The Ultimate Writer 12.12.11: UFC 140 Results, Strikeforce Preview, UFC Releases Miguel Torres, More

Posted by Dustin James on 12.12.2011

Thoughts on Jon Jones' win over Lyoto Machida and the rest of UFC 140, a preview of this weekend's Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Masvidal event, the latest on the UFC's controversial decision to release Miguel Torres and more!

Welcome back to "THE ULTIMATE WRITER"! As you should be accustomed to by now, I'm your host Dustin James aka "The Ultimate Writer" and even though I usually take this time to say a little something about football, I figured I would do something a little different this week. This past Friday, I was devastated when I found out that Brandon Roy of the Portland Trailblazers was forced to announce his retirement from the NBA due to ongoing knee problems. For those of you who don't know, Roy has basically no cartilage left in his knees and if he continues to play basketball, he risks not being able to walk later on in life. This is horrible news for any fan of the NBA as Roy was one of the most exciting players to watch ever since he entered the league in 2006.

After getting drafted by Portland in 2006, Roy quickly made his way to the top of the ladder in the NBA and became one of the best shooting guards in the game. He won "Rookie of the Year" honors his rookie year and followed that up by earning a trip to the NBA's "All-Star" game three years in a row. He not only became the face of the Blazers franchise, but he became one of the most popular players in Portland history with his excellent play and humble attitude. Roy was a team player to the max and one of the most approachable players in the NBA. He gave his blood, sweat, and tears to the Portland franchise and he will be missed by NBA fans everywhere. I'd like to personally thank "B-Roy" for the 5 years of excellence that he gave us Blazer fans and hopefully his health improves in the future. Maybe we'll see him on a basketball court again one day? You just never know.....

Anyway, you came here for some MMA talk though......


So................


Without any further adieu.........


Like every week.............

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Top Stories:



UFC/Strikeforce









UFC 140 "Jones vs. Machida" Results


Was UFC 140 one of the greatest MMA cards ever? Perhaps.....



UFC 140 was definitely a pretty loaded card on paper (on the main card at least...). With a UFC light heavyweight title fight featuring one of the best up-and-coming MMA fighters we've ever seen (Jon "Bones" Jones) taking on what was likely the toughest challenge of his career in a former UFC light heavyweight champion (Lyoto Machida). We also had PRIDE legend Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira rematch former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir, as well as Nogueira's twin brother taking on future UFC hall-of-famer, Tito Ortiz in a much anticipated light heavyweight bout. Basically, if you missed this card, you shouldn't call yourself an MMA fan. Any self respecting MMA fan would have made sure that somehow, someway, their asses were in front of their television for a surefire night of great fights this past Saturday. And with that, let's take a quick look back at all the action that tore through the wonderful city of Toronto this last weekend.....




UFC 140 "Jones vs. Machida" Prelim Card Results:


-John Cholish (8-1) def. Mitch Clarke (9-1) via TKO in Round 2
-Jake Hecht (11-2) def. Rich Attonito (10-5) via TKO in Round 2
-Mark Bocek (10-4) def. Nik Lentz (21-4-1) via unanimous-decision
-Yves Jabouin (17-7) def. Walel Watson (9-3) via split-decision
-Dennis Hallman (51-14-2) def. John Makdessi (9-1) via submission (rear-naked choke) in Round 1
-Constantinos Philippou (9-2) def. Jared Hamman (13-4) via KO in Round 1
-Igor Pokrajac (24-8) def. Krzysztof Soszynski (26-12-1) via KO in Round 1



UFC 140 "Jones vs. Machida" Main Card Results:



Featherweight Bout:
-Chan Sung Jung (12-3) def. Mark Hominick (20-10) via KO in Round 1


My pick: Mark Hominick. TKO, Round 2


THAT....JUST....HAPPENED!

Those were the only words going through my head once the result of this fight actually went down. No one in the world predicted that Chan Sung Jung would come out and knock out former #1 contender Mark Hominick in SEVEN FREAKING SECONDS!!!! Talk about being a little overzealous. Hominick came out right from the bell and tried to hit "The Korean Zombie" with a huge shot. The only problem was the "Zombie" managed to avoid getting hit and nailed Hominick with a shot of his own that dropped him like a bag of dimes. "The Korean Zombie" then swarmed in on Hominick like it was an episode of "The Walking Dead" and thankfully, the ref was able to stop the fight before we had to witness Hominick with another huge bump on his forehead. The end result of this fight was absolutely shocking. Not only did "The Korean Zombie" dominate a former #1 contender, but he also came out and tied the UFC record for the quickest knockout in history (although, Duane "Bang" Ludwig would debate that of course...). What's next for the "Zombie"? Who knows. But hopefully we see him back in the Octagon soon. It's not like he broke much of a sweat here tonight anyway.....



