England's Brad Pickett (photo via UFC.com)

By FCF Staff

According to a press release sent out by the parties, the Ultimate Fighting Championship has signed a three year, television deal with BT Sport, which will be launching several new premium channels in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The broadcast deal will go into effect this August.

The deal calls for content that will be produced exclusively for U.K. and Ireland markets, and will result in up to 400 hours of UFC programming. The agreement will also feature 30 live broadcasts of UFC events from around the globe.

The UFC’s current broadcasting partner in the region is ESPN U.K., but it’s agreement with the network expires August 1st.

Heading into the recent UFC on FUEL TV in Sweden last month,UFC Executive Vice President and Managing Director of Europe Gary Cook relayed that the promotion was looking for new television partner in the U.K. and Ireland.

Ben Askren

By Joshua Molina

Ben Askren is probably the smartest fighter in MMA today.

The Bellator Welterweight Champ is calling out UFC Welterweight king Georges St-Pierre.

Askren has said he could beat GSP, but  what matters most about his claims is that he is putting himself on GSP’s level, regardless of whether he deserves to be there.

Askren is doing what Bellator so desperately needs to do – call out the UFC and turn the sport into a business war.

Fans like combat inside and outside of the cage. Just like a fight, it’s not enough to lay back and expect to win by fighting defensively.

Bellator must go out and fight the UFC – and make fans believe the UFC is so 2010.

Askren recently challenged GSP to a $1,000 takedown challenge. That’s bold and smart and exactly whay Bellator needs to do if it wants to pull ahead of UFC in the cable wars.

Besides calling out UFC fighters, the single biggest thing Bellator can do to compete with the UFC is to hire play by play commentator Mike Goldberg.

Viacom needs to cut loose with some of its money and steal some of the characters that fans associate with the UFC.

More than any fighter, Bellator should look to throw big bucks at Goldberg, announcer Bruce Buffer, maybe even Joe Rogan.

Askren is doing his part. He’s 11-0, and a year from now, GSP might be the one calling him out.

UFC women's champ Ronda Rousey has helped give the UFC a much-needed boost

By Joshua Molina

Somehow, some way, the UFC has turned the corner on its rough 2012 and could be experiencing another business boom.

After injuries and drug suspensions wrecked 2012, UFC has bounced back with strong TV and Pay Per View shows and has managed to rekindle its reputation as an “it” thing to talk about.

How did they UFC do this? It was both fate and good business sense.

The single-handed best business move the UFC has pulled off in recent years appears to be the acquisition and eventual closure of Strikeforce, and the signing of women’s great Ronda Rousey.

The buzz created by Rousey crossing over the UFC has brought new eyes to the sport and made others come back. Not only did she kick down the door for women’s MMA in the mainstream, but she is responsible for a huge rebirth of the sport overall.

She delivered on Pay Per View in her thrilling match with Liz Carmouche, drawing an estimated 450,000 Pay Per View buys, more than everyone else in the UFC, except for about for guys named Georges St. Pierre, Jon Jones, Chael Sonnen and Cain Velasquez.

Ever since Rousey’s arrival, the entire UFC has been on upward swing.

Fuel is getting its bet ratings ever thanks to UFC programming. The weigh-ins for the GSP vs. Nick Diaz fight drew 215,000 viewers. That’s more people than the number who watch most of the regular programming on that show.

Of course the GSP vs. Diaz fight is expected to draw about 850,000 Pay Per View buys. And it’s just going to get better.

Next month Jon Jones battles Chaels Sonnen for the light heavyweight championship. Sonnen is already in full pre-fight publicity mode and is doing what few other fighters dare to do — he’s talking trash about Jones.

Velasquez will fight Bigfoot Silva later this year, in what will draw big money again for the company. Anderson Silva also returns to fight Chris Wiedman, in a classic old guard vs. new guard battle.

Amid all of this, Gilbert Melendez will challenge Benson Henderson for the UFC Lightweight title on Fox on April 20. That fight will likely spark Fox’s biggest rating since the first Velasquez vs. Junior Dos Santos battle.

And Rousey will host the next season of The Ultimate Fighter against either Miesha Tate or Cat Zingano. Rousey on TV every week will be ratings gold for the UFC and push her next Pay Per View match in December well past th 600,000 Pay Per View buy mark.

They say competition is good, but in the UFC’s case, killing Strikeforce and luring its top stars was the best thing it could have done to revive its 2012 flat product.

Mark Hunt

By Joshua Molina

Around the world in MMA . . .

With the incredible shrinking man Alistair Overeem out with an injury, Mark Hunt has stepped up to fight Junior Dos Santos.

Junior Dos Santos appears on the fast track back to a title shot against Cain Velasquez, whose only challenge against Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva will be to see if he can extract even more blood from Silva’s head in less time than the first fight.

Dos Santos’ manager has suggested that Overeem didn’t want to fight the former UFC champ. He’s probably right. Overeem folded faster than a lawn chair once he got hit against the slow Bigfoot. Against Dos Santos, the guy who walked into the cage against Bigfoot, wouldn’t stand a chance against Cigano.

. . . Jon Fitch has signed a four-year deal with the World Series of Fighting. Fitch, an incredibly skilled, but notoriously boring defensive fighter, was fired by the UFC after a loss to Demian Maia.

