MMA Hot Stuff

MMAHotStuff.com interview with Fantasy Sports 2.0

Interested in knowing how I became an MMA fan or why I started MMAHotStuff.com? Check out this interview with Fantasy Sports 2.0!

Find out how I'm doing in my fantasy football league, who my favorite fighters are, and what I think of how Web 2.0 is bringing fans and athletes together like never before!

It's a great time to be an MMA fan!

Who Would Be Lesnar's Toughest Test? Your Votes Are In!

Overwhelmingly, MMAHotStuff readers agree that Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira would present the toughest challenge for Brock Lesnar, as opposed to Frank Mir.

78% of readers voted for Nogueira, with 22% voting for Frank Mir.

Even though Frank Mir has already beaten Lesnar, readres still feel Nogueira would still be his toughest opponent. Which begs the question, do you the readers think that Mir's victory over Lesnar was a fluke?

It's not surprising that Nogueira won this poll. He's known as a submission master that can take a beating and keep oncoming. He's got a solid chin, amazing heart, and a TON of experience. All important attributes when facing a beast like Lesnar.

This would be a very interesting fight, should Nogueira get past Mir.

No Drug Testing at Strikeforce:Destruction SRSLY!

MMAInsider happened upon something unusual on Monday when it spoke to the California State Athletic Commission to acquire live gate, fighter payout, and drug testing information.

A CSAC representative said no drug testing had been conducted for Strikeforce "Destruction" on Friday, Nov. 21st.

The lack of testing is an unexpected shift for an agency known to have the most comprehensive anti-doping program of any athletic commission in the country, as well as the strictest enforcement of the issue.

The representative gave no reason for the change, though MMAInsider has contacted interim CSAC office director Bill Douglas for comment.

The position of Executive Officer has been vacant at CSAC since the departure of it's former Executive Officer Armando Garcia.

UPDATE: Bill Douglas, now the official CSAC assistant executive officer, returned comment on the testing situation.

"I've cancelled all drug testing across the board while I revamp the entire process from start to finish," Mr. Douglas wrote in an email. "I expect the new and improved program to roll out next week."

UFC Fighters Signing at Barnes & Noble Near You!

Join fighters of the UFC® for the release of the trade edition of Octagon book at Barnes & Noble. Fighters will sign purchased copies, so check back as we add more fighters and locations!

The UFC® Octagon Trade Edition gets up close and personal with the warriors of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Explore the work of photographer Kevin Lynch and track the evolution of UFC over five years through incredible photos of the fighters. See these amazing warriors from the tense moments before going into battle through to the emotional end of the combat. Explosive photographs capture the confidence, fear and passion in the eyes of key athletes from Anderson Silva and Chuck Liddell to Georges St. Pierre and B.J.Penn.

ALBUQUERQUE     Keith Jardine    7:00 PM 6600 Menaul Blvd NE, Albuquerque, NM 87110
BOSTON    Kenny Florian    6:00 PM 800 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02119
CHICAGO    Clay Guida    7:30 PM 297 Oakbrook Center, Oak Brook, IL 60523
INDIANAPOLIS    Chris Lytle    6:00 PM 3748 East 82nd Street, Indianapolis, IN 46240
LAS VEGAS    Stephan Bonnar    7:00 PM 8915 W. Charleston, Las Vegas, NV  89117
LONG ISLAND    Matt Serra    7:00 PM 600 Smith Haven Mall, Lake Grove, NY 11755
MAUI    Kendall Grove    7:00 PM 325 Keawe #101, Lahaina, Hi 96761
MIAMI    Thiago Alves    7:00 PM 12405 N Kendall Drive, Miami, FL 33186
NEW ORLEANS    Rich Clementi    7:00 PM 3721 Veterans Memorial Blvd., Metairie, LA  70002
OMAHA    Houston Alexander    7:00 PM 3333 Oakview Dr, Omaha, NE 68144
PORTLAND    Nate Quarry    6:30 PM 12000 SE 82nd Avenue, Portland, OR 97266
SACRAMENTO    James Irvin    7:00 PM 1725 Arden Way, Sacramento, CA  95815
SAN DIEGO    Diego Sanchez    7:00 PM 2015 Birch Rd, San Diego, CA 91915
SAN JOSE    Mike Swick    7:00 PM 2200 Eastridge Loop, San Jose, CA 95122
SAN LUIS OBISPO    Chuck Liddell    7:00 PM 894 Marsh Street, Bldg. G, San Luis Obispo, CA  93401

