Bloody Elbow News

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Event Organizers: UFC | WEC | Affliction | EliteXC | Adrenaline MMA | Strikeforce

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Clip of the Day: High School Mixed Martial Arts

For those who heard about the high school playing host to a MMA club, the New York Times goes one step deeper and visits the school itself. A very short but interesting little of a nuggest of a piece.

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Gina Carano Should Be in the UFC

While the internet celebrates Dana White's change of mood regarding Gina Carano, I remain very skeptical of the plan to bring her to the WEC.  For better or worse, the WEC is a novelty promotion.  Due to its lack of exposure and funds, it doesn't get much attention, which is why the followup to Urijah Faber vs. Jens Pulver did just half as well as that fight.

Enter Gina Carano, the third biggest free television draw in MMA history, behind Tito Ortiz and Kimbo Slice.  She may even be bigger than Tito, because she drew ratings completely on her own as opposed to being in a big title fight or in a big grudge match built over months on a reality show.  Not only were her gains unbelievable, they came mostly in the target demographic of males 18-34.

So here's the question: why in the world do you take the third biggest TV draw in MMA history and put her on a show where the maximum possible rating is probably something like a 1.2?  It makes no sense, it's a complete waste, and it's reeks of condescension.  There is no reason to "test the waters."  The waters have been tested, and women's MMA passed with flying colors.  

I was at UFC 91, and during a break between fights I got up to get a drink, and saw Carano entering with a group toward her seats.  She was absolutely mobbed by adoring fans, the same fans who would certainly accept her fighting in the UFC.  Surely there is room when UFC cards are filled with fights like Cheick Kongo vs. Mustapha Al-Turk.

If they really need to "test the waters," they should do Carano vs. Santos on the Spike TV special scheduled for February 7th.  In the main event, it will outdraw just about anything they can do in that spot.

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WEC 38 Will Be Held in San Diego on January 25th

So says MMA Weekly:

Reliable independent sources confirmed to MMAWeekly.com that the WEC is looking to kick 2009 off in style, going big right out of the gate. Current plans call for the promotion to make its first stop ever in San Diego on Jan. 25 with one of its most loaded cards to date.

As mentioned, Urijah Faber is set to be part of the fight card, although he won't get the immediate rematch with Mike Brown that he had hopes for. Brown suffered torn rib cartilage in winning the belt from Faber on Nov. 5 and is unlikely to return to action before March. It is currently unknown whom the WEC will match Faber up against, but the short list includes Leonard Garcia and Jose Aldo.

"Urijah wants to fight in January," his manger, Mike Roberts, stated in a recent interview with MMAWeekly Radio. "We’re still trying to sort out who he’s going to fight."

Current WEC lightweight champ Jamie Varner will make the second defense of his title when he faces Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone in what is likely to land as the main event at WEC 38. Cerrone earned a shot at Varner with his "Fight of the Night" performance against "Razor" Rob McCullough at WEC 36. Cerrone overcame two knockdowns in the opening round to batter McCullough en route to a three-round unanimous decision.

Welterweight kingpin Carlos Condit will also don the card, looking to keep his eight-fight winning streak intact. No opponent has been locked down at the time of publication, but indications are that a rematch with Brock Larson could be in the works for Condit, who recently made the move to train at Arizona Combat Sports with Varner.

I doubt sources told MMAWeekly.com "WEC is looking to kick 2009 off in style, going big right out of the gate" rather than they told MMAWeekly.com "WEC is holding WEC 38 in San Diego on January 25th", but that's just a personal annoyance.

As for the news, not much to add at this point except Condit told me he believes Larson shouldn't be the next challenger as he only really has one win in the WEC since losing to Condit. Clearly though, the problem Condit faced before his most recent title defense is the one he'll face next as the number of potential challengers to his belt are few and far between.

And, of course, it's welcoming news the WEC is able to move around and expose their product to more audiences. Sticking to the hospitable territory of California is also the safe but smart strategy. Hosting the event in San Diego makes it more likely the venue will be full by main event time, but it also indicates the WEC product can venture too far from warm waters. Still, steady as she goes.

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Randy Couture reflects on loss. HT: Sherdog.com

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Never Surrender is an erotically charged, controversial action-thriller....

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Andrei Arlovski, Henry Cejudo to Make Boxing Debuts?

That's one contention being tossed around. Notable quote:

Gold-medal winning U.S. Olympic wrestler Henry Cejudo is spending time working out in a Phoenix boxing gym, and may ultimately transform into fighting atop a roped-off canvas, my friend Norm Frauenheim (formerly of the Arizona Republic) writes on 15rounds.com.

