Former UFC light heavyweight titleholder Tito Ortiz will race through the streets of Long Beach on April 16 to raise money for charity.

Oritz is entered in the 35th annual Toyota Pro/Celebrity race and will be donated the proceeds to “Racing for Kids” with the money going to the Miller’s Children Hospital in Long Beach and Orange County.

“We got in touch with them last year about doing it,” said Ortiz. “I was recovering (from neck surgery) about this time last year, so I wasn’t able to get in a car, but I’ve always been a huge fan of it. I’ve always wanted to do it, so it was an opportunity that came around again and I’ll be doing it.”

“I’m always giving back to our youth. It’s something that I’ve always done,” Ortiz told Heavy.com. “It’s always about giving back to the children.”

Ortiz hasn’t raced before, but has been a long time fan of racing, particularly Formula 1.

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Televised Bouts
Dan Henderson, $250,000 (no win bonus) = def. Rafael “Feijao” Calvacante, $28,000
Marloes Coenen, $10,000 (no win bonus) = def. Liz Carmouche, $5,000
Tim Kennedy, $50,000 (no win bonus) = def. Melvin Manhoef, $10,000
Jorge Masvidal, $15,000 + $15,000 (win bonus) = $30,000 def. Billy Evangelista, $20,000

Undercard Bouts
Roger Bowling, $3,500 + $3,500 (win bonus) = $7,000 def. Josh Thornburg, $2,000
Jorge Gurgel, $4,000 + $4,000 (win bonus) = $8,000 def. Billy Vaughan, $1,500
Jason Freeman, $1,500 + $1,500 (win bonus) = $3,000 def. Jason Riley, $1,500
Brian Rogers, $1,500 + $1,500 (win bonus) = $3,000 def. Ian Rammel, $1,500
Mitch Whitesel, $1,500 + $1,500 (win bonus) = $3,000 def. Marc Cofer, $1,500
John Kuhner, $1,500 + $1,500 (win bonus) = $3,000 def. JP Felty, $1,500

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Admin Note: No wonder Dan wants to fight two more times this year. A cool quarter of a million per fight would make me want to fight again also. He made more than the entire rest of the fight card combined. Good stuff for Hendo.

By Michael David Smith

We’re used to it by now. Those of us who love mixed martial arts have come to accept that our sport will be subjected to ignorant, unfair commentary from people who don’t understand it and don’t care to understand it, and that the anti-MMA voices will grow particularly loud any time the sport becomes regulated in an area where it had previously been banned.

But even if we’re used to it, and it would be easier just to ignore it, sometimes it’s valuable to point out some of the over-the-top assertions about MMA that come out in the local media whenever the sport arrives in a new town.

So with MMA recently being legalized in Ontario, let’s take a look at some of the problems with this Windsor Star column by Anne Jarvis.

Jarvis starts with this:
“So, Maximum Fighting Championship 29: Conquer is coming to Caesars Windsor next month. They’ll have to hose the blood off the floor of the Colosseum.  Mixed martial arts is the full-contact, almost no-holdsbarred sport combining boxing, wrestling and martial arts. Bouts are fought in a cage. It’s bloody barbaric, and I meant that pun.”

Good one.
“Half of bouts end in a knockout, technical knockout or “choke out,” all of which can cause brain injury. Some of these guys will likely suffer chronic traumatic encephalopathy, like hockey player Bob Probert.”

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By Jesse Holland

“The Dream” is required to have his left orbital bone cleared by a maxillofacial surgeon before returning to action (click here to see why) while “The Hitman” must get clearance from an orthopedic doctor (right hand) prior to re-entering the Octagon.

But that’s not all

Here is the complete list of UFC on Versus 3 injuries and their medical instructions:

Todd Brown: Suspended for 60 days (precautionary reasons).

Thiago Tavares: Suspended for 60 days (precautionary reasons).

C.B. Dollaway: Suspended for 60 days (precautionary reasons).

