Amanda Nunes vs. Julie Kedzie Added to Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum

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Twenty-two-year-old striking sensation Amanda Nunes will return to the cage on June 18, when she takes on veteran Julie Kedzie.

Strikeforce confirmed the matchup will take place on June 18's Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum event in Dallas.

Nunes made her U.S. debut on a January Strikeforce Challengers series card, knocking out fellow striker Julia Budd in just 14 seconds. The highlight-reel win opened many eyes and lifted Nunes' name into the conversation of 145-pound contenders.

Nunes started her career with a submission loss in March 2008, but has since rattled off six straight wins, all via knockout or TKO.

Kedzie will be no easy test for her. The 30-year-old is 16-8 in her career and is riding a four-fight win streak, with her most recent victory coming against Kaitlin Young on April 9.

Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum takes place at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, and also boasts Heavyweight Grand Prix fights with Josh Barnett facing Brett Rogers and Alistair Overeem taking on Fabricio Werdum in the main event.

 

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Source: http://mmafighting.com/2011/05/20/amanda-nunes-vs-julie-kedzie-added-to-strikeforce-overeem-vs/

Joe Riggs Pedro Rizzo Colin Robinson Ricco Rodriguez

This ‘Pitbull’ has some bite: Patricio Freire gets the job done at Bellator 145-pound final

"Big, strong wrestler grinds out a victory over dynamic striker."

Patricio "Pitbull: Freire couldn't have enjoyed that storyline playing out last weekend when his brother Patricky was grounded often and lost to Michael Chandler at Bellator 44.

At Bellator 45, Freire penned a different story. From the start of his fight against Daniel Straus, the younger of the Pitbull brothers was wary of the former college wrestler's takedowns and avoided the mat for all but a few seconds on his way to winning the Bellator Season 4 Featherweight tourney title in unanimous fashion, 30-27, 29-28 and 30-27, last night in Lake Charles, La.

The win gets Pitbull (17-1) a $100,000 payday and chance to rematch against Bellator 145-pound champ Joe Warren.

"There were lots of things going on in my mind," Freire told Sherdog, "but the primary thing was the victory and [getting] a shot at a belt for the first time in my career. I'm going to be a champion. I'm going to take his belt."

Freire, 23, smoked Warren in the first round of a fight last June. Pitbull couldn't close it out and thwarted by Warren's ground attack over the next two rounds. With markedly improved takedown defense against Straus, Freire looked like a different fighter.

Straus, with a three-inch height advantage over the 5-foot-5 Freire, looked massive in the cage, but his size never took over. He executed a few nice throws, but Freire bounced right back up. When the fight was in the clinch, Pitbull more than held his own and by the third round he looked like the more powerful fighter.

The stoppage of the night was produced by Bellator's new light heavyweight champ. With 45 seconds left in the fight, Christian M'Pumbu caught the former champ with a right hook and pounded him out on the ground.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/This-Pitbull-has-some-bite-Patricio-Freire-ge?urn=mma-wp2459

Vagam Bodjukyan Kotetsu Boku  Tony Bonello Stephan Bonnar

QUOTABLES: Junior Dos Santos predicts a knockout win over Shane Carwin at UFC 131

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

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"I got a little upset about this change, but I'm happy that the UFC got another opponent for me. Carwin is an excellent fighter and deserves all my respect... His boxing skills are great. It's gonna be a great fight with tough blows from both sides. I would say that it will end by knockout... I want to fight. I'm in the best moment of my career and I want to make my dream of being a UFC champion come true."

-Junior Dos Santos talks to Sherdog.com about getting a new opponent in Shane Carwin at UFC 131 and how he sees that fight going.

Penick's Analysis: This fight certainly isn't going the distance, that's almost assured with these two fighters involved. Dos Santos will be tested by a striker the likes of which he's never faced before, and the same can be said for Carwin in this one. Carwin's gas tank remains a question mark after the loss to Lesnar last year, and it's a bigger question mark after nearly a year out of action as well. But this fight is extremely interesting even with Lesnar being knocked out of the bout, and the winner will still emerge as a deserving number one contender.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_9324.shtml

Cyril Abidi  Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah  Terrance Aflague

Fitch says his fight against GSP could be most exciting option at 170

There's still no word on what's next for Georges St-Pierre. After he limped across the finish against Jake Shields, many folks have changed their minds about the UFC welterweight champ being invincible at 170 pounds.

