Brock Lesnar Out of UFC 131

by Michael David SmithBrock Lesnar won't fight at UFC 131.In a blockbuster announcement Thursday afternoon, UFC President Dana White revealed that Brock Lesnar is once again suffering from diverticulitis and will not be able to fight at UFC 131. Instead, the main event on that fight card will be Junior dos Santos vs. Shane Carwin.

"I want to thank the UFC, I want to thank Mr. White and I want to apologize to Junior dos Santos and Spike TV," Lesnar said. "This is an unfortunate situation for me. I dodged a bullet about two years ago with diverticulitis, at that time not knowing what the problem was. ... Diverticulitis is something that never goes away. It's something I've dealt with since the first occurrence and I've been battling it."

 

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Source: http://mmafighting.com/2011/05/12/brock-lesnar-out-of-ufc-131-junior-dos-santos-vs-shane-carwin/

Daiju Takase Oleg Taktarov Akitoshi Tamura Kiyoshi Tamura

MMA Top 10 Pound-for-Pound: GSP, Aldo Miss a Chance to Move Up

by Michael David Smith
Heading into UFC 129, I thought both welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre and featherweight champion Jose Aldo had a good chance of putting on the kind of performance that would move them up in the pound-for-pound rankings.

GSP did what he usually does and won a dominant unanimous decision over a good opponent in Jake Shields, but he didn't do anything that makes him leapfrog Anderson Silva at the top of the list. And Aldo won a classic battle with Mark Hominick, but it wasn't the kind of transcendent performance that could put him on top of the MMA world.

So as we review the Top 10 pound-for-pound fighters in mixed martial arts, there's no change at the top.

 

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Source: http://mmafighting.com/2011/05/04/mma-top-10-pound-for-pound-gsp-aldo-miss-a-chance-to-move-up/

Aldrin de Jesus Todd Duffee Marvin Eastman Stav Crazy Bear Economou

What you need to know from this week on “The Ultimate Fighter”

It's wildcard fight night this week on "The Ultimate Fighter," as well as the coaches' challenge. Who will win the last spot on the quarterfinals? Which coach will prevail? And why are the Octagon Girls wearing cheerleading uniforms? Read on for spoilers and a fight recap.

As was announced in last week's episode, Chuck O'Neil will fight Javier Torres in the wildcard bout that will decide the last quarterfinalist. Len Bentley, who felt like he was screwed in his bout, is not happy and goes after Dana White to ask for a spot in the finale. You can imagine how that goes over. The fighters had a spot to speak up last week with Dana and the other coaches, and Bentley was nowhere near s enthusiastic in during that talk as he was when he grabbed Dana.

"If you had grabbed me like this two hours ago, we wouldn't be having this discussion," White said.

Whiner of the week: Bentley goes on and on and on about how he's the best fighter. And on. And on. Everyone gets annoyed with this, and Ryan McGillivray uses the opportunity to stir the spot. He tells Bentley that Junior dos Santos told him (do you feel like you're in seventh grade?) that Brock said that Bentley's knee wasn't ready.

Bad idea jeans of the week: Bentley decides he will stand up to Brock, calling him selfish and rude. Good plan.

When he does, Lesnar said that it was because of the knee, and that both Brock and Dana wanted healthy fighters. He also said that Dana really liked how Chuck and Javier fought.

Len goes back to his workout. Way to tell him, Len!

On the other side of the coin, Lesnar doubts that O'Neil really wants to fight. Oh, jeez.

"I Feel Pretty" of the Week: O'Neil decides that it's time to ditch the dirty neckbeard look.

He gets rid of his neckbeard, cleans up the hairstyle, and admits that the cameras may have gotten to him.

The makeover worked, as O'Neil is back to impressing his coaches. Marty Morgan says, "He said I'm no longer good time Chuck. I'm back to being Cold Steel."

Roommate issues of the week: It's that time of the season when the fighters get tired of living with each other. This time, the issue is Chris Cope's loudness, and how Shamar Bailey wants to fight him just to shut him up. Ahh, togetherness.

