A rematch between Matt Wiman and Mac Danzig is set for UFC Fight Night 22.
Cung Le Doesn't Want to Join Stikeforce's Middleweight Tournament:
"You know tournaments, let those young guys do the tournaments. I'm 38 years old, and even though I looked 28 on Saturday, after I put that pizza, chocolate chips, and cookies in my stomach, I feel like a 38-year-old. I'm just happy that I'm with Strikeforce, and I'm happy that Scott Coker supported me in the 21 months that I had off."
"I want to sit down with Scott Coker and see what he has in store for me, but I definitely didn't take that much wear and tear in this fight, and you go through that tournament and you're fighting a lot. There's going to be a lot of wear and tear, and I'm not sure exactly what I want to do at this point."
Jens Pulver Breaks Down UFC 116 on G4TV's Attack of the Show
Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion, Alistair Overeem (33-11) is set to face former UFC Heavyweight Champ, Ricco Rodriguez (42-11) on July 10 in DREAM.15. From MMAJunkie:
Overeem (33-11 MMA, 3-0 DREAM) has verbally agreed to face former UFC champion Ricco Rodriguez (42-11 MMA, 0-0 DREAM) at DREAM.15.
Bout agreements are expected to be finalized shortly, and a formal announcement for the heavyweight contest should come soon after....
Rodriguez had been linked to a July 18 bout with Jeff Monson under the Australian-based Impact FC banner, but MMAjunkie.com has learned that the former UFC champ will likely not participate in the event in order to fight Overeem.
Ricco Rodriguez first won the UFC heavyweight championship by defeating Randy Couture back in 2002. He then lost the belt to Tim Sylvia and had to battle through substance abuse and weight issues. Now, at 32 years old, he has gotten himself back on track, in shape, and has won seven straight fights.
He has a chance to make it back to the limelight with a victory on the stacked DREAM.15 card, but as we all know, toppling "the Demolition Man" isn't an easy task nowadays.
Rumored DREAM.15 card so far:
- Shinya Aoki vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri [DREAM Lightweight Championship]
- Gesias "JZ" Cavalcante vs. Katsunori Kikuno
- Alistair Overeem vs. Ricco Rodriguez
Light-heavyweight grand prix opening round
- Melvin Manhoef vs. Tatsuya Mizuno
- Gegard Mousasi vs. Jake O'Brien
Yoshihiro Akiyama Wants to Be Like Manny Pacquiao:
"I want to be like Manny Pacquiao. I want to prove that Asian fighters can compete with anybody. A victory will ignite the Asian Mixed Martial Arts world, and people in the US will begin to recognize me."
Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem's next title defense
is currently uncertain, but his next opponent isn't.
- Brock Lesnar - "If you don’t like it [the middle fingers at UFC 100] then"… (gives two middle fingers at the camera).
- Shane Carwin - "Brock is a d*ck, I’m a complete 180 from that guy, but when we step into that octagon, talking is not going to get you away from me, it’s my fists."
- Brock Lesnar - "I’m the best heavyweight fighter in the world and I’ll prove it."
- Shane Carwin - "I will gladly do a wrestling match on the side with you [Brock], or anything athletically against you because I know I’m the better athlete."
Full video after the jump and at ufc.com.
Are up - Saturday, July 3rd, live on pay-per-view from Las Vegas, Nevada:
Main bouts:
Brock Lesnar (4-1) -170 vs. Shane Carwin (12-0) +140
Yoshihiro Akiyama (13-1) -225 vs. Chris Leben (20-6) +185
Chris Lytle (28-17-5) -195 vs. Matt Brown (11-8) +155
Krzysztof Soszynski (19-9-1) -250 vs. Stephan Bonnar (11-7) +190
George Sotiropoulos (12-2) -195 vs. Kurt Pellegrino (16-4) +155
On Spike TV:
Brendan Schaub (5-1) -350 vs. Chris Tuchscherer (18-2) +260
Seth Petruzelli (12-4) -125 vs. Ricardo Romero (10-1) -105
Preliminary bouts:
Kendall Grove (11-7) -165 vs. Goran Reljic (8-1) +145
Gerald Harris (15-2) -270 vs. Dave Branch (6-0) +110
Daniel Roberts (9-1) -165 vs. Forrest Petz (24-7) +135
Karlos Vemola (7-0) -125 vs. Jon Madsen (5-0) -105
Matt Wiman and Mac Danzig are headed back to the future on Sept. 15.
The lightweights have reportedly been booked to rematch immediately at UFC Fight Night 22, which is scheduled to take place at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas, according to Heavy.com.
Wiman and Danzig first met on the undercard portion of UFC 115: "Liddell vs. Franklin" that aired on Spike TV on June 12 from the GM Place in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
It had all the ingredients to be an exciting contest; however, it ended in controversy as "Handsome" was awarded the submission (guillotine) victory in the first round even though Mac didn't, well, submit.
There was a miscommunication between the referee, Yves Lavigne, as well the fighters, which caused the early stoppage. Wiman thought Danzig was choked unconscious, Danzig apparently didn't respond effectively enough when questioned about his condition, and the rest is history.
Now we get to see history repeat itself .... on Spike TV ... again.
UFC Fight Night 22 is expected to feature a headlining bout between middleweights Alan "The Talent" Belcher and Demian Maia. Staunch lightweights Jim Miller and Gleison Tibau are also in talks to hook 'em up.
Stay tuned to MMAmania.com for more updates on this still-developing fight card.
Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) today confirmed that 13 of the 20 competitors who were tested for illegal/banned substances after competing at The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 11 Finale on June 19 have all passed with flying colors.
Co main event participants Matt Hamill and Keith Jardine, as well as Court McGee, Kris McCray, Chris Leben, Aaron Simpson, Dennis Siver, Rich Attonito, John Gunderson, Brad Tavares, Kyle Noke, Chris Camozzi and Travis Browne were all screened for performance enhancers such as steroids and drugs of abuse like cocaine and marijuana, among others.
Results from these battery of tests all returned negative.
The fighters mentioned above were randomly selected. However, athletic commissions typically test the main event participants and fight night winners, as well as those who have failed drug tests in the past.
TUF 11 Finale featured a main event between the top two 185-pound fighters on TUF 11, Court McGee and Kris McCray.
"The Crusher" strangled the "Savage" in the second round to earn a "six-figure" contract with the promotion, as well as bragging rights as the show's latest winner.
Light heavyweight brawlers Jardine and Hamill -- who took home "Fight of the Night" -- went toe-to-toe for a blood-soaked three rounds, with "The Hammer" earning a close majority decision win from the ringside judges.
For complete TUF 11 Finale results and blow-by-blow coverage of the main card action click here and here.
Joe Rogan talks about Fedor vs. Werdum, Overeem demolishing Rogers, Cung Le and the UFC 116 bout between Matt Brown and Chris Lytle.
This Fan Shot was promoted to the front page by Nick Thomas.
HT: ustream.tv/user/Joe_Rogan
Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Werdum coverage
Chris Leben steps up to fight Yoshihiro Akiyama on just two weeks rest. On Saturday, July 3rd this "meat and potatoes" fighter will do some blue-collar work.