Bobby Lashley returns to the ring at Titan FC 19 against Eddie Sanchez

The next challenge in Bobby Lashley?s continued transition from WWE superstar to legitimate Mixed Martial Artist will come later this month and be one of the more difficult he?s faced since initially making the move a little less than three years ago. Set for a July 29 in Kansas City, Lashley is scheduled to serve [...]

Source: http://fiveouncesofpain.com/2011/07/09/bobby-lashley-returns-to-the-ring-at-titan-fc-19-against-eddie-sanchez/

Matt Andersen  Alex Andrade  Jermaine Andrè  Yoji Anjo 

Picture gets a little more clear on where Marquardt screwed up

In an effort to clear up his suspension by the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission and firing by the UFC, Nate Marquardt spoke to one media outlet on Tuesday. Unfortunately, that still left plenty of unanswered questions.

Larry Pepe from PROMMARadio, a media member very familiar with the issue of PED's from his experience in the world of bodybuilding, joined ESPNRadio1100 in Las Vegas to discuss the issues he had with Marquardt's story.

According to Marquardt and is manager Lex McMahon, he was allowed to fight at UFC 128 in New Jersey even though he was in the midst of actually getting the therapeutic use exemption necessary for approved use of testosterone replacement therapy. The New Jersey State Athletic Commission Board allowed Marquardt to fight with the understanding that he would be tested before and after his fight against Dan Miller. That included going off TRT for eight weeks after the fight to find out if his normal testosterone levels warranted TRT use.

NJSACB legal counsel Nick Lembo said Marquardt went through the process and was officially denied the exemption last week and the news was delivered to the PSAC, last Friday, the day before the UFC on Versus 4 weigh-in. Why was he denied? That seems odd because Lembo also said the postfight testing actually justified Marquardt's use of TRT. So what went wrong?

MMAjunkie indicates that the hang up came with Camp Marquardt's choice of doctor.

All [tests] came back within the acceptable range per the NJSACB's guidelines on exemptions. When he sought to return to the therapy, however, he did so with his personal doctor, who is not an endocrinologist.

[...] Lex McMahon, Marquardt's manager, said the NJSACB had previously raised concerns about the treatment Marquardt was receiving.

"The commission sent a very clear statement that the doctor he was using had been incomplete, (and he) was using protocols that were not approved by the [U.S. Anti-Doping Agency]," McMahon said. "At that point in time, that should have been a significant indicator to go see a specialist, (and) to go see someone whose core competency was this.

"So I think that's another area where Nate and our team have to take responsibility."

So it sounds like this is far from a malicious act. Now will that be enough for Marquardt to gain forgiveness from the UFC? Only time will tell.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Picture-gets-a-little-more-clear-on-where-Marqua?urn=mma-wp4126

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

Sotiropoulos interview: It?s time to put an end to 155 contenders losing big fights

After Frank Edgar and Gray Maynard finally meet for a third time, it's anyone's guess who'll be standing next in the line for a title shot in the UFC's lightweight division.

It's seems like each time someone is on the verge of locking up No. 1 contender status they flop in their next fight. It just happened to Anthony Pettis at "The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale," and George Sotiropoulos felt that same sting against Denis Siver back at UFC 127.

Sotiropoulos (14-3, 7-1 UFC) is back this weekend and isn't too down about his loss to Siver. He wasn't blown out in the fight, plus the UFC is also very high on Siver's game. Aussie knows he can get right in line behind the champ and challenger with a few good performances.

"The contenders ... it's a big mess in there right now," Sotiropoulos told RawVegas.tv. "The guys who are up there, a lot of us, have lost recently. I think a lot of us are still up there, but it's just changed the timing of everything."

Sotiropoulous admitted he just wasn't on his game that night.

"It's never the same. You always want to be at a certain point. I've always noticed something is always a little different in every fight, whether it's good or bad," Sotiropoulos said. "You've gotta roll through it, and move through it and press on regardless."

