Junior Dos Santos Interview - UFC

Heavy-handed Junior Dos Santos steps back into the Octagon? against a man considered to be an equally dangerous striker, Shane Carwin. Will Junior's speed advantage be enough to hand Carwin his first KO loss? Watch UFC 131 Live on Pay-Per-View and www.UFC.tv on Saturday, Jun 11th at 6/9PM PT/ET.

Source: http://mmalice.com/ufc/junior-dos-santos-interview-video_8d42cdb57.html

Matt Hamill Volk Han Joachim Hansen Antoni Hardonk

Can Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira Avoid Brendan Schaub's Bombs For Three Rounds At UFC 134?

My series ?A Closer Look At UFC 134? continues with its in-depth coverage of all the major fights from the UFC?s latest mega-card, ?UFC 134: Silva vs. Okami?. With the last entry we officially passed the half-way mark, now it?s time to focus on the three major match-ups that truly anchor this card. Here?s the [...]

Source: http://www.fighters.com/08/25/can-antonio-rodrigo-nogueira-avoid-brendan-schaubs-bombs-for-three-rounds-at-ufc-134

Delson Heleno Dan Henderson Josh Hendricks Ed Herman

Nice guys finish fights: Brendan Schaub brings gear to Brazilian kids

Last week, we had to give out a Facepalm of the Week, but this week, Cagewriter can tell you about Brendan Schaub (pictured at right), one of the UFC's up-and-coming heavyweights, being a good guy.

Schaub, a runner-up on "The Ultimate Fighter, is in Brazil to fight Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 134. It is the biggest fight of his career, as a win could put Schaub into the mix for title contention, but that didn't keep him from going back to a poor town that he had visited on his last trip to the South American country.

With the help of his sponsors RevGear, Echo Unlimited and Bony Acai, Schaub came back with bags of training gear. On his first visit, he found that the young MMA students were practicing on asphalt with little protection.

"You go there, and these kids have nothing," the heavyweight said today at a pre-event press conference for UFC 134, which takes place Saturday at HSBC Arena in Rio. "Literally, nothing, and they're as happy as can be ... For me, it was a rude awakening. It's stuff I'm not used to in Denver, Colorado ? my little bubble ? so I got all my sponsors together (to collect) donated gear."

The poverty in Brazil is hard to ignore, but someone with a laser focus on a fight easily could have done that. Kudos to Schaub for keeping his eyes open, and then doing what he could to help.

Thanks to MMA Junkie

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Nice-guys-finish-fights-Brendan-Schaub-brings-g?urn=mma-wp6223

Urijah Faber Wagnney Fabiano Kevin Kimbo Slice Ferguson Paulo Filho

Broken hand forces Diego Sanchez off of UFC 135 lineup

The injury bug has bitten UFC 135 again after already sending Norifumi ?Kid? Yamamoto and Manny Gamburyan to the sidelines, this time striking a co-headlining bout featuring Diego Sanchez and Matt Hughes. According to an official announcement on the UFC?s website, Sanchez broke his hand while preparing for the September 24 fight and has understandably withdrawn [...]

Source: http://www.fighters.com/09/05/broken-hand-forces-diego-sanchez-off-of-ufc-135-lineup

Marcus Aurelio  Mikhail Avetisyan Luiz Azeredo  Luciano Azevedo 

Nedkov shows off scary power in UFC 134 slugfest against Cane

In his UFC debut, Stanislav Nedkov delivered some clear messages tonight. He's one tough dude and future opponents better look out for that right hand.

The Bulgarian UFC newcomer was getting drilled on the feet by Luiz Cane until he landed a great left hook and followed it up with an thunderous overhand right that changed everything. Cane was finished on his feet as he retreated. Twenty unanswered shots later, the Brazilian was upset on his home turf by Nedkov at the 4:13 mark of the first round at UFC 134 in Rio de Janeiro.

Nedkov looked tiny compared to the 6-foot-2 Cane and was giving up six inches of reach. The problem was, Cane kept his left hand too low. It was a matter of time before the Nedkov overhand right landed on the button.

Nedkov showed some gumption too. In the middle of the first round, it appeared that he suffered a nose injury. For about a minute before the stoppage, Nedkov's output slowed down as he kept grabbing at the nose. Then came the big punches.

Cane was so out of it, he turned his back and unleashed an odd kicking motion at the cage. When he bounced off the fence and turned around, Nedkov was there to unload with some massive lefts. A right hook dropped Cane and he was unable to defend himself as referee Mario Yamasaki stepped in to save him.

Cane (11-4, 4-4 UFC) is a skilled striker, but got sloppy in this one. "Bahna" has now lost three of his last four with the promotion. This was Nedkov's first fight in the UFC. He's a perfect 12-0 overall.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Nedkov-shows-off-scary-power-in-UFC-134-slugfest?urn=mma-wp6299

Luke Cummo  Jeff Big Frog Curran Dai Shuanghai  Mac Danzig 

Dana White: Brock Lesnar Retirement Rumors are ?Ridiculous?

