MMA News Thread

[heyzel]

Faber Hungry to Pad Legacy

By Frank Curreri

MMA legend.

Hall of Famer.

The greatest featherweight in MMA history.

These are the distinguished labels Urijah Faber hopes to wear 20, 30 and 40 years from now.

The WEC poster boy knows that gracing magazine covers, while groovy stuff, won’t guarantee him immortality in the sport. And while a 20-1 record is impressive, it doesn’t necessarily make you a great fighter. When it’s all said and done, when Urijah Faber retires within the next six to 10 years, his resume is what will matter most. The number one question people will ask years from now is, “Who did he beat?”

That is why Faber’s looming showdown with Jens Pulver on Sunday (VERSUS, 9pm ET / 6pm PT) is so vital to helping shape Faber’s legacy. Right now, Faber’s most notable wins are over highly-regarded Jeff Curran and a disqualification victory over Ivan Menjivar

While the WEC featherweight champion has annihilated lesser-known opponents, he needs to beef up that resume if he’s going to justify being mentioned in the same breath as superstars like Georges St. Pierre, Anderson Silva and B.J. Penn. Their accomplishments are beyond reproach. St-Pierre’s list of victims includes Matt Hughes (twice), B.J. Penn and Sean Sherk. Silva has steamrolled the likes of Rich Franklin (twice) and Dan Henderson. And Penn has destroyed elite foes such as Sean Sherk, Matt Hughes, Takanori Gomi and Joe Stevenson.

To reach the promised land of greatness, Faber, like all legendary champions, must go through several top-tier guys like Pulver. So how will the “California Kid” respond to his first mega-fight and the added pressure of competing in front of his hometown of Sacramento?

“I don’t think there should be too much pressure on Jens,” said Faber, who recently celebrated his 29th birthday. “He’s kind of in a win-win situation. He’s established himself in the sport and been in this position before. It’s icing on the cake for him. So I would say the pressure is more on me than him and I’m OK with that. I’m just excited for this fight. It’s a chance to fight in front of my hometown crowd and it’s going to be awesome. I imagine I’ll just be pretty hyped up and ready to rock.”

Loose. Cool. Supremely confident. Those are the qualities Faber has projected thus far in his career, to the mass media and through his actions inside the ring. He is many praiseworthy things. He’s a charismatic and well-spoken MMA star, a world champion, a hometown hero and a guy who eagerly takes younger pros under his wing and teaches them the fight game.

But there are still some things we don’t know about him, things that may be revealed on Sunday. For instance, we don’t know exactly how sturdy Faber’s chin is; most of us have never seen a Faber fight where he was tested on his feet with hard shots. Most of us assume he has great cardio, but he’s never fought a fourth or fifth round in an actual fight – a testament to his dominance and finishing skills inside the cage. In fact, only three of Faber’s 21 fights have reached the third round – one of them a TKO loss to a much bigger Tyson Griffin. Pulver, 8-0 at 145 pounds, is far and away the most dangerous opponent Faber will have faced since Griffin.

Faber harbors a deep respect for the challenger, who has overcome a horrific and abusive childhood and is eyeing a return to the pinnacle of MMA. Because of that mutual respect, there has been no war of words between the two fighters.

“He’s a good fighter,” Faber said of Pulver. “He’s a dangerous fighter. I feel like he’s more dangerous and well-rounded than people give him credit for. The biggest thing is adjusting to a southpaw, because he’s a southpaw and I haven’t fought many southpaws.”

Though not yet as accomplished as Pulver, Faber believes he is as good as the hype that shines over him. Many consider him to be one of the top five pound-for-pound fighters in the world. He thinks he’s deserving of such privileged status.

“I feel like I’m as good as I practice and I practice probably better than anyone in the world,” he said. “If you ask the guys I train with they’ll tell you that I’m legit. I’m just looking to go out and prove it. It’s always a challenge. I think going out there and beating Jens is going to make a big statement.”

But beyond this fight, Faber says his future is not mapped out. His mother always wanted him to write down his goals on a piece of paper. But he’s not big on planning. He’s into adlibbing, flowing with the moment, following his heart and his passion and trusting that they will direct him where he needs to be.

He is asked how he envisions his career trajectory. Does he see himself as one of those larger-than-life athletes who can transcend a sport, much like an Oscar De La Hoya or a Michael Jordan, who have the uncanny power to make even non-fans know their name? Faber indicated this might be something that appeals to him, and pointed to soccer icon David Beckham as someone he admires.

“David Beckham is one guy I think has been great with athletics and sports,” Faber said. “He’s branded himself and become something more than just a sport. He’s one guy I think has done a great job with it. I’m not a big planner, but I could see doing some entertainment stuff down the road. But my first love is fighting. I actually was into acting before I was into MMA, when I was a little kid. My mom was a model and an actress. I did commercials and plays and stuff like that when I was a little kid. But I’m more into athletics.”

Faber’s “Ultimate Fitness” gym in Sacramento is quickly making a name for itself as a hotbed of future talent. The likes of Mark Munoz, Kenneth Alexander and unbeaten Joseph Benavidez also train there, among a talented host of others. Faber said he is receptive to dropping to 135 pounds, perhaps for a mega-fight or two.

“I definitely have a future there,” Faber said. “It’s not my main goal. I mean, once you win a world title at 145 pounds it’s not exactly like I have my eye on the prize at 135. But I want to make my name in this sport and do some incredible things, possibly going up to 155 and down to 135. You know, moving around a little bit will really help to make my name concrete in the sport. More than anything I want to have a presence in the sport even when I’m done fighting. If everything comes together I’d love to do it.”

The WEC featherweight champ also remains optimistic that a superfight against Japanese sensation Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto will eventually materialize.

“If that fight doesn’t happen I’d be really surprised,” he said. “But before then I’ve got a couple of my guys that would love to take a stab at him. I’ve got Joseph Benavidez, who is 7-0. I’d love to see how Joseph matches up with him.”

 

[heyzel]

WEC 34 Odds Faber vs Pulver

May 26, 2008
Urijah Faber who is 20-1 with 12 straight wins and number one in the world for his weight class takes on Jens Pulver an undefeated featherweight and UFC legend. The event takes places June 1 9pm EST. The odds for the fight are as follows. We could only find odds and online betting at Bodoglife.com.

