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cnnWriteBotNav_transition(); </script> </div> </div> <script type="text/javascript"> $('.hiddenNav').hover(function() { $('.globalNav').show(); }, function(){ $('.globalNav').delay(3000).hide(); }); </script> <div id="banner"> <script language="JavaScript"> siAds.render('mma_boxing/top.728x90', 728, 90); </script> </div>  <div id="content"> <div class="left-column"> <h1 class="pagetitle">You Are Viewing All Posts In The MMA Category </h1> <div class="post-wrap"> <div class="post-top"></div> <div class="post" id="post-5021"> <h1><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2013/04/27/ufc-159s-michael-bisping-i-fight-better-when-im-angry/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to UFC 159′s Michael Bisping: ‘I fight better when I’m angry’">UFC 159′s Michael Bisping: ‘I fight better when I’m angry’</a></h1> <div class="category"> <a href="/web/20130522223459/http://mma-boxing.si.com/category/mma/">MMA</a> | <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2013/04/27/ufc-159s-michael-bisping-i-fight-better-when-im-angry/#comment"><span class="js-kit-comments-count" exclude-sources="Twitter" include-sources="Comments" uniq="/2013/04/27/ufc-159s-michael-bisping-i-fight-better-when-im-angry/"></span> Comments </a> </div> <div class="entry"> <div id="cnnSCFontButtons"> <div id="cnnSCFontLabel"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize.gif"/></div> <div id="cnnSCFontMinusBtn" onclick="setActiveStyleSheet2('default'); return false;"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_minus_d.gif" alt="Decrease font" title="Decrease font" class="cnnDecreaseFont"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_minus_l.gif" alt="Decrease font" title="Decrease font" class="cnnIncreaseFont"></div> <div id="cnnSCFontPlusBtn" onclick="setActiveStyleSheet2('LargeFont'); return false;"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_plus_d.gif" alt="Enlarge font" title="Enlarge font" class="cnnIncreaseFont"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_plus_l.gif" alt="Enlarge font" title="Enlarge font" class="cnnDecreaseFont"></div> </div> <div id="attachment_5026" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 650px"><img class="size-full wp-image-5026" alt="UFC 159" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459im_/http://sicounterpunch.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/bisping.jpg?w=640&h=415" width="640" height="415"/><p class="wp-caption-text">An angry Michael Bisping eyes revenage against Alan Belcher at UFC 159. (Diamond Images/Getty Images)</p></div> <p>NEWARK — He’s back. After an absence of nearly a year and a half.</p> <p>True, Michael Bisping competed in the UFC as recently as January, but that wasn’t the real Bisping. And I say that not because he was knocked out by a Vitor Belfort head kick. He fared much better in the fight before that, a decision victory over Brian Stann last September, and performed admirably even in a loss to Chael Sonnen eight months earlier.</p> <p>But the Bisping in those bouts — or, more precisely, in the leadup to those bouts — was a gentleman, an agreeable sort. He talked about his dedication and preparation and blah blah blah. It was not the Bisping we’d come to know and love. Or hate. Not the Bisping who spewed insults in the face of Jason Miller right up until the night in December 2011 when he made “Mayhem” his fourth straight conquest. Would we ever again see that angry guy from so many past fights?</p> <p> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2013/04/27/ufc-159s-michael-bisping-i-fight-better-when-im-angry/#more-5021" class="more-link">Read More…</a></p> <div id="jp-post-flair" class="sharedaddy sd-like-enabled sd-sharing-enabled"></div> <br/> </div> </div> <div class="post-bottom"> <li>Published On <span>Apr 27, 2013</span></li> <li id="right"><span><div><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2013/04/27/ufc-159s-michael-bisping-i-fight-better-when-im-angry/#comments" title="Comment on UFC 159′s Michael Bisping: ‘I fight better when I’m angry’"><span data-lf-article-id="5021" data-lf-site-id="308691" class="livefyre-commentcount">Read 1 Comment</span></a></div></span></li> </div> </div> <div class="post-wrap"> <div class="post-top"></div> <div class="post" id="post-5007"> <h1><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2013/04/26/dana-white-mitrione-suspension-over-fallon-fox/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Dana White went soft on Matt Mitrione; updated with fighter’s apology">Dana White went soft on Matt Mitrione; updated with fighter’s apology</a></h1> <div class="category"> <a href="/web/20130522223459/http://mma-boxing.si.com/category/mma/">MMA</a> | <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2013/04/26/dana-white-mitrione-suspension-over-fallon-fox/#comment"><span class="js-kit-comments-count" exclude-sources="Twitter" include-sources="Comments" uniq="/2013/04/26/dana-white-mitrione-suspension-over-fallon-fox/"></span> Comments </a> </div> <div class="entry"> <div id="cnnSCFontButtons"> <div id="cnnSCFontLabel"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize.gif"/></div> <div id="cnnSCFontMinusBtn" onclick="setActiveStyleSheet2('default'); return false;"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_minus_d.gif" alt="Decrease font" title="Decrease font" class="cnnDecreaseFont"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_minus_l.gif" alt="Decrease font" title="Decrease font" class="cnnIncreaseFont"></div> <div id="cnnSCFontPlusBtn" onclick="setActiveStyleSheet2('LargeFont'); return false;"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_plus_d.gif" alt="Enlarge font" title="Enlarge font" class="cnnIncreaseFont"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_plus_l.gif" alt="Enlarge font" title="Enlarge font" class="cnnDecreaseFont"></div> </div> <div id="attachment_5009" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 610px"><img class="size-full wp-image-5009 " alt="UFC president Dana White lifted Matt Mitrione's suspension despite Mitrione never apologizing for his comments. (AP)" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459im_/http://sicounterpunch.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/dana-white-t2.jpg?w=600&h=400" width="600" height="400"/><p class="wp-caption-text">UFC president Dana White lifted Matt Mitrione’s suspension despite Mitrione never apologizing for his comments. (AP)</p></div> <p>NEW YORK — Dana White was sitting on a brightly lit makeshift stage in the lobby of The Theater at Madison Square Garden, well aware of the irony of him being on this stage on a Thursday afternoon while, two nights later, his fighters would not be allowed to put on a show under the bright lights in the arena behind him. UFC 159 will play out on Saturday night not in New York’s eminent sports cathedral but across the river in New Jersey. It’s as if White’s mixed martial arts organization were the Giants or Jets, except for one tiny detail: The NFL is welcome in the Empire State.</p> <p>“It is what it is,” the UFC president told a gathering of reporters, pulling out a well-worn phrase of his, but this time with what seemed more resignation than usual behind it. White has seen MMA sanctioning legislation have its moments up in Albany, like a fighter getting in a few crisp jabs and leg kicks early in the first round, self-assuredly sticking and moving, looking like it’s his night. Until he runs into an overhand right. The leadership of the New York State Assembly, which again and again has KO’d an MMA bill before it even could come up for a vote, packs a mean punch.</p> <p>“I’m so over it,” said White, sounding like he’s anything but. Unless by “over it” he means keeping his nose out of a lobbying effort that can only suffer from his crudely tactless manner. That’s why the company’s visits to Albany are being made by CEO Lorenzo Fertitta, whom White characterized as “the kinder, gentler side of the UFC.”</p> <p>But as the UFC pushes for the sanctioning it needs to celebrate its 20th anniversary come November with a gala fight card in the Garden, which the organization has expressed keen interest in doing, White continues to play a significant role. How could he not? More than any fighter, the boss is the public face of the company. What he says and does matters.