MMA News Thread

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3 Bouts Added to March 25 Titan Fighting Championship

Three new matchups have been added to the card for Titan Fighting Championship 17, which goes down March 25 at Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kan.

Headlined by a heavyweight attraction pitting former pro-wrestling superstar Bobby Lashley against M-1 Challenge veteran James Jack, the event will now feature a bantamweight tilt between Anthony Gutierrez and Jon Hollis, a lightweight attraction showcasing James Krause and Nathan Schut, and a 150-pound catchweight confrontation pairing Eric Marriott with William DaSouza.

Sherdog.com learned of the additions Friday afternoon from a source close to the event. As previously reported, the show will also feature a heavyweight bout between “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 10 participant Abe Wagner and Bellator vet Aaron Rosa. Additionally, onetime UFC contender Phil Baroni will meet former Strikeforce talent Nick Nolte at middleweight.

Known as “Shark Bait,” Gutierrez compiled a 16-4 amateur record before making an impressive professional debut at January’s TFC 16, where he stopped Jacob Aiken in the first round with elbow strikes.

Salina, Kan., native Hollis also had an extensive amateur career prior to turning pro last September. He, too, competed at TFC 16, notching a third-round knockout of Brian Phillips.

Krause has been beaten only thrice over his three-year career. The 24-year-old was defeated in both of his World Extreme Cagefighting appearances in 2009, dropping bouts to Donald Cerrone and Ricardo Lamas, respectively. Though he recovered with a win at TFC 15 to end that year, Krause was again beaten in his most recent outing, falling to two-time Bellator tournament finalist Toby Imada in April 2010.

Schut rides a five-fight winning streak into his bout with Krause. A King of the Cage veteran, the Minnesotan owns all 11 of his career wins by submission.

A competitor in Bellator’s second-season featherweight tournament, Marriott is a teammate of Gutierrez at K2L Grindhouse in Lee’s Summit, Mo. Known as “The Machine,” Marriott has finished over half of his career victims by knockout or submission.

DaSouza, a 28-year-old Wichita, Kan., last competed in August, when he earned a second-round submission victory over Travis Sveum at a local event in Missouri. DaSouza’s bout against Marriott will mark his first inside the Titan cage.

 

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Bellator 35's Lozano sheathing best weapon for now, hopes to dust off for Hieron

For the undefeated Chris Lozano (6-0 MMA, 1-0 BFC), holding back is going to be the toughest part of Bellator's season-four welterweight tournament.

He gets to use just about all the weapons in his arsenal: kicks, punches, knees and a myriad of submissions he keeps for special occasions. But perhaps his favorite tool, or at least one he said comes naturally to him, is off-limits.

Per Bellator's tournament rules, he can't use elbows unless he makes the tournament finals. And he loves them, particularly the ones of the spinning variety. He used the strike to hammer UFC vet Yoshiyuki Yoshida in his promotional debut this past September and earned the most significant victory of his professional career.

Now, Lozano is walking into a quarterfinal tournament bout against Lyman Good (10-1 MMA, 3-1 BFC), who's a dangerous striker in his own right, and it couldn't be a better time to bust up the former welterweight champ with that pointy bone. But alas, he has to tamp that impulse.

Oh well.

"I'm still going to come out there and do me," he told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio). "I'm going to bring it. I really think it's going to be hard for me to turn off the elbows, though."

Lozano and Good meet Saturday at Bellator 35, which takes place at Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino, and the event's main card airs live on MTV2.

Before his Bellator debut, Lozano made a splash on the Midwest fight scene with four consecutive first-round knockouts, and he made another UFC vet, Jason Dent, quit on his stool.

Prior to his loss to now-champion Ben Askren, Good racked up a string of TKO victories before he graduated to bigger shows such as the now-defunct IFL and Bellator.

So while Lozano knows the fight will be tough, he doesn't exactly know how the fight will play out under the slightly modified rules.

"Every fight has its own mindset, its own personality," he said. "I know I'm prepared for everything. I've trained for ground, for standup. I know I've got the power to put him away with the first blow I hit him with. But he's got the power to hurt people, too. I just see it being a war.

"If it makes out of the first minute, it's going to be a war."

Although he admits it's a temptation to contemplate his prospects against the rest of the welterweight field, he said he's more focused than ever on his current challenge. He knows that most observers already have their favorites picked, and it's up to him to prove them wrong.

