» Archive for July, 2009

MMA Gospel welcomes TUF 9 alum Dean Amasinger and Andre Winner from Team UK. We will talk to them about how things have been since leaving the house and what is on the horizon for them. We will also discuss all the breaking mixed martial arts news for the week.

“Hollywood” Dan Henderson (25-7) will get the next crack at UFC middleweight champion “Spyder” Anderson Silva (24-4) at 185-pounds, UFC President Dana White announced Friday afternoon.

“Dan Henderson is definitely next in line to fight for Anderson Silva’s title,” said White.

Silva has a 205-pound appointment with former UFC light heavyweight champ Forrest Griffin (16-5) at UFC 101 in Philadelphia 8 August. White indicated the 185-pound title fighter versus Hendo’ will take place “as soon as possible…depending on how banged up he gets.”

Read More About UFC Champ Anderson Silva’s Next 185-Pound Challenger Will Be Dan Henderson…

Affliction refugees who’ve found sanctuary in the UFC now include former EliteXC welterweight title challenger “Semtex” Paul Daley (18-9-2), lightweight “The Upgrade” Dan Lauzon (12-2), lightweight “Tractor” Rafaello Oliveira (8-1), and “Machine” Mark Hominick (14-7), announced UFC President Dana White Friday afternoon.

Englishman Daley lost a UD to “Goat” Nick Thompson (38-11-1) at MFC 20 in Edmonton last February and was scheduled to fight “Thoroughbred” Jay Hieron (14-4) at Affliction in Anaheim Saturday before the event’s cancellation.

Lauzon tapped Bobby Green (5-2) in a rear naked choke at Affliction in Anaheim last January and would’ve tangled with “Polish Hammer” Chris Horodecki (13-1) at Affliction Saturday. He begins a second stint in the Octagon after getting TKO’d by “King” Spencer Fisher (23-4) at UFC 64 in Las Vegas in 2006.

Read More About UFC Converts Include Paul Daley, Dan Lauzon, Mark Hominick, and Rafaello Oliveira…

Former UFC middleweight champion “Ace” Rich Franklin (26-4) will roll out the crimson carpet welcoming former UFC light heavyweight champion “Phenom” Vitor Belfort (17-8) back into the Octagon at UFC 103 in Dallas 19 September, announced UFC President Dana White Friday afternoon.

Belfort will replace “Hollywood” Dan Henderson (25-7) who defeated Franklin by split decision at UFC 93 in Dublin 17 January. White indicated fan disappointment with the Hendo’ v Franklin rematch as cause for the switch.

The fight will be contested at 205 pounds, neither Franklin nor Belfort’s best weight.

Read More About UFC 103 Switch, Now Rich Franklin v Vitor Belfort in Main Event…

The UFC and M-1 Global, promoter of Fighters.com Heavyweight Champion “Last Emperor” Fedor Emelianenko (29-1), have not canned negotiations to put Emelianenko in the Octagon versus UFC champ Brock Lesnar (4-1), M-1 Global announced in a statement Friday afternoon.

“There have been recent reports stating that talk between M-1 Global and the UFC regarding Fedor fighting in the UFC have ended. Like some of the other reports that have surfaced, this is incorrect,” claimed M-1 Global President Vadim Finkelchtein.

Finkelchtein also denied reports in less reputable publications that Fighters.com that the UFC offered Emelianenko a six-fight, $30 million dollar deal.

Read More About UFC Negotiations For Fedor Emelianenko Ongoing, Says M-1 Global…

Former UFC light heavyweight champion “Huntington Beach Bad Boy” Tito Ortiz (15-6-1) hinted not so subtly about his return to the Octagon Thursday night. At least, that’s what Fighters.com reads between these lines. You tell me:

“A new beginning starts tomorrow. I have stood my ground as a fighter and business man. Now my fans will get to see the best of me. New back, new mind, and new motivation. Every fighter will thank me late,” posted Ortiz on his MySpace blog.

Coincidentally, UFC PR hottie Rachel Trontel sent Fighters.com this message Thursday afternoon: “This Friday, UFC President Dana White will break all the latest news and developments in UFC to the press.”

Read More About Tito Ortiz Announces UFC Return…

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker confirmed Fighters.com’s hypothesis that Affliction M-1 Global’s Trilogy was Affliction’s final event regardless of ninth-ranked heavyweight “Babyface Assassin” Josh Barnett’s (20-5) positive test for 2a-methyl-5a-androstan-3a-ol-17-one, an anabolic steroid, causing the cancellation of Trilogy.

Barnett denies using steroids.

In an interview published at MMA Weekly, Coker said, “That was already in the works. How they got out…[if] they became a sponsor for Strikeforce, [were] the conversations we were having. This was their last fight, so there would be no more fighters. The dialogue was that they were getting out of the business a month ago.”

Read More About Strikeforce’s Coker: “Affliction Was Getting Out of the Business a Month Ago.”…

“Endless Fighter” Mitsuhiro Ishida (19-4-1) will fill-in for Strikeforce lightweight champ “Punk” Josh Thomson (15-2-1) in San Jose 15 August, giving “El Niño” Gilbert Melendez (15-2) a crack at avenging a different loss than he had originally planned.

Ishida took Gil’ the distance for a UD at Yarennoka in Tokyo on New Year’s Eve 2007.

Read More About Strikeforce Taps Mitsuhiro Ishida to Rematch Gilbert Melendez…

Xtreme Couture welterweight “Thoroughbred” Jay Hieron (14-4) has signed with San Jose-based MMA promoter Strikeforce following the disintegration of Affliction and will fight Nick Diaz (20-8) for the promotion’s first welterweight title, according to multiple sources.

Former IFL titlist Hieron knocked out recent DREAM Welterweight Grand Prix finalist Jason High (6-1) in 1:04 at Affliction in Anaheim last January. He was scheduled to fight former EliteXC title challenger “Semtex” Paul Daley (18-9-2) at Affliction in Anaheim 1 August.

Diaz tapped former EliteXC middleweight title challenger “Hands of Steel” Scott Smith (15-7) in a rear naked choke at Strikeforce in St. Louis last June. He was originally scheduled to rematch “Diesel” Joe Riggs (30-11) for the Strikeforce title until Riggs pulled out with an injury.

According to Fighters.com’s source inside M-1 Global, the UFC and M-1 Global “did not agree at all yesterday” when the competing international MMA promotions met about bringing Fighters.com Heavyweight Champion “Last Emperor” Fedor Emelianenko (29-1) into the Octagon to fight UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar (4-1).

In a statement released Sunday, M-1 Global President Vadim Finkelstein challenged, “This is the moment of truth that the UFC has talked about. Fedor and I are here in the States. If they want to come out and fly here, we are ready to conduct negotiations. Of course it still doesn’t imply we are ready to accept any conditions they’ll throw at us. We want to talk to the UFC about having Fedor compete against some of their fighters, but only within the framework of co-promotional efforts with M-1 Global.”

It’s the co-promotion between the UFC and M-1 Global that has been a sticking point between the two promotions. The same arrangement caused tension between Affliction and M-1 Global representatives.

Read More About UFC and M-1 Global “Didn’t Agree At All” About Fedor Emelianenko’s Contract…