FIGHT! Magazine Offers Trio of Parties UFC 100 Weekend

Atlanta, GA (USA) – FIGHT! Magazine cordially invites all fans and friends to party with the crew July 10-12 in Las Vegas to celebrate UFC 100 weekend.

The weekend begins at TRYST Nightclub located inside the Wynn for a pre-fight party on Friday. In conjunction with Six Star Muscle, CagePotato and Denaro Sports, FIGHT! opens the doors at 10:00p.m. for a night of pre-fight action. Several fighters and celebrities are already confirmed. Reservations are available by calling 702-770-3352.

Didn’t get tickets? Watch the weekend’s main event, UFC 100, with FIGHT! at the Hawaiian Tropic Zone on Saturday night at 7p.m. FIGHT! personalities such as Ryan Loco and FIGHT! Mag Johnny will be on hand to give out MMA collectibles and magazine subscriptions. Reservations are strongly suggested and can be made by calling 702-731-4858.

If that wasn’t enough, FIGHT! keeps the party going on Sunday with a post-fight party at the Green Valley Ranch pool. Fun in the Las Vegas sun starts up again on at 11a.m.

Mixed with all the mingling, FIGHT! Magazine will exhibit at the UFC Fan Expo, booth 513, July 10-11 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center. UFC middleweight contender Nate Marquardt will be signing autographs along with several other MMA stars. FIGHT! subscriptions will be available at a special reduced rate and all subscribers will receive a free t-shirt (while supplies last). Finally, all visitors to the FIGHT! booth can enter to win one of the dozens of prizes that will be given away over the course of the weekend, no purchase necessary.

The best of the best: Help us decide the best UFC event, 85-91

With the UFC nearing its 100th event. Yahoo! Sports is counting down every event, from the first one. This week, we saw Brock Lesnar win a title, Thiago Alves take out a legend, and the light-heavyweight belt change hands. 

After Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, James Irvin and Chuck Liddell all pulled out of the main event at UFC 85, Matt Hughes and Thiago Alves stepped in for the main event.

Alves, a fearsome striker from the American Top Team camp in Florida, came into the match on a five-fight win streak, with his competition getting tougher each time out. The 15,327 fans on hand witnessed Alves’ star turn. Alves physically overwhelmed the former champ, nearly finishing him in the first round. While Hughes survived the onslaught, Alves took care of business in the second, hitting a brutal knee followed by a series of ground strikes.

Forrest Griffin wrested the light heavyweight belt away from Quinton "Rampage" Jackson in a hotly contested decision at UFC 86.

Griffin took the decision on scores of 48-46, 48-46 and 49-46. Two of three Yahoo! Sports reporters scored it a draw while one had it for Griffin. What made it an exciting fight, including fight of the year in the Wrestling Observer, is that it did appear Griffin was winning the decision, but the entire time, the fight was in jeopardy because Jackson was always in danger of knocking Griffin out, as Griffin even admitted Jackson hurt him with every punch that connected.

Brock Lesnar won over Heath Herring at UFC 87, earning him a shot at Randy Couture and the title.

Herring had developed a reputation in PRIDE as a fighter who was as tough as they came and who was willing to take on anyone. Lesnar was irritated by Herring’s talk and set out early to do something about it. Seconds into the fight, he landed a massive right hand that sent literally sent Herring somersaulting backward. Lesnar spent the remainder of the fight brutally pounding on Herring. When it was over, and Lesnar had won a unanimous decision, Herring’s face looked like a raw steak.

Another title shot was earned at UFC 88, when Rashad Evans knocked out Chuck Liddell.

The first round was uneventful, with Liddell looking for the knockout punch and Evans throwing low kicks. Evans connected with a punch that cut Liddell under the right eye, and his hand speed was frustrating the former champion. Still, Liddell won the round on all three judges cards based on being more aggressive. The second round had a few good exchanges, and both men went for a home run punch at about the same time. Evans landed first, squarely on the jaw, with a shot that would have knocked out most farm animals, vaulting himself to the top contender spot.

The UFC traveled to England for UFC 89, a showcase for British fighters Michael Bisping and Dan Hardy.

