MMA Spot :: Your source for all things MMA. UFC, Pride, Sengoku, Shine, Affliction, Strikeforce, M-1, M-1 Global, KOC, and every other org you can imagine

Subscribe to our RSS

Exclusive Interviews

View all interviews

Advanced Search

View News Archives

Monday, February 07, 2011

Who’s Next? UFC 126 Edition

UFC 126 was one of the most stacked events in recent memory, and multiple big time fights could be set up as a result of the proceedings in Las Vegas on Saturday night. Jon Jones was already awarded a light heavyweight title shot against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 128 on March 19, but the rest of the fighters on the card are currently looking for matchups. Here’s a look at what could happen.

Sunday, February 06, 2011

UFC 126: What We Learned

“UFC 126: Silva vs. Belfort” aired live Saturday night from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nev. The highly anticipated fight card did not disappoint, as a current champion once again sent shock waves across the MMA landscape, while an up-and-coming superstar solidified his standing as a legitimate contender. But before we get into the nuts and bolts of UFC 126, first we have to ask ourselves the all-important question: What did we learn?

Silva’s Streak Remains Unbroken, Jones Earns Title Shot At UFC 126

UFC 126 is now in the books and featured what many touted as the biggest middleweight title fight in MMA history as Champion Anderson Silva faced off with fellow Brazilian Vitor Belfort. In the co-main event storied UFC veterans and fan-favorites Forrest Griffin and Rich Franklin battled in a highly anticipated light heavyweight tilt. While two undefeated up-and-comers Jon Jones and Ryan Bader fought to see whose record would remain unblemished, several of the UFC's newly acquired lighter weight fighters aimed to bring the speed and excitement with them from their former home in the WEC.

Saturday, February 05, 2011

UFC 126: Round-By-Round & Post Fight Coverage

Tonight's "UFC 126: Silva vs. Belfort" event will be broadcast on pay-per-view from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event features a middleweight title main event matchup between champion Anderson Silva and knockout artist Vitor Belfort. Also featured will be two division-shaping light heavyweights bouts with Forrest Griffin taking on Rich Franklin and Jones Jones meeting up with Ryan Bader. Catch all the live blow-by-blow action as we bring you live coverage of the main broadcast card round-by-round.

Tickets On Sale For Strikeforce Doubleheader In Columbus

On Saturday, March 5, Dan Henderson will attempt to add another belt to his wardrobe when he challenges defending champion Rafael "Feijao'' Cavalcante for the Strikeforce World Light Heavyweight Championship at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, live on Showtime. In the opening half of a Strikeforce World Championship doubleheader, Marloes "Rumina'' Coenen will risk her lightweight title for the first time against No. 1 135-pound contender, Miesha "Takedown'' Tate, and Billy Evangelista will take on Jorge Masvidal at lightweight in a televised bout.

Thursday, February 03, 2011

UFC To Launch Interactive Site At UFC.tv

The UFC and NeuLion, Inc., the leading service provider of live and on-demand international, sports and variety programming delivered via broadband, today announced a partnership to launch a brand new service for UFC offering the most interactive, far-reaching digital experience yet. The new online tool gives fans the ability to control audio and video feeds of UFC pay-per-view events, as well as other unique features such as quad view, picture-in-picture, video quality up to broadcast quality, live chat and live scoring by fans. The new UFC viewing experience will launch online on Feb. 5, just in time for the much-anticipated "UFC 126: Silva vs. Belfort" card.

UFC Veteran Ben Saunders To Make Bellator Debut

Bellator Fighting Championships today announced the signing of seven-time UFC veteran Ben “Killa B” Saunders to its already stacked welterweight roster. Although Saunders will not participate in the upcoming welterweight tournament, “Killa B” will make his Bellator debut during season four. Season four airs live on MTV2 beginning Saturday, March 5, 2011 at 9 pm.

On The Spot ~ Luigi Fioravanti

With 11 fights, for nine different organizations, in four countries, in less than 24 months Luigi Fioravanti may soon be changing his name from "The Italian Tank" to "The Globetrotter." The former UFC welterweight competitor continues to fight at a break-neck pace in the hopes of securing his place back in the UFC or another top organization. If January's win over Mitch Whitesel is any indicator, he is getting close. Fioravanti sat down after his bout with Whitesel to discuss the circumstances around his latest win and his outlook for the future with MMA Spot's Chris Dennision.

Chris Dennison: What was your game plan coming in to the fight? How did you think the fight went?
Luigi Fioravanti: The game plan was to finish him in the first round, by a TKO or submission. I was primarily looking for a knockout, that’s why I kept it up on the feet. I knew he was going to run from me a little bit, just pick at me a little bit. I was just trying to land some big shots in the first round.

CD: You seemed to pretty well prepared for this bout. Was that because he fought a similar strategy in his win over Mark Serkez? When you hurt him in the second round, did you feel you could end the fight at that time?
LF: Yeah. But he was a really tough guy. He had good defense. He covered up really well. I was a lot faster than him. I’m a lot faster than Mark too. Mark is a buddy of mine. I was actually trying to get a little redemption for Mark.

He actually quit when I was on top of him at the end of the second round. He kind of told me he was going to tap to strikes. So that’s why to pick up the pace at the end there, just to finish it off there, in case he was going to give up. And that’s exactly what he did. He gave up.

CD: He told you he was going to tap to strikes?
LF: Yeah. He pretty much told me that.

