Edgar Expects a Super Performance in His Superfight

Frankie Edgar doesn’t deal in what ifs. There are only absolutes, and it’s that philosophy that has taken him from Toms River, New Jersey to the top of the mixed martial arts world.

So if you’re expecting him to wonder what would have happened if he had received the nod in either of his razor-thin UFC lightweight title fight losses to Benson Henderson last year, he’s just not playing that game.

“I think it was always in the back of my head to go down to 145 (pounds), but I really don’t know if I won (against Henderson) would I have definitely gone down or not,” he said. “My team’s been trying to get me to go down for this Jose Aldo fight for a while, so even if I won, I think this fight would have happened eventually.”

‘Eventually’ is one day away, and after spending over seven years at 155 pounds, a stint that included a nearly two year reign as UFC champion, Edgar is going 10 pounds south to face one of the sport’s pound-for-pound best in Brazil’s Aldo. On the line isn’t just the UFC featherweight title, but the opportunity to join Randy Couture and BJ Penn as the only fighters in UFC history to hold titles in two different divisions. Perhaps more importantly, the few remaining doubters that have followed Edgar throughout his career may finally fall to the wayside, giving him the respect he hasn’t just deserved, but that he earned.

“I think there’s always gonna be doubters, no matter who you are,” said Edgar. “I’m sure Anderson Silva has some doubters and Jon Jones has his doubters, so they’re always out there. But as I go on, I get more and more support. And for me, it’s not so much that I was trying to shut people up or prove people wrong; I’m just a motivated person, I like to win, and that’s what I want to do. I want to be number one. Having that title for almost two years and then losing it, you miss it. You miss being called the champ and being considered the best guy in your weight class. And that’s what’s motivating me and that’s what I’m gunning for.”

He’s had plenty of time to get up a nice head of steam for the Aldo fight, which headlines UFC 156 in Las Vegas on Saturday, since the bout was originally scheduled for last October, two months after Henderson-Edgar II. An injury to Aldo postponed the bout to this weekend, but Edgar hasn’t taken his eyes off the champion, not in a Rocky Balboa picture on the mirror way, but in a way that reminds him every day that this is the man standing between him and getting a title belt around his waist again.

“I’m definitely thinking about him every day, but not in an obsessive way,” he chuckles. “It’s just knowing that this is the guy I’m gonna be facing. And because I think of him, I don’t need to put a picture up, and I’ve got a coach in Mark Henry who doesn’t let me forget. (Laughs) He definitely keeps my mind focused on him and that’s just part of it. As soon as I find out who I’m fighting, they’re on my mind day and night.”

In Aldo, Edgar has a lot to think about. The former WEC champion is unbeaten in his last 14 fights going back to 2006, and despite his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, he is known for his striking, which was most recently on display when he knocked out Chad Mendes in a single round in January of 2012. Even more specifically, he’s known for debilitating kicks to the legs and body, something Edgar is well aware of.

“You have to address it,” said the 31-year-old challenger. “That’s what I’m preparing for, and I’ve gotta make him not want to kick me. I’ve gotta do something, whether it’s check it or get takedowns or return with a bunch of punches. I’ve got to make him not want to kick me. It’s something I’m aware of, but that can’t be the full focus. I’ve got to go out there, do what I want to do, and fight my fight because if I’m worried about what he’s doing all the time, I’ll never be able to get started myself.”

And just to make sure he is ready for Aldo’s striking attack, two of Edgar’s newest teammates, UFC lightweight Edson Barboza and bantamweight up and comer Marlon Moraes, know a little something about striking, particularly Muay Thai.

“It’s been huge,” said Edgar of the addition of the two Brazilians to his team. “Barboza and one of his teammates who’s now one of our teammates, Marlon Moraes, are both very, very good Thai guys. Jose (Aldo), he’s become a great Thai guy, but I don’t think he’s a natural Thai guy, and they come from that background, so I couldn’t get a better look in that aspect of the kicking. The insight from these guys really helped me out and improved my game in leaps and bounds in that area.”
 
