UFC 125 Weigh-In Results

Saturday, January 1, 2011

By FCF Staff

Here are the official weigh-in results for tonigh'ts UFC 125 card in Las Vegas, Nevada, which will see lightweight champion Frankie Edgar face challenger Gray Maynard.







Main Event – UFC Lightweight Championship

Frankie Edgar (155) vs Gray Maynard (155)

Chris Leben (186) vs Brian Stann (186)
Nate Diaz (170) vs Dong Hyun Kim (171)
Clay Guida (156) vs Takanori Gomi (155)
Thiago Silva (206) vs Brandon Vera (205)
Jeremy Stephens (156) vs Marcus Davis (156)
Josh Grispi (146) vs Dustin Poirier (145)
Phil Baroni (186) vs Brad Tavares(185)
Mike Brown (146) vs Diego Nunes (146)
Daniel Roberts (171) vs Greg Soto (171)
Antonio McKee (156) vs Jacob Volkmann (156)

READ MORE - UFC 125 Weigh-In Results

New FCF Radio with Clay Guida

On this episode of Full Contact Fighter Radio, host Jeff "Wombat" Meszaros and co-host James Kellaris share their thoughts on "UFC 125: Resolution" where lightweight champion Frankie "The Answer" Edgar takes on Gray "The Bully" Maynard in a rematch with a title on the line.  Will Edgar get his revenge on the only man to hand him a loss?  Will Maynard repeat his performance and take the title? Listen and hear what we think, then stick around as we run down the rest of the card.  Will Chris "The Crippler" Leben knock out Brian Stann?  Will "The All American" defeat the UFC poster boy?  What about Brandon Vera?  Will "The Truth" out-strike Thiago Silva?  What about Clay Guida vs. Takanori Gomi?  Can "The Carpenter" douse the flame of "The Fireball Kid"?   Listen in to hear us answer these questions and more, as well as share a rousing holiday message regarding fresh chickens and drunk driving.  Then, stick around as Clay Guida joins the show to talk about his thoughts on Gomi and the rest of the card, as well as his plans for the future.  Ho ho holy crap, what a show.
READ MORE - New FCF Radio with Clay Guida

Video: M-1 Global Best of 2010: #1 Damkovsky vs. Taisumov

Friday, December 31, 2010

By FCF Staff, photo courtesy M-1 Global

As the year comes to a close, M-1 Global has announced that the October 28th lightweight bout between Artiom Damkovsky (pictured) and Mairbek Taisumov, has been named the promotion's best in 2010. The fight, which took place in St. Petersburg, Russia, was to determine the M-1 Challenge lightweight champ.



READ MORE - Video: M-1 Global Best of 2010: #1 Damkovsky vs. Taisumov

Takaya Outscores Fernandes; Overeem Destroys Duffee


By FCF Staff

It may not have been the kind of highlight reel victory Hiroyuki Takaya was looking for, but the Japanese fighter avenged his previous split decision loss to Bibiano Fernandes today in Saitama, Japan, earning a unanimous decision win to claim the Dream Featherweight Championship.

Both men were somewhat tentative on their feet early on, and when Fernandes was able to take Takaya to the mat, the resilient vet managed to work his way out from the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu champ. As the bout wore on Takaya stepped up his pursuit of Fernandes, and although neither man was able to land any fight ending strikes, Takaya was the busier of the two and landed more often.

In the third and final frame, a seemingly frustrated Fernandes elected to pull guard, but Takaya steered clear of any submission attempts and landed punches from above. In the end, all three judges scored the bout in Takaya’s favour, sending a visibly upset Fernandes to his corner.

Alistair Overeem added the exclamation mark to what has already been a successful 2010 campaign, as the recent K-1 Grand Prix winner need just 19 seconds to KO UFC vet Todd Duffee. As expected, both men came out firing on their feet, but Overeem quickly wobbled the America heavyweight by landing an overhand right to the temple. A follow up left hook from the Strikeforce champion sent Duffee crashing into the ropes and the bout was called to a halt, handing Overeem Dream’s interim heavyweight belt.

