Scott Coker Discusses Overeem vs. Werdum, Gina Carano's Health Status Video by Strikeforce

Source: http://mmalice.com/strikeforce/scott-coker-discusses-overeem-vs-werdum-gina-caranos-health-status-video_0d2529a6d.html

Dan Bobish Vagam Bodjukyan Kotetsu Boku Tony Bonello

Randy the Natural Couture visits the Inside MMA set via satellite to announce that UFC 129 will be his last show

Source: http://mmalice.com/randy-couture/randy-couture-says-he-will-retire-after-ufc-129-video_4ae17c184.html

Quinton Jackson Forrest Griffin Rashad Evans Lyoto Machida

Josh Barnett is outspoken and brash. It rubs a lot of people the wrong way. For the longest time, he was on the bad side of Dana White. Say what you want about Barnett, but he's not stupid. So when Zuffa purchased Strikeforce, Barnett swallowed his pride and finally worked to bury the hatchet with MMA's leading man.

That and just about everything else about Barnett seems to bother fellow heavyweight Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva.

"[...] when [Barnett] sees Fedor, [UFC President] Dana White or [UFC Chairman and CEO Lorenzo] Fertitta, he runs to them and stays by their side all the time. He makes me sick. He's the classic kiss-ass, a rude man …" [Silva told Sherdog]. "I really want to face Barnett and I've already said I consider him a filthy person, even though he is a great fighter, and that I'll beat him up and close both of his eyes."

Silva suggested Barnett is rude and snooty when it comes to Brazilian fighters.

"I've been fighting since 2004 and have never had any issues with another athlete, even the most stuck-up," explained Silva. "Friendship, for me, is everything, but Josh is a weird guy, a guy who doesn't greet you when you enter the elevator, doesn't even say 'good morning.' It's how he treats Brazilian fighters especially. It's the same thing with [Barnett and] Werdum."

Barnett faces Brett Rogers on June 18 in Dallas. With a win over Fedor Emelianenko, Silva advances to the semifinals of the Strikeforce heavyweight Grand Prix. Silva is awaiting the winner of Alistair Overeem and Werdum on that same card.

Tip via Larry Brown Sports

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/-Bigfoot-says-Barnett-is-rude-and-a-butt-kisser?urn=mma-wp2322

Kevin Kimbo Slice Ferguson Paulo Filho Mirko Cro Cop Filipovic Luiz Buscapé Firmino

*** Watch Complete 1/2hr HD Episodes on http://www.MMAheat.com ***MMA H.E.A.T.'s Karyn Bryant spends a few minutes with UFC welterweight Jake Ellenberger after his photo shoot and scanning session with Round 5, and gets his thoughts on the UFC 129 fight he took against Canadian Sean Pierson on short notice. Jake talks about how the fight materialized, what shape he was in when he got the call and how he feels to be one of the American "bad guys" on a card that features several Canadians, and which will also be the first UFC show in Ontario. Jake also fills us in on his training partner Jason Brilz' preparation for his fight with Vladimir Matyushenko.Be sure to visit http://www.MMAheat.com for more interviews and archived episodes of our 1/2 hour TV show. Nós falamos Português! * We're on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MMAheat * Follow MMAheat on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/MMAheat * Follow Karyn on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/KarynBryant

Source: http://mmalice.com/ufc-129/welterweight-jake-ellenberger-ufc-129-pre-fight-interview-video_93d0a5aea.html

Ba Te er Ryan Bader Siyar Bahadurzada Bao Ligao

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva's never been a fan of Brock Lesnar's. The 6'4" Silva has lashed out in numerous interviews against the former UFC Heavyweight Champion and one-time #1 ranked heavyweight, and now that Lesnar has pulled out of a fight with Junior Dos Santos at UFC 131 due to the reemergence of his diverticulitis, Silva joins with "Brock Hater Nation" in his latest thoughts to Sherdog.com.

"I don't want to judge anyone and I really wish it's not a big health problem for [Lesnar], but I have some doubts," Silva said. "That big guy doesn't like being punched. In his last fights, he was put in the fetal position by Shane Carwin and Cain Velasquez, which is humiliating for a fighter. I think he pulled out of the fight against 'Cigano,' who is a real heavy puncher and a real tough opponent for someone who doesn't like being punched."

What Silva, and most others attacking Lesnar at the moment fail to remember is the fact that Lesnar came back against Carwin and won that fight, and took six weeks out of his family life in Minnesota to go on The Ultimate Fighter to set up the fight with Dos Santos.

But it's not just Lesnar that Silva decided to go after in this interview, as he also set his sights on fellow Heavyweight World Grand Prix competitor Josh Barnett, and hopes to get a fight with "The Baby Faced Assasin."

"I've been fighting since 2004 and have never had any issues with another athlete, even the most stuck-up," Silva began. "Friendship, for me, is everything, but Josh is a weird guy, a guy who doesn't greet you when you enter the elevator, doesn't even say 'good morning.' It?s how he treats Brazilian fighters especially. It's the same thing with [Barnett and] Werdum."

