Bingham67
Champions League
- 17 July 2005
Dam that shame would be good to see him fight in UFC i think it should be final step for him really.
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Then there is Fedor Emelianenko (Pictures) -- White’s big “what if?”
From the start of the pay-per-view bouts, Emelianenko received the biggest pops. His cheers overlapped Megadeth’s performance. Russian flags popped up throughout the audience.
Celebrities were ever-present -- featuring such stars as James Toney, Manny Ramirez and Michael Madsen -- but the Red Devil fighter shattered assumptions that he lacked drawing power when he brought about bigger cheers than all the celebrities combined simply by showing up on the big screen.
Each fight received progressively louder fan reactions. Even referee Herb Dean (Pictures) was cheered by fans, a sign they appreciated more than brain rattles and limb torques. By the time Emelianenko demolished the former UFC heavyweight champion in 36 seconds, the arena was deafening.
There is a reason money magnet Donald Trump -- a man who garnered a serious ovation himself -- involved himself with Affliction and the World Association of Mixed Martial Arts, which crowned its inaugural champion in Emelianenko on Saturday night. Trump sees the long-term monetary gain, the impact on the sport. Indeed, UFC President Dana White’s current model of exclusivity was directly challenged when Emelianenko became the first independently recognized champion.
What better fighter to mark a starting point in MMA history?
The defunct nature of Pride left Emelianenko without a viable strap, but it did not strip his credibility as an elite pound-for-pound fighter and the heavyweight king. Had Sylvia won, Dana White could have championed his criticisms of Emelianenko. But instead he has to retract them. With Emelianenko having twice dominated current UFC heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (Pictures), White is left with little recourse to continue perpetuating the UFC as the entire MMA world. His steadfast anti-anything-not-UFC stance has taken a concussive blow.
Meanwhile WAMMA -- like the fighters and personalities that came out to make Affliction a success -- is setting the most positive precedent in MMA since rules and weight classes were instituted. Whether Affliction sinks or soars, the belt around Fedor Emelianenko (Pictures)’s waist is a direct call to make MMA a unified sport, to create battles between the best of the best.
Will the UFC president give up his hard-line position?
Maybe it’s time for Dana White to sell out.
Thing is though if Fedor dont go to UFC wont people start to think he dodged it for reason. ?
Having one big organisation like Boxing would be fucking awesome
lets hope if it does happen they keep the cage and not the ring
I agree Kobashi.
It was a boring Lesnar fight but it's good to see him get his confidence back. After a few more fights he'll be one hell of a competitor.
UFC 88 (September 6th, Atlanta): Liddell/Evans, Franklin/Hamill, Parisyan/Yoshida, Henderson/Palhares
UFC Fight Night 15 (September 17th, Omaha): Diaz/Neer, Danzig/Guida, Alexander/Schafer, Lauzon/Bradley
UFC 89 (October 18th; Birmingham, England): Bisping/Leben, Machida/T. Silva, Jardine/Vera, Sokoudjou/Cane, Carwin/Wain
UFC 90 (October 25th, Chicago): A. Silva/Cote, Sanchez/Alves, Sherk/Griffin, Franca/Tibau
UFC 91 (November 15th, Portland): Florian/Stevenson
The Ultimate Fighter 8 Finale (December 13th, Las Vegas): no fights announced yet
UFC 92 (December 27th, Las Vegas): Nogueira/Mir
UFC 93 (January 31st, Las Vegas): Penn/St. Pierre
UFC Last Night ... without spoiling anything... what a KO! Wow!
A body believed to be that of former UFC middleweight champion Evan Tanner was found Monday in the Palo Verde mountain area, the Imperial Valley Press has reported.
Calls to the Imperial Valley sheriff’s department and coroner’s office were not immediately returned.
Tanner, 37, had embarked on a camping trip some time around Sept. 2 into the desert-like region north of Brawley, Calif., approximately two and a half hours east of San Diego.
Sherdog.com has ascertained various unconfirmed reports that Tanner’s body was identified Monday and that relatives have been notified. An autopsy is said to be scheduled for Tuesday.
Deana Epperson, who grew up across the street from Tanner and his family in his hometown of Amarillo, Texas, said she'd been told that the fighter had texted friends in Oceanside as late as Thursday, telling them that he'd run out of water and gas for his motorcycle. Authorities were then contacted to try and locate the fighter.
Tanner had last been connected to the Compound Mixed Martial Arts & Fitness gym in Oceanside, Calif. Co-owner Claudia Ortega said she and her husband had reached out to Tanner a year ago after he had visited the facility. In recent weeks, Tanner had moved back to the area and visited the gym on a few occasions to train.
Ortega said Tanner told her he planned to “take a couple of trips,” then settle at the gym.
“He wanted to make it his home,” said Ortega. “”We really wanted to see him succeed in any way he could.”
Tanner was a self-made mixed martial arts standout. A two-time state championship wrestler in high school, he made his professional debut on a whim with the Unified Shoot Wrestling Federation in 1997 and defeated three opponents in one night -- including eventual UFC title challenger Paul Buentello -- in one night to win a heavyweight tournament. He would later defend the title against Pride Fighting Championships and UFC veteran Heath Herring, among others.
He enjoyed his greatest success in the UFC. Tanner won 10 of his first 12 fights with the promotion, losing only to Tito Ortiz and Rich Franklin. His UFC run was highlighted by his upset victory over David Terrell at UFC 51 in February 2005, as he stopped the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt on strikes to capture the middleweight championship. Tanner relinquished the 185-pound crown in his rematch with Franklin at UFC 53 four months later, as he absorbed a brutal beating after knocking down the popular Ohioan with a right hand in the first round.
Tanner, the first American to win the Pancrase Neo-Blood tournament in Japan, lost four of his last five fights. He made his final appearance inside the Octagon at “The Ultimate Fighter 7” Finale in June, as he dropped a split decision to Kendall Grove in Las Vegas.
Tanner had recently started his own blog in association with SpikeTV.com.
“I've been sitting around this apartment, bored to tears, waiting on the last of the gear I need for the desert adventure to come in the mail. I've really been looking forward to getting out there,” wrote Tanner. “It seems some MMA websites have reported on the story, posting up that I might die out in the desert, or that it might be my greatest opponent yet, etc. Come on guys. This isn't a version of "Into the Wild". I'm not going out into the desert with a pair of shorts and a bowie knife, to try to live off the land. I'm going fully geared up, and I'm planning on having some fun.”
check out this lad.. he is going to be some fighter
YouTube - Ultimate Drake Dudley Competing at age 12 & early 13.