COACHES CHALLENGE! It's my favorite part of the series. (Besides, y'know, good fights.) The challenge is football, and they're playing at Fertitta Field at Bishop Gorman High School, where Dana and the Fertittas went to high school. Considering Lesnar tried out for the Vikings and grew up in the football-crazed U.S., he has an edge over dos Santos, who said, "I never played this!"

They have to run through a series of football drills, include ropes, a slalom, hitting a tackling sled, throwing a pass and kicking a football. The first one done gets $10,000, while his team gets $1,500.

Brock gets down in a three-point stance to start, and they're even until Junior kicks a field goal more quickly than Brock. He also is able to throw a pass with more success than Brock, so he wins the challenge and gets $10K.

"I think we both sucked. He just got luckier than I did," Lesnar said.

Dos Santos decided to give some cash to the fighters and coaches on the other team. Everyone except Brock.

Quote of the week: "Team dos Santos has four wins, and we have three. This would tie us up, and it's good to win. It's better to win than to lose." -- Brock Lesnar

Fight of the week: Javier Torres (Team dos Santos) vs. Chuck O'Neil (Team Lesnar)

Round one: O'Neil starts with a kick to the head and a takedown attempt. He can't get the takedown, and the fighters take the bout to the fence. Torres and O'Neil exchange knees until O'Neil breaks away and throws a punch. However, they end up right back at the fence. O'Neil is unsuccessful in a trip attempt, and they go back to kneeing each other in the body. Referee Herb Dean breaks them apart after Torres lands an inadvertent knee to O'Neil's groin. When they restart, they continue clinching.

Round two: Torres finally gets his takedown in the first minute of the round. O'Neil cage walks up to his feet then takes Torres down. At this point, the fight slows down. O'Neil tries for a kimura that he doesn't have, while Torres has no idea how to get out from underneath O'Neil. Finally, O'Neil can get movement, and sinks in a D'Arce choke. Torres taps, and O'Neil moves on.

Each team has four fighters in the quarters. The match-ups are:

Clay Harvison vs. Ramsey Nijem

Chris Cope vs. Shamar Bailey

Chuck O'Neil vs. Zach Davis

Tony Ferguson vs. Ryan McGillivray

The first two quarterfinals will air next week.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/What-you-need-to-know-from-this-week-on-The-Ult?urn=mma-wp2170

Shane The Engineer Carwin Jason Hollywood Chambers Ryo Piranha Chonan Dan The Sandman Christison

UFC Announces New Insurance for Fighters

by Michael David SmithOne of the things that has always separated the UFC from sports leagues like the NFL, NBA and MLB is the lack of insurance for UFC fighters for injuries suffered outside the Octagon. But as the UFC grows, that appears to be changing.

Zuffa, the parent company of the UFC and Strikeforce, has announced that its 350 or so fighters, who are all independent contractors, will now be eligible for what it calls "customized accident insurance coverage." The policy will cover not just accidental injuries suffered in training, but also injuries suffered in car accidents or other injuries that have nothing to do with the fighters' MMA careers.

"As this sport continues to grow, we have been working hard to secure additional insurance coverage so that our athletes can perform at the highest levels," UFC President Dana White said in the announcement. "We're proud to give our athletes access to this type of insurance."

 

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Source: http://mmafighting.com/2011/05/09/ufc-announces-new-insurance-for-fighters/

Per Eklund Jason Ellis Aleksander Emelianenko Fedor Emelianenko

Gus Johnson's Contract Up at CBS

by Michael David SmithGus Johnson, the lead mixed martial arts play-by-play man for CBS who has called many of the most-watched fights in the sport's history, is reportedly leaving the network.

Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated reports that Johnson, who's best known for calling college football and the NFL, is leaving after failing to come to terms on a new contract with the network. UPDATE: The New York Daily News reports that while Johnson's contract with CBS has expired, it's still possible he could reach a new deal.

It's not clear whether Johnson is also out at Showtime, where he has been both a boxing and MMA play-by-play voice. Johnson will still be part of Saturday night's Manny Pacquiao vs. Shane Mosley pay-per-view broadcast, but it seems unlikely that Johnson would stick around at Showtime, which a division of the CBS Corporation, for long.

