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The UFC 146 card continues to take shape with the addition of several matches on Wednesday.
The Memorial Day weekend event will take place in its traditional home of Las Vegas, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 26.
Among the bouts announced is one including the arrival of unbeaten former Strikeforce heavyweight Shane Del Rosario, who hasn't fought since last February after suffering major injuries during an April 2011 car accident. Del Rosario (11-0) will face Gabriel Gonzaga (13-6).
Also making his UFC debut during the event will be veteran light-heavyweight Glover Teixeira, who has been considered one of the best 205-pounders outside of Zuffa for several years. Teixeira had previously been wooed by the UFC, only to see his octagon hopes dashed by visa problems that have finally been solved.
Teixeira (17-2) is set to square off with Kyle Kingsbury. The AKA product recently had a four-fight win streak snapped in a decision loss to Stephan Bonnar.
In a featherweight bout, recent Ultimate Fighter season 14 winner Diego Brandao (14-7) will battle Darren Elkins (13-2). Brandao is coming off a comeback submission win over Dennis Bermundez in December, while Elkins is riding a two-fight win streak, with victories over Michihiro Omigawa and Zhang Tiequan.
Finally, Jacob Volkmann will put his five-fight win streak on the line against undefeated British submission artist Paul Sass (12-0).
UFC 146 is likely to feature a heavyweight championship main event with titleholder Junior dos Santos looking to defend against Alistair Overeem, although that fight has not yet been officially announced by the promotion.
At the UFC 144 press conference, UFC President Dana White will join fighters Frankie Edgar, Ben Henderson, Rampage Jackson, Ryan Bader, Yoshihiro Akiyama and Jake Shields in Japan on Wednesday night.
The UFC 144 pre-fight press conference will be an opportunity for the Japanese media to meet the fighters and the last opportunity to hear the fighters' thoughts prior to Saturday night's fights.
The press conference begins at 11 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday (which is Thursday afternoon in Japan). The presser will not be streamed live after all, but a full archived version will be available afterwards.
Former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell will join MMAFighting.com readers on Friday afternoon to chat about UFC 144 and anything else you'd like to discuss.
The UFC 144 preview chat is your opportunity to ask Liddell for his pick in the lightweight title fight between Frankie Edgar and Ben Henderson, his thoughts on the MMA scene in Japan (where he fought once for the UFC and three times for Pride) or anything else you'd like to know about.
Our live chat begins Friday at 4 p.m. Eastern below.
<a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=7bf5311ea4" mce_href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=7bf5311ea4" >Chuck Liddell MMAFighting.com Live Chat</a>
In what will more than likely be a standup fight, Duane "Bang" Ludwig is slated to meet Dan Hardy at UFC 146 on May 26 in Las Vegas, the UFC confirmed Wednesday.
Two welterweights with weaknesses on the floor and a strong preference to keep the fight standing, Ludwig and Hardy are both looking to get back on the winning track after coming off submission losses to Josh Neer and Chris Lytle, respectively.
Ludwig was recently seen in a loss to Neer by guillotine choke at the UFC on FX event on Jan. 20, putting a stop to Ludwig's momentum after two straight wins and the recognition of holding the UFC's fastest knockout.
Hardy has not won a fight since November 2009 and is riding a four-fight losing streak. Despite the skid, he's kept his job due to his gameness as a fighter.
UFC 146 will likely be headlined by a heavyweight title bout between champion Junior dos Santos and challenger Alistair Overeem.
Superior Cage Combat middleweight champion Bristol Marunde has signed on to replace Derek Brunson against former titleholder Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza at next Saturday's Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey event.
Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker confirmed the signing on Wednesday via Twitter.
Brunson was scratched from the contest after failing his pre-fight medicals by testing below the commission's minimum vision threshold without his contact lenses. Ohio Athletic Commission Executive Director Bernie Profato revealed that Brunson's vision is 20/400, which fails to meet the state standard of "uncorrected visual acuity."
Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey is slated for March 3, 2012, at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. Women's bantamweight champion Miesha Tate defends her title against former Olympian Ronda Rousey in the night's main event.
The late match-up switch marks an enormous leap in competition for Marunde (15-6), whose biggest previous wins came against UFC veterans Jay Silva and Rich Attonito. Training out of West Coast Fight Team, the 29-year-old journeyman recovered from early turbulence to amass nine victories in his last ten appearances, including three first-round stoppages, with his only stumble arriving via a submission loss to Jordan Smith in 2009.
Souza (14-3, 1 NC), meanwhile, looks to rebound after dropping his Strikeforce middleweight title in a unanimous decision loss to Luke Rockhold last September. The setback snapped a four-fight win streak for the Black House fighter, which included dramatic wins over Tim Kennedy, Robbie Lawler, and Matt Lindland.
A temporary suspension of Nick Diaz's fighter license was issued during a Wednesday meeting of the Nevada state athletic commission, stemming from the positive drug sample he produced during the weekend of UFC 143.
The suspension was requested by Nevada deputy attorney general Christopher Eccles, and unanimously approved by the commission until a follow-up disciplinary meeting can be scheduled. At that hearing, Diaz will have the opportunity to present a defense. He was not present at Wednesday's meeting.
When he does sit before the commission, he will likely have to answer not only for his recent drug screening failure which saw him test positive for marijuana metabolites, but also for a previous failed screening back in February 2007, also for marijuana. At that time, he was suspended for six months and fined 20 percent of his purse.
During Wednesday's meeting, commission chairman Skip Avansino requested notes and minutes from the 2007 Nevada matter, as well as any related disciplinary information from other states in preparation of Diaz's upcoming hearing.
The stage was also set for a possible defense that could include a retroactive request for a medical marijuana exemption, as Eccles noted a belief that "the question will come up" given Diaz's personal license for medical use in California.
NSAC executive director Keith Kizer recently told MMA Fighting that no fighter had ever applied for a medial marijuana therapeutic use exemption, but that the commission would take the same steps as normal when considering the request.
In addition to as much as a one-year suspension, Diaz faces the possibility of a financial fine, as the commission asked to receive "full data" on his purse as well as any bonuses earned for his participation at UFC 143. Diaz earned a salary of $200,000 for the bout -- a unanimous decision loss to Carlos Condit -- but likely received undisclosed bonuses that may also be affected.
Diaz has hired Las Vegas attorney Ross Goodman to defend him during the upcoming hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.
TOKYO -- Just days ahead of his bout with Jake Shields at UFC 144, Yoshihiro Akiyama discusses how the Japanese fans will receive him, the arrival of a 'new Akiyama style', how he felt about the drop to welterweight and which leading Hollywood actor inspires his fashion choices.
Last summer, Fedor Emelianenko was in the midst of the worst stretch -- the only bad streak, really -- of his career. But the "Last Emperor" wasn't ready to retire, and now he's won two in a row.
He's likely to attempt to add his next victory to his fight ledger in June, according to M-1's global director of operations Evgeni Kogan, who told MMA Fighting that recent rumors of a concrete date and opponent are incorrect.
"We're working towards securing a Fedor fight in Monaco for the summer, sometime around the time when Formula One happens," he said. "Specifically, a little while afterwards."
The Formula One racing series is scheduled to make its annual stop through the principality during the period of May 24-27, and Kogan said M-1 was targeting an event "closer to the second week of June."
Kogan noted that neither a date or opponent have yet to be finalized, and that the promotion hopes to officially announce both around mid-March.
Asked about reports that Emelianenko would face former UFC fighter Todd Duffee, Kogan would not confirm or deny any individual rumors.
"The search for the opponent is currently in process with a number of worthy candidates being considered," he said.
In his most recent bout, Emelianenko (33-4, 1 no contest) knocked out former Olympic judo gold medalist Satoshi Ishii in the first round, his first stoppage win since KO'ing Brett Rogers in November 2009. Prior to defeating Ishii, he earned a unanimous decision over Jeff Monson.
As for a reported thigh injury that hampered Emelianenko in the aftermath of his two fights in two months, Kogan said that the former PRIDE champ is currently in "fine health."
The roar of the crowd ... the sound of bare feet shuffling against canvas ... the unexplainable electricity inside the building. They are all mere echos today as crowds in the tens of thousands have dwindled down to a fraction of that amount. The Saitama Super Arena, host of this Saturday's (Feb. 25) UFC 144 event, has been home to some of the greatest mixed martial arts (MMA) events in the history of the sport. "Ghosts of Saitama" will take a look at some of those moments, forever preserved and never forgotten.
Yesterday we took a look back at 2011's New Year's Eve (NYE) event at the Saitama Super Arena, a show that very well could be the last in the near-decade long tradition. Indeed, the future looks grim from where we sit.
It wasn't the case eight years prior when groups headed by Antonio Inoki, K-1 parent company Fighting and Entertainment Group (FEG) and Pride Fighting Championships (Pride), each decided to go to all-out television war on Dec. 31, 2003.
