Source: http://mmasportsreport.com/4474/ufc-170-extended-preview
Monday, 24 February 2014
Ask the Fight Doc: What do you make of Nick Denis' unexpected MMA retirement?
Promising UFC bantamweight Nick Denis caught many surprise when he announced his MMA retirement on Thursday. As the former Ph.D. student detailed in his blog, Denis was concerned about brain injury and decided to call it quits at just 29 years old.
MMAjunkie.com medical columnist and consultant Dr. Johnny Benjamin read Denis' blog and gives his thoughts on the fighter's decision.
If Super Bowl XLVIII moves to Saturday, UFC 169 to move to Sunday
The UFC likes to piggy-back the Super Bowl each year by big holding a pay-per-view event the night before "Super Sunday." That's the plan this year as well, with UFC 169, an excellent card with two title fights.
However, late last week UFC president Dana White had to begin thinking about an unexpected possible scheduling conflict. This year's Super Bowl XLVIII, between the Denver Broncos and the Seattle Seahawks, will take place outdoors in New Jersey and weather conditions are expected to be particularly brutal on Sunday.
Because of that, it's possible that the big game will be moved up to Saturday night.
"I didn't know, I don't keep on that stuff, but I was getting some tweets from people saying, 'What are you going to do if the game gets moved to Saturday?'," White wondered out loud to media last week in Chicago.
"Wow, wouldn't that be a [expletive]? Yeah that would hurt."
No other sporting event could successfully compete head-to-head with the Super Bowl. The UFC has evidently decided to stay on high-alert and move their own UFC 169 card if the Super Bowl is indeed re-scheduled to Saturday night.
"If, and only if, they move the Super Bowl to Saturday, we will move UFC 169 to Sunday," said the UFC's director of public relations Dave Sholler said Saturday night at the UFC on FOX 10's post event press conference.
We'll keep you posted with developments on this story as they emerge.
Follow Elias on Twitter @EliasCepeda & @YahooCagewriter
Invicta FC 7 – Road to Honchak vs. Smith
Invicta Fight Championships 7 is being distributed in North America by Integrated Sports Media for live viewing at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT on both cable and satellite pay-per-view via I N Demand, DISH, Avail-TVN in the United States, as well as Bell TV, Shaw PPV, SaskTel, TELUS, and MTS in Canada, for a suggested retail price of only $14.95. In addition, viewers worldwide may purchase the show at www.invictafc.com and the Invicta Fighting Championship’s Facebook page.
Invicta is also offering a FREE one-hour live viewing in North America, starting at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT, available viaall aforementioned PPV carriersand The Fight Network in Canada. Viewers worldwide may also watch the free bouts, featuring Sarah D’ Alelio (7-4) vs. Tonya Evinger (11-6) at bantamweight and Munah Holland (5-2) vs. Nina Arsanoff (5-4) at flyweight, via www.invictafc.com and Invicta Fighting Championship’s Facebook.
In Saturday’s main event, Invicta FC flyweight (125 pounds) champion Barb Honchak (8-2) will defend her title against three-time “Fight of the Night” winner Leslie “The Peacemaker” Smith (6-3-1). In the co-feature, Invicta FC strawweight (115 pounds) champion Carla “Cookie Monster” Esparza (9-2) will defend her belt against undefeated Brazilian superstar Claudia Gadelha (11-0). In a third world title fight, the inaugural Invicta FC bantamweight (135 pounds) world championship title will be on the line, featuring knockout artist Lauren Murphy (7-0) against unbeaten rising star Miriam Nakamoto (2-0, 1 NC).
For additional information please visit www.IntegratedSportsnet.com or www.invictafc.com.
About Invicta Fighting Championships:
Invicta is a world championship Mixed Martial Arts fight series dedicated to providing female athletes with a major platform to hone their skills on a consistent basis. Founded in 2012 by longtime MMA executive Shannon Knapp and sports aficionado Janet Martin, Invicta is committed to pioneering the future growth of women’s MMA by promoting the best possible match-ups between female competitors and identifying and developing future superstars of the sport. For more information about Invicta or its events and fighters visit www.invictafc.com or follow on Twitter @InvictaFights.
About Integrated Sports Media:
North America’s leading distributor of International Pay-Per-View and Closed Circuit sports events has presented World Championship and world-class mixed martial arts shows featuring Fedor Emelianenko, Tim Sylvia, Bobby Lashley, Mirko Filipovic, Bob Sapp, Jeff Monson and Roy Nelson, in addition to World Championship and world-class boxing matches featuring Gennady Golovkin, Erik Morales, Vitali Klitschko, Ricky Hatton, Cristian Mijares, Evander Holyfield, Roy Jones, Jr., Tomasz Adamek, Paulie Malignaggi, Ivan Calderon, Rocky Martinez, Nicolai Valuev, Amir Khan, Marco Antonio Barrera, Arthur Abraham, David Haye, John Ruiz, Wilfredo Vasquez, Jr., Brian Viloria, Giovani Segura and Ruslan Chagaev. In addition, Integrated Sports Media has distributed numerous International soccer matches featuring teams like Real Madrid, Club America of Mexico and the National Teams of Argentina, Honduras, El Salvador and the USA. For more information on upcoming Integrated Sports events visit www.integratedsportsnet.com or follow on Twitter @IntegratedPPV.
