Dana White Feels MMA Is Canada's No. 2 Sport Behind Hockey

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VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Following the UFC 131 press conference, Dana White talked about having to share the spotlight with the Stanley Cup Finals in Vancouver. Watch below.

 

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Source: http://mmafighting.com/2011/06/09/dana-white-feels-mma-is-canadas-no-2-sport-behind-hockey/

Xavier Foupa Pokam Hermes Franca Rich Franklin Ian Freeman

READER REAX: Responses from MMATorch readers on UFC welterweight Jon Fitch and which fighter he should face next

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With Jon Fitch saying this week that he had no interest in fighting anyone other than B.J. Penn or Georges St. Pierre, and that not likely happening, we asked our readers who they'd like to see Fitch face next. Here are some of their responses.

Jacob Ng: I actually like Jon Fitch. I'm not a huge fan, but I like his grinding style as long as he's trying to ground and pound and not just lay and pray on someone. Having said that, I'd like to see him take on Jake Shields. One of the problems is that Fitch would usually smother all other fighters in the division, thus stopping their momentum towards earning a title shot at a time when the UFC needs to build up new contenders and not rehash old fights. These two welterweight vets can now square off in a big fight while the rest of the new blood in the division continues to mature without getting picked off by either of the two for a while. Heck the UFC can throw in Penn, Serra and Hughes if they want into that mix to keep them busy until someone new is ready and able to step in, beat them and credibly challenge GSP for the title.

Phillip Irvin: Let me start by saying that there are multiple people that Fitch should fight before his desired rematch with GSP:

Carlos Condit
Dong Hyun Kim
Diego Sanchez (rematch)
Rory MacDonald

These guys are beasts, but they're already booked. Who does that leave?

Josh Koscheck? No doubt it would be an evenly skilled match, but as teammates these guys don't want to fight each other. They say they would, but they won't.

You have two options left in the upper echelon of welterweights, and these guys are hungry: Rick Story and Jake Ellenberger. Both are exciting and are proven finishers, but there can be only one choice.

With Rick Story's victory over Thiago Alves and Ellenberger, this makes him the front runner. Rick had the intelligence to call Fitch out while he's hot off his victory. If there's one thing we all know, it's that Dana will give the fight to the most eager opponent if they deserve it. The timing is right and it's gonna happen.

Fitch should know by now that staying aloof will not put him in a good spot with the fans and makes him appear afraid. He's cornering himself.

Emilio Sanchez: Love the subject, and realistically speaking the UFC truly now has reason to get Fitch active ASAP.

I say first off you ask him to fight Koscheck. "No, you'd rather not? Ok then please sign this new crossover contract, we'd like you to fight Tyron Woodley (snorefest) or Paul Daley in Strikeforce."

C'mon really, since when is Jon Fitch a main event fighter? I would rather pay to watch any fight on the upcoming Live on Versus event then pay to see Fitch as a headliner. It's bad enough watching St. Pierre in a PPV, when you're almost certain it will end in a hard & well fought, yet very predictable, decision.

Jon Fitch may be a top five welterweight but no chance anyone who knows anything about mma is going to pay to see him fight. Ugh, the thought makes me nauseous.

So, if he's truly adamant about not fighting Story, then I think the most reasonable response is, have him fight the winner of the Marquardt-Johnson event. At least that way you're almost guaranteed to have him fight a popular fighter in his opposition that won't merit a Main Event status.

Chris Knight: Jon Fitch is boxing himself into a corner and isn't doing himself any favors in regards to how the UFC will deal with him after his recent statements about his next opponent. Fitch states that he will only be interested in fighting in main event matches against B.J. Penn or GSP next, yet I see another viable option that would make sense for Fitch and the UFC.

Jon Fitch should face the winner of the Carlos Condit vs. Dong Hyun Kim fight. The reasons I like this option for Fitch is because I believe Condit is a rising star in the UFC, and because Kim is still technically unbeaten in MMA. Both fighters are very well rounded and either man could pose some problems for Fitch if he can't impose his usual game plan of grinding out decisions.

If Dong Hyun Kim beats Carlos Condit, it would give the UFC a nice angle to promote the unbeaten Kim vs. the #2 ranked welterweight for a title contender's match. Kim has been impressive in his MMA career thus far, as the only two blemishes on Kim's record are a controversial draw, and a no contest (both fights of which many people believed Kim won).

Now if Condit wins, and I believe he does, the UFC will have no problem being able to sell a Fitch vs. Condit number one contender's match. After stringing two impressive victories together, a last second third round TKO of Rory MacDonald at UFC 115, followed by a brutal 1st round KO of Dan Hardy at UFC 120, Condit is looking to fight his way towards a UFC title shot. A decisive victory over Dong Hyun Kim would certainly elevate Condit's status to the elite tier of arguably the UFC's most competitive weight class.

Neither of these fights would be the main event Fitch is looking for, but both would certainly make for an excellent #1 contender's co-main event match on a PPV later this year.

NOTE: Responses were received prior to news of Rick Story replacing an injured Anthony Johnson against Nate Marquardt at UFC on Versus 4.

