Breaking Strikeforce News: Two Title Fights in April, Heavyweight Grand Prix Returns in June and More!

In case you didn?t know, Strikeforce is hosting a major event this Saturday in Columbus, Ohio. However, that was the last thing company CEO Scott Coker was talking about late Tuesday evening. To kick off the flurry of late breaking news, Coker confirmed with MMAJunkie their Heavyweight Grand Prix would not headline their April 9th [...]

Source: http://www.5thRound.com/69422/breaking-strikeforce-news-two-title-fights-in-april-heavyweight-grand-prix-returns-in-june-and-more/

Logan The Pink Pounder Clark  Steve The Snake Claveau  Rich No Love Clementi  Mark The Hammer Coleman Wes Soldier Combs 

UFC 127's Three Stars: Ebersole, Zhang and Hunt

UFC 127 impressed a sell-out crowd in Sydney, even without exciting fights from the main and co-main events. Instead, undercard fighters made their mark.

No. 1 -- Brian Ebersole: No one can accuse Ebersole of a lack of determination. Since 2000, Ebersole has fought in 60 bouts, but got his big break when Carlos Condit had to pull out of his bout with Chris Lytle due to injury. Ebersole, who is from Indiana but now lives in Australia, turned the opportunity into gold, taking a decision from the always-game Lytle with unorthodox strikes and movement.

No. 2 star -- Tiequan Zhang:"The Mongolian Wolf" had a memorable, if short, UFC debut. He submitted Jason Reinhardt with a guillotine in less than a minute, making him the first Chinese-born fighter to win in the UFC. 

No. 3 star -- Mark Hunt: We're a few years removed from Hunt's heyday in the Pride Fighting Championships, and Chris Tuchsherer isn't exactly top-flight heavyweight competition. But Hunt's nonchalant uppercut knockout reminded MMA fans why they loved Hunt in the first place. 

Dishonorable mention -- Michael Bisping: Trash talk comes along with fighting. It builds up hype for a fight, increases a fighter's popularity and can make the fight game a little bit more fun, if the fighters don't take it too seriously. Unfortunately, Bisping did take Jorge Rivera's pre-fight smack talk seriously. That turned into Bisping throwing an illegal knee, spitting at Rivera's corner and continuing to yell at Rivera after the bell. He apologized, but then called Rivera's camp classless. 

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/UFC-127-s-Three-Stars-Ebersole-Zhang-and-Hunt?urn=mma-327178

Daiki DJ taiki Hata He Peng David Heath Delson Heleno Dan Henderson

President's Day: Which fighter should run for president?

Happy Presidents' Day! In honor of this day that salutes our commanders-in-chief, Cagewriter took a second to ponder: which fighters would be at home in the Oval Office?

Brian Stann: The Marine-turned-fighter has professed political ambitions, and spends his time away from fighting running Hire Heroes, a not-for-profit that aims to help veterans find meaningful employment after their time with the Armed Forces. 

Matt Lindland: One of few fighters with campaign experience, Lindland would also meet the constitutional age requirement for the presidency, and did the MMA world a favor by stopping the run of . He also has plenty of time on his hands, since an injury just forced him out of his planned KSW bout. But I fear how many campaign ads would take advantage of his bad knockouts.

Jacob Volkmann: He already has some strong feelings on the health care policy, but something tells me that having a Secret Service investigation in your background doesn't help you earn the trust of the electorate. (Suggested by Aaron Daane)

Kenny Florian: Through his side job as the lead analyst on ESPN's "MMA Live," Florian has shown an ease discussing many subjects on camera, a key trait for presidents. But what would his ever-dropping weight class do to his judgment? I wouldn't want Florian to have the nuclear codes while he drops down to featherweight to face Diego Nunes, but I would have faith that Vice President Kurt Pellegrino and Secretary of State Miguel Torres would keep Florian in line. (Suggested by Danielle Hobeika)

It's not as far-fetched as it seems. Plenty of presidents were also athletes. George H.W. Bush captained the Yale football team, Gerald Ford played football at Michigan, and according to the National Wrestling Coaches Association, 11 presidents have wrestled, the sport that is the base to so many fighters. 

Which fighter would you vote for? 

