STRIKEFORCE NEWS: M-1 CEO Vadim Finkelchtein to request "strict drug testing" throughout Strikeforce Heavyweight World Grand Prix

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

M-1 Global president Vadim Finkelchtein has some worries about a fair playing field for his fighter Fedor Emelianenko in the upcoming Strikeforce Heavyweight World Grand Prix. With fighters in the field who have previously tested positive for banned substances, Finkelchtein says he will be requesting strict drug testing for the tournament fights. He expressed as much at a press conference in Moscow on Tuesday ahead of Fedor's February 12 bout with Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva.

"Two out of eight fighters in the tournament previously failed a drug test," Finkelchtein stated (translated by LowKick.com). "Obviously, I'm talking about Josh Barnett and Antonio Silva. We want fair competition for everyone, so that's why I will ask the commission to perform a strict drug testing."

"Fedor is not using any kind of substance to enhance his performance, and will be ready for any kind of testing. So if the commission decides to follow our suggestion, we'll be ready."

After their first hand experience with Josh Barnett, in which a lucrative fight on Affliction's third card never came to fruition due to Barnett's third failed steroid test, Finkelchtein says he doesn't want to have to go through that again.

"Our organization paid a heavy price after the cancelation of the fight between Josh Barnett and Fedor. We did a lot of promotion for this fight, which in the end did not take place. That's why as a promoter and manager, I don't want this to happen ever again."

The tournament kicks off with two quarterfinal bouts on February 12 in New Jersey, as Andrei Arlovski and Sergei Kharitionov square off in addition to Fedor vs. Silva.

Penick's Analysis: If it's going to entail the same testing procedures for each fighter and it's going to be uniformly applied throughout the tournament, it's not unreasonable to want to see strict testing done. But, if Strikeforce were to run in Japan as Scott Coker has stated he wants to do, or another commission that doesn't test, such as Texas, they'd have to take care of it all on their own. Again, provided it gets applied widely, and for each fight, then they should go for it, but they can't single fighters out and hold things up for testing if the other fights aren't being subject to the same thing.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/Affliction2/article_8196.shtml

Bao Ligao  Josh Barnett  David Baron  Phil Baroni

Article: Werdum, Mayhem Miller, Tito @ Kings MMA + Rafael Cordeiro Breaks Down HW Grand Prix (video)

You can view the page at http://ninjashoes.net/forum/content.php?357-Werdum-Mayhem-Miller-Tito-Kings-MMA-Rafael-Cordeiro-Breaks-Down-HW-Grand-Prix-(video)

Source: http://ninjashoes.net/forum/showthread.php?72175-Article-Werdum-Mayhem-Miller-Tito-Kings-MMA-Rafael-Cordeiro-Breaks-Down-HW-Grand-Prix-(video)&goto=newpost

Rob Broughton  Mike Brown  Junie Browning Paul Buentello 

Robbie Lawler Plans To Test Jacare Souza's Stand Up This Weekend

The Strikeforce Middleweight Title will be on the line this weekend at Strikeforce: Diaz Vs. Cyborg as Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza will defend his belt against former champion "Ruthless" Robbie Lawler and Lawler talked about the match up and his plan to keep this fight standing last week:<br><br>

"He?ll have no choice but to stand. That?s what I plan on doing. I?m forcing him to stand and seeing how good his standup is. I believe if anyone stands, it?s just a matter of time before I catch them. I believe I?m better on standup. He?s a really good athlete. He?s explosive. His takedowns are real explosive and he?s got a judo background. I just have to keep it where I want to and not make any mistakes and take advantage of it being on the feet. I believe it?s going to be an awesome fight. Two guys, one guy not wanting to give up the belt and one guy going in there to take the belt. It?s going to be a battle." <br><br>

Props: <a href=http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/Lawler-Ill-Force-Jacare-to-Stand-29613>The Savage Dog Show</a>

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

Tiki Ghosn Dennis George Kultar Gill Allan Goes

UFC Fight for the Troops 2: Matt Mitrione KOs Tim Hague

by Michael David SmithMatt Mitrione needed only a couple minutes to whoop Tim Hague at the UFC Fight for the Troops 2, keeping the fight standing and using powerful punches to beat on Hague, then pounding him some more on the floor before the referee stepped in at the 2:59 mark to stop the fight, handing Mitrione a first-round technical knockout.

"I'm here to fight," Mitrione said afterward. "I'm here to get a piece of gold."

