Catch the latest current news updates of all pertinent headlining news from ESPN MMALive! MMALive is an espn.com live-cast that puts out a continuous 30-40 minute show every 10-15 days.

Their latest show includes guess mma analysist Pat Miletich, joining Jon Anik and Franklin McNeil.  Kenny Florian is usually partnered with Franklin, but Pat Miletich is standing in for this episode.

In this video episode, predictions are given for WEC 47 main card. Also discussed is the recent signing of future boxing hall of famer James Toney to the UFC.  ESPN Radio host Steve Cofield also gives a preview of TUF 11, and his enthusiasm for yet another potentially improved show.  Mr. Big Muscle UFC newcomer Todd Duffee makes an appearance and discusses his purpose for fighting at the current moment.  Duffee, holding the UFC’s fatest knockout honors is slated to fight Chicagoan Mike Russow (12-1), who’s both a mma veteran, and a veteran Chicago Police Officer.  Russow has 8 wins by submission….AND 7 of them are from different submission holds!

Strikeforce CEO Steve Coker is interviewed and tackles a plethora of topics across mma.  He talks about Fedor Emelianenko not being included on the May card, King Mo Lawal, and the booking of Japanesse sensation Shinya Aoki and the signing of Andrei Arlovski.  Coker gives us Arlovski’s next opponent.

By Jane W.
– Foreign Correspondent

Finding top mma on television in Canada has been a more or less hit-and-miss process. Sure, there’s pay-per-view, but what about us poor schmucks who can’t afford that? If you subscribe to “extended” cable, you probably get Spike TV. Here you can watch many UFC events, as well as The Ultimate Fighter reality gameshow. And every once in a while, CBS will throw some mma event on in primetime. Most cable companies in Canada carry CBS affiliated channels on their basic service. (Unlike the United States, most homes in Canada have some sort of cable service.)

But where can I find a Canadian channel that carries mma? As you may know, if you read my previous post, mma is technically illegal in Canada. And while it is not illegal to show the sport on television, it sometimes feels like some channels are afraid of being prosecuted for it. I first saw mma while flipping the channels about five years ago. It was something from the UFC, but it was over too fast. And it was on TSN (The Sports Network).

TSN is the reigning king of sports channels in Canada, celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2009. Most in Canada joke that the ‘T’ stands for Toronto, since most of its coverage is centred there. Their headquarters are in Toronto. And Ontario is notorious for enforcing the anti-mma law. After seeing this fight on TSN, I continued to look for more, but there was none to be had.

The Ultimate Fighter began in January 2005 on Spike TV. At the time, Spike was a haven for Star Trek reruns … and that’s about it. So this show was kept off my radar until I happened across an ad for the live finale. Ooh, I thought, mma on TV! So I watched Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar beat the shit out of each other. How could one not be hooked after that? I watched a lot of mma on Spike after that!

A couple of years ago, Rogers Sportsnet in Canada started airing The Ultimate Fighter. The problem is that they tend to air it later than Spike, due to Canadian laws regarding content. Spike airs it at 10PM, however cable companies in Canada tend to carry only the eastern feed of US cable channels, so it airs in Vancouver at Read more »

It’s the little guys turn, to display their mma skills, and at an elite level.  The WEC only has 3 weight divisions: bantamweight(135lbs), featherweight(145), and lightweight(155).  Consensus opinion tend to say that the small weight divisions give the viewer the best fights.  For one, they are tireless and tend to go all out every minute of the fight.  As well, the action of the fight is faster and more casual fan appealing especially.

The WEC brings us yet another potentially action packed weekend.  WEC 47 airs live on the Versus cable channel in the USA and on The Score in Canada.  Fighters that will compete on this card are Brian Bowles (WEC Bantamweight Champ), Dominick Cruz, Miguel Torres (former WEC Bantamweight Champ), and longtime UFC veteran Jens Pulver (former UFC Lightweight Champ).  Between these 4 guys, they have a combined record of 81-15, 30 ko’s, and 31 submission wins.

Also, there are 3 Chicagoland locals on this fight card in Torres, Bart Palaszewski, and Ricardo Lamas.

WEC 45 is held in Columbus, Ohio, less than a 6 hour drive from Chicago.

MAIN CARD

• Champ Brian Bowles vs. Dominick Cruz (for bantamweight title)
• Joseph Benavidez vs. Miguel Torres
• Jens Pulver vs. Javier Vazquez
• L.C. Davis vs. Deividas Taurosevicius
• Karen Darabedyan vs. Bart Palaszewski

PRELIMINARY CARD

• Chad George vs. Scott Jorgensen
• Erik Koch vs. Chad Mendes
• Danny Castillo vs. Anthony Pettis
• Leonard Garcia vs. George Roop
• Bendy Casimir vs. Ricardo Lamas
• Courtney Buck vs. Fredson Paixao

Here’s a quick synopsis of the noted fighters:

Miguel Torres(37-2; 22 submissions/9 ko’s)
…fighting style: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu/Muay Thai

-the East Chicago, Indiana native looks to bounce back after a dominating knockout loss to Brian Bowles in  his last fight.  Torres was looked at as almost an unbeatable champion in the featherweight division (135lbs). He probably has the best conditioning and endurance level of any current mma fighter.  As well, very few are as supremely crafty as Torres….always finding ways to go for submission and striking advantages in every way possible.