Bom-Ba-Ye. Dynamite!!. Shockwave.
Three huge events that had millions of combat sports fans glued to their television sets at home and more than 100,000 people packed into three different stadiums. Saitama Super Arena, of course, was one of them. The building played host to Pride's Shockwave event, also holding the honors for the next three years.
It was supposed to be the dawn of a new age in mixed martial arts (MMA) and combat sports in general. And while it seemed to fulfill that very promise for the next couple of years, it also inevitably led to the downfall of the sport in Japan.
Let's dive right in:
Shockwave was a star-studded event naturally headlined by Japanese all-star Kazushi Sakuraba taking on the younger of the Brazilian twins, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. An Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) rematch also took place as Octagon originals Don Frye and Gary Goodridge locked horns for a second time. This time "Big Daddy" came out on top with a thunderous head kick that put "The Predator" immediately to sleep.
Americans Quinton Jackson and Heath Herring each took on and defeated overmatched competition. In "Rampage's" case, it was Ikuhisa Minowa, a fighter he likely outweighed by 20 points. For "The Texas Crazy Horse," it was Giant Silva, a fighter who likely outweighed him by 100 but whose MMA skills were rudimentary at best.
Akira Shoji would end up getting viciously knocked out by Murilo Rua only two months after Mauricio Rua achieved the same result. It seemed the Rua family had Shoji's number. Fellow Japanese fighters Yuki Kondo and Kiyoshi Tamura fared better aganist their competition, however.
Kondo bested Brazilian legend Mario Sperry while longtime Sakuraba rival Tamura was able to submit Ray Sefo's baby brother Rony. A fight between Hayato Sakurai and fellow countryman Daiju Takase went the judges who scored "Mach" as the victor.
The Gracie family earned back some respect for Brazil before the night was done. Daniel Gracie submitted his opponent with relative ease and while the result of Royce Gracie's bout with Hidehiko Yoshida is a draw, it was only the special rule set that defined it as such. After allowing the judoka to take his back the previous year and elicit a stoppage through a possibly dubious choke, the UFC Hall of Famer was not going to rest on his laurels.
During their first bout, Yoshida employed the ezekiel choke using his gi. Staying in position for a few moments, the Japanese fighter then alerted the referee that Gracie had passed out. The bout was called and Yoshida popped up to his feet. The problem was so did Gracie. It seemed like the entire country of Brazil poured into the ring then to protest the stoppage so 16 months later, two fighters found themselves back where they started.
Only this time, Gracie had a score to settle and a point to prove. The fight is officially a draw but in reality, it was a one-sided beatdown. The UFC legend dominated his opponent from bell to bell and despite not coming out with a win, he still earned back some of the respect he had lost the year before.
It became the fight the event has become best known for. The bout was booked because Pride officials were eager to get both fighters back into the ring to settle the score after the scandalous ending to their first match-up over a year prior at a Pride/K-1 co-promoted event. Their hope was to make money while also hoping to quell any controversy.
But controversy remained. Two names surprisingly absent from the Shockwave card were those of popular kickboxer turned MMA fighter Mirko Filipovic and Pride's heavyweight champion at the time Fedor Emelianenko. "Cro Cop" mysteriously took the night off while "The Last Emperor" actually appeared at Inoki's Bom-Ba-Ye event. The details surrounding those situations would eventually lead to Pride's downfall.
Allegations of crooked promoters and even dirtier managers with the Yakuza having its fingers in everything. Two years after this event, the murky details began to surface and Pride wouldn't survive the fallout. It helps cast a shadow over this event since the competitiveness of Pride officials to put on the biggest and best show possible is also what led to the company's demise.
The main event was Pride ace Sakuraba taking on the relatively fresh face of "Lil Nog." While older brother -- by 23 seconds -- was already an established name on the Pride circuit, Rogerio Nogueira had only stepped inside the promotion's ring three times. The two had a great fight. Really, it will probably go down as when two of the greatest fighters to never hold a major title met inside the ring.
The pomp and the spectacle would reach even greater heights in the ensuing years -- Shockwave 2005 boasts nearly 50,000 fans in attendance -- but it all began in 2003 at the Saitama Super Arena.
In a way, it's also where it began to end.
More from the "Ghosts of Saitama" series:
Ghosts of Saitama: After nearly a decade, the traditional New Year's Eve MMA event in Japan likely comes to an end in 2011 Ghosts of Saitama: In 2004, the world's greatest heavyweights descended upon Saitama Super Arena Ghosts of Saitama: Pride FC wastes no time making its debut at Saitama Super Arena in JapanWe're headed back to where the mixed martial arts (MMA) magic happened this weekend.
On Saturday (Feb. 25, 2012), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) will make its long-awaited return to Japan, lighting up the Saitama Super Arena with a bevy of fantastic match ups. Lightweight champion Frankie Edgar will put his title on the line against the seemingly unstoppable Ben Henderson, while Pride FC mainstays Quinton Jackson and Mark Hunt will look to once again delight the crowds that made them icons.
Suffice to say, we've got some awesome fights lined up, and there's plenty of opportunities to delight your wallets as well as your eyes.
Join us after the break for an in-depth look at the odds behind UFC 144: "Edgar vs. Henderson" as we examine the betting lines for the upcoming MMA match ups this weekend in the "Land of the Rising Sun:"
UFC 144 Odds for the Under Card:
Tiequan Zhang (-300) vs. Issei Tamura (+230)
Takeya Mizugaki (-200) vs. Chris Cariaso (+160)
Riki Fukuda (-300) vs. Steve Cantwell (+230)
Takanori Gomi (-225) vs. Eiji Mitsuoka (+175)
Norifumi Yamamoto (-400) vs. Vaughan Lee (+300)
Thoughts: As much as I’d like to boast about how Gomi and "KID" Yamamoto will absolutely annihilate their opposition and are therefore worth a bet despite being considerable favorites, even I’m not that naive. Their inconsistency makes it a dangerous proposition to bet on them, but their indisputable knockout power makes it just as dangerous to bet on their opposition.
Mizugaki is a safer bet, but Cariaso is enough of a scrapper that I’d leave that one alone, too.
That leaves two fights worth betting on. Fukuda was a better bet earlier in the week at -250, but even now, he’s a fine parlay stuffer. I worry slightly about ring rust because of being out of the game for so long, but he’s fighting on his home turf against a man on a four-fight skid who just got dominated by an opponent with a very similar skill set to his own.
He should be able to grind out Cantwell without much trouble.
It seems like every time I tout someone as "the best bargain on the card," they get their asses handed to them. Because I have no sense of pattern recognition, I’m going to do it again: Issei Tamura is the best bargain on the card. He’s not that big, is fighting on short notice, and is coming off a loss, but he has the perfect skill set to beat Zhang anyway. Tamura is an incredibly strong top-control artist with powerful takedowns and solid cardio. In fact, you’ll probably never want to watch him fight again considering how inactive he is from the top, but he’s not going to stick his head anywhere that Zhang could capitalize on. Zhang is a decent grappler, but he’s got poor cardio, is vulnerable to having his guard passed, and doesn’t have much takedown defense. He’s a far cry from the guys who beat Tamura (wrestler Guy Delumeau and striker Taiki Tsuchiya), and he’s a lesser grappler than Gustavo Falciroli, who Tamura stifled with ease.
Go big on Tamura.
UFC 144 Odds for the Main Card:
Anthony Pettis (-250) vs. Joe Lauzon (+195)
Hatsu Hioki (-185) vs. Bart Palaszewski (+150)
Yushin Okami (-450) vs. Tim Boetsch (+300)
Jake Shields (-300) vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama (+230)
Quinton Jackson (-300) vs. Ryan Bader (+230)
Cheick Kongo (-300) vs. Mark Hunt (+230)
Frankie Edgar (-130) vs. Ben Henderson (EVEN)
Thoughts: Seven fights on the main card? I could get used to this. Let’s look a little closer.
This possible title eliminator ought to be absolutely crazy -- you’ll be hard-pressed to find two lightweights with the kind of intensity and technical skill Pettis and Lauzon bring to the table. While it will undoubtedly be an absolute slobber-knocker, it doesn’t strike me as one that’s wise to put money on. Pettis is understandably the favorite and, considering Lauzon’s tendency to gas in the later rounds, can probably win comfortably once he gets past the first. The issue is that there aren’t many fighters more dangerous in the opening five minutes than "Creepy Joe," and I could definitely see him pulling another crazy upset out of his hat.
That said, there isn’t enough of a profit to be made on Pettis nor enough certainty of a Lauzon upset to warrant putting money on either side. Leave this one alone.
