MMA Marketplace: A tiny championship belt for your little fighter doll

If one of your MMA dolls, erm, action figures has proven himself to be better than the rest, doesn't he deserve a championship belt? You're in luck. There is an Etsy store that can help you with that.

When one of your action figures wins the belt, all the other ones will yell, "I want my belt back!" or "I want B.J.'s belt!" They may even get on their knees to beg you for a title shot, but at some point you will have to make hard decisions on which doll gets the next chance to win the title.

Or, since they cost just $3, you can just buy a belt for every doll.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/mma-marketplace-tiny-championship-belt-little-fighter-doll-124109019.html

Matt Andersen  Alex Andrade  Jermaine Andrè  Yoji Anjo 

Dan Hardy On Fighting Nick Diaz: ?I Would Trade Some Punches With Him?

Dan Hardy remains on the cusp of being let go by the UFC after four consecutive losses inside the Octagon. Nick Diaz announced his retirement from MMA following a heated defeat at the hands of Carlos Condit. So, why are we even talking about Hardy and Diaz? Because “The Outlaw” is one of the few [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/mmaconvert/~3/MefFRLIG2ps/

Josh Hendricks Ed Herman Heath Herring Branden Lee Hinkle

Reader Rants: Takes on Jose Aldo, ?The Ultimate Fighter? and touching gloves

Welcome to another edition of Reader Rants, where your opinions take center stage. Taken from the Cagewriter Facebook page, each rant comes from a Cagereader. If you want to join in, go to Cagewriter's Facebook page, like it, and comment on stories.

No opponent has yet been named for Jose Aldo's title bout in Calgary. One reader wants to see him try out lightweight instead.

I'd like to see him test the waters at 155, a la Anderson vs Irvin/Griffin. I think he would be the most likely candidate for a concurrent belt holder. (Jones at HW is ridiculous. He is an awesome, absolutely spectacular fighter, but his frame is not that of a HW.) -- John Wilcox

Friday night's "The Ultimate Fighter" quick ending also caused a reaction.

I don't like abusing the term "got caught" when referring to a fighter being stopped via KO or submission, but that's exactly what happened to Daron Cruikshank. I appreciate what James Vick pulled off, but I can't unequivocally say he's the better fighter. -- Brandon Artiles

But nothing inspired more comments than Sheila Gaff's knockout of Jennifer Maia. When Maia raised her hand to touch gloves, Gaff started swinging.

They touched gloves earlier. It should be discussed before the fight if they will touch gloves at 1st round. For all we know, she had her arm outstretched to size up distance. I doubt it, but we have no clue what was going through her head. Maybe they decided to touch gloves at the beginning of the round and the other girl screwed her over, who knows? -- Will Howard

She was totally in the right throwing that punch. The referee says 2 things at the start of the fight "obey my commands at all times" and "protect yourselves at all times". Touching gloves should be outlawed once the fight begins, it causes too many of these issues (Wes Sims v Frank Mir 1). It also puts the fighters at a disadvantage. If they touch gloves they give up their range, if they don't it's perceived as poor sportsmanship when all they're doing is following referee instructions. -- Ellis Lett Garnette

The bell rang, it was on. Yes, touching gloves is a classy thing to do but it is a tactical decision that came back to bite her. That said, it was a cheap shot. -- Nick Sicinski

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/reader-rants-takes-jose-aldo-ultimate-fighter-touching-182129927.html

Jimmy Ambriz Matt Andersen  Alex Andrade  Jermaine Andrè 

More matchmaking: Tito Ortiz retirement bout set, Demian Maia drops down, and more

With no events on the books until Apr. 14, the UFC has plenty of time to make matches for the spring and summer run of events.

-- Tito Ortiz will fight Forrest Griffin one more time. In what is expected to be Ortiz's final fight before retiring, the pair will meet up at UFC 148 in Las Vegas on July 7. The two are 1-1 against each other, with Ortiz taking their bout at UFC 59 and Griffin winning at UFC 106. Both were split decisions.

-- Also at UFC 148, former championship contender Demian Maia will debut at welterweight. He'll make the move down from middleweight and face Dong Hyun-Kim.

-- Featherweight prospects Jimmy Hettes and Steven Siler will square off at UFC on FX 4 in Atlantic City. Hettes will put his undefeated record on the line against Siler, who has two wins in the UFC.

-- In a fight that will surely be fun to watch, Josh Neer will fight Mike Pyle at UFC on FX 3 on June 8. Neer won four of his five fights by TKO, and Pyle is coming off a TKO of Ricardo Funch.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/more-matchmaking-tito-ortiz-retirement-bout-set-demian-200727352.html

Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama  Gilbert Aldana  José Aldo 

Video: Kenny Florian and Georges St. Pierre in epic battle

While Georges St. Pierre is sidelined by a knee injury and Kenny Florian is retired after a back injury, the competitive spirit in each fighter has not died. They still feel the need to fight, even when it's just a thumb war.

