Gina Carano off June 18 Strikeforce card

Strikeforce announced today that Gina Carano will not fight on their June 18 card in Dallas after not getting medically cleared, and they have not decided yet if Sarah D'Alelio will still fight on the card. The bout between K.J. Noons and Jorge Masvidal will now be aired on Showtime. A reason for Carano's lack of a medical clearance was not given, nor was a return date.

The lack of medical clearance is a stumbling block for Carano's return to fighting after taking a break to work on her movie career. She hasn't fought since losing badly to Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos nearly two years ago. Carano had recently moved training camps from Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas to Jackson's in New Mexico in preparation for the bout.

D'alelio was understandably disappointed, tweeting, "DAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMMMIT!!!" not long after the news broke about Carano. She added, "Positive vibes for a fellow fighter.....hopefully its nothing too serious. But still dammit >:( Ultra prepped for a good fight right now." With a 4-1 record, this was to be her Strikeforce debut.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Gina-Carano-off-June-18-Strikeforce-card?urn=mma-wp3166

Stephan Bonnar Lorenzo Borgomeo  Kyle Bradley  Jai Bradney 

UFC 130 "Rampage vs. Hamill" Results: An Event That Unfortunately Lives Up To The "Anti-Hype"

Another one went into the history books tonight, fans and friends. The ufc continued its long journey by holding its one hundred and thirtieth event yesterday, featuring what was expected to be several interesting matches between big-name stars. So, how was ?Rampage vs. Hamill?? Unfortunately, this is one of the rare instances where I?m wrong [...]

Source: http://www.fighters.com/05/29/ufc-130-rampage-vs-hamill-results-an-event-that-unfortunately-lives-up-to-the-anti-hype

Luciano Azevedo  Ba Te er  Ryan Bader  Siyar Bahadurzada

There goes Pettis’ title shot as Guida wins again

LAS VEGAS - Clay Guida is a nightmare opponent. And he proved it again Saturday night as he spoiled Anthony Pettis' run to the top by taking a unanimous decision, 30-27 on all cards, in the co-main event of "The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale" at the Palms.

Former WEC champion Pettis (13-2, 0-1 UFC) showed major stones by taking the fight against Guida when he could've waited for a UFC lightweight title shot to come his way. Now the 24-year-old falls back in line as the division waits for Frank Edgar and Gray Maynard to settle things in their third fight, at a date to be determined later this year.

This is easily the biggest win of Guida's career. It was his ninth win in the Octagon, but the story of his career had been falling short in breakthrough fights. Guida lost in the past to Kenny Florian, Roger Huerta and Diego Sanchez. Now he's won four straight and pushed himself into the mix for a title fight qualifier.

"There's a lot of 155er's in the mix right now, but I want that belt.  I'm right there with the rest of these guys and I'm coming after it," said Guida.

Guida (29-11, 9-5 UFC) came out bouncing all over the Octagon. Pettis, a dynamic striker, was confused and got a little overanxious. Just 70 seconds in the fight, he had a right kick caught and was taken down. Pettis ran through a variety of submission attempts, but never got back to his feet. That rarely scores with MMA judges, who view the fighter on top as the winner.

Just 40 seconds into the second, Guida scored another big-slam takedown and controlled Pettis for until there was just two minutes left in the round. On the feet, Pettis tried a few spectacular kicks, but nothing landed. Guida scored another takedown with a minute left and moved out to a 2-0 lead.

The final round's pace was frenetic. Guida scored a takedown 40 seconds in. Two and half minutes passed before Pettis got to his feet again. Guida tried another takedown and during the scramble found himself underneath Pettis, who converted it to the mount position and eventually took his back. Pettis flattened out Guida and had one final chance to pull victory from the jaws of defeat. Guida did a brilliant job from a terrible position of squirming and shifting so Pettis got too high on his back. Seconds later, Guida slipped out the backdoor. That sealed the victory.

"Pettis is a tough son of a gun.  He came at me, but we weathered the storm.  We watched some old tape on him and knew to look for his hands dropping, and knew when to shoot in for the takedowns.  The gameplan worked out great against him," said Guida.

