Author: Steve Cofield

Brendan Schaub is back and gets to fight in front of his hometown fans in the Denver area. But could it be a short stay in the UFC if he loses again? You never know what the UFC is thinking when it comes to roster moves. Schaub is hungry for a win after getting knocked out by Roy Nelson in the finale of "The Ultimate Fighter" back in December. In the past, reaching the final usually meant a longer leash when it came to UFC prospects. Not anymore. Philippe Nover, once called the a lightweight Anderson Silva, is gone. Jake Rosholt, a three-time NCAA wrestling champ, has already been jettisoned. And now that more heavyweights are taking mixed martial arts seriously, the division doesn’t allow for guys who can’t compete at a high level.

Schaub does appear to have the goods to be a possible contender. In this day of behemoths cutting to 265 pounds, Schaub has a nice combination of size, power and athleticsm at 6-foot-4 and 246 lbs. The Aurora-native and former Colorado fullback will face another monster in Chase Gormley. Will be cutting down from around 277 for Sunday’s fight on Versus. 

Dana White has been asked about holding an outdoor fight for years. Until recently, he expressed interest in the possibility of a fight at Aloha Stadium in Hawaii or even Fenway Park. Then around the holidays, he began to say it probably wouldn’t happen because he didn’t think the intimacy of UFC events would play well in a huge stadium. Well, the man has changed his mind in the past — just look at his previous takes on Tito Ortiz and Kimbo Slice — and it looks like a visit to Dallas has him thinking big again.

White and his buddy UFC owner Lorenzo Fertitta road tripped to Dallas to take in the Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey fight. White, like everyone else in the crowd of 50,994, came away wowed with the experience of Cowboys Stadium. 

"I would love to do a fight there. Yep, and I’m Mr. Anti-Stadium," White told Carlos Arias from the Orange Couty Register. "Now that I experienced that [expletive] place, let me tell you what, it’s
incredible. It’s incredible. The nicest stadium I have seen in my entire life."

White said there was also a different energy in the stadium. It wasn’t like a lot boxing matches where you can hear a pin drop during the break in between rounds. 

"Not only was it a legit crowd, it was a different crowd other than boxing.
It was [expletive] … when I walked in that place, I got [expletive] mobbed," said White. "It
was all young people and people that like UFC and it was a good crowd."

Yahoo! Sports Kevin Iole backed that up saying that White got one of the loudest roars when celebrities in attendance were put on the big screen at the stadium. White’s new attitude is probably reserved just for an event at Cowboys Stadium. Boxing is going to try Yankee Stadium during the summer. I can’t imagine a fight card working in any other stadium without Cowboys Stadium’s best feature, the 60-yard high definition big screen. 

White also confirms there is no UFC show on Apr. 17 in Nashville. So no counterprogramming effort against Strikeforce’s CBS card. But he was tight lipped on details of Tito Ortiz’s health and what happens during Season 11 of "The Ultimate Fighter." Rumors emerged last week that indicated Ortiz exited the show in the middle of the season and that Rich Franklin would step in against Chuck Liddell at UFC 115 in June. 

Time isn’t on the side of Paul Buentello. You don’t recognize the name? Buentello, 36, was around during the day when the UFC heavyweight roster was a bit thin. Andrei Arlovski was the champ and the promotion had a tough time finding opponents before UFC 55.

Buentello (27-11, 3-1 UFC) stepped up to the plate but he wasn’t ready and fought recklessly. He treated his career the same way when he walked away from the promotion in the middle of 2006. Buentello’s schedule got real sketchy and he made little money so when he had the chance to get back into the UFC, he jumped at it. But it’s a different world now in the UFC heavyweight division. It’s brimming with solid prospects and every fight could  be your last.

Buentello lost a close decision war against Stefan Struve at UFC 107 and now he has Cheick Kongo. What does a loss mean? Buentello can’t even think about it.

He badly needs the win so he made a radical move from Northern California to the Denver area. Buentello, respecting the altitude change in Broomfield, Co. has been in the area for the last six weeks. He thinks it’ll make a huge difference in his fight on Sunday.  

