Source: http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2011/12/23/2657633/man-dies-after-online-sparring-challenge
Friday, December 23, 2011
UFC Announces Several Fights for Upcoming Events
The fight announcements came at a fast and furious pace on Tuesday evening. Shortly after reporting an injury had taken Erik Koch out of his UFC 143 bout against Dustin Poirier, the organization confirmed three other matchups for their upcoming events.
First off, for their followup show on FOX, a heavyweight scrap between Joey Beltran (Pictured) and Lavar Johnson was added to the January 28th lineup. That is indeed the same Lavar Johnson that has dropped two straight contests in Strikeforce.
The 265-pound transfers are starting to trickle over?
?UFC on FOX: Evans vs. Davis? takes place inside the United Center in Chicago, Illinois.
Here is the card?s updated roster:
Preliminary Bouts:
Dustin Jacoby vs. Chris Camozzi
Cub Swanson vs. George Roop
Lavar Johnson vs. Joey Beltran
Jon Olav Einemo vs. Mike Russow
Charles Oliveira vs. Eric Wisely
Cody McKenzie vs. Michael Johnson
Johnny Bedford vs. Eddie Wineland
Evan Dunham vs. Paul Sass
Main Bouts:
Michael Bisping vs. Demian Maia
Mark Munoz vs. Chael Sonnen
Phil Davis vs. Rashad Evans
Speaking of freebie fight cards, a bantamweight brawl with Ivan Menjivar and John Albert will go down on the UFC?s debut on FUEL TV. The CenturyLink Center in Omaha, Nebraska hosts the February 15th event.
These are the athletes expected to appear in the show:
Ivan Menjivar vs. John Albert
Jonathan Brookins vs. Rani Yayha
Aaron Simpson vs. Ronny Markes
Stefan Struve vs. Dave Herman
Jake Ellenberger vs. Diego Sanchez
Lastly, it was announced Caio Magalhaes has agreed to replace injured Stansislav Nedkov and fight Fabio Maldonado at UFC 142. The Octagon?s return to Brazil will be held inside the HSBC Arena in Rio de Jenairo.
Here is the current roster for the January 14th fiesta:
Preliminary Bouts:
(FX)
Fabio Maldonado vs. Caio Magalhaes
Mike Pyle vs. Ricardo Funch
Ednaldo Oliveira vs. Gabriel Gonzaga
Yuri Alcantara vs. Michihiro Omigawa
Felipe Arantes vs. Antonio Carvalho
Sam Stout vs. Thiago Tavares
Main Bouts:
(Pay-Per-View 10PM ET/7PM PT)
Erick Silva vs. Carlos Prater
Terry Etim vs. Edson Barboza
Mike Massenzio vs. Rousimar Palhares
Vitor Belfort vs. Anthony Johnson
Chad Mendes vs. Jose Aldo (UFC Featherweight Champion)
First off, for their followup show on FOX, a heavyweight scrap between Joey Beltran (Pictured) and Lavar Johnson was added to the January 28th lineup. That is indeed the same Lavar Johnson that has dropped two straight contests in Strikeforce.
The 265-pound transfers are starting to trickle over?
?UFC on FOX: Evans vs. Davis? takes place inside the United Center in Chicago, Illinois.
Here is the card?s updated roster:
Preliminary Bouts:
Dustin Jacoby vs. Chris Camozzi
Cub Swanson vs. George Roop
Lavar Johnson vs. Joey Beltran
Jon Olav Einemo vs. Mike Russow
Charles Oliveira vs. Eric Wisely
Cody McKenzie vs. Michael Johnson
Johnny Bedford vs. Eddie Wineland
Evan Dunham vs. Paul Sass
Main Bouts:
Michael Bisping vs. Demian Maia
Mark Munoz vs. Chael Sonnen
Phil Davis vs. Rashad Evans
Speaking of freebie fight cards, a bantamweight brawl with Ivan Menjivar and John Albert will go down on the UFC?s debut on FUEL TV. The CenturyLink Center in Omaha, Nebraska hosts the February 15th event.