Don’t expect a Muay Thai clinic from Edgar this Saturday though. He’s going with what got him here, and it’s a mix of wrestling, boxing, cardio, and movement that’s hard to get a fix on before it’s too late. At featherweight, Edgar insists that won’t change, even pointing out that as he makes his way to 145, his cardio is better and that he may even be a little faster than usual. And if he brings all that to the Octagon on Saturday, especially with Aldo coming off a year off due to injury, there could be some celebrating going on at the Jersey Shore this weekend.

“I’m gonna do what I do naturally,” he said. “It’s kinda good that the pace I like to fight at will be to my benefit being that he’s been out for a year. I definitely want to go in there and test his mettle and see how he reacts to that long layoff.”

We already know how battle-tested Edgar is, and if he can push Aldo to the limit, this is a Superfight that will live up to its billing. But Edgar plans on going even further.

“I plan on putting on a super performance, so I can’t wait.”




 

Source: http://www.ufc.com/news/Edgar-Expects-a-Super-Performance-in-His-Superfight

Musse Hasselvall Daiki DJ taiki Hata He Peng David Heath

Bellator Releases Middleweight Tournament Brackets

We’re still a couple of months away from March Madness, but it’s almost tournament time for Bellator MMA. On Thursday, the mixed martial arts promotion released the brackets for their Season 8 Middleweight tourney.

Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina hosts all four 185-pound quarterfinal matchups on February 14th.

On one side of the brackets, Brian Rogers battles Dan Cramer and Brett Cooper meets Norman Paraisy. On the other end of the pairings, Andreas Spang faces Doug Marshall and Mikkel Parlo fights Sultan Aliev.

The victor of the eight-man tourney scores a massive $100,000 paycheck, literally and figuratively, as well as next dibs at the middleweight crown. Alexander Shlemenko and Maiquel Falcao compete for the vacant Bellator middleweight hardware the week prior at “Bellator 88.”

Speaking of championship affairs, Eduardo Dantas puts his bantamweight belt on the line against Marcos Galvao in the show’s featured attraction.

Spike.com will offer a live stream of the preliminary bouts, while Spike TV broadcasts the main cards.

Source: http://www.5thRound.com/137594/bellator-releases-middleweight-tournament-brackets/

Jon Olav Einemo Per Eklund Jason Ellis Aleksander Emelianenko

RFA 5 card set with Downing-Rinaldi featherweight title fight, Krause vs. Jordan

Resurrection Fighting Alliance puts its featherweight title up for grabs when it returns this week.

The show is set for Friday's RFA 5 event in Nebraska with a seven-bout main card, including Jared Downing vs. Jordan Rinaldi for the 145-pound title and WEC vet James Krause vs. Joe Jordan.

RFA 5 takes place Friday at Viaero Event Center in Kearney, Neb. The main card airs live on AXS TV at 10 p.m. ET.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/mmajunkie/~3/H2uBRZu-FJQ/rfa-5-card-set-with-downing-rinaldi-featherweight-title-fight-krause-vs-jordan.mma

Paulo Filho Mirko Cro Cop Filipović Luiz Buscapé Firmino Spencer Fisher

Alistair Overeem labels bout with Antonio Silva as a “warm-up fight”

UFC heavyweight Antonio Silva is 17-4, has finished all but two of the opponents he’s beaten, and owns a convincing win over legend Fedor Emelianenko. However, regardless of his stats, Alistair Overeem doesn’t seem overly concerned with what “Bigfoot” has to offer in the Octagon when the two meet Saturday night at UFC 156.

Overeem recently spoke to MMAJunkie where he explained he has respect for Silva’s skill but sees it as inferior to his own, expecting their tilt to be little more than an opportunity for him to get back in the swing of things after more than a year on the sidelines.

