UFC 130 takes a hit as Edgar-Maynard postponed

[source]

 

It is not a good birthday for UFC lightweight Gray Maynard. His bout with Frankie Edgar, a rematch of their January draw, has been postponed as both fighters have suffered injuries. The fight is expected to take place in August or September.

WEC lightweight champ Anthony Pettis was considered for a fight with Maynard until injury sidelined him. As planned, Pettis will fight Clay Guida on "The Ultimate Fighter" finale in June.

"They were going to have me fight Maynard on that card. I said yes to that deal right away. I guess it turns out that it's not going to happen. I'm back to fighting Guida," Pettis told HeavyMMA.com. "It sucks that he got injured, because it kinda puts the whole lightweight division back on standstill. "

That moves the Quinton "Rampage" Jackson vs. Matt Hamill bout into the main event, and Thiago Alves vs. Rick Story onto the pay-per-view. Demetrious Johnson vs. Miguel Torres and Tim Boetsch vs. Kendall Grove will air on Spike TV.

This puts a damper on what was a top-heavy card. The other pay-per-view bouts include Frank Mir vs. Roy Nelson, Travis Browne vs. Stefan Struve, and Jorge Santiago vs. Brian Stann. Though there are exciting bouts, the card doesn't have anywhere near the same firepower as UFC 129, the card that broke records weeks ago in Toronto.

Gray Maynard tunes in on Anthony "Showtime" Pettis

I mean, who has he fought? I’ve been in the trenches this whole time fighting the toughest guys. He throws one kick and then he’s the greatest in the world? Let’s look at who he’s fought. Ben Henderson is the best name. And I don’t mind fighting him; I don’t care if I win the belt and then I have to take him on. But for me, guys like Miller, Melendez and all of these guys who have been on the f***ing grind, fighting the best competition for the past few years… that’s what I look at. Who have you fought? I don’t care about how good you looked when you fought a scrub. That doesn’t matter. If a guy isn’t good then you’re not supposed to look good. And for me, [Pettis] has fought one good guy in Ben, and he isn’t proven yet. He’s tough as hell, but we’ll see.

[source - middleeasy]

Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard 3 Trailer (Thank you Nick The Face!)

Super 7 Q & A: Jones explains how he’s not a “swagger-jacker” and thinks Evans fight will change the sport

[source]

During a Q & A with Joe Rogan and six fellow UFC champions, Jon Jones met the with the fans before the UFC 129 weigh-in. He detailed injury that forced him out of his fight against teammate Rashad Evans. He still wants that fight.

"It's definitely going to change the sport and you're gonna have teammates fighting each other left and right now. It's just business. Like if the Patriots had a teammate on the Jets. It's not like they can't play each other for the Super Bowl," Jones said. "You know you just have to get the job done."

Well, technically New England and New York can't meet in the Super Bowl, but we get his point.

Jones is still confused as to why Evans has been upset with him for the last few months saying Rashad gave him his blessing to fight Mauricio Rua at dinner the night before his fight against Ryan Bader.

"I guess the biggest thing that made him upset is that I didn't call him right away to let him know I had done the interview about fighting him," Jones said. "But what I said on the interview was something that I would've said to his face, but he didn't take it very well."

Evans has been talking trash on Twitter and during several Internet interviews since. He even cracked on Jones for a being a swagger-jacker. He explained to the Canadian fans and Rogan what that meant.

"[Before The Tonight Show appearance] I was sent to the same exact stylist and I ended wearing the same shirt, the same suit and the same tie [that] Rashad wore like a year earlier. I show up on Jay Leno, he sees the suit and he's like 'oh you're copying my style.' I have my own swag," joked Jones.

Jones says he has small tears between his thumb and forefinger. It's something that's happened once a year since his days in college. His management decided it was time to get it surgically repaired.

