10 Legendary MMA Fighters You've Probably Never Heard Of

Tag: UFC 129

Damage Control: Four Explanations for Why UFC 140 Hasn’t Sold Out Yet


(*crickets*)

From the Toronto Sun via BloodyElbow:

Just eight months after 55,000 fight fans filled the Rogers Centre for the mixed martial arts company’s first ever Ontario show, Toronto will host UFC 140 on Saturday night. The fanfare for the event has paled in comparison to last April’s spectacle when the city had been buzzing for months about UFC 129, which was headlined by Canada’s own Georges St. Pierre. But this time around, it is being held at the much smaller Air Canada Centre…Despite the great line-up, there’s been little hoopla over the city’s second ever UFC event, which still has tickets available.

What the hell happened, Toronto? How did you go from a record-destroying immediate sellout in April to a “Good seats still available!” situation in December? On the surface, it doesn’t make much sense. So let’s throw some excuses around…

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According to Zuffa, All UFC 129 Drug Tests Came Back Clean


(If the OAC wants to be taken seriously, it can’t expect promotions to self-regulate.)

If you recall, we reported after UFC 129 that the Ontario Athletic Commission had passed the buck in terms of post-fight drug testing to Zuffa for the April 30 event held in Toronto and that the UFC had hired an unnamed independent laboratory to look after testing the fighters on the historic card.

According to UFC Vice President of Government and Regulatory Affairs, Marc Ratner, who responded to a request from CagePotato.com today for test results from the event, all of the samples came back clean two weeks ago “for both [performance enhancing drugs] and illegal street drugs.”

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The Top Five Biggest Moments in UFC History — According to Google

By CagePotato contributor Jason Moles

During the illustrious eighteen-year history of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, we’ve witnessed countless brutal beatings, killer knockouts, and spectacular submissions. Simply put, we’ve witnessed a ton of holy $&*% moments!

I’m sure you have your favorites that you’ll share with your grandkids when you’re sitting in the old man’s chair. But have you ever stopped and asked yourself which moments in the past two decades were the biggest on a large scale? Well I did and I went to the largest scale imaginable: the almighty Google and here’s what I found. Remember, Google doesn’t have emotional or monetary interest at stake here. These moments are the ones that have generated the most web traffic via searches, not which ones impacted the sport the most.

5.) St. Pierre Beats Shields at UFC 129 – 04/30/2011

Why it’s ranked: Jake Shields left Strikeforce as champion so essentially casual fans and mainstream media alike viewed this as the first major inter-promotional, champion vs. champion fight. Georges St. Pierre, reigning UFC Welterweight champion and winner of nine straight came out on top of Shields who was riding a fifteen-fight win streak over the past five years.

The UFC went all in on this one hyping this event with the normal Countdown shows in addition to a pretty sweet commercial, the Primetime series, and a flyer in my mailbox reminding me to order the PPV. It was a huge moment in both men’s career primarily because it was the first tough competition either had faced in quite some time up to that point.  The underlying reason this mattered so much is that we all wanted to see the GSP vs. Silva super fight.

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Quote of the Day: Hughes Calls St-Pierre’s Performance Against Shields the Worst of His Career


(“Come on, Georges. If you keep this up I’m going to rescind my offer to join me for a country breakfast.”)

Matt Hughes is not impressed by GSP’s performance in his last fight.

Now, before you jump to conclusions and say that Matt is only saying that Georges stunk the joint up in his UFC 129 fight against Jake Shields at Rogers Centre because he’s still sore that “Rush” laid a beating on him in their last two bouts, Hughes did say that he likes St-Pierre just fine.

Check out what the former UFC welterweight champ had to say in a recent blog post he wrote about the Shields-St-Pierre bout after the jump.

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After 5 Hours at the Dentist, Randy Couture is A-OK Following Career-Ending KO

(YouTube/MMA30tv)

Any time you watch a 47-year-old man get kicked in the face by a levitating karate master – man, if we only had a nickel for every time that happens, right? – you have to wonder how the elder statesman is going to bounce back from it. In the case of Randy Couture, he appears to be recovering nicely. Aside from a small bruise under his eye, the newly retired “Natural” seems in great spirits when he meets up with MMA30’s Dave Fara at a gala event for the Xtreme Couture GI Foundation, which seeks to raise money for wounded vets. Couture also looks fully in control of his faculties, as evidenced when he correctly uses the word “assimilate” in casual conversation.

