5 Reasons Why Brian Ebersole Could Beat Chris Lytle

Although it?s lost a bit of its value due to Carlos Condit being forced off the card, UFC 127 ?Penn vs. Fitch? features another major Welterweight showdown besides the eponymous main event: Chris Lytle vs. Brian Ebersole. For Lytle, this is another big, important step on the comeback trail that has seen “Lights Out” put [...]

Source: http://www.fighters.com/02/24/5-reasons-why-brian-ebersole-could-beat-chris-lytle

Jeremy Horn Chris Horodecki Harold Howard Tom Howard

Attention Goes to UFC 127 Drama, but Praise Belongs With Brian Ebersole

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Let's put the UFC 127 controversy and arguments away for a little while, just long enough to celebrate someone deserving of some praise. Can we do that? I mean, it's easy to focus on the negative, but shouldn't we give equal time to the people who beat the odds? That's why we watch sports, isn't it? To watch people win, to overcome obstacles, and celebrate the triumph of the human will.

We get enough negativity in this lifetime from the regular news, yet in the sports world, the victory of Brian Ebersole is buried under the headlines of Michael Bisping spitting, and the disputed draw between BJ Penn and Jon Fitch.

Ebersole was never going to have an easy time stealing the limelight from those guys. Despite a career spent in the trenches, he was not well known by anyone other than the hardest of the hardcore fans. Walking in to his fight with Chris Lytle, Ebersole was a major underdog, particularly fighting on short notice as a replacement for the injured Carlos Condit.

Source: http://www.mmafighting.com/2011/02/28/lots-of-attention-on-ufc-127-drama-but-how-about-praise-for-ebe/

Dan Hardy Lee Hasdell Musse Hasselvall Daiki DJ taiki Hata

STRIKEFORCE NEWS: Bigfoot's manager responds to psychic comments from Fedor's coaches

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

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Two of Fedor Emelianenko's coaches took a lot of heat on Wednesday when translated comments from Russian new reports made the rounds, featuring a number of ridiculous statements regarding Fedor's loss to Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva. Now, Bigfoot's manager Alex Davis has responded in the only appropriate manner.

If you missed yesterday's comments, here's what Vladimir Voronov had to say in an interview with Lifesports.ru.

"We believe that forbidden psychological technology was used," Voronov said in an interview with Lifesports.ru (translated by Fighter's Only). "It seems to us that not everything was right, and that certain technologies were used. Not ones that could be seen by the naked eye but psychological technologies that worked on both fighters at a distance.

"That is why during the fight Fedor was just not like himself. It seemed very strange behaviour from Fedor. He stepped into the ring and did everything exactly the opposite of what we practiced before the fight. We were all shocked! Fedor had never previously done such a thing.

"Now nearly a week passes, everything settles, and we understand why all this happened."

Now, M-1 Global's Evgeni Kogan made a claim on Twitter that it was a joke and that his comments were lost in translation. However, there have been others that have translated the comments from Russian that state nothing was lost in translation and that these comments were made to media at the airport when Fedor and his camp returned to Russia.

Here is Davis' response, posted on The Underground Forum:

"Jeez!! I got cought! I will have to come out with the truth now! I hired a Macumbeiro (Brazilian [witch doctor]) and we killed a black chicken on the cross roads. After this, over a few beers, I showed the witch Dr Fedor's fights, and he was worried that a chicken wouldnt be anough, so we went out and killed a black goat, just to make sure! Very potent stuff! Realy messed Fedors brain waves up!"

"We wanted to try that other military stuff Voronov is talking about,but its expensive technology and we were broke! The chicken and the goat came out way cheaper. Witch Dr is a friend, did it for a few beers and an autograph!"

Penick's Analysis: Davis' joke/mocking response was perfect. It's safe to say Bigfoot and his camp come out looking a lot better than Fedor's coaches. It was interesting reading Kogan's comments trying to downplay Voronov's statement yesterday, then later trying to clarify that Fedor's management and coaches are different entities, an attempt to distance themselves from the statements. Still, Davis hit the right chord with this one, and can bring some laughs to the situation after some ridiculousness out of Russia.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/Affliction2/article_8499.shtml

Nick Serra Adrian Serrano Dan The Beast Severn Frank Shamrock

BELLATOR NEWS: Richard "Rare Breed" Hale joins season four light heavyweight tournament

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

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Bellator is getting closer to filling up their season four light heavyweight tournament, as they announced on Wednesday the addition of Richard "Rare Breed" Hale to the field.

