Pedro Rizzo talks about Fedor and how he will KO him - Pedro Rizzo

Inside MMA correspondent Ron Kruck talks to Pedro Rizzo as he prepares to fight Fedor Emelianenko at M1 in St. Petersburg, Russia June 21, 2012 Win or lose the fight is expected to be Fedor's final bout.

Source: http://mmalice.com/pedro-rizzo/pedro-rizzo-talks-about-fedor-and-how-he-will-ko-him-video_00fc6ecef.html

Siyar Bahadurzada Bao Ligao  Josh Barnett  David Baron 

Chris Weidman waiting on title shot while Michael Bisping and Brian Stann are possibilities

UFC president Dana White recently went on Fuel TV's UFC tonight and discussed what is next for the middleweight division. First, he was asked if Chris Weidman would be the next 185-lber to fight Anderson Silva for the championship. After all, Weidman is undefeated, and recently destroyed Mark Munoz in a fight that was supposedly going to decide the next title shot.

"No. We'll see what happens. It could happen," White said.

Um, OK. That clears nothing up. Michael Bisping and Brian Stann are fighting at UFC 152, could that be for the title shot?

""It's an incredibly important fight. As soon as you start saying what's next for Anderson Silva, something pops up and there're tons of guys who are ready to fight him in the mix and we'll see what happens."

Bisping's last three fights include a loss to Chael Sonnen and wins over Jason Miller, who is no longer in the UFC, and Jorge Rivera who is now retired. Stann is 2-1 in his last three fights with a loss to Sonnen. Both fighters could not beat Sonnen, who just lost to Silva. But it's possible one of them could get the title shot over Weidman?

What's frustrating about a lack of a real method behind who gets title shots and who doesn't weakens the belt. There is no doubt that the New York Giants were the best team in the NFL because they won the tournament designed to find the champion.

Every team in the NFL had a chance to get to the playoffs by winning enough of their games. Though some teams earned a bye because of their regular season play, every team knew exactly what they had to do to get a chance at the Super Bowl title before they stepped foot on the field.

It's not that way in the UFC. Weidman has done everything that usually earns a title shot, but for whatever, unknown reason, he's not getting it. The fighter who has proven worthy of a title shot not getting it means the champion isn't facing the best.

Because the UFC is a promotion, not a league, and a private company, they can do what they want with title shots and be as transparent as they like. However, they cannot be surprised when media and fans start to question if "it's as real as it gets," as the UFC motto suggests.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/chris-weidman-waiting-title-shot-while-michael-bisping-133526197--mma.html

Nick Diaz  Tadhg Steamfist Dixon Joe Doerksen  Chris Dolman

Anderson Silva says he didn?t finish Thales Leites at UFC 97 out of respect

Anderson Silva's last three middleweight title defenses have ended in knockout or technical knockout in the first or second round. He has been on a tear that has cemented him as one of, if not the greatest mixed martial artist in the sport's history.

But before the recent tear and the fifth-round submission win over Chael Sonnen, Silva went through a period that can only be described as weird. In wins over Patrick Cote, Demian Maia and Thales Leites, Silva was not the dominating force we're used to seeing now.

At UFC 97, Leites was clearly outmatched, but Silva couldn't -- or wouldn't -- finish his fellow Brazilian. Three years later, Silva explained why he didn't finish the fight to Brazilian outlet Tatame.

"There's no such thing as holding back. I want to finish as soon as possible. The only time I did it was because he was a friend of mine. It was against Thales Leites. We went until the last round because he's a friend of mine and I respect him", Anderson said.

Since it was three years ago and he's been so dominant since, it's hard to hold this against Silva. However, it puts a new wrinkle in the question of teammates and friends fighting.

Donald Cerrone and Melvin Guillard were teammates, but their scrap at UFC 150 was one of the best 1:16-long fights I have ever watched. Neither held back out of respect, as Silva said he did against Leites.

Their fight gave ammunition to UFC president Dana White, who often gets frustrated by fighters saying they don't want to fight teammates. If teammates Cerrone and Guillard could not just fight, but knock each other silly, why not push teammates to fight?

