Written by: Colin Means
So Jon Jones decided it was a good idea to drive his Bentley while he was intoxicated, and yes, the Bentley was totaled.
But have no fear, Bones is still quite the family man; he was bailed out by his mother.
So via TMZ comes a video of Jones in police training earlier this year and, naturally, this was the same agency that arrested him. Cool video though.
Written by: Colin Means
The Vikings of Scandinavia were famous a thousand years ago for being amongst the most fearsome warriors in the world. Sailing in their long boats, they terrorised the English, Irish and Scottish, and not to mention the French and even the Moors in Spain. So it is no surprise that the new UFC in Scandinavia might be producing its first star warrior after less than a month of holding fights.
The first Scandinavian UFC fight was held in Stockholm’s 12,000-seat Ericsson Globe Arena on April 14, 2012 with two middleweight fights between the Italian Alessio “Legionarius” Sakara and American Brian Stann, and also Papy “Makambo” Abedi who took on Oklahoman James Head. Since then the Scandinavian UFC team haven’t been sitting on their hands or even using them to while away the hours playing Partypoker, instead they have been setting up new fights. One of the latest has been between the Swedish Alexander Gustafsson and Thiago Silva from Brazil.
Gustafsson won, with a 30-27 30-27 29-28 decision. According to Brian Mallon of The Independent newspaper, Gustafsson managed to keep his head and use the vast number of Swedish fans supporting him to his advantage. In the fight, which lasted for 15 minutes, Gustafsson ‘peppered’ Silva with punches. So confident was the Gustafsson team after the fight, that they even proposed their young fighter should take on Jon ‘The Mauler’ Jones.
This would probably be a fight too far for the young Swede, as Jones is an opponent really only for fighters at the very top of their games. It is also important not to overstretch yourself too early on. UFC and MMA are littered with fighters who have got ahead of themselves too early and paid the price in their career for ever more. Still, it is good to see this fighter has ambition as well as very obvious skill. Perhaps all he needs is a suitably Viking nick name. How about Alexander “Blood Axe” Gustafsson?
Written by: Colin Means
Kimbo Slice has made a smooth transition into the realm of boxing, registering three knockouts in four fights so far.
His most recent knockout victory came against Brian Green, but the story here lies with the weigh in, which took place at a Wal-Mart. I’m sure Kimbo felt right at home.
Written by: Colin Means
You may remember Brittney Palmer from her appearance on The Sporting Rave Podcast, and the UFC ring girl hasn’t let up since then.
She rejoined the UFC after her hiatus for art school, but hasn’t missed a beat. Fresh off her appearance at UFC on Fox 2 in Chicago, Brittney posted a picture on twitter of her latest piece of art, a painted guitar in the image of Jimi Hendrix.
Take a look below, this is just incredible. After seeing this genuine tribute, I look forward to what her art might hold in the future.
Brittney Palmer's guitar painting of Jimi Hendrix
Written by: Darnell Myrick
By Darnell Myrick
Yesterday night, we all were treated to the debut of the UFC on FOX. The debut of the UFC kicked off with a bang. The one hour live telecast featured a heavyweight title fight between UFC Heavyweight Champion, Cain Velasquez, and number 1 contender, Junior “Cigano” dos Santos. It only took 64 seconds for a victor to be decided. Dos Santos landed a right hand to the temple of Velasquez that dropped him and dos Santos was able to finish the fight with ground and pound which marked the end of Cain Velasquez’s reign as UFC Heavyweight Champion. Dos Santos also one Knockout of the Night, which was a 65K bonus. (more…)
Written by: James Maldonado
The Ultimate Fighting Championship made a historic deal with FOX networks earlier this year. One of the biggest stories to come out of that deal is the new Ultimate Fighter format. Each year will feature two seasons of TUF, which each weekly fight airing live on FX. The Friday night show will feature a wrap up of the previous week, leading into the live fight, followed by what has been deemed the aftermath portion. This means that for 26 Fridays next year, there will be a live fight on FX. The finales will also air live on FX.
Today the UFC announced that TUF 15 will feature lightweight (155 lb) and welterweight (170 lb) fighters. The coaches have yet to be named. Interested in trying out? Take a look at the application after the jump.
Written by: James Maldonado
Anthony “Rumble” Johnson (10-3 MMA, 7-3 UFC) is set to make his middleweight debut against the Brazilian striker, Vitor Belfort (20-9 MMA, 9-5 UFC) at UFC 142 in Brazil. Johnson wrote in a twitter message “Ppl question why the move to 185? 1st its a challenge, 2nd because I want to, 3rd why not? What is life without challenges and trying something new? Life would be boring then!!! 170 is Still my home’’
This is a big test for Johnson, and if he can get past Belfort he’ll definitely be able to create some waves at 185 lbs. This move has been discussed for some time, given Johnsons history with making weight. He’s probably the biggest 170 pounder around and will even probably be one of the larger middleweights. For the rest of the UFC 142 rumors, check it out after the jump.
Written by: Daniel Donnelly
We’re counting down the hours to tonight’s UFC 137 PPV, which takes place live from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.
It’s been a long road to Vegas, and overall, this could probably be described as one of UFC’s ‘cursed’ events, in which we’ve seen several significant changes to the fight card, including a reshuffling of the main event.
From Nick Diaz’s press conference disappearances, to the unfortunate training injury sustained by the champion Georges St Pierre, the event has also been marred by Tim Credeur being “forced out” of his bout with Brad Tavares for reasons that are still not clear. After Dustin Jacoby was wheeled in to replace Credeur, Tavares himself then pulled out of the fight due to injuries sustained during training, being replaced by the undefeated rookie, Clifford Starks.
