Archive for December, 2012

A fight with someone like Nick Diaz would lure Chris Lylte out of retirement. Lytle retired last year after defeating Dan Hardy in the UK. Since then ‘Lights Out’ has stayed active by dabbling in politics, working at the fire department and coaching wrestling. Lytle is one of the most exciting fighters in the history of the UFC who finished his career by winning 5 of his last 6.

We will have to wait until January to see the new season of The Ultimate Fighter featuring UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jones and brash fan favorite Chael P Sonnen coaching the next crop of fighters on the show. The two men will then square off in the Spring for Jones’ title.

The show is moving to Tuesdays instead of Friday and will probably do better with the new day. Sonnen is always good for ratings and it’s a good bet he will get even more popular after the show. Jones, however is the golden boy for the UFC and is a pretty big favorite over Sonnen.

The show debuts January, 22nd on FX.

STRIKEFORCE® welterweight champion and seasoned UFC® veteran Nate Marquardt will defend his title against current number one contender Tarec Saffiedine on Saturday, Jan. 12 as STRIKEFORCE® visits Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Okla. In the night’s co-main event, Oklahoma State University All-American wrestler and STRIKEFORCE Grand Prix heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier takes on kickboxing veteran Dion Staring. The event will air live on SHOWTIME at 10 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast) as part of the premium network’s Free Preview Weekend whereby more than 80 million households nationwide will have access to SHOWTIME, SHOWTIME HD, SHOWTIME ON DEMAND and more.

This will mark the final STRIKEFORCE event on SHOWTIME.

“Since 2009, SHOWTIME has been a great partner and we appreciate its support of STRIKEFORCE and our athletes,” Scott Coker, STRIKEFORCE CEO, said. “For our final event, we’ve loaded the card with some outstanding fights. This is going to be a memorable night for the sport of mixed martial arts.”

“We are proud of our association with Scott Coker and the entire STRIKEFORCE team,” said Stephen Espinoza, Executive Vice President and General Manager, SHOWTIME Sports. “From Gina Carano to Ronda Rousey, Fedor Emelianenko to Daniel Cormier, Nick Diaz to Gilbert Melendez, SHOWTIME Sports and STRIKEFORCE have built some of the biggest stars in the sport and have produced many of the most watched and most intriguing fights in the history of MMA. We look forward to another night of competitive and explosive STRIKEFORCE fights on SHOWTIME on January 12 in OKC.”

In addition to the main and co-main events, STRIKEFORCE® will also feature the following matchups that include several past champions and many of the sports top prospects:

• Former UFC heavyweight champion Josh Barnett meets Austrian powerhouse Nandor Guelmino
• Former light heavyweight champ Gegard Mousasi takes on the heavy-handed Mike Kyle
• Former middleweight champ “Jacare” Souza faces UFC star Ed Herman
• Top lightweight contender Pat Healy will be in action against an opponent yet to be determined
• Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Roger Gracie takes on talented striker Anthony Smith at middleweight
• U.S. Army Ranger Tim Kennedy vs. Trevor Smith in a fight involving top middleweights
• Elite kickboxer KJ Noons meets second-generation star Ryan Couture in a lightweight matchup
• Cincinnati’s Jorge Gurgel is set to battle Brazilian prospect Adriano Martins at lightweight
• At lightweight, winner of four straight Estevan Payan vs. Team Alpha Male’s Michael Bravo

STRIKEFORCE® will air live on SHOWTIME® at 10 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast), while preliminary fights will be shown live on SHOWTIME EXTREME® at 8 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on West Coast). Additional fights scheduled for the event are expected to be released shortly.

It was announced last week that Ronda Rousey will headline UFC 157 against Liz Carmouche while former PRIDE champ and living legend Dan Henderson will meet former UFC light heavyweight Lyoto Machida in the co-main event of the evening. After the announcement fans on the internet went crazy with a woman’s fight headlining a card over a legend who is beloved by fans around the world.

Hendo took to Twitter to try to squash the bickering amongst keyboard warriors everywhere.

I am perfectly fine as the co-main. I will get to relax and enjoy the women go at it. RT (cont) tl.gd/ke34ao

— Dan Henderson (@danhendo) December 21, 2012

So there you go if Henderson doesn’t mind playing second fiddle to the ladies then hopefully the backlash will subside against Rousey and Carmouche.

