Watch Junior dos Santos throw the ‘Showtime’ kick

Remember that kick Anthony Pettis threw against Ben Henderson that made us all go crazy? Now everyone is trying it, including UFC heavyweight contender Junior dos Santos.

It was impressive enough when Pettis did it, but this time, it was a heavyweight who weighed in at 240 lbs. in his last bout. Yet, he was nimble enough to run off a wall and kick Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, who was holding the Muay Thai pad.

Think we'll see him pull it off against Brock Lesnar in June?

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Watch-Junior-dos-Santos-throw-the-Showtime-kic?urn=mma-wp505

Fedor Emelianenko Yasubey Enomoto Mark Epstein Tom Big Cat Erickson

B.J. Penn versus Blank Space

Having to unexpectedly replace injured fighters is as familiar a concept for MMA organizations as hiring attractive ring-girls and crossing your fingers Cecil Peoples hasn?t been assigned to score one of your bigger bouts. Any sport involving a high level of physicality inherently has more risk involved where maintaining its participants? health is concerned so [...]

Source: http://fiveouncesofpain.com/2011/04/04/b-j-penn-versus-blank-space/

Mikhail Avetisyan Luiz Azeredo Luciano Azevedo Ba Te er

UFC's Dan Hardy calls out Lytle; Chris says "Let's do it"

If there was any one feeling that Dan Hardy could be feeling, it would be “frustrated”. The one-time UFC title challenger is now reeling from a three-fight losing streak which began with his loss to current champion Georges St. Pierre in March of last year and finally culminated in his most recent loss to friend and [...]

Source: http://www.fighters.com/03/31/ufcs-dan-hardy-calls-out-lytle-chris-says-lets-do-it

Mikey Burnett Murilo Bustamante Grant Campbell Gesias JZ Calvancante

MMA on TV

Welcome to ?MMA on TV?, Five Ounces of Pain?s weekly update on the upcoming MMA-broadcast schedule. Miss the latest episode of ?MMA Live? or ?UFC Unleashed?? Wondering when Strikeforce or HDNet are airing a replay of their latest offering or interested in finding out where to tune into live shows occurring over the next seven [...]

Source: http://fiveouncesofpain.com/2011/04/04/mma-on-tv-31/

Jason Hollywood Chambers Ryo Piranha Chonan Dan The Sandman Christison Logan The Pink Pounder Clark

White lukewarm on GSP-Silva, now calling it a ‘fantasy’ fight

Because things change quickly in the world of mixed martial arts, it's never smart to book a fight nine months in advance. The possibility of a Georges St. Pierre-Anderson Silva clash has gone from very likely six weeks ago to Dana White calling it a "fantasy" fight on Saturday.

Around UFC 126, the UFC president sounded pretty certain he'd finally be putting together the superfight between his welterweight and middleweight champions.

After UFC 128, it looks like the fight has been put on the backburner.

"This fight isn't happening," White said. "It's not a fight yet. It's still a big fantasy fight. There are still things that need to happen in the meantime before we sit down and discuss where this fight would be, what weight it would be at, how it would work. It's all just fantasy yet.

"I literally have not talked to Georges St-Pierre or Anderson Silva about this fight."

GSP echoed those sentiments when he spoke with Cagewriter two weeks ago.

"[...] It's a complete re-orientation of my career. People are saying crazy stuff: 'Oh, he just has to gain 30 pounds and take the fight and fight him in three months.' I can't get 30 pounds in three months. It would take a lot more than that, if I want to go up in weight class," said St. Pierre. "Plus, Silva fights at light heavyweight as well. So he walks around at … he's probably 40 pounds heavier than I am. So if I fight this fight, it might be at a catch weight. If it happens."

Now that the UFC has purchased Strikeforce, that's an even bigger if.

The UFC opened discussions with Strikeforce's former owners starting in December, but when White talked about the superfight possibility at UFC 126, he couldn't have known less than six weeks later, he'd have his pick of the Strikeforce welterweight and middleweight divisions.

Strikeforce's 170 class may not be deep, but it does have a guy in Nick Diaz, who should certainly get a shot at GSP, if the champ gets by Jake Shields at UFC 129 in late April.

