UFC NEWS: Tito Ortiz has no intentions of retiring regardless of outcome against Lil Nog at UFC Fight Night 24

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

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Tito Ortiz has not won a fight since October of 2006, and he's entering his headlining bout at UFC Fight Night 24 on his last legs in the UFC. But though he's facing being cut from the organization with a loss to Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, he has no intentions of retiring from fighting.

"I'm not getting knocked unconscious. I'm not getting submitted. I'm not getting dominated. I'm losing by decision; I'm losing by draws," Ortiz said, in an interview with MMAJunkie.com. "One-hundred percent [I will continue fighting, regardless of the outcome]. I'm healthy for once. People don't understand the injuries that I've gone through. I've had some serious, serious surgeries, and I went through some serious pain over the last seven years, and I fought through it.

"Now that I'm healthy and I feel good, I want to compete. I want to show the best I possibly can and fight the best guys possible."

Ortiz has no easy task ahead of him in "Lil Nog." Nogueira lost to Ryan Bader in his last fight, and had trouble with Jason Brilz in a razor thin split decision win early last year, but he is still a legitimate top 15 fighter in the division, and represents a very difficult fight for "The Huntington Beach Bad Boy." But Ortiz says this is the fight he wants to take right now.

"I probably could have gotten an easier fight, but I wanted to challenge myself," Ortiz said. "Do I fight someone who I'm supposed to beat, or do I fight someone that's supposed to beat me? I like these terms better."

Link to Original Source Article

Penick's Analysis: Ortiz isn't in a spot where there needs to be any type of strong call for him to retire. He's not like his old nemesis Chuck Liddell, who had suffered numerous knockout losses in consecutive fights. He has been competitive in all of his losses over the last four years, and has had a number of injuries hamper what he's been able to do. That said, he hasn't won fights, and if he loses this one the UFC will cut him and it will be absolutely justified. He'll find somewhere else to fight if that's the case, but he certainly won't command the type of money he's received from the UFC in this latest contract.

[Tito Ortiz art by Travis Beaven (c) MMATorch.com]

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_8263.shtml

Mike Brown  Junie Browning Paul Buentello  Josh Burkman 

Face-off! The best staredown techniques in MMA

Two randomly, great staredowns took place at the weigh-ins for the UFC's Fight for the Troops 2. Fighters use several different techniques to gain an edge during weigh-ins.

The La-La-La I can't see you technique: Anderson Silva (above left) used this before his bout with Chael Sonnen in response to the many unsavory things that Sonnen said about Silva before the bout. It worked for Silva, as he won in the final minutes of the title match with Sonnen. Cheick Kongo tried it against Frank Mir, but it didn't work as well.

The sharing-is-caring method: At FFTT 2 weigh-ins, Yves Edwards was hungry. After all, he had just cut down to 155 pounds. He snacked on some potato chips, and was kind enough to share a chip with his opponent, Cody McKenzie. That streak of kindness helped Edwards, who won with a rear-naked choke. This technique was also employed at UFC 94 by Akihiro Gono, who shared his extra-large wig with Jon Fitch, but it didn't turn out so well for Gono. He lost in a decision.

The finger-in-the-face gambit: Ah, Nick Diaz. Don't ever stop being you. At a press conference before his bout with Frank Shamrock, Diaz gave the Stockton Heybuddy to his opponent. Though Shamrock laughed it off, Diaz did win in a second-round TKO.

The Two-Thumbs-Up: Damarques Johnson and Mike Guymon's face-off resembled something from this site, but also notched a zero on the intimidation scale. Perhaps that was part of Johnson's plan, as he won with a body triangle at Fight for the Troops 2.

The Glory Days: At UFC 123, old friends Mark Munoz and Aaron Simpson paid tribute to their roots by facing off as they did when wrestling in college. Simpson told Cagewriter that they had planned on wearing their college singlets, but Munoz couldn't find his. Munoz won the decision, but this technique wasn't really about intimidation. 

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Face-off-The-best-staredown-techniques-in-MMA?urn=mma-311958

Ba Te er  Ryan Bader  Siyar Bahadurzada Bao Ligao 

Watch today's UFC 126 fighter weigh-ins live on MMAjunkie.com at 7 p.m. ET

LAS VEGAS - UFC 126 fighter weigh-ins take place today, and you can catch a live video stream of the proceedings here on MMAjunkie.com.

Today's festivities take place at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas and begin at 7 p.m. ET (4 p.m. PT local time). A Q&A session with Anthony Pettis and Urijah Faber also airs at 5 p.m. ET.

In addition to the video stream, you can get live updates in our text-only results post on the MMAjunkie.com homepage.


Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/mmajunkie/~3/1IdjVwxK5ck/watch-todays-ufc-126-fighter-weigh-ins-live-on-mmajunkie-com-at-7-p-m-et.mma

Bobby Ologun Andy Ologun Alan Omer Michihiro Omigawa

UFC NEWS: Aldo vs. Hominick, Couture vs. Machida officially confirmed for UFC 129 in Toronto

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

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The UFC on Tuesday confirmed two of the remaining main card fights for UFC 129 at Toronto's Rogers Centre, announcing the addition of the Featherweight Championship bout between Jose Aldo and Mark Hominick, as well as the light heavyweight bout between former champions Randy "The Natural" Couture and Lyoto Machida.

The card, headlined by the UFC Welterweight Championship fight between Georges St. Pierre and Jake Shields, takes place on April 30 live on pay-per-view.

The bout between Hominick and Aldo was set earlier this month when Hominick defeated George Roop at UFC Fight for the Troops 2 in Texas. UFC President Dana White had stated in a pre-event press conference that Hominick would get the shot with a win, and now the bout has been officially confirmed.

Aldo fights for the first time in the UFC, and as the incumbent WEC Featherweight Champion was awarded the UFC's title in that division. He'll look to win his 12th straight fight in front of by far the largest audience he's ever competed in front of.

Couture seemed poised to finally hang his gloves up for good last fall, openly discussing the possibility of retirement to concentrate on his movie career, but he left two names that he remained interested in fighting: Lyoto Machida and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua.

Machida, coming off of two consecutive losses, felt up to the task, and the fight will now happen on what will be the UFC's biggest ever event, with massive crowd expected for the Rogers Centre.

Penick's Analysis: This event is going to be an incredible spectacle at the Rogers Centre. The main card is one of the most stacked cards the UFC will have ever put on, and in front of what will be a record crowd it's sure to be a great environment for fights. These two fights in particular make for a great two and three under the GSP-Shields fight in the main event, and both should be competitive and exciting fights.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_8333.shtml

Pete Williams Matt Wiman Travis Wiuff Wu Haotian

UFC 126's Mike Pierce adjusting to new life as oddsmakers' favorite

Sometimes, Mike Pierce felt like the Rodney Dangerfield of the welterweight division. Oddsmakers gave him no respect when it came time to set the betting lines for his fights.

He knows this because he takes an occasional peak online.

Now that he enjoys a two-fight win streak inside the octagon, things have changed a little bit, and he gets a little chuckle out of the fact that he's close to a 3-to-1 favorite against undefeated newcomer Kenny Robertson.


Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/mmajunkie/~3/Sza6NRAsVwc/ufc-126s-mike-pierce-adjusting-to-new-life-as-oddsmakers-favorite.mma

Wallid Ismail Darren M Jackson Jeremy Jackson Quinton Rampage Jackson

UPDATE: Rob McCullough named as first lightweight in Bellator Season 4 Tournament

With welterweight and featherweight fields already established, Bellator Fighting Championships appears to have turned its attention to revealing the eight 155-pounders competing this season for a six-figure paycheck and an opportunity to take on one of the top lightweights in MMA today, Bellator champ Eddie Alvarez. The first name mentioned by the promotion as participating [...]

Source: http://fiveouncesofpain.com/2011/02/03/rob-mccullough-named-as-first-lightweight-in-bellator-season-4-tournament/

Siyar Bahadurzada Bao Ligao  Josh Barnett  David Baron 

UFC 126 Middleweight Title Breakdown: Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort

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LAS VEGAS -- For the first time in his UFC career, Anderson Silva showed real vulnerability during his fifth-round submission victory over Chael Sonnen last August. For four-and-a-half rounds, Sonnen controlled the action with takedowns and groundwork. Given his wrestling pedigree, that development wasn't necessarily a stunner. What was more surprising was the fact that Sonnen was able to use his standup so effectively, even hurting Silva with a solid left at one point in the first round.

For the longest time, it seemed that trading firepower with Silva was a sure way to seal defeat. No one's ever outstruck him during his record 12-fight octagon win streak, and the man has always had an iron chin, but given the developments of Silva's last fight as well as his advancing age (he's three months shy of his 36th birthday), you have to wonder if it was a simple aberration or the beginning of a trend.

The man tasked with testing those possibilities at UFC 126 is Vitor Belfort, a 33-year-old Brazilian who is coming off a lengthy layoff from shoulder surgery following a first-round knockout of Rich Franklin. That win came way back in Sept. 2009, meaning Belfort will have to find a way to fight off ring rust and regain his past form in order to beat the longest-reigning champ in UFC history.

Source: http://www.mmafighting.com/2011/02/04/ufc-126-middleweight-title-breakdown-anderson-silva-vs-vitor-b/

Pascal Krauss Keigo Kunihara Mike Kyle Achmed Labasanov