CD: When did he tell you that?
LF: As soon as my corner told me we had 30 seconds left, I started elbowing the shit out of his face. And then he was like, 'Man I’m gonna tap. I’ll tap to strikes.' And I just stopped for a minute to listen, and was like, 'Did this guy just tell me what he told me?' And then I was like, 'Fuck that. I’m just gonna elbow his face.' Sorry about the cursing, but I was like, 'Forget that, I’m just gonna elbow his face until I cut him or the ref stops it.' So I went to knee-on-belly and just started hitting him. Then he just tapped. He said he was sick, so ...

CD: Given your prior opponents it could be expected, no offense to this fight, but at times you looked bored at some points. Were you bored?
LF: No. I wasn’t bored, I was just pacing myself. The thing is, he really just wouldn’t really trade with me. He was putting his hands out there. He hit me with one jab. One good jab. You can see just the one little lump on my eye. But that was it. He tried to throw some kicks. But I think I was just a step above him.

CD: Do you think it all just comes down to your preparation?
LF: Yeah, my trainer Bobby Robare, he’s from Mejiro Gym, which is a famous gym in Holland. He put together a good game plan. I hit him with a right to the body, and a left hook to the head. I caught him with one big shot. I pretty much connected with every exchange. I knew the knock out was gonna come eventually.

CD: Was this fight a tune-up for something coming up in the future?
LF: I’m basically just trying to stay busy. I’ve been fighting like every month, every two months. I’m trying to get a winning streak going in order to get back into a big show. Wherever it goes, UFC, Strikeforce, anything.

CD: Any big goals for 2011?
LF: Just to keep winning. You just keep taking them one fight at a time. You can’t start looking too far ahead in the future, just one at a time. Just have fun with it.

CD: Is it your plan to stay at 185 pounds, or go back down to 170?
LF: This was my fourth fight at 185. I have only one loss at 185, that was Chris Leben. That was my first fight in the UFC. I have fought guys bigger than me. I seem to do well against guys a lot bigger than me. I just don’t cut a lot of weight to make 185 pounds. So I think when I was going down to 170, I was cutting 20 to 25 pounds and it really took a toll on my body. My brain as well.

CD: Do you feel you have an advantage in quickness at 185, rather than 170?
LF: I’m quick at either weight class. Definitely at 185 I’m a lot quicker. The problem is, you start getting in there with some sharks. The bigger guys—there was a guy in there earlier, the guy that knocked out Babcock. The guy’s just an athlete. He’s a big guy, fast, lean, great wrestler. A guy like that you just have put in more preparation, maybe put on some more muscle.

CD: Would you drop back down to 170 if you got back in a big show?
LF: Yeah. I would drop back down to 170 if given the right opportunity, the right money.

CD: Do you have your next fight coming up? What’s up next for your career?
LF: My next fight is March 5 in Buffalo, N.Y. with Raging Wolf Promotions. I’ll be fighting Mike Guerin. He’s from upstate New York. He’s a tough guy, good wrestler. It will be a test for me, for sure. So I’m looking forward to testing myself.

CD: Do you have any sponsors or people you’d like to thank?
LF: I want to think American Top Team, Mejiro Gym, MMA Overload, MMA Global Solutions, and Raging Wolf Promotions.

Wednesday, February 02, 2011

Yamamoto vs. Johnson Prelim To Stream On Facebook

In a move that further cements it as one of the most savvy social media organizations in all of professional sports, the Ultimate Fighting Championship announced plans to stream a broadcast-quality live sporting event on Facebook this Saturday. In this exciting broadcast taking place on Feb. 5 at 8:25 p.m. ET/5:25 p.m. PT, sports fans are invited to watch the highly-anticipated UFC bantamweight clash between Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson and Japanese sensation Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto for free at www.facebook.com/ufc.

UFC 126 Preview: Who Can Topple The King?

The last year has proved to be a tough one for those who believe in indestructible fighters, with the losses of Fedor Emelianenko to Fabricio Werdum and B.J. to Frankie Edgar being Exhibits A and B. Many believed that the only way to see the top fighters lose was to match them against one another, but it turns out that sometimes there are bad matchups and that any fighter can lose on any given day.

Tuesday, February 01, 2011

MMA Spot Live Video Coverage Of “UFC 126: Silva vs. Belfort”

As with past UFC events, MMA Spot will be bringing our readers coverage of press conferences, weigh-in events, post-fight press conferences, exclusive video, and behind-the-scenes moments leading right up to "UFC 126: Silva vs. Belfort." The event takes place on February 5 from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, and will be broadcast via pay-per-view at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT. The main event of the evening features a middleweight championship battle between former champion Vitor Belfort and top pound-for-pound fighter Anderson Silva. Keep it here at MMA Spot for all of your UFC video coverage.

Monday, January 31, 2011

On The Spot ~ Walt Harris

Walt “Big Ticket” Harris is a heavyweight from Birmingham, Alabama. After a brief period as an amateur fighter, one that saw him rack up an impressive 23-1 between boxing and mixed martial arts, Harris had promoters and organizations salivating for an opportunity to get the 6’4”, 240-pound on a card. He was due to make a splash in his professional debut fighting at the January 22 WEF 45 event. However, due to a last minute injury to his opponent Chris Barnett that fight has been put on hold until March 5. Harris took a few minutes that evening to talk with MMA Spot's Chris Dennison about that fight and his future in MMA.