UFC on Versus 5: Dan Hardy won?t get punked again

MILWAUKEE -- Dan Hardy was in his happy place: a room full of fight fans who all had their eyes on him. At the UFC on Versus 5 open workouts Friday, the British, orange-mohawked fighter bantered with the crowd, taking requests for fighting styles.

"If Chris agrees to do the fight in slow motion, we can do Tai Chi!"

But he has learned his lesson on making fight agreements with opponents. Before his March loss to Anthony Johnson, Hardy and Johnson spoke often about the type of fight they wanted. Even before weigh-ins, as they watched a replay of the exciting bout between Leonard Garcia and the Korean Zombie, Johnson told Hardy, "That's going to be us."

Johnson then wrestled his way to a decision win. Afterwards, Hardy said that he was punked.

"I was annoyed, but I was annoyed with myself. The reason is a few years ago, when I fought on the Cage Warriors show, I did the same thing to someone else. So I guess it's karma. If he had been saying it to the media, and constantly said, "It's gonna be a war," but hadn't said anything to me, I wouldn't have bought into it. But, it was the private messages between us. It was a smart gameplan, and he outsmarted me. I only have myself to blame for that," Hardy said.

With that loss, Hardy fell to 0-3 in his last three fights. Getting the chance for a fourth loss doesn't happen for many fighters, so he knows that it is important to deliver on Sunday night against Chris Lytle.

"It's concerning, because I love my job and I love being part of the UFC. I love seeing the fans and stuff. I like that interaction, and seeing them have such an interest in the UFC and my career. On another note, there's not much I can do about it. I'm three losses down. I can't take those back. I only can learn from them. I'm going into this fight, remembering the mistakes that I've made in my last three fights and training camps, and give it everything I've got. I'm of the mindset now that as long as I give it everything I've got, what else can I do? For right now, I'm comfortable that Sunday is going to be a great day."

Hardy worked both in Las Vegas with Roy Nelson and with his home camp in England to prepare for the bout. He thinks his game will be better integrated because the training of the different MMA disciplines was more integrated. He complimented his opponent's style, but did say that he has more weapons.

"He's got experience, which is gonna make it harder to me to set him up for the easier techniques that will knock him out. Having said that, coming from a Muay Thai background, I feel like I have an extra three weapons that he doesn't have. Boxing is a huge thing, and I use my hands a lot and I like boxing, but when I use it with my hands and kicks and knees, and elbows, that's going to be the deciding factor of the fight."

Hardy asked for a bout with Lytle because he knew he was going to bring a fight. Lytle has six Fight of the Night bonuses under his belt, and knows he can count on Lytle to bring a fight.

"Just the vibe I get off of him, I know he's coming for a fight, and that's all I really want. A fight. A good fight."

He was in a jovial mood for most of the interview, but turned serious when discussing the rioting that has swept over his home country.

"I think it's opportunistic crime. There's some discrepancy over what happened with Mark Duggan, who was shot by the police. People are saying it was unfair that he got shot, other people are saying that he was a drug dealer with a gun. The protests that followed that turned a little bit violent, then it swept across the country, people started thinking, 'I want a new TV and a pair of Nikes.' "

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UFC 134: Predictions for Knockout, Submission and Fight of the Night

The UFC hits Rio for the first time since 1998 this Saturday, and they are bringing a stacked card headlined by pound-for-pound star and current UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva.

He takes on Yushin Okami in a rematch of a fight they had five years ago. Okami won the fight by disqualification after Silva used an illegal kick that knocked him out.

The co-main event will also be a rematch featuring former UFC light heavyweight champions Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and Forrest Griffin.

Griffin defeated Rua at UFC 76 when he submitted the Brazilian fighter in the third round.

Other main card bouts include Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Brendan Schaub, Edson Barboza vs. Ross Pearson and Stanislav Nedkov vs. Luiz Cane.

Preliminary fights can be seen on Facebook and Spike TV.

The following are my predictions for knockout, submission and fight of the night.

 

Fight of the Night: Brendan Schaub vs. Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira

The lone heavyweight bout on the card brings a legend and an up-and-comer together to determine which one is worthy of being a top 10 heavyweight.

Former UFC interim heavyweight champion Nogueira hasn't fought in over 15 months since losing to Cain Velasquez at UFC 110.

