MMA News Thread

[Shogun Locc]

UFC 100 fighters salaries: Lesnar and St-Pierre get top paydays in $1.8 million payroll

UFC 100's two successful title defenders, heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar and welterweight title-holder Georges St-Pierre, each earned event-high $400,000 paydays from the July 11 event.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) today requested and received the list of official disclosed salaries from Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director Keith Kizer.

UFC 100, which took place at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, had a total disclosed payroll of $1,790,000.

The payroll figure does not include a $400,000 that was awarded for "fight night" bonuses that were handed out after the event. Each award winner received a record $100,000.

UFC 100, the UFC's heavily promoted and long-awaited milestone event, drew a soldout crowd estimated at 11,000 and – assuming the preliminary figures hold up – the second-largest gate in UFC history with $5.1 million in ticket sales.

A few disclaimers regarding the salaries can be found below. However, it's also worth noting that fighters such as Lesnar and St. Pierre also earn a portion of the pay-per-view revenue. In fact, Lesnar reportedly will make approximately $3 million from the fight even before the majority of his sponsorship money is tallied.

The full payouts for the event included:

Jon Fitch: $90,000 (includes $45,000 win bonus)
def. Paulo Thiago: $8,000

Brock Lesnar: $400,000 (no win bonus)
def. Frank Mir: $45,000

Georges St-Pierre: $400,000 ($200,000 win bonus)
def. Thiago Alves: $60,000

Dan Henderson: $250,00 ($150,000 win bonus)
def. Michael Bisping: $150,000

Yoshihiro Akiyama: $60,000 ($20,000 win bonus)
def. Alan Belcher: $19,000

Mark Coleman: $100,000 ($50,000 win bonus)
def. Stephan Bonnar: $25,000

Jim Miller: $22,000 ($11,000 win bonus)
def. Mac Danzig: $20,000

Jon Jones: $18,000 ($9000 win bonus)
def. Jake O'Brien: $13,000

Dong Hyun Kim: $58,000 ($29,000 win bonus)
def. T.J. Grant: $5,000

Tom Lawlor: $16,000 ($8,000 win bonus)
def. C.B. Dollway: $14,000

Shannon Gugerty: $10,000 ($5,000 win bonus)
def. Matt Grice: $7,000

Now, the usual disclaimer: The figures do not include deductions for items such as insurance, licenses and taxes. Additionally, the figures do not include money paid by sponsors, which can oftentimes be a substantial portion of a fighter's income. They also do not include any other "locker room" or special bonuses the UFC oftentimes pays.

For example, as discussed above, the figures above do not include the UFC's traditional "fight night" bonuses. The UFC awarded $100,000 each to Akiyama and Belcher (Fight of the Night), Henderson (KO of the Night) and Lawlor (Submission of the Night).

In other words, the above salary figures are simply base salaries reported to the commission and do not reflect entire compensation packages for the event.

 

[Shogun Locc]

With Bellator champ Eddie Alvarez out, "JZ" Calvancante wants Joachim Hansen at DREAM.11

Gesias "JZ" Calvancante (14-3-1) won't get his first choice of an opponent, but he's got a second pick in mind for DREAM.11.

Although initial plans to fight Eddie Alavarez fell apart when the slugger won Bellator Fighting Championships' first-ever lightweight title earlier this year, Calvancante hopes he can now score a fight with notable Joachim Hansen (19-7-1) instead.

The American Top Team fighter, whose 13-fight undefeated streak ended with recent back-to-back losses, discussed the potential fight with MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com).

"I'm asking for Hansen," said Calvancante, a guest during MMAjunkie.com Radio's star-studded UFC 100 week of programming. "That's the fight."

DREAM.11, which also features the semifinals and finale of the organization's welterweight grand prix, takes place Sept. 23 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

Calvancante and Hansen were originally slated to fight on Dec. 31 at the Dynamite!! 2008 show in Japan. However, on the day of the event, the bout was scratched when Hansen was unable to pass a pre-fight medical because of a reported head injury suffered during a previous training session.

Hansen is DREAM's lightweight champion, but Calvancante stil wants the fight regardless of the bout's title implications.

"Even if it's not a title match, I want that just for the fight," he said.

Calvancante had emerged as a top-10 worldwide lightweight after his three-year undefeated streak. The 2007 K-1 HERO'S middleweight (160-pound) grand prix champion bested a host of notables such as Bart Palaszewski, Caol Uno, Vitor Ribeiro, Nam Pham and Rani Yahya. However, after an April 2008 loss to Shinya Aoki, he returned from a 13-month layoff in May and dropped another decision to Tatsuya Kawajiri.

