» Fighter: Mustapha al Turk

British heavyweight Mustapha Al-Turk (4-4) could be forced out of his UFC 109 matchup versus UFC-debuting Rolles Gracie (3-0) in Las Vegas February 6 due to visa issues, according to MMA Weekly.

Read More About Report: Mustapha Al-Turk Could Miss UFC 109 Versus Rolles Gracie…

UFC 109 takes place February 6 in Las Vegas and is headlined by two legends in the sport on mixed martial arts (MMA). Fighters.com tenth-ranked heavyweight “The Natural” Randy Couture (17-10) faces off against “The Hammer” Mark Coleman (16-9) in the light heavyweight division. There are a couple of fights on this card that I find very intriguing and are likely to not find their way onto the pay per view.

Read More About UFC 109: The Most Intriguing Match-Ups You May Not See…

The UFC officially announced Thursday the rest of the line-up for UFC 92, which takes place 27 December in Las Vegas.

French heavyweight Cheick Kongo (12-4-1) will meet UFC newcomer Mustapha al Turk (1-0), “The Hammer” Matt Hamill (4-2) will meet Reese Andy (7-2) in a light heavyweight bout.

Other bouts announced were “Piranha” Ryo Chonan (15-8) versus “Bad” Brad Blackburn (12-9-1), Antoni Hardonk (7-4) versus Mark Burch (10-2), and Dan Evensen (10-5) versus Pat Barry (1-0).

Read More About UFC 92 Card Official; Kongo, Hamill, and Chonan to Fight…

“New York Bad Ass” Phil Baroni (11-10) clocked Scott Jansen (3-3) in the first round of Baroni’s 170-pound debut, knocking the Brit stiff in London Saturday night.

“I had a lot of doubts going in here,” Baroni said after losing three straight and spending his entire career at 185-pounds, “but I erased them with that right hand.”

The usually brash “Bad Ass” lost a bit of bravado with the 15 pounds of inflated muscle, graciously admitting, “I feel really lucky to have this opportunity.”

In an unfortunate scene of MMA hooliganism, a friend of Jansen’s attacked Baroni in the cage after the knockout; but, order was quickly restored.

A reinvigorated Baroni asked after the fight, “Who’s next?”

CageRage is owned by ProElite, which also owns EliteXC and Icon and has a working relationship with Strikeforce, leaving open a lot of options for Baroni in his new weight class.

Heavyweight Neil Grove (6-1) knocked out “Buzz” Robert Berry (12-8) at 1:29 of round two, ending any leftover controversy from a Grove corner stoppage “W” over Berry last December.

Read More About Bad Ass, But Less of It…

Last Saturday I quizzed “The World’s Most Dangerous Man” Ken Shamrock (26-13-2) about when it’s time to hang-up his four ounce gloves.

“When I can’t beat mid-level guys.  I’m not going to let myself get beat by mediocre fighters,” Shamrock confided.

Saturday at CageRage 25 in London, “Buzz” Robert Berry (12-7) knocked out Shamrock at 3:26 of round one.

“He comes to fight,” Shamrock had described Berry; and, it’s likely this loss won’t convince the king of the Lion’s Den to retire.

Shamrock is 3-8 since his Y2K return to MMA.  He’s lost five consecutive fights by first round stoppage since TKOing Kimo Leopoldo at UFC 48 in 2004.

Ken won’t retire because he’s a fighter with fight left in him.  He won’t retire because, even after four consecutive losses, he still headlines a card; and, after five straight losses, his next fight will be a main event too.  He won’t retire because we still pay to watch him fight, because our memory of Shamrock at his best continues to eclipse Shamrock at this, his worst.

The “Ashikan Judan” Masakazu Imanari (14-5-1) earned his stage name by twisting “White Bear” Jean Silva’s (15-8-3) foot in a heel hook at 2:30 of round one for the CageRage World Featherweight Championship.

British heavyweight Rob Broughton (7-3-1) dealt undefeated Neil Grove (5-1) his first “L” in a majority decision.

Middleweight “Kong” Tom Watson beat Pierre Guillet to a TKO at 2:05 of round one.

Heavyweight Mustapha al Turk (5-3) submitted kickboxer Gary Turner (4-1) on strikes at 3:19 of round one.

Heavyweight Ivan Serati (8-2) stopped Roman Webber (4-4) at :48 of round one.

Brazilian “Lagartixa” Henrique Santana (5-3) won a unanimous decision over England’s Michael Johnson (5-5).

Giorgio Andrews (3-0) made it a tough night for the Shamrocks by winning a TKO over Ken’s son Ryan Shamrock (1-1) after Ryan broke his hand in the first round.

Undefeated John Hathaway remained so with a TKO of Marvin Arnold Bleau at 1:32 of round one.

Finally, John Phillips (7-1) opened the night with a TKO of Jake Bostwick at 4:10 of round one.