MMA Hot Stuff

Patrick Cote's Advice to the TUF 11 Contestants...

Judging by how active Patrick Cote has been on his Facebook and Twitter lately, talking about his 'return to the octagon' I figured now would be a good time to check in with him. Coming off a loss to Anderson Silva (that dates back to UFC 90 in October 2008) that hurt him in more ways than just his record. While in the 3rd round he injured his knee and would later require surgery followed by a lengthy recovery. Back in high spirits and anxious to get back into the octagon, here's what he had to share...

Rachel: You gave a shout out on your twitter to Alan Belcher and congratulated him on his new baby, that’s so sweet. How important is family to you?

Patrick: Actually I don’t have kids yet, but you know what family is the most important thing in your life and you have to take care of it !

R: Speaking of fighting Alan, it’s been confirmed your return to the octagon will be at UFC 113. How excited are you? Especially being in your homeland of Canada!

P: For sure, it s about time, can t wait to herd the fans there and fight for them.

R: You’ve mentioned in the past you’d like to fight Bisping assuming he lost to Henderson. And clearly we all know he lost big time to Hendo. Is that still a wish? To fight Bisping?

P: I want to fight the best as possible, I want the best fight for me and I thought Bisping was this guy, but now I think Silva will murder him.

R: The 185lb weighclass is STACKED.  I know it’s hard to look past your next opponent but you must have short list of guys you’d like a shot at. Who are they?

P: My goal is to have another title fight and it s start with Belcher, I don t care about the opponent, my goal is to be world champion

R: The 11^th season of TUF has started filming. As a former contestant what advice would you give the new guys?

P: Enjoy and don t be stupid in front of the camera haha !!

R: Speaking of The Ultimate Fighter, you were on the same team as Matt Serra. Is it safe to assume you’ll be cheering him on as he faces Frank Trigg at UFC 109?

P: For sure. Serra and I we are relly good friend, he came to my house last summer and we had a great time !! I ll cheer for him for sure and he ll win !!

R: What’s the first thing you like to eat after weighins?

P: Babyback ribs

R: I hate to ask you, because I know you get asked all the time… but how’s the knee?

P: Knee is very very strong and it s almost done now !! the knee is 95% perfect !!

R: Tell me, who is your hero and why?

P: I don t have Hero but some athlete than I respect alot. Like Brett Favre is for me the perfect example of a true athlete and warrior!

R: Yikes, the big 3-0 birthday is coming up for you next month. Any plans?

P: Actually I’ll start my training camp around this date so that will be very calm and just nice diner with some friends!! I’ll do a freaky party after my win at UFC 113

R: According to your Facebook (and we know facebook does not lie), you’re in a relationship. How does she feel about your profession?

P: She don t like that at all haha but she is very very supportive. She just don t like watching me live because it s to stressful and she don’t want me to get hurt. It 's nice she's worries about me I guest hahah. Seriously she understand my life and everything is nice now !!

Happy (early) Birthday Patrick! And good luck at UFC 113.

You can follow Patrick on Twitter at twitter.com/Patrick_Cote and don't forget to follow me at twitter.com/MMAHotStuff

 
 

Dana White Talks Kimbo Slice

Dana White talks Kimbo Slice plans, Confirms Vitor Belfort vs Anderson Silva and Herschel Walker...

Nominations for 2009 World MMA Awards closes on Wednesday

Who do you think was the BreakThrough Fighter of the Year? Best MMA Promotion? 

As a reminder, the nomination stage for the 2009 World MMA Awards closes this Wednesday (tomorrow), Sept. 30. 

The World MMA Awards, which is operated by Fighters Only magazine, is viewed as one of the most prestigious awards for the sport, awarding in 18 different MMA related categories

Nominees will be announced on Oct. 5, and final voting will then run until Dec. 5. Winners will be announced at a Dec. 30 "Oscars-style" black-tie ceremony, which streams live on Versus.com (and throughout January on Versus) from The Joint at The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. 

"Response to the World MMA Awards has been huge this year with thousands of fans worldwide taking part," Fighters Only CEO Rob Hewitt recently stated. "Nominations have been very diverse, and ... most of the categories are still wide open." 

