MMA Universe

Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC) recently struck a major television deal with Inner Mongolia Television to broadcast in China, according to Sports Business Journal.

The network reportedly can be viewed by 80 million homes with upward of 250 million people being able to now watch the UFC’s brand of mixed martial arts there.

It’s quite a big audience to reach to say the least.

Inner Mongolia Television will air shows such as “The Ultimate Fighter,” “UFC Unleashed“ and “UFC All-Access.” It will also have the chance to air UFC pay-per-view (PPV) events; however, it will not live, but rather sometime shortly after they’ve taken place.

It’s the latest feather in the cap for the leading promotion in the space.

UFC recently invaded inland Europe by making its way over to Germany to hold UFC 99 on June 13. Other countries that have been mentioned as targeted destinations outside North America by the organization are France, Mexico, Japan and the Philippines.

We may soon see China added to that list. If ratings are high and the UFC proves successful then perhaps a trip over to hold a show there may be possible in the future.

The promotion doesn’t seem to be content with its success in America — it ambitiously looks to continue breaking into new markets and getting as many eyeballs as possible on its product. And it appears to be paying off.

Perhaps that’s the beauty of having a product (in this case fighting) which can be understood by many and cross all language barriers.

HINE FIGHT PROMOTIONS LOSES DAVID BRANCH; REPLACES WITH MIAMI NATIVE HERBERT “WHISPERS THE GORILLA” GOODMAN VS FABIANO CAPOANI

Roan Carneiro vs. Jorge Patino

Ryan Healy vs. Luiz Buscape

Flavio Alvaro vs. Jean Silva

Carlo Prater vs. Milton Vieira

Junior Assuncao vs. Jadyson Costa

Anthony Morrison vs. Micah Miller

Venessa Porto vs. Ediene Gomes

Live From The James L. Knight Center in Miami, Florida on August 1, 2009

MIAMI, FL (USA) – Shine Fight Promotions (Shine Fights) announces a change in the line-up for Shine 2: American Top Team vs. The World. Replacing Bellator veteran, David Branch versus Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu ace, Fabiano Capoani is now Miami, Florida native, Herbert “Whispers the Gorilla” Goodman. With the remaining bouts including UFC/PRIDE, Jungle Fight (Brazil) & WEC vets: Micah Miller, Junior Assuncao, Carlo Prater, Ryan Healy, Luiz Buscape, Venessa Porto, Anthony Morrison, Ediene Gomes and the main event, Jorge Patino and Roan Carneiro, Shine 2 will be one this the most stacked cards of world-class athletes to ever hit Florida.

Adding to an already stacked card is Herbert “Whispers the Gorilla” Goodman, who trains out of the world-renown gym, The H.I.T. Squad (Hughes Intensive Training) owned by former UFC Welterweight champion, Matt Hughes. This Homestead, Florida native made his first foray into professional athletics when he played the running back position for the Green Bay Packers from 1999-2003. His next stop was the Indianapolis Colts for the entire 2004 and finally his career ended with the Cincinnati Bengals at the end of 2005. Once the football dream was over another opportunity unexpectedly appeared.

“Actually after ’05 I got cut by the Bengals and I went to Southwest Senior high where I taught for two years and then I went and watched one of my friends fight and I said, ‘man I could of whooped both of you guys,’ he was like yeah whatever (laughs). I told him when they stopped his fight that I knew when the next one is at so I figured if I trained for two weeks, you know, I knocked my dude out in 27 seconds and after that I pretty much became hooked.”

Starting his professional mixed martial arts career in 2007, Goodman won his first two fights without seeing the second round by submission and TKO, respectively. After a few losses he went on a four fight win streak before a controversial decision win followed by a recent string of losses. Now ready to get back in the winner’s circle, Goodman is ready to step in the Shine cage against Fabiano Capoani, a member of Florida’s renowned gym, The American Top Team.

“I give credit to Shine for inviting me into the organization. Fabiano is a jiu-jitsu guy, I’ve seen one film on him when he fought Hector Lombard (May 2008) but I don’t know much about him. I don’t run from anybody I’ll fight anybody; just give me enough time to get in shape and I’ll fight anybody. I’m just looking for the opportunities and I’m sure I’ll come out victorious. “

With his entire family, friends and supporters guaranteed to be in attendance the night of August 1st 2009 when his official homecoming occurs at The James L. Knight Center in downtown Miami, Florida. The man known as Whispers is ecstatic for the possibilities.

“I’m excited that my family and my friends get a chance to watch me. My whole family: my mom, my aunties, my sisters, my grandparents, everybody. It’s like 25 minutes from where I stay and I already told my friends and family that I’m coming down there and everybody is pretty much excited spreading the word that I’m coming home to fight. I always get a chance to tell people about the fights, whether I win or lose, but now they get the opportunity to see first-hand.”

