Couture to be on BDSSP tonight

It supposedly airs at 11:00 PM ET, but you may want to check your local listings to make sure...but yes, Randy Couture has taped a segment for the Best Damn Sports Show Period that will air tonight. I suspect they'll be talking his UFC 74 bout against Gabriel Gonzaga, if not then it would be a waste of time.

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Jackson, Couture nominated for ESPY award

details here

I have thoughts on this behind the cut:



They were both nominated for fighter of the year, but honestly even though I love both guys neither is real deserving. Sure, Couture won the title at 43 and sure Rampage beat Liddell...but in the time frame covered by the award, neither was what I would call the most impressive fighter. The Couture win was a great moment but that was his only fight in the span of time the award is for and Rampage's other fight, the victory over Eastman at UFC 67 wasn't what I'd call overly impressive. Really it would be hard for me to pick someone from UFC that would fith the category, Hughes, GSP, Liddell...all were beaten and so was Ortiz. I doubt anyone at UFC has even heard of Anderson Silva (not that he'd be my pick but he's not lost) and Matt Serra's story is probably as compelling as Couture's but he has like 1/5 of the name.

I guess how deserving you feel a person is for this depends on your criteria. If you look just at quality of fights and opponents then you'll have a different criteria than I. When I think of fighter of the year, I think of who did the most good or had the greatest impact on their sport. That person is probably Tito Ortiz because of the feud with Shamrock and the Liddell fight, but then you are stuck because it isn't as though Shamrock was a quality opponent and he did lose to Liddell.

If I were to nominate someone for fighter of the year, it would probably not even be someone from UFC.

But, I'm not going to because in reality, it is the ESPY's and I care the same for those awards as I do for any given out in movies or music which is to say ... 0.

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MMA News and Notes for 06/19

Ric wrote the following earlier today

If You Missed 'Bad Blood: BJ Penn Vs. Jens Pulver'...

You're a fucking idiot, because that shit rocked!

PS: If you give Pulver even a remote chance of winning this fight, you're an even bigger idiot.

Now, if you're offended by this, you really shouldn't be. After all, nobody is as big an expert on being an idiot as Ric. They'd ask him to write a book on the subject but they know it would take him too long to learn how to write. So when Ric says you're an idiot for thinking certain ways, it is not because of supression of thought but a result of years and years of experience. This is a public service brought to you by Casey Trowbridge and the Old Country Times.

The rest of the stuff is behind the cut:



Dana White says that dissolving Pride is a possibility I call it a likelyhood.

Phil Baroni Interview: here

Manny Gamburyan Interview here

Ken Shamrock wants to fight in UFC again

The CSAC does more talking about the drug test failure of some guy named Royce something.

Anthony Figueroa is ready for his fight friday on the Strikeforce show against Chris Cariaso.

Murilo "Ninja" Rua is still trying to get licensed in California.

Kevin Iole writes that Saturday was an Ultimate Success

I want to take Dana White up on his offer:

There are times I’ve been caught walking somewhere and I have an important meeting. But I’ll stay there for two-and-a-half hours. I don’t care what I have to do. If I have somewhere to go, a meeting, people waiting for me, a rehearsal for the show, I don’t care. We’re successful because we make sure every last fan gets what he wants.”

I, as a fan, want to see Gabe Ruediger Vs. Travis Lutter in a UFC eat-off contest...on a show headlined by Frank Shamrock Vs. Marlon Sims and Noah Thomas ina 2-on-1 handicap streetfight with Butterbean as special ref. I don't think that's too much to ask?

Rich Franklin is getting a Title Shot and they really need to quit telling guys this before fights.

The payouts for last Tuesday’s UFC Fight Night 10 card have been made available by the state of Florida. These figures do not include deductions or bonuses:

Spencer Fisher ($26,000) defeated Sam Stout ($6,000)

Jon Fitch ($36,000) defeated Roan Carneiro ($5,000)

Drew McFedries ($14,000) defeated Jordan Radev ($5,000)

Thiago Tavares ($10,000) defeated Jason Black ($6,000)

Forrest Petz ($8,000) defeated Luigi Fioravanto ($8,000)

Tamdan McCory ($8,000) defeated Pete Spratt ($12,000)

Gleison Tibau ($10,000) defeated Jeff Cox ($3,500)

Anthony Johnson ($6,000) defeated Chad Reiner ($3,000)

Nate Mohr ($6,000) defeated Luke Caudillo ($3,000)

Credit: 5 Ounces of Pain (Note to Petz and Fioravanti, don't expect fight of the night bonuses)

Could Diego Sanchez Vs. Hayato Sakurai not be happening?

