MMA News Thread

[Shogun Locc]

"Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Thomson" official salaries: headliners share $85,000

Josh Thomson upset Gilbert Melendez for the Strikeforce world lightweight title at this past Friday's "Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Thomson" event, but Thomson couldn't edge the former title-holder when it came to his payday.

Thomson earned a reported base salary of $35,000 ($15,000 of which was a win bonus) for the event; Melendez earned an event-high $50,000.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) today acquired the list of salaries from Bill Douglas of the California State Athletic Commission.

The June 27 event, which took place at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif., drew 7,288 spectators for a live gate of $355,487. The event aired live on HDNet.

In addition to the main-event bout, a title fight took place between Strikeforce world light heavyweight champion Bobby Southworth and Anthony Ruiz. Southworth earned $25,000 in victory; Ruiz got $200, though most of his salary was already paid as part of an advance.

The official payroll for the event was $203,200.

The full list of salaries included:

Alexandre Trivino: $1,500 ($500 win bonus)
def. Eric Jacob: $1,000

Jorge Interiano: $1,500 ($500 win bonus)
def. Travis Johnson: $2,000

Cyrillo Padilha: $2,500 ($750 win bonus)
def. Jesse Jones: $2,000

Brian Caraway: $3,000 ($1,000 win bonus)
def. Alvin Cacdac: $3,000

Bobby Stack: $3,000 ($1,000 win bonus)
def. Jose Palacios: $3,000

Chris Cariaso: $6,000 (no win bonus)
def. Anthony Figueroa: $5,000

Jeremiah Metcalf: $8,500 ($5,000 win bonus)
def. Raymond Daniels: $10,000

Miesha Tate: $1,500 ($500 win bonus)
def. Elaina Maxwell: $4,000

Bobby Southworth: $25,000 ($10,000 win bonus)
def. Anthony Ruiz: $200*

Billy Evangelista: $14,000 ($7000 win bonus)
def. Nam Phan: $10,000

Josh Thomson: $35,000 ($15,000 win bonus)
def. Gilbert Melendez: $50,000

Eric Lawson: $8,000 ($1,000 KO/submission bonus)
def. Jesse Gillespie: $3,500

* - Ruiz received the majority of his purse as an advance, which resulted in the small fight purse for this bout.

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. In other words, these are simply base salaries reported to the commission and do not represent the total amounts earned by each fighter.

 

[Shogun Locc]

Edwin Dewees vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira fight finalized today

Edwin Dewees (35-12) will, in fact, replace a suspended Vernon White and will fight Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (13-3) at the July 19 "Affliction: Banned" event at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.

Ken Pavia, Dewees' agent, told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that his client today received and signed a bout agreement for the fight.

MMAjunkie.com was the first to report that Affliction Vice President Tom Atencio was targeting the former UFC fighter and longtime veteran for the vacant slot.

However, the fight will now appear on the un-televised portion of the event, which airs on FSN before flipping over to pay per view. The Nogueira-White fight had been slated for the FSN portion of the card, but Affliction announced on Tuesday that a light heavyweight bout between Vitor Belfort and Terry Martin would instead get the slot.

Dewees earned a ticket onto the high-profile event after White was pulled from the card after testing positive for a banned diuretic after a May 31 Xtreme Fighting Association event in Las Vegas. White's hearing with the Nevada State Athletic Commission is set for July 9, according to Atencio, but he couldn't wait for that decision since the Affliction event takes place just 10 days later.

Dewees, a Lions Den fighter who spent two thirds of his career with the Arizona-based Rage in the Cage organization, will instead get the fight. Recently, after winning five of six fights, the 25-year-old fell into a four-fight losing skid. However, he rebounded in April for his most recent win: a first-round submission victory over Richard Blake at a NoLimit Fighting event.

Nogueira, the win brother of UFC interim heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, returned from a one-year layoff to defeat Todd Gouwenberg (via second-round TKO) at a February Hardcore Championship Fighting event. The 32-year-old spent most of his career in PRIDE before the organization's eventual demise.

 

[Shogun Locc]

Urijah Faber vs Mike Brown WEC 36 fight possible on September 10

After his career-defining win over Jens Pulver, Urijah Faber (21-1) will likely return to the cage to defend his WEC featherweight title against Mike Brown at WEC 36 on September 10, according to MMAWeekly.com.

“The California Kid” outstruck and outwrestled “Lil Evil” for five rounds at WEC 34 last month en route to a unanimous decision victory over the former UFC champion. He was clearly the faster fighter and had Pulver hurt in the second round, demonstrating that his striking prowess has caught up with his superb wrestling pedigree.

