Strikeforce: ?Tate vs. Rousey? Results: Rousey Defeats Tate with Gruesome Armbar

Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey took place Saturday night at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. In the Showtime-aired main event, US Olympic medalist Ronda Rousey forced former champion Miesha Tate via an armbar finish in the first round. Elsewhere on the main card, Josh Thomson, Kazuo Misaki, Lumumba Sayers, Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza all picked up victories.

Source: http://mmafrenzy.com/27787/strikeforce-tate-vs-rousey-live-results-and-coverage/

Justin Eilers  Jon Olav Einemo Per Eklund Jason Ellis

Dominick Cruz knows UFC flyweight contenders inside and out

The four men in the UFC flyweight tournament have glittering records, but they'd be a bit more glittering had they been able to avoid bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz. Three of the four men in the field -- Joseph Benavidez, Demetrious Johnson and Ian McCall -- have already fought, and lost to, Cruz.

Their records are glittering as  is. They're 40-6 with 27 finishes. Subtract the two losses by Benavidez to Cruz and the ones by Johnson and McCall and they'd be 40-2.

Cruz spoke to Cagewriter on Wednesday to give his thoughts on the tournament and the fighters, particularly the three men he's faced.

Benavidez will fight Yasuhiro Urushitani and Johnson will take on McCall Friday (Saturday in Australia) at Allphones Arena in Sydney, Australia, on the UFC on FX 2 card.

Urushitani, 35, is a former Shooto champion who is 19-4-6. Cruz said he knows the least about him.

"The UFC has the best fighters in the world, so I would assume since he's not fighting in the UFC that he hasn't been facing top-level guys," Cruz said. "Against that level of competition, that will hurt."

Cruz defeated Benavidez twice. He beat him first via unanimous decision at WEC 42 on Aug. 9, 2009, in a bout declared Fight of the Night. They then rematched for the WEC title and Cruz pulled out a split decision at WEC 50 on Aug. 18, 2010.

Cruz said Benavidez is exceptionally well-rounded.

"What makes Joe a tough opponent is that he's one of the few people who pieces together long combinations, with power and with takedowns," Cruz told Cagewriter in a telephone interview. "He also defends the takedown well and he's one of the few people who's got great submissions, great wrestling and great standup. He's a well-rounded fighter. He's got the full package. He's just a tough guy to fight, and he's hungry."

Cruz beat Johnson in his last outing, retaining the bantamweight title by winning all five rounds in a high-quality match on Oct. 1 at UFC Live in Washington, D.C. Cruz said he expects Johnson-McCall to be Fight of the Night on Friday.

He raved about both men and, though he picked McCall, said he wouldn't be shocked if Johnson came out on top.

"They're both dynamic, well-rounded, very good fighters," the champ said. "Stylistically, how Demetrious comes out and fights Ian is going to be the key to that fight. The big reason why I beat these guys the way that I did is that I game-planned them. I can change my style according to the way a specific person fights. I had to change my style against all of those guys, Benavidez, Demetrious and Ian. I give the edge to Ian in terms of power, but I give the edge in speed and striking to Demetrious. I'll take Ian in that fight because I think he can take Demetrious down and control him on the ground."

Both opening-round fights are three-rounders, but the UFC has announced there will be a "sudden victory" round if either bout is tied after three in order to produce a winner.

Despite that, Cruz said he thought all four men would lay it all on the line during the three rounds in order to get the win and predicted they wouldn't be concerned about saving something for a potential fourth.

"I think they'll just go balls to the wall," Cruz said. "You never hold back. I know when I'm fighting, if it's a five-rounder, I train for seven. If it's a three-rounder, I'll train for five, and I think they'll be the same way so they can be ready to sprint to the finish."

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/dominick-cruz-knows-ufc-flyweight-contenders-inside-002401482.html

Heath Herring Branden Lee Hinkle Tank Abbott Hiroyuki Abe

Hockey Fight of the Day: Jordan Nolan vs. Marco Scandella

It’s not easy being a 22-year old NHL rookie in a sport filled with seasoned veterans but the Los Angeles Kings’ Jordan Nolan seems to be adjusting just fine since recently getting called up. Not only has he already found the back of the net but, if this match-up with fellow youngster Marco Scandella is [...]

Source: http://www.fighters.com/02/29/hockey-fight-of-the-day-jordan-nolan-vs-marco-scandella

Tom Big Cat Erickson Martinsh Egle Eric Butterbean Esch Efrain Escudero

Quinton Jackson says next fight in the UFC will be his last under the company?s banner

Shortly after losing his bout to Ryan Bader at UFC 144, Quinton ?Rampage? Jackson came forward to acknowledge he?d used testosterone to help heal an injured knee and discovered the treatment made him feel so good health-wise he expected to fight for a few more years. While his plan may not have changed since then [...]

Source: http://fiveouncesofpain.com/2012/03/06/quinton-jackson-says-next-fight-in-the-ufc-will-be-his-last-under-the-company%e2%80%99s-banner/

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

Benson Henderson open to immediate rematch with Frankie Edgar

Newly named UFC lightweight champ Benson Henderson has cleared the air surrounding divisional contendership, saying he is open to fight former title-holder Frankie Edgar a second time to eliminate any doubt surrounding who should have the strap after their closely-contested bout a few weeks back at UFC 144. Edgar has been actively lobbying for a [...]