Bisping had been the face of British mixed martial arts since appearing on Season 3 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” but on this show, he received some help. Dan Hardy of Nottingham, England, made his UFC debut on the card and received a huge prefight push. His bout, against Akihiro Gono, was almost as well-received by the crowd as the Bisping-Leben fight. The colorful Hardy took a split decision from Gono, while Bisping outslugged Leben and won a unanimous decision.

At UFC 90, the UFC's first foray to Chicago, Anderson Silva won a puzzling fight over Patrick Cote.

But something went awry in the UFC’s plans to push Silva as the fight world’s next knockout monster. From the outset, the champion rarely seemed to be himself. Two rounds passed with little in the way of action. Silva seemed to be clowning his opponent, making exaggerated bowing gestures and at one point offering his hand to Cote after Cote hit the mat. The only real blow struck in the first 10 minutes was a huge Silva knee to the face that rocked Cote, but Silva didn’t go in for the kill. Perhaps Silva was attempting to give the crowd a show before finishing Cote off. But he never got the chance. Early in the third round, Cote went to throw a punch and tore his right ACL. He went down in a heap and lost the fight, technically via TKO, without so much as getting hit. Silva tied the UFC record for consecutive wins with the victory, but the crowd hardly left in a celebratory mood.

Lesnar's short march to a title culminated in his win over Randy Couture at UFC 91.

They fought a closely contested opening round, but Lesnar’s punching power, not his wrestling prowess, was the difference in the outcome. Lesnar blasted Couture with a right hand in the second round, decking the champion. The massive Lesnar pounced and finished him with strikes on the ground to win the belt in only his fourth mixed martial arts bout and third UFC appearance.

Now, we want to hear from you. Which was your favorite event? Vote in the poll and tell us in the comments. Next week, we'll have the final poll to decide the best event of the first 99.

Ecko Unltd: At the UFC 100 Expo, Get Ready For The Rhino

In addition to the rest of their extremely popular clothing line, Ecko Unltd recently added a mixed martial arts line. Since the line’s creation, Ecko Unltd has sponsored many of the most exciting and highest ranked fighters including Miguel Torres, Frank Mir, Michael Bisping (available pending no weigh-in issues), Nathan Diaz, and many more. Several of these fighters will beon hand at the UFC 100 Expo to sign autographs, take pictures, answer questions, or even just speak with their fans. The schedule is as follows:

Friday:
10-12: Dustin Hazelett
12-2: Miguel Torres
2-5: Jake Rosholt and Shane Roller
5-7: Dustin Hazelett and Michael Bisping (available pending no weigh-in issues)

Saturday:
10-12: Dustin Hazelett
12-3: Jake Rosholt and Shane Roller
130-3: Miguel Torres
2-4: Dustin Hazelett

Cage Fighter Autograph Signing for UFC 100

Can Brian Bowles beat Miguel Torres and become WEC Bantamweight champion?

It was a title fight that was supposed to happen on April 5th in Chicago. As if Brian Bowles needed any more disadvantages going into a fight against mega-ace Miguel Torres, he ended up getting hurt in training.

“I compressed my L4, L5, you know, I was just wrestling light, shot in, somebody sprawled on me, I heard it pop, and you know I sat out for like five minutes and as soon as I started pulling down, it was bad. I couldn’t even move.”

Despite an impressive 7-0 record in MMA competition, Brian Bowles has the deck stacked against him when he faces Miguel Torres next month. Bowles recently did an interview for the Versus web page talking about recovering from his back injury and how it will impact his title fight on August 9th in Las Vegas against Torres.

“The back’s feeling real good. You know, I’ve got it you know I think it’s 100%. It’s better than it ever has been. It’s ready to go.”

It’s one thing to say that you’re ready, but it’s another thing to have the injury linger in the back of your mind.

“No, the injury’s always there, you know, I rehab it every day, I’m doing all I can to strengthen my back, strength my core, so it won’t happen again, you know I got avoid positions, you know, I can’t just recklessly just pick people up and you know it’s always in my mind but you know I’m 100% confident that it’s ready to go, though.”

Bowles was originally supposed to fight Torres in Miguel’s hometown of Chicago on April 5th. Then the back injury happened and Takeya Mizugaki replaced Bowles. Mizugaki put on a classic performance against Torres, and it was the kind of performance that can potentially make you a household name. All Brian Bowles could do was sit and watch the fight.