Welterweight Bout:
-Brian Ebersole (49-14-1) def. Claude Patrick (14-2) via split-decision


My pick: Brian Ebersole, Decision


Last week when I was previewing this fight, I wrote this:

"I seriously could care less about this fight. 411 doesn't pay me enough to care about either Claude Patrick or Brian Ebersole. Sorry to the hundreds of fans that both guys have."

Apparently I'm a great predictor, because this fight blew some serious ass. I guess on a card that was filled with tons of action, you are going to get stuck with a stinker like this one. This fight really wasn't THAT bad though, especially if you like fights where the fighters just hug each other up against the cage. The best part of the fight was 411's own Jonathan Butterbean posting this delicious tweet on Twitter during this fight:

"Claude Patrick is fighting... paint is drying somewhere... wish I was watching the paint."

I couldn't have summed it up any better myself Butterball. Moving on....



Light Heavyweight Bout:
-Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (20-5) def. Tito Ortiz (16-10-1) via TKO in Round 1


My pick: Tito Ortiz, Decision


Even though I had picked Ortiz to win this fight, I was secretly cheering for "Lil Nog". Tito came out like a man on fire though and looked like he was all but ready to try and finish "Lil Nog" quickly. Apparently "Lil Nog" didn't get the memo though as he had an answer for everything that Tito threw his way. The fight got really intense once Nog hit Tito with a huge left followed by a nice knee to the midsection that dropped Ortiz like a bad habit. Tito was on the ground (in obvious pain considering it looked like the knee thrown by Nogueira possibly broke his rib) while "Lil Nog" was on top of him hitting him with everything but the kitchen sink. I thought for sure the ref was going to stop the fight as Tito was not intelligently defending himself while Nog was raining down with some hard strikes to both the head and the body. The body shots looked to have been doing some serious damage as it appeared that whenever Nog hit Ortiz in the body, Ortiz was ready to throw in the towel. The ref finally stepped in after 1,384,312 unanswered shots from "Lil Nog" and it was all over but the doctor check-up for "The People's Champ". This was one hell of an impressive performance by "Lil Nog" and man, did he need it. He was coming off two straight losses in the UFC and this win over Ortiz helps put him back on the map for the time being. As for Ortiz, he said after the fight that he thinks he has at least one fight left in him and then he'll likely wave goodbye to the UFC fans for good. I say book Ortiz vs. Rich Franklin in the summer in a match-up of two future UFC hall-of-famers. Why the hell not?



Heavyweight Bout:
-Frank Mir (16-5) def. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (33-7-1) via submission (kimura) in Round 1


My pick: Frank Mir, Decision


I absolutely loved this fight. I had no idea how much I was going to love it, which was evident when last week I asked the question as to why these guys are even facing off again. I'm just glad they did. The fight started off with "Big Nog" looking like he was ready to put Mir away quick and call it a night so he could go back to the locker room and celebrate with his twin brother. "Big Nog" definitely looked like he had the advantage in the stand-up game as he was jabbing the shit out of Mir's face and followed it up with a surprising takedown on Mir. Mir quickly pulled half guard though, but that didn't last long as "Big Nog" popped back up in a hurry to get the fight back on the feet. That was an excellent move to because as soon as Mir got up, it looked like he was going back down following some brutal shots from Nogueira. Seriously though. Nogueira had Mir on wobbly feet following a huge right hand that looked like it may have put Mir out. Once Mir hit the mat, "Big Nog" jumped on him and immediately went for a choke and it looked like Mir was DONE! However, Mir showed excellent defense though (especially in the state he was in following that huge right) and quickly turned things around and locked in a kimura from OUT OF NOWHERE! The only thing Nogueira could do was try to roll out of the kimura, but once he attempted that, all Mir did was snap the arm of "Big Nog" and that was finally enough to make "Big Nog" tap! Man, what a three-minute war this fight was. If all UFC heavyweight fights were as exciting as Mir vs. Nogueira II, I would definitely start looking forward to seeing more heavyweight fights in the Octagon. Frank Mir easily pulled off one of the most miraculous comebacks I have ever seen in the UFC tonight as he moves one step closer to another title shot in the UFC. The current rumor is that Mir could face Cain Velasquez at some point in 2012, with the winner getting a shot at the UFC heavyweight title. Does that fight make sense? Yes. Would I want to see it? Yes. Make it happen Dana.....