UFC Profile: Frankie Edgar

PART 1

PART 2

UFC 125 Pre-Fight Press Conference Highlights

The Fight Business: Frankie Edgar UFC 125

Find Your Rhythm with UFC 125 (VIDEO)

UFC 125: The Jersey Shore Cast (VIDEO)

Penn first offered Florian, pondered retirement before UFC 123 booking with Hughes

[source]

ROSEMEAD, Calif. – After falling short in an attempt to reclaim his lightweight title this past month at UFC 118, B.J. Penn spent his time on the flight home from Boston pondering his career.
Did he really want to continue fighting? Could he stomach another heart-breaking loss?

But by the time he landed in Hawaii and boarded a puddle-jumper to get to his home island, he had convinced himself to continue. And though he now meets welterweight Matt Hughes at UFC 123, Penn told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) he initially was targeted for a rematch with lightweight Kenny Florian.

Due to Edgar's effective stick-and-move game plan and well-timed takedowns, Penn lost his belt at UFC 112. And though he entered the rematch a nearly 2-to-1 favorite, Penn fell victim to a similar strategy the second time around.

During Saturday's UFC Gym opening in Rosemead, Calif., Penn talked to MMAjunkie.com about the long flight home.

"I was flying home, (and) I was kind of like, 'Maybe I don't want to do this anymore; I don't know what's wrong. If I'm going to go out there and perform like that, maybe this isn't something worth doing,'" he said. "But when I got to Hawaii and jumped on a little island-hopper to go to my island, something told me, 'B.J., stick to your game plan.' So I'm sticking to it."

So, wanting to get back into the cage and sticking to his earlier plan of fighting as often as possible, Penn (15-7-1 MMA, 11-6-1 UFC) talked to UFC president Dana White about his options. That ultimately led to a booking at November's UFC 123 event in suburban Detroit, where he'll meet Hughes (45-7 MMA, 18-5 UFC) in a rubber match. But another potential opponent's name first came up.

"I talked to Dana, and they tried to put me in the ring with Florian, (and) Dana said Florian was hurt," said Penn, who submitted Florian in 2009 to defend the belt. "[Dana] said, 'What do you think about Hughes?' I said, 'Matt Hughes?' I got chicken skin all over my body. I said, 'Tell him I'm coming. Tell him, let's go.'"

After suffering back-to-back defeats, Penn said he had more sense than to request a fight with a UFC Hall of Famer who fights at a heavier weight class – especially one who's climbed back into title contention with a string of wins over Matt Serra, Renzo Gracie and Ricardo Almeida. But with the opportunity to fight again quickly, and with Hughes on board, he simply couldn't pass it up.

"I'm more respectful than that to lose two fights in a row and say, 'OK, give me Matt Hughes,'" Penn said. "They offered me that fight. Matt was really excited about the fight. Dana called me and said, 'We offered Matt the fight. He's going to put everything on hold to take the fight if you want it.' And I said, 'I've got nothing else better to do. Let's do this.'

"I wanted to train and fight year-round, and my last fight didn't go the way I wanted it to go. But something told me (to take it)."

Penn and Hughes, of course, have met twice before. Penn won the first meeting via submission at UFC 46, but Hughes got his revenge at UFC 63 and scored a third-round TKO. Hughes lost his long-held welterweight belt for the first time with the UFC 46 loss. Prior to UFC 63, he reclaimed the title with a win over Georges St-Pierre and successfully defended it with the Penn victory.

Given their history and the opportunity to co-headline another event, Penn quickly was intrigued by the bout.

"I think fighters get excited for big fights, which is just why I was so excited," he said. "I know everybody's going to be interested to see what happens – people from both ends. Some people say, 'Matt Hughes is kind of coming up, and maybe B.J.'s going down a little. But we still know that if B.J. comes in good, he could really pull this off.' Matt's always good, so I think it's a good fight."

And though the two fighters often have clashed in the past, Penn says he's grown to appreciate his counterpart as they've both obtained veteran-fighter status.

"Over the years, maybe I didn't like Matt Hughes at certain times, but I love that guy," Penn said. "He's alright. He's still here. He's an idol for all of us to sit here and watch."

So why the change of heart?

"I don't know," he said. "As you get older, you just start to let things go, I guess. I look at Matt no different than any of us. We're all just trying to make it and do our best."