The UFC’s firing of Fitch must be personal because if the UFC is the best MMA company in the world, Fitch deserves to be fighting on that stage. He did afterall, take out rising star Erick Silva to school for a night last October, in a UFC Fight of the Night.

Fitch derailed the rapid fire Silva, shades of a young Roberto Duran, and showed that he can still scrap with the best.

Oddly, Silva is still in the UFC, but Fitch isn’t.

. . . Lots of talk in MMA about transgendered fighter Fallon Fox, born as a man, but is now legally a woman.

Fox’s battle is a big step for the transgendered community. If the International Olympic Committee allows transgendered fighters to compete under strict rules, certainly MMA should.

Besides, if you are a woman it’s probably better to fight a woman, born as a man, who is drug free, than fight a woman, who is doping, who has the muscle mass of a man.

. . . In a battle of ex-Strikeforce stars, Jake Shields will fight Tyron Woodley at UFC 161 on June 15. Shields sure has fallen from his high point of fighting Georges St-Pierre in front of the largest MMA audience in North American history in Canada.

Shields lost in a boring fight to GSP, was then knocked out by Jake Ellenberger and has looked lackluster and drained in his UFC victories over Martin Kampmann and Yoshihiro Akiyama. His decision victory over Ed Herman was overturned because he tested positive for a banned substance.

Woodley was destroyed by Nate Marquardt, but then bounced back with a knockout victory over Jay Hieron.

Shields is a masterful grappler and Woodley is a good wrestler. George W. Bush was still president the last time Jake Shields knocked anyone out, so expect this fight to be fought on the mat, with Shields smothering Woodley.

Woodley best chance is to knock Shields out, but Shields has been hit by Dan Henderson and Ellenberger and knows what it feels like by now to get hit hard. Expect Shields to be on his knees shooting for the takedown as early as he can.

K.J. Noons

By Joshua Molina

By now, it’s safe to say that the vast majority of fans agree: KJ Noons got robbed last Saturday in his fight against Ryan Couture, the son of MMA and UFC icon Randy Couture.

But Noons is over it.

“”I feel like I won the fight,” Noons told fcfighter.com. “But I don’t want to be a crier. It just sucks.”

Noons, according to two cageside judges, lost a split decision to Couture on the final Strikeforce show. Most other observers believed that Noons had not only won the fight, but that he probably won every round. Two judges gave the fight to Couture, 29-28. One judge scored the fight 30-27, for Noons.

It was the latest sad chapter for Noons, who has now lost four out of his last five fights. The loss meant that Noons walked away with only $41,000 for the fight. That’s not a bad payday for a fighter headlining a Showtime Extreme card, but the bad decision cost him a winner’s bonus of $36,000.

Cagefighting is Noons’ only source of income — and prior to Saturday, his last fight was in March of 2012. But despite Noons’ recent bad run, there’s a lot for him to be excited about.

Noons will get at least one fight in the UFC in 2013. Noons, known for his explosive striking and exciting fights, will probably get a few fights in the UFC, as long as he can start winning.

Born in Hawaii and now living in San Diego, California, Noons has fighting in his blood. His father Karl James Noons was a well-regarded kickboxer. That striking ability carried over to his son, who is one of the best stand-up fighters in MMA.

At a time when MMA is dominated by Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belts, Noons is a breath of fresh air. He comes to fight. His stand-up, coupled with his training in Muay Thai fighting makes for thrilling fights, even if he loses, or falls victim to a bad decision.

His loss last March to Josh Thomson was frustrating because Thomson basically took him down every round and held him down, relying on his wrestling skills. Noons was frustrated that Thomson chose not to stand and fight with him.

Still, the fight forced Noons to work on his wrestling takedown defense. It appeared to work against Couture, who seemed outmatched by the more well-rounded Noons. The most trouble Noons dealt with in the fight came from Couture’s accidental headbutt, a collision that annoyed Noons and briefly slowed him down.

Noons believed he did everything perfectly in the fight.
“There wasn’t really anything that I would have changed,” Noons said.

Noons stopped short of suggesting that Couture’s name may have helped him walk away with a decision.

“Maybe, maybe not,” Noons said.

Noons said the UFC told him to heal up and then when he’s ready the company will find a spot for him on a card. He said he needs to fight more. There is no shortage of fighters in the UFC, so he thinks it won’t be tough for him to find a fight.

“I can go there and be consistent,” Noons said. “I pretty much have been off for a year (prior to the Couture fight).

Noons said he needs to fight for his family.

“My priorities have definitely changed,” Noons said. “My son (Karl James Noons) is three months old. I am trying to provide for my family.”

Noons said he will call the UFC sometime next week and start moving to get on a show. Besides the cut from the head butt and a few bruises, Noons said his body is healthy and he is ready to fight.

Like many of the other ex-Strikeforce fighters, he might be looking to fight on the April 20 UFC on FOX show in San Jose, California.

He might even ask for a rematch with Couture. Calling people out, however, is not his style. He realizes that his recent run of losses doesn’t put him in a position to start demanding who he fights. He is just eager to showcase his exciting fighting style — and get back to winning.

The man who holds a TKO victory over Nick Diaz, and battled him to a close decision loss in a rematch, is hungry to prove himself to the world all over again.

“Of course, the goal is to be the best in the world,” Noons said. “Right now I can’t be that. I have to work my way up. The goal is to fight the best and be the best.”

