Entries Tagged 'MMA Talk' ↓

By Ricardo Mendoza

LAS VEGAS, NEV. – Holding their second show under Zuffa, World Extreme Cagefighting returned to the Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel. It was an exciting night of fights with only one fight going the distance.

In the main event, Carlos Condit became the new WEC Welterweight Champion defeating UFC veteran John Alessio. Condit worked the knees within the clinch in the first round but Alessio was able to take Condit down several times during the first round. Condit was able to get back to his feet every time as Alessio wasn’t able to get started on the ground.

Alessio got a takedown to start the second round but it was Condit who did the most damage. He stayed busy off his back with punches and elbows as Alessio looked lost. Condit really got going after they were restarted on their feet. He used effective knees in the clinch to breakdown Alessio. Condit went for a standing kimura, taking it to the ground where he got Alessio’s back and sunk in the choke, forcing Alessio to tap with just one second left in the second round. Carlos Condit becomes the new WEC Welterweight Champion.

Urijah Faber was dominant in victory over Dominic Cruz retaining his WEC Featherweight Championship. Faber came out aggressive throwing a head kick that barely missed its target and Cruz responded with a head kick of his own. Faber landed a huge uppercut as Cruz went in for a takedown; once it hit the ground Faber locked in a guillotine choke. Cruz got back to his feet and took it back down but Faber was able to secure it as Cruz rolled over to get the tap at 1:38 of the first round.

Unknown Midwest fighter Chase Beebe stunned everyone in attendance becoming the new WEC Bantamweight Champion, winning a decision over former champion Eddie Wineland. Wineland looked impressive in the first round as he dropped Beebe with a flurry but wasn’t able to finish him. Beebe looked nervous, as he wasn’t setting up his takedowns until he finally took Wineland down to end the round. Beebe absolutely dominated the second round as he immediately took Wineland down. He then passed Wineland’s guard and mounted him, punishing him with punches and elbows for the rest of the round but Wineland survived. The next two rounds played out the same as both fighters would circle early with Beebe getting a late takedown to win the round. By the final round, Wineland’s ear was bleeding badly and he needed a knockout to win the fight. Neither fighter risked too much in the final round and it cost Wineland the fight. Beebe was awarded a well-earned unanimous decision with scores of 48-47 and 48-46 twice.

UFC veteran Brock Larson looked impressive in victory as he dominated Erik Apple. Once on the ground, Larson dominated Apple switching from position to position. Larson almost ended the fight with a choke but Apple escaped. Larson finally finished Apple as he transitioned from an armbar to a kimura, forcing Apple to tapout at 3:43 of the first round.

KOTC veteran Dave Terrel was impressive against Tiki Ghosn. Tiki looked good in the first round as he was able to use his experience to pepper Terrel with shots. Tiki hurt Terrel with a barrage of punches, but Terrel survived until the end of the round. It was a much different story in the second round as Terrel started to land solid shots and finally hurt Tiki. Terrel poured it on dropping Tiki several times but was unable to finish him as Tiki got back to his feet. Terrel was all over Tiki and Herb Dean had seen enough, stopping the fight at 1:46 of the second round.

Cub Swanson was able to submit Tommy Lee with a guillotine choke in the first round. Lee got an initial takedown but Swanson persisted and was able to lock on a guillotine choke at 3:17 of the first round.

In what can be considered an upset, former KOTC Bantamweight Champion Charlie Valencia finished off former WEC Bantamweight Champion Antonio Banuelos. Valencia went straight for a takedown but Banuelos responded with a guillotine choke. Valencia escaped and both fighters exchanged solid shots. Banuelos took Valencia down but he got back to his feet, landing an uppercut that dropped Banuelos as he finished him off with strikes at 3:12 of the first round.

Fairtex welterweight Alex Serdyukov looked impressive against relatively unknown fighter Scott Norton. Norton took the fight to the ground early but Serdyukov was able to lock on a tight triangle choke. Serdyukov held on for the majority of the round as he tried to finish the fight with the triangle choke but Norton survived and responded with strikes as finally was able to escape. Norton again shot in for a takedown to start the second round but Serdyukov was able to lock on a guillotine choke that forced Norton to tapout, only fifty-seven seconds into the round.