Imagine going 6-foot-3, 245-lbs. and feeling like a child as you’re being punched in the face by Brock Lesnar. That’s what happened to Frank Mir during his loss at UFC 100 against the heavyweight champ. In the weeks after, Mir was in freak out mode. He was buying into the excuse that Lesnar was too big to compete with at only 245. 

Mir employed the services of former World’s Strongman Contestant Mark Philippi and began to pack on the pounds. He said his goal was to add enough weight to walk around at 285 and then cut down to the 265 limit just like Lesnar does. 

It worked to a certain degree. In less than five months, Mir added about 20 pounds and was around at 272 before his fight against Cheick Kongo at UFC 107. But when he got home he wasn’t adding anymore weight. He had to admit that genetically there was only so much productive size he could add.

"I was obsessed with it at first but being around people who are very intelligent when it comes to strength training like Mark Philippi, I realize strength doesn’t always necessarily mean size," said Mir.

Mir then realized something many fans still haven’t processed about the gigantic Lesnar. 

"I think mentally i had to come to grips with the fact that it wasn’t all strength that Lesnar beat me at on the ground," said Mir. "I think that was an early excuse and a mental weakness on my part. There were some technical aspects that I had issues with. It was kind of a cop out on my part to say it was just because he was stronger."

Mir mentioned mistakes that he made with his half guard, hips and spacing. 

"I didn’t make certain adjustments because of my own ego on the gorund," said Mir, who’s now working more with Mike Whitehead, an MMA fighter and former college wrestler. "Instead of me trying to move somebody else [now I’m] moving my own self out from underneath him. Certain principles, that are real basic fundamentals, through my own success that I strayed away from."

Before his press conference last week, Mir said he weighed in at 264. And he’s fine with that. He doesn’t want to deal with weight cutting. Most importantly, through his training with Philippi, he feels stronger and faster than ever. It showed during the win over Kongo when he knocked down the dangerous striker with one punch and then mauled him on the ground. Shane Carwin next week at UFC 111 is a good trial run for another Lesnar fight. Carwin, a former NFL offensive line prospect, is mammoth as well at 262. Mir gets to show off his new physique and more importantly, revamped mental approach. 

The bookmakers say the fight is a whitewash. Several media members chuckled during yesterday’s UFC 111 conference call when Georges St. Pierre called Dan Hardy. "the toughest fight of his career." Yet the case is being built across the pond that their hero has a real shot at knocking off GSP.

Gareth Davies from The Telegraph writes that Hardy is brimming with confidence.

Hardy is an 8-1 underdog. It says it all. But I believe he has a 70-30 chance of
winning. More on this over the next ten days.

Michael Bisping believes Hardy can do it.

"Dan’s in a great position. All the pressure is on GSP for
this fight. He’s earned this chance," said Bisping. "He knows he’s the underdog, but every
welterweight on the planet is the underdog against the form GSP is in at the
moment. Dan’s assets are that he is an excellent striker, and will have to use
that edge against GSP. But deep down, he also believes in himself."

Even Mike Swick is on board according to Davies.

[Swick] has also admitted he was “seriously hurt” by Hardy’s hooks. “Dan can
definitely win this if he takes his chances with his strikes. I am more excited
to see this GSP fight v Hardy than pretty much anyone else you could put GSP in
with..His hooks are always flush. He really does land those things flush every
time. He’s a big puncher. Looking back, I was lucky enough to get out of the
first round in Manchester. He countered me right away and hit me twice on the
tip of the jaw. I wasn’t knocked down, but I was seriously hurt," said Swick.

The UFC’s director of international development Marshal Zelaznik also mentions the possibility of a Hardy versus Paul Daley welterweight title fight down the road. Are we putting the cart ahead of the horse a bit?

The UFC is treating Versus well with its debut card on the network. With any luck, all the fighters will make it through the week in one piece so they can fight on Sunday night. It sets up some dynamite matchups at the top of the card with potential fireworks in store. The main event pits 22-year-old phenom Jon Jones against former phenom Brandon Vera. Vera, 32, has said all along that Jones hasn’t faced this level of competion. During his training camp in Big Bear, Ca., Vera went a step further.

