WEC 53 PREVIEW: Anthony Pettis preparing for five round battle with Ben Henderson, ready to prove he's the best in the world

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

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This article was originally published on November 27

The final event for World Extreme Cagefighting is fast approaching, and the final challenger to the WEC Lightweight Championship is finishing up his preparation for the event.

For 23 year old Anthony Pettis, 2010 has been a banner year. WEC 53 will mark the fourth time he's fought in 2010, and will be his seventh fight in the last 18 months. To go along with a spot on the documentary series "World of Jenks," he now fights for a chance to challenge for the UFC Lightweight Championship.

While it would be easy for all of this to go to a young fighter's head, Pettis is remaining focused on the task at hand: WEC Lightweight Champion Benson Henderson.

"I'm not looking past Ben Henderson," Pettis told MMATorch this week. "The guy's the Champ for a reason, and I've got my hands full with this guy. Once this fight's over and the outcome's decided, then I'll look to the next fight, but right now I'm focused on Ben Henderson.

"I'm excited that the UFC and WEC are merging, I've wanted to fight in the UFC since I started MMA, but like I said I've got my hands full with my next opponent."

Hands full may be an understatement. The 12-1 Henderson has won 11 fights in a row heading into this clash, five of them in the WEC. In his five WEC fights, Henderson has finished four of them, and the sole decision was his five round "Fight of the Year" war with Donald Cerrone to capture the Interim WEC Lightweight Championship at the end of 2009. Pettis knows what he's up against, and he's preparing for a long battle in Henderson's home state.

"The thing I'm preparing for the most is his cardio and his endurance," Pettis said. "This guy can go, go, go. So I'm really preparing myself to go seven rounds. I'm fighting five rounds, but I'm preparing to go seven. He's a really good fighter, he's a great wrestler, great striker, great grappler, he's great everywhere, and so am I. I get a chance to show this now.

"The world's kind of seemed to judge me on the couple of fights that I've had, and I've had some pretty good fights, but they haven't seen everything I bring to the cage yet, so this is the guy that's going to push me and I get to see who I really am in this fight."

The winner of this fight will get a crack at the UFC Lightweight Champion, be that Frankie Edgar or Gray Maynard after UFC 125, when they enter the UFC in 2011. While he knows he's got a tough task at hand, Pettis is excited to get a chance to prove just how good he is against the best lightweights in the world.

"I'm looking forward to proving myself [and proving] to the world that I'm the best lightweight fighter there is," Pettis said. "I have a lot to get better at, but I feel I've got what it takes to beat the top level lightweight competition in the world.

"Every interview I used to get asked 'how would you match up against the UFC guys?' I finally get to answer that question."

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/WEC/article_7646.shtml

Mikko Rupponen Bas Rutten Tarec Saffiedine Alessio Sakara

Doctor suggests Sonnen couldn't fight without testosterone therapy

Chael Sonnen has a long way to go before he wins back the trust of many MMA fans and media folks.

That tends to happen in the world of sports anytime you're connected with a "steroid" suspension.

The California State Athletic Commission accepted Sonnen's explanation about needing doctor prescribed testosterone replacement therapy and reduced his suspension from one year to six months. TRT is controversial subject across the board in sports.

In order to avoid future problems, CSAC officials admit that a TRT policy needs to be on the books.

One thing's for sure, it doesn't sound like Sonnen is going to stop getting the treatment. His physician Dr. Mark Czarnecki indicated Sonnen has no choice and he wouldn't be cleared to participate in mixed martial arts without TRT.

"Chael’s body would not tolerate the extreme stress associated with such a sport," Czarnecki told the L.A. Times. "With the amount of trauma to the body, his healing would be deteriorated. His anemia in his blood level would increase. He would not have adequate oxygenation. It would just not be safe [for him.]"

The doc said Sonnen's near-25-minute fight against Anderson Silva at UFC 117 was a prime example.

"At his state and at his level of fatigue, he was already displaying signs of severe mental fogging," Czarnecki said. "He would have an accelerated mental function at times, an accelerated coronary artery, accelerated muscle deterioration and accelerated fat accumulation and he’d have anemia due the lack of bone marrow stimulation."

The unresolved issue with Sonnen is still who he told and how long before the fight. The Nevada State Athletic Commission became part of this story as well when Sonnen indicated he had told Keith Kizer, the NSAC's executive director, as far back as 2008 about his TRT.

