Been a little lazy about posting MMA news lately but here ya go: (long post)
Sengoku 11
Sengoku middleweight champ Jorge Santiago will face Mamed Khalidov and Kevin Randleman will take on Stanislav Nedkov at Sengoku 11 on Nov. 7 in Tokyo, World Victory Road announced today.
Santiago (21-7), who last fought in January when he captured the Sengoku title over Kazuo Misaki, has been on a tear the past two years after leaving the UFC late 2006 on two knockout losses. Since, the American Top Team fighter has won Strikeforce and Sengoku tournaments and would have looked to extend his win streak to ten in August against Vitor Belfort until the cancellation of the Affliction "Trilogy" event.
Khalidov (19-3-1), who won 16 straight bouts with the exception of a draw, is a striker with an exciting style that was on display to an American audience when he stopped Jason Guida at a ShoXC event one year ago. In May, the Polish fighter followed up the Showtime-televised win with a first-round knockout over PRIDE Bushido veteran Daniel Acacio at a KSW event in Poland.
The Sengoku title will not be on the line, but Khalidov says he hopes to challenge for the title with a win over Santiago.
In a light heavyweight bout, Randleman (17-13), coming off a decision loss to Mike Whitehead in June at Strikeforce, faces Nedkov (7-0), an undefeated fighter out of Bulgaria who won his Sengoku debut in May by stopping UFC veteran Travis Wiuff.
Sengoku 11 Fight Card:
- Michihiro Omigawa vs. Hatsu Hioki
- Yuji Hoshino vs. Marlon Sandro
- Shigeki Osawa vs. Ronnie Ushiwaka
- Eiji Mitsuoka vs. Kazunori Yokota
- Satoru Kitaoka vs. Jorge Masvidal
- "Big" Jim York vs. Dave Herman
- Jorge Santiago vs. Mamed Khalidov
- Kevin Randleman vs. Stanislav Nedkov
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Spider camp: Anderson Silva will be able to fight at UFC 108
“Anderson pulled out some pieces of bones damaged because of the use of his elbows along the years. It’s a simple procedure and he will start training in a month. The surgery took place two and a half weeks ago so he will face Vitor Belfort. Everyone wants this fight, I want this fight. I just think it would be at 88kg whereas Vitor just returned to the event. Be calm people, Spider will throw his web again.”
Anderson Silva’s coach, Josuel Distak, is confident that his star pupil will be healthy enough to throw hands with Vitor Belfort at UFC 108, which is scheduled for Jan. 2, 2010. “The Spider” underwent a minor surgical procedure to remove bone fragments that had been giving his elbow trouble after many years of fighting. Like team mate Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, the recovery time is very quick and “The Phenom” should have his chance to do what no man in the UFC has done before him: Defeat Anderson Silva.
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Henderson, UFC fail to come to terms
Dan Henderson’s career with the Ultimate Fighting Championship has ground to a close in a contract stalemate, and the former two-division PRIDE champion appears on the verge of signing a deal with the rival Strikeforce promotion.
Henderson, 39, devastatingly knocked out Michael Bisping in the second round of their heavily hyped fight on July 11 at UFC 100 in Las Vegas, in the final fight of his contract.
The two-time former U.S. Olympic wrestler had hoped to use that victory as a springboard to a middleweight title match against Anderson Silva.
But Silva and his manager, Ed Soares, weren’t keen on fighting Henderson again and didn’t think he’d done enough to warrant a rematch. Silva submitted Henderson in the second round of their title fight at UFC 82 on March 1, 2008. Since then, Henderson defeated Rousimar Palhares, won a split decision over Rich Franklin and knocked out Bisping.
UFC president Dana White went back-and-forth on whether he’d make Silva-Henderson II, but said at UFC 103 in Dallas that he would give the next shot at Silva to Vitor Belfort, after Belfort scored a first-round knockout of former middleweight champion Rich Franklin.
Henderson could not be reached for comment Friday, but White confirmed he was unable to come to terms with Henderson. White did not immediately confirm whether the UFC retains the right to match contract offers under the terms of Henderson’s previous deal. Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker did not return phone calls.
White, though, said he wanted to re-sign Henderson but couldn’t agree on the money in a new deal.
“We have a good relationship with Henderson, and there are no hard feelings,” White said. “He had a figure he believed he was worth, and we had our own figure, and we weren’t able to get together.”
White said he was disappointed to lose Henderson, but said he was confident the UFC would be able to recover.
“We always find a way,” White said.
UFC's loss will be Strickforce's gain, imo.
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Brett Rogers on Fedor
"I've been working hard on my wrestling and ground skills so even if it does end up on the ground, I'll just scramble to my feet and continue to pick him apart"
"The main difference between me and him is that he will come out looking for a quick submission where as I'm going to be looking to knock his head into the 8th row. Don't get me wrong I respect him as a fighter, but he'll respect me even more when I lay it on him and knock him out."
"He can't afford to get sloppy with me like he did in the Arlovski fight, if he comes in looking like that again it's going to be a short night for him, I don't play around when I'm in there"
"He might be 30-1 but half those wins weren't even under MMA rules, if you only count his MMA fights our records would look about the same."
:-) From what I understand and have read about Brett Rogers, he hasn't seen but one Fedor fight.
:-)
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Cro Cop thought about "hanging himself" after last UFC loss
The Great Cro Cop did not feel so great after getting knocked out in Dallas and thought about 'hanging himself" to end it all in a Dallas Hotel. Here are his comments, very revealing. Wish Fedor would read them.
“I was very, very disturbed after the loss to Dos Santos. I was in such a state that I wished to hang myself in my hotel room so I would be gone. Three losses in my last seven fights is nothing but a disaster to me. That’s a terrible score and I’m not happy about it.
I already know some things that I did wrong both in the fight and in the preparation for the fight, but there are many questions that remain to be answered. I am seriously thinking about hiring a psychiatrist to help me out. I have already made some calls about it … I will make some changes in my training, because I wish to fight twice more in the UFC.
I am a fighter, and I will find the motivation and strength I need … If someone offered me millions of dollars to quit my career right now I would not accept it. [Fighting] is my life and I don’t know any other way to live.”
Wow! I know it has to be very hard but athletes have to realize that as they age, they can't stay on top forever.
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Bernard Hopkins spoke to BoxingScene.com. The former champ said he would feel “suspect” attending an MMA event and compared the sport to ****ography. “I’m not wrestling a guy with panties on and his nuts in my face,” Hopkins said.
Just another boxer that resents MMA becoming more popular than boxing.
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UFC President Dana white hinted at the possibility of the UFC shrinking the Octagon, in a Q&A with Dave Doyle of YahooSports.
Dave Doyle: “Would the WEC fighters lose something if you moved them from the smaller WEC cage to the bigger UFC Octagon?”
Dana White: “Actually, we’ve been talking about making the Octagon smaller. We’re considering making it smaller. [UFC matchmaker] Joe Silva wants it. I think he wants to turn the thing into a [expletive] bathtub. Have them fight in a little tollbooth.”
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Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal signs Strikeforce deal
Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal has signed a multi-fight deal with Strikeforce and could make his promotional debut as early as December, according to a source with knowledge of the negotiations.
Great for SF! King Mo rawks!
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