… on Spike TV at 10 p.m. ET is just a handful of hours from now.
We’ve been going back and forth in various threads all week about the possible outcome. Now let’s hear what you have to say in this official “Kimbo Slice vs. Roy Nelson” discussion thread.
Sound off, Maniacs. Predictions, por favor.
“I believe Anderson would destroy Belfort. I think it’s a very interesting fight. Belfort has good boxing skills and is a good athlete, but everybody knows that he has a weak psychological aspect and I think he will shake when he gets in the Octagon with (Silva). Let’s see if (Belfort) will put his new karate … I mean old karate, new for him, in practice against Anderson.”
– Wanderlei Silva provides Sherdog.com with his prediction for the middleweight match up between 185-pound kingpin, Anderson Silva, and former light heavyweight champion, Vitor Belfort, which is scheduled for UFC 108 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Jan. 2. “The Phenom” finished the “The Axe Murderer” in just 44 seconds more than a decade ago at UFC 17.5: “Ultimate Brazil,” but that isn’t stopping him from picking his former Chute Boxe training partner to score a decisive victory. Agree or disagree, Maniacs?
Props: MMA Fanhouse
Quoteworthy:
“I was thinking about winning, and that’s why I wanted Roy to beat Kimbo — I thought Roy could knock Kimbo out. It’s not just that Roy can trade punches with Kimbo, but Roy has been in big fights before and he was the only guy who I could be sure wouldn’t get sucked into the mystique of Kimbo Slice. Roy’s biggest problem is he’s always trained by himself, and he doesn’t always seem like he knows how to take coaching. Kimbo can be a very, very good fighter under the right tutelage. Whether he gets that training? That’s on him.”
We’re just a few hours away before Team Rampage number-one pick and former YouTube sensation Kimbo Slice finally steps into the cage against ex-IFL champion Roy Nelson. While the video preview for Episode 3 shows “Big Country” taking a big flop courtesy of a Kimbo-bomb, it’s not uncommon for a downed fighter to execute a miraculous submission from his back or survive until the bell. Nelson does have a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu — and the benefit of the doubt from many insiders. Will “Sugar” get all salty over Nelson’s defeat? Or will the swollen submission specialist make his coach proud with a Petruzelli of his own? Tick-tock, Tick-tock…
Washington DC (September 30, 2009) – While much attention is being paid to the two co-Main Events featuring world championship title bouts pitting Mike “The Hulk” Easton vs. Chase Beebe and John “The Magician” Dodson vs. Pat Runez, the rest of the UWC REDEMPTION fight card is loaded with outstanding fighters in what could easily turn out to be its best lineup ever.
Continuing its evolution as a rising force in the MMA world and keeping with its mission to help grow the sport, particularly in the Washington, D.C. area, six of the seven UWC undercard bouts will showcase a local, up-and-coming prospect taking on a top-tier competitor fighting out of a prominent national gym.
After fighting in the evening’s first bout and earning first-round stoppages at the last three UWC shows, undefeated middleweight fan favorite Kris “Savage” McCray (3-0) of Woodbridge, VA will fight fourth on the show and step up in competition to face Igor “The Legend” Almeida (5-0-1) of Palm Beach, FL who has not lost as a professional as well.
To prepare for his battle, McCray, a former wrestling standout at Woodbridge Senior HS and member of Gold Medal Grappling, has been training in Greg Jackson’s camp with UFC lightweight Joe “Daddy” Stevenson and Tom “Kong” Watson while living at Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone’s house. The Army reservist has never tasted defeat — he was 9-0 as an amateur –and will need his all-around skills more than ever when facing his Brazilian-schooled opponent.
Born in Boston, MA and raised in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, Almeida is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt under Eduardo Brigadeiro. He trained in Rio for four years under Sergio Souza and Murillo Bustamante and spent another seven years training in Florida. Almeida has been practicing MMA and Muay Thai since 2003; two of those years were at the Xtreme Couture facility in Florida.