Even though Torres is from Indiana, he’s from northwest Indiana, which is basically an adopted area of Chicago; he has family connections as well. People who live in this area of Indiana are Chicago Bears fans, and not necessarily Indianapolis Colts fans. They follow Chicago sports teams. It’s just like the southern-most part of Illinois residents tend to follow the St. Louis Rams and Cardinals.   Notre Dame is also rightfully mutually adopted by Chicago. 

Miguel Torres  vs. Jose Benevidez Fight Hype Video Interview from a few months ago, discussing how he will prepare for his next opponent, as well as comments about Kimbo Slice. View videos »

Don’t wanna budget for some or all of the UFC ppv events?  Are you a saint, and don’t use pirate sites to illegally watch ppv (payperview) events?   The best and cheapest alternative is to invade a bar or restaurant near you.  Some locations are free of a cover charge.  And in my opinion, $5 -$10 is okay for a cover, especially for the bigger name mma fighters.

Where To Watch MMA (UFC) Fights

MMA fighting veteran and native of Indianapolis, Indiana, Chris Lytle (35) has amassed a respectable record of 28-17, 18 wins via submission.  With 50 professional mma and 15 professional boxing (13-1-1) matches, there’s no questioning the heart and steadfastness of this midwestern 170 pound welterweight.

Despite 17 defeats, he has been a part of the UFC’s “Fight of the Night” honors four times, won two “Submissions of the Night” and one “Knockout of the Night”.  He also was the runner-up in the Ultimate Fighter 4 series (losing to Matt Serra by split decision).

Chris Lytle

Lytle’s losses via decision reads like a Who’s Who within the mma realm. He’s been on the unfortunate end of decision losses to Shonie Carter, Kazuo Misaki, Nick Diaz, Robbie Lawler, Karo Parisyan, Matt Serra, Matt Hughes, and Josh Koscheck.

Lytle is a full-time firefighter. It’s only fitting that his other regular occupation has the word ‘fighter’ as its base.  To be a firefighter, it takes a ton of character and bravery.  So for Lytle, getting back up 17 times has made succeeding second nature.   As evident by his accolades, he is always going to give you sparks.

Read more »

You mean to tell me that there’s actually an UFC ppv event this Saturday.  Surely, I’m not the only one that has had this notion slip through there list of things to do this weekend!    After the last UFC ppv events (UFC 109:  Couture vs. Coleman) overall fight card, fans were left somewhat bored.  I must admit however, that Bruce Buffer (acclaimed ring announcer) did a marvelous and manic-like job of announcing the fighters and their credentials.  It was the best part of this entire fight matchup.  Nonetheless, many mma fans didn’t expect too much from that particular main event.

It’s good that the UFC has a quick turnaround event, which is happening this Saturday, February 20….@9pm(Chicago Time).  The UFC 110 is in Australia, which means that it will be Sunday @ 2pm down under.  The unusual start time was simply to amuse the American and Canadian audiences.

There is very little hype, seemingly, about UFC 110.  The overall matchups are good:

MAIN CARD

• Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Cain Velasquez
• Michael Bisping vs. Wanderlei Silva
• George Sotiropoulos vs. Joe Stevenson
• Ryan Bader vs. Keith Jardine
• Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic vs. Anthony Perosh

PRELIMINARY CARD

• Chris Haseman vs.  ??????????
• Stephan Bonnar vs. Krzysztof Soszynski
• Brian Foster vs. Chris Lytle
• C.B. Dollaway vs. Goran Reljic
• Igor Pokrajac vs. James Te Huna

Dana White, President of the UFC, made sure to include a few fighters of Australian descent.  This is a good and easy marketing move.  Besides, it only seems appropriate.  George Sotiropoulos, James Te Huna, Chris Haseman, and Anthony Perosh are all from Australia.  Sotiropoulos vs. Joe Stevenson looks to be a great matchup.  Since 2006, Sotiropoulos has only lost to the Japanese star Shinja Aoki.  And Stevenson is looking to get another title shot at BJ Penn. Stevenson has been quite impressive in his last 2 fights.

Heavyweight title contender Cain Velasquez (7-0) faces the living mma legend in  Antonio Rodrigo “Big” Noguiera (32-5).   The winner is almost a clear shot to fight Brock Lesnar (Champion) for the belt sometime this summer.