The teeth however, were more of a problem. In the above vid, listen to Couture discuss the five-plus hours he spent at the dentist getting his pearly-white Hollywood-level choppers realigned. All that, and he even has to go back for more. Nonetheless, The Old Man is taking it in stride, relating to Fara that Lyoto Machida put in a personal phone call to him a couple of days after the fight to make sure he was OK. Couture laughs off the Steven Seagal angle, keeps right on using the word “cat” as much as possible (which is only slightly less annoying than when guys in MMA insist on calling everyone “kid”) and even comments on rumors he personally took out Osama bin Laden. “It was a long plane ride,” says Couture. So you know, (if you’ll excuse the phrase) business as usual. Now if we could just do something about the epaulets on his dress blazer …

The rest of Couture’s quotes are after the jump, followed by a bevy of other Las Vegas-based fighters making appearances to pay homage to the 14-year vet. And damn, check out the jacket on Ray Sefo at 4:15. Looking good.

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Chief of US Anti-Doping Agency Calls MMA Drug Testing ‘Horrific’ and ‘a Joke’

(All natural, bro, all natural. Pic: GoodmenProject)

We told you last weekend there seemed to be some confusion about who was doing the drug testing at UFC 129, after the Ontario Athletic Commission admitted it didn’t oversee any prefight screening and the UFC had to reportedly take matters in hand by hiring an independent lab to do the work. For a variety of reasons – financial and otherwise — it’s obviously problematic when the only drug testing done at a major sporting event is overseen by the promotion itself. Especially when the president of said promotion consistently tells the media his organization is powerless against “the government” in nearly all PED-related issues.

Now, here’s a new reason to raise our eyebrows, as just prior to UFC 129 the head of the renowned US Anti-Doping Agency went on record to call drug testing in MMA “horrific” and say it’s “a joke” that promoters “claim they are trying to protect their sport with WADA (compliant) policies.” That’s World Anti-Doping Agency, for those of you keeping score, pretty much the gold standard in the drug-testing world. USADA chief Travis Tygart told Reuters recently that his organization — which oversees America’s Olympic-level testing — has no involvement in the UFC’s drug policies and called the current system employed by promoters and government athletic commissions “woefully inadequate.”

His quotes, scathing as they are, are after the jump …

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Don’t Worry Everybody, Steven Seagal is Just Getting Warmed Up

(We looked and looked, but all we could find was this photo of Jim Belushi. Pic: The Fab Life)

At this rate, we’ll never be rid of this goddamn vampire. We’d hoped for a quick and quiet departure from MMA for Steven Seagal – kind of a one-off creep-and-lurk session at UFC 126 – but now that his second straight appearance in the corner of a Black House fighter has ended in a second straight front kick knockout, we don’t see that happening. While it is still totally unclear if Lyoto Machida and Anderson Silva are just fucking with us (and by extension, with him) by professing their allegiances to Seagal, this week Out for Justice himself stopped by Sherdog Radio to assure us all that this shit is deadly serious.

As part of a nearly 20-minute interview, Seagal broke down Lyoto Machida’s jumping KO of Randy Couture at last weekend’s UFC 129. You know, as much as he could without giving away all the secrets of his deadly arts. He also promised to keep working with Black House fighters on new, top-secret techniques. Worst of all, it appears he’s begun referring to Machida and Silva as “his guys.” The quotes are after the jump.

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According to Mark Hominick, Dana White Told Him He’ll Get Another Title Shot If He Racks Up a Couple of Wins


(“Hey you guys!!! Can I get a Baby Ruth?”)

UFC featherweight Mark Hominick was on The Fan 590 RadioMonday morning where he spoke with host Andrew Krystal about his gutsy fight at UFC 129 against Jose Aldo this past weekend.

According to “The Machine,” who says the gruesome hematoma he incurred during the bout was “merely a flesh wound,” the UFC brass were so impressed with his performance Saturday night that they have assured him that if he can put together a couple more wins, he’ll get another crack at the the promotion’s 145-pound strap.

