Author: Steve Cofield

The UFC better hope aspiring heavyweights around the world don’t get a look at Rolles Gracie’s debut with the promotion. Everyone would like to make it to the big show, but Gracie didn’t look like he belonged or wanted to be here.

Gracie was exhausted after three minutes as he grasped for air on several takedown attempts in the second round. On his third try, he just laid there and Beltran went to work. He sat down on Gracie, who clearly wanted out of the fight. Beltran landed 15 shots as Gracie turtled. Referee Herb Dean stopped the fight at 1:31 of the second round to start off the night at UFC 109 in Las Vegas.

Gracie, a second-degree jiu-jitsu black belt, took terrible shots all fight long. He did get Beltran on the deck early via the clinch and a trip. Gracie (3-1) immediately got to the mount and slapped on a rear-naked choke. Beltran (11-3) was able to free himself and eventually reverse his way out of the mount. That was the last bit of trouble Beltran was in.

Based on his name — and the fact that Beltran was called in this week when Mostapha Al Turk was dumped from the card due to visa problems — Gracie was a minus-700 at Las Vegas sportsbooks. If Al Turk sees this fight, he’ll probably be sick to his stomach. Based on his performances so far in the UFC, Al Turk would’ve destroyed Gracie. He’s now rumored for UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi against Jon Madsen.

Beltran caught the attention of the UFC and matchmaker Joe Silva last month. A San Diego native, he knocked off UFC veteran Houston Alexander in Tulsa.

Gracie is the grandson of Carlos Gracie Sr., and
son of Rolls Gracie.

HAGUE STARTS SLOW, LOSES DECISION TO TUCHSCHERER

Tim Hague showed up to throwdown in the third round, but that was it. As a result, he dropped a majority decision to Chris Tuchscherer, 29-28, 28-28 and 29-28. Hague dominated the final round with a flurry at the start of the round. He rocked Tuchscherer with some big shots and eventually the Canadian gained top control. Hague (10-3, 1-2 UFC) rotated from full guard to the mount to side control, but he could never finish his opponent.

Tuchscherer (18-2, 1-1 UFC) didn’t dominate the first two rounds, but Hague was so inactive that you had to give "Crowbar" the nod. For the second fight in a row, Tuchscherer’s cup was put to the test. In his UFC debut against Gabriel Gonzaga, Tuchscherer was drilled with a low blow so hard that it split his cup and had him spitting up blood in the locker room following the fight. He got nailed again on Saturday in the opening two minutes but recovered quickly.

Because of a rash of injuries starting in October, the UFC lost a lot of its top end star power. The main events didn’t feature a ton of title fights and the promotion had to turn to some of the old guard in Tito Ortiz and Randy Couture. White is sick of the bashing on Couture, who is fighting Mark Coleman tonight at UFC 109. White tried to tear into the media for underrating Couture at age 46.

With a win tonight at UFC 109, Nate Marquardt is going to get exactly what he wants. Another shot at the UFC middleweight title against Anderson Silva or Vitor Belfort. Marquardt missed out on his opportunity back at UFC 73. He admits he wasn’t right mentally for the fight and approached the great Silva tentatively. His confidence is brimming now after a xx second knockout of Demian Maia and wins in four of five.  

Sonnen is an interesting foe. Think basketball and Princeton’s slow pace. Marquardt is dynamic striker but if he’s on his back, Sonnen can steal minutes and eventually rounds. Marquardt talks about the strategy of the fight in the convo above during UFC 109 workout day.

Legends butt heads this evening in Las vegas and Cagewriter will be Octagon-side for all the action leading up to the Randy Couture-Mark Coleman fight. You can follow the entire Yahoo! MMA on Twitter @stevecofield, @keviniole and @maggiehendricks. Kevin Iole broke down the card just after Thursday’s UFC 109 press conference.

UFC 109 odds (Courtesy Venetian Resort Hotel Casino):

You may think he’s a boisterous loudmouth and too pushy, but it’s that aggression that’s helped Dana White break down barriers for the UFC and mixed martial arts. But even he admits that some cultures just don’t jive with his up front style. That’s why the addition of owner Lorenzo Fertitta, as a full-timer with the UFC back in June of 2008 was so important. White got ripped for calling the Fertitta news a big announcement and now he’s proud to say his buddy is responsible for future journeys to Australia and Abu Dhabi and even bigger, television penetration for the UFC into China, India and South Korea. The promotion just linked up with China’s SOHU.com. A representative from the website said it has two billion registered users around the world.