Martin Kampmann: Suspended indefinitely unless right hand cleared by an orthopedic doctor.

Diego Sanchez: Suspended indefinitely unless left orbital bone cleared by a maxillofacial surgeon.

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By MMAjunkie.com

The first two months of 2011 delivered two high-profile draws – UFC 125′s Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard II and UFC 127′s B.J. Penn vs. Jon Fitch – both of which ushered in a slew of controversy and left their respective divisions in flux.

As a rule, draws generally frustrate fans, almost certainly frustrate fighters and generally cause more confusion than resolution. But can the sport’s governing bodies find some way to improve the current system? At least one UFC champion thinks so.

In this past week’s new edition of HDNet’s “Inside MMA,” MMA legend and show host Bas Rutten addressed a viewer’s email that suggested an overtime round be instituted to resolve draws in high-profile bouts such as title contests and No. 1 contender affairs.

Rutten, a former UFC heavyweight champion and King of Pancrase, thinks the idea is a winner. After all, it’s already used in other combat sports, and the UFC even has a “sudden victory” round in place for its Spike TV-broadcast reality series.

“They do it at K-1 in Japan, and I love that idea,” Rutten said. “Actually, ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ does it, too. You fight to a draw, boom, the last [round], whoever wins that wins.”

Edgar, who survived a first-round beatdown against Maynard to battle make to a split draw at UFC 125, was a guest on the new edition of “Inside MMA” and also supported the idea. The UFC lightweight champion now rematches his nemesis at May’s UFC 130 event, but Edgar said he would have preferred to put the situation behind him in January.

“I think another five-minute round would be perfect,” Edgar said. “You go into a fight, you prepare, and you want a decisive outcome. To have to wait another three months and possibly another fight is kind of annoying. I would say another round would be great. You get to figure out who’s the winner right then and there.

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By Erik Engelhart

Without fighting since 2009, when he beat Marvin Eastman upo n Bitetti Combat 4, Ricardo Arona can’t wait to return to the rings. The tough guy suffered a knee injury on his last fight and he’s almost 100% recovered. Training in Itacoatiara with Paulo Filho among other athletes, Arona guarantees that in two months top he’ll be ready to fight and dreams with a vacancy on UFC Rio, which happens on August 27th, in Rio de Janeiro.

“I don’t have a contract signed with nobody, but I want to be ok to sign a contract, preferably an international one, but Brazil has been evolving a lot, so maybe I’ll fight in Brazil again. My goal is to dispute an international championship, except if it’s on UFC Rio, because it’s an international championship, but it’ll be in Brazil. If I have the chance to fight on UFC in August, it’ll be the ideal. I’ve been training thinking about it, I want to be 100% to return on this UFC in Brazil, I think it’d be perfect to return on UFC Rio and I’ve been training hard for it”, commented Arona.

How is your knee recovery and how is your preparation?
It’s ok. I’m not giving 100% on my trainings yet, but I’m training it all: Muay Thai, Boxing, Jiu-Jitsu, Wrestling, conditioning trainings… My knee is almost 100% healed, I’m almost ready to fight. I’m training hard, working on my conditioning, I’m preparing to return this year. I’m preparing, confident, training hard, doing some physiotherapy and preparing myself to return in 2010.

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Saturday, March 5th. Illinois is in deep cloud cover, awash with snow and icy rain. Forty minutes west of Chicago, in the town of Villa Park, inside the Odeum Expo Center, Jens Pulver is hounding local palooka Wade Choate around the cage. It’s the closing minutes of their three-round affair. The arena is already half emptied out.

For Pulver, having just snapped a six-fight losing streak last January, this fight is the first chance in nearly five years for him to put two wins together and begin to change the story of the end of his career. Wade Choate is in a hole almost as deep. Dubbed “The Last Dog Man,” he also just recently emerged from a stretch of losses, which saw his record fall to 12-12-0 before a win last August. He’s a little younger than Pulver, but he’s never reached the heights the former UFC champ has seen. As if he’d like to erase the past two years of his career, Choate’s introduction states his record as it stood in January of 2009, before his five-fight skid: 12-7-0.

