaking episode of recent weeks, but the show did involve plenty of discussion concerning UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones. With the news of UFC 151 being canceled happening between the two most recent episodes of the show, that was to be expected. Analyst and former UFC title contender Kenny [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/mmaconvert/~3/TP2rDa3cXog/

Joe Doerksen  Chris Dolman Edson Drago  Tomasz Drwal Joe Hybrid Duarte

Alert for iPhone MMATorch Users: Upcoming Events section update

We've had several questions regarding the "Upcoming Events" section on the iPhone and iPad apps, so we wanted to respond here. On the Android versions of the app, there is an "Event Calendar" that is updated daily; unfortunately that feature is not yet in the iPhone version of the app. Instead, for now, there is one post in the "Upcoming Events" section that is being regularly updated with all of the fights for future events. There are no longer individual events posts, but everything is being kept up to date in the post entitled "Updated Upcoming Events Calendar." Hope that clears up any confusion!

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/mmatorchappalert/article_13406.shtml

Luiz Azeredo  Luciano Azevedo  Ba Te er  Ryan Bader  Siyar Bahadurzada

Watch Bellator 73 Live at MMATorch.com!

MMATorchAvatar2011V2_80_141.jpg
Bellator finishes out their 2012 summer series tonight with Bellator 73, featuring the finals of their summer series light Heavyweight tournament and much more. Watch tonight's entire event right here at MMATorch.com in the embedded stream below, provided by Spike TV:

Bellator Live Stream
www.spike.com
Spike Full EpisodesSpike Video ClipsSpike on Facebook

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/Other_PPVs_8/article_14224.shtml

Wagnney Fabiano Kevin Kimbo Slice Ferguson Paulo Filho Mirko Cro Cop Filipović Luiz Buscapé Firmino