Bleacher Report - Articles by D Wizzle

MMA TV Schedule for December: MFC 23 to Sengoku vs. DREAM

D Wizzle — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 12:36:18 -0500

Dec. 4— MFC 23: Unstoppable

This show will be live on HDNET starting at 7 p.m. PST.

Thales Leites vs. Dean Lister

Jason MacDonald vs. Solomon Hutcherson

Bryan Baker vs. Art Santore

Ryan Jimmo vs. Emanuel Newton

Marvin Eastman vs. Dwayne Lewis

Jesse Juarez vs. Joe Christopher

Dec. 5— The Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale

SPIKE TV starting at 9 p.m.

Matt Hamill vs. Jon Jones

Houston Alexander vs. Kimbo Slice

Roy Nelson vs. Brendan Schaub

Frankie Edgar vs. Matt Veach

Marcus Jones vs. Matt Mitrione

Dec. 12— UFC 107

Live only on pay-per-view starting at 7 p.m. PST .

B.J. Penn vs. Diego Sanchez

Cheick Kongo vs. Frank Mir

Jon Fitch vs. Mike Pierce

Kenny Florian vs. Clay Guida

Dec. 19— Strikeforce "Evolution"

Live in the East Coast on Showtime at 10 p.m. and tape-delayed in the West Coast .

Cung Le vs. Scott Smith

Josh Thomson vs. Gilbert Melendez

Matt Lindland vs. Jacare Souza

King Mo Lawal vs. Mike Whitehead

Robbie Lawler vs. Trevor Prangley

Dec. 19— WEC 45: Cerrone vs. Ratcliff

Live on VERSUS Network at 7 p.m. PST .

Donald Cerrone vs. Ed Ratcliff

Chris Horodecki vs. Anthony Njokuani

Joseph Benevidez vs. Rani Yahya

Scott Jorgensen vs. Takeya Mizugaki

Dec. 31— Sengoku vs. DREAM

Live on HDNET from Japan. I believe it will be live starting at midnight in the West Coast, but I can't verify that as of yet.

Satoshi Ishii vs. Hidehiko Yoshida

kuhisa Minowa vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou

Katsuki Ishida vs. Shota Shimada

Tsukasa Fuji vs. Ryuya Kusakabe

Josh Thomson and Gilbert Melendez To Fight for Strikeforce Title

D Wizzle — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 23:35:20 -0500

Strikeforce recently announced that their lightweight champion, Josh "The Punk" Thomson will be taking on the interim champion, Gilbert "El Nino" Melendez on December 19 in San Jose, California.

The championship title match will be the co-main event of "Evolution" which is the final show of the year for Strikeforce.

Thomson has been out of commission since September 20, 2008, when he defeated Ashe Bowman at an event held at the Playboy Mansion.

Melendez is looking to avenge his loss to Thomson in their first matchup. Melendez defeated Rodrigo Damm this past April to capture the interim lightweight title.

Thomson had to pull out of his fight against Yves Edwards and Melendez this year due to ankle injuries.

Thomson said he is finally healed and he is excited to get back into the cage against Melendez.

"Everything feels great now. Nothing is going to keep me out of this fight," said the 31-year-old Thomson. "I'm looking forward to getting back in there and going to work."

Thomson dominated the first matchup but this upcoming rematch should be more competitive. Thomson will have to shake off the ring rust and Melendez has looked great in his last two victories.

UFC 105 Live Blog and Results

D Wizzle — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 17:53:52 -0500

Please do not read any further if you plan on watching tonight's UFC 105 broadcast on SPIKE TV on tape delay and don't want to know who won. I don't want to spoil the results for anyone who doesn't want to know the results until they watch tonight.

First match on the main card is Aaron Riley vs. Ross Pearson.

Riley is being cornered by Greg Jackson and Joe Stevenson. Pearson came out to Black Eyed Peas "I Got A Feeling" song, which Stevenson came out to to the cage to last month against Spencer Fisher.

Pearson wins round one. He picked apart Riley with knees, kicks, elbows, and punches.

Pearson wins in the second round by TKO due to the referee's stoppage after a flying knee landed on Riley's face. Riley was bleeding very badly after the knee landed.

It was a very impressive win by Pearson. The fans in Manchester, England, are very happy that he won.

James Wilks vs. Matt Brown is up next.

This should be a great fight. Fighter introductions just ended and we are about to start round one.

Round one just ended. Very competitive round. Wilks got a takedown in the final seconds but could not do anything with it.

Brown wins round two as he used a flying knee to knock Wilks to the mat. Wilks recovered and prevented Brown from finishing him a few times in the round. He even got on top of Brown with about 30 seconds left in round two.

Brown defeats Wilks by TKO in the third round. He got full mount and landed many punches before the ref stopped it. Wilks attempted a kimura right before Brown got out of it and got full mount on Wilks.

Brown said after the fight that he was jet lagged and tired from the trip over to Manchester.

They just showed the prelim fight between Andre Winner and Roli Delgado. Winner is the winner as he KOs Delgado in the first round. This probably will be the Knockout of the Night.

Winner landed two unnecessary punches to Delgado when Delgado was already out cold on the mat. This might be Delgado's final fight in the UFC, since this is his second loss in a row.

Michael Bisping vs. Denis Kang is up next.

Kang wins round one after rocking Bisping with a right hand. Kang got side control and full mount but Bisping did a great job of defending on his back.

Bisping destroys Kang in round two and wins decisively by TKO after taking down Kang three times in the round.

Bisping used his ground and pound to punish Kang after the takedowns. The ref stopped the fight after Kang was on his knees trying to block Bisping's ferocious punches.

This was a great win for Bisping. Bisping needed a good victory after losing by knockout to Dan Henderson in his last fight.

They just showed another prelim fight between Alexander Gustafsson and Jared Hammen. Gustafsson won by TKO.

After hitting Hammen with a straight right sending Hammen to the mat, Gustafsson landed a few more shots on the fallen Hammen before the ref stopped it. The fight ended after 41 seconds.

Mike Swick vs. Dan Hardy is up next.

Some fan stole Swick's hat as he was walking down to the cage. The introductions are going on now.

This is a very boring first round. Swick is going for takedowns and Hardy is defending with his back against the cage.

Hardy wins round two by landing a lot of good shots on Swick. Swick's legs buckled but he recovered after Hardy kept on attempting a takedown.

The fight is now over and Hardy will win by decision. He controlled the third round and landed more good shots on Swick when they were on their feet.

Hardy landed more good shots and got the better of the stand-up in all three rounds. Swick looked more tentative today than in any other fight I have seen him in.

Georges St. Pierre came into the cage after the fight to shake Hardy's hand. UFC announcer Mike Goldberg said that St.Pierre and Hardy will fight for the UFC welterweight title.

The main event is up next between Randy Couture and Brandon Vera.

A fan stole Couture's hat while he was walking down to the cage. Security needs to do a better job of not letting this happen to the fighters when they walk down to the cage.

This is a very boring first round. Couture had Vera against the cage for the whole round and nothing happened after that.

Vera wins round two by doing some damage to Couture with kicks and punches. Couture hasn't done anything but clinch with Vera and putting him against the cage.

Vera looks exhausted as the third round ends. I have Vera winning this fight by winning the last two rounds. Vera used more kicks in round three while Couture tried to clinch with Vera again.

This fight was very boring and this fight made the Lyoto Machida vs. Shogun Rua fight last month seem action-packed.

The judges give the fight to Couture 29-28.

What a terrible decision by the judges! I don't agree with the decision at all as Vera did more damage than Couture.

Vera is angry and sarcastically thanks the judges after the fight in his interview with UFC commentator Joe Rogan.

The show is now over and the next UFC show is next Saturday night In Las Vegas, Nev.

UFC 105 Picks and Predictions

D Wizzle — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 13:01:10 -0500

The UFC is in England today for UFC 105. Fans in the United States can watch the show on tape delay tonight starting at 8 p.m. on SPIKE TV.

