This victory by Strikeforce heavyweight Fabricio Werdum over Fedor Emelianenko has to be ranked as the biggest upset in mixed martial arts history. You can place this fight before Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou upset of Antonio Rogerio Nogueria at Pride 33. Or Matt Serra victory over Georges St. Pierre at UFC 69 and Nick Diaz win over Takanori Gomi at Pride 33. How about Kevin Randleman win over Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic at Pride Total Elimination in 2004.

This is like Buster Douglas win over Mike Tyson.

This is also a huge lost for Strikeforce and Fedor Emelianenko. This upset pretty much kills the pay per view for Alistair Overeem versus Emelianenko for the heavyweight belt. Which I think would have been even a larger ppv than UFC heavyweights Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin fight.

Dana White is such a class act, he just twitted :D 

Will Fedor just fade out of the heavyweight conversations now? 

Do you believe he is done? 

Posted by Kevin Richardson at 12:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (14)
        

The Ultimate Fighter finalist Kris McCray discusses with MMA Stomping Ground on what went wrong in his fight with Court McGee in TUF 11 finale. McCray also talks about not expecting McGee's take down strategy and the possibility of switching to the 170-pound division. Click here to hear what is next for his MMA career in the cage.

Posted by Kevin Richardson at 3:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

At the start of the night there were 4 undefeated fighters on The Ultimate Fighter 11 Finale card. At the end of the night there would remain only one, Brad Tavares. Officially tasting defeat for the first-time were Kris McCray, Josh Bryant and Aaron Simpson.

In the main event, I was really surprised by the way Court McGee fought Kris McCray. I would never have believed before the fight that McCray would look good boxing and McGee would take him to the ground and win. I through the one weakness in McCray’s arsenal was his standup. McGee took him down at will and dominated the fight. McGee earned an additional $25,000 for "submission of the night" for his rear-naked choke on McCray.

This was a very weak card. I have never seen that many empty seats at a UFC event. We are going to see the opposite at the Brock Lesnar versus Shane Carwin fight on July 3.

Of all the TUF 11 fighters, who do you believe if any would become a top UFC fighter?

The Ultimate Fighter 11 Finale results:

Court McGee def. Kris McCray via submission (rear-naked choke)

Matt Hamill def. Keith Jardine by majority decision

Chris Leben def. Aaron Simpson via second-round TKO

Dennis Siver def. Spencer Fisher via unanimous decision

Rich Attonito def. Jamie Yager via second-round TKO

John Gunderson def. Mark Holst via unanimous decision

Brad Tavares def. Seth Baczynski via unanimous decision

Kyle Noke def. Josh Bryant via TKO (punches)

Chris Camozzi def. James Hammortree via unanimous decision

Travis Browne def. James McSweeney via TKO (punches)

Posted by Kevin Richardson at 7:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

I talked to Kris "Savage" McCray before his upcoming fight with Court McGee at The Ultimate Fighter Finale.

Kris, I want to first congratulate you on making the finals.

A: Thanks.

Q: How is the camp going with Master Lloyd Irvin?

A: It’s going fine. We’re walking through what we are going to do for the fight.

Q: In your opinion, would you have made the finals if Tito Ortiz would have remain your coach on The Ultimate Fighter? I ask that because of the way he trained you for the first Josh Bryant fight.

A: Yes. I would have made the finals, I was determined to win.

Q: Let’s go back to the second fight with Josh Bryant. I thought your take down skills were awesome, but your stand up was not as strong. Has your stand up been a focal point in your preparation for this fight?

A: Yes, but I go to what I do best and that’s wrestling. If I need to trade (punches with him) I can do that, but takedowns is what I do best.

Q: You went from 5 professional fights in one year to 5 fights in six weeks. How was your body able to hold up?

A: I was beat down, but this is my dream. I just got a second chance and made the most of it.

Q: Your fight with Court McGee is now the main event. Why did the UFC make that change?

A: I don’t know. It’s the same I just have to wait a little while longer before we fight.

Q: How do you see this fight with Court McGee going?

