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There’s plenty from UFC 101 to discuss, including B.J. Penn’s masterful title defense, bogus quick stoppages, fighters with poor gameplans and new ring girls, but the main story line of UFC 101 is Anderson Silva.

Un-freaking-believable. Tonight we saw vintage Anderson Silva. He wasn’t fighting a no-name either, he was fighting a top-5 light heavyweight. A man one fight removed from being the light heavyweight champion. A guy who recorded back-to-back wins over Shogun and Rampage Jackson.

And he didn’t belong in the same Octagon as Silva. Silva was faster, stronger and outclassed Griffin in every way. Silva looked like he was having fun, he looked loose and he looked like the "Spider" most fans were expecting against Patrick Cote and Thales Leites.

Incredible. At this point, what’s next for Silva? Dan Henderson again? No one else at 185 has a chance with Silva, not even Demian Maia. There are few people at 205 that would be tough fights for Silva. Lyoto Machida is at the top of that list, but the two friends have said they would never fight each other.

And, for those new fans (or haters) out there calling this a fixed fight, get over yourselves. Forrest Griffin got his butt kicked and was rocked twice before getting knocked out. It could not have been any plainer. If the UFC was ever going to fix a fight, it would be to have Griffin win. He’s the company guy and would be a great face for the sport. He’s probably even a bigger PPV draw than Silva. There is no way this was a fixed fight.

It was nice to see Silva break in some English during the post-fight interview. It stinks he hasn’t learned the language better because he should be a huge star at this point. He could be the Tiger Woods or Roger Federer of MMA but will never get the marketing push if he has to go through a translator for everything.

Anderson Silva. Wow.

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Jesse Taylor, a man unfortunately most commonly known as the outcast finalist from the seventh season of The Ultimate Fighter, has stepped up to the plate on just over five days notice to face off with Jay Hieron at “Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg“. The event is set for this Saturday evening from the HP Pavilion in [...] - [Read more]

For the second time in less than a week, Nick Diaz failed to show for a mandatory pre-fight drug test, with his Monday no-show causing him to be removed from his Saturday Strikeforce middleweight championship matchup against Jay Hieron. As reported earlier Monday, Diaz will be replaced on the August 15 "Carano vs. Cyborg" card in San Jose by one-time UFC fighter Jesse Taylor, who is currently riding a seven-fight winning streak. Taylor and Hieron will meet in a three-round, non-title fight on the Showtime-televised card. - [Read more]

Another knee surgery, this time to repair an injured MCL, will sideline UFC middleweight Patrick Cote through March of next year, according to a Monday report from MMA Weekly: "Cote said that he will go in for surgery on Wednesday, and that a likely return to the Octagon is a long ways off. “Not before February or March, for sure.”" - [Read more]

Newly-crowned WEC bantamweight champion Brian Bowles, who won the belt with a first-round knockout of previous title-holder Miguel Torres in the main event of Sunday’s WEC 42 event, suffered a broken left hand in the victory, but hopes to return in December, according to a Versus.com report:

Bowles’ manager, Andrew Beach, on Monday that the new WEC bantamweight champion broke his left hand at the very end of his fight against Torres.

Beach said that Bowles will visit a hand specialist in Atlanta on Tuesday. He added that the new 135-pound champion will not be able to use his left hand in training for approximately six-to-eight weeks, but will be able to do light grappling and cardio work sooner.

Bowles officially knocked Torres out with a series of left hands on the ground, and Beach confirmed that it was those punches which lead to the hand break.

As for when we should expect to see Bowles back in action, Beach said, “I know he would love to fight before the end of the year.

“If there’s a December card, I know he would like to fight on it.”

Though not yet confirmed, Bowles’ first title defense is expected to come against top 125-pound contender and fellow-WEC 42 winner Dominick Cruz, who topped Joseph Benavidez in the event’s co-headliner, though Torres, who had a 17-fight win streak snapped in the loss, could also be booked for an immediate rematch

Pictured: Brian Bowles punches Miguel Torres at WEC 42

“M-1 Global: Breakthrough” has undergone some major changes recently for what appears to be the better. Although the event was previously slated to take place in Los Angeles, California, the promotion has announced that the event will now take place at the Memorial Hall in Kansas City, but is still set for the original date of [...] - [Read more]

Ok guys I am looking for lots of responses to this. I am writing a paper and this is the topic: For you : " What is the heart, soul and character of MMA"? Answer with whatever comes naturally to you please. Any responses are well appreciatted. THANKS. - [Read more]

The latest offering from MMA Bulletin’s official video artist Comrad101.