Hansen, meanwhile, hasn't fought since his memorable run in the DREAM lightweight grand prix. Although originally knocked out of the tournament by Alvarez, he re-entered the field as a reserve and defeated Kultar Gill and Aoki in the same night to win the grand prix and DREAM's first-ever lightweight title.

 

[Shogun Locc]

GSP ADMITS INJURY WAS VERY BAD DURING TITLE WIN

On Saturday night, Georges St. Pierre took another step towards proving that he belongs in the same sentence as other legends of sports history such as Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky, and Muhammed Ali. But when he faced Thiago Alves at UFC 100, he spent almost half the bout with an injury that would have put most others on the sideline, asking for the fight to be stopped.

During the third round when St. Pierre found himself on the bottom, guarding from Alves' attack, he felt a pop and immediately knew that something was definitely wrong.

"It's pretty bad, I'm in real bad pain. It happened in the third round, and I don't remember exactly, but when I was on the bottom, in my guard, and Thiago pushed my knee down and I heard my groin, my abductor snap. I heard a noise and it was pretty bad," St. Pierre said during the post fight press conference about the injury.

After the round ended, he headed back to his corner, and while surely a funny moment from trainer Greg Jackson, he simply would not let the champion fade with an injury going into the championship rounds.

"I came back in my corner and some people are going to see that on TV and are going to laugh. I come back in the corner and I told my trainer I pulled my abductor, and my trainer Greg Jackson, he says to me, 'I don't care! Hit him with it!' So I was like I guess I have to go back there and finish the fight. That's the gameplan," St. Pierre said with a laugh. "So I fought on it, with the adrenaline it's not so bad, now it's getting really bad, it's really painful."

Originally, St. Pierre and Alves were set to square off later on the pay-per-view card as the co-main event, but timing pushed the pair up from their start time, which could have affected the champion's ability to properly warm-up before the fight started.

"My fight was supposed to be the fourth on the card, and they called us a little bit at the last minute because of the pay-per-view, so we got called and I really didn't have much time to warm-up as well as I should have done. It's my mistake too, I'm a professional, I'm a world champion, I should have been ready for something like that," stated St. Pierre. "It's just that I was not informed that I was jumping in before I was supposed to."

Regardless of the injury, St. Pierre gutted it out and dominated for all five rounds en route to a unanimous decision victory over one of the top welterweights in the sport today. Now with his third consecutive title win under his belt, St. Pierre will take some time off to recover from the groin injury and see what's next for him.

"I want to face the best guy," St. Pierre commented about his next challenge. "Right now, I'm in really bad pain. I'm going to take a step back and take a look at it and we'll talk about it, and in a couple of weeks we'll see."

During the live broadcast of UFC 100, commentator Joe Rogan noted that matchmaker Joe Silva had said the winner of the upcoming fight between Mike Swick and Martin Kampmann would likely end up being the next challenger to St. Pierre's title.

Whoever the fighter ends up being that takes on St. Pierre, he will have to be more than on top of his game, as the champion has solidified himself for consideration as the best pound-for-pound fighter on the planet.

 

[Shogun Locc]

NOT IDEAL, BUT CERRONE READY FOR TITLE SHOT

This isn’t just another rodeo for the “Cowboy.”

Donald Cerrone will take main event honors once again when he squares off against the tough as nails Ben Henderson in September at WEC 43 in Youngstown, Ohio.

Both Cerrone and Henderson are fairly familiar with one another, going as far as calling each other buddies, having come up in the fight game through they’re Denver roots fighting for the regional Ring of Fire promotion, always bumping into one another.

Cerrone originally gained mass notoriety when he was featured in an early episode of Tapout and was eventually sponsored by the crew, which would gain him entry to the upper echelon promotions, finding his way into the WEC.

Working his way up the ranks within the promotion and after a Fight Of The Year worthy performance against former WEC lightweight champion Rob McCullough, Cerrone would finally earn his title shot, three fights into the promotion, looking unstoppable.

Though he battled it out with current champion Jamie Varner in an exciting fight, which reached the fifth and final round, an inadvertent knee to Varner whilst he was on the ground would eventually cause a halt to the bout on the doctor’s advice.

Though the bout had prematurely gone to the scorecards, with two out of three judges scoring the contest in Varner’s favor, it was the comments and antics preceding the fight that left a bad taste in Cerrone's mouth.

“I wanna fight Jamie on the street corner; he’s just a punk bitch, so I don’t really have much respect for the dude,” stated Cerrone while a guest on the MMAWeekly radio show.