Source: http://www.fighters.com/03/06/benson-henderson-open-to-immediate-rematch-with-frankie-edgar

Marcus Aurelio  Mikhail Avetisyan Luiz Azeredo  Luciano Azevedo 

UFC 146: Junior dos Santos vs. Alistair Overeem Betting Odds

For the first time in forever, Alistair Overeem (Pictured) will be an underdog entering a mixed martial arts scrap. According to the Gambling Gods, champion Junior dos Santos will leave their heavyweight shootout with title in tow. ?Cigano? is pegged as a slight -165 odds-on favorite to retain his crown. Overeem, on the other hand, [...]

Source: http://www.5thRound.com/108786/ufc-146-junior-dos-santos-vs-alistair-overeem-betting-odds/

Dan The Sandman Christison  Logan The Pink Pounder Clark  Steve The Snake Claveau  Rich No Love Clementi 

Rousimar Palhares celebrates 32nd birthday with his first cake ever

UFC middleweight Rousimar Palhares is known for his crippling heel hooks and having extremely humble beginnings. As in, once lived in a tent city under a bridge in Brazil kind of humble beginnings. He didn't have the kind of upbringing that would allow for lavish birthday celebrations.

[MMA mailbag: Why the lightweight division is top-notch]

His teammates at Brazilian Top Team changed that last week when they surprised "Toquinho" with a cake.

That was really a big surprise for me. I became a child again because this was the first time in my whole life I celebrated my birthday with a cake. Everybody knows my family always had a very humble life. I thank my BTT partners to have given me this happiness. I hope this is going to be a year of much work and that God can continue giving me the opportunities to represent Brazil and show my talent inside the Octagon.

He turned 32, and this was the first time he ever celebrated his birthday with a cake. He doesn't know the joy of red velvet or angel food or German chocolate or ice cream cake or cupcakes or yellow cake with chocolate frosting. This cake could set up a scenario where the muscle-bound Palhares takes a nosedive into the seedy underbelly of too much cake. When visiting New York for next week's UFC on Fox 3 press conference, he could visit Carlo's Bake Shop in Hoboken, N.J., get a taste of Buddy from "Cake Boss" famous cake, and give up heel hooks forever.

Or, he could be so inspired by his teammates' kindness that he runs a giveaway of autographed shirts on his website.

Thanks, Cage Potato.

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Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/rousimar-palhares-celebrates-32nd-birthday-first-cake-ever-211801213.html

Cody Guinn Jorge Gurgel Andre Gusmao Alexander Gustafsson

UFC 144 comeback: Boetsch pulls off miracle against Okami; Shields gets by ?Sexyama?

With some guts, power and toughness, Tim Boetsch turned a trip back down the middleweight ladder into an opportunity to legitimately call out top-five fighters at 185 pounds.

After getting schooled for two rounds in every aspect of the game, Boetsch landed some huge shots to finish Yushin Okami at the 0:54 mark of the third round at UFC 144 in Tokyo, Japan.

[Video: Boetsch outduels Okami with power and guts]

Boetsch got picked apart in the first by Okami's boxing. The Japanese veteran then turned to his vaunted ground-and-pound game in the second. Okami outlanded Boetsch 47-26 over the first two rounds. With Boetsch down 2-0 and his face busted up, the American had to go for broke.

He came out looking for the home run shot landing some effective kicks early before grabbing Okami's head and blasting him with an uppercut. Okami stumbled backward and took a deep breath, but Boetsch didn't allow him to collect himself. He followed Okami around the cage and landed another good combination. The completely stunned Okami was out on his feet. That's when Boetsch grabbed his head again and dug in deep to land three more uppercuts. Okami went down in a heap after the third and referee Leon Roberts had to jump in to save him.

"It still hasn't settled in yet. The first two rounds weren't good, but I won the third round and that's what counts. Yushin hit me harder than I expected, but I was standing at the end of his range so it was kind of my fault. I knew I had to move forward, but the upper cuts were a spur of the moment thing. Awesome night overall," said Boetsch.

After racing out to a 10-2 start with the UFC, Okami has now dropped two straight. Boetsch (15-4, 4-1 UFC) is a perfect 3-0 at middleweight.

Shields wins favor with the judges

There's no mistaking what Jake Shields wants to do. A jiu-jitsu ace, he efforts to get his opponent to the ground. He couldn't accomplish that against Yoshihiro Akiyama, so turned to Plan B and got the victory.

Shields (27-6-1, 2-2 UFC) landed lots of short strikes and many leg kicks to earn the nod from the judges, 30-27 on all three cards. He sealed the fight down the stretch by scoring three takedowns late. He also got Sexyama's back and threatened with a choke in the final 30 seconds.

Some onlookers thought Akiyama (13-5, 1-4 UFC) did enough to win. His volume wasn't high enough on the the feet, but he did score three awesome judo throws/trips. He was also successful in defending 9-of-11 takedowns. Unfortunately, that just doesn't score enough with judges. According to Compustrike, Shields outlanded Akiyama 120-58.

[Video: Late takedowns propel Shields over Akiyama]

This was Akiyama's debut at 170 pounds. The move paid off. He was certainly competitive with one of the top welterweights in the worlds. He looked strong at the weight and unlike his previous fights at middleweight, his energy remained pretty constant into the late stages of the fight.

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Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/ufc-144-comeback-tim-boetsch-shocks-japanese-crowd-042844026.html

Nick Diaz  Tadhg Steamfist Dixon Joe Doerksen  Chris Dolman