As 2008 came to a close, so did World Extreme Cagefighting's 185- and 205-pound weight divisions. But as one door closes another opens.
MMAWeekly.com sources on Tuesday revealed that the WEC is adding a 125-pound flyweight division. With WEC 38 in San Diego just three weeks away, no 125-pound bouts are expected for that fight card. The promotion's next event, likely in March, is a more apt candidate to host the WEC's new commitment to flyweight fighters.
Following its purchase by Zuffa in late 2006, the WEC has worked to find a niche for its product. Televised on the Versus television network, the promotion quickly found that it did not have enough talent to fill its middleweight and light heavyweight divisions, officially putting both weight classes on hiatus following WEC 37 in December.
WEC and UFC still maintain crossover categories in the lightweight and welterweight classes. Those two divisions, however, have a vast amount of talented fighters to draw from, although the WEC has had a difficult time finding a variety of challengers to Carlos Condit's welterweight championship.
Over the course of 2008, the featherweight and bantamweight divisions became the obvious points of distinction for the WEC. The flyweight category is the natural progression for the WEC to continue growing separate from the UFC.
The 125-pound flyweight division is already a recognized category by most athletic commissions. With its addition to the WEC, that leaves only the super heavyweight class (fighters over 265 pounds) as the only highly recognized weight division not utilized by either the WEC or the UFC.
UFC President Dana White mentioned to FightersOnly magazine, that the highly anticipated UFC heavyweight unification bout between Brock Lesnar and Frank Mir could happen as early as April, possibly at UFC 97.
“Mir took little damage in his fight with Nog, and Lesnar wants to fight him soon, so April may be the time and place for that. It will be good,”
White also called the series of heavyweight fights a “Tournament”. The UFC heavyweight belt was broken up after Randy Couture left the UFC only to return and lose his belt to Brock Lesnar at UFC 91.
The Rua family has already contributed two fighters in Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Murilo “Ninja” Rua to the sport of mixed martial arts but a third Rua is now set to make his pro debut within the next several months.
The Brazilian MMA website Tatame is reporting that Marcos “Baby” Rua will be entering the profession of mixed martial arts in March, if not sooner.
Marcos, the 22-year old younger brother of Murilo, 28, and Mauricio, 27, had been scheduled to debut at an event in January that has now been postponed until March. However, it appears that his brother’s first fight can’t come enough for Mauricio.
[We thought] he would fight at “The Glory” [and] that [it] would happen at January, but was delayed to March. [However,] want to see him fighting before,” he is quoted as telling Tatame.
Marcos trains with both of his brothers at Universidade da Luta (which translates to “University of Fighting” in English) in Curitiba, Brazil and being the biggest of the three, appears ticketed for the light heavyweight division.
The youngest of the three fighting Rua brothers received a small amount of exposure in the United States when he traveled to South Florida to corner oldest brother Murilo for his EliteXC fight against Benji Radach on CBS.
Any question as to whether Marcos shares the same undying loyalty that Mauricio and Murilo have for each other was answered soon after “Ninja’s” second round TKO loss. While it was not visible on camera, he became so overcome by emotion by the condition of his fallen brother that he had to exit the cage.
While Marcos Rua awaits his MMA debut, the next member of the Rua family that is scheduled to fight is Mauricio, who will take on Mark Coleman at UFC 93 on January 17 in Dublin, Ireland.
Just when you thought it was safe to pull one over on the California State Athletic Commission, word comes down that Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva is getting slapped harder than Badr Hari after the K-1 GP Finals. According to Dave Meltzer of Yahoo! Sports, the CSAC has not taken kindly to Silva’s blatant disregard for the steroid-related suspension he received this past summer, and as punishment are now looking to revoke Silva’s fighter license. The commission is even going an unprecedented step further, fining Silva’s manager (Alex Davis of American Top Team) $2,500 just for negotiating the Sengoku bout which Silva won only two days ago.
So how bad would a revoking of Silva’s license really be you ask? This bad:
“A license revocation would mean Silva, and his corner men, would be banned from fighting in all U.S. commission states until California granted him a new license, which would be no less than one year from the date of it being revoked. Such an action would force whatever form EliteXC that potentially resurfaces this year to strip Silva of the title.”
