MMA News Thread

[Shogun Locc]

After nearly walking away, Jorge Santiago is now among world's best

Florida-based American Top Team is a camp full of champions.

The latest fighter to add a belt to the ATT trophy case -- new Sengoku middleweight champion Jorge Santiago (21-7) -- has used a nine-fight win streak to stake his claim as an elite fighter in the middleweight division.

Not bad for a guy who nearly walked away from the sport just two years ago.

"It was my last fight (in the UFC) against (Alan) Belcher, and I lost," Santiago today told TAGG Radio (www.taggradio.com), the official radio partner of MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). "And I was like, 'Man, what am I going to do here now? Either I take this stuff seriously or I just stop and teach.'"

Despite nearly hanging up the gloves for good after dropping two-straight bouts in the UFC, an addition to Santiago's family prompted him to renew his passion in the sport.

"My daughter was about to be born," Santiago said. "I was like, 'You know what, I'm going to take this as the most serious thing ever.' I think that was what gave me more focus on the job."

That renewed focus led the Brazilian to an undefeated 2007 and 2008 -- a streak that included wins over Kazuhiro Nakamura, Yuki Sasaki, Trevor Prangley, Sean Salmon and Jeremy Horn.

On Jan. 4, Santiago began his 2009 off on the right note with a fifth-round submission win over Kazuo Misaki to claim Sengoku's vacant middleweight title.

"That was the hardest fight I ever had," Santiago said. "The guy is so tough. We couldn't hold him in the first or second round.

"It was a more mental game than physical. It was a good fight for me, a good experience. Now I know I can go for five rounds."

Santiago, despite nearly finishing Misaki on two different occasions via arm bar, appeared to be losing on points heading into the final frame. A valiant effort netted Santiago a technical submission via rear-naked choke. Misaki refused to tap to the hold, and the referee stepped in when the Japanese fighter was rendered unconscious with just 94 seconds remaining in the 25-minute affair.

"In the fifth round, I knew I was behind," Santiago said. "After the third round, I was behind already.

"I just had a knockdown in the second round, but it didn't mean a lot. You're fighting for Japanese fans against a Japanese guy. I always had in my mind that I was behind and I had to finish the fight."

While Santiago's nine-fight winning streak has been impressive, the one question mark that remained was the quality of his opponents during the stretch. By beating Misaki, Santiago answered those questions and set his sights on further accomplishments.

"There's still a lot of people up there as tough as [Misaki]," Santiago said. "In my mind now, it's just trying to get to the next step -- and from there try and look for the other top-10 guys. (I want to) get them all and fight the hard fighters to get my name."

Santiago said he needs a brief rest after fighting five times in eight months. But he hopes to see action again as quickly as possible.

"I had a little injury with my shoulder and my hand," Santiago said. "So I'm going to take one month off, let my body heal. Then I'm going to jump in and train again because I want to fight."

 

[Shogun Locc]

At UFC 93, Denis Kang to finally debut for the UFC

Canadian middleweight Denis Kang has fought professionally around the world for over ten years, yet he's still a relative unknown in the US.

That might change in less than two weeks when Kang (31-10-1) makes his long-awaited UFC debut on pay-per-view against Alan Belcher (13-5) at UFC 93 in Dublin, Ireland.

“I’m happy about it,” Kang said in an interview with the Between Rounds Radio Show. “[Belcher is] a good opponent for me. The UFC has been on my radar for a long time. Everyone knows for the last few years I’ve been fighting in Japan in PRIDE, HERO’s and DREAM, but I think it was time for me to head over the UFC.”

For Kang there were a few things that he was unhappy with in Japan and without getting into specific details, said he "wanted to experience a new level in professionalism."

At least one other issue for Kang has been securing a VISA, which has even prevented him from training with his own team, the American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Florida.

Kang, who signed a four-fight contract with the UFC in December, named Demian Maia, Thales Leities, Rousimar Palhares and Drew McFedries as exciting middleweights that he's looking forward to mixing it up.

But with fellow Canadian training partners Jason MacDonald and David Loiseau also on the UFC roster, he has only one exception.

“I just don’t want to fight friends if I can avoid it,” Kang said.

Like any other middleweight, Kang’s ultimate goal is the belt, which means a contest with the seemingly unstoppable Anderson Silva.

“Like any other fight he’s human,” Kang said. “He’s got his holes, he’s got weaknesses. I think until anyone exploits them he’s going to remain in that aura of invincibility, but I really don’t think he is invincible.”

Until he's ready to wait for that phone call, Kang acknowledges that he needs to push his way up the ladder first.

”I still need to prove myself in the UFC. I can’t just come in there and do a Brock Lesnar and get two fights and get a title shot right away.”

 

[Shogun Locc]

Rashad Evans guesses 'Rampage' as next opponent

Rashad Evans is guessing that his first UFC light-heavyweight title defense will be against Quinton "Rampage" Jackson.

Evans was asked about his next fight on an appearance Wednesday on the Big O and Dukes show on 106.7 WJFK in Washington, DC.

"I don't have any preference and they really haven't spoken to me about who I'm going to face next, but I'm guessing it'll probably be 'Rampage,'" Evans said.

Evans said he welcomes a fight against Jackson as one another's knockout power will create an exciting matchup.

"I match up pretty well with 'Rampage,'" Evans said. "'Rampage gonna do a lot of movement and I move a whole lot, but 'Rampage' is a very, very powerful striker, so it'll only take one of his shots to change the whole outcome of the fight, and I'm the same way."

Jackson has said that he'd like to fight for the title but would prefer to first avenge his loss to Forrest Grififn.

 

[Shogun Locc]

Josh Barnett Talks Fedor E.

In a recent interview with Josh Barnett, he speaks about Fedor, and how he is ready to fight the WAMMA Heavy Weight champion.

“When we were in Japan we spent time together, we’d go out and have dinner and hang out together, we’d wish each other happy birthdays, and do the stuff that regular friends do,” Barnett said. “We understand in this sport, of course, people will develop friendships. But at the same time, in our business, you’ll fight, and we’re OK with that. … I just make sure I’m in good shape to fight whoever’s in front of me. If I were to fight Fedor I think it’d be a great match and I don’t think there’d be any problem.”

 

[Robby2Slobby]

it sounds extremely gay. just like the ugly ass wamma belt and the name wamma

Just imagine Fedor wearing a crown and holding a scepter after the fight. Its about the dumbest thing I've ever thought of.

Some WWE King of the Ring shit.

 

[Shogun Locc]

David Bielkheden says he will make Octagon return at UFC 96

In a recent blog entry on his official website, Swedish fighter David Bielkheden revealed that he will be making his UFC return on March 17 at UFC 96.

The lightweight competitor indicated that he has not yet signed a bout agreement but that he has made a verbal agreement to appear on the show. Bielkheden also indicated that he knows the identity of his opponent but that he wasn’t going to divulge a name until the matchup has been finalized.

Bielkheden, 13-6, made his UFC debut last March at UFC 82 against Diego Sanchez in a welterweight bout. Showing some signs of Octagon jitters, he submitted to punches thrown by Sanchez at 4:43 of round 1. He was able to redeem himself and even his UFC record to 1-1 following a unanimous decision victory over Jess Liaudin at UFC 89 this past October.

A veteran of Japanese-based promotions such as Shooto and PRIDE, Bielkheden has won three out of his last four fights and holds a notable victory over former UFC veteran Charles McCarthy in a bout that took place under the Absolute Fighting Championships banner in 2004.

UFC 96 will take place in Columbus, Ohio and emanate from the Nationwide Arena. Other bouts currently expected for the event include Jim Miller vs. Gray Maynard, Shane Carwin vs. Gabriel Gonzaga, and Kendall Grove vs. Jason Day, Dustin Hazelett vs. Ben Saunders, and Shane Nelson vs. Aaron Riley.

 

[Shogun Locc]

Greg Jackson Talks Nipple Tweaks, GSP-Penn II, and More

Greg Jackson wants to get one thing straight: he did not start the nipple tweak. He doesn’t endorse it and doesn’t seem to understand it any more than the rest of us, and frankly he’s getting a little tired of being associated with the idea of grown men pinching their own nipples on TV. And yet, as long as his fighters keep winning with it, he’s resigned to the fact that it may not be going anywhere.

This is just one of the fascinating topics we covered in our exclusive talk with trainer Greg Jackson. Read on and see what else he had to say.

CagePotato.com: Thanks for talking with me Greg. I know you must be busy with so many different guys fighting in different organizations. Tell me, what’s a typical month like for you? Like the next thirty days, who have you got fighting?

Well let’s see, in the next thirty days we’ve got Donald Cerrone fighting in the WEC in San Diego, and then immediately after that we’ve got Georges St. Pierre defending his title against BJ Penn in Vegas on the 31st, and the after that I don’t have anyone until Nate Marquardt fighting in England on February 21st. After that it heats up again in March.

Does it ever get hard to keep track of so many different guys and their different game plans and strategies?

It’s my job. It’s like anything. If you’ve got a long day ahead of you, you’ve got a long day. I don’t do anything else. I don’t manage. I just train guys and make sure they’re following their own personal growth plan and at the same time that they’re training specifically for their opponent. That’s all I do all day long. Sometimes it seems overwhelming, like when I step back and realize I’ve got eleven different game plans working, but as long as I take it one at a time it’s not a big deal.

