Yamato-Damashii Diaries - Day 3: The Town That Was Taro

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In the wake of the March 11 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, former Shooto heavyweight champion and Pride veteran Enson Inoue has been on a one-man charity mission, traveling to northeast Japan to directly help those in need.

For his next visit to the Tohoku region, MMA Fighting joined Inoue to document the journey and bring new light to the ongoing crisis in Japan.

On day three, we stocked up on supplies despite financial issues, relive the nightmare of the tsunami and try to find the town that was Taro.

Source: http://www.mmafighting.com/2011/04/14/yamato-damashii-diaries-day-3-the-town-that-was-taro/

Mixed Martial Arts News Josh Barnett Ricco Rodriguez Tim Sylvia

Nick Diaz - Post Fight - Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley - SHOWTIME Sports - Nick Diaz

Following his 10th consecutive win, Strikeforce welterweight champ Nick Diaz briefly shares his thoughts following his title defense against a tough contender Paul Daley.

Source: http://mmalice.com/nick-diaz/nick-diaz-post-fight-strikeforce-diaz-vs-daley-showtime-sports-video_c05412dd2.html

Dan Cramer Alberto Crane Marcio Pe de Pano Cruz Luke Cummo

5 Reasons Why Chad Robichaux Could Beat Zach Makovsky

Hello once more fans and friends and welcome back to part two of another two-part entry into my series ?5 Reasons Why?. This particularly two-parter focuses on the impending showdown between Bellator Bantamweight Champion Zach Makovsky and unbeaten challenger Chad Robichaux. Although the title may not be on the line, Robichaux would certainly be a [...]

Source: http://www.fighters.com/04/15/5-reasons-why-chad-robichaux-could-beat-zach-makovsky

Eddie Alvarez Thiago Alves Andre Amade Dean Amasinger

What you need to know from this week on ‘The Ultimate Fighter’

Welcome to the weekly recap of "The Ultimate Fighter." In the last episode, Team Lesnar turned the momentum in their favor as Chris Cope won his fight and Team dos Santos' Keon Caldwell left the show. What will happen in tonight's epsiode? Why is Junior smiling? Will anyone learn how to pronounce the name McGillivray? Read on for answers to those questions and spoilers.

Wait, what did he call us? of the week: Brock Lesnar said many times in this season that he was turning chicken [expletive] into chicken salad. After the 700th time he said it, his team said, "Wait a second. We're not chicken [expletive]" They were quick on the uptake, ya see.

Lesnar tries to explain away his statement but it seems that his definition of chicken [expletive] is different than the popular definition.

New guy of the week: Team dos Santos meets Justin Edwards, the replacement for Caldwell. He has an uncanny resemblance to Randy Couture, or at least what Couture looked like when he was younger.

That's gotta hurt of the week: Lew Polley runs dos Santos' practices with an iron fist, which appears to makes Junior uncomfortable. After Shamar Bailey gets cut over the eye, dos Santos speaks up, telling his team that he's not comfortable with Polley's style.

Fight pick of the week: Len Bentley (Team Lesnar) vs. Ryan McGillivray (Team dos Santos)

Meanwhile, at the house of the week: Cope has made friends on both teams, which in the fish bowl world of a reality show, means he's a spy for the other team. Bentley gets slightly paranoid before his fight and takes his concerns about espionage to Lesnar, who tells him to calm down.

Communication breakdown of the week: Dos Santos reminds Polley who is in charge. Despite what commercials have touted, it has the drama of a status meeting about the TPS reports in conference room B.

Weight-cut weirdness of the week: We get an up-close look of dos Santos and the coaches as they help McGillivray cut down to welterweight, and a get a bit closer look at McGillivray's backside then he wanted. Afterwards, both fighters made weight.

Absentee of the week: Lesnar won't be present for Bentley's fight because of "a personal issue in his personal life." Awkwardly, Lesnar tells the camera that his personal life comes first, then runs away.

Awwww of the week: McGillvray's daughter is his motivation, and he asks dos Santos to hold onto a picture of his daughter in the corner. He is also missing her birthday, so he puts aside a pie to celebrate when the fight is over.

Fight of the week: Bentley vs. McGillivray

Round one: A left hook early in the round from Bentley sends McGillivray to the canvas. Bentley follows up with a full mount, peppering McGillivray with punches. McGillivray pushes Bentley to side control then closed guard, but Bentley punishes him with elbows along the way. McGillivray gets out from underneath Bentley, and they return to their feet. This time, he sends Bentley to the canvas with a straight left, and follows Bentley to the ground. After some time grappling, Bentley tries for an armbar. He can't get it. McGillivray tries for a choke, and he can't get it. The time runs out on the first round.

Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, who is watching the fight, asks Dana White, "Who won the round?" Dana answers that he doesn't know. It's a round that could go either way, as both fighters scored knockdowns and submission attempts.

