Charles Oliveira will no longer compete at UFC 166.
Ericson Cardozo, the head coach of the Brazilian featherweight, revealed to MMAFighting-com that Oliveira has suffered a muscle strain and won’t be able to face Jeremy Larsen on Oct. 19. MMA Premium first reported the news.
"He strained his muscle in the thigh and won’t be able to walk for three or four weeks," Cardozo told MMAFighting-com on Friday. "It’s likely that he won’t be able to fight again this year, unfortunately."
Oliveira was originally set to meet Estevan Payan on the card, but Payan was pulled out of UFC 166 with a broken foot and replaced by Larsen. At 0-2 in the UFC, Larsen waits for a new opponent.
"I’m really sad because I knew how important this fight was and I know how ready I was for this," Oliveira told MMA Premium. "The doctors told me that I can’t even move or this injury can get worse."
UFC 166 is headlined by the heavyweight championship bout between Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos.
Charles Oliveira injured, out of UFC 166 fight with Jeremy Larsen - MMA Fighting
Rony Jason wants to make a statement when he meets Jeremy Stephens at UFC Fight Night 32.
Jason looked impressive after winning The Ultimate Fighter Brazil’s first season, finishing both Sam Sicilia and Mike Wilkinson, and he doesn’t expect his upcoming fight to go to the judges either on Nov. 9 in Goiania, Brazil.
"Jeremy Stephens is a tough opponent," Jason told MMAFighting-com. "He started in the UFC one year after I started fighting MMA, so it’s great that I have the opportunity to fight him. This fight will put me among the tops in the UFC.
"I like his style, he’s a brawler like Chris Leben," he continued. "One of my inspirations is Chris Leben, I love his style and always watch his highlights. My style is similar to his, we are not afraid to stand and bang. One of us is going down. It’s going to be a great fight for the fans."
Jason and Stephens were originally set to fight on Oct. 9 at UFC Fight Night 29, but injuries forced the promotion to postpone the featherweight bout.
"I came to the gym to train wrestling and I felt my spine hurt," he said. "I went to the doctor and he said I had lumbar hernia, so he told me I should postpone the fight. It was better this way because I want to get there 100 percent."
Jason has won most of his fights via submission and he believes his ground game would probably be the best way to defeat Stephens. However, he won’t run away from "Lil' Heathen’s" heavy hands.
"My jiu-jitsu is better than his, his wrestling is better than mine, and our striking game is pretty even," he said. "According to my coaches, the best strategy is to take him down and go for the submission. I’m a jiu-jitsu guy and I will never forget that, but if I feel comfortable standing I will stay there. If he punches me I’ll try to give it back, even if my coaches tell me to go for the takedown."
The Brazilian has won eight in a row with seven finishes and he expects to fight a top-ranked opponent next to get closer to a shot at the UFC title.
"There are a lot of great fighters in this division, but I’ll do my best to earn a shot at the title one day," he said. "I know I will have the UFC title in my house."
With Diego Brandao vs. Dustin Poirier set for UFC 168, Jason expects to coach the next season of TUF Brazil with Brandao next year.
"I won the first season of TUF Brazil and he was the first Brazilian to win a TUF season in the United States, so it would be interesting to see which TUF is the toughest," he said. "I would try to knock him out, man. He’s very explosive, so I would hold him in the first round and then go for the finish."
Rousimar Palhares makes his welterweight debut on Oct. 9 at UFC Fight Night 29 in Barueri, Brazil, and he promises a new fighter inside the Octagon.
On the heels of back-to-back losses against Alan Belcher and Hector Lombard, the jiu-jitsu ace decided to part ways with Brazilian Top Team for Team Nogueira, while trying his hand at 170 pounds to redirect the course of his career. Mike Pierce is a tough first challenge as a welterweight, but Palharaes' first big challenge will occur before they trade punches. First, he'll have to make the weight.
"I've suffered a lot," Palhares told MMAFighting-com. "But the greater the sacrifice, the greater the reward. That’s how I think."
"Toquinho" was always short for a middleweight, but he had to completely change his diet to drop from his usual walkaround weight of 215 pounds to the neighborhood of 189, making it easier to cut down to 170.
"I feel better than I expected at 170," he said. "I did a 20-minute fight in the gym one day after I cut down to 170 and did great. I’ve changed everything in my diet. I can eat everything but carbohydrates and sugar. It was tough, man. I loved to eat meat, french fries, chocolate and ice cream, but that’s okay."
Palhares went 7-4 in the UFC as a middleweight, and for a little while his name was hovering around contender status, but he tested positive for elevated testosterone levels following his loss to Lombard last December. That all belongs to his previous chapters, he says.
"Those things are in the past," he said. "I just look to the future now. It feels great to be back. This is a whole new start for my career, and I feel ready."
Palhares, who hails from Minas Gerais, guarantees the weight cut won’t be a problem, and neither will his frame of mind be. His former coach Murilo Bustamante has said many times in the past he wanted Palhares to talk to a psychologist for some past issues, but the UFC fighter believes it's not necessary.
"We needed that because we had some problems at Brazilian Top Team, which I won’t mention here, and we spoke with a psychologist -- but I believe that we are our own psychologists," he said. "Psychology is training. We need to focus on this all day long. I don’t need to think about other things besides fighting. My psychologist is God."
Palhares says he's thankful for everything Brazilian Top Team has done for him in the past, but felt it was time to move on because he "wasn’t evolving anymore." Team Nogueira felt like a natural fit since he has trained in the past with the Nogueira brothers at BTT. Now he works with them in rolling out the new "Toquinho" at UFN 29.
"I’m working a lot on my striking game," he said. "I’m a different fighter now. I’m training with Erivan Conceicao, one of the best boxing coaches in the world, and he’s working a lot on my striking game. I’m very confident."
Seven of Palhares' 14 victories have come via leg locks or heel hooks, but, as his game evolves, he says that doesn't mean he's a one-trick pony.
"Anything can happen," he said. "I have many other submissions, I just haven't had the opportunity to show them yet. I haven’t showed many things from my arsenal. You can’t think that I only have the heel hook, but I’m really good at it and people worry more about that. If my opponent doesn’t want to go to the ground because he doesn’t want me to attack his foot, he will train that a lot and maybe he doesn’t pay attention to other things."
Mike Pierce is quietly 9-3 in the UFC, and he'll bring a four-fight winning streak with him to Brazil when he steps in against Palhares. But, having done his homework on Pierce, Palhares says he knows what to expect against the wrestler.
"He likes to work on the clinch, closer to the fence, and sometimes he goes for a takedown," Palhares said. "Many people believe he won’t try to take me down, but I’m training for everything. I’m working on things that have to be worked on. I’m letting my sparring partners work on the fence so I have to defend myself. I like to work this way so I’m forced to evolve."