</p> <p>That is why the irony White missed on Thursday was more telling than the irony he acknowledged. Sure, he noticed the row of sports photographs that line one of the walls of the Garden lobby, prominent among them a shot of a kickboxing match. That sport is sanctioned in New York, along with boxing and other combative disciplines that are elements of MMA, while MMA itself is not? Right there from a frame on the wall, irony was getting up in White’s face.</p> <p>At the same time, the UFC poobah chose not to look squarely in the eye of the situation’s other source of irony. That would be the shameful saga of Matt Mitrione. You know, the heavyweight who back on April 8 had his UFC contract suspended after <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/mma/news/20130409/mitrione-suspension/">he’d spewed a venomous tirade</a> against transgender fighter Fallon Fox. Back then, the UFC had rose petals thrown at its feet for swiftly bringing the hammer down.</p> <p>As it turns out, though, the hammer was only a Nerf hammer, the suspension no more than a kid’s timeout. Fox Sports reported on Wednesday that Mitrione will fight on the network’s UFC card in Seattle on July 27. So that’s it? A suspension lasting 16 days, which since “Meathead” wouldn’t have been fighting anyway amounts to nothing at all? White wouldn’t address the upcoming fight, reportedly to be against fellow Season 10 alum of <i>The Ultimate Fighter</i> (and fellow ex-NFL player) Brendan Schaub, but said Mitrione was fined “enough to make him call me 40 times and ask me not to fine him that much.”</p> <p>The takeaway: Open your wallet, Matt, but no need to publicly acknowledge that calling Fox a “lying, sick, sociopathic, disgusting freak” was vile and unbecoming of a professional athlete employed by the UFC.</p> <p>Of course, White doesn’t see it that way. “If a guy comes out and says something stupid, I don’t go to him and say, ‘Here’s what you’re going to do. You’re going to apologize,’ and you’re gonna do this and that,” he said. “You can’t make somebody apologize. If I make him do it, it’s not real. Then he’s not really apologizing.”</p> <p>There’s truth in that. All too often, athletes and others in the public eye issue faux mea culpas crafted by their PR teams. Those apologies aren’t worth the breath wasted on them. But the UFC is not the NFL or Major League Baseball, sports organizations that are already well established in the public perception, sometimes for the better, sometimes not. White’s fight league is on the fringes, vying for attention.</p> <p>Positive attention, that is, as opposed to having its notorious history of misogyny, homophobia and other antisocial behavior continually spotlit by groups like the Culinary Workers Union, Local 226. The Las Vegas-based outfit has long waged a battle with UFC majority owners Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta in an effort to unionize the brothers’ other business, Station Casinos. Recently the local has dragged the UFC into the fight, using the union’s political muscle in New York to lobby against MMA legislation. White calls this “dirty.”</p> <p>No, what’s dirty is masking Mitrione’s depraved hatred under the guise of having an opinion but just expressing it wrongly. Here’s what White said on the Mitrione matter on Thursday: “I don’t think that somebody who used to be a man but became a woman should be able to fight women. I don’t. But the way he said it? If he was standing in front of a courtroom because he was so passionate about this, in front of a judge or a committee or something like that, he wouldn’t have said it the way he said it. Maybe he thought he was trying to be funny? It wasn’t funny. My guys aren’t comedians, and they really need to figure that out and learn it. You wanna be funny, do it in with your friends, around your crew and everything else. Don’t do it on any public forum.”</p> <p>Now, there’s nothing wrong with White expressing an opinion of whether a trans woman should be allowed to compete with other women in combat sports, particularly in light of what he said next: “And you know, I’ll leave it up to the athletic commissions and the doctors and scientists, or whatever it is, to see if you have that surgery and you go through that stuff, if you actually become a … but bone structure is different. Hands are bigger. Jaw is bigger. Everything is bigger. I don’t believe in it. I don’t believe that someone who used to be a man and became a woman should be able to fight a woman. I don’t.”</p> <p>So White believes what he believes, but he’ll leave it to the experts to decide on how to proceed. Fine. The UFC president is not alone in that evenhanded stance. However, neither he nor anyone else who has commented on the matter — other than Mitrione — has darkened his or her opinion with a nasty personal attack. If the UFC wants to get past dirty politics, it needs to clean up its act by cleaning out the haters. Not by simply telling them to just whisper their malevolence to their buddies.</p> <p>Dana White might not get that, but his light heavyweight champion sure does. Jon Jones, who’ll defend his belt against Chael Sonnen in Saturday night’s main event at the Prudential Center in Newark (10 p.m. ET, PPV), offered up his own opinion of Mitrione during Thursday’s media gathering. “I think he’s terrible for that,” Jones said. “It’s ridiculous. I think Fallon Fox, that’s a strong person. Despite what the person has been through in their life, that’s a strong person. I’m a fan of that person because of what they’ve gone through and what they’re willing to go through. People like Matt Mitrione are scumbags. He’s a scumbag. I don’t care if he’s off suspension or doesn’t fight again. He’s a ridiculous person.”</p> <p>You might have noticed that Jones, even in defending Fox, did not once use a female personal pronoun. Taken within the context of what he said, he clearly meant no disrespect. Jones was just speaking outside his comfort zone. The emergence and gradual acceptance of transgenders and others who’ve long been shunned or ignored is a work-in-progress in sports as well as all of society. Comfort zones can only expand along with education and compassion. One wonders whether that’s a lesson the UFC is even remotely interested in teaching Matt Mitrione.</p> <p style="text-align:right;"><em><strong>– Jeff Wagenheim</strong></em></p> <p>UPDATE: Mitrione issued an apology on Friday via a UFC press release: “I want to apologize for my hurtful comments about Fallon Fox and a group within our society which, in truth, I know nothing about. I know now there’s an important line between expressing an opinion on a subject and being hurtful and insensitive. I crossed that line by expressing my views in an ugly, rude and inappropriate manner.”</p> <p>So, is this one of those meaningless apologies White was talking about? The jury is out on that, as Mitrione himself went on to acknowledge: “Anyone can say ‘I’m sorry’ to get themselves out of trouble. That’s not the kind of person I want to be. I am embarrassed I chose to express myself in such a fashion and am looking forward to living up to this apology through my future actions, words and conduct.”</p> <p>A couple of word choices suggest that perhaps the fighter is learning something from this ordeal. Describing transgenders as a group “I know nothing about” is a simple yet difficult acknowledgement that he was speaking out of ignorance. It also was good to hear Mitrione talk about “living up to this apology” with not just words but actions, a commitment the UFC plans to hold him to. Lawrence Epstein, the promotion’s vice president and COO, said Mitrione will work with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender groups “to make amends to the community he hurt.”</p> <p>How many grains of salt with which you take all of this depends on your own degree of naivete, cynicism or pragmatism. But if Mitrione is sincere in his desire to move forward, he has an opportunity here. There’s no better way to develop respect for a group of people different from you than to spend time around those people learning ways in which you’re the same.</p> <p style="text-align:right;"><em><strong>–J.W.