Tatsuya Kawajiri demonstrated that he remains a significant presence in the lightweight division, following a quick submission loss to Shinya Aoki this summer, as “Crusher” turned to his controlling top game to defeat former Strikeforce champ Josh Thomson.

Kawajiri looked to take the fight to the mat from the opening bell, and although Thomson fought to keep the fight standing, the powerful lightweight consistently swept the American to the mat. From there, Kawajiri was able to outscore a resilient Thomson throughout much of the fight, passing into full mount on a couple of occasions and threatening with submissions.

Although Thomson managed to land several telling strikes with a late, third round flurry, it was too little, too late and Kawajiri was awarded the UD win.

The welterweight title fight between Dream champ Marius Zaromskis and aging Japanese star Kazushi Sakuraba came to a gruesome end, as Sakuraba’s right ear was partially torn from his head, quickly ending the bout.

A flat footed Sakuraba looked to trade punches with the noted striker as the bout started, and it wasn’t long before Zaromskis had split open Sakuraba’s badly cauliflowered right ear. After doctors gave the Japanese veteran the okay to continue, the fight ending injury incurred moments later, as Sakuraba tore his ear while attempting to take Zaromskis to the mat.

Although Shinya Aoki managed to survive a round of kickboxing with accomplished K-1 competitor Yuichiro Nagashima, the Dream champion was viciously knocked out seconds into the MMA round of their mixed rules bout.

During the opening round, which was governed by K-1 rules, Aoki did everything in his power to waste time and avoid trading with Nagashima by constantly clinching or attempting futile dropkicks. As the MMA round began Aoki immediately shot in on Nagashima, but the telegraphed takedown was met with a well time right knee, which instantly knocked out the submission artist.

Former UFC welterweight Jason High earned his third win in a row, by working to a split decision over notable veteran Hayato Sakurai. While High likely controlled more of the bout through his wrestling and top game, Sakurai appeared to be within a strike or two of ending the fight in the final frame, after stunning the American with a knee.

Rising Japanese star Satoshi Ishii utilized his Olympic Gold Medalist judo skills to grind out a unanimous decision win over renowned kickboxer Jerome Le Banner. Ishii closed the distance and set up many of his takedowns with well time strikes on his feet, and although he dominated the French heavyweight on the ground, Le Banner battled on and fought out of several Kimura attempts.

Dream Dynamite 2010 Results

Hiroyuki Takaya def. Bibiano Fernandes via unanimous decision
Tatsuya Kawajiri def. Josh Thomson via unanimous decision
Jason High def. Hayato "Mach" Sakurai via split decision
Marius Zaromskis def. Kazushi Sakuraba via TKO (doctor's stoppage) - R1, 2:16
Satoshi Ishii def. Jerome Le Banner via unanimous decision
Alistair Overeem def. Todd Duffee via knockout (punches) - R1, 0:19
Yuichiro Nagashima def. Shinya Aoki via knockout (knee) - R2, 0:04
Sergei Kharitonov def. Tatsuya Mizuno via TKO (strikes) - R1, 1:25
Hiroshi Izumi def. Ikuhisa "Minowaman" Minowa via TKO (punches) - R3, 2:50
Hideo Tokoro def. Kazuhisa Watanabe via submission (armbar) - R3, 2:02
Kazuyuki Miyata def. Caol Uno via unanimous decision
Andy Ologun def. Katsuaki Furuki via unanimous decision

Mixed K-1 / MMA Rules Match
Yuichiro Nagashima def. Shinya Aoki via knockout (knee) - R2, 0:04

K-1 Rules
Tetsuya Yamato and Akiyo "Wicky" Nishiura fight to a majority draw (30-30, 30-29 Yamato, 30-30)
Gegard Mousasi def. Kyotaro Fujimoto via unanimous decision (30-28, 29-28, 29-28)
READ MORE - Takaya Outscores Fernandes; Overeem Destroys Duffee