Rousimar Palhares ready for fresh start at welterweight - MMA Fighting
Evilasio Silva (8-12) defeated Claudinei Angelo (4-5) at JF Fight Evolution in Juiz de Fora, Brazil, on Oct. 5, but not the way he expected.
Angelo (8-12) was controlling the action when Angelo’s mouthpiece fell on the mat. Flavio Almendra, stopped the bout and asked Angelo to get back his mouthpiece. It happened again, and Almendra stopped the bout once again.
When Angelo clearly spat his mouthpiece to recover from the punches, the referee refused to stop the fight. Angelo went on and asked for a "time out". Silva and Almendra didn’t understood what he was asking for, but Angelo decided to quit. The door was locked, so his only way out was jumping off the fence and leaving the arena.
Brazilian MMA fighter gives up, jumps fence and runs out of the cage - MMA Fighting
Sitting down with Sherilyn Lim is a spirited affair, with the Singaporean mixed martial artist (MMA) refreshingly candid, natural and at ease with herself.
She was speaking to Yahoo Singapore at Fight G gym, where she works and trains in preparation for her professional debut at ONE Fighting Championship (ONE FC) on 18 October at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
Perhaps it was the daily training endorphins – unlikely her post-workout meal of plain spinach – but Lim was a bundle of warm, infectious laughs, at least until the topic shifted to her source of motivation.
“A close friend of mine who just passed,” she revealed, tears welling up in her eyes.
The 23-year-old was referring to ex-schoolmate Amron Ayoub, who died in a horrific car accident on National Day this year.
“He believed in me, in the things I couldn’t see in myself,” said Lim. “And he always encouraged me to trust my decisions; to trust that it’s going to turn out well and just press on.”
The two friends first met at Singapore Polytechnic, where Lim was part of the pioneering batch that started the school’s muay Thai club in 2007.
“Amron dedicated himself fully in all circumstances,” she recalled. “He was always very clear about what he wanted to achieve, and how to go about doing it.”
Her friend’s example would later prove key to helping her surmount the bumps and uncertainties littering her path to an MMA career.
Lim graduated in 2010 and worked a job in advertising, which she said she’d still be doing if not for her return to fight sport. “I just wouldn’t be as happy,” she reflected.
For that, she has a chance encounter with Darren de Silva to be thankful for. The Fight G honcho, who coached Lim during her kickboxing days in school, managed to convince his former student to train under him once again.
Making the leap to MMA last year, however, was a new challenge altogether. She needed to add grappling techniques to her striking repertoire, but Lim had her reservations.
“It’s very close-contact compared to muay Thai, and when you wrestle or grapple, you’re talking about close contact with, most of the time, guys,” she said. “I thought it would be an issue, but I dived into it and it turned out alright.”
Golden opportunity
The gutsy, 1.6m-tall lady soon found herself inside the cage for her first-ever MMA fight at the amateur Ultimate Satria Championship tournament in July this year.
Footage of Lim’s dominant win made its way to ONE FC personnel and the Asian MMA giant came knocking just a month later.
“I was completely caught off-guard. Surprised, honoured, yes… but part of me thought, should I? I was aware of how quickly things were moving along,” she admitted.
“In the end I was like, ‘Oh my God, don’t think, just do it, you only have one chance, you’re talking about ONE FC and that doesn’t come by every day'.”
Lim added, “It’s not something you pass up. It’s not something you say you’ll do next year. Next year they won’t want you anymore because somebody newer, fresher, stronger has taken up that space.”
“If anything… there are things that I’ve given up or stopped short of and I don’t want to do that anymore,” she declared.
The fight and beyond
The sweet promise of home-ground victory in front of 12,000 fans is there for Lim’s taking, but she must first circumvent Malaysian debutant Ann Osman in a 52kg Causeway contest.
It will be only the second women’s MMA fight in ONE FC history – and sizeable buzz is already building around what remains a rare spectacle on this side of the world.
Lim has her finger on the situation and is clearly ready to play her part. “I hope that when women watch the fight, they will see things in themselves that they previously didn’t see before," she said.
And no matter the outcome, she’s sticking around for good. “After this fight, I don’t want to just disappear, because that way female MMA isn’t going to grow. You can’t just have one fight and then the hype dies down. I’d rather it be a consistent thing.”
What would she do, then, to raise the profile of MMA for Singaporean women?
“The industry is not new. It’s progressed, but it’s not as exposed, or accepted, or welcomed. These are things I want to work towards first, rather than say ‘I want to bring up the name of female MMA’,” said Lim.
Surprising depth of vision from someone just over a year into the sport, but then again, not every MMA rookie has such an inspirational friend to draw both strength and wisdom from.
“What happened to Amron showed me that it’s not so much about the fight,” Lim stressed. “But how, as a person, when you’ve lived your life, what impact you’re going to have on people.”
Chinzo Machida started fighting MMA two years after his brother Lyoto Machida made his MMA debut, but his career has yet to take off like the more famous member of his family. His only win in three professional fights happened in 2005, but he’s willing to restart his path in MMA to join "The Dragon" inside the cage.
Chinzo Machida signed with Resurrection Fighting Alliance earlier this year, and he was expected to meet James Barber in June, but he was forced to withdraw with a broken foot. The featherweight will finally make his RFA debut on Nov. 22, when he takes on Justin Houghton.
"I’ve been training hard for a long time," Machida told MMAFighting-com. "I did my preparation in Belem, Brazil, but now I’m going to Manchester with Lyoto. After his fight [with Mark Munoz] I’ll finish my preparation in California."
Houghton is 4-2 in MMA with three knockout wins, but Machida, a 12-time national karate champion, wants to prove he’s the better striker at RFA 10.
"I’ve seen [Houghton's] fights already," he said. "He’s a muay Thai fighter, likes to stand and fight, but I couldn’t see how his ground game is. It’s an MMA fight. Maybe I’ll have the opportunity to take him down, and I don’t see any problems with that -- but I want to fight him standing."
Machida last fought in an MMA event back in December 2010, but a first-round injury forced him to change his strategy and he ended up losing to Leonardo Laiola at WFE in Salvador, Brazil.
"I broke my hand in the first round of my last fight and fought two more rounds, so my bone shattered," he said. "I did one surgery but had to do another with the same hand later. It was a slow recovery, but I’m completely healed now. I've started to become a more complete fighter, training more ground game and wrestling."
Lyoto Machida is a former UFC light heavyweight champion, and Chinzo wants to show that that kind of greatness runs in the family. RFA flyweight champion Sergio Pettis recently signed with the promotion to join his brother Anthony Pettis in the UFC, and that's ultimately what Chinzo Machida wants.
"The UFC is the biggest promotion in the world, that’s where the best fighters are, but I’ll have to show what I can do to get there," he said. "It doesn’t matter if I’m Lyoto’s brother, he did his career and I’m doing mine. I’ll have to win fights to get in the UFC, and that’s why I’m training and fighting for."