About Shine Fight Promotions, LLC

Shine Fight Promotions, LLC is a U.S. based enterprise that seeks to raise the awareness of the art, discipline, respect, passion, and talent that is mixed martial arts (MMA) to the global marketplace. Founded by MMA Fighter/Thai Boxer, Dorian Price along with his brother, Devin Price, Shine is committed to the growth and development of MMA creating a positive experience for both fighters and fans. Shine works diligently to put on fights that fighter’s want and that fans want to watch by arranging the most competitive and interesting matches. Shine Fight Promotions seeks to grow through innovation, high production values, dramatic and engaging fights, and the promotion of authentic MMA.

About Shine 2: American Top Team vs. The World

As the second event of Shine Fight Promotions, American Top Team vs. The World is appropriately named for the multitude of talent from Florida’s largest mixed martial arts gym. Shine Fight Promotions matchmakers, Ron Foster and Dorian Price, both fighters themselves, are committed to scouring the globe to pit only the best fighters against one another. The Shine 2 card has been filled with fighters from the best training camps and MMA gyms from across the world including: Randy Couture’s Xtreme Couture MMA (Las Vegas), Matt Hughes’ H.I.T. Squad (Granite City IL), American Top Team (Coconut Creek FL), Renzo Gracie Academy (New York, NY), Hybrid Academy (Virginia Beach VA), The MMA Institute (Richmond VA), Buckeye MMA (Columbus OH), Strong Style MMA (Cleveland OH) and The 808 Fight Factory (Honolulu HI).

Today the UFC announced that it has signed an agreement with China’s Inner Mongolia Television to distribute its mixed martial arts content: 

“Obviously China is a huge market and the Chinese understand the martial arts probably better than anyone else in the world.  It’s a no brainer that UFC programming will be appreciated in China, and will become a big hit for the NMTV network,” said Dana White, UFC President.

 

Inner Mongolia Television, known as NMTV, is a network broadcast station available in 80 million households, with the potential to reach 240 million viewers throughout all the provinces of China. Starting this month, NMTV will air up to 16 hours of UFC programming per month, including the trademark shows The Ultimate Fighter®, UFC® Unleashed™ and UFC® All Access™, with an option to air recent UFC pay-per-view event telecasts.

 

With this deal, NMTV will air between one to four hours of UFC programming each week on Saturday and Sundays between 1:30-5:30 pm local time, broadcast in languages specific to each province.

 

UFC television programming can be seen in over 100 countries and territories worldwide in 17 different languages. UFC is the largest pay-per-view content provider in the world and is the fastest growing sports organization in history.

Payout Opinion:

The recent TV deals in countries like South Korea, Japan, and now China indicate that the UFC is going about its international expansion the correct way: they’re trying to build a foundation before moving in with live shows. It would be ridiculous to think that just because martial arts originated in the Far East that the UFC would be an immediate live-show and PPV success in the region. Thus, they’ve got to start slowly.

This all reminds me of the discussion we had last year, as a community, when Lorenzo Fertitta revealed that even countries like India were on the list for future live events. I reminded everyone then, as I will now, that despite the massive size and economic potential of nations like China and India, these are still areas with massive discrepancies in living standards - not to mention, general interest in the sport of MMA.

The UFC has enough on its hands just trying to get a foot hold in America and Western Europe, nevermind conquering Asian oddities like communist China or turbulent India. 

However, by slowly planting the seeds in Asia, the UFC is preparing those countries in advance; and, without a great deal of effort, either.

The TUF series and Fight Nights, if marketed correctly, will build their own following and that may open the door to local/regional promotions to begin with live events to further bolster support for MMA in the country.

Undefeated American Top Team (ATT) heavyweight Todd Duffee (4-0) will finally make his much anticipated Octagon debut when he faces one-fight Pride FC veteran Mike Russow (11-1) at UFC 102.

The promotion today made the long-rumored match official, completing the fight card for the first-ever event for promotion in “The City of Roses,” which is scheduled for The Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon on Saturday, Aug. 29, 2009.

Duffee was supposed to crack into the big leagues against Mustapha Al Turk at UFC 99: “The Comeback” from the Lanxess Arena in Cologne, Germany, on June 13. However, he was replaced with Mirko Cro Cop just a few weeks out from fight night.

Cro Cop went on to score a first round technical knockout of the former British Cage Rage heavyweight champion with the help of an inadvertent eye poke and that went unnoticed by the referee in charge of the action.

