Professional boxer turned potential mixed martial artist James Toney continues to stir up the pot as he gets ready for his co-main event fight against Randy “The Natural” Couture. This time “Lights Out” lets MMA fans know that the sport they love is messed up because even with 12 losses Couture is considered a Legend. Is it just us or does Toney need an interpreter to understand at times?
For the second time in his career, UFC welterweight Chris Lytle kept Matt Brown at bay with a second-round submission at UFC 116. And he did it with a hold he's used in competition before.
But despite the unique submissions he pulled out of his hat this past Saturday - and one he fought out of - Lytle didn't give himself much of a pat on the back.
"Those (submissions) were just kind of luck I guess," Lytle said. "I'm not very good on the ground. I'm a boxer, pure and simple."
“It would be stupid for any mixed martial artist to stand in front of a boxer like that.”
“It doesn’t mean anything, the sport of Mixed Martial Arts will go on whether I win this fight or not. There is no real pressure there. Everybody wants to make it this pressure situation but it’s not that at all.”
“It doesn’t put me anywhere in the 205 mix. It’s just an interesting, intriguing match-up and that’s what the fights are about for me at this stage in my career. If the [Mauricio] Rua fight comes along, I’ll be ready for that. I’m active and fighting right now.”
SAN JOSE, Calif. - Like famed boxer Mike Tyson before him, MMA great
Fedor Emelianenko has always had a presence about him.
Many an opponent of the Russian heavyweight has admitted after the fact that
the icy cold stare of Emelianenko left them at a mental disadvantage
from the opening bell.
Not so for Brazilian Fabricio Werdum, who defeated
Emelianenko in the main event of Saturday's "Strikeforce and M-1 Global:
Fedor vs. Werdum" event in San Jose, Calif. - at least not as far as he
can remember.
SAN JOSE, Calif. - Like famed boxer Mike Tyson before him, MMA great
Fedor Emelianenko has always had a presence about him.
Many an opponent of the Russian heavyweight has admitted after the fact that
the icy cold stare of Emelianenko left them at a mental disadvantage
from the opening bell.
Not so for Brazilian Fabricio Werdum, who defeated
Emelianenko in the main event of Saturday's "Strikeforce and M-1 Global:
Fedor vs. Werdum" event in San Jose, Calif. - at least not as far as he
can remember.
Edgar will look to make his first title defense against BJ Penn at UFC 118. It’s going to be interesting to see what how the odds-makers perceive the bout, with many MMA insiders expecting Penn to regain his title. UFC 118 is set for Aug. 28 at the TD Garden in Boston, Mass and the card will feature a much anticipated co-main event between UFC hall of famer Randy “The Natural” Couture and former champion boxer James Toney.
Former boxing champion James Toney seems to be taking his upcoming bout with UFC legend Randy “The Natural” Couture seriously, and M-1 has the pictures to prove it. Toney was recently in California training at M-1 Global’s facility for his UFC 118 debut on August 28. Here’s a few pics:
There’s no doubt that Toney’s 72-6-3-2 boxing record makes him the best and most experienced boxer to ever enter the Octagon but most fans only give him a lucky punchers chance of winning. However stranger things have happened just ask Matt Serra.
SYDNEY, Australia (June 16, 2010) – The cage will be ablaze with non-stop MMA action for the “The Uprising” as former UFC Champion and Hall of Fame Member, Ken Shamrock returns to the ring to take on former UFC Champion, Hall of fame member and PRIDE Veteran, Pedro ”The Rock” Rizzo in an exciting PPV event on July 17. In the Co-feature, English MMA fighter, Paul Daley who is ranked as the #8 welterweight in the world by Sherdog.com and ranked #5 by MMA Weekly will do battle with Brazilian MMA fighter, Daniel Acacio who is most notable for his fights in PRIDE Fighting Championships and his aggressive fighting style.