Chinzo Machida wants to join his brother in the UFC - MMA Fighting
IT’S only fitting that the Ultimate Fighting Championship punches above its weight on the world stage.
The sport, which pits competitors from a range of martial arts against each other in a trademark octagonal arena, earned a reputation when it started for smaller guys handing out beatings to much larger, more fancied opponents.
That was 20 years ago, when there were few fans and even fewer rules.
Now, it’s a phenomenon, with pay-per-view bouts televised globally, competitors’ faces plastered over billboards above New York’s Times Square and millions of devotees following their favourite fighters.
And they’re not all just watching — an increasing number of fans are taking up mixed martial arts themselves as a means of keeping fit.
Tickets are now on sale for the UFC’s fifth Australian bout, held for the first time ever in Brisbane on December 7 and featuring competitors from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan and the USA.
One of those will be Sydney’s Anthony Perosh, a veteran of the sport who at 41 is still among Australia’s top exponents of mixed martial arts.
Membership at his two martial arts gyms in Concord and Liverpool has ballooned to more than 600 thanks to the sport’s popularity, despite the fact most will never actually trade blows in the ring.
"We’re getting a lot more calls about MMA, but only five per cent of people will actually get into the octagon," Perosh said.
"The other 570 are just doing it for fitness, to learn a new skill or as a social thing to meet new people."
Perosh will take on US light heavyweight fighter Ryan Bader in his December 7 Brisbane bout, with Sydney-based heavyweight Mark "The Super Samoan" Hunt fighting Florida’s Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva in the main event.
Tickets are on sale through Ticketek.
UFC training not just for use in the Octagon, says Australian MMA star Anthony Perosh | News-com.au
Yan Cabral made his UFC debut on Wednesday with a unanimous decision victory over David Mitchell at UFC Fight Night 29 in Barueri, Brazil, but he lost part of the money he made in the fight as soon as he returned to Rio de Janeiro.
Sources close to the fighter told MMAFighting-com that Cabral had just left the bank when two men robbed him at gunpoint in Marques de Abrantes street, a few blocks from Nova Uniao training center. O Dia first reported the news.
"I went to the bank to get the money to pay (Pederneiras)," Cabral told MMAFighting-com, "and when I was entering the gym the guy pointed a gun to my face and took my money."
The TUF Brazil 2 contestant lost the money he would use to pay his head coach and manager, Nova Uniao’s leader Andre Pederneiras.
"I was talking to my girlfriend last night about this," he said. "She started talking about the violence in Rio de Janeiro and I defended (the city), saying that I live here for 15 years and never even saw an someone being robbed here."
Yan Cabral robbed at gunpoint two days after first UFC win - MMA Fighting
And just like that, Yushin Okami has found a new home.
The former UFC middleweight title contender has signed an exclusive, multi-fight deal with World Series of Fighting, the promotion's president Ray Sefo and executive vice president Ali Abdel-Aziz confirmed with MMAFighting-com.
Okami will make his WSOF debut "around March" 2014, however, a specific date and opponent hasn't been finalized. "Thunder" will compete in the organization's middleweight division.
Okami (29-8) was released from the UFC last month following his first-round TKO loss to Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza. Prior to that loss, he had won his last three fights in a row. The 32-year-old made his Octagon debut at UFC 62 in Aug. 2006 and went 13-5 in the organization. The last time the Japanese-born fighter competed outside the UFC was over seven years ago.
World Series of Fighting's next event is scheduled for Oct. 26 in Coral Gables, Fla., and it will be headlined by Josh Burkman vs. Steve Carl for the promotion's inaugural welterweight title.
Yushin Okami signs with World Series of Fighting - MMA Fighting
As a member of Northern California's famed Skrap Pack, Gilbert Melendez is one of the privileged few who finds himself inside Nick Diaz's inner circle.
And while the latter says he's finished with mixed martial arts, his Cesar Gracie teammate is convinced he'll come back for the right fight.
Speaking to reporters during a luncheon at a downtown restaurant Monday, Melendez, who meets Diego Sanchez on Saturday at UFC 166, says that he believes the former Strikeforce welterweight champion will compete again if a good offer catches his attention.
"I think with the right opportunity, for the right thing, he'll come out," Melendez said. "Whether it's boxing, whether it's kickboxing, whether it's whatever, some sort of challenge would be great."
With 36 career fights under his belt, Diaz has been at the game awhile. And after losing to UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre in the main event of UFC 158, Diaz likely would have had to take a step down in competition next time out. Melendez feels Diaz would rather hold out that allow his name to be used to build someone else.
"I don't think he has the desire to be a stepping stone or he doesn't want to play that role," Melendez said. "Sometimes you have to come back up the ladder in your career and I don't think he wants that. I think he wants to fight top-level competition. He doesn't need to fight just to take it."
In the meantime, Diaz kept himself busy by putting on the WAR MMA show in June in his hometown of Stockton, Calif. According to Melendez, Diaz didn't put on the show to bring publicity to himself, but rather simply to be able to put on a show in his hometown.
"Nick's goal is always to do something good for the sport and his community, believe it or not," Melendez said. "He just wanted to put on a show in his hometown and get his boys some fights. He had some money to do it and it's a write-off for him, but he's under a microscope, and people get wind of it, and they start critiquing it and they start saying the show's going to suck. I feel for the guy, he's under a microscope the whole time. ...
"[Diaz said] 'I didn't want to say it was my show,'" Melendez continued. "'The people behind me wanted to, in order for the show to be successful.' You know, he did the right thing and put his name behind it. He did the right thing. I don't think his goal is to be the next big promoter, I think he just wanted to do something good for the MMA community in his hometown."
Either way, Melendez feels if Diaz wanted to come out of his self-imposed retirement, he could do so at pretty much any moment.
"Nick is forever ready. He's always in shape, he's always sparring, he's always grappling. He does triathlons, he's in better shape than most guys who are relevant now in the game."
Gilbert Melendez: Nick Diaz would end retirement for 'the right opportunity' - MMA Fighting
From a regulatory standpoint, there a number of hot topics in the sport of mixed martial arts today. One that stands above the rest because it seemingly never goes away is the controversy surrounding the use of the 'ten-point must system'. Borrowed from boxing, it awards ten points to the winner of a round and nine points or less to the loser.
Yet, in the hands of incompetent judges, impulsive referees who take away points and fewer rounds per fight, more are beginning to wonder if borrowing boxing's scoring system was really the best idea.
In recent days and weeks, UFC analyst and former UFC fighter Kenny Florian as well as UFC commentator Joe Rogan have both attacked the system for perceived inadequecies.
On Monday's 'The MMA Hour' with Ariel Helwani, UFC Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Marc Ratner believed the concerns of the system were valid, but generally speaking, felt it was perfectly suitable for use in the sport.
