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MMA News Written by MMARR
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Tuesday, 17 June 2008 |
300 The seemingly odd start time (3:00 PM) for Elite XC's June 14th event, Return of the King. The card though, is being held at the Neal Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu, Hawaii putting it in primetime for much of the continental U.S. And the prelims can be seen at Proelite.com.
238 Length (2:38) of bantamweight Mark Oshiro's last fight, a victory over previously undefeated Chris Cariaso. Currently Mark is 10-1 and riding a six fight win streak. The longest fight during the streak was against Cariaso. Now Mark will fight another Chris in 1-1 Chris Willems. It seems a matter of when, not if, for Oshiro against the less experienced man, then again, anything can happen in a fight.
6...and 8 Number of losses (6) with (8) wins and a draw for Mike Aina coming into his match with Kaleo Kwan. Kwan has (6) wins, accompanied by (8) losses. Between them, both men have stopped (8) of their opponents, but you might expect this one to go the distance. Of Aina's losses, (6) have come by decision. Kwan is no stranger to losing by decision either, all (6) of his losses have gone to the cards...and one more for good measure, combined the men have won (6) fights by decision, three a piece.
145 Kala "Kalohe" Hose's last bout stretched all the way until (1:45) of the fifth round, when he was able to put away Phil Baroni by TKO, to claim the ICON Sport middleweight belt. Hose's opponent on Saturday, Geoff Bumstead, is 2-1. Combined, the length of his three fights was well shorter than Hose's last bout alone. Bumstead has not been to a round two yet. If the champ Hose has his way, this one won't make it out of round one either.
For more numbers and stories like this, check out my blog Sports by the Numbers MMA. Full Article
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MMA News Written by MMARR
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Tuesday, 17 June 2008 |
12 Number of combined wins (12) for Dave Herman and Ron Waterman since Herman began his professional MMA career on December 31, 2006. The heavyweight Waterman has accounted for two of these, and through his over nine year career has compiled a solid 15-5-2 mark. Herman, on the other hand has been quite busy over the last 18 months, racking up 10 victories against no losses. He also doesn't mind finishing in style. Nine of his ten wins came in round one and he has seven (T)KO's and three submissions.
938 Percentage (93.8) of Rafael Feijao and Wayne Cole's victories to come via stoppage. The big men aren't too fond of decisions and one shouldn't be expected on Saturday. Cole is 11-6 with ten (T)KO or submission wins. He's also been (T)KO'd four times. The Brazilian Feijao is 5-1 with four (T)KO's and one submission. His only loss came by way of a DQ when with only 0:18 remaining in the bout, he used an illegal kick on Marcio Cruz at IFL Las Vegas.
8 Number of losses (8) for Murilo "Ninja" Rua coming into Saturday's bout against Tony Bonello. Rua is no stranger to tough competition as those losses have come against the likes of Quinton Jackson, Paulo Filho, Ricardo Arona, Dan Henderson, and a host of other tough fighters. He'll have his hands full once again against the Aussie Bonello, who is 16-0-1. The win total is one more than Rua's, and Bonello has won 14 by submission.
33 Number of days (33) between Nick Diaz's last fight and his scrap with Muhsin Corbbrey this Saturday. In his last time out Diaz TKO'd Katsue Inoue at DREAM 3 in 6:45. Now he'll try to do the same against Muhsin Corbbrey who last fought back in October when he forced Bobby McMaster to tap with one second left in round one. Coming into the fight Corbbrey is 8-2 while Diaz is 16-7. Diaz is known for putting on good fights and Corbbrey isn't too far behind him, so this one looks to be exciting.
2 In his last (2) fights Karl James Noons has demonstrated the lethality of his knees. First, he KO'd James Edson Berto with a knee, then timed his knee strikes nicely against Nick Diaz to help slice him up eventually leading to a stoppage and the Elite XC belt. Now the 6-2 Noons will put his lightweight title on the line against a 34-13-1 Yves Edwards who is riding a three fight win streak. In his last bout he too used his knee effectively when he delivered a jumping/flying knee to Berto to end the bout at 4:56 of round one.
You can read more numbers and stories like this at Sports by the Numbers MMA. Full Article
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MMA News Written by MMARR
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Tuesday, 17 June 2008 |
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Every athlete’s career has a beginning, a middle and an end. Tito Ortiz looks like he’s close to the end now.
