MMA fighter Phil Baroni understands his MMA livelihood is on the line when he fights TUF fighter Brad Tavares during UFC 125.
Baroni has gone 3-2 over his past five fights, with wins against Olaf Alfonso, Ron Verdadero and Scott Jansen. In his two most recent fights, Baroni fought to unanimous decision losses to Amir Sadollah (UFC 106) and Joe Riggs (Strikeforce: Lawler vs. Shields).
Here is what Baroni had to say on MMAjunkie Radio:
“It’s a must-win fight. My back is against the wall, and I’ve got to win the fight. I’m too old to be a journeyman I don’t want to be fighting on small shows. You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do. My back’s against the wall, and it’s time to get serious and take care of my business.”
In his most recent fights, especially the battle against Sadollah, Baroni’s cardio was called into question in the second and third rounds.
If Baroni wins, it’ll mark his first UFC win since UFC 39 (Baroni went on a four-fight losing streak before being released after UFC 51 in 2005).
Former UFC fighter Todd Duffee was cut from the UFC after a single loss, and was rumored for a stint in the WWE, but remains focused on MMA.
There were recent reports Duffee would sign with Vince McMahon, however, Duffee himself denied these rumors on a recent post on the UG:
“Unless you know they are about to offer me millions of dollars to work how I see fit while still pursuing an MMA career,” Duffee said in the post.
Duffee was surprisingly released after a UFC 114 knockout loss to Mike Russow, even though it was his first pro loss. UFC President Dana White later said Duffee’s attitude led to his release, but it’s very possible we’ll see Duffee back in the UFC octagon if he picks up a few wins.
Duffee is 6-1 in his short MMA career, with wins against Tim Hague and Assuerio Silva prior to the Miss Russow loss. The fighter has branched out and has a role in Never Back Down 2, but
Jake Ellenberger is still fighting at UFC 126 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on Feb. 5 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Unfortunately, it won't be against perennial number one contender Jon Fitch, who was yanked from the Super Bowl fight card to throw hands with BJ Penn in Australia.
But that doesn't mean "The Juggernaut" won't have his hands full.
Stepping in for the son-of-a-Fitch will be unbeaten brawny Brazilian Carlos Eduardo Rocha, who continued his impressive run with a submission win over Kris McCray in his UFC debut back on Nov. 13.
"Ta Danado" has finished all nine of his victims with eight of those stoppages coming by way of the tap.
Ellenberger debuted in the UFC in September of 2009 against current division contender Carlos Condit, losing via controversial split decision. The hot young prospect has cruised his way to two first round stoppages since then over Mike Pyle and John Howard.
A victory against a the dangerous Rocha will most likely lead to bigger and better things within the division.
UFC 126 will feature a headlining bout of middleweight champion Anderson Silva defending his strap against the fast hands of Vitor Belfort in a fight that was originally scheduled for UFC 112.
The undercard consists of a 205-pound clash between friends as Forrest Griffin takes on Rich Franklin while a monumental showdown pitting rising prospects against each other in Jon Jones vs Ryan Bader will also take place.
Stay tuned to MMAMania.com for future updates to this still-developing fight card.
Now managed by Monte Cox. Turned down Strikeforce, Bellator offers... Duffee was offered Antonio Silva on short notice and didn't take it. Looks like he might fight in January on a smaller show.
Can't blame Duffee for not taking on such a tough opponent without getting the proper time to prepare, as it could have been another unnecessary dent on the 24-year-old's career. We haven't heard much from him since his UFC release, and while there were also rumors swirling about him joining the WWE, Todd quickly debunked them:
You sir are wrong. Unless you know they are about to offer me millions of dollars to work how I see fit while still persuing a mma career."
Todd Duffee has turned down offers from both Bellator and Strikeforce, according to Josh Gross. Apparently, he was offered a fight with Antonio Silva at the upcoming "Henderson vs Babalu" event and decided not to take it.
Here is a message Renato “Babalu” Sobral posted when he woke up this morning (courtesy of his Facebook page):
Woke up feeling great today this has been a great camp. Today is gonna be pretty light, light cardio and finish packing. It’s off to St. Louis tomorrow for Strikeforce: Babalu vs. Henderson
Sobral meets Dan Henderson this Saturday night in St. Louis live on Showtime.