He will look to extend his 13 fight win streak against American Top Team fighter, Mike Brown.

Brown may be an unknown to many but is clearly a credible opponent to Faber’s 145-pound crown. He holds notable victories over Yves Edwards and Mark Hominick. Brown also fought at WEC 34, defeating Jeff Curran via unaminous decision.

Brown is a well-versed submission fighter, winning nine of his 17 fights by submission. He will soon look to add Faber to the list … but it will not be easy.

WEC 36 is shaping up to be another top notch fight card.

WEC Middleweight Champion Paulo Filho will defend his title again against Chael Sonnen in the main event of the evening and “Razor” Rob McCullough takes on Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone in a lightweight tilt. There is also a possibilty that Pulver could be added to card as well with speculation swirling that his opponent could be Alexandre “Pequeno” Nogueira.

 

[Shogun Locc]

Rampage To Design Hats for New Era

Billboard is reporting that UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Quinton "Rampage" Jackson has entered into a marketing agreement with cap maker New Era to endorse their caps. Part of the deal will include Rampage designing caps for the company. Rampage may also be featured in webisodes for the Zune as part a partnership between Zune and New Era.

These high profile marketing deals may signal that Rampage has finally broken through to the mainstream, and is able to reap new opportunities for endorsements. Rampage's profile has definitely been increased through his recent participation in The Ultimate Fighter reality show.

 

[Shogun Locc]

Fighter Salaries: Addressing The Problems

As a follow-up to Fighter Salaries: The Problems With Revenue Linking, in the coming days I will be examining potential suggestions that could help to improve the hotly contested MMA issue that is fighter pay. For the sake of convenience - and also because they are the "800 lbs. gorilla in the room" - most of this discussion will focus on the UFC. While I certainly do not believe that the UFC and MMA are interchangeable, the sport's biggest organization is almost always at the forefront of every debate regarding the sport and the industry.

To begin, I would like to be clear from the outset: there exists no possible solution that is going to make everyone happy. Even if the MMA industry were to stumble upon a seemingly perfect payscale, it would only be a matter of time before satisfaction is replaced by rationality and everyone at the table again begins to demand a bigger piece of the pie.

Having said that, what really are the issues here? Although there are many smaller problems that help to make fighter pay so contentious, I have identified three issues that seem to receive the most attention whenever a debate arises:

1. Minimum payouts within the UFC.

2. Questionable UFC Contract Provisions.

3. UFC Fighters receiving a fair share of the revenues.

So, what's the answer? As I mentioned earlier, there is no one solution that is going to make everyone happy. However, I believe the UFC's best chance to resolve these issues (or at the very least make them less contentious) is to utilize elements of interest-based negotiation in combination with alternative forms of pay commonly referred to as "compensation" - an HR buzzword that is becoming a staple in Corporate America these days.

It is critical that the UFC get past its own position and the position of the fighters in order to see the interests of both sides - interests are the reasons why people or parties want what they want. In interest-based negotiation this can lead to agreements that were never imagined, simply because neither side was willing to ask one simple question: "why do you want this?"

Getting to the interests of the fighters will open the door to solving them with creative solutions that don't simply focus on salary. After all, there are other ways to compensate people for their work aside from simply paying them money.

 

[Shogun Locc]

Pequeno and Pulver's challenge

Alexandre Pequeno was not surprised with the rumors that say that the boxer Jens Pulver could be his next opponent. Due the Luta-Livre black belt, at the WEC 34 backstage, when both fighters were defeated, Pulver asked for a bout against the ex Shooto champion. “He wants to face me. We met at the backstage of the WEC and he said that he follows my career and he wanted to face me. It would be great to face a tough guy like Pulver. I want to face him too and I believe that a win could put me again at the top of the category”, said Pequeno that although he hasn’t got any offers from WEC staff to this bout, already knows what to do against Pulver.

“I would make my ground game in a fight against Pulver, because there is no way to do stand up with him. He is a professional Boxer, it would be craziness!”, analyzed the black belt, that hopes to return the octagon on August or September. “WEC didn’t contact me yet, but I believe that I could return on August or September. For my next fight I am going to ATT at least one month before to prepare myself better”.

 

[Shogun Locc]

Yahoo! Sports to carry Friday's UFC 86 weigh-ins

Yahoo! Sports, the official MMA partner of MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com), will carry weigh-ins for "UFC 86: Jackson vs. Griffin" live on Friday.

