The next six months, win, lose, or draw at any stage of the tournament,  determine my next five to ten years – Brent Weedman

Brent Weedman

Brent Weedman finishes fights, period. All of his career wins have come via stoppage and he does not plan on that changing as he heads into the Bellator Season Four Welterweight Tournament.  The Louisville, Kentucky, native drew Dan Hornbuckle as his first-round opponent in the Bellator opener on March 5 in Lemoore, California, at the Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino.  Brent is thrilled at the chance to avenge his  2006 loss to Hornbuckle, and CageCraze.com was thrilled to get a chance to visit with Brent at his training camp at Real Fighters Gym in Louisville with Team Haycraft. There is no better candidate for our first Featured Fighter from Kentucky, and Brent had a ton of things on his mind.

We spoke with Brent after a grueling Team Haycraft sparring session, and his fight against Hornbuckle had just been publicly confirmed. We thought at first that “Weedman vs Hornbuckle II” was a fight that was worthy of being a semi-final or final fight of the tournament but Brent looked at it differently, and spoke highly of the matchmaking at Bellator. “The thing I love about fighting for Bellator is that their fights are the main focus. They always put the best possible fights together and they did a great job. I can guarantee that something exciting is going to happen, someone is getting finished…I like that because win, lose, or draw, we both come out of it with higher earning potentials and higher visibility.”

The chatter leading into the Bellator tournament has been mostly concentrated on other fighters, which is the way that Brent likes it. “I’m fine being overlooked, I love playing the underdog. It is a little bit of a spoiler though, because in every interview that Dan [Hornbuckle] has done he talks about how it was one of the toughest fights of his career. So, it does kind of suck that my first opponent won’t sleep on me. Everybody else does, but you’ll never hear Dan say ‘Who is this guy? I am going to run right through him.’ ”

Weedman takes direction from Eric Haycraft

Brent went on to discuss how far he has grown since the first fight against Dan Hornbuckle, and why this fight will be different. “Instead of stepping back and pushing him over with one finger like I should have [after hurting Hornbuckle with a body shot],  I freaked out. I picked him all the way up to the ceiling and then drove him all the way to the mat.” Dan Hornbuckle then submitted Weedman with a triangle choke. “The thing I like to point to in this fight …my first real Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu lesson ever was with Helio Soneca after the Hornbuckle fight, on how to escape the triangle. Fast forward to now, and I am a three-stripe purple belt under a 5th-degree black belt [Soneca] from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, that is a legend in the sport.”

Looking at the rest of the field, Brent’s journey towards a matchup against Ben Askren will not get easier if he gets past Hornbuckle. “Everybody in this tournament can win. On any given night, anyone in this tournament can win. That is the kind of professional sport that I want to be a part of.” When asked if he thought everyone in the field could beat Askren, Weedman hesitated, but went on to say, “That’s a good question, a really good question. I am going to say ‘yeah’ just for the simple fact that Ben is so good at wrestling, that we have not seen much else from him and we haven’t needed to. That is not necessarily a slight against him. Ben Askren is a fantastic athlete which means he is going to pick up the rest of the game rapidly…that being said, he is still young in his submissions game, he is still young in his kickboxing game.”

Weedman working drills at Real Fighters Gym

Brent likens Askren’s wrestling prowess to the BJJ game of Jake Shields. Brent spent some time out in California training with Shields, along with Nick and Nate Diaz. Brent says that his training with them “completely revolutionized” his game. Brent is kind of a big fish in a small pond in Louisville, but in California he said he was “fodder, just another body for them.” Brent is back in Louisville now and along with his trainer, Eric Haycraft, has begun to plug in the new training methodologies he picked up from his trip to the West Coast.

Brent is now just weeks away from the biggest fight of his career, and this is make-or-break time for him. “The next six months, win, lose, or draw at any stage of the tournament,  determine my next five to ten years. Ten years from now, I can look back and say that for six months I did it full bore, I did it the way you are supposed to, I put everything else on hold, and I did what I wanted to do.  Fighting is not important. Do you think that any of the protestors in Cairo care about Brent Weedman vs Dan Hornbuckle? No. They’ve got important things to care about. But fighting is in me, it is my passion, and you have to do what you love in life. We all only get to live one time…and then it is over.”

