Athletix Sports Daily MMA News

[VolcomX311]

[VolcomX311]

Any MMA fan with UFC Undisputed has had the pleasure of seeing some of their favorite fighters throw down through XBOX Live, though only in a digitally rendered sense. However, a change on that front is scheduled to take place later this month when the UFC teams with XBOX Live to provide a free service for gamers with the outlet’s standard “Gold” access.Simply called UFC on XBOX Live, the soon-to-be-unveiled online section makes its debut on December 20 in anticipation of UFC 141’s year-ending festivities.

Specifically, features will include the option to watch streaming content in HD such as weigh-ins, open workouts, and Countdown specials, as well as tinker with interactive fight cards, pick winners while comparing your success against friends’, and order PPVs to avoid the hassle of cable companies or interrupted satellite feeds. It will also be compatible with XBOX Kinect, providing people a unique opportunity to interact with menus using voice/motion commands.

Microsoft released a brief “sizzle reel” for the service featuring a handful of popular UFC fighters, as well as UFC President Dana White, speaking about the impact the company’s expansion could have and seeming jazzed in general about what’s to come.

[VolcomX311]

Lyoto Machida will be looking to put the UFC light heavyweight title back around his waist when he meets current champion Jon Jones in the main event of UFC 140 this Saturday in Toronto. He has changed up a few things and brought in some high-level guys to help him prepare for anything that might happen in the cage. Machida documented some of that in a recent interview with Tatame. Who has he brought in to help him out? Anderson Silva!

Actually, I also brought Anderson Braddock (Silva), who’s a guy that fights in K-1, he’s a great K-1 fighter. I brought him and Glover (Teixeira) on the first moment. They stayed here for two weeks. On that period we tried to do many sparrings, simulating similar situations I’ll might confront during the fight, also on the clinch, the takedowns. We know Glover is a high lever fighter and why he’s been smashing everybody down here in Brazil, and I’m sure he’ll make a good career abroad, and Bradock also helped me a lot to simulate the fight. Then Glover had to go because he was fighting and then I brought King Mo to add a lot. He’s a high level fighter in Wrestling, he has been a world champion on the Pan Am, he has defeated Olympic champions, so he knows the details of the position that can help me block his game during the fight, and I guess that’s the main aspect. I guess the technical part is the most important one for a fight like that, because I’m fighting a very technical guy. Jon Jones knows many techniques, he’s can do many things, so that’s why I’m trying to improve more and more my wrestling.

He states that he might be looking to put Jones on his back, as opposed to just working takedown defense:

Well, I guess it’s hard to predict how things will go on during the fight, but we trained a lot offensive wrestling, me taking him down. Besides the takedown defenses, we trained counterattacks with the takedowns, so if I take him down, it won’t be a surprise for me, for my team, because we know what we’ve been doing here. Our greatest goal is to win the fight, in any area it takes place, no matter if it’s on the stand-up, the wrestling or on the ground. I want to have an advantage in all areas.

He also explains where he thinks he holds advantages over Jones right now:

I believe I can control my distance and how long does it take for me to get in and out of his radar. Since Jon Jones is very versatile, I also ought to be to try to be versatile to make it settled. We trained many attacks too on the stand-up so that we can have another tools. Many times, Jon Jones prefers to use the counterattacks, waiting for the fight to happen, so we need also to have this tool so we can defeat our opponent.

Oh, and the real Anderson Silva never actually helped him with this camp:

I talked to Anderson on the phone like three or four times, and we talked a lot. He sent me a video, telling me to train that. He shoot a video there saying what he thought I should focus more my training on for this fight, he showed me a different coup, saying I can use it. So, he always tries to help me the way he can. We can tell Anderson is very helpful, mainly with his friends. You can see his worry to come and talk to me. I know he wants me to bring another title to our Brazil.

Will all this be enough for Machida to overcome the freight train that is Jon Jones? We'll find out on Saturday.