"But when [Barnett] sees Fedor, [UFC President] Dana White or [UFC Chairman and CEO Lorenzo] Fertitta, he runs to them and stays by their side all the time. He makes me sick. He's the classic kiss-ass, a rude man... I really want to face Barnett and I've already said I consider him a filthy person, even though he is a great fighter, and that I'll beat him up and close both of his eyes."

For his part, Barnett has responded to Bigfoot's comments on Twitter.

"Bigfoot sure has a lot of shit to talk it would seem [plus he] thinks I got beef [with] Brazil," Barnett wrote. "Go ask Babalu, Rizzo, Vitor, Feijao, Romulo, JZ..."

Link to Original Source Article

Penick's Analysis: This illness had Lesnar bed-ridden and hooked up to IVs for weeks in late 2009, and nearly ended his fighting career. If it has popped up again in a serious way it's something he has to take care of. The simple fact that he fought with it dormant in 2010 twice, knowing he wasn't running at full capacity and still learning to live with this disease that can come back like it has should be enough, but sadly there's more of those on Silva's side that decide to be the most vocal and vitriolic towards the man.

As for the Barnett beef, that's a fight that could potentially happen in this Grand Prix tournament (if it comes to completion), and there's enough to go on from both sides to make the build up quite interesting if it happens in Strikeforce. Maybe we'll see that fight come to pass, or maybe Silva will get a chance to back up everything he's said about Lesnar in a fight in the UFC at some point. It's more of a possibility now than it was last year, but there's still some time before we'll see that one come to pass.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_9341.shtml

Houston Alexander Ricardo Almeida Eddie Alvarez Thiago Alves

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Strikeforce Welterweight Champion Nick Diaz has been feeling burnt out on the sport of mixed martial arts, with Strikeforce keeping him very active over the last year, but with the possibility opening up of a fight with UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre, Diaz's trainer Cesar Gracie says he would be very willing to take that fight.

"Nick wants that fight. He would love to take that fight," Gracie said in comments made to MMAWeekly.com. "Obviously, I would like to put another one of my guys against Georges St. Pierre, so we definitely want that fight."

The motivation of a fight with the consensus #1 welterweight in the world is more than enough to pull Diaz out of his doldrums. The 27-year-old complained about his schedule following his win over Paul Daley in April, and said he wasn't sure what his future was in the sport. Now, after St. Pierre defeated his teammate Jake Shields last weekend at UFC 129, Gracie believes Diaz needs the motivation of this fight to keep him going in the sport.

"It's no secret Nick was a little bit burnt out. He needs a bigger challenge," Gracie said. "No disrespect to the guys he's been fighting because each one of them has brought something to the table. Paul Daley hits really hard, good hands, very dangerous opponent. [Evangelista] Cyborg, great kicks, dangerous opponent. K.J. Noons really good boxing also, dangerous, and Nick beat them all at their strengths.

"It's definitely something Nick wants to motivate him even more. I think he kind of needs that, I really do."

Diaz is still wanting to box, but the UFC will try to get him out of that mindset, likely in the form of more monetary compensation than his current contract holds.

"The way we had the Strikeforce contract that we signed about a year ago, maybe a little less than that, was that here we're going to pay you this much money per fight," Gracie said. "It's not quite the kind of money you probably should be making, but you're going to be able to make it up because you're going to be able to do boxing, and that might be the more lucrative deal. There was pluses involved and one of the benefits or bonuses, whatever you want to call it, was being able to box."

"Now all of a sudden if that's taken away, we need to re-structure the contract maybe, that's the only thing. I'm thinking that Dana's going to be perceptive to this and Nick also working with that. It's just one of those things we all have to sit down and figure it out."

Those conversations will be taking place in short order, and UFC President Dana White said last weekend that though Diaz has it in his contract to allow him to box, he's hoping to convince him otherwise. And according to Gracie, it's now pretty much up to White and UFC owner Lorenzo Fertitta to determine what the next step will be.

"There's a lot of questions to be answered and really the only people that can answer the questions are Lorenzo and Dana," said Gracie.

"It'd be great, best case scenario for us would be Nick boxes and then he goes and fights GSP. But again, the person with the answer, the guys that have the answers to all of this and can make everything happen is Lorenzo Fertitta and Dana White."

Link to Original Source Article

Penick's Analysis: I think we're moving towards this fight being a highly likely possibility, with all sides showing a lot of interest in it. I think if the UFC renegotiates Diaz's contract to offer him more money to take out the boxing clause, I think he'd accept. This is a huge fight for him, and one he's talked about a lot over the last couple of years. He's called St. Pierre out when the fight wasn't a realistic possibility, and now that it is he's still on board for the fight. If the UFC can figure out the logistics with the Showtime contract and make this happen, it will be a fantastic matchup at 170 lbs.

