Mir and Nogueira Officially Announced As Coaches For Next Season’s TUF

(Guess who’s probably not going to be so easy to catch in a kneebar.)

You heard it here first, even if some of you didn’t believe us. The UFC and Spike TV today officially announced UFC heavyweight champ Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and former title-holder Frank Mir as coaches for season eight of The Ultimate Fighter. Production is scheduled to begin in late May, and the full cast — eight lightweights and eight light heavyweights — is expected to be announced in September.

Of course this means Mir will be the next challenger for the heavyweight strap once the show ends, assuming tradition is any indicator. Since the UFC hasn’t changed much else about the show (aside from, you know, weeding out the “pussies and posers”), it’s reasonable to assume the coach-versus-coach pay-per-view climax will also stay intact.

Some in the MMA media have criticized the decision to name Nogueira, who can be less than electrifying in interviews, and Mir, who has been up and down since returning from a motorcycle injury, as coaches. But as the UFC struggles to develop new talent in the heavyweight division, while simultaneously trying to introduce their soft-spoken Brazilian champion to an American audience, this decision could really help them do both.

Nogueira is no “Rampage” on the microphone, but he does have a wealth of knowledge about MMA and jiu-jitsu, so he could easily be portrayed as the learned veteran who observes much and says little. Kind of like Yoda, but with a better butterfly guard.

As for Mir, he’s likable enough when he shows up in shape and ready to fight. He has excellent jiu-jitsu skills and great agility, so a showdown between Mir and Nogueira has the potential to be an intriguing style matchup.

This also means the heavyweight title will be out of circulation for a while, but considering the state of the division right now that’s not necessarily a bad thing. After the departure of Couture and Sylvia, and with Arlovski rumored to be fleeing for Affliction, the heavyweight class is arguably the UFC’s weakest right now. Taking some time to hype their champion and a number one contender — all while guys like Brock Lesnar, Brandon Vera, and Cain Velasquez get a chance to show what they can do — might be the best move for the UFC going forward.

And if you’re wondering what vindication tastes like, we assure you that it’s so very, very sweet.

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Exclusive: Monte Cox Talks Rothwell-Arlovski Rumors, Affliction, Adrenaline, and More

(That’s Monte on the right, there)

Monte Cox is a busy man. With his own MMA organization, Adrenaline, set to put on their first show on June 14th, and with many of the high-profile fighters that he manages facing some interesting career decisions, he’s in no danger of getting bored.

Cage Potato got in touch with Cox earlier today to discuss rumors that Ben Rothwell would be facing Andrei Arlovski in the upcoming Affliction event, and after a little prodding we got much more than we expected from MMA’s super-manager, as he discussed a range of topics, from the chances of success for Affliction to the problems plaguing MMA organizations on the whole.

CagePotato.com: So Monte, what can you tell me about Ben Rothwell and Andrei Arlovski?

Well, they’re both heavyweights.

Thanks. Are they going to be heavyweights who fight each other in this upcoming Affliction show?

The only thing I can say is Rothwell is going to fight in Affliction. It’s up to them who he fights. I’d love it to be Andrei, but they’re the ones who ultimately get to make that decision. They had at one point talked about having Ben fight Aleksander Emelianenko, and then of course they talked about Andrei, but I don’t know what his contract status is. He was supposed to be free from his UFC contract on May 1, but I honestly don’t know if it will be Ben and Andrei fighting in that show. [Affliction] is supposed to have a press conference in the next week or two to announce some of that, but I honestly can’t say at this point.

It seems like having guys like Rothwell and Tim Sylvia signed to Adrenaline, your organization, and having them also fight in Affliction makes it difficult for you to schedule your events.

A little bit, but I said from the beginning that we were going to be a different type of organization. One of those main differences is we allow our fighters to fight other places. If one of our guys gets a good opportunity somewhere else, then we don’t want to keep him from that. It doesn’t help anyone.

The rumors have been flying about how much Affliction is spending on this first show. Since you manage a couple of the guys who are fighting in it, what can you tell us about the amount of money they’re spending? Some estimates have it at $6 million. Do you think that’s accurate?