“Ah man, it was, it made my hair stand up to see him come out, you know, I wanted it to be, when I got injured you know it was like it was depressing, you know, I hated to call the WEC and let them know that I had to back out, you know it was a long road to earn the fight and to have to back out you know it was a nightmare. It sucked bad.”

It may have sucked to watch, but in the end Bowles was happy with Miguel winning.

“You know I would have rather fought Miguel, he’s got a bigger name, you know, a win from him on my record would be huge. Yeah, I was definitely looking forward to fighting him, you know, in my mind I’ve been preparing to fight him and just being mentally and physically preparing to fight him and I was really looking forward to fighting him.”

Bowles will need all the help he can get when preparing for the upcoming fight. Mizugaki put the pressure on Torres and stood toe-to-toe with him for five rounds. It was an amazing fight performance. It also highlighted just how tough and dangerous Torres is as a man and as a fighter.

“Torres is a case where his physical skills line-up with what he’s actually good at,” Sherdog.com’s Jordan Breen recently stated in an interview with us. “He’s got his naturally dynamic, aggressive submission game and an unwieldy set of long limbs that assists in that. Also, the fact that he’s brilliant on the ground and really learned well under Carlson Gracie, which means he’s been able to take more time as he became the head of the class to work on his stand-up and really improve there.”

When Bowles watched Mizugaki fight Torres and extend him the distance (a full five rounds), did the Japanese fighter show the world a game plan on how to beat the champion?

“Kinda,” Bowles softly stated. “You know, he showed some weaknesses. I think he just fights like he fought, you know, and the fight didn’t work out to his advantage but he definitely showed some holes in Miguel’s game.”

Torres, in a recent Versus official web site interview, said that Mizugaki’s strategy may have worked on April 5th, but it isn’t going to work any more as a blueprint.

“I think he tried to [create a blueprint]. I think the next guy that I fight that tries that kind of a style’s going to get knocked out. Takeya was abnormal. I was hitting him with knockout shots and knees to the body that would drop anybody and he took an abnormal amount of punishment, you know. Normally, I always thought that it was going to be a guy that has the toughness that I have, I just haven’t met him yet and I met him in Takeya, so there are very few far and between but the next time I fight him or I fight somebody as tough as him I’m going to knock him out for sure.”

“I did underestimate him. I was doing so many promo for the fight because it was in my hometown. I wasn’t getting sleep, training was kind of getting rough, I was training at like 2 in the morning, so I mean there’s a lot of little things people don’t know about. But there’s no excuse — Takeya came, you know, he came with a great game plan. He came with a strong chin and a big right hand and I give him a lot of credit. He fought with his heart and I love guys that fight that way. For me, the fight was perfect. The fact he didn’t get finished was perfect.”

“I’ve watched that fight a thousand times already. I thought I performed very well. First round I gave it up, start using my jab and he was ready for it with a right hand. So I was trying to get his rhythm a little bit, second round I came out good. Third round he cut me, and after he cut me I kinda went crazy, so… that fight taught me two things: 1) I gotta switch my game up every now and then because guys get used to a certain style that I fight with. 2) I’m tough as shit, man.”

Breen said that Bowles doesn’t have the same skills as Mizugaki to pull off a similar kind of performance against Torres.

“[Mizugaki] jabs hard and moves his head better. Bowles straight runs at guys throwing punches, so if Miguel is gonna jab, it’s just linear geometry that he’s gonna get hit in the face. Mizugaki-Torres was essentially a kickboxing bout. Even though Bowles likes to punch, he always ends up wanting to take guys down. That’s really where he closes guys out, but Torres is going to be too dynamic in the sweep and submission department.”

As both Bowles and Torres gain spotlight and notoriety as fighters, the two men are having to get used to the limelight. In the case of Brian Bowles, it’s learning the act of trash talking and PR.

“You know, I’m getting more and more used to it. It doesn’t really bother me to do it but I’m just not all that great at it but yeah, I’m getting more and more comfortable with it every day.”

When Torres faced Mizugaki in Chicago, the hometown advantage turned into a disadvantage according to the champ.

