Fight Science

Interesting video from National Geographic. What is more powerful, the kick, the punch, or the knee? Apparently the Muay Thai knee, when executed correctly the Muay Thai knee can provide as much velocity and power as a car going 35 MPH.

"I am bad man, my knees are bad". ..... Muai Thai champ Melchor Menor.

The master Rickson Gracie makes a cameo and explains the art of Jiu Jitsu in episode 3.

Episode 2.



Episode 3

Babalu released from UFC

From NBC Sports dot com.

Renato "Babalu" Sobral has been cut from the UFC for his actions during his win over David Heath at UFC 74, UFC President Dana White confirmed in a conference call today.

Sobral, who beat Heath via anaconda choke in the second round, forced Heath to tap out, but held on to the submission move for about four seconds after referee Steve Mazzagatti stepped in to officially stop the fight. Mazzagatti then tried to forcibly pull Sobral off of Heath before he finally released the hold.

The move quickly turned the pro-Sobral crowd against him as cheers turned to boos at the Mandalay Bay Arena.

The bad blood between Sobral and Heath stemmed from the weigh-ins, when the two exchanged words. After the fight, Sobral defended his actions saying that he was simply teaching Heath respect.

"A lot of guys have a lot of emotions at the weigh-ins, but after you get done fighting, it's over," White said after the match, adding that Sobral should have known he'd earned Heath's respect simply by defeating him.

Sobral immediately had half of his fight purse held by the Nevada State Athletic Commission following the bout, and he faces other disciplinary action from the NSAC. Immediately after the fight, several media outlets voiced a hope that UFC would take disciplinary action towards Sobral, and White complied, though he did say he wouldn't completely close the door to Sobral down the road.

It wasn't the only rough scrape Babalu's had to endure lately. Earlier this summer, he was arrested for misdemeanor battery and trespassing in Tampa, Florida.

The veteran light-heavyweight has a 28-7 all-time MMA record, most notably losing via KO to Chuck Liddell in an August 2006 title fight.

Henderson on his upcoming fight

Henderson on his upcoming fight from:

http://www.nj.com/sports/ledger


"People may think I'm the underdog because they don't know me. But in my mind I'm not the underdog," said Henderson, who has compiled a pro mark of 22-5-0 and is the only fighter to hold the PRIDE middleweight and light heavyweight titles simultaneously. "They will definitely know who I am after this fight, especially after I beat the hell out of Quinton."

Henderson chuckled after making that last remark, but his humor shouldn't be misinterpreted as lack of commitment. He is hell-bent on becoming undisputed light heavyweight champion. There isn't a doubt in his mind he will accomplish this goal.

He's studied every aspect of Jackson's game -- how he delivers powerful strikes, utilizes his speed and escapes submission holds -- and has discovered cracks in the UFC's titleholder's armor. As a result, Henderson is certain he's the better all-around fighter -- physically and mentally.

"I've got a little bit better grappling. I'm a little smarter when I'm out there," Henderson said. "I don't make as many mistakes. He's athletic, but so am I. I feel I have the bigger heart ... I don't have any quit in me."

Fueling this confidence is a common opponent on their ledgers -- Wanderlei Silva. Each man has faced Silva twice. Jackson (27-6-0) was stopped in both of his encounters with the Brazilian, who recently sign with UFC.

Henderson, on the other hand, registered a split. He lost the first bout, in December 2000, by decision. But the long-awaited rematch, which took place Feb. 24, was all Henderson. He stopped Silva with a left hook in the second round to capture the PRIDE light heavyweight title.
Revisiting the bouts with Silva has helped Henderson compare his skills and fighting approach to those of Jackson. And after careful evaluation, he has an idea how the unification showdown is likely to play out.

"Quinton is going to try to take me down a little more than Silva. He's going to try to knock me out just like Wanderlei did," said Henderson, who's devised a way to counter Jackson's solid striking ability. "I've been working on my left hand a little bit more."

But countering any mistake Jackson is likely to make or avoiding being victimized by his strikes aren't the only obstacles Henderson will face. Jackson is a very powerful fighter and uses his strength to elude disaster.

And then there's that right hand. Jackson put it on display May 26 when he KO'd Chuck Liddell in the first round to claims the UFC belt.

"Quinton is more skilled and technical as a striker than Silva," Henderson said. "Quinton's athleticism and explosiveness gets him out of a lot of those mistakes that he makes. He gets caught in triangles and arm-bars and powers out of a lot of stuff that a lot of people don't when they get caught in those positions."

Henderson is confident he has discovered the formula for beating Jackson. Whether it is physical skill or mental toughness, the answer won't be known until they are in the Octagon.

