Anything MMA, except thumb wrestling

[Destino]

The Kimbo fight may have been terrible but it was full of great moments. The end where both immediately bend over exhausted was classic. The slam was classic. The leg kick was classic.

[herrmag]

Jones scares me because he's so articulate. Knowing that there are normal, intelligent people out there capable of causing this kind of bodily harm makes me question how I will treat people in my office. :/

And Houston Alexander should punish himself for the next 3 years. Worst gameplan ever. Really? Don't train in sub's or takedowns? Congrats idiot.

[StillUnknown]

Jones scares me because he's so articulate. Knowing that there are normal, intelligent people out there capable of causing this kind of bodily harm makes me question how I will treat people in my office. :/

http://www.fiveknuckles.com/mma-news/Jon-Jones-I-didnt-win-that-fight-I-did-something-illegal.html

"Situations like this can only make you better. It can only make you better. A lot of the best fighters in the world have losses. I just want to be one of the best fighters. I don't have too much to celebrate about and I'll come back stronger. I think everything is about destiny and whoever Joe Silva wants me to fight, that's what I'm ready for. I don't call out anyone. I didn't win that fight. I did something illegal. That's my youth and inexperience. I messed up. I threw an illegal move and I didn't win. If I was smarter, I would have thrown the elbows more correctly. I got to go back to the drawing board."

he's handling that situation the right way in my opinion. to be so young, he definitely seems to have his head on straight. if i was that dangerous at 22, i'm not sure i could be that humble lol

[herrmag]

http://www.fiveknuckles.com/mma-news/Jon-Jones-I-didnt-win-that-fight-I-did-something-illegal.html

he's handling that situation the right way in my opinion. to be so young, he definitely seems to have his head on straight. if i was that dangerous at 22, i'm not sure i could be that humble lol

How can you not root for that kid. His interview last night was classic "professional". Good guy. On my short list of favorites.

[#98QBKiller]

And Houston Alexander should punish himself for the next 3 years. Worst gameplan ever. Really? Don't train in sub's or takedowns? Congrats idiot.

He stole a page out of Kalib Starnes playbook.

[Slacky McSlackAss]

He stole a page out of Kalib Starnes playbook.

Yeah, but Houston actually engaged with Kimbo. Starnes just ran away from Quarry that entire fight. That and Quarry's antics made that fight amazing.

[herrmag]

Yeah, but Houston actually engaged with Kimbo. Starnes just ran away from Quarry that entire fight. That and Quarry's antics made that fight amazing.

Yes. True. Same page though. After a couple months of training, if the best thing you've got planned is to kick a weak knee (or so you thought), your entire fight team needs to be fired. Kimbo has gigantic holes in his game. If we want conspiracy, then he (Houston) was told not to take it to the mat. He LEFT THE UFC TO LEARN GROUND. Either he's retarded, along with everyone in his fight camp, or there's something shady going on. Or everything involving Houston is retarded.

[Chachie]

Yeah, but Houston actually engaged with Kimbo. Starnes just ran away from Quarry that entire fight. That and Quarry's antics made that fight amazing.

Also- Houston may have had a bit more reason to run from Kimbo. I think Slice was probably back up to 225 by the time the fight started, whereas Alexander probably didn't crack 210. I noticed a big size advantage for Kimbo when they faced off during the ref's instructions. Houston's no HW.

Starnes was running from a guy his own size. :doh:

[StillUnknown]

so who do they match Kimbo with next?

i think its obvious they will be quite selective about his opponents, and will match him up with fighters with no ground game for awhile. where is he going to fight, he gassed pretty good cutting to 215, i'm not sure he'll have any stamina past 30secs if he cuts full to 205

[d0ublestr0ker0ll]

Is Petruzelli under contract? I mean I know they want to milk him and that's a dangerous fight...but everyone without a ground game in HW would be a death sentence for Kimbo. I say give him the loser of Penn/Sanchez.

Edited December 7, 2009 by d0ublestr0ker0ll

[StillUnknown]

Is Petruzelli under contract? I mean I know they want to milk him and that's a dangerous fight...but everyone without a ground game in HW would be a death sentence for Kimbo. I say give him the loser of Penn/Sanchez.