These are the athletes expected to appear in the show:
Ivan Menjivar vs. John Albert
Jonathan Brookins vs. Rani Yayha
Aaron Simpson vs. Ronny Markes
Stefan Struve vs. Dave Herman
Jake Ellenberger vs. Diego Sanchez
Lastly, it was announced Caio Magalhaes has agreed to replace injured Stansislav Nedkov and fight Fabio Maldonado at UFC 142. The Octagon?s return to Brazil will be held inside the HSBC Arena in Rio de Jenairo.
Here is the current roster for the January 14th fiesta:
Preliminary Bouts:
(FX)
Fabio Maldonado vs. Caio Magalhaes
Mike Pyle vs. Ricardo Funch
Ednaldo Oliveira vs. Gabriel Gonzaga
Yuri Alcantara vs. Michihiro Omigawa
Felipe Arantes vs. Antonio Carvalho
Sam Stout vs. Thiago Tavares
Main Bouts:
(Pay-Per-View 10PM ET/7PM PT)
Erick Silva vs. Carlos Prater
Terry Etim vs. Edson Barboza
Mike Massenzio vs. Rousimar Palhares
Vitor Belfort vs. Anthony Johnson
Chad Mendes vs. Jose Aldo (UFC Featherweight Champion)
Thursday, December 22, 2011
TXMMA Presents: Your Updated Guide to HDNet?s Legacy Fighting Championship 9
HOUSTON, TX, December 16, 2011 – It’s finally time for�HDNet?s Legacy Fighting Championship 9. The show gets started promptly with the first undercard bout kicking off at�at 7:30pM followed by the LIVE broadcast on HDNet Friday Night fights beginning at 9PM CST / 10PM Eastern. Headlining the main card will be�vale tudo legend and current [...]
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ASK THE TORCH: Amadi answers reader questions on Jon Jones, UFC rape jokes, and possibility of UFC return for Tim Sylvia
By: Jason Amadi, MMATorch Columnist
Craig writes: Am I the only person a little unimpressed with how Jon Jones dropped Lyoto Machida to the floor when the ref stopped the fight?� He said after that he knew he was out so what is wrong with carefully lowering him to the ground?
A: I understand that long term consumption of mixed martial arts can desensitize people to violence, but not until the rise of Jon Jones have I seen such compelling evidence of MMA's ability to make people oversensitive.� Jones knocked Lyoto Machida around with punches, he split his face open with an elbow and when he saw fit, he strangled him unconscious with a choke. However, what fans seem to really take umbrage with was the fact that Jones abruptly released the choke at the behest of referee "Big" John McCarthy.
When a referee puts their hands on a fighter and calls an end to a bout, his or her immediate responsibility is to ensure that both competitors disengage. When John McCarthy called an end to the UFC 140 main event, he instructed Jones to release a guillotine choke, and Jones acquiesced.� Releasing the choke was Jones' responsibility as a competitor, as was following the instructions of the referee; the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion did both.
Whether or not anyone wants to take that incident and draw conclusions about Jones' personality is their prerogative and I won't begrudge them for it in the slightest. But given the heinous beating that left Lyoto Machida lifeless in the arms of Jones in the first place, I think it's a bit silly to focus on what Jones did after the fact.
�
Chris writes: Dana White just fired Miguel Torres for tweeting a joke about rape, so why is it okay for him to tweet a rape joke after his firing?
A: First of all, anyone familiar with the timeline of UFC President Dana White knows that he regularly goes off on Twitter trolls in that fashion. Dana White being rude, abrasive, and/or vitriolic in a public forum isn't news at this point. Second of all, it isn't any more appropriate for Dana White to tweet rape jokes than Miguel Torres, but to act as though both "jokes" are equally offensive would be fairly disingenuous.
The "joke" that got Miguel Torres fired was essentially a thought on how to improve the effectiveness of "rape vans." Without the context provided on the critically acclaimed television show that Torres lifted it from (and this is coming from a huge fan of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia), the joke goes from well crafted dark comedy to something completely inappropriate for a public sports figure to tweet. In all likelihood, had Miguel Torres never been cut, Dana White's lame prison rape joke probably would have gone largely unnoticed.
