As we near Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen's bout in Brazil this summer, the trash talk between the two will undoubtedly heat up, right? Well, maybe not. Maybe Sonnen, after saying he stole Silva's middleweight championship belt and offering to beat advice out of him, had a change of heart. He offered an apology in a segment on Fuel's "UFC Tonight." (Some mild NSFW language at the end.)
Oh thank goodness. He's still the Chael we know and love/hate.
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Eric Prindle won Bellator's heavyweight tournament, which includes a $100,000 prize and a shot at Bellator heavyweight champion Cole Konrad. Prindle did this without having to step in the cage for a rematch of his final with Thiago Santos.
How did this happen? In the latest of weird bumps in the road between the two competitors, Santos missed weight by 12 pounds. With Santos so far over the heavyweight limit of 265 pounds, the fight was called off, and Prindle was declared the winner of the tournament.
Last week, their fight was delayed after Prindle came down with the flu. In November, they met in the cage for their first attempt at a final. That bout was declared a no contest when Santos threw an illegal kick to Prindle's groin.
Prindle got to the final with a decision win over Abe Wagner and a 40-second knockout of Ron Sparks. He will now face Konrad at a later date to challenge for the Bellator heavyweight belt.
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It should tell you how unassuming Mark Hominick is when he hopes to appear on at least one UFC card in Canada over the next three years.
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(Updated with comment from UFC owner Lorenzo Fertitta at 7:47:42 ET on March 13, 2012)
There is a simple solution to the Quinton "Rampage" Jackson mess that, for some reason, is apparently being overlooked.
Cut him.
The UFC ought to sever ties with its mercurial former light heavyweight champion as quickly and completely as possible.
There is no good being done for any side in this equation by forcing an unhappy Jackson to fight the final bout on his UFC contract.
It certainly won't do Jackson any good to hang around. He's apparently had it with the UFC and has complained about the opponents matchmaker Joe Silva has picked for him to fight, his pay, and the seeming lack of gratitude UFC officials have shown him for fighting while injured.
Speaking to Bas Rutten on HDNet's "Inside MMA," Jackson said he is displeased that the UFC is matching him with wrestlers who don't want to fight. Four of his last five opponents were wrestlers, but there's more to the story than just the UFC putting him in against wrestlers.
On May 29, 2010, he lost to Rashad Evans in a battle for the No. 1 contender's spot at 205. He came back at UFC 123 on Nov. 20, 2010 with a win over karate expert Lyoto Machida in a battle between former champions looking to get back into the mix.
Next up, at UFC 130, was wrestler Matt Hamill on May 28, after a series of potential other opponents fell through. Beating Hamill earned (got?) Jackson a title shot against wrestler Jon Jones at UFC 135 on Sept. 24. After being submitted by Jones, the UFC put Jackson in against wrestler Ryan Bader on Feb. 26 at UFC 144 in Japan.
Jackson missed weight by five pounds in Japan, pointing to a knee injury suffered in training. He could have pulled out, but was so desperate to fight in Japan that he remained on the card. That was his choice, but now we're supposed to shower him with thanks because he did what nearly every one of his peers do every time they compete and went out and fought hurt?
Please.
Cutting Jackson would be the wise move for all parties, because Jackson clearly doesn't want to be around, he's no longer a particularly exciting fighter and all the attention being paid to his complaints takes attention away from those who could use it.
UFC owner Lorenzo Fertitta said the company would not cut Jackson and said it would like to match him in the summer with former champion Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. He said he disagrees with Jackson's complaints, but said "he's entitled to his opinion."
"He has one more fight on his contract and our position is that he's contractually obligated to take a fight and fulfill his obligation, just as he'd expect us to fulfill our obligation," Fertitta told Cagewriter. "He is, to some extent, still a draw. An interesting fight we'd like to make, one we've talked about, would be him and Shogun. I think that would be an interesting fight. They're both coming off a loss, they have a history and they have both expressed interest in the fight in the past. That would round out things in an interesting way."
Jackson did a lot for the UFC and deserves to be recognized for that. His knockout of Chuck Liddell at UFC 71 on May 26, 2007 is one of the seminal moments in Zuffa history and won't soon been forgotten. His fight with Wanderlei Silva at UFC 92 was breathtaking.
He was one of the stalwarts of the PRIDE Fighting Championship and should be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame based upon his achievements in the two organizations.
That, though, is for the future. For the present, Jackson is complaining about his lot in life, which is particularly galling considering his recent performances.
It's time UFC president Dana White ended the circus and cut Jackson.
Maybe that will make him happy.
Jackson only wants guys who will engage him in a slugfest and he wants to be hailed as a conquering hero for doing it. So maybe nothing will make him happy, because that's not life in one of the hottest divisions in MMA.
