UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva barely survived a five round battle against Chael Sonnen as the main event bout for UFC 117: Silva vs. Sonnen and many MMA fans were quick to point out that Steven Seagal may have helped both mentally and physically. Seagal was seen in videos helping Silva with his fight game, and fans have been quick to laugh at the champion using Seagal to improve his fight game. Silva though, sees it differently, as he recently pointed out to Tatame:

It’s a bad joke, he’s a great master and a great coach who was there with me, helped me all the time a lot. On the beginning of my trainings, we showed me some techniques which worked out and he deserves the respect of all of us. He’s a great master and a good person. I believe people have to respect him.

It’s a pretty interesting take on Seagal and a huge endorsement for the traditional martial arts movie star. Will we Seagal continuing his training with Anderson Silva or perhaps even with other mixed martial artists. You can never tell in the crazy world of MMA.

UFC lightweight contender Clay Guida has no desire to touch your gloves. For the next 15 minutes, you're the enemy.

Just ask Rafael Dos Anjos, who had his request ignored at this past weekend's UFC 117 event.

"These past few fights, I've just kind of been away from touching
gloves," Guida recently told MMAjunkie.com Radio. "Nothing against Rafael Dos Anjos. Nothing
against Shannon Gugerty or Kenny Florian, but I'm just out there, and
I'm staying focused."

Press Release

MMA BIG SHOW PRESENTS LOCAL FAVORITES CHRIS BENNETT, MOJO HORNE, AND TJ BALL
AS THEY PUT IT ALL ON THE LINE AT “ALL OR NOTHING”

Event to take place live at Belterra Casino Resort & Spa on July 17th

Indiana (USA): MMA Big Show, one of the top fight promotions in the Midwest, will present its next exciting event, “ALL OR NOTHING,” which will take place on July 17th at Belterra Casino Resort & Spa in Indiana. In the main event, big-time local favorite Mojo Horne (7-2) will face one of his toughest tests to date, as he tangles with extremely experienced American Top Team product Lucas Lopes (19-8, fifteen finishes). Also featured on the card will be rising young local prospect “The Samurai” Chris Bennett (0-1 pro, 18-1 amateur), as he attempts to capture his first pro win from Brad Smith (1-1). Another notable local showcased on the fight card will be T.J. Ball (1-1), who will be looking to increase his pro experience against Danny “The Hammer” Surface (3-2). And making his return to Big Show will be Scott Cornwell (1-1), who made his Big Show debut last fall against UFC veteran Junie “The Lunatic” Browning (4-3). Tickets for “ALL OR NOTHING” are priced at $25, $45, and $75, and are available through Ticketmaster, as well as http://www.mmabigshow.com/. 21 and over only, please.

A training partner of Rich Franklin and a former MMA Big Show Middleweight Champion, Mojo Horne was glad to put 2009 behind him, as he suffered the first losses of his pro career. However, he ended the campaign on a high note, as he submitted Kevin Barkdull in the first round at November’s “ONSLAUGHT” event. Now back to his winning ways, Horne is looking to target his title once again in 2010. Standing in his way will be extremely experienced veteran Lucas Lopes. A veteran of 27 MMA fights, Lopes has
fought well-known competitors Sean Salmon and StrikeForce fighter Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos, and has defeated UFC welterweight contender Thiago Alves and former UFC fighter Antonio “Samuray” Mendes. Lopes is on a four-fight winning streak, including two straight wins in StrikeForce. Lucas is coming off a KO victory over Robert “Bubba” McDaniel, who previous defeated Mojo via ref stoppage after Horne’s nose was broken. This is Mojo’s opportunity to, in a way, avenge his loss to McDaniel, and come out ahead of a highly experience ATT fighter. Certainly, this will be a difficult test for Horne, but he’s ready to go out there and prove that not only can he beat a veteran like Lopes, he is deserving of a shot at “his” belt. “I’m hoping that if I win this fight, that I’ll be able to fight for my title again. From there, once I get my title back, Jason says he has some plans for me. So I’m excited about that.” What does he think about facing a competitor like his opponent? “I’ve seen some footage on him. He looks like more of a standup fighter. Don’t know much about his ground. The fight footage on him doesn’t show much about the ground. But I’m a firm believer in fighting the fight, not the fighter. So I’m just gonna go in there and do my thing.” And to the fans, Mojo had this to say: “I’m going to do my best for you guys, as I always do. Hopefully, I get the KO or submission, and everyone get’s their money’s worth.”