Matt Hughes has left Miletich Fighting Systems - Confirmed

From MMA Weekly and from the mouth of Pat Miletich:

Former UFC Welterweight Champion Matt Hughes has left Miletich Fighting Systems, the team that helped develop him into a champion and the fighter he is today. The most dominant welterweight in UFC history plans on starting a gym in southern Illinois that would be closer to his home.

“From what Matt told me, he was offered a good financial deal to do it,” revealed Pat Miletich. “Also, he’s away from his family a lot so he wanted to be closer to Hillsborough, Ill., which is close to St. Louis [where the new gym is expected to be located].

“MAINE-IAC” BACK IN THE GYM

Tim Sylvia is back in the gym in preparation for his upcoming fight against Brandon Vera at UFC 77.

“Tim’s back in training and he’s starting to look pretty good already. He’s getting back into the groove,” said Miletich. “He’s doing it smart; he’s sliding back into it. Gradually build himself up and not overdoing it too early.”

After losing his heavyweight title to Randy Couture at UFC 68, Sylvia revealed that he suffered from a back injury a few months prior to his fight. Tim had surgery back in May to alleviate his discomfort.

“I had three bulged discs. It was pinching my sciatic nerve. What they did is they made a 4-inch incision on my spine, went in and moved the nerves aside and cut the bulges off that were hindering the sciatic nerve,” explained the former champion. “I feel great. I have lots of feeling in my left foot. The tingling down my leg, the huge pain in my buttocks and hamstring are no longer there.”

“His back is doing great,” added Miletich. “It’s nice to see him not in pain. It’s really nice to see him being able to move. When Tim’s healthy … can twist his body, move his feet, and do the things he wants to do, he hits very hard.

“Tim understands how tough Vera is and how hard he’s going to have to work to beat him. Every fight is a tough fight. Vera is a skilled kid. He’s got a unique style and he’s pretty versatile.”

Dan Henderson's Quest for his THIRD Belt

Great look into the life of Dan Henderson, his training, his life, his family, and the quest for his THIRD belt.

MMA Girls - UFC 75 Predictions

The girls are on fire again. Don't forget guys, mmagirls.net. Check it out.

UFC Rumor: Hughes Leaves MFS

Rumors circulating throughout the inner-sanctum of the MMA Community today indicate that Matt Hughes has left Miletich Fighting Systems.

According to the Savage Dog Show on Sherdog, Matt is moving on to train with Ruthless Robbie Lawler in their new gym in St. Louis which is 45 minutes closer to Hughes' residence than the 3-hour drive to the MFS training facility in Davenport, Iowa.

Here's a quick post I caught over at Matt Hughes' Forum by the administrator of the site:

"Quote:
Originally Posted by caliphornia
apparently that's what greg savage said... he said matt is leaving because of personal issues he could not discuss.

No there are no personal issues, it's a completely amicable split from what I understand. Matt has said many times that he sees only about 1 or 2 more years of him competing in this sport. This gym will not only allow him to train closer to home (a 45 minute drive versus a 3-hour drive), but will help him continue to have a critical role in the sport as a trainer when he retires from active competition.

So, there is no "bad-blood" between him and Pat Miletich, any reports otherwise are simply false rumor-mongering."

GSP "Owned" Kos - UFC 74 Video

Hat tip to GSP for showing the acclaimed All-American wrestler Josh Koscheck what the "Real world" looks like lying on his back getting tooled for three rounds by a pissed off Quebecer.

Rampage Training for UFC 75

Be sure to submit your vote in MMA Fever's weekly poll which asks whether Rampage or Hendo will unify the Light Heavyweight belts following their soon to be historic fight across the pond for UFC 75 in London, England....

UFC 74 - Payouts

according to MMA Weekly:

DISCLOSED FIGHTER PAYROLL: $730,000

-Randy Couture: $250,000 (18th fight in UFC; defeated Gabriel Gonzaga; win bonus was $0)

-Gabriel Gonzaga: $45,000 (5th fight in UFC; lost to Randy Couture; win bonus would have been $45,000)

-Georges St. Pierre: $140,000 (10th fight in UFC; defeated Josh Koscheck; includes $70,000 win bonus)

-Roger Huerta: $34,000 (5th fight in UFC; defeated Alberto Crane; includes $17,000 win bonus)

-Joe Stevenson: $32,000 (6th fight in UFC; defeated Kurt Pellegrino; includes $16,000 win bonus)

-Patrick Cote: $24,000 (6th fight in UFC, defeated Kendall Grove; includes $12,000 win bonus)

