The MMA signings/releases thread

[OD50]

So, just what the title says. Easier to post it all in one place instead of posting seven different signings in seven different threads.

-Josh ''The Baby Faced Assassin'' Barnett has signed with Strikeforce, says he will fight there in 2010.

-Antonio ''El Negro/Mandingo'' McKee has signed four fight deal with the UFC. In his last fight McKee stopped Luciano Azavedo by horrific elbow induced cut. Azavedo is the only man to have beaten Jose Aldo by the way. McKee has 18 decision wins of 25 total victories.

-Paul ''Semtex'' Daley has signed to fight in the Strikeforce WW division. Daley is 2-0 since being fired by Dana White following UFC 113.

-Jorge ''Gamebred'' Masvidal has signed a two year and (I think) six fight deal with Strikeforce. He will fight in the SF LW division. Masvidal is a Sengoku, Strikeforce, BodogFight and uh, Youtube vetaran.

Feel free to fill in. :yes:

-Bellator has signed undefeated LW Mike Chandler (3-0).
http://fiveouncesofpain.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/michael-chandler-221x300.jpg (http://fiveouncesofpain.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/michael-chandler.jpg)

[Dubya]

That's crazy that they snagged Chandler.. he was on a Strikeforce show like 3-4 months ago.. I think May.. and he won. Can't believe that Strikeforce would just let him go like that. Must be too focused on NOT finding a fight for Fedor and/or Overeem.

[UncannyIowan]

Or they didn't go berzerker cuz someone was only 3 fights into their pro career.....There are a lot of fighters out there with 2-0, 3-0 records that you can't just keep every single one of them.

I did laugh about the Fedor comment.

McKee.....Yay, from what I heard dude is extremely boring. 18 out 24 wins by decision, wtf, gotta give him props he's got cardio lol. Can't wait though to see him, he's been around for awhile.

[Dubya]

Yeah, but you'd think that if they were interested enough in him to put him on the show, that they'd be more interested after he won.. ?? I dunno, seems silly to me. Cut the guy he beat loose and keep him.

[UncannyIowan]

Yeah, but you'd think that if they were interested enough in him to put him on the show, that they'd be more interested after he won.. ?? I dunno, seems silly to me. Cut the guy he beat loose and keep him.

Like I said, they can't keep their finger on every single fighter that fights for them. Most of those prelim fighters for Strikeforce aren't even signed for more than one or two fights, and again, there are so many guys with 2,3,4 fights on their record ....

What more than likely happened was that he was a prelim fighter who was free to sign with whoever

[Dubya]

Efrain Escudero has been released from the UFC.
http://mmajunkie.com/news/20725/after-ufc-release-tuf-8-winner-efrain-escudero-talking-to-strikeforce-bellator.mma
Talking to Strikeforce and Bellator apparently ..

[Torn]

Very surprised by that, especially considering the amount of slack other TUF winners have got (Danzig). Guess that's what happens if you are on a losing streak and show up 4 lbs overweight.

[Dubya]

True that. He should do good in either Bellator or Strikeforce. He really is pretty good and still fairly young.

[PMBR]

I think Efrains release is definitely more about his coming in overweight than his record/performances.

[Dubya]

Yeah, I'm sure it has a lot to do with it. Not looking great lately and losing that night certainly doesn't help either though.

[UncannyIowan]

Is this his first time coming in overweight?

And really, his only losses were to undefeated Evan Dunham and had a good showing I thought in his last fight.

He wasn't even on a losing streak and most of his UFC bouts were him kicking ass....Definitely a big loss and has to be in the running for most surprising release of the year considering like Torn said, the slack TUF winners are shown doesn't make sense. What about James Wilkes? Is he still in the UFC?

[Dubya]

There could be more to it. Ya never know.. Wilks is still in the UFC, but he's only lost once I believe.. to Matt Brown.

[OD50]

John Gunderson (23-8) has been released by the UFC. Pretty standard deal, he went 1-2 on a three fight contract. Guys that doesn't show anything extraordinary in the losses usually gets canned.

[UncannyIowan]

There could be more to it. Ya never know.. Wilks is still in the UFC, but he's only lost once I believe.. to Matt Brown.

Idk why, but for some reason I thought he lost his last fight....

[Dubya]

Nah he beat Peter Sobatta in his last fight.. lost to Matt Brown before that and was on a 4-fight win streak prior to the Brown fight. He's fighting someone on the UFC 120 card I believe.

[Dubya]

UFC released Tomasz Drwal. Won 3 in a row, including one over Drew McFedries.. but recently lost to Palhares and then Dave Branch.
http://mmajunkie.com/news/20739/ufc-drops-middleweight-tomasz-drwal.mma

[UncannyIowan]

Dubya, I love ya for making it out like a win over Drew-Mac was important. Need more fans of Drew-Mac than myself. Ames bitch!

I think we're going to see more releases of guys who have been fighting in the UFC for a little bit. Thousands of fighters in every region in the US and across the world looking for that spot on a list of what, 200 fighters? Guys with 3-4 fights in the UFC not looking real good are going to get released, but I mean shit, the UFC is good about bringing back people who improve. They brought back Paul Buentello for Christ's sake.

[OD50]

Rodney Wallace has been cut from the UFC.
http://fiveouncesofpain.com/2010/09/22/exclusive-ufc-parts-ways-with-rodney-wallace/

[Dubya]

Lol remember when someone made a thread about him cuz they thought he was gonna beat Phil Davis or something?

[Dubya]

Stefan Struve signed a new 4-fight deal. Good for him. 4-1 in his last 5. Lots of potential. So young for as many fights as he's had.

[Mark Hammer]

Rodney who? Was that the guy who went by "Don't Play" or something like that? Only reason I even know who the hell he is is because of that retarded thread a month or two back. :lol:

[thetony]

I didn't like how at the last press conference Dana shut down the idea of a 235lb cruiser-weight division, saying there would only be about 4 guys fighting in the weight class. But that's not necessarily true.

Not sure how accurate the UFC site is, but there's at least 10 guys that weight between 225-240lbs in heavyweight alone. Plus it would only lead to growth with having to sign new fighters to bulk up both divisions.

[Torn]

I don't know about that being true yeah, but there arn't many guys who would fight in the 235-265 range.

[Dubya]

I think over time it could be a division. It will just take a lot more talented pure heavyweights like Carwin and Lesnar coming in and running over people. It's a good idea in theory, but the more ya think about it .. he's right .. there aren't that many guys that would still be heavyweights if they did that. There would be plenty of guys that would fill the cruiserweight division, but the heavyweight division would be depleted again.

[OD50]

The UFC HW division would be something like Lesnar, Carwin, Big Country and Sean McCorkle if they added a 235 CW division.

[Mark Hammer]

Ya, I'm very strongly against this whole idea. The HW division would take a big hit.

[Dubya]

Plus you'd have to imagine that a lot of 205ers would move up. Jon Jones, Ryan Bader, Forrest Griffin, Rampage Jackson .. all really big for 205.

[Mark Hammer]

That too. Good job Dana for shitting on the proposal.

[thetony]

:lol:

I don't think the HW division would be cut down to just the four guys you mentioned above, but I see what you're saying. I mentioned growth.

[Seanny One Ball]

So you don't think the heavyweight division would be cut down to just the four guys he mentioned above then, thetony?

Interesting stuff.

[Dubya]

Torn BROKE THE NEWS to me first .. but ..

Jay Hieron is officially a free agent ..
http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=12868&zoneid=13

[Dubya]

Patrick Cote officially got his release today. Not surprised by that. I imagine he'll pop up in Strikeforce or Bellator. Don't know what the deal is, but ever since he came back from his knee surgery.. he just hasn't looked the same as he did before. I imagine he might pick up an indy win first, but I can't see him just being done. He has a name and he is a good fighter. I'd love to see him go to Bellator and be one of their special feature fights and fight Hector Lombard.

[UncannyIowan]

Let's be honest, Patrick Cote never looked that good for too long. After TUF 4 he had a little streak goin, but before that he never won a single fight in the UFC and reallly since the Almeida fight he's looked like the old Patrick. I could see him doing good against some greener fighters or journeyman who have a decent record but no one that good. Strikeforce could use him because he does have good striking and heart, they need depth BADLY!! Cote v. Frank Shamrock.

[PMBR]

Frank Shamrock is retired. Patrick Cote vs Scott Smith!

[Dubya]

Add Gabriel Gonzaga to the list .. this one kinda surprises me. I think he's at least still a name and would've tried to get one more fight out of him. Gonzaga/Madsen perhaps.

[UncannyIowan]

Add Gabriel Gonzaga to the list .. this one kinda surprises me. I think he's at least still a name and would've tried to get one more fight out of him. Gonzaga/Madsen perhaps.

I think the reality was that he got extremely lucky against Cro Cop, just like guys like Jardine, they're not really good at all, they just have a few wins that disguise their true shitty value to the company. "Name" or not, he's never been that good, his only shining moment since beating Cro Cop was that punch he wobbled Carwin with.

Idk, he doesn't suck he just seems to be on a downhill slide.

[Pete Cash]

Gonzaga is solid and I am surprised because even if the HW division is a lot better its still not heaps deep. He is a very dumb fighter though. Utterly cretinous at times and he has been out of form

[Reveille]

For as much as the UFC hyped him as a black belt in BJJ, I can't ever remember a time in which he tried to use that as an advantage...

I felt bad for him when he got stopped by Randy for a broken nose that he got while face planting on a take down, but ever since then, he has done nothing in the UFC...

[Seanny One Ball]

He's not as bad as you're making out. He just isn't as interesting as other Heavyweights at this point in time and he'd only have reached the prelim card on any PPV anyway.

Fuck it, no big loss.

[Pete Cash]

He isn't THAT bad at all but he is out of form and down on confidence. He is the type of fighter the UFC will pick back up again if he gets it together.

[UncannyIowan]

I just could never shake that fight with Kevin Jordan from my memory, I've always felt like his win against Cro Cop wasn't anything more than Cro Cop believing his own hype and not properly training and getting caught with a headkick no one saw coming. Gabe's biggest contribution to MMA is giving us one of the best KO's of all time, especially the way Cro Cop landed, his leg all twisted.

[Mark Hammer]

I think the reality was that he got extremely lucky against Cro Cop, just like guys like Jardine, they're not really good at all, they just have a few wins that disguise their true shitty value to the company. "Name" or not, he's never been that good, his only shining moment since beating Cro Cop was that punch he wobbled Carwin with.

Idk, he doesn't suck he just seems to be on a downhill slide.

:yes:

I've always seen Gabe as the HW version of Jardine. Kind of shitty with a couple (well in Gabe's case one) shock wins.

[Pete Cash]

He is better than Jardine and in a vastly shallower division.

