Weekly Mixed Martial Arts & K-1 News Recap – 09/30/2011
By PDG Staff
Jon Jones Doesn’t Need Steven Seagal
Apparently the Akido master Steven Seagal was looking for one-on-one time with UFC light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones before his fight last weekend against Rampage Jackson. Jones was a guest on the Jim Rome Show and here is what he said about the situation:
“You never know what people’s motives are, especially with a guy who coaches Lyoto Machida. Machida is definitely someone I want to fight in my near future and I just didn’t want to share my psychology with him or anything that would put me at a disadvantage in the future. It was just confusing, really, to bring in someone you don’t work with at all to give you last second advice, it can actually be more detrimental than helpful.”
“I don’t know how he got my number. He was like ‘Hey listen, I think you’re gonna win the fight, and when I predict someone’s gonna win I’m never wrong and there’s some things I wanna go over with you.’ It was all very strange. I don’t wanna bad mouth him too bad, he had good intentions, I think. But yeah, I definitely wasn’t having Steven Seagal in my corner. I could see if it was Jet Li or something, Jet Li would be pretty cool. I would definitely take that call, for sure.”
UFC 136: Edgar vs. Maynard 3 – Final Card Announced
October 8, 2011
Toyota Center
Houston, Texas
UFC Lightweight Championship:
Gray Maynard vs. Frankie Edgar
UFC Featherweight Championship:
Jose Aldo vs. Kenny Florian
Chael Sonnen vs. Brian Stann
Melvin Guillard vs. Joe Lauzon
Nam Phan vs. Leonard Garcia
Jeremy Stephens vs. Anthony Pettis
Demian Maia vs. Jorge Santiago
Stipe Miocic vs. Joey Beltran
Steve Cantwell vs. Mike Massenzio
Aaron Simpson vs. Eric Schafer
Tiequan Zhang vs. Darren Elkins
*The Dave Herman vs. Mike Russow fight was scrapped due to a positive marijuana test by Herman.
Shooto Champion Siyar Bahadurzada Signs with UFC
Current Shooto light- heavyweight champion Sivar Bahadurzada took to the social media this week to announce that he has signed with the UFC and maybe even more important, it appears that the rift between Golden Glory and the UFC brass may be over.
“I signed with the @UFC!!!! I’m very excited to be a part of the UFC and test my skills with the crème de la crème of MMA,” Bahadurzada tweeted Friday morning. I wanna thank the @UFC and @danawhite for this opportunity. I will shake up the ww division!!! Also special thanks to my team Golden Glory!”
UFC 139: Shogun Rua vs. Dan Henderson – Card Updates
November 19, 2011
HP Pavillion
San Jose, California
Dan Henderson vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua
Wanderlei Silva vs. Cung Le
Urijah Faber vs. Brian Bowles
Rick Story vs. Martin Kampmann
Chris Weidman vs. Tom Lawlor
Nick Pace vs. Miguel Torres
Gleison Tibau vs. Rafael dos Anjos
Michael McDonald vs. Johnny Eduardo
Two powerhouses of the light heavyweight division will collide on Saturday, Nov. 19 for a chance to prove that they deserve at shot at the sport’s ultimate prize – the UFC world championship. Former PRIDE and Strikeforce champion Dan Henderson returns to the Octagon at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif. to take on former UFC light heavyweight champion and international superstar Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. The winner looks to earn a coveted shot at the UFC light heavyweight crown next year.
Plus, San Jose’s own Cung Le makes his UFC debut when he battles mixed martial arts legend Wanderlei Silva in middleweight action. In addition, Sacramento’s “The California Kid,” Urijah Faber takes on former world champion Brian Bowles in bantamweight action, while welterweights Rick Story and Martin Kampmann collide in a pivotal 170-pound bout. The loaded Nov. 19 card will also feature San Jose’s Kyle Kingsbury battling 205-pound star Stephan Bonnar.
“The UFC light heavyweight division is arguably the deepest division in the sport and Dan Henderson and ‘Shogun’ are fighting to prove that they deserve to be next in line for a shot at the title,” UFC President Dana White said. “Both of these guys want to earn the right to be called the best 205-pound fighter in the sport. These guys both have incredible power and I expect a great fight on Nov. 19.”
It’s Showtime Announces Card for January 28, 2011
An amazing combat sports arena will be built in the WTC Expo venue in Leeuwarden, in which all spectators have the feeling they are in the ring themselves. Unfortunately, only 5000 people can watch this event live in the venue. The presale starts October 15, and only on this day, the € 125 tickets will be available for € 100.
Fight card January 28, 2012 in Leeuwarden, The Netherlands:
Badr Hari vs Gökhan Saki
Daniel Ghita vs Hesdy Gerges (IT’S SHOWTIME world title heavyweight)
Tyrone Spong vs Melvin Manhoef
Errol Zimmerman vs Rico Verhoeven
Ben Edwards vs Ricardo van den Bos
Murat Direkçi vs Robin van Roosmalen
Lhoucine ‘Aussie’ Ouzgni vs Yohan Lidon (IT’S SHOWTIME world title 73kg max)
Gago Drago vs Hinata Watanabe
Chahid Oulad El Hadj vs Harut Grigorian
Danyo Ilunga vs Mourad Bouzidi
Michael Duut vs Anderson ‘Braddock’ Silva
Henry van Opstal vs Hafid el Boustati
The Ultimate Fighter Season 14: Team Bisping vs. Team Miller – Episode 2 Recap
– The fighters moved into the TUF house and then it was time for the coaches to pick teams.
