MMA News Thread

[heyzel]

UFC and Ratner Working Hard on New York Sanctioning of MMA

Ultimate Fighting, Toned Down, Seeks Legalization

By DANNY HAKIM


March 10, 2008

ALBANY — The Ultimate Fighting Championship is ready for a rematch with New York State.
On Monday, the company that owns the championship will begin its public campaign to legalize so-called mixed martial arts fighting in the state, 11 years after it was banned by Gov. George E. Pataki, who said at the time that “to have someone who wins by using choke holds and kicking people while they are down is not someone our children should be looking to emulate.”
Zuffa, the company that acquired the championship in 2001, will unveil the Web site www.mmafacts.com on Monday to argue that it has transformed the sport into more legitimate, and corporate-sponsored, entertainment.
Yet the company has been quietly laying the groundwork for months. In November, Zuffa retained the Albany lobbying firm Brown, McMahon & Weinraub for $10,000 a month, state records show. Then it hired a political consulting firm used by Gov. Eliot Spitzer, the Global Strategy Group, for media relations. For good measure, the company made a $25,000 donation to the state Democratic Party in mid-January.
“The timing is right,” said Marc Ratner, above, the vice president for regulatory and government affairs for Zuffa, which is based in Las Vegas. “We had a lot of other states we were working on and we wanted to devote our full attention to New York, and that’s what we’re doing now.”
The Ultimate Fighting Championship is the best-known league devoted to mixed martial arts, though there are several others. Fights are now sanctioned in 32 states, including New Jersey. They are not legal in Connecticut, except at the Mohegan Sun casino, which is on an Indian reservation. The fights appear on cable or pay-per-view, and the sport’s emerging stars, like Roger Huerta of U.F.C., have even been on the cover of magazines including Sports Illustrated. ESPN’s Web site also has a section devoted to mixed martial arts.
The sport was once known for no-holds-barred cage fights, leading Senator John McCain to label the matches “human cockfights.” But the Ultimate Fighting Championship now has a rule book, weight classes and sponsors. The rules? Among other things, no eye gouging, choke holds, hair pulling or below-the-belt shots are allowed, and you can’t kick a guy when he’s down.
What they do not have yet is a bill, and the governor’s office said it could not comment until it saw one.
“We’re working on that as we speak, and that should hopefully be forthcoming, but it’s not quite ready yet,” Mr. Ratner said. “We’ll have people on both sides of the aisle. We’re very bullish on coming to New York

 

[heyzel]

Matt Hughes interview

Tonight on Rear Naked Radio will have Matt on. He'll be discussing the upcoming GSP/Serra fight, his gym, His plans for his next fight and a bunch of other stuff.

Also have MMA Judge Richard Bertrand back on and the winner of our pick em contest.

If you get a chance check it out at 6:05 pm on www.talkradiox.com

If you miss it the show archived at www.rearnakedradio.net

 

[heyzel]

Dana White: "We're going to do it our way

Dana White recently sat down with the Boston Herald to discuss a variety of topics including his disdain for Elite XC president Gary Shaw and the reasons why the UFC hasn't signed on with a major network. Below are some of the highlights of that conversation:
Dana White On Elite XC President Gary Shaw:

The next company that was going to take me out has been coming for the last eight years. Every time somebody puts something new together, it’s been ’Oh, these guys are gonna kick Dana’s (expletive) and put his ego in check.’ There ain’t anybody kicking our (expletive). It isn’t going to happen this year with CBS and Elite XC or any year. We’ll see who’s around in five years, me or Gary Shaw. There’s some ego for you. The reality is I know what the (expletive) I’m doing and Gary Shaw doesn’t. If you go and search Gary Shaw and mixed martial arts (on the Internet), this guy was saying five years ago that mixed martial arts was a joke. (He said) it’s not a real sport, these guys are barroom brawlers. Now that fat, bloated (expletive) is running around acting like he loves mixed martial arts.

Dana White On Why He's Nixed Deals In The Past With HBO and CBS:

The bottom line is we built this brand without the help of anyone. We built this thing from the ground up, and no one’s going to control our business. It has nothing to do with ego at all; it has to do with the business we’ve built and our vision for it. We’re going to do it our way.

