Frank Mir Looking for Title Contention, Respect

By mhbomb on Dec 09, 2011

Former heavyweight champion Frank Mir believes a dominant performance in his rematch against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira could help him climb back into the UFC heavyweight title picture.

As Junior Dos Santos, Cain Velasquez, Brock Lesnar, and Alistair Overeem prepare for late 2011-early 2012, Mir could add to an already exciting heavyweight division.

After Mir’s dominant performance against Big Nog the first time at UFC 92 in late 2008, excuses began to circulate about possible illness and injuries for the Brazilian.

Here is what Mir had to say to Sherdog regarding that talk:

“There were a lot of words or circumstances surrounding the last victory. There could possibly be illness that Nogueira’s camp said that he had. I’ve always been keen on that, if you have an injury — an injured hand — and someone asked you why you didn’t box more, you just say that you had an injured hand. As far as the general statement, ‘I lost because of injury,’ I think that’s disrespect towards your opponent. The guy in front of you beat you. You didn’t perform to 100 percent [of your ability] maybe because of injury. Regardless, there are many factors that go into the outcome of a fight.”

Michael Bisping vs. Demian for UFC on Fox 2

By mhbomb on Dec 08, 2011

After pummeling Jason Miller, rising middleweight Michael Bisping will next meet Demian Maia in a key middleweight showdown early next year.

Maia arguably has the best BJJ in MMA, and will pose an immediate threat anytime he’s able to get the fight down to the ground (if he can drag Bisping down). Bisping, an underrated BJJ practitioner, will likely try to keep the fight standing in an effort to avoid a grappling match against the Brazilian BJJ specialist.

Bisping vs. Maia will join a stacked UFC on Fox 2 card that also includes Chael Sonnen vs. Mark Munoz and Rashad Evans vs. Phil Davis. While Sonnen vs. Munoz is for the next shot at Anderson Silva, the winner of Bisping vs. Maia should find themselves next in line for a crack at the middleweight title.

The No. 1 MMA organization suddenly has found itself with a few different middleweight contenders — as Silva heals up, and should be ready to defend his middleweight title by summer 2012, according to the UFC.

GSP Has Blown ACL, Out at Least 10 Months

By mhbomb on Dec 07, 2011

UFC President Dana White shook the MMA world upside today after announcing welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre blew out his ACL and will be on the shelf for at least 10 months.

GSP was slated to fight Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz at UFC 143, but Diaz and Carlos Condit will instead fight for an interim title.

Besides GSP needing a lengthy recovery, this is absolutely horrible news for the UFC — GSP is a major superstar and pay-per-view draw. Diaz vs. Condit will be a fun brawl to watch unfold, the UFC should expect a significantly lower PPV buyrate in February 2012.

Miguel Torres Enjoying Personal MMA Evolution

By mhbomb on Dec 05, 2011

Miguel Torres has been on a wild ride throughout his MMA career, and just wants to climb back up the ladder towards a possible championship.

Since changing things up and going to Tristar, home of Georges St. Pierre, Torres is fighting smarter and better than he has in a long time.

At UFC 139, Torres dominated Nick Pace en route to a unanimous decision — showing a sharp, well-rounded fight style balanced by good MMA smarts, which he attributes to Firas Zahabi.

The first thing he told me was, ‘You’re the kind of guy that I can see is worrying about everybody else but himself. You’re trying to make everybody happy but yourself,’” Torres said during a Sherdog Radio Network interview. “He goes, ‘You have a daughter. You have a wife. You’ve got to be smart. You’ve got to do what is best for your family. You being busted up at 35 and not having any prospects is not going to make you a good father. You’ve got to be smart. You’ve got to look out for your career and you’ve got to get paid at the same time.’”

Torres definitely has the striking and BJJ credentials to give most fighters fits — and now has the coaching to help him get back to the top of the sport.

Snapshot: Miller’s Face Destroyed

By mhbomb on Dec 04, 2011

Michael Bisping and his “pillow hands” were able to smash up Jason “Mayhem” Miller’s face.

Rich Clementi Looks to Bank on MMA Experience

By mhbomb on Dec 01, 2011

MMA veterans gain a lot more than just in-cage fight experience during their professional careers, as the sport continues to grow dramatically. The physical and mental toll on the body of MMA fighters must be balanced with personal issues that can arise among teammates and family members can appear at any moment.

UFC veteran Rich Clementi has learned how to better listen to his body and mentally prepare for fights while dealing with outside distractions — and that’s priceless experience he hopes will be able to help when he fights Chris Clements this Saturday night.

“I was really pushing a broken machine and I was breaking it more,” Clementi recently told MMAWeekly. “This past year has been a lot about personal recovery for me. Things are back on track physically for me. I’m strong again. I’m excited to let people see that.”

Clementi will call upon experience (more than 60 pro fights) to deal with Clements’ heavy hands and decent striking ability.