“I’m excited to get another title shot and like Jamie is saying now, it’s just a ‘glorified second place,’ well then man up and give me a shot in the first place dude, quit hiding behind your broken hand.

With obviously no love lost and a still burning desire to take on his nemesis once again, the Greg Jackson product will have to shift his mentality for the time being when he takes on Henderson in an interim title fight, which is as equally exciting to the 26-year-old. He will undoubtedly use this bout to issue a message to the champ, staking his claim at the top.

“I'm excited to fight Ben, though he’s a friend of mine. I’ve got nothing bad to say about the guy and I know he’s not gonna say nothing because he's gonna want to take me down, for sure.

Two fights in the promotion, some would question the validity of the choice of opponents in Henderson for such a prestigious honor as a title shot, albeit an interim title, which is all that much more important in itself with the winner promised a unification bout with Varner, but Cerrone does not question the ethics of the promotion and believes that Henderson is the guy who proves deserving.

“I do think Ben is the guy who’s deserving of the shot.”

Though Henderson is deserving, Cerrone is all too familiar with the intricacies and dilemmas leading up to such a daunting task in the fight itself and questions Henderson’s inexperience leading up to such a pressure cooker.

“I think my first title fight, I was the main event, all those people, cameras following you all over the place – I don’t care who you are, man, the camera in your face, because when you’re the main event, that’s what they do, they put a camera in your face, they follow you around, ‘the day in the life of,’ blah, blah, blah. That’s a lot of pressure for someone who’s never had it before and for Ben to be coming, he had an undercard fight and then he had a main card fight and now main event, on the poster, commercials running, that’s a lot of added pressure.”

 

[Shogun Locc]

UFC Quick Quote: Bisping praises Hendo, a little fuzzy on details from Saturday night

“I honestly don’t know what happened to me out there. I will just have to accept what the organizers say in their rules about when I fight next and take it on the chin. But I do know that I have the ability to bounce right back and succeed in my aim of lifting the world title. Henderson won it fair and square and I have nothing but praise for him. I have seen people like my training partner ‘Rampage’ Jackson lose fights in one or two rounds and still go on to become one of the best light-heavyweight fighters of them all, so I am not disheartened in any way.”

 

[Shogun Locc]

Frank Mir: ‘Next time, I’ll show him how somebody is supposed to act in victory’

“I basically was (within) a half-an-inch of catching him. I knew he was hurt, but he had good leverage, with my shoulder against the cage. I made a stupid mistake. When I stood up, and he’s screaming, it took me a few seconds to realize (what Lesnar was doing). ESPN showed him spitting and hollering. My children are looking. I’m shaking my head, pointing at my kids and going, ‘That’s not how you want to do it, guys. We’ll be cocky, especially before a fight, to help sell it. I didn’t degrade him [when I beat him at UFC 81] and say he was an idiot. There was no point to kick the guy while he was down. OK, I beat the guy. What, am I going to spit on you, too? If I can just nail that (weight) gap to even 10 pounds, it’ll be a different fight next time. Hopefully next time, I’ll show him how somebody is supposed to act in victory.”

 

[Shogun Locc]

Shane Carwin: ‘[Brock] has a long ways to go before he earns the respect of a champion’

There are one of two people that will be facing UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar in his next outing.

Heavyweight wrecking machines Shane Carwin and Cain Velasquez have a date with destiny on October 24 at UFC 104 as the two undefeated goliaths will face off with one another to determine which is the decisive threat to Lesnar’s crown. The winner has been promised a title shot.

According to a recent blog posting on shane-carwin.com, the powerhouse from Colorado was far from impressed with Lesnar’s antics following his UFC 100 destruction of Frank Mir.

“I cannot say I was surprised by anything that night other then Brock’s reaction to beating a very tough Frank Mir,” Carwin was quoted as saying in the blog. “Frank is a legend and a great guy who got out powered not out classed. The sponsor issue, you need to talk to your manager, not the fans or Dana.

“The flipping off of the fans that just lined your pocket with millions of dollars is just LAME. He may be a Champion but he has a long ways to go before he earns the respect of a Champion. The fans are why we do this Brock, this sport is not about fat paychecks and drama, it is about hard work and sacrifice for a shot to do what you did last night. It doesn’t matter how much money you make if you can’t earn your peers respect and the respect and love of the greatest sporting fans in the world. We have no scripts in this sport, no pre-determined earning amount and no pre-determined outcomes. It doesn’t matter if you win or loose it matters how you win or loose.

“Every autograph I give, every hand I shake I am thankful that you give me the opportunity to be a part of your world. This is the greatest sport int he world and most of the athletes in it deserve the love and respect they get and some just don’t get it.”