 

[B-Buzz]

Ultimate Fighting, Toned Down, Seeks Legalization

“The timing is right,” said Marc Ratner, above, the vice president for regulatory and government affairs for Zuffa, which is based in Las Vegas. “We had a lot of other states we were working on and we wanted to devote our full attention to New York, and that’s what we’re doing now.”

until the governor just got caught in that prostitution ring lol
......

With just over a month to go until UFC 83, a pair of fights have been added to the preliminary card, bringing the event to a thick 11 fights total. The UFC announced today that TUF 3 finalist Ed “Short Fuse” Herman will take on undefeated Brazilian grappler Demian Maia, who choked out Ryan Jensen during his UFC debut last October; Herman is riding a three-fight win streak, his most recent being a knockout of Joe Doerksen at UFC 78 in November. The news follows up a weekend announcement confirming that heavyweights Brad Morris (8-2) and Cain Velasquez (2-0) will both make their Octagon debuts at UFC 83. Morris is a heavy-handed Australian striker who’s done time in King of the Cage and Bodog Fight. Despite his very limited professional experience, Velasquez was previously shouted out by his American Kickboxing Academy teammate Jon Fitch as the dude who will “turn the heavyweight world upside down in another year or two.”

With these additions, the final lineup to the April 19th Montreal show looks like this:

MAIN CARD
Matt Serra vs. Georges St. Pierre (for welterweight title)
Rich Franklin vs. Travis Lutter (middleweights)
Nate Quarry vs. Kalib Starnes (middleweights)
Michael Bisping vs. Charles McCarthy (middleweights)
Mac Danzig vs. Marc Bocek (lightweights)

PRELIMINARY CARD
Joe Doerksen vs. Jason MacDonald (middleweights)
Jason Day vs. Alan Belcher (middleweights)
Rich Clementi vs. Sam Stout (lightweights)
Kuniyoshi Hironaka vs. Jonathan Goulet (welterweights)
Ed Herman vs. Demian Maia (middleweights)
Brad Morris vs. Cain Velasquez (heavyweights)

So many middleweights, so little hope of ever beating Anderson Silva…

In other UFC news:


— New heavyweight acquisition Shane Carwin is rumored to make his Octagon debut at UFC 84 (“ill will”) against Christian Wellisch. Carwin is undefeated in eight fights in regional MMA promotions, with his longest fight lasting just 2 minutes and 11 seconds. Wellisch is an American Kickboxing Academy product who’s gone 2-1 in his UFC career (8-3 overall). Anyway, he’ll probably get destroyed by this beast.

....
guy looks like another Brock to me

 

[Shogun Locc]

Melendez Not Fighting Marcello

Gilbert Melendez (Pictures) will not be defending his Strikeforce 155-pound title against Cristiano Marcello (Pictures) on March 29, a Strikeforce representative told Sherdog.com on Monday.

It was reported last week that the bout was set for the Strikeforce and EliteXC co-promotion at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif., which will be headlined by Frank Shamrock (Pictures)'s middleweight fight against Cung Le (Pictures).

However, Strikeforce Vice President Mike Afromowitz said the Melendez-Marcello fight was never signed. Afromowitz added that Melendez will be fighting March 29, and an opponent is expected to be confirmed Monday evening.

 

[Shogun Locc]

Tito Ortiz: "I'm a very smart business man. I'm done being taken advantage of."

In a recent interview conducted by Hollyscoop.com, Tito Ortiz blasted Dana White and confirmed that he planned to fight for three more years outside of the UFC. Below are some of the highlights of the interview.
Ortiz On His Relationship With The UFC:

I'm done with the UFC. I'm done being taken advantage of. I'm done with being disrespected. I've been in the sport 11 years and gave them a third of my life and they give me no respect.

Ortiz On Dana White:

The president, Dana White, is full of himself but his biggest victim is himself. I think he's going to be the person who ruins the company. He treats fighters really horribly and the fighters who have problems in the United States are the ones he takes advantage of. I'm a very smart businessman and I'll never be taken advantage of by the UFC ever again.

