Im fucking tired to read or hear GSP talking like a fucking poetic master of Martial arts....

UFC NEWS: Alessio Sakara vs. Maiquel Falcao coming to UFC on Versus 3 in March

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

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A middleweight bout between Maiquel Falcao and Alessio Sakara is coming to March's UFC on Versus 3 card, according to a report from MMAJunkie.com.

Sakara was supposed to fight last month at UFC 122 in Germany, but food poisoning made Sakara extremely ill the day of the fight, forcing him out of his bout with Jorge Rivera. He'll now attempt to make his return and move his current win streak to four fights.

Falcao made his UFC debut at UFC 123 last month with a decision win over Gerald Harris. Falcao nearly finished the fight in the first round, but outside of the end of that opening frame and a couple of minutes of action in the second round the fight was lacking in that department, and Harris found himself out of the UFC following the fight.

UFC on Versus 3 is expected to take place on March 3 at a yet-to-be-determined location and venue, headlined by a welterweight title bout between Diego Sanchez and Martin Kampmann.

Link to Original Source Article

Penick's Analysis: This is a good fight in the division. Falcao needs to put forth a much better effort than the UFC got from him against Harris, as he can keep his job with a loss if he leaves it all in the cage. For Sakara, he's won three straight, so this is another chance for him to keep that alive, but Falcao is a very tough competitor and will be a big challenge in this fight. It could definitely be an entertaining bout, though.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_7790.shtml

Branden Lee Hinkle Sam Hoger Mark Hominick Choi Hong man Jeremy Horn

STRIKEFORCE QUOTABLES: M-1 Global's Evgeni Kogan says Fedor extension close to finalized, will bring four M-1 Challenge events to Showtime in 2011

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

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"We are now very close to finalizing a deal extension for Fedor with Showtime and Strikeforce. Part of that deal is four M-1 Challenge events on Showtime in the U.S. So if that deal gets done, then we have four M-1 Challenge events in 2011 on Showtime in the U.S. where there will be title matches, obviously.

Since that loss, we've been renegotiating the deal. Or we're trying to get an extension done. Now that it's looking likely that the extension will get done - and we tried as hard as we possibly could to make it happen - it's realistic that Fedor will come back early next year. And then there will be a second Fedor fight in the new extension probably in the middle months next year."

-M-1 Global's Evgeni Kogan talked to The Fight Nerd (transcribed by Mike Fagan at BloodyElbow.com) about the status of negotiations for Fedor Emelianenko's return to Strikeforce and Showtime.

Penick's Analysis: If it wasn't clear before as to Strikeforce's level of power in this whole situation it should be now. The leverage in negotiations should have swung entirely into Strikeforce's hands with Fedor when he lost to Fabricio Werdum, but instead it seems M-1 Global's negotiations with Showtime have taken precedence. The fact that M-1 has been able to renegotiate this contract after each fight sure doesn't give any reason to believe they won't continue to do so as long as they can continue getting beneficial improvements to the deal for themselves. Showtime has no obligation to Strikeforce to keep them as the sole provider of MMA content, and M-1 is using Fedor to continue to finagle their way into new deals. Clearly Showtime wants to keep Fedor fighting on their network and they're willing to circumvent Strikeforce's power in this situation to keep him around.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/Affliction2/article_7725.shtml

Rey Phillip Santos Bob Sapp Rumina Sato Kerry Schall Nino Schembri

Georges St. Pierre ? ?I?m going to finish Koscheck?

UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre talks about his “Art of War” – utilizing different tactics depending on the opponent. He responds to criticism about about being a “boring” fighter in his fights with Dan Hardy, Thiago Alves and Jon Fitch. St. Pierre gives props to the tough Hardy and says that the Alves and [...]

Georges St. Pierre – “I’m going to finish Koscheck” is a post from: MMA Interplay UFC News

Source: http://www.mmainterplay.com/ufc-news/georges-st-pierre-im-going-to-finish-koscheck-52454/

Andrew Gardner Tiki Ghosn Dennis George Kultar Gill Allan Goes

Maiquel Falcao Arrested in Brazil: Is His UFC Career Over Before It Ever Really Started?

Newly-signed ufc star Maiquel Falcao has quickly become the subject of much controversy following his successful UFC debut against highly-touted (at the time) prospect Gerald Harris. Falcao outright embarrassed Harris for two straight rounds? before shutting his killer instinct off and coasting in the third round, putting a black mark on his performance and a [...]