-Kendall Grove: $12,000 (4th fight in UFC; lost to Patrick Cote; win bonus would have been $12,000)

-Josh Koscheck: $10,000 (9th fight in UFC; lost to Georges St. Pierre; win bonus would have been $10,000)

Kurt Pellegrino: $8,000 (4th fight in UFC; lost to Joe Stevenson; win bonus would have been $8,000)

-Alberto Crane: $4,000 (1st fight in UFC; lost to Roger Huerta; win bonus would have been $4,000)

-Frank Mir: $66,000 (11th fight in UFC; defeated Antoni Hardonk; includes win bonus of $30,000)

-Marcus Aurelio: $30,000 (1st fight in UFC after 6 fights in Pride; lost to Clay Guida; win bonus would have been $30,000)

-Renato "Babalu" Sobral: $25,000 (10th fight in UFC; defeated David Heath; Sobral would have also received a $25,000 win bonus, but it is currently being withheld due to his actions pending a hearing before the Nevada State Athletic Commission)

-Thales Leites: $18,000 (4th fight in UFC; defeated Ryan Jensen; includes $9,000 win bonus)

-Clay Guida: $14,000 (4th fight in UFC; defeated Marcus Aurelio; includes $7,000 win bonus)

-Antoni Hardonk: $8,000 (3rd fight in UFC; lost to Frank Mir; win bonus would have been $8,000)

-David Heath: $6,000 (4th fight in UFC; lost to Renato "Babalu" Sobral; win bonus would have been $6,000)

-Ryan Jensen: $4,000 (1st fight in UFC; lost to Thales Leites; win bonus would have been $4,000)

Randy Couture has a canned arm

From MMA weekly dot com

Randy Couture proved why he is considered one of the most legendary fighters of all time last Saturday night when he defeated Gabriel Gonzaga via third round TKO to retain his heavyweight title.

He also finished the fight with a broken arm as Couture discussed in an interview with MMAWeekly Radio on Monday.The injury occurred in the third round when Couture blocked a high kick from Gonzaga and still the 44-year-old champion continued and finished his opponent shortly after.

“Obviously he’s got a very, very good high kick and obviously after Mirko he’s got some confidence throwing it,” said Couture. “He tried to kick me in the head a few times actually and he slapped me in the face with his foot on one occasion.“In the third round, he tried a high kick and I deflected it off my left forearm.

Bone on bone contact, shins or forearms, things like that, it hurts and at the time I was like ‘wow, that was a hard kick, I’m glad it didn’t hit me in the head’ and my arm hurt.“We ended up in the clinch again and it was shortly thereafter that I took him down and ended up finishing the fight.

It didn’t really feel anything at the time, other than my arm felt kind of funny.”Many fans viewing the fight thought Couture took the shot flush to his head, but the champ explained that it was his arms that mostly deflected the kick.“A few people thought I took the shot to the head,” Couture stated about the kick. “I don’t think it hit me in the head at all. It definitely hit me in the arm, but I didn’t feel it in the head. I don’t know, maybe the head’s the best place to hit me.”

Moments later Couture took his opponent, who outweighed him by almost 25lbs, to the ground where he finished the fight with strikes.Afterwards, the attending ringside physician checked Couture, but it was apparently later that night when he realized something was wrong.“After the fight, the doc check my hand and checked everything and I just thought it was a real good bruise, a good deep bone bruise,” said Couture.

“By the end of that evening, that night, and the next morning it was very swollen and I couldn’t pronate or supinate my hand, you know turn my wrist back or forth. I realized at that point that I might have a broken bone in there. I went to the chiropractor that afternoon and he has an x-ray machine and he put it up there on the screen and sure enough it was broke clean through.”

The injury, explained Couture, was to the smaller bone in his forearm and shouldn’t be seen as very serious at all.“The ulna bone is the smaller bone of the two bones in the forearm, the radius is the bigger bone and the smaller bone was snapped clean in half. It’s called a ‘night stick fracture.’ You think about somebody trying to hit you in the head with a nightstick and you threw your hands up, that’s exactly where it would hit you.

“It was not displaced, so it does not have to be set, there’s no surgeries or anything like that involved. In fact, they don’t even have to cast it,” Couture stated about the injury. “The smaller bone has a very, very good prognosis for healing.

I’ll wear a splint for the next 6 weeks and it will start healing. It’s healing now I’m sure. It’s still pretty swollen and tender now, but in about two weeks time the bone will start to stick back together and things should be looking good. I’ll get an x-ray to make sure it’s still not displaced and it should be good to go.”

