ufc 137 Diaz impressive win over BJ Penn retires ?

the word on the street is after Diaz impressive win over BJ Penn, and the comments of Nick "i am a poor ambassador of the sport of MMA in every way" Diaz toward GSP and him being afraid and not injured, GSP requested that Condit step aside so that HE could show Diaz he is not afraid and let h...im fight Diaz next and Condit agreed. so with that said, WAR GSP!!! beat some respect into that little punk! No disrespect to Hioki, he fought his fight and much love to him for that, but in no way shape or form did George Roop lose that fight, at all! 2 out of 3 rounds to Roop, solid! something has to be done about the judging in MMA, the community off MMA and its fans should be outraged. Tucson native George Roop just dismantled, dominated a top 5 fighter and lost, this is unexcitable. The UFC will not cut Roop for this and he will be given another shot to redeem himself im sure, but he shouldn't have to...Roop, your home town and fans are proud of you. WAR ROOP!

UFC 137 Weigh-In Results: BJ Penn, Nick Diaz fight After Making Weight

UFC 137 Weigh-In Results: BJ Penn, Nick Diaz Scuffle After Making Weight


Posted by Kris Karkoski on Oct 28, 2011 at 7:00 pm ET7 Comments.The UFC 137 main event is official for Saturday night in Las Vegas, as welterweight contenders BJ Penn and Nick Diaz weighed in at 169 and 170 pounds respectively at Friday’s UFC 137 weigh-ins.



Penn and Diaz then had to be separated after Penn moved close to Diaz for their staredown and Diaz pushed Penn away with his head.



The rest of the pay-per-view main card also made weight, including Matt Mitrione vs. Cheick Kongo and Roy Nelson vs. Mirko Cro Cop, while the preliminary card also hit their marks with the exception of Tyson Griffin, who was three pounds overweight.



The UFC 137 weigh-in results were:



MAIN CARD (PPV)



■BJ Penn (169) vs. Nick Diaz (170)

■Cheick Kongo (234) vs. Matt Mitrione (255)

■Mirko Cro Cop (235) vs. Roy Nelson (252)

■Scott Jorgensen (135) vs. Jeff Curran (134)

■Hatsu Hioki (145) vs. George Roop (145)

PRELIMINARY CARD (Spike TV)



■Dennis Siver (155) vs. Donald Cerrone (156)

■Tyson Griffin (149)* vs. Bart Palaszewski (146)

PRELIMINARY CARD (Facebook)



■Brandon Vera (205) vs. Eliot Marshall (204)

■Danny Downes (155) vs. Ramsey Nijem (155)

■Chris Camozzi (185) vs. Francis Carmont (185)

■Dustin Jacoby (185) vs. Clifford Starks (186)

UFC 127 - Weigh in Penn vs Fitch . Bisping vs Rivera

UFC 127 - Weigh in Penn vs Fitch . ELITE XC ROCKSTAR ENERGY "CBS WALKOUT" MMA SHIRT SIZE XX-LARGEBisping vs Rivera

UFC 127,features top welterweight contenders B.J. Penn and Jon Fitch

UFC 127, which features a main event between top welterweight contenders B.J. Penn and Jon Fitch, will be held on Saturday night at the Acer Arena in Sydney, Australia. Here’s who Yahoo! Sports staffers see as the winners.






Kevin

Iole

Dave

Meltzer

Dave

Doyle

Steve

Cofield

Maggie

Hendricks

B.J. Penn vs. Jon Fitch

Fitch Fitch Fitch Penn Fitch

Michael Bisping vs. Jorge Rivera Bisping Bisping Rivera Bisping Rivera

George Sotiropoulos vs. Dennis Siver Sotiropoulos Sotiropoulos Sotiropoulos Sotiropoulos Sotiropoulos

Chris Lytle vs. Brian Ebersole Lytle Lytle Lytle Lytle Lytle

Chris Camozzi vs. Kyle Noke Noke Camozzi Camozzi Noke Noke

Ross Pearson vs. Spencer Fisher Fisher Pearson Pearson Pearson Pearson

James Te Huna vs. Alexander Gustafsson Gustafsson Gustafsson Gustafsson Gustafsson Te Huna

Riki Fukuda vs. Nick Ring Fukuda Ring Ring Fukuda Ring

Mark Hunt vs. Chris Tuchscherer Tuchscherer Tuchscherer Hunt Tuchscherer Hunt

Maciej Jewtuszko vs. Curt Warburton Warburton Jewtuszko Warburton Jewtuszko Jewtuszko

Tom Blackledge vs. Anthony Perosh Blackledge Blackledge Blackledge Blackledge Perosh

RVCA BJ Penn UFC 112 T-Shirt (X-Large, Black)Tiequan Zhang vs. Jason Reinhardt Zhang Zhang Reinhardt Zhang Zhang

UFC 123 Weigh-In Video

  UFC 123 Weigh-In Video

official weigh-in results for Saturday night’s UFC 118 event. UFC 118, which is headlined by the lightweight championship bout between Frankie Edgar and BJ Penn and the heavyweight battle between Randy Couture and James Toney,

Main Event – UFC Lightweight Championship


BJ Penn (154) VS Frank Edgar (154)

RVCA BJ Penn Hana Hou 118 Tee (Small, White)

PPV

James Toney (237) VS Randy Couture (220)

Gray Maynard (156) VS Kenny Florian (156)

Marcus Davis (170) VS Nate Diaz (171)

Demian Maia (184) vs Mario Miranda (185)



SPIKE PRELIMS

Gabe Ruediger (155) VS Joe Lauzon (156)

Nik Lentz (155) VS Andre Winner (154)

UFC 118: Edgar v. Penn

PRELIMS

John Salter (185) VS Dan Miller (185)

Greg Soto (170) VS Nick Osipczak (171)

Amilcar Alves (171) VS Mike Pierce (171)

Top 10 pound for pound MMA fighters

Scoring: 10 points for a first-place vote, nine points for second, etc., down to 1 point for a 10th-place vote. Fighters who are under suspension for usage of performance-enhancing substances or drugs of abuse are ineligible to be considered for the duration of their suspensions; fighters who have been inactive for more than 12 months are ineligible for consideration until after the completion of their next fight.




Cruz

10. Dominick Cruz

Points: 46

Affiliation: UFC

Weight class: WEC (WEC bantamweight champion)

Hometown: San Diego

Record: 15-1 (has won past six)

Last month’s ranking: unranked

Most recent result: def. Brian Bowles, R2 TKO, March 6

Analysis:No one has been able to solve Cruz since he dropped to 135 pounds.









Shields



9. Jake Shields

Points: 46

Affiliation: Free agent

Weight class: Welterweight (never lost Strikeforce middleweight title)

Hometown: San Francisco

Record: 25-4-1 (has won past 14)

Last month’s ranking: 9

Most recent result: def. Dan Henderson, unanimous decision, April 17

Analysis:An intriguing UFC debut against Martin Kampmann should determine his spot in the UFC welterweight pecking order.









