If the most famous nickname in Russian MMA belongs to Fedor Emelianenko—The Last Emperor—perhaps the most infamous nickname in Russian MMA belongs to a 40-year-old homeless man who goes by Ali Baba. There's no one who knows the Russian fighting scene better than Ali Baba, a veteran of the country's underground fight scene who travels the country looking for tournaments, hoping to win enough money to scrape by. Fighters both professional and amateur call him the legend and the main MMA traveler of Russia. He's fought in countless events across the ex-Soviet Union both official and very unofficial. He's fought in cages and in street fights organized by rival football firms.
Ali Baba and I met at an undisclosed location in Moscow, whose streets he lives on, to talk about life as a Russian fighter, the joys and pains of a traveling mixed martial artist, and his second life as a sports blogger.
Fightland: Many people see you as a legend. What’s popularity like for you?
Ali Baba: There’s even a photo called “Two Legends”--me and Fedor Emelianenko. Fedor being the official legend and me being the legend of the underground fighting scene. For many people who read my blog and see me fighting I symbolize the spirit of a fighter.They say that the spirit of a fighter has arisen inside of me. I have never fought before and then, just of a sudden, I went to fight and kick everyone’s ass. For tournament organizers and coaches, I’m a living legend who proves that at the age of 40 you can still fight.
I’m also like an elder brother for many. Especially for those who don’t have fathers or have fathers who are drinking and pay no attention to their kids. Kids often write to me asking for advice, sometimes they ask me about social needs. I once had a whole love affair that I was part of.
With all that, I consider myself just an ordinary man, that’s all. Maybe I’d like to feel something like [a hero] but as another Russian saying goes, “You can’t foul a mirror.” One-eyed, squint-eyed, defective, imperfect. This just kills any desire to be famous no matter how hard I’ve tried to turn my birth defect into an advantage. I’ve submitted to the fact that that’s the way I look, that’s how God created me. I won’t become more beautiful or better looking, so live the way you are.
Fightland Talks to: Russia's Homeless MMA Legend | FIGHTLAND
Kron Gracie is one of the most talented grapplers today, and he is planning a move to MMA.
Son of the legendary and undefeated veteran Rickson Gracie, the 25-year-old jiu-jitsu black belt has won world titles as a purple and brown belt, and his days in jiu-jitsu competition might be over.
"I believe I’ll make my MMA debut next year, that’s my next step," Gracie told Tatame Magazine. "I would move away from jiu-jitsu competitions for a while to focus on that. It’s a truer fight, there’s no guard… It’s you and another man going to war. It’s truer than jiu-jitsu."
Kron Gracie started his career as a grappler. He got everybody’s attention not only for being Rickson Gracie’s son, but also for his 51-fight win streak in jiu-jitsu as a purple and brown belt, submitting every single opponent. Add to that resume a submission victory over MMA veteran Shinya Aoki at Metamoris 2, and you have an instant prospect coming to the cage.
His father stepped away from MMA in 2000 with a perfect record of 11 wins in 11 fights, and Kron Gracie wants to do even better than him.
"I want to be way better than my father was," said the fighter, who competes in jiu-jitsu at the 180-pound limit division. "There’s no other option for me. I will be better than him or I won’t even try. If I see him as a parameter, I see him as someone to surpass. If there were some other people, the best in the world, I would train to be better than him.
"I always think of Pride and want to be recognized for maintaining this line of my family. I won’t fight with strategy or (to win by) points. I’m curious, I think it would be nice."
Kron Gracie’s desire to make a transition to MMA grew even more after training with Jake Shields, Gilbert Melendez and the Diaz brothers in California, where he currently lives.
"It was awesome train with them," he said. "I’m going there all the time to train. The experience of training with the veterans gives me more confidence to get inside a ring and show my best."
Kron Gracie targets MMA debut for 2014 - MMA Fighting
Jon Jones holds the distinction of being arguably the greatest mixed martial artist in the world, and also the most disliked. MMA fans are as likely to praise his performances inside the Octagon as they're to criticize his actions outside of it.
When Jones entered the UFC in 2008 he was a relatively unknown prospect. Blending elite athleticism and a diverse skill set, "Bones" immediately made an impact. His second fight in the UFC, against journeyman Stephan Bonnar, was his coming out party. Jones battered the always game Bonnar with an array of unique strikes en route to an unanimous decision victory.
In Jones' ascent up the UFC ladder he ran through solid competition and won in spectacular fashion. Fight fans loved watching him perform in the cage, and respected his humility outside of it.
Perceptions have changed a lot since 2008, when Jones was a humble upstart. This article chronicles what Jones did to gain his current reputation, and whether it's fair or not..
Jones' PR deficiencies and general cluelessness about his own arrogance began to emerge when he told a reporter: "It's funny, I've been doing some autograph signings and I've been signing lately 'Jon Jones Champion 2011,' almost as if I've spoken it into existence." The problem with that statement is that it was made prior to his victory over then champion, Mauricio Rua.
In Jones' Defense: His supreme arrogance here could be written off as youthful determinism.
The next major issue was when Jones reversed his stance on fighting then teammate, Rashad Evans. This led to a falling out between the former friends. Evans left longtime trainer Greg Jackson, and lashed out against Jackson and Jones over their perceived betrayal. Whether Jones was right or wrong for his decision, the fans took sides.
In Jones' Defense: There's no room for friendship at the top of any MMA weight-class. Jones and Evans were bound to fight, and even if both could have handled it better, this decision seemed inevitable.
Jones, and his next opponent, Quinton Jackson, engaged in a bitter back and forth war or words. While "Rampage" deserves most of the blame for the excessive smack talk, neither fighter came out looking particularly likable.
In Jones' Defense: Jackson is one of the best in the world at talking trash, and he sucked Jones into a game he couldn't win.
