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By Anthony De Franco  March 14, 2010, at 7:40 pm
UFC Fans, Roger Huerta has left the building.
After claiming that he wanted to leave the sport to pursue an acting career after his last fight, Roger Huerta received his UFC formal release this week. That allowed him to negotiate with other companies and he’s landed in Bellator, according to MMA Junkie.
Sources close to the situation confirmed to MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that the popular lightweight received his formal release from the UFC this week, which opened the door to finalize a deal with the upstart promotion.
Bellator has called a video press conference for Monday at 3 p.m. ET that will stream live at Bellator.com.
He’ll be part of an 8-man, multi-event tournament that will pit the winner against last year’s champ and top ten lightweight Eddie Alvarez. For those who are suggesting that Roger Huerta will walk through the competition because of his UFC experience, Don’t be so sure. Fighters like Toby Imada, and Jorge Masvidal are not going to go down without a fight.

By Anthony De Franco  March 14, 2010, at 5:25 am
Each week, THQ has decided to answer some questions that the public has about UFC 2010: Undisputed. Since most game sites aren’t exactly versed in Mixed Martial Arts, We’re here to breakdown what the answers mean to us fans.
A quick note before we get started this week. If you are amongst the people leaving questions (which you should do), then please think about what you are writing. Far, Far too many people are focusing on the wrong things. I’ve seen some pretty rediculous questions on the thread, including beating on already unconscious opponents, and having UFC 1 style matches with no rules. Let’s think people.
Now, on to the questions!
XPlicit asks, “When you notice your opponent is rocked can you rush them as hard as you can and throw with all your might wasting every last bit of energy just to finish that person.”
You will get a bonus after you rock an opponent. We implemented the new “Adrenaline Rush” system into fights which should make things pretty interesting. You will not be conferred a movement speed bonus, but your fighter will have his energy replenished. This means you can execute the full array of moves without worrying about getting gassed yourself. We wanted to give the player that feeling of mastery and dominance that comes with rocking an opponent and following through on it in the real Octagon — from playing with it and testing it, it brings a ton of excitement to Undisputed 2010.
Interesting development. One of the complaints that was common last year is that every rocked situation ended the same the way. The winner would just stand over the helpless loser throwing bombs until the fight was stopped. The “Adrenaline Rush” would seem to indicate that the stamina boost will be necessary to try and finish fights, which means there will be someway to recover from being rocked.
Fornez1 Asks “How will escaping submissions work with the new system? will you always wind up in an advantages position or will sometimes you escape to standing and sometimes escape to side mount(for example)”
Last year, when you failed a submission, you’d almost always end up in a tough situation — usually on your back or with a player in control. We wanted to move away from this system and towards more of an organic, and realistic submission escape system. There are a number of positions that you can escape into that are beneficial, neutral, and even disadvantageous depending upon what has been happening during the fight. In keeping it real as it gets, escapes will never result in only side control or a full guard.
Another complaint from last year addressed. Fighters never really escape submissions and wind up in dominant positions. Last year, so many subs would be reversed into side mount that it often was worth it try for the submissions. This should also take away some of the predictably from a game that was stiff last year.
SleepyWeasel asks “In the new Career mode, does your fighter age at all? Or does he stay the same age throughout the entire career?”
Your fighter, and all other fighters will age. Aging occurs in two ways. As your fighter becomes more experienced at certain skills and moves after training, it’ll become easier and easier to better maintain your proficiency in that field. For example, once you get so good at wrestling, you don’t have to train as extensively to keep up your skill as a wrestler. On the other hand, we’ve implemented a decay system that’s a function of your age. Once your fighter gets up there in the years, you’ll find that you need to focus on maintaining your core stats through your weekly training routine a bit more to stay fresh in the Octagon. Along your career mode playthrough, you’ll even see the greats of the UFC retiring.
Yes. Thank goodness. Last year’s career mode was underutilized in many different ways. One of the main ones was that once you became champion, you fought the same people over and over again. As fun as it is beating down B.J. Penn, I wanted some new blood for my fighter to face. This year, it seems that the divisions will be thinned out by retiring fighters and re-stocked with new talent. One big step for a better career mode.
