Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum Preview Video by StrikeforceSource: http://mmalice.com/strikeforce/strikeforce-overeem-vs-werdum-preview-video_68946046e.html
Monday, November 7, 2011
Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum Preview - Strikeforce
Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum Preview Video by Strikeforce
With Viacom?s purchase of Bellator, the future looks bright
Spike had a longtime relationship with the UFC, beginning with "The Ultimate Fighter" in 2005. That will end this December when the 14th season of "The Ultimate Fighter" comes to a close, and the UFC jumps to Fox networks. Spike will have rights to the UFC library until the end of 2012. When that agreement ends, Spike will have Bellator and its tournament-based fights in place.
Bellator began airing preliminary fights on Spike's website earlier this year, and CEO Bjorn Rebney told Cagewriter in a previous interview that he was excited to work with Spike because they already understand MMA.
"We're a great position in that our deal is with MTV networks, so it's that larger corporate umbrella. They control Spike, MTV, MTV2. You never know what the future will bring. The foreseeable future will be what it is, which is MTV2 and Spike.com for the prelims, but Spike is better than anyone in this space. They get it better than anyone."
This is nothing but good news for fans. It ensures that Bellator will be viable for years to come, giving fans more choices for MMA. With the UFC on Fox networks and Bellator with Viacom, there will be a greater volume of fights. Though the move to Spike is more than a year away, it will also give fans the option to watch in HD, a choice that doesn't exist with MTV2.
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UFC 138 Results: Chris Leben Still Has Much To Offer to MMA
Washed up, bum, overrated, gatekeeper...
When asked to describe the present day Chris Leben, these are the terms that are generally being thrown around, but are they fair assumptions of where the "Ultimate Fighter" Season 1 alumnus is at in his career?
Since entering the UFC in April 2005, Leben has been quite a character. His trademark has always been his hair, which he usually dyes blood-red before every fight.
Along with the red hair, fans have grown accustomed to seeing "The Crippler" adorning black toenail polish and a plethora of interesting tattoos. Still, you can never judge a book by its cover.
Just when you think you have him figured out, Leben is the type of individual who enters a sold out arena to RHCP's "Roller Coaster of Love" or Gary Jules' "Mad World."
He is a unique individual, and his time in MMA has been invaluable.
Regardless of his troubled past, people have always respected Leben as a fighter. Sure, his brawling style has hampered his progression, but it isn't just about world titles and rankings when dissecting the career of Chris Leben.
He fights solely for the fans. When Leben steps into the octagon, he always comes with the mindset of either knocking someone out or getting knocked out. This same berserker-like mentality has been tied to MMA legend Wanderlei Silva, who Leben knocked out at UFC 132.
Leben may never be a world champion or even a highly ranked middleweight, but what's wrong with that?
He's still an exciting fighter and one of the tougher guys in the entire middleweight division. In all sports, there can only be one world champion. This doesn't mean those who have fallen should tuck their tails and run for cover.
As long as people are still willing to watch him compete, Leben will always have a place in MMA.
His UFC 138 loss to Mark Munoz speaks volumes to that sentiment. People trashed Leben and Munoz for weeks as an unsuitable headliner for a major fight card, and both middleweights went out and put on a better showing than most "blockbuster" main event bouts on pay-per-view.
Unfortunately, the bout had to be stopped at the end of the second round due to a badly placed cut, which prevented Leben from seeing.
Leben may not have been born with the athletic gifts of Anderson Silva, Georges St-Pierre or Jon Jones, but he was born a fighter.
As long as he's entertaining and picking up an occasional win, fans of the sport should expect nothing more or less from the red-headed brawler.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com
Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/927739-ufc-138-results-chris-leben-still-has-much-to-offer-to-mma
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Pre-fight Press Conference - UFC 131
Hear from Dana White, Junior dos Santos, Shane Carwin, Kenny Florian, Diego Nunes, Sam Stout and Yves Edwards at the UFC 131 pre-fight press conference held June 9 in Vancouver, BC.Source: http://mmalice.com/ufc-131/pre-fight-press-conference-video_8a40ea583.html
UFC 137 video: Diaz says Penn is the much tougher fight over GSP
Nick Diaz knows he has a big challenge in front of him on Saturday night at UFC 137. In fact, he believes it's a tougher fight than the one he's was originally scheduled for against Georges St-Pierre.
"I wouldn't have picked this fight for sure," Penn told HDNet's Inside MMA. "I think he'll probably try to slip the jab and throw the overhand right (then) make a body lock or (go for a) single leg takedown. Maybe push me against the fence."
Diaz knows he could ward off the Penn attack with a safety-first mentality, but that's not in his DNA.
"I'm going to have to deal with a lot of that stuff. It's B.J. Penn so it's a real difficult fight especially for somebody like me who's going to go and try to fight, and not try to hold him and win rounds," said Diaz.
Diaz truly believes Penn is a tougher fight than the UFC welterweight champ would've presented, but you can hear he's still wants thate on an eventual GSP tilt.
"If I lose to B.J. Penn, he's either going to take me out with a right hand or he's going to go on top in some way and end in some position. He'll probably want to put a mount, take the back and put a choke. You know, finish the fight," Diaz said.
