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HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. -- MMA Fighting spoke to Paul Daley about his upcoming Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson fight, his recent loss to Nick Diaz, what he expects to see from Woodley, the welterweight title picture, a potential fight against Nate Marquardt in BAMMA and much more.
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Grove (11-3-1) showed he's tough. From the opening bell, the bulky big guys threw like wild men and Jensen clipped Grove with a right hand that dropped him. In the past, the South African fighting out of England with no formal wrestling training when he entered the sport, may have panicked and bailed mentally. With better training under his belt, Grove grabbed a leg and eventually flipped to work for a kneebar or heel hook.
Then both fighters sat up on the rear ends and wailed away at each other. Jensen couldn't keep pace and dropped back where Grove jumped into his guard. The 6-foot-6, 264 pounder got off six hammerfists and referee Yves Lavigne jumped in to save the American.
"He hit me with a couple of hard shots. I'm happy that I took them and because I've been spending so much time in America training some wrestling, I've been learning what to do when I'm on the ground. I made use of it," Grove told Bellator's Jimmy Smith. "When I was on the ground I just knew I had to let my hands go. The man can take a punch!"
Grove, 40, has been working on his grappling and ground work. It's always been the big hole is his game. It was exploited during Bellator's Season 3 Heavyweight tournament by former Div. 1 NCAA wrestling champion Cole Konrad. Konrad scored an early takedown and eventually got a first round win via keylock at Bellator 32 back in October.
"My loss against Cole Konrad is something of the past. I've been training everyday since that fight to get back into the heavyweight tournament," Grove said as he held up his fists. "And Cole you're going to say hello to goodnight and sleep tight when we meet next."
This was the ninth first round KO of Grove's brief career. The loss was the third in four fight for Jensen, a Season 10 "Ultimate Fighter" alum.
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"That fight taught me a lot about confidence," Tate said at an open workout before the Strikeforce bouts on Saturday night. "I doubted myself. In all my fights since then, I've learned that you have to believe in yourself 100 percent. I could be fighting Cyborg tomorrow, and I'd be 100 percent confident that I was going to beat her. I'm going to go out there and do the best I can, and lay it all out on the line, and ideally, I'll walk away with that belt."
That mindset helped her earn five straight wins and a title shot against Marloes Coenen this Saturday night. Coenen's last bout was a fourth-round submission over Liz Carmouche, after Carmouche had controlled the entire bout. Tate says that fight doesn't represent Coenen's true abilities.
"I've seen Marloes fight a lot before that and I feel like she didn't look like herself in that fight. I've seen her look better, and I can only assume that she's going to come in stronger for that fight."
But she did see a weakness that she can exploit: Coenen's lack of wrestling experience.
"She doesn't have that element developed in her game, and that's where I come from. I wrestled for four years before I started fighting. Even if she went home and trained nothing but wrestling since her last fight, you can't learn wrestling in a couple of months. I think it's going to be a struggle for her, and whenever we grab a hold of each other, I'm going to win."
To build on that wrestling background, Tate worked with a camp full of wrestlers who have made a successful transition to mixed martial arts. Her training with Urijah Faber's camp, Team Alpha Male, has prepared her mentally and physically.
"They understand that it's so much more than being physically ready. They have this great mental outlook on life and on fighting, and I think that's where most of the fight is won, in your head and your heart, before you ever get out there."
The pressure's on female fighters
Both Coenen and Tate have an extra pressure on them this weekend. Since Zuffa's purchase of Strikeforce, the future of women's MMA is unknown. Though Strikeforce has long been a big supporter of female fighters, Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta have been lukewarm, saying that there isn't enough depth.
Tate is looking at her spot on the main card of a televised event as a chance to show that women's MMA does deserve a future.
"It's not exactly pressure, though. I don't feel pressure, I feel really motivated. I feel like this is our opportunity, so I want to make the most of it. I feel like there's going to be a lot of people paying attention to this, and Dana and Lorenzo and all the guys in the UFC, and Zuffa will maybe start giving women a little recognition, and actually taking notice of it and what it's all about."
With this fight, she isn't setting out to become the face of women's MMA, but she's is proud to help her sport grow.
"It's not my main goal to be the face of MMA, but I love the idea that I have the opportunity to play a huge role in women's MMA, and I'd gladly accept that responsibility. I feel like I'm a good representation of it. I work hard. I'm going to go out there and fight. I'm happy when I can get out there and voice a little bit for the women."
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Cain Velasquez's standing in the world of heavyweights in MMA is debatable and so is Cristiano Ronaldo's in the world of soccer, but they're definitely in the conversation about the top performers in their respective sports. This is a cool video where they cross paths during Real Madrid's recent trip to Los Angeles.
The UFC heavyweight champ spoke to Ronaldo about the UFC and how big it's getting around the world. Dana White has always said he hopes MMA can develop a soccer-like appeal around world with fighters coming from all corners of the planet. Ronaldo has never been to an MMA fight and was unaware that UFC had begun to spread events around Europe.
For those soccer critics who question the athleticism in the sports as compared to football and basketball in the states, Ronaldo looks like a pretty big dude even though he's standing next to an MMA heavyweight.
