Athletix Sports Daily MMA News

[VolcomX311]

SAN DIEGO – Strikeforce female featherweight champion Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos (11-1 MMA, 5-0 SF) might not be completely out of potential opponents at 145 pounds, but the line of volunteers doesn't exactly reach around the block.

Sixteen-second victories, like the one Santos notched over Hiroko Yamanaka at Saturday's "Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Masvidal" event in San Diego, tend to have that effect.

But there is one name that just won't go away: Ronda Rousey (4-0 MMA, 2-0 SF).

"I'm ready for a fight with her," Santos told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). "I think she talks too much, but she can keep training, and when she's ready, I'm ready."

In some ways, it's incredible that Rousey's name is even being linked with the seemingly unstoppable Santos. After all, Rousey was competing in the amateur ranks as recently as January, whereas Santos boasts experience fighting on network television.

But Rousey is a rare breed in the female ranks: an Olympic medalist with a penchant for sharp-tongued trashtalking. To make it even more interesting, Rousey has already expressed a desire to fight Santos in the near future.

There's just one major hurdle. Rousey, who has cut minimal weight in past fights at 145 pounds, is planning on competing at 135 pounds for her next outing. The judoka plans on first taking that belt from current champ Miesha Tate then setting her sights on the Brazilian wrecking machine.

Of course, if Rousey finds her body is best suited for 135 pounds, there's no guarantee she'd ever move back up to face "Cyborg," so Santos' best shot at silencing the brash Californian might be to make her way down to 135 pounds.

The muscular Santos, who doesn't appear to carry many easy-to-lose pounds, admits it would be a difficult drop but one that's not entirely impossible.

"I'm going to put in a valiant effort to try and make 135," Santos said through in interpreter. "Maybe if I can make a catchweight and fight at 140 first and slowly make my way down to 135, but I'm going to put in a good effort to get down to 135."

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker also seemed to suggest a potential matchup between the knockout artist and the submission ace is still more fantasy than reality.

"Ronda's name keeps coming up, but I think Ronda is going to fight at 135 for a bit," Coker said. "But Ronda has expressed interest in fighting at 145 and fighting for the title at some point."

In the meantime, Coker and Strikeforce matchmaker Sean Shelby will do their best to find Santos suitable competition. UFC president Dana White has long criticized the lack of depth in the women's division, and Santos' utter dominance of her class certainly isn't helping anyone perceive female featherweights as much more than a one-woman show. That said, Santos has a way of bringing a crowd to its feet, and Strikeforce wants to continue to focus on developing the female game.

"I think all the fights that the media wants to see, the fans want to see, Showtime would like to see and we would like to see, I think all those fights will happen; just be patient," Coker said. "Sean is out there scouring the earth, and we're going to find some opponents for 'Cyborg.' Truly, she's the Mike Tyson of female MMA."

[VolcomX311]

Lyoto considering a move to middleweight is very interesting. I just don't ever see Andy getting defeated at MW, so unless Andy moves up to LHW, I'm not sure how a move down to MW will work for Lyoto.

[VolcomX311]

Last week it was noted that Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira would be able to avoid surgery on the broken arm he suffered at the hands of Frank Mir at UFC 140. Well, that went out the window and Big Nog did indeed have to go under the knife according to Tatame:

But it seems like the plans have changed. Rodrigo was operated last Friday (16th) at Vail, Colorado, and the surgery was a success. The doctors say he might return to training in June. Rodrigo went to Vail and went through new tests, which pointed out the need of the surgery. His biceps wasn’t touched during the process. The "entrance" was made on the triceps, what means he won’t lose strength on this very arm.

If he can't even train until June, it's unlikely that he'll be seen in the octagon before September or October. That's a huge blow to a guy that is probably winding down his career.

[VolcomX311]

Cairo Rocha (6-2) taking on Francisco Neves (2-4) at BRFC - Desafio dos Imortais wasn't exactly on anyone's radar heading into the weekend. After Rocha unleashed a kick that resulted in one of the best knockouts of 2011, it's now getting some attention. Here's the video and then we'll talk about the kick:




The kick appears to be a capoeira technique called a Meia-Lua de compasso. Here's a description from Wikipedia:

A Meia-Lua de compasso (lit: half moon compass) is an attack that embodies the true element of Capoeira since it combines an evasive maneuver with a spinning kick. The player while in a semi-crouched stance, swings his forward arm in a downward slanting motion towards the ground. While stepping around, he also bends his non-kicking leg while keeping the kicking one straight. After gathering enough torque from the sudden pivot in his core, he unleashes the kick all the way around until his kicking leg is behind him in the ginga movement.

