Canadian politicians object to UFC?s anti-bullying message in schools

Canadian politicians object to UFC?s anti-bullying message in schoolsThe UFC champions a message of anti-bullying, and Canada is one of the UFC's top regions. It makes sense that the UFC would want to bring that message to Canada, right?

Not to everyone. After a Toronto councillor put his support behind the UFC circulating a brochure created by the UFC, another politician ripped the idea in the Toronto Star.

"I think it's a terrible idea," said Pamela Gough, TDSB trustee for Etobicoke-Lakeshore. "Schools are all about peacemaking right now . . . we don't want to promote violence, we don't want to promote fighting."

The UFC isn't in schools to actually teach MMA; instead it wants to use its stature to talk about the problems with bullying. In a rally held in Toronto on Tuesday, four fighters talked about their experiences with bullying to children and took questions. The event was held in conjunction with the Toronto police.

Not everyone is against the UFC promoting anti-bullying. Doug Ford, the councillor who supported the idea in the first place, saw the positive in letting the UFC promote anti-bullying in schools.

"A lot of these kids, their idols are athletes, be it in football, or a hockey athlete, or a UFC athlete," Ford said in a telephone interview. "If we can get the message through some of their idols, I think it's a good message."

In April, the UFC made a $129,000 donation to a community center in Toronto. They often visit schools and martial arts centers in event cities to talk about the dangers of bullying. Georges St. Pierre, the welterweight champ and Canada's most successful fighter, often discusses how bullying affected him.

The fact is that with stretched budgets, schools are smart to partner with other groups, like the NFL has done with their Play 60 program. Football is a violent sport that produces injuries like concussions, broken bones, paralysis and even death. That doesn't make the NFL's message of 60 minutes of physical activity or support for physical education invalid.

Every school should have the right to vet its own partners, but that means taking a closer look at MMA and its athletes before dismissing a partnership. If the UFC can help students deal with bullying, then school officials and politicians should open their mind before turning down worthwhile help.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Canadian-politicians-object-to-UFC-s-anti-bullyi?urn=mma-wp10348

Dan Cramer Alberto Crane Marcio Pe de Pano Cruz Luke Cummo 

Ben Askren has one challenge left on wrestling mat

Ben Askren has one challenge left on wrestling matBen Askren defended his Bellator belt with a decision win over Jay Hieron in October. He's wrestled in the Olympics, won two multiple championships for the University of Missouri, and his next challenge should be Douglas Lima, when Bellator's next season starts in March.

But Askren may have one more wrestling match in him. The idea of a one-time match with current world champ Jordan Burroughs has been proposed to Askren, and he likes what he hears.

"He's a great competitor. He's the world champ. It would be a blast," Askren told Cagewriter. "We have uniquely different styles. I have the scrambling, and am a great mat wrestler, and he's very good on his feet. I think it will be a blast. You don't get to see too many contrasting styles that often."

His contract with Bellator allows Askren to participate in wrestling events. His sponsor, Cage Fighter, also sponsors Burroughs, and is working to make this match happen, possibly in Chicago the weekend of the UFC on Fox 2.

Askren is known for letting his opponents know exactly what he thinks of them, which can often result in harsh words. With Burroughs' credentials, Askren has nothing but respect for his possible opponent.

"He's one of the few people I actually respect. I can't talk [expletive.] I've got a lot of respect for him. If you look post-Cael [Sanderson], me and Burroughs are the two most dominant wrestlers as far as we both had undefeated seasons, we both won the Hodge Trophy, we both had very, very few close matches in the last couple years."

In the meantime, Askren is continuing to focus on an MMA career. Though next year is an Olympic year, he is definitely sticking with MMA and preparing for his next Bellator title defense. He describes his training at Duke Roufus' gym in Milwaukee as awesome, and has no plans to take a break during Bellator's hiatus.