B.J. Penn keeps insisting that the only reason he lost to GSP the first time was because he gassed out, and says that won’t happen again. What do you think when you hear some of the stuff he says?

B.J., I think, will not gas out in this fight. I don’t know that he gassed out tremendously in the first fight. But it doesn’t matter because B.J. is a different fighter now and so is Georges. They’ve both evolved and changed and I’m expecting quite a different bout the second time.

I think B.J. is going to be in phenomenal shape and be ready to go, and that’s great because you never want a fight with those excuses. You want two fighters at 100%, that’s when it’s the most fun. We don’t count on B.J. gassing at all. He’s an amazing fighter. I mean, holy cow, that guy’s phenomenal. It’s a real honor for me to be coaching a fighter against him. So having B.J. Penn gas out is not part of our game plan, I’ll put it that way.

Where do you think B.J. is most dangerous in a fight?

B.J. is endlessly creative, it’s amazing. His comfort zone is anywhere he’s comfortable. I can’t say too much, but that makes it a real challenge. The stuff he comes up with on the fly, it’s just amazing.

Tell me a little about your background. How did you get into being an MMA trainer?

It all really happened by accident. When I started teaching in ’92, I was all about the street stuff. I didn’t really care about competition. It just didn’t seem relevant to me. All I had grown up with was street stuff. Competition just seemed like karate point-fighting. My students actually talked me into taking up grappling and these old school Vale Tudo-style stuff. So I got into it mainly because they wanted to get into it and wanted me to coach them, but I was never that interested in it. Then I got into it and we started winning stuff and it just grew and grew from there.

What drew you to fighting to begin with?

I was born in Washington D.C. but when I was about six months old my parents moved to Albuquerque. I grew up in the South Valley, which is an amazing place. I was one of the only white kids in the South Valley. It’s a predominately Hispanic area. They have a real machismo culture here and it was basically, can you fight? If you can, you get respected. If you can’t, they really don’t care if you’re a doctor or a lawyer. Some kids, and even some adults, didn’t care if they spent the next night in juvy or the next night at home. It was all the same. The only thing they respected was whether you could fight or not, so I figured I’d better learn how to do that.

Like anyone I got in my fair share of tussles when I was a kid and people wanted to know how I was doing what I was doing. I came from a wrestling background. My father wrestled, my grandfather wrestled, my little brother was a state champion here in New Mexico. So I started teaching classes in ’92 and my students talked me into competition.

What do you think attracts fighters to your gym now?

It’s not just me. That’s an important thing to understand. Even just at this school we’ve got myself and Mike Winkeljohn, who’s a phenomenal striking coach and good on the ground, too. Chris Cottrell is an amazing conditioning coach and strategist. But also people go to Denver and to New York, so we all help each other. It’s a structure that gives you different looks and helps you gain more knowledge.

But what do you think has made your gym so successful?

I really think it’s the guys themselves. We put money on the last tier. That’s a big part of our philosophy. It goes friendship first, the art second, and then money third. So there’s never any money issues between me and the fighters or the fighters and each other.

We’re also very cooperatively competitive. We have a dojo where we don’t fight each other. You can be safe. You can train hard and show a guy everything you have. You can give him your heart and he can give you his. You’re competitive when you spar, but you’re also helping one another since you know you won’t have to fight him. It creates a sharing, all-for-one atmosphere. I think that attracts good fighters and they make each other better.

What about the situation that happened when you brought in Georges St. Pierre and Diego Sanchez wasn’t too happy about it? Isn’t that part of why Diego left, because he felt he wanted to be your guy at 170 lbs. in the UFC?

Diego kind of wanted to go and see the world, so to speak. He had a kid in California and a fiancée there, so he wanted to go to California. I brought Georges in the way I brought Rashad in with Keith, with the idea that these two guys will make each other better. And it worked out like gangbusters, so we were following that formula.

I think maybe Diego got a little upset that Georges was coming in, but at the end of the day you have to trust your trainer. If you don’t trust your trainer, then you shouldn’t be training with him. So at the end of the day he decided to go to California. We’re still on really good terms. We talk all the time and he’s a great guy, just an amazing person, and we wish him the best of luck.

With this policy that guys won’t fight one another, does that mean that Keith Jardine knows that as long as Rashad Evans is the champ, he’ll never get a title shot? Is he okay with that?

You’d have to ask them that. I just take it fight by fight. All I can say is I would never coach one of my guys against another one of my guys. If you’re on this team, I’ll just never do that. I’ll never coach someone else on the team to fight you. I don’t manage anyone. I’m dumb, but smart enough to know I can’t wear all the hats. All I do is train them, but I wouldn’t train them for that. There are other options. You can change weight classes, you know. There are always options.

How do you go about formulating a game plan for one of your guys? Like for Rashad’s fight with Forrest, how did you put together a strategy for that?

It’s the same way you always go through a game plan. You have to know your enemy and know yourself. You know what Rashad’s good at and what he’s not good at. Then you break down the guy you’re fighting, what he’s good at and what he’s not. It sounds simple, and it really is. You just stop him from doing what he wants to do, hopefully capitalize on it when he tries to do it, and then you keep him out of his comfort zone. Wherever he feels comfortable in a fight, you don’t want him to be there. You stay out of there.

I couldn’t tell you how I do that. I just watch a guy and pick up on things. I’m not a genius at it. Anyone can do it, it’s just preparation. You don’t just have one little idea and the whole fight comes together. Okay, sometimes that happens. But usually it’s real specific stuff: if he does this, you do that.

What, specifically, was the plan for Rashad in the Forrest fight? Where was Forrest’s comfort zone?

With Forrest, I wanted Rashad to catch the kick. Forrest almost always commits to the same kind of combination: jab, cross, kick. Like that. He typically ends on a kick. I knew that would be in his plan against Rashad, hoping to slow him down by going to the body and the legs a lot with the kicks. So I wanted Rashad to wait until he committed, catch the kick, and use it to take him down. Rashad had to get warmed up in that fight and get going, and he did, so I was glad it worked out the way it did. In addition to that, Mike Winkeljohn put together a great striking plan, so it’s a team effort.

How about mentally, how do you prepare your guys?

We just live for the fight itself. If you win, that’s great. If you don’t win, we’ll live to fight another day. If you make it a big deal, it becomes a big deal. If you think, ‘Oh no, this is a title fight, if I lose I won’t be considered the best 205-er in the world,’ that puts a lot of unnecessary pressure on you and makes it not fun. Fighting should be fun. There’s nothing scarier than hitting a guy and having him laugh at you. Or he’s all cut up and he’s loving it, having a great time. To me the guys who are posturing and working themselves up, getting real mad, they’re scared. They don’t love it. We love it.

Chris Cottrell likes to use dog analogies. The dogs that are scared to fight are always barking and jumping at you and then jumping away. But a pitbull is just wagging his tail as he bites your neck and takes you down. That’s how we try to be. We love it. All you have to do is remember that you love it. And what’s the worst thing that can happen? Okay, I get knocked out in twenty seconds. I’m okay with that. I don’t want it to happen, but I understand it can happen. I’m not going to let it make me scared to compete.

But seeing a guy you’ve trained who you’re close with get knocked out, that must be tough. Like when Keith was knocked out by Wanderlei Silva.

Yeah, it sucks. I hate losing, because I didn’t do my job right. And that’s why I hate it. The wins are for the fighters and the losses are for me. If they lose it’s because I didn’t do something right. That’s how I look at it. And people might say that’s arrogant or putting too much importance on myself, but I think that if I do my job right my guys are going to win, and if I fuck up they’ll lose. I always take the blame on myself. I can’t not. I hate that I’ve let my friends down. Honestly, sometimes it’s just not our night, or the opponent’s really good, but I never think like that. I think that it’s something I did wrong and I want to go back and fix it and not have it happen to us again.

You say you didn't come up with the nipple tweak...

No.

...But it is associated with your guys and your gym now.

You know, I’m actually really glad Rashad didn’t do it this last time. We’ve been on a winning streak with it but I’m glad Rashad won and didn’t do it, so now we’re free of the nipple tweak, I hope. Georges did it first and I don’t know why he did it, but everyone was giving him a hard time about it and we’re a real team so Rashad did it so people would stop giving Georges so much flack. Then Nate Marquardt did it and Loiseau did it and forget it, after that everyone did it. I’ve been asked, ‘does it stimulate electricity through your body?’ No. No it doesn’t. They’re just a bunch of big dorks. That’s the answer to that question.

I read where Rashad said he realized the reason he started slow was because he forgot to do the nipple tweak.

Oh no, he said that? Great, now we’re back to the nipple-tweak. At least he showed you can win without it, which would be just fine with me.

 

[Shogun Locc]

Unbeaten Edgar Garcia To Test Miura’s Chin

When Edgar Garcia fights it’s usually the other guy who gets busted up, which is exactly what you would expect from a pro who is 6-0. But in Garcia’s last bout, against unbeaten Waylon Kennell, the free-swinging Garcia found himself on the receiving end of some serious carnage early in round one.
“This guy hit me really hard and kneed me at least 30 times in my stomach,” Garcia recounted. “He rocked me so bad that in my mind, for half a second, I was close to being out and actually thought that he was going to beat me. But I snapped out of it. That didn’t break me. I said to myself, ‘You can’t beat me, I’m not going to lose. I didn’t train this hard to come lose.’ So I just kept on going, put some combinations on him and finished him off.”

