MMAcca

Reports surfaced on Sunday that Griffin had suffered a jaw injury and that was the reason for his hasty exit, but MMAWeekly.com was able to confirm with representatives from Zinkin Entertainment, Griffin's management group, that he is physically fine following the Saturday night fight. Griffin suffered no broken jaw and he is physically okay, said the Zinkin representative, but emotionally he is definitely not dealing well with the loss. LINK

According to MMAJunkie, Don Frye has been replaced as headliner for M-1 Breakthrough: "M-1 Breakthrough" will now feature a main event between previously scheduled headliner "King" Mo Lawal and replacement fighter Mark Kerr. King Mo (4-0) was originally scheduled to face Don Frye at the main event of M-1 "Breakthrough" but an injury forced him to pull out. Frye will be replaced by 40-year-old, PRIDE and UFC veteran, Mark Kerr (15-10). Kerr will be the more experienced fighter, but he has lost his last four fights, including nine of the past eleven fights dating back to the year 2000. Hoping to add more star power to the event, officials added an exhibition match between Fedor Emelianenko and Gegard Mousasi: LINK

You're probably asking yourself: who the hell is Marv Marinovich? If you watched the UFC 101 Countdown show leading up to the event, you've probably noticed that he's BJ Penn's new strength and conditioning coach. Most notably, Penn's brother and manager, JD Penn, stated during the show that a lot of people told him that Marinovich may not be the right guy because he's notorious for potentially over-training athletes. But as we saw on Saturday night, Marv Marinovich may have been BJ's secret weapon in creating a well-conditioned and in-shape monster at 155 pounds. As you may have guessed it, Marinovich comes from a long line of "hard asses". In an article by Esquire magazine, it's mentioned that family lore reveals that Marv's father, J.G. Marinovich, was a Russian general that oversaw the battlefield amputation of his own arm. Marv, himself, was an ultra-successful football athlete as he was a part of the 1958 national junior-college championship in which his college, Santa Monica City College, went undefeated. He transferred to USC and played as a two-way lineman, both offensive and defensive. He was the captain of the football team, helping USC win the 1962 national championship. He was subsequently ejected from the 1963 Rose Bowl for fighting, but was voted as the Most Inspirational Player by his teammates. Marv was later drafted into the NFL by the L.A. Rams and by the Oakland Raiders in the AFL. In typical Marinovich fashion, Marv pushed himself to the absolute limit to prepare for the pros. Here's an excerpt on that training: Marv "ran, lifted, pushed the envelope to the nth degree" in order to prepare for the pros. One exercise, he says: eleven-hundred-pound squats, with the bar full of forty-five-pound plates, with hundred-pound dumbbells chained and hanging on the ends because he couldn't get any more plates to fit. "And then I would rep out," he recalls. "I hadn't yet figured out that speed and flexibility were more important than weight and bulk. I overtrained so intensely that I never recovered." Eleven hundred pounds... just let that soak in for a second. Marv admitted that he over-trained himself to physically hurting his career permanently, and after the NFL and AFL stints, he produced his own training guides that molded Eastern Bloc (Think former USSR countries) techniques into new and experimental techniques for athletes. He went from a man who relied on bulk and strength to a man who relied on speed and flexibility in an athlete, something B.J. Penn already possesses. So, why would people state that Marv Marinovich might be a bit crazy in his methods? His son, Todd Marinovich, was one of the most promising young quarterbacks to come into the NFL. He has a ridiculous history of unbelievable high school and college records which dwarf those of many successful NFL athletes. Of course, this all came due to the grooming by his father. Star-divide Marv was criticized by many national media outlets due to the "test tube" nature in which Todd was brought up to be this "super athlete". He never tasted a Big Mac or an Oreo, only ate unprocessed foods, took his own sugarless cake and ice cream to birthday parties, and only consumed beef that wasn't treated with hormones. Marv pushed Todd into physical training when he was just one month old by stretching his tiny limbs for him and creating games for the small infant to lift things. Todd went on to be a fantastic football player, but in 1993, all the accomplishments he had acquired throughout his career had went down the drain. Alcohol and drug abuse were everywhere in his life, and his third positive test with the NFL ended his career with the Raiders. He tried to make a comeback in the CFL with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, but subsequently blew out his knee in his return. Todd moved to Mexico, played in a band called "Scurvy" that almost got a record deal, but one of the lead band members got busted for heroin... ruining their chances. Todd had become a full-blown addict himself due to his relationship with the band. More stints within the CFL and Arena Football league, but eventually Todd left the game for heroin. Todd still had a legacy for toughness though: Throughout his career, Todd would be known for his extraordinary focus and will — qualities that would both enable and doom him. Two years from now, the left-hander would lead a fourth-quarter rally with a broken thumb on his throwing hand. Five years from now, he would throw four college touchdowns with a fractured left wrist. Sixteen years from now, he'd throw ten touchdowns in one game, tying an Arena Football League record, while suffering from acute heroin withdrawal. Note: He threw those ten touchdowns after actually defecating in his pants before the game due to the heroin withdrawals, changing, and then coming back out with the same withdrawal problems. A lot of people blame Marv for the series of events that occured. For the most part, it's perceived that Marv's standards drove his son to drugs and alcohol, but the intensity in which Todd moved from one drug to the other is always a debate. Regardless of Todd's past, people will always look at Marv as the potential driving force to his son's destruction. It'll always be a debate as to whether it actually has some validity or not. Professionally, Marv is one of the best strength and conditioning coaches in the business. A lot of talk revolves around Todd's career going down the tubes, but you can't deny Marv's program. Ask Troy Polamalu. Marv has changed Polamalu's entire game due to the Steelers approving his alternative training program with Marinovich. And now: B.J. Penn. We could see a whole new host of super athletes in MMA, and Marv Marinovich might be on the forefront of those opportunities. It's interesting that Marv's training involving speed and flexibility hasn't been used extensively for use in MMA. It surely will now though. Check out Marv's Lab, Sport Science Lab. LINK

