Story Calls Out Thiago Alves
(sherdog.com)After outpointing Johny Hendricks on Dec. 4 for his fifth straight win in the UFC, Rick Story knows whom he wants to fight next.
“I want to fight Thiago [Alves],” Story said recently during a “Savage Dog Show” interview on the Sherdog Radio Network.
Alves, ranked No. 3 in the world, would be a significant step up in competition. That’s one reason why Story wants a piece of “The Pitbull.”
“I know that somebody like Thiago Alves, beating him, it would make people realize, ‘This guy is for real,’” Story said. “I just want everybody to know that I am for real and I’m not going to stop until I get that number one spot.”
The 26-year-old Story had a strong year in 2010. He went 4-0, including a stoppage of Dustin Hazelett. Against Hendricks he outwrestled a former NCAA champion and showed a more advanced MMA game.
Relentless Guida is all action
(sports.yahoo.com)If you’ve seen Clay Guida fight even once, then it will not surprise you to learn of the type of a football player he was as a child.
Guida grew up in the Chicago area and, like many boys his age, played youth football. Guida, though, wasn’t your typical defensive player.
“You know, I just loved to run around on the field,” Guida said. “I used to just love to run and go and tackle the guy with the ball.”
Good article/interview with Clay Guida
WEC-to-UFC move no issue for quick learner Dustin Poirier
(mmajunkie.com)Dustin Poirier still remembers the telephone conversation he had with the Louisiana gym owner who regularly hosted mixed martial artists for training.
Poirier was then a 17-year-old from Lafayette, La., who had moved out on his own to get away from the cycle of living with one parent, getting in trouble, then moving in with the other. He was taking on more responsibility in life, and he was getting out of the rhythm of spending time with a rougher crowd.
A longtime athlete, Poirier had moved from sport to sport but had left high school early. He still wanted competition, so he went looking for it.
A good article, with interview, about UFC Featherweight prospect Dustin Poirier.
UFC Cuts Pat Audinwood
(mmaweekly.com)He may have a great nickname, but Pat “Awesomely Awesome” Audinwood did not live up to it in his two fights in the UFC, and he has been released by the promotion. Prior to entering the UFC, Audinwood was 9-0-1 with four submission wins to his credit. Unfortunately during his brief run with the UFC, he went 0-2 with losses to Thiago Tavares and John Makdessi. He's the second cut by UFC this week along with Dustin Hazelett and more could be coming.
With Strikeforce tourney rumors, Silva wants fight with "legend" Emelianenko
(mmajunkie.com)Count Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva among the proponents for Strikeforce's rumored 2011 heavyweight tournament.
Believing the organization boasts some of the world's top heavyweights, Silva told MMAjunkie.com he'd love to participate in the potential multi-event tourney.
And he hopes it could lead to a fight with Fedor Emelianenko, a fighter he calls a "living legend."
"Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg" tickets on sale Monday
(mmajunkie.com)Tickets for Strikeforce's next "arena series" show go on sale Monday at 1 p.m. ET (10 p.m. PT).
The event, "Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg," takes place Jan. 29 at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif., and airs on Showtime.
As officials announced on Wednesday, the show features a championship doubleheader with welterweight champ Nick Diaz vs. Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos and middleweight title-holder Ronald "Jacare" Souza vs. Robbie Lawler.
UFC 125: Gray Maynard Talks TUF 13 and Welcoming Anthony Pettis
(sports.yahoo.com)Gray Maynard isn’t the type of fighter to hand pick his opponent.
It’s that attitude that explains why he doesn’t really care who he’d face if he defeats Frankie Edgar to win the UFC lightweight title at UFC 125 in January.
Currently, final WEC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis is in line to fight for the belt next. While Maynard admits if he was coming into the UFC for the first time he’d want a little more experience, he’s happy to accept the challenge.
GSP three-peats as Sportsnet's Canadian Athlete of the Year
(sportsnet.ca)Georges St-Pierre is Sportsnet's Canadian Athlete of the Year for an unprecedented third year in a row, beating out 2007 winner Sidney Crosby in the final of an online fan vote.
St-Pierre's path to his third-straight award was not an easy one the third time around. Competing against 15 other Canadians in a bracket-style tournament to determine the winner, readers voted for their choice through four head-to-head rounds over the course of 16 days.
"Winning the Rogers Sportsnet Canadian Athlete of the Year award for the third time means a lot to me," St-Pierre told sportsnet.ca. "This year there were a lot of nominees that I really respect, so I am honoured that the fans chose me. Thanks to all my fans for their support."
