The Monsters of MMA

*** Watch Complete 1/2hr HD Episodes on http://www.MMAheat.com ***
MMA H.E.A.T.’s Karyn Bryant spends a few minutes with Jake Shields’ head trainer, Tareq Azim, and hears why GSP will be pushed harder than he ever has been before when he faces the former Strikeforce champ. Tareq talks about Jake’s weight cutting and preparation, and also gives insight to the Skrap Pack team’s psyche (teammates include Nick and Nate Diaz, Gilbert Melendez and Daniel Roberts) Tareq also lets us know how ready Nate Diaz is for his fight against Rory MacDonald, which will be seen on Spike TV before the UFC 129 PPV event.

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

Alex Andrade 

Kultar Gill Allan Goes Takanori The Fireball Kid Gomi Akihiro Gono Gabriel Gonzaga Lyman Good Gary Goodridge

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Though it has been expected for quite some time, the UFC has officially confirmed that the UFC 134 main event will be a bout between Anderson Silva and Yushin Okami for the UFC Middleweight Championship.

The bout headlines the UFC’s first return to the country of Brazil since 1998′s Ultimate Brazil event, and the event will take place from the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro on August 27.

The UFC has thus far made six fights official for the card, with Forrest Griffin vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua coming as the nights main event and Edson Barboza vs. Ross Pearson, Luiz Cane vs. Stanislav Nedkov, Maiquel Falcao vs. Tom Lawlor, Spencer Fisher vs. Thiago Tavares official for the card as well.

Silva and Okami will meet in a rematch of a fight in a Rumble on the Rock welterweight tournament over five years ago, a fight Okami won by disqualification when Silva hit him with a vicious upkick while Okami was in his guard.

Silva has gone on to win 14 straight fights since that bout, including all 13 of his fights inside the Octagon. Okami has gone 12-3 since their last meeting, with a 10-2 mark inside the Octagon. His losses in that time all came by decision to top fighters in Jake Shields, Rich Franklin and Chael Sonnen.

Gerard Gordeau Jonathan Goulet Wilson Gouveia Jason Grace Crosley Gracie Gregor Gracie Ralek Gracie

Fernando Vargas Says Nobody Contacted Him About A Nick Diaz Fight.

var s1 = new SWFObject(“http://www.mmatko.com/player-viral.swf”,”JW”,”480″,”420″,”9″);
s1.addParam(“allowscriptaccess”, “always”);
s1.addParam(“allowfullscreen”,”true”);
s1.addParam(“wmode”,”transparent”);
s1.addParam(“flashvars”,”file=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIDxzOm0mHg”);
s1.addVariable(“enablejs”, “true”);
s1.write(“mediaspace”);

Yoshihiro Akiyama  Gilbert Aldana  José Aldo  John Alessio  Houston Alexander Ricardo Almeida  Eddie Alvarez

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

“I left [the] UFC in 2006. I went to Japan, [got] more experience fighting different guys. I always knew, one day, [I would get] back to the UFC and finish the job I was doing there.

It’s kind of hard to explain my style. I’m a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, but the past few years, I learned a lot of kickboxing and different kinds of martial arts. So, it’s kind of [difficult] to say how [my fight is going to be] and how I’m going to finish my fight. If you see my record, you’re going to see knockouts and submissions and TKOs. I consider myself a mixed martial artist. I fight everywhere. I just try to take the chance and finish the fight. That’s what I like…

One thing I know for sure, this fight [with Brian Stann at UFC 130] is not going to end [in] decision. This fight is going to end in about the second round or first round. That is [the truth]. If not, my fans need to know, I always fight to finish the fight. No matter how and when, even the fifth round; the second, like, my last fight. And Brian Stann likes the same thing, so, that’ll be fun. You cannot blink.”

-Jorge Santiago talks to MMAWeekly.com about returning to the UFC and his fight with Brian Stann at UFC 130.

Penick’s Analysis: Santiago is extremely fun to watch. He’s not the best fighter in the world, and he’ll take his share of punishment in a fight, but he has on multiple occasions found ways to win fights he was close to losing, and that heart and determination is another intangible he brings into a fight with him. And I agree with him on this fight with Stann, it’s not going to the judges. These two are going to be out to finish the fight, and one of them is going to accomplish their goal on May 28. The card as a whole is still going to be a very entertaining one, and this fight is one of the best of the night, and one I can’t wait to see.