"I could see a guy like Lyman looking past me, or Jay (Hieron) looking past his guy, or maybe even (Dan) Hornbuckle looking past (Brent) Weedman," Lozano said. "Because to the public, we're the weakest ones in the tournament. For me, it's easy to focus on what I got because I know what I got."

And though he's not looking too far ahead, there's one competitor Lozano got his eye on: Jay Hieron. The two have sparred frequently over Twitter and the IFL, Affliction and UFC vet has rubbed him the wrong way.

"I've got respect for everybody in this tournament," Lozano said. "I think I'm in one of the greatest tournaments ever put together in mixed martial arts right now. And I pay attention to everybody; what they're saying in interviews. I just want to know my opponent.

"Jay Hieron was the only guy (who) ... any time anybody asked him a question about us, he was like, 'I ain't worried about them dudes. I'm willing to fight any of them right now.' You can kind of tell he thinks he's bigger than us; he thinks he's bigger than this tournament. So I don't like his attitude."

Will Lozano get a chance to correct that attitude? Or better yet, crack Hieron with an elbow in the finals?

That depends on how he utilizes the weapons he's got.

 

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Bellator 35 weigh-in results: Welterweight quarterfinals official

Official fighter weigh-ins for Saturday's Bellator 35 event took place today, and the four quarterfinal matchups for the promotion's season-four welterweight tournament are now official.

The festivities took place at the Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino in Lemoore, Calif.

The same venue hosts Saturday's MTV2-broadcast event, the company's first season-four fight card.

Bellator 35 hosts all four bouts in the promotion's season-four welterweight tournament, and all eight competitors in the bracket made weight without issue.

Additionally, the preliminary portion of the card features Bellator 115-pound champion Zoila Frausto and Karina Hallinan in a non-title affair. Both females also made weight without issue in a 125-pound contest.

The full weigh-in results included:

MAIN CARD

* Lyman Good (170.8) vs. Chris Lozano (170.6) - welterweight tourney quarterfinal
* Jay Hieron (170.8) vs. Anthony Lapsley (170.8) - welterweight tourney quarterfinal
* Rick Hawn (170.6) vs. Jim Wallhead (170) - welterweight tourney quarterfinal
* Dan Hornbuckle (170) vs. Brent Weedman (169.4) - welterweight tourney quarterfinal

PRELIMINARY CARD

* Champion Zoila Frausto (125.6) vs. Karina Hallinan (125) - non-title fight
* Jamie Jara (174.4) vs. Waachiim Spiritwolf (173.4)
* Brandon Bender (146.4) vs. Josh Herrick (145.2)
* Jesus Castro (135) vs. Paul Ruiz (134.8)

 

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DREAM Schedule Done?! New System Of K-1 Press Conference

It looks like next week might be the week of some real news.

The DREAM schedule for 2011 looks to have been decided and they might hold a press conference next week.

Also, a press conference regarding the new system of K-1 should happen in a few days.

 

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More On New System Of K-1 Presser! Fresh Start?

So the story is that Kamipro were planning to interview K-1 event producer Sadaharu Tanikawa on February 23rd. It was cancelled by Tanikawa when the writer was at his office though.

And the reason was because on the first week of March at the latest, they will hold a press conference. After that press conference there will be much more to talk about.

But there are only 2 days left of the first week of March. He did say next week or the week after in the video interview from the same day though.

Tanikawa said (I’m guessing when the writer visited him): “Everything is fine” and “If K-1 isn’t born again…” (basically he’s saying that K-1 has to be born again/make a fresh start).

So expect the announcement of a new system/new order for K-1 if a press conference happens one of these days.

 

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Kikuno Enters NTT! Goal Is Best In The World

Everyone’s favorite super hero Katsunori Kikuno tweeted today that until now he has avoided training at NTT (Nippon Top Team) where Aoki and Kitaoka train but since his aim is to become the best in the world he arrived at the resolution that he has no choice but to go.

Then he tweeted that today (at NTT) Masakazu Imanari took his leg and Sotaro Yamada took his neck. “But I’ll definitely become the best in the world!”.

 

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Jardine Pounds Lofton, Holm Hot in MMA Debut at 'Double Threat'

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- For Keith Jardine, it was another step on the road back to the UFC. For Holly "Hottie" Holm, it was a rousing beginning to her mixed martial arts career.