Jones again invoked the wrath of MMA fans in his next title defense. After he secured a guillotine choke for the victory, the referee had him release the hold, and his opponent, Lyoto Machida, fell lifelessly to the mat. It was not a favorable image for Jones.
After the match, trainer Greg Jackson yelled to him; "Jon Jones, go check on Lyoto. Get some fans." This statement only furthered the belief held by many fans that Jones wasn't authentic.
In Jones' Defense: He was not in any violation of the rules nor did he intentionally show poor sportsmanship. Given the heat of the moment, Jones cannot be judged too harshly for not dropping him more gently. Jackson's comments were indicative of the concerns over Jones' image, and they certainly didn't help the perception Jones was a fraud. Jones cannot be held fully responsible for something his trainer said.
The hype for Jones vs. Evans was full of bad blood. The two elite fighters dragged one another's names through the mud, and came across more like teenagers fighting over a pretty girl than two of the best athletes in the world. The fight failed to deliver in the cage, which only increased fan resentment. In Jones' Defense: He and Evans had a heated rivalry, and in situations like this, it can be difficult to control one's emotions. Evan is a top fighter, and few have put together exciting and successful performances against him.
Jones explained to USA Today why the UFC was comfortable promoting him as a face of the company: "I think if I was a knucklehead and I was a guy who you would have to worry about getting a DWI or going out and doing something really stupid, they simply wouldn't promote me." A month later, in May 2012, he was arrested for a DUI.
In Jones' Defense: There is absolutely no defense for his reckless behavior. As far as his comments, they were about a larger point, that he was reliable. It was poetic justice that he failed to live up to the exact example he mentioned as proof of his reliability.
When challenger Dan Henderson went down with an injury, Chael Sonnen stepped up to take his place against Jones, the only problem was Jones didn't accept the short notice fight. This led to UFC 151 being cancelled, and Jones receiving heavy criticism from the MMA community. UFC president, Dana White, lashed out against Jones for his selfishness. "This is one of those disgusting decision...you just affected 16 others people's lives/"
In Jones' Defense: Jones has a duty to fulfill his contract, not a duty to fight whomever the UFC decides to put in front of him on short notice. Unlike many other fighters, Jones has the power not to take every fight the company puts in front of him.
Top fighters make a percentage of PPV sales. This means they want fights that'll draw money, though they rarely make light of it since MMA is a sport. Jones felt comfortable telling the media why he didn't want to take a low profile rematch: "I don't want to fight Machida. He was my lowest pay-per-view draw last year." These comments made him appear to be all about the money, and not the love of the sport.
In Jones' Defense: High risk low payout fights are exactly what fighters attempt to avoid. Jones' decision was rational.
Instead, Jones took on Sonnen, the man he'd previously refused to fight on eight days' notice. This matchmaking was heavily maligned for being a money grab fight. Sonnen was coming off a loss and hadn't competed at light heavyweight in years. With this, Jones sent further message to the fans that he was more concerned with money than putting on the best fights.
It feels like just yesterday that boxing and MMA were the biggest enemies in sports, and Floyd Mayweather and his entourage always seemed to be somewhere close to the action. Now, though, that tune has changed in a massive way.
In an interview with Fight Hype, Mayweather opened up on his interest in getting into the MMA business.
I want to promote MMA fighters also. We lookin' to promote MMA fighters...You know, Al Haymon is looking to manage MMA fighters. Even though Al Haymon hasn't came on record and said it, but I want Al to manage MMA fighters. I think I can take it to the next level.
If there's one thing Floyd "Money" Mayweather knows (other than boxing), it's dollar signs. What makes this such a surprise, though, is Mayweather's famous anti-MMA quotes. Mayweather famously stated in a 2011 interview with CBS Sports that MMA was created out of a desire to see Caucasians succeed in combat sports due to their recent floundering in boxing. Earlier this year, leading into his fight with Robert Guerrero, he hinted during an interview with Showtime that his opponent's dirty, unrefined style was better suited for MMA.
Mayweather hasn't been the only one to fire shots, though, as UFC commentator Joe Rogan recently stated the pound-for-pound greatest boxer in the world "would get killed by an average college wrestler" in a street fight.
While Mayweather expressing his interest in MMA was a bit surprising on its own, that wasn't even the craziest part of the interview. That came when Mayweather stated "You know, I don't mind doing business with Dana White. Dana White's a cool guy. I've been knowing Dana before he got involved with the MMA."
The UFC's president has been famously critical of Mayweather. He labeled the boxer a racist for comments he made on Jeremy Lin in 2012. White also criticized Mayweather for his refusal to fight fellow champion Manny Pacquiao over pay structure.
This, in turn, would set off a war of words with members of Mayweather's entourage.
Evidently, though, any sort of bad blood has been set aside. Dana White was photographed alongside UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez, as well as The Ultimate Fighter season 18 contestants Jessamyn Duke and Raquel Pennington at Mayweather's latest fight, opposite Saul "Canelo" Alvarez.
It will be interesting to see how all this pans out.
Floyd Mayweather: "I Want to Promote MMA Fighters." | Bleacher Report
As audacious as Chael Sonnen can be, it works better when he’s a lone affiliate. If ESPN interviews him ahead of a fight, it’s almost expected that he embark on rant about his opponent, or talk about the Nogueira brothers feeding carrots to buses, or try to touch the interviewer’s curly nest of hair in ice-breaking awe.
He does that to the consequence of nobody but himself. It’s why he’s where he is; audacity has made him one of the fight game’s transcendent stars.
But when he is giving his opinion on a fight, as an employee of FOX, his audaciousness is divided by a thousand. It becomes FOX’s problem, because he’s a representative of them and their content. Sonnen is obviously smart enough to know the difference, but not to avoid the one side of himself from spilling over into the other from time to time.