The categories range from Fight of the Year to KO and Submission of the Year to Best MMA Brand and best MMA Media Source. MMA equipment manufactures also vie for a variety of categories. 

But before you place your vote I encourage you to take a minute and think about things. What makes someone the Best Fighter of the Year? Is it the number of wins? Is it the most vicious KnockOut? The biggest upset? Or is it because of heart and dedication?

Another category is Best MMA Journalist. I've thought a lot about this one (for obvious reasons). Always keep in mind the best Journalist may not be the one that breaks every 'story'... Sadly, fact checking has taken a back seat more often than not over being the first to the party. And then there are times the stories are known weeks before the story actually gets out but can't be discussed for confidential reasons. I personally take pride in the fact that while I consider many Fighters (UFC, WEC & Strikeforce) my personal friends, a lot of the information I hear I keep to myself. I'm so proud of what my friends have accomplished and there are times I know the information is just best left unsaid or unwritten. I want them to have time to train in private for a fight before it's publicly announced who their next opponent is. Who do you consider to be a Journalist that writes funny or interesting stories? Gives a different perspective than the 12 other sites that covered the same thing the day before.

So now that I've given you something to think about, please hurry and vote. 

Also, feel free to follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/MMAHotStuff

Dana White Talks Kimbo Slice

Dana White talks Kimbo Slice plans, confirms Belfort vs Silva and blitzes Herschel Walker

Don't Forget To Thank The Fighters

You can say what you will about the sport of Mixed Martial Arts. Whether you love it, hate it or just don't understand it, you can definitely walk away with one understanding of the sport if you have time to watch just about any given fight. A big reason why the fighters are in the cage and doing what they do is because of the fans. Okay so not ALL the fighters are always so generous to their fans but never mind the exceptions. The vast majority of the fighters are extremely thoughtful, respectful and GRATEFUL for their fans.

Think about it. After every fight when Joe Rogan (or whoever) is talking to the winning fighter, the fighter always thanks his team, sponsors and the fans. When was the last time a baseball player thanked the fans? A football player? Okay, you can make the argument they're on a team and not being interviewed individually so I'll make more points.

Name a fighter. Any fighter. Have you ever tried to get into contact with that fighter? Most likely they're on Twitter. Or Facebook. Come on give me a name. You even have the Real Chuck Liddell now on Twitter. Randy Couture? Check. Tito Ortiz? Yep. And no offense but those are exactly the youngest of the fighters! Okay mind you I just mentioned the three fighters that probably need the most help with their Twitter-skills! LOL They're great with posting but not so great with being interactive. But come on, they're at least on there and posting what they're up to right? And why do they do this? Purely for the fans. Umm where's Peyton Manning? Not on Twitter. Reggie Bush on Twitter but let's be real here, it's probably just because Kim Kardashian got him up and going on it! Okay, I kid I kid!

Some fighters are very interactive on their personal websites. Daily video posts? Hello have you been on BJPenn.com? The guy shows you what he eats for every meal. 

Oh you want to roll around with these guys. Most likely you can find a gym in a city near you where there's a top tier fighter that's a household name you can roll around with. I'm not kidding. Of course they're not looking to give free lessons to any Larry or Stan off the street, but if you're a dedicated fighter in the making, these guys have opened gyms and are teaching classes. When they're not personally training for a fight they're most likely helping one of their team mates prepare for a fight. 

And now you're starting to see fighters go one step further in how they interact with fans. Shane Carwin will send you a hand written and signed letter. The guy is BUSY. I mean crazy busy. And he hand writes letters. Who even writes letters now days? You can go to Shane's store http://www.performancemma.com/Shane-Carwin-s/215.htm?Click=1592  buy something and you'll get the letter with the merchandise! 

I just think it's worth noting and making sure the MMA fans (like me) don't take the accessibility of fighters for granted. I think this is one of the many things that makes this sport so special. The next time you see a fighter you should thank him for everything he does since they're so quick to thank us.