In the words of one of the finest wordsmiths of our age, "y’all musta forgot." Hatsu Hioki, going into the George Roop fight, was the number two featherweight in the world. While the Roop fight was uninspiring, it was his UFC debut, and his first fight in a cage. The fact that he performed poorly against Roop, who can be pretty nasty when he’s on, doesn’t erase the fact that his resume at 145 pounds is second only to Aldo at this point. I picked "Bartimus" to upset Tyson Griffin, but looking at his skills, his best attributes are his toughness and big punching power. Unfortunately for Palaszewski, Marlon Sandro, Mark Hominick and "Lion" Takeshi all have those traits and couldn’t stop Hioki. Hioki’s chin is iron, so a knockout on the part of Palaszewski is unlikely, and I don’t see him winning without that. He doesn’t present the problems Roop did, being shorter than Hioki, and when he inevitably finds himself on his back, he won’t survive.
Not on Hioki’s home turf. Bet big on Hatsu.
I will be absolutely stunned if Okami doesn’t absolutely wipe the floor with Boetsch. His striking is on another level and he can most likely match Boetsch’s much-ballyhooed strength. There’s really not much to be said here -- Okami is a top-five middleweight in the world and Boetsch doesn’t offer anything Mark Munoz or Nate Marquardt didn't. Still, -450 is pretty hefty and Boetsch hits pretty hard ... I’d leave this one be.
If I knew that Akiyama had the gas tank to go three rounds, I’d advise betting on him. Shields remains absolutely hopeless on his feet despite his years of experience, and while Akiyama isn’t the most technical striker, he hits plenty hard. Further, his base has so far proven ironclad, sufficiently so that I expect him to stay on his feet while he’s fresh no matter what Shields attempts. The problem is that Akiyama’s poor gameplanning inevitably leaves him winded rather early, and I have no idea how the weight cut will affect that. I’d be surprised if Jake gets him down in the first round, but things should tilt in the American’s favor in the late going.
I would leave this fight alone, too, because of too many questions.
I’m not sure what’s happened to "Rampage." He hasn’t knocked anyone out in years and looked completely unwilling to close the distance or cut off Jon Jones in their fight. Bader has been kind of disappointing lately, but he still packs huge power in his right hand and a solid wrestling attack. Just like the last fight, there are simply too many questions for my taste, and so I recommend avoiding putting any money down here.
Perhaps this is the hopeless PRIDE fan in me (who really should have opened his mouth before I put the house on Rothwell) speaking, but Hunt strikes me as a bargain. Ever since the Frank Mir debacle, Kongo has been incredibly gun shy on the feet, even in cases where the technical difference was enormous (see: Browne, Travis). He hasn’t committed on a power punch, while completely conscious in recent memory and was slow to bring his takedown game to bear against Meathead despite a marked advantage there. Hunt’s takedown defense in the early going really surprised me against Rothwell, and while I have no clue how a fresh Rothwell compares to Kongo in the takedown department, it strikes me as a good sign for this bout. Don’t put too much on it, but I just can’t shake the thought of Kongo running headfirst into one of Hunt’s monster uppercuts and tasting canvas.
Put a little down on the Super Samoan.
Edgar made me the money against Gray Maynard their third time out and I truly believe he’s going to do it again here. "Bendo" has been on an absolute rampage lately, having honed his clinch work and ground-and-pound into lethal weapons. His problem, which is going to cost him against Edgar, is that he still gets hit a lot. Jim Miller and Clay Guida both dropped Henderson in their bouts, and while Edgar isn’t the hardest puncher, he throws and lands enough that Henderson will probably find himself on his rear at some point, probably more than once. Further, I don’t see Henderson taking down Edgar, who shut down Maynard’s wrestling like it was nothing.
Frankie will retain his title, so make sure you get some profit out of it.
Personal Best Bets for UFC 144:
Parlay: Hatsu Hioki and Issei Tamura -- Bet $50 to make $204.19 Single Bet: Mark Hunt -- Bet $25 to make $57.50 Parlay: Frankie Edgar and Hatsu Hioki -- Bet $75 to make $125.74 Single Bet: Riki Fukuda -- Bet $105.43 to make $42.17 Single Bet: Issei Tamura-$100 to make $260It's a shame we can’t expect any (condoned) soccer kicks or stomped, but heck, I’m excited anyway.
Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver live UFC 144 results this Saturday, which is as good a place as any to talk about all the action inside the Octagon, as well as what you've got riding on the sportsbook.
See you then, Maniacs.
Event: UFC 146: "Dos Santos vs. Overeem"
Date: Saturday, May 26, 2012, at 10 p.m. ET on pay-per-view (PPV)
Location: MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada
Main Event:
UFC Heavyweight Champion Junior dos Santos vs. Alistair Overeem
Other Scheduled Bouts:
185 lbs.: Jason Miller vs. C.B. Dollaway
155 lbs.: Edson Barboza vs. Evan Dunham
155 lbs.: Paul Sass vs. Jacob Volkmann
145 lbs.: Diego Brandao vs. Darren Elkins
170 lbs.: Dan Hardy vs. Duane Ludwig
265 lbs.: Shane Del Rosario vs. Gabriel Gonzaga
205 lbs.: Glover Teixeira vs. Kyle Kingsbury
For more on UFC 146: "Dos Santos vs. Overeem" be sure to hit up our event archive right here.
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) will hold a public press conference TONIGHT (Feb. 22, 2012) in advance of UFC 144: "Edgar vs. Henderson," which will take place this Saturday (Feb. 25, 2012) at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.
The press conference will begin at 11 p.m. ET and will take place at Ritz Carlton Grand Ballroom in Tokyo, Japan. Scheduled to attend will be the headlining fighters of the evening, Frankie Edgar, Ben Henderson, Quinton Jacson, Ryan Bader, Jake Shields and Yoshihiro Akiyama.
Japanese fighters Eiji Mistuoka, Yushin Okami, Hatsu Hioki, Norifumi Yamamoto, Riki Fukuda, Takeya Mizugaki and Takanori Gomi will also be in attendance.
You can watch it LIVE online at 11 p.m. ET right here at MMAmania.com in the extended entry below.
*Update - Apparently there was a technical issue and the conference won't be streamed live. We'll keep you posted as we learn more.
Edgar is the current UFC Lightweight champion, having twice defeated B.J. Penn in 2010 to win and defend the belt. He showcased his pure heart in coming back twice in consecutive fights against Gray Maynard last year earning a draw and closing out the trilogy with a fourth round knockout to make a statement.
His challenger, Henderson, is the former World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) lightweight champion. He's been on a torrid run in the UFC thus far, defeating the likes of Mark Bocek and then knocking off top contenders Jim Miller and Clay Guida to earn his shot at UFC gold.
"Rampage" Jackson is the former UFC light heavyweight champion. He's been up and down since losing the title to Forrest Griffin and is most recently coming off a defeat via the hands of Jon Jones in a failed attempt to reclaim the 205 pound belt.
Bader was once considered one of the best 205-pound prospects in the UFC. After a very promising undefeated start to his career, he was derailed by Jon Jones and then completely stunned by Tito Ortiz. "Darth" Bader got back on track with a quick first round knockout in his last fight and will be right back in the thick of things if he can knock off the aging former Light Heavyweight champion.
Shields and Akiyama are two very experienced grapplers, as Shields' American jiu-jitsu and Akiyama's judo prowess have helped them have tremendous success. Both men are currently on multi-fight losing streaks, however, and are hoping to turn things around in this welterweight scrap.
We'll have complete updates of the UFC 144 press conference after the jump, as well as the LIVE video feed, below:
Update - Apparently there was a technical issue and the conference won't be streamed live. We'll keep you posted as we learn more.
Brian Hemminger here. The press conference is scheduled to begin at 11 p.m. ET.
Once hailed as one of the most promising Light Heavyweight prospects in mixed martial arts (MMA), Ryan Bader seeks to get back to the top of the of the Ultimate Fighting Championship's (UFC) 205-pound division when he takes on the always dangerous Quinton Jackson at UFC 144 this weekend (Feb, 25, 2012) at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.
Coming up the ranks at the same time as current UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones, the two were destined to meet in the Octagon to see who would catapult into title contention and who would take a step back and have to start from scratch. The pair went toe-to-toe at UFC 126 last year at on Feb. 5, 2011, in a bout that saw Jones have his way with "Darth," finishing him in the second round.
The loss -- his first-ever -- was not one of Bader's most inspiring performances. Jones went on to receive his much-deserved title shot. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Bader, on the other hand, was next matched up against Tito Ortiz, whose career, it appeared, would come to an end at any given time. Heading into the bout as the favorite, Bader once again tasted defeat as "The Huntington Beach Bad Boy" blasted his chin with a well-placed left hand and then sunk in a fight-ending guillotine to give the dazed All American collegiate wrestler his second consecutive loss.