Presented by Impact Fighting Championship (FC), bouts from two incredible fight cards from Australia will be included in the PPV event. The Uprising from Sydney, Australia will go live in the USA at 10:00pm on the East Coast (ET) and 7:00pm on the West Coast (PST) and Canada on July 17th with a card stacked full of action-packed bouts. In addition, the exciting main event from “The Uprising” series from the Brisbane Entertainment Center, Brisbane, Australia, July 10, featuring former UFC heavyweight champion, Josh “The Babyfaced Assassin” Barnett (25-5-0) and Jungle Fight veteran, Geronimo “Mondragon” Dos Santos (18-9-0) will also be included in the Pay-Per-View.
Impact FC has secured some of the world’s best fighters for these upcoming tournaments and will feature some huge names including Pride and UFC veterans. Fans will be thrilled to know that ‘Big John’ McCarthy, former head referee for the Ultimate Fighting Championship will be the referee for The Uprising series.
With a full card that will keep audiences on the edge of their seats, the slate of Uprising match-ups include, Pride K-1 and MMA legend Bob Sapp in a fight for dominance over Australian star and UFC veteran Soa “The Hulk” Palelei, DREAM Middleweight Champion, Paulo Filho will face dangerous striker, Denis Kang, Elite XC Champion and Pride veteran Murilo Ninja Rua with square off against former Ultimate Fighter Jeremy May, former UFC Champion and Pride veteran Murilo Bustamante will battle Jesse Taylor from the Ultimate Fighter, Australian kickboxing legend Peter Graham will fight the #1 ranked Heavyweight MMA fighter in Australia, Jim Yorke, popular MMA star Glover Teixeira is pitted against Croatian fighter from Perth Marco Peselj, Australian surfer and MMA star Richie “Vas” Vaculik is matched with local Australian fighter Luke Hume, and Australia’s rising MMA star Shane Nix will face Sydney’s own Manuel Rodriguez.
Headliner Kenneth (The World’s Most Dangerous Man) Shamrock, (27-13-2) is a UFC Hall of Famer as well as a professional wrestler. One of the biggest stars in MMA, he has headlined over 15 main events and co-main events in the Ultimate Fighting Championships and Pride Fighting Championships and has broken numerous pay-per-view records with his strong fan appeal.
The first UFC Superfight Champion, Shamrock also holds the title of the first MMA Heavyweight Champion in Japan, winning the title of King of Pancrase. During his reign as the UFC Superfight Champion, he was widely considered the #1 MMA fighter in the world.
Brazilian Pedro “The Rock” Rizzo (18-9-0) recognized as one of the best strikers in the business was born to fight. Having returned to the basics, Pedro is training at Claudio Coelho’s gym, has simplified his regimen and is back in top shape, with renewed energy and excitement heading into this fight. The former professional kick boxer was a four-time Brazilian Muay Thai champion. Rizzo won his MMA pro debut via a first-round knockout of Eric Labaille on October 26, 1996. He extended his win streak to nine, including notable triumphs against David “Tank” Abbott (KO1) in UFC: Ultimate Brazil and Mark Coleman (DEC1), before dropping a 5-round decision to Kevin Randleman in their 2000 UFC heavyweight championship fight. “The Rock” responded with back-to-back wins versus Dan Severn (SUB1) and Josh Barnett (KO2), setting up a UFC heavyweight title fight against legendary Randy Couture, who won a decision and six months later, Couture stopped Rizzo on strikes in the third-round of their rematch for the title.
In 2002, Rizzo put Andrei Arlovski to sleep on punches in the third round, but Pedro dropped consecutive fights to Gan McGee (TKO1), and Vladimir Matyushenko (DEC3) to start 2003. A key victory came against MMA veteran Ricco Rodriguez (DEC3).
In a fight against Jeff Monson on September 1, 2007, Rizzo registered a third-round win, in the first pay-per-view event promoted by Art of War. On July 19, 2008, Rizzo fought Josh “The Babyface” Barnett in Affliction Entertainment’s Day of Reckoning and lost, 2nd round 1:44 KO (Punch) .