In an exciting contest, Micah Miller was able to use his reach advantage to full effect against Jesse Moreng. In the first round, Miller used knees in the clinch to control Moreng. On the ground, Miller used his long lanky legs to neutralize Moreng from landing any effective shots within his guard. The fighters traded back and forth in the second round, as Moreng landed solid punches while Miller used knees and punches to hurt Moreng. Both fighters clinched to start the last round with neither fighter getting much of an advantage. Moreng took Miller down and as they hit the ground Miller started to work for the triangle choke. Moreng struggled hard to get out of it but Miller was able to finally secure it, forcing Moreng to tapout at 3:29 of the third round.

U.S. Marine Brian Stann made quick work of Steve Cantwell, dropping him with a right hook and finishing him off with strikes at forty-one seconds of the first round.

Full article can be found at Mmaweekly.com

Joe Lauzon, a quiet, 22-year-old college graduate, is about to enter a new dimension.

That’s because the Brockton native and East Bridgewater resident will be hitting the Spike TV airwaves, beginning April 5, as a member of the cast of “The Ultimate Fighter 5.”

Lauzon, a lightweight with one huge UFC fight on his resume, joined 15 other lightweights in a Las Vegas house in mid-January for the filming of the program, which runs 13 weeks. Though he is prevented contractually from revealing how he made out, the bottom line is that things won’t be the same for the budding star after the show is done airing.

“It’s going to be pretty insane,” Lauzon said. “I think if you’re coming out of that show, the road is a little easier. The UFC enlists time, money and effort into us.”Fighters such as Diego Sanchez and Chris Leben have carried the popularity they’ve earned from the show and transferred it into successful careers in the UFC. Though Lauzon is a self-admittedly “low-key” guy, the potential fame would be just another remarkable step on an unorthodox rise.

“It’s ridiculous,” Lauzon said. “All the pieces have fallen into place for us. Every move we make is the perfect move.”

Lauzon was a baseball player at East Bridgewater High, but he and his friends loved to emulate the WWF and practice wrestling moves on each other. “We tried to beat each other up. We had no idea what we were doing.”

A ju jitsu demonstration at his school, by his now-trainer Joe Pomfret, began to turn Lauzon’s role-playing into the real thing. Lauzon started learning mixed martial arts and then began fighting in local shows. A key connection — a friendof a friend happened to be a college roommate of UFC president Dana White — led to correspondence with the UFC’s matchmaker.

“I’d e-mail him and say, ’What do you want to see me do?’ He’d e-mail back saying I need to beat a couple of better guys. I traveled around a little. I tried fighting at a lower weight class. I took a couple of fights in a row that were real tough fights.”

Persistence, and a little more luck, worked into the equation. Lauzon’s brother, Dan, who would also become a UFC fighter, was living at the time with UFC fighter Drew Fickett in Arizona. Fickett kept pushing Joe Lauzon to the people at the UFC until the breakthrough finally occurred. Lauzon was tabbed to be the “victim” for former lightweight champ Jens Pulver’s return to the UFC in September of last year.

“When I was offered the fight, we looked at it and said, ’Do I do it or do I back down?’ But looking at it, I had nothing to lose,” Lauzon said. “If I lost, I would have lost to the former lightweight champion in my first UFC fight. And what if I did win, that does everything for me.”

Of course, Lauzon did win the fight, knocking out Pulver in the first round, and changing his life forever.