The UFC heavyweight champion doesn’t expect to fight again in 2007, but does have other commitments including two acting engagements. One will start in 2 weeks when he will appear in the CBS show, “The Unit” and the other will be a feature role in the prequel to the “Scorpion King,” part of the Mummy franchise of movies.

Josh Barnett: Randy Couture is a paper champ

Listen to what Josh Barnett says to Nokaut.com about the UFC Heavyweight champ Randy Couture a.k.a the can.

He must be nuts.

"[The UFC Heavyweight Championship] still sits in my house," says Josh Barnett. In Barnett's final Octagon appearance in 2002, he TKO'd Randy Couture in the second round to become the youngest ever UFC Heavyweight Champion. He was subsequently stripped of the title after testing positive for Boldenone, an anabolic steroid. "Randy did a phenomenal job at UFC 74 in defending his title," Barnett admits, "but, I already got the real belt. As far as I am concerned, no one in the UFC can be the heavyweight champion until they take that belt off of me in the cage."

Barnett is currently a free agent, not bound by contract to any promotion. He last fought in PRIDE on New Year's Eve, losing a unanimous decision to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira who now fights in the UFC. Barnett decided to terminate his contract with DSE when Zuffa bought PRIDE. "[I'm] living proof that Randy Couture is definitely beatable. I'm more than willing to step into the cage and prove [it]," argues Barnett. "It wouldn't even have to be for the belt. They can keep their pile of brass they purport as the UFC Heavyweight Title and put it on their next paper champ."

Babalu - LMAO

By MMAFighting.com on August 26, 2007

UFC light heavyweight Renato "Babalu" Sobral will likely face a fine and/or suspension for his actions in the closing moments of his UFC 74 bout against David Heath.

After sinking in an anaconda choke and forcing Heath to tap at the 3:30 mark of the third round, Sobral decided to further punish the Tulsa, Oklahoma native. In an ugly display of sportsmanship, Sobral ignored referee Steve Mazzagatti's break to stop the fight and held the submission for an extra few seconds, leaving the bloodied Health unconscious.

Sobral admitted during the post-fight interview with Joe Rogan that he purposely held the choke extra long in retaliation for a disparaging remark that Health had made towards him during Friday's weigh-ins.

Disgusted with Sobral's actions, the vocal crowd at the Mandalay Bay Events Center smattered Sobral with boos. Sobral answered by tossing his cap into the audience - which was caught and thrown back to the delight of fans by TUF 5's Manny Gamburyan.

Keith Kizer, the Executive Director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, has already withheld $25,000, half of Sobral's total purse. Sobral will be given a chance to defend himself or explain his conduct at a later date in front of the athletic board.

The 31-year-old Sobral fought Chuck Liddell for the UFC light heavyweight title last November, losing via TKO to Liddell for the second time in his career. Sobral followed with an upset loss to Jason Lambert in March.

With the UFC 74 win, Sobral improved his record to 27-7.

Couture a.k.a the can vs. Gonezilla

Georges``Rush`` St. Pierre - Yahoo Sports

LAS VEGAS – Georges "Rush" St. Pierre is back, if he really ever was gone at all.
The former UFC welterweight champion was the subject of ridicule after his upset loss to Matt Serra at April's UFC 69, even though it was just his second loss in 15 professional fights.

"Every bad loss adds humiliation," St. Pierre said. "But it was probably the best thing that ever happened."

The St. Pierre who rocketed his way to the title was in peak form at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on Saturday night. Already regarded as one of the world's top pound-for-pound mixed martial artists, the 26-year-old Quebec native took a few new tools out of his kit to beat Josh Koscheck.

St. Pierre set the tone early in the first round by scoring a takedown. He wasn't able to do much with his advantage, though, as Koscheck used strong defense to keep his opponent from doing much damage. After getting back to his feet, Koscheck went for a takedown. St. Pierre sprawled to avoid the first one, but Koscheck stuck with it and scored a slam. Two of the three judges gave Koscheck the first round.

The second round featured a ground fighting clinic from St. Pierre. He used a low kick to set up a takedown, then spent the rest of the round dominating the action. Three times St. Pierre managed to sink in a Kimura. When GSP wasn't working Koscheck's right arm, he was offering a steady mix of punches and elbows from the top position.

"It was a strategy," GSP said. "Kos is a very good wrestler. By being a good wrestler, he is not used to fighting from his back. My game plan was to push him from his comfort zone. That's what I did, and it works very well."

Koscheck had his moments in Round 3 and engaged St. Pierre in several solid standup exchanges. But St. Pierre sprawled to avoid a Koscheck takedown attempt, ended up on top on the ground and finished the match in total control.