It’s easy to imagine how desperate he is to string a couple of wins together, and though outside the cage he may have observed Pulver’s recent downward spiral with due sympathy, in the fight it’s every man for himself. Hence Choate’s refusal to stand in the pocket, and his stubborn adherence to a stick-and-move game plan. It’s been surprisingly effective. Pulver’s had trouble chasing him down all night, and his power shots have come slow and fallen short time and again. It’s enough to draw angry boos from the crowd. Unthinkably, the words “You suck” rain down from somewhere in the audience.

Pulver and Choate fight it out for a final, lonely couple of minutes. When it comes time to hear the judges’ decision, Pulver favors his left foot as he walks over to the referee. It’s a close fight to call, but people nevertheless crowd the exits.

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Speaking via Heavy.com, Santiago said:

“I couldn’t ask for a better opportunity. Come back to the United States, fight in the UFC, Brian Stann, an American hero, main card, May 28th. I couldn’t ask for a better opportunity, you know?”

“As soon as I heard he was the guy I was supposed to fight, Brian Stann, he’s [making] a lot of noise, I was like, `man, perfect, right away, yes.’ Like I said, I want to come back to the United States and face the best guys, and right now, he’s an [up-and-coming] fighter, and I think it’s the best time for me to prove myself to all the American fans, you know?”

“There’s a lot of people doubting me because I’m not here, I’m not fighting the guys everybody sees on every month on TV, because the Japanese fighters don’t get the same exposure here in the United States. Like I said, I’ve fought a lot of good guys, I’ve [beaten] a lot of good names, I’ve [won] a lot of titles in my life, but I just want to come back and take it one step at a time.

I’m getting back to the UFC; I’ll have this fight, of course, one day, I want to fight for the title, but I just want to prove myself and do everything I did in Japan. I want to [do the same things here in the UFC.] Sky’s the limit, my friend.”

Santiago also spoke about how he feels he stacks up against current UFC middleweight champion, Anderson Silva, explaining no one is unbeatable and that he’s more than capable of getting the job done.

“Of course; nobody is unbeatable man, we know that. With the right game plan, I think one advantage I have to my game is that I know how to mix it up. I’m not just a striker; I do jiu jitsu, wrestling. If somebody wants to come and just bang, it’s not something that I’m going to do. I’m going to chose what I want to do. We saw the fight against Chael Sonnen; everybody has their weaknesses, their bad day. I think I have a big chance.”

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He’s seen as unbeatable and bears an undecipherable game, to the point of Dana White naming him as the much heavier Anderson Silva’s next opponent – with whom he battles for post of most well-rounded fighter in the UFC.

What is black belt Georges Saint-Pierre’s training like, and how has Jiu-Jitsu – its techniques and philosophies – helped him hang on to his UFC 155-lb belt for so long?

We took advantage of GSP’s trip to London, for drawn-out training sessions with Roger Gracie and Bráulio Estima, to reap significant lessons from the champion for readers and your average practitioner, assembling them in an eight-page layout. With GSP even teaching one of his most famous finishes. It’s a can’t miss issue, not just for Jiu-Jitsu and self-defense fans, but for readers keen on the goings-on in the world of MMA.

Get your copy of GRACIEMAG at home by clicking here.

This past Saturday, March 5th, marked the start of Season 4 for Bellator. It also marked 21 days until my fight in the Bellator Light Heavyweight Tournament. I sat on the sofa to watch the fights on MTV2. While I watched, I felt my heart began to race and my level of anticipation rise. There was now a visual to attach to my training. The circular Bellator cage. The announcers likenesses and voices. I will be there in three weeks. I will be part of history, the premier Light Heavyweight Tournament.

Three fights in three months. This will be a true test of fitness, dedication and preparation. I have spent the last two months visualizing the belt around my waist. My arms raised in victory. My team by my side, victorious in the Bellator cage. Now, back to the sofa. As I tuned in to watch, I was impressed by the production and the event. But moreover, the fights were well matched and each was a bit of a surprise to me.

