ULTIMATE FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIP® CONFIRMS REMAINING BOUTS FOR UFC® 103

MIRKO CRO COP vs. JUNIOR DOS SANTOS
MARTIN KAMPMANN vs. PAUL DALEY
JOSH KOSCHECK vs. FRANK TRIGG
TYSON GRIFFIN vs. HERMES FRANCA
EFRAIN ESCUDERO vs. COLE MILLER
DREW MCFEDRIES vs. TOMASZ DRWAL
JIM MILLER vs. STEVE LOPEZ
NIK LENTZ vs. RAFAELLO OLIVEIRA
RICK STORY vs. BRIAN FOSTER
ELIOT MARSHALL vs. JASON BRILZ
VLADIMIR MATYUSHENKO vs. IGOR POKRAJAC
ROBERT EMERSON vs. RAFAEL DOS ANJOS

LIVE FROM THE AMERICAN AIRLINES CENTER SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2009

Las Vegas, NV (USA) – As the saying goes, everything’s bigger in Texas – including the fight cards. With the superfight between former middleweight champion Rich Franklin and Vitor Belfort already signed, the Ultimate Fighting Championship® (UFC®) is set to put on a record 13 fights for UFC 103: Franklin vs. Belfort, which is presented by TEQUILA CAZADORES, live from the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas on September 19.

Tickets for UFC 103: Franklin vs. Belfort are still on sale and are available at all Ticketmaster outlets, Ticketmaster.com, AmericanAirlinesCenter.com, American Airlines Center Box Office and by phone at 1-800-745-3000. Prices do not include service charges.

Mirko Cro Cop (fighting out of Zagreb, Croatia) has fought some of the best heavyweights in the world. The seasoned striker with 25 professional wins is coming off a TKO victory against Mostapha Al Turk in June, but the former PRIDE® Grand Prix champion could be facing one of his toughest challenges in recent memory when he takes on the dangerous Brazilian Junior Dos Santos (fighting out of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil). With two knockout wins in his first two UFC fights, no one has lasted longer than 80 seconds in the UFC against the 25-year-old. The 6-foot-4, 238-pound fighter will need to bring his sharpest standup game yet against the feared Croatian kickboxer.

Coming off the biggest win of his career, welterweight contender Martin Kampmann (fighting out of Las Vegas, Nev.) is fresh from an impressive split decision victory over former World Extreme Cagefighting® welterweight champion Carlos Condit in April. Since dropping down to the 170-pound weight class, the 27-year-old former Danish Thai boxing champion is a perfect 2-0 but will be pitted against the extremely explosive Paul Daley (fighting out of Nottingham, England). An exciting striker that has fought around the globe, Daley owns KO wins over UFC veterans John Alessio and Duane Ludwig and is making his UFC debut.

A former national college wrestling champion, Josh Koscheck (fighting out of Fresno, Calif.) has compiled 10 UFC wins in his career. The Waynesburg, Pennsylvania native has wins over Diego Sanchez, Chris Lytle and Dustin Hazelett, but he has never faced someone like returning UFC veteran Frank Trigg (fighting out of Las Vegas, NV.). One half of two memorable fights with then UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes, Trigg has the experience, wrestling background and Octagon savvy to give Koscheck the most difficult test of his career. With two UFC victories already on his resume`, Trigg makes his first trip back into the Octagon™ since 2005.

At only 25 years old, Tyson Griffin (fighting out of Las Vegas, Nev.) has already compiled six wins in the UFC. The powerful lightweight fighter holds victories over Clay Guida, Gleison Tibau and most recently a unanimous decision win against Rafael Dos Anjos in April. But now the Sacramento, California born mixed martial artist turns his attention to another tough Brazilian in Hermes Franca (fighting out of Miami, Fla.). The decorated Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt holds two submission victories in the UFC and is coming off a unanimous decision win against his former jiu-jitsu instructor Marcus Aurelio at UFC 90.