Robbie Lawler is injured and his Icon Sport Middleweight title defense against Kala Kolohe Hose in Hawaii has been postponed until September 15.

Randy Couture is headed to Canada and it is doubtful that Rampage Jackson will ever be able to do the same.

This Saturday's fight between Kimbo Slice and Ray Mercer is only going to be an exhibition and will not be judged.

Gina Carano will be added to the announce team for coverage of Friday's Strikeforce/EXC undercard on Pro Elite.com

Nate Diaz is doing the family name proud

B.J. Penn has 5 years worth of payback on his mind

FHM has a look at Rochelle Leah

I love the UFC.com headline for the FHM story:

UFC® All Access™ Host Rachelle Leah Breaks Out!

There's a joke in there somewhere and unfortunately, I think we made it a few podcasts ago.

Randy Couture is popular or something.

I'll have more later, of that you can be sure.

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UFC 74 gets a tagline

'Respect' will be headlined by Randy Couture Vs. Gabriel Gonzaga.

Georges St. Pierre Vs. Josh Koscheck in a big Welterweight bout is also on the show.
Rumored is Joe Stevenson Vs. Kurt Pellegrino and Diego Sanchez Vs. Hayato Sakurai.

Tim Sylvia has also been rumored to be fighting on this card.

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MMA News and Notes for 06/09

Lets take a look around the MMA World. All the Good stuff is behind the cut.



I guess from this profile that Tyson Griffin has short-term memory

So Tamdan McCrory wears glasses

Jason Black is filling the void

Jon Fitch is enjoying the ride

Spencer Fisher is looking for redemption

Hey Art, expect a call from Tim Persey

Yes, the men who fought for K-1 last week got paid

Leonard Garcia will fight on the TUF 5 Finale and so will his UFC 69 opponent Roger Huerta and sadly they will not be rematching one another. Garcia will face Alan Berube and Huerta will face someone named Doug Evans.

Alan Belcher is back on track

UFCJunkie.com reports that Diego Sanchez will face Hayato "mach" Sakurai at UFC 74.

Sean Salmon will be fighting in Cleveland on Sunday just a couple weeks after his UFC 71 loss to Alan Belcher.

A FEG official says it is preposterous for anyone to question their numbers. Well, for the record I am not questioning their numbers I'm saying they're full of shit, so that's ok.

Randy Couture is interviewed on CBSSportsline.

Does Tommy Morrison (scheduled to make his MMA debut tonight) still have HIV? Well, he'll not be blood tested for his fight tonight with it being on an Indian reservation.

Is Elite XC planning a show for July 28?

A transcript from the Frank Shamrock-Phil Baroni press conference is here

Shad Lierley got a vote of confidence from his teammates before fighting Chris Horodecki.

This just in from the IFL, for Renzo Gracie fighting is a family affair

The IFL announces their lineup for June 16

Dan Henderson will get to challenge Quinton Jackson at UFC 75 in London

I'll end this for now, be back when I'm back.

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MMA Newsbits for 05/31

Thomas Gerbasi invites us to Meet the Featherweights

Part 2 of IFL Seattle is previewed here the preview doesn't mention that if you buy a ticket, you get 10 free shares of IFL stock valued at $0.96 each.

More behind the cut:



Renzo Gracie's New York Pitbulls have signed Marcio Pe De Pano Cruz No word if he also got stock options in his contract.

MMAWeekly points out that the WEC undercard features Brock Larson and John Alessio
I'd have never known that if not for this mention and that includes when I made my picks yesterday.

You can see all the CARE/Jabroni picks for this event which as of now are mine and Art's by clicking here

Sam Caplan has an update on Gabe Ruediger which comes via TheFightNetwork

Caplan also says that Mike Swick is definitely dropping to Welterweight

Caplan's CBS Sportsline column looks at the Light Heavyweight division in the UFC.

He also rants about Dynamite USA Hey, its an easy target.

Couture gives back

I'm sure there is more to be had but I'm going to end for now.

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MMA News and Notes 5/24

I warn you, this is probably the most massive post on MMA news in the history of this blog.

Take a tour around the MMA world with me. Eventually, there will be a CARE audio podcast for UFC 71 which was recorded last night. For the eventual written preview and to add your voice to the crowd, click here

Chuck Liddell fires back at boxers Floyd Mayweather and Bernard Hopkins.

I've got plenty more, but you'll have to click.



Sherdog.com sources say that the Pride Acquision has been finalized.