 

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Source: http://mmafighting.com/2011/05/05/gus-johnson-out-at-cbs/

Josh Barnett Ricco Rodriguez Tim Sylvia Frank Mir

St-Pierre stumbles to finish line in victory at UFC 129

Georges St-Pierre was far from spectacular, but champions find ways to win. The UFC welterweight champ couldn't take out Jake Shields, but he had enough to survive blurred vision in his left eye and post a unanimous decision win, 48-47, 50-45 and 48-47, in the main event of UFC 129 in front of 55,000 fans at Rogers Centre in Toronto.

Even in front his home country faithful, GSP heard some boos,  jeers and whistling in the final round. Because of a damaged left eye, he struggled at times to engage over the final two rounds. He finished the fight with blood dripping down his face and a swollen eye.

"I wasn't able to see. I think it's scratched inside. I can't see with my left. I just see a blur. It's very bad," St-Pierre said during a conversation with UFC color voice Joe Rogan, as he was blinking and testing the vision out of the left.

St-Pierre, as he often does following decision victories, apologized to the massive crowd.

"His striking was much better than I thought. He closed my eyes," GSP said.

St-Pierre (22-2, 17-2 UFC) said thought he'd dominate in the standup game, "and then put and put him down later in the fight. I couldn't deliver much with this [eye]. I wanted to make a KO or submission."

St-Pierre has won nine straight fights and defended the title six times in a row. A bunch of those wins (six) have come via decision. He's a smart fighter, so he's often unwilling to take the risk required to go for the kill.

Before GSP's eye was damaged late in the third round, Shields looked silly on the feet. The former Strikeforce middleweight champ looked silly and slow. Shields (26-5-1, 1-1 UFC) is a renowned jiu-jitsu practitioner, but he never came close to scoring a takedown. He simply lacked the athleticism to catch St-Pierre.

Nelson Hamilton and Richard Bertrand posted the 48-47 scores, while Doug Crosby called it a blowout at 50-45. The FightMetric numbers tell a different story. Shields actually outlanded St-Piere 96-92, but GSP was much more accurate making good on 36.5 to 22.6 percent. Shields downfall was his inability to get the fight to the ground. He was 0-for-6 on takedown attempts while GSP put him down 2-of-3 times.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/St-Pierre-stumbles-to-finish-line-in-victory-at-?urn=mma-wp1875

Ba Te er Ryan Bader Siyar Bahadurzada Bao Ligao

Fedor Emelianenko vs. Dan Henderson to headline July 30 Strikeforce event on Showtime

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Fedor_Strikeforce150_75.jpg

A heavyweight bout between Fedor Emelianenko and Dan Henderson will headline a July 30 Strikeforce event on Showtime in the Chicago area, according to multiple reports on Tuesday.

Though MMAJunkie.com on Monday reported the possibility of the fight and the location, Jonathan Snowden at SBNation.com and Josh Gross at ESPN.com on Tuesday each reported that the fight is expected to officially be announced shortly.

The Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Ill. is expected to play host to the event, the second time Strikeforce has headlined the venue with a Fedor Emelianenko fight.

The Emelianenko vs. Henderson fight will technically take place at heavyweight, though both fighters are likely to come into the bout close to the discussed 220 lb. catchweight.

Both fighters enter the fight heading in different directions, with Emelianenko losing his last two bouts to Fabricio Werdum and Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva and Henderson knocking out Renato "Babalu" Sobral and Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante in his last two fights.

Penick's Analysis: It's good to hear more solid confirmation that this fight is happening and there will hopefully not be any more "negotiations" that need to take place. This is a great fight for each of them, and it is a little surprising it's taken until now to get booked. But still, the important part is, it's happening, and it's happening on Showtime instead of pay-per-view. This will be another good card for Strikeforce and will make for a nice cap to July after UFC 132 kicks the month off.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_9237.shtml

Vagam Bodjukyan Kotetsu Boku Tony Bonello Stephan Bonnar

UFC looking to implement five round non-title fights; UFC 131's Lesnar vs. Dos Santos was almost the first

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

LogoUFC_150_908.jpg

The UFC is moving closer to booking five-round non-title main event fights for their events, and UFC President Dana White said this week they were almost ready to roll it out this June.

