Cesar Gracia Commenting On Nick Diaz

UFC 126 - Silva vs Belfort, Griffin vs Franklin, & Bader vs Jones

The year 2011 is just getting started and already things are looking very promising for the UFC. With the merger of WEC and UFC, we are starting to see more promising fight cards that are getting more and more stacked with every PPV event. UFC 126 is no different, boasting a middleweight title fight, a light heavyweight bout between two former UFC champions, and a fight between to young rising stars in Jon Jones and Ryan Bader.

Other matches scheduled to fight at UFC 126 are:
Ellenberger vs Rocha, Torres vs Banuelos, Cerone vs Kelly, Mendes vs Omigawa, Taylor vs Ruedigar, Yamamoto vs Johnson, Kingsbury vs Romero, Pierce vs Robertson.

Rising Stars

Jon "Bones" Jones vs Ryan "Darth" Bader is scheduled to be the first fight out of the mega fight trio. I feel this will be one of the most exiting fights of the night, and possibly a contender for "fight of the night" honors. Ryan Bader first got his start on season 8 of The Ultimate Fighter reality TV series. (Mir vs Nogueira) He became the winner of season 8 by defeating Vinny Magalhães via TKO at the TUF finale. Bader posses some serious KO power in both of his hands and is a very talented wrestler, coming from a wrestling background.

Jon Jones also comes from a wrestling background but not as prestigious of one as Ryan Bader. Instead Jones uses his athletic abilities along with unorthodox striking to dominate his opponents. Add that to the fact that Jones trains under Greg Jackson in Albuquerque with the likes of Rashad Evans, Shane Carwin, Nate Marquardt, GSP and many many more and you have a recipe for destruction. Although Bader will be the biggest threat Jones has ever faced, I still think Jones will be too much for Darth Bader. I see this fight being mostly a stand up battle and fully expect to see some one get KO'd or dropped and then finished with punches (TKO). My fight prediction for Jon Jones vs Ryan Bader - Jon Jones via 2nd round TKO.

Battle Of Former Champions

Next up we have a fight between two former UFC belt holders and MMA legends in Rich Franklin and Forrest Griffin. One of the more interesting things about this fight is Franklin moved up from middleweight to light heavyweight, meaning Griffin will definitely have a size and strength advantage. Both fighters like to strike and have the ability to finish the fight with one punch. Griffin won the first season of TUF by defeating Stephan Bonner at the finale with what can only be described as the bloodiest brawl in UFC/TUF history. Griffin is about as tough as they come, and has cardio that is hard to keep up with.

Franklin on the other went from high school math teacher to MMA superstar, eventually capturing the UFC light heavyweight title. Franklin is a very technical fighter that can knock out his opponents or submit them in order to finish the fight. Only four of his fights have gone to decision, and out of his 28 wins Franklin has won 15 of them by KO or TKO. Another great fight that will be a striking fest both standing up and on the ground. With Franklin is looking to cement his place in the 205lbs division, and Griffin being Forrest Griffin, I don't see this fight going the distance. My fight prediction for Forrest Griffin vs Rich Franklin - Forrest Griffin via 3rd round submission.

The Main Event

Anderson "The Spider" Silva vs Vitor "The Phenom" Belfort. This is the fight we have all wanted to see since UFC 108, but it got rescheduled due to Anderson Silva's elbow surgery. Again they were scheduled to fight at UFC 109 but it to was rescheduled again due to Silva's slow elbow surgery recovery. Again the UFC tried to reschedule Silva vs Belfort for UFC 112, but this time it was Vitor that withdrew due to injury. Some interesting things about Anderson Silva is that he has been the UFC middleweight champion for over 5 years, has defended the belt 7 times, and has the longest running winning streak in UFC history. (13 consecutive wins) Silva was considered to be the number one P4P fighter in the world until recently when he moved down to number two giving the number one position to GSP. Anderson Silva trains at Black House under the Nogueira Brothers with fighters like Lyoto Machida, Jose Aldo, Junior Dos Santos, and many more. Silva is a black belt in BJJ, and is widely regarded as one of the most accurate strikers in all of MMA. The Spider posses incredible counter punches, vicious Muay Thia clinch and knees, and a mean ground game making Silva one of the most well rounded fighters in the sport today.