</strong></em></p> <div id="jp-post-flair" class="sharedaddy sd-like-enabled sd-sharing-enabled"></div> <br/> </div> </div> <div class="post-bottom"> <li>Published On <span>Apr 26, 2013</span></li> <li id="right"><span><div><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2013/04/26/dana-white-mitrione-suspension-over-fallon-fox/#comments" title="Comment on Dana White went soft on Matt Mitrione; updated with fighter’s apology"><span data-lf-article-id="5007" data-lf-site-id="308691" class="livefyre-commentcount">Read 15 Comments</span></a></div></span></li> </div> </div> <div class="post-wrap"> <div class="post-top"></div> <div class="post" id="post-4996"> <h1><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2013/04/26/ufc-159-predictions-jon-jones-vs-chael-sonnen/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Predictions for UFC 159: Jon Jones vs. Chael Sonnen">Predictions for UFC 159: Jon Jones vs. Chael Sonnen</a></h1> <div class="category"> <a href="/web/20130522223459/http://mma-boxing.si.com/category/mma/">MMA</a> | <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2013/04/26/ufc-159-predictions-jon-jones-vs-chael-sonnen/#comment"><span class="js-kit-comments-count" exclude-sources="Twitter" include-sources="Comments" uniq="/2013/04/26/ufc-159-predictions-jon-jones-vs-chael-sonnen/"></span> Comments </a> </div> <div class="entry"> <div id="cnnSCFontButtons"> <div id="cnnSCFontLabel"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize.gif"/></div> <div id="cnnSCFontMinusBtn" onclick="setActiveStyleSheet2('default'); return false;"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_minus_d.gif" alt="Decrease font" title="Decrease font" class="cnnDecreaseFont"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_minus_l.gif" alt="Decrease font" title="Decrease font" class="cnnIncreaseFont"></div> <div id="cnnSCFontPlusBtn" onclick="setActiveStyleSheet2('LargeFont'); return false;"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_plus_d.gif" alt="Enlarge font" title="Enlarge font" class="cnnIncreaseFont"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_plus_l.gif" alt="Enlarge font" title="Enlarge font" class="cnnDecreaseFont"></div> </div> <div id="attachment_4999" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 610px"><img class="size-full wp-image-4999" alt="Chael Sonnen (right) is considered a heavy underdog against Jon Jones . (Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459im_/http://sicounterpunch.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/jon-jones-sonnen-ufc-159-t1b.jpg?w=600&h=430" width="600" height="430"/><p class="wp-caption-text">Chael Sonnen (right) is considered a heavy underdog against Jon Jones . (Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)</p></div> <p><em>SI.com analysts Loretta Hunt, Jeff Wagenheim and Jon Wertheim provide their predictions for UFC 159, which takes place Saturday (10 p.m. ET) and will be blogged on SI.com.</em></p> <p><strong>Jon Jones vs. Chael Sonnen</strong></p> <p><strong>WAGENHEIM: </strong>When the time comes, Chael P.’s music will start to play, he’ll put on his short pants and go to work. And as soon as the guy in the snake suit moves out of the way, he’ll put his head down, walk across the cage and put Jon Jones on his prissy little … oh, wait, I’m describing the fight as it plays out in Sonnen’s melodramatic fantasy narrative, not the way it really will.</p> <p>A more realistic, if less infomercial-ish scenario: Sonnen comes out boxing and moving forward, and at the first glimpse of one of Jones’s skinny legs, moves in for a takedown try. If he gets it, the crowd will go crazy and we’ll get a rare look at the “Bones” bottom game. Does Jon have the jiu-jitsu chops to become the latest to submit a guy whose walkout music should be “Taps”? Chael is not known for inflicting much damage while smothering an opponent, so it’d be interesting to see if Jones would put those treacherous elbows of his to use and be the ground aggressor. Or would he just work his way back to his feet?</p> <p>If, on the other hand, Sonnen fails on his takedown attempt, it will be an ingloriously short night for the unworthy challenger. <strong>Jones by KO.</strong></p> <p><strong>HUNT: Jones by TKO.</strong></p> <p><strong>WERTHEIM: </strong>Put simply, it’s hard come up with a conceivable scenario in which Jones loses this fight. He’s superior on virtually every dimension — If he’s not Sonnen’s equal as a wrestler, he comes awfully close — he’s younger, more athletic and will be the crowd favorite. The best Sonnen can hope for: a respectable showing will suggest that he, in fact, earned this opportunity and didn’t simply talk/market himself into a title shot.<strong><b> Jones by TKO.</b></strong><strong></strong></p> <p><strong>Michael Bisping vs. Alan Belcher</strong></p> <p><strong>WAGENHEIM: </strong>If you spend a few minutes around these men, as I did on Thursday, it’s hard to picture Belcher winning this fight. Bisping is so supremely confident that he speaks of his opponent as if he were a yokel from Double-A ball who will be unable to get a piece of the Brit’s major-league playoff heater. And Belcher is, well, low-key and thoughtful and a little bemused by the leadup to what he acknowledges as the biggest fight of his career. Is the man with the tattoo of “The Man in Black” on his arm really in over his head? Tough to say, but I’m going to go with no. I think he’s going to give “The Count” a fight he’ll remember. Belcher might even beat him. But I’ve got to go with Bisping. This is the type of fight he’s won for all of his career (only to lose when he’s another step or so closer to the pot of gold). <strong>Bisping by decision.</strong></p> <p><strong>HUNT: </strong>Belcher has the heavier hands (and kicks, for that matter), but Bisping can win this if he plays it smart, mixing up his punches with takedowns like he did against Brian Stann last September. <strong>Bisping by decision.</strong></p> <p><strong>WERTHEIM: </strong>One hopes the fight lives up to the considerable advance trash talk. While it’s not all-out desperation time, Bisping is 34 now and has lost two of his last three fights. In Belcher, he gets a UFC veteran with a battery of skills and deceptive power. If both fighters are willing to stay on their feet, this has TKO potential. If it goes to the ground, we could have five rounds or stall-and-sprawl. Either way, I pick<b> Bisping by decision.</b></p> <p><strong>Roy Nelson vs. Chieck Kongo </strong></p> <p><strong>WAGENHEIM: </strong>Kongo has the power to test Nelson’s hard-as-a-mulleted-rocker chin. But Cheick is known to make mistakes, and Roy is known to capitalize on them. <strong>Nelson by KO.</strong></p> <p><strong>HUNT: </strong>Though Nelson, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, could devour Kongo on the mat, he’ll likely stand with the chiseled Frenchman, who is yet to amount to the powerhouse fighter his appearance suggests he’d be. <b>Nelson by TKO (R2 or R3).</b></p> <p><strong>WERTHEIM: </strong>You love Roy Nelson or you hate him, but have to admire both the durability and the unlikely skill set of Big Country. He won’t win any sculpted physique contests, but he can win fights — in a variety of ways. In Congo, he faces a veteran who seems to lose when he’s on the verge of a breakthrough; and win when he’s on the verge of being written off. Look for a TKO — and potential KO/fight of the Night — but I’ll say it’s Nelson who, like his belly, comes up big.<b> Nelson by TKO.</b></p> <p><strong>Phil Davis vs. Vinny Magalhaes</strong></p> <p><strong>WAGENHEIM: </strong>If Davis wants to make another go at the top of the light heavyweight division, he simply cannot slip up. Or tap out. <strong><strong>Davis by decision.</strong></strong></p> <p><strong>HUNT:</strong> This one will depend on the superior wrestler Davis, who can rack up points with takedown after takedown, as long as he doesn’t dawdle inside the Brazilian’s dangerous guard for too long. <b>Davis by decision. </b></p> <p><strong>WERTHEIM: </strong>His nickname notwithstanding, Mr. Wonderful doesn’t often impress. A rangy wrestler and methodical fighter, Davis likes to do what’s necessary to win, seldom taking advantage of an inevitable reach advantage. Magalhaes looked good in his UFC return last year, but can he make inroads against a superior wrestler? The guess here: no.<b> Davis by a (boring) decision.</b></p> <p><strong>Jim Miller vs. Pat Healy</strong></p> <p><strong>WAGENHEIM: </strong>If you’re looking for aesthetics, change the channel. This ain’t going to be pretty. It isn’t, either. Miller and Healy both are grinders who close distance. When they meld into one, I expect the Jersey guy to grind just a little bit better. <strong>Miller by decision.