[VolcomX311]

Michael Bisping doesn’t want to hear about Jason Miller’s stamina, ‘Mayhem’ just needs work on his game




Michael Bisping just wanted a little more credit following his win over Jason "Mayhem" Miller, so he scolded the media who were saying the American ran out of steam early in the fight.
"Did you see the pace of the fight? Did you see how many punches I was throwing? Any time I stop someone it's because they gassed. I guarantee Jason didn't gas. I guarantee Jason could've gone five rounds," said Bisping.
The Brit said he was the reason Miller was physically and mentally sapped by the middle of the third round.
"Guess what? You might have cardio but when someone's landing big body shots like I was ... kneeing you in the stomach and punching you repeatedly in the face, your cardio gets affected," Bisping said. "Even the best runner would gas. You get Lindford Christie in there and beat the [expletive] out of him, see how fast he runs the 100 meters."
Bisping believes Miller can compete in the UFC, but the 30-year-old MMA veteran needs a lot of work.
"I've got good takedown defense and he took me down. Against someone less experienced, he could've gotten a submission. He gave me a tough first round," Bisping said. "If I were him, I'd go train striking, keep his shape a little bit more when he's standing up and be a little more orthodox."
Because Miller was launching his head each time he threw an overhand right, it almost became a short night for Bisping. He got drilled in the first when the fighter's clashed heads.
"He was throwing it and really committing with his head. I could feel it instantly and a big lump on my head," Bisping said. "When I'm sparring I prefer a really good, high-level boxer. Someone who's really good and technical. I do great against those guys. Someone who's unorthodox, a beginner if you will ... they catch you with shots because they do stupid things that they're not supposed to do. They don't follow the guidelines."
Miller has survived solely on his grappling by fighting in Japan, Strikeforce and some of the minor leagues around the U.S. He definitely needs to dedicate himself to the stand-up game or his stay in the UFC could be very brief.

[VolcomX311]

At 41 years old, the UFC's Dan Henderson has had a wild ride in mixed martial arts. While it appeared that the period of his career in 2007 when he won the PRIDE middleweight title to compliment the welterweight belt he already held would be the highlight of his career, he now rides a four fight win streak that may top that run. During that run he won a title eliminator in Strikeforce, beat Rafael Cavalcante to win the belt, moved up to heavyweight to stop MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko on strikes in the first round and then made a trip back to light heavyweight in the UFC where he won a narrow decision over Mauricio Rua in arguably the best fight in the sport's history.
Dan is now looking for a title shot at either 205 or 185 pounds. Middleweight would mean a rematch with Anderson Silva, something that Henderson seems very interested in.
With Michael Bisping winning at The Ultimate Fighter Finale 14, some feel that the UFC would love to give Bisping a title shot and that may mean closing the door on Henderson's chance.
So when a fan asked Dan what he thought about a potential Silva vs. Bisping fight, here's what he had to say:

danhendoDan Henderson
RT @AverageJoeArt: @danhendo what did you think of last night's main event? Looked like one guy (cont) http://t.co/opduR8TR

Dec 04FavoriteRetweetReply




Nik_juniorNik Powers
@danhendo do you agree with all these crazies claiming Bisping deserves the next shot??

Dec 04FavoriteRetweetReply




in reply to @Nik_junior↑ @danhendo
Dan Henderson@Nik_junior All the "injuries" that keep Anderson from a rematch w/ me or Chael will heal real fast if they offer Bisping to him.
Dec 04 via SeesmicFavoriteRetweetReply

[VolcomX311]

Training is going well for my UFC debut against Brock Lesnar on December 30 at UFC 141. I said it when I was sat on a stage next to him, and I will repeat it here, I am not underestimating Lesnar, but I will rip him apart piece by piece and go on to win Junior dos Santos’ UFC heavyweight title after I dispense of Lesnar.

However, there has been a big change since my last Yahoo! Sports blog. I am now training for Lesnar in Holland. I flew back about a week ago. I don’t want to go too deep into personal matters, but what happened was my mother is recovering from cancer and needs my support. She needs me in Holland over the next couple of weeks and I came back for her.

What I can say is that going back to Holland to be with my mother won’t be a distraction; it is actually stopping me from getting distracted. If I stayed in Las Vegas for this camp I would be constantly worried about her and my focus would have been compromised. Now I can train 100 percent, and know she’s just across town.
The training for this bout marks the final couple of miles on a road I began on when I was a kid as a kickboxer. It’s been a long, twisting road, a road with a lot of bumps and roadblocks on it. I’ve lost big fights, I’ve missed opportunities. But, you know what? All that has made me stronger. It has made me a champion and it has made me – in my mind, and fighters have to believe in themselves – the best heavyweight on the planet.

