MMADUMMY

The MMA Show With Mauro Ranallo – 4/27/11

noreply@blogger.com (Brian B) — Fri, 06 May 2011 01:57:00 +0000

MMA HOUR : 81 - B.J. Penn

noreply@blogger.com (Brian B) — Fri, 06 May 2011 01:20:00 +0000

Stann reflects on life as Marine, Sept. 11

noreply@blogger.com (Brian B) — Fri, 06 May 2011 01:15:00 +0000

Brian Stann's story is well known by now.

He enrolled in the United States Naval Academy in 1999, when the world was nothing like it is now. Before Sept. 11, 2001, the kid out of Scranton, Pa., a hard-nosed middle linebacker for the Midshipmen, was, like the rest of his class, a future officer.

Post 9/11, Stann become something much more real, a future combat veteran.

"At that point, every single Midshipmen, once they graduated and moved on to their further training, knew they were going to deploy on combat operations," said Stann, square-jawed, straight out of central casting. "It wasn't going to be like they got deployed and went to Australia."

No one could have predicted he'd receive a Silver Star Medal from the President of the United States. But, for leading a platoon of men safely home, for accomplishing his task over a harrowing week in Iraq, he did. He served two tours before deciding it was time to focus on family, leaving the Corps in 2008 with the rank of captain.

Stann's mission these days is much more personal. He fights for himself, a middleweight contender in the UFC.

Following Sunday's historic mission to take out Osama bin Laden, ESPN.com asked the 30-year-old Stann, who is in Albuquerque training at Greg Jackson's camp for a bout May 28 against Jorge Santiago, for his perspective on the news.

Josh Gross: The country was in a jubilant mood on Sunday night. I'm curious for your initial reaction to news of Osama bin Laden's death. And now that we're a couple days removed, how are you feeling about it?

Brian Stann: I think it was an important war in the War on Terror, without a doubt. For me, I really hope that this can help continue the courses of action that have been taking place in the Middle East with what we saw that happened in Egypt, Bahrain, Libya, Syria and these other countries. I think the youth, young adults are sick and tired of the lack of freedoms that their current regimes and governments are providing them. They're actually starting to want and desire more freedoms like we see in the Western world. If they continue to move down that path I think you'll finally see a significant decrease in activity between the U.S. and some of those countries. I think we'll see terrorism go away. I really hope the death of Osama bin Laden is used appropriately by our media, by our country, by our CIA, by our military, etc., and we continue to help the people of Afghanistan and Iraq. And that's what we see happening in the Middle East, where we see countries moving towards governments allowing their people to live like we live here. Being over there for as long as I was, that was the first thing I noticed. I would never wish it upon a child to be born in Iraq. From the schools I saw. From the living standards. The daily life. It's just terrible when you compare it to some of the worst neighborhoods we have in our own country.

JG: Aside from the geopolitical aspect of this -- and clearly it's an important one -- what about your visceral reaction as an American, as a Marine, as someone who was involved firsthand in being over there. What did you feel?

BS: The bottom line is Osama bin Laden is a man who planned and helped execute attacks on innocent people. There are obviously people who are anti-America that said different things, but at the end of the day America, America's military and our allies do not plan and execute missions that specifically target innocent people, women and children. That's what terrorists do. That's why his death is significant. He is obviously a large figure in that movement. Those type of attacks. Things like that take place every day in the Middle East. We forget there hasn't been a terrorist attack on U.S. soil in about a decade. We're closing in on that. Knock on wood; hopefully that lasts. That's what Osama bin Laden did and that's why he had to be eliminated.

JG: You served two tours in Iraq. Does part of you wish you were in Afghanistan? It seems like the conflict is a totally different one from in Iraq. The experience is different for Marines and troops there. Is there some yearning on your part to go participate?

BS: There always is. I think anybody who serves specifically in a leadership role of some sort in a front line unit is always going to have survivor's guilt. It's something that I toy with every single day. It was a very difficult decision that I had to get out of the Marine Corps and stop leading Marines in combat. I certainly would have been in Afghanistan by now leading a company of Marines and it would have been an amazing opportunity to lead those men. But I chose to be a father and a husband first. Not that it's wrong to stay in the military; that was just my personal decision. I wanted to be around my kids as much as possible. It is definitely a decision that I will teeter-totter on for the rest of my life, but when I hold my daughters that always answers the questions for me.

