UFC on Versus 4 official for Pittsburgh's Consol Energy Center on June 26

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The city of Pittsburgh will get their first UFC event ever on June 26, as the UFC today confirmed that they will be running their UFC on Versus 4 event from the city's Consol Energy Center.

It will be only the second event the UFC has run in the state of Pennsylvania, having previously brought UFC 101 to the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia. That card, headlined by B.J. Penn's UFC Lightweight Title victory over Kenny Florian and featuring Anderson Silva's matrix-like destruction of Forrest Griffin, brought in over 17,000 fans and a little over $3.5 million at the gate.

The Consol Energy Center, host of the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins, is a brand-new 19,000 seat venue in the city that opened just prior to the start of the 2010-2011 NHL season last August.

The UFC has not booked a headlining fight for the event as of yet, but four bouts have been confirmed. Pat Barry vs. Cheick Kongo, Rich Attonito vs. Matt Brown, Manny Gamburyan vs. Tyson Griffin and Joe Stevenson vs. Javier Vazquez will all take place on the card, with Griffin and Stevenson each making their featherweight debuts in their respective bouts.

The UFC has run three previous events on the Versus network, with now UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones headlining two in 2010 and the most recent taking place last month, when Diego Sanchez edged out Martin Kampmann by split decision in Louisville, Ky.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_8988.shtml

Genki Sudo Amar Suloev Mike Swick Takashi Sugiura

The MMA Hour With Joe Rogan, Junior dos Santos, Tom Wright, Matt Mitrione

Filed under: , ,

The MMA Hour returns on Monday with another loaded two-hour show. Guests stopping by will include:

* UFC color analyst and comedian Joe Rogan.

* UFC heavyweight contender Junior dos Santos.

* Tom Wright, UFC director of Canadian Operations, will discuss next week's UFC 129 in Toronto.

* Matt Mitrione, who will stop by for the popular "Mitrione Minute" segment.

* MMA Fighting's Mike Chiappetta will discuss all the news making headlines in MMA these days.

And of course, we'll be taking your calls. Give us a shout at: 212-254-0193 or 212-254-0237.

Watch the show live below beginning at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT. Download previous episodes of The MMA Hour on iTunes: audio feed here; video feed here.

Source: http://www.mmafighting.com/2011/04/18/the-mma-hour-with-joe-rogan-junior-dos-santos-nate-marquardt/

Ronaldo de Souza Ron The Monster Sparks Patrick Speight Mario Sperry

Is the UFC making a mistake honoring legendary Gracies by letting them fight?

The mixed martial arts world is fired up for the UFC to hit Brazil. The sport, built upon the backs of great Brazilian fighters like Royce Gracie, is still on the fringe in his homeland. The UFC has a chance to make it mainstream.

Once the Olympics announced it would hold the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro, the UFC decided it was time to make a push in Brazil. Rumors began swirling immediately that Gracie would fight on the card.

He was the champion, in a tournament-style format, back at UFC 1 and UFC 2. Gracie was the smallest fighter in the field. That was 1993 and 1994. He's 44 years old now without a professional fight since 2007.  Gracie wants the chance to close his career in the Octagon and it sounds like the UFC is willing to give him the opportunity:

"It would be the perfect place to do my last fight," Gracie told UOL Esportes (via Bloody Elbow). "I never fought in Rio de Janeiro and I couldn't be more psyched. We are negotiating [the fight deal], but we should have it finalized in two weeks. We only had an initial contact and I don't even have an opponent yet, but we should have that finalized soon ... My weight is the same as it was twenty years ago [80kg], I am still training, keeping the blade sharp. I follow a very strict diet. I never drank, never party, Carnival, none of that... I'm ready to fight"

There's also rumors that his cousin Renzo, 43, will fight on the card as well. It may be a feel good moment for a few seconds when they enter the Octagon, but it seems like the UFC could be walking a fine line with this one.

In 2006, Royce was never in his fight against Matt Hughes at UFC 60. Hughes grounded and TKO'd him in just 4:39. Renzo was slightly better against Hughes, losing at UFC 112. But it doesn't appear either should be in there with anything resembling a top 20 welterweight.

UFC heavyweight Roy Nelson was tweeting last night asking fans for their opinion on a Royce fight:

Nelson's "on the juice" mention was a reference to Gracie's positive steroid test following his last fight against Kazushi Sakaraba.

Eliminate Matt Serra from the list of candidates. Serra, a Gracie fighting disciple, isn't going to cross his mentor Renzo to fight a member of the family. The other names are puzzling. Could Royce really be competitive against Dan Hardy or Amir Sadollah?

