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Not too long ago, Mark Coleman headlined UFC 109 facing Randy Couture. Several days later, he’s apparently no longer good enough to remain in the UFC at all. On Wednesday, following a lopsided loss to Couture the UFC released Coleman from his contract and cut the veteran heavyweight. Coleman is now free to sign with any other promotion, but at 46 years of age his most likely-and most advisable-course of action is retirement. Retirement is a tough thing for any pro athlete to swallow, however, and fighters in particular have had difficulty in ending their career gracefully.

Coleman became the first UFC fighter to be cut immediately after headlining a PPV event. Others have left due to drug test failures or for other opportunities, but none have ever been cut from their contract. Sources close to the UFC suggest that it was a decision no one wanted to make, but that all felt was unavoidable due to Coleman’s age and deteriorating skills. On the other hand, its interesting that the UFC sees fit to keep any number of other aging fighters with deteriorating skills on the payroll but not a Hall of Famer in Coleman.

While the fact that Coleman is a shell of the fighter he was at his prime, the UFC’s suggestion that they have his best interest at heart is somewhat duplicitous. He was kept around and booked into last Saturday’s fight-a fight that no one particularly had any interest in seeing in the first place-simply because he was a fighter that Randy Couture could beat. Were the UFC interested in the well being of their aging fighters there’s several others on the roster that should also be cut for the same justification as Coleman. Couture, Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell are all well past their prime but they’re still under contract and will all likely fight again.

Coleman’s age has never been a secret and his diminished skill level was evident to anyone who has watched his recent fights. If the UFC was really interested in his physical well being, the main event against Couture should have never taken place. The fight itself wasn’t exactly one that UFC fans had been clamoring for and one that met with derision from the MMA media from the time it was announced.

While retirement would be in Coleman’s best interest, he may attempt to fight in a smaller US promotion or in Japan where he’s well known from his time in PRIDE. He’s already a member of the UFC Hall of Fame with a 26-10 career record and has fought the best in the world including Fedor Emelianenko, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Mirko Cro Cop.

Ross Everett is a widely published freelance sports writer and respected authority on baseball betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sportsbooks and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and a kangaroo. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.

The worlds best heavyweight mixed martial artist has a new American promotional home. Following Afflictions announcement that they were ending MMA promotional activities, Fedor Emelianenko quickly became the fight world’s most sought after free agent. After rebuffing the UFC’s offer–citing restrictive contractual arrangements–’The Last Emperor’ has signed a multi-fight deal with Strikeforce. Terms of the arrangement were not made public, but Fedor will make his debut for Strikeforce this October.

Strikeforce agreed to give Fedor a non-exclusive contract, which allows him to compete simultaneously in Japan and elsewhere. Furthermore, they agreed to co-promote events with M-1 Global. M-1 Global is owned by Fedors manager Vadim Finkelchtein and the fighter also has an equity stake. These were the sticking points in Fedors negotiations with the UFC, and with Strikeforce not having an issue with non-exclusivity or co-promotion a deal was quickly brokered.

Fedor expressed his pleasure in comments to the media after the signing was announced:

“I am looking forward to going back to work and fighting at the highest level. STRIKEFORCE is a top fight promotion that houses some of the greatest fighters in the world. I am prepared to fight any of them.”

Emelianenkos manager, Vadim Finkelchtein concurred:

“I am very happy and excited about the upcoming collaboration with Strikeforce. We are very pleased that we found a reliable partner and I feel that Strikeforce and M-1 can support each other on many things. This will create big opportunities for both parties to test their fighters against worthy opponents.”

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker had the following comments:

“We are extremely excited to have the opportunity to work with M-1 Global and Fedor. Fedor has been the reigning king of MMAs heavyweight division for quite some time now so being able to work with M-1 and Fedor will substantially increase the level of competition amongst the athletes in this weight class.”

The UFC’s Dana White quickly responded with an obscenity laced statement suggesting that Fedor was choosing to fight “nobodys” for no money by signing with Strikeforce, but thats simply an attempt to put the best spin possible on it for his sycophants in the media. The reality is that with Fedor’s stake in M-1 Global the financial terms of the deal are likely as favorable with Strikeforce as with the UFC.

More significantly, Strikeforce has much better television exposure at this point than the #1 US MMA promotion. Strikeforce has a relationship with premium cable giant Showtime, as well as CBS TV. The UFC’s only TV exposure is via the ‘Spike’ cable network.

