Eddie Alvarez, Shogun/Vera, UFC Light-Heavyweight Title Shot: Morning News Roundup ? 7.31.12

The Rexplex Sports Complex in Elizabeth, N.J., in December of 2003.  Ah yes, I remember it well.  The ring was set up next to a skate ramp, with a big curtain seperating us MMA folks from the kids doing tricks on their skateboards.  As for the fights, some lanky dude named Luke Cummo put his jiu-jitsu skills to good use and won his bout via submission, while another up-and-comer named Jay Hieron completely steamrolled over his foe.  We paid attention to those bouts a bit more because Cummo and Hieron were somewhat established in the area, and though people cheered when Eddie Alvarez scored a dominant KO in his MMA debut, no one knew who Alvarez was or what he'd eventually accomplish in the sport.  Why did I take this stroll down memory lane?  Because Alvarez is leading off your morning news roundup.

  • Former Bellator lightweight champ Eddie Alvarez has one fight left on his contract, and it looks like it's going to be used for a match-up against fearsome Brazilian monster Patricky "Pitbull" Freire.  When it comes to fighter contracts and the willingness of promotions to re-sign their stars, there are a lot of moving parts that must taken into consideration - things like actual cost, anticipated revenue and just what the parties can do to further each other's interests.  As one of Bellator's first "big" signings, Alvarez brought a ton of credibility to the organization, and Bjorn Rebney definitely made it worthwhile for the Philadelphia native in terms of cheddar.  But nothing lasts forever, so here we are with a high-ranking lightweight very likely about to enter free agency.  What do you do with him if you're Bellator?  Give him a tough, sure-fire exciting match-up that will make your October 12 show a memorable one of course.  And if you're Alvarez, you're going to want to win in the most impressive way possible to make sure your value when you enter free agency is at its highest.  Well, you know who wins in all this?  Us fans, because, Alvarez vs. Freire... yikes!  That's all kinds of "wow"!

 

  • Yesterday UFC president Dana White said Saturday's UFC on FOX 4 main event between Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and Brandon Vera would determine the number one contender for UFC light-heavyweight champ Jon Jones' belt.  Reactions were mixed (to put it lightly).  Now White is backtracking a little bit and saying that if either of the occupants of Saturday's co-main event - a tilt between Lyoto Machida and Ryan Bader - look impressive enough in victory, they could get the title shot instead.  This certainly makes more sense.  At least, only insomuch as Jones has pretty much slaughtered everyone that he's faced (including Shogun, Vera, Machida and Bader in prior match-ups), and why not offer up the title shot to whoever looks good?  At this rate, Jones is going to be the first UFC champ to get to fight two challengers in the cage at once.  (He'd probably win that fight, too.)

 

  • Former UFC welterweight contender Jon Fitch will be facing rising star Erick Silva at UFC 153 in Brazil.  You have to imagine that at this point, after having had a run at the title but failing to move the needle in terms of exciting the fans, Fitch is on that spreadsheet that the UFC keeps that's titled "Fighters To Get Rid Of".  Dude has to do something to get off that list...

 

That's all for now.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/eddie-alvarez-shogun-vera-ufc-light-heavyweight-title-141513056--mma.html

Rich Franklin Ian Freeman Don Frye Tony Fryklund

Randy Couture talks TRT (Testosterone) - Randy Couture

The Natural tells us why he always stayed 'natural" and never used Testosterone Replacement Therapy. Keith Kizer the executive of the Nevada Sports Athletic Commission also weighs in on the use of TRT in MMA

Source: http://mmalice.com/randy-couture/randy-couture-talks-trt-testosterone-video_f9e155386.html

Wes Soldier Combs  Ray Cooper  Kit Cope  Wesley Cabbage Correira 

Frank Mir admits adversary Daniel Cormier is a ?very dangerous opponent?

The UFC recently broke form by giving former heavyweight champion Frank Mir the green light to lock horns with Strikeforce competitor Daniel Cormier on a card later this year. The bout will serve as both a chance for Cormier to solidify himself as a top contender and Mir to remind the world why he?s still one of the division?s best despite a recent loss to Junior dos Santos.

Mir was recently asked for his opinion on Cormier as an opponent and, understandably, the 33-year old veteran had nothing but good things to say about the Strikeforce Grand Prix winner.

“Cormier obviously has an extremely strong wrestling background. I don’t think it takes a genius to figure that out,? said Mir of Cormier on a recent edition of The MMA Hour. ?And then his striking has been coming along. I was kind of curious to see how he would do against submissions, and there was a couple times, one that I can remember right now when there was a pretty legitimate attempt on his leg, and he didn’t panic and had the defense to get out of it. And so, I feel that he’s a very dangerous opponent.?

