BORDER BRAWL II

UFC Heavyweight pulls out of fight

Shane Carwin will be pulling out of co-main event fight against Roy Nelson at UFC 125 due to a back injury. News broke out this morning from his own website www.shane-carwin.com . Shane wrote “I am going to pull out of the fight with Roy Nelson. As many of you know I have been having some back pain. I had an MRI yesterday and I have some damage that may really require surgery. If the doctors do not have to perform surgery then I will be out 8-12 weeks. If they do have to perform surgery I do not know how long I will be out of action.” This is just my opinion but we just may see Brock Lesnar sooner than expected and fill in for Carwin to fight Roy Nelson but again that’s only my opinion.

Darrill Schoonover: Putting El Paso on the MMA map

Born and raised in El Paso, TX, Darrill Schoonover's path to the UFC, MMA's most prominent promotion, started at Coronado High School, where he wrestled for the Coronado wrestling team. By the age of 17, he had already added Judo, Japanese jiu jitsu, submission wrestling and Muy Thai to his repertoire. He won all 12 of his amateur bouts and holds the Texas amateur light heavyweight belt. From there, he went on to win his first 10 professional fights, which not only got him invited to the Ultimate Fighter house alongside Kimbo Slice and "Big Country" Roy Nelson, but also won him the XFC light heavyweight belt, the Freestyle Cage Fighting heavyweight belt and the Shark Fights heavyweight belt, which is sanctioned by the state of Texas as the official champion of Texas. His 10 victories also showed his well roundedness, with 5 of the wins coming by TKO and the other 5 by submission. Once in the Ultimate Fighter house, he made it to the quarter finals with a win over Zak Jensen. He received his first professional loss in his first UFC fight to fellow TUF cast member and current UFC fighter James McSweeney. From there, he went on to fight for the #1 contender spot in King of the Cage against Nick Gaston and though he dazed him early in the 2nd round with a big right hand, lost by ref stoppage due a cut over his left eye. Since then, he's started training full time at Ghost Wolf Gym in Miami, FL, and is working on getting his black belt in both Judo and Japanese jiu jitsu.

He is now set to meet Richard Odoms in the main event of the River City MMA Battle, which includes 11 other professional bouts, on Nov. 6 at the Municipal Auditorium. The event starts at 7:30 pm. Tickets start at $10 and are now available through Ticketmaster. If you're unable to make the drive, watch it LIVE on Pay Per Live through extremeTVnetwork.com. For more details and information, visit http://www.kickassfighting.com/.

Brock Lesnar

Brock Lesnar basically got out classed by Cain Velasquez this past Saturday at UFC 121. Cain deserves all the credit and like he said he thinks he fought the best Brock Lesnar, which I would have to agree. If you know me personally you would know I F’N LOVE BROCK LESNAR, all the way from his WWE days when he was the “Next Big Thing.” Brock is the reason why I eat, sleep, breath and bleed MMA. A lot of hardcore MMA fans love to shit on Brock because where he comes from, PRO WRESTLING (fake). Then they would start to cry when this “Pro Wrestler” would whoop on the “MMA Guy.” They would start to say “It’s because he is just big!” Well I am no Greg Jackson but I would think if you have an advantage in the fight you’re going to fucking use it! When you think of it who really jumps into the elite promotion off MMA in their only second fight? I am always the first to say Brock is not a fighter but he is an athlete. You’re talking about Brock who left pro wrestling and made the practice squad for the Minnesota Vikings. No he didn’t make the team but just to make the practice squad on the highest level of football without playing college ball tells you something. So if you’re writing off Brock I would call you stupid. Brock will come back more focused than ever and will be back in the title picture by late 2011 early 2012. People forget Brock is still very green when it comes to MMA and for him to successfully retain the HW Title twice tells you a lot about Brock Lesnar.

