Jesse Ronson vs. Francisco Trinaldo booked for UFC Fight Night 36 in Brazil

http://mmajunkie.com/2013/11/28/jess...-36-in-brazil/

A lightweight scrap between a pair of fighters looking to start new winning streaks has been added to the UFC’s return to Brazil.

A bout between Canada’s Jesse Ronson (13-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC) and Brazil’s Francisco Trinaldo (13-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC) is the latest addition to February’s UFC Fight Night 36 fight card. UFC officials announced the new bout on Thursday morning.

“UFC Fight Night 36: Machida vs. Mousasi” takes place Feb. 15 at Arena Jaragua in Jaragua do Sul, Santa Catarina, Brazil. The event’s main card airs live on FOX Sports 1 following prelims on MMAjunkie. It’s not yet known where Ronson vs. Trianaldo will be placed on the lineup.

Trinaldo will look to rebound from a submission loss in September to Piotr Hallman at UFC Fight Night 28 in Brazil. That setback snapped a two-fight winning streak of back-to-back submissions over C.J. Keith and Mike Rio, both of which came in Brazil earlier this year. The “TUF: Brazil” cast member has all three of his UFC victories by stoppage.

Ronson in September dropped a split decision in his home province of Ontario to Michel Prazeres at UFC 165 in Toronto. That loss snapped an eight-fight winning streak that had gotten him a call from the UFC. Now he goes into hostile territory to take on Trinaldo in Brazil.

With the addition, the latest UFC Fight Night 36 lineup now includes:

Lyoto Machida vs. Gegard Mousasi
Francis Carmont vs. Ronaldo Souza
Cristiano Marcello vs. Joe Proctor
Viscardi Andrade vs. Nicholas Musoke
Andy Ogle vs. Charles Oliveira
Jesse Ronson vs. Francisco Trinaldo

Source: http://ninjashoes.net/forum/showthread.php?82049-Jesse-Ronson-vs-Francisco-Trinaldo-booked-for-UFC-Fight-Night-36-in-Brazil&goto=newpost

Jeff Big Frog Curran Dai Shuanghai Mac Danzig Karen Darabedyan

UFC’s Matt Grice released from hospital

Two months after being hospitalized with brain and other injuries following a car accident, UFC featherweight Matt Grice has been released from the hospital. Grice, a full-time Oklahoma City police officer, was hit from behind while off duty and stopped at a red light in early September.

He was immediately hospitalized and underwent brain surgery. A few weeks later, Grice reportedly began moving his limbs again and responding to verbal cues.

On Monday, Grice appeared on The MMA Hour. "I feel pretty good," Grice said.

"I still have the brain injury and stuff, so it's a little different, a longer road. But, physically, I feel okay. My balance is a little off still with the brain injury. But, other than that, I feel pretty good. I was in the hospital for two months and I got to come home a week and half ago to do outpatient rehab. I do rehab in the day and at night I get to go home to my family, it's awesome."

Grice also said that he may have another operation in December to replace part of his skull that was initially removed to relieve pressure on his brain. Despite this, he said that his doctors have not ruled out a return to MMA competition.

To learn more about and to give to the Matt Grice Donation Fund, click here.

Follow Elias on Twitter @EliasCepeda

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/ufc-matt-grice-released-hospital-200043237--mma.html

Ryan Bader Siyar Bahadurzada Bao Ligao Josh Barnett

WSOF Matchmaker Says Rebney’s a “Jerk” For Handling of Askren

As December begins, there’s still no clear indication as to where former Bellator champ Ben Askren is going to fight next, but World Series of Fighting appears to be the front runner. After all, Bellator recently waived it’s matching rights for the undefeated fighter, and Dana White has insisted he’s not interested in “Funky” yet, […]

The post WSOF Matchmaker Says Rebney’s a “Jerk” For Handling of Askren appeared first on MMA Convert.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/mmaconvert/~3/V0DvFCA5X2Y/

Siyar Bahadurzada Bao Ligao Josh Barnett David Baron

Political test - where do you sit?

http://www.isidewith.com/

Parties you side with...

66% Republicans on immigration and economic issues

60% Green Party on foreign policy and science issues

58% Libertarians on foreign policy, domestic policy, and economic issues

53% Democrats on science issues

10% Socialist no major issues

how did you score?

i wasnt that up on the medicare thing to be honest so that may have skewed my score

Source: http://ninjashoes.net/forum/showthread.php?82052-Political-test-where-do-you-sit&goto=newpost

Todd Duffee Marvin Eastman Stav Crazy Bear Economou Yves Edwards

TUF 18 Finale Results: Nate Diaz stops Gray Maynard in the first round

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Nate Diaz beat Gray Maynard for the second time on Saturday night at The Ultimate Fighter 18 Finale, though technically just the first official win he's got over him.

However, this was as decisive as the win in the Ultimate Fighter house in season five, and a much better performance than he had in their last fight in 2010. Diaz stopped Maynard just halfway through the first round with a brutal assault on the cage, causing referee Yves Lavigne to finally step in 2:38 into the round.

Maynard somehow stayed on his feet as Diaz peppered him with strike after strike against the cage, while Maynard was out on his feet with his hands at his sides. He refused to go down, but it was clear he was out, and after Lavigne finally stopped the fight, he took a few steps and fell to the ground.