Invicta FC 7 – Road to Honchak vs. Smith is a post from: MMA Interplay
Source: http://www.mmainterplay.com/invicta/invicta-fc-7-road-to-honchak-vs-smith-68048/
UFC on FOX 5 includes prelims on FX and Facebook, Schaub-Johnson in featured bout
In addition to a stacked main card, next week's UFC on FOX 5 event includes a super-sized preliminary-card lineup with nine fights. Unlike past UFC on FOX events, the featured prelims air on FX instead of FUEL TV.
In the main FX bout, which follows additional prelims on Facebook, heavyweights Brendan Schaub and Lavar Johnson clash at Seattle's KeyArena.
Sunday, 23 February 2014
Former Bellator champion Ben Askren to fight for One FC welterweight crown in May
LAS VEGAS – By his own admission, Ben Askren had no clue how to strike when he made his mixed martial arts debut in 2009. It didn't take long for the 2008 American Olympic wrestler to develop a reputation as a boring fighter.
But Askren may have found the spot that will quell those complaints. The former Bellator welterweight champion signed with Singapore-based One FC in December, and will make his debut for the promotion in May.
He'll fight in Singapore for the One FC welterweight title sometime in May – likely May 30 – against the winner of the March 14 title fight in Malaysia between Brock Larson and Nobutatsu Suzuki.
One FC uses the old Pride rules, which permit soccer kicks and knees to the head of a downed opponent, techniques that are banned by the unified rules that are used by the UFC.
A great collegiate wrestler, Askren is all but foaming at the mouth to have the knees available to him. He'll go on at length to dispute the contention that his last two fights, finishes in Bellator title matches over Karl Amossou and Andrey Koreshkov, were boring, but he understands that given his wrestling-heavy style, allowing knees on the ground is a godsend for him.
"I'm excited about the new rules," Askren said. "I torture a lot of the guys in my gym. I'll hold them down and fake like I'm throwing a knee to the head and I'll say to them, 'If we're in Asia, you're screwed right now.' The knees on the ground are going to work beautifully in my style. I've played around with it in the gym and I see at least five or six different ways I can successfully implement that technique, especially."
Askren became a free agent after his win over Koreshkov on July 31, though Bellator had the right to match any offer he received for a year. Askren owns and operates two wrestling camps and has his hand in several other businesses and said he could have afforded to sit out the full year to become a total free agent.
Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney played a game with UFC president Dana White, telling White he'd release Askren free and clear as long as White guaranteed Askren a title shot against then-UFC champion Georges St-Pierre. White scoffed at the offer and insisted he had no interest in Askren.
The sides did have talks, but couldn't reach a deal. Askren spoke with the World Series of Fighting, but opted for the deal with One FC even though he said the offers were very comparable financially.
But Asia's economy is booming and One FC is already available in nearly 1 billion television homes in the region.
He'll fight for the Singapore-based Evolve MMA fight team, but will still train primarily at Roufusport in Milwaukee, Wis.
His striking, he said, is exceptionally better after having worked several years with Roufus, one of the top striking coaches in the world.
His ability to repeatedly take down, and hold down, his opponents has lessened the danger he faces, so it's tactically a wise technique. But his wrestling has hidden his development as a striker, he said.
"Obviously no one ever sees it, but I think my standup is pretty good, actually," Askren said. "A lot of the guys in our gym who are considered good strikers, they would attest to that if you asked them that same question. Obviously, my comfort level on my feet now is through the roof. I know it is very unlikely that anyone is going to stop me from taking them down, but if in fact that does happen, I'm comfortable on my feet. I train with literally some of the best strikers in MMA on a daily basis in the gym, so it's had a huge impact."
When he turned pro, he said, his gym didn't even have a striking coach. He'd learned some jiu-jitsu, and had his wrestling, but he knew nothing about striking.
He was successful largely because of his wrestling, and just 20 months after he turned pro, he defeated Lyman Good to win the Bellator welterweight crown.
"I went to a very high level very quickly and that left me with a lot of tools I didn't have in my arsenal to do what I needed to do," he said. "I was fighting for a Bellator title within two years of starting my pro career and I had a real striking coach for four months."
He'll get his chance to show his improving striking – perhaps – in May when he takes on the Larsen-Suzuki winner.
He said though the knees will give him another valuable weapon, those who are looking for him to get a comeuppance will be disappointed. He is 12-0 and plans to keep that winning streak alive.
"I'm the best damn welterweight in the world, and that's a fact the fans are going to have to deal with," he said. "I'm going to keep winning every fight that is put in front of me, and as a fighter, that's all you can do. You can't go make up match-ups. I can't go, 'Hey GSP, let's go fight in the parking lot of the Hard Rock.' Well, I could, but we'd go to jail and we'd make no money. As a fighter, I can only win the fights that are in front of me.
"I've only had one that was even remotely close. That was the only fight I've lost a round in. I think I've won every other round in my entire career. Not only that, I've trained with a lot of the guys who are in the Top 10 and I know where my skill level is. I'm very comfortable with that."
Yasubey Enomoto Mark Epstein Tom Big Cat Erickson Martinsh Egle
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