The Future of Fighting Blog

Brock Lesnar’s chance to redeem his debut loss at UFC 81 was expected to come at June’s UFC 85 event in London. However, Lesnar will now be on the shelf until August.The news comes from Yahoo! Sports. Dave Meltzer spoke to UFC president Dana White about the date. As MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) previously reported, heavyweight Justin McCully has been approached about a fight with Lesnar and is expected to accept it. McCully revealed the planned bout while a recent guest on HDNet’s “Inside MMA” show. It’ll now likely come in August.The UFC hasn’t officially (or even unofficially) announced any fight dates for August, though.Earlier this month, Lesnar made his much-anticipated octagon debut at UFC 81. Although dominating all but a few seconds of the fight, he suffered a first-round submission via knee-bar to Frank Mir. However, the event proved to be one of the most successful pay-per-views in UFC history, with more than 650,000 “buys,” thanks largely to Lesnar, a former NCAA Division 1 national wrestling champ and former World Wrestling Entertainment performer.Even before the Lesnar-Mir fight took place, The Sun had reported that UFC officials in the organization’s U.K. office were targeting Lesnar for headliner status at UFC 85, which takes place June 7 at the 02 Arena in London. A light heavyweight bout between Chuck Liddell and Mauricio “Shogun”Rua will likely headline the event instead.In any manner, for all the latest rumored fight cards, check out the UFC Rumors section of MMAjunkie.com.

MONTREAL, Feb. 28 — It is a lesson all kickboxers know: leg checks hurt.

The Bell Centre welcomed a UFC veteran and an MMA legend to the TKO cage Thursday, as Brian Gassaway (Pictures) and Jose “Pele” Landi-Jons (Pictures) met in a welterweight bout for the main event of TKO 32 “Ultimatum.”

With Bibiano Fernandez in his corner, Pele came out firing kicks and was greeted with a well-timed Gassaway counter left hand that momentarily stunned the Brazilian.

Pele recovered and locked up Gassaway’s body before taking the Chicago-based fighter to the mat, where he settled into side-control. After being stood by the referee following a lack of action, Pele attempted flashy spinning-heel and front kicks as the round came to a close.

Landi-Jons opened the second frame much the same as the first. Gassaway, however, stood in front of the striker and didn’t back down an inch.

Using solid defense, Gassaway checked a low kick. The impact was enough to snap the Brazilian’s right leg just above the ankle and Pele crashed to the canvas. Gassaway jumped in to finish but backed off while calling for assistance from his corner and event doctors.

“I checked it, and it hit my knee and I heard the pop,” Gassaway said after the fight. “But I really didn’t realize what happened. When I checked it, I came with the right and actually I thought that’s what damaged him and so I followed him down. I pounced on him. I think I hit him a few times, the ref stopped it and then I look down and I see his leg is just bent so — you know it’s bad news.”

Landi-Jons received a rousing ovation from the shell-shocked crowd and gave a thumbs up as paramedics removed him from the arena. Gassaway took the win, albeit in a manner no one wanted, 50 seconds of round two.

With the TKO welterweight strap on the line, TJ Grant (Pictures) and Jesse Bongfeldt met in the co-main event. Bongfeldt came out aggressive with strikes, catching Grant with a left straight and right hook before shooting in for a takedown.

Grant quickly swept and found himself in Bongfeldt’s guard working short elbows. The fighters scrambled to their feet and back to the floor, where they traded positions until Grant unloaded two hard right hands that got the attention of Bongfeldt and the capacity crowd.

Bongfeldt charged at Grant with heavy leather to start the second. Moving to the canvas, the two went back-and-forth with numerous sweeps and reversals; neither man could establish himself over the other.

The third period started with a classy touch of the gloves and Bongfeldt swung for the fences again. The 170-pounders went to the floor again, where Bongfeldt absorbed shots. Grant, a little too aggressive, was careless with his arms and Bongfeldt grabbed a fight-ending armbar at 2:52 of the middle round to retaining his TKO championship.

Derek Gauthier and Yannick Galipeau come out blazing. Galipeau did well early on to defend an assortment of submissions while the two rolled on the canvas. Eventually he made the mistake of standing up. Gauthier sunk in the hooks and choke for the submission win at 3:24 of the first round.

A competitive lightweight fight between Samuel Guillet (Pictures) and Jordan Mein started as it ended, with Mein battling a kimura submission attempt. While he escaped early in the fight, Mein could not free himself late in the second round. With Mein in his half-guard, Guillet grabbed hold of an arm and cranked a kimura that forced a tapout at 4:05 of the second round.