Ten-year MMA veteran Phil Baroni makes no attempt to shy away from the situation.
Winless in his past two fights, "The New York Bad Ass" recognizes that
victory is imperative at UFC 125 if he hopes to continue his pursuit of
octagon success.
And while some fighters often shy away from admitting additional
pressures that accompany their matchups, Baroni welcomes the idea of
what failure would cost.
After all, considering the price of the alternative just makes victory taste that much sweeter.
"Touch gloves, knock you out. That's what I like."
Dec. 11th live on Pay-per-view from Montreal, Quebec, Canada:
Stefan "Skyscraper" Struve (20-4)
Win Christian Morecraft - KO (Punches) UFC 117
Loss Roy Nelson - TKO (Punches) UFC FN 21
Win Paul Buentello - Decision (Majority) UFC 107
Win Chase Gormley - Submission (Triangle Choke) UFC 104
Sean "Big Sexy" McCorkle (10-0)
Win Mark Hunt - Submission (Straight Armbar) UFC 119
Win Johnathan Ivey - TKO (Punches) LOF 39
Win Bobby Favors - TKO (Punches) LOF 38
Win Joe Mellotte - Submission (Punches) LOF 37
("I think it's cool, but do you think the judge will find it as ironic as we do, Lee?")
It looks like Lee Murray will be behind bars longer than he thought.
According to a BBC report, the former UFC fighter who was named as the mastermind behind the 2006 $85 million (USD) Securitas heist in London had 15 years tacked onto his 10 year sentence today following a brief hearing in Rabat, Morocco where he has been held since being arrested in the North African country for importing drugs, whereupon authorities discovered he was wanted in connection to the UK robbery.
Murray fled England with right hand man and fellow MMA fighter, Paul Allen who was sentenced to 18 years in jail two years after being extradited back to London in 2007 when the pair were arrested outside of a mall in Morocco.
"Lightning" managed to avoid extradition because his father was a Moroccan national, but he couldn't avoid the stiffer jail sentence he was handed down today.
Greg Jackson has found himself in the unenviable position of defending his life's work - against a man to whom he owes his livelihood.
More than a month after UFC president Dana White singled him out as a partial cause of a dud main event at UFC 122, Jackson has broken his silence.
"To say (that) everybody doesn't try to finish and that it's a consistent problem with us when the exact 180-degree opposite is true - I don't think there's another team that can claim half of all bonuses given by the UFC," Jackson today told MMAjunkie.com.
Our #2 ranked prospect on our 2011 World MMA Welterweight Scouting Report doesn't quite fit the mold of our past picks, and it'll probably thrill a few readers that this prospect trains out of Firas Zahabi's camp in Canada while hailing from the Dominican Republic. With ferocious takedowns and brutalizing strength, Alex Garcia (6-0) has the skills and support to make a run for the UFC toward the end of 2011.
Offensive Skills: Garcia's greatest asset is his explosiveness in tandem with his immense strength. For a welterweight, Garcia is absolutely enormous in terms of size and strength, and that has been his main means of crushing the opposition in quick fashion. In six appearances, he's finished all comers and only fought to extra rounds once in his little over one year career as a professional. While the competition is far from spectacular, he is progressing up the ladder nicely while rounding out his skills.
Ground and pound is his primary offensive strategy, but he's honing his boxing skills and continuing to threaten opponents with submissions on the ground. While I do think that the tough weight cut down to 170 could be a problem for him in the future in the context of his conditioning, it's tough not to like a guy who comes out with the ferocity of a lion.
Defensive Skills: It's tough to gauge where Garcia stacks up in this category. There isn't a large amount of footage out there that suggests he's a dynamo on the feet when it comes to avoiding strikes, but a lot of the training footage I've watched suggests that Garcia is an improving, fleet-footed striker who could potentially make his opponents miss frequently. I'm not going to make that assumption however, and most of the footage I have seen from his bouts under the Ringside MMA banner have been one-sided stompings against very green opponents.