Vitor Belfort is one of the fastest and most intense strikers I have ever seen in MMA. His hand speed is almost unmatchable, giving The Phenom 13 out of his 19 wins by way of knock out or TKO. Belfort has notable TKO victories over Randy Couture, Wanderlei Silva, Matt Lindland and Rich Franklin. On a bad note for The Phenom, he has not competed in the cage since September of 2009. I've said it before and Ill say it again, ring rust is real and it IS a factor. Going almost a year and a half with out a fight will effect you and can even cost you the fight, just ask Rampage Jackson. ;-)

This fight has been hyped up so much for so long and it is finally here. I see this fight being mainly a striking match since both men are predominately strikers. With things like ring rust and the fact that Belfort has never gone more than three rounds come into play, I just don't see how Belfort will be able to keep up with Silva. Belfort's only hope is to catch Anderson early on in the first round with a flurry of punches and finish the fight right then and there. But if he lets Silva take him into the 4th and 5th rounds Belfort will tire and start getting sloppy. That is when Anderson will be able to pick his shots better and ultimately catch Belfort with a knee or counter punch that will drop Belfort. My prediction for the fight - Anderson Silva via 5th round TKO.


Written by: Rudy Mogavero of Fight Night MMA

Jon Jones Not A Fan Of Thiago Silva

While watching the fight between Brandon Vera and Thiago Silva, Jones tweeted that he thought it was: "disrespectful," and added "i'd love to give him a slap in the face." He was referring to Thiago Silva slapping the crap out of Brandon Vera during the 3rd round at UFC 125. Silva destroyed Vera in their fight, but he also humiliated him in on live television by slapping him repeatedly while looking for openings as Vera balled up in submission.


Jones Cleared up what looked like an instant rivalry between himself and Silva during an interview with MMA Fighting. Jones stated in the interview that, "It kind of bugged me, only because we all fight, and just losing alone is humiliating enough," Jones said. "It's embarrassing. If someone ever did that to me, where they would beat me like that and then drum on my back, I would be humiliated. Just absolutely humiliated."

 "Think about all the people who watched those fights. All his fans, all the members at his school, all the kids that look up to him. Man, it just kind of rubbed me the wrong way. It's not something I would ever want done to me and it's not something I would ever do to someone else."

Jon Jones is scheduled to face off against Ryan Bader for a light heavyweight title shot at UFC 126. Jones says although he is "rubbed the wrong way" by the lack of respect Silva showed, he is still focused 100% on his next fight and getting a title shot. During his interview with MMA Fighting he also said:

"It came out afterwards that he said he slapped him to try and get him to open up, and I do believe that he was looking for an opening, but at the same time he was having a little fun, too," said Jones. "There's ways of looking for an opening besides playing pattycake on a guy's back."



Written by; Rudy Mogavero of Fight Night MMA

Scott Coker Talks Heavyweight Tourny & Fedor Re-Signing With Mike Chiappetta

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker faced his share of criticism in 2010 for the perceived difficulty in putting his heavyweight fighters in the cage together. That criticism came to a screeching halt on Tuesday, when MMA Fighting broke the news that an eight-man tournament had been finalized that would feature some of the promotion's biggest names.

The tournament, which begins on Feb. 12, is expected to run over several months and is expected to culminate with the winner as the Strikeforce heavyweight champion (more on that later).

Just hours after his big announcement, Coker spoke with MMA Fighting about the tournament, bringing Fedor Emelianenko back into the fold, the possibility of Strikeforce on pay-per-view and more.



Mike Chiappetta: A tournament like this is ambitious and quite challenging. Why did you decide to do it?