Schaub is coming off four wins in a row, including victories over Mirko "Cro Cop" Flipovic and Gabriel Gonzaga.

Both like to finish their opponents and that often makes for a great fight if it goes the distance, which I think it will. Nogueira is susceptible to being knocked down and recovering fast enough to lock on a submission at any point in the fight.

Schaub could find himself on the receiving end of some exciting scrambles on the ground if he gets a little too over zealous for the finish.

Even if this fight doesn't go the distance, I think it goes long enough to win the fight of the night bonus.

 

Submission of the Night: Raphael Assuncao

Former WEC and UFC featherweight fighter Raphael Assuncao makes the move down to bantamweight to take on Johnny Eduardo in a preliminary bout.

Eduardo is a 15-year veteran of the sport and brings a 25-8 record to the Octagon. He has 13 submission victories to his credit, but he also has seven submission losses as well.

Assuncao is 16-4 with a 0-1 record inside the UFC. He was blasted away inside the first round of his UFC debut in March. It was his third loss out of his last four fights and warranted a move down to the 135 pound division.

As a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt, Assuncao has claimed nine victories by submission, most of which came earlier in his career. He holds a win over Joe Lauzon by submission.

Assuncao knows he needs an impressive victory in this fight. If he comes out strong and gets his opponent to the mat, he should be able to wear him down for a submission victory in the second or third round.

 

Knockout of the Night: Anderson Silva

Most people know the story of the first fight. Okami won by disqualification after Silva used an illegal up-kick to knock him out. It happened quickly in the bout so it's hard to draw any conclusion as to how this fight will go down.

Okami is one of the more successful middleweights in the division and has been for a long time. He likes to counter-punch and use his wrestling to control the fight and win a decision.

Okami is probably one of the harder fighters to finish, but Vitor Belfort is also a very hard fighter to finish, and Silva put him away with one front-kick to the face.

It's that kind of unexpected ending that makes it hard to pick against Silva in a fight where all the breakdown in the world essentially cannot predict what is going to actually take place.

With Silva being in front of his hometown crowd, there shouldn't be any playing around this time. Sometimes, it's a worst case scenario for fans when Silva meets a counter-puncher, but "The Spider" knows what he has to do to get his opponent out of there.

It probably won't come early, but expect to see Silva get the knockout sometime within the five-round distance to successfully defend his title and continue to build his legacy.

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FOX and UFC announce official partnership; Four UFC fight cards on FOX and 32 live fight nights on FX each year

This was the day Dana White dreamed about from the beginning. The UFC president's brainchild has finally reached a big deal with network television.

Joined by FOX Sports Media Group Chairman David Hill and FOX Sports President Eric Shanks, White along with UFC owner Lorenzo Fertitta announced a seven-year agreement between the fight promotion and the television network during a Los Angeles press conference.

Beginning on Nov. 12, FOX will air four major UFC fight cards each year. The UFC's reality show "The Ultimate Fighter" will be moving from Spike to FX. The format will change from a taped show to airing live fights each Friday night.

During the two seasons each year, FX will air every "Ultimate Fighter" fight live. There will also be six UFC Fight Nights each year on FX.

"We will own Friday nights," said Shanks. "There will be 32 total fight nights each year on FX.

Hill credited super agent Ari Emmanuel (the real life Ari Gold from HBO's "Entourage") with pushing the for the UFC on FOX behind the scenes and Fertitta/White convinced him over the years.

"There's no yesterday in TV. TV is about the next big thing. We first started talking 10 years ago. Lorenzo said something then. He said what boxing was to my generation is what UFC will be and is to the next generation," said Hill. "TV can't make a sport. The people have to speak. What Dana, Frank and Lorenzo have done is taken a little niche sport, and in 10 years have made it into a mainstream sport. The key was recognizing what the people wanted. It's the ultimate democratic thing."

Before the press conference, Spike, the home of the first 13 TUFs and the final season this fall, made this statement:

"'The Ultimate Fighter' Season 14 in September will be our last. We are increasing our commitment to distinctive, original series that we own such as "Auction Hunters" and "Bar Rescue" which are delivering on our goal to reach a broader audience,"� said Spike's VP of Communications David Schwarz. "Our 6-year partnership with the UFC has been incredibly beneficial in building both our brands, and we wish them all the best in the future."

