The MMA Blog - Mixed Martial Arts

UFC NEWS: Nate Marquardt latest to call out Wanderlei Silva for 2011 bout

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Wanderlei Silva has been out of action since a decision victory over Michael Bisping in February, but when he makes his return to the UFC he'll have no shortage of potential opponents.

Chris Leben replaced him at UFC 116 against Yoshihiro Akiyama, and promptly called him out after pulling off the upset. Then Alan Belcher, who had been sidelined due to a torn retina, stated that he'd like to face Silva when he returns in early 2011.

Now, Nate Marquardt has thrown his name into the mix as a potential opponent for "The Axe Murderer."

Speaking with UK based Fighter's Only, Marquardt responded to the criticism from UFC President Dana White over his performance at UFC 122 and his desire to face Silva in the cage to get back on track.

"After the fight and in recent days, Dana White has publicly criticized me for being a 'choker' and not being aggressive enough," Marquardt said. " While Dana's comments were difficult to hear, I firmly believe that I am one of the best fighters in the world and will one day be the UFC middleweight champion.

"However in hindsight Dana is right - in order to live up to my full potential and realize my championship dreams I need to be more aggressive and showcase my inherent killer instinct. I need to stalk my opponents, impose my will and finish fights on a consistent basis."

And with that said, Marquardt believes Silva is the one fighter that can give him the type of fight to put himself back into the mix in the top of the division.

"In order to re-establish myself as the number one contender, my next opponent needs to be an elite fighter who will stand and bang with me in the center of the Octagon until one of us is knocked out," Marquardt said. "The fight that makes the most sense to me is Wanderlei Silva. I have a ton of respect for Wanderlei and have wanted this fight for years, the fans have wanted this fight, they deserve to see two of the best fighters in the world in an all out war.

"Wanderlei is an amazing fighter who is very aggressive, I will pursue him with unwavering tenacity, then I will knock him out! I promise the UFC, Dana, my fans, my team, my coaches and most importantly myself that never again will there be a question about my cage aggression."

Silva is still recovering from knee surgery that took him out of the fight with Akiyama in July. He's expected to be available in early 2011.

Link to Original Source Article

Penick's Analysis: Of the three names mentioned, I'm not sure which fight I'd be most interested in at this point. All of them have their merits, and I'm definitely a fan of the way all three fighters fight. Marquardt's performance against Okami was disappointing, but he remains one of the best fighters in the division. Leben and Belcher have both engaged in some very entertaining fights over the last few years and could definitely bring out a great fight against "The Axe Murderer" as well. Until Silva's fully ready to return, however, we won't know which way the UFC wants to go with him, but hopefully that return is early in 2011 and one of these guys gets a crack at him.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_7676.shtml

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Strikeforce Rules Director Explains the Eye Poke Ruling

by Michael David SmithFriday night's Strikeforce fight between Marius Zaromskis and Waachiim Spiritwolf was over as soon as it started, with Zaromskis accidentally poking Spiritwolf in the eye just six seconds into the first round, causing an injury that prevented Spiritwolf from continuing.

The fight was officially declared a no contest, but there was confusion about the proper procedures for the referee and ringside doctor to end the bout, with the announcers on Showtime saying the ref improperly gave Spiritwolf five minutes to recover.

In an interview with MMAFighting.com, Strikeforce rules director Cory Schafer said the ref actually did a textbook-perfect job of applying the rules, and he discussed some of the misconceptions that fans and members of the media have about the rules of MMA. The full interview is below.

 

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Source: http://www.mmafighting.com/2010/11/22/strikeforce-rules-director-explains-the-eye-poke-ruling/

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UFC NEWS: UFC 123 "Prelims Live" on Spike draws an average of 1.5 million viewers

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Saturday's broadcast of UFC 123: Prelims Live on Spike TV brought in an average of 1.5 million viewers to the network, according to the ratings released today.

The hour long broadcast, featuring Mark Munoz's decision victory over Aaron Simpson and Brian Foster's submission win over Matt Brown, tied for the third largest viewership of the UFC Prelims Live specials, which have run for select events since September of 2009.

This broadcast served as the lead in to the pay-per-view portion of the card at The Palace at Auburn Hills just outside of Detroit, Mich. The pay-per-view broadcast was headlined by the light heavyweight contest between Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Lyoto Machida.

Only UFC 109 and UFC 114 brought more viewers to Spike for their hour long "Prelims Live" broadcasts, and Saturday's show tied last month's UFC 121 and January's UFC 108 numbers.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_7613.shtml

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The Shoot!: Dan Henderson gets ready to rematch Babalu Sobral on Dec. 4 (Video)

Source: http://www.mmamania.com/2010/11/30/1846097/the-shoot-dan-henderson-gets-ready-to-rematch-babalu-sobral-on-dec-4

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UFC NEWS: Michael Bisping and Jorge Rivera verbally agree to UFC 127 bout in Australia

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

A middleweight bout between Michael Bisping and Jorge Rivera has been verbally agreed to for the UFC 127 card in Australia in February, according to multiple published reports.

