MMA News Thread

[drunkaholic707]

Injury knocks Jose Aldo out of UFC 153 featherweight title main event with Frankie Edgar

Sometimes, when it rains, it pours. Such often is the case for the UFC.

Not two hours after announcing the loss of its co-main event for UFC 153 next month in Brazil, the UFC now has lost its top draw on the card. Main event featherweight champion Jose Aldo has been forced out of his title fight with Frankie Edgar, leaving the UFC with a pair of holes in the top two positions for its return to Rio de Janeiro.

UFC President Dana White on Tuesday announced the news, summing it up on Twitter with: "Main and co-main in the same day!! Another amazing day at the UFC. We have some work to do."

Earlier on Tuesday, White announced news that co-main event fighter and former light heavyweight champion Quinton "Rampage" Jackson was out of his fight with Glover Teixeira with an injury. It is not yet known who Jackson's replacement will be.

Aldo (21-1, 3-0) was expected to face Erik Koch (13-1, 2-0) in the main event of the card, which takes place at HSBC Arena in Rio on Oct. 13. But an injury to Koch forced him out, and the UFC elected, in news first reported by USA TODAY and MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com), to give an immediate title shot to new featherweight Edgar (14-3-1 MMA, 9-3-1 UFC), the former lightweight champion who decided to drop down 10 pounds and make a run at 145.

But now Aldo is out, and Edgar's shot at another belt will be put on hold. It is not yet known if Edgar will remain on the card against a different opponent or if he will now step back and wait for Aldo to recover from his injury.

White on Tuesday told MMAjunkie.com he was uncertain what would happen with Edgar's placement on the card, saying both options were open – that Edgar could face a new opponent next month, or he could be pulled.

Edgar was looking to join UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture and B.J. Penn as the only men to hold UFC championships in two different weight classes.

Aldo has not fought since a UFC 142 first-round knockout of Chad Mendes, which also took place at HSBC Arena in Rio. That win gave him successful UFC title defenses against Mendes, Kenny Florian and Mark Hominick and made him 11-0 as a Zuffa fighter, including his time in the WEC.

Edgar finally moved to 145 after months and months of encouragement from White. In 2010, he won the lightweight title against B.J. Penn at UFC 112 and defended it at UFC 118. He fought to a now-famous draw with Gray Maynard at UFC 125, then knocked him out in the rematch at UFC 136. But against Benson Henderson at UFC 144 this past February, he finally tasted defeat in a title fight, dropping a close unanimous decision.

He got a rematch this past month at UFC 150 in Denver, but again dropped a close decision. After that, he decided to drop to featherweight – and found himself quickly back in a title fight with Koch was injured and he stepped up.

UFC officials now apparently will go to work on another five-alarm pay-per-view situation. Just this past month, the entire UFC 151 pay-per-view was canceled when Jon Jones refused a replacement fight with Chael Sonnen after Dan Henderson was forced out with an injury.

 

[BROWN GUERRERO]

fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck. LET THEM FUCKING USE PEDS!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[B-Buzz]

lol at this rate there's gonna be like 3 big fights a year and 45 cancelled ones

 

[SLRider510]

Zombie vs Edgar?! I'm cool with that

 

[B-Buzz]

^ KZ just had shoulder surgery. Lamas & Koch are really the only guys, and neither of em are gonna headline.

 

[RM211]

interim title??

 

[RM211]

Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson hurt, forced out of UFC 153 co-main event vs. Glover Teixei

also on same card...





After all the controversy over Quinton "Rampage" Jackson wanting out of his contract, it turns out he won't fight at UFC 153 after all.

Jackson (32-10 MMA, 7-4 UFC) is injured and out of his co-main event fight against Glover Teixeira (18-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) next month in Brazil. UFC President Dana White on Tuesday tweeted the news. The nature of his injury was not announced.

It is not yet known if a replacement for Jackson will be sought to step in on just under five weeks' notice, or if Teixeira will be pulled from the card.

UFC 153 takes place Oct. 13 at HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro. The pay-per-view features a main event featherweight title fight between Brazilian champion Jose Aldo and former lightweight champ Frankie Edgar.