"I think it does work," Ratner said. "The problem with that system, whether it be boxing or MMA, is that not all 10-9 rounds are equal. Certainly in a three-round fight, that can skew who wins, but for the most part, most of the decisions are good."
"Every once in a while, you're going to get one that certainly goes against public opinion," Ratner continued. "But MMA is harder to judge than boxing, in my opinion, because you have to know what's going on on the ground. "When I first started over [at UFC], I thought the guy underneath could never win a round and I've certainly changed my opinion on that because there's a lot of guys who can do a lot from the bottom."
Ratner, the former Executive Director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, was quick to note the ten-point must system wasn't without it's drawbacks, but believes in three central ideas.
First, officials are getting better at understanding how to interpret offense, defense and what a winning round looks like, although that's still a work in progress. Two, when judges do their jobs correctly, the existing system works just fine. And three, not only is changing the existing system going to be difficult, but in his mind, there's no clear alternative that would work better.
"It's an evolving discipline and I think we just have to keep on educating and that's part of my goals," Ratner remarked. "No, I don't think [the ten-point must system] would be that easy to change. I'm not for the half-point system. I can understand it, but I think if the judges really concentrate and do their job, the ten-point must system can work."
That wasn't all Ratner discussed during his nearly thirty-minute interview on Monday. Here are some highlights of the myriad topics he discussed as it relates to the regulation and safety of the sport:
On whether Rousimar Palhares should've been cut:
"Absolutely because of his history. If this was his first offense, I would say, 'Well, he didn't deserve the bonus.' But since he's done this before and I've heard other stories, I think you have to do what's right and Dana was completely correct in releasing him."
On the developing Brazilian athletic commission (Comissao Atletica Brasileira de MMA):
"They thought they had to do something [with Palhares]. That means he is free to sign with someone else. That would be up to him, but he still cannot fight anywhere in the world for the next four months.
"I think they're getting better and better. They're developing more Brazilian officials. I think they're doing fine. They understand the importance of it. I'm happy to say they're progressing very well."
On the comments made about the NSAC by 'Big' John McCarthy:
"I do believe he's one of the top referees in the world and I think you are seeing him more and more. If I were him, I'd never knock another state commission because the states do band together and they hear that an official is saying something bad about one of their brothers. And I've discussed that with him. I don't think that's the right way to handle it...I think that if he wants to have a complaint, he should do it more internally than externally and not put it out there for the world.
"I would say that, yes, he's one of the top officials and I expect him to be [in Nevada] one day. I don't know when that'll be, but I certainly never talk about his officiating. He's very, very good."
On the judging in Pacquiao vs. Bradley, Mayweather vs. Canelo bouts in Nevada:
"What I would want [the NSAC] to do is deepen the pool of officials they use and use a few more out of state officials. I was at both the [Manny] Pacquiao fight and the last one with Floyd [Mayweather]. I certainly thought Floyd won the last fight, I thought pretty simply. I had it 10 to 2, so I disagree with a 6-6 score. The Pacquiao fight I thought was 9 to 3, but I was sitting in the stands, ten rows up right in the middle of the ring and watching pretty intently, but it's not like being right on the ring."
On the process of and dangers of weight cutting:
We bring everybody in on Monday and Tuesday for a Saturday night fight....But if you sign a fight 75-days out, there's no reason to come on fight week - and we weigh everyone on Tuesday - to have 20 pounds above. Now, they know how to cut, but i think it's really wrong.
I think we have to change the culture. That's a big part of it. And what happened in Brazil, the guy was taking weight cutting, some kind of a drug that was good for weight cutting and had to lose too much weight in too short a time and his body shut down. It's very, very wrong and it's sad. I think it can be fixed.
On the punishment handed out to Ben Rothwell after UFC 164:
"Because he had gotten the exemption, but hadn't followed instruction. The day of the fight when they tested him, his levels were elevated and that's wrong. We feel very strongly about that. And I tried to make it like, if this was the state of the Nevada, this is what we would've done, what they would've don
Renzo Gracie is a pioneer of the sport his family created – mixed martial arts. He has beaten a number of former UFC champions in multiple weight classes and counts a number of UFC champs as students, including Matt Serra, Georges St. Pierre, Chris Weidman and Frankie Edgar.
At 46 years of age, Gracie himself has not fought in years (his last bout was a loss at 2010 to long-time welterweight champ Matt Hughes), yet he says that he wants nothing more than to fight again.
“I’ve been so busy over the years that I have not ever really been able to focus on my own training and fight career,” Renzo tells Cagewriter.
“But I will fight again. I have been training hard and will be able to focus on myself and my own training soon. For sure I am going to fight again. We will see where and against who but it is going to happen soon. Fighting is just inside me.”
Gracie says that while he still has a UFC contract, it does not preclude him from competing elsewhere if the organization does not end up giving him another fight. Renzo recently helped two of his cousins, Roger and Rolles prepare for fights of their own and is currently organizing the 2013 World Jiu Jitsu Expo, which will take place in Long Beach, CA Nov. 9 and 10.
Roger and Rolles both suffered tough defeats after starting out their bouts well. Any time a Gracie loses in MMA, the critics come out of the woodwork but after those two losses, Roger, Rolles and, by implication, Renzo received rough criticism from an unlikely source – their own cousin Royce Gracie.
Royce, of course, was the original UFC champion, beating multiple men in single nights when there were few rules and the fights were style vs. style. Renzo says that Royce has no place critiquing fighters who he has no part in developing. After Rolles' and Roger's recent losses, Royce publicly criticized their fighting, saying that they deviated too far from pure jiu-jitsu.
“First of all, you should only offer criticism if you’re one of the people helping the guys. When I tell these guys things it’s because I’m there with them, I coach them, I train with them, I do all these things with them and for them,” Renzo tells us in response to Royce’s critical comments.
“If you’re not on the mat sweating and bleeding with people, you can’t talk about their training and fighting.”
Renzo won’t say if Royce has a personal axe to grind with him but advises that his cousin, and everyone for that matter, keep their mouths closed when in doubt.
“I don’t know if it is personal. It’s just that, usually when we have something to say, it is stupid,” Renzo says with a chuckle.
“That’s why it’s better to think before you speak or keep things to yourself. If I said everything I thought a lot of it would be stupid as well [laughs]. “
Before he can focus on his own fight career again, Renzo needs to get this year’s World Jiu Jitsu Expo off the ground next month. The expo will feature vendors, demonstrations, autograph signings but also submission grappling super matches between some of the best MMA fighters in the world and some of the best jiu jitsu athletes out there.
“I’m excited not just because we plan to have fighters take part like Nam Phan, Jon Fitch, Matt Riddle and others,” Renzo says.