Video: M-1 Global Best of 2010: #2 Sarnavskiy vs. Kuku

Thursday, December 30, 2010


By FCF Staff, photo courtesy M-1 Global

Coming in as the second best bout to take place under the M-1 Global banner in 2010, is a bout between Alexander Sarnavskiy and Victor Kuku, which took place October 28th in St. Petersburg, Russia. (Pictured: Sarnavskiy landing a spinning backfist to Kuku)

READ MORE - Video: M-1 Global Best of 2010: #2 Sarnavskiy vs. Kuku

Robbie Lawler Signs Multi-Fight Extension with Strikeforce


By FCF Staff

Just days removed from announcing that it has resigned welterweight champion Nick Diaz to a new, multi-fight contract, Strikeforce confirmed today that it has done the same with middleweight contender Robbie Lawler. No details of Lawler’s contract were given, other than to describe the extension as a “multi-year agreement.” (Pictured: Lawler knocking out Matt Lindland on December 4th)

“Strikeforce has treated me good and I am happy to re-sign with them,” Lawler was quoted saying in a press release from the promotion. “They have given me an opportunity to fight for the title and I’m looking forward to that and to fighting any and all of the top 185-pounders.’’

Lawler (18-6) went 2-1 in 2010, as the powerful slugger scored highlight reel knockouts over Melvin Manhoef and most recently Matt Lindland, but lost by unanimous decision to Renato “Babalu” Sobral in the summer.

The UFC vet is 7-2, with 1 no contest, in his last ten fights; Lawler’s only other loss during that stretch came against Jake Shields last June, who submitted him with a first round guillotine choke. Lawler has also earned stoppage wins over Murilo Rua, Scott Smith, Frank Trigg and Joey Villasenor during that time frame.

Up next, at Strikeforce’s upcoming January 29th event in San Jose, Lawler will challenge current Strikeforce middleweight champ Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza. The event will also feature welterweight champion Nick Diaz taking on Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos and will be broadcast live on Showtime.

READ MORE - Robbie Lawler Signs Multi-Fight Extension with Strikeforce

Liddell Officially Retired, Named VP of Business Development

Wednesday, December 29, 2010


By FCF Staff

After months of speculation as to whether UFC Hall of Famer and former champion Chuck Liddell would finally retire, “The Iceman” announced today at the UFC 125 pre-fight presser in Las Vegas that he’s hanging up the gloves. The 41 year-old legend will remain as an employee of the UFC, however, as Liddell has been named Vice President of Business Development.

An emotional Liddell called it quits today on a career that saw the former collegiate wrestler not only become one of mixed-martial-arts biggest stars, but one of the sport’s first athletes to become a mainstream, household name.

The feared striker’s rise into MMA superstardom began approximately five, six years ago when after stopping Tito Ortiz at UFC 47, he went on to avenge a previous 2003 loss to Randy Couture, by knocking out the renowned fighter in 2005 and 2006.

Liddell defended the UFC light-heavyweight championship four times before he was knocked out by Quinton “Rampage” Jackson at UFC 71 in May, 2007. Aside from a memorable decision win over Wanderlei Silva at UFC 79 in December that same year, Liddell’s career never got back on track, as the former champion lost three consecutive bouts following the win over Silva.

After being stopped by current light-heavyweight champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in April, 2009, following a KO loss to Rashad Evans in September, 2008, UFC President Dana White called for Liddell to retire. After taking some time off to assess his career, Liddell returned at UFC 115 this past June, but was knocked out by Rich Franklin.

During Liddell’s decade plus career, the renowned fighter also earned victories over notable fighters like Kevin Randleman, Vitor Belfort, Alistair Overeem, Renato Sobral (twice), Jeremy Horn and Murilo Bustamante.