On Monday night’s edition of Fox Sports Live, a roundtable discussion where opinions are opined and opinions are coveted and opinions are the axis of the whole enterprise, analyst Sonnen made a fighter Sonnen joke. It was a slash at the rapper Chris Brown, ultimately. When asked about Floyd Mayweather he said, "I’ve never seen anybody in the in the history of America get so rich and so famous off of having complete wimps throwing punches at their faces. I know what you’re saying. You’re saying, ‘Well, it’s happened before, what about Rihanna?’"
Brown, of course, was brought up on felony assault charges for an incident with Rihanna in 2009. As Gary Payton laughed, Sonnen then said, "Too soon? Too soon?"
At that point, too late, actually.
Too late to take it back. And by Tuesday night, FOX took the measure of issuing a formal apology for the "inappropriate attempt at humor." Most of Sonnen’s inappropriate attempts at humor are funny, or funny in how uneasily they stray into the inappropriate. Raw is something he does deftly well. In fact, we tend to give him the leeway of a comedian, which is a delicate space in which context is everything.
But this time Sonnen managed to give the network he hawks for a black eye in the process of talking about a rapper who is known to dole out black eyes to his girlfriends. Bad combo. The reasons are obvious: It’s a domestic violence situation that exists in a pop-culture bubble. But it’s a domestic violence situation that remains a domestic violence situation. Even if Rihanna took Brown back, and even if that situation is ripe for, and has been, a million pop-culture punch lines.
If Sonnen had rolled out the Rihanna joke in an interview in which he was promoting his own fight? That would have been Chael being Chael. The same people who hate him would continue to hate him, and the people who love him would continue to throw rose petals at his feet. But when he says it as a panelist in which he’s a paid member of the program, he falls under different scrutiny.
That’s a dynamic that Sonnen, as naturally as he fits in as a showman, a fighter and an analyst, is still sorting out. How not to make the one thing bleed too much into the other.
Chael Sonnen and the difference a platform makes - MMA Fighting
A South Florida gym owner, praised as a father figure and mentor by young people who train at his business, was arrested and charged with forcing a 15-year-old boy to perform oral sex on him, police said.
Howard Puig bonded out of jail Wednesday and returned to Padrino's MMA, the mixed martial arts gym at 4735 E. 10 Ct. he has operated and lived in for two years. He was charged with three counts of lewd and lascivious battery and three counts of lewd and lascivious molestation.
"I don't have nothing to say," said Puig. "I don't have nothing to say to nobody bad and ... whatever is happening, I leave it in God's hands."
The Hialeah Building Department has ordered Pueg to close down his gym after detectives came to the property to investigate the sexual abuse allegations, noticed numerous code violations, including putting up walls without permit.
Puig was charged after the teen and his parents went to police. His arrest affidavit states, "The defendant told [the boy] to inhale a substance from a brown bottle with grey and blue lettering." The teen, the affidavit continues, claimed the substance "prevented him from controlling his body movement."
Hialeah Police spokesperson Carl Zogby said detectives found a bottle matching the alleged victim's description in his bedroom. "We're sending to to the lab," he said. "We impounded the bottle fitting the description that this victim had told us about, and we're having it checked out in the lab and see what it contains, to see if it was a drug that was used to perpetrate this crime."
The teens who frequent Padrino's MMA insist Puig is innocent. "This guy is a father figure," said a boy.
"I've known him almost two, three years already," said Steven Parkhurst, who trains at the gym. "He won't do nothing like that."
Felix Roca said Puig lent a helping hand in his hour of need. "He helped me as a father figure, helped him as a friend, he gave me a place to stay when I was struggling and didn't have nowhere to stay," he said.
Puig said that, on advice of his attorney, he could not discuss the charges but added that his lawyer will address them in court. "I apologize, but I cannot comment on ... nothing to do with the case," he said.
Investigators said they fear there might be more victims of Puig's alleged advances. He has been ordered to refrain from contacting the teen who made the allegations.
If you have any information on the charges Pueg is facing, call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a reward.
Read more: WSVN-TV - MMA gym owner accused of molesting teen
When Bellator inked a long term developmental deal with 2011 NCAA wrestling champion Bubba Jenkins, promotion officials heralded the signing as a play to get the "world's No. 1 MMA prospect."
Bellator's plan, to slowly build Jenkins into a fighter capable of winning one of its signature tournaments, started out well enough. However it took a major hit on Friday night at Bellator 100, when Jenkins, an 18-to-1 favorite, suffered a brutal sustained beating at the hands of unheralded local lightweight LaRue Burley.
"It was shocking. It was as much of a shock to me as I'm sure it was a shock to anyone," Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney told MMAFighting-com.
"Guys have trouble with gas tanks. You see that all the time, guys get gassed. But he looked beyond gassed. He looked at though almost like something had happen physiologically that just stopped him in his tracks. When he went to the corner at the end of the first and then at the end of the second, he was just, there was nothing there."
Jenkins lost his previously undefeated record when referee Al Guinee mercifully stepped in midway through the bout's final frame. Yet from the latter moments of the first round onward, Jenkins appeared beyond lethargic, and Burley capitalized, unloading a relentless salvo of strikes on the wrestler.
The sheer lopsided nature of the match stunned many observers, including Rebney, who couldn't say for sure whether the manner in which everything played out would affect Jenkins' aspirations of competing in professional MMA in the future.
"You don't know," Rebney admitted. "I mean, look, this is a very tough business. You take a drubbing and lose by 45 in college basketball, you come back the next week, you have everybody practice and you play the next one. In this game, you lose a fight in that kind of fashion, where it's that one-sided, it's that dramatic a loss, some guys it can have a real detrimental emotional impact to them moving forward.