WEC 34 Odds

Urijah Faber vs Jens Pulver
Bodoglife.com Odds

Urijah Faber (-270)
Jens Pulver (+210)
Main Event Fight Interviews

The fight will go 5 rounds but Pulver says it won’t take that long. “There is no way the fight will go five rounds,” he says. Faber says he’s been training for this fight for his whole life watching Jens when he was younger. Faber is not fearful of the ground game saying Jens is not at his level. “When it comes to ground, that’s my world,” says Faber.

Other Fights

Yoshiro Maeda Vs. Miguel Angel Torres
Chuck Grigsby Vs. Mark Munoz
Kenneth Alexander Vs. Rob McCullough
Donald Cerrone Vs. Danny Castillo
Jeff Curran Vs. Mike Brown
Chase Beebe Vs. Will Ribeiro
Tim McKenzie Vs. Jeremy Lang
Alex Serdyukov Vs. Luis Sapo
Jose Aldo Vs. Alexandre

 

[heyzel]

Are Judges Favoring the Lyoto Machida Style?

Posted on May 27, 2008 by Brandt DeLorenzo
Or is he really that good? I’m certainly assuming it’s the former as I was not impressed with the Brazilian once again during UFC 84. As Machida pulled off a 30-27 decision win over Tito Ortiz, I wondered if UFC judges were really listening to Mike Goldberg when he told us (once again) that each five minute round would by decided by effective striking, grappling, aggression, and octagon control by the judges.

For the record, I have nothing against Machida. Sure, he was boring at UFC 84, but I didn’t think BJ Penn was exciting as he jabbed his way through nearly three full rounds either. I’m also not a Tito Ortiz fan more than any MMA junkie. Ortiz has been around long enough that I’m aware of his abilities and I respect him as a ground and pound fighter.

It’s not that Machida is a bad fighter, he is just able to exploit the flaw in the judging system to win 8 out of 13 fights via decision. So more than 60% of his fights are left to the judges as he dances away from the fight and he continues to move on up in the UFC’s light heavyweight division. Two TKO’s in 2003, a guillotine in 2004, a rare technical knockout in 2005, and an arm triangle choke against Rameau Sokoudjou in 2007 make up his decisive wins as a fighter. The rest of his fights, the eight he didn’t end, were left to three judges to decide and only once did a split decision nearly cost him his undefeated status. That was in 2003, quite a while back if we are talking about current MMA standards, against an unknown Sam Greco.

I didn’t really think my thoughts on Machida were worthy of an article until I spotted two quick clips of him battling Tito Ortiz on BloodyElbow from MMA-Core. In both clips, you see Machida attack and then immediately fall back even after he lands successful blows. While I can see his double kick could have forced him to momentarily step backwards, his explosive knee into Ortiz’s liver deserved more than a side-step into safety and out of range. Whatever happened to the fighters instinct to move in for the kill? There’s no aggression in moving backwards after every offensive attack.

As for octagon control, Ortiz moved the pace throughout the fight as Machida continued to circle the cage. You could see Ortiz step back and drop his hands as a sign as frustration when Machida refused to engage. Octagon control went to Ortiz, why was no credit given? A fight scored 30-27 means one fighter was able to dominate the four aspects of judging criteria for three rounds in this non-title fighter. But did Machida really do more than avoid confrontation to set up the seldow offensive attack? I don’t think he did.

And as a side note, will Machida ever get a shot at the light heavyweight title by dodging the competition? While the UFC has continued to trim its roster of habitual losers and boring fighters, Lyoto Machida continues to move forward. Other fighters, like Andre Arlovski, who have engaged in a less than stellar performances and came away with the win, had been showing signs of frustration with the organization. We know that Machida would be a terrible candidate as a UFC champion with his defensive fight style and inability to gain mainstream acceptance by only speaking Portuguese. Is he doomed to fighting the gatekeepers to the the belt until he finally comes away with another decisive victory (if you count his submission over Sokoudjou, a Judo fighter) in the UFC or loses? He’s potentially up against Wanderlei Silva, Chuck Liddell (imagine a counter-puncher verses Machida), Muaricio “Shogun” Rua, Rameau Sokoudjou, and the loser of Rampage/Griffin. There’s a long way to go for someone who has escaped the wrath of many. Tito Ortiz almost had the triangle choke - a couple of judges, if UFC judging rules are properly upheld, may finally sink in an unescpable choke of their own

 

[heyzel]

UFC 84 fighters' salaries: payroll tops a million bucks

MMAjunkie.com Staff on May 27, 2008 at 1:14 pm ET
UFC lightweight champion B.J. Penn defended his title at Saturday's UFC 84 event, and he picked up the night's biggest reported paycheck -- $250,000 -- in the process.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) today obtained the list of official UFC 84 salaries directly from the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

UFC 84 took place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. A sold-out crowd of 14,773 created a live gate of $3.7 million.

In addition to Penn's quarter-of-a-million dollars, Tito Ortiz picked up $210,000 in defeat. Wanderlei Silva got $150,000 for his victory, and Lyoto Machida got $100,000 for his.

The total disclosed payroll for the event was $1,098,000.

The full list of salaries included:

B.J. Penn ($250,000) def. Sean Sherk ($35,000)
Wanderlei Silva ($150,000) def. Keith Jardine ($10,000)
Goran Reljic ($6,000) def. Wilson Gouveia ($18,000)
Lyoto Machida ($100,000) def. Tito Ortiz ($210,000)
Thiago Silva ($50,000) def. Antonio Mendes ($4,000)
Rousimar Palhares ($10,000) def. Ivan Salaverry ($20,000)
Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou ($80,000) def. Kazuhiro Nakamura ($20,00O)
Rich Clementi ($40,000) def. Terry Etim ($10,000)
Yoshiyuki Yoshida ($12,000) def. Jon Koppenhaver ($8,000)
Dong Hyun Kim ($40,000) def. Jason Tan ($3000)
Shane Carwin ($12,000) def. Christian Wellisch ($10,000)
All of the winning fighters' salaries included 50 percent of the total to show and 50 percent as a win bonus -- except Wanderlei Silva, who received a flat $150,000 for the fight.

Now, the usual disclaimer: the figures do not include deductions for items such as insurance, licenses and taxes. Additionally, the figures do not include money paid by sponsors, which can oftentimes be a substantial portion of a fighter's income. They also do not include any other "locker-room" or special bonuses the UFC oftentimes pays. In other words, these are simply base salaries reported to the commission and do not reflect entire compensation packages for the event.