“The Samurai” Chris Bennett built a name for himself with MMA Big Show fans with his incredibly exciting fights. A real crowd-pleaser, he turned professional earlier this year after piling up eighteen amateur victories. Bennett, currently a 0-1 as a pro, is looking to rebound after a devastating loss to American Top Team’s Tony Simms and prove that he’s a serious contender against Brad Smith at “ALL OR NOTHING.” Additionally, T.J. Ball will be fighting the very tough Danny “The Hammer” Surface, who will be making his pro debut. Both fighters recently dropped to 185 lbs. from their former heavyweight status. As a result, this is going to be a war between two muscle-packed fighters looking to dominate.

Fearsome fighter Scott Cornwell put on a show in the main event of Big Show’s “ONSLAUGHT” in November of 2009. is a Cincinnati native who started learning Tae Kwon Do at the age of three under Master David Huffstutler. As a teenager, Cornwell quickly progressed through the ranks, and currently holds a 3rd degree black belt, winning several local and national tournaments. He also had a very impressive high school wrestling career, where he competed for multiple national teams in freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling. His amateur mixed martial arts career began in 2007 while training under 4th degree black belt and renowned MMA instructor Rob Gerhardt, and he won his first five amateur fights, amassing an impressive record of 7-2. In preparation for his pro debut, Scott began additional training with Rod Housley at Team Vision while continuing to train and teach at Hamilton-Fairfield Tae Kwon Do. In short, Scott is an excellent striker and wrestler, and is well-versed in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Fans can bet on these fights through the MMA Big Show iPhone Fantasy Better, and can also watch the event LIVE on R&R Channel 354 on DirecTV at 8 PM EST on the 17th.

In addition, the Big Show Gym, a 19,000 square foot MMA & Fitness Facility will be opening on June 27th in Eastgate Mall in Batavia, OH. This new facility will opening softly on the 27th and will host a grand opening event approximately 30 days later, once all of the equipment and build-out has been completed. This gym will feature a full strength and cardio center, full MMA cage (the actual MMA Big Show Cage), BJJ mats, Muay Thai center, and will host a multitude of training and group classes such as Extreme Fitness Boxing, Zumba, yoga, aerobics and much more. Please visit http://www.bigshowgym.com/ for more information.

The MMA Big Show is currently looking for both national sponsors for its live national broadcasts as well as the gym.

The full fight card for “ALL OR NOTHING” includes:

Mojo Horne vs. Lucas Lopes
T.J. Ball vs. Danny Surface
Chris Bennett vs. Brad Smith
Scott Cornwell vs. James Baumgardner
Brendon Hampton vs. Josh Curry
Tyler Riley vs. Shannon Casey
Trevor Riley vs. Chris Anness
Joe Pegg vs. Marcus Lewis
Dave Coghlan vs. Eric Grifford
Jordan Seals vs. Jimmie Allen
Nikolas Hoobler- Scherff vs. Korey Comptan
TJ Wash vs. Dallas Rice
BJ Wulff vs. Justin Bruster
Shannon Powell vs. Phil Colston
Denver Myers vs. John Risley
Kirk Miller vs. Dom Steele
William Kimrey vs. Ryan Holubek
Michael Ormes vs. David Smallwood
Vic Sims vs. Colt Helton

Fight card is subject to change.