Duffee is coming off an impressive second round technical knockout of Brazilian roadblock Assuerio Silva at Jungle Fight 11 last September. The 20-something University of Georgia student has ended all four of his professional fights by way of (technical) knockout.

Russow has racked up a solid mixed martial arts record (11-1), while also protecting the fine citizens of the “Windy City” as a Chicago police officer. His only defeat came by way of submission to Sergei Kharitonov back at Pride 33 in February 2007.

The loss didn’t do much to faze the former high school state champion wrestler, who’s been perfect (7-0) ever since, compiling wins over names like Steve Campbell and Roman Zentsov.

In addition to his five-o gig in Englewood community in Chicago’s 7th district, Russow is a longtime student of former UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes, whom he trained under as a wrestler at Eastern Illinois University.

To check out the complete UFC 102 fight card click here.

“UFC Countdown” to UFC 100 will debut next Tuesday, July 7 at 10 p.m. ET on Spike TV to promote the upcoming pay-per-view event scheduled for July 11 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The hour-long special presentation will provide a glimpse into the preparation and training camps of the fighters set to headline the show, including main event participants and heated rivals Brock Lesnar and Frank Mir.

We’ll also get the skinny on the welterweight showdown between Georges St. Pierre and Thiago Alves, as well as hear more from feuding middleweights, Dan Henderson and Michael Bisping.

For those who miss the “Countdown” to UFC 100 premier it will re-air on Friday, July 10 at 12 a.m. ET and then again on Saturday, July 11 at 4:00 p.m. ET.

Remember that MMAmania.com will provide all the coverage you can handle, including LIVE blow-by-blow UFC 100 results of the main card action at 10 p.m. ET on fight night, as well as the latest quick results earlier in the evening as they happen.

To check out the complete UFC 100 fight card click here.

With UFC 100 less than two weeks away, Spike TV is presenting a five-part special, highlighting the 100 greatest UFC fights in history, as voted on by the fans.

Voting is currently underway over at Spike.com (Ultimate100.spike.com) or by clicking here. Fans can choose their top 100 fights from an extensive list of bouts selected by the UFC and Spike TV.

The three round war between Diego Sanchez and Clay Guida from the June 20 Ultimate Fighter Finale has now been added to the ballots for consideration, and color me subjective but I have to believe a spot exists in the top 100 for that slugfest.

Each episode of “UFC’s Ultimate 100: Greatest Fights” will count down the top 100 with clips and highlights from each contest. The first one-hour installment (Part 1) will premiere Sunday, July 5 at 9:00pm ET.

The next four episodes will air:

Monday, July 6 at 9:00pm ET (Part 2)
Tuesday, July 7 at 9:00pm ET (Part 3)
Wednesday, July 8 at 9:00pm ET (Part 4)
Saturday, July 11 at 9:00pm ET (Part 5)

Saturday’s final episode will serve as a lead-in to the UFC 100 pay-per-view event.

UFC 100 will feature Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar tangling with the division’s interim title keeper, Frank Mir, to determine once and for all an undisputed champion. In addition, UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre will once again defend his 170-pound strap against number one contender, Thiago Alves.

Rounding out the stacked card is a middleweight brawl between The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 9 coaches, Dan Henderson and Michael Bisping, who will collide to determine who earns the right to challenge the reigning middleweight champion later in 2009.

Click here to cast your vote for “UFC’s Ultimate 100: Greatest Fights.”

And go ahead and give us your top five in the comments section below.

Props: RawVegas.tv

“I really don’t go into the fight with too much of a game plan. I have a general idea of what I want to happen, but about 90% of the fight is improv. With the Stephan Bonnar fight I felt like I was Jonny Jones at 15 percent, and right now I feel like I’ve kicked it up to maybe 17 percent. I got a lot more to go. I’ve watched Jake O’Brien fight, and I know he has great boxing and pretty good wrestling. Right now I’m just preparing for him to be the best Jake O’Brien that he’s ever been. I’d expect nothing less. But, stylistically, I think it’s a great match-up for me. My daughter, Leah, will be exactly one year old on July 11, the night of the fight, so Daddy’s going to try to give her a really nice birthday gift.”

Electrifying light heavyweight prospect Jon Jones talks to UFC.com about his pending showdown with Jake O’Brien at UFC 100 on July 11. The national Junior College Champion out of Iowa Central Community College dropped out of school to pursue a career in mixed martial arts and only needed 15 percent of ‘Jonny Jones’ to dismantle the venerable Stephan Bonnnar at UFC 94 last January. It’s downright frightening to think what 17 percent will do against O’Brien come fight night.

PITTSBURGH, PA – For the first ever MMA event in the city of Pittsburgh, the crowd of 5,109 in attendance were treated to an exciting event overall, the main event between Rich Clementi and Kyle Jensen ended prematurely when Clementi suffered a broken clavicle at just :45 seconds in the first round.