Looking to rebound from a hard-fought loss to War Machine at last April’s UWC Man “O” War, popular, two-time UWC veteran Timothy (formerly “Reshad”) Woods (4-2) returns to face Ryan “The Rhino” Sturdy (11-3-1) of Chicago in a 185-pound contest. Woods is probably best known to UWC fans for his devastating, knock-out power-bomb delivered to Ron Stallings (now a teammate of his at Team Lloyd Irvin) at UWC Invasion in 2008. The imposing 6’4”Woods has impressive clinching skills, lighting fast strikes, and devastating elbows. All four of his wins have come by knockout.
Sturdy, who fights for World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) star Jeff Curran’s Team Curran, has won five consecutive, and 11 of last 12 fights. He holds the Extreme Challenge middleweight belt, the same organization that spawned such noted fighters as Matt Hughes, Jens Pulver, Tim Silvia, Pat Miletich and Rich Franklin, and should pose a worthy opponent.
Harrisonburg, VA’s hard-striking lightweight Kyle “The Alley Cat” Baker (7-4) has established himself as a rising force in the Mid-Atlantic region for impressive knockout wins over of former UFC fighters Drew Fickett and Chad Reimer and a bruising defeat of former Elite XC fighter, James “Binky” Jones, in arguably the fight of the night at UWC Confrontation last year. The MMA Institute fighter will collide with Tommy “Gun” Truex (6-2), a member of Greg Jackson’s New Mexico-based camp, who boasts a four-fight win streak. Truex serves as an officer in the National Guard and is a University of Mexico business school graduate.
One year older than his brother and more of a submission specialist, Beau “Blackjack” Baker (7-2), will also have his hands full with an outstanding opponent when he challenges undefeated Jacob “Tick-Tock” McClintock (5-0) of Arizona Combat Sports in a middleweight match. Notable opponents for Baker are Tommy Speer, Jorge Patino and TJ Grant.
No opponent has lasted past the first round against McClintock including heavy favorite Sultan Tikhayev whom the Phoenix, AZ-native submitted in his last fight held in St. Petersburg, Russia.
A teammate of the Baker brothers also fighting out of MMA Institute, Jesse “Mountain Man” Riggleman (6-0) puts his undefeated streak on the line against Josh “Taz” Ferguson (7-2), in a flyweight contest. A former two-time Virginia state wrestling champion, Riggleman is a relative newcomer to the sport who only started MMA training in February 2008. A grappling and ground-and-pound specialist, he turned pro after going undefeated in five amateur fights over an eight-month period.
Ferguson, a skilled submission specialist fighting for Team Cruz in Louisville, KY, lost in a title fight to current UWC champion Mike Easton at UWC Capital Punishment. All seven of his professional victories have ended with his opponent locked in either an armbar or a rear naked choke submission.
Rounding out the action-packed card as the first fight of the show will be Freddy Assuncao from Atlanta, GA and Newark, NJ’s Felipe “Sertanejo”Arantes (0-1), a pair of Brazilian featherweights now living stateside. Assuncao enters the cage with a strong pedigree as the brother of UFC veteran Junior Assuncao and twin brother of current WEC bantamweight contender Raphael Assuncao.
* * *
Extreme Cage Fighting returns to the GMU Patriot Center on Saturday, October 3, 2009 with UWC REDEMPTION featuring two of the greatest MMA World title fights in our Nation’s Capital History. UWC Bantamweight Champion Mike “The Hulk” Easton (8-1) of Washington, D.C. defends his title against his toughest opponent yet in former WEC World Champ Chase “The Rage” Beebe (12-4) of Chicago, IL in the main event. In the co-main event John “The Magician” Dodson takes on Pat Runez for the UWC’s vacant Flyweight Championship belt. All four UWC title contenders are ranked among the top 25 in the world. Nine total bouts are scheduled.