Randy Couture vs. Brandon Vera

I will give the edge to Vera because he is younger and in his prime, while Couture is 45 years old. Youth wins this one. Vera is motivated for the fight and trained very hard.

Vera will win by unanimous decision over Couture.

Mike Swick vs. Dan Hardy

Swick is the favorite to win, and I expect him to do just that. If Swick wins tonight, he will be on track to face Georges St. Pierre for the welterweight title next year.

Swick by TKO in the first round.

Michael Bisping vs. Denis Kang

Bisping doesn't want to lose in front of the home crowd. Kang has to win by KO or submission because the judges in England will probably give the fight to Bisping if it goes to a decision.

I say it does go to a decision and Bisping wins. It won't matter if Kang picks apart Bisping all three rounds, because the judges will most likely still give the fight to the local fighter, Bisping.

James Wilks vs. Matt Brown

I like watching Brown fight. He brings it every time and shows a lot of toughness. Wilks was on TUF 9. This will be a competitive fight, and I see Brown winning by split decision.

Ross Pearson vs. Aaron Riley

Riley is a MMA veteran with 39 professional fights (28-11 record). Pearson is 11-3. I'll give the edge to the veteran Riley. Riley by split decision over Pearson.

Paul Taylor vs. John Hathaway

Hathaway is undefeated with a 12-0 record. He is a promising prospect in the welterweight division.

Taylor is very scrappy and this is going to be a great fight. Hathaway by rear naked choke in the third round.

Terry Etim vs. Shannon Gugerty

Etim is 13-2 and Gugerty is 12-3. Both of these fighters like to use submissions to win. Etim by rear naked choke over Gugerty in the second round.

Nick Osipczak vs. Matthew Riddle

Riddle by TKO over Osipczak in the first round.

Paul Kelly vs. Dennis Siver

Kelly by TKO over Siver in the first round.

Alexander Gustafsson vs. Jared Hamman

Gustafsson is 8-0 and Hamman is 11-1. This looks like a competitive match on paper. I'll go with Gustafsson by TKO in the first round. Six of his wins have come by knockout.

Andre Winner vs. Rolando Delgado

Winner is more athletic of the two and I will take him to win by split decision.

Fedor Emelianenko-Brett Rogers Conference Call Notes and Quotes

D Wizzle — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:07:45 -0500

Strikeforce had a media conference call earlier this morning with Strikeforce President Scott Coker, Brett Rogers, and Fedor Emelianenko to promote their Nov. 7 show.

Coker

"If Fedor was living in America, we would take him on a lot more shows." Has no interest in Fedor's brother, Alex, because he has issues with the sports commissions right now and is not cleared to fight.

Expects the show to be fully sold out by Saturday. They are 85 percent sold out right now.

Rogers

Does not think Fedor is underestimating him even though he got married recently and doesn't think Fedor is taking him lightly at all.

Has studied tape of Fedor to prepare for the fight. Has trained for three months for Fedor and feels like he knows him. He is waiting for Fedor to try to take him down, and he does not think Fedor will want to stand up with him for very long.

"I am coming into the fight as the bigger, stronger guy. ... I don't work at Sam's Club anymore. ... I am getting movie and TV offers."

Was supposed to be on MTV's Bully Beatdown show but he didn't have time.

"I always wanted to do this. This is my life."

Feels underrated because he is a big underdog. He hopes for more respect after the fight. Expects a quick finish to the fight.

Does a lot of meditation before the fight. "The day of the fight is nothing. I sleep up to the point of the fight.

"I am hoping the fans cheer me on too since I am actually from Chicago. I have a lot of friends coming from Minnesota to cheer me on."

Fedor

Says he gets nervous one day before the fight because he is a human being. He found the NFL game yesterday in Chicago to be interesting, but the games on TV are more exciting. "I don't think I would have enough energy to play, and I don't know the rules very well."

Expects the fans to cheer Rogers since he is from Chicago. He has experienced fights where the fans have cheered his opponents more than him.

Does not train with any American fighters. He just works with his coaches.

"I really like having fights in America."

Anthony "Rumble" Johnson To Fight Josh Koscheck at UFC 106?

D Wizzle — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 01:52:34 -0400

UFC welterweight contender Josh Koscheck announced via Twitter earlier tonight that he will be fighting in the co-main event at UFC 106 next month.

He did not name an opponent but I believe it is none other than Anthony "Rumble" Johnson. Johnson just knocked out Yoshiyuki Yoshida last Saturday night at UFC 104. Johnson did not suffer any injuries at all in his quick first-round victory.

What Koscheck and Johnson have in common is that they both brutally knocked out Yoshida, and they both train in the Bay Area.

Some fans are speculating that Koscheck's opponent might be Matt Hughes or Paul Daley. I don't believe it is either of them. Hughes has already stated that he is not interested in fighting Koscheck, and he would not take the fight with only a few weeks notice. Daley would be a good opponent for Koscheck, but just like Hughes, he probably would not be ready on November 21 to fight.

I expect the UFC to announce Johnson as Koscheck's opponent sometime later this week once all the contracts are signed.

The UFC needs some good fights for UFC 106 since the scheduled main event between Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin has been postponed until next year due to an illness to Lesnar. Johnson did not endear himself to UFC President Dana White after coming in six pounds overweight in his fight against Yoshida. What better way to get back in White's good graces by fighting again next month against another top contender like Koscheck?

The match makes perfect sense for the UFC, Koscheck, and Johnson. Fans want to see Johnson against a top-level opponent, and Koscheck needs a win against a tough opponent like Johnson so he can earn another title shot against UFC welterweight champion Georges St.Pierre.

Five Big Questions Heading Into UFC 104

D Wizzle — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 18:22:18 -0400

1. Will Anthony "Rumble" Johnson make weight this afternoon?

Johnson is probably the biggest welterweight fighter in the UFC next to Thiago Alves. Can he cut down to 171 pounds today when he and his opponent Yoshiyuki Yoshida tip the scale?

2. Can Shogun Rua do what 15 other opponents were not able to do and that is to beat UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida?

Rua is a huge underdog going into tomorrow's main event fight.

3. Will Cain Velasquez get a title shot if he beats Ben Rothwell tomorrow night?

Rothwell is bigger than Velasquez and has more experience in the cage as well. This is Rothwell's UFC debut, so is there a chance he will suffer the "UFC jitters" that has striken many other fighters making their first appearance in the Octagon?

If Velasquez wins impressively, he should be the number one contender in the heavyweight division. A fight between him and Junior Dos Santos would be interesting though, and that fight could determine the next number one contender.

4. Which fight will be Fight of the Night tomorrow?

This is a very tough question, as we don't know what to expect in the main event.

Will it be a boring and slow fight? Could we l we see another one-sided dominating performance by Machida?

The lightweight fights are usually fast-paced and there are two tomorrow evening. Joe Stevenson will take on Spencer Fisher, and Josh Neer will face Gleison Tibau. Either fight could be a nominee for Fight of the Night.

5. There are four fighters who are undefated so far in their mixed martial arts career: Machida, Velasquez, Chase Gormley, and Ryan Bader. Will they all stay undefeated after tomorrow night?

Bader will be taking on Eric Schafer, and Gormley will knock heads with the very tall (6'11') Stefan Struve.

Local MMA Fights in Virginia This Saturday Night: Rumble in Richmond

D Wizzle — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:14:05 -0400

There is a combined MMA, muay thai, and boxing event this Saturday night in Richmond, CA. The event will be held at the Richmond Memorial Auditorium.

There will be 10 title fights on the card and the main event is between Rolando Velasco and Chris Cariaso for the ISCF World bantamweight title.