</strong></p> <p><strong>HUNT: </strong>Miller will have a significant edge in speed <i>everywhere</i> and Healy’s strong suit, his boxing, isn’t dynamic enough to catch the hometown favorite. <b>Miller By submission.</b></p> <p><strong>WERTHEIM: </strong>Not dissimilar fighters, UFC veteran tough guys with submission-based ground skills and some power. Fighting in front of a home crowd, Miller, a New Jersey native, should prevail.<b> Miller by decision.</b></p> <div id="jp-post-flair" class="sharedaddy sd-like-enabled sd-sharing-enabled"></div> <br/> </div> </div> <div class="post-bottom"> <li>Published On <span>Apr 26, 2013</span></li> <li id="right"><span><div><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2013/04/26/ufc-159-predictions-jon-jones-vs-chael-sonnen/#comments" title="Comment on Predictions for UFC 159: Jon Jones vs. Chael Sonnen"><span data-lf-article-id="4996" data-lf-site-id="308691" class="livefyre-commentcount">Read 4 Comments</span></a></div></span></li> </div> </div> <div class="post-wrap"> <div class="post-top"></div> <div class="post" id="post-4933"> <h1><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2013/04/10/amid-furor-fallon-fox-and-ufc-officials-address-matt-mitrione-suspension/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Amid furor, Fallon Fox and UFC officials address Matt Mitrione suspension">Amid furor, Fallon Fox and UFC officials address Matt Mitrione suspension</a></h1> <div class="category"> <a href="/web/20130522223459/http://mma-boxing.si.com/category/mma/">MMA</a> | <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2013/04/10/amid-furor-fallon-fox-and-ufc-officials-address-matt-mitrione-suspension/#comment"><span class="js-kit-comments-count" exclude-sources="Twitter" include-sources="Comments" uniq="/2013/04/10/amid-furor-fallon-fox-and-ufc-officials-address-matt-mitrione-suspension/"></span> Comments </a> </div> <div class="entry"> <div id="cnnSCFontButtons"> <div id="cnnSCFontLabel"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize.gif"/></div> <div id="cnnSCFontMinusBtn" onclick="setActiveStyleSheet2('default'); return false;"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_minus_d.gif" alt="Decrease font" title="Decrease font" class="cnnDecreaseFont"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_minus_l.gif" alt="Decrease font" title="Decrease font" class="cnnIncreaseFont"></div> <div id="cnnSCFontPlusBtn" onclick="setActiveStyleSheet2('LargeFont'); return false;"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_plus_d.gif" alt="Enlarge font" title="Enlarge font" class="cnnIncreaseFont"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_plus_l.gif" alt="Enlarge font" title="Enlarge font" class="cnnDecreaseFont"></div> </div> <div id="attachment_4941" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 610px"><img class="size-full wp-image-4941" alt="Dana White said Matt Mitrione should not have been doing an interview in the first place. (Jed Jacobsohn/SI)" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459im_/http://sicounterpunch.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/dana-white-blog.jpg?w=600&h=400" width="600" height="400"/><p class="wp-caption-text">Dana White said Matt Mitrione should not have been doing an interview in the first place. (Jed Jacobsohn/SI)</p></div> <p>A significant portion of public reaction to the UFC’s suspension of Matt Mitrione for verbally assaulting a transgender fighter on Monday has been even more hateful and vile than the words spewed by the heavyweight during his ill-fated online radio appearance. The comment section on the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/mma/news/20130409/mitrione-suspension/">SI.com story</a> was even taken offline because of the offensive tone.</p> <p>However, the responses by those most closely associated with the matter — Mitrione’s bosses at the UFC and the athlete he targeted with his rant — were more measured.</p> <p>“Matt Mitrione went well beyond disagreeing with the medical experts who say I should be able to compete as a woman, and personally attacked me as a fighter, as a woman, and as a human being,” Fallon Fox, a 37-year-old postoperative transgender female who is 2-0 as a mixed martial artist, wrote on her Facebook page. “His comments do not reflect the spirit of our sport, where most competitors uphold values like respect and dignity.”</p> <p>That was the theme also taken up by Lorenzo Fertitta, chairman/CEO of Zuffa, LLC, the parent company of the UFC. “Whatever your thoughts are on the whole transgender issue, I’ve listened to [what Mitrione said] and, in my opinion, it came off as a bit mean-spirited and is something I think warranted review,” Fertitta told Yahoo! Sports. “Obviously, this is not the easiest issue and a lot of people are questioning both sides of this thing. A fair debate and discussion of the issue should be allowed. But when you call her disgusting, and Buffalo Bill, that’s another matter. It warrants review. I think it’s the same thing the NFL would look at and the same thing that any professional organization that is at the level we’re at would at least take a look at.”</p> <p>Reading between the lines, it would seem that rather than cutting Mitrione loose — for calling Fox a “lying, sick, sociopathic, disgusting freak,” for comparing her to a serial killer character in <i>The Silence of the Lambs</i>, for putting the UFC in a hideous light — Fertitta is inclined to use this as an educational opportunity. That was the tenor of his rebuke, at least.</p> <p>Dana White also has fighter education in mind, but not so much focused on the issue at hand. The UFC president wants to simply teach his athletes when to do interviews and when not to. “I’m going to talk to these guys,” he said during a Tuesday conference call with reporters covering this weekend’s finale of <i>The Ultimate Fighter</i>. “The only time these guys really need to be doing interviews is leading up to fights. You know? It ended up being a nightmare for him.”</p> <p>White addressed the substance of Mitrione’s rant only obliquely. “It’s one of those things. It’s just a pain in the ass, you know what I mean?” he said, later adding, “What was the point of that interview? There was no point in it. Now it’s caused him a bunch of headaches and problems. It’s caused us a bunch of headaches and problems for no reason whatsoever.”</p> <p align="right"><b><i>– Jeff Wagenheim</i></b></p> <div id="jp-post-flair" class="sharedaddy sd-like-enabled sd-sharing-enabled"></div> <br/> </div> </div> <div class="post-bottom"> <li>Published On <span>Apr 10, 2013</span></li> <li id="right"><span><div><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2013/04/10/amid-furor-fallon-fox-and-ufc-officials-address-matt-mitrione-suspension/#comments" title="Comment on Amid furor, Fallon Fox and UFC officials address Matt Mitrione suspension"><span data-lf-article-id="4933" data-lf-site-id="308691" class="livefyre-commentcount">Read 59 Comments</span></a></div></span></li> </div> </div> <div class="post-wrap"> <div class="post-top"></div> <div class="post" id="post-4924"> <h1><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2013/04/10/john-dodson-to-try-out-for-nbcs-american-ninja-warrior/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to John Dodson to try out for NBC’s “American Ninja Warrior”">John Dodson to try out for NBC’s “American Ninja Warrior”</a></h1> <div class="category"> <a href="/web/20130522223459/http://mma-boxing.si.com/category/mma/">MMA</a> | <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2013/04/10/john-dodson-to-try-out-for-nbcs-american-ninja-warrior/#comment"><span class="js-kit-comments-count" exclude-sources="Twitter" include-sources="Comments" uniq="/2013/04/10/john-dodson-to-try-out-for-nbcs-american-ninja-warrior/"></span> Comments </a> </div> <div class="entry"> <div id="cnnSCFontButtons"> <div id="cnnSCFontLabel"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize.gif"/></div> <div id="cnnSCFontMinusBtn" onclick="setActiveStyleSheet2('default'); return false;"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_minus_d.gif" alt="Decrease font" title="Decrease font" class="cnnDecreaseFont"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_minus_l.gif" alt="Decrease font" title="Decrease font" class="cnnIncreaseFont"></div> <div id="cnnSCFontPlusBtn" onclick="setActiveStyleSheet2('LargeFont'); return false;"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_plus_d.gif" alt="Enlarge font" title="Enlarge font" class="cnnIncreaseFont"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_plus_l.gif" alt="Enlarge font" title="Enlarge font" class="cnnDecreaseFont"></div> </div> <div id="attachment_4925" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 610px"><img class="size-full wp-image-4925 " alt="John Dodson has not had any fights scheduled since his loss to Demetrious Johnson (left) in January. (AP)" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459im_/http://sicounterpunch.