Ortiz was the biggest name in MMA as recently as two years ago. Then he lost a chance to regain the light heavyweight championship versus Chuck Liddell, drew Rashad Evans, and lost to Lyoto Machida [...]
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MMA News Written by MMARR
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Tuesday, 17 June 2008 |
UFC middleweights Jason MacDonald (20-9 MMA, 4-2 UFC) and Demian Maia (7-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) have signed to meet at UFC 87, an event that takes place at the Target Center in Minneapolis.
MacDonald confirmed the Aug. 9 bout earlier this week in his sportsnet.ca column, and MMAjunkie.com was told from a source close to Maia that the bout had been in the works for the past month.
As for MacDonald, he predicts a victory because "time and time again ... good mixed martial artists have been able to defeat high-level jiu-jitsu guys." Full Article
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MMA News Written by MMARR
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Tuesday, 17 June 2008 |
While not finalized, EliteXC promoter Gary Shaw said that CBS is
requesting his company's next two live specials for late July (believed
to be July 26) and October.
Timing is of the essence in getting an arena booked and beginning local publicity for a show that is now only six weeks away.
That isn't the only obstacle to a potential July show, as neither of
the big draws from the first card, Kimbo Slice and Gina Carano, will be
available for this date. Slice suffered injuries to both thumbs in his
match with James Thompson on May 31 and Carano asked for a fall date
for her next match. Both are expected to be the headliners for an
October show. Full Article
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MMA News Written by MMARR
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Tuesday, 17 June 2008 |
EliteXC lightweight Nick Diaz failed to make weight for Saturday's
"EliteXC: Return of the King" event, but opponent Muhsin Corbbrey has
agreed to go through with the fight at a catchweight of 168 pounds.
Diaz was aware he would likely fail to make weight and notified the
organization and Corbbrey's camp ahead of time, EliteXC officials told MMAjunkie.com.
Diaz's bout is scheduled for the night's main card, which airs on Showtime at 10 p.m. ET/PT. Full Article
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MMA News Written by MMARR
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Tuesday, 17 June 2008 |
Two weeks after EliteXC showcased a rapper, fireworks, female dancers
with questionable day jobs and a heavily bearded street brawler in its
CBS debut, the organization returns to the airwaves on Showtime tonight
with its next card, entitled "Return of the King."
And if the strutting and stripping of a sequin-robed "New York Bad Ass"
wasn't quite up your alley, then this weekend's EliteXC just may have
the guy for you: heavyweight Dave "Pee Wee" Herman (10-0).
Herman spoke with MMAjunkie.com's John Morgan on the eve of his
bout with Ron Waterman, which is scheduled to be the night's first televised fight. Full Article
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MMA News Written by MMARR
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Tuesday, 17 June 2008 |
EliteXC middleweight champion Robbie Lawler (15-4) and Scott Smith
(13-4) will meet in a rematch -- less than two months after their
initial meeting -- and they'll do it again on network television.
The event, Lawler vs. Smith II, will headline EliteXC's second
"Saturday Night Fights" event. The nationally televised event will air
live on CBS.
MMAjunkie.com first reported the possibility of the
rematch after the two middleweights fought to a no-contest during the
first CBS event on May 31. The organization confirmed the bout during
Saturday's "EliteXC: Return of the King" broadcast on Showtime. Full Article
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MMA News Written by MMARR
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Tuesday, 17 June 2008 |
Seems all the winners, except for Nick Diaz, were ready to get to Waikiki Beach because they didn't take long in dispatching their opponents.
8 Only (0:08) into his bout with the undefeated Tony Bonello (a guy who's from the city of the famous Bondi Beach in Australia), Murilo Rua found himself in Bonello's guard. Both men are submission experts, but Rua didn't give Bonello a chance to offer much of anything, and he didn't seem too fond of working for a submission. Instead "Ninja" spent the next 3:08 in side control and full mount delivering a consistent spray of punches and elbows. Bonello couldn't do anything and at 3:16 Mario Yamasaki stopped the beating, Bonello's first loss against 16 victories.