Diaz did as Diaz does after the fight, causing the camera to flip away as he flicked up the double middle finger, then dropped a "motherf***er" on the broadcast that was missed by the broadcast team. He again called out Josh Thomson and Anthony Pettis, but despite the impressive win, he's still not near a fight with either of them.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_19413.shtml

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Nevada commission director says there is no judging crisis

The Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) and its executive director Keith Kizer came under fire once again this past weekend after the UFC 167 main event in Las Vegas. UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre retained his title with a controversial split decision win over challenger Johny Hendricks.

“This is the thing that makes people not like fights," UFC president Dana White said after the event.

"I don’t even know what to say. I’m still so blown away by it. Georges knew he lost, his corner knew he lost. Hendricks knew he won, his corner knew he won...This commission is just despicably horrible.

"The Nevada State Athletic Commission has a lot of work to do – a lot of work to do - and it makes me sick. They better get to work, and they better figure out how to not destroy, not only the sport of boxing, but this sport, too.”

Kizer and the Nevada commission were also pilloried after one judge scored Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s lopsided win over Saul "Canelo" Alvarez a draw this past September. Despite the criticism, Kizer denies that there is a problem with scoring in the world's fight capital.

When asked Monday by Cagewriter if there is a judging crises in Nevada, the state chief flatly says, "No."

Furthermore, Kizer rejected the idea that St. Pierre's decision win should be considered controversial. "I understand the controversy in the Mayweather fight," he explained.

"But I don’t see controversy in the GSP/Hendricks decision. The media seems split on who won. The LA times scored it for GSP. All seemed to agree that Hendricks won rounds two and four and that St. Pierre won three and five. The first round could have gone either way."

This writer scored rounds 1-4 for Hendricks and round 5 going to St. Pierre.

Kizer understands that people will disagree with judges' decisions on any given fight. However, even if one disagrees with the UFC 167 main event decision, as Dana White did, Kizer says criticizing the commission for it doesn't make sense.

"Even if you disagreed with the scoring, how is that something to criticize the commission for," Kizer asks.

"Before the fight, both the St. Pierre and Hendricks camps were fine with the proposed judges... [Vice President of Regulatory Affairs and former NSAC executive director] Marc Ratner and Dana White have also told me that they believe Sal D'Mato and Tony Weeks (the two judges who scored the fight for St. Pierre with scores of 48-47) were two of the best judges, if not the best, in MMA. You can tell they feel that way by where the UFC has taken them."

When the UFC holds events abroad in places without athletic commissions, they often choose to hire officials themselves. Weeks and D'Mato have judged many UFC events all over the world and so Kizer says that Nevada was not out of line in any way by choosing them to judge the UFC 167 main event.

Kizer says that the training and evaluation for established judges like the ones who officiated over UFC 167 consists of both formal and informal elements.

"There's formal and informal things we do with officials," Kizer explains.

"The formal part for us are the seminars we put together for officials where we go over things like judging criteria but also things like rules of ethics. Don’t ask for autographs, don’t sneak people in, etc. We go over fight films and discuss many things. After events we informally talk with officials as well about the calls they made and decisions they gave, reasons for doing so and we discuss things."

Kizer feels that nothing was out of the ordinary with the UFC 167 main event scoring and that Nevada judges are doing a good job, overall. He also says that he hasn't received any warnings or pressure to change how things are done from other state officials this fall, in the wake of the Mayweather vs. Canelo scoring and UFC 167 scoring.

Dana White lobbed perhaps his worst criticism ever of the NSAC after UFC 167, insinuating that he will have to reconsider holding so many events in the UFC's home state and saying that the governor of Nevada should somehow get involved in correcting the vague problem he feels exists with the way the commission operates. The UFC brings a lot of money into the state with it's events and it isn't inconceivable that a veiled threat to not hold as many events as they always have in Nevada would get the attention of those in the state legislature and the governor himself.

"Nevada is a very scary place," White said to media after UFC 167.

"This is the worst commission on the planet. I am afraid to bring fights to Las Vegas. I never thought I’d say that. This is the city I live in. This is the city I love. This is the worst commission on the planet.”

Even after those comments from White and a public apology to the governor after the Mayweather/Canelo fight from one of the commissioners earlier this fall, Kizer says he isn't worried.

"I don’t think it's likely," Kizer said of the possibility that the UFC would decide to scale back its promotional efforts in Nevada.

"I don’t think its what [White] meant but in any case, we are a public agency and so we are happy to hear everyone's comments and input."

As it does periodically, the NSAC has set a public workshop for Monday, Dec. 2 at 9am to solicit comments from any interested people on matters related to unarmed combat sports like boxing and mixed martial arts. For more information on the meeting, view the full public notice here.

Follow Elias on Twitter @EliasCepeda

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/nevada-commission-director-says-no-judging-crisis-224324772--mma.html

Antoni Hardonk Dan Hardy Lee Hasdell Musse Hasselvall

UFC's Chael Sonnen and Molly Qerim again host World MMA Awards ceremony

For the second straight year, UFC fighter Chael Sonnen will serve as host of Fighters Only's World MMA Awards.

Sonnen has again has been paired up with CBS Sports Network/NFL Network anchor Molly Qerim.

The duo hosts the 2012 World MMA Awards official ceremony, which is a black-tie ceremony held Jan. 11 at The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/mmajunkie/~3/fTNaNrGZOPs/ufcs-chael-sonnen-and-molly-qerim-again-host-world-mma-awards.mma

Jason Grace Crosley Gracie Gregor Gracie Ralek Gracie