Check out what Hominick had to say after the jump.

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Photo Gallery: CagePotato’s UFC 129 ‘Banned’ Pre-Party in Toronto

Joe SIlva Free CagePotato Toronto UFC Fan Expo
(Above: Bern poses with a completely terrified Joe Silva. Below: Proof that at least one human female attended our party. Success!)
CagePotato UFC 129 party Toronto Shoeless Joe's

As promised, here are some photographic highlights from last Thursday’s CagePotato party at Shoeless Joe’s in Toronto, with a few “Free CagePotato” photos from the UFC Fan Expo thrown in for flavor. Thanks again to everybody who came, wore our t-shirts, took pictures, and got drunk at our expense. Most of these pics were shot by CagePotato All-Star Bern E., who sent them to us out of the goodness of his heart (so he says), not to win that GSP headband signed by the Octagon Girls. Well too bad buddy, because you’re the winner anyway. I’ll be in touch.

Lots more good times after the jump.

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Wednesday Morning MMA Link Club

Edith Labelle UFC Fan Expo Toronto new photos pics gallery MMA ring girls
Edith Labelle UFC Fan Expo Toronto new photos pics gallery MMA ring girls Edith Labelle UFC Fan Expo Toronto new photos pics gallery MMA ring girls
(Edith Labelle: Still alive. Photo proof via Harris Masood/MMAMania)

Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere. E-mail feedback@cagepotato.com for details on how your site can join the MMA Link Club…

- Five Lessons: UFC 129 (NBC Sports MMA)

- Jon Fitch Says He and GSP Both Deserve Some Criticism for Decisions (MMA Fighting)

- Watch and Listen: The 50 Best Entrance Songs in the History of the UFC (BleacherReport.com/MMA)

- Tim Kennedy Weighs in on the Killing of Osama Bin Laden (MiddleEasy)

- Bob Sapp Was Busy Being Bob Sapp Last Weekend (MMA-Scraps)

- Great Expectations: The Problem With Georges St. Pierre (MMA Convert)

- Vladimir Matyushenko Wants Tito Ortiz or Little Nog Next (LowKick)

- Gabriel Gonzaga to Emerge From Brief Retirement at ‘Heavyweight Xplosion’ in June (Five Ounces of Pain)

- Jake Ellenberger Undergoes Hand Surgery Following UFC 129 Knockout Victory (5thRound)

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UFC 129 GIF Party: The Spinning Backfist, the Flying Triangle, Arianny’s Clinch Defense + More


(John Makdessi vs. Kyle Watson)

Props to IronForgesIron.com. More after the jump…

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Send Us Your ‘Free CagePotato’ Pics From the Weekend, Win An Amazing Strip of Cloth

Jason MacDonald UFC 129 free cagepotato t-short
(UFC middleweight Jason MacDonald and a Potato Nation All-Star. Props: Brian J. D’Souza)

Thanks again to all the beautiful people who swung through Shoeless Joe’s in Toronto on Thursday night for our UFC 129 ‘Banned’ Meetup. We had an amazing time, and it was cool to put some faces to screennames. (If you think we should do it again in Houston, say ‘aye’.) We have one request, though. We saw a lot of you snapping photos all night of you and your friends rocking the Free CagePotato t-shirts. Well, we want those photos. Me and Mike would have taken some pictures ourselves, but we were too busy shaking hands and kissing babies.

So, if you have any photos of yourself or your crew rocking our shirts at the pre-party, or at the Fan Expo, or at UFC 129, please post them on our Facebook wall or e-mail them to contest@cagepotato.com. We’ll post our favorites later in the week, and the best one will receive a souvenir GSP headband personally signed by Arianny Celeste and Brittney Palmer. (You can gaze upon its glory right here.) Thanks for the help guys.

After the jump: A video highlight-reel from the party, edited by our pal Brian J. D’Souza, which proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that nobody should try to interview Ben Goldstein while he’s been drinking. Seriously.

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Nick Diaz Tells Vampire He’s Ready to Take on GSP


(Video courtesy of YouTube/GroundandPoundTV1)

Nick Diaz was interviewed Saturday night by a vampire following a disappointing 0-3 showing by his Team Cesar Gracie teammates at UFC 129 in Toronto.