"Georges would look to just do enough to win the fight. Every fight that he does (is like that). I doubt that would've worked out with me the same way it does with a lot of the other fighters. I have the tool and what it takes to make something other than that happen in there."
Even though it's a three-rounder on Saturday, Diaz believes his big advantage may be in the cardio department. Penn has had stamina issues int he past at 170 pounds.
Alves makes a non-story of weight issues and annihilates Abedi at UFC 138
Thiago Alves answered all the questions about potential weight issues, by coming out strong and storming through Papy Abedi in a little over three and a half minutes at UFC 138.
Alves used his lethal striking to set up a rear-naked choke finish at the 3:35 mark of the second round against the UFC newcomer in Birmingham, England.
"It feels amazing. I love England and this is one of the highlights of my career. I had an amazing training camp and can't wait for the next one," Alves said. "I'd love to fight in Brazil, that is my dream."
Alves (19-8, 11-5 UFC) needed this one badly. He was a minus-385 favorite Abedi, but was coming off a lackluster performance in a loss against Rick Story at UFC 130.
Tonight, Alves put on the type of show that earned him a title shot in 2009 at 170. His kicking game can be sick at times if he has the stamina to keep throwing. The gas tank was there. It turned out that missing weight yesterday at 172 pounds may have been a fluke, not a sign that he lacked discipline.
Alves peppered Abedi with low kicks over the first few minutes. He also took the best from the Zaire-native fighting out of Sweden had to offer. Give Abedi credit, he chose to stand and slug with a tough striker.
It finally cost him when he got nailed by a right over the ear and a left hook. The off-balance Abedi hit the floor seconds later where he was mounted. Alves rained down heavy punches and elbows before Abedi (8-1, 0-1 UFC) spun to give up his back.
The UFC is set to return to Brazil with UFC 142 in January.
Chael Sonnen Needs to Up His Game with Nick Diaz in the UFC
If you really think Chael Sonnen is going for the gusto with Anderson Silva, you probably have not heard much of Nick Diaz.
That's right, I said it.
Going for the gusto—in between fairly comprehensible interviews that make people think he wants out of MMA when he's actually seen as one of the elite in the sport—is what Diaz does.
He finds things about certain guys he has a beef with, and he sets it off from there by finding ways of proclaiming that they aren't who or what they claim to be.
He didn't do it against Hayato Sakurai or B.J. Penn because he respects them, which is fine because Sonnen doesn't care to trash guys like Yushin Okami or Brian Stann or the like when all they're saying is that they're going to beat Sonnen.
However, what has Sonnen really said to Silva?
He wants to slap Silva's wife on the butt, he thinks Silva sucks, he doesn't understand how Silva could get beaten up for five rounds and win a fight based on what he did in eight seconds of the last round, he wants to beat up Vitor Belfort—who Silva kicked in the face on Super Bowl Weekend in 2011—and he believes Silva is a phony that Ed Soares was protecting.
There are other things that he's said in the past regarding Silva, from downplaying his black belt and his fan base to calling the UFC middleweight title "12 pounds of tin", but if anything, it's Silva that's played Sonnen.
He's shaken Sonnen up by not really responding to him and he's viewed Michael Bisping—of all dudes, the TUF 14 Finale headliner that got knocked out by a man who tapped out to Silva in Round 2—as a more credible challenge.
Sonnen could challenge the image of Silva, he could challenge the record of guys Silva has fought, he could yell, "Where you at, motherf**ker?" in a camera before being announced the winner of his fight, and he could piss Silva off royally by claiming that Silva is faking a shoulder injury in order to avoid the rematch, but instead, he tells Silva what Silva critics could say in 15 seconds and he goes the WWE-PG route in order to goad Silva into the rematch.
Now, if Sonnen had done it original ECW style and challenged Silva to a Barbed Wire Match in the cage—with barbed wire around the gloves, if possible—or a Taipei Cage Fight, where both fighters' wraps were dipped in glue and covered in shards of broken glass before they stepped in the Octagon for the title fight, then I would be nice to Uncle Chael.
In any case, I digress...
Diaz is known for causing some controversies one day at a time, and the fighter fans love to hate outside of the cage has gotten all the way underneath the skin of the GSP fan base with his actions and his behavior.
Calling one of the best fighters in the sport right now a faker while he's injured? No wonder GSP got pissed.
One of the most dominant members of MMA's pound-for-pound ranks goes up against the man some might consider in time to be the best pound-for-pound fighter—emphasis on "fighter"—on the planet, and it's all because Diaz dared to say that St-Pierre was scared, homie.
Sonnen should consider something similar to what Diaz is done if he wants us to take him seriously as a guy that can do in Silva again, win the fight, and test clean afterwards.
Now, I'm not saying Sonnen should start a brawl or flip off Silva through a YouTube video or tell Ariel Helwani that people get slapped in West Linn if a guy like Helwani conducts himself the way he does, but if he wants to not get dethroned by the baddest boy in MMA since Tito Ortiz as far as being the best trash-talker in the sport, he's going to have to steal a page or two from Diaz's playbook.
If he can do so without getting into more money laundering issues or more failed drug tests for abusing his TRT, then maybe we can dial back on Diaz's claim toward being the baddest dude in MMA now.
So, come on, Chael—if you want Silva that badly, don't be scared, homie!
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