'Si se pudo!' Cain Velasquez dominates Brock Lesnar, newly crowned champ's next challenge already set

Saturday night, Cain Velasquez did what many thought was impossible. He soundly defeated the mountain of a man known as Brock Lesnar to take his belt away and moves his record to 9-0. Though Velasquez had already proven to be quite the kickboxer and wrestler, few thought it'd be enough to negate Lesnar's size and power advantage. The first round would show whether Lesnar would take Velasquez down and pound him or if Velasquez would be able to keep it standing and take advantage of Lesnar's lack of stand up. Lesnar came out in a flurry and though his first takedown attempt failed, he eventually got Velasquez down. Cain got up and with difficulty, Lesnar again took him down. Velasquez got up again and it was over from there. Velasquez worked Lesnar in the stand up but it was Cain's ability to take Lesnar down that broke him. With his supposed wrestling advantage gone, Lesnar resorted to swinging wildly, but Velasquez kept his composure and patiently worked at putting Lesnar away. With his decisive win over Lesnar, Cain is now the heavyweight champ but gets no time to breathe. Waiting to challenge for his belt is KO artist Junior Dos Santos, who can take a punch as good as he can give one. Dos Santos, much like Velasquez, has ran through every one of his UFC opponents, stopping all of them with strikes with the exception of Roy Nelson, who took a horrible beating for 3 rounds. Both guys have been to decision only once in their career, so a 5-rounder seems unlikely. With the 2 guys that have been dominating the heavyweights already set to fight, the rest of the division is left to find the next contender, which shouldn't be too hard. Hopefully Carwin can get himself some cardio and climb his way to the top again.

High hopes for Jake Shields

He's finally here. Currently on a 14-win streak that has taken him through strikeforce, elite xc, some lesser known organizations, and possibly the greatest 170 pound limit tournament at rumble on the rock, he has now arrived to the big show, the UFC. Tonight he debuts against Martin Kampmann in a warm up fight of sorts. Sure, Martin Kampmann is no slouch. He's very fluid in all aspects of the game and is definitely no stranger to stopping win streaks and the champs from other organizations that are riding them. Just ask Carlos Condit. Still, Shields has been brought for one thing and one thing only, a fresh challenge for Georges 'Rush' St. Pierre, and tonight, it's a must win for him. His job might not be on the line, but with the shark tank that is the Welterweight division, it could be a while before he makes his way to the top again. GSP owns a list with wins over pretty much every top 10 fighter in the division he so dominantly reigns and is on his second run through that same bunch. Hopefully, Jake Shields impresses tonight. It'd be nice to see him added to that list.

What's next for 'the natural born killer'

Carlos condit came into the ufc as my favorite to challenge gsp for the belt, a hope that was quickly derailed by Martin kampmann. This past Saturday, Carlos condit impressed with the vicious ko of slugger Dan hardy. When asked what he wanted to do from there, condit showed interest in avenging a loss against either shields or kampmann, who face off this weekend. Condit has showed he can hang with the best strikers in the division, and considering who's at the top of the mountain, now needs to prove he can hang with the elite grapplers of the division. Shields has already been promised a crack at the winner of gsp/koscheck if he is victorious tomorrow, so a shields/condit rematch is unlikely at the moment. Should kampmann be the winner, a rematch might do his ego good, but will only help to keep condit where he already is. Though the winner of Penn/Hughes would be a nice fit, if condit really wants to prove he has what it takes to dethrone st. Pierre, he should set his eyes on Jon fitch. Fitch's lone ufc loss came to gsp, and with his powerful wrestling style, a victory over him puts whoever can do it right in line for a title shot. So if condit is serious about a run at the title, he'd better work on improving his takedown defense and already solid submission game. If all he's interested in is another exciting fight, bring on thiago alves and let the punches, kicks, and knees fly.