Randy Couture Steps Up to help troops.

Carmelo Marrero is ready for Wilson Gouveia and Light Heavyweight at UFC 71.

Ultimate Fighter ratings are flat at Midseason.

A report says that Pride Fighters are planning a class action lawsuit against Dreamstage Entertainment.

Welterweight Champion Matt Serra talks the Ultimate Fighter 6.

Mirko Cro Cop should return at UFC 75, Sept. 8 from London. Michael Bisping and Jess Liaudin are also expected to compete on that show.

In what I guess is a boxing tournament, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira took bronze in Spain.

Tim Sylvia is a Dancin' Fool

Josh Burkman is ready for the elite fighters at 170 LBS and given he's facing Karo Parisyan...he'd better be.

Andrei Arlovski has lost his title shot and he deserves it. Hey, at least he still has this

Kermit Sintron the man who answered Dana White's challenge to Floyd Mayweather to fight Sean Sherk has reportedly been offered a 3-fight deal with Elite XC.

Gina Carano joins Xtreme Couture.

Art of War 3 which was to take place June 30 on PPV has been postponed until August 18. Pedro Rizzo Vs. Jeff Monson is set to headline. Jeremy Horn and Jake Shields are set for undercard bouts.

It is time once again for Dear Don!

The IFL Playoff System may be more complicated than TNA's King of the Mountain.

Seattle Tiger Sharks Lightweight Shad Lierley has his sights set on undefeated L.A. Anacondas fighter Chris Horodecki.

A look back at IFL Chicago from this past weekend.

News and notes out of today's Observer News Update

--Dana White has a press conference this morning, mostly talking about the Sports Illustrated article and (he was beyond thrilled, saying he and Lorenzo
Fertitta walked all over New York holding the issue) as well as Saturday's show from Las Vegas. Among the key points:
*He is not interested in promoting a boxer vs. MMA fighter match because he knows what will happen, unless it's with a boxer the caliber of Floyd Mayweather.
Said he had never even heard of Cintron as a boxer and has no interest in him.
*He confirmed negotiations are back on with Kurt Angle. He said Angle tells him he's serious and if Angle is serious, he's interested. He said he doesn't
waste his time talking about deals that he thinks are going nowhere, but he also thought he had Angle once in the past.
*Said nothing new to report on HBO. But now he wants to control the production again, but still thinks a deal will be made
*Said in the end, they would finalize the Pride sale and promote shows in Japan. He said their business was a mess and it wasn't run as a business and it's
taking a lot of time to sort it out.
*There will be a major main event announced at the end of UFC 71. It will involve the Chuck Liddell vs. Quinton Jackson winner and a challenge that will
be issued for a dream match scenario. It will be the first so-called Super Bowl match (my words not his). At another point, White talked about Shogun Rua
being signed, but our impression is that it's another match. Doing the math, the opponent they are talking about is probably one of these three names--Wanderlei
Silva, Dan Henderson or Rua.
*When a reporter brought up Tito Ortiz thinking that since he's on Dana's bad side that he won't be getting a title match, he said, Tito was a pussy and
he needs to show up and fight Rashad Evans.
*He questioned Georges St. Pierre's mental toughness, saying he was so nervous backstage before the fight with Matt Serra. Said his physical ability is
second to none.
*Said he expects to run a live event in Mexico in early-to-mid 2008
*Said it was disgusting that New Jersey sanctioned the Ray Mercer vs. Kimbo Slice fight
*Ripped on Oscar de la Hoya as a promoter saying he should have loaded up the undercard, but respects him great for his ability to draw and said he expected
1.4 million to 1.65 million buys
*Said that before the Koscheck fight, that Diego Sanchez was diagnosed with Hepatitis C. At first he was planning on announcing his retirement before the
show, but further tests revealed he didn't have it, but they didn't know what it was. Said after the fight with Koscheck he was finally found to have had
a major staph infection, explaining his inability in the ring that night.
*On IFL, "It's a retarded concept."
*On Lesnar: "I'd love to have him."

On the 6/2 K-1 Dynamite USA show...Dave notes:

--We have nothing new confirmed regarding the status of the 6/2 Los Angeles Coliseum show. The belief from the K-1 side is that they expect an 11th hour
sanctioning and are proceeding as if the show is happening. Word on Kazushi Sakuraba should come today. According to sources close to the situation, Choi
Hong-man's medical condition is a tumor near the pituitary gland. FEG has told Tank Abbott, Ruben Villareal, James Thompson and Butterbean, who are all
represented to Valour Fighting, to be ready for a call. As of moments before this writing, they had made no indication which of the four they would pick,
and it is possible they have told others to be on standby. But they made the call at 4 a.m. last night to officially tell all of them to be ready.