[UncannyIowan]

He is better than Jardine and in a vastly shallower division.

Naw, he's Jardine. If the LHW was as depth-lacking as the HW division, Jardine would be what Gabe is.

[Dubya]

Gonzaga is nowhere near as bad as Jardine .. he's never lost more than 2 fights in a row .. Jardine has lost 5 in a row.. and considering Gonzaga's only losses are to Randy Couture, Fabricio Werdum, Junior Dos Santos, Shane Carwin, and Brendan Scaub. 3 of whom are all currently TOP 5 heavyweights and 1 is a legend in the sport. .. comparing him to Jardine, who's lost to Matt Hamill, Trevor Prangley, Houston Alexander, Travis Wiuff, and Stephan Bonnar .. and thats not even all his losses. .. kinda shit comparison.

Call him a gatekeeper, sure .. but don't call him a Jardine. Lol.

[Dubya]

SOOOOOOOO...

..the UFC has released Gerald Harris

WHAT.THE.FUCK???

3-1 in the UFC ...

[Torn]

Complete bullshit. Fucking hell, what a shit decision.

[Dubya]

It's really pretty ridiculous .. he's 17-3 (3-1 UFC) and 14 of those wins are by stoppage.. he has 2 KO of the Night awards.. one that got serious ESPN coverage .. that's the kinda guy you should want to keep around. Espescially consdiering that 185 isn't their most stacked division..

that's like hand-delivering Strikeforce/Bellator a new middleweight prospect.

[Vice]

Something to do with that early round stoppage, maybe? Smells like FISH.

[Dubya]

Yeah, but Harris didn't have anything to do with that early round stoppage. If anything, he got screwed by the guy not letting go at the bell cuz he was defending the choke until the bell sounded from what he said ..

[UncannyIowan]

Ya know, let the UFC build up fighters and release them to other promotions because it will build the entire MMA world. Probably the worst release of the year, I mean what the fuck? I barely know the guy and I'm thinking, he's lost 1 fight in the UFC (sans TUF) and his holiday weekend is met with a release. Good thing is, he's good enough to make money elsewhere so more power to him.

[PMBR]

I don't blame the UFC for that release. Not even a little bit.

Gerald Harris openly campaigned for a main card fight and the UFC gave him his wish. In that fight, he got paired against a dangerous guy that brought it to him in the first and Harris put on an enormous stinker of a "staring contest". This guy who talks about putting on exciting fights did...NOTHING! Falcao is lucky to have not been released with him.

[Mik]

How the fuck is Falcao lucky not to have been released with him? He won, he almost got a submission, was probably close to a stoppage a couple of times and took his foot off the pedal when it was clear that he'd won two rounds and Harris was making NO attempt to push the third. Falcao was coasting out a victory against a good fighter on his FIRST UFC fight where he was a considerable underdog. He looked powerful and explosive with great striking, good takedown defense and a strong ground game. If you think that he's lucky not to have been released for not going hell for leather for a finish in the fight, then GSP, Fitch, Anderson Silva and Maynard can all consider themselves lucky to have not been released.

[PMBR]

That was a Chute Box fighter. Neither guy made any attempt to do anything in the third round and as soon as the bell rang in the 3rd, Falcao started acting like he just won the world series. That is not the mentality of Chute Box and Wanderlei must have been ashamed of that last round.

Falcao looked great in the 1st and 2nd, but not letting go/having to be pryed off of the choke on top of doing absolutely nothing for the last 5 minutes are both great ways to find yourself on the Dana White shit list.

He was the betting underdog, but anybody who took the time to check out his record, his other fights and his training academy should have known what to expect from him. I definitely didn't have him as a big underdog like most people.

[Dubya]

Harris was choked out (illegally) at the end of the 1st round .. if being choked out isn't a good enough reason to be a little gassed, then I don't know what is ..

either way, the kid is 3-1 in the UFC, 17-3 overall with 2 fight bonuses and nearly all stoppage wins .. releasing him cuz of one fight like that is just silly and always will be just silly.

..and for the record, Dana White actually did say that Falcao was lucky to still have his job .. to put it on Harris though, is ridiculous to me.. he got choked out at the end of the round .. I don't care who you are, its gonna be a little hard to just get right back up and go full steam

[Mik]

Ridiculous scenes here, from Dana White AND you two.

[Dubya]

Well, any time that the entire crowd boos for an entire round.. I'd say the boss is gonna be pretty damn pissed.

So you're in favor of a guy dancing around in the 3rd round and doing literally nothing because he won the first 2? C'mon .. nobody wants to watch that.

Harris got choked out and then took a beating in the 2nd.. I can see why he wasn't doing much in the 3rd.. Falcao, I don't understand what the deal is because he should've been able to come out and finish Harris in that round .. but he decided to jog in place for 5 minutes instead ..

[PMBR]

Exactly. Dana said he wanted to fire Anderson Silva after Abu Dhabi. If he said that about his champion, I'm fairly certain he's willing to do the same to Gerald Harris or Maiquel Falcao.

I did notice watching live that the bell rang early. I don't think Harris would have survived. Still, Falcao got to have his debut in the UFC on the main card, something that most fighters dream of. He made it to the main card when veterans like Dennis Hallman and Karo Parisyan didn't, and THAT is how he pays them back? Sorry, but with the company picking up so much new talent that a performance like that is deserving of a cut.

[Dubya]

Nah, see thats the misconception .. Harris did an interview Monday, talking about how he had his head turned and had a finger on his throat the whole time so he could breathe .. but he let go when the bell rang .. Falcao didn't .. so he was good til the bell rang.

[Seanny One Ball]

How the fuck is Falcao lucky not to have been released with him? He won, he almost got a submission, was probably close to a stoppage a couple of times and took his foot off the pedal when it was clear that he'd won two rounds and Harris was making NO attempt to push the third. Falcao was coasting out a victory against a good fighter on his FIRST UFC fight where he was a considerable underdog. He looked powerful and explosive with great striking, good takedown defense and a strong ground game. If you think that he's lucky not to have been released for not going hell for leather for a finish in the fight, then GSP, Fitch, Anderson Silva and Maynard can all consider themselves lucky to have not been released.


Ridiculous scenes here, from Dana White AND you two.

:lol:

He's right as well, Falcao (for my money) was amazing.
I enjoyed seeing him dominate where he could and sure he stepped off a little in the third, but Gerry Harris was the only reason that fight wasn't as good as it could have been.
The so called "fans" that booed during that fight were clearly watching for the wrong reasons.

Re Gerry Harris: He got rocked, he got hurt and he couldn't see past it.

I'd love to see another Falcao fight in the UFC, to say he's lucky not to be cut off the back of being a chute box fighter is ridiculous.

[Seanny One Ball]

Harris got choked out and then took a beating in the 2nd.. I can see why he wasn't doing much in the 3rd.. Falcao, I don't understand what the deal is because he should've been able to come out and finish Harris in that round .. but he decided to jog in place for 5 minutes instead ..

:wtf:

That isn't the fight I watched, you're painting this like it's Silva/Maia which it clearly wasn't.

[PMBR]

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker said on Monday's episode of The MMA Hour that the organization isn't interested in signing Gerald "Hurricane" Harris.

"I talked to my guys about it, actually, they talked to me about it," Coker said of signing Harris. "I watched the fight [against Falcao], I didn't know how to judge it. Then they told me about his background and his past and things you are telling me now, that this guy is a tremendous athlete (who) has a ton of potential and just had bad showing or fought very cautious to try and win the fight.

"The only thing right now is we are really committed to the fighters we have under contract now and I want to make sure these guys get in the mix two or three next year. That doesn't mean we can't revisit with him, but for right now, I would say that I want to take care of the roster we currently have."
I'll paraphrase:

"We don't want to sign him because we have enough fighters that we already don't provide fights for!"

Scott Smith had to drop a weight class to get a good fight. Mayhem Miller hasn't been in the cage since Diaz keeps ducking him and Strikeforce won't give him an opponent. Their rumored tournament for a contender fell through. Frank Shamrock retired. Dan Henderson left the division. Cung Le will only fight top names.

This clearly means that signing Harris is a mistake because then they'd have a credible opponent for their fighters who don't have opponents...

...

wait

...

That's not right

...

[UncannyIowan]

The only thing I can think of is that he's basically not wanting to snatch up every single fighter who leaves the UFC. There have been a lot of good guys who have been released that Strikeforce either hasn't shown interest in, wasn't able to secure due to $$$, or the fighters don't show interest in them. Gerald Harris getting released by the UFC was fuckin dumb, just like Saunders getting released.

[Dubya]

:wtf:

That isn't the fight I watched, you're painting this like it's Silva/Maia which it clearly wasn't.

The 3rd round was exactly like Silva/Maia, that's the only round im talking about like that, the 3rd .. neither guy was doing anything in the 3rd round. All I'm saying is that I can understand why Harris wasn't doing anything .. he got choked out at the end of the 1st round and then took a beating in the 2nd .. yeah, that's gonna make you pretty tired.. espescially the getting choked out part. Falcao, on the other hand, I just don't understand why he wasn't doing anything in the 3rd round.. he probably could've finished Harris if he really tried, but he literally did nothing for the whole 3rd round .. I don't know how you can argue that when the fans were booing for pratically the entire 3rd round .. cuz I mean, they sure as hell weren't booing cuz he was going after Harris and trying to finish him. They were booing cuz he wasn't doing anything in the 3rd, just kinda hopped around the whole round. Stitch Duran said on Junkie Radio the next day that it was the loudest boos he's ever heard in an arena too.

[PMBR]

Gerald Harris isn't expensive. At UFC 116, he had a $10,000 show/$10,000 win contract. I can't imagine Strikeforce needing to offer him anything more than what he was making already.

[OD50]

Joe 'Diesel' Riggs and Smokin' Joey Vilasenor has both been released by Strikeforce.

[PMBR]

:lol: WHAT? Joe Riggs recently fought a #1 contenders bout (supposedly) with Jay Hieron and he lost by decision. He has 2 wins since then.

Bring him back to the UFC. He can fight in multiple divisions and I love him.

[Fanny Batter]

Won 6 of his last 7 and has a win over the champion :lol:. I'm guessing he can't make 170 anymore.

[Dubya]

Strikeforce is retarded .. just throw away name fighters that are doing good for no reason .. Hieron, Riggs, .. even Joey is pretty good. He just lost a couple in a row to Villefort and Souza .. neither of which are really bad losses.. he had won 5 of his last 6 before that beating Santos, Baroni, Loiseau and Ryan Jensen ..

I bet Bellator swoops all of them up.. well, they already got Hieron .. but I bet they grab Riggs and Joey too.