Royce Gracie Royler Gracie Ryan Gracie Peter Graham Forrest Griffin Tyson Griffin Karn Grigorian

by Michael David SmithWe’ll have full results and live round-by-round scoring for Manny Pacquiao vs. Shane Mosley on Saturday night, which may lead to a few readers wondering, What’s boxing news doing on an MMA site? Here are five reasons why you, if you’re an MMA fan, should care about Pacquiao vs. Mosley:

1. It’s the biggest combat sports event of the year.
For as much as the UFC has gained on — and in some respects surpassed — the popularity of boxing, the biggest fights in boxing still exceed the biggest fights in the UFC in terms of pay-per-view buys and worldwide media attention. Although the MGM Grand in Las Vegas obviously won’t attract nearly as many fans as the 55,000 who came out to see Georges St. Pierre in Toronto, Pacquiao vs. Mosley will surely get more pay-per-view buys in the United States, far more mainstream media attention and far more attention globally, as Pacquiao is a draw throughout Asia and the single biggest celebrity in the Philippines, a country of nearly 100 million people. This is a major worldwide sporting event.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Forrest Griffin Tyson Griffin Karn Grigorian Karen Grigoryan Kendall Grove Clay Guida Jason Guida

Randy Couture and Tom Atencio discuss UFC 129

Akihiro Gono Gabriel Gonzaga Lyman Good Gary Goodridge Gerard Gordeau Jonathan Goulet Wilson Gouveia

Steve The Snake Claveau  Rich No Love Clementi  Mark The Hammer Coleman Wes Soldier Combs  Ray Cooper  Kit Cope  Wesley Cabbage Correira 

It’s going to be freaking loud tonight at UFC 129. Watch Dana White scream his way through a tour of Rogers Centre.

You can watch UFC 129 on PPV (9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT) right here on Yahoo! Sports.

Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama  Gilbert Aldana  José Aldo  John Alessio  Houston Alexander Ricardo Almeida 

Rickson Gracie Rodrigo Gracie Roger Gracie Rolles Gracie Royce Gracie Royler Gracie Ryan Gracie

Kultar Gill Allan Goes Takanori The Fireball Kid Gomi Akihiro Gono Gabriel Gonzaga Lyman Good Gary Goodridge

UFC On Versus 5
Sunday August 14
Bradley Center
Milwaukee
Airing on Versus

* Dan Hardy vs. Chris Lytle
* Jim Miller (#6 Ranked Lightweight) vs. Ben Henderson
* Stephan Bonnar vs. Karlos Vemola
* Amir Sadollah vs. Duane Ludwig
* Cole Miller vs. T.J. O’Brien
* Danny Castillo vs. Jacob Volkmann

Gregor Gracie Ralek Gracie Renzo Gracie Rickson Gracie Rodrigo Gracie Roger Gracie Rolles Gracie

The new UFC 130 promo poster is hot off the presses, and several fighters may be white hot with the changes that have taken place. After Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard were forced to withdraw from the main event due to injuries, it was understandable the lightweights would be removed from the event?s official billboard. [...]

Rob Broughton  Mike Brown  Junie Browning Paul Buentello  Josh Burkman  Mikey Burnett  Murilo Bustamante 

– Jim Ross said on Twitter following last night’s Extreme Rules pay-per-view that a leather strap had to be attached to his wrist due to his broken hand; he couldn’t make a fist or grip the strap. As you know by now, the injury occurred last Monday on RAW when Cole’s tooth made contact with the bone of J.R.’s fist.
– Thanks to everyone who has joined me (Ryan Clark) on Facebook. You guys are the best as I’ve had over 3600 fans in a week. This is going to be …

Rich No Love Clementi  Mark The Hammer Coleman Wes Soldier Combs  Ray Cooper  Kit Cope  Wesley Cabbage Correira 

Jose Aldo is a bad, bad man. The dude who knocks him off his UFC featherweight perch will have to be a helluva fighter and probably a little bit lucky. In a game of inches, landing that perfect shot can’t always be planned. Nor can life, that’s why Mark Hominick needs to catch a break outside the Octagon as well.

The Canadian has the pressure of the world on him facing the UFC champ and doing it in front 55,000 faithful Canadian fans. Hominick faces Aldo at UFC 129 (9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT).

Check out MMAWeekly’s Damon Martin, ProMMARadio’s Larry Pepe and me break down the fight on RawVegas.