Both Jardine and Holm were victorious in their co-featured bouts as part of Fresquez Productions' "Double Threat" at the Route 66 Casino in Albuquerque on Friday night. Jardine earned a stoppage victory over Austin, Texas' Aron Lofton at 3:30 of the opening round in their light heavyweight match. Meanwhile, Holm staggered Wisconsin native Christina "Machine Gun" Domke with leg kicks throughout their 135-pound tussle, the last of which left the Wisconsin native unable to stand, giving the boxing star a knockout triumph at 3:58 of the second round in the night’s co-feature.

Jardine has been known for his tendency to engage in striking wars in recent bouts, but in the first fight in his hometown since 2004, "The Dean of Mean" took a different approach.

After Lofton stunned "The Ultimate Fighter" Season 2 veteran with a punch in the clinch, Jardine recovered to land a brutal kick to the body. With the Triton Fight Center product hurting, the 35-year-old “Dean of Mean” was able to slam his opponent to the ground and finish the fight with strikes.

The win was the second in a row for Jardine, after having bested Francisco "Kiko" France in December. The two consecutive wins follow a five-fight losing streak that saw his exit from the UFC.

"I think he was off balance, I think he got hit. If he wouldn’t have been off balance it wouldn’t have been such a big deal, but scared us," Jardine’s striking coach Mike Winkeljohn told Sherdog.com after the bout.

Jardine admitted that Lofton had decent power.

"That guy’s got really heavy hands, and I’m working on my inside fighting a lot, so I knew I was kind of taking a risk with that," he said.

However, it was his teammate who actually got Jardine’s blood circulating.

"When I heard Holly go out and heard everybody yelling 'Holly, Holly,' it really pumped me up," Jardine said.

Although she momentarily forgot she was in an MMA bout, Holm displayed an impressive skill set in her first cage experience. When the veteran of 33 pro boxing matches floored the Wisconsin native with what would turn out to be her final leg kick of the night, Holm turned and bounced in the direction of her corner as if expecting a mandatory eight count to be administered.

"My coaches were like, ‘What are you doing? Get on her.’ They wound up calling it, but I wish I would have finished a little better," Holm said after the bout.

Holm punctuated many of her combinations with devastating leg and body kicks. Although she became one of boxing’s most achieved 140 and 147-pound women’s champions, Holm began her combat sports career as a kickboxer, and those roots were evident in her MMA debut.

"I probably threw a few more leg kicks on the outside than I should have, but there was a couple times I threw the kicks without the punches, and my coach was like, 'Holly, throw hands first.' I had to bring myself back to that and throw them at the right time," said Holm.

When Domke shot for a takedown and earned full mount in the opening frame -- the first time in her career Holm has been on her back -- the 29-year old Jackson’s MMA product responded by quickly getting the fight upright again, passing what many considered to be the biggest test in her transition to a new sport.

"I really was not planning on being there at all. For the whole training camp, if I get there, I just want to work on getting out of it. Even if I’m not worried, and she’s not hitting me hard, it just looks bad," Holm said.

Credit the training camp for Holm’s resilience on the ground, said Greg Jackson.

"I wasn’t worried at all because Julie Kedzie has been mounting Holly, and Holly’s been working out of that for the last six weeks straight. When she was taken down, I know that Julie had put in so much work with her that it was going to be a matter of time
before she got back up," Jackson said.

The card also showcased a quartet of professional debuts, including two fighters representing Keith Jardine’s gym, Mean1 MMA and Fitness.

Albuquerque native Trey Solomon defeated Mean1’s Tim Dennisson via TKO at 4:35 of the third round in a 160-pound tilt. Dennisson was able to escape a multitude of submission attempts for two rounds, but was pounded out in the final frame.

In the evening’s first professional fight, Mean1 light heavyweight Lionel Lanham survived an early assault from Roswell, N.M., native Guto Feliciano to score a stoppage at 4:08 of round one.

In amateur action, Mean1’s Eric Evans battered Eric Sudduth of Hobbs, N.M., with ground-and-pound before finishing his opponent with an arm-triangle choke at 57 seconds of the second round in a heavyweight affair.