Garcia’s gutsy comeback preserved his unblemished record and set the stage for his WEC debut on Jan. 25 against Hiromitsu Miura. The contest will mark a big leap in competition for Garcia, who has only been a pro fighter for about a year and a half. The 24-year-old won an Arizona state wrestling title back in high school but has only been practicing boxing and Brazilian jiu-jitsu for less than two years. Yet the soft-spoken scrapper doesn’t find the challenge before him all that daunting.

“Obviously if I thought I was going to lose I wouldn’t have taken the fight,” said Garcia, who has finished five of his foes in the first round, including a 14-second knockout. “From what I see in some of his fights I’m confident I can capitalize on some of his mistakes. I’m very confident coming into this fight. I don’t think the experience will be a factor.”

Miura (9-5) is five months removed from giving WEC welterweight champ Carlos Condit all he could handle in a grueling four-round war that will be remembered as one of the 2008’s most memorable battles. The Japanese judo specialist packs quite a punch and craves a slugfest inside the cage. Miura’s aggressive, go-for-broke style has led to five victories by KO or TKO. The flip side to that equation is that he has been knocked out or stopped in four of his five losses.

“I know that he likes to standup and strike,” Garcia said of Miura. “That’s good for me; I like to do that, too. I’m hoping to keep my distance so he can’t throw me around and (then) I’ll let my hands go.”
Garcia compared his sprawl-and-brawl fighting style to that of Chuck Liddell, but quickly conceded he doesn’t punch nearly as hard as The Iceman.

“Just like me has the wrestling background but never uses it, only if he really needs it, only when he’s being taken down,” said Garcia, who trains at the Arizona Athletic

Club in Yuma, Ariz., alongside WEC veteran Chance Farrar. “I have been getting crisper and cleaner with my hands. It’s nothing personal. I just go out there and I see ‘em hurt and I go for the kill to finish them. It’s a natural thing. I go in there and start swinging and I just keep going until either the guy quits or the ref stops it.

“But I feel comfortable wherever the fight goes, it’s just that standing I feel a little bit better. A lot of people if they see my fights they think ‘Oh, he has no ground game.’ That will be their mistake, because I always work the ground and my wrestling.”

The youngest of four children, Garcia was born in Sonora, Mexico. Years later his family immigrated north to America, repeatedly moving back and forth between Salinas, Calif., and the small town of Summerton, Ariz.

“My dad worked in the fields picking and cutting lettuce,” Garcia said. “We were poor at the beginning. He taught me that if you want something you have to work for it. He wanted a close family, all his hard work was for us so we could be happy.”

Garcia’s father eventually saved enough money to buy a house in Summerton, where the locals were fanatic about high school wrestling.

“I was a little bit of a troublemaker and the wrestling coach liked to go up to the worst guys at school and say, ‘You think you’re so tough? Well come to the wrestling room and let’s see how tough you are.’ He actually transformed a bunch of kids that were troublemakers and made them into wrestlers. That’s how I became a wrestler and fell in love with the sport.”

After high school, Garcia attended a local community college that did not have a wrestling team. He landed a full-time job at a furniture warehouse, hauling chairs and couches around the workplace and to local residences. Garcia held the job for several years but quit in October to focus on his mixed martial arts career.

“I signed a contract with the WEC and I wanted to be ready for my next fight so I could train like a professional twice a day,” Garcia said. “It is a big risk. Once I start fighting again I’m pretty sure it’s going to go a little bit smoother (financially). When I first started fighting people said, ‘What’s your goal?’ I don’t know. I just want to go as far as I can. If in a couple of years I’m not that good, at least I tried. If I don’t win a world title, at least I tried. I don’t want to say ‘what if?’ I’m doing what I enjoy. I want to show my family and friends that somebody from Yuma, Arizona or Mexico -- that I’m putting it on the map. I know that in Mexico they don’t know a lot about MMA, but I want them to.”

 

[Shogun Locc]

Torres Talks Bowles, Curran Hoopla and His Career Blueprint

Miguel Torres knows he has a bull’s eye on that sturdy back of his. He knows that fighters like Brian Bowles, Jeff Curran and Joseph Benavidez dream of doing what Manny Tapia and 34 other Torres victims have failed to do. The WEC bantamweight champ also knows that being unbeaten for the past five years, and being widely considered one of the world’s top three fighters in the world at any weight class, will be little consolation if his opponent’s hand is raised at the conclusion of Torres’ next bout. That is why after annihilating Tapia earlier this month, Torres (35-1) took only three days rest before resuming his training.

In this revealing interview, the fast-talking man behind MMA’s most prominent mullet discusses the blistering jab that pulverized Tapia, the danger that Bowles poses as the division’s top contender, and the brouhaha sparked by Curran publicly parading for a crack at Torres’ title.

WEC: You pretty much destroyed Manny Tapia with a crisp and punishing jab. In your three previous WEC fights you didn’t use the jab nearly as much. Is that a new go-to weapon in your repertoire?
Torres: “I’ve actually had a game like that for a long time. Fighting in my local shows I used to fight like that a lot. I throw a lot of jabs, kind of like Lyoto Machida, a lot of strike and move. When I fought Yoshiro Maeda I was actually going to start using that jab, but when he cut me it drove me a little bit crazy and I went for the kill.

“The fight with Tapia was the perfect fight for me to showcase those skills because he was writing a check with his mouth that his body couldn’t cash. He said he wanted to come out and try to bang with me. I knew I was too tall for him to do that. I knew I had good boxing skills.”

WEC: Some people presumed it would have been smarter to exploit Tapia on the ground, where you would enjoy have a huge advantage. Why not take fight to the area where you have the greatest chance to win and your opponent is weakest? Why roll the dice and fight Tapia where he is strongest, which is standing?
Torres: “All of my training partners and all of the guys that I worked with told me to take the fight to the ground. We worked a lot on takedown drills and wrestling for this fight. That was the plan -- for me to take Manny to the ground. Let him punch and take him to the ground. But I wanted to show my standup to show the other 135 pounders that I’m not just dangerous on the ground but also with my standup. I think me doing that will make a statement to everyone to make them think, ‘How do we train for a guy that can bang, a guy that can box and a guy that can grapple like that?’ I want to make a statement to everyone so they will have a hard time training for me. It’s going to be hard to make a game plan to fight me.

“Some of my training partners said, ‘The only way Manny can beat you is if he knocks you out. Why take the risk?’ But I think just stepping into the cage is a risk; the risk is in the fight. I know what I can do standing up and I wanted to show that. I like going out there and fighting guys in their element. If they want to fight on the ground, I like to fight on the ground. Guys that want to fight standing up, I’ll fight standing up. For me the fight will go wherever it goes when the fight starts. I don’t like having (pre-conceived) ideas where I intend to take Manny to the ground and then, what if I can’t take him down? I will be screwed standing up with him. So I like to fight them in their element and then once they choose to go somewhere else I’ll fight them there.”

WEC: Jeff Curran has publicly announced he is dropping to 135 and wants a title shot. What are your thoughts on this? Are the two of you still cool with each other?
Torres: “People are talking a lot of garbage about that. Jeff had approached me a little while back and told me he was planning to drop to 135 and I told him that is awesome. He wanted me to make like a marketing campaign to help him hype the fight, to have like a WEC in Chicago with me and him on the card, like the way Urijah and Jens did (in Sacramento). I told him I don’t have a problem with that. Then we didn’t speak for a while … So I’m in the middle of trying to train for Manny Tapia and Curran starts calling me and his agent starts calling me and they’re trying to get me to hype a fight with Curran -- in the middle of me training for Tapia. I thought that was very disrespectful to Manny Tapia and myself. I can’t promote a fight with somebody else until I finish the current fight that I have on my plate. I didn’t like that. I’m very temperamental in the middle of a training camp. I don’t even talk to my wife. I stay at the gym and I come home on weekends. I’m pretty much an ass---- during training camp. I don’t answer my phone while I train for fights, I have an assistant that takes care of that. All I do is train. So my assistant told me Jeff Curran is trying to get a hold of me. I was thinking he might want to help me train or something. It was more along the lines of he wanted me to help him promote the fight.

WEC: What happened after that?
Torres: “So I called my agent, Dean (Albrecht), and then Dean called Jeff Curran’s agent and said ‘Stop contacting Torres until he’s done with the Manny fight.’ That turned into this big old, ‘I (Miguel) don’t like Jeff Curran’ and Jeff Curran is talking s--- about me.’ I respect Jeff Curran. I’ve known him a long time. We were just acquaintances, but from what I have seen he is a good guy, he runs a good gym and I’ll be more than happy to fight him. It’s just that I think Brian Bowles deserves a shot first. He’s on a roll in the WEC and it’s his turn. After this fight, if Curran wins his first fight (at 135) and then they give him a title shot then I would love to fight him. But I think it would be unfair to give Jeff the next title shot with him just coming down to 135. I think it would be a slap in the face of Brian Bowles.”

