In celebration of an upcoming line of Bruce Lee collectibles, Round 5 has leaked a teaser for a 14 episode mini-series entitled “The Bruce Lee Story: As Told By You”. The following trailer features a two minute snippet of today’s top UFC fighters and personalities sharing their thoughts on Bruce Lee’s legacy, as well as [...]
by Michael David SmithBadr Hari, the bad boy of kickboxing who hadn't fought in a year, finally returned to the ring on Saturday and easily beat an overmatched and uninterested opponent, the French boxer Gregory Tony at an It's Showtime event in France. Hari won by first-round TKO, knocking Tony down three times without ever really hitting him all that hard. Tony looked like he didn't really want to be in the ring with Hari, and the matchup of Hari and Tony seemed like a generally bad idea: Tony isn't in Hari's class as a kickboxer, and Tony was also fighting just a week after he had two boxing matches on the same day, winning one and losing the other. A fight like this wouldn't get sanctioned by an American state athletic commission.
There's a delicate balance in the gym amongst training partners. Teammates in MMA are really no different than those in other sports. We've seen plenty of drama unfold in 2011 between for Jackson's MMA teammates Rashad Evans and Jon Jones, so when we brought up the Kobe Bryant vs. Pau Gasol rumors to several fighters, they had plenty to say.
If you're not an NBA fan, the Los Angeles Lakers were swept out of the playoffs by the Dallas Mavericks. Lakers big man Gasol was underwhelming throughout the postseason and confirmed that he let problems off the court affect his play. Bill Plaschke from the L.A. Times:
"I have to learn from this," Gasol said. ''I have to learn that when something happens off the court, you have to keep it off the court."
He was referring to the report that he stopped talking to Bryant during the postseason because Bryant's wife, Vanessa, had contributed to the breakup of Gasol and his longtime girlfriend. Lakers fans will remember Karl Malone publicly accused Vanessa of interfering with his personal life in a similar fashion.
If the rumors are true, Kobe's reportedly had similar issues former teammates Karl Malone and Shaquille O'Neal.
Rashad Evans, Melvin Guillard and Anthony Johnson were all asked about how much dirt you're allowed to dish to your spouse about your teammates.
There aren't many of us who understand what really went into the Osama bin Laden kill. Tim Kennedy is one of those unique Americans who've been in the middle of an intense international man hunt. As a Special Forces Army Ranger, Kennedy served tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. While awaiting his return to active duty, he's embarked on a pretty successful MMA career with Strikeforce.
Kennedy joined me on ESPN1100 in Las Vegas to give us some insight on what went down and how he feels about some people questioning the tactics of the military.
Many people were angered by the fact that bin Laden's body was dumped at sea. Americans with an eye-for-an-eye mentality certainly won't see video of the kill, and there won't be official photos to view. Kennedy doesn't understand why those things would be necessary.
"If somebody hurt my family, I wouldn't want to sit there and watch that guy executed. I would just want to know that justice was done," Kennedy said (7:45 mark).
Kennedy also countered fear-mongering media members who think bin Laden's death means the U.S. is cutting back in its pursuit of terrorists around the world.
"This isn't even the beginning of the end. This is an opportunity for us to really catch them while they're scrambling," Kennedy said. "If anything it's going to stir up more reaction and more fanatics. Right now it's just as dangerous as it's ever been."
As far as his MMA career, Kennedy reiterated that he wants a fight with Robbie Lawler. He mentioned the Fedor Emelianenko-Dan Henderson card proposed for the Chicago area in late July.
Gesias "JZ" Cavalcante hasn't been very happy with his tenure in Strikeforce to date, publicly expressing his frustration in a lack of booking by the organization on multiple occasions. But now that Zuffa has taken over, Cavalcante's got himself a fight on next month's Strikeforce event at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. According to a report from MMAWeekly.com, Cavalcante will take on hard-hitting wrestler Justin Wilcox on the event, which takes place on June 18 and is headlined by the heavyweight bout between Alistair Overeem and Fabricio Werdum. Cavalcante made his Strikeforce debut last October, losing a close split decision against Josh Thomson that he still believes he did enough to win. The loss dropped him to 1-3 over his last four fights, and in fact the one win in that stretch is his only one since 2007. Wilcox is riding a six fight win streak into this event, including two very impressive performances in Strikeforce Challengers main events, where he took a clear decision over veteran Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro before overwhelming Rodrigo Damm in April, causing doctors to stop the fight after the first round. Link to Original Source ArticlePenick's Analysis: This is a good lightweight matchup, and a very dangerous fight for Cavalcante. He desperately wanted to get booked in a fight, and now he's got one against a very impressive up and comer in Wilcox. Wilcox has continued improving in each fight, and is coming offof two excellent performances in headlining fights for the Challengers series, so this is another good opportunity for him to pick up a win against a longtime veteran.
by Michael David SmithaJay Hieron won a very close split decision victory over Rick Hawn Saturday night, taking the Bellator Season 4 welterweight tournament title. The fight easily could have gone to Hawn, and one judge said it should have, scoring it 29-28 for Hawn. The other two judges scored it 29-28 for Hieron, who credited his training for getting him into the kind of shape he needed to be in to win three fights in Bellator's eight-man welterweight tournament. "I just train my butt off, man," Hieron said. "No matter what's going on, I'm in the gym sweating."
The Nick Diaz-Jeff Lacy fight may never materialize. Either way Diaz has struck a nerve in the boxing world. The MMA champion at 170 pounds has been asking for a boxing match against high level boxers for a year or so. Lacy stepped up and sounded insulted that Diaz, who is 1-0 as a pro boxer, would have the gall to call him out.