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It’s the Return of the Gangsta, Diaz silences Shamrock

With the collapse of Elite XC, Strikeforce has become a major promotion in Mixed Martial Arts. Partnering up with Showtime in order to televise free, aside from cable fees, fights featuring relatively big names in the sport. Sandwiched between WEC 40 last weekend and UFC 97 next weekend, two Zuffa engagements, Strikeforce needed to establish itself on Saturday. An action packed card filled with finishes was a good start.

The main event showcased two of the sport’s most noticeable personalities, Frank Shamrock and Nick Diaz. As the fighters walked to the cage it was clear that although Shamrock was fighting in home town of San Jose, plenty of Diaz supporters had made the short trip from Stockton. As the first round got under way, Diaz began to paw away at Shamrock with his lead hand, as he has done so often in the past, and targeting volume punches.  Diaz clearly controlled the cage with his reach advantage and limited Shamrock to kick attempts from the outside and lunging punches. Diaz managed to take Shamrock down after catching a kick attempt and showed his prowess as a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu fighter managing to pass Shamrock’s guard and gain side control more than once. Shamrock managed to escape back to standing before falling down while attempting another kick. Diaz took control on top and then capitalized on another mistake in Shamrock’s mount defense, taking the position with less than a minute to go in the opening round. Diaz threw a good amount of punches from that position, but Shamrock was saved by the bell.

In the second round Diaz went right back to work pawing away and taunting Shamrock the whole way. Shamrock looked tired and puzzled by Diaz’s offense, and Frank’s face began to show the signs of the Diaz volume punching attack. A little after a minute into the round Diaz landed a series of powerful hooks to the body as Shamrock leaned away with his head to avoid the presumed counter-punch. Shamrock immediately created space and got on his bike for as long as he could before Diaz closed the distance. Diaz eventually put Shamrock against the fence and started to throw unanswered combinations, although not all the punches landed cleanly. Shamrock tried to circle out one last time but Diaz cut him off and trapped him against the cage and unloaded a devastating right hand to the body immediately dropping Shamrock to the canvas. From there Diaz unloaded punches to the head Shamrock who was helplessly pinned against the cage. Big John stepped in and called the fight at 3:57 of the second round. After the fight, the normally abrasive Diaz, exhibited a great deal of class and respect for his opponent, helping Shamrock back to his feet and raising his arm in reverence. Diaz has a lot of options now, depending on what weight class he is going to fight at, perhaps a rematch with K.J. Noons at a future Strikeforce event.

As impressive as the Diaz victory is, the fight of the night belonged to Scott Smith and Benji Radach. Benji Radach came out aggressive in round one and established his range with the jab. However it didn’t take long for Smith to get inside that range and land a shot that dropped Radach. Benji quickly recovered and tried to grab a leg in the. He managed to get back to his feet and landed a left hook while circling away that rocked Smith. Radach got control on top and ended the first frame impressively. The second round was even better for Radach as he continued to land numerous combinations on the feet throughout the round and even manage to get a standing guillotine choke that almost finished the fight. In the third round things were continuing to to go Radach’s way as he tagged Smith repeatedly and even escaped from a Smith guillotine attempt. After some inactivity Herb Dean stood the fighters back up and Smith leaned into a right hand that put Radach face down on the mat. Herb Dean jumped in to stop the fight giving Smith the knockout victory.

Gilbert Melendez made short work of Rodrigo Damm who took the fight on a week’s notice. Melendez was originally slated for a rematch with Josh Thompson, who took Melendez’s lightweight title, but Thompson had to pull out due to a broken ankle. Damm was on the defensive the entire fight as Melendez stalked him looking to set up take downs with strikes. He eventually got that takedown and rode out the first round landing punches from the top but never threatening to end the fight. The second looked like it would be more of the same as Melendez got another take down, Damm scrambled and managed to get up but ate a vicious combo that put him down for good. Melendez claimed the interim light-weight title with the victory but it was bitter sweet as he will look forward to fighting Thompson for the title.

Cristiane “Cyborg” dispatched of Hitomi Akano, but it wasn’t as quick as it should have been. Cyborg was landing repeatedly with power for the entirety of the fight. She repeatedly shrugged off takedown and clinch attempts from Akano and blasted away. Akano displayed a chin and will of iron as she managed to withstand the onslaught, at least until the third round. Cyborg is still looking forward to her showdown with Gina Carano in the future, and that will be very entertaining.

In the opening bout of the night Brett Rogers hammered away at Ron Humphrey, who withstood quite a lot of punishment. Rogers was landing almsot at will but Humphrey kept on coming. That is until a couple of knees and a few big rights put Humphrey away for good. Rogers stays perfect at 10-0 and continues to climb the heavyweight ladder.