When asked by the sunlight-fearing interviewer if a bout with Georges St-Pierre is on the horizon since his training partner Jake Shields lost to the UFC 170-pound kingpin over the weekend, the Strikeforce welterweight champ didn’t beat around the bush.

“I didn’t know if they’d be talking about [a fight between me and Georges] or what, but you should let me get in there with that guy, you know? They had him in there with my partner and look what happened. to him. What do you think’s gonna happen if they put him in there with me? I don’t know. I’d like to start gettin’ paid up here,” Nick says. “I’d like to get that fight or I’d like to make somethin’ happen here — somethin’ different, somethin’ big, you know? I’m tired of the same thing over and over again. It’s gettin’ old. This is gettin’ old for me. That’s just how I feel.”

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Witness this Crazy Brawl Between Fans at UFC 129


(YouTube/TheChosen1)

There is so much to simultaneously love and despise about the above video of an epic brawl in the semi-cheap seats at Rogers Centre on Saturday night during UFC 129 that we felt compelled to share it with you. Normally, we wouldn’t give these a-holes the time of day – why give any more fodder to MMA’s adversaries? Why continue to disprove the myth that the UFC has “the best fans in the world”? – but this thing is so over-the-top that it’s simply begging for some brief play-by-play and analysis. Props to the homies at Middle Easy for the find.

First off, you know you’ve stumbled on some sweet shit when the opening scene is a bunch of guys in fashion Tees involved in a totally indecipherable melee with a dude in a GSP headband. Note to all MMA fans over the age of 10: That GSP headband doesn’t look as cool as you think it does. Second of all, where you at Rogers Centre security guards? Round one of this scrap goes on for more than a full minute – complete with guys flipping over rows of seats, some protracted shit-talking and dudes sporting pro-wrestling-style “crimson masks” of blood – and we’re not sure anybody in an official capacity ever shows up to do anything about it. By the time some totally different guy in a GSP headband asks the cameraman, “Is this gonna be on YouTube? What’s your YouTube channel? I gotta look this shit up!” we’re sold. We’re sure there’s a commentary somewhere in that statement about the ease of technology and the immediacy of postmodern life, but fuck it. Dudes start fighting again too soon for us to figure it out.

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Video: Jake Shields Pokes Georges St. Pierre in the Eye Pretty Blatantly at UFC 129


(Props: elytko via BloodyElbow)

Not sure if was intentional, but Jake Shields‘s fingers introduced themselves to Georges St. Pierre‘s left eyeball on Saturday night, causing an injury that’s still bugging the UFC welterweight champ. Greg Jackson spoke to Sherdog after UFC 129, and let it be known that GSP’s performance might have been more impressive if not for that poke:

Georges’s eye was pretty badly injured — he told me that in between rounds — and Georges is a very timing-based fighter, and so when one of your eyes is injured your depth-perception gets off pretty significantly and it’s very hard for you to time the shots because it’s hard to see where they are coming. I felt he did really, really well considering he fought with one eye, I’m really proud of him for fighting through that. We’ll try to get better and do better the next time, but I really feel the injury played a significant role…he was just missing a little bit, he was just off a little bit on some of those big shots, and I feel like if he would have had both eyes he could have landed those shots and could have done a lot more damage.”

Responding to the argument that GSP should have finished Jake anyway, you know, because he’s so awesome and Jake Shields sucks, Jackson didn’t mince words:

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Independent Laboratory to Perform UFC 129 Drug Testing


(“Why is this cup empty?”)

CagePotato.com has learned that the Ontario Athletic Commission did not oversee pre and post-fight drug testing for last night’s UFC 129 event in Toronto, contrary to its current set of MMA rules which state that the commission will “[test] competitors for performance enhancing and illegal drugs, where it is required in the contract between the promoter and the competitors.”

According to former Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director and current UFC Vice President of Government and Regulatory Affairs, Marc Ratner, testing for performance enhancing substances and for drugs of abuse were administered by an unnamed independent laboratory hired by the UFC.

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UFC 129 Aftermath: Business as Usual, as Usual

Yeah, that happened.

