MMA Fight World

‘The Korean Zombie,’ Boston and Tito Ortiz: Where did they fall on the Cagewriter Hot or Not list?

mma-fan — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 23:04:57 +0000

It's been a slow week for MMA, but it's likely to pick up as we start an eventful April. In this last week of March, who was hot or who was not?

Hot — Boston: According to a tweet from UFC president Dana White, the promotion is headed back to Boston, his hometown. Fox's new channel, Fox Sports 1, will get its first UFC event with this card, scheduled for Aug. 17.

Not — Commissions: First, Nick Diaz's camp said his weigh-in at UFC 158 was mishandled by the commission in Quebec. Then, Andrei Arlovski's camp said there was a timing error at the World Series of Fighting 2 card that caused Arlovski to take extra damage. Commissions' doing things right is necessary for the sport to grow, so mistakes like these are worrisome.

Hot — Chan Sung Jung, aka "The Korean Zombie:" He stood up to the UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre with a respectful dignity. Jung informed GSP, and much of the MMA world, about the symbolism behind the Rising Sun that the welterweight champion wore on his gi for UFC 158. GSP and Hayabusa, the company behind the gi quickly apologized. Jung handled the situation with quiet courage, and used it as a teachable moment. It was an impressive moment for both TKZ and GSP.

Not — Tito Ortiz: The retired UFC legend is now working as the manager for Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos, and he has a plan. Santos is fighting on next weekend's Invicta card, and he wants her to fight her next few fights in Invicta. Then on New Year's Eve, Ortiz wants Santos, who won't move down to bantamweight, to fight UFC women's bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey in the UFC.

"Cris has shown in Strikeforce, why she's so dominant, why women are afraid of her. She has three fights with Invicta, she will be the world champion and she will walk away a world champion. Like I said, New Year's Eve, let's make a super fight. Forget the title. Champion vs. champion, who cares about the title?"

That's a nice plan if you forget that Rousey has said she doesn't want to move up in weight, or that most of her 2013 is set. She will coach against the winner of Cat Zingano and Miesha Tate in the next edition of "The Ultimate Fighter."

Hot — Fans: You're getting another Fan Expo. The UFC will host a Fan Expo in conjunction with UFC 162 in Las Vegas. Get your tickets here.

Memorable Moments from Yahoo! Sports:

Source:Yahoo Sports

Andrei Arlovski’s camp says timing error in New Jersey caused him to take ‘huge blow’ late

mma-fan — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 23:04:56 +0000

Just days after Nick Diaz's camp criticized the athletic commission in Quebec for their handling of his UFC 158 weigh-in with UFC welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre, another athletic commission is under fire. Jackson's MMA, the gym who backs Andrei Arlovski, said a timing error by the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board resulted in Arlovski's broken jaw.

Arlovski lost to Anthony Johnson in a World Series of Fighting bout on Saturday. Jackson's MMA posted on their Facebook about the timekeeping problem:

The NJ athletic commission was worried about the World Series of Fighting getting a new canvas and new corner pads for the cage they almost canceled the fight Saturday night. Unfortunately they forgot to get a time keeper that was trained properly. 1st round 5min 8 sec in the Andrei fight. A devastating blow was landed after the 5min mark. It's amazing how so much time is spent with over regulating but the simple things can cost dearly.

WSOF had to bring in a new canvas and pads when the ones they originally had were unsuitable. But the timing error is much worse. Check out this video via MMA Fighting, and listen to the wood clacking at the 10-second mark. The clock disappears from the screen at seven seconds. Even a generous countdown shows the fight went past the five-minute mark.

The worst part is that the damage Johnson caused came after the time should have expired. His jaw was broken, and it needed surgery for repair. It also raises questions on if the fight result would have been different if Arlovski wouldn't have been hurt late in the first round.

Memorable Moments from Yahoo! Sports:

Source:Yahoo Sports

First quarter report cards: Which fighters rose above early in 2013?

mma-fan — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 23:04:56 +0000

Sunday will mark the end of the first quarter. It's been a busy three months in MMA, so it's a good time to look back at the past three months and see who rose above the rest.

Biggest upset: Did you expect to see Robbie Lawler walk away with the win over Josh Koscheck at UFC 157? What about Antonio Rogerio Nogueira beating former UFC light heavyweight champ Rashad Evans? But there's no question who scored the biggest upset of the first quarter of 2013. Antonio Silva's TKO of Alistair Overeem at UFC 156 left more than Overeem's jaw on the floor.

