MMA News Thread

  • Wanna Join? New users you can now register lightning fast using your Facebook or Twitter accounts.

RM211

Sicc OG
Feb 10, 2006
8,173
6,523
113
40
Jose Aldo out of UFC 176 main event vs. Chad Mendes with injury

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!




UFC 176′s main event featherweight title fight has been wiped out for now thanks to an injury to the champion.

Jose Aldo (24-1 MMA, 6-0 UFC) has suffered an injury that will keep him from fighting on next month’s pay-per-view in Los Angeles against challenger Chad Mendes (16-1 MMA, 7-1 UFC). The news first was reported by Ariel Helwani on “UFC Tonight.” MMAjunkie confirmed the news with a UFC official, who said the promotion does not yet know what will become of the card’s main event.

UFC 176 is set for Aug. 2 at Los Angeles’ Staples Center, and the main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass.

The nature of Aldo’s injury was not immediately known, nor was the duration of the time he’ll be on the shelf.

Aldo, who’s ranked No. 1 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA featherweight rankings (and No. 2 pound-for-pound), knocked out Mendes, who’s ranked No. 2 at 145 pounds, at UFC 142 in January 2012. Aldo defended his title via first-round knockout from a knee strike, though the champ benefited from a cage-grab just prior to the fight-ending blow.

Mendes has been anxious for a rematch ever since. The 29-year-old Team Alpha Male fighter has won five straight fights (four via knockout) since the title loss while defeating the likes of Darren Elkins and Clay Guida. Most recently, he scored a decision victory over scrappy Nik Lentz at UFC on FOX 9 in December.

Aldo, meanwhile, has won 17 straight fights, most of which have come during his UFC and WEC tenure, while racking up eight consecutive title defenses (six of which have officially come in the UFC). Most recently, the 27-year-old Nova Uniao fighter scored a unanimous-decision victory over Ricardo Lamas in February.

But now the Aldo-Mendes rematch is on hold, and UFC 176 will await news of a new headliner.
 

RM211

Sicc OG
Feb 10, 2006
8,173
6,523
113
40
Thiago Alves out of UFC Fight Night 49, Brandon Thatch meets Jordan Mein

Thiago Alves will have to sit on the sidelines again following a knee injury.

Alves (20-9 MMA, 12-6 UFC) was scheduled to face Jordan Mein (28-9 MMA, 2-1 UFC) in the co-headliner of UFC Fight Night 49, which takes place Aug. 23 at BOK Center in Tulsa, Okla. Now, prospect Brandon Thatch (11-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) takes the booking, officials announced today.

The event’s main card airs live on FOX Sports 1 after prelims on UFC Fight Pass.

Alves’ injury won’t necessitate surgery, but will keep him from competing on the summer card, a representative from American Top Team told MMAjunkie. The rep asked for anonymity because he wasn’t allowed to discuss the matter.

It’s yet another setback for the onetime title challenger, who in April returned from a two-year injury layoff to earn a decision over Seth Baczynski at UFC on FOX 11.

Since a loss to now-former champ Georges St-Pierre in 2009, Alves has hopscotched between wins and losses.

Thatch, meanwhile, gets another opportunity to build his name. The former RFA fighter picked up his second straight UFC win with a first-round TKO of Paulo Thiago at UFC Fight Night 32. In his octagon debut, he TKOd Justin Edwards in the first round at UFC Fight Night 27.

Thatch’s only setback in 12 pro fights is a decision loss to Brandon Magana under the now-defunct Strikeforce banner in 2008.
 

RM211

Sicc OG
Feb 10, 2006
8,173
6,523
113
40
It appears T.J. Dillashaw will defend his UFC title on home turf.
Recently crowned UFC bantamweight champion after a dominant victory over Renan Barao, Dillashaw will likely have to do it again on August 30, as MMAFighting.com's Ariel Helwani reported on Wednesday's edition of UFC Tonight on FOX Sports 1 that the UFC is close to giving Barao an immediate at UFC 177 in Sacramento, California.
UFC 177 was tentatively planned for Las Vegas, Nevada, but appears to be moving to the new champion's home town.
Dillashaw (10-2) looks to defend the 135-pound championship after shocking the MMA world with a fifth-round TKO victory in May, snapping Barao’s 30-plus unbeaten streak. In his previous UFC bout, Dillashaw dominated Mike Easton en route to a unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night 35.
Barao (32-2, 1 no-contest) will attempt to bounce back from a loss for the first time since 2005, when he lost a decision against Joao Paulo Rodrigues in his MMA debut. The Nova Uniao talent holds a 9-1 record under the UFC and WEC banners, including a pair of victories over Dillashaw’s teammate Urijah Faber.
 

