Strikeforce's little-known Lumumba Sayers fueled by fatherhood and faith

Lumumba Sayers is probably a fighter you haven't heard of.

He's on the preliminary card of tonight's "Strikeforce and M-1 Global: Fedor vs. Henderson" event fighting an opponent who has the weight of two big fight camps behind him.

Sayers won't have any stars leaning over his portion of the fence come tonight's event. He's just a regular guy whose day starts at 5 a.m. every morning when he goes to work as a mover, and it ends at 9 p.m. when he and his three kids head back from the gym.


Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/mmajunkie/~3/U9AiPs01p-U/strikeforces-little-known-lumumba-sayers-fueled-by-fatherhood-and-faith.mma

Roman Zentsov Zhang Chuanlong Zhang Tiequan Igor Zinoviev

Dan Henderson Discusses Controversial Victory Over Fedor Emelianenko

Prior to stepping into the cage on Saturday night, the majority of the MMA world didn?t know what to expect from Fedor Emelianenko – including opponent Dan Henderson. With his back pressed firmly against the wall, Emelianenko came out swinging for the fences in order to end his two-fight losing streak. Although it?s the exact [...]

Source: http://www.5thRound.com/83641/dan-henderson-discusses-controversial-victory-over-fedor-emelianenko/

Sean O Haire Yushin Okami Bobby Ologun Andy Ologun

The Walk Out ? ?Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson?

We?ve been waiting for weeks and it?s finally here. THE NFL LOCKOUT IS OVER! If that wasn?t enough, we finally have a major MMA event for the first time in weeks. While there has been plenty of MMA these past few weeks, none of them have come close to matching the interest of tomorrow nights [...]

Source: http://fiveouncesofpain.com/2011/07/29/the-walk-out-strikeforce-fedor-vs-henderson/

Frank Shamrock Ken Shamrock Sean Sherk Katsuyori Shibata

With uncertain future of women's MMA, Strikeforce's Tate ready to win over bosses

Women's MMA isn't playing with a blank checkbook, and Miesha Tate knows that.

Four months after the acquisition of Strikeforce by UFC parent company Zuffa, LLC, an uncertain future awaits the women who fight for the promotion, to say nothing of the promotion itself.

Tate and her champion counterpart, Marloes Coenen, are then left with the task of convincing Zuffa that women's MMA is a viable part of Strikeforce's future. And when they meet Saturday in the co-main event of "Strikeforce and M-1 Global: Fedor vs. Henderson," Tate, for her part, is planning to do that when she vies for Coenen's welterweight belt.


Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/mmajunkie/~3/o9gIPYHJkuU/with-uncertain-future-of-womens-mma-strikeforces-tate-ready-to-win-over-bosses.mma

Hector Ramirez Kevin Randleman Vitor Ribeiro Aaron Riley

UFC 133 Staggers On: Nogueira vs. Franklin Pulled, Belfort vs. Akiyama New Co-Main Event

From top to bottom, ufc 133 has been a card plagued with problems. In the grand tradition of once-great cards that fall apart without a single fighter ever walking into the cage, the co-main event of UFC 133 is now off of the table. This is in addition to the two past instances where the [...]

Source: http://www.fighters.com/07/17/ufc-133-staggers-on-nogueira-vs-franklin-pulled-belfort-vs-akiyama-new-co-main-event

Karo Parisyan Sherman Pendergarst B J Penn Anthony Perosh

Tito Ortiz discusses expensive car accident from last weekend, says all pressure on Rashad Evans at UFC 133

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Tito_Ortiz_car_crash.jpeg

With all of the injuries that have already hit the UFC 133 card, having another fighter get forced out of the event would be an absolute nightmare for the UFC.

So when Tito Ortiz got into a car accident this past weekend, he surely gave UFC brass a scare. Fortunately for all involved, no one was hurt in the fender bender, but Ortiz suffered a financial hit, as he said the repairs for the vehicle would be coming out of his own pocket.

Has it been mentioned that the vehicle in question is a $300,000 Rolls-Royce Phantom?

That's right, Ortiz's accident was while driving his favorite, most expensive vehicle, and the damage done is coming out of his pocket to the tune of upwards of $45,000. Ortiz took to his fight blog at ESPN.com to discuss the accident and more.

"I learned a valuable -- or maybe I should say 'expensive' -- lesson at the weekend: Don't text and drive!" Ortiz wrote. "I was taking a day off from training and driving in my Rolls-Royce Phantom, my pride and joy, and I looked down at my phone for literally one second because I had a text -- and I crashed my Phantom."

"My first concern was my son, Jacob, who was travelling with me. He was fine, we were only doing 20 mph and I hit the brakes, but it is a shock to any parent to have their kid involved in any kind of accident. But he was totally fine so I got out to look at the damage ... and I nearly cried right there."

Ortiz was understandably emotional to the damage done to the vehicle. It was something he had worked hard for, and it took a lot of his hard-earned money to purchase, so having it damaged in a momentary lapse of judgment certainly hurt. In the end, he learned an important lesson the hard way.

"Seriously, I know it is just a car, just a possession, and it's a little funny to think of a grown man, a UFC champion, crying because of a fender bender but I don't care," he wrote. "The car is worth $300,000 and I did about $45,000 worth of damage. Just so, so depressing. Putting it another way: after tax, that's my entire 'Submission of the night' bonus from choking out Ryan Bader at UFC 132. Now I need another sub or KO or Fight of the night against Rashad Evans at UFC 133.

"Seriously, kids, don't text and drive."

As he came out of the accident without an injury, Ortiz turns his attention back to his UFC 133 main event fight with Rashad Evans. He took the fight on short notice, and after winning his first fight in five years he's feeling no pressure for this bout, and he feels that plays into his favor.

"I said it before and will say it again: all the pressure is on Rashad. And I am going to put a ton more on him in the first round," he said. "Can Rashad deal with that pressure? Can he deal with the pressure that everyone expects him to win this fight, against a guy he should have lost to before even thought I was hurt in that first fight? That's a lot of pressure on him. He stayed out for 14 months rather than take fights, and it was a huge mistake in his career. Now he's almost forgotten and the guy he has a W over -- Rampage -- is fighting for the title and not him. That's even more pressure on him for this fight.

"I am not sure he can handle that pressure."

Link to Full Blog at ESPN.com

Penick's Analysis: Ortiz - and the UFC as well - is extremely lucky that he didn't injure himself in this accident. By making it out with perhaps a bruised ego and a bit of an emotional ordeal, as well as a bit of a hit to his bank account, Ortiz is alright to get right back into training and will be ready for next Saturday's fight card. As far as his comments on Rashad, he's certainly got a point about the pressure of the fight. Evans has a lot to lose against Ortiz, and even though he's the big favorite coming into the fight he's got to follow through on that and pick up the win. If he falls in this fight he loses out on his title fight, and may drop far in the division. If he steps up and gets through this he'll keep himself right where he's at.


Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_10015.shtml

Mark Coleman Maurice Smith Randy Couture Bas Rutten