READ MORE - Liddell Officially Retired, Named VP of Business Development

Video: M-1 Global Best of 2010: #3 Jeffries vs. Geurin

By FCF Staff, photo courtesy M-1 Global

M-1 Global has announced that the September 18th middleweight tilt between Mike Geurin and Tyson Jeffries, has been named as the promotion's third best bout for 2010. The fight, which took place in Atlantic City, was to determine the winner of the M-1 Selection Americas middleweight tournament.



READ MORE - Video: M-1 Global Best of 2010: #3 Jeffries vs. Geurin

Menjivar Taking Training and Career to New Levels in 2011

By Kelsey Mowatt

Fighting for just the second time since 2006, Ivan Menjivar showed little signs of any cage rust during his thrilling WEC 53 bout with Brad Pickett earlier this month, but in the end, the “Pride of El Salvador” fell short, losing by unanimous decision to the highly regarded British vet. It wasn’t exactly the way Menjivar planned on having his WEC debut go down, of course, but the 21-8 fighter is happy that the fight created a serious buzz.

“I’m happy and I think Brad is the same,” Menjivar told FCF. “We were each prepared to have a good fight and we give it. I prepared hard and I was ready for all three rounds. I think I made some good moves in the fight and I tried to win. I wanted to show my techniques, make the fans happy, and I wanted people to remember Menjivar’s fight. That was the first time they might have seen me. So I’m happy people loved my style.”

While Menjivar certainly made an impact in his WEC debut, and likely entrenched his return to the Octagon in 2011, the fight demonstrated to the Montreal fighter that he still has plenty of work to do.

“For the result I’m sad,” said Menjivar. “It was a good fight yes, but I’m unhappy because I made mistakes. I didn’t study my opponent. After my first back fist I realized that ‘oh, he studied my fight.’ I saw that he had studied my style. That was one error for me.”

“I have to work a lot for my family,” Menjivar added, who is also employed as a full time airport security officer. “I didn’t train my wrestling like before; I need to do more wrestling. So I learned I need to spend more time studying my opponent and I need to do more wrestling. I need to be more like Georges (St. Pierre), who prepares for each opponent.”

Veteran observers of Canadian MMA have long been familiar with Ivan Menjivar; after turning pro in 2001, the El Salvador native had soon made a name for himself on the Canadian circuit, before battling his way to international organizations like the UFC and K-1 Hero’s. It was a different era in the sport; however, as often the 5’6 tall fighter was forced to face much bigger competition, with little financial reward. Having a family to support, Menjivar left pro MMA in 2006, after dropping back-to-back decision losses to Caol Uno and Bart Palaszewski.

“It is too hard to say ‘no I can’t fight,” said Menjivar, when asked why he returned to fighting this past summer, when he submitted Aaron Miller at W-1’s fifth card. “I’m only 28 and it’s too fun to prepare for the fight. I’m addicted; it’s so fun. Also, my kids are a bit older now, so my wife said ‘ok, you can go fight.’ The sport has grown up so fast, so I wish I can make money doing this, and I hope I can be a real professional and live off fighting. I think the sport has given me another chance; I think I can go and make a good career.”

Menjivar will now turn his attention to 2011, and after having a successful performance debuting at 135lbs. versus Pickett, the Tri Star fighter hopes to compete next in the UFC bantamweight division.

“Now that the WEC has gone to the UFC, we don’t know when the next fight for me will be,” Menjivar said while discussing his immediate future. “I think I have a good chance to continue fighting for them. I think they might want to introduce me as part of the bantamweight category in Canada. Toronto is going to have a show so I hope they might put me there for a fight.”

With the landscape of MMA having completely changed since Menjivar was facing the likes of Matt Serra and Vitor Ribeiro approximately five years ago, the veteran has a new outlook on the sport he’s dedicated much of his life to.

“I think I can be a good challenger for the UFC now, I can be prepared well,” said Menjivar. “I need more sponsors so I can train like a real professional, but after my first fight after three years, I realized I’m ready to come back to fighting. I realize I need to be more professional; I need more time to train, prepare and rest. I think it’s possible for me to get back to the top ten fighters in the world.”


