Mixed Martial Arts

By News Service • October 18th, 2011

“Two powerful wrestlers hungry for a win have verbally agreed to fight November 19 at UFC 139 as Danny ‘Last Call’ Castillo will take on Shamar Bailey,” confirmed UFC president Dana White late last night.

That lightweight bout completes the UFC 139 fight card, headlined by the matchup between PRIDE legends Dan Henderson and Shogun Rua.

Matt Brown Gets New Opponent, San Jose Date updated October 18
The UFC 139 fight card has received a new welterweight scrap due to an unwell Englishman across the pond.

Rising Brit welterweight John Hathaway has been forced to withdraw from November 5th’s UFC 138 event, confirmed UFC president Dana White today. Hathaway’s original opponent, Matt Brown, has verbally agreed to face “The Polish Pistola” Seth Baczynski instead in a bout now slated to take place at UFC 139 on November 19 in San Jose, CA.

Two Bantamweight Bouts Slated for San Jose updated September 27
San Jose fans got another surefire barnburner on their fight card today, as Dana White confirmed that Nick Pace and Miguel Torres have verbally agreed to a bantamweight bout.

In his last outing, Pace  proved he could compete with longtime, experienced veterans in his three-round war against Ivan Menjivar. Now he faces another by taking on former bantamweight kingpin Torres, who long held the WEC title in that division.

A second bantamweight bout has also been confirmed for UFC 139. Michael McDonald, the UFC’s youngest fighter, and veteran Muay Thai specialist Johnny Eduardo have verbally agreed to meet in San Jose.

Wandy vs. Le, Shogun vs. Hendo at UFC 139 updated September 27
Don’t expect too much groundfighting on November 19th when “The Axe Murderer,” Wanderlei Silva welcomes former Strikeforce champion and renowned Sanshou fighter Cung Le to the Octagon in UFC 139 action. Silva replaces his countryman, Vitor Belfort (who was forced out of the bout due to injury) in what promises to be a slugfest to remember.
 
In the UFC 139 main event at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California, a light heavyweight dream fight finally becomes a reality when former UFC champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua takes on the returning Strikeforce and former PRIDE champion Dan Henderson.

Light Heavyweight Wars Scheduled for November updated August 23
“Verbal agreements are in for a fight that promises non-stop action as Kyle Kingsbury will take on the ‘American Psycho’ Stephan Bonnar at UFC 139,” said UFC president Dana White today.

Both light-heavyweight sluggers are coming off decision wins earned in three-rounds wars — Bonnar against Igor Pokrajac at the TUF 12 Finale in December and Kingsbury over Fabio Maldonado at the TUF 13 Finale in June.

Also agreed to on that same fight card is a second light heavyweight showdown,
this one between Jason “Hitman” Brilz and Ryan “Darth” Bader.

Story-Kampmann on Tap for UFC 139 updated August 17
Welterweight contenders Rick Story and Martin Kampmann will return to the Octagon this November in a bout guaranteed to produce fireworks.

“A potential fight of the night has been verbally agreed to as Rick ‘The Horror’ Story will face Martin ‘The Hitman’ Kampmann at UFC 139,” said UFC President Dana White.

Tibau vs. Dos Anjos in Battle of Brazilians
“Two of the best Brazilian lightweights in the UFC have verbally agreed to fight as Rafael Dos Anjos takes on Gleison Tibau at UFC 139,” confirmed UFC president Dana White. The two black belts will war in San Jose this November.

Faber vs. Bowles Agreed to for UFC 139 in Nov. updated July 21
Two of the top bantamweights in the world will meet in one of the most intriguing bouts of 2011, as Urijah Faber takes on Brian Bowles. This verbally agreed to clash of former WEC champions will take place at UFC 139 in November.

“Before a possible trilogy can be considered between Urijah Faber and his rival, Champion Dominick Cruz, he will take on one of the division’s truly elite fighters, former Bantamweight Champion Brian Bowles,” said UFC President Dana White. “A win over Faber would be massive for Bowles’ bid to challenge for the belt that was once his. The stakes are high and the fight will be intense.”

Weidman vs. Lawlor Agreed to for UFC 139

This November’s UFC 139 card has begun to take shape, as middleweight phenom Chris Weidman has verbally agreed to face Ultimate Fighter veteran “Filthy” Tom Lawlor in what promises to be a fast-paced battle in one of the sport’s most competitive divisions.

News Source: UFC.com.
Read full story HERE .

The UFC 139 fight card has received a new welterweight scrap due to an unwell Englishman across the pond.

Rising Brit welterweight John Hathaway has been forced to withdraw from November 5th’s UFC 138 event, confirmed UFC president Dana White today. Hathaway’s original opponent, Matt Brown, has verbally agreed to face “The Polish Pistola” Seth Baczynski instead in a bout now slated to take place at UFC 139 on November 19 in San Jose, CA.

Two Bantamweight Bouts Slated for San Jose updated September 27
San Jose fans got another surefire barnburner on their fight card today, as Dana White confirmed that Nick Pace and Miguel Torres have verbally agreed to a bantamweight bout.

In his last outing, Pace  proved he could compete with longtime, experienced veterans in his three-round war against Ivan Menjivar. Now he faces another by taking on former bantamweight kingpin Torres, who long held the WEC title in that division.

A second bantamweight bout has also been confirmed for UFC 139. Michael McDonald, the UFC’s youngest fighter, and veteran Muay Thai specialist Johnny Eduardo have verbally agreed to meet in San Jose.

Wandy vs. Le, Shogun vs. Hendo at UFC 139 updated September 27
Don’t expect too much groundfighting on November 19th when “The Axe Murderer,” Wanderlei Silva welcomes former Strikeforce champion and renowned Sanshou fighter Cung Le to the Octagon in UFC 139 action. Silva replaces his countryman, Vitor Belfort (who was forced out of the bout due to injury) in what promises to be a slugfest to remember.
 
In the UFC 139 main event at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California, a light heavyweight dream fight finally becomes a reality when former UFC champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua takes on the returning Strikeforce and former PRIDE champion Dan Henderson.

Light Heavyweight Wars Scheduled for November updated August 23
“Verbal agreements are in for a fight that promises non-stop action as Kyle Kingsbury will take on the ‘American Psycho’ Stephan Bonnar at UFC 139,” said UFC president Dana White today.

Both light-heavyweight sluggers are coming off decision wins earned in three-rounds wars — Bonnar against Igor Pokrajac at the TUF 12 Finale in December and Kingsbury over Fabio Maldonado at the TUF 13 Finale in June.

Also agreed to on that same fight card is a second light heavyweight showdown,
this one between Jason “Hitman” Brilz and Ryan “Darth” Bader.

Story-Kampmann on Tap for UFC 139 updated August 17
Welterweight contenders Rick Story and Martin Kampmann will return to the Octagon this November in a bout guaranteed to produce fireworks.

“A potential fight of the night has been verbally agreed to as Rick ‘The Horror’ Story will face Martin ‘The Hitman’ Kampmann at UFC 139,” said UFC President Dana White.

Tibau vs. Dos Anjos in Battle of Brazilians
“Two of the best Brazilian lightweights in the UFC have verbally agreed to fight as Rafael Dos Anjos takes on Gleison Tibau at UFC 139,” confirmed UFC president Dana White. The two black belts will war in San Jose this November.

Faber vs. Bowles Agreed to for UFC 139 in Nov. updated July 21
Two of the top bantamweights in the world will meet in one of the most intriguing bouts of 2011, as Urijah Faber takes on Brian Bowles. This verbally agreed to clash of former WEC champions will take place at UFC 139 in November.

“Before a possible trilogy can be considered between Urijah Faber and his rival, Champion Dominick Cruz, he will take on one of the division’s truly elite fighters, former Bantamweight Champion Brian Bowles,” said UFC President Dana White. “A win over Faber would be massive for Bowles’ bid to challenge for the belt that was once his. The stakes are high and the fight will be intense.”

Weidman vs. Lawlor Agreed to for UFC 139

This November’s UFC 139 card has begun to take shape, as middleweight phenom Chris Weidman has verbally agreed to face Ultimate Fighter veteran “Filthy” Tom Lawlor in what promises to be a fast-paced battle in one of the sport’s most competitive divisions.

News Source: UFC.com.
Read full story HERE .

Injuries and illness have prompted changes to the November 5 fight card taking place in Birmingham, England.

In heavyweight news, Oli Thompson has been forced to withdraw from the event due to injury. Original opponent Phil De Fries has verbally agreed a matchup against fellow Englishman Rob Broughton, who will return to his home country to fight after appearing at UFC 135 in Denver last month.

Rising Brit welterweight John Hathaway has been forced to withdraw from UFC 138 as well. His original opponent, Matt Brown, has verbally agreed to face “The Polish Pistola” Seth Baczynski instead. Brown vs. Baczynski will take place at UFC 139 on November 19 in San Jose, CA.

Head vs. Scanlon now Maguire vs. Edwards updated September 28
The welterweight showdown between Mark Scanlon and James Head has completely vanished from the UFC 138 fight card after both athletes suffered injuries.

Last week, Scanlon was forced to withdraw. London, England’s John Maguire signed on to take his spot.

Today it was announced James Head was also forced to withdraw from UFC 138 due to injury; stepping in for him will be TUF 13′s Justin Edwards, fresh off his UFC Fight Night win over Jorge Lopez in New Orleans.

Changes and Additions to UFC 138 updated August 31
Pascal Krauss has been injured, forcing him to withdraw from his scheduled bout at UFC 138. Taking Krauss’ place will be Matt “The Immortal” Brown, who will test his invincibility skills against rising star John “The Hitman” Hathaway. Both men have verbally agreed to the welterweight bout, UFC president Dana White announced today.