For additional coverage of UFC 123, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of MMAjunkie.com.

Penn, Hughes Agree To Third Bout At UFC 123

reported from heavy.com [source]
Former welterweight champs agree to rubber match

Former UFC champions B.J. Penn and Matt Hughes have agreed to face off for the third time in a welterweight bout at UFC 123 in November.

CagePotato.com first reported the news on Monday evening.

UFC 123 takes place Nov. 20 at The Palace in Auburn Hills near Detroit. The event is headlined by a light heavyweight bout between former champions Rampage Jackson and Lyoto Machida. The Hughes/Penn bout is expected to assume the co-headlining role.

Hughes and Penn have a storied history together. The pair first faced off at UFC 46 in 2004, with the underdog Penn submitting Hughes to become the welterweight champion. Hughes got the better of Penn in the rematch at UFC 63, winning with a third-round TKO.

Penn recently dropped his second straight fight to Frankie Edgar for the lightweight title. Hughes, meanwhile, is riding a three-fight win streak, with victories over Matt Serra, Renzo Gracie and Ricardo Almeida.

UFC 118 Payroll - Toney makes $500k!

MAIN CARD FIGHTERS:

-Frankie Edgar: $96,000 (includes $48,000 win bonus) def. B.J. Penn: $150,000
-Randy Couture: $250,000 (no win bonus) def. James Toney: $500,000
-Demian Maia: $68,000 (includes $34,000 win bonus) def. Mario Miranda: $8,000
-Gray Maynard: $46,000 (includes $23,000 win bonus) def. Kenny Florian: $65,000
-Nate Diaz: $60,000 (includes $30,000 win bonus) def. Marcus Davis: $31,000

PRELIMINARY CARD (NON-TELEVISED) FIGHTERS:

-Joe Lauzon: $24,000 (includes $12,000 win bonus) def. Gabe Ruediger: $8,000
-Nik Lentz: $22,000 (includes $11,000 win bonus) def. Andre Winner: $10,000
-Dan Miller: $30,000 (includes $15,000 win bonus) def. John Salter: $8,000
-Greg Soto: $12,000 (includes $6,000 win bonus) def. Nick Osipczak: $10,000
-Mike Pierce: $24,000 (includes $12,000 win bonus) def. Amilcar Alves: $6,000

UFC 118 DISCLOSED FIGHTER PAYROLL: $1,428,000

- DANA WHITE TALKS REMATCHES & TITLES ON ESPN

B.J. PENN: THE BELT'S NOT REAL, ONLY THE FIGHT

[article by mmaweekly - source]
When B.J. Penn finishes his career he may go down as one of the greatest fighters and champions of all time, but don't try to tell him that right now.

As Penn readies for the rematch with Frankie Edgar at UFC 118, the Hawaiian is tired of hearing the old clichés about how he's the greatest, and that he's untouchable in the lightweight division. That day has passed, and Penn wants to hear none of it.

"First of all, no one is untouchable," he said on Thursday. "If they are they just haven't run into the right guy."

It's always been a label that's followed Penn throughout his career, from his early days knocking out opponents in the UFC when he was dubbed "The Prodigy." He may still go down as the greatest lightweight to ever step foot in the Octagon, but he's not willing to accept that persona.

While Penn has faced adversity in his career before, he admits that the loss to Edgar in April woke a sleeping giant, and that giant will rear its ugly head in Boston next Saturday night.

One other point that he makes abundantly clear about the rematch is that it's not about the title; it's not about being the best lightweight. It's about beating Edgar in a fight, simple as that.

"I don't know if I sit there and say 'well, I'm happy that Frankie's a worthy opponent.' One thing he did was wake me up, and makes me realize it never stops. When you hear people say 'you're the greatest of all time and this and that' it's (expletive). It's not real. It's fake," Penn said.

"Being a champion is fake, all that, it's all fake. You've got to go out there, you've got to keep training, training as hard as you can, and keep winning fights."

