A TUF Retrospective: Seasons 9-14

Yesterday I took a look back at TUF 1-8, recapping some of the highlights (and lowlights) while hopefully causing a fond memory or two to spring up. Today I’ll give it a go for Seasons 9-15, though of course we have no way of knowing who will emerge with the TUF title this Friday night [...]

Source: http://fiveouncesofpain.com/2012/05/31/a-tuf-retrospective-seasons-9-14/

Kevin Kimbo Slice Ferguson Paulo Filho Mirko Cro Cop Filipović Luiz Buscapé Firmino

Cain Velasquez, Jamie Varner and Glover Teixeira are UFC 146?s three stars

When plans for an all-heavyweight main card at UFC 146 were announced, I was skeptical. While heavyweights can deliver thrilling knockouts, they can also deliver boring wheezefests consisting of two large men pushing at each other. My skepticism was misplaced, because UFC 146 turned out to be one of the best cards of the year. Starting with Mike Brown's return to winning ways and ending with the Junior dos Santos' convincing title defense, this card delivered. But who stood out more than the rest?

No. 1 star -- Cain Velasquez: Losing his title to JDS in just 64 seconds could have messed with Velasquez's head, or it could have motivated him. Judging by the amount of blood that came from Antonio Silva's head (more on that later), Velasquez took the latter route. That dismantling of "Big Foot" propelled Velasquez back into heavyweight title contention.

No. 2 star -- Jamie Varner: Coming into UFC 146, Edson Barboza had 10 straight wins over such fighters as Ross Pearson, Terry Etim and Anthony Njokuani. Coming into UFC 146, Jamie Varner hadn't fought in the UFC for a year and a half. His last three fights? Wins in XFC over Drew Fickett and Nate Jolly and a loss to Dakota Cochrane.

None of that mattered Saturday. Varner, the one-time WEC lightweight champ, was given his chance back at the UFC and stopped the Barboza freight train with unrelenting pressure and a first-round TKO.

No. 3 star -- Glover Teixiera: Visa issues prevented Teixiera from fighting in the U.S. previously. In just one minute, 53 seconds, Teixiera let fans know what we've been missing. He beat up on Kyle Kingsbury, then sunk in an arm-triangle to get the submission win.

Honorable mention -- Blood: The liquid that courses through our veins made quite an appearance on Saturday night. It showed up in Brown's win over Pineda, made cameos in Dan Hardy's knockout of Duane Ludwig and Stipe Miocic's TKO of Shane Del Rosario. But blood truly took its star turn in the Velasquez-Silva bout. There was so. Much. Blood. In the unofficial Cagewriter blood-o-meter, it topped Josh Koscheck's decision over Chris Lytle and Karl Amoussou's submission of John Doyle.

Who were your three stars from Saturday night? Tell us in the comments, on Facebook or on Twitter.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/cain-velasquez-jamie-varner-glover-teixeira-ufc-146-140816018.html

Sean Gannon Edgar Garcia Leonard Garcia Andrew Gardner

Cung Le Now Fights Patrick Cote at UFC 148

The game of middleweight musical chairs has ended, at least for the time being. Patrick Cote announced Thursday via Twitter that he is now Cung Le’s (Pictured) new opponent for UFC 148. The UFC confirmed the scrap by immediately re-tweeting Cote’s post. Le was originally slated to face Rich Franklin on Fourth of July weekend, [...]

Source: http://www.5thRound.com/117747/cung-le-now-fights-patrick-cote-at-ufc-148/

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

Jason Miller Talks His Friendship with Mark Munoz - Jason Miller

Middleweight Mark Munoz and Jason "Mayhem" Miller share the story about how the both became friends. Munoz and Miller train at the Reign training center and as you can tell have become great friends.

Source: http://mmalice.com/jason-miller/jason-miller-talks-his-friendship-with-mark-munoz-video_ad459fe54.html

Josh Burkman  Mikey Burnett  Murilo Bustamante  Grant Campbell 

Mayhem Miller Released By The UFC After Backstage Incident

UFC President Dana White has confirmed that Jason “Mayhem” Miller (23-9) is no longer with the promotion. While the president remained mum, he did confirm that there was some sort of backstage incident involving “Mayhem” which he described as “crazy bulls**t.” Miller’s recent UFC run was less than stellar. After losing his promotional debut via [...]

