Charges against Octagon Girl Arianny Celeste dropped

Charges against UFC Octagon Girl Arianny Celeste were dropped. She had been charged with domestic abuse stemming from an incident with her then-boyfriend on Memorial Day weekend.

The Las Vegas district attorney's office found there was not enough evidence to warrant a move forward, according to MMA Junkie. Her arrest came the night before UFC 146, forcing her to miss the preliminary card and part of the main card. Celeste did show up for her duties for the  final bouts.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/charges-against-octagon-girl-arianny-celeste-dropped-213506492--mma.html

Zelg Benkei Galesić Mauro Galvao Arman Gambaryan Manvel Gamburyan

Sonnen and Silva as comic book characters

Because there hasn't been enough written about Chael Sonnen and UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva this week, here they are in comic book form.

The UFC is producing a comic book about the two leading up to their fight.Silva, unsurprisingly, resembles Spiderman while Sonnen has elements of Captain America and Wonder Woman. (Before any of you think this is a slam, Wonder Woman is the coolest. If anyone besides Diana of the Themyscira could handle the Lasso of Truth, it's Sonnen.) Check out their Facebook page every day before UFC 148 to read a new panel of the comic.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/chael-sonnen-anderson-silva-turned-comic-book-characters-113343101--mma.html

Martinsh Egle Eric Butterbean Esch Efrain Escudero Rashad Evans

Melvin Guillard and Khabib Nurmagomedov take decisions in to round out UFC 148 prelims

The non-PPV portion of UFC 148 finished with two more decisions, meaning there were no stoppages on the preliminary card of Saturay night's bouts in Las Vegas.

Melvin Guillard looked close to finishing Fabricio Camoes in the first round of their bout, but the horn sounded before their fight was stopped. Guillard held on to win the decision 30-27 on all three cards. Khabib Nurmagomedov took a tight decision from Gleison Tibau, 30-27, 30-27, 30-27.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/melvin-guillard-khabib-nurmagomedov-decisions-round-ufc-148-021630383--mma.html

Matt Hamill Volk Han Joachim Hansen Antoni Hardonk

UFC 148 Drug Tests Are All Clean After Testing By Nevada Athletic Commission

The Nevada Athletic Commission tested all 22 fighters who took part in the UFC 148: Silva vs. Sonnen II event recently. All 22 passed their drug tests for performance enhancing drugs and recreational drugs. Nevada Athletic Commission executive director Keith Kizer confirmed the results of the tests in an email with MMAjunkie.com. It was also [...]

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

Marvin Eastman  Stav Crazy Bear Economou  Yves Edwards  Justin Eilers 

Next coaches for ?The Ultimate Fighter? announced

With both the American and British/Australian editions of "The Ultimate Fighter" airing soon, the UFC announced the coaches, and eventual fight pairings, for "The Ultimate Fighter 16" and "The Ultimate Fighter: Smashes."

USA Today reports Roy Nelson and Shane Carwin will coach the show in the U.S., and face off at the show's finale.

"This is going to be a very interesting dynamic between these two heavyweights," UFC president Dana White said. "They both have huge punching power and great chins, but outside of the octagon, they couldn't be any more different."

TUF 16 will air on FX starting in September, and the live finale will be in December. The UFC is returning to a taped season after the 15th season, which showed live fights, failed to give the long-running reality show a much-needed shot in the arm.

Meanwhile, on the new edition of the show, Ross Pearson will coach Team U.K. and George Sotiropoulos the Aussies. The show, named "Smashes" after a cricket rivalry, will air on FX in Australia.

Will you the coaches make you want to tune in? Tell us in the comments, Facebook or Twitter.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/next-coaches-ultimate-fighter-announced-140211809--mma.html

Viacheslav Datsik Marcus Davis  Tony DeSouza  Edwin Dewees 

Anderson Silva throws shoulder during UFC 148 weigh-in (VIDEO)

During Friday's weigh-ins for UFC 148, middleweight champion Anderson Silva threw a shoulder at longtime rival Chael Sonnen, his opponent for Saturday. The move, which connected with Sonnen's face, led to a tense moment where the two had to be separated by UFC president Dana White. Check out what happened here:

The animosity between the two fighters has been building for two years. They fought at UFC 117, and Silva won with a late submission after being dominated for most of the bout. Since then, Sonnen has called himself the true champion, and said he didn't really lose the fight. He was also quite creative in his insults of Silva's home country of Brazil.

[Related: Will Silva and Sonnen turn in another thriller at UFC 148?]

During Thursday's press conference, they also had to be separated, as Silva leaned in and whispered something unknown to Sonnen. But was his shoulder check on Friday over the line?

Scuffling at weigh-ins is not an every day occasion in the UFC, but it's not unheard of. Most recently, BJ Penn and Nick Diaz pushed and shoved before their UFC 137 bout. It's part of the gamesmanship that happens before some fights.

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Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/anderson-silva-throws-shoulder-during-ufc-148-weigh-021207137--mma.html

Mikey Burnett  Murilo Bustamante  Grant Campbell  Gesias JZ Calvancante 

Fabricio Werdum snaps Mike Russow?s win streak at UFC 147

Fabricio Werdum made his case to join the crowded top of the UFC's heavyweight division with a knockout of Mike Russow at UFC 147 in Brazil on Saturday night.

Werdum bloodied Russow's face early in the clinch. He leveled Russow with an uppercut, then followed with several punches and hammerfists until the fight was stopped at 2:28 in the first round.

As the crowd chanted his nickname, "Vai Cavalo," Werdum jumped on top of the cage to celebrate and nearly fell off. Once he recovered, Werdum asked for a title shot against Junior dos Santos.

"I respect 'Cigano,' but I'm ready for him," Werdum said after the bout.

Werdum was knocked out by dos Santos when they fought in 2008. Since then, Werdum moved to Strikeforce, where he beat Fedor Emelianenko, but lost to Alistair Overeem. He now has two wins back in the UFC.

This is Russow's first loss since he was submitted by Sergei Kharitonov in 2007.

Related UFC 147 coverage from Yahoo! Sports:

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Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/fabricio-werdum-snaps-mike-russow-win-streak-ufc-025722136--mma.html

Fedor Emelianenko Yasubey Enomoto Mark Epstein Tom Big Cat Erickson

Chael Sonnen vs. Anderson Silva I and Tito Ortiz vs. Ken Shamrock III full fight videos

Clear your schedule, because you're going to want to spend some time with these full fight videos. First up, Chael Sonnen's first fight with Anderson Silva. By now, you know the result. Silva won by submission, but if you've never watched what happened before the triangle armbar, then watch now. Heck, if you have watched what happened before the triangle armbar, watch now.

Next up, watch Tito Ortiz's final fight with Ken Shamrock. Ortiz, who is set to retire on July 7 after finishing a trio of fights with Forrest Griffin, faced Shamrock three times, as well.

Which fight was your favorite? Tell us in the comments, on Facebook or Twitter.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/chael-sonnen-vs-anderson-silva-tito-ortiz-vs-211419457--mma.html

Yves Edwards  Justin Eilers  Jon Olav Einemo Per Eklund