UFC

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Penn, Sherk Continue War of Words

The war of words between UFC lightweight kings B.J. Penn and Sean Sherk raged on yesterday, a little over a week until their highly anticipated showdown that will decide the organization’s true lightweight champion in Las Vegas.

Even before the bout was officially signed, Penn has been adamant about blasting Sherk with every chance he gets concerning Sherk’s failed steroids test last year under the watch of the California State Athletic Commission, a ruling that the Minnesota native still feels is wrong to this day.

“It’s hard for me, being a guy that’s never used performance enhancing drugs,” Penn said on yesterday’s pre-fight conference call for UFC 84: Ill Will. “You wake up every day after training tired and in pain and it kind of gets to you when you learn that someone is taking those kind of things. I’m a purist and I love this sport more than anythning. When someone goes ahead and perverts a sport as pure as this, I can’t take it.”

Even though the two both agreed that the conclusion of the fight would most likely result in the end of the bad blood and hard-feelings, Penn continued to push Sherk’s button as the call went on, even going as far as asking the former champion himself about his alleged use of performance enhancing drugs, prompting Sherk to strike back.

“I know what I did and I know what I didn’t do,” Sherk said. “I went above and beyond what I had to do in order to try and prove that I was innocent. Anyone that has followed the case and what I’ve had gone through will know that I didn’t do what they said I did.”

“I have fans who stand by me and who believe that I didn’t take steroids,” continued Sherk. “Then there are those who will think a certain way because of the way I look. I’ve looked the same for the past 10 years. Shit, I’ve apparently been doing steroids and I’ve been able to drop down to 155 lbs. Amazing, isn’t it?”

Moderating the banter was UFC President Dana White. While White was hesitant to give a definite opinion on the situation involving Sherk, he also stated that he can’t complain about the amount of animosity between the two.

“I’ve known Sean Sherk for a long time. I respect him as an athlete and as a man,” White said. “B.J. has his opinions of Sean and he’s going to let you know what they are. This happens sometimes. One of the cool things about this sport is the sportsmanship and everything else. But you know sometimes guys just rub each other the wrong way and it happens. Everything I just said about the two best fighters in the world facing each other in their prime, it doesn’t suck when they hate each other either.”

Additional conference call notes from yesterday are after the jump.

Continue reading "Penn, Sherk Continue War of Words"

Shaw Interested in Bringing Ortiz to EliteXC

With his days as a featured fighter with the Ultimate Fighting Championship coming to an end, Tito Ortiz, the one-time face of the organization, has mentioned that he’d like to take his services elsewhere following his upcoming fight against Lyoto Machida on May 24th.

One of the organizations in which Ortiz has expressed interest in Elite Xtreme Combat, headed by former boxing promoter Gary Shaw. Brash and out-spoken, Shaw is no stranger to giving his opinion when asked by the media and didn’t shy away earlier today when the potential of Ortiz shifting his career to EliteXC was brought up.

“In all my years in the fight game, I can see, touch, feel a superstar,” Shaw said this afternoon on a conference call promoting EliteXC’s network television debut on CBS later this month. “Everytime I see Tito Ortiz, he reeks of stardom. I think when his days in the UFC are over, that I can reincarnate him. Could you imagine Tito and Kimbo Slice in the cage together? I hope when his contract with the UFC is up that he will not be sitting across the table with me, but sitting with me at that table.”

“Please tell Tito that our door is wide open for him,” Shaw continued. “When his deal with the UFC is up, I’d love to talk with him and figure things out.”

Ortiz’s falling out with the UFC stems from his rocky relationship with the promotion’s figurehead, Dana White. The two have been at each other’s throats for years but things took a major turn for the worst after a proposed exhibition boxing match between the two fell apart and White opted to begin his verbal bashing of Ortiz in the media.

Ortiz has since stated multiple times that his fight against Machida will be his last with the UFC. (His current contract with the promotion ends this summer) Reasons for his departure circulate solely around White and his negative treatment of Ortiz as well as other contracted fighters on the organization’s roster.

Shaw mentioned that Ortiz wouldn’t have to worry about any kind of lack of respect from himself or others in the organization if he decided to sign with EliteXC.

“All of our fighters can attest to this, but we here at EliteXC put the fighters first,” Shaw said. “Our fighters are of the utmost importance to us. They come before the organization. The spotlight should be put on them. We treat everyone with respect and like they are a champion, regardless of who they are. Tito wouldn’t have to worry about that sort of thing if he decided to take his services to our camp.”