Whites hysterical comments about the quality of opposition simply aren’t true either. Obviously the biggest fight available in the US for Fedor right now would be with UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar, but once you get past him the talent pool in the promotion becomes iffy at best. A fight with Randy Couture would do big business, but there’s no guarantee how much longer The Natural will continue his career. The UFC has a couple of talented fighters with wrestling backgrounds in Cain Velasquez and Shane Carwin, but neither man is ready for a fight against Fedor. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira remains among the best heavyweights in the world, but Fedor has already beaten him three times during their time in the Japanese MMA organization PRIDE.

Strikeforce has several intriguing fights immediately available for Fedor. Heavyweight prospect Brett Rogers, who knocked out Andrei Arlovski in his last fight, is likely first on deck. The Strikeforce heavyweight belt is currently held by Alistair Overeem, whom mutual opponent Mirko Cro Cop suggests is the one man in the sport capable of defeating Fedor. Fabricio Werdum is a talented veteran of the UFC and PRIDE and may figure into the mix some point as well.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and respected authority on football betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sports news and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and an emu. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.

Two titles changed hands at UFC 92, with Rashad Evans defeating Forrest Griffin by TKO to win the light heavyweight title and Frank Mir knocking out Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira to claim the UFC interim heavyweight title.

While nominally taking subordinate status to the Evans/Griffin main event the most shocking result by far was Frank Mir’s second round TKO stoppage of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Nogueira was the overwhelming favorite coming into the fight and had never been stopped inside the distance during a career where hed faced the best of the best:

Mir, meanwhile, had been on the verge of a full time move to the broadcast booth before his victory over WWE superstar turned MMA fighter Brock Lesnar. The conventional wisdom concerning Mir was that hed never fully recovered from a serious motorcycle accident in 2004 and that he was essentially a shot fighter physically, emotionally and psychologically.

When the fight against Brock Lesnar was signed, the perception among most fans was that Mir was a high profile setup for the former WWE champ. The expectation was that after a one-sided loss to Lesnar that Mir would transition into the next phase of his career as a broadcaster.

For the first minute of the fight, it looked like the above scenario was going to play out”Lesnar manhandled Mir from the opening horn, taking him down and landing punishing hammer fists on the ground. That was rendered irrelevant, however, when Lesnar made a rookie mistake and dangled his leg in easy reach of the BJJ blackbelt. Mir locked in a deep knee bar and Lesnar was forced to tap.

There would be no such reprieve against Nogueira, according to many pundits, as he was too experienced and too good of a BJJ player in his own right to give Mir any such opportunities for a fluke submission. Mir entered the UFC 92 fight as a +305 wagering underdog, meaning that oddsmakers and the betting public agreed that he had little chance to prevail in this matchup against a highly experienced veteran that had never been stopped inside the distance.

The fight was certainly one-sided, but it was Mir who was in control throughout. From the opening horn he demonstrated surprisingly sharp striking skills, and knocked Nogueira down twice in the first round. Not expecting a solid standup offense, Nogueira looked downright lost in the later stages of the first round as Mir doubled and tripled up his jab and threw impressive punching combinations to go with low kicks and occasional takedown attempts.

Though Mir appeared in full control of the fight as the second round began, the end would come with startling suddenness and brutality. After a low kick attempt by Nogueira, Mirs counter tagged his opponent and he followed up with a big right hook that sent the Brazilian crashing to the canvas. Herb Dean jumped in to stop the fight almost immediately, awarding Mir an improbable TKO victory at 1:54 seconds of round #2.

In the light heavyweight championship match, Forrest Griffin got off to a good start in his title defense by using his superior height and reach and an impressive array of kicks to keep Rashad Evans just out of range for two full rounds. That changed dramatically in the third, as a flash knockdown by the challenger gave him the opening he needed to mount Griffin and unleash a brutal ground and pound assault. Griffin managed to pull guard and survive for a couple more minutes but it merely delayed the inevitable as Evans ended the fight with another punishing punching attack.

The most highly anticipated match on the undercard also featured a lopsided TKO finish as Quinton Rampage Jackson dominated Wanderlei Silva in the third fight between the two men. It was Jacksons first fight since his well publicized hit and run incident in Orange County, California and he looked very sharp throughout before bringing the contest to a close with a perfectly placed left hook to the cheekbone. Silva immediately collapsed to the canvas and the referee started to step in before he hit the ground.