"With one minute left, I was like, 'Hey Georges, congratulations,' " Koscheck said. "He said, 'What?' and next thing I knew I get hit with an elbow. … Georges St. Pierre, he's a true champion, and he was a better man."

St. Pierre instituted several changes in the wake of his title loss to Serra. He parted ways with his Canadian trainers and affiliated with Greg Jackson's camp in New Mexico, which also is the home of Rashad Evans and Keith Jardine. He also started seeing a sports psychologist.

"I cannot promise you I can't win all my fights, that is impossible," St. Pierre said. "But I can promise you will see the real GSP, 100 percent every fight."

St. Pierre is slated to get a welterweight title shot against the winner of the Serra-Matt Hughes match slated for UFC 78 in Newark, N.J., in November.

The cast for “The Ultimate Fighter: Team Serra vs. Team Hughes”

The UFC today announced its cast members for Spike TVs Ultimate Fighter today at ufc.com

The series will build up the hype for Matt Hughes to once again will become the Welterweight champion on PPV.

``For the sixth season, premiering Wednesday, September 19 at 11:00pm ET/PT, UFC® Welterweight Champion Matt Serra and former UFC Welterweight Champion Matt Hughes will serve as coaches.

Hughes and Serra will fight each other in a UFC pay-per-view event after the series finale in December. The series will assume its regular timeslot of Wednesdays at 10:00pm on September 26.

The cast for “The Ultimate Fighter: Team Serra vs. Team Hughes”:

Matt Arroyo, Daniel Barrera, Blake Bowman, Mac Danzig, Paul Georgieff, Richie Hightower, John Kolsci, Troy Mandaloniz, Billy Miles, Roman Mitichyan, Dorian Price, Jared Rollins, Ben Saunders, Joe Scarola, George Sotiropoulis, and Tommy Speer..............


Over the first five seasons, the show has delivered approximately two million viewers each week, often beating the NBA, NHL and NCAA football and basketball regular season telecasts head-to-head on Thursday nights with men 18-34.``

GSP vs. Koscheck - GSP is back

GSP is back and showed the GSP of old. Strong, and dominating win by GSP over Koscheck GSP next fight will be to face the winner of the Serra vs Hughes match.

Randy Couture - That guy is my hero

Randy did it once again. Randy was in the best shape of his career and he dominated the much larger Gonzaga.

Randy has taken on my much larger opponents in his career so this should be no suprise. The susprise is that Randy did this at the age of 44 and the clearly dominated a much younger opponent.

Even though this fight went 3 rounds the fight was over for Gonzaga in the first round after Couture slammed Gonzaga to the ground breaking his nose.

Randy impressed all by taking the best Gonzaga had to offer. Elbows and kicks had no effect on Randy.

Impressive win for the Natural and lesson provided to Gonzago on dirty boxing at its finest.

Here is highlight reel of the fight for those of you that missed it.

NBC on Gonzaga vs. Couture

From NBC Sports Dot Com

"He fights with his heart, and he fights with patience," Gonzaga said. "The heart is the best part of Randy."

Perhaps because Gonzaga's dominant win is fresher in the minds of most, he went off as the early favorite in most sportsbooks, a fact that Gonzaga himself had a tough time believing.

"I'm not feeling like a favorite," he said. "I'm feeling like it's 1:1, 50 percent for each… I think it should be more for Randy, because he has done it a long time. He's the champ."

Gonzaga presents multiple problems for Couture. As he showed Cro Cop, his standup game has evolved to where he has one-shot knockout power, and if Couture is able to take the fight to the mat, Gonzaga is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt. In addition, Gonzaga will probably outweigh Couture by about 20 pounds. In short, there are danger zones everywhere Couture looks.

"He's very well-rounded," Couture said. "Traditionally, I've matched up well with strikers to put them on the ground and take them out of their element. With Gabriel, you're not out of the woods because he's such a versed grappler. But I'm looking forward to the challenge."

Couture, of course, has had experience fighting bigger men, most recently dismantling Tim Sylvia to win the heavyweight belt at UFC 68. He's also known to train with grapplers that outweigh him to help prepare for handling his opponent.

Gonzaga outworked Cro Cop by taking control of the center of the octagon and making Cro Cop retreat. He attacked early and surprisingly outstruck his opponent throughout the first round before ending it just before the round was due to end. Couture won his bout the same way, establishing himself from the opening bell with an overhand right that nearly ended the fight within seconds. Though it eventually went the distance, he continued to control the tempo for nearly the entire duration of the bout. The fight for control of the center should tell an early story.