Penn/Sanchez both have ground games :paranoid:

i remember when Kimbo was fighting in EliteXC, Dana said Penn would be beat him. lol

i would actually give Penn a good shot against Kimbo

[d0ublestr0ker0ll]

Penn/Sanchez both have ground games :paranoid:

i remember when Kimbo was fighting in EliteXC, Dana said Penn would be beat him. lol

i would actually give Penn a good shot against Kimbo

I'd definitely bet on Penn.

[Patrick86L]

what about Kimbo vs Ben Rothwell?

[StillUnknown]

what about Kimbo vs Ben Rothwell?

he's fighting CroCop at 110 in Australia

[StillUnknown]

Henderson Signs with Strikeforce

Dan Henderson is Strikeforce bound.

As first reported by AOL FanHouse, MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) has confirmed with Strikeforce officials that the former PRIDE title-holder and recent UFC fighter has agreed to a new deal with Strikeforce.

Terms of the multi-fight deal were not disclosed.

Henderson, a former top middleweight and light heavyweight contender in the UFC, fulfilled the fight terms of his previous contract with a knockout of Michael Bisping at UFC 100. However, while UFC officials hinted at a likely title shot for the winner, Henderson was passed over in favor of a bout between Vitor Belfort and UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva, which is tentatively slated for spring of 2010.

Henderson confirmed he was in negotiations with Strikeforce in November. Company officials confirmed the negotiations but declined to elaborate.

In October, UFC president Dana White said the 39-year-old Henderson, who made a base pay of $250,000 at UFC 100 ($150,000 of which came in the form of a win bonus), simply demanded too much and would have become "the highest-paid UFC fighter" if the UFC gave him what he wanted.

He later told MMAjunkie.com Radio Henderson never seemed serious about getting a deal done and may have been influenced by Tito Ortiz's recent new deal.

"The [expletive] that Dan came in and said in my office and what he wants, it's unrealistic, and he knows it," White said. "And it's basically based off of, 'I heard this guy is making this, and I heard this guy made (this much).' Basically, what everybody gets pissed off about is Tito. 'Oh, I heard Tito is making all this money, and Tito is this and that.' And it's because Tito likes to go out there and stay stuff like that or somebody in his camp did.

White suggested Strikeforce couldn't match what the UFC offered.

"The negotiations are done," White said. "I made [Henderson] an offer, and I guarantee you the offer that I made him, Strikeforce can't pay."

The addition of Henderson to Strikeforce provides a known commodity for future broadcasts on CBS or Showtime while also providing a legitimate contender to both the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions, which feature Jake Shields and Gegard Mousasi as respective champions.

[lovetoaster]

Well, as a huge Hendo fan, I figured it was coming, but I am still a little disappointed. It is not like he is 29, he is 39. There is one fight in Strikeforce that I would be excited to see, and that is against Mousasi. That will be a great fight, but what then? I think Hendo would win any other realistic fight rather easily. And while I would love to see him rack up the wins, I also want to see him challenged.

For the last six months he has repeatedly said that if he could fight one person in the world it would be Anderson Silva. He has desperately wanted a rematch and so have a lot of fans. But now that is never going to happen. I realize that Dana screwed him a little by giving Vitor the title shot before Dan, but I also thought that Anderson's injury might open the door a little for Dan to get the shot again. Regardless, if you really want the fight that bad, do whatever it takes to make it happen. If you have to fight Marquardt, do it.

Plus, with as great as Anderson is, there are not a lot of guys that can pose a legitimate threat to his MW belt in the UFC. Dan was one of those guys.

I can't imagine that SF offered Hendo more money, and apparently the Silva-Vitor thing did not burn him too much because he and Dana are still on good terms. So I struggle to see what the motivation for this is. I guess he will be more of a face of the organization in SF (only because Fedor does not speak English very well), but is that worth throwing away whatever opportunity he had to at least have a pretty good shot at a rematch of a fight that supposedly he wanted so bad?

Whatever, I will always root for Hendo, but I just don't get this one. I am not a UFC homer, but staying in the UFC just makes so much more sense to me at this point in his career. To me, at least.

[#98QBKiller]

Penn/Sanchez both have ground games :paranoid:

i remember when Kimbo was fighting in EliteXC, Dana said Penn would be beat him. lol

i would actually give Penn a good shot against Kimbo

They should've let Chuck come out of retirement (or whatever) to fight Kimbo. They had a smack talk exchange last year sometime and I can't think of anyone in the world that wants to see Chuck vs. Tito 3.