CageCraze.com would like to wish Brent the best of luck heading into the Bellator Season Four Welterweight Tournament. You can watch the opening round of the tournament on March 5 on MTV2. Please visit Bellator.com for more info on Brent Weedman, Dan Hornbuckle, and all of the other competitors. We would also like to say thank you to Eric Haycraft for allowing us to come into Real Fighters Gym and observe the Team Haycraft workouts. Brent would like to thank his management team at SuckerPunch Entertainment. Please check out their website and contact them if you are interested in becoming a sponsor for Brent’s tournament run.

CageCraze.com is your MMA Social Network dedicated to connecting, promoting, covering and improving local MMA everywhere. Create your free profile today, and stay connected with local MMA Everywhere! Brent Weedman has his own CageCraze.com profile, create yours and connect with Brent!

UFC welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre will put his belt on the line again while once again surrounded by the comfy confines of a Canadian crowd, as UFC President Dana White has publicly confirmed the popular title-holder is facing Jake Shields on April 30 in Toronto. UFC 129 will mark the promotion’s debut in Ontario and is expected to draw the largest audience ever in North America for a Mixed Martial Arts event.

St. Pierre’s previous in-ring outing came in Montreal, a dominating decision win over Josh Koscheck last month at UFC 124, and played a major role in drawing more than 23,000 fans to the Bell Centre to set the current record for attendance. “Rush” improved his record to 21-2 with the performance, his eighth straight victory in the Octagon.

Comparably, his challenger at UFC 129 has nearly doubled GSP’s streak of consecutive wins, as the former Strikeforce middleweight champ has emerged with his hands raised fifteen straight times including success against Dan Henderson, Carlos Condit, Yushin Okami, Paul Daley, Jason “Mayhem” Miller, Robbie Lawler, and of course Martin Kampmann in his UFC debut last October. Shields is 26-4-1 overall in his career with only a single loss by way of a finishing performance. He has not lost in more than six years.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFCSimilar Posts:

• Jake Shields signs with UFC, heads back to welterweight
• Jake Shields vs. Dan Henderson set for Strikeforce
• Strikeforce Champion Jake Shields Set to Appear on TUF 11
• Jake Shields inks with UFC, slated to face Martin Kampmann at UFC 121
• Jake Shields to Fight for Strikeforce Interim Middleweight Championship in October

You’ve experienced “Brocktober” – now comes “Ranksgiving”!

When I became an editor at Five Ounces of Pain, one of my first orders of business was to re-establish the site’s rankings. Throughout this week I will be providing a list of fifteen Mixed Martial Artists currently competing in a specific weight-class with the intention of subjectively sorting out the involved names from “exceptional” to “pretty frakkin’ good!”

As already alluded to, I’m well-aware that these kinds of lists are not doctrine and won’t insult you by pretending my set of names should be the mirror reflection of your own. In some divisions, it’s difficult to determine who the #1 fighter actually is and the reality is that a sport like MMA thrives on its unpredictable nature. When two finely-tuned individuals step into a cage and let loose the difference between consciousness and looking up at the ceiling is a matter of milliseconds no matter who is ranked where.

That being said, I invite you all to join in on the discussion in the “Comments” section below the article.

Welterweight is a tricky poundage to ponder. While a certain Canadian who recently got an ESPN commercial appears to be the easy favorite for the chief slot, even he has faltered in the past to lesser opposition and has a newly-signed, former middleweight champ hot on his heels. There’s also a sneering, sublimely talented Boilermaker and a son of Stockton to consider towards the top. The rest seem to be poised for “5A” and “5B” designations or are at least skilled enough to dethrone even the best 170er out there under the right circumstances.

And away we go…

1. Georges St. Pierre (20-2)

Was there ever any doubt St. Pierre would be sitting atop the list? While GSP has recently earned a reputation for essentially being too good, and capitalizing on his ability to control opponents in an intelligent fashion, the truth is he’s turned in finishing performances in three of his last six fights and nearly submitted Dan Hardy. It would have also been hard to blame the corners of Jon Fitch and Thiago Alves had they thrown in the towel after the physical abuse each man took at the limbs of St. Pierre.

2. Jake Shields (26-4-1)

Shields receives a lot of criticism based on his approach to competition but his place in the division isn’t based on entertainment value; it’s the result of…well…results. The former Strikeforce champ has racked an impressive number of notches up on his record including wins over Yushin Okami – currently next in line for a middleweight title-shot – and former WEC welterweight champ Carlos Condit on the same night in 2006. Shields also has victories over respected 185-pounders like Dan Henderson, Robbie Lawler, and Jason “Mayhem” Miller. He may not have looked sharp against Martin Kampmann, but he was coming off an extended absence from 170 and still got the win over a “Top 10” adversary. He’s beaten other tough welters and hasn’t lost is nearly six years. Need I say more?