WEC: Some of your supporters on the Internet accused Curran of ‘not being in your league?’ What is your opinion of his MMA game?
Torres: “For sure I do think he’s in my league. Jeff had the balls to fight at 155 in the UFC when he should have been fighting at 135. I respect Jeff a lot for that. A lot of fights he fought were against bigger guys and they were real close fights. I would never do that because I always thought that my home was at 135. I know where my place is, where I want to fight at and what I want to represent. I was trying to get bigger spotlight fights and bigger payday fights. For me, he is like Jens Pulver, a guy who went out of his weight class to fight for respect and recognition, even though he was fighting out of his element. Now he’s back at 135 and I think he’s very dangerous.

He has a really good gym, he’s a legit black belt, he comes from a really good team and has good guys to train with. For me, I think he poses a big threat, but those are the kind of guys I want to fight. A guy like him will be a good test for me and proof that I belong where I’m at.

“We were supposed to fight each other (years ago) at 135 and then I tore my ACL and we couldn’t fight. He made a jump to 145 and we never got a chance to fight again after that. So him coming back to 135 is awesome. We both have strong gyms and a lot of supporters so it will be a good fight. He’s got a complete game – good standup and good jiu-jitsu. He’s got a lot of the same attributes that I have. He’s been somebody I have always wanted to fight but when he went up in weight it was like, ‘I can’t go up in weight.’ We’re going to have to fight. I already know it’s going to happen. I’m already training for him and I’m not even fighting him.

WEC: Do you think Jeff Curran was “calling you out?” Are you upset at him for trying to make the matchup happen?
Torres: “He did call me out at a local show in my home town. It doesn’t bother me at all. He’s just trying to talk some smack so he can get a fight and cause some drama. He’s just trying to get his groove on at 135 and I don’t blame him for that. I’m not really big on trash talking and when people try to talk about me it doesn’t bother me at all, it just makes me train a little bit harder and it makes the victory taste a lot better.”

WEC: It is not etched in stone, but conventional wisdom is that Bowles will be your next opponent. If that matchup materializes, do you think he’ll be your toughest test to date?
Torres: “I think so because the team that he trains with produced Forrest Griffin. His trainers (Adam and Rory Singer) make great game plans. He has good black belts to train with, great wrestling coaches and a complete team to train with. Even though he doesn’t have the same experience as Jeff Curran or I have, he’s proven that that experience doesn’t matter by taking out some really tough competition. And he’s either knocked out or submitted them. I think Brian will be a very hard fight for me but where I think I will have advantages is if the fight goes into the third and fourth round – that’s where my experience will play a big part. I plan on bringing him into deep waters as the fight goes on.”

WEC: In studying your career trajectory, for a number of years you fought guys most of us have never heard of, not top tier guys. Was that intentional? Was your thought process, ‘I want to learn this game and I want to experiment and find out what works for me, I don’t want to bite off more than I can chew?’ Were you consciously not trying to rush yourself by fighting lesser fighters?
Torres: “I always had to be intelligent with what I had to do. Since I was 13 years old and saw Royce Gracie on TV I knew I wanted to be a fighter. I knew what I wanted to do, I knew what I had to do. The (135) weight class was not huge, there weren’t a ton of guys that were able to fight. I didn’t have a black belt to train with, I didn’t have a incredible gym, so I knew I had to start off slow and I had to develop a fight game for my body style and I had to experiment a lot. The guys that I fought against, they were perfect to gain ring experience, cage awareness, to know how to prepare for a fight, how to condition myself, what worked in grappling and what didn’t work in grappling. All those fights weren’t the toughest fights in the world but they helped build my game to what it is now. You know, I still don’t have a coach -- I pretty much coach myself and run my own camps. I know how I have to train for a fight, I know what I can handle and what I can’t and that’s because of the experience and the fights that I’ve had. Every fighter has a unique style and that style is developed through your fights. And if you go out there and you’ve had no fights and you start fighting top-tier guys and UFC level fighters you’re never going to develop that game because you’re going to get shut down right away. I didn’t have a wrestling or a boxing background. I had no fighting experience before then so I developed my fight experience in those early fights. That prepared me for the top level guys that I’m fighting against.”

WEC: Do you think a lot of younger fighters hurt their careers because they’re too eager and rush themselves and take on studs too early in their career?
Torres: “I think there are a lot of really good guys that are eager to make money. They think they should take smaller fights but it’s the trainers and promoters that they get hooked up with that want to make money off of them and put them in (really tough) fights. I’ve come across a lot of guys in my hometown that were awesome fighters and had very good skills and could have gone really far but they hooked up with the wrong promoter or the wrong agent. That manager threw them way too deep into the water before they could swim well. I’ve seen it happen a lot. I was offered a lot of times (years ago)… guys that are in the UFC now who were fighting in shows that I was fighting in. I was getting offers to come out and fight huge fights for like $400 against guys that had been fighting for like 10 years. I was like, ‘Dude you’re crazy.’ And for every one guy that won’t take that fight there are 10 guys that will. So there were other guys that were like, ‘I’ll take the fight, I’ll fight him.’ Then they lose their fight or get their arm broken and they never fight again. Or they get so messed up in the head mentally and they train the wrong way. I understood that. I don’t want to say I’m a smart guy, but I’m a pretty smart guy when it comes to stuff like that. I knew when I was getting taken advantage of and I knew when guys were trying to use me, and I stayed away from that. And even though it took a long time to get to where I am now, I knew that it would eventually happen and that it would happen the right way.”

WEC: You are one of the best guys at fighting off his back in MMA, along with Damian Maia, Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Noguiera and BJ Penn. Why is your guard so feared?
Torres: “I call it a high guard, I wouldn’t call it a rubber guard. That whole guard game was developed through all those years of fighting in the smaller shows against lesser opponents that were good wrestlers or good karate or tae kwon do guys that were going to put me on my back. And that’s how I developed that guard game. I knew I couldn’t stop a shot and I didn’t have any wrestling background so I had to develop that guard game. How could I make a guy give me a submission attempt when he knows it’s coming? I had to learn to fight from my back and how to attack.”

 

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UFN 18 Headed For Nashville On April 1; Will Serve As Lead In To TUF 9

It has been confirmed that the UFC will be headed to Nashville for a Fight Night on April 1. The show will lead into the season premier of the new season of The Ultimate Fighter: U.K vs. U.S. No word on when tickets will go on sale.

The event will take place at the Nashville Municipal Auditorium and not the Sommet Center where the Nashville Predators play.

The Ultimate Fighter Season 9 will feature a team of U.S. fighters headed up by the winner of Dan Henderson vs. Rich Franklin against a British team coached by Michael Bisping. The show is set to feature a mix of middleweight and welterweight fighters.

 

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UFC: Henderson endorses TUF 9 principle of UK versus USA

A busy time for the UFC on the British and Irish scene. While major names Dan Henderson and Rich Franklin make their sojourn to Dublin to headline there, they will also take time out to go to Liverpool alongside Britain's flagship fighter Michael Bisping - as the 16 British hopefuls for TUF 9 series to be filmed in Las Vegas are whittled down to 8 in number, 4 lightweights and 4 welters. The eight British fighters will have a few days off, and then head to Las Vegas, with the show's filming to start at the end of the month.

It is the show on which Bisping, three years ago, made his name. Since then, the mixed martial artist from Lancashire has not looked back.

Bisping will then be over in Dublin, keeping an eye on the winner of Franklin v Henderson. He will face the winner as a coach, and as opponent in the Octagon sometime in July.

I disagree with Dana White, the UFC president, on one major issue governing the new TUF series. UK v USA is a great idea. White thought it a poor one, but has gone with it, I understand, as his cohorts have urged him it is the right move.

It is one of the few occasions White does not appear to have his finger on the pulse. Every sports fan cares about their fighter winning, and in this case, it should work - there will be huge interest in British fighters taking it to the Americans on their own soil. That's very important. Maybe not important to White, but important for the British team, for Bisping, and British interest.

Two years ago put British mma on the map, 2008 build on that success, and with a British TUF team in 2009, it should build again. I favour Henderson as the coach, given that Franklin has been there before, and has greater aspirations at light-heavyweight than middle, but this is a top level fight between two elite fighters and is hard to pick.

Spoke to 'Hollywood' Henderson last night, and he is on great form. He has packed a few extra pairs of socks given our weather. He believes the UK versus USA match-up of TUF fighters is a great idea. All he has to do now is go out there and defeat Franklin, having had, by his own standards, a less than perfect two years having come to the UFC from Pride.

 

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Huerta Passes on UFC Contract

Roger Huerta wants to flex a new muscle.

The popular lightweight has turned down a new five-fight contract with the UFC to pursue a career in acting in 2009. Huerta has one more fight on his current contract with the UFC that will see him back in the Octagon some time before December. After that, Huerta said he’d re-evaluate his options.

“I’m not burned out [with fighting],” said Huerta. “I have one fight left with the UFC and I want to honor that. As soon as they tell me to fight, I’ll fight my last fight on the contract.”

After getting bit by the bug last summer shooting a role in the film “Tekken,” Huerta said the timing felt right to tackle a wholly different challenge.