Progression: Garcia is still relatively green when it comes to his career progression, but his management has done a nice job in lining him up with fights that fit where he's at in his career right now. He's moved up from fighting mostly losing neophyte fighters to battling veteran competition, although most would say that those veterans aren't high quality as their win/loss differential is rather small. But with only six fights to his name, battling veterans like Tyler Jackson and Ricky Goodall is a safe step up the ladder as he prepares for some tougher competition down the road, possibly IFL veteran Chris Clements.
If he can take down the proven power of Clements, Mark Pavelich is his next option in continuing his climb up the ladder while staying local in Canada. It doesn't seem like a bad move, but I would rather see Garcia make his way to some of the regional American promotions that can attract a Brazilian flavor or some powerful wrestlers who can test Garcia's strength and endurance.
Environment: Garcia is currently training out of Firas Zahabi's camp, the famed gym of current UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre. The intrigue is that Garcia sits in the same weight class as St. Pierre, and that should provide him with one of the best possible training partners in his weight class in the world. Additionally, Garcia can train under the tutelage of Zahabi, a man who can improve his conditioning and endurance to world champion levels.
Potential: Our attraction to Garcia mostly stemmed from the physical gifts he possesses in combination with the ferocity of his offense. We've stuck to a rather predictable track of Brazilian standouts who have used a tried-and-tested combination of Muay Thai and Brazilian jiu-jitsu for most of the rankings, and the constant complaint from some of our readers is that we haven't dug up a solid American style fighter who uses power from the top to thrash the types of fighters we've ranked on our list previously. Fortunately for those fans, Alex Garcia has the makings of becoming the kryptonite to Brazil's two-pronged attack.
His defense on the ground is a question that needs to be asked if he intends on cruising through the new wave of talent arriving from Brazil, and to be perfectly honest -- some of the Muay Thai fighters making their way through the ranks will provide dangerous challenges to the young Dominican as well. But Garcia has what many fighters, even top level welterweights, don't possess, and that's pure, focused power.
Garcia's strength of record is far from what prospects like Lima and Juarez possess, but the outlook for the future is much more broad than that of both of those fighters in my mind. He has the top control game to knock opponents out instantly, and he also has the developing skills that should grow to their full potential under Firas, especially with the training partners he has at his disposal.
This is one of our risky picks, much like Thiago Michel was. Michel hasn't paid off as he did lose to a relatively unknown fighter this past weekend, although some have said his opponent has phenomenal jiu-jitsu skills. Garcia, however, seems to have the countering tactics to stop those types of opponents, and that's the main reason why he sits at #2 on our 2011 World MMA Welterweight Scouting Report.
In lieu of a planned bout with Jon Fitch, Jake Ellenberger (23-5 MMA, 2-1 UFC) instead is expected to meet welterweight prospect Carlos Eduardo Rocha (9-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) on the televised main card of UFC 126.
Sources close to the event today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) verbal agreements are in place with contracts on the way.
Jake Ellenberger (23-5) Win John Howard TKO (doctor stoppage) - UFC on Versus 2, 8/1/10 Win Mike Pyle TKO (punches) - UFC 108, 1/2/10 Loss Carlos Condit decision (split) - UFN 19, 9/16/09
Carlos Eduardo Rocha (9-0) Win Kris McCray submission (kneebar) - UFC 122, 11/13/10 Win Fatih Balci submission (arm triangle choke) - GMC 1, 5/29/10 Win Artur Kadlubek TKO (corner stoppage) - La Onda - Manto Cup, 11/1/09
Live on pay-per-view February 5th, 2010 from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas:
Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort Jon Jones vs. Ryan Bader Rich Franklin vs. Forrest Griffin Miguel Torres vs. Antonio Banuelos Jake Ellenberger vs. Carlos Eduardo Rocha Sam Stout vs. Paul Kelly Paul Taylor vs. Gabe Ruediger
Ten-year MMA veteran Phil Baroni makes no attempt to shy away from the situation.
Greg Jackson has found himself in the unenviable position of defending his life's work - against a man to whom he owes his livelihood.