Tarec Saffiedine (right) captured the Strikeforce welterweight championship in the promotion's main event and final bout last night (photo via Esther Lin / Showtime)

By Joshua Molina

It’s perhaps a bit of sweet justice that the guy who grew up on Strikeforce Challengers mastered the UFC guy, in the final Strikeforce fight ever.

Like a television show with a strong cult following, Strikeforce mixed martial arts ended its seven-year-run last night with a show full of excitement, surprises and disappointments. And, of course, it wouldn’t be modern MMA, without a horrible decision by the judges.

Strikeforce died a slow and painful death in 2012 after its new owner, Zuffa, which also owns the UFC, raided the roster of many fighters, stripping Strikeforce of much of its fighter muscle.

Showtime canceled two events in 2012 after two title holders who remained got injured before big fights. With little left of what once made Strikeforce a potent force in the world of MMA, Showtime and Zuffa decided against renewing the contract, officially folding Strikeforce into the UFC.

Saturday night’s featured a lot of what made Strikeforce great, before its untimely death.

The Excitement:
Tarec Saffiedine stunned the MMA world with a masterful performance, literally destroying ex-UFC star Nate Marquardt and Strikeforce Welterweight champion. Saffiedine leg-chopped Marquardt’s left thigh worse than Lex Luger’s chest after a Ric Flair chop fest.

By the end of round four, Marquardt’s left thigh was a bloody, bruised mess that made anyone who saw squirm.

You could see Marquardt flinch and then ache in pain after Saffiedine’s vicious quicks. Marquardt was walking like an old man by Round 5, hobbling in pain. Saffiedine finished the fight with a beautiful takedown, on his way to winning the fight by unanimous decision.

Saffiedine was one of the many guys who got his start on Strikeforce Challengers, a show that was designed to feature rising stars. UFC killed the show shortly after purchasing Strikeforce.

Saffiedine probably would never have gotten noticed in the larger UFC, but has become a world champion and star because of the opportunity Strikeforce gave him. Good for him, and the old Strikeforce.

The future of the UFC light heavyweight division may look a lot like Gegard Mousasi. After a year-long layoff, Mousasi shredded the tough Mike Kyle, who has fought at heavyweight. Mousasi beat Kyle by rear naked choke after successfully taking him down. Mousasi is one of those rare MMA fighters who extraordinarily talented, but sports zero attitude in the cage.

Mousasi possesses smooth transitions, brilliant defense and wicked, sharp-shooting striking. He truly exemplifies the word “arts” in mixed martial arts. Jon Jones, look out.

Josh Barnett cut another great pro wrestling-style promo, one that would make CM Punk look proud. Telling MMA heavyweights to “run cowards,” Barnett is one of the few guys in MMA who has the “It” factor. He doesn’t get along with UFC president Dana White, so his future in the promotion is unclear, but Barnett is one of the most entertaining and skilled fighters in the world.

Barnett and Cain Velasquez for the UFC title would spark a huge Pay Per View buy rate.

Surprises:
Saffiedine’s shocked the MMA world with his thrilling beat-down of Marquardt, who had no answer to Saffiedine’s kicks or takedown defense. Saffiedine looked like he was the champion defending against an outmatched opponent. Marquardt fell fast after his own thrilling upset of Tyron Woodley to win the title.

Showtime put together a polished, well-packaged history of Strikeforce in the form of a video montage and voice over by the voice of Strikeforce, Mauro Ranallo.

The story chronicled the start of the promotion, with footage of Frank Shamrock KOing Cesar Gracie, then embracing Nick Diaz after Diaz avenged his trainer’s defeat. It was nice to see Showtime remember its history and acknowledge some of its great fighters and moments.

Everyone expected Daniel Cormier to defeat Dion Staring Saturday night, but Staring walked into the cage with a desire to win. He fought with heart and didn’t let Cormier totally walk all over him. Cormier, of course, was the more skilled fighter and won by 2nd round TKO. Cormier then announced that he had signed a contract to fight for UFC and will debut on Fox on April 20. He called out Frank Mir, before saying he would kick Jon Jones’ backside in the fall.

The Disappointments:
Where was Mauro Ranallo? Ranallo was tending to a family health problem involving his parents. MMA broadcaster Ron Kruck pinch-hit and did a fine job. But Ranallo has become the Jim Ross of Strikeforce and no one in MMA matches his combination of insight and emotion when calling fights. The show is about the fights, but Ranallo is great at telling stories and helping fans feel like drama inside the cage.

KJ Noons got robbed. There’s no way Ryan Couture defeated KJ Noons. Noons, at the least, one two of the three rounds, although you could make a cause that he won all three rounds. Noons, one of the sport’s best boxers, pounded Couture’s face with power strikes. Noons pressed the action, forced the fight, and dominated Couture in every way.

Perhaps Couture’s name bought him some favor with the judges. But anyone who watches that fight would know that Noons deserves to win.

Let’s hope he signs with the UFC or Bellator because Noons is one of the sport’s most exciting fighters.

Finally, Saturday’s show should have been held in San Jose, California, where Strikeforce MMA began. Besides being a homecoming for Cormier, there was really no good reason for the show to be held in Oklahoma City. A San Jose crowd wouldn’t have booed the early rounds of Saffiedine vs. Marquardt because they would have understood what was happening inside the cage. Strikeforce held 19 shows in San Jose.

It should have come home to die.