The weigh-ins precede Saturday's pay-per-view event, which takes place at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

Friday's weigh-ins take place at the same venue. Doors open at 6 p.m. ET (3 p.m. PT/local time), and the first fighter hits the scale at approximately 7 p.m. ET. The event is free and open to the public.

Fighters weighing include UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton Jackson, who defends his title against Forrest Griffin in the night's main event, and Patrick Cote, who looks to move closer to a potential title shot when he takes on fellow middleweight Ricardo Almeida. Joe Stevenson and opponent Gleison Tibau will be there, as will main-card opponents Josh Koscheck and Chris Lytle.

As usual MMAjunkie.com will have live coverage of both Friday's weigh-ins and Saturday's live event, including round-by-round coverage and official results from the night's preliminary and main cards, beginning at approximately 8 p.m. ET.

 

[Shogun Locc]

Affliction VP finds UFC counter-programming "flattering"

Many MMA fans have demonized the UFC for launching an event on Spike TV to counter Affliction's debut show. However, Affliction Vice President Tom Atencio said the move only confirms that the world's largest MMA promotion views Affliction as a legitimate threat.

Atencio talked about UFC Fight Night 14 and "Affliction: Banned" today during a media conference call with main-event fighters Josh Barnett, Matt Lindland and Mike Whitehead.

"It's flattering," Atencio said of the counter-programming. "Obviously, it means they're paying attention to us. And it obviously means we're a threat of some sort to them."

"Banned," which is headlined by longtime PRIDE champion Fedor Emelianenko vs. former UFC champ Tim Sylvia, features one of the deepest fights card in MMA history. As MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) previously reported, "Banned" features three ex-UFC heavyweight champs and a number of notables.

"Our card is stacked from top to bottom," Atencio said. "Every one of our fights could be a main event. It's just an unbelievable card, and people want to see it. There's very, very few people out there that are even criticizing the card."

The UFC has countered with a Spike TV event headlined by UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva vs. James Irvin in a non-title fight at 205 pounds. Brandon Vera, Hermes Franca and Frankie Edgar are also on the card, but a total of 10 fighters will make their UFC debuts.

Despite the lack of known talent, the UFC event has a big advantage over the Affliction event: it's free on basic cable. Although Affliction will air two fights for free on FSN, the main card comes with a $39.95 price tag.

Still, Atencio believes fans won't be swayed by the UFC event. He believes everyone who wants to see "Banned" will order it, anyway. The UFC's event will simply cater to those who don't, he said.

"People who weren't going to watch our fight now have something to do," he said.

So, will the UFC continue going head-to-head with Affliction in the future (Atencio confirmed the organization will host another event around Nov. 1 and again in February)? It's possible. The first-ever EliteXC event to air on network television (May 31) was countered by a Chuck Liddell special the UFC commissioned for Spike TV, and according to Yahoo! Sports, another Spike TV special is being planned to counter EliteXC's follow-up event on July 26. EliteXC's May 31 event averaged 4.85 million viewers (peaking with 6.51 million), and Spike TV averaged just a third of that. But the counter-programming surely makes at least a small impact.

Atencio also downplayed criticism that the organization's follow-up events won't be nearly as stacked as "Banned." He was confident plenty of talent will be on display and said future events, which could include overseas shows, will feature winners from "Banned" and new fighters.

"We have a lot of fighters," he said. "We have a lot of fighters we're talking to right now."

 

[Shogun Locc]

Josh Barnett revisits old rival Pedro Rizzo

UFC, PRIDE and K-1 veteran Josh Barnett (22-5) is perhaps one of the least-known commodities in the upper echelon of the heavyweight division to American fans. But if Affliction Vice President Tom Atencio has his way, "The Babyface Assassin" will soon be a household name.

The first roadblock on that journey is the first man ever to beat Barnett, the heavy-handed Pedro Rizzo (16-7).

Already a legend in Japan, Barnett and Atencio discussed Barnett's upcoming bout with longtime-veteran Rizzo at "Affliction: Banned" today on a media conference call.

"One of my goals is to make Josh famous here (in America), as well," Atencio said. "I think that he deserves the recognition."

For his part, the one-time UFC heavyweight champion downplayed the importance of recognition in his homeland.

"I didn’t do this to become famous," Barnett said. "I did it because I wanted to be the baddest guy on the planet."

Barnett has long been considered among the most talented heavyweights in the world. At just 24, the Washington native defeated MMA legend Randy Couture to become the UFC's heavyweight champion in 2002. A highly controversial steroid scandal followed, and Barnett left the UFC to compete in Japan.