Also confirmed for that event: On the main card, WEC vet Brad Pickett will make his postponed UFC entrance against Renan Barao in a bantamweight bout, while Cyrille Diabate is set to fight Anthony Perosh at light heavyweight in the prelims. A crop of new fighters will make their debuts at UFC 138, as TUF 13′s Chris Cope welcomes Che Mills, Chris Cariaso takes on Birmingham local Vaughan Lee and heavyweight newcomers Phil De Fries and Oli Thompson square off.

Panzer Faces the Hitman in England updated July 25
Verbal agreements are in for a welterweight fight between undefeated German prospect Pascal Krauss and 15-1 Brighton native John “The Hitman” Hathaway at UFC 138 November 5th in Birmingham, England.

Four More Bouts Set for Birmingham updated July 20
England’s next UFC event continues to shape up with a handful of bouts verbally agreed to for the November 5th Birmingham event.

Fists will fly in two matchups pitting some of England’s best strikers against up-and-comers. Walsall’s “Relentless” Paul Taylor will battle Anthony Njokuani in  lightweight scrap. In another 155 pound slugfest, Liverpool’s Terry Etim will fight Edward Faaloloto.

One of the featherweight division’s newest prospects, kickboxer Jason Young, is set to take on one of the division’s most established, Michihiro Omigawa.

It was also confirmed today that UFC 138 will feature a welterweight matchup between James Head and Mark Scanlon.

Alves Returns to Face Unbeaten Abedi on Nov. 5 updated July 20
Unbeaten Swedish prospect Papy Abedi will get a tough assignment in his UFC debut in Birmingham, England on November 5th, as he takes on longtime contender Thiago Alves in a bout verbally agreed to on Tuesday.

“Undefeated welterweight Papy ‘Makambo’ Abedi has agreed to make his UFC debut against fan favorite Thiago ‘Pit Bull’ Alves at UFC 138,” said UFC President Dana White.

Spike TV to Televise The UFC’s Return to the UK on Nov. 5

Top 185-pound contenders Chris Leben and Mark Munoz will headline the UFC’s return to British shores on November 5th, as the Spike TV televised UFC 138 event takes place at the LG Arena in Birmingham.

“Two of the middleweight division’s heaviest hitters will go to war in the UFC’s first ever non-title 5 round main event as the ‘Filipino Wrecking Machine’ Mark Munoz takes on Chris ‘The Crippler’ Leben at UFC 138 November 5th in Birmingham, England,” said UFC President Dana White of the historic matchup.

Leben has won four of his last five bouts, including finishes of Aaron Simpson, Yoshihiro Akiyama, and Wanderlei Silva. Munoz is on a similar hot streak, having beaten Aaron Simpson, CB Dollaway, and Demian Maia in successive bouts.

Two serious bantamweight title contenders have also verbally agreed to battle at the same event. “England’s top bantamweight, Brad Pickett, will be taking on the man with the best unbeaten streak in the sport, Renan Barao, who hasn’t lost in his last 29 fights.”

The broadcast will air on Rogers Sportsnet in Canada.

News Source: UFC.com.
Read full story HERE .

You’ll never forget your first Nick Diaz interview, or your second, or third, and you get the picture. For pure stream of consciousness insights from a pure fighter, Diaz never disappoints. And as he’s gone from Stockton, California to the UFC, to PRIDE, to Elite XC and Strikeforce and back again to the UFC, he has never wavered in who he is and has never subscribed to the professional athlete’s handbook of clichés.

That could get you in trouble at times, but Diaz has never shown any desire to follow a particular path in his professional career. Yeah, he wants to make money just like the next guy, but he’s been willing to shoot himself in the foot, if only to prove that what really matters at the end of the day is your performance. And whether you stand for or against mixed martial arts’ version of antihero, you will agree that he always performs when the lights hit him in the Octagon.

“Every time you watch Nick Diaz, you’re about to see a fight and you can’t guarantee that with all these matches,” said Diaz’ friend and longtime training partner Gilbert Melendez, the current Strikeforce lightweight champion. “A lot of people treat this as a sparring session or they could be a little boring, but when you see Nick Diaz, he’s there to fight and you’re gonna see a full-on exciting fight. The guy comes at you to fight; not to win on the scorecards and not to win the points, but to come out and finish the fight. He’ll test your heart, he’ll test your chin, and he’ll test everything about you. If you try to stall him out, he’ll talk you into a fight. He’ll tell you ‘stop being a sissy, fight me.’ I think the other thing about Nick Diaz is that he’s very bold and blunt, and he’s consistent. A lot of people get frustrated with a lot of the things he says, but most people wish they had the guts to be as honest as he is.”

Honesty is a dirty word to most professional athletes, and at times you can understand why. You’ve got teammates and coaching staffs to worry about, image issues to protect, and endorsement deals to keep intact. In an individual sport like MMA, there is a bit more in the way of “real talk,” but no one has taken it to the level of Diaz. Yet the best part of this aspect of his personality is that this is who he is. He’s not playing a character for the cameras.

The first time I spoke to him was in 2005, shortly before his fight with then-unbeaten Ultimate Fighter winner Diego Sanchez at the TUF2 finale in Las Vegas. At the time, Diaz was 4-1 in the UFC, with finishes of Jeremy Jackson, Robbie Lawler, Drew Fickett, and Koji Oishi sandwiching a lone split decision loss to Karo Parisyan. Diaz, looking to close in on a shot at Matt Hughes’ welterweight title, didn’t think a victory over the upstart Sanchez would move him any closer to that goal, but with it being a nationally televised bout on Spike TV, he took the fight. Then again, he took every fight because that’s what he did. And despite the athletic gifts that were made evident over the years, he never saw himself as being like his peers when it came to natural talent. He was a fighter, not an athlete.

“My best way to say it is that most good athletes are just that – good athletes,” he explained back in 2005.  “They were brought up being athletes; they had somebody pushing them, encouraging them, taking them to practice – whether they were playing football, doing swimming, boxing or wrestling.  That takes a lot of money and positive encouragement.  That’s stuff people like me don’t get.  It doesn’t work like that.”

“All the athleticism that I have, it’s because of me,” Diaz continued.  “I didn’t even have a dad around.  I didn’t have a dad to put me in some wrestling camp, and I didn’t have aunts and uncles coming around to help me out.  My mom, she’s been working at Lyon’s restaurant in Lodi for like 25 years.  She took me to swimming practice when I was younger. For some reason she stuck me in swimming, and I’d be trying to run off and cut practice, and she’d drag me back to practice just so I did something.”  

Eventually, Diaz would find jiu-jitsu, and then mixed martial arts. He turned pro in August of 2001 with a first round submission of Mike Wick, and two years later he was in the UFC. By late-2005, Sanchez was the only obstacle standing between him and the next level in the organization, and with so much on the line, Diaz’ usual intensity ramped up ten-fold.

Backstage at the Hard Rock that night, with only a black curtain separating the two camps, Diaz and Sanchez began jawing at each other, with the fight almost kicking off before fans even got a glimpse of the two combatants. Consider that in 2005, many veterans of the sport believed that anyone coming off the new Spike TV reality show weren’t “real” fighters, so to Diaz, Sanchez represented everything he was fighting against.

“It wasn’t so easy, especially starting out,” Diaz admitted back then.  “I fought all hard guys and I didn’t have ten people coaching, training, and feeding me.  I had to start out learning how to eat right, all by myself with nobody telling me how or by reading any books.  I learned just by training so hard and feeling like garbage when you do the wrong thing.”  

“This is me and this is what I do,” he continued.  “I don’t have any fallback plans like the rest of these people.  If Diego Sanchez starts doing real bad at this, and he goes ahead and quits, he’s gonna have something else he’s doing.  He’ll go back to school or do something.  Let me tell you, I ain’t going back to school.”

When the dust settled, Sanchez won the fight against Diaz that night via unanimous decision. But in a year of memorable battles (including the first bout between Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar and the rematch between Matt Hughes and Frank Trigg), Sanchez-Diaz earned its place among the best of 2005. As I wrote in a year-end piece on the best fights of that 12 month period, “After (Rashad) Evans – (Brad) Imes and (Joe) Stevenson – (Luke) Cummo, Diego Sanchez and Nick Diaz had a pair of tough acts to follow, but they delivered with a connoisseur’s treat – a battle of bad blood and jiu-jitsu that saw Sanchez prove that he belongs among the contenders at 170 pounds, while Diaz showed MMA fans that you don’t need to be on top to have an effective ground attack. And though the judges’ scores of 30-27 would make observers think this match was a blowout, it was anything but that.”

Diaz stumbled after the loss, losing consecutive bouts to Joe Riggs and Sean Sherk before a win outside the Octagon against Ray Steinbeiss put him back on track to finish out his UFC stint with wins over Josh Neer and Gleison Tibau.

So as 2007 dawned, the scouting report on Diaz was that he was talented, but flawed; good, but not good enough to win at the next level. Yet the world would get to know a new Nick Diaz over the ensuing four years, one who kept true to himself outside of competition, but who went to the woodshed and elevated his game inside of it.

The first revelation was his win over Takanori Gomi in a 2007 PRIDE battle in Las Vegas. The result was later overturned to a no contest when Diaz tested positive for marijuana after the fight, but anyone who saw the fight knew who the winner was and whose stock rose significantly, and it wasn’t Gomi.

After an EliteXC win over Mike Aina and a cut-induced TKO loss to KJ Noons, Diaz went on a tear that hasn’t subsided yet. He’s won 10 in a row, earned the Strikeforce welterweight title, and has defeated Noons, Paul Daley, Frank Shamrock, Scott Smith, “Mach” Sakurai, and Evangelista Santos along the way. Nine of those 10 wins were finished before the final bell, and with his busy striking attack, Cesar Gracie black belt level submission game, and undeniable toughness, Diaz went from solid B-level fighter to one of the best in the game. As Melendez points out, his friend’s improvement may be pegged to a long adjustment to the intricacies of the professional fight game.

