Talking Strikeforce MMA at the Dallas Mavericks Victory Parade Video by StrikeforceYasubey Enomoto Mark Epstein Tom Big Cat Erickson Martinsh Egle
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Talking Strikeforce MMA at the Dallas Mavericks Victory Parade - Strikeforce
Talking Strikeforce MMA at the Dallas Mavericks Victory Parade Video by Strikeforce
UFC 135 Preview Video for Jones vs. Rampage, Hughes vs. Koscheck
UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones puts the 205-pound title on the line for the first time against former champ Quinton "Rampage" Jackson in the main event of UFC 135, which also features Matt Hughes vs. Josh Koscheck on Sept. 24 in Denver. For UFC 135 results and complete UFC 135 coverage stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com.
Yoel Romero?s long road to Strikeforce debut
CINCINNATI -- Yoel Romero Palacio will make his Strikeforce debut on Saturday against former light heavyweight champ Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante, a tough test in just his fifth fight. But his journey to MMA was one that prepared him for any test.
Romero wrestled for Cuba, and around the turn of the century, was one of the world's best at 84 kg. He has world and Olympic medals, including a world championship in 1999, but he defected from Cuba after a wrestling tournament in Germany in 2005.
This was a dangerous decision, because top wrestlers are well-known athletes in Cuba. He had to sell all of his belongings and leave his family. His wife and young daughter are now with him in Germany, but his six-year-old son is still in Cuba. He told Cagewriter that it was a terribly difficult decision to defect from the Communist country.
"It wasn't just Cuba. It was my family."
He coached wrestling before starting to train in MMA. Though he didn't have his first fight until 2009, MMA was on his mind even when he was still in Cuba.
"It's a sport that I think God gave me the talent to be good at, and I felt that attraction when I was in Cuba and watched a few of the first UFCs, with Royce Gracie, and his wins made me really feel a passion to try the sport. I felt like it was in me to be able to try it out," he told Cagewriter.
He hopes to find the same success and satisfaction in MMA that he did in wrestling. He has yet to have a fight go to a decision, winning all four by TKO or knockout. Romero Palacio is hoping for a true test in Cavalcante.
"I haven't been able to let it go like I wanted to because those fights were just the beginners. To let it go the way I can? I will have even better satisfaction than in wrestling."
Though wrestlers are often tagged with being boring fighters, Romero Palacio promises that fans will enjoy watching him fight.
"I always fight for the public. It's always been my style to fight for the public. I like the fans to feel satisfied with what I have done," he said. "It's going to be a gladiators fight."
But that doesn't mean that he has forgotten his roots as a wrestler. With the Olympics coming up next summer, he does have the itch to compete again. His one-time nemesis, American Cael Sanderson, is returning to competition after retiring to coach. Romero Palacio smiled at the idea of wrestling Sanderson, who beat him at the 2004 Olympics, again.
"I would love to. I want to show the world who is the world's best wrestler at that weight class. I don't think [Cael Sanderson] would like it if I came back."
Romero Palacio's bout with Feijao and the rest of the preliminary fights for Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Kharitonov will air on HDNet starting at 8 p.m. ET.
Kevin Kimbo Slice Ferguson Paulo Filho Mirko Cro Cop Filipović Luiz Buscapé Firmino
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
White vlog: MMA shows off its sportsmanship
The UFC's schedule is intense right now. UFC 135 comes later this week. With Ultimate Fight Night 25 and UFC 134 in the rear mirror, it gave Dana White a chance to catch the fans up on what happened in his first UFC 135 vlog.
The UFC president's personal videographer Eliot shot a lot of behind-the-scenes footage of fighters shortly after their fights at UFN 25. There's awesome exchanges between winner Matt Riddle and loser Lance Benoist as well as Shamar Bailey and Evan Dunham (4:35).
Any chance White thought this was a good time to put MMA sportsmanship on display because of what just happened with Floyd Mayweather and Victor Ortiz? He says, no. Either way, it's a good showcase for MMA.
Also check out the beginning of the hype for UFC 135's title fight between Jon Jones and Quinton Jackson. Someone from MMA Meltdown radio show in Denver asked the timeless prefight question about when the UFC would be coming back to the city? For some reason, that sent "Rampage" rolling off the stage in laughter.
You can watch UFC 135 here on Yahoo! Sports
Shane Carwin Discusses Leaner Diet, Plan of Attack Against Junior dos Santos - UFC 131
Shane Carwin Discusses Leaner Diet, Plan of Attack Against Junior dos Santos Video by UFC 131
Floyd Mayweather, Larry Merchant Go Toe to Toe
Just moments after Floyd Mayweather knocked out Victor Ortiz in controversial fashion on Saturday night, another controversy erupted in the ring during Mayweather's post-fight interview with HBO's longtime boxing commentator Larry Merchant.As he always does after big fights, Merchant stepped into the ring after Mayweather beat Ortiz and began to pepper Mayweather with tough questions. But these questions were tougher than most because the circumstances were unprecedented: Mayweather had just knocked Ortiz out at a point when the referee had appeared to call time out, and the fans at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas were loudly booing Mayweather, rather than celebrating his latest victory.
As Merchant's questions heated up, Mayweather became enraged.
"You never give me a fair shake. HBO needs to fire you," Mayweather screamed. "You don't know s--t about boxing."
The 80-year-old Merchant replied, "I wish I was 50 years younger and I'd kick your ass."
With that, Mayweather stormed off, and Merchant began to interview Ortiz, who was much more mild-mannered. But once the interview with Ortiz was over, Merchant returned to the subject of his own confrontation with Mayweather.
"I don't really think I could have kicked his ass 50 years ago, but I would have tried it," Merchant said.
Merchant added that he believed the real reason Mayweather cut the interview short is that he didn't want to face questions about why he has refused to fight Manny Pacquiao, who is widely regarded as the opponent with the best chance to hand Mayweather his first career loss.
"What happened? I think Floyd Mayweather knew that the next question was going to be about, Why don't you fight Pacquiao? That's still the question that will linger long after this fight," Merchant said.
If nothing else, the exchange between Merchant and Mayweather will bolster Merchant's reputation as a journalist who's not afraid to ask any question -- and bolster Mayweather's reputation as boxing's greatest villain.
UFC allows questionable music choices at UFN 25
Ken Stone, who won via submission, walked out to the Prodigy song, "Smack My Bitch Up." The song repeats two lines, "Smack my bitch up, change my pitch up." When it was released in 1997, it was protested by women's groups as condoning violence towards women. MTV only allowed the song to be played late at night, and Wal-Mart and K-Mart pulled the CD from its stores. Prodigy released a statement that the song was not about violence, but that's not apparent from its lyrics.
The next bad decision was when Matt Riddle walked out to the Scorpions song, "Rock You Like a Hurricane." In most cities, it's the perfect song to walk out to, but these fights took place in New Orleans. That's a city that was literally rocked by a hurricane in 2005. Hurricane Katrina's effects are still being felt in New Orleans, as they struggle to restore their population and status as a tourist destination to pre-Katrina levels.
The UFC generally controls their brand very tightly, and UFC officials confirmed to Cagewriter that White approves every walkout song. He has vetoed songs in the past. It's surprising that the UFC would let these two songs slip through.
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