Liz Carmouche says she is unafraid of UFC women's champ Ronda Rousey. Photo credit: Esther Lin/Invicta FC

By Joshua Molina

Liz Carmouche is the other woman.

The other woman in the biggest women’s mixed martial arts fight of all time.

The world already knows the Ronda Rousey story: The sassy U.S. Olympian won the Bronze Medal in the 2008 Olympic Games, turned to mixed martial arts, where she tapped six professional opponents by vicious armbar in the first round, became a magazine cover girl and thrust women’s MMA into the mainstream.

And on Feb. 23, 2013, her rise to stardom will culminate when she headlines a UFC Pay Per View, as the first UFC women’s champion. And up until now, the MMA and mainstream media have focused largely on Rousey and her rise to fame.

But when Rousey steps into the cage in February in Anaheim, California, she will be fighting a woman whose story is equally inspiring and remarkable.

Rousey will stare into the eyes of 28-year-old Liz Carmouche, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, who served three terms in Iraq, while working as a helicopter electrician.  Carmouche is also the first openly gay fighter in MMA history. It’s a role that she welcomes, cherishes, and embraces.

“I don’t want to hide from it, (being a lesbian), Carmouche told Full Contact Fighter.

Carmouche will be front and center for the world to see when she and Rousey collide in the first female UFC event in history.  But Carmouche plans to be more than just a footnote in history. She’s planning to stop Rousey in her tracks and emerge as the new women’s face of MMA.

“I have no fear of Ronda,” Carmouche said. “I am ready and excited. I want to make it a war.”

In her last start, Carmouche (far) submitted Kaitlin Young with a rear-naked choke in the second round of their matchup at Invicta FC 2 on July 28. Photo credit: Tracy Lee/Invicta FC

Carmouche is 7-2, with 4 KOs and two submission victories. At 5 feet, 6 inches tall, with rounded shoulders and curvy biceps, Carmouche has one of the more muscular and fit bodies in womens’s MMA.  Nicknamed “The Girl-Rilla, Carmouche uses an aggressive style, with frequent Muay Thai clinches to overpower her opponents.

She was raised in Okinawa, and brought up by her mother and stepfather who taught at a military college.  She liked sports as a girl and developed an interest in boxing and wrestling.

“I liked the aggressive nature of the individual sports,” she said.

But her small high school with a graduating class of 25 didn’t offer those sports and it cost $14 to take a bus ride out of town to train in those sports privately.  Instead she played soccer, volleyball and cross-country.  She enrolled in the Marine Corp and fell in love with MMA after a friend introduced her to the sport.

She caught the eye of then-San Jose-based Strikeforce, which promoted women’s MMA long before the UFC hopped on the bandwagon.  As a replacement for an injured Miesha Tate, she nearly became the Strikeforce Women’s bantamweight champiom in 2010 when she battled then-champ Marloes Coenen.

After pounding Coenen for nearly four rounds, Carmouche made a Chael Sonnen-like blunder and got caught in the triangle choke.

“My first thought was ‘I am going to slam her out of this,’” Carmouche said.

But she couldn’t, and she tapped out, in a fight she was winning.  She was dejected after the loss. Her coach, however, told her he was proud of her performance.

“I learned a lot,” Carmouche said. “I walked away feeling confident.”

Carmouche later dropped a unanimous decision to Sarah Kaufman, a woman Rousey destroyed by armbar submission.  Carmouche said she was “off my game,” and not into it for the Kaufman fight.

But she understands the gravity of the Rousey fight.

When word came down that Rousey would be brought over to the UFC, Carmouche and her fans called for the title shot on Twitter.  The grassroots campaign helped push Carmouche over other contenders such as Miesha Tate and Sara McMann.

From Strikeforce to Invicta FC to UFC, Carmouche is no stranger to the big stage in the MMA world.

Then one day Carmouche got a call from UFC President Dana White.

“I can’t even describe how it felt,” Carmouche said, of the short call offering her the fight.

Carmouche was ready. She has been ready.

“We’ve been preparing for this fight since the moment she took the belt,” said Carmouche, who added that she respects Rousey because she has backed up all of her trash talk.

She’s not in awe of Rousey, though. After her near-upset of Coenen, she now believes she’s as good as anyone in the cage.

She trains at the San Diego Combat Academy, where she teaches Muay Thai and MMA to kids 5 to 15 years old.  She’s planning a large contingent to make the trip to Anaheim to watch the fight.  She’s fully aware that she will make history with Rousey as one of two women in the first UFC women’s match, and alone as the first openly gay fighter in UFC history.

The other women, she said, have been supportive, and has not felt any additional pressure from being a pioneer in MMA.

“I love being that person, that role model,” said Carmouche, who said she and the UFC are still working out the details on her long-term contract.

And she would love to be the one who makes history as the fighter who first KO’d or submitted Rousey.

“I have no problem being the underdog and being underrated,” Carmouche said. “It helps motivate me.”

Two-time heavyweight boxing champion "Iron" Mike Tyson

By Joshua Molina

Had Mike Tyson, the one-time “Baddest Man on the Planet,” been born 20 years later, he might have become an MMA fighter.

On one condition:

“Cus (D’Amato) would have had to been an MMA guy,” Tyson told Full Contact Fighter. “I could have been a hockey player if Cus was (a hockey coach).”

Instead, Tyson became one of the greatest boxers of all time and now one of MMA’s biggest fans.