It is quickly approaching a year since Patrick Cote injured his knee in a failed attempt to capture the UFC middleweight belt from current champion Anderson Silva. And it is starting to look like it may approach a year-and-a-half before the Canadian is able to fight again. Cote on Monday informed MMAWeekly.com that, despite his best efforts, his “MCL is busted.” He will remain out of commission until next year. “My ACL is good, but my MCL is busted,” he stated. “So I have to go under surgery again.” Cote said that he will go in for surgery on Wednesday, and that a likely return to the Octagon is a long ways off. “Not before February or March, for sure.” LINK

A welterweight title fight between Nick Diaz and Jay Hieron at Strikeforce “Carano vs. Cyborg” is the latest casualty in a long line of changes to the Aug. 15 card. The bout came into question on Friday when Diaz missed a pre-fight drug test mandated by the California State Athletic Commission. Bill Douglas, Assistant Executive Officer of CSAC, on Saturday informed MMAWeekly.com that Diaz had not been licensed and the situation would be “a challenging process.” On Monday, Diaz’s manager, Cesar Gracie, said his fighter had an informal agreement with former CSAC executive officer Armando Garcia that precluded random drug testing. Diaz, a resident of Stockton, Calif., currently holds a medical marijuana license under the state’s Compassionate Use Act of 1996 and Medical Marijuana Program Act. Garcia departed the agency last November. LINK

MAIN EVENT FIGHTERS -Brian Bowles $18,000 (includes $9,000 win bonus) def. Miguel Torres $25,000 (win bonus would have been $26,000) *Bowles also received a $10,000 bonus for Knockout of the Night MAIN CARD FIGHTERS -Dominick Cruz $14,000 (includes $7,000 win bonus) def. Joseph Benavidez $12,500 (win bonus would have been $12,500) *Cruz and Benavidez also received a $10,000 bonus each for Fight of the Night -Danny Castillo $14,000 (includes $7,000 win bonus) def. Ricardo Lamas $4,000 (win bonus would have been $4,000) -Takeya Mizugaki $12,000 (includes $6,000 win bonus) def. Jeff Curran $8,000 (win bonus would have been $8,000) -Leonard Garcia $24,000 (includes $12,000 win bonus) def. Jameel Massouh $3,000 (win bonus would have been $3,000) PRELIMINARY CARD FIGHTERS -Cole Province $6,000 (includes $3,000 win bonus) def. Fredson Paixao $2,000 (win bonus would have been $2,000) -Shane Roller $20,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus) def. Marcus Hicks $8,000 (win bonus would have been $8,000) -Ed Ratcliff $14,000 (includes $7,000 win bonus) def. Phil Cardella $3,000 (win bonus would have been $3,000) -Rani Yahya $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus) def. John Hosman $3,000 (win bonus would have been $2,000) *Yahya also received a $10,000 bonus for Submission of the Night -Diego Nunes $8,000 (includes $4,000 win bonus) def. Rafael Dias $4,000 (win bonus would have been $4,000) -L.C. Davis $10,000 (includes $5,000 win bonus) def. Javier Vazquez $6,000 (win bonus would have been $6,000) WEC 42 DISCLOSED FIGHTER PAYROLL: $234,500 WEC 42 POST-FIGHT AWARDS AND BONUSES (A $10,000 bonus was awarded per fighter per award.) Knockout of the Night: -Brian Bowles Fight of the Night: -Dominick Cruz vs. Joseph Benavidez Submission of the Night: -Rani Yahya LINK