If Clementi picks up a win on Saturday — which would be his fifth in a row — he hopes to find his way back into the UFC in 2012. It’d be good to see Clementi make just one more successful run before the end of his long and storied MMA career.

The co-main event fight takes place for the Score Fighting Series promotion, and should be an entertaining welterweight fight.

UFC: Chris Leben Suspended One Year (Failed Drug Test)

By mhbomb on Nov 30, 2011

UFC veteran Chris Leben has been suspended for one year after a positive drug test following his UFC 138 loss to Mark Munoz earlier this month.

Leben tested positive for Oxycodone and Oxymorphone, very powerful pain medications likely used for abuse rather than performance enhancing purposes.

Leben accepted the suspension and issued the following statement:

“I would like to make it known that I fully accept this suspension and apologize for embarrassing the UFC, my friends and family, and sport of mixed martial arts. I’m learning that I’m my own worst enemy sometimes. I can’t succeed in the Octagon or in life behaving this way. I’ve got to make some real changes over the next year and I’m going to focus on getting my life and career back on track. Again, I’m sorry to the UFC and fans that’ve supported me since my days on The Ultimate Fighter.”

UFC President Dana White had the following to say:

“I like Chris and I want him to do well, but based on his actions, he’s been suspended for one year. If he needs professional help, we are going to be there for him. We want to see him succeed not only in the Octagon, but in his personal life.”

Leben has previously battled alcoholism in the past, while also being suspended for the use of stanozolol.

Fedor Discusses Fight With Monson

By mhbomb on Nov 30, 2011

Fedor Emelianenko demolished Jeff Monson and showed he still has something left in modern MMA, as the Russian heavyweight looks forward to future challenges.

“We worked very hard during the training camp in Holland,” Fedor told Jonathan Snowden (BloodyElbow/SBNation writer). “I did not want to repeat my mistakes. It’s a unique feeling. I’m very thankful to all my fans in Russia and around the world.”

Fedor remains a superstar in his native Russia, with MMA and combat sports fans unfazed by his three-fight losing streak in the United States.

“Fedor has been gaining tremendous popularity in Russia in recent years despite his losses. Media covers our events pretty well. In Russia and Europe the media is not afraid that the UFC will come and slap them on their hands for doing that,” said Vadim Finkelstein, M-1 President, during the interview. “When we hosted the event at one of the busiest shopping malls in Moscow where both Fedor and Jeff came to meet the fans and sign posters several weeks before the fight, we were amazed as to how many people showed up, it was a huge line, people waited for hours.”

Even if he doesn’t fight in the United States again, I hope to see Fedor collect a few more wins before retiring on his own terms — despite what UFC President Dana White and other naysayers claim.

Carvalho’s Management Makes Him Look Like Sore Loser

By mhbomb on Nov 29, 2011

Bruno Carvalho suffered a TKO loss to Marius Zaromskis, and his management team has filed an official complaint regarding the fight.

In addition to claiming the kick leading up to the finish was illegal, Carvalho’s team also said Zaromskis was greasing, and the stoppage was premature.

Here is the GIF of the kick (a few moments before the TKO loss):

I think all three points can be easily countered by Zaromskis’ team, and don’t expect anything to come of this.

The full statement is after the jump.

Bisping, Miller Continue War of Words

By mhbomb on Nov 29, 2011

TUF coaches Michael Bisping and Jason “Mayhem” Miller aren’t big fans of one another, and both anxiously await their middleweight showdown this weekend.

Miller has a strong BJJ submission fight style and a good chin that allows him to take a decent amount of punishment — Bisping uses a mix of boxing and an underrated ground game to frustrate opponents.

“There’s a lot more motivation to get in the training room and really train hard for a fight like this,” Miller recently noted. “I don’t care one way or the other, I’m here to do my job. I’m going to stay cool, calm, and collected and beat his ass with the utmost technical precision.”

Miller also had this message to Bisping: “I’m going to break your face.”

Bisping, who isn’t afraid to share his own trash talk with the media, had this to say regarding Miller’s promise to try and knock him out or submit him in the first round:

“I hope he hasn’t booked an after party for after the fight cause if he does, he’s going to be spending it with a couple of nurses. I saw an interview he did recently where he said he’s going to knock me out and submit me in the first round. I’ve got to say I did laugh quite heartily when I read that. That’s what I said on the show when he said ‘I’m going to knock you out’, I said when have you knocked anyone out? When’s the last time I got submitted? Never. I’m looking forward to kicking his ass, can’t wait.”

Even though Miller won’t be submitted on the ground, I think Bisping’s wrestling and BJJ will keep him out of trouble. This should be a fight he wins — and I believe he’ll be able to get a unanimous decision victory against Miller.

It’s funny to see the amount of hate Bisping gets from American MMA fans — even as the loud-mouthed British fighter moves one step closer to a title shot. I highly doubt a victory against Miller puts him in a title shot, but who knows what the UFC will end up doing in early 2012?