Tip via MMAMania

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Is-the-UFC-making-a-mistake-honoring-legendary-G?urn=mma-wp1191

Ed Herman Heath Herring Branden Lee Hinkle Sam Hoger

Strikeforce looking to make move to pay-per-view in July; "King Mo" vs. Roger Gracie possible for the card

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

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A move to pay-per-view long appeared to be the end game for Strikeforce as an organization, and the purchase of the organization by Zuffa appears to be only expediting the procedures.

According to a report from MMAWeekly.com, Strikeforce's first pay-per-view event is "all but official" for July. No location or date has been revealed for the July card, but one potential fight for the pay-per-view event would pit light heavyweights Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal and Roger Gracie against one another.

Lawal was initially slated to take part in Strikeforce's June 18 event in Dallas, a card which will feature the second set of quarterfinal bouts in Strikeforce's Heavyweight World Grand Prix, but according to the report his fight is now likely to be a part of the pay-per-view card.

Additionally, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker said in a media conference call last week that Fedor Emelianenko's return was expected to come on their July card as well.

Link to Original Source Article

Penick's Analysis: A move to pay-per-view was going to be needed for Strikeforce from a financial standpoint, something highlighted by SVSE looking to sell and move on with their other endeavors which lead to Zuffa's purchase of the organization. With Zuffa having tried the pay-per-view approach once with the WEC, we'll see how much brand viability Strikeforce has on that front, and at what level they can sell. They'll need to put together a pay-per-view worthy card, and this Lawal vs. Gracie fight is a good start to building that card. Fedor's inclusion will be good as well, but with two straight losses they shouldn't headline the event with his fight. We'll see what they can put together for a different headliner in the next several months, but this was a move that was definitely going to come out of this sale.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/Affliction2/article_9007.shtml

Luiz Buscapé Firmino Spencer Fisher Jon Fitch Kenny Florian

TUF 12 runner-up Michael Johnson to face Edward Faaloloto at UFC on Versus 4 in June

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

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Ultimate Fighter 12 runner-up Michael Johnson will get his first fight in the UFC at the UFC on Versus 4 card in June, as the organization announced on Monday that he will meet WEC vet and UFC newcomer Edward Faaloloto on the card.

The 24-year-old Johnson brings an 8-5 record into his second appearance in the Octagon. A member of Georges St. Pierre's team on TUF 12, Johnson defeated Pablo Garza, Aaron Wilkinson, Alex "Bruce Leroy" Cacares and Nam Phan to make it to the finals. However, Johnson was defeated by Jonathan Brookins in the finals of the season 12 lightweight tournament in December.

Faaloloto took on Anthony Njokuani at WEC 52 in his first appearance under the Zuffa banner, suffering his first defeat in the fight. After winning his first two career fights, Faaloloto gave a valiant effort against Njokuani, but was overwhelmed late in the second round and finished off with only seconds left in the round.

UFC on Versus 4 takes place from Pittsburgh's Consol Energy Center on June 26, and also features Tyson Griffin vs. Manny Gamburyan, Joe Stevenson vs. Javier Vasquez, Pat Barry vs. Cheick Kongo and Matt Brown vs. Rich Attonito.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_9034.shtml

Scott Junk  Martin Kampmann Denis Kang Georgi Karakhanyan

Strikeforce Challengers: ‘The Silverback’ elbows his way to impressive win

UFC bought Strikeforce two weeks ago and said the Showtime-televised promotion would continue to run with a "business as usual" approach. That didn't necessarily mean inside the cage.

The UFC eliminated the "no elbows to a grounded opponent" rule in Strikeforce. Justin Wilcox, a powerfully built former college wrestler, took full advantage of the added weapon. He mauled Rodrigo Damm with some big blasts, opening a huge gash over the Brazilian's left eye. The doctors advised a stoppage and Wilcox got the victory via TKO following the first round.

Wilcox's game improves with each fight. A muscle-bound freak who wrestled at Edinboro in Pennsylvania, Wilcox has come a long way with his striking game.

Tonight, it was his legs that through Damm for a loop. Wilcox set the tone just 40 seconds into the fight by blasting Damm with kick to the head. The kick was actually partially blocked by Damm's left arm, but he was rattled and put his back on the cage. Another Wilcox kick sent Damm into scramble mode. The Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt tried to settle the fight by getting a takedown. Wilcox's takedown defense was impenetrable.

Damm got to his feet, but was still out of it and kept moving in the same direction. With Damm scurrying to his left, he walked right into several more of those nasty head kicks. Around the 3:00 mark, a cut over Damm's eye starting leaking blood. He hit the deck again after absorbing a straight right. On the ground, Wilcox kept pushing Damm's head down, landing elbows and punches. By the end of the round, Damm's blood was all over the canvas. He had small cuts under both eyes and the big gash over his eye.