Well, as a huge Hendo fan, I figured it was coming, but I am still a little disappointed. It is not like he is 29, he is 39. There is one fight in Strikeforce that I would be excited to see, and that is against Mousasi. That will be a great fight, but what then? I think Hendo would win any other realistic fight rather easily. And while I would love to see him rack up the wins, I also want to see him challenged.

For the last six months he has repeatedly said that if he could fight one person in the world it would be Anderson Silva. He has desperately wanted a rematch and so have a lot of fans. But now that is never going to happen. I realize that Dana screwed him a little by giving Vitor the title shot before Dan, but I also thought that Anderson's injury might open the door a little for Dan to get the shot again. Regardless, if you really want the fight that bad, do whatever it takes to make it happen. If you have to fight Marquardt, do it.

Plus, with as great as Anderson is, there are not a lot of guys that can pose a legitimate threat to his MW belt in the UFC. Dan was one of those guys.

I can't imagine that SF offered Hendo more money, and apparently the Silva-Vitor thing did not burn him too much because he and Dana are still on good terms. So I struggle to see what the motivation for this is. I guess he will be more of a face of the organization in SF (only because Fedor does not speak English very well), but is that worth throwing away whatever opportunity he had to at least have a pretty good shot at a rematch of a fight that supposedly he wanted so bad?

Whatever, I will always root for Hendo, but I just don't get this one. I am not a UFC homer, but staying in the UFC just makes so much more sense to me at this point in his career. To me, at least.

Obviously we don't know but if it's only a 2-3 fight deal then maybe Dan is going to bide his time with a handful of interesting fights before coming back to the UFC to fight Anderson when he's healed/fought Vitor.

There's the fight with Mousasi, then there are guys like Babalu and Jacare that would make compelling bouts, plus Hendo could probably take out Jake Shields easily and add yet another championship to his mantle.

[#98QBKiller]

Just saw this too:

http://www.sherdog.com/news/articles/Exclusive-Why-Henderson-Chose-Strikeforce-21378

Sounds like he's interested in fighting Fedor, I wouldn't mind seeing that bout. Same for the Mousasi bout and Jake Shields as well.

Exclusive: Why Henderson Chose Strikeforce

Former UFC middleweight Dan Henderson spoke with Sherdog.com just minutes after the announcement that he’d jumped promotions and signed a four-fight, 16-month deal with rival organization Strikeforce. Henderson, who had co-headlined four of his last five appearances in the UFC, negotiated with both promotions until last Friday.

Sherdog.com: Why did you pick Strikeforce over the UFC?

Henderson: The decision was based on a number of things. It wasn’t just a financial thing. It was the fact that I felt I wasn’t getting the fight that I wanted in the UFC. That was a big part of that -- that I wasn’t and that it got yanked away from me. I think I stepped up for the UFC a number of times and had earned that right again for a title fight. And the fact that publicity-wise, CBS offers quite a bit more than a pay-per-view and Spike TV.

Sherdog.com: In September, you sat down with UFC owners Lorenzo Fertitta and Dana White in Las Vegas and confronted them about being passed over for the next middleweight title bout against Silva. How did they respond?

Henderson: The fight got pulled from me and was offered to Vitor (Belfort). I met with them after Vitor fought Rich Franklin. I told them that it does irritate me. I said, ‘Why does Vitor get to jump the line when there’s me and (Nate) Marquardt here who can both fight for a title shot and Vitor’s never fought for the UFC at 185? He jumps the line, especially since I beat him.’ They acted surprised that I’d even fought him. They weren’t up on those details at the time. It jogged their memory, but either way, to put someone in there that I dominated not that long ago…

Sherdog.com: You’re the first top-ranked UFC fighter to leave that promotion and join Strikeforce’s ranks. What do you think this says about the current climate of the sport?

Henderson: Obviously, I was fighting in Pride for a long time and I’ve never been one to really jump ship. Had I felt a little bit more, I don’t know… I was planning on finishing my career in the UFC. When I signed with the UFC, that’s what I was planning on doing. I think that whatever transpired or how they handled me just didn’t work out at present. Especially for me at this point in my career, it was definitely Strikeforce. I don’t know what that says about the climate of the UFC. I think that they need to really respect the fighters a little bit more.

