Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos vs. Tarec Saffiedine likely for July Strikeforce event

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

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Strikeforce is targeting a welterweight bout between Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos and Tarec Saffiedine for this summer, according to a report from MMAJunkie.com.

According to the report, the bout is expected to be a part of Strikeforce's planned event in late July, which could also feature Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal and Fedor Emelianenko vs. Dan Henderson, and could air live on pay-per-view.

Santos will make his third appearance in the welterweight division, having split his previous two bouts. After knocking out Marius Zaromskis in 2010, Santos was given a shot at Strikeforce Welterweight Champion Nick Diaz in January. Though he put forth a good effort, and damaged the Champ along the way, he ultimately fell by way of submission in the second round.

Saffiedine, meanwhile, had his train slightly derailed earlier this year when he was defeated by fellow prospect Tyron Woodley at Strikeforce Challengers 13. The decision loss snapped a three fight win streak and brought him to 10-3 overall.

Link to Original Source Article

Penick's Analysis: Now this should be one hell of a fight. Santos and Saffiedine are very capable of bringing the violence in their strikes, and it should make for a very entertaining brawl. Saffiedine didn't get that type of fight out of Woodley, and it made for a frustrating night for him, but against Santos he should be able to go toe to toe until someone falls. This should be very entertaining, and I like the matchup a lot.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/Affliction2/article_9046.shtml

Tom Big Cat Erickson Martinsh Egle Eric Butterbean Esch Efrain Escudero

Ultimate Fighter 11 winner Court McGee out of UFC 131 with torn ACL

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

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Court McGee has been forced out of his UFC 131 bout with Jesse Bongfeldt due to a torn ACL suffered in training, according to a report from MMAJunkie.com.

McGee was planning to follow up on an impressive come from behind win over Ryan Jensen at UFC 121 last October, his second straight submission win inside the Octagon.

Bongfeldt's UFC debut took place at UFC 124 in December in Montreal, but his seven-fight win streak came to a halt when his bout with Rafael Natal ended in a draw. He's likely to remain on the UFC 131 card, though no replacement has been chosen as of yet for the card.

UFC 131 takes place from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, headlined by the heavyweight bout between Brock Lesnar and Junior Dos Santos.

Link to Original Source Article

Penick's Analysis: Serious knee injuries are never good news, and hopefully McGee's recovery goes as well as it can. Bongfeldt is likely to find a replacement opponent, but it's unfortunate for him as well as he may lose a televised spot by no longer facing an Ultimate Fighter winner in McGee.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_8968.shtml

Stevie Lynch Adam Lynn Chris Lytle Lyoto Machida

MMA on TV

Welcome to ?MMA on TV?, Five Ounces of Pain?s weekly update on the upcoming MMA-broadcast schedule. Miss the latest episode of ?MMA Live? or ?UFC Unleashed?? Wondering when Strikeforce or HDNet are airing a replay of their latest offering or interested in finding out where to tune into live shows occurring over the next seven [...]

Source: http://fiveouncesofpain.com/2011/04/18/mma-on-tv-33/

Mike Kyle Achmed Labasanov Jason Lambert Jose Landi Jons

Judo Bronze Medalist Ronda Rousey Talks First Pro MMA Fight

Ronda Rousey talks about her recent win, weighing in naked, working on her striking. Rousey qualified for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens at the young age of 17, becoming the youngest judo player in the entire Games. var s1 = new SWFObject("http://www.mmatko.com/player-viral.swf","JW","480","420","9"); s1.addParam("allowscriptaccess", "always"); s1.addParam("allowfullscreen","true"); s1.addParam("wmode","transparent"); s1.addParam("flashvars","file=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO3nU7eFEQ0"); s1.addVariable("enablejs", "true"); s1.write("mediaspace");

Source: http://www.mmatko.com/judo-bronze-medalist-ronda-rousey-talks-first-pro-mma-fight/

Takanori The Fireball Kid Gomi Akihiro Gono Gabriel Gonzaga Lyman Good

Keith Kizer says meeting with Chael Sonnen wasn't productive, Sonnen still needs to answer for comments made to CSAC in a formal hearing

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

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Chael Sonnen and Zuffa officials recently met with Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director Keith Kizer in an attempt to give Sonnen a chance to smooth things over after Sonnen used Kizer's and the NSAC in his hearing with the California State Athletic Commission. However, according to comments from Kizer, Sonnen may have made things worse.