With the UFC 114 headlining bout between Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs. Rashad Evans less than a week away, coach Greg Jackson has spent months preparing Evans for this fight and can take a moment to reflect on their preparation for this fight.

One aspect leading up to any fight is the trash talk that goes on between fighters, and the amount that has gone on between Jackson and Evans has been nothing short of brutal as both men have left nothing back in their verbal sparring.

Coach Jackson knows it’s just all part of the game of getting inside an opponents head.

“I do know that [trash-talking] is a tool that has been used by a lot of people before. You have Muhammad Ali calling Floyd Patterson an “Uncle Tom” before their fight for example. How fighters conduct themselves is nothing new. They have the responsibility of selling fights, but you’d have to ask Rashad how personal that is.

“I don’t think it’s that serious. I think it’s just a tool to get in [Rampage’s] head. It has nothing to do with race. Again, you have a tradition of that kind of stuff — people claiming that their opponents aren’t true Mexicans or stuff like that. It’s been going on for years. Rashad is so smart. People don’t really understand how smart this guy is. He knows better than to get emotional or heated about it. I think he’s going to be all business at fight time. I’m not worried at all about him getting drawn in and trying to knock Rampage out in 15 seconds. He’s a real sharp and careful guy.”

With “Rampage’s” long lay-off, ‘ring-rust’ is always something fighters talk about but for this fight Evans and Coach Jackson are expecting to face a fighter at the top of his game.

“You can’t go in thinking about that. It’s pointless,” Jackson said of Rampage’s layoff. “If he’s not the best Rampage ever, that will make our strategy that much better. If he’s Rampage as usual, then it’ll be business as usual. As soon as you can go in there and say, ‘Oh, Rampage had a year off,’ you get yourself in trouble. I think we’re going to run into the best Rampage we’ve ever seen and I hope that’s the case, because we have the best Rashad anyone has ever seen.

“We want to make sure that we’ve addressed all of the contingencies that can happen. Rampage is a powerful striker. He’s a pretty good wrestler. He’s a savvy veteran who knows when to relax a bit and then come right back. I have a lot of respect for him. However, I’m pretty confident in Rashad’s kickboxing ability. Rampage is an excellent boxer, it’s true, but Rashad is good as well and I’m always going to bet on my guy.”

You can listen to the entire radio interview with Greg Jackson over at Sherdog.com

Greg Jackson is also taking his first steps into the promotion business, as he and his gym, “Jackson’s Gym” will be presenting their first series of mma events on June 5 at the new Hard Rock Casino and Hotel in Albuquerque, N.M.

The event is labeled “Jackson’s MMA Series I” and will be streamed live on pay-per-view on the internet at www.jacksonsmmaseries.com.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Nothing would deter Manny Gamburyan.

The WEC featherweight told UFC/WEC matchmaker Joe Silva that WEC 48 opponent Mike Brown would have to put him asleep or break a limb to stop the fight. Short of that, there would be no letup, he said.

Gamburyan never came close to that type of danger and stopped Brown cold this past Saturday with a short, powerful right hand that likely set a featherweight title shot in motion.

If nothing else, WEC featherweight champion Jose Aldo has options.

After a dominating five-round victory over former champion Urijah Faber
at this past Saturday's WEC 48 event, UFC president Dana White said he
was so impressed with "Junior" that he's already considering where the
Brazilian phenom would rank in both the bantamweight and lightweight
divisions.

As for the humble Aldo, he'll just sit back and wait to hear what's
next.

Nothing seems to faze UFC lightweight contender Frankie Edgar.

The 28-year-old Jersey Shore native is cool and collected where many
fighters his age and level of experience are seemingly wound too tight.
Hearing him talk about the biggest opportunity of his life, a shot at
the dominant champion B.J. Penn this Saturday at UFC 112, is just a step
above a PowerPoint presentation.

All the usual MMA platitudes are there: he's well-prepared, he's going
to impose his will, and no, he's not overwhelmed by the pressure.