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McGee Park Coliseum
Farmington, New Mexico
March 23, 2007

Angela Magana defeats Tia Castillo TKO R1 1:43
Richie Collingham defeats Guy Youell SUB (rear naked choke) R1 1:16
Nate Sellers defeats Matthew Medina SUB (armbar) R1 4:30
Eddy Armendariz defeats Eddie Meraz TKO R1 2:38
Jeremy Madrid defeats Neil Padilla TKO R1 4:59
Josh Peterson defeats Terry Alcon SUB (guillotine) R1 1:06
Jeremy Ferguson defeats Cory Jagger TKO R2 1:12
Jerome Martinez NO CONTEST Jeremy Dimon R2 5:00
Joe Padilla defeats Brad Norquist SUB (rear naked choke) R1 1:35
John Burt defeats Presley Sherman TKO R1 0:15
Chris Jones defeats Nathan Osterkamp KO (guillotine) R1 0:48
Dan Severn defeats Jason Keith SUB (rear naked choke) R1 2:36

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Training with the wrestler Antoine Jaoude in Rio de Janeiro , Zuluzinho talked exclusivelly to site TATAME about the confrontation against the boxer Butterbean at Pride 34, that will be held on April 7th in . “I will face Butterbean at Pride 34. I will stay in Rio de Janeiro training with Antoine until the fight day, I am training hard and Antoine have been killing me during the trainings”, told the son of the legend king Zulú.

The athlete knows the style of his adversary and already studies a strategic with Antoine. “I know he is a boxer and will try to exchange punches with me. We are still studying the fight strategy, but I will probably take this fight to the ground”, said Zuluzinho, who also have been receiving some advises of the Nova União leader André Pederneiras. “I am supporting Zuluzinho at the technician part. He has future and is also a pretty nice guy”, said Dedé.

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The following is an interview with new UFC fighter Fabricio Werdum, conducted by the TATAME website, translated from Portaguese to English:

How was the change from the Pride to the UFC?

My manager Ken May said that I was going to fight at the Pride 33, but it seems that they didn’t accept the purse we asked them, so he thought that was better for me to go fighting at UFC. He didn’t explain to me very well, but I know they will pay me much better there, I think almost double that I am receiving at the Pride organization.

But didn’t you have a contract with the Pride?No, my contract is with Ken May, my contract finishes on December and I want to renovate. I want to be the champion this year. I am at UFC now so I want to be the champion there. I did a contract of four bouts with the UFC and I want to dispute the belt on the third or on the fourth bout of my contract.

You were Cro Cop’s trainer during some time and you both always said that you didn’t want to face each other. He also left the Pride for the UFC and also wants the belt…

If we have to face each other some day, we will. He wants the belt as like me. We will try to avoid this to happen, because we were from the same team, we have the same manager and we are friends. He wants me to go back there to train. I went recently to do some seminars in and then I went and we enjoyed the opportunity to meet him and I wanted to know how he was going on. We talked a lot.

You faced and defeated Gabriel Napão Gonzaga at Jungle Fight. Now he is also at UFC and you can possibly face each other to get the belt. How would be this bout against him today?

Napão is pretty well now, he had only one defeat I think, that was for me at the Jungle Fight. I think that this fight would be much different today. They are both more professionals and at that bout we didn’t have the same technique. I wish to face him again and if I have to face him to get this belt we will fight.

How is your trainings now?

I suffered an operation on my throat and nose in the beginning of the year. I spent three weeks at home to feel myself better, but I am back to trainings now. I have been training the ground game with Mário Reis and Márcio Fortes, who is also a black belt. And I am doing the preparation with a Cuban fighter who is here with me and I am always training Boxing with Cafuringa.

What do you expect from this bout against Andrei Arlovski?

When we don’t know when our next bout will be held we didn’t get so motivated, but now I have this fight against Arlovski and I am pretty excited. I like to face tough guys, famous guys like Arlovski, he is former champion of this category. I don’t like to face someone who is starting now. Arlovski is dangerous standed up, he likes to do the counter attack, but I am training much Boxing. If I have to exchange punches with him I will and if I had the opportunity to take him down will be much better, because my good game is the BJJ. I will train a lot to do a good bout and be able to dispute the belt soon.

What did you think about Wanderlei Silva and Rogério Minotouro’s bouts at Pride 33? Where do you think they were wrong?