GSP's Psychotherapy Cure?

In a recent article by RDS, GSP admitted that he wasn't in the right frame of mind to fight Matt Serra to defend his UFC Welterweight Championship title.

Following his loss of the belt, Georges St.Pierre consulted with a sports psychologist to exercise his personal demons to get him back on the Championship track to get the coveted strap back around his waist.

Josh Koscheck stands in his way back to the title as GSP is set to fight him this Saturday in Las Vegas at UFC 74: RESPECT.

GSP speaks about his long road back to Championship form courtesy of RDS.ca:


The head elsewhere

In my fight with Serra, I must acknowledge that I had the head elsewhere. I had personal problems and disease in my family. However, I am the type of person who never repeats the same error twice. Therefore, I will let myself never again decentralize by this type of problems.

However, I want to be quite clear. I do not blame anybody for my defeat against Serra. I am the only person in charge. I let myself surround by bad people and I a little too much let myself swell the head. On the other hand, I am a proud athlete and I intend well to rebound.

Against Koscheck, I will not present myself while saying to me: “I should have done this or I should not have done that. ” I did everything what I had to do. I have the clear spirit and the quiet conscience. I will present myself at this fight like a champion and it will arrive what will arrive. What I know, it is that I will point myself in the octagon with all the tools necessary to carry it. With hockey, it is not always the best which gains, but that which plays best; it is not always the fastest horse which triumphs, but that which runs best. In fighting, it is the same thing. Even if I believe being the best fighter in the world, it is not always him which collects the victory. It is that which fights best. It is what happened against Matt Serra, but I will make so that that does not occur any more.


Help of a sporting psychologist

In a chronicle published on the site of the UFC, Koscheck mentions that I am a very good athlete, but that my weakness is between my two ears, that my mental force is not on point. He's right. It WAS my greater gap. However, it is not any more the case!

I worked enormously on this aspect since my loss against Serra. You will see a completely different fighter this Saturday in Las Vegas. I am with best of my form. I believe that I never was on such a level since the beginning of my career.

Since my defeat of last April 7, I consulted a sporting psychologist of the name of Brian Kane. He works, in particular, with several players of the major leagues. I consult it several times per week and it will be present in Las Vegas during my fight with Koscheck.

Kane is somebody of exceptional and it shows me the things in another way. It came to see me with some recoveries with the drive and it analyzed my work. When I was not satisfied with a thing which I had made, it asked me what had occurred and it showed me the things in a more positive way.

To be honest, before this experiment with Brian Kane, I always thought that people who consulted sporting psychologists were the insane ones. I really did not believe in that. I however realized that any athlete should have one, particularly in mixed martial arts because it is about an individual sport where we must think of many things during the confrontation. There are so much ways of putting an end to a fight which it is necessary to remain concentrated in any time.

Also, I get much from visualization. By visualizing a fight and the things which occur first, like the weighing, our body feels accustomed when the events really proceed and it reacts better. People do not go from there necessarily account, but that done an enormous difference in end of line.

A war of three rounds?

I do not want to launch out in the predictions, but against Koscheck, I prepared for a war of three rounds.

However, when he makes an error, it will be the end for him.

One speaks again oneself the next week for the analysis of the fight…

To read the full semi-translated RDS article, CLICK HERE

Does Art Imitate MMA Life?

This video reminds me of Rocky III where Rocky Balboa was training in a state of the art gym with a bunch of media attention that distracted him from focusing on his training, Rocky got soft and his trainer Mickey was pissed off then they cut to Mr.T who was training in his own apartment and on the streets without any media attention at all to distract him from his goal of becoming the Champion.

If you saw the movie then you know the outcome to the first Rocky & Clubber Lang fight.



I am lovin' the wood panelling with Gonzo keepin' it hard, tough & real.

Rape Me - :)

Awesome film.

Tim Sylvia Vs. undefeated Brandon Vera Confirmed

As reported by MMA Weekly. com:

The Ultimate Fighting Championship today confirmed a fight between former UFC Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia and undefeated Brandon Vera.

The bout will take place at UFC 77 on Oct. 20 in Cincinnati, Ohio.

MMAWeekly last week confirmed that the fight was in the offing and that the recent outbreak of a staph infection at Pat Miletich’s camp, where Sylvia trains, would not affect the fight. While Sylvia was infected, unlike his teammate Drew McFedries who is out for six to eight months, he will not be out of action for any significant amount of time.The fight will be Sylvia’s first since losing the heavyweight belt to current champion Randy Couture, who said of Sylvia vs. Vera, “I think that’s a very interesting fight.”