“But also because this expo is everything jiu jitsu. It will have everything for those that love jiu jitsu and will expose all parts of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu to those wanting to learn. This is the art I love and I enjoy sharing it with everyone.”
Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall jokes that if former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar moves to the province, Lesnar can pretty much pick any house he wants.
Wall made the comment in a speech Thursday to a Regina business crowd that included the U.S. wrestler and retired mixed martial artist.
"He likes Saskatchewan, he told me, in fact he comes here regularly," Wall said after the speech.
"He told me he's not ruling out moving here and he just wanted to check out, I guess, the political situation and the economic situation. It's what he told me and I wasn't about to challenge him on any of his answers."
Lesnar said he was visiting his brother's farm in Maryfield, southeast of Regina, near the Manitoba boundary, to help with the harvest. He found out about the luncheon and decided he wanted to hear what the premier had to say.
"I eventually want to become a Saskatchewan resident and ... I just want to learn a little more about the province," he said.
"I grew up on a farm. I love the country. I like the wildlife. I like everything that Saskatchewan has to offer."
It seems a far cry from when Lesnar fell ill on a hunting trip to Manitoba and, in January 2010, criticized Canadian health care as being no better than in "a Third World country."
In his autobiography "Death Clutch," released in 2011, the mixed martial arts star describes his painful stay at a Brandon hospital in late 2009. Lesnar says he suffered because the hospital's lone CT machine was broken, meaning doctors were unable to find out what was causing his stomach pain.
At the time, the CEO of the Brandon Regional Health Authority said the hospital was well-equipped and modern with skilled, trained staff.
Lesnar and wife drove across the border to a hospital in Bismarck, N.D., where he was diagnosed shortly thereafter with diverticulitis, a digestive disorder.
"It could have happened anywhere," he said.
"That doesn't deter me from becoming a Canadian citizen, no it doesn't. It's one of those things where it probably could have been anywhere and you know, who knows (what would have happened). It was just circumstance and that's all it was."
Lesnar said "in the near future," he would like to get dual citizenship and live in Saskatchewan full time.
"I just want to raise my kids on the farm and have them grow up learning how to work on the farm and building that strong work ethic, just like I did."
Read more: Former MMA champ Brock Lesnar says he wants to move to Saskatchewan | CTV News
SUMMERSIDE – Bad news for local mixed martial arts fans.
Despite rumours to the contrary, Summerside does not have an MMA event on the books, says JP Desrosiers, the city’s director of community services.
With those words, Desrosiers shot down the hopes of fans of the increasingly popular combat sport.
However, he didn’t completely shut the door on the prospect either.
“We are doing some due diligence and research in the realm of hosting MMA – but we don’t have anything solidified at this point in time. We don’t have a commission structured and we’re still kind of in the discovery mode of MMA,” said Desrosiers.
He also added that the city is fairly far along in the process of eventually hosting an event – but was cautious when it came to a timeline.
He suggested a final decision on whether Summerside has the ability to host MMA might be made in the spring at the earliest, unless something happens between now and then that he’s not currently aware of.
Summerside does have a combative sport bylaw – however, the province has said that the bylaw doesn’t conform to provincial legislation, thus putting the whole affair in limbo.
To make matters worse for local MMA fans, changes to the Criminal Code of Canada that came into effect this summer have forced some provinces to take a step back and re-examine the legality of local MMA governing boards.
Moncton, for instance, just announced it will no longer be sanctioning MMA events after several years of doing so, because it is no longer clear on whether its bylaws conform to the new criminal code wording.
Richard Arsenault, a Summerside MMA fighter and trainer, said the situation in Moncton has really been a blow for Island MMA fighters.
Moncton is still allowing wrestling and boxing, so he’s accepted a couple of boxing matches until he figures out his future in MMA.
“I’m 35. I’ll be 36 next month. If they don’t have shows again for two years – I’m going to be a little too old,” he said.
But his prospects, and those of a many more local MMA athletes, would improve significantly if Summerside started hosting events.
“Right now there are already two or three promotions that are waiting to come in here,” he said.
Chance “Black Eagle” Rencountre may be from a small town of 3,500 in northeastern Oklahoma, but he’s making a big name for himself.
The undefeated MMA fighter--11-0—captured another win on Saturday, October 12 at the C3 Championship MMA Fights at First Council Casino and Hotel in Newkirk, Oklahoma.
“Being 11-0 is awesome… I want to be undefeated my entire career,” said Rencountre. “It is one of the goals I set when I first started.”
Rencountre, 26, is a member of the Osage Nation and grew up in Pawhuska, Oklahoma. His mother, Connie Rencountre, encouraged him to participate in sports at a young age. He began wrestling at age four and continued with that sport through college. He attended Labette Community College in Parsons, Kansas and was named the Academic National Champion and Wrestling All-American in 2008.
“I was a late-developer in high school and didn’t have a growth spurt until 10th grade,” said Rencountre, who is 6’2” and 185 pounds. “In college is where I took my wrestling to another level.”
In 2010, he attended Fort Hays State University on a wrestling scholarship. In his first semester, he was ranked first in the Mid-American Intercollegiate Athletic Association and eighth in the nation.
But that same year, he was dismissed from the FHSU wrestling team after being charged with aggravated battery after allegedly punching a freshman in the face, according to The University Leader, FHSU’s online newspaper.
“Getting kicked off of the wrestling team my senior year in college was the hardest thing I had to go through,” Rencountre said. “But I had to work through it and stay positive.”
After that experience, Rencountre decided to pursue Mixed Martial Arts.
“Wrestlers go to the Olympics or start coaching after college,” he said. “Wrestlers however, can conform to MMA and I wanted a career in something. I knew I didn’t want to work in construction for the rest of my life.”
That’s when Rencountre got an offer to help train UFC fighters. In 2011, his uncle, Cloyd Easley Jr., helped him buy a plane ticket and he moved to California to work at the Alliance Training Center in Chula Vista.
“I took an opportunity and ran with it,” Rencountre said. “I wrestled with Phil Davis, a professional MMA fighter for the UFC and I took him down.”
Rencountre has been back to California several times and has been working with Striking Coach, Daniel Rhodes.
With Rhodes’s help, Rencountre won two titles: In April 2012, he won the Welterweight Title at the Battle @ the Fort VI held in Hays, Kansas; and in November 2012, he won the Titan Tournament of Champions 2 in Kansas City.
When he isn’t training he is back home in Oklahoma making extra money as a carpenter or relaxing at home with his girlfriend, Kady King and daughter Suri in Nebraska.
After being denied sponsorship from the Osage Casino, Rencountre decided to go door-to-door in his hometown asking for help.
Luckily, Rencountre was able to get sponsorship from Native American-owned businesses Blue Star Studio Ink, Cedar Chest, Spurs and Arrows, On-Hand Printing, Buffalo Nickel and Freeman Ranch.
