Archive for February, 2010

With February coming to an end and the event-heavy month of March nearly upon us, the variety of topics for discussion is the sport of MMA is nearly limitless.

Strikeforce's Challengers event, controversial middleweight Paulo Filho, UFC 110's Cain Velasquez and Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic, and the state of MMA's fanbase were all topics for discussion in this week's edition of The Sunday Junkie.

But this week's winner, back-to-back champion Ralph "RJCT" Purificato, focused on one of  the most widely debated stories of the past week: Frank Mir's controversial rant on Brock Lesnar and subsequent apology.

A lightweight contest pitting Rob Emerson (9-8 MMA, 3-2-1 UFC) against Nik Lentz (17-3-2 MMA, 1-0-1 UFC) is targeted for UFC Fight Night 21, MMAjunkie.com has learned from sources close to the situation.

Although bout agreements have yet to be signed, both fighters have agreed to the fight and are expected to put pen to paper shortly.

UFC Fight Night 21 takes place March 31 at Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, N.C. The main card airs live on Spike TV and serves as the lead-in for "The Ultimate Fighter 11" season debut.

A lightweight contest pitting Rob Emerson (9-8 MMA, 3-2-1 UFC) against Nik Lentz (17-3-2 MMA, 1-0-1 UFC) is targeted for UFC Fight Night 21, MMAjunkie.com has learned from sources close to the situation.

Though bout agreements have yet to be signed, both fighters have agreed to the fight and are expected to put pen to paper shortly.

UFC Fight Night 21 takes place March 31 at Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, N.C. The main card airs live on Spike TV and serves as the lead-in for "The Ultimate Fighter 11."

The co-main event of Friday's "Strikeforce Challengers VI: Kaufman vs. Hashi" event was all about speed vs. power.

As the first round of the fight between Trevor Prangley (22-5-1 MMA, 3-1-1 SF) and Karl Amoussou (11-2-2 MMA, 0-0-1 SF) unfolded, the South African connected an a few powerful blows while the Frenchman danced around his foe and delivered rapid-fire shots.

But just as the fight started to gain momentum, it was halted due to an accidental blow. While the eye-poke delivered by Pranley was unintentional, he believes the ensuing stoppage was anything but.

Former Major League Baseball great Jose Canseco has often found himself as the center of a controversy.

And from steroid-use tell-all novels to "Celebrity Boxing" appearances, the 45-year-old Canseco has never been one to shy away from the spotlight.

Such was the case in 2009 when Canseco traded in his outfielder's glove for a pair of the four-ounce variety to face Hong Man Choi in DREAM's "Super Hulk" tourney. That effort didn't work out too well, but Canseco hopes fans will see that he's deserving of a second shot.

by Michael David Smith

Filed under: MMA Videos, Strikeforce

The co-main event at Friday night's Strikeforce Challengers card ended in disappointment, when Trevor Prangley accidentally poked Karl Amoussou in the eye and the doctor on the scene ruled that the fight had to end because Amoussou couldn't continue. Now both Prangley and Amoussou say they want to get back into the cage soon, and Strikeforce should book their rematch for its March 26 Challengers show.

Strikeforce Should Book Prangley-Amoussou 2 March 26 originally appeared on MMA Fighting on Sun, 28 Feb 2010 11:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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by Michael David Smith

Filed under: MMA Videos, Strikeforce

The co-main event at Friday night's Strikeforce Challengers card ended in disappointment, when Trevor Prangley accidentally poked Karl Amoussou in the eye and the doctor on the scene ruled that the fight had to end because Amoussou couldn't continue. Now both Prangley and Amoussou say they want to get back into the cage soon, and Strikeforce should book their rematch for its March 26 Challengers show.

Strikeforce Should Book Prangley-Amoussou 2 March 26 originally appeared on MMA Fighting on Sun, 28 Feb 2010 11:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Since ProElite, Inc.'s inception in December 2006 as the "new big player" on the MMA scene, the question has been how it plans to compete with the UFC.

With brash figurehead Gary Shaw serving as ProElite's face, the company got swept up in that race as it continued to hemorrhage money. But after 20 months of operations and $55 million burnt, it closed up shop.

Paul Feller, CEO of Stratus Media Group, the company that assumed control of ProElite, Inc. this week, said his goal is not to be the next promotion to challenge the UFC.

Highly touted heavyweight prospect Cole Konrad (2-0) is the latest addition to the upstart Bellator Fighting Championships organization.

The former NCAA wrestling champion and current training partner of UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar was officially announced as the newest member of the organization immediately after a first-round TKO win at a Matrix Fights event in Philadelphia.

MMAjunkie.com has since learned that the 25-year-old is expected to compete in two non-tournament bouts during Bellator's second season, and positive results will likely lead to a spot in an as-yet-unannounced heavyweight tournament during the promotion's third season.

The WEC's first trip to Ohio now has a full 11-bout card as a featherweight matchup between UFC veterans Leonard Garcia (13-5 MMA, 3-2 WEC) and George Roop (10-6 MMA, 0-1 WEC) is finally official.

The preliminary card bout, which was first reported by MMAjunkie.com, was announced by WEC officials late Saturday night.

The contest completes the "WEC 47: Bowles vs. Cruz" card, which takes place March 6 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The main card airs on Versus.