3. Jon Fitch (23-3)

The fan in me wants to rank Fitch at the two-spot but the realist in me doesn’t feel he deserves it. While I’m absolutely an avid supporter of the AKA front-man, he hasn’t shown the ability to finish fighters he should be a definite step above like Mike Pierce, Chris Wilson, or Kuniyoshi Hironaka. He’s a solid #3, but Shields has tapped or TKO’d eight of the last eleven individuals he’s fought and for that fact alone he deserves to come out a nose ahead in the race.

4. Nick Diaz (23-7)

As wonderful as it would be to judge “2010 Diaz” against the essentially 75% of this list competing for the UFC, I can only go by what he’s done outside of the Octagon and as such he definitely deserves to be in the “Top 5”. He’s won eight straight and twelve of his last thirteen while only having been legitimately finished a single time in his thirty-fight career. He’s a threat when standing, or if action hits the canvas, and is more rounded than Fitch or Shields in that regard.

5. Josh Koscheck (15-4)

This is the point the rankings become a little murky for me. Koscheck is only 4-2 in his last six fights and hasn’t beaten a consensus “Top 10” guy since perhaps Diego Sanchez in 2007 (while losing to the other three he faced). Still, he’s an extremely skilled wrestler with good submission skills and the ability to leave an opponent rubber-legged with ever-improving hands.

6. Carlos Condit (26-5)

Condit may deserve to supplant Koscheck in the “Top 5”, as the only blemish on his record since June 2006 is a split-decision loss to the #9 guy on these rankings. However, he hasn’t faced quite as many “Top 10” guys as the polarizing Ultimate Fighter alumnus/coach so it’s difficult to know exactly where he should fall. Still, Condit has won three consecutive fights since the Kampmann loss, including a first-round knockout of the man below him on this list, and had his hands raised in the end leven of the last twelve times he’s entered the ring.

7. Dan Hardy (23-8)

I’m not sure how I can justify Hardy in this spot with back-to-back losses other than to say his relative competition for the designation have also hit hard times over the last 12-18 months and each defeat came to a “Top 10” welterweight. Minus the two losses, and an accidental groin-kick DQ three years ago, the Brit hasn’t lost while racking up eleven victories during the span. He seems to be improving each time out in terms of wrestling and has an underrated ground-game to compliment his speed/striking. As long as he continues to progress, I wouldn’t say he’s too far away from putting it all together and making another legitimate run at the belt.

8. Thiago Alves (17-7)

Also victim of two losses in his previous pair of fights, Alves has beaten a number of highly touted opponents including a trio of competitors on this list. His main fault seems to be an ability to handle high-level wrestling (or the necessary weight-cut to make the 171-pound welterweight limit). If he can figure out a way to slim down without sacrificing his explosiveness, not to mention stuff a hotly-contested takedown, there’s no reason he can’t beat anyone he stands opposite from in the cage.

9.Martin Kampmann (17-4)

Kampmann’s only issue seems to be with taking power-shots to the chin and, frankly, how many fighters can eat leather without crumpling at some point? He took Shields to the limit at UFC 121 and has looked sharp at welterweight since dropping down from a successful stint at 185 pounds. The Dane’s Muay Thai is as crisp as a pretzel and sometimes overshadows his ability to tangle foes up like the baked snack too, as he’s never been tapped in twenty-one fights while having almost an equal number of submissions on his record as he does TKOs.

10. Matt Hughes (45-8)

Like many of you, I found myself starting to believe in Hughes divisional resurgence and was shocked, though satisfied, with the ending to his trilogy with B.J. Penn this past weekend. However, he did beat Ricardo Almeida and Matt Serra prior to the loss, not to mention Chris Lytle before running into GSP and agreeing to fight an overweight Alves on late notice. Hughes has found a lot of success against a number of tough opponents and will remain relevant as long as he fights due to his blend of strength, cardio, and wrestling. The 37-year old may not be able to take a clean strike as well as he might have 5-10 years ago but he will always be a major mountain for any welterweight to climb.

11. Diego Sanchez (22-4)

There’s no question Sanchez is a threat to be reckoned with when he’s focused on the task at hand. He brings great intensity in the cage along with multi-level stand-up and fast, powerful submissions. Still, “Nightmare” hasn’t QUITE been able to get over every highly-ranked hurdle he’s encountered in his career but has wins over some top names like Paulo Thiago, Ken Florian, and the afore-mentioned Diaz. He also took Fitch to a split-decision. I’m willing to write off the Hathaway loss to his return from 155 to 170 but Sanchez was smashed by Penn and still cleanly fell to Fitch, not to mention Koscheck, regardless of how the “L” came about.