M-1 Global’s top dog Vadim Finkelstein had some pretty tough and opinionated words for absentee Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem as reported by tribuna.sports.ru and presented by lowkick.com. Here’s the quote:

I personally think that Alistair Overeem did not reach the desired level to challenge Fedor. He beat a lot of no-name opponents in Mixed Martial Arts. Overeem defeated Paul Buentello and then disappeared from the United States for more than two years, which is simply ridiculous. He has nothing to offer for Fedor Emelianenko, except being a steroid bully. Also, pay attention that Werdum beat Overeem when they were fighting in Pride, four years ago.

Finkelstein later was asked about whether or not Fedor would look to demand a fight against Overeem. Here’s the reply:

Exactly. We are more interested in fighting Josh Barnett, who is currently disqualified until September. When he returns from his suspension and if he tests clean, we might consider fighting him.

Seems interesting that they would prefer to fight someone who has tested positive twice rather than Overeem who has never tested positive(though he’s been mightily suspected). Most fans are wondering if M-1 will continue it’s relationship with Strikeforce, and until that’s settled nothing to do with Fedor Emelianenko is settled.

Press Release

On February 26 Travis “The Gladiator” Galbraith will be aiming to put an exclamation mark on his performance against the heavy hitting Tom “Kong” Watson in Edmonton, Alberta, as the twenty-seven year old middleweight submission specialist promises that his upcoming “MFC 24: HeatXC” bout will mark a new beginning for the fighter who has already proven himself against many of the best athletes the game has to offer.

In a sport that is currently seeing an invasion of top level athletes making the transition with tremendous success, Galbraith admits to being cut from a distinctly different cloth in regards to how he came about strangling grown men for a living. When asked what type of previous combat sport related experience he had before making the decision to fight for a living – wrestling, kickboxing, jiu-jitsu, karate, Tae-Bo, anything – the self described “lost boy” wore his disadvantaged upbringing as a badge, stating, “Nothing (laughs). I came from a straight nothing background. It was all street fights. That’s where it all started for me.

“I was in and out of trouble my whole life. I was brought up in the system.

Youth detention centers were my thing. All the way until I was eighteen. It was just a lack of parents. They just did their own thing. For someone that had nothing to begin with, fighting seemed like the thing to do. I just knew I needed to apply myself to it. I was lucky that I didn’t have to pay for my training in the beginning. All I had was myself.”

Refusing to allow his troubled childhood stand in the way of his dreams to make something out of himself, Travis threw himself headfirst into the beautifully brutal world of mixed martial arts and quickly discovered he had a penchant for forcing grown men to cry uncle, finishing eight of his first twelve victories via submission, and at one point choking the life from a trio of consecutive victims to establish himself as one of the most dangerous ground fighters in the business.

After suffering a defeat at the hands of the Black House trained Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante in 2008, Travis went on to string together a pair of impressive victories and looked to have all of the momentum in the world on his side, and that’s when the bottom dropped out.

“In my last fight with David Heath I detached a tendon on my left thumb,” revealed Galbraith. “I couldn’t tell you when it happened. I noticed as soon as the first round was over. I was like, ‘F***, I can’t open my hand up’.

After that happened all of my takedowns and everything else I had been planning went right out the window and I decided to stand and bang with him.”

While a torn tendon in the thumb is undoubtedly a set back for any man that chooses to fight as a profession, it shouldn’t have been any more than a six month layoff at the very most. But as the saying goes, “Bad things come in pairs”.

“I started back training about four months ago following that injury and my first week back I ended up breaking my right thumb on the top of my sparring partner’s head,” said Galbraith. “It was just one of those things. It was just brutal. I couldn’t believe it had happened again, and to the other hand to make it even worse. I had pins in it and I started training with my conditioning coach only, and this is still with a cast on. I was actually able to begin light sparring and hitting the bag about a month and a half ago.”

