Four fights confirmed for Strikeforce Challengers 17 card in Las Vegas on July 22

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

MMATorchAvatar2011V2_180_18.jpg

Strikeforce's debut in Las Vegas, Nevada comes to the Pearl at the Palms Casino on July 22, and the night's main card is now set.

The organization confirmed four fights for the night's Strikeforce Challengers 17 broadcast on Showtime on Tuesday, with tickets for the event already on sale.

Headlined by a rubber match between Bobby Voelker and Roger Bowling, the main card also features Sarah Kaufman's Strikeforce return against Liz Carmouche, a heavyweight bout between Lavar Johnson and Devin Cole and a middleweight bout between Adlan Amagov and Ronald "The Choir Boy" Stallings.

"The rubber match between Voelker and Bowling will not only settle the score between the two, but it will also help determine another rising contender in the welterweight division," Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker said Tuesday. "This event on July 22 is loaded with potentially explosive fights and we're excited to kick off our relationship with the Palms with such a great card."

Tickets for the event are on sale now, ranging from $50-$150. Tickets can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com, the box office at the Pearl at the Palms or at all Ticketmaster locations.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/Affliction2/article_9635.shtml

Heath Herring Branden Lee Hinkle Sam Hoger Mark Hominick

Persistence pays off for TUF 13 champ Ferguson

Call it cocky. Call it confident. Tony Ferguson said before and after his victory over Ramsey Nijem, that reaching the UFC was his destiny. He backed up his talk and put an exclamation point on what was a long journey.

"I was just so hungry. This was something I was destined to do," Ferguson told Cagewriter after his win at "The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale." "I wanted to do something different. I found my niche. This is exactly where I belong. I just want the paychecks to say UFC on them."

They will for at least the next year or so. Ferguson's knockout at the 3:54 mark of the first round guaranteed that. The fact that Ferguson was even standing in the Octagon on Saturday was unlikely chapter in his story.

His slot on TUF 13 was far from a given. He'd tried out two previous times and fell short.

Ferguson actually made it to the third round of cuts for Season 11. That's right, a dude who wrestled in college at 165, tried out for a season featuring middleweights. For Season 12, Ferguson flew to Washington D.C., then drove to Charlotte and didn't even make it out of the first round of cuts.

After that failure, he went back to work on the MMA minor league circuit.

"I was living paycheck by paycheck by fighting. I was living in the gym. You hear that story, but I never played that card. The one thing that I did do, I kept my mouth and kept my chin down," said Ferguson.

For Season 13, he took a more aggressive approach during the interview process.

"I went to the third tryout and brought all the aggression with me and everything I've ever had for those three years. My mom told me you kill'em with stats. 'Three time all-state at 152, two-time All American and national champ at 165 for Grand Valley State and I have a Pure Combat championship belt, and this is who I beat.' I was intense and they bought it," said Ferguson.

Once the 5-foot-9 Ferguson arrived in Las Vegas, he realized fighting at welterweight was going to be a rough ride.

"When I first got to the house I was like 'holy crap these guys are pretty big,'" Ferguson said. "The guys would say why don't you go to lightweight?"

Ferguson nearly bowed out of the competition in his first fight. Justin Edwards was giving Ferguson all he could handle before the smaller fighter pulled off an awesome upkick knockout (22:00 mark - video).

Ferguson realized he'd gone away from his roots and was trying to be too pretty in the Octagon.

"I forgot that I was a wrestler. I always wanted to just stand there and go toe-to-toe. There's nothing better than a fight that goes toe-to-toe. You slip and you move, but honestly Justin capitalized on taking me down. I started looking at that. Not so much Pernell Whitaker. That's when I got smarter," said Ferguson.

That was the turning point for Ferguson, who beat Edwards on his 27th birthday. In the next two fights, he destroyed Ryan McGillivray in 46 seconds and dispatched of Chuck O'Neil early in the third round.

After the win over Nijem, he's got a UFC contract in hand and nice bonus of $40,000 for the TUF 13 Knockout of the Night.

"I want to go to Disneyland," said Ferguson.

His fiancee Cristina, who lives near Ferguson in Ventura, Ca., has wanted to go for a while.

"Trust me we're going to go there and Knotts Berry Farm. I want to be able to have fun," said Ferguson.

