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Judging by Nick Diaz’s reaction to his unanimous decision loss to Carlos Condit at UFC 143, you’d have thought he’d just been robbed on live TV. You’d have thought he’d…
Georges St. Pierre hasn't lost a fight -- and really hasn't even been tested -- in four years. That's about to change.
Carlos Condit, who won the UFC interim welterweight title…
If Saturday night was the end for Nick Diaz, it came just the way we would expect it: in a jumbled, confusing mess. The enigmatic UFC welterweight star lost a…
LAS VEGAS -- Watch below as Carlos Condit talks about his UFC 143 win over Nick Diaz, why he deserved to win, his performance and what's next for him.
LAS VEGAS -- Watch below as Dana White talks about UFC 143, why he thinks Carlos Condit deserved to win the main event, his thoughts on Nick Diaz's retirement, Fabricio…
LAS VEGAS -- Watch below as Ed Herman talks about his UFC 143 win over Clifford Starks, the injuries he sustained in the fight, his thoughts on Starks, the finish,…
Chael Sonnen will get a second chance at Anderson Silva.
Even after Sonnen's recent and repeated claims that Silva would never accept a fight with him, the middleweight champ has in…
LAS VEGAS -- Watch below as Alex Caceres talks about his UFC 143 loss to Edwin Figueroa, the controversial two-point deduction, his planned appeal of the loss, his performance in…
LAS VEGAS -- Watch below as Josh Koscheck spoke to MMA Fighting after his UFC 143 unanimous decision win over Mike Pierce. Koscheck discusses why he deserved to get the…
LAS VEGAS -- Watch below as Dustin Poirier discusses his win over Max Holloway at UFC 143, how he set up the armbar finish, why he wants Chan Sung Jung…
We've had a lot of Gina Carano coverage lately, as the onetime Strikeforce title contender has been making the rounds to promote her movie "Haywire." This might be considered piling on, but during her appearance on Conan O'Brien's show, she talked about why she got into MMA and how fighting is like sex. It's not quite NSFW, but definitely PG.
Don't let Rousimar Palhares get near you in the Octagon. If he does, you're probably going to walk away from the fight with a limp
Palhares flashed brilliance in taking down Mike Massenzio, quickly getting a hold of his leg and finishing things with a heel hook just 63 second into pay-per-view fight No. 3 of the night at UFC 142.
Massenzio, a veteran of 19 pro MMA fights was blown away.
"That's a world-class athlete who was the better fighter tonight. I had the best camp of my career. I just got stuck. It wasn't my night. I'm really disappointed," said Massenzio.
Palhares (14-3, 7-2 UFC) has posted five submissions in seven UFC wins. The Brazilian has also had his brushes with controversy. Even after the referee stopped things, he's held on to several submission finishes a little too long in the past. Tonight, he behaved himself.
"What a great victory! It's what I always say when I get in there…if it's God's will then it is God's will. I went in there and got it done. I like submissions and I got another one tonight," said Palhares.
MIKE MASSENZIO:
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LAS VEGAS - The first Strikeforce card under the new Zuffa deal with Showtime is a go.
It's one of the more loaded Strikeforce cards in recent memory, featuring good, young fighters at 205, 185 and 170 pounds.
Keith Jardine is a new entry at middleweight. Yesterday, he was walking around in excess of 200 pounds. He looked okay in making the cut to 185. Check out the comments on the YouTube video. Most of the viewers thought Jardine looked horrible.
We'll find out tomorrow night if the weight cut was too much. Keep a close eye on Jardine's stamina his fight against Strikeforce middleweight champ Luke Rockhold makes it out of the first round.
Strikeforce weigh-in (Courtesy Strikeforce.com)
Luke Rockhold (185) vs. Keith Jardine (185)
Robbie Lawler (186) vs. Adlan Amagov (186)
Mo Lawal (205) vs. Lorenz Larkin (206)
Tyron Woodley (171) vs. Jordan Mein (169)
Tyler Stinson (170) vs. Tarec Saffiedine (170)
Prelims
Nah-Shon Burrell (171) vs. James Terry (171)
Gian Villante (206) vs. Trevor Smith (205)
Ricky Legere (171) vs. Chris Spang (171)
Estevan Payan (160) vs. Alonzo Martinez (160.5)
Maybe Dana White has nothing to worry about over the next 12 months when it comes to Brock Lesnar's contractual status.