At a crossroads in his MMA career, Bader was given yet another opportunity to redeem himself inside the Octagon when he was matched up with Jason Brilz at UFC 139. Bader finally got back in the win column, defeating Brilz via first round knockout and earning a much-needed win and confidence boost.
Three months removed from his latest victory, Bader heads "Far East" to meet Japan's adopted son, "Rampage," in a fight that can either catapult him right back into the mix or send him tumbling all the way down to the bottom of the pecking order.
A recent guest on Pro MMA Radio, Bader talked about what it was like to lose two consecutive losses after starting his MMA career undefeated (12-0), and what he has done in preparations to upset "Rampage" in Japan.
Check it out:
"I'm a competitor, I come from a college wrestling background. And I mean, you lose, I didn't lose all that often, but I did lose in college, especially in freshman year and all that. I had a rough patch in my junior year and I had to work through that and get back to my senior year and make All American again. It's the same here in MMA, you go on a streak of wins, and I ended up having a loss to Jon Jones, who know has been running through people and all that, so after that loss, it took me a good week, where I thought nothing than about that loss, more so, because I did not fight to my potential. I felt flat out there, Jon Jones is that goo too, but I felt so flat and didn't lay it out on the line. You get over those, but then having two losses in a row, especially to one you're supposed to win, you just have to get back to the drawing board and make changes and that's what we did."
On losing to former UFC 205-pound champion Tito Ortiz, a fight he was favored to win going into:
"I don't make excuses, I went in there and he (Tito) hit me on the chin and I went down and I don't remember from then, I came to at the very end when I was getting choked and I was almost out, so it's just one of those things where you get hit, it's MMA, small glove and big men. If you get hit in the chin, it happens you know."
On Jackson's aggressive style and what he feels he has to do to get the job done at UFC 144:
"I hear a lot of people saying that Rampage will have the home field advantage and this and that, but I don't think that's true, we both gotta fly over there, we both have to deal with the jet lag, were both fighting in the morning. I don't really think it is like in the PRIDE days, where everyone knows him. If anything it puts more pressure on him to perform, to try and get back to his roots and perform like the PRIDE days and all that. In his last couple of fights, he comes out trying to box you and trying to knock you out, tying to walk you down, he's not really fast so, he slowly uses his head movement. He has got a great chin and he can take shots, so he knows that he can just walk through it to land his big shots. He wants to take one to give one you know? The keys to victory for us to mix it up, not let him get in his comfort zone, not just go out there and take him down all the time, we have to mix up our hands and kicks and take downs. I have so much confidence going through this camp, I feel comfortable, I know what I'm doing with my footwork and setup and my striking wrestling and I look forward to this fight make mine and my camps predictions come true. If you beat Rampage your right up there."
With Quinton looking to put on a show for his Japanese fans, Bader has a tall task at hand in trying to upset "Rampage" and the fans at Saitama Super Arena. Not lacking any confidence, the bout against Jackson could prove to be a career-changer, not just for Bader, but for Jackson, too.
Does "Darth" have what it takes to upset the heavy-hitter Jackson? Or will "Rampage" hand Bader his third loss in four bouts?
Opinions, please.
Former number one Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) number one Heavyweight contender, Gabriel Gonzaga, will return to a familiar place at UFC 146 to introduce undefeated Strikeforce import, Shane Del Rosario, to the Octagon on May 26, 2012.
The world's leading mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion tonight revealed the bout, which is set to take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Memorial Day weekend. It will mark the fifteenth time Gonzaga will step inside the eight-walled cage, while Del Rosario will do it for the first time ever.
Gonzaga recently emerged from premature retirement after consecutive UFC losses to Junior dos Santos and Brendan Schaub in 2010. He came back to win a tune up fight against Parker Porter via submission in Oct. 2011 and then put his top-notch Brazilian jiu-jitsu skills to work once again when he tapped Ednaldo Oliveira with a rear naked choke at UFC 142 earlier this year.
"Napao" is one of the bigger and more dangerous fighters on the promotion's heavyweight roster, able to end fights with slick submissions and/or power punches. His cardio has always been questionable, however, which is a perceived weakness that a young upstart like Del Rosario might want to exploit on fight night.
Speaking of which, Del Rosario was on the fast track to superstardom in the Strikeforce heavyweight division before fate intervened. Undefeated after 11 professional fights, he was slated to take on fellow undefeated ex-Olympic wrestler Daniel Cormier in June 2011 in a clash between two of MMA's top heavyweight prospects.
It never happened.
On April 14, 2011, he was involved in a bad car accident -- another driver crossed the median and T-boned del Rosario's car, causing serious damage to the former Muay Thai world champion's back, herniating multiple discs and putting his MMA career on hold.
Until Memorial Day Weekend 2012.
His last professional fight happened way back in Feb. 2011 when he submitted Lavar Johnson with a first round armbar at the "Fedor vs. Silva" event in an alternate match for Strikeforce's heavyweight grand prix, which now features none other than the aforementioned Cormier in the finals against Josh Barnett.
Sometimes these things happen for a reason.
UFC 146 will feature a main event between Junior dos Santos, defending his heavyweight title for the very first time, against another Strikeforce import, Alistair Overeem. Jason Miller vs. C.B. Dollaway is also booked for the show, as well as a a welterweight showdwon between Dan Hardy vs. Duane Ludwig, among others.
As always, stay tuned to MMAmania.com for future updates to this rapidly-developing fight card.
While he is yet to make his UFC debut, Sean Loeffler might just be the most interesting man in the promotion.
"The Destroyer" was so excited to be on the UFC roster that he actually named his new puppy "Zuffa," although a freak backstage injury prevented him from fighting last Wednesday night at UFC on Fuel TV against Buddy Roberts.
The 29 year old middleweight hasn't gone past the first round in his last 20 fights and has traveled all over the world to compete in both sanctioned and unsanctioned mixed martial arts fights.
In doing so, he's experienced some pretty wild and crazy things.
During his appearance on The Verbal Submission, Loeffler told some of the most insane stories about the early days of his MMA career when he was fighting in po-dunk promotions all around the world. We've got one for you today and it's a doozy.
This one involved cockfights, rats and thieves in the Philippines. Check it out:
(Warning R-Rated language inside)
We'll let Sean Loeffler take over from here:
"I'll tell you something else. I fucking fought in the Philippines once where they had this dirt circle that we fought in. It was 2002 in a dirt circle and they had all different kinds of fights there.
Before I fought, they had a cock fight and they have these rooster fights and the rooster gets like fucked up because they put little razor blades on the feet of it and it bleeds everywhere and just falls over, I thought the rooster died. So they hand the rooster over to like this 12 year old kid and the 12 year old kid uses dental floss and sewed the cut back together and then they shoot them with like smelling salts and the roosters wake back up and then they just change the odds on the next fight and throw the same fucked up rooster back in there but it's got worse odds the next time until the fucking rooster dies.
So I'm sitting there backstage and I'm like, 'Well, I don't think I'm gonna get an early stoppage at this venue.'
Then right before my fight, they're like, 'Hey, we're gonna do one more fight before you guys,' and there were Thai fights and there were these Kali fights where two little brown people beat the fuck out of each other with sticks and then right before we box, they put in like six rats and a dog and the dog was fighting the six rats. This is all on the same fucking dirt that we're fighting on.
I'm like, 'That's disgusting,' and so then, I'm thinking to myself, 'This dog is just gonna fucking eat these rats,' and the dog gets killed by the rats, like instantly. The rats just fucked up the dog.
I'm sitting there looking at my coach and my coach is like, 'Alright, we've gotta just go, fight, and then leave,' and then the promoter comes into the locker room and he's like, 'Hey, people here don't understand ground game and grappling so just keep it standing,' and I go, 'This is an MMA fight,' and he says, 'Yeah, we know, but just don't go to the ground and wrestle around because there's guts and shit on the ground and just keep it standing.'
And my coach is like, 'Well what happens if we take it down?' and he goes, 'Well, we're gonna stop it and we're gonna take a point away.' You're gonna take a point away if I shoot a fucking takedown? I looked at my coach and said, 'This is some Jean-Claude Van Damme bullshit,' and he's like, 'Well just go in there and throw punches.'
So I go fight this local guy, he's this huge buff black dude but I know he doesn't know much about fighting but he's just this American guy who lives in the Philippines now and he's super buff. He goes to get in the cage and he looks at the ref and the ref goes, 'Cup and mouthpiece,' and he doesn't have a mouthpiece or a cup, but he looks at the ref and he goes, 'Get the fuck out of my way!'
So the ref just moves out of the way and I'm like shaking, terrified now. I'm not allowed to take this guy down, he doesn't know anything and he just told the ref to get the fuck out of his way because he doesn't have a cup or mouthpiece. I literally just closed my eyes and threw a knee and he was on the ground. I knocked him out with a knee and I was just like, 'Oh my god. Thank god!'