Well there’s always the land of the rising sun, right Antonio?
Given, Antonio Silva didn’t have to ignore the CSAC’s ruling to instead compete in the “we don’t care” island of Japan, but I do feel a little sympathy for the guy. The man has to eat just like anyone else and being suspended from your job for one year, especially in this economy, has to be difficult even for a mildly popular professional fighter. Not to mention the CSAC has its own ocean of problems which seem to bring down their credibility about every other week.
Any how, Silva will have his day in front of the commission on February 10th, where he and one can only imagine a variety of lawyers will be doing their best to mend fences with Bill Douglas and crew. Oh the suspense.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) today confirmed several bouts for its SpikeTV telecast scheduled for February 7 at the University of Southern Florida (USF) Sun Dome in Tampa, Florida.
Fight Night 17: “Lauzon vs. Franca” features the lightweight showdown between former 155-pound contender Hermes Franca and The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 5 alum and BJ Penn pupil Joe Lauzon, as well as the highly anticipated showdown between lightweights Mac Danzig and Josh Neer.
In the only heavyweight battle of the evening, the oft-talked about Cain Velasquez will have a chance to introduce himself to the masses when he locks horns with Sarajevo native Denis Stojnic.
And TUF 7 winner Amir Sadollah — who was forced to withdraw from his scheduled bout at UFC 91: “Couture vs. Lesnar” because of a leg infection — will finally get a chance to keep his momentum going when he tries to spoil the debut of Nick Catone.
UFC Fight Night 17 is scheduled to air only four fights — though I find it unlikely all four will go to a decision (especially with Velasquez competing). That should allow some of the undercard bouts (like Johnson vs. Fioravanti) to find their way into the broadcast.
Here is the official UFC Fight Night 17 line up:
Main event: 155 lbs.: Hermes Franca (19-7) vs. Joe Lauzon (17-4)
Main card: 265 lbs.: Cain Velasquez (4-0) vs. Denis Stojnic (5-1) 155 lbs.: Mac Danzig (18-5-1) vs. Josh Neer (24-7-1) 185 lbs.: Amir Sadollah (1-0) vs. Nick Catone (5-0)
Under card: 155 lbs.: Kurt Pellegrino (12-4) vs. Rob Emerson (8-6) 155 lbs.: George Sotiropolous (9-2) vs. Matt Grice (9-1) 185 lbs.: Alessio Sakara (13-7) vs. Jake Rosholt (5-0) 155 lbs.: Gleison Tibau (15-6) vs. Rich Clementi (32-13-1) 170 lbs.: Anthony Johnson (6-2) vs. Luigi Fioravanti (14-4)
A pivotal lightweight match-up has been added to the UFC 96 card in Columbus, Ohio, as Gray Maynard and Jim Miller will clash in a fight that could determine a top contender in the ever-growing 155-pound weight class. The fight was confirmed to MMAWeekly.com by sources close to the fight on Monday.
Making his promotional debut at UFC 89 in England, former International Fight League lightweight Jim Miller let his presence be known when he submitted David Baron in the third round of a hard fought contest.
His next fight came on just over a week's notice as Miller stepped in to face Matt Wiman at the UFC Fight for the Troops show in December. Despite virtually no training camp and just coming back from his honeymoon, Miller defeated Wiman with a unanimous decision win.
Gray Maynard steps into the fight against Miller riding a four-fight win streak and still undefeated in his career (the only blemish being a no contest against Rob Emerson in June 2007).
The "Bully" has improved his overall game while training with the team at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas. After handing Frankie Edgar the first loss of his career, Maynard came back at UFC 90 in October and picked up a unanimous decision win over Rich Clementi.
The fight between Miller and Maynard will likely end up on the main card, but the UFC has made no official announcement about the bout or the headliner for the show which remains a matter of speculation at this point.
Barring any last-minute glitches, fast-rising welterweight prospect Dustin Hazelett will lock horns with unbeaten Ben Saunders at UFC 96 on March 7 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. Bout agreements have been issued and are expected to be signed sometime this week, according to a source close to the negotiations.