Ortiz On His Plans For The Future:

I'm not retiring, I'll be fighting for at least another three years.

 

[Shogun Locc]

Chuck Liddell On Fedor: "I think I could take him."

Chuck Liddell sat down with SunSport and had some interesting things to say about Fedor Emelianenko. Below are some of his comments regarding Fedor:
Fedor’s someone I want to fight because he’s someone I match up well with. He’s a ground and pound guy that doesn’t have a great shot. He doesn’t have a great game plan. I think I could take him. I think I match up well with him. As far as I know he’s never knocked anyone out from his feet and I think he’d have a hard time taking me down. A move to heavyweight is a possibility for me. If I’m done with everything at light heavyweight I might move up. The top guys up there aren’t all that big heavyweights. Randy was but I knocked him out twice.

Liddell is set to face Rashad Evans at UFC 85 in London, England on June 7th.

 

[Shogun Locc]

GARY SHAW TALKS ELITE XC PRODUCTION ON CBS

ProElite, Inc. and the CBS Television Network on Feb. 28 announced a multi-year agreement to bring mixed martial arts to the broadcast network. CBS will broadcast four MMA events per year, produced by ProElite's EliteXC fight division, as two-hour live primetime specials targeted for Saturday nights.

The agreement augments an existing relationship between CBS Corporation and ProElite, which began broadcasting its EliteXC live MMA events on CBS's Showtime premium cable network in 2007. EliteXC events will continue to air on Showtime.

Gary Shaw, president of EliteXC’s Live Events division, told MMAWeekly.com recently that the first telecast has not yet been determined, but that it will take place sometime between April and June of this year.

He also addressed the issue of the broadcast team of the CBS telecasts, believed to be one of the major points of contention between Ultimate Fighting Championship officials and CBS when the two entities were reportedly negotiating to bring the UFC to the network’s airwaves prior to the EliteXC signing.

EliteXC will still control the details of the production of the events, including matching the fighters; but CBS will be in control of the production of the telecast itself, including the announcing team.

“We're doing our own production. We're putting on the fights,” said Shaw. “They're broadcasting the event, absolutely. It's a joint effort between us. There are a lot of people involved in this joint effort including CBS, including Showtime, including us, including their marketing people, their outdoor billboard people, their radio people, their TV people.

“Remember, we do ShoXC that has a broadcast team; we do EliteXC that has a broadcast team; and CBS will have a broadcast team,” he continued. “We'll have three different broadcast teams that work with us.”

Although it remains to be seen how EliteXC events will be presented on CBS, Shaw said that the network didn’t have plans to alter production on events that continue to air on Showtime.

“They were very, very happy with the Showtime production and the competitive matches we're putting on Showtime. They like the product we're working with.”

 

[Shogun Locc]

Nick Diaz vs. Jae Suk Lim Booked for March 29

EliteXC lightweight Nick Diaz (15-7) will meet Spirit MC veteran Jae Suk Lim (9-3) at a March 29 event co-promoted by EliteXC and Strikeforce.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) today confirmed the bout with Strikeforce officials. The fight was first reported by GracieFighter.com, which is owned by Diaz's instructor, Cesar Gracie.

The Diaz vs. Lim fight is expected to be on the main card of the event, which takes place at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif. Strikeforce world middleweight champ Frank Shamrock (23-8-1) meets undefeated Cung Le (5-0) in the night's main event.

The event airs on Showtime.

Diaz will return to action for the first time since an upset loss to K.J. Noons for the vacant EliteXC lightweight title. The November bout was stopped after the first round due to multiple cuts on Diaz's face. Although he was irate at the stoppage, the ringside doctor wouldn't allow the fight to continue. Diaz underwent surgery to repair scar tissue around his eyes after the fight.

Even with the loss, Diaz is 4-1 (with one no-contest) in his past six fights.

Lim, who made his EliteXC debut with a first-round submission of Daniel Pinedo in November, has won three of his past four fights. The 28-year-old, who is nicknamed "The Korean Icepick," has fought primarily in his home country with the South Korean-based Spirit MC, which was purchased by ProElite, Inc. (EliteXC's parent company) last year. He previously held the organization's middleweight title.