Winner of the eighth season of The Ultimate Fighter™, Efrain Escudero (fighting out of Tempe, Ariz.) remains undefeated (12-0) as a professional mixed martial artist and holds a win over Phillipe Nover in the show’s finale. Now the former All-American college wrestler and Mexico-born fighter will face the red-hot Cole Miller (fighting out of Coconut Creek, Fla.). The 25-year-old Augusta, Ga. native is coming off two consecutive submission victories, tapping out Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Jorge Gurgel and TUF 8’s Junie Browning in successive bouts. The 6-foot-1 lightweight has four total wins in the UFC, and he’ll be looking for number five on September 19th.

With all four of his UFC wins coming via KO/TKO, Drew McFedries (fighting out of Bettendorf, Iowa) has the power and the talent to put anyone’s lights out. It took the Ames, Iowa born fighter only 37 seconds to take Xavier Foupa-Pokam out in his last fight at UFC 98 and the talented middleweight will need every bit of his standup skill when he mixes it up with the aggressive Tomasz Drwal (fighting out of San Diego, Calif. / Krakow, Poland). The heavy-handed 27-year-old is coming off of two knockout victories, including a devastating TKO win over Mike Ciesnolevicz in June. Drwal, who has a 16-2 record, will look for his third UFC win in 2009.

Jim Miller (fighting out of Whippany, N.J.) has impressed many during his time in the UFC. Winner of three of his four UFC fights, the Sparta, New Jersey native earned a unanimous decision win against the experienced Mac Danzig at UFC 100 in July. Now the lightweight with the 14-2 pro record faces UFC newcomer Steve Lopez (fighting out of South Bend, Ind.). A national qualifier as a college wrestler, the 25-year-old Lopez holds a 12-1 record and makes his UFC debut on September 19.

Two fighters that are making their UFC debuts, Nik Lentz (fighting out of Eden Prairie, Minn.) and Rafaello Oliveira (fighting out of Knoxville, Tenn. / Janja, Brazil) are looking to put on a show in their respective premieres. Lentz, an El Paso, Texas native, wrestled at the University of Minnesota, where he is one semester away from graduating in Pre-Med. Lentz puts his 18-3-1 career mark against Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Rafaello Oliveira. Riding a three-fight win streak, the 9-1 Oliveira has three wins by submission and three by TKO.

Heading into his second UFC fight, Rick Story (Vancouver, Wash.) is coming off a three-round battle with John Hathaway. The 25-year-old welterweight holds a 7-3 pro record and is looking for his first UFC win when he takes on Sallisaw, Oklahoma’s Brian Foster (fighting out of Granite City, Ill.). With an impressive 14-3 pro record, Foster has eight wins by KO/TKO, four by submission and is making his UFC debut.

Making plenty of noise in the ultra-stacked light heavyweight division is Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Eliot Marshall (fighting out of Boulder, Colo.). With back-to-back wins against Jules Bruchez and Vinny Magalhaes, the Franklinville, N.J. native is a perfect 2-0 in the UFC and 7-2 overall. Marshall looks for his third UFC win when he faces Jason Brilz (fighting out of Omaha, Neb.). The Bismarck, North Dakota fighter also has wins in his two UFC fights, including a unanimous decision victory against Tim Boetsch in March.

Making his return to the Octagon after six years, Vladimir Matyushenko (fighting out of El Segundo, Calif.) is back and has won nine of his last 10 fights. The 22-4 Belarusian holds seven wins by submission and seven by TKO and is looking to shake up the light heavyweight division when he returns to face Igor Pokrajac (fighting out of Zagreb, Croatia). A protégé of Mirko Cro Cop, Pokrajac is on an eight-fight win streak and brings a 21-5 record into his UFC debut.

A veteran of four UFC fights, lightweight Rob Emerson (fighting out of Irvine, Calif.) is remembered for his 12 second TKO victory against the aggressive Manny Gamburyan. Now the 28-year-old from Huntington, California looks for his third UFC win when he takes on Rafael Dos Anjos (fighting out of Rio de Janeiro). The 24-year-old Brazilian jiu-jitsu champion last fought Tyson Griffin in a three-round battle that turned many heads. Now Dos Anjos heads into his third UFC match against the experienced Emerson.