Roy Jones Jr joins the ESPN MMA Live crew at UFC 101

Roy Jones Jr stopped by ESPN's MMA Live set at UFC 101 to talk boxing, Anderson Silva and other topics with Jon Anik, Randy Couture and Stephan Bonnar. Will Jones and Silva ever meet in the boxing ring? And what does Jones think about the boxing skills of MMA fighters in general (this is the best explanation by a professional boxer I've ever heard, finally someone that realizes MMA fighters are not suppose to be experts at boxing). A great interview and makes me really like Roy!

UFC 101, Forrest Griffin And My SoapBox

I've started this post at least three times and I've had to start over because I've found myself getting SO ANGRY. So let's see if I can get through it this time. Oh, and given this is my site it's my soap box to rant about anything I want, right?!

After UFC 101 I watched the post-fight press conference and wanted to see what others were saying on Twitter about the event. Just to remind you of what happened, Anderson beat Forrest by Knock Out 3 minutes & 23 seconds into the first round. Then immediately following the stoppage, Forrest essentially got up and ran out of the cage and into what I'd guess was his locker room. He didn't stick around for the final decision by the judges.

Anyway, I was absolutely dumbfounded at the opinions I read. Many people were saying he was hurt, potentially with a dislocated jaw. Some people even claimed he lost his hearing in one ear. Those people were 'fans' that read something on an Underground Forum. That's what happens with underground forums, they're total random rumors people make up. Unconfirmed. Unfounded. They're just bored people who have nothing better to do than make shit up. Remember the Kimo story from a couple weeks ago? Insane.

But that's not even what I'm upset about. Because you see those people gave justification to why Forrest ran out of the cage, "He was hurt and he needed medical attention". Which, as it turns out, was NOT ACCURATE.

What really upsets me are those fair weather fans that criticized and dogged Forrest for what he did. People berated him for his "lack of respect".  Some people had the audacity to compare his behavior to what Brock Lesnar did (and has done multiple times). Really people? Because what Brock did was disrespectful to PAYING FANS by flipping us off. Never mind what he did to the biggest sponsor in the sport, and then some. Then some other people compared what Forrest did to the LeBron James and Dwight Howard saga. Okay that's not comparing apples to apples or even fruit to fruit. One is a team sport, the other is not. Just for starters.

What's so disheartening is a large majority of the world has no idea what fighters do to get ready for fights. It's emotional. Very emotional. And if it's not, then they're probably not really ready for the fight. People should have been saying  "Wow Forrest Griffin has heart and was so upset with the loss that he ran out of the cage. Poor guy." He lost to Anderson Silva. The best pound for pound fighter in the world. The best. Losing to Anderson shouldn't move him in the rankings at all in my opinion. Forrest had nothing to lose but only something to gain. He didn't beat Anderson, so what? Neither have 25 or so other people that have been brave enough to step into the cage with him.  And for those people that say it was rigged, please I beg you, go back to WWE. This sport doesn't want you. And for those other people that said this is Dana White's fault for forcing Forrest to take this fight, think again. Do you really think Dana would do anything to devalue a great fighter like Forrest and match him up with Anderson if he didn't think he was capable? Forrest is one of the quintesential UFC poster boys, would Dana really throw him to the lions? I would look at it as a compliment that Joe Silva thought Forrest was a good match up for Anderson. The UFC needed someone to push Silva, someone that wasn't afraid, someone that had the heart, guts and desire to make him fight. Who did they come to? Forrest Griffin. Even knowing the outcome I wouldn't think this was an easy match-up for Anderson. Many people picked Forrest to win. People (including Joe Silva) thought he had a shot.

I guess I get so upset because I know first hand what these guys go through while training for a fight. The only way I could know more so is if I were training for a fight personally. As most of my readers know, my fiance is a fighter. Mind you he's not fighting for the UFC, but serious fighters train for every fight as if they were stepping into the UFC Octagon. They take it seriously. This is their life (to quote Nate Quarry). These guys (and a few women) train their asses off. For months it's grueling trips to the gym. Sometimes three intense work outs a day for 6 days a week. And that one day a week they take "off" is probably just an easy work out day, you know your typical day at the gym if you're lucky enough to actually skip happy hour and make it to the gym. These guys cut anywhere from 20-35lbs (depending on weight class). They travel to remote gyms to train with different guys and to focus, leaving their families behind. With all of that invested, how could we be surprised when a fighter is overcome with emotion after losing a fight he (or she) put their heart and soul into training for.