Ross Everett is a freelance writer and highly respected authority on sports betting odds comparison. He writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sportsbooks and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and a kangaroo. He is currently working on an autobiography of former energy secretary Donald Hodell.

According to the old saying time heals all wounds. In the fight game, money”or the potential of it”has the same curative effect. The latest evidence of this is the announcement that Tito Ortiz has patched things up with Dana White and agreed to a new contract to fight in the UFC. Tito left the promotion over a year ago after an acrimonious split with White, though never found a new promotional home that would give him the money and the high profile status that he craved.

After losing to current light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida in his last UFC appearance, Ortiz left the company and bounced around doing personal appearances and commentary for a variety of promotions. He had surgery on his back in the process, and now claims that hes back to 100%.

Whether or not Ortiz is near his top form as a competitor is of secondary importance to the UFC since his true value has never been questioned”people will pay to see him fight. Ortiz is a fighter that offers no middle ground of public opinion, as people either love him or hate him. That dynamic is box office and PPV gold, a fact not lost on the savvy UFC brass. Dana White evoked the same theme in his comments on Ortiz at a Friday press conference in Las Vegas:

“Tito and I have a history that everyone knows. He’s still a guy that everyone wants to see fight. He said his back has healed perfectly and he’s ready to take a shot at the title. He’s one of those guys that people love and people love to hate. We’ve put all our differences aside, have squashed everything and will move forward, and Tito will retire in the UFC.”

To which Ortiz offered this response:

“Time really cures everything. Dana was a man of his word. Dana apologized to me. We’re like boyfriend and girlfriend.”

Ortiz said that Dana White and UFC co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta came to his home in Huntington Beach, California and made him an offer he couldn’t turn down:

“I’m happy, I’m satisfied, You’ll never hear anything about money again.

Sources suggest that Ortiz could debut on the UFCs New Years card against Mark Coleman. Coleman is coming off a unanimous decision victory over Stephan Bonnar at UFC 100 in mid July.

Though he may be past his prime as a fighter, Tito Ortiz is a star. Some love him, some hate him but people pay to watch him fight. That dynamic is money in the bank to a fight promoter.

Ross Everett is a freelance writer and respected authority on sports betting odds comparison. He writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sportsbooks and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Las Vegas, Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and an emu. He is currently working on an autobiography of former energy secretary Donald Hodell.

Portland, Oregon has long been considered a hotbed of mixed martial arts. The area is home to numerous MMA gyms, the most famous being Gresham’s Team Quest. It has produced many top notch professional fighters including Randy Couture, Matt Lindland, Ed Herman and Ryan Schultz. Regional MMA promotions like Lindland’s SportFight and amateur MMA draws good crowds.

The UFC originally planned to hold an event in Portland last year, but when Randy Couture resigned with the promotion and agreed to fight Brock Lesnar UFC 91 was moved to Las Vegas MGM Grand Garden Arena. The UFC rescheduled their Rose City debut for August 29th, headlined by a matchup between local hero Couture and tough PRIDE vet Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

What they received instead was an outpouring of apathy from the community. As of early this week, there had been as few as 8,500 tickets sold in the 21,000 seat Rose Garden Arena. Even media sources like Yahoo Sports, who invariably put a positive spin on everything the UFC, does are reporting just over 10,000 tickets sold.

Earlier in the week Zuffa announced the postponement of a WEC event scheduled for Youngstown, Ohio. The official reason given was an injury to main event fighter Ben Henderson, and while thats not been confirmed several sources have indicated that he did suffer a minor setback during training. More curiously, the WEC announced that the show would no longer be held in Youngstown despite what they insisted were strong ticket sales. The WEC claimed a scheduling conflict with the site, and the Youngstown arena management played along claiming that the facility was booked for Motorcycle Ice Racing on the rescheduled date in early October.

While Youngstown could have been a bad choice for a MMA event all along, the UFC will probably blame the economy for the poor showing of live ticket sales in Portland. While the high unemployment rate nationally and regionally doesnt help things, it doesnt appear to be a major factor in the UFCs struggles to sell tickets in the Rose City. Many people who self identify as casual or serious fans of the UFC had no idea that an event was being held in Portland at all. The local media hasnt helped either, with Portlands largest newspaper providing little print coverage of UFC 102 claiming that its not a major sport.