Round two: Both fighters start the round more conservatively than they did the first, but McGillivray breaks it up with an elbow, and Bentley answer with kicks. They both start to land more strikes as the round goes on, but their fatigue is starting to show. Bentley tries a spinning backfist but ends up just hitting McGillivray's back. McGillivray charges in and pushes Bentley to the fence in an attempt for a takedown. Bentley succumbs to the takedown but gets back to his feet. The two finish the round by throwing every strikes under the sun at each other. Was it technically perfect? Nah. But it was two fighters giving everything they had in a bout, which is always fun to watch.

Surprisingly, it was finished in two rounds. The judges scored it 19-19, 20-18, 20-18 for Ryan McGillivray. In good news for Bentley, White found Bentley to tell him specifically that he had fought a great fight. TUF is about catching the UFC's eye and getting a contract, and if you don't win the show, impressing White is crucial. Bentley did that.

Back in the locker room, McGillivray emotionally looks at the picture of his daughter, while dos Santos and his teammates tell him to be proud. Awwww. Pie for everyone!

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/What-you-need-to-know-from-this-week-on-The-Ult?urn=mma-wp1210

David Baron Phil Baroni Don Barr Pat Barry

Melendez defends belt, makes case to be No. 1 lightweight

Gilbert Melendez held onto his Strikeforce lightweight championship belt with a dominating performance at Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley. Melendez quickly TKOed Kawajiri in San Diego on Saturday.

Melendez started aggressively in the first round, dropping Kawajiri with a right hook and then following up with a bevy of strikes. He took Kawajiri's back, and continued to land strikes even as Kawajiri struggled to his feet. When they returned to stand-up, Kawajiri, a noted wrestler, shot in for a takedown but Melendez sprawled, threw an upper cut and then followed up with strikes and elbows to finish the fight at 3:14 in the first round.

After he ran through Kawajiri, Melendez wanted to make it clear that he believes he's the best lightweight in the world, not UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar.

"I think it's time to unify some titles. I'm the No. 1 lightweight in the world. Let's get it done," Melendez said.

Melendez hadn't been in the cage for a year; his last win was over another Japanese fighter, Shinya Aoki. Melendez's record is now 19-2. Kawajiri, who faced numerous training difficulties because of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, was making his American debut. He fell to 27-7-2.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Melendez-defends-belt-makes-case-to-be-No-1-li?urn=mma-wp1074

Edwin Dewees Nick Diaz Tadhg Steamfist Dixon Joe Doerksen

Strikeforce Challengers 15 brings 214,000 viewers to Showtime

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Last Friday's Strikeforce Challengers 15 event saw a slight bump in ratings on Showtime from February's Challengers series card, as MMAJunkie.com reports that the card drew 214,000 viewers.

Headlined by a lightweight bout between Justin Wilcox and Rodrigo Damm, the exciting fight card from the Stockton Arena in California had no shortage of highlights.

With Wilcox earning a TKO win due to doctor's stoppage, Caros Fodor having a standout performance, Lorenz Larkin breaking onto the scene and James Terry pulling out a highly impressive knockout of his own, the card was one of the better Challengers events.

The rating came in 14,000 viewers higher than the February card, and came in as the fifth best Challengers card since the beginning of 2010.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/Affliction2/article_8976.shtml

Jon Fitch Kenny Florian Jesse Forbes Xavier Foupa Pokam

Gilbert Melendez - Post Fight - Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley - SHOWTIME Sports - Gilbert Melendez

Strikeforce lightweight champion, Melendez talks with Showtime Sports, straight from the cage following a brutal victory over Tatsuya Kawajiri.

Source: http://mmalice.com/gilbert-melendez/gilbert-melendez-post-fight-strikeforce-diaz-vs-daley-showtime-sports-video_f52acdd13.html

Dai Shuanghai Mac Danzig Karen Darabedyan Viacheslav Datsik

"Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Daley"--Fight of the Night: Nick Diaz vs. Paul Daley

While the affair was just a one-round bout, it may have been one of the most exciting one-round fights in recent mixed marital arts history. Nick Diaz, the regining Strikeforce welterweight champion, arguably had his toughest test to date when he met with UFC castout and perennial top-10 fighter Paul Daley last Saturday. While both [...]

Source: http://www.fighters.com/04/11/strikeforce-diaz-vs-daley-fight-of-the-night-nick-diaz-vs-paul-daley

Michael Bisping Dan Bobish Vagam Bodjukyan Kotetsu Boku

Christian & Natalya Tweet On Edge?s Retirement & More

– The Hollywood Reporter will be reporting later today that TruTV has picked up Hulk Hogan’s Micro Championship Wrestling for six episodes, debuting this summer. – Adam Copeland, Awesome Kong, Brie Bella, Extreme Rules, Edge, Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger and Mason Ryan, among other WWE terms, were trending tonight on Twitter. – Christian and Natalya commented on Edge announcing his retirement tonight on Raw. Both wrote on Twitter: Christian: “I’ve shed my tears..And from here on out I choose 2celebrate 1 of the greatest careers in WWE history..Cant wait2 induct u in the ...

Source: http://www.ifight365.com/2011/04/christian-natalya-tweet-on-edges-retirement-more/

Ricco Rodriguez Tim Sylvia Frank Mir Andrei Arlovski