 

[heyzel]

Leonard Garcia talks arrest, redemption and possible WEC return

by John Morgan on May 27, 2008 at 11:20 am ET
WEC featherweight Leonard Garcia (11-3) has lived through a roller coaster of emotions over the past 12 months.

The 28-year-old first came in to prominence with a spirited decision loss to lightweight Roger Huerta at UFC 69 in April 2007. And after mixed results in Garcia's next two fights, "Bad Boy" decided to drop to his natural weight of 145 pounds, and he earned an impressive first-round-TKO victory over Hiroyuki Takaya at February's WEC 32.

Less than a month later, though, the Texas native was arrested, along with 12 others, in connection with a cocaine-trafficking ring and threatened with up to 40 years in prison and a $4-million fine.

Two months after the arrest, Garcia told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that he is close to clearing his name and returning to the cage.

"I've been cooperative with anything [the authorities] have asked me to do," Garcia said. "As far as letting them look into my bank statements, looking into any bills, into my vehicle -- I've let them look into anything and everything they've wanted to. I've basically opened up my life to these people and let them see everything that I've been doing with my life since three years ago. The way it looks now, I can't say for 100 percent sure that I'll be able to walk away from this scot-free, but I don't think it's going to have a really big backlash on my career."

Garcia does not deny his association with the rest of the accused earlier in his life, but he maintains those connections are well behind him.

"A guy who I believed was my friend back then, he got in trouble three years ago," Garcia said. "I guess when he got in trouble and he got thrown in jail, he went in there and he said, ‘Oh, well these are the guys that I hang out with,' and he listed a couple of names. Me and another guy got arrested for that. I've never been caught with any kind of drugs, any kind of anything. I mean, basically, it's not so much guilt by association because I'm not claiming to be an angel. I've made mistakes in my past, and that's exactly what it was -- just a mistake from my past. Like I said, it was three years old, and the way it looks now, it looks like they've done investigations on me since then, so they know that I haven't done anything."

A May 5 hearing resulted in a continuance for all of the accused, but Garcia hopes the findings in his next hearing will allow him to return back to his team in Albuquerque, N.M.

Garcia has been part of Greg Jackson's camp, Jackson's Mixed Martial Arts, which has quickly become one of the sport's top training camps with fighters such as Rashad Evans, Nate Marquardt, Keith Jardine and others.

"We go to court for another hearing June 2, and I'm hoping that they'll release me back and let me go to Albuquerque and start the real training with my team." Garcia said. "That's been one of the hardest things for me is just being away from all of my teammates. I know [Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone] has got a pretty big fight coming up on the first. That was actually the first time Cowboy and I had ever been on a card together since the Ring of Fire way back when, and we were pretty excited about that. Then all this came to pass.

"I think this is something that I guess had to happen to me before I go in there and win the title, just so that I clear my name now and get all of this behind me. That way I don't have anything but Urijah (Faber) or Jens (Pulver) to think about whenever the time comes."

While remaining away from his team and in Texas on judge's orders, Garcia has tried to maintain his level of fitness as best he can.

"I have been running; I have been getting in to shape," Garcia said. "I have been hitting pads. I've had no really heavy sparring because in (Lubbock) Texas, there's (only) Rex Richards. I can spar with him, but he weighs about 300 pounds, so that's kind of tough for me. He has been by a couple of times to the gym, and we knuckled up a couple of times.

"I've also got my nephew, Larry Garcia, that I've been training. He's got an amateur thing, now. He had a fight, and I've been working with him. He's undefeated right now in the amateur ranks. So being able to have these guys with me here in Texas has helped me out a lot, but I need to get back to my team, man."

The WEC seemingly tried to wash their hands of Garcia after the arrest, removing his name from the organization's official website. Garcia explained that his relationship with the WEC and Zuffa has not faltered, and that the decision to remove his name was actually made in order to protect both parties.

"They had to protect themselves from any implications," Garcia said. "What they really, really wanted to know is that I wasn't doing anything with the money that I was winning from the WEC. They were really, really specific with my manager. They were like, ‘Let's find out how many years this thing goes back. If there's anything that just recently happened we're going to cut him.'

"Basically, the only reason, at least to my understanding, I was taken off the website is because they said if they started getting calls, or people saying, ‘Hey, you're still supporting this guy, and he's going through this case right now,' then they would have to cut my contract indefinitely. So taking me off the website, that protects me and them. But [the WEC and Zuffa] have been 100 percent supportive."

In fact, the WEC has been supportive enough to begin negotiations with Garcia's camp for a return bout, despite the ongoing litigation.

"I don't know if my manager is releasing that yet, but, as far as I know August is the date that my attorney has asked me if I think I could be ready to fight by," Garcia said. "That's my attorney talking to me. So obviously he's hearing something from my manager because they contact each other every day or as much as they can."

And when Garcia is able to step back into the cage, he says motivation will not be a problem.

"This thing right here was really hard for me to get through, and there's nothing more that I want than to fight," Garcia said. "I think Kenny Florian said one time for all the opponents to hope that it's not him on the other end. That's pretty much what I'm telling anybody. I don't care who it is. The next guy that I'm fighting, the next few guys or whatever, I've got a lot of frustration. Ya'll are going to be in a lot of trouble."

Until Garcia does get the opportunity to strap back on the five-ounce gloves, he remains focused on the fight to clear his name.

"I know I have a bright future," Garcia said. "If you live in the past, you have no future. That's what I hope these people see, that I have changed my life dramatically. I don't hang out with any of these guys. I don't talk to them. It's just basically the worst thing that could have happened other than losing a fight. But I'll get through it. I'll be

 

[heyzel]

Bruno vs. Wilson likely rescheduled for UFC 87

MMAjunkie.com Staff on May 27, 2008 at 10:09 am ET
A welterweight bout between Steve Bruno (11-3 MMA, 0-0 UFC) and Chris Wilson (13-4 MMA, 0-1 UFC) originally scheduled for UFC 86 has likely been pushed back to Aug. 9's UFC 87 event in Minneapolis.

Wilson announced the likely scheduling change on his official website.

The fight would be the latest booking for UFC 87, which has quickly filled with bouts, including a main event between UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre and Jon Fitch.

Wilson, an Oregon-based fighter who posted a spirited but unsuccessful performance against top welterweight contender Jon Fitch at UFC 82, thinks the extra training time will do him well.

"I just found out my fight has been postponed," he wrote. "The rescheduled date hasn’t been finalized but appears to be bumped to the next UFC show, UFC 87, headlined by St. Pierre vs. Fitch in Minnesota of all places.