Sherdog.com: At one point during renegotiations Dana White stated that you were trying to become the highest paid fighter in the UFC --

Henderson: I don’t know what anyone else makes, but didn’t he make a comment after that a couple of weeks later that I was upset about what Tito (Ortiz) makes? I have no idea what Tito makes. So, if I’m trying to be the highest paid fighter, why would I be upset about what Tito makes? These are his own comments contradicting themselves. Either way, I don’t know what Tito makes and I didn’t really know where I was on the totem pole over there, but I felt like I wasn’t getting fair market value for myself.

Sherdog.com: How did the UFC’s banning of your clothing brand, Clinch Gear, from their events affect renegotiations?

Henderson: Well, at least I’ll be able to have Clinch Gear on in the cage when I fight for Strikeforce. The banning didn’t really affect anything though. When the UFC called and said that we could no longer sponsor (other fighters), that we were banned from the UFC, I wasn’t mad at all. It was more funny to me than anything that they would do that. Dana has stated to me that it was nothing personal and that there were no hard feelings at all. If there were no hard feelings, why would they ban a clothing line? We already had a deal; we were paying for the right to sponsor guys just like every other sponsor was. For them to come back and say just because Dan hasn’t re-signed a deal yet, we’re banned.

Sherdog.com: Does that play into your comment earlier that they need to respect fighters more?

Henderson: Absolutely. Things like that aren’t necessary and for them to do that in the middle of negotiations doesn’t make me feel respected. It’s more of a strong-arm tactic and a lot of people turn the other way when that happens. To me, it was just funny. I didn’t take it personally, but it just seemed a little contradictory to the ‘no hard feelings’ thing.

Sherdog.com: How did the Strikeforce negotiations play out in comparison to the UFC renegotiations? You were talking to both promotions at the same time.

Yeah, I was to a point. I wasn’t going back and forth to them saying, ‘Hey, so and so is paying me this. Pay me more.’ I didn’t want to do that at all. I don’t think that’s the right way to do things, so basically I was just looking at the offers. I have to be honest, Strikeforce was a little slow in getting back to me on certain things, only because Scott Coker got sick for a couple of weeks and was a little hard to get a hold of. He didn’t want to pass the negotiations over to anyone else. Other than that, everything went great and Scott Coker was very respectful and excited the whole time. I was sincere with negotiating with them obviously because I signed, but I wasn’t just using them to get the UFC to pay me more. Dana was pretty cool throughout negotiations with the UFC. He was OK to deal with. We were pretty much just at a standstill. I thought I was worth more and they didn’t. It was nothing personal really.

Sherdog.com: The critics of this move might say you’re leaving the elite of the sport to go fight lesser competition. How would you respond to that?

Henderson: It’s questionable. Where is (Gegard) Mousasi ranked in there? He might be the guy to beat Anderson Silva up. And obviously Fedor (Emelianenko) is unscathed and has proven that he is probably the top heavyweight in the world. Jake Shields has never fought in the UFC. I think that Strikeforce has a lot of great matchups for me. I’m in this sport not just for the money, but I love the challenge of it. Those three guys are great challenges for me and Strikeforce has quite a few guys that are really top at 185 and above. Their roster is growing rapidly with top guys, not just lower-level guys.

Sherdog.com: Why do you think every fighter wants to fight Fedor Emelianenko?

Henderson: I don’t know. To me, he’s not the reason I signed with Strikeforce just to fight him -- although that is interesting and appealing to me to be able to challenge myself against him. I don’t know who else wants to fight him, but I do know the fans like to see him fight. He’s very effective and likes to finish guys and does a very good job. I think him and I would make an interesting matchup.

Sherdog.com: Do you think you can beat Emelianenko?

Henderson: I think I can beat anyone on any given day. It’s just a matter of making sure that everything is right with that day.

Sherdog.com: How do you look back on your UFC career?

Henderson: I always enjoyed watching the UFC and had good experiences fighting there, so I have nothing bad to say about them. I just think that for me, at this point in my career, maybe it just wasn’t a good matchup for them and me. We were at a sticking point on certain things and maybe they think I don’t have too many years left, so why would they put a lot of stock in me. Who knows?

Sherdog.com: What are your goals now, having signed on for four fights with Strikeforce?