JG: The way this thing went down with the Navy SEAL Team Six, they seem to be as good as you get; did you have much interaction with the special operators? Was that something you considered going into and pursuing yourself?

BS: Yes, I did have a lot of interaction with them in my first tour in Iraq. And a little bit in my second tour in Iraq. In fact, Tim Kennedy has become a very good friend of mine. We laugh about it. He operated with a unit that I interacted with a little bit in Al-Qa'im, Iraq, in 2005. We may have crossed paths and not even known it. It was something I considered. Every alpha male in the military always considered doing a tour with special operations. The Marine Corps has since come up with their own branch under the Special Operations Command. For me, my passion was more in leadership. When you go into special operations, officers in spec ops certainly don't have the same roles as they do in a typical infantry unit like they would in a Ranger unit or a Marine Corps infantry unit. So that's really the give up. Where I've had the opportunity to lead hundreds of Marines, in a special operations unit you're going to lead eight or 10 guys and they're all going to call you by your first name. It's different. It's something I considered. It's not something I got a chance to do. That said, the task force that is made up of Delta Force operatives and the best of the best of the SEAL community were certainly impressive when I worked with them.

JG: I'm not a military person in that I've never been enlisted and I don't have family in the military. I've been around it because of MMA, but there seems to be a great disconnect between the military and the general population. Most Americans don't have someone in their lives that's connected to the military, so it's like watching from a distance. Do you think events like the bin Laden ki

MMA Weekly: Randy Couture UFC 129 Pre-Fight

noreply@blogger.com (Brian B) — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 06:30:00 +0000

UFC 129 Primetime Episode 1

noreply@blogger.com (Brian B) — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 17:33:00 +0000

ESPN MMA Live: 4-15-11

noreply@blogger.com (Brian B) — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 17:26:00 +0000

Strikeforce - Nick Diaz vs Paul Daley

noreply@blogger.com (Brian B) — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 07:35:00 +0000

ESPN MMA LIVE 4-1-11

noreply@blogger.com (Brian B) — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 22:25:00 +0000

Inside MMA - 4/1/11

noreply@blogger.com (Brian B) — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 22:19:00 +0000

Inside MMA 2/25/2011

noreply@blogger.com (Brian B) — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 19:51:00 +0000

UFC 127 Postfight Press Conference Video

noreply@blogger.com (Brian B) — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 19:30:00 +0000

UFC 127 Gracie Breakdown – BJ PENN VS JON FITCH

noreply@blogger.com (Brian B) — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 19:13:00 +0000

MMA Live: 2-18-11

noreply@blogger.com (Brian B) — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 09:54:00 +0000

Kenny Florian Talks Takanori Gomi & Diego Sanchez

noreply@blogger.com (Brian B) — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 18:55:00 +0000

After a dominant win over Clay Guida, Kenny Florian is setting his sights on UFC newcomer and former Pride champ Takanori Gomi. In the exclusive talk with Cage Potato, he gives us his thoughts on the match-up, and lets us know how he really feels about seeing his old nemesis Diego Sanchez fleeing the lightweight division.

Fans have followed your twitter posts and saw you yesterday on ESPN’s “MMA Live” talking about fighting Takanori Gomi. Has anything developed further since then? Is the fight officially signed by all parties?

No nothing has been signed as of right now. We’re in talks and its being talked about as a main event of the March Fight Night card in North Carolina. I’m excited with that possibility but nothing has been signed yet. Of course it’s something that I’m willing to sign and I’m sure Gomi will as well when the contract has been delivered.

Were you surprised when it was announced that Gomi was signed by the UFC? He’s struggled since 2006 when he lost to Marcus Aurelio.

I was a little surprised when he was signed but not so much because for me it kind of came out of nowhere, but when you really look at it, Gomi has been one of the best lightweight fighters for a long time. He’s a very dangerous fighter and he’s still on a two-fight win streak. He’s still one of the best fighters in the world and I think it was a great signing by the UFC to bring in great Japanese talent and to bring in a legend in mixed martial arts. Japan will be behind him and I know he’s got a lot of fans in the U.S. as well.

