MMA Link Parade

It might be a relatively slow week in MMA, but there's still Bellator on Saturday night to look forward to. Until then, feast upon these links to our friends around the internet.

- America's top MMA gyms: round two. (Versus)

- At least we know Kawajiri is safe from the earthquake in Japan. (Middle Easy)

- Urijah Faber teaches the Korean Zombie English-ifornian. (Cage Potato)

- Brendan Schaub readies for Cro Cop test. (Sports Illustrated)

- Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Silva drug tests come back clean. (Heavy)

- JZ Cavalcante takes bill collection to a whole new level. (5th Round)

- Gina Carano kicks Ewan McGregor's butt on set of 'Haywire.' (MMA Convert)

- "Feijao" Cavalcante says he was doing fine before the H-Bomb. (LowKick)

- MMA Scraps Radio with Anthony Pettis. (MMA Scraps)

- UFC 130 main card set. (Bleacher Report)

- Fight Rankings: Hendo is number two. (Fight Magazine)

- Matt Lindland comments on marijuana theft allegations. (Five Ounces of Pain)

Source: http://www.mmafighting.com/2011/03/11/mma-link-parade/

Todd Duffee  Marvin Eastman  Stav Crazy Bear Economou  Yves Edwards 

On the comeback trail: Diego Sanchez thinks he's overcome his demons

Being a great fighter requires more than training hard and delivering when it counts. Before the battle there really has to be a synergy between the personal and professional life. No one understands that more than UFC welterweight Diego Sanchez, yet he's had as much trouble finding that synergy as any high level fighter in the sport.

Sanchez has bounced between welterweight and lightweight, unsure of which class is the best for his body type. He's also wrestled with lifestyle issues, and training techniques and camps. 

The 28-year-old has always had great tools, but again tonight he gets to see if he's got all the other stuff together so he can pull off a big win over Martin Kampmann at UFC on vErsus 3 in Louisville, Ky. It's all part of trying to make a brutal stretch, that included losses to B.J. Penn and John Hathaway, in the rear-view mirror. 

"I hit rock bottom after the B.J. Penn fight, I really did. I blew through all my money, I made some very bad decisions," Sanchez told MMAWeekly. "I had this scam artist scam me real bad. I was embezzled over $175,000. I really got hit rock bottom and I had to come back home."

The whole episode was demoralizing. 

"I needed my family love and I just was humbled, 100 percent. I was humbled back down to zero. I had no ego, no nothing, just humble, and that’s what, after the John Hathaway loss, I was still in the funk. I was still in the funk for John Hathaway," said Sanchez.

The problems started when he let his ego get the best of him back in 2007. That's when he decided to leave his original trainer Greg Jackson and his hometown of Albuquerque. Why? He was angry that Jackson was also working with UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre. Sanchez took it as a slap in the face. He viewed it as a "him or me" situation. He left and settled in San Diego. His new trainers may not have been a big step down from Jackson, but it seemed like he lost his moral compass.

"When I walked in, it was the most amazing feeling because I felt like I was home again, because we’re talking about a gym that kept me out of the streets as a young child. This is somewhere that I went twice a day, and I was 19 years old. I was in Jackson’s twice a day or do the morning classes, or do the night classes," Sanchez said. "This is something that was just, it was my life. And to go back to, back home, and Greg Jackson that guy has got so much love for me. He just had his arms open, all the doors open, and said this is your home Diego. So, it was a great feeling."

Sanchez (22-4, 11-4 UFC) posted a nice win over Paulo Thiago back in October. We find out tonight if a return to his versatile, attacking style will overwhelm Kampmann (17-4, 8-3 UFC), and more importantly the judges, in what's likely to be a fight that goes to the judges.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/On-the-comeback-trail-Diego-Sanchez-thinks-he-s?urn=mma-329192

Spencer Fisher Jon Fitch Kenny Florian Jesse Forbes

Wanderlei Silva training video: The forgotten piece of the middleweight puzzle

The UFC has worked hard to try and add depth to its middleweight division. Brazilians Vitor Belfort and Wanderlei Silva were a big part of the plan. Belfort flamed out in his shot at Anderson Silva and Wandy seems to have been forgotten by many fans and media types. Once he gets healthy, the former king of the PRIDE 205-pound division is still very much in the UFC's middleweight mix.

Check out the cool training video put together by WandFC.com. Silva, recovering from knee surgery, is seen training in California at King's MMA along with Rafael Cordeiro, Fabricio Werdum and Satoshi Ishii.

As for the champ, nothing is certain about his future. There's talk of a super fight against welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre, but GSP indicated recently that he's not sure he'll even take the fight and that he'll needs lots of time to acclimate himself to the higher weight class. He also suggested that Yushin Okami is next in line for Anderson Silva. If GSP beats Jake Shields next month, the hype for the super fight will begin. GSP may even ask for it to be at a catchweight. If that's the case don't guys like Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva deserve a shot first?

Here's the top 15 in the world at middleweight according to the USA Today/Bloody Elbow rankings:

1. Anderson Silva

2. Chael Sonnen

3. Yushin Okami

4. Nate Marquart

5. Demian Maia

6. Vitor Belfort

7. Ronaldo Souza

8. Jorge Santiago

9. Michael Bisping

10. Dan Henderson

11. Wanderlei Silva

12. Jake Shields

13. Robbie Lawler

14. Hector Lombard

15. Alan Belcher

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Wanderlei-Silva-training-video-The-forgotten-pi?urn=mma-wp65

Arman Gambaryan Manvel Gamburyan Sean Gannon Edgar Garcia

"UFC 130: Edgar vs. Maynard III" main-card becomes official

As the highly anticipated trilogy pitting current lightweight champion Frankie Edgar against Gray Maynard comeds to a head this May, UFC officials have since confirmed the main-card for the event. UFC 130 takes place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on May 28, with a stellar card that fans won’t want to [...]

Source: http://www.fighters.com/03/11/ufc-130-edgar-vs-maynard-iii-main-card-becomes-official

Matt Andersen  Alex Andrade  Jermaine Andrè  Yoji Anjo 

Urijah Faber, Eddie Wineland Trying to Focus on Fight, UFC Title

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Urijah FaberTen days before their co-main event bout at UFC 128, bantamweights Urijah Faber and Eddie Wineland said Wednesday they only have one thing on their minds - a win, then a title shot.

Though all the pieces would appear to be in place for the winner of the fight to possibly get a coaching spot on this fall's 14th season of "The Ultimate Fighter," both Faber and Wineland, making their UFC debuts, said they can't think about that now.

"I don't know what (the UFC's) criteria is for that - they seem to change it up a lot," Faber (24-4, 9-3 WEC) said on a media conference call. "And I haven't heard anything at all. I feel like this (fight) is a shot to get a title shot, which is most important to me. The reality show thing would be great, but my focus is getting that belt."

Source: http://www.mmafighting.com/2011/03/09/urijah-faber-eddie-wineland-trying-to-focus-on-fight-ufc-title/

Gesias JZ Calvancante  Luiz Cane  Dos Caras Jr   Phil Cardella