“Obviously I’ve not fought for 13 months, so it’s going to be a good test for me,” admitted Overeem, continuing, “I should not overlook ‘Bigfoot’ Silva, but if I look at my training and what I do to my sparring partners, I should not make ‘Bigfoot’ Silva more than he is. He should not be a problem, but that’s why it’s a warm-up fight.”

Overeem holds an overall record of 36-11 with 34 stoppages to his credit. He’s currently on a eleven-fight winning streak and is expected to receive a title-shot if victorious this weekend.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

The post Alistair Overeem labels bout with Antonio Silva as a “warm-up fight” appeared first on Five Ounces of Pain.

Source: http://fiveouncesofpain.com/2013/01/31/alistair-overeem-antonio-silva-a-warm-up-fight/

Per Eklund Jason Ellis Aleksander Emelianenko Fedor Emelianenko

Extraordinary UFO wormhole sighting in China

Source: http://ninjashoes.net/forum/showthread.php?80026-Extraordinary-UFO-wormhole-sighting-in-China&goto=newpost

Vitor Belfort Robert Berry David Bielkheden Michael Bisping

How to Spot Pseudoscience

Carl Sagan was one of the first to bring to the mass public a toolkit for deciphering science from pseudoscience when he published Demon-Haunted World in 1996. His "baloney detection kit" was a set of guidelines to help lay people spot logical fallacies and other common flaws in popular pseudoscientific claims. Many other great minds have continued in this tradition, and today we're flush with similar lists. In an effort to increase the confusion, I've taken it upon myself to compile some of the best, mix them all up, pick and choose the best points, and distill them down into a single list. In compiling this list, I owe the biggest debts to Dr. Stephen Barrett of Quackwatch.org, Dr. Tom Perls of AntiAgingQuackery.com, Dr. Michael Shermer of the Skeptics Society, and of course Dr. Carl Sagan. All four of these guys have put in many years of hard work protecting the innocent public from harmful and untruthful pseudoscientific claims. It's no accident that common themes run through all of their work.

I've created a 15-point checklist that I call "How to Spot Pseudoscience." When you hear any claim about a new product, a new discovery, or some paranormal ability, run it through these fifteen questions and you'll get a pretty clear idea of whether or not it has any merit.

1. Does the claim meet the qualifications of a theory?
Very few claims that aren't true actually qualify as theories. Let's review the four main requirements that a theory must fulfill. 1) A theory must originate from, and be well supported by, experimental evidence. Anecdotal or unsubstantiated reports don't qualify. It must be supported by many strands of evidence, and not just a single foundation. You'll find that most pseudoscience is supported by only a single foundation. 2) A theory must be specific enough to be falsifiable by testing. If it cannot be tested or refuted, it can't qualify as a theory. And if something is truly testable, others must be able to repeat the tests and get the same results. You'll find that this feature is truly rare among pseudosciences; they'll generally claim some excuse or make up a reason why it can't be tested or repeated by others. 3) A theory must make specific, testable predictions about things not yet observed. 4) A theory must allow for changes based on the discovery of new evidence. It must be dynamic, tentative, and correctable. You'll find that most pseudoscience does not allow for changes based on new discoveries.

2. Is the claim said to be based on ancient knowledge?
This is a sure sign that the claim is not based on scientific evidence, and it's intended to fool you into thinking that because the ancient Chinese believed it, it must have merit. In fact many true theories are not very old at all, because they've replaced older theories as knowledge has increased. Generally, the more recent the evidence, the better scientific foundation it has.

3. Was the claim first announced through mass media, or through scientific channels?
Real discoveries go through an unbiased peer review process, which results in publication through scientific journals. When a belief is first announced through the mass media, like Pons and Fleischman's cold fusion experiments or like the Steorn Orbo perpetual motion machine, there's generally a reason its proponents chose not to subject it to the scrutiny of peer review.