In fact, had Forrest Griffin and Rashad Evans not gotten into hot water over rape jokes, Miguel Torres probably wouldn't have been cut.
�
Brandon writes: Will we ever see Tim Sylvia in the UFC again?
A: It's unlikely that we'll ever see Tim Sylvia back in the Octagon. From a competitive standpoint, Sylvia belongs in the UFC without question. The landscape of the UFC's heavyweight division will change dramatically over the next few months with the addition of Strikeforce fighters, but the fact is Pat Barry is still prominently featured on UFC main cards; Lavar Johnson is coming off two back to back submission losses in Strikeforce and he's still getting a fight against Joey Beltran. And Joey Beltran is in the UFC.
It's obvious to anyone with eyes that Tim Sylvia could still get a lot done in the UFC's heavyweight division. His last UFC bout was an Interim Heavyweight Championship fight in which he beat Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira from pillar to post before getting tapped. Had Sylvia avoided the submission and continued battering Nogueira, it's possible that we could have seen Tim Sylvia vs. Brock Lesnar in the main event of UFC 100.
The reason Tim Sylvia isn't in the UFC now is mostly political. Sylvia asked for his release from his UFC contract in 2008 so that he could pursue a fight with Fedor Emelianenko and more money outside the organization. Leaving the UFC in that fashion and then getting humiliated in 36 seconds is pretty much all it takes to become persona non grata at Zuffa headquarters.
Guys like B.J. Penn may have been able to ditch the UFC and come back strong, but it's important to remember that B.J. Penn wasn't the least popular champion in UFC history, he didn't get knocked out by Ray Mercer, he didn't get knocked out by Abe Wagner and he's never defecated himself in the Octagon.
�
Feel free to follow me on Twitter @JasonAmadi and you can direct your "Ask the Torch" questions to mmatorch@gmail.com
 |
A: I understand that long term consumption of mixed martial arts can desensitize people to violence, but not until the rise of Jon Jones have I seen such compelling evidence of MMA's ability to make people oversensitive.� Jones knocked Lyoto Machida around with punches, he split his face open with an elbow and when he saw fit, he strangled him unconscious with a choke. However, what fans seem to really take umbrage with was the fact that Jones abruptly released the choke at the behest of referee "Big" John McCarthy.
When a referee puts their hands on a fighter and calls an end to a bout, his or her immediate responsibility is to ensure that both competitors disengage. When John McCarthy called an end to the UFC 140 main event, he instructed Jones to release a guillotine choke, and Jones acquiesced.� Releasing the choke was Jones' responsibility as a competitor, as was following the instructions of the referee; the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion did both.
Whether or not anyone wants to take that incident and draw conclusions about Jones' personality is their prerogative and I won't begrudge them for it in the slightest. But given the heinous beating that left Lyoto Machida lifeless in the arms of Jones in the first place, I think it's a bit silly to focus on what Jones did after the fact.
�
Chris writes: Dana White just fired Miguel Torres for tweeting a joke about rape, so why is it okay for him to tweet a rape joke after his firing?
A: First of all, anyone familiar with the timeline of UFC President Dana White knows that he regularly goes off on Twitter trolls in that fashion. Dana White being rude, abrasive, and/or vitriolic in a public forum isn't news at this point. Second of all, it isn't any more appropriate for Dana White to tweet rape jokes than Miguel Torres, but to act as though both "jokes" are equally offensive would be fairly disingenuous.
The "joke" that got Miguel Torres fired was essentially a thought on how to improve the effectiveness of "rape vans." Without the context provided on the critically acclaimed television show that Torres lifted it from (and this is coming from a huge fan of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia), the joke goes from well crafted dark comedy to something completely inappropriate for a public sports figure to tweet. In all likelihood, had Miguel Torres never been cut, Dana White's lame prison rape joke probably would have gone largely unnoticed.
In fact, had Forrest Griffin and Rashad Evans not gotten into hot water over rape jokes, Miguel Torres probably wouldn't have been cut.
�
Brandon writes: Will we ever see Tim Sylvia in the UFC again?