 

[Shogun Locc]

Lorenzo Fertitta says teammate vs. teammate bouts are not optional in the UFC

Ever wonder what the odds are the you would end up seeing a fight between Tyson Griffin and Gray Maynard from Xtreme Couture; or a battle between Rashad Evans and Keith Jardine for Greg Jacksons?

Well according to recent comments made by UFC chairman Lorenzo Fertitta during a Q & A session with fans at the UFC Fan Expo, match-ups between teammates are not an option.

“At the end of the day, we are here to see fighters and we are here to see fights,” Fertitta said when asked about the potential of teammate vs. teammate match-ups.

“If teammates don’t want to fight, then they are just going to have to go somewhere else,” he continued. “We don’t put up with that stuff.

“That’s just the way it is. You step up. You’re a UFC fighter and I don’t care who it is, you have to fight.”

 

[Shogun Locc]

Fabrício Werdum Interview

Set to fight Alistair Overeem for Strikeforce’s heavyweight title, Fabrício Werdum is already training in the United States. Returning from a travel to Spain, the Chute Boxe athlete spoke with TATAME.com about his preparation and the emotion of disputing his first belt of a big event, the trainings with Wanderlei Silva, the opportunity to take, along with Cris Cyborg, two belts to Chute Boxe in the same night, and revealed his new addiction: play UFC Undisputed 2009.

How are the things at United States?
I just came back from Spain, where I was giving a month of classes there and in Croatia. I’m opening a new gym here at Marina Del Rey, California. I have this team for a long time. Since I started to train Jiu-Jitsu I already planted the little seed in Madrid, and now I have in Croatia, France, Canary Islands, Zaragoza, and now I did this tour. My academy in Marina Del Rey will open on July 18th. This new team will be cool, with the Americans, because Lucas Pires and me already have a good group here. Since I started, we already know each other and he helps me. Because of the fact that I can’t spend the whole day giving lesson we did this company, because I can be more dedicated to the fight.

How are you doing to have the time between gym inaugurations and the trainings for the title fight?
It's always like this, when I have nothing set I’ll give seminars in Europe, but the priority is always the fight. Confirmed the fight against Overeem, I will have to change everything. Of course I’ll be close, but I’ll always be dedicated to the fight. Lucas knows the importance of this fight and will be focused in the gym and I’ll to train the fight.

How is the expectation for the fight?
I was very happy! My manager, Richard, called me the other day and confirmed... Indeed, it will be the first time I dispute a belt. In 2003 I disputed a belt at Morocco (World Absolute Fight Federation), but it wasn’t a known event, was a small event... I was so happy when my manager called about the fight, and a title fight changes everything, even to get sponsorship and other things. Everything is good, but it has to train three times, because it’s five rounds of five. I want to take that belt to have other proposals for other events. For now, I'm focused on Strikeforce, but at the same time I’m open to other proposals, because I have no exclusivity with Strikeforce.

You’ve already faced Overeem and submitted. Will it be the same strategy?
Sure, I’ll bring to my area, but is that thing: the fight starts standing. I’ll train standing as on the ground, but I’ll give more emphasis to the ground. I like to train and fight standing, and it hasn’t that thing of taking the fight directly to the ground. It’s difficult to take Overeem to the ground. In the other time that we fought, I couldn’t give him any takedown, and he took me down five times, so I was forced to fight standing with him. The strategy is this, take to the ground as soon as possible and submit.

You are focusing the trainings of Wrestling to help this part too?
Yes... I'm still training here with Rafael Cordeiro. I start to train at nine in the morning only Jiu-Jitsu with Cléber, and later with Rafael. It’s an academy on the side of the other, door to door. Later I do fitness and return to train more with Rafa. From Monday to Thursday we train here and, in Thursday, we train with Wanderlei. The same teacher of Wanderlei is the teacher of Randy Couture, so I train there Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and do the physical preparation with Alejarra also... It’s hard, since I went to Europe I didn’t stop training. There, I trained at the best team of Boxing and Muay Thai of Spain, so I'm fine.

Have you studied Overeem’s last fights?
As it wasn’t 100% confirmed, I didn’t give a look, because it had rumors that it would be against Roger (Gracie) or with Brett Rogers. Now that is confirmed, I’ll begin to analyze, because three years have passed and much has changed. As I changed, he changed too. I know he’s heavier and stronger, but there is one thing: the stronger and heavier, the guy can get tired fast. In our other fight, he gave me a heat in the first round and began to get tired in the second. I can use this strategy too, just wait for him to get tired, but if I have how to finalize before, I will.