Additional conference call notes from today are after the jump.

Continue reading "Shaw Interested in Bringing Ortiz to EliteXC"

Arlovski Could Sign With Affliction Next Week

Despite various rumors circulating that Andrei Arlovski could very well be International Fight League veteran Ben Rothwell’s opponent at Affliction’s “Banned” show on July 19th at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, it seems that the Belarusian may not be able to sign with the popular California-based clothing company until May 19th.

The news comes from Josh Gross of Sports Illustrated. Gross speculates that Arlovski will not be able to officially get out of his contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship until next week when he successfully completes all remaining fights on his contract and waits out an exclusive negotiating period.

At the same time, the UFC will still have the ability to match whatever Affliction offers Arlovski. However, with the offer reported to be somewhere in the six-figure, three non-exclusive bout range, it seems very unlikely that Dana White will do so, especially after his comments to Yahoo! Sports Kevin Iole earlier this week.

“It’s funny you should ask me that,” White said when asked about Arlovski by Iole. “We were just talking about Arlovski. We want to sign him. It’s our intention to sign him. But I don’t know. We’re, well, I don’t know. We want to. Whether we will or not, I have no idea. We like Andrei and I know the fans like Andrei. I hope we can do something.”

Arlovski’s camp has offered no comment except to say that they are still in ongoing negotiations with the UFC, but all signs as of right now point to Arlovski being introduced at Affliction’s first-ever event-related press conference next Tuesday in Los Angeles.

Another thing interesting of note that Gross brought up in his column today - FOX Sports’ George Greenberg is expected to be in attendance at the press conference as well, potentially signaling that at least part of Affliction’s inaugural event may be televised on FSN in some capacity, also further confirming that any kind of relationship between the promotion and HDNet is rocky to say the least at this point.

HT: Cage Potato

More Details on ESPN.com’s “MMA Live”

As we reported yesterday, UFC lightweight title contender Kenny Florian will serve as the host of ESPN’s newly-planned online mixed martial arts magazine show that will appear exclusively on the company’s official website and on mobile phones.

“MMA Live” will be a half-hour program covering all aspects of the sport, including news concerning various organizations around the world and upcoming events among other things. Florian will work alongside Jon Anik, who has already done some online MMA work for ESPN and Franklin McNeil, a reporter for the Newark Star-Ledger and a regular contributor to the UFC’s “Countdown” shows.

“It’s kind of a fast-paced show on the current news and events going on in the sport,” Florian told MMA Weekly. “There’s a whole lot of guys at ESPN that have been trying to get this done I guess for two years. Basically, I was contacted by ESPN about two weeks before my fight against Joe Lauzon and there was some interest. They finally got the okay to do an MMA show, and they were interested in using me for this show.”

“It’s strictly going to be on ESPN.com. It’s not going to be on TV as of right now,” Florian added. “Basically they’re going to do a run for three shows on ESPN.com and see what the response is, see how it does. Then if it goes well, we’ll do a regular thing on the Internet, and if it does even better, then possibly you’ll see it on TV.”

The show is slated to debut tonight on ESPN.com at 7:00 PM ET. MMA on Tap will have the video up if and when it becomes available.

Controversy Surrounds Casting for “Hamill”

It seems that controversy has surrounded the casting process concerning “Hamill”, an independent film set to feature the story of current UFC light heavyweight Matt Hamill and the hardships he faced growing up as a deaf athlete.

Hamill discussed the ongoing protests by the deaf community of his selection of Eben Kostbar, a non-deaf actor, to play the character of Hamill himself, in a recent interview with Thomas Gerbasi of UFC.com.

“I was really shocked by the reaction,” Hamill said in the interview. “I thought the movie would receive positive feedback from the deaf community because this movie is based on a deaf athlete and the life surrounding his deafness. It hurt at first, but I’ve come to realize that this is a small portion of the deaf community. With positive things, comes the negative things. If anything, it has kept me grounded.”

Kostbar was an easy selection for Hamill due to the fact that not only is he a personal friend of the former cast member of the third season of “The Ultimate Fighter”, but he is also fluent in American Sign Language and has a background in wrestling.