"The UFC did me right on this one. I’m very excited to be fighting Jon Jones.
He’s a great fighter, but he’s never been hit. Things change once that happens," told MMA photographer/blogger Tracy Lee.

In her Versus blog, Lee does a nice job of capturing a day of training with Vera and his camp. The Filipino-American took things to a new level by moving part of his camp out of San Diego into the mountains.

"It was a necessity because of the altitude that we are fighting at and, Jon [Jones] is
training in Albuquerque which is at a high elevation. Not all of the guys were
here the whole time though, and tell you the truth, the weather was really bad
at the beginning of my camp so I really thought I wasn’t going to have anyone up
here. There was snow everywhere and I needed chains on my truck for weeks. I
took care of the house and all the food; I feel fortunate to have had as many
guys up here as I have."

Vera was joined by fellow UFC fighters Phil Davis, Joey Beltran and Shannon Gugerty (also fighting this weekend on the UFC on Versus card) along with trainer Eric Del Fierro. 

He’s no Tiger Woods or Alex Rodriguez. No, Georges St. Pierre is smart like Derek Jeter. They’re all ladies men but it’s about how you do it. If you’re a reckless jackass, then you’re smeared and labeled a slime bucket. Georges St. "Pimp" knows what he’s doing.

You want proof? This video has an unreal collection of GSP video and photo moments. Cagewriter’s top three favorites during the video — Michael Landsberg’s fixation on GSP’s tight shorts (2:11 mark), a woman saying she just met God (3:32 mark) and his take on how to control UFC Octagon girl Arianny Celeste.

"She’s a very beautiful girl. I’m sure she’s used to having guys on their knees for her. You haver to be the opposite. If you’re on the knees for her, she’s gonna make you beg her," said St. Pierre (7:00 mark). "So you have to the man. You have to be very alpha male. Show her who’s the boss!"

UFC 111 is less than two weeks away. GSP better turn it up a notch. Who cares about his fight against Dan Hardy. After hearing about how he controls his women, Snooki and JWoww are all fired up.

Kudos to Lookoutawhale. At the 8:50 mark, they even found an old photo of an Las Vegas appearance by GSP back in 2006. 

Tip via Fightlinker

Does the UFC have juice or is this purely coincidental? Less than a week away from its first event on Versus, the promotion got the good news Monday. The network has ended its spat with DirecTV and Comcast. Around the country, viewers are reporting that Versus is now reappearing on their channel guide.

@VsMMA just tweeted the good news as did outstanding hockey writer E.J. Hradek over at ESPN.com

Here is the official release:

EL SEGUNDO, Calif., and PHILADELPHIA, March 15, 2010 – DIRECTV and Comcast have reached an agreement to return VERSUS to the DIRECTV programming lineup today. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

VERSUS will return to the same DIRECTV programming packages it was in at the end of August 2009.

"We are pleased that both sides were able to work out a satisfactory deal to bring this programming back to our customers," said Derek Chang, executive vice president, Content Strategy and Development, DIRECTV.

"We’re excited that we were able to come to a fair agreement that puts VERSUS back in millions of homes with DIRECTV in time for our busy spring programming schedule," said Jamie Davis, president of VERSUS. "We look forward to super-serving these fans with NHL regular-season and playoff coverage, our first live UFC event and much more."

The network was dropped from DirecTV on Sept. 1. The UFC made the seemingly odd decision to expand its "free" television offerings on Versus, which at the time was struggling for clearance. Its debut event on Versus is this Sunday in Broomfield, Colo. 

When Lorenzo Fertitta hit Washington D.C. in December, it was a hint that the UFC was serious about protecting its pay-per-views. The promotion went after a New England bar for showing illegal broadcasts. Now it’s attacking web pirates.

Las Vegas-based Zuffa LLC, owner of the UFC, filed suit in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas on Friday against the Web sites www.watchufc111.com and www.watchufc111free.com.

Attorneys for Zuffa, Michael Feder and John Krieger of the Las Vegas office of the law firm Lewis and Roca LLP, charge in the complaint that an individual in Framlingham, Suffolk, United Kingdom, registered the watchufc111 name and an individual in Jacksonville, Fla., registered the watchufc111free name.

