UFC - Ultimate Fighting Championship (topic ufficiale)

Testo nascosto - clicca qui

BELLATOR PUSHES FOR LOMBARD VS. JACARE', ASKREN VS. DIAZ

---

With a potential bout between Eddie Alvarez and Gilbert Melendez a hot topic in recent weeks, Bellator has begun calling out additional Strikeforce Champions as well.
Bellator Middleweight Champion Hector Lombard outpointed Alexander Shlemenko in the promotion’s season three finale Thursday in Hollywood, Florida. The Cuban-born judoka then challenged Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza during his postfight interview.

“With Hector’s win tonight, I’ve said many times the opportunity for Hector to fight Jacare would be spectacular,” Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney said at the postfight news conference. “I’d love to see it.”

Rebney also said he wants to pit his Welterweight Champion, Ben Askren, against Strikeforce titleholder Nick Diaz. The Bellator boss explained that co-promotional bouts with Strikeforce would likely be three-round non-title fights.

“The difficulty in doing a championship unification under the banner of two different promotions who don’t work together on every event is then you’ve got one fighter who wins, one fighter who loses and then what happens to that champion?” Rebney said. “For example, if Eddie were to fight Gilbert and we were to do a unification and Eddie were to walk away with the Strikeforce belt and the Bellator belt, then what does Strikeforce do at that point? I think three-round fights answer a lot of questions. I think five-round fights are great, but I think you can get a lot of questions answered in three-round fights in terms of the dominance and performance of fighters. In all likelihood, it would be three-round fights, but again, I’m welcome to [five-round fights]. I’m trying desperately to not say anything that would be perceived as a barrier to making those kind of fights happen.”

Rebney continued his plea for Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker to return his calls about co-promoting.

“In that kind of scenario, the promoter on the other side of the table has got to respond, take the calls and sit down at the table and try to make the fight happen,” Rebney said. “I’ve eliminated issues. I’ve eliminated barriers to entry. I’ve said we can do the fight in San Jose. I’ve said we can do the fight on Showtime. Without communication with Scott, it would be a difficult event to pull off.”

---

credit: Sherdog.com

---

Who needs matchmakers when you're Jeremy Stephens? The UFC Lightweight on Thursday took to Twitter for his next career request: a meeting with Marcus Davis (17-7 MMA, 9-5 UFC), who on Tuesday told us that he's moving down from Welterweight to Stephens' territory.

"Please give me that fight!" Stephens (17-6 MMA, 5-5 UFC) wrote.

Stephens and Guillard brought their most recent Octagon appearance to fruition when they publicly requested a meeting. The two Lightweight sluggers were subsequently booked for a meeting at UFC 119. While most of the MMA community expected the fight to be a barnburner, the matchup failed to deliver fireworks. In the end, it was Guillard who had his hand raised by way of split decision. Stephens blamed the lack of action on the gameplan of "The Young Assassin", an opinion he made clear in Thursday's request.

"No disrespect, but I don't think Marcus will run like my last opponent", he said.

The loss snapped a two-fight win streak for Stephens, who now trains at Victory MMA in San Diego.
Davis, meanwhile, plans to finish out a 20-year career in combat sports in the UFC's Lightweight Division after seven years in the promotion as a Welterweight. The former pro boxer told us that his frame is better suited to the 155-pound class, and he's looking to ride into the sunset with exciting matchups.

"I'm not going to blow smoke up anybody's ass and say I'm going to be this phenomenal 155-pound fighter and I'm going to be a champion," he said. "I know that I'm a 37-year-old guy who's basically got the body of a 55-year-old guy, and I've got a face that likes to open when you look at it wrong. Those are things that I'm always going to battle as a fighter.
But this drop and being able to do it might help me a little bit more than staying at 170 pounds. I look at it like this is where my body is telling me to go, and this is what's the healthiest decision for me. I'm going to do it, and I'm going to try to do it the best I can."

Although Davis said opponents such as Sam Stout, Spencer Fisher and Dennis Siver are among the opportunities he's eyeing, it would appear a fight with Stephens offers the excitement he seeks. Fans will soon see if matchmaker Joe Silva agrees.

---

---

Last month, we reported the possibility that five-time UFC champion Randy Couture would never fight again. Naturally, some people doubted the likelihood that the seemingly ageless Couture had seen his last action in the Octagon, perhaps waiting to hear something from the legend himself.
Now the 47-year-old Hall of Famer has spoken, and while he didn't flat out say he was done, it seems clear that Couture's fighting future is hazy at best, or as his lawyer Sam Spira termed it, a "toss-up."

"I don't think I'm going to make any public announcements because I don't think anybody's going to buy it," Couture said in comments which aired on Thursday's edition of ESPN's MMA Live. "I did that once and came back. I don't want to be like Brett [Favre]. I do feel like I've had my wars, I've had my battles. I've been there, I've done that. I am competing and training and feel better than I ever felt physically but I don't see myself making another run at the title, at Heavyweight or Light Heavyweight, being honest."

Such a candid self-assessment and public admission is rare from an athlete who has accomplished so much in a storied career. Couture (19-10) will always be considered one of the building blocks for the foundations of modern MMA and the rise of the UFC. A former Olympic wrestling hopeful, he transitioned into the sport just one month shy of his 34th birthday.
Within four matches, he was the UFC Heavyweight Champion, earning the nickname "The Natural" in the process. The first man ever to win titles in two UFC weight classes, Couture has been an enduring figure in the UFC while other stars came and went. It's clear from his comments that he's given way to the new class of athletes populating the top of the Light Heavyweight and Heavyweight Divisions, and confirmed that fights against top contenders may no longer be the right decision for him long-term. Couture has also been working hard to transition into acting, and had a role in the summer blockbuster "The Expendables". All of that adds up to the possibility that we've seen the last of Couture in the cage.

"I think at some point, I've got to call enough, enough," he said. "I've had an amazing year. My last few fights in honesty were more novelty fights. Not to take anything away from my opponents, but that's the truth of the matter. They didn't really matter in the division, they didn't really put me any closer to a title, and I have to make a decision at some point. So I think I would entertain another novelty-type fight. I could still compete but I don't see myself making a run at the title any time soon."

---