Doors will open at 6:00 pm with the first bout scheduled to begin at 7:00 pm. Tickets are on sale now and are available for purchase at all Ticketmaster outlets and Ticketmaster.com. A limited number of Ultimate VIP (UVIP) and VIP packages will be available, which include cageside seating, UVIP fight night pre-party, UVIP event lanyard, special guest fighter meet-and-greets, UVIP suite access, full food and beverage service and more. Fore more information or to purchase UVIP and VIP packages visit the official UWC website www.uwcmma.com .
Calling all TUF guys:
Spike TV and UFC recently announced an open casting call for the next installment of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) franchise at the Renaissance Los Angeles Airport Hotel in Los Angeles, CA., on Oct. 6.
The tryouts will coincide with the UFC 104 event held over the weekend (Oct. 4).
Middleweight (185 pounds) and light heavyweight (205 pounds) hopefuls should arrive at the location between 8 and 9 a.m. PT. Registration will take place as soon as the doors open and tryouts are set to begin at 10 a.m.
UFC President Dana White is expected to oversee the tryouts with Spike TV’s senior vice president of sports and specials, Brian Diamond. No debut or possible coaching candidates for Season 11 are known at this time.
Applicants must be over the age of 21 and have a professional fight record. Dress code would be that of a normal sparring session and candidates are expected to bring the appropriate gear and equipment.
To download a copy of the application for TUF 11 click here.
“I don’t know what’s been going on with [Overeem], he’s kinda been hesitatin’ on everybody. He’s always complainin’ about something ain’t right, his hand is hurtin’ and things like that. If I was anybody I would try to go in deep on why his hand is hurtin’ and why everything else is hurtin’ because maybe it might not just be hurt, it could be something else. I don’t know, I ain’t the one to say or start nothin’ but he’s definitely gonna have to give up that belt here real, real soon because I’m in it to win it, I want that belt. If you’re a title holder, I’m sorry man but you should be fighting at least a couple of times a year. No excuses. If you can’t get the job done then give it up. One, I say he’s ducking me. He knows I’m gonna get him. I could care less who he is. Two, I don’t think he can fight in the states right now. I don’t think you can get that big in such a small amount of time. I don’t know, who knows.”
Strikeforce heavyweight wrecking ball Brett Rogers sounds off on Pro MMA Radio regarding the convoluted title picture in the Strikeforce 265 lb. division. While “The Grim” is frustrated that Alistair Overeem is holding the championship hostage while he dabbles in the Japanese kickboxing scene, he must first overcome “The Last Emperor” on Nov. 7 when he faces Fedor Emelianenko live on CBS. Is Rogers heir to the throne? Or will the WAMMA Heavyweight Champion make his complaints towards “Demolition Man” a moot point? We’ll find out soon enough.
For the complete interview click here.
Photos courtesy of The Beckett Blog.
Check out Georges St. Pierre and Lyoto Machida after the jump. To see the entire gallery of select trading cards from the 2009 UFC Topps trading card set click here.
“Rush”
“The Dragon”
Props: Heavy.com
Quoteworthy:
“Brock is not good with math. Thankfully, the UFC and WWE have paid him enough money to get a math tutor. I know I wasn’t walked through the front door of the UFC with people holding the door for me. I wasn’t fed fights that sell pay-per-views. I was matched up by promoters and took whatever they put in front of me. One of those fights was the former enforcer for the Mongols Motorcycle Club. His previous fight ended when Mongols in the crowd started fighting and stabbing people. For Brock to say that I have hand-picked my fights is just stupid. I got my start in the WEC and I have fought everyone the UFC put in front of me. I have fought three times as many people then Brock has. If he wants to disrespect the opponents I have fought, that is his choice. I say any man or woman that enters that cage to face an opponent is worthy of my respect. They have trained hard, and to disrespect MMA fighters is disrespecting the sport of MMA. What I can tell you is, talent-wise I respect Brock, but he needs a filter put on his words.”
Super-sized sourpuss Shane Carwin continues his verbal tirade in response to disparaging comments made by UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar, who will face “The Engineer” at UFC 106 on Nov. 21 for the division title. Carwin has gone on record multiple times about his disdain for Lesnar’s contempt for the sport of mixed martial arts — specifically Brock’s trash talking. Apparently Carwin has a “fight fire with fire” mentality, since every time Lesnar makes a comment that doesn’t fly with the court of Carwin opinion, the self-appointed defender of good will races to his soapbox for a lesson in Anti-Brockism. The battle lines have clearly been drawn…what side are you on Maniacs?
