Remember Kimbo Slice? The “internet sensation” that arguably was the death-knell of Elite XC, and that was eliminated from season 10 of “The Ultimate Fighter” but still got a contract with the UFC, then kind of sucked in his fights and got released? He’s baaack!
Pound4Pound.com is reporting that Kimbo has begun training (a miracle unto itself) in Southern California at The Maywood Gym. His new trainer is Clemente Medina who has also coached Jr. Middleweight Interim Champ Alfredo Angulo. Slice is also being supervised by Gary Shaw, who has high hopes that Kimbo will climb the ranks of professional boxing and be the meteoric star that Shaw wanted him to be in Elite XC.
“The last thing I want to do is make this a sideshow,” Shaw said to Pound4Pound reporter William Trillo, “I look for somewhere around November or December before we see him in the ring.” Shaw also added, “As you can see Kimbo came here in shape, he’s down to about 218 pounds and as he gets ready we will move him up slowly, but he will climb up that ladder. Look, this guy started out as a backyard fighter and that takes more nuts to do that than just about anything he will see in the ring with a referee ready to jump in when he hurts someone or gets hurt.”
In the long run, it seems that Shaw learned nothing from his mistakes in MMA, and is hoping that since most boxing fans vehemently hate MMA, that they are unaware of Kimbo’s losses in this sport and that his name will still be a strong draw (much like Jakks Pacific hoping to sell Kimbo action figures with chest hair). Goes to show you, when Gary Shaw likes something, he does not let it go, much like a tumor. Slice should have a better run in boxing though, but considering his MMA record again, that is not such a difficult task.
If you liked the photo above, hit the jump to see some of William’s great photos of Kimbo or check out his gallery for all of them! Read More…
The Fight Nerd heads to Boston for the first east coast UFC Fan Expo! Take a look at some of the things I saw, from shirts to gear, movies to video games, and groin cups to boxing box’s! That is not a typo!
Youtube is being a huge loser and not letting me upload a good quality version of the video so please bare with me with this crappy version.
For those dreaming of having WWE wrestler John Cena come to the world of MMA, keep dreaming.
In town for a taping of “Monday Night Raw” at the TD Garden in Boston, Cena told The Boston Globe, “It’s just not something that particularly interests me.’’ He also stated, “UFC is where boxing was years ago, and I was never really into boxing, either.’’ He prefers professional wrestling because it’s “regulated entertainment that’s safe for anyone to enjoy.’’ And the UFC? “It is what it is,’’ he said. “It can be pretty over the top, and it’s not something I’d want my children to watch.’’
Well, it goes to show that John Cena, as much as he portrays a tough guy in the ring, wouldn’t risk that image in the cage. Cena seems like a conservative when it comes to MMA, but wrestling is just as ‘over the top’, if not more than MMA, with certain angles and storylines. What do you think – Is UFC, MMA in general, ‘over the top’?
The final two lists of fighters have been revealed! EA Sports has been releasing their roster of fighters each week for the past month, starting with their heavyweights like Fedor, Randy Couture, & Brett Rogers and light-heavyweights such as , followed by their middleweights including Cung Le, Jake Shields, Frank Shamrock, and Jason “Mayhem” Miller, and now concluding with the welterweights and lightweights!
Above is the official lightweight roster, which includes Lyle Beerbohm, Josh Thomson, Gilbert Melendez, Mizuto Hirota, Tatsuya Kawajiri, Gesias Cavalcante, Vitor “Shaolin” Ribeiro, Eddie Alvarez, Shinya Aoki, Saturo Kitaoka, Hayata “Mach” Sakurai, Billy Evangelista, Kron Gracie and Joachim Hansen.
Rounding out the roster is the welterweights, which includes Joachim Hansen, Pat Miletich, Shinya Aoki, Robbie Lawler, Nick Diaz, Jake Shields, Matt Lindland, Kazuo Misaki, Joe Riggs, Tatsuya Kawajiri, Jay Hieron, Mariuz Zaromskis, Lyman Good, Frank Trigg, Nick Thompson, Hayato “Mach” Sakurai and Tyron Woodley.
The Fight Nerd meets Bruce Buffer at the UFC Fan Expo in Boston to discuss his new action figure from Round 5 MMA, and what his favorite toys were growing up. Bruce also tells us about his philosophy on ring announcing, makes his predictions for UFC 118 and makes The Fight Nerd crap his pants by calling his name like he is in the UFC! It might