The UFC will also have programming on FUEL. When asked about discussion for a UFC channel Fertitta it might be a little too soon for the fight promotion to run a network.

Fertitta, along with his brother Frank, bought the struggling promotion back in 2001 for just two million dollars. The company struggled through 2005 and was nearly put on the block for sale. Multiple reports claim the new deal with FOX is worth $90 million a year.

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Poll results: Who wins UFC Fight Night 25 headliner between Shields and Ellenberger?

The UFC returns to Louisiana in September for UFC Fight Night 25, and a key welterweight matchup between Jake Shields and Jake Ellenberger headlines the card.

Shields is hoping to earn a second crack at the UFC welterweight title, while Ellenberger is hoping to prove his legitimacy as a contender with a signature win.

In our latest MMAjunkie.com/"Inside MMA" poll, and the results were revealed on Friday's new episode of HDNet's weekly MMA news show, and it was fairly one-sided.

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Victor Ortiz isn't intimidated by the moment

When Victor Ortiz might have been forgiven for feeling at his lowest ebb, not long after his stoppage defeat to Marcos Maidana, he found himself being consoled and encouraged by one of his fellow fighters: Floyd Mayweather Jr.

"That was the first time I encountered him," Ortiz told ESPN.com on Monday as he prepared for a two-city press tour to officially announce his Sept. 17 contest against that same Floyd Mayweather. "I didn't think he knew who I was. But he said some very nice things to me. He...

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XFC 14 heads to HDNet with Scott Barrett vs. Chase Gormley headliner

The popular Florida-based XFC promotion returns to HDNet on Oct. 21 for a live broadcast of XFC 14.

The event features a heavyweight headliner between fast-rising Scott Barrett and former UFC fighter Chase Gormley.

XFC 14 takes place at UCF Arena in Orlando, Fla., on the campus of University of Central Florida.

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Middleweight Upcoming Fights

With Joe Rogan out, Kenny Florian joins Saturday's UFC 134 broadcast team

UFC featherweight contender Kenny Florian has joined the broadcast team for Saturday's UFC 134 pay-per-view event.

He's filling in for color commentator Joe Rogan, who's taping NBC's soon-to-release "Fear Factor" reboot as the show's host.

Florian, who's previously handled such duties, joins play-by-play man Mike Goldberg at UFC 134.

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Phil Baroni Insists He Has More Left in Tank

Filed under: News

Heading into his 28th pro fight, and just one win over the .500 mark, Phil Baroni admits he's given serious thought to hanging up the gloves.

But the famed "New York Bad Ass" said just when he thinks he's ready to be out of the sport, it pulls him back in.

Baroni told host Ariel Helwani on Monday's edition of "The MMA Hour" that ahead of his fight against Yoshiyuki Yoshida at One FC next month in Singapore, he's excited again.

"Every time I start camp and I'm out of shape, I think I'm done," Baroni said. "I want to get the hell out of here. Once I start getting in shape and my body starts feeling good, I want to do it as long as I can. When you see guys like (Dan) Henderson - it's motivating to see guys at 40 looking as good as he looks."

Baroni (14-13) returned to the UFC in late 2009 for the first time since UFC 51 in February 2005. He lost to Amir Sadollah in his first fight back. And after some time at Tiger Muay Thai in Thailand, and a decision to return to middleweight, he booked a fight with Brad Tavares at UFC 125 in January. But Taveres landed a big knee in the first round and finished Baroni with strikes, giving the New Yorker a three-fight skid and an exit from the UFC with a 13-13 career record.

It didn't take Baroni long to get back on the horse, though. At a March Titan FC show in Kansas City, Baroni grinded out a decision win over Nick Nolte - a fight he said was hard on him because of injuries.

"Going into that fight, I was a little beat up," Baroni said. "The fight was rough. I had some broken ribs, and I just had to get through that fight. it wasn't so much a great win. It was a relief to get a W. I didn't win that fight with an exclamation point. It wasn't a good fight. No one said, 'Let's sign this guy up.'"

But though Baroni said he had considered retirement, it might have been an easier choice had he lost to Nolte - especially because no major promotion would have been clamoring to put him on a card.

"You're done when you give up," Baroni said. "I would've been a really bad position for me (if I lost). I was really hurting in there, but I did what I had to do to get the win."