Spike TV on Monday announced a new weekly mixed martial arts series. “Best of Pride Fighting Championships” will premier on Sunday, Jan. 11, at 11 p.m. ET/PT, featuring bouts from the now defunct fighting organization owned by Zuffa, LLC, the parent company of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Word of the series first came to light when UFC President Dana White mentioned it at his Fight Club Q&A session at UFC 101 on Friday. Hosted by Kenda Perez, the series features past and present UFC champions among the legendary MMA combatants that includes Chuck Liddell, Anderson Silva, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Dan Henderson, Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic, Wanderlei Silva, Fedor Emelianenko, Josh Barnett, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, Mark Coleman, Frank Trigg, Hidehiko Yoshida, Akihro Gono, and Takanoro Gomi. “As the destination for the best mixed martial arts on television, Spike TV is always looking for ways to give fight fans more of the incredible action and competition they crave,” said Kevin Kay, president, Spike TV. Pride held more than 60 mixed martial arts events during a decade of operation including the largest live MMA event audience record of o LINK

Heading into Sunday night there was no question that Miguel Torres was the top bantamweight in the world, and possibly one of the best pound-for-pound fighters on the planet, but top contender Brian Bowles decided that it was time for the champion's streak to end, as he blasted his way to a first round TKO win to claim the 135-pound divisional title at WEC 42. It was apparent in the early going that Bowles respected Torres, but that he wasn't planning on backing down. He clipped the champion with a big punch that sent him backwards against the cage, as the two winged shots at each other in the opening minutes. Bowles tried to work a ground attack, but Torres used his jiu-jitsu skills to keep his opponent's power at bay, working his way out and back up to the feet. With both fighters throwing heavy leather, it was Torres who caught Bowles with a shot and as he came in with a flurry of punches, Bowles shifted gears and caught Torres with a short right hook that sent him crashing to the mat. "He had me rattled there pretty bad. I kind of recovered. I seen him coming in real hard, and I just swung a good hook," Bowles said about the shot that led to the end of the fight. "Hit him right on the jaw." As Torres dropped, Bowles instinctively jumped in with a barrage of punches, including a right hand that seemed to daze the champion, followed by a hard left that put Torres out for good. LINK

Anderson is a beast. And still the best P4P by far.

BJ via run-through.......

Edith Labelle's days as a UFC ring girl are apparently over. In a bit of not-so-major news on the eve of Saturday's "UFC 101: Declaration" event in Philadelphia, Labelle's manager, James Leinhos, confirmed to AOL FanHouse that his client no longer works for the UFC. Her spot has been filled by new UFC ring girl Natasha Wicks, who won the gig during a contest last month at UFC 100. Wicks joins regular cageside eye candy Arianny Celeste and Logan Stanton at this weekend's event, which takes place at the Wachovia Center and airs on pay-per-view. Leinhos would not confirm whether Labelle quit or was fired from the gig. The Canadian-based model was noticeably absent from UFC 100 even though she was part of the UFC Fan Expo and fighter weigh-ins just 24 hours prior to fight night. Labelle's profile has since been removed from the UFC's official website. Labelle debuted with the UFC in late 2007 at UFC 78. For a sneak peak of the UFC's new ring girl, check out the Natasha Wicks gallery at UFC.com. LINK

American Top Team fighter Wilson Gouveia (12-6 MMA, 6-3 UFC) has suffered a back injury that has forced him to withdraw from the preliminary card of the Aug. 29 event "UFC 102: Couture vs. Nogueira." MMANews.com first reported Gouveia's withdrawal, and MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) has since confirmed the injury with sources close to the event. Gouveia's injury comes on the heels of the Brazilian's original opponent, James Irvin, also withdrawing from the event due to injury. Ed Herman had been tapped as a replacement for Irvin, leaving Dan Miller to fill in for "Short Fuse" against Aaron Simpson at UFC Fight Night 19 on Sept. 16. It is currently unknown how Gouveia's injury will affect the recently shuffled matchups. LINK