'Mayhem' Miller Says Fight With Nick Diaz Was Almost Signed Last Week
(mmafighting.com)Jason "Mayhem" Miller has spent the better part of the last year campaigning for a fight with Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz. Now it seems as if that door may be closing for good.
"We almost had the fight together," Miller told MMA Fighting on Wednesday.
Almost, but not quite.
After getting ganged up on by Diaz and his teammates on live network TV in April, the goal of getting Diaz alone in the cage seemed to nearly consume the "Bully Beatdown" star. He printed t-shirts, started a website, and did countless interviews all about how badly he wanted the fight. Now that Strikeforce has decided to match his nemesis up with Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos instead, Miller can't help but feel a little disappointed.
Strikeforce's Herschel Walker eyes Olympics, fighter union in MMA's future
(mmajunkie.com)A former pro footballing great, one-time Olympic bobsledder and current successful entrepreneur (in addition to his role as an MMA fighter), Strikeforce heavyweight Herschel Walker (1-0 MMA, 1-0 SF) has just about seen it all.
But with his first taste of MMA behind him and a second helping on the way in January, Walker has a few things he'd like to see happen in the fast-growing sport.
First, Walker would like to see MMA in the Olympics. Second, he'd like to see the sport's participants develop a fighters' union.
Gray Maynard Talks Boxing Technique and UFC 125 Opponent Frankie Edgar
(bloodyelbow.com)SB Nation's David St. Martin caught up with Gray Maynard, the man who will challenge Frankie Edgar for the UFC lightweight title at UFC 125. The interview has a lot of goodness including talk about how deserving he feels the WEC fighters are of competing in the UFC. But the part that sticks out most to me is this exchange where Maynard talks about his boxing and how Edgar's focus on Penn may give him an advantage.
Keith Jardine Documents Corruption At Nemesis Fighting, U.S. Secret Service Involved
(mmaweekly.com)The nightmare surrounding the Nemesis Fighting show in the Dominican Republic on Dec. 11 is still unfolding as more details emerge. The latest advancement is the U.S. Secret Service’s involvement in the investigation.
Keith Jardine, who fought and won during the show, has made a personal commitment to make sure the promoters who scammed the fighters either pay up or do some jail time for their part in the disastrous show that took place.
The UFC veteran is taking much of the responsibility simply because he knows a lot of the fighters that competed that fateful night, stayed on the card due to his involvement. He’s hopeful the work he’s doing now will at least help some of the fighters out from the financial strain caused by promoters Tim Fields and Bob Fill.
“I know some people stayed on this card because I was on it, and they would ask John (Madrid, Jardine’s manager) ‘Well, Keith’s still on it right?’ and they would stay on the card because of me, and that makes me feel really bad,” Jardine told MMAWeekly Radio. “So I’m doing my best, doing my part to gain control of the production of the fights to maybe get it on pay-per-view and get all the money to pay the fighter’s purses.”
Maciej Jewtuszko vs. Curt Warburton official for "UFC 127: Penn vs. Fitch" prelims
(mmajunkie.com)Polish WEC import Maciej Jewtuszko (8-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) and British fighter Curt Warburton (6-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) will face-off Down Under.
UFC execs today officially announced the matchup, which had previously been reported by MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com), for the preliminary portion of "UFC 127: Penn vs. Fitch."
Featuring a welterweight headliner between B.J. Penn and Jon Fitch, UFC 127 takes place Feb. 27 at Acer Arena in Sydney, Australia. The event airs live on pay-per-view.
Strikeforce: Nick Diaz vs Evangelista Santos booked for Jan. 29 in San Jose
(mmafighting.com)Nick Diaz's next fight won't be against Jason "Mayhem" Miller after all.
Instead, the Strikeforce welterweight champion has agreed to defend his title against Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos on Jan. 29 in San Jose, Calif. Sources close to Strikeforce confirmed the booking with MMA Fighting early Wednesday morning.
The proposed Diaz vs. Miller fight couldn't be agreed upon by both parties due to Diaz not willing to fight at 185 and Miller not willing to drop down to 170. Neither camp was able to agree on a suitable catchweight.
So, in comes the 33-year-old Santos, the husband of Strikeforce 145-pound women's champion Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos, who is 1-1 in Strikeforce and 18-13 overall. His lone win came against Marius Zaromskis at Strikeforce: Los Angeles in what also was his 170-pound debut.
Diaz, 23-7 (1 NC), successfully defended his title against KJ Noons in October. He became the first-ever Strikeforce welterweight champion last January when he defeated Marius Zaromskis via first-round TKO.
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