Best knockout: Vitor Belfort's knockout of Michael Bisping at the January UFC on FX was memorable, as was Tyron Woodley's 36-second dismantling of Jay Hieron at UFC 156. Wanderlei Silva, Robbie Lawler and a slew of Bellator fighters have posted impressive knockouts. But the one that had everyone talking was on "The Ultimate Fighter." Uriah Hall's knockout of Adam Cella* was perfectly executed, and had the rest of the TUF house worried about Hall's skills. For that, Hall wins knockout of the first quarter.

* The knockout actually occurred last year, but aired in the first quarter of 2013.

[Also: Video blog shows the other side of UFC's Dana White]

Best submission: For the best tapouts of the first three months of 2013, Bellator provided a nominee when Dave Vitkay choked out Jesse Peterson in just 18 seconds. Gabriel Gonzaga's guillotine of Ben Rothwell stands out, as is Ronda Rousey's arm bar of Liz Carmouche at UFC 157. The winner comes from the undercard of UFC 157 as Kenny Robertson managed a weird yet incredibly painful looking kneebar-esque submission of Brock Jardine. It was the kind of submission that left MMA fans wondering what had happened.

Best rising star: There were plenty of candidates for fighters who really made an impressive leap in the MMA world early in 2013. Jordan Mein's UFC debut at UFC 158 included rolling out of an arm bar with Dan Miller, and then knocking him out before the first round ended. Abel Trujillo's TKO win by knees to the body of Marcus Levesseur was pretty fantastic, too. But it's Trujillo's opponent at UFC 160, Khabib Nurmagomedov who is taking home the prize. His TKO of Thiago Tavares in Brazil showed he can fight well under any conditions.

Best fight: Johny Hendricks and Carlos Condit put on a great scrap at UFC 158. Brian Stann and Wanderlei Silva's bout was thrilling before Stann was knocked out. Demetrious Johnson and John Dodson's title fight at UFC on Fox 6 was memorable, as was Frankie Edgar and Jose Aldo's title bout at UFC 156. The one fight that stood out above the rest, though, was Dennis Bermudez and Matt Grice's fight from UFC 156. Throughout the bout, both fighters should have given up. Both fighters should have been knocked out. But neither man gave in. Bermudez won the decision, but both fighters will be remembered for this bout.

Do you agree? Speak up in the comments, on Facebook or on Twitter.

More news from the Yahoo! Sports Minute:

Source:Yahoo Sports

You want to see this flying armbar (Video)

mma-fan — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 23:04:56 +0000

The flying arm bar is one of those submissions that happens so quickly, that you need to look twice to realize what happened. Skip to the 1:10 mark in this video and you'll see Oliver Fontaine pull it off at the Lyon Fighting Championship in France. And you have to feel for his opponent, Sofian Benchohra, who never saw the arm bar coming. With a record of 4-7-1, he hasn't won a fight since October of 2010.

Thanks, MMA Fighting.

Source:Yahoo Sports

Darren Elkins nearly missed the call for his UFC on Fox 7 bout because of cell phone charges

mma-fan — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 23:04:56 +0000

For Americans visiting Canada, the cell phone charges can sometimes creep up on you. Your phone will work the same, but weeks later, you get a shocking cell phone bill. UFC featherweight Darren Elkins wasn't going to get hit with that massive phone bill during his trip to Montreal for UFC 158. He ignored phone calls.

[Also: Video blog shows the other side of UFC's Dana White]

Of course, that also meant he nearly missed his chance at filling in at UFC on Fox 7 after Clay Guida pulled out of his bout with Chad Mendes because of an injury.

"Up there (in Canada) I had my phone turned off," Elkins today told MMAjunkie.com Radio "You've got those ridiculous roaming charges and stuff."

His manager ran him down and broke the news of the potential fight. Elkins will face Mendes, the one-time featherweight contender, just a month after fighting Antonio Carvalho and winning with a controversial TKO. Elkins is on a five-fight win streak, so a win over Mendes could push him closer to a title shot.

It's the kind of fight that's definitely worth the roaming charges.

