Weekly Mixed Martial Arts & Kickboxing News – 04/20/2012
By PDG Staff
Overeem out of UFC 146; Frank Mir faces Junior dos Santos
Apparently the UFC and Dana White don’t want to wait for Alistair Overeem’s hearing with the Nevada State Athletic Commission next week to determine if Overeem can get a license.
UFC President Dana White announced today that Frank Mir would be replacing Overeem and that he would be facing Junior dos Santos for the UFC Heavyweight crown at UFC 146 in May.
Here is what White posted on his Twitter:
Dana White (@danawhite) – “Taking off to Atlanta!!!! May 26th is now Mir vs. JDS for the HW title in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand.”
Jones Brothers – America’s Most Athletic Family
With a pro football player, a college football standout about to be drafted to the pros, and the reigning UFC light heavyweight champion of the world, proud parents Arthur and Camille Jones of Endicott, New York, may have the most athletic sons in America.
“The Jones brothers are three guys who are very competitive, but we have a bond that can never be broken,” said youngest brother Chandler, a 6ft 5inch, 265lbs defensive end for the Syracuse Orangemen who will be drafted into the pros next week.
“We’re real passionate about everything we do and we bring out the best in each other,” said big brother Arthur, a 6ft 3inch, 311lbs defensive end for the Baltimore Ravens.
“I was the skinny kid with no co-ordination,” said 6ft 3inch middle brother Jon, who defends his UFC 205lbs title tomorrow against No.1 contender Rashad Evans on Pay-Per-View.
“Both my brothers were always great at football but when I wore the helmet and pads, I looked so skinny with these long legs poking out they called me “Bones”. But I found my calling in the UFC, and on Saturday night in Atlanta, both my brothers will be Octagonside to see “Bones” Jones do his thing.”
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K-1 RISING 2012 ~ K-1 World Max Final 16 ~ in Madrid – Card Updated
The first K-1 tournament of the year, “K-1 RISING 2012 ~K-1 WORLD MAX in MADRID” is to be held at the Palacio Vista Alegre in Madrid, Spain, on May 27, 2012.
Fight Card:
Mike Zambidis vs. Chahid Oulad El Hadj
Andy Souwer vs. Abraham Roqueni
Artur Kyshenko vs. Su Hwan Lee
Xu Yan vs. Yasuhiro Kido
Gago Drago vs. Andy Ristie
Yuji Nashiro vs. Reese McCallister
Harut Grigorian vs. Murthel Groenhart
Longern Superpro Samui vs. Chris Ngimbi
Fedor Emelianenko vs. Pedro Rizzo on June 21st
The name of Fedor’s next opponent is officially confirmed: it will be Brazilian veteran Pedro Rizzo (19-9). The fight will take place on M-1 Global tournament in St.-Petersburg.
37-year old famous striker from Rio always got only the toughest opponents. His unique fighting resume includes the fights with Kevin Randleman, Ken Shamrock, Dan Severn, Ricco Rodriguez, Randy Couture, Josh Barnett, Andrei Arlovsky, Sergei Kharitonov and Jeff Monson. Rizzo is well-known because of his aggressive and entertaining fighting style with lots of strong punches in leg kicks in every fight.
Heavy-handed Brazilian won three last bouts in a row, and he is going to be a tough test for Russian heavyweight who won in his last two fights, against American top-level grappler Jeff Monson and Olympic judo champion Satoshi Ishii. There is no doubt that fans can expect entertaining battle of two MMA legends with one-punch knockout power on June 21 on big M-1 Global tournament. Other fights of the tournament will be announced soon.
“The New York Badass” Phil Baroni Returns against Chris Holland
Ring of Fire MMA returns to the 1stBank Center in Denver, Colorado on Saturday June 2nd with the promotion’s 43rd installment, Bad Blood. Headlining the event will be a battle of two of the heaviest hitters in the welterweight division as Phil “The New York Badass” Baroni will face Chris “The Hammer” Holland.
K-1 RISING 2012 ~ K-1 World Max Final 16 ~ in Madrid – Heavyweights Announced
The first K-1 elimination tournament of the year, in a series of 7 tournaments in 2012, for a total of Two million dollars in Prize Money, will take place at the Palacio Vista Alegre in Madrid, Spain, on May 27, 2012.