UFC President Dana White said rumors that Brock Lesnar could soon retire were "ridiculous" and that the former UFC heavyweight champion is "100 percent" and still on track to return early next year. "That's ridiculous. That's so far from the truth, it's not even funny," White said.

Source: http://mmafrenzy.com/24225/dana-white-brock-lesnar-retirement-rumors-are-ridiculous/

Masakatsu Funaki Zelg Benkei Galesić Mauro Galvao Arman Gambaryan

Barboza picks apart Pearson for win at UFC 134

Edson Barboza was simply too long and fast for Ross Pearson tonight at UFC 134 in Rio de Janeiro. The 5-foot-11 Barboza stayed on the move for 15 minutes and picked his shots on the way to a split decision victory 29-28 on the two cards and 28-29 on the other.

Pearson did well to survive against a guy who's looked spectacular at times in previous fights. Barboza's best weapon are his kicks. Pearson decided to push forward and close space for most of the night. His face showed the affect.

By the end of the fight, he had a good size hematoma over his left eye and a cut above his right eye. When there was space, Barboza (9-0, 3-0 UFC) did his biggest damage with some nifty spinning kicks.

Pearson, the champ from Season 9 of "The Ultimate Fighter," is now 5-2 in his official UFC fights. He looked a little beefier than normal for this one. Pearson's lack of speed made him an easy target for Barboza.

The judges were split on the fight. the number may back up the judge who chose Pearson. According to FightMetric, the Brit actually outlanded Barboza 60-55. Who landed the more significant, powerful shots? That can be debated. Check the fighter's faces at the close of the fight. Barboza wasn't showing much damage.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Barboza-picks-apart-Pearson-for-win-at-UFC-134?urn=mma-wp6316

Daiki DJ taiki Hata He Peng David Heath Delson Heleno

?Strikeforce HW GP Semifinals? Gambling Odds

Fight week is once again upon us. Although there won’t be any Octagon action to bet on this Saturday, the UFC’s little brother will resume their Heavyweight Grand Prix Tournament inside the US Bank Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio. Daniel Cormier meets Antonio Silva (Pictured) in one semifinal scrap, while Josh Barnett battles Sergei Kharitonov in [...]

Source: http://www.5thRound.com/87653/strikeforce-hw-gp-semifinals-gambling-odds/

Cody Guinn Jorge Gurgel Andre Gusmao Alexander Gustafsson

Anderson Silva toys with another top fighter, destroys Yushin Okami at UFC 134

If you stand with the most dynamic striker in the world, your fate is inevitable.

Anderson Silva lulled Yushin Okami to sleep early in the second, then floored him with a right hook and pounded him out from there.

Silva cruised in retaining his UFC middleweight title with a TKO victory at the 2:04 mark of the second round in the main event of UFC 134 in Rio de Janeiro.

The win was especially huge for Silva (31-4, 14-0 UFC) as the UFC returned to Brazil for the first time since 1998. The crowd in Rio chanted Silva's name throughout the fight and roared when he finished it.

The victory pushes Silva's UFC win streak to an amazing 14 straight. It also avenges his only loss in the last six years. Okami beat Silva back in 2006 via disqualification.

Silva was incredibly dominant in the striking department. According to FightMetric, he landed 52-of-71 shots (73 percent). In the finishing round, he had a 30-4 advantage.

Before the fight, Okami's strengths seemed to give him a shot at pulling a monumental upset (Silva was a minus-550 favorite). The Japanese fighter is big for the weight class and other fighters rave about his strength in the clinch. Silva never let him get into a rhythm and broke him mentally in the first round.

After following Silva around for the first two minutes of the first round, Okami (32-6, 10-3 UFC) worked the clinch for almost two minutes. Silva never wilted and looked plenty strong enough to deal with the ground-and-pound specialist. Once the fighters separated, the end of the first provided a preview of things to come.

Silva closed the round by landing a nasty head kick. Okami stumbled backwards and ate a knee as the horn sounded.

When Silva came out for the second, he meant business. He charged forward throwing punches and kicks from different angles. After a minute of that, he backed up and basically put his hands at his side, daring Okami to hit him. Okami took the bait. Instead of charging forward and attempting a takedown, Okami threw some sloppy punches. He was a sitting duck.

Just 36 seconds into the round, Silva, who switched between conventional and his more natural southpaw stance, landed a hard jab with the right and down went Okami. Silva backed up and let Okami stand up. Silva repeated the pattern and less than a minute later, he put a lot more mustard on a right hook. Okami fell to his back and his arms went to the side.

It was over. Silva, the world's No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter, jumped on top and threw 25-plus unanswered shots. Okami did nothing aside from cover up. Referee Herb Dean had to save him.

Other popular stories on Yahoo! Sports:
? Best games of the 2011 college football season
? Morality over/under: Gambling on high school football
? No name change for Ron Artest just yet

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Anderson-Silva-toys-with-another-top-fighter-de?urn=mma-wp6331

Phil Baroni Don Barr Pat Barry  Vitor Belfort