Penn didn't change much for his camp this time, as he got ready for Frankie Edgar, outside of bringing in Dream featherweight champion Bibiano Fernandes to help out. It's not been a broken machine when it comes to Penn's training regimen lately, but his mindset has changed and he's only focused on one thing... putting Frankie Edgar away.

"The only thing that's real is the fight," Penn stated. "Everything else is fake."

BJ Penn gets an ear burn!

Jerry Springs does stupid pose with MMA Fighters

What the hell is Jerry Springer doing?

Look, Mini-Me can do a better pose...

Dana White on Jim Rome is Burning - April 14, 2010

April 14, 2010 — UFC's Dana White discusses Anderson Silva, Frankie Edgar, Tito Ortiz vs. Chuck Liddell cancellation, and Fedor.

(via youtube)

UFC 112 PLAY-BY-PLAY RESULTS!

The Ultimate Fighting Championship makes its Middle East debut on Saturday, landing in the home of its new business partner, Flash Entertainment, in Abu Dhabi.

UFC 112 features two title fights, middleweight champ Anderson Silva defends against Demian Maia and lightweight titleholder B.J. Penn tries to fend off Frankie Edgar, and a welterweight feature bout pits Renzo Gracie against Matt Hughes.

UFC 112 airs live on pay-per-view at 10 a.m. PT / 1 p.m. ET, with a delayed broadcast in the evening in the U.S. MMAWeekly.com will be providing live coverage of Saturday’s event, starting with the preliminary bouts, which are expected to start at approximately 7:30 a.m. PT / 10:30 a.m. ET.

Refresh this page frequently for the latest results and play-by-play...


UFC 112 PLAY-BY-PLAY:

ANDERSON SILVA VS. DEMIAN MAIA

R1 – Silva starts his unorthodox, toying style, lands a back kick, Maia staying orthodox, but looks confused. Silva starts chopping at the legs of Maia, Silva with his hands at his sides. Silva just moving all over the place, almost mocking Maia, popping him with kicks and punches from crazy angles. Maia goes down on his back, Silva keeps his distance, kicking at Maia’s legs and hands, as Maia butt scoots across the Octagon.

R2 – Maia comes out orthodox again, Silva at a very wide, apelike stance, acting very awkward, kicking out Maia’s leg. There has got to be no way to prepare for the looks that Silva is giving, the crazy stances and feints. Maia shoots and gets stuffed. Back up and then immediately dives for a leg and misses. Silva just pushing him off and taunting Maia, yelling at him to fight. Taunting him, mentally breaking him down. Silva throws a kick to the body then shucks off another desperate takedown attempt. Silva again yelling at Maia to fight, kicking at Maia’s calves and then pot-shotting him.

R3 –Silva again starts taunting and pot-shotting with his jab and low (sweeping) kicks. Silva lands a spinning back kick, misses with another kick, slips, gains his balance, and starts in with his wild stance low leg kicks again. Silva actually punches Maia to the thigh moves away and continues to just toy with Maia, not really pushing to finish.

R4 – Lots of dancing around for round four. Just lots of moving around the Octagon, Maia trying to dive in with punches, Silva avoiding, but not firing back, then acting like he’s upset that there’s no action. But he’s not really making a move to finish the fight himself. Maia throws his hands up and Silva does the same back.

R5 – Maia shoots and misses the takedown. Maia rushes in and catches Silva with a couple punches. Moves in again and catches him with a wild left hook, Maia on his knees swinging away, Silva backs off. Shaking his head like he’s appreciative of Maia’s burst. Silva lands a spinning back kick. Maia swinging, but looking really tired. Silva walking away. Maia shoots and snags a leg, Silva steps out of it and backs away. Maia’s nose is busted up. The referee warns Silva for running away from Maia. Maia throws up his hands in frustration. Ref calls time and tells Silva that he’s going to take a point away if he keeps running.

The crowd is chanting “Maia, Maia” after the fight.