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/john-dodson.jpg?w=600&h=400" width="600" height="400"/><p class="wp-caption-text">John Dodson has not had any fights scheduled since his loss to Demetrious Johnson (left) in January. (AP)</p></div> <p>John Dodson wants to be known as more than just a great fighter. He’d like to add the title, “American Ninja” to his resumé, too.</p> <p>Dodson, the UFC’s second-ranked flyweight, will travel to Denver next month to try out out for the NBC reality show, <em>American Ninja Warrior</em>. The television series challenges contestants to run, jump, flip, and fly through a grueling urban obstacle course that, naturally, any ninja could complete.</p> <p>The 28-year-old says the UFC contacted him and wanted him to appear on the show as the sport’s ambassador. “They have more faith in me than I do,” says Dodson.</p> <p>Dodson’s unusual athletic abilities show through in his backflips in the cage and basketball dunks that defy his 5’3” frame — the stuff that makes him the sport’s most ninja-like candidate.</p> <p>Dodson most recently fought last January for the flyweight title, suffering a unanimous decision loss to Demetrious Johnson. With Johnson recovering from an injured shoulder and no fights on Dodson’s immediate horizon, he jumped at the chance to try out for the show.</p> <p>He’s been known to frequent gymnastics gyms to practice his flips and says he’s hit park playgrounds to practice jumping off jungle gyms in preparation for the show.</p> <p>“I just want to stay busy, have fun with my life,” says Dodson. “I don’t want people think fighting is just what I have to do. I only train about four or five hours a day. So the rest of them I have to be a normal person.”</p> <p>Or an exceptional ninja.</p> <p style="text-align:right;"><em><strong>– Melissa Segura</strong></em></p> <div id="jp-post-flair" class="sharedaddy sd-like-enabled sd-sharing-enabled"></div> <br/> </div> </div> <div class="post-bottom"> <li>Published On <span>Apr 10, 2013</span></li> <li id="right"><span><div><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2013/04/10/john-dodson-to-try-out-for-nbcs-american-ninja-warrior/#comments" title="Comment on John Dodson to try out for NBC’s “American Ninja Warrior”"><span data-lf-article-id="4924" data-lf-site-id="308691" class="livefyre-commentcount">Read 3 Comments</span></a></div></span></li> </div> </div> <div class="post-wrap"> <div class="post-top"></div> <div class="post" id="post-4908"> <h1><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2013/04/10/frank-mir-daniel-cormier-ufc/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Frank Mir flying every week to train at renowned Albuquerque gym">Frank Mir flying every week to train at renowned Albuquerque gym</a></h1> <div class="category"> <a href="/web/20130522223459/http://mma-boxing.si.com/category/mma/">MMA</a> | <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2013/04/10/frank-mir-daniel-cormier-ufc/#comment"><span class="js-kit-comments-count" exclude-sources="Twitter" include-sources="Comments" uniq="/2013/04/10/frank-mir-daniel-cormier-ufc/"></span> Comments </a> </div> <div class="entry"> <div id="cnnSCFontButtons"> <div id="cnnSCFontLabel"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize.gif"/></div> <div id="cnnSCFontMinusBtn" onclick="setActiveStyleSheet2('default'); return false;"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_minus_d.gif" alt="Decrease font" title="Decrease font" class="cnnDecreaseFont"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_minus_l.gif" alt="Decrease font" title="Decrease font" class="cnnIncreaseFont"></div> <div id="cnnSCFontPlusBtn" onclick="setActiveStyleSheet2('LargeFont'); return false;"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_plus_d.gif" alt="Enlarge font" title="Enlarge font" class="cnnIncreaseFont"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_plus_l.gif" alt="Enlarge font" title="Enlarge font" class="cnnDecreaseFont"></div> </div> <div id="attachment_4909" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 610px"><img class="size-full wp-image-4909 " alt="Frank Mir is training for his next bout at the Jackson/Winkeljohn Gym. (Steve Snowden/Getty Images)" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459im_/http://sicounterpunch.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/frank-mir.jpg?w=600&h=400" width="600" height="400"/><p class="wp-caption-text">Frank Mir is training for his next bout at the Jackson/Winkeljohn Gym. (Steve Snowden/Getty Images)</p></div> <p>When asked what the strategy for UFC heavyweight Frank Mir’s upcoming heavyweight bout with former Olympic wrestler Daniel Cormier will be, Mir’s trainer Greg Jackson said it simply: Stay moving.</p> <p>Moving — both in and out of the cage — best describes Mir’s approach to his April 20 bout with Cormier in San Jose’s HP Pavilion as the co-main event of the UFC on Fox 7.</p> <p>The 33-year-old former UFC World Heavyweight champion who lost his last fight to Junior Dos Santos last May has been on the move a lot lately, and not just when Jackson instructs him to lug around a 70-pound heavy bag to build his endurance.</p> <p>Mir’s moves begin late Sunday evenings when he temporarily relocates from his family’s home in Las Vegas to his training home — Jackson/Winkeljohn Gym in Albuquerque — and ends on Fridays, when he packs up and heads home again. The Cormier camp marks the first time Mir, a Las Vegas native, has left his training home led by longtime trainer Jimmy Gifford. Gifford will remain in Mir’s corner for the UFC on FOX 7 fight.</p> <p>“There’s a real high level of competition here at [Jackson's] all times,” says Mir (16-6) and currently ranked sixth among heavyweights. “When I’m having an off moment or when I make a mistake, [Jackson’s] isn’t like other gyms where I can kinda go through the motions and still succeed and be victorious. Here, if I’m not at 100 percent, I go home with a lot of bumps and bruises.”</p> <p>While the team might be fine tuning Mir’s ability to dodge a punch, Mir’s not one to elude any of Cormier’s verbal jabs. Mir says Cormier — the third ranked heavyweight — finds himself in a no-lose situation: If he beats Mir, he immediately launches through the rankings and leapfrogs other contenders for a title shot by citing Mir’s storied past. If Cormier loses, he can explain away the loss by, yet again, citing Mir’s storied past.</p> <p>Mir prefers not to think so much about the latter possibility.</p> <p>“Anyone at heavyweight would hope for a knockout,” Mir says. “As far as submissions go, if he makes a mistake, I’ll take one of his limbs home.”</p> <p>His ability to do that, of course, depends on his willingness to keep moving — both his feet and his home — so that he could make what could be the biggest move of all: up the UFC heavyweight rankings once again.