So, when Saturday night's "UFC 101: Declaration" main card kicks off, who's dealing with the most pressure? Is it "The Ultimate Fighter 7" winner Amir Sadollah (1-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC), fighting for just the second time in his professional career? Or is it WEC-import Johny Hendricks (5-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC), making his organizational debut in front of a raucous Philadelphia crowd? Former collegiate wrestling champion Hendricks recently told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio) that answer is easy. "I look at it as a great opportunity," Hendricks said of the fight. "That's the UFC's pride and joy right there. If I come in here and I lose, hey, I lost to their 'TUF 7' winner. It's supposed to happen. I go in there and I beat him, hey, now they're going to look at me and say, 'Hey, OK. Maybe we should put some time and effort into this guy.'" Though it will be his third fight for Zuffa, having earned a 2-0 record in the WEC before that organization's welterweight division was dissolved, Saturday's contest will be Hendricks' first in the UFC. But it will also be Sadollah's first since his June 2008 'TUF 7' win. LINK

According to Mauinews.com: "Grove has spent the last few weeks recovering from a rib injury." "'Minors,'' Grove said of the injury. ''It hurts like hell, but by the time the fight comes, I should be good. I'm getting older, I guess. I figure I have a good five solid years left in me to fight. Over the years I've matured as a person, as a fighter. Yeah, if you put someone in front of me, I'll fight them, but the UFC isn't everything to me anymore. There's more.'" LINK

According to multiple "tweets" that I've come across in which MMAWeekly is talking to Dana White and MMAFanhouse, White stated that the promotion is currently "talking about that right now" in regards to a potential merger between the UFC and the WEC: MMAWeekly.com WOW >> Dana on possibly merging UFC & WEC: "We're talking about that right now" This once again brings up the interesting discussion revolving around a potential merger between the WEC and UFC. Many fans have talked about it in the past as being a great possibility because of the unbelievable fights that have occurred in the WEC, but without the huge exposure that the UFC offers via their television deal with Spike and their PPV popularity. Versus isn't exactly a channel that gives the WEC a lot of exposure, and most post-fight interviews a week or so after a WEC event feature quotes from fighters complaining about their pay in relation to the poor exposure. LINK

“His intensity seemed forced, and he seemed a little small,” said the challenger from Dover, Mass. “I am ready to go five five-minute rounds, and we will see tomorrow night if he is ready too.” The season one alumnus of The Ultimate Fighter truly believes he will walk out of the Octagon with the lightweight championship belt around his waist. His preparation complete, Florian is content that he has done everything in his power to be ready for Penn (13-5-1) in what will be the biggest fight of his career. “I sacrificed a lot more than B.J.,” said Florian after the weigh-in. “BJ may have done a lot to get ready for this fight, but I doubt he did more than me. I have dotted all my I’s and crossed all my T’s, I am ready to go.” LINK

Fedor talks to Dave Meltzer: "From my viewpoint, the UFC does not have the proper attitude toward fighters," Emelianenko said. "They do not consider fighters to be normal people, human beings. My feeling is the attitude of UFC toward fighters is not the correct one. And I don’t like their policy, which appears to be a really bold one. They offered one thing, and then on the Internet, the number published was something different. The offer we got from them was really miserable." LINK

UFC President Dana White on Thursday, as has become tradition, held court after the pre-fight press conference to deliver his “State of the UFC” address amongst a bevy of reporters that flocked around. He addressed the success of UFC 100, a milestone for the promotion. “No doubt about it, UFC 100 took us to a whole nother level. There was so much buzz and energy around that fight, and not just here but all over the world; that was big.” White also re-assured that UFC 100 did more than 1.5 million pay-per-view buys – he never reveals absolute numbers – saying that he is in talks with Mandalay Bay and a base-jump instructor, so that he can live up to his promise to base-jump off of the Las Vegas casino due to surpassing the record-setting buy mark. Of course he addressed expanding further into Canada, “We’re definitely going to Vancouver (in 2010),” and affirmed that they are “very close” to getting Australia done. But the meat of White’s time with the press was spent discussing Affliction, Strikeforce, M-1 Global, and the near miss on Fedor Emelianenko. LINK

Strikeforce on Friday announced that it is going back-to-back with Cyborg headlined events. While Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos faces Gina Carano in the main event on Aug. 15, her husband, Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos, will square off against Tim Kennedy in a Sept. 25 headliner. Cyborg vs. Kennedy tops the bill when Strikeforce stops at the SpiritBank Event Center in Tulsa, Okla. The event is the next Strikeforce Challengers event. It will air live on Showtime. “I think we’re both pretty explosive fighters and we both show up to fight. We both like to throw some big bombs so it’s a good matchup,” said the 29-year-old Kennedy, who recently accepted an offer to serve in the Texas National Guard after spending six years in The United States Army, the last three as a sniper in the Seventh Special Forces Group. In his last start, a June 19 matchup with Nick “The Goat” Thompson at ShoWare Center in Kent, Wash., Kennedy turned out a dominant performance, stopping Thompson on the ground with an onslaught of punches in the second round (2:37) of action. The 31-year-old Cyborg is looking to turn his fortunes around after suffering two straight defeats, the last of which was to Joey Villasenor by way of split decision in the main event of the June 19 STRIKEFORCE Challengers event. LINK