Newly Announced: K-1 Heavyweight Participating Fighters:
Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic (Croatia)
Daniel Ghita (Romania)
Anderson “Braddock’ Silva (Brazil)
Paul Slowinski (Australia)
Rico Verhoeven (Netherlands)
Loren Javier Jorge (Spain)
Sergii Lashchenko (Ukraine)
UFC on FX 4: Maynard vs. Guida – Card Updated
UFC on FX 4: Maynard vs. Guida
Friday, June 22 , 2012
Revel
Atlantic City, NJ
Fight Card:
Gray Maynard vs. Clay Guida
Nick Catone vs. Chris Camozzi
Matt Riddle vs. Luis Ramos
Rick Story vs. Rich Attonito
Dan Miller vs. Ricardo Funch
Brian Ebersole vs. T.J. Waldburger
Steven Siler vs. Jim Hettes
Ross Pearson vs. Cub Swanson
Sam Stout vs. Spencer Fisher
Badr Hari Sign with K-1 and wants to become the K-1 World Grand Prix champion!
The new organization K-1 Global and President of K-1 Global, Mr. Mike Kim, signed one of the biggest fighters in the world, Badr Hari, to fight for a chance to become the 2012 K-1 World Grand Prix Champion.
Badr Hari is currently training in the USA with the world-famous maker of champions, Naazim Richardson. Hari’s goal is to become a World Boxing Champion within three years.
Hari says he’s excited about training with Richardson: “I have just finished the first six weeks of intensive training, including a high altitude training camp in California. I am in great shape and we have made a plan for the next three years, leading to the ultimate goal… becoming the world heavyweight champion in boxing. The past weeks we’ve been working mostly on my technique as a boxer.”
Richardson says he believes in Hari’s incredible potential: “Every century, a number of unique talents are born. Those talents have the capacity to make it to the absolute top of the world. Badr is one of those unique talents. He has the perfect fighting mentality, an amazing reach, an incredible punch, and technically it’s looking great. On top of that, his physique works to his advantage. He is the ultimate fighting machine. I support Badr’s wish to take one more shot at the K-1 World Grand Prix Title. It’s also his way of showing respect to the sport of kickboxing.
This move will not interfere with our training program and says everything about his unique status in the world. No matter where in the world, everyone wants to see Badr fight. He will probably be the first martial artist in the world who will be the greatest in multiple disciplines.”
Badr Hari says: “They (K-1) have gone far in persuading me to show the world who is currently the best kickboxer on the planet. I think this is a beautiful challenge. At the same time, I will continue my planned route, with full enthusiasm, to become the world champion in boxing. I would love to retire internationally as the K-1 World Grand Prix champion. That’s a title that’s not yet on my record. K-1 has convinced me to say yes to their proposal of fighting one last time on the international stage.”
Mr. Mike Kim, president of K-1 Global, is proud to have Badr Hari fight for K-1 saying: “This was one of our biggest wishes. He is the biggest and most sensational fighter in the world. The attention and exposure will be huge and everybody wants to see him fight one more time at the international stage.”
Hari’s first fight will take place on May 27 in Madrid. If he wins, he will also participate to the final qualifications in October and the K-1 World Grand Prix Final in December.
Hari is convinced he will strap the belt around his waist in December. “It’s a beautiful thought to show all my fans in the world one more time who the best K-1 fighter is.”
UFC 145 Sells Out
The Ultimate Fighting Championship has announced that the highly anticipated UFC 145 event – headlined by the light heavyweight title fight between Jon Jones and challenger Rashad Evans – at the Philips Arena in Atlanta has officially sold out.
UFC 145: Jones vs. Evans, which airs live on Pay-Per-View at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT Saturday night, features a six-fight main card including UFC stars Mark Hominick, Rory McDonald, Brendan Schaub and Miguel Torres.
And perhaps no fight in recent memory has had as much buzz as the long-awaited Jones vs. Evans title bout, which sees two former friends and training partners collide for the UFC’s 205lbs championship.
Bellator Premiere’s Summer Series at Mountaineer Casino Racetrack & Resort with Light Heavyweight Tourney June 22nd
Bellator Fighting Championships will make their 2012 Summer Series debut from The Mountain State when the promotion brings Bellator 71 to The Mountaineer Casino Racetrack & Resort in Chester, West Virginia on June 22. Bellator 71 will feature the quarterfinals of the Bellator Summer Series Light Heavyweight Tournament, along with a host of preliminary fights.
“We’ve been in discussions with the team at Mountaineer Resort for quite some time, looking to bring a major nationally and internationally televised event to this spectacular Casino Resort” Bellator Chairman & CEO Bjorn Rebney said. “When the chance came to host the opener of our Summer Series, we jumped at the chance.”
Canadian native Roger “The Hulk” Hollett will get his first taste of tournament action when he locks horns with explosive Slovakian finisher Attila Vegh. A 14-time Hungarian Kempo karate champion, Vegh brings an impressive resume into the tournament and should be a force to be reckoned with.
“I came here to Bellator with one goal, and that’s to be the next Bellator Light Heavyweight Champion,” said Vegh. “Becoming a Bellator champion is my main mission in my career. I want to be recognized as the best light heavyweight in the world, and after that my mission will be complete.”
