[Centraal] MMA topic #20 Seek and Destroy

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“I would fight any one of the UFC lightweights, but the problem is that I will never put my foot in the octagon after they (UFC) tried to be funny. I would rather have bleeding hemorrhoids than fight for the UFC. The Japanese MMA audience is the best in the world. They make magic! I would rather have one true Japanese MMA supporter than one million fake mainstream supporters that will turn their back on you as soon as you lose a fight. I don’t care about things that are mainstream.”

-Winner of the DREAM 2008 lightweight grand prix and former PRIDE fighter Joachim “Hellboy” Hansen (19-7-1) talks candidly about his love for the UFC and the support of stateside sponsors.

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Heavyweight Brock Lesnar (2-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC), fresh off his first professional victory in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, will return to action in November, according to a report from the Pioneer Press.

However, the brief mentioned neither a date nor a location for the fight, and the UFC has made no formal announcement.

As MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) reported on Wednesday, though, the UFC is working with the Oregon State Athletic Commission and the Rose Garden Arena to bring a November event to Portland.

Lesnar, who may fight Cheick Kongo in his next bout, could supplement a fight card currently expected to feature Joe Stevenson vs. Kenny Florian.

The event, presumably UFC 91, is expected to take place Nov. 15. OSAC Executive Director Pat Darcy told MMAjunkie.com that the event is "in the works" and that an official announcement could come soon.

Lesnar, who debuted with the UFC earlier this year, dominated Frank Mir for 90 seconds at UFC 81 before the former UFC heavyweight champion submitted him with a knee-bar. Lesnar returned earlier

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Op donderdag 21 augustus 2008 19:48 schreef roepdeman het volgende:
Noemde je Shields nou echt underrated? Hoezo als ik mag vragen? Staat toch op een mooie plek in alle 170 ranglijsten?

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Op donderdag 21 augustus 2008 20:40 schreef roepdeman het volgende:
Even snel een newsbreak!
[..]


[..]

Okido, ik doelde meer vanuit de kant van andere fighters

SPOILER

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Op maandag 25 augustus 2008 09:36 schreef Dacide het volgende:
Sengoku is het toch net niet.. ofja "net niet".... eerder gewoon "helemaal niet"...
Partij van Valentijn was leuk...

Vond de rest allemaal maar matig... opdoeken die handel en mergen met Dream..

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Ken Shamrock (26-13-2)– the 44-year-old mixed martial arts pioneer who has not won a professional fight in more than four years — is the next man to challenge Elite XC’s most coveted possession, Kimbo Slice (3-0), according to Sherdog.com.

The bout will serve as the main event of “Saturday Night Fights” on CBS from the Bank Atlantic Center in Sunrise, Fla., on October 4.

Shamrock was a among a short list of possible opponents for the Miami native that also included Sean Gannon — the only man to defeat the YouTube.com sensation in underground fisticuffs — and Brett Rogers.

Out of the trio Rogers was far and away the most qualified and would have likely given Slice the stiffest competition. However, that could have been the problem — Elite XC matchmakers still feel the need to shamelessly build its biggest star.

And what better way then to have him wallop an over-the-hill, past-his-prime UFC veteran on national television.

Shamrock — a UFC Hall of Fame inductee — dropped his first and most recent bout under the ProElite banner, losing to Robert “Buzz” Berry via first knockout at Cage Rage 25: “Bring it On” earlier this year.

That, too, was supposed to be a warm-up for the “World’s Most Dangerous Man” to groom him for a big money match down the road against either Slice, or his younger brother, Frank.

It seems like it didn’t matter — at least one of those fights (Slice) is going to happen. Although a win against Berry would have made this appear (to the casual fan at least) to be somewhat of a fair fight.

Shamrock has lost eight of his last 10 fights dating back to 2001 and he’s on a five-fight losing skid.

The only thing in his favor going into this fight is experience and his submission game. Shamrock has won more than 80 percent of his fights via submission, which poses somewhat of a threat provided he can get close enough to Slice to take him down.

Don’t count on it. But then again stranger things have happened … kind of like this match up in the first place.

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A 185-pound bout between former Elite XC middleweight champion Murilo “Ninja” Rua (16-8-1) and Benji “Razor” Radach (18-4) has been added to Elite XC’s October 4 event at the Bank Atlantic Center in Sunrise, Florida on CBS.

Radach is a three-fight UFC veteran and has a (5-1) record in IFL competition over the last couple of years. His last fight was a second round knockout loss to Matt Horwich at the IFL World Grand Prix Finals.

“Razor” took almost a three-year hiatus from the sport after suffering a severely broken jaw at the hands of Chris Leben at a Sportfight event in June of 2004. A once promising career looked to possibly be over because of the freak injury, but Radach worked hard, recovered and now has his career in professional MMA back on track.