Does that mean fans are more open to GSP-Jon Fitch II? Fitch sold the fight on this week's Inside MMA on HDNet (9 p.m. ET).

"You look at all the fights GSP's had, which fight has been the most exciting? Whether or not, you think I could beat him, which fight has been the most exciting fight?" Fitch asked Kenny Rice and company (0:179 mark). "And that's the fight I had with him. You're guaranteed to have an exciting fight with him. He can't hold me down, I can take his punch and I'm always gonna keep moving forward."

Fitch lost that one-sided fight at UFC 87 by a unanimous decision (50-43, 50-44, 50-44). Has he gotten better since then? Fitch's won five straight along with a draw versus B.J. Penn, but he hasn't exactly steamrolled people. Meanwhile, St-Pierre's become a very cerebral fighter and appears to gameplan for decision victories.

If GSP-Fitch II goes five rounds again it may spark another Wiki graffiti incident.

Is Fitch-GSP II the best option? If not, what is?

It looks like a good episode of Inside MMA with Rashad Evans, Mark Munoz, Daniel Cormier and Fitch. Evans appears to be the co-host. Hopefully, he can live up to standard set by Tito Ortiz a few weeks back. Tito struggled a little bit.

Tip via MMAMania

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Fitch-says-his-fight-against-GSP-could-be-most-e?urn=mma-wp2408

Phil Cardella Roan Jucao Carneiro Shane The Engineer Carwin  Jason Hollywood Chambers

CSAC Correction: Chael Sonnen Can Apply For A License Next Month

Here’s some good news for Chael Sonnen for a change. Yesterday, the CSAC said Sonnen would be unable to reapply for a license in the state of California until May 18, 2012. Well, it turns out they made a mistake. According to ESPN’s Josh Gross, the CSAC clarified today that Sonnen will in fact be [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/mmaconvert/~3/KrJ4e4ECEzc/

Tim Sylvia Javier Torres Tor Troeng Nobuhiko Takada

THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER 13 REPORT 5/18: Hyden's (Virtual Time) Rundown of all the fights, all the drama on Spike TV

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By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch contributor

The episode starts with Shamar Bailey saying that he hurt his back, but is going to push through the pain. He says he's going to beat Chris Cope in his fight tonight. Junior Dos Santos is working with Ramsey Nijem to prepare him for his fight with Clay Harvison. Ramsey has some good perspective on his life, as his dad is from the Middle East.

Dana White and Brian Stann walk in to the gym. Dana talks up Brian's TKO stoppage of Chris Leben. Brian is there to talk to the guys about his life in the Marines. He tells them about the level of focus in the Marines and what it takes to succeed. Clay is friends with Brian. Clay had the stitches took out from his dislocated pinky finger. He still can't bend it all the way without pain, but says he'll fight through the pain. Brock Lesnar is working with Clay and Chris on their wrestling. They seem to be paying good attention.

Both guys make weight without a problem. Ramsey has a gray banana hammock on. Ugh, that's just gross. They almost kiss during the stare-down. Well, I guess it's good they're both so loose. Ramsey isn't feeling well prior to the fight. He almost throws up.

FIGHT- Clay Harvison vs. Ramsey Nijem
Clay is 1 inch taller, but Ramsey has a 2 inch reach advantage. Steve Mazzagatti is the referee.

ROUND 1- Ramsey starts with an early takedown, after Clay missed with some punches. Ramsey takes Clay's back quickly. Ramsey with a few shots to the head of Clay that flatten him out. Ramsey locks in a rear-naked choke and Clay taps. Wow, that was fast. Damn.

WINNER- Ramsey Nijem by Submission

Ramsey and Junior are very happy. Clay is extremely pissed with himself. Junior says that Shamar's back is feeling better. Shamar says he wants to shut Chris up, as Chris has a habit of screaming first-thing in the morning. Shamar is very confident that he'll win. Chris says he likes Shamar, even if Shamar doesn't like him. Brock says Chris needs to weather the storm early on in the fight. Chris is working on his takedown defense in practice. Brock is trying to teach Chris some basic wrestling defense to help him beat Shamar.

Both Chris and Shamar make weight fine. Team Dos Santos members think Shamar will win, while Team Lesnar guys say Chris will probably win. Back at the house, Chris is talking with Nordin Asrih about Shamar. They start rolling around practicing. Chris wants Shamar to be upset at him, hoping that will gas him out. Shamar says Chris woke up a beast.