It could have been totally in my head, but I sensed a little bit of disappointment when you said on “MMA Live” last night that the fight with Gomi was scheduled to be a Fight Night main event. What is better, being on a Spike main event or being on a pay-per-view, honestly?

Well, they both have their advantages and disadvantages. For me, there is a certain excitement that goes with competing on a pay-per-view event. It’s a little bit more prestigious. But being able to fight on Spike TV is where I got my start so it’s an honor to be fighting on Spike as well. I think the reach is even bigger on Spike TV. I just hope that they market it as an exclusive event, as a big fight. Sometimes I’ll still get, “Hey, congratulations on your recent win over Mishima or Karalexis,” or something. So I hope people realize that it’s a big fight. Its always exciting fighting in the UFC and anytime you get to fight on a main event it’s a special opportunity. So I’m looking to make the most out of it. I’m really looking forward to just getting back into the Octagon and competing again.

I’m assuming that the UFC has Gomi’s fight footage from his days as champion in Pride. Is that type of assurance from the UFC, that they will promote the fight heavily and use all they can, important to you in deciding whether or not to take the fight?

No. I’m going to take the fight. I’ve always wanted to compete against the best fighters. I think Gomi is one of the best. For me, I don’t care where I fight, when I fight. The opportunity to fight a guy like that is not something to pass up. For me, I’m just looking forward to going against a fighter like Gomi.

Assuming you’re fighting on that March card against Gomi, what’s your schedule from here on out? I know you’ve already been training, but what’s the plan for a training camp?

I’ve already been training, like you said, and I’m in Florida right now doing an appearance. As soon as I get back to Boston it’s pretty much back to business and a little bit more hardcore training as we start to working towards the crescendo and as we get closer to the fight, we taper – probably the week before the fight. I’m looking forward to getting right back into training and during that time I’ll be spending a lot of time in Montreal and of course in Boston. That’s where I split my time training.

Right now I’ve just been developing a lot of new things, a lot of new techniques, doing a lot of things with Firas [Zahabi] and my brother and my boxing coach Peter Welch. We all have goals for me to be working towards and I’ve been doing my best to achieve those goals. I think we’ll see a different Kenny Florian for this fight and I’m looking to surprise people once again. I’m very motivated for this fight and my coaches are the best in the world. We’ll all be ready.

Last question is off topic. Diego Sanchez looks to be going back up to welterweight. I guess I’m curious about a couple different points there with you. How badly did you want a rematch with him? Would you have fought Diego even if he was coming off of a loss and you were coming off of a win? Did you want to fight him that badly?

Yeah, I would have fought him. Definitely. Diego is still a good fighter and there’s no shame in losing to a guy like BJ Penn. We are both different fighters from the first time we fought and of course I’d love a rematch with Diego. Who knows? Maybe it’s still something that could happen, you know? Maybe we could meet at a catch weight or maybe we could do it at 155. I think Diego wants big fights. I still see this as a viable option in the future.

You talk about this in a very calm and classy way, and you did that yesterday in your role as a commentator for “MMA Live.” But given that Diego was talking a lot when he moved down to lightweight basically saying, ‘I saw Kenny doing so well and I kicked Kenny’s ass so I should be able to do really well,’ – I know you saw those comments and you’re not with “MMA Live” right now, you’re talking with CagePotato. Is there any satisfaction in seeing Diego decide that he can’t do it at lightweight and go up to welterweight again?

(Laughs) You know, I pretty much predicted that. The skill level at 155lbs is the best in the UFC, if you look across the board, in terms of well-rounded fighters. You are not going to come in to the UFC 155 division and start finishing guys right away. People see me doing it and what do they think I’m doing, just lying around not training? I train my ass off every single day to be able to do that and it’s not an easy thing to be able to finish guys at 155. That’s something I really pride myself on. The only guys, I think, at 155 that are consistently finishing people are me and BJ Penn. I think that takes a special skill to be able to do that. Not everybody can do that, I don’t promise to be able to do that all the time but that’s the way I fight and that’s the way I train to fight.