Jackson is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Ryan Bader at UFC 144 in February. Before that, he lost a title fight against Jon Jones at UFC 135 by fourth-round decision. Teixeira made his highly anticipated UFC debut in May, making quick work of Kyle Kingsbury at UFC 146.

Jackson made waves in March when he openly called out the UFC and said he was looking forward to leaving the promotion after his next fight, the last on his deal.

UFC 144, Jackson failed to make weight for his fight in Japan against Bader, saying a knee injury before the fight hampered his weight cut, forcing him to come in heavy. He forfeited 20 percent of his purse to Bader.

After the loss, Jackson admitted to having doctor-prescribed testosterone replacement therapy to help his knee heal, but also railed on the UFC for the matchups he had been given, as well as the amount of money he's making.

"The UFC talks about being in a billion homes," Jackson told "Inside MMA" in March. "They're making all this money. Yet I'm making less money than I used to make with the UFC. The UFC is getting bigger, which means I'm getting bigger, but I'm making less money. Why? So I just don't want to be with them no more. I think the flavor is done. … I don't want to have to fight for somebody no more if they're not really appreciating me."

White said Jackson wanted to leave the promotion before his deal was up, but White stepped in to ask him to finish his deal.

"Me and Rampage had this conversation and he said, 'Cut me from my contract right now,'" White said after UFC 149 in Calgary. "And I said, 'Dude, we've had your back every step of the way, we've honored every contract that we've ever had with you – honor yours.' He said, 'That's true. You're right. I will honor my contract.'"

One other light heavyweight fight already is on the UFC 153 show. Phil Davis rematches Wagner Prado on the main card. But those two have unfinished business stemming from an accidental eye poke that Davis hit Prado with at UFC on FOX 4 this past month that resulted in a no contest. The nature of their rematch would appear to make one of them moving up to fight Teixeira unlikely.

 

[RM211]

Frankie Edgar camp open to fighting at UFC 153 or later

Frankie Edgar (14-3-1 MMA, 9-3-1 UFC) was understandably upset, as was the rest of the MMA world, to hear that featherweight champ Jose Aldo (21-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) had been forced to withdraw from UFC 153 due to injury.

But the ex-UFC lightweight champ's manager said he is open to fighting at the Oct. 13 pay-per-view event or another down the line.

"If the UFC wants Frankie to fight anybody, he'll fight anybody," Ali Abdel-Aziz today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). "It doesn't matter. If they want him to fight on this card, he'll fight on this card. If they want him to wait, he'll wait."

UFC 153, which takes place at HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, took a one-two punch with the injury withdrawals of Aldo and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, who had been scheduled to fight Glover Teixeira.

With the dropouts came volunteers for short-notice duty. As previously reported, Fabio Maldonado offered to fight Teixeira, and ex-WEC champ Urijah Faber volunteered himself and teammate Chad Mendes to fight Aldo.

Aldo, who agreed to fight Edgar after his original UFC 153 opponent, Erik Koch (13-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC), withdrew due to a knee injury, was reportedly hit by a car while riding his motorcycle in Brazil.

"We thought he was OK, and the champion he is, he tried to work through the injuries," Aziz said. "But if I was him, of course, I wouldn't fight injured because you have a lot to lose."

Aziz also echoed an earlier report that the UFC is currently undecided on a potential replacement for the featherweight champ.

"At this point, I don't know," he said. "Maybe [Aldo is] going to try and see the doctor. I don't know what's going on."

But regardless of whether Edgar fights at UFC 153, or at another event against another opponent, Aziz extended his sympathies to the champ.

"We wish Aldo a speedy recovery," he said

 

[RM211]

i say edgar n faber or edgar n chad mendes, both of those are good fights

 

[InfamousICON]

Anderson Silva vs. Stephan Bonnar step up for UFC 153 Main Event

Anderson Silva is the fucking man, steps up to fight a big LHW with nothing to gain and all to lose. Bonnar also gets that big name possible retirement fight he's been asking for. Should be an entertaining fight.

http://www.mmafighting.com/ufc/2012...ephan-bonnar-is-new-ufc-153-main-event-glover

The world's best fighter returns to action as Anderson Silva will meet Stephan Bonnar at UFC 153.

Follow @MMAFighting on Twitter, and Like MMA Fighting on Facebook.