UFC Middleweight Allegedly Driving Under the Influence

According to HawaiiNewsNow Chris Leben was allegedly driving under the influence on the freeway when he lost control and crashed into an off-ramp wall. Police say the incident happened a little before 2:00am on Tuesday. Leben did post bail for $1,000. Reports says Leben was also driving without a license and no insurance. Leben is schedule for court on Nov. 22. This is not the first time Leben has been arrested for a DUI. No word yet if this is going to affect his up-coming fight with Brian Stann on Jan. 1 for UFC 125.

KickAss Productions presents: The River City MMA Battle

There's nothing like watching a live fight and with 12 professional bouts to take place, the drive is more than worth it. More info to come on the event including interviews with El Paso's own and main event fighter, Darrill Schoonover, as well as other fighters, full fight card and complete coverage of the event. The fights take place Saturday Nov. 6 at 7:30 pm in the Municipal Auditorium in San Antonio, TX. Tickets start at $10 and are available now Ticketmaster. If you're unable to make the drive down to San Antonio, the fight will also be available online through PayPerLive on extremeTVnetwork.com.

UFC: 121 Lesnar/Velasquez Breakdown

It's that time again when a UFC belt is up for grabs. 121 not only has a title fight, but is also stacked with big UFC names, both those who need a win to stay in the limelight and those looking to make their way to the top.

In the main event, it's Brock Lesnar defending his belt for the third time, this time against #1 contender Cain Velasquez. In his last fight, Brock showed he can take crazy amounts of punishment and still come out with the win. The fight showed the champ has heart but also exposed his lack of technique both in the stand up and setting up his takedowns. However what he lacks in technique he more than makes up for in size and strength, which is what got him to where he's at in the first place. Velasquez is not only a decorated grappler but a crisp striker who showed he has the enough power in his hands to stop even the most durable fighter. Lesnar overcame size and strength in his last title defense and is now up against cardio and speed. Though Lesnar keeps surprising and improving, I see Velasquez being able to stuff the takedowns, pepper Lesnar with shots, and slowly take over the fight as it goes into the latter rounds, but maybe it's just wishful thinking.

For the co-main event, we have the UFC debut of Jake Shields, who is currently on 14-fight win streak, against Martin Kampmann, who is gaining momentum in the welterweight division. Jake Shields proved the power of his wrestling in his last outing where he decisively decisioned Olympic Greco-Roman wrestler Dan Henderson. He also took Henderson's best shots, and though he did get dazed, was able to continue unlike many other's before him. Martin Kampmann comes in as the underdog though he has all the tools to deliver the upset. He's got very crisp, technical striking and superb ground skills which he showed off in his decision win over jiu jit siu ace and heavy handed Paulo Thiago. Though I see Kampmann being able to compete with Shields on the ground and outstrike him on the feet, I hope Shields takes it in an impressive mannner, for the sake of having another challenge for GSP.

Also on the Main Card, it's master vs apprentice as former UFC LHW champ Tito Ortiz takes on his TUF alumni, Matt Hammill. Though both wrestlers, Hammill's fighting approach is more striking oriented, and though Tito has him beat in both experience and the caliber of fighters they've faced, Hammill is still young, has some good hands, and is catching Tito on the decline of his career. Gabriel Gonzaga takes on Brendan Schaub, Gonzaga looking to stay relevant while Schaub looks for the next step in competition. With the exception of Roy Nelson, Schaub has KO/TKOed everyone whose entered the cage with him but Gonzaga has been in there with the best and has shown power and technique both in his striking as well as his submission game and should have the advantage wherever the fight takes place. In another exciting match up, it's Diego Sanchez vs Paulo Thiago, both coming off losses and looking for a big win. Though similar in their strong jiu jit siu games and semi-predictable striking, Thiago seems to have the advantage in size and power which will more than likely give him the win in combination with Sanchez's frenetic pace. which seems to do him more bad than good nowadays. Sam Stout/Paul Taylor should make it to the PPV considering both are known for their extremely exciting fights. It's a stacked, stacked card. Let's see how it goes

Adrian Gamboa vs. Curtis McNeil

Post Interview w/ CEO of TUFF, Frank Powers

Some inside scoop about Gamboa vs. Chupa and Joe "Diesel" Riggs!