I have been asked how I went from a good light heavyweight fighter in PRIDE, a guy who beat some top opponents but didn’t dominate the division, to being a dominant champion as a heavyweight.
In MMA, the thing to do is go down in weight after a loss, that’s what you have seen with guys like B.J. Penn and Kenny Florian, and they have proved that the right thing to do by their results.
But I have always done my own thing my own way, so I did the opposite. I went up in weight.
Everyone around me, including friends of mine I have known since we were kids, knew right away it was the right call when I moved to heavyweight full time in 2007. Some fans and MMA media didn’t understand it, they thought “How is he going to do any better at heavyweight, he will not do as well as at 205 lbs.” but I make the decision after taking a hard look at myself.
I took an honest look at myself and made some hard decisions. While I had some impressive results like beating Vitor Belfort twice, I was not living up to my potential and I took a good look at the reasons why. I decided that one of the main reasons I wasn’t living up to my talents was I was starving myself to make 205lbs. I could not eat correctly, could not train weights. I was weak at the weight and wasn’t even healthy, much less fit and healthy.

I knew putting on enough weight to where I was able to compete with the top heavies would take time. I also know that as soon as I started eating well and had the energy to work out with weights I would add mass right away. But it took time for me to get bigger and grow into a powerful heavyweight.

I have no problem saying that I think I can match power with Brock Lesnar. In fact the UFC poster for our fight has Brock and me side by side with our measurements and I am the bigger man.
There are some fighters who I think are born great, guys like Georges St. Pierre and Jon Jones. I was born a very good fighter, but I have to work very hard to get to “great” and that’s why I have made so many sacrifices already to win the UFC title.
Plus – and this is something fighters never ever usually admit – the fact is 205 lbs is a division stacked with talent and the heavyweight division doesn’t have that many world class fighters. I am happy to admit that. At 205 lbs., you have a great champion in Jon Jones, and very talented guys like Lyoto Machida, Rampage, Ryan Bader, Forrest Griffin, Dan Henderson, Shogun Rua – the list goes on and on. Anyone in the top 15 at light heavyweight is a dangerous fight, while at heavyweight, if I am honest, there’s maybe eight or nine true world class fighters competing at heavyweight.

[VolcomX311]

UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones says he'll be better than ever when he steps into the Octagon with Lyoto Machida at UFC 140.

Jones said on The MMA Hour that he's been training four times a day, and that he's physically stronger, in better shape and a better mixed martial artist than he's ever been before.

"Judging on my numbers in the weight room, judging on my numbers in the cardio tests, it's the best I've ever been," Jones said. "I'm the best fighter that I've ever been right now."

If that's true it would be bad news for Machida, as in Jones's last two fights he had no trouble running through two fighters who have previously beaten Machida, Shogun Rua and Rampage Jackson. Jones also said that he believes that dealing with Rampage before their previous fight -- when Rampage frequently denigrated Jones -- has made him mentally stronger.

"Rampage elevated me in a way of being able to handle future opponents who are going to get under my skin and try to trash talk me," Jones said.

As Jones has become one of the freshest faces and brightest young stars in the UFC, there's been something of a backlash among MMA fans , and Jones said he hears from fans on Twitter who tell him he's too ****y or arrogant. Jones said he's not sure what he's done to inspire that kind of backlash, but he has learned to accept it.

"I could see if I was Floyd Mayweather," Jones said, referring to the brash boxing champ who seems to delight in making fans hate him. "I deal with it by realizing that not everyone's going to love you."

Although Jones has become a star, he says that hasn't changed who he is deep down -- even though he has changed as a fighter and become, in his own mind, better than ever.

"In high school I got the free lunch because we didn't have the finances to go to Wendy's for lunch like the other kids," Jones said. "That I got good at fighting ... that changes nothing about the real world. I have changed as an athlete -- I believe in my heart that I'm the best, I believe I won't lose to Lyoto, or Rashad [Evans], or [Dan] Henderson or any of the other guys. ... As 'Bones' I'm growing and yeah I'm a little ****y and it's important to be that way. But as Jonathan, in the real world, everyone who meets me will say I treated them with the utmost respect."

[VolcomX311]

Chael Sonnen did all he could to throw the media and fan off the scent, but it turns out initial reports that the mouthy middleweight would be facing Mark Munoz were true. Sonnen and Munoz have been booked as the co-main event for the Jan. 28 in Chicago.

Just a few minutes ago, the UFC sent out a UFC of Fox 2 press conference advisory:


The Ultimate Fighting Championship® announced today that it will host a press conference at 1 p.m. CT on Wednesday, Dec. 7 at the United Center in Chicago. UFC President Dana White will discuss the UFC® on FOX event scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012 at United Center.