Heavyweight Brendan Vera is back

“I’m so excited to be back in the UFC, I have no words to describe the feeling. I realize the UFC heavyweight division is much stronger now, but I like having more challenges, and that just gives me more motivation to train. I feel that when I’m on top of my game, nobody can beat me. I have a plan to become the heavyweight champion, so I’m going to stick to the plan that my management team NCFC and both of my coaches set and win the titles. I want to prove I’m the best for my family, my friends and most of all my fans.”

Rumour has it he will be up against Tim Sylvia or Andrei Arlovski. What a strong division. Vera last fought against Frank Mir back at UFC 65 Bad intentions (Nov 18, 2006) where Vera won by TKO.

The full article is available from http://www.ufcmania.com/

The girls are back and looking good.

MMA Girls UFC 74 Predictions.

Yummy - UFC RING GIRL ALI SONOMA

Huerta is back

Roger Huerta, now 4-0 in the UFC, will make his return to the Octagon on August 25th when he takes on Alberto Gonzalez Crane.

Since gracing the cover of Sports Illustrated a few months ago, Roger Huerta has become one of the most popular fighters in the sport, but the Texas native doesn’t let the hype get to him too much.“I try not to think about it,” said Huerta about his newfound fame. “I’m a fighter first and foremost. People are like ‘you’re an awesome fighter, you’re a great fighter’ and it’s awesome because I hope I am.

I come in there and I try to bang and put on a good show.”His upcoming bout will be a showdown with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu expert and former King of the Cage lightweight champion, Alberto Gonzalez Crane.

Huerta admits that Crane is a dangerous opponent harnessing one of the best ground games in the lightweight division.“I’d be stupid to say I’m going to go on the ground with a black belt in jiu-jitsu guy like that,” Huerta stated about his opponent. “This is MMA, it’s mixed martial arts, so I’m going to go in there and do what MMA is about which is to bang. If it goes to the ground, it goes to the ground. If it’s standing, it’s standing. So basically it’s wherever the fight takes, I’ll go and that’s where we’ll end up.”

The full article is avail from mmaweekly.

For those of you who don't know who Crane is, here is a look....

My money is on Grove at UFC 74

Grove will face a very tough test in his next fight at UFC 74 in Patrick Cote.

Cote has had his ups and downs in the Octagon, but is a game fighter and packs heavy hands.A win over Cote in this fight would move his status as a top title contender up quite a bit. Grove isn't taking him lightly though. "He's gonna bring out the best in me, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to bring out the best in him."

Cote presents some possible problems for Grove, but he's aware of them. "He's dangerous and he has dynamite in his hands. I would like to see this fight go the distance and have us beat the sh** out of each other, but I don't think he'll be able to handle my conditioning. My conditioning is at it’s best."

Kendall isn't looking past the French Canadian, but he does have some ideas of whom he would like to fight next. "Not looking past Cote, but I wouldn’t mind fighting Jason MacDonald next," Grove said. "He says he's the TUF killer. Let's see him beat the TUF champion."

With Anderson Silva literally mowing through the competition, Grove could be on the fast track for a title shot. 'Da Spider' feels a little different."Right now, I feel that I'm not ready for Anderson. To jump in there right now with him, I just feel he'll destroy me. Give me a year, maybe a year and a half to better my skills and I’ll jump in there with him. Hopefully when the UFC goes to Hawaii; that should be about a year and a half from now.

The full article is avail from http://www.mmaweekly.com/

UFC Media Notes - MMANEWS.COM

Interesting commentary from the fighters: I can't wait to see GSP kick Koschecks ass. Koscheck should take a page from Gonzaga's book and demonstrate some class.



- GSP was asked if he wanted an easier opponent than Koscheck. He replied that he did not want an easier opponent and wanted to fight the best.

- Feels as though he is better than ever.

- GSP says he does not want to make any excuses for the Serra fight. Says it was a life lesson and truly believes he is the best in the sport. He was beat far and square and hopes to have a rematch some day. Says that a brand new better version of GSP will be showing up for this fight.

- Dana says that he believes that GSP is one of the best in the sport and asks “which GSP will show up for this fight”. Says he noticed mental holes in GSP game and he didn’t seem the same.

- GSP says when he won the title he forgot who he was and forgot what his number 1 priority was. He has never been so pumped up for a fight in his life and can not wait to fight with Kos .

- GSP says he knows what Koschecks strengths and weaknesses are and he will be ready to take him out.

- Koscheck says he does not prepare for a certain fighter but just prepares to fight. Says he has a new strategy for GSP and it will be something the UFC fans have never seen before.

