Fight Teams

Stout Talks Preparation for UFC 83

Sam Stout sits down with RawVegas‘ Dave Farra to discuss his preparation for his upcoming fight against Rich Clementi at UFC 83: Serra vs. St. Pierre II next weekend in Canada. Among the things Stout elaborates on include his training at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas, his relationship with coach Shawn Tompkins, the current state of the UFC’s lightweight division, and the potential chance to avenge a previous loss to current contender Kenny Florian.

Inside Xtreme Couture

In the latest episode of RawVegas’ ”Inside Xtreme Couture”, a bunch of fighters who have upcoming fights are featured: Jay Hieron, Kim Couture, Sam Stout, and Mac Danzig. Boxing coach Ron Frazier breaks down the hectic schedule that the gym has had to deal with recently as so many are involved with upcoming fights.

Even though the show was filmed prior to this past weekend, it still gives a very interesting look as to what goes on inside the gym. Hieron and Couture, who fought on separate shows last weekend were both victorious. Hieron successfully defended his IFL welterweight title over Mark Miller while Couture picked up her first professional win against Jessica Cruz.

Team Takedown Sweeps at XFL

Team Takedown members Jake Rosholt, Johny Hendricks and Shane Roller, each former All-American standout wrestlers at Oklahoma State University, were victorious in their respective bouts at last night’s Xtreme Fighting League event at the Tulsa, Oklahoma Expo Square Pavilion.

The event was televised live on HDNet.

Rosholt dominated opponent Chad Jay from the start in the main event, taking Jay down at will and scoring early and often with a mix of punches and elbows from the top position. Jay tagged Rosholt with a combination at the start of the second round and did so once again in the third, momentarily stunning the wrestler.

However Rosholt regained his composure and scored yet another takedown, eventually landing a number of unanswered blows that forced the referee to halt the bout.

Hendricks scored an early takedown and easily transitioned into a D’Arce choke that caused last-minute replacement opponent Richard Bamgle to tape out only a minute and a half into the first round. Roller needed just under two minutes to stop Yoshihiro Kitaoka with strikes.

Levi Avera sucessfully defended his XFL welterweight title, submitting Brandon Newsome with a triangle in the first round.

Complete event results are as follows:

Jake Rosholt def. Chad Jay - TKO (Strikes)
Johny Hendricks def. Richard Bamgle - Submission (D’Arce Choke)
Shane Roller def. Yoshihiro Kitaoka - TKO (Strikes)
Levi Avera def. Brandon Newsome - Submission (Triangle)
Adrian Sanchez def. Chris Bowles - TKO (Cut)
Daniel Roberts def. Akira Kinjo - Unanimous Decision
Shane Waits def. Kazuya Nishiyama - Unanimous Decision
Mike Budnick def. Dustin Phillips - Submission (Guillotine)

Reminder: Team Takedown on HDNet Saturday

DALLAS – HDNet Fights has announced that it is teaming with the Xtreme Fighting League for the upcoming “HDNet Fights Presents: Xtreme Fighting League” on March 15 at the Expo Square Pavilion in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The event will air live, exclusively on HDNet.

For the event, Team Takedown will send three of its fighters – and Oklahoma wrestling legends: Jake Rosholt, Johny Hendricks and Shane Roller. All are alumni of Oklahoma State University, so it won’t be too much of a stretch to hope for a partisan crowd. In addition, the remainder of the card will feature additional Oklahoma-based talent and young athletes from Osaka, Japan.

Team Takedown is a fighter management company based out of Texas. It is known for the unconventional method of putting fighters on salary, allowing them to focus on training full-time. In addition, its fighters are making the transition from all-star wrestlers to mixed martial arts athletes.

“I am excited about this partnership with HDNet Fights.” said XFL founder and promoter Dale Cook. “This card and the exposure on HDNet is tremendous for our League, our fighters and our city.”

HDNet Fights President Guy Mezger said Cook has been a long-time promoter of combat martial arts.

“Dale always has a strong regional show and we’re excited about partnering with him,” Mezger said. “He can continue to grow his shows and we’ll have high quality mixed martial arts programming for HDNet.”