"when I said Lorenzo was coming over here, I couldn’t do what he did," said White. "It’s impossible. You can’t do this many fights and fly to China and all these other places. And do what he did."

White marvels at the speed with which international penetration is growing.

"How fast he’s done this international stuff is staggering. I had a 10-year plan. It might be four years now."

Today, Gray Maynard and Amir Sadollah took folks from SOHU.com through a UFC tutorial at the UFC Training Center, the home of "The Ultimate Fighter" reality series. Here is SOHU’s UFC page. 

Mark Coleman is the first one to tell people he underachieved at times during his career. But he’s quick to say he has no regrets. It was simply life getting in the way. Coleman, now 45, had to put his role as single father ahead of training in a lot of cases. There was no escaping to a training camp in far away places. His daughters, McKenzie and Morgan, now 12 and 10, needed him around.

"I’m a father first. I have two daughters, and I had to raise them. I couldn’t stand to leave them because I didn’t trust anybody with my kids. So I didn’t leave," Coleman said. "I missed out on a lot of opportunities, a lot of training potential, but at the same time, I’d never give back what I got to see. I got to see them grow up, and there’s nothing more important than seeing your kids grow up because it happens so fast."

Coleman felt his girls were old enough to understand that their father needed to make one more final serious run at MMA so he headed to Las Vegas in early December. Coleman lived at the Palace Station and trained at the TapouT Training Center.

"I kept telling them ‘Daddy’s got to leave soon’ and you could see the disappointment in their eyes," Coleman said. "I made it clear, I gotta go. This is important for our future. They came around and said ‘go do what it takes, you can win this fight.’ "

Coleman has been in constant contact with them but it’s not easy.

"They’ve been sending me Facebook messages. You know, it’s emotional. It’s hard to read them. They’re really a lot smarter than I thought they were. They’re really getting to me."

Coleman won’t be bringing the girls to town for the fight, saying you only bring people who are going to war with you. He brought them to a fight once in his career back at PRIDE 33 and received a lot of criticism for bringing the 8- and 9-year-olds. He said they weren’t scarred and they still speak highly of the week. Coleman joked they even believe that Fedor Emelianenko cheated to win the fight.  

It’s been a relief for Coleman to be away from all the distractions back home in Columbus, Ohio. 

Maybe it was easy for Herschel Walker. Following his win last weekend over Greg Nagy, every Tom, Dick and Harry from the sports world now thinks cage fighting is worth a try. That must be the downside everyone was talking about when they ripped Walker’s foray into mixed martial arts. NFL loudmouth and all-time worst GM, Matt Millen expressed some interest in MMA. He’s 52! And of course Jose Canseco is continuing with his quest to set up another MMA beating, this time at the hands Walker. He called out Walker on Tuesday. The possibility of that train wreck got plenty of play on the NFL Network and on ESPN, which irked UFC president Dana White.

At this point, if John Wayne Bobbitt, Spencer Pratt or Chuck Bednarik calls out Canseco, he’ll take the payday. Canseco loves the attention.

Canseco, 45, said earlier in the evening that he’s taking this fighting thing seriously. He’s 0-2-1 against Hong Man Choi, Danny Bonaduce and Vai Sikahema. Canseco wants to turn it up notch and claims Cesar Gracie is interested in working with him. 

That seems a bit off the wall. Gracie has developed a great reputation working with guys like Gilbert Melendez, Jake Shields and the Diaz brothers, Nate and Nick. He’s going tutor Canseco? Really?

UPDATE: The Gracie Camp says they’re interested:

"Our camp has been contacted by a representative of Jose Canseco in regards to
his desire to fight former NFL player, Herschel Walker, in a future Strikeforce
show," the Gracie team posted
to its website. "We have agreed to train Canseco should this matchup happen.
After having produced 3 of the current Strikeforce Champions, we are confident
we could make Canseco into a formidable opponent for a future Canseco vs Walker
fight."

Canseco tweeted @josecanseco that professional training will make all the difference this time around. This is all well and good but are Strikeforce, Scott Coker and Herschel Walker entertaining any thoughts of taking this fight?