You and Cris Cyborg can take two belts to the Chute Boxe at the same night...
It will be good, because the Chute Boxe went through a phase of everybody getting out and relieve some of the team, but we’ll rise again. What I want most is to take this belt, which is the second most important, after the UFC, next to Affliction. I cheer a lot for Cris and I'm sure she’ll take this belt. I’m representing the Chute Boxe, but I’m also representing the new team of Rafael Cordeiro.

You have trained a lot with Wanderlei, and helped him in his preparation to Rich Franklin. What did you think of this fight?
I tough it was a very good fight. Wanderlei is that thing, this thing of retire and all, I don’t think it's time, he has about three or four more years of career. I trained with him and it has no such thing as difference in weight, he’s very good, very warrior. Fight is fight, it doesn’t matter. The same way they gave to Franklin, they could have given to Wanderlei with a little something extra. The fight was very close, very good.

Speaking a little about the heavyweights of the UFC, how do you think it will be the fight between Minotauro and Randy Couture?
I think Minotauro will win, even more because of the fact of being Brazilian, but I have great faith in him. He had this defeat to Frank Mir, it happens, always has the first time, and it doesn’t matter, the level is so high that a little detail makes the difference. I think that Minotauro will get it. Randy Couture is good, but Minotauro has a very good guard and it may gat him in a triangle. I’m almost sure that Couture will take him down, but he has a very good guard and it get him into a triangle or a guillotine.

Have you already played the UFC Undisputed 2009?
Of course, I'm addicted to games, always liked to play. It was a surprise. I saw on the internet that had my name on the list of players, but didn’t believe that I would go, because I haven’t done the scanner. At the time I fought in the UFC, I signed so many papers that I didn’t remember that I had signed the deal of the game, but I signed. I was surprised that I was there, because I’m an addicted in games. Rafael Cordeiro also likes and can’t beat me (laughs)... Here in the region I’m the king... And I play with my character, of course, will I play with others? And if I lose in the game, we have to do in real life too (laughs).

 

[Shogun Locc]

Igor Vovchanchyn Returns!! Fighting Mixed Combative

Fighting Mixed Combative have announced that Igor Vovchanchyn will make his comeback at Fighting Mixed Combative’s second event in September. A representative from FMC said that many fans in Korea have said that they want to see Vovchanchyn so he decided to negotiate with him. It seems like they got him after a lengthy persuasion. Because of their heavy Russian Sambo connections, FMC are looking at signing big name Russian fighters one after one.

Also on the September card, Aleksander Emelianenko vs. Blagoy Alexandre Ivanov is rumored to take place.

DREAM Super Hulk GP participant Jan Nortje has also been announced as a participant of FMC. Ivan Emelianenko, “Russia Edition Gina Carano” Julia Berezikova, Mikhail Malyutin who turned around his career in 2008, and four Korean names should also appear on their events.

FMC’s first event will take place on August 15th. FMC said from the get go that they want to be as big as UFC and PRIDE. Signing former PRIDE fighters and Emelianenko brothers is a very good idea since both are very popular in Korea. UFC drawing monster ratings on Korean TV doesn’t hurt the interest of MMA there either.

Update: It seems like FMC’s second event will be a collaboration event with the annual world martial arts festival, which takes place from September 23rd to 27th.

 

[Shogun Locc]

DREW MCFEDRIES VS. TOMASZ DRWAL AT UFC 103

A middleweight contest between Drew McFedries and Tomasz Drawl is on tap for UFC 103 on Sept. 19 in Dallas, MMAWeekly.com has learned from sources close to the fight.

The UFC has yet to make its second trip to the Lone Star State official, but the American Airlines Center is expected to host.

Drwal (16-2-1) will make the cut to middleweight for the first time in the UFC. The "Gorilla" recently dispatched Mike Ciesnolevicz at the season nine finale of "The Ultimate Fighter" in his second straight Octagon victory.

Drwal is currently in his native country of Poland and will return shortly to begin training.

McFedries (8-5) is coming off a 37-second destruction of Xavier Foupa-Pokam at UFC 98, his ninth straight appearance to end in the first round. The win reversed a two-fight slide to former contender Thales Leites and Mike Massenzio.

McFedries is currently searching for a new training camp after his post-fight comments brought him a dismissal from trainer Pat Miletich's MFS Elite team in Bettendorf, Iowa.

 

[B-Buzz]

Igor Vovchanchyn Returns!! Fighting Mixed Combative
...

Also on the September card, Aleksander Emelianenko vs. Blagoy Alexandre Ivanov is rumored to take place.