Perhaps Jackson will be energized fighting for Bellator or some other promotion. Perhaps he'll get back to being the fighter he was when he was an absolute can't miss.
It's debatable, but there is one thing that absolutely, unequivocally not:
The fight with Rua would be fascinating, but the time has come for the UFC to sever its ties with him.
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Anderson Silva is back in real life and in video game form. The UFC's middleweight champ is heavily featured in the ad campaign for UFC Undisputed 3. The THQ game just hit the shelves across the United States yesterday. It coincides with Silva's return to light training in anticipation of a June return to the Octagon.
Silva and his manager Ed Soares didn't pull any punches in talking about Chael Sonnen's verbal reign of terror with the Brazilian sidelined by a shoulder injury.
"He didn't have to do any surgery. The doctor said he could strengthen it with physical therapy and that's what he's been doing for a good four months now," Soares told ESPNRadio1100/98.9 FM.
Silva's not one to fire back aggressively, but he sounded pretty serious when talking about whether Sonnen's crossed the line over the last six months.
"Yeah of course, Chael talks too much. He talked about my family. He's got no respect for my wife. No respect for the people in Brazil. It's a problem," Silva said. "I understand it's a promotion, but this is no promotion. This is bad. I don't like this. The people in Brazil don't like this. It's bad for the sport."
Soares brought it a little stronger.
"He can say whatever he wants to say, but he has to be prepared to face everything that he's saying when he steps inside the ring in June. I think Chael is going to experience something he's never experienced before," Soares said. "[...] He's going to feel such an intense pressure walking into that stadium with probably 55,000 fans ... he's going to feel that."
The UFC is targeting June in Sao Paolo for the matchup of the year.
If you can't wait to see the fight, give UFC Undisputed 3 a try. The attention to detail is amazing. Silva said he alone worked with the game makers over three days so they could nail his character.
Silva joked that he's played the game, but the top video game fighting Silvas are his sons.
"I don't play too much, my sons play more. I have no chance against them. Sometimes I play [against my] sons. My sons win and tell me 'hey Dad give me the money. Go back to real fighting. This is no good for you."
The Silva boys like to use their father in the game along with the Nogueira brothers, Lyoto Machida and Rashad Evans.
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Anthony Pettis was already known for one of the most memorable kicks in MMA history. He added to that legend with a left kick that knocked out UFC veteran Joe Lauzon at 1:21 in the first round of their bout at UFC 144 at Saitama Super Arena in Japan.
With that perfectly-placed kick, Pettis won his second fight in a row. After the fight was stopped, he jumped on top of the fence and gestured for the belt.
[Video: Watch Pettis-Lauzon fight highlights]
"Winning that fight is an amazing feeling. I was on a bit of a down streak in 2011, but 2012 is my year and I'm getting a title shot. I'm back, focused and ready to go, I didn't get touched. I think I confused him with my southpaw, had him biting on the jab then threw the high kick and it landed. I wanted to put on a good show for the fans because without them, I wouldn't be Anthony Pettis," Pettis said after the fight.
A title shot was supposed to be his after he won the WEC's lightweight belt in December of 2010. However, a loss to Clay Guida in June squashed those plans. Now, with an impressive knockout of Lauzon and a win over Jeremy Stephens, he's making a case that he belongs at the top of the UFC's stacked lightweight division.
Heading into the fight with Pettis, Lauzon was riding a high after stopping both Melvin Guilland and Curt Warburton in the first round. This loss sends him back to the drawing board.
Hioki wins over Palaszewski
In just his second UFC bout, Hatsu Hioki showed that he should be the next challenger for Jose Aldo's featherweight belt with a 30-27, 29-28, 29-28 dismantling of Bart Palaszewski.
In the first round, Hioki knocked Palaszewski down early. Palaszewski returned to his feet only to be taken down again. Hioki moved to side guard and threw repeated punches. To avoid strikes, Palaszewski gave up his back. As he tried to move out, Hioki pulled Palaszewski's arm into an armbar. He defended and moved out, but Hioki got back on top and threw several strikes. Palaszewski was more comfortable in the second round, keeping the bout standing. He was able to land more combinations than Hioki.
[Video: Watch Hioki-Palaszewski fight highlights]
In the third, Hioki brought the fight to the canvas immediately, taking down Palaszewski with a nasty trip. Hioki moved to side control and again used repeated shots to Palaszewski's head. When Palaszewski tried to escape, Hioki took his back. Palaszewski avoided the submissions, but Hioki's dominance was clear.
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Rampage Jackson says injury contributed to missing weight for UFC 144 is a post from: MMA Interplay UFC News
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