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Source: http://www.mmafighting.com/2011/01/22/ufc-fight-for-the-troops-2-matt-mitrione-kos-tim-hague/

Hiroyuki Abe Cyril Abidi  Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah 

Jon Jones fighting Ryan Bader and expectations at UFC 126

When Jon Jones takes on Ryan Bader at UFC 126, he won't just be fighting the All-American wrestler from Arizona. Jones will be fighting to meet the expectations foisted upon any athlete who shows promise early. The light heavyweight has been a fan favorite since he started in the UFC, but with a large legion of fans comes heavy expectations. From MMAFighting.com:

"Meeting people's expectations is something I do worry about, and it's something Greg [Jackson] tells me not to think about," said Jones. "He says, 'You know Jon, you don't even need to win a fight, when you think about it. You're 23 and you're still learning. You're still a baby, so no fight for you should ever be a big, must-win fight for you, and no name or no opponent besides the cream of the crop should even effect you. You have so much time, a setback right now would only make you better.'"

It's hard to believe that he's been fighting for just under three years, and has just six fights with the UFC. Jones made a name by picking up two wins over Jake O'Brien, Andre Gusmao and Stephan Bonnar with flashy moves like spinning elbows. He was disqualified in his fight with Matt Hamill for throwing an illegal elbow, but that hasn't stopped Jones from using the effective technique. He won his next two fights via TKO, with his elbows stopping both Brandon Vera and Vladimir Matyushenko.

Those wins make plenty of fans wonder when Jones is going to get a title shot, putting more expectations on his broad shoulders. That's a heavy load for any man. With the mark he's already made on the UFC, it's easy to forget that Jones is just 23 years old. 

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Jon-Jones-fighting-Ryan-Bader-and-expectations-a?urn=mma-307149

Stephan Bonnar Lorenzo Borgomeo  Kyle Bradley  Jai Bradney 

UFC NEWS: Georges St. Pierre, manager Shari Spencer part ways

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre has become one of the biggest names and most visible MMA stars in the sport over the last several years, in large part due to manager Shari Spencer. Spencer was key in St. Pierre landing sponsorship deals with Gatorade, Under Armor and more, thrusting St. Pierre into the spotlight further off of his in-cage domination.

But on Thursday, the two sides announced an "amicable" split in their working relationship. In a press release, the reason given for the split was that "They felt they had a different vision for the future of Georges' career and it was best to remain close personally but dissolve their business relationship."

The two spoke highly of each other in the release, and made it clear there's no animosity involved in this separation.

Said St. Pierre, "Shari has been very valuable to me and my career over the last several years. We broke through a lot of barriers together and so I will always be grateful to her and call her my friend."

Said Spencer, "I am extremely proud of the representation I provided to Georges and the incredible opportunity to have partnered with an athlete of his caliber. I am thankful for the trust that he displayed in me in managing his career since mid 2007 and I wish him the best going forward."

For now, St. Pierre will remain with the Creative Arts Agency, and is expected to hire a new manager shortly.

Penick's Analysis: St. Pierre feels he has gone as far as he can with Spencer as his manager. As he said, he remains grateful to her contributions in his career to this point, and they remain friends, but he's likely now looking to move to a higher level. As with all things in this matter, it was likely also driven by money, and St. Pierre likely felt that necessitated a new person in charge of that end of his career; we'll probably see some new and even bigger things from the best fighter on the planet as the next few years unfold.

[Georges St. Pierre art by Travis Beaven (c) MMATorch.com]

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_8210.shtml

Ebenezer Fontes Braga Chris Brennan Marcelo Brito  Rob Broughton 

UFC NEWS: Pat Barry deflects criticism following Fight for the Troops 2 win - "It's impossible to make everyone happy"

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Pat Barry bounced back from a disappointing loss to Mirko Cro Cop last June with a win over Joey Beltran at UFC Fight for the Troops 2 this past Saturday. But while he badly damaged Beltran's lead leg with kicks by the end of the fight, the overall performance left much to be desired from his fans, and gave ammunition to his detractors after the fight. For Barry, it's just par for the course.

?I've already had bad things said to me as soon as I got out," Barry said at the night's post-fight press conference. "[I've had people say] ?Hey man, good fight, but what happened in round one?' I'm getting bad text messages already. That's always going to happen. No matter what, some people are just going to hate your guts. It's impossible to make everyone happy."

The first round of the fight was a very tentative round, with Beltran circling the outside and content to work the clinch on the cage, while Barry remained hesitant to engage throughout the round. But Barry said that was all part of the plan.

"That was an absolute strategy on his part and my part," Barry said. "Joey Beltran, statistically on paper, I'm the better stand-up guy. He's the better wrestler, jiu jitsu, maybe all-around guy, but I'm the better stand-up guy. So when the bell rang, he walked backward toward the cage. That's a trap. I don't know if anybody noticed that, but I was supposed to run at him, take him to the ground, put him against the cage, so I stood on the circle. That was the gameplan: I'm going to stand on this blue circle in the middle of the octagon, and you're going to have to go to me."

