MMA Hot Stuff

Strikeforce Weighins

The Strikeforce Weighins will be FREE and open to the public this friday! January 29th at 5:30pm ET at the Chairman's Club at BankAtlantic Center. AND it gets better. Immediately following the weighins in MMA Superstar Dan Henderson will be on hand doing an autograph signing!

This is your time to see/meet Herschel Walker, Bobby Lashley, Nick Diaz, Marius "The Whitemare" Zaromskis, Cris Cyborg and Marloes Coenen.

All 24 fighters will participate in the final weigh in on Friday, Jan. 29, just one day prior to the STRIKEFORCE mixed martial arts (MMA) fight card on Saturday, Jan. 30 at BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Fla., live on SHOWTIME (10 p.m. ET/PT).  The weigh in is open to the public, free of charge.

Walker, the 1982 Heisman Trophy winner, will make his MMA debut against Greg Nagy.  The 47-year-old two-time Pro Bowler will compete in the cage the night before the Pro Bowl and one week prior to the Super Bowl.  The 6-foot 1-inch, 220 pound Walker holds a fifth degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do and has experience in the combat disciplines of Muay Thai and Kenpo.

The 26 year old Diaz (20-7), a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, will take on DREAM welterweight (170 pounds) champ Zaromskis (13-3) in the main event and first STRIKEFORCE welterweight championship bout in history.

STRIKEFORCE 145-pound women's champion Cyborg (8-1) will defend her crown against submission expert Coenen (17-3). Cyborg became the first STRIKEFORCE women's champion in history on Aug. 15, 2009 when the Brazilian native stopped superstar Gina Carano.

The 6-foot, 3-inch, 250 pound Lashley, also a former collegiate wrestling star for Missouri Valley College and member of The United States Army, competed in both the WWE Raw and SmackDown! shows in 2005 and '06.  The undefeated MMA heavyweight will face Wes Sims.

BankAtlantic Center Chairman's Club
1 Panther Pkwy
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33323
(954) 835-7000

StrikeForce and Rockstar Energy Drink Present "Carano vs Cyborg"

In what's being said to be THE biggest female MMA fight ever, Gina "Conviction" Carano (7-0) will face Cris "Cyborg" Santos (7-1) August 15th at the HP Pavilion in San Jose. The Co-Main Event will be the Lightweight Title Unification between Gilbert Melendez (15-2) and Josh Thomson (16-2). For those ladies that may not recall, Gilbert was the title holder but lost it to Josh last June. They were set to have a rematch in April but it was canceled because Josh broke his ankle while training. And interim title was created and Gilbert won the title in a fight against Rodrigo Damm April 11 2009. So this match up between Gilbert and Josh is huge in my opinion. I mean I'm thrilled to see Gina and Cyborg finally go at it but this match up between Gilbert and Josh is pretty long over due.

Also rumored to be on the card is Joe Riggs (31-11-1) and Nick Diaz (20-7-1). These two met in February 2006 while they were under contract with the UFC, in what has been deemed as being one of the craziest post-fight fights that took place at the hospital. Now that they're with Strikeforce these two very well could possibly face each other again. Joe has been calling out Jake Shields in hopes of fighting him but Jake has made it very clear he has no interest in fight Joe and is looking for "big names".

While Strikeforce has a fairly small talent pool, they've been producing some very decent cards as of late.

Hope to see you all August 15th in San Jose.

Strikeforce Lawler vs Shields - How To Watch

This Saturday one of the best cards Strikeforce has put on will take place in St Louis, MO at the Scottrade Center.

On the main card:
Robbie Lawler facing Jake Shields at a catch weight of 182lbs
Andrei "The Pitbull" Arlovski vs Brett Rogers
Nick Diaz vs Scott Smith
Phil Baroni vs Joe Riggs
Kevin Randleman vs Mike Whitehead

It's definitely a card worth watching. But how can you watch it, you ask?

This particular fight will not be available in restaurant/bars (however Strikeforce has told me going forward it will be, so please check back for future event listings).

If you want to watch this event you either have to find; a friend who happens to have Showtime, Buy it as a Pay Per View event (you should see it available for purchase on one of your standard PPV channels), or order it online - see http://strikeforce.sho.com

For you fellow tweeps (twitter peeps) you can also see a live Twitter feed! Fans can contribute content alongside SHOWTIME Sports' behind-the-scenes staff throughout the evening by adding #strikeforce to their tweets.  
SWEET TWEETS - say that three times.

ESPN MMALive

Here's today's ESPN MMALive episode..