DALLAS (September 29, 2009) – A number of UFC veterans will step into the MFC ring on Friday, October 2 at “HDNet Fights Presents: MFC 22: Payoff” LIVE from the River Cree Resort and Casino. The action airs exclusively throughout North America on HDNet beginning at 10:00 p.m. ET.
One of the best line-ups in the Maximum Fighting Championship’s history has been set for “MFC 22: Payoff.” In the main event Jason ‘The Athlete’ MacDonald (21-12) returns to the organization where he began his career, facing The Ultimate Fighter 4 winner, Travis ‘The Serial Killer” Lutter (9-5). In the co-main event of the evening, MFC lightweight champion Antonio “Mandingo” McKee (22-3-2) defends his title for the first time against Carlo Prater (24-6-1).
In other action, MFC fan favorite, John ‘The Natural’ Alessio (25-13) will fight Luigi Fioravanti (15-5) in a welterweight clash and Pete ‘The Secret Weapon’ Spratt (19-15) goes toe-to-toe with Nathan Gunn (7-0) in a battle of strikers.
The live broadcast will also feature Ryan “The Big Deal” Jimmo (10-1) against the rugged veteran Marvin “The Beastman” Eastman (16-9-1). David Heath (12-5) also takes on Mike Nickels (7-2) in a light heavyweight match up.
For more on MFC 22 click here.
The New York Times reports that a study commissioned by the National Football League shows memory-related diseases appear more often in the league’s former players than the population at large:
All rates appear small. But if they are accurate, they would have arresting real-life effects when applied across a population as large as living N.F.L. retirees. A normal rate of cognitive disease among N.F.L. retirees age 50 and above (of whom there are about 4,000) would result in 48 of them having the condition; the rate in the Michigan study would lead to 244. Among retirees ages 30 through 49 (of whom there are about 3,000), the normal rate cited by the Michigan researchers would yield about 3 men experiencing problems; the rate reported among N.F.L. retirees leads to an estimate of 57.
So the Michigan findings suggest that although 50 N.F.L. retirees would be expected to have dementia or memory-related disease, the actual number could be more like 300. This would not prove causation in any individual case, but it would support a connection between pro football careers and heightened prevalence of later-life cognitive decline that the league has long disputed.
Payout Perspective:
Here’s a study confirming what has really become obvious over the last several years: repeated concussions seem directly related to the onset of early dementia.
Former WWE wrestler (and Harvard University graduate) Christopher Nowinski has been at the vanguard of this issue since having seen his own career end early due to multiple concussions; having an NFL-commissioned study as support for his cause could help at least in terms of visibility of the issue. There was significant media coverage of the issue in the months following the Chris Benoit double murder-suicide in 2007 (Benoit, 40-years-old at the time, had a brain — due to its repeatedly being concussed — akin to an 85-year-old Alzheimer’s patient), but coverage has waned as that tragedy faded from public memory.
The study’s implications for our sport are clear. Although I believe Mixed Martial Arts is considerably safer than boxing (in large part because fights end in MMA as opposed to how boxing permits an already brain-injured fighter approximately ten seconds to recover in order to continue receiving punishment to the brain), KO’s are a big part of the game, and so therefore are concussions.
The best the sport can do is to create an environment making an inherently risky activity such as fighting as low-risk as possible. That means giving serious attention — at all levels, from promotion to commission — to the issue.
If in the end that means forced retirements for (and I’m just pulling a name, not a random one by any means, but just by way of example) someone like Sean Salmon, a fighter who has suffered what would appear to be more than his fair share of devastating knockouts, it’s preferable to the inevitable tragedies (perhaps not at a Benoit level, but there would be more homicides, suicides and the like) the coming decades could bring.
