Contrary to Reports, Satoru Kitaoka Not Signed by UFC

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Satoru KitaokaForget about adding Satoru Kitaoka's name to the recent list of Japanese fighters signed by the UFC.

Contrary to several Internet reports, UFC president Dana White confirmed with MMA Fighting on Wednesday that organization had not signed the lightweight fighter.

Source: http://www.mmafighting.com/2010/12/22/contrary-to-reports-satoru-kitaoka-not-signed-by-ufc/

Ryushi Yanagisawa Yoshiaki Yatsu Hirotaka Yokoi Hidehiko Yoshida Yoshiyuki Yoshida

UFC NEWS: UFC 127 official with Penn vs. Fitch, Bisping vs. Rivera co-headliners

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

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The co-headlining bouts for UFC 127 are now official, as the UFC announced the bouts of B.J. Penn vs. Jon Fitch and Michael Bisping vs. Jorge Rivera for the February 27 event from the Acer Arena in Sydney, Australia.

Penn is coming off a victory over Matt Hughes in their rubber match at UFC 123 last month, a 21 second knockout to bounce back from consecutive losses to Frankie Edgar in 2010. It was his first victory in the welterweight division since 2004, and he's now matched up with the #2 welterweight in the world in Jon Fitch.

Fitch has done nothing but win fights in the UFC. Outside of a brutal five round war with Georges St. Pierre at UFC 87, Fitch has won all of his fights inside the Octagon. He's 13-1 overall in the UFC, and has won five straight fights since the loss to St. Pierre.

Bisping and Rivera both meet on winning streaks heading into their bout. Bisping has won two straight fights after dropping a decision to Wanderlei Silva in February, which also took place in Australia. Meanwhile, Rivera has won three straight fights, most recently finishing Nate Quarry by TKO in March.

UFC 127 will air live on pay-per-view in the U.S. due to the time difference on Saturday, February 26. Tickets for the event go on sale later this week.

Penick's Analysis: This is going to be a very good fight card for the fans in Australia. Between these two bouts and the Carlos Condit-Chris Lytle matchup, there will be plenty for all fans to enjoy from the event. This year's Australia event failed to draw a ton of viewers on pay-per-view, so I will be curious to see what the UFC does differently in terms of promotion in the U.S. to raise awareness on the card. With Penn and Bisping in the top two spots, they've got more recognizable names to the UFC's casual audience than Cain Velasquez and Minotauro Nogueira were this February, so I'd expect it to at the least out-perform that card.

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

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_7821.shtml

Ruthless Robbie Lawler Eric Lawson Cung Le Chris Leben Thales Leites

Cruz's style is dazzling, who's going to beat him?

You can call him the "Decisionator," but damn Dominick Cruz is entertaining. Cruz won his eighth straight fight last night, with a unanimous decision blowout over Scott Jorgensen. He became the first UFC bantamweight champ by putting on a clinic in every area of the game.

Cruz (17-1) was impossible to hit. His counterstriking game was brilliant. The 5-foot-8, 135 pounder was tough to take down. When he did hit the floor, he popped up quickly. His combinations are some of the best we've ever seen in MMA. Jorgensen is a good fighter but he was made to look silly.

His style is completely unique. There are some good counterstrikers in MMA, and many more who are good defensive fighters, but Cruz's combination of the two is baffling opponents right now.

That's not a bad comparison to Lyoto Machida, but Cruz is a much better grappler than the former light heavyweight champ. Last night, when he wanted to take it to the ground, Cruz executed perfectly. Jorgensen is a former Div. 1 wrestler at Boise State and got dominated in clinch situations.

There's also a mental hurdle to overcome when you face Cruz. It's got to feel like he's clowning you in the cage. The opponent has to refrain from losing his cool.

The comparison to boxer Prince Naseem Hamed is interesting. He mocked opponents for years before getting torn apart by the very composed Marco Antonio Barrera. The Prince's success was part talent and part creative matchmaking.

Let's face it, Cruz has faced some pretty good opponents. Joe Benavidez is no slouch and Brian Bowles is an above average MMA striker.

Who has "real technique?" Does that even matter. Until you're in there and Cruz is bouncing all over the place and landing strikes from crazy angles, do you really know if a disciplined striking game will chop him down? Urijah Faber's striking has gotten better, can he do it? Miguel Torres is a good boxer, but he can get a little out of control too.

Joe Rogan once made the mistake of overreacting to Machida's win over Rashad Evans, saying we were on the verge of the "Machida Era." Are we making the same mistake here if we say this could be the "Cruz Era?" He's only 25 and seems to have it all.

Listen here to hear Cofield and Adam Hill from the Las Vegas Review-Journal on ESPNRadio1100 in Las Vegas as they talk about the victories by Cruz and Anthony Pettis.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Cruz-s-style-is-dazzling-who-s-going-to-beat-hi?urn=mma-297488

Mirko Cro Cop Filipović Luiz Buscapé Firmino Spencer Fisher Jon Fitch Kenny Florian

Frankie Edgar looking to start the new year off with a bang

Why not Frankie Edgar? Just ask the UFC lightweight champion and he believes that he can be the Michael Jordon of MMA (along with Georges St. Pierre and Anderson Silva). Edgar (13-1) looks to avenge the only loss of his career when he defends his title against top contender Gray Maynard at UFC 125 on [...]

Frankie Edgar looking to start the new year off with a bang is a post from: MMA Interplay UFC News

Source: http://www.mmainterplay.com/ufc-news/frankie-edgar-looking-to-start-the-new-year-off-with-a-bang-52708/

Adam Lynn Chris Lytle Lyoto Machida Marzagui Ayoub Paul McVeigh