The common thought is that Silva has cleaned out the middleweight division. That's utter nonsense. He's got plenty of intriguing fights at 185. Chael Sonnen deserves another shot and if Wanderlei Silva, can stay healthy and get some wins under his belt, that's a mega-fight as well. There's also Yushin Okami and what happens if Michael Bisping keeps piling up wins? The Strikeforce roster also has a few intriguing matchups for Silva led by Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza, Tim Kennedy and Dan Henderson.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/White-lukewarm-on-GSP-Silva-now-calling-it-a-f?urn=mma-wp445

Vagam Bodjukyan Kotetsu Boku Tony Bonello Stephan Bonnar

UFC FIGHT NIGHT 24 BONUSES: Jung, Hendricks, McDonald and Figueroa earn $55k each; event sets attendance and gate records for Fight Night series events

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

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Four fighters made themselves an extra $55,000 on Saturday night at UFC Fight Night 24, as the UFC announced that Chan Sung Jung, Johny Hendricks, Michael McDonald and Edwin Figueroa each earned "Fight Night" bonuses for their performances on the card in Seattle.

Jung earned the "Submission of the Night" in his rematch with Leonard Garcia on the night's main card. In what was actually a better quality fight than their much lauded first meeting last year, Jung locked Garcia up in a never-before-seen in the UFC twister submission, a modified neck crank from the back, and forced Garcia to submit with only one second remaining in the second round.

The "Knockout of the Night" went to Johny Hendricks, who stepped in as a late replacement against T.J. Waldburger and finished him in the first round. The win was a bounce back after the first loss of his career, a dropped decision to Rick Story in December.

Bantamweights McDonald and Figueroa took home the "Fight of the Night" award for their fun back and forth fight on the preliminary card. The fight, which aired live on Facebook, ultimately went to McDonald, but both fighters received an ovation from the crowd and Joe Rogan even interviewed Figueroa after, something not often done for the losing fighter outside of a main event.

The event also set a Fight Night record for gate and attendance for the UFC, as they announced a crowd of 14,212 and a gate of $1,182,850 for the debut event in Seattle.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_8890.shtml

Forrest Griffin Rashad Evans Lyoto Machida Mauricio Rua

Agitated Greg Jackson growing tired of the bashing in Evans-Jones beef

Rashad Evans is going to work in Florida and Jon Jones will be in Albuquerque. It's pretty much set in stone when, the light heavyweight teammates from Jackson's Submission Fighting, prep to meet some time later this year.

Jackson joined ProMMARadio to bring some clarity in the beef  between the two fighters. Larry Pepe did a nice job of pushing the envelope in what clearly is a very sensitive situation for Jackson. The renowned trainer is generally cool as a cucumber, but got a little testy (3:00 mark).

"To be clear, I don't know how many more times I'm going to say it," Jackson told the dogged Pepe. "If Rashad Evans said to me ' Greg, absolutely I do not want Jon Jones on the team. No way.' Where in any of my 16-year history would I have been like 'the heck with that, I'm just going to bring him on the team anyway?' There's nothing about me that says that. I've never done that before. I've never done that since."

Jackson said repeatedly that Evans didn't make it clear from the beginning that he had a problem with Jones joining the team. He also told Ben Fowlkes that he did not agree with Jones' decision to take the fight against Evans.

As a result of all the drama, neither fighter will have the benefit of using Jackson's expertise for the fight. Jackson told Pepe he will not train Jones. That role will taken over by Mike Winkeljohn. Jackson won't corner either fighter on fight night.

If Evans ever chooses to return to Albuquerque to work with Jackson, the trainer said he has no bad feelings and he'd welcome him back with open arms.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Agitated-Greg-Jackson-growing-tired-of-the-bashi?urn=mma-wp760

Marcio Pe de Pano Cruz Luke Cummo Jeff Big Frog Curran Dai Shuanghai

Bellator 39: Alvarez can’t finish Curran, Patricky ‘Pitbull’ lands spectacular knee

Eddie Alvarez found a willing dance partner in Pat Curran. He just wouldn't leave the dance floor.

Curran decided to stand and bang with one of the world's top 10 lightweights, but wouldn't wilt under a hailstorm of body shots. Alvarez landed more punches and the harder shots throughout to roll to a unanimous decision win, 50-45, 50-45 and 49-46, in the main event of Bellator 39.