UFC Light Heavyweight Title:
-Jon "Bones" Jones (15-1) def. Lyoto Machida (17-3) via submission (guillotine choke) in Round 2


My pick: Jon Jones, TKO, Round 3


Jon "Bones" Jones is a bad man. "Bones" got the toughest test of his MMA career at UFC 140 when he stepped into the cage against the ever-elusive (and always dangerous) Lyoto Machida. MMA experts everywhere had predicted that if anyone in the light heavyweight division could beat "Bones" Jones, it was Machida. Everyone has to admit, that once the first-round of this fight was over, it looked like all the MMA experts were going to be correct. I've said multiple times in the past that "Bones" Jones' major weakness is his stand-up game. For a game who has length like "Bones" has (he had a 10.5' reach advantage over Machida), he should be way more dangerous on his feet than he actually is. Don't be fooled by his spinning elbows people, the guy is still a less-than-average striker and Machida proved that in the first-round of this fight. Machida had "Bones" in trouble more than once in the first-round as the world was standing by in shock thinking we were going to see "Bones" get dropped in the same fashion that Rashad Evans did. Machida was hitting "Bones" with some damn good kicks to the body and almost knocked "Bones" down on multiple occasions. I easily gave the first-round to Machida and was beginning to think we could possibly see the UFC light heavyweight title change hands once again. Well, at least until the second-round started. That's when "Bones" finally found his edge and ended up taking Machida down and hitting him with a nasty elbow that split him open. The cut was so nasty that "Big" John McCarthy wanted to stop the fight so everyone at home could see the vagina that was beginning to form on Lyoto's head, and man....it was gross! Once the ref re-started the fight, that's when things started getting ugly for Machida. Machida came in for a big shot on Jones that missed and he ended up getting put down. That's when Jones locked on one of the sickest standing guillotines (the guillotine is a myth though right Brian Ebersole? Douche...) I've ever seen and choked Machida into unconsciousness. And when I say he choked Machida into unconsciousness, I mean he CHOKED the ever loving piss out of him. When "Big" John McCarthy finally stepped in to stop the fight, "Bones" let go of Machida and he hit the ground like a sleeping baby. It was truly a sight that we all thought we'd never see. Anyway, congratulations to Jon Jones for taking out what was easily his toughest test to date. Machida definitely gave "Bones" a tough fight and "Bones" managed to pass the test. It looks like Jon Jones will now take 4-5 months off to recharge his batteries and get ready for his next match-up which will come against the winner of the Rashad Evans/Phil Davis fight next month. Will anyone be able to unseat Jon Jones from the top of the UFC's light heavyweight division? It sure doesn't look like that's going to happen anytime soon.....



And that's that. Like I said earlier, I absolutely loved the shit out of this card. We had one of the greatest comebacks I've ever seen (Mir's comeback win against "Big Nog"), a fantastic performance by "Lil Nog", a record-tying KO from "The Korean Zombie", and a light heavyweight fight that featured tons of back-and-forth action and an amazing finish. UFC 140 is not only up for "best MMA card of the year", but it's also up for "best MMA card of all-time" in my book. If you take out Claude Patrick vs. Brian Ebersole and replaced it with ANYTHING, I probably would declare this the best MMA card ever. Either way, it was a great show from the UFC this weekend and I'm already dying to see the next one (which may or may not have something to do with Brock Lesnar fighting on the card).....

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Strikeforce "Melendez vs. Masvidal" Preview


Strikeforce is BACK!.....



Did you guys know there was a Strikeforce card coming up this weekend? It's my job to write about MMA and yet, I almost completely forgot about this card. My, oh my....how times have changed. It's been a couple of months since Strikeforce has come across our television screens and with two excellent title fights as well as what should be a fantastic fight between Gegard Mousasi and Ovince St. Preux, I don't get how this show isn't getting more publicity from the "UFC hype machine"? Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez is widely regarded as the #2 lightweight in the world. He's defending his title against pretty much the only guy he hasn't beat in Strikeforce yet (Jorge Masvidal), and if he's victorious over Masvidal this weekend, he's likely on his way to the UFC to challenge the UFC lightweight champion in 2012. This is the ultimate opportunity for Zuffa to push Gilbert Melendez to the moon, especially with a potential "title vs. title" fight sometime next year. With all that on the line as well as the return of the most dangerous female fighter in MMA, you have a pretty inconspicuous sexy card on paper. Anyway, let's preview all the action that's in store for us this Saturday night.....



Strikeforce "Melendez vs. Masvidal" Preview:



Lightweight Bout:
-K.J. Noons (10-4) vs. Billy Evangelista (11-1)


This is a little bit of an interesting bout. Both men are coming off losses to Jorge Masvidal and are looking to get back on the winning track en route to a potential title shot against the winner of the main event. K.J. Noons was at one-time considered one of the best prospects in the lightweight division. He's an excellent striker who's able to stand and trade with pretty much anyone in the lightweight division, which he proved when he defeated Nick Diaz back at EliteXC "Renegade" in 2007. Noons has the ability to catch anyone on the feet, which is evident by his 8 (T)KO victories in 10 wins. Evangelista is no slouch himself though. It was just a little over a year ago that Evangelista was undefeated as a professional fighter, but then he ran into the locomotive known as "Jorge Masvidal" back at Strikeforce "Feijao vs. Henderson" in March and had no answer for anything Masvidal threw his way. This should be a fun little bout which will likely end in one of two ways. With either a Noons victory via TKO or a Noons victory via decision. I'm not saying you shouldn't be tempted to take Evangelista in this fight, I just wouldn't recommend it....