Minotouro was really well prepared. His adversary can be good, but I think that his cross punch was luck. He did that blow for luck. Minotouro has not a bad chin, but that cross punch attacked him hardly. If they face each other again, Minotouro will win. But talking about Wanderlei, I really think Dan Henderson was better than him. I think the American athlete wanted it much more. Wanderlei didn’t make a mistake, he had suffered a punch before, and so he was KO’d with that cross punch.

Who do you think that was able to defeat Henderson until 83kg and until 93kg?

Until 83kg I think Paulão Filho defeats him easily and until 93kg the man is Maurício Shogun.

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By Keith MillsBen “The Hebrew Hammer” Stark is one of the newest members of American Top Team to make waves in the MMA scene. Although Ben has only been fighting for about a year so far going 3-0 he is fighting on the first Panther Fight League show, one of the new crop of mid-level shows planning on hosting events in locations all across the country and even internationally. Even though this card is getting a lot of attention for also having the return of UFC vet Marcus “Conan” Silveira and the MMA debut of Marcos “Parrumpinha” Da Matta look for Ben to possibly emerge with the most attention.

KM: What do you think of being on this show? BS: I’m very excited about it. I didn’t realize such a big shot until I saw the card and saw who was on it and where I was fighting on the card. I thought I’d be A-card at the best. I thought I was the fourth fight of the night, not fourth to last. I’m very flattered by the faith people I train with have in me. They see a lot of potential in me and I hope to make them proud.KM: What do you know about Panther Fight League? Isn’t Carlos from ATT matchmaker? BS: I’m not 100% sure, I believe so. I know they are based out of New York from an entertainment firm and they have a bunch of money to throw around, that is about it. I know very little about it in general.

KM: Who is your opponent? BS: Jirka Hilvati. I believe he trains out of Royce Gracie/Harlan MMA in Port St. Lucie. All I know is he comes from the Czech Republic, he has a kickboxing background, and when he fought in AFC 19 he didn’t make weight.

KM: How do you think the fight will go? BS: I know I can hang with anyone standing if I deem to do so. It just so happens who I’ve fought I’ve been in my best position on the ground. I believe that will be another case of that. I’d like to stand and bang because I’ve been working on that and feel very confident but if the opportunity presents itself I’m just going to put him out on the floor.

KM: You are on the poster. How does that feel to be the poster boy for this show? BS: I was stoked when I saw it. I was running around the gym when I saw it, like ‘what do you think of that’. It has always been in my plans to be the big man on campus eventually. I didn’t think it would happen after three fights and I’m not really the big man anywhere

KM: That photo was from AFC 17 against Joe Kennedy. Tell me about that fight. BS: I didn’t find my range and he hit me with a big flurry, caught me off guard with a couple right hooks. We clinched and he hip tossed me over into my guard. I was trying to work some rubber guard and he backed out. We stood back up and I hit him with a one-two, we clinched again, I got double unders, foot swept him, mounted him, he rolled over, I took his back, isolated the arm, cut to the triangle, and went for the armbar.

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Pacquiao’s meeting with the press provides a lot of noise, little information

Against a backdrop of chaos found in boxing and on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Manny Pacquiao met the press in Los Angeles last week.

He is a 130-pounder, a super-featherweight who Bob Arum says is “the most beloved fighter in the world today.” Arum sells tickets and pay-per-view showings of his fights, so you may dismiss his hyperbole.

Pacquiao, from the Philippines, is top-ranked in all of the “WB” groups, World Boxing Assn., Council and Organization. His presence draws a breathing-room-only crowd at the Palm restaurant on Santa Monica.

It is hard to tell the reporters from the groupies, or if the reporters are the groupies. At one point, there are 81 people in a room designed for 50, and it becomes believable that Pacquiao may, indeed, be the biggest thing in the Philippines since Imelda Marcos’ shoe closet.

His story is compelling. He slept on a mat on a dirt floor until he was 12, helping the family survive by selling cigarettes and doughnuts on the street. He wasn’t a street fighter but loved to watch highlight films of Ali and Foreman, and eventually left his home in General Santos City for Manila and the pursuit of a boxing career. There, while he learned to box, he sewed buttons in a clothing plant and struggled to learn the different Tagalog dialect spoken in Manila.