The bout with Rizzo will be just Barnett's second appearance in the U.S. since his victory over Couture.

"I think to see [Barnett] fight over in Japan, everybody knows him there, and it's wonderful," Atencio said. "But I think his recognition, he deserves it here. I think if anybody does, Josh absolutely does."

Barnett built his status in Japan by defeating such luminaries as now-UFC champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, the iron-jawed Mark Hunt, and fellow Affliction participant Aleksander Emelianenko, among others. Now Barnett hopes to build on his status in the U.S. by defeating Rizzo -- one of only three men ever to defeat the 30-year-old catch-wrestling wizard.

"There is a little bit of a stink on this match, just to even up the score between the two of us," Barnett said.

Barnett and Rizzo have developed mutual respect for each other, as well as a bit of a friendship in the seven years since their original UFC 30 battle. Barnett said that relationship means little once the bell sounds.

"[Rizzo] is a great guy, and I think combat forges sort of a brotherhood that you can't really achieve through other means," Barnett explained. "I think it's a way to become fast friends. ... In this scenario, as soon as my music cuts in, I have no friends. The only person that's there to help me out is in my corner, and that's it. Everybody else has to go."

There has been some speculation that a victory for Barnett would earn him a match-up with the winner of the Fedor Emelianenko vs. Tim Sylvia WAMMA-heavyweight-title bout, but Barnett refused to lend his own perceptions of future plans.

"The way I operate is I don't look any farther than the fight in front of me," Barnett said. "I can do all the plotting and planning and wishing and hoping. ... But the thing is, none of that is guaranteed. The only thing that's guaranteed is that fight right in front of me. That's going to happen. Pedro's going to show up and try to knock my block off, and I'm not going to let him."

Whether or not a fighter can become a household name with casual MMA fans without the assistance of the UFC hype machine remains to be determined. But Barnett knows that putting on a battle with Rizzo comparable to their first clash, albeit with a different ending, could begin that process.

"You know, I'm a different fighter than I was back then, which is pretty clear," Barnett said. "Every fight is going to be a little different. I hope it's fast and in my favor. However it turns out, I just hope that everybody is going to be on their feet like they were the last time."

 

[Shogun Locc]

THIAGO ALVES VS. DIEGO SANCHEZ LIKELY AT UFC 89

While the welterweight division looks towards a championship match in August between current titleholder Georges St. Pierre and Jon Fitch, the weight class will continue to build towards a new top contender as MMAWeekly.com has learned that American Top Team knockout artist Thiago “Pitbull” Alves is slated to return on Oct. 18 to face former “Ultimate Fighter” winner Diego Sanchez.

The bout was confirmed to MMAWeekly.com by sources close to the fight. There is currently a verbal agreement with actual bout agreements for the contest expected to be signed in the next few days.

Showing a true dedication to making his way to the top of the welterweight division, Alves has never been shy about facing top competition in the division.

Most recently, he finished former Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight kingpin Matt Hughes by TKO in the second round of their main event match-up in England at UFC 85. Before that fight, Alves became the first fighter ever to knockout Karo Parisyan, thus solidifying himself as one of the most dangerous fighters at 170 pounds.

Now Alves will have a chance to cement his placement in the division even more as he takes on the always-dangerous Diego Sanchez in the co-main event of UFC 89 in England, sharing the spotlight with a middleweight bout pitting Michael Bisping against Chris Leben.

Sanchez started his career with an unblemished record and looked to be making his way towards an eventual title shot before suffering the first loss of his career against longtime rival Josh Koshcheck in April 2007.

Following a lackluster performance in that fight, Sanchez went to battle with Koscheck’s teammate and current No. 1 contender, Jon Fitch. Despite a strong performance, Sanchez dropped his second fight in row losing a close split decision to Fitch at UFC 76.

Since that time, Sanchez has returned to form, stopping David Bielkheden at UFC 82 and then putting on a stand-up clinic against Luigi Fioravanti at The Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale in June.

The match-up between Alves and Sanchez should produce fireworks as both fighters possess an amazing well rounded style, while maintaining an always intense pace.

 

[Shogun Locc]

STRIKEFORCE FIGHTERS ALL CLEAR ON DRUG TESTS

All of the fighters for the recent Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Thomson event in San Jose, Calif. were tested for both drugs of abuse and performance enhancing substances following their bouts. According to Armando Garcia, the executive director of the California State Athletic Commission, all test results came back negative.



Josh Thomson wrested the Strikeforce lightweight championship from friend and sometimes training partner Gilbert Melendez in the main event. In addition to winning the championship, Thomson has since entered the MMAWeekly.com World MMA Rankings for lightweights at No. 8.