“We live in a small town. When any one person is doing outstanding, it's just a natural thing for the community to come behind that one person to support and push them to be the best they can be,” said Alexis Rencountre, Chance’s sister.
Alexis is constantly thinking of ideas of how to help her brother and recently had a fundraiser in Pawhuska, Oklahoma.
“This is part of my duty as a sister--to take care of him,” said Alexis. “He has a dream that he wants to pursue, and if I had a dream, I know he would do the same for me.”
Read more at MMA Fighter Making a Big Name for Himself - ICTMN-com
The public face of the insolvent rail company implicated in the Lac-Mégantic train disaster remains convinced that single-man crews are safe — even more so than those with multiple workers — and maintains that one man is responsible for the deadly accident.
Edward Burkhardt, chairman of Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway, told the Toronto Star in a recent interview that he stands by his company’s use of one-man crews, and would continue using them if Transport Canada had not passed emergency regulation banning their use in the wake of the July 6 disaster that killed 47 people.
MMA was granted permission from Transport Canada to reduce their staffing to one man in 2012 — an allowance that, within two weeks of the disaster, was overturned for all trains transporting dangerous goods.
“I think safety is enhanced when unneeded personnel are not involved in an operation,” said Burkhardt from his office in Illinois, adding the one-man crew “had absolutely nothing to do with what occurred there.”
An internal investigation by MMA into the accident is almost complete and Burkhardt said the company stands by his initial statement that Tom Harding, the sole engineer who parked the 72-car MMA train hours before the disaster, did not set a sufficient number of hand brakes on the cars.
“That’s still the situation,” he said. “The man on that train had plenty of time to properly set the brakes on that train. He didn’t.”
Thomas Walsh, Harding’s lawyer, has called that conclusion premature, and said the Transportation Safety Board and Quebec police investigations should be allowed to run their course.
Last week, Lac-Mégantic residents complained that MMA dealt the town a second blow after Transport Canada ruled a special tourist train — intended to bring visitors to the recovering town for a few hours — could not operate because the MMA-owned tracks were not safe.
The train, operated by regional train company Orford Express, was due to begin bringing visitors to Lac-Mégantic Oct. 14, in an effort to help boost the struggling economy. When the special trips were announced earlier this month, Lac-Mégantic Mayor Colette Roy Laroche had called it “a step towards reclaiming our town.”
But following a last-minute inspection earlier this month, Transport Canada ruled the MMA-owned tracks, which run along the edge of the town, were not safe for use by the Orford Express. Vegetation encroaching on the tracks, issues with the grade-crossing signal, and debris on parts of the rails were among the problems.
The train company has been forced to take passengers to Lac-Mégantic by bus, while the rest of the trip is done by rail.
According to Transport Canada, MMA is in charge of the maintenance of the track — something Burkhardt said is not going to happen any time soon.
“It’s not a priority, and it’s costly, and we don’t have the funds to do it,” he said.
Burkhardt insists MMA never agreed to allow Orford Express to use the track, and remains confused why the regional train company went ahead and sold tickets when the arrangement hadn’t been finalized.
A spokesperson for Orford Express did not return a request for comment.
The track in question, which runs east of Sherbrooke, Que., past Lac-Mégantic, and south to Jackman, Me., was used every day before the disaster, Burkhardt said. Some of the problems found by Transport Canada were caused by discontinued use in the past three months, he added.
“We would have loved to have been able to run that train, and we told the Orford Express a long time ago that we couldn’t . . . but now we’re getting the fingers pointing at us as, once again, letting down the people of Lac-Mégantic. And I don’t think that’s true,” Burkhardt said.
Last week, after MMA demonstrated it has sufficient third-party insurance, the Canadian Transportation Agency extended MMA’s operating licence, allowing the company to continue conducting business in Canada until at least February 2014. The decision was in part made because of an 80-per cent decline in the transport of dangerous goods by MMA, which in turn reduces any risks the company poses.
The railway’s overall operations are down between 70 and 80 per cent, Burkhardt said, in large part because the destroyed Lac-Mégantic track cuts off the railway network. The company is now operating in separate segments, one in Maine, the other in Quebec and Vermont.
But the significant drop in MMA’s transport of dangerous materials is also due to MMA immediately halting its shipment of crude oil after the disaster.
One-man train crews safe, says MMA chairman | Toronto Star
Last night's WBO junior welterweight title match between champion Mike Alvarado and challenger Ruslan Provodnikov was what we refer to in combat sports as a "war." Through the first 7 rounds it was a highly competitive and violent contest, with both of HBO's broadcast team, Col. Bob Sheridan and Larry Merchant, calling it basically even. However, in the eighth a vicious body shot badly hurt Alvarado, and the champ would go down to the mat twice that round. Somehow he managed to tough it out, but by the end of the 10th Ruslan was pummeling him against the ropes, with Alvarado only saved because of the bell.
As Alvarado slumped on his stool, his corner told him not what he wanted to hear but what he needed to hear - forget about pulling off a miracle, it was time to quit.
The Champion reluctantly agreed, confessing afterwards that it was the right decision.
"It was not worth taking more punishment, because the damage could be permanent. It just wasn't my night. I have a lot of heart. I'm not a quitter."
At UFC 166 Diego Sanchez found himself in a similar situation. He too was in a war, although a decidedly one-sided one, as Gilbert Melendez battered him mercilessly through the first two rounds. With the exception of a brief period early in the fight where Sanchez had Gilbert's back and threatened a submission, Diego had shown nothing for the former Strikeforce Lightweight Champion. For every punch he threw that caught nothing but air, he ate two hard fists to the face.
By the time the 2nd round ended, Sanchez was covered in his own blood, his face discolored and bruised, while a replica of the Springfield Gorge sat above his left eye. And so, what did trainer Greg Jackson tell his seriously overmatched fighter before the start of the final round? The truth, that he was surely far behind on the judges scorecards and likely looking at further punishment with little chance of victory? No, instead he told Sanchez that he was looking good but would need a knockout to win. Considering the fact that Gilbert had never been finished in his MMA career, one would think that might be asking too much of your fighter.
I'm sure many fans will be quick to point out that Sanchez did almost pull off the comeback. Yes, he almost did. Almost. But he didn't and for his efforts he was rewarded with another dozen brain rattling punches. Going into the final round all Sanchez and his team could hope for was a miracle, while what seemed very likely, based on the previous ten minutes, was that he would take a lot more punishment.
In many ways the main event was even more disturbing. In the third round, not only was Junior Dos Santos dropped at one point and doing nothing more than holding on to Cain Velasquez's leg for dear life, but later he looked to be out on his feet, held up by the cage, eating unanswered punches. Apparently since he was never completely, 100%, totally knocked out, Herb Dean chose not to stop the fight.
