?Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Silva? Main Card Confirmed

After UFC president Dana White announced Brock Lesnar and Junior dos Santos would serve as coaches for ?The Ultimate Fighter 13,? Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker attempted to steal the heavyweight spotlight back by confirming the main bouts for his highly anticipated ?Fedor vs. Silva? event. Shane Del Rosario vs. Lavar Johnson, Chad Griggs vs. Gian [...]

Source: http://www.5thRound.com/64887/strikeforce-fedor-vs-silva-main-bouts-confirmed/

Stav Crazy Bear Economou  Yves Edwards  Justin Eilers  Jon Olav Einemo Per Eklund

Bellator Adds Joe Riggs To Middleweight Division

CHICAGO, Ill. (January 10, 2011) ? Bellator Fighting Championships continues to add to their impressive stable of fighters, this time adding battle-proven veteran Joe ?Diesel? Riggs to its ever expanding list of talented fighters. Bellator Season 4 airs on MTV2 in March 2011. Having won six of his last seven fights, Riggs joins Bellator with an impressive 34-11 record that includes 31 stoppage victories.<br><Br> A native of Phoenix, Arizona, Riggs began his journey to MMA when he picked up boxing at just 10-years-old before wrestling in high school. A two time All-American, Riggs met current UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez at the High School National Championships. With a Golden Gloves boxing title under his belt and widely established as one of the top high school wrestlers in the country, Riggs' decision to make the transition to MMA was an easy one, and at the age of just 17-years-old he took his first fight and hasn't looked back since.<br><br> A true veteran of mixed martial arts, Riggs is a former WEC Middleweight Champion who has fought for the UFC and Strikeforce, with impressive victories over Strikeforce Champion Nick Diaz, and UFC veterans Phil Baroni, Chris Lytle, Kendall Grove, and Joe Doerkson. After winning his last two fights, including a submission victory over Louis Taylor in August for Strikeforce, Riggs looks to continue his winning ways with Bellator.<br><br> ?Joe Riggs is a battle tested veteran who brings it in every fight. He is a great addition to our middleweight division, and I?m looking forward to seeing Joe in action during Season 4? said Bellator Chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney.<br><Br> Admittedly anxious to return to action, Riggs promises a better ?Diesel? than ever under the Bellator banner, stating, ?This is the healthiest and the happiest that I can ever remember being in my life. I'm in the prime of my life, I'm injury-free, and things have just really come together in my life. I just can't wait to show everyone what I have.?<Br><br> Riggs will certainly get his chance, as Bellator boasts one of the strongest Middleweight divisions in the sport. It was a fact not lost on the experienced Riggs. <Br><br> ?Bellator has a lot of well-rounded, talented guys in their middleweight division,? said Riggs. ?Guys like Bryan Baker, Eric Schambari, and of course the Middleweight Champion, Hector Lombard. There are some really good middleweights for me to test myself against, and it was one of the reasons I came to Bellator.?<Br><Br> For more information, visit Bellator.com, follow Bellator on Twitter @BellatorMMA or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Bellator

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

Mike Pierce Mike Plotcheck Ross Pointon Trevor Prangley Daniel Puder

Dan Henderson expects March return, title shot against Feijao a possibility

Strikeforce light heavyweight Dan Henderson expects to fight two times before June. He anticipates that his next fight will be in early March and it could possibly he a title shot against current champion Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante. Although this fight his not confirmed Henderson reveals that it was discussed prior to his last fight with [...]

Dan Henderson expects March return, title shot against Feijao a possibility is a post from: MMA Interplay UFC News

Source: http://www.mmainterplay.com/strikeforce-news/dan-henderson-expects-march-return-title-shot-against-feijao-a-possibility-53014/

Jordan Radev Hector Ramirez Kevin Randleman Vitor Ribeiro Aaron Riley

UFC 129, April 30

UFC 129
Saturday April 30, 2011
Rogers Centre
Toronto, ONT, Canada
Airing on PPV


* Georges St-Pierre (#1 Ranked Welterweight) vs. Jake Shields (#3 Ranked Welterweight) for UFC Welterweight Championship
* Lyoto Machida (#4 Ranked Light Heavyweight) vs. Randy Couture
* Matt Hamill vs. Phil Davis
* Ben Henderson vs. Mark Bocek
* Rory MacDonald vs. James Wilks
* Brian Foster vs. Sean Pierson
* Kyle Watson vs. John Makdessi
* Pablo Garza vs. Yves Jabouin
* Daniel Roberts vs. Claude Patrick
* Charlie Valencia vs. Ivan Menjivar
* Jason MacDonald vs. Ryan Jensen

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/Upcoming_Events_42/article_7865.shtml

Frank Mir Brock Lesnar Shane Carwin Brock Lesnar Frank Shamrock

HYDEN BLOG: Alistair Overeem, Randy Couture vs. Lyoto Machida, and UFC 125 Aftermath

By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch contributor

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Alistair Overeem crushed Todd Duffee in 14 seconds last weekend in Japan. I really like Overeem, but he hasn't fought the competition needed to call him one of the great heavyweights in the world. At least not with conviction. I have Overeem at number six in my Top Ten, but sometimes I wonder if that's too high. Destroying Duffee makes for a great highlight, but it's like the Baltimore Ravens beating up on a rookie quarterback. It's not the same as beating Tom Brady or Peyton Manning or Drew Brees. Duffee has the potential to be a Top Ten heavyweight, but he's not there yet. If Overeem wants to be considered one of the greats, he needs to fight other greats. Until that time, I have to keep him out of my top five. But with Strikeforce's heavyweight tournament, that time may be coming.