Continue reading "Reminder: Team Takedown on HDNet Saturday"

Musical Chairs: Marcello Out, Lim In

Nick Diaz and Gilbert Melendez, who will both be competing at the upcoming Elite Xtreme Combat and Strikeforce co-promoted “Shamrock vs Cung Le”, which take place on March 29th at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California, both apparently have new information concerning their opponents.

MMA Weekly originally reported that Melendez, who has been advertised as competing in DREAM’s upcoming lightweight grand prix, would not be fighting overseas and would in fact defend his Strikeforce lightweight title against Chute Boxe coach Cristiano Marcello instead. The news came from the mouth of Marcello himself.

Now our friends at MMA Junkie are reporting through Strikeforce vice-president Mike Afromowitz that the fight was never signed and an official opponent for Melendez could be named as soon as this afternoon.

Melendez was originally scheduled to defend his title against Josh Thompson and then Bodog star Jorge Masvidal but both were forced to pull out because of injury.

Diaz will reportedly take on a recently victorious Jae Suk Lim, who won the SpiritMC middleweight title for a second time with a decisive win over top prospect Yoon Young Kim last Sunday.

The news comes from GracieFighter, a site maintained by Diaz’s coach, Cesar Gracie, even though Lim stated after his win over Kim that he would fighting inside the confines of ICON Sport in his next bout.

Diaz has not fought since being upset by KJ Noons in a bid for the vacant EliteXC lightweight title.

During his time off, Diaz underwent plastic surgery to repair a large amount of scar tissue that developed around his eyes. The scar tissue certainly factored into his loss to Noons as the fight was stopped because of several cuts Diaz had suffered on his face.

CKA: Mar 7, 2008

Highlights of Kim Couture’s Muay-Thai match at an Xtreme Couture smoker last weekend courtesy of RawVegas above.

Who’s Your Favorite UFC Ring Girl?

Each week AskMen.com holds their ‘Beauty Pageant Of The Week’. Last week was the girls on this season of American Idol, this week is the girls of the UFC.

Go ahead and vote for who you think is the hottest of the trio. Rachelle Leah, Arianny Celeste, and Edith Larente are all ready to receive your vote. I went with Arianny but that’s just me. Make sure you hurry up and get your picks in. It is the end of the week you know.

Jordan Replaces Richards in YAMMA Tournament

UFC veteran Kevin Jordan has replaced Rex Richards in YAMMA Pit Fighting’s upcoming eight-man heavyweight tournament next month according to the latest fight card on the organization’s official website.

Jordan was submitted by Paul Buentello and knocked out by Gabriel Gonzaga before being released from the UFC. Since then Jordan has gone 2-1. His last fight was a submission win over Carlos Morena at a Battle Cage Xtreme show last October.

AFL: Erupption Filled With UFC Veterans

The American Fight League will hold an event titled “Erupption” tonight at the Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky that will feature four veterans of the Ultimate Fighting Championship competing on the card. Junior Assuncao, Rory Singer and Dan Christison will all be in action in separate fights.

Diego Saraiva will go up against Joe Ammerman for the AFL lightweight title in the night’s main event.

Vigneault to Travel to Aruba for TKO 33

TKO Championship Fighting veteran Stephane Vigneault will be fighting on the organization’s next card in Aruba according to a report from our friends at TKO Xtreme.

After a near two-year hiatus from active competition, Vigneault made his return at TKO 31: Young Guns in December but ended up being submitted by lightweight prospect Ben Greer. Vigneault bounced back with a TKO win over Daniel Ferguson last weekend.

Radio Schedule

Fightlinker: The Low Blow Episode 40: March Mailbag, live!
Jarry Park: Krzysztof Soszynski Helps Kick Off The Weekend

12-1 PM EST - TAGG Radio
1-3 PM EST - The Savage Dog Show
3-5 PM EST - The Beatdown
3-4 PM EST - The Fight Network Radio
9-10 PM EST - MMAWeekly’s Sound Off
11 PM EST - Knockout Radio

Couture Preliminary Injunction Decided Today

Nevada District Court Judge Jennifer Togliatti will rule later today on a preliminary injunction the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Zuffa has filed against current heavyweight champion Randy Couture.