Sep 12, 2012 - One day after UFC 153's top two fights fell out, two more took their place.

UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva will step up to 205 pounds and meet veteran Stephan Bonnar in the main event of the Oct. 13 card at HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro.

The bout replaces the planned featherweight title bout between champion Jose Aldo Jr. and Frankie Edgar. Aldo had to pull out of the fight on Tuesday due to complications from injuries suffered in a recent motorcycle accident.

The new co-main event features a battle of Brazilian light heavyweights as Glover Teixeira (18-2) faces Fabio Maldonado (18-5). Maldonado replaces Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, who also had to pull out due to injury.

MMAFighting.com confirmed the bouts after an initial USA Today report.

Silva (32-4), who will celebrate his record sixth anniversary as middleweight champion the day after UFC 153, has twice stepped up and fought at 205 during his record streak of 15 consecutive UFC wins. Both were first-round knockouts, as he stopped James Irvin in July 2008, and took out former champ Forrest Griffin at UFC 101.

The world's top pound-for-pound fighter had previously stated that he was done competing at light heavyweight, but the opportunity to step up, save a show, and fight in front of his Brazilian fans was apparently too much to resist.

Bonnar (14-7), meanwhile, is most famous for his bout against Griffin in "The Ultimate Fighter 1" finale. While he's had his career ups and downs, Bonnar has won his past three fights.

Teixeira made an impressive company debut at UFC 146, when he stopped Kyle Kingsbury. While there were strong rumors on Wednesday that Thiago Silva would take Jackson's spot against Teixeira, the spot instead went to Maldonado, who was slated to meet Cyrille Diabate at UFC 154. Maldanado is 1-2 in UFC action, most recently coming out on the wrong end of a highly debatable decision against Igor Pokrajac on May 15.

 

[InfamousICON]

Big Nog vs. Pee Wee Herman step up for UFC 153 Co Main Event

the Brazilians lost out on Jose Aldo and end up gaining Anderson and Big Nog.

http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2012/9/1...-dave-herman-on-edgar-out-hunt-for-main-event

In the aftermath of yesterday's disastrous news that injuries had forced Jose Aldo out of the main event and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson out of the co-main the UFC is moving quickly to rebuild the card. First up, earlier rumors that Middleweights Wanderlei Silva and Chael Sonnen would be meeting in the main event have been debunked by Sonnen's manager per Ariel Helwani.

Secondly, former Lightweight champ Frankie Edgar, who was slated to fight Aldo for the Featherweight title will not be on the card at all per MMA Fighting.

Finally we have one bit of very positive news. Heavyweights Antonio Rodrigo "Big Nog" Nogueira and Dave "Pee Wee" Herman will be meeting in the co-main event. The fight was initially reported by Tatame.com's Guilherme Cruz on Twitter and confirmed by Ariel Helwani for MMA Fighting.

Nogueira has not fought since Frank Mir snapped his arm at UFC 140. Nog had been set to face Cheick Kongo at UFC 149 but had to pull out due to his broken arm not being fully healed. Herman is riding a two-fight losing streak, most recently getting KTFO'd by Roy Nelson at UFC 146.

No word on what the new main event of the card will be. Stay tuned to Bloody Elbow for updates.

 

[SFC I-Side]

Damm who is gonna get beat down harder?? Belfort or Bonnar?? Hope Im wrong

 

[The Duke of Earl]

belfort hits jones one time like machida did and jones is going to sleep

 

[RM211]

^^^thats what im hoping for!!

jones is one of the best in the business at keeping distance tho and using his reach.


i wanna see that fire in the eyes type of vitor...if i can get 1 upset every year, this would be it!

 

[InfamousICON]

Bob Sapp takes yet ANOTHER dive

I seem to post a Bob Sapp taking a dive post every couple of months, but this one is literally the lowest of the low in his career. Within the last few months he has taken dives in front of just a couple hundred people in remote countries like Kazakhstan and now Serbia, which is terrible and almost in the gutter as far as a career is concerned, but this time he literally started tapping the moment it hit the ground and he took the first shot.

I'm at least happy this bull shit is happening in front of basically no fans in middle of nowhere countries like Kazakhstan and Serbia now instead of somewhat big Org's like OneFC, KSW, and SFL paying him like what was happening last year.