To see so many fighters do a stand up game was not expected. Each of those fights went to a decision. One of the four went to the ground and ended in what could be considered controversy. I will leave this to the judges (to be discussed later… stay tuned). The four men who have moved on in the tournament are each one step closer to their goal. And I took that step with them. I felt each punch thrown as though I had thrown it. It was as if I was there.

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The UFC is set to visit the prominent city of Malmo with a Fight Night event on November 5th, according to Swedish site FightPlay.tv

The report cites sources at MMA clothing giant TapouT, a leading sponsor of UFC events. Previous cities under consideration were Stockholm and Gothenburg but and Malmo has apparently won out.

Presumably the card will feature Swedish names such as Alexander Gustaffson, alongside one or two newly-signed local names from Sweden and the surrounding Scandinavian area.

The north European region is a hotbed of MMA activity and the sport has a considerable following in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland.

Malmo, Sweden’s second city, has an arena capable of holding around 15,000 spectators. The UFC would probably attract a capacity crowd for its first show in the country, making for an unusually large live gate for a Fight Night event.

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Word coming out of Vegas is that UFC fighter Pat Barry has “blown a gasket”. He has reportedly been running around the city kicking the snot out of innocent pedestrians. In the photo above, you can see Pat threatening a helpless street entertainer for not doing a good job playing a Michael Jackson medley on his accordion. Moments later Pat attacked this Mexican street performer with a vicious display of a GSP-esq superman punch followed by some brutal ground and pound!

Here is a picture of the aftermath…

Not only did he kick the shit out of the poor guy, he stole his hat and his accordian as well!!

As if that weren’t enough, he was later seen attacking a pair of Elvis impersonators…Here is the before picture…

I would post the after picture, but it was just to gross. Two bloody Elvis impersonators laying in a pool of their own blood and feces.  Oh the humanity of it all!!

Pat was last seen trying to sleep it off on the street beside some dude he met…

Moments after this picture was taken, he threw that guy off that overpass and kicked the shit out of the dude with the camera!

If you see Pat Barry in your area, do not attempt to restrain him yourself. He is a world class UFC fighter and will probably kick your ass. So just run!

More news on this breaking story coming as it becomes available!

By Dave Walsh

It was bound to happen sooner or later, and it did. We’ve been talking about this mythical fight Jean-Claude Van Damme has been preparing for now for just about two years, and it never felt any closer. There were talks of having Golden Boy promote the fight in Vegas, but after contacting the NSAC it was clear that they had never heard from anyone about a JCVD fight, ever, and that it would be a big risk for Oscar De la Hoya and his crew.

There were talks about China, Thailand, Japan, getting K-1 to promote the fight. There were dates, it was pushed back due to JCVD’s schedule, trouble finding a suitable promoter. The list goes on and on and on and sadly, on. But it seems like JCVD has finally found suitable business partners and an arena to host such an event as a kickboxing fight against Somluck Kamsing.

Apparently the legendary Fairtex gym will be hosting JCVD’s fight in November or December of this year in Thailand. Banjong Bussarakamwong of Fairtex will be promoting the fight and is currently looking for a suitable 30,000 seat arena, possibly the Impact Arena or the Hua Mak Indoor Stadium. There are talks about the fight being broadcast live across the world as well and Kamsing was given a 200,000 baht down payment (about $6,500).

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By TMZ

Shad Gaspard was arrested yesterday in Columbus, OH after what his wife claims was a jaywalking incident that turned into a case of racial profiling.

Shad’s wife Siliana tells TMZ her husband did not resist when a cop tried to bust him for jaywalking as he made his way to the Arnold Fitness EXPO. She says Shad got into a kneeling position to show he was not resisting … but the cops shoved his face into the dirt anyway.

Siliana tells us Shad told her he felt like he was “being profiled” and “treated like a n****r.”