Curran, whose cousin Jeff is a former WEC champion, sent a message by going the distance with Alvarez. The Philadelphian moved to 22-2 with the win. It was just the third time he'd been taken past the second round. Alvarez came in riding a six-fight win streak and was fresh off a complete destruction of former UFC lightweight Roger Huerta.

"That guy's got a hard, hard head. He can take a shot," Alvarez told Bellator color voice Jimmy Smith. "I was starting to find my rhythm. He just stuck in there. I wish I had the heart he has at his age. Pat's gonna be a champion, no doubt."

Curran's overall game was impressive. Alvarez, is a very solid MMA wrestler, but anytime he got Curran down, the 23-year-old was able to quickly scramble to his feet. On the feet, Alvarez's movement made it tough for Curran (13-4) to land punches.

Curran is tough as nails. He absorbed dozens of nasty body shots and never went down.

Hawn takes narrow split decision from Good

Rick Hawn's effort won't make any "Best of" highlight tapes, but he fought to a gameplan that scored with the judges. He got a takedown early in the second and one more with 15 seconds left in the fight. That may have been the difference in gaining a split decision win, 29-28, 28-29 and 30-27, over Lyman Good to advance to the Bellator Season 4 welterweight tournament final.

Hawn will face the winner of Jay Hieron and Brent Weedman. They fight next week at Bellator 40.

"He hits hard. I started off a little slow and I should've pushed harder at the end," Hawn said. "[I have] a lot of confidence. [Good's] won the tournament before. Whoever it is, I'm ready for them."

Good cost himself the fight with his inability to get off the mat in the second round. He was taken down at 4:42 left in the round and didn't try a single submission or commit to escaping. Hawn landed nothing of significance, but maintained top control and most times that's enough to win over judges.

In the first and third round on the feet, Good landed some effective jabs, but was hesitant to really commit with big shots or flurries.

Hawn, a 2004 Olympian in Judo, is dangerous in the clinch and Good was clearly avoiding tight spaces.

'Pitbull' with another eye-opening win

Toby Imada has been a handful for everyone in Bellator, but Patricky "Pitbull" Freire showed he's at a different level. Imada, a dynamic submission specialist, chose to stand with Freire. Pitbull  landed a super-athletic flying knee, Imada froze in place and then ate a left hook before falling to his back. Pitbull gots the TKO win at 2:53 of the first round in the Bellator Season 4 lightweight semifinal.

Pitbull, 25, looks like a super prospect and may be the only guy under contract with Bellator, who can give the champ Alvarez, a dangerous challenge. Freire (10-1) will face the winner of Lloyd Woodard and Michael Chandler. That semi goes down next week at Bellator 40.

Freire and his younger brother, Patricio have combined to go 25-2 to start their MMA careers.

Saunders makes Lee a bloody mess

Matt Sung Lee was looking for one last shot at some big fights, but he ran into the wrong guy on the feet. Lee had to face last second fill-in Ben Saunders and after 11-plus minutes of fighting he was left looking like a horror flick victim. Saunders' elbows opened cuts over both of Lee's eyes, and blood was flowing from the South Korean's nose forcing a doctor's stoppage at 1:24 of third round.

Saunders, an "Ultimate Fighter" alum, was cut after losing lost two straight with the UFC. He was 3-3 with the UFC, mainly because of poor takedown defense.

At 6-foot-3, he's gigantic for weight class and knows how to use that height and length advantage. Lee, a smallish, doughy looking welterweight tried to stand with Saunders and was in trouble from the opening seconds.

Saunders (10-3-2, 3-3 UFC) closed spaced early and looked to work along the cage. The big guy crushed Lee's nose in the first and ripped open a good-sized cut next to his right eye in the second. So much blood was flowing that it appeared Saunders, who had it all over the side of his head and down his chest, must've been cut too. But it wasn't the case.

Lee's corner begged the physician in attendance to let the fight go into the third round. The doctor relented, but when Saunders landed a huge right elbow out of the clinch with four minutes left in the fight, it was less than 20 seconds later that the doc waved off the fight. The cut over left eye spurted blood quickly and that side of Lee's face was almost covered in crimson 10 seconds later.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Bellator-39-Alvarez-can-t-finish-Curran-Patric?urn=mma-wp883

Steve The Snake Claveau Rich No Love Clementi Mark The Hammer Coleman Wes Soldier Combs