Hazelett (12-4) dazzled in recent outings, as he has earned “Submission of the Night” bonuses in each of his last two appearances inside the Octagon. A Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt under Jorge Gurgel, the 22-year-old coaxed a tapout from Tamdan McCrory at UFC 91 in November, as he transitioned from an omaplata to a reverse armbar. Previous to that victory, he submitted Josh Burkman with a spectacular armbar at “The Ultimate Fighter 7” Finale in June. Hazelett has posted five wins in six bouts, losing only to Josh Koscheck in that stretch.
Based out of American Top Team, Saunders (7-0-2) raised some eyebrows last month when he battered Brandon Wolff with a series of knees from the Thai clinch at UFC Fight Night 17. The one-sided bout lasted only 1:49 and gave Saunders his seventh consecutive victory. A product of season six of “The Ultimate Fighter,” the 6-foot-2 former Combat Fighting Championships welterweight titleholder has finished six of his seven victories by knockout, technical knockout or submission.
Though no bouts have been made official, UFC 96 will likely feature a heavyweight showdown between the undefeated Shane Carwin and Gabriel Gonzaga, along with a light heavyweight battle pairing Brandon Vera with Michael Patt.
Former UFC middleweight contender David Loiseau will return to the Octagon on April 18 when he faces The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 3 finalist Ed Herman at UFC 97 from The Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada according to Cageplay.com.
“Short Fuse” is hoping to not only spoil Loiseau’s homecoming, but to also snap a two-fight losing streak inside the cage. Herman came up on the losing end of a split-decision loss to Alan Belcher back in September and was choked out by Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu phenom Demian Maia at last year’s UFC 83.
Loiseau recently defeated Solomon Hutcherson via fifth round technical knockout to earn the Xtreme MMA (XMMA) middleweight title at the Claude Robillard Sports Complex in Montreal, Canada.
It was a big (and gutsy) win for “The Crow” — his third straight since a controversial split-decision loss Jason Day earlier this year — because it got him once step closer to a UFC return.
The Canadian was at one time a top 185-pound title contender. In fact, he challenged then-champion Rich Franklin for his belt at UFC 58: “USA vs. Canada” in 2006, losing to “Ace” in a lopsided unanimous decision.
Loiseau had won four of five bouts inside the Octagon, including stoppages of Evan Tanner, Charles McCarthy and Mark Weir, to earn the opportunity.
After the loss to Franklin, however, Loiseau dropped three of his next four and fell of the radar. He was cut from the promotion rather abruptly after a unanimous decision loss to Mike Swick at UFC 63: “Hughes vs. Penn” in September 2006.
Loiseau — who trains with welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre and Patrick Cote, among others — has been working hard ever since in smaller shows to be invited back.
It looks like his efforts have finally paid off, which is good news for him, the fans and the middleweight division.
It appears that UFC welterweight title contender Josh Koscheck has been added to the card for UFC 95, which is set for February 21 at the O2 Arena in London, England.
According to a report by the Brazilian MMA website Tatame, Koscheck is set to face the debuting Paulo Thiago in one of the show’s featured bouts.
Thiago was signed to a UFC contract after having begun his professional MMA career with a perfect 10-0 record. Competing exclusively in his native country of Brazil, the submission specialist has spent much of his career in the Jungle Fight promotion.
Koscheck is coming off a first round knockout over Yoshiyuki Yoshida during last month’s “UFC Fight for the Troops” event in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Prior to the win over Yoshida, Koscheck had competed just six weeks prior, losing at unanimous decision to Thiago Alves at UFC 90 on Oct. 25.
UFC 95 be headlined by the lightweight debut of Diego Sanchez as he takes on former UFC lightweight title challenger Joe Stevenson. Both Sanchez and Stevenson are former winners of The Ultimate Fighter reality television series on Spike TV.
Other reported matchups for UFC 95 include Demian Maia vs. Chael Sonnen, Nathan Marquardt vs. Wilson Gouveia, Junior dos Santos vs. Stefan Struve, Shannon Gugerty vs. Jeff Lawson, and Justin Buchholz vs. Terry Etim.