Local lightweight favorite Stephane Vigneault (Pictures) got back on the winning track with a stoppage victory over Daniel Ferguson. An active opening round led both men to start aggressively at the open of the second.

The end came after Vigneault slammed Ferguson into side-control and trapped his opponent’s left arm. The position allowed Vigneault to relentlessly hammer away with left hands until the referee had seen enough and called an end to the contest at 1:27 of round two.

Late replacement Guillaume Lamarche (Pictures) stepped in against the much more experienced Justin Tavernini and the size difference between the featherweight fighters was staggering. Tavernini looked to be one or two divisions lighter than Lamarche.

After two competitive rounds, the final period saw Tavernini and Lamarche stand in front of one another, unafraid to let the limbs fly. After shrugging off a Tavernini left high kick, Lamarch caught a middle kick from Tavernini and chopped away with kicks before tossing him to the mat and landing in full guard. Tavernini looked for the armbar but Lamarche swiftly escaped and went back to work with strikes until the final horn.

Lamarche escaped with the split decision win over a very game Tavernini (29-28, 28-29, 30-27).

Adrian Wooley and Syd Barnier provided the classic wrestler-striker matchup and the boo birds were out in full force in the opening 90 seconds. Neither fighter was ready to commit to an attack until a Wooley takedown briefly found the two on the mat. Up and down they went before Wooley was successful in controlling the fight. He adeptly moved to rear-mount, where he let go a barrage of strikes forcing an end to the contest at 4:57 of the opening round.

After nearly an eight-year layoff, Mark Fraser returned to MMA action to meet debuting Aruban Johan Croes. Croes attained the mount and teed off, forcing the referee to call an end to things at 34 seconds into round two.

Lightweights Jeff Harrisson and Tyler Jackson (Pictures) kicked off the main card. Harrisson, a decorated muay Thai specialist, launched a high kick that narrowly missed the head of Jackson as he ducked up and took the fight to the ground.

As he’d done in rounds one and two, Jackson tried to take the fight to the mat but it was the Thai fighter who grabbed hold of a fight-ending guillotine. Jackson was forced to tap 19 seconds into the final period..

Heavyweights Ben Gallant (Pictures) stopped Scott Wright to close the evening’s preliminary action. A Wright sweep briefly silenced the pro-Gallant crowd but it was all for naught as Gallant reversed and moved from side-control to mount where he took full advantage, delivering a series of right hands that ended Wright’s night at 2:27 of the first.

Tim Wadsworth wasted little time in taking his bout with Brad Duguay to the mat with a well-timed single-leg. From various top positions, Wadsworth scored with a wide range of strikes until the 3:32 mark, when referee Phillippe Chartier had finally seen enough.

Christopher Hulme won his MMA debut by referee stoppage at 3:24 of the first round over Vladmimir Victor.

reported by Sherdog

Zuffa, LLC – parent company of the Ultimate Fighting Championship – on Thursday scored its first legal victory against heavyweight champion Randy Couture.

Nevada District Court Judge Jennifer Togliatti granted a motion for a preliminary injunction preventing Couture “from engaging in any promotion or production of events or programming related to unarmed combat during the February 29, 2008 (International Fight League) event” in Las Vegas, according to the court’s minutes of the hearing. The finding also precludes the use of the “name ‘Randy Couture’ and likeness on the IFL website, print materials, banners, and like materials to promote” the event.

The Xtreme Couture designation as a camp on the IFL’s website had already been removed prior to the hearing, as noted in an affidavit received by the court.

Contacted by MMAWeekly, IFL representative Jerry Milani sent a statement via email stating, “Given the ongoing litigation between Xtreme Couture and the UFC, we were asked by Xtreme Couture Wednesday to not use the Xtreme Couture camp name in our event this Friday. Out of respect for Randy and his team in this difficult situation, the camp will take the name Team Tompkins… Shawn Tompkins is coaching this Friday as already announced… for this Friday’s event. The IFL is not in any way involved in this litigation, we are doing this out of professional courtesy for Randy and his group.”

When contacted on Thursday, representatives of Xtreme Couture declined to comment on the change from Xtreme Couture to Team Tompkins on the IFL website.