Wrestling guru and friend of Lesnar, Jim Ross says the recently retired MMA fighter won't appear in a wrestling ring this year for several reasons:
[...] Brock dislikes, putting it mildly, traveling. Plus, he doesn't need the money even though he's smart enough to not turn down a big payday if the lay of the land is to his liking. That's why the UFC thing was good for him because he could earn big money by traveling 2-3 times per year to fight.
I could see Brock doing a major, one off WWE appearance ala a Wrestlemania, but not this year, and doing so while not even making the live Raw events that lead into it. I could also see WWE traveling to Brock to shoot vignettes to build whatever match that he might be booked.
Ross absolutely wipes out any thought of Lesnar making a major return to wrestling.
For fans who think that Lesnar will return to make a significant amount of TV dates only and then only work a handful or so of PPV's, I hate to burst your bubble, but in my opinion that simply isn't happening.
White wasn't ready to answer questions about Lesnar's possible return to wrestling, but he sounded amenable to working out something with his biggest PPV star.
When you retire, he retires under contract. I have no idea (how long the contract is). Listen, I've had my moments with Brock Lesnar but I've had a great relationship with him and we'll figure it out, no big deal. Never had a situation with a guy where we haven't done the right thing."
Gilbert Melendez defended the Strikeforce men's lightweight belt with a methodical decision over Jorge Masvidal in the main event for Strikeforce on Saturday night. On the judges' cards, the champ took it 50-45, 50-45, 49-46.
As the two were feeling each other out in the opening round, Masvidal opened his arms and invited Melendez to hit him, so Melendez obliged and stung Masvidal with straight punches. Masvidal stayed light on his feet, and kicked Melendez's leg out from underneath him. Melendez quickly returned to his feet. Near the end of the round, Melendez caught Masvidal in a front headlock and landed knees to finish the round well.
Masvidal continued to talk smack to Melendez in the second round, and Melendez continued to have an edge in striking. Melendez stayed light on his feet and shook Masvidal with several strikes. Masvidal was unable to find a rhythm or cause any damage.
The third round started with Masvidal thwarting a Melendez takedown attempt. Masvidal threw a knee and knocked out Melendez's mouthpiece and continued to talk smack. Every time Masvidal opened his mouth, Melendez landed a punch. Masvidal appeared to be more comfortable in the third round and was able to create more offense, but still not enough to disrupt Melendez.
Melendez moved forward and landed several unanswered punches in the fourth round. He continued to stay light on his feet and move in to land jabs. In the final minute, Melendez started using a one-two combination effectively.
Masvidal used a knee to try to get inside early in the fifth and final round, but again was unable to create any damage. Melendez stayed calm, kept moving, and used combinations to control the rhythm of the last round. Sensing urgency, Masvidal unloaded in the final minute. He tried for a takedown and to take Melendez's back, but it was too little to make a difference.
After the win, Melendez was asked about his future, and he said he wants a challenge from the UFC.
"I'm proud to be a part of Strikeforce, but they've got to bring over some guys to challenge me. I want to take the UFC champ, whoever it is. Come in my hexagon and let's fight," Melendez said.
He won his last six fights, earning a record of 20-2. Masvidal is now 22-7.
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Tim Kennedy is waiting for word on his next fight, but in the meantime, the Strikeforce middleweight is spending his time training and growing a mustache. He spoke with Cagewriter about the Stache Bash, Veteran's Day and the future of his MMA career.
Kennedy, an Army veteran, teamed up with Marine and UFC fighter Brian Stann and Ranger Up CEO Nick Palmisciano to figure out a way to raise money for veterans. They knew about Movember, an initiative to use mustaches to raise awareness for prostate and testicular cancer, and wanted to tweak the concept.
"We like soldiers more than we like balls and butts. Soldiers can have mustaches and get involved, and it was a good excuse to grow a mustache," Kennedy said.
Over the course of November, Kennedy and Stann will compete with other teams of fighters and MMA industry people to both have the best mustaches and raise the most money for Soldiers' Angels and Hire Heroes. Both groups support veterans.
Kennedy and Stann lead Team America. They think you should give your money towards their team.
"We're the most scary guys out there. We can not only kill you with our hands, but we can shoot you from really far away, and not too far away, and kind of far away. I think the biggest thing is that we have the most emotional investment in this. We want to see this succeed because we know the actual troops that are needing the support. For us, it's about wanting to see the guys we love and care about get what they deserve."
As a sniper with the Army's Special Forces, Kennedy served in Iraq. He knows more than most people about the kind of sacrifice veterans make, and he wants to honor them.