Sotiropoulos may have been a little off because of the short time between his fight at UFC 127 and his previous tilt as UFC 123, just 13 weeks earlier.

The challenges this time around is game planning for an opponent change. Sotiropoulos is facing Rafael dos Anjos (14-5, 3-3 UFC), who replaced Evan Dunham in early May. Both are good grapplers, but Dunham is a guy who works behind a nice jab while dos Anjos throws his punches like a wild man.

Sotiropoulos is a minus-270 favorite over the Brazilian.

You can watch UFC 132 right here on Yahoo! Sports

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Sotiropoulos-interview-It-s-time-to-put-an-end-?urn=mma-wp4139

David Baron  Phil Baroni Don Barr Pat Barry 

Guillard brings fireworks to UFC 132 with KO of Roller

Melvin Guillard won his fifth fight in a row with a knockout of Shane Roller that showed off Guillard's speed and striking power at UFC 132 in Las Vegas on Saturday.

Guillard caused problems for Roller early, as his constant movement made it impossible for Roller, an All-American wrestler, to shoot in for a takedown. When Roller did get close enough to land a shot, Guillard countered with a right that put Roller on his back. Roller stood back up, and was met with Guillard's knees, and then a left-right combo that ended the bout at 2:12 in the first round.

After the bout, Guillard wouldn't ask for a title shot, but did say that he is aiming for UFC lightweight champ Frankie Edgar.

"I've battled so much. I've come back to the top of my game, and my life is in order," Guillard said after the bout. "Speed kills! I keep telling y'all!"

This year, Guillard has a TKO over Evan Dunham and now the KO of Roller. The lightweight division of the UFC is stacked, but Guillard has proven that he belongs near the top of it.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Guillard-brings-fireworks-to-UFC-132-with-KO-of-?urn=mma-wp4281

Paul Buentello  Josh Burkman  Mikey Burnett  Murilo Bustamante 

Eduardo Pamplona set for preliminary pairing with Tyler Stinson at ?Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson?

Strikeforce has announced rising welterweights Tyler Stinson and Eduardo Pamplona will meet at ?Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson? as part of still-growing undercard already scheduled to feature J.Z. Cavalcante facing off against Lyle Beerbohm in addition to a bout between 135-pound females Alexis Davis and Julie Kedzie. Stinson will be making his Strikeforce debut at the [...]

Source: http://fiveouncesofpain.com/2011/07/12/eduardo-pamplona-set-for-preliminary-pairing-with-tyler-stinson-at-%e2%80%9cstrikeforce-fedor-vs-henderson%e2%80%9d/

Bao Ligao  Josh Barnett  David Baron  Phil Baroni

Event of the Half-Year: UFC 132: Cruz vs. Faber

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When you're shelling out oftentimes hundreds of dollars for tickets, or north of $50 for pay-per-views, or paying cover charges and overtipping waitresses in orange booty shorts, nothing else leaves a bad taste in your mouth on Fight Night like a dud of a main event. Your appetizer and the ambience might be otherworldly, but the best loaded baked potato on the planet can't change the fact that your steak tastes like a shoe.

It's what takes a pretty-good-so-far card like UFC 130 and turns it into a late sucker punch to the gut. After a pair of exciting finishes and a big upset to open the pay-per-view, fans were treated to Frank Mir over Roy Nelson and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson over Matt Hamill in lopsided snoozefests that made them forget all about the good stuff leading up to the lackluster.

WIth a title fight that could have gone either way each round, a major career-saving submission upset, a likely retirement bout and four big knockouts, UFC 132 is the 2011 Event of the Half-Year.

(Admittedly, we're cheating just a little bit since UFC 132 happened on July 2, and July is the start of the second half of the year. But since Fight Week for the event started in June, we're counting it in the first half. Plus, it had enough awesome sauce to practically allow us to count it in 2010 if we wanted.)

When Rafael dos Anjos knocked out heavy favorite George Sotiropoulos just 59 seconds into the first round in the Spike TV opener, the media in Press Row likely started writing their post-fight bonus stories with dos Anjos as the Knockout of the Night winner. Until Melvin Guillard starched Shane Roller in the next fight.