- Koscheck does not think GSP is overrated as he has proven he has what it takes to be a champion but to be a champion again he has to go through him.

- Koscheck says this is just another day at the office for him and it being GSP’s return does not affect him mentally. Koschecks says he could give two craps about what people say about him and he is just training to become the best in the world.

- GSP says he trains at a new place for boxing. A lot of things have changed in his entourage and his management. He had a lot of mental and physical issues but everything is fine right now. - Koscheck says that nothing concerns him about GSP. Says he is glad everything is good in GSP’s life now because he wants the best GSP and not the GSP that fought Serra.

- Koscheck says fans booing him doesn’t bother him at all. He has been booed since the Ultimate Fighter 1.


- Says that him and diego hated each other so much that he thinks that may be why they held back a bit because they both didn’t want to lose.


- Couture: Thinks gabe is a very well rounded opponent. Feels as though he matches up better against strikers and usually takes them down to the ground but when he tries to take Gabe down he will not be out of the woods.


- Gonzaga says he is ready for a 5 round fight.


- Randy says he loves to compete in the sport and it isn’t always about winning titles and loves going out to compete and have fun.


- Randy talks about his debut at UFC 13. talks about fighting 2 big boys at 300 and 290 and says when he first was walking into the cage he wanted to piss his pants


- Randy believes his career is still growing.


- Gonzaga was asked if he is comfortable being a star and he replied that he does not feel like a star and that he feels like a fighter.


- Couture says that Wanderlei came in to train on Monday and has trained with him a little. He has trained BJJ for 10 years now so he has been working on his game to be able to go to the ground with Gonazaga.


- Being the underdog does not bother Couture at all and he feels he tends to operate better when he is the underdog. Loves to go out and prove everyone wrong.


- When asked about what impresses Couture him Gonazaga he says that his last fight impressed him because no one expected Gabe to kick CroCops head off.


- When Gabe was asked the same about Randy he says that Randy’s heart is was impresses him the most.

Full article can be obtained at http://www.mmanews.com/.

Road to UFC 74 Respect - Preview

To get you hyped boyz...

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Gonzaga Highlight Film

In preparation for UFC Respect on August 25, 2007 where Gonzaga takes on Couture.

Here is a little Gonzaga tribute:

Randy Couture on ESPN

The Natural talks about Tim Silva, and his upcoming fight against Gonzaga.

How is this for a rumour?

According to the official Xtreme Couture blog Wanderlei Silva, who has recently moved to America to train with Xtreme Couture, will make his long awaited return to the UFC on December 29th at UFC 79 in Las Vegas. The card is headlined by a main event welterweight title bout between Matt Serra and Matt Hughes.

Although the report does not confirm that former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Chuck Liddell will be his opponent sources indicate that the two are very likely to face off on the PPV card if Liddell gets past Keith Jardine at UFC 76 in September......

Well apparently its bullshit:

The on again, off again saga that has become the Chuck Liddell vs. Wanderlei Silva fight may have finally reached a disappointing resolution. Kevin Iole from Yahoo! Sports is reporting that the dream MMA matchup between Silva and Liddell is off and unlikely to ever happen. The fight was to headline UFC 76 in Anaheim, California on September 22nd

Silva’s website and other MMA media had both confirmed the bout but it now appears that the fight will no longer happen. Dana White reportedly reached an agreement with both Liddell and Silva for the fight but Silva has recently changed his mind telling the UFC president he no longer wants to face the former Light Heavyweight Champion. Here are Dana White’s comments on the situation:

“This is the worst news I could have possibly gotten. It’s horrendous. I have been trying to make this fight for six years. I have done everything in my power I could do over the last six years to make this fight and it’s still not happening. I just don’t see it happening now.”

The Natural and The Axe Murderer

MMA legend Wanderlei Silva hit the gym in Vegas today. He’s in town for the next two weeks from the Fizogen-Xtreme Couture in Wellington, Florida. Wanderlei is helping Randy to get ready for Gabriel Gonzaga.

Here’s what Randy had to say about working out with the Brazilian legend…………

Wanderlei Silva signs with UFC

Wanderlei Silva Signs With the UFC

Today the UFC announced the signing of one of the sport's biggest free agents, Wanderlei Silva.

The former PRIDE Middleweight champion is excepted to fight in the Octagon for the first time in seven years in December- though no opponent has been named.

According to the Nevada State Athletic Commission, the UFC have reserved December 29 for their New Year's event which is tentatively scheduled to take place at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

Click here for the full article from Nokaut.