My pick: K.J. Noons, Decision



Light Heavyweight Bout:
-Gegard Mousasi (31-3-2) vs. Ovince St. Preux (11-4)


I love this fight. We have two of the most underrated fighters in the light heavyweight division going to battle this Saturday and yet, it seems like no one cares. Ovince St. Preux has been on a tear these last two years. Ever since he made his Strikeforce debut back at Strikeforce "Nashville" in 2010, he's gone 5-0 with the promotion and has looked unstoppable thus far. He beat Chris Hawk in just 47 seconds in his Strikeforce debut and he's coming off a win over Joe Cason at Strikeforce Challengers 17 where he made Cason tap to strikes in just a little over a minute. OSP may be one dangerous dude, but he's easily facing the toughest guy he's ever fought when he takes on former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Gegard Mousasi. Mousasi is a very dangerous fighter who's pretty well-rounded. His last fight in Strikeforce was a very uninspiring performance against Keith Jardine which ended up in a draw (although Mousasi did get deducted a point, so you could argue that he won that fight...), but you have to think Mousasi was disappointed in his performance against Jardine and he wants to remind the Strikeforce fans why he was once considered one of the top-ranked fighters in the world. The only problem is, Mousasi showed a huge weakness in his game when he lost to "King Mo" back at Strikeforce "Nashville". "King Mo" was able to take Mousasi down at will with his huge wrestling advantage and Mousasi had absolutely no answer at all. It just so happens that OSP is a terrific wrestler himself and if he's smart, he would install the same gameplan that "King Mo" did against Mousasi...but hopefully his cardio holds up a little better than Lawal's did. This really is an excellent fight and one that could potentially steal "Fight of the Night" honors. Unless of course you think OSP is just going to take Mousasi down and pound on him for 15 minutes like I do.....


My pick: Ovince St. Preux, Decision



Strikeforce Women's Featherweight Title:
-Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos (10-1) def. Hiroko Yamanaka (12-1)


Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos is back! Just when it looked like we would never see the best female MMA fighter of all-time fight in the cage again, a miracle happened and somehow "Cyborg" was able to fix her contract issues with Strikeforce and she's back and could arguably be even better than before. Ever since coming over to Strikeforce in 2009, "Cyborg" is 4-0 with the promotion with all four of her victories coming via (T)KO. Not only that, but she also pretty much retired Gina Carano from MMA after she beat the ever loving shit out of her back in August of 2009. Carano got beat so bad that she hasn't fought since because...well....would you really want to rematch someone who beat the shit out of you (don't answer that question if your name is Rich Franklin)? "Cyborg" has pretty much destroyed every single piece of competition in Strikeforce and she's looking to add Hiroko Yamanaka to that list this weekend. Yamanaka is making her Strikeforce debut here, which tells you just how strong the women's division is in Strikeforce. Yes, Yamanaka is 12-1 in her career. Yes, she's riding a very impressive 8-fight win streak right now. However, she has never faced anyone that's as dangerous as "Cyborg" Santos is. Don't believe me? Tune in this weekend and see for yourself.....


My pick: Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos, TKO, Round 2



Strikeforce Lightweight Title:
-Gilbert Melendez (19-2) vs. Jorge Masvidal (22-6)


Poor ol' Gilbert Melendez. When the UFC recently purged the Strikeforce brand and took Nick Diaz and Dan Henderson over to their roster, everyone thought that Gilbert Melendez would soon follow. He is widely regarded as the #2 lightweight in the world, behind only current UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar, after all. However, that didn't happen. For some reason, Zuffa decided to let Melendez stay in Strikeforce and finish out his contract fighting a bunch of "EHHHHHHH" guys. Now, don't get me wrong. I don't really consider Jorge Masvidal an "EHHHHH" guy, but if Melendez does get by Masvidal this weekend....who's left for him? In my opinion, if Melendez beats Masvidal this weekend (and he will), that will set him up for a "title vs. title" fight against whoever the UFC lightweight champion will be come summertime. There's just no reason to keep Melendez in Strikeforce and risk him coming into a fight and getting caught by someone like K.J. Noons, thus destroying any kind of "title vs. title" fight hopes that the UFC could have made some serious cash on. As for this fight itself, it's no gimmie for Melendez. Masvidal is a tough dude and he's shown that with his last two victories against Noons and Billy Evangelista. Masvidal can definitely fight and he won't make this an easy victory for Melendez, I just don't see how Masvidal picks up the win. Melendez is an extremely well-rounded fighter and he'll be ready for anything Masvidal can throw his way. Still, I expect this one to be fun while it lasts and you never know, Masvidal may shock the world and pull off the huge upset here. I just wouldn't count on it....