Here is the full card:

ISCF MMA World Bantamweight Title (125-135LBS)

(8-1) Rolando Velasco vs Chris Cariaso (7-1)

ISCF MMA California State Bantamweight Title

(4-3) Andrew Vallendarez vs David Barrios (3-3)

ISCF MMA Westcoast Bantamweight Title

(4-0) Bryant Munoz vs Alvin Cacdac (6-6)

ISCF MMA CA Featherweight Title (135-145LBS)

(4-2) Gaberial Solorio vs Evan Esguerra (4-2)

Professional Boxing Pro - Debuts

Lightwelterweight (137- 142LBS)

Al Simpson vs Luis Sanchez

IKF World Superlightweight Title (132 -142LBS)

(12-2) Dan Ash vs Kenneth Giang (10-2)

IKF Worldlightweight Title (137-142LBS)

(6-0) Amber Pope vs Julie Jackal (7-3)

IKF Worldmiddleweight Title (159-165LBS)

(10-3) Daniel Kim vs Dion Paminato (12-4)

IKF North American Welterweight Title (142-147)

(4-0) Quincy Shammon vs Byron Petro (7-1)

IKF Westcoast Superlightweight Title (132-137LBS)

(4-0-1) Rick Eriec vs Jeremy Murphy (4-0)

IKF Westcoast Superlightweight Title (132-137LBS)

(4-0) Keri Wilson vs Brittney Christian (4-1)

Most of these fighters are from local MMA schools in the Bay Area.

Tickets are as low as $30 and you can purchase tickets and find out more information about the event here .

Interview With Former Kentucky Star And Current UFL QB Shane Boyd

D Wizzle — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:58:35 -0400

I recently spoke with former Kentucky Wildcat quarterback Shane Boyd. Boyd is the starting quarterback for the California Redwoods of the UFL.

The Redwoods are 0-1 after losing last week to the Las Vegas Locomotives 30-17. The Redwoods have their home opener this Saturday night in San Francisco at AT&T Park against the New York Sentinels.

Boyd was a star at Kentucky, throwing for 2,484 yards and 13 touchdowns in his college career. He has also been with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Arizona Cardinals and Houston Texans in the NFL.

How does it feel to be the first ever player to score a TD in UFL history?

It is a blessing. I thank God for being in that position. J.P. Losman [Locomotives' starting QB] and his offense had the ball first and they had the first opportunity. I was blessed to get into the end zone. It is a good accomplishment and it is something that can never be taken away. I am very happy to be a part of the UFL.

How do you like playing for your head coach, Denny Green?

I love playing for Denny Green. He was the coach when I was with the Cardinals so I am accustomed to him and his very high expectations. He wants the best out of his players and he recognizes a lot of talent that the NFL doesn't see. He is a great coach.

You guys had a good first half scoring 14 points but only had a field goal after halftime last week. What were some of the reasons the offense struggled in the second half last week?

There were good plays called but we just had bad execution. It was nothing that Vegas was doing to us, and we were just stopping ourselves. We had dropped balls and it was just a bad connection between the wide receivers and the quarterback. The three-and-outs just gave Vegas a lot of momentum.

You guys released wide receivers Bobby Sippio and Mark Bradford earlier this week and added Doug Gabriel and Glenn Holt. How will Gabriel and Holt help the team?

Glenn was my No. 1 wide receiver in college and we are best friends and have known each other for years. Glenn has great speed and he was in the NFL with the Bengals as a kick returner. He can stretch the field and put a lot of pressure on the defense.

I have worked out with Doug before. He is a bigger body and can get position on cornerbacks. He has great speed too. Glenn and Doug are both veteran guys with a lot of experience and swagger.

How hard was it to get into a comfort level with the wide receivers after only a few weeks of practice?

It's hard. You only have four to five weeks to develop chemistry in practice while in the NFL, the quarterback and the wide receivers on each team have played with each other for years. It's something you just got to go through with a lot of reps and individual drills. It's good that I already have a relationship with Glenn.

How important is it to win this game and not go 0-2? Is there a sense of urgency to win since the next two games will be on the road and you have to travel to the East Coast? Is this a must-win game?

I wouldn't say it is a must-win game but we need a win with the season being so short. We need to win and stay in the mix of things so we can go to the championship game in Vegas. It is an important game and we want to go in with a clear mindset and execute our offense, make great plays on defense, and get turnovers.

Are you excited about the home opener this Saturday night and having the fans cheer for you?

Yes, it will be great for the fans to finally get to see us play. We want to put on a great show for the fans. I know San Francisco and the Bay Area support their football teams. I am hoping for a great turnout and I want to put on a great show for all the fans out there.

The Sentinels gave up 35 points last week. Do you think you can exploit their defense the way Losman did last week?

That is the plan. They have a great defense and their game could have gone either way. They had a fumble on the goal line, and the game could have flip-flopped. Their defense has a lot of swagger and they got Simeon Rice coming off the edge.

What did the offense work on this week to prepare for the Sentinels' defense?

We worked on being more consistent. We focused on cleaning up a lot of plays that we ran. We had no film on Vegas but we have an idea of what New York likes to do.

You only threw five passes in the first half last week. Do you expect to pass the ball more often in the first half this week against New York?

The plan is to open it up more. Denny's M.O. is to throw the ball. With the Cardinals, we were a passing team with Anquan Boldin, Larry Fitzgerald, and Kurt Warner.

The Oakland Raiders are really struggling right now. How do you think a UFL team would do against the Raiders?

(laughs)I don't know. They have a lot of great athletes and they just need to get the ball rolling and come together as a team and score points. They have a good defense but their offense is sputtering a bit. They need to play four quarters of football and get a victory.

You are good friends with Raiders' running back Michael Bush. Have you talked to him lately?

Yes, I just talked to him the other day. He watched my first UFL game and told me he was proud of me. He was proud that I got the first ever touchdown in the UFL and also of the way my team battled out there. He told me to continue to be a leader. I also stay in contact with Darrren McFadden [Raiders' running back]. We have the same agent.

Thanks for taking the time to talk to me Shane and good luck on Saturday against New York.

Thanks, I am looking forward to the game.

Strikeforce Quotes and Notes With Coker, Mayhem Miller, and Jake Shields

D Wizzle — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:34:54 -0400

Strikeforce had a media conference call this morning with their CEO Scott Coker, Jason "Mayhem" Miller, and Jake Shields. The conference call was to promote the matchup between Miller and Shields for the Strikeforce middleweight title on November 7 live on CBS. The main event on the show will be Fedor vs. Brett Rogers.

Here are some news, notes, and quotes from the conference call.

Shields: Thinks Mayhem is a great opponent

This is his third time on CBS and he is excited to be part of the show.

Thinks that he and Mayhem are great grapplers and he expects non-stop action during the fight

Has no problem hurting Mayhem. They are not friends but get along with each other.

Feels that the middleweight division is the toughest in Strikeforce

Working on his conditioning a lot more since it will be a five-round fight

Cung Le and Frank Shamorck are not interested in fighting top 10 opponents

His sponsorship money goes up for this fight since it will be on CBS

Mayhem Miller: "It is such a honor to be fighting Jake Shields. "It is great to have Fedora on the undercard." That was Mayhem's opening statement on the conference call. Mayhem was hilarious and entertaining with all his answers to the questions posed by the media.

Says he would need liposuction surgery to get down to 170 lbs. He said he would need to cut off a piece of his head to go back to the welterweight division.

"I am twittering, facebooking, and myspacing to promote the fight."

Mayhem said he is looking for sponsors for the fight and if fans want their name on his shorts, he will do it for $75.

"I am borderline gay with my showmanship flair." He said he is planning a very creative entrance to the cage.

"It's business. I fought my dad so many times and we are still cool." He said he thinks it's strange for reporters to ask him how it feels to fight a guy he gets along with. He said if the media wants him to hate Shields, he will. He then started to cuss out Shields on the call and Shields returned the favor.

"I will do everything better than Jake."I'm just going to show everybody that I have the skills to beat Jake."

Mayhem also said that a lot of young males recognize him due to being on MTV's Bully Beatdown show.

He said he has never ducked anybody before and would fight Jacare Souza and Tim Kennedy on the same night if Coker wanted to do that.

"We get to see Fedor fight for free on TV. I can't wait to sit in the front row and watch with my new Strikeforce belt."

Coker: Strikeforce cards are stacked from top to bottom because he wants to give the fans a great show.