Scott Coker: When we were in the process of collecting all these heavyweights, and signing these top 10 guys, the only fighter we really had to extend was Fedor, which as you know took a long time. I went to Showtime with this plan about 3 months ago. I saw what they did with the Super Six tournament in boxing. I thought it was a great format and definitely made some more stars in the boxing world. They definitely created more hype and more stars in that sport. I thought it'd be a good way for USA fans to get to know some of these top heavyweights that we have fighting, like [Sergei] Kharitonov, like having Josh [Barnett] back in America. It's a great way to unveil it and roll it out.

And I came from a background in K-1 where we did tournaments all the time. Take it back even further than that; If you grew up in a martial arts school, whether it was judo, jiu-jitsu, karate, taekwondo, the first time you ever compete is in a tournament. We thought it made sense on a lot of levels. Now we get to see it roll out, and we're going to see some amazing fights over the next months.

MC: Is this a stand-alone tournament, where the winner is called the Grand Prix champion, or is the winner the Strikeforce heavyweight champion?

SC: Right now, Alistair Overeem is the Strikeforce heavyweight champion. That's something we can answer tomorrow, because what we're trying to do is clear it with the commissions to allow the fighters to fight more than three rounds outside of the title. The rules of MMA now say a five-round fight has to be a championship fight, and so we're working on that. Hopefully we'll have an answer soon on that.


I saw what they did with the Super Six tournament in boxing. I thought it was a great format and definitely made some more stars in the boxing world.
-- Scott CokerMC: So you'd like all the tournament fights to be five-round fights?

SC: We'd like to, yes.

MC: You've been criticized a bit for infrequent heavyweight fights. Was it tough to bite your tongue knowing the news you were about to unveil?

SC: To me the fans are always going to think what they want. I've always known we have the best heavyweight division in mixed martial arts. I had this in my back pocket. I don't really gauge what's going out in the viral world, the virtual world. I just know that this is a special moment in time. All these heavyweight fighters are here and in their youth, young enough to compete at high levels. We're going to let them all fight each other, and this is the best way to do it.

MC: Why include your champion in the tournament, instead of having a fight with him as the final. Would it be him sitting too long, or is there another reason?

SC: We originally thought he could fight the tournament winner, or fight a superfight. But when I talked to [Overeem's management] Golden Glory, they said he wanted to fight in the tournament. And then when I talked to Alistair and Bas Boon, his manager, over the weekend when I was in Japan, Alistair came to me and said, 'I want to fight Fabricio Werdum. You have to give me that fight.' And I said, 'Let's do it.' It's something he wanted to do. He wanted to avenge that loss from three or four years ago, so it's good for everybody.

MC: Matching him and Werdum together is a great first-round fight, but was there any thought to the belief it might be a fight better saved for later in the tourney?

SC: With a tournament, you never know who's going to win, and we have to put it together now. Let all these bad boys fight each other, and let the better man win.

MC: Will Overeem's belt be on the line in the early rounds? If Werdum beats Overeem, will he be considered the champion? Or will the belt be vacated for this tournament? How will that work?

SC: It goes back to the commission and what they're going to allow us to do. That's something I can't answer right now but hope to have an answer very soon.

MC: You spoke of Werdum-Overeem, but how did you decide the other pairings?

SC: The pairings were done on some timing. Fabricio is coming off surgery of his arm, so he was not available until March anyway. And those two wanted to fight each other. Fedor wanted to fight Jan. 29, or even Jan. 7. He's ready to go. He's itching to get back in there. We felt Bigfoot [Antonio Silva] was the perfect opponent for the first round. You never know what'll happen in MMA when you have two buys guys. As far as Kharitonov, he's coming off a win in Japan. And [Andrei] Arlovski is ready to go. These guys are ready, so let's put them in a cage and let them go.


No more renegotiation ... Fedor will be doing co-promotion with Strikeforce, M-1 and Showtime for many years to come.
-- Scott Coker MC: The Showtime press release included a bracket, which would have the Fedor-Silva winner meeting the Overeem-Werdum winner in the semis. Is that correct, or will the semifinal pairings be decided after the first four matches are over?