He’s one of the top four fighters for Scott Coker’s Strikeforce. It’s not often the growing promotion gets a fighter at his peak in his 20’s. There’s a long story behind why Nick Diaz isn’t getting a shot anytime soon at UFC welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre. The 26-year-old from Stockton, California marches to the beat of his own drummer. When asked about Diaz calling out GSP (2:22 mark), UFC president Dana White almost sounded frustrated suggesting his hands were tied because of the fighter’s behavior between fights, with the media and away from the cage.

"The kid is very talented. And he probably should be in the UFC. But that kind of stuff has to stop." 

Diaz is a tough guy to manage. 

"You have to follow certain rules and guidelines," said White. "The last time Nick Diaz was in the UFC he got into a fist fight at the hospital."

The story was that Diaz brawled with Joe Riggs at a Henderson, NV. hospital following their fight at UFC 57. Diaz actually fought three more times going 2-1 with wins over Gleison Tibau and Josh Neer, and a loss to Sean Sherk.

The biggest problem is Diaz’s long history of drug testing issues in Nevada and California. White said he has a good relationship with Nick and his brother Nate, who does fight for the UFC. Maybe there’s a shot for Nick to return down the road but it doesn’t sound like anything that’ll happen soon.  

They’re two of the best talkers in MMA but your chops can only take you so far if you’re not racking up W’s. It’s back against the wall time for both Frank Trigg and Matt Serra at UFC 109. Trigg lost his return fight to the UFC back in September while Serra has lost two straight but he’s also a former UFC welterweight champ and a participant on two seasons of "The Ultimate Fighter." He’s in a little safer spot in terms job security over his opponent Trigg. If he’s not fighting, Serra also has a successful chain of gyms to fall back on. Meanwhile, Trigg faces an uncertain post-fighting future in the media. He’s joked that if he gets dumped by the UFC, he’s done fighting and he may have to work in the fast food business. 

"He’s seriously depressing me," joked Serra. "I don’t want to hear anything this guy’s saying anymore. The guy’s talking about working at a fast food place if this don’t work out. Dude! You’re not getting the pity win, bro. It’s not happening. I got a family too."

Chuckles aside, Serra knows that Trigg has the ultimate motivation to win tomorrow in the first fight on the pay-per-view telecast. 

"It freaks me out when he talks like that [but] he’s got his back against the wall so he’s a dangerous guy."

Serra said fans shouldn’t write off Trigg because he suffered a quick loss versus Josh Koscheck at UFC 103. 

"He’s tough. He wasn’t looking for no easy way out [of the Koscheck fight]. And he’s beaten out a lot of tough guys. I’ve prepared for a war but i think there’s a lot of pressure on him. He might have trouble pulling the trigger. I’m a cool dude in a loose mood. I’m gonna pull the trigger."

Serra may also have a future in television. Maybe Dana White can pull some strings get Spike to bring back Comedy Central’s old "Man Show," this time starring Serra and his trainer Ray Longo. Serra’s recent video blogs with Longo were hilarious. 

Chael Sonnen has talked a lot the last two weeks. He’s had more than a few fighters in his verbal crosshairs. Strangely enough, his opponent Nate Marquardt hasn’t been one of them. Maybe Sonnen felt like it would be an unfair verbal fight "Nate the Great" was unlikely to fire back. Marquardt is one of the more quiet and respectful fighters but he didn’t hesitate to take a mild shot at Sonnen at natemarquardt.com on Thursday.

After the UFC 109 press conference, Marquardt said he talked to Mark Coleman, who pointed out that Sonnen spoke highly of him when they were sitting next to each other at the presser. But two weeks ago it was a different story. Coleman knew that Sonnen had cracked on him during an interview with MMAWeekly radio.

"When you look at a guy and try to find his weaknesses, it’s really tough with [Marquardt]," Sonnen told Damon Martin. "But I think the same can be said for everybody that’s thet top bill on a UFC card … with the exception of Mark Coleman, he’s a bum." 

Below are the before and after comments about Coleman:

We’re big Sonnen fans here at Cagewriter. He makes the job fun and easy but it appears he got nailed here. Or can one say that he’s a fan of someone and still call them a bum? 

