Weekly Mixed Martial Arts & K-1 News Recap – 09/09/2011
By PDG Staff
UFC 137 Card Shuffled
In a wild week at UFC headquarters in Las Vegas, Nick Diaz was pulled from title shot fight against Georges St. Pierre for missing two consecutive press conferences and was replaced by Carlos Condit.
Here is what UFC President Dana White had to say:
“I’ve had my reservations about Nick Diaz for some time,” said White. “All I asked the kid to do was play the game this much (holding fingers slightly apart). I need you to do certain things. You have to show up to the press conference, you have to promote this fight. He looked at me and said he would, and he lied to me. I’ve promoted over 1600 fights and this has never happened once. I’d rather pull the fight now than risk him not showing up on the night of the fight. This blows my mind.”
“Nick Diaz has lost his chance at the welterweight championship, and Carlos Condit gets it. This kid absolutely deserves it.”
That change in the main event left BJ Penn looking for an opponent and Dana White announced on Thursday that Penn would now face Diaz.
“This is crazy but here we go again! You wanted it so you got it. Penn vs. Diaz Oct 29th in Vegas.” – Dana White
Talk about some soap opera type drama and the event is still nearly two months down the road and ‘o by the way the UFC Welterweight Champion also weighed in on the situation.
“When I went to Toronto and he didn’t make it, I didn’t judge it right away,” said St-Pierre. “I thought something bad happened. Then I talked to some people and it’s a lack of professionalism. There are three partners to promote a fight – the UFC, me, and Nick Diaz. I showed up to do my job and Nick Diaz didn’t, and there are consequences. I would have never done something like that.”
UFC on Fox 1 – Updated Card
November 12, 2011
Honda Center
Anaheim, California
UFC Heavyweight Championship:
Cain Velasquez vs. Junior dos Santos
Benson Henderson vs. Clay Guida
Norifumi Yamamoto vs. Darren Uyenoyama
Cub Swanson vs. Ricardo Lamas
Dustin Poirier vs. Pablo Garza
Jeff Monson announces fight against Fedor Emelianenko
“The Snowman” Jeff Monson took to the social media highway this week to announce that he will be facing heavyweight legend Fedor Emelianenko on November 12th in Russia as part of a yet unannounced M-1 Global event.
“Nov 12th vs Fedor in Russia M-1 confirmed. Thanks guys…press conference on 16th in Russia. Putin will be there. Gonna try and get pic with him in my ‘Communist’ t-shirt” – Jeff Monson
UFC 140 – Card Updates
Minotauro Nogueira vs. Frank Mir
Rich Attonito vs. Claude Patrick
Brian Ebersole vs. Rory MacDonald
John Cholish vs. Mitch Clarke
A heavyweight standoff between two big names has been booked for December, as former UFC heavyweight champions Minotauro Nogueira and Frank Mir have verbally agreed to rematch at UFC 140 in Toronto.
“Both men are known as two of the premiere submission specialists in the division but have shown dangerous striking skills as well,” said UFC president Dana White.
“Two of the welterweight division’s most promising contenders have verbally agreed to fight as Brian ‘Bad Boy’ Ebersole takes on Rory ‘Ares’ MacDonald December 10 in Toronto,” said UFC president Dana White.
Also on tap for Toronto, “Raging Bull” Rich Attonito and Claude “The Prince” Patrick have accepted a welterweight matchup.
Two strong lightweight prospects have verbally agreed to make their UFC debuts that night as 7-1 John Cholish will face 9-0 Canadian Mitch Clarke.
Brett “The Grim” Rogers vs. Eddie Sanchez headlines Titan FC 20
A heavyweight showdown between EliteXC and Strikeforce veteran Brett “The Grim” Rogers (11-3 with 9 (T)KOs) and UFC and Bellator Fighting Championships veteran Eddie Sanchez (12-5 with 8 (T)KOs) has been announced as the main event for “HDNet Presents: Titan Fighting Championship 20” on Friday, September 23.
The news of Rogers’ addition to the Titan Fighting Championship roster was revealed during Friday’s edition of “Inside MMA” on HDNet in a one-on-one interview between Rogers and HDNet’s Ron Kruck.
“The goal of Titan since we became partners with HDNet was to put on exciting fights,” said Titan Fighting Championship CEO Joe Kelly. “A double-header featuring Rogers vs. Sanchez and former WEC lightweight world champion Jamie Varner vs. Alonzo Martinez promises to be one of our best shows to date.”
Rogers began his career with a perfect 10-0 record in which his win streak was highlighted by a 22-second first round (T)KO victory over former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski in June of 2009.
The Chicago native was also featured on the first-ever network prime-time broadcast of an MMA bout back in May 31, 2008 during CBS’ first-ever “Saturday Night Fights” airing.
Additionally, Rogers received further notoriety when he was featured in MMA’s return to CBS against Fedor Emelianenko in November of 2009 at “Strikeforce/M-1 Global Present: Fedor vs. Rogers.”
However, on June 29 of this year, Rogers found himself in the headlines again. But this time for the wrong reasons after being arrested on charges of third degree assault against his wife, Tiuana.
Rogers and his wife appeared on camera with Kruk but declined to discuss details. However, Rogers’ attorney, Murad Mohammad, told HDNet that his client is looking forward to addressing the allegations in court. In the meantime, Rogers is now training full-time at the Minnesota MMA Academy with plans on recording yet another dramatic knockout victory on national television.
