Look out! Condit?s flying knee crushes Kim in UFC 132 PPV opener

LAS VEGAS - Carlos Condit isn't boisterous enough to lobby for a title shot so he let his work in the Octagon send a sonic boom the way of UFC management.

A composed Condit waited for Dong Hyun Kim to drop his guard for a split second and pounced. He vaulted through the air with a flying knee that floored Kim and followed it up with seven nasty shots on the ground. He left Kim with the dreaded stink eye as referee Steve Mazzagatti jumped in to stop things at the 2:58 mark of the first round in the pay-per-view opener of UFC 132.

"I had an excellent game plan and I trusted in it. Everytime I go out there, I just fight to the best of my ability and tonight I couldn't be more pleased with how it worked out," said Condit.

Condit may finally be on the verge of getting his crack at Georges St-Pierre, the UFC'S dominant welterweight champion. Condit's taken a laid back approach in asking for the fight while more chatty fighters like Dan Hardy have gotten their shots at GSP. Jake Shields, a champion from outside the organization, also got a relatively quick shot, and next up for GSP is Strikeforce welterweight Nick Diaz. Meanwhile, Condit, the former WEC 170-pound champion, had to work his way up the ladder like he was a true UFC newcomer.

Condit's now 4-1 with the promotion. He was a perfect 5-0 with the Zuffa-owned WEC and 27-5 overall.

Diaz will challenge St. Pierre at UFC 137 in October. If GSP retains the title, Condit seems like the obvious choice. That should be interesting since both St. Pierre and Condit work with Albuquerque-based trainer Greg Jackson.

Kim (14-1, 5-1 UFC) was actually a slight favorite entering fight. The Korean judo master suffered his first loss with the promotion.

"My game plan was to look for the take down and also to land some overhand punches. I tucked my chin down and got caught with a knee. I'm really disappointed," said Kim.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Look-out-Condit-s-flying-knee-crushes-Kim-in-UF?urn=mma-wp4294

José Aldo  John Alessio  Houston Alexander Ricardo Almeida 

Tito Ortiz shocks with UFC 132 submission of Ryan Bader

Tito Ortiz came back from the brink of extinction at UFC 132 on Saturday night, winning with a guillotine in the first round over Ryan Bader.

Bader was landing intermittent strikes until Ortiz moved inside and landed a right hand directly on Bader's jaw. Bader's knees buckled, and Ortiz jumped on top of him and sunk in an arm-in guillotine. Ortiz squeezed until Bader tapped at 1:56.

He was jubilant after the fight, resurrecting his gravedigger celebration, then jumping onto the side of the cage. He thanked UFC brass Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta for pushing him to win this fight.

Ortiz knew going into this fight that it was win or lose his job. He has been a legend in the UFC, but his last win was in 2006 over Ken Shamrock. He hasn't been a champion since 2003. Battling back and neck injuries, he had never been able to return to that form until Saturday.

For Bader, it was a chance to get back on track after losing for the first time in February to eventual UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jones, but it didn't happen. Since being on the brink of the a title shot, Bader has gone 0-2, losing both fights by guillotine.

This win may not mean that Ortiz is ready for another title run, especially in the UFC's stacked light-heavyweight division. Nonetheless, Ortiz was on the brink of losing his job and possibly retiring, and he won in convincing fashion. That feat reminds MMA fans of why he is a legend in the sport.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Tito-Ortiz-shocks-with-UFC-132-submission-of-Rya?urn=mma-wp4291

Kiyoshi Tamura Evan Tanner Peni Taufa ao Thiago Tavares

Bader interview: TUF 8 champ not about to fall for Tito?s pity party

Tito Ortiz was in passive-aggressive mode today during the official UFC 132 prefight press conference. Tito claims that he begged for his job earlier this year and said repeatedly during the press conference that no one is picking him to win and because of that he has nothing to lose. This talk started last week when Ortiz started to accuse Ryan Bader of disrespecting him by calling him a stepping stone.

"But Bader made a mistake saying I am a stepping stone back to Jon Jones. I understand why he said it. When I was 28 I felt indestructible too and I was saying a lot of things about what I was going to do too. But I'm not a stepping stone to anyone," Ortiz wrote in a blog for ESPN.com. "No one has ever had an easy fight against me and he made a mistake in saying that I am a stepping stone. Maybe it was a figure of speech, but even if it was it was a little disrespectful to a former world champion."

When we spoke to Bader yesterday, the champ from Season 8 of "The Ultimate Fighter" reacted strongly, saying he would never look past someone like Ortiz.

"I never said that one time. All I said was I wanted to get back to the top and that startsd with Tito here, and that's all I said," Bader said on ESPNRadio1100 (4:45 mark). "He got that from, who knows where? I'm treating not this fight like that at all. This is a a fight I'm taking very seriously and I want to get back to my winning ways."

Ortiz is 0-4-1 in his last five fights. He's without a win since 2006. Dana White made it clear today that a good performance alone would NOT allow Ortiz to keep his gig with the UFC. Tito needs to win this or he's gone. Bader is a massive minus-500 favorite on the Las Vegas odds boards.

The 28-year-old former wrestler at Arizona State had his hand on his chin and smirked for much of the press conference as Tito talked about "hoping" to go out and put on a good performance.

You can watch UFC 132 right here on Yahoo! Sports

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Bader-interview-TUF-8-champ-not-about-to-fall-f?urn=mma-wp4189

Cory MacDonald Matt MacGrath Leonardo Lucio Nascimento Paweł Nastula

UFC 132 presser video: Faber really tweaking Cruz

It's a Urijah Faber we've never seen before. The former WEC 145-pound king has always been more about touting his own game than talking about his opponent. But there's something about Dominick Cruz that either drives him nuts or makes Faber think he can drive Cruz nuts. Faber's been digging at the current UFC bantamweight champ for months and it continued at yesterday's UFC 132 prefight press conference.

The history between the fighters dates back to 2007 when Faber (25-4) defeated a young Cruz (17-1) in a 145-pound bout at WEC 26. Cruz thought Faber rubbed it in after a quick victory via choke out. Faber doesn't argue that (0:48 mark).

"I don't think I was rubbing it in. I was kind of like 'good fight ... try again buddy.' He knows what I meant. He was right," said Faber.

Faber is enjoying the heat between the fighters.

"The reason it's a grudge match and all that, is you put Dominick and I in the same little neighborhood, we probably would've ended up fighting each other. [Because] of his bad attitude and me not taking crap, and being the badder dude. And that's what this all about. Like minded people, we're going to butt heads when it comes to the fight game and see who's boss," Faber said.

In spite of the victory four years, the Las Vegas sportsbooks have installed Cruz as a minus-140 favorite.

You can watch UFC 132 right here on Yahoo! Sports

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/UFC-132-presser-video-Faber-really-tweaking-Cru?urn=mma-wp4213

Igor Vovchanchyn Anthony Walsh Wang Guan Wang Sai

Jake Shields Set To Face Jake Ellenberger At UFC Fight Night 25

Ever since he lost to Georges St. Pierre at UFC 129, many fight fans have been wondering what?s next for Jake Shields. The loss to GSP was the first in quite some time for the former Strikeforce champion, and it was honestly a bit of a blowout performance by the UFC?s premiere Welterweight kingpin. Recently, [...]

Source: http://www.fighters.com/07/11/jake-shields-set-to-face-jake-ellenberger-at-ufc-fight-night-25

Achmed Labasanov Jason Lambert Jose Landi Jons Icho Larenas