Quinton Jackson: ?I plan on knocking his ass out in front of my Japanese fans.?

When Quinton Jackson steps into the Octagon at UFC 144 he?ll do so in front of a Japanese audience almost six years to the day since he last entertained a crowd in the fight-friendly nation. While that bout may have involved a forgettable outpointing of Dong Sik Yoon, this time around ?Rampage? has designs on [...]

Source: http://www.fighters.com/02/18/quinton-jackson-%e2%80%9ci-plan-on-knocking-his-ass-out-in-front-of-my-japanese-fans-%e2%80%9d

Vitor Belfort  Robert Berry David Bielkheden Michael Bisping 

Manny Pacquiao fighting June 9 against Timothy Bradley Jr.

Fan-favorite welterweight Manny Pacquiao will put his impressive run in the ring on the line against fellow champion Timothy Bradley Jr. this summer in Las Vegas. In addition to risking his six-year winning streak, the 33-year old Pacquiao will also put his belt up for grabs against junior welterweight title-holder Bradley. While the June 9 [...]

Source: http://www.fighters.com/02/09/manny-pacquiao-fighting-june-9-against-timothy-bradley-jr

Forrest Griffin Tyson Griffin Karn Grigorian Karen Grigoryan

Hockey Fight of the Day: Mike Duco vs. Lance Bouma

As even a non-fan might assume, some of the fiercest rivalries in hockey involve Canadian teams based on both national pride and the sport’s history in the region. Over the weekend the Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks got together, showing exactly how Canadian teams feel about each other by getting in multiple fights with haymakers [...]

Source: http://www.fighters.com/02/13/hockey-fight-of-the-day-mike-duco-vs-lance-bouma

Luke Cummo  Jeff Big Frog Curran Dai Shuanghai  Mac Danzig 

Ask and you shall receive: Lorenzo Fertitta?s late night Twitter scrum

As far as breaking news from the press conference dais, Dana White plays it close to the vest. Immediately after the pressers, it's a different story. His boss Lorenzo Fertitta prefers Twitter. He was a news breaker last night in a late night chat with his followers.

According to Michael David Smith from MMAFighting, he revealed some important matchups on the horizon.

Alistair Overeem will challenge UFC heavyweight champ Junior dos Santoson May 26 in Las Vegas. The winner of that is likely to face the winner of a Frank Mir-Cain Velasquez bout confirmed Fertitta.

Fertitta also said Tito Ortiz's wish has been granted, he'll be getting Forrest Griffin for a third time. With Griffin's desire to always fight in Las Vegas and it being Ortiz's swan song, the fight is a lock for Sin City. Whether it's on May 26 or July 7 is unknown. Fertitta said the July 7 card will be headlined by Dominick Cruz-Urijah Faber III.

More sports news from the Yahoo! Sports Minute:

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/ask-receive-lorenzo-fertitta-night-twitter-scrum-174205598.html

Bao Ligao  Josh Barnett  David Baron  Phil Baroni

?The Ultimate Fighter 15? Commercial

After a 14-season stint on Spike TV, “The Ultimate Fighter” will be taking its talents to FX in exactly 20 days. To help hype the premiere of the show, the network has released a commercial featuring opposing coaches Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber (Pictured) and UFC president Dana White. FX enters the MMA reality world [...]

Source: http://www.5thRound.com/106674/the-ultimate-fighter-15-commercial/

Luiz Cane  Dos Caras Jr   Phil Cardella Roan Jucao Carneiro

What to look for: UFC on Fuel TV 1

The UFC rolls out its first major card debut tonight on Fuel TV in Omaha, Ne. Jake Ellenberger has a chance to work his way into the welterweight title mix with a big win over Diego Sanchez, but the card features much more beyond the main event (Fuel TV 8 p.m. ET).

The heavyweights are definitely can't miss this evening. Stefan Struve faces the division's great anamoly in Dave Herman. A chiseled 235 pounder Herman seems to fight with little strategy, but he is dangerous. He's mocked jiu-jitsu in the past. He'd better take it seriously against Struve, who has 15 submission wins in his 21 victories.

The other thing to watch for with Herman is what sort of look he brings to the Octagon tonight. Yesterday, he looked like a Russian lumberjack.

Ellenberger returns home

Sanchez will be walking into a road spot against Omaha's Ellenberger. The city is fired up for the return of the rising UFC star.

Today Ellenberger ? born and bred in Omaha and the assistant coach at the University of Nebraska-Omaha ? was presented with the Key to the City by David Dover, Deputy Chief of Staff to Omaha Mayor Jim Suttle. The former US Marine said: "I'm honored to be recognized by the city I grew up in and fight for. It's extra pressure to fight in your hometown with all your family and friends in the front row, but I know the support from the local fans will be awesome."

UFC looks to boost FUEL

The Fox deal was a no brainer for the promotion, but it does come with some early risks by using FUEL as its clearance house for programming.

Spike was in 100 million home. Fuel is still a work-in-progress with only 36 millions. That will get boosted into the mid-40's tonight due to a free preview this week. Unfortunately, like many young networks FUEL is fighting for clearance with cable companies. Comcast, the nation's biggest cable carrier, still doesn't offer the channel. That said, the Fox folks are enthused by the early uptick with the UFC partnership.

"We've had an 80 percent increase in the target demographic of men ages 18-49, and a near 230 percent increase in overall prime-time ratings from past ratings periods," Fuel TV vice president George Greenberg said. "To say I'm jacked would be putting it mildly."

Dillashaw needs a quick bounce back victory

The pre-show favorite for the 135-pound title on Season 14 of "The Ultimate Fighter," Dillashaw was surprised by the much smaller John Dodson in the final. He was finished on what he thought was a flash knockdown.

The powerful wrestler faces a challenge in the very rangy Walel Watson. He's not impressed.

"He's obviously going to be the tallest bantamweight I'll ever fight. He's got a long reach. Other than that, I don't find him too dangerous. Yeah, he's going to use his reach to his advantage, but he's not dangerous with it. He likes to stay on the outside obviously and use it to his advantage, but I'm not too impressed with his ground game or his [aggression]," Dillashaw told Sherdog.

The key phrase there is aggression. Watson's striking game can be dynamic, but he rarely sits down on his strikes. He is dangerous off his back which makes this fight really interesting since Dillashaw is probably going to look for the takedown and top control. He needs to be consistently active or he could get caught.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/look-ufc-fuel-tv-1-155155936.html

Cyril Abidi  Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah  Terrance Aflague