SPIKE TV TO TELECAST LIVE UNDERCARD BOUTS PRIOR TO A UFC PAY-PER-VIEW FOR THE FIRST TIME

Network To Telecast UFC® 103 Undercard Bouts From Dallas Live And Commercial-Free On Saturday, September 19

“The Ultimate Fighter 8” Champ, Efrain Escudero, Featured On Undercard

New York, NY, August 21, 2009 – Spike TV will air a portion of the UFC pay-per-view undercard live to its audience for the first time ever, as the network presents bouts from UFC 103 in Dallas, TX commercial-free live Saturday, September 19 at 9:00pm ET/6:00pm PT.  This telecast will mark the first time the network will air a fight-card without commercial interruption.

“Providing an action-packed UFC pay-per-view, live and commercial free, to our viewers on both coasts, further illustrates Spike TV and the UFC’s commitment to its fans,” said Kevin Kay, president, Spike TV.

Emanating from the American Airlines Center, the undercard features high-action battles with some top rising stars in the UFC lightweight division.

“The Ultimate Fighter 8” winner Efrain Escudero (12-0), an All American collegiate wrestler fighting out of Tempe, AZ puts his undefeated record on the line against “The Ultimate Fighter 5” alum Cole Miller (15-3).  Fighting with American Top Team in Coconut Creek, FL, Miller won four out of five fights in the Octagon including a victory over the controversial “The Ultimate Fighter 8” Junie Browning last April.

Also on the undercard, hard-hitting veteran Drew McFedries (8-5) fighting out of Bettendorf, Iowa, is coming off an impressive victory (TKO in the 1st) in his last fight against Xavier Foupa-Pokam.  His opponent is Polish native Tomasz Drwal (16-2), training currently in San Diego who has won his last two contests in the Octagon, including a victory over Mike Ciesnolevicz in June.

Check out my twitter account here and follow live tweets from Randy Couture and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira UFC 102 press conference.

@InsideOctagon

UFC 100 ON SPIKE TV KNOCKS OUT THE COMPETITION ON SATURDAY, AUGUST 15

Draws More Men 18-34 Than The PGA Championship On CBS

And MLB On Fox

New York, NY, August 18, 2009—Spike TV’s telecast of UFC 100 (originally airing on pay-per-view July 11) drew more Men 18-34 (513,000) than anything else on television on Saturday, August 15.  Airing from 10:00pm-12:30am ET/PT, the telecast drew 2 million viewers, a 1.8 rating in Men 18-34, a 1.7 rating (950,000) in Men 18-49, and a 1.5 household rating.

The telecast bested heavy sports competition during the day in the advertiser-coveted demographic of Men 18-34:

UFC 100 (Spike TV) – 513,000

PGA Championship (CBS) – 479,000
MLB Baseball (FOX) – 242,000
Strikeforce (Showtime) – 181,000

I recently had the chance to speak with Strikeforce middleweight champion Cung Le. We talked about his movie career, injuries, previous fights and CBS/Strikeforce deal.

Check out the Q and A below:

Q: Are you going to be at the Strikeforce fight Saturday? Who are you picking in the main event?
A: I am going to go with the Striker, Gina.

Q: You have had some injuries you have been healing up while pursuing acting. Are you 100% healthy right now?
A: I am about 80% . I am just taking it slowly and not rushing back into anything and re injuring myself . I tried to get ready for the first card on Showtime for Strikeforce. Me and my trainer Javier Mendez  gave it a about a three week run, and the soreness took longer to go away then expected, so I had to pull out.

Q: Do you have to do any therapy?
A: A lot of people don’t realize that the therapy is only as good as your rehab. If you are not getting quality rehab it’s just not going to heal right.

Q: Are you able to train while you are in therapy/rehab?
A: No, no, I am able to train. I have just been working on my injuries. Now I am able to hit the pads and work a little bit more. I just have to be very careful . I don’t want to re-injure it and be out even longer. This can affect my whole career. I do most of my own stunts, so I don’t want to jeopardize any of my careers going right now.