Lim will have just four weeks between fights. On March 1 he defeated Yoon Young Kim (8-3) with a first-round TKO.

The latest rumored fight card now includes:

Champ Frank Shamrock vs. Cung Le (for Strikeforce world middleweight title)
Jake Shields vs. Drew Fickett (for first-ever EliteXC welterweight title)

Champ Gilbert Melendez vs. TBA (for Strikeforce world lightweight title)
Nick Diaz vs. Jae Suk Lim
Joey Villasenor vs. Evangelista Santos
Paul Buentello vs. TBA
Jorge Santiago vs. TBA
Paul Daley vs. TBA

 

[Shogun Locc]

Thomas Denny vs. Malaipet to headline next ShoXC Elite Challenger Series event

The next ShoXC Elite Challenger Series event was recently announced for March 21 at the Chumash Casino in Santa Ynez, Calif., this past weekend.

Lightweights Thomas “Wildman” Denny (25-16) and Malaipet Sitprapom (3-1) will tangle during the main event of the evening, which will be broadcast on the Showtime premium cable channel at 11 p.m. ET.

Denny has 21 stoppages in his 25 career wins (14 submission, 7 (t)kos). He fights out of Hesperia, Calif., and trains with Team Wildman Vale Tudo.

“Wildman” is a journeyman who has been tested by some of the game’s best fighters. He’s been in there with George St. Pierre, Joe Stevenson, Yves Edwards, John Alessio and Tony Fryklund, among others. His fight experience will be his strength going into this fight against Malaipet, who has just four career mixed martial arts fights to his credit.

Malaipet competed in ShoXC back in October 2007, defeating Kaleo Kwan with a unanimous decision. The 26-year-old is originally from Thailand and has been a professional fighter there since he was eight years old. In fact, Malaipet is a former Muay Thai world champion, meaning he is a very crisp and dangerous technical striker.

This should be a fun fight to watch one week from the big show — Shamrock vs. Cung Le — in San Jose, Calif., on March 28. EliteXC Live Events President, Gary Shaw, is unsurprisingly, interested in seeing how Malaipet performs against stiffer competition.

Here’s a snip:

“Malaipet is a legend in kickboxing, but I think a lot of us are anxious to see how he does as he continues to step up. For sure, he could turn out to be special, but Denny is one tough vet. I love to watch the progress of all young athletes as they develop. The response to this series has been incredible.’’

Other televised bouts just announced include:

160 lbs.: Marlon Matias (5-1) vs. Conor Huen (6-2)
140 lbs.: Cristiane Cyborg (5-0) vs. Jen Case (4-1)
265 lbs.: Shane Del Rosario (3-0) vs. Analu Brash (2-1)
140 lbs.: Mark Oshiro (9-1) vs. Chris Caraiso (6-0)

And the non-televised dark matches:

160 lbs.: Karen Darabedyn (2-1) vs. TBA
170 lbs.: Devin Howard vs. Mark Kempthorne (1-4)
265 lbs: Amadeo Viola (0-1) vs. Jason Williams
170 lbs.: Luke Riddering vs. TBA
170 lbs.: Kenny Johnson vs. TBA

 

[PsyDaL]