Machida

8. Lyoto Machida

Points: 50

Affiliation: UFC

Weight class: Light heavyweight

Hometown: Belem, Brazil

Record: 16-1 (lost previous fight)

Last month’s ranking: 7

Most recent result: lost to Mauricio Rua, R1 TKO, May 8

Analysis: A November matchup against Quinton “Rampage” Jackson will go a long way toward determining the light heavyweight title scene in 2011.











Penn

7. B.J. Penn

Points: 62

Affiliation: UFC

Weight class: Lightweight

Hometown: Hilo, Hawaii

Record: 15-6-1 (lost previous fight)

Last month’s ranking: 6

Most recent result: lost to Frank Edgar, unanimous decision, April 10

Analysis:Has his chance to prove razor-thin loss to Edgar was a fluke.









Edgar



6. Frank Edgar

Points: 65

Affiliation: UFC (UFC lightweight champion)

Weight class: Lightweight

Hometown: Toms River, N.J.

Record: 12-1 (has won past four)

Last month’s ranking: 5

Most recent result: def. B.J. Penn, unanimous decision, April 10

Analysis:Has his loss to prove razor-thin win over Penn wasn’t a fluke.









Emelianenko

5. Fedor Emelianenko

Points: 67

Affiliation: Strikeforce/M-1

Weight class: Heavyweight

Hometown: Stary Oskol, Russia

Record: 31-2, one no-contest (lost past 1)

Last month’s ranking: 8

Most recent result: lost to Fabricio Werdum, R1 submission, June 26

Analysis:Dropped to eighth last month after just one loss. Clearly some voters re-evaluated and felt the greatest heavyweight of all time fell too far.









Rua



4. Mauricio Rua

Points: 117

Affiliation: UFC

Weight class: Light heavyweight (UFC light heavyweight champion)

Hometown: Curitiba, Brazil

Record: 19-4 (won previous fight)

Last month’s ranking: 4

Most recent result: def. Lyoto Machida, R1 TKO, May 8

Analysis: Knee surgery is expected to keep the new champ out until at least March.











Aldo



3. Jose Aldo

Points: 145

Affiliation: WEC

Weight class: Featherweight (WEC featherweight champion)

Hometown: Rio de Janeiro

Record: 17-1 (has won past 10)

Last month’s ranking: 4

Most recent result: def. Urijah Faber, unanimous decision, April 24

Analysis:With Silva’s narrow escape, one could argue Aldo has the most definitive unbeatable aura of any weight-class champ.









Silva



2. Anderson Silva

Points: 192 (12 first-place votes)

Affiliation: UFC

Weight class: Middleweight (UFC middleweight champion)

Hometown: Curitiba, Brazil

Record: 27-4 (has won past 12)

Last month’s ranking: 1

Most recent result: def. Chael Sonnen, R5 submission, Aug. 7

Analysis: Was Silva’s struggle against Sonnen the product of a rib injury, or is he finally slowing down at 35? Time will tell.









St. Pierre



1. Georges St. Pierre

Points: 182 (11 first-place votes)

Affiliation: UFC

Weight class: Welterweight (UFC welterweight champion)

Hometown: Saint-Isidore, Quebec

Record: 20-2 (has won past seven)

Last month’s ranking: 2

Most recent result: def. Dan Hardy, unanimous decision, March 27

Analysis:On hold until “The Ultimate Fighter” runs its course.



More



• Votes for others: Brock Lesnar 28, Jon Fitch 26, Rashad Evans 12, Gilbert Melendez 8, Chael Sonnen 7, Jon Jones 4, Cain Velasquez 3; Joe Benavidez, Kenny Florian, Nick Diaz 2.



• Upcoming matches for Top 10 fighters: No. 10 Dominick Cruz vs. Joe Benavidez, Aug. 18, Las Vegas; No. 6 Frank Edgar vs. No. 7 B.J. Penn, Aug. 28, Boston.

UFC 112 - Weigh-In Video - Main Card - Anderson Silva vs. Demian Mia BJ Penn vs. Franky Edgar Matt Hughes vs. Renzo Gracie Terry Etim vs.Rafael dos Anjos Kendall Grove vs. Mark Munoz

 

Main Card -

Anderson Silva vs. Demian Mia
BJ Penn vs. Franky Edgar
Matt Hughes vs. Renzo Gracie
Terry Etim vs.Rafael dos Anjos
Kendall Grove vs. Mark Munoz

185 lbs.: Anderson "The Spider" Silva (25-4) vs. Demian Maia (12-1)
Spinning Fat Kick predicts: As the headlining bout for the UFC's first Middle Eastern venture, you couldn't ask for a more classic match-up of striker vs. grappler. It's pretty clear what each man needs to do to win this fight and it may well be decided by where the action takes place.
Demian Maia is one of the most highly decorated grapplers to have ever fought within the UFC. Most recently in 2007, the year he joined the organization, he came in first place in the prestigious Abu Dhabi Combat Club (ADCC) tournament. There is a very strong argument to suggest that Maia has a sufficient skill set to submit Anderson, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt in his own right under the Nogueira brothers.
However the trouble for Maia is getting the fight to the ground in the first place -- and that's where his plan falls down. He is not known for his wrestling and Anderson is a much bigger and stronger fighter. All in all, Maia really has his work cut out if he is going to execute his plan of submitting "The Spider."
Silva is entering this fight with a level of confidence rarely felt by any fighter in mixed martial arts. He is undefeated in his last 11 outings and is currently ranked by most MMA pundits as the number one pound-for-pound fighter on the planet.
While he had first round issues against Travis Lutter and Dan Henderson, nobody has ever really looked close to finishing him in his UFC career.
I would think that due to Maia's lack of skill on the feet and no clear way to dictate where the fight takes place, Silva shouldn't find it too difficult to add a seventeenth (T)KO victory to his already impressive record.

