WEC

Video Hype: Pulver Talks Faber at PBR

Former UFC lightweight champion Jens “Lil’ Evil” Pulver discusses his upcoming WEC featherweight title fight against current champion Urijah Faber, which takes place just a little more than two weeks away on June 1st at WEC 34 in Sacramento, California in the above video at a recent PBR event courtesy of Versus.

Pulver talks about the mutual respect he and Faber have for each other, how he plans to put on an exciting fight on for all of the fans watching, and why he would like to out-wrestle and score a submission win over Faber to prove that his skills are still evolving.

Tommy Speer Headed Back to WEC

Despite being released from the Ultimate Fighting Championship earlier this week, Tommy Speer, the runner-up of the sixth season of “The Ultimate Fighter”, will now apparently head back to the confines of Zuffa-owned World Extreme Cagefighting.

Speer revealed the news to the Rochester Post-Bulletin (Minnesota) during a recent interview.

“They’re pumped to have me back because they never wanted to lose me in the first place,” Speer said in the article. “We haven’t talked about the money or length of contract yet, but I’ll definitely be in the WEC. They’re planning to get me on their next big event after their June event, probably in August.”

Speer also noted that while his quick release from the UFC was unexpected and disappointing, his two losses inside the Octagon prove that the WEC might very well be the perfect place for him to sharpen his skills before heading back for another shot at the big show.

“I didn’t agree with it right away; it was depressing news,” Speer said. “But now I know I lost to a great fighter, and he surprised me and everyone by how well he fought. I don’t think it’s too bad of a thing for me to be going to the WEC. There are great fighters there, too. I need to keep learning and working on my game, and the WEC is a great place to do that.”

Speer last fought in the WEC back in May of 2007, knocking out accomplished grappler Sidney Silva in the first round.

HT: MMA Mania

Evening News and Notes: May 8, 2008

Jonathan Goulet, who recently knocked out Kuniyoshi Hironaka in Canada last month, has reportedly pulled out of his upcoming scheduled bout against Paul Kelly next month at UFC 85: Bedlam in London, England.

The circumstances concerning Goulet’s withdrawal differ however. In a recent interview with MMA Weekly, Goulet apparently stated that he was pulling out of the Kelly bout due to health reasons that he wished not to discuss. However our friends at TKO Xtreme have learned that Goulet may have backed out of the fight at the request of his training partners at the Tristar Gym, of which the Victoriaville native recently aligned himself with.

WVR Announces Thompson-Costa for ‘Sengoku III’

With the fight card for it’s upcoming May 18th event completed, World Victory Road officials today announced the first fight for the promotion’s third event on June 8th via their official website: Nick Thompson vs Michael Costa. Thompson, the current BodogFight welterweight champion, won a unanimous decision over Fabricio Monteiro at Sengoku I in March. Costa, a Chute Boxe product, is currently riding a two-fight winning streak.

Additional fighters being advertised as competing at the event include Hidehiko Yoshida, Rodrigo Damm, Kazuyuki Fujita, Fabio Silva, and Marcio Cruz. Former PRIDE lightweight title holder Takanori Gomi has also stated that he intends to return to action at the show.

Talks Between WEC, Alessio Stall

Contract negotiations between veteran welterweight John Alessio and World Extreme Cagefighting have reportedly come to a halt according to a report by The Fight Network.

“I’m actually wondering myself what’s going on,” Alessio said in the report. “I figured I would have heard something by now. They offered me the rematch with Larson, but it’s now up to my manager to negotiate. It’s going to come down to money and if they want to sign me long-term or not.”

Alessio also went on to say that he had been offered a bout against the above-mentioned Nick Thompson by Hardcore Championship Fighting officials. However it’s key to note that Thompson has stated in the past that he is not locked into any sort of contract with HCF to date.

MTV’s “True Life” to Feature Kit Cope

UFC and WEC veteran Kit Cope will reportedly be featured on MTV’s “True Life” series for the second time according to a report by our friends at MMA Junkie.

Cope, who was originally featured in “True Life: I’m a Muay Thai Fighter” back in 2004, will now serve as one of the featured fighters in “True Life: I’m an MMA Fighter”. Filming for the show is currently being done and cameras will also accompany Cope to his next scheduled fight for World Fighting Championships against Dave Cochran later this month.

WEC Announces Beebe-Riberio for June

Former WEC bantamweight champion Chase Beebe will attempt to get back to his winning ways when he takes on newcomer Will Ribeiro at World Extreme Cagefighting’s next scheduled event on June 1st in Sacramento, California.

The promotion announced the fight earlier today via their official website.

Beebe won a five-round unanimous decision over Eddie Wineland in March of last year to earn the WEC bantamweight title. The standout wrestler would go on to defend the belt against highly touted grappler Rani Yahya before losing his title to Miguel Torres in February.

Ribeiro, a Shooto veteran who has fought strictly in the country of Brazil, is currently riding a three-fight winning streak. He last scored a first-round knockout of Andre Lobo at a Shooto Americas event in January.