Kurowski God asks “Are there different “rocked” stages, like you hit with a head kick, maybe he gets more rocked then a good right hook.”
In this year’s game, we shared that you can be rocked from any position and by almost every move. While these moves, and by extension the rocked states that they’ll be causing, will look different depending upon what you do (head kick, uppercut), being rocked will not have varying degrees of ‘rockiness’ or grogginess. What’s important is how the player who rocked the other executes his next few moves. If you have your combos down and have excellent timing, you’ll be able to quickly level some devastating moves on your groggy opponent — you might even knock him out. These ‘follow up’ combos are going to be tough to execute, as any other button inputs after the rocked animation will derail the combo. But the skilled player who uses caution and foresight when he knows his opponent is struggling will get an awesome payoff.
This seems to relate to the first question of the day. It seems that some skill will be needed this year to finish a rocked opponent. It’s no longer enough to just land the big punch and pound out every opponent. This should lead to longer fights and more decisions.
Check back Tomorrow afternoon for the full B.J. Penn Trailer!

By Anthony De Franco  March 5, 2010, at 3:27 pm
Speaking of things that don’t make sense, It appears that a battle between Matt Serra and Mike Swick is being lined up according to Figure Four Online:
Dana White confirmed today that UFC is running a show on April 17th, head-to-head with the announced Strikeforce show on CBS. The event would air most likely on Spike TV. The Wanderlei Silva vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama match is not the main event. The only thing confirmed is they are trying to finalize a Matt Serra vs. Mike Swick [co-main] semifinal fight today.
There had been talk of a possibility that if UFC scheduled a show on that date, CBS may move the Strikeforce show to April 24th, which would go head-to-head with the WEC PPV in Sacramento.
Even though the April 17th show was not announced yesterday, the issue of the Observer that came out yesterday has a lead story analyzing the whys of this head-to-head battle.
Let’s look at the tactics being used here by the UFC. They are counter-programming a Strikeforce card that is on national television, which they could not do when Fedor stepped into the cage on American soil for the first time. That was the height of the injury-plague that the UFC suffered in late 2009.
As for this fight, I don’t particularly get it. Swick is coming off two consecutive losses and needs a win badly. Serra is coming off a quick knockout of Frank Trigg, but is late in his career and not really in much of a position to fight for titles. Why do they need to fight?
The crazy thing is this simply isn’t an easy win for Swick. While Swick’s striking is crisper and faster, it doesn’t have the same kind of knockout power that Serra posseses. On the ground, Serra should have a leg-up with his BJJ black belt from Renzo Gracie. However, the long limbs of Mike Swick might cause problems for Serra, who is just 5′6.
Swick should have gotten someone he could have beaten and got back on track, not a fight that is almost a toss-up.
Update (3/5): Swick told the world on his twitter that there was no truth to this rumor.
Not fighting Serra guys. Most likely having surgery soon. @oxphos Any truth to Serra fight 4/17? Seems unlikely unless ur arm is better
So much for that one.
By Anthony De Franco  March 5, 2010, at 4:44 am
Bart Palaszewski vs. Karen Darabedyan
The Fighters: Palaszewski is just 26 years old, but has 44 fights under his belt. Recently, he has gone 2-2 in the WEC. He defeated Anthony Pettis by Split decision in his last fight. He is well rounded, as he has achieved his 31 wins in a variety of ways.
Darabedyan is another of the Armenian judo practitioners that came into the MMA world with Karo Parisyan. Although he is not related to Karo like Manny Gamburyan, he is their training partner. A black belt in Judo, Darabedyan also has a background in Kickboxing and Karate. He is 9-1 in his burgeoning career, and his most recently victory came over the always overrated Razor Rob McCullogh.
The Breakdown: While Palaszewski holds the massive experience edge, he simply doesn’t have a part of his game that really jumps out at you. We’ve seen from Karo that Judo can take you far in MMA, it just won’t ever get you into the elite level. Expect Darabedyan to continue proving his worth.