Tim Kennedy could be the next challenger for the title or Souza. Souza will fight in December.

Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem will fight in early February or late March.

On new matchmaker Rich Chou—"Rich has a been a great addition to the team. He moved here from Hawaii. I have a real comfort level with him. He's going to have the ball and run with it. He will quarterback the matchmaking initiatives from here on out"

Mark Coleman Pulls Out Of Fight With Tito Ortiz Due To Injury

D Wizzle — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 11:35:21 -0400

Tito Ortiz tweeted yesterday that Mark Coleman has pulled out of their scheduled fight at UFC 106 in Las Vegas on Nov. 21.

Ortiz and Coleman were supposed to be the co-main event on the show. The main event that evening will be between Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin.

Ortiz tweeted "Coleman,coleman,coleman to bad he sissies out!!!"

Coleman's friend, Michael DiSabato, said that Coleman suffered a second degree tear of his MCL and asked to postpone the fight until Jan. 2. DiSabato is the VP of the clothing line, CageFighter.

Who will Ortiz fight now?

The UFC could give him Rashad Evans in a rematch, but Evans probably does not want to fight Ortiz right now. Evans wants to fight a top contender and he probably would rather square off with Thiago Silva instead. Silva is a more dangerous opponent at this point, but if Evans wants a title shot against UFC lightweight champion Lyoto Machida, he will have to fight another top contender like Silva.

Ortiz is coming off a very long layoff due to back surgery and Coleman was supposed to be a tune-up match for him. I could see someone like Keith Jardine stepping up to fight Ortiz. Jardine lost to Silva in his last fight and he might not be medically cleared to fight in November.

Another possible opponent would be Forrest Griffin. Griffin and Ortiz fought in a very exciting match in California a few years ago. Griffin was last seen running from the cage after being knocked out by Anderson Silva a few months ago.

Other possible interesting opponents are Dan Henderson and Houston Alexander.

What's Next for the Winners of UFC 103?

D Wizzle — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 00:48:07 -0400

What's next for the winners at UFC 103? All the winners last Saturday night in Dallas had very convincing wins against their opponents. Each of the victorious fighters should face stiffer competition in their next fight.

Vitor Belfort had another quick match, as he knocked out Rich Franklin in the first round. Belfort should challenge Anderson Silva for the UFC middleweight belt next. If the UFC does not give Belfort a title shot, they should have him take on Nate Marquardt.

The winner of this fight would then be the next in line to take on Silva.

Junior Dos Santos is a title contender after beating Mirko Cro Cop. He probably needs two more wins to get a title shot. The UFC should have him take on Gabriel Gonzaga next.

Gonzaga would be a tough opponent, and he also has a win over Cro Cop.

Paul Daley won by TKO over Martin Kampmann, and he showed very impressive stand-up skills. There are many possible opponents in the welterweight division for Daley.

A match with Anthony "Rumble" Johnson and Daley would be very explosive. It would probably be a stand-up battle, unless Johnson decides to try to take Daley down. Johnson would have the reach advantage over Daley.

Most fighters would want to get Daley on the ground, but Johnson might keep the fight on his feet.

Daley is outstanding on his feet, but he is suspect on the ground. An opponent like Matt Hughes or Josh Koscheck would try to get him on the ground immediately.

A fight between Daley and Matt Brown would be exciting, too. Brown is a very tough guy, and he might be willing to trade blows with Daley.

Koscheck easily knocked out Frank Trigg in the first round, and it is time for Koscheck to get a stiffer test. Koscheck wants to fight Hughes and has called him out, but Koscheck needs to fight someone like Carlos Condit instead.

Is Hughes still relevant in the welterweight division? What does a win against Hughes do for Koscheck? A fight against Condit would establish another top contender for the welterweight belt.

Koscheck said after the fight that he would fight anyone but that is not true. He refuses to fight AKA teammates Jon Fitch and Mike Swick. This limits the UFC's ability in finding Koscheck worthy opponents.

Tyson Griffin took care of Hermes Franca, and he is a legitimate contender in the lightweight division. He is probably two to three wins away from a title shot. Griffin should take on Efrain Escudero next.

Escudero knocked out Cole Miller in the prelim card at UFC 103, and this would be a great matchup of young fighters.

Another good fight would be Nate Diaz vs. Griffin. Diaz would have a huge reach advantage but that didn't do him any good when he fought Joe Stevenson.

All of the winners on the main card at UFC 103 could be deserving of title shots in the near future if they keep on winning. All of these fighters have very promising futures inside the octagon.

Daniel Cormier: A Q&A With The Strikeforce Heavyweight

D Wizzle — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 19:02:57 -0400

Daniel Cormier is a former outstanding Oklahoma State wrestler and United States Olympian who will be making his MMA debut this Friday on the Strikeforce Challengers show. He will go up against Gary Frazier in the heavyweight division.

Cormier's fight is expected to be the first fight of the night and it will be live on the cable network, Showtime. He is currently training in San Jose, California at the American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) to prepare for his fight.

Q&A with Daniel Cormier

DW: How's it going, DC? Are you ready and excited about your upcoming fight against Gary Frazier on Friday?

DC: Yes, I am really excited about the fight. I've had a good training camp and I feel well prepared.

DW: What do you know about Frazier?

DC: You know, I don't know much about Gary. I know that he also is a wrestler and a great athlete. Any man that steps into the cage has my respect.

DW: What can fans watching on Showtime this Friday night expect to see from you?

DC: What they can expect is a guy that goes forward, and sets the pace of his fights. Fans will never feel cheated with me because I will always give 110 percent either in victory or defeat. Hopefully I can excite them, and make them never want to miss a D.C. fight.

DW: What has been the biggest transition for you going from wrestling to MMA?

DC: The biggest transition has been the striking. I'm sure that's what all wrestlers say. Learning to punch correctly is a tough thing to do (laughs).

DW: There are a lot of MMA gyms all over the country. Why did you pick AKA as the place to train?

DC: I chose AKA because it's one of the best camps in the fight game and my training situation is unmatched. To be able to go and train with the guys I train with daily is a blessing. It was just the best place for me. I knew that after being here for two days.

DW: Of all the great and talented fighters in AKA that you train with on a daily basis, which one has impressed you the most?

DC: All of the guys train really hard, but I must say no one has impressed me more than Cain Velasquez. He's one of the biggest guys in the gym, but also one of the hardest workers. Those two things don't normally go together. He has unbelievable skill too.

DW: Can you tell me what a regular day of training at AKA consists of?

DC: The training varies from day to day. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday are sparring days. Tuesdays and Thursdays are grappling and jiu-jitsu days. At night, we do individual workouts and cardio.

DW: How do you enjoy living in the Bay Area? What is the biggest difference between living here and the other places you have lived at?

DC: Living here has been cool. I've been in Stillwater for 10 years and it's real small. The diversity of this city (San Jose) has been the biggest change. Also, if you have time, there are always things to do here, such as concerts and shows.

DW: Were you a MMA fan growing up, and do you have any fighters that you look up to?

DC: I have watched MMA since the early days. For me though, most everything goes back to wrestling so watching Kevin Jackson and Kenny Monday fight was always cool to me.

DW: Thanks a lot, DC for taking the time to talk to me. Good luck in your MMA debut.

DC: Thanks for having me and watch the fights on September 25th. I also want to thank Gary Frazier for accepting the fight on such short notice. Lastly, I want to thank all my sponsors and say what's up to my Team Thirsty and GDP brother KING MO. DC. GDP!!!!

UFC Notes: Former Ring Girl In New Mag, NFL Player Wants Hughes

D Wizzle — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 12:24:57 -0400

You can view the UFC 103 weigh-ins on Friday at 2pm PT here.

MMA-Examiner%7Ey2009m9d14-List-of-UFC-fighters-on-Twitter" target="_blank">Here is a list of UFC fighters who tweet on Twitter.

Two or more prelim fights at UFC 103 will be aired live on Spike TV tomorrow night starting at 6pm.