"Richard is another guy we have had our eye on for a while, and his size and experience should enable him to make some noise this season," said Bellator Chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney.

Hale brings a 15-2-1 record into the tournament, a record that includes fights from light heavyweight to super heavyweight. But the 6'4" fighter says 205 lbs. suits him best.

"I absolutely feel like I'm more powerful and explosive at 205 pounds,? said Hale. "My strength and my stamina is better, and just everything all around. With the weight cut and everything, it pushes me to be a better athlete."

"I'm looking at this tournament as an opportunity to display my skills to the world. I feel like this is my opportunity to make a statement and I'm absolutely going to take advantage of it. I'm not coming to Bellator just to put on a fight; I'm coming to put on an entertaining fight. This is an entertainment sport, so my opponents have to be ready for anything.

Hale joins Nik Fekete, Chris Davis, D.J. Linderman, and Tim Carpenter as the confirmed participants thus far for Bellator's fourth season light heavyweight tournament.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/Bellator/article_8562.shtml

Thiago Silva Wanderlei Silva Marcus Silveira Aaron Simpson

ROUNDTABLE: Do the losses by Fedor and Andrei Arlovski hurt the draw for the Heavyweight Grand Prix moving forward? MMATorch staff and contributors weigh in

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Do the losses by Fedor and Andrei Arlovski hurt the draw for the Heavyweight Grand Prix at all?

RICH HANSEN, MMATORCH COLUMNIST

Well, it hurts Strikeforce's ability to market to the casuals, for sure.  But the beauty of the tournament structure is that the best fighter moves forward, and the matchups only get better as you move forward.  So the tournament will be just fine without Arlovski and Fedor.

ALEX WILLIAMS, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Considering that Strikeforce's highest rating ever came for this show, and considering that Fedor probably significantly contributed to that rating, I think it does.  Arlovski, not so much.

FRANK HYDEN, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Fedor's loss hurts the tournament, but Arlovski's doesn't at all. I like Arlovski, but he's not a big name draw anymore. The way Fedor lost, though, makes his absence in the tournament less of a bad thing. If Fedor had been narrowly edged out, or lost in a flukey way, that would have been bad. However, Fedor being dominated by Bigfoot Silva the way he was sends a big message to fans that Bigfoot is for real. It's like when the Jets beat the Patriots in the NFL playoffs this year. The Patriots not being in the next round of the playoffs wasn't as bad because of how they lost to the Jets. I think Bigfoot loses in the next round, much like the Jets did, but his performance over Fedor has upped his profile quite a bit.

ANWAR PEREZ, MMATORCH COLUMNIST

I don't believe the losses of Fedor and Andrei Arlovski hurt the tournament.  In a weird way, it actually helps it.  It almost seems like the Pride tournament from 2005, when both Rampage Jackson and Dan Henderson, heavy favorites, lost in the opening round, and opens it up for someone new to take it to the top similar to Shogun Rua in that Pride tournament.  I really think this will shine the light on fighters that are highly regarded, but rarely seen, such as Antonio Silva and Alistair Overeem.  For Overeem, this is a chance to solidify his claim as the best heavyweight not in the UFC, and depending how well he does in the tournament, that may not last for long.    

ERIC HOBAUGH, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

Say what you will about Andrei Arlovski, he is a former UFC Heavyweight Champ.  He is a big name and losing him from this Heavyweight Grand Prix is a huge loss.  Losing Fedor is the largest blow that the Heavyweight Grand Prix could suffer.  The biggest fight left is Alistair Overeem vs. Fabricio Werdum and that is a first round fight.  I am again left asking what was Scott Coker thinking setting up the brackets this way? The simple fact of the matter is that one of the top fighters (Fabricio Werdum) left in this Grand Prix was released in November 2008 from the UFC. I am not saying there are not exciting fights left.  There are great fights left, but the tournament is losing the casual MMA fan and will now be mostly watched by diehard fans.