And the pay-per-view opened with a third straight knockout when Carlos Condit landed a flying knee that was the beginning of the end of Dong Hyun Kim's career unbeaten streak. Three straight first-round knockouts, all televised? That's pretty hard to top.

But Tito Ortiz found a way. Winless in nearly five years, and without a submission since - wait for it ... wait for it ... 2000 - yes, 2000! - Ortiz, an underdog of as high as +525 to Ryan Bader's -825 at some online sportsbooks, pulled a career-saving rabbit out of his hat. Knowing he would be cut from the UFC with another loss, one of the most popular fighters in MMA history dropped Bader with a right hand, pounced on him and quickly transitioned to the guillotine that would end the fight 1:56 into the first round. Ortiz quickly proclaimed he was back, as did Dana White. His next fight may tell that tale more accurately, but for one night, anyway, Ortiz had fans and haters alike with their jaws on the floor.

After a Fight of the Night-candidate win by Dennis Siver over Matt Wiman that had many in the crowd and online crying foul for a bad decision - FightMetric scored the bout for Wiman despite Siver leading in total strikes for the fight 128-34 - a legend returned after a long layoff, only to be staring at a permanent layoff less than 30 seconds later. Chris Leben put Wanderlei Silva's lights out 27 seconds into the co-main event, and White said that was likely the end of the line for Silva. The winningest fighter in Pride history has lost six of eight, including four by knockout.

Though it didn't feature a big upset or a highlight-reel finish, the main event bantamweight title grudge match between champ Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber, the only man to ever beat Cruz, was the kind of fight that was anyone's guess how the scores would come in. While Cruz landed with more frequency, Faber seemed to land the more memorable big shots. And when the scores were announced, they were as erratic as any unanimous decision in recent memory: 50-45, 49-46, 48-47, all for Cruz. Thought the scores indicate it was closer to a rout than a neck-and-neck battle, the first main-event lighter weight title fight in UFC history definitely put more casual fans on notice that the little guys deserve the big stage.

2. UFC 129, April 30
Largest attendance, largest gate, largest bonuses - everything about UFC 129 in Toronto was big. And though the welterweight title fight between champion Georges St-Pierre and Jake Shields took some criticism for being a boring fight, the event still had plenty of memorable moments. Lyoto Machida sent Randy Couture into retirement with a leaping front kick knockout. Vladimir Matyushenko, at age 40, knocked out Jason Brilz in 20 seconds. Jose Aldo defended his featherweight title and gave Mark Hominick a hematoma for the ages. John Makdessi stopped Kyle Watson with a spinning backfist KO. Though not every fight was a home run, collectively the UFC's first stadium show knocked one out of the park.

3. Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Silva, Feb. 12
The first event in Strikeforce's eight-man heavyweight grand prix tournament opened with a split decision on the prelims. After that, we never saw a third round. Six of the next nine fights ended in the first round. There were five submissions (one from strikes), two heavyweight knockouts and a pair of doctor stoppages. And while the star power in the first four main-card fights on Showtime wasn't overpowering, it's hard to argue four first-round stoppages on the excitement meter. Valentijn Overeem submitted Ray Sefo with a neck crank. Chad Griggs stopped Gianpiero Villante with strikes. Shane Del Rosario armbarred Lavar Johnson. And in the first tournament quarterfinal, Sergei Kharitonov upped Andrei Arlovski's skid to four with a big knockout of the former UFC heavyweight champ. But it was the main event between the legendary Fedor Emelianenko and Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva that makes this card the most memorable. Fedor went nearly 10 years without a loss before Fabricio Werdum submitted him in 2010, so losing two straight seemed unthinkable. But when Silva battered the Russian legend until doctors said he could no longer see and stopped the fight after the second round, the once-impossible became a reality.