Anderson Silva def. Demian Maia by Unanimous Decision (No Scores Read), R5

B.J. PENN VS. FRANKIE EDGAR

R1 – Both men looking to box early, Edgar showing a lot of movement, Penn holding the center of the Octagon. Penn being patient starts to establish his jab. Edgar continuously moving gets caught with several uppercuts as he moves in trying to take Penn down. Edgar trying to find an opening, but eats several shots every time he moves in on Penn. Penn lands a shot to the body as the two clinch and then tosses Edgar aside just before the round ends.

R2 – Edgar eats a stiff jab trying to move in for a takedown then backs off and starts searching again, constantly staying in motion. Penn seems content to hold the center of the Octagon, patiently waiting for Edgar. Penn doing a good job sticking Edgar with the jab and landing short two and three punch combinations. Edgar is showing good hand speed and movement, but isn’t as accurate as Penn. Edgar gets in and takes Penn down, pushing him, but Penn is immediately back to his feet, again in the center of the Octagon.

R3 – Edgar moves, but is stung with a hard combination by Penn. A lot of pop in Penn’s jab, snapping Edgar’s head back. Edgar gets through with a couple individual punches, but isn’t landing the combinations that Penn does. Edgar getting more creative with his striking, throwing superman punch, trying to set up the takedown. Penn missing more in this round, and Edgar moves in and lands a kick to the body. Edgar has stepped up the movement even more now, throwing Penn off a bit.

R4 – Good body kick by Edgar. Edgar really mixing up, throwing combinations, and trying to shoot the takedown, but stuffed. Edgar lands the right hand off the combination, doing a much better now keeping Penn off guard. Penn still landing the jab though, but not as frequently as earlier in the fight. Penn lands a counter right and couple jabs. Edgar tries a jumping knee, but misses. Another good counter left from Penn.

R5 – Edgar scores the takedown, but Penn right back up. Edgar moves in with a good combination and just misses with the head kick. Good jab from Edgar, but a leg kick from Penn. Midway through the round and Edgar lands a strong right cross. Penn looks tired and a little frustrated. Edgar shoots, but gets shucked off, twice. Edgar lands a left hook and leg kick. Penn is managing his jab, but not much more offense than that. Edgar finding some sting in his own jab and follows with a kick to the body. Penn finishes strong with a right and knee, but is it enough?


Frankie Edgar def. B.J. Penn by Unanimous Decision (50-45, 48-47, 49-46), R3

MATT HUGHES VS. RENZO GRACIE

R1 – Neither fighter willing to commit early, both gauging range. Loud chants of Renzo roll through the crowd. Gracie launches a boxing combination, but Hughes pushes him against the cage and dirty boxes him for a moment before they split. Again they clinch and Hughes pushes Gracie to the cage, this time kneeing his legs. Gracie tosses him off and separates. They dance around the center of the Octagon, Hughes landing a few individual leg kicks, and Gracie trying to get his boxing started.

R2 – Gracie tries to establish the jab, while Hughes goes back to his most effective move of round one, the leg kick, visibly stinging Gracie a couple of times early in the round. They clinch and trip to the ground, but are quickly back on their feet for the stand-up. Hughes again chopping at Gracie’s lead leg with the low kick. The crowd boos as there’s still no sustained action midway through the round. Gracie finally lands a leg kick of his own, but eats a short left hook from Hughes, who then goes back to the leg kicks on Gracie’s lead leg. Hughes land a good jab-leg kick combo before eating a straight right. Gracie shoots and almost gets caught in a guillotine. They clinch and Hughes pushes Gracie to the fence as the round ends.

R3 – Hughes again starts chopping away at Gracie’s lead leg with the low kicks and Gracie does nothing to check the kicks or move away from them. Hughes lands a straight right, and Gracie looks very frustrated, can’t seem to get anything going. Hughes pushes him to the fence, lands a few knees, then pulls him away from the fence, keeping his weight on him, then separates and rocks Gracie with a strong boxing combination, but doesn’t really push to finish. Hughes throws the leg kick and Gracie falls to the mat. Referee Herb Dean motions from Gracie to get up and Hughes actually extends a hand to help him up. They start up and Hughes kicks out the leg again dropping Gracie, who gets back up, but is wavering, just trying to finish the fight. Hughes drops him again with a right hand, but backs off, making Gracie stand again. Hughes then moves in and drops Gracie once again with a boxing combination and the fight is waved off.