"I really don't understand what was going through his mind. I understand he may love a challenge [but] I'm up for this more than you would ever know," Lacy told ESPN1100 in Las Vegas. "I don't want to down talk the sport, I love MMA, but when you have people talking about it's taking away from boxing, no."
Lacy isn't impressed with the technical skills of most MMA fighters when it comes to their boxing.
"It's a 'Toughman' contest when they're striking. Two fighters standing up going blow for blow. That's not boxing. Boxing is not Toughman. You're using skill, dancing around what you can see, but can't hit."
Lacy got testy when he was told the pressure's on him.
"How would you figure the pressure's on me when this is something I've been doing all my life? It's somehting I can close my eyes and do," Lacy said. "There pressure's on him to step over, just like the pressure was on James [Toney] to step over to something he's never done before."
Lacy doesn't think Diaz can box with him.
"This is something I love to do, and I've dealt with way better technical fighters than this guy Diaz, is gonna present to me," Lacy said. "I've dealt with a lot of different styles. He's stepping into my ring, but it's gonna be tougher for me? I don't think so."
Lacy isn't worried about Diaz's chin and knows that the Strikeforce welterweight champ also cuts easily.
Check out the rest of the conversation as Dave Cokin and The Telegraph's Gareth Davies say Diaz has no shot of winning this fight. Davies said the fight won't last three rounds.
It may not come off at all if Diaz's ego is soothe by Zuffa management. When the news emerged that Diaz had signed a boxing bout agreement, his camp was quick to point out that it won't take the boxing match in October if the MMA star is given a shot at UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre.
Strikeforce may not be making their pay-per-view debut this July after all. According to a report from MMAJunkie.com, Strikeforce is targeting July 30 for an event that would air on Showtime. The front-runner for the night's headlining fight remains the bout between Dan Henderson and Fedor Emelianenko, which the report states is in advanced negotiations. Though the date is not firmly set, and has not yet been confirmed by Strikeforce, it could take place from the Sears Center in Hoffman Estates, Ill., the site of Emelianenko's Strikeforce debut against Brett Rogers on CBS. Emelianenko looks to rebound from two straight losses suffered after nearly a decade without a defeat. After his shocking submission loss to Fabricio Werdum, he followed that with a TKO loss to Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva in February. Henderson, on the other hand, comes in off consecutive knockout wins after losing a decision to Jake Shields in his Strikeforce debut. A knockout of Renato "Babalu" Sobral in December earned him a shot at Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante, whom he subsequently knocked out in March. Link to Original Source ArticlePenick's Analysis: With this fight being targeted as the main event, it makes more sense to have it on Showtime than pay-per-view. Emelianenko hasn't been a draw on pay-per-view in the past, and after two losses he wouldn't suddenly become one now. But this is still a great fight, and for a Showtime card it's worth putting on in the main event slot. There was a large contingent of Russian fans in attendance for his fight with Rogers at the Sears Center, so that would make for a good location for this fight if he's on the card again, too.
MMA may not be legal in New York, but that doesn't mean you can't see some of its future stars in the Big Apple. Beat the Streets, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to developing wrestling opportunities for youths, is hosting a one-of-a-kind dual meet in Times Square today.
America's best wrestlers will take on Russia's best in the middle of one of the world's busiest areas at 6 p.m. ET today. Olympic gold medalist Henry Cejudo will return to the mat for the first time since winning the gold medal. Recent NCAA champion and Hodge Trophy winner Jordan Burroughs, world team member and future fighter Shawn Bunch, world silver medalist Jake Herbert (pictured), world bronze medalist and world team members and NCAA champions Brent Metcalf and Jake Varner will also take the mat.
The whole thing will be broadcast on the largest LED screen in Times Square. Rashad Evans, football players Justin Tuck, Antonio Garay, Marcus Colston and Willie Colon and actors Matthew Modine -- yes, the star of "Vision Quest" -- and Billy Baldwin are all expected to attend.
It's a great event for the wrestling community, undoubtedly giving the growing sport more exposure. But MMA proponents can't help but note the irony that wrestling is a sport that is the launching pad for MMA stars and a key component of the sport. It's taking center stage in the biggest city in the country, and the biggest city in the U.S. not to have hosted an MMA event.
The transition from wrestler to mixed martial artist isn't an easy one. Once they start getting popped in the face, plenty of grapplers decide the sport isn't for them. Michael Chandler isn't one of those guys. He actually looked like he enjoyed taking a beating so he could dole one out.
The former Missouri wrestler took Patricky "Pitbull" Freire's best on Saturday using his grappling skills to slow the fight and win a unanimous decision, 29-27 on all cards, in the final of Bellator's Season 4 lightweight championship.
Chandler, 25, won $100,000 and gets an automatic title shot against Bellator 155-pound champion Eddie Alvarez.
He's the second straight fighter out of Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas to take home a 100k prize. Jay Hieron won the welterweight tourney last week at Bellator 43. Hieron will face Bellator welterweight champ Ben Askren in the fall. One has to wonder if Chandler's loyalties will be tested.
Chandler, Askren and Strikeforce welterweight prospect Tyron Woodley all wrestled for Missouri.
Chandler, a walk on, was a big success story for the Tigers. He was the Big 12 runner-up in 2008 and 2009, and became just the 16th Tiger to win 100 matches.
Askren and Woodley helped paved the way for Chandler in MMA. When he saw how Woodley's MMA career was developing, Chandler decided to jump in the cage with little training. After an easy win in his debut back Aug. of 2009, Chandler (8-0) began training full-time.
The card also featured two nasty standup wars. Alexander Shlemenko brutalized Brett Cooper in taking a unanimous decision. Bellator middleweight champ Hector Lombard scores an awesome KO with a big right on the chin of Falaniko Vitale.
a
