“I wanna be a real fighter. That’s what a real fighter does, right? Fights.”

That’s what former UFC lightweight champion B.J. Penn said prior to his loss to Frankie Edgar at UFC 118 in Boston. The loss was his second straight defeat to the current champion.

Following that loss, many questioned where Penn goes from here. Does he pack his bags and go home? Does he pick up the pieces and start anew?

Those are easy questions to throw out there, but as in most things in life, there usually aren’t easy immediate answers.

“B.J. looked like he broke in the second round of that fight,” UFC president Dana White said after the fight. “Who knows (what’s next)? We’ll see where he goes from here.”

Even Penn, a day later in a video post on his website said, “I wanted to try and fight as often as possible, but right now I’m just gonna relax, take it easy, and see what’s coming up next.”

It seems he’s already had enough relaxing. In a new video post Tuesday evening, the former champ had already made up his mind on what’s next. He wants to stick to what he said before the loss about being a real fighter, fighting all comers, and fighting often.

“I’ve just been hanging out these last couple days,” he said on Tuesday, “but I’m gonna stick to what I said about being as active as I can. We’re gonna try to contact the UFC, get a fight as soon as possible.

“I got no injuries. I can still build off what I built in the last camp.”

Penn’s camp is another question altogether. Many insiders have been saying that Penn is often surrounded by too many people that don’t necessarily press him into being the best he can be, much like Mike Tyson after Cus D’Amato died.

“A lot of people have been asking about the camp, we’re still figuring that whole thing out,” said Penn, apparently addressing those questions. “But while we figure that whole thing out, I’m gonna jump back in the gym.”

While the questions swirl around his camp and whether or not he needs or intends to change things up, one thing is certain: B.J. Penn isn’t ready lay his gloves in the center of the Octagon and walk away just yet.

In fact, maybe he’s preparing to take the biggest step in his career towards becoming the “real fighter” that he has recently talked about. After all, isn’t a “real fighter” someone that gets back up when they get knocked down, refusing to give up, continuing the fight?

That’s where Penn currently finds himself and it sounds as if he’s ready to fight.

“Starting tomorrow, back on track, going full blast.”

(thanks to mmaweekly)

“You gotta lose your mind in Detroit Rock City.”

The UFC will try to keep that attitude in mind when they bring the biggest MMA show in the world to Detroit at the Palace of Auburn Hills for UFC 123.

Detroit was on a short list of cities vying for UFC 123 on Nov. 20. The other major finalist, Pittsburgh, was knocked out of the running because of scheduling conflicts.

The headline fight for UFC 123 will pit former light heavyweight champions Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Lyoto Machida in the main event. More fights will be announced in the coming weeks, but welterweights Matt Brown and Rory MacDonald have already agreed to meet on the November card.

The UFC has visited Detroit before, prior to Zuffa, LLC taking over. UFC 9: Motor City Madness took place at the Cobo Arena in 1996, with UFC hall of famers Ken Shamrock and Dan Severn meeting in the main event.

(thanks to mmaweekly)

There were some pretty direct comments made towards Kenny Florian following his loss to Gray Maynard at UFC 118, many focused on him faltering in the biggest moments of his career.

UFC president Dana White commented on Florian’s inability to get the win on Saturday night, which was for a shot at the lightweight title, comparing it to the problems he’s faced in previous match-ups, like Sean Sherk and B.J. Penn.

“Kenny’s just one of those guys that chokes in big fights,” White told MMAWeekly following UFC 118.

“I love Kenny. I’m not badmouthing him, or trying to disrespect him, I’m just being honest. Every time it’s a big fight, and there’s a lot of things on the line, Kenny just… Kenny Florian’s hands are unbelievable, Kenny Florian’s ground is unbelievable, Kenny Florian usually kicks you to the body and the legs so hard that he busts guys up. You didn’t see any of that tonight.”

“Honestly my reaction is Dana is just being Dana. I just don’t know if he really understands the little nuances of what’s going on in the fight, I think he’s really just looking at things for face value. If you look back it’s more of a wrestling thing than anything else. The fight against Sherk, at that time Sherk was a better fighter, that’s it. B.J. took him down, and Gray took him down again. It’s just a matter of wrestling, that’s what we need to work on,” said Keith.

“We need to get it so engrained in his head that it becomes muscle memory.”

Between rounds, Keith, along with Firas Zahabi, implored their fighter to reach down and find a sense of urgency, especially going into the final five minutes, as he was likely down two rounds to none.

“It’s really tough when you want to throw, and you want to throw hard. You want to throw something that’s going to knock your opponent out, and also thinking that in the back of your head, if I do that I’m going to get taken down,” Keith explained.

“That being said, no one really knows what’s going on in a fighter’s mind or what exactly is going on unless you’re in the cage with that person at that time. In between rounds, especially between the second and third, Firas said ‘get in the middle of that Octagon and throw’ and you’ll hear me ‘we need a finish’ and we weren’t trying to sugar coat anything. We told him what we needed to do.”