The Prediction: Darabedyan via unanimous decision
Deividas Taurosevicius vs. LC Davis
The Fighters: Taurosevicius is a pseudo-local for us. He fights out of Copiague, New York, which is like thirty minutes from our hometown. He is 15-3 in his career, with eight of the wins coming by submission. He’s 2-0 in the WEC and is coming off a win against the previously undefeated Mackens Sermerizer.
Davis is a survivor of the former Pat Militech camp with a virtual gaggle of big fight experience. He’s fought in the IFL, for Affliction, and now with the WEC. He’s 15-2 in those fights, and 2-0 in the WEC. He’s coming off consecutive wins against Javier Vasquez and Diego Nunes. And yes, I really wanted to get the world gaggle in there.
The Breakdown: This is a matchup of a wrestler and a BJJ specialist. Naturally, that will probably lead to a boring standup fight. If it does go to the ground, Davis will look to stymie the guard of Taurosevicius and do his damage without getting submitted.
The Prediction: Taurosevicius via submission
Jens Pulver v. Javier Vasquez
The Fighters: Pulver is a legend of the sport and the UFC’s first lightweight champion. He is also a survivor of the Pat Militech camp in Bettendorf, Iowa, but has had harsh words for his former trainer recently. Pulver has lost 8-of-12 and is really fighting on nothing but reputation at this point. Some of the losses are good ones, like the two losses he suffered at the hands of Urijah Faber. However, some of them aren’t so good like the time he was choked out by Josh Grispi. Pulver knows that this is his last chance, and has discussed retiring if he loses.
Vasquez seems to be the place WEC featherweights go when they need a win. He is 0-2 and also likely fighting for his WEC life. He is 17-4 in his career with most of those victories coming by submission.
The Breakdown: I’ve watched a lot of Pulver fights in preparation of this column and I’ve noticed some things. While he’s never had the best boxing technique, it’s almost gotten worse recently. Also, when is the last time that we saw Pulver wrestle? He won’t break that streak against the BJJ skills of Vasquez. The real question is: Does Pulver have anything at all left?
The Prediction: Pulver via TKO
Miguel Angel Torres v. Joseph Benavidez
The Fighters: Until recently, Torres ruled over the bantamweight division with an iron fist. He is well-rounded, and capapable of fighting for an eternity before he gets tired. Unfortantely, that didn’t mean much when he rushed in to finish Brian Bowles and gotten flattened. Now, Torres must climb back into the title picture with a win. He is 37-2, and is still improving his game. He brought in noted Muay Thai trainer Mark DellaGrotte to work with him for this fight.
Benavidez is a pupil of Urijah Faber who is 12-1. His only loss came in a number one contender’s fight against Dominick Cruz. Another energizer bunny of a fighter, his cardio is off the chain. He has won most of his fights by submission, but does have some TKOs to his credit. His last win was over noted BJJ stylist Rani Yahya.
The Breakdown: Torres has taken the “That loss was the best thing that ever happened to me” road and vows to come back stronger than ever. He can win the fight just about anywhere, but I expect his biggest advantage to come on the feet and for his to try and outstrike Benavidez.
The Prediction: Torres via unanimous Decision
Brian Bowles v. Dominick Cruz
The Fighters: Bowles dethroned Torres and shocked the world in his last fight. He also broke his hand on Torres jaw, forcing him out of action. He is 8-0 and looks like just about any middle America wrestler. While he may not look imposing, he is strong as hell for 135, and has imposed his will on his opponents with various skills taught to him by former UFC fighter Rory Singer. In fact, Bowles trains at the gym where Forrest Griffin got his start.
Cruz is 14-1 and 4-0 in the WEC. The majority of his wins have come via decision, but he is a stand up specialist with five T/KOs to his credit. He trains at Alliance MMA alongside UFC light heavyweight Brandon Vera. While he does have some wrestling, don’t expect him to go to it much in this one.