DREAM Super Hulk GP participant Jan Nortje has also been announced as a participant of FMC. Ivan Emelianenko, “Russia Edition Gina Carano” Julia Berezikova, Mikhail Malyutin who turned around his career in 2008, and four Korean names should also appear on their events.

Wow I just read an Igor interview like a month ago where he said he didn't think he'd ever fight again from his injuries. Hopefully they just put him against a can for a highlight KO. I was already excited for Aleks vs. Blagoy and Ivan's debut, this card looks like it might be really good.

 

[Shogun Locc]

^^Yeah Can't weight too see Ice Cold return.

 

[Shogun Locc]

UFC 100 medical suspensions: Georges St-Pierre groin injury needs doctor's clearance

A total of 13 fighters from this past Saturday's UFC 100 event have been issued mandatory medical suspensions.

Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director Keith Kizer today sent the results to MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).

Among those suspended is UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, who defended his title with a unanimous-decision victory over Thiago Alves. A groin injury St-Pierre first mentioned to his corner after the third round could keep the champ sidelined until Jan. 8.

However, St-Pierre can be cleared by an orthopedic doctor and return as early as Aug. 11.

UFC 100 took place July 11 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. In the night's pay-per-view main event, UFC heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar ground and pounded his way to a second-round TKO victory over interim title-holder Frank Mir. Lesnar wasn't issued a suspension, but Mir is sidelined until Sept. 10 for precautionary reasons.

The full list of suspensions includes:

* Frank Mir: Suspended until Sept. 10 with no contact until Aug. 26 for precautionary reasons
* Georges St. Pierre: Must have groin injury cleared by an orthopedic doctor. Otherwise, suspended until Jan. 8. Even if cleared, suspended until Aug. 11 with no contact until Aug. 2 for precautionary reasons.
* Thiago Alves: Suspended until Aug. 11 with no contact until Aug. 2 for precautionary reasons
* Michael Bisping: Suspended until Sept. 10 with no contact until Aug. 26 for precautionary reasons
* Yoshihiro Akiyama: Must have left orbital fractured cleared by an ophthalmologist. Otherwise, suspended until Jan. 8. Even if cleared, suspended until Sept. 10 with no contact until Aug. 26 for precautionary reasons
* Stephan Bonnar: Suspended until Aug. 11 with no contact until Aug. 2 for precautionary reasons
* Mac Danzig: Suspended until Sept. 10 with no contact until Aug. 26 due to a head laceration
* Jim Miller: Must have right shoulder and clavicle X-rayed and cleared by a doctor. Otherwise, suspended until Jan. 8
* Jake O'Brien: Suspended until Aug. 11 with no contact until Aug. 2 for precautionary reasons
* T.J. Grant: Suspended until Aug. 2 with no contact until July 26 for precautionary reasons
* C.B. Dollaway: Suspended until Aug. 11 with no contact until Aug. 2 for precautionary reasons
* Matt Grice: Suspended until Sept. 10 with no contact until Aug. 26 for precautionary reasons
* Shannon Gugerty: Must have lower back pain cleared by a doctor. Otherwise, suspended until Jan. 8

 

[Shogun Locc]

Aaron Simpson vs. Ed Herman middleweight bout slotted for UFC Fight Night 19

Although he originally hinted at potential fight with Dan Miller, Aaron Simpson (5-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) will instead meet veteran middleweight Ed Herman (15-7 MMA, 4-4 UFC) at UFC Fight Night 19.

As MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) passed along earlier this month, Simpson posted news of the potential bout with Miller on his Facebook page. However, perhaps jumping the gun, he later issued a disclaimer: "Sorry. That was not official. Still waiting."

Simpson has since posted a bulletin to announce the fight with Herman.

UFC Fight Night 19 takes place Sept. 16 at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City, Okla. It serves as a lead-in for the debut episode of "The Ultimate Fighter 10" on Spike TV.

Simpson joined the UFC after a November 2008 victory over David Avellan in the WEC. He made his octagon debut against Tim McKenzie and needed less than two minutes to post the TKO win at UFC Fight Night 18. Simpson, a two-time All-American wrestler and former coach at Arizona State University, has now posted knockout victories in all five of his professional bouts (four in the first round).

Herman, meanwhile, "The Ultimate Fighter 3" middleweight runner-up, returns to the cage for the first time since his must-win victory over David Loiseau at UFC 97. Herman faced the threat of losing three consecutive fights and possibly earning his UFC walking papers before he pulled off the unanimous-decision win in Loiseau's hometown.

Despite those two losses, Herman now goes for his fifth win in seven fights.