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Dana White is trying to allow the legends of MMA to walk away gracefully, but some won't cooperate. After UFC 132, White said "I think that's it." We're still waiting on an answer from Silva. He did the same after UFC 128 with Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic, but it looks like the former PRIDE star wants to continue to eran a few bucks.
Cro Cop wants to fight on and is owed another bout on his contract. So coming off an ugly third round knockout loss to Brendan Schaub, Cro Cop announced he'll be facing Roy Nelson at UFC 137 in October.
"I've had no contact with Dana White and have not re-negotiated with the UFC. I agreed to my next fight and that's it," Filipovic explained. "I can now exclusively confirm that I will fight my last UFC fight October 29 in Las Vegas against Roy Nelson."
Cro Cop, 36, has been battling a nasty knee injury over the last few years, but says he's good to go now.
"We will see in the next fight. I am happy that I managed to rehabilitate my injury. I received a few injections to the knee. It is an unpleasant procedure. They take your blood and separate parts of it using a a centrifuge and�then inject [the plasma rich platelets] into the knee to stimulate cartilage regeneration," Cro Cop said. "This knee was destroyed, but I managed to repair it. I felt terrible pain, and now twice a week I'm doing exercises with physiotherapy. "
Cage Potato calls this a win or go home fight for both fighters. Do you agree? Nelson's lost two straight, but against Junior dos Santos and Frank Mir.
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Today, we look at Malki Kawa, the president of First Round Management, an athlete representation agency that has on its roster of fighters UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, Chris Leben, Carlos Condit and Thiago Alves, among other fighters.
Cagewriter: What is your job title?
Malki Kawa: Sometimes I'm called an agent, sometimes I'm called a manager.
CW: What's the difference?
MK: An agent's job is to put their guy in a position to capitalize on every opportunity they can, whether it's off a fight, a movie, or whatever. A manager is supposed to guide a fighter's career. I help guys reach their financial and their career goals. In the NFL, I was an agent, but in boxing and MMA, it's more manager. I like to think I'm a great manager, where I help guide their careers, and an even better agent, where I help them secure the financial and career goals.
CW: What's an average day like for you?
MK: I like to be in control and in the know, so when I wake up, I start checking everything out to see what happened overnight and catch up anything I missed. When I get to the office, I catch up on emails and create any proposals for any East Coast sponsors, or Joe Silva [the UFC matchmaker], because he's on the East Coast. At 12:00, the West Coast starts to happen.
From 9 a.m. until 9 p.m., my phone is ringing nonstop. I check in with most fighters, I look to see what's out there, and view a lot of different information. I look into what people are being paid, I compile a lot of data, I do a lot of market research. One of the reasons I've been successful in getting guys sponsorships is that I have a better handle on what's out there.
CW: Do you talk to your fighters everyday?
MK: No. I like to check in with every fighter at least once a week. If I don't have something to talk them about, I don't call them. There might be a fighter I don't talk to for a week. That doesn't mean I'm not thinking about them. It just means that there's not anything going on right then.
CW: What's a fight week like for you?
MK: We basically mirror them the entire time. If I have a fighter fighting on Saturday, I'll land with them either Tuesday or Wednesday. It's my job to make sure that everything is very comfortable and very easy for them. My week becomes a week to service the fighter. I'm there to be an extra hand for his team. That's when I take care of their shorts and their banner, and I make sure their corner knows what they have to wear. I don't really get a chance to rest until the night of the fight and their fight is done. If I have a main event guy, that's when I get to stop, unless they have an after-party, and then I make sure they get there, that they're safe and that they get paid.
CW: What's the best part of this job?
MK: The fighters themselves. Just going through the motions with the fighters everyday, and watching them grow. Like, watching Jon Bones grow from being a potential great fighter to being a champion. Watching Carlos Condit go through the ranks, and watching Thiago Alves try to make himself a little better. I also like watching when I come up with ideas that help change a fighter's life.
Look at Kenny Florian. It was my idea for him to drop to 145. Watching guys have faith in you, and then coming up with ideas of how they can get to certain places. I think that's why guys sign with me. Beside the fact that I make them money, and I am going to do the best I can for them. I think I'm intelligent, I think I know what people want and I think I know what the UFC wants, and I'm going to fight for my fighter.
CW: But no job is perfect. What's the worst part?
MK: Watching other managers who aren't good at what they do, who undercut their fighter's careers, they'll take a guy from you and mess things up, or fighters who become disrespectful. But honestly? I can't complain. I have the best job in the world. I think the traveling sucks. After a while, you want to be home with your family.
CW: What advice do you have for someone who wants to become an agent?
MK: If there's a guy or girl who wanted to get in this business, my best advice would be to set your mind to a goal of what you want your life to be at certain points. Set timelines. Let nothing stand in the way of that goal, and don't ever be afraid to ask questions. Don't be afraid to go after what you want to get. Look around the room at my peers, and they come from all different backgrounds, but the one thing that they lack is the desire and drive I have. That's the reason I'm at the top of this game.
Follow Malki Kawa on Twitter here.
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