Happy Veterans Day from Cagewriter

A big thank you to all those who have served and protected the United States, particularly fighters, friends and fans of MMA. Strikeforce's Tim Kennedy served in the Army, and the WEC's Mackens Semerzier, who will fight Cub Swanson tonight, was a Marine. They are just two of several fighters who became involved with MMA because of their time serving the U.S. in the military.

If you want a great way to give back to veterans today, take a look at Hire Heroes, a not-for-profit run by UFC light heavyweight and former Marine Brian Stann or the Wounded Warriors Project. Hire Heroes gives job training and career support to returning veterans, while Wounded Warriors helps veterans who were wounded transition back to civilian life. 

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Happy-Veterans-Day-from-Cagewriter?urn=mma-284534

Patrick Smith Scott Smith Renato Babalu Sobral Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou Joe Son

Bader gets married, pretty soon it's back to work

Ryan Bader took care of the first order of business now he just has to bang out his honeymoon. Because of the big day, Bader initially balked at taking a February fight against Jon Jones. He had a change of heart and now the fight is set for UFC 126.

It's nice to see many of "Darth Bader's" buds were able to make the wedding. UFC heavyweight champ Cain Velasquez is there along Bader's training partner C.B. Dollaway. And let's not forget FOX NFL insider/MMA trainer Jay Glazer (under the arrow), who was spotted outside.

UFC 126 is shaping up pretty nicely. Fight fans should be thrilled that Bader is sacrificing spending time with his new bride during the holidays to get ready for Jones.

Rumored card at UFC 126 (Courtesy MMAWeekly):

Anderson Silva v. Vitor Belfort
Forrest Griffin v. Rich Franklin
Ryan Bader v. Jon Jones
Jake Ellenberger v. Jon Fitch

Update - Heavy.com reports that the fifth fight on the main card could be former WEC bantamweight champ Miguel Torres against Antonio Banuelos.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Bader-gets-married-pretty-soon-it-s-back-to-wor?urn=mma-282454

Marcio Pe de Pano Cruz Luke Cummo  Jeff Big Frog Curran Dai Shuanghai  Mac Danzig 

WEC 52 BONUSES: Faber, Koch, Swanson and Semerzier each earn $10,000 "Fight Night" bonuses

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

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Four fighters earned $10,000 bonuses for their efforts on Thursday's WEC 52 event from the Pearl at the Palms Casino in Las Vegas. Main card fighters Urijah Faber and Erik Koch as well as preliminary card fighters Cub Swanson and Mackens Semerzier were the beneficiaries on Thursday.

Faber took home the "Submission of the Night" for his first round defeat of Takeya Mizugaki in the night's main event. Faber's rear naked choke, which resulted in a scary moment as referee Josh Rosenthal was delayed in stopping the fight when Mizugaki went out cold, bested a number of exciting submission wins earlier in the night.

Koch took home the "Knockout of the Night" award after dropping Francisco Rivera with a head kick and following it up with punches.

"Fight of the Night" went to Swanson and Semerzier for their three round battle on the preliminary card, which was subsequently broadcast during the show on Thursday. Swanson took a split decision victory in the fight, which was an extremely entertaining back and forth affair.

The WEC comes to a close next month with WEC 53, as the organization merges with their big brother organization UFC in 2011.

Penick's Analysis: All of these fighters were deserving of the bonuses, but I wouldn't have been surprised to see multiple "Submission of the Night" bonuses handed out with Joseph Benavidez and Demetrious picking up impressive guillotine choke victories on the card. Still, the amount of these bonuses highlights what these lighter fighters are looking forward to as they enter the UFC, as even Fight Night events on Spike feature much higher bonuses than $10,000. Thursday was another great event from the WEC, and the consistently entertaining events will be missed with the merger, but these fights and fighters will make the UFC events better.