TUFF: The Return Post Interviews

TUFF: The Return results

From stand up brawls to clinch and groundwork, submissions and TKOs, Saturday night, spectators at the Tigua Center were treated to the diversity that MMA has to offer. Though several fighters had to pull out due to a series of unfortunate injuries, what the card ended up lacking in quantity it more than made up for in quality as all the fighters went in and gave their best, making for exciting fights and awesome finishes.

Up first, it was a fight between Zack Beck and Rex McGurk at 165 pounds. The fight started with both fighters instantly meeting at the center of the cage to trade blows with McGurk seeming to have the advantage in that department. Beck quickly took that advantage away by getting the muy thai clinch, in which he delivered several knees. With the advantageous position, Beck went for an unsuccesful guillotine as the round ended. In the second round, Beck came in with a different strategy. He immediately went for a takedown and after scrambling for a couple of seconds, took McGurk's back and sunk in a very swift rear naked choke to end the fight.

Zack Beck defeats Rex McGurk via submission (rear naked choke) at 1:37 of Round 2.

In the second fight of the night, it was Jonathan Pelletter versus Adam McGurk at 155 pounds. The fight started with McGurk immediately getting the better of the stand up. Though having the edge in the striking department, McGurk went for a failed guillotine which left him on his back with Pelletter on top. A scramble ensued which ended with McGurk on top. He immediately took advantage of the position and ended the fight with effective strikes from within the guard.

Adam McGurk defeats Jonathan Pelletter via TKO (strikes) at 2:07 of Round 1.

In the fight before the main event, it was Edgar Delgado up against Fabian Salas at 185 pounds. The fight started with fireworks as both fighters stood in front of each other windmilling punches until Salas caught Delgado with a left hook that took his legs out from under him. Salas immediately chased Delgado. Still dazed, Delgado threw a spinning elbow and though it landed, it didn't slow Salas down, who kept working at putting Delgado away. With Delgado not giving up, Salas changed his approach and easily put Delgado on his back, swiftly transitioned to side control and then mount, where he delivered several unanswered strikes, getting himself the win.

Fabian Salas defeats Edgar Delgado via TKO (strikes) at :37 of Round 1.

For the main event, it was style vs style as established Karate fighter Curtis McNeil took on decorated wrestler Adrian "Guns" Gamboa for 145 TUFF fighting championship belt. Within the first couple of seconds, it was obvious Gamboa wanted no part in the stand up as he immediately clinched McNeil and took him down with apparent ease. Once there, he transitioned to side control where he kept busy with elbows and attempts at gaining mount. McNeil, still in the fight, fought to improve his position but Gamboa's control was too much. Thanks to his patience, Gamboa eventually gained the mount and from there, punished McNeil while focusing on not losing the position. Though McNeil intelligently defended himself the whole time, he was unable to get Gamboa off from mount and after taking several nasty strikes, the ref had seen enough and decided the stoppage was in place.

Adrian Gamboa defeats Curtis McNeil via TKO (strikes) at 2:47 of Round 1.

"In the Clinch" w/ Pete Spratt

TUFF: The Return

Tonight, it's style vs style as Curtis Mcneil takes on Adrian "Guns" Gamboa for the TUFF 145-pound belt. Adrian Gamboa has the ability to get Mcneil to the mat and keep him there, at least on paper. Though a freestyle wrestling national champ, Gamboa feels he can stand and bang with anybody, and with pressure and his well-roundedness, feels comfortable wherever the fight takes place. He packs a heavy punch and is confident in his stand up, though that might be his downfall considering where his opponent's strength's lie. Curtis Mcneil knows what he needs to do. Get up if he gets taken down, keep it standing and let his Karate credentials take care of the rest. As last year's national Karate champ, Mcneil has the ability to throw good kicks, which might put him at risk of getting taken down but could finish the fight at any point. It also gives him the ability to keep his distance and go in and out at will and strike while staying out Gamboa's reach. The fight is really going to comedown to who can impose their will on their opponent.