Betting lines (as of April 9):
Silva: -800
Maia: +500 
Prediction: Anderson Silva via knockout
155 lbs.: BJ "The Prodigy" Penn (15-5-1) vs. Frankie "The Answer" Edgar (11-1)
MMAmania predicts: The pride of Hilo, Hawaii, BJ Penn, has not lost a fight at 155 pounds since 2002 (Jens Pulver), which is more than eight years.
Former champions Matt Serra and Sean Sherk, as well as top contenders such as Joe Stevenson, Kenny Florian and Diego Sanchez, have all attempted to dislodge "The Prodigy" from his royal mixed martial arts throne.
And all of them have failed rather remarkably. Serra, in fact, is the only who was able to go the distance; however, it was just a three-round bout.
So will Edgar have "The Answer" on fight night and do what all of the esteemed competition before him could not do by defeating Penn?
No siree Bob.
Edgar has always been on the small side of the lightweight division. He's probably a better fit as a featherweight, but that hasn't stopped him from finding success inside the Octagon against much bigger opponents.
His grit, determination and heart have all helped him prevail just as much as his all-around solid mixed martial arts arsenal.
And he's going to need all of those things to survive for 25 minutes locked inside a cage with Penn. That's because anything Frankie can do, BJ can likely do better.
Boxing? Check. Jiu-jitsu? Check, check.
Wrestling, which is Edgar's strongest attribute, might give him some kind of advantage on paper. But after his losing performance against Gray Maynard, coupled with Penn's legendary takedown defense, it's pretty clear that Penn will likely find a way to cancel it out under the Arabian stars in Abu Dhabi.
I like Edgar to perform well and hang with Penn early on at UFC 112. His stand up improves with each fight and he's demonstrated that he's willing to lose a limb if need be while battling out of a submission (See Griffin, Tyson).
He just doesn't hit hard enough, nor have the size and/or power to bully Penn around the cage. If Sherk was unsuccessful, then I find a hard time believing that Edgar will be able to impose his will on Penn.
There is an "X-factor" in this, which is the outdoor weather conditions. But it's going to take more than Mother Nature, as well as grit, determination and heart, to usurp the king's crown.
Betting lines (as of April 9):
Penn: -750 
Edgar: +475
Prediction: Penn via championship round submission (rear naked choke) after a highly entertaining three or four rounds.
170 lbs.: Matt Hughes (43-7) vs. Renzo Gracie (13-6-1)
Nostradumbass predicts: I think it might be time for that throaty announcer to stop referring to Matt Hughes as "The most dominant welterweight of all time" now that Georges St. Pierre has hit his stride.
No matter.
Hughes was still a terror for the better part of two years, submitting "Rush" when the Canadian was still wet behind the ears and pounding out a swollen (and oxygen deprived) BJ Penn during their rematch.
And it couldn't have come at a better time.
The UFC transformed itself from the little engine that could to the Empire within that time frame and like the other champions that accompanied him (Franklin, Liddell, Sherk), they were the best that era had to offer.
The man who restored honor and glory to the much under-appreciated country breakfast may not have evolved with the sport -- but neither has the man he meets on April 10.
Simply put, this is a bout that could have taken place five years ago and I don't think it would have played out any differently.
With both fighters, there is very little tucked away in the war chest. What you see is what you get. Renzo Gracie is a gifted grappler. Hughes is a compact wrestler who can bench press a tractor.
Advantage: Hughes.
Dennis Hallman notwithstanding, Hughes has a terrific ground game of his own. It's not on par with Gracie's -- but it doesn't have to be. He only needs to be "good," the power will handle the rest. This is the kind of match-up that made Hughes famous.
And I don't want to pretend that Gracie is some kind of world beater.
Great personality and very likable, but he's 43-years old and hasn't competed since a DQ win over Frank Shamrock in 2007. And before he choked out Pat Miletich in the IFL he was 1-6 over a five year span.
And that was his prime.
Hughes may not be young for the sport, but he's young for the match. I don't agree that he's taking this lightly either. That Miletich loss probably got under his skin and stayed there and stopping Gracie might be the only way to dig it out.
Revenge is a great motivator.
It's also a dangerous ally, as the only way I see Gracie winning this is via Hughes mental mistake. The captain of the H.I.T. squad needs to come in and follow the blueprint. Keep it standing until you no longer have an advantage.
From there it's wrestling 101 with some classic ground and pound. A trademark slam is not unlikely. I'm leaning towards a lopsided decision in favor of Hughes but an early stoppage would not surprise me.
Betting lines (as of April 9):
Hughes: -400 
Gracie: +300
Prediction: Hughes via unanimous decision
170 lbs.: Mark "The Philippine Wrecking Machine" Munoz (7-1) vs. Kendall "Da Spyder" Grove (11-6)
Akimitsu Kuwabara predicts: TUF 3 winner Kendall Grove and WEC transplant Mark  Munoz are back trying to stay relevant in the competitive map of UFC's middleweight division.
Grove earned a submission victory over Jake Rosholt at UFC 106 and looks to maintain his momentum that has ebbed and flowed throughout his UFC career. Munoz, on the other hand, looks for his third consecutive victory since dropping to the middleweight division.
An inevitable occurrence in this fight will be that Grove finds himself dragged to the mat - repeatedly. As evidenced by his recent fights against Jake Rosholt and Ricardo Almeida, Grove has not developed sufficient takedown defense to prevent his opponents from snatching his praying mantis legs and dumping him on the mat.
Munoz, former wrestling standout at Oklahoma State, will undoubtedly try to level him and work his vicious ground and pound that has been the key to many of his victories. If Munoz can swarm Grove, his ferocious flurry will be a nightmare for "Da Spyder," whose chin has failed him against hard hitters such as Patrick Cote and Jorge Rivera.
While clearly the inferior of the two in wrestling department, Grove is the more polished in other aspects of the game. Being more well-rounded than ones opponent does not always guarantee victory in MMA; in this case, however, Munoz's underdeveloped, one-dimensional style leaves numerous holes for Grove to exploit.
Munoz will have no problem scoring takedowns but his limited grappling ability will present difficulties in controlling Grove on the ground. On the feet, Grove can use his reach to frustrate Munoz and inflict damage in the pocket with knees and elbows. He has also proven to be a capable grappler who can work efficiently from his guard.
Munoz's inadequate top control will allow Grove to either scramble back to feet or tie up Munoz with his serpentine legs from the guard whenever he is taken down. Grove will test Munoz's submission defense and it is a matter of time before Munoz succumbs to either triangle choke, arm bar or omoplata.

Betting lines (as of April 9):
Munoz: -200
Grove: +160 
Prediction: Grove via submission
155 lbs.: Terry Etim (14-2) vs. Rafael dos Anjos (13-4)
James Kimball predicts: A match-up of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt lightweights in Terry Etim and Rafael dos Anjos is on tap for the televised portion of the UFC 112 card.
And in my opinion, it's the toughest fight to call.
24 year-old British submission ace Etim holds a 14-2 professional career mark and is currently riding a four-fight win streak. During his three years with the promotion he has gone 5-2 inside the Octagon with four of those wins coming via tap out.
Not bad.
A native of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, dos Anjos has gone 13-4 in his career coming into this bout with a meager 2-2 win-loss record in the UFC.
While Etim's record is just a tad more impressive than dos Anjos' in terms of numbers, it's the competition he has faced to date that gives him the edge here. Sure he lost back-to-back bouts to Gleison Tibau and Rich Clementi, but that was two long years ago.
Both guys are obviously well versed in the ground game so a grappling match could theoretically go either way. Terry however, holds a significant advantage when it comes to length and reach. And while I wouldn't exactly call it a strength of Etim's, I do think his Muay Thai could play an integral role in this one.
Neither fighter is easy to finish as Etim has never been stopped while dos Anjos' only defeat that wasn't via decision came by way of a vicious uppercut knockout at the hands of Jeremy Stephens that would put a halt to most every fighter's night in the UFC's lightweight division.
Basically, I see this being a battle which guy can outlast the other. And though Terry does possess more ways to pull out a victory than Rafael, I do not foresee this fight ending before the third round comes to a conclusion.
Sure, it may be not be the "edgy" pick you Maniacs are looking for, but I calls it how I sees it.
Betting lines (as of April 9):
Etim: -150 
Dos Anjos: +12
Prediction: Etim via unanimous decision
That’s a wrap, folks.
Remember to come check us out after the show for all the latest results, recaps and coverage of UFC 112: "Invincible."
What do you think? Now it’s your turn … let us have it in the comments section and share your thoughts and picks for Saturday’s event.