“I saw that you have to dedicate as much as you do to training for a fight as you do for an acting role and I’m intrigued by that,” said Huerta. “I’m 25 years old. I see Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture and they didn’t really hit their primes till their thirties. I’m only going to be young so long and I know that movies and agencies and what not want the young look.”

The handsome bi-lingual fighter was pushed heavily on the press following his rousing victory over Leonard Garcia at UFC 69 in April 2007. The performance landed the Minneapolis resident the cover of Sports Illustrated that May – a first in the sport’s 15-year history. However, Huerta believes it was his gut-wrenching performance against Clay Guida at “The Ultimate Fighter 6” finale in December 2007 that brought on his popularity with fans.

“I felt naked after that fight because I gave everything I had in there, from physical abilities to my emotions,” said Huerta. “I was a little messed up in the head for the next two months. That last round took a lot out of me. I went to another level mentally.”

Though Huerta (20-2-1, 1 NC) fought and won five times in 2007 -- culminating with the Guida bout -- his schedule became muddled the next year. In 2008, he entered the cage only once and lost to Kenny Florian via unanimous decision at UFC 87 last August.

Huerta’s contract was extended for two six-month periods during that time due to his inability to commit to fights that were offered to him. Over the summer, Huerta made plans to return to Augsburg College, but the opportunity to play Miguel “The Matador” Rojo in the feature film adaptation of the popular video game “Tekken,” proved too good an opportunity to pass up. Huerta remains one class shy of his Bachelor’s Degree, while the film, in which Huerta has a small speaking role, is due out in fall 2009.

Huerta also turned down a fight with Joe Stevenson at UFC 95 on Feb. 21 in London, due to “personal family issues.” Stevenson will now face Diego Sanchez instead.

Huerta’s reps believe the fighter’s future in film looks promising. Huerta recently signed a three-movie development deal with Lion’s Gate films, whose recent projects include “The Transporter 3” and “The Spirit.”

“Roger loves fighting for the UFC, but it doesn’t make sense for him to re-sign and continually let them down when he can’t take fights due to other projects,” said Huerta’s manager Jeff Clark, of NCFC Fight Management. “They have a business to run and schedules to keep as well.”

Still, others might see a different motivation for Huerta’s decision not to sign on the dotted line this time around. Huerta caused waves last July in an interview with Fight! Magazine where he voiced discontent with the UFC’s pay scale and the public relation responsibilities placed on fighters for little to no pay.

Huerta said he was spread too thin between appearances and his first movie role at the time and misspoke.

“I was thinking like a young kid,” said Huerta of the infamous interview. “I’m young and people make mistakes.”

Huerta and his management downplayed any ill will with Zuffa LLC., which owns the UFC. In fact, Huerta says his relationship with UFC owners Lorenzo Fertitta and Dana White, the promotion’s president, has never been stronger.

“I personally look up to Lorenzo and Dana,” he said. “This sport wouldn’t be where it is without them. With the $40 million in the hole and Dana grinding it out through everything, and putting the sport on the map, we owe them a lot.”

Without his income from fighting, Huerta said he’ll supplement his bank account with appearances and seminars while he takes acting classes. He also plans to join one of his trainers in Los Angeles for auditions through a talent agent who coordinates with his NCFC fight management.

He said he had no plans to talk to other promotions once his UFC contract’s non-compete period is satisfied some time around April 2010.

“The UFC is my home and it is my family and eventually I’ll come back,” said Huerta. “Pursuing the modeling and acting thing, that’s kind of where I’m at right now. The fighting will always be there. I’ll always have that in me. The truth is I’ve been fighting my whole life for everything, and this to me, is something else.”

 

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Matyushenko Excited for New Year; New Start
videolink: http://www.sherdog.com/videos/recent/Matyushenko-Excited-for-New-Year-New-Start-1872
Sherdog.com news editor Loretta Hunt sat down with Vladimir Matyushenko for an exclusive video interview.

 

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UFC light heavyweight Antonio Mendes joins American Top Team

UFC light heavyweight Antonio Mendes has officially joined the ever-growing stable of fighters at American Top Team.

Officials from the Florida-based fight team made the announcement today.

Mendes (15-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC) next meets Eric Schafer at next weekend's UFC 93 event.

The 27-year-old Brazilian fighter recently snapped an 11-fight win streak with a loss to Thiago Silva in his octagon debut at UFC 84. The first-round defeat (via strikes) was his first loss in more than four years.

He returns to the cage on Jan. 17 for the first time in eight months.

Mendes will now join an impressive roster of ATT talent that includes recent signees Denis Kang, Thiago Tavares, Lorenzo Borgomeo, Hector Lombard, Bobby Lashley and others.

 

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War Machine (Jon Koppenhaver) signed to Bellator Fighting Championships

Following a tumultuous run with the Ultimate Fighting Championship after his stint on "The Ultimate Fighter 6," War Machine (previously known as Jon Koppenhaver) has signed with the ESPN Deportes-backed Bellator Fighting Championships.

War Machine (6-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) recently confirmed the signing and an expected April fight date.

War Machine, who legally changed his name last year, was dropped by the UFC in the wake of a controversial web posting about the late Evan Tanner, as well as a loss to Yoshiyuki Yoshida and his decision to turn down a proposed bout with a UFC newcomer.

Bellator, which will premiere on ESPN Deportes on April 4 and run for 12 weeks every Saturday night (on a one-day tape delay), will feature tournament and non-tournament bouts in shows around the U.S. Tournaments will be held in the featherweight, lightweight, welterweight and middleweight divisions, and each winner could earn up to $250,000.

War Machine joins other confirmed Bellator signings such as Hector Lombard, Jorge Masvidal and Lyman Good. Dozens of fighters are currently in the process of signing with the upstart promotion.

As for War Machine, he'll return to the cage for the first time since a November 2008 knockout of David Anderson (0-1) at a Desert Rage event.

After appearing on "TUF6," Koppenhaver was on the fast track to stardom. He was eliminated in a preliminary bout on "TUF," but at the show's live finale, he earned a $15,000 bonus for Fight of the Night and an additional $15,000 for Knockout of the Night after he scored a third-round TKO of fellow cast member Jared Rollins.

However, things fell apart about the same time as a subsequent loss to Yoshida. In February 2008, War Machine was sentenced to pay $2,300 restitution and serve 30 days of community service after pleading guilty to felony assault for choking and punching a man outside his California training center. The charge was dropped to a misdemeanor after the case's victim urged for leniency.

Six months later, after Tanner, a popular fighter and former UFC champion, was found dead at a camping site in the California desert, War Machine issued a MySpace bulletin in which he predicted the death was probably a suicide, though authorities maintain it was due to heat exhaustion. The posting didn't go over well with fans or UFC officials.

Then, War Machine said he turned down a proposed fight with Brandon Wolff because the UFC newcomer had little name recognition.

The UFC cut him just days later.

War Machine will look for a fresh start with Bellator, which is the first-ever MMA promotion backed by the ESPN family of stations.

 

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Neil Grove vs. Justin McCully targeted for UFC 95

A heavyweight clash between UFC newcomer Neil Grove (6-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) and Justin McCully (9-4-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) has been targeted for the Feb. 21 UFC 95 card that takes place at the 02 Arena in London, England.

A source close to McCully told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that the both fighters have verbally agreed to the fight and that bout agreements are in the process of being finalized.

The bout will likely take place on the un-aired preliminary-card portion of the pay-per-view event.

Fighter's Only, which first reported Grove's UFC deal, reported the possibility of the Grove vs. McCully bout earlier today.

Grove, who signed a four-fight deal with the UFC in late 2008, is a former Cage Rage heavyweight contender who's posted knockout stoppages in all six of his career victories. The fighter, who debuted with the UK Mixed Martial Arts Championship before heading to Cage Rage, has twice defeated Robert Berry. Additionally, in just his third professional bout, he also scored a major upset of former PRIDE fighter and EliteXC headliner James Thompson with a 10-second knockout.

Grove's lone loss came to Rob Broughton (7-4-1) via majority decision in early 2008.

McCully, who's 4-1 since a three-year layoff from 2003-2006, debuted with the UFC last year and scored a unanimous-decision victory over Antoni Hardonk in his octagon debut. The Team Punishment fighter then suffered a first-round submission loss to Gabriel Gonzaga before rebounding for a unanimous-decision victory over Eddie Sanchez last month at the "UFC Fights for the Troops" event in North Carolina.

MCCully has now won five of his past six fights.

 

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Trump’s Affliction-M1 Entertainment Opens up the MMA

January, 9, 2009 — New York, New York — Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is the world’s fastest growing sport, and Trump’s Affliction-M1 Entertainment Company is the fastest growing organization in MMA. Since June 2008, when Donald J. Trump became involved with Affliction Entertainment, the company has been able to attract the sport’s best heavyweight fighters away from the UFC, the longstanding MMA premier league, retaining die-hard MMA fans and reaching a new, broader audience.