"In the end, it is frustrating to have to wait longer to get paid, but it will give me more training time coming off of the birth of my daughter, so it's probably for the best. Frankly, I'm just glad to fight, period. I guess I can wait one more month."

As for Bruno, Wilson is confident of victory.

"Any chance Bruno had of fighting me before I got back into shape has just vanished," he stated. "Bruno's fanboys will be terribly distraught when he gets destroyed."

Bruno, a veteran and former middleweight champion of the South Korean-based Spirit MC organization, will make his UFC debut at the event. He's won his past four fights -- and nine of his past 11 -- and most recently defeated EliteXC and Strikeforce vet Jae Suk Lim. This will be Bruno's first fight in 18 months.

 

[Shogun Locc]

Ribeiro Represents Boxe Thai Legacy

For new MMA fans, the name Boxe Thai does not mean much.

New teams and fighters arise all the time, especially in the United States, where the sport's popularity has exploded. Yet the presence of Boxe Thai representative Will Ribeiro (Pictures) at the June 1 WEC marks a long journey for the Brazilian MMA and muay Thai team.

During the days when MMA was called "Anything Goes" or "No Holds Barred," Boxe Thai carried immeasurable importance. The club sent fighters to Shootboxing, Pride, the UFC, Shooto and Pancrase. Names such as Marcelo Aguiar, Ebenezer Fontes Braga (Pictures), Artur Mariano, Dario Amorim, Alex Gaze (Pictures), Johnny Eduardo and Angelo Sergio represented the team and garnered attention and respect for those who were part of it.

However, as the sport evolved from the old days to the new, the team suffered from not developing its young fighters and also from lacking connections with the big shows.

Ribeiro is striving to rebuild the Boxe Thai name. He will take an excellent amateur boxing record of 69-11 into his U.S. debut on Sunday in Sacramento, Calif., against former WEC 135-pound champion Chase Beebe (Pictures).

"I assume this responsibility of repositioning my team under the MMA spotlights again," Ribeiro says. "I feel great for doing that. Boxe Thai is in a partnership with Minotauro Team and Nova Uniao, so I have Andre Pederneiras, Luiz Alves and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (Pictures) sharpening my game and the conditioning is with Andre Martins. I can say all is perfect and I will prove that. I am very focused on my fight against Chase Beebe (Pictures) and I am sure this is going to be a great fight -- an awesome show."

Ribeiro's older teammates retired after intriguing careers. Braga fought in Pancrase, the UFC and Pride. Mariano was the only man to stand and beat Wanderlei Silva (Pictures) in a bare-knuckle fight. Now Ribeiro, who has "Will" not only as his first name but also as his attitude, is trying to follow in their footsteps.

"As they made their dream come true with these achievements, this is my dream coming true as well," he says. "Since I was a kid I wanted this. I need to take this opportunity. I wished to fight outside Brazil. Now that I've reached that, I will not lose this chance -- no way."

Battling for recognition while setting your sights for the highest achievements in the sport can be quite a burden on a 25-year-old fighter like Ribeiro. Just look at the unsuccessful transition of one of Boxe Thai's most talented Thai practitioners, Alex Gaze (Pictures). The golden boy compiled an extraordinary 19-3 résumé in muay Thai, but Gaze scored only two victories in six MMA fights, which reduced his status to that of only a respected Thai fighter.

"Gaze is an example of perseverance, and I took from him all that he advised me," Ribeiro says. "He has much more experience than I do, and this is what matters. Look at me: I was supposed to take on Damacio Page (Pictures). Later it was changed to Kenji Osawa (Pictures), and the promoters were moving me to the WEC in August. Finally I'll end up facing the former champion [on Sunday]. Of course I stayed a little disoriented with these opponent changes, but I'm glad. Thankfully I have No Gi fight wear as a sponsor to keep my bills paid. In my opinion, things worked nicely for me. All the fighters from Boxe Thai have a huge expectation over my international debut, and they think I will shine."

Many of Ribeiro's veteran teammates are already done fighting. Mariano retired prematurely due to leg problems, and Braga also almost left early because his religion was against MMA. Ribeiro has also had setbacks. He lost his biggest supporter, his mother, in 2003 -- the same year he became a pro MMA fighter.

"Have you any idea of how tough this is?" he asks with his head down. "She was the person who gave all her efforts to make certain I would become a pro fighter. This was what made me strong enough to keep going. She is in heaven and she knows I did everything because of the support she gave me in life. I am going to my 11th professional fight with only one defeat. I feel her positive energy. Miss Tereza Cristina is with me, not only in the mind, but in the heart as well."

After discussing the unfortunate loss of his beloved mother, a funny and peculiar issue arises to change Ribeiro's mood. His second pro MMA fight is not listed in the Sherdog.com Fight Finder due to a lack of information.

"I wanted a Sherdogger here to complain about it, but I don't even have the full information about that event," Ribeiro says with a smile. "I remember I was in a night club and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (Pictures) said, ‘Do you want to fight?' I could not hear, so he yelled again, ‘Do you want to fight?' I said, ‘Yes, I do.' He simply told me to take a bag with trunks, mouthpiece and two or three clothes and go to the airport. I had a ticket. Objective was to fight in an event in the north of Brazil."

With his head nearly blasted by the night of drinking and partying, Ribeiro felt for the first time as if he had been knocked down without taking a single punch. To make things worse, the rules were bare knuckle with head butts. Yet Ribeiro won by decision and then dedicated himself to the sport to compile a 9-1 record.

Now, against Beebe, he's looking for his 10th win.

"He has a huge head," says the young Boxe Thai star. "I have a big one, but his is something enormous. I respect him. He is a former champion, but I am not missing my punches, kicks and elbows to his head, that big target. I need this victory. I am going to knock him out. I need to mark my territory. Nothing will be better than landing the former champion to the canvas in a brutal way. He is tough I know, but I think people that do not know me think this will be Beebe's redemption. They are wrong; this will not happen. They can think whatever they want, but I know what I am ready to do. Defeat is not in my plans."

 

[Shogun Locc]

Smokin’ Joe in the Big Show

From his first fight nearly 10 years ago in Durango, Colo., to a slot on the main card in MMA's first foray on CBS, "Smokin'" Joey Villasenor (Pictures) has come a long way.

Now he's prepping for his 32nd bout as if it were his debut. His matchup Saturday against fellow MMA veteran Phil Baroni (Pictures) in EliteXC offers Villasenor the chance to add a signature victory to an already impressive resume.