Even among fans who *did* know that UFC 102 was coming to Portland, theres no buzz whatsoever. Theres a variety of reasons for this”many fans have suggested that the high ticket prices werent justified by a relatively weak card. With the exception of the main event, there arent any fighters on the UFC 102 card that are exactly household names outside of hardcore MMA circles.

The UFC has a misguided notion that they can simply put their name on an arena marquee and local fans will pay top dollar for tickets regardless of who is fighting on the card or what else is going on that night. The reality has demonstrated otherwise with poor ticket sales in Portland and other markets. While the promotions PPV business is doing fine and is their real source of revenue, the weakness of the demand for their live product outside of a select number of markets should be a source of concern.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and highly respected authority on football betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sportsbooks and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and a kangaroo. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.

It may be a bit of a stretch to call Satoshi Ishii the Michael Phelps of Japan, but not by much. His victory in the heavyweight judo competition at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing was easily the defining moment of the games for his countrymen and was considered by most media outlets the #1 highlight of the year in all of sports. Though Japan does well at the Olympics for a country of its size and has won gold medals in a number of sports, its important to keep in mind that until the late’70s judo was the country’s most popular sport.

Ishii himself is also a marketing dream. Hes especially big by Japanese standards with 240 pounds packed on his bulky 511 frame. Not surprisingly, hes tough as nails and a terror on the mat but away from the gym he comes off like an awkwardly cheerful overgrown boy. He definitely seems younger than his 22 years, but gives off the vibe of a nice neighbor boy who youd gladly pay to mow your lawn. Unlike his telegenic American gold medalist counterpart Phelps, who acts as if he spent as much time working on media relations as his backstroke heading up to the Olympic games, Ishii’s demeanor is of an athlete who literally spent the bulk of his life in a gym only to emerge and find himself a national hero.

With the ability to offer him the most money and exposure, it seemed almost a fait accompli that Ishii would sign with DREAM and K-1 parent group FEG. Obviously its a good idea to keep your options open in negotiations, so he also reportedly talked to Sengoku parent World Victory Road and Antonio Inoki’s Inoki Genome Federation pro wrestling group. As expected, however, FEG reportedly presented Ishii with the most lucrative offer: 500 million yen (roughly $5.5 million US) to fight on DREAM and K-1 cards, with incentive bonuses based on his drawing power and performance. He would very likely become the highest paid mixed martial artist in the world before he’d even stepped into the ring for the first time. The tentative plan was for Ishii to appear on the year end K-1/DREAM Fields Dynamite! joint show, if not fighting at least in a heavily hyped opportunity for FEG to unveil their investment.

Ishii then shocked the Japanese fight sport world by categorically rejecting FEGs offer, saying that it was his lifelong dream to fight in the UFC. While this rationale might sound plausible to a US based fan, its akin to a top college baseball player from a SEC school turning down a big offer from the Atlanta Braves saying that its his lifelong dream to play for the Yomiuri Giants in Japan Central League. It frequently comes a shock to US MMA fans just how low the UFC ranks in the Japan’s fight sport pantheon. In MMA, their profile is lower than DREAM and Sengoku, but even smaller groups like Shooto and DEEP.

Ishii then travelled to Las Vegas for UFC 92, with the Japanese media in tow covering his every move. Upon his return to Japan, he appeared at the Sengoku card in January addressing the audience from the ring and wearing his ubiquitous UFC shirt; his message was that he was going to fight in America for awhile but would eventually return to Japan.

At age 22, Ishiis got plenty of time to develop as a fighter. His biggest downside risk from signing with Zuffa is financial since hed be lucky to get a fraction of what FEG is willing to pay him. The competitive logic of learning his craft slowly notwithstanding, theres a huge risk in automatically assuming that he can fight for the UFC for a few years and then cash a big check when he returns to Japan as the potential of injury and changing market conditions could seriously impact his market value. On the other hand, it could be a risk hes willing to take given that hes got his celebrity both with the mainstream public and in the judo community to fall back on.

Theres another very realistic scenario that it was all a negotiating ploy by Ishii. The UFC was likely willing to play along, figuring that their investment of a few plane tickets and hotel suites would be worth the resulting PR surge in Japan. Ishii and the UFC develop a cordial relationship which could be to the benefit of both parties down the road.