In July 2008, “Affliction Banned”, Trump’s Affliction-M1 Entertainment Company’s first promoted ‘card’ featured the world’s top 10 heavyweight MMA fighters, including Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianenko (considered the #1 MMA heavyweight for the past 5 years) vs. Tim “The Maine-iac” Sylvia, turning Trump’s Affliction into the UFC’s main competition in just one fight. The event sold out the 16,000 seat Honda Center arena, reached more than 500,000 people on pay-per- view and was attended by celebrities including N.Y. Giant Michael Strahan, L.A. Dodgers pitcher Brad Penny, heavy metal band Megadeth, TV and film actor Michael Madsen, and wrestling legends Bill Goldberg, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, “Rowdy” Roddy Piper and “The Undertaker”.

Affliction-M1 Entertainment’s second co-promoted fight in 2008 was broadcast as part of CBS ELITEXC SATURDAY NIGHT FIGHTS, garnered over 4.3 million viewers, and attracted television’s most sought after demographic – male viewers ages 18-34.

This month, on January 24“Day of Reckoning”, promoted by Trump’s Affliction Entertainment, M1 Global, and Oscar de La Hoya’s Golden Boy Entertainment will feature the top two heavyweights in the sport – Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianenko and Andrei “The Pit Bull” Arlovski in what fans are calling the “#1 main event” in MMA.

“MMA is fantastic. I am excited to be a part of this incredibly fast growing sport, and my involvement with Affliction will surely bring it to the widest audience possible,” says Donald J. Trump, President and Chairman of The Trump Organization. “ ‘Day of Reckoning’ will be the best fight card in MMA history and I am looking forward to its great success.”

Seeing the buzz that Trump’s involvement brought to Affliction Entertainment, celebrity boxing champion Oscar de La Hoya has decided to join in promoting the organization’s upcoming “Day of Reckoning” with his Golden Boy Entertainment company, a move that along with Trump, will help to further expand MMA to a wider, more mainstream audience.

“In the world of MMA, ‘Day of Reckoning’ is comparable to watching an Ali, a Tyson, or a de La Hoya fight,” says Donald Trump, Jr., Executive Vice President of The Trump Organization. “We pride ourselves on being at the cutting edge, and are thrilled to be one of the pioneers in bringing this sport to the mainstream, this time with M1 Global and Oscar de La Hoya.”

In addition to the main event of Fedor vs. Arlovski, 8 of MMA’s other top heavyweights, including Josh Barnett, Matt Lindland, Renato Babalu Sobral, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou, and Vitor Belfort, will compete in 4 matches followed by the feature match.

“By bringing the top fighters in the sport together for ‘Day of Reckoning,’ Trump’s Affliction-M1 Entertainment Company will be creating an unparalleled experience, which will attract the hardcore and casual fans - making MMA even bigger than it already is,” says Michael Cohen, Executive Vice President of The Trump Organization and C.O.O. of Affliction Entertainment Company.

Trump’s Affliction-M1 Entertainment “Day of Reckoning” will be held on January 24, 2009 at 9:00 p.m. at the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA. Tickets are currently available, and the event will be initially broadcast on pay-per-view.

 

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Rich Franklin: “I want to be a champion again” Part II of an exclusive 5 Oz. interview

On January 17th from Dublin, Ireland both Rich Franklin and Dan Henderson will face one of the toughest tests in their decorated mixed martial arts careers when they face off with one another in the main event of UFC 93.

The bout pits two of the sports premier athletes up against one another in a match that gives both men a golden opportunity to breathe new life into their MMA careers.

Since falling short in his attempt to regain the middleweight championship that he lost at the hands of Anderson Silva, Franklin has been on a mission to reestablish himself among the top fighters in the UFC. The first two steps on his mission saw him stop Travis Lutter at 185 pounds before moving up to 205 pounds to finish Matt Hamill impressively.

Henderson is in an extremely similar position. After becoming the first fighter to hold titles in two separate weight classes in a major organization the Team Quest fighter dropped consecutive bouts to Quinton Jackson and Anderson Silva for both the 205 and 185 pound titles before rebounding with an impressive victory over dangerous Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, Rousimar Palhares at UFC 88.

The match up between the two former champions will take place in UFC’s light heavyweight division. In an exclusive interview with FiveOuncesOfPain.com, Franklin said that he feels better than ever since moving back up to 205 pounds.

“I think my timing is better at 205 than it was at 185,” said Franklin. “Not that I was ever a sluggish fighter at 185 pounds but I think that not cutting weight keeps me that much more fresh at 205 pounds.”

Although Franklin will never be one of the biggest guys at 205 pounds, he feels as if the slight lack of natural size will give him a very distinct advantage against the rest of the competition in the UFC’s light heavyweight division.

“I’m dealing with bigger fighters at 205, which for the most part are going to be a little bit slower,” said the former middleweight champion. “I feel like in the light heavyweight division I may be a little bit faster than most of the competition. Not quite as big, not quite as strong but perhaps just a bit faster. I think that because of that I may have an advantage at 205.”

Going into his fight with Henderson, Franklin knows that he will be facing one of the most dangerous men he has faced up until this point in his fighting career. The type of preparation that goes into a bout with this kind of importance comes with plenty of homework to be done and numerous game plans to be developed.

“At this point we have looked at and studied his tapes,” said Franklin. “We look at the way he throws his punches and sets things up then of course we’re looking at how he works in the clinch and all of that kind of stuff.”

“Dan’s not really big on throwing jabs. Most of the punches that he throws are just power shots. Big crosses and big hooks, he throws a lot of things that are designed to knock you out.”

“We’re focusing a lot on those things and then of course we’re always spending some time on our takedown defense. Really, in this fight in particular we’re not worried so much about defending the takedown but more just making the takedown difficult.”

Both men have their fair share of highlight reel knockouts throughout the duration of their fighting careers but that is where the similarities end when comparing the pairs striking styles. Franklin has the more technical boxing and likes to punish his opponents with powerful leg and liver kicks while Henderson has a huge right hand and the ability to end any fight in the blink of an eye.

The fact that Henderson has faced a who’s who of dangerous strikers in MMA and has yet to be knocked out has to be weighed into any equation involving a stand up game plan for Franklin.

“I think my foot work on my feet is better than his and I feel like my hands are sharper than his but Dan has a really tough chin, he’s resilient and he hits very hard,” said Franklin. “Sometimes with a fighter like that you have to be careful because it wouldn’t pay off to give three to trade for his one.”

Franklin is right where he needs to be physically going into his fight with Henderson. Well rested since his stoppage victory over Hamill, the Jorge Jurgel and Matt Hume trained fighter has had another successful training camp that has him peaking and ready for battle.

“I’m feeling really good, my conditioning is right where it needs to be and I’m mentally in a good place,” said Franklin. “I’m not beat up or worn down at all.”

Just prior to his fight with Hamill, Franklin ventured away from his usual stomping grounds and training camp in Cincinnati to put himself through a full training camp with Matt Hume in Seattle and the results spoke for themself.

“Going up to Seattle and training with Matt Hume and bringing my boxing coach Rob Radford with me has really helped me gauge my training as far as whether I’m over training or under training,” said Franklin.

As he explained, sometimes going too hard at too many places would end up leaving him drained and not at a hundred percent.

“I think that here in Cincinnati I’ve kind of had a problem with over training because I’m constantly going to a bunch of different facilities,” said Franklin. “I’m still working with my Muay-Thai coach Mike Rielly and then I do a lot of my training at JG MMA Academy and then I have a separate coach at Power Station.”

“I’m training at all of these different facilities in Cincinnati and it gets really difficult because every time I go for a workout someone is constantly wanting to run me into the ground.”

Chalking it up as a learning experience, the former coach of The Ultimate Fighter knows that there are benefits that he gets from training in both Cincinatti and Seattle and he expects to bring all of those benefits into the octagon with him at UFC 93.

“I think that because of the way I approached my training leading into this fight with Henderson that I’m in a really good place,” explained Franklin. “I split this camp about in half. Basically I did the first two weeks here in Cincinnati and then I went up to Seattle for about for weeks and then I came back home to Cincinnati. I had to come home for the holidays and see my family and all of that stuff.”

“I’m going to finish up my training here in Cincinnati and then Matt, Rob and I will fly out to Dublin together.”

Training is Seattle with Hume has not only benefited him by allowing him to train at the proper speed but Franklin also found one of his most useful training partners in his coach.

“Really for this fight in particular, because Matt has such a history with Dan and because Matt himself is a really good wrestler himself, he has been a really good training partner for me in Seattle,” said Franklin.

“I have a good group of individuals that I’ve been training with. Some really good wrestlers. Guys that can mimic Dan Henderson and some guys that can kind of just mimic him naturally.”

The bout with Henderson will mark the second time Franklin has headlined a card in Ireland with his first appearance coming against Yushin Okami at UFC 72. Fighting in unfamiliar territory is nothing new for Franklin. Having fought in Japan, Ireland and Canada, he is far from an unfamiliar face outside of the United States.

“I had a good fan reception the last time I was in Ireland,” said Franklin. “I guess it always amazes me, the way fans react to me in different countries. I’ve fought in Montreal and Ireland and I’ve always had a good fan reception. I get really good responses on my website from the UK and various other places so it’s really nice to know that I have a good international backing.”

His opponent is no stranger to international fame either. Henderson established himself as one of the sports top athletes and created quite a fan base for himself while competing overseas in Japan’s Pride Fighting Championships. This bout will pit two of the game’s more beloved fighters against each other in a fight that for many, will be hard to route against either guy..