Q: Are there any stunts that are propositioned to you and you say no, I don’t want to do that?
A: On Pandorum I wanted to do every single stunt and I ended up missing three of them. I think the producer knew that I wouldn’t take no for an answer. They were shooting a B unit at the same time they were shooting my stunt. I didn’t know about it until after, but I was very grateful because I found out that one of the stunt guys who did the high fall onto the table, the table didn’t break on the first try and he tweaked his elbow a little bit , and that could have re-injured my elbow.

Q: Did it take a lot of convincing to the producers to do your own stunts?
A: I just told them I like to do all my own stunts. They let me try out a few of them, they give you a couple of tries. They give you a rehearsal. If you are able to do it then they let you do it, but if you can’t pull it off then they use the stuntman. But pretty much I have been able to do all of my own stunts better then the stuntman himself.

Q: Do you have any more movies coming out this year?
A: Pandorum is coming out September 18th with Dennis Quaid and Ben Foster. That is a big one. I have a supporting lead. That is a big role for me. A lot of dialogue and a lot of action. I did like 97 % of all my own stunts in that movie. That was a brutal shoot. We worked like 14-15 hours a day. It was go time. It was in Berlin. I didn’t get a chance to see much of Berlin in the first two months.

Q: Do you have a time table in regards of when you want to return to fighting or are you ust going to wait until you are 100% healthy?
A: I am hoping that I can return by the end of the year or early next year. I talked to Scott Coker and he mentioned CBS. That means I’ll be doing double time on the rehab and making sure I don’t re-injure my elbow.

Q: It seems like the CBS/Strikeforce deal is up in the air. Do you think it is definitely going to happen?
A: I definitely think it is going to happen. That is why Scott Coker brought it up to me. He asked if I would be ready to go? I said yeah, if it’s the end of the year or early next year I think I will be ready to go. I just can’t tweak my elbow again.

Q: How did you hurt the elbow? Was it a combination of injuries over the years?
A: I had a surgery after my 5th MMA fight. With all the jiu-jitsu and sparring and overuse of the elbow over the years, I needed another surgery. A minor surgery ended up being a major surgery. It’s almost severe as one of those [major league baseball] pitcher’s surgeries. They said I would not be able to train for three months after the surgery.

Then I found out that Renzo gracie dropped out of the Frank Shamrock fight. That was two weeks after my surgery. My trainer says you might not get another chance. What do you want to do? By that time we had about 3-4 months to train. So they said three months before you can really start using it [the elbow], with all the rehab, and I jumped right into rehab and using it like 3-4 weeeks later. I came into AKA with this big old brace on my arm and I looked like the bionic man.

Q: See that is something I didn’t know. I didn’t know you jumped into that fight after such a major surgery.
A: Yeah. And I had an awesome performance. I can only get lucky so many times. I feel like that was a combination of luck, determination and will to win. Usually i have more pop on my punches. Pretty much all of my fights end up in KO and I finished Frank with a kick to the arm and broke it. I hit him with a lot of shots and made him bleed.

I never been hit so many times in a  fight in my whole career. I wasn’t able to get enough sparring in. I could do a lot of cardio. I was able to simulate someone coming at me, but it wasn’t like live, go time. But I pulled it off and it turned out to be one of the best fights of the year. And I ended on that note, and that’s it. I just have to make sure the elbow is good. I have had two surgeries on this elbow. If I have to do another one, that might be the end of my career.

Q: What kind of surgery was it?
A: The first one was a scope, and the second one was supposed to be a scope to clean it up, but it ended up that they had to move the whole ulnar nerve over because there was a big bone spur that was poking in it, and my hand started to atrophy.

Q: Do you think that you threw more kicks in the Shamrock fight then you normally would because of the elbow?
A: I think that he was open for kicks and he was blocking with one arm and that is great for me. I do a lot of timing. I like guys to shoot in on me and I’ll stuff the shot once and I’ll give them my leg and if they shoot from far away I definitely kick at the same time because I can maneuver and I can defend the single leg really well and even the double. But Frank took high shots on me, took my back once and was waiting for those spinning back kicks and he timed it pretty well. I was able to escape and execute them [the kicks] with a lot of counter punches and a lot of kicks and do some damage to Frank. The second to last kick, that broke his arm. He was a warrior who didn’t want to go down. I think that fight and that injury took the life out of Frank. he hasn’t looked the same since. They say Frank came into the Diaz fight with injured ribs , but I think he came back from the broken arm too early because I know he a second surgery.

