In a recent Q & A session at the UFC Fan expo Chuck Liddel said he hopes to make a decision in the next couple of months about his MMA future.

After his recent loss at the hands of Rich Franklin, Liddel hasn't fought for two months and says he hasn't been home much as he's been travelling. He said if he does come back it wont be for a one-off, as he only wants to fight the best and would only fight with the aim of winning the belt.

Liddel's recent loss was his third consecutive knockout defeat which took him to 1 win out of his last 5 fights. Dana White was clear that he feels Liddel should retire, but when asked what he would do if Liddel insisted on continuing fighting White said he may consider releasing the Iceman. This has fueled speculation that Liddel may fight in another organization, although Liddel has pointed out that if he decides to fight he'd prefer to stay in the UFC as he believes this is where the best competition is.

Cro Cop is set to replace the injured Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera in the main event of UFC 119 at Indiana's Conseco Fieldhouse on September 25.

Big Nog was forced to withdraw from the event due to a hip injury that will require surgery. Cro Cop's opponent will be the former UFC heavyweight Champion Frank Mir who is coming off a loss to Shane Carwin while Cro Cop is coming off a win over fellow Kickboxer Pat Barry.

This should be an interesting fight for Cro Cop who's known as one of the best strikers and has excellent takedown defence. Mir however has a size and reach advantage and is also known for studying his opponents and bringing a strategic fight plan.

It looks like the Former Strikeforce middleweight champion is heading over to the UFC. According to Caesar Gracie's website, after some consideration Shields has decided to fight at 170 which is his original competition weight.

We don't know who his first opponent will be yet, but it's safe to say that it will be top level competition. Martin Kampman's name has been mentioned in some circles.

According to a recent article at the SMH, the UFC hopes to convince the Victorian Government to allow cage-fighting into Melbourne.

Co-owner, Lorenzo Fertita told the Herald he believes Australia has a fantastic market for MMA, and although he wants an event in Melbourne, he prefers to educate the nay-sayers rather than ask the public to vote against politicians to change their stance.

Given the success of the Sydney show, the UFC plans to return to Australia early next year, but definitely wants to infiltrate the Melbourne market, given that 47% of attendees to the previous Australian event came from Melbourne.

For economic reasons alone, the UFC claims that approximately $15 million was injected into the Australian economy from the last visit, with large spending on accommodation, food, and entertainment.

Marshal Zelaznik, Director for the UFC's international operations said "we haven't really dug into Melbourne to find out what the problem is there, there is some misinformation about whether it's the cage or whether it's MMA in general".

Obviously, the fans of the fastest growing sport on the planet don't think there are any problems in Melbourne.

Dana White has just confirmed that Brock Lesnar will make his next title defence against Cain Velasquez at UFC 121 in Anaheim California.

Lesnar (5-1), who recently came of a second round submission win over Carwin will be taking on Velasquez (8-0) who came off a victory over Antonio Rodrigo Nogeuira.

The last time the UFC was in Anaheim was when Keith Jardine beat Chuck Liddell.

It is now safe to say that George Sotiropoulos is Australia's most successful MMA athlete. Coming off a decisive victory over Kurt Pellegrino, and prior to that defeating highly regarded Joe
Stevenson, George Sotiropoulos is on a roll.

George displayed a sublime BJJ game to thorougly dominate Pellegrino on the ground, as well as having the edge on the feet.

He has not lost in the UFC, and is on a six fight winning streak. This recent victory catapults him into the short list of title contenders and takes his record to 13-2-0.

We wish George continued success in his quest for the belt and look forward to his next fight

Randy Couture heads over to Death Clutch Training Camp to assist with Brock Lesnar's preparation for Shane Carwin

 

 

In a recent interview renowned heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko said he wasn't a fan of the UFC. Lesnar prolaims he is no fan of Fedor either. The current UFC heavyweight champion said he thinks Fedor is "the greatest champion of all time....in his own little world".

With recent talks of Fedor considering retirement, a fight between the two top heavyweights may never transpire. Either way, Lesnar says he would have no problems facing Fedor and is confident he would beat him, stating that he believes he "can beat anybody".

For now, Lesnar will have to focus for his next fight against Shane Carwin on the UFC 116 card. Fedor's current contract with Strikeforce is nearing it's conclusion, and it remains to be seen if he will continue to fight further for them or any other organisation.

source: www.mmaweekly.com

Fans might have been surprised after watching UFC 115 to see a fight between two world class kick boxers end in a submission. What was touted to be a heavyweight slugfest was indeed a stand-up war, but the ending was more of a surprise, as Cro Cop saw an opening and decided to choke Pat Barry out with a rear naked.

The fight started heavily in Barry's favour as the solid striker made couple of clean shots on Cro Cop that knocked him to the ground. The second shot left Cro Cop's left eye badly swollen, but to his credit Cro Cop managed to stay in the pocket and gradually wore Barry down, who appeared to start gassing towards the end of the second round.

Cro Cop managed to land some decent leg kicks and flurries, particularly in the later stages of the fight, and after having Barry rocked with a good combo, took Barry's neck when he fell to the ground.

Cro Cop says whether he fights again or not he would like to finish his career in the UFC.

Matt Hughes was recently inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame. Here are some of his thoughts on the announcement courtesy of bloody elbow:

"I just never thought about it, to be honest, so yeah, it came out of the blue. I really thought a lot about it the first couple of days after Dana told me, and I really didn't know what to think about it. I've always been the type of guy who thought that somebody who gets inducted into the Hall of Fame needs to be a retired individual. That's just my train of thought. But I'm very privileged and I thank the UFC."

"I took this up as just a hobby, something to occupy my time and to vent some aggressiveness and be competitive. I never thought that I would be in the position that I'm in today... Shaking hands, signing autographs, being a world title holder and being inducted into the Hall of Fame, this is beyond what I ever would have pictured my life being. I'm supposed to be that guy that's got a shovel or a hammer in his hands".