Team Lesnar blog: Chris Cope on "The Ultimate Fighter 13," episode No. 7

"The Ultimate Fighter 13" cast member Chris Cope, who blogs about this season of the reality show exclusively for MMAjunkie.com, has penned his weekly column.

The welterweight prospect and Team Brock Lesnar fighter writes new blog entries each Thursday morning.

Check out today's entry as Cope talks about the wildcard fight, his budding rivalry with Shamar Bailey, the coaches' challenge and the power of "Woo!"


Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/mmajunkie/~3/GYzYKEN9BnI/team-lesnar-blog-chris-cope-on-the-ultimate-fighter-13-episode-no-7.mma

Igor Zinoviev Mark Coleman Maurice Smith Randy Couture

UFC 129 Prelims Live brings 1.5 million viewers to Spike TV

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

UFC_129_poster_180_30.jpg

Saturday's UFC 129 Prelims Live broadcast on Spike TV brought another strong rating to the network, bringing in 1.5 million viewers for the hour long broadcast.

The Spike broadcast featured two fights live, with Jake Ellenberger scoring a vicious first-round KO win over Sean Pierson and Rory MacDonald putting on an impressive performance in a dominant decision win over Nate Diaz.

The 1.5 million viewers tied for the fourth most to tune in for a Prelims Live special on Spike, falling just slightly below UFC 114, UFC 109 and UFC 126. UFC 126 set the record for the specials with 2 million viewers in February.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_9227.shtml

Paweł Nastula Kazuhiro Nakamura Yoshihiro Nakao Roy Nelson

UFC 129 asks who is better, Canada or U.S.?

UFC 129 is more than a record-breaking MMA event that will pack 55,000 into the Rogers Centre in Toronto to see two championship belts decided. It's also a face-off between American and Canadian fighters to decide which country is better. Cagewriter breaks it down for you. Which North American country does it better?

GSP vs. Shields: Everything is going for GSP. He's fighting in front of a home crowd, he's at the height of his hype and he's considered invincible, which is exactly why I don't think he'll win. If Shields gets it to the ground, GSP is in trouble. Advantage: Shields and the U.S.

Signature food -- poutine vs. pizza: Poutine, french fries top with cheese curds and brown gravy, sounds amazing. However, pizza -- a food with an ancestor in Italy but that is singularly American -- is much better. It is customizable, yummy when hot and cold, can be made to look like Yoda and everyone loves it. Advantage: U.S.

Mark Bocek vs. Ben Henderson: BenHen needs to erase the memory of being on the wrong end of the Anthony Pettis highlight reel. That incentive is enough to get the former WEC champ the win. Advantage: Henderson and the U.S.

National anthems -- "O Canada" vs. "The Star-Spangled Banner": The U.S. national anthem, when sung well, can tear the house down, but it's not easy for an average person to sing.  That's not true of "O Canada." During the Vancouver Olympics, Canadians showed how easy it was to sing their anthem. Advantage: Canada

National animal: For America, it's the bald eagle, a strong, proud bird that can pick off prey from a mile away. Canada's, which can seen on the header of the new Yahoo! Sports Blog, The Eh Game, is the beaver. Advantage: the U.S.

Nate Diaz vs. Rory McDonald: Does Canada have a Stockton equivalent? Nah The baddest fighters come from Cali, not Quebec. Advantage: U.S.

Other sports: Well, Canada did just win a figure skating world championship and the Canucks knocked my Blackhawks out of the playoffs, and they won the gold medal in both men's and women's hockey at the Vancouver Olympics. Canadians also excel at curling. Outside of that, America rules. Football, baseball, basketball -- I'll take Derrick Rose over Steve Nash -- we're better. We'll give you hockey, Canada. We'll take the rest. Advantage: U.S.

Other fights: On the other UFC 129 Canada vs. U.S. fights, my picks are Makdessi, Patrick, Jabouin for Canada and Ellenberger, Valencia, Jensen for the U.S.

The final tally: America wins, 8-4.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/UFC-129-asks-who-is-better-Canada-or-U-S-?urn=mma-wp1650

Travis Wiuff Wu Haotian Rani Yahya Kenichi Yamamoto

UFC 130 Main Event A No-Go, Both Frank Edgar And Gray Maynard Sidelined With Injuries

One of the most-anticipated rematches of the year is now off the table. In news that is currently sweeping the internet, it?s now official that the UFC 130 main event is cancelled. The third and likely final fight between UFC Lightweight Champion Frank Edgar and challenger Gray Maynard will be postponed due to both fighters [...]

Source: http://www.fighters.com/05/09/ufc-130-main-event-a-no-go-both-frank-edgar-and-gray-maynard-sidelined-with-injuries

Brad Imes Enson Inoue Takeshi Inoue Tokimitsu Ishizawa

Strikeforce heavyweight Shane Del Rosario hit by allegedly intoxicated driver; faces physical and legal complications moving forward

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Strikeforce_Overeem_vs_Werdum_poster_180_1.jpeg

Though the news only broke on Friday afternoon, Shane Del Rosario's car accident happened in mid-April according to a report from MMAJunkie.com.

Speaking with Del Rosario's trainer, Colin Oyama, the MMAJunkie report got more information about the accident, and unfortunately Del Rosario may have difficulties in getting back to action.