With the recent revelation that Ishii has broken off UFC negotiations to entertain offers from other parties thats starting to look like the plausible explanation for the once hot and heavy courtship between Ishii and Zuffa. Ultimately, the Ishii/UFC affair could simply prove to be a fling that accrued small benefits to each party, but both realized that there was no long term future for the pairing.

As a postscript to the Ishiis relationship with the UFC, it apparently opened the doors for his move to the US where hell be training with the Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas. That alone is a positive for his future development as a fighter, as hell be training with a whos who of professional fighting including the gym’s namesake, Randy Couture. Training at a high level facility like Xtreme Couture among such an abundance of talent is a career move thats difficult to second guess.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and respected authority on sports betting odds comparison. He writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sportsbooks and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Southern Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and a kangaroo. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.

The UFC is of borderline relevance in Japan. This isn’t to disparage the UFC, which has done a great job growing MMA in North America and parts of Europe. It’s an effort to put Dana White’s claims of Zuffa’s inevitable worldwide dominance into perspective. Without traction in the #2 fightsport market in the world, UFC’s hopes for ‘world domination’ are doomed to failure.

Here are the three essential qualities for doing business in Japan, along with an analysis of what they mean to Zuffa’s efforts to build the UFC brand there:

Group Orientation/Collaboration: Japanese businessmen are notorious for sublimating their individual talents and personalities to the greater good of the group. Furthermore, Japanese business places a great emphasis on teamwork and collaboration. For US businesses seeking to enter the market, a certain degree of partnership with existing Japanese firms is almost de rigueur. MMA fans can see the biggest problem Zuffa may face from a mile away–their reticence to enter into co-promotional agreements. While their public disdain for co-promotion was a major sticking point in their negotiations with Fedor Emelianenko, it may very well be a case that they didn’t want to do business with M-1 Global. To a certain extent, its difficult to blame them. On the other hand, the UFC worked with Germany’s largest concert promoter (MLK) to enter that market with a fair degree of success. Even if the UFC didn’t want to go promote with one of the major players in Japanese fight sports, they’d be well advised to seek some sort of a partnership similar to their German initiative to help smooth their way.

Hierarchy: Japanese business and, for that matter, Japanese culture, is almost ridiculously hierarchical. The societal reverence for age, experience and accomplishment in Japan is well known, and that’s often a difficult concept for American companies and businessmen to grasp. One approach for the UFC would be for White to take a back seat in their efforts to promote in Japan in favor of Lorenzo Fertitta–who has much more conventional business experience from his time in the casino industry–and perhaps Marc Ratner, widely respected for his time at the Nevada Athletic Commission.

Respect: Even among seedy elements like fight promoters–and even the underworld–respect in business dealings is essential in Japan. In a typical Japanese business deal, the first few meetings aren’t intended for any substantive decision making to take place. Instead, they’re used for evaluation of your professionalism or, as the Japanese like to put it, to determine your suitability for conducting business with. Considering that Dana Whites first introduction to the PRIDE staff and to the Japanese fight public was a press conference where he made the statement–more in reference to the proposed bouts between UFC and PRIDE fighters than anything else–”We’re going to kick your ass.” At that moment, PRIDE as a promotion died. The people that worked for PRIDE had no interest in helping White profit from the promotion. More significantly, he became little more than a clown to the Japanese public–like “Money From Government Grants” shill Mathew Lesko without the funny suit. To succeed in Japan, the UFC must realize that they’re not considered a major fight promotion in that country. They must understand that they’ve got to win over a skeptical public, but before that they have to win over a skeptical Japanese business community.

Dana White’s fanciful stories about corrupt promoters and Yakzua gangsters out of Quentin Tarantino movies might amuse his sycophants in the MMA media, but countless US companies including fight promotions have done business successfully and profitably in Japan. The UFC might be able to convince the clueless US media that they’re making progress in Japan due to a deal on a low profile TV network or, more recently a big ad campaign on a Japanese social networking site, but they’re currently spinning their wheels and going nowhere. Properly promoting stars like Yoshihiro Akiyama will help, but the only way that Zuffa will be able to become a factor in the worlds #2 MMA market is to do what every other company has done to be successful there–learn how to understand the Japanese approach to doing business, and play by their rules.

Ross Everett is a widely published freelance writer and noted authority on World Cup betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sportsbooks and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and a kangaroo. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.