"Training hard. I don't have an off-season, so I'm in the gym five days a week. Well, six, really. "

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Ben-Askren-has-one-challenge-left-on-wrestling-m?urn=mma-wp10367

Jeff Big Frog Curran Dai Shuanghai  Mac Danzig  Karen Darabedyan

TUF 14 openers: Delorme surprises Ferguson with rapid third-round finish, Albert and Siler also winners

TUF 14 openers: Delorme surprises Ferguson with rapid third-round finish, Albert and Siler also winners

LAS VEGAS - Roland Delorme has some pretty nasty jiu-jitsu. It took a while to pay off, but when Josh Ferguson got rocked in the third, Delorme ran roughshod over him. He got the finish at 0:22 of the final round via rear-naked choke in fight No. 3 of the night on the Season 14 "Ultimate Fighter Finale" undercard.

Ferguson, a strong puncher, had a lot of steam taken away in the first when Delorme caught him in a triangle choke predicament. The 5-foot-5 Ferguson used a ton of energy to avoid tapping out as he struggled for nearly two minutes. The second round was basically even with Ferguson scoring a takedown and neither fighter landing any of significance on the feet.

The third opened with Ferguson moving forward and getting nailed with a hard jab. It didn't look like much, but Ferguson went down and looked stunned. He jumped forward from his knees to try and grab Delorme's leg. The Canadian threw him to the side and jumped on his back. In a split second, he turned it over, locked on the choke and trapped Ferguson's right arm. He was helpless and had to tap.

Siler uses Thai clinch to bust up Clopton

Steven Siler had a height advantage and he used it tonight against Josh Clopton.

Giving away four inches, Clopton couldn't stay out of or free himself from Siler's constant efforts to lock on a Thai clinch. Siler's big knees allowed him to crush Clopton's nose, get the blood flowing and score with the judges on his way to a unanimous decision win, 29-28 on all three scorecards, in fight No. 2 of the night at the TUF 14 Finale.

"The win feels great.  That was a hard hard fight for sure. He took a beating, I thought he'd go down but he kept coming. I started off slow, I was a little bothered by that but once I got it going, I got into a groove and I think I finished off really well," said Siler.

Siler's fighting style isn't pretty, but he likes to brawl. His size was simply too much for the diminutive Clopton. You don't often see high level fighters dominated for minutes at a time in the Thai clinch (in standing position, hands locked together behind the opponent's head), but that's exactly what happened to Clopton. He blocked a lot of the knees coming from Siler, but way too many got through.

By the middle of the second, Clopton's face was a bloody mess and he was having trouble breathing.

It was an accomplishment just to make it to the TUF 14 Finale for Siler. In the featherweight round of 16, he was matched up against Micah Miller, one of the pre-show favorites. Siler (19-9, 1-0 UFC) pulled the massive upset and went on to lose to eventual finalist Diego Brandao in just 30 seconds in the next round.

"You know The Ultimate Fighter was the best thing that ever happened to me. I appreciate everyone who got me involved in the show. I wouldn't change it for the world," said Siler.

Brimage lands heavier shots in decision win over Bass

Marcus Brimage can slug with the best of them so he was a little surprised that Stephen Bass chose to duke it out. Bass didn't leave on a stretcher, but he didn't land enough shots to counter the nasty kicking game of Brimage. Brimage scored a unanimous decision victory, 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28.

"The game plan didn't go like I wanted to. Stephen was able to utilize his angles as well but it ended up being a good fight. I'm not ecstatic about the outcome but I'm very grateful," Brimage said. "This has been a crazy experience, almost better than sex, that's the only way to describe it."

Brimage found a home for his left hand throughout the fight, but never landed one that  knocked Bass down. His biggest shots came on inside leg kicks. Several of them whipped Bass' leg into the air. One outside leg kick actually dropped Bass in the second.

TUF 14 openers: Delorme surprises Ferguson with rapid third-round finish, Albert and Siler also winners

Albert runs through Pague with quick first-round TKO

John Albert and Dustin Pague went for broke from the opening seconds of the TUF 14 Finale bout. Albert landed the first big shot and it spelled doom for Pague.

After he landed seven unanswered rapid fire shots to the downed fighter, Albert forced referee Herb Dean to save Pague at the 1:22 mark of the first round.

"It's the best feeling in the world, I didn't know whether to cry or scream. I honestly thought it was going to be a three-round war," said Albert.