“Brett has made a lot of changes in recent months and it will be exciting to see how much of a difference they’ve made in Brett’s game,” said Kelly. “But Eddie Sanchez is not exactly the type of fight you want to walk into when you’re looking to make sure your comeback starts off the right way. This one has slugfest written all over it.”
Brock Lesnar vs. Alistair Overeem – UFC Dec. 30th
Former Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem has found a new home – in the UFC. But after signing a deal with the promotion today in Las Vegas, he’s going to get put to work immediately, as it was also announced that he will make his Octagon debut on December 30th at the MGM Grand Garden Arena against former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar.
Lion Fight Promotions Presents World Championship Muay Thai Fight
Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Las Vegas, in partnership with Lion Fight Promotions, presents the WBC world championship Muay Thai fight on Saturday, Nov. 19. The fight card will be announced soon.
“We are excited to foster such a great professional partnership with the team at Lion Fight Promotions,” said Vice President of Entertainment for Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Paul Davis. “The Joint venue was built for events just of this caliber, and I think guests, both returning and first-timers, will be very pleased with the experience we have to offer. We look forward to the hard-hitting event and additional future Muay Thai fights with Lion Fight Promotions.”
“We are thrilled about this opportunity to put the sport of Muay Thai on a big stage at one of the most well-known destinations in the fight capital of the world” said Lion Fight Promotions President, Scott Kent. “For the last several years, the popularity of Muay Thai has been surging in the wake of the MMA explosion in North America. The partnership between Hard Rock Hotel & Casino and Lion Fight Promotions is a monumental step towards giving Muay Thai a platform that will support future growth and help it stand out and flourish as its own major combat sport.”
Kent, a former executive at Las Vegas’ Mandalay Resort Group and The Mirage, joined forces with Muay Thai champion, Christine Toledo to launch Lion Fight Promotions last year. The promotion aims to match the best Muay Thai fighters on the planet against one another in various weight classes.
The announcement about the promotion’s partnership with Hard Rock Hotel & Casino comes off the heels of Lion Fight Promotions: Battle in the Desert 3, a WBC world championship quadruple header at Star of the Desert Arena in Primm, Nev. on Aug. 20. In the “Superfight” main event, five-time world champion and Thai legend Sakmongkol Sitchuchoke Zingano was awarded a controversial unanimous decision over two-time world champion Cosmo Alexandre.
The national sport of Thailand, Muay Thai is an exceptional martial art and sport that combines western boxing with kicking techniques with elbow and knee strikes to form the most complete and forceful striking-based combat discipline in existence. While becoming a cornerstone for success in mixed martial arts competition, Muay Thai has independently emerged a fearsome fighting sport, delivering hard-hitting, knockout-filled action in the ring.
UFC 135: Jones vs. Rampage – Card Finalized; Hughes gets new opponent
The UFC 135 card in Denver on September 24th will see a change in the co-main event, as UFC President Dana White announced Monday via Twitter that Diego Sanchez has been forced out of his bout with Hall of Famer Matt Hughes due to injury.
“Diego Sanchez broke his hand. Looking for a replacement for Hughes,” tweeted White.
In the UFC 135 main event, light heavyweight champion Jon Jones defends his crown against Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.
September 24, 2011
Pepsi Center
Denver, Colorado
UFC Light Heavyweight Championship:
Jon Jones vs. Quinton Jackson
Matt Hughes vs. Josh Koscheck
Nate Diaz vs. Takanori Gomi
Cole Escovedo vs. Takeya Mizugaki
Ben Rothwell vs. Mark Hunt
Travis Browne vs. Rob Broughton
Tim Boetsch vs. Nick Ring
Tony Ferguson vs. Aaron Riley
Ricardo Romero vs. James Te Huna
Junior Assuncao vs. Eddie Yagin
The UFC will return to Japan in 2012
After more than a decade, the wait is finally over. The Ultimate Fighting Championship confirmed at a Tokyo press conference today that 2012 will mark the return of the world famous Octagon to Japan.
Japan’s Saitama Super Arena will host a blockbuster UFC event on February 26, 2012. It will serve as the organization’s first event in Japan since UFC 29 held in December 2000. It will also serve as the first UFC event in Japan since the organization was purchased by Zuffa, LLC in 2001.
“This February, the wait is finally over – the UFC is coming back to Japan,” UFC President Dana White said. “For fans in Japan who’ve never witnessed a UFC event live, this is going to be an incredible experience and one you won’t want to miss. It’s been over 10 years since a UFC event was held in Japan and we’re pumped to bring the fastest-growing sport in the world there once again.”
Japan has made an enormous contribution not only to traditional martial arts by inventing styles like jiu-jitsu, karate and judo, but also to the sport of mixed martial arts. As well as hosting four UFC events from 1997 to 2000, the nation of Japan also became renowned for its incredible live PRIDE FC shows from 1997 to 2007.
“Japan has played a huge role in helping get the sport of mixed martial arts to where it is today,” White added. “UFC stars such as Rampage Jackson, Wanderlei Silva, Minotauro Nogueira and Mirko Cro Cop all made names for themselves fighting in PRIDE and dozens more fought in front of the passionate Japanese fans at some point in their careers.
“Japan has also produced world-class fighters such as Yoshihiro Akiyama, Takanori Gomi and Yushin Okami, all of whom have represented their country well in the Octagon, headlining major UFC events all over the globe.”
The full card for the Tokyo event, along with ticket information, will be announced in the coming months.