[Photo credit Esther Lin via Strikeforce.com]

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_9262.shtml

Dave Menne Murilo Bustamante Evan Tanner Rich Franklin

Douglas Lima has to be a patient guy as he works his way up the MMA ladder, but he doesn't operate that way in the cage. The 23-year-old welterweight, with 16 finishes in his 18, just signed a deal to compete in Bellator's quickly developing welterweight class. He put in his time in Canada with MFC and now it's time for a slot on American TV on MTV2.

"Over the last two years, Douglas has taken his game to an entirely different level," he said in a release. "Many considered him one of the top unsigned welterweights in MMA. I'm very happy to say that he's no longer unsigned and that he will be fighting for Bellator. We continue to develop one of the strongest 170-pound divisions in the sport, and Douglas will be a fantastic addition to that."

Lima (18-4) might get a chance to avenge one his losses against Brent Weedman, but more importantly wants to make an impression with Bellator.

"I always want to win, but sometimes it's almost more important for me to put on an exciting fight," Lima said. "I want to be in a fight where I can go home and watch in the next day and be like, 'Wow! That was awesome'. I want to put on the kind of performance that makes the people like me. I'm not going to go in there and just lay on a guy or run around the cage. When I step inside the cage, I'm ready to go to war. I'm not in there to play around."

Bellator's done a solid job of building it's 135 and 145 pounds divisions, but 170 is its best. The champ is uber-prospect Ben Askren. Jay Hieron just earned a shot against Askren by taking out Rick Hawn. Lyman Good and Dan Hornbuckle are also very solid fighters as well.

If Lima can storm through this division, he ranks right up there with the best prospects in the divisions. It's a deep weight class. The USA Today/Bloody Elbow rankings have Mike Pierce at No. 25 in the world. That's pretty solid.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Lima-signs-with-Bellator-is-he-the-best-prospec?urn=mma-wp2117

Ryan Bader Siyar Bahadurzada Bao Ligao Josh Barnett

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Jose Aldo made a successful UFC debut on Saturday night in Toronto at UFC 129, defeating Mark Hominick by decision in an exciting "Fight of the Night" in front of 55,000 fans at the Rogers Centre.

Now, he might be getting himself right back into action this summer, as UFC President Dana White said after the event on Saturday night that Aldo's next title defense will likely come at UFC 133 in Philadelphia against top contender Chad Mendes.

The UFC 133 card is currently without a headliner, with the original plan of Jon Jones vs. Rashad Evans getting scrapped when an injury to Jones forced him to bow out, leaving Evans to face Phil Davis on the card instead. Aldo vs. Mendes would put a title fight atop the card, though the UFC could still search for a different headliner on top of that.

Aldo's performance was hampered by an injury that took him out of UFC 125 earlier this year, as well as the layoff and rehab that came with that. He visibly slowed at times throughout the fight, and spent the entirety of the fifth round on his back, giving Hominick a chance to fight back and gave him the opportunity to finish the fight. He survived, but it was the most vulnerable he's looked under the Zuffa banner.

Mendes will come into his first title fight riding a 10-fight win streak to begin his MMA career. Fresh off an impressive and dominating win over Michihiro Omigawa at UFC 126 in February, the ever-improving Mendes will represent a major test for the 24-year-old when they do meet, though the August 6 date is just a tentative target for the fight.

Penick's Analysis: This will be a fantastic fight when it takes place, and it will be a good one for the Philadelphia crowd if they're both ready for the August 6 date. Aldo had some issues in the Hominick fight, but he should be healthier by the time this one rolls around. Mendes will be a fantastic challenger himself, and he continues to improve each and every time he steps into the cage. I'm very much looking forward to the fight when it happens, and it would be a great fit for the Philadelphia event if it does indeed get booked there.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_9215.shtml

Paul Taylor Glover Teixeira Tank Abbott Hiroyuki Abe

Filed under: Strikeforce

The Strikeforce Challengers 16 fight card will be headlined by prospects Caros Fodor vs. James Terry at the ShoWare Center in Kent, Wash. on June 24.

AMC Pankration's Fodor (8-2), who will have the hometown support, is 3-0 in Strikeforce Challenger events. Terry (10-2) trains under Cung Le and has won five of six of his Strikeforce bouts.

Ryan Couture (2-0), the son of UFC Hall of Famer Randy, will also be in action in the co-headliner.

The current lineup is below.

Source: http://mmafighting.com/2011/05/16/strikeforce-challengers-16-fight-card-fodor-vs-terry/

Eddie Alvarez Thiago Alves Andre Amade Dean Amasinger

MMA H.E.A.T. brings you the first installment of "Janitor Tips," with UFC Light Heavyweight Vladimir Matyushenko. Based on Twitter suggestions of #janitortips, the former IFL champ gives his own brand of comedic advice. They may be deadpan responses...but what do you expect from a Belarusian bad-ass? Listen, learn, and always RESPECT THE JANITOR! Also brought to you by Jakt Apparel, Micro Tech and Hayabusa. Join us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MMAheat

Source: http://mmalice.com/ufc-129/vladimir-matyushenko-janitor-tips-2-video_a85aecc27.html

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