Booked for their willingness to stand and trade, Baroni-Villasenor is a fight that could also have larger implications. A subplot lurking far behind the Kimbo Slice media feeding frenzy and the camera friendly Gina Carano (Pictures) is the potential for a breakout star in the Spanish-speaking market. As a million or so eyeballs gaze at their TV sets, the 32-year-old Villasenor could make a lasting impression on Mexican fight fans across the United States.

The Hispanic community has traditionally ranked boxing behind only soccer in popularity. Villasenor grew up with a passion for all types of hand-to-hand combat.

"I loved boxing," he said. "Mexicans basically dominate that sport. They dominate that sport with their gritty toughness, their chins and their endurance. For me to be one of the first Mexican-Americans in MMA, it brings a lot of pride."

Villasenor joins other Mexican-Americans like lightweights Roger Huerta (Pictures) and Gilbert Melendez (Pictures) as first-generation Hispanic fighters who chose MMA over boxing. He points to his work ethic as his way of leading by example for future Latino MMA athletes.

"We can cross over to boxing into mixed martial arts and still be successful," Villasenor said. "I think it's all about heart and determination. I think the Hispanic community knows all about hard work, and I'm just one of those individuals who have gone through it."

Born in East Los Angeles, Villasenor moved to Albuquerque, N.M., when he was 9 years old. After dabbling briefly in football and baseball, Villasenor saw an early UFC and took up martial arts for self-defense purposes. The classes turned into a hobby that turned into a martial arts addiction until he turned pro in April 1999.

Raised in the notorious combat sports hot bed of Albuquerque, Villasenor was surrounded by boxing influences.

"Albuquerque, New Mexico, has always been a fighting city. New Mexico has always been a fighting state," he said. "I think we still have that little brother syndrome. When I tell people where I'm from, a lot of Americans still believe that it is a part of Mexico. We have just always been overlooked and we have that fighting mentality."

Even the optimistic Villasenor is taken aback by how big MMA has become in Albuquerque.

"The sport out here caught on like boxing," he said. "It's huge. Anybody out here could see Georges St. Pierre (Pictures), Rashad (Evans), Keith (Jardine) and (Nate) Marquardt. On any given day, you can spot one of those athletes in Albuquerque. It's unreal to some fans that we are so common out here. Almost every other weekend there is a MMA show going on."

Villasenor joined coach Greg Jackson and his submission fighting team in 2001. The camp has gone from obscure dojo to the Mecca of MMA gyms in the American Southwest.

"Me, Jardine and Floyd Sword, we earned the ranks," Villasenor said. "We didn't get that free shot because we trained with the Lion's Den or from Gracie's. We had to work to this point, and I think that's just part of the tradition here in Albuquerque of a hard work ethic."

At 25-6, Villasenor has certainly built a successful career. Yet he still cringes when reflecting on his last two setbacks. A flying knee from Robbie Lawler (Pictures) and a right hand from Murilo Rua (Pictures) made the most recent blemishes on his record. Now that he is ranked behind EliteXC's other top two 185-pound fighters, Villasenor is fighting with his back against the wall even though he has won two straight. A loss to Baroni would severely limit his options against prominent EliteXC middleweights. A win would mean that Villasenor is once again on the cusp of a title shot.

He has a championship history. Villasenor had a lengthy reign as King of the Cage middleweight champion, which was part of a 15-fight winning streak. At times during that run he simply used his physical tools to overwhelm less skilled opponents. As he enters the latter stages of his career, though, Villasenor is turning to the mental edge he has accumulated during his near decade-long stretch in MMA.

"With each fight I feel mentally stronger," he said. "Experience in this sport goes a long way, and I think we have been doing all the right things, capitalizing as a team on all the right concepts. We were one of the first teams to actually adjust with the sport. A lot of teams stayed with their own style and don't move forward -- they get stuck."

Following his first-round knockout of Ryan Jensen (Pictures) in late March, Villasenor barely had time to take a breather before he was asked to replace an injured Murilo Rua on Saturday's card in Newark, N.J. He is relishing the quick turnaround instead of complaining about it.

On a fight card filled with potential standup fireworks, Villasenor, who holds a 16-0 amateur boxing record, is not shy about his game plan against Baroni.

"We have been working a lot of wrestling and hard conditioning. We really want to jump up the pace in this fight and expose what we might think are some weaknesses," Villasenor said. "I've got some great coaches I have been working with -- Mike Van Arsdale (Pictures) on my wrestling and Greg Jackson on my finishing moves."

With tentative estimates of three million to four million viewers for EliteXC's Saturday night showcase on CBS, Villasenor and the nine other fighters on the televised card have the unique opportunity to perform before a new set of fans and potential sponsors.

You can't beat free advertising.

"It's a huge fight businesswise," Villasenor said. "The cameras are going to be in my face like they always have been, but they're going to say CBS on them rather than Showtime or Dream Stage. I'm just blocking it out mentally because to me it's just another fight. I've been here 30-plus times. I'm excited to be on the card. I'm excited to be fighting on free national television, but for me it's just another bout."

Another Saturday night at the fights for Joey Villasenor, but it will also be another chance to represent his city, his heritage and his name to the next generation of fight fans.

 

[Shogun Locc]

Kimbo Searching for his ‘Slice' of the Pie
videolink: http://www.sherdog.com/videos/videos.asp?v_id=1595
Does Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson (Pictures) buy into his own hype? The ESPN Magazine cover boy weighs in on his newfound fame with Sherdog.com news editor Loretta Hunt in this exclusive interview, just days out from his prime time performance for EliteXC this Saturday on CBS.

The backyard-brawling Internet legend discusses training for his third professional fight with British bomber James Thompson (Pictures), what fighters he strives to be like, and recent comments made about him by UFC president Dana White.

 

[Shogun Locc]

Nam Phan vs. Billy Evangelista announced for June 27 Strikeforce

Brazilian jiu-jitsu stand-out Nam Phan (14-4) and undefeated American Kickboxing Academy lightweight Billy Evangelista (6-0) will meet at a June 27 Strikeforce show set for the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif.

The organization announced the bout on Monday.

"Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Thomson," which airs on HDNet, features a main event between Strikeforce world lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez and Josh Thomson.

Phan, a longtime King of the Cage and Palace Fighting Championship fighter, made his only Strikeforce appearance in December 2006 and suffered a unanimous-decision loss to Thomson. In fact, the only two losses in his past 11 fights came to Thomson and K-1 HERO'S/DREAM notable Gesias "JZ" Cavalcante.