The last thing he needs to be thinking about is his wife in a hospital delivering their first child. Everything should be fine as long as the little girl doesn’t come a week early. Hominick’s wife, Ashley, is due on May 7.

Ashley will be in Toronto roughly 90 minutes from their hometown of Thamesford and the precautions have been taken.

"We have a doctor lined up (in Toronto) if she does go into labor," he said. "We have a pretty strong support system with my family. It’s nice that the fight’s literally an hour and a half drive away from where we live," Hominick told the Canadian Press.

Hominick (20-8, 3-0 UFC) admitted he’s balancing a lot.

"I’m just trying to take it all in. This is an experience that I’ll look back on and say, ‘Wow, that was a crazy time,’ especially with my wife being due," Hominick said. "Everyone in my life knows the opportunity that’s in front of me, so it’s been a huge, strong support system that I have behind me."

Hominick and trainer Shawn Tompkins feel, Aldo (18-1) has never been tested by a top-notch striker.

"I think I’m the guy to take this guy out," he said. "I really do think I have the skill set to beat him. The main thing is staying composed and sticking to the game plan," Hominick said.

Aldo has the reputation of being a great ground, but sounds willing to test Hominick on the feet.

"I feel it’s a great fight," Aldo said through an interpreter. Two guys that are going to go out there and keep the fight standing and always be looking for that knockout."

Tompkins told us last month, no one has come forward against Aldo. That’ll change Saturday night.

Hermes Franca Rich Franklin Ian Freeman Don Frye Tony Fryklund Kazuyuki Fujita Masakatsu Funaki

Weigh-ins are taking place this afternoon for the first UFC event emanating from Toronto. In the night’s main event, Georges St-Pierre defends his UFC Welterweight Championship against Jake Shields on Facebook.com, Spike TV, and PPV. Check out the full weigh-in results below:

In shocking news, the UFC used the exact same awful nu-metal music as always.

Also, props to the director. When the ring girls were introduced, the director locked in on Brittney Palmer and didn’t show the other ring girls. Good job, friend!

Main Televised Card

* Georges St-Pierre (169.5) vs. Jake Shields (169)
* Jose Aldo, Jr. (145) vs. Mark Hominick (145.25)
* Randy Couture (203.5) vs. Lyoto Machida (204.5)
* Vladimir Matyushenko (205.5) vs. Jason Brilz (204.5)
* Mark Bocek (155) vs. Ben Henderson (156.5) * Henderson has 1 hour to make weight

Spike TV Card

* Nate Diaz (171) vs. Rory MacDonald (170.5)
* Sean Pierson (170) vs. Jake Ellenberger (170)

Facebook.com

* Claude Patrick (169.5) vs. Daniel Roberts (170.5)
* Ivan Menjivar (136) vs. Charlie Valencia (135.5)
* Jason MacDonald (185) vs. Ryan Jensen (185)
* Kyle Watson (155) vs. John Makdessi (155.5)
* Yves Jabouin (146) vs. Pablo Garza (145)

According to UFC.com, Ben Henderson made weight on his second attempt.

Martinsh Egle Eric Butterbean Esch Efrain Escudero Rashad Evans Urijah Faber Wagnney Fabiano Kevin Kimbo Slice Ferguson

Wilson Gouveia Jason Grace Crosley Gracie Gregor Gracie Ralek Gracie Renzo Gracie Rickson Gracie

Bellator 46
Saturday June 25
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hollywood, FL
Airing on MTV2

* Pat Curran vs. TBA (featherweight tourney quarterfinal)
* Adam Schindler vs. TBA (featherweight tourney quarterfinal)
* Ronnie Mann vs. TBA (featherweight tourney quarterfinal)
* Marlon Sandro vs. TBA (featherweight tourney quarterfinal)
* Jessica Aguilar vs. Carla Esparza

Alberto Crane Marcio Pe de Pano Cruz Luke Cummo  Jeff Big Frog Curran Dai Shuanghai  Mac Danzig  Karen Darabedyan

A middleweight bout between UFC veteran Dave Branch and Jeremy May has been tapped the co-headliner of this month’s Shark Fights 15 event.

Officials today announced the booking.

Although broadcast plans haven’t been announced, Shark Fights 15 takes place May 27 at Santa Ana Star Center in Rio Rancho, N.M. Middleweights Joey Villasenor and Chris Camozzi headline.

Dan Henderson Josh Hendricks Ed Herman Heath Herring Branden Lee Hinkle Tank Abbott Hiroyuki Abe

MMA Legend Randy Couture talks about his past, present, and future. www.ShootMedia.com

Ricardo Arona  Noboru Asahi Marcus Aurelio  Mikhail Avetisyan Luiz Azeredo  Luciano Azevedo  Ba Te er 

– The Huffington Post posted an article regarding John Cena announcing to the WWE Extreme Rules audience that U.S. troops “captured and compromised” Osama bin Laden. You can read the article at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
– An image of The Undertaker giving the Tombstone piledriver to Triple H is featured on the cover of the latest issue of Power Slam.
– WWE.com has posted a photo retrospective of Christian’s career. “Captain Charisma” captured the World Heavyweight Championship for the first time last night at Extreme Rules.
– WWE.com is now listing Alberto Del Rio’s personal …

Per Eklund Jason Ellis Aleksander Emelianenko Fedor Emelianenko Yasubey Enomoto Mark Epstein Tom Big Cat Erickson

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Bellator Fighting Championships has added another really good fighter to their roster, as they announced on Wednesday the signing of 10-1-1 middleweight Vitor Vianna.

Vianna, the head jiu-jitsu trainer at the Wand Fight Team in Las Vegas, is a seven-year veteran whose sole loss came due to a broken arm TKO against UFC light heavyweight Thiago Silva in 2006.

“I have been watching Bellator for a long time,” said Vianna. “They are one of the best promotions in the world and they have great fighters. I’m just really excited to fight in the big show against big fighters, and to have the opportunity to show the world who I am.”

“Fighting for Bellator is the best opportunity for me. I know I’m going to have a great career here with Bellator. It’s great exposure, being on national television on MTV2, and I know I’m going to make a lot of fans very happy.”

As the head jiu jitsu trainer with Wanderlei Silva’s fight team in Las Vegas, Vianna works with a number of top fighters in the sport on a day to day basis, but believes his extensive sparring with “The Axe Murderer” puts him in position to stand with anyone in the middleweight division.

“Wanderlei had seen me fight in Brazil, and when he opened his school in Las Vegas, he wanted me to become an instructor with Wand Fight Team,” said Vianna. “I train every day with Wanderlei. I also train a lot with Michael Costa, and sometimes Forrest Griffin. I spar with Wanderlei three times a week, every week, and we go 100%. I don’t think anyone I fight is going to have the same power and technique that Wanderlei has. I feel confident that I can stand up with anyone at 185 lbs.”

Vianna is expected to make his Bellator debut sometime this summer, though no opponent has yet been set for him.

“We constantly strive to sign the world’s best possible talent for Bellator, and Vitor certainly fits that bill,” said Bellator Chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebeny. “We’ve been working to bring Vitor to Bellator for quite a while, and as a fan and as Bellator’s CEO I am very excited to see him step into the Bellator cage for us this summer.”

Dan Hardy Lee Hasdell Musse Hasselvall Daiki DJ taiki Hata He Peng David Heath Delson Heleno

It’s not the type of story manager Ed Soares wants to tell.

As it turns out, his client, UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo, was recovering from an undisclosed infection and was on antibiotics…

Roger Gracie Rolles Gracie Royce Gracie Royler Gracie Ryan Gracie Peter Graham Forrest Griffin

Image:…

Wilson Gouveia Jason Grace Crosley Gracie Gregor Gracie Ralek Gracie Renzo Gracie Rickson Gracie

by Michael David SmithIn a classic fight before 55,000 fans at UFC 129 in Toronto, Jose Aldo dominated Mark Hominick for the better part of four rounds — only to get dominated himself in the fifth and final round and hold on to win a surprisingly competitive unanimous decision.

Aldo retained his UFC featherweight title, but Hominick gained a huge amount of respect for the heart he showed, continuing to fight despite Aldo turning his face into a bruised, bloody mess.

“Take your hat off in congratulations to Mark Hominick,” Aldo said after the fight. “He’s a hell of a fighter, and he came out for five rounds, giving his all.”

But while Hominick showed he was a hell of a fighter in the fifth round, Aldo definitely won the first four.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Ricardo Almeida  Eddie Alvarez Thiago Alves  Andre Amade  Dean Amasinger  Jimmy Ambriz Matt Andersen