The rest of the card is filled with fights in various weight divisions, with both local fighters as well as out of town talent. With this being a regional promotion, and the fighters having nothing to lose but lots to gain, expect several wars and the birth of local fighting stars.

TUFF "The RETURN"

"In the Clinch" with Frank Powers

UFC 120: Bisping/Akiyama

Though today's card has gotten it's share of criticism, mostly from the british fanbase, I, for one, am definitely looking forward to it. It might lack a 'huge' main event, it does have a good amount of interesting match ups, all relevant to their respective weight divion. Besides, as 119 proved, big names don't always make for the most interesting fights.

For the main event, it's Bisping's pitter patter boxing going up against Akiyama's brawler-style striking and mastery of judo. Though I usually look forward to Bisping's fights just to hopefully watch him get beat up, he definitely has the tools to take the win. He's got the size and reach advantage, and his style of boxing has proved to be effective at keeping brawlers at a distance and outpoint them. He also has elite level cardio, which is something that will prove to be useful toward's the end of their 3 round match, since it was obvious that Akiyama was completely gassed in his bout with Leben. Akiyama might have run out of steam in his last fight, but he did show heart and the power to do something very few people have done, daze Leben. Bisping might have pretty good takedown defense, but Judo consists of unorthodox takedowns which Akiyama has been able to put to good use against much heavier opponents. It's anyones fight, but I want Akiyama to climb the 185 ladder and watching Bisping lose is never a bad thing.

For the co-main event, we've got 2 of the more exciting fighters in the welterweight division pit against each other. Though Hardy fell short in his fight for the belt, it wasn't because he's not game. It's just, well, nobody can stop GSP's takedowns. Hardy has shown huge power in his strikes, whether at a distance or in the clinch. He's got punches, elbows and knees, all devastating if they connect. Condit is a very technical brawler who goes all out everytime he enters the octagon, has fought high-caliber opponents all his career, and though he's got horrible takedown defense, he's got a great submission game and is very active off his back. I don't see this fight spending much time on the ground, so it's really going to come down to who's the better kickboxer. Neither has a clear cut advantage, but Dan Hardy has proven me wrong everytime I've doubted him, with GSP as the exception, and though it's going to be a close one, I think his power will get him the win in the end. He might not KO Condit, but dazing your opponent always gets you huge points.

The rest of the card is stacked with potentially exciting fights and up and comers trying to make their way to the top. John Hathaway has impressed since his UFC debut and in his fight with Diego Sanchez, proved he can do so against big names as well. He fights Mike Pyle and hopefully he'll put an exclamation mark at the end of that one. Cheik Kongo fights Travis Browne, who is 10-0, with 8 of his wins coming by ko/tko. One would expect a stand up fight but with the danger that Brown poses in the stand up, we might end up seeing Kongo continue to showcase his mediocre wrestling, as he did with Buentello. With an early finish in any of the Main Card fights, we should get to see Cyrille Diabete VS Alexander Gustaffson, both of whom made it to the UFC based on their very exciting stand up game.

New Year Bash

UFC 125 is now official for Jan. 1. Main event will be the rematch of Gray Maynard vs. Frankie Edgar for the UFC Lightweight Title. Both fighters are coming off a win at UFC 118 in late August of this year. Maynard just man-handled Kenny Florian while Edgar just out classed BJ Penn for the 2nd time. Maynard did pull out a Unanimous Decision win over Edgar back in 2008 and giving Edgar his only loss. This fight will most likely go all 5 rounds because that’s how these two fighters win.