Miguel Torres filled in for Kenny but fellow tweeps (twitter peeps) you can still get your Kenny fix by going here: http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=4231291

First up was the big news about Kimbo Slice joining the cast of TUF 10. Seems everyone agrees this is a great move by Dana White by bringing Kimbo on the show. As you may know Dana hasn't been shy about his opinion of Kimbo. Seems to me Kimbo will definitely bring the more casual fans to the sport
and of course us MMA Addicts will tune in to see this one time street fighter YouTube sensation try to prove himself. Also as part of the cast are  four ex NFL players. The loser in this may be Strikeforce for not being able to come to an agreement with Slice. Love him or hate him Slice definitely brings viewers!

Stephan Bonnar via satellite says it shows Kimbo has character by joining TUF cast.  Saying Dana has been critical of Kimbo from he beginning but Kimbo is showing he has character by accepting this challenge from Dana.

We can't forget that Kimbo is coming in with options. He has expressed his desire to box so if this doesn't pan it out he has that back up plan! TUF 10 will debut  Sept 16th.

Also discussed:
Rua and Lyoto may meet in October

This Sunday Mike Brown will defend his title against Urjah Faber. Urijah was on the show via satellite saying he knows Brown is a tough opponent. He said he made one small mistake in their last fight. Migel asked how he expects to win this sunday and Urijah's response was " Anyway. My hands are good and I've proven that before. I can submit guys as well. I'll be bringing my A game."

Also this weekend, Robbie Lawler and Jake Shields will face each other at a catch weight of 182lbs. Robbie was on MMALive via satellite and said he won't leave anything behind. Not impressed or worried about Jake moving up a weight.  Jon Anik picked Jake to win this fight.

Pulse question this week: Is Quinton making the right decision by not fighting Lyoto and coaching on TUF 10?  What are your thoughts?

Buy or Sell - Kimbo will win his first fight on TUF.

Week in Review: UFC WEC And Everything In Between

Hi ladies
wow, where have I been?! My body was kind enough to turn a common cold into bronchitis during the weekend of UFC 98 and forced me to take a week "off". But I'm feeling much better and there has been a lot going on!

While UFC 98 has come and gone I need to fess up and say my picks were ALL WRONG. And to those of you that emailed me to point that out, thanks captain obvious(es) and good job in picking the favorites. I had the pleasure of taking my dad to the fights and he had a great time. While you may have better seats while watching the fights at home there's nothing like feeling the excitement in the arena.

Frankie Edgar did an outstanding job against Sean Sherk and I owe him mad props. While I knew Frankie would do well he showed everyone he is deserving of these great match ups. I'm definitely excited to see what is in store for him!

Ohhh so sad. That Matt Serra vs Matt Hughes fight was the fight I was really looking forward to. Hughes had his hands down half way through the first round. Neither of them did a stellar job, but it was a pretty good fight. I had the first round going to Serra, second round going to Hughes and the third round going to Serra. So when it came down to judge's decision, I really thought Serra had won. And frankly, by the expression and body language of both Hughes and Serra I think they both thought Serra had won as well. Everyone in the crowd around me and my Tweeps (people on Twitter) thought the same thing. I guess as the saying goes "Never Leave It Up To The Judges" is very fitting here in this situation. The judges probably saw something that the rest of us didn't.

The Evans vs Machida fight was great. While I thought Evans would have won the fight it was exciting for sure. When Machida knocked Evans out in the second round seeing Evans buckle like that left my mouth open for two minutes. Perhaps we'll be seeing Lyoto face off with Shogun Rua at UFC 104.

All old news but for me the highlight was not only taking my dad to his first UFC event but seeing him get into it and actually say to me stuff like "What a great take down" and knowing the specific hold and submission names really impressed me. I had a great time with him. Thanks for going dad!

Other news worthy items you should know about:

• Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic (24-6-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC) will return to the UFC and fight Mostapha Al-Turk (6-4 MMA, 0-1 UFC) at next weekend's UFC 99 event.
• EA Sports announced they will release a MMA-themed video game "EA Sports MMA" in 2010. This is another sign how mainstream MMA going. Video games will help reach the younger demographic even more than they are now.
• It was announced that Rampage Jackson and Rashad Evans are the new coaches for The Ultimate Fighter.
• Tune in to WEC 41 to not only watch Mike Brown defend his title against Urijah Faber but our friend Kenny Florian will be the commentator. Super excited for this card.
• Frank Trigg signed a new deal with the UFC.

June is not only the month of my birthday (33, already?) but it's also a great month for MMA addicts.