Many could have viewed the unlikely case of reoccurring injuries as a sign to hang them up. To get out of the game. However, with Travis being the “Gladiator” he is, there was no other way to take the break than a breath of fresh air. Something that needed to happen.

“This time off has really served to put my priorities right in line,” admitted Travis. “I don’t know what it is, but it’s like a cosmic alignment and everything just seems to be coming together now.”

According to Galbraith, this recent cosmic aligning is all going to culminate on February 26 as the Edmonton raised fighter promises to make an example out of “Kong” Watson on his way to establishing himself as one of MFC’s premier middleweights.

“I know Tom is to bring a lot of stand up, but it’s nothing I haven’t seen up until now,” said Galbraith. “He won’t be able to out-Jits me, and he’s not going to be able to out-wrestle me.”

Just because Travis is known as a submission artist and Watson is viewed as a banger, don’t expect for Galbraith to shy away from the stand up for one moment.

“I’m completely confident that I can hang with Tom on the feet if that’s where the fight ends up,” said the PRIDE FC veteran. “I feel very confident about my stand up. If he wants to keep it on the feet, it doesn’t matter. Wherever the fight goes I’m going to take it to him.

“I don’t feel like I have any major holes in my game anymore, but before I was never a really big stand up guy, and since I’ve been able to train full time I’ve done more stand up training than anything else. I’ve turned my weakness into my strength.”

While Galbraith promises a reborn and revitalized fighter in 2010 beginning at “MFC 24: HeatXC”, the constantly developing twenty-three fight veteran is just fine with taking his time, and doing things the right way this time around.

“Honestly, I’m in no rush for anything right now,” said Galbraith. “I’ll take any fight that comes along. I’ve held belts for other organizations in the past and you take on a lot of responsibility when you capture that belt.

Having that strap puts a huge target right on your back. If a title fight comes up down the line, then so be it, but I have no immediate plans for that. I’m not looking past Tom Watson. I’m just getting my feet wet again right now, but if the belt comes up sometime soon, then for sure I’ll go after it.

“I’m still learning. There’s still so much to learn in this game. I’m just hoping to continue to grow and develop. I’m still a work in progress. I don’t think I’ll ever stop being a work in progress.

“2010 is going to a breakthrough year for me is because I’m able to actually train full time now. Before I was always working a full time job and trying to work full time training into it. Luckily I got some sponsorships that are going to help me with that so I can apply the attention to the areas that I need work on as a full time job. It’s really been helping me to fill in the holes I had in my game. That’s why this is going to be the year.”

On February 26 Travis “The Gladiator” Galbraith will be aiming to put an exclamation mark on his performance against the heavy hitting Tom “Kong” Watson in Edmonton, Alberta, as the twenty-seven year old middleweight submission specialist promises that his upcoming “MFC 24: HeatXC” bout will mark a new beginning for the fighter who has already proven himself against many of the best athletes the game has to offer.

In a sport that is currently seeing an invasion of top level athletes making the transition with tremendous success, Galbraith admits to being cut from a distinctly different cloth in regards to how he came about strangling grown men for a living. When asked what type of previous combat sport related experience he had before making the decision to fight for a living – wrestling, kickboxing, jiu-jitsu, karate, Tae-Bo, anything – the self described “lost boy” wore his disadvantaged upbringing as a badge, stating, “Nothing (laughs). I came from a straight nothing background. It was all street fights. That’s where it all started for me.

“I was in and out of trouble my whole life. I was brought up in the system. Youth detention centers were my thing. All the way until I was eighteen. It was just a lack of parents. They just did their own thing. For someone that had nothing to begin with, fighting seemed like the thing to do. I just knew I needed to apply myself to it. I was lucky that I didn’t have to pay for my training in the beginning. All I had was myself.”