Ever since the UFC purchased Strikeforce, it has been business as usual. Well, for some things at least. Georges St. Pierre and Jose Aldo are still the kings of their respective weight classes. Jumping karate kicks are still incredibly badass. A stadium full of over 55,000 fans could get pretty loud. You know, business as usual.

Georges St. Pierre extended his winning streak to nine fights last night in convincing fashion, exhibiting his superior stand-up skills en route to a unanimous decision victory over Jake Shields. While Jake Shields displayed much better striking last night than anything we’ve grown accustomed to seeing from him, he was also unable to get the fight to the ground. Oh well, on to Anderson Silva now, right?

Well, not exactly. GSP didn’t hide that he hasn’t committed to moving up to middleweight, and Anderson Silva still has to beat Yushin Okami for this to happen. Oh yeah, there’s also one minor issue: Dana White seems interested in seeing GSP fight Nick Diaz. But can Dana White really make this fight happen? In the “business as usual” manner we’ve come to expect, Dana White said, “I imagine I could do whatever I wanted to do if I really wanted. But we have a contract with Showtime, and he’s a Strikeforce fighter. We’ll see how it works out, but that’s an interesting fight.” For what it’s worth, Jake Shields also likes the idea of Diaz vs. GSP.

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UFC 129 Post-Fight Photo: Mark Hominick’s Poor, Ugly Head

Mark Hominick Jose Aldo UFC 129 hematoma lump head eye MMA photos
(Props: Cagewriter)

Heart of a champion, head of Quasimodo. On the bright side, this is a star-making loss for Mark Hominick. He gave Jose Aldo everything he could handle (especially in the dominant finish to the fifth round), and picked up tons of new fans in the process. Now somebody get that kid an Aspirin…

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Knockout of the Year: Lyoto Machida Retires Randy Couture Via Crane Kick [GIF]

Lyoto Machida crane kick jumping front kick Randy Couture UFC 129

All praise be to Master Steven Seagal. Or Ralph Macchio. One of the two. Lyoto Machida‘s incredible jumping front-kick KO of Randy Couture at UFC 129 netted him the event’s Knockout of the Night bonus, which came out to a whopping $129,000. (See what Dana did there?) The UFC can certainly afford it, since UFC 129′s gate revenue was reportedly $12.075 million.

Also picking up $129k bonuses: Jose Aldo and Mark Hominick (Fight of the Night) for their epic five-round featherweight title bout, and Pablo Garza for his flying triangle over Yves Jabouin in the first preliminary match.

Another look at the Machida/Couture KO is after the jump. Gifs via The Destroyer88.

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UFC 129 Live Results and Commentary

(Well, *somebody’s* already got the “Creep of the Night” bonus all sewn up. Pic: UFC.tv)

What will 55,000 screaming Canadians sound like? Our best guess: Loud, but polite. That politeness may well be tested prior to tonight’s main event, when California hippie Jake Shields takes the cage. The UFC – and champion Georges St. Pierre – have gone out of their way this week to cast Shields as the biggest threat yet to St. Pierre’s dominance. That in and of itself is interesting, since a year or two ago you likely wouldn’t have been able to get anyone from the UFC to admit Shields was better than guys like Josh Koscheck or Thiago Alves for any amount of money. It is truly a new day in MMA, kids. Anyways, we’ll be live with results and commentary of the PPV card beginning at 9 p.m. EST time. Don’t forget to hit refresh early and often to keep up with the latest updates.

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Heads-Up: If GSP Beats Jake Shields Tonight, There Might Be Some Random-Ass Dude Putting the Belt on Him


(Props: MMAWeeklyVideos)

…and here’s why. More proof that Dana White at UFC Fan Expo Q+As — much like a mafioso on the day of his daughter’s wedding — is highly receptive to outlandish requests.

Speaking of Fan Expos, the UFC has officially announced that their next one will take place October 7th and 8th at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston. The two-day event will coincide with a yet-to-be-announced UFC pay-per-view card on 10/8, which will likely be hosted at the Toyota Center.

