Mike Easton edges Jared Papazian in rock?em, sock?em battle at UFC on FX 1

It may not be widely recognized as the deepest division in the world, but the bantamweights are starting to carve out quite a reputation in the UFC.

Mike Easton and Jared Papazian added to the cause by putting in some awesome work tonight on the UFC on FX 1 card in Nashville.

At the end of the fight, both fighters were still standing after throwing over 400 strikes at each other. Easton got the nod via majority decision, 30-27, 29-29 and 29-28, in a crowd-pleasing brawl that got better as the fight went along.

"He's a tough dude. He was the champ back in the division where he was at," Easton told UFC play-by-play voice Jon Anik. "All we wanted to do was please the fans and we rapped. We the 35ers baby! Nothing but non-stop action. We love to fight."

Papazian (14-7, 0-1 UFC) making his UFC debut, was a huge underdog at plus-275, but he didn't look intimidated whatsoever. Easton (12-1) is now 2-0 with the UFC.

Easton generally takes a while to get going, but when he did tonight it made for an awesome final round. With the fight on the line, Easton fired up the pace and Papazian, 23, stood in front him willing to bang. The fighters combined to wing 213 shots at each other over the final five minutes.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/mike-easton-edges-jared-papazian-rock-em-sock-030112645.html

Hiroyuki Abe Cyril Abidi  Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah 

UFC on Fox 2 weigh-in: Weidman ditches the Sloppy Joes to drop 32 pounds in 11 days

CHICAGO -- Dana White had to be smiling inside to see Chris Weidman make weight for his UFC on Fox 2 fight. Weidman, called just 11 days ago as a late replacement, had to drop from 217 pounds to make tomorrow's battle against Demian Maia an official middleweight fight.

It just two weeks ago that the promotion had to endure the embarrassment of watching Anthony Johnson missed weight badly at UFC 142.

Weidman was actually called with the offer while sitting at his dinner table. His wife was making some delicious Sloppy Joes. When Weidman committed to the fight, he had to go right to work.

"I just headed to the gym and ate a spoonful of peanut butter, and that was it," a glum Weidman told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

The former Hofstra wrestler is trying to make a big step up the middleweight ladder with a victory over Maia. We'll find out tomorrow if the severe weight cut will affect him on fight night.

Phil Davis went with the wrestling theme. Rashad Evans, a former Michigan State wrestler, tried to rip on Davis and his college wrestling career. It was a strange approach considering Davis was a four-time All-American and national champ in 2008. Davis, who's done a brilliant job of poking fun at Evans, pulled out his old Nittany Lions' garb for the fight today.

This from wrestling guru Maggie Hendricks:

So that singlet is Penn State's championship singlet, one that only gets broken out if a guy wrestles in the finals. Since Davis wrestled in the NCAA finals twice, he has at least one. Most schools have them, but PSU's is very recognizable because they don't have a ton of singlet options, like other schools. As a fellow Big 10er, Evans would know that. Wearing that one, and not Penn State's more traditional dark blue singlet, was a sly way of Davis saying, "Yes, I am the better wrestler."

A weigh-in wouldn't be complete with a dust up or some heat arising. Michael Bisping took care of that by angrily reacting to the booing crowd at the Chicago Theater. The Brit flipped off the fans.

UFC on Fox 2 weigh-in (Courtesy MMAjunkie):

MAIN CARD (FOX)

  • Phil Davis (205) vs. Rashad Evans (205)
  • Michael Bisping (185) vs. Chael Sonnen (185)
  • Demian Maia (186) vs. Chris Weidman (185)

PRELIMINARY CARD (FUEL TV)

  • Evan Dunham (155) vs. Nik Lentz (155)
  • John-Olav Einemo (253) vs. Mike Russow (251)
  • George Roop (145) vs. Cub Swanson (145)
  • Charles Oliveira (144) vs. Eric Wisely (145)
  • Michael Johnson (156) vs. Shane Roller (156)
  • Joey Beltran (228) vs. Lavar Johnson (252)

PRELIMINARY CARD (Facebook)

  • Chris Camozzi (185) vs. Dustin Jacoby (185)

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/ufc-fox-2-weigh-weidman-ditches-sloppy-joes-005539088.html

Don Barr Pat Barry  Vitor Belfort  Robert Berry

UFC on Fox 2 Live Results and Play-by-Play

MMAFrenzy.com will have live results from tonight's UFC on Fox 2 event in Chicago starting at 5pm ET for the preliminary card, which airs on Fuel TV, and 8pm ET for the Fox-televised tripleheader topped by Chael Sonnen vs. Michael Bisping and Rashad Evans vs. Phil Davis.

Source: http://mmafrenzy.com/27357/ufc-on-fox-2-live-results-and-play-by-play/

Alberto Crane Marcio Pe de Pano Cruz Luke Cummo  Jeff Big Frog Curran

Georges St. Pierre back in the gym

UFC welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre is known as a gym rat, as GSP likes nothing more than fine-tuning himself in the training center. However, St. Pierre was forced to stay away from his second home after tearing his ACL and undergoing surgery. Now the champ is back in action, at least in some regards. [...]

Source: http://fiveouncesofpain.com/2012/01/30/georges-st-pierre-back-in-the-gym/

Tiki Ghosn Dennis George Kultar Gill Allan Goes

MMA on TV

Welcome to ?MMA on TV?, Five Ounces of Pain?s weekly update on the upcoming MMA-broadcast schedule. Miss the latest episode of MMA Live or UFC Unleashed? Wondering when Showtime, Spike TV, or HDNet are airing a replay of their latest offering or interested in finding out where to tune into live shows occurring over the [...]

Source: http://fiveouncesofpain.com/2012/01/30/mma-on-tv-74/

Mike Brown  Junie Browning Paul Buentello  Josh Burkman 

Chael Sonnen vs. Michael Bisping Fight Video Highlights from UFC on Fox 2

Fox Sports has released highlights of Chael Sonnen's narrow win over Michael Bisping in Saturday's UFC on Fox 2 co-main event to set up an anticipated rematch between Sonnen and UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva for later this year.

Source: http://mmafrenzy.com/27383/chael-sonnen-vs-michael-bisping-fight-video-highlights-from-ufc-on-fox-2/

Ed Herman Heath Herring Branden Lee Hinkle Tank Abbott