“You know what, it’s not even really the pressure, it’s just everything you have to put up with. You know, you do double the promos, I speak Spanish and English so I gotta do promos in English and I gotta do promos in Spanish and it’s double because it’s in my hometown and it’s a title fight, it’s a main event fight. Everyone that you know is going to come out of the woodwork, they want tickets, they want to talk, they just want a piece of your time because they know you and they want to feel special. It’s just rough. It gets pretty rough.”

How’s life as an MMA superstar right now?

“You know the reaction is different. I’m the same person I’ve always been, nothing’s changed about me, it’s just that I’m getting more recognition for what I do now. For me, it’s a big plus because it makes my life a little easier but at the same time it makes it a lot harder, too, so.”

Preparation for Brian Bowles won’t be any easier.

“You know I think Brian Bowles, out of all of the guys that I’ve fought think he’s one of the main guys that deserves his title shot. He beat the #2 Marcos Galvao, he beat Damacio Page, I mean he’s beat tough guys, guys that are very strong fighters. Brian has a strong right hand, a good left uppercut, and he’s got a great guillotine so he’s one of those fighters that can fight you anywhere. I’m looking forward to go out to a war with Brian, I want to do a big show with him.”

Are there any weaknesses that Torres, the best 135-pound fighter in the world, possesses? Jordan Breen says yes, but that the champion knows how to cover for them.

“He’s helped by the fact that his style and even the benefit of being a champ — fighting five rounds — helps camoflauge his weaknesses. Torres has absolutely putrid takedown defense. This guy can’t stop any man who gets a hold of his legs. However, he’s so active that he can win a round off of his back even if he can’t sweep or submit you. You can’t just go in hoping to lay on him because of that. Even if you were able to stifle his guard game, you would have to do it for 25 minutes and win at least three of those five rounds, which is a much taller task than winning two out of three over 15 minutes.”

Does Bowles have a chance of pulling off the upset and becoming the new WEC Bantamweight champion?

“Bowles does a great job at being accurate and he’s got power. I just think Bowles is a B+ guy in all areas who has really been able to just be a good fighter and capitalize on the weaknesses of the guys he’s fought as any MMA fighter should.”

“I think asking him to avoid submissions over 25 minutes from Torres is just a little too much.”

If you talk to both fighters, neither man thinks that the fight is going to a decision.

“I’m winning by knockout,” Bowles exclaimed.

“Knockout in the first round or submission in the second round,” stated a confident Torres.

Win or lose, Miguel Torres is clearly the king of 135 pounders and has recently stated in a radio interview with Steve Cofield that he would like to help build up the 135 pound division the same way Urijah Faber has helped build up the 145 pound division in terms of popularity. So, where does the champion see himself right now in terms of his fighting career and his philosophy as an active competitor?

“You know what, I don’t think I have anything to prove. I think for me being the champ and having the belt is extra. I take every fight seperate. For me, every fight is an experience, it’s a moment in time that never gets to happen again. When I fight somebody I try to change their life, I want to change the way they think about fighting and the way they think about me and every fight’s seperate. I have nothing to prove to anybody except the guy I’m fighting.”

Joe Benavidez is likely one step away from a WEC title shot

He’s one win away from a potential title shot against the winner of Miguel Torres vs. Brian Bowles, and yet there’s a lot of work left for young prospect Joseph Benavidez to do to gain the respect of MMA fans around the world.

Benavidez has trained with WEC ace Urijah Faber in Sacramento for a while now, but it wasn’t until an offer made by DREAM last year that Benavidez’s name started to gain traction publicly. He had been offered a fight against Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto last Summer. It was going to be, by far, his biggest and most high-profile fight ever. Instead, Yamamoto would soon suffer a knee injury and be out of action for nearly a year. Benavidez was being marketed as “a protege of Faber vs. Yamamoto,” since K-1 was heavily pushing a storyline of wanting to book Yamamoto vs. Faber in a dream match.

Benavidez would instead have to settle for a win over Junya Kudo. After the one fight in DREAM, Joe signed a deal with WEC to fight in the 135 pound Bantamweight division. His first two WEC fights, against Danny Martinez and Jeff Curran, were decision wins. In his previous 8 fights, Benavidez had finished everyone. Now on the WEC stage, the competition is tougher than he has ever faced.

After his last fight with Curran, Benavidez expressed some disappointment with not being able to finish off the veteran. In comments made in a recent Versus.com interview, Joe clarified his post-fight remarks.