“Obviously his boxing game has just become phenomenal,” explains Melendez. “He used to know how to throw a lot of strikes, but now he knows how to slip punches better, and he’s so much better tactically. He knows how to block in the pocket, he can fight outside the pocket, he can make you feel anxiety and he can come at you, and his jiu-jitsu game has just evolved even more. He stays on top of his game the whole time and I think the main thing about him now is that he fights his fight. Before, he would fight to try to play the game with the scorecards or try to figure it out because these fights have time limits. He’s the type of the guy that if it was a fight to the death, Nick or (brother) Nate Diaz would win every time, but it’s not to the death, it’s to the scorecards, so I think he had a lot of time to adjust to winning a fight in 15 minutes, and now he’s adjusted. He’s putting people away in one round because he knows how to take them to that place they don’t want to go. And he’s willing to go there.”

What Diaz hasn’t been willing to do is change, and when he lost a lucrative and perhaps life-altering title shot against UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre at UFC 137 later this month after no-showing press conferences in Toronto and Las Vegas, he hurt himself on the business front yet again. By the same token, his stance may have earned him even more fans as the rebel who is willing to take a proverbial bullet to stick to his guns.

“Sometimes it can get a negative reaction, but in the long run, just being consistent and real a hundred percent, at the end of the day if you can keep that track record, there’s no better compliment you can get from someone than saying ‘hey man, this guy’s for real.’ And that’s what Nick is,” said Melendez. “At times it might give him a little bump in the road, like this time with the miscommunication and everything, but for me, as a friend, I think that if he continues to keep it real one hundred percent, it will be a positive in the future.”

Diaz would lose in a lot of ways, financially and otherwise, when he was dropped from the St-Pierre fight, but he also found a way to land on his feet when he was put into the UFC 137 main event slot against former two division world champion BJ Penn. Why, you may ask, after all the UFC’s plans for a GSP-Diaz bout went up in smoke? Well, it may have to do with the fact that for whatever quirks Diaz has in terms of showing up to media events on time, or at all, or his lack of accessibility at times (well, most of the time), once you do catch him, he’s not at all what you would expect from the reputation he’s had all these years. Is he like most of his peers? No. But he doesn’t hide from who he is either. Nick Diaz is true to himself, and if he simply wants to let his fighting speak for itself, so be it, because you can’t help but appreciate the fact that, for him, this isn’t a sport, and from the first time I spoke to him nearly six years ago, he made that clear.

This is war.

“I just think in my head that the guy that I’m fighting had it easy,” said Diaz in 2005.  “They haven’t been where I’ve been and they’re not as crazy as I am and that’s the way it is.  You’re just not.  I know you’re not.  I know it.  That’s the way I think.  I know you’re not trying to get up out of this hell hole.  You’re just trying to be the best that you can be.    I’m gonna come out of my hell hole and I’m gonna beat you.”

News Source: UFC.com.
Read full story HERE .

For over a decade, few have captured the imagination of fight fans quite like the pride of Hilo, Hawaii, BJ Penn. One of only two fighters in UFC history to win titles in two weight classes, he has built a loyal fanbase due not only to his fighting skill and willingness to take on anyone in a fight, but also his no holds barred approach to life, where he will always say what’s on his mind and then worry about the consequences later. Subsequently, he’s the most quotable MMA fighter this side of Chael Sonnen, and here’s just a taste of some of the things Penn has revealed over the years as we get ready for another round of “The Prodigy” in the lead up to his UFC 137 bout against Nick Diaz on October 29th.

On fighting in different weight classes
“It’s been talked to death, me fighting at different weights and doing other things, but right now, I guess I’m just going to be the best I can be right now. Who knows how many fights I’ve got left in me, so right now I’m just gonna do my thing and be happy with who I am.”

On living up to expectations
“At first it was real tough, but now I just want to prove all those people right. If they’re gonna go out on a limb and say I can do all these things, then I’m happy they say that stuff and I want to go out and do it for them. If they went out and told their friends I’m the best, then I want to make sure they can go back and say ‘I told you so.’”

Fighter vs Athlete
“I gotta not like the person that’s standing on the other side of the ring and that’s why I consider myself in different aspects as not just an athlete, but a fighter. When people fight in the normal, everyday world, it’s not because of being an athlete, it’s because something pissed them off. When man raises his fists, he has run out of ideas, and that’s what ends up happening. Those are the natural instincts I have, and if I want someone to fight with me, I better piss them off. So he gets pissed off, and then he pisses me off, and then we can fight. I kinda look for that sometimes.”

On his fighting style
Maybe because I’m not on the mainland and not cross training with everybody all the time, my style is kinda different. It’s not like I’m going to a gym with 50 other mixed martial arts fighters who are all trading techniques and sharing stuff. I have a few people come down here and there and I work with people, but in a gym you kinda all become the same in certain ways because you’re training with each other every day. I’m out in Hawaii, and even better than that, I’m not even on the main island, where there are a bunch of other fighters, so I’m not mixing with anybody. So maybe when I do something it comes out looking a bit different.

On training
“I’m training a lot harder. Back in the day I used to pride myself on how little I could do and get away with it; now I try to pride myself on how much I do. I try to work real hard, train as much as I can, eat healthy food, and I want to see how far I can take it.”

The wakeup call
“I guess the wakeup call was December 13, 2006, when I turned 28. I said ‘what am I doing, why am I messing around? This is the biggest sport in the world, it’s gonna overtake everything, I’m at the forefront. Why am I playing games?’”

In a league of his own
“You want to be categorized in a league of your own, like Randy (Couture) is,” he said. “You don’t want to be in the mix with everybody else. When they talk about you, you want them to say something special, like a Joe Frazier or (Muhammad) Ali, those kinds of people. You want to be extraordinary. You want to shoot for greatness and I think every fighter should.”

On pressure
“When it comes to the pressure, I used to hate it and that’s what used to burn me out. I used to hate fighting for everybody else, answering to everybody else. I just wanted to do it for myself. Now, I think that’s another thing that changed in me. Now I love doing it for everybody. I love when the people come up to me around town and say something to me. I love it – come, come support me, come believe I can do all these things, and I will do all these things. I think that was the biggest thing that changed. I never used to be happy with the idea of all these people putting all this pressure on me, but now I know why they do it, and I love it.”

A new start
“Something just awoke inside of me where I said ‘what are you doing? You can beat every one of these people. You’ve been doing it half-assed all this time and it’s time to finally step up and let’s see it.’ If you can’t, you can’t, but at least you know you tried. Words can’t explain how pumped I am about fighting right now. It’s what I am, it’s who I am, and it’s what I want to be.”

Early days
“The Din Thomas fight and the Caol Uno fight, those were probably two of the best things for my career, to blow me up and to get me a bigger fanbase, but they were also the worst things for my career as far as getting me experience to get ready for that title fight. And I was scared going out there and being the main event. I think I was more afraid of everything else – I was afraid to have that lightweight title, I was afraid to be the main event – but don’t do something great if you can’t take the congratulations, and I wasn’t ready to get congratulated. I was just a kid.”

Money Player
“I never took it serious. But I started taking it serious right before the finals of the Brazilian jiu-jitsu world championships. I was in the finals, and I remember me and Charuto (Verissimo) were going to eat lunch, and I just sat there and thought to myself ‘I’ll never be in this position ever again. Go out there and do whatever it takes.  Whether your arm gets broken, you get choked unconscious, anything that happens, win this match, do it now, no matter what.’ And that’s why I think I’m good when the pressure’s on. I’m a clutch player when the pressure’s on and that’s when I perform at my best. That’s who I am.”

On his cardio
“I think people will always bring up my cardio. Everybody wants an idea of ‘how can we beat him?’ And they’re not thinking, ‘oh, I‘m gonna submit him’ or ‘I’m gonna knock him out.’ They’re looking for anything they can, so they bring up the cardio issue. These guys got to remember that I fought Sean Sherk and he’s supposed to be a cardio machine. I fought Kenny Florian and he doesn’t get tired. I fought Caol Uno and he doesn’t get tired. I fought so many people over the years, but they just pick that one thing. Nobody wants anybody to be perfect and they want to look for something to talk about. I’m in great shape, but even after this fight, I’m sure the next guy who fights me, that will be his way to beat me too.”

On the mental game
“You see these great guys come out and then they try something for one or two minutes, they find out their technique’s not working and then they give up. The mental side is everything. The techniques have to be flawless, but the mind has to be tough. It has to be more flawless and you can never give up. I would even sit here and say that I’m in the entertainment business and the fight game business, but I’m also in the making you quit business. That’s what it’s all about.”

Lightweight champion of the world
“Just talking to you right now, thinking about how it was a 21-year old kid’s dream to be the lightweight champion of the world, that just got me pumped up. I just remembered how I used to sit and think about how I wanted to be the lightweight champ. But then sometimes you get there and you take it for granted.”

All about the fight
“When I first got into the game of fighting, it was all about the fight. Then came promoting the fight and trying to get the fight bigger, but I’m back to the mindset that it’s just about fighting again.”

On success
“Over time you realize that you can’t judge success by championships. One day you’re at the top of the world and the next day you’re at the bottom, and you’ve got to keep pushing through and keep moving forward no matter happens. And I’m kinda in that mindset. I’ve got a lot of wins and I’ve got a few losses, and I realize that anything can happen when you step in the ring and give it your all against someone else who’s giving their all. So I’m in the mindset that I’m just trying to go out and do my best and let the cards fall where they may, and we’ll see what happens at the end of the night. It definitely took a long time to get that point though. Before I was always about ‘I gotta win, I gotta win, I gotta win,’ and a lot of times when you have that attitude, you end up doing less than your best. Now all I gotta do is go out there and do my best and everything will happen the way it should.”