We went out the back door and we had to walk down this alleyway to our hotel with my coach. Some guy came up to us and he was like, 'Hey, congrats man. Good fight! Good fight!' and I was like, 'Thanks,' and he robbed us right afterwards.
He was like, 'Good fight! How much did you make?' and I was like, 'Oh, they just gave me $300,' and he goes, 'Oh, they gave it to you?' and I go, 'Yeah,' and he says, 'Usually they don't pay the guys.' I was like, 'Yeah, they gave it to us,' and he's like, 'Cool,' and then he pulls out a box cutter and he's like, 'I'm gonna need that.'
I'm like, 'What are you talking about?' I thought he was gonna help me cut my gloves off because he had a box cutter so I put my hands out and he's like, 'What are you doing?' and I was like, 'Aren't you gonna help me?' and he goes, 'No, I'm gonna need the money or I'm gonna stab you,' and I'm like, 'God dammit! Fuck this place! Are you kidding me?'
My coach goes, 'Just give him the money,' and we gave him the money and the promoter actually ended up paying us another $300 which was pretty cool but then we just sat at the airport until our flight left.
I've been a part of some pretty crazy shit. Zuffa runs their show just a little more legit than those organizations."
In case you missed our earlier conversations with Mr. Loeffler, click here to read about his injury that prevented him from competing at UFC on Fuel TV or click here to read his crazy redneck MMA event experience. As you would expect, he's quite the character.
So what did you think, Maniacs?
While you haven't had an opportunity to see Loeffler fight yet in the UFC, are you already a fan?
Sound off!
To listen to the complete audio of our interview with Sean, click here. (Interview starts at 32 minute mark and it was Gerry Rodriguez who got this hilarious story out of him at the 47 minute mark).
Nate Quarry has seen and participated in a tremendous amount of mixed martial arts (MMA) history throughout his nearly 10 year professional career.
A cast member on the inaugural season of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF), he was the first participant to earn a 185-pound title shot, although he lost to Rich Franklin back at UFC 56.
Quarry had 10 total fights under the UFC banner, holding a 7-3 record in the promotion, but at 39 years-old and realizing that time was no longer on his side, he's decided it's time to move on and take the next logical step.
Tomorrow night, "The Rock" will be making his debut as an analyst for Spike TV' s mixed martial arts news show titled "MMA Uncensored Live" alongside Mike Straka and Craig Carton.
The middleweight veteran spoke to MMAmania.com about his upcoming role in the show, what will help set them apart from everyone else and what fans can expect in this exclusive interview.
Check it out:
Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): What's your role on the show MMA Uncensored Live? We've seen a lot of fighters get an opportunity to be on shows like this with ESPN's MMA Live or Inside MMA. What do you expect your role to be on this show?
Nate Quarry: More than anything, I'm just bringing street cred to the show. I'm the guy who's been there and done that and can speak for pretty much any situation a fighter is going to be in. I fought in a warehouse and I fought for the world title at the MGM Grand so any time we've had a fighter on there, I can relate to what they've gone through and my co-hosts Craig Carton and Mike Straka, they're the knuckleheads that'll be speaking from the total fan point of view or the journalist point of view and every once in a while they need to be kind of shut down and told how it really is in our world, so I bring the fighter's viewpoint but at the same time, before I was a fighter, I was a fan, so I'm bringing the fan's viewpoint as well. I'll talk about the fights I want to see and what still excites me still after 15-16 years of watching fights.
Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): I'm interested in some of the preparation you've done before this show. I remember your work as a motivational speaker, watching one of your speeches about the heart and toughness and coming back from your back surgery. How much did being out there and all that experience speaking in front of large groups help you land this role?
Nate Quarry: Yeah, it's been a huge part of it with my speaking for the company that had my invasive back surgery. Working with them, we had it to where I was able to travel around and speak to people that are suffering so I would go to hospitals and tell my story and half the crowd would be UFC fans and half the crowd would be 90 year old people with degenerative scoliosis so I had to learn how to feel and speak to everyone in the crowd, make them feel like I was here relating to them no matter who they may be. I attended the TED conference in San Francisco and even being a young child in church, I was always doing bible readings in front of crowds. Everything kind of led up into this moment and I think once you get the opportunity, that's when the work really starts.
I'm starting to hone my craft so I can speak more fluently and fluidly as these opportunities have come my way. The biggest research and preparation I've had to do is memorizing everyone's names and their records. That's been the hardest thing for me because I'm so, so bad with names. We were doing a test shoot the other day and I was trying to think of Gray Maynard's name when Frankie Edgar fought him and I'm just sitting there saying, "You know, the guy. He fought last time at the thing and the did the what-what" and Mike Straka is just laughing at me because he knows everybody's names and their records and all that stuff. This is gonna be a live show too so you'll have plenty of fuel to trash me at the end of everybody episode for sure. I'll probably be mispronouncing names but it's gonna be fun.
Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): You also has some experience doing your own show. It wasn't on as big of a scale as this but American Cagefighter in California on Comcast, did that help you as well? I think you said that your role on that show was a little different than this one, though.
Nate Quarry: Yeah, for that show, I was the host. I was the main host and a lot of it was me introducing segments as well where from here, I'm interacting with my co-hosts, I'm talking with the fighters and doing stuff that I really want to do where we can just sit around and talk about UFC 144. I'm not just sitting there introducing the segments and going from the camera shot to the commercial for it. We're sitting here talking about who I think is going to win. Is it going to be Edgar or Bendo? To me, that's where the fun comes in and it's not just us sitting around reporting the scores, it's us giving our opinions. Just like anybody, like you do with your friends when you talk about the upcoming fights. All the swearing and arguments that you've gotten in where you went back and forth, to me, that's the whole fun in the fight game.
Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): Do you think that natural flow between the hosts, the opinion, is that going to help set your show apart from some of the other shows out there?
Nate Quarry: Yes, I really do. We've got personalities. Craig Carton is the number one sports radio guy in New York. Mike Straka, he left Fox News to follow MMA several years ago and now this is his dream job as well where he just gets to sit down and talk about fighting and he's been doing that with fighters for years. Then you've got me. I've always been one of the most opinionated guys. I've just never been given an opportunity to say my opinion. I think having the three of us interacting with each other, and Straka has already been screaming and yelling at me and I've had to tell him to use his inside voice. You're not gonna get that on any of the other shows. You take a fighter who doesn't even own a suit and you pour him into one, he just looks so stiff. With us, it's clothes we would wear on the street. It's words we would use on the street. I hope my mother's not watching. It's gonna be fun more than anything.
Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): You guys have a great first show lined up. Dan Henderson is planned to be your first fighter guest. Do you feel that will add a lot of legitimacy to the show, getting a guy that's in line to fight for the UFC light heavyweight title in 2012 to be on your debut show, an MMA legend?
Nate Quarry: Yeah, I think right out of the gate it's gonna show that we have such a good show that Dan Henderson is wanting to be a part of it. He doesn't have to do anything so we're just really thankful for him being on. I've known Dan for 15 or 16 years and it's nice to sit him down once again and talk about his career, where he's come from and where he's going.
Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): Do you feel like you guys are going to be able to give out good balanced view of everything? There are some shows that only show UFC stuff, some shows only discuss other stuff that they have a corporate interest in. Do you feel like you'll be able to give everybody a fair shake?
Nate Quarry: Well, obviously we're gonna spend a majority of time talking about the UFC because it's the biggest show, but Bellator's gonna be making a big wave too in the next coming year so we'll be taking a big focus on that too but because we're not expressly affiliated with any one brand, that gives us an opportunity to talk about whatever we want to talk about. We're not a UFC sponsored show. We're not a Bellator sponsored show. We're here to talk about every show from the smallest to the biggest. To me, that's just very exciting. It's not gonna be a half hour advertisement for UFC or for Bellator or anything.
Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): Dan Herbertson, one of the best MMA reporters out there from Japan, he hinted this morning that he's debuting a big story about the death of Pride in Japan and all that stuff on Thursday through Spike TV. Is that going to be something that you guys have on your show?
Nate Quarry: Yeah, that's an incredible segment that we're doing on Pride and behind the scenes and the involvement with the Yakuza. It's cool to see this footage and see the interviews that everyone's got together. We've got this behind the scenes stuff that you never really see. Some people, they just watch the fights and then they turn it off and that's the entire thing. They don't think about the behind the scenes stuff where they sit these guys down and even myself, I cornered Dan Henderson when he fought [Murilo] Bustamante and what an incredible experience to be there and be behind the scenes and see the two fighters be given a duffel bag full of cash. I'm not gonna anything about the Yakuza because I like my pinkies but that's going to be a big show.
Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): So is that something that's going to be an important part of your show, these really big segments to get these well-researched stories out there?