NFL player, Chad OchoCinco, was on Ustream on Wednesday night said he and his friends were at his house watching the UFC. OchoCinco told his viewers that he wants to fight Georges St.Pierre, Anderson Silva, and Brock Lesnar.

He asked his viewers if anyone knew how to contact St. Pierre but he eventually decided that he really wanted to fight Matt Hughes. He called out Hughes' name a few times after watching Hughes fight Frank Trigg on his TV.

Former UFC Octagon Girl, Ali Sonoma, is on the cover of Muscle and Fitness magazine this month along with Stone Cold Steve Austin. The magazine mentions that she is a top bikini competitor and that she loves guys who do yoga because that means they are flexible and being flexible is good for a lot of things.

She also stated that she is studying to be a nurse.

UFC welterweight contender, Mike Swick, is on the cover of this month's Fight! Magazine. In the magazine, they mention that he is a real nice guy and very nice to everyone that he meets. He reads the emails from his fans and replies to all of them.

The article in the magazine also mentions that one of his former UFC opponents, Gideon Ray, laughed at him whenever Ray or his entourage encountered Swick days prior to their fight.

Swick knocked out Ray in the first round in their fight. Ray didn't take too kindly to the knockout loss and began to threaten Swick by email much to Swick's surprise.

Swick is from Texas and started to go to a boxing gym when he was a teenager. He comes out to the cage with 2pac's "Ambitionz Az A Ridah" song because the guys in his gym always played that song constantly,

Another tidbit from the article was that Swick has been to places like Russia and Thailand and he has visited snake pits in Thailand. Swick is starting a clothing line called Combat Life and he has a great admiration for the military.

Just like OchoCinco, Swick wants a fight with Hughes.

Strikeforce News and Notes: Carano Gets Movie Role

D Wizzle — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 20:01:21 -0400

Strikeforce has still not announced their next big card on Showtime.

There are rumors that the much hyped Fedor Emelianenko vs. Brett Rogers match will be held in New Jersey on October 10. Some MMA websites have even claimed that Strikeforce is delaying the announcement as long as possible so the UFC cannot have counterprogramming on the same night.

While Strikeforce could possibly have their show on October 10, they might delay their show until October 31 or November 7. If they have their show on October 31, it appears that the HP Pavilion in San Jose has no event currently booked for that day. Local fans in the Bay Area who are wishing that they get to watch Fedor fight in San Jose might have some hope.

Strikeforce's next show on Showtime will be on September 25. This show will be a part of the Strikeforce Challengers Series. The event showcases mostly younger fighters and potential future stars in MMA.

Heavyweight fighter Paul "The Headhunter" Buentello has been released from his contract with Strikeforce and it appears that his next fight will be back in the UFC. There goes the possibility of a Fedor vs. Buentello fight in the future.

Gina Carano is booked for a movie role either later this year or early in 2010. I guess we won't be seeing her in a cage for a long time. Carano disappointed many fans and the media after her loss to Cyborg Santos last month by not appearing at the post-fight press conference.

While Carano did a lot of press before the fight, she was nowhere to be found afterwards. She was a part of the main event on that night and had the responsibility to show up if she was not seriously injured.

There has been talk of a fight between Robbie Lawler and Ronaldo Jacare Souza but it now seems that the fight was only proposed by Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker. Neither fighter has agreed to the fight and Jacare wants another crack at Jason "Mayhem" Miller. Lawler's camp has stated that they want him to fight someone like Matt Lindland instead.

Light heavyweight fighter Kevin "The Monster" Randleman is set to fight at Sengoku 11 in Japan next. His opponent might be King Mo Lawal. This fight would be a good one for Strikeforce. Lawal is a very talented fighter and would be a great addition to Strikeforce's roster.

What's Next for the UFC 102 Winners?

D Wizzle — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 02:33:20 -0400

The winners of UFC 102 included veterans like Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Nate Marquardt, but also youngsters like Todd Duffee and Evan Dunham.

With his big win over Randy Couture, Nogueira could be one fight away from another shot at the UFC heavyweight belt. A fight between the winner of Cain Velasquez and Ben Rothwell is quite possible for Nogueira unless the UFC deems Velasquez worthy of a title shot after his fight with Rothwell at UFC 104 next month.

If Mirko Cro Cop defeats Junior Dos Santos at UFC 103 later ths month, a rematch with Cro Cop could also be in store for Nogueira. Nogueira defeated Cro Cop in 2003 by armbar when they were both in Pride.

Thiago Silva rebounded from a loss to UFC light-heavyweight champion, Lyoto Machida, by dismantling Keith Jardine at UFC 102. Silva should fight Rashad Evans next since Evans needs a new opponent since Rampage Jackson postponed their fight which was scheduled later this year in Memphis.

Another option could be Brandon Vera. Vera also won at UFC 102 when he defeated Krzysztof Soszynski. If Vera doesn't take on Silva next, he could face another Brazilian in Luiz Cane. Both of these potential fights could be very entertaining and full of intrigue and action.

Nate Marquardt had a hightlight-reel knockout over Demian Maia and he would like another title shot against UFC middleweight champion, Anderson Silva. Silva defeated Marquardt once already and Silva's camp doesn't seem too interested in a rematch right away.

The UFC might have Dan Henderson take on Marquardt to see who the next challenger for Silva's title will be. The problem with that is that Henderson is said to not be so keen on that idea while Marquardt has stated he doesn't care who he fights next.

Other options for Marquardt are Wanderlei Silva, Yoshihiro Akiyama, and Yushin Okami. Marquardt is ready to fight very soon since he did not have any injuries in his fight against Maia.

Jake Rosholt and Mark Munoz were also both winners at UFC 102 and they could match-up with each other next. Aaron Simpson, who defeated Ed Herman on the same card, could also be in the mix to fight either Rosholt or Munoz. Simpson was very impressive in his win.

Todd Duffee impressed everyone with his seven second knockout of Tim Hague and he asked Dana White for a top-level opponent next. White should give him Gabriel Gonzaga as his next opponent.

Is Duffee for real or not? Having him match up against a veteran like Gonzaga would be a real test for him. Gonzaga defeated Chris Tuchscherer on the same card as Duffee.

Evan Dunham had a nice win over Marcus Aurelio and the young lightweight fighter has plenty of possible opponents to fight next. A fight against other young fighters like Phillipe Nover or Justin Buchholtz could be very entertaining.

There are a lot of interesting fights that the UFC can have later this year and early in 2010 for the fans. Are fighters like Duffee and Dunham future title contenders or just average fighters? Will Marquardt and Nogueira get another title shot soon?

Only time will tell but the UFC has plenty of options when they book opponents for these fighters.

What's Next for the UFC 102 Losers?

D Wizzle — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 17:07:30 -0400

There were a lot of notable losers at UFC 102, including MMA legend Randy Couture. Where do the losers at UFC 102 like Couture and others go from here?

For Couture, he has the option of fighting in either the heavyweight division or the light heavyweight division. He has stated that he is looking for "interesting fights" at this stage of his career.

The 46-year-old Couture is no longer in line for a title shot in either division, but there are plenty of fighters that would like to headline a show with him.

It would be very interesting to see how he matches up against young fighters such as Cain Velasquez and Todd Duffee. Duffee, who is coming off a brutal seven-second knockout victory at UFC 102 against Tim Hague, is only 23 years old. He has told UFC President Dana White that he wants to fight top-level fighters, and Couture certainly fits the bill.

Velasquez has a wrestling background like Couture, and fans would be intrigued by this matchup as well. Velasquez is very highly regarded and could be in line for a title shot if he defeats Ben Rothwell at UFC 104 in October.

Couture could also move back to the light heavyweight division and fight old rivals like Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz, or Vitor Belfort again. A match against younger fighters like Jon Jones or Brandon Vera could be interesting, also. Even UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva could be in the mix to fight Couture next year.

Keith Jardine suffered a knockout loss to Thiago Silva and has lost four of his last six fights in the Octagon. He needs to regain his confidence after two consecutive losses, and a fight with Krzysztof Soszynski or Brian Stann might be interesting. He could also face the winner of Tito Ortiz vs. Mark Coleman.