ALVIN CARTER, MMATORCH SPECIALIST

Not really.  Arlovski does not make or break the draw.  Fedor a bit, but there is talk of him getting a spot as an alternate to keep buzz alive.  If anything the tournament might receive more hype because the field was shaken up by his loss and it appears that anyone (hypothetically) can really win this tournament. If Overeem losses in the first round, then we might see pretty awkward draw for the rest of the tournament.
 
JAMIE PENICK, MMATORCH EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

I think Fedor's loss certainly hurts the draw for future rounds. Alistair Overeem is a tremendous talent, but he doesn't have a major presence in the U.S. yet because of a lack of activity outside of Japan. Fabricio Werdum hasn't fought since beating Fedor last June, and with zero follow-up to that huge win, there's no telling whether or not he'll be a draw. The same goes for Bigfoot right now. Already his win has been downplayed, even within Strikeforce, with talk of "what if it had gone to the third round" and also of bringing Fedor back as a tournament alternate despite being thoroughly handled by Bigfoot. So his semifinal fight may not necessarily draw if they don't give him a much harder sell. With Fedor's return in this Grand Prix bringing a record number of viewers for MMA to Showtime, there's no doubt that losing him for future rounds is going to hurt. It's up to Strikeforce to better sell the rest of their field, and to make sure that they leave themselves openings if the favorites lose. That's been one thing that has left a lot to be desired with their match-making, as they have left themselves in bad spots far too often by only pushing one side of a fight, and being left searching what to do if they don't get the desired result. Hopefully they can avoid that and sell the fact that this tournament field is now wide open, and that any man can win.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/roundtables/article_8537.shtml

Murilo Bustamante Evan Tanner Rich Franklin Anderson Silva

Miesha Tate out of title bout with Strikeforce champ Marloes Coenen; Liz Carmouche steps up in Tate's place

Top contender Miesha Tate has now bowed out of her March 5 title fight with reigning 135-pound Strikeforce women’s champion, Marloes Coenen. Tate gained her position to challenge for the title when she came out the victor last August at a one-night four-woman tournament, defeating the likes of Maiju Kujala and former title challenger Hitomi Akano, [...]

Source: http://www.fighters.com/02/26/miesha-tate-out-of-title-bout-with-strikeforce-champ-marloes-coenen-liz-carmouche-steps-up-in-tates-place

Keigo Kunihara Mike Kyle Achmed Labasanov Jason Lambert

Pearson takes decision over Fisher at UFC 127

"The Ultimate Fighter" winner Ross Pearson rebounded from a loss to Cole Miller by winning a unanimous decision over veteran lightweight Spencer Fisher at UFC 127 in Australia. The judges saw it 30-27, 29-28, 29-28 for Pearson.

Fisher started strong, bouncing around as he pushed forward on his feet and slamming Pearson to the ground. Pearson responded with an armbar attempt, but Fisher was able to shake him off, and the two returned to their feet where Fisher continued to stay aggressive for the remainder of the round.

In the second, the two traded back and forth, with Pearson growing stronger as the round went on. Fisher had good striking early on, but was slowed when Pearson tried for a takedown. That didn't work, but Pearson landed cleaner punches afterwards.

Between rounds, the two showed that they were still fresh as they bounced around, raising their arms and drawing cheers from the Australian crowd. Pearson started the third with a takedown, but Fisher didn't stay down long. Pearson continued to land strikes and hold off Fisher. Pearson caught a kick and used that to take Fisher down. He ended the round with a bevy of strikes and elbows but wasn't able to end the bout before the final horn sounded.

Pearson is now 4-1 in the Octagon, 12-4 overall while Fisher, a mainstay of the UFC lightweight division since 2005, falls to 24-7.

 

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Pearson-takes-decision-over-Fisher-at-UFC-127?urn=mma-326836

Curtis Mostat Gegard Mousasi Mark Munoz Tom Murphy