Former UFC champ Josh Barnett, who was with Gaspard at the time, seemed to back up Shad’s version of events on his Twitter page, posting last night, “Shad Gaspard arrested because a Columbus officer abuses his authority. False jaywalking charge + attitude turns to handcuffs and tackling.”

According to law enforcement, Gaspard — who as part of the tag team Cryme Tyme once held the tag team title — was arrested for resisting arrest and obstructing official business.

Calls to the Columbus PD were not returned.

Source

UPDATE: Josh had this to say tonight about this on twitter: “I was there and it was total BS, abuse of authority and EGO driven.”

By Trent Reinsmith

Strikeforce Columbus: Feijao vs Henderson is in the books and it is now time to start looking forward toward the next two Strikeforce events.

Strikeforce had originally planned on presenting the second round of quarterfinal bouts for their World Heavyweight Grand Prix Tournament on April 9th, but those fights have been pushed back until June 8th.

Strikeforce will still present a fight card on April 9th. The promotion will head to San Diego, California on that date and present an event that will feature two Srikeforce title fights as welterweight champion Nick Diaz takes on Paul Daley and lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez meets Tatsuya Kawajiri.

The Grand Prix event on June 8th will be held in Dallas, Texas at the American Airlines Arena and will feature the second set of quarterfinal bouts in the World Heavyweight Grand Prix tournament, Alistair Overeem versus Fabricio Werdum and Brett Rogers versus Josh Barnett.

What follow are ten questions heading into those two Strikeforce events.

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By Josh Barnett

My next fight: Strikeforce! Dallas Texas June 18th. American Airlines Arena vs. Brett Rodgers. Live on Showtime as well.

RIP Rogers.

Mark your calendar – the Baka Survivor Shinya Aoki will be facing Lyle Beerbhom on the April 9th Strikeforce event. This comes from the man himself, Mr. Aoki. This should be a very exciting matchup as both have won by way of submission many times. Beerbohm is coming off of his loss to Pat Healy at the last Strikeforce Challengers event, while Aoki is coming off of a loss (if you want to call it that) to Jienotsu.

Contract signed, i’s dotted, t’s crossed. Add it to the calendar.

Source

By ESPN

Marshall Zelaznik labelled Dan Hardy‘s forthcoming clash with Anthony Johnson a “ridiculous fight”, claiming we are about to see what Hardy is “really made of”.

Hardy and Johnson collide in the co-main event of UFC Fight Night 24, headlined by a light-heavyweight encounter between Phil Davis and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.

For the Briton it is the chance to bounce back from a knockout loss to Carlos Condit, and Zelaznik admits it never ceases to amaze him how willing the UFC‘s fighters are to head straight back into blockbuster contests.

“Dan Hardy has a big, big fight with Anthony Johnson. It’s a ridiculous fight. We’re going to see where the cream rises, If it was boxing Hardy would be looking at a couple of nice comeback fights to get him going after the Carlos Condit loss, but we’re going to see what he’s really made of.” the UFC chief told ESPN.

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The new promotion spearheaded by former Pride FC president Nobuyuki Sakakibara and former Pride FC vice president Hiroyuki Kato is gaining momentum as the pair have moved into an office in Shibuya, Tokyo and have started to flesh out the details of their Spring event.

It has been decided that Kato will be the face of the promotion while Sakakibara will be working behind the scenes due to Sakakibara’s past legal issues and the plan at this stage is to have the event at either JCB Hall or Yoyogi No. 2 Gymnasium.

The event will be called something along the lines of “Japan Cup – Bantamweight GP” and will include several fighters that fought under the DREAM banner and obviously a bantamweight tournament. DREAM champions Shinya Aoki and Hiroyuki Takaya and top lightweight Tatsuya Kawajiri were being targeted, but have since been lost to Strikeforce. The loss of Aoki is quite surprising as Kato has personally been paying Aoki for his fights in DREAM.