"We've been at war for 10 years. People talk about the greatest generation. My grandfather served in World War II. He was one of the most remarkable men in my life, but we have a new generation of superstars. Guys that have been away from their family for years and I want them to get the recognition that they deserve. They have sacrificed everything. They've done it for a really long time. They deserve everything that they're not getting."
With Veterans Day tomorrow, Kennedy would like to see all Americans find a way to say thank you to the men and women who serve.
"You see a guy in uniform, you're going to buy him lunch. You see a guy in uniform at the airport that's coming back from overseas, you walk up and give him a hug. There's almost the apathetic, complacent view of the military like they're just doing their job. .45 percent of the population volunteer to do this, and 99.55 percent reap the rewards from those few. It's only fair that the only 99.55 percent tip their cap and show appreciation for this group."
Though Kennedy is spending time raising money for veterans, he also is concentrating on training. He has not fought since July, and like many Strikeforce fighters, is waiting to see what's next.
"I'm training as if I have a fight coming up, but I don't have a fight coming up. I have no clue on when a fight will come up. I'm preparing for one, hopefully they'll give me word soon, but there's no telling."
He is not picky on which promotion hosts his next bout.
"I just want to fight good guys. I don't care what promotion it's under as long as it's the best guys. I'm only going to be fighting for a little bit longer, and so I want to fight the best guys before I'm done."
Make a donation to "Team America" Stache Bash team. Learn more about Hire Heroes and Soldiers Angels.
The UFC recently rewarded Forrest Griffin $5,000 for his "creativity" on Twitter, but he went too far on a tweet Tuesday, saying, "Rape is the new missionary."
When a fan unfollowed him and called him out on what he considered a joke, he responded, "Keep it to yourself." Later, he deleted the tweet and said, "I'm sorry, I'm gonna go ahead and put myself on Twitter restriction until next week."
Yep, when "creativity" leads to jokes about sexual assault, that's a good time to keep your mouth shut.
Let's just be 100 percent clear on something: Rape isn't funny. Every time a joke is made about it, victims are reminded of their trauma. If you think it's funny, you clearly have never been held down and forced to have sex against your will. If you think it's funny, you've never seen the path of destruction it causes in a victim's life. If you think it's funny, you have no empathy for the 81K reported rape victims in the U.S. every year.
I don't think Forrest Griffin is that cold of a person, but he does need to learn that what he said is not OK, and that his words have weight. Taking that UFC Twitter bonus and giving it to a rape victim's group like R.A.I.N.N. would be one way to properly apologize.
If he doesn't do it, the UFC should step in and fine him. It's been reluctant in the past to step in when fighters or any other representatives step over the line, but it just gave Griffin $5,000 for what he tweets. Letting him keep that cash would be condoning more of the same from him in the future.
LAS VEGAS - The new Donald Cerrone is one scary individual.
The former WEC star continued his assault on the UFC lightweight division by destroying a previously hot Denis Siver in less than three minutes.
Cerrone (17-3, 4-0 UFC) rocked Siver on the feet several times before finishing him with a rear-naked at the 2:25 mark of the first round in the second fight on the UFC 137 Spike broadcast.
[Related: UFC 137: Penn, 'Cro Cop' set to retire after losses]
Cerrone's now won six straight fights and last two have come via brutal knockout. The list of title contenders is long at 155 pounds, but Cerrone has certainly earned himself a shot at one of the guys in the top six.
Both fighters came out throwing, but it was Cerrone who was able to deal with getting hit. He fired back hard shots and when he landed a huge left kick to the head, it was the beginning of the end for the Russian fighting out of Germany. Siver's legs were lost. He wobbled for several seconds before grabbing a Cerrone leg and slowing the down the fight along the cage.
The fighters separated and Cerrone landed another right straight down the pipe. Siver went down to his knees where Cerrone jumped on his back and quickly got his hooks in. Seconds later, he slapped on the rear-naked choke and Siver tapped almost immediately.
"Donald hits very hard. Both shots got me pretty wobbled and I was unable to collect myself after the second one. That made it very easy for him to sink in the submission and there was nothing I could do."
Cerrone loves to fight so he may not wait until one of the big boys is free to fight. He said before and after the fight, he'd like another bout before the end of 2011. He's 4-0 this year.
"There were a couple of things I should have done differently, but I'll work on it," said the extremely self-critical Cerrone. "I want to fight one more time this year - bring it on. I don't want to wait."
Siver (19-8, 8-5 UFC) had won four straight coming in.
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