</p> <p style="text-align:right;"><em><strong>– Melissa Segura</strong></em></p> <div id="jp-post-flair" class="sharedaddy sd-like-enabled sd-sharing-enabled"></div> <br/> </div> </div> <div class="post-bottom"> <li>Published On <span>Apr 10, 2013</span></li> <li id="right"><span><div><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2013/04/10/frank-mir-daniel-cormier-ufc/#respond" title="Comment on Frank Mir flying every week to train at renowned Albuquerque gym"><span data-lf-article-id="4908" data-lf-site-id="308691" class="livefyre-commentcount">Add A Comment</span></a></div></span></li> </div> </div> <div class="post-wrap"> <div class="post-top"></div> <div class="post" id="post-4897"> <h1><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2013/04/09/record-breaking-cfl-star-chad-owens-fights-in-mma-against-teams-wishes/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Record-breaking CFL star Chad Owens fights in MMA … against team’s wishes">Record-breaking CFL star Chad Owens fights in MMA … against team’s wishes</a></h1> <div class="category"> <a href="/web/20130522223459/http://mma-boxing.si.com/category/mma/">MMA</a> | <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2013/04/09/record-breaking-cfl-star-chad-owens-fights-in-mma-against-teams-wishes/#comment"><span class="js-kit-comments-count" exclude-sources="Twitter" include-sources="Comments" uniq="/2013/04/09/record-breaking-cfl-star-chad-owens-fights-in-mma-against-teams-wishes/"></span> Comments </a> </div> <div class="entry"> <div id="cnnSCFontButtons"> <div id="cnnSCFontLabel"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize.gif"/></div> <div id="cnnSCFontMinusBtn" onclick="setActiveStyleSheet2('default'); return false;"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_minus_d.gif" alt="Decrease font" title="Decrease font" class="cnnDecreaseFont"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_minus_l.gif" alt="Decrease font" title="Decrease font" class="cnnIncreaseFont"></div> <div id="cnnSCFontPlusBtn" onclick="setActiveStyleSheet2('LargeFont'); return false;"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_plus_d.gif" alt="Enlarge font" title="Enlarge font" class="cnnIncreaseFont"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_plus_l.gif" alt="Enlarge font" title="Enlarge font" class="cnnDecreaseFont"></div> </div> <div id="attachment_4902" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 610px"><img class="size-full wp-image-4902" alt="Chad Owens (right) celebrates with Hawaii teammate Timmy Chang after winning the 2004 Hawaii Bowl. (AP)" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459im_/http://sicounterpunch.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/chad-owens.jpg?w=600&h=400" width="600" height="400"/><p class="wp-caption-text">Chad Owens (right) celebrates with Hawaii teammate Timmy Chang after winning the 2004 Hawaii Bowl. (AP)</p></div> <p>Imagine if Adrian Peterson were to step into a cage for a mixed martial arts fight. Then imagine the collective gasps of the Minnesota Vikings coaching staff, players, front office and ownership — not to mention the fan base — if an opponent were to start kicking or grabbing for a submission hold on the surgically repaired left knee of the NFL’s reigning Most Valuable Player.</p> <p>Well, if you’re Canadian and a football fan, you need not make much of a leap of the imagination. Last Saturday night, Toronto Argonauts receiver and kick returner Chad Owens — who as the CFL’s 2012 Most Outstanding Player is to that league what Peterson is to the NFL — took to a cage in Honolulu for his MMA debut. In a bout contested over two three-minute rounds under amateur rules, Owens beat up Junyah Tefaga on the way to a decision victory.</p> <p>That the former University of Hawaii star, an Oahu native, emerged unscathed no doubt brought relief to the Argonauts, who rolled to a Grey Cup championship last fall largely on the strength of Owens’ record-breaking season. The 31-year-old finished the season with 3,863 all-purpose yards — 2,510 on returns, 1,328 receiving and 25 rushing — more than anyone before him not just in the CFL but in all of pro football.</p> <p>For that reason, Argonauts general manager Jim Barker had expressed his displeasure with his star in the lead-up to the bout. “I think he’s making a bad decision. Our organization thinks he’s making a bad decision,” Barker told the Canadian Press. “But we don’t have control of what players choose to do and not do in the offseason.”</p> <p>Barker and the Toronto coaching staff will have a say in how Owens passes his time once training camp begins in June. Between now and then, though, maybe another MMA fight?</p> <p>“If all the dots align and it makes sense, then yeah, I’d definitely love to experience it again and see where it goes,” Owens told the Canadian Press after Saturday’s fight. “But for right now, I’m not looking towards that. I’m focused on June 1, which is when [I] have to report to training camp. That’s the next fight, and once I conquer that, then we’ll go into the season and it’s a new fight each week.”</p> <p align="right"><b><i>–Jeff Wagenheim</i></b></p> <div id="jp-post-flair" class="sharedaddy sd-like-enabled sd-sharing-enabled"></div> <br/> </div> </div> <div class="post-bottom"> <li>Published On <span>Apr 09, 2013</span></li> <li id="right"><span><div><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2013/04/09/record-breaking-cfl-star-chad-owens-fights-in-mma-against-teams-wishes/#comments" title="Comment on Record-breaking CFL star Chad Owens fights in MMA … against team’s wishes"><span data-lf-article-id="4897" data-lf-site-id="308691" class="livefyre-commentcount">Read 6 Comments</span></a></div></span></li> </div> </div> <div class="post-wrap"> <div class="post-top"></div> <div class="post" id="post-4885"> <h1><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2013/04/05/jessica-penne-criticizes-bellator-for-its-handling-of-female-fighters/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Jessica Penne criticizes Bellator for its handling of female fighters">Jessica Penne criticizes Bellator for its handling of female fighters</a></h1> <div class="category"> <a href="/web/20130522223459/http://mma-boxing.si.com/category/mma/">MMA</a> | <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2013/04/05/jessica-penne-criticizes-bellator-for-its-handling-of-female-fighters/#comment"><span class="js-kit-comments-count" exclude-sources="Twitter" include-sources="Comments" uniq="/2013/04/05/jessica-penne-criticizes-bellator-for-its-handling-of-female-fighters/"></span> Comments </a> </div> <div class="entry"> <div id="cnnSCFontButtons"> <div id="cnnSCFontLabel"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize.gif"/></div> <div id="cnnSCFontMinusBtn" onclick="setActiveStyleSheet2('default'); return false;"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_minus_d.gif" alt="Decrease font" title="Decrease font" class="cnnDecreaseFont"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_minus_l.gif" alt="Decrease font" title="Decrease font" class="cnnIncreaseFont"></div> <div id="cnnSCFontPlusBtn" onclick="setActiveStyleSheet2('LargeFont'); return false;"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_plus_d.gif" alt="Enlarge font" title="Enlarge font" class="cnnIncreaseFont"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_plus_l.gif" alt="Enlarge font" title="Enlarge font" class="cnnDecreaseFont"></div> </div> <p>Bellator, the Viacom-backed MMA promotion, has taken its share of hits recently when it comes to the handling of its female fighters.</p> <p>Fighter Zoila Gurgel told MMAjunkie’s <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459/http://www.mmajunkie.com/news/2013/03/twitter-mailbag-fowlkes-on-decimals-rousey-wmma-in-bellator-garrett-holeve#http://www.mmajunkie.com/news/2013/03/twitter-mailbag-fowlkes-on-decimals-rousey-wmma-in-bellator-garrett-holeve">Ben Fowlkes</a> about how she felt better respected by the all-female promotion, Invicta, compared to her previous promoter, Bellator. MMA fans on the interwebs repeatedly questioned why Bellator shoved top-ranked, 115-pound fighter Jessica Aguilar to an online timeslot rather than featuring her bout on its SpikeTV portion of the broadcast.</p> <p>Now, Invicta atomweight titleholder Jessica Penne adds her voice to the chorus of criticisms against the company.</p> <p>Penne tells SI.com that in her May 2009 bout with Tammie Schneider, she broke her hand and struggled to get Bellator to cover her injury.</p> <p>“I couldn’t get them to take care of my hand,” she says. “I just couldn’t get ahold of anybody … Everyone is sending me from one place to another. My hand is still messed up from it because it didn’t get proper treatment.”</p> <p>The bones have now healed but for Penne, the wound is still open.</p> <p>“I really do not like them,” Penne says, referring to Bellator.</p> <p>A Bellator official told SI.com that while he did not have information to speak to Penne’s case specifically, the promotion has a plan in place to deal with fighter injuries and a team of employees dedicated to handling medical claims.