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By Anthony De Franco  March 15, 2010, at 7:26 pm  The other day, we were amongst the thousands of websites that jumped all over the Tito-Chuck-Franklin TUF triangle that was happening. Well, Dana has denied everything, but I still refuse to believe that something isn’t up. Now, Tito’s wife, Former (I think she quit?) Pornstar Jenna Jameson, He is in the hospital.
Screen Cap courtesy of Bloody Elbow
As we all know too well, Tito is notorious for back issues. He has struggled with it for years, but declared himself healthy before UFC 106. When he lost to Forrest Griffin, he then claimed he had cracked his skull. No one really believed him because the commission would not let him fight with a cracked skull.
So, god only knows what’s up with Tito. However, We do wish him a speedy recovery from whatever is wrong. That being said, You can’t tell me that the Chuck and Tito fight is not very much up in the air right now.
Update: 8:35 PM – Of course, moments after I publish this post, Tito comes on Twitter himself and outs the problem.
This is the worst flu I have every had. More IV’s please.
We’ve all learned that the flu is no joke over the last couple of years. Since he is in the hospital it must be pretty bad. Get well, Tito.
By Anthony De Franco March 14, 2010, at 9:00 am Love Nintendo? Love Kimbo Slice? Well do I have news for you!
This shirt is similar to the one that TapouT put out for Jens Pulver for WEC 47. For whatever reason, people seem to find these 8-bit shirts nostalgic. Come to think of it, I suddenly want to KO Glass Joe…
The back has the 8-bit font saying “All Day” which is Kimbo’s nickname. I know a ton of people who are going to be in front of their TV for Kimbo’s next fight, and a bunch will be wearing this shirt.
MMA Warehouse lets you wear Kimbo for 27.99.
For more Kimbo gear, check out The 3rd String Store.
By Anthony De Franco March 13, 2010, at 12:45 pm Is the Iceman coming back sooner than we thought?
According to Fighters only, his return may be roughly a month away. Chuck would forgo his UFC 115 fight with Tito Ortiz to take on former middleweight champion Rich Franklin on April 15th. This, of course, is the same day that Strikeforce will be on CBS, with the main event being Dan Henderson v. Jake Shields.
Chuck Liddell will be fighting Rich Franklin in his next bout and not rival TUF 11 coach Tito Ortiz, Fighters Only has heard from a reliable source. The switch was initially reported to us just under two weeks ago but was only a rumour at that time.
However, the rumour hit message boards late last night and an industry source confirmed that Liddell will indeed be facing former middleweight champion Rich Franklin. The fight is to headline an April 17th Fight Night event which will counter Strikeforce’s show on the same date.
Bloody Elbow (which is just an awesome site) is quick to point out that Fighters only is credentialed by the UFC, which means that this claim probably has some legitimacy to it.
Let’s look at what this does for the UFC. First off, they will lose the UFC 115 main event between Ortiz and Liddell. This fight had a chance to be a big PPV moneymaker, so there are some who will question Zuffa’s logic. Instead, they will put the Iceman on free cable, and some that he draws some eyes over from CBS.
Inside the cage, this should be an interesting fight, and it’s a win-win for Dana White. If Liddell loses, he will likely retire, which Dana publicly said that he would like Chuck to. That would mean that Franklin is back on the map in the light heavyweight division with a win over someone who, at the very least, is still a name.
If Liddell wins, then Chuck will likely be given another fight, and that one would not be free. Even if Liddell isn’t a championship caliber fighter anymore, he is still a name that can make money.
It’s also an interesting test of Liddell’s drawing power. Can Chuck still draw like The Iceman could a couple of years ago or are people going to think of him like they do LaDanian Tomlinson nowadays and react with general apathy?
If this fight goes off, there are a lot of interesting dynamics involved
[Update: (1:37 PM) Okay, maybe not. MMA Junkie is now reporting that Liddell and Franklin will take place as the main event of UFC 115, not on a new card scheduled for April. They also are reporting some other strange news...]
By Anthony De Franco March 2, 2010, at 12:23 pm Welcome to Strikeforce news day. We already touched on Fedor, so let’s move onto the guy who actually holds the belt that Fedor doesn’t seem to care too much about.
Alistiar Overeem hasn’t fought in America in since 2007. People have been calling for his head for a number of reasons, including steroid accusations. Now, he will finally make his return to Strikeforce against Brett Rogers.
In a non-title fight. Here’s the news from MMA Junkie:
“The Strikeforce heavyweight champion said he is likely to meet Brett Rogers (10-1 MMA, 2-1 SF) in a non-title fight on an as-yet-unannounced card set for May 15 in St. Louis, Mo.”
Rumored card so far:
- Fedor Emelianenko vs. Fabricio Werdum
- Alistair Overeem vs. Brett Rogers
- Andrei Arlovski vs. Antonio Silva
Now, after all the time we’ve spent criticizing Overeem, he is finally coming back. However, how much longer is this guy going to hold this belt and not have to defend it? It’s becoming a joke at this point.
Overeem is an excellent kickboxer, and thanks to the Mark McGuire workout plan, he’s added a ton of weight in the last few years. However, Rogers is a natural 265 and holds a ton of power in his hands. In the fight against Fedor, Rogers showed more than anyone thought he had on the ground and he showed he understood position and used it effectively.
Neither of these guys want to be on the floor, so we’ll see some fireworks. Don’t be shocked if Rogers upsets the Dutchman.
By Anthony De Franco February 28, 2010, at 5:57 am One of Brock Lesnar’s training partners, Cole Konrad, has been dubbed a hot prospect by just about everyone in the MMA world. Last night, he fought at Matrix Fights 1 in Philadelphia, defeating Joel Wyatt by TKO. Shortly after, both Cole and Bellator proudly announced his signing with the up and coming MMA promotion.
Konrad was proud to moving up the ranks so quickly:
“I’m excited to sign with Bellator. It’s a great opportunity to fight for a great company and I’m just really excited for what the future holds with this company.”
While Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney was excited to sign the huge heavyweight for his upcoming season:
“Cole Konrad brings some great characteristics to the table that could make him a force at heavyweight. Brock Lesner’s dominance in the UFC has shown the impact that an elite, world-class wrestler can have in the heavyweight division. As a two-time NCAA heavyweight champion who is aggressively rounding out his MMA arsenal, Cole’s potential is unlimited. We are happy to be teaming up with him and, as a company, we are excited with what the future may hold.”
“We are happy not only to announce our long-term deal with him but to reveal that fans will be able to see his next fight on one of our nationally televised May events on FOX Sports Net, NBC and Telemundo.”
We here at the 3SS have been watching Bellator put together the best young talent in the country and wondering what the hell Strikeforce is doing. As a matter of fact, there hasn’t been a day that’s gone by in the last few months that Jason and I haven’t discussed Bellator quickly coming up in Strikeforce’s mirror. Now, they steal another amazing prospect from them in the form of Konrad.
The scary part about Konrad is that he could be everything that people think that Brock Lesnar is. While Lesnar is the UFC champ, there are still those, including us, that have been unimpressed with his wrestling game. What will happen when he goes up against a guy who is his size? We aren’t so sure that it’s going to be as easy as his last three fights have been.
Konrad possesses the wrestling skills, but has not really shown that he can adapt them to MMA. While training with Lesnar, Sean Sherk, and all the other pro fighters at Minnesota Martial Arts, I’m sure that he’ll develop quickly. It’s yet another steal for the Bellator organization.
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