As of now, the UFC’s broadcast plans for the event have yet to be announced but the card’s headlining bouts are expected to air on Spike TV in the U.S. as opposed to pay-per-view.
For all intents and purposes, EliteXC stopped functioning as a mixed martial arts company shortly after Seth Petruzelli knocked out Kimbo Slice. That event occurred close to three months ago. Since then, many of their fighters have remained out of action.
UFC President Dana White hopes that other top fighters not in the UFC pay close attention to what occurred with EliteXC.
“These guys are wasting their time by going to these fly by night companies,” White said. “That’s the worst thing an athlete can do - waste time. Fighters are crazy to waster their time.”
A few different companies have been rumored to be interested in purchasing the remnants of EliteXC. The most appealing assets of the company are the possibe television deals with CBS or Showtime and the fighter contracts.
While the UFC has not declared any recent interest in buying EliteXC, they have stated they do want to bring in a few of Elite’s fighters if they become available.
“We are interested in a few people like Robbie Lawler, Jake Shields, and Gina Carano,” said White.
Lawler and Shields are obvious fits for the UFC. With the current state of the UFC’s middleweight division, Lawler could find himself in the middle of the title picture almost immediately. However, in the past, White had been steadfast against having women fight under the Zuffa banner. Recently, White has eased up on that stance when it comes to Carano. The fact that White is now openly promoting the possibility of bringing in Carano shows that women’s fighting is a real possibility for the UFC or WEC.
Every sport has an icon: an all-time great by whom all others, who came before and after, are judged. Be it Ruth, Jordan, Ali, Gretzky or Unitas, each of these legends has left behind a legacy that transcends time itself. While some came along during the golden age of their sport, others more recently made their permanent mark.
What is the formula that creates a true icon? Like mythical Greek gods, some appear as if they were born to inherit the crown. Other athletes lived each chapter of a Cinderella story: going from nothing to everything within the span of a career. Regardless of where they started, the end result was sheer domination of the competition: greatness in their era.
At first glance, the sport of mixed martial arts may seem like an infant in the eyes of a sports historian. After all, MMA has only been followed by the public eye for a mere decade and a half, and even less as a true sport. Its rules are still being fine-tuned on a somewhat regular basis. Head-butts have come and gone. Elbow strikes may, or may not, be allowed. So much depends on specific organizational rules, but its basis is set in stone. MMA is a sport of man versus man. Each warrior competes to test his skills in combat. Their tools come in the form of grappling, striking, and joint-lock submissions. Whether by knockout, tap-out, referee stoppage or judges’ decision, the ultimate goal is to win the contest.
Fedor Emelianenko hails from Russia. Still, to most MMA fans, he needs no introduction. His hands, as heavy as kettle bells, are wrecking balls covered by a layer of skin; and he has the grappling ability of a red-tailed boa with arms. With a record that is actually impeccable, Fedor has taken on, and defeated, all-comers who aren’t blocked by silly contract stipulations. His only loss came in the form of an illegal strike that caused a cut. This single blemish should actually read as a no-contest.
Throughout his MMA entire career, Fedor Emelianenko has been a monster among men. No fighter has made so many crucial fights appear to be so easy. Some playfully claim that he is half robot. On the rare occasion that Fedor has found himself in trouble, he has regrouped with seemingly effortless reversal. A true destroyer within his realm, outside of the ropes Fedor remains a gentleman. You’ll never hear the man admit that he is the best ever. All too often, when posed the question of "how or why" he is so good, he has responded that there is still much work to be done within his skill-set. If he had the gift of gab like an Ali, he’d rule Nike.
The year is 2009, and the sport of mixed martial arts is still growing in popularity while continually gaining more mainstream acceptance. Not only do I feel confident to say that I believe Fedor Emelianenko is an MMA icon, but also a true sports icon. The path is being paved; and it’s only a matter of time before MMA fight results are reported as widely as Monday Night Football scores. And it’s only a matter of time until the true sports fan mentions "Fedor: The Last Emperor," in the same sentence as "The Babe," "His Airness," and "Johnny U."
