Chuck Liddell's next challenge: Marriage

UFC Hall of Famer Chuck Liddell is still undecided on the future of his fighting life, but he has made a major commitment in his personal life. Liddell recently proposed to his girlfriend Heidi Northcott.

According to People Magazine, Liddell popped the question after the two went on a helicopter ride of the Grand Canyon. On Twitter, they responded to congratulations messages from baseball player Brad Penny and Liddell's "Dancing with the Stars" castmate, Karina Smirnoff.

The pair have not shied away from headlines. They starred in a viral advertisement that showed Liddell and Northcott working out in the nude. Before his bout with Rich Franklin at UFC 115, Liddell credited Northcott for helping him refocus on training and fighting. He went on to get knocked out in that bout.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Chuck-Liddell-s-next-challenge-Marriage?urn=mma-285482

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UFC NEWS: "Rampage" Jackson says UFC 123 main event with Lyoto Machida was almost canceled the week of the fight

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

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Quinton Jackson almost didn't make it to UFC 123.

"Rampage" said after his split decision victory over Lyoto Machida on Saturday night that he was nearly forced to withdraw from the fight.

"None of you guys know this, but this fight was almost canceled a few days ago because I caught a fever from my son and was throwing up and everything and had to cut weight," he said at the post fight press conference. "I was like, 'I almost didn't make it to the fight.' But I didn't want to let my fans down. I really wanted to come in and do everything I had and give it my all since Detroit was so pumped for this fight."

"Rampage" pulled off the split decision victory in the fight, winning the first two rounds on two of the judge's scorecards. He entered the arena to classic Pride music, and the theme of the night for him was trying to return to the fighter he was during his days fighting in the Japanese organization.

"Everyone knew me and loved me [in Pride]," Jackson said. "I used to fight for honor and respect. Now I come to the UFC, and I make way more money than I did in Pride, so I got a little greedy and fighting for the dollars and stuff. So I wanted to come out to Pride [music] and get that old Pride spirit. I felt like some of it kind of came back. I even tried to slam Machida."

Heading into the event, Jackson spent a lot of time in interviews talking about how much he was bored by Machida's style of fighting. After spending 15 minutes in the cage with "The Dragon," Jackson came away with a newfound respect for Machida, even if he still doesn't like his style.

"It's different fighting Machida than watching Machida," he said. "I have more respect for his style. I wish I could move like that. I have more respect for his style, but I still don't want to watch it."

Penick's Analysis: Rampage didn't quite succeed in reverting to Pride mode, but he did do a better job of dealing with Machida than most, and it allowed him to win that fight. He obviously had his excuse ready to go for if he had lost with the illness, but he didn't need to pull it out with the win. Perhaps he wanted to explain away any questions on his performance in the fight. But it was a good enough fight for him overall, and he keeps himself relevant in the light heavyweight division.

[Rampage Jackson art by Cory Gould (c) MMATorch.com]

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_7596.shtml

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Gerald Harris Released, Matt Brown Kept After UFC 123 Losses

In a pair of surprising moves, the UFC has released Gerald Harris following his loss to newcomer Maiquel Falcao on the main card of UFC 123, but will give one more shot to Matt Brown despite suffering his third-straight loss at Saturday's event.

Source: http://mmafrenzy.com/16672/gerald-harris-released-matt-brown-kept-after-ufc-123-losses/

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Herschel Walker Off Strikeforce Card Due to Injury

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NFL star turned mixed martial arts fighter Herschel Walker has been forced to withdraw from his second pro MMA bout due to a cut suffered in training.

Walker (1-0) was scheduled to face Scott Carson (4-1) at next weekend's Strikeforce event in St. Louis, however after recently suffering a cut under his eye, the organization decided to pull him off the card.

MMA Weekly first reported the news, and MMA Fighting confirmed it with Strikeforce director of communications Mike Afromowitz.

"I feel terrible about this,'' Walker stated in a press release. "I know things like this happen in all sports, but I had trained very hard and was excited to be returning to the cage again. I hope to fight again as soon as the cut heals.''