"Bubba Jenkins is a pretty high-level competitor. He's taken big losses. He's won at a major level, so I would assume, based on the level he's competed at and the length of time he's been at that level, that he's probably pretty well positioned to take a devastating loss and be able to compartmentalize it and figure out how to turn it into something."
Rebney had yet to speak to Jenkins in the immediate aftermath of Bellator's 100th event. The 25-year-old was transferred to a local hospital following his loss.
Yet regardless of whether or not an injury played a part in Jenkins' poor performance, Rebney plans to take things slow regarding Jenkins' next move.
"I don't really know how to explain it, but man, it was just a shocking [fight]. Six months ago, he's a top prospect in the world in MMA. Blows me away, but we'll see," Rebney said.
"We have a long, long, long term deal with him. So we've got to try to stop the machine right now and get some questions answered before anything's planned moving forward. There's no fights on the docket for Bubba Jenkins right now. Right now it's about refocusing and figuring out what's going on."
Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney ?shocked' at Bubba Jenkins' ?devastating' loss - MMA Fighting
So maybe Brendan Schaub was being sincere all along when he professed his love of jiu-jitsu.
In what figured to be a heavyweight slugfest, Schaub instead executed a perfect D'Arce choke to defeat his former Ultimate Fighter teammate, Matt Mitrione, at UFC 165 on Saturday in Toronto.
After heated words between the two in the buildup, Mitrione refused to tap gloves with Schaub in the pre-fight. The fighters tagged one another in the early going, with Schaub (10-3) getting cut on his hairline between the eyes, and Schaub returning the favor by cutting open Mitrione under his left eye.
Late in the round, Schaub turned up the intensity, rushing at Mitrione with a flurry of punches and scoring a takedown. From there, Schaub, who earned the jiu-jitsu community's wrath for his performance against Roberto Abreu at Metamoris 2 in June, maneuvered into the winning D'Arce choke, as he put Mitrione out cold. The fight was stopped at 4:06 of round one.
"I've tapped a lot of top caliber jiu-jitsu guys with that move, so, I'm very confident that, I trained so hard, I'm so happy right now," Schaub said.
Schaub (10-3) won his second straight fight; Mitrione (6-3) lost for the third time in his past four fights.
There is no fraud or lack of governance in the affairs of the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA), said its president Datuk NKS Tharmaseelan.
The deregistration threat reported in the media recently was over an old complaint, he clarified.
“The Registrar of Societies (ROS) is seeking answers for alleged infringements in 2010 following persistent criticisms by certain quarters,” he said.
“The main complaint three years ago was on pre-election procedures leading to the election of office-bearers,” he said, adding that other matters raised were technical lapses in procedural matters.
Citing an example of “unintentional, minor lapses”, he said inefficient staff had banked in the association’s money late.
He stressed that no money was ever misappropriated.
“Remedial action, including terminating the staff concerned, employing new accountants and implementing other additional measures, were carried out after the ‘lapses’ were discovered three years ago.
“The financial aberration was detected by the auditors and presented to the then MMA Council and at the annual general meeting.”
He said as a respected body, MMA was confident that the issue would be resolved to the satisfaction of the ROS.
“The ROS is just doing its duty in investigating the complaint from a disgruntled member. There are no fresh allegations or complaints to the ROS about MMA on any matter after 2010.
“These alleged infringements were not under the watch of the present MMA Council but we are doing our best to give the ROS a detailed explanation,” he said.
On Sept 14, it was reported that more than a year after it was given a lifeline from being deregistered, the association was at risk of being struck off for allegedly violating provisions in its constitution.
It has until the end of next month to explain alleged irregularities in its finances and its failure to table audited monthly accounts to its executive committee and council on several occasions.
There is no fraud in our affairs, says MMA - Nation | The Star Online
Chris Weidman became the first man to stop Anderson Silva inside the Octagon, and the Brazilian plans to avenge the loss the same way.
Silva’s run as the middleweight champion lasted 2,458 days and ended at UFC 162, and he told Ariel Helwani during Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour that he will regain the title with a knockout.
"I (will) give back the knockout," Silva told Helwani when asked how he believes he will defeat Weidman on Dec. 28. "I’m working hard now. Chris is the new champion and is a great fighter, but I'm training hard. The new Anderson is coming."
The Brazilian plans to end the fight with a knockout, but he doesn’t expect Weidman to stand in front of him at UFC 168.
"I (will) train more jiu-jitsu because Weidman come to fight me and (won’t) stand up together in this fight," he said. "Go for the ground, go for the ground. I train more jiu-jitsu, and ninjitsu."
Silva admitted that his life has changed a lot since losing the title, and most of the people, including fans, has treated him differently since. But he doesn’t seem to care.
"It's normal," he said. "It's the game. But my family is normal. This is more important for me. My sons, my wife, my brothers and dad. Other people, whatever."
He doesn’t feel he needs a devastating win to prove he’s the best middleweight in the planet, though.
"Come on, bro, definitely no," Silva said. "I'm working hard for a long time. My big goal is train the kids, new athletes coming. I’m normal guy. Sometimes I have good day, sometimes I don't have good day. People will have the new chance to see the real Anderson. It’s normal."
After his first loss in the UFC, Silva said Steven Seagal shouldn’t get all the credit for his devastating front kick knockout over Vitor Belfort, and he explains why.
"I have a good relationship with master Seagal," he said. "He is a great man, great master, but I worked hard the front kick for a long time. I started martial arts and my first master showed me the movement. I've trained Capoeira, Taekwondo, but one day master Steven Seagal came to the academy, watched the training, watched my front kick and said ‘you move (to) the left’ and that's it. (He doesn’t) showed the kick and bla, bla, bla. He's not my coach, he's my friend."
It’s simply amazing how quickly the world of combative sports can change; how suddenly juxtapositions in opinion and position can come.