The event will not be a major production or a replacement for DREAM or Pride FC, but will be around the size of Shooto’s Vale Tudo Japan. DREAM was planning on holding a bantamweight GP in 2011, but it now seems unlikely.

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By Damon Martin

Marcus Davis will still make his Maximum Fighting Championship debut in April, but it will be with a new opponent.

Original opponent Kajan Johnson is out with an injured shoulder, and Curtis Demarce has stepped in as a replacement.

Sources close to the negotiations confirmed the new bout to MMAWeekly.com on Sunday.

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By Freya Vor

It’s been a long running pledge of loyalty that MMA fighters not fight with others who train in their camps. These informal “teams” have developed throughout MMA; but, like a pyramid, it gets narrow at the top and some of these loyalties are about to be challenged.

The most recent debate, which could illustrate the classic, “cart before the horse” involves Jon Jones and Rashaad Evans. Instead of avoiding the issue by taking the “we’ll have to see what happens with Shogun first” angle, both Jones and Evans, fueled by UFC President Dana White, have fanned the flames of the debate.

Both Jones and Evans train at Greg Jackson’s gym in Albuquerque and have showed solidarity that they would not fight the other. Both indicated that they would sit and wait for another opportunity if either became champion. However, when papa bear White stepped in and pointed out to Evans the lunacy of sitting out, Evans softened his stance, which caused Jones to soften his stance, which caused Evans to take it to the ghetto, pointing out “I’m no punk…”.

The issue is not isolated at Jackson’s, generally considered the world’s top MMA gym. American Kickboxing Academy and the other top “teams” have had to address the same issue.

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By Dave Walsh

The fight that almost didn’t happen is indeed happening. Hesdy Gerges has had his legal problems, but he is a free man for now and takes on the very, very tough Daniel Ghita. Both men start off throwing incredibly hard and fast kicks, to the extent where you forget how big they are. Ghita’s hands have improved, but Gerges still has an edge in that department, he is also checking every few leg kicks, but Ghita’s leg kicks are crisp and deadly.

Ghita comes out a bit slower than he did in the first round and is getting frustrated by Gerges’ quick combos. He drops his hands and invites Gerges to unload on him, awesome moment where he is just shouting for more punishment. This won’t win him the round or the fight, but moments like that are amazing. Gerges keeps his combos crisp and near the end of the second round is actually able to drop Ghita hitting him low! Ghita pulls himself up and keeps slugging it out. It isn’t clear if that was counted as a down or not, but it doesn’t matter as it was a round for Hesdy.

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By Oriosvaldo Costa

The primitives warned us that the nation that steals from itself its artistic, cultural and sportive creations is condemned to fail. Not even is so called totalitarian countries, like Iran or Venezuela, MMA chased like it is in Brazil, where it’s been created.

I don’t really consider Brazil a democratic country. Fighters and managers may be deprived from their right to raise money, and the fans won’t have the freedom of chose what they want to have fun with.

The controversy bill of the reelected congressman Jose Mentor (PT-SP) might bring us a lot of headache pretty soon. I actually had to change this article like three times in two days because things wouldn’t stop to come up.

On the last week, PL 5.534/09 has been filled. However, Jose Mentor demanded it was reopened, and obeyed right away. These things make me think that this congressman will have even more influence on this new government than he had on the previous one.

He was able to convince, secretly, the current writer of the bill, so that he seems favorable to the approval of the project, unlike the former writer, who was against it. The infamous bill transacts in Brasilia since June of 2009 and intends to forbid the broadcast of non-Olympic combat sports on all kinds of Brazilian television.

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By Geno McGahee

Mixed Martial Arts knows how to use athletes of other fields. WWE does as well, and that is why they work so well together. Former WWE Champion “Batista” is making the move that Brock Lesnar and Bobby Lashley have made, shifting over to the world of mixed martial arts and is in negotiations with another former WWE superstar, Ken Shamrock.