The latest UFC Fight Night 19 card now includes:

* Nate Diaz vs. Melvin Guillard
* Roger Huerta vs. Gray Maynard
* Carlos Condit vs. Chris Lytle*
* Ed Herman vs. Aaron Simpson*
* Tim Credeur vs. Nate Quarry*
* Ronnys Torres vs. Jeremy Stephens*
* Mike Pyle vs. Chris Wilson*
* Kyle Bradley vs. Sam Stout*
* Ryan Jensen vs. Steven Steinbeiss*

* - Not officially announced

 

[Shogun Locc]

WEC 43 taking shape, Assuncao vs. Jabouin and Fabiano vs. Koch now signed

With WEC 42 now just a month away, September WEC 43's fight card is quickly taking shape.

A source close to the organization has confirmed with MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that two previously reported matchups, Rafael Assuncao (13-1 MMA, 1-0 WEC) vs. Yves Jabouin (14-4 MMA, 0-0 WEC) and Wagnney Fabiano (12-1 MMA, 2-0 WEC) vs. Erik Koch (8-0 MMA, 0-0 WEC), have been upgraded from "likely" to "signed" status.

WEC 43 takes place Sept. 2 at the Covelli Centre in Youngstown, Ohio, and airs on Versus.

With current title-holder Jamie Varner sidelined by injuries, WEC 43's main event features a bout between Donald Cerrone and Benson Henderson for an interim title.

MMAjunkie.com reported last week that Assuncao and WEC newcomer Jabouin had verbally agreed to a contest. Now signed, the bout pits Assuncao, a submission ace who picked up his fifth straight victory with a unanimous-decision win over Jameel Massouh at WEC 40, against the Canadian Jabouin, who owns a four-fight win streak and with 13 victories in his past 15 contests.

Also reported last week was the featherweight bout between Fabiano and Koch. Now signed, the fight pits Fabiano, the final featherweight champion of the now-defunct International Fight League who topped fellow contender Fredson Paixao via unanimous decision at WEC 40, against Koch, who owns seven stoppages (six submissions) in eight career wins, the most recent for the prospect-rich Midwest Cage Championship organization.

The latest WEC 43 card now includes:

* Donald Cerrone vs. Benson Henderson (for WEC interim lightweight title)
* Manny Tapia vs. Eddie Wineland
* Rafael Assuncao vs. Yves Jabouin
* Wagnney Fabiano vs. Erik Koch

 

[Shogun Locc]

Anthony Johnson vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida slated for UFC 104 in Los Angeles

A bout between Anthony Johnson (7-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) and fellow welterweight Yoshiyuki Yoshida (11-3 MMA, 2-1 UFC) will take place in October at UFC 104.

A source close to the negotiations today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) verbal agreements are in place and bout agreements are in the process of being finalized.

UFC 104, which features a main event between UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida and challenger Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, takes place Oct. 24 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles and airs on pay-per-view.

Johnson, who's posted back-to-back knockout victories over Luigi Fioravanti and Kevin Burns in his two most recent fights, had been slated to fight hard-hitting Matt Brown at The Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale in June. However, Johnson suffered a knee injury prior to the bout and was forced off the card.

Upon his return, the former JUCO national wrestling champion (Lassen Community College) will go for his fourth win in five fights and his fifth consecutive win via knockout.

The fight will also mark Johnson's first since an arrest in June on two felony charges and a misdemeanor, including criminal threats and domestic abuse, in Hayward, Calif. Johnson denies all charges, according to his management team.

"Mr. Johnson is completely and unequivocally innocent of all charges," Ken Pavia issued in a statement on July 9. "These charges are completely outside the realm of Mr. Johnson's character; he has no prior criminal record and has never been in trouble with the law. ... Unfortunately, professional athletes are frequently made the victim of such false accusation. As this has been a stressful time for Mr. Johnson, we ask that judgment is withheld until all relevant facts have come to light."

Upon his return, Johnson faces an opponent who's been knocked out just once, to Josh Koscheck in brutal fashion at UFC Fight Night 16 in December. Yoshida rebounded from the loss (his first in the UFC and his first in three years) with a first-round submission victory over Brandon Wolff at UFC 98. Yoshida is now 10-1 in his past 11 fights, and all 10 victories have come via stoppage (six knockouts, three submissions and a disqualification).

It's not known at the time if the Johnson vs. Yoshida bout will earn a spot on the night's televised main card.

