MMA News and Features

Marcus Davis, who sustained a horrific eye injury during a submission loss to Nate Diaz at UFC 118 in front of his local supporters on Aug, 28, 2010, today issued the following statement regarding his performance (via the Press Herald):

"I am now home resting with my family. I want to thank all the people who supported me and all the people with team Irish MMA, team Gurgel, and team Sityodtong for all the help preparing for the match. I left the fight in the puddles of sweat on the floor of Sityodtong. I was over trained and never took the rest to recuperate that I should have. Within minutes of the first round my legs felt like I had just ran a marathon and they never came back. Today my thighs feel as though I spent the weekend lifting weights. I am known to have good footwork but had none that night. The accidental head clashes caused most of the damage to the right side of my face and eye. I have three lacerations, two over the right eye and one under it. My CAT scan came back good. No brakes or fractures. The eye itself is being looked at. I had my second appointment today and my next one is in a week. Although I'm having some cloudy vision it is much better than it was initially and with rest it should return to 100 percent. I apologize to my supporters, team, friends and sponsors for not performing to my full potential. Being recognized for fight of the night honors is great and that's why I fight -- to entertain -- but I wish I could have done so the way I have done in previous fights. Thank you again."

Anyone in their right mind think the gutsy "Irish Hand Grenade" has anything to apologize for after putting on the "Fight of the Night"?

(Photo courtesy of the lovely and talented Tracy Lee for Yahoo! Sports)

"I'm rooting for Cro Cop. He's more humble! (laughs) Watch TUF and tell me why!"

-- Antonio "Rodrigo" Nogueira, who has been undergoing therapy to recover from recent hip surgery that prevented him from fighting Frank Mir in the UFC 119 main event in Indianapolis, Indiana, is pulling for his replacement, Mirko Cro Cop, to do his dirty work later this month."Minotauro" and Mir were opposing coaches on The Ultimate Fighter mixed martial arts reality series, which culminated with the pair battling for Nogueira's interim heavyweight title. Mir won, convincingly, stopping the durable Brazilian for the first time ever in his professional career. Nogueira has history with Cro Cop, too, winning with a come-from-behind submission after getting battered for nearly 10 full minutes. He's apparently more impressed with the way the reserved Croatian handles his pre- and post-fight business as opposed to the opinionated Mir. Is Mir's arrogance, for lack of a better word, something that makes not just "Big Nog" the only one who wants to see Mir get put in his place ... again?

Props: Strikeforce

Quoteworthy:

"I'm super excited about the opportunity, and I think it's a great thing for me. To be in the Strikeforce main event on Showtime, to be in line to be a two-time, two-division world champion, and getting to beat Nick again in the process... I couldn't ask for a better fight. I already got one up on Nick. I beat the crap out of the guy. He's had a good run, and there's a lot of build-up for this rematch. We've both improved, this is a different weight class now, he's gotten better, I've gotten better, it's a different situation. But at the end of the day, I'm a true mixed martial artist, I have respect for the sport, and I am a good role model... Nick's good for entertainment, but I come from a family of fighters. I started early, and I have respect for martial arts. It teaches you discipline, how to become a good person, and I feel that I am. On October 9, I'm fighting a guy that, if I had a kid, I wouldn't want him looking up to. He's a trash-talking, pot-smoking chump. It's motivation for sure [to be fighting near Diaz's hometown]. I love being the underdog. Even when I'm not, I still try to picture myself as the underdog so I train harder and push myself. Nick says he's bringing his guys, but so am I. They're going to need to beef up security. This is beyond a grudge match. I'm going to light him up like a Christmas tree. He's going to have to kill me to [to beat me]. It's very personal."

With the grudge match three years in the making between K.J. Noons and Nick Diaz set for October 9 in San Jose, California, it leaves us just over a month to enjoy the pre-fight verbal assaults that are sure to be fired between the two combatants. First shot comes courtesy of Mr. Noons, who holds nothing back calling Diaz a "pot-smoking chump" who is gonna "get lit up like a Christmas tree." K.J also asserts that Nick will have to kill him to defeat him. I'm sure Diaz would have no problem obliging him there. Thoughts on the match up? Does Noons make it 2-0 against the current Strikeforce welterweight champ? Or, will Diaz get the revenge he so desperately craves?

... according to a few recent Twitter transmissions from the "Demolition Man" (@alistairovereem) directed toward Antonio Silva:

"Everybody is talkin about me and Fedor, it’s not fair to you. Fedor should fight you in December, then problem is solved..... The real reason M-1/Fedor called me out is to distract attention of a possible match with Silva. He wants Fedor but M-1 don’t want Silva."

Apparently Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem agrees with Antonio Silva that Fedor Emelianenko should fight "Bigfoot" next. Silva has asked for this fight, but the Russian's cagey camp doesn't seem interested. Overeem has already stated that because Fabricio Werdum defeated Emelianenko, and because he's currently out of commission recovering from elbow surgery, that he intends to enter the 2010 K-1 Grand Prix tournament and wait until he's healthy. Emelianenko's camp recently attempted to goad Overeem into a fight, releasing a statement essentially calling him out, but the Dutchman is not biting. Are there any other options left or is an Emelianenko-Silva showdown the only one left on the table?