On legacy
“Before I used to sit there and think about all these things all the time, but now I’m just trying to stay around. It’s amazing and it’s the kinda thing where I don’t want to talk too soon. I’d rather talk about all this when I’m fat, I’m hanging out, and not fighting anymore, and then I’ll tell everybody how great I was.”

Legacy vs. Burnout
“I’m constantly stuck between the two. I’ve seen a lot of Rampage’s interviews lately, and that’s exactly where he is. I guess people do get burned out over time. When you first start this whole journey of being a mixed martial artist, you’re here to beat everybody up, and I guess after a while it does turn into a job. Some people get burned out, some people don’t, and it’s a strange thing. I come out here and destroy Matt Hughes on the 20th and maybe you’ll hear the same things coming out of my mouth again – that I’m going back for my legacy and all that stuff.”

Life after retirement?
“I’ve asked myself that question a thousand times, and I look at everything else there is in the world to do, besides retirement, and I looked at all my other options, and I like this one a lot more.”

On leaving the Octagon immediately after the third Hughes bout
“I’ve been trying to do a fight like the (first) Uno fight for the last nine years and it just never came out that way. So when this fight (with Hughes) ended up ending very quick with a knockout, I was pumped up, I started screaming in the ring for a little bit and I was like ‘here it is, here’s my chance. I’m gonna get out there and I’m gonna do it – Elvis is gonna leave the building.’”

On the loyalty of his fans
“I think they buy the Pay-Per-View when I fight and I think they’re constantly looking for that same kid that got them excited about the sport, who came out and said all these things, and maybe it didn’t go his way every time, but he tried as hard as he could to back up what he said. They see they guy who knocked out Din Thomas and knocked out Caol Uno and that’s their guy, that’s their favorite fighter, and maybe they see some of him in their lives or maybe he’s someone that inspires them. I’ve just been so blessed with these fans that always have my back. When I’ve lost and I’ve come back, I think they know my story so well and they relate to it in their lives. Nobody’s on top always. We’re up one day, we’re down one day, and that’s just the nature of life. And when they see me, they can really relate. People like to follow that storyline and sometimes they like to see people fall but climb back up again.”

On his relationships with past opponents
“I could see it surprising a lot of people, but honestly, I consider myself a people person. (Laughs) One minute I could be pissing you off, the next minute you could be hugging me, and that’s me and part of why people love me or hate me. I’m just blessed to get to run into these people later on and really get to apologize for some of the things that I’ve done. And I’m lucky that these people have welcomed me with open arms.”

On being “The Target”
“If I’m not in that position, I’ll be bummed out. If someone says ‘you know what, I don’t care about fighting BJ Penn,’ that would hurt my feelings.”

On BJ Penn
“There’s just something about BJ Penn that gets people amped up. You don’t know what’s gonna happen, but something’s gonna happen though. He might disappoint you, he might make you happy, he might make you cry, he might make you jump out of your chair, but he’ll do something to you.”

News Source: UFC.com.
Read full story HERE .

One of the most ferocious strikers in mixed martial arts history, Mirko Cro Cop has hit a rough patch in his last two bouts against Frank Mir and Brendan Schaub, but with a UFC 137 matchup against Roy Nelson on October 29th in Las Vegas, the former PRIDE star has an opportunity to start anew in the Octagon and once again show the form that has produced the following memorable moments.

KO 1 Igor Vovchanchyn – PRIDE Total Elimination 2003 – August 10, 2003
“Right leg hospital, left leg cemetery.” Maybe the greatest, and certainly the most intimidating, quote in mixed martial arts history, and it definitely applies to the fighting style of Cro Cop, who used his signature left head kick to blast out the vastly underrated Vovchanchyn out in the first round. It was Cro Cop’s sixth MMA win against no losses and two draws, and coupled with his knockout of Heath Herring two months earlier, it put him right on track for a shot at the PRIDE heavyweight title.

KO 1 Dos Caras Jr. – PRIDE Bushido 1 – October 5, 2003
Before Cro Cop would get that shot at the interim heavyweight belt though, there was a little business to be taken care of, as he helped kick off PRIDE’s Bushido series against pro wrestler Dos Caras Jr. Now mind you, this will never match some of Cro Cop’s big wins over legit competition, but as far as being a guilty pleasure, it doesn’t get any guiltier than this. Looking almost disdainful at the mask-wearing Caras (yes, he wore his pro wrestling mask during the bout), Cro Cop walked down his opponent until he saw an opening, and a single left kick to the head dropped Caras as if he were shot. It took just 46 seconds.

Lsub2 “Minotauro” Nogueira – PRIDE Final Conflict 2003 – November 9, 2003
Unbeaten in nine mixed martial arts bouts, the K-1 kickboxing standout finally got his first shot at the belt against Brazilian superstar “Minotauro” Nogueira, and for the first round of their interim title fight, Cro Cop was firing on all cylinders as he inflicted a frightful beating on Nogueira, punctuating the round with a kick to the head that dropped his foe to the canvas. Expected to finish the job in the second stanza, Cro Cop instead got taken to the mat immediately by Nogueira and submitted via armbar. It was a crushing defeat, but the first round did show what Cro Cop could do to a future Hall of Famer.

KO 1 Aleksander Emelianenko – PRIDE Final Conflict 2004 – August 15, 2004
Following the loss to Nogueira, Cro Cop won four of his next five bouts, with the only loss coming via an upset knockout by former UFC heavyweight boss Kevin Randleman (a defeat later avenged). Hoping to put himself in line for another title shot against then-champion Fedor Emelianenko, Cro Cop made his case for a championship fight by fighting the champ’s brother, Aleksander. Only problem was that Emelianenko was perhaps the most physically imposing opponent Cro Cop had met in the PRIDE ring, making him a difficult style matchup. And it was evident in the early going that the Croatian wasn’t going to walk recklessly at Emelianeko, but when he got his shot, he pounced, ripping off straight left hands that would make Manny Pacquiao blush before finishing the bout with – you guessed it – a kick to the head.

KO 1 Wanderlei Silva – PRIDE Final Conflict Absolute – September 10, 2006
After beating Aleksander Emelianenko and sending Josh Barnett, Randleman, Mark Coleman, and Ibragim Magomedov down to defeat, Cro Cop got his shot at the PRIDE belt in August of 2005, but lost a decision to Fedor Emelianenko. Two fights later, he would lose again, this time to Mark Hunt, and some questioned whether he had run his course among the best in the world. But reports of his demise were greatly exaggerated, as he proved in this 2006 Open Weight Grand Prix semifinal matchup against “The Axe Murderer”, who wasn’t only outmatched size wise, but in the striking game. Cro Cop delivered one of his most frighteningly effective performances before lowering the boom 5:22 into the bout.

Wsub1 (strikes) Josh Barnett – PRIDE Final Conflict Absolute – September 10, 2006
There would be no rest for Cro Cop after his win over Silva. In fact, he would fight fellow contender Josh Barnett for the Open Weight Grand Prix crown the same night in Saitama, Japan. But there would be no denying Cro Cop, and after he finished the former UFC heavyweight champ via strikes at the 7:32 mark of the first round, we saw the emotion come rushing to the usually stone-faced Croatian, who had just scored the biggest win of his career.

Wsub3 Pat Barry – UFC 115 – June 12, 2010
Despite three previous wins in the UFC Octagon, there was nothing that brought to mind the fearsome striker that terrorized Japanese rings for much of the previous decade. That changed in June of 2010, when Cro Cop survived two knockdowns from equally dangerous striker Pat Barry to roar back, drop Barry with his own strikes and then finish him off with a rear naked choke in the third round. Add in that Cro Cop was more accessible than ever before and after the fight, showing off his sharp sense of humor, and it was as if he finally realized that he’s at his best when he’s enjoying everything in and around the fight. If he’s in that positive state of mind again this month, Roy Nelson may be in trouble in Las Vegas.

News Source: UFC.com.
Read full story HERE .

Around this time last year, the rumors began flying. A few weeks later, the rumors became fact: the World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) organization was going to be folded into the UFC, with the bantamweight and featherweight divisions making their debuts in the world’s premier MMA promotion. Also migrating over would be the top guns from the WEC’s lightweight division, bolstering one of the sport’s toughest weight classes even more.

It was big news at the time, and considering that four of the nine main events that the UFC has held from July’s UFC 132 show to the UFC 137 event later this month have included WEC alumni, it’s still big news today. And unlike the PRIDE migration that took place after the Zuffa purchase of Japan’s premier promotion, the WEC fighters have adapted perfectly to their new surroundings, with many making immediate impacts on the other side of the MMA street.

Here are 20 of those fighters…

THE CHAMPS

Jose Aldo
Dominick Cruz

A combined 4-0, featherweight champion Jose Aldo and bantamweight boss Dominick Cruz have been the perfect representatives for their divisions in the UFC. Aldo has defended his belt twice thus far, winning Fight of the Night honors in a decision win over Mark Hominick and then notching another five round victory last Saturday against Kenny Florian. The only thing missing from Aldo’s performances thus far is his trademark explosiveness, a trait that earned him finishes in seven of his eight WEC bouts.

As for Cruz, it’s hard to picture him being more impressive than he’s been in his UFC wins over Urijah Faber and Demetrious Johnson. Against two ultra-tough challengers, “The Dominator” has shown off his impossible to decipher standup game (Faber) and his underrated wrestling (Johnson), earning decision victories both times. If there’s been a breakout star not named Jon Jones in 2011, it’s Cruz.

NEXT IN LINE

Joseph Benavidez 2-0
Ben Henderson 2-0
Chad Mendes 2-0
Anthony Pettis 1-1

The Fab Four of bantamweight Joseph Benavidez, featherweight Chad Mendes, and lightweights Ben Henderson and Anthony Pettis has made their presence known in various ways in 2011. Pettis came in as the WEC Golden Boy after his “Showtime” kick against Henderson in the last WEC show last December, but with the UFC 125 draw between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard, his guaranteed title shot was delayed. Admirably, he didn’t sit around waiting for a fight; instead, he took on Clay Guida in June, but was decisioned over three rounds. Forced to regroup, Pettis got back in the race last weekend, defeating tough Jeremy Stephens. It wasn’t a win that will put him in a title fight immediately, but now he’s back in the conversation.

