Leonard Garcia's team bashes Bellator, questions claim of 'phantom' rep
(mmajunkie.com)Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney claims his promotion never once contacted Leonard Garcia (15-11-1) about a potential deal with the tournament-based promotion. Garcia's team isn't buying it.
"In light of Bellator's alleged legal chicanery with their own champions like Eddie Alvarez and Zach Makovsky, and high-profile fighters like Leonard Garcia making known their desire to avoid a potentially bad situation, it is not surprising Bellator is trying to get ahead of the bad PR plaguing their promotion," Garcia's reps at Haymaker's Empire Sports Management wrote in a statement issued to MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). "However, this story about a 'phantom' Bellator representative making phony offers to fighters just strains credulity."
Garcia fought 17 times under the Zuffa banner from 2007 until this past month's UFC 159 event. While always an entertaining brawler, Garcia suffered five consecutive losses in the UFC's octagon and was released from his contract with the promotion...
DDP, Sinosic, Shamrock, Baroni, Varner and more give UFC 159 Predictions
(punchdrunkgamer.com)
Muhsin Corbbrey (15-7-2 MMA, Pro Boxer, Kickboxer and ESPN Asia Veteran) - “Jon Jones wins this fight via superior athletics and skill, I think it’ll make it to the third round and Sonnen may even get him down early via the takedown. But I think ‘Bones’ stops him with strikes in the 3rd.”
Jamie Varner (21-7-1-2, former WEC Lightweight Champion) - “Jones wins even though I am a Sonnen fan.”
Shayna Baszler (15-8, FCF Women’s Bantamweight Grand Prix Champion) – “Instead of analyzing this with rational and all that, I’m totally fanning out and cheering for Chael!!”
Frank Shamrock (23-10-2, Former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, WEC Light Heavyweight Champion & Strikeforce Middleweight Champion) – “Bones Jones wins via TKO, then Sonnen retires and works on FOX telecast.”
Fresh off sweep, Team Alpha Male's Duane Ludwig enjoying life more as trainer than fighter
(mmafighting.com)It should have been a given that Duane Ludwig would get quick results. His nickname, after all, is "Bang," a moniker he earned even before his record-setting, six-second knockout in 2006. As a trainer, he's made immediate strides with his new camp, the Sacramento, California-based Team Alpha Male. Hired in December 2012, Ludwig recently went through the process of training several charges for the first full camp, including a trio that prepared for fights at last weekend's UFC on FOX 7.
The result? Three first-round TKOs predicated on strikes...
Jon Jones targets superfights after breaking Tito Ortiz's title-defense record
(mmajunkie.com)Provided he gets past Chael Sonnen (27-12-1 MMA, 6-5 UFC) this Saturday at UFC 159, UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones (17-1 MMA, 11-1 UFC) plans to fight again in November.
And if successful in defending his belt this fall, Jones told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) he'll shift focus to competing in superfights and the heavyweight division.
Jones, who's as big as a 10-to-1 favorite to beat Sonnen, has a goal to surpass the current record for successful title defenses in his division, which was set by UFC Hall of Famer Tito Ortiz at five...
Dana White pledges financial support to Boston Marathon bombing victims
(mmajunkie.com)As a former Boston resident, Dana White admits it's a struggle for him to not talk about this past week's Boston Marathon bombings. But the UFC president is sure of one thing: He's going to try and do something to help those suffering.
"I have a hard time talking about this in public because if I really do talk about it, I'm going to come off like a psycho," White said at Saturday's post-UFC on FOX 7 press conference. "I've really limited talking about it, but I'm going to Boston on Saturday. After [UFC 159], I'm jumping on a plane and flying to Boston, and I'm actually going to go visit some people that were affected by this horrible event."
Frank Mir: Brock Lesnar's MMA career 'would have been different' without diverticulitis
(mmamania.com)For being a mixed martial arts (MMA) novice, Brock Lesnar did pretty well for himself during his tenure with Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
After losing his Octagon debut to Frank Mir at UFC 81 five years ago, Lesnar went on to win the promotion's Heavyweight title, defeating UFC Hall of Famer and former two-division champion Randy Couture at UFC 91, just four fights into his MMA career.
That was right before he sent Heath Herring into retirement after beating him down so bad at UFC 87 that "Crazy Horse" was never heard from again ... at least in the MMA world.
Lesnar went on to defend his title twice, getting brutal revenge on Mir at UFC 100 and then scoring a come-from-behind submission victory over Shane Carwin at UFC 116. He would eventually cough up the coveted crown to Cain Velasquez at UFC 121.
That's when his ongoing battle with diverticulitis and a subsequent surgery sidelined him for more than one year, forcing him to ponder MMA retirement. And according to his bitter rival, Mir, had Lesnar never gotten the life-threatening stomach disease, Lesnar's MMA career would have been drastically different.
His words (via New York Post):
"Honestly, I think the guy got so ill, he just couldn't do it anymore. He had to leave or his quality of life wouldn't have been normal. We didn't get to see the Brock I fought. Had he not been ill, things would have been different."
TUF 17 Finale salaries: Urijah Faber will earn event's top payday with win
(mmajunkie.com)With a win over Scott Jorgensen on Saturday, Urijah Faber would be the top earner at The Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale card in Las Vegas.
Faber (27-6 MMA, 3-2 UFC) is set to make $55,000 to show and another $55,000 if he wins, bringing his potential disclosed payday to $110,000. Jorgensen (14-6 MMA, 3-2 UFC) could make as much as $47,000 if he were to pick up the upset victory with $23,500 to show and $23,500 as a win bonus...
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