"Fight For The Troops" Auction

From UFC.com

The Ultimate Fighting Championship® and Spike TV have launched an exclusive auction to make tickets available to the public for UFC® Fight For The Troops™. This special live UFC event will raise funds to build a hospital for traumatic brain injuries for the brave men and women in the United States Armed Forces. Thousands of soldiers from nearby Fort Bragg, the proud home of the U.S. Airborne and Special Operations Forces, will be in attendance, but now 30 members of the public also have an opportunity to watch the fight live.
This exclusive auction is being held through Ticketmaster.com and is ongoing now through Dec. 1st. Only 30 tickets will be available to the public, with bidding starting at $200 per ticket.

UFC Fight For The Troops will air live on Spike TV Wednesday, December 10 starting at 9:00 PM, ET. More information about the facility, including ways to donate, can be found online at http://www.fallenheroesfund.org or by calling 1-800-340 HERO

Josh Koscheck vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida headlines the event, with Mike Swick taking on Jonathan Goulet in the co-main event matchup. The event also showcases five current UFC fighters who are all U.S. military veterans including Luigi Fioravanti, Tim Credeur, Dale Hartt, Brandon Wolff, and Steve Bruno.

“The Ultimate Fighter 1” standout Koscheck (13-3) has won seven of his last nine decisions, and is one of the premier 170-pound fighters in the world. His opponent, Tokyo native Yoshiyuki “Zenko” Yoshida (10-2), has won nine straight pro mixed martial arts fights including his UFC debut last May at UFC 84 with a victory via submission over Jon Koppenhaver.

Swick (12-2), fighting out of San Jose, CA, has won seven of his last eight bouts in the Octagon, including a three round decision over Marcus Davis this past June at UFC 85. To continue his quest for a title shot, he must defeat fellow welterweight contender, Jonathon Goulet (22-9). The hard-hitting 29-year old Canadian recently scored a TKO victory at UFC 83 over Kuniyoshi Hironaka that was awarded Fight of The Night honors.

“The Ultimate Fighter 5” standout Matt Wiman (10-3), a resident of Dallas, Texas, has won four straight contests in the Octagon, including an impressive 2nd round knockout of Thiago Tavares at UFC 85 in June. “Handsome” Matt will face his toughest test yet against the pride of Toms River, NJ, Frankie Edgar. A rising star in the lightweight division, Edgar (9-1) is coming off the biggest win of his professional career, a three-round decision over the dangerous Hermes Franca this past July at “UFC Fight Night: Silva vs. Irvin” on Spike TV.

On the undercard, two promising fighters make their UFC Octagon® debut as Steve Cantwell battles Razak Al- Hassan. The 22 year-old Cantwell, fighting out of Las Vegas, Nevada, held the WEC light heavyweight belt and has won six of his seven pro mixed martial arts fights. His most recent victory, a 2nd round TKO victory over Brian Stann in August, was the biggest of his career and netted him the WEC belt. In the opposite corner will be the unbeaten Al-Hassan of Des Moines, IA, who possesses a 6-0 professional MMA record, and a reputation as one of the Midwest’s top 205-pound prospects.

The undercard also includes former U.S. Marine Luigi Fioravanti vs. Brodie Farber; U.S. Navy veteran Dale Hartt vs. Corey Hill from “The Ultimate Fighter 5;” Ben Saunders from “The Ultimate Fighter 5” vs. former Navy SEAL Brandon Wolff; “The Ultimate Fighter 7” semi-finalist and U.S. Navy veteran Tim Credeur vs. Nate Loughran; Johnny Rees vs. U.S. Navy veteran Steve Bruno; and Justin McCully vs Eddie Sanchez.