BJ Penn wins !

There are a lot of good lightweight fighters in the world. There is, however, only one great one.
And while B.J. Penn proved his greatness yet again with a dominant fifth-round stoppage of Diego Sanchez in their lightweight title bout Saturday at UFC 107 in the FedEx Forum, he created something of a problem for Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White and matchmaker Joe Silva:
Whom do you match with Penn at 155 who can even remotely give him a close fight?
More From Kevin Iole
There doesn’t appear to be anyone on the horizon. Gray Maynard is likely next up, and Frankie Edgar is on a roll. Neither, though, seem to have the all-around game that Penn possesses and that they’ll need to survive 25 minutes in the cage with him, much less win.
Jose Aldo, the featherweight champion in World Extreme Cagefighting, has the frame and the ability, but he’s probably at least a year, if not more, away from being ready to move up and fight at lightweight. By that time, Penn will likely be butting heads with the welterweights with the goal of securing another bout with welterweight kingpin Georges St. Pierre.
“It’s hard to pick out any weaknesses in B.J.,” said heavyweight Frank Mir, who was exceptionally impressive in his own right Saturday in a first-round stoppage of Cheick Kongo. “First and foremost, he’s a great athlete, which is a phenomenal foundation to start off with. But like Dana said, that’s kind of what he coasted on before. He’s a great technician when it comes to submissions and also striking.”
Sanchez’s face was grotesquely beaten. The fight was stopped after a head kick from Penn, a knee and then a series of uppercuts.
One of those blows – likely the head kick – opened a massive gash on Sanchez’s head. Both of his eyes were swollen and nearly shut. It appeared his nose was broken. His lip was split in two places. He was bleeding from his right ear.
You don’t have to be squeamish to have gotten a bit nauseous looking at the destruction on his face.
“In 10 years of being in this business, I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anybody more busted up than Diego is right now,” White said. “His whole lip is split open in half, in two different places. When I say split open, it’s torn down to this stuff down here [indicating a point on his chin]. His forehead is as open as [Marvin Eastman], the kid that Vitor Belfort kneed [at UFC 43]. They pulled that thing wide open. His face? I think his nose is broken. I don’t even know how Diego kept coming forward. He’s a tough kid, man. I’m almost positive his nose was broken by the third round. That Tony Robbins [expletive] works.”
Nothing Sanchez did in the cage worked, though that’s probably not as much an indictment of him as it is a sign of Penn’s greatness.
Penn knocked him down with a crushing punch early in the fight and nearly finished him on the ground. And though Sanchez tried to make it a fight, he didn’t have the kinds of weapons he needed.
Penn’s hands were much faster and his boxing was much more technically proficient. He repeatedly raked Sanchez with counter right hands and punishing left hooks. Sanchez, a former high school wrestling state champion, couldn’t get Penn off his feet so he was never able to work his ground-and-pound.
He had nothing else to resort to offensively and wound up repeatedly attempting kicks to the head in a futile attempt to gain some momentum.
Penn watched the Nov. 14 boxing match between Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto while he was in his training camp and decided to try to emulate Pacquiao’s style on Saturday.
“I just like watching Pacquiao and how he throws punches in bunches,” Penn said. “He’s so fast. You might get away from the first two or three, but the two or three that come behind that are going to hit you. I kind of figured that out.”
The problem for Penn’s coaches are going to be keeping him motivated. In his last three lightweight title defenses, he dominated Sean Sherk, Kenny Florian and Sanchez, taking little abuse from any of them and doling out enormous amounts of punishment.
There isn’t anybody markedly better than Florian – others may be as good – and yet no one has come close to Penn.
“What B.J. really wants is to fight Georges St. Pierre,” Penn’s coach, Rudy Valentino, said.
White said Penn may be two fights away from cleaning out the lightweight division, but said even if Penn does that, he’s not arbitrarily going to get an automatic title shot against St. Pierre.
White said Penn would have to face whoever the No. 1 contender is at welterweight when it’s time to move up before getting a shot at St. Pierre.
In the past three years, he’s lost three times, but all have been at welterweight. He was beaten twice by St. Pierre and once by Matt Hughes. Each is a much bigger man naturally and in the Hughes fight and the second St. Pierre fight, their size and physical strength was an issue. Mir suggested the only way a lightweight might be able to match that feat is to use wrestling, which both Maynard and Edgar have.
“At this point, at 155 it’s hard to see who could really have a definitive shot at taking him out,” Mir said. “Maybe if you can wrestle him to death and keep a great position, but that’s hard to say with a guy who, if you go five rounds with, [it’s hard to make sure he doesn’t] knock you out or submit you.”
Penn has so many weapons and so few weaknesses that unless you can overcome some of those advantages with size and strength, you’re likely going to need to find a good plastic surgeon, because Penn will rearrange your face.
Sanchez entered the fight with a 23-2 record, with his only losses coming at welterweight in back-to-back bouts to Josh Koscheck and Jon Fitch. He dropped to lightweight this year and got his title shot by defeating Joe Stevenson and Clay Guida.
Despite his many credentials, though, Sanchez looked like a beginner against Penn.
“This is my sixth fight with him and he’s been dominant in pretty much all of them [except the St. Pierre fight],” Penn coach Jason Parillo said. “Some people thought the last fight with Kenny Florian was kind of close. I do not. I thought B.J. was dominating that fight, also.
“He completely dominated tonight and I don’t think Diego belonged in the cage with him. That was my sense. You could see that from the opening bell. The first minute of the fight, B.J. had him on queer street and almost had him out of there. That was different class of fighters there.”
It was. The same thing could be said, though, of the entire lightweight division.
When Penn is in shape, which he’s been since hiring conditioning guru Marv Marinovich, and when he’s highly motivated, which he’s been since getting stopped by St. Pierre at UFC 94, he’s all but unbeatable at lightweight.
The man to beat B.J. Penn at 155 pounds is going to be one special fighter.
Penn, himself, is as good at that weight as any man ever has been. yahoo.com

video from UFC 101 pay per view - BJ Penn Defeats Kenny Florian in the 4th round with a submission UFC 101

Watch UFC 101 BJ Penn vs Kenny Florian Fight here! bj penn vs kenny florian, ufc 101, bj penn vs kenny florian fight video, bj penn vs kenny florian ufc 101, anderson silva vs forrest griffin !watch ufc 101 Kenny Florian vs BJ Penn lightweight fight live streaming.

watch Forrest Griffin get knocked out - Anderson Silva Jabs and KOs Forrest Griffin UFC 101 Declaration

Hours after the most electrifying domination in a career filled with them, deep in a back hallway of the Wachovia Center, Anderson Silva was waiting for Dana White. Silva is the UFC’s middleweight (185-pound) champion but Saturday he boldly moved up 20 pounds and in a jaw-dropping exhibition, brutalized Forrest Griffin, who just nine months ago was the light heavyweight (205) title holder.
Silva knocked Griffin down twice, offered a hand to help him up once and then promptly floored him again for good at 3:23 of the first round of UFC 101. Most remarkably, he did it with a punch he threw while backpedaling.