A: I see a Stephan Bonnar and Forest Griffin type of fight.  I see a fun fight but an all out war as well. I’ll work my clinch game and we see how it goes.

Q: Are we going to see a back flip this weekend?

A: (Laughs) We’ll see. If I do a back flip is because I had won. So I hope so.

Q: I know you and Jamie Yager are friends. Have you guys promise not to fight each other like Rashad Evans and Keith Jardine?

A: We have for a regular fight. But not for a title shot. No. For twenty-five minutes we can put our friendship aside and remain friends afterwards. To become a champion is both our goal.

Posted by Kevin Richardson at 5:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Q&As
        

With Chuck Liddell losing to Rich Franklin at UFC 115, the biggest loser of the night was Tito Ortiz. If Liddell had won, Ortiz was looking at a main-event fight with a large purse. But now his best-case scenario is a co-main-event fight at best.

The only other way Liddell and Ortiz could fight is if they fought on a Strikeforce card. That scenario is unlikely because of Liddell’s relationship with UFC president Dana White.

I guess now we'll hear Ortiz talk a lot more trash because he realizes the fight would never materialize. But in the long run, Liddell gets the last laugh because Ortiz could never headline a card as Liddell did this weekend.

I would like to see Ortiz go up again Jon “Bones” Jones or even Chael Sonnen if he moves up in weight after the Anderson Silva fight. 

Who would you have Tito Ortiz fight?

Posted by Kevin Richardson at 9:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)
        

Ultimate Fighting Championship Middleweight fighter Chael Sonnen is talking more trash than a highlight reel of an episode of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF).

He said on fightmagazine.com that “185 pounds is the toughest division in the business so if you are going to go after the belt go after the tough one. But I would love to get a night off and go beat up some [of the 205 pound division guys]. For God sake, 205 had a karate guy [Lyoto Machida] that was their champion. I mean that weight class is a joke”. 

My opinion is that Sonnen is trying to set up his next fight. He realizes that he does not have a shot against Anderson Silva. Therefore, he is setting up his next fight in the light heavyweight division.

If he moved up in weight he could face Lyoto Machida or Quinton Jackson, and either one of them would destroy him.

This is the same tactic that Sonnen used before the Nate Marquardt fight at UFC 109. He talked trash about Anderson Silva before he had even fought his opponent. He said on mmafighting.com that Silva was “a bum” and ripped Silva for wearing earrings and pink shirts.

After those comments, Sonnen was given a shot at the middleweight championship title against Silva, which will take place at UFC 117 in Oakland, Calif., in August.    

Chael Sonnen, here are some of the fighters in the 205-pound division, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, Lyoto Machida, Rashad Evans, Thiago Silva, Jon Jones, Quinton Jackson, Brandon Vera, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Forrest Griffin. You would not have a chance with any of these fighters.

Is Sonnen blowing smoke? Or do you think he could beat any of the light heavyweight fighters?

Posted by Kevin Richardson at 4:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)
        

The Ultimate Fighting Championship plans to have Randy Couture fight James “Lights Out” Toney at UFC 118 in Boston. Couture said on MMA30.com that the fight would be fought at a catch weight around 220 pounds.

MY RANT: Randy Couture is in the UFC Hall of Fame. He is a three-time former heavyweight champion and a two-time light-heavyweight champion with 28 professional fights. He is going from wanting to fight the best heavyweight champion of all time in Fedor Emelianenko to fighting an ex-boxer that is making his MMA debut.

James Toney is a really good boxer. However, you have to be on your feet to box. Toney will be on his back within five-to-seven seconds of the opening round. I see him losing by submission within one minute of the first round.

I believe UFC President Dana White is sending a message to the boxing world. Boxers cannot compete with MMA fighters. If you are going to spend your money on a pay-per-view, the best fighters in the world are in MMA.

A better matchup would have been Kimbo Slice against Toney. Moreover, match Couture in the cage with a young fighter like Jon “Bones” Jones.

That's my rant. What is yours?

Posted by Kevin Richardson at 4:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)