Clementi and Jensen came after each other early, and after a clinch it was Clementi who went for a throw, but ended up crashing on the mat himself as Jensen reversed the move. As Jensen worked to improve his position, Clementi yelled up to referee Mark Matheny that he broke his collarbone, and immediately the fight was stopped.

Jensen commented after the win how hard he trained for the fight with Clementi, and the former WEC fighter will now look to make his mark at 155lbs after this event.

American Top Team product, Micah Miller, put on a show for the Pittsburgh crowd looking very impressive, submitting J.C. Pennington in the 2nd round of their co-main event fight.

Miller used his reach to light Pennington up when the fight stayed standing, and once on the mat he showed his superior ground game, opening up shots, and moving to a rear naked choke forcing the tap out. Miller, a top featherweight prospect, will now head back home to Florida where he will have another fight on August 1st.

Paul Bradley got a unanimous decision win over Leonardo Pecahana, as he makes his transition to the welterweight division, but didn’t impress the crowd in attendance as the fight lulled for much action at all. Bradley obviously didn’t want much to do with Pecahana’s jiu-jitsu game so he waited until late in each 5-minute session to take the fight to the mat, pulling out just enough in each round to get the victory.

For the second time in his young career, Jason Trzewizczynski defeated local Pittsburgh talent, Joe Demore, this time by unanimous decision. Trzewizczynski used a powerful jiu-jitsu game to keep Demore guessing throughout all three rounds, and landed a nice head kick in the third session to keep the advantage to close out the fight.

Trzewizczynski also paid tribute to the fallen “King of Pop” Michael Jackson by using his song “Smooth Criminal” as his entrance into the Mellon Arena.

Women’s MMA was introduced to the Pittsburgh crowd with an exciting performance by Angela Magana, who trains out of an affiliate school of Team Greg Jackson in New Mexico. Magana took her opponent, Meghan Wright, down early and got the mount before being reversed, but before her Wright had a chance to do anything she found herself on the wrong end of a tight armbar.

Magana wrenched up the hold as Wright spun down on the ground, tapping out in pain, giving the New Mexico the win early in the first round.

While he may not have been the main event, Phil “Mr. Wonderful” Davis, will likely end up with a major organization in the very near future and he kept his record perfect with a dominant performance over David Baggett. Davis powered his way to a takedown early, and simply overmatched Baggett who had no answer for his opponent’s technique on the ground.

Davis pounded away at Baggett before taking his back and locking on a rear naked choke at 3:37 in the first round, bumping his record to 4-0.

Still undefeated at 3-0, Shawn Jorden looked impressive with a first round dismantling of former Pittsburgh Steeler, Carlton Haselrig, winning by strikes on the ground after taking his opponent’s back, flattening him out, and unloading a slew of unanswered strikes.

James Brasco, a native of Pittsburgh who now trains with Pablo Popovich in Florida, returned home and delivered a victory with a unanimous decision over Matt Brown. Brasco dominated with takedowns throughout all three rounds en route to the win.

Brock Kerry, one of several students from Rich Clementi’s Gladiator Academy on the card, started off the night with an exciting submission after losing the majority of the round on the ground to late replacement, Joey Enright. With Enright using his power on the ground, Kerry eventually reversed position and locked on a rear naked choke with just :46 seconds remaining in the first round.

As the fights ended, the promoters announced to the crowd that Micah Miller had been awarded with the “Fight of the Night” performance, while up and coming women’s fighter, Angela Magano, picked up the “Submission of the Night” for her beautiful armbar to finish her fight.

Former PRIDE middleweight and light heavyweight champion and current UFC middleweight contender Dan Henderson will be featured along with ‘Ultimate Chaos’ headliner Bobby Lashley tonight at 9 p.m. ET on MMAmania.com’s exclusive presentation of Pro MMA Radio.

Hendo will go in-depth about his experience on The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) Season 9, what he really thinks about fellow coach and UFC 100 opponent Michael Bisping and his future plans in both the 185 and 205-pound divisions.

Also on tap for tonight is up-and-coming heavyweight Bobby Lashley, fresh off his dominant victory over Bob Sapp at last Saturday’s ‘Ultimate Chaos’ pay-per-view event. “The Dominator” will break down his big win as well as where we can expect the former WWE star to compete next.

Hosted by Larry Pepe, Pro MMA Radio is professional, guest-driven program that features some of mixed martial arts biggest names.

If you’re looking for a radio show that revolves around a couple of MMA fans ranting and raving about everything that’s already been covered ad nauseam, then Pro MMA Radio probably isn’t for you.