Ferguson said he'll be back in the gym soon and fight wherever the UFC tells him. His future could be down at 155.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Persistence-pays-off-for-TUF-13-champ-Ferguson?urn=mma-wp3102

Kevin Jordan Jeff Joslin Scott Junk  Martin Kampmann

Todd Duffee vs. Nick Gaston Added to Dream.17, Fight Card Updated

Dream has just added a heavyweight shootout between former UFC star Todd Duffee and Nick Gaston to their July 16th show. Dream.17 takes place inside the Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo, Japan. Light heavyweight champ Gegard Mousasi puts his strap on the line against Hiroshi Izumi in the card?s featured contest, while Kazuyuki Miyata will challenge [...]

Source: http://www.5thRound.com/78843/todd-duffee-vs-nick-gaston-added-to-dream-17-fight-card-updated/

Dan Henderson Josh Hendricks Ed Herman Heath Herring

Yves Jabouin drops to bantamweight, meets Ian Loveland at UFC 134 in Brazil

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

MMATorchAvatar2011V2_180_12.jpg

Following a loss to Pablo Garza in his UFC debut in April, Yves Jabouin is dropping to the bantamweight division, and will meet Ian Loveland at UFC 134 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil this August.

The UFC announced the contest on Saturday, and it is the 11th fight announced for the UFC's return event to Brazil.

Jabouin will likely be fighting for his spot on the UFC's roster in this bout. The 10-year MMA veteran has appeared four times in the WEC and UFC, but only has one win in either organization thus far, and has been stopped twice in those four fights.

Loveland made a successful debut in the organization in December, defeating Tyler Toner by decision. However, the 27-year-old then dropped a decision to Joseph Benavidez in his last bout at UFC 128 in March.

UFC 134 is the UFC's first event in Brazil since 1998, and is headlined by the UFC Middleweight Championship bout between Anderson Silva and Yushin Okami.

Penick's Analysis: This is a good preliminary card level bantamweight fight, and I think it could be a good move for Jabouin. He's immensely fast, and has some good striking and power to go along with that speed, and that could translate well at 135 lbs. That said, Loveland is a solid competitor who won't make it an easy debut for him in the division. This is a good fight for the fans in Brazil.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_9617.shtml

Jimmy Smith Maurice Mo Smith Patrick Smith Scott Smith

Kid Yamamoto vs. Damacio Page slated for UFC 135 in Denver

A bantamweight battle between Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto and Damacio “The Angel of Death” Page has been added to the UFC 135 card in September. UFC President Dana White made the announcement on UFC.com that the fighters have verbally agreed to meet, saying; These are two of the most aggressive sluggers in the always-exciting bantamweight division. [...]

Kid Yamamoto vs. Damacio Page slated for UFC 135 in Denver is a post from: MMA Interplay UFC News

Source: http://www.mmainterplay.com/ufc-news/kid-yamamoto-vs-damacio-page-slated-for-ufc-135-in-denver-54809/

Dave Gomez Keith Hackney Matt Hamill Volk Han

UFC 135 continues to take shape as Yamamoto vs. Page and Rothwell vs. Hunt targetted for September 24th

UFC 135 is set to be a huge event for the organization and features a unique combination of past and present. Hall of famer Matt Hughes is set to meet Diego Sanchez in a phenomenal welterweight bout and the card is also set to feature the next chapter of the Jon Jones odyssey. The new [...]


Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/mmahq/main/~3/58oEDnRsG8k/

Frank Mir Brock Lesnar Shane Carwin Brock Lesnar

Noons commits to difficult cut, reluctantly visits a salon

Strikeforce in Dallas this weekend is highlighted by the heavyweight battles but one of the sleeper fights is KJ Noons and Jorge Masvidal.

This inside video look at Noons shows the lightweight contender taking care of a crucial prefight task. He checks in with the stylist. Apparently, Noons wiping away his bangs against Nick Diaz annoyed the hell out of the fighter's trainers (1:40 mark).

The Noons' video series is well made and this one provides a bonus with an appearance by the fighter's wife, Melany Lorenzo. Lorenzo is also an athlete having logged time in the Lingerie Football League.

Noons' could be fighting for a shot at Strikeforce 155-pound champion Gilbert Melendez. Does he have a chance against Melendez? Of course. Noons' boxing is as good as anyone's in the business. He's faced Diaz twice. Noons is a true lightweight, who finished Diaz on one occasion and also went the distance with the welterweight champ last year.

The first task at hand though is Masvidal, a well-rounded fighter, who may be able to slow Noons' striking game by getting the fight to the floor. Noons is listed as a minus-320 favorite. With Gina Carano dropping off the card, Noons-Masvidal is now part of the Showtime telecast (10 p.m. ET/PT).

Check out Part 1 and Part 2.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Noons-commits-to-difficult-cut-reluctantly-visi?urn=mma-wp3542

Mark Epstein Tom Big Cat Erickson Martinsh Egle Eric Butterbean Esch