He didn’t like the idea when it was announced, and Dana White is sticking by his thoughts that Herschel Walker in mixed martial arts is not healthy for the sport. Walker was far from embarrassing in his debut last weekend. He carried himself like professional in and out of the cage. He also helped to draw an audience of over 500,000 for a fight card that didn’t feature anyone among the top 15 fighters in the world. White doesn’t care about any of that and is irked that television outlets like ESPN are falling over Herschel Walker while virtually ignoring a legend like Randy Couture, who is fighting tomorrow at UFC 109.

"If we got [a small percentage] of the coverage that we get in Canada here in the U.S. this thing would be bigger than the NFL," said White (0:25 mark). "Dude, on ESPN yesterday, you know what they’re talking about all day? On every [expletive] show, they’re talking about Herschel Walker versus Jose Canseco. That’s how [expletive] up ESPN is."

White’s criticism of ESPN seems odd considering it was just over two weeks ago that the UFC chose to release the news Brock Lesnar’s return exclusively to the network.

"Are you kidding me? You’re talking about that?" White then named all of the fighters in his organization that should be getting more coverage. "All these incredible athletes that put all hard work and time and energy into this, you’re talking about goofy ass Jose Canseco?"   

The discussion then turned to Kimbo Slice-Walker comparisons. White doesn’t believe there’s anything to be accomplished here forward by Walker. He also trashed Walker’s opponent Greg Nagy calling him a gimme.

White did confirm that Kimbo is returning at UFC 113 in Montreal against fellow season 10 "Ultimate Fighter" castmate Matt Mitrione.

In the world of MMA where fighters often change trainers yearly and jump from camp-to-camp, Randy Couture knew he’d run across his former trainer Shawn Tompkins at some point. Tompkins left Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas and now just four months later, he’s gameplanning for Mark Coleman to help him beat Couture. 

"I wasn’t surprised. I knew more than likely when Shawn left for [the] Tapout [Training Center], [Coleman] was gonna turn up over there with Shawn. There are no secrets. If you think you’re protecting something you’re crazy. It’s not happening." 

Couture respects his old buddy Tompkins, but says there only so much he can do for Coleman. 

"A lot of this comes down to wrestling and establishing that position. And that’s not Shawn’s area of expertise anyway. Shawn’s a striking guy and a good coach. Good motivator and a good coach, and that’s something Mark needs."

Couture said one of his masterminds is grappling/jiu-jitsu coach Neil Melanson, who’s brought a fresh approach recently. Melanson works "catch wrestling," something he learned from fighting legends like Gene LeBell and Gokor Chivichyan. Trainer Ron Frazier from Xtreme Couture referenced Melanson as a hidden gem. For folks who know female fighting star Erin Toughhill, she’s married to Melanson.

Couture was also quick to mention his continued growth as a striker because of his work with Gil Martinez.

World Extreme Cagefighting is making the big move to pay-per-view for the first time with its Jose Aldo-Urijah Faber fight on Apr. 24. It’s a risk. Zuffa may be alienating some fans by asking for more of their entertainment dollars. Dates are also being scooped up quickly that month. Will a WEC PPV work if it’s going head-to-head against Strikeforce’s CBS show featuring Fedor Emelianenko?

UFC president Dana White, who plays a large role with WEC as well, was taken back when asked if he was concerned about the Fedor/Strikeforce versus WEC scenario. 

"I worry about Strikeforce all the time," White stated dripping with sarcasm. "You know how [expletive]
long I’ve been hearing this [expetive]. No, I don’t worry about
Strikeforce. Strikeforce is a lower level show where young up-and-coming talent and guys that aren’t in the UFC can make some money. It’s
never going to be anything more than that."

Before scheduling on the same night as WEC, White said Strikeforce needs to learn from the mistakes of boxing. 

"They’re actually insane to go head-to-head with anything. That’s some
dumb boxing [expletive] right there. Like [Bob] Arum and [Don] King going
head-to-head. The last thing on my mind everyday when I get out of bed
and go to work is Strikeforce." 

White has heard that some fans are annoyed by WEC’s jump to pay for play but he’s sticking with the $44.95 price tag.

"That’s what the pay-per-view costs. It’s still cheaper than boxing. Does anybody think that it won’t be worth the money? It absolutely, positively will be."