Nate Quarry: Yeah, I think it's going to depend on the week. It's going to depend on what big fights are going on and what's the big controversy. We're not affiliated with any organization so sometimes the controversy will be Joe Rogan confronting Mario Yamasaki in that one fight where he disqualified Erick Silva and what a controversy on that or maybe something about better training with judges and referees or it will be Nick Diaz failing his drug test and missing his rematch with Condit or it will be a recent fight like Sanchez-Ellenberger and how the UFC made a mistake and it should have been five rounds and it was only three rounds. Did that give Ellenberger a break? It's a bunch of things that the fans are already sitting around and sharing their opinions about. We're no different.
Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): I read that there's gonna be something called live Twitter interaction because the show's gonna be live. Can you tell me about the whole twitter interaction thing that you guys are planning for the show?
Nate Quarry: Yeah, we're gonna have this hashtag #MMAUncensored so if people are tweeting to me or Straka or Craig Carton, we're gonna be looking at those tweets during the show and we'll pick out a couple of them to ask myself or Mike Straka or maybe even Dan Henderson. So the fans will really just be the fourth person there in the studio trying to get their names on the wall so we can relate to them and answer their questions. Like I did on my facebook on my twitter, I said, "We've got Dan Henderson coming on. What questions do you want me to ask him?" I see these fans who just love MMA so much, they've got these incredible thought-provoking questions that I never would have thought of myself.
Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): Just promise me you guys won't just pick out the most vanilla questions like, "Who's your favorite fighter" and "How was training camp" and stuff like that.
Nate Quarry: You know, it's funny you would say that because we were talking the other day about what questions to ask and that was one of the questions, "who do you want to fight next?" and "What's your gameplan for upcoming fight? I said, "Man, I'm not gonna ask that. First off, you're going to get the answer every single time about the gameplan: 'Well, I'm training for everything because he's a well-rounded fighter.'"
You're never going to get, "Well, right now I'm working on my double jab into an overhand right so I can shoot with a double-leg takedown. I think this is really going to work well and he's not going to be expecting it." You heard it here first on MMA Live Uncensored, double jab into overhand right into double leg takedown and I hope your opponent is not watching!
Those questions are never going to be answered so what I'm going to be asking or talking to Dan Henderson about, we're going to be looking back at the times he's came through and where he's going now which I honest want to know as a human being.
Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): That's very refreshing. Now I don't know if you're even aware of this one, but two hours ago, Vitor Belfort tweeted at you that he wants to train together with you and get you in his next camp for his fight with Wanderlei. Did you see that and do you have a response?
Nate Quarry: I woke up this morning and I saw that and I was like, "What the hell?" I didn't even know I was on Vitor's radar. That was really surprising to me. I don't even know what camp he trains at or where he's at.
Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): I believe he's at Xtreme Couture.
Nate Quarry: Oh, so he's in Vegas. Well, I'll reach out to him for sure but with my weekly commitment here in New York City, I don't see how that would be possible. But yeah, talk about waking up in the morning and getting a surprise. That was amazing. I couldn't believe that.
Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): Does it concern you at all, you were originally going to be doing a thing with MMA Junkie, but they got cold feet a month or two out. Do you have any words on that?
Nate Quarry: To me, it doesn't really matter. I'll let the businessmen decide what they're gonna do. I'm just gonna focus on the show and to me, that means I get to be a fan and a fighter and express my opinions and that's a great job to me. I'll let the higher-ups worry about their drama and their politics and everything. I just want to sit around and talk about fighting. This is an incredible opportunity for me. I'm really hoping that once the show gets going, everyone will see that we're not here to hurt anyone or compete against anyone. We're just here to talk about fighting. Hopefully everyone will jump on board and recognize that and want to be a part of what we're doing.
Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): This has nothing do to with the show at all, but since you're such a big fan of zombies and everything, how cool was it that you got an opportunity to be a guest zombie on the Left for Dead video game?
Nate Quarry: That was pretty awesome. My buddy works at Valve Software and when I wasn't in the first UFC game, he called me and said, "We've got to put you in a game here," so I went up to Seattle and they used some digital photos of me in some 3-dimensional photos and they put me in the game. That was really cool and it played right into my Zombie Cagefighter line. I hate to say there are times in my career that I was left wanting but people spat in my face, betrayed my trust, stabbed me in the back but then for every person that's ever stabbed me in the back, there's two or three or even five guys that stood up and helped me when I needed it and it's just an awesome opportunity to do any of this stuff. To be a zombie in a video game, to be able to sponsor some fighters with my Zombie Cagefighter line in Dream or in Bellator and see people wearing my shirts around or getting excited about it, it's a dream come true.
Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): That's about everything I had for you Nate, but before I let you go, did you have any last words about the show or anything else you wanted to add?
Nate Quarry: Nothing I can really think of. I think you pretty much covered everything. (laughs)
MMA Uncensored Live debuts tomorrow night, Thursday, February 23rd at 11 p.m. eastern time on Spike TV. You can follow Nate on twitter @NateRockQuarry.
So, Maniacs. Will you be tuning in tomorrow night so see if the new show is up to snuff? What are your expectations heading in?
Sound off!
Join us at Bloody Elbow for tonight's UFC 144 pre-fight press conference from the Ritz Carlton in Tokyo, Japan. We're expecting Dana White, UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar, Ben Henderson, Quinton Jackson, Ryan Bader, Jake Shields, and Yoshihiro Akiyama to be in attendance for tonight's presser.
You can catch the action on the Youtube stream below the jump, but if that doesn't work for some reason you can always check it out over at MMA Fighting.
We'll update the post with highlights from the press conference as they happen.
Join us at 11 p.m. ET/8 p.m. PT to share your thoughts as the press conference unfolds.
UPDATE - According to MMA Fighting, the press conference isn't going to be streamed now. But we'll do our best to provide live updates either way.
UPDATE 2 - Dave Farra (@DaveFarra) is providing live updates of the press conference. His tweets are below the jump if you'd like to know what he said. BE will post video of the event as soon as it pops up.
Main Card
Frankie Edgar vs. Ben Henderson
Ryan Bader vs. Quinton Jackson
Cheick Kongo vs. Mark Hunt
Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Jake Shields
Tim Boetsch vs. Yushin Okami
Hatsu Hioki vs. Bart Palaszewski
Joe Lauzon vs. Anthony Pettis
Preliminary Card
Takanori Gomi vs. Eiji Mitsuoka
Vaughan Lee vs. Norifumi Yamamoto
Steve Cantwell vs. Riki Fukuda
Chris Cariaso vs. Takeya Mizugaki
Issei Tamura vs. Tiequan Zhang
SBN coverage of UFC 144: Edgar vs. Henderson
@DaveFarra updates:
Presser starts for #UFC144: Dana says the card starts at 930a Japanese time. Dana says he loves Japan, it's great to be back.
Dana: Get ready Japan. This will be the most exciting live sporting event you've ever seen.
Dana: If I get booed (for not being very popular over here).... I can take some boos, but we didn't kill Pride. I respected Pride.
Rampage: I'm here relaxed. I don't get nervous until the day of the fight. I'm just glad to be in Japan.
Akiyama: I feel that Japan is in trouble now (due to earthquake). We want to put on good fights to cheer up Japanese people.
Rampage: In Japan I'm "incog-negro." The fans only recognize me when I'm wearing camo here. I blend in with all the other black folks here..
Jake Shields: This is my 7th time in Japan. I'm familiar, and I'm well prepared for Akiyama
Frankie: the more I keep winning, the more respect I will get. Ben is a solid contender, I will have my hands full.
Bader: this is kinda surreal being here, but Rampage is just another name. Another guy across the cage from me.
Dana: This is a great card, 7 fights on pay per view. Probably the most stacked card of the year.
Dana: Okami has been one of my favorite fighters for a long time. He deserves to be on the main card. He's one of the best.
Frankie: I wasn't surprised to see the WEC guys doing well in the UFC. I am excited to be fighting a new opponent, finally (after rematches)
Dana: Frankie is the ONLY fighter in UFC history to come back from 3 knock downs (against Maynard) and knock his opponent out
Dana: I don't know what happens to Akiyama and Gomi if they lose. It's a good question.
Akiyama on fighting at 170: I was a little worried at beginning of cut but I have no worries now.
Frankie: I want to stop being in such knock down battles, I don't like getting hit so much. Makes the after party suck.
Benson: The Japanese fans do a great job appreciating MMA. The subtle techniques. (everyone else: ditto)
Dana: we may use a Japanese ring girl this weekend.
Bader on first fight in Japan: this is cool, but it's business. I'll soak it in after the fight.
Dana: Japanese ring girl we are thinkin about hiring is Miss Japan. I think we're going to make that happen.
Rampage: I really respect how Japanese fans treat the fighters, but I have no idea why the fans are quiet when we fight, but I like it.