MMAFrenzy.com

Source: http://mmafrenzy.com/28730/mayhem-miller-released-by-the-ufc-after-backstage-incident/

Tadhg Steamfist Dixon Joe Doerksen  Chris Dolman Edson Drago 

Jon Jones, manager speak out after DUI arrest

After his arrest for a DUI early Saturday morning, Jon Jones posted a statement on his Facebook page. He started by saying he "screwed up big time."

"I'm truly sorry to those of you that I may have embarrassed in any way, to those of you with kids that I may have let down. I will prove to them as well as to myself that no matter what is happening in life, we can always work our way back and make things even better than before."

Jones' manager, Malki Kawa, went on MMA Weekly Radio and pleaded for fans to give Jones a chance.

"I would just kind of like to let the fans know to give him a chance. Give yourself a chance to get all the facts in yourselves, wait until everything gets said and done, and then at that point if you want to vilify him afterwards and you heard him speak and you heard him say his part and then vilify him, I can't control what people are going to say. But it is too soon; it is too quick in my opinion. He really is a decent guy. He's a very, very good guy, trying his hardest to be a good role model, a good example, and he wants to be that. No one's perfect and he's never said he was and never said that he doesn't make mistakes. It's a fact he made a mistake. He messed up and I'm sure he's going to come out and apologize and do what he's got to do."

I've been surprised by the amount and type of vitriol aimed towards Jones for this incident. I find drunk driving deplorable and have no problem with Jones (if found guilty) or anyone else who is found guilty of such reckless, selfish, disgusting behavior spending a whole lot of time in a jail cell.

But the comments here, on Facebook and on Twitter have had a gleeful tone. Too many people are happy that Jones screwed up. Let's be clear here. Jones could have killed someone. Jones could have killed himself. This arrest is no reason to rejoice.

Read the rest of this post »

Junior dos Santos takes out Fabricio Werdum in the Knockout of the Week (VIDEO)

Back at UFC 90, now-UFC heavyweight champ Junior dos Santos made his UFC debut against Fabricio Werdum. Though MMA fans knew dos Santos was a student of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and a good striker, they had no idea of just how good until this happened. Skip to the three-minute mark for the action.

Since then, JDS has rattled off seven straight wins. Only two have gone to the judges cards, and he won two Knockout of the Night bonuses. Will that streak continue against Frank Mir on Saturday night? Tell us in the comments, on Facebook or on Twitter.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/junior-dos-santos-takes-fabricio-werdum-knockout-week-140139189.html

Junie Browning Paul Buentello  Josh Burkman  Mikey Burnett 

Wardrobe malfunction marks beginning of Karl Amoussou?s Bellator win

In the first minute of Karl Amoussou's fight with David Rickels, a wardrobe malfunction happened that could have derailed the whole night. Rickels threw an inadvertent kick to Amoussou's groin that snapped the strap that held up Amoussou's protective cup.

This caused a delay in the Bellator welterweight tournament semifinal in Louisiana. Referee Jason Herzog informed the state commission officials on what happened, then asked, "Can someone go to the back and see if he can borrow a cup?"

Now, fighters are usually generous people. They'll share training time, clothes and equipment. But a cup?

Luckily, the Bellator cut man figured out a solution. As shown above, he used athletic tape to secure Amoussou's cup, and all was well in the cage. Amoussou went onto win a very close decision over Rickels and will now face Bryan Baker in the welterweight tournament final.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/wardrobe-malfunction-marks-beginning-karl-amoussou-bellator-win-014938276.html

Steve The Snake Claveau  Rich No Love Clementi  Mark The Hammer Coleman Wes Soldier Combs 

Mayhem Miller Released By The UFC After Backstage Incident

UFC President Dana White has confirmed that Jason “Mayhem” Miller (23-9) is no longer with the promotion. While the president remained mum, he did confirm that there was some sort of backstage incident involving “Mayhem” which he described as “crazy bulls**t.” Miller’s recent UFC run was less than stellar. After losing his promotional debut via [...]

MMAFrenzy.com

Source: http://mmafrenzy.com/28730/mayhem-miller-released-by-the-ufc-after-backstage-incident/

Gary Goodridge Gerard Gordeau Jonathan Goulet Wilson Gouveia