Koch out, Edgar in

At first I thought some one was bluffing but then came the confirmed news. Frankie Edgar is getting a title shot at 145 Lbs because he is a company man. And also, Erik Koch is injured of course. Fight is schedule for the UFC 153 event on the October 13 in HSBC Arena, Rio de Janeiro.

It seems in the UFC, fortune favours the loyal.


Article from MMA Fighting


Aug 31, 2012 - Frankie Edgar will be getting an immediate title shot when he drops to featherweight after all.

Edgar has replaced Erik Koch in the UFC 153 main event and will face Jose Aldo, MMA Fighting's Ariel Helwani has confirmed. USA Today was the first to break the news.

Koch suffered a knee injury recently and was forced to withdraw from the fight, according to Helwani.

Edgar (14-3-1) has lost his past two fights to UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson. He was expected to make his featherweight debut later this year before the injury to Koch.

Koch apologized to his fans on Twitter, stating "I'm sorry guys this has been one crazy year for me deff a hard one, I just wanna thank all of you guys for the support means the world to me."

Aldo (21-1), who has won 14 straight fights, was critical of former UFC champion Edgar recently in an interview with Tatame.

"He said he wants to drop to featherweight, so I'm hoping he does that to end this story," Aldo told Tatame.com. "He's welcome here so that we can shut him off and he goes to the lightweight or bantamweight classes."

UFC 153 is scheduled for Oct. 13 at the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Fight Week: UFC 150

UFC 150 is on this week from Denver, Colorado.

The main event is a lightweight title rematch between Benson Henderson and Frankie Edgar. Edgar lost his title to Smooth when the first fought in UFC 144 6 months ago. A good title fight in my book because both guys are really top of their game. Both have strong wrestling background however Ben is the bigger of the 2 and is far more athletic. Frankie however has the heart and the foot speed and movement to match his lionheart. I dare not make any predictions but I want to pose a question, what's next for Frankie if he loses? dropping down to featherweight I presume?

The co-main event of the evening would pit former team-mates.  Donald 'The Cowboy' Cerrone vs Melvin 'The Young Assassin' Guillard. Melvin who was previously under the tutelage of Greg Jackson and Mike Winkeljohn has now moved from Albuquerque to Florida to join the Blackzillians. Rashad Evans current camp. The move was more of a mutual move rather than a bitter one (Evans-Jones drama). Cerrone is fighting in his home town. That is one major motivation to perform and win. This fight will be a slugfest. Heavy leg kicks from the cowboy and big punches from the young assassin. Predictions? I say Cerrone by RNC in the 3rd round. I don't know how much Melvin has improve from moving camps but the cowboy is just more well rounded in all aspects of the game.

I think I have said so much so its time to let the guys do their talking









Official Fight Card

Main Card (PPV)
Lightweight Benson Henderson (c) vs Frankie Edgar
Lightweight Donald Cerrone vs Melvin Guillard
Middleweight Jake Shields vs Ed Herman
Middleweight Yushin Okami vs Buddy Roberts
Featherweight Justin Lawrence vs Max Holloway

Preliminary Card (FX)
Featherweight Dennis Bermudez vs Tommy Hayden
Middleweight Jared Hamman vs Michael Kuiper
Bantamweight Ken Stone vs Erik Perez
Bantamweight Dustin Pague vs Chico Camus

Preliminary Card (Facebook)
Featherweight Nik Lentz vs Eiji Mitsuoka

I'll break down some fights which I think is interesting (besides the main event and the co-main event) in my next posting

Kudos

Things that happen while I was away

Man where to start, plenty of fights, action, challenges. The first 3 months of 2012 for MMA was absolutely Awesome!

To start things off

Benson Henderson is the new 155 lbs UFC champ

The Smooth one won the fight by unanimous decision over Frankie Edgar in UFC 144: Japan According to the numbers, Henderson landed more significant strikes in the bout which resulted in the win.

Some of Benson's signature moves



The Smooth one's TUF audition tape



Pat Curran is the new 145 lbs Bellator champ

Pat Curran demolished former Bellator Featherweight King Joe Warren via TKO strikes in the 3rd round. Pat Curran was very impressive in this fight especially how he manage to get up everytime Joe Warren took him down. Mind you Warren is a world Greco Roman wrestling champ.



The Ref should have stop it earlier in my opinion.

Ronda Rousey is the new Strikeforce women Bantamweight champ

Rousey back up all her smack talk and submit Miesha Tate via Armbar in the first round. Rousey has not seen the 2nd round in her pro MMA career but this bout was the longest fight of her career.

The new dawn of woman's MMA is upon us. She might be the Woman version of the once very dominate Fedor. Ronda's nickname shouldn't be Rowdy, it should be Arm Collector, Arm's Dealer or something like that. She is the only woman in the world I wouldn't want to hold my hand. She might never give it back to me.