[UncannyIowan]

Strikeforce, oh how dumb they keep proving themselves to be. Honestly I wouldn't mind seeing Joe Riggs coming back to the UFC and throwing down against the tougher guys there. It sucks for Strikeforce, these are guys who they could've used to beef up their weak divisions and not have to resort to giving title shots to guys coming off losses.

[Dubya]

Hell, if they gave Phil Baroni, Frank Trigg, and Karo another chance .. why the hell not? If anything, one of the UFC's younger guys can pick up a name for their resumes.

[UncannyIowan]

Yeah but is it a credible name? Riggs could be winning 5, 6 fights in a row, but is it against the same level of competition that was beating him in the UFC? Probably not. Is he even a name worth giving to a young guy to fight? That's like how I felt about McCorkle and Hunt, Hunt years ago was credible as fuck but he lost like every single fight he was ever in for 4-5 years so all that credibility went out the window. Just like if you said Ken Shamrock was coming in to fight Lesnar, yeah it'd be probably the biggest ppv draw up to that point but no one would honestly believe Shamrock was a credible victory for Lesnar.

[Dubya]

For McCorkle though, Hunt was an important fight .. considering he'd never fought outside of Indianapolis at the time .. well.. and still technically hasn't. I mean, shit .. if he lost, he sure as hell wouldn't be the co-headliner on this PPV coming up .. thats for damn sure.

Shamrock vs. Lesnar. Lol. Book it.

[OD50]

KID Yamamoto seems to have been signed by the UFC.

Not good for DREAM, he's one of their biggest draws.

:\

He probably just waited for WEC to merge with the UFC so he could fight at 135/145 and still get a decent paycheck.

[Dubya]

Yeah, they've booked his first fight for UFC 126 against Demetrious Johnson. A definite gamer from WEC. More of a flyweight, but fights at bantamweight. doesn't stop him though .. he's beaten: Damacio Page and Nick Pace in the WEC, only losing once to Brad Pickett.

[thetony]

With six of seven victories coming via stoppage as well. Need to watch a highlight on Yamamoto though..

[UncannyIowan]

Peace out El Dirte. That's what he gets for trying to immitate Bas Rutten by being a bald pasty fighter with a nickname in spanish.

I never really liked this guy, but I can't hate his credentials. Weird that he was cut for like the 30th time though, this guy has more 1-fight contracts and releases attached to his name than anyone.

[PMBR]

I saw activity in this thread and just KNEW it was going to be the release of Dustin Hazelett and Pat Audinwood.

Boo

[UncannyIowan]

I think it's time for Dustin to see what he can do elsewhere. He can go make cock molds with his brother Screech.

[Mark Hammer]

Haha I've always thought his nickname should be Screech instead of McLovin. Looks just like Screech and nothing at all like McLovin.

[UncannyIowan]

I figured his nickname was given to him because it rhymes with his first, or at least rolls off the tongue. Still, if he came out simply as "Screech" Hazelett he'd be the man!

[PMBR]

How has Eliot Marshall not been signed back yet? He has only one loss in the company, is 11-2 overall and 3-1 in the UFC, with his only loss being a split decision. Since his release, he has put together a 3 fight win streak, including a stoppage win over TUF 3 finalist Josh Haynes.

[OD50]

DREAM, DEEP and EliteXC veteran Riki Fukuda has been signed by Zuffa.

[UncannyIowan]

Poor Screech, but dude wasn't shit anyway.


How has Eliot Marshall not been signed back yet? He has only one loss in the company, is 11-2 overall and 3-1 in the UFC, with his only loss being a split decision. Since his release, he has put together a 3 fight win streak, including a stoppage win over TUF 3 finalist Josh Haynes.

Ya know, I have no clue why he was released. He's a case like Jake Rosholt, where you scratch your head wondering why? But there's obviously a reason bigger than just losing one fight, there usually is. Rosholt probably bitched that all of his fights need to be on t.v. and DW was like, naw dude you look ugly as fuck.

[PMBR]

Yeah but Eliot was 3-1 when he got released. Rosholt was 1-2. His release actually made sense. Also, Eliot is 3-0 since his release. Big Jake is only 1-1.

Marshall could be compared to Harris... minus the fight night bonuses.

[Dubya]

Jamie Varner and Chris Horodecki have both been released by Zuffa .. not too surprised about either.

Nick Diaz has also signed a new multi-fight deal with Strikeforce.

Ron Sparks has signed a long-term deal with Bellator and will compete in their next HW tourney.

[UncannyIowan]

2 more guys Strikeforce can pick up to deepen their 155 division. Both are very good fighters, just need to work on their submission defense more. Both are very young still, so I expect them to both improve.

[PMBR]

To release a former 155 champion when Strikeforce has NOBODY to offer Gilbert Melendez... interesting decision.

Then again, it shows that the UFC isn't worried about Strikeforce and that they know the 2nd company can't compete even after signing MAJOR players like Dan Henderson, Andrei Arlovski, Josh Barnett and Fedor Emelianenko... someone as small potatoes as Jamie Varner will certainly not make a difference.

[UncannyIowan]

I think the UFC sees that they have a lot of fighters now with the WEC merge and even guys we know will get cut. The thing is, like I said, they are young lions who haven't even came close to hitting their prime...or maybe they have and they'll just get worse idk. But the thing is, the UFC is going to cut people and not even care about Strikeforce because the UFC is still light years ahead of them.

[Dubya]

..and Jamie Varner is 0-3-1 in his last 4 fights so.. yeah, no real reason to keep him around.

Kamal Shalorus has signed a new 4-fight contract with the UFC.

Bart Palaszewski has said that his job is safe for now.

[Dubya]

Brandon 'the truth' Vera has been released by the UFC, following his 3rd straight loss this past weekend against Thiago Silva. Vera lost to Jon Jones and Randy Couture before that and was 7-6 overall in the UFC. He currently owns an 11-6 overall record.

I don't think anyone's really surprised by this one. With Bellator about to do their first LHW tournament, I wouldn't be shocked to see them try to grab him. I'm sure he either lands there or Strikeforce though.

[PMBR]

Vera in Bellator would be great. I'd make the argument that he shouldn't have 3 consecutive losses based on getting robbed in the Couture fight, BUT his performance against Thiago was so lackluster that it doesn't even matter what his recent record was.

Granted, I think his record in the UFC should be 8-4-1.
The changes to his record I would make are a win over Couture instead of a loss and a draw against Jardine instead of a loss. He's just been the victim of bad scoring, injuries and ridiculously tough competition.

I don't like to talk about "what if", but I also think he would have beaten Tim Sylvia had he not broken his hand in the 1st round. Had that happened, he'd be 9-3-1.

[UncannyIowan]

Had he not been involved in that contract dispute bullshit he would've gone on to fight Tim Sylvia after knocking out Mir and then would have IMO beat Sylvia for the title. He would not have sat out for a year and we would've had a totally different HW title picture, to the point where I honestly think Vera would be champion for a couple years. I don't think Couture would have came out of retirement-IMO-to fight Vera because he said himself he came out of retirement and asked for the fight against Big Tim due to Tim's shitty defenses.

Sucks, I'd honestly rather see him in Strikeforce. They're more well known than Bellator, I think that they have the ability to bring in tougher opponents than Bellator offers. BUT, if he does go to Bellator I don't see a LHW being able to fuck with him.

[Dubya]

Marcus Davis has also been released by the UFC. Was hoping to see him get one more shot at 155. He looked good til he got KO'd against Stephens.

I dunno, though .. with Bellator being on MTV2 this year .. and being on at the time they're supposed to .. they could gain some momentum. People like Alvarez, Ben Askren, Hector Lombard, Joe Warren .. making names for themselves. I'm excited to see their next set our tournaments.

Speaking of .. Rick Hawn and Dan Hornbuckle have both committed to this season's Bellator Welterweight Tournament.

[PMBR]

Davis would be an AWESOME signing for Strikeforce. He looked fantastic at 155. Give him one fight and put him up for the title. Marcus' striking is outstanding and I'd love to see him vs Gil.

[UncannyIowan]

One fight against who though to warrant a guy who's on a 3 fight losing streak a title? Especially against Gil, who's considered the #2 LW in the world right now. Marcus looked good against a top 20 LW until he was knocked out cold in the 3rd round.

[PMBR]

Marcus looked GREAT against a Top 20 lightweight. He had more energy than we've seen in a long time. He was light on his feet. He was coming in at incredible angles. His combos were landing and he was being extremely frustrating to his opponent. Marcus very well could be entering the best division for himself.

After JZ Cavalcante "losing" to Josh Thomson, and Thomson losing on New Years Eve, there are no quality challengers in that division. If Marcus were to debut against either JZ or Josh and beat them, then he would certainly be worthy of a title shot in a division where there are no challengers.

That being said, Marcus Davis vs KJ Noons could be the best boxing in any MMA fight ever!

[Dubya]

Top 20 in the UFC or Top 20 cuz I don't really think Stephens is like Top 20 Lightweights in the World. He just lost to Melvin Guillard, BS-decision or not .. and is 7-5 overall in the UFC and I think he stole the decision in the Sam Stout fight while we're on it. I think Stout should've got the nod there. Stephens is good, no doubt .. but he still hasn't really beaten any top-level guys yet and Gomi hasn't really proved to be one yet, at least in the UFC .. however, its a fuckin' great match-up and I can't wait to see it. He beats Gomi and he might sneak his way into the lower part of the Top 20. If he gets past Gomi, I'd love to see him get a contendor .. someone like the Miller/Kamal winner maybe ..

[UncannyIowan]

Yeah I'm saying top 20 in the UFC, in the world he's probably like 45, which isn't bad considering how many LW's there are. Marcus' age is catching up with him. He lost big fights to Dan Hardy-which probably would've put Davis in line for a shot @ GSP (maybe?) and he lost to Saunders, Diaz, and now Stephens. He's basically going down the road the Iceman and others have had to face for fighting the way he has all these years.

P.S. The most boring fighter you never heard of Antonio McKee was released after one fight. That fight must've really sucked too.

[PMBR]

Oh no... he's not Top 20 in the world. Let me do a quick rundown of my UFC top 20 and see where you think he fits.


Frankie Edgar
Gray Maynard
George Sotiropoulos
Anthony Pettis
Jim Miller
Evan Dunham
Sean Sherk
Ben Henderson
Kenny Florian
Charles Oliveira
Joe Lauzon
Donald Cerrone
Cole Miller
Melvin Guillard
Sam Stout
Kurt Pellegrino
Jeremy Stephens
Denis Siver
Shane Roller
Gleison Tibau


Just a quick rundown. Not a lot of time for analysis and I might have left out a name or two... but I think #17 in the UFC sounds about right. In the world, Melendez, Aoki, Thomson and Cavalcante would push him out of the Top 20 immediately.

[Dubya]

That's probably fair. I was thinking around 15 so that's about right for me.. I like most of that list. I'd probably have Siver and Florian a bit higher and Oliveira a bit lower.