Hopefully he goes away now since I know these paydays in Kazakhstan and Serbia ain't worth a shit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hA9V_HR72I&feature=player_embedded

 

[trips]

BLOODSTAIN LANE: "THE MMA THAT I FELL IN LOVE WITH IS DEAD...BOXING IS ON THE COME UP"

By Percy Crawford | September 25, 2012

PC: I have been keeping track of your videos. I gotta ask you, what do you think of the landscape of both mixed martial arts and boxing and the direction that each is heading in?

BSL: Well, honestly, and I've been talking about this for a while now, in my opinion, MMA has peaked. And the reason it has peaked in my opinion is because I think the sport has took itself as far as it can take itself due to the fact that, in my opinion, the monopoly killed the game. They give watered down events, shitty matchmaking by Joe Silva, and the overall rules of the sport. It makes the sport boring to watch. Whereas in boxing, there are a lot of stars being made right now. You can look at Canelo Alvarez, Sergio Martinez, Gamboa, Adrien Broner and Gennady Golovkin. There are a lot of guys right now in boxing that are making the sport a lot more exciting. And if you are on social networks, you will see that a lot more people are talking about boxing more than they are talking about MMA right now. Another thing that is really hurting MMA…I don't even call it MMA anymore; it's really just the UFC. The UFC bought everything out and the injuries are killing the sport, and just the lack of stars, man. It's very, very generic. A lot of frat boy college kids coming out and they are all the same kind of person, the same kind of fighting, and they are all saying the same shit. They are all boxer/wrestler type guys. I feel like MMA is on the decline right now and boxing is on the come up. And like I said, if you are on Twitter or any of the social sites, you see more people excited for boxing right now than MMA.

PC: You named a lot of names in boxing that became stars on HBO, Showtime, or they were a part of an undercard to a huge PPV. How can MMA use their free networks like FOX, FX, and Fuel to create new stars, because it's just not happening right now?

BSL: They are not building any new stars, and if you really think about it, the only star that they have built over the last X amount of years is Jon "Bones" Jones. They are not building any new stars, and to be quite honest, I don't think they have any new stars. I don't see any outstanding signature fighters in the UFC right now to be quite honest. Like I said, I think the sport has peaked. I think a lot of guys…it's the same shit. Everybody is saying the same shit. They definitely should follow the boxing model where they are building up young stars. Boxing has the Showtime fights on Friday [ShoBox], and they got Friday Night Fights on ESPN2. They are putting a lot of young stars out there and people are catching on to them. That's how I found out about guys like Adrien Broner. I really think that they should follow the boxing model. But you know what? I really could care less anymore because the MMA that I fell in love with is dead in my opinion. I feel like it has lost its soul and its personality; a lot of the guys now…it's become so fucking generic with the fighters now. Back when I was watching Pride, the fighters had personality: Fedor, Cro Cop, Shogun and Wanderlei Silva. There are only a handful of guys today that have personality today because that era is pretty much done. There are only a handful of guys that have that Bushido spirit that those guys possessed. Other than that, it's just a bunch of dopey fucking jerk job college frat boys that wanna start fucking doing MMA, and to me, that's not what I'm into, man.

PC: Frank Shamrock recently did an interview basically saying what you just said. He feels the UFC, and Dana White in particular, has taken the art out of it and have just made it look like something cool to do, which is why a lot of people are getting into it.

BSL: It's lost its personality. You know, I go to these gyms and I'm still debating if I wanna do MMA, boxing, or Muay Thai, but I go to a MMA gym and most of the people there are not fighters, man. They are just somebody who looks at it as something to do and they go train and they get a fucking Mohawk and their fucking fingernails painted, and honestly, it's just fucking assholes training in MMA right now. Boxing and MMA are a lot different, and I talk about this all of the time. First of all, if you are going to train in MMA, you have to have a lot of money. You gotta buy a Gi, you gotta buy shin guards and gloves. You gotta spend $6 to $700 on equipment. In boxing, you get some headgear and some gloves and you're good. Boxing appeals more to the blue-collar people; the poor people. That's the biggest difference between boxing and MMA. And that's why boxing isn't going anywhere. I forget who said it, but they said as long as there are ghettos in America, boxing will always exist. Boxing is the poor man's sport/blue-collar sport. MMA, on the other hand, is for rich kids that come from money because you need money to train in the sport. You have all of these fucking bozos who are training in the sport now, and like I said, they are not fighters. It's just the cool shit to do.