On the positive side, if the biggest names in WEC are going to be fighting on pay-per-view there should be no more complaints about their salaries. That was generally the reason WEC officials gave in defending why some of the big names like Faber, Miguel Torres and Mike Brown made less than the top fighters in the UFC.

The Strikeforce CBS card’s date and location are still very much up in the air. You can rule out the rumored trip to the Thomas & Mack Arena in Las Vegas. Nevada State Athletic Commission sources told Cagewriter that Strikeforce still hasn’t applied for a promoter’s license and now there isn’t enough time to get approved before April. The T & M wanted badly to host the event. The MGM-Mirage group has pretty much taken over the boxing/MMA fight market in Sin City.

Randy Couture joked during today’s press conference that if the venue was different his matchup at UFC 109 against Mark Coleman could’ve been called the geezers at Caesar’s. The fighters bound for the Octagon at the Mandalay Bay Events Center are a combined 91 years old, so Couture and Coleman both acknowledge that some fans will judge the fight based solely on their advanced ages. But for Coleman this a fight he’s been waiting for since 1998 and he thinks it can be a career rebirth some 12 years later. 

"For me this can change my career around," Coleman said during yesterday’s workout session. "Win this fight and renegotiate
my contract. There’s a lot on the line here. This is as big as it
gets."

That makes it easy for Coleman to ignore critics on the sport’s loudest voice, the Internet. 

"I see a lot of fans bitching and complaining. They just like to
complain because that’s what they do. Fans like to complain because
they’re not in the cage, so they can complain. But I think I see
them coming around, the closer the fight gets. I think they’re getting
more excited and do really want to see this."

Coleman said fighting at 45 years old is all about your mental attitude. 

"For a lot of people they get to certain age, they give up. ‘I’m this old, so i quit.’ I don’t see it that way. There’s unique people out there in every sport and if you’re willing to pay the price and stay dedicated [you can do it]. My body is healthy. I love to do this. I don’t hold mic[rophones] and interview people, I fight."

Coleman said he respects Couture but there’s no reason that he should lose this fight. If he does it’s all on him. 

Chael Sonnen had to wake up one day and see guys like Dan Hardy and Paul Daley at the front of the line for a title shot and say "hey I can do that." "That" is creating a buzz or gaining the attention of the fans and UFC management. Hardy and Daley have accomplished their meteoric rises up the welterweight ranks with some good wins but more importantly agressive chops. They talk a good game and apparently Sonnen is right with them. He’s criticized UFC middleweight champ Anderson Silva in the past but these last two weeks, he’s been a blow torch.

That said, Sonnen states this isn’t sort of orchestrated campaign.

"I didn’t out anybody. But I discussed them. It’s called the truth and it’s very new in MMA. I don’t think guys are used to it. None of it was rhetoric. None of it would I apologize for. None of it was to hype a fight."

Sonnen got fans worked into a lather two weeks ago on MMAWeekly Radio when he suggested Silva was a fraud and hated the media. Why is that? Because according to Sonnen, Silva speaks perfect English but hides behind his translator Ed Soares so that he doesn’t have to do a ton of media with the English speaking press.

When asked about Soares, who Sonnen called the "mad scientist," he launched into a verbal tongue lashing asking why the Brazilian manager/translator was even being discussed.

"Time out. The opinion of Soares does not matter. I can’t believe Ed Soares’ name came up in an interview. I like the guy, I’m turning on him but frankly that’s ridiculous. We don’t talk about managers. For God’s sake."

Sonnen went on to repeat what he said to MMAWeekly, that the same media voting Silva No. 1 pound-for-pound doesn’t see that the champ is disrespecting them. Sonnen said he spoke with Silva backstage at UFC 102 and "The Spider" spoke fine English.

The UFC is showing it has a heart and eye toward creative matchmaking. Matt Hughes and Renzo Gracie will fight April 10. During the summer, it’s Chuck Liddell-Tito Ortiz III and this weekend two guys that fans wanted to see fight starting about 1998, finally enter the Octagon together. Randy Couture is 46 and Mark Coleman is 45. Couture is considered a freak while many look at Coleman on his last legs. That’s got to be why the sportsbooks have installed Couture as an obscene minus-500 favorite.