[Jon Fitch art by Cory Gould (c) MMATorch.com]

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/Reader_Reax_21/article_9519.shtml

Luiz Buscapé Firmino Spencer Fisher Jon Fitch Kenny Florian

UFC Live: Marquardt vs. Johnson, June 26

UFC Live: Marquardt vs. Story
Sunday June 26
Consol Energy Center
Pittsburgh, PA
Airing on Versus

MAIN CARD (Versus)

* Nate Marquardt (#4 Ranked Middleweight) vs. Rick Story
* Pat Barry vs. Cheick Kongo
* Matt Mitrione vs. Christian Morecraft
* Maatt Brown vs. John Howard

PRELIMINARY CARD (Unaired)

* Manny Gamburyan (#7 Ranked Featherweight) vs. Tyson Griffin
* Joe Stevenson vs. Javier Vazquez
* Charles Oliveira vs. Nik Lentz
* Joe Lauzon vs. Curt Warburton
* Daniel Roberts vs. Rich Attonito
* Michael Johnson vs. Edward Faaloloto
* Matt Grice vs. Ricardo Lamas
* Charlie Brenneman vs. T.J. Grant

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/Upcoming_Events_42/article_8694.shtml

Dai Shuanghai  Mac Danzig  Karen Darabedyan Viacheslav Datsik

Kingsbury interview: PED villain Victor Conte helps MMA fighter’s rise

Kyle Kingsbury is a brave guy. He's not afraid to step into a cage for a fight or shut out the noise around him beforehand. Working with Victor Conte can create that sort of negative buzz.

Conte's the guy, who first helped dozens of athletes (Barry Bonds, Marion Jones, Bill Romanowski, Tim Montgomery, Shane Mosley) rise to the top of their games, then took them down when he ratted out them out. Conte was the mastermind behind BALCO. In a comeback attempt as a nutritionist/trainer he hasn't found too many high level clients, but count the UFC's Kyle Kingsbury as one of his current devotees.

"It's only a risky decision if you're not doing something right," Kingsbury said. "Obviously, I'm going to get tested more.  Obviously, I'm going to get questioned more. I'm not worried about that, I'm on the right side of the fence. There's no anxiety going into a fight whether I'm clean or not."

Kingsbury says Conte is in the right place now, because he fears getting thrown in jail for good this time around. During the BALCO investigation, Conte cooperated with the feds and got only four months in jail.

Kingsbury trusts Conte's training philosophies. He's been convinced to go away from traditional fighting training methods like working at high altitude and doing road work. Conte's training plan for the MMA fighter is centered around explosiveness, not just endurance.

Kingsbury, a former defensive lineman at Arizona State, is starting to gain a foothold with the promotion. The Season 7 "Ultimate Fighter" alum has won three straight as he gets set to show off Conte's work in a fight on Saturday night against Fabio Maldanado.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Kingsbury-interview-PED-villain-Victor-Conte-he?urn=mma-wp2922

Tony Bonello Stephan Bonnar

Top 5 Fights Of June 2011: Shane Carwin vs. Junior dos Santos, Alistair Overeem vs. Fabricio Werdum, And More

And now, fans and friends, it?s time for the second half of my traditional two-part ?start of month? posts. After previewing the major cards set to go down this month, it?s now time for me to give my thoughts on what my favorite fights will be. June is a huge month for MMA: at one [...]

Source: http://www.fighters.com/06/01/top-5-fights-of-june-2011-shane-carwin-vs-junior-dos-santos-alistair-overeem-vs-fabricio-werdum-and-more

Rich No Love Clementi  Mark The Hammer Coleman Wes Soldier Combs  Ray Cooper 

UFC 133 "Evans vs. Davis" officially announced, tickets on sale June 10

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

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The UFC's return to Philadelphia is official, as the organization on Wednesday announced UFC 133: Evans vs. Davis for the Wells Fargo Center on August 6 on pay-per-view.

In addition to the main event between Rashad Evans and Phil Davis, the organization officially announced a light heavyweight bout between Rich Franklin and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, as well as a middleweight bout between Vitor Belfort and Yoshihiro Akiyama.

"The last time we were in Philly, the fans were incredible so we are excited to head back there with a card that features three former world champions," UFC President Dana White said in the release. "Phil is undefeated at 9-0 and has never been more motivated for a fight, and he wants to prove that he belongs atop the light heavyweight division. Rashad is on fire. He wants his title back so badly he can taste it, but he knows before he can get his title shot he has to get through Phil. He wants to win and he wants to win impressively. This is a great fight."

Evans returns to action for the first time since defeating Quinton "Rampage" Jackson at UFC 114. A win keeps him on track for a shot at regaining the Light Heavyweight Championship he lost to Lyoto Machida in 2009.

"My road back to the title continues in Philadelphia against Phil Davis and I expect this to be one of the best fights of the year," Evans said. "Phil is on the rise in this sport and it's my job to put an end to that. He's a former national champion wrestler and he's been impressive thus far in the UFC, but my experience in big fights gives me the edge. I want another shot at the belt and I've got to beat Phil to earn it."