"It's messed up," joked Wilcox. "They let the 'Silverback' use elbows."

Wilcox credited his camp, American Kickboxing Academy. The striking coaches at AKA have done wonders. Wilcox (11-3, 5-1 Strikeforce) has the tools to become a real factor at lightweight. The 31-year-old has won five straight

Fodor completely outclasses Douglas

David Douglas looks the part, but tonight a guy with all the tools to be a great fighter. The thickly-muscled Douglas was greeted by an offensive onslaught from Carlos Fodor. Douglas quickly wore down and took a beat for eight-plus minutes. Fodor moved to 8-2 with the TKO victory at 2:12 of the third round.

Fodor actually apologize for a slow pace. Douglas couldn't have thought it was slow. He was dominated in the clinch and it was even worse on the ground. This is the first Strikeforce event where elbows to a grounded opponent were legal. Douglas ate dozens of elbows and found himself fighting off several guillotine attempts.

Douglas (8-3) had been fed some smallish opponents last two fights with Strikeforce.

Undercard results (Courtesy MMAjunkie):

Lorenz Larkin def. Scott Lighty via TKO (punches) - Round 2, 3:15

James Terry def. Josh Thornburg via knockout (punch) - Round 1, 4:38

Damion Douglas def. Wayne Phillips via split decision (28-29, 30-27, 29-28)

Untelevised prelims

Anthony Avila def. Rafael Rios via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Robert Escalante def. Raul Sandoval via submission (armbar) - Round 1, 4:10

Tristen Arenal def. Tom Peterson via submission (armbar) - Round 1, 1:58

Ronald Carillo def. Adam Antolin via submission (rear-naked choke) - Round 1, 1:48

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Strikeforce-Challengers-The-Silverback-elbows?urn=mma-wp859

Akihiro Gono Gabriel Gonzaga Lyman Good Gary Goodridge

Most Exciting Fighters NOT in the Top Ten Pound For Pound Rankings

By John Moody We all know how fun it can be to watch Anderson Silva dump an upkick to the grill of Vitor Belfort or Jon Jones drop sledgehammer elbows to Brandon Vera’s skull.  But hey, we kind of expect this, these are some of the best pound for pound fighters walking the planet.  So what [...]

Source: http://www.fighters.com/04/16/most-exciting-fighters-not-in-the-top-ten-pound-for-pound-rankings

Ba Te er  Ryan Bader  Siyar Bahadurzada Bao Ligao 

ROUNDTABLE: Which fight of the two major April cards (Diaz vs. Daley and UFC 129) are you most anticipating? MMATorch staff and contributors share their thoughts

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Of the two major fight cards remaining this month (Diaz vs. Daley and UFC 129), which fight are you most anticipating and why?


RICH HANSEN, MMATORCH COLUMNIST

I'm not overly interested in UFC 129, to tell the truth. Lots of names, lots of mismatches. I'm a Jake Shields mark, but I know he's got little chance. Couture's going to get picked apart by Machida. The most competitive fight of the three big fights should be Aldo vs. Hominick, because Hominick is the only underdog of the three to have a literal "puncher's chance." My two favorite fights on the card are Bocek vs. Henderson, and Diaz vs. MacDonald. It's awesome that there are two title fights and a big gate, but the quality of the card itself is misleading because of the big names and the multiple title shots.

Now, the Strikeforce card is the most intriguing card Strikeforce has ever put together. I love everything about the card, other than the fact that Takaya's fight won't be on the tellie (that's for Mr. Park). Aoki vs. Beerbohm is probably a mismatch, but I want to see every Aoki fight. It's also interesting to me to see him fight in a cage against someone who isn't at the level of Gil Melendez. Mousasi vs. Jardine is a fantastic fight, especially on short notice. Mousasi is fighting for a title shot (presumably), and Jardine is fighting for his career. And the two title fights will be more competitive than either of UFC 129's title fights.

Gilbert Melendez will be fighting for the first time in 51 weeks. his opponent, Tatsuya Kawajiri, is the best lightweight in the world that Melendez can fight right now (Alvarez is tied to Bellator. Aoki, well, we don't need to see THAT again...). Kawajiri is still close enough to his prime to be a legitimate opponent. And the half step he may or may not have lost will be mitigated by the opportunity to avenge his loss to Melendez at Pride Shockwave 2006. Crusher won't get shredded like Aoki did.