“I felt really good. After the fight, you know I made a comment that I wasn’t satisfied with it but that’s just me, I’m never satisfied. I want to go in there and finish him and stuff, but you know watching it I mean Curran’s just a competitor you know and he’s a great fighter that I went in there with, so, getting the win over him is the biggest you know getting the W and I was impressed by my performance you know. Of course I always look and think that I could have done things different and stuff, but overall I was impressed by him and I think that fight made be better as a fighter and better than my last fight so I’m just going to keep getting better.”

“I just wish I would have finished him, you know. You know maybe landed some cleaner shots and you know capitalize on the ground more, but like I said he’s just tough, he’s just a really good survivor you know, I could feel his experience in there more than anything, you know, people say how strong a guy he is and everything but I could feel his experience every time he was in danger. You know he put a stop to it and he’s just seeing everything so that was it. I had a pretty good pace for the fight but I’d even like a faster pace, so.”

The young star has major-league wrestling credentials, as he was a big-time star in New Mexico high school circles. Eventually he landed in Sacramento after missing Urijah Faber for a scheduled meeting. The two would soon form a close bond and become training partners. After earning a win over the tough Curran (who Faber previously beat), Benavidez thinks he deserves to be ranked.

“I know on the some of the rankings you know it definitely threw me into the Top 10, you know, but I definitely think I’m one of the Top 10 in the division. There’s so many tough guys and there’s guys out there that people, a lot of good fans don’t even know about who should be in the Top 10. My next opponent I think should be in the Top 10, but you know I’m definitely up there and I think I’m a contender. I can give anyone in the division a really good fight and beat pretty much anyone at my weight. I think I can beat anyone in my weight but at the same token anyone at the weight can beat me, just everyone’s that good so pretty practical.”

Benavidez has a lot of respect from hardcore MMA fans and insiders. According to the latest rankings by the Independent World MMA Rankings committe, he is ranked the 5th best Bantamweight in the world. A look at the current rankings:

Bantamweight Rankings (126 to 135 lbs.)

1. Miguel Torres (37-1)
2. Brian Bowles (7-0)
3. Takeya Mizugaki (11-3-2)
4. Masakatsu Ueda (9-0-2)
5. Joseph Benavidez (10-0)
6. Akitoshi Tamura (14-7-2)
7. Will Ribeiro (10-2)
8. Rani Yahya (14-4)
9. Damacio Page (11-4)
10. Manny Tapia (10-2-1)

Benavidez’s name has surfaced recently as a possible replacement for Brian Bowles in the upcoming August 9th WEC title fight against Miguel Torres. The Bowles/Torres fight was originally scheduled for April 5th, but Bowles had to back out due to a training injury. Takeya Mizugaki would end up being Bowles’ replacement that night and ended up in a Fight of the Year candidate bout with Torres. Bowles is back and says he is 100% ready to fight Torres. Joe says that he has no hard feelings about not getting a title shot against Torres right away.

“No, I’m not disappointed. No, I just take everything in stride and look at everything as a positive. If I would have got the title shot after Curran, you know in my mind I would have thought, ‘Oh this is a great thing, I’m going for the title” and not getting the title shot, you know, I just kind of in my mind like, “Alright, I’m getting another fight. This is good, too, more experience and I’ll be better when I get the title” so, just trying to look at it as a positive either way you know, it would have been good either way. You know, another fight against another great opponent can’t hurt me, so, you know I’m ready to do that.”

Benavidez will be facing a tough opponent in Dominic Cruz, a man whose 13-1 record is only blemished by a loss to… Urijah Faber. There are clearly some advantages for the young star to be able to train with Faber in order to prepare for the upcoming fight against Cruz.

“You know I think that’s a good thing, you know, it’s me and Urijah have similar styles as people know and you know Urijah’s the only guy to beat him (Cruz). You know, that prepares me a lot mentally seeing Urijah beat him and you know we train the same every day, same coaches, same trainers, so in my mind I’m like there’s no reason I shouldn’t be able to beat the guy. I put that in my mind, just that I’m go out there and get the win, I’m going to do it. As far as him as an opponent, I think he’s as dangerous an opponent as anyone in the division, you know, besides the two top Torres and Bowles, you know, but he’s as dangerous as anyone and you know lots of people haven’t seen him because he’s been on the undercard and winning his decisions but I mean anyone that’s seen Dominic Cruz fight live are really impressed by him and know how bad of a guy he is, so I’m looking forward to it. He has a great pace, I have a great pace, and it’s going to be a fun fight. I’m looking forward to it.”