B-Buzz

lenbiasyayo
Oct 21, 2002
9,673
4,429
0
40
bhibago
last.fm
The impossible expectations of Nick Newell

Nick Newell knows it's coming, even before he hears it. Every interview, every fight week, there's always those same few questions. Speculation about what he can't do, whether one day some right high kick is going to swing upward and crack him where his left hand would've been. What then? All that momentum, lost. Almost two decades of hard work relegated into a false self-fulfilling prophecy, like the greatest among us have never stumbled, and one loss suddenly means he's hit the ceiling to his potential as a professional fighter.

This fight week, with the savagery of WSOF lightweight champion Justin Gaethje looming on NBC, is no different. But such is life as a congenital amputee. Every time out means one more chance for people's suspicions to be confirmed.

"Whether I like it or not, it's something that I have to deal with," Newell says. "It's something that I have to live with, and it's something that, it doesn't define me. I could be 60-0. I could be the champion, number one in the world, beat everyone, and then I lose one fight and people are going to say I suck. People are going to say ‘I told you so.'

"I told you so, what? I can't explain it. I'm not a jealous person, I've never been like that. If there's something I want in this world, I always just go out and work hard to get it. Life's not fair, and sometimes you have to work harder to get the things you want. There's people who are willing to do that and there's people who aren't. I've beaten some world-class fighters. When I won the XFC title, Eric Reynolds, he's legit. My last guy was 8-2 when I beat him. The guy before that was 9-1. It's not like I'm beating these jabronis. I'm beating legit fighters. I already feel like I've proven everything I need to prove in terms of legitimacy. Whatever happens from here on out is really irrelevant in terms of my capabilities as a fighter."

If Newell carries a chip on his shoulder, it's an understandable one. Fairly or unfairly, the burden of proof that laid with him from the beginning, to prove that he belonged, to prove this wasn't another sideshow, still remains. It's surely been eased by the trail of mangled and unconscious bodies he's left in his wake on his road to the title, but even now, Newell understands the game he must play.

While he bristles at the notion that he is handicapped, if Newell gets starched by Gaethje live on national television, the spectacle and the uproar and that damn ignorant narrative comes roaring back, and suddenly he's the one-handed man who was trotted out like a lamb to slaughter for our entertainment. It's bizarre and wholly undeserved, but it's also a more tangible feeling than many would like to acknowledge.

Simply ask him, and Newell will tell you he continues to be pissed off about it, along with the UFC's reluctance to offer him a chance to shatter that perception. He'll admit that he gets angry when he sees fighters like Dashon Johnson, whose opponents held a combined 13-39 record, climb inside the Octagon while the big show just shrugs its shoulders when Newell's own name is brought up. It's fuel, motivation to continue down this path, and when the inevitable questions arise about Gaethje's supposed striking edge, the casual indifference towards Newell's own abilities just stokes that fire.

"I mean, look at me fight," Newell says. "Who have you seen outstrike me? No one can name one person that I've fought in 11 fights who's outstruck me. Maybe I beat them on the ground, but what does that mean? I don't even really get hit. If you watch any of my fights -- watch them, my last six fights were televised -- try to find someone who really hit me.

"[It doesn't bother me] because I know it's not true and I know what I'm capable of. Having people underestimate you is a good problem to have. Having someone underestimate your abilities is not a bad problem to have, and I can sit here and I can talk about how good I think I am, but if I don't go out and prove it, it means nothing. I don't talk the talk. I walk the walk."