"With his explanations, I don't know how productive of a meeting it was," Kizer said in an interview with MMAJunkie.com. "I really did expect a much more constructive meeting out of that. But it just wasn't there. I think Zuffa tried; I know we tried. I put the blame completely on Mr. Sonnen."

Sonnen claimed in his December hearing with the CSAC that he had gotten approval from Kizer for testosterone replacement therapy prior to his UFC 109 bout with Nate Marquardt, a claim Kizer denied at the time and said Sonnen would have to answer to. Kizer wasn't too thrilled with Sonnen's response to him.

""His point was, 'Well, you and I have never talked before right now, but I don't think I lied,'" Kizer said.

"Then he gave some very strange story and claimed, 'My manager and you talked about therapeutic exemptions, and therefore, I just used the wrong word. I should have said 'my' instead of 'I.' As in 'my manager' instead of 'I.'

"I was very straight with him, saying, 'That's a ridiculous explanation.'"

So now, Kizer said it will not be an cut and dry application process for Sonnen, and he'll need to appear in a formal hearing with the NSAC to answer questions about his CSAC hearing in December and his money laundering charges, among other things.

"I usually just give that administratively to cornermen. But I will not do that for Mr. Sonnen."

Link to Original Source Article

Penick's Analysis: Well, these comments make it very unlikely that Sonnen winds up as a coach on The Ultimate Fighter 14. Before he fights in Nevada again he'll need to appear in front of the NSAC, but the UFC may simply book his return fight in another state for now with his CSAC hearing up. His contract is likely to be unfrozen as soon as his sentence comes through this week on the money laundering charges, and the UFC will absolutely look to get him back into action. At some point he'll need to answer for his statements and what are clearly being shown to be flat out lies that he made to the CSAC, but if it can be delayed and the UFC can get him a fight that's likely what will happen.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_8974.shtml

Brock Lesnar Shane Carwin Brock Lesnar Frank Shamrock

B.J. Penn explains the injury that took him out of UFC 132 in July

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

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B.J. Penn's decision to pull out of UFC 132 this July stems from a shoulder injury he suffered prior to his first bout with Jon Fitch at UFC 127 in February. Penn took Fitch to a draw in that bout, and the two were then matched up for a rematch at UFC 132.

However, with Fitch pulling out of the bout with a shoulder injury of his own, Penn's lingering shoulder issues forced him to bow out as well in order to give himself proper time to heal instead of taking another fight right away. He took to his personal website, BJPenn.com, to discuss the situation.

"I hurt my shoulder before the Jon Fitch fight real bad," Penn said. "Of course, pushing my shoulder really hard during the Jon Fitch fight hurt my shoulder more. I came back and tried to train but every time I would train hard it would just be really inflamed, I couldn't even move it."

Penn said he underwent an MRI, and though he didn't reveal the exact nature of the shoulder injury, he did say he needs six to eight weeks of recovery time before he gets back into training full time. And though there was a possibility he could have stayed on the UFC 132 card, Penn said he didn't want to have to make the UFC scramble should he need to bow out closer to the fight.

"When Jon Fitch pulled out I was waiting around seeing who I was going to fight next but my shoulder kept bothering me," he said. "I didn't want to take a fight immediately and have to pull out closer to the fight, like eight weeks out, because I still couldn't train. The UFC would really have to scramble [at that point]."

For now, Penn will take his time to recover, and while he's still open to the rematch with Jon Fitch, he'll be willing to take another opponent should Fitch's injury keep him out longer.

"If Jon Fitch is ready, we can do it soon, or we'll take a new opponent," he said. "We're keeping in touch with the UFC."

Link to video post at BJPenn.com

Penick's Analysis: The way he was working his wrestling game in that fight with Fitch it's easy to see how he could have aggravated a shoulder injury. It's unfortunate for the UFC from a drawing standpoint that Penn had to pull out of this one, as a bout with Carlos Condit that was certainly being considered would have been very exciting, but Penn was right to sit this one out. He can return in August or September instead, and if Fitch isn't ready there are sure to be a number of interesting and entertaining fight options in the welterweight division. Hopefully he can avoid re-injuring the shoulder further and be good to go once his six to eight weeks of recovery is up.

[B.J. Penn art by Cory Gould (c) MMATorch.com]

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_9010.shtml

Eric Lawson Cung Le Chris Leben Thales Leites