In a pair of 175-pound catch-weight bouts, two Mean1 reps went down as Logan Sims couldn’t stand up to Martin Sano Jr.'s onslaught as the El Pasoan took a second-round stoppage at 1:12 of the frame, while Lalo Chavez from Albuquerque’s Chavez Dojo stopped Shannon Curlee in just 73 seconds.

Sandoval Fighting System’s Patrick Ayala crumpled Giovanni Monarez with a right leg kick before finishing the fight with punches on the ground to take a first-round stoppage victory at featherweight.

Mean1 representative Steve Garcia drilled Josey Boatright with a head kick to earn a knockout just 16 seconds into the opening round of their bantamweight bout, while teammate David Meijas tapped Team Roswell’s Daniel Garcia via triangle choke at 2:20 of the third round in their flyweight contest.

 

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Henderson Prefers 205-Pound Menu

Dan Henderson enjoys life at 205 pounds, particularly the dietary side of it.

The two-time Olympian will challenge champion Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante for the light heavyweight championship in the Strikeforce “Feijao vs. Henderson” main event on Saturday at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. Henderson welcomes the tradeoff that comes with competing at a heavier weight class.

“One of the benefits of fighting at 205 is I get to enjoy my food,” Henderson said during a pre-fight press conference. “One of the drawbacks is I have to fight guys [Cavalcante’s] size.”

Four of Henderson’s previous six appearances were at middleweight, including his failed Strikeforce debut against Jake Shields in April. The 40-year-old returned to the 205-pound division with a vengeance three months ago in St. Louis, as he steamrolled Renato “Babalu” Sobral in less than two minutes at the Scottrade Center. Still the only man to hold major MMA titles in two weight classes simultaneously, Henderson has not won a championship fight since he knocked out Wanderlei Silva under the Pride Fighting Championships banner in February 2007. Few, however, have more big-fight experience.

“I don’t feel any added pressure fighting for the title,” Henderson said. “Every fight for the last few years has been pretty big.”

The world-ranked Cavalcante has posted six wins in his last seven outings and will enter the cage on the strength of a three-fight winning streak. The 30-year-old Brazilian trains alongside the last man to finish Henderson -- UFC middleweight king Anderson Silva.

“He’s a different fighter than Anderson Silva, so it doesn’t matter that they train together, and I think I’ve improved a lot since I fought Anderson,” Henderson said. “A lot of the techniques are similar in MMA. You just have to look at your opponent and their technique and tweak your game plan a little bit.”

One of MMA’s most accomplished competitors, Henderson holds victories over Brazilian icon Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, 2006 Pride welterweight grand prix winner Kazuo Misaki, one-time UFC light heavyweight champion Vitor Belfort, former UFC middleweight titleholder Rich Franklin and “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 3 winner Michael Bisping. He remains as driven as ever.

“Obviously, I wouldn’t be here if winning a world title wasn’t one of my goals, but the challenge of fighting someone like Feijao is exciting,” said Henderson, who turns 41 in August. “He’s big, he’s tough and he’s strong. I would definitely enjoy having the belt, but the reason I fight is for the challenge.”

 

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Strikeforce Title’s Unstable History of No Concern to ‘Feijao’

On June 27, 2008, Bobby Southworth successfully defended the Strikeforce light heavyweight championship in a unanimous decision over Anthony Ruiz. In the nearly three years since, three other men -- Renato “Babalu” Sobral, Gegard Mousasi and Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal -- have tried and failed to follow suit.

Now comes Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante’s turn.

Cavalcante will put his 205-pound title on the line against Dan Henderson in the Strikeforce “Feijao vs. Henderson” main event on Saturday at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The history of past promotional champions matters little to the 30-year-old Brazilian, who will enter the cage on the strength of a three-fight winning streak.

“I don’t care that no one has successfully defended the title [since Southworth],” Cavalcante said during a pre-fight press conference. “I care about preparation, training and getting inside the cage to fight.”

In Henderson, Cavalcante faces arguably his most difficult test. The 40-year-old two-time Olympian was a two-division titleholder inside Pride Fighting Championships and has more than a decade of experience on which to fall back. Henderson has won four of his last five fights and wiped out Sobral in less than two minutes in December, as he staked an emphatic claim to 205-pound contention. Cavalcante claimed to have tunnel vision as he prepared for his first title defense.