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/President-s-Day-Which-fighter-should-run-for-pr?urn=mma-324331

Rickson Gracie Rodrigo Gracie Roger Gracie Rolles Gracie Royce Gracie

Sneak Peek: An Early Look At What The Future Holds For March 2011

Hello again fans and friends and welcome to the start of a new series tentatively called ?Sneak Peek?. This new once-a-month series will be posted near the end of each month in order to give fans a look at the major events occurring next month. The big shows, the colossal encounters, the fights that you [...]

Source: http://www.fighters.com/02/23/sneak-peek-an-early-look-at-what-the-future-holds-for-march-2011

Tomasz Drwal Joe Hybrid Duarte Aldrin de Jesus  Todd Duffee  Marvin Eastman 

Chris Lytle to Consider Retirement After Secret Surgery, UFC 127 Loss

Filed under: , ,

Because he's a pro's pro, Chris Lytle wouldn't admit it, but he was far from fighting at full strength in his UFC 127 loss to Brian Ebersole. In fact, just four weeks before his fight, he had the injured meniscus in his right knee removed, MMA Fighting has learned.

Lytle chose to keep the procedure quiet to deflect attention and avoid devaluing Ebersole's win. But after MMA Fighting learned of the injury from two separate sources, Lytle's manager Ken Pavia finally confirmed the surgery, which he said began as an exploratory procedure before the doctor removed the meniscus due to the damage.

Lytle chose to fight, and the ensuing unanimous decision loss to Ebersole marked the end of a four-fight win streak. It could also possibly bring a close to his career.

Source: http://www.mmafighting.com/2011/02/28/chris-lytle-to-consider-retirement-after-secret-surgery-ufc-127/

Kyle Bradley  Jai Bradney  Ebenezer Fontes Braga Chris Brennan Marcelo Brito 

B.J. Penn Unsure He Will Fight Again

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SYDNEY -- MMA Fighting spoke to B.J. Penn after his majority draw against Jon Fitch at Sunday's UFC 127 in Sydney, Australia. Penn discussed his change of strategy going into the fight, what would motivate him to continue fighting and more.

Source: http://www.mmafighting.com/2011/02/27/b-j-penn-bummed-with-how-jon-fitch-fight-went-down/

Matt Hamill Volk Han Joachim Hansen Antoni Hardonk Dan Hardy

UFC 127: Ross Pearson Beats Spencer Fisher

by Michael David SmithRoss Pearson beats Spencer Fisher at UFC 127.Ross Pearson earned a hard-fought unanimous decision win over Spencer Fisher at UFC 127.

The fight featured 15 minutes of back-and-forth action, and it was close enough (especially in the first two rounds) that the fight was in doubt until the judges' scorecards were announced. But Pearson deserved the decision he got, 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28.

Pearson, the former Ultimate Fighter winner, fought evenly with Fisher in the stand-up in the first couple of rounds. But in the third Pearson really started to take control, finding his range in the striking and ending the fight on the ground on top of Fisher.

 

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Source: http://www.mmafighting.com/2011/02/26/ufc-127-ross-pearson-beats-spencer-fisher/

Stav Crazy Bear Economou  Yves Edwards  Justin Eilers  Jon Olav Einemo Per Eklund

White UFC 127 vlog: Recovering from broken eye, Koscheck is surfing!

Dana White's latest vlog takes the viewer from Hawaii to Sydney. White arrives in Australia and hits Bondi beach where UFC fighters and Octagon girls are surfing.

That's right Brittney Palmer and Arianny Celeste are soaking wet in bathing suits (3:00 mark).

The craziest scene is seeing Josh Koscheck emerging from the water (4:05 mark).

That's the same Koscheck, who suffered a broken orbital bone against Georges St. Pierre at UFC 124 in early December. Koscheck tells White the eye is doing fine but he still feels numbness on the right side of his face and teeth at times. He's surfing? That's nuts. Koscheck says he still has five months of recovery ahead. 

On a side note, Tiki Ghosn also saved White's life ... twice (2:08 mark).

Check out the entire UFC surfing Tracy Lee gallery. Don't forget you can watch UFC 127 right here on Yahoo! Sports. 

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/White-UFC-127-vlog-Recovering-from-broken-eye-?urn=mma-326518

Hiroyuki Abe Cyril Abidi  Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah  Terrance Aflague