Soszynski lost by unanimous decision at UFC 102 to Vera and other possible opponents for him in his next fight include Stephan Bonnar and Ryan Bader. Soszynski is not a title contender in the light heavyweight division, and his next fight might be part of the prelims instead of the main card.

Chris Leben lost to Jake Rosholt, and he is also not a title contender. Leben is an entertaining fighter, though, because he loves to stand and bang. A good opponent for him would be Drew McFedries. McFedries prefers the stand-up game as well and this would be a very entertaining bout.

Demian Maia lost for the first time in his MMA career to Nate Marquardt, and now he needs to rebound with a win in his next fight. Maia could possibly take on another ground fighter such as Rousimar Palhares or Japanese star Yushin Okami. Maia defeated Okami in the ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship in 2007.

Some of the losers at UFC 102 still have a future with the UFC, but for others, they better win their next fight or they could be possibly be cut from the organization.

UFC 102 Post-Fight Notes: Randy Couture Signs New Six-Fight Deal

D Wizzle — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 02:12:01 -0400

Here are notes from the UFC 102 post-fight press conference with Dana White, Brandon Vera, Nate Marquardt, Randy Couture, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Thiago Silva, and Jake Rosholt.

White said the UFC will probably go to Seattle before it goes back to Portland again when they have another show in the Pacific Northwest. He said that the UFC made a mistake with the ticket prices this time—tickets were too pricey—but he was happy with the turnout.

Although there were a lot of knockouts this evening, none of the fighters had to go to the hospital.

Chuck Liddell was texting White all night long, and he wants to get back into the cage.

White was asked about Todd Duffee, and White said he likes him and that Duffee wants to fight again soon. Duffee told White after the fight with Tim Hague that he wants to fight a top opponent soon.

White thought that Couture was done about 10 times in his fight with Nogueira. He was asked about doing five-round fights for non-title fights, and White said he won't do it, even though he would like to see some fights go five rounds. He said that fighters in championship fights earn the right to fight five rounds.

Couture came to the press conference late and announced that he signed a 28-month contract for six fights earlier today, but he also said he plans to take it one fight at a time. He doesn't know if he wants to stay at heavyweight or move back down to light heavyweight.

He said the contract ensures that he will be staying with the UFC and he won't be in another organization.

Roshalt said he wanted to stand up with Chris Leban to show everyone he is not just a wrestler.

Marquardt said he doesn't care if his next fight is against Anderson Silva or another top opponent.

Nogueira stated that he had a staph infection a few weeks before his fight against Frank Mir and that he had a fever a week before the fight. He said he was ready to fight five rounds tonight and that he respects Couture a lot, and that is why he trained so hard for tonight's fight.

Vera said he wanted to knock out his opponent, Krzysztof Soszynski, with his hands tonight, but that Soszynski was very tough.

Gilbert Melendez Hosts MMA Event Tonight

D Wizzle — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 18:02:23 -0400

Strikeforce Interim Lightweight Champion, Gilbert "El Nino" Melendez will be the special host tonight at "Pure Pankration 2" tonight at 1015 Folsom in San Francisco.

There will be 12 total fights tonight and some of the fighters are from Ralph Gracie Jiujitsu, GracieFighter Team Black, Fight and Fitness, Fairtex, Jake Shields American Jiujitsu, and El Nino Training Center.

There will be hot ring girls and go-go dancers as well including a hot blonde named Megan Kamfolt (pictured above).

Doors will open at 7 p.m. and the first fight will start at 8. The last event was held last month and the club was packed with MMA fans and partygoers enjoying the in-ring action.

Last month's show was hosted by Jake Shields.

Post "Carano vs. Cyborg" Thoughts

D Wizzle — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 02:09:41 -0400

Cyborg Santos vs. Gina Carano was a great fight but I wished it would have went another round. I think the ref, Jake Rosenthal, should have given Carano a chance to recover for Round two.

Now we don't know if Carano and her corner would have let her come out for another round or not. It was a bad call by Rosenthal.

Carano should never have given up the mount position in the first round. She made a big mistake doing that and allowed Cyborg to get back up on her feet.

I am glad Showtime and Strikeforce decided to show the Fabricio Werdum vs Mike Kyle fight instead of Jay Hieron vs Jesse Taylor.

The Hieron/Taylor fight went three rounds and based on Internet reports, it was a boring fight. It was a good choice by Scott Coker and the Showtime executives to make that decision.

Gegard Mousasi is the new star in the light heavyweight division. I would love to see him fight Tito Ortiz, but Ortiz decided to go to the UFC instead of signing with Strikeforce. Mousasi was very impressive against Babalu Sobral.

Gilbert Melendez easily took care of Mitsuhiro Ishida and hopefully we can see Melendez and Josh Thomson fight soon.

Fabricio Werdum had a nice win over Mike Kyle to start off the show on Showtime. He is a possible opponent for Fedor in the future.

Strikeforce once again had a lot of exciting fights and a great show. Their fights seem to always end up in TKO or submission while the UFC shows always seem to have more decisions than TKO and submission finishes.

Strikeforce's next show on Showtime will be on Sept. 25 and the main event is headlined by Cyborg Santos' husband, Evangelista Santos as he takes on Tim Kennedy.

Anderson Silva Saves a Lackluster UFC 101 Card

D Wizzle — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 11:41:27 -0400

I bought the UFC 101 pay-per-view for $44.95 on UFC.com and watched it on the very small 600K media player that the website provided. The screen was so small that I had to click on "full screen" during some of the fights. The problem with the full screen mode is that the screen gets very grainy and unclear.

The whole show was a huge disappointment and very boring until Johny Hendricks had a TKO win over Amir Sadollah in the first round. Anderson Silva saved the show by providing a great performance to the fans when he destroyed Forrest Griffin.

BJ Penn's performance was impressive as well, but his fight was not as exciting as Silva vs. Griffin. Kenny Florian just didn't have enough tools in his toolbox to contend with Penn, and he was totally outclassed.

The fans did not care about fighters such as Shane Nelson and Aaron Riley, but the crowd went wild during their fight...because a big brawl broke out in the stands.

Kurt Pellegrino's win over Josh Neer was a good win for Pellegrino, but it was not very exciting. Ricardo Almeida beat Kendall Grove, but no one really cared about that one either.

I was watching the Octagon Girls on the "Octagon Girl Cam" on UFC's backstage cam website (http://www.ufc.com/multicast) more than I was watching the actual fights. It was more interesting to watch Arianny Celeste play with her cell phone, bob her head to the entrance music, and take a sip of her drink than watch some of the action inside the Octagon.

Strikeforce has better shows than the UFC usually because they have five good matchups on their main cards. The UFC likes to give you one or two matchups with stars in it, and the rest of the fights are with fighters that the fans don't care about at all.

I didn't pay $44.95 to watch Amir Sadollah in a pay-per-view or Ricardo Almeida. These guys should be fighting on free TV on Spike TV instead. I don't like paying so much money just to see one or two good fights, but I don't have a choice if I want to see Silva fight.

Strikeforce can have better shows than the UFC because they don't have cards every month like the UFC does. The UFC has one or two shows a month, and each card has about 10 fights.

I would pay to see fighters such as Silva, Penn, Tito Ortiz, Georges St-Pierre, and Anthony Johnson fight, but the UFC needs to stop putting the Amir Sadollahs and Shane Nelsons on pay-per-view shows.

UFC 101: Post Fight Press Conference Notes: Silva Won't Fight Machida

D Wizzle — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 02:16:46 -0400

Attendence was 17,411.

Dana White says Anderson Silva is the best pound for pound fighter in the world and that B.J.Penn looks like he is in great shape and the last time he was in this great of shape was in 2001.

He does not know where Forrest Griffin is and said he could be in Georgia already. He said that Griffin is an emotional fighter.

Silva said styles makes fights and Thales Leites wanted to take him down but Griffin stood there and wanted to exchange with him.

Penn's game plan was to take away Florian's kicks. He figured that Florian would want to kick him all night long.