The show will feature the organization’s self-proclaimed “most important bout of all-time” as WEC featherweight champion Urijah Faber will clash in a highly-anticipated fight against former UFC lightweight champion Jens Pulver in the main event.

Weekend Recap: April 28, 2008

Here’s a little recap of what went on this past weekend, starting with Carlos Condit reportedly signing a contract extension with World Extreme Cagefighting according to USA Today‘s Sergio Non. The new deal comes after Condit’s most recent victory over Carlo Prater in February. The fight against Prater was Condit’s second to last fight on his previous deal. Condit expects the new deal to kick in with a potential fight in August against an opponent yet to be named.

The promotion also confirmed two additional bouts for their next scheduled event on June 1st in Sacramento, California over the weekend via their official website. A rumored bantamweight title bout between champion Miguel Torres and injury replacement Yoshiro Maeda has been made official as well as Mark Munoz’s WEC debut against fellow newcomer Chuck Grigsby.

UFC Releases Travis Lutter

Fresh off of his disappointing loss to former UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin at UFC 83 last weekend, Travis Lutter, the middleweight winner of the fourth season of “The Ultimate Fighter”, has been released from his contract by the UFC. The news was first reported by Pramit Mohapatra of Fight Ticker and has since been confirmed by Lutter himself, who stated that his agent received a call Sunday morning informing him of his release due to consecutive losses in his last two fights.

Report: Southworth-Ruiz Rematch Possible for June

Bobby Southworth, one of the cast members on the original season of “The Ultimate Fighter” will attempt to avenge a recent loss to Anthony Ruiz at Strikeforce’s upcoming planned event in June according to MMA Mania. The two fought in November - Ruiz scored a TKO win over Southworth after the UFC veteran suffered a fight-ending cut over his left eye early in the second round.

However Southworth remains Strikeforce’s world light heavyweight champion due to the fight being a non-title bout. It’s unknown whether or not the belt will be on the line in June. Southworth has not fought since losing to Ruiz. Meanwhile Ruiz has recorded back-to-back wins over Jimmy Ambriz and Brad Imes since then.

Continue reading "Weekend Recap: April 28, 2008"

WEC Announces Five Bouts for June

World Extreme Cagefighting has announced five additional bouts for their next scheduled event on June 1st in Sacramento, California.

The event will feature the organization’s self-proclaimed “most important bout of all-time” as WEC featherweight champion Urijah Faber will clash in a highly-anticipated fight against former UFC lightweight champion Jens Pulver in the main event.

Two previously rumored bouts have been confirmed as former WEC featherweight title contender Jeff Curran will look to get back on track against newcomer Mike Brown and former Shooto champion Alexandre Franca Nogueira will make his WEC debut against fellow Brazilian Jose Aldo.

Additional preliminary bouts that were announced earlier today include Charlie Valencia vs. Dominick Cruz, Alex Serdyukov vs. Luis Sapo, and Tim McKenzie vs. Eric Schambari.

The current card for the event is as follows:

Urijah Faber vs. Jens Pulver - WEC Featherweight Title
Miguel Torres vs. Yoshiro Maeda - WEC Bantamweight Title*
Jeff Curran vs. Mike Brown
Rob McCullough vs. Kenneth Alexander*
Alexandre Franca Nogueira vs. Jose Aldo
Rich Crunkilton vs. Donald Cerrone
Charlie Valencia vs. Dominick Cruz
Alex Serdyukov vs. Luis Sapo
Tim McKenzie vs. Eric Schambari
Mark Munoz vs. TBA

* - not yet confirmed by WEC.

Report: McCullough-Alexander Set for June

Former WEC lightweight champion Rob McCullough will return to action against Kenneth Alexander when World Extreme Cagefighting travels to Sacramento, California for their next event on June 1st.

The news comes from MMA Weekly, which has confirmed the bout with sources close to McCullough’s camp.

McCullough’s reign as lightweight champion came to an abrupt end this past February when he was stopped by Jamie Varner. McCullough, a member of Team Punishment, originally won the vacant title over Kit Cope last January and then successfully defended it against Richard Crunkilton in September.

Alexander returned to active competion last year after a five-year hiatus from the sport. He quickly racked up two wins in smaller shows before making his WEC debut last September when he was submitted by Donald Cerrone. The loss has since been changed to a no-contest after Cerrone tested positive for a banned substance.

McCullough and Alexander have fought before. Back in March 2002, Alexander won a unanimous decision over McCullough at a Hitman Fighting Productions event. The fight was the third career bout for both fighters.

The event in June will also feature a highly-anticipated featherweight title clash between current champion Urijah Faber and former UFC lightweight champion Jens Pulver.

Is a WEC Invasion Nearing?

It’s the lower weight-classes that differentiate World Extreme Cagefighting from it’s sister organization, the Ultimate Fighting Championship. When Zuffa purchased the California-based promotion in the fall of 2006, it became a place to host the featherweight and bantamweight divisions, two classes the UFC didn’t sport at the time.