MAIN CARD
Champ Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard (for lightweight title)
Shane Carwin vs. Roy Nelson
Takanori Gomi vs. Clay Guida
Chris Leben vs. Brian Stann
Nate Diaz vs. Dong Hyun Kim

PRELIMINARY CARD
Thiago Silva vs. Brandon Vera
Phil Baroni vs. Brad Tavares

TUFF Main Event 145 lbs (TITLE)

"THE RETURN"
Saturday October 16th 2010 at The Tigua Recreation Center, Socorrro Texas

MAIN EVENT

#1 Contender Adrian "Guns" Gamboa

vs.

Curtis McNeil (Last Years Karate World Champion)

Tigua Rec Center at 11200 Santos Sanchez in Socorro

for  more info: http://www.tuffighting.com 

JAKE SHIELDS

At a press conference yesterday in Montreal promoting UFC 124: GSP vs. Koscheck II, Dana White himself stated that Jake Shields win over Martin Kampmann will most likely get him a title shot against the winner of GSP vs. Koscheck. Jake Shields did vacate the Strikeforce's middleweight title to jump over with the UFC. Shields is on a 14 win streak with the most recent was against Dan Henderson. I would assume that Shields will need to win in a convincing fashion to become number 1 contender and bump off Jon Fitch. Fitch has tweeted "I say winner of Shields vs. Kampmann fights me for a title shot," Which I think will not be the case at all. There would be more money and hype to see Shields get the title shot.

UFC 119 CLEAN

As reported by MMA Junkie (mmajunkie.com) all fighter’s drug test came back clean. Ryan Bader, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Chris Lytle, Sean Sherk, Melvin Guillard, C.B. Dollaway, Matt Mitrione Frank Mir and Mirko Cro Cop all passed. All 9 fighters came clean for performance-enhancing drugs and tested negative for drugs of abuse (such as marijuana and cocaine). I am so glad these tests came back clean because I believe the UFC can’t afford another Chael Sonnen incident.

UFC 124

As of yesterday UFC 124: St-Pierre vs. Koscheck is official for Dec. 11. The event will take place at the Bell Centre in Montreal. So St-Pierre will have the fight on his home soil. According to Matt Serra it can be a big disadvantage. I just think that was his only excuse to his TKO title loss to St-Pierre, which happened to be at the Bell Centre in Montreal. This is not football and where the crowd can be the 12th man on the field. Is Matt Serra going to look at his team and call an audible like he is Payton Manning? John OVER OVER! Bump Erick! Steve SWITCH Steve! Which means after round 1 John will squirt the water bottle, Erick will use the wet towel and Steve will inform what he needs to do in the 2nd round. Of course the crowd will be yelling GSP! GSP! GSP! GSP! while the octagon is shaking from all the intensity in the arena. All that energy should motivate Koscheck as well. What I am trying to get at is I don’t want to hear when St-Pierre beats Koscheck for the second time is that St-Pierre had his home crowd behind him.

UFC 124 (these fights are not official yet)
• Thiago Alves vs. John Howard
• Jim Miller vs. Charles Oliveira
• Mark Bocek vs. Dustin Hazelett
• Sean McCorkle vs. Stefan Struve
• Joe Doerksen vs. Dan Miller
• Jason MacDonald vs. Rafael Natal
• Ricardo Almeida vs. T.J. Grant

Super Bowl Showdown

A battle between two future hall of fame light heavyweights is set to take place super bowl weekend. Forrest Griffin and Rich Franklin are targeted to fight at UFC 127. This rumored card looks really freakin good. With Anderson Silva taking on Vitor Belfort for the title, and Jon Bones Jones fighting Bader. Rich Franklin is coming off an unbelieveable win over Chuck Liddel. He knocked him out with a BROKEN ARM! Forrest hasnt fought for about a year and is coming off his win over Tito Ortiz in a split decision. I believe Rich Franklin will win this fight just because Forrest Griffin has looked flat out awful in his previous 3 fights. I think it will be a knockout in the second round. Also Anderson Silva will keep his belt and Bones Jones will move up the rankings with another dominating win.

