KJ Noons

Quick Hits: Noons, Martin Claim Boxing Wins, “Ninja” Rua to Face Steibling & More

— Former EliteXC lightweight champion K.J. Noons and UFC veteran Terry Martin each picked up respective wins in the world of boxing this weekend. Noons earned a unanimous decision over Randy Pogue on Saturday night in Pala, California while Martin knocked out opponent Rayvon Wilson in the second round of their Friday night bout in Hammond, Indiana. [MMA Junkie]

— Chute Boxe product Murilo “Ninja” Rua has reportedly been tapped to replace Antonio Rogerio Nogueira against Alex Steibling on the Bitetti Combat 4 card, which takes place on September 12 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Nogueira withdrew from the card last week and current speculation has him joining his older brother, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, in the light heavyweight ranks of the UFC. [Fighters.com]

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Quote of the Day: Noons Shoots Down UFC Rumors

“It would be a great match-up, but those are all rumors. I don’t know how they get started.”

Former EliteXC lightweight champion K.J. Noons tells MMA Junkie that the unsubstantiated rumors that popped up yesterday stating that he was set to sign with the UFC and would be fighting Melvin Guillard at UFC Fight Night 18 in April are untrue.

Speaking of Guillard, Tatame.com is reporting that the colorful striker will actually be taking on UFC newcomer Ronnys Torres at the event.

Noons Believes He’s a Free Agent

After being stripped of his EliteXC lightweight title, K.J. Noons has stated that he believes that he has now become a free agent in a new interview with Sherdog.com. Noons’ belt was taken away after he refused to accept a title defense against Nick Diaz, whom Noons had defeated in November of last year.

“I’m a free agent,” Noons said in the article. “Since I’ve been stripped, I’m no longer the champion and I don’t owe them the fights (Noons says that he had two fights remaining on his deal if he were champion). I owed them fights for being a champion.”

EliteXC Head of Fight Operations Jeremy Lappen thinks otherwise. According to Lappen, Noons still has two fights remaining on his current contract regardless, but isn’t sure whether or not the promotion will have the part-time professional boxer fight for them again.

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KJ Noons Stripped of EliteXC Lightweight Title

LOS ANGELES – KJ Noons of San Diego has been stripped of his EliteXC lightweight title. The announcement was made late Friday by EliteXC Head of Fight Operations, Jeremy Lappen.

The foremost reason EliteXC is taking this action, Lappen said, was due to Noons’ reluctance to defend against leading 160-pound contender Nick Diaz of Stockton, Calif.

“We are stripping KJ of his championship belt for refusing to defend against Diaz,’’ Lappen said. “It’s a very unfortunate situation but we cannot have belt-holders who refuse to fight the top contenders. We want champions who will fight anyone, anytime, anyplace. That’s the mentality all champions should have.

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Diaz’s Camp Responds to Noons’ Statement

Days after EliteXC lightweight champion K.J. Noons issued a formal statement to the media concerning his reasoning behind turning down a proposed title defense against Nick Diaz, Cesar Gracie, Diaz’s longtime trainer, has posted a response on his fight team’s official website, Graciefighter.com.

The post breaks down Noons’ statement piece-by-piece, offering the camp’s thoughts on a variety of things that Noons elaborated on, including his lack of promotion by EliteXC, his boxing career, his salary, and his father among other things.

Below are some excerpts from their response.

Diaz’s camp on Noons decision to turn down the Diaz bout to pursue his boxing career despite wanting fight Eddie Alvarez instead: “Earth to KJ; you don’t have a boxing career. No one in the boxing world knows who you are. Another MMA company would have paid you less and not given you a title shot, especially when you were 1-1. If you will not fight Diaz due to a breach of contract by EliteXC then why would you fight Alvarez for the same terms?”

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Noons Issues Statement on EliteXC Situation

Days after being slammed by EliteXC management for deciding not to accept a proposed title defense against Nick Diaz, EliteXC lightweight champion K.J. Noons has issued a formal statement regarding the situation to the media.

The complete, unedited statement can be read after the jump.

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Quote of the Day: Mark Dion on Marriage

“I would think Eddie Alvarez is the No. 1 contender. He’s definitely ranked higher than Nick Diaz. K.J. already beat Nick Diaz. Eddie Alvarez is getting married [in September], but that’s not our problem. People get married in five or ten minutes.”

