Former WEC announcer Joe Martinez will soon make his octagon debut.
Promising UFC bantamweight Nick Denis caught many surprise when he announced his MMA retirement on Thursday. 
Alexander Gustafsson is set to compete for the first time in approximately ten months on Saturday, and he certainly doesn’t have a warm-up fight booked for him at UFC on FOX 14. The Swedish star will take on fellow, light-heavyweight contender Anthony Johnson at the January 24th event, and he’ll get to do so, in […]
Source: http://mmafrenzy.com/114792/ufc-fox-14-watch-first-person-alexander-gustafsson/
The UFC announced Wednesday the makings of a monster card on Fox for January, with the main event pitting Alexander Gustafsson against Anthony Johnson with the winner earning the next shot at the UFC light heavyweight title.
The bout will be on Jan. 24 in Stockholm, Sweden, at Tele2 Arena in Sweden, a dome which can hold in excess of 30,000 fans for soccer and likely more for mixed martial arts. It willl be shown live nationally in the U.S. on Fox.
The No. 1-ranked Gustafsson was supposed to rematch champion Jon Jones for the belt in the main event of UFC 178 in Las Vegas on Sept. 27, but had to pull out because of a knee injury. He'll know fight the No. 3-ranked Johnson for the right to meet the winner of the Jan. 3 championship bout between Jones and No. 2 Daniel Cormier that is behind held in Las Vegas.
"This is going to be an epic event,” Gustafsson said in a statement released by the UFC. “I want more than 30,000 fans to come and witness me win on Jan. 24. Then I’m going to go and get the title. My journey back to the top starts now."
Johnson is coming off a decisive victory over Phil Davis in the co-main event of UFC 172 and a first-round knockout of Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at UFC on Fox in San Jose on July 26.
"This fight might be on his home turf, but I’m ready to go over to Sweden and prove that I’m the next in the line for the UFC light heavyweight title,” Johnson said in a statement. “I’m not intimidated by fighting in front of Alex’s hometown fans. I’m going to go in there and look for the knockout like I do in all of my fights. I can’t wait for this."
The co-main event features Dan Henderson's return to middleweight against Gegard Mousasi. Matt Brown will meet former Strikeforce champion Tarec Saffiedine on the main card.
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Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/torchtoday/article_24538.shtml
Anderson Silva is coming off of a horrific leg injury, nearing 40 years old, and would have still had seven fights left on his UFC contract after fighting Nick Diaz in early 2015. Still, the fighter told Globo that he just signed a new fifteen fight contract with the promotion last week before UFC 179 because, well...you know.
Actually, we ourselves don't and can't understand why that was necessary. In any case, Silva did it, and he says he did it to get under the skin of UFC president Dana White and his own family.
I was with [UFC co-owner] Lorenzo [Fertitta] and Dana [White] on Thursday now, and the old contract was torn up. We signed for another fifteen fights," he revealed.
"To make Dana crazy, I signed for 15 more fights. And to make my family crazy, too."
In other "Spider" contract news, the fighter says that he is no longer sponsored by Nike, but that he's currently in negotiations with Addidas. "I was always a Nike fan, I like the brand. The company gave me an opportunity to fulfill a dream," he said.
"Thanks to [soccer star] Ronaldo and [soccer team] Corinthians, I was able to work with Nike...It was great, I liked it a lot. I’ll miss them, always remember it.
"We’re in a good relationship with Adidas now. There’s nothing done, we’ll see what happens in the future."
Follow Elias on Twitter @EliasCepeda & @YahooCagewriter
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Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/torchtoday/article_24490.shtml
Phil “CM Punk” Brooks has signed a multi-fight deal with Ultimate Fighting Championship and will make his Octagon debut in 2015, the promotion announced Saturday night.
The UFC teased a big announcement following the first match of the UFC 181 pay-per-view portion and delivered. Joe Rogan interviewed Brooks cageside at the Mandalay Bay Events Center. Brooks, 36, wasn’t sure of a weight class yet, but said both middleweight and welterweight were options.