EVENTS
June 5th - Bellator Fighting Championships Week 10
June 6th - Strikeforce Robbie Lawler vs Jake Shields (oh yeah AND Andrei Arlovski vs Brett Rogers as well as Nick Diaz vs Scott Smith) YAY
June 7th - WEC Mike Brown vs Urijah Faber
June 12th - Bellator Fighting Championships Week 11
June 13th - UFC 99 Rich Franklin vs. Wanderlei Silva (Marcus Davis vs Dan Hardy also on this card)
June 19th - Strikeforce Challengers: Santos vs Villasenor
June 19th - Bellator Fighting Championships Week 12
June 20th - The Ultimate Fighter Finale 9 (Yes we'll get to see TUF finals but also on the card is Clay Guida vs. Diego Sanchez  and Nate Diaz vs Joe Daddy Stevenson) WTF Chris Lytle is on the prelim card? Breaks my heart. Hopefully he still tries for fight of the night honors!

All in all a great month for MMA fans. More to come. More frequently I promise.

 

ESPN MMA Live

Here is this weeks installment of ESPN's MMA Live. Can I just say that I love this weekly show? Great job ESPN for putting this out there for the fans.

This week's show spends some time on the controversial topic of Kyle Maynard's MMA debut. You may Kyle as a congenital amputee that found success in wrestling and then went on to pursue his dream of fighting. His dream has been met with mixed reviews. Hear what Kenny and the crew think of Kyle's achievement and future in the sport. Also, Kyle joins the crew live to discuss his love for MMA and why he wants to fight. What does Kyle have to say to the naysayers out there? Find out!

Say what you will about Kyle's place in MMA, but you must admit he's got heart and courage and you have to admire his determination.

The crew discusses the addition of Anderson Silva VS Forrest Griffin to the UFC 101 card. And apparently Kenny read my post about fighting styles, because he agrees this will be an exciting one given Griffin's aggressiveness and Silva's counter-punching style.

We hear about updates to the June 6th Strikeforce card. Jeff Sherwood joins to discuss the Sherdog top 10 pound-for-pound fighter rankings.

And Kenny takes us to Cambridge Culinary School of Arts for some tips on "healthy living" through turkey chili. I'm a little disappointed that we didn't see Kenny and Keith demonstrate the "chicken wrist", but the chili recipe looks GOOD!

Nick Diaz vs Scott Smith Added To June 6 Strikeforce Fight Card

A benefit in fighting for a fairly small organization is having the ability to fight often!
With an organization such as Strikeforce, while they're definitely an Up-And-Coming-Look-Out-UFC kind of organization they still have only a few fighters under contract (comparatively speaking to the UFC). Their last show earlier this month in San Jose was spot on. The production was awesome, the crowd was rowdy and the fights were pretty exciting.

Just two weeks after that card, two of the fighters that gave us some of the best fights of the night have already been locked in to fight again, this time they'll be facing each other!

Fresh off their respective thrilling wins, the versatile Nick Diaz (19-7) and knockout artist Scott "Hands of Steel" Smith (17-5) are eager to get back in the cage. The pair will square off on Saturday, June 6th, in a special 180-pound showdown during the live SHOWTIME telecast of Strikeforce: "Lawler vs Shields" from the Scottrade Center in St Louis, MO.

"I think this is a great fight for me, but I really hate that (Smith) brigs his kids to every one of his fights because now I'm going to be made out to be the bad guy or some sort of villain after I beat him up, " said the 25-year-old Diaz, who shocked the MMA World with his complete dominance of four-time world champion Frank Shamrock in the Strikeforce main even April 11th. "At the end of the day, I'm going to do what I have to do through and take him out."

Tickets for Strikeforce "Lawler vs Shields" are on sale at the Scottrade Center box office as well as at all Ticketmaster locations (800-745-3000), Ticketmaster online (www.ticketmaster.com) and Strikeforce's official website (www.strikeforce.com)

The live SHOWTIME telecast of the event begins at 10pm ET (delayed on the west coast). In the highly anticipated main event "Ruthless" Robbie Lawler (16-4) will face off with fellow top ranked superstar Jake Shields (22-4-1) in a 182-pound catch weight fight.

Nick Diaz

This video speaks for itself.

ps sorry the size isn't just right... it's an embed from ESPN. (ESPN you need to fix it please mkthanks)

Strikeforce Shamrock vs Diaz My Predictions

This weekend, Saturday April 11th at the HP Pavilion in San Jose Strikeforce presents Shamrock vs Diaz! Sh!t has been thrown by both  Frank Shamrock and Nick Diaz leading up to this much hyped & anticipated face off. Here are my predictions.  As usual, winners in green.