In the night's main event, former UFC light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans battles the unbeaten Phil Davis to determine the next challenger to the 205-pound title. Plus, in the night's co-feature, controversial middleweight contender Chael Sonnen takes on "The Filipino Wrecking Machine" Mark Munoz in a bout that will decide which fighter gets the next crack at champion Anderson Silva.

With the event at the massive United Center, the UFC decided to go with an unusually low set of ticket prices:


Tickets for UFC® on FOX are priced at $250, $150, $100, $75, $50, and $40, and go on sale to the public on Friday, Dec. 9 at 10 a.m. CT. Tickets will be available at all Ticketmaster locations, online at ticketmaster.com and charge-by-phone at 800-745-3000. Tickets can also be purchased at the United Center Box Office.

Sonnen is coming off a dominant October win over Brian Stann at UFC 136. He the only fighter to give UFC middleweight champ Anderson Silva a real challenge over the last six years when he took the champ to the brink before losing via submission in the fifth round at UFC 117.

Munoz, a national champion wrestler at Oklahoma State, has plowed through the UFC middleweight division with a 7-1 mark. Sonnen was a collegiate wrestling star at Oregon and went onto a decorate career internationally on the Greco-Roman grappling scene.

[VolcomX311]

UFC lightweight titleholder Frankie Edgar hasn’t had a quick win since
becoming the champion by defeating B.J. Penn at UFC 112 in April of 2010, but he
hopes to change that in his UFC: Japan
(UFC 144) main event bout with Benson Henderson.
“I’d like it to be a quick fight, but that doesn’t seem how it goes for me,”
Edgar said at a press conference promoting the event on Monday.

In his four UFC title fights, Edgar has gone the distance three times.

He defeated Penn twice by unanimous decision. He then came back after nearly
being finished in the first round in a rematch with Gray Maynard at UFC 125 on
New Year’s Day 2011 to retain the title by salvaging a draw. Edgar retained the
belt, but still hadn’t defeated Maynard. Maynard handed the champion the lone
loss on his resume back in April of 2008.

The two would go to battle a third time at UFC
136 on Oct. 8. Eerily similar to their UFC 125 bout, Maynard battered Edgar
in the first round and was on the verge of winning, but Edgar survived, again,
and rallied back to finish his nemesis late in the fourth round by knockout.

“I’m not trying to make a habit of it, taking the punishment I’ve been taking
in the last couple of fights,” he said. “It’s like a cat has nine lives and I
don’t know how many lives I have to get out of that first round if that happens
again.

“Usually my fights are exciting. Past two fights I took some damage and been
able to come back, so it makes it exciting for the fans. I know it will be a
good one (with Henderson). He’s a good fighter. I’ll do everything I can do in
there to win,” added Edgar.

While training and preparing every day to avoid taking punishment and having
to comeback in fights after flirting with the fine line that separates whether a
referee stops the fight or not, Edgar looks back on his last two fights with a
slight grin.

“It does make for exciting TV, and it’s definitely building my legend,” said
the lightweight champion. “As long as I come out the victor, I’ll get beat up
for four or five rounds. As long as I come out the winner, I’ll do it every
time.”

[VolcomX311]

[VolcomX311]

[VolcomX311]

[VolcomX311]

[JudgementDay]

Great to have this new thread in the Athletix section, fits great with a sick product line of supplements that are a perfect fit for MMA training

Volcom is the best of the best for MMA News

[VolcomX311]

The assumed move of Bellator off Saturday nights was confirmed Monday, but instead of a mid-week air time, the promotion will once again go head-to-head with the UFC quite frequently.

Bellator will now air on Friday nights on MTV2, beginning on March 2nd when their sixth season begins. This next run will feature four tournaments (lightweights, featherweights, welterweights and middleweights) with a fifth to be announced soon, expected to be either light heavyweights or women's 125-pounders.

In the press release, Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney said, "Our focus was to find the right night, where the largest number of MMA fans could enjoy the show. We’ve been discussing this move with our partners at Viacom for months. When we looked at the alternatives, we agreed that Fridays provided a great night for us to reach MMA fans with our live, real sport, tournament events every week."