The end result was Florian losing a three-round decision to Maynard, who will now go on to challenge Frankie Edgar in his next fight for the UFC lightweight championship. Looking at his brother’s progression over the last few years, Keith knows that there is one glaring issue, and this isn’t the first time it’s come back to bite them.

“We’re obviously not doing enough wrestling and it’s showing,” he said. “I made a comment in the Boston Herald and I’ll say the same comment to you, he proved in the last two fights that his wrestling has improved. Not only did (Clay) Guida not take him down, but he took Guida down. He’s the only person to do this, and Guida’s taken down every single opponent beforehand. And Kenny stopped him and took him down. Gomi is also a wrestler back in Japan, and he took him down too.

“Obviously, Gray’s at a different level, and we need to be prepared for any and every level, and not just very good wrestlers, or good wrestlers, or mediocre wrestlers. We need to be prepared for the absolute best wrestlers.”

Looking back at the fight, Keith agreed with the decision, but also believes that the criteria for how rounds are scored has to be looked at.

In the first round with under a minute to go, Maynard got a take down on Florian after not much damage was done earlier in the round. Many credit that lone take down as Maynard getting the nod for the first five minutes.

Keith says that Maynard fought brilliantly, and he credits him and his coaches for doing exactly what they did on Saturday night.

“There’s no question by the rules that they’re playing with right now that Gray won that fight,” he explained. “I’m not trying to take anything away from him, he played an absolutely beautiful game plan. If Kenny had the skills Gray had, I would have done the exact same thing fighting Kenny.”

What Keith doesn’t like very much are the descriptions getting tossed around about his brother’s performance that made it seem like a one-sided drubbing with Maynard walking through him on his way to the title shot.

“People love to throw around the word ‘destroyed,’ people love to throw around the word ‘dominated,’ people love to throw these words around, but just look at the first four minutes of the first round, and you tell me who’s winning,” said Keith.

“He really didn’t get hit very hard on the bottom. People love to throw around those words ‘dominated, destroyed, overwhelming.’ It’s a (expletive) joke.”

Going back to the drawing board, Keith says his brother will take a little time off to recover both physically and mentally, and then head back to the gym where they will formulate their next plan of attack. Even if it means 40 hours a week in the wrestling room, Keith is determined to make sure the same mistakes are never repeated.

“I think what we need to do in a week or a week and a half, is just come back together and see what’s going on. The wheels are in motion that we are going to get a serious wrestling coach involved, and it’s going to be immediate. We’re going to bring wrestlers in or Kenny’s going out to a wrestling camp or a wrestling team and that’s a fact,” Keith stated.

Admitting that it’s tough to compete with wrestlers who have been doing that sport for most of their natural lives, Kenny has to find a way to compete with them. If they’ve got 20 years of experience wrestling, then he needs to work just as hard to catch up to them.

“It’s a numbers game and he needs more numbers,” Keith said.

The Boston area fighter will head back to Florian Martial Arts and begin working on the strategy that will find answers to the problems he couldn’t’ solve on Saturday night, and then plot his return to the Octagon for another run at the lightweight title.

(thanks to mmaweekly)

Bellator Fighting Championships on Friday announced that current featherweight champion Joe Soto will defend his belt for the first time on Sept. 2 against Season 2 tournament winner Joe Warren. The bout takes place at Bellator 27 at the Majestic Theatre in San Antonio, Texas.

Soto, a native of California’s Central Valley, was a virtual unknown in the MMA world before knocking off Ben Greer, Wilson Reis, and Yahir Reyes to take home the first-ever Bellator featherweight championship belt last June. He recently improved his record to a perfect 9-0 with an impressive May 20 ground and pound stoppage of UFC veteran Diego Saraiva at Bellator 19 in Dallas.

Warren, the former NCAA all-American wrestler at the University of Michigan and two-time Greco-Roman wrestling world champion, burst onto the MMA scene in 2009 with stunning wins over former WEC standout Chase Beebe and Japanese sensation Kid Yamamoto. In 2010, he won Bellator’s Season 2 featherweight tournament with consecutive victories over Eric Marriott, Georgi Karakhanyan, and the previously undefeated Patricio “Pitbull” Freire, improving his overall pro MMA record to 5-1.

“Of our four upcoming world title fights, the Soto-Warren fight is hugely intriguing,” said Bellator founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney. “Joe Soto is extremely talented and has made a collection of top ten rankings. Warren’s a world-class wrestler who beat one of the greatest featherweights in the world in just his second fight. He has tremendous heart and he doesn’t understand what the word ‘lose’ means. Joe Soto also comes from a national-caliber wrestling background and anyone who saw his fight with Diego Saraiva in May knows that his game is polished and world-class throughout every facet of MMA. This should be a truly spectacular fight.”

Soto said that he “can’t wait for the fight” and thinks he matches up well against Warren.

“I’m just really excited to get in there and compete against him,” Soto said. “He’s a wrestler just like I am, but I think I can out-wrestle him. If he takes me down, I’m better on my back than he is on top. If we stay standing, I think I can out-box him. No matter where the fight goes, I think I’m a much better all-around fighter than he is.”