 

[Shogun Locc]

CHANGING FACE, KOSCHECK READY FOR UFC 86

Growing up is hard to do. It’s even harder when you’re growing up in front of millions of people on television. But that’s exactly what Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight Josh Koscheck did as a member of the cast for the first season of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality show.

Coming onto the show, Koscheck only had a handful of fights and an impressive resume that included an NCAA championship in wrestling at Edinboro University in 2001. What he learned on the show was a first hand lesson in the world of MMA and how reality shows can soon become a reality after the filming is finished.

During the show’s filming, Koscheck became everyone’s favorite bad guy, taunting and prodding at housemate Chris Leben, until the two finally fought on the show. When he won the fight, Koscheck’s intensity only seemed to grow while his protagonists kept at him before and after the season ended.

Now entering his 13th professional fight, facing veteran Chris Lytle at UFC 86 on Saturday night, Koscheck understands that how the fans perceive him could make or break his career as a successful mixed martial artist.

“TV can give you a false sense of who a person is,” Koscheck stated. “So for me it’s all about turning fans around and really showing these fans who I really am as a person. That’s one of the big things I’m trying to do.”

During his downtime away from fighting, he focuses on his clothing brand, Mar Clothing, which will launch a whole new line this August. It was his move into business that made him realize that The Ultimate Fighter may have launched his career, but he didn’t walk away as the fan favorite from the show.

“One of the things I’ve seen from being a businessman is image. People, if they hate me, they’re never going to buy my stuff, so one of the things I’m trying to do as a mixed martial artist is I’m trying to change my image,” said Koscheck. “I want to be liked by everybody.

“At the end of the day, I’m a businessman and I want to provide for my family, provide for myself and build something that I believe in. The more opportunity I have to show people who I really am, and people out there get to know me as a person, I think they will definitely see a different side to me.”

While he works on showing fans a different side of his personality, he’s already shown an exciting fighting style with his last fight, beating Dustin Hazelett by TKO at UFC 82 in March.

Now Koscheck faces a veteran in Chris Lytle, who will present a myriad of problems in the fight, being a former pro boxer and one of the most well rounded fighters in MMA.

“He’s coming off a couple wins and he’s a good opponent, well respected. He represents himself well, he represents the sport well, and he’s a class act,” Koscheck commented on Lytle. “It’s going to be a good fight for me. I think it’s a fight that I can win and it’s a fight that I think can put me one step closer… to be the No. 1 contender to fight for the title.”

Facing tough opponents is nothing new to Koscheck, but this time he will be facing a respectful fighter in Lytle. As previously mentioned, Koscheck has not been a stranger to verbal wars with opponents such as Chris Leben and most recently, Diego Sanchez, but he likes the idea of fighting a person like Lytle, who keeps the trash talk to a minimum.

“It’s less pressure that’s for sure. Because when you hate somebody, you really, really want to kick the (expletive) out of them and you don’t want to lose to them, so there’s a lot less pressure on this fight,” said Koscheck. “I’m just going out and I’m having some fun, just like my last fight.”

Confident in the skills he possesses and the training camp he’s had leading into this bout, Koscheck is ready to go for his showdown with Lytle at UFC 86.

“I definitely have a game plan. Javier Mendez at AKA and Bob Cook came up with that game plan. It’s just my job to go out and execute it, and get the win,” he said. “I feel that I can win this fight anywhere, and I feel that if I have to, bottom line, I’ll do what I need to do to win.”

 

[Shogun Locc]

Joe Daddy’s Home

At that moment, Joe Stevenson was literally blood, sweat and tears.

Newly crowned lightweight champion B.J. Penn (Pictures) celebrated his victory by slapping himself in the face and licking Stevenson's blood off his gloves. Meanwhile, "Joe Daddy" was on his elbows and knees sporting the type of crimson mask so complete it looked more Hollywood than MMA.

He openly wept.

Two rounds of being beaten, finding himself on the wrong side of full mount and succumbing to a rear-naked choke that caused blood to spurt into the air were flashing through his mind.

"First, I couldn't really see actually," says Stevenson of his bloodied face. "Then [came] the realization that I lost. I put everything into it. That all weighs on your shoulders, you know?"

It's rare to see the toughest men on the planet break down and cry, especially in the context of a fight. But anyone who knew Stevenson as more than the winner of "The Ultimate Fighter 2" knew this was more than the loss of a fight. The 155-pound title that eluded him was all sacrifice, no reward.