“I have a background in kempo and I’ve been doing Brazilian jiu-jitsu for a long time," Brooks told Rogan. "This is my new career, 100-percent. I'm going to go full steam ahead, all systems go after today, and it's going to be fun. I have nothing but respect for everybody here at the UFC, everybody who steps in the Octagon to fight. And when it's all said and done, when I'm finished, everybody's going to have to respect me because I have come here to fight."
The former WWE champion has made headlines last week for a series of podcast interviews where he ripped Vince McMahon’s company for how he was treated during his eight years as a performer. The WWE fired Brooks earlier this year and he has now stated on multiple occasions that he has no intentions of ever returning.
That opens the door for mixed martial arts, a sport that Brooks has followed closely while competing in the WWE. He’s no stranger to UFC pay-per-views and has made several “Gracie Breakdown” cameos alongside friend and Gracie Jiu-Jitsu instructor Rener Gracie.
“I felt like it was now or never," Brooks added. "I have a limited window most fighters don't have. I'm either here to win or get my ass kicked.
What kind of impact will the 6-foot-2 Brooks have in UFC? It's hard to say until he settles on a weight class and trainer. In terms of being a pay-per-view draw, there's only one Brock Lesnar, so we can stop with that comparison.
But Brooks will be able to attract new eyeballs to the sport and the UFC should see a noticeable spike during his debut fight. Before he left the WWE, Brooks developed a cult following and was easily one of the most popular wrestlers on the roster.
Plus, let’s not forget one of the reasons why Brooks’ popularity surged was his gift of gab on the microphone. As Conor McGregor has proven in 2014, you can get a long way in MMA if you know how to turn it “on” for the cameras.
Dana White hit a home run the last time he brought over a former WWE champion. We shall see if White's latest pro wrestling investment will once again deliver.
Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/cm-punk-signs-multi-fight-deal-with-ufc-035256156.html
Jon Anik, Brian Stann and Dominick Cruz offered up their thoughts during a special look ahead to the upcoming year in the UFC. UFC president Dana White joined the crew for an exclusive interview, all of which you can see in the video below:
The post UFC Crew Breaks Down Upcoming Year appeared first on Five Ounces of Pain.
Source: http://fiveouncesofpain.com/2015/01/22/ufc-crew-breaks-down-upcoming-year/
UFC middleweights Luke Rockhold (12-2) and Michael Bisping (25-6) will face off Nov. 8 in the main event of UFC Fight Night: Sydney, and the two rivals sat down with Ultimate Insider host Jon Anik recently to promote the bout (video above). They did a good job.
Hard core fans may remember that Rockhold's beef with Bisping goes back a couple years to when the almost always classless "Count" broke the fighter's gym code of keeping what happens in training, secret, when he insinuated that he badly beat Rockhold up in a sparring session. Rockhold has lobbied for a fight with Bisping to get back at the British star, and will get his wish next month in Australia.
In the above interview with Anik, Bisping mocked Rockhold's sensitivity to his insulting remarks, two years ago. "You're so sensitive about it," Bisping said.
"I made an off-the-cuff remark."
At that point, Rockhold retorted by clarifying, "A tasteless remark."
"My hands were on my knees for two rounds straight and you couldn't do a damn thing in the best shape of your life, as I'm switching my stance," Rockhold continued.
"It's a sparring session. That's all it is. Why did you even talk about it?"
At present, Rockhold is a huge favorite over Bisping. The former Strikeforce middleweight champion has lost only once (to Vitor Belfort) since 2007, whereas Bisping is 3-3 in his last six bouts.
"I will stop Michael Bisping and there's a number of ways it's going to be done," Rockhold concluded.
"I'm not really looking to take him down. Definitely not a submission, that's not punishment enough for this guy."
Check out Bisping's last fight - a nasty TKO win over Cung Le - below, and then let us know if you think he can pull off the upset over Rockhold, in the comments section!
Follow Elias on Twitter @EliasCepeda & @YahooCagewriter
It started in Tokyo. The second round of World Victory Road's Sengoku featherweight grand prix in 2009, Marlon Sandro coming at him with what looked like an overhand right. 
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Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/torchtoday/article_24435.shtml