Not all that long ago, Floyd Mayweather Jr. (along with many other big names in boxing) had nothing but contempt for the sport of MMA. It was a place for men who couldn’t make it in the world of professional boxing, they said.
Of course, MMA advocates fired back and both sides have taken potshots at the other off and on for years now.
But all the while, both sports continue to conduct business side-by-side, and now it seems that a change is coming.
While each sport has its purists, it really is of no surprise that both audiences are beginning to appreciate the other, and in some cases slowly merge. Both are combative sports and thus share many of the same unfortunate misconceptions in the general public.
But when Floyd Mayweather made mention of his interest to promote MMA fighters (h/t Ben Thompson at FightHype.com), it was a sudden and surprising reversal of position. What was once a less-than-credible combat sport was suddenly worth the time, energy and money needed to promote or manage on any level.
However, it’s important to note that other notable names from the world of boxing have tried to promote MMA. Gary Shaw started off in the world of boxing in 1971 when he was named inspector for the New Jersey State Athletic Control Commission (NJSAC). In 1999, he became Chief Operating Officer for Main Events, and then in 2002 he formed Gary Shaw Productions.
For those interested, one of the greatest fights in boxing in recent years was a Gary Shaw Production: Diego Corrales vs. Jose Luis Castillo.
Shaw was involved with Elite Xtreme Combat for a short amount of time, but he always seemed as if he was simply babysitting. It was as if he were standing watch on the off chance that something worth while began to happen in this crazy sport of MMA. Or perhaps he was just killing time on the off-chance that maybe he would see the next big star and try to bring him into the fold.
Either way, it didn’t seem like Shaw was trying to make something at Elite XC; rather it was as if he was simply waiting to see if something could be made with minimal effort and attention.
Of course, Elite XC didn’t last but a few years and we honestly don’t know what, if any, impact Shaw had on the organization. We do know that he certainly didn’t mourn its passing.
We all accept that the world of MMA is vastly different from the world of professional boxing, but that will only remain the case for as long as that which is accepted goes unchallenged. Change happens when someone wants to make it happen and believes that their way of business can be different and successful.
Right now, the UFC is the biggest monster roaming the countryside, and to be honest it’s a beautiful thing. Twelve years ago I was daydreaming about a future where MMA fans would get one UFC event per month; now, that is a very slow month for the company.
But much of the way the UFC does business only succeeds because they have no rival. What works during peace time usually doesn’t work at a time of war and the UFC has not been at war for a while. The last time they had a viable threat to their dominance of the sport was when Pride FC was still alive and kicking, back in the early 2000s. In 2012, if there had been a rival promotion that had the money and experience needed to compete with the UFC, chances are very high that we wouldn’t have seen Dana White blame the UFC 151 fiasco on Jon Jones. To do so would have been to needlessly risk losing him to the competition.
Now, we ponder how Floyd Mayweather Jr. could impact the world of MMA, via promotion or fighter management.
And it doesn’t take very long to figure that, if they are serious, their greatest success will be in the promotion of fighters and events rather than managing fighters. Doing business with Dana White, as Mayweather talked about, is usually a one-way street. If they restrict themselves to fighter management, their fighters will only make what the UFC is willing to pay, which would make a Mayweather fighter not unlike many others.
If Mayweather is truly serious about throwing his proverbial hat into the promotional ring, he has many advantages that most others don’t: money, connections, near-global name recognition, popularity, partnerships and experience.
Make no mistake about it: Floyd Mayweather could build an MMA promotion that could succeed in the pay-per-view market and if he enjoyed what he was creating, he could build an MMA promotion that would be making the UFC very uncomfortable in less than three years.
Of course, many wave their hands dismissively at such a notion, but that doesn’t matter. The UFC built something incredible and in doing so they fought battles no one need fight again. In truth, those successes may have quite possibly paved a very easy road for their next rival.
His connections with Showtime and Golden Boy Promotions alone could see a Mayweather owned and operated MMA show pushed forward with the same level of enthusiasm and hype that is normally afforded the UFC alone.
Don’t think so?
Since 2008, Mayweather has been involved in the top two highest grossing pay-per-view events in combative sport history. His bad boy act has polarized and inflamed the buying public and his biggest opponent to date, Oscar De La Hoya, couldn’t defeat him in the ring yet now co-promotes with him. Then, we have the work the UFC has done in order to expose the sport to mass markets via cable television. The movers and shakers no longer look at MMA with any fear of the unknown; the UFC proved MMA was a sport that appealed to many more fans than anyone felt comfortable imagining just four years ago.
There’s water in that well; they all know it, they’re just waiting for someone to come to them and show them the mechanism by which they can get everyone to use their bucket.
MMA fighter Leandro "Feijao" Souza (1-1), a member of Nova Uniao and Delfim Cacadores, died on Thursday while cutting weight for Friday's Shoot Brazil 43 card in Rio de Janeiro. The 26-year-old fighter, who was slated to fight Gabriel Brasil (1-1) in flyweight action, was cutting the final two pounds for the official weigh-ins when he passed out, and his death was confirmed moments later.
"We are sad to report the death of Leandro Caetano de Souza," Shooto president Andre Pederneiras wrote on his Facebook page. "The athlete has passed away in Botafogo’s UPA. We don’t know the reasons why yet. We would like to express our condolences to all friends and family."
MMAFighting-com confirmed the news with Shooto officials, but there is still no information on the cause of the death.
"We don’t have much information yet," Feijao’s teammate Andre Santos told MMAFighting-com, "but we do know that is related to his weight cut. He’s my student but he also trains at Nova Uniao for about a year. I wasn’t with him during this process because I have a fight scheduled in Russia, so he spent the night at Nova Uniao’s gym. His sister called me saying that he had passed out so I went to the hospital, but he was already dead when I got there."