Machida done?!?!

'The Dragon'. Half samurai/half Brazilian fighting machine, machida was bred from birth to be the greatest fighter if his time. Raised by wolves? Even better, he was raised by yoshizo machida. Let's see a wolf earn his third degree black belt in shotokan karate. Machida has been training karate since he was three years old and incorporated both sumo wrestling and bjj into his fight game early on, and won competitions in all of those styles before setting his eyes on mma, where he tore through everyone he's faced with the exception of Shogun. He went 15 and 0 without ever losing a single round, or even being in any sort of danger and taking practically zero damage, including his wins over 3 former ufc champs. He's beaten accomplished wrestlers, strikers, bjj blackbelts, judokas, and shown to be awesome in all aspects of the game. He went 5 rounds with Shogun, currently ranked #1 lhw, in a highly contested match that he ended up taking, and dominated him in the first round of their second match up until he eventually got caught by Shogun's exceptional timing and power. Machida has shown no weaknesses nor have any holes been exposed in his game. Shogun was close to winning their first fight due to a near perfect game plan that was made possible due to powerful kicks, great timing, speed and accuracy, a combined skill set that practically no one else possesses. He won the second one by capitalizing on machida's uncharacteristic aggressiveness. Still, neither proved to be dominant over the other, and given that there is currently no one else at their level, they will meet again, and once again, the better fighter will come out victorious, and yes, by that, I mean machida. Rampage has the perfect style to showcase machida's skill and put him one fight away from getting a chance to get his belt back. Rampage is slow, isn't as good of a wrestler as he used to be, and has no diversity in his striking. Machida's going keep his distance, pepper him with strikes, and frustrate rampage until he exposes himself. I say machida takes it by unanimous decision, but with all the weapons at his disposal, he could very well take it by ko, tko or submission. I got a little distracted there in the beginning with machida's awesome background story, but my point is, machida is still the best. No holes have been exposed in his game, he is not done and unless you're Shogun, you're going to be unable to take him down, get frustrated in the stand up, and just like quick sand, slowly but surely, sink into your loss. And if you are Shogun, well you still have to fight the perfect fight and hope it's enough to take it that night.

Shane Carwin and UFC 125

Shane Carwin is expected to return to the octagon at UFC 125 on Jan 1. Carwin tweeted today “I expect to be on the January 1st card. I do not have an opponent yet. Any takers? @UFC” Carwin hasn’t been in action since his title fight loss to the “Vanilla Gorilla” Brock Lesnar at UFC 116. Carwin did expose Lesnar in the 1st round and almost finished the fight. Unfortunately almost doesn’t make you a champion. Carwin was all gassed out by the 2nd round and Lesnar was able to get a take-down then caught Carwin in a sweet arm-triangle choke to successfully defend his Heavy-Weight Title. Also rumored for UFC 125 is Antonio McKee vs. Jacob Volkmann, Thiago Silva vs. Brandon Vera, Chris Leben vs. Brian Stann and for the Lightweight Title, Champ Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard. Nothing is official right now.

Chael Sonnen will appeal his failed drug test with the California State Athletic Commission on Dec. 2. More details coming soon.

The Ultimate Fighter 12 Finale

The Ultimate Fighter 12 Finale will take place at The Pearl at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas on Dec. 4. Obviously that night they will crown a lightweight fighter as the TUF12 Champion. Also added to the card Kendall Grove (12-7) vs. Demian Maia (13-2) and Stephan Bonnar (12-7 MMA) vs. Igor Pokrajac (22-7). The TUF12 Finale will have some TUF Alumni, Kendall Grove (TUF3 Champion) and Stephan Bonnar (runner-up for TUF1).