Baroni has never put together an MMA winning streak longer than three fights, but he's had three losing streaks of three fights or more. He won his UFC debut at UFC 30 against Curtis Stout, then lost to Matt Lindland at UFC 34. But after consecutive UFC wins over Amar Suloev and Dave Menne, he dropped four straight in the promotion to Lindland, Evan Tanner twice and Pete Sell, Baroni was cut from the promotion.

Baroni regrouped in Pride, going 4-2 in Japan before returning to the United States to fight Frank Shamrock for the Strikeforce middleweight belt. But a he was choked out by Shamrock, setting off a three-fight skid.

With a return to Asia for the Yoshida fight, Baroni said his first fight outside the U.S. in more than three years, as well as One FC's use of a combination of unified MMA and Pride rules, bodes well for him.

"I'm a road warrior - I'm excited to go overseas and fight," Baroni said. "There's a big diff between Singapore and Japan, but I wanted to fight in the show. I'm in no man's land right now (in my career). Pride rules ... knees on the ground ... (no holds barred) - I think it's good. It's my style."

Baroni has regrouped with the American Kickboxing Academy team in San Jose, Calif., for the bulk of his training for Yoshida. He said AKA's style of hard sparring three times a week helps him be prepared for a fighter the likes of Yoshida (12-6), who also recently snapped a three-fight skid with a win in France after going a combined 2-4 in the UFC and Bellator between 2008-2010.

"His deal in UFC, he choked out War Machine (Jon Koppenhaver), which is no easy task," Baroni said. "He got knocked out by (Josh) Koscheck, and Koscheck is top five in the world. He's going to come to fight and try to prove everyone wrong, and that's going to be his demise - I'm going to knock him out."

Baroni and Yoshida fight at One FC: Champion vs. Champion on Sept. 3.

 

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Antonio Nogueira's Homophobic Remarks Are Disappointing to Hear

Noggy.  Nogs.  Nogster. What’s going on buddy?

I am not going to come down on Antonio Nogueira for his silly homophobic remarks. I am sure the politically correct internet thugs have already taken him to task for saying he wouldn’t want to grapple with a gay fighter in a recent interview for UOL Esporte.

I’ll just say that I am disappointed in the lovable Gargoyle. I don’t think there was any malice behind what he said, so ultimately who cares. But it brings up some interesting issues regarding homosexuals in the UFC. I’ll get back to that in a minute.

A few years ago I was a groomsman in the wedding of two of my best friends. Standing up for the bride was one of her closest friends, who happens to be a gay man. I am not sure what the correct term would be; I guess maybe Bridesman. 

Anyway, being the only one on the groom’s side, who wasn’t a raging homophobe, I was asked to walk with the "Bridesman" down the aisle. It was no big deal. He’s a friend too, and it’s not like we were going to have to slow dance afterward (although we might have, I had a lot of tequila that night).

The jokes came, and I took them.  I even laughed at most of them. It really wasn’t that bad. I felt worse for the "Bridesman," who had to forever be immortalized walking next to my chubby ass in matching khaki pants and ruffled white pirate shirts (it was a beach wedding).

So we did the "Man-March," and everything was fine. No one laughed and it wasn't at all humiliating.

It is absolutely ridiculous to think that in the modern world it would go any other way.

This brings me back to Nogueira. He was quoted as saying to UOL Sports (translated from Portuguese): "I have no prejudice against the gays, but I wouldn't train with someone who's gay. I have no malice, I don't take our physical contact as (something) sexual. But what if the gay person has that malice of having physical contact with me, of staying there grappling?”

I have to say, this made me giggle.

First of all, whenever someone puts “the” in front of the group they are talking about it is a bad sign. Try doing it without sounding homophobic or racist, it can’t be done. I’ll give him a break on that one though, since it is a translation.

Second, the idea that some gay student is lurking in the shadows of Noggy’s gym, just waiting for a chance to rub up against Noguiera is pretty funny. Nogs, not to be cruel, but there are no worries, none at all.

No one is going to try to “stay there grappling,” although god knows there is probably a website out there as we speak dedicated to all things Nog. (Resisting urge to Google “Nog Porn”)…

Third, what makes you think you haven’t grappled with a gay fighter already? How would you know? It is not like the guy is going to enter the gym to “It’s Raining Men” while wearing a pink singlet and feathered boa.