"We were actually going to start it with Brock Lesnar and Junior Dos Santos, but we had already made the fight," White said during a Q&A on Friday with fans at the UFC Fan Expo (transcribed by MMAWeekly.com). "We had already made the fight so it's kind of hard to go back to those guys after you already make the fight and say 'you know what this is going to be five [rounds] instead of three."

With the draw between B.J. Penn and Jon Fitch in February at UFC 127, as well as the close fight between Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Lyoto Machida at UFC 123 last November, the call for more rounds for the non-title pay-per-view main events is as loud as it has ever been, and though they're not quite there yet, White assured fans in Toronto that they're getting close.

Penick's Analysis: For main event fights, especially on pay-per-view, fights should be five rounds. If it's an important enough fight to headline the card - and most non-title main events at least have some type of affect on the top end of a division - then allowing both fighters a full five rounds to separate it from the other fights on the card is a great move. We could see this as early as UFC 133 in Philadelphia if the UFC doesn't have a title fight available for the card, and UFC 135 and UFC 136 in September or October could also be possibilities depending on how things shape up with regard to their respective title holders. Depending on the timing, I'd expect we'll see the UFC implement this before the year is out.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_9200.shtml

Ao Hailin Shinya Aoki Andrei Arlovski Ricardo Arona

UFC 129 asks who is better, Canada or U.S.?

UFC 129 is more than a record-breaking MMA event that will pack 55,000 into the Rogers Centre in Toronto to see two championship belts decided. It's also a face-off between American and Canadian fighters to decide which country is better. Cagewriter breaks it down for you. Which North American country does it better?

GSP vs. Shields: Everything is going for GSP. He's fighting in front of a home crowd, he's at the height of his hype and he's considered invincible, which is exactly why I don't think he'll win. If Shields gets it to the ground, GSP is in trouble. Advantage: Shields and the U.S.

Signature food -- poutine vs. pizza: Poutine, french fries top with cheese curds and brown gravy, sounds amazing. However, pizza -- a food with an ancestor in Italy but that is singularly American -- is much better. It is customizable, yummy when hot and cold, can be made to look like Yoda and everyone loves it. Advantage: U.S.

Mark Bocek vs. Ben Henderson: BenHen needs to erase the memory of being on the wrong end of the Anthony Pettis highlight reel. That incentive is enough to get the former WEC champ the win. Advantage: Henderson and the U.S.

National anthems -- "O Canada" vs. "The Star-Spangled Banner": The U.S. national anthem, when sung well, can tear the house down, but it's not easy for an average person to sing.  That's not true of "O Canada." During the Vancouver Olympics, Canadians showed how easy it was to sing their anthem. Advantage: Canada

National animal: For America, it's the bald eagle, a strong, proud bird that can pick off prey from a mile away. Canada's, which can seen on the header of the new Yahoo! Sports Blog, The Eh Game, is the beaver. Advantage: the U.S.

Nate Diaz vs. Rory McDonald: Does Canada have a Stockton equivalent? Nah The baddest fighters come from Cali, not Quebec. Advantage: U.S.

Other sports: Well, Canada did just win a figure skating world championship and the Canucks knocked my Blackhawks out of the playoffs, and they won the gold medal in both men's and women's hockey at the Vancouver Olympics. Canadians also excel at curling. Outside of that, America rules. Football, baseball, basketball -- I'll take Derrick Rose over Steve Nash -- we're better. We'll give you hockey, Canada. We'll take the rest. Advantage: U.S.

Other fights: On the other UFC 129 Canada vs. U.S. fights, my picks are Makdessi, Patrick, Jabouin for Canada and Ellenberger, Valencia, Jensen for the U.S.

The final tally: America wins, 8-4.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/UFC-129-asks-who-is-better-Canada-or-U-S-?urn=mma-wp1650

Michael Bisping Dan Bobish Vagam Bodjukyan Kotetsu Boku