"It should be a great matchup," Phan stated. "I know [Evangelista's] pretty good at wrestling and OK at jiu-jitsu, and he's got great Muay Thai. I think his striking is better than mine, but my strength is jiu jitsu. I always prefer jiu jitsu and submitting opponents."

Evangelista, who turned pro in January 2006, has posted six consecutive victories (four via stoppage) to begin his career. Three of those victories have come with Strikeforce, including his latest win -- a third-round knockout of "The Ultimate Fighter" cast member Marlon Sims in March.

 

[Shogun Locc]

Jim Bova: PDG Sponsored Fighter - 'Ready For EliteXC'

On Saturday, May 31st, EliteXC and CBS are presenting the first ever LIVE Mixed Martial Arts show on network television. Before the main event kicks off, www.ProElite.com will be showing the undercard LIVE and Jim Bova will be making his EliteXC debut. PunchDrunkGamer is proud to be sponsoring the 'Combat in the Cage Champion' and 'IFL Trials Champion' as he faces off against Chris Ligouri. Jim recently took some time to talk with PDG about his training, background and future.

PDG: You are fighting this Saturday on the undercard for the EliteXC – CBS fights against Chris Ligouri. What do you know about your opponent?
Bova: I know he has a lot of experience and he is a UFC veteran. From the scouting reports, Chris is probably going to want to stand and bang, so I am going to try and take this fight to ground.

PDG: What is your professional record?
Bova: I am 3-0 so far and I fought eight amateur fights, in which I was 7-1. The one loss I had as an amateur was a decision against Jason Gilliam, who has fought twice in a UFC.

PDG: So what made you decide on pursuing a career in mixed martial arts?
Bova: I started wrestling in high school and after that I was looking for more opportunities to compete and I met Jeff Walcott at my local gym; Anthracite Combat Club. He was training some fighters in jui-jitsu and it looked like an easy transition for me to make from wrestling at the time. So I started training in my spare time and eventually Jeff asked me if I wanted to fight.

PDG: How many years were you training and fighting is an amateur before you turned pro?
Bova: I started training in 2000 and my first amateur fight was in 2003. In between my last amateur fight in my first professional fight I took about a year off but I was still training almost everyday.

PDG: What was your training schedule like leading up to this fight?
Bova: My morning workout consisted of either mountain biking, running or going to the gym. In the evening, I was in the gym working grappling, wrestling and submissions. I was also doing boxing training a couple of days a week over in Redding, PA.

PDG: Who are your training partners?
Bova: Our coach, Jeff Walcott is who I work with primarily; I also work a lot with Diego Jimenez, Shane Ott and for a while I was working with John Murphy.

PDG: This will be your first fight that is televised or broadcasted; how excited are you?
Bova: It makes me a little anxious.

PDG: You were victorious in the IFL trials you competed in; can you describe what the trials were about and the structure of the tournament?
Bova: You compete in front of the coaches and owners of the IFL. To start, they pair you up by weight class and skill level, then you compete in somewhat of the skills competition. They want to see your takedowns and takedown defense, basically a wrestling match with all the coaches watching to determine your skill set. Then if you move on, its grappling without a closed-guard. After that you get the headgear on and compete in kickboxing and Muay-Tai. The whole time that you're competing the coaches and owners are eliminating fighters. Once they have dwindled the field down to the finalists, you go to the ring to fight 2, two-minute rounds and the winner gets put into the IFL draft pool. I TKO'ed my opponent in the second round in the finals.

PDG: So how would you describe your fighting style?
Bova: It depends on whether or not the fight is standing or on the ground but my approach is to always be aggressive and offensive. I like to keep a real high pace during my fights. Submissions and GNP are definitely my strengths, so I definitely am looking to get a takedown or a throw to start the fight. I also don't mind being taken down and working from my back. Since my last fight in October, I have been working a lot on my standup fighting. So I feel a lot more comfortable with my striking game and that will buy me some time until I can get the fight where I want it, which is on the ground. Right now my preference is to control the flight on the ground but I plan on working a lot on my standup game, so that in the future it doesn't matter.

PDG: Considering that your fight this weekend goes well; how many more times would you like to fight this year?
Bova: I would fight every month if they would let me, my contract will only let me fight every so often though. As long as I stay healthy, I would like to fight at least every two months, so that I can stay active. Currently I have a multi-fight contract with EliteXC.

PDG: When you're not fighting or training, what do you do to relax and blow off some steam?
Bova: My favorite sport outside of fighting is definitely mountain biking. I also use it as part of my training, it definitely helps with the cardio. I took a trip out to Colorado this winter and went snowboarding. Pretty much anything that keeps me off the couch and active. In my day job, I work on Linux servers and do programming updates, so I like to keep myself up-to-date on all of that. The flexibility of that job gives me the time to do the training I need to prepare for my fights. I am on-call most of the time but if I do not have a call, I am able to and work on my training.

PDG: Well good luck on Saturday night, is there anything else you wanted to add?
Bova: Thanks, not really, hopefully the fans tune in for my fight because I plan on making it an exciting one.

 

[Shogun Locc]

JAMES THOMPSON: "I WANT TO PUT KIMBO IN SITUATIONS HE'S NEVER BEEN IN BEFORE"
link: http://www.fighthype.com/pages/content2678.html?PHPSESSID=292ad7675f86d18e22d3be645f3b203b
"Unlike Cantrell, I'm gonna turn up to fight. Unlike Tank, I'm gonna train and not drink...it'll be interesting to see how handles being out of his comfort zone," stated EliteXC heavyweight James Thompson as he talked about his upcoming clash with Kimbo Slice on the May 31st CBS/EliteXC Saturday Night Fights card. Check out what else he had to say as he talks about Slice, the fight and much more.

 

[Shogun Locc]

SCOTT SMITH: "I DEFINITELY SEE ME WINNING THIS FIGHT BY KNOCKOUT."
link: http://www.fighthype.com/pages/content2718.html
For middleweight contender Scott "Hands of Steel" Smith, nothing in life is sweeter than rendering an opponent unconscious with his two fists. The Sacramento, California native boasts an impressive record of 15-4 with 13 of those victories coming by way of knockout. It's no secret that Smith earned his "Hands of Steel" moniker from his penchant for standing and trading with his opponents, often to their detriment.

 

[Shogun Locc]

Official: Andrei Arlovski has signed with Affliction & Adrenaline

It appears to be official that Andrei Arlovski has signed with Affliction and Afrenaline, as personal confirmation still awaits.