SC: That is correct. When we looked at it, we want to put the best fights on and have the most exciting matchup on every event. If Fedor wins, he fights the winner of Werdum vs. Alistair, so we know we're going to get one of those two fights. The sooner we could make that fight the better. Think of it the other way, if Josh Barnett wins two fights, we might get to see Fedor-Barnett. In this tournament, we could see Fedor fighting any one of those 3. There are lots of great possibilities. Any way you cut it, you're going to see some exciting fights. Let's put them in the toughest situation and let them prevail. In the old days, it was all in one night. These are single fights over a period of eight months.

MC: So you hope to complete the tournament in eight months?

SC: Yes. We'll be done before the end of the year.

MC: Fedor & M-1 have renegotiated after each of your first two fights with him. Does this new deal with him cover the entire scope of the tournament?

SC: Yes, it covers the tournament and even further. No more renegotiation. The beauty of the deal, and I can't get into the details of the contract, but it's multi-fight and multi-year. Fedor will be doing co-promotion with Strikeforce, M-1 and Showtime for many years to come.

MC: So you can't say how many fights this adds to his deal?

SC: I can't talk about the details of the contract.

MC: Do you think you have him locked up for the rest of his career, or is that too far-reaching?

SC: I think it's very possible.

MC: Did that added wrinkle of putting him in this tournament and having his commitment add a big degree of difficulty into the negotiations?

SC: You know what's admirable about these guys, including Fedor? They wanted to be in the tournament. They came to us and said we want to be in it. I said, 'OK, fantastic.' And we made it happen. Believe me, he was trying to talk us into letting him fight on the Jan. 29 card. I said, 'Fedor, I think you'll be OK two weeks later.'"

MC: Does that mean you've seen him recently?

SC: No, but we've been talking to the M-1 folks, and we're all one, big, happy family now.

MC: Is there any concern about Josh Barnett getting a license?

SC: Not at all. We've talked to four athletic commissions that will license him with a clean test. We feel confident that won't be an issue. Keep in mind Josh Barnett went to Sacramento six weeks ago, took a test and was clean. He hasn't fought for a year-and-a-half in America. He still has issues in California, so his fight won't be in California, but Josh has moved on, and we're moving on, too. He's been out of the fight business in America for 18 months. I think he's served his time.

MC: What happens if a fighter advances but gets injured and would have to be out a few months? Are there alternates?

SC: The No. 1 alternate will come from a fight you see on Feb. 12 at the Izod Center, Shane Del Rosario fighting Lavar Johnson. Those two will fight, and the winner will be the No. 1 reserve spot. We will have probably two more. I think Daniel Cormier will probably be one of them, and then we'll probably have another pair fight off. But Del Rosario or Johnson will be the No. 1 reserve and go in only if a fighter gets injured to the point he's going to be out for an extended period of time.

MC: Was there any thought to including one or two of those younger fighters like Cormier or Lavar Johnson in the tournament?

SC: I think the guys who are in the tournament deserve to be there. It's something at this point in time, we were successful in putting it together, and those other guys will have their time. It's just not this time.

M: What are the chances we'll see Rogers-Barnett & Werdum-Overeem at your March show in Columbus, Ohio?

SC: In Columbus, we're going to do a regular show, not part of the heavyweight tournament. In April, we'll come back with the other two quarterfinals. We're looking for venues right now so we don't have the location.

MC: You've talked before about doing pay-per-view. Is there any possibility the semifinals and/or finals will mark Strikeforce's entry into pay-per-view?

SC: The quarterfinal fights will air on Showtime, and then we will re-evaluate from there. After the quarterfinals are over, then we'll determine whether this is going to be on Showtime or built into a pay-per-view event. There is a possibility we can jump into the pay-per-view business at that time.