However, if you want to hear from actual fighters and industry insiders answering questions that are relevant to the current MMA scene, tune in every Monday night at 9 p.m. ET for our exclusive live feed.

See you tonight at 9 p.m. ET!

Chuck Mindenhall, UFC - "Guys like Stephan Bonnar, the kinds who can stand up and fight me as well as submit me on the ground," says Jon "Bones" Jones, "well, that's probably the worst matchup for me." I mean, if that's the worst matchup, you'd hate to see a great matchup for the upstate New York native. Gosh.

Las Vegas, NV (USA) - As one of the birthplaces of martial arts, China is rightfully considered to be hallowed ground for the warriors of the Ultimate Fighting Championship®. Today, UFC® is pleased to announce a television deal with Inner Mongolia Television that will mark the first time in history UFC will be seen on TV in China, continuing the global expansion of the premier brand in mixed martial arts.

Props: MMAWeekly

Quoteworthy:

“I’m gonna figure out where to go from here. I love this sport, but I hate this feeling. I feel like a Mack Truck hit me. My whole body hurts. It’s hard to walk or do anything. But I just love it. It was a war. And there’s nothing better than knowing (Randy Hedderick) was beating my ass and I came back from a virtual loss. I think (for Dana White) to say that he was a ‘nobody’ and a ‘nothing’ is presumptuous, one, and two, I always say I have a lot of respect for anybody that steps in the cage. I don’t care if you’ve lost every single fight. At least you’re the one doing it. For somebody to criticize that, I just think it’s wrong.”

Affliction Vice President Tom Atencio blasts UFC President Dana White following his June 27 TKO victory over Randy Hedderick at “Ultimate Chaos” from the Mississippi Gulf Coast Coliseum in Biloxi, Miss. The 42-year-old “T-Shirt Guy” takes White to task for criticizing Hedderick as a patsy that may have been hand picked for Atencio to walk through. Atencio maintains that Hedderick deserves respect for having the guts to step into the cage — something Dana White refused to do even after Atencio publicly called him out. Is Dana a scab for not getting in the cage? Or does Atencio miss the mark in that Dana is right where he needs to be — running the UFC empire on a day-to-day basis? What say you?

Skip ahead to about the four minute mark:

Jon Fitch is the Rodney Dangerfield of mixed martial arts: he gets “no respect.”

After getting cut from the first season of The Ultimate Fighter at the last minute by the show’s producers, he was forced to take the long road to the pinnacle of the sport. His treacherous journey was filled with one under card fight after the next. It would also be one victory after the next, including wins over top flight welterweights like Josh Burkman, Brock Larson, Thiago Alves and Diego Sanchez.

UFC brass finally took noticed after he won eight UFC fights in a row (15 straight overall), which tied him with Royce Gracie’s all-time record for consecutive UFC wins (a record that was later broken by Anderson Silva at UFC 97).

It was only then that he was deemed qualified enough and marketable enough to be issued a shot at welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre — many other fighters have earned title shots accomplishing much less.

UFC 87 did not go as planned, however, with Fitch losing a five-round unanimous decision to “Rush” back in August 2008. It was his first loss ever at 170 pounds in his professional career, which began back in July 2002. His other two career losses were fought at the 205-pound light heavyweight limit.

Fitch regrouped and won in dominating fashion over Pride FC veteran Akihiro Gono at UFC 94 via unanimous decision. He was once again relegated to the under card for this event.

That’s not the case in his next fight — Fitch is set to battle young Brazilian Paulo Thiago at UFC 100 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, on July 11. It’s one more important step in his journey back to another potential shot at the title.

Naturally, it won’t be easy — few fights are on the loaded UFC welterweight class. Thiago is coming off a knockout victory over Fitch’s American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) teammate, Josh Koscheck, at UFC 95, which marked his Octagon debut. He’ll be out to make it two straight in the UFC and against AKA on fight night.

Fitch took some time out of his busy schedule to discuss The Ultimate Fighter, nicknames, MMA in Indiana, cartoons, and, of course, Paulo Thiago.

Check it out:

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): I want to go back to the casting of The Ultimate Fighter 1 season. A lot of people may not be aware just how close you were to becoming a contestant on the show. Talk a little bit about how that played out for you and how they ultimately came to their decision.

Jon Fitch: I went through the whole process and everything. I was ready to go quit my job. I told my friends and family that I was getting ready to go. I was actually at the airport waiting to get on the plane. I only had about 15 minutes until boarding started. I got a phone call from one of the producers. He pretty much said, “Sorry but we reformatted the show and we don’t have room for you so don’t get on the plane.”