News statement from management:

Fans who purchase a ringside seat for the Adrenaline MMA event on June 14 at the Sears Centre Arena, will be able to attend a Meet-and-Greet session prior to the show.

Tim Sylvia, Ben Rothwell and Andre Arlovski will join the Adrenaline MMA ring girls at the Meet-and-Greet session. Affliction, one of the event sponsors, has agreed to give a T-shirt to each person with a ringside ticket attending the session.

Doors for the event open at 5 p.m., but ringside ticket holders will be allowed into the arena at 4 p.m. and the Meet-and-Greet will last until 5 p.m.

 

[Shogun Locc]

Pulver Ready for Faber, Title Shot
videolnk: http://www.sherdog.com/videos/videos.asp?v_id=1596
Sherdog.com's Mike Sloan and Brad McCray spoke with Jens Pulver (Pictures) in Las Vegas, where the former Octagon lightweight champion discussed UFC 84's main event and his bout with Urijah Faber (Pictures) Sunday on the Versus-televised WEC card.

 

[Shogun Locc]

Kevin Burns expected to replace Ryo Chonan at UFC 85

UFC newcomer Kevin "The Fire" Burns (4-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) will likely replace Ryo Chonan (14-8 MMA, 0-1 UFC) at UFC 85, where he'll meet Roan Carneiro (12-6 MMA, 2-1 UFC) on the night's preliminary card.

Sources close to Burns today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that the Nebraska-based fighter has agreed to be a late replacement at next weekend's pay-per-view event.

UFC 85 takes place June 7 at the 02 Arena in London, England.

The reason for Chonan's likely departure from the card isn't immediately known. However, if the fighter swap does take place, it would be the latest of numerous changes that have plagued the fight card since it was first announced. Chuck Liddell, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, Chris Leben and James Irvin have all been scratched in recent weeks, and the televised main card has been in a constant state of flux.

Burns, who boasts solid Brazilian jiu jitsu skills, has posted stoppages in all five of his career victories -- three by way of submission. Recently, he's competed for the Victory Fighting Championships and Glory Fighting Championships organizations. In fact, earlier this month, he knocked out Bobby Voelker for the VFC interim welterweight title.

Although he's a relative newcomer on the professional scene, Burns fought a number of times as an amateur. He is reported to have delivered UFC veteran Josh Neer the only loss of his amateur career.

Carneiro, a member of the Florida-based American Top Team, most recently defeated Tony DeSouza at UFC 79 to push his UFC record to 2-1. The 30-year-old's only loss in the octagon was to top welterweight contender Jon Fitch.

 

[Shogun Locc]

5Oz. Exclusive Interview: Josh Barnett talks Affliction; fighting Fedor; Gina Carano vs. Shayna Baszler; and more

Its bad etiquette to ask more than a few questions of any single individual in a one-on-one situation following a press conference. However, I broke an unwritten rule when interviewing Josh Barnett last week following Affliction’s press conference in New York to promote its inaugural event on July 19.

It was just a situation where once you start talking MMA with Barnett, it’s hard to stop. In a sport that has no a shortage of athletes that are very articulate, Barnett still manages to be exceptional in that aspect. So if the reporter who had to wait behind me is reading this, I am sorry about forgetting my manners but Barnett was on a roll and I didn’t want him to stop.

During my conversation with Barnett, we talked about internet cynics; his behind-the-scenes involvement with Affliction; why it’s so hard for some promotion to build a deep heavyweight division; his desire to bring a well-known Japanese fighter to the States; his feelings about possibly fighting Fedor; and more.

You can now read the full transcript of the interview below.

Sam Caplan: I’m not sure if you pay attention to the blogs and Internet forums out there, but there has been some negative attention about Affliction spending too much money and not being around long-term. How do you react to that negativity, because this is a pretty amazing lineup?

Josh Barnett: I don’t react to negativity. First and foremost, pretty much 90 percent of the s— anyone has to say on the internet is negative anyways. I think it would take a long discourse on social dynamics as to why that exists. Personally, I’m really against that sort of thing. I think that if you have a chance to actually have your voice heard, at least even to a small audience, why have the one thing that comes out of it be s—ty? There’s enough of that everywhere you look anyways. I figure the more positive picture you can paint of this world; the more knowledge; the more wisdom; the more respect you can spread, the better off you’ll be. But I don’t think that’s really why we’re doing this interview.

To be honest, they’re not Affliction’s accountants, so I don’t really think it’s up to them or why they should worry about us so much. I think they’re just too busy trying to be smart marks and think they know what’s going on, when I can say for a fact that most of the time they are pretty off. Although, I’ve got to admit; it’s surprising sometimes how close they will get and some of the things that will fly out onto the internet. There’s a difference to having tidbits here and there to having an understanding of the entire scene or the entire story that goes altogether with this.

But you know what? It’s Affliction’s money and it’s their money to spend and they have a lot of good people behind them helping with these decisions, and not just accountants and pencil pushers and clothing marketers. People like myself have been intrical with them before we even laid the groundwork out, helping them with advice and how to try and approach this and put together the best card. And I don’t think you’re going to find it all that unusual that a lot of the people you’re going to see on this card are also people that are in the phonebook on my cell phone.

Sam Caplan: Well, let me follow up on that. How much have you been involved as far as bringing fighters together for this card?

Josh Barnett: I definitely played a healthy portion. Part of that is just because I want to see someone succeed other than one marketer; just the UFC. And as much, I don’t want to see, even if we were to, let’s say, take over the entire market landscape, within five years Affliction is the biggest promoter in mixed martial arts — and whatever else they want to get their hand into — that doesn’t mean I want the UFC gone. I don’t want them to leave. I don’t want EliteXC to fail either. I want to have the organizations out there to create the competition to be able to hold the fights — we can’t hold every fight in Affliction — therefore we need the other opportunities for these other markets that also hold these fights. Or maybe we or Affliction may overlook one talent that another one sees, and they’re going to bring them up. We’re not against each other — I mean, yeah, we’re sort of battling for the same market share right now, (but) we need to get beyond that and we need to open this pool up so that the dollars that we’re taken from is not that limited. We want to be able to hit the entire global market. We want to be able to hit a bigger fanbase.

Sam Caplan: This is an All-Star heavyweight card. They went out and got the heavyweights available. And right now, at least with the North American promotions, they are without a deep heavyweight division, no matter what you promotion you look at. Why do you think promotions like the UFC and EliteXC have kind of neglected their heavyweight divisions?