[PMBR]

Only reason that I've got Oliveira up that high is because when I look at the people below him, I don't see him being the underdog against any of them.

I'm surprised they let go of McKee.
Round 1 of his fight was close, but Volkmann got a takedown which should have won him the round.

Round 2, he fought out a RNC with both hooks in, while up against the cage... very impressive. Not only did he defend the choke for 3 full minutes, but he was throwing punches while in the choke AND escaped it before the end of the round. 10-9 Volkmann CLEARLY

Round 3, McKee didn't fight with urgency, but he definitely won. He threw big punches at a few moments. Those punches were definitely designed to stop the fight. He scored a takedown and when he realized that Volkmann wasn't going to let him pass to better position, he tried to pick him up and slam him a few times. 10-9 McKee

29-28 Volkmann on my scorecard, but definitely not a performance that warrants someone getting released.

[UncannyIowan]

Here's what I think happened with McKee. He's 40, I think what, 90% of his wins came by decision, and he's got a big mouth that rarely backs it up with exciting fights...or even decent fights. They gave him a chance to back it up and he lost.

[Mark Hammer]

Oh no... he's not Top 20 in the world. Let me do a quick rundown of my UFC top 20 and see where you think he fits.




Frankie Edgar
Gray Maynard
George Sotiropoulos
Anthony Pettis
Jim Miller
Evan Dunham
Sean Sherk
Ben Henderson
Kenny Florian
Charles Oliveira
Joe Lauzon
Donald Cerrone
Cole Miller
Melvin Guillard
Sam Stout
Kurt Pellegrino
Jeremy Stephens
Denis Siver
Shane Roller
Gleison Tibau

Just a quick rundown. Not a lot of time for analysis and I might have left out a name or two... but I think #17 in the UFC sounds about right. In the world, Melendez, Aoki, Thomson and Cavalcante would push him out of the Top 20 immediately.

Pfft Dunham above Sherk? I really don't understand that one. Also Clay Guida is better than at least half of that list.

[PMBR]

Oh no... he's not Top 20 in the world. Let me do a quick rundown of my UFC top 20 and see where you think he fits.


Frankie Edgar
Gray Maynard
George Sotiropoulos
Anthony Pettis
Jim Miller
Evan Dunham
Sean Sherk
Ben Henderson
Kenny Florian
Charles Oliveira
Joe Lauzon
Donald Cerrone
Cole Miller
Melvin Guillard
Sam Stout
Kurt Pellegrino
Jeremy Stephens
Denis Siver
Shane Roller
Gleison Tibau


Just a quick rundown. Not a lot of time for analysis and I might have left out a name or two... but I think #17 in the UFC sounds about right. In the world, Melendez, Aoki, Thomson and Cavalcante would push him out of the Top 20 immediately.


Pfft Dunham above Sherk? I really don't understand that one. Also Clay Guida is better than at least half of that list.

Thanks! That's the guy I couldn't think of. I'd put Clay at #10 and move everyone else down one.

I put Dunham above Sherk because I think Dunham won that fight. We all know how you feel on the issue, so lets not start the whole thing up again. The only thing that I'll say on the matter is that the entire crowd cried foul and Dana White gave Dunham his win bonus.

[Mark Hammer]

Ok I'll refrain. Even though you didn't. :p

Also I know he's been on a bit of a shit streak lately (and was apparantly robbed in his last fight) but I'd still put Tyson Griffin higher than a chunk of those guys.

[UncannyIowan]

Ok I'll refrain. Even though you didn't. :p

Also I know he's been on a bit of a shit streak lately (and was apparantly robbed in his last fight) but I'd still put Tyson Griffin higher than a chunk of those guys.

:yes: "I don't want to go into it but here's my thoughts...."

[Dubya]

I wouldn't have Oliveira nearly that high. Who has he beat to get that high? Efrain Escudero??? He's not even on your list .. I think Jim Miller showed everyone that Oliveira is a featherweight. All Oliveira had to do was push out of that knee bar, but he knew he wasn't strong enough .. or just flat-out didn't know how, but I'm just thinking he wasn't strong enough... he'll face that "not strong enough" problem a lot at 155. He'd be a perfect fit at 145 and be quite dangerous.

I can't put Dunham that high either, even if he should have beat Sherk. Even if he did beat Sherk, who else did he beat? Tyson Griffin (who's lose 3 in a row and 4 of last 6) and Efrain Escudero .. I can't put Florian that low because .. who has he lost to? Penn.. Maynard.. well since those are like 2 of the top LWs in the world .. can't knock him down THAT far. That's why Florian / Dunham was a good match-up to me because it would really sort the ranks a bit. .. and it would be a great fight.

[Torn]

I'd have Florian ranked third. George and Miller's win streaks are all well and good but Florian has fought consistently better competition while easily dispatching of the level of fighters those two have been beating. His lost to Maynard hurts him but Maynard beat the shit out of Miller when they fought too.

[PMBR]

Maynard smothered Florian and took away his heart. Kenny didn't even press the action or try to finish in the third round and he was in his hometown. Gray mentally broke Kenny Florian, so I can't put Kenny in the top 3 of his division.

Sotiropoulos is a guy who has dominated all of his UFC opponents. He got KO'd shortly after an eye poke on TUF, and had that not happened, I think he would have won his season. He has 2 losses in his career, one of them was at middleweight by split decision and he went on to avenge it... the other was a DQ loss to SHINYA AOKI! He has dominated Joe Stevenson and Kurt Pellegrino and then SUBMITTED Joe Lauzon. I think he has earned his spot in the top of the UFC rankings.

I don't buy the Jim Miller hype. I've said before that I think Bocek got boned of the decision of their UFC 111 bout. He won a close decision against Gleison Tibau in a fight that shouldn't have been very close. I think Oliveira was lighting him up before BEING A FUCKING MORON AND SHOWBOATING which is when he gave up a submission. That being said... his win streak speaks for itself. I think he should have gotten tested with Ben Henderson or Anthony Pettis for his next fight, but I'm not Joe Silva.

[UncannyIowan]

I like PMBR's rankings honestly, aside from 3 or 4 people and Guida not being on the list (which you did state that you probably forgot a name or 2) it's a good ranking of the UFC's top 20.

It's tough to try and rank the LW's since the merger. That's why when I see Florian @ 9 I don't see a problem because look who he put above them.

My personal top 10 would look like this:
1. Frankie Edgar
2. Gray Maynard
3. BJ Penn (until he OFFICIALLY moves to 170, he deserves this spot)
4. Anthony Pettis
5. George Sotiropoulos
6. Sean Sherk
7. Ben Henderson
8. Jim Miller
9. Clay Guida
10. Evan Dunham

[Mark Hammer]

Honestly I think it's safe to say he's officially done at 155. BJ has said he will fight at whatever division Dana wants him to and Dana has stated that he likes him better at 170. Edgar pretty much kicked BJ out of the LW division and with BJ set to fight Fitch after dominating Hughes it definitely looks like he's a Welterweight now.

[UncannyIowan]

I just do not want to see Penn/GSP 3 for the title, or really at all. If he beats Fitch, you have no reason not to give him GSP again. Why? Because there is no one better than Fitch besides GSP @ 170. There guys in this division that I would rather see ONLY because we've seen GSP win 2 times already, no need for a 3rd.

To keep it relevant to the thread, I'd like to see the UFC RE-SIGN Nick Diaz for a fight with BJ Penn, Carlos Condit, Dan Hardy, Kos, even GSP. He's the only guy @ 170 in Strikeforce who has really got his shit together and could come into the UFC and do some damage again.

[Mark Hammer]

Unfortunately it'd be a while for that to even be possible, didn't he just sign a new multi-fight contract with Strikeforce?

[UncannyIowan]

Yeah but dude hasn't even hit his prime, by the time he gets through the next year or 2 with Strikeforce the UFC HAS to court this guy, he's worth it now. Not sure what the bs is between Diaz and the UFC and why he isn't there but I'd like to see him return.

[kangus]

Yeah I was thinking about that the other day. It's certainly not because he's a jobber. But you know how the Diaz brothers are, he might have said something to Dana. It's a shame because the UFC could use some more mean muggin'.

[OD50]

Joe Riggs to Bellator.

[PMBR]

That's a great signing for them.

[Dubya]

Yeah, it really is. Honestly, any decent fighter with any kind of name-value is a good sign for them. I can't wait to watch Bellator again this year.. and it'll be on MTV2 so it'll actually be on at the right time!!

I still can't stress enough what a good pairing MTV2 should be for them. If MTV wants to really do this right and make it work, they can .. MTV can have celebs be at the Bellator events to make it seem more important than it is. Being able to be live on MTV2 every week should appeal to fighters really. With FSN, it seems like a good fit at first, but with FSN being the local sports channel for every city .. it just doesn't work at all in reality. FX was an improvement because they don't really hold live events, but at the same time, it was like it was a backstep because they don't really hold live events.. just a strange pairing really. I hope MTV really does try to do this right because I really like Bellator and would love to see them find a network that they can grow on.

[OD50]

Phil Baroni has signed with Titan Fighting Championships. Good for Phil, hope he can get some sort of win streak going.

And I'm a little late I guess but is Antoni Hardonk still with the UFC or was he released after the loss to Pat Barry? He hasn't fought in 15 months or so.

[Dubya]

Actually, I think he retired or something like that .. ?

[Matty C]

Wikipedia says he retired last year and is now a full time trainer.

[thetony]

Phil was on junkieradio the other day and I thought he signed with Titan or somethin'?


Phil Baroni has signed with Titan Fighting Championships. Good for Phil, hope he can get some sort of win streak going.


Well I'll be..

[PMBR]

Good for Phil. He was looking pretty good early in the Tavares fight. I thought he might actually pull off the win for a change. Phil Baroni lives and breathes this sport. Don't make a man retire if he isn't ready and if he can still defend himself.

After MMA, Baroni would make an amazing pro wrestler. He's got a great build and he loves the colorful entrances and smack-talk.

[Seanny One Ball]

I don't understand the love for Phil Baroni here, he hasn't won a credible match for years.

The UFC should never have re-signed him, he doesn't deserve the opportunity.

Starts out strong, ends up losing...that's Phil Baroni.

[PMBR]

I have love for his heart and never-quit attitude. I don't think the UFC should have signed him, but I don't want him to be one of those guys people love in the early days who ends up losing like 10 in a row and retiring a sad sack.

I think he can pick up a couple more wins if they put him against a striker in lower level competition. At least let the guy go out on a win... like Jens Pulver.

[UncannyIowan]

He should definitely take a huge step back, his record is terrible, and you can't win fights by being arrogant.

[Mark Hammer]

I have said before that he seems much more fit to be a pro wrestler than an MMA fighter.