Silva's comments say why it can still be tricky to force fighters to fight friends and teammates. His bout with Leites caused White to say, "I've never been embarrassed of a UFC fight like I was tonight." While White and the UFC can push fighters to get in the Octagon together, they cannot make them fight the way they want.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/anderson-silva-says-didn-t-finish-thales-leites-140210592--mma.html

Stephan Bonnar Lorenzo Borgomeo  Kyle Bradley  Jai Bradney 

Chael Sonnen says he is fighting Forrest Griffin, wants to make run at light heavyweight belt

Chael Sonnen hasn't given up his dream on winning a UFC world championship. For the time being though, he's giving up on winning it as a middleweight.

After a pair of losses to 185-pound king Anderson Silva, Sonnen announced Tuesday on UFC Tonight on Fuel TV that is jumping to light heavyweight and will fight Forrest Griffin on Dec. 29 in Las Vegas.

UFC president Dana White confirmed the move with Cagewriter about a half-hour after the show.

"Chael wants to fight at 205," White said. "He felt he had his run at 185 and now he wants to make a run at the title at 205."

Sonnen, the master of trash talk, dumped on light heavyweight champion Jon Jones as he made his announcement. He said though he felt he could win the belt in his first bout in the division, he needed to win a fight in the division to set himself up as a legitimate contender.

As a result, Sonnen will fight Griffin. They met once already, on Sept. 6, 2003, on an International Fighting Championship card in Denver. Griffin won with a triangle choke submission in the first round. Ironically, Sonnen's title fight against Silva at UFC 117, which he dominated for four-and-a-half rounds, ended when Silva got the submission with a triangle.

I could go up to 205 and I could take Jon Jones' belt the same as I could take his candy on Halloween. [He's] a little punk kid, I'd snatch it away all I want. But there's something to be said in sportsmanship for earning your shot. And on the 29th of December, I'm going to go through Forrest to do it.

The bout is intriguing on a number of levels. Though Sonnen was nearly 230 pounds a month before he fought Michael Bisping in January, Griffin is the naturally bigger man.

And though Griffin hasn't looked good in the last year -- White said he looked old after his split-decision win over Tito Ortiz at UFC 148 in July -- a win over him still carries significance.

"If he can beat Forrest, he'd be on his way [toward title contention]," White told Cagewriter. "Forrest has some good wins and he's an ex-light heavyweight champion. He has awesome credentials. Forrest is a big guy, a real big guy, and that will be a big test for Chael."

Jones will defend his championship at UFC 151 on Sept. 1 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas against Dan Henderson.

If Jones survives that fight, there are no logical contenders. White awarded the next title shot to Lyoto Machida after Machida knocked out Ryan Bader in Los Angeles on Aug. 4. Jones, though, has already beaten Machida.

Sonnen would inject a bit of life into the division. And though Jones would be a heavy favorite against him, Sonnen's wrestling would probably at least ensure that Jones wouldn't be able to easily take him down and beat him up with the vicious elbows for which he's become known.

First, though, Sonnen has to get through Griffin, whom he lavished with praise on UFC Tonight.

Since becoming friends and competitors with him, I've also become a fan. I watched him win the world championship. I watched him etch his name in stone as a guaranteed future Hall of Famer.

If Sonnen wins, he'd be in the mix for a shot in early 2013. What that would mean for Griffin's future isn't nearly as clear. White declined to say he'd force Griffin to retire as an active fighter should he lose, but the UFC president has raised the topic before.

White would likely do with Griffin what he did with Chuck Liddell, the ex-light heavyweight champion who kept getting knocked out in his final few fights. White publicly urged Liddell to retire and then gave him a front-office job with the UFC. He'd like do the same thing with Griffin.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/chael-sonnen-says-fighting-forrest-griffin-wants-run-033024264--mma.html

Alexander Gustafsson Jaime Gutierrez Dave Gomez Keith Hackney

UFC looking to have Lyoto Machida duel Dan Henderson for contendership claim

It appears the UFC has a solution for the logjam created light heavyweight Dan Henderson?s recent injury and Lyoto Machida?s refusal to face champion Jon Jones without a full camp to prepare. Rather than force one of the two top contenders to wait for six months before receiving a title-shot, it looks like the organization has designs on having them fight each other in a bout eliminating one from the equation.