All in all it was a good night for Strikeforce, if they can continue to produce shows with quality fights and quality fighters then the future loks promising.

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Torres Earns Decision, and Respect

Miguel Torres was originally slated to fight Brian Bowles, but found himself in the toughest fight of his career against Takeyo Mizugaki. Mizugaki was making his WEC debut, but showed little signs of nervousness as he pushed the bantam-weight champ until the final bell. Torres did a great job of out striking Mizugaki early in the fight, but Mizugaki managed to withstand numerous onslaughts from the champion and managed to land a number of good quality body-shots, knees and power punches. Things seemed to be going well for Torres until a cut was opened on his forehead midway through the fight and gave Mizugaki the confidence he needed to continue. Torres showed the resolve and determination of a true champion as he persevered through the blood and continued to throw everything at the challenger to his throne. In the end Torres was awarded the unanimous decision victory, 49-46, 49-46, and 48-47. Mizugaki cried after the scores were announced but he has nothing to be ashamed of. He managed to take one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the sport to a very close 5-round decision and if you didn’t know about him before, you definitely will be watching him again in the future.

In the co-main event, and possible number one contender match in the bantam-weight division, Joseph Benavidez took the unanimous decision win over former feather-weight contender and WEC veteran Jeff Curran. Benavidez managed to out strike Curran along with mixing up some take downs and a good amount of top-position control. Curran appeared to have won the first round with his clean technical striking. As the fight wore on at a torrid pace, Benavidez applied continuous pressure and didn’t let Curran find his rhythm on the feet after the first round. It appeared that Curran was landing clean with relative frequency but was frustrated by the constant attack of Benavidez. Once Benavidez managed to land a power punch that stunned Curran, the fight seemed to change. Curran wanted to answer with a power shot of his own and seemed to stray from what was working for him. Two judges had it 30-27 for Benavidez while the remaining judge saw it 29-28. Not to say that Benavidez didn’t win the fight, but it was much closer than 30-27.

In light-weight action, Ben Henderson improved to 9-1 with a first-round TKO victory over Shane Roller. Roller had control early and landed a big counter-right that dropped Henderson against the cage. Roller quickly moved in for the kill and went for his guillotine choke that had ended two previous fights in the WEC, but Henderson miraculously recovered fast and locked up and inside single-leg to reverse position. Roller battled back to the feet and the two exchanged again. Henderson showed no ill effects of the knockdown and displayed poise and patience to land a well timed combo that dropped roller. Henderson jumped on top and swung for the fences. Roller attempted to gain control of Henderson’s body but couldn’t lock up his hands and the ref was forced to stop the bout due to unanswered punches.

Feather-weight Rafael Assuncao proved that he is worth the hype as he earned a unanimous decision victory over Jameel Massouh. Assuncao controlled the action throughout the fight and landed a nice right hand that dropped his opponent to the canvas. Massouh proved that he has a good chin as he recovered and even managed to almost secure a heel hook. Assuncao never let that position happen again and earned the nod from the judges.

In preliminary action light-weight Anthony Njokuani defeated IFL veteran Bart Palaszewski by TKO stoppage in the second round. Njokuani used his reach advantage via the jab to space Palaszewski who needed to get inside. A straight right hand from Njokuani dropped Palaszewski in the opening frame but the crafty veteran gutted it out and got back to his feet. The second round brought more of the same as Njokuani floored Palaszewski again. Palaszewski did his best to cover up but in the end did little in the way of intelligent defense forcing the ref to stop the bout.

Feather-weight Wagnney Fabiano showed that he is more than capable of fighting on his feet as he earned a unanimous decision over Fredson Paixao, 30-27 across the board. Rani Yahya did what he does best, make short work of those not equipped to deal with his submission skills. That is what Eddie Wineland found out the hard way at 1:07 of the first round. Yahya took Wineland’s back off a scramble and sunk in the rear naked choke. And Akitoshi Tamura won a hard-fought victory over Manny Tapia.

The WEC continues to deliver a quality product, for a price that can’t be beat, and showcase some of the most talented fighters in the world.

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Shinya Aoki has only lost three times in his professional MMA career that has spanned 23 fights and six years. His most recent loss came from Joachim Hansen at DREAM 5 back in July of last year, but before that bout, he hadnt lost since August 20th, 2005 to another prominent name in the Japanese MMA scene, Hayato "Mach" Sakurai. Aoki will now have a chance to redeem that loss at DREAM.8 on April 5th from Nippon Gaishi Hall in Nagoya, Japan.