The 29-year-old trains with one of the top camps around in American Top Team. He has a strong wrestling background, but has won 14 of his 18 wins by technical knockout, meaning he has a solid all around game.

This won’t be an easy fight for Ninja.

He’ll have to be on his toes on October 4 if he plans on avoiding the minor upset. He was rumored to be fighting Joey Villasenor in a rematch in Albuquerque on September 20, but that fight and event were both scrapped, leaving the CBS card in Sunrise as the most likely destination for the Brazilian.

Rua was more than impressive in a first round technical knockout win over previously unbeaten Tony Bonello at Elite XC: “Return of the King.” He appears to be at the top of his game now a little less than a year removed for losing his title to Robbie Lawler.

This should be a very competitive match up. Radach will look to prove himself on the big stage against a top guy. And Rua will look to take another step forward toward an eventual rematch with Lawler.

Expect fireworks.

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Reigning UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture could return to the Ultimate Fighting Championship by year's end as part of an out-of-court settlement with the organization.

Multiple sources close to the fighter, speaking exclusively to MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com), today said that Couture is willing to fight once more for the UFC, possibly before the end of the year, as a potential resolution to his ongoing legal battles with the fight promotion.

However, Couture himself could not be reached for comment, and it's unknown if the UFC is even considering the offer at this point.

According to one source, as part of Couture's concession to return the octagon, the 45-year-old UFC hall-of-famer would want to walk away "clear and free" from the organization after the bout.

Couture (16-8 MMA, 13-5 UFC), who hasn't fought since a third-round TKO victory over fellow UFC heavyweight Gabriel Gonzaga in August 2007, resigned from the organization two months later over what he perceived to be a lack of respect from UFC officials, issues over his pay, and the UFC's inability to sign then-top free agent Fedor Emelianenko.

However, Zuffa LLC officials believe, per his fight contract, that Couture's next two bouts must be in the UFC. Couture had said that he wanted his resignation upheld so he could move on with his career, including a potential bout with Emelianenko outside the UFC.

Back in February, Couture signed a deal with Mark Cuban's Dallas-based HDNet Fights promotion. The organization then filed suit against the UFC in Dallas district court to get a declaratory judgment concerning the contractual status of Couture. However, earlier this month, a Texas appeals court ruled in favor of Zuffa and granted the organization's request for a stay against the motion.

In conditionally granting the stay, the court effectively deferred the case between Zuffa and Couture to arbitration to determine the fighter's contractual obligations to the UFC.

The ruling all but ensures that this case will be decided by a Nevada arbitrator and not by a Texas court, though it's likely that HDNet will appeal to the Texas Supreme Court. Arbitration between Zuffa and Couture reportedly has been under way in Las Vegas since early July.

Despite Couture's resignation, during a UFC 82 press conference in March, UFC President Dana White said that he had offered Couture a fight with now-interim UFC heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira on two different occasions. Although the fight never came to fruition, White has never ruled out the possibility of Couture returning to the organization.

In the other squabble between the UFC and Couture, the five-time champion's employment contract, which is separate from his fight contract, is the focus of a breach of contract lawsuit filed by Zuffa on Jan. 14 in Las Vegas. Zuffa contends that Couture violated the one-year non-compete clause in his contract by having his name and likeness used to promote fights outside of the UFC.

Couture's UFC employment contract expires on Oct. 11 of this year.

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The long-rumored heavyweight superfight between UFC champion Randy Couture (16-8 MMA, 8-5 UFC) and WAMMA champion Fedor Emelianenko (28-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) is currently being discussed for an as-yet-unspecified date in January or February of 2009.

Sources inside Couture's Xtreme Couture camp today informed MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) of the ongoing negotiations between the UFC and both fighters.

The fight is far from a done deal. Many of the same issues that prevented Emelianenko from signing with the UFC during previous negotiations must still be ironed out. But it appears that the UFC and representatives for both Couture and Emelianenko are working towards bringing the two legends together for a Feb. 2 bout.

Additionally, the same sources are reporting that Couture is currently "actively training for a fight."

Couture has remained in shape throughout his self-imposed 12-month layoff, but his workouts are now reportedly being geared towards an apparent upcoming bout.

Adding to previous speculation that Couture's return may be on Nov. 15 at UFC 91 against Brock Lesnar, Xtreme Couture is also reportedly making travel arrangements to bring in several "larger heavyweights" as sparring partners for Couture.

Sources indicate the Emelianenko bout is contingent upon Couture defeating Lesnar in November.

MMA Rated first reported the possibility of Emelianenko as Couture's second opponent after Lesnar. That report also stated that the UFC hopes to make an announcement regarding a new contract with Couture as early as Tuesday.