Q: Is there other Sanshou fighters in MMA that are as successful as you?
A: No, no, I think I am the most successful Sanshou fighter right now. But I have a French kid in here who is like a Sanshou champion, Thomas Dungee. He is fighting on the September Young Guns card in Oklahoma. He is one to watch out for, he actually throws sidekicks. He has great take down defense and he is getting good at submissions. I told him no submissions unless you really have the guy hurt, because people really like to see those kicks to the face.

Also, September 18th, big movie [Pandorum]. If people wondered , I am not having little bits and parts in movies. I had little parts in fighting, but this is a big role. I am one of the leads.  I helped carry this movie and this is a chance for people to critique and see if they like me as an actor or not.

I am sure there is a lot of people out there wondering if I am just in there because I am a champion, but I actually had to win this role from a lot of marquee Asian actors. And I beat them all out in audition. There was nothing physical about this audition. It was just how good can you read your lines.

I never thought I would use those two words in the same sentence.

Anyway, there is some show called ‘iCarly’ on the Nickelodeon network, and they produced a childrens movie with a mixed martial arts theme .

My friend Germain wrote a pretty good description about the movie, so I won’t get into it here. You can find his story here. It’s worth checking out.

I recently had the opportunity to talk with Strikeforce middleweight champion Cung Le. Cung has spent the better portion of the last year and a half healing injuries and starring in movies. Aside from gaining championship gold and starring on the big screen, Le can add another feature to his resume. He now has his own toy.

Round 5 is releasing a MMA figurine of Cung Le. Cung joins Matt Serra, Gina Carano, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Dan Henderson in series 4 of MMA collectible figures.

Round 5 President Damon Lau couldn’t be happier about releasing a Cung Le toy. “Cung Le’s popularity across a wide range of audiences made him an ideal partner for Round 5.  Besides his international following in MMA and kick boxing, his growing movie career is gaining him a new set of fans.  He was very involved in the process of creating his figurine, and we think the finished product reflects the hard work he put into it.”

I asked Cung a couple of questions regarding the process:

Q: Did you ever expect that you would get your own toy?

A: No, this was a big surprise to me. I just feel blessed and thankful that I am part of the Round 5 action figure.

Q: How does the process work? How do you go about getting the toy to look like you?

A: You take a lot of pictures. 360 degrees worth of pictures.  You have to hold your pose for awhile. They take shots of your hair, your nose, and the back of your head. They put it all together. They give you samples of moldings and then you approve of it, and the next hing you know you have your action figure.
Q: Do you get the final say of how the action figure looks or is it a collaborative effort?

A: It’s a collaborative effort between both parties, my stuff and round 5.

Cung Le has two figurines available right now. One is the standard series four figure and then there is a limited edition figurine with yellow shorts. The standard figurine can be found here and the limited edition model here.

Cung Le plays “Manh” in the upcoming movie “Pandorum”. The movie is being released September 18th.

When I was at the UFC 100 fan expo, the Title MMA booth was giving away little packages. The package included a magazine, an energy shot, and a muay thai kick pad key chain. I immediately thought that the key chain would be the perfect size to fit one of my Round 5 figurines.

A couple of weeks later, I attended the NY MMA expo in Uniondale, NY. A booth at that expo had a Title boxing heavy bag key chain. The wheels really started turning at this point. The Matt Hughes figurine I have is a perfect fit for the muay thai pad. It actually looks more like a kicking shield if you consider aspect ratio to a real life person, but, hey, you get the point. Randy Couture has his hands perfectly poised to hit the heavy bag, so he will be bag training for a while.

Here is the final result. I need to acquire some more Round 5 MMA toys and some extra Title Boxing/MMA key chains to complete my newly formed Inside the Octagon desktop MMA gym and fitness center.

The Strikeforce welterweight championship bout between Nick Diaz and Jay Hieron could be nixed  from this Saturday’s  “Carano vs. Cyborg” card at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif.