And remember, these are professional fighters. They are paid to do this, they are not goverened by NCAA rules and the purpose is not to build fine young men, this is a business. If you as a fan have the right to boo them, they have the right as athletes to exit the cage without shaking their opponents hand or doing a post-fight interview. Wasn't it Charles Barkley that said "I don't want to be your kids role model"?

What would you have said to Forrest if he were your buddy? Because in this world of Twitter and blogs, what you write, his friends and family may read. Same goes for all other fighters out there. Now I'm certainly not this kind to all fighters, but then again not all fighters are as kind and deserving of respect as Forrest.

As this fantastic sport continues to grow and as the fans evolve, please keep in mind what goes into being a world class fighter before you trash talk, especially in public forums.

Don't believe everything you read unless it's CONFIRMED by the fighter or his camp. If you're truly a fan, please do your part to educate those around you and help SUPPORT those that make this sport possible. 

UFC 101 Results BJ Remains The Master

Results from UFC 101

BJ Penn defeated Kenny Florian via Rear Naked Choke in Round 4th round

Anderson Silva defeated Forrest Griffin via Knock Out (although I thought it was Technical Knock Out since Forrest waved him off) in the 1st round

Johny Hendricks beat Amir Sadollah via questionable Technical Knock Out in the 1st. There were questions on whether or not the ref stopped it early.

Ricardo Almeida beat Kendall Grove by Unanimous Decion

Kurt Pellegrino beat Josh Neer by Unanimous Decion

Aaron Riley beat Shane Nelson in their rematch by Unanimous Decion

John Howard beat Tamdan McCrory by Split Decision

George Sotiropoulos beat George Roop by Submission in the 2nd round

Jesse Lennox beat Danillo Villefort by Technical Knock out in the 3rd round

I'm not going to lie, I'm sort of disappointed by those fights... with the exception of the Main Event.
Don't forget to follow me on twitter at twitter.com/mmahotstuff

Can't wait for UFC 102.

The Plight of a Counter Puncher: The Anderson Silva Dilemma

Guest writer: Ronald Young Jr.

Push Him To The Limit

 

Some have stated that Anderson Silva is washed up, and/or has lost his touch in evaluating his last two performances.  However, I blame the weakness of the division, and poor matchmaking.  Anderson Silva fights for the middleweight division, and much like the champion before him, has cleaned out the majority of his top competition.  His two latest match-ups have been against opponents who have been blatantly afraid to fully engage in the fight with Silva.  People have accused Silva of showboating and not going after his opponents, but this has never been his style.  Obviously his current style has worked for him because he is still the champion of his division, and ranked amongst the best pound for pound fighters in the world.

Two fights ago before Silva fought Patrick Cote, he faced off in the octagon against James Irvin in the light heavyweight division.  Against a fighter like Irvin, Silva excels because Irvin wanted to push the pace and take the fight to Silva.  However this is a strategy that is not conducive to victory against him because the first minute of every Silva fight is spent with him studying your every move and determining his timing.  Once you push the pace he releases his superior hand speed and counts on his precision striking to dominate his opponents.  Once Irvin pushed the pace and got in Silva’s face he was rewarded with a right hand to the face and several more behind as Silva got the KO against him.  However I can’t really fault him for this strategy, because trying to grind out a victory on the ground will not work, as shown with Travis Lutter and Dan Henderson.  In my humble opinion, they were the closest to defeating Silva, and even they didn’t make it out of the second round,  both being submission victories for Silva.