Court minutes also stated that in an affidavit filed with the court, Couture noted “that he has personally not participated in and has no intention of being in attendance at the IFL Event or providing any interviews or commentaries regarding this event.”

Although a positive turn for Zuffa, this was a “preliminary” injunction, so the court had to make a minimal, quick finding on Friday night’s IFL event. It is not a final ruling on Couture’s contract, but specifically addresses the IFL event.

If the case proceeds to trial, a detailed order should be entered regarding all the future matters raised in the pleadings and motion filed with the court.

If this initial ruling is any indication, however, it appears that Couture could be in an uphill legal battle in regards to the reported one-year non-compete clause in his Employment Agreement with Zuffa.

A date of March 6, 2008 was set for further proceedings and discovery prior to a trial or evidentiary hearing.

(Special thanks to attorney Leonard L. Campbell for his assistance in clarifying the legal proceedings involved in this case.)

reported by MMAWeekly

More details pertaining to the formation of former UFC owner Bob Meyrowitz’s YAMMA Pit Fighting organization continue to surface.

According to the February 11 print edition of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer, a second “Masters Division” match involving Eric “Butterbean” Esch vs. Gary Goodridge has been signed in addition to the previously reported Masters match between UFC veterans Don Frye and Oleg Taktarov.

Additionally, four names associated with YAMMA’s planned single night, eight-man heavyweight tournament have been reported by Meltzer. The names include former IFO heavyweight champion Chris Guillen, former IFO light heavyweight champion Travis Wiuff, former UFC competitor Wes “The Project” Sims, and “Gary Silvester.”

Several database searches on the name “Gary Silvester” and variations proved fruitless, leading to speculation that there was a reporting error in the Observer and it could be a fighter with a similar name. There is a 10-1 heavyweight fighter by the name of Tony Sylvester.

ProElite.com (SamCaplan.ProElite.com) contacted YAMMA officials for comment but they declined to comment on Meltzer’s report. They did reveal that further announcements are planned to be made on Monday, February 25.

YAMMA issued a press release in late January announcing the formation of Meyrowitz’s new promotion and stating that it will debut on April 11 in Atlantic City at the Trump Taj Mahal and will be available on pay-per-view.reported by Sam Caplan, Lead Writer/Editor - ProElite.com

Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White on Thursday announced that the promotion has struck a deal with a new blue-chip sponsor, Anheuser-Busch.

“This is a historical moment for the company,” he said at a press conference in Columbus, Ohio. “I can’t express to you enough how excited I am.”

White revealed that Anheuser-Busch’s Bud Light brand will now be the main sponsor of the UFC and will take over the center position on the mat of the Octagon at UFC 84 in Las Vegas on May 24.

Bud Light’s three-year deal with Zuffa, LLC, (the parent company of the UFC) makes it the exclusive beer sponsor of the UFC.

“Landing Anheuser-Busch and Bud Light is huge for us, our fighters and especially our fans,” said White. “We’ve got the number one selling beer in the world and one of the top marketers in all of sports as our sponsor. If our TV ratings, pay-per-view buys and venue sell-outs weren’t enough, this definitely cements UFC as a major player in sports business.”

“UFC has developed a huge following in recent years and is wildly popular with the 21-34 year old fans we want to reach,” said Tony Ponturo, vice president, global media and sports marketing, Anheuser-Busch, Inc. “The number of people attending live events, buying the pay-per-views and talking about UFC around the water cooler continues to grow. It’s just a great place for us to be.”

Additionally, beginning June 1, Bud Light will also appear as the official beer sponsor of World Extreme Cagefighting events broadcast live on VERSUS network. The WEC brand is also owned by Zuffa, LLC.

reported by MMAWeekly

We’re one day away from the IFL’s 2008 opener in Las Vegas, and with three titles on the line there’s a lot still to be decided. The fighters get on the scales this afternoon, and Friday night the fights will be coming to you live on HDNet.Now let’s breakdown our three title fights and see who will have the edge tomorrow night.

155 lbs: Ryan Schultz (champion) vs. John Gunderson (challenger)

This is a fight both guys have been looking forward to for a long time. They both came up in the Northwest MMA scene and after years of watching one another in action they have a healthy amount of respect for each other. Of course, that doesn’t mean they don’t both have something they’re looking to prove in this fight.

For Gunderson, this is not only a shot at the title but also an opportunity to prove that he’s better than his 2-2 record in the IFL thus far. He feels that he hasn’t lived up to his potential in any of those fights, and is eager to show fans that he has what it takes to stand on top of the 155-pound heap in the IFL. Naturally, a win over Schultz would go a long way toward making his case.

