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The News - Mixed Martial Arts |
Written by Adam Samons |
Thursday, 19 June 2008 |
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You may remember that Chris Leben had to miss his scheduled fight with Michael Bisping at UFC 85 after turning himself in for a violation of probation. If you're like me and wonder what life would be like for a professional fighter behind bars we now have our answer. Yesterday Leben sat down with MMAWeekly.com and discussed his time in jail.
"You’d think that being a professional fighter might paint a target on his back, but Leben encountered more curiosity from his fellow inmates than anything else. They wanted him to show them some moves. Happy to oblige, he once demonstrated a choke on an inmate while 20 others watched.
“I told the guys it’s a blood choke, so you don’t have to squeeze hard,” he said. “So I was just kind of choking him with one arm while he’s standing up. And I told him just tap when you start to feel like you’re going to pass out. Well, he didn’t tap, and at the time I’m going wow, this guy’s pretty tough, I’m surprised he hasn’t tapped yet. He just drops to the floor in the cell.
“Now I’m standing there with 20 prisoners around and they’re freaking out. This guy’s laying there, snoring like crazy. I’m like ‘it’s all right, it’s all right,’ then I realize they have cameras in here. I’ve just choked this guy out in jail – I could get in trouble for this. I kept telling them, ‘he’s fine, he’s fine,’ and it took this guy a minute to wake up. Finally he woke up and we had a laugh, and luckily I didn’t get in any trouble for it. That was beginning and the ending of my inmate coaching career.”
Perhaps this is what separates my mindset from the mindset of a pro fighter. If I'm ever in jail, surounded by inmates of all sorts, the last thing I would do is train them on how to be even more dangerous to me.  Comments (2) | Views: 453 | Read more...
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The News - Mixed Martial Arts |
Written by Marshall Bowen |
Thursday, 19 June 2008 |
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Looks like yet again, MMA will not be coming to New York any time soon. The Tourism and Sports Development Department of the state yet again shot down a bill that would have potentially help to legalize MMA in the state, placing the bill for review in the near future. MMAonTap.com is reporting.
Those who opposed legalizing the sport claimed that since cockfighting and dog fighting were both illegal than MMA should as well. Yet again dragging MMA down to little more than human cockfighting. It was also reported that a public forum will likely be held later this year so that all who which to speak, either for or against the matter may do so.
Even if the bill had gone through today it still would have had to have gone through a longer series of additional floor, including the New York State Legislature and governor's office.
The sport will more than likely have to wait another year before it has the opportunity to be legalized in New York. Comments (2) | Views: 387 | Read more... |
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The News - Mixed Martial Arts |
Written by Adam Samons |
Wednesday, 18 June 2008 |
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When Dana White said over a week ago that he would make a huge announcement that would impact the future of the UFC speculation began to run wild over the internet. Everything from Floyd Wayweather joining the UFC, to a partnership with Vince McMahon, to the sale of the company was guessed. Today the cat was finally let out of the bag when it was announced that Lorenzo Fertitta would be stepping down from his position as President of Station Casinos to help Dana White run the UFC on a day to day basis. Kevin Iole’s article at Yahoo Sports
has the all the details.
While this news might not be as Earth shattering as some of the speculation that preceded it I think over time it could be an important day in UFC history. White has faced a lot of criticism over the years about not being able to seal the deal on agreements with big name corporate partners. Some examples of this would be the “on again, off again” HBO deal from last year and the fact that the UFC still has yet to find a network television deal they find suitable. White deserves a ton of credit for bringing the UFC and mixed martial arts from the outer fringes of sports to the brink of mainstream acceptance, but having Lorenzo around to soften Dana’s rough edges in the boardroom may be quite helpful.
Comments (1) | Views: 484 | Read more... |
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The News - Mixed Martial Arts |
Written by Adam Samons |
Wednesday, 18 June 2008 |
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In an apparent attempt to stifle pay per view buys for Affliction’s July 19th card MMARated.com
is reporting that the UFC will be airing Ultimate Fight Night 14 that same night and it will be headlined by Anderson Silva’s debut in the 205 pound division against James Irvin.
Since news of the event broke earlier today FiveOuncesOfPain.com has gotten word of three more fights rumored to be on the card: Brandon Vera will drop down to 205 pounds to take on Reese Andy
, Anthony Johnson will fight Kevin Burns
, and in a surprising return “The Human Blanket” Jake O’Brien will take on Cain Velasquez.
Putting Anderson Silva’s 205 debut up against Affliction: Banned is a great business move by the UFC. With no real television promotion and now a UFC card on free TV Affliction may find pay per view buys hard to come by.
As for the rumored undercard fights, I’m interested to see how Vera will look at 205 pounds. In his fight against Fabricio Werdum at UFC 85 I thought it was clear that Vera was at a pretty big disadvantage because of the weight he was giving up in the heavyweight division. It probably even played a role in the fight's stoppage since Vera couldn’t find his way out of Werdum’s mount.
Beyond the Vera fight I’m pretty mystified as to why the UFC would bring back Jake O’Brien after cutting him 2 months ago. Perhaps it indicates that this card was put together in a little bit of a hurry. Whatever the reason for his return I hope O'Brien has found a way to make his fight style a little more exciting over the last 2 months.
Comments (1) | Views: 455 | Read more... |
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The News - Mixed Martial Arts |
Written by Adam Samons |
Monday, 16 June 2008 |
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Today the UFC sent out a promotional email announcing that they would be going to Atlanta for the first time on September 6th, 2008 with a card headlined by Chuck Liddell v. Rashad Evans. This matchup was originally planned for UFC 85 but had to be pulled because of a leg injury suffered by Liddell.
If you live in Atlanta, or suddenly want to do a road trip for UFC 88, tickets go on sale for UFC Fight Club members Wednesday at 10:00 am, UFC Newsletter subscribers can buy them on Friday at 10:00 am, and tickets go on sale to the general public on Saturday at noon.
Comments (2) | Views: 556 | Read more... |
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