When golf legend Jack Nicklaus was still a young upstart in the sport and only starting to tear up PGA courses, legend Bobby Jones commented following ‘The Golden Bear’s”65 Masters win that “he plays a game with which I am not familiar”. Following his absolute destruction of Rashad Evans in the main event of UFC 98, there’s likely a few MMA fighters saying the same thing about the new light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida who made it look easy en route to a 2nd round TKO victory.

The fight started slowly, with each man trying to get a feel for his opponent and wait him out to see who blinked first. Late in the first round, Machida went on offense with frightening suddenness, flooring Evans with a nice straight right hand. Evans was able to recover and survive, but it only delayed the inevitable as Machida used another right hand to send his opponent down again. Evans gamely tried to fight back, but a final right hand from the Shotokan Karate master left him out cold.

After the fight UFC announcer Joe Rogan proclaimed the start of the Machida era and this is not just mere hyperbole. Machida is unlike any fighter before him, rooted in mastery of traditional martial arts but with the versatility of a modern MMA competitor. He’s essentially a Mortal Kombat character come to life–in a more realistic cross disciplinary comparison he shares many of the same characteristics as boxing great Floyd Mayweather, Jr. as he combines insane handspeed, underrated stopping power and nearly impenetrable defense into an unorthodox and extremely lethal package.

The comparisons with the insanely talented but equally insanely arrogant Mayweather end when the final bell sounds. Outside of the cage, Machida is a modest and respectful gentleman who is quick to give credit to his father and his karate teachers for his MMA success. He spent most of his UFC 98 postfight interview not singing his own praises, but imploring others to strive to realize their dreams. In the past, his limited English was seen as a potential marketing liability here in the US but on this occasion he demonstrated vastly improved fluency in the language as a Portuguese translator stood by with his hands in his pockets. Almost overnight hes simply become a marketers dream.

An odd trivia note about Machida serves as further repudiation for MMA neophytes who think that the sports kinship with pro wrestling began with Brock Lesnar: Machida was discovered by Japanese wrestling legend Antonio Inoki, and became something of his protege. He trained for some time at the New Japan Pro Wrestling dojo in Tokyo and made his MMA debut on a NJPW card in 2003, defeating Pancrase veteran Kengo Watanabe.

Perhaps the most frightening thing about Machida is that hes only now reaching his full potential as an MMA fighter. In other words, hes only going to get better which is a scary prospect for opponents given the fact that hes never lost in MMA competition. Early in his UFC career he had a reputation as a boring fighter, but in his recent bouts hes shown a downright lethal ability to end fights.

Machida will very likely face Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson in a future light heavyweight title defense and, with all due respect to the PRIDE/UFC veteran, its difficult to see him faring much differently than Evans did. One thing working in ‘Rampage’s’ favor is his greater experience and a resume filled with high level opponents of various fighting styles. Still, everyone comes back to the fundamental reality that no one has ever really seen a fighter quite like Machida before.

In the co-main event of the evening, Matt Hughes defeated Matt Serra by unanimous decision to gain the upperhand in their long running feud. It was a surprisingly entertaining fight, with Serra taking the first round with his power punching before Hughes used his takedown and ground control abilities to win rounds two and three.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and respected authority on soccer betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sportsbooks and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and a kangaroo. He is currently working on an autobiography of former energy secretary Donald Hodell.

categories: UFC,mixed martial arts,sports,recreation,entertainment,hobbies

Fedor Emelianenko will make his debut for the Strikeforce MMA promotion this fall, facing undefeated prospect Brett Grim Rogers. Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker made the announcement at a Showtime promoted Fedor open workout in New York City. The promotion has yet to announce a date or a venue.

Fedor is considered by most experts to be the best heavyweight MMA fighter in the world, if not the best of all time. He snubbed the UFC following Afflictions exit from the MMA promotion business, choosing to sign with the up-and-coming Strikeforce promotion.

After signing with Strikeforce, Fedor gave his usual low key comment:

I am looking forward to going back to work and fighting at the highest level. STRIKEFORCE is a top fight promotion that houses some of the greatest fighters in the world. I am prepared to fight any of them.

Emelianenkos manager, Vadim Finkelchtein commented:

I am very happy and excited about the upcoming collaboration with Strikeforce. We are very pleased that we found a reliable partner and I feel that Strikeforce and M-1 can support each other on many things. This will create big opportunities for both parties to test their fighters against worthy opponents.