It was a complete annihilation. Griffin failed to land a single punch and when he came to his senses, he sprung up and ran from the octagon, trying to push through a doctor’s examination.
“He might be in Georgia by now, he ran out and I haven’t seen him since,” White, the UFC president, joked.
That Silva could move up a weight class and not just win, but destroy with power, was a game-changing and perhaps UFC-altering moment. That’s what Silva and his manager, Ed Soares, wanted to discuss with White.
With his arm rapped around White’s shoulder, Soares leaned in and delivered a proposition. “Spider” Silva would move permanently to light heavyweight, even if it meant the unorthodox move of giving up his middleweight belt.
“I can do that,” White smiled, a bit stunned at the offer. “I like that. We can do that.”
Soares smiled and shook White’s hand. Silva had been accosted by a fan by then and couldn’t hear White, but it was presumably the news he was seeking. The man has such outrageous confidence in his abilities he’s willing to potentially toss away a championship he’s owned for almost three years to take a challenge outside his comfort zone.
“I’d let him,” White said later, sitting in his quiet dressing room. “We’d put [the middleweight title] up for grabs.”
The hour was late and everyone’s excitement was still high. Perhaps plans and goals change by morning, so White didn’t know what to say officially. This was still just hurried talk. He knew this much though, as a promoter there are more blockbuster fights for Silva at 205 than 185, where he’s beaten everyone of note.
Silva’s next title defense was supposed to be against Dan Henderson, who Silva savagely choked out in March 2008.
“Who knows,” White said, wheels already spinning. “We’ll see what happens. In the talks I’ve had with Anderson, he wants to take on the best in the world. He’s the most talented fighter in the world, the best pound for pound fighter and it’s a joke to say anyone else is. And he wants to continue to prove [it].”
White thought for a moment.
“He would jump in that mix [at the top of the light heavyweight division],” White said. “You’ve got Rashad [Evans], you’ve got Rampage [Jackson], [Lyoto] Machida is the champion. And Tito [Ortiz] is in the mix now.”
If Silva did vacate the middleweight title to move up full time, the ironic thing is that he claims it wouldn’t be to pursue the light heavyweight belt. At least as long as it was held by Machida, a fellow Brazilian and training partner.
“Lyoto is my friend, he is my brother and there is no way that fight will ever happen,” Silva said.
White, coveting a clash between two men who are both unbeaten in UFC competition, brushes that talk aside.
“I’ll make it happen,” White said winking his eye. “It’s not even about money. It’s about proving you’re the best, it’s about securing your place in history. It’s about putting on a super fight that fans want to see.
“I’m all about making big fights that fans want to see.”
Saturday was one of those fights. Silva was motivated by criticism that his last two fights – both victories mind you ¬– were dull, so he gladly moved up to take on a dangerous Griffin, who was known for his attack dog style.
It was intriguing, at least until Silva started toying with Griffin. He knocked Griffin down at will, dared him to connect with a punch, challenged him to be as tough as his reputation and then finally just finished him.
Coming in there was a “Rocky” element to the fight, Griffin the heavy underdog with the Philly crowd firmly behind him and booing Silva. By the end, Griffin was gone and Silva was being cheered. It was the recognition of brilliance overcoming any easy Hollywood storylines.
“He wants to be involved in the biggest fights we can put together,” Soares said.
The fact Silva took this fight is a testament to that. The Brazilian is 25-4 overall and has won all 10 of his fights in the UFC. At age 34, he could’ve sat at middleweight and potentially won 10 more, making nice money with relatively little risk in a division he’s been untouchable in.
That isn’t him though. Not even close.
So not long after stunning the sport with a legendary performance, there he and his manager were, trying to force a back-hall huddle with the UFC kingmaker. Move Silva to light heavyweight for good, they suggested to White.
With nothing left to prove at middleweight, Anderson Silva now wants to lay waste to a whole new division of the UFC. He doesn’t need a belt to prove a thing.

Watch Tuf Fight Diego Sanchez VS Clay Guida ( Fight Of The Night )

It didn’t take long for Diego Sanchez to establish himself as a legitimate threat for the Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight title after beating Clay Guida in one of the most dramatic fights in company history at the Palms on Saturday night.

Sanchez noted that Kenny Florian, who faces B.J. Penn for the title on Aug. 8 in Philadelphia was the same fighter he defeated easily in 2005, in the finals of the first season of The Ultimate Fighter, at a time when both competed as middleweights.

“He’s had two title shots and I owned him,” said Sanchez (23-2), who won his second fight in a row after dropping down from welterweight. “If he wins, it’s a natural rematch. The only other top contender for the winner would be Gray Maynard. And Nate Diaz beat Gray in the Ultimate Fighter, and Clay Guida beat Diaz and I just beat Guida.”

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Sanchez was at the time primarily a grappler, known for using his conditioning and relentless style to compensate for so-so striking.

But he’s a completely different fighter today, mixing punches, kicks and knees with his already strong submission game. He bloodied Guida badly from the first exchange, rocked him several times, and put him down with a kick, all in a frenetic first round.

The onslaught would have finished most fighters. But Guida (25-10) is not most fighters.

Guida, the human Energizer Bunny, barely got out of the first round, yet came back to win the second round, and came close to taking the third, leaving Sanchez with a split-decision win on scores of 29-27, 28-29, and 29-28.

About an hour after the fight concluded, when Guida came to the press conference after being stitched up, Sanchez went up to him and told him how much he respected him.

“We’re blood brothers now,” Sanchez said.

“I just got tremendous respect after tonight for Clay Guida,” said Sanchez. “I hit him with punches, kicks and knees right on the button and he kept coming. He’s known for his conditioning and he came prepared. I was prepared, but I wasn’t prepared for him to survive the onslaught I gave him.”

“If you can’t go 15 to 25 minutes, you’re in the wrong line of work,” said Guida. “I never felt tired. I was ready to go two more rounds.”

Guida, smiling, despite having a fat lip, a bloody nose and stitches above the right eye, didn’t seem down in the slightest over losing a split decision in what would have been the biggest victory of his career had he pulled out the fight.

The match drew natural comparisons to his Dec. 2007 showdown with Roger Huerta, a fight-of-the-year caliber affair that Guida lost in the third round. That match was also the main event of an Ultimate Fight Night card at the same venue. “This will be a learning experience just like the fight with Huerta,” said Guida.

