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

Tony Bonello Stephan Bonnar Lorenzo Borgomeo  Kyle Bradley 

Chris Leben receives yearlong suspension after failed drug test

Popular middleweight Chris Leben has failed his second drug test while serving as a member of the UFC roster and will be suspended from competition for a year based on the transgression. According to the UFC, Leben tested positive for opiates (Oxycodone/Oxymorphone) after his loss to Mark Munoz earlier this month in headlining action at [...]

Source: http://www.fighters.com/11/28/chris-leben-receives-yearlong-suspension-after-failed-drug-test

Chris Dolman Edson Drago  Tomasz Drwal Joe Hybrid Duarte

TUF 14 winner John Dodson wants to fight again in December

Love him or hate him, it?s hard not to admire recently crowned Ultimate Fighter champion John Dodson for his tenacity as an undersized bantamweight and energy he brings into the ring on each outing. Now it appears Dodson is prepared to tap into that seemingly bottomless reserve and fight again before the end of the [...]

Source: http://www.fighters.com/12/05/tuf-14-winner-john-dodson-wants-to-fight-again-in-december

Ba Te er  Ryan Bader  Siyar Bahadurzada Bao Ligao 

Keith Jardine gets Strikeforce middleweight title shot

Keith Jardine gets Strikeforce middleweight title shot

Earlier this week, we mentioned that Strikeforce's first main card event for 2012 is scheduled for January 7, and that the expected main event is Tim Kennedy vs. middleweight champ Luke Rockhold. That turned out to be two thirds true.

MMA Fighting reports that the main event will actually feature Rockhold taking on Keith Jardine, not Kennedy. Jardine's last bouts were a draw with Gegard Mousasi, wins over Aron Lofton and Francisco France in smaller promotions, and then a five-fight losing streak dating back to UFC 96.

Kennedy is 4-1 in his last five fights, with the one loss coming to Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza in a title fight. He has wins over Robbie Lawlor, Melvin Manhoef, Trevor Prangley -- who Jardine lost to -- and Zak Cummings.

Yeah, I don't get it, either. I'm not the only one, as my Twitter timeline exploded with a collective, "Whaaaaa?" when the news hit late last night. Kennedy has lobbied for the title fight for months, but recently told Cagewriter that he doesn't care where he fights, as long as he fights good guys. Perhaps the Strikeforce and UFC gurus have a plan for Kennedy that we're not privy to; otherwise, there is not much logic behind this bout.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Keith-Jardine-gets-Strikeforce-middleweight-titl?urn=mma-wp10110

Murilo Bustamante  Grant Campbell  Gesias JZ Calvancante  Luiz Cane 

Bellator headed to Friday nights starting next season

Fans concerned about the scheduling conflict on Saturdays between Bellator and the UFC no longer need to worry, as the ever-evolving organization has announced its plan to provide live events on Fridays starting with the Bellator Season 6 debut on March 2, 2012. News of the change was revealed through an official press release. ?Our [...]

Source: http://www.fighters.com/12/05/bellator-headed-to-friday-nights-starting-next-season

Xavier Foupa Pokam Hermes Franca Rich Franklin Ian Freeman

2012 UFC programming in Canada still a wild card

With a number of UFC cards being aired in the early part of the year across many of the Fox network channels, it’s still unknown as to who will be picking up the cards in Canada. Fuel TV is not available in Canada yet, and FX Canada has specific Canadian content guidelines imposed by the [...]

Source: http://www.fighters.com/12/01/2012-ufc-programming-in-canada-still-a-wild-card

Daiki DJ taiki Hata He Peng David Heath Delson Heleno