Protests of Hamill’s decision reached their highest point earlier this year when two casting calls at Gallaudet University and the Rochester Institute of Technology were canceled. It isn’t the first time that Hamill’s actions have been criticized according to the former Team Punishment member.

“An example of the criticism I have taken is that a lot of my taped interviews don’t show me signing,” said Hamill. “The camera is focused on my face, and not my top half where my hands can be seen, so they assume that I am only speaking and not signing. What they don’t realize is that I am signing, but my hands are cut off from the camera.”

Hamill bounced back from his first career loss to Michael Bisping last fall to score a first-round stoppage of UFC newcomer Tim Boetsch at UFC Fight Night 13 in April. No word as of yet on when the Loveland, Ohio native’s next fight will be.

The movie, which is set to begin filming this fall, is currently slated for a 2009 release. 

UFC Confirms Dan Hardy Signing

The Ultimate Fighting Championship today confirmed their previously rumored signing of reigning Cage Warriors welterweight champion Dan Hardy.

Hardy has won eight out of his last nine fights, his lone defeat being a disqualification loss to fellow UFC newcomer Yoshiyuki Yoshida last December. Hardy most recently scored a TKO win over Daniel Weichel on May 3rd. The Nottingham native also stopped Chad Reiner with strikes at a Cage Warriors event last month.

“It means everything to finally be at the pinnacle of mixed martial arts,” Hardy said on the UFC’s official website. “Even kids who have never taken a martial arts class in their life dream about fighting in the UFC - it is the Premier League of MMA and there was nowhere else I wanted to be. I cannot wait to step into the Octagon and showcase myself on the biggest stage in MMA.”

According to our friends at MMA Junkie, Hardy has signed a four-fight deal with the promotion and is expected to make his debut in the fall.

“I feel I’ve come to the UFC at exactly the right time,” Hardy said. “Since the UFC came back to England last spring, everywhere I’ve gone people have asked me when I was going to sign with the UFC and why I wasn’t in the UFC yet.”

CKA: May 14, 2008

Kenny Florian will reportedly serve as the temporary host of ESPN’s newly-planned online mixed martial arts magazine show that will appear exclusively on the company’s official website and on mobile phones according to Adam Swift of MMA Payout.

According to Swift, Florian will serve as the show’s host at least for the first two weeks of tapings. However it’s unknown whether the show will be UFC-based, something that apparently delayed the launch of the program, or if it will cover the entire world of the sport.

Affliction-HDNet Deal Still Possible

While it was previously reported that a potential deal between Affliction and HDNet that would have the clothing brand hold it’s first MMA show at the Dallas-based American Airlines Center fell apart, HDNet Fights CEO Andrew Simon says that the event could still possibly be televised on the digital cable network.

According to MMA Weekly, the event would not be permitted to take place at the home of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks due to a lack of time to substantially promote the show. However the potential of at least part of the event airing live or on tape-delay on HDNet is not out of the realm of possibility.

“We talk to everybody and I wouldn’t say that any conversation is dead yet,” Simon said in the report. “You just never know. You know how this sport works, one day you think you’re not working together and the next day you might announce something. Affliction… I would say, never say never.

ASU Shuts Down Storied Wrestling Program

Arizona State University has decided to shut down it’s storied wrestling program along with men’s swimming and men’s tennis as part of a financial cutback at the school according to MMA Weekly.

Normally this wouldn’t be the type of news to be reported on this site, but the school’s wrestling program has produced a slew of highly-touted MMA prospects in recent years, including current UFC fighters Cain Velasquez and C.B. Dollaway. Shoe-in hall-of-famers Dan Severn, Don Frye, and Dan Henderson all competed for the school as well in the past.

There may still be hope for the program. NCAA President Myles Brand is expected to hold a meeting later this month to discuss the possibility of protecting school sports that also take place in the Olympics, wrestling being one of them.

Bush Tests Positive for Marijuana

Heavyweight prospect George Bush has reportedly tested positive for marijuana following his first-round tournament loss to former UFC heavyweight champion Ricco Rodriguez at YAMMA Pit Fighting’s inaugural show last month in Atlantic City, New Jersey according to Sherdog.com.

“I just found out a few days ago, and needless to say, I’m very surprised and disappointed,” Bush said in the report. “I accept full responsibility for my actions, and I assure the fans that this will never happen again.”