Refusing to allow his troubled childhood stand in the way of his dreams to make something out of himself, Travis threw himself headfirst into the beautifully brutal world of mixed martial arts and quickly discovered he had a penchant for forcing grown men to cry uncle, finishing eight of his first twelve victories via submission, and at one point choking the life from a trio of consecutive victims to establish himself as one of the most dangerous ground fighters in the business.

After suffering a defeat at the hands of the Black House trained Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante in 2008, Travis went on to string together a pair of impressive victories and looked to have all of the momentum in the world on his side, and that’s when the bottom dropped out.

“In my last fight with David Heath I detached a tendon on my left thumb,”revealed Galbraith. “I couldn’t tell you when it happened. I noticed as soon as the first round was over. I was like, ‘F***, I can’t open my hand up’. After that happened all of my takedowns and everything else I had been planning went right out the window and I decided to stand and bang with him.”

While a torn tendon in the thumb is undoubtedly a set back for any man that chooses to fight as a profession, it shouldn’t have been any more than a six month layoff at the very most. But as the saying goes, “Bad things come in pairs”.

“I started back training about four months ago following that injury and my first week back I ended up breaking my right thumb on the top of my sparring partner’s head,” said Galbraith. “It was just one of those things. It was just brutal. I couldn’t believe it had happened again, and to the other hand to make it even worse. I had pins in it and I started training with my conditioning coach only, and this is still with a cast on. I was actually able to begin light sparring and hitting the bag about a month and a half ago.”

Many could have viewed the unlikely case of reoccurring injuries as a sign to hang them up. To get out of the game. However, with Travis being the “Gladiator” he is, there was no other way to take the break than a breath of fresh air. Something that needed to happen.

“This time off has really served to put my priorities right in line,”admitted Travis. “I don’t know what it is, but it’s like a cosmic alignment and everything just seems to be coming together now.”

According to Galbraith, this recent cosmic aligning is all going to culminate on February 26 as the Edmonton raised fighter promises to make an example out of “Kong” Watson on his way to establishing himself as one of MFC’s premier middleweights.

“I know Tom is to bring a lot of stand up, but it’s nothing I haven’t seen up until now,” said Galbraith. “He won’t be able to out-Jits me, and he’s not going to be able to out-wrestle me.”

Just because Travis is known as a submission artist and Watson is viewed as a banger, don’t expect for Galbraith to shy away from the stand up for one moment.

“I’m completely confident that I can hang with Tom on the feet if that’s where the fight ends up,” said the PRIDE FC veteran. “I feel very confident about my stand up. If he wants to keep it on the feet, it doesn’t matter. Wherever the fight goes I’m going to take it to him.

“I don’t feel like I have any major holes in my game anymore, but before I was never a really big stand up guy, and since I’ve been able to train full time I’ve done more stand up training than anything else. I’ve turned my weakness into my strength.”

While Galbraith promises a reborn and revitalized fighter in 2010 beginning at “MFC 24: HeatXC”, the constantly developing twenty-three fight veteran is just fine with taking his time, and doing things the right way this time around.

“Honestly, I’m in no rush for anything right now,” said Galbraith. “I’ll take any fight that comes along. I’ve held belts for other organizations in the past and you take on a lot of responsibility when you capture that belt. Having that strap puts a huge target right on your back. If a title fight comes up down the line, then so be it, but I have no immediate plans for that. I’m not looking past Tom Watson. I’m just getting my feet wet again right now, but if the belt comes up sometime soon, then for sure I’ll go after it.

“I’m still learning. There’s still so much to learn in this game. I’m just hoping to continue to grow and develop. I’m still a work in progress. I don’t think I’ll ever stop being a work in progress.

“2010 is going to a breakthrough year for me is because I’m able to actually train full time now. Before I was always working a full time job and trying to work full time training into it. Luckily I got some sponsorships that are going to help me with that so I can apply the attention to the areas that I need work on as a full time job. It’s really been helping me to fill in the holes I had in my game. That’s why this is going to be the year.”