Source: http://www.fighters.com/12/04/maiquel-falcao-arrested-in-brazil-is-his-ufc-career-over-before-it-ever-really-started

Jaime Gutierrez Dave Gomez Keith Hackney Matt Hamill Volk Han

UFC 126 Fight Card: Silva vs. Belfort

Filed under:

The UFC 126 fight card will feature Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort, Forrest Griffin vs. Rich Franklin and Jon Jones vs. Ryan Bader Super Bowl weekend on Saturday, Feb. 5 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, the promotion announced Tuesday.

"UFC fans expect big things from us every year for our Super Bowl weekend show, and this year could be our biggest ever," UFC president Dana White said in the press release. "Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort is a fight fan's dream match. It's a fight people have wanted for years. Don't blink because both of these guys have dynamite in their hands and can end the night quickly and in very exciting fashion."

The current lineup is below.

Source: http://www.mmafighting.com/2010/12/08/ufc-126-fight-card-silva-vs-belfort/

Jesse Forbes Xavier Foupa Pokam Hermes Franca Rich Franklin Ian Freeman

UFC NEWS: Kenny Florian out of UFC Fight for the Troops 2 Main Event; Melvin Guillard to Face Evan Dunham

By Rich Hansen, MMA Torch Columnist

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Kenny Florian has been forced out of his main event fight versus Evan Dunham at UFC: Fight For The Troops 2. Florian issued the following statement on his website:

"It is with deep regret that I will not be able to compete in my scheduled fight against Evan Dunham on January 22nd, due to a knee injury I sustained during training this morning. Although I have not had an MRI as of yet; the doctors are cautiously optimistic that it will not require surgery.

I want to express my sincere apologies to the fans, the UFC and Evan for not being able to compete at UFC Fight Night 23: Fight for the Troops 2. Since early September, I have been training for this fight. Evan is a great fighter and has undoubtedly been working very hard towards this fight as well. Plus, it is a big disappointment that I will not be able to fight in the octagon for the brave soldiers that fight for us.

I am determined to return to the octagon in the first half on 2011. Accordingly, I will keep you all updated"

According to heavy.com, Melvin Guillard will slide into Florain's slot. The newly christened Evan Dunham vs. Melvin Guillard fight is expected to remain the main event. Guillard was already shceduled to fight veteran Yves Edwards on this card. It is unknown whether Edwards will get a new fight, or be pulled from the card.


Link to heavy.com report

Link to Florian's statement

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Hansen's Take: Well this both sucks and rocks. It sucks for Florian, obviously, losing out on a main event fight that 2,000,000 people would have seen on Spike. And I would speculate that this could be more than a minor injury. He both suffered the injury and pulled out of the fight, which is six weeks off, all in the course of one day. Florian's a gifted fighter and by all accounts a hell of a guy, so let's hope he gets back in the cage soon.

It also sucks for Dunham. He's been training for Florian, and now has to change course and come up with a game plan for a far different fighter in Guillard. And Dunham no longer gets the opportunity from a loss to Sean Sherk by facing off against a top 10 opponent.

It also sucks for Yves Edwards, but not really, since he wasn't beating Guillard even on his best day.

But on the positive side, the UFC was able to stem a crisis immediately by taking someone who was scheduled for an undercard fight and seamlessly slide him into the main event. I'm interested to see how Guillard approaches this fight. Guillard was heavy criticized for his underwhelming, yet effective and victorious, decision victory over Jeremy Stephens at UFC 119. For the first time, Guillard fought a conservative fight, to the surprise of most observers who expected a sluggfest.

Three questions I'd like to see answered about Guillard include:

1.) Can Dunham take a Melvin Guillard punch? (Don't know yet)

2.) Did Guillard fight that style against Stephens because he and Greg Jackson determined it to be stooopid to stand and bang with the heavy handed Stephens? (Probably)

3.) Was Guillard's performance underwhelming because everything on that horrific UFC 119 card was cursed? (Definitely)

While Guillard isn't the same caliber of opponent that Florian is, this is probably a better fight for Dunham at this point in his career, and is a worthy replacement.

And if I may ...

Strikeforce fills it's unaired prelim fights with local fighters in order to sell tickets. They drew less than 7500 people Saturday night. The UFC puts Melvin Guillard, Mike Swick, and Rani Yahya on their undercard of a basic cable show.

Just sayin'.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_7749.shtml

Alex Schoenauer Ryan Schultz Pete Sell Andrei Semenov Ivan Serati