White talked to Roy Jones Jr. tonight and said he doesn't like a Jones vs. Silva fight. He doesn't want to disrespect Jones Jr. but he does not like the fight at all since the UFC is MMA and not boxing.

White thinks Silva will fight Dan Henderson again in a rematch for the middleweight title.

There were 11,000 fans in the arena during the first prelim fight. That is a lot of fans for prelim fights.

White wants to come back to Philadelphia.

White gets $60,000 for Submission of the Night and Silva gets a $120,000 bonus as well. Griffin gets $60,000 also because his fight was "Fight of the Night."

White says he will make Silva fight Lyoto Machida in the future if Silva keeps on taking out all the top light heavyweights in the UFC. Silva shook his head and said that Machida is his friend and brother and that he will never fight Machida.

White says that there is no reason they shouldn't fight and that it does not matter if fighters are friends since MMA is no different than a football game.

Silva said Griffin should be respected because he is a former champion and that no one should think less of him because he ran out right after the fight.

Ricardo Almeida said he would like to go down to welterweight in his next fight because he was only 187 pounds today and he felt weak in the third round against Kendell Grove due to the size difference.

White said that Tito Ortiz is fighting Mark Coleman in his return to the Octagon.

White said he is planning to have a future card in Boston at Fenway Park.

Penn credits Marv Marinovich for helping with his conditioning.

The press conference just ended at 2:12 a.m. in the East Coast.

UFC 101 Picks: Florian To Upset Penn

D Wizzle — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 19:33:29 -0400

Tonight's card should be very interesting as we will get to watch a lightweight title match and Anderson Silva gets to fight a guy that is bigger than him in Forrest Griffin. Here are my picks.

Florian over Penn by TKO in the third round

Silva over Griffin by TKO in the first round

Pellegrino over Neer by rear naked choke in the second round

Grover over Almeida by unanimous decision

Hendricks over Sadollah by split decision

Sotiropoulos over Roop by armbar in the second round

Riddle over Cramer by TKO in the second round

Leites over Sakara by armbar in the first round

Howard over McCrory by split decision

Riley over Nelson by rear naked choke in the second round

Strikeforce Stuns the UFC And Signs Fedor Emelianenko

D Wizzle — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 13:03:15 -0400

Strikeforce announced this morning that they had signed Fedor Emelianenko to a multi-fight deal. This is a big coup for Strikeforce as the UFC was very interested in signing Fedor and pulled out all the stops to get him signed last week. UFC President Dana White must be really angry after hearing today's announcement from Strikeforce.

A lot of hardcore MMA fans consider Fedor to be the best fighter pound for pound in the sport. The mainstream fans are not familiar with him though and he is not a known entity in the United States. Strikeforce will have to promote him well so he can build up a strong following in this country.

Who will Fedor challenge in Strikeforce? While the competition won't be as stacked as in the UFC, Strikeforce will still have formidable opponents for him. Fighters such as Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem, Fabricio Werdum, Brett Rogers, and Paul Buentello are all possible and likely opponents for Fedor in the future.

Strikeforce could possibly sign former WWE supertar Bobby Lashley to take on Fedor as well if Lashley continues to progress as a MMA fighter. If fighters like Randy Couture still want a crack at Fedor, they must leave the UFC and go to Strikeforce now.

This deal looks to be mutually beneficial for both Strikeforce and Fedor. Fedor and his management sign a contract with the terms they wanted and Strikeforce now has a great addition to their heavyweight roster.

Strikeforce's Gina Carano Talks about Her Period and Breast Padding

D Wizzle — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 17:47:40 -0400

Strikeforce's next big event on Aug. 15 will feature a main event between Gina Carano and Cyborg Santos for the first-ever Strikeforce 145-pound women's title.

Carano is currently in the new issue of ESPN The Magazine with St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina on the cover. There is a one-page feature on Carano entitled "6 Things You Should Know About Being A Female MMA Fighter."

Carano briefly mentions about how she doesn't like to schedule fights the week of her period. In the feature, she says, "Making weight is hard enough, and during our period we may retain around seven pounds of water weight. Plus bruises hurt more, you're bloated and cramping, and emotionally, it's tougher to battle through the training."

She talks about how some states require the women fighters to wear breast padding, so she wears three sports bras in her fights.

While most fans and some female fighters have been lobbying for five-minute rounds for women, Carano doesn't seem to like that concept. She said, "I liked the old length. It's hard to get in shape for a 25-minute fight!"

She also mentions in the article that she can beat guys up who don't train MMA and that male MMA fighters are not that great to date. Another interesting tidbit she gave was that there are a lot of talented women fighters out there who have the potential to be headliners like her as well.

Although she is adored by a lot of men, Carano states that "it's not uncommon for women to start with me." She gave an example of a tense situation at a bar that almost got her into trouble.

Carano will be the overwhelming crowd favorite in San Jose when she fights Santos, as the HP Pavilion erupted loudly when her face was shown on the big screen at Strikeforce's last event a few months ago.

She has come a long way in popularity since she made her San Jose debut in 2006 against Elaina "Beef" Maxwell. Back then, the crowd was rooting for the local girl, Maxwell, and no one really knew who Carano was. Carano did get a lot of cheers after the fight, though, as she and Maxwell had a great fight.

The women fighters always seem to steal the show at MMA events, and fans will be expecting the fight between Carano and Santos to be one hell of a fight.

The question is: If Carano loses, will her star still shine bright?

Carano is the face of women's MMA right now, and it will be interesting to see if she will fold under the pressure on Aug. 15 when she faces her toughest opponent yet in Santos.

Why Women Journalists In Sports Are Not Respected

D Wizzle — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 01:58:19 -0400

Erin Andrews might be a good looking woman, but that does not make her a great sideline reporter or sports journalist. The primary reason she got her job at ESPN was because of her looks. The major reason women like her, Ashley Russell of Yahoo Sports, Heidi Watney of NESN, and Clarissa Thompson of Fox Sports got their jobs is because they are blonde and considered to be "hotties."

These blondes are sexy, attractive, and very easy on the eyes. It doesn't matter that they might not know a lot about sports. They don't have to. Their job is to dress nice and look hot on camera.

It is never hard for a sexy young woman to find a job even in this tough economy. ESPN and other sports networks are always looking for the next Erin Andrews. Andrews might be hot but she might not even be the hottest woman on ESPN as Molly Qerim has a lot of male fans as well.

Why should fans respect these women as journalists? Are they great at their jobs? Do they have great knowledge of sports and provide in-depth analysis? We all know the answer to that. Let's face it, a lot of people can do their jobs and do it well. Unfortunately I don't look anything like any of these babes.

I know many young women who aim to be the next Erin Andrews. One woman even told me that Andrews was her idol and is hoping to get a job just like hers in the future.

One female that fans do respect and like is Doris Burke of ESPN. She covers a lot of different sports for ESPN and she does an excellent job. She doesn't try to wear scantily clad outfits, short skirts, or high heels but she is highly effective in doing her job.

It is too bad that Burke is an anomoly and that most women in sports are not as good as her.

One of the worst in-game reporters is Amy Gutierrez who covers the San Francisco Giants on their broadcasts. Giants' fans can't stand her and she is often ridiculed on Giants message boards. Gutierrez doesn't seem to have much knowledge of baseball and she asks the players stupid questions. She once did not know she was live yet and started to count down from five before she started to speak, and she recently gave a hug to a player after a great outing.

Ninety-nine percent of the female sideline reporters are hired because they are eye candy and nothing else. You don't have to know anything about sports but if you were in a beauty pageant, you just might get hired.

From the days of Phyllis George in the 1970s to Erin Andrews in 2009, not much has changed when it comes to female reporters and sports.

Andrews is now supposedly very angry because some so-called pervert filmed her without her permission when she was alone and naked in a hotel room. How do we know that she did not leak the video herself? How do we know that this "pervert" is a man and not a woman?

I have read numerous articles online by writers and bloggers on the peephole incident and everyone assumes that the person behind the videos is a man. It probably is a man but you also have to look into the possibility that the "pervert" is a woman as well.