...

Although a future deal with Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions would seem a natural, company matchmaker Eric Gomez said he hasn't yet scouted Cejudo.

On a side note, Gomez said Golden Boy is angling to stage a fight featuring MMA heavyweight and ex-UFC champion Andrei Arlovski in boxing. Arlovski will first fight MMA star Fedor Emelianenko on Jan. 24 in Anaheim, but he's trained with famed boxing trainer Freddie Roach and is expected to make his boxing debut later in 2009, Gomez said.

"Freddie's very high on him, he's been sparring with Juan Carlos Gomez," Gomez said. "We'll see where it goes."

For folks not familiar, Gomez is now the WBC mandatory challenger to Vitali Klitschko's heavyweight strap. Gomez has had some missteps in his career, but is arguably a top 10 heavyweight in the world. If Arlovski is sparring well with Gomez, that portends success for any future ventures in boxing. And as it's been discussed many times over, that's also good for MMA insofar as technical legitimacy is concerned if a recognized talent can crossover into boxing and compete at the highest level.

As for Cejudo, it's disheartening to hear he'd rather make a move towards boxing than MMA giving his unreal wrestling pedigree. He's literally the youngest American to ever win an Olympic wrestling medal. There was word that Henry and his wrestling standout brother Angel were potentially making their way towards MMA, but it appears those rumors were not accurate. Oh well. We still have Ben Askren and King Mo.

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Fedor Emelianenko Talks Brock Lesnar

Fronted by Luke Thomas.

Over on Sherdog.com, there is an interview up with Fedor Emelianenko, and he has some interesting things to say.

Regarding the fight between Randy Couture and Brock Lesnar:

“I think Lesnar fought a very smart fight,” Emelianenko told Sherdog.com on Tuesday. “It was very interesting to watch. I think one of his strengths was that -- I was impressed by his speed in the fight. I think just from watching the fight, each fighter was waiting for the other one to make a mistake and I think Lesnar was very fortunate to have caught Randy and prevail.”

About the future of Brock Lesnar, and how opponents can beat him:

“It was certainly a good start for him, but his successes and failures will depend on who’s in the ring with him,” said Emelianenko. “Whether I get a chance to fight Lesnar in the future or not, that fight will be about me taking advantage of those weaknesses. Any opponent that he has in the future, for them to prevail would be for them to take advantage and capitalize on mistakes that he makes. Like every fighter, he’s certainly prone to them and I see that.”

He claims that he never wanted to fight Randy Couture:

“To tell you the truth, I wasn’t entirely excited in fighting Randy,” Emelianenko told Sherdog.com on Tuesday. “I have a great deal of respect and admiration for him. Getting in the ring with someone that, I myself, adore as a person and a fighter, I’m never as interested in getting in the ring with someone I have an emotional attachment to.”

Who would he rather face, Couture or Lesnar? He says:

“I just never think that way,” he said. “I never concentrate on that. My opponent is the opponent that signs the contract to fight me and ahead of time, looking down a list of fighters that are available and trying to figure who poses more of a danger by studying their games –- it’s something I just don’t concentrate on.”

But:

“I would choose Lesnar, mainly for the reason I mentioned before,” said Emelianenko. “I’m very sympathetic to Randy. He hung out together. He got to know each other. I have a lot of warm feelings toward him. Based on that, if I had my choice without any outside forces involved, I would choose Lesnar.”

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Do Not Pay Attention to Jerry Millen

The M-1 statement that was released to another website ostensibly authored by Jerry Millen needs to be ignored by everyone with a mammalian brain. It's an utterly transparent attempt at a) riding the attention generated by Couture vs. Lesnar and b) trying to appear in good standing when one is clearly threatened. Nothing Millen says is of any consequence to UFC policy or what decisions will be made at any point in time. Do not be fooled into thinking Millen can goad White into doing anything he wasn't already planning on doing.

Why Fedor Emelianenko would choose to work with this type of "associate" is certainly beyond me, but there's no reason any self-respecting website should be paying any attention to this perfunctory act of self-delusion. Millen is trying to use the hardcore base to be adversarial from a disadvantageous position and it's not worth the time of anyone invested in any type of serious discussion.

This is all a cheap ploy for attention and for the aggrandizement of M-1, something Dana White is likely not the least bit interested in furthering. Ignore it, forget it and devote your attention and time to something with actual significance.

Move along, folks. There's literally nothing to see here.

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Gina Carano in the WEC?