Rampage: I've lost a lot of fights because I wanted to put on a great fight for the fans. I'm doing that again, fighting like I'm 25 again.
Dana: Im curious if the event will be quiet here (like it has been for past MMA) or if it will be loud like everywhere else in world for UFC
Dana: I didn't kill Pride. Not true. They are the only other organization I have ever respected.
Finally, it seems that the most talked-about grudge match in MMA over the last year is going to come together. Former training partners Jon Jones and Rashad Evans are scheduled to meet for the UFC light heavyweight title in the main event on UFC 145, which takes place on April 21st from Philips Arena in Atlanta, GA. The card also features two big heavyweight bouts, with Brendan Schaub taking on Ben Rothwell, and Chad Griggs making his UFC debut against Travis Browne. Check out the current card below:
Apr 21st, live on pay-per-view from Atlanta, GA:
Jon Jones (15-1) vs. Rashad Evans (17-1-1)
Rory MacDonald (12-1) vs. Che Mills (14-4)
Michael McDonald (14-1) vs. Miguel Torres (40-4)
Brendan Schaub (8-2) vs. Ben Rothwell (31-8)
Chad Griggs (11-1) vs. Travis Browne (12-0-1)
More SBN coverage of UFC 145
Mark Hominick (20-10) vs. Eddie Yagin (15-5-1)
Mark Bocek (10-4) vs. Matt Wiman (14-6)
Anthony Njokuani (14-6) vs. John Makdessi (9-1)
Efrain Escudero (18-4) vs. Mac Danzig (20-9-1)
Chris Clements (10-4) vs. Keith Wisniewski (28-13-1)
Maximo Blanco (8-3-1) vs. Marcus Brimage (4-1)
Matt Brown (13-11) vs. Stephen Thompson (6-0)
With Derek Brunson failing his medicals yesterday due to not meeting the minimum eyesight requirements spelled out by the Ohio Athletic Commission, Strikeforce had to find a replacement to face Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza as soon as possible. And they've found one in IFL veteran and current SCC middleweight champion Bristol Marunde (15-6). Scott Coker confirmed it earlier, and Marunde tweeted about it a little while ago:
#embedly_twitter_63768825{background:url(http://a0.twimg.com/profile_background_images/58726353/winner_pose.jpg) #C0DEED; padding:20px;} #embedly_twitter_63768825 p{background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 0px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:18px;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px} #embedly_twitter_63768825 .embedly_tweet_content{background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:18px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px} #embedly_twitter_63768825 p span.metadata{display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:0px;height:40px; padding-bottom: 12px;} #embedly_twitter_63768825 p span.metadata span.author{line-height:15px;color:#999;font-size:14px} #embedly_twitter_63768825 p span.metadata span.author a{line-height:15px;font-size:20px;vertical-align:middle} #embedly_twitter_63768825 p span.metadata span.author img{float:left;margin:0 10px 0 0px;width:48px;height:48px} #embedly_twitter_63768825 p a {color: #0084B4; text-decoration:none;} #embedly_twitter_63768825 p a:hover{text-decoration:underline} #embedly_twitter_63768825 .embedly_timestamp{font-size:13px;display:inline-block;margin-top: 5px;} #embedly_twitter_63768825 .components-above span.embedly_timestamp{font-size:10px;margin-top: 1px;line-height:12px} #embedly_twitter_63768825 a {color: #0084B4; text-decoration:none;} #embedly_twitter_63768825 a:hover{text-decoration:underline} #embedly_twitter_63768825 .tweet-screen-name {font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold;} #embedly_twitter_63768825 .tweet-full-name {padding-left: 4px; color: #999; font-size: 12px;} #embedly_twitter_63768825 .tweet-actions{margin-left: 10px;font-size:13px;display:inline-block;width:250px} #embedly_twitter_63768825 .components-above span.tweet-actions{font-size:10px} #embedly_twitter_63768825 .controls{line-height:12px!important} #embedly_twitter_63768825 .tweet-actions a {margin-left:5px} #embedly_twitter_63768825 .tweet-actions a b{font-weight:normal} #embedly_twitter_63768825 .components-above span.tweet-actions a b{vertical-align:baseline;line-height:12px} #embedly_twitter_63768825 .components-above .tweet-text{font-size:13px;vertical-align:baseline} #embedly_twitter_63768825 .tweet-image {float: left; width: 40px;} #embedly_twitter_63768825 .tweet-user-block-image {float: left; width: 48px; height: 48px} #embedly_twitter_63768825 .tweet-row {margin-left: 40px; margin-top: 3px;line-height: 17px;} #embedly_twitter_63768825 .tweet-user-block {margin-left: -40px;} #embedly_twitter_63768825 .stream-item {padding-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 12px;} #embedly_twitter_63768825 .simple-tweet-image img {margin-top: 4px;} #embedly_twitter_63768825 .simple-tweet-content {margin: 0 0 13px 0px; font-size: 14px; min-height:48px;} #embedly_twitter_63768825 .in-reply-to-border {border-color: #EBEBEB; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 0 0;} #embedly_twitter_63768825 .in-reply-to-text {margin-left: 4px; padding-left: 8px; padding-right: 10px; color: #999; font-size: 12px;} #embedly_twitter_63768825 .tweet-actions i {background: transparent url(http://a2.twimg.com/a/1306889658/phoenix/img/sprite-icons.png) no-repeat;width:15px;height:15px;margin:0 4px -3px 3px;outline: none; text-indent:-99999px;vertical-align:baseline;display:inline-block;position:relative;} #embedly_twitter_63768825 .tweet-actions a.retweet-action i {background-position:-192px 0;} #embedly_twitter_63768825 .tweet-actions a.reply-action i {background-position:0 0;} #embedly_twitter_63768825 .tweet-actions a.favorite-action i {background-position:-32px 0;} Its public, I'm fighting Ronaldo 'Jacare' Souza on Showtime in Strikeforce! Looking forward to a tough fight!
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The 29-year-old Marunde is currently on a four-fight winning streak and holds wins over UFC veterans Rich Attonito and Jay Silva. He fights out of the Throwdown Training Center in Las Vegas. With just 12 days to prepare for a former Strikeforce middleweight champion and ADCC winner, he'll have his work cut out for him in Columbus.
SBN coverage of Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey
With the UFC returning to Japan for the first time in a decade for this Saturday's UFC 144 in the storied Saitama Super Arena, the UFC has done its best to stack the card with Japanese fighters from their roster.
That roster includes fighters who rose to prominence in Japan after the boom like Hatsu Hioki, fighters who toiled in the smaller Japanese promotions like Riki Fukuda and Takeya Mizugaki, Yushin Okami, a fighter who has fought in the UFC for almost his whole career and even fighters who were big stars during Japan's MMA boom such as Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto and Takanori Gomi.
But no Japanese fighter on the UFC 144 card is a bigger star in his homeland* than Yoshihiro Akiyama. Frustratingly for Akiyama and the UFC, his 1-3 run with the promotion keeps him out of the headliner or co-main event slots.
But the 36-year-old has finally decided to cut weight and fight against men his own size in the welterweight division. Former Strikeforce champ and UFC #1 contender Jake Shields will be his test case.
He talked to UFC.com about the decision:
"I am not tall and big enough among other UFC fighters and decided to change to my "original" division," said the 5-foot-11 Akiyama through translator Takashi Iizuka. It was at 81 kilograms (178 pounds) that Akiyama won numerous judo titles, and while he will retain the technical knowledge and gritty competitiveness that has marked his seven year MMA career, he'll also be competing on a level physical playing field, and he believes that "I think that I could acquire more speed."
It will be very interesting to see if Akiyama can get a win over the tough Jake Shields and if the fight will make any waves in Japan. The UFC did manage to buy some TV time on TV Tokyo, the smallest broadcaster in Japan. Unfortunately the fights will air at midnight Tokyo time, hours after the fights are over but it's a start.
Based on reports from Fight Opinion, it looks as if the UFC's deal with the Dentsu advertising agency and sponsor Don Quixote to book the event as a "sold show" was a very smart play. UFC 144 is a low-risk proposition for Zuffa and just might represent a first step in rebuilding the MMA market in Japan.
*Akiyama is a native of Japan but of Korean descent.
Photo via Getty Images.