“I prepare for the next fight, and I train for that opponent,” said Cavalcante, who has not fought since he dethroned the previously unbeaten Lawal in August. “I’m thinking about Dan Henderson and not thinking about the championship.”

Cavalcante trains alongside two men who know Henderson well: UFC middleweight king Anderson Silva and former Pride heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, both of whom have defeated him. Feijao plans to rely heavily on the expertise of his camp.

“I always train like a family,” Cavalcante said. “Antonio Rodrigo is like my mentor. He helped me a lot. He’s always there with me. My coaches and I have made a strategy for this fight.”

Always a hard nut to crack, Henderson wields one of the sport’s most enduring resumes. His list of victories includes Nogueira, former Pride middleweight king Wanderlei Silva and ex-UFC champions Carlos Newton, Murilo Bustamante (twice), Vitor Belfort and Rich Franklin. Cavalcante recognizes the considerable obstacle standing before him. In fact, it motivates him.

“With a big challenge, you train more and more,” Cavalcante said. “Henderson is a big challenge, and that is what makes this sport exciting.”

 

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Injured Ludwig out at UFC Fight Night 24, Wilks now faces Sadollah

An injured sternum has forced slugger Duane "Bang" Ludwig out of a planned UFC Fight Night 24 welterweight bout with "The Ultimate Fighter 9" winner Amir Sadollah (4-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC).

In his place steps "The Ultimate Fighter 7" champ James Wilks (7-4 MMA, 2-2 UFC).

UFC executives today announced the change in plans.

"James Wilks has verbally agreed to step up against Amir Sadollah for UFC Fight Night (on) March 26," White stated in the official notice. "'TUF 7' winner vs. 'TUF 9' winner. Should be fun."

UFC Fight Night 24 takes place March 26 at KeyArena in Seattle and airs live on Spike TV. A light-heavyweight tilt between Phil Davis and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira headlines the card.

Sadollah looks to build on a unanimous-decision win over Peter Sobotta at UFC 122. The victory allowed him to rebound from a decision loss to Dong Hyun Kim in May. Sadollah, who previously competed at middleweight, owns previous UFC wins over C.B. Dollaway, Phil Baroni and Brad Blackburn. The other loss came to Johnny Hendricks during his second pro bout in 2009.

Meanwhile, Wilks looks to rebound from a UFC 120 loss to Claude Patrick this past October. Wilks has alternated results in four octagon appearances. The Brit earned the "TUF 9" title with an impressive submission win over DaMarques Johnson. He's since sandwiched a win over Peter Sobotta between losses to Patrick and Matt Brown.

 

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Alexander hopes Irvin available for May Shark Fights show, will settle for "Kimbo"

Light heavyweight Houston Alexander hopes James Irvin gets a recent suspension for performance-enhancing drugs reduced from one year to six months, if only for one selfish reason.

So he can put his hands on "The Sandman."

But if Irvin (15-8) doesn't get cleared to fight Alexander (11-6) in May, as the Texas-based Shark Fights is now targeting, "The Assassin" has someone else in mind for his next fight: Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson.

"If 'Kimbo' is available, I'd love to fight him again," Alexander told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).

This past Wednesday, the California State Athletic Commission suspended Irvin one year and fined him $2,500 by the for the alleged use of animal steroid Epitrenbolone ahead of a submission loss to Jorge Oliveira at Tachi Palace Fights 7. He was scheduled to fight Alexander March 11 at Shark Fights 14 in a rematch of an April 2008 fight in which he earned an eight-second knockout victory.

The day before Irvin's most recent troubles became public knowledge, Alexander injured his foot in training and was forced to withdraw from the fight. Shark Fights officials called off the bout shortly thereafter, though they didn't make the news official until Irvin's suspension – his second offense for steroids – was made official.

Alexander said he wasn't surprised when he heard that Irvin again had run afoul with an athletic commission.

"Even before the story broke, I was going to tell (manager) Monte (Cox) that one of the stipulations of fighting the guy was to have him tested," Alexander said. "I'm a natural fighter. I've always been a natural fighter.

"He got caught once before. I was disappointed because that's one of the fights I really wanted back. Hopefully, it happens in May like they're kind of estimating. Even now with my foot messed up, I'm still ready for it."

