Knees to the Body Break Ribs
Bellator’s newest acquisition Alexander Shlemenko knows how to end fights. In March he fought at Fight Festival 27 in Helsinki, Finland and found the mid-section of Sean Salmon.
Salmon had to have a broken rib or two after several vicious knees from Shlemenko. The KO came at just :40 into round 1. Shlemenko defeated Matt Major by unanimous decision to win in his first Bellator fight. He moves on in the middleweight tourney, and is a fighter to keep your eye on in the future.
Jenna Jameson’s MMA Record
By now we’ve all heard that Tito Ortiz was arrested and later released on a domestic abuse charge against his girlfriend and porn star, Jenna Jameson. The guardians of MMA stats and records are fastidious in their craft, never missing a beat:
There are plenty of curiosities regarding the story. For instance, if Jenna’s arm is hurt, how does she get this car door shut with such force?
h/t: The UG
Five Fights for America’s Favorite Fatty Fighter
Roy Nelson is the best fatso fighter on the planet. With his recent win over Stefan Struve and victory over Brendan Schaub to win “The Ultimate Fighter” reality show, “Big Country” is now 15-4 and should start to face the upper tier, and possibly the elite of the UFC’s heavyweight division. Here’s a look at 5 fights we’d like to see with America’s favorite fatty fighter, Roy Nelson.
Frank Mir
Mir was on top of the world after 3 straight victories over Antoni Hardonk, Brock Lesnar and Big Nog. Then came his brutal defeat to Lesnar at UFC 100. He came back strong against Cheick Kongo but then Shane Carwin wrecked him — and his chances to fight Lesnar for the belt. Mir will still get Lesnar sometime, somewhere, but for now a fight with Nelson would be a good thing to help sort out that next wave of heavyweights after Dos Santos, Velasquez, Lesnar and Carwin. It’s pay-per-view worthy and stylistically enticing for the fans.
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
Big Nog was smoked by Cain Velasquez in what might have been his last chance to get to the front of the line for a title shot. A battle between Nog and Nelson would be interesting and like the Mir fight, help determine the pecking order in the UFC heavyweight division.
Cheick Kongo
Cheick Kongo is the hot rumor for UFC 116, and reports have it that Roy Nelson will be his opponent. Kongo showed off an improved ground game against Paul Buentello at UFC on Versus 1 and is an excellent striker. When comparing skill sets, this fight could be the best matchup for both fighters. Kongo just signed a new deal with the UFC, but if he were to lose to Nelson, we might be watching him on Spike during UFC prelims.
Cro Cop
Cro Cop is scheduled to fight the heavy-handed Pat Barry at UFC 115, but we all know that the UFC has had many injuries and changes to their cards leading up to events. Cro Cop looked rejuvenated in pounding on Anthony Perosh at UFC 110, but frankly hasn’t yet earned a shot at the elite of the UFC heavyweight division. A fight against Big Country would be fun to watch. The legendary PRIDE kickboxer against the former IFL and Ultimate Fighter champ, with both fighters on the upswing.
Cain Velasquez
Cain Velasquez has already fought Big Nog and Kongo, so some might think Nelson is a step backward instead of a progression. But if the UFC is not yet interested in a Dos Santos/Velasquez matchup and want to get Cain one more fight before battling the winner of Carwin/Lesnar, Big Country would be a solid test. If Cain were to somehow lose to Nelson than Dos Santos could face the winner of Carwin/Lesnar.
The 25 Most Exciting Fighters in MMA
Who would you pay to see? Who are the most exciting fighters to watch? It’s a tough question. We’ve narrowed them down to the Top 25. Since there will already be a lot of discussion about fighters that didn’t make the cut, we aren’t listing them in any order. We are just presenting what we think are MMA’s top 25 most exciting fighters. Here we go…
Jon Jones
Nick Diaz Says GSP Doesn’t Want to Fight Him
Interesting insight from Nick Diaz from a fine interview by Ariel Helwani, as Diaz comments on Dream vs. American MMA, the Sakurai fight and why GSP doesn’t want to stand up and fight him.
I would love to see Nick Diaz battle GSP. I bet if Dana White could pick one former UFC fighter that he would want back on his roster, it would be Nick Diaz, hands down.
He’s Talkin’ About 3-MILLION-VOLTS-OF-ELECTRICITY!!!
He’s not talking about those ‘faggoty, MMA monkeys rolling around’. He’s talking about 3-MILLION-VOLTS-OF-ELECTRICITY!!!!!
Some of my favorite parts of this video:
- How they both call it “The MMA”
- How he thinks “boxing begat wrestling and wrestling begat the MMA”
- How the interviewer reverts to his script after every question
- How this puts “true warriors” in the ring. Which apparently are people with no money whatsoever.
- How he talked to his “legal team”. Which means he googled stuff.
I could go on and on. This is grade A comedy.
MMA Lightweight Rankings
The Cage Doctors present their MMA lightweight rankings for April, through the Strikeforce: Nashville event. Our gallery starts with the wave fighters that just missed making the top 10. You may not agree with the rankings, but one thing no one will disagree on: there is no shortage of excellent lightweight fighters throughout MMA.
Tyson Griffin
Strikeforce Post-Fight Brawl with Mayhem, Shields
Jason “Mayhem” Miller pulls a Kanye during the Jake Shields post-fight interview and a melee breaks out. Mayhem steps into the interview — right after Shields impressively defended his title against Dan Henderson — and asked Shields, “Where’s my rematch, buddy?”. I’m pretty sure Jake Shields has bigger things in mind than Miller, who is an underachiever in MMA. Looks like Nick Diaz steps in and handles this show of disrespect.
When Fighter Press Conferences Go Bad
Boxing legend Ricardo Mayorga is taking on former UFC fighter Din Thomas at Shine Fights “Worlds Collide” on May 15th. At the pre-fight presser, Mayorga talks a load of trash through an interpreter, lights up a smoke and tries to bitch slap Thomas. I have to give Mayorga credit for some original smack talk, but I also wonder if he will make weight.
I’m also pretty sure that Din Thomas will do whatever it is he pleases with Mayorga. If I’m Thomas I immediately shoot on Mayorga and tire him out from top position. That shouldn’t take long to do judging by Mayorga’s ample girth.
The Mullet Makes Its Way to an MMA Corner
Jared Allen is one of the best defensive ends in the NFL. He attributes some of his speed and conditioning to his practice of mixed martial arts. His coach is WEC fighter Alex Karalexis, who you might also recall was a contestant on the first season of “The Ultimate Fighter”.
When Karalexis enters the cage at WEC 48 to fight Anthony Pettis at ARCO Arena in Sacramento, guess who will be in his corner? Jared Allen. So will the student offer his coach any pointers?
“I’m going to pull out as many lines from ‘Karate Kid’ as I can,” he said. “You know, ‘Put him in a body bag, Alex.’ That’s going to be my line. Really, he’ll have his trainers. I’m just there for support.”
Karalexis says, “The ‘Mullet Militia’ will be in full effect.” But he also says that the only voice he really hears is his head trainer’s, so maybe those Karate Kid lines will go unnoticed. But we know the mullet won’t go unnoticed. By anyone. It’s full of awesomeness.
Looks like we’ll have to add Allen to our list of pro athletes that could have been MMA fighters.
h/t: Star Tribune via Cagewriter
