Category: Fighters (Page 21 of 58)

Top 10 Heavyweight Rankings

July 27, 2011 / Drew Ellis

null The rankings list has made its way back to the heavyweight division.

There have been a few shake ups in this group as of late, mainly near the top. Still, the division has remained pretty solid as we work toward the big meeting of Velasquez vs. dos Sanots.

1. Cain Velasquez (9-0): Velasquez will return in November to take on Junior dos Santos. It will be a tough test for the UFC champ, as he has not fought in nearly a year and is coming off a major surgery.

2. Junior dos Santos (13-1): dos Santos tore through Shane Carwin in an impressive victory that solidified his spot as the top contender to the UFC crown. Junior has proven he can out-strike a striker and stuff a takedown, but will he be able to handle the explosiveness and speed of Velasquez?

3. Brock Lesnar (5-2): Lesnar may not return anytime soon, but I still think he deserves a high ranking as he was able to beat some of the best on this list before getting injured. Lesnar is going to need to show he can handle getting hit when he returns if he hopes to contend for the title ever again.

4. Alistair Overeem (35-11): Overeem was able to beat Werdum without too much difficulty but wasn’t impressive in his own right. Now, some debate with Zuffa has gotten him taken off the rest of the Strikeforce Grand Prix and leaves his MMA future in question. Hopefully Overeem will return and maybe someday step inside the octagon.

Events, Fighters, Rankings, Strikeforce, UFC

Alistair Overeem Antonio Silva Brock Lesnar Cain Velasquez Fabricio Werdum Fedor Emelianenko Frank Mir Josh Barnett Junior Dos Santos Shane Carwin

MMA Game Changers: Anderson Silva

July 25, 2011 / Drew Ellis

It’s not hard to figure out which UFC middleweight has changed the face of MMA.

The middleweight champion of nearly five years, Anderson Silva, quickly established himself as a game changer when he made his debut with the promotion back on June 28, 2006.

His opponent was current middleweight contender, Chris Leben. The fight didn’t last long as Silva seemingly landed every punch and kick he threw, knocking Leben out in just 49 seconds.

From there, Silva stamped his credibility by running through UFC champion, Rich Franklin, in just three minutes.

Since then, Silva has continued to be a dominant force in the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions.

His striking was something unlike anything we’d ever seen. Chuck Liddell was considered a striker back then, but Silva was on another wavelength.

Silva uses all four of his appendages in a beautiful mix of strikes. His fists, feet, and knees are all deadly.

Since his arrival in the UFC, only Chael Sonnen has put up a fight against the champion, but that still wasn’t enough. Silva used his jiu-jitsu black belt to submit Sonnen and retain his title.

His highlight reel KO’s are stuff of legend as he has made Franklin, Leben, Vitor Belfort, and Forrest Griffin look like amateurs in the cage.

What also makes Silva so special is that you could see him being successful 10 years from now, even as MMA continues to evolve.

There may never be another Anderson Silva again.

Events, Fighters, UFC

Anderson Silva Chris Leben Forrest Griffin Rich Franklin Vitor Belfort

Jon Fitch is mad as hell and doesn’t want to take it anymore

July 23, 2011 / Drew Ellis

Jon Fitch has been a No. 1 contender for a long time, but a title fight doesn’t appear to be in his future.

A lengthy recovery from an injury has caused the UFC veteran to be lost in the mix in the UFC welterweight division.

As you can see in the video, Fitch is not happy about being passed up for many of the big fights in the division and he is ready to do something about it.

Fitch has some good points. The guy has one loss in 15 UFC fights, and that was to current champ, Georges St. Pierre.

He is coming off a draw against B.J. Penn, but had that been a five-round fight, it appeared that Fitch was well on his way to another win.

Despite his lack of finishes, Fitch is still one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world and he deserves more respect than he is getting.

Fighters, News, UFC, Videos

B.J. Penn Carlos Condit Georges St. Pierre Jake Ellenberger Jake Shields Jon Fitch Nick Diaz

Gina Carano trading the cage for the big screen in “Haywire”

July 22, 2011 / Drew Ellis

It has been a while since Gina Carano has stepped into the Strikeforce cage.

But, MMA’s favorite female has been busy with another project.

Below is the trailer for her new film “Haywire,” which comes out in January of 2012.

Carano has made a few appearances in films, but this is her first feature film and she joins a pretty impressive cast for the project.

The very well-known director Steve Soderbergh took on this movie and a successful performance could really be the start of a big career for Carano.

Unfortunately for MMA fans, Carano hasn’t competed in the cage since August 15 of 2009 and there is no evidence that she will be returning anytime soon.

She was originally scheduled to return to action on June 18, but she was removed from the card for an undisclosed medical reason.

I am sure most fans will settle for watching her kick a little tail in a feature-length movie for the time being, but the female supporters would probably love to see her back in the cage sooner rather than later.

Fighters, News, Strikeforce

Gina Carano

Nate Marquardt signs with BAMMA

July 22, 2011 / Drew Ellis

The biggest name in MMA for the better part of a month has been Nate Marquardt, but it hasn’t been for a positive reason.

The former UFC middleweight lost his job with the Zuffa promotion after failing a pre-fight physical for high testosterone levels and has since been working to clear his name due to his usage of hormone replacement therapy.

Well, it appears that Marquardt has found his new home.

According to MMAMania.com, Marquardt has signed on to fight with BAMMA.

Former UFC middleweight number one contender Nate Marquardt has signed to compete under the banner of The British Association of Mixed Martial Arts (BAMMA).
Why did he choose BAMMA?
“Offers came in from several fight promotions, but we felt that BAMMA was definitely the best fit,” Marquardt said in today’s release. “They put on high-quality shows, stack their cards with top-level fighters, and sign those fighters to multi-fight deals. They are also the only fight organization in the UK that implements PED testing. To be honest, that is one of the main reasons that we chose BAMMA. I want to prove to my fans and to the world that I’m the real deal and that I belong on top.”

Marquardt’s first fight and opponent have not been announced, but he has stated that he plans on staying at welterweight.

Fighters, News, UFC

BAMMA Nate Marquardt