According to the Las Vegas Sun story, UFC also filed suit against a Stafford, Va., man, Moazzam Gandu, back on Feb 18. Gandu’s site rage-streams.net was selling unauthorized UFC broadcasts for $6.95.

Versus is prepping this week for its first huge UFC card on Sunday. There’s nothing better than using March Madness telecasts to pump the big event. Versus is partners with the Mountain West Conference so it carried the MWC men’s basketball title game on Saturday. In between promos for D-League basketball, bull riding, IRL and hockey, they squeezed in a plug for the big UFC event in Denver this weekend. One problem, announcer Ted Robinson didn’t have the info and then sounded a bit angry that Versus was airing the bloodsport.

"All right, Sunday March 21st for the first time on Versus, can you believe it? It’s the UFC battle," said a half-hearted Robinson. "One of these heavyweight fighters — I don’t even know if they’re heavyweights or not — whatever weight class they are. Look at these great matchups and you’ll see them Sunday only on Versus." 

Let’s hope this Versus thing works out for the UFC. It has problems written all over it. Because of the dispute between DirecTV and Versus, there’s going to be more than a few angry MMA fans who won’t be able to catch the event either on satellite or at their local watering hole. At least the UFC can fall back on the excuse that the NHL and Mountain West were also misguided enough to align themselves with the off-the-radar network. 

The jig is up. Chuck Liddell finally admitted what most of us knew, his naked workout video was a hoax. It was a viral ad for Reebok filmed at Brad Penny’s home gym. But Liddell also admitted that he didn’t wipe down the machine and a friend of Penny’s used it the next day!

Liddell appeared on the Jimmy Kimmel
Show with Chad Ochocinco and Dax Shepard, who also put out their own naked videos.

The guy who really got burned in all this is Urijah Faber, who told Cagewriter that Liddell was caught by a peeping tom. At least that’s what the "Iceman" told him. Let’s hope this betrayal blossoms into a huge rivalry setting up season 22 of "The Ultimate Fighter" between Liddell and Faber.   

Humberto Soto stepped up in class and weight. It proved to be a good change. The 29-year-old Mexican was workmanlike in downing former WBC champ David Diaz via unanimous decision, 115-111, 117-109 and 117-109, in the final fight before the main event at Cowboys Stadium.

Soto sealed the fight with knockdowns in the first and final round. He landed a big left hook in the final minute of the first that forced Diaz to put a glove on the canvas. Diaz fought hard the rest of the way. HBO ringside judge Harold Lederman actually gave Diaz five rounds the rest of the way. One judge agreed while the other two had it 9-3 for Soto. The title was locked up in the 12th when Soto blasted Diaz with another good left hook. Diaz fell forward off balance to the canvas and quickly bounced back to his feet.

The 33-year-old Diaz (35-3-1, 17 KOs) has now lost two-of-three fights. Soto (51-7-2, 28 KOs) has won seven straight and a belt in his third weight class. He outlanded Diaz 160 to 90 at 25-to-14 percent rate. He also landed 132 power punches.

What athlete can essentially shut down a nation? He’s only 5-foot-6, 145 pounds but Manny Pacquiao has the power to do so. The Philippines goes to special lengths to make sure as much of the nation will see their hero in action tonight against Joshua Clottey. In Manila, the huge crowds make extra security a necessity.

According to Ric de Guzman, Mayor Alfredo Lim’s chief of staff, members of the
Manila Police District will augment the security marshals that have been tasked
to maintain peace and order in the areas designated for the purpose of the free
showing of the Pacquiao-Clottey match.

There will be huge screens set up around the city in six different districts showing a commercial free airing of the fight. In Pacquiao’s hometown of General Santos City, there’s a different issue to deal with. Because of the recent earthquake, power is at a premium.

The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) has assured that General
Santos City residents can watch Manny Pacquiao’s fight against Ghana’s Joshua
Clottey uninterrupted. The southern island has been reeling from 5- to 8-hour blackouts as
hydro-power plants, which are the main sources of power in the south, were
already drying up.