A Shamrock vs. Batista match is a big seller because of their association with the WWE. It’s a curiosity and that will sell. James Toney coming to the UFC in an un-winnable fight sold very well because it was a curiosity. Batista is a huge guy and is reportedly on a collision course with yet another former WWE guy turned MMA guy, Bobby Lashley.

Look for the Batista-Shamrock bout to materialize. Ken Shamrock seems to enjoy the role of gatekeeper and likes the idea of turning a good buck against a big guy that may not know what he needs to about mixed martial arts. At the advanced age, Shamrock is still strong and still knows how to fight. It should be very interesting.

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They are two of the greatest fighters of all time, and they fight under the same promotional banner, yet we rarely hear the names of Dan Henderson and Fedor Emelianenko paired together for a potential superfight. Well, I’m here to start the push. Henderson vs. Emelianenko is a fight Strikeforce should seriously consider as the next one for the legends of the sport.

On Saturday night, Henderson won yet another piece of hardware to add to an already impressive collection. After knocking out Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante, the 40-year-old now boasts the promotion’s light-heavyweight championship. Aside from that, he’s held PRIDE 183- and 205-pound titles, the PRIDE 2005 welterweight Grand Prix crown, the RINGS King of Kings tournament championship back in 1999, the UFC middleweight tournament championship in 1998, and of course, he was a two-time U.S. wrestling Olympian.

He’s won both tournament and championship titles in three different decades, a testament to the longevity of one of the most decorated American fighters of all time, who has amazingly been considered among the pound-for-pound best in the sport for over a decade, ever since beating heavyweights Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Renato Sobral in one night to capture the RINGS tourney.

Through the years, Henderson has continued his laissez faire approach to weight divisions, fighting wherever it made the most sense rather than sticking to one place. As he explained after beating Cavalcante last night, he’s never been especially worried about facing bigger guys.

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By John Morgan

The TapouT Chevrolet made its NASCAR debut, and driver Elliot Sadler guided the No. 2 car to a 12th-place finish in its first-ever race.

The TapouT-sponsored race car was officially unveiled at Saturday’s Sam’s Town 300 Nationwide Series Race, which took place at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and was broadcast on ABC.

In February, MMA clothing manufacturer TapouT announced it was branching out from its core audience with a multi-year partnership with racing team Kevin Harvick Inc.

“I expect NASCAR and MMA fans to be in a bit of shock – in a good way,” TapouT exec Tim “Skyskrape” Katz stated in the original announcement. “TapouT has never ventured outside of MMA like this, but seeing how the fans love both sports, I think they will be the real winners here.

“TapouT loves doing things out of the ordinary and we think this is going to be a great partnership.”

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By Thomas Gerbasi

On Saturday, March 19, 23-year old Jon Jones will challenge for the UFC light heavyweight title in the main event of UFC 128 in Newark, New Jersey. The man he will face that night, champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, knows a little something about being the young gun tearing through everyone in his path, as he did so back in his days in Japan’s PRIDE organization.

In his 23rd year, Rua went 5-0, defeating Hiromitsu Kanehara, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Alistair Overeem, and Ricardo Arona, an amazing run to say the least. And while the 29-year old version of Shogun is finally healthy and ready to build on his UFC knockout wins over Mark Coleman, Chuck Liddell, and Lyoto Machida, now we’re going to look back at the defining bouts of the first chapter of his fighting career.

Akira Shoji – October 5, 2003 – PRIDE Bushido 1
Result – Rua KO1
4-1 in his mixed martial arts career, 21-year old Mauricio Rua made his PRIDE debut against the man many of the Japanese organization’s big names made their bones against – veteran gatekeeper Akira Shoji. And despite the fact that Shoji had been on the losing end of his PRIDE bouts more often than not, he was never one to go away quietly, and he actually came into the Rua bout with a two-fight winning streak, his first in three years. And while obviously raw technique wise, there was no disputing the athleticism and potential of the youngster from Curitiba, who rebounded from a slow start that saw him taken down and almost caught in a heel hook to stop Shoji with a series of flush shots to the head at the 3:47 mark. The win began a streak that lasted nearly two and a half years and built Rua from unknown to superstar.