Strikeforce "Destruction": Weigh-In Results

San Jose, CA. —Scott “Hands of Steel” Smith (13-5) weighed in at 185 ½ lbs. and his opponent, Terry Martin (18-5), tipped the scales at 186 lbs. one day before their meeting at Strikeforce “Destruction,” the mixed martial arts mega-event at San Jose’s HP Pavilion.

Strikeforce World Light Heavyweight (205 lb. limit) Champion Bobby Southworth (9-5) and his opponent, Renato “Babalu” Sobral (30-7), both registered in at 204 lbs.  Knockout artists and opponents Duane “Bang” Ludwig (17-8) and Yves Edwards (34-14-1) weighed in at 163 lbs. and 164 lbs, respectively.

The following are the official fighter weights from today’s weigh-ins at Hotel DeAnza:

ESPN MMA Live Episode 28

Here's episode 28 of ESPN's MMA Live. Hear the breakdown of UFC 91from Jon, Franklin, Stephan and Kenny "Ken Flo" himself after his destruction of Joe Stevenson.

Will UFC 95 feature a match-up between Anderson Silva and Chuck Liddell? Who should Couture fight next, and what's the future of the heavyweight division? What do these guys think of this weekend's Strikeforce event? Get opinions and answers here.

UFC 95: The Spider VS The Iceman??? Rumors begin!

UFC 95, which is said to be taking place on February 21st in London, England is rumored to feature Anderson Silva as the main event. Who will he fight? The rumor is that discussions are in progress to possibly match up Silva against "The Iceman", Chuck Liddell at light heavyweight.

We'll keep you posted as more information is released!

MMA Live: UFC 91 Post-Fight Extra

Here's a longer version of the post-fight coverage by ESPN's MMA Live crew! Great coverage by this crew!

I'd just like to point out, that right around minute 13, Stephan points out exactly what I pointed out in my UFC 91 wrap-up... Brock Lesnar will be hard to submit via any type of choke, but is more susceptible to the arm bars and leg locks. Obviously this is an important topic given that his next fight will be against either Noegueira or Mir. Frank and Stephan also "agreed with me" that Gabriel Gonzaga would pose a tough challenge to Lesnar.

Anyway, thanks for agreeing with me Stephan! I knew there was a reason I liked you so much.

Fedor calls out Lesnar!

Check out this article from MMAJunkie.com about a press release from M-1 Global and Fedor Emelianenko!

They basically state that although they are still interested in a fight between Fedor and Couture, they also welcome a "super fight" between Fedor and the new UFC Heavyweight Champ, Brock Lesnar. Nice of them, right? Well....

They also go on to state that although Lesnar is a great athlete, they don't believe he would "make it out of the first round" in a fight with Fedor. They also state their displeasure with comments by Dana White about Fedor being "overrated" and that his "record was irrelevant".

So why not make this fight happen and figure out who's the best once and for all?!?!? Well, because they state that the fight would need to be a "co-promoted event between the UFC, M-1, and Affliction Entertainment". I think we all know that isn't going to happen.

I love the tactic though, stir the pot and push the UFC into a corner where they make this fight happen for nothing more than spite. However, the UFC truly has nothing to gain. The only thing that M-1 and Affliction bring as value in a co-promoted event would be Fedor, with the possible exception of a middleweight to challenge Anderson Silva (but that became less of a need after Damien Maia showed his stuff at UFC 91).

The UFC doesn't need any fighters from M-1 or Affliction to put on a good show and draw a crowd. The UFC doesn't care to help it's competitor succeed, especially in these financial times where every competitor is struggling harder to survive, let alone grow. The only value to the UFC would be to prove that Lesnar could beat Fedor, which at this point, I'm not sure many people believe could happen. So not only would the UFC not gain anything, they stand to lose quite a bit if Lesnar were to lose.

At the end of the day, I would LOVE to see Fedor absolutely destroy Lesnar... but as a fight fan, I'd still rather see Fedor VS Couture. But again, I love that Fedor and M-1 are stirring the preverbial pot!