Diego thought he was going to be able to go out there and just smash people at 155. Not going to happen, Diego. The skill level is too good out there. You have to be very, very well rounded. He thought what he was able to do at 170, he was going to do even better at 155 and that’s just not the case. It just shows me the talent that is out there at 155. In my opinion, Diego just never looked great at 155.
cagepotato.com

ESPN MMA Live: 1-14-10

noreply@blogger.com (Brian B) — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 02:03:00 +0000

Kim Couture vs. Jessica Cruz

noreply@blogger.com (Brian B) — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 01:38:00 +0000

Womens MMA Fight - Kim Couture vs. Jessica Cruz

Nick Diaz Vs. Robbie Lawler

noreply@blogger.com (Brian B) — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 01:34:00 +0000

UFN 20 : Amir Sadollah vs Brad Black Burn

noreply@blogger.com (Brian B) — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 01:34:00 +0000

Trainer: Lesnar Definitely Coming Back!

noreply@blogger.com (Brian B) — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 01:25:00 +0000

Brock Lesnar’s primary trainer, Greg Nelson, has no doubts that the sidelined UFC heavyweight champion will grace the Octagon again, though there is no concrete timetable for the fallen fighter’s return.

“Brock Lesnar is definitely coming back to fight,” Nelson told ESPN’s “MMA Live” show on Thursday. “He’s just kind of coming up slowly, trying to get his body ready and being smart with his recovery.”

Lesnar withdrew from two scheduled title bouts against Shane Carwin late last year after he was hospitalized in mid November with an intestinal tract infection, said UFC President Dana White. The 32-year old fighter was reportedly hospitalized for 11 days in North Dakota, where he is said to have undergone “minor surgery” before being released to his home in Alexandria, Minn.

On Jan. 2, White said Lesnar might have to undergo additional surgery that could keep him out of competition longer than hoped. In response, the promotion announced in early January that Shane Carwin and Frank Mir would meet for an interim heavyweight title bout at UFC 111 on March 27 in Newark, N.J.

Earlier his week, White said the promotion planned to hold a press conference, with Lesnar in attendance, sometime next week in Las Vegas. No details have been released yet though, while Nelson had no additional information to offer.

“That’s the surprise for everybody,” Nelson told “MMA Live.”. “I’m not sure what he’s going to say or what the expectations are at this point.”

Lesnar has yet to comment publicly on his situation, leaving any updates regarding his future up to the UFC and his trainers.

“He really likes his privacy and spending time with his family,” said Nelson, “and once he’s not training, he’s spending 100 percent of his quality time with his family, especially his new son.”

Nelson, who also trains former UFC lightweight champion Sean Sherk at the Minnesota Martial Arts Academy, said he’s had “occasional” communication with Lesnar, by phone, email and text.

“He’s been going in to the doctor and making sure everything’s going well for him,” said Nelson. “He’ll continue to go in for a couple more tests to make sure he’s 100 percent ready to train when he starts up. He still has a few more things to go through.”

Nelson predicted Lesnar would rebound quickly once he resumed his training.

“Being the athlete that he is and just a strong, tough guy, he’s used to dealing with diversity and stuff like that, I think he’ll be able to come back faster probably than people expect, but we’re not going to push the river at all,” he said. “We want him to be 100 percent healthy when he begins to train… I’m sure once he gets going he’ll be at the top of his game real quick.”
cagedfire.com

Breaking News! Frankie Edgar to Fight BJ Penn

noreply@blogger.com (Brian B) — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 05:39:00 +0000

UFN 20 : Aaron Simpson vs Tom Lawlor

noreply@blogger.com (Brian B) — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 05:34:00 +0000

UFN 20 - Aaron Simpson vs Tom Lawlor

'Rampage Jackson" Dry Humps Some Female Reporter!

noreply@blogger.com (Brian B) — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 05:26:00 +0000

Cop One-Hand Body Slams Some UFC Fan!

noreply@blogger.com (Brian B) — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 05:24:00 +0000

UFC Undisputed 2010 (Including Kimbo Slice)

noreply@blogger.com (Brian B) — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 05:24:00 +0000

50 Cent & Jimmy Iovine Kickin' It With UFC President Dana White

noreply@blogger.com (Brian B) — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 05:22:00 +0000