MMAWeekly is confirming that Shinya Aoki vs. Hayato "Mach" Sakurai is now set to take place in the opening round of the DREAM.8 Welterweight Grand Prix. Normally, we would see DREAM try to set Sakurai and Aoki on opposite sides of the bracket in order to run through the Grand Prix and meet in the final, but FEG likely wants some star power to pull ratings after a less than stellar DREAM.7 Featherweight Grand Prix.

Stylistically, Aoki will have a superior advantage on the ground whereas Sakurai should have the strikers advantage on the feet. Sakurai has some good technical strikes, but Aoki seems to be one of the most elusive fighters to hit these days. He has very effective takedowns, and he transitions very well from the takedown to the submission. This should be a great matchup for hardcore fans looking to see Aoki put to the test.

DREAM should be hopefully putting together a few more quality bouts on this card. Aoki vs. Sakurai should generally draw more interest that some of the past events as both fighters have a following in Japan, but the card still lacks any other locked-in matchups. Hopefully that will be changing very soon.

According to FreeFightVideos, Mirko "CroCop" Filipovic has re-signed with Fight Entertainment Groups DREAM MMA promotion for a three-fight deal. The story has been confirmed by Croation Sports Website Sportal.

The article goes on to mentioned that CroCops first bout of his new contract could take place in July in a K-1 Rules matchup against Alistair Overeem. The matchup has quickly climbed the list of potential fights that fans have been pushing to see every since the No Contest bout at DREAM 6 back in September of 2008, and the subsequent war of words between the two men that led to CroCop offering to have Overeem fly to his Croation training facility to fight in his basement.

Interestingly enough, a couple of other rumors came out of the article:

The Japanese promotion Dream where quick to react after it was revealed that Cro Cop was close to signing a deal with the UFC. Dream has offered Cro Cop three fights, two under mixed martial arts rules. One of those could be a December bout with Fedor Emelianenko. Since his 2005 loss to Fedor, Cro Cop has had a strong desire to rematch the worlds best MMA heavyweight.

There have been rumors flying around the MMA blogosphere of a potential DREAM  Heavyweight Grand Prix that could see names like Overeem, Kharitonov, CroCop, Fedor, Mark Hunt, and some other fighters in the mix, but there was also the prospect of an Open Weight Grand Prix in the rumor mill as well.

To be perfectly honest, I would have rather seen CroCop make his way back into the UFC. His style is much better suited for the ring, in my opinion, so Im not entirely against his reluctance to step back into the cage. The only real problem I see for CroCop is that he really has diminished in skill in the last year or two.

Overeem isnt exactly an easy fight for anyone since his massive muscle build, and taking on Fedor again is likely going to result in a beating like he withstood before. Good decision or bad decision? You be the judge.

By: James Denly After coming off the heels of a very successful event aired for free on Spike, the UFC will host another event in just 10 days with UFC 96 live from the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, OH.  This star-studded card features 10 great bouts including Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Shane Carwin, Gray [...] - [Read more]

By James Denly It’s the time of the year again when families come together celebrate the holidays.  Most people think of traveling, exchanging gifts, and sharing precious moments with friends and family when it comes to the month of December.  However, for MMA fans, it’s time for the biggest UFC fight card of [...] - [Read more]

UFC 88 seems to be a card that Dana White threw together to keep the one-time UFC poster boys Chuck Liddell and Rich Franklin in the contender picture. Liddell will have his hands full with Rashad Evans, who should be able to control Chuck and win a decision. Liddell is a -260 favorite going in, but I would take the upset in this one.

Rich Franklin, a -230 favorite, should be able to handle Matt Hamill. He’s improved his take-down defense over the last year, and Hamill is essentially a punching bag during any stand-up stage the fight may be in. Look for Rich Franklin to get a TKO or submission via rear naked choke.

Other winners I’m picking include Rousimar Palhares, who brings a lethal BJJ game against the aging Dan Henderson, and Karo Parisyan, who should be able to Judo throw around Yoshiyuki Yoshida with ease.

via www.combatlifestyle.com

Living the American dream. View more pictures from IMMAE here.

(Battle of the Teams Who Only Win About 60% of the Time.) After doing a little bit of digging on Sherdog’s Fight Statistics section, MMA Madness posted a list of the ten most successful MMA camps (with at least 100 combined fights): 1. Arizona Combat Sports, 116-27, .81 1. Jackson’s Submission Fighting, 124-30, .81 3. Minnesota Martial Arts, 243-64, [...] - [Read more]

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Tomorrow night’s Vault episode features another bout from Strikeforce’s “Four Men Enter - One Man Survives” San Jose event. This time, it’s a middleweight bout between Josh Neal and Eric Lawson. You can get this episode here in Standard, iPod, and HD downloads. Don’t forget that you can subscribe to The Vault on iTunes and get [...] - [Read more]