4. Is the claim based on the existence of an unknown form of "energy" or other paranormal phenomenon?
Loose, meaningless usage of a scientific-sounding word like "energy" is one of the most common red flags you'll see on popular pseudoscience. Terms like energy fields, negative energy, chi, orgone, aura, psi, and trans-dimensional energy are utterly meaningless in any scientific context. Approach with extreme caution.

5. Do the claimants state that their claim is being suppressed by authorities?
This is usually a really frail excuse for why mainstream scientists don't take their claim seriously, why the product is not approved by the FDA, or why scientific journals won't publish their articles. You'll often hear this in the form of a conspiracy of the medical establishment to suppress a quack cure because it's in the interest of the medical industry to keep you sick. In fact, any doctor or pharmaceutical company that could develop a new cure would make a huge fortune; they'd never suppress it. The same goes for auto manufacturers worldwide who are said to be "suppressing" new efficient engine technologies.

6. Does the claim sound far fetched, or too good to be true?
When something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. Does the claim truly fit in with what we know of the way the world works? How often do claims that turn the world upside down really turn out to be true? Approach such claims with extreme skepticism, and demand evidence that's as extraordinary as the claim.

7. Is the claim supported by hokey marketing?
Be wary of marketing gimmicks, and keep in mind that marketing gimmicks are, by themselves, completely worthless. Examples of hokey marketing that should always raise a red flag are pictures of people wearing white lab coats, celebrity endorsements, anecdotes and testimonials from any source, and mentions of certifications, colleges, academies, and institutes.

8. Does the claim pass the Occam's Razor test?
Is there a simpler, natural explanation for the claim that does not require any supernatural component? Are results consistent with the placebo effect or the body's natural healing capacity? Can a stage magician duplicate the psychic's feats? The Law of Large Numbers states that a one-in-a-million event usually happens to everyone about once a month, and since Occam's Razor says that the simpler of two possible explanations is usually the right one, don't leap for a supernatural explanation just because you happened to dream about your grandmother on the night she died.



9. Does the claim come from a source dedicated to supporting it?
Science works by starting with a null hypothesis and searching for evidence. Pseudoscience starts with a positive hypothesis and supports it with questionable research and anecdotal reasoning. It's unlikely that an institution dedicated to the promotion of any given claim will present any type of evidence other than that which supports their claim, and its bias should be given serious consideration.

10. Are the claimants up front about their testing?
Any good research will outline the testing that was done, and will present all evidence that did not support the conclusion. Be skeptical of any claims that do not detail testing methodology that was thorough and responsible, including external verification and duplication, or that do not provide evidence unsupportive of the conclusion.

11. How good is the quality of data supporting the claim?
Watch out when testing data might be susceptible to observational selection, which is the counting of hits and not the misses, like we see with television psychics. Watch out when sample sizes are too small to have statistical significance, as with most clinical trials of homeopathy. And especially watch out for hastily drawn causal relationships: the assumption that because the relief occurred after the remedy, the remedy must have caused the relief.

12. Do the claimants have legitimate credentials?
Be aware that there is a huge number of unaccredited institutions (which are often just bedroom offices) giving out degrees in just about anything. Be aware that some institutions claiming to be accredited received their accreditation from unrecognized accreditation bodies. Finally, be aware that genuine accredited universities often have programs in unscientific fields such as chiropractic, naturopathy, and acupuncture. You must be vigilant. To see just how vigilant, go to ThunderwoodCollege.com and get your own Ph.D. in the field of your choice in seconds, for free.

13. Do the claimants state that there's something wrong with the norm?
When real research is presented, it consists of the evidence that was discovered and the conclusion. It does not go off on alarmist rants about how the food we eat is dangerous, how we're destroying the planet, how the government covers up its evils, or how you're going to hell if you accept evolution. When a claim is presented as an alternative to the wrongs of the status quo, it's a sign that the claim is probably based on ideology or philosophy rather than science.