Schultz wants to show everyone that his dominating victory over Chris Horodecki wasn’t a fluke. He says he’s putting all the aspects of his game together for the first time in his career, and the results speak for themselves. Not only is he a dangerous wrestler, but his brawling style on the feet makes his takedowns harder to defend against. That might be why no one in Schultz’s camp was at all surprised by the win over Horodecki.

Both these guys are well-rounded and both have a score to settle on Friday night. Don’t be surprised if it takes several rounds to answer this question. These guys wouldn’t want it any other way.

185 lbs: Matt Horwich (champion) vs. Ryan McGivern (challenger)

Horwich’s TKO victory over Benji Radach to claim the IFL middleweight title came as a surprise to some people, though not those who have witnessed his evolution as a mixed martial artist over the last year. Once primarily a submissions specialist, Horwich has added an impressive stand-up arsenal to his game. Most importantly though, Horwich remains relentless in the ring, wearing opponents down before closing the deal.

It should be interesting to see how that style plays against McGivern, who is known for similar tactics himself. He’s won many of his fights by simply outworking his opponents, utilizing his excellent cardio and forcing opponents to tire before he does.

The question here is, what happens when two guys meet who both like to stay constantly on the attack, forcing their opponents backwards from the opening bell? Will they clash like two rams fighting over a patch of rock, or will they adjust their styles?

It’s hard to say, but these two have met before so they should know what to expect. The only trouble is that both have changed so drastically, it could be a brand new fight this time around.

265 lbs: Roy Nelson (champion) vs. Fabiano Scherner (challenger)

For a guy known for his grappling and submissions abilities, “Big Country” sure does win a lot of fights with his fists. He knocked out Antoine Jaoude to win the heavyweight title in December, and he TKO’s Bryan Vetell before that after a brutal three-round war of attrition. It’s almost as if Nelson has purposefully gotten opponents worried about his ground game so that his ability as a striker will slip under their radar.

Scherner, a Team Quest product new to the IFL, probably won’t make that mistake. He’s a jiu-jitsu specialist himself, but has also shown his willingness to stand in the pocket and trade punches. He’s a big, battle-tested Brazilian who can match Nelson in almost every category, so it’s hard to say where this fight will be decided.

Nelson didn’t fight his way through a grueling year in 2007 just to give up his belt in the first title defense, so expect him to be thoroughly prepared for this bout. Scherner has a chance to announce his presence in the IFL with authority, but he’s going to have to find the secret to Roy Nelson first, and that has eluded several men before him.

Catch the IFL on HDNet this Friday night at 7:30 pm PST/10:30 EST. You can also check back all night for a live play-by-play of the action as it unfolds on IFL.tv

reported by IFL

ProElite Inc., the parent company of Elite Xtreme Combat, is expected to announce a deal with CBS that will put MMA on major network television for the first time.Sources close to the deal tell MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that an agreement has been reached between CBS and the Los Angeles-based ProElite. However, officials could not publicly comment on the matter.

EliteXC was founded as a partnership with Showtime Networks Inc. in 2006. The organization’s events, which are held under the EliteXC and ShowXC banners, currently air on Showtime.

Showtime is owned by CBS.

A source who spoke exclusively to MMAjunkie.com said that CBS will broadcast live EliteXC events in prime-time slots. The events will likely take place every other month.

An official announcement with additional details of the deal is expected to be announced in the next few days. A broadcast schedule and debut date could be included.

The announcement will come just weeks after EliteXC’s successful “Street Certified” event in Miami, Fla. In addition to drawing a sold-out crowd and setting a live gate record at the BankUnited Center, the event reportedly drew more than half a million Showtime viewers.

The fact that EliteXC — and not the UFC, the worldwide MMA leader — landed the first network-television deal is a bit of a surprise.

Beginning in October, UFC president Dana White stated that he was confident the organization would reach a deal with a major TV network, most notably CBS or NBC. In November MediaPost Publications reported that the UFC and CBS were in “advanced negotiations” and that the announcement of an official partnership was expected to happen at any time. UFC 81, which took place earlier this month, was expected to be the first UFC event to air on CBS.

However, the deal eventually fell apart — reportedly over issues with the creative control of the events. Those same issues kept a deal between the UFC and HBO from coming together last year, as well.