2 Heavyweight Rafael "Feijao" Calvancante started off the main card against Wayne Cole. The men came out swinging, then Calvancante delivered (2) knees that did damage. The first, an accidental blast to Cole's groin, the second a little higher, Cole's chin. This one was the beginning of the end as "Feijao pounced forcing Yamasaki to break it up at 2:47 of round one.
10 Dave "Peewee" Herman returned to his old ways by TKO'ing Ron Waterman in only 2:19. Herman is now 11-0, and in (10) of his fights he finished his opponent in round one. He got back to his old ways, because it was his last fight at Elite XC Street Certified when Herman was unable to finish Mario Rinaldi until 0:33 of round three.
3 Speaking of round (3), Nick Diaz was the only main card winner to not finish his opponent in round one. He needed until the 3:59 mark of round (3) to TKO a game Muhsin Corbbrey. Obviously Diaz likes to fight, and he doesn't mind fighting after the "real fight", just ask Joe Riggs and a Las Vegas Hospital staff. And he again showed his desire to throw hands immediately following KJ Noons' crazy flurry...
20 In the final seconds of Noons' quick TKO of Yves Edwards, he delivered a ridiculously fast (20) punches and elbows, forcing Yamasaki to again dive into the fray, this time at only 0:48 of round one. It was then, when the Diaz boys did their best WWE impersonation by piling into the cage so Nick could challenge Noons to a rematch. Words were exchanged, Noons' dad got involved, and chaos ensued. The Diaz brothers tag team got in the last word, or gesture, as they delivered their trademark middle fingers, really these guys need to get some shiny wrestling masks...
For more posts like this, including a picture of Noons vs. Diaz from back in November, check out my blag Sports by the Numbers MMA. Full Article
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MMA News Written by MMARR
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Tuesday, 17 June 2008 |
36 Sometimes, Dutch striker Alistair Overeem's "cardio" is called into question. He made it a non-issue when he landed a combo followed by a knee to drop Tae Hyun Lee in only (0:36) in a DREAM 4 non-tournament bout. The win was Overeem's second (0:36) second victory. Back on New Year's Eve 2003, he needed the same amount of time to TKO Tomohiko Hashimoto. Overeem's record is 27-11 and he has won by decision only one time, no wonder his nickname is "Demolition Man".
1 As mentioned in the DREAM 4 build up, there was (1) lightweight Grand Prix bout on the card, and it had a (1) of a kind ending. Shinya Aoki mounted Katsuhiko Nagata, landed a few shots, and then submitted him with a gogoplata from the mount position. Seriously, he worked his right foot up to Nagata's throat and pulled his head up. The questions then becomes, how many times in the history of MMA has a fighter finished with a gogo from the mount? My guess, (1).
2 Number of fights in the middleweight tournament (2) to go to decision. Gegard Mousasi narrowly escaped an armbar from **** Sik Yoon in round one, and then went on to a fairly easy decision. The second decision was a little tougher. Jason Miller and Ronaldo Souza went back and forth for an exciting fifteen minutes with Souza winning on all three cards.
29 Gelg Zalesic and Taiei Kin met for a second time, and it was reminiscent of the night when Lawrence Taylor broke Joe Theismann's leg. As previously mentioned, the first meeting ended prematurely when Zalesic cut Kin's right eye with a head kick only 0:36 seconds into the contest. This one lasted only (0:29) longer, when at 1:05 of round one when Kin tried to brace himself with his right arm as Zalesic threw him to the floor. His arm bent at the elbow, just the completely wrong way. The injury made me squeal like a little girl, but I don't feel too bad about it because Bas Rutten squealed too, just in a little deeper voice.
60 Speaking of Bas, he said at the start of the Melvin Manhoef vs. Kazushi Sakuraba bout, "The longer this fight is going to go, the more it is going to favor Sakuraba." They both seemed to be in for the long haul, as the first (60) seconds saw them circling each other. Then Manhoef delivered a kick to the head and a straight right, dropping Sakuraba, and it seemed the fight would not go on much longer. He followed it up by raining blows down on the Japanese legend, dragged him away from the ropes, and continued the assault. Only 30 seconds after the kick it was all over. Manhoef won impressively to advance with Mousasi, Souza, and Zalesic to the Middleweight Grand Prix semifinals. Full Article
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