"For the first part of the fight, the first round, he didn't come to me. I could have either gone to him and broken my gameplan, or he could have walked straight to me and broken his. It was kind of a tossup. Sorry it turned out to be a slow start, but we both had a strategy."

Barry picked it up in the second round, beginning the assault on Beltran's lead leg with kicks, mixing in high kicks along the way. But while he continued that into the third round, he also allowed Beltran to continue clinching and landing strikes, and nearly gave the fight away until a late surge in the final minutes of the fight. Barry, however, isn't going to let the criticism get him.

"Everybody has a bad day eventually," he said. "Certain things just build up, build up, build up. I hadn't had a cranky fight in a long time. Do I feel it's behind me? No. I'm still hearing about kickboxing matches that I lost 10 years ago. It's never going to go away."

"Am I past that? I'm fine with it. Am I still gonna hear about? Of course, but that's just how it goes."

Penick's Analysis: Barry, who was very emotional after the fight as he detailed his family's military past, had a lot on his mind in this fight. He can be a bit erratic at times, and hasn't been the most impressive in his fights in the Octagon, but when he's on his game and is using his kicks and strikes effectively he's a lot of fun to watch. He allowed Beltran to get far too much offense in after hurting him badly, especially in the third round, but he still did enough to get a win. Hopefully the next time out he's at his best for more than just a few minutes of the fight, as he can still do a lot of damage to a lot of people in the sport.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_8247.shtml

Luiz Buscapé Firmino Spencer Fisher Jon Fitch Kenny Florian

Strikeforce Diaz vs Cyborg Fight Previews - Strikeforce

The Fight Network previews Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg featuring Nick Diaz vs. Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos and Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza vs. Robbie Lawler, taking place on Saturday January 29, 2011 in San Jose, California.

Source: http://mmalice.com/strikeforce/strikeforce-diaz-vs-cyborg-fight-previews-video_ced39bfb1.html

Andre Gusmao Alexander Gustafsson Jaime Gutierrez Dave Gomez

5 Reasons Why Anderson Silva Could Beat Vitor Belfort

Hello once more fans and friends, and welcome to the start of another new series. I recently posted a double-article detailing five reasons why Anderson Silva could beat Georges St. Pierre, then a reverse article of five reasons why Georges St. Pierre could beat Anderson Silva. I liked the idea of the article so much [...]

Source: http://www.fighters.com/01/24/5-reasons-why-anderson-silva-could-beat-vitor-belfort

Grant Campbell  Gesias JZ Calvancante  Luiz Cane  Dos Caras Jr  

UFC QUOTABLES: B.J. Penn more concerned with showing his "fighting spirit" at UFC 127 than winning

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

"[When I was offered the fight with Jon Fitch] I was like 'now that's a test for me in the welterweight division, fighting's your life B.J. and [an] opportunity to [fight] Fitch now that's a test'... I know [he's] under pressure people telling him that he has to finish fights and stuff but I honestly think he?s just going to come out and do the some thing he always does, he?s a grinder and he goes after you and grind you into the ground and I just have to stop all that and turn it around...

[Me] and Jon Fitch are in two different places in our lives. All these fighters are really, really, really concerned about one thing, winning; and it's not that I'm not concerned about that, but I've been in their shoes for a long time that's all I was concerned about too, but more concerned then
winning I want to show everybody my fighting spirit, what happens when I step into the ring. It's either going to be the best win, best loss or best draw you ever f***ing saw (laughs). I've stepped into that ring. It's just that everybody's in different places in their lives, he's looking for title shot, George [Sotiropoulos] is looking for a title shot, all these people are looking to come up, some people looking to win to keep their job and this and that, I'm just looking to show my fighting spirit."

-B.J. Penn talks to MMASports.com.au about his UFC 127 headlining fight with Jon Fitch, and being at a different stage in his career than many other fighters.

Penick's Analysis: If B.J. is out to prove to himself that he's still a great fighter, and he's just out to lay it on the line regardless of the outcome, then fans are in for a great main event next month in Australia. Penn at his best is one of the most entertaining fighters to watch in the cage, and like he said he's got a great test in the welterweight division, as Fitch has established himself as the best of the best after Georges St. Pierre in the division. I'm extremely excited for this fight, as both present very real and very dangerous challenges for the other, and it makes for a great stylistic matchup that should be highly entertaining.

[B.J. Penn art by Cory Gould (c) MMATorch.com]

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_8185.shtml

Justin Eilers  Jon Olav Einemo Per Eklund Jason Ellis