                                            









READ MORE - Menjivar Taking Training and Career to New Levels in 2011

Nick Diaz Signs “Multi-Year” Extension with Strikeforce

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

By FCF Staff

Strikeforce has announced this afternoon that it has signed welterweight champion Nick Diaz, to what the promotion has described as a “new, multi-year agreement.” No specific terms of the contract extension were given.

“I’m looking forward to continuing my career with Strikeforce,” the 27-year-old fighter and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt was quoted saying in a press release from the promotion.  “When I first got here, there weren’t a lot of great 170 pound fighters for me to fight, but that’s definitely changed. There’s a lot of really good fighters in the division now and I’m ready to fight anyone who thinks they can beat me.”

Since signing with Strikeforce in 2009, Diaz (23-7) has continued to impress, extending his winning streak to eight and laying claim to the organization’s welterweight title. In 2010, Diaz went 3-0, defeating both Japanese star Hayato Sakurai and Dream champion Marius Zaromskis in the first round, before scoring a unanimous decision win over KJ Noons in October.

In his first two Strikeforce appearances last year, Diaz stopped Frank Shamrock and submitted Scott Smith in April and June respectively.

The outspoken and highly regarded fighter has lost just once since 2006; in November, 2007, Diaz was retired by ringside physicians due to cuts he incurred while facing the aforementioned Noons.

Diaz is scheduled to defend his Strikeforce title against Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos on January 29th in San Jose, California.
READ MORE - Nick Diaz Signs “Multi-Year” Extension with Strikeforce

UFC 125 Prelims to Air on ION

By FCF Staff

The Ultimate Fighting Championship has announced that three preliminary bouts from the promotion’s upcoming, January 1st, “Resolution” card will be broadcast live on ION Television. According to a statement on the official UFC website, the three bouts that will be shown include middleweight Brad Tavares vs. Phil Baroni, Marcus Davis (pictured) vs. lightweight Jeremy Stephens and featherweight Josh Grispi vs. Dustin Poirier.

The prelim broadcast will begin at 8:55PM ET/ 5:55PT, approximately one hour before the card’s pay-per-view, which will be headlined by a lightweight title fight between champion Frankie Edgar and challenger Gray Maynard.

Spike TV had been broadcasting an hour of lead in, preliminary action for many of the previous UFC pay-per-views. Today’s announcement did not state as to whether the ION network, which is reportedly in 100 million U.S. households, will now serve as a regular broadcaster for UFC preliminary bouts.
READ MORE - UFC 125 Prelims to Air on ION

Video: M-1 Global Best of 2010: #4 Vasilevski vs. Narkun

By FCF Staff, photo courtesy M-1 Global

M-1 Global has announced that the December 10th, light-heavyweight championship bout between  Vyacheslav Vasilevski (pictured) and Tomasz Narkun, is the fourth best bout to take place under the promotion's banner in 2010. The fight took place in Moscow, Russia.



READ MORE - Video: M-1 Global Best of 2010: #4 Vasilevski vs. Narkun

MFC Signs Undefeated Tyrone Glover


By FCF Staff, photo courtesy Maximum Fighting Championship

The Maximum Fighting Championship has announced that it has signed undefeated lightweight Tyrone Glover to a four fight contract. The 31 year-old-fighter could make his promotional debut at MFC 28 in February; however, no date has been set.

“From a performance standpoint, this is the perfect time for me,” Glover (5-0) was quoted saying in a press release from the promotion. “I wanted to get involved with a good promotion and I’ve done that by coming to the MFC.”

“And I have the resources now for my training and my support system. Having those two things means I can come into the MFC and establish myself in the lightweight division and be a force to be reckoned with.”

Glover recently returned to fighting,  after taking a five year hiatus from the sport to pursue his law degree, and submitted Nick Buschman at a Fight to Win event in November. Glover’s last bout prior had taken place in September, 2005, when he worked his way to a majority decision win over UFC vet Din Thomas at Deep 20.