PC: Just to clarify, we are not comparing the two sports, because you have gone on record several times and said how different they are, but we are basically bringing down the direction they are headed into.

BSL: Absolutely! They are two different sports and you will always have these MMA assholes like Joe Rogan…and I don't hate Joe Rogan, I like Joe, but Joe said it's the closest thing to real fighting. No, it is not the closest thing to real fighting. Listen to me, the fights that I have seen end quick. It's about whoever gets who first. There is no pulling guard and fucking going for gogoplatas and omaplatas and shit like that. It's about who lets their hands go first and about who connected first. Real fights go from 0 to 100 miles per hour in a spilt fucking second. As far as MMA and boxing goes, none of them apply to real fights. I've seen Black Belts that I know personally get laid out in a bar fight. People gotta stop comparing MMA to boxing like that. They are both good sports and I have trained in both personally. Everybody can say what they want about me, that I'm a keyboard warrior and all this shit, but I've trained boxing for fucking 10 years of my life. I've done MMA for 4 to 5 years of my life. I trained at established gyms in boxing in Queens. I trained with Monte Barrett and those fucking guys. Boxing is actually a much harder sport in my opinion because first off, there are no other options but to stand there and throw punches. You punch and move. If one guy is better than you on your feet in boxing, you're fucked. In MMA, you could hold a guy, clinch the guy, go for a takedown or hold him against the fence. Boxing is the hardest sport in my opinion.

PC: You did a video about it and I know you despise the Bonnar/Silva fight. Elaborate on why this fight bothers you so much.

BSL: I think the UFC should just cancel them fucking selves already. The organization is a joke. Bald Bozo Fuck Dana White always talking about the UFC, where the best always fight the best, and no freak show fights. "We're not Pride." Yeah, you're putting on a freak show fight when you got a clown like Stephan Bonnar, AKA The Brooklyn Brawler or the Barry Horowitz of the UFC, fighting the greatest, in their opinion, MMA fighter of all time. It's a fucking joke. It's the equivalent…if you are a wrestling fan back in the day of fucking the Undertaker wrestling Barry Horowitz. That's what it's the equivalent is. It's a joke for them to put that out there. I don't give a fuck if they want to say he is saving the card. He ain't fucking saving the card. I'm so sick…I respect Anderson Silva and I respect his skill set and I do think he is one of the all-time greats, but it's just so convenient that he moves up to 205 to fight fucking stiffs and human punching bags like Stephan Bonnar, Forrest Griffin, and yes, Forrest Griffin is a fucking human punching bag, and that other fucking jerk job who is not even in the organization anymore, James Irvin. Yeah, move up to 205 and fight guys like that, but when you start mentioning Jon Jones' name, "Oh, we are friends." You aren't no fucking friends. You guys didn't grow up together. You probably don't even know each other's wives names. It's a fucking joke. So I'm disappointed in Anderson Silva for even taking that fight. When it was brought up, let's set up a fight between Anderson Silva and Nick Diaz, Dana White scarfed at the fucking idea. He said the fight made no sense. Are you kidding me? Yet you make Anderson Silva vs. Stephan Bonnar. I don't give a fuck what anybody says, Stephan Bonnar is a company man, okay, and I really believe he will be paid to lose the fight and take the fucking fall. I believe that was the case in the Forrest Griffin fight. I believe Forrest was paid to take a fall in that fight because you know why? He is a company guy. He is a Zuffa employee. That's why Dana loves those guys so much. It's just sickening, man.

Trust me man, people can laugh at what I'm saying, but the UFC is not gonna risk Stephan Bonnar beating Anderson Silva. If that happens, the whole mystique of Anderson Silva gets thrown out of the window and the whole mystique of the UFC gets thrown out of the window. Trust me, Stephan Bonnar will get paid to take a fall. People can say what the fuck they want, but that's what I believe and that's what's gonna happen. It's gonna be a highlight reel knockout for Anderson Silva. That being said, let's just say he wasn't paid to take a fall and Stephan Bonnar wins that fight…I don't know what to say to that. I would put a video out that would destroy these guys. It's just really a sad fucking fight and it shouldn't be happening in my opinion.