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Everyone knows you had to tie Royce Gracie’s consecutive wins record before they gave you a title shot against Georges St. Pierre. Do you think that since you weren’t on the TUF show it was a disadvantage to you in the following years as far as marketability and popularity goes?

Jon Fitch: Yeah anyone who has been on The Ultimate Fighter has had a huge advantage in exposure that’s for sure. I fought a lot of dark matches on the under cards. It was pretty much impossible for most people to have been able to watch my fighting and my progression and know anything about me.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): I want to move forward to the night of UFC 94. Before your fight your opponent Akihiro Gono and his cornermen are dressed in evening gowns like they’re going to prom. At what point did you take notice and what was going through your head?

Jon Fitch: We were getting staged to get called to the cage and, you know, there is a little tunnel. People might not know this but you’re right there with your opponent in that area. There is not much distance between us.

We walked around the corner and we started approaching since he was announced first and at the tunnel already. I started noticing some dresses. I was like, “What the hell are these ring girls doing? Why don’t they have their normal ring girl outfits on? What’s going on?”

I noticed the big hair and stuff like that and I was like, “Oh shit, that’s Gono and his guys.” I kind of put my head down and started looking at the floor. I didn’t want to start laughing at that time. I wanted to stay focused. I made sure not to watch his entrance just because I didn’t want to start laughing too hard.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Do you think they were trying to psyche you out or that’s just how those guys roll?

Jon Fitch: He’s been in the business for so long he’s an entertainer. It’s just one of the things he likes to do is make an entrance out of it. He has fun with fighting and that’s the way it should be. I have more respect for guys that can make fun of themselves and do stuff like that than the guys who pretend to be tough guys or hard asses and put on a mean face.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): I spoke with your teammate Mike Swick a couple weeks ago. He told me how you guys used to watch Maury Povich a lot in between training sessions when you were roommates?

Jon Fitch: We lived together for about seven months. We’d get done training about two o’clock. We’d get home and shower and everything and have our lunch and it would be time to watch Maury and the “who’s not the father episodes” would be on.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): What else are you watching these days? UFC Unleashed? O’Reilly Factor?

Jon Fitch: I watch a lot of cartoons; Futurama, Family Guy, Metalocalypse, Robot Chicken. There are a bunch of good ones on Cartoon Network.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Does that mean you’re a South Park guy too?

Jon Fitch: Yeah for sure.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Please tell me you’ve seen the Maury Povich South Park episode then?

Jon Fitch: “Boy with balls on chin.” Oh yeah!

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): I’ve always wondered about this. Let’s say you want to watch UFC 101. Does the UFC make you buy the event on pay-per-view if you want to view it at home?

Jon Fitch: Yeah if I wanted to watch it at home I’d have to pay for it. Luckily I’m in a position where I can usually get some money out of somebody to make an appearance locally.

I’ll have guys over at my house sometimes and I’ll get it just so the younger guys (AKA teammates) can watch it. We don’t just watch. We try to breakdown fights too. We try to think about why certain things happen in certain fights and what techniques are working and which ones aren’t.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): I wanted to ask you if you have a favorite catchphrase that Mike Goldberg or Joe Rogan use time and time again or is there one thing they always say about you that makes you laugh?

Jon Fitch: No, I’m fighting so I don’t really know anything about what they say. I don’t really hear them. Probably the greatest thing Joe has ever said on the air was “Goat’s vagina.” I can’t remember what he was talking about but it was something about a goat’s vagina.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): You’re officially a UFC veteran at this point but still no nickname. I heard one of your training partners Jake Shields say recently that he’s been trying to avoid one his whole career. Are you trying to do the same?

Jon Fitch: I just don’t think there is a reason for having one. The really sad thing is that guys give themselves a nickname. I think that is the most pathetic thing someone could ever do, give themselves a nickname.

A nickname is something that should come from your teammates or your friends. It should be something you don’t like really. I can’t just show up one day and tell everyone to call me “Cobra.” It’s something I don’t need and nothing has ever really stuck. I think I just have a strong name as it is and it’s easy to remember. Just Jon Fitch is enough for people.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): What about “Jock” Fitch? You like that?

Jon Fitch: (laughs) I think I’ll just wait until people start calling me “Champ.”

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Going back to Swick. What did you think of his performance against Ben Saunders at UFC 99? Did it pretty much go like you expected it to?

Jon Fitch: Yeah it did. We weren’t really expecting Saunders to take him down quite as fast and hold him down as much as he was trying, but we had a good idea on how that fight was going to go and Mike did a great job.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): You have probably heard by now that the state of Indiana is now sanctioning MMA as of June 1. How excited are you about the possibility of fighting close to where you grew up and went to school?