</p> <p>Penne says her experience with Invicta, which features her in its <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459/http://invictafc.com/#http://invictafc.com/">main event tonight</a> against challenger Michelle Waterson, has been a positive one.</p> <p>“It’s great to be treated like a professional for the first time,” she says.</p> <p style="text-align:right;"><em><strong>– Melissa Segura</strong></em></p> <div id="jp-post-flair" class="sharedaddy sd-like-enabled sd-sharing-enabled"></div> <br/> </div> </div> <div class="post-bottom"> <li>Published On <span>Apr 05, 2013</span></li> <li id="right"><span><div><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2013/04/05/jessica-penne-criticizes-bellator-for-its-handling-of-female-fighters/#comments" title="Comment on Jessica Penne criticizes Bellator for its handling of female fighters"><span data-lf-article-id="4885" data-lf-site-id="308691" class="livefyre-commentcount">Read 6 Comments</span></a></div></span></li> </div> </div> <div class="post-wrap"> <div class="post-top"></div> <div class="post" id="post-4864"> <h1><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2013/04/05/cris-cyborg-santos-invicta-5/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Cris ‘Cyborg’ Santos is returning to a changed landscape in women’s MMA">Cris ‘Cyborg’ Santos is returning to a changed landscape in women’s MMA</a></h1> <div class="category"> <a href="/web/20130522223459/http://mma-boxing.si.com/category/mma/">MMA</a> | <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2013/04/05/cris-cyborg-santos-invicta-5/#comment"><span class="js-kit-comments-count" exclude-sources="Twitter" include-sources="Comments" uniq="/2013/04/05/cris-cyborg-santos-invicta-5/"></span> Comments </a> </div> <div class="entry"> <div id="cnnSCFontButtons"> <div id="cnnSCFontLabel"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize.gif"/></div> <div id="cnnSCFontMinusBtn" onclick="setActiveStyleSheet2('default'); return false;"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_minus_d.gif" alt="Decrease font" title="Decrease font" class="cnnDecreaseFont"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_minus_l.gif" alt="Decrease font" title="Decrease font" class="cnnIncreaseFont"></div> <div id="cnnSCFontPlusBtn" onclick="setActiveStyleSheet2('LargeFont'); return false;"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_plus_d.gif" alt="Enlarge font" title="Enlarge font" class="cnnIncreaseFont"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_plus_l.gif" alt="Enlarge font" title="Enlarge font" class="cnnDecreaseFont"></div> </div> <div id="attachment_4865" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 610px"><img class="size-full wp-image-4865" alt="Having rejected an offer to join the UFC, Cris 'Cyborg' Santos makes her Invicta debut Apr. 5. (AP) " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459im_/http://sicounterpunch.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/cris-cyborg-santos.jpg?w=600&h=400" width="600" height="400"/><p class="wp-caption-text">Having rejected an offer to join the UFC, Cris ‘Cyborg’ Santos makes her Invicta debut April 5. (AP)</p></div> <p>KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The last time Cris “Cyborg” Santos fought professionally, Newt Gingrich was the front-runner in the Republican presidential primaries, <i>Breaking Dawn: Part I</i> had just hit theaters and an upstart judoka by the name of Ronda Rousey showed promise with her second win on the Strikeforce circuit.</p> <p>Needless to say, much has changed since Santos was the face of women’s MMA.</p> <p>Since Santos received a one-year suspension for testing positive for stanozolol leading up to her Dec. 17, 2011 fight with <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459/http://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Hiroko-Yamanaka-20271">Hiroko Yamanaka</a>, Rousey rose from niche sport newcomer to mainstream sports icon; the all-female fighting promotion Invicta launched while Strikeforce went the way of Gingrich; and UFC president Dana White 180’ed on his position that women were too pretty to fight, placed them as headliners on the UFC 157 card, and slapped Santos with perhaps the cruelest insult when he labeled her “irrelevant.” (Oh, and <i>Twilight</i> fans watched Alice and Edward kiss in advance of their happily-ever-after ending in <i>Breaking Dawn: Part II</i>, in case you were wondering.)</p> <p>“It’s been a tough time,” said Santos, 27, relaxing on the couch of her Holiday Inn hotel room Thursday night as she prepared for her return to the ring against Australia’s Fiona Muxlow as part of Friday night’s Invicta 5 fight card. Banana bunches, hardboiled eggs, and half-empty bottles of Pedialyte — the hallmarks of her weight cut to 145 pounds — are spread before her on a coffee table.</p> <p>A tough time — that’s about as much as a reticent Santos will reveal about her 16-month layoff — but talk to anyone in her inner circle and they’ll tick off a list of indignities ranging from her mounting bills to her dwindling bank accounts, the sponsors who hightailed it away from her, her divorce from fellow fighter Evangelista Santos, and perhaps the worst of it all — the Strikeforce incident.</p> <p>It was Aug. 18, 2012 — eight months into her steroid suspension — when Strikeforce hosted its main event, Ronda Rousey versus Sarah Kaufman, near Santos’ San Diego apartment. As the former Strikeforce featherweight champion, Santos expected to sit where all the fighters do: cageside, where fighters can get a close-up of their potential opponents and television cameras can capture the fighters’ reactions. But when Santos arrived, she discovered she’d been banished to the bleachers, high above the cage and far from the TV sightlines. When a friend fighting on the card found out about her seat placement, he sent her a ticket for a floor seat from his allotment. But again, Strikeforce officials shepherded her to the top of the stairs and back of the arena.</p> <p>“It really bothered her,” says George Prajin, who manages Santos along with UFC Hall of Famer Tito Ortiz.</p> <p>But Santos says the year off, brutal as it was, offered her a chance to re-evaluate her career, her future, and the weaknesses in her game. She focused on improving her jiu-jitsu to balance out her potent punching power, changed management, and with the help of Ortiz, opened her own gym in her native Brazil called The Rock. The gym is part of Ortiz’s and Prajin’s plan to extend her brand beyond the cage.</p> <p>In one of her first conversations with Ortiz, Santos told him, “When I beat Gina Carano and won the [Strikeforce featherweight] belt, my life didn’t change, my bank account didn’t change.”</p> <p>She still drove the same car and still couldn’t afford a house that she could have lost during her suspension.</p> <p>The Rock gym is part of the team’s first attempt to fix that. Though, even Ortiz admits not all his plans have gone off without a hitch.</p> <p>There was the contract debacle with the UFC. Prajin claims the UFC initially offered her a three-fight deal, which included one tune-up fight, a fight with Ronda scheduled for the summer and a rematch slated for the fall.</p> <p>“They offered an OK deal but they weren’t offering what they’re giving Ronda and we didn’t think it was fair,” says Prajin.</p> <p>Then came what Prajin calls the dealbreaker with the UFC: a demand that Santos sign an eight-fight contract. Prajin says that’s when his team went to Invicta.</p> <p>At the press conference last February announcing Santo’s return to the cage with a three-fight Invicta card, Ortiz talked Santos into wearing a T-shirt reading, “Ronda Will Be My Bitch.”</p> <p>After the conference, she told Ortiz, “I can’t do that stuff. It’s not me.”</p> <p>That’s not to say Cyborg doesn’t believe in the message of the T-shirt, of course. The Brazilian says she would fight Rousey tomorrow, “but I should give her time to train.”</p> <p>But there’s a subtext to the entire conversation, a tacit admission behind Santos’s bold proclamations that, “I don’t have to prove anything.”</p> <p>Santos actually needs Rousey more than Rousey needs her right now.</p> <p>The Invicta fights will be Santos’ best opportunity to shift the balance. Everyone one of her opponents, including Muxlow, are merely proxies for Rousey. They are proxies whom Santos must not only beat, but also dominate to force the UFC to rethink its contract offers and its thoughts on a 140-pound catchweight for the two fighters.