“It was similar,” said Guida. “It was in Las Vegas. It was a night with some great fights. And he got a bloody nose on the third punch. This time I got a bloody nose on the third punch. The Roger Huerta fight taught me about the fine line between relentless and reckless. And I’ll learn from this. I still feel I’m the top fighter in the division and I want to win the strap.”

Guida, one of the most popular fighters in the company despite having only a 5-4 record, saw the crowd explode as he opened the second round with a takedown and kept Sanchez on his back, winning the round on all three judges’ cards.

Sanchez said he learned from watching last year’s Kenny Florian-Joe Lauzon match where Florian was able to open up Lauzon with elbows from the bottom en route to victory. While on his back, Sanchez threw elbow after elbow at Guida’s face, trying to open him up, to the point his right elbow was hurting after the fight. Guida responded with punches and elbows from the top.

The third round saw Guida connect with some good punches, although Sanchez still had the advantage. Sanchez’s best offense was working for a choke, as well as a Kimura, although the latter never came close. The fight ended with Guida on top throwing down blows, but Sanchez had done enough earlier in the round to win it on two of the three judges cards.

Even though Guida was the favorite to the majority of the crowd, the crowd seemed to accept Sanchez winning as the right decision.

“I don’t know how many stitches I got,” said Guida. “I don’t think it was that many, but when I asked the doctor, he said he lost count. I don’t like the blood. It’s the first time I’ve been cut since I was 18 and I graduated high school.”

For the first time in UFC history, company officials decided to give three best match of the night bonuses. Along with Sanchez and Guida, also getting $25,000 bonuses were Joe Stevenson, Nate Diaz, Kevin Burns and Chris Lytle.

Lytle (37-17-4) survived being knocked down in the first round and being in trouble to win rounds two and three over Burns (8-3). In the third round, Lytle threw a punch that left a huge gash over Burns’ right eye. He targeted the cut and won the decision on straight 29-28 scores.

Stevenson vs. Diaz was more a grappling match. Stevenson used his superior wrestling to take the first two rounds, but was unable to finish the elusive Diaz with his pet move, the guillotine, sunk in tight in the first round. Stevenson kept control for most of the second round to clinch the decision provided Diaz couldn’t finish him in the third. Stevenson (35-10) survived both a choke attempt and a guillotine by Diaz (10-4) and took the decision on straight 29-28 scores.

Georges St. Pierre Ground and Pounds B.J. Penn UFC 94 video

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St. Pierre Pounds Penn in ufc 94 !

Is St. Pierre the new pound-for-pound king?
By D. Meltzer

LAS VEGAS – Welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre scored a one-sided win in what may have been the closest thing to a true “ultimate fight” in the history of a promotion with that name.
Between St. Pierre and lightweight champion B.J. Penn, you had two of the most gifted champions in company history – St. Pierre the world’s best welterweight and Penn the world’s best lightweight, with both at the peak of their careers.
And while St. Pierre was favored as the bigger man, it was still stunning how he dismantled someone who three years ago he struggled to beat in a controversial split-decision win.
St. Pierre (18-2) was ahead 40-34, 40-35 and 40-34 on the scorecards after turning it on at the end of the fourth round. At first it appeared the end of the round saved Penn. But as soon as the round was over, with Penn taking a bad enough beating that he was taken to the hospital after the match, both Nevada State Athletic Commission doctor William Berliner and Penn’s corner simultaneously decided to tell referee Herb Dean to stop the match.
Aside from the first round, where Penn stopped a few of St. Pierre’s takedowns, it was complete domination as St. Pierre ran his win streak to 14 straight rounds over his last five fights against highly ranked opponents.
St. Pierre came into the fight ranked No. 3 in the Yahoo! Sports pound-for-pound poll. He was behind middleweight champion Anderson Silva and Affliction heavyweight star Fedor Emelianenko, and one spot ahead of Penn.
But neither Silva nor Emelianenko has had to face a steady diet of fighters the caliber of what St. Pierre has faced since his 2007 loss to Matt Serra, let alone someone with the all-around skill set of Penn.
“My strategy was that he has small shoulders, which is good for hand speed, so I went to make him carry my weight and cause his shoulders to tire,” said St. Pierre, who earned $420,000 for the win before any extra bonuses kick in off the back end of the pay-per-view revenue. “I wanted to start out and make it a wrestling match.”
St. Pierre said he was about 187 pounds going into the cage, nearly 20 pounds heavier than Penn (13-5-1), who weighed in at 168 pounds and was likely right at that weight going into the cage. St. Pierre was simply too strong and well-conditioned for Penn in a fight the promoters predicted would be the biggest non-boxing event in North American pay-per-view history.
If the event does as expected, it would also be the first time in the history of sports that three pay-per-view events in successive months drew more than 900,000 buys, let alone all from the same promotion.
“It was the craziest thing ever,” said Dana White about the event, which sold out the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas with 14,885, paying a gate of $4.3 million. “The MGM Grand wanted more tickets. Other casinos wanted more tickets.”
St. Pierre got off first, winning standing exchanges in the fist round. But if Penn thought he was getting a psychological edge in the first round by stopping takedowns, it was gone early in Round 2. St. Pierre powered Penn down and connected with a relentless supply of punches and elbows. He continually passed Penn’s guard and then threw knees to the body. Penn was worn out by the end of the second round.
“You’ll notice I didn’t rush him right away going for the takedown (his style in his last few matches),” said St. Pierre. “The idea was to cause him to have to hop on one leg and get tired, and push off, having to carry my weight in the clinch. That was the idea in the first round.”
St. Pierre felt when the first round was over that he had already mentally broken Penn.
“I was fighting my fight and that made him uncomfortable, which caused him to get tired faster,” said St. Pierre. “It’s not that he wasn’t in shape.
“This was the biggest fight of my career,” said St. Pierre, ranking it ahead of the night where he captured the championship a second time, beating Matt Serra, in his home city of Montreal.
The fight was not without controversy. Between the first and second round, one of St. Pierre’s cornermen rubbed Vaseline on his back and shoulders, which was caught by ringside officials.
“It didn’t affect the outcome of the fight, but you don’t do it,” said White. “I don’t think Georges knew, but the guy who did it, he should never be allowed to corner another fighter again.”
St. Pierre’s next opponent will be Thiago Alves, who presents a different set of problems. Alves has mastered the art of cutting weight. Alves is far bigger than Penn and also tremendous at avoiding takedowns, plus he’s a more feared striker than Penn.
St. Pierre said it was too soon to give an accurate timetable on when he would want that match to take place, but did say he’d be happy with it being six months. St. Pierre said he was taking a few days vacation and would be back in the gym by the end of the week.
In Alves’ recent win over Josh Koscheck on Oct. 25 in Chicago, he went into the cage at an unheard-of 199 pounds after making 171, which would make St. Pierre the rare smaller welterweight if Alves could do it again.
The win also fueled talk of a potential St. Pierre vs. Anderson Silva match, where St. Pierre would move up to face the middleweight champion in an attempt to do what Penn failed to do in this fight – to become the first dual weight-class champion in the history of UFC.
White said he didn’t see doing that fight immediately, but if both fighters continue to win, he talked of it as a match he would like to put together, perhaps in 2010.
St. Pierre said he saw that fight as something he would be interested in as a test, but noted that he would need the extra time to train and add muscle weight to compete with the significantly larger middleweight king.
“I don’t fight for money or for fame, because when I started I didn’t have either,” he said. “I fight for the challenge.”