UFC President Dana White hinted at the plan during a gathering with media at the UFC offices in Las Vegas, though nothing official has been announced at this point.

Machida’s Camp Discusses Possibility of Fighting Again in a Non-Title Bout

?He should have taken the fight,? said White of Machida?s decision to turn down a short notice meeting with Jones. ?We’ve seen it, history always repeats itself. Look how long it took Rashad Evans to fight for the title again. So you wanted to fight Jon Jones, you climbed up to the title fight and you don’t take it.?

?Now you’re fighting (expletive) Dan Henderson,? he continued. ?Now you might not even get to the (expletive) title again. You lose to Dan Henderson, you’re not anywhere near Jon Jones.?

MMAWeekly was on hand and kind enough to transcribe White?s comments.

While some fans may feel making the two tussle is unfair after having already been promised a crack at the divisional championship, in reality Machida is only a single win removed from his submission loss to Jones while Henderson hasn?t fought since November. However, both are former champions with past success against some of the sport?s elite, combining for wins over the likes of Evans, Fedor Emelianenko, Mauricio Rua, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Wanderlei Silva, Rich Franklin, and Randy Couture.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

Source: http://www.fighters.com/09/15/ufc-looking-to-have-lyoto-machida-duel-dan-henderson-for-contendership-claim

Volk Han Joachim Hansen Antoni Hardonk Dan Hardy

Jon Jones headed for Baltimore after UFC 152 to watch brothers? battle

Win or lose on Saturday night, UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jones will deal with the fallout from his UFC 152 fight against Vitor Belfort with the support of his brothers Arthur and Chandler. The trio are as close-knit as could be, sharing not only the bond of growing up together but also enduring the [...]

Source: http://fiveouncesofpain.com/2012/09/17/jon-jones-headed-for-baltimore-after-ufc-152-to-watch-brothers-battle/

Shane The Engineer Carwin  Jason Hollywood Chambers Ryo Piranha Chonan  Dan The Sandman Christison 

Michael Bisping ready to be #1 contender and ?take the title off of Anderson Silva?

Middleweight Michael Bisping has called the UFC his professional home for more than six years, racking up wins over a number of apt adversaries and establishing himself as one of the most entertaining 185ers in the sport. However, the brash Brit has yet to challenge for divisional gold after coming up short in past attempts at earning top contendership.

The 33-year old is hoping to change that in less than two weeks when he battles Brian Stann at UFC 152. Though not guaranteed, Bisping believes he?ll be bumped up to the front of the line if he can beat Stann convincingly.

Bisping: “Stann is going to get his arse kicked…”

?I?ve been here for a long, long time and I?m ready to f*cking take the title off of Anderson Silva. I don?t just want a title-shot, I want to win the title. I?m a fighter, I don?t want a payday – I want to be the champ and I believe I can be,? said Bisping in an interview with MMAWeekly.

Bisping also made it clear he feels he deserves consideration for a crack at the championship before any of his 185-pound peers including unbeaten Chris Weidman.

?Chris Weidman, I think he?s overhyped…up until the point when he fought Demian Maia I had never heard of Chris Weidman before in my life because he had been fighting bums on the undercard. Then he fights Demian Maia and I had to turn the TV off in my dressing room because it was the most boring fight I?ve ever seen in my life,? blasted Bisping. ?(After) that he fights Mark Munoz, and yeah he beats him, but if I remember right the crowd booed unbelievably throughout the first round because he just laid on him. Then he knocked him out with an elbow, but that?s due to the fact that Mark Munoz came in out of shape, unfocused, and looking like he was at a rock concert and not a UFC fight.?

Of course, Weidman has his own challenge on the horizon in the form of a December bout with Tim Boetsch, though he too could cement status as #1 contender with a dominant victory.

In the meantime, Bisping will continue focusing on Stann and proving why he is the best choice to threaten Silva?s crown. ?The Count? will enter the September 22 fight with a controversial decision loss to Chael Sonnen in his recent rear-view mirror but wins in four straight prior to the defeat and an overall record of 22-4.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

Source: http://www.fighters.com/09/12/michael-bisping-ready-to-be-1-contender-and-%e2%80%9ctake-the-title-off-of-anderson-silva%e2%80%9d

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