My pick: Gilbert Melendez, Decision


And there we are. It feels like it's been forever since we last saw either Strikeforce or Gilbert Melendez in action and I can't wait. I also can't wait to see the long-awaited return of Cris "Cyborg" Santos so we can see if she's as dangerous as we remember her. When you throw in all of that good stuff mixed with the awesome fight that is OSP vs. Gegard Mousasi, then I'm officially all-in for this card. It looks like Strikeforce isn't going anywhere anytime soon so the promotion really needs this card to be a success. It's definitely a success on paper, not we just have to see how everything falls into place this Saturday night on Showtime.....

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Top Story



Miguel Torres Released From UFC Following Controversial Tweet...


If you have been hiding under a rock these last few days, then you likely missed the news that the UFC has released former WEC bantamweight champion Miguel Torres (40-4) following a controversial tweet he posted last week. If you haven't seen the tweet in question, here it is:

"If a windowless van was called a surprise van more people wouldn't mind going for rides in them. Everyone likes surprises."

When I first read that tweet, I honestly thought nothing of it. If you are a regular reader of this column, you know that I feature Miguel's tweets on a weekly basis in my "Twitter" section. Why do I post Miguel's tweets? Because they are interesting and entertaining. I've somewhat gotten used to Miguel's rugged sense of humor. This isn't the first time Torres has posted something on Twitter that could be considered "controversial", which is why his release and the backlash that came with this tweet makes absolutely no sense to me. I understand punishing Torres and making all those tight-ass people with no sense of humor happy, but putting the guy in the unemployment line is way too harsh. Whatever happened to apologizing? Remember when Tiger Woods cheated on his wife with like 1,384,928 women? All he had to do was apologize and it seemed like all was forgiven. Why didn't the UFC just tell Miguel he needed to make a public apology and tone down his Twitter account a little? Oh, that's right. Because Dana White is bi-polar and will threaten to fire a guy for wearing speedos in the Octagon, but won't fire a guy for failing two drug tests (isn't it about time the UFC got some kind of "code of conduct" and established a set of rules for everyone to follow???).

Look, I get it. Even though the tweet was pretty controversial, the bottom line is Miguel Torres probably should have tuned his Twitter account down ALONG time ago. It's one thing for an MMA writer like myself to crack a rape joke and thus risk my credibility amongst all of my readers (haahahahahahaha!!!!), but it's another thing for a celebrity/athlete to crack a rape joke and not to think some kind of backlash is going to happen. The truth is, this was not the worst tweet sent out by a UFC fighter I've seen (just last week, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson made a gay joke about Rashad Evans and a shake weight that went unnoticed by a lot of these "soccer moms" who are crying about Miguel's tweet) and it's definitely not the last controversial tweet we'll ever see. If you were one of the people who was offended by Miguel's comments, STOP FOLLOWING HIM ON TWITTER! See how easy that problem is to solve? If someone's offending you with their thoughts, WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU WANT TO PAY ATTENTION TO THEM? Oh, that's right. Because you are a loser in life who has nothing better to do but whine, bitch, and complain about what other people are doing. You know what I do if I don't like something? I ignore it. It's really not that hard to do.

Unfortunately it looks like Torres was made a scapegoat here for the UFC's new "no offensive jokes" on Twitter policy that absolutely no one knew about, and he has to deal with that. As for all you buttholes who are in a tissy about his tweet, if you are reading this column....go away now. I can promise you I'll likely offend you in some form down the road and I don't want people with no sense of humor reading my column anyway. I also highly recommend watching a Lisa Lampanelli show just so we can all see your little heads explode....




All The Other Stuff:

• One of the biggest (pardon the pun...) pieces of news coming out of the UFC 140 press conference was the UFC's announcement that a 125lb flyweight division is officially on it's way! UFC President Dana White (0-0) announced the news Saturday night and also confirmed that the division will kick-off with a 4-man tournament for the new UFC flyweight championship. The tournament is expected to start on the "UFC on FX" special in March and will feature Joseph Benavidez (15-2) vs. Yasuhiro Urushitani (19-4-6) and Demetrious "Mighty Mouse" Johnson (14-2) vs. Ian McCall (11-2) with the winners going on to meet for the title sometime in 2012. This is good news for guys like Benavidez who really was stuck between a rock and a hard place in the UFC's bantamweight division. This is also good news for guys like Brock Lesnar who can always eat a flyweight fighter if he's feeling a little hungry before a big fight. If Ian McCall all of a sudden goes missing before a fight, don't say I didn't warn anyone....




• Fans of Efrain Escudero (18-3) will be happy to learn that the "Ultimate Fighter" season 8 champion will be returning to the UFC soon. Rumors started surfacing last week that T.J. Grant was forced to withdraw his name from his bout with Jacob Volkmann at UFC 141 due to an injury and that the UFC was bringing Escudero back into the UFC to replace him. Well, this news was later confirmed as Escudero has pulled out of his scheduled bout with Legacy Fighting Championships and was getting a second chance with the promotion that had once cut him. As most of you will remember, Escudero was released from the UFC following his loss to Charles Oliveira at UFC Fight Night 22, mainly because Dana was pissed that Escudero didn't make weight for the fight. This didn't phase Escudero too much as he has since gone 5-1 in smaller promotions since his release. It's definitely going to be interesting to see if Escudero can take advantage of this second chance that was handed to him on a silver platter following Grant's injury....