Both Cain Velasquez and Joe Stevenson are of the American-born Latino culture. Cain has a tatoo across his chess that reads “BROWN PRIDE.”  This tatoo has come under some small disagreements amongst viewers.  And with Joe “Daddy” S.  you may have to search his myspace page to verify that he’s indeed of the Hispanic background.  Stevenson is proud… Read more »

Catching Up with the latest news and happenings of fighters……

Heath Herring, UFC & Pride Veteran

Heath Herring, aka The Texas Crazy Horse, is one of the most interesting personalities of the current mma world. He’s known for his crazy hair colors, his “dramatically-driven” ring entrances and a likable toughness to take the fight to any fighter out there. As a heavyweight, he has one of the top submission win percentages, amassing 16 total wins by way of submission.

He has went the distance with Brock Lesnar, Vitor Belfort, and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (twice).   And it took ten straight minutes for Fedor Emelianenko to take him out in a match in 2002, when Herring was just 24 years of age.  In my opinion, Herring has some very good fights left in him.  And surely Dana White, President of the UFC, wouldn’t mind having his infectious personality around for say, 3 more fights…..which are the remaining fights he has left on his UFC contract. Read more »

Also, Frye gives his candid opinions on other professional sports figures coming into mma.

If you like all-out backyard brawls between two guys at the height of their manhood and blunt courageousness, then you’ll love the classic mma fight video of UFC Legend Don Frye vs. Japan’s mma fighter and professional wrestler Yoshihiro Takayama!

Don Frye, UFC veteran

This fight, which took place in June of 2002, displays arguably the greatest fighting spurts and exchanges in the history of mma! Don “The Predator” Frye (20-8) recently said that he’s probably done fighting. However, the 44 year old says he’s always open to the right fight … for the right money. Frye is quite possibly a future UFC Hall of Famer, having started out his career 15-1, beating many notable fighters.

Tom Selleck, actor

Frye is also a two-time UFC Tournament Champion, both in 1996.  He’s one of mma’s most rugged and toughest personalities, having had a few disagreements with Dana White in the past; he has had his share of run-ins with a few others in and around and near the mma world with his brash and say-as-you-go rhetoric.  Frye also gets credit from many people as he has a slight resemblance to actor Tom Selleck … if you’re comparing the 1980’s cop mustache.

Yoshihiro Takayama was and still is Read more »

This coming Saturday will be UFC 109:  Relentless. The fight card has some familiar names and veterans of the UFC. In the main event, Randy Couture (46) faces Mark Coleman (45) in a Light Heavyweight Bout (205lbs). This fight marks the first time two UFC Hall of Famers will face each other in the octagon. They have actually met before in a Freestyle Wrestling match in 1998, with Coleman winning by one point.

Don’t think these two old guys of mma are washed away of their skills.  After a loss (submission) to Fedor Emelianenko in 2006, Coleman went away from mma. However, last year he made his return and won Fight Of The Night honors in a loss to “Shogun” Rua.  He then went on to defeat Stephan Bonnar by decision.  As for Couture – arguably the most revered UFC fighter amongst the mma fanbase – he fought twice last year (1-1).  He’s coming off a controversial decision loss to Brandon Vera. Couture and Coleman have a combined twelve championship and tournament belts.

Also on the card is the return of Matt Serra (35), the ultra-Italian sparkplug from New York. Serra has only fought four times since 2006. After stunning Canadian mega-champion Georges St-Pierre by knocking him out to win the UFC Welterweight belt in 2007, Serra has lost twice since then – once to GSP and a controversial decision loss to Matt Hughes. Serra states that he’s as much of a mma teacher as he is a fighter, which may be the reason for Read more »

Gegard Mousasi, current Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion

Gegard Mousasi VIDEO INTERVIEW below….

Strikeforce continues to add to its list of potential great matchups for 2010.   The continuing rumor is pitting two up and coming fighters against each other, possibly this April.   Gegard Mousasi (mma–28-2; 17 k.o’s….K1–7-0; 4 k.o’s) and Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal (6-0; 5 k.o’s) are 2 of the brightest stars currently in Strikeforce.  They are also two of the most versatile fighters in mma, fighting at light heavyweight and heavyweight.

Fight fans would love to see this matchup.  Mousasi is still a bit of a mystery to some American mma fans.  However, he has over 30 professional mma bouts already at the tender age of 24.  And now that he has a couple of fights in Strikeforce, many more people know of him and have grown to be huge fans.  Mousasi is an Armenian born fighter, and moved to the Netherlands at a very early age.  And like King Mo, has supreme confidence in his mma fighting skills.

Both of these guys are unflappable in their belief that they can win against any opponent.  And of course, King Mo may be the outspoken one; back in November of last year, in an interview with fanhouse.com, King Mo said that Mousasi is a “crafty” fighter and “deserves” all the hype that he’s receiving.  Further, he also says that he “wasn’t impressed” with Mousasi recent fights and…. Read more »