UFC, etc.

[bumblebee]

Here's how UFC Fight Night 21 in March is looking:

Kenny Florian vs. Takanori Gomi
Stefan Struve vs. Roy Nelson
Yushin Okami vs. Lucio Linhares
Gleison Tibau vs. Caol Uno
Cole Miller vs. Andre Winner
Ross Pearson vs. Dennis Siver
Nate Quarry vs. Jorge Rivera

I'll be there.

 

[Skiman]

YES!!!!! Feel the Kimbo love.

I've liked Kimbo ever since I saw one of his cheapo street fight videos. But like most, TUF10 really showed his personality, and what kinda person he is overall. I like his drive, I like his style. Definitely a Kimbo fan right here, proud of it.

And the slam heard round the world he hit on Alexander, that was LOLRIFFIC.

Yeah I think I got to see more of Kimbo on TUF and see how he was as a person, he's a cool cat.

 

[Bezzerkerr]

I'll be there.

Florian vs Gomi is all i care about

I'm rather certain FAT BOY will pummel the string bean

 

[ArmoredFoe]

Im just happy to see Gomi fighting in the states. I hope more Japanese fighters make the move over.

 

[kobayashi93]

I thought this was pretty funny. Long read, I know. From mmaweekly.

Chael Sonnen is gunning for the middleweight belt, but he's also going after Anderson Silva for what he perceives as a falsehood being portrayed by the champion.

The Top 10 middleweight spoke to MMAWeekly Radio recently where he unloaded on Silva and his manager, Ed Soares, for some issues he has with the fighter most call the top pound-for-pound competitor on the planet. Sonnen says very candidly that he's hoping for a title shot if he gets past Nate Marquardt at UFC 109, but doesn't care one bit if it's Silva who's defending the belt.

"I would imagine, who knows what Anderson's doing. At the end of the day, who cares," said Sonnen. "If he wants to leave the division, leave the sport, who cares. Beat it, nobody tunes in to watch him anyways, and his little fake 'I don't speak English.

"You want me to let you in on a secret, Anderson Silva speaks perfect English. He just has such a low amount of respect for you and all the rest of the media that he pretends he doesn't. I've had conversations with Anderson Silva in perfect English, and on top of that he's so boring to listen to that he and his rocket scientist manager, Ed Soares, who is also about as exciting as watching grass grow, have decided that Ed is better on the mic than Anderson, so just let Ed do the talking."

Sonnen says Silva's disdain for the media reaches back to other fighters as well, who speak about the subject in private amongst themselves.

"It's quite ironic that all the media comes on and talks about how great this guy is for reasons that are completely un-understandable to me. How great Anderson Silva is, and all of us fighters are in the back going, 'jeez, they're out there massaging his ego, Anderson hates them so much, he pretends he can't understand them,’" Sonnen stated.

One person who will not be signing up for the Anderson Silva fan club anytime soon is Sonnen, who also slammed the champion for his top pound-for-pound status, and believes that if they ever do fight, the verbal warfare will be decidedly one-sided.

"That guy's no more the top fighter out there than Bigfoot is roaming the woods," said Sonnen. "That is an absolute myth, and all these guys can buy into it, but there's a young man out in Portland, Ore., that is not signing up on that bandwagon.

"If Anderson ever signed to fight me, which is highly unlikely, he'll be getting a verbal beating like you've never seen. And his language barrier won't be the point of interest."

Silva's manager spoke exclusively with MMAWeekly Radio after hearing Sonnen's comments and actually had some complimentary things to say about the Team Quest fighter, but believes that everything being said has a purpose behind it.

"Who is this that we're talking about?" Soares joked when Sonnen's name came up.

"I think Chael's a really super nice guy and every time I've met the guy he's always been really cool to me. That's weird that he would say stuff on the radio, but I think at the end of the day, Chael's not a dumb guy, he's a pretty smart guy," Soares commented. "I think no one will really pay attention to what he has to say unless he probably talks about Anderson."

Soares also reacted to Sonnen's comments about Silva's performances and believes he needs to look in the mirror before pointing the finger at anyone else.

"Anyone that has a mouth can say what they want," he said. "I don't think people pay too much attention to what Chael does. Saying that Anderson's boring or Anderson's this, Anderson's that, we don't even need to go back and see what Chael has done. If you really want to analyze Chael's career over the past couple years, he's had some wins, but he said he didn't tap against Paulo Filho. If the ref wouldn’t have stopped the fight, Paulo Filho would have his arm in Brazil with him.

"And when he beat Paulo Filho, he was 35 to 40 percent of a Paulo Filho and he took him to a decision. Then he went and fought Damien Maia, got submitted quick, and now he's going to fight Nate Marquardt which Nate just ended up knocking out Damien Maia. I think Chael should be really focused on his fight that he's got against Nate Marquardt because I can tell you right now that's probably going to be the hardest fight of his life. I would put my money on Nate."

Commenting about Silva's willingness to speak English also came up. While Soares admits that the champion has had some issues with the media in the past, overall he understands that it's all part of the business.