The latest UFC 104 card now includes:

* Champ Lyoto Machida vs. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua (for light-heavyweight title)*
* Shane Carwin vs. Cain Velasquez*
* Anthony Johnson vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida*
* Ryan Bader vs. Eric Schafer*
* Patrick Barry vs. Antoni Hardonk*
* Razak Al-Hassan vs. Kyle Kingsbury*

* - Not officially announced

 

[Shogun Locc]

Drew McFedries vs. Tomasz Drwal added to UFC 103 fight card in Dallas

Drew McFedries (8-5 MMA, 4-4 UFC) returns from his swift 37-second knockout of Xavier Foupa-Pokam at UFC 98 and to meet fellow middleweight Tomasz Drwal (16-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) at UFC 103 in September.

On Monday a source close to the negotiations told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that McFedries had been added to the card, and an additional representative on Tuesday said he agreed to meet Drwal on the card.

Although not formally announced, UFC president Dana White and UFC Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Marc Ratner have both confirmed that UFC 103 takes place Sept. 19 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

Following the Foupa-Pokam victory, McFedries looks to put together back-to-back victories for the first time in his UFC career. McFedries found himself in a must-win situation at the May event. Following a "Knockout of the Night" bonus for his win over Marvin Eastman at The Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale, McFedries then suffered back-to-back losses to Mike Massenzio and Thales Leites before the win over "Professor X."
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McFedries will now meet Drwal, who suffered a loss -- his first in 13 fights -- to Thiago Silva in his UFC debut in 2007. Since then, though, Drwal has scored knockout wins over both Ivan Serati (UFC 93) and Mike Ciesnolevicz (The Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale). The Ciesnolevicz knockout (Drwal's 10th in 16 career wins) earned him a $25,000 KO of the Night award.

MMAjunkie.com's latest rumored UFC 103 card now includes:

* Rich Franklin vs. TBA*
* Junior Dos Santos vs. Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic*
* Martin Kampmann vs. Mike Swick*
* Josh Koscheck vs. Frank Trigg*
* Hermes Franca vs. Tyson Griffin*
* Sean Sherk vs. Gleison Tibau*
* Efrain Escudero vs. Cole Miller
* Tomasz Drwal vs. Drew McFedries*
* Rafael dos Anjos vs. Matt Wiman*

* - Not officially announced

 

[Shogun Locc]

TUF TALK FROM KIMBO: "I'M A FIGHTER"

Kimbo Slice is a free man after being cooped up in a house with fifteen other UFC heavyweight hopefuls.

The 35-year-old sat upstairs last Thursday at the Spike TV booth near the back of the UFC Fan Expo at Mandalay Bay as hordes of fans waited below for a glimpse of his beard. The remaining cast members milled about in front of the stage after their public unveiling, signing autographs and chomping at the bit to go home that evening.

Slice emerged from the reality show with a respect for his fellow castmates despite indicators they awaited his demise and his promise that he would fight anyone who disrespected him. At the end of the day, it was the chance to train extensively with men his size.

“The opportunity to be around all heavyweights, that just doesn’t happen,” said Slice. “There’s a lot of gyms out here in the States, but none of them had as many heavyweights as we had at one time here.”

Given the fighters revealed at the Expo, the odds are stacked against him. But whether he succeeds or not, Kimbo feels he is on the right path and will not stray from his ultimate goal of being an ultimate fighter.

“I guess it’s safe to say I don’t mind being a gatekeeper,” he said. “Eventually, you got something you want to get. A drive for something, you know what I'm saying? And I guess I'm still searching for that inner me, I'm still searching for something. Until I find it, and until my fire is done, I'm a fighter.”

If a UFC heavyweight title comes his way, great; if not, no big deal.

“Eventually, you want that title around your waist, that's eventually the goal,” he said. “But it don't happen, just line them up.”

 

[Shogun Locc]

UFC Quick Quote: Yoshihiro Akiyama a little lost in translation during Alan Belcher fight

“Alan was a very tough fighter. The damage of the low blow in the beginning of the fight was quite strong. I thought that if he hit me there again I wouldn’t be able to continue the fight. I wanted to take a large break but there was confusion during the fight. I misunderstood the referee saying five minutes in English as five seconds, I continued the fight urgently but this took a big toll on the exhaustion of my physical strength. My eye got injured when I got downed on the first round by a left. I felt an abnormality in my eye after the end of the 1st round. One eye was closed so I didn’t know about my sense of distance. Because I couldn’t see any attacks from my opponent’s right side I received a lot of leg kicks from that side. I didn’t continue with the game plan, the only reason I won was my feeling that I really didn’t want to lose this fight. After the fight when I was in the hospital, Dana White came personally and told me first hand that me and Belcher’s fight was elected as the fight of the night. I was very happy…. Alan is the toughest fighter I have faced and I’m proud to have been able to fight him. I will devote myself from now on so please support me.”