UFC NEWS: Dana White says Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir III likely next for both

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

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UFC President Dana White on Friday denied reports that former UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar had asked for a bout with Roy "Big Country" Nelson.

Speaking at a Q&A prior to UFC 122 in Germany tomorrow night, White said he had heard that Lesnar was looking to fight for the third time against Frank Mir.

"He never asked for Roy Nelson, that?s not true," White said, in comments transcribed by Fighter's Only. "The last thing I did hear was that he wants to fight Frank Mir again. That fight kind of makes sense so? We will probably see Lesnar fight Mir next, I think that the rubber match makes sense."

This comes despite Mir's comments earlier in the week where he stated that he believed Lesnar needed a win before he'd take the rubber match. Of course, nothing is yet set, but these comments show where White's opinion of the subject is at this moment in time.

Link to Original Source Article

Penick's Analysis: I really hope this is just one of those situations where White hasn't heard the whole story, and that Lesnar's camp has perhaps talked to Joe Silva, or Lorenzo Fertitta, or something of that nature. While a rubber match with Mir will definitely sell, and from a business stand point it would make sense for the UFC to put that fight together, I'd really like to see Lesnar fight someone different. I'd much rather see Lesnar-Nelson and Mir-Brendan Schaub, or even Lesnar against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Any of those right now would be more interesting than this third Mir fight right now.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_7513.shtml

Kevin Randleman Randy Couture Josh Barnett Ricco Rodriguez

UFC 122 sub of the night: Siver thrills German fans

Dennis Siver is built like a mini-Mike Tyson so it should surprise no one, that he likes to stand and bang. Andre Winner also likes a good scrap. So when the duo decided to square off in the middle of the cage and flail away, there was no way the match was going to decision. Siver ate some great punches from Winner. When he landed his own big counter left, Winner hit the floor. Siver jumped on top, unleashed a nasty set of punches and took the back of the stunned Brit. Siver pulled off a nifty choke submission at 3:37 of the first round.

Siver - a Russian, who moved to Mannheim, Germany when he was 17 - sent the 8,204 in Oberhausen into a frenzy.The spectacular stoppage from Siver (17-7, 6-4 UFC) got him the submission of the night bonus good for $60,000. He's also earned himself a step up in competition his next time. Don't be surprised if Siver is a regular on the televised portion of several cards in 2011. He's an action fighter, who can potentially produce highlight reel finishes each time out.  

It might surprise some to hear that this was Siver's 10th fight in the UFC. He's been a hidden gem mostly fighting on the non-televised portion of the UFC's European cards in 2008 and 2009. With this win and the upset of UFC veteran Spencer Fisher back in June, he's now posted a big close to 2010.

Winner, the runner-up in the lightweight class on Season 9 of "The Ultimate Fighter," is at a crossroads. His hand speed is awesome but he just hasn't been able to get on a roll and establish himself as a player at 155 pounds. After two straight losses, Winner is now just 2-3 with the promotion.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/UFC-122-sub-of-the-night-Siver-thrills-German-f?urn=mma-285303

Lyoto Machida Mauricio Rua Dave Menne Murilo Bustamante

UFC 123 PREVIEW: "Mr. Wonderful" Phil Davis doesn't want fans to think he's just another lay and pray fighter

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

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One of the UFC's brightest up and coming prospects makes his main card debut this weekend at UFC 123, as "Mr. Wonderful" Phil Davis takes on Tim Boetsch in Detroit.

Davis, a four time All American and NCAA D-1 wrestling champion at Penn State, has already racked up a 7-0 record in his MMA career, which began just two years ago. But while he brings a superior wrestling game to many in the light heavyweight division, Davis isn't content with skirting by on his wrestling talents.

In fact, Davis was disappointed in himself when he failed to finish Rodney Wallace in their bout at UFC 117, and in an interview with MMAFighting.com, he talked about how he wants the fans to see him as a fighter.

"It just wasn't a great fight, you know," Davis said of his UFC 117 bout. "I just felt like it was kind of an off night. I went out there, did what I needed to do, but I couldn't get a finish. And I felt like that was a guy I should have gotten a finish on. I left kind of feeling like, I guess I won, but I don't really feel like a winner."

"I don't want the fans to think I'm another one of those guys who just lays and prays and does nothing. I'm more than capable of putting on an entertaining fight, and that one just wasn't all that entertaining."

And although he's undefeated thus far in his career, Davis says doesn't think about that, and he approaches each fight as if it were his first.

"You can't think of yourself as undefeated, because there's a losing side to someone being undefeated," he said. "I think of it as, every time I get in the cage, I'm 0-0. It doesn't matter if it's my hundredth or millionth fight. What's important is always this fight."