Middleweight contender Yushin Okami, a staple of Zuffa's top-10 rankings for years, received his release from the UFC on Friday.
Promotion officials confirmed the news to MMAFighting-com.
Okami (29-8), the UFC's No. 6 ranked middleweight at the time of his release, departs on the heels of a brutal first-round TKO loss to former Strikeforce champion Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza in early September. The loss snapped a three-fight win streak, which included momentum killing victories over Alan Belcher and Hector Lombard.
Dubbed "the best fighter to ever come out of Japan" by UFC President Dana White, Okami competed inside the Octagon for seven years, compiling a 13-5 record within the Zuffa fold.
After winning 10 of his first 12 UFC contests, Okami's career peaked in 2011 with a opportunity to challenge then UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva. Headlining the UFC's first event held in Brazil since 1998, Okami lost to Silva via second-round TKO.
Still just 32 years old, Okami exits the UFC having only stumbled against Silva, Souza, Chael Sonnen, Rich Franklin and Tim Boetsch. He holds notable victories over Mark Munoz, Nate Marquardt, Mike Swick, Evan Tanner, Belcher (x2) and Lombard.
Steve Austin, the biggest pro wrestling star of the 1998-2001 heyday of the industry in the U.S., admitted on Monday on The MMA Hour, that he now gets more of a charge watching mixed martial arts than the wrestling business he's loved since childhood.
Austin, 48, who retired from pro wrestling in 2003 due to neck problems, is now a jack of a number of different trades. He's got a reality show that he hosts (Redneck Island on Country Music Television), a twice a week podcast where he regularly interviews people from pro wrestling, and on occasion, MMA, and is doing action movies. His appearance as an adult version of a onetime teenage bully in Grown Ups 2, released earlier this year, was his 12th significant movie role in the past several years. He's also in talks about adding a hunting show to his resume.
But for years, when there is a major UFC fight, Austin is frequently watching it on pay-per-view, and has attended live shows as well. While some would think MMA fans would have disdain for pro wrestlers, very few guest celebrities have ever gotten near the reaction Austin got from UFC fans when shown at ringside during the first Frank Mir vs. Brock Lesnar fight in Las Vegas in 2008.
"Just from the world that I come from, I left pro wrestling behind a couple of years ago when I started doing my own thing," Austin said. "From my world, I can read between the lines of these angles (on a pro wrestling television show), I can guess or tell a lot of what is about to happen. I get a little more charged up in a UFC fight. In some of those championship matches, my heart's already pounding sitting on the couch, when it's about to start. These days I'd rather tip my hat to a badass UFC main event, but with all due respect, pro wrestling is my first love."
Austin, who grew up as Steve Williams in South Texas, can remember as a kid growing up and watching Houston Wrestling with Paul Boesch in the early 70s. While playing college football at North Texas State University in the mid-80s, not far from Dallas, he and his friends would head to the Dallas Sportatorium on Friday nights to watch the Von Erich brothers and The Fabulous Freebirds do battle. A few years later, he was the star of those Friday night shows as pro wrestling's 1990 Rookie of the Year.
He had to drop the name Steve Williams, because at the time, there was another pro wrestler who was a major star, Steve "Dr. Death" Williams, already in the business. So, he took the name Steve Austin, after the television character played by Lee Majors in "The Six Million Dollar Man." He added "Stone Cold" to it in 1996, a name that his wife at the time came up with.
Austin's main events with the likes of The Rock, The Undertaker, Mick Foley, HHH, owner Vince McMahon and others led to the most successful period in pro wrestling history. In 1999, he set all-time wrestling box office records in nearly every city in the country, selling out 70 percent of live shows and averaging more than 12,000 paid per night. In 2001, as the top star, he led WWF, as WWE was known at the time, to selling nearly 8 million pay-per-view orders in a calendar year, the all-time record for any promotion until UFC topped it in 2010.
"They're two different worlds," Austin said about pro wrestling and MMA. "But there's something of a parallel. Pro wrestling is basically what MMA is, just at a worked level with theatrical elements."
Austin noted one of the weaknesses with a lot of fighters is in doing interviews, something he was a specialist in as a pro wrestler, an element very important he feels in building a fan base and attracting sponsors.
"I do it all the time," when asked if he gets frustrated at fighters who don't use their interview time wisely. "A guy gets a chance on the horn and they crap the bed. That's an outstanding opportunity for you, a great way to reach out and let the crowd know who you are and what you are. Some guys talk stupid trash that doesn't make sense. Some of the guys who lose fights get a booboo face. Anytime Brian Stann fought, whether he lost or won, he commanded your respect when he was on the horn. I always liked to watch his promos. He's a smart cat."
While praising Chael Sonnen and Josh Barnett for their talking ability, he felt not everyone needs to study pro wrestling tapes, as both of them do, to be effective, or even be considered a great promo.
"Cain Velasquez basically says what he's going to do, I don't need a wild promo out of him," said Austin. "I just want to hear that he's taking care of business. I'm looking forward to him and Junior Dos Santos No. 3 because those two are pure fighters."
He also felt that Alexander Gustafsson established himself a superstar this past week.
"I tell you, I'm down at the ranch, me and my buddy, watching the fights the other night, and I was blown away by Alexander Gustafsson," he said. "We've seen him come along, but this was his shining moment. He's been a star in the making all this time, but against Jon Jones, a superstar was born."
He had mixed feelings about the decision.
"I think the champion has to get his ass beat a little more than that to lose the title," he said. "I don't know how to score fights, but I had it 3-2 Gustafsson. When they said unanimous decision, it caught me off guard."
Austin knows Jim Ross, the longtime WWE announcer and former head of talent relations, who was forced out of the company two weeks ago and has publicly set his sights on MMA.