Pacman’s mother Dionesia won’t take the chance of missing any of her son’s fight. She’ll be watching at his mansion where they’ve set up a backup generator. 

There’s still a bizarre dynamic between boxing and mixed martial arts. For some reason many boxing head honchos still view MMA as the enemy. Some like Bob Arum even lash out at the growing fanbase by saying the fighters "roll around like homosexuals" and the followers are "skinheads."

I’ve never gotten it. I never will. There are plenty of fans who like and watch both boxing and MMA. This weekend’s bout, with Manny Pacquiao fighting Joshua Clottey is a prime example. For some reason, HBO pay-per-view chief Mark Taffett continues to claim MMA fans don’t like boxing.

"We’ve done a lot of research at HBO talking to our pay-per-view distributor, we haven’t found more than five percent overlap between the audiences," said Taffet speaking to folks at USA Today.

Can that really be gauged accurately? How do you account for all the bars around the country that buy both boxing and MMA PPV’s? Wouldn’t that qualify as 100 percent overlap unless you have a profile on every attendee? It just seems odd for boxing to seemingly try and turn off MMA fans on a weekend that it has to itself with its most entertaining superstar on display.

"They’re two businesses that co-exist. Two sports that are thriving. Our sport, whether it’s on HBO or PPV, has been growing significantly over the last three or four years. There’s surprisingly little overlap of the consumer base."

Is that true? As an MMA blog reader, do you have any interest in watching Pacman versus Clottey tonight? 

UFC president Dana White seems to think there’s a big crossover audience. He’s part of it. He tweeted this week, to his 1,012,527 followers, that he was giving away tickets to the boxing match.

Arum and Top Rank extended the olive branch earlier this week. It’s a smart move. Why wouldn’t you want a guy with over one million followers on Twitter to hear about your fight? Maybe Taffett will jump on board next.

Is there a better story teller than Floyd Mayweather? During his recent media tour, he visited the offices of USA Today and was asked about mixed martial arts cutting into the boxing fanbase. The legendary pugilist responded by telling a story that suggested he pointed UFC president Dana White in the right direction.

"My uncle Jeff Mayweather is the one who started Dana White off," said Floyd Mayweather. "I first met Dana White in 1996. He was a boxing aerobics trainer but he didn’t know nothing about boxing. My uncle Jeff taught him about contact sports."

Mayweather said he introduced White to a woman with deep pockets and the rest is history. All this time we thought White put this together because he went to high school in Las Vegas with Lorenzo Fertitta. That sets the record straight. 

Top Rank boxing chief Bob Arum has plenty of people in his crosshairs this week so he doesn’t need to unload on prior enemies like UFC president Dana White and owner Lorenzo Fertitta. The Las Vegas Sun reports that both of the UFC head honchos will be amongst the 45,000 to take in the Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey fight in Dallas at Cowboys Stadium on Saturday.

Arum even said the boys are actually pitching the fight to the MMA fans.

Top Rank chief Bob Arum made note of a pair of startling names on the guest list for Saturday’s fight card: UFC co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta and the organization’s president, Dana White. As Arum said, the two are encouraging UFC fans to buy into the fight’s pay-per-view package.

The Sun’s John Katsilometes pointed out accurately that Arum has been a big proponent of mixed martial arts.

An impressive diplomatic move considering Arum once compared UFC fights to gay erotica (as a means of criticism, not praise, mind you).

"We want to thank Dana and Lorenzo for crossing sports to help promote this fight," Arum said, as [Cowboys owner Jerry] Jones, the guy who helped make that unlikely visit happen, nodded from the dais.

Have things cooled with Arum vs. UFC or is he just preoccupied with everyone else he hates? During Wednesday’s prefight press conference, he did manage to slam Las Vegas, casinos and Golden Boy Promotions, saying "[expletive] Golden Boy."

It’s 17 days out from his clash against Georges St. Pierre at UFC 111 and the Dan Hardy hype machine has arrived in the New York area. Hardy posted his first stateside video blog. There’s not a whole lot to it aside from cup shopping, some awful teeth and revealing the nugget that he’ll be spending some time on Long Island, the home of Matt Serra, the last guy to take out GSP.