As for Henderson, he saw his own hype train derailed by Pettis, but with back-to-back UFC wins over Mark Bocek and Jim Miller, the former WEC lightweight champion has sailed ahead of his old rival, and he, along with Guida (who Henderson will face in November), have got to be considered frontrunners for the next shot at Edgar’s 155-pound belt.

In the bantamweight division, the only fighter more dominant than Benavidez is Cruz, and Joe-B-Wan-Kenobi’s wins over Jeff Curran, Rani Yahya, Miguel Torres, Wagnney Fabiano in the WEC, and Ian Loveland and Eddie Wineland in the UFC prove it. Unfortunately, his only two losses as a pro have come in two close battles with the UFC champ, making a third bout a tough marketing sell. But from a fighting standpoint, what fan wouldn’t want to see these two go at it again. Another big win may just seal the deal for Benavidez.

The one man who is likely to see his title shot number come up soon though is Benavidez’ teammate Chad Mendes. Unbeaten in 11 pro fights, including two in the UFC, Mendes’ wrestling could give Aldo plenty of trouble if he can close the gap and get his hands on the champion, and with each passing fight – not only his own, but Aldo’s – the Californian’s confidence that he can beat the man at the top grows.

KNOCKING ON THE DOOR

Brian Bowles
Donald Cerrone
Urijah Faber

By the time UFC 139 rolls around in November, the winner of the Brian Bowles vs. Urijah Faber scrap will move up to the “Next in Line” category while the loser falls a notch on the bantamweight ladder, but high stakes is not the only beauty of this matchup. Truth is, this is a bantamweight dream matchup pitting the former featherweight champ (Faber) against the former bantamweight titleholder (Bowles), and it’s an almost impossible fight to pick. But if you’re going by UFC performances thus far, Faber has the edge due to his stellar efforts in beating Eddie Wineland and dropping a close decision to Cruz. Bowles was in his usual top-notch form in finishing Damacio Page in his UFC debut in March, but didn’t look like himself in a decision win over Takeya Mizugaki in July. But that’s why they fight the fights, and Faber-Bowles should be a classic.

And when you’re talking about nearly always delivering a classic performance, that’s the forte of lightweight contender Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone, who followed up a WEC career in which he picked up five Fight of the Night awards with a 3-0 UFC run where he’s scored a Fight of the Night bonus for beating Paul Kelly and earned a Knockout of the Night check for finishing Charles Oliveira. If he can get another win, this time over German contender Dennis Siver, at UFC 137 this month, start talking about Cerrone as being a title challenger sooner rather than later.

THE NEXT WAVE

Renan Barao
Pablo Garza
Demetrious Johnson
Scott Jorgensen
Chan Sung Jung
Erik Koch
Michael McDonald
Anthony Njokuani
Brad Pickett
Dustin Poirier
Miguel Angel Torres

The next group of WEC vets to make some noise in the Octagon have either challenged for UFC gold (Demetrious Johnson), wore a WEC title belt (Miguel Angel Torres), fought for one (Scott Jorgensen), or are hot prospects ready to make their move to the next level. But wherever they’ve been or where they are now, exciting fights usually follow.

Leading off is one of the game’s top action heroes, Chan Sung Jung, or as he is commonly known, “The Korean Zombie.” Jung left quite an impression in his two WEC fights, with a war for the ages against Leonard Garcia and a loss to George Roop, but there were just as many question marks heading into his rematch with Garcia in March. So what did the Zombie do? Submit Garcia with the first Twister ever used in Octagon action. If this doesn’t get you amped up for his December battle with Mark Hominick, check your pulse.

Featherweight Pablo Garza is making some highlight reel appearances as well, as he rebounded from a short notice WEC loss to Tiequan Zhang with a frightening knockout of Fredson Paixao and a flying triangle finish of Yves Jabouin. Featherweight up and comer Erik Koch and longtime bantamweight contender Scott Jorgensen have also put their names in the hat for Top 10 KO of the Year consideration with their finishes of Raphael Assuncao and Ken Stone.

Surprisingly, Muay Thai machine Anthony Njokuani, owner of three WEC KO of the Night awards, hasn’t scored a UFC knockout yet, but it’s not from a lack of trying, as his UFC debut against Edson Barboza earned Fight of the Night honors, and his first UFC win over Andre Winner saw “The Assassin” deliver a hellacious three round pounding on the Brit.

A lightweight in the WEC, Louisiana’s Dustin Poirier found his home at 145 pounds in the UFC, and after an upset win over Josh Grispi to kick off his Octagon career in January, he proved that the victory was no fluke (pardon the pun) as he defeated England’s Jason Young at UFC 131. He will be back in action on November 12th in a surefire war against Garza.

Like the 22-year old Poirier, 20-year old bantamweight phenom Michael McDonald is wise beyond his years in the Octagon, and his exciting three round wins over Edwin Figueroa and Chris Cariaso prove it. Scheduled to return in November, McDonald is one of the top prospects to hit the sport in the last couple years.

Staying in the bantamweight division, Brazil’s Renan Barao (1-0 in the UFC) and England’s Brad Pickett (0-0) will meet up in Birmingham, England on November 5th. “One Punch” Pickett always brings it, and Barao (currently riding a 16 fight winning streak) is seen as the next brightest hope for championship honors out of the Nova Uniao camp (home to Jose Aldo), so this UFC 138 match should be a good one.

And last, but certainly not least, stand Demetrious Johnson and Miguel Angel Torres, two standouts looking to fight their way back into the title picture after recent losses. “Mighty Mouse” is coming off a competitive five round loss to Cruz in their title bout earlier this month, and a couple wins should get him right back on the contenders’ line. Torres, 1-1 in the UFC with a win over Antonio Banuelos and a close loss to Johnson, has an opportunity to get back on track when he battles Staten Island’s Nick Pace at UFC 139, but it will be how the 30-year old vet looks in November that will determine whether he’s got another title run in him.

Note – fighters who came back to the UFC after a stint in the WEC (Mike Brown, Mark Hominick, Leonard Garcia, Manny Gamburyan, etc) or who had previously migrated over (Brian Stann, Mark Munoz, Aaron Simpson, Carlos Condit, Chael Sonnen) were not included in this piece.

News Source: UFC.com.
Read full story HERE .

GSP is Ready
Let’s Go. youtu.be/feFd8VzTY6c  -Georges St-Pierre

TUF Luck
listen! We Team Bisping may of lost some battles, but we havnt lost the war!  -Michael Bisping

Well, #teamMayhem goes 4-0 on #TUF14. Proud of the boys.  -Jason Mayhem Miller

well @mayhemmiller your are def keeping viewers entertained on TUF. Good stuff. See you at a @ufc event soon  -Jim Miller

Balderdash!
What’s all this hullaballoo about the iPhone update? Yeah, I just said hullabaloo. -Amir Sadollah
 
Bittersweet TV Appearance
Hey, I’m on TV! Oh, uh, just ignore those highlights please….  -Daniel Downes

Shower & Nuptials
Got my morning workout in at the gym. Now the only thing left to do today is get married!  -Evan Dunham

Life Lessons in 140 Characters or Less
Life is simple… People make it complicated…  John TheBull Makdessi
 
The New Odd Couple
FIRST DAY IN CROATIA AND I HAVE A NEW BLACK EYE TO MATCH MY @StefanStruve EYE!!! EVER DAY HERE MAKES ME MISS THE GLOVES EVEN MORE.  -Pat Barry

@HypeOrDie right kick black eye, left kick hospital?  -Stefan Struve
 
Sonnen Smacktalk 
I’ve had time to cool down, reflect on the statement, and sum things up with 2 words… MEDIUM RARE!  -Chael Sonnen

i wanna see chael sonnen compete on Mtv’s YO MAMA LOL   -Nam Phan

Rockin’ with Kos
Saw Journey Foreigner&Night Ranger last night& #FOREIGNER kicked ass.I couldnt connect with journey bc it’s not the same without Steve Perry  -Josh Koscheck

Country Western Mac?
Mammas, don’t let your babies grow up to be fighters…  -Mac Danzig
 
Ouch. O-U-C-H. Ouch.
I never won a spelling bee but I beat the s**t out the kid who won it.  -Miguel Angel Torres

UFC 136 Aftermath
Had a dream I was champ, woke up……..still champ! -Frankie Edgar

Hats off to Frank Edgar. Great competitor and person, true champ! Its been fun, now its my turn to show I got heart and work my way back up  -Gray Maynard

Thank u to my amazing group of coaches & training partners. @KeithFlorian @Firas_Zahabi @PeterWelchsGym @JonChaimberg @KyleHollandRP  -Kenny Florian

Breakfast with my girls before I take them to school, nothing like meeting their teachers with a huge black eye  -Brian Stann

Few of my friends got really excited when my fight was on… I had to watch it about 15 times to pay attention to… fb.me/1nRXfnxKT   -Joe Lauzon

Thanks 2 all my fans and team!!! Going straight for the gold!!!! #fb  -Anthony Pettis

VIET/ASIAN PRIDE REPRESENT! I LOVE U GUYS, THIS WIN IS FOR US!  -Nam Phan

been hit up 3x by @ufc fans today out n about (cool in itself) and they all say “we appreciate the way you fight for us!” #awesomeenergy   -Joey Beltran

I just wanted to thank everyone who came or who watched the fight on Facebook… I really appreciate all the support… Thank you guys so much  -Stipe Miocic

Thank you everyone for the support..always go for what you believe in and live with no regrets! I’m back and I’m here to stay!  -Mike Massenzio
 
Hey @aaronsimpson u looked good in your fight last night but got dominated in fantasy football today by The Master Baders #rubbingitin  -Ryan Bader
 
@ryanbader You look fat.  -Aaron Simpson

News Source: UFC.com.
Read full story HERE .