Wolfslair co-owner, Anthony McGann told us tonight: “In another first by the Wolfslair gym and UK MMA, we are proud to announce we have done a major, major merchandising deal with TapouT and products will be available globally in the coming weeks. Check out TapouT.com in the coming days for more details.” In addition to a T-shirt range, the first of which can be seen here, TapouT are set to produce hoodies baring the gym’s logo. Watch this space for more on details as we have it. LINK

Fresh on the heels of today’s announcement that Jake Shields will be fighting this Fall for the Strikeforce interim middleweight championship, Graciemag.com is reporting that Ronaldo Souza has been added to the 185-pound roster with a — you guessed it — Fall 2009 debut. “Jacare” is perhaps best known (outside of his ridiculous jits) for his battles with Jason Miller over in DREAM. He outpointed “Mayhem” back in 2008 and their rematch was ruled a ‘no contest’ after Souza was split open with a kick that officials deemed illegal. No word yet on what will happen to their planned third tilt scheduled for DREAM 11 in light of this recent news. LINK

I agree man.

Sergio Non takes a stab at answering the question, "is Fedor ducking the best competition by not signing with the UFC?": The USA TODAY/SB Nation consensus rankings appear to support the criticism. After Emelianenko at No. 1, five of the next six heavyweights work for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. (The exception happens to be the guy whose steroid testing result led to the current state of affairs). But don't sell Strikeforce's roster short. The second-biggest U.S. promotion lacks anyone with the hype of UFC champion Brock Lesnar, but the top of its heavyweight roster presents formidable options: 1. Brett Rogers. No. 8 in the consensus rankings. 2. Alistair Overeem. No. 10 in the rankings. 3. Fabricio Werdum. No. 14 in the rankings. 4. Paul Buentello. No. 24 in the rankings. Then Sergio runs through the UFC roster: ...consider what UFC has to offer for credible competition over the next year or so, other than Lesnar and Frank Mir: * Randy Couture. A 46-year-old. A very tough, very skilled 46-year-old, to be sure, but each day brings him closer to qualifying for an AARP membership. * Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Already lost to Emelianenko twice. * Cain Velasquez. Has all of six fights. * Junior Dos Santos. At 8-1, his record is thinner than Rogers' or Carwin's. * Shane Carwin. His 11-0 record is comparable to Rogers' 10-0 resume -- if you remove Rogers' win over a former UFC champion. Either way, Emelianenko faces a paucity of exciting, big-name challenges. Little wonder that his choice came down to building his business instead. In contrast, here's Kevin Iole's take on the Strikeforce heavies: • Emelianenko-Overeem: ...You can’t rule a guy with Overeem’s power, strength and grappling skills out, but Emelianenko is far more gifted and would defeat Overeem in the first round. • Emelianenko-Rogers: ...Rogers could win if he could hit Emelianenko with a wild shot, but the more likely scenario is that the fight gets to the ground and Emelianenko submits Rogers early. • Emelianenko-Buentello: Buentello isn’t close to having the kind of all-around game to defeat “The Last Emperor.” • Emelianenko-Werdum: Werdum has a good all-around game, but you never know what you will get from him. He has good jiu-jitsu and judo and his stoppage of Gabriel Gonzaga proves he has the power. But he looked horrific in a loss to Arlovski in 2007 and was blown out by Junior Dos Santos last year. Jake Rossen piles on: Setting aside interdivisional fights with Anderson Silva or Lyoto Machida -- which would be lots of fun for spectators -- the UFC really has only three upper-tier heavyweights with the skills to potentially give Emelianenko a hard time: Lesnar, Shane Carwin and Cain Velasquez. Three. Strikeforce can match the ante with Alistair Overeem, Brett Rogers and some kind of wild-card entrant: Bobby Lashley, Blagoi Ivanov, perhaps even Josh Barnett. The notion that Strikeforce employs air-conditioning repairmen and the UFC enlists only Olympic-caliber athletes is pushing the envelope; I'd almost sooner see Emelianenko go on a free-agent tear for a year or two before settling in with the UFC, considering that the promotion's asphyxiating contracts invite retirement at their conclusions. LINK

"James Irvin has suffered another massive setback, this time with a knee injury. He will obviously not be able to face Wilson Gouveia at UFC 102." "Irvin is expected to undergo reconstructive surgery sometime in the next few days, and is also expected to miss 6-10 months." LINK