“Jon Jones is the king,” Tyson said of the UFC light heavyweight champ. “And I love the Diaz brothers. The Diaz brothers are awesome.”

Tyson on Monday opened up to Full Contact Fighter and members of the sports and entertainment media about his career, his goals, and his plans to take his critically acclaimed one-man show national, after a successful tour on Broadway.

“MIKE TYSON: UNDISPUTED TRUTH,” directed by Spike Lee, will launch in  major cities across the country beginning in February.

The show features Tyson talking about everything from his days as the violent, feared heavyweight champ, his arrest and conviction on a rape charge and now his days as a father and family man.

Through the shows, Tyson is also looking to raise awareness for his Mike Tyson Cares foundation, which provides services to children from broken homes.

At 20 years old, Tyson became the youngest heavyweight champion in history when in 1986 he knocked out Trevor Berbick.  The next year, he unified the three recognized world championships in boxing at the time, and went on to become a pop culture icon. He KO’d the likes of Michael Spinks, Larry Holmes and Frank Bruno.

Tyson in 1987 was talked about in the same sentence with the likes of Muhammad Ali, as potentially the greatest fighter in history, until he was upset by 42-1 underdog James “Buster” Douglas, in Tokyo, Japan. Although he would bounce back, Tyson never quite regained his luster and spent the next several years self destructing.

Perhaps his worst in-ring crisis came when he bit part of Evander Holyfield’s ear off during a fight, later claiming he was frustrated that Holyfield was illegally elbowing and headbutting him.

Tyson was 27-0, with 26 KO’s when he stepped into the ring for his first title fight, a remarkable feat considering that, in the modern era of MMA, heavyweights such as Can Velasquez got a title shot after eight fights and Brock Lesnar after only three fights.

Tyson stopped short of saying how he would do in an MMA fight, but did heap praise on MMA fighters, calling them “great athletes” who are “a lot better today than they were 20 years ago.”

Tyson said his all-time favorite fighters are pound-for-pound great Fedor Emelianenko and MMA pioneer Royce Gracie. He’s also a fan of Canadian icon Georges St. Pierre.

Tyson scoffed at criticisms of the sport that MMA fighters lack great stand-up boxing abilities. Surprisingly, the man with one punch KO power, said he appreciates the jiu-jitsu and wrestling battles that take place on the mat.

“When they are on the floor wrestling, they have to fight,” Tyson said. “It’s like a boxer trying to escape a clench.”

Tyson was noticeably relaxed during the media call. Gone are the days when he looked to intimidate with his threatening words and aggressive body language. He no longer challenges members of he media to fights, or threaten to eat his opponent’s children, as he did once about Lennox Lewis.

He talks now about appreciating his life, having no regrets, and wanting to help others. His goal is to start a Mike Tyson Cares Foundation in every city.

“I never realized giving would bring so much fulfillment,” Tyson said.

Tyson, during the media call, frequently talked about his trainer and mentor D’Amato, the man credited with turning Tyson from the streets to a career in boxing. He died at 85, before Tyson won the championship.

Tyson said “Cus” still lives inside him in everything he does.

“I wish he saw my kids,” Tyson said.

Tyson added that Cus probably wouldn’t be happy with his acting turn.

“He would want me to be fighting,” said Tyson, who is 46. “He’d say ‘You are still young and you are still healthy.’ ”

Tyson’s fighting days are well behind him. He will, however, be watching this Saturday’s Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez IV fight and said he will “DVR” the Nate Diaz Vs Benson Henderson UFC fight.

Tyson’s in a good place, seemingly having put much of the madness of multiple arrests and personal losses behind him.

“I am very comfortable now,” Tyson said.

Georges St. Pierre

By Joshua Molina
In case you didn’t know it, Georges St. Pierre returns this Saturday to fight Carlos Condit for the undisputed Welterweight Championship of the world.

The UFC has spent millions of dollars on the promotion of this fight, all built around the return of GSP, who is probably UFC’s most popular and marketable star.

The UFC in China on Fuel TV show doubled as a promotion for the return of GSP, with every other commercial seemingly showing GSP training and demonstrating his athletic prowess by running, running and doing more running. (We get it; he’s in shape).
The UFC really needs to figure out a new way to market and promote GSP. The uber-athlete, well-conditioned, muscular ball of iron gimmick is really overplayed, now like 5 fights in a row.
Maybe it’s because they don’t have a lot of recent footage of him knocking anybody out?

Condit is of course playing a bit part in the story of GSP’s return and lead-up to a superfight with Anderson Silva sometime next year. Condit has a chance to ruin a lot of the UFC’s plans. On one hand, he has a chance to play spoiler, but he also a chance to be the guy who finally dethrones St. Pierre, who has won nine straight and hasn’t lost since 2007.

It will be nice to see GSP finally get back inside the cage. We are all tired of seeing him on a treadmill.
Pound-for-pound great Anderson Silva made headlines by saying he doesn’t want to fight until late 2013. The UFC should give him the time off if he wants it. No need for White to play hardball with Silva, considering that Silva has been close to untouchable, with the exception of the first Chael Sonnen fight.

Silva also saved the UFC by stepping in to fight (embarrass) Stephan Bonnar, on a card plagued by injuries.

White should play with Silva. Stripping him of the title or crowning an interim champ won’t help. The UFC has plenty of big fights that it could make without needing Silva, who outside of fighting Chael Sonnen, isn’t a big draw anyway.