This may soon become reality according to Dana White:

White said he is thinking of inviting Gina Carano to fight in the WEC. Carrano had been fighting in the now defunct EliteXC. "Gina Carano is a star, I think she's talented. I think she's got all the tools, so what I'm willing to do is bring Gina into the WEC. We could do fights whenever there's a challenger for Gina. That's how I'll test the waters and see how it goes." In the past, White has dismissed talk of having women fight in his organization, saying there wasn't enough talent out there.

The proposed scenario would be a major modification to Zuffa's approach in promoting MMA.  Not only would this be their first foray into female fighting, but the experiment would not involve a full division of fighters but only Carano fighting various challengers as they materialize.  Zuffa has the ability to take female MMA to the next level if they effectively deploy the significant resources at their disposal.

Gina Carano's popularity may be just what the WEC needs to emerge from the shadow of the UFC, and her addition would make a possible WEC PPV effort more realistic.  One wonders if the recent return of Randy Couture to the UFC fold figures into White's quickly evolving attitude toward Carano (and other women) fighting under the Zuffa banner, given Carano's close relationship with the Coutures?

The only hurdle could be Carano's contract situation with ProElite.  If she and other fighters are freed from the grasp of the floundering promotion, Gina Carano might soon headline a WEC event.

HT:  Steve Cofield

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Frank Mir talks WEC 37: Torres Vs. Tapia Dec 3rd

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Dana White Warns Ontario - You're Next!

Fronted by Luke Thomas.

Canoe.ca has an article up in which Dana White discusses his plans to get the UFC into Ontario:

"There’s no reason why we shouldn’t be in Toronto," White continued. "We’ve got a (clean) nine-year record of health and safety. There is absolutely no reason for Canada to not accept this sport. There’s an education factor; we need to educate people.

"I’m going after Canada after (I get approval in) New York and Massachusetts. I’m attacking Canada. I’m going to spend so much time in Canada I’ll have to buy a house. I’m going to live here until it’s done. I’m going to be sitting on the porch every day they come to work."

"Everybody I bumped into was from Canada," he said, adding that having St-Pierre fight in Toronto is a no-brainer. "This fight (between St-Pierre and Penn) should have been in Toronto or Hawaii.

"Canada is a huge market for us. Toronto is the mecca, this is the place to be as far as MMA is concerned."

Photo via www.sportsnet.ca

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UFC 94: St-Pierre vs. Penn 2 Press Conference

Dana White comments on a possible Anderson Silva vs. GSP fight in 2009 with a UFC 94 win around the six minute mark.






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Fedor Emelianenko Wants Brock Lesnar

Fronted by Kid Nate.

MMAJunkie.com has the official statement:

M-1 would like to congratulate Brock Lesnar on his UFC heavyweight title victory as well as acknowledge Randy Couture's return to active competition after a layoff that lasted over a year.

Couture and WAMMA heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko had publicly acknowledged a desire to fight each other multiple times over the course of the past year. While M-1 and Fedor remain interested in a match against Couture, we would also like to publicly state for the record that we would welcome a superfight between Fedor and Lesnar that would be held as a co-promoted event between the UFC, M-1, and Affliction Entertainment.

We've invited the media to speak with us today to not only make it clear we would welcome a Fedor vs. Lesnar matchup but to act in a preemptive fashion to address the possibility that UFC officials will try and position Lesnar as the No. 1 heavyweight in the world, much like they have tried to use a marketing ploy to brand Anderson Silfva as the number one pound-for-pound fighter in the world.

In the past, UFC president Dana White and Zuffa, LLC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta have tried to claim that Fedor was "overrated" and that his "record was irrelevant." They make these claims in spite of the fact that Fedor holds career victories over UFC champions past and present. While we have tremendous respect for the contributions Mr. Fertitta and Dana have made to this sport, we do not believe they are sincere in their statements.

It is the position of M-1 that the UFC has adopted an anti-Fedor policy because multiple attempts to sign him have not been fruitful. For a company that has tried to market itself as the number one promotion in the world, they are unable to accept the fact that the number one fighter in the world does not reside on its roster of contracted fighters.

We believe that the UFC has determined that it's much more inexpensive for them to use their marketing resources to use smoke and mirrors to brand a fighter as the pound-for-pound best as opposed to actually paying the pound-for-pound best what he is truly worth on the open market.

While Brock Lesnar is an accomplished athlete and a talented fighter, we do not consider him to be the number one heavyweight in the world. Until someone beats him, we strongly believe that Fedor should continue to be recognized as the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. In a match between Fedor and Lesnar, we do not feel that at this stage Lesnar would be able to make it out of the first round.