"He doesn't speak perfect English. It's definitely improving a lot and he can start to have a little bit more of a conversation with people, but at the end of the day when the lights are on and the camera is there, he likes to have someone next to him there to translate for him," Soares said.

The Brazilian manager understands that the fight game is a business, and Sonnen may be playing the part of the villain to perfection. He also knows that talking the way he is could prompt a rivalry and a shot at Silva's middleweight title.

"I don't know what he's doing, but I would be keeping my mouth shut and in the gym training, especially training his stand-up," Soares said in closing

.
I think Marquardt is going to make Sonnen look like an amateur.

 

[Devil_666]

Anderson Silva would murder and ass rape Chael Sonnen. In that order.

 

[ArmoredFoe]

...yeah thats hilarious...even if anderson does hate the media so what. Theres some guys who just dont care for that aspect of the sport and yes Anderson would send Sonnen packing,lol at sonnen "gunning for the belt". I love Nate, and I hope he kicks his ass also.

 

[kobayashi93]

Sonnen has been a ****** in pretty much every interview I've seen him in. I remember after his win over Dan Miller he said he disputes all of his losses except one. If all of his losses were split decisions I could see where he is coming from...but the guy gets submitted all the time. He disputes his tapping out?

 

[azurepred]

that full is just a hater........never even heard of him til now, but thats prolly my ignorance. He's just jealous............

 

[ArmoredFoe]

Sonnen was one of the few brought over from WEC, not really a fan of his, but anyways.

 

[Skiman]

Dances too much.

 

[ArmoredFoe]

Tomorrow Im heading down to Ft. Lauderdale to go do the weigh ins for Strike Force, then Saturday for the event. Hopefully I'll get some good shots to share....Im kind of in a nose bleed section we'll see what happens.

 

[Vader AL]

Aging action star Van Damme, 49, still wants a pro fight
By Steve Cofield

Jean Claude Van Damme could whip anybody. Throw in one caveat -- on the silver screen. Now the 49-year-old Belgian star of dozens of action films wants to show he can do it for real.

Repeating what he said in September, Van Damme is trying to land a professional kickboxing match against former Olympian Somluck Kamsing in Macau as the capper to a proposed reality show. During a press conference in Ukraine (VIDEO), Van Damme explained his motivation.

"[It's] dangerous but life is short," said Van Damme. "I want to prove to young people and even to mature people that a man can go into some very strong physical effort and training, and also be a movie star."

The fight was originally slated for a March K-1 event in Las Vegas. As Cagewriter told you at the time, the fight had zero chance of coming off in Nevada:

Kamsing, 35, was the 1996 Olympic Gold medalist in boxing at 126 pounds. He also fought in the 2000 and 2004 Olympics, losing to Rocky Juarez and Benoit Gaudet, respectively ... we'll rain on the parade with a reality check, the Nevada State Athletic Commission would never approve a fight with the [49-year-old] Jean Claude facing a former Olympian.

We nailed it. Van Damme (pictured with UFC fighter Michael Bisping) got word that the fight could not go down in the U.S. as many states have strict guidelines for fighters over 35.

Randy Couture, 46, will fight 45-year-old Mark Coleman next week in Las Vegas in the main event of UFC 109. Along with 37-year-old Frank Trigg and 35-year-old Matt Serra, Couture and Coleman had to go in front of the NSAC to undergo neurological testing and gain approval to fight. Vam Damme has zero professional fights. The four UFC fighters have a combined 93 pro fights and were still scrutinized before they were given their licenses. The only "real" fight we know of for Van Damme was a rumored scrap against fellow action star Chuck Zito.

For Van Damme, fighting a former Olympian is a brave thing to attempt, but let's hope it's closer to a reality show fight than one where he may get injured badly.

 

[hairlesswookiee]

^^^ I don't have a problem with people of any age no matter how old fighting. Its their body, they are aware of the damages they can incur, and if they want to do it-- who has the right to tell them no???
Brett Favre is over the hill (age wise for football) and he's not getting crap from the NFL about being too old.

 

[azurepred]

^^^ I don't have a problem with people of any age no matter how old fighting. Its their body, they are aware of the damages they can incur, and if they want to do it-- who has the right to tell them no???
Brett Favre is over the hill (age wise for football) and he's not getting crap from the NFL about being too old.

throwing a ball and fighting is quite a bit different, but theres really old dudes in almost every sport, so its nothing new. TBH i would have loved to see Van Damme in a mma fight when he was younger, i'm curious if he could kick as hard as it looked in the movies

 

[NASEDO]

I wouldn't mind seeing Van Damme fight Steven Seagel. That would be great.

 

[Devil_666]

I wouldn't mind seeing Van Damme fight Steven Seagel. That would be great.

Long overdue with all the smack talk that went on between them.

 

[hairlesswookiee]

throwing a ball and fighting is quite a bit different,

I never said they weren't. Players in NFL run the same changes of injury as fighters in the UFC.

 

[Vader AL]

Kongo vs Mir up next, can't wait for this one.

 

[915stag51]

Kongo vs Mir up next, can't wait for this one.

Don't blink......