Silva has not lost a decision victory since his first MMA fight nine years ago, and it was a split decision, which means he was not dominated.  Since then he has lost three times, two submissions and one disqualification.  What does this mean?  This means you’re not going to beat Silva on the cards, you have to finish him in order to win the fight.  I won’t calculate the percentage but to put it in perspective, he has 28 fights, and four of them are losses; of those four losses, one of them is a decision loss.  In a five round middleweight fight who wants to take the chance of outpointing Silva on the way to a victory?  Apparently Thales Leites and Patrick Cote didn’t do their research.  Silva appeared uninspired in his matches with Cote and Leites, and rather than blame him for not making the fight exciting, I blame his opponents and the matchmaking.  None of his other opponents were content to make it into the third round or to simply dive on the ground and hope that he followed.  All of his other opponents wanted to take the fight to Silva, and risk everything to win, because that’s the only way you’re going to beat Anderson Silva.  Matching up against him has been difficult but what must be taken into account is that if the opponent is not on the striking level of Silva, he’s not going to win.  Silva’s BJJ is good enough to keep you from submitting him (ask Lutter).  So, who do we match him up with in order to make for a good fight at the very least, if not an upset victory?  Enter Forrest Griffin.

For the casual fan that watches Anderson Silva, a fight against Irvin, or Dan Henderson, or against Rich Franklin will always be far more exciting than against the likes of fighters like Cote or Leites who were content to survive.  Forrest Griffin is more along the lines of an in your face fighter, though he will definitely come prepared with a plan.  In his last two fights Griffin was willing to throw caution to the wind and lay it all on the line for victory against Rampage Jackson, and Rashad Evans, arguably two of the best light heavyweight fighters in MMA.  One resulted in a decision victory and the other in TKO.  Even in defeat against Evans, many can make the case that Griffin was decisively winning the fight before he got caught in a bad situation.  With a fighter that’s willing to bang it out with his opponents, and with Silva who is patient enough to take what his opponent brings, I don’t see how we can expect anything but an exciting battle in Philadelphia when these two go head to head.

 

Hooray for genius matchmaking!

 

 

UFC Media Call Updates - Dana White talks Tito, Fedor and more!

Here are some updates from Dana White today about the UFC!

1. No deal with Fedor.

"We offered this guy an amazing deal, we were open to everything but a co-promotion".

"We tried everything to make this happen. We didn't hold back anything. To turn down a deal like this, you don't care about proving your the best in the world, you don't care about competing against the best talent, you don't care about money. Why in the world would I let these guys come in and promote wtih us?"

"Also the Fretita brothers have a gaming license, you don't just come in and jump right into it. You have to go through background checks and all kinds of sh*t, it just doens't happen."

"I went out and tried to make this happen, I did everything we could possibly do, and they didn't want to do it. They just don't want to sign with the UFC... I garauntee you he will not be offered a better deal in MMA."

"It's not about competition for this guy. The heavyweight class in the UFC is stronger than it's ever been before with Brock Lesnar, Cain Velasquez, Randy Couture, Shane Carwin..."

What does co-promote mean?

Dana essentially said that M-1 had nothing to offer. What were they going to co-promote? What would they bring to the table? Nothing. "Maybe that shit works in Russia, but it doesn't work here".

Is Dana done trying to sign Fedor?

"I want to make a deal! I wanted this thing so bad and I was so confident this was gonna happen. If they want to make a deal they can call me right now and we'll make a deal."

If co-promotion was off the table would you have a deal with Fedor?

"We'd be done. We'd be announcing a fight for him right now".

Dana reiterated MULTIPLE times, Fedor's people can call him RIGHT NOW and they can do a deal. He was miserable that this deal didn't get done. But the UFC is still open to a deal (other than co-promotion obviously).

This is great... Dana states, "I wasn't a dick at all in these negotiations. I was the nicest Dana White ever in these negotiations... we went in there to make this deal. I went down to Huntington Beach and walked into Tito's front door to make a deal. There were a lot of emotional and financial sh*t to work through. When I tell you we caved on EVERYTHING with Fedor to make this deal, I mean we caved on everything to make this deal. I can tell you that this deal didn't fall through because of me and Lorenzo."

"We have a standing offer out to Fedor. We have not pulled anything back. I'm ready to roll. The fans want to see this fight, it's my job, it's my job to make this happen."

"For anyone to call this guy the best fighter in the world is insanity. He got offered an assload of money, he can go fight in Sambo every Thursday night if he wants to. We held nothing back. The guy doesn't want to fight the best in the world".