Rampage is pissed with UFC

Apparently Rampage is pissed with the UFC and with Joe Silva (UFC Fight maker). Why you ask me, well he is just Rampage. Plain ol Rampage.

Rumble Johnson signed with Titan FC

I thought Rumble would join Bellator or ONE FC but I guess not then.

TUF live and TUF Brazil is on and running

One FC gonna have a slugfest with Laursen vs Folayang

Trailer for the Laursen-Folayang fight



I can't wait for this one.

Boob Bob Sapp lost two three in a row within the 1st round

The Beast lost to James Thompson in the newly formed Super Fight League (SPL) which is based in india. He lost by Takedown. Yes by takedown.



Mr. Sapp, your fights don't reflect on your nickname.

Buakaw Por. Pramuk was MIA for a week

Buakaw went missing and everyone in the fighting world was worried. He finally returned and has plenty of things to say. One of which is that his trainer and manager Por Pramuk mistreated him and prevented him from retiring in 2009.

Buakaw favourite pastime and stress reliever. Kick the hell out of a Banana Tree



Malaysian Fighting Championship 4 was Awesome. (I was there)

MFC 4 was a great MMA event held in Overtime, Jalan Ipoh, KL. Here we get to see the burgeoning scene of Malaysian MMA. The who's who of Malaysian MMA scene was there from Arnaud " The Game" Lepont to Antonio Graceffo. Antonio was part of the main event that night where he faced Nik "The Bloodhound" Harris in a heavy weight fight. Graceffo won by unanimous decision. I didn't take pictures or video (My bad) because I was to transfix with the fights. There were Finishes left and right From Head kicks, to KO to Mounted triangle, Triangle chokes, arm bars, RNC. If I'm not mistaken only 3 fights went the distance.

Plenty of fighters impressed during the event. One Will " The Kill" Chope was one of them. He fought twice that night and in both fights he finished both of his opponents. Another fighter who impressed me was this dude called Mad Max. He looked solid on his feet and he finished his fight with a RNC.

Props to MMA News Asia for the results and Emily for the video

UFC 144 Extended Preview

The return of UFC to Japan features the lightweight title bout between Frankie Edgar and Benson Henderson.

Co headline by the return of Rampage to the land of the rising sun and his opponent ultimate fighter winner Ryan Bader

Gilbert Melendez call dibs on UFC lightweight title

From MMA Fighting
by Michael David Smith

Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez sat down with UFC President Dana White recently and put it out there that he'd love to get a crack at the UFC lightweight title.

"I just wanted to discuss my future with the organization," Melendez said Monday on The MMA Hour. "It looks like I have a good future. ... I just expressed that I want to fight the best."

Although Melendez described himself as a loyal Strikeforce fighter who still has four fights left on his contract, he made no secret of the fact that his ultimate goal in the sport is to be the champion in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

"The UFC title is the best belt," he said. "I want that belt and I want it as soon as possible."

Melendez said he believes he matches up well with UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar and has done enough that he deserves the next shot at Edgar's belt.

"I'm definitely impressed by Frankie. He's an amazing fighter. He's great," Melendez said. "I honestly feel like I'm the No. 1 contender and I feel like I'm ready for the title shot now."

The UFC has already brought in Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem and Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz, and Melendez is hoping he's next. Melendez stressed, however, that he's not allowing the possibility of fighting in the UFC distract him from his planned December 17 Strikeforce fight with Jorge Masvidal.

"I've been focusing on Jorge Masvidal," Melendez said. "He's the first guy in line. I think he's the No. 1 contender, as of now, in Strikeforce, and as of now I have to focus on that guy. He's real tough. But it's hard not to get excited when you hear all these rumors."

Melendez had nothing but positive things to say about Strikeforce, but he has been frustrated at times that the general public recognizes only UFC fighters as the best in the world.

"The most frustrating thing is the recognition," Melendez said. "A lot of people don't recognize me as a great fighter because I haven't beaten any UFC guys."

Melendez hopes to change that soon.

Edgar featured on CNN

Feature on Frankie Edgar by CNN



Enjoy

UFC 136 Edgar vs Maynard III Press Conference

UFC 136 official press conference in Houston, Texas

UFC 136 Fight Card

On the 8th October finally the wait is over. Edgar vs Maynard III is on. It is a highly anticipated bout between champ and challenger ever since the last fight was an exciting draw. Experts and fans a like were split between who won so too were the judges.

But come this Saturday in the Toyota Center, Houston, Texas a winner will emerge. (Hopefully) UFC might have a new Lightweight Champ or the champ might retain his belt and cement his place as the best lightweight in the world and one of the best pound for pound fighters in MMA.