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Assuming that the reports of Randy Couture agreeing to fight Lyoto Machida at UFC 129 in Toronto are correct, this is a very interesting match. Machida employs a very cerebral approach to his fights, but so does Couture. This would be like a fighting chess match. Both guys are going to try to outwit their opponent. I don't want to keep underestimating Couture, but I think Machida would have the edge here; not so much in the mental aspect of the fight, but the physical. We all keep saying this, but time and age have to catch up to Randy eventually. How many more times can Randy turn back the clock to compete at such a high level? By no means would I call a Couture win a monster upset, however. He's proven over and over that experience and guile will trump most anything. I hope this report is true, this is a fight I'd love to see.

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Clay Guida finishing Takanori Gomi like he did was pretty damn cool. Guida was one of those gamer-types for a while - he could hang in there with good opponents but he couldn't beat them. Gatekeeper is another term for those fighters. However, Guida has turned that around and has finished his last three fights. Gomi, however, appears to just be a shell of his former self. Gomi has a lot of mileage on his body, and it looks like it's caught up to him, and he now appears to be in that gatekeeper or gamer role. He was a great fighter once, but it looks like those days are over.

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UFC 125 Quick Thoughts

-Brian Stann looked very impressive finishing Chris Leben like he did. He dominated Leben like no one has since Anderson Silva. It takes a lot of power to stop Leben, and Stann was up to it.

-Nate Diaz looked at a loss at times as he fought Dong Hyun Kim. He struggled to fend off the larger Kim throughout the fight, and perhaps a move back to lightweight would be best for Diaz at this point?

-Thiago Silva looked pretty good at times, but he really, really should have finished Brandon Vera. The fact that he couldn't says more about him than it does about Vera.

-Brandon Vera is one of the most disappointing and perplexing fighters in UFC history. He has talent that he's shown in his fights. It just seems at times like Vera doesn't even want to fight. I wonder if his heart's even in it. In this sport, your heart has to be totally into it. You have to give a part of yourself in every fight, and the training before the fight. I don't know if Vera has that desire or commitment.

-What happened to Josh Grispi? He got totally dominated by Dustin Poirier. It makes me wonder what would have happened if Grispi had fought Jose Aldo like was originally intended? Would it have been an even more vicious beating?

Comments and suggestions can be e-mailed to me at hydenfrank@gmail.com

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/hydenstake/article_8046.shtml

Paul McVeigh Frank Mir Daniel Moraes Scott Morris Johnnie Morton

UFC NEWS: Nam Phan vs. Leonard Garcia II coming to UFC Fight Night 24 on Spike

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

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Nam Phan will get a chance to make things right in the Octagon, as MMAJunkie.com reports that he will get a rematch with Leonard Garcia at UFC Fight Night 24 in March.

The two met at The Ultimate Fighter 12 Finale in December in a bout that led to widespread call for reform in MMA judging, most notably from UFC commentator Joe Rogan, who went on a rant about the bout during the next fight on the night's televised card.

It appeared to be a clear decision won by Phan, who out-struck Garcia and damaged him with punches to the body and the head throughout the fight. But somehow, Garcia's name was announced as the winner, with two judges giving him two rounds to the ire of the crowd in attendance and the fans watching everywhere else.

The outrage was widespread, but the UFC took care of Phan, giving him his win bonus for the fight, and now giving him this rematch. Garcia made a return to the UFC with that bout, while Phan made his organizational debut, dropping back to featherweight after competing in the lightweight division on the 12th season of The Ultimate Fighter.

UFC Fight Night 24 takes place from the KeyArena in Seattle, Wash., headlined by a light heavyweight bout between Tito Ortiz and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

Link to Original Source Article

Penick's Analysis: The first fight was a lot of fun, and was a very entertaining fight before the inexplicable decision. Phan got horribly robbed, and now he'll get another chance to make things right. He might need to be out to finish Garcia, because the way Garcia fights - swinging looping punches and looking extremely busy throughout - seems to mesmerize judges at this point and earn him rounds he really hasn't won. Hopefully Phan, for his sake, can do what he needs to do this time to get the win back on his record.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_8116.shtml

Ryuki Ueyama Caol Uno Alexander Ustinov Umer W Chheena Victor Valimaki