12. Tyron Woodley (7-0)

Woodley is the only name you’ll find among the fifteen listed here who has earned his spot based on potential more than who he’s actually beaten. Though none of his seven victories have come against especially notable opponents, “T-Wood” has looked exceptional in every outing. The former Missouri State Champion wrestler has great takedowns, is quick, and can fight from any position. He also reminds me a bit of St. Pierre when the current divisional king first came into the UFC based on pure athleticism.

13. Paul Daley (25-9-2)

Regardless of what you think about Daley’s post-fight sucker-punch of Koscheck, “Semtex” is still a supremely talented striker who has taken out his share of tough fighters. He’s a great addition to Strikeforce and should turn in some classics starting as soon as next week with his upcoming match-up against Scott Smith.

14. Paulo Thiago (13-3)

Similar to a few of the folks who are ranked higher, Thiago is coming off consecutive losses to “Top 10” competition. Dropping decisions to Sanchez, Kampmann, and Fitch a few fights earlier has far less impact than it might if any of the defeats had involved a submission/TKO. It’s also worth considering that Thiago can’t train full time due to his commitments as part of a special Brazilian Police unit.

15. Chris Lytle (30-17-5)

Lytle is still seeking a “career defining” win in the Octagon, which is why he’s this low on the list, but I wouldn’t be surprised to seem him attain at least one of them over the next year or two. The Indiana fireman has won five of his last six fights and is stiff test in any area of the ring. Consider this – Lytle has never been cleanly finished in his 50+ fight career. He’s lost bouts due to cuts and fifteen based on judges’ scorecards but never by a submission or strike-based TKO. It’s a remarkable statistic and one I’d challenge anyone to top.

Honorable Mentions

B.J. Penn (16-7-1): Though Penn’s knockout of Hughes was jaw-droppingly impressive, it was his first win at 170 pounds in six-and-a-half years for Baby Jay. If he can beat Fitch in Februray at UFC 127, which is far from a guarantee in my opinion, he’ll obviously jump up a lot higher in the rankings.
John Hathaway (14-1): The British youngster may have been exposed against Mike Pyle in his first career loss last month, but Hathaway has taken out some tough foes in his short career and appears to have a ton of upside based on the skills he’s exhibited thus far, not to mention his size and age.
Jake Ellenberger (22-5): The 25-year old has won six of his last seven with the lone stumble being a razor-thin decision loss to Condit in which he nearly finished “The Natural Born Killer” on more than one occasion. He’s also beaten the likes of Pyle, John Howard, and Pat Healy, and has upside for days when it comes to how far he could go in MMA if he gets minimally better in all areas.Similar Posts:

• 5 Oz. Official Rankings: Welterweight
• Jon Fitch vs. Thiago Alves set for UFC 111
• The Fab Fifteen – Lightweights
• Report: Jon Fitch to face Akihiro Gono at UFC 94
• The Fab Fifteen – Light Heavyweights

Welcome back to another edition of “MMA Link Club”, Five Ounces of Pain‘s weekly smorgasbord of work from our brothers and sisters in the MMA community. Enjoy…

Dana White Discusses his Initial Meeting with Fedor Emelianenko (Versus.com)

UFC and THQ Extend Partnership for “Undisputed” Title (MMAConvert.com)

Martin Kampmann is Ready to Expose Jake Shields in the Ring (Heavy.com)

Claude Patrick Not Happy with UFC 120 Win (FIGHT! Magazine)

Joe Rogan Does His Best Mauro Renallo Impersonation (MMAScraps.com)

Mike Pyle Talks About Handing John Hatahway his First Career Loss (WatchKalibRun.com)

Chris Horodecki Could Be Fighting Donald Cerrone at WEC 53 (CagePotato.com)

Josh Barnett has a Message for Fabricio Werdum (MiddleEasy.com)

Tito Ortiz Talks Health, No Longer Drinking (MMAFighting.com)

Similar Posts:

• 5 Oz. MMA Link Club
• 5 Oz. MMA Link Club
• 5 Oz. MMA Link Club
• 5 Oz. MMA Link Club
• 5 Oz. MMA Link Club

Welcome back to another edition of “MMA Link Club”, Five Ounces of Pain‘s weekly smorgasbord of work from our brothers and sisters in the MMA community. Enjoy…