"I do, just because the guy has 34 years of experience of storylines, angles, knowledge and booking and just how things work in our world. There are parallels. MMA's a shoot (the pro wrestling term for real), yes, but I think he can help in some capacity, some way, somehow. He can give an idea here and there, a little creative, whether it's a shoot or a work, he can lend some experienced opinions on that."
It's been almost 11 years since Austin closed out his career, and there are
Eric Ramsey-Wright of Vancouver will take on Jason Lambert of Pendleton, Ore., on Saturday in the main event of a mixed martial arts show at the Clark County Event Center.
The show begins at 7 p.m. and features seven professional fights and six amateur bouts. Tickets cost $40 on the floor and $30 in the stands.
This 170-pound battle will be the second professional fight for Ramsey-Wright, who won his professional debut in February at the Emerald Queen Casino. As an amateur, Ramsey-Wright was 16-2 with 13 knockouts.
A 2008 Skyview High School graduate, Ramsey-Wright placed eighth at 189 pounds as a senior wrestler for the Storm.
Ramsey-Wright, 23, said it means a lot to be fighting in the main event at a local show in only his second fight as a professional. He said he doesn’t know a lot about Lambert, but is focusing on his own approach.
Explosiveness and speed are big reasons for his success so far, Ramsey-Wright said.
“We’re pretty excited. Eric has so much potential,” said Joe Flores, who coaches Ramsey-Wright at his Vancouver gym. “He has always had the knockout power, but seeing him evolve as an athlete and as an individual is rewarding.”
Other local fighters scheduled to compete include four who train at Fisticuffs Gym in Vancouver. Jason Novelli will take on Cole Milani in one of the professional fights. Mo Abed will battle Cameron Kirby in an amateur 155-pound bout. Bryan Descloux will fight David McManis in a 145-pound amateur match. And Stephen Chang will take on Zach Casterline in another amateur bout.
Chris de la Rocha, who trains at Progressive Jiu Jitsu in Vancouver, will battle Matt Howell in a professional fight.
Local fighter featured at Clark County MMA | The Columbian
With all the drama surrounding Anthony Pettis ahead of his title shot against Benson Henderson at UFC 164 in August, his injured knee -- the one that kept him fighting Jose Aldo four weeks earlier, and ultimately served as the reason he ended up fighting Henderson -- was sort of lost in the shuffle.
Turns out the small tear in his meniscus was the least of his worries, anyway.
The newly crowned 155-pound champion Pettis, who appeared on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, revealed that he fought Henderson while nursing a separated shoulder.
"You know what, my knee was fine, but I actually separated my shoulder two weeks before the [Henderson] fight," Pettis said. "So, going into the fight I had a separated right shoulder. My jitz coach [Daniel Wanderley] rolled a little too hard and he slammed me on my shoulder, and I separated my shoulder two weeks before the fight.
"The last two weeks before the camp all I could do was roll really light. I couldn’t spar. For me it was just a mental thing. I’ve been through that before. It sucks that it happened two before the fight, but I wasn’t backing out of that one."
Pettis, who finished Henderson with a stunning (if unexpected) first round armbar, said he wasn’t in a lot of pain on fight night, yet the shoulder gave him problems leading up. For instance, he said he had trouble sleeping on his right side because he couldn’t get comfortable with the injury.
Asked if he ever considered pulling out of the fight, which was in his hometown of Milwaukee, Pettis said that never crossed his mind.
"No, not at all," he said. "I just told me coach I’m going to settle down the last two weeks. I mean, I had a super-long training camp. From February until August I was training and getting ready for title fights. So I was 100 percent ready, but things happen. Every fighter can tell you, you never go into a fight 100 percent healthy."
Pettis injured his other knee during the Henderson bout when he absorbed a low kick just below the left knee -- a shot he called a "pretty effective kick that I might have to add to my arsenal."
Similar to his right knee, the injury -- which is a type-two sprain of his PCL and LCL -- won’t require surgery, nor affect his Dec. 14 title defense against Josh Thomson at UFC on FOX 9 in Sacramento. Though he hasn’t been able to kick or wrestle yet, he says he’s been doing a lot of boxing with Duke Roufus and company.
"Hopefully, in two weeks I should be back and able to spar," he said. "As long as I keep my rehab on point, I should be fine."
Anthony Pettis fought Benson Henderson with separated shoulder - MMA Fighting
The seemingly endless fight to get MMA legalized and regulated in New York has taken a new and nasty turn. The Albany Times Union reports:
A federal criminal investigation of Halfmoon (NY) Supervisor Melinda A. Wormuth is probing whether she secretly accepted money for lobbying on behalf of mixed martial arts legislation and whether she or her family received thousands of dollars from a builder with business before the town government.
The information comes from multiple people familiar with the case. They said the FBI is focusing on Wormuth's contact with two Republican state lawmakers - Sen. Kathleen Marchione and Assemblyman James Tedisco - related to a bill that passed the Senate but failed in the Assembly and would have legalized mixed martial arts fighting.
In early May, Wormuth, 46, wrote letters on town letterhead to both Tedisco and Marchione stating she "strongly urge(s) you to support MMA legislation."
When a massive lobbying effort like the one the UFC's parent company Zuffa has been funding in New York lo these many years occurs, a lot of money gets sloshed around and not all of it is distributed according to the letter of the law.
This investigation is taking place at the same time that the Culinary Union, the UFC's biggest foe in the NY lobbying fight, is taking a hit in the Nevada media for going too far in their relentless efforts to bash the UFC.
NY town official under FBI investigation over pro-MMA lobbying effort - Bloody Elbow
The UFC’s case against New York and its ban on mixed martial arts in the state will go forward after federal district court Judge Kimba M. Wood denied the state attorney general’s motion to dismiss the suit, ruling the plaintiffs have sufficiently alleged an as-applied vagueness challenge to the law written in 1997.
