Kirby found guilty of manslaughter in death of Tapout's Mask

Jeffrey David Kirby, 53, was found guilty of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence in the death of Charles "Mask" Lewis Jr., one of the founders of the popular MMA brand Tapout, the Los Angeles Times reported. Kirby was found to be under the influence of alcohol when he lost control of his Porsche and slammed it into Lewis' Ferrari on March 11, 2009. He also left the scene of the accident, and was later tracked down by police.

Mask's friends, business partners and fellow members of the Tapout crew used Twitter to keep people aware on the details of the trial. After the verdict, "PunkASS" Tweeted, "Confusing feelings when I think about the guilty verdict! Just more bad [expletive]! Nothing is ganna bring him back!"

Skyskrape thanked everyone who remembered his friend, but also asked people to turn out in support of Mask when Kirby is sentenced. "Sentencing is February 4th @ 9:00am. I'd love for EVERYONE who can make to come our!! Tell EVERYONE you know to come show love for Charles!"

The support for Mask has been palpable in the MMA community. At WEC 40, one of the first MMA events after his death, a large contingent of fans and fighters wore shirts to honor him. His name was printed on the top bar of the WEC cage, and he was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.

He was so loved in the MMA community because of the support he showed the sport from early on, both in sponsoring fighters and in the television show that he, Skyskrape and PunkASS produced, which shined a spotlight on up-and-coming fighters and gyms.

Kirby will be sentenced on Feb. 4 and can face up to 13 years in prison. Anyone wishing to submit a victim impact statement can find the information here.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Kirby-found-guilty-of-manslaughter-in-death-of-T?urn=mma-293780

Joe Stevenson Luke Stewart Denis Stojnic Curtis Stout Sam Stout

Dana White pays for infant's life-saving surgery

UFC president Dana White has a brash exterior. He's known for being a tough negotiator, saying what he thinks, and dropping f-bombs at will. It turns out that he also has a heart of gold. White stepped up to pay for a life-saving surgery for the 7-month-old daughter of a popular Thai MMA trainer at Tiger Muay Thai in Phuket.

UFC fighters like Mike Swick and Jon Fitch have relied on Tiger Muay Thai to improve their striking game, and instructor Kru Nai has helped several top fighters. His daughter Tuptim was diagnosed with bilary obstruction, a serious liver condition. A surgery could save her life, but it cost $50,000. Without it, she was given just weeks to live.

The MMA community came together to try to raise money for her surgery. To bring attention to the issue, a poster on the Underground, a popular MMA message board, asked White to give the cash:

Mr. DANA WHITE, If you are a true ambassador for the sport.....PAY FOR THIS SURGERY!!!

Please help, no donation to small........the clock is ticking

That's exactly what White is doing. He confirmed to Yahoo! Sports on Monday that he will pay for Tuptim's surgery.

"I was reading the Underground and saw it and clicked on it and I don't know, I just did. She needs it fast, so I did it,"  White said via text.

Kudos to the White for stepping up and helping out. White's generosity to the Nai family makes him better than Santa Claus.

Thanks to Bloody Elbow

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Dana-White-pays-for-infant-s-life-saving-surgery?urn=mma-298359

Thiago Tavares Paul Taylor Glover Teixeira Tra Telligman Ivan Titenkov

You tell us: Breakout fighter of the year

It's that time of year again, where the fans tell us what was the best in the past year.Vote in the poll, and we'll announce the winners on Dec. 30. All winners will get home-baked cookies. That's better than a trophy, right?

We start with breakout fighter of the year. This isn't necessarily the best fighter of the year; instead, this is the one who jumped onto your radar screen. This is the fighter who impressed you for the first time in 2010, and who you can't wait to see again in 2011.

Ben Askren -- Bellator: The wrestling Olympian became an MMA champ in 2010, first walking through Bellator's welterweight tournament to earn a shot at Lyman Good. He beat Good in a unanimous decision to win the Bellator title. 

Phil Davis -- UFC: "Mr. Wonderful" lived up to his nickname in 2010, winning four fights. He even brought a new submission to the MMA world, a modified Kimura that is heretofore know as the "Mr. Wonderful." What should frighten other UFC light heavyweights is that Davis still has plenty of potential and a thirst to grow.

Anthony Pettis -- WEC: A year ago, Pettis had just lost to Bart Palasewski in a split decision and was worried about winning his next fight so that he wouldn't be cut from the WEC. One year later, he's the final WEC lightweight champ and has a chance to win the UFC belt. Add to that a starring turn on MTV, wins over Danny Castillo, Alex Karalexis, Shane Roller and Ben Henderson, and a kick that got the world talking. It's been one heck of a year for "Showtime."

George Sotiropoulos -- UFC: What did the Australian "The Ultimate Fighter" alumnus do to get the MMA world's attention this year? Just get three wins, over Joe Lauzon, Kurt Pellegrino and Joe Stevenson. His seven-fight win streak is good enough to put him in the title contention discussion. 

Ovince St. Preux -- Strikeforce: The former football player for the University of Tennessee had quite a year: six fights, six wins. Three of those wins came for Strikeforce, over Benji Radach, Antwain Britt and Chris Hawk. He also scored a win over UFC vet Jason Day. St. Preux is not letting up in 2011 as he will take on Ron Humphrey on the January 7 Strikeforce Challengers card.

Now you tell us. Who is the breakout fighter of the year?