“The most is his pace and cardio, you know, he has the physical gifts of his reach and stuff, he just uses that to a good advantage. Besides that, the guy just I don’t I’ve seen anyone in MMA throw more punches than him you know so I’m going to have to get away to slow that down somehow and you know, but I can throw a lot of punches myself so that’s what impressed him about me, his cardio and no one’s seen his wrestling and it’s impressive that no one’s really heard of the guy and how good he is.”

Given the track record of both men, expect this fight to be exciting but to go the distance and go to the scorecards. Benavidez’s two WEC fights are decisions and Cruz’s last three fights in WEC are all decision wins as well. Sherdog.com’s Jordan Breen thinks that three round fights may actually be a detriment to Benavidez’s skill set.

“I think [Joe] can finish him, but I expect a points win. Cruz is much improved and is tough, and really Benavidez isn’t a guy well-suited for three rounds. He’s an active fighter, but he’s a grinder in that he wears guys out. But he isn’t suited to the 15-minute bout. A Tyson Griffin sort of deal.”

Benavidez is confident in his ability to beat Cruz on August 9th in Las Vegas.

“My fight, I’m going to definitely you know win, beat Dominic Cruz, I got a lot of respect for him, but all I can really think and say in my mind I just can’t think about being defeated so you know, of course I’m going to go in there and win. My prediction for the most part is that it’s going to be a great fight, you know. Definitely looking for the finish. I’ve finished all of my fights before I got into the WEC and now I’ve had just two really good opponents that are really good at surviving and you know Dominic Cruz is going go in there and mix it up so I want to look for the finish but I just want to get the W either way and I think that’s going to happen. Improve my record, stay undefeated, and you know hopefully go for the title after that.”

Chat with Jon Fitch this Friday, 12 p.m. ET

Join Cagewriter this Friday for a chat with UFC middleweight Jon Fitch, who will take on Paulo Thiago at UFC 100 on July 11. Ask Jon how he liked wearing Akihiro Gono's wig, why he broke Mike Swick's (doll's) arm, or anything else that comes to mind. 

Can Atencio and Fedor fans put a damper on UFC 100 main event?

It's the biggest UFC heavyweight fight in history when Frank Mir meets Brock Lesnar. It's power versus technique. It's midwestern farmboy v. smart talking west coast dude. You've got legit heavyweights at a combined 520 pounds going at it. But is it really the best v. best?

Affliction boss Tom Atencio, Kid Nate over at Bloody Elbow and Fedor Emelianenko fans, say no way (I happen to agree -- Fedor has been my No. 1 pound-for-pound since joining Yahoo! in June of 2008). It's still a great fight but 30-1 Fedor is looming in the background.

Bloody Elbow says there's a rumor that Atencio would like to hand out Affliction t-shirts to those sitting ringside so they can chant "Fedor-Fedor" and a website Fedorchant.com is pushing the story as well.

Early read from some UFC stars: Bisping has no shot

And I was thinking Michael Bisping was a solid bet at plus-220 or plus-240. Apparently, Bisping's close win against Matt Hamill and tight loss against Rashad Evans proved nothing. Or is Dan Henderson just that good? Showdown Joe Ferraro's MMA Connected show pours a little damper on those of us who like Bisping as a value pick at UFC 100.

So Bisping finishes 0-4-2. Maybe we should take all four Hendo picks with a grain of salt since Patrick Cote said he wants a Bisping fight next while Gray Maynard, Jon Fitch and Sean Sherk, all wrestlers, mentioned that their heart lies with the American wrestler.

Tip via Cagepotato

Daily Five – Jul. 2, 2009

1. Shane Carwin “accidentally” announces upcoming fight with Cain Velasquez
2. UFC 100 Octagon canvas contest info
3. Antoni Hardonk prevents mugging in Los Angeles
4. UFC Fan Expo announces grappling “superfight” contestants
5. Canadian promotion MFC resigns deal with HDNet

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