14. Is the claim said to be "all natural"?
As we've see time and time again, by no definition can "all natural" mean that a product is safe or healthy. Consider the examples of hemlock, mercury, lead, toadstools, box jellyfish neurotoxin, asbestos — not to mention a nearly infinite number of toxic bacteria and viruses (E. coli, salmonella, bubonic plague, smallpox). In many cases, synthetic versions of natural compounds have been engineered to make them safer, more effective, and able to be produced in large quantities.

15. Does the claim have support that is political, ideological, or cultural?
Some claimants suggest that it's moral, ethical, or politically correct to accept their claims, to redirect your attention from the fact that they may not be scientifically sound. In some cases, such as Young Earth Creationism, proponents use the court system to force schools to teach their claims as fact. Generally, when a theory is scientifically sound, even if it's brand new it will eventually find its way into the educational curriculum. Good science is done in the lab — not in the courts, not in protest marches, not in blogs, and not in church. A political or cultural campaign to legalize or promote some product or claim is a major indicator that it's bogus.

There you have it. With this checklist, anyone is well equipped to filter out the chaff from the wheat. Questions like these are what should be taught in schools, encouraging young people to begin looking at all the crazy misinformation in our world with critical analysis. The ability to tell fact from fiction is essential to our progress as a species as we search for the next great discoveries in medicine, space exploration, computing, power generation, and every other scientific field.


http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4037

Source: http://ninjashoes.net/forum/showthread.php?79990-How-to-Spot-Pseudoscience&goto=newpost

Ebenezer Fontes Braga Chris Brennan Marcelo Brito Rob Broughton

Bellator’s Rick Hawn says sponsor stopped check after loss to Michael Chandler

UPDATE: MMA Fighting reports that HTFU, a clothing brand, has agreed to pay Hawn.

Bellator's Rick Hawn lost to Michael Chandler last Thursday in a title fight. Hawn, an Olympian in judo, was submitted in the second round. The fight was a part of Bellator's first broadcast on Spike, and was viewed by just under a million viewers.

Still, Hawn says one of his sponsors wasn't happy his performance, and stopped his check.

So one of my main sponsors from my fight canceled his check cuz he wasnt happy with the outcome or my performance. Read his explanations below.

"At this point, a stop payment has been placed on check which cannot be cashed or deposited now"

"I will not comment on Rick and his fight. That is not my place. But what I will tell you is this: I took a huge chance with him. TV exposure was great…but it only holds weight if he wins or puts on a good show. Neither happened. At the end of the day…not one sole (sp) will run to [my] store and buy product because they [saw my logo and saw] Rick loose (sp) the fight. I've made it my career and business to know what nets a return on investment for the brand…and this is the number 1 reason why I DO NOT hand out money or product to fighters."

Its funny how all my pics wearing his product are still up on his company pages even after he says and does all this stuff!!

A lawsuit is pending so I cannot comment on who it is just yet but stay tuned.

This isn't a sponsor dropping a fighter after a bad performance or two. It's a sponsor making a deal to pay a fighter, and then breaking that deal.

When a sponsor signs on with a fighter, it's a risk. That fighter may lose. That fighter may get injured, or not perform the way you or your company want him to. But that's the risk you take when getting involved with MMA or any sport where companies sponsor individual athletes.

When Cain Velasquez's sponsors signed onto the UFC heavyweight champion's fight on Fox last November, they knew there was a chance he would be knocked out in the first round. They took that risk because the rewards of being associated with the champ are so great. Hawn's sponsor did the same.

Hawn's sponsor wants to have it both ways -- get the glory of working with a winner without the risk of having a loser on their payroll. It doesn't work that way. Hopefully, Hawn's lawsuit will expose the business for being so low.

Thanks, Bloody Elbow.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/bellator-rick-hawn-says-sponsor-stopped-check-loss-173534077--mma.html

Ebenezer Fontes Braga Chris Brennan Marcelo Brito Rob Broughton