Matt Hughes def. Renzo Gracie by TKO (Strikes) at 4:40, R3

TERRY ETIM VS. RAFAEL DOS ANJOS

R1 – They start off trading kicks, but Dos Anjos quickly switches to shooting in for the takedown, but gets caught in a guillotine choke on the way down. Etim combines the choke with a triangle body lock, but Dos Anjos remains calm, eventually popping his head out. Dos Anjos immediately passes to side control and starts kneeing. Referee Mark Goddard warns Dos Anjos for kneeing too close to the spine and stands the fight back up. They clinch and Dos Anjos trips Etim down, but lands on bottom. Etim starts working from Dos Anjos’ guard, but isn’t able to amass much damage before the round ends.

R2 – Dos Anjos starts off with a couple strong inside leg kicks. They clinch and Etim lands a knee to the chin before getting taken down by Dos Anjos, who starts working from side control. Dos Anjos tries to gain mount, but moves back to side control and drops a couple hard elbows to the face of Etim then transitions to full mount. Etim quickly defends and gains half guard, but Dos Anjos moves back to side control and dropping elbows. He moves to north-south and tries for a Kimura on Etim’s left arm, can’t get it, and then transitions to an armbar for the finish.


Rafael Dos Anjos def. Terry Etim by Submission (Armbar) at 4:30, R2

MARK MUNOZ VS. KENDALL GROVE

R1 – As expected, Munoz quickly scores a takedown, but Grove is back to his feet quickly and made Munoz pay with an uppercut that hurt him. As Munoz continues to work for a second takedown, Grove punishes him with hammerfists. Munoz won’t give up on the shot, but they are separated when the action stalls. Grove sprawls out on a Munoz shot and nearly locks up a choke, but Munoz escapes and clips Grove with a couple punches. Munoz shoots again and gets caught in a guillotine choke, but once again escapes what looked to be a tight choke. Munoz won’t give up on the takedown, and again gets caught in a guillotine, but escapes before the bell.

R2 – Munoz lands a strong right hand, but Grove drops him with a knee to the head from the clinch. Grove follows him down and takes Munoz’s back. Munoz escapes and starts ground and pound from Grove’s guard, punishing the body. Grove trying to kick Munoz off, but Munoz dives in and brutalizes Grove in a brutal assault until the referee stops the punishment.


Mark Munoz def. Kendall Grove by TKO (Strikes) at 2:50, R2

UFC 112 QUICK RESULTS:

Main Bouts (On Pay-Per-View):

-Anderson Silva def. Demian Maia by Unanimous Decision (No Scores Read), R5

-Frankie Edgar def. B.J. Penn by Unanimous Decision (50-45, 48-47, 49-46), R3

-Matt Hughes def. Renzo Gracie by TKO (Strikes) at 4:40, R3

-Rafael Dos Anjos def. Terry Etim by Submission (Armbar) at 4:30, R2

-Mark Munoz def. Kendall Grove by TKO (Strikes) at 2:50, R2



Preliminary Bouts (Non-Televised):

-Phil Davis def. Alexander Gustafsson by Submission (Anaconda Choke) at 4:55, R1

-Paul Taylor (10-5-1) vs. John Gunderson (22-7) - CANCELLED

-Rick Story def. Nick Osipczak by Split Decision, R3

-DaMarques Johnson def. Brad Blackburn by TKO (Strikes) at 2:08, R3

-Paul Kelly def. Matt Veach by Submission (Guillotine Choke) at 3:41, R2

-Jon Madsen def. Mostapha Al-Turk by Unanimous Decision, R3



(Preliminary results courtesy of Kevin Iole and MMAWeekly.com content partner Yahoo! Sports)

BUZZ KILL!!!! Dana White Embarrassed by Anderson Silva at UFC 112!

WOW! JUST WATCH!

The SHOOT: BJ Penn (VIDEO)

A view in to BJ Penn's world before the Frankie Edgar fight. Watch as The SHOOT goes in depth!