Henderson: I’m planning on fighting more than four fights. I can tell you that. I couldn’t tell you what the future holds. It changes pretty quickly. Like I said, I thought I was going to end my career in the UFC and this came up and obviously I went in a different direction than I thought I was going to. I couldn’t comment on the future and who knows what’s going to happen with Strikeforce? I think that they have great opportunities and have the potential to bring a lot of new fans to the sport and I’m pretty much at the forefront of that. That’s appealing to me.

Edited December 7, 2009 by #98QBKiller

[lovetoaster]

There's the fight with Mousasi, then there are guys like Babalu and Jacare that would make compelling bouts, plus Hendo could probably take out Jake Shields easily and add yet another championship to his mantle.

Yeah, I could get bahind a Jacare-Hendo fight. But the question that I have is when are the contracts for Mousasi and Shields up in Strikeforce? I don't believe that they have much time left on them, and they have both expressed an eventual goal of fighting in the UFC. I would not be surprised at all if Dana tried to swoop in and sign some of Strikeforce's marketable fighters.

Either way, if it was not before...game on.

P.S....also something I did not think of, signing with SF may allow Dan to fight in Japan, which he was certainly a fan of in Pride.

[#98QBKiller]

Yeah, I could get bahind a Jacare-Hendo fight. But the question that I have is when are the contracts for Mousasi and Shields up in Strikeforce? I don't believe that they have much time left on them, and they have both expressed an eventual goal of fighting in the UFC. I would not be surprised at all if Dana tried to swoop in and sign some of Strikeforce's marketable fighters.

Either way, if it was not before...game on.

P.S....also something I did not think of, signing with SF may allow Dan to fight in Japan, which he was certainly a fan of in Pride.

Lol, that would be a total dickmove that Dana would definitely do. I think we'll see Hendo fighting in Japan for sure, he loves it over there and the Japanese love him too.

[StillUnknown]

[Sebowski]

so who do they match Kimbo with next?

i think its obvious they will be quite selective about his opponents, and will match him up with fighters with no ground game for awhile. where is he going to fight, he gassed pretty good cutting to 215, i'm not sure he'll have any stamina past 30secs if he cuts full to 205

He said he cut his weight be deiting and doesn't know how to cut via waterweight. Kind of crazy really. I wonder if he could do a better job with a conditioning coach bringing him through it. I think he is a HW though. Problem is like Double mentioned, the HW striking specialists in the UFC would kill Kimbo.

Cro Cop would be the only one smaller than him. That would be a fireworks fight. If Cro Cop would probably kick Kimbo's leg right off of him.

Chuck might be the most interesting fight. Wandy ar 215 would be exciting.

It looks like UFC signed Gilbert Yvel. That might be a good fight for Kimbo.

I'd also like to see them bring Buentello back to fight Kimbo. They have a history and Buentello would go right at him with no leg kicks or ground game.

I'd take Buentello by KO.

Well, as a huge Hendo fan, I figured it was coming, but I am still a little disappointed. It is not like he is 29, he is 39. There is one fight in Strikeforce that I would be excited to see, and that is against Mousasi. That will be a great fight, but what then?

Shields, Cung Le, Robbie Lawler, Lawal, Fedor, Shmarock, Diaz...

I'd like to see all of those fights more than what was left for Hendo in the UFC. I really would have loved to see Hendo-Marquardt. Besides that one I'd rather see the Strikeforce matchups.

[lovetoaster]

Shields, Cung Le, Robbie Lawler, Lawal, Fedor, Shmarock, Diaz...

I'd like to see all of those fights more than what was left for Hendo in the UFC. I really would have loved to see Hendo-Marquardt. Besides that one I'd rather see the Strikeforce matchups.

You are right, I suppose. However, I think Hendo takes most of those fights relatively easily. Lawler would be a fun fight, but I think Hendo would win pretty quickly. I am not too excited about fights with Shields, Shamrock or Diaz though. Lawal would be interesting, and I don't know what to think about a fight with Fedor. I assume it will happen in one of those four fights, but I don't think Dan matches up too well, but then again, who does?

It seems like most of the time, Fedor is the smaller fighter, it's scary to think what would happen with a decent size advantage.

[Patrick86L]

:rotflmao:

[StillUnknown]

Lil Nog is fighting Vera @ 109