"We have 300 guys that want to fight the best in the world 3 times a year, a guy that doesn't, f*ck him, I don't even want to talk about him anymore".

2. Vitor Belfort signs with the UFC, will headline UFC 103

"When we announced Franklin VS Henderson for Dallas, fans were pissed."

Rich Franklin VS Vitor Belfort headlines Dallas show, UFC 103

Dan Henderson is still next in line for a shot at Anderson Silva

3. UFC 101 will be free for English and Irish fans via ESPN

UFC signs a 3 year deal with ESPN for England and Ireland

Is there a bigger deal with ESPN in the US in the works?

"Once we get the right offer, we will be on network television. We haven't gotten the right offer yet."

"If we get a network deal, we're putting serious fights on TV. That's what's wrong with the boxing model. If we get a network deal, it's gonna be good for the fans, good for network, and good for the UFC."

4. Tito Ortiz joins the Conference Call and is back in the UFC!

"Tito is a guy fans still want to see fight..."

"One way or another people give a shit about him, so he's back... "

"Tito Ortiz will retire in the UFC."

Tito says:

"For me personally it was about competition. My fans deserve the best Tito Ortiz. It's not about the money, I'm fine there... Competition was my biggest factor."

"I'm healthy, I'm 100%. I'm very excited. The hell with all the money, it's about competition. I look at the past UFC champions. Forrest Griffin, I beat. Rashad Evans, they called it a draw but I felt I beat him. Machida, I gave him the best fight of anyone out there."

"The best fighters are in the UFC, it's the best promotion, and that's why I'm here."

"Dana and I are like boyfriend / girlfriend, Dana being the girlfriend."

"I just started working last week, I'm looking towards November / December. I want to fight before end of the year. It's up to Dana. I'm excited to be back in the UFC, and I know my fans are."

"You will never hear anything about money out of my mouth again." (WHAT???? Someone please file this quote away for future use)

How far away from title contention is Tito?

"Tito's not getting an easy road. We're talking about him fighting Mark Coleman for his first fight."

"Ring rust is real, and Tito's gonna have it..."

Will Tito and Chuck possibly fight again?

Dana says "I don't know, I just don't know. Chuck hasn't asked me for it". Tito says "I asked Dana about that when I first signed and he said "no way", so since he's now saying "I don't know" that's huge for me. Thank you!"

Does Tito have any interest in moving up to heavyweight?

"If I dominate the light heavyweight class like I once did, and have run through everyone in that weight class, then I'd consider it".

Tito wants another 4 to 5 years of competition, so he's not going to rush into a comeback. He'd love to fight in his hometown of LA, but he's not going to rush back before he's ready and risk injury that might cots him his career. He's willing to hold off another month or two if it means gaining another 4 to 5 years of competition for his career.

Does Dana think Tito is still only interested in being a movie star, and that he's not a fighter? "The best in the world to me are the guys that compete 3 times a year against the best in the world. These guys challenge themselves 3 times a year against the best in the world. Tito Ortiz, no matter what I've said about him over the years, he's got his surgery done, he's gonna come back and fight the best in the world. Tito's gonna come back right now and he's gonna go for it. He's coming into the UFC and he's gonna fight the best 205 pounders in the world. PERIOD".

Tito says... "I'm gonna get that belt back. People forget I was the longest reigning champ in UFC history."

5. Affliction Fighters

Dana mentions quite a few names of Affliction fighters that are now with Zuffa and will be going to the UFC and WEC. They are still working with 8 or 9 fighters.

Dana has no interest in Arlovski or Tim Sylvia.

6. Dan Henderson

Where does this leave the winner of Nate Marquardt and Damien Maia?

Hendo is definitely next in line for a shot at Anderson Silva, and Marquardt and Maia are in the mix. This is a good problem to have according to Dana, Silva has been so dominant for so long that it's good to have a group of guys lined up that pose a threat.

How soon will Henderson and Silva fight?

According to Dana it depends in what happens between Silva and Griffin next week. If he doesn't get too busted up, it should be fairly soon.