Props: Bellator

Quoteworthy:

"I think I'm a lot better rounded that he is. This isn't a wrestling, this is MMA. We don't know whose wrestling is going to be better until we get in there. I'm more well rounded - I'm going to kick his ass. It's going to take a different opponent for me to lose this belt - not Joe Warren. I've grown a lot in this sport, but I feel like I haven't gotten the opportunity to use all of my tools. Maybe Joe Warren will push me to use all of those tools. It would suck to lose to him; I never want to lose to a dirt bag like that."

With Bellator 27 set to take place tonight from the Majestic Theatre in San Antonio, Texas, the promotion recently distributed a few quality quotes from their current featherweight champion Joe Soto. And by quality I mean unfiltered thoughts designed to get a rise out of challenger Joe Warren. Soto will put his title and undefeated record up against Warren who burst onto the MMA scene with his upset of "Kid" Yamamoto at DREAM.9 last year. Let's get some predictions on this intriguing battle of wrestlers.

Let's try this again.

After Urijah Faber was forced to pull out of his bantamweight debut against Takeya Mizugaki at WEC 50 last month because of a knee injury, the promotion has rescheduled the bout for WEC 52, which is set to go down on November 11 from The Pearl at The Palms in Las Vegas, Nevada.

MMA Weekly confirmed the news earlier today.

Faber was recently pushed out of the 145-pound weight class by reigning division champion Jose Aldo. Aside from a Jens Pulver submission win, "The California Kid" dropped consecutive fights to his temporary successor Mike Brown, first at WEC 36 and then again at WEC 41.

His frame may be better served at 135-pounds, but don't expect any liberties from Mizugaki.

The rugged Japanese brawler made a name for himself in his promotion debut, giving then-champion Miguel Torres all he could handle for five rounds in the main event of WEC 40 back in April 2009.

Since that loss, Mizugaki has gone 2-1 for the promotion, defeating Jeff Curran (WEC 42) and Rani Yahya (WEC 48) but losing on points to Scott Jorgensen at WEC 45. A convincing win over a "name" like Faber could possibly get him right back into contention.

Keep it locked to MMAmania.com for more news on WEC 52 as it breaks.

Undefeated prospects Lyman "Cyborg" Good and Ben "Funky" Askren will finally meet at Bellator 33 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on October 21. Lyman and Ben will fight for the welterweight title that's currently held by the 10-0 Good.  

Askren confirmed the news via Twitter yesterday.

This is only the second fight announced on the card, the first being a highly anticipated lightweight showdown between Bellator's lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez and season-two finalist Roger Huerta. Alvarez was supposed to fight Pat Curran, who upset Huerta to claim the season two tournament championship, but Curran suffered an injury during training and had to withdraw from the fight.

Although Bellator 33 is still a little far out, these two fights alone could carry that card. Lyman vs. Askren is an interesting match up between two of the sports most dominating welterweights.  Good cruised his way through the first season's welterweight tournament by wrecking Hector Urbina, Jorge Ortiz, and Omar De La Cruz, claiming a $175,000 check as well as the first ever Bellator welterweight title. Good has looked unstoppable as of recent, but hasn't fought since June of last year.

Askren is a former NCAA Division 1 wrestling champion who also has some seriously sick grappling skills, which he showcased throughout last season's tournament - battering UFC veteran Ryan Thomas twice before out-working Dan Hornbuckle for 15 minutes en route to claiming the season two championship.  

Ben's ability to control his opponent everywhere on the ground makes him extremely dangerous, as getting taken down by him usually means you're not getting back up.  Lyman will need to keep this fight standing in order to win, as Askren's striking is still seriously lacking and is only used to set up his takedowns. 

Bellator 33, which takes place on October 21 at the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, will air live on FOX Sports Net.  

Stay tuned to MMAmania.com for more information regarding Bellator 33

(This FanPost was edited and promoted to the front page by James Kimball)

"The Heat" is back.

Less than a year after supposedly being barred from the UFC forever by Dana White when he pulled out of his UFC 106 bout with Dustin Hazelett just a couple days before the event, Karo Parisyan is back in the UFC.

MMA Fighting broke the news today along with word of his opponent, Dennis Hallman.

Fight agreements have yet to be signed, but both guys have verbally agreed to throw down at UFC 123 on November 20 from The Palace of Auburn Hills just outside of Detroit, Michigan.

Parisyan's last fight in the UFC resulted in a nine-month suspension dished out by the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) after testing positive for several major painkillers following his controversial split decision win over Dong Hyun Kim at UFC 94: "St. Pierre vs. Penn 2" on Jan. 31, 2009.

Under the terms of the ruling, Karo was fined 40 percent of his purse ($32,000) and his win over the Korean was ruled a "No Contest."

Prior to the positive test, he Armenian-born Judo player battled a nervous disorder, as well as injuries, which forced him out of a match against Yoshiyuki Yoshida less than 24 hours before showtime back in Sept. 2008.

Dennis Hallman has gone 1-1 since returning to the UFC after his own long layoff. He most recently defeated Ben Saunders at UFC 117 via unanimous decision. He lost to John Howard at The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 10 Finale last December in his first contest with the promotion since UFC 55 in 2005 where he lost to Jorge Rivera.

UFC 123 is expected to be headlined by a light heavyweight match up of top contenders Lyoto Machida and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson.

Stay tuned for more UFC 123 fight announcements as they become available. 

(This FanPost was edited and promoted to the front page by James Kimball)