[Dubya]

Baroni's record is a bit deceaving though. I don't really think he lost both fights with Lindland .. hell, in one of them .. the judging was so bad that Baroni knocked Lindland down twice and got a takedown in one round .. and somehow Lindland won the round .. and honestly, he was beating the piss out of Tanner until the ref stopped to check on Tanner's cut .. which, while fair.. def. gave Tanner the time he needed to recover.

The UFC brought him back in cuz he's a name.. he's a personality. He was in a new weight class and had been doing fairly good. If anything, it gives the younger guys a name to beat.

13-13 isn't good, but its not entirely accurate to me .. and its a lot better than Mark Hunt (5-7), who still has a job with the UFC ..

[Seanny One Ball]

I have love for his heart and never-quit attitude. I don't think the UFC should have signed him, but I don't want him to be one of those guys people love in the early days who ends up losing like 10 in a row and retiring a sad sack.



I'd say it's a bit late given his 13-13 record and the fact his highest consecutive number of wins is the same as his highest consecutive number of losses.
It's not like he lost his touch or anything, he was overmatched from the get go and was lucky enough to have one of the sweetest KO's in the history of the UFC.

It disappoints me when I see guys like that, I mean I love Carlos Newton but check his record out and that's a former champion.

I think we're in a great era for MMA, now you really have to have it all otherwise you're going to get found out pretty damned quickly.

Evan Dunham is the poster boy for the modern MMA fighter, Phil Baroni represents a moment in time much like Tank Abbott before him...only Tank has the benefit of starting when everybody was one dimensional.

Baroni doesn't, he really should have a better record.

[Seanny One Ball]

The UFC brought him back in cuz he's a name.. he's a personality. He was in a new weight class and had been doing fairly good. If anything, it gives the younger guys a name to beat.

13-13 isn't good, but its not entirely accurate to me .. and its a lot better than Mark Hunt (5-7), who still has a job with the UFC ..

He's cannon fodder and he wasn't doing "fairly good", he was beating no-names and losing to Joe Riggs.

Mark Hunt has no place in this discussion, he's only in the UFC because they are contractually obliged to pay him off or use up the rest of his Pride contract.

I'd have paid him off after that McCorkle debacle.

[Dubya]

At least Baroni won a few fights before he came back .. Mark Hunt just came back .. 5-fight losing streak in tact..

Did you see the fight with Riggs? Its not like he got his ass beat or something .. and Joe Riggs is like 34-12, with wins over Nick Diaz and Chris Lytle in his career .. he's never really been a bum.. never been amazing, but its not horrible to lose to Riggs .. espescially if you're at Baroni's stage.

[PMBR]

Mark Hunt in the UFC is a joke to the guys in Strikeforce who can't get UFC contracts. Either put him against submission guys who should massacre him, or take your chances by putting him up against another striker and let them BANG!

[Seanny One Ball]

That wasn't exactly my point, dub.

I was saying Baroni beating 3 cans and then losing to one named opponent is hardly worthy of a return to the UFC.

Mark Hunt still doesn't really belong in this conversation even if he does suck.

[Seanny One Ball]

Mark Hunt in the UFC is a joke to the guys in Strikeforce who can't get UFC contracts. Either put him against submission guys who should massacre him, or take your chances by putting him up against another striker and let them BANG!

Ahah...not all Strikeforce fighters are there because they "can't get UFC contracts".
They're there because they don't deserve them or they would prefer a payday against mediocre opposition to putting their reputations on the line in a company that would make them fight legitimate opposition for a bit less.

[Seanny One Ball]

I forgot Joe Riggs had fought and beaten Herb Dean.

That tickles me in all the right places.

[Dubya]

Herb Dean was undefeated at the time ..

[UncannyIowan]

Ahah...not all Strikeforce fighters are there because they "can't get UFC contracts".
They're there because they don't deserve them or they would prefer a payday against mediocre opposition to putting their reputations on the line in a company that would make them fight legitimate opposition for a bit less.

Totally agree, which is why I'll be curious to see if Overeem actually goes to the UFC.

[Seanny One Ball]

1-0, that's a hell of a streak.

[Dubya]

I never said he was on a winning streak .. I just said he was undefeated.

[Seanny One Ball]

Sometimes I worry that you are being serious.

[UncannyIowan]

Baroni being in the UFC was odd, I honestly have no clue outside of maybe Coleman helping him out as to how he was even re-signed to the company. He fought shitty fighters, which is ironic considering Baroni has always been imo a very overrated guy who was simply propped up cuz of his personality and look.

It was like his career and Pete Sell's career stopped climbing at the same time lol.

I like the guy, just not as a fighter, he'd be better off as a guido bad guy in a movie or like someone said in the WWE or TNA wrestling.

[Mark Hammer]

I forgot Joe Riggs had fought and beaten Herb Dean.

That tickles me in all the right places.
Haha Herb Dean. I want to watch that fight actually.

[Seanny One Ball]

They should re-sign Mark Kerr now he's off the smack and is the proud owner of a 15-11 record and is riding off the back of two wins in his last 12 fights.

UFC material right there.

[Dubya]

Lol Mark kerr .. I think he's still waiting to wake up from that shot that King Mo gave him in M-1 here in KC. I remember that KO well .. the whole place jumped to their feet cuz it was a sick KO.

YouTube - Mark Kerr Vs King Mo

Mo just gets a takedown and pounds .. end.

[Seanny One Ball]

Haha Herb Dean. I want to watch that fight actually.

YouTube - Herb Dean vs Dave Legeno

YouTube - Spirit MC 9 2006 10 08 Herb Dean vs Jung Gyu Choi

Couldn't find Riggs unfortunately, but these are pretty good for novelty value.

[Dubya]

here's one that Herb actually wins .. the guy he's fighting is wearing a t-shirt in the cage like wtf?
YouTube - 2004 08 06 KOTC 37 Herb Dean vs Timothy Mendoza

[Mark Hammer]

Haha poor Herb. He wasn't very good was he.

[Seanny One Ball]

I just like how in the intro to the Legeno fight the commentatory brings out the online voting and says 91% reckon Herb will win :lol:

"I think people are looking at Herb's jiu jitsu background"

No mate, it's because they are UFC marks.

Jesus!

[Dubya]

He was a good enough fighter to be the best referee in mma .. lol

[Seanny One Ball]

Herb should come out of his fight hiatus and knock Todd Duffee out.

Everybody's doing it.

[PMBR]

Maybe it's coincidence or maybe the UFC has changed their mind on Marcus Davis. Unleashed has been featuring him like crazy. The last 3 episodes I watched featured his first round wins over Paul Taylor, Jason Tan and Jess Liaudin.

Clearly the guy puts on entertaining fights, but they usually don't feature someone so heavily after they are released.

[Dubya]

Sure they do .. I saw an episode that featured Sylvia and Arlovski over the weekend.

[PMBR]

That's one episode. This was 3 episodes played in near succession.

[Dubya]

I think Unleashed shows plenty of guys that aren't with the company anymore.. besides, he was just released. It could've already been on the schedule. Who knows.. either way, they own the footage and its good footage .. so why wouldn't they show it? I'm glad they do.

[PMBR]

Oh, I'm not complaining. I WANT them to rehire him. I think Marcus Davis is like Matt Brown in the fact that he's willing to fight anyone and he'll always put on a good show. I was actually hoping to see that fight before Marcus dropped to 155.

[Dubya]

Yeah, but he is 37 and lost 4 of his last 5 .. exciting or not, that's a really bad stretch. At his age, and how long he's been in the UFC.. its hard to imagine him doing the regional scenes for too long. He should go over to Bellator. Its a good move for him really because, he's still on TV for one .. and it will put him in there with a bunch of young prospects.. and if he can't hang with them, then he really can't hang in the UFC anymore anyway.

[Dubya]

In a shocking move, the UFC has released Tim Hague.

So far, Joey Beltran is the only fighter that has suffered a loss to Matt Mitrione and not been released .. yet.

[PMBR]

This is the third time he's been fired by the UFC? That's got to be some kind of record.

[Dubya]

I don't think Mark Hominick was ever actually fired/released because he won his fights, but this is his 3rd stint in the UFC ..

[UncannyIowan]

Josh Neer I think had 3 trips too.

[PMBR]

If I had to guess, we're going to see Amilcar Alves, Will Campuzano and Mike Brown all released too. Brown and Campuzano have both 4 of their last 6 fights. Alves is 0-2 in the promotion.

[Fanny Batter]

Brown possibly gets one more because he's a former champ and took the fight on short notice. It will probably be a tough fight though, maybe the Mendes/Omigawa loser. They're not going to give him a shite opponent just to keep him around, they'll have him sink or swim against a ranked opponent.

[OD50]

If I had to guess, we're going to see Amilcar Alves, Will Campuzano and Mike Brown all released too. Brown and Campuzano have both 4 of their last 6 fights. Alves is 0-2 in the promotion.

Alves is gone.

[Dubya]

Brown possibly gets one more because he's a former champ and took the fight on short notice. It will probably be a tough fight though, maybe the Mendes/Omigawa loser. They're not going to give him a shite opponent just to keep him around, they'll have him sink or swim against a ranked opponent.

They could just throw Roop at him and axe the loser. :yes:

[OD50]

Jason High --> Strikeforce
http://mmajunkie.com/news/22371/ufc-and-dream-vet-jason-high-signs-with-strikeforce.mma

Didn't we just talk about Mr High?

:yes:

[PMBR]

Predictions of firings:

Gabe Ruediger = 100% - This guy getting a second fight after being rinsed by Lauzon seemed like more of a clerical error than anything else. After getting finished again, Fat Gabe is going back to the minors.

Kenny Robertson = 51% - Most UFC contracts aren't one-and-done kind of deals, but he did get finished in his first UFC appearance, the lightweight division is cutting dead weight and they just did the same thing to Antonio McKee, even though he only lost by decision. I'd say his chances of being fired are slightly more likely than not.

Paul Taylor = 30% - Kelly is in good favor with the UFC due to the nature of his fights. He has lost 3 of his last 5, but he put on fight of the night. I'd say that there is a small chance of him getting released, but not a major chance.

Ricardo Romero = 20% - I don't think Romero will get released, but there's a chance that anybody getting KO'd in 21 seconds is on his way out the door.

[OD50]

Predictions on Banuelos?

Dana seemed really pissed at his performance and he has lost two straight Zuffa fights. Of course, he is Chuck Liddel's personal assistant.

%?

[UncannyIowan]

Who knows, Jardine lasted as long as he did probably due to his ties with Rashad and Jackson, and there really isn't anyone off the top of my dome I can think of that The Pit has in the UFC besides Banuelos. I mean shit Miguel was just as boring in that fight, I really don't know what was wrong with those 2. It was like watching a mother and daughter being forced to fight each other.