October 10, 2011 (Gulfport, MS) –  Our coast’s own UFC Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Fighter and Gym owner, Alan “The Talent” Belcher is partnering with the Humane Society of South Mississippi (HSSM) to promote pet adoption this Friday, October 14 from 2pm to 8pm.

On Friday, October 14, Alan “The Talent” Belcher will be at HSSM’s facility on Hwy 49 to promote pet adoption in conjunction with HSSM’s efforts in the ASPCA $100K Challenge. Belcher will be locked inside one of Humane Society’s kennels i.e. “the cage” and available for autographs and photo opportunities to adopters starting at 2pm. Belcher will not be released from his kennel until HSSM has completed 50 adoptions.*

All adoptions on Friday, October 14 will be $14** in accordance with current adoption special “Pay By the Day” and ONLY those people adopting or sponsoring a pet will get an autograph and photo opportunity with Belcher AND a chance to win an autographed t-shirt or a 3-month free membership including a class of their choice at the Alan Belcher MMA Club in D’Iberville.  For more information go to UncageBelcher.webs.com

Alan “The Talent” Belcher is an ongoing advocate for animal welfare on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. He is featured in HSSM’s spay/neuter advertising featuring the tagline “Tough Guys Neuter Their Pets” and he continues his support of animal welfare with his participation in this adoption event.

As a fighter, Belcher is one of the top, rising stars in the UFC. He holds a 16-5 career record and won his most recent fight on Sept. 17 by submission, an impressive feat considering that he had not fought in over one year after suffering a detached retina.

Belcher’s participation and “Pay By the Day” are an integral part of HSSM’s efforts in the ASPCA $100K Challenge. The 49 shelters in the Challenge are competing to save the most number of lives from August 1-October 31, 2011 as compared to the same period in 2010. After the first month in the Challenge, HSSM was ranked first in the nation with an increase of 309 over the same month in 2010. The September rankings come out October 12. The grand prize is a $100,000 grant from the ASPCA, but there are several other grants available, for a total of over $300,000 that could be won throughout the Challenge.

News Source: UFC.com.
Read full story HERE .

CAUTION: SPOILERS INCLUDED – The fights are heating up on The Ultimate Fighter: Team Bisping vs. Team Miller, as coach Michael Bisping tries to get his squad back on track after falling behind 0-2. Can they right the ship this week?

If Team Bisping is going to get on the board in the TUF14 competition, they’ve at least got a head start, as Team Miller’s John Dodson has told his buddies on the other side that the next matchup will pit Bisping’s Stephen Bass against Miller’s Dennis Bermudez.

In response, Bisping and Co. put Bass through an intense training session in order to get ready for the upcoming bout. As the official fight announcement for the Bermudez-Bass bout is made, Bisping is not in the building, so Miller puts a punching bag up in his place.

“I think Bisping not showing up sends a clear message to his team,” said Miller. “‘I don’t care about you.’”

Bisping does show up the fight though, and Bass does some good work early on. Bermudez eventually gets him to the mat, and he keeps him there for the rest of the round, pounding away with a series of strikes in the process.

Beaten up in the first round, Bass doesn’t see things get any better in the second. In fact, they get worse as Bermudez drops his foe with a knee and then eludes a submission attempt before forcing referee Josh Rosenthal to halt the bout after an unanswered series of strikes just before the three minute mark.

The next fight announcement is right up next, and the 3-0 Team Miller keeps control of the picks. This time, Miller sends Dustin Pague in against Team Bisping’s Louis Gaudinot. It’s another bout Bisping and his squad knew ahead of time thanks to Dodson.

“I’m not sure how Bisping’s team knows the matchups,” said Miller. “But I don’t care if they knew every damn matchup we’re gonna put up. What are they gonna do? They better train harder, but it’s kinda hard to train with no coach.”

That coach, Bisping, isn’t too happy when Bass tells him that he felt overtrained for his loss to Bermudez.

“Anybody else feel the same way,” asks Bisping of his team.

No one does.

“You’re out of order for saying that Stephen,” said Bisping, who has high hopes for Gaudinot to finally get his team on the board.

But it’s Pague who nullifies a strong start from Gaudinot with a couple hard knees that allow him to close the gap and take his foe to the mat. Gaudinot rises and gets back to business, but with under two minutes left, Pague begins teeing off with his knees again, allowing him to finish the round strong.

In the second, the two battle it out at a fast pace, but a right hand by Pague puts Gaudinot on the mat. Gaudinot gets up, but Pague keeps him within reach, and the knees start flying again, sending the green-haired Gaudinot to the canvas again. This time, Pague takes his opponent’s back and finishes matters with a rear naked choke.

After two wins this week, Team Miller takes a 4-0 lead in the competition. Here’s how the teams look:

TEAM BISPING
Diego Brandao
Akira Corassani
Marcus Brimage – Eliminated in episode two by Bryan Caraway
Stephen Bass – Eliminated in episode four by Dennis Bermudez
Louis Gaudinot – Eliminated in episode four by Dustin Pague
TJ Dillashaw
John Albert
Josh Ferguson – Eliminated in episode three by Johnny Bedford

TEAM MILLER
Dennis Bermudez 1-0
Bryan Caraway 1-0
Dustin Neace
Steven Siler
John Dodson
Johnny Bedford 1-0
Dustin Pague 1-0
Roland Delorme

For weekly recaps of The Ultimate Fighter, as well as fighter profiles, stay tuned to UFC.com.

News Source: UFC.com.
Read full story HERE .

With the UFC crisscrossing the globe and hosting events almost every other weekend, it’s difficult to tell which region is the Octagon’s favorite. That was until UFC President Dana White said at Wednesday’s UFC 140 presser in Toronto, Canada, that “Without a doubt, this is the strongest market on the planet.” To which the crowd of rowdy fight fans from the Great White North cheered most appreciatively. Yes, Canada loves the UFC and the UFC loves Canada.

On April 30th, 2011, Toronto was the staging ground for the biggest night of fights in UFC history for UFC 129. A record 55,000+ screaming fans packed the Rogers Center to see two titles on the line, including that of the country’s favorite son, UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre. Less than a year later, the Octagon returns to “The Megacity” on December 10th with another bit of gold on the line: the UFC light heavyweight championship.

In the span of nine months, Jon “Bones” Jones earned himself a title shot by defeating Ryan Bader at UFC 126, won the belt from Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 128, and defended the title for the first time in a dominant submission victory over Quinton “Rampage” Jackson at UFC 135. Now, Jones will put the 205-pound division’s prize on the line against former champion Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida. But before these two can clash in the cage, they had to make a pilgrimage to Toronto to meet the Canadian fans and answer the media’s questions.

And if one thing was learned, Jones and Machida won’t be trash-talking each other anytime soon.

“I’d prefer if the fights were a bit more respectful – this is martial arts,” admitted Jones, who had to sling just as many punches in the cage as heated words in the lead up to the fight with “Rampage”, but things are very different in this title defense with Machida. “Some guys have that discipline, honor, warrior spirit, and the other guys have that ‘I’m going to knock you out’ cagefighting attitude. I’m getting used to dealing with both.”

To add to the pre-fight politeness, both “Bones” and “The Dragon” see the other’s advantages in this main event bout exactly the same.

“My biggest advantage is my youth and versatility and the way I approach the sport,” said Jones, and Machida countered, “I guarantee I will be very well prepared and I’ll overcome his athleticism with my technique.” In conclusion, neither fighter can deny Jones of the physical foothold being 6-foot-4 with an 84 inch reach and being nine years Machida’s junior. Meanwhile, “The Dragon” is one of the most versatile light heavyweights the UFC has ever seen, with elusive speed, knockout power, a dynamic grappling game, and a downright tricky style in the Octagon.

For the 24 year old champion, Jones’ 2011 seems almost never ending as he prepares to tangle with his third former UFC light heavyweight champion in just as many fights, but “Bones” is still hungry.

“I realize what I can lose and what I can lose in this upcoming fight, so it’s not hard to get up for the fight,” explained Jones, who reached the top of the 205 pound mountain in his eighth fight in the organization, and has not shown any wear from the pressure, even in his first title defense last month. “I feel as if I’m handling it pretty well and balancing it pretty well. I envisioned myself as the champion and I’ve always tried to carry myself as the champion before I even had the belt. Not too many negatives come with a dream coming true.”

For the challenger, the people of Toronto get to see “The Dragon” in action for the second time this year, as Machida delivered arguably the Knockout of the Year to Randy Couture at UFC 129.

“I felt very welcomed by the crowd here and I fought a legend in Randy Couture and I’m very excited to fight for this crowd,” asserted Machida, who dropped the Hall of Famer with a jumping front kick, aka the “Crane Kick” from The Karate Kid, and who is already planning on some new moves from a very reputable source: the UFC middleweight champion. “Anderson (Silva) has already called me and he wants to come out to my hometown and show me some things.”

On December 10th at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, another slab of UFC gold will be disputed in the Octagon in front of the raucous and loyal Canadian fan base. UFC light heavyweight champion Jones will be put to the test against the title’s former owner and a savvy veteran in “The Dragon”. A contrast of styles of raw athleticism vs. honed experience should prove UFC 140 to be another can’t miss event in what’s become the Octagon’s favorite home.

News Source: UFC.com.
Read full story HERE .

Like all of you, I don’t know whether Kenny Florian will retire in the near future. But despite not being able to read his mind, there seems to be little left to prove for the 35-year-old southpaw. To fight fans. Or himself.

If Saturday’s night’s setback to Jose Aldo was indeed the curtain call on Florian’s storied 8-year career, some will best remember the lanky Bostonian as the only man in UFC history to thrice compete for a world title belt, only to come away empty-handed each time. Others will appreciate him for being the only UFC fighter to compete in four different weight classes (astonishing, when you think about it).