“Dan’s a well known fighter because of all of his experience in Pride,” said Franklin. “People really like Dan. I’m sure that a lot of people that know about this fight are kind of torn like ‘I don’t know who to root for. Both of these guys are good guys and I like both of them and they’re both great fighters’. At the same time I think people are really excited to see this fight.”

Having once held the championship gold around his waist , Franklin would like nothing more than to capture that feeling once again but whether he ends up a champion or not, he will not allow it to define who he is as a fighter.

“I remember before I ever had the title that it was the most important thing to me,” explained Franklin. “I wanted the title and I wanted to be the champion. Now that I have been a champion I want to be a champion again. As far as my fighting career goes, nothing would please me more than becoming a champion again.”

“On the flip side of that, if I was never a champion again I don’t think that I would be one of those guys that go into a severe depression or become an alcoholic for the rest of my life.”

Rich Franklin would like to thank the following people for supporting him in his career. J.T. Stewart, American Fighter, Fight Factory, Panther Arms, Spencers, Bodybuilding.com, MMAdhouse, support the heroes.org, real american fighters.org, zappos, Maxus Tools

 

[Shogun Locc]

Tim Kennedy: “There are some things in life worth risking your life over”

For regular readers of FiveOuncesOfPain.com, Tim Kennedy needs no introduction. For newer readers to the site, Kennedy is a member of the elite Army Rangers. In his spare time, he also pursued a career in mixed martial arts, accumulating a 9-2 record competing for promotions such as Extreme Challenge and the pre-Zuffa WEC.

In 2007, Kennedy received national exposure by challenging Jason “Mayhem” Miller in the co-main event of an HDNet Fights card in Dallas, Texas and then fighting again two and a half weeks later during the IFL’s World Grand Prix finals in Uncasville, Connecticut.

While 2007 ended in a big way, 2008 was a quiet year for Kennedy when it came to his fighting career. He was unable to take any fights because his primary employer, the United States Army, needed him for several important missions.

For the past several months, Tim has authored a blog on Five Ounces of Pain entitled “Letters from a Foreign Land.” In his blogs, Tim chronicled some of his experiences that he encountered while on some of his missions. Regular readers know that Kennedy and his unit were not on a peace keeping mission and that they encountered hostile forces on a regular basis.

We’re pleased to be able to let everyone know that Tim is now back home with his family. And thanks to Tim’s manager, Nick Palmisciano of Ranger Up, we were able to speak with him and updated on how he’s been doing. Below is a transcript of our conversation with him in which Tim discussed injuries sustained while deployed, the logistics in producing a blog for Five Ounces of Pain, what life was like on the battlefield, along with his plans for 2009.

Sam Caplan (FiveOuncesOfPain.com): We had heard through your manager, Nick Palmisciano of Ranger Up, that you were injured in the field recently. He assured us you were okay but we were still concerned. Now that you can talk about the situation, can you update everyone on exactly what happened and how you’re doing right now?

Tim Kennedy: I was working in [deleted for operational security] with pretty much the greatest combat unit on the planet and we there to help give the people there an opportunity at a free life. It just so happens that some of the people there aren’t really up for it. They don’t like the idea of people not being underneath their thumb. We were there providing some aid to a village and we got IED’d (improvised explosive device) pretty part as a part of an ambush. I got a little bit of shrapnel wounds; some to my face and some to my arm. And then when I was trying to pick a guy up who was a part of the explosion, I didn’t permanently injure anything in my biceps but my adrenaline was going and his body was kind of heavy. As far as recovery, I am 100 percent. I’m doing doing two to three workouts a day right now and loving it.

Sam Caplan (FiveOuncesOfPain.com): How long have you been back home now?

Tim Kennedy: I got home right before Christmas. Just in time to spend the holidays with my family.

Sam Caplan (FiveOuncesOfPain.com): Were you able to finish your deployment or did you come back home early due to the injuries?

Tim Kennedy: Oh no, I finished my deployment. I’d probably have to be dead for me not to finish deployment.

Sam Caplan (FiveOuncesOfPain.com): While in the field, you were doing an awesome blog with us that was one of the most popular things we’ve published on the site. Nick did a great job in bringing the content to us and coordinating everything. Logistically, what were some of the obstacles regarding what you could and couldn’t say and also just sitting down and writing?

Tim Kennedy: The Internet was sometimes an obstacle (laughs). I’d be in the field for any given period of time ranging from three days to three or four weeks with no phone, no cell, and no Internet. I’d try to get my writing done during those times but I’m a terrible writer so by the time I got back and got all of it on a computer I could see all of those red squiggly lines underneath it showing how pathetic a speller I am.

So logistically the issues were just getting it to Nick so that he could proof read it. I would even mess up and put things in it that I shouldn’t. Opsec, which is operational security, is a really important thing with ongoing missions. You can’t really say where you are, what you’re doing, how long you’re going to be there, and when you’re coming back — all the things to help ensure a troop’s protection. These are things that are not to ever be published for anybody. It just puts everyone at risk. Even with that always in the forefront of my mind, I still made mistakes. In mid-paragraph I’d write something like, “We’re holed up here at this elevation.” Well, somebody can figure out where you are just by the elevation. So it’s a no-go. Fortunately, Nick is pretty savvy and has prior military service so he’d pick up on all the mistakes I would make and clean up my poor writing.

Sam Caplan (FiveOuncesOfPain.com): It’s interesting to hear you talk about operational security because my cousin is in the Navy and is currently deployed. Because of where he is, my aunt and uncle tell me that Naval officials are constantly monitoring calls to make sure nobody says anything they shouldn’t. Is the Army the same way?

Tim Kennedy: I couldn’t really say what they monitor but the Army, they’re not trying to “Big Brother” us. So in everything that they do, they’re not trying to censor us. They’re just trying to protect their troops while in the field. And I being the guy that’s in the field all the time, I really don’t want somebody who is in the back talking to his mom saying “Oh, we’re so tired because we were loading this guy’s truck so he could go out today.” That’s the last thing I want to be said over an open line. So while they might monitor us, it’s always with the best intentions. They’re just keeping the troops safe.

Sam Caplan (FiveOuncesOfPain.com): During your third blog, you casually write about how you had just gotten back from a firefight that was worse than the movie “Hairspray.” It was surreal reading that because you talked about it like it was nothing more than just a bad day at the office. How many firefights was your unit involved in during your most recent tour? How regular was armed combat a part of life for you?

Tim Kennedy: (Pauses)… In all seriousness, every time that we would wherever we were, we would get into a gunfight. And we would leave almost every day. I’m in a different situation in that I’m able to move around to different places while I was in country and so the teams in some of the places they are, every time they would leave they would be getting shot at, blown up, RPG’d (rocket propelled grenade), IED’d every time. It was just kind of like, “Alright, we’re going to go out and we’re going to get shot at probably right around this area and we’re probably going to get blown up and RPG’d right around this area. Let’s get ready to go. Let’s make sure we’ve got our beans and bullets.”

Sam Caplan (FiveOuncesOfPain.com): Coming from a civilian perspective, I can’t imagine or comprehend what it would be like being under the constant threat of fire. I’ve just got to ask, how do you cope with that? Or is there even a way to cope with it?

Tim Kennedy: Well, the guys that I am working with, they’re the best trained in the Army. They’re the highest screened in the Army. They’ve gone through more tests than anyone and are perfectly selected for this job. Everybody that is in the Army has a great job and is doing an excellent service for their country. But some of the guys I work with, they’re the best and this is what they’ve been training their whole lives for.

I know this sounds corny, but some guys were riding by on a motorcycle and threw some acid in some little girls’ faces simply because they were going to school. The [deleted for operational security] that’s there don’t think that girls should go to school so they threw acid in this little girls’ faces. We have medics that are with us and they’re treating these girls and we’re not looking for retribution or revenge, but it’s a big motivator to have a 13-year old girl in front of you that’s just been burnt. Knowing that you might be helping make a difference, you begin to think that maybe it is worth going out there and taking some risks. I think there are some things in life worth risking your life over. Having the right for a 13-year old girl to walk down the street and go to school I believe is one of them, regardless of where you live.

Sam Caplan (FiveOuncesOfPain.com): I hope you don’t mind, but I wanted to ask you some fight related questions. Last year a report surfaced in the Army Times that you wouldn’t be re-enlisting so that you could pursue MMA full-time. Could you update us on the latest regarding that?

Tim Kennedy: Right now the Army has reached a middle ground with me where they say that I can fight, which is awesome. I love the Army and I love the opportunities that they’ve provided me and my family. And the opportunity for me to go out and represent the Army as a fighter is going to be awesome.

With that said, the unit that I am in, the amount of work that we do, there just aren’t enough hours in a day. So I am going to have to make a choice — and that’s where I am at right now — whether I am going to make exceptions and make time for me to slip into training like I have been for the past three, four, five years and try to be a full-time fighter and a full-time solider and still be able to put everything into it? I really want to see where a full-time fight career is going to take me and I am pretty confident that’s where 2009 is going to lead.

I have a lot of things lined up. I haven’t signed anything but I’ve expressed a lot of intentions to certain people and I’m sure you guys will be the first to know when that happens. I think you’re going to see me fight a whole bunch in 2009 and I’ll be training full-time.

Sam Caplan: Will the injuries you suffered have an impact on how you perform in the ring or cage?

Tim Kennedy: Well, I think I am nastier (laughs). Put a chunk of metal into some one’s body and I think it might fire them up a little bit. Just like in the one article: try and take a pomegranate from me and I might get a little fired up. Well, a chunk of metal in my body is a little bigger deal than a little pomegranate.

This morning I just did an hour of a crossfit workout with some friends from church and some guys from the unit that I work in. And then this afternoon we were out there we did some wind sprints and I also just got done with almost a two-hour long sparring session. Tomorrow it’s going to be more of the same. It’s probably going to be more of the same Saturday when I’ll figure out something disgusting to do to my body. I’m pretty motivated right now and the prospect of fights that I have coming up, I can’t do it half-ass. I can’t do it 50/50. I’m bringing in some of the best black belts on the East Coast to train with me on the ground as well as some Division I wrestlers. I’m trying to find some of the best sparring partners and I think you’re going to see a freakishly new Tim Kennedy in 2009.

Sam Caplan (FiveOuncesOfPain.com): During a Q&A at a local Fort Bragg sports bar, a fan asked Dana White if the UFC was interested in you. Dana looked right over at Joe Silva and it was a pretty adamant “yes.” Are you currently negotiating with the UFC?

Tim Kennedy: That’s a question my manager will have to answer right now because I can’t because I’m not supposed to.

Sam Caplan (FiveOuncesOfPain.com): I had a chance to cover “Fight for the Troops” and it was an amazing experience getting to go onto Fort Bragg and seeing how everyone lived. I also got to meet Bill White from the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund and he explained to me just how many members of the Armed Forces are coming home having suffered brain injuries. Seeing as much combat as you did, I can only assume that some of your colleagues didn’t come back home 100 percent. Can you give us a soldier’s perspective what life is like for a lot of troops that come home after having sustained a serious injury in the field?

Tim Kennedy: (Pauses)… None of my injuries are bad. But some of the guys coming back now, I couldn’t imagine having to deal with some of the things that their families are dealing with. You want to see some courage? Go to a soldier’s home and watch that mom who has been by herself for the past ten months. She’s been taking care of two kids while her husband has been fighting in some foreign land and comes back burnt or his brain is swollen from an explosion. There is not only courage inside of a solider but also within his family at home.

I can’t empathetically say what their life is like because I’ve never been there but my wife, myself, and our church, we spend a lot of our free time helping these guys out. And in a community like ours, these people are my brothers. I’d bleed for them in a heartbeat. They are the greatest guys on the planet and they’d do the same for me. And it just isn’t on the battlefield; when they come back home you’ve got to be there for them as much as you would be when they’re deployed.

I hope I never have the experience where I can say what it’s actually like, but from the helping hands aspect, I just know that every solider has to be there for their brothers. Nobody understands how long that recovery process takes and how much goes into it. This woman has been taking care of her kids for the past ten months by herself and now she has to take care of her husband too. And not much support is there. It’s hard. It’s painful. It’s tough. And part by the grace of God and some brothers from the service, these people can actually get through it sometimes.

Editor’s Note: For those who would like to support injured members of the United States Armed Forces, please visit the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund at: http://www.fallenheroesfund.org/

 

[Shogun Locc]

Shawn Tompkins Interview Part I: “I just can’t see Arlovski winning the fight”

Shawn Tompkins is one of the foremost authorities in MMA on the art of striking and thanks to Jake Hattan, one of his managers at Denaro Sports Marketing, FiveOuncesOfPain.com was recently granted an opportunity to interview the Xtreme Couture striking specialist.

In Part I of our interview, Tompkins discussed the preparations he’s current making in getting four fighters ready for Affliction’s “Day of Reckoning” on Jan. 24; his thoughts on whether Vitor Belfort has enough left to make a run a major middleweight title; and his feelings about famed boxing trainer Freddie Roach’s assessment of Fedor Emelianenko’s striking.

Sam Caplan (FiveOuncesOfPain.com): You’re a pretty busy many these days as you are helping multiple fighters get ready for Affliction’s “Day of Reckoning” on January 24. Can you talk a little more about that?

Shawn Tompkins: I’m in the middle of one of my biggest training camps that I have ever had to date. I’ve got Mark Hominick, Chris Horodecki, Jay Hieron, and Vitor Belfort all preparing for big fights on January 24 for the Affliction card. We’re full steam ahead and we’ve got about three weeks left as of today. It’s all going good and everyone is healthy, which is the key.

Sam Caplan (FiveOuncesOfPain.com): Belfort is such an interesting case. He’s had so many ups and downs in his career and is a former UFC light heavyweight champion. He comes out of Brazil and trained there for years and I wanted to know how you came about working with him?

Shawn Tompkins: Vitor wanted to come out originally to work with Randy Couture because Vitor has really turned to religion and he really respected the way Randy carried himself as a human being.

Ultimately, that’s what made him decide to come to Las Vegas. At the time I was working with Wanderlei Silva and a couple of other Brazilians that I was starting out with as well and my success as an MMA coach got back to him. He had his management connect with me and we worked together for a couple of days and see if it would go together. We’ve worked great together ever since.

Sam Caplan (FiveOuncesOfPain.com): Vitor has made the move to 185 and he’s still in his early 30s. However, he’s been in so many wars over the years that he might be old for his age and I wanted to ask if you felt if he has enough left in him to make a run at a middleweight title?

Shawn Tompkins: Absolutely. And I’ve been telling people this since the last Affliction card where everyone has been like “Wow, the old Vitor is back.” I truly believe that it’s not the old Vitor and it’s a brand new Vitor that is more determined and more motivated. I think the 185 pound division causes him to have to work harder between fights and maintain.

It’s also been a long time since Vitor has had a real team behind him. I think where Vitor went well in the past is that after he had some success — and this has happened many times with other fighters — he surrounded himself with people that just say “You’re the greatest! Everything you do is perfect! You’re good — you’re good” and they don’t push him. And they don’t set it up and he has to come into the gym and do what he has to do rather than what he wants to do. I think he’s really matured and changed in that way.

As far as his body holding up, he’s a physical specimen. He doesn’t carry his age through any of the wars that he’s had. Sure, he’s had some tough fights but I don’t think he’s had any wars that will feed on him later in his career.

Sam Caplan (FiveOuncesOfPain.com): You mentioned Chris Horodecki at the top of the interview and he” be fighting Dan Lauzon on Jan. 24. He’s come out and promised a surprise for Lauzon and while I know you can’t give the surprise away, can you give us a hint as to what we can expect?

Shawn Tompkins: What people are going to see ultimately is a more well-rounded Chris Horodecki. He gained a huge fanbase during his IFL days but I was really doing Bas Rutten a favor by putting Chris Horodecki in there at such a young age. Obviously, it worked very well for Bas and I and Chris. But now since April we’ve had some time to really just sit down and focus more on his training and career and round him out more so that he’s not just a kickboxer.

He’s a great kickboxer but we really spent a lot of time on improving his ground game as far as his jiu-jitsu and his wrestling. If anybody looks at Dan Lauzon, that’s his strength. I think we’re doing a really good job with our training of Horodecki. He’s a great kid and he’s a single-minded person. He knows what he’s good at and he knows what he needs to get better at.

Sam Caplan (FiveOuncesOfPain.com): Horodecki is one of the best fighters in the world under the age of 22, yet he’s got several years of experience. How young was he when he came to you?

Shawn Tompkins: Chris and I started working together when he was 12 years old. I tell people this a lot, and he does too, we’ve got a real father/son relationship. We’ve won together and we’ve lost together. So there’s nothing we haven’t seen and we both know that there’s a lot of room for improvement and I’m always very excited in his fight camp when I put them together because I take them very personal and I always like to see him improve.

Sam Caplan (FiveOuncesOfPain.com): The main event on that card is Fedor Emelianenko vs. Andrei Arlovski and famed boxing trainer Freddie Roach recently broke down Fedor’s striking in an interview with SI.com. He specifically talked about how Fedor strikes from a flat footed position and he also indicated that he felt his aggressive nature could be used against him. What is your assessment of Fedor as a striker and do you agree with what Roach said?

Shawn Tompkins: First of all, I respect Freddie Roach more than any other trainer in the business and that’s in boxing and martial arts. When he says something it’s generally gold. But I will go against him in a way where he says Fedor’s punching isn’t technical and that it isn’t good because obviously, he’s the greatest. There are some cases with certain people that when everything they do wrong turns out right and that’s what you have in Fedor.

As far as an aggressive nature with Arlovski, I think that’s a positive for Fedor. If you look at the past with Arlovski, when he doesn’t do well is when he gets hit and gets hurt and that’s when Arlovski falls a part. He’s a very confidence-driven fighter. He needs to be winning in order to do well and look good.

I just can’t see Arlovski winning the fight. I think it’s a really bad fight for him but I think it’s a fight that he has to do. Best of luck to him, obviously, and I think Freddie Roach is a great trainer and I have respect for him at the upmost but I just don’t think he understands Fedor like the rest of us in the MMA game do.