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Video: UFC 129 Weigh-In Highlights


(Props: MMAFighting)

Weigh-ins for UFC 129: St-Pierre vs. Shields went down yesterday at the Ricoh Coliseum in Toronto, with all 24 fighters making weight. Well, basically. Ben Henderson hit the scales at 156.5, and was given an hour to lose that extra half-pound, which he did. Bendo didn’t look too happy being on the scale in the first place; the tough cut might be a factor in his fight against Mark Bocek. Later, Mark Hominick‘s weight was announced at 145.25. There is no one-pound allowance for UFC title fights, but the match was OK’d anyway. Possible explanations include miscommunication and the overly trusting nature of Canadians.

In other weigh-in weirdness, Lyoto Machida brought Steven Seagal with him during his face-off against Randy Couture (you can find a rather amazing photo of that moment after the jump), and Ivan Menjivar showed up with a Wolverine claw that definitely didn’t look like it came from a toy store. Just seemed kind of unsafe, that’s all.

Come back to CagePotato.com tonight for live results from the UFC 129 broadcast; remember, Spike TV prelims start at 8 p.m. ET, and the pay-per-view starts at 9.

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Exclusive: Mark Hominick Talks About His Career Turnaround, The Heart of a Champion and Why Styles Make Fights

We recently spoke with UFC featherweight contender Mark Hominick and discussed a number of things from his upcoming UFC 129 championship bout with Jose Aldo tomorrow night to how he mentally prepares to prove his detractors that he’s no underdog.

Check out what “The Machine” had to say after the jump.

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Couture Talks Retirement, Machida and What the Sport Will Do Without Him on Canadian TV

(YouTube/Us)

Despite the fact that not even the guy who signs the checks believes him, Randy Couture has his story and he’s sticking to it: He’s absolutely, definitely, 100 percent retiring after UFC 129 this weekend. You know what? Through the sheer repetition of it all, we’re actually starting to think he might be serious. What you see above is Couture’s Thursday appearance on Toronto’s CP24 “Breakfast” morning show, where he reiterates that his MMA career is about to enter its final 24 hours, talks up the UFC fan expo and admits he gets a little creeped-out when fans and other fighters treat him like some kind of ageless god.

Frankly, it’s nice to see an MMA athlete get such friendly and even-handed treatment from a mainstream television show. You taking notes, American TV? Things get a little dicey there near the end, when Couture and the CP24 host disagree on exactly how awesome it is to watch the UFC in HD, but they smooth things over by giving away from some tickets to the fan expo. Oh, and maybe the best part? There are some scattered highlights of him beating up James Toney. We’d almost forgotten how goofy that was.

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GSP Disarms Knife-Wielding Attacker at UFC 129 Media Workout


(Props: MMAFighting)

No, it wasn’t a bit of pre-fight crime-fighting in the style of Jon Jones. At yesterday’s UFC 129 media workout, Georges St. Pierre paid tribute to his karate roots by doing a kata for onlookers, and then proving the effectiveness of the art by disarming a bad guy with a knife. Either that or he’s just screwing with all of us. Is GSP growing a sense of humor? And how many blocks of ice did Lyoto Machida break afterwards?

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Check Out The Bum Rush Radio Show Episode 20 With Special Guest, UFC Welterweight Standout Rory MacDonald

If you’re looking for something to do this afternoon to waste some time while you wait for Steve Carell’s final episode of The Office, The Royal Wedding or Cage Potato’s Banned Party, look no further than the latest episode of our massively popular (OK, mildly popular) podcast.

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Video: UFC Primetime: St-Pierre vs. Shields Episode 3


(Video courtesy of DailyMotion/129PT3)

If you missed the final episode of UFC Primetime: St-Pierre vs. Shields last night, here’s your hook-up.

In this instalment we get to see Jake Shields juggling being father and a fighter.

Of perhaps more interest is that, while training with UFC light heavyweight prospect and former Division I wrestler Phil Davis, Shields did pretty well controlling Mr. Wonderful on the ground. Davis remarked that although he had no problem getting Shields to the ground, he couldn’t hold him there or retain control over the Cesar Gracie black belt — which is something he says he’s never had a problem with before. Sure GSP will probably get Shields down, but the question Saturday night will be what he is able to do when he does.

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Cesar Gracie is a Bit Upset With His Cousin Renzo For Training GSP to Fight Jake Shields

(209 bros before French-Canadian foes.)