Specifically, the UFC and fellow plaintiffs including Jon Jones, Gina Carano, Frankie Edgar and others, argued that the combative sport ban is unconstitutionally vague under the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment.
In declining to dismiss the claim, the court noted the state’s erratic interpretation, application and enforcement of the ban over the years, including an exemption for martial arts sanctioned by various organizations including the World Kickboxing Association.
“A plain reading of this provision suggests plaintiffs would be allowed to promote a professional MMA event in New York if the event were sanctioned by one of the exempt organizations,” Wood noted. Buttressing the vagueness claim, Wood added that while the state originally agreed with that interpretation, they have now reversed course.
While the court dismissed multiple other claims in the suit, including one that the ban violates the plaintiffs’ First Amendment rights of expression, Wood ultimately ruled the challenge can go forward.
“We are pleased with the outcome of this crucial ruling,“ UFC’s COO Ike Lawrence Epstein said in a press release issued on Wednesday. “The inconsistency has cost the UFC considerable time and expense, but more important it has deprived MMA’s countless New York fans of the opportunity to attend and enjoy live professional and amateur MMA events in New York. It is time for New York to have a new law on MMA, one that legalizes the sport and regulates it in a safe way, as all other states have done. New York’s law is outdated, written at a time when MMA was a very different sport.”
Wood’s decision agrees with that claim, noting that “MMA has changed substantially since the ban was enacted, making the legislative history, which relates to earlier versions of MMA, of little relevance.”
New York is the only state with an athletic commission that has a ban on the sport. For several years, the UFC has been campaigning the state’s legislative bodies to pass a law to regulate MMA, but despite several successful votes in the State Senate and significant support in the Assembly, the effort has ultimately stalled out when the bill has been held back from a full vote.
In 2013, the UFC even pledged to hold at least four events per year in the state if a law was passed sanctioning the sport. Two of the promotion’s current champions — light-heavyweight Jones and middleweight Chris Weidman — are natives of the state.
The UFC has already said that if the case is not ultimately resolved at the District Court level, they intended to appeal the First Amendment ruling.
UFC wins key ruling in lawsuit banning MMA, punches back at New York - News | FOX Sports on MSN
Just a few short weeks after announcing his mixed martial arts (MMA) retirement, erstwhile Ultimate Fighting Championship Welterweight washout -- and unapologetic stoner -- Matthew Riddle has apparently decided to forgo a career in the "real world."
At least for now ...
Earlier this afternoon, Riddle (via MMAJunkie-com) revealed that he is emerging from self-imposed retirement after a whopping 24 days on the shelf. In a sport notorious for short-lived retirements, this may be a new record for fastest change of heart from a fighter who claimed he was done forever.
According to Riddle, his disenchantment with MMA came as result of his new employer, Bellator MMA, being unable to schedule him for a fight in 2013 after a rib injury in training forced him out of a scheduled 170-pound tournament bout at Bellator 100 last month.
With bills mounting and mouths to feed, the father of three felt he needed to pursue other avenues of employment if Bellator wasn't going to take care of him financially.
However, little more than three weeks later, Riddle is now whistling a more positive tune.
From the aforementioned report:
"Honestly, I was pissed. So, I was like, 'If I can't fight, I'm going to retire.' I basically threw a hissy fit and retired. (But Bellator) called me up and said, 'Bro, we didn't realize your situation.' They gave me an advance, they gave me money and the fight in November, and they've already got me scheduled for the tournament in January or February."
Bellator stepping up and helping Riddle out of his financial pinch comes as a rare bit of positive public relations for a promotion that has recently come under fire for its behind the scenes dealings with fighters.
Bellator 109, which takes place at Sands Casino Event Center in Bethlehem, Pa., on Nov. 22, 2013, will mark Riddle's return to the cage following a second positive marijuana test result that earned the medical marijuana card-holder his walking papers from UFC back in Feb. 2013.
Luckily for Riddle, if the promotion's current welterweight champ Ben Askren is to believed, Bellator's drug testing policies are, shall we say, somewhat less than stringent.
The real question here is if Riddle will once again walk to the cage to the hazy strains of Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water" like he did toward the end of his UFC run, or if he will opt for a new stoner anthem this time around.
Might I suggest Cheech and Chong's, "Earache My Eye?"
Matt Riddle calls off MMA retirement, re-set for Bellator 109 debut in November - MMAmania-com
Ali Baba and I met at an undisclosed location in Moscow, whose streets he lives on, to talk about life as a Russian fighter, the joys and pains of a traveling mixed martial artist, and his second life as a sports blogger.
Fightland: Many people see you as a legend. What’s popularity like for you?
Ali Baba: There’s even a photo called “Two Legends”--me and Fedor Emelianenko. Fedor being the official legend and me being the legend of the underground fighting scene. For many people who read my blog and see me fighting I symbolize the spirit of a fighter.They say that the spirit of a fighter has arisen inside of me. I have never fought before and then, just of a sudden, I went to fight and kick everyone’s ass. For tournament organizers and coaches, I’m a living legend who proves that at the age of 40 you can still fight.
I’m also like an elder brother for many. Especially for those who don’t have fathers or have fathers who are drinking and pay no attention to their kids. Kids often write to me asking for advice, sometimes they ask me about social needs. I once had a whole love affair that I was part of.
With all that, I consider myself just an ordinary man, that’s all. Maybe I’d like to feel something like [a hero] but as another Russian saying goes, “You can’t foul a mirror.” One-eyed, squint-eyed, defective, imperfect. This just kills any desire to be famous no matter how hard I’ve tried to turn my birth defect into an advantage. I’ve submitted to the fact that that’s the way I look, that’s how God created me. I won’t become more beautiful or better looking, so live the way you are.
Fightland Talks to: Russia's Homeless MMA Legend | FIGHTLAND