The term mixed martial arts is a new and controversial topic in the sporting world. Its utterance on popular sports forums, news and media outlets, and among the general public can evoke dichotomous images of blood, violence and barbaric brutality, while at the same time conjuring quite opposing ideas of skill, respect, and the beauty of the human form in top physical condition, depending on who you ask.
          For the former, simply ask popular and controversial political commentator Bill O’Reilly, host of the Fox News show The O'Reilly Factor, a man who has made his distaste to what he refers to as “human cock fighting” apparent and—at least in his view—inarguable; for the latter, turn to the ever-vocal President of the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship), the self-made and self-promoted Dana White, who has responded to such adversity over the past several years with harsh words, a never-back-down attitude, and the successful pioneering of the UFC into one of the fastest-growing sports in the world. After all, when one thinks MMA—as Dana White will often remind us—one thinks UFC.

Continue reading "The New Warriors: A Brief Intro to MMA and the UFC"

          While the dust has yet to settle following Brock Lesnar’s thrashing of former UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture to steal the title last Saturday at UFC 91, another card compiled by Strikeforce kicks off on Friday, November 21st at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California.
          While Strikeforce has offered less than stellar cards in recent months, especially considering their upper-echelon of competitors, most namely the UFC and Affliction (although Affliction has only held one card to date, they have a decidedly deeper roster than Strikeforce at present) they have managed to put together an interesting group of match-ups for the hardcore MMA fan, even given the unfortunate withdrawal of lightweight champion Josh Thompson from the card.

Continue reading "Strikeforce: Destruction Preview"

 

According to a variety of sources, including Dana White, Yahoo Sports, MMA Weekly, and the highly-ranked fighter himself, Jon Fitch (17-3 MMA) has been cut from his current Zuffa contact, reportedly after failing to sign an exclusive merchandising agreement in connection with THQ’s upcoming UFC 2009: Undisputed video game set for release in 2009.

The news has taken the MMA community by complete surprise, as Fitch’s next fight had already been agreed upon by both parties to occur between himself and Japanese fighter Akihiro Gono at UFC 94 on January 31st. Perhaps most surprised—and confused—by the news was Fitch himself, who claims that he has yet to get a chance to speak with Dana White about the abrupt cut.

Continue reading "Jon Fitch cut from UFC; Others May Follow (Developing Story)"

In what has been a very bizarre 48 hours for the No. 2 ranked welterweight fighter in the world, Jon Fitch has reportedly—according to MMARated.com—agreed to sign the UFC’s proposed exclusivity contract in regards to THQ’s license to use his likeness in their upcoming video game “UFC 2009: Undisputed”.    

Wednesday and today saw the two sides trade barbs back and forth, but ultimately it seems as though cooler heads—or at least threatened heads—are going to prevail, as the report states that Fitch is still expected to participate on the UFC 94 card on January 31st against highly-ranked (though not top ten) Japanese star Akihiro Gono, as was originally announced earlier this week.   

Continue reading "Jon Fitch Expected to Sign, Return to UFC; Fans Unlikely to be Consoled"

Sherdog.com has officially confirmed with Bob Cook, Fitch's manager at American Kickboxing Academy, that Jon Fitch, along with welterweight contender Josh Koscheck, heavyweight prospect Cain Valasquez, and heavyweight veteran Christian Wellisch have come back into the good graces of the top MMA promotion in the world.

"...cooler heads prevailed." said Bob Cook to Sherdog.com's Greg Savage late Thursday night.

This report (hopefully) closes out what has been one of the UFC's more bizarre contract disputes in recent memory.

Continue reading "Fitch Back in UFC; Koscheck, Valasquez no Longer in Jeopardy"

Jake Shields (22-4-1), currently riding an impressive 11-fight winning streak with the most recent being an October arm bar submission over Brit Paul Daley at Elite XC’s final card, has attained free agent status following the collapse of Pro Elite Inc., the parent company of Elite XC.

To many MMA pundits, the news comes as no surprise, as Shields and his management team sent out a breach of contract letter to Pro Elite Inc. less than a month ago, which cited a clause in his contract that would allow the fighter to become a free agent if suitable proof of an immediate future venue and opponent could not be provided within 30 days.

The 30 days is up, and now begins the hunt for a new promotion for the No. 5 ranked welterweight in the world (MMA Weekly), who holds notable career wins over a who’s who of the MMA circuit, including Yushin Okami, Nick Thompsom, Paul Daley, Mike Pyle and Carlos Condit.

Continue reading "Jake Shields Free Agent; Planning Move to UFC"

 

In a story originally reported by Croatian newspaper Slobodna Dalmacija and now confirmed by UFC.com’s Thomas Gerbasi, one of the UFC’s rising middleweight stars, Croatian fighter Goran Reljic (8-0), who was forced to pull out of his scheduled UFC 90 bout with Thales Leites due to a back injury, is responsible for saving the lives of two people who’s car went off the road and crashed into the sea in Zadar.

Goran, still nursing his training injury, was awakened by the crash and dove into the sea at great risk to himself, punched out the side window and pulled both passengers to safety before calmly heading back to his home. The parties involved have reported no injuries.

Continue reading "UFC Fighter Rescues Two People"

 

As first reported by the U.K.-based The Sun, citing UFC officials, it appears that a monumental fourth clash between former UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture (16-9 MMA) and former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell (21-6 MMA) is a distinct possibility to headline the promotion’s first foray into Germany, tentatively scheduled for a June 13th event in Cologne.

MMAJunkie.com has reported that “…a small contingent of German press” was invited to attend the UFC 91 event in which Couture recently lost his heavyweight belt, as the former champ is fluent in German and figures to be a favorite in that country.

Continue reading "Couture vs. Liddell 4 in the Works?"