After Alessio Sakara was pulled out of their bout at UFC 122 due to illness, Rivera said he was 95% sure he'd face Bisping in Australia. Bisping said he hadn't yet been approached with the bout, but was expecting to fight on the card, and now the two have agreed to the fight.

The bout joins already announced bouts of B.J. Penn vs. Jon Fitch and George Sotiropoulos vs. Dennis Siver, as well as a rumored bout between Carlos Condit and Chris Lytle. The event takes place from the Acer Arena on Sunday, February 27, airing live in the U.S. due to the time difference on Saturday, February 26.

Penick's Analysis: I do like this matchup, and think it could be a very good fight in the middleweight division. It's a good fight for the fans in Australia, and this card is shaping up pretty well, for sure. I don't know if it's necessarily a pay-per-view worthy show at this point, as that's what they're planning right now, but they may add another pay-per-view level fight to try to sell it better.

[Michael Bisping art by Cory Gould (c) MMATorch.com]

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_7619.shtml

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Okami gets Silva or Belfort; Marquardt whiffs on earning second title shot

Nate Marquardt is one of the best middleweights in the world but he may never get another shot UFC 185-pound title. Each time he's one step away from a championship match, Marquardt falls short. It happened again today at UFC 122 against Yushin Okami. The Japanese grappler is handful for anyone and now that's added decent striking to his arsenal, he was an unsolvable riddle for American. Okami pulled the upset with a unanimous decision win, 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28, and earned himself a title shot some time in 2011.

Marquardt (30-10-2, 8-4 UFC) was in line for a title shot back at UFC 109. All he needed was a victory over Chael Sonnen. Sonnen dominated that fight with his wrestling and eventually faced Anderson Silva at UFC 117.

Okami didn't dominate the grappling to that degree but he did get the best of the work on the ground in the opening two rounds. In the third, Marquardt looked a little tired and couldn't figure out how to get inside to land punches. The taller Okami used his jab well and landed several nice straight lefts. That final stanza locked up the victory for Okami. He may not be the most exciting fighter in the division but he's now 10-2 in the UFC.

Marquardt has to go back to the drawing board knowing that he may be a regular in the top five but might not possess the game to win against the top fighters in the division. He lost to Silva at UFC 73 and said repeatedly that he's a different fighter now. Unfortunately, these failings in big fights are becoming his legacy.  

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Okami-gets-Silva-or-Belfort-Marquardt-whiffs-on?urn=mma-285305

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Former UFC middleweight contender Gerald Harris: "I messed up"

Believe it or not, Gerald Harris is not angry.

Despite being released from the UFC following a decision loss to Maiquel Falcao at UFC 123, Harris does not harbor ill will toward the organization or UFC president Dana White, who was openly critical of Harris' performance.

Instead, Harris said he has learned a valuable lesson from his release and vows to be a better fighter the next time he's in the cage.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/mmajunkie/~3/wYe5YZ5FUl0/former-ufc-middleweight-contender-gerald-harris-i-messed-up.mma

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AMADI: The myth of "motivation" throughout B.J. Penn's career

By: Jason Amadi, MMATorch Columnist

B.J. Penn?s 21 second assassination of Matt Hughes at UFC 123 was certainly an impressive sight to behold. Personally, I was shocked not only by the knockout, but by the fact that those of us watching the broadcast on television had escaped a B.J. Penn fight without hearing about his motivation. Unfortunately, UFC commentator Joe Rogan simply decided to save that little delight for the post-fight wrap up where he proclaimed ?B.J. Penn is all about motivation.? I'd always found discussion of B.J. Penn's motivation upsetting on a couple of levels, until I realized that this is to be expected following every Penn victory. Evidently, "motivation" in the case of "The Prodigy" is simply code for him having clear stylistic advantages over his opponent.

First and foremost, this narrative in which B.J. Penn's emotions are ruled by the moon and the tide is irresponsible storytelling. It's easy to come to the conclusion that when someone succeeds that they're a world-beater and that when they come up short, they're simply unmotivated. The problem is that no one ever digs deeper into why Penn is able to perform in such a vicious and aggressive manner against fighters like Diego Sanchez and Matt Hughes, but seemingly wilts under the type of attack that fighters like Georges St. Pierre and Frank Edgar offer.

B.J. Penn's inconsistent performances all come down to style matchups. B.J. Penn possesses a slick boxing game, excellent takedown defense, and a world class Brazilian jiu-jitsu game. However, this doesn't mean that there aren?t fighters capable of out striking him, putting him on his back, and out grappling him. Against progressing, but still undeveloped strikers like Matt Hughes and Diego Sanchez, Penn was able to land hard power shots that landed flush and hurt his opponents early. However, against Edgar and St. Pierre, both fighters were nowhere to be found when those punches were thrown. They were able to land shots of their own, score takedowns, frustrate B.J., and soundly defeat him.