Alex Marvez talks to Brock Lesnar

Injury Scraps Condit from First WEC Title Defense against Larson

May, 24, 2007
Thomas Gerbasi, WEC - It was announced today that due to an injury suffered in training camp, WEC Welterweight Champion Carlos Condit has been forced to
withdraw from his June 3rd title defense against Brock Larson at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. A replacement opponent is currently
being sought to face Larson, and will be announced shortly.

Stepping up into the main event slot for the June 3rd card, which will air on the VERSUS network, is the WEC Featherweight Championship bout between Urijah
Faber and Chance Farrar.

WWW.WEC.TV

NBC Sports has a Q&A with Dana White

Dana White on the record

Team Liddell is blown away by the shape Chuck Liddell is in entering Saturday's fight.

Sherdog has a preview of UFC 71.

The Card for Fight Night 10 looks like this

Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports has a piece bar room to brawling examining the road the Fertittas and Dana White went down that led them to purchase the UFC.

Chi Kong Lui asks if fighters should apologize for boring fights I see Chi Kong Lui, but I think, Hong Kong Phooey.

Long-time MMA Announcer and current IFL broadcaster Stephen Quadros weighs in on UFC 71.

David Mamet talks the MMA movie Redbelt in this fox news channel fight game video.

The prior 3 links come via Dave Doyle's MMA Blog for Fox Sports.

I think this will due for now, don't you?

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Tim Allen tops Mamet's 'Redbelt'

Here's a Variety.com piece about this upcoming film.

Tim Allen will star in "Redbelt," the mixed martial arts drama David Mamet wrote and will direct for Sony Pictures Classics. Production starts next month
in L.A.

Chiwetel Ejiofor co-stars.

Emily Mortimer, Alice Braga, Joe Mantegna, Rodrigo Santoro, Ricky Jay, David Paymer, Rebecca Pidgeon and Jose Pablo Cantillo will star, along with martial
artists and fighters Randy Couture, John Machado, Danny Inosanto, Enson Inoue and Ray Mancini.

Ejiofor, who was the first actor Mamet set (Daily Variety, April 13), stars as a Jiu-jitsu master whose purity is compromised when he is drawn into the
movie business and manipulated into brawling in ultimate fighting matches.

Allen plays a troubled action star with marital problems who meets the master when he is getting pummeled in a street fight.

Ejiofor has been training in London with members of the Gracie family, the renowned Brazilian fighting clan.

For Allen, the film marks a break from his usual comic and family fare. Allen last starred in "Wild Hogs" and is negotiating to reprise his role in a sequel,
and was at the center of a Disney pitch deal for "Yosemite Three."

"Redbelt" is being fully financed and distributed by Sony Pictures Classics; Chrisann Verges is producing.

Date in print: Tue., May 15, 2007,

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Couture maps strategy for Gonzaga fight

Randy Couture has commented on what it will take to defeat Gabriel Gonzaga.

Yeah, Randy will have a plan for this fight be sure of that.

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Who's the Greatest?

That is the question posed by Thomas Gerbasi in This piece at UFC.com

The overall conclusion he reaches does not come as a shock to me. Looking at it overall, the division that jumps out to me more than the rest is Middleweight. Rich Franklin is the most successful middleweight champion ever with 2 defenses, thanks to Travis Lutter being a fatass Anderson Silva doesn't even have one yet. Silva could put his name along side those of Couture, Liddell and Hughes but then again he could lose to Nathan Marquardt and we could start this whole thing over again and neither would really surprise me.

Yes, I said it would be a light posting day for me, but I love you people.

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Gabriel Gonzaga goes home to Hero's welcome

You can read all about his return home by clicking here

Some good stuff.

Michael Coughlin looks at where Gonzaga ranks among the heavyweights Here

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UFC News and Notes

David Heath has apologized for his boring fight at UFC 70.

The UFC announces Josh Burkman Vs. Karo Parisyan for UFC 71. I thank them for this because it isn't as though you could've clicked on the UFC 71 card and seen this listed already for well over a week...wait!

Tito Ortiz uses a now familiar term to describe Rashad Evans.

Upsets par for the coarse in UFC from the L.A. Times, registration may be required.

However, I simply must point something out:

MMA has always been more unpredictable than boxing, because more skills are needed and fighters learn to exploit the weakest facet of their opponent's game.