Sonnen, by the way, continues to verbally assault anyone he wants to. Sonnen congratulated Ronda Rousey for likely becoming the first UFC women’s champ once Strikeforce ends in January and then delivered this zinger: “Another fighter in the UFC who Rampage can’t beat,” referring to Rampage Jackson. Jackson recently slapped Sonnen around for his fighting style, saying he wouldn’t want to fight Sonnen because the former All-American Division 1 wrestler would just want to “hump” him.

Strikeforce Bantamweight champion Rousey is rumored to become the first women’s world champion in the UFC after Jan. 12. TMZ broke the story last week, sparking a lot of bitterness among other female fighters.

Miesha Tate said publicly yesterday that Rousey really didn’t do a lot to get women’s MMA off the ground. This may be true, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t deserve the credit she is getting from the sport’s power brokers and mainstream media.

Tate had her chance to change the course of history, but she tapped out during that moment. Tate fought Rousey tougher than anyone else has, outside of Judo competition, but she still lost. Rousey was in the right place at the right time, with the ability to back it up when it mattered.

The best thing Tate can do is start calling Rousey out and demand a title shot. If she wants to knock Rousey off her throne, Tate is in a position to do so.

The female fighters in Strikeforce should band together and not blame Rousey for her success. This is a time of sisterhood because it’s a breakthrough.
Women will likely be able to earn more money now and if UFC boss Dana White is serious about promoting women’s MMA (even after Rousey gets KO’d by Cyborg or someone else) then Rousey’s success should be celebrated, not used an opportunity for an unnecessary catfight.

Finally, all 42 World Series of Fighting fighters tested negative for performance enhancement drugs. By the looks of some of the bodies on that show, is anyone surprised?

MMA Legend and First-Ever UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Frank Shamrock. Photo courtesy of: James Manalisay/Strikeforce

By Joshua Molina

Who says Frank Shamrock has been written out of the UFC history book?

In the promotion of the Cung Le. vs. Rich Franklin fight in China, there he is, live in front of the whole world to see, getting his butt kicked by Cung Le.

Apparently Shamrock only exists if the UFC can make him look bad in a one-minute video to hype one of the guy’s fighting.

Here’s how it goes on the video:

“Cung’s matchup against Shamrock is legendary,” says Rich Franklin.

Mauro Ranallo screams, “Down goes Shamrock”!
(Le, by the way, had dropped Shamrock with a leg sweep, not a punch or kick).

“Broke his arm,” Franklin says, as an image of Shamrock scrambling to get up is played.

Yes, Le broke Shamrock’s arm, but it wasn’t from the knockdown or even a submission. Shamrock broke his arm defending his face from Le’s devastating kicks. Shamrock didn’t come out for Round 4.

The video is remarkable for a few reasons. First, you haven’t seen Shamrock on UFC TV in a long time, regardless of how he is portrayed. Since UFC boss Dana White and Frank Shamrock despise each other, Shamrock has been erased from Great Fight or Great Knockout highlight reels.

Shamrock was one of the UFC’s early pioneers. He fought for the company in the late 1990s, even submitting Tito Ortiz.

White often calls Shamrock “irrelevant” and Shamrock often calls White a “douchebag.”

So it’s pretty amazing to see Shamrock used to promote a UFC fight. They are essentially saying that “Le beat the legendary Frank Shamock so Rich Franklin is in trouble.”

It’s weird to hear Franklin call the Le vs. Shamrock fight “legendary.” It was a big fight in the San Jose, California area because both fighters lived there. The fight sold out the HP  Pavilion. The actual fight was good, but not legendary. In fact the ending was a bit anti-climatic since Shamrock ended the fight unable to come out for the round.

UFC had Strikeforce footage that show’s Le winning far more impressively. They could have showed him hammering Scott Smith, whom he actually knocked out with a kick.

Le’s battle with Wanderlei Silva was a way more exciting fight than the one with Shamrock.

So is the UFC just trying to make Shamrock look bad (it actually never mentioned his first name).

Or is it actually acknowledging that Le’s victory over Shamrock was a significant moment in MMA because Shamrock’s a big legend?

Whatever the reason, Frank Shamrock is back on UFC TV, even if it is just for a few embarrassing seconds.

Now for a look at the world of MMA media . . .

411Mania has a fairly unintentionally humorous column ranking the Top 10 Strikeforce fighters of all time. The “list” is more like a random collection of Strikeforce fighters than an analysis the best to ever step inside the hexagon.

All that needs to be said about this list is that the writer left off Jake Shields, who famously upset Dan Henderson and then left the company as Middleweight champion.

Shields may be the most boring fighter in the world, but he was one of Strikeforce’s best.

Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix Champion Daniel Cormier (right) is a key component to what Strikeforce has touted as a "stacked" card for January.

By Joshua Molina

If the so-called “stacked” Strikeforce card happens in January, here are some matches that might be worth considering.

Heavyweight:
Let’s make the Daniel Cormier vs. Frank Mir fight happen. Everyone’s high on Cormier right now, but it would be great to see him test his skills against the wily veteran Mir. Cormier might be the next big thing in MMA, but he hasn’t really been tested yet.

Mir has slowed in the last year and looked just awful against Junior Dos Santos. But he might have one more big win left in him. If Mir can pull off an upset of Brock Lesnar, he certainly defeat Cormier.