Neither did the ringside doctor see fit to end the match, even though Junior spent the last two rounds repeatedly wiping blood, which was pouring from a cut above his brow, from his eyes. The doc did check his vision, at least the vision in his right eye, for on my television I did not see him examine Dos Santos's nearly swollen shut left eye.
Often it's been argued that mixed martial arts is safer than boxing. That because there is no 10-count on knockdowns, serving as a reprieve, MMA matches end quicker and fighters are thus saved the damage boxers suffer. This may be true, but I can't imagine any boxing referee allowing a match to continue when one man is out on his feet, blinded by his own blood. Nor does being safer than boxing mean it's safe. Both MMA and boxing are anything but safe as recent studies have now confirmed.
Of course, Dos Santos' corner also chose not to stop the fight. Perhaps they thought since it was for the title and the third and deciding match in his trilogy with Cain that Junior should be allowed to fight until the bitter end. Or perhaps they assumed that because neither the referee nor the doctor were stopping the fight, it wasn't their place to make that decision.
I doubt trainer Eddie Futch would have agreed with this line of reasoning. When Joe Frazier faced his arch-nemesis, Mohammed Ali, for the last time in their historic trilogy, Futch famously stopped the fight, despite Frazier's protestations, before the start of the 15th and final round. He did it to protect a man that had too much heart too quit on his own.
Count Dana White as another person who thought the final two rounds were unnecessary.
"I'm a guy who's been around the sport for a long time," White told reporters after the fight,"and boxing, and seen men who are too tough for their own good. And I think Junior dos Santos is one of those guys, in the last Cain fight and in this Cain fight. And I think that fight should've been stopped. I just don't think he needed to take anymore punishment...
...I always like to say that if anybody in his f--king corner cares about him, please, throw in that towel."
Boxing has long known that some men have to be protected from themselves, that sometimes their corner has to "throw in the towel" * for them. The expression "throwing in the towel," actually comes from boxing, derived from the expression "throwing in the sponge", which was originally coined during the London Prize Ring era of boxing. In those days, the second, who used a sponge to wipe down his fighter, would throw it in the air to signal when his man had conceded. Even before that though, as far back as 1743, number 4 of Jack Broughton's rules stated that a fight not only ended because a boxer failed to come up to the line, but also when "his own second declares him beaten." Almost three centuries ago they knew that some men had too much pride, courage, or just plain stubbornness to give up, and that it was therefore his second's responsibility to look out for
Another dominant win over Junior dos Santos for Cain Velasquez has left fans with just one question: Is Cain the best heavyweight in MMA history?
At UFC 166, the reigning heavyweight champ pushed his way into the record books by thrashing and stopping Dos Santos by TKO in the fifth round. With two defenses under his belt, Velasquez now ties the record for most consecutive UFC heavyweight title defenses with Randy Couture and Brock Lesnar.
In most weight classes, it would be deemed ludicrous to even consider basing a fighter’s all-time ranking off two title defenses, but the life expectancy for a UFC heavyweight champ is incredibly short.
Nearly every other division in the UFC has had at least one seeded star reign over the same weight class for years. UFC President Dana White is hopeful that the UFC may have finally found a true heavyweight king in Velasquez (h/t MMA H.E.A.T.’s Karyn Bryant):
I do (think Velasquez could hold onto the UFC title for a while). I truly believe Cain Velasquez is the best heavyweight in the world. I really haven’t (thought that about another heavyweight before). I always thought (the belt) was up for grabs and anybody could win.
The rivalry between Velasquez and Dos Santos has taken life over the past two years, but given the outcome of the last two bouts, the competitive gap between the heavyweights looks to be a large one.
For Velasquez, it isn’t simply the fact that he keeps winning, but instead that the MMA world is enamored by his continued dominance against consistently world-class opposition.
Many will likely feel like that the mere mention of anyone surpassing Fedor Emelianenko in the all-time heavyweight ranks is blasphemous. The things that the former Pride heavyweight champ was able to accomplish in his prime were otherworldly.
Emelianenko went undefeated for a decade during an era when Pride Fighting Championships bolstered the best heavyweights in the world. The nostalgia and deep-seated anticipation of watching Emelianenko trek his way down the Pride ramp and step into the ring still holds a special place in the hearts of hardcore fans to this day.
People didn’t even care about the Pride heavyweight title as much as Emelianenko’s undefeated streak. His personal achievements and greatness surpassed that of even the world title, which epitomizes the apex of success in MMA.
How can two consecutive title defenses for Velasquez possibly surpass all of that?
This may come as a shock to most people, but despite all of Emelianenko’s heavyweight success, he only defended the Pride heavyweight title three times. One of the only knocks on his legendary career was the fact that he consistently fought lukewarm opposition. For every Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira or Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic, there seemed to be a Zulu and Egidijus Valavicius in between.
As a champion, there haven’t been any breaks or circus fights for Velasquez, who has faced nothing but the best heavyweights in the world. He has dominated tougher opponents on a more consistent basis than Emelianenko.
For Velasquez, it isn’t just about the record books. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to truly appreciate the kind of rare breed of heavyweight he represents. There has never been a heavyweight in MMA history with Velasquez’s conditioning.
Winning alone isn’t enough for Velasquez. He breaks fighters' wills. It’s impossible to deny that he is a very special fighter, one whose name could one day rule the record books.
With that said, Emelianenko’s legacy still wins out on the all-time list. There is still plenty of ground to cover for Velasquez, a young champion just now hitting his stride. Perhaps it is more appropriate to make the claim that Velasquez is the best heavyweight in UFC history.
The UFC has had a vast array of heavyweight standouts, including Randy Couture, Brock Lesnar and Tim Sylvia. But none of them, Couture included, showed the kind of promise Velasquez has shown in ruling over the UFC’s division of behemoths.
Perhaps “The Last Emperor” may have finally found his successor.
Velasquez vs. Dos Santos Results: Is Cain the Best Heavyweight in MMA History? | Bleacher Report
This time, perhaps people will take Fabricio Werdum more seriously when he steps into a cage with the universally recognized best heavyweight in mixed martial arts.
Simply put, Werdum, 36, is a much more dangerous fighter against UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez than he was when he stunned Fedor Emelianenko in 69 seconds with a triangle choke in 2010.
"Fedor fought 10 years without losing," Werdum told ESPN-com while his wife translated from Portuguese to English. "I showed the world I could do it. But it's important for me that my fans, my family, my friends and my team believe in me."
This past summer Werdum forced iconic Brazilian heavyweight Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira to verbally tap because of an armbar, becoming the only man to submit Pride's two heavyweight champions. The win, he and his team felt, was enough to warrant a crack at the UFC title. They waited, and Saturday night, after Velasquez trucked through Junior dos Santos to score a fifth-round technical knockout, UFC president Dana White confirmed that Werdum would get his chance.