I, on the other hand, will foremost remember Kenny Florian as a fighter who literally squeezed every ounce of potential that he could out of his mind, body and soul toward a goal that most wouldn’t come close to reaching. In my mind, this is one of the highest compliments that I can give a person. And I can make that statement about relatively few professional fighters (though I could provide a lengthy list of more physically gifted fighters who underachieved throughout their careers and never came close to fulfilling their peak potential).

When a fighter goes 0-3 in championship contests, as KenFlo did, it’s easy to point the finger at him and yell, “He choked!!” It’s the classic label, the knee-jerk reaction. Let me go on record as saying I don’t believe for a second that Kenny Florian CHOKED in any of his title fights. In fact, I believe Kenny Florian is rock solid mentally.

To my point: lightweight kingpin Sean Sherk sported a 33-2-1 record back when he relied upon takedowns and superior wrestling en route to a unanimous decision victory over Florian back in 2006. Florian had entered the bout with an official 7-2 slate and simply lacked the experience and wrestling pedigree back then to pull the upset. In 2009, a motivated BJ Penn was simply the better man when he faced Florian – and the immensely talented Penn doubly benefited because he could hear many of the instructions being yelled from Florian’s cornermen.

And the Aldo loss? Well, for starters, Aldo is 10 years younger than Florian and blessed with all the physical advantages that come with youth. So you can’t condemn Kenny Florian’s effort or psyche in big fights. They’re beyond reproach. But his ceiling just isn’t as high as Aldo’s and that, in my mind, was the difference between who had their hand raised Saturday and who hung their head when the decision was announced. Not determination. Not confidence. Not cage smarts. It’s why every one of us could go to a track, sprint as hard as we can for five years, 365 days a year, read as many books as we can on sprinting, and never come close to beating Usain Bolt in a 100 meter race. Not gonna happen folks. In other words, if you are an average athlete fighting a great athlete, you had best hope that the great athlete doesn’t train as hard as you do, or know as much as you do about technique, or have the same will to win or mental toughness that you do. Because if he does possess those ingredients, the less physically gifted fighter is probably in trouble.

But Kenny Florian has earned my respect – and probably the respect of most fans. And there is no question that, at age 35, he could definitely keep competing another few years at a high level and perhaps remain a top 10 featherweight in the process. But one of the fundamental questions facing him is, “Do you want to wait around another two years to try and earn a title shot?” And, if you lose one fight along the way, do you want to wait maybe three more years for a potential title shot?

As fast as the sport of MMA is evolving, with young fighters growing in leaps and bounds by the month, what is the likelihood that a 37 or 38-year-old Kenny Florian is excellent enough to beat the world champ in 2013 or 2014? Because, in my mind, by 2013 and 2014, we’re going to see champions with even greater skill sets than we’ve seen to date. We’re going to see Jose Aldo 3.0’s, Georges St-Pierre 3.0’s and Jon Jones 3.0’s. There is so much suffering, and borderline torturous work and deprivation required in the quest for a UFC world championship, and I honestly don’t think that any other sport comes close in what they demand of their athletes. Mind, body and soul. An avalanche of sacrifices. In baseball, a bad day is when you strike out three times in a game. In the fight game, a bad day is when you lose, get your butt kicked and make a visit to the hospital and find out you’re medically suspended for the next two months. MMA is the ultimate sport and anyone who thinks otherwise is ignorant and/or delusional.

Kenny Florian, son of a thoracic surgeon, is a very intelligent young man. And he can follow in the footsteps of 40-somethings Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell and George Foreman if he wants to. But there is a key difference. Florian competes at a lighter weight, and in the lighter weights speed is paramount (135 kingpin: Dominick Cruz. 145-pound champ: Jose Aldo. 155 pounds: Frankie Edgar. All blazing quick). And when a fighter starts to age, speed is the first thing to go. Strength stays, cardio might too, but the middle-aged athlete’s reflexes start to slow down – and that is even more dastardly when you’re sharing cage space with speedsters like Jose Aldo and Chad Mendes or a Dominick Cruz.

It’s Kenny’s decision, obviously. He could take another fight or two – one of those “fights that interest me” that vets like Couture, Matt Hughes and Matt Serra look for when retirement dialogue starts creeping more and more into their psyche. But that approach gets risky, because, as we know, most top fighters don’t leave the cage under idyllic, fairy-tale endings (Chris Lytle being the exception). Most of the time top fighters leave on their backs, with the ref waking them up. Most of the time accomplished veterans become gatekeepers or steppingstones who help fans delineate between the pretenders and the contenders. It’s an unfortunate fact.

Kenny Florian fought competitively Saturday night against a fighter who has looked invincible and hasn’t lost in nearly six years. I personally believe that, if you throw out what a fighter has accomplished in his career, and just look at their recent body of work and rate their skill sets – if you just judge them based on the skill set that they possess today — I would peg Aldo as the number one pound-for-pound fighter in the world. So Kenny Florian’s performance was impressive, if not victorious.

Now the waiting game has begun. We know that Florian is a talented UFC commentator and ESPN MMA analyst and a great ambassador for the sport. So if we have indeed seen the last of Kenny Florian as pro fighter, I hope fans remember him as a ridiculously good fighter and first-rate finisher who gave everything he had in the gym and in the Octagon. It is a quality that is worth admiring. Because you can’t ask anything more of a fighter, or a person, than that.

News Source: UFC.com.
Read full story HERE .

He may originally hail from Sacramento, California, but for all intents and purposes, featherweight contender Tyson Griffin might as well be considered a Las Vegan, considering that it’s been his base of operations for much of his five year career in the UFC. And as such, Griffin is looking forward to contributing even more to his adopted hometown.

“I wanted to do something more for the community and something that hit home was Boys Town Nevada and the work they do with families and kids without families,” said Griffin, who is preparing for a UFC 137 bout against Bart Palaszewski. “I wanted to find a way to give back, and me and my manager (Tom Call) came up with a fundraiser / raffle for my next fight. For $25, you can buy a raffle ticket and possibly win tickets to UFC 137 and get after party passes, and all the money is gonna go to Boys Town Nevada.”

Based in Las Vegas, Boys Town Nevada has positively impacted the lives of 20,000 children and families each year since launching in 1991 through a variety of programs to help those in need. For the 27-year old Griffin, the plight of the children in the Boys Town programs is one he is all too familiar with.

“Growing up, my mom and my dad were locked up, and we got sent through foster care a little bit and then to my grandma eventually,” he said. “I was in those kids’ shoes at one point and I could have been there longer, so I really like what they do. To be honest, I was too young to actually remember, so I can’t speak on being there firsthand (in a foster home). But being there only with my grandma and having to go visit my mom in jail and not knowing dad growing up and things like that, I realized that I still came out ahead and a lot of those kids may just need a little bit of support. And there are families there too that just need help in being a better family, and to me, that’s what stood out and what I think is lacking in today’s society – just better, closer families working together.”

And while this is the first time Griffin is doing a fundraiser like this, he’s no stranger to talking to young people, including those at Boys Town Nevada about his struggles coming up and how he overcame them. His story is an inspiring one, and he isn’t shy about sharing it.

“Everyone comes from different walks of life, everyone’s gonna have challenges, and it’s up to you to make the most of it and embrace it,” said Griffin, who is coming off a June win over Manny Gamburyan. “Don’t be scared of who you are and where you come from. I’m sure a lot of kids are embarrassed by their situation, but everyone has their own things to deal with. We’re all different, no one’s perfect, and no one’s ‘normal,’ as they say. This is life, so you’ve got to deal with it as it comes.”

News Source: UFC.com.
Read full story HERE .

Toronto, Ontario (CANADA) – The Ultimate Fighting Championship® returns to Toronto this December with an epic light heavyweight title fight pitting champion and rising superstar Jon “Bones” Jones against dynamic striker and former titleholder Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida. A mere eight months after holding its largest event ever in Toronto, UFC® 140: JONES vs. MACHIDA hits the Air Canada Centre on Saturday, Dec. 10.

UFC’s return to Toronto will also feature a rematch between former UFC heavyweight champions Frank Mir and “Minotauro” Nogueira, as well as a highly anticipated light heavyweight collision between former champion Tito Ortiz and “Lil Nog,” Rogerio Nogueira. Plus, Ontario’s own Mark “The Machine” Hominick takes on “The Korean Zombie,” Chan Sung Jung, in featherweight action, while British Columbia’s Rory MacDonald looks to continue his ascent up the welterweight ranks when he meets Brian Ebersole.

“After his performance against Rampage, there’s no doubt that Jon Jones is one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the sport,” UFC President Dana White said. “He’s already beaten Shogun and Rampage this year and now he gets Machida, a former champion. Machida is one of the most elusive and dangerous strikers in the UFC and he’s motivated to get the belt back. We’re giving the fans in Toronto a really great title fight.”

Tickets for UFC® 140: JONES vs. MACHIDA, which is presented by TapouT, go on sale on Saturday, Oct. 15 at 10 a.m. ET and are priced at $700, $500, $350, $225, $175, $125 and $85. Tickets will be available at the Air Canada Centre Box Office, by calling Ticketmaster at 1-855-985-5000 or online at Ticketmaster.ca.

UFC® Fight Club™ members will have the opportunity to purchase tickets to this event Thursday, Oct. 13 at 10 a.m. ET via the website www.ufcfightclub.com. Non-members may join at Ticketmaster on Thursday to take advantage of the pre-sale. A special Internet ticket pre-sale will be available to UFC newsletter
subscribers Friday, Oct. 14, starting at 10 a.m. ET. To access this presale, users must register for the UFC newsletter through UFC.com.

