Alessio Sakara Out of UFC 122 With Illness

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About an hour after UFC 122 started on Saturday in Oberhausen, Germany, fans got some bad news: Alessio Sakara is out of his co-main event fight against Jorge Rivera because of an illness.

MMAjunkie.com first reported and the UFC confirmed that the bout has been scrapped, and Duane Ludwig vs. Nick Osipczak has been moved up from the non-televised undercard to the main card. Sakara has what the UFC is describing as "flu like symptoms."

Source: http://www.mmafighting.com/2010/11/13/alessio-sakara-out-of-ufc-122-with-illness/

Alexander Ustinov Umer W Chheena Victor Valimaki Mike Van Arsdale

UFC 126, February 5

UFC 126
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Mandalay Bay Events Center
Las Vegas, NV
Airing on PPV

* Anderson Silva (#1 Ranked Middleweight) vs. Vitor Belfort (#5 Ranked Middleweight) (for UFC Middleweight Championship)
* Jon Jones (#5 Ranked Light Heavyweight) vs. Ryan Bader (#7 Ranked Light Heavyweight)
* Rich Franklin (#9 Ranked Light Heavyweight) vs. Forrest Griffin (#6 Ranked Light Heavyweight)
* Jon Fitch (#2 Ranked Welterweight) vs. Jake Ellenberger
* Miguel Torres (#4-tie Ranked Bantamweight) vs. Antonio Banuelos

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/Upcoming_Events_42/article_7068.shtml

Rich No Love Clementi  Mark The Hammer Coleman Wes Soldier Combs  Ray Cooper 

For TUF 10 Contestand, NFLer Wes Shivers To Debut For Strikeforce

NEW YORK (Nov. 11, 2010) ? Former NFL player-turned-Mixed Martial Arts fighter, popular heavyweight Wes Shivers, of Brandon, Miss., returns to the cage to face Goldman Butler, of Tupelo, Miss., in the top undercard fight of a STRIKEFORCE Challengers event in Jackson, Miss., on Friday, Nov. 19, at Jackson Convention Complex LIVE on SHOWTIME® at 11 p.m. ET/PT, (delayed on the West Coast).<br><br> ?I?ve been kicking it around for awhile that I wanted to get back in there,? said Shivers, a star offensive tackle at Mississippi State who was drafted by the Tennessee Titans where he saw action in three games. He also played for the Atlanta Falcons before being released and walking away from the game.<br><br> ?I didn?t really have any motivation to get back to training. I got the phone call from (local promoter) Dave Ferguson who asked me if I wanted to fight again. I thought it was a great opportunity to be able to fight in front of my home crowd. Not to mention it?s a STRIKEFORCE show. I had to take the opportunity.?<br><br> In the main event on the first STRIKEFORCE event in Mississippi, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Vitor ?Shaolin? Ribeiro (20-4) will face Justin ?The Silverback? Wilcox (9-3) of Cincinnati in a lightweight (155 pounds) match.<br><br> The 33-year-old, 6-foot-8 Shivers (7-1), a Rankin County Deputy Sheriff, will take on Goldman (1-3) during the non-televised portion of a card that will include many fighters from Mississippi and Tennessee.<br><br> Shivers said it was a lifelong dream to play in the NFL, but he has no regrets over his short-lived NFL career, which ended in 2001.<br><br> ?Any kid growing up in America wants to play a pro sport and I accomplished that goal,? he said. ?When I got in there I realized what the whole business was about and it really wasn?t my cup of tea. I saw an opportunity to walk away from the game without any regrets and I did it. Looking back, I still don?t have any regrets. It?s a business. Like any sport, if you take the fun out of it, it?s not worth playing anymore.<br><br> ?I had several opportunities to go other places after I was released. I just decided I could do more with my life than play football.?<br><br> Shivers started training for MMA as the sport began to get hugely popular in Mississippi and he had his first professional fight at the end of 2005.<br><br> ?I just loved the competitiveness of it and testing myself on a daily basis,? he said.<br><br> Before Shivers and Butler tangle, Jacob ?Pyscho? Noe (3-1) of Memphis, Tenn., will take on Wesley ?Pitbull? Little (2-4) of Columbus, Miss.<br><br> Other pro bouts will pit four middleweights (185 pounds) against one another: Jeremiah ?Bigg Rigg? Riggs (6-5) of Vicksburg, Miss., meets Jason Sharp (7-2) of Biloxi, Miss., while Jamie Houston of Olive Branch, Miss., takes on Dave Martin of Southhaven, Miss., in both fighter?s pro debuts. <br><br> Among the scheduled amateur undercard bouts: Anthony Mitchel (4-1), Madison, Miss., vs. Jeffrey Hedgepeth (2-1), Silver Creek, Miss, at a catch weight of 200 pounds; Brian ?The Law? Hall (2-1), Memphis, Tenn., vs. Thomas ?Die Hard Kid? Vasquez (14-3), Horn Lake., Miss., in a bantamweight (135 pounds) bout; and in welterweight (170 pounds) fights, Joel Cooper (9-2), Jackson, Tenn., vs. Brian Burse (8-1), Corinth, Miss.; and Travis Robertson (8-3), Memphis, Tenn., vs. Ken DuBoise (2-0), Jackson, Miss.