FIGHT- Chris Cope vs. Shamar Bailey
Chris is 4 inches taller, but Shamar has a 3 inch reach advantage. Josh Rosenthal is the referee.

ROUND 1- They start off circling each other, feeling the range. Shamar is throwing shots, but not landing any. Shamar shoots in, but Chris stuffs it. They're up against the cage. Chris is tapping Shamar in the head. Chris almost shoves Shamar off. They separate. Both guys trade shots. Shamar is working a combo, but not really landing it. They tie up on the cage again and trade knees to the body. They separate for a second before tying up against the cage again. Chris separates and gets free. Shamar shoots in again, but Chris stuffs it again. Chris hits Shamar in the head several times. They separate. Shamar pushes Chris into the cage and ties him up, but nothing comes of it as the round ends. I give that round to Chris, but neither guy really did much. Chris stuffed a couple takedowns, though.

ROUND 2- Chris throws a couple of early punches. Several of them connect. Chris is throwing a 3 punch combo. Shamar is just throwing 1 punch at a time. Chris is peppering Shamar with these punches. Shamar pushes Chris up against the cage. They trade knees to the body before separating. Both guys should consider kicks of some sort, whether they be head kicks or leg kicks. They're up on the cage again. Now they're circling without doing much. Both guys connect with shots. They keep circling each other. Shamar shoots in, but Chris pushes him against the cage. Shamar reverses position. This is what he did in his first fight. They separate. Shamar tries for another takedown, but Chris stuffs it. They're up on the cage for a second before separating as the round ends. I'd give that round to Chris again, but barely. Shamar didn't do anything to warrant victory.

Dana says that Shamar didn't do much, and that Chris looked scared to fight. Brock says Chris was on defense, but still landed more shots.

WINNER- Chris Cope by Decision

Junior is stunned by the decision. Shamar complains about Chris backing up the whole time. It's not like Shamar did much himself though. Shamar says he showed Dana that he could stand and bang. No, he didn't. He says that to Dana, who says he looked like he was trying to take him down but couldn't. Shamar complains about his bad back. To be honest, Shamar just looked incredibly overhyped. He couldn't do anything to Chris. He tried what he did in his first fight, but it didn't work this time. Shamar is a very one-dimensional fighter. He needs to work on that. Just admit it and do it.

NEXT WEEK- 2 more fights and Tony Ferguson goes crazy in the house

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/The_Ultimate_Fighter_25/article_9358.shtml

Sam Hoger Mark Hominick Choi Hong man Jeremy Horn

Former WEC Champ Jamie Varner in against Shinya Aoki at DREAM 17

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

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Visa issues have forced one-time UFC lightweight Willamy "Chiquerim" Freire from his scheduled bout with Shinya Aoki this month at DREAM 17 in Japan, and according to a report from Sherdog.com, former WEC Lightweight Champion Jamie Varner has been tapped as his replacement.

Longtime MFC Champion and one-time UFC competitor Antonio McKee was in talks to take the bout as well, but the promotion went with Varner instead for the May 29 event, coming from the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

Varner has been out of action since a submission loss to Shane Roller at the final WEC event in December. The loss made Varner winless in his last four fights, and led to Zuffa releasing him as they merged the WEC into the UFC.

Aoki, on the other hand, has won four straight MMA fights since his last MMA loss to Gilbert Melendez last April, most recently returning to Strikeforce this April and submitting Lyle "Fancy Pants" Beerbohm in the first round on Showtime. The only other notch against him in that time was a knockout loss to kickboxer Yuichiro "Jienotsu" Nagashima in an extremely odd mixed rules bout on New Year's Eve.

DREAM 17 features the quarterfinals of DREAM's bantamweight grand prix, along with bouts featuring notables Caol Uno and Joachim Hansen.

Link to Original Source Article

Penick's Analysis: This is a huge opportunity for Varner, but it's a very bad stylistic matchup for him. His top game will be absolutely negated by the fantastic submission game of Aoki, and he's been very susceptible to submissions recently. A win would be absolutely monumental for him, but on short notice against a fighter of Aoki's level I don't know how successful he can be in this fight. But this is a great replacement fight for Aoki against a decent name in Varner.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/Other_News_4/article_9274.shtml

Bao Ligao  Josh Barnett  David Baron  Phil Baroni