Watch Dave Farra from RawVegas.tv break down the big fights on the card with myself and Ben Fowlkes from Cage Potato.

UFC 109 odds (Courtesy Venetian Resort Hotel Casino):
We’ll post official plays on Saturday morning following the weigh-ins.

The prospects keep coming in the UFC from all backgrounds. Phil Davis, the 2008 NCAA wrestling champ at 197 pounds, is on board after just four MMA fights. 

Davis said there’s a huge crew of collegiate wrestlers who may be on the way to MMA in the future.

"A lot of college wrestlers have the right attitude. They’re athletically gifted enough to excel in MMA. There’s not necessarily as lucrative career in wrestling."

The UFC is throwing Davis deep waters against veteran Brian Stann. Davis says he’s ready to go and he can deliver a win, he’ll be a great ambassador for the sport in the future. He’s all over Twitter @philmrwonderful.

In a "harcore" interview with Cagewriter, Davis elaborates on seven dollar loaves of breads, his weight cutting recipe, large women in stretchy pants at Walmart (pictured), Little Debbie snacks, buying baby oil midnight, Valentine’s Day and his arachnaphobia.

No one can drive through a double-leg takedown like Mark "The Hammer" Coleman. Driving behind the wheel is another story. Coleman said he’s been cursed driving around Las Vegas during his 50-day training camp in Las Vegas. He got into an accident two weeks ago, got a speeding ticket before yesterday’s media session and on Tuesday, he ran out of gas on Las Vegas’ Interstate 215. The gruff Coleman had fun with his mishap asking for followers on Twitter to come say hi.

Coleman said "the light" came on a few times but he forgot to stop and get gas. The 45-year-old spent his time in Las Vegas staying at the Palace Station which is roughly five miles from his training home the TapouT Training Center. 

Mike Swick is a good friend to Josh Koscheck. So much so that he’s stepping in at UFC 109 for his fellow welterweight and American Kickboxing Academy training partner, and will attempt to avenge Koscheck’s only defeat of 2009. If Swick beats Paulo Thiago this weekend it leaves him, Koscheck and Jon Fitch all waiting in line for a shot at the champ Georges St. Pierre. But they won’t fight each other, a fact that irks UFC president Dana White, who says it’s not baseball or football, and the fighters shouldn’t look at it personally. Swick said they won’t even broach the topic until one of them has the title.

"All of us were created at AKA. We’re not like a lot of other camps where top fighters moved in when they already had a successful career," Swick told Cagewriter. "We’ve all been built from the ground up and it creates a bond, and we are very close."

Swick says they can’t win for even talking about the scenario so why bother?

Randy Couture jokes that he’s always been the old guy. After a stint in the Army, Couture was a 25-year-old freshman at Oklahoma State. Even now at 46, Couture isn’t ashamed to admit that he can always use more schooling. After close to 40 years of wrestling work, he’s seen some holes recently in his MMA grappling game. He called in several grappling coaches to get him ready for another great wrestler in Mark Coleman at UFC 109.

Couture, one of the most dominant takedown artists in the history of the sport, had trouble offensively in his last two fights getting Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Brandon Vera to the ground. He need to get Coleman to the ground to score points and he also knows the 1987 NCAA heavyweight wrestling champ, presents defensive challenges as well.

"The likelyhood that he can take me down is there," Couture said during the UFC 109 workout session. "I’ve got to be prepared for the worst case scenario, I give up a double-leg in the early rounds. I’ve got to be able to first of all survive and be effective there."

Coleman is pretty predictable but Couture said that doesn’t make it any easier to gameplan.

"Mark’s style hasn’t changed. He’s a strong guy so he’s going to be throwing hard punches. He’s heavy handed. So I don’t want to be standing around to absorb a bunch of that. And the more I stand around the easier I’m to be able to takedown as well."

Couture worked heavily with Neal Melanson and said he’s learning new things about grappling everyday. He continued to work on his striking especially on the defensive side. Couture acknowledges that he got hit by "Big Nog’s" right hand way too often during his loss at UFC 102.

It’s pretty interesting to hear Couture talk enthusiastically about being a student especially considering he’s usually the coach, teacher or mentor. He even took time out during his workout session to drill Chael Sonnen on some grappling ideas along with Melanson. Check out the video here.