A: It's unlikely that we'll ever see Tim Sylvia back in the Octagon. From a competitive standpoint, Sylvia belongs in the UFC without question. The landscape of the UFC's heavyweight division will change dramatically over the next few months with the addition of Strikeforce fighters, but the fact is Pat Barry is still prominently featured on UFC main cards; Lavar Johnson is coming off two back to back submission losses in Strikeforce and he's still getting a fight against Joey Beltran. And Joey Beltran is in the UFC.
It's obvious to anyone with eyes that Tim Sylvia could still get a lot done in the UFC's heavyweight division. His last UFC bout was an Interim Heavyweight Championship fight in which he beat Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira from pillar to post before getting tapped. Had Sylvia avoided the submission and continued battering Nogueira, it's possible that we could have seen Tim Sylvia vs. Brock Lesnar in the main event of UFC 100.
The reason Tim Sylvia isn't in the UFC now is mostly political. Sylvia asked for his release from his UFC contract in 2008 so that he could pursue a fight with Fedor Emelianenko and more money outside the organization. Leaving the UFC in that fashion and then getting humiliated in 36 seconds is pretty much all it takes to become persona non grata at Zuffa headquarters.
Guys like B.J. Penn may have been able to ditch the UFC and come back strong, but it's important to remember that B.J. Penn wasn't the least popular champion in UFC history, he didn't get knocked out by Ray Mercer, he didn't get knocked out by Abe Wagner and he's never defecated himself in the Octagon.
�
Feel free to follow me on Twitter @JasonAmadi and you can direct your "Ask the Torch" questions to mmatorch@gmail.com
Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/Ask_the_Torch_41/article_11849.shtml
Alexis Davis Returns to Strikeforce in March
Riding a three-fight win streak, Alexis Davis will look to make it four in a row when she returns to Strikeforce in March.
Source: http://mmaweekly.com/alexis-davis-returns-to-strikeforce-in-march
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
UFC 141: Why There Will Never Be a Dominant UFC Heavyweight Champion
The UFC has never really had a dominant heavyweight champion and it is becoming abundantly clear that they never will.
Randy Couture is probably the closest thing ever to a dominant UFC heavyweight, holding the title three different times and defending it three times as well between 1997-2008. While Couture held the title for approximately 1,113 days during that span of 11 years (4,015 days) and 629 days consecutively, the title changed hands to seven different fighters in that time period alone.
In a time and era when the heavyweight division was the weakest in the world, a big man who was ahead of his time had a great opportunity to clear out all comers and stay fresh with two fights annually. Couture was the standout big man of that early era of MMA.
The sport has evolved since that time, and that evolution has created more and better heavyweight fighters, more and better training and in essence a parity that the division has never seen before. The division is as deep as it has ever been and with the recent announcement that the Strikeforce heavyweight division will dissolve into the UFC, the water will only get deeper.
Evolution has also created a demand for title fights and expectation of fighting three to four times in one year a la Jon Jones. That demand also minimizes the chances of a lengthy, dominant reign. Injuries, fatigue and lack of focus creep in as each training camp goes on.
The days of the dynasty team in other sports has been crushed by salary caps and collective bargaining agreements aimed at creating a level playing field. In MMA, the evolution to parity has been a much more natural thing based on growth and development of the sport.
Sure, there are still dominant champions in the welterweight, middleweight and even the light heavyweight division, but it is easier to dominate at the lighter divisions where mistakes can be overcome, grind on the body is less and in-fight comebacks are more of the norm.
One example to explain what I mean is lightweight champion Frankie Edgar compared to former heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez.
Edgar made early errors in both his title defences against Gray Maynard but the power shots Maynard landed were not enough to put the champ away. He was able to come back and hold on to his title both times. In contrast at heavyweight, Cain Velasquez made a mistake early against Junior dos Santos and due to the power of a heavyweight strike, it was all she wrote for his title reign.
Is Dos Santos, the man who looks unbeatable, going to have a dominant hold on the heavyweight gold? I don't see it that way and believe that his title reign will also be a short one. History, evolution and parity says that the big belt will remain a hot potato in 2012.
Dwight Wakabayashi is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA and correspondent for MMACanada.net.
Catch him on Facebook and Twitter at wakafightermma.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com
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