 

[trips]

PC: On the flip side, a lot of people didn't like the dueling cards in boxing, but I thought that showed how strong boxing is right now. Golden Boy didn't waiver on the date because of Top Rank's PPV and vice versa. That was a power move in my opinion for the sport.

BSL: I agree with everything you just said. I think that boxing is…it never really left. The UFC was hot for a minute and they were doing good, and while they were doing good, look at the stars boxing created. Once Canelo Alvarez learns how to speak English, it's gonna be a wrap on a lot of combat sports participants. He is going to be the fucking guy. As far as the fights go, I'm not gonna say the Sergio Martinez fight was an amazing fight. Sergio Martinez schooled Chavez Jr. for 11 rounds. He took him to school, using angles and his speed, and beat the shit out of Chavez Jr. The 12th round was one of the better rounds I have ever seen personally, but with that being said, I do not want to see a rematch to that fight. Why do you want to see it when it's going to be the same thing? Chavez's style is not good for Sergio Martinez. He plods around too much and he doesn't have the footwork or the speed to keep up with a guy like Sergio and it will be the same thing. If you wanna do it for the money and you care about guys making money, yeah, make the fight, but me, I want to see another fight. I want to see Sergio vs. Triple G [Golovkin] or just another big fight. I don't feel like Chavez deserves a rematch. He didn't do anything besides that one big right hand he landed and a couple of hooks. As far as the Canelo fight, we all knew he was too big for Jose Lopez, but listen, it's not about that to me. I knew Canelo would run through him. Every time I see Canelo fight, I always see new improvements to his game. I always see something different he adds to his game. It's the little things that he adds to his game. Al Bernstein said he doesn't trust his defense, but I actually think he improved in his defense, but when you throw that many punches and combinations and the offense that he throws out, you leave yourself open to get countered every now and then. That's what happens when you are an offensive fighter. I like what I see in him. And just overall, it was an amazing weekend in boxing and month in boxing. Andre Ward looks unbeatable in my opinion right now. This guy is headed to be one of the all-time greats in my opinion. He just makes no mistakes. He is almost a flawless and perfect boxer. Then earlier, you had Triple G. It's been an amazing month in boxing and Dana White and the Fertitta's gotta be a little nervous because they talked a lot of shit about the sport of boxing. I remember Rogan did the ESPN interview with DiBella and they were saying boxing was over and when guys like Floyd, Pacquiao, and Hopkins retire, boxing is over. I did that video showing that he was completely wrong. More MMA fans are starting to tune into boxing now and they are starting to like boxing more.

PC: I appreciate the time. I enjoy the videos. I think they are spot on. Where can people check you out?

BSL: They can check my videos out at http://www.youtube.com/user/TheTeamTakeover and they can follow me on Twitter www.twitter.com/bloodstainlane. Like I said, the only fucking site worth checking on the internet for combat sports is FightHype.com. Fuck the rest…fuck all of the other boxing websites It's all about FightHype.com in my opinion.

 

[CZAR]

As I have said time and time again, boxing will always be bigger than MMA! Got Em!!

 

[The Duke of Earl]

football,basketball, baseball, and mma are taking would be boxers away in america. either way it's not as good as it used to be .

mma has nothing but room to grow, when you have Olympic level athletes from judo,wrestling , d-1 college wrestlers , world class k-1 kickboxers making the transition to mma . i think regardless if mma ever surpasses boxing in popularity or numbers mma will be and has been the highest form of competition.

 

[CZAR]

football,basketball, baseball, and mma are taking would be boxers away in america. either way it's not as good as it used to be .

mma has nothing but room to grow, when you have Olympic level athletes from judo,wrestling , d-1 college wrestlers , world class k-1 kickboxers making the transition to mma . i think regardless if mma ever surpasses boxing in popularity or numbers mma will be and has been the highest form of competition.

Huh??? Football, basketball etc.....has nuthin to do with combat sports. I repeat boxing is bigger than MMA and always has been and always will be period! Remember I love both but just keeping it real. Got Em!!