Source: http://www.mmafighting.com/2010/11/24/herschel-walker-off-strikeforce-card-due-to-injury/

Arman Gambaryan Manvel Gamburyan Sean Gannon Edgar Garcia Leonard Garcia

There Will Be No Rematch... There Will Also Be No Logic

I want it. Plenty of other people want it. Both fighters agreed to it. But we?re not going to get it, at least not anytime soon. After UFC 123: ?Rampage vs. Machida? ended in another controversial judge?s decision in the ever-growing list of controversial judge?s decisions, both Quinton Jackson and Lyoto Machida agreed to have [...]

Source: http://www.fighters.com/11/21/there-will-be-no-rematch-there-will-also-be-no-logic

Evan Tanner

What's Next for the Winners and Losers of UFC 123: "Rampage vs. Machida"?

What?s next? It?s a subject that is on a lot of people?s minds now that ufc 123: ?Rampage vs. Machida? is in the history books. What does the future hold after a great night of fights that saw several interesting stories come and go, with several great fights here and there? If you?ve followed me [...]

Source: http://www.fighters.com/11/21/whats-next-for-the-winners-and-losers-of-ufc-123-rampage-vs-machida

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Andy Souwer Possibly Herniated Disc Before Loss to Toby Imada

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Andy Souwer's first loss in over four years in the Shoot Boxing ring to new-comer Toby Imada may have come with good reason as he revealed post-fight that he carried a possibly severe back injury into Tuesday's S-Cup semi-final bout.

Team Souwer's personal physician is yet to perform a full diagnosis on the three-time S-Cup and two-time K-1 MAX champion but suspects that Souwer suffered a herniated disc in his quarter final KO victory over WMC Welterweight Champion Bovy Sor Audomsorn.

"(I had back pain) in the first round in the first fight. I didn't know what exactly the problem was or what the reason was that I had the pain. I don't want to make excuses but I think it was a big reason why I was not able to fight my own game (against Imada). I'm not saying that I lost because of an injury but I can tell you that I didn't even warm up because of the pain," Souwer revealed in a post fight interview.

Source: http://www.mmafighting.com/2010/11/23/andy-souwer-possibly-herniated-disc-before-loss-to-toby-imada/

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STRIKEFORCE NEWS: Nick Diaz expected to return on January 29, could face Jason "Mayhem" Miller

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

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Nick Diaz will return to the Strikeforce cage on January 29, according to his trainer Cesar Gracie in comments made to MMAJunkie.com.

"I was talking to Strikeforce a little bit about it today," Gracie said. "No opponent has been named or anything. But he's going to fight on that date, and hopefully Fedor (Emelianenko) will be part of it too. It could be a really exciting time."

While no opponent is set, Gracie said that Diaz would be open to fighting Jason "Mayhem" Miller, a fight that many have called for since the brawl in Nashville this April. However, the caveat is that they want the fight to be at a catchweight.

"If that fight was offered, yeah, we'd probably take that fight," he said. "We'd just have to look at what weight class it's going to be in, and apparently, 'Mayhem' can't make 170. We're not going to accommodate going to 185. It doesn't really make that much sense to call someone out, and the champ has to ... go to your weight class."

"Being the champ of 'Bully Beatdown' doesn't really make you a contender. It doesn't. If he were beating people that's important, yeah. But the champ doesn't need to move [up] or down in weight because someone says, 'Don't be scared, homie.'"

Link to Original Source Article

Penick's Analysis: It's a fight that really should happen right now, as they don't have an abundance of options for their Welterweight Champion at this point. It would make a ton of sense for the fight to be put together, and a catchweight in the middle of the divisions isn't unreasonable at all, especially when Diaz has taken fights near 180 lbs. in Strikeforce.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/Affliction2/article_7612.shtml

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Seth Petruzelli released by UFC

Light heavyweight Seth Petruzelli has been cut by the UFC after losing his second straight bout in the Octagon since returning to the promotion earlier this year. Petruzelli?s most recent defeat came by way of a first round TKO to Karlos Vemola at UFC 122 a little less than two weeks ago. News of the [...]

Source: http://fiveouncesofpain.com/2010/11/23/seth-petruzelli-released-by-ufc/

Ryushi Yanagisawa Yoshiaki Yatsu Hirotaka Yokoi Hidehiko Yoshida Yoshiyuki Yoshida