Update: If the video didn't work for you last time, try again. It's been replaced.

As a thumb war aficionado, I feel the need to point out that Florian cheated. He pulled away from GSP's hand to apply the finishing move.

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Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/video-kenny-florian-georges-st-pierre-epic-battle-182940365.html

Delson Heleno Dan Henderson Josh Hendricks Ed Herman

NSAC suspends Strikeforce light heavyweight Mo Lawal for nine months

The Nevada State Athletic Commission has ruled on the case of Muhammed Lawal, suspending the Strikeforce light heavyweight for nine months in addition to wiping a win off his record and fining him nearly $40,000. The punishment was a result of Lawal testing positive for steroid use after a January fight against Lorenz Larkin. While [...]

Source: http://www.fighters.com/03/27/nsac-suspends-strikeforce-light-heavyweight-mo-lawal-for-nine-months

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

Strikeforce Weigh Ins Overeem Werdum Barnett Rogers Griggs Noons Masvidal - Strikeforce

SHOWTIME Sports presents the official weigh-in for the Strikeforce World Grand Prix Heavyweight Tournment. Check out all ten fiighters on the super-sized June 18th fight card: Chad Griggs, Valentijn Overeem, Daniel Cormier, Jeff Monson, KJ Noons, and Jorge Masvidal. Plus headliners Brett Rogers, Josh Barnett, Alistair Overeem, and Fabricio Werdum.

Source: http://mmalice.com/strikeforce/strikeforce-weigh-ins-overeem-werdum-barnett-rogers-griggs-noons-masvidal-video_ef4f0192c.html

Patrick The Predator Côté  Randy The Natural Couture  Dan Cramer Alberto Crane

Freddie Roach names Anderson Silva as the best boxer in MMA

One of true professors of the sweet science is unquestionably Freddie Roach, a multi-time award-winner from the Boxing Writers Association of America who is called on by the likes of Amir Khan, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., and, of course, sensational superstar Manny Pacquiao. Simply put, the man knows his way around the squared-circle. Recently Roach [...]

Source: http://www.fighters.com/03/29/freddie-roach-names-anderson-silva-as-the-best-boxer-in-mma

Rich No Love Clementi  Mark The Hammer Coleman Wes Soldier Combs  Ray Cooper 

Joe Lauzon takes on Terry Etim this August at FOX event

Two lightweights coming of separate, scintillating head-kick knockouts will meet this summer in the form of a bout between Joe Lauzon and Terry Etim. Lauzon was last seen falling to Anthony Pettis last month in Japan, while Etim was poster-ized by Edson Barboza courtesy of a Spinning Heel-Kick at UFC 142. However, both submission specialists [...]

Source: http://fiveouncesofpain.com/2012/03/29/joe-lauzon-takes-on-terry-etim-this-august-at-fox-event/

Luiz Azeredo  Luciano Azevedo  Ba Te er  Ryan Bader 

American Top Team mining NCAA wrestling for talent

Though most of the people who set attendance records at the NCAA Division I wrestling championships in St. Louis last week were fans, at least one attendee was there to look for up-and-coming talent. Ricardo Liborio, the leader of American Top Team in Florida, headed to Missouri to find the best athletes who want to make the transition from wrestling to MMA.

Cagewriter spoke to Liborio, who has worked with such fighters as Thiago Alves and Tyron Woodley, about why he is looking to wrestling to find his next great star.

"The endpoint is to recruit guys who are done with their careers as a wrestler. Probably senior guys who want to start their MMA career. Some guys are not making it through their careers, the guys who couldn't make the Olympic team. And, we're open. I have some offers for athletes, depending on their caliber of what they can bring to the table. Guys like Bubba [Jenkins], we're recruiting, we're negotiating, and we're willing to invest in them. We're building them from the ground up," Liborio said.

He said he's been looking to wrestlers for years, but attended the NCAA championships for the first time last year. There, he watched Arizona State's Bubba Jenkins win a national title. Not long after, Jenkins joined ATT, where he's won both of his fights with a submission.

Liborio says wrestlers make great fighters because of the culture of the sport.

"Work ethic, athletic ability, but mental toughness of keep going, don't quit. The culture of other sports, that's not as exalted as it is in wrestling. There are great athletes with a great work ethic who are tough. They compete every weekend, they cut their weight."

ATT has created a boot camp of sorts to help athletes who have excelled in wrestling transition to MMA, but it works best when future fighters will open themselves up to learn.

"Those guys who understand they're learning a completely different discipline. Learning, striking, ground game. We have it right now as a science. All those guys who came from just wrestling and go into a kind of boot camp that makes them much better fighters."

Though several wrestlers will pursue Olympic gold this summer or in 2016, most will not make the team. With ATT and other camps looking out for wrestlers, they have a way to "go pro" in their sport.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/american-top-team-mining-ncaa-wrestling-talent-202037235.html

Mark The Hammer Coleman Wes Soldier Combs  Ray Cooper  Kit Cope