I really can’t say what they’re paying out. The only people I know about are my guys, but if everything I’ve heard is correct they’ll have one of the biggest fighter payouts in history.

Is that a cause for concern about their long-term viability? How long can they keep shelling out that kind of money?

(more…)

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ProElite and DREAM Enter Blood-Pact

(Diaz rocks Inoue at DREAM.3 on Sunday.)

Though the participation of Nick Diaz and Eddie Alvarez at DREAM.3 already suggested that relations between ProElite and DREAM were friendly, the two organizations made it official during a press conference held on Saturday, announcing that they’ve formed a partnership that would have the fight clubs sharing fighters and working on co-promoted events.

Speaking for ProElite, executive William Kelly revealed the company’s goal of presenting EliteXC and Dream co-promoted shows on CBS and Showtime; he also announced ProElite’s intention of opening offices in Japan with the hopes of putting on an EliteXC show there at some point, as well as hosting co-promoted Dream/EliteXC events in places like England and Korea. ProElite executive and former ICON Sport owner T. Jay Thompson named Kimbo Slice, Jake Shields, and Robbie Lawler as other U.S. stars that the promotion wants to present to Japanese audiences in the future.

As long as the first installment of CBS/EliteXC’s Saturday Night Fights doesn’t tank, this could be a major development for the still-struggling ProElite. An ongoing network TV deal and access to some of the most exciting lightweights, welterweights, and middleweights in MMA could help establish the company as just as legitimate as the UFC — and it removes one more obstacle to the world’s best fighters facing each other. Plus, if Bob Sapp was popular enough in Japan to warrant an entire store in Tokyo devoted to his memorabilia, they’ll probably give Kimbo his own town…

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Rumor: Affliction Set to Announce Ben Rothwell-Andrei Arlovski Bout For July Event

(Up next for Rothwell: a showdown with “The Pitbull”?)

A source close to the organization tells CagePotato.com that a bout between former IFL heavyweight Ben Rothwell and former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski is all but official and an announcement from Affliction is forthcoming. The bout has been rumored for weeks now, but no announcement has been made as of yet.

Rothwell is signed to both Affliction and Adrenaline MMA, a new organization headed by Rothwell’s manager, Monte Cox. Recent reports on the status of the July 19 Affliction card at The Pond in Anaheim, Calif. had Rothwell facing an as of yet unnamed opponent. The source confirmed that the opponent will be Arlovski, who leaves the UFC riding a three-fight win streak.

If true, it would add even more firepower to an already impressive first card for Affliction. The card is expected to be broken into pay-per-view and cable broadcast portions, which was reportedly a sticking point in negotiations between Affliction and HDNet. The addition of Rothwell-Arlovski would add even more top heavyweights to a card already laden with them, as well as position Affliction as a destination for heavyweights moving forward.

At the time of this posting, neither representatives for Rothwell or Arlovski had returned calls seeking confirmation of this information.

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Kawajiri, Uno, Alvarez Advance at DREAM.3; Mayhem Clowns His Way to Victory

(Jason Miller keeps ‘em laughing against Katsuyori Shibata.)

DREAM.3 went down today in Saitama, Japan, with two upsets pulled off in the lightweight grand prix, while Nick Diaz, Jason Miller, and Melvin Manhoef all scored first-round TKOs. The night’s biggest surprise was the defeat of top-ten lightweight Mitsuhiro Ishida at the hands of Caol Uno — who had received a bye into the GP’s quarterfinals — by way of rear-naked choke early in the second round. Eddie Alvarez also took an unexpected win, grinding down Joachim Hansen over 15 minutes en route to a unanimous decision. The card’s other marquee names didn’t disappoint, with K-1 vet Melvin Manhoef demolishing Dae Won Kim, and Nick Diaz getting the better of Katsuya Inoue in a slugfest. But Jason Miller did his best to steal the show, entering the ring in Zubaz-esque tights for his fight against the completely outmatched Katsuyori Shibata, and repeatedly posing for the camera. Full results are below, and videos are after the jump.