Alexander said his injury, which he said is a torn tendon, will be healed in a few weeks. If, however, Irvin is not able to get his suspension reduced to six months – an action not entirely uncommon with CSAC drug offenders – and be able to fight in May, he would like to once again fight "Kimbo" (4-2).

That's with a different game plan than the one he employed in their first meeting, which ended in a unanimous decision for Ferguson at The Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale.

"There will be days when I look at my old fights; I'm not even the same fighter I was when I was in the UFC," Alexander said. "I'm a completely different fighter. I know I'm a lot better fighter than any of those losses I've had."

Whether he'll get either of his wishes is unknown. Irvin hasn't spoken publicly since his positive test, though he has the right to appeal his suspension. Ferguson is all but MIA in combat=sports' circles and rumored to be considering a career in pro wrestling.

Shark Fights 14 takes place at Fair Park Coliseum in Lubbock, Texas, and airs live on HDNet. A women's bout between Tara LaRosa and Carina Damm has taken the the co-main event spot previously occupied by Alexander vs. Irvin II.

 

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Pat Barry Happy to Face Carwin, Hunt, Struve or Whoever the UFC Sees Fit

Coming off a win over Joey Beltran in January, striker extraordinaire Pat Barry is ready to step back into the Octagon and he’s just waiting on a call from UFC matchmaker Joe Silva.

There are a few interesting match-ups on Barry’s mind that would make sense and would be fun fights for the former K-1 kickboxer.

While by no means is Barry calling anyone out, he does admit that a fight with 6’11″ Dutch fighter Stefan Struve would be interesting. Especially since he stands at 5’11″.

“Personally, I think it would be cool to fight Stefan Struve. The tallest heavyweight versus the shortest heavyweight. I think that would be cool,” Barry said recently.

Barry has never been a fighter known to call any other fighter out, and instead opting to go with the philosophy of facing whoever the UFC puts in front of him. A fight against Struve is no different, but it would test his flexibility for sure.

“Do I really want to fight him? Naw, I just think I can high kick him,” Barry said about a potential match-up with Struve.

As far as other fights in the division that interest Barry, they also include a fellow former K-1 fighter and a former UFC heavyweight champion.

“Mark Hunt just won a fight, Shane Carwin’s looking for somebody for (UFC) 131,” Barry mentioned for possible opponents.

Hunt picked up a win in Australia last month, ending his six fight losing streak and also getting his first victory in the UFC. Before moving to MMA, Hunt was a well known kickboxer working in the K-1 circuit, known for his granite like chin and heavy punches.

A fight between Hunt and Barry might be the striker’s dream match many MMA fans would flock to.

Meanwhile, Shane Carwin is still expected to fight at UFC 131 in June in Vancouver, but an opponent remains to be announced. The former champion has been on a recovery road after back surgery set him back a few months ago, but now the slimmed down Carwin is ready to get back in action.

The UFC has made no official offer to Barry or his camp for his next fight, but options are on the table and the Duke Roufus trained fighter is happy to accept any of them.

 

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Ivan Canello, Former MMAWeekly Colleague, Passes Away

It is with heavy hearts that we at MMAWeekly.com must pass on the sad news that our friend and colleague Ivan Canello has passed away.

Ivan, a mere 32 years old, had a severe heart attack on Friday, according to Marcelo Alonso of Sherdog.com. We unfortunately confirmed the news with mutual friend Denis Martins. Ivan was heading out to a shopping mall with his mother when he died.

A staple at the Chute Boxe Academy, in recent years Ivan worked as a manager or agent for several Brazilian fighters, including the likes of Strikeforce champion Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos. He was getting ready to head to the United States with his charges Patricio and Patricky Freire, both fighting for Bellator.

Ivan also left an indelible mark on the world of journalism, focusing on Brazilian mixed martial arts. He worked for a time with us here at MMAWeekly.com, writing a column titled “Pode Pegar,” focusing on Brazilian MMA.

He was a premier contributor to Portal do Vale Tudo since its inception about a decade ago. Ivan also ran his own blog called ManiaMMA.com, and produced videos on his site’s YouTube channel.

“Ivan was a man with a big heart. It may have failed him physically, but never could anyone ever question Ivan’s friendship or sincerity. He put his heart into everything he did, a broad smile across his face,” remembered MMAWeekly.com editor Ken Pishna.

“Ivan will be sadly missed, but I will remember him with that big, ear-to-ear smile.”