Ultimate Fighting, Toned Down, Seeks Legalization

By DANNY HAKIM


March 10, 2008

ALBANY — The Ultimate Fighting Championship is ready for a rematch with New York State.
On Monday, the company that owns the championship will begin its public campaign to legalize so-called mixed martial arts fighting in the state, 11 years after it was banned by Gov. George E. Pataki, who said at the time that “to have someone who wins by using choke holds and kicking people while they are down is not someone our children should be looking to emulate.”
Zuffa, the company that acquired the championship in 2001, will unveil the Web site www.mmafacts.com on Monday to argue that it has transformed the sport into more legitimate, and corporate-sponsored, entertainment.
Yet the company has been quietly laying the groundwork for months. In November, Zuffa retained the Albany lobbying firm Brown, McMahon & Weinraub for $10,000 a month, state records show. Then it hired a political consulting firm used by Gov. Eliot Spitzer, the Global Strategy Group, for media relations. For good measure, the company made a $25,000 donation to the state Democratic Party in mid-January.
“The timing is right,” said Marc Ratner, above, the vice president for regulatory and government affairs for Zuffa, which is based in Las Vegas. “We had a lot of other states we were working on and we wanted to devote our full attention to New York, and that’s what we’re doing now.”
The Ultimate Fighting Championship is the best-known league devoted to mixed martial arts, though there are several others. Fights are now sanctioned in 32 states, including New Jersey. They are not legal in Connecticut, except at the Mohegan Sun casino, which is on an Indian reservation. The fights appear on cable or pay-per-view, and the sport’s emerging stars, like Roger Huerta of U.F.C., have even been on the cover of magazines including Sports Illustrated. ESPN’s Web site also has a section devoted to mixed martial arts.
The sport was once known for no-holds-barred cage fights, leading Senator John McCain to label the matches “human cockfights.” But the Ultimate Fighting Championship now has a rule book, weight classes and sponsors. The rules? Among other things, no eye gouging, choke holds, hair pulling or below-the-belt shots are allowed, and you can’t kick a guy when he’s down.
What they do not have yet is a bill, and the governor’s office said it could not comment until it saw one.
“We’re working on that as we speak, and that should hopefully be forthcoming, but it’s not quite ready yet,” Mr. Ratner said. “We’ll have people on both sides of the aisle. We’re very bullish on coming to New York

Just another reason why you gotta respect Dana White and staff. A lot of muthafuckas say fuck Dana White this, that, but hes putting his namebrand on the line when it comes to politics and doing the right thing to get these states within the US to uplift their MMA ban. Aint no other organization on earth doin anything to change these laws. Thanks Hayzel for finding this article, was some good reads for sure....

 

[UCDgreek]

Tito Ortiz: "I'm a very smart business man. I'm done being taken advantage of."

In a recent interview conducted by Hollyscoop.com, Tito Ortiz blasted Dana White and confirmed that he planned to fight for three more years outside of the UFC. Below are some of the highlights of the interview.
Ortiz On His Relationship With The UFC:

I'm done with the UFC. I'm done being taken advantage of. I'm done with being disrespected. I've been in the sport 11 years and gave them a third of my life and they give me no respect.

Ortiz On Dana White:

The president, Dana White, is full of himself but his biggest victim is himself. I think he's going to be the person who ruins the company. He treats fighters really horribly and the fighters who have problems in the United States are the ones he takes advantage of. I'm a very smart businessman and I'll never be taken advantage of by the UFC ever again.

Ortiz On His Plans For The Future:

I'm not retiring, I'll be fighting for at least another three years.

man fuck this guy and all his bullshit. how the fuck is he being taken advantage of. the guy makes like 250k a fight. what the fuck has he done in the last 2 years. lets take a look

evans - draw
lidell - loss
shamrock twice - wins
griffin- split decision (really lost)


i hate pieces of shit like this guy making hundreds of thousands of dollars a fight yet they are "taken advantage of". you got fighters on the cards fighting for 2 and 4k dollars yet this bum isnt happy.

tito ur fucking washed up. hes gonna go sign to another promotion and fight some fucking scrubs and make his money and fuck his nasty bitch of a gf.

rant over.

 

[rylor206]

I actually think Liddell is one of the only people out there that would give Fedor alot of Problems.

 

[Shogun Locc]

I actually think Liddell is one of the only people out there that would give Fedor alot of Problems.

I disagree I think Fedor is a bad match up for chuck.

 

[Shogun Locc]

Silva Gets New Opponent for UFC 84

Thiago Silva (Pictures) will look to continue his run towards the UFC light heavyweight title against Antonio Mendes, Sherdog.com learned Monday.

Silva (12-0-0) was originally slated to face Rashad Evans (Pictures) on the Memorial Day weekend card in Las Vegas. That fight was scrapped when Evans accepted a June 7 tilt against Chuck Liddell (Pictures) after Mauricio Rua (Pictures) withdrew because of a significant knee injury.

The highly regarded 25-year-old Brazilian will look to keep his flawless record intact against a lesser-known commodity in Mendes (14-2-0).