The MMA world needs to heed these studies.
Just a reminder that Spike TV will be airing what is probably the most highly anticipated fight in Ultimate Fighter history – Kimbo vs. Nelson – tonight at 10pm/9 cst.
There’s been a lot of talk in recent weeks about what kind of ratings Kimbo’s fight might do; most agree it’ll likely set the TUF record and hit the 3-3.5 rating range (4.5 to 5 million viewers).
Although during a promotional stop in NYC, Dana White even jumped into the fray predicting the episode will push 6 million viewers.
One of the reasons why you are in town is to promote Wednesday’s TUF fight between Kimbo Slice and Roy Nelson. Are you surprised by how much buzz this fight — as well as the whole season — has generated thus far?
We knew it was going to be big, we just didn’t know how big it was going to be. We did 5.1 million viewers the first week, 4.1 last week, and this Wednesday we think that we’re going to do more than both of those.
I heard you predicted 7 million viewers for this Wednesday’s show.
No, I’m predicting 6 million.
So, 7 million might be a little aggressive?
Dude, if we do 7 million … I’m not going to say anything. I already put my foot in my mouth at UFC 100.
This week Japanese promotion Dream unveiled its design for a new hexagonal cage that it plans to use once every year for a special event.
Dream made the announcement at a press conference for Dream 12 in which it not only revealed the design of the cage, but that the event would feature two hotly anticipated lightweight match-ups: Katsunori Kikuno vs. Eddie Alvarez and Won Sik Park vs. Kuniyoshi Hironaka.
Additionally, the organization announced that they would be altering the time limits on each round: event bouts will consist of three rounds of five minutes each, as opposed to the usual Dream standard of one ten minute round and another five minute.
Payout Perspective:
Dream’s plans for a yearly cage show are interesting from a business perspective for a number of reasons:
Check out part two after the jump, as well as another teaser for Kimbo Slice vs Roy Nelson on Spike TV tomorrow night at 10 p.m. ET.
Scenes from tomorrow night’s TUF episode:
At the press conference DREAM held to officially unveil the blueprint of the new hexagonal cage, two lightweight contests were also announced for DREAM 12, which will take place on Oct. 25 at Osaka Castle Hall in Osaka, Japan.
Bellator lightweight champion and consensus top 10-ranked 155-pound standout, Eddie Alvarez (18-2), will square off with DEEP lightweight champion, Katsunori Kikuno (12-1-1). Newly minted Cage Force lightweight champion, Kuniyoshi Hironaka (15-6), is also set to take on South Korean prospect, Won Sik Park (7-1-1).
Alvarez last fought for DREAM on the New Year’s Eve show, sustaining a submission loss against Shinya Aoki. Quickly bouncing back from the second loss of his career, he entered the lightweight tourney in the inaugural season of Bellator Fighting Championship. As an overwhelming favorite, he dismantled Greg Loughran, Eric Reynolds, and Toby Imada — all three victories via submission — to capture the lightweight crown.
Katsunori Kikuno, a Kyokushin karateka and Tsuyoshi Kohsaka protege, parlayed his success in Japan’s DEEP promotion to an emphatic DREAM debut. At DREAM 10, he defeated Chute Boxe prospect, Andres Amade, via first-round technical knockout.
UFC veteran Kuniyoshi Hironaka has recently captured the lightweight title in Cage Force. Competing for the title that was vacated by the newly minted Sengoku champion, Mizuto Hirota, Hironaka rose to the occasion, capturing the first pro title of his career.
Park, a South Korean prospect, has cut his teeth in Japan’s DEEP and MARS. Since losing his pro debut, he has been riding an eight-fight undefeated streak.
DREAM 12 will feature another South Korean prospect, Myeon Ho Bae (8-4). He will join a star-studded cast of fighters scheduled for the card, including Alistair Overeem, Marius Zaromskis, Paulo Filho, Yoshiro Maeda, Murilo Rua and Kiyoshi Tamura.
Stay tuned to MMA mania for further information regarding the historic DREAM 12 fight card.