*On January 24th, Fedor Emelianenko will defend his WAMMA World Heavyweight Title vs. former UFC Heavyweight Champion Andrei Arlovski on the "Affliction 2" fight card at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
“I’m the real deal and I’m ready for Condit. I’m ready for it, so it’s just a matter of getting (Condit) to agree, but (the WEC) definitely wants it to happen. It’s up to Condit’s camp to figure out what it wants. I’d like to fight as often as possible, but the way it’s looking, this is the fight I want to wait for. I don’t want to risk anything like I did before fighting Condit the first time. I was supposed to fight him when I fought Kevin Knabjan two months before, and I think I peaked too early for that. It’s hard to peak twice in two months, so if it comes out that way, that’s the way I’m going to have to take it.”
Those words came from WEC welterweight contender Brock Larson (24-2) just hours after his first round drubbing of Carlo Prater more five months ago at WEC 35. Since that time he’s stayed true to his word and has quietly waited for his rematch with division champ Carlos Condit to come to fruition.
Apparently, his patience is about to pay off.
The word on the street is that “The Natural Born Killer” will defend his title next on a WEC event in March against Larson. The two standout fighters first threw down at WEC 29 in August of 2007 with Condit securing an fight-ending armbar near the halfway point in round one.
The loss was only the second of Larson’s so far stellar career. His first setback came by unanimous decision at the hands of Jon Fitch back in 2005 at Ultimate Fight Night 2. On the other side of that coin, his hit list includes names like Prater, Shannon Ritch, Erik “Bad” Apple, John Allessio, Ryan Jensen, Keita Nakamura and others.
Of his 24 wins, only two of those have gone to decision, while 16 of his opponents have been forced to tap out. He knows how to finish fights. Carlos Condit definitely has his hands full, regardless of what happened in their first fight.
Here’s the champ’s thoughts on potentially facing Larson for a second time:
“It’s not ideal, because I have everything to lose, and he has everything to gain. The pool of contenders is a bit shallow. There’s not a whole lot of guys for me to fight. He’s a very tough guy, and just because I beat him before doesn’t mean anything. I’m going to have to be on my toes. I’m very motivated to fight him, and I’m looking forward to a very tough training camp.”
Condit’s last fight also came on the WEC 35 card in August. He successfully defended his title with a fourth round technical knockout win over Hiromitsu Miura in what is considered to be one of the best fights of 2008.
Larson trains with one of the real up-and-coming camps in the United States these days in Minnesota Martial Arts Academy. He gets day-to-day training with some of the top wrestlers in the sport and works with a team that is known for producing fighters with great cardio.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that Condit was running out of gas late in that Miura fight. If Larson can avoid any early mistakes this time around, he may just have the stamina, strength and ability to become the next WEC welterweight champion.
As FiveOuncesOfPain.com wrote last month, the middleweight battle between Yushin Okami and Dean Lister during UFC 92 had all the hallmarks of a “loser leaves the UFC match.” That was indeed the case as word is now spreading that former Abu Dhabi champion has received his release from the promotion. However, according to a report by
However, according to a report by MMA Weekly, Lister’s management at Haykmaker’s Empire is claiming that he was released per his own request. The reason given as to why Lister wanted out of his UFC contract — which paid him $19,000 for his recent loss to Okami — was so that he could seek a new employer in 2009.
Lister departs the UFC with a career 4-2 record, which includes his unanimous decision loss to Okami at UFC 92. His only other loss took place against Nathan Marquardt during UFC Fight Night 8 while his win in the Octagon have come against against Jeremy Horn, Yuki Sasaki, Jordan Radev, and Alessio Sakara.
Prior to joining the UFC, Lister competed for the King of the Cage promotion and PRIDE. After going 6-2 with KOTC, Lister ventured to Japan where he competed in three fights under the PRIDE banner, going 1-2 with losses to Ricardo Arona and Amar Suloev and a victory over Akira Shoji.
A trip back to Japan may not be out of the cards for Lister, with the MMA Weekly report indicating that both Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza of DREAM and Sengoku middleweight champion Jorge Santiago are on his wish list of future opponents.