4. UFC on Versus 4, June 26
The UFC's fourth Versus card and Pittsburgh debut will forever be remembered for the Nate Marquardt incident, in which the former middleweight challenger was grounded by the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission the day before the event for elevated testosterone levels and a subsequent firing by Dana White. But many of the fights on the card made fans forget about the 11th-hour main-event change. Pat Barry dominated Cheick Kongo, nearly finishing him in the first round - until Kongo managed to stay on his feet and knock Barry out in one of MMA's all-time great comebacks. Matt Mitrione had what he no doubt thought was a $50,000 bonus winner with his walk-off knockout of Christian Morecraft - until his buddy Barry went to sleep courtesy of Kongo. But the "Story" that was slightly overshadowed by the new main event was Rick Story, who saw his lead bout against Marquardt changed to a co-main event against Charlie Brenneman, who took the fight on truly short notice. Brenneman stopped Story's six-fight UFC winning streak, overcoming underdog odds of nearly 5-to-1 in the process, with a unanimous decision victory. After the card, White said the event was one of the best in the UFC's history.

5. UFC 125, Jan. 1
The first card of the year had plenty of highlights, not the least of which was the split draw between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard in their lightweight title fight. That bout featured an amazing comeback by Edgar just to stay in the fight, let alone with the last four rounds on one judge's card, after a dominant first from Maynard. Brian Stann stopped the red-hot Chris Leben with a first-round TKO. Clay Guida won his third straight fight, and third straight by submission, when he stopped Takanori Gomi in the second round. There were several notable upsets on the prelims, including Jacob Volkmann over Antonio McKee, moments before his life changed with a call-out of President Barack Obama; Diego Nunes over former featherweight champ Mike Brown; and Dustin Poirier sending Josh Grispi's featherweight title hopes into a freefall with a dominant decision win. Though several planned fights for the New Year's Day card fell out, including Shane Carwin-Roy Nelson and Jose Aldo-Grispi, UFC 125 still got the MMA new year off to a good start.

 

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Source: http://mmafighting.com/2011/07/11/event-of-the-half-year-ufc-132-cruz-vs-faber/

Edgar Garcia Leonard Garcia Andrew Gardner Tiki Ghosn

Will Stann?s hero status put muzzle on Sonnen?

Chael Sonnen is back and ready to flame throw on various UFC fighters. He opened with a bang by smashing Wanderlei Silva before the Brazilian lost at UFC 132. For Sonnen, everyone has been fair game, but does that include his next opponent Brian Stann?

Stann, a former football player at Navy and a Marine, was a war hero in Iraq. The kid is squeaky clean and a big fan favorite. Will Sonnen dare to cross the line as he's done with so many previous opponents? Stann says no.

"I know Chael; he's just not going to do it. I know there's respect there. If he chooses to do it, honestly, I just don't take it personally ? the same way when I fought Chris Leben and he said I couldn't punch my way out of a paper bag. Fighters have to sell fights. If I get wrapped up in the trash talk, I'm not focusing on the technical skills that I need to win the actual fight," Stann told MMAjunkie. "I have so many coaches and great training partners around me that I don't really have time to pay attention to any of it? I don't know if Chael in his heart of hearts really believes what he's saying,"

On ESPNRadio1100 in Las Vegas, Frank Trigg of "The MMA Insiders" spoke about Sonnen's possible tactics before the Stann fight and why the UFC has jumped feet first back into the Chael business.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Will-Stann-s-hero-status-put-muzzle-on-Sonnen-?urn=mma-wp4574

Josh Hendricks Ed Herman Heath Herring Branden Lee Hinkle

Junior dos Santos earns event-high salary for UFC 131 win

Top heavyweight contender Junior dos Santos is often seen smiling outside of the Octagon. Now, after seeing his payout for a three-round beatdown of Shane Carwin at UFC 131, it may be a bit easier to understand exactly why he is always so happy. Dos Santos, born in modest surroundings to say the least, made [...]

Source: http://fiveouncesofpain.com/2011/07/08/junior-dos-santos-earns-event-high-salary-for-ufc-131-win/

Yoshihiro Akiyama  Gilbert Aldana  José Aldo  John Alessio