“He was one of the nicest guys you could ever meet, and he was taken from us too soon,” said MMAWeekly.com writer Al Yu, who worked with Ivan over the years and considered him a good friend. “He will truly be missed. Rest in peace my friend.”

“Ivan was a staple of the fight scene in Brazil and one of the best in the business,” added MMAWeekly.com lead writer and radio host Damon Martin. “While I only worked with him briefly, I know he was a hard worker and one of the most dedicated people to the sport of mixed martial arts. He will be missed.”

 

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Roger Bowling Headed Back To The Winning Track At Strikeforce

Strikeforce welterweight prospect Roger Bowling admits he wasn’t all there in his last fight against Bobby Voelker, which resulted in the first loss of his career.

“I’m not going to say I took him lightly, but I just didn’t train like I should,” Bowling told MMAWeekly.com. “If I were to be working a regular job, I would have called in sick that night.

“It’s not that I was sick; I just didn’t come to fight. I just didn’t feel like I was ready to go in there even before the fight in the locker room. I don’t know what it was, but I felt like I was in a bad dream walking to the cage, I wasn’t ready to go.”

The adage of learning more from a loss than from a win appears to have not been lost on Bowling.

“It made me go back to the drawing board, see everything I did wrong, and learn a lot from the loss,” he commented.

“When you’re winning, everything’s great and you want to keep everything the same, but when you get knocked off the ladder, you and your camp have to figure out what you did wrong and what adjustments you need to make so it doesn’t happen again and you can get back up and start climbing the ladder again.”

Bowling feels injuries hampered previous training camps, but such issues didn’t slow down his preparations for his first fight since the loss. He steps back in the cage at Saturday night’s Strikeforce: Feijao vs. Henderson in Columbus, Ohio.

“I’m going in completely healthy, had a great training camp, and am 100-percent,” stated Bowling. “My body’s healthy and I’m excited to be fighting a couple hours away from my hometown of Cincinnati.

“This is how I made my start and it will be nice to hear a few cheers for me from my hometown friends and family there to support me.”

Bowling’s return comes against up-and-coming Gracie fighter Josh Thornburg.

“I’ve been working a lot on my jiu-jitsu, because he comes from a good school training with the Diaz brothers,” said Bowling. “They’ve got a good jiu-jitsu background and good stand-up, so I’ve been training hard on everything.

“My coaches and I have a really good game plan going in at him and I should be able to impose my will in a bunch of different areas. I feel comfortable with it and I feel it will be a good comeback fight for me.”

When asked his goals for 2011, Bowling simply replied, “Win.

“I want to spring back. That last fight kind of lit my fire and I want to keep learning, improving, and winning.”

Having suffered his first loss and learned from the mistakes he made inside and outside the cage, Bowling for 2011 to be his true breakout year.

“Everybody check out FightFuel.com, and thanks to my sponsors: Intimidation Clothing, Farmers Insurance, and everyone I missed,” he said in closing. “Thanks to my training partners and everybody at Team Vision.

“Strikeforce is going to be near my hometown and I’m coming out hungry and I want to redeem myself for that last performance and show everybody what I’m about.”

 

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[Shogun Locc]

Tavares KO loss, wants to stay in the UFC: “I always give my best”

The lightweight Thiago Tavares was doing fine on his bout with Shane Roller, on UFC on Versus 3, but a punch ruined it all. After almost knocking Roller out on the first round, Thiago was dominating the round until he was knocked out by the American. “I was doing fine on the fight, I was fast. I was defending myself all times, he hasn’t punched me once… I don’t have anything to say”, regrets the fighter, on a phone chat with TATAME.

With the loss, the professional record of the Brazilian on Ultimate is now of four losses in ten fights, besides five wins and a draw, and the overcrowding of his weight class, with WEC fusion, made thinks even harder. “They haven’t told me anything about me being cut off. I dominated the fight, punched him and almost knocked him out on the first round, but I didn’t take my chance… Well, I think it’s the worst feeling I’ve ever had in my entire life: I was completely focus for this fight, doing well, concentrated, dominating the fight, and I lost because of one punch”, comments, upset.