Lightweight GP Quarterfinals
Caol Uno def. Mitsuhiro Ishida via rear-naked choke, 1:39 of round 2
Eddie Alvarez def. Joachim Hansen via unanimous decision
Tatsuya Kawajiri def. Luiz “Buscape” Firmino via unanimous decision

Welterweight Feature
Nick Diaz def. Katsuya Inoue via TKO (towel thrown), 6:47 of round 1

Middleweight GP Round 1
Jason Miller def. Katsuyori Shibata via TKO, 6:07 of round 1

Middleweight GP Reserve Fight
Melvin Manhoef def. Kim Dae Won via TKO, 4:08 of round 1

Lightweight Features
Daisuke Nakamura def. Jung Bukyung, 1:15 of round 2
Takeshi Yamazaki def. Shoji Maruyama via unanimous decision

(more…)

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Feast Your Eyes on Affliction’s First Fight Card

(It’s going to be totally sick, bro.)

The word on the street is that Affliction is having trouble getting their first event together and onto the airwaves in some form, but Vice President Tom Atencio sought to put out that fire in a recent talk with USA Today’s Sergio Non. Atencio insists that talks have not broken down between Affliction and HDNet, as has been previously reported, but that they are still in negotiations.

Affliction plans to put the top half of their July 19 card on pay-per-view (which will run you round $40-50), while airing the undercard on a live TV broadcast of some sort. And what will this inaugural card look like? As it stands right now, something like this:

• Fedor Emelianenko vs. Tim Sylvia
• Josh Barnett vs. Pedro Rizzo
• Renato Sobral vs. Mike Whitehead
• Matt Lindland vs. Fabio Negao
• Aleksander Emelianenko vs. Paul Buentello (unofficial, not yet signed)

Non-pay-per-view fights:
• Savant Young vs. Mark Hominick
• Justin Levens vs. Ray Lazama
• J.J. Ambrose vs. Patrick Speight
• Mike Pyle vs. Brett Cooper

Not a bad lineup at all. Also rumored for the card is heavyweight Ben Rothwell, though an opponent for him has not yet been named. The fights will take place in a ring, not a cage, and Atencio confirmed The Pond in Anaheim, Calif., as the venue for the event.

Atencio also said the winners of the Fedor-Sylvia bout and Barnett-Rizzo bout would meet in the main event of Affliction’s next show, most likely in October. Depending on your take on Affliction so far, you might call that planning for the future or cockeyed optimism.

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B.J. Penn Wants Wild West Justice For Sean Sherk

(Scene from a jiu-jitsu tournament, or an extremely amicable episode of Maury Povich’s paternity test show?)

If you love your title fights with a side of acrimony (and who doesn’t) then the B.J. Penn-Sean Sherk bout at UFC 84 is definitely for you. It’s no secret that these guys don’t like each other. Sherk thinks Penn’s a quitter. Penn thinks Sherk’s a cheater. It’s a fun little back and forth.

But in a recent interview with Sirius Radio’s “Sports Rage“, Penn kicked it up a notch with his anti-Sherk rhetoric. Here are some excerpts from the full broadcast:

” … I know there are a lot of people out there doing steroids, cheating and every time I run into one of them, I’m going to call them on it and then I’m going to beat the shit out of them …

… It’s going to be a historic night because all the kids out there will realize that you can do it with just hard work alone …He wants to say he has heart and all this different shit, but you can’t confuse steroids with heart.

… What would happen in the old days when you get caught with a couple of aces up your sleeve, they kill the guy right there and that’s why I say Sean Sherk is dead…”

Tell me, who’s still not excited for this fight? Anyone?

Nothing makes for an intense fight quite like death threats. I was willing to ascribe the first one to Penn being a little pumped up following his victory over Joe Stevenson, but after he repeated it with a calm rationale to explain why he wants to murder Sherk, well that’s just plain mean. Also pretty awesome.

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