Anthony Johnson swears he'll make weight for UFC Fight Night 24 bout with Dan Hardy, reportedly began camp around 230 lbs.

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

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One of the storylines coming into this Saturday's UFC Fight Night 24 events is the return of Anthony "Rumble" Johnson, and whether or not he'll be able to get down to the welterweight limit following a 15 month layoff.

By his own admission this week, Johnson allowed his weight to get out of control while out with injury, and according to a report from ESPN's Josh Gross, Johnson ballooned up to the 230s in his weight as late as eight weeks ago when he began his camp for his bout with Dan Hardy on Saturday's card in Seattle.

"I was out that year and it did some damage to me," Johnson said. "I let myself get out of shape. I put that weight on. That was my fault being lazy. The only thing I was thinking about was living the life and having a good time. I'm injured. I'm going to party and have a good time. Then I just finally sucked it up and said I need to get back into the gym, because I don't want to kill myself [in the gym] to fight."

Johnson has missed weight twice in the UFC, both times failing to come anywhere near the 170 lb. limit. Back in 2007, he missed weight by 6 and a half pounds for a bout with Rich Clementi, and then in October of 2009 he missed weight by 6 lbs. for a bout with Yoshiyuki Yoshida. He had attempted to cut 50 pounds over a matter of weeks for that fight, and is in a similar situation here.

Of course, he's assuring fans and the UFC, as well as Hardy, that he's on track to make weight, but until he steps on the scale on Friday it will remain in question. And though he continues to say 170 lbs. is his home, his natural size is likely to necessitate a move up in divisions sooner rather than later.

Link to Original Source Article

Penick's Analysis: Missing weight to the levels that Johnson has done on two occasions isn't acceptable, and hopefully he can get himself to the one pound allowance for this fight on Saturday night. It's not fair to his opponents when he arguably should be fighting a weight class above if he doesn't get himself all the way down to the weight they also need to come in at. It's a little shocking that he was 60 lbs. above this weight limit when he started camp, and though it's not impossible to cut down that much over an eight week camp, it's not necessarily a good thing for him either. He really needs to put serious consideration into a move up to middleweight, because unlike another large welterweight in Thiago Alves, he's also got more height to go with his frame. It's a move he should probably make, but for this weekend, for Dan Hardy and for the UFC hopefully he does what he's supposed to and makes weight on Friday afternoon.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_8857.shtml

Ao Hailin  Shinya Aoki  Andrei Arlovski  Ricardo Arona 

Brit writer says ‘biased’ American media is out to lynch Bisping

Following his resounding victory at UFC 127, Michael Bisping got himself in hot water by spitting at the corner of Jorge Rivera. The British middleweight was vilified by most of the MMA media and fans. That's sent The Telegraph's MMA expert Gareth Davies into a tizzy.

Davies suggests the American media is out to get Bisping, saying there was no balance to the stories written when both Chael Sonnen and Nate Marquardt called him out.

First we had Chael Sonnen, hardly a Saint himself, allowed to attack the Manchester middleweight with impunity. Where was the balance here from the US mainstream media covering MMA? Sonnen wrote UFC matchmaker Joe Silva an open letter, asking for a fight with Bisping. Fair enough.  How did the US MMA media respond ? They wrote it up ignoring any of Sonnen's misdemeanours in the sport. Balance ? None of it. But don't let the facts get in the way of a witchhunt.

From atop of his high horse, 'Nate the Great' added that Bisping's actions are unbecoming of a martial artist and were unsportsmanlike. No argument there, the spitting was utterly wrong, but am I really the only one who sees the irony here ?

Am I the only member of the media who can recall this same Marquardt bringing home his own illegal knee to a downed opponent just two years ago ? It was against Wilson Gouveia [CORRECTION: It was Thales Leites at UFC 85].  Am I also the only one to recall Marquardt followed that foul up with an illegal strike to the back of the head later in the fight? I know. I was there watching it live. Didn't Marquardt himself bring the sport into disrepute ? by testing positive for steroids on his UFC debut…

Davies calls me out for Cagewriter's Marquardt story.

Frankly that's no big deal. Davies and I have differing opinions on what to write in story that's simply reporting one fighter's quote about another. I don't believe the story needed to analyze whether Marquardt had the right to rip another fighter.

GAD assumes there's some anti-Bisping agenda. Funny things is, I may have the softest stance in the entire MMA media with regards to Bisping's future.

During Iole's appearance on ESPNRadio1100 following the incident on Mar. 1, I argued that the Bisping knee wasn't intentional and the spitting is something happens in the heat of the moment. I outright scoffed at the possibility of the middleweight being fired, but if some of the British media and Bisping want to believe it's them against the world - good deal, it makes for a fun storyline for the future.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Brit-writer-says-biased-American-media-is-out-?urn=mma-wp453

Randy Couture Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira Brock Lesnar Frank Mir

UFC Fight Night 24 Weigh-In Video

by Michael David SmithPhil Davis will be one of the 22 fighters who step on the scales for the UFC Fight Night 24 weigh-ins.All 24 fighters stepping into the Octagon for Saturday's UFC Fight Night 24 will first step on the scale Friday for the Fight Night weigh-ins, and we'll carry the live video here at MMAFighting.com.