Dana White Discusses his Initial Meeting with Fedor Emelianenko (Versus.com)

UFC and THQ Extend Partnership for “Undisputed” Title (MMAConvert.com)

Martin Kampmann is Ready to Expose Jake Shields in the Ring (Heavy.com)

Claude Patrick Not Happy with UFC 120 Win (FIGHT! Magazine)

Joe Rogan Does His Best Mauro Renallo Impersonation (MMAScraps.com)

Mike Pyle Talks About Handing John Hatahway his First Career Loss (WatchKalibRun.com)

Chris Horodecki Could Be Fighting Donald Cerrone at WEC 53 (CagePotato.com)

Josh Barnett has a Message for Fabricio Werdum (MiddleEasy.com)

Tito Ortiz Talks Health, No Longer Drinking (MMAFighting.com)

Similar Posts:

• 5 Oz. MMA Link Club
• 5 Oz. MMA Link Club
• 5 Oz. MMA Link Club
• 5 Oz. MMA Link Club
• 5 Oz. MMA Link Club

Strikeforce has decided to pass on using a tournament to settle their new middleweight champion after releasing their former champ, Jake Shields.

Squaring off will be rising Strikeforce star Tim Kennedy (12-2) and Brazilian Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (12-2).

The promotion made the bout official on Friday to Sherdog.com, who confirmed the fight will take place at the “Strikeforce: Houston” event on Aug. 21 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Tex. A second title will be on the line at the August event, with light-heavyweight champ Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal taking on Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante.

Kennedy, a former member of the US Special Forces, has risen quickly through the Strikeforce ranks by winning all three of his bouts under their banner. He recently defeated Trevor Prangley last month at the “Strikeforce: Los Angeles” event, marking his first appearance on one of the promotions main televised show instead of their Strikeforce Challenger series.

“Jacare” Souza earned a unanimous decision victory over Joey Villaseñor in May’s “Strikeforce: Heavy Artillery” event, matching Kennedy’s record of 12-2. The Brazilian submitted Matt Lindland in his only other Strikeforce appearance in December at the “Strikeforce: Evolution” event. He’s had notable bouts against Jason Miller and Gegard Mousasi under the DREAM banner.

Strikeforce had been talking about holding an eight man tournament to decide it’s next middleweight champion so the recent announcement comes as a bit of a surprise. This probably means the promotion failed to find eight middleweight fighters willing to face-off for the belt, which may be an ill-omen for Strikeforce’s future.

All bouts rumored for the Aug. 21 event:

Light-heavyweight title bout: Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal vs. Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante (for light-heavyweight title)
Middleweight title bout: Tim Kennedy vs. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (for vacant middleweight title)
Lightweight bout: Jorge Gurgel vs. K.J. Noons
Heavyweight bout: Bobby Lashley vs. TBA

The post-Jake Shields era has begun in earnest for Strikeforce.

With the promotion's former middleweight champion recently released and
likely heading to the UFC, Strikeforce officials announced late Friday
night that top middleweight contenders Tim Kennedy and Ronaldo "Jacare"
Souza will meet at "Strikeforce: Houston" with the winner claiming the
promotion's now-vacant 185-pound title.

Previously reported bouts of light heavyweight champ Muhammed "King Mo"
Lawal vs. Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante and Jorge Gurgel vs. K.J. Noons
were also made official, and Bobby Lashley will also appear on the
card.

Former Strikeforce champion Jake Shields(former because he’s been dropped by the promotion) recently had some serious issues getting into the Strikeforce: Fedor Vs. Werdum card, but it makes more sense as he had no idea that Strikeforce had already removed him from their roster. Shields explained his situation with Strikeforce to BJPenn.com, and was very candid when answering:

“It came as kind of a surprise. I hadn’t really been talking to Strikeforce and pretty much everyone knows that I want to go to the UFC. We got our negotiations going with the UFC and they (Strikeforce) dropped me without any warning and it came out of nowhere. It is what it is and I’m moving ahead with the UFC contract and hopefully that will be worked out soon.”

From the entire interview it seems that Shields is quite bitter with the way things have gone down, but it’s safe to say that he’ll get the last laugh as he’ll earn a bigger name and work for the biggest promotion in the world when he signs with UFC. It should be an interesting run into the UFC from a high level fighter.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Gilbert Melendez wants to face the best and is still eying Bellator champ Eddie Alvaraze, the only guy outside of the UFC. He also talks about the departure of teammate, Strikeforce middleweight champ Jake Shields’ from the promotion, and more.

HT: Fight! Magazine