Watch Here - The UFC 94 weigh-in at the MGM Grand Garden Arena - St. Pierre v. Penn

Top 10 MMA Fighters ( Ranking )

By D. Doyle,

The first month of a two-month span in which most of the best fighters in the world compete is complete. They may as well have been grappling for position in the rankings, given all the comings and goings. To wit:
• Rashad Evans enters the poll at No. 6 following his impressive win over Forrest Griffin for the UFC light heavyweight title on Dec. 27. Evans never seemed to get his due on his way up, perhaps because he didn’t exactly set the world on fire in his first two marquee matches – a draw against Tito Ortiz and a split decision over Michael Bisping. Since then, though, Evans has come into his own, with a versatile approach that includes one of the most effective counter-striking games in the sport.
• From the “wow, tough crowd” file: Griffin fell out of the Top 10, finishing 11th. This is still the same guy who finished Mauricio Rua and Quinton Jackson back to back, and won the first two rounds against Evans before losing to his unbeaten foe in the third.

• Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira fell out of the Top 10 after his listless loss to Frank Mir at UFC 92. Never say never, but it looks like Big Nog’s UFC interim title reign could have been the legendary heavyweight’s swan song at the top. Mir, for his part, showed up in the “votes for others” category with five points, five behind the man he beat in February, Brock Lesnar.
• Welterweight Thiago Alves, who finished 11th last month, eased into the 10 spot without fighting.
Alves, of course, is expected to meet the winner of the Jan. 31 megafight between UFC lightweight champion B.J. Penn and welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre. The match between No. 4 Penn and No. 3 St. Pierre highlights a month that also includes No. 2 Fedor Emelianenko against former UFC heavyweight champ Andrei Arlovski, No. 7 Lyoto Machida vs. unbeaten Thiago Silva, and No. 9 Urijah Faber against Jens Pulver.

Note: This month’s poll was compiled before Shinya Aoki’s win over Eddie Alvarez in Japan on Dec. 31 and thus the poll does not reflect the result.

10. Thiago Alves
Points: 19
Affiliation: UFC
Weight class: Welterweight
Hometown: Fortzleza, Brazil
Record: 16 (won last seven)
Last month’s ranking: unranked
Recent results: def. Josh Koscehck, unanimous decision, Oct. 25
Analysis: Seven straight victories and the most complete Muay Thai game this side of Anderson Silva makes Alves a dangerous foe for the fighter who comes out of the Georges St. Pierre-B.J. Penn match with welterweight gold.
9. Urijah Faber
Points: 24
Affiliation: WEC
Weight class: Featherweight
Hometown: Sacramento, Calif.
Record: 21-2 (lost last one)
Last month’s ranking: 8
Most recent result: lost to Mike Brown, R1 TKO, Nov. 10
Analysis: Faber faces Jens Pulver on Jan. 25 in a rematch with little upside. The former featherweight champ already handled Pulver in their June meeting. A loss or poor showing against Pulver, who has lost four of his past five matches, will only serve to drop his stock.
8. Lyoto Machida
Points: 28
Affiliation: UFC
Weight class: Light heavyweight
Hometown: Belem, Brazil
Record: 13-0
Last month’s ranking: 10
Most recent results: def. Tito Ortiz, unanimous decision, May 24
Analysis: Machida might not be the biggest ticket seller, but an impressive win over fellow unbeaten Thiago Silva in January will make it very hard to deny “The Dragon” a light heavyweight title shot.
7. Quinton Jackson
Points: 47
Affiliation: UFC
Weight class: Light heavyweight
Hometown: Memphis, Tenn.
Record: 29-7 (won last one)
Last month’s ranking: 9
Most recent result: def. Wanderlei Silva, KO R1, Dec. 27
Analysis: Just to review, “Rampage” has won seven of his past eight fights; beaten the likes of Matt Lindland, Chuck Liddell, Dan Henderson and Wanderlei Silva; and his only loss in that span was a coin flip of a decision against Forrest Griffin. Jackson’s résumé over the past three years holds up against everyone ranked ahead of him.
6. Rashad Evans
Points:59
Affiliation: UFC
Weight class: Light heavyweight (UFC light heavyweight champion)
Hometown: Lansing, Mich.
Record: 13-0-1 (won past three)
Last month’s ranking: unranked
Most recent result: def. Forrest Griffin, R3 TKO, Dec. 27
Analysis: Evans was doubted by fans and media alike throughout his rise to the top. But the tremendous counter-striker, whose success may be the biggest testament to Greg Jackson’s training style, has both the gold and the last laugh.
5. Miguel Angel Torres
Points:98
Affiliation: WEC
Weight class: Bantamweight (WEC bantamweight champion)
Hometown: East Chicago, Ind.
Record: 35-1 (won past 16)
Last month’s ranking: 6
Most recent result: def. Manny Tapia, TKO R2, Dec. 3
Analysis: How good is Torres? He beat Tapia using just his standup – Tapia’s strength – simply to prove he could. Word on the street has Torres’ next title defense, against Brian Bowles, taking place in Chicago in the spring.
4. B.J. Penn
Points: 128 (one first-place vote)
Affiliation: UFC
Weight class: Lightweight (UFC lightweight champion)
Hometown: Hilo, Hawaii
Record: 13-4-1 (won past three)
Last month’s ranking: 4
Most recent result: def. Sean Sherk, R3 TKO, May 24
Analysis: The Jan. 31 megafight between Penn and St. Pierre marks just the second time two top-five fighters have met since the Y! poll began. The first was in September 2007, when then-No. 4 Jackson defeated then-No. 3 Dan Henderson.
3. Georges St. Pierre
Points: 133
Affiliation: UFC
Weight class: Welterweight (UFC welterweight champion)
Hometown: Saint-Isidore, Quebec
Record: 17-2 (won past four)
Last month’s ranking: 3
Most recent result: def. Jon Fitch, unanimous decision, Aug. 9
Analysis: When St. Pierre and Penn met last at UFC 59, Penn tagged GSP early and won the first round, forcing St. Pierre to rally. The welterweight champ has rarely allowed himself to be put in such a position since.
2. Fedor Emelianenko
Points: 135 (4 first-place votes)
Affiliation: Affliction/M-1 (WAMMA heavyweight champion)
Weight class: Heavyweight
Hometown: Stary Oskol, Russia
Record: 28-1, one no-contest (won past nine)
Last month’s ranking: 2
Most recent result: def. Tim Sylvia, R1 submission, July 19
Analysis: After losing in the world sambo championships a couple months back, Emelianenko decided to skip the media hype for his upcoming match so he could regain his focus. That could be very bad news for Andrei Arlovski come Jan. 24.
1. Anderson Silva
Points: 154 (11 first-place votes)
Affiliation: UFC
Weight class: Middleweight (UFC middleweight champion)
Hometown: Curitiba, Brazil
Record: 23-4 (won past nine)
Last month’s ranking: 1
Most recent result: def. Patrick Cote, R3 TKO, Oct. 25
Analysis: Silva is at his motivated best when he’s challenged by elite competition. Thales Leites, his rumored next foe, doesn’t quite fit the bill.
More

