UFC 142 Preview: Rumble With The Phenom

This Saturday, UFC 142 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, brings an intriguing matchup to the table with a Middleweight bout between Vitor “The Phenom” Belfort and Anthony “Rumble” Johnson.  The co-main event features two of the best knockout artists in the UFC today, and will give the winner a healthy climb up the Middleweight ladder. With the striking talents of both fighters, this should be an exciting and unpredictable war that may end swiftly in brutal fashion.
Many serious

Anthony Johnson willing to fight at Light Heavyweight if asked

Anthony “Rumble” Johnson has not always had the best of luck making the Welterweight limit of 170 pounds, in fact at UFC 104, Johnson missed weight by six pounds. At UFC 142 Johnson will put the Welterweight division behind him as he makes his Middleweight debut against Vitor Belfort.
The 10-3 Johnson recently revealed the logic that was behind the move to the 185 pound weight division. “Well when I said back in the day I was gonna fight at 185 that was just to get people talking and it

Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine fight card medical suspensions

On Saturday, January 7, Strikeforce presented their first fight card of 2012. The main event saw Luke Rockhold successfully defend his Strikeforce Middleweight crown against Keith Jardine. In the co-main event, Robbie Lawler recovered from an illegal knee, ending his fight against Adlan Amagov with a knee of his own.
In all, there were nine fights on the card. Of the eighteen competitors, eight escaped without a medical suspension, ten other fighters weren’t so lucky.
Strikeforce Medical

Dana White guarantees MMA in New York this year

The UFC’s struggles to get MMA sanctioned in the State of New York are well documented. The promotion has tried and failed to get the sport legalized through legislative means in the past. Near the end of 2011, the UFC took things one step further and filed a lawsuit against the State, claiming that denying MMA fighters the right to compete was a violation of their First Amendment right.
Despite the promotion’s ongoing struggles, UFC President Dana White recently made a bold statement regarding

UFC 142 Prediction: Jose Aldo to make a statement against Mendes

Next Saturday, Jose Aldo will put his title on the line against Chad Mendes. Their match headlines the UFC’s second foray into Brazil, after a wildly successful first show earlier this year. Jose, whose list of conquered foes contains Urijah Faber and Mike Brown, will be putting his title on the line for the fifth time.
So what makes Chad “Money” Mendes different than Urijah Faber and Mike Brown? That’s the question I asked myself when breaking down the scrap between Aldo and

UFC 142: Injury reduces card to 10 fights

The injury hit parade keeps rolling along for the UFC. It was announced today that light heavyweight Fabio Maldonado was forced to withdraw from UFC 142 due to an injury. Maldonado was scheduled to meet Caio Magalhaes on the January 14, fight card. With less than a week to find an opponent for Magalhaes, the UFC decided to remove him from the fight card, leaving the card with 10 fights at this point.
The unbeaten Magalhaes was actually a replacement fighter himself, as he was moved onto the card to replace

Strikeforce Rockhold vs. Jardine Recap: Luke Rockhold dominates on way to TKO victory

Heading into Saturday night most fans and pundits had Luke Rockhold as the favorite over Keith Jardine in Rockhold’s first defense of his Strikeforce Middleweight title.  With that being said, it’s doubtful that many had Rockhold breezing through the fight as easily as he did.
It seemed as if whenever Rockhold threw a strike it landed and the post-fight numbers reflected that as Rockhold connected on 75 percent of his strikes, especially those that ended the fight at the 4:26 mark of Round