In the final last minute twist, Tyson Griffin failed to make weight for his featheweight fight against Bart Palaszewski. After a change to ‘catchweight’ status and a hefty financial penalty for Griffin, the fight will, however, be going ahead tonight.
Remember to catch the first portion of the prelims for free on Facebook, including Brandon Vera vs Eliot Marshall (I’m calling Vera by submission), before switching over to SPIKE TV for Tyson Griffin vs. Bart Palaszewski (I’m calling Griffin by TKO) and Dennis Siver vs. Donald Cerrone (I’m calling The Cowboy by TKO).
Then, in the words of Bruce Buffer himself, “It’s time!”
Here’s my breakdown for tonight’s card…
Hatsu Hioki vs. George Roop
Prediction: Hatsu by submission
The Japanese Hatsu crossed the ocean tonight for his first fight in the USA. A submission specialist and former SRC Featherweight champion, Hatsu brings with him and impressive record.
In the other corner, George Roop will be looking for some of the knockout ability that took out both Gripsi and Chan-Sung in recent fights. His mixed success so far in the UFC makes this an important fight for the 29 year old.
I see Hatsu catching Roop in the third round and tapping him out.
Scott Jorgensen vs. Jeff Curran
Jorgensen by split decision
Unlike some of his WEC counterparts, Jorgensen made the transition to the UFC quite smoothly with an impressive first round knockout of Ken Stone at The Ultimate Fighter Finale back in June, and the charismatic fighter brings with him an impressive reputation from his WEC days.
Jeff Curren returns to UFC after seven successful years travelling around such organizations as PRIDE, WEC, XFO and Bellator, even mounting an unsuccessful challenge against Urijah Faber for his WEC Feathweight Championship.
Both men tend to favor submission victories if they can get them, yet the majority of their combined fights have headed to the judges. I predict the same here, with Jorgensen leading the fight and controlling the cage, but in the end, this one will go all three rounds.
Roy Nelson vs. Mirko Filipović
Prediction: Nelson by unanimousdecision
Both guys really need a convincing win at this stage. ‘Big Country’ is fresh off to major losses to Junior Dos Santos and Frank Mir, despite being able to show his impressive ability to withstand a beating, especially against JDS when his heart and stamina won over the crowd and helped him survive a three round onslaught.
Cro Cop is also coming away from losses to Mir and JDS, except both guys were able to finish Filipovic decisively with a KO and submission respectively. The fact that neither man could finish Nelson, but had little trouble putting down Cro Cop could be an indication of what we will see tonight.
Nelson could end this fight with a well placed punch and earn a ground and pound victory. Cro Cop would have to hope to wear Nelson down and go for a submission, but I personally see both fighters playing this one somewhat cautiously and heading to the judges for a Nelson victory.
Matt Mitrione vs. Cheick Kongo
Prediction: Mitrione by split decision
Kongo continues to be a somewhat unpredictable and inconsistent fighter, which makes it difficult to make clear predictions in his fights. After the crazy ‘Knockout of the Night’ victory over Pat Barry back in June (which some fans feel Kongo owed to a very lenient referee and a generous recovery time), Kongo looks to be a formidable opponent for Mitrione. However, when we look at how Kongo struggled against Travis Browne and Frank Mir in recent fights, the uncertainty returns.
The man known as “Meathead” during his Ultimate Fighter run is currently enjoying a clean 5-0 record in the UFC, but it can be argued that Kongo will be his toughest challenge to date.
I see Mitrione by decision, this one will probably go all the way. That being said, I can also see Mitrione catching Kongo for a 2nd round TKO, but I’m going with the decision win.
B.J. Penn vs. Nick Diaz
Prediction: Penn by 3rd round submission.
This one all depends on which Penn shows up tonight. The Prodigy looked out of it, and almost bored, during his two fights with Frankie Edgar that ultimately ended up in losses. After rumors began to swirl that Penn’s heart just wasn’t in the fight game anymore and he was about to call it a day, Penn returned at UFC 123 for a stunning first round knockout of Matt Hughes. The recent draw with Jon Fitch at Australia’s UFC 127 left things somewhat in the air as far as Penn’s current fighting standard. In my opinion, this is Penn’s fight to lose.
Overall, if we see the UFC 123 Penn, fired up and focused, with his conditioning in the right place, I think Diaz will be outclassed by The Prodigy.
Written by: Daniel Donnelly
Written by: Daniel Donnelly
Both Condit and Kawa have to be fully aware of the recent drama in the light heavyweight division involving Rashad Evans and his woes with then-champion Shogun Rua. With a title fight booked following Rua’s return from injury, Evans elected to sit out any additional fights while waiting for Shogun to recover. In a cruel twist, by the time the champion healed up, Evans himself went down with an injury and was forced to pull out of the fight. The fight was scrapped completely, and Rashad’s title shot was then handed to Jon “Bones” Jones, who successfully went on to win the belt. 
In sports such as football or baseball, while there are standout big name players that fans love to follow, overall it’s the team itself that draws the interest and sells the tickets. Not too many Cowboys fans would sell their ticket if Tony Romo was unable to play in a particular game. But in UFC, when the marquee fights rest squarely on the shoulders of individuals and not teams, the risk is much higher when that individual is unable to perform. This is a sport where the individual fighters, and the specific match ups with other individual fighters, are the attractions. One guy getting hurt ultimately can change everything.