Middleweight:
Luke Rockhold needs better competition. Lorenz Larkin is not a good match for him. In the spirit of sending UFC fighters to Strikeforce, the UFC should book Wanderlei Silva vs. Rockhold. Rockhold is a strong all-around fighter and is one of the best in the world (even if he’s not in the UFC). He needs to beat a mainstream MMA name so people will start paying attention to him. Forget Anderson Silva vs. Jon Jones. Silva would have his hands full with Rockhold, who is the future of MMA.

Middleweight:
Tim Kennedy vs. Lorenz Larkin is a perfect matchup. Somebody needs to pop Kennedy in the face and make him fight. It’s hard to tell if Kennedy, in those ridiculous white short-shorts wants to be a champion or an underwear model. In both of his title fights he froze, and seemed to be just happy sweating in the cage, playing it safe for 25 minutes. Larkin might let his hands go and hit Kennedy and force the U.S. Army sniper to actually fight inside the cage.

Lightweight:
Gilbert Melendez vs. Eddie Alvarez
Alvarez said he’s going to the highest bidder (bad choice, btw) so that means he’s going to the UFC. The UFC should send Alvarez to Strikeforce to challenge Melendez. That would be an awesome battle among two men who will fight and now lay on the floor for five rounds. These two have been among the best for a long time. Let’s see who’s better – for the title. As for Pat Healy, he should rematch with Josh Thomson first. Healy vs. Melendez stylistically is a boring fight. That’s likely a five-round decision victory for Melendez. Let Healy beat the guy who beat him, who Melendez beat twice before he gets a shot.

Women’s Bantamweight
Where is Ronda Rousey? She needs to fight on this card. It doesn’t matter who it is against. Should Miesha Tate be able to hang out in the background and not fight Rousey again? Tate has been the most competitive against Rousey. Let’s see these two women fight again. If Tate is afraid, what about the tough Liz Carmouche?

UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva

By Joshua Molina

Let’s get one thing clear:

Anderson Silva is one of the greatest mixed martial artists of all time. He COULD be the greatest of all time.

But when Dana White says it, we all should be skeptical. That’s because White after UFC 153 Saturday night said Silva is the greatest fighter of all time in combat sports.

Why does he say things like that? Because he’s really trying to market the UFC as the superior brand in all of mixed martial arts.
The fact is you just can’t make those comparisons. Is Silva better than Roy Jones Jr.?
Honestly, no.

Jones went 49-0 (the only loss was a DQ for hitting an opponent behind the head) to start his career. Silva is 33-4 -and he’s lost by tap out twice.
Jones during the 1990s moved up from middleweight champion to undisputed light heavyweight champion eventually to win the heavyweight championship of the world.

Jones fought more consistently and against higher quality of competition.

And back then, Jones was widely regarded as unbeatable and the best fighter in the world.

What about Aaron Pryor, the awesome junior welterweight from the 1980s who started his career 39-0 with 35 knockouts?

Or Evander Holyfield, who won the heavyweight title four times – more than anyone else – or even Mike Tyson, the youngest heavyweight champion in history.

Larry Holmes defended his heavyweight championship 20 times, twice as many times as Silva. What about undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr. or Manny Pacquiao? These fighters are considered among the greatest too.

The UFC hasn’t been around long enough to really make claims that any of its fighters are the best ever in combat sports.

White should learn his combat history or shut up.

Speaking of Silva, if he’s going to fight a ham-and-egger like Stephan Bonnar, the UFC should at least put him in the cage with fighters who will come to win.

Before Silva fights Jon Jones, the UFC should give former Strikeforce Middleweight Champ Cung Le a shot against Silva.
Let’s see Silva survive Cung’s San Shou kicks. Cung Le would need to keep the fight standing to keep it competitive, but Le is one of the few guys who would bring the offense to Silva. Book the fight at San Jose’s HP Pavilion, and give the warrior Le a shot and making magic.

To round out the show Mowatt calls on original co-host Brendan Leier, to get his compelling thoughts on the future of Strikeforce and this weekend’s UFC 153 card.

Former WWE star Dave Bautista won his MMA debut yesterday

By Joshua Molina

Bautista is now an undefeated mixed martial arts fighter.

The 43-year-old former WWE champion won his first fight by TKO in the first round Saturday night in Rhode Island.

Bautista may be the only MMA fighter in history to have a Pay Per View card booked entirely around his MMA debut. The fight was available on Direct TV and not even Brock Lesnar got that kind of treatment after he debuted in 2007.

What Lesnar did get after his MMA debut, however, was a fat contract with the UFC.

It’s not likely that Bautista is going to get a UFC contract after his first fight, if ever.

There were many questions surrounding Batista’s debut. Some of them were answered.

Here are some takeways from the fight, which is widely available for free on the Internet.

10. Bautista didn’t crack under pressure. He was rocked a few times with hard punches, but stayed on his feet and got through it. You can’t really prepare for getting hit inside the cage for the first time. Bautista survived it. Against this opponent, he was OK.

9. Bautista’s opponent Vince Lucero is too fat to fight. Yes, he rocked Bautista early in the fight, but his flabby body and stomach hanging over his waist line is not the kind of image MMA wants to present to the mainstream. Yes, he took the fight on five days’ notice, but still, MMA fighters should have better bodies that your average guy on the street.