The Co-Main event of the evening is between the highly explosive and very entertaining UFC featherweight Champion, Jose Aldo Jr against a UFC and Ultiamte fighter veteran and Jiu Jitsu expert in Kenny Florian. This is Kenny's second fight in the UFC Featherweight division. His First was against Diego Nunes who is Jose Aldo's team mate in Nova Uniao. My guess is Aldo's team has plenty of information on Florian based on the Nunes fight.

Besides the two title fights, UFC 136 is stacked from the prelims to the main card. First fight for the main card is  Leonard Garcia vs Nam Phan II. The first fight between the two was a war and Leonard Garcia won by Split decision. Next is a ultra exciting fight between Joe Lauzon vs Melvin Guillard. Both fighters are finishers and my bet is this fight won't last till the 3rd round. 2nd round tops.

Then there's the Chael Sonnen vs Brian Stann. All american wrestler vs and all american soldier. This is an excellent middleweight fight. Another title eliminator. Stann is on a role ever since dropping down to 185 lbs and Sonnen was very impressive in his defeat against the champ Anderson Silva. I sure hope Sonnen took Demian Maian advice on learning how to defend a triangle choke cos Stann defeated Mike Massenzio by triangle choke.

Man this card is stacked. (Yes, I know I ahve repeated myself again) Look at it's undercard former Sengoku middleweight Champ, Jorge Santiago vs World Jiu Jitsu Champ Demian Maia, Duke Roufos Stand out and former WEC lightweight Champ Anthony Pettis vs Jeremy Stephens who is riding on a two fight win streak.

Truly UFC 136 might be one of the best cards of the year if it lives to its expectation. Now I can't wait for the weekend to come.

Main card

Lightweight Championship bout: Frankie Edgar (c) vs. Gray Maynard
Featherweight Championship bout: José Aldo (c) vs. Kenny Florian
Middleweight bout: Chael Sonnen vs. Brian Stann
Lightweight bout: Joe Lauzon vs. Melvin Guillard
Featherweight bout: Leonard Garcia vs. Nam Phan

Preliminary card (Spike TV)

Middleweight bout: Demian Maia vs. Jorge Santiago
Lightweight bout: Anthony Pettis vs. Jeremy Stephens

Preliminary card (Facebook)

Heavyweight bout: Joey Beltran vs. Stipe Miocic
Featherweight bout: Zhang Tie Quan vs. Darren Elkins
Middleweight bout: Aaron Simpson vs. Eric Schafer
Middleweight bout: Steve Cantwell vs. Mike Massenzio

UFC 136 - The Great Debate

The Countdown begins for UFC 136: Edgar vs Maynard III, October 8th

UFC Champs by numbers

I got this info graphic thanks to the guys from Sherdog.com

Data courtesy of Fight metric

Some numbers which stood out to me

Cain Velasquez - Strikes landed per minute - 7.05
Jon Jones          - Take down defended - 100%
Anderson Silva  - Strikes landed  - 68%
Anderson Silva  - Title reign - 1,783 days and counting
Anderson and Cain - Wins by Finishing - 86% of their fights
GSP - Submission attempted per minute - 1.35

UFC 136 Edgar vs Maynard preview

UFC 136 preview

UFC 136 Edgar vs Maynard III

UFC 136 is just around the corner. It will be on the 8th of October 2011 (For us in Asia it will be on the 9th) held in the Toyota Center, Houston, Texas

It will feature two title fights in the lightweight (155 lbs) and featherweight(145 lbs) division

The main event of the evening would be the lightweight contest between Frankie "The Answer" Edgar vs Gray "The Bully' Maynard. This is going to be the third time the both of them will be fighting each other. The Champ is 0-1-1 against The Bully

While  the co-main event would be the title fight is between the Champ, Jose Aldo vs Kenny Florian for the Featherweight title. This would be Aldo third title defense but only his second in the UFC. (First was in the WEC for their featherweight title)

Here's the official Fight card on the 8th

Main Card

Frankie Edgar vs Gray Maynard III - Lightweight (155 lbs) title bout
Jose Aldo vs Kenny Florian        - Featherweight (145 lbs) title bout
Chael Sonnen vs Brian Stann      - Middleweight bout
Melvin Guillard vs Joe Lauzon     - Lightweight bout
Leonard Garcia vs Nam Phan II  - Featherweight bout

Spike Prelims

Demian Maia vs Jorge Santiago     - Middlewight bout
Anthony Pettis vs Jeremy Stephens - Lightweight bout

Facebook Prelims

Joey Beltran vs Stipe Miocic          - Heavyweight bout
Zhang Tie Quan vs Darren Elkins   - Featherweight bout
Aaron Simpson vs Eric Schafer      -Middleweight bout
Steve Cantwell vs Mike Massenzio -Middle weight bout

Number of bouts according to weight class
Featherweight - 3 bouts
Lightweight     - 3 bouts
Middleweight   - 4 bouts
Heavyweights   - 1 bout