The power of the kick derives its energy from the same motion as the swing of a golf club or base ball bat. The transfer of power begins with the spin of the hand slamming into the ground and ending with the spin of the kicking heel. It has earned its place in capoeira as being called the "king of kicks". There is even a saying among mestres and other teachers about how a capoeirista's skill can be determined on how well and fast he delivers a Meia lua de compasso. It is still called a rabo do arria by some groups today.

There is even folklore from around the 1910s of a capoeirista named Ciriaco, defeating a jiu-jitsu champion named Sada Mako with this kick. While this has been debated, there is one true account of this occurring. The win was awarded to Valdemar Santana after his defeat of Helio Gracie. Most would attribute this win to the fact that Santana was also student of Helio for over twelve years.

You can see Rocha's hand hit the mat as the body turns and gets the torque for the power. But the real gem is watching the replay at around 16 seconds on the video. Neves is confused by the movement and drops his left arm to try to block what he seems to think is a body kick only to get caught square on the chin and go out.

[VolcomX311]

Alistair Overeem has the biggest fight of his career on the horizon, as the former Strikeforce heavyweight champ is set to meet Brock Lesnar in less than two weeks.
However, as Overeem preps for the five-round war at UFC 141, he was forced to take time out of his busy schedule to explain why he missed a drug test to the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

Overeem has since been approved by NSAC on a temporary basis, meaning he will be allowed to face Lesnar, a former UFC heavyweight champion, in a No. 1 contender bout on December 30.

“The issue was over a random drug test requirement – which I didn’t know about until I came to Holland – and I understand it from their side,” wrote Overeem, in his latest blog entry for Yahoo Sports. “I am happy to have got my license under the conditions the commissioners set out. I am also happy they accepted and stated on the record that there was no attempt by myself to avoid any test.”

Overeem headed back to Holland to care for his ill mother, who is battling cancer but has since improved. He will finish up training in his native country before returning to the U.S. for the Lesnar bout.

“I am looking forward to the fight. This distraction hasn’t taken any of the excitement away from me fighting Brock Lesnar in my UFC debut,” Overeem wrote. “This is a huge fight for the sport and a dream fight for the fans. Some fans probably never thought they’d see this fight, as I was cleaning house outside the UFC while Brock was in the UFC.”

Overeem went on to say he always intended to sign with the UFC, but that he did not expect to join the company until maybe 2013. He also gave his prediction for the Lesnar bout, writing, “This fight is not going to last two rounds. That’s my official prediction, that I knock him out in the second round, but, the more I think about it, the more I think it will end in the first round.”

[VolcomX311]

With ‘Cyborg’s’ 16-second win and no Gina Carano, does women’s 145-pound division stand a chance?






Dana White was already wondering about the viability of the Strikeforce women's 145-pound division. After watching Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos destroy a helpless Hiroko Yamanaka in 16 seconds last night, he's got to be thinking more about promoting just one female division down at 135.

Add in that each month Gina Carano is away from the sport, cements the fact that she's never returning for a serious run, and the featherweights better watch their diet and prep to slim down.

That's not going to be an easy task for Cyborg. You are what you are, and she's a large woman. She already looks ridiculous shredded at 145. Can she really cut another 10 pounds in healthy fashion and recover in one day to be 100 percent rejuvenated on fight nights?

"I'm going to put in a valiant effort to try and make 135," Santos told MMAjunkie's John Morgan through an interpreter. "Maybe if I can make a catchweight and fight at 140 first and slowly make my way down to 135, but I'm going to put in a good effort to get down to 135."

If the 145 division remains Strikeforce could match up Cyborg against Ronda Rousey. That'll certainly make for a good prefight promotion, but from a fight standpoint, it may be a mistmatch. What does it say about the 145-pound division if the best option for the champ to face is a woman, who is just four fights into her pro career?

The signs are there that Carano isn't coming back. There will simply be too many opportunities and too much money in the entertainment world to allow her to return to getting punched in the face. Her film "" is due for release in 2012. You can see in this January GQ feature why she'll be so highly sought after as a female action movie star.