In the main event, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Phil Davis will have to make the light heavyweight limit of 206 pounds. The co-main event features Dan Hardy and Anthony Johnson, who will have to make the welterweight limit of 171 pounds. Johnson has had trouble making weight in the past, and he'll be fighting for the first time since 2009.

The weigh-in starts at 7 PM ET and is preceded by a Fight Club Q&A featuring Carlos Condit at 5 PM ET. The video is below.

 

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Source: http://www.mmafighting.com/2011/03/25/ufc-fight-night-24-weigh-in-video/

Jason Guida Melvin Guillard Cody Guinn Jorge Gurgel

Shane Carwin welcomes UFC newcomer Jon Olav Einemo at UFC 131 in June

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

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Shane Carwin finally has an opponent for his return fight, as Dana White revealed during an online chat with fans at SeattleTimes.com on Wednesday that Carwin will meet UFC newcomer Jon Olav Einemo at UFC 131 in June.

Einemo, who signed with the UFC earlier this month, is a 35-year-old Norwegian fighter with a 6-1 record into this bout. The 6'6" Einemo is a Brazilian jiu jitsu black belt and former ADCC submission champion.

Carwin fights for the first time since his loss to Brock Lesnar at UFC 116 last July. Though he had the champion on the ropes in the first round, Lesnar survived the punishment and ultimately submitted Carwin in the second round.

UFC 131 takes place from the Rogers Arena in June 11 in Vancouver, British Columbia, headlined by the heavyweight bout between Lesnar and Junior Dos Santos.

Penick's Analysis: Wow, this was definitely a possibility when Einemo's signing was reported, but I'm still a little surprised in the matchmaking. There aren't a ton of options, and though Einemo won't be known to UFC fans, he's still a legitimate submission threat to anyone with his grappling game. However, that requires this fight hitting the mat, and it took Carwin tiring for a wrestler the likes of Lesnar to get him down and keep him there. Einemo's going to have to somehow survive the first round beating Carwin is assuredly going to dish out and he'll have to go from there. This is a hell of a debut fight for anyone, but it makes for an interesting bout on this 131 card.

[Shane Carwin art by Cory Gould (c) MMATorch.com]

UPDATE: The bout was originally stated as happening at UFC 132, but it will take place at UFC 131.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_8848.shtml

Frank Mir Andrei Arlovski Tim Sylvia Randy Couture

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/2011/03/28/mma-on-tv-30/

Shinya Aoki  Andrei Arlovski  Ricardo Arona  Noboru Asahi

Michael Bisping Discusses Controversy, Wants Sonnen Next, Blasts Marquardt

Filed under: ,

Imagine the world-class trash talk that would be generated if Michael Bisping and Chael Sonnen got together. Are you smiling at the possibility? Well, it could very well happen. It's the fight that Sonnen wants, and now, it's apparently the bout that Bisping wants as well.

In a Monday appearance on The MMA Hour, Bisping voiced a hope that he will next be matched up with the former No. 1 contender.

"I want to fight Chael Sonnen because No. 1, he's an amazing fighter," Bisping said. "When he fought last, he looked fantastic, and I want to challenge myself. He's the No. 2 ranked middleweight in the world. Obviously I can't fight No. 1 because he's got a title shot, so I want to fight the No. 2 guy."

Source: http://www.mmafighting.com/2011/03/28/michael-bisping-discusses-controversy-wants-sonnen-next-blasts/

Randy The Natural Couture  Dan Cramer Alberto Crane Marcio Pe de Pano Cruz

QUOTABLES: Mirko Cro Cop on UFC 128 KO loss to Brendan Schaub - "I feel as if someone stole something from me"

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

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"I feel as if someone stole something from me. I am disappointed with the outcome, but I congratulate Schaub and thank my fans for their support. It is clear that in this sport without hunger, desire and ambition there is no success, and it is clear also that I don't have this in me any more. [But] it seemed to me that I was [performing] better [than I have recently]... Ah, what am I talking about? If I was better, I'd have won... I was surprised by the [knockout] blow. It was just the same as against Frank Mir."

-Mirko Cro Cop talks to Croatian newspaper Jutarnji (translated by Fighter's Only) following his loss to Brendan Schaub at UFC 128.

Penick's Analysis: Cro Cop has been in this spot before, and we've heard similar comments from him before in the heat of the moment. Hopefully this time he follows through and realizes that it's probably for the best for him if he hangs up his gloves and calls it a career. He's done some great things in the sport, and he's been someone that fans have always enjoyed watching, but after a number of brutal knockouts those same fans don't want to see him continue taking punishment like that.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_8832.shtml

Mike Whitehead Jonathan Wiezorek Pete Williams Matt Wiman