Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Nearly every season of "The Ultimate Fighter" sees at least two fighters that simply cannot coexist in the same foreign environment; this past season was no different. At several points throughout their stay in the house, teammates Cam- eron Dollar (2-1) and Jason Dent (18-9) clashed. The rivalry was so bad, in fact, that when both men advanced to the semi-finals Dollar begged to be matched against his teammate. Dana White opted not to match the two together per coaches Dan Henderson and Michael Bisping’s request to not have the semi-finals as teammate vs. teammate.

Former Cuban Olympian Hector “Shango” Lombard has been on the warpath of late. The 185lb Judoku has recently annihilated two tournament opponents in less than five minutes combined. On June 19th, Lombard will step into the cage to take on un- defeated wrestler Jared Hess for a $175,000 and the first ever Bellator middleweight world championship title. The headlining title fight will be featured back-to-back with the lightweight world championship bout between Eddie Alvarez and Toby Imada, both fights will be broadcast in primetime on ESPN Deportes Saturday June 20.

Following the loss to Mirko "Cro Cop" Fili- povic in Cologne, Germany on Saturday, Mostapha Al Turk and his camp have expressed their intent in issuing a formal appeal to have the bout over-turned because of an eye poke which they feel led to a premature ending to the fight. Early in the bout, Al Turk turned his back on Mirko, holding his face in severe discomfort. It wasn't apparent until the slow-motion replay as to what happened.

Title contenders, a former UFC cha- mpion and a handful of rising stars – and that’s just on the undercard. With the undisputed heavyweight title on the line, one of the UFC’s greatest welterweights ever facing his greatest challenge ever and a mixed martial arts legend facing the United Kingdom’s biggest star, the UFC has already secured three main-event-caliber matches for UFC 100.  The UFC today confirmed the remaining fights for the historic "UFC 100" event on Saturday, July 11th at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The televised main card for “UFC 102: Couture vs. Noguiera” has been est- ablished and posted on ufc.com. Headlined by a bout that at one point would have been for the heavyweight belt, former UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight champion Randy “The Natural” Couture (16-9) will face former PRIDE heavyweight and UFC interim heavyweight champion, Anton- io “Minotauro” Nogueira (31-5-1, 1 NC).  “Couture vs. Noguiera” is set to take place on August 29 at the Rose Garden in Portland, Ore.

In a move to bring the UFC exper- ience one step closer for mixed martial arts fans in Japan, The Ultimate Fighting Championship off- icially launched the first Japanese-language UFC web and mobile sites. Japanese fight fans can now access UFC via the new and only UFC branded Japanese PC and mobile sites across all three major carriers’ 3G networks in Japan. 

Jonathan 'The Road Warrior' Goulet (22-10) was set to take on Dong Hyun 'Stun Gun' Kim (11-0-1) at UFC 100.  Unfortunately, Goulet dislocated his shoulder while training for the fight.  MMAmania.com has reported that sources close to T.J. Grant are confirming that the up-and-comer will step in for the injured Goulet.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

With his chiseled jaw and Mr. Incr- edible looks, Josh “The Babyfaced Assassin” Barnett could be the leading man in a Hollywood film or a character straight out of the anime that he loves so much. He has a superhero frame—at 6’3”, 250 pounds, one can almost picture the “Babyfaced Assassin” wrapped in a cape, standing atop a tall building, scanning the city below for any evil doers. He is a well-spoken, charismatic figure whose persona is as compelling as his impressive fight record.

After a one-sided TKO victory over fellow Ultimate Fighter veteran Ben ‘Killa B’ Saunders (7-1-2) at UFC 99, Mike ‘Quick’ Swick (14-2) has made his feelings clear as to the direction in which he hopes to take his career. "This is my tenth fight in the UFC, I'm 9-1. I want to fight for the title, I want to fight top guys, Matt Hughes, Georges St. Pierre, Thiago Alves," he announced during his post- fight interview, as well as echoing the sentiment again at the press conference.

Women’s mixed martial arts may be taking another step forward soon. ESPN.com has confirmed that a bout between Gina Carano (7-0) and Christiane “Cyborg” Santos (7-1) will be fought using five-minute rounds, replacing the customary three-minute rounds common to Women’s MMA bouts previously. Carano and Santos will be battling for the first ever Strikeforce 145-pound women’s championship and will be headlining the upcoming card on August 15 at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif.

While friends and family will be back at home in the U.S. cel- ebrating the Fourth of July Holiday at BBQs and fireworks displays, Team USA West will find itself in a best-of-five series with Team Rus- sia Imperial in Seoul, South Kor- ea.  And when the 2009 "M-1 Challenge Presented by Affliction" resumes with its "Sixth Edition" inside the Seoul Arena, Group B leading USA West will find itself going head-to-head with an Imperial team that will not feature a single member from its 2008 M-1 Challenge Championship team.

Monday, June 15, 2009

Following his ten-second knockout loss to "Merciless" Ray Mercer, Tim Sylvia has been removed from the upcoming “Affliction: Trilogy” card, MMA FanHouse is reporting. The loss for Sylvia is his third consecutive, and the first knockout he’s sustained. Affliction Entertainment Vice President Tom Atencio made the announcement today, citing the former UFC heavyweight champ- ion’s best interest.