Gaethje himself is promising fireworks, which seems fitting for a Fourth of July celebration of violence. He said on Monday that no matter how deep Newell gets on a shot, the only way he goes down is if he stumbles trying to kick Newell's head clean off. The declaration is a perfect testament to Gaethje's own flair for the unhinged, but if Newell has his way, it may also be the champ's downfall.

"His advantage is how athletic he is and how quick off the line he is," explains Newell. "He can take a shot, he's tough, he's not afraid to get hit. But I'm not the right guy to be unafraid to get hit by. I hit pretty hard, and I'm going to show that on Saturday night. Just look at my knee knockout. I think I have a technical advantage even where he's best, which is the clinch with a left hand tie and then striking from there. That's like my best position, so I hope he goes for that. I hope he goes after me there."

Truthfully, the storylines couldn't have been scripted any better. Two fighters, both 11-0, both masterful in their respective disciplines, both with 10 scalps to call their own, both with everything to prove at World Series of Fighting's prodigious network debut. Mixed martial arts has never been seen before on NBC, and even if UFC 175 and the FIFA World Cup greet the dawn with a higher profile, Newell is confident that he and Gaethje will make their mark before the sun sets.

"I think that even if people aren't watching at first, it's going to be something that, once it starts, and once me and Justin start throwing down, people are going to be like, you have to turn this on," he promises with a grin. "I feel like this is going to be World Series of Fighting's breakout show, kinda similar to 'The Ultimate Fighter 1' finale, where the fights are just so awesome that people drop what they're doing to tune in.

"I think it has the potential to be [like Forrest Griffin vs. Stephan Bonnar]. I mean, that's a big fight to live up to. That's a knockdown, drag-out slugfest. But I feel like we both have the power to finish the fight at any moment, and I have the grappling to finish it in the blink of an eye on the ground. It has all the makings of a fantastic fight."
 

RM211

Sicc OG
Feb 10, 2006
8,173
6,523
113
40
report out that Rousey broke her hand against Davis. i know she got stiches but broken hand too? Davis got a hard dome lol. she went ape shit on her lol
 
Sep 20, 2005
26,038
58,965
113
FUCK YOU
Unbeaten women's bantamweight Holly Holm signs with UFC

A signed contract held up by UFC President Dana White signals the start of Holly Holm‘s octagon career.

White today announced the popular fighter’s signing via Twitter, concluding several months of negotiations that started in earnest and then took a negative turn before cooler heads prevailed.

“Welcome to the UFC, @_HOLLYHOLM,” the executive wrote.

Holm’s manager, Lenny Fresquez, said the striking specialist will next Tuesday see a doctor for a final prognosis on when she can make her debut. Her previous outing, which came this past April against Juliana Werner at Legacy FC 30, ended in another TKO victory and a bantamweight title, but also with a broken arm, which she suffered early in the bout before finishing her opponent.

Fresquez estimates Holm will make her UFC debut in late October or November, but declined to say whom she would first fight in the octagon. He did, however, say a title shot is not in her immediate future.

“She’s going to build up,” he said. “We need to prove ourselves in the UFC; we need to prove ourselves with a couple of fights. Whoever the UFC puts in front of us, we’ll knock ‘em down.”

Holm (7-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC), 32, brings an undefeated 7-0 record and a considerable amount of attention as an ex-champion boxer and popular draw in her native Albuquerque, N.M. She trains out of the famed Jackson-Winkeljohn’s MMA and has been seen trading punches and kicks with UFC champ Jon Jones.

Fresquez met with UFC executives following UFC 171 in March and said the experience was “positive” despite the two sides being far apart on compensation for Holm in the event of a title shot against UFC champ Ronda Rousey.

White reacted angrily to Fresqeuz’s characterization and said the UFC was no longer interested in Holm, but later reconsidered and came back to the negotiating table. Late this past month, White said the promotion was nearing a deal with the fighter despite stalled negotiations with retired MMA star Gina Carano.

Now, Holm is a bonafide member of the UFC’s bantamweight class, which is currently lacking a No. 1 contender following Rousey’s decimation of Alexis Davis at this past Saturday’s UFC 175.

While Holm might not be ready-made as a contender, Fresquez said the fighter will deliver as soon as she’s healthy.

“We’re very satisfied with what we negotiated, and right now, we just have to perform in the UFC,” he said.