TEAM BISPING (1st Pick):
LOUIS GAUDINOT – 1st overall pick (BW)
TJ DILLASHAW (BW)
JOHN ALBERT (BW)
BJ FERGUSON (BW)
DIEGO BRANDAO – 1st overall pick (FW)
AKIRA CORASSANI (FW)
MARCUS BRIMAGE (FW)
STEPHEN BASS (FW)
TEAM MILLER (1st Fight Pick):
JOHN DODSON – 2nd overall pick (BW)
JOHNNY BEDFORD (BW)
DUSTIN PAGUE (BW)
ROLAND DELORME (BW)
DENNIS BERMUDEZ – 2nd overall pick (FW)
BRYAN CARAWAY (FW)
DUSTIN NEACE (FW)
STEVEN SILER (FW)
– Miller gets his team compression suits for after practice use.
– Miller says Bryan Caraway is a “Head Case” and Caraway admits to seeing a sports psychiatrist.
– Team Miller fills Team Bisping’s locker-room with all of the training tires and Bisping kicks the door off.
– At the weigh-ins for the first fight, Corassani and other Team Bisping memebers begin chanting about the “Darkness” Brimage winning his fight against a “Piece of shit” Caraway.
Fight #1 (FW): Bryan Caraway (Miller) def. Marcus Brimage (Bisping) via Submission (RNC) Round 2.
TEAM MILLER – 1
TEAM BISPING – 0
Badr Hari Retires from Kickboxing and will be heading to the US for a Boxing Career
Badr Hari has decided to retire from kickboxing to start a new career as a boxer. On January 28, 2012, Badr Hari will fight his last kickboxing match on the IT’S SHOWTIME event in WTC Expo in Leeuwarden, The Netherlands. After this fight, he will go to the United Stated to fully work on his boxing career.
This announcement will be a shock to the millions of kickboxing fans all around the world, but the sport of boxing will welcome and embrace this charismatic fighter.
In the U.S., many see Badr Hari as the man to relaunch the popularity of boxing, and he’s being seen as a mix of Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson.
Badr doesn’t just want to say goodbye to kickboxing and therefore he has chosen Gökhan Saki as his last opponent in kickboxing. Many millions of fans of combat sports have been waiting for this fight for years, and now they have the opportunity to see it.
If K-1 will host a World Grand Prix this year, Badr will also participate to that. The Grand Prix Final is scheduled for December 10 in China. If this World Grand Prix will take place, depends if K-1 will be able to pay its debts to IT’S SHOWTIME and others. If not, the fight on January 28 will be Badr’s only remaining fight as a kickboxer.
Titan FC 20 Quick Results
Dakota Cochrane def. Jamie Varner via unanimous decision **
Eddie Sanchez def Brett Rogers via split decision
Anthony Gutierrez def. Shane Hutchinson via submission (d’arce choke) at 1:05 of round one
James Krause def. Sean Wilson via submission (guillotine choke) at 2:39 of round one
Justyn Riley def. Alex Huddleston via TKO (strikes) at 4:42 of round two
Andrew Whitney def. Laramie Shaffer via KO (flying knee) at 0:21 of round three
**Varner took to the social media internet waves following his loss stating that he would retire from mixed martial arts following his loss but clearer heads have prevailed and the former WEC champion is scheduled to return to the cage later this year.
Bellator 51 – Warren KO’ed, West Wins
For the first time in his Bellator career, Joe Warren not only lost a fight but was finished as former Cuban Olympian Alexis Vila put an exclamation mark on the evening with a 64-second knockout victory over the self-proclaimed “Baddest Man on the Planet” in the main event at Bellator 51 LIVE from the Canton Civic Center on MTV2 and in commercial free HD on EPIX.
“Just spectacular performances by our 135ers,” said Bellator Chairman & CEO Bjorn Rebney. “These four semi-finalists are some of the best in the world. Vila and Dantas’ knockouts are two of the greatest knockouts I’ve seen all year. This division is stacked and I cannot wait for October 22nd in Arizona. These semi’s will be magic.”
Vila had his raised high inside the Canton Civic Center after putting Warren to sleep with a fierce left hook after he rocked the featherweight champion with a powerful right hand on the previous exchange. The win sent a statement to the remaining competitors vying for Bellator Bantamweight Champion Zack Makovsky’s title, that Vila isn’t just some Olympic wrestler – he’s a 135-pound knockout artist.
“There’s nobody that can stop me from becoming the next Bellator Bantamweight World Champion,” Vila said. “I feel like the belt is already mine. I just have to beat up a few guys before I get to take it home.”
Those guys he’s referring too are Marcos Galvao, Eduardo Dantas and tournament veteran Ed West, who all walked away with wins at Bellator 51 in Canton.
West outlasted Luis Nogueira who only tried to tie him up in a clinch for most the fight. Once West kept his distance and fought his fight from the outside he was able to pick apart Nogueira with dazzling kicks and a superior jab-cross combination.
Fighting not only to advance to the semis but also looking for a chance at redemption against Warren were Galvao and former WEC veteran Chase Beebe. The first round of this fight was extremely back and forth with both fighters escaping multiple submissions and getting their fair share of punches in, but as the fight progressed Galvao gained the edge on the ground and was able box his way to a victory in the third and final round. Cardio seemed to be a big factor in this fight and Galvao walked away with the win by split decision.
Wilson Reis was eliminated from the tournament once again in his first attempt at 135 pounds, but big things were expected from his opponent, Eduardo Dantas, when he showed up with world champion Jose Aldo and Marlon Sandro in his corner. Dantas earned a knockout as exciting as Vila’s when he capitalized on a kick caught by Reis in the opening round. Reis wouldn’t let go of the leg at first and looked to set up a takedown, but when Dantas took his leg back and Reis began to retreat to get outside his striking distance, Dantas sprinted toward him and laid him out flat with a knockout by flying knee.