Machida's Misery

As you all know the once unstoppable Lyoto "the dragon" Machida recieved his first ever loss to Shogun. Machida is saying that this loss might have been the best thing that happened to him. He believes that this loss reawakened the fire in his career. I think not! Shogun exposed the holes in The Dragons game that nobody could figure out. He is exposed and has no more secrets. I think the year of the dragon is completley over, and will never be brought back! Come UFC 123 Rampage Jackson will finish off what is left of the Dragon. Lyoto had a great career but all great things must come to an end sooner or later....Unless your GSP!

UFC 123 OFFICAL CARD

The Palace of Auburn Hills in Detroit will host UFC 123 on Nov.20 of this year. Michigan hasn’t hosted a UFC event since UFC 9 which was way back in 1996. Of course the main event is Quinton "Rampage" Jackson vs. Lyoto Machida, two former Light-Heavyweight Champs. Both are coming off a loss in their previous fights. Rampage losing a #1 contender bout against Rashad Evans and Machida losing his Light-Heavyweight Belt to Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. Both men looking for a win to get back in the title picture.

MAIN CARD

•Quinton "Rampage" Jackson vs. Lyoto Machida
•Matt Hughes vs. B.J. Penn
•Maiquel Falcao vs. Gerald Harris
•Tim Boetsch vs. Phil Davis
•Joe Lauzon vs. George Sotiropoulos
PRELIMINARY CARD

•Mark Munoz vs. Aaron Simpson
•Matt Brown vs. Rory MacDonald
•Dennis Hallman vs. Karo Parisyan
•Darren Elkins vs. Edson Barboza
•Paul Kelly vs. Gabe Ruediger
•Nik Lentz vs. Tyson Griffin

TUFFIGHTING

MORE DETAILS COMING SOON

BROCKTOBER

It’s finally here…..BROCKTOBER! Spike TV is pretty much dedicating the whole month of October to Brock Lesnar and why the fuck not? Brock can sell a million PPV buys on just his name alone. The celebration kicks off this BROCKTOBER 6th when UFC UNLEASH will show Lesnar vs. Heath Herring from UFC 87 (5:00pm MST) Lesnar vs. Randy Couture at UFC 91 (6:00pm MST) Lesnar vs. Frank Mir II at UFC 100 (7:00pm MST) Also on the same night the debut of 3 part series "UFC Primetime: Lesnar vs. Velasquez" ( 9:00pm MST) BROCKTOBER 7th will also air "UFC All Access: Brock Lesnar" (10:30pm MST) Then BROCKTOBER 20th SPIKE TV will replay UFC 116 Brock Lesnar vs. Shane Carwin. Oct 23rd UFC UNLEASH will also air Lesnar vs. Mir I at UFC 81 (1:00pm MST) I guess that’s for all the Brock HATERS! Brock Lesnar’s only MMA loss and I think will stay like that for awhile. Then of course we end BROCTOBER at UFC 121 Brock Lesnar vs. Cain Velasquez. All around the month of BROCTOBER is stacked with MMA. So enjoy because I know I will.

WEC 51: RESULTS

MAIN CARD

• Jose Aldo def. Manny Gamburyan via knockout (strikes) - Round 2, 1:32 (retains featherweight title)
• Donald Cerrone def. Jamie Varner via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Miguel Torres def. Charlie Valencia via submission (rear-naked choke) - Round 2, 2:25
• George Roop def. Chan Sung Jung via KO (head kick) - Round 2, 1:30
• Mark Hominick def. Leonard Garcia via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

PRELIMINARY CARD

• Tiequan Zhang def. Pablo Garza via submission (guillotine choke) - Round 1, 2:26
• Mike Brown def. Cole Province via TKO (punches) - Round 1, 1:18
• Chris Horodecki def. Ed Ratciff via split decision (28-29, 30-27, 30-27)
• Diego Nunes def. Tyler Toner via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
• Antonio Banuelos def. Chad George via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
• Demetrious Johnson def. Nick Pace via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)