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker concurred:

We are extremely excited to have the opportunity to work with M-1 Global and Fedor. Fedor has been the reigning king of MMAs heavyweight division for quite some time now so being able to work with M-1 and Fedor will substantially increase the level of competition amongst the athletes in this weight class.

Fedor will put his 26 fight winning streak on the line against Brett Grim Rogers, who himself will enter the fray with an unblemished 10-0 record. His stock shot up precipitously following a first round knockout of former UFC champion Andrei Arlovski in his last fight, and now he takes an even bigger step up in class against The Last Emperor.

Considering that Emelianenko was a -500 choice at many books in the ill fated Affliction matchup against Josh Barnett(ranked the #2 heavyweight in the world at the time), he could be a -750 chalk or higher against the tough but inexperienced Rogers.

Ross Everett is a widely published widely published freelance sports writer and respected authority on World Cup betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sports news and sportsbook directory sites. He lives in Northern Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and a kangaroo. He is currently working on an autobiography of former interior secretary James Watt.

Rashad Evans was fighting for respect. He earned it and then some with a devastating 2nd round TKO of Chuck Liddell in the main event of UFC 88: Breakthrough.

If Evans needed any more validation of how little respect he was getting, he could have taken a look at the UFCs text message prediction poll of the main event which favored The Iceman by a whopping 81% to 19% margin. Or he could have listened to the UFC announcers, who had all but penciled Liddell in for a return to light heavyweight title contention after his inevitable victory.

From the opening horn, Evans showed no fear of Liddell’s once legendary power. Instead, he danced and moved (which was dumbly criticized as showboating by the UFC announce team), using his slick footwork and speed to dart in and out of range of Liddell’s punches. In the process, he was able to use his superior handspeed to get off first. His punches weren’t exactly highlight reel power shots at this point, but were nonetheless effective as evidenced by a cut opened under Liddell’s eye. For his part, Liddell scored with a few shots of his own, but was clearly frustrated by the evasiveness of his opponent.

The end was to come in the 2nd round. Liddell backed Evans up near the cage wall and went to throw an uppercut. Simultaneously, Evans responded with an overhand right that landed quicker, harder and more accurately. The perfectly placed punch knocked Liddell out cold and referee Herb Dean jumped in to cover him up and wave off the fight without taking a second look.

Rashad Evans raised his record to 17-0-1, with the lone blemish a draw against Tito Ortiz at UFC 73. Liddell, meanwhile, saw his record drop to 21-6″with three of those six losses coming in his last 4 fights.

Liddells loss notwithstanding, it was a good night for UFC veterans as Rich Franklin and Dan Henderson won their fights in impressive fashion. Franklin looked particularly sharp in dismantling tough Matt Hamill, eventually prevailing by 3rd round TKO. Hamill had trouble getting inside for the takedown he needed to compete in the bout, and every time he closed the distance he was met with a barrage of Franklin punches and kicks.

This was the UFC’s first trip to Atlanta and despite a good attendance the crowd itself was somewhat disappointing. In a marked contrast to the knowledgeable and enthusiastic fans at the Target Center in Minneapolis for UFC 87–arguably the best MMA crowd ever at a US venue–the live crowd at Phillips Arena often acted as if they were at a taping of Georgia Championship Wrestling. Every foreign fighter was booed mercilessly–including South Korean Kim. Kim was treated like legendary Gary Hart managed pro wrestling heel Pak Song as he had to endure a USA chant during his fight. Perhaps the audience didn’t realize that South Korea has been a US ally since its establishment after WW II. The fighters from other “longtime adversaries” of the United States–Brazil and Holland–fared somewhat better.

More problematic was the crowds utter lack of respect for the fighters postfight. Poor Dong Hyun Kim was booed during his postfight interview like he was Professor Toru Takana cutting a heel promo on Mr. Wrestling 2 after winning the Georgia Heavyweight Title by throwing salt in his opponents eyes while the referee was distracted. Not quite the respect that a 4th degree judo black belt whod just won a very tough fight deserves. Even Rashad Evans was booed after his dominating KO victory.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer and noted authority on World Cup soccer betting. His writing has appeared on a variety of sports sites including sports news and betting odds sites. He lives in Southern Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and a kangaroo. He is currently working on an autobiography of former energy secretary Donald Hodell.