Warren, for his part, respectfully disagreed, saying that “after Sept. 2, Joe Warren will have his first belt and that’s going to be big trouble for everyone in this weight division.

“Joe Soto is a tough fighter, but he’s going to see the best Joe Warren that’s ever been in a cage,” Warren said. “We’re both great wrestlers so I’m guessing we’re going to get in there and beat the crap out of each other, but in the end I’m going to be taking that belt home with me.”

(thanks to mmaweekly)

(thanks to mmaweekly)

(thanks to mmaweekly)

Though his current contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship is winding down, Randy Couture isn’t showing any signs of slowing down after defeating boxing champion James Toney at UFC 118.

In fact, he’s more than prepared to continue defying Father Time.

“I’m sure the UFC, if things continue the way they’ve been continuing, will want to sign me to a new contract,” he recently told MMAWeekly and the talk after the fight was all about the future, not if he would fight again, but when and where.

“I take ’em as they come,” he said at the post-fight press conference. “They always come up with interesting things to do with me and I’m happy about that.”

UFC president Dana White wasn’t exactly clear on what’s next for the former two-division champion, but it sounds like a dip back down to light heavyweight is in the cards. The fight with Toney was in the heavyweight division.

“Obviously that 205-pound division is exciting. It’s kind of in limbo right now, so getting Couture back in the 205-pound division is a good thing,” he stated.

There are athletes that are able to perform well beyond the expected years typically allotted by time, but it’s a rather rare feat.

Nolan Ryan pitched a Major League Baseball no-hitter when he was 44 years old. George Blanda, playing in the National Football League, was named his conference’s player of the year when he was 43.

Couture, at 47 and already in the UFC Hall of Fame, is still performing at a world-class level.

“I still think it’s incredible,” remarked White. “At 47 years old, he’s still one of the best 205-pounders in the world.

“Randy Couture is a handful for anybody on any given night.”

(thanks to mmaweekly)

(thanks to mmaweekly)

UFC president Dana White is stepping up the speed at which he clones himself, masterminding a plan to take over the world with mixed martial arts.

At least, that’s how other fight promoters have to feel.

Four years ago, the UFC announced the hiring of Marshall Zelaznik to head its return into the U.K. And just two years ago, UFC co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta quit his “day job” at Station Casinos to become the full-time CEO of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Zelaznik has since morphed from the president of the U.K. division to a more sizable role as Managing Director of International Development, while Fertitta has proved a remarkable force in global expansion, quickly landing a partial ownership deal with a firm in Abu Dhabi, among other key areas.

White earlier this year named Tom Wright as the man to knock down doors in Canada, which he quickly did, helping to open Ontario up to mixed martial arts in 2011.

Saturday night, following UFC 118, White named the latest addition to the promotion’s global efforts, Mark Fischer, who will lead the charge in Asia.

A strong move into the Asian market opens up the possibility of airing the UFC’s product in more than 1 billion homes. That represents a tremendous amount of growth for the American based company. The U.S. has an estimated 115 million households.

Like White’s “big announcement” when Fertitta made the full-time move, the casual fan in America isn’t likely to jump up and take notice. Still, it’s a major move for the company, which has always had plans to make mixed martial arts, and its brand of it in particular, the biggest sport in the world.

This type of announcement falls into the behind the scenes category for most fans, but it opens up endless possibilities for the promotion, and exposes itself to fans when they see the influx of new talent from around the world.

Fischer was an executive with the NBA for 12 years, spending five or six of those years building the league’s program in China, so he’s got a leg up on dealing with the various aspects of doing business in Asia.

“As successful as the NBA was there… I think we can do just much with the UFC and more,” Fischer said when he was introduced at the UFC 118 post-fight press conference as the new Managing Director of UFC Asia.

He added that there are numerous markets in Asia that the UFC has a strong interest in. Obviously China and Japan, but also Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Southeast Asia.

White has lately stated that they would like to return to Brazil at around the same time or before the Summer Olympics takes place there in 2016.

So the next question is when does the Brazilian version of Dana White come to the fore?

(thanks to mmaweekly)

The Ultimate Fighting Championship made its big splash in Boston with UFC 118. The promotion continued to pay back the fighters that it felt performed well, handing out $60,000 post-fight bonuses on Saturday night.

Joe Lauzon, who fought on the Spike televised preliminary fight card, used a commanding performance over his former “Ultimate Fighter” teammate, Gabe Ruediger, to earn one of those bonuses.

He showed Ruediger no mercy, taking him down and brutalizing him with punches to soften him up. Lauzon then picked him up and slammed him back down to the mat only to finish him off with an arm bar worth $60,000.

Nate Diaz, saying he wants to float back and forth taking the best fights he can get at both welterweight and lightweight, had a spectacular fight with crowd favorite Marcus Davis at UFC 118. The two punished each other with powerful punches over the course of three rounds before Diaz finally wrestled Davis to the mat and finished him off with a choke that put Davis completely out.

Getting to that choke, the heart and efforts of both men was enough to earn them the Fight of the Night bonus.

There were no knockouts at UFC 118, so the final tally was $180,000 in post-fight

(thanks to mmaweekly)