Training to take on Penn had run through the holidays, cutting back his chances of lazy days post-turkey and ham. Extra hours spent preparing for a championship bout cut into time he could have spent with his pregnant wife, Maia, who was carrying Joe's fourth son. He even adjusted his sleep schedule in the United States so transitioning to the time difference in London would be smooth.

Despite the pain he endured, he doesn't feel disappointed in his performance. He believes the hurt would never cease if he hadn't given his all. That's when it's impossible to feel good about life and about fighting.

"I put everything I had into it, so it was OK," reveals the Las Vegas-based fighter.

Stevenson had only been home shortly when he watched the fight again. Then he was reminded of it -- the anguish he felt -- again when a barber clipped the cut "The Prodigy" had opened in the first round. Now Stevenson has seen the clash upwards of 20 times.

It was the first time he tasted defeat in the division in his career. It was only his second loss in the UFC, and it was for a world title on an international stage. Winning the bout would have been the perfect achievement at a critical time in the young fighter's life.

Stevenson started in the sport at 16. Fighting grown men on Native American reservations, he looked to test the martial arts he had studied -- judo, jiu-jitsu and wrestling -- in a real fight like the early warriors of the UFC.

"The UFC had just started out. It looked pretty interesting, so I gave it a go," he says in his consistent, no-big-deal tone. "As I found out I was good at it, I continued because that was the only reason to do it."

However, once he made a name for himself as a King of the Cage and Gladiator Challenge champion, goals developed. It went from wanting his hand raised to wanting to headline a card.

Yet Stevenson's success in the cage was not enough to keep him in the sport. Divorce from his first wife left him dormant for nearly two years. After driving a forklift at a tire plant and bouncing to make his way, he eventually returned to fighting. Before he knew it, he was in the featured contest on a UFC card that saw him demolish Melvin Guillard (Pictures) on national television. Stevenson had his first shot at headlining a pay-per-view against Penn.

The small-town Californian went from unseen, middle-of-nowhere fights to a prominent pay-per-view matchup emanating from one of the world's most important cities. A win would have crowned him lightweight king and slipped his name into pound-for-pound-best talk. More importantly, he would have returned with gold to a happy marriage, a soon-to-be-born son and a new gym -- the ideal home life.

He offers no excuses about the fight. A rematch is not on his mind. Improvements need to be made, fights need to be won, then he can be a contender again -- revenge can be exacted.

Being a champion is "not everything because I got family and a wife, but it's pretty important," he says with a laugh.

The first step back into the lengthy line of contenders at 155 pounds is defeating premium grappler Gleison Tibau (Pictures) on Saturday at UFC 86. Tibau, a powerhouse out of American Top Team, has also been fighting since his teens -- he launched his fight career at 15 in Brazil. Stevenson believes the Brazilian to be athletic, explosive, powerful and fast. But working his ground game with celebrated submission fighter Robert Drysdale, whom he describes as a "thesaurus of jiu-jitsu," Stevenson has confidence in his talents.

"Pain, lots of pain," he predicts for his opponent.

When fighters lose, life-shattering changes are often necessary. No more of certain friends or weekend booze. Some pick up and start over across the country. The 26-year-old Stevenson simply got back into the gym and continued to learn. Evolving boxing and tighter ground prowess will be needed against the black belt.

"Everywhere he's been, I've been with someone better, tougher, and stronger and faster," Stevenson says. "So he's going to have a tough time trying to make me shaky. I think I'm going to be able to turn it on at certain points in the fight that he's not used to."

Tibau is coming off a loss too. He dropped a close three-round decision in February to Tyson Griffin, but the performance made fans take notice of the relatively unknown fighter. He's dangerous, but with more than a decade of training to fight and nearly a decade in the cage, Stevenson is at home in battle.

"I think it's something I'm gonna do my whole life," says the father of four. "Till the day I die. It's just fun. It's like a 3D painful game of chess."

The heartbreak painted on Stevenson's face after losing to Penn could be repeated one day. It could be worse. Or it could never happen again. But the blood, sweat and tears will be there whether or not they are seen in public -- the sacrifice ever-present, the rewards pending.

 

[Shogun Locc]

Lose, Lose, Lose

Katsuyori Shibata (Pictures) issued a pessimistic and somewhat humorous challenge Wednesday to Yoshihiro Akiyama (Pictures) during the third day of FEG's Akasaka Fight Festival.

"I always lose," Shibata said. "I just lose, lose, lose. I don't know if I have the right to fight Akiyama, but I want to fight him. It is not up to me though."