Source: http://www.mmanews.com/home.php

Kestutis Smirnovas Jimmy Smith Maurice Mo Smith Patrick Smith

Alessio Sakara withdraws from UFC 122 due to illness, co-main event is scrapped

Alessio Sakara has withdrawn from his fight with Jorge Rivera at UFC 122 due to illness. The news was orginally reported by MMAJunkie.com. Sakara had been suffering from flu-like symptoms. The middleweight clash was scheduled to be the co-main event of the main card taking place from the Konig Pilsener Arena in Oberhausen, Germany. The [...]

Alessio Sakara withdraws from UFC 122 due to illness, co-main event is scrapped is a post from: MMA Interplay UFC News

Source: http://www.mmainterplay.com/ufc-news/alessio-sakara-withdraws-from-ufc-122-due-to-illness-co-main-event-is-scrapped-51886/

Darren M Jackson Jeremy Jackson Quinton Rampage Jackson Jaime Jara

What's Next for the Winners and Losers of UFC 122: "Marquardt vs. Okami"?

The UFC?s return to Germany is now in the history books, and UFC 122: ?Marquardt vs. Okami? gave us several interesting bouts before completing its run. In the main event, top Middleweight stars Nate Marquardt and Yushin Okami battled it out to determine the next UFC Middleweight Championship  contender, with Okami winning what some consider [...]

Source: http://www.fighters.com/11/14/whats-next-for-the-winners-and-losers-of-ufc-122-marquardt-vs-okami

Jens Pulver Sean Sherk B J Penn Frankie Edgar

After an Unexpected Dip in Week 8, Week 9 Ratings for "The Ultimate Fighter" Season 12 Remain Strong

Last week, ?The Ultimate Fighter? Season 12 saw the first major dip in the ratings since the show?s premiere, with a 1.6 million viewership spoiling what had been, up to that point at least, a season that had shown considerable gains ever since its debut. But fear not, it appears as though that was just [...]

Source: http://www.fighters.com/11/13/after-an-unexpected-dip-in-week-8-week-9-ratings-for-tuf-12-remain-strong

Seth Petruzelli Anthony Pettis Nam Phan Mike Pierce

STRIKEFORCE QUOTABLES: Herschel Walker's December 4 opponent Scott Carson lashes out at "keyboard warriors"

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

LogoStrikeforce2010_105_12.png

"I'll tell you one thing. I'm a lot better fighter than the one I?ve been reading about on the Internet. This is a huge deal for me, a tremendous opportunity, but you'd think I was nothing going off what has been written by some of these keyboard warriors, who I doubt have ever stepped in a cage. It's a lot easier to sit in front of a computer and talk (stuff) than it is to actually fight. I am trying to take it all in stride, but I have no idea why some people are talking so negatively without ever having seen me. They don't know me. I'm pretty well-rounded with good standup and wrestling.

They say I'm old at 40 but I don't feel 40 and I certainly don't look 40. I think I look 30 and I?m in great shape. I'm ripped, just like Herschel. I'm going to be more ready for Dec. 4 than I have for any other fight. I plan to shut up all the critics, each and every one of them. Let them write something factual after they've seen me on Dec. 4. I'm really excited about fighting a great athlete like Herschel. I'm training every day. But the fact that some people aren't giving me a chance is only giving me extra motivation. This is going to be a great fight...

I was out a long time because of my back and I did rehab for a while. I never thought much about not fighting again; I always wanted to come back. But I couldn't do anything until I was 100 percent. Once I got healthy again, I got better the more I trained. I?ve helped a lot of guys get ready for fights while waiting for my chance. I had a few fights lined up before my last fight, but they all fell out for one reason or another. It got to the point for the longest time that all I did was train. Then, the next thing we know, I'm fighting. I felt good going into that fight but just got caught. It can happen to anybody."

-Herschel Walker's next opponent Scott Carson defiantly strikes back at "keyboard warriors" in a press release from Strikeforce ahead of their bout at Strikeforce: Henderson vs. Babalu on December 4.

Penick's Analysis: He's right that most of us commenting on him being chosen for this fight haven't seen him in action, but when he was knocked out in his first fight in eight years in June and is a 40 year old fighter coming into this fight he's going to be seen as an opponent picked for Walker to get another easy win under his belt. He could defeat Walker handily for all we know, but his age, record and inactivity will not earn him much credit from anyone looking at this fight from the outside. He can shut everyone up with a win in this fight, but the fact that people won't be giving him much of a chance and won't be all that excited about this matchup in general is just a reality he'll have to deal with until December 4.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/Affliction2/article_7467.shtml

Adrian Serrano Dan The Beast Severn Frank Shamrock Ken Shamrock