Kizer went on record saying he's never spoken to Sonnen about the subject. He went on to indicate that Sonnen, even when his six-month suspension in California is finished, is still not cleared to fight in Nevada. Kizer told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that a future license in Nevada won't simply be rubber stamped.

Kizer said Sonnen would likely be required to appear at a commission meeting in person before being licensed again in Nevada.

"I think there's a lot of questions about him that need to be answered, and we want to give him a full and fair opportunity to respond to those questions," Kizer said.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Doctor-suggests-Sonnen-couldn-t-fight-without-te?urn=mma-292477

George Sotiropoulos Haik Soukiasian Ronaldo de Souza Ron The Monster Sparks

Full UFC 127: "Penn vs. Fitch" Card Officially Announced... and It's an Early Runner for Event of the Year

From the moment its main event was first announced, fans around the world started buzzing about ufc 127. This will mark the second time the UFC has visited the Land Down Under, as the event is scheduled for February 27 at the Acer Arena in Sydney, Australia. Jon Fitch and BJ Penn clash in the [...]

Source: http://www.fighters.com/12/14/full-ufc-127-penn-vs-fitch-card-officially-announced-and-its-an-early-runner-for-event-of-the-year

Marzagui Ayoub Paul McVeigh Frank Mir Daniel Moraes

Kirby found guilty of manslaughter in death of Tapout's Mask

Jeffrey David Kirby, 53, was found guilty of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence in the death of Charles "Mask" Lewis Jr., one of the founders of the popular MMA brand Tapout, the Los Angeles Times reported. Kirby was found to be under the influence of alcohol when he lost control of his Porsche and slammed it into Lewis' Ferrari on March 11, 2009. He also left the scene of the accident, and was later tracked down by police.

Mask's friends, business partners and fellow members of the Tapout crew used Twitter to keep people aware on the details of the trial. After the verdict, "PunkASS" Tweeted, "Confusing feelings when I think about the guilty verdict! Just more bad [expletive]! Nothing is ganna bring him back!"

Skyskrape thanked everyone who remembered his friend, but also asked people to turn out in support of Mask when Kirby is sentenced. "Sentencing is February 4th @ 9:00am. I'd love for EVERYONE who can make to come our!! Tell EVERYONE you know to come show love for Charles!"

The support for Mask has been palpable in the MMA community. At WEC 40, one of the first MMA events after his death, a large contingent of fans and fighters wore shirts to honor him. His name was printed on the top bar of the WEC cage, and he was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.

He was so loved in the MMA community because of the support he showed the sport from early on, both in sponsoring fighters and in the television show that he, Skyskrape and PunkASS produced, which shined a spotlight on up-and-coming fighters and gyms.

Kirby will be sentenced on Feb. 4 and can face up to 13 years in prison. Anyone wishing to submit a victim impact statement can find the information here.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Kirby-found-guilty-of-manslaughter-in-death-of-T?urn=mma-293780

Takashi Sugiura Jung Chan Sung Minoru Suzuki Tim Sylvia

Daisuke Nakamura vs. Toshikazu Iseno Fight Video DEEP 51

DEEP 51 MMA fight videos of Daisuke Nakamura vs. Toshikazu Iseno. The bout took place on December 11, 2010 in Tokyo, Japan. 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=Aj2Q0fr9_C0"); s1.addVariable("enablejs", "true"); s1.write("mediaspace");

Source: http://www.mmatko.com/daisuke-nakamura-vs-toshikazu-iseno-fight-video-deep-51/

Igor Zinoviev Mark Coleman Maurice Smith Randy Couture

Gegard Mousasi vs. Kyotaro Announced for Dynamite!!

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Gegard MousasiA clash of champions and three other bouts were added to K-1 and DREAM promoter Fighting and Entertainment Group's end of year Dynamite!! event on Friday.

DREAM light heavyweight champion Gegard Mousasi will return to the K-1 ring for the first time in two years to face reigning K-1 heavyweight champion Kyotaro. The bout will offer a chance for revenge for the K-1 athlete as Mousasi scored a first-round knockout over Japanese K-1 legend Musashi in his K-1 rules debut at Dynamite!! 2008.

Source: http://www.mmafighting.com/2010/12/17/gegard-mousasi-vs-kyotaro-announced-for-dynamite/

Alex Karalexis Mark Kerr Mamed Khalidov Sergei Kharitonov