According to UFC President Dana White, those lower weight-classes may be forcing an exchange of talent between the two promotions. Neil Davidson of The Canadian Press caught what White said when asked if the UFC was planning to incorporate the featherweight division at any point in the near future before the UFC 83 weigh-ins.

“We have no plans to introduce a 145 lb weight class, that’s why we bought the WEC,” White said. “We’re going to make the WEC the smaller weights and the UFC will be the heavier weights. We’ll probably take some of the guys in the higher weights, the champions over there and bring them into UFC. We’re still trying to figure that out.”

The potential move of talent would likely bring members from light heavyweight and middleweight over to the UFC seeing that they are the two divisions really lacking depth within the organization. The lightweight, featherweight, and bantamweight classes are all stacked with current stars and future contenders.

Doug Marshall and the man he recently lost his WEC belt to, Brian Stann, as well as Steve Cantwell would be welcome additions to a light heavyweight division where they could continue to gain experience and improve their skills.

The return of an ever-improved Chael Sonnen to the UFC’s middleweight division would be interesting to say the least. While many fans would clamor for a showdown between Anderson Silva and Paulo Filho, the friends and former training partners have already stated that they will not fight each other.

After a bit of a slow start, the WEC is quickly gaining steam and is set to put on the biggest event in the organization’s history in June with a featherweight showdown between Urijah Faber and Jens Pulver. The exit of the two higher weight-classes would give the promotion more room to create new stars through televised events, potentially creating the divisional storylines many fans of the UFC curently enjoy.

HT: MMA Junkie

Evening News and Notes: April 15, 2008

Less than 24 hours after it was announced that Manny Tapia would be forced out of his scheduled WEC featherweight title bout against Miguel Torres due to a knee injury, Pancrase veteran Yoshiro Maeda has confirmed to Sherdog.com that he will indeed come in as an injury replacement and take on Torres in his first title defense.

Maeda, the current featherweight King of Pancrase, knocked out Charlie Valencia with a body kick in February and has not lost since being submitted by former WEC title contender Joe Pearson at a PRIDE event in November 2006.

HCF Postpones May 10th Event

From a press release sent out today:

Due to the fact that the due diligence process has been extended on our impending re-structuring, we are officially postponing our May 10 fight card. We hope our exclusive fighters will understand. We are confident this new corporate structure will be in every athlete’s best interest.

The event was slated to be Hardcore Championship Fighting’s biggest yet.  A light heavyweight bout between Renato “Babalu” Sobral and Mauricio Alonso has been signed. Assuerio Silva, David Loiseau, and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira were also rumored as possible participants at the event.

CBS Announced Next CBS Event Date

Adam Swift of MMA Payout points out that CBS has announced July 26th as the date for the second Elite Xtreme Combat televised show on the network. No additional information was revealed concerning the event however. A list of possible fighters or a potential venue for the show are still unknown at this time. The event will be the second on a current four-show contract over the next twelve months with CBS.

Kang Talks Discussions With UFC

From our friends at MMA Junkie:

“Yes, we were negotiating with the UFC,” Kang said. “I would have loved to fight in the UFC. I would love to fight in North America and not have to travel 12 hours for a change. At the end of the day, it came down to where I want to be represented at the moment and who was offering the best contract.”

The best contract, it seems, was one that would allow the half-Korean fighter to compete in South Korea’s SpiritMC organization on an annual basis. Kang has fought 10 times in the organization since 2004, winning all 10 fights, and is still the SpiritMC heavyweight champion.

“SpiritMC was only asking that I fight for them once a year,” Kang said. “That’s one of the things that I really, really wanted to do—to keep my SpiritMC title and keep my fan base in Korea, which is really important to me.”

Injury Forces Tapia Out of WEC Title Bout (Updated)

Update 4/15 10:00 AM: Sherdog.com reports that Tapia may have suffered a meniscal tear and is expected to undergo arthroscopic surgery in the coming days. Tapia could likely be replaced by Pancrase veteran Yoshiro Maeda, who was agreed to come in as an injury replacement according to MMA Mania.

A knee injury suffered by undefeated bantamweight contender Manny Tapia has forced him to pull out of his scheduled title bout against current WEC champion Miguel Torres.

World Extreme Cagefighting announced the news on their official website earlier this evening.

The two were scheduled to clash at the organization’s next event in June. Tapia suffered the injury during a recent training session. There is currently no timetable for his return. A replacement opponent for Torres is expected to be announced shortly.

Tapia recently won a razor-close, split decision over Antonio Banuelos at a WEC show in February. The longtime King of the Cage veteran is currently riding a nine-fight winning streak and has yet to lose in his professional career.

Torres submitted then-champion Chase Beebe with a guillotine choke at the same event in February to claim the bantamweight belt. Like Tapia, Torres is also currently enjoying quite the winning streak - He has not lost since losing a unanimous decision to Ryan Ackerman in 2003, a span of 14 fights.