However, one of Bellator's issues on Saturdays was running up against UFC pay-per-views and other major sports like college football. While they will be out of the college crosshairs for the most part, Fridays are not traditionally a strong TV night for viewership. Additionally, they will go head-to-head with both the newly-moved The Ultimate Fighter and UFC Fight Night events on FX, M-1 Global and Strikeforce Challengers events if both continue to be aired on Showtime, HDNet MMA events and WWE Smackdown on SyFy.

No official start time or venue was announced for the March 2nd date.

[VolcomX311]

[VolcomX311]

Back in July, before UFC 132, the "People's Champ," Tito Ortiz, was going into what
could have been the final fight of his career against heavy-handed Ryan
Bader.

Ortiz had gone 0-4-1 in his last five fights and had not won a fight since he
defeated Ken Shamrock back in 2006.

It was clear that Ortiz was past his prime, and it looked as if he would be
forced to retire if he could not defeat Bader.

The former light heavyweight champion shocked the world with an upset victory
over Bader that brought his career back from the dead.

It wouldn't be long before Ortiz fought again, as he stepped in for an
injured Phil Davis to face Rashad Evans.

Although Ortiz would go on to lose that fight, he looked good against Evans
and almost pulled off another upset.

Ortiz has shown not only UFC president Dana White, but also the rest of
the world that he will keep fighting with his back against the wall and will go
out on his own terms.

Going into this weekend's fight against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Ortiz has
revealed to ESPN.com that he will fight two more times in the UFC, before
he hangs up his gloves for good.

"Maybe it's time. I don't know," Ortiz said. "I guess when I leave on my own
terms—and I look at it as, when I don't have fun coming in the gym anymore,
sparring and pushing myself and running every day, maybe it is time. I'm not
overstaying my welcome.

"My goal in my whole career was to do 15 years in MMA. May 30 will be my 15th year of
fighting in the UFC and in MMA, in general. This'll be fight No. 26 for me, I
think. So I'll have 27 and walk away. I think I've done good."

Ortiz went on to say that he may continue his career if he can stay healthy,
as well as agree with the UFC on the proper finances.

The 36-year-old has had several surgeries over his long career and stated
that he did not want to jeopardize his future with his children to continue
fighting.

"Is it worth it not being able to run with my kids or wrestle with my kids or
throw a football with my kids when they get older? A million dollars ain't worth
it."

Regardless of how many fights he has left in him, there is a guaranteed spot
in the UFC Hall of Fame for Tito Ortiz.

[JudgementDay]

I saw this one live, so wicked!

[VolcomX311]

I saw this one live, so wicked!

I can't even imagine trying to fight with one arm. It takes a special kind of dude to be able to pull that off physically, mentally and psychologically.

[VolcomX311]

Jon Jones


Jon Jones is set for a tough defense of his UFC light heavyweight championship this Saturday night at UFC 140. Should he pull off the win he'll have completed one of the best years in MMA history with wins over Ryan Bader, winning the title from Mauricio Rua, defending against Quinton Jackson and beating Machida. Of course, getting that win is not a given.
Jones joined Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour yesterday to talk about several topics including Saturday night's fight (thanks to MMA Mania for doing the transcribing heavy lifting).
On Machida getting the title shot despite being 1-2 in his last 3:

"He looked great against Randy Couture, whether he deserves a title shot or not, he is Lyoto Machida, I'm happy for him. He has the name and recognition to get the title shot and now I'm here."

On his religion:

"God has way more important things to think about than me winning a fight or Tebow winning a game, but religion is a big part of me, and if people can't accept that, then maybe I'm not meant to be that mainstream athlete."

And then he chimed in on the bout between Rashad Evans and Phil Davis:

"It's an interesting fight. I'll go with Rashad because of the experience factor. But Phil Davis can win more than he realizes, he has to be comfortable striking. I won't say too much because I have my own ideas on how to beat Rashad, but, I don't think Rashad has a chin at all. Trust me Rashad does not have chin. But it will be a closer fight that people will realize."

I will say that I find Jones much more likable in the build up to this fight because he seems to be forcing it much less. He's much more natural. Yes, he's ****y at times, but that's fine. I think the best fighter in his weight class and possibly the world should be ****y. I just want to believe the things he is saying and for him to not come across as incredibly carefully managed and straight-up manufactured. That's the difference between the build-ups to this fight and the Rampage fight.
Of course, there has been less of a media build-up for this fight than the Machida fight. But it seems like something changed and we're getting more of the "real Jon Jones" and I think that's great.