</p> <p>This reality isn’t lost on Santos’ management team.</p> <p>The Rousey fight, says Prajin, “is her financial future.”</p> <p>It might be more than that. It might be her sole shot at redeeming a reputation that’s taken the metaphorical equivalent of one of her punches.</p> <p>Winning, she knows, fixes almost everything. That might be the only truth in the women’s fight game that hasn’t changed in the year that Cyborg Santos has been away.<strong> — Melissa Segura</strong></p> <div id="jp-post-flair" class="sharedaddy sd-like-enabled sd-sharing-enabled"></div> <br/> </div> </div> <div class="post-bottom"> <li>Published On <span>Apr 05, 2013</span></li> <li id="right"><span><div><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2013/04/05/cris-cyborg-santos-invicta-5/#comments" title="Comment on Cris ‘Cyborg’ Santos is returning to a changed landscape in women’s MMA"><span data-lf-article-id="4864" data-lf-site-id="308691" class="livefyre-commentcount">Read 10 Comments</span></a></div></span></li> </div> </div> <div class="post-wrap"> <div class="post-top"></div> <div class="post" id="post-4854"> <h1><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2013/04/05/pat-curran-retains-featherweight-belt-as-bellator-mma-takes-center-stage/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Pat Curran retains featherweight belt as Bellator MMA takes center stage">Pat Curran retains featherweight belt as Bellator MMA takes center stage</a></h1> <div class="category"> <a href="/web/20130522223459/http://mma-boxing.si.com/category/mma/">MMA</a> | <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2013/04/05/pat-curran-retains-featherweight-belt-as-bellator-mma-takes-center-stage/#comment"><span class="js-kit-comments-count" exclude-sources="Twitter" include-sources="Comments" uniq="/2013/04/05/pat-curran-retains-featherweight-belt-as-bellator-mma-takes-center-stage/"></span> Comments </a> </div> <div class="entry"> <div id="cnnSCFontButtons"> <div id="cnnSCFontLabel"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize.gif"/></div> <div id="cnnSCFontMinusBtn" onclick="setActiveStyleSheet2('default'); return false;"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_minus_d.gif" alt="Decrease font" title="Decrease font" class="cnnDecreaseFont"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_minus_l.gif" alt="Decrease font" title="Decrease font" class="cnnIncreaseFont"></div> <div id="cnnSCFontPlusBtn" onclick="setActiveStyleSheet2('LargeFont'); return false;"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_plus_d.gif" alt="Enlarge font" title="Enlarge font" class="cnnIncreaseFont"><img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459im_/http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/.element/img/4.0/story/textsize_plus_l.gif" alt="Enlarge font" title="Enlarge font" class="cnnDecreaseFont"></div> </div> <div id="attachment_4857" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 628px"><img class="size-full wp-image-4857" alt="Pat Curran was less than impressed with his early victory, saying that was his plan. " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459im_/http://sicounterpunch.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/pat-curranblog.jpg?w=618&h=430" width="618" height="430"/><p class="wp-caption-text">Pat Curran was less than impressed with his early victory, saying that was his plan. (Henry S Dziekan III/Getty Images)</p></div> <p>Timing is everything. Well, almost everything. Good fortune also factors into success.</p> <p>Bellator MMA had both of those things on its side Thursday night in Atlantic City.</p> <p>Bjorn Rebney & Co. put together perhaps the best fight card in the promotion’s history, headlined by a featherweight title bout, with two tournament finals billed right below. And the card got an added boost when the UFC lost its Saturday main event, allowing Bellator 95 to step out of the shadow of its behemoth rival and become <i>the</i> mixed martial arts event of the week.</p> <p>The only thing left for Bellator to do was deliver. And its fighters did just that right from the top.</p> <p>Pat Curran, who at No. 3 among featherweights in the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459/http://preview.sportsillustrated.turner.com/mma/news/20130403/wagenheim-mma-fighter-rankings/?sct=uk_wr_a1">SI.com MMA rankings</a> is by far the highest-ranked non-UFC fighter, defended his belt for the second time with remarkable efficiency, choking Shahbulat Shamhalaev unconscious 2:38 into Round 1. What made it efficient? Before his lightning-quick takedown around 10 seconds from the finish transitioned into an arm-in guillotine that prompted referee Keith Peterson to jump in when the challenger went limp, Curran had not landed a single punch. He was credited with but one strike in the fight, a kick to the body.</p> <p>“It feels great, man,” Curran (19-4) said after his sixth straight victory. “I didn’t get hit once in the face. I wanted to get in, get out, get back to the gym, rest up, and on to the next one.”</p> <p>That’s efficiency for you.</p> <p>The fight actually threatened to kill the momentum that the main card had built, with a pair of knockouts and a rock ’em, sock ’em bout that went to decision. Why? While both Curran and Shamhalaev have shown spectacular flashes in recent fights, they’re both counterpunchers. What that stylistic matchup produced was mostly a circle dance, with each man waiting for the other to initiate. The challenger got off a few shots — he was credited with landing six strikes — but did not find the opportunity to show off the explosiveness he’d used to knock out his last five opponents. For Shamhalaev (12-2-1), the loss ended a run of 11 straight bouts without a defeat.</p> <p>Earlier in the evening, another Russian featherweight fared better. Frodo Khasbulaev took a tight but unanimous decision from Mike Richman to capture the Season 8 tournament and earn a shot at Curran. He might have to wait a while, though, as Season 6 champ Daniel Strauss still hasn’t had the shot he earned. He was the champ’s original opponent for Thursday night, but a training injury put him on the shelf, replaced by Season 7 winner Shamhalaev. The tourneys come fast and furious in Bellator.</p> <p>So do the punches of Doug Marshall. He’s the other tournament winner, as his brutal first-round knockout of Brett Cooper propelled him to a shot at middleweight champion Alexander Shlemenko. That should be an explosive one, as Marshall is a wildman and the champ is a finisher as well, with five KOs during his 10-fight win streak.</p> <p>It’s a risky proposition, though, thrusting Marshall into the spotlight, and not because of the Iron Cross tattoo on his chest. That symbol was used by the Nazis, yes, but it’s also been seen on surfer dudes, so we’ll draw no conclusion about “The Rhino” based upon his ink. However, his classlessness in victory — standing over a prone Cooper smugly, then saying he was trying to knock the guy’s beard off — was bush league. And Bellator surely would prefer to be seen as a major-league player in the sport. But a tournament is a tournament, and you let the chips fall where they may. Even if they might look like roadblocks.</p> <p style="text-align:right;"><em><strong>–Jeff Wagenheim</strong></em></p> <div id="jp-post-flair" class="sharedaddy sd-like-enabled sd-sharing-enabled"></div> <br/> </div> </div> <div class="post-bottom"> <li>Published On <span>Apr 05, 2013</span></li> <li id="right"><span><div><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459/http://mma-boxing.si.com/2013/04/05/pat-curran-retains-featherweight-belt-as-bellator-mma-takes-center-stage/#comments" title="Comment on Pat Curran retains featherweight belt as Bellator MMA takes center stage"><span data-lf-article-id="4854" data-lf-site-id="308691" class="livefyre-commentcount">Read 2 Comments</span></a></div></span></li> </div> </div> <div class="navigation"> <div class="alignleft"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130522223459/http://mma-boxing.si.com/category/mma/page/2/">« Older Entries</a></div> <div class="alignright"></div> </div> </div> <div class="sidebar test"> <div id="ad300x250" 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