And then the main event... Damn (tm Ron Simmons). Nick Diaz hasn't fought anybody even close to Paul Daley's level since he No Contested Takanori Gomi four years ago (hard to believe it's been 4 years, aint it?) Not to go all wiki on you, but check out the list of has-beens and never-weres that Diaz has fought since the Gomi fight:

* Mike Aina
* K.J. Noons
* Katsuya Inoue (not Enson...)
* Mushin Corbbrey
* Thomas Denny
* Frank Shamrock (not in 1999)
* Scott Smith
* Marius Zaromskis
* Hayato Sakurai (not in 2005)
* Cyborg Santos

OK, so I went all Wiki on you after all. But I had to, because there's no way in hell you can instantly recall that entire list of guys. We finally get the answer to the question we all want to know; Just how good is Nick Diaz? He is the most unique fighter (stylistically) in the world, and is easily one of the five most polarizing figures in all of sports entertainment (it's a sport, it's entertainment, so up yours Vince).

And then you've got The Legend of Paul Daley (think Benatar. SOMEONE is going to get that reference...). Daley is fighting not only Nick Diaz, but Zuffa as well. And common sense, and his own well-being, and...

There's just so much to love about this fight. I honestly haven't looked forward to a fight more than this one since... since, um, I'll get back to you on that one.

FRANK HYDEN, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

I have to go with Jose Aldo vs. Mark Hominick. I think that fight is going to be spectacular. I want to see if Aldo is going to make another statement, or will Hominick pull off the upset? Both guys are such good strikers. This is a great match-up that I'm very excited for. Randy Couture vs. Lyoto Machida is an interesting fight, but only to see how they choose to engage each other. I don't think Jake Shields has much of a chance against Georges St. Pierre, I see that being a walkover for GSP. Shields does a few things really well, wrestling and ground-and-pound. However, he doesn't do either as well as GSP so that spells major trouble for him. I think GSP actually finishes this fight, though he could take another dominant decision if Shields is able to last.

GRIFFIN MARSH, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

I'm looking forward to the GSP-Shields fight the most.  I want to see Jake Shields fight a guy he can't physically hold down.  A man who forces him to strike in GSP.  Folks, GSP is going to knock Jake Shields out.  And it won't take five minutes for him to do it.

ERIC HOBAUGH, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

I think the Diaz vs. Daley fight is going to be a better fight than any at UFC 129. This match up should be an excellent and explosive fight. GSP is going to dominate Shields and will grind out a another victory. I am also looking forward to the Randy Coture vs. Lyoto Machida fight. That one should be fun too. 

ALVIN CARTER, MMATORCH SPECIALIST

UFC 129 is stacked and incredibly exciting. The GSP vs Shields hype has lost some steam since Jon Jones dismantled Shogun Rua. Even though the main event isn't entirely intriguing, we have Jose Aldo, Randy Couture, and Lyoto Machida on the same card. Just about every fight in the 129 card us exciting.

MIKE BACIOR, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Diaz-Daley. This has pure excitement written all over it. As much as I am anticipating GSP-Shields, this will purely be an exciting fight from the opening second to whenever it ends. GSP-Shields... Probably not so much.

ALEX WILLIAMS, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

UFC 129.  Daley-Diaz is a fine card, particularly for a free (well, premium cable) show, but UFC 129's triple main event (GSP-Shields, Aldo-Hominick, and Machida-Couture) makes it something that too few pay-per-views are anymore: worth the money.

JAMIE PENICK, MMATORCH EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

The Nick Diaz-Paul Daley fight is the fight I can't wait to see. Nick Diaz, regardless of your thoughts on him outside of the cage, is one of the most intriguing fighters to watch. Unfortunately, he's been content to fight opponents well below his rank for the last several years, and so fans haven't been able to see just how good he can be. This is a chance for him to change that against the best opponent he's fought in a very long time in Daley, and with both fighters looking to knock the other's head off their shoulders, this is going to be one hell of a fight. It's simply a fantastic welterweight fight between two exciting fighters, and it's bound to be one of the more exciting fights of the year in any organization.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/roundtables/article_9018.shtml

Edson Drago  Tomasz Drwal Joe Hybrid Duarte Aldrin de Jesus 

Boxer Jeff Lacy welcomes boxing match with Strikeforce champ Nick Diaz

Just days after Nick Diaz's manager told MMAjunkie.com that the Strikeforce champion is eyeing a boxing match with Jeff Lacy, the veteran pugilist has answered the challenge.

In fact, according to statements released by his camp, Lacy is interested in "heading to his turf and [putting] my fist in his mouth and silencing him."

Cesar Gracie, Diaz's manager, told MMAjunkie.com this past week that his fighter had set his sights on Lacy, a former IBF super-middleweight champion, after a potential boxing match with Fernando Vargas fell apart.


Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/mmajunkie/~3/0hjR_i_R8x8/boxer-jeff-lacy-welcomes-boxing-match-with-strikeforce-champ-nick-diaz.mma

Lyoto Machida Marzagui Ayoub Paul McVeigh Frank Mir