Josh Barnett: They’re the most experience. The UFC, I think it goes beyond just money for them. I think some of that is political. And whether they consider that a poor choice or not is up to them. I don’t run their business. They’ve made some decisions that I think have alienated some folks and upset some people and they decided that if there was somewhere they could ply their trade, even if they made less money, they would go for it. In terms of EliteXC, I think they spent a lot of money expanding their global presence (and) partnering and aligning other promotions and securing contracts.

Heavyweights are very expensive and also a lot of the time it’s about availability. When people have exclusive contracts, it makes it tougher to go out and grab some of those fighters and you have to have the right timing as soon as they come out of their contract or whether they’re in re-negotiations — or whatever the case may have you — to be able to pick those guys up.

Sam Caplan: Has there been any discussion as to whether if you and Fedor are successful in your respective bouts whether the two of you might meet at a future date?

Josh Barnett: Yeah, it comes up. And like I say, I’ll approach it when it’s necessary. As it is, I’m sure Fedor is going to be in the U.S. prior to the fight for press, but he’s also going to want to acclimate to the time and he’ll need a place to train. Guess what? I’m going to have him come down to CSW and he’s going to be there. He’s a part of my family. And not just as fight people, but as friends. Whatever he needs; if he wants to come hang at my house and eat dinner with me, he’ll be there. That’s how it is for me. If we fight, we fight. It’s professionalism and we’ll go out there and do something incredible.

But this Affliction event is a great start. We’ve got the stage all set. It’s ready for us to go there and live up to all of our expectations and I even hope to bring in some other more amazing talent from around the world. Gina Carano has done such an incredible job for EliteXC. She’s a wonderful person. A great fighter. I personally think that her and Shayna (Baszler) are perfect. And really, I think any female fight EliteXC has had up to this point…

Sam Caplan: Are we going to see that fight?

Josh Barnett: I don’t know. It’s not up to either one of them. People like to say a lot about Gina but she doesn’t get to make the decisions on her fights. At all. I promise you that. And Shayna, well she doesn’t either. I try to help her out; we do what we can but in the end the promoters are going to be the people who make the fights and we’re willing to fight who we gotta fight. But I think that Shayna and Gina would be just monumental to me. It would be an incredible fight, and also, (it would) be between two incredibly respectful and wonderful people.

But I want to bring Megumi Fuji over here and I think Affliction would be a great place to showcase (her). You know, Fedor is an incredible fighter, as are all of the rest of us up here. But honestly, I’ve trained; have seen fight; or have been a part of; or have fought myself, pretty much all of the top fighters in the world and Megumi Fuji… sometimes, I swear to god, she makes all of us look bad.

Sam Caplan: When you mentioned that to Affliction, were they interested in that possibility?

Josh Barnett: Megumi Fuji was the first fighter ever sponsored by Sinful. So, yeah. And I’ve got Ginele Marquez and Shayna Baszler, two obviously awesome athletes and they are also sponsored by Sinful. So if Affliction wants to do it, and they have expressed interest, they want to bring the best fighters and the best fights. If they think a fight is going to elevate the sport and elevate their event, it will be there. It’s my goal to bring the best to the ring, and that does include women like Megumi Fuji, Shayna Baszler, and Ginele Marquez — although Shayna has got a great thing going with EliteXC so that would take a partnership on their part but either way I think their ring is ready for it.

Sam Caplan: I had heard from a source that the last fight on Shayna’s EliteXC contract was her fight against Keiko Tamai. Is there any truth to that?

Josh Barnett: She’s still ready to go actually. I’m not going to discuss her contractual details in public, but she’s already set up to continue fighting and things are already in place. With EltieXC and her, it’s just a matter of time, opponents, and available. We’re working on some things right now and I really hope to get her in the ring sometime in July or early-July. And I think it’s time for EliteXC to see the other white meat (laughs), I guess, in terms of Shayna. But Gina is fricken awesome and she’s done such a great job. But not everybody likes chocolate ice cream, people like vanilla ice cream (or) lemon merengue. And now is the time to get blood and guts flavored ice cream in the ring with Shayna.

 

[Shogun Locc]

Wand: "I had will to cry"

The image of Wanderlei Silva staring at Keith Jardine before their fight at UFC 84 reminded the old Wand from Pride, and the few 36 seconds of the fight showed that the old way of the Brazilian comeback. At his personal website on the Internet, the excited Wanderlei thanked the fans support who sent messages to support the Brazilian, who was passing by complicated moments, especially after the defeat to Chuck Liddell at UFC 79. "My greatest joy was certainly to could give such joy to you that never stopped believing in me. My true friends, today we are with the ‘soul washed’. I spent the day seeing and reviewing your messages on the Internet. You can realize how happy I am. I'm sure that any fighter would like to have fans like you are to me", wrote Wand, which also revealed a crying repressed at the end of the fight against Jardine.

"I was very excited and I had will to cry after the victory, thanks to God that it was a crying from joy. At that moment I thought in all of you vibrating with this moment so expected", revealed the Brazilian that opened a new communication way with his fans on the Internet. Apart from his official blog, Wand has created a page on MySpace. "Let's hit in the chest and celebrate with joy because this is our victory", finalized.

 

[Shogun Locc]

Pulver and Faber discuss fight strategy

WEC featherweight champion Urijah Faber (20-1) says Jens Pulver's (22-8-1) only chance at victory at Sunday's WEC 34 event is via knockout; Pulver doesn't disagree.

The two fighters discussed their upcoming bout and fight strategies in a video clip released by VERSUS.

The cable station airs the title fight and the rest of WEC 34's televised main card on Sunday at 9 p.m. ET.

"The only was he's going to finish me is with the KO," said Faber, who puts his 12-fight win streak on the line.

Pulver, meanwhile, agrees that he has to get to Faber before he gets to him.

"This is one of the best fights they could put together," said Pulver, who claims his punching power is now at twice its normal level. "This is crazy. I go out there to knock people unconscious. I got out there to hurt people. In the fight world, Urijah's too explosive not to."

 

[Shogun Locc]

ATT's Brown Talks WEC Debut
videolink: http://www.sherdog.com/videos/videos.asp?v_id=1597
Sherdog.com's Greg Savage spoke with American Top Team featherweight Mike Thomas Brown, who discussed his WEC debut against Jeff Curran (Pictures) this weekend on the Versus-televised fight card.