In a year during which the featherweight division has played a pivotal role, perhaps it is fitting that the division's hottest prospect will close out 2009 as its top-ranked competitor.
At WEC 44, Jose Aldo took his game to yet another level in his fourth fight of the year. The native of Manaus ... Read More
(PRESS RELEASE) -- Newly-crowned World Extreme Cagefighting® featherweight champion Jose Aldo had dreamed of winning a world title since he was a young boy. Growing up poor in Manaus, Brazil, ... Read More
It was a banner night for Great Britain on Nov. 14 as the Ultimate Fighting Championship staged UFC 105 in front of its biggest U.K. crowd to date. ... Read More
Ortiz’s recent performances displayed a fighter far removed from the kind of dominating, aggressive cage-wrestling he used to great success early on; he blamed back issues, corrected by a new and less invasive surgery. But even if Ortiz reverts to old form, he’ll be a 2002 fighter in 2009: up against athletes who can stuff his takedown, shut him down on the ground, and pester him standing. Aggressive wrestlers will always have a chance -- even fresh off the college mat -- but it’s not as good a guarantee as it used to be.
A rematch more than three years in the making moved one step closer to being realized, as former UFC light heavyweight champions Tito Ortiz and Forrest Griffin tipped the scales.
Sporting a black right eye, Ortiz checked in at 204 pounds for his showdown with Griffin (205) ... Read More
When the UFC’s hype engine fails to deliver any real, palpable anticipation for a fight -- as in the case of Saturday’s Tito Ortiz/Forrest Griffin rematch, which is fine but far from the Epic Super Rematch of Mega Titans some clever editing and music are presenting it as -- you can make up your own narrative.
In this instance, UFC 106’s four light heavyweights might potentially be participating in a four-man tournament for a chance at the title without knowing it. In addition to Ortiz/Griffin, a debuting Antonio Rogerio Nogueira will face Luis Arthur Cane; the respective winners would have time to meet before May 1’s Lyoto Machida/Mauricio Rua rematch. It may be all that you need to sit a little closer to the television. ... Read More
Mauricio Rua will likely have to wait another six months to rematch the man many people believe he defeated last month in a UFC light heavyweight championship match. ... Read More
The thing about promoting conflict resolution through violence: your talent pool is going to take a beating.
Since October, an alarming number of the UFC’s box office attractions have been sidelined due to injury or illness. Anderson Silva had bone spurs removed from his elbow; Georges St. Pierre’s injured groin kept him out of the gym; Shane Carwin is suffering MCL strain; Lyoto Machida needed hand surgery following his last bout; Quinton Jackson is in Hollywood exile; most alarmingly, Brock Lesnar -- the UFC’s single biggest draw, and a peer of Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather as the biggest draws on pay per view -- collapsed in Canada. Dana White tells TMZ.com that Lesnar may need “major surgery” to correct an ambiguous intestinal disorder. ... Read More
› SPORTS › SHERDOG