“He's going to want to take it to the ground,” White said of Werdum during the UFC 166 pay-per-view broadcast. “It makes this fight really interesting. Stylistically, we will see who has the better stand-up, and if it goes to the ground, I think for the first time that is a dangerous, dangerous fight for Velasquez.”
Werdum and his head trainer of six years, Rafael Cordeiro, said they expect to be comfortable wherever the fight takes them.
"Fabricio worked hard for a long time," said Cordeiro, who helped develop Anderson Silva, Wanderlei Silva, Mauricio Rua and a host of other stud Brazilians. "He expected this fight. I think this fight against Cain fits very well for him."
Having twice seen Velasquez demolish dos Santos, who knocked Werdum out early in the first round of a contest in 2008, some fans may find this confidence hollow. Velasquez (13-1) has proved to be a monster in the Octagon. The UFC champion's stamina, pace, power and ability to transition between striking and grappling is in stark contrast to so many heavyweights who came before him, save at least one notable Russian.
For Werdum, it all feels understandably familiar.
When the 6-foot-4 Brazilian entered MMA in 2002, Pride in 2005 and UFC in 2007, he was known primarily as a weak-punching jiu-jitsu convert. Werdum still can't punch as concussively as dos Santos, but he may be a more threatening striker.
"I think today he's a complete fighter," Cordeiro said. "His stand-up is better than 'Cigano' at the moment because Cigano just throws punches. Fabricio today throws punches, knees, kicks. And his jiu-jitsu is amazing. I think we have a good, good chance to take this belt and win this fight.
"If the guys exchange, Fabricio has a long reach. Long arms. Long legs. We can work this, too. If the fight goes to the ground, we feel really comfortable about that. It's really hard to punch Fabricio in the face on the ground. If you try to do this, for sure, he'll submit you. He has amazing skills. We feel really confident about this fight.
"For me, it's a pleasure to work with guys like Fabricio. The guy works hard to put his life in our hands to develop his game."
Werdum watched Saturday as Velasquez "broke Cigano's strategy one more time," and chalked it up to a "perfect" fight by the UFC king, whom some suggest should rank as the sport's best big man ever. Validation of that would come with victories and time -- a defense over Werdum would give Velasquez the record for consecutive UFC heavyweight title defenses at three.
"He never got tired," Werdum said of the champion. "He never blew his power. He's very consistent fighting and grappling. He did what he wanted. When Cigano wanted to box, Cain took him down. He was always playing opposite of what Cigano thought.
"I believe that he won't change his strategy and the way he fights. For sure he'll want to stand up with me, but he'll also try to put me on the ground."
Werdum, a world champion jiu-jitsu black belt, isn't "afraid to strike with [Velasquez] because I'm not afraid to go to the ground with him. I trust my guard. I can sweep from half-guard or guard.”
Werdum expects interactions leading up to the fight to be cordial, as they were when he challenged the great Emelianenko. Werdum is mindful of the opportunity in front of him, especially as he holds down three jobs with the UFC. Fighter, first. Ambassador to Latin and South America. And a voice on the Spanish-language UFC broadcasts, which he hopes to continue after his fighting days are done.
"If I can submit Cain, it's going to be awesome," Werdum said. "I'll try. I have this in my mind. I want to break records. I want to submit Fedor, submit Minotauro, then submit Cain Velasquez. That would be awesome for my career."
Should he pull it off, Werdum would take up space in rarefied air. He wouldn't go so far as to entertain the idea that victories over Emelianenko, Nogueira and Velasquez make him the best heavyweight of his generation, though. That's up to fans and media, he said.
For now, Werdum’s focus is on more attainable things. Like shocking the world once more.
Werdum plans to shock MMA world - Mixed Martial Arts Blog - ESPN
Bruno Frazatto is one of the top jiu-jitsu fighters in the world, but he won’t put on a gi to compete anymore.
A two-time Brazilian national champion, a gold medalist at the IBJJF Pan American Championship and the European Open champion, Frazatto (5-0) decided to leave the mats to focus on his MMA career after he signed a deal with Resurrection Fighting Alliance.
The jiu-jitsu expert makes his RFA debut on Oct. 25 in Iowa, where he faces undefeated William Osborne, and he’s ready for the new challenges of his career.
"I’m a MMA fighter now but I’ll try to take this fight to the ground, where I can do my best," Frazatto told MMAFighting-com. "He won his last three fights and is pretty well-rounded, but not a specialist in anything. I know he’s tough, but I’m going to do my best."
Frazatto is 5-0 in MMA with four finishes, but he took years to finally move from jiu-jitsu competition to mixed martial arts.
The featherweight accepted an invitation to teach jiu-jitsu to MMA fighters at Team Nogueira, and that made him return to the sport six years after his last fight in 2007.
Last June, a first-round submission over Fernando dos Santos, was enough to make Frazatto fall in love with MMA once again.
"My last fight was six years ago, but I fought last June and won," he said. "I felt great. Training at Team Nogueira made me stronger and gave me the experience I needed to win. I’m completely focused on MMA now. I’ve signed a three-fight deal with RFA and that’s my focus now."
Frazatto trains with the likes of Patricio Freire, Rony Jason and Patricky Pitbull, but Eduardo Pachu is the most important training partner for his RFA debut.
"Pachu is helping me a lot here," he continued. "He has an excellent striking game and good takedown defense, just like my next opponent, but I have a lot of great sparring partners here. I’m learning more than teaching here now."
Anthony Pettis’ brother, Sergio Pettis has signed a deal with the UFC after a successful run at RFA, and that’s Frazatto’s ultimate goal.
"My dream is to fight in the UFC, but I know that I’m not ready yet," he said. "I need a year to win some fights and get more experience. Getting in there right now wouldn’t be the right moment. I want to get there and stay there."
Bruno Frazatto leaves jiu-jitsu for MMA, focuses on RFA debut - MMA Fighting
Ericson Cardozo, the head coach of the Brazilian featherweight, revealed to MMAFighting-com that Oliveira has suffered a muscle strain and won’t be able to face Jeremy Larsen on Oct. 19. MMA Premium first reported the news.
"He strained his muscle in the thigh and won’t be able to walk for three or four weeks," Cardozo told MMAFighting-com on Friday. "It’s likely that he won’t be able to fight again this year, unfortunately."
Oliveira was originally set to meet Estevan Payan on the card, but Payan was pulled out of UFC 166 with a broken foot and replaced by Larsen. At 0-2 in the UFC, Larsen waits for a new opponent.
"I’m really sad because I knew how important this fight was and I know how ready I was for this," Oliveira told MMA Premium. "The doctors told me that I can’t even move or this injury can get worse."
UFC 166 is headlined by the heavyweight championship bout between Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos.
Charles Oliveira injured, out of UFC 166 fight with Jeremy Larsen - MMA Fighting