Fighting out of the Europe Top Team came, Mendes, a 26-year-old from Fortaleza, Brazil, ran off nine consecutive victories in 2007. This will be his UFC debut.

 

[Shogun Locc]

Gilbert Melendez vs. Gabe Lemley Official for March 29

Strikeforce world lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez (13-1) will defend his title against Extreme Challenge veteran Gabe Lemley (11-6) at a March 29 Strikeforce/EliteXC card.

Strikeforce Vice President Mike Afromowitz alert MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) of the card's latest booking. The event, which features a main event of Strikeforce world middleweight champion Frank Shamrock vs. Cung Le, airs on Showtime.

The Lemley booking comes the same day that Strikeforce officials confirmed that a rumored bout between Melendez and Chute Boxe jiu-jitsu coach Cristiano Marcello was never made official. According to published reports, Marcello had said he had accepted the fight.

Instead, it goes to Lemley, a Midwest-based fighter who's riding a five-fight win streak. Seven of his 11 victories have come via submission -- the most recent over Nick Walker (4-4) at a Feb. 29 Extreme Challenge event.

Melendez, who began his career with 13 consecutive victories, looks to rebound from his first-ever professional loss. He suffered the defeat at the New Year's Eve "Yarennoka!" show in Japan. The 25-year-old dropped a close but unanimous decision to Mitsuhiro Ishida.

The latest fight card now includes:

Champ Frank Shamrock vs. Cung Le (for Strikeforce world middleweight title)
Jake Shields vs. Drew Fickett (for first-ever EliteXC welterweight title)
Champ Gilbert Melendez vs. Gabe Lemley (for Strikeforce world lightweight title)
Nick Diaz vs. Jae Suk Lim
Joey Villasenor vs. Evangelista Santos

 

[Shogun Locc]

Hayato Mach Sakurai -"Welterweight is where I want to fight"

Mach Sakurai has had a new trainer, Daisuke Ishii, since February. His old trainer loved to drink too much and suffered from gout. Weight-cutting has been an issue for Mach in the past, but he is already down to about 80kg.
"I'm more ready and prepared than last year. Including the dojo, last year I wasn't sure when I was going to fight and felt very flat. But I recharged for the New Years Eve fight and I can't think about losing here."
On Monma:
"He has very long arms and legs and is very difficult to grab a hold of."
" I know that he has cut a tremendous amount of weight to to fight at 70kg. Who'd he fight? Was it J.Z.? I don't know how he made that fight. It's impossible for me to make 70kg, so I think it's amazing that he did."
"I wasn't sure I'd be fighting at DREAM so I was relieved when Monma took the match."
"Of course I'm going to watch out for Monma's submissions"

When asked by a sparring partner whether he's ever lost by ippon:
"I got armbarred by Crosley Gracie (10/14/04 Bushido). But I was copying Chonan. Before my fight Chonan got caught in an armbar by Carlos Newton but escaped. So I'd thought I'd try that too. I tried to practice in a match (laughter).

On which weight class he wants to fight in:
"The welterweight division is stacked worldwide. Maybe 70kg is best in Japan but it's small in the rest of the world. Perhaps the Japanese like the extremes, either small fighters or big fighters. When you look worldwide though, most people are in between. It's been tough to bulk up or cut weight for each fight (bitter smile). So it's a good chance for me to fight at this weight class. (It's been said that the best division in the UFC is welterweight) Of course, because that division has the most people."

 

[Shogun Locc]

‘Cro Cop' to Fight Mizuno

After much speculation, Fight Entertainment Group has announced that Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic (Pictures) will take on Pancrase regular Tatsuya Mizuno (Pictures) on the March 15 Dream card at Saitama Super Arena in Japan.

Mizuno carries a 4-2 professional record contested entirely in Pancrase. His two most noteworthy opponents, Thiago Silva (Pictures) and Assuerio Silva (Pictures), dominated him in brutal fashion. However, the Japanese fighter has since picked up two wins, stopping Masayuki Kono (Pictures) in the first round in November and submitting Dave Frendin last month in Australia.