Memorable Moments from Yahoo! Sports:

Source:Yahoo Sports

Dana White’s latest video blog shows he is a fan of shooting guns, riding motorcycles and apple-picking

mma-fan — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 23:04:55 +0000

With no fight this week, UFC president Dana White released a video blog that shows what he and his "idiot friends" do when visiting his place in Maine. Yes, there's plenty of NSFW language. Take a look and see what White and his friends are up to, including:

1. Talk one friend into trying the spiciest hot sauce ever.
2. Blow things up.
3. Shoot guns while calling each other a nickname for a cat.
4. Apple-picking, though it doesn't look like they're picking honeycrisp apples, the finest of all apple varieties.
5. Milk goats in a way that looks pretty uncomfortable for the goat.
6. Drive motorcycles.

[Also: Nick Diaz can cry foul all he wants, but he's not getting a rematch with GSP]

And a little advice for Nick the Tooth. I was once told at an Indian restaurant, after eating very spicy food, that beer or soda pop are your best bets to cool a burning mouth.

Memorable Moments from Yahoo! Sports:

Source:Yahoo Sports

What you missed from ‘The Ultimate Fighter’

mma-fan — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 23:04:55 +0000

It was a fight-packed episode of "The Ultimate Fighter" as Tuesday night's episode had two fights and visits from two different champs.

Ronda Rousey stops by -- Kelvin won his first match, so he was rewarded with a visit with UFC women's bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey. It wasn't just for show, either, as Rousey showed Team Sonnen several judo techniques. She also pumped them up with some of her favorite "Momisms," including the choice line, "No one has the right to beat you."

Collin Hart (Team Jones) vs. Kelvin Gastellum (Team Sonnen)

Gastellum said in his pre-fight interviews that no one respects his boxing. Uh, they will now. Gastellum struck Hart quickly with a left hook that sent him down to the ground. Hart hit his head on the canvas, rolled over, and took a few more punches before the fight was stopped. It was a vicious, vicious knockout.

Mike Tyson! Oh, hey, no big deal. Mike Tyson showed up at the training center. He stopped in the locker rooms to say hello to the fighters.

Dylan Andrews (Team Jones) vs. Luke Barnatt (Team Sonnen)

A fight for the Queen as Australian Andrews takes on Brit Barnatt. Andrews got the takedown early in the first round, and Barnatt had no answer on the ground for much of the round. Andrews tried for a few chokes, but was unsuccessful.

Barnatt did a much better job in the second, creating offense from the bottom. This led to a third round, where Andrews took over. He knocked a clearly tired Barnatt around until he finally knocked him out in the third round.

Everyone was impressed with how Andrews fought through the third round, including the man signing the checks.

"I'm blown away and impressed with Dylan. That's how it's done here." — Dana White

The next two quarterfinals are next week, and they'll have a tough act to follow.

College basketball video from Yahoo! Sports:

Source:Yahoo Sports

UFC lightweight champ Benson Henderson goes 2-1 at jiu-jitsu tournament

mma-fan — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 23:04:55 +0000

UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson will fight Gilbert Melendez on April 20, but he took on other competitors over the weekend. Henderson competed in the 2013 Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championships. He won his first two matches, but lost 8-0 to Jaime Soares Canuto.

Henderson, a brown belt in jiu-jitsu, decided to do the tournament for fun. It wasn't a break from training for the bout with Melendez. Henderson's coach said he did six rounds of MMA sparring on Saturday before competing on Sunday. Instead, it was just a little bit of competition.

He tweeted about the tournament:

Guess who still got #OnePercentBetter today??? That's right, this guy did...congrats to all the #PanAms2013 winners twitpic.com/ce5c8n

— Benson Henderson (@BensonHenderson) March 25, 2013

Just got done w/#2013PanAm 's, didn't go the way I wanted, 2-1, on the day, lost 8-0...had a blast, MUCH LOVE to the #BJJ community...

— Benson Henderson (@BensonHenderson) March 25, 2013

What are your thoughts on Henderson competing just weeks before his fight? Speak up in the comments, on Facebook or on Twitter.

Source:Yahoo Sports

Georges St-Pierre cast in the next ‘Captain America’

mma-fan — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 23:04:55 +0000

The last time we saw UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, he was defending his belt against Nick Diaz at UFC 158. But now you'll get to see him outside the cage, as he was just cast in "Captain America: The Winter Soldier." GSP will play Batroc the Leaper, a French mercenary and kickboxer with a penchant for kicking Captain America.