Diaz failed to appear for a pre-fight drug test Friday scheduled by the California State Athletic Commission to complete his re-licensing in the state, as first reported by www.f4wonline.com.

Cesar Gracie, Diaz’ mananger, said Diaz was caught off-guard by what he calls a change in drug testing policy.

Gracie said Diaz has a legal medical prescription for marijuana to treat a hyperactivity disorder. Gracie said Armando Garcia’s previous arrangement with the fighter allowed the state agency to recognize the fighter’s condition and gave Diaz a two-week window to flush the drug out of his system. Armando Garcia is no long with the CSAC, and the rule has been changed, unbeknownest to Diaz.

“Armando Garcia’s policies and agreements became null and void with his departure from CSAC in November 2008,” said CSAC Assistant Executive Officer Bill Douglas. “In terms of agreements, this CSAC administration does not make agreements or special policies with individuals that are in direct contradiction to our own rules.”

“They just changed the policy and gave us two days’ notice,” said Gracie. “We don’t have any options.”

Failure of a drug test could result in a one year suspension for Diaz.

Earlier today, Shawn Tompkins, Heiron’s coach from Xtreme Couture, called Diaz out on his facebook page.

“Don’t be an [expletive], do your drug test. We are coming for that title”.

This is pretty bad news for Hieron. He was originally scheduled to fight Paul Daley on the Affliction III card, but then the organization folded. Strikeforce scooped up Hieron and offered him a title fight with Diaz; now that is in jeopardy. Hieron is also the former IFL welterweight champion. The IFL went under during his title reign, so Hieron has had a pretty bad streak of luck when it comes to competing in MMA fights in the past two years.

I really want to see this fight. I hope something is worked out.

I went and checked out the NY MMA expo this pas Sunday in Uniondale, Long Island. I had a pretty good time and the event seemed like it was a success.

WEC lightweight champion Jamie Varner, Jens Pulver, Andrei Arlovski, Sean Sherk, and Tim Kennedy were all at the expo signing autographs and taking pictures with fans. Clay Guida was supposed to be at the Silver Star Clothing booth, but there was some conflict with his management and another clothing company that was present at the expo, as far as I could understand, and he ended up no showing. He was present at the hotel, however.

Major product lines like Tapout, Silver Star Clothing, and American Fighter were represented at the expo. There were some local businesses who had set up booths with clothing apparel and MMA gear as well. I purchased a lot of apparel and equipment. I got a pair of Windy bloxing gloves and some top contender shin pads. I also bought three shirts, some shorts, and some women’s clothing for my girlfriend. More on that below. There was some martial arts schools and fitness centers present as well. I already have a place to train, so I did not look too much into those exhibits.

This was the booth for 8th Degree Black. They are a clothing line out of Long Island. I had never heard of them, but I purchased a t shirt for myself and one for my girlfriend from this booth. The shirt turned out to be my favorite piece of clothing from the expo. The shirts fit great, are light, and very comfortable. The designs are cool too.

The Silver Star booth, minus Clay Guida.

Sean Sherk signs the Round 5 Sean Sherk toy at the TapouT booth.

People waiting in line for a Sean Sherk autograph.

The bonebreakerz.com booth. I got a tank top/hat set for my girlfriend for 20 dollars. Pretty good deal.

WEC lightweight champion Jamie Varner.

One of the larger booths at the expo. I got shin guards from this booth.

Me and Andrei Arlovski.

Tim Kennedy, me. Tim fights Cyborg Santos (the guy) this fall in Strikeforce. Tim was very nice, and we had a good conversation. It continuously amazes me how humble MMA fighters are when it comes to talking with their fans.

Time signed his VIP pass and gave it to me. It is pictured below.

Jamie Varner let me hold his WEC lightweight title. That belt weighed about 25 pounds. It was awesome to hold and ther weight took me by surprise. Jamie signed my UFC Octagon book, and we talked for a bit.

I had a good time all around. As usual, all the fighters were pleasant and very easy to talk to. I hope there is another NY MMA expo in the very near future.