8. Bautista has no standup defense. At least he didn’t show it in the fight. He led with his head and his hands low. Lucero made him pay. A better fight would have KO’d Bautista in less than 30 seconds.

7. Bautista is slow. He isn’t fast enough to connect with his punches. Even if he’s packing a powerful punch in his fists he isn’t fast enough to throw combinations to hit his opponent. Lucero, at 300 pounds, moved like a slug in the ring, yet he was faster than the muscular, 265-pound Batista.

6. Bautista trained very hard for the fight. It’s clear that he takes the sport very seriously. Bautista was all business. It was clear that he trained when, after he was getting pounded in the stand-up, that he switched to southpaw and shot for a double-leg takedown. That’s someone who made a necessary adjustment to gain the advantage.

5. Bautista knows how to take a fighter down. Lucero was totally surprised when Bautista went under and took the larger man to the ground. The moved looked like one of his old pro wrestling moves when he would tackle an opponent. He showed that he has a layers to his game and it ultimately made a difference in the fight.

4. Bautista needs to work on his submission offense. He had the blubbery Lucero first on his back, then his stomach and tried to apply several submission holds, including a crucifix. Seeing the chiseled Bautista lay on top of the walrus-like Lucero was one of the more disturbing non-blood-letting images seen in recent MMA history.

3. Bautista has major guts. A lot of people crap on pro wrestlers because they aren’t “real fighters,” but Bautista has proved again that some pro wrestlers like to also fight for real. Had MMA been popular a decade ago, maybe some of these WWE wrestlers probably be fighting in the UFC or other MMA leagues. At 43, Bautista stepped into the cage. That’s pretty impressive.

2. Bautista got lucky. A fighter slighly more skilled than Bautista would have knocked him out. It’s a learning experience and Bautista should go back to the gym and keep training. They should pick his next opponent wisely. Bautista vs. Herschel Walker – now that would be a great fight.

1. WWE has no idea how lucky it is. Bautista will be an even bigger draw when he eventuallys goes back to the pro wrestling. He knocked out his first opponent and can return to the squared circled as a legitimate bad-ass, MMA fighter. It doesn’t matter that Bautista’s opponent was fat and out of shape. It was a real fight. If the WWE were smart, they would book Bautista vs. Brock Lesnar, in a six-sided cage, in a real MMA fight on Pay Per View. Both of those guys would probably make $3 million off that one fight if the WWE promoted it. The UFC cannot compete with the WWE’s money or promotional abilities. That fight would easily outdraw anything that the UFC has ever done on Pay Per View.

By Joshua Molina

Bleacher Report is a popular sports and pop culture web site, but a recent report illustrates what’s wrong with some members of the MMA media.

In a Sept. 15 article that you can read here, a writer for the site attempts to outline why Strikeforce isn’t as good as UFC.

The story is, again, written from pro-UFC lens. Good journalists should report on MMA, not just the UFC. Good journalists should not act like cheerleaders for the UFC.

The report claims Strikeforce fighters aren’t excited about fighting in Strikeforce. That Gilbert Melendez has never beat a top fighter other than Shinya Aoki. That the Strikeforce talent pool has always been shallow. That Strikeforce fighters are dirty, citing failed drug tests of King Mo and Cris “Cyborg” Santos. That Strikeforce has poor television production.

The writer finally claims that Strikeforce never built a large fan base.

Get real.

I wonder if the writer ever stood inside the San Jose’s HP Pavilion prior to UFC’s purchase?

Outside of Las Vegas and Los Angeles, it’s not easy to fill basketball and hockey arenas. Strikeforce regularly did it because fans wanted to see Fedor Emelianenko, Nick Diaz, Robbie Lawler, Cung Le, Gilbert Melendez, Frank Shamrock, Jake Shields and others.

Showtime’s production, by the way, is far better than what the UFC can offer – if you like fighting and a focus on the fighters.

Mauro Ranallo, Pat Militech and Frank Shamrock KNOW the sport. They aren’t hyping the brand. They are calling the fights.

It’s possible to actually learn about the sport of MMA by listening to those guys. Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg fit the UFC brand well, but the are always embedding pro-UFC propaganda into their calls.

Jimmy Lennon Jr., by the way, is classy and sophisticated. Compare that to UFC’s Bruce Buffer, who’s delivery style is spastic and distracting.

The writer also says former Strikeforce Lightweight champ Josh Thomson would be a bottom-tiered lightweight in the UFC.

Wonder what Thomson would say to that?

The ultimate rebuttal to the writers ill-informed statements rests with the UFC.

Strikeforce may have been having financial problems when the Silicon Valley investors who owned the company sold it to the UFC, everybody knows why Zuffa bought Strikeforce; to eliminate it’s main competition.

Strikeforce was on CBS. Strikeforce was drawing good ratings on Showtime. Strikeforce was developing a following.

Strikeforce was an emerging threat to the UFC, so much so that the UFC bought it, and is making money off it. Had Fedor not lost to Fabricio Werdum, at Strikeforce moved to Pay Per View, as was the plan, the MMA world would have looked entirely different.

Finally, Strikeforce promoted women’s MMA. UFC doesn’t, but probably will in 2013.

Who is the biggest star in MMA right now? It’s Ronda Rousey, a Strikeforce fighter – prior to Zuffa’s acquisition – and probably the most popular athlete in the sport.