Jon Fitch: It’s awesome. I’m super pumped about it. In fact, I’m going to head back to Indiana after my fight and put on a couple free seminars and a couple open workouts for the media at my buddies gym in Lafayette and at a gym I found in Ft. Wayne also.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Do you still consider yourself a Hoosier at heart or have you officially “Gone Hollywood” on us Jon?

Jon Fitch: I’m still a country boy. When I was living in Indiana I didn’t think I was a country boy until I got out to California and I realized how country I was. I’m still a simple person at heart. The materialistic crap that goes along with the west coast I’m not into at all.

I think it throws a lot of people off because people approach me about making money and stuff like that and even with sponsors and things. I’m more concerned with quality of products and whether or not I actually use them rather than how much they’re willing to pay me to say I use it.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Your next opponent is Paulo Thiago at UFC 100. He’s still a bit of a mystery at this point. What do you know about him as far as his strengths and weaknesses?

Jon Fitch: He’s scrappy. That’s the biggest thing about him. He’s a really scrappy guy. He can come in at different angles than you’re used to. He can do things he’s really not supposed to and still get away with it. I have to be very careful and very tight with my technique and keep some good pressure on him but I can’t get into that risk game.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Your teammate Josh Koscheck fought him at UFC 95. Has he helped you out a lot as far as what you can expect to see from Paulo?

Jon Fitch: We couldn’t really get much out of that fight. It was a short fight. Koscheck was doing a good job and winning the fight up until he got caught. You can’t learn a lot from it but we we’re able to catch some videos of him and see some other fights and get a perspective of what he’s about.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): If you’re fortunate enough to get past Paulo do you feel like that will be enough to earn you another title shot against the Georges St. Pierre/Thiago Alves winner?

Jon Fitch: I might need another fight. Thiago and GSP are fighting the same night. I’d like to fight again sooner than probably they’re going to be ready to after that fight. It depends on the bosses and what they say. I know that I need at least one or two more impressive wins, not just normal victories, and I know I’ll put myself right back into a title shot.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Who do you like in the GSP/Alves fight?

Jon Fitch: I’m not going to make a prediction on the fight. I will just say that I want GSP to win because he’s the guy that I want to fight for the belt.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): One of the UFC 100 fights that isn’t getting a lot of attention is the Joe Rogan/Bruce Buffer exhibition match at the UFC Fan Expo. Who are you putting your money on?

Jon Fitch: Oh really? I haven’t heard anything about that. I don’t know if Buffer trains much. I know Rogan has some jiu-jitsu so I might have to go with Rogan on that one.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Well Jon that’s all I had for you. Would you like to pass along anything to your fans out there or thank any sponsors?

Jon Fitch: Check out FitchFighter.com and MMAInstructional.com. They can learn how to fight like me, from me, and also from Spencer Fisher, Frankie Edgar, Dave Camarillo, and Dan Camarillo. It’s a great Web site and great resource if you don’t have a lot of good instructors nearby.

Derek Bolender (MMAmania.com): Thanks Jon. I appreciate the time. Best of luck at UFC 100 and we’ll run you down again soon.

Jon Fitch: Alright, cool man.

Derek Bolender is a staff writer for InsideFights.com. He is also syndicated at FoxSports.com. Follow him at Twitter.com/DerekMMAwriter and on Facebook. Look for future articles from him on MMAmania.com.

“I’m happy, glad, because I never imagined this, but I think it’s still too early to talk. People are very immediate, you make a good fight and already are the guy, but it isn’t like that. This is a very good moment, but I’m not impressed, I don’t think I’m the best, I have a lot to improve.”

– Undefeated UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Lyoto Machida tells Tatame.com that he does not consider himself the best 205-pound fighter in the world. He doesn’t offer up anyone who he thinks is better, saying instead that the praise heaped on him as the best in class after defeating Rashad Evans to capture the title is premature. “The Dragon” now has seven straight wins inside the Octagon and 15 overall since his mixed marital arts career began in 2003. It’s hard to argue otherwise at this point, but perhaps with a win over Mauricio “Shogun” Rua — widely considered the top light heavyweight in the world about 18 months ago before getting derailed by several serious knee injuries — Machida will convince himself. What do you think … is anyone better right now?

World Championship Fighting (WCF) presented what many fans are calling their best fight card ever, live from the Shriner’s Auditorium in Wilmington, Mass., on June 27, 2009. While there was no marquee main event featuring fighters who already have national recognition, the card was filled with fighters ready to break into the national spotlight.

As usual for WCF, the crowd was filled with a who’s who of MMA stars. UFC Fighters Jorge Rivera and John Howard joined Mark DellaGrotte, Sean Gannon and former Middleweight Boxing Champion Dana Rosenblatt were in attendance, along with actor Kevin James, who is filming a movie locally.