Some people even have suggested that Andrews leaked the videos herself in order to boost her popularity. A lot of people in America now know who Erin Andrews is thanks to all the media coverage of the videos.

I saw all six or seven videos last week and I didn't think much of them at all. She doesn't do anything interesting at all and is just walking around the hotel room naked. She has a typical figure that you would expect from a tall and slender woman. There was nothing special about the videos at all.

I can see how someone might be excited about checking the videos if they never seen a naked woman in their life but it was probably a big disappointment to even the biggest fans of Andrews.

Of course, the videos were a terrible invasion to her privacy and she might truly be traumatized at this moment. She has her fans but she also has her detractors who think she kisses up to the athletes and coaches she interviews.

Andrews is a public figure and one of the most popular employees on ESPN. She should know that all her actions are scrutinized but she does not deserve to be captured naked in videos without her consent and knowledge.

Unfortunately for her, she has and now every fan does not have to imagine what she looks like under her revealing outfits.

As for the future of women covering sports on TV, I don't see any changes in the near future. The head honchos at networks such as ESPN probably would hire Tila Tequila over a more qualified person and that is a scary thought.

When it comes to females like Andrews, Russell, Thompson, and Watney, it's all about sexual appeal and let's not pretend it isn't.

Giants Need To Wave White Flag And Trade Their Veterans

D Wizzle — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 20:13:23 -0400

The San Francisco Giants clearly are not going to make the playoffs this season as the Dodgers have the best record in the majors and are only getting better. The Giants are not serious contenders for the wild card in the National League either as they do not have the bats to win consistently.

What the Giants need to do now is trade their veterans such as Randy Winn and Bengie Molina. They could get some value in return before the trade deadline.

If anyone wants to take Aaron Rowand, I would definitely trade him as well if I was the general manager. Players like Rowand, Winn, and Molina would definitely help a playoff contender get over the hump and into the playoffs.

The Giants need to give more time to their young players like Fred Lewis, Matt Downs, and Andres Torres.

No team probably wants to trade for Juan Uribe or Edgar Renteria so the Giants might be stuck with them this season. The same can't be said for middle relievers such as Brandon Medders, Justin Miller, and Merkin Valdez. A team like the Rockies who need quality relievers would benefit greatly from acquiring any of those pitchers.

Even the closer, Brian Wilson, should be offered in trades. He would be a great acquisition for a team looking for an 8th inning guy.

The Giants had a great first half but they are showing their true colors in the second half. It is time to make some trades and try to get better for 2010.

Strikeforce News and Notes: Cung Le Getting Married and Overeem Injured

D Wizzle — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 15:51:49 -0400

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker recently was interviewed by Ariel Helwani of Fanhouse.com and Coker said that he plans on signing a lot of women fighters for their 135-pound and 145-pound divisions. He mentioned a fighter from Belgium with a judo background that they are looking at.

Coker also stated to Helwani that he wants to have stacked cards for every show and that he plans on having tournaments for the women in order to crown a champion in the 135 pound division.

He wants to have five good fights for the fans each time instead of just having a good main event and a co-main event like how the UFC usually does with their pay-per-view shows.

Cung Le is getting married on Aug. 8 to his girlfriend and should be fighting by the end of the year, according to Coker. He wants to have a match with Jake Shields and another opponent for the interim middleweight title and the winner of that fight would go on to fight Le.

Nick Diaz wanted the fight against Joe Riggs on Aug. 15 to be a title fight, and he got his wish.

Coker also said that he has interacted with UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar in the past and that he is a very nice guy who was probably just caught up in the moment when he went on his tirade after his UFC 100 victory over Frank Mir.

Strikeforce heavyweight fighter Levar Johnson was shot on July 4 at a family party and is recovering from his injuries.

There will only be three title fights on Aug. 15 on the Showtime event in San Jose because Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem still has not recovered fully from a hand injury suffered in a brawl a few months ago. Overeem was scheduled to fight Fabricio Werdum.

MMAjunkie.com has reported that Jorge Gurgel will take on Billy Evangelista in a lightweight fight on Oct. 25 in Fresno, CA. This show will be a Strikeforce Challengers show which highlights up-and-coming fighters.

MMAjunkie.com also reported that former UFC fighter Jason Von Flue might be taking on Cung Le student, James Terry, on Aug. 15 as part of the undercard. Strikeforce will probably announce more undercard fights soon.

No One Wants To See Rich Franklin vs. Dan Henderson Rematch

D Wizzle — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 00:55:56 -0400

The UFC surprisingly announced today that the main event at UFC 103 will be a rematch between Dan Henderson and Rich Franklin. These two fought a close fight this past January in Dublin, Ireland at UFC 93, with Henderson winning the fight by split decision.

What was UFC matchmaker thinking in signing this rematch for Sept. 19 in Dallas? The fans on the MMA Web sites and forums are chastising the UFC for having these two fighters as the headliners for UFC 103.

BloodyElbow.com, a very popular MMA Web site, polled their readers asking them if they thought this fight is a good headliner for UFC 103 and 78 percent of the readers voted "no."

Franklin is coming off a nice win over Wanderlei Silva at UFC 99 and Henderson brutally knocked out Michael Bisping at UFC 100.

I would rather see a Franklin vs. Silva rematch or a Henderson vs. Bisping rematch than have Franklin and Henderson go toe-to-toe once again.

Franklin wants this rematch because he wants to avenge his close loss to Henderson. I don't see a good reason why Henderson would want the rematch, though.

Henderson should be fighting a top contender in the middleweight division or having a rematch against UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva. I would even rather see Franklin vs. Silva for the third time than Franklin vs. Henderson again.

There are close to 40 light heavyweights in the UFC and this is the best main event the UFC could get for their first show in Dallas in years?

I would have loved to see Chuck Liddell come back to fight Franklin but Liddell is still taking a break from MMA.

The hardcore MMA fans might be somewhat interested in Franklin vs. Henderson II but the average fan will not be buying the pay-per-view to watch these two guys duke it out again. There is a very good chance that this rematch will once again go three rounds and end up in the judges' hands.

The good news for the fans in Dallas is that the co-main event between Mike Swick and Martin Kampmann should be very exciting and action-packed. The winner of this fight will probably get the next crack at UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre.

I am disappointed in the UFC having Franklin vs. Henderson II as a main event in the United States and fans can tell the UFC how disappointed they are by not buying the show in September.

Carano Vs. Cyborg Press Conference Notes: "We're Female, No Penis"

D Wizzle — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 00:27:43 -0400

Strikeforce had a big press conference last week at the WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden to promote their August 15 event in San Jose, California.

The main event that evening will be a women's championship match-up between Gina Carano and Cyborg Santos. Both of these women were in attendance last week at the press conference to meet with the media, and to also have a public workout for the fans in New York.

Carano spoke first at the press conference and thanked the fans and the media for covering the event, and for giving her a job. She also thanked Randy Couture and all the trainers at Xtreme Couture gym in Las Vegas.

She thanked Strikeforce and Showtime for putting her and Cyborg on as the main event on August 15. She said, "It takes a lot of balls to put something like this on."

Couture is now Carano's head trainer and he will be cornering her for the fight. She said her looks won't help her out inside the cage and thinks it's a compliment when people always tell her she is too pretty to be fighting.

Carano also said this will be the toughest fight so far in her career and that it is not her style to talk trash. She claims the fight will speak for itself.

She is not worried about getting taken down by Cyborg to the ground, as she said as much. Carano also feels that the winner of this fight should be considered the best fighter in women's MMA.

Cyborg said she doesn't mind that the media is calling it "The beauty vs. the Beast."

Carano said she feels that men and women are two completely different animals and she said, "We're females, no penis," which got a big chuckle out of the people inside the WaMu Theater.

Carano was the big star of the whole event and most of the questions were directed at her.

Both women also did a public workout. They did not do much but hit the pads.

Strikeforce's August 15 MMA show will be shown on the cable network Showtime.