[PMBR]

He's only lost one in a row. He beat Chad George at WEC 51 and his fight at WEC 48 would have fight of the night on any other card in the world, but that one had Garcia/Zombie.

I'd say he's around 20% but not much higher. Torres is one of the few big Bantamweight names on the roster and Dana was looking for a scapegoat so Miguel didn't take any heat. With Banuelos being part of team Liddell, I don't see him getting the ax over his performance from Saturday.

[OD50]

Well, Miguel's performance can be justified since he fought the perfect fight against someone near Hobbit size. Banuelos on the other should have tried to close the distance and put pressure on Torres, not swing from halfway across the cage.

[OD50]

He's only lost one in a row. He beat Chad George at WEC 51 and his fight at WEC 48 would have fight of the night on any other card in the world, but that one had Garcia/Zombie.

My bad, thought his last WEC fight was against Jorgensen.

[PMBR]

Who knows, Jardine lasted as long as he did probably due to his ties with Rashad and Jackson,

Jardine lasted as long as he did more for his victories over Liddell and Griffin, and his ability to go 15 minutes with Rampage, moreso than his friendships.

The friendships helped, but people remember his big wins and his ability to go against top opponents. Bader is really the only questionable loss he had during that streak, considering the others came from Rampage, T.Silva and Matt Hamill.

[UncannyIowan]

They remember the wins when they see he went on a vicious losing streak while still having a job, peeps would go "How did this guy beat Iceman and Griffin???? He's terrible!"

I think he was basically used as confidence builders for almost every fight starting with Bonnar. Seriously does anyone think he was put up against Liddell, Griffin, Vera, Rampage, Silva, Bader because he was a top guy or because the UFC didn't think much of him? Why else did he have that Houston Alexander fight.....

He was like when you'd see some dude in Pride with a 2-14 record.

[PMBR]

You really are nothing more than a hater. You do this same bullshit with Jardine and Overeem in any post where you think you can make it stretch.

He clearly beat Liddell. If that fight had happened 4 months prior, he would have been world champion. He finished Forrest Griffin with an incredible style.

Jardine faced Bonnar when he (Jardine) was 11-1 and on a 9 fight win streak. He was MUCH more than a confidence booster in that fight.

You're in the wrong boat on the Vera fight. Vera was the confidence booster in that fight. Jardine beat Liddell and then they gave him Wanderlei. Clearly they were poising him for a run at the title, because if he'd beaten Wandy, he would have wins over Liddell, Wanderlei and the current champion (Forrest). When Wandy KO'd him, they gave him Vera to rebuild him.

The Rampage fight was the right fit because Jardine had big wins and the rest of the major light-heavyweight contenders had dance partners already. Many people believe that Jardine would have won that fight too if judges weren't swayed by the knockdown in the final few seconds of the last round. I'm not terribly sure I believe that, but many people do.

Thiago crushed him. There's no two ways about that. The two were evenly ranked at the time, so I won't call that an intended confidence booster for either man.

Ryan Bader is a very capable fighter. Jardine went toe to toe with him and was doing a very good job of making that a competitive fight. At the very worst, that fight was 19-19 after 2 rounds. Don't try to make it sound like Jardine got rinsed by everybody.

Matt Hamill beat Jardine by split decision. That eye poke point deduction was bullshit and Jardine won at least one round. People make the argument that he won the 2nd too.

So in all of this, the only person to rinse Jardine was Wanderlei and Thiago Silva. Quit being a little hater and constantly bashing on Jardine because he is a very good MMA fighter who has held his own against the best in the world.

[UncannyIowan]

I didn't say anyone rinsed Jardine, do you even know what the term I used means? It means that Jardine was not intended to win, the fact he did win clearly boggles not only my mind but the minds of many MMA fans who wonder how a guy this terrible beat 2 of the top LHW's in the world at the time....


Liddell was given Jardine @ UFC Knockout because the brass expected Iceman to do what Houston did to Jardine.

Wanderlai was given Jardine to build himself back up after the loss to Liddell. Why would the UFC give Jardine a guy coming off 2 losses to build him toward the title? The UFC saw how weak Jardine's chin is and knew Silva would be able to do something with it.

Vera, he looked sub par against Andy in his first outing at 205 so the UFC wanted a guy they were trying to push as the future to look good against someone who Vera had a good chance of finishing but also had some names on his W column that were respectable as hell....Didn't work out that well.

Rampage was supposed to fight Rashad, Jardine took the fight instead, did the UFC really think Jardine had a chance? Doubtful.

Thiago Silva needed a fight to look solid in after getting KO'd.

Bader needed a guy who people knew that wasn't a complete tool due to his wins against Iceman/Forrest and his grinders with Rampage and Vera, but also someone who had a suspect chin that Bader could look good against.

Hamill, this was a last chance for Jardine but moreso a push for Hamill to finish someone again violently.

It's all opinion brother. No hate, I've never liked him but I respect the 3 big wins he's got. I've just always felt guys like Jardine were confidence builders, he's the Jens Pulver of 205.

[PMBR]

You're pretending that Jardine had no chance of winning and that he wasn't being respected by the UFC.

What you've talked about is called upside. Lidell getting a win over someone that people knew was an upside. At that point in time, he was nothing more. Once he beat Forrest, he had credibility, but not a ton of it.

At that point, Forrest hadn't beaten anybody, so he wasn't quite taken seriously. Then, they gave him Houston in a fight that fits your description of "confidence builder". It just backfired.

Then comes Liddell. I agree with you that they expected Liddell to beat Jardine. Then again, they expected Liddell to beat anybody not named Rampage at that point in time. He had previously avenged every loss in his career, minus Quinton.

After he beat Liddell, he was undoubtedly Top 10 in his division. They put him against Wanderlei in hopes that Wanderlei would do exactly what he did, but knowing full well that Jardine had the potential to repeat what he did to Liddell. BetUS.com had Jardine as only a +135 underdog in that fight, which shows that he was clearly taken seriously by the MMA world.

Clearly that fight was a setback, but Jardine had a razor thin victory over Brandon Vera, someone who the UFC never gave up on. Jardine finished that fight despite Vera destroying his knee with a kick that hyperextended his knee early in the first round. I don't care who you are, that's impressive.

The UFC was impressed enough to let him take the main event slot against Rampage. The fact that he went 15 minutes with Rampage and kept the fight very close is an extremely impressive feat considering that the majority of that fight was contested on the feet. Jardine won Round 1 and Round 2 was close enough that you could argue he deserved that one too. Round 3 was close until Rampage dropped him, which earned Rampage the last round.

Then Thiago absolutely butchered him. That's fine. But to say that the UFC was taking Jardine lightly because he lost a decision to Rampage is a joke. They knew that Jardine was a tough guy who can hang with the best of them, so he was a quality opponent for Silva. Keep in mind that Silva hadn't beaten ANYBODY who was relevant in the UFC at the time of that fight. His biggest win at the time was James Irvin, who lost via knee injury. This fight is the one where the world started taking Thiago seriously.

Ryan Bader wasn't supposed to beat Keith Jardine either. If you think that, then you're nuts. Jardine was supposed to pick up a win over a TUF winner and get back in the mix of things. Bader is a great light-heavyweight, who was on the rise. That fight was also close until the KO landed. Jardine did a great job against an opponent who has proven himself. I still don't see the warranted shit storm on Jardine.

Then, Jardine faces Top 10 light-heavyweight Matt Hamill and gets a split decision loss. I will always call it a split decision only because that point deduction was absolute horseshit. It was a very close fight.

I'm saying that I'll take a guy who loses close fights against top fighters over someone like Michael Bisping who made his name beating a whole bunch of nobodies. The four guys who are impressive names on Bisping's record are the three guys who beat him, and the guy who he stole a bogus decision from.

[UncannyIowan]

All I was saying is that usually 2-3 losses=bye bye, but for some reason Keith Jardine was able to go a little longer even though he's not very good. There are plenty of examples of subpar fighters beating the top of the line fighters, there are plenty of examples of fighters who get straight up lucky and beat a #1 guy.

Think of it this way if you want to relate to what I'm saying about fighters like Jardine and how they're booked. Wanderlai kills Jardine. Rampage kills Wanderlai. The logical idea is that Rampage would kill Jardine which is why the fight happened (that and Rashad not wanting to fight Rampage). Rampage was a top 2-3 LHW at the time, Jardine was maybe #10 (*in UFC not world*). Why else would Rampage be fighting a guy like Jardine? Because he wasn't considered a real threat due to his very skeptical chin. Folks were more dissapointed with Rampage's performance than impressed with Jardine, which is exactly how I and others I know feel about Jardine's fights with Iceman, Vera, and Griffin.

[PMBR]

There's a difference in flash KO'ing somebody and killing them. Did Wanderlei kill Jardine any worse than Serra "killed" GSP? Killing somebody is done after absolutely dominating them. Catching somebody with a KO punch doesn't necessarily translate into killing them.

People may have been disappointed with Rampage, but doesn't that fall into the category of Jardine not allowing Rampage to follow-through with his gameplan? Jardine deserves credit for how well he fought against top guys.

Did you just say "the logical idea is that [insert MMath here]"? Styles make fights and that's why MMAth is not logic. It's linear thinking based on nonsense. Just because Fighter A beats Fighter B, and Fighter B beats Fighter C, that doesn't mean that there is any logic that Fighter A will beat Fighter C.

For example: Forrest Griffin beat Shogun Rua and Rashad beat Forrest. Does that mean Rashad would undoubtedly beat Shogun?

For another example: Jardine beat Liddell and Liddell beat Wanderlei. Jardine wasn't the betting favorite going into the Wanderlei fight? Why not? Because MMAth is retarded.


My overall point is this:
I'm tired of you constantly bombing on Keith Jardine, when he has had several fantastic performances against elite level fighters. Show the man some respect because Jardine has done nothing but show up to fight.

[Dubya]

Just to chime in a bit .. I think Wanderlei killed Jardine a lot worse than Serra killed GSP. .. it was in the very first minute of the very first round .. he held Jardine's throat with one hand while he pounded his face with the other .. it was pretty bad .. he definitely killed Jardine. It wasn't just a lucky shot or something .. neither were the 20 or so punches he laid on him after he "caught" him. The fight starts like 1/4 the way through the video

Wanderlei Silva vs Keith Jardine on Yahoo! Video

Why are you defending Keith Jardine?

I will be the first to say that I think Keith Jardine is a worthless piece of shit and I will show him no respect.

[PMBR]

I honestly didn't mean to say Wanderlei. I meant to say Thiago.

[Torn]

Lets be honest here guys Keith Jardine is really shit.