UFC® 140: JONES vs. MACHIDA will be available live on Pay-Per-View at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT on UFC.TV, iN DEMAND, DirecTV, DISH Network, Avail-TVN, BellTV, ShawTV, SaskTel,Viewer’s Choice Canada and Canal Indigo for a suggested retail price of $44.99 US/$54.99 CAN for Standard Definition and $54.99 US/$59.99 CAN for High Definition.

After capturing the UFC light heavyweight crown by stopping Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in March, Jon Jones (fighting out of Endicott, N.Y.) made his first title defense at UFC 135 in Denver by dominating Rampage Jackson to improve to 14-1. The 24-year-old also owns wins over the likes of Stephan Bonnar, Vladimir Matyushenko and Ryan Bader, but knows Machida brings another dimension that he has never faced in the Octagon – one he must prepare intensely for.

“I am thrilled to be fighting Lyoto Machida at UFC 140 in Toronto, which is just a few hours from my hometown, Endicott, N.Y.,” Jones said. “He is an incredibly skilled fighter and one who poses numerous challenges inside the Octagon. He has only been defeated twice in his career and is coming off a big victory in April. For me, it will be important to just continue to focus on making myself better as a fighter, and keeping the fight at my intensity and aggression levels. It is my goal to become the first UFC fighter to defeat three former champions in one year.”

With his unique and unorthodox style, Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida (fighting out of Belem, Brazil) is one of the most dynamic and technical fighters in mixed martial arts today. The 33-year-old former lightweight champion has defeated the likes of Randy Couture, BJ Penn, Rich Franklin and Stephan Bonnar and looks to end Jones’ reign as 205-pound champion.

“I’m really excited to be fighting for the light heavyweight title again,” Machida, owner of a 17-2 record, said. “Jon Jones is a great fighter and a great champion. It’s going to be my experience and technique against his youth and athleticism. It’s going to be a great fight.”
 
In a long-awaited rematch, Frank Mir (fighting out of Las Vegas, Nev.) faces “Minotauro” Nogueira (fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) in a clash of former heavyweight champions. The 32-year-old Mir (15-5) returns to the Octagon® following a unanimous decision victory over Roy Nelson in May. He’ll look to stretch his win streak to three straight when he meets the Brazilian legend. The 35-year-old Nogueira (33-6-1, 1 NC) is coming off a highlight reel knockout of Brendan Schaub in August and looks to avenge his 2008 loss to Mir when the two meet again in Toronto.

Meanwhile, Nogueira’s brother Rogerio (also fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) faces off against a candidate for comeback fighter of 2011, Tito Ortiz (fighting out of Huntington Beach, Calif.). “Lil Nog” and the “Huntington Beach Bad Boy” were originally set to meet in the main event of UFC Fight Night in March, but an injury sidelined Ortiz, and Phil Davis fought in his place. Since that time, the 36-year-old Ortiz (17-9-1) has had a resurgence in his storied career, scoring a submission win over Ryan Bader in July and battling with Rashad Evans on short notice in August. Now he meets Rogerio (19-5), a powerful boxer and grappler who owns wins over Alistair Overeem, Dan Henderson and Luiz Cane.

Ontario native Mark “The Machine” Hominick (fighting out of Thamesford, Ontario, Canada) returns to Toronto – site of his valiant battle with featherweight champion Jose Aldo – to face sensational UFC contender “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung (fighting out of Po-Hang, South Korea). The 29-year-old Canadian striker looks to return to his winning ways, having won five of his last six. He now faces Jung, who became the first fighter to pull off the ‘twister’ submission in the UFC to defeat rival Leonard Garcia at UFC Fight Night in March.

Two fighters fresh off wins at UFC 133 in August will now battle each other to see who comes out on top in the jam-packed welterweight division as highly-regarded phenom Rory “Ares” MacDonald (fighting out of Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada) meets the always entertaining and unorthodox Brian Ebersole (fighting out of Melbourne, Australia). The third youngest fighter in the UFC at 22 (behind Michael McDonald and Charles Oliveira), MacDonald (12-1) has impressed with wins over Mike Guymon, Nate Diaz and Mike Pyle en route to becoming one of the organization’s hottest contenders. His opponent, “Bad Boy” Ebersole (48-14-1, 1 NC), made quick work of Dennis Hallman in Philadelphia and dispatched of veteran Chris Lytle in Sydney to move to 2-0 in his UFC career.

All bouts live and subject to change.

News Source: UFC.com.
Read full story HERE .

UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre will put his title on the line for the seventh time at UFC 137 when he faces “The Natural Born Killer,” Carlos Condit on October 29th in Las Vegas. If it looks like GSP is on the verge of cleaning out the division, that’s not surprising if you take a glance at the fighters he’s beaten over the years. But what were his greatest hits? Read on to find out.

Karo Parisyan – January 31, 2004 – UFC 46
Result – St-Pierre W3 (Unanimous)
Now this is what you call a debut. Despite going 5-0 on the Canadian scene, defeating Ivan Menjivar, Thomas Denny, and Pete Spratt in the process, St-Pierre wasn’t the fighter with all the hype behind him heading into this UFC 46 bout. It was judo wizard Parisyan, whose own UFC debut a few months earlier saw him dazzle fans with his grappling before submitting Dave Strasser. But this was GSP’s night, and as I wrote that night, he pretty much controlled matters from the start. “Effectively working his striking game while in Parisyan’s guard, St-Pierre pounded his foe throughout, bloodying him in the process.  The courageous Parisyan had his moments in the bout as he attempted to secure a submission lock on the Canadian, but St-Pierre’s strength and ring savvy allowed him to stay out of serious danger and easily take the bout on the scorecards.” This was just the beginning.

BJ Penn – March 4, 2006 – UFC 58
Result – St-Pierre W 3 (split)
It was a purist’s dream match, and it lived up to the hype, but after the first round ended, not too many people would have bet that St-Pierre would emerge victorious. “That first round (against Penn) was the worst round of my life,” admitted GSP after the bout. “Actually, if you look at my career, I had never lost a round against anybody (to that point). Even when I fought Matt Hughes, the judges thought I was ahead – I asked them if they would have given me the round. So this round (against Penn) was the only round I lost.” GSP more than lost it; he was bloodied and battered by the crisp standup of Penn, and many wondered if he would fold. He didn’t, showing the heart of a champion in roaring back and taking the next two rounds and the decision. It was the gut check moment all fighters have to go through, and St-Pierre passed with flying colors. “It just proved to everybody that I’m a lot stronger mentally than when I fought Matt Hughes,” he said. “I’ve been able to come back after a beating and get the victory. I think that’s the difference between a champion and a guy who will always be tough, but will never be a champion. You can be as skillful as you want, but if you don’t have the mental toughness, you’re not going to go anywhere, and in our sport, sooner or later, you’ll need that to win a fight.”

Matt Hughes II – November 18, 2006 – UFC 65
Result – St-Pierre TKO 2
St-Pierre more than earned a second title shot at the first man to beat him, Matt Hughes, after five straight wins against top-notch competition, and he was a different fighter than he was two years earlier. Hughes, one of the strongest fighters ever to step into the Octagon, found that out early on when he tried to lock the challenger up and St-Pierre tossed him away with little if any effort. By round two, the result was academic, and when the Montrealer dropped Hughes with a kick to the head in round two, seconds later a new champ was crowned. It was expected to be a reign that would last for as long as St-Pierre wanted it to. But you know that old adage about the best-laid plans of mice and men, and just five months after this monumental win, GSP was knocked out by Matt Serra in one of the biggest upsets in UFC history.

Josh Koscheck I – August 25 – UFC 74
Result – St-Pierre W 3 (Unanimous)
This may have been the most important fight of St-Pierre’s career. After the loss to Serra, the whispers were that GSP was ultra-talented but didn’t have that extra something to be great. It shows you how soon people forget the way he came back against Penn or dominated most of the 170-pound division on the way to the title. St-Pierre kept quiet and went about his business, determined to teach all the skeptics a lesson. The lesson he taught in dominating wrestling ace Josh Koscheck at UFC 74 was that you can’t keep a good man down, that he was back, and that he wasn’t going anywhere.

Matt Serra II – April 19, 2008 – UFC 83
Result – St-Pierre TKO2
If GSP was going to crack under the pressure, this was the night to do it. Not only was he facing the man who knocked him out, but he was doing it in his hometown of Montreal, where fans packed the Bell Centre just to see their hero in action. Well, he didn’t disappoint, stopping Serra in the second round with a disciplined and dominant attack. “The pressure was there,” he said. “But I’m at my best when I perform under pressure – it keeps me sharp and aware of what can happen and what is on the line.”

Jon Fitch – August 9, 2008 – UFC 87
Result – St-Pierre W5 (Unanimous)
To this day, St-Pierre calls this five round scrap with number one contender Jon Fitch the toughest fight of his career. And with good reason. Going the championship distance for the first time, St-Pierre had plenty of success early, but as the bout progressed, it was clear that Fitch wasn’t going anywhere. The judges didn’t see fit to give Fitch any rounds on the scorecards, but anyone who witnessed the fight knew that it was anything but a 50-44, 50-44, 50-43 blowout. Fitch tested St-Pierre’s mettle as a champion, and GSP passed that test with flying colors.

BJ Penn II – January 31, 2009 – UFC 94
Result – St-Pierre TKO4
Nearly three years after their first bout, St-Pierre and Penn locked horns again in THE superfight of 2009. Only this time, it wasn’t a 15 minute back and forth war. The second time around, St-Pierre, bigger and stronger than Penn – who was coming up from 155 pounds for the bout – was in control for four rounds until the Hawaiian’s corner decided that they had seen enough and halted the fight before the final stanza. After all the bad blood and trash talk before the match, it was one of St-Pierre’s most satisfying victories and one that entrenched him in the upper reaches of the mythical pound for pound list. It’s a spot that he hasn’t come close to giving up, four fights and four wins later.

News Source: UFC.com.
Read full story HERE .