ProElite has been on a shopping spree during the past year, purchasing organizations such as ICON Sport, Cage Rage, King of the Cage, and Spirit MC. Additionally, the organization has recently signed long-term deals with notables such as Nick Diaz, Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson, Robbie Lawler, Jake Shields, Murilo “Ninja” Rua and Gina Carano.

For more about the organization, check out the EliteXC archives here on MMAjunkie.com.

reported by MMAJunkie

“I blasted the Elite XC main event but stayed away from trashing Kimbo. He doesn’t decide who is put in front of him.

There’s quite a Kimbo debate raging in the MMA world. Most of the purists dislike the guy. But you gotta have the big picture in mind. As long he’s not going to continue fighting “the bum of the month” club, he’s cool in my book. Kimbo has everything you need to be star.

The story is awesome and the guy is 1000% real. His personality is perfect for the sport.

He was on the Dan LeBatard show in Miami on Friday. Kimbo was a riot.

LeBatard is a tough guy to like. His ego is bigger than Antonio Silva’s noggin. And he’s apparently a rough guy to work with. I had a remote engineer tell me that the techs down in Miami call him “Le Bastard.”

That said, this was a cool interview. LeBatard did a great job making it completely conversational. Unlike 99% of talk hosts, you could tell he was actually listening to Kimbo. LeBatard has been a big fan of Kimbo’s for a long time.

Highlights of the interview include Kimbo saying….

*He thought many of the people at the Miami event were rooting for him to lose

*He ripped the club, Opium, that hosted his afterparty

*Kimbo addressed the question of steroid-use without getting offended

*He also talked of kicking back and smoking a blunt

*Kimbo says American Airlines Arena could be the site of his next fight v. Ken Shamrock”

CLICK BELOW TO LISTEN:
http://mrsunshinevegas.wordpress.com…a-cool-listen/

rumor from Sherdog

YAMMA Pit Fighting (YPF), a new mixed martial arts organization created by Ultimate Fighting Championship founder Bob Meyrowitz, on Tuesday announced that UFC veterans Oleg Taktarov and Don Frye will go toe-to-toe in the main event of the organization’s first pay-per-view event.

The event will air live from the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, N.J. on April 11, 2008.

The veteran fighters will face off in one of the ‘Masters Superfights,’ one-on-one matches that feature some of MMA’s most illustrious and legendary fighters, according to YPF. A second Superfight, listed on the YPF website, is slated to feature Eric “Butterbean” Esch against Gary Goodridge.

In addition to the Superfights, the April 11 event will showcase eight competitors in a tournament match for the title of YAMMA Heavyweight Champion. Tournament fighters include Marcelo “Pato” Pereira, Sherman Pendergarst, Rex Richards, Tony Sylvester, Chris Tuscherer and Travis Wiuff according to Tuesday’s announcement. The promotion’s website, however, also lists Alexey Oleynik and George Bush as tournament competitors.

Jeff Blatnick will serve as a commentator for both the Heavyweight Tournament and “Masters Superfights.” Blatnick, a retired athlete and cancer survivor, has become a successful television sportscaster and has appeared as an expert analyst on NBC, ABC and ESPN.

reported by MMAWeekly

UFC 82: Pride of a Champion is an upcoming mixed martial arts (MMA) event to be held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) to take place on March 1, 2008 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.

The main event is a middleweight title unification match between UFC champion Anderson Silva and PRIDE FC
Welterweight champion Dan Henderson. A welterweight matchup between Jon Fitch and Akihiro Gono was originally scheduled, but Gono was forced to withdraw after suffering a hand injury in training. Gono will be replaced by Chris Wilson.

It has also been announced that former UFC Heavyweight Champion Mark Coleman will be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.

Main Card

• Middleweight Title bout: Anderson Silva vs. Dan Henderson
• Heavyweight bout: Heath Herring vs. Cheick Kongo
• Middleweight bout: Evan Tanner vs. Yushin Okami
• Middleweight bout: Chris Leben vs. Alessio Sakara
• Welterweight bout: Jon Fitch vs. Chris Wilson

Preliminary Card

• Heavyweight bout: Andrei Arlovski vs. Jake O’Brien
• Welterweight bout: Luke Cummo vs. Luigi Fioravanti
• Welterweight bout: Diego Sanchez vs. David Bielkheden
• Welterweight bout: Josh Koscheck vs. Dustin Hazelett
• Lightweight bout: Jorge Gurgel vs. John Halverson