“I think that if we fight each other, I’d have the advantage in striking and submissions, but as far as whether the fight stays on the feet or goes down, I don’t think I’m going to have much of a choice. Wherever he wants to fight me, I’m going to have to be prepared for all areas,? he concluded, adding he felt the talented twosome would likely tangle in late fall.

Mir Granted TRT Exemption Before Fight with JDS

The 16-6 Mir holds past wins over Roy Nelson, Mirko Filipovic, Brock Lesnar, and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, while the unbeaten Cormier?s recent run of success has featured victories against Jeff Monson, Antonio Silva, and most recently Josh Barnett.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

Source: http://www.fighters.com/08/06/frank-mir-admits-adversary-daniel-cormier-is-a-%e2%80%9cvery-dangerous-opponent%e2%80%9d

Rich No Love Clementi  Mark The Hammer Coleman Wes Soldier Combs  Ray Cooper 

Picture of the day: UFC 152 main eventers dangle off CN Tower in Toronto for face-off

To promote UFC 152, the UFC came up with a creative way to have flyweight title contenders Demetrius Johnson and Joe Benavidez and middleweights Brian Stann and Michael Bisping face off.

Yep, they're just hanging around the Edgewalk of the CN Tower, 1,168 feet in the air.  Notice how Bisping has his feet on the platform but Stann is precariously dangling?

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/picture-day-ufc-152-main-eventers-dangle-off-154046243--mma.html

Pat Barry  Vitor Belfort  Robert Berry David Bielkheden

Ryan Bader doesn?t remember much from loss to Lyoto Machida

Fans will have to forgive Ryan Bader if he complains of a headache over the next few days. Not long after eating a few stiff fists from Lyoto Machida Saturday night in the co-main event of UFC on FOX 4, Bader admitted he didn’t remember much of what happened en route to his knockout loss. [...]

Source: http://fiveouncesofpain.com/2012/08/05/ryan-bader-doesnt-remember-much-from-loss-to-lyoto-machida/

Wes Soldier Combs  Ray Cooper  Kit Cope  Wesley Cabbage Correira 

Ryan Bader doesn?t remember much from loss to Lyoto Machida

Fans will have to forgive Ryan Bader if he complains of a headache over the next few days. Not long after eating a few stiff fists from Lyoto Machida Saturday night in the co-main event of UFC on FOX 4, Bader admitted he didn’t remember much of what happened en route to his knockout loss. [...]

Source: http://fiveouncesofpain.com/2012/08/05/ryan-bader-doesnt-remember-much-from-loss-to-lyoto-machida/

Murilo Bustamante  Grant Campbell  Gesias JZ Calvancante  Luiz Cane 

Randy Couture talks TRT (Testosterone) - Randy Couture

The Natural tells us why he always stayed 'natural" and never used Testosterone Replacement Therapy. Keith Kizer the executive of the Nevada Sports Athletic Commission also weighs in on the use of TRT in MMA

Source: http://mmalice.com/randy-couture/randy-couture-talks-trt-testosterone-video_f9e155386.html

Zelg Benkei Galesić Mauro Galvao Arman Gambaryan Manvel Gamburyan

Tales from the Training Room: The 24-Hour Lock-In

Two weekends ago, New Jersey-based pro fighter Anthony Montanaro was stuck in hell.  He and over twenty other people were confined to the matted-space within the four walls of a massive gym, and every hour for twenty-four hours straight, all were subjected to workouts of varying length and composition.  There were seven-minute wrestling matches.  Rope climbs.  Box jumps and pull-ups.  The works.  No sleep was allowed, and men broke, both physically and mentally.  Yet, despite being driven to the brink of madness, Montanaro pushed through, and when the last workout was done and they were all permitted to leave, he was stronger because if it.  Such was the magic of the 24-hour lock-in.

 

"A 24-hour lock-in is your worst nightmare amplified by ten," says the 25-year-old Montanaro, who, with a shaved head and the tattoo of an armored pitbull on a chest, looks every bit the MMA fighter archetype.  "It's twenty-four hours straight of nonstop training, where every hour on the hour you have a different workout that could be five minutes to a half-hour long.  The whole purpose is to break you, to make you hit the wall as soon as possible.  It's all mental toughness.  It's a nightmare."

The Rhino Wrestling Club in Morganville, N.J., was where this nightmare unfolded; the day began Saturday morning at 9:00 a.m. and went until 9:00 a.m. Sunday morning.  It was rigorous, with the intense physical activity and sleep-deprivation aspects making it more akin to what a soldier would do for Special Forces training than anything else.  "I don't know if they stole the idea from Navy SEAL-type stuff, but it was ridiculous," says Montanaro.  "It was kind of like the whole Marine or Army crucible-type stuff, know what I mean?"