GSP is the perfect fit. He's French-Canadian, and French was his first language. As for the kicking:

It doesn't look like he'll have to do much research to figure that part of the character out.

Memorable Moments from Yahoo! Sports:

Source:Yahoo Sports

‘The Korean Zombie’ asks Georges St-Pierre to stop wearing ‘Rising Sun’ symbol at fights

mma-fan — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 23:04:54 +0000

UFC featherweight Chan Sung Jung has a fight with Ricardo Lamas coming up in July. The fight will likely have title implications, and will give "The Korean Zombie" a chance to prove he belongs at the top of the UFC's 145-lb. class. But the upcoming fight didn't keep Jung from speaking up to one of the UFC's biggest stars.

Jung posted a letter on his Facebook page to UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre about the Rising Sun symbol GSP wore to his fight with Nick Diaz.

Dear Mr. Georges St. Pierre
Hi, My name is Chan Sung Jung from South Korea. As one of many Koreans who like you as an incredible athlete, I feel like I should tell you that many Korean fans, including myself, were shocked to see you in your gi designed after the Japanese 'Rising Sun Flag'. For Asians, this flag is a symbol of war crimes, much like the German Hakenkreuzflagge. Did you know that? I hope not.

Just like Nazis, the Japanese also committed atrocities under the name of 'Militarism'. You can easily learn what they've done by googling (please do), although it's only the tiny tip of an enormous iceberg.

Furthermore, the Japanese Government never gave a sincere apology, and still to this day, so many victims are dying in pain, heartbroken, without being compensated. But many westerners like to wear clothes designed after the symbol under which so many war crimes and so much tragedy happened, which is ridiculous.

I know most of them are not militarists. I know most of them do not approve unjustified invasion, torture, massacre, etc. They're just ignorant. It's such a shame that many westerners are not aware of this tragic fact. Wearing Rising Sun outfits is as bad as wearing clothes with the Nazi mark on it, if not worse.

Since you're influenced by Japanese Martial Arts, your wearing a headband designed after Japanese flag is understandable. But again, that huge 'Rising Sun' on your Gi means something else.

Many people say GSP is the best Welterweight fighter throughout history, to which I totally agree. This means you have a great influence on every single fan of yours all around the world. And I do believe your wearing 'the symbol of War Crime' is a very bad example for them, not to mention for yourself.

So, what do you reckon? Do you want to wear the same Gi next time as well?

The Rising Sun flag was used by the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II, and it was banned by the United Nations in 1945. Jung is not the only person to have an issue with seeing it used by an athlete. During the 2012 Olympics, Japanese gymnasts wore a leotard that was inspired by the Rising Sun, and some South Koreans were not happy about it.

When one-time MMA sponsor Hoelzer Reich used Nazi imagery on the gear UFC and WEC fighters wore into the cage, the promotions banned their items from the cage. Jung has the courage to speak up to a fighter he admittedly admires. GSP and the UFC owe him a response.

UPDATE: Both GSP and Hayabusa, the company who made GSP's gi, have apologized. GSP posted a statement from Hayabusa:

Since Georges St-Pierre wore our walkout gi at UFC 158 we have received attention surrounding the negative connotation of the rising sun graphic used. The last thing we want is to offend or alienate anyone with the choice of design on our products.

We at Hayabusa have the utmost respect for culture and history and appreciate all of our customers worldwide. As such, we accept full responsibility for this design and are taking all complaints and comments very seriously.

The gi worn by GSP will not be brought to market. In addition, we will be very conscious of this specific design element when developing future communication materials and products.

Please accept our sincerest apology for any offence this has caused. If you have any questions or comments regarding this matter, please feel free to discuss it with us at customerservice@hayabusafightwear.com. One of our representatives will be happy to assist you.

And GSP added:

I'd like to also personally apologize to anyone who was offended by this. I am very sorry, that was never my intention.

Both GSP and Hayabusa acted quickly to apologize. Though it would have been better if the symbol was never used, Jung used the moment to educate others on the issues with the symbol. For that, he should be commended.

Thanks, Bloody Elbow.

More sports news from the Yahoo! Sports Minute:

Source:Yahoo Sports