When asked about his feelings regarding the heavy-handed judoka, Shibata had very little to say: "I wouldn't say I have any special feelings towards him. He is just another fighter."

With "no right" to fight Akiyama and no "special feelings" toward him, one may wonder why Shibata actually wants the match. The answer is not too difficult.

Akiyama is apparently proving difficult to match up for the July 21 Dream 5 card. While Shibata fighting Akiyama is irrelevant to the rest of the MMA world, getting Akiyama back in the ring for the first time after having his nose rearranged courtesy of Kazuo Misaki (Pictures) is an understandable goal.

"I'm going to offer to Akiyama this matchup," said Dream Event Producer Keichi Sasahara. "We will talk to him."

Obviously the challenge was no surprise to Sasahara, and the matchup is very likely.

FEG has also been holding a daily shadow boxing competition at the Akasaka Fight Festival in which participants' punches and kicks are counted by pedometers strapped to their ankles and wrists. After shouting advice all week, K-1 Event Producer Sadaharu Tanikawa was finally called out and stripped off his suit to participate in the challenge.

Although his style was lacking, Tanikawa's advice was apparently good. He bested most of the participants thus far, including Tatsuya Kawajiri (Pictures) and Shinya Aoki (Pictures).

Masakatsu Funaki (Pictures) proved he still has it, though, beating his younger foes and throwing 710 "strikes" compared to the previous high scores in the 400s.

 

[Shogun Locc]

Corey Hill Expecting Fireworks at UFC 86
videolink: http://www.sherdog.com/videos/videos.asp?v_id=1670
Corey Hill discussed his bout at UFC 86 against Justin Buchholz (Pictures) with Sherdog.com's Greg Savage.

 

[Shogun Locc]

Burnett Sues ‘TUF’

Mikey Burnett, one of the original Lion's Den members, has filed suit in Clark County District Court against TufGuy Productions, Inc. d/b/a Ultimate Fighting Productions, Inc., the company that produces "The Ultimate Fighter" for Spike TV, as well as American International Group, Inc., an accident and health insurance company associated with the TV show.

According to the lawsuit filed on June 9, Burnett claims alleged negligence against the defendants, who "carelessly, recklessly and negligently failed to provide a safe environment for the Ultimate Fighter 4 participants."

Specifically, the 34-year-old Burnett states that he suffered a career-ending spinal injury during the show's tapings.

Burnett served as a competitor on the series' fourth season entitled "The Comeback," where UFC figures of old and not-so-old got a second chance at glory in the Octagon. Burnett's appearance on the show, which aired from August-November 2006, ended years of obscurity the Tulsa, Okla. fighter endured after personal struggles with alcohol abuse, injuries and a horrendous recluse spider bite.

An intriguing character from his 1998 bouts at UFC 16 and 18, Burnett flamed out on the show when he failed to reach the finals. During his tenure inside the ‘TUF' house, the show aired Burnett running into a wall to stave off boredom.

The suit alleges that Burnett has suffered "serious bodily injuries, has endured and continues to endure both physical and mental pain and suffering and has incurred severe medical expenses."

Burnett has also filed grievances with AIG, which allegedly insured Burnett during his time on the series, for breach of contract and breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing for failing "to make a reasonable offer and payment in connection" with the policy.

Burnett also claims that AIG has failed to provide him and his attorneys with a true and correct copy of said policy and has failed to properly investigate the extent of his injuries, as well as refused to pay Burnett the value of his uncompensated damages.

Burnett is suing for an amount in excess of $10,000 for each claim, along with damages and attorneys' fees.

Repeated emails and phone calls to both parties' attorneys have yet to be returned.

 

[Shogun Locc]

Aug. 3 WEC card set

World Extreme Cagefighting's next roster is now finalized and ready to play out at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on Aug. 3. Carlos Condit (Pictures) will defend his WEC welterweight title against Hiromitsu Miura (Pictures), while the co-featured bout will host light heavyweight champion Brian Stann (Pictures) taking on Steve Cantwell (Pictures). The rest of the card features champion Jamie Varner (Pictures) versus challenger Marcus Hicks for the WEC lightweight title, Brian Bowles (Pictures) against Damacio Page (Pictures) at 135 pounds, Micah Miller (Pictures) squaring off against Josh Grispi at featherweight, welterweight Brock Larson (Pictures) locking horns with Carlo Prater (Pictures), Blas Avena (Pictures) taking on Dave Terrel (Pictures) at 170 pounds, featherweight Cub Swanson (Pictures) against Hiroyuki Takaya (Pictures), Alex Karalexis (Pictures) facing lightweight foe Todd Moore (Pictures), Greg McIntyre (Pictures) opposing Mike Budnik and Scott Jorgensen (Pictures) tangoing with Kenji Osawa (Pictures) in a bantamweight battle.