[VolcomX311]

Gilbert Melendez might have fallen from our fickle hearts this weekend for the sin of not smiting Jorge Masvidal, but I think we can still find some love for his hot, hot wife Keri Anne Taylor. This is actually the second Fight Hotness we've done on Keri, and I still can't find a better term to describe her than 'cutie patootie.' A dozen new pics after the jump, or you can check out the other Keri Anne Taylor post which has more club fun pics.

[VolcomX311]

[VolcomX311]

[VolcomX311]

[VolcomX311]

[JudgementDay]

Poor Jens, he really needs to call it quits.

[Jessep76]

DAMMMN Gilbert's wife is hot. Little bit of a jaw...but I've slept with worse lol. And she likes cheap australian beer.

[VolcomX311]

Junie Browning has been in the MMA news for a week now after his involvement in a brawl in Phuket. The initial report accused him of beating up a woman earlier in the day then then getting in a brawl in a bar and a second brawl in the hospital.
Browning now gave his full account of the story to the Phuket Gazette. It's lengthy but a lot of it is important to get an overall layout of the situation.
Junie's description of the brawl:

I could tell from the moment he stepped in front of me, he was looking for a fight. At this point, it just involved me and Simon, my girlfriend was standing next to us. In only a few seconds, my girlfriend was thrown across the street and I had been hit from behind in the back of the head by a glass beer bottle.
I stood up looking for my attacker and found myself surrounded by a mob of people. It was no longer a man on man "bar brawl" but a fight for my survival. I was trying to defend myself in the street when at some point I fell back to the ground.
They [dragged] me back into the bar where they pummeled me with punches and kicks. It was me against everyone. For a second time I received a massive blow over the head with a thick glass mug that split my head open and made me fall to the floor.
I curled up in the fetal position, submissive, and I continued to be kicked and hit. My arms up covering my face I felt a slice to my forearm and another stab to my neck.
A Thai girl had a knife and was attacking my head with it. I must have lost consciousness from blood loss because the next thing I knew, my girlfriend had sprawled her body on top of mine to protect me from any more blows. She was screaming that it was "enough" and that the fight was over.

Browning says he had to be revived twice in the ambulance and was taken to the hospital where the next part of the story and the "fight in the hospital took place." That and the tale of Junie going into hiding after the jump...

Once at the hospital:

They began to assess my wounds and stitch up the three large gashes on my head. Without any consideration to my safety or the events that had just occurred, they placed both Menzies accompanied by MJ Castro, and the man who had attacked me with a mug, in the beds right beside me.
Needless to say, I became furious and again words were exchanged. As it escalated a second time into a physical fight, MJ attempted to intervene and was struck in the rumble. Security and Patong Police arrived and restrained all parties. I was taken into the waiting lobby on a stretcher in handcuffs in front of numerous people to finish giving me medical attention.

Now, to interject for a moment here. This is one of the inconsistencies in Browning's story. Not that I don't believe him and I fully believe that the evening was probably an insane blur if his account is true. But earlier in the article, Browning says "All of my attackers remained standing in the bar unharmed" so I'm curious why two of them were suddenly brought to the hospital and placed in beds.
Anyway, continuing:

My intentions were to file a police report in the morning and deal with this in a civil manner. Hours later, my phone began to ring with numerous reliable sources stating that we were not safe and we needed to leave now! They said that local Thais and mafia had a price on my head and were headed to the hospital and both my girlfriend's and my life were at risk.
We were told to trust or talk to no one and to just leave. We are aware that the mafia is a real thing and took this very seriously. We panicked and decided that our best option was to escape in the middle of the night and hope we could make it home.
Our first thought was to get a hold of the police for protection, but were told that it was corrupt and that they would be of no assistance. My girlfriend pulled out my IV and jumped a fence to find a taxi to come pick me up.

Browning ends his explanation by saying that they've been on the run from the attackers and the mafia, attempting to get the assistance from the US Embassy while still suffering badly from his injuries. It's a wild tale and at this point all you can hope is that, regardless of who started what, Browning is able to get medical help and the involvement of the Embassy to ensure safe and fair handling of the situation.

[VolcomX311]

Wasn't Uriah Faber attacked in some bar in Thailand a fews years back where he had to fight for his life? What's up with that?!