MAIN CARD (beginning at 7:00pm)
Brett Roger (8-0)  vs Abongo Humphrey (12-0) This heavyweight fight is scheduled to be 3x5 minute rounds and is not a title fight.  I'm guessing this is going to be a first found TKO.

Chris Santos (6-1) vs Hitomi Akano (14-5). The ladies are fighting at 140lbs and is scheduled to be 3x5 minute rounds and is not a title fight. This is a tough call. It will go one of two ways... either Cyborg will win by TKO or Akano will catch Cyborg in an arm bar. 

Scott Smith (14-5) vs Benji Radach (19-4). This is a middleweight fight scheduled to go 3x5 minute rounds and is not a title fight. This fight was a hard one to make a prediction for. I mean both have great records, have fought some big names and both like to go for the knock out. I'm definitely excited for this match up.

MAIN EVENTS:

Gilbert Melendez vs Rodrigo Damm For those of you who have been in a cave and haven't heard, Gilbert's scheduled opponent Josh Thomson had to pull out of the fight because he broke his ankle.  I will say I'm so disappointed we won't see Josh and Gilbert face off again.Having said that I'm sure his fight with Rodrigo will be a good one. I'm looking at Gilbert to definitely walk away with a win here.

Frank Shamrock(23-9-2) vs Nick Diaz (18-7) This fight is scheduled to go 3x5 minute rounds and they'll be fighting at a catch weight of 179lbs. I don't foresee either of these guys tapping due to submission. Neither of them will call uncle. A bone will have to crack before that happens. This is going to be a KO or TKO in my opinion. Both are out to win this fight, I'm just not sure if it's because they really want to win or because they don't want the other person to win. And yes, I think there's a difference. Either way this is going to be a great main event!!

 

“SHAMROCK VS. DIAZ” TICKETS ON SALE TODAY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

“SHAMROCK VS. DIAZ” TICKETS ON SALE TODAY

 

 

SAN JOSE, CA (Feb. 23, 2009)—Tickets for “Shamrock vs. Diaz,” the Strikeforce mixed martial arts (MMA) mega-event that will take place at San Jose, California’s HP Pavilion on Saturday, April 11^th, are officially on sale.

 

Priced from $30, “Shamrock vs. Diaz” tickets are available for purchase at the HP Pavilion box office (408-287-7070) as well as at all Ticketmaster locations (408-998-TIXS), Ticketmaster online (www.ticketmaster.com), and Strikeforce’s official website (www.strikeforce.com).

 

Three-time world champion and MMA legend, Frank Shamrock (24-9-1), will make his long-awaited return to the cage against Gracie Jiu-Jitsu black belt and hard-hitting brawler, Nick Diaz (18-7, 1 NC), in the main event of the most highly anticipated Strikeforce event of all-time.

 

The headlining matchup, which will be contested at a catch weight of 179 lbs, represents a key opportunity for the 25-year-old Diaz to avenge a devastating, 21 second knockout that his trainer, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu master, Cesar Gracie, suffered at the hands of Shamrock in the main event of Strikeforce’s historic, inaugural MMA event at HP Pavilion on March 10, 2006.

 

Middleweight (185-pound limit) sluggers Scott “Hands of Steel” Smith (16-5, 1 NC) and Benji “Razor” Radach (19-4) will go to war with each other in a featured contest on the card.  Additional matchups for the Strikeforce event will be announced shortly. 

 

HP Pavilion doors will open for “Shamrock vs. Diaz” at 4:30 p.m. on April 11^th.  The first preliminary bout will begin at 5 p.m. and the main fight card will commence at 7 p.m.

 

About Strikeforce
Strikeforce is a world-class mixed martial arts cage fight promotion which, on Friday, March 10, 2006, made history with its “Shamrock vs. Gracie” event, the first sanctioned mixed martial arts fight card in California state history.  The star-studded extravaganza, which pitted legendary champion Frank Shamrock against Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Cesar Gracie at San Jose’s HP Pavilion, played host to a sold-out, record crowd of 18,265.  Since 1995, Strikeforce has been the exclusive provider of martial arts programming for ESPN and, after 12 years of success as a leading, world championship kickboxing promotion, the company unveiled its mixed martial arts series with “Shamrock vs. Gracie.” 

Media Contacts:

 

Strikeforce – Mike Afromowitz (917) 566-8754 mafromowitz@strikeforce.com