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/You-tell-us-Breakout-fighter-of-the-year?urn=mma-298804

Gary Myers Chris The Pitbull Myra Jason MacDonald Cory MacDonald Matt MacGrath

Scary moment on WEC 53 preliminary card

Eddie Wineland and Ken Stone had a frightening moment during the preliminary card at WEC 53. From Yahoo! Sports' Kevin Iole, who was cageside:

Stone pulled guard and Wineland walked him across the cage and backed him to the fence. Then, he did a Rampage Japan-style slam and Stone was out cold immediately. Down for 5-10 minutes and then out on a stretcher.

Stone was taken from the arena in a stretcher, but he did not sustain any serious injuries, and was moving and breathing without trouble. 

Otherwise, the WEC 53 undercard was called by several on-site media the most exciting undercard they've seen. Only two fights went to the judges cards. 

Complete undercard results:

Renan Barao def. Chris Cariaso via submission via submission (rear-naked choke) - Round 1, 3:47

Yuri Alcantara def. Ricardo Lamas via knockout (punches) - Round 1, 3:26

Danny Castillo def. Will Kerr via knockout (punches) - Round 1, 1:25

Eddie Wineland def. Ken Stone via knockout (slam) - Round 1, 2:11

Brad Pickett def. Ivan Menjivar via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Shane Roller def. Jamie Varner via submission (rear-naked choke) - Round 1, 3:55

Danny Downes def. Tiequan Zhang via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28)

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Scary-moment-on-WEC-53-preliminary-card?urn=mma-297105

Bobby Ologun Andy Ologun Alan Omer Michihiro Omigawa Tito Ortiz

Find your rhythm with this new UFC 125 promo video

UFC 125 Resolution is set to kick-off the new year with a packed card that features lightweight champion defending his title against Gray Maynard. The winner of that fight will defend against Anthony Pettis who just captured the final WEC lightweight title last night. A few WEC fighters will be making their UFC debut, including [...]

Find your rhythm with this new UFC 125 promo video is a post from: MMA Interplay UFC News

Source: http://www.mmainterplay.com/ufc-news/find-your-rhythm-with-this-new-ufc-125-promo-video-52638/

Paweł Nastula Kazuhiro Nakamura Yoshihiro Nakao Roy Nelson Mario Neto

Sources: Alistair Overeem vs. Todd Duffee Set for Dynamite!! 2010

Filed under: , ,

Less than two weeks before FEG's Dynamite!! 2010 show, Alistair Overeem finally knows who he will be facing on the card.

His opponent? Former UFC prospect Todd Duffee.

Duffee hinted at fighting Overeem on the Dec. 31 card late Tuesday evening on his Facebook, and since then MMA Fighting has confirmed with multiple sources close to the bout that both parties have officially agreed to the fight. Duffee deleted the status update shortly after posting the news on his Facebook page.

While Overeem, the Strikeforce heavyweight champion, was on hand for a pre-fight press conference in Japan on Wednesday, FEG is only expected to officially announce the fight sometime after Christmas.

Source: http://www.mmafighting.com/2010/12/23/sources-alistair-overeem-vs-todd-duffee-set-for-dynamite-201/

Bobby Lashley Joe Lauzon Mo Lawal Ruthless Robbie Lawler Eric Lawson

WEC 53 PRELIMINARY CARD RESULTS: Spoiler results for final WEC event from Jobing.com Arena in Glendale, Ariz.

WEC_53_poster_180_3.jpeg

WEC 53 is underway from the Jobing.com Arena in Glendale, Arizona, and for those that want to know what has happened before the Versus broadcast begins, look no further. If you wish not to be spoiled on the fights, as some of these may make the broadcast if time permits, do not continue reading. And make sure to check out Torch Editor Jamie Penick's full round by round report of tonight's Versus broadcast. Full undercard results are below:

Renan Barao def. Chris Cariaso by submission (rear naked choke) at 3:47

Yuri Alcantara def. Ricardo Lamas by KO (punches) at 3:26 of the first round

Danny Castillo def. Will Kerr by KO (punches) - at 1:25 of the first round

Eddie Wineland def. Ken Stone by KO (slam) - at 2:11 of the first round

Brad Pickett def. Ivan Menjivar by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Shane Roller def. Jamie Varner by submission (rear naked choke) - at 3:55 of the first round

Danny Downes def. Tiequan Zhang via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28)

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/weconversus/article_7867.shtml

Marzagui Ayoub Paul McVeigh Frank Mir Daniel Moraes Scott Morris

CBC seems lukewarm on MMA coming to Ontario

The UFC announced its heading to Ontario next April. Mixed martial arts has been legalized in the Canadian province, but that doesn't mean everyone is fired up to see the MMA giant land in Toronto's Rogers Centre. CBC News covered the announcement with a business reporter, Amanda Lang, who had a predictable take on the sport.

Lang tried to cover both sides, pro and con, but the constant images of blood and violence probably makes this three and a half minute report nearly intolerable for those who have watched MMA for years. 

Dana White, who is featured in the piece, tweeted the news report. The last major CBC special on the UFC, also focusing on the business-side, was a pretty intense hit piece.

With the latest CBC coverage, Ontario sounds like the U.S. was in the early 2000's. If the CBC is accurately portraying the mood in Ontario, it looks like many Canadians will need time to accept the sport as legitimate.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/CBC-seems-lukewarm-on-MMA-coming-to-Ontario?urn=mma-293327

Dan Cramer Alberto Crane Marcio Pe de Pano Cruz Luke Cummo  Jeff Big Frog Curran