 

[Shogun Locc]

Matt Lindland claims UFC contracts are illegal

Republican House of Representatives candidate and - of course - highly respected middleweight Matt Lindland believes there is something very wrong with the contracts from MMA’s top organization.

The UFC contracts are illegal. Based on the Muhammad Ali (Safety) Act, you cannot be the promoter and the manager at the same time,” Lindland said, “If they are telling you who and when you are going to fight, they are the manager as well as the promoter.”

 

[WXS STOMP3R]

Matt Lindland claims UFC contracts are illegal

Republican House of Representatives candidate and - of course - highly respected middleweight Matt Lindland believes there is something very wrong with the contracts from MMA’s top organization.

The UFC contracts are illegal. Based on the Muhammad Ali (Safety) Act, you cannot be the promoter and the manager at the same time,” Lindland said, “If they are telling you who and when you are going to fight, they are the manager as well as the promoter.”

INTERESTING IF TRUE.

 

[heyzel]

UFC takes major leap into virtual world ... again

LAS VEGAS -- All the training Quinton "Rampage" Jackson had put into his fight against Forrest Griffin was unraveling right before his eyes.

As a small gathering of Ultimate Fighting Championship fighters, executives and media members laughed while sipping drinks and taking in the view from a $20,000-a-night Sky Villa at the Palms, Griffin virtually pummeled Jackson with a barrage of punches and kicks that should have put an end to the fight before he was saved by the first-round bell.

"Look at how my face looks," Jackson said at the sight of his bloodied mug. "You can't do that to me. I look too pretty."

Next to a couple of THQ video-game designers, Jackson and Griffin stood at opposite ends of the living room playing UFC 2009 Undisputed, offering up a preview of the game that will be released this spring. Their test run also seemed to serve as an appetizer to the mega fight that will take place in Las Vegas on Saturday.

"At no point do I want you to listen to me," Griffin told his designer after the first round, admitting that he doesn't know anything about video games.

"You better watch how you play, homey, I know what I'm talking about," Jackson said as he pulled out an action figure of himself that he calls his "mini me," proving that he's really nothing more than an overgrown child when he's not beating up overgrown men in the Octagon.

Jackson's trainer, Juanito Ibarra, who is one of the 100-plus characters in the game (they range from fighters in five different weight classes to the well-known non-fighting crew, like the Octagon girls), gave Jackson some advice in between rounds. Virtually, that is.

"That looks like Juanito's really in my face talking," Jackson said. "I can smell his breath. That's how real it is. When I'm fighting and Juanito comes and talks to me, I'm always thinking, 'Damn, I wish this guy had a breath mint.' His breath smells like somebody wore a sock in the rain for two weeks and they kick some cow patties around for a couple of hours. He talks this close to me when I'm fighting, and I think that's what keeps me from getting knocked out. His breath is better than any smelling salt."

Ibarra, donning his signature bucket hat, simply smiled and crossed his arms. "Yeah, it does look like me, but my breath smells better," he said.

As the second round unfolded, Griffin continued to beat up on Jackson before Rampage finally took matters into his own hands. "Give me that," he said, grabbing the controller. A few seconds later, he threw a right hook that connected with Griffin's chin, knocking him out as the camera zoomed on the fallen fighter's face.

"It looks like I really got knocked out," Griffin said, grimacing at the sight while Jackson howled at the ceiling. "They even got my ears right. They couldn't push those things back for me a little bit? C'mon, help me out."

UFC 2009 Undisputed is the fight company's first foray into the gaming world in nearly five years, a surprisingly long absence considering the organization's stranglehold on the 18-24 demographic that drives the gaming industry.

"When we bought this company in 2001, they already had a video-game deal and it was horrible," said UFC president Dana White of the company's last title, UFC Sudden Impact, released in 2004. "It wasn't done the right way. It was just bad. It's hard enough to come back when you've had a crappy game and do another one, so it took as long as it did to find someone to make a better game and for us to get as big as we did. We said we're not going to do this unless it's done the right way by the right people, and now we think we have the best fighting game ever."

Jackson thinks the game could also be a preview of things to come this Saturday when he actually steps into the Octagon to face Griffin at UFC 86.

"I like the knock-out part, but not the beginning part," Jackson said. "All I know is, I'll be in control Saturday. I'm a take-control kind of guy. What do I look like