Pague, one of the strongest strikers on the show, wanted to slug it out and Albert, who's more of a ground specialist, stood with him. An Albert left stunned Pague and a right hook buckled his legs then dropped him. On the ground, Albert showed some brilliance by securing Pague's right arm and trapping it across his face. With his free right hand, Albert pounded away. When Dean saved Pague, the stunned fighter turned to trying to fight the ref. His head had clearly been scrambled in taking dozens of shots to the arm and dome.

"He is an amazing kick boxer and I was going to try to dictate the fight but I didn't think I hit that hard.  I want to fight Dominick Cruz next, but I'll do whatever the UFC says.  I'll fight next week, I'm ready. I feel good," said Albert.

Caraway abuses Neace on the ground for choke victory

Bryan Caraway still has to overcome that confidence bugaboo, but when he's feeling good and on his game, he's a pretty tough fighter at featherweight.

The Team Alpha Male camper opened tonight's card with an easy win over Dustin Neace.

In the first and second, Caraway settled down by trading hands with Neace. As soon as he decided it was time to go to the ground, it did.

Caraway (16-5, 1-0 UFC) scored a double-leg takedown with 2:45 left in the first and controlled Neace on the mat for the remainder of the round. With 2:33 left in the second, he did the same. This time, Caraway quickly transitioned to take Neace's back. Caraway slapped on the rear-naked and it took about four seconds for Neace to bail on the fight and submit.

"It went well, it was different, a little strange because he is one of my main training partners on the show, became pretty good friends with him, so it didn't feel quite the same as a real fight," Caraway said. "But it was good, I got the W, that's what matters. It feels good to win. It's been a crazy up and down experience but all for the better.  I'm excited for my future."

This wasn't Caraway's Zuffa debut. He fought twice for the WEC losing to Fredson Paixao and Mark Hominick. His only other losses have come against solid featherweights like Wilson Reis, Ian Loveland and John Gunderson.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/TUF-14-openers-Delorme-surprises-Ferguson-with-?urn=mma-wp10177

Josh Barnett  David Baron  Phil Baroni Don Barr

Hockey Fight of the Day: John Erskine vs. Bracken Kearns

People are used to duking it out over policy on Capitol Hill when it comes to policy but Washington, D.C. hosts frequent fisticuffs of a more literal kind as well as demonstrated by the Washington Capitols’  John Erskine who squares off against the Florida Panthers’ Bracken Kearns in a brawl from this week’s NHL action… Tweet

Source: http://www.fighters.com/12/07/hockey-fight-of-the-day-john-erskine-vs-bracken-kearns

Dean Amasinger  Jimmy Ambriz Matt Andersen  Alex Andrade 

Daniel Roberts fighting Charlie Brenneman at UFC on FX 1

The “Ninja” is back! After fighting off injuries, UFC welterweight Daniel Roberts confirmed via Twitter that he will meet Charlie Brenneman on January 20 at UFC on FX 1. Roberts and Brenneman both find themselves coming off losses as they look to clash in Nashville. Roberts won over fans with his impressive submission wins over [...]

Source: http://www.fighters.com/12/05/daniel-roberts-fighting-charlie-brenneman-at-ufc-on-fx-1

Tom Big Cat Erickson Martinsh Egle Eric Butterbean Esch Efrain Escudero

Finishing With Strikes: A Multiple Choice Question

A popular topic to bring up whenever Michael Bisping has a fight coming up ? or in this case, one just completed ? is the notion that the Brit is a pillow-fisted striker who couldn?t stop a taxi with a hundred dollar bill waving in the air. This is one of those half-truths that seem [...]

Source: http://www.fighters.com/12/07/finishing-with-strikes-a-multiple-choice-question

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

A Striking Difference: The Magic Mitts of Gil Martinez (2/3)

In order for a fighter to be able to respond to Martinez? mid-fight instructions like that, he has to have put many hours into his training. According to Martinez, his fighters typically put in three to four hours each day during training camp, and that includes everything from working on technique to drills to sparring. [...]

Source: http://www.fighters.com/12/06/a-striking-difference-the-magic-mitts-of-gil-martinez-23

Noboru Asahi Marcus Aurelio  Mikhail Avetisyan Luiz AzeredoÂ