To prepare for fights, fighters go to great lengths to make themselves like steel.  There's roadwork, padwork, grappling, and as we've seen on "The Ultimate Fighter", conditioning drills that can involve things like flipping giant tires and swinging sledgehammers.  With a fight coming up in the next few months, Montanaro is no different.  But what benefits are derived from the lock-in?  Clearly, the limits of the conditioning of the participants are pushed, but is there something more? 

"Honestly, just complete mental toughness," says Montanaro.  "You get to a point where you don't think you can go anymore and then you have to go.  It's insane.  It's probably the worst training I've ever done.  I was more nervous for that than any fight I've ever had to do."

What of the necessities of human existence?  "They have a bathroom, of course," says Montanaro.  "Food's included? all the food you can eat.  After your workouts, even if you weren't hungry, they stressed that you drink and eat nonstop ? just carb you up and keep you going.  Sleep, that's not encouraged at all.  They keep you awake, keep you zombified, keep you going."

Obviously, the whole endeavor was tortuous.  Was there any particular thing that Montanaro found to be the toughest?  "The toughest thing about the lock-in?  Where do I even start?  The whole damn thing.  Once you hit that first wall, that's when it's brutal.  Everything hits you all at once ? you want to sleep, you try to lay down and it's time for the next workout.  I would say around two or three in the morning, that's when it's the worst.  You know you could just leave at any point you want, but it's just that whole mental aspect." 

If one could literally leave at any time, it sounds as if the name ? a "lock-in" ? is a bit of a misnomer.  "It was going to be a complete lock-in, but it was so damn hot, there was no way they could do something like that.  We would've kicked the doors down.  There was no way."

With door unlocked and retreat requiring only an exit through the door, did anyone quit?  "No, surprisingly enough, no one quit.  And the craziest thing was there was an 11-year old kid there.  Some parent signed their kid up to do it!  It was the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen.  So anytime someone wanted to quit, we'd look at this little kid.  He was our mascot."

What was the atmosphere like?  Was it all business, or was there at least some of element of fun to it?  "For the first probably like eight to ten hours, everyone was kind of feeling each other out ? you know, like, is everyone in full serious-mode or are we going to have some kind of fun here?  Probably at night is when everyone started to get a little loopy.  Everyone started to get punchy.  The later it got into the night, everyone was just out there."

Would Montanaro go through it all again?  "Absolutely," he says without hesitation.  "In a heartbeat.  After it was done, I honestly just wanted to stay and keep going.  It's just nonstop training, no drama, no [expletive], everyone was just there to train.  If we could do it, I would love to do it every month."

A wise man once posed the question, "Do you want to be a [expletive] fighter?"  It's doubtful he'd dare ask that of Montanaro and participants of the 24-hour lock-in.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/tales-training-room-24-hour-lock-200930968--mma.html

Dennis George Kultar Gill Allan Goes Takanori The Fireball Kid Gomi

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira wants to coach against ?Shogun? Rua on TUF Brasil 2

Though Mauricio Rua?s win over Brandon Vera at UFC on FOX 4 was relatively impressive in nature, the strike-based stoppage wasn?t quite enough to outdo fellow UFC light heavyweight Lyoto Machida who instead earned top contendership with his beatdown of Ryan Bader. With a title-shot off the table, as well as Machida no longer an option to serve as an opposing coach on TUF Brasil, ?Shogun? has been left without a clear direction to move in for his next outing.

Enter Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, a talented 205er in his own right who is coming off a convincing victory and has some history with Rua as well. ?Little Nog? recently spoke up with his own suggestion for Rua, expressing interest in facing him first on TUF Brasil 2 and then inside the Octagon.

Nogueira, who called coaching on the Ultimate Fighter a ?dream? of his, continued on in an interview with TATAME, saying, ?It would be very good to me and it would be a rematch of 2005?s fight, which is something people wanna see. If I have a chance to coach the guys at TUF and also fight him, it would be amazing.?

The two fought under the PRIDE banner in an exciting encounter seeing ?Shogun? emerge as the winner by way of decision.

In addition to being an interesting rematch with roots firmly planted in Brazil, as required for TUF Brasil, Nogueira is also motivated to coach based on what he witnessed when his twin brother, fellow fighter Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, headed a team on TUF 8.

?Rodrigo learned a lot from TUF. He learned more about being a coach and how to make the team united and gathered. On the United States he?s seen by many as the best coach the show ever had and he got even more famous after the show,? concluded Nogueira.

Nogueira: “Fans Love the Knockouts!”

Details relating to TUF Brasil 2 are expected to be made in the coming weeks. The show?s inaugural season featured Vitor Belfort and Wanderlei Silva as coaches and was a massive hit in Brazil.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

Source: http://www.fighters.com/08/07/antonio-rogerio-nogueira-wants-to-coach-against-%e2%80%9cshogun%e2%80%9d-rua-on-tuf-brasil-2

Chris Brennan Marcelo Brito  Rob Broughton  Mike BrownÂ