The Breakdown: Bowles is a powerhouse. He is so thick for 135 that I can’t really see anyone in the division taking him down. However, he also packs a powerhouse punch. Just ask Torres. Cruz’s only hope is to stick and move for five rounds.
The Prediction: Bowles via TKO

By Anthony De Franco  March 2, 2010, at 10:55 am
Did not see this one coming, did ya?
We’ve been waiting for quite some time to hear about Fedor’s next fight and many assumed that it was going to be against Fabricio Werdum. However, it appears that Fedor’s people (Read: The Russian Government) are more interested in Josh Barnett. For those who don’t remember, Barnett was supposed to be Fedor’s opponent on the ill-fated Affliction Trilogy card.
From Sports.ru:
“I personally think that Alistair Overeem did not reach the desired level to challenge Fedor. He beat a lot of no-name opponents in Mixed Martial Arts. Overeem defeated Paul Buentello and then disappeared from the United States for more than two year, which is simply ridiculous. Also, pay attention that Werdum beat Overeem when they were fighting in Pride, four years ago.”
“We do not fight for the Strikeforce Heavyweight Title. Strikeforce are our partner, and any titles whether it is UFC, Strikeforce, WAMMA, Dream… they are just medals. Fedor is above these things. We are interested in the level of our opponent and his popularity among the audience.”
“Exactly. We are more interested in fighting Josh Barnett, who is currently disqualified until September. When he returns from his suspension and if he tests clean, we might consider fighting him
Fedor is above titles? Really? We’re going as far as to say that the belt doesn’t really matter? I’m sure Scott Coker and Strikeforce just love that.
So, here we have one of the biggest stars in the world allowing these people to essentially renegade his career. They are making tons of bad decisions that really make me wonder about who’s best interest they have in mind. However, the Barnett-Fedor fight does intrigue me. There are just a lot of problems with making it happen. First off, Barnett has to get re-licensed. He tested positive for Steroids, and didn’t choose to show up for many different hearings. Second, Barnett is not currently under contract with Strikeforce. He could hold them for ransom knowing that Fedor wants him as an opponent.
Third, at some point Fedor is going to have to fight for the belt. Otherwise, the champion is going to end up like Tommy Gunn in Rocky V, or Mason Dixon in Rocky Balboa. People will start calling him a paper champion and that doesn’t end well.
Let’s just be honest, Fedor is screwing up Strikeforce.
By Anthony De Franco  March 1, 2010, at 4:15 pm
Seriously, this guy is a moron. That is the only way that I could possibly explain his actions. He is still complaining that Ben Henderson didn’t want to fight at WEC 46. For those who don’t remember, Henderson DEFEATED Varner with a guillotine choke that Varner tapped to in .0321 seconds. That’s faster than Playstation 3 owners can say “8001050F.” (Sorry, had to get it in there. On a side note, Jason seriously called Playstation 3’s starting the robot apocalypse. Somebody hide John Connor.)
Here is what Varner had to say about Henderson this time, courtesy of MMA Weekly:
“I thought I was putting all the pressure on the fight. Ben was running away a lot. I felt Ben fought scared, he fought not to lose, and I don’t think he was really fighting to win,” said Varner. “I just gave him an opportunity. I served him my neck up on a silver platter.”
“That year off made me hungry. Even though I lost and I’m really disappointed, and I was really disappointed even a few days after the fight. I was like I never want to fight again, this sucks, Ben fought like a girl, he got lucky, and I was so angry and making excuses, but honestly looking back on it, I’ve had time to take a breath and relax and really reflect on the fight, and I had a lot of fun,” Varner said.
Seriously, he fought like a girl? Are we in 3rd grade? Are we resort to yo mama jokes next? The truth is that we are all yet to see an ounce of heart from Varner throughout his career. Moreover, Henderson has never been in involved in anything but exciting fights. The more Varner talks the more I want to see him KTFO’d.
Speaking of which, he takes on world class wrestler Kamal “Prince of Persia” Shalorus at WEC 48.
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