[PMBR]

There are a lot of fighters much worse than Jardine. Big Keith has defeated 2 of the very best. Why aren't you spending your energy bashing the REALLY awful MMA fighters like Jules Bruchez, Danny Abbadi, Gabe Ruediger or Kimbo Slice. I can name 100 worse fighters than Jardine and at least 20 in his division.

That being said, why the hate on a nice, humble guy like Keith Jardine?

[UncannyIowan]

Why aren't we talking about these other fighters? Gee, idk, maybe because you decided to pop off like a psychopathic zombie on a 4-day no brain drought because I said that Jardine lasted longer than most do probably because of who his allegiances. Jeremy Horn has wins over way bigger names including Chuck Liddell and you don't see him lasting 4-5 losses deep.

Greg Jackson's camp is highly respected and Jardine is best friends with Rashad. I think the same thing about Pete Sell. I think the same thing about how much shit it is that just because Mac Danzig won an untested tournament that he deserves to stick around 3-4 losses deep. There, just hated on a couple more guys to appeal.

Both Silvas killed Jardine. Thiago hit him so hard his entire body set in rigamortis in record time and Wanderlai probably escaped disqualification simply for being Wanderlai for choking dude while smashing his neck and jaw into a million pieces.

[Dubya]

I'm sure his alliegences helped, but it was also because he constantly did the UFC favors by taking fights on shorter notice and because he did put on some good fights with people ..

In Danzig's defense, he's like 4-3 in the UFC. I'm not counting the Wiman fight cuz that was just stupid. No one won that fight.

Lol escaped DQ for doing 2 things that are both legal ..

[PMBR]

Why aren't we talking about these other fighters? Gee, idk, maybe because you decided to pop off like a psychopathic zombie on a 4-day no brain drought because I said that Jardine lasted longer than most do probably because of who his allegiances. Jeremy Horn has wins over way bigger names including Chuck Liddell and you don't see him lasting 4-5 losses deep.

I'm tired of hearing you bitch about Keith Jardine at least once a week. We get it. Shut the fuck up about it.

Greg Jackson's camp is highly respected and Jardine is best friends with Rashad. I think the same thing about Pete Sell.

Shows how much you know. His first fight with Scott Smith was exciting enough that they definitely wanted to keep him around. Then he got grapplefucked by Thales Leites, and then they gave him a chance at redemption for the extremely controversial loss to Nate Quarry years prior.

Then he got released.

After his release, he coached on Team Serra for season 6 of TUF. Because of his involvement with the show, they gave him one more chance against Josh Burkman. He won that fight so they gave him another shot. He lost to Matt Brown and hasn't fought since.

[UncannyIowan]

haha Dubya, I know they were legal but he might've been DQ'd for too much violence lol. That knockout was just violent, holding him down like that you just don't see it that often and it was awesome.

PMBR, I rarely talk about Keith Jardine, I haven't talked about him in months. The last time I probably talked about him was when he was released or maybe when he fought last idk how long ago that was so it could've been sooner than 2-3 months ago. You're a creepy dude but Please, Don't Leave.

[PMBR]

You have 86 posts that mention Jardine in some capacity.

You brought up Jardine on Feb 4th in the UFC 126 thread. You brought up Houston Alexander KO'ing Jardine on January 5th and 9th. Ironically, you did it in the same post where you bashed Alistair Overeem. Shocking!

Not counting this thread, you've made 20 posts about Jardine since October.

[UncannyIowan]

See I knew I had probably talked about him sooner than a few months back, but think about this, like you said it was in some capacity. I'd bet that capacity wasn't me just popping up out of nowhere and calling him a piece of shit.

EDIT: Seriously, read some of those posts prior to yesterday and what I say about Jardine. I called him lame and spoke about him being accused of greasing in his last win for a brief moment. Everything else about him is random when I'm talking about Houston Alexander or him fighting at the shitty event with Buentello where no one got paid. You act like the subjects are about him when most of the posts I looked at were his name being used as a reference when talking about someone else, and it's rare.

So it's cool man, you keep trying, I'll be hear to make you look even weirder than before.

[PMBR]

You'll be hear? Maybe you should be in school.

[UncannyIowan]

You'll be hear? Maybe you should be in school.

Wow, ran out of any credible insults so you go after my spelling mistake?

:yes:

[Dubya]

Lol PMBR, you actually took the time to look up how many times he's talked about Keith Jardine and you're making fun of him ..

BACK ON TOPIC:

Sengoku has granted middleweight champion, Jorge Santiago, his release from the company. He's headed for North America.. the question is Strikeforce or UFC.. ?

[PMBR]

I could go after grammar too, but I've chosen not to.

You're a little hater and nothing more. You bash Overeem because Vladim wants you to, and you'd suck Fedor's beanbag dry if he gave you the opportunity.

[Dubya]

BACK ON TOPIC:

Sengoku has granted middleweight champion, Jorge Santiago, his release from the company. He's headed for North America.. the question is Strikeforce or UFC.. ?

I think this is really a blow to their company. While not the most popular guy in the world or anything, Santiago was really one of their more well-known (worldwide and espescially in USA) fighters. Then again, they probably weren't wanting to pay him any more and probably didn't have too many great fights lined up for him .. can't blame the guy. I anticipate that he goes to Strikeforce. Seems like a better fit for him than the UFC really.

[PMBR]

Sengoku has granted middleweight champion, Jorge Santiago, his release from the company. He's headed for North America.. the question is Strikeforce or UFC.. ?

That's a big release considering that the UFC middleweight division isn't as strong as the rest.

Sonnen is out.
Vitor and Marquardt are pretty tarnished right now after their recent losses.
Maia has been unimpressive since his title shot.
Bisping can't beat a name fighter.
Leben got knocked out by a major underdog.
Brian Stann fighting Wanderlei won't do anything for anyone unless Stann wins.
Alan Belcher has spent a good chunk of time on the sidelines.
Akiyama hasn't panned out the way Dana needed him to.
Yushin is sitting on the sidelines so Anderson can wait for GSP.
Jake Shields is hanging out as a welterweight.
Palhares looks like a dumb shit after the Nate fight.
Munoz and Dollaway are battling for a Top 15 spot.
Aaron Simpson's star plummeted after back to back losses.


Falcao is only one fight in with the company. Santiago would make a nice addition to that roster and, at the very least, make some interesting matchups.

[Dubya]

I kinda disagree on the Wand/Stann part .. if Wand beats Stann and then gets one more good win (maybe a rematch with Bisping?) .. I wouldn't be even slightly shocked to see him get a title shot. Silva vs. Silva would be another one of those EPIC BEST OF BRAZIL SHOWDOWN type fights like Silva vs. Belfort was. It would really be a huge fight and SOOOOOOOO easy to promote. Would really just depend on timing of other things too.

Alan Belcher recently said he should be back in the cage in 3-4 months.. I hope he's ready. that's a long layoff.. understandably so, but still .. CAGE RUST.

[UncannyIowan]

I could go after grammar too, but I've chosen not to.

You're a little hater and nothing more. You bash Overeem because Vladim wants you to, and you'd suck Fedor's beanbag dry if he gave you the opportunity.

What's funny is that I'm not even a Fedor fan. Go search how many times I've talked about Fedor, and find out there are quite a few times where someone has assumed I make fun of Overeem and his alleged drug use because I'm some big Fedor nut hugger when in reality I can't stand Fedor's hype, I can't stand M-1, and I could care less if Fedor wins or loses the HW GP tournament. I respect the fuck out Fedor, and I do find some of his fights very good but don't try to act like I'm a nut hugger because I say the same things others have said and still do say more than I do about Overeem.

OMG, I'm one of thousands who want to see Overeem truly tested in MMA. OMG, I'm not someone who calls him the best HW in the world because of what he did in K-1.

I'll await the 3rd neg rep in a row from you in the last 24 hours.

[UncannyIowan]

I kinda disagree on the Wand/Stann part .. if Wand beats Stann and then gets one more good win (maybe a rematch with Bisping?) .. I wouldn't be even slightly shocked to see him get a title shot. Silva vs. Silva would be another one of those EPIC BEST OF BRAZIL SHOWDOWN type fights like Silva vs. Belfort was. It would really be a huge fight and SOOOOOOOO easy to promote. Would really just depend on timing of other things too.

Alan Belcher recently said he should be back in the cage in 3-4 months.. I hope he's ready. that's a long layoff.. understandably so, but still .. CAGE RUST.

What about Belfort v. Wanderlai II if Silva gets past Stann? That'd be sick.

Good news on Belcher, he's solid, shitty Cash tat, but solid lol. I'd like to see him fight Leben.

[Mark Hammer]

This PMBR/UI feud is beyond ridiculous.

[UncannyIowan]

This PMBR/UI feud is beyond ridiculous.

I'm cashed out, I just realized why PMBR's been on me the last week or so even more than usual so it's all good now. When someone starts going through every post you've made about someone like Keith Jardine you know it's getting out of hand.

[Dubya]

What about Belfort v. Wanderlai II if Silva gets past Stann? That'd be sick.

Good news on Belcher, he's solid, shitty Cash tat, but solid lol. I'd like to see him fight Leben.

Yeah, that would be good too actually. A really big fight and if Wand wins, he just beat the previous challenger to the title so that helps his cause obviously. :yes:

Belcher vs. Leben would be an interesting fight for sure.

[Dubya]

Gilbert Melendez has signed a new multi-fight contract with Strikeforce. :no:

I don't like this because I really don't think there are that many, if any, real challengers for him at 155 that aren't in the UFC.

I was really hoping that after Shields jumped ship, that his teammates would step up and do the same. They both say they want to fight the best in the world and its pretty common knowledge that the majority of the best fighters in the world at 155 and 170 are in the UFC .. and the ones that aren't, they've already beat .. it comes off (to me) as them being content and not wanting to test themselves.

[PMBR]

Yeah. Gilbert fell quite a bit in my eye by making that decision. There isn't anything that Strikeforce can do for him that the UFC can't do 20x over.

[UncannyIowan]

Seems like that's the vibe I'm getting from quite a few fans when they see a supposed top guy or an actual top guy go to a smaller promotion or stay with a smaller promotion when the UFC is calling.

[Dubya]

I mean, its one thing to show loyalty to a company that helped you make your name and I get that.. but its another when you have literally nothing left to prove there. The only fight I'm really interested in for Melendez is a superfight with Eddie Alvarez from Bellator.. maybe a fight with KJ Noons .. after that.. ??????

[Dubya]

Apparently UFC/Strikeforce/Dream/Affliction welterweight, Jason High, has signed on with Strikeforce again. Good sign really. He's got some talent and is still fairly young .. beaten guys like Kevin Burns, Hayato Sakurai, Andre Galvao, and Rudy Bears. The Kansas City Bandit is headed back to Strikeforce.