- City Boxing’s Mark Dion, manager of EliteXC lightweight champion K.J. Noons, gives his thoughts on why Noons should be fighting Eddie Alvarez instead of accepting a proposed rematch against Nick Diaz on EliteXC’s October 4th show on CBS to MMA Junkie. Dion and Noons let EliteXC’s 24-hour deadline to accept the Diaz fight pass by yesterday, ensuring that neither fighter will be competing on the card.

This kind of ridiculous behavior is what Dion is known for. His drama-filled split with former client Brandon Vera last year drew headlines and there’s no doubt that Noons’ current situation isn’t going to be beneficial to his professional career either. I guess fighting on network television in front of millions isn’t all that special these days.

Shaw Reveals EliteXC’s Upcoming Event Schedule; Garners Response from Noons

Despite rampant speculation that EliteXC and the multiple promotions owned under parent company ProElite are in potential financial trouble, EliteXC Vice President Jared Shaw is denying the reports, at least when it comes to the home of Kimbo Slice and K.J. Noons.

“EliteXC will not be going on Sept. 20,” Shaw said in a report on MMA Junkie this morning. “I’m the vice president of EliteXC, so I don’t really know all the matters that occur with the Cage Rages or ICONs of the world. But I can tell you that EliteXC is fully functional and fully healthy. Some things happen on a larger scale not necessarily that we’re not privy to, but we’re busy working on other events. For EliteXC we just felt that we needed to clear the runway for a big landing on Oct. 4.”

Those other events Shaw speaks of apparently include four more shows over the next three months, starting with the latest edition of ShoXC: Elite Challenger Series on September 26th, which will be headlined by Wilson Reis taking on Bao Quach for the vacant EliteXC featherweight belt.

“We have a large schedule of mixed martial arts fights coming up,” Shaw said. “We have Sept. 26 in Santa Barbara - our ShoXC featuring that world title fight (between 140-pound fighters Bao Quach and Wilson Reis). Oct. 4 (we’re) on CBS featuring Kimbo Slice and Gina Carano. Oct. 10 on Showtime, ShoXC will feature the heavyweight phenom, Dave Herman. And we will be back on Nov. 8 with another tremendous Showtime show.”

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Noons Dodging CBS Showdown With Diaz?

When reports began circulating over the past few weeks that a much-anticipated rematch between EliteXC lightweight champion K.J. Noons and Nick Diaz could place on October 4th on CBS, Diaz’s camp quickly stated that there was a strong possibility that Noons’ camp may not accept the fight if it was offered.

It turns out that they were right.

According to MMA Weekly, EliteXC VP Jared Shaw has revealed that Noons’ management camp refuses to return any of EliteXC’s phone calls in an attempt to set up his next title defense. Even more unfortunate for the organization is Noons’ rumored to be more interested in a return to boxing rather than continuing his winning ways in MMA.

“Nick Diaz is the number one contender and K.J. Noons should step up and be the champion that we think he is and take this fight,” Shaw said. “Nick Diaz will take this fight any place, anywhere. (Noons’ management) won’t even return our calls. I don’t understand it. This fight on CBS is maximum exposure and the opportunity for maximum sponsorship dollars, way more than he could make on Showtime. At this point, I question his management.”

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Diaz-Noons II Proposed for October

A much-anticipated rematch between EliteXC lightweight champion K.J. Noons and Nick Diaz could take place at the organization’s third edition of “Saturday Night Fights” on CBS, which will take place on October 4th at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Florida.

Graciefighter.com, which is run by Diaz’s trainer and manager, Cesar Gracie, reported the news yesterday morning. However the site has also noted that there is a strong possibility that Noons’ camp may not accept the fight. If the proposal is turned down, Diaz could then set his sights on a DREAM welterweight title bout against Hayato “Mach” Sakurai, but the promotion’s officials have yet to pay Diaz following his win over Katsuya Inoue in May.

The feud between Noons and Diaz vaulted to an all-time high following Noons’ successful title defense over Yves Edwards at EliteXC’s “Return of the King” event in June, where a near-brawl broke out between the Diaz brothers and Noons’ father, Karl Sr. Order was restored relatively quickly and no one was injured. Still, a war of words has ensued between the two camps ever since.