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By Guilherme Cruz

UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio Shogun will put his title on the line against the young Jon Jones. Despite all experience he has on MMA and the fact he had become Pride’s champion when he was at the same age Jones currently is, the Brazilian is seen as the underdog by the press and the American fans, but his brother Murilo “Ninja” Rua bets all his chips in Mauricio, despite complimenting the American.

“Jon Jones is a respectful athlete, he’s young, but my brother is the favorite for the experience he has, he’s fought tougher guys than Jones. My brother has proven it, and he’ll win. The guy wants it bad, he has nothing to lose, but the experience can be the differential”, bets Murilo, who doesn’t consider Jones to be the greatest challenge on his brother’s career. “He’s one of the toughest fighters on MMA currently, he’s tall and has a great conditioning, he’s rising, so it must be a hell of a good fight. But he’ll get hurt when my brother’s punches finds his face. Jon Jones ain’t Mauricio’s greatest challenge. My brother had had great ones, and it’ll be another fight on his career”.

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By ESPN

Major doubt exists over whether Georges St-Pierre and Anderson Silva are still heading for a UFC superfight later this year.

The two champions of the welterweight and middleweight divisions respectively had been expected to finally put on the most eagerly awaited fight in UFC history if they both came through their latest title defences. Silva was successful in his collision with Vitor Belfort at UFC 126, which has just left St-Pierre to follow suit against Jake Shields at UFC 129.

However, doubts have begun to emerge over the bout following BJ Penn‘s uninspiring draw with Jon Fitch. In previous interviews St-Pierre has explained that once he steps up to middleweight he will stay there, and the Penn v Fitch draw leaves no obvious successors to GSP’s 170lb throne.

Now St-Pierre himself is casting doubt for the first time over a future collision with Silva, pointing out the one problem that UFC president Dana White has always alluded to, that Silva is significantly larger than the Canadian.

“I don’t know [about fighting Anderson Silva],” St-Pierre recently said on UFC on Versus. “I need to sit down with my entourage and see first where this fight will take place and what weight, and a bunch of stuff. Right now I’m focusing just on Jake Shields, I don’t see further than Jake Shields.

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Admin Note: This fight will NOT happen. Not a year from now, not ever. Period.

The only person in the world who thinks this is a good idea and is actually calling for this fight to happen is Lorenzo Fertitta. He tells Dana to try to make it happen, so Dana is trying to make it happen. But it’s not going to happen. So the false hype being attempted by these for profit news sites attempting to put fake public pressure on Georges, needs to stop. Because this fight does not make any sense at all. These guys are in two completely different weight classes. Anderson out weighs Georges by around 50 pounds! Why on earth would Georges St Pierre ever want to give up his title, then take a year+ off to change his entire body and training style, just to go up and risk everything on a single fight with a guy who should be fighting at light heavyweight??…It doesn’t make any sense, Georges would have to be a stupid person to accept that fight. And he is not a stupid person. So the fight will never happen. That is that.

- Evil

By Mike Whitman

It only took one punch. Then again, when Dan Henderson is throwing, it usually only takes one punch.

The former two-division Pride Fighting Championships titleholder found a home for his infamous overhand right and lifted Strikeforce’s light heavyweight championship from Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante in the main event of Saturday’s show at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.

“I was excited for the fight and the chance to fight someone like ‘Feijao,’” the new champion told Sherdog.com following his title win. “I felt like the belt was just the cherry on top, and I love cherries.”

Though Henderson came out on top, the UFC veteran was forced to weather an early storm from Cavalcante. In the opening round, the Brazilian clipped “Hendo” with a straight right hand that sent the American reeling.

“I don’t know [how hurt I was]. Whether I’m hurt or not, I can never remember what I do to set things up half the time,” said Henderson. “He definitely knocked me down, but I felt like I had my wits about me the whole time. Luckily, I recovered fast, and he didn’t land any more shots.”

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