Now, at 28, with a record of 43-3-2 and 33 knockouts, he is the Kentucky Derby horse in Arum’s Top Rank stable. He is in our city because Arum wants to sell about 50,000 pay-per-views here of Pacquiao’s fight April 14 in San Antonio against Jorge Solis, and is so wildly popular, we are told, that 600 people showed up at LAX to greet his arriving plane.

“We never release his arrival time,” says Top Rank publicist Bill Caplan. Good thing, because Pacquiao is about 90 minutes late.

With the noise level and body heat rising, a large, muscular man sits down, and introduces himself as Michael Bentt. He is a former heavyweight boxer, now a sometime star of stage and screen. Among Bentt’s highlights are knocking out Tommy Morrison and playing the role of Sonny Liston in the movie “Ali.”

He says he stopped after only 14 pro fights “because I got hit too much.”

This moment of sanity in a sea of nonsense passes quickly. Arum sits down and theorizes on why boxing is losing so much audience to the UFC, Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Turns out, he says, that the UFC, although its product stinks and is actually more violent and dangerous than boxing, understands its audience better, keeps the action going, the fights coming and the young crowd hyped up.

He says boxing doesn’t do that anymore — except Arum will now — because it has sold its soul to television, and television, mostly HBO, makes promoters stop the music and hype so it can have a quiet background for between-fight announcers’ analyses.

Arum says his shows will no longer have pauses “for Larry Merchant to pontificate.”

Nor does Arum want Pacquiao’s show to be a sham, a battle already lost. Realizing his news conference has become a noisy sardine can, he slams his fist on the table and bellows, “I won’t have this kind of schlocky show.”

Soon, Caplan is trying, and failing, to establish order by inviting the gathering to the buffet line as the program is about to begin and announcing, “I don’t want to hear any noise in this room except the chomping of your gums.”

In the back, the buffet line lurches forward as a server tries to speed things up by barehanding hamburgers and tomatoes onto buns.

Eventually, there is a seat next to Pacquiao and a chance to ask some questions.

His English is passable, he is friendly, but the exchange of real information is difficult. He says he has seven homes and when he is in the Philippines, people find him and ask him for money every day.

One of his advisors, Michael Koncz of Foothill Ranch, confirms that, saying that Pacquiao will go through as much as $1,000 in a day and that the only time he saw the fighter turn somebody down, Pacquiao didn’t have his wallet with him.

Pacquiao is so popular he is running for a seat in the Philippine congress. The fight with Solis was scheduled April 14 so he could campaign before the May 11 election day. The image of California Congressman David Dreier in silk Everlast boxing trunks pops to mind, and, thankfully, pops out.

Pacquiao says he is running to “help the people.” Isn’t $1,000 a day more helpful than a signature on a sewage bond?

Then, there is the story of the bag with $250,000 in cash delivered to Pacquiao by the competing Golden Boy Promotions camp last fall, a bag that was accepted, then returned, along with Arum’s status as Pacquiao’s promoter.

Pacquiao is asked about it and looks blankly into the distance. Arum labels the Golden Boy move “thuggery,” and Koncz explains that it is all being cleaned up by lawyers. Understandably, lawyers hover around boxing like sparrows at a picnic.

Almost three hours into this non-solitary confinement, Arum tells reporters that Solis, Pacquiao’s opponent, would have been there but is having visa problems in Tijuana. Arum says Solis is in line at City Hall but is delayed because “there is a mariachi band in line in front of him.”

Outside, where there are air, sunshine and a chance for clear thinking, the decision is made to write about this. Readers will know you can’t make this stuff up. It is boxing.

PHOENIX — Billy Crystal has been friends with Muhammad Ali for 33 years.

That’s why he showed up Saturday night for Celebrity Fight Night, the glitzy gala that raises funds and awareness for Parkinson’s research.

“What he stands for and what this charity stands for is something that’s very close to me,” Crystal said. “I love coming here. It’s a great night. All the sports guys are here. All the music people are here. It’s a unique, special night.”

Now in its 13th year, Celebrity Fight Night has raised more than $38 million since its inception in 1994, with much of the money going to the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center at Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix. This year, some 1,300 people paid more than
$2,000 apiece to attend at a north Phoenix resort.

The 65-year-old Ali has a home in nearby Paradise Valley and attended the event. Celebrity Fight Night was founded by Phoenix businessman Jimmy Walker, Ali’s close friend.

The event’s main strength is its power to attract celebrities,who add a powerful dose of glitter to the cause.

“It is absolutely amazing how many people will turn out for Muhammad Ali,” singer Reba McEntire said. “When he asks, they come.”

Count professional skateboarder Tony Hawk among them.

“He’s the one figure that kind of crosses all the boundaries in terms of sports and celebrity,” Hawk said. “Whatever cause he choses is huge because everyone wants to step up. They want to be part of what he’s about and part of helping his cause. I just don’t think you can get any bigger.

“You just see this reverence that everyone has for him,” Hawk said. “It’s inspiring.”

Dozens of athletes and celebrities turned out, including Sharon Stone, Donald Trump, Steve Nash and John Elway, who all received awards.

Trump attended Ali’s first fight with Joe Frazier at Madison Square Garden on March 8, 1971.

“To this day it’s the most exciting sports event I’ve seen in my life,” Trump said.

Diana Ross performed at the gala, as did jazz musician Michael Buble, who was directed by Grammy Award-winning producer David Foster.

Other attendees included Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Doug Flutie,Michael Irvin, Vince Young and Kurt Warner.

“Once you get to know him, get to find out what he’s all about,the love that he’s got in his heart, the spirit about him, I think that draws people,” Warner said. “As I’ve gotten to know him over the years, I’ve gotten to see the number of people he’s truly
impacted. The guy’s got a tremendous heart. He continues to give back to people in so many different ways.”

Walker founded Celebrity Fight Night in 1994. The first one featured a mock boxing match between former Phoenix Suns star Charles Barkley and former 108-pound world champion Michael Carbajal, a Phoenix legend. The next year, former world champion Sugar Ray Leonard was featured.

But then organizers decided to change the event. When guests arrived for the 1996 event, they were surprised to see a piano in middle of the boxing ring — and even more surprised when Barry Manilow walked out and began to play.

The marriage of celebrities and boxing had been born.

“We decided this really works,” Walker said. “Let’s go the celebrity route.”

It was a wise move. The event has sold out every year.

Ali and Walker had met at a dinner given by Los Angeles Lakers owner Jerry Buss. Ali became involved in 1996, and Parkinson’s disease became the event’s primary emphasis.

Ali is afflicted with the brain disorder, which causes tremors and slows movement. The National Parkinson Foundation estimates that 1.5 million Americans have Parkinson’s and that 60,000 new cases are diagnosed each year.

Ali has become the face of the disease.

“He’s fighting the fight of his life — and he’s not quitting, either,” Walker said.

One of the programs funded by the event is Ali Care, which provides funds for people with Parkinson’s who have limited or no health care insurance. The program also pays for medication,counseling services and other care.

One of the event’s highlights is an auction of celebrity-driven activities. Last year, 18 items raised $2.2 million, Walker said.

At that time, two people began bidding for a dinner at McEntire’s house. She offered to have two dinners — and they went for $250,000 apiece.

“And I didn’t even cook. That was the best part,” McEntire said.

One man stood and bid for an item that wasn’t on the block.

“He raised his hand and said he’d pay $100,000 to shake Muhammad Ali’s hand,” Walker said. “We said ‘Yes.”

Japanese newspaper says yes

In today’s edition, Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Hochi says that Fedor Emelianenko signed a long contract with Bodog Fight. What at first was a one-fight deal, scheduled April 14, against Matt Lindland, may have become a bigger one.

Still according to the newspaper, Bodog owner Calvin Ayres would be interested in matching Fedor up against Wanderlei Silva and Rodrigo Minotauro. According to Fightopinion.com, this would be possible as the UFC, if Pride’s is indeed carried out, won’t be willing to pay the high purses these Brazilians are used to.

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