[OD50]

Gilbert Melendez has signed a new multi-fight contract with Strikeforce. :no:

Unlike Jake Shelds, Nick Diaz and Gilbert Melendez have the champions clause in their contracts. You can't just run off and sign with anyone when you have one of those. Shields did not have that clause because his contract was made up by Gary Shaw and his trained chimps in ProElite/EliteXC, not Strikeforce.

[Dubya]

Chad Mendes inked a new multi-fight deal with the UFC. With another good win, he could easily be the next to challenge for Aldo's belt. KenFlo said he wants an immediate contendor for his first fight. I'm sure they're not gonna give Tyson Griffin anyone too far down the ladder either . . hmm . . :chin:

[Pete Cash]

How come Shields cannot strike at all and the Diaz brothers can't wrestle. What the fuck are they doing over there.

[Fanny Batter]

Griffin will get somebody very beatable in his first featherweight fight. He's lost 3 on the bounce. Florian it's hard to say who he'll get because that division is quite shallow up top with Brown being the top "name" besides Aldo but dropping 2 fights on unaired prelims. I guess Nunes or Pourier are options for KenFlo but neither are known, and they absolutely should not chuck Mendes in there with him yet.

I'd go Florian vs. Nunes, Mendes vs. Pourier, Griffin vs. Korean Zombie and Brown vs. some tramp. Get Eric Koch stuck in as well. It's a shallow weight class right now, hopefully they can sign some guys.

[UncannyIowan]

I wonder if Edgar loses the title if he'd consider dropping to 145.....Joe Stevenson is someone else I've been looking at wondering if they could make the cut.

[Fanny Batter]

There's a few lightweights who could make the cut. If KenFlo, who is already lean, can make it then a lot of them can. Hopefully they can get guys like Takaya, Hiaki and Fernandes over as well. It's hard to build momentum at 155 because of the sheer numbers, hopefully a lot of guys will drop and fill out 145.

Bantamweight is quite shallow but is awesome. Cruz, Torres, Bowles, Benavidez, Faber, Jorgenson, Banuelos, KID, Barao, Mighty Mouse, Wineland, Pickett, Mizugaki. Great fights to be had in that division. I'd be going:

Cruz vs. Faber (if he beats Wineland)
Torres vs. Wineland (should he beat Faber) or Mighty Mouse
Bowles vs. Benavidez if both win there next fights
Banuelos vs. Jorgenson 3
KID vs. Pickett

[Dubya]

How come Shields cannot strike at all and the Diaz brothers can't wrestle. What the fuck are they doing over there.

lol I've always wondered that exact same thing .. Melendez seems to manage to take the good from both and Diaz isn't exactly a slouch on the ground.. but yeah, Shields is no striking master .. thats for sure. He'll definitely be trying to put GSP on his back .. hopefully for him, Chael Sonnen and Ben Askren can help him make sure he can do that .. cuz while he does have fairly good defensive boxing, the offensive side of it is pretty poor. He'll pound your face in if he gets on top of you, but definitely not until.. of course we all say this .. watch him come in and just fuckin KO GSP in the first round or something stupid.

[Seanny One Ball]

You know what I've been thinking over the last couple of pages?

Nobody has ever talked this much about Keith Jardine, because nobody cares this much about Keith Jardine...even Keith Jardine cares less.

Amazing.

[Dubya]

Well .. thanks for playing.

Kenny Robertson has been released following his debut loss against Mike Pierce.

[PMBR]

I really hope that this last week has been torture for Fat Gabe. He needs to be released immediately to have all of his hopes and dreams crushed.

[Dubya]

What sucks for Gabe is he really is decent on the ground (obviously not as good as J-Lau), but his striking is just so shit. He needs to work on that and probably his takedowns too.

[Dubya]

Paul Kelly is the latest to get the UFC axe.. so apparently WEC guys are good enough to be in the UFC, but if you lose to one .. you're fucked. Lol.

[Mark Hammer]

I understand the decision as stacked as 155 is now. Still odd considering his last fight was FOTN.

[Torn]

Sengoku has granted middleweight champion, Jorge Santiago, his release from the company. He's headed for North America.. the question is Strikeforce or UFC.. ?

http://sports.espn.go.com/extra/mma/news/story?id=6113972


Jorge Santiago has found his way back to the UFC.
UFC president Dana White confirmed to ESPN.com that the American Top Team fighter has agreed to a multi-fight deal with the UFC and is expected to make his return to the promotion at UFC 130 on May 28 in Las Vegas. His opponent has not yet been determined.NICE

[Fanny Batter]

Could be a Belcher or Leben rematch?

[Dubya]

That is fucking nice. There's a lot of interesting fights for him in the UFC. I honestly thought he'd end up in Strikeforce, but this is good too.

[OD50]

I wanted Santiago in Strikeforce, they desperately need more challengers for Jácaré. I doubt he will ever make it to a fight with Anderson in the UFC.

[Dubya]

I don't think he will either, but I'm impressed that he wants to try.

[Fanny Batter]

He's going to fight Stann at 130 apparently.

I think if you lose 2 out of 3 at lightweight you're done, unless you're a name or the one win is spectacular. Too many guys.

[Pete Cash]

lol Stann is going to knock him out. Comedy gold UFC. A guy who got knocked out by a punch from the bottom versus a guy who knocked out Chris Leben.

[OD50]

Dave ''Pee-Wee'' Herman (20-2) signs with the UFC:
http://www.mmafighting.com/2011/02/15/dave-pee-wee-herman-released-by-sengoku-signs-with-ufc/

First Santiago and now Herman gets released by Sengoku, not a good sign.

[Dubya]

Why do I know that name? I don't watch much Sengoku ..

EDIT: AH HA! Lol .. he was supposed to fight Ricco in Bellator, but one of them got hurt. That's why I knew that name.

[Dubya]

Apparently the UFC has a deal waiting for Hatsu Hioki whenever he wants it ..

http://www.mmabay.co.uk/2011/02/25/the-ufc-happy-to-snap-up-top-rated-japanese-featherweight-hatsu-hioki-any-time-he-wants/

[OD50]

Marcus Davis has signed with MFC. He will probably make his debut on the April card.

[Seanny One Ball]

Marcus Davis has had his share of bad decisions, I wanted him to retire in the UFC.

[OD50]

Derek Brunson (6-0) 3x All-American wrestler at The University of North Carolina has signed with Strikeforce to fight at MW.
YouTube - Derek Brunson . Official TUF audition film

Exciting signing. Looks like a freaky athlete.

[OD50]

Mario Miranda and Chris McKay has been cut by the UFC.

[PMBR]

That sounds about right. One of them is 1-3 in the UFC, while the other is 0-3.

[Seanny One Ball]

Mario Miranda will flourish in lower levels of MMA competition.

[OD50]

I'm pretty sure I saw somewhere that Ryan Jensen was released from the UFC after his loss to JMac at UFC 129. Can't be arsed to look for the source though. [Lazy]

[Lazurus]

I'm pretty sure I saw somewhere that Ryan Jensen was released from the UFC after his loss to JMac at UFC 129. Can't be arsed to look for the source though. [Lazy]

http://www.mmamania.com/2011/5/4/2152755/ryan-jensen-released-by-ufc-following-loss-to-jason-macdonald-on

[OD50]

Thanks.

Strikeforce has signed KOTC veteran Quinn Mulhern (15-1).
http://mmajunkie.com/news/23514/quinn-mulhern-signs-strikeforce-deal-could-debut-at-junes-challengers-event.mma

It's the guy that submitted Rich Clementi in KOTC not too long ago.

[OD50]

Maiquel Falcâo has been cut by the UFC.
http://www.tatame.com/2011/05/10/Breaking--Maiquel-Falcao-cut-by-the-UFC

[Mik]

Thats bullshit. He was excellent in his fight against Harris. Came out of nowhere and outfought the guy, then there was talk about him getting cut just because he coasted in the third round. It was nonsense and this sounds like nonsense too. The guy has great potential.

"He tapped out in three different occasions, hiding it. It was a new thing for me, it was the first time I got three wins on the same bout. On the first round, he tapped out the first time when he was on the four points position, then he tapped out again in the end of the first round, when I got him on the rear naked choke with his body turned up, and on the third round he tapped out again on a rear naked choke."

He is a peculiar fighter.

[Torn]

It's not bullshit, and it's so far removed from the fight that it has nothing to do with that. He was scheduled to fight Tom Lawlor in Rio so it must have been atleast kinda serious that they booked him in a fight and THEN cut him, and we're not really in a position to judge without knowing the full story.

[PMBR]

It's absolutely bullshit that they will cut Falcao for a legal issue stemming from a fight. Unless he raped or killed somebody (or something equally heinous) this is nothing but pure bullshit. Let's keep on the money launderer but fire a guy who got in a bar fight 8 years before we hired him.

[Dubya]

http://mmajunkie.com/news/23557/ufc-releases-maiquel-falcao-pulls-him-from-ufc-134-card.mma

I think it is bullshit for the simple reason that they've let Chael Sonnen stay employed for the entire time during his near-simultaneous problems with the Commission over the drug test and problems with the gov't over the money-laundering thing.

..and they're gonna cut Falcao for something that happened like 10 years ago, something they know the charages are being dropped on in September of this year .. something he only got a 24-month house arrest sentence for .. its not like he raped or murdered someone.. I don't think you just get house-arrest for that. .. but if you do.. hmm.. lol

[Torn]

It clearly goes further than the fact that he got into a fight in 2002. Come on. He was pulled from a fight. Wait for the facts before screaming bullshit.

[Seanny One Ball]

This is a shame purely on the grounds that Falcao looked pretty damned good against Harris. I'd have liked to see him against some sluggers.

[PMBR]

My thoughts exactly. I think giving him Lawlor is actually a step down considering the publicity Harris had generated with his story of getting back into the UFC and then his 3 finishes/2 KO's of the night.

I wanted to see him vs Bisping. Still do, actually.

[Mik]

It is bullshit.

[Dubya]

It clearly goes further than the fact that he got into a fight in 2002. Come on. He was pulled from a fight. Wait for the facts before screaming bullshit.

Yeah, but why now? That's the part that kinda seems like bullshit. He fought in November.. this happened like 9 years ago so whats different between now and then .. I mean, is the ceiling about to crash in on this guy and he's gonna go to jail and no one knows it but Dana White or something? Lol.. His agent seemed to be in good spirits and said it will be dropped in September .. it just seems really odd. :\

[Seanny One Ball]

It really is bullshit.

[OD50]

http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/Lightweight-Dynamo-Blanco-Signs-With-Strikeforce-32405

Maximo 'Maxi' Blanco (8-2) signs with Strikeforce. Great move by Zuffa putting him in SF where the LW division really needs to be bulked up.

Melendez
Aoki
Noons
JZ
Wilcox
Thomson
Masvidal
Blanco
Beerbohm

Improving. :yes: