When the consensus #1 and #2 athlete in their sport/weightclass go at it , it’s truly something special. Just this year we had one of the most thrilling men’s tennis finals in Grand Slam history with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal’s match at Wimbledon. Past showdowns, whether it’s Tiger Woods vs. Phil Mickelson, Fedor Emelianenko vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier, or Bjorn Borg vs. John Mcenroe provide the thrill and excitement of seeing the very best the sport has to offer do battle.

Tonight, fans will get the pleasure of seeing the two best welterweights in the world fight, but while the UFC has solidified their position as the number one MMA company on the planet over the past few years, they haven’t been able to put together as many consensus #1 vs. #2 fights as you might think. Read the rest of this entry »

“The fight contract is up today…July 19th according to the contract. That was 18 months or four fights.That’s the way the contract is written, by the language that I’ve read in the contract that my attornies explained to me. That’s the rub. They say I owe them two more fights. And, we need the State to settle the dispute and give us a declaration as to what they say the contract says. I either owe them two more fights and I’ll fight Nogueira or find a way hopefully for the UFC to make the Fedor fight happen, that’s what means most to me. Or retire if that’s the case…I don’t know what’s going to happen there. Or they’ll say no, the contract term ended, you’re free and clear to go and fight wherever you want.” - Fox Sports’ Alex Marvez got a one-on-one with Randy post-Affliction.

Randy does go on to say that whoever loses the decision might take it to the Supreme Court, but this has to be seen as a positive step as far as this whole debacle is concerned. I for one think ‘Minotauro vs. ‘The Natural’ is just as compelling a match-up as the Emelianenko fight. Couture’s “Fedor-only” approach is a bit of a slight to a guy with a resume like Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

Despite coaching on The Ultimate Fighter against the presumed contender Frank Mir, one can only think that the UFC would jump at a Couture-Nogueira unification match, putting the Mir fight on the backburner. No matter what happens in the legal arena, fans and media alike deserve to see Randy Couture fighting again in the near future. *fingers crossed*

Paul Buentello vs. Gary Goodridge

Round One

Buentello looks a little less flabby than usual. Confusion in the ring right now. Goodridge is stretching on his back. It’s been 3-4 minutes since they announced the fighters. CSAC is delaying the start of the bout, the announcer says the bout will start in a few moments.

Nope.

The first bout has been delayed…..very unorganized start to the evening.

They’ve re-introduced the fighters….here we go!

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Total-MMA is live in Anaheim, awaiting entrance into the Honda Center. Stay tuned for exclusive content throughout the day. 

Countdown:

Sylvia Promo:

Arena Preview:

Japanese promotions have a long and storied history of announcing fights at the last minute, and the upcoming Dream.5 card on July 21st is no exception.

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Your Roundtable:

IL: Iain Liddle(UK)
DW: Dave Walsh(USA)
AC: Alan Conceicao(USA)
LC: Lee Casebolt(USA)
KS: Kendall Shields(CAN)
JS: Jonathan Snowden(USA)
MS: Marc Staehling(CAN)

Jake Shields vs. Nick Thompson for the first Elite XC Welterweight Title Live on CBS

DW: As fun as it is to make fun of EliteXC or anything involving Gary Shaw, this is unquestionable content. I can’t wait to see it, but this really isn’t going to wow a CBS crowd. As much as people complain about subpar displays like Kimbo Slice, that is what your average person in the audience is expecting to see.

JS: think the Shields-Thompson matchup is great and should add some much needed technical prowess to the Elite XC CBS show. Read the rest of this entry »

The issue of champion vs. champion “Superfights” has been a major talking point as of late in MMA circles. Matchups like BJ Penn vs. Georges St. Pierre, St. Pierre vs. Anderson Silva, and Silva vs. Chuck Liddell have been talked about by pundits and fighters alike. But the thing is, at all three weight classes in question: 155, 170 and 185, there is no shortage of excellent match-ups. Rushing in to inter-division “Superfights” now is an ill-advised move, and would be a major slight to all the title contenders in those weight classes

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New Episodes debut June 4th

Unlike its sister-promotion the UFC, the WEC has no on-demand, on-line video service where preliminary fights that don’t make air, are made available to the public. What they do have, is a contract with Versus not only for live events, but for WEC WrekCage, where previously un-televised bouts are seen for the first time. This Wednesday marks the debut of a new three-episode run.

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This Saturday kicks off an incredible run of excellent weekend shows that lasts all the way until August. It includes eight consecutive weekends starting on the 24th. Wow.

Saturday May 24th, UFC 84- PPV

LW Title: B.J. Penn vs. Sean Sherk
Lyoto Machida vs. Tito Ortiz
Keith Jardine vs. Wanderlei Silva
Thiago Silva vs. Antonio Mendes
Wilson Gouveia vs. Goran Reljic
Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou vs. Kazuhiro Nakamura
Yoshiyuki Yoshida vs. Jon Koppenhaver
Rousimar Palhares vs. Ivan Salaverry
Shane Carwin vs. Christian Wellisch
Dong-hyun Kim vs. Jason Tan
Terry Etim vs. Rich Clementi

Read the rest of this entry »