Interview by: Mike Chiappetta

Source: mmafighting.com

Brandon McDowell - The Fighter

When you think about MMA now a days, you undoubtedly think about the UFC and all the fame and glory that comes along with it. But fame and fortune is not the real reason fighters work so hard to become the high level athletes that they are. They do it because they love it, they do it because its apart of who they are as fighters. Brandon McDowell is a prime example of what a true MMA fighter is molded from. A mixture of dedication, drive, skill and heart is what it takes to compete in mixed martial arts, and with out that a fighter will fizzle out way before they ever make it to the pro level.

Brandon McDowell has been fighting at the pro level for over a decade, and has competed in promotions like Free Style Cage Fighting (FCF), Xtreme Fighting Championship (XFC), Kings of Kombat (KOK), and Bellator. With over 80 professional fights under his belt and a title shot with FCF in the middleweight division, McDowell is a true fighter at heart. We had a moment to talk with Brandon about his most recent win over Tom "Vulgar" Jone, and a possible match up against UFC vet Jake Rosholt for his next fight.



FNMMA:  First off Brandon thanks for taking the time to speak with us, how are things going?


Brandon: No problem at all, I'm doing very good actually. Just got back to Austin, taking a little time off after my last win and then its back to the gym to start training for my next fight. 




FNMMA: You took your last fight on short notice against a very tough opponent in Tom "Vulgar" Jones and won, how did it feel pulling off the upset? 


Brandon: Great, it was awesome actually! A huge win for me, I beat him in his hometown and I finished him in the 1st round with a mcarmbar. That's kind of a patented move of mine, I have finished 26 fights with that submission. Yeah, that one was a big win for me! 




FNMMA: Any word on who your next fight will be with? 


Brandon: Yeah, its not official yet but it looks like it's going to be UFC vet Jake Rosholt. 




FNMMA: Jake has a win over iron jaw Chris Leban, and fights with Kendall Grove and Dan Miller. Anything special or different your doing for this fight in your training? 


Brandon: Well, his hands are limited (striking is not very good) He is an incredible wrestler, so I am not thinking I can beat him in a strait out wrestling match. But he isn't a full, well rounded MMA fighter like I am, So the plan is to keep it standing at first, weather the storm and stuff a few take downs to tired him out. Inevitably he will get the take down, and I will be fighting off my back, but I want to make work for it the first round or two. Once we get to the mat, which we will, I'll be in my world look for submissions to finish the fight. My training camp will consist of lots and lots of train from my back. Like I said, Jake is a hell of a wrestler and I don't have any illusions of him not being able to take me down. So I'll be training from my back a lot and working my guard. I think I have a really good guard and can open him up for many different kinds of submissions there.




FNMMA: Do you think the fight will go the distance, or are you looking for an early finish?


Brandon: The longer the fight goes, the better it is for me. I want to finish him, and to do that the fight needs to go into rounds 2 and 3. The longer we are in that cage, the better I will be able to neutralize his wrestling and power. 




FNMMA: Where are you training right now and how is it going? 


Brandon: Everything is going great right now. I am training at Mario "Esfiah" Queiroga's BJJ gym and at NDBJJ up in Plano. Also, I am now fighting at 185 which is a much more natural weight for me. 




FNMMA: Whats next for you, is there a certain belt or promotion your aiming for? 


Brandon: With MMA and fighting, I do it because I love it. I have been competing in MMA since way before it was popular. I do it for the love of fighting. I will continue to take fights that are the most intriguing match ups for me. Fights with guys that are higher up on the food chain is the only thing I am after. I am not looking to get on TV though, that is not why I fight in this sport. As long as there is a cage and someone else is in it and ready to fight, sign me up! Also because of my last win with FCF I should be getting info soon on a title fight offer for the FCF middleweight belt, although nothing is official yet.





FNMMA: You know I have to ask, got any pics for the trio of super fights that are happening in UFC 126?


Brandon: Anderson Silva, Forrest Griffin, and Jon Jones. Belfort is going to give him hell, but I still see Silva coming out with the win on this one. Its MMA though, so you never really know. 




FNMMA: Thanks for your time Brandon, and good luck on your next fight!


Brandon: No prob man, anytime. Thanks. 



Interview by: Rudy Mogavero of Fight Night MMA.