We’re hoping Hardy can find the manufacturer of Adam Lambert’s spiked cup. That would be a real weapon come fight night! 

In a previous blog at DanHardyMMA.com, Hardy tried to clear up a couple of things Cagewriter has blogged about in the past few weeks. One was Hardy tattoo-gate. The Brit lost his gut tattoo on several posters:

But another item I’ve read online I’d like to clear up is why my stomach tattoo has been Photoshopped off the official UFC 111 poster. Maybe I am the wrong guy to moan about getting Photoshopped, but I’m not really very happy about it and don’t understand the reason behind it at all.

I’ve been told the people who designed the poster felt my tattoo would be "too distracting". Well, I’m very happy with my tattoo. Makes no sense they airbrushed it out. But some of the guys at the gym have found it very amusing, so at least they got a laugh out of it.

Hardy found it funny that some message board posters tried to get to the story behind the story.

Some of the theories out there as to why it was removed were very funny. I had no idea MMA fans were such hardcore conspiracy theorists. If they ever do another series of the "X-Files", the producers should look no further than the MMA fan forums for their writing team.

Through his P.R. minions, Hardy also said his last wrestling singlet blog was not attempt to disparage GSP. It was only intended to mock on his own wrestling abilities.

Check out the Day 2 vlog. Serra, Hardy and Ray Longo should provide some blog magic. 

Fighting your way up the lightweight ladder in the UFC is a rough go and we’re just talking about the battles in training and the Octagon. Lightweight prospect Ross Pearson learned a valuable lesson recently about his new found fame. The winner of season nine of "The Ultimate Fighter" discovered that he’s much more attractive now that he’s got a guaranteed deal with the UFCl.

Pearson, 25, is a low frills guy who still lives at his parent’s house in Sunderlund, U.K. So when his girlfriend, around the time he won TUF 9, told him she was quitting her job so he could support her, he kicked her to the curb (5:21 mark). 

Pearson is facing veteran Dennis Siver in Charlotte on March 31. It should provide fireworks. Siver (14-6, 4-3 UFC) is a very solid striker who’s already picked up two knockout of the night bonuses. Pearson’s striking looked dynamite in his win over Aaron Riley. After TUF 9, Cagewriter wrote that the show produced very little to get excited about. We were wrong. It’s becoming more clear that Pearson and Andre Winner simply nullified one another in the TUF 9 Finale. They have both shown good standup skills in their fights since. We’ll probably find out by the end of 2010 if either one really has a shot at reaching the top 10 at 155 pounds. 

Cagewriter is rolling out a new feature with Yahoo! Sports’ Kevin Iole several times each week. With the news of Kimbo Slice-Matt Mitrione remaining on May 8 at UFC 113, it leaves plenty of question about Ultimate Fight Night 22 on April 17. There were rumors about newly signed boxer James Toney facing Kimbo. That idea fell through and so did a proposed fight between Mike Swick and Matt Serra. Now what? 

Iole also discussed the issue of licensing an MMA fight involving Toney. Would the Nevada Sports Athletic Commission turn him down? Doesn’t look like it based on the recent approval of a fight involving 47-year-old Evander Holyfield. 

Jason "Mayhem Miller is a big Twitter guy so he’s been sending out messages about the upcoming season of "Bully Beatdown." The first two seasons did so well that MTV is rolling out another set of shows and Miller was asking for followers on Twitter to send in suggestions about their local bullies. After a quick scan of the answers on Monday, it looks like Mayhem and MTV hit the jackpot.

Dammit! Why couldn’t that be @cokersf, the real Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker? We got duped but it was a great line by @fakecokersf.

The reference is to UFC president Dana White pulling out the big guns and counterprogamming Coker’s April 17 CBS/Strikeforce show in Nashville with his own Spike card, Ultimate Fight Night 22. Even worse it’s less than three miles away in Nashville!

The real Scott Coker better be on the lookout for the fake. He may get passed in Twitter followers if he doesn’t start sending out some tweets. The talk is that Coker already forgot his password.