While there won’t be any official announcement from the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board, (they don’t release drug-testing information to the media) Bush has confirmed that he has not been fined but has been suspended by the commission for 90 days.

Paul Kelly Withdraws From UFC 85

Just one week after scheduled opponent Jonathan Goulet pulled out of his UFC 85: Bedlam bout against Paul Kelly due to conflicting reasons, Kelly himself has withdrawn from the event after injuring his right hand during training.

The news comes from MMA Weekly, which reports that Kelly originally injured a finger on his right hand three weeks ago before eventually discovering that he had pulled ligaments, which will now require a cast.

The cast will stay on Kelly for 3-4 weeks and physical therapy will then follow, knocking the part-time training partner of Michael Bisping out of action at least for the near future.

Goulet’s reasoning behind pulling out of the fight has varied in reports. The Victoriaville native first said that he was stepping away due to undisclosed health reasons, but reports have since said that Goulet may have backed out of the fight at the request of his training partners because a lack of adequate preparation time at the Tristar Gym, of which he recently aligned himself with.

Kelly remains undefeated so far in his professional mixed martial arts career. The exciting welterweight made his debut with the UFC in January, winning a unanimous decision over fellow Englishman Paul Taylor in what turned out to be UFC 80: Rapid Fire’s fight of the night.

Mir, Nogueira Tapped as Coaches for “TUF 8”

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight champion Frank Mir and the organization’s current interim title holder, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, have been selected to serve as the coaches for the upcoming eighth season of “The Ultimate Fighter”.

SpikeTV officials confirmed the previously rumored news this afternoon in a press release sent out to the media.

Mir will try to continue a successful road back from a near career-ending motorcycle accident when he takes on Nogueira at the conclusion of the show, which will begin taping later this week. He was originally slated to take on Team Punishment member Justin McCully in July, but was abruptly removed from the card once the UFC decided to use him on the popular reality show.

Mir is now riding a wave of two straight impressive performances. He slowly crept back into title contention after his submission win over former professional wrestler turned mixed martial artist Brock Lesnar at UFC 81: Breaking Point in February.

Meanwhile Nogueira became the first mixed martial artist in history to hold championship gold inside the confines of both the UFC and PRIDE Fighting Championships as he submitted former two-time champion Tim Sylvia to win the interim UFC heavyweight belt in February as well. With current champion Randy Couture all but finished with the promotion, the winner of the showdown with Mir later this year will almost surely become the sole title holder.

Mir has already made it known that he’d love to be a coach during a future season of the show and he’ll get his chance now. He wanted it to lead to a rematch with Tim Sylvia, but now that the Miletich Fighting Systems product has been released from the UFC, that won’t be happening anytime soon.

His fight with Nogueira will pit two of the world’s top heavyweight grapplers against each other. While Mir might be marketable because of his win over Lesnar and WEC color commentating job, casual fans aren’t all that familiar with Nogueira, who has only fought twice inside the promotion. It could be the making of a potential negative hit to ratings but rumor has it that the UFC has a plan to showcase the Brazilian and expose his personality to fans.

The winter season will mark the first time that the reality show has ever featured two heavyweights as coaches. It will also return to the show’s original format of featuring two separate weight classes - eight lightweights and light heavyweights (155 lbs and 205 lbs) will compete for the coveted six-figure UFC contract. The cast is expected to be announced sometime in September.

Reminder: Support Team Tanner

When former UFC middleweight champion Evan Tanner returns to action this summer against Kendall Grove at The Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale, he will once again be giving mixed martial arts fans around the world the opportunity to have their own spotlight in sponsoring a fighter.

An idea that became a reality, Tanner is straying away from the usual suspects that fighters are traditionally sponsored by and is paying tribute to the fans in the form of “Team Tanner.” With perks ranging from a personalized t-shirt to the chance to work as Tanner’s cornerman during one of his fights, it’s obvious why the concept has become so popular so fast.

Those that are interested in helping Team Tanner grow are now able to purchase the new team shirt. (Front design is above, entire shirt can be seen here.) The shirt can be purchased through Tanner’s official website or Driving Force Sports. Shipping for orders inside the United States is free.

The shirt that Tanner wore for his fight against Yushin Okami at UFC 82: Pride of a Champion and assorted beanies are also available but in limited quanities. Those that are interested in working with Tanner and his trainers behind the scenes for his next fight are asked to contact Tanner for pricing.