The night’s main event featured two of New England’s best middleweights in Woody Weatherby from Renzo Gracie NH and Dan Keefe, from Brickhouse Fight Team. The fight was a war from start to finish with Keefe controlling most of the action, and Weatherby landing the cleaner strikes.

Keefe pushed the pace undeterred by the big shots from Weatherby, and was able to take the fight to the ground where he was able to grind on Weatherby and rough him up a little. As the fight wore on, it turned into battle of Weatherby attempting submissions, with Keefe escaping and making Woody pay with big shots from the top.

The fight came down to the wire with Weatherby locking in his best submission of the night, an arm bar that looked to be enough to finish the fight, but Keefe was able to hold on and take the hard fought victory by decision.

The night also featured a pair of big lightweight fights that featured four exciting and popular fighters.

Calvin Kattar took on undefeated Rodrigo Almeida in the night’s co-main event, and the crowd was going crazy for both fighters from start to finish. Rodrigo was able to get in tight on Kattar and avoid his devastating punching power, and for the first time Kattar was force to show his impressive wrestling and jiu-jitsu game. As Almeida was fighting hard for a takedown, Kattar was able to lock up a tight guillotine choke and pull guard for the submission victory halfway through round 1.

In the second pairing of top lightweights, John Benoit and Damien Trites put on the most exciting fight of the night, a thrilling back and forth battle that truly brought out the best in both fighters. Benoit was able to land more effective punches and kicks on their feet, and bloodied Trites up quite a bit. On the floor, both fighters had their moments, but the combination of Benoit’s submission attempts and big combinations were enough to earn a decision, and get him back on track for a title run.

Official results from WCF 7:

Dan Keefe def. Woody Weatherby — Split Decision
Calvin Kattar def. Rodrigo Almeida — Submission (Guillotine Choke) 2:16 R1
John Benoit def. Damien Trites — Majority Decision
Greg Rebello def. Jerry Spiegel — Unanimous Decision
Tom Moreau def. Don Carlo-Clauss — Majority Decision
Elias Rivera def. Scott Rehm — Submission (Heel Hook) 2:43 R1
Travis Bartlett def. Guillermo Echuaca — TKO (Punches) 2:18 R1
Saul Almeida def. Dan O’Keefe — Submission (Peruvian Necktie) 1:16 R1
Nick Evangelous def. Matt McKusker — TKO (Punches) 2:41 R1
Aniss Anlhajjajy def. Aaron Petrucelli — Majority Decision
Marcos Escalante def. John Walsh — Submission (Rear Naked Choke) 1:24
Zack Burhans def. Jeff Silva — Unanimous Decision
Nelson Gaipo def. Ryan White — TKO (Punches) 1:07 R1
Noah Wiseman def. Steve Beck — Submission (Rear Naked Choke) 1:50 R1

Looking ahead, World Championship Fighting also announced a featured fight for WCF 8, which will take place this fall. Wilmington’s Dan Bonnell makes his return to the ring to take on the streaking Josh LaBerge in what promises to be an exciting match up. Stay tuned for big announcements about WCF 8 in the coming weeks.

Props: BostonHerald.com

Quoteworthy:

“That’s a [rematch] I’ve wanted for a long time now. (Sanchez) should definitely be careful what he wishes for. If he thinks the same thing is going to happen, or I’m the same fighter at the same experience level, he’s going to be in for a surprise. I think he’s going to be saying, ’Yes, yes, yes’ on the way into the ring and, ’No, no, no’ on the way out of the ring if he faces me. It’s a completely different time and I’m a completely different fighter. I definitely don’t think he’s evolved as much as I have, that’s for sure. He’s fought at 155 twice already and he has yet to finish any opponent. He’s seen what I’ve done in the weight class and the fighters that I’ve fought and I think he realizes that, although he won the show, I’ve done bigger things in my weight division than he did at 170.”

Number one lightweight contender Kenny Florian responds to statements made by Diego Sanchez following his split decision win over Clay Guida at the June 20 TUF 9 Finale. “Nightmare” thinks it is he, not the man he ‘walked through’ more than four years ago, who is next in line for the 155-pound strap. Aside from the loss to Sanchez in his UFC debut, Florian dropped a blood-soaked unanimous decision to Sean Sherk for the then vacant division title at UFC 64: “Unstoppable” back in October 2006. He has not tasted defeat since, winning six straight against many of the best the class had to offer and going 9-1 overall during that span. If he manages to get past BJ Penn at UFC 101 on August 8 in Philadelphia, we could see them finally determine which TUF-guy has evolved the most. Thoughts?