[VolcomX311]

At this point in time, it is safe to say that if there is something on Vinny Magalhaes's mind, he is going to let everyone know. Magalhaes is the reigning M-1 light heavyweight champion and an elite submission grappler with many prestigious titles in his past. Earlier this year, he made a stellar run to the finals of the +99 kg division of the Abu Dhabi Combat Club submission grappling tournament, where he out-pointed Fabricio Werdum in a legendary match.

In a recent interview with Kid Peligro, Vinny opens up about his ADCC experience - in particular, surviving the locked-on armbar Werdum had on him in the finals - and makes some very pointed comments about his M-1 experience.

Kid Peligro - In 2009 you had a very good performance, but this time you won and is a champion, what was the difference this time around?
Vinny Magalhaes - In 2009 I had a dream tournament; I had beautiful matches, I had spectacular submissions in some matches and I took home two medals (third palace weight and absolute) that was my first ADCC! But I didn't conquer the Gold Medal which is the one everyone desires. And that is the one people remember the most. This time I came in with the idea of fighting to win, that it would better to fight ugly and to win than to fight beautifully and leave without the Gold. For sure my performance in ADCC 2009 will be remembered one way or another for the flying arm-locks that I did and other submission, as in my fight with Cavaca and against Glover, but none of that is worth more to me than the Gold medal I conquered this year.

Hitr the jump for more ADCC talk and the eyebrow raising M-1 tidbits Vinny drops.

En route to the +99 kg title, Vinny beat acclaimed grapplers like Gerardi Rinaldi (the Cornell wrestling product who competed with the likes of Phil Davis and Chris Weidman), Bruno Bastos, Jose Junior and Fabricio Werdum. Only Werdum scored points during that run and Vinny would go on to compete in the Absolute, losing out by a narrow referee's decision to Murilo Santana.

In short, Vinny grapples real good. His MMA career is now his focus and the interview excerpts below reflect that. Make sure to read the entire interview, as Vinny is always entertaining when speaking his mind.

Kid Peligro - At that moment on the final your arm was stretched out to the max, how did you overcome that?
Vinny Magalhaes - I simply put in my head that I couldn't tap, because it was the finals of ADCC and I was ahead on points. I thought about letting the arm break, if necessary, because I would never give up, after all winning ADCC is like winning the Olympics, not only that but winning ADCC is the highest achievement a grappler can get in their career. If I tapped I would be ruining a great opportunity of making a name for myself.

KP- You were in the U.F.C., you did the Ultimate Fighter and competed a few times in the main event, now what would it be like to return to the UFC Octagon?
VM- My dreams go beyond "returning" to the UFC, I dream of returning to stay and to become a Champion. In my first time in UFC I was too inexperienced, I wasn't training correctly and all I wanted was to be there, in UFC, But I wasn't training and preparing with the ambition and desire that I have today. I wasn't fighting with the passion that I fight today! Today, I believe that when I return to the UFC I will have a much better and stronger presence than before. You can call me crazy but my desire is to have that belt no matter what the costs are and I am going after reaching that dream!
KP- What do you believe it will take for you to return to the UFC?
VM- The only thing missing is for my contract with M1 needs to expire. I believe that as soon as I am free of any contract with M-1 I will have my foot on the door of UFC, after all, of the 12 wins that I have in MMA they are all by submission or KO. I don't have a single win by decision, on top of that, the fans have recognized my efforts, because I was a part of TUF, and now ADCC Champion. So I believe that perhaps not immediately but with one or two more wins the UFC is going to be calling me back.

What do you readers think? Is Vinny's MMA career going to keep climbing upwards to international stardom, riches and rewards? Would it be best for Vinny to put aside the anger and get a few more exciting finishes for M-1? Where do you see him in the 205 division in a few years?

[VolcomX311]

I don't know why the Cyborg pic is attached.

[JudgementDay]

I don't know why the Cyborg pic is attached.

Because she is a beast! lol

[Jessep76]

Wasn't Uriah Faber attacked in some bar in Thailand a fews years back where he had to fight for his life? What's up with that?!

Fu ckin hell. Thailand sounds about as safe as Tijuana. I'm going to Canada for vacation. I'm sure urijah sweet talked some women into smuggling him out of Thailand. "we would do anything for you mr. urijah" Probably had better success in the fight too -oh snap

[JudgementDay]

Where you heading to in Canada?

Im gonna guess out West in BC?