RELATED STORY: WEC 52 RESULTS: Urijah Faber chokes Takeya Mizugaki unconscious in the first round in Las Vegas: [CLICK TO READ FULL ARTICLE]

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/WEC/article_7505.shtml

Randy The Natural Couture  Dan Cramer Alberto Crane Marcio Pe de Pano Cruz Luke Cummo 

UFC Ultimate Insider Episode 16 Preview Video

This week on the UFC’s Ultimate Inside; check out some of the best action from UFC 122 and Joe Rogan’s interview with Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. Full Video Here UFC Ultimate Insider Episode 16 Preview Video is a post from: MMA Interplay UFC News

UFC Ultimate Insider Episode 16 Preview Video is a post from: MMA Interplay UFC News

Source: http://www.mmainterplay.com/ufc-news/ufc-ultimate-insider-episode-16-preview-video-51994/

Mo Lawal Ruthless Robbie Lawler Eric Lawson Cung Le Chris Leben

Marquardt won't blame Sonnen loss on steroids

After his last second loss to Anderson Silva, Chael Sonnen tested positive for high levels of testosterone. Without knowing the reason, it's taken a lot of the string away from his great performance. It also begs the question -- was this the only time his testosterone was at a high level for a fight? Nate Marquardt was upset by Sonnen at UFC 109. That win led to Sonnen's title shot. But Marquardt has no interest in connecting the dots.

"My thinking is, it doesn't matter if the guy I'm fighting is on steroids," Marquardt told the Las Vegas Sun. "I don't care about that. I should be able to beat him either way. I feel like I can fight someone on steroids and still have them at a disadvantage.

"If you're a true athlete, the best way is to be natural. Anything you get from steroids you're trading off somewhere else, whether it's your cardio or longevity in the sport. You need all those things."

It sounds like Marquardt is also uncomfortable with judging Sonnen before all the facts come out.

"Honestly, I really don't know what to think. I don't know the facts," Marquardt said. "Either way, he's a tough guy and he's going to be back before long."

That's probably from experience. Marquardt had his own run-in with a state commission back in 2005 at Ultimate Fight Night 1. He tested positive for high levels of nandralone and received a six-month suspension. Marquardt fought the suspension, saying the positive result came from taking an over-the-counter supplement, and it got reduced to five months.

Marquardt places the blame for the Sonnen loss squarely on his own shoulders saying he lost some of his fire before the fight.

Another positive steroid test turned up Tuesday. Yahoo! Sports' Kevin Iole confirmed with Marc Ratner, UFC's VP of Regulatory Affairs, that Vinicius Quieroz tested positive for Stanozolol at UFC 120. The UFC rookie is done with the promotion. UFC U.K. chief Marshall Zelaznik told MMAjunkie that Quieroz also forfeited the discretionary bonus that he received for his loss against Rob Broughton.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Marquardt-won-t-blame-Sonnen-loss-on-steroids?urn=mma-282306

Rey Phillip Santos

WWE RAW Results (11/15) ? Tons Of Legends!

Event: WWE Monday Night RAW Airdate: Monday, November 15th, 2010 (USA Network) Location: The Giant Center in Hershey, Pa. Results by Daniel Wilcox of 411 Mania ?Yes, sir, we promised you a great main event?? Show starts right now! Old and new intros are intertwined, and it looks awesome. Old school fireworks too. Cole introduces he and King as McMahon and Ventura. King has his old school robe on. Red, white and blue ring ropes. Justin Roberts introduces Mean Gene. Interview stage at the top of the ramp. Gene introduces “Cowboy” Bob Orton, complete with cast! ...