“I think my talents lie in my well-rounded game plan,” added Glover, who began his own legal practice.

“I think I’ve got the tools to put a guy down and I’ve got the tools to stand with him. It may not be my pedigree like wrestling is, but I’m confident I can use my stand up. My real strength is being able to put together a cohesive MMA game plan that I can use to beat anybody.”

READ MORE - MFC Signs Undefeated Tyrone Glover

Video: M-1 Global Best of 2010: #5 Byrd vs. Vizcaya

Monday, December 27, 2010

By FCF Staff, photo courtesy M-1 Global

M-1 Global has announced that a light-heavyweight showdown between Byron Byrd and Daniel Vizcaya, is number five on the promotion's list of top ten bouts for 2010. The tilt took place on September 18th in Atlantic City, and was part of the M-1 Selection Americas Tournament.

READ MORE - Video: M-1 Global Best of 2010: #5 Byrd vs. Vizcaya

Hornbuckle Out, Okuno to Face Chonan at “Soul of Fight”


By FCF Staff

Just days removed from World Victory Road’s December 30th “Sengoku: Soul of Fight” card in Tokyo, Japan, the promotion has announced that Taisuke Okuno, and not Dan Hornbuckle, will face Ryo Chonan at the day long martial arts festival. According to a post on Chonan’s Twitter account, Hornbuckle was forced to withdraw from the bout due to influenza. (Pictured: Hornbuckle (left))

Okuno (10-5-2) last competed at Sengoku 15 in October and lost by unanimous decision to Yasubey Enomoto. The loss ended Okuno’s four fight undefeated streak, which included wins over Nick Thompson and Hidehiko Hasegawa.

Chonan (18-11) is coming off a stoppage win over Jun Hee Mon at Deep 50 in October, after being knocked out by Jung Hwan Cha at Astra’s “Yoshida’s Farewell” card in April. The UFC vet is 3-2 in his last five fights.

Some of the other bouts scheduled for “Soul of Fight” included a featherweight title fight between champion Marlon Sandro and challenger Hatsu Hioki, Kazuo Miskai vs Mike Seal, Masanori Kanehara vs. Yoshiro Maeda, Akitoshi Tamura vs. Taiyo Nakahara, Mamed Khalidov vs. Yuki Sasaki, Dave Herman vs. Yoshiro Nakao and Yasubey Enomoto vs. Kitaro Nakamura.

The card will be broadcast throughout North America later in January on HDNet.
READ MORE - Hornbuckle Out, Okuno to Face Chonan at “Soul of Fight”

Video: M-1 Global Best of 2010: #6 Vasilevski vs. Guzev

Sunday, December 26, 2010

By FCF Staff, photo courtesy M-1 Global

M-1 Global continues to announce the promotion's best bouts for 2010; coming in at number six is a light-heavyweight tilt between Vyacheslav Vasilevski amd Sergey Guzev, which went down April 10th, in Kiev, Ukraine.

READ MORE - Video: M-1 Global Best of 2010: #6 Vasilevski vs. Guzev

Video: M-1 Global Best of 2010: #7 Fioravanti vs. Guseinov

 By FCF Staff, photo courtesy M-1 Global

Fight number seven on M-1 Global's best of 2010 countdown is a middleweight bout between UFC vet Luigi Fioravanti and Arthur Guseinov, which took place December 10th, in Moscow, Russia.






READ MORE - Video: M-1 Global Best of 2010: #7 Fioravanti vs. Guseinov

Video: M-1 Global Best of 2010: #8 Sultanakhmedov vs. Kusch


By FCF Staff, photo courtesy M-1 Global

Check out video below of a middleweight tilt between Magomed Sultanakhmedov and Pavel Kusch, which took place February 26th in St. Petersburg, Russia. M-1 Global has announced that the fight was the eighth best to take place under the promotion's banner in 2010.




READ MORE - Video: M-1 Global Best of 2010: #8 Sultanakhmedov vs. Kusch