SBN coverage of UFC 144: Edgar vs. Henderson
In a match-up that's probably not going to showcase any displays of grappling wizardry, welterweight sluggers, Dan Hardy and Duane Ludwig, have agreed to face off in Las Vegas on May 26th at UFC 146, according to MMA Weekly, who confirmed the booking with UFC officials:
Dan Hardy will return to action at UFC 146 in May where he will face fellow striker Duane "Bang" Ludwig.This might be Hardy's last chance to keep his spot on the UFC roster, although it has appeared that he's been in that position in the past, only to keep his job after putting on exciting fights, even during his current four-fight losing streak, which is usually more than enough to get a fighter booted from the promotion. Hardy has revamped his training though, electing to leave his native England to prepare full-time in Las Vegas and taking an extended layoff after his loss to Chris Lytle last August to get fully focused before this next fight. Ludwig, a longtime veteran of the sport, seemed to be enjoying a career resurgence with back-to-back wins over young prospects, Nick Osipczak and Amir Sadollah, but like Hardy against Lytle, his weakness on the ground caught up to him against fellow journeyman, Josh Neer, and Ludwig ended up getting choked out back in January.
Dan "The Outlaw" Hardy (23-10)The UFC 146 card now includes:
-Junior dos Santos vs. Alistair Overeem - UFC heavyweight championshipUFC 146 coverage
Following his decision loss to Carlos Condit at UFC 143, Nick Diaz' drug screening came back positive for marijuana metabolites. This is the second time that Diaz has tested positive for marijuana in Nevade with the first time following his fight against Takanori Gomi at Pride 33 in 2007. He was suspended for six months and fined twenty percent of his fight purse. The win was also overturned to a no contest.
A temporary suspension of his fight license has been handed down to Diaz on the Wednesday meeting following his UFC 143 positive test. The request was made by Christopher Eccles, the Nevada deputy Attorney General and the commission unanimously agreed on the motion. A follow up disciplinary meeting will be scheduled where Nick Diaz will be able to defend his usage of marijuana. Nick Diaz was not on the call Wednesday afternoon.
Wednesday's pre-hearing was overseen by commission chairman Skip Avansino, who requested that documentation from the 2007 hearing be made available as well as any disciplinary actions handed down from other commissions. Diaz had prior issues with the California State Athletic Commission while in Strikeforce.
Diaz' case is unique as marijuana is prescribed by a doctor to help him with his ADHD in the state of California. He will likely request exemption for medicinal marijuana usage. This is without precedent as there has never been another case of a fighter asking for marijuana exemption. There is also a possibility that Diaz would request a retroactive exemption which could possibly change the No Contest back to a win.
Diaz could face up to a year suspension as well as a financial fine. The commission requested his financial earning from UFC 143 which would put not just his purse but any bonuses received at risk. His base salary was $200,000 though it is very likely that he also received undisclosed "locker room" and PPV based bonuses as well.
SBN coverage of UFC 143: Diaz vs. Condit
I recorded a segment for Press Row with Jordan Breen over at Sherdog last night and during the discussion of all things UFC 144 and Japanese MMA, Breen posed the question of what fighters on the undercard would be likely to get a shot at a title in 2012. In my initial response I glossed over the winner of the lightweight bout between Joe Lauzon and Anthony Pettis.
My thinking was that the UFC's method of setting up title shots and handling the Fox shows had been very clear, they have two guys fight in a main event with a clear "next fight" with the current champion. In my mind that meant that the winner of the Nate Diaz vs. Jim Miller fight would be set to face the winner of the UFC 144 main event between Ben Henderson and Frankie Edgar. But as we talked and Breen argued that the Pettis/Lauzon winner should get a shot, I was a bit swayed, and after sleeping on the idea? I think I'm convinced it is a great idea.
First, some of the segment from Press Row:
Breen: Walk with me for a second, Brent. Tell me when I'm spitting garbage, okay? Because of the fact that they're on the same card and therefore it makes for great timing, it makes the most sense for the UFC...so desperate for anything resembling main events and bankable stars and so forth, that the winner of Frank Edgar/Ben Henderson, if it does end up being Anthony Pettis taking out Joe Lauzon. Do that in late June, early July assuming everybody's totally healthy. Get these guys fighting. What's one of the beefs of champions in the lower weight classes (135, 145, 155)? They're making more money now but they don't make as much money as other dudes. Most of these guys are physically healthy enough to stay that active. Jose Aldo? Maybe not. Dominick Cruz's hands? We'll see. But Frank Edgar seems to be a guy who has the physical ability to fight every 4-5 months. Isn't the real step to fast track the UFC division, even if you were to grant the winner of Miller/Diaz a title shot, you could have the next title fight happening two months after that particular fight so they're waiting six months total for the next fight.
I think you have a real chance with so many cards and deeply wanting to avoid the risk of headlining cards with things like Rashad Evans against Thiago Silva again. How CAN'T you be really, really all in with trying to fasttrack as many light weight guys to fight 3, 4, 5 times a year?
Brookhouse: I think they SHOULD be doing that, but I just look at the way they've been operating and the way they like to do these Fox shows and they like to have the contender status up and have it be very clear who they're going to be fighting. And it's just...if it follows that exact path, then it goes to Miller/Diaz, whoever wins that. But in terms of what makes the most sense, I feel like Edgar gets just straight forgotten by a lot of people. Which is just horrible since he's just one of the best guys to watch in the sport.
(We then go into a whole thing about Edgar's relative place in lightweight history and his chances to be the best 155'er in MMA history by the end of 2012. But circled back to the need to keep Edgar active to build his profile.)
Brookhouse: ...it's this kind of weird situation with Edgar where everyone is waiting for that "yeah, he's really good but..." and waiting for him to screw up in some way and lose. ...I don't know if that's vulnerability shown in the first Penn fight where a lot of people felt he lost and then Maynard fights where he was clearly hurt so he's not exactly St. Pierre and Silva and even Aldo in the level of consistent dominance. He's just exciting and wins. It's a situation where I would almost hope if Pettis wins...If Pettis AND Edgar win I should say...that they would go ahead and do Pettis vs. Edgar and then do the winner of that against the Miller/Diaz winner and keep Edgar in everyone's face and try and build him into what I think he actually is. But get him that kind of recognition from everybody.
I mean, we're constantly engaged with our readers at Bloody Elbow and it seems like EVERYBODY on the UFC roster comes up more often than Frankie Edgar, which is just bizarre to me.
Breen: Well, dude! The fact that Clay Guida is ten times more popular than Frank Edgar is...not that there's anything wrong with Clay Guida and you can see how his personality resounds with people...but the general overlooking of Frank Edgar is something incredible.
More thoughts after the jump..
SBN coverage of UFC 144: Edgar vs. Henderson
It does make sense that if you are annoyed (as I am) with the way Edgar gets lost in the shuffle (even by media types like myself) you should want him fighting as often as possible. And maybe a lot of this is too based on some sort of assumption that Edgar wins a very legitimate, very tough fight against Ben Henderson. But even a Henderson win should demand Ben fight often.
A win by Pettis presents a new challenger who was supposedly in line just two fights ago (three after the Lauzon fight). It's not some crazy idea for him to fight for the title despite losing a hard fought decision to Clay Guida in a fight that was only three rounds but would be five under the sort of "new world" rules for the UFC. If Edgar wins that is simply a great fight and if Henderson wins you're getting the Pettis/Henderson rematch with highlights galore, including maybe the MMA highlight.
As for Lauzon, if he wins that'd be his second straight win over a top ten level challenger who had been in that title challenger range. Despite earlier career failings in big fights, that should be the kind of momentum one needs to put himself in line for a title shot.
While it may break the still young pattern of the Fox shows determining the very next challenger, I think I've come fully to agree with the idea that these two UFC 144 fights should determine the next title fight with the Jim Miller vs. Nate Diaz fight setting up the next challenger and establishing a clear, easy to follow divisional picture.
PRIDE and UFC star, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, or 'Big Nog' has a conspiracy theory. He thinks there's a rivalry between American's and Brazilian's, and he implies that MMA Judges in the US are biased against the Brazilians.
He said as much when he talked to Globo TV. Here's a translation from Bloody Elbow's own Orcus:
"Americans have a rivalry with Brazilians, that is obvious. And why is that? It’s because the UFC has three hundred fighters under contract, and from those three hundred fighters we are fifty. The Brazilians are fifty, and we have more belts than they do."
"So from three hundred we are fifty, and with those fifty we get there and take care of business. They win (more) because they have more (people), they have a bigger infrastructure inside their gyms, they have support for the sport since they’re kids. But the sport is growing in Brazil and I believe that..."
"They look at us with (malicious) eyes, let’s say it like that. If you’re going to fight an American in the US you have to win the fight with emphasis because otherwise… You can’t win it by a thin margin."
Off the top of my head, the only controversial decision involving a Brazilian fighter losing to an American fighter recently, would be Lyoto Machida losing that razor thin decision against Quinton Jackson. For the record, I do disagree with that decision, but even then, it was a really close fight, and it wasn't really a robbery.
We do see a few crazy scorecards every now and then, but I don't think we can really blame that on nationalism, racism, or whatever, rather than them simply being bad at judging fights.
Nog's brother, Rogerio was even awarded one of those controversial decisions. I wonder if Jason Brilz has his own conspiracy theory on this.