Source: http://www.ifight365.com/2010/11/wwe-raw-results-1115-tons-of-legends/

Luke Cummo  Jeff Big Frog Curran Dai Shuanghai  Mac Danzig  Karen Darabedyan

Strikeforce Challengers 12, November 19

Strikeforce Challengers 12
Friday, November 19, 2010
Jackson Convention Complex
Jackson, MS
Airing on Showtime

MAIN CARD

* Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro vs. Justin Wilcox
* Antwain Britt vs. Ovince St. Preux
* Waachim Spiritwolf vs. Marius Zaromskis
* Liz Carmouche vs. Jan Finney
* Caros Fodor vs. Derek Getzel

PRELIMINARY CARD

* Goldman Butler vs. Wes Shivers
* Wesley Little vs. Jacob Noe
* Jeremiah Riggs vs. Jason Sharp
* Jamie Houston vs. Dave Martin
* Jeffrey Hedgepeth vs. Anthony Mitchel*
* Brian Hall vs. Thomas Vasque*
* Brian Burse vs. Joel Cooper*
* Ken DuBoise vs. Travis Robertson*

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/Upcoming_Events_42/article_7058.shtml

Shad Lierley  Jushin Thunder Liger Zach Light Scott Lighty Jae Suk Lim

UFC 122 "Marquardt vs. Okami" Prediction and Betting Contests

By Matt Pelkey, MMATorch Columnist

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It's cards like UFC 122 that bring out the true fun of the MMATorch contests. If it wasn't for these, there literally might not be a reason to watch. As it is, you won't be able to pry your eyes from the screen as you live and die by your picks. At UFC 121, both of our champions retained their titles. Prediction Champion Eric Marchment will now do battle with #1 contender Casey Vaccaro, as will Betting Champion Cambo "Rambo" Nelson. The rest of us will be in the pools, trying to make sense of this colorfully international card. Let's take a look at the lineup.

PREDICTION CONTEST

I'm pretty sure everyone knows how this works by now, but just in case... Basically you pick the winners of each fight, including method (e.g. KO, submission, decision) and round. The winner is the one who picks the most fights correctly. Ties will be broken by who had the most number of rounds and methods correctly predicted. In case anyone is wondering, only rounds and methods in fights where you predicted the correct winner count.

Nate Marquardt (-220) vs. Yushin Okami (+180)

Alessio Sakara (-105) vs. Jorge Rivera (-125)

Andre Winner (+110) vs. Dennis Siver (-140)

Amir Sadollah (-350) vs. Peter Sobotta (+275)

Krzysztof Soszynski (-120) vs. Goran Reljic (-110)

Kyle Noke (-250) vs. Rob Kimmons (+190)

Vladimir Matyushenko (-270) vs. Alexandre Ferreira (+210)

Pascal Krauss (-250) vs. Mark Scanlan (+190)

Duane Ludwig (+200) vs. Nick Osipczak (-260)

Karlos Vemola (-115) vs. Seth Petruzelli (-115)

Kris McCray (-105) vs. Carlos Eduardo Rocha (-125)


BETTING CONTEST

As you can see, there's a number attached to each fighter. That number represents how much money you can make off each fighter. The way it works is, if a fighter has a positive number he's an underdog. The positive number means if you were to bet $100 dollars on him, you would make the amount of the positive number. For example, if you were to bet $100 on Okami and he won, you would make back the hundred you bet, plus $180 for a total payout of $280.

If the fighter has a negative number, that number represents how much you would have to bet to make $100 on the fighter. For example, if you bet $220 on Marquardt and he won, you'd make back the $220, plus a $100 profit, for a total payout of $320.

Each contestant has $1000 in theoretical money. You can bet it on as many fighters as you'd like, but you have to bet on at least three. The most you can bet on a single fighter is $500, and bets have to be in multiples of $100.

I'm setting a deadline of noon (EST) Saturday since its a European show to get all of your picks in. The betting lines are courtesy of bodog.com.

Note: In the event that one of the #1 contenders fails to show for their title shot, the champ will defend against the next best performer from the previous contest. You've been warned, so bring your A game everybody!

As always you can submit your picks one of three ways: by emailing me at matt6buckeye@hotmail.com, posting them on the message boards, or by leaving them in the comments section right down there. Good luck!

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/prediction_and_betting_contests/article_7498.shtml

Diego Sanchez Jorge Santiago Evangelista Santos Rey Phillip Santos Bob Sapp