• It's been 8 months since we last saw UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre (22-2) in action and it's going to be A LOT longer until we actually see him in the Octagon again. News broke last Wednesday that GSP had torn his ACL and would be out of action for up to 10 more months. This once again puts off the much-anticipated fight between GSP and Nick Diaz (26-7) and that sucks. However, the UFC always has a back-up plan and the back-up plan in this case was to create an interim welterweight title and award it to the winner of a fight between Diaz and fellow top-ranked welterweight Carlos Condit (27-5) at UFC 143 on February 3. Everyone knows I'm not the biggest fan of GSP, but I was definitely bummed out when I heard the news that he tore his ACL. GSP is in the prime of his career and you never want one of the top stars in a sport to have to miss a year and a half of action due to injuries in the prime of his career. Thankfully we will still get Diaz vs. Condit in February with the winner facing GSP in the fall. That is, if GSP doesn't get hurt again. Quick, someone wrap the dude in bubble wrap....




• UFC bantamweight fighter Urijah Faber (26-5) has expressed publicly these last few months that he would love to appear on "The Ultimate Fighter" in a coaching capacity. Well, the former WEC featherweight champion will get his wish as the UFC has announced that Faber and UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz (19-1) will indeed coach season 15 of "The Ultimate Fighter", which is scheduled to start on March 9th on FX and will feature lightweight and welterweight fighters. Not only that, but Cruz and Faber will meet once again for the UFC bantamweight title once the season is over. I'm TOTALLY fine with all of this. While I don't expect Cruz and Faber to talk a lot of shit to each other as coaches, I'm always down to watch these two fight again. These two are currently 1-1 against each other and their fight earlier this year at UFC 132 was easily one of the best fights of the year. "The Ultimate Fighter" is definitely looking to make an immediate impact in their debut on FX in a few months....




• UFC welterweight Josh Koscheck (16-5) was scheduled to face Carlos Condit at UFC 143, but that all changed once GSP got injured and Condit was moved to the main event of the card to face Nick Diaz for the UFC interim welterweight title. Koscheck was left without an opponent for the card, until he was called out on Twitter by one of my fellow Oregonians, Mike Pierce (13-4). Pierce posted the following on Twitter which thus started a trash-talking war with Koscheck:
  
  "Hey @danawhite & @lorenzofertitta I want @JoshKoscheck on Feb 4 as I just mentioned to @mmajunkiegeorge on @mmajunkieradio. LETS WAR @UFC"
  
  Koscheck wasn't too happy with getting called out on Twitter and responded in typical Koscheck-like fashion:
  
  "I step away from twitter for a day & get called out? Hahahahahaha wiggle out of a fight? Me? NEVER!!!!!!!! As for Pierce hasn't beat any1 with a name yet, plus he lost 2 Hendricks&Fitch. Beat my ass?u haven't beat any1's ass yet (Mr decision) GD LUCK"
  
  You think Pierce was just going to sit back and let Koscheck have the last laugh? Oh no. Pierce responded with a nice little shot of his own:
  
  ""Mr. Decision" still gets his hand raised, has never been finished and has NEVER been KO'd by a Brazilian."
  
  That's when Koscheck decided to end the Twitter war for some reason and even decided to give Pierce props for having the balls to take the fight because no one else apparently wanted it:
  
  "Hey guys lighten up on (pierce) at least he had the balls 2 step up! I DIG It!!!!!! It was either fight him or wait 5-6 months! It's about winning & getting paid. the dude man up!! More then I can say about the rest of the WW div. My focus will be winning feb 4."
  
  And that was that. Even though the Twitter war has ended for the time being, I'm sure this one is going to get heated at the weigh-ins. Things usually do get heated whenever Koscheck is involved for some reason. I just can't put my finger on why that is exactly...




• Other fights announced this week:
  
  -George Roop (12-8-1) vs. Cub Swanson (15-5): UFC on FOX 2 prelim card
  
  -Evan Dunham (12-2) vs. Paul Sass (12-0): UFC on FOX 2 prelim card
  
  -Cody McKenzie (12-2) vs. Michael Johnson (9-6): UFC on FOX 2 prelim card
  
  -Charlie Brenneman (14-3) vs. Daniel Roberts (12-3): UFC on FX 1 prelim card
  
  -Nick Denis (10-2) vs. Joseph Sandoval (6-1): UFC on FX 1 prelim card
  
  
  
  
  
  

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Tweet Tweet!





This feature looks at some of the best tweets posted on Twitter by MMA fighters or anyone else connected to the world of MMA.


Courtesy of @KennyFlorian - "How amazing is this sport? #ufc140 Main card has been sick!!!"