• Votes for others: Forrest Griffin 15; Brock Lesnar 10; Eddie Alvarez 6; Frank Mir, Dan Henderson 5; Shinya Aoki 4; Mike Brown, Carlos Condit 3; Jon Fitch, Andrei Arlovski 2; Randy Couture, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira 1

• Upcoming matches for ranked fighters: No. 2 Fedor Emelianenko vs. Andrei Arlovski, Jan. 24, Anaheim; No. 3 Georges St. Pierre vs. No. 4 B.J. Penn, Jan. 31, Las Vegas; No. 7 Lyoto Machida vs. Thiago Silva, Jan. 31, Las Vegas; No. 9 Urijah Faber vs. Jens Pulver, Jan. 25, San Diego.

Promo Trailer UFC 94

Jon Fitch Dropped out of the UFC??

A bitterly angry Dana White said Wednesday the Ultimate Fighting Championship has cut highly regarded welterweight contender Jon Fitch and is not going to do business with any fighters who are part of the American Kickboxing Academy team in San Jose, Calif.

The outspoken UFC president said shortly after landing in Hawaii on Wednesday that he no longer wants to work with AKA fighters or those represented by DeWayne Zinkin and Bob Cook.

White said he excepted AKA welterweight Mike Swick from that group because he said Swick called him and told him he wants to fight for the UFC. But Fitch and heavyweight Christian Wellisch were cut on Wednesday, and heavyweight prospect Cain Velasquez and welterweight Josh Koscheck could be next.


“We’re looking for guys who want to work with us and not against us, and frankly I’m just so [expletive] sick of this [expletive] it’s not even funny,” White said from Honolulu, where he flew Wednesday from Toronto to hold a news conference to announce the B.J. Penn-Georges St. Pierre fight for UFC 94 on Jan. 31 in Las Vegas.

“Affliction is still out there trying to build its company. Let [Fitch] go work with them. Let him see what he thinks of those [expletives]. [Expletive] him. These guys aren’t partners with us. [Expletive] them. All of them, every last [expletive] one of them.”

Fitch said Wednesday the dispute was over his reluctance to sign a lifetime contract to allow his name and likeness to be used in a video game the UFC is planning with THQ. He said the dispute has nothing to do with money and that he never caused a problem during his time in the UFC.

He said he simply didn’t understand the need to sign a lifetime contract, particularly since it would not pay his family in the event of his death.

“Working for free and selling our rights away for lifetime, that’s a little different,” said Fitch, who said he hasn’t spoken with White but plans to call him. “We tried to negotiate five- or 10-year deals with them, but it wasn’t good enough. It was all or nothing. He wanted our lifetime. He wanted our souls forever.”

White said the AKA fighters “aren’t partners with us” and said they don’t understand what the UFC is trying to do for the sport. White said the UFC’s current success was because of long hours he and partner Lorenzo Fertitta have put in trying to build the company and the sport of mixed martial arts.

White complained that he has to make frequent sacrifices in his personal life and is away from his family for long stretches because of his commitment to growing the UFC. He said the AKA fighters don’t understand the things UFC management is trying to do and said they’ll learn how tough things are in the poor economy.

“There are a lot of guys who help us and work with us and are great partners with us, and they’re the ones we’re going to remember and take care of,” White said. “Do these guys understand what is going on in this world? I’ll tell you, this economy is [expletive] up. It’s totally [expletive] up. It’s bad, real, real bad. The [television] networks are in trouble and don’t have money. The sponsors are in trouble, and they have no money. If they don’t have money, they go out of business.

“It’s a whole other world out there, believe me, and let these guys go out there and see what they find.”

White said he took great care of Fitch and said with bonuses and purse, Fitch made $169,000 for his welterweight title fight loss to St. Pierre at UFC 87 in Minneapolis in August. Fitch (17-3 with 1 no-contest) did not dispute that salary figure. He said the UFC “has taken care of me and you’ve never heard me complain about money. This is a respect thing.”

Fitch said he thought there should room to negotiate on these contracts but said the UFC would not budge.

He said he understood it was highly unlikely that another company would want to put him in a video game but said it was only reasonable that he not tie his rights up for life.

White said he flew to San Jose in the summer to talk with the AKA fighters, but Fitch said the discussion was about a merchandising agreement.

“He wanted us to sign that merchandising agreement, and it was not a very good agreement,” Fitch said. “There was not really a reason for us to sign it. The first thing they brought to us was for us to sign all of our rights away for everything forever. It was for very small compensation, and there was no compensation for family members if we were to die.

“We could die and they could make memorial figurines and stuff and make thousands, millions of dollars, and our families wouldn’t see a penny of it. The way they bring the contracts and stuff to us, I don’t know, it’s just not how business is done.”

Zinkin also represents UFC light heavyweight Chuck Liddell, though Liddell does not fight for AKA. White said he has been “beefing with Zinkin for years” and said he had to call Liddell, one of his closest friends, and tell him to get Zinkin to back off.

According to White, Liddell said Zinkin represented him on sponsorships and he would negotiate his own deals with the UFC.

Fitch said he has been a loyal UFC employee and said, “I’d only like a little bit of respect for the blood I shed for this company.”

White said he has sacrificed more than anyone to build the UFC into the powerhouse it has become and that he’s tired of athletes who don’t want to “get with the program.”

Velasquez, one of the sport’s rising stars, clearly is on the outs with White. White said Zinkin wanted standard language that is part of every UFC fighter’s contract removed from Velasquez’s deal.

“Can you believe that?” White said. “Chuck Liddell has that language in his contract. Randy Couture has it. Anderson Silva has it. And Cain [expletive] Velasquez, with two [expletive] fights, wants us to change it for him? That’s [expletive] nuts. He can get the [expletive] out.

“I’m not a douche bag and I do a lot for these guys, a lot more than any of you will ever know. We’re in a horrible time in the economy now, and every guy with two nickels to rub together is making a run at us. We’ve worked too hard, given too much, to let certain guys come in and [expletive] with that.”

Fitch said he’s not trying to mess with anything and that he simply wants to fight. He said he always has been respectful in all his dealings with the UFC and said he can’t understand the position he finds himself in without ever having spoken to White.

He plans to call White to discuss the situation but wasn’t sure what move to make.

“I’m more than willing to work with them, but I don’t see why we have to give up our whole lives for this,” Fitch said. “Why not a time limit? If we did a 10-year deal with them, is that that unreasonable? I don’t understand how this happened, honestly. It’s tough.”