After stepping in on short notice to meet longtime veteran Nogueira at UFC Fight Night 24, Davis is out to take another step up the ladder against the first former UFC Champion he's faced. The Pennsylvania native and D1 national wrestling champion at Penn State is excited to get back in the cage and fight in front of a hometown crowd.

"I'm definitely glad to be back in Pennsylvania for the biggest fight of my life," Davis said. "It's going to be good to be able to fight in front of all my family and friends. I feel like I can take this fight wherever I want. I can wrestle with Rashad, I can strike with him, and I feel confident wherever this fight goes. Rashad Evans is the most dangerous opponent I've ever faced, but I don't think for a minute that I'm outmatched. I'm going to take care of this fight and do whatever I have to do to beat Rashad."

Tickets for the event go on sale next Friday, June 10, to the general public, with prices ranging from $50-$500. As always, UFC Fight Club members will get the first crack at tickets with a presale beginning two days earlier, and UFC Newsletter subscribers get their presale on Thursday, June 9.

UPDATE: Ticket on-sale dates were moved up a day by the UFC in a separate release, and have been updated in the post.

[Rashad Evans art by Cory Gould (c) MMATorch.com]

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_9487.shtml

Rich Franklin Ian Freeman Don Frye Tony Fryklund

No decisions made on fights for B.J. Penn, Jake Shields and Jon Fitch as UFC waits on injuries

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

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The top of the welterweight division is a bit cluttered with fighters that have all been defeated by UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre, and for a trifecta of fighters in B.J. Penn, Jake Shields and Jon Fitch, all are looking to fight one or another.

Fitch stated in a recent interview that he wants his rematch with Penn or a fight with GSP, and he's willing to wait out a fight with either of them. However, recovery from shoulder surgery likely has him lowest on the list to get a fight of the three.

For Penn and Shields, the two of them are willing to take a fight with each other. Both essentially agreed to the fight in exchanges on Twitter, but UFC President Dana White says nothing has been set for any of the three men as of yet as they wait out the injuries being dealt with by Penn and Fitch especially.

"No, we don't have anything yet," White said in an interview with MMAWeekly.com when asked about the status of the three fighters. "B.J.'s been calling [Shields] out, B.J.'s chomping at the bit to fight right now, he wants to fight."

"Right now [injuries are] what we're waiting on. As far as a lot of these fights go, guys that are injured, guys that are not, guys that are coming back, once all these guys heal up we're going to have a crazy roster."

If Penn is healed up and ready to go, a Penn-Shields bout could potentially take place as early as September or October, but nothing has yet been determined on that front by the UFC.

Link to Original Source Article

Penick's Analysis: I think a Penn-Shields fight will end up coming together if both are healthy and ready to go for September or October. The Fitch-Penn rematch could still happen if Fitch's recovery is ahead of schedule, but I think Penn will be ready to return a lot sooner than Fitch, and he'll probably not want to wait that fight out. They could still match up against each other again if Penn were to defeat Shields, but I don't think we'll see the resolution of that draw anytime soon. Still, I am very intrigued by a fight between Penn and Shields, and the winner against Fitch in December or early 2012 would be a very good welterweight fight as well.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_9589.shtml

Marcelo Brito  Rob Broughton  Mike Brown  Junie Browning

Video: Kenny Florian ? Superfighter and Supermodel

Kenny Florian (14-5 MMA, 11-4 UFC) takes on Diego Nunes (16-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) this Saturday at UFC 131. The following video has been released, profiling the rise to stardom of the hottest new addition to the UFC’s featherweight division.


Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/mmahq/main/~3/wjWw3eM-5wM/

Ryo Piranha Chonan  Dan The Sandman Christison  Logan The Pink Pounder Clark  Steve The Snake Claveau 

UFC 131 Weigh-Ins Stream Live at 5pm ET, Fight Club Q&A with Stephan Bonnar at 3pm ET

The UFC 131 ‘Dos Santos vs. Carwin’ weigh-ins will stream live in the video player above at 5pm ET/2pm PT. The weigh-ins will be preceded by a UFC Fight Club Q&A with special guest Stephan Bonnar at 3pm ET/12pm PT. Weigh-in results will follow on a separate post.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/mmaconvert/~3/kRyLYFHSRBk/

Jason Reinhardt Eddy Rolon João Roque Kristian Rothaermel

Dana White ? 5 round Non-title Fights For All Future Main Events And New 125-pound Flyweight Division

Dana White today told reporters that the promotion has decided that all main-event non-title bouts ? whether on pay-per-view, Spike TV or Versus ? will now be scheduled as five-rounders. The new changes will not apply to any currently scheduled bouts, such as UFC 133’s Rashad Evans vs. Phil Davis fight, or UFC on Versus 5’s [...]

Source: http://www.mmatko.com/dana-white-5-round-non-title-fights-for-all-future-main-events-and-new-125-pound-flyweight-division/

Rob Broughton  Mike Brown  Junie Browning Paul BuentelloÂ