Courtesy of @JonnyBones "Hope you guys enjoyed my walkout song, big thanks to everyone who supports me. I love you and you're all beautiful."

Courtesy of @TwasEbersole - "Nobody will be finishing me with a guillotine, in the gym or on TV."

Courtesy of @ClaudeThePrince - "Came up short 2nite but after my last win I realised I'm paid not just to win but to FIGHT!!@ufc #ufc140 ill be back better"

Courtesy of @DanaWhite - "Getting Big Nog to LA to get that arm fixed. #toughasnails"

Courtesy of @DanaWhite - "[Jon Jones] is on his way to being the best ever. Only 24 years old and keeps getting better and better!!!"

Courtesy of @MichelleDBeadle - "If u didn't watch ufc tonight you missed the closest thing to gladiators we will ever see. Machida. Out."

Courtesy of @MiguelTorresMMA - "To Twitter & Facebook Police- Santa Clause isn't real, some people think cucumbers taste better pickled, & OJ did that shit. #surprise"

Courtesy of @MiguelTorresMMA - "Jokes on racism, pedifiles, terrorism, & other fucked up things is ok, but some are off limits. What a sensitive world we live in."

Courtesy of @MiguelTorresMMA - "The past will always come back and haunt you, some things just can't be taken back."

Courtesy of @MayhemMiller - "My dad actually did get coal for Christmas one year."

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Current Champions:

This feature is pretty self explanatory. I list the current champions in each relevant promotion, and you guys sit and read. Easy enough for ya?





Junior dos Santos - UFC Heavyweight Champion

Won the title from Cain Velasquez back on November 12, 2011 at UFC on FOX 1

Jon Jones - UFC Light Heavyweight Champion

Won the title from Mauricio "Shogun" Rua back on March 19, 2011 at UFC 128

Anderson Silva - UFC Middleweight Champion

Won the title from Rich Franklin back on October 14, 2006 at UFC 64

Georges St. Pierre - UFC Welterweight Champion

Won the title from Matt Serra back on April 14, 2008 at UFC 83

Frankie Edgar - UFC Lightweight Champion

Won the title from B.J. Penn back on April 10, 2010 at UFC 112

Jose Aldo - UFC Featherweight Champion

Won the title from Mike Brown back on November 18, 2009 at WEC 44

Dominick Cruz - UFC Bantamweight Champion

Won the title from Brian Bowles back on March 6, 2010 at WEC 47






Luke Rockhold - Strikeforce Middleweight World Champion

Won the title from Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza back on September 10, 2011 at Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Kharitonov

Gilbert Melendez - Strikeforce Lightweight Champion

Won the title from Josh Thomson back on December 19, 2009 at Strikeforce: Evolution

Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos - Strikeforce Featherweight Female Champion

Won the title from Gina Carano back on August 15, 2009 at Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg

Miesha Tate - Strikeforce Bantamweight Female Champion

Won the title from Marloes Coenen back on July 30, 2011 at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson





Hiroyuki Takaya - DREAM Featherweight Champion

Won the title from Bibiano Fernandes back on December 31, 2010 at Dynamite!! 2010 New Year's Eve show.

Shinya Aoki - DREAM Lightweight Champion

Won the title from Joachim Hansen back on October 6, 2009 at DREAM.11

Marius Zaromskis - DREAM Welterweight Champion

Won the title from Jason High back on July 20, 2009 at DREAM.10

Gegard Mousasi - DREAM Light Heavyweight Champion

Won the title from Tatsuya Mizuno back on September 25, 2010 at DREAM.16






Cole Konrad - Bellator Heavyweight Champion

Won the title from Neil Grove back on October 14, 2010 at Bellator 29

Christian M'Pumbu - Bellator Light Heavyweight Champion

Won the title from Richard Hale back on May 21, 2011 at Bellator 45

Hector Lombard - Bellator Middleweight Champion

Won the title from Jared Hess back on June 19, 2009 at Bellator 12

Ben Askren - Bellator Welterweight Champion

Won the title from Lyman Good back on October 21, 2010 at Bellator 33

Michael Chandler - Bellator Lightweight Champion

Won the title from Eddie Alvarez back on November 19, 2011 at Bellator 58

Joe Warren - Bellator Featherweight Champion

Won the title from Joe Soto back on September 2, 2010 at Bellator 27

Zach Makovsky - Bellator Bantamweight Champion

Won the title from Ed West back on October 14, 2010 at Bellator 32

Zoila Gurgel - Bellator 115lb Women's Champion

Won the title from Megumi Fujii back on October 28, 2010 at Bellator 34

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Upcoming Events:

Here are a few of the upcoming events in the wonderful world of MMA:




UFC 141 "Lesnar vs. Overeem" - December 30 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada

-Brock Lesnar vs. Alistair Overeem
-Donald Cerrone vs. Nate Diaz
-Jon Fitch vs. Johny Hendricks
-Alexander Gustafsson vs. Vladimir Matyushenko
-Nam Phan vs. Jim Hettes
-Diego Nunes vs. Manny Gamburyan
-Dong Hyun Kim vs. Sean Pierson
-Ross Pearson vs. Junior Assuncao
-Anthony Njokuani vs. Danny Castillo
-Matt Riddle vs. Luis Ramos
-Efrain Escudero vs. Jacob Volkmann



DREAM New Year's Eve Dynamite!! 2011 Show - December 31 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan

-Shinya Aoki vs. Satoru Kitaoka
-Fedor Emelianenko vs. To Be Announced
-Hiroyuki Takaya vs. Takeshi "Lion" Inoue (for DREAM featherweight title)
-Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Kazuyuki Miyata
-Ryo Chonan vs. Hayato Sakurai
-Antonio Banuelos vs. Masakazu Imanari (2011 DREAM bantamweight grand-prix semifinal)
-Bibiano Fernandes vs. Rodolfo Marques Diniz (2011 DREAM bantamweight grand-prix semifinal)
--Hideo Tokoro vs. Yusup Saddulaev (2011 DREAM bantamweight grand-prix reserve bout)
-Megumi Fujii vs. Karla Benitez



Strikeforce "Rockhold vs. Jardine" - January 7 at The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada

-Luke Rockhold vs. Keith Jardine (for the Strikeforce middleweight title)
-Robbie Lawler vs. Adlan Amagov
-Muhammad "King Mo" Lawal vs. Lorenz Larkin
-Tyron Woodley vs. Jordan Mein
-Tarec Saffiedine vs. Tyler Stinson



UFC 142 "Aldo vs. Mendes" - January 14 at the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

-Jose Aldo vs. Chad Mendes (for the UFC featherweight title)
-Vitor Belfort vs. Anthony Johnson
-Thiago Tavares vs. Sam Stout
-Terry Etim vs. Edson Barboza
-Paulo Thiago vs. Mike Pyle
-Siyar Bahadurzada vs. Erick Silva
-Rousimar Palhares vs. Mike Massenzio
-Stanislav Nedkov vs. Fabio Maldonado
-Antonio Carvalho vs. Felipe Arantes
-Ednaldo Oliveira vs. Rob Broughton
-Michihiro Omigawa vs. Yuri Alcantara



UFC on FX 1 - January 20 at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee

-Melvin Guillard vs. Jim Miller
-Pat Barry vs. Christian Morecraft
-Jorge Rivera vs. Eric Schafer
-Mike Brown vs. Vagner Rocha
-Duane "Bang" Ludwig vs. Josh Neer
-Karlos Vemola vs. Ryan Jimmo
-Kamal Shalorus vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov
-Rafaello Oliveira vs. Reza Madadi
-Charlie Brenneman vs. Daniel Roberts
-Joseph Sandoval vs. Nick Denis



UFC on FOX 2 - January 28 at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois

-Rashad Evans vs. Phil Davis
-Chael Sonnen vs. Mark Munoz
-Michael Bisping vs. Demian Maia
-Evan Dunham vs. Paul Sass
-George Roop vs. Cub Swanson
-Cody McKenzie vs. Michael Johnson
-Charles Oliveira vs. Eric Wisely
-Mike Russow vs. Jon Olav Einemo
-Dustin Jacoby vs. Chris Camozzi
-Eddie Wineland vs. To Be Announced

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Video of the Week!

If I have to explain to you what "video of the week" is, than please grab a pencil and stick it in your neck for the benefit of society....


Thanks for the memories "B-Roy"......

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My top 5 MMA Rankings:

These are my current top 5 MMA rankings! I know 411mania.com has their own rankings as a collective unit, but I figured I would list mine for you guys to tear apart each week....

Heavyweight:

1. Junior dos Santos
2. Cain Velasquez
3. Brock Lesnar
4. Alistair Overeem
5. Shane Carwin

Light Heavyweight:

1. Jon Jones
2. Rashad Evans
3. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson
4. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua
5. Dan Henderson

Middleweight:

1. Anderson Silva
2. Chael Sonnen
3. Vitor Belfort
4. Yushin Okami
5. Mark Munoz

Welterweight:

1. Georges St. Pierre
2. Jon Fitch
3. Nick Diaz
4. Josh Koscheck
5. Carlos Condit

Lightweight:

1. Frankie Edgar
2. Gilbert Melendez
3. Gray Maynard
4. Ben Henderson
5. Shinya Aoki

Featherweight:

1. Jose Aldo
2. Chad Mendes
3. Hatsu Hioki
4. Kenny Florian
5. Diego Nunes

Bantamweight:

1. Dominick Cruz
2. Joseph Benavidez
3. Urijah Faber
4. Demetrious Johnson
5. Brian Bowles

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And that's it for me this week. Make sure you follow me on Twitter for all sorts of good MMA, NBA, NFL, and other random crap talk. Trust me, I won't let you down.


All of 411's zones are also on Twitter, so make sure you check it out.....



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