A point in favor of the Brazilian, who’s won three awards of the best fight of the evening on UFC, it’s the fact he always put on a great show. “They always ask for a great show, they want exciting fights, and I’m exactly that guy. I do good fights, I’m aggressive, I always give my best”, reminds Thiago, who ain’t sure if it’ll be enough for him to remain alive on the event. “My fights were never boring. I play by what they ask me… If it’ll prevent me from getting cut off, I don’t know. This weight class is really too busy, there’re many newcomers now with WEC merge… let’s see what happens”, concluded.

 

[Shogun Locc]

Tiequan Zhang’s trainer talks UFC 127 win, says UFC is heading to Hong Kong in 2012

Born in Mongolia, an independent zone situated on the North of Chine, the featherweight Tiequan Zhang put on a heel of a show on his debut on UFC. Being considered by many the greatest representative of MMA on the most crowd country on earth, Zhang needed only 48 seconds to submit Jason Reinhardt on UFC 127, and TATAME chatted with the responsible for the sharp ground game of the tough guy. Pupil of Carlson Gracie, Ruy Menezes works with the gentle art in China since 2003, and commented on the growth of MMA and the prejudice that many coaches still have towards the modality on the country, the evolution of Zhang on the floor and, among many other subjects, revealed UFC’s plan to promote a show in Hong Kong next year.

When did you start to work with Jiu-Jitsu in China? How did you start to work with Tiequan Zhang?

I come to China since 2003, and in 2009 I got an official proposal to train a MMA team, on which I met Tiequan Zhang. I was in Beijing, in 2005, and Andy Pi, who owns Art Of War invite me to minister a seminar on Xian’s University. They have the best team of Sanda(it’s a kind of mix between Muay Thai and Boxing) in all China, and then I met Tiequan Zhang. In 2009, I got the proposal and accepted it.

Since you first started working together, how did he evolve?

When I got here he was a BJJ blue belt, but not in Brazil’s level. I’ve started to train him and explain what really worked and what was just to distract. On these two years I’m here, I can tell you he learned a new Jiu-Jitsu and now he’s my brown belt. I taught Tiequan Zhang what I’ve learned from my master Carlson Gracie: to do it, don’t pretend it. He invited me to set up a team and I’ve accepted it, but as a coach, not owner. We put together China Top Team. I thought it was a cool name because I was from BTT, and Liborio and Conan, who are my friends, came from ATT.

Zhang has a pretty sharp Jiu-Jitsu. Is it easy to deal with him? Does he learn things fast?

It’s too easy for him, he’s open-minded and he’s always willing to learn. We talk a lot, and I always tell him that his Jiu-Jitsu still has to be sharp always, and that the most important thing is that he tries to submit the guys. It’ll make him alert all times, and now worried about holding it.

Since Tiequan Zhang started to show up on WEC, and now UFC, how did people react towards MMA in China? Did people started to support it more?

MMA is a new thing here, there’re problems with the federations of Kung Fu and Sanda, that feels threatened by the new sport. But it’s growing pretty fat, and after he won on WEC and now on UFC, it’s big here. After he won on WEC 51, youcu.com, which is a kind of YouTube here, had 20 thousand accesses within 24 hours. I’m glad to be a part of the growth of the sport here.

UFC has plans to return to the Asian market, and it could start with China. How do you see this possibility? People accept the sport around there?

I believe that, next year, they’ll put on a show in Hong Kong. They have an office here and we are in touch with them daily.

China is a country with much tradition in martial arts. The mixing of many styles is seen with good eyes by the traditional coaches in China?

There’s still prejudice and many coaches don’t like MMA, but I believe it’ll change soon. They’ll understand it’s a good thing for China and that it’ll be win-win.

 

[Shogun Locc]

Kaz Nak In America Next?! Yoshida Returning To Judo?

Some possibilities for the futures of a couple of Yoshida Dojo fighters.

J-Rock boss Kokuho hinted that Olympic gold medalist and retired MMA fighter Hidehiko Yoshida himself might return to Judo as a leader/coach from April 25th and onward (that’s the next date that you can register as one).

Kazuhiro Nakamura said that he had hoped to fight in Japan but since no fight has been decided he’s looking abroad. The plan is for a fight in America in either May or June and he should be able to announce it soon.

Also, as reported previously, Yoshida Dojo fighter Michihiro Omigawa’s next fight will most likely be at the end of May UFC Las Vegas event or the June UFC Vancouver event.