"You can't [book fights] like you do in boxing. You can't build a guy up to 39-0 with 39 knockouts. Anything can happen," White said.

However, the sport became more unpredictable in the last year as the stakes became greater. Fighting used to be a side activity for most fighters, with
only the top-of-the-line guys being able to train full time. That gave those fighters an advantage against up-and-coming fighters who needed to train on
the side while working full-time jobs.

In the last year, UFC's popularity exploded and fighters started being able to make much more money. With larger contracts, more fighters can devote themselves
full time to the sport. They can bring in better training partners and develop more carefully considered game plans.

That sounds familiar

More later.

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UFC News and Notes

It is a busy week for MMA, and coming tonight Art Euan and I will be recording a podcast covering some of this stuff.

UFC.com has a look at Josh Haynes Justin McCully Kenny Florian Drew Fickett and Heath Herring

You can start preparing for UFC 69 with some programming tonight on SpikeTV

Randy Couture on 'The Late Late Show'
Check out Randy Couture on The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson, Wednesday night, April 4 at 12:35am ET/PT. The show airs on your local CBS station
so check local listings for Central and Mountain time. Randy will talk about his return to the Octagon and the upset when he gained the heavyweight belt
back from Tim Sylvia. Randy will also share some thoughts on the 5th Season of The Ultimate Fighter, UFC Fight Night and UFC69: Shootout.

NBCSports.com has a look at Matt Serra in preparation for his loss to Georges St. Pierre at UFC 69.

I'll be back with more later.

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Wednesday MMA News and Notes

Lets take a look around the world wide web.



Gracie Mag reports that Ric Clementi will replace Anthony Torres at Fight Night 9 in a bout against Roan Carneiro.

Speaking of replacements for Fight Night 9, Sherdog reports that: Kuniyoshi Hironaka's opponent at Fight Night 9 will be Forrest Petz
Petz replaces Jeff Joslin who was originally penciled in for the fight.

UFC has made available the Finalized card for UFC 70 which will contain 10 bouts.

It seems that up-and-coming fighter Frankie Edgar has something In common with Mick Foley.

Diego Sanchez has keys to winning 20 straight bouts and you can read them here

Of course, for their UFC 69 bout, Josh Koscheck also has keys to Ending the Nightmare

The L.A. Daily News says that you should never Count Out Randy Couture
It seems Captain America was just written about by Captain Obvious.

UFC.com has more on the death of Gilbert Aldana

The Boston Herald looks at White Vs. Ortiz

NBC Sports looks at UFC 70 On SpikeTV

They also look at
Randy Couture's victory tour

IFL's Commissioner Kurt Otto
Apologizes for first Battleground show

Bob Sapp has a New Opponent for April 21's Cage Rage Event.

MMAWeekly.com looks at what's up with Pedro "The Rock" Rizzo

MMAWeekly also has some names announced for Pride 34 'Kamikaze'
One fight rumored for that show is Ricardo Arona Vs. Sokoudjou.

Thanks to the following sites for their help:
Gracie Mag.com
MMAWeekly.com
NBCSports.com
Sherdog.com
UFCJunkie.com
and
UFC.com

That may be enough for you to chomp on for now, if I find anything else today I'll post it. Updates from me may be speratic during the NCAA Basketball tournament, but then again, they may not be. Hopefully, some of my associates will step up with some news posts.

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Some Randy Couture Love

ESPN.com chat transcript

Dave Meltzer writes in the L.A. Times that Couture's win was a night to remember

This has nothing to do with Randy Couture but Don Frye gives great advice

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I don't think I can express myself

I don't think I've ever felt priveleged to witness a sporting event before, but I feel it on this night.

I, I, I just don't know what to say. It is only March 3, and already the Sheiky award for 2007 Great Feeling I have all-time, all my life for moment of the year is Couture winning the heavyweight title.

I am almost in tears.

What a moment. Feel good story of all-time, all my life.

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Couture defeats Sylvia takes Heavyweight title

I've never been so thrilled to be wrong.

More on this show, later.

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Randy Couture has ageless story

Read Dave Meltzer's column in the L.A. times on Couture and his fight with Tim Sylvia Right here

Also, this is OC Times post #2,000~!

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Travis Lutter Interview + Gina Carano and Randy Couture

It is just another in a string of articles in preparation for this Saturday's UFC 67 Pay Per View.

Tonight on Between the Ropes
here from Randy Couture and Gina Carano as they talk about upcoming fights. Plus, the guys will rundown last Sunday's Royal Rumble.

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