Henderson is a win away from a title shot against his buddy Chael Sonnen or Jon Jones. Whoever comes out on top will face Hendo for the belt later this year should he get by Machida first.

The stage is now set for the Bellator MMA Bantamweight World Title fight as reigning Bellator Champion Eduardo “Dudu” Dantas is set to defend his belt against fellow Brazilian Marcos “Loro” Galvao on February 14th from Charlotte’s Bojangles’ Coliseum LIVE on Spike TV. The night will also feature the opening round of Bellator’s highly anticipated Middleweight Tournament, as well as loaded preliminary card that will be streamed exclusively on Spike.com.

Tickets for the event are on sale now and can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com or by visiting The Bojangles’ Coliseum Box Office, with tickets starting at just $37 dollars. The event will broadcast LIVE starting at 10 p.m. EST on Spike, as well as in Spanish language on mun2. The preliminary card will be streamed LIVE and FREE on Spike.com starting at 8 p.m. EST.

At just 23 years old, Dantas already has amassed an impressive 14-3 record, including victories over Luis Nogueira, Ed West, Alexis Vila and former Bellator Bantamweight Champion Zach Makovsky. Training under Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu grandmaster and Nova Uniao founder Andre Pederneiras, Dantas is ready for the challenge that awaits him on February 14th.
Read the rest of this entry »

The title fights continue for Bellator MMA as the promotion announced today an explosive Bellator Middleweight Title fight between Russian knockout artist Alexander “Storm” Shlemenko and dominating Brazilian Maiquel Falcao LIVE on Spike TV Thursday, February 7th from Georgia’s The Arena at Gwinnet Center. The night will also feature the opening round of Bellator’s highly anticipated Featherweight Tournament, as well as loaded preliminary card that will be streamed exclusively on Spike.com.

Tickets for the event are on sale now and can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com or by visiting The Arena at Gwinnett Center Box Office, with tickets starting at just $40 dollars. The event will broadcast LIVE starting at 10 p.m. EST on Spike, as well as in Spanish language on mun2. The preliminary card will be streamed LIVE and FREE on Spike.com starting at 8 p.m. EST.

After successfully winning his second Bellator Middleweight Tournament in 2011, Shlemenko has his sights set on one thing: The Bellator Middleweight World Championship. Currently riding a nine fight win streak and holding an incredible 46-7 record, Shlemenko knows his February 7th fight will be the biggest of his career.
Read the rest of this entry »

The Bellator 84 weigh-ins have been completed from Hammond, Indiana in preparation for Bellator’s Friday night event from The Venue at Horseshoe Hammond, which features the finals of the Bellator Season 7 Lightweight Finals, as well as a Heavyweight Championship fight between Rich Hale and Alexander Volkov.

Bellator 84 will be broadcast LIVE on Friday, December 14th at 8:00 pm ET/7:00 pm CT on MTV2 and in commercial-free HD on EPIX, as well as in Spanish language on mun2. The preliminary card will begin at 6:30 pm ET/ 5:30 pm CT and streamed LIVE and FREE on Spike.com.

The full results from the Bellator 84 weigh-in are below:

MAIN CARD:

Heavyweight Title Fight: Rich Hale (240) vs. Alexander Volkov (232.2)

Lightweight Tournament Finals: Dave Jansen (156) vs. Marcin Held (156)

Middleweight Feature Fight: Joe Vedepo (185.6) vs. Louis Taylor (185.8)

Middleweight Feature Fight: Jack Hermansson (185) vs. Daniel Vizcaya (186)

PRELIMINARY CARD:

Welterweight Feature Fight: Quinton McCottrell (170.4) vs. Belal Muhammad (170.2)

Lightweight Feature Fight: Cliff Wright (155.8) vs. Christian Uflacker (155.2)

Women’s Feature Fight: Patricia Vidonic (117.8) vs. Felice Herrig (115.8)

Catchweight Feature Fight (215 lbs.): Anton Talamantes (214.2) vs. Anthony Gomez (214)

Flyweight Feature Fight: Jerald Williams (126) vs. Joey Diehl (125.2)

Heavyweight Feature Fight: Eddie Castillo (266) vs. Dave Sharp (265)

Featherweight Feature Fight: Robert White (155) vs. Kenny Booker (158.2)