Dana White already addressed this issue two years ago, according to MMA Fighting, and said the right thing, that it would be no big deal for there to be an openly gay fighter in the UFC. 

I tend to agree with him. Having played sports in a very racist city, I can say that all of that stuff vanishes when you are competing against someone in athletics. 

I saw profound and idiotic off-the-field racists grow to respect the guys they were playing against, and this seemed to carry over into their lives. Having close contact with another group of people makes you realize the one truth that goes beyond everything else, which is that we are all just humans.

So maybe it is time for Nogueira to grapple with a gay fighter. Maybe he should grapple the remaining living members of the Village People in a vat of Jell-O while John Waters films the whole thing and releases it as a campy romantic comedy.

Maybe if he did Nogs would come to the same simple realization as the knucklehead racists on my high school football team. 

If not, at least learn not to make these kinds of bonehead remarks in the press, otherwise you open yourself up for smart-asses like me to talk about your steely glare. The way you look deep into your opponent's eyes during a full mount.  Your strong, yet yielding rear naked choke.

So ciao for now Antonio “Stay there grappling” Nogueira, I hope none of your opponents whisper sweet nothings in your cauliflower ear.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

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UFC 134: Anderson Silva vs. Yushin Okami and the Chael Sonnen Factor

UFC 134 is headlined by middleweight champion Anderson "The Spider" Silva (28-4 MMA, 13-0 UFC) defending against Yushin "Okami" Thunder (26-5 MMA, 10-2 UFC), who previously fought in January 2006.

Okami picked up the victory courtesy of a Silva upkick which landed while both men were fighting for position on the ground.

Nonetheless, the kick is illegal and it ultimately cost Silva the fight at Rumble on the Rock 8.

Since that fight took place, Silva has had his hand raised 14 consecutive times, 13 of which have taken place in the UFC.

Silva's undefeated since entering the UFC, but his toughest test came against Chael Sonnen, who landed 320 total strikes in dominating Silva for 23 minutes of action.

With the fight coming to a completion with Sonnen clearly ahead on the scorecards, Silva pulled off a "hail mary" submission to retain the title.

Okami has been victorious in 10 of 12 fights inside the Octagon with losses coming at the hands of current light-heavyweight Rich Franklin and middleweight contender Chael Sonnen.

While Okami was able to find some success in his fight with Franklin, he was completely unable to do so against Sonnen at UFC 104.

Sonnen's elite wrestling proved far superior and Okami was forced to return to the drawing board, which soon included his former foe.

With that being said, both Silva and Okami have faced Sonnen with each fighter taking different paths after the fights.

Anderson clearly isn't fan of Sonnen and the feeling's mutual, but Okami on the other hand decided to seek out the former U.S. Olympic wrestling team alternate in hopes of taking his game to the next level.

Since joining Sonnen at Team Quest, Okami is 3-0 with notable victories over Mark Munoz and Nate Marquardt.

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Boxer criticises London 2012 organisers for allowing McDonald's to open huge outlet in the Olympic Park.

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Miller vs. Palhares to UFC 134's Spike TV card, Thiago vs. Mitchell to Facebook

One fight has been promoted to the Spike TV card for Saturday's UFC 134 card, and one bout has been demoted to the night's Facebook stream.

The preliminary-card switch puts middleweights Dan Miller and Rousimar Palhares on Spike TV's "UFC Prelims" special, and welterweights Paulo Thiago vs. David Mitchell now head to the web stream.

UFC officials recently swapped their spots on the Brazilian card.

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He may have lost, but @titoortiz now holds the all-time UFC record for fight time

Tito Ortiz lost his fight against Rashad Evans at UFC 133, but he managed to set an important record in the process. Ortiz has now fought four hours, 42 minutes, 38 seconds, which sets the all-time UFC record for most time spent in the Octagon. Ortiz surpasses Randy Couture and BJ Penn to jump into the #1 slot. The top five in all-time UFC fight time are now:

1. Tito Ortiz - 4:42:38

2. Randy Couture - 4:41:50

3. BJ Penn - 4:33:51

4. Georges St-Pierre - 4:13:12

5. Matt Hughes - 3:38:13

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