Different from the lawsuit the organization filed against Couture, the injunction will attempt to block the Xtreme Couture gym from field a team that is currently slated to compete for The International Fight League tomorrow night in the promotion’s first event of the new year. It is likely that if Zuffa is victorious, Couture will be unable to corner fighters from the gym at the event as well. Couture has publicly stated that Shawn Tompkins would be heading the team at the event anyway.

Zuffa alleges that the IFL had posted an image bearing Couture’s likeness on the front of their official website. According to Couture, his staff immediately contacted the IFL and asked that it be removed right away and it was done so.

The lawsuit filed against Couture by Dana White and company will not be heard in court until March 25th. Couture has requested the dismissal of the lawsuit.

Zuffa’s case cites that Couture has made negative comments about the promotion and those involved with it’s management. They also stated that the comments have caused “irreparable damage” and that he has breached the employment contract he signed with the company. Xtreme Couture’s involvement with the IFL was also included in the suit via a claim that it is a direct violation of his contract with the UFC.

The suit will also attempt to collect up to $10,000 in damages from Couture and seek a restraining order that will prevent Couture from being involved with any other organizations that compete against the UFC. This comes after Couture resigned from the UFC last fall and has stated that he intends to sit out the remainder of his contract before fighting in another organization, hopefully against top-ranked heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko.

Mark Cuban and his HDNet Fights promotion filed suit in a Dallas, Texas district court in hopes of earning a declaratory judgment concerning the contractual status of Couture when it comes to his employment contract (the deal that dictates where Couture can fight).

The declaratory judgement will hopefully provide Cuban with an exact date as to when Couture’s contract expires with the UFC, if it expires at all.

HDNet Fights has also reportedly entered into a contractual agreement with Couture which will have the promotion attempt to set up a showdown between Couture and top ranked heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko later this year.

The deal will likely go into effect at the time of the expiration of Couture’s promotional contract with Zuffa. Without some sort of deal in place, a Texas court will likely throw out HDNet Fights suit filed against the UFC’s parent company last week.

It is interesting to note in Cuban’s claims against Zuffa that he points out “indefinite employment restrictions” such as the ones set forth against Couture by Dana White and company since his resignation from the organization last fall are against the law. 

Nortje, Sefo Join Xtreme Couture

Former K-1 kickboxing stars Jan Nortje and Ray Sefo have joined the ranks of the Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas.

The gym made the announcement earlier today it’s official blog.

Nortje is coming off of an impressive victory over former NFL lineman and mixed martial arts veteran Bob Sapp at this past weekend’s “Strikeforce at the Dome” show. Nortje stopped Sapp with strikes in the first round.

The win was Nortje’s first in mixed martial arts since Tadao Yasuda was forced to bow out of their December 2002 bout because of injury. After the fight, Nortje expressed his desire to compete under the Strikeforce banner in the future.

“It wasn’t luck,” Nortje said during a post-fight interview. “I trained my ass off for this fight. I knew Sapp was one hell of a job to take on, but I did it. Thanks to Scott Coker and Strikeforce, I’m going to keep doing this. This feels nice. This feels good.“

Sefo, more renowned for his success in the world of kickboxing, only has one professional MMA fight to his credit. He knocked out Min Soo Kim with a head kick at a K-1 Hero’s event in July 2005. The New Zealand native is already enjoying the company he has at the gym.

“A lot of times, high level fighters have bad attitudes,” Sefo said in the article. “But not here. Everyone is cool and doesn’t take themselves too seriously.”

Sefo also revealed that he was offered a fight against top heavyweight striker Mirko Cro Cop but opted to decline the bout since he was given extremely short notice.

CKA: Feb 20, 2008

UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson discusses the upcoming seventh season of “The Ultimate Fighter”, of which he will serve as one of the coaches along with future opponent Forrest Griffin with RawVegas.

Twelve Fights at UFC Fight Night 13?

It just might be a possibility according to Pro Karate Weekly:

We are pleased to announce that NAAFS veteran Jeff “The Grinder” Cox will be returning to the Octagon on April 2nd as part of a special UFC Fight Night on Spike TV. Cox will be facing TUF Season 5 runner-up Manny Gamburyan.