Filipovic had been rumored to be facing a wide cast of fighters, ranging from K-1 standout "Mighty Mo" Siala Siliga (Pictures) to South Korean Dong Sik Yoon (Pictures). Last week, "Cro Cop" revealed on his personal blog that he expected to face Yoshihiro Nakao (Pictures). He has not competed since last September, when he dropped a unanimous decision to Cheick Kongo (Pictures).
Tatsuyom Mizunom according to the croatian news.
croatian link: http://www.sportal.hr/sportal/sportal/ostalo/borilacki/3031149/index.do

 

[Shogun Locc]

Aldo comments Nova União’s success

André Pederneiras’ Jiu-Jitsu black belt, José Aldo comment with exclusivity for TATAME about many problems that Brazilian MMA teams have passed in 2007 and showed the way of success from Nova União. “I believe that the union is the same, people here is a family. The team with Shaolin on training is one and without him is another, luckily he’s back now from his injury. I believe that first is Dedé (Pederneiras), and after Shaolin on the team. People here is a real family. Who comes from other teams is welcome and nobody here believe it’s better than anybody. When someone starts believing that, Dedé or Shaolin go and put them on their place. That’s our difference”, says the black belt.

Expecting for closing contract with na american event, Aldo told about his plans for the year. “It’s 50% right, i might fight at and it might be a great fight on the beginning. I’ll close contract for more fights, but the first one might be excellent. I’ll fight at 66kg category, I’m with 73kg now, but I’ll go to 66kg easily”, says José Aldo, that won’t fight at this year, with this contract with the American event.

 

[Shogun Locc]

ANDERSON SILVA DOES WANT TO BOX ROY JONES, JR.

Since joining the ranks of the Ultimate Fighting Championship less than two years ago, middleweight champion Anderson Silva has all but cleaned house. He debuted with a dismantling of highly touted Ultimate Fighter alumnus Chris Leben, immediately captured the title from then-champion Rich Franklin, and hasn’t looked back since.

He fended off challenges by Ultimate Fighter season four winner Travis Lutter and seven-time King of Pancrase Nate Marquardt, before once again stopping Franklin. Most recently, at UFC 82, he submitted former Pride champion Dan Henderson to solidify his position as the No. 1 middleweight in the world.

In short, Silva appears unstoppable.

There are still challenges for him to face in the Octagon – Yushin Okami springs immediately to mind and a much touted drop to welterweight to challenge Georges St. Pierre – but he may soon be looking to another challenge, outside of his chosen sport.

“Anderson really would love to fight Roy Jones, Jr. in a boxing match,” says his manager, Ed Soares, confirming recent speculation. “It’s not just talk, we really would like to put that fight together.”

That’s not to say the Silva discounts Jones’ abilities. Both he and Jones are often argued as being the best pound-for-pound fighter in their respective sports. But Silva feels that fighters in mixed martial arts are often unjustly criticized as not being as technically proficient as their boxing counterparts, a misconception that he would like to dispel.

“We respect Jones’ boxing ability and think he’s one of the best,” said Soares, “but we’re tired of different boxers saying that MMA fighters aren’t technical. Anderson would love to fight Roy Jones in a boxing match under boxing rules to prove that MMA fighters are technical, too.”

There has been much chatter in the past about Jones stepping into the Octagon to fight; something that he spoke to BoxingScene.com’s Mark Vester about last year, saying, “Now, I can't get on the ground and start wrestling because I know nothing about that. But if I hit him before he gets to the ground, he's not going to get up and have the chance to wrestle."

Unlike many boxers, Jones has actually had a lot of positives to say about the sport, as he told Vester, “UFC is the best fighting the best and that’s what boxing has to do. If you are an ultimate fighter, you are going to fight someone who is going to fight. In UFC, if you lose to a good fighter, you lost, you still know you are good fighter, and you come back the next day and fight again. In boxing, if you lose and that's it. You are done. I lose a few fights, they want to tell me I'm washed up and I don't have it no more."

Thus far though, Jones hasn’t commented about fighting a mixed martial artist on his terms, in his ring. Whether it ever becomes a reality or not, it is a fight that would surely be marquee both for boxing aficionados and mixed martial arts purists alike.