Del Rosario was hit by an allegedly intoxicated woman on April 14th while at a stoplight, and his injuries are severe enough that his trainer is concerned about whether or not he'll be able to make a full recovery.

"He's having some serious physical difficulties," Oyama said. "He's planning on [fighting again], but the injuries are serious enough to where it's kind of in question whether he can or not. We're hoping that he can. We'll know more in six months."

"He was at a complete stop. This lady was drunk at 6 p.m. ? I'm not sure how you're drunk at 6 p.m. ? but she lost control of her car, smashed into him, and apparently tried to flee the scene. The cops chased her down and caught her."

The woman in question, Kimberly Essayian, was arrested and booked on DUI charges by the Orange County Police Department, and with his car totaled, Del Rosario is currently going through the legal process against her, which is adding another set of issues to his situation.

"He's been trying to go to rehab as much as possible, but it's difficult with the lawsuit in what you can and can't do," Oyama said. "Everything you do is affecting the lawsuit. People following him (and saying), 'Oh, he's not hurt, he can walk.' It's like, come on. Are you kidding me?"

"If anything it will become a big legal distraction for him. But as far as training, he won't be able to train for probably another two or three months."

Del Rosario was supposed to face Daniel Cormier next month at Strikeforce's June 18 event in Dallas, Texas, but his injuries forced him out of the fight. A lightweight bout between K.J. Noons and Jorge Masvidal is expected to replace that fight on the card.

Link to Original Source Article

Penick's Analysis: That's not good news at all. I was hoping to hear it would be a less serious injury, but it's likely a multitude of things if he was at a stand still and his car was totaled. Sadly it's just another of the many examples of idiotic people getting behind the wheel of a vehicle when they're very much not in shape to do so, and people get hurt or worse. Hopefully Del Rosario can get through this legal process in a relatively quick amount of time, and more importantly I hope his rehab all goes well. He's a very talented fighter and bright prospect and it would be a shame to have his career severely affected by some idiotic drunk driver.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/Affliction2/article_9269.shtml

Travis Lutter Stevie Lynch Adam Lynn Chris Lytle

With Brock Lesnar's removal, Shane Carwin steps up for UFC 131 main-event against Junior dos Santos

Earlier today, UFC President Dana White revealed that the former heavyweight champion in Brock Lesnar has been removed from the upcoming UFC 131 main-event. There, Lesnar was originally slated to face off against top contender Junior dos Santos in a bout that would determine the next title challenger. However, Brock has since been diagnosed once [...]

Source: http://www.fighters.com/05/12/with-brock-lesnars-removal-shane-carwin-steps-up-for-ufc-131-main-event-against-junior-dos-santos

Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou Joe Son Chael Sonnen Krzysztof Soszynski

"The Ultimate Fighter 13" episode No. 7 discussion thread

The seventh episode of "The Ultimate Fighter 13: Team Lesnar vs. Team Dos Santos" airs tonight on Spike TV at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

This serves as tonight's discussion thread for the episode, in which the season's wild-card fight takes place.

Follow along with tonight's episode on Spike TV, and discuss it in the comments section of this thread. We'll then have an episode recap posted following the show's conclusion. (West Coast viewers: The comments section obviously will have spoilers for tonight's episode.)


Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/mmajunkie/~3/CLy_2xPYVhM/the-ultimate-fighter-13-episode-no-7-discussion-thread.mma

Mike Kyle Achmed Labasanov Jason Lambert Jose Landi Jons

Three Stars from UFC 129: Main card edition

After a blockbuster UFC 129, Cagewriter had to break "Three Stars" into two parts. See the undercard stars here, and read on for the stars of the main card.

No. 1 star -- Lyoto Machida: With Steven Seagal improbably looking on through his shooting glasses, Machida threw nearly the same kick that Anderson Silva used to knock out Vitor Belfort. Machida threw more of a "Karate Kid" spin on the kick, as he faked with the left before quickly threw the KO kick with the right. Again, he gave credit to Seagal, which was one of the memorable parts of an unbelievable night.

No. 2 star -- Mark Hominick: Yes, Hominick lost to Jose Aldo in a five-round decision. Aldo is clearly the more skilled fighter, but even in a loss, Hominick impressed. In front of 55,000 fellow Canadians, Hominick showed that smaller fighters can get crowds standing and cheering. Even with a hematoma on his head and cheek and a swollen eye, Hominick never quit. For that, he took home a $129,000 Fight of the Night bonus for his efforts, which is a nice bit of cash for a man whose wife is due this week.

No. 3 star -- Vladimir Matyushenko: All of the "this guy is old and still fighting" pre-fight publicity went to Randy Couture, but "The Janitor" turned 40 in January, and took just 20 seconds to knock out Jason Brilz. Not too bad for a guy who has been fighting since 1997.

Honorable mention -- Toronto: For months and months, we heard that UFC 129 was going to be the biggest UFC event in history. Toronto completely delivered, packing the Rogers Centre with loud and raucous fans who responded to the fantastic fights that were in front of them. Well played, Toronto. Take note, New York.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Three-Stars-from-UFC-129-Main-card-edition?urn=mma-wp1939

Scott Smith Renato Babalu Sobral Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou Joe Son