For those who feel our statements in regards to Fedor are self-serving, we'd like to refer you to a video interview on the website RawVegas.tv in which at his UFC 91 after-party Couture himself acknowledges that "Fedor would probably tear Brock up at this point."

Jerry Millen, M-1 Vice President

Some harsh words for the UFC in there.

The statement is kind of longish, so here are some of the more fun bits:

We believe that the UFC has determined that it's much more inexpensive for them to use their marketing resources to use smoke and mirrors to brand a fighter as the pound-for-pound best as opposed to actually paying the pound-for-pound best what he is truly worth on the open market.

In a match between Fedor and Lesnar, we do not feel that at this stage Lesnar would be able to make it out of the first round.

For those who feel our statements in regards to Fedor are self-serving, we'd like to refer you to a video interview on the website RawVegas.tv in which at his UFC 91 after-party Couture himself acknowledges that "Fedor would probably tear Brock up at this point."

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UFC 2009 Undisputed Preview: Kenny Florian

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BloodyElbow.com on "Big O & Dukes" Show on 106.7 WJFK

I had the great honor of being on 106.7 WJFK's "Big O & Dukes" to talk UFC 91. We discussed the impact of Brock Lesnar's win, what's next for him, what impact this will have on the careers of amateur and professional wrestlers and much more. Click here to listen to the entire interview.

"Big O & Dukes" show page here.

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Randy Couture Talks UFC 91 Loss to Brock Lesnar

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Paulo Filho Released From WEC, Unlikely to Fight in UFC

Fronted by Luke Thomas.

In the November 17th edition of the Wrestling Observer there is strong indication that (former) top 10 middleweight Paulo Filho has been released from his Zuffa contract and will most likely not be heading to the UFC any time soon, if at all.

FiveOuncesofPain.com has the wrap up:

“Not only will Paulo Filho's middleweight championship be forgotten, but Filho himself will be after his performance on the show, as it’s all but a lock that Filho won’t be moved to UFC,” one excerpt states.

“There is zero criticism I’ve seen of (Zuffa) cutting Paulo Filho, who was 16-0 coming into his fight (vs. Chael Sonnen) but his cut wasn’t over money but that the person who was in that cage has no business fighting at this time,” writes Observer publisher Dave Meltzer

WEC 36 was the last event to feature middleweights and WEC 37 will be the last event to feature light heavyweights as it was announced earlier this year that the WEC would now be focusing on the lighter weight classes. It was all but assumed that the (former) top 10 fighter and former WEC MW champion, Paulo Filho, as well as many other top prospects would be on their way to the UFC. Now though, the only place Filho is heading to is most likely a mental help facility what with the bizarre display shown in his last fight.

The good news is that Filho may very well fight in the UFC one day when he gets his mind in the right place. It's just now is not that time.

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UFC 91 Winners and Losers

My new opinion piece on Sherdog.com is up and Brock Lesnar is easily one of the "winners":

Having tremendous athletic gifts yet being unable to use them professionally must be exceedingly frustrating. Throughout his undulating career, Brock Lesnar has suffered through failed efforts and missed opportunities that would be difficult to swallow for any aspiring athlete, particularly for one with such unparalleled promise.

On Saturday night, Lesnar finally put a nail in the coffin of the vagabond career that prevented him from pursuing his true dream: to make a living and reach the most elevated heights attainable as a professional athlete. By capturing the most coveted position in the UFC's heavyweight class, Lesnar has more than secured himself a place as a true competitor in this league and sport. And to do so at 31 years of age after abandoning a previous career and failing to jump-start another is utterly remarkable. Lesnar, then, is an Horatio Alger story and the prodigal son wrapped into one. Wayward and confused, but forever determined to follow his nagging internal compass, Lesnar gutted through upheaval and career turmoil to once again find professional balance and personal serenity. And now he can add the UFC heavyweight championship belt to that peace of mind. Not too shabby, Brock.

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Fedor Emelianenko (blue) loses by decision to Bulgarian Blagoy Ivanov (red) at the Combat Sambo...

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Quote of the Day: Tommy Speer

"I'm finally noticing I can't farm, I can't fight; I can't do both of them at the same time. Both require alot of dedicated hours.

As of right now, my decision for fighting came to an end here."

-- Tommy Speer talks about his decision loss to Beau Baker at Cagefest Extreme 6. (Video on the right)

BloodyElbow.com wishes Tommy the best: you have a ton of heart.

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