Insanity.

Rafferty, Knabjian Return Saturday at XFO 22

Former “Ultimate Fighter” season one cast member Josh Rafferty and WEC veteran Kevin Knabjian will both return to action this Saturday at Xtreme Fight Organization’s “Rising Star” event at the Crystal Lake Holiday Inn in Crystal Lake, Illinois.

Rafferty will attempt to build on a successful two-fight run in 2007 when he takes on fellow welterweight Jay Little. Knabjian will be facing off against an opponent yet to be named.

Making his professional mixed martial arts debut at the show will be Pat Curran, the cousin of top-ranked featherweight Jeff Curran. The younger Curran has won all of his three career amateur bouts.

Robert Drysdale Joins Xtreme Couture

From Xtreme Couture’s official blog:

2007 Abu-Dhabi Absolute Champion Robert Drysdale is the newest member of Xtreme Couture. Robert just moved to Las Vegas, where he is living full time. He is excited to be the newest addition to our Pro Team where he will train in preparation for his MMA debut. Robert will be instructing the Pro Team in jiu jitsu and will teach the jiu jitsu classes at the gym. He is also going to coach our amateur submission grappling and jiu jitsu teams.

Pancrase Announces Card for March 26th Event

Pancrase has officially announced the complete card for it’s next event on March 26th, which will take place at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan.

Miki Shida vs. Marlon Sandro
Izuru Takeuchi vs. Hiromitsu Kanehara
Alavutdin Gadzhiev vs. Hikaru Sato
Takafumi Ito vs. Hacran Dias
Kenji Arai vs. Shinsuke Shoji
Michihisa Asano vs. Yukito
Ichiro Kanai vs. Takenori Sato
Asaki Honda vs. Tomoyoshi Iwamiya

More on Rich Bergeron/Xyience Case

Rich Bergeron has been kind enough to send us a 90-page PDF document outlining his counterclaim against Xyience, which will be heard in Las Vegas court later today.

Radio Schedule

12-1 PM EST - TAGG Radio
1-3 PM EST - The Savage Dog Show
3-5 PM EST - The Beatdown
3-4 PM EST - The Fight Network Radio
9-10 PM EST - MMAWeekly’s Sound Off
11 PM EST - Knockout Radio

IFL Announces Three Title Bouts for April

The International Fight League earlier today announced details for their upcoming East Rutherford, NJ event, which will take place at the IZOD Center on April 4th.

Three title fights are scheduled to headline the card. IFL light heavyweight champion Vladimir Matyushenko will make his first title defense against New Jersey native Jamal Patterson. Popular welterweight champion and Xtreme Couture product Jay Hieron will attempt to keep his belt around his waist when he goes up against former U.S. Marine Mark Miller.

Upstart Shad Lierley, who made headlines after going toe-to-toe with lightweight sensation Chris Horodecki last year, will drop down to the featherweight division in exchange for a shot against current title holder Wagnney Fabiano, who submitted L.C. Davis this past December to grab the vacant belt.

Horodecki is also expected to return to action at the event, currently against an opponent yet to be named.

The nine-fight card will feature matchups between four different camps. Fighters from Renzo Gracie’s Academy will take on athletes from Midwest Combat while American Top Team will make it’s IFL debut against martial artists from the renowned Miletich Fighting Systems.

“I like the local feel of this card,” said IFL Vice President Bas Rutten. ““In addition to three outstanding championship bouts, featuring fighters from New York and New Jersey, you have Renzo Gracie’’s camp, which was the champion last year, Midwest Combat, which features our top fighters from the Chicago area, and great battles with the Miletich camp and American Top Team, who we are very excited to have on board.””

Miletich fighters Rory Markham and Mike Ciesnolevicz will go up against American Top Team’s Emyr Bussade and Lew Polley respectively. L.C. Davis will also likely compete for Pat Miletich as well.

A lightweight clash between Deividas Taurosevicius and Bart “Palaszewski is the only announced battle between Renzo Gracie’s Academy and Midwest Combat as of right now. Skilled welterweight Delson Heleno will also represent Renzo Gracie on the card.