It's a tough break for Pettis. He was clutch in winning the final WEC lightweight title fight against Ben Henderson back at WEC 53. That was supposed to earn him an automatic shot at the winner of the Edgar-Maynard fight at UFC 125. But that fight ended in a draw and the UFC decided to make Edgar and Maynard fight a third time. Pettis had to wait.

Edgar-Maynard III was scheduled for UFC 130. In early May, Edgar pulled out of the fight and the UFC offered a Pettis a shot to fill in against Maynard. He accepted, but was told less than 24 hours later that Maynard had backed out of the fight with an injury.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/There-goes-Pettis-title-shot-as-Guida-wins-agai?urn=mma-wp3068

Roan Jucao Carneiro Shane The Engineer Carwin  Jason Hollywood Chambers Ryo Piranha Chonan 

Strikeforce ?Overeem vs. Werdum? Conference Call Audio Josh Barnett Licensing Note (Update)

Here’s the audio from yesterday’s Strikeforce “Overeem vs. Werdum” conference call courtesy of StudioMMA.com (via TheMMANews). On a side note, Bloody Elbow is reporting that Josh Barnett is still not licensed in Texas yet to fight Brett Rogers next weekend because he has not completed his application. Susan Stanford, Public Information Officer for the Texas [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/mmaconvert/~3/AlOnK2pR0l8/

Todd Duffee  Marvin Eastman  Stav Crazy Bear Economou  Yves Edwards 

Guida video: Lightweight contender in a familiar spot as the underdog

Clay Guida has seen just about everything in the world of MMA, so he's not exactly intimidated by the athleticism and creativity of Anthony Pettis. Frankly, tonight's main event at "The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale" feels like the same storyline Guida deals with before most of his fights. The solid, yet unspectacular underdog trying to knock off the high-rising hot shot.

"To me, this fight is a win-win situation for me. I beat the guy who had the kick heard round the world and that's my dream, a title shot in the lightweight division," Guida told RawVegas.

Guida grinds and wears down his opponents. There are no one-punch or one-kick knockouts, but there are 28 wins, eight in the UFC.

The fans' perception of Pettis and Guida couldn't be at further ends of the spectrum. Pettis became a household name around MMA after pulling off one of the moves of the century with his dynamic "Showtime Kick" against Ben Henderson last year at WEC 53. Guida is a household name as well, but he's built his reputation by staying on the ground and working for all 15 minutes.

"His circus kicks were great against Ben Henderson, but people aren't going to remember that after my hand is raised on Saturday," said Guida.

Check out Guida's laid back attitude as he faces a guy, who most expect to be the next challenger for the UFC's lightweight title.

Guida isn't worried about Pettis' takedown defense. Pettis performed well against another high level wrestler in Shane Roller, but Guida was quick to point out that the former Oklahoma State wrestling star had cardio issues.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Guida-video-Lightweight-contender-in-a-familiar?urn=mma-wp2999

Efrain Escudero Rashad Evans Urijah Faber Wagnney Fabiano

MMA Marketplace: UFC 131 Walkout shirts for Carwin and ‘Cigano’

With UFC 131 just around the corner, it's time to take a look at the walkout shirts from the headlining heavyweights, Junior "Cigano" dos Santos and Shane Carwin.

Bad Boy's shirt for dos Santos comes in the familiar colors of the Brazilian flag, but have a bit of late-80s, Miami Vice, wearing-linen-suits-with-pastel-t-shirts-and-loafers-with-no-socks-vibe. Hopefully, Junior's cornermen will follow and dress like Crockett and Tubbs for Saturday night. Buy Junior's shirt for the slightly overpriced $39.99.

Carwin took a more cerebral, inspirational approach with his shirt, incorporating symbols that refer to war and engineering (his other job) as well as quote from "The Aeneid" by Roman poet Virgil. He even did a head nod to the fight taking place in Vancouver by using the Canadian spelling of "favours," though he could have bridged the differences by using the original Latin of "Audaces fortuna iuvat." (Ed. note -- I knew that taking Latin in high school would pay off some day!) Buy Carwin's shirt for $31.99.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/MMA-Marketplace-UFC-131-Walkout-shirts-for-Carw?urn=mma-wp3224

Lorenzo Borgomeo  Kyle Bradley  Jai Bradney  Ebenezer Fontes Braga