Jake Shields’ coach Cesar Gracie was on Sherdog’s The Savage Dog Show today and one of the topics he touched on was his disagreement with his cousin Renzo Gracie over his decision to help Georges St-Pierre prepare for his upcoming UFC 129 bout with longtime Gracie jiu-jitsu student and black belt Jake Shields this weekend.

According to Cesar, it was wrong for Renzo to help St-Pierre train as he is a relatively new student of the New York-based instructor and he feels that he should be looking out for his committed Gracie family members first and foremost.

“Renzo’s like a brother to me. You gotta understand, we grew up together. We really did. So nothing’s gonna change [between us]. People try to make a big thing about it. I did have a talk with Renzo and I said, “Renzo, you’re training a guy that doesn’t represent your academy, he represents another academy, to fight against a Gracie Academy. It doesn’t make sense to me. It just doesn’t Georges is a great guy.From al accounts, he’s respectful and a decent human being from what I’m understanding. And I said to Renzo, ‘If you had a talk with Georges St-Pierre and said, you’re one of our black belts, you’re going to have to represent us,’” Gracie said. “I think he would do it in a heartbeat.I did have that discussion with him, but I really don’t know what came about with it. People try to make a big thing about it, but I’m an old school guy. I really am. When Georges St-Pierre was training at Renzo’s to fight Matt Serra, who I think was the first black belt Renzo gave out in the U.S… I couldn’t imagine a guy coming in and training with me to beat one of my black belts. I just couldn’t do it. I don’t know exactly what they’re doing over there with that, but it’s just not my way. I’m old school and I’m gonna die old school. That’s just how I am. So I made my feelings known to Renzo about it and I don’t think my guys appreciate it. Frankie Edgar’s there too and he’s a really great kid. He came out to my place and he’s a really hard worker. He came out to train for the BJ Penn fight. I refused to have my guys train with BJ for that fight and they had trained with him for the Florian fight and maybe one fight before that fight when BJ needed help and was trying to get his career back on track. Nick Diaz was training with BJ Penn and there was good sparring. They called us up to train with him for the last Edgar fight and we said no, because he was fighting a kid who represented the Gracie Academy in New York. I’m old school, but now with this fight…It’s not about teaching a guy, because they’re professional athletes and they’re gonna have to fight. They didn’t grow up together or nothing like that. But me being an old school guy, I just look at it like you gotta carry our flag to battle and if you can’t carry our flag to battle, you aren’t training with us. It’s just how I look at it.”

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UFC 129 Press Conference Notes

(You’re lucky you’re not a fat ugly bully, Jake. PicProps: Tracy Lee/CombatLifestyle.com)

If you missed the UFC 129 press conference, have no fear, we’ve got you covered with the short and sweet version of what went down today in Toronto.

If you want to waste 45 minutes watching the whole shebang, we will have the video up within the hour. Alternatively, you can watch it on UFC.com.

For the rest of us that have shit to do tonight, the Cliff’s Notes are after the jump.

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Add Dana White to the List of People Not Buying Randy’s Retirement

(As if we need an excuse to use this picture. Props: ESPN)

Remember earlier this week when we discussed our worries that Randy Couture was already making qualifying statements about his planned retirement? Turns out, Dana White also has his doubts. To hear DW tell it, it sounds like Ol’ Captain America is starting to get more and more salty with all the questions he’s facing about his future this week and – true to form – during the official UFC 129 pre-fight presser the UFC Prez didn’t shy away from telling us how he really feels about Couture’s plan to make Saturday’s bout with Lyoto Machida his last. Props to MMA Fighting for the somewhat exhaustive quotes, which we trimmed down a bit.

“No,” White responded when asked if he believed Couture’s talk about hanging up his gloves. “I’m going to go out there and say it again. I know he was chirping, he was mad at me earlier, but … Randy Couture, I’ve been saying it and you guys have been standing in front of me when I said it. This guy is one of the top 10 best in the world … Who knows with this guy? I’m not saying it’s not time for him to retire but who knows? He’s such a competitor that every time there’s something out there and he says, ‘You know what? I think I can beat this guy,’ I think he’s going to come out and try to do it.”

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