The main event for the “Uprising” series in Brisbane is a much anticipated event. Josh Barnett is a highly tactical, sound fighter whose world-class submission wrestling skills are notorious. Animated by his trademark humor and bravado, he is one of the top ten ranked heavyweights in MMA and a celebrated wrestling star in Japan. Although his grappling base comes from catch-wrestling, he has an evolved fighting style that combines a well-rounded standup and ground game. Barnett also has size, strength, and conditioning on his side. Barnett has fought in every major fight organization in the world and was scheduled to fight against Fedor for Affliction Entertainment’s Trilogy prior to being disqualified for failing his medical tests. This will be Barnett’s first fight since his disqualification in the U.S., while “Mondragon” has been training all of his life for this moment to take on “The Babyfaced Assassin.”
The 29-year-old “Mondragon” has an impressive record having taken down opponents in 23 professional fights. Prior to losing to Edson Conterraneo at Jungle Fight 17, Dos Santos finished off each of his previous seven opponents, the past three inside the first round. Dos Santos amazed the Brazilian mixed martial arts community when he stopped Assuerio Silva on strikes in just 61 seconds at Jungle Fight 15. He followed the performance with back-to-back first-round submissions against Douglas Humberto and Fabio Monstro.
“The Uprising,” is presented by Impact FC, Saturday, July 17th, 2010 at 10 PM ET/7 PM PT in the United States from local pay-per-view providers for a suggested retail price of only $29.95.
CHICAGO, Ill. (June 15, 2010) — Ron “The Monster” Sparks, an undefeated heavyweight KO artist and Kentucky native has signed on to fight in the “Local Co-Main Event” during Bellator 23 at the Fourth Street Live entertainment district in downtown Louisville next Thursday.
Sparks, a longtime boxer and kickboxer who has also been training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu for the past four years, is a perfect 5-0 as a pro MMA fighter, including four first-round knockouts. Three of his fights lasted less than 40 seconds.
He was originally scheduled to face the undefeated Bobby Lashley at tomorrow night’s Strikeforce event in Los Angeles, but was freed up to sign with Bellator after Lashley withdrew from the fight late last month because of injury.
“We are happy to have an up-and-coming heavyweight like Ron taking part in the Local Co-Main Event of our Louisville show,” said Bellator founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney. “Ron knocks people out and fans love to see that in the heavyweight division, so Ron should put on a great show for the fans in Louisville.”
Sparks, 36, was introduced to combat sports by his father, who studied martial arts during the Vietnam War. He began taking classes in kickboxing as a teenager and became a regular sparring partner for a variety of local boxers and kickboxers while also competing in a wide variety of kickboxing promotions himself, including K-1.
In 2006, he met Louisville-based MMA manager and trainer Jason Weihe, who convinced him to give the sport a try. In addition to his five wins, he’s also been booked as an opponent for a bevy of top heavyweights including Ray Mercer, Tim Sylvia and Bob Sapp, only to have those fights fall through because when those opponents backed out.
Sparks calls his new contract with Bellator “the next big step” in his career.
“Bellator’s a great organization and this is a great opportunity to fight in front of my hometown crowd,” Sparks said. “I love to keep the fight on my feet and I love going for the knockout. There ain’t nothin’ better in this world than knockin’ a guy out.”
For more information, visit Bellator.com, follow Bellator on Twitter @BellatorMMA or on Facebook at Facebook.com/Bellator.
Despite reports that cast doubt on the boxer's commitment to the event, James Toney will, in fact, fight Randy Couture in a heavyweight bout at UFC 118.
UFC president Dana White confirmed the long-rumored bout MMAjunkie.com over the weekend and said it's "set."
Although not officially announced, UFC 118 takes place Aug. 28 at Boston's TD Garden.
For the second time in his career, UFC welterweight Chris Lytle kept Matt Brown at bay with a second-round submission at UFC 116. And he did it with a hold he's used in competition before.
SAN JOSE, Calif. - Like famed boxer Mike Tyson before him, MMA great
SAN JOSE, Calif. - Like famed boxer Mike Tyson before him, MMA great
Despite reports that cast doubt on the boxer's commitment to the event, James Toney will, in fact, fight Randy Couture in a heavyweight bout at UFC 118.