The idea that B.J. Penn is the only fighter in all of MMA who lives and breathes on a type of "motivation" that he can only hold for one or two fights at a time is more than a tad insulting to his opponents, and to B.J. Penn himself. Penn simply doesn't need the plethora of excuses that are invariably made for him after a tough loss. He is one of the rare fighters in combat sports that truly dare to be great. He has traversed four shark infested weight classes in search of the very best competition in the world, and captured two world titles along the way. The fact that he comes up short on occasion isn't anything to be ashamed of, and in reality, is just further evidence that Penn constantly tests himself against the absolute best fighters in the world.

What good does Penn's legacy of challenging the greatest of his era serve if whenever he comes up short, the focus turns to motivation rather than technique? Perhaps this line of thinking had more weight when it was common to see Penn gas out by the third round, but the idea simply doesn't hold if Penn is able to keep up cardio-wise, but still comes up short. However, it's probably much more exciting for people to discuss random spurts of motivation and pre-fight twitches than it is to come to grips with the fact that when an opponent is dynamic enough to strike with him, take him down, and fatigue him with top control, B.J. Penn becomes beatable just like everyone else.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/amadis_take/article_7616.shtml

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B.J. Penn KOs Matt Hughes at UFC 123

by Michael David SmithIn the third fight between two of the sport's all-time greats, B.J. Penn knocked out Matt Hughes with a quick, brutal display of precision striking at UFC 123.

The whole fight lasted just 21 seconds, and delivered Penn one of the most spectacular wins of his MMA career. Penn had lost two straight lightweight title fights this year and seemed to be on the downside of his career, but he bounced back in a big way by beating Hughes.

Penn got things started with a 1-2 combination, and when Hughes threw a kick, Penn caught it and nailed Hughes again. They briefly stepped back, and then Penn nailed Hughes with an overhand right, knocking Hughes flat on his back. Penn landed four more punches on the ground and Hughes wasn't defending himself, and the referee stepped in and stopped the fight.

 

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Source: http://www.mmafighting.com/2010/11/20/b-j-penn-kos-matt-hughes-at-ufc-123/

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STRIKEFORCE QUOTABLES: Alistair Overeem responds to Dana White, says Brock Lesnar shouldn't be in the top five

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

"You know, he?s claiming that I didn?t defeat anybody that?s in the top 10 so why should you rank me. That?s true but the fact of the matter is that I?m a very active fighter and you can see that I?m a different fighter then I was at 205lbs. I?m undefeated since 2008 when I became heavyweight and even more important I have finished all the fights in the first round but then again Dana is president of a company so he?s going to say stuff like that. To be honest it doesn?t bother me because I can make a good case for being in the top 10...

After what Cain did to Brock it?s silly to give Brock a top 5 spot, but that?s my opinion. He?s still a good fighter but having a 5-2 record and almost losing to Carwin and having wins over Herring, Couture and Mir (which he lost to as well) is not something that I?m very impressed about. I?m not going to call the media stupid like Dana but let me put it this way; how can a real M.M.A. insider put a Brock Lesnar above Fedor Emelianenko or even JDS. The fact of the matter is I like that people are debating the rankings but I don?t take them that seriously...

People have to define first which criteria comes into play when creating a ranking system. Some people use only their last fight and what opposition they have fought. Other people look at skill set, talent, way of fighting and popularity. Now people tend to use both criteria and therefore you have ranking that can be heavily debated. That?s why Dana White is saying that I don?t belong in the top 10 because he doesn?t take into account my K-1 fights and doesn?t think that beating one top 10 fighter is good enough for entering the ranking. On the other hand you have Bas Rutten that says that I?m the number one heavyweight in the world. He uses my experience, potential, skill set and the way I finished fights against opposition that is not considered top 10. He also knows that my striking is improved very much and therefore uses my K-1 experience. So let?s say that the truth is somewhere in the middle. I?m fully aware that I have to prove myself, I know I can defeat anybody so it?s my job to prove it to my fans and to my doubters."

-Alistair Overeem talks to MixFight.nl (translated at BloodyElbow.com), and responds to UFC President Dana White saying he's not a top 10 heavyweight.

Penick's Analysis: Again, with how thin the division is, Overeem absolutely has a case for the bottom part of the top 10, but his level of competition doesn't justify his placement any higher than that. Rankings should not be about potential or skill set, and Overeem's K-1 fights don't count towards his spot in the rankings in MMA. Of course, lots of different writers have different criteria that they use, so I can only speak for myself, but my rankings are dependent upon a fighter's activity and level of competition. And it's not a matter of what fighters have accomplished in the past, either, as wins from beyond the last two to three years at the most cannot count for where a fighter is placed in today's rankings. So with that said, Lesnar remains in the top five as his wins over Herring, Couture, Mir and Carwin have him there, despite the loss to Velasquez. Again, it's not about who may beat who in a theoretical matchup, it's about who has already beaten who and how often they've done so. Overeem simply hasn't fought the competition to place him higher than probably #8, but if he can get into the cage with Werdum and Fedor in Strikeforce and defeat them he can get himself into the top five. I'm glad he doesn't put much stock into the rankings, because really they are useful to get a snapshot of the divisions, but aren't much more than conversation pieces outside of that, and really this entire conversation won't matter if he starts fighting guys that can help prove he belongs in the picture at the top of the division.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/Affliction2/article_7555.shtml

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