Former Bellator Light Heavyweight Tournament Finalist Rich Hale is back for another run and will be looking to top his incredible inverted triangle finish that earned headlines when he takes on Beau Tribolet in opening-round action.
After compiling a 2-0 record within the Bellator cage, longtime MMA veteran Travis “Diesel” Wiuff will get his shot in the Light Heavyweight Tournament in this tournament debut. Wiuff has amassed an incredible 66 wins during his incredible MMA run, and has his sights set on a Bellator Tournament Championship.
Finnish submission ace Marcus Vanttinen is looking to lock up a semifinal appearance when he battles promising Brazilian striker Philipe Lins. Both 205-pound fighters are regarded as two of the top light heavyweight prospects in the world, and will have their talent on display at Bellator 71.
Undefeated former Royce Gracie student Vanessa Mariscal replaces Injured Shana Nelson against Sarah D’Alelio at Invicta FC & Health issue KO’s Cat Zingano from matchup with Anita Rodriguez
A spinal injury sustained during training has forced Shana Nelson to withdraw from her scheduled bantamweight (135 pounds) matchup with Sarah D’Alelio (4-2) of San Jose, Calif. on the inaugural Invicta Fighting Championships all-women’s Mixed Martial Arts fight card at Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kan. on Saturday, April 28. Undefeated Vanessa Mariscal (2-0) of El Segundo, Calif. will step in to face D’Alelio at the event.
Additionally, Cat “Alpha” Zingano (6-0) of Denver, Colo. has withdrawn from her bantamweight (135 pounds) contest with Anita “El Tigre” Rodriguez (5-2) of Dallas, Texas, citing health issues as the cause.
The 38-year-old, 5-foot-6 Mariscal, a former student of MMA legend and UFC Hall of Fame member Royce Gracie, holds a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, the fighting discipline she took up 15 years ago after stints in Karate, kickboxing and Jeet Kune Do.
Mariscal has put her strong Jiu-Jitsu foundation on display in MMA competition, winning both her professional bouts to date by way of rear-naked choke. In her debut on Nov. 20, 2009, she submitted Jessica Halverson in the first round of action and, in her last start on June 17, 2011, Mariscal forced Colleen Schneider to tap out in the third stanza of their bout.
The matchup between Mariscal and D’Alelio will finally come to fruition after previously falling apart on two different occasions.
M-1 Challenge XXXII – Card Updated
Due to the latest changes in the card of M-1 Challenge 32 tournament Russian heavyweight prospect Magomed Malikov will take on current M-1 interim heavyweight champion Kenny Garner (8-3). Dutch veteran Jessie Gibbs (10-5) who was originally set to fight with Malikov, will fight with another member of Gorets team Shamil Abdulkerimov (4-2).
M-1 Challenge XXXII
May 16, 2012
Moscow, Russia
Crocus City Arena
Fight Card:
Magomed Malikov vs. Kenny Garner (for interim heavyweight title)
Daniel Weichel vs. Yuri Ivlev (for lightweight title)
Mairbek Taisumov vs. Marat Gafurov
Albert Duraev vs. Isaiah Larson
Jessie Gibbs vs. Arsen Abdulkerimov
Shadd Dales Appointed Master of Ceremonies for The MMA Show Live
It was announced this week that Shadd Dales has been strategically chosen as the Master of Ceremonies for the main stage at The MMA Show Live. As emcee, Dales will be introducing fighters during the Q & A sessions and will be keeping fans informed throughout the event. The MMA Show Live is being held May 12 – 13 at The NEC in Birmingham.
Shadd Dales, currently a broadcaster in North America, is known throughout the UK for his previous work as a charismatic ring announcer for the British Association of Mixed Martial Arts (BAMMA). Dales’ distinct and powerful voice is known across multiple industries and has earned him a reputation as one of the most sought after event announcers in the nation.
Shadd Dales had this to say about his involvement with Europe’s biggest MMA fan expo, “It is truly an honor to be a part The MMA Show Live. The expo was put together with the MMA fans in mind and they definitely did not disappoint! The expo’s star studded line-up includes some of the sport’s biggest stars from marquee fighters to well-known MMA personalities. I am thrilled to be a part of it!”
‘Cage Rock’ – Cage Rage Highlight by Rand0mRaMpAgE
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From the PunchDrunkGamer Forums:
* Bellator 65 – Information & Event Results!
* Mirko Cro Cop signs with K-1
* Ultimate Fighter Brasil – Discussion, Rumors & Results
* Golden Glory has filed a petition in Japan to have FEG/K1 declared bankrupt
* John ‘Doomsday’ Howard Wins CES MMA Title
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