Link to Original Source Article

Penick's Analysis: Davis definitely has a fan-friendly outlook on how he approaches his career. This is a chance for him to really introduce himself to a lot of people. Two of his bouts have made UFC broadcasts, and his anaconda choke over Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi was especially impressive, but on the main card of this pay-per-view event, Davis can really show people what he's got against a tough guy in Tim Boetsch. The betting line is a little outrageous heading into their matchup, but it's absolutely a fight Davis should win. And it's one I'm looking forward to.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_7551.shtml

Luiz Azeredo  Luciano Azevedo  Ba Te er  Ryan Bader 

UFC 122 "Marquardt vs. Okami" Prediction and Betting Contests

By Matt Pelkey, MMATorch Columnist

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It's cards like UFC 122 that bring out the true fun of the MMATorch contests. If it wasn't for these, there literally might not be a reason to watch. As it is, you won't be able to pry your eyes from the screen as you live and die by your picks. At UFC 121, both of our champions retained their titles. Prediction Champion Eric Marchment will now do battle with #1 contender Casey Vaccaro, as will Betting Champion Cambo "Rambo" Nelson. The rest of us will be in the pools, trying to make sense of this colorfully international card. Let's take a look at the lineup.

PREDICTION CONTEST

I'm pretty sure everyone knows how this works by now, but just in case... Basically you pick the winners of each fight, including method (e.g. KO, submission, decision) and round. The winner is the one who picks the most fights correctly. Ties will be broken by who had the most number of rounds and methods correctly predicted. In case anyone is wondering, only rounds and methods in fights where you predicted the correct winner count.

Nate Marquardt (-220) vs. Yushin Okami (+180)

Alessio Sakara (-105) vs. Jorge Rivera (-125)

Andre Winner (+110) vs. Dennis Siver (-140)

Amir Sadollah (-350) vs. Peter Sobotta (+275)

Krzysztof Soszynski (-120) vs. Goran Reljic (-110)

Kyle Noke (-250) vs. Rob Kimmons (+190)

Vladimir Matyushenko (-270) vs. Alexandre Ferreira (+210)

Pascal Krauss (-250) vs. Mark Scanlan (+190)

Duane Ludwig (+200) vs. Nick Osipczak (-260)

Karlos Vemola (-115) vs. Seth Petruzelli (-115)

Kris McCray (-105) vs. Carlos Eduardo Rocha (-125)


BETTING CONTEST

As you can see, there's a number attached to each fighter. That number represents how much money you can make off each fighter. The way it works is, if a fighter has a positive number he's an underdog. The positive number means if you were to bet $100 dollars on him, you would make the amount of the positive number. For example, if you were to bet $100 on Okami and he won, you would make back the hundred you bet, plus $180 for a total payout of $280.

If the fighter has a negative number, that number represents how much you would have to bet to make $100 on the fighter. For example, if you bet $220 on Marquardt and he won, you'd make back the $220, plus a $100 profit, for a total payout of $320.

Each contestant has $1000 in theoretical money. You can bet it on as many fighters as you'd like, but you have to bet on at least three. The most you can bet on a single fighter is $500, and bets have to be in multiples of $100.

I'm setting a deadline of noon (EST) Saturday since its a European show to get all of your picks in. The betting lines are courtesy of bodog.com.

Note: In the event that one of the #1 contenders fails to show for their title shot, the champ will defend against the next best performer from the previous contest. You've been warned, so bring your A game everybody!

As always you can submit your picks one of three ways: by emailing me at matt6buckeye@hotmail.com, posting them on the message boards, or by leaving them in the comments section right down there. Good luck!

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/prediction_and_betting_contests/article_7498.shtml

Tom Murphy Lee Murray Gary Myers Chris The Pitbull Myra

UFC NEWS: Darren Elkins injured, UFC newcomer Mike Lullo tapped as replacement against Edson Barbosa at UFC 123

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

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Next weekend's UFC 123 event has gotten a shakeup to the preliminary card, as Darren Elkins has been forced out of a scheduled bout with Edson Barbosa on the card due to a knee injury, according to a report from MMAFighting.com.

In his place steps UFC newcomer Mike Lullo to face Barbosa on a week's notice. Lullo is an 8-2 professional, who has won eight straight fights since dropping two decisions to begin his career. His last six wins have all been by submission, and he pulled off a gogoplata in a fight in June.

Barbosa is also making his UFC debut in this fight, and brings a 6-0 career record into the event. He's won all of his fights by stoppage, including five by knockout or TKO.

UFC 123 airs live on pay-per-view next Saturday from The Palace at Auburn Hills, just outside of Detroit, Mich. The event is headlined by a light heavyweight bout between Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Lyoto Machida.

Link to Original Source Article

Penick's Analysis: Injuries are always unfortunate, and it's a definite setback for Elkins as he was looking to rebound from a loss to Charles Oliveira, but it has opened up a great opportunity for Lullo on short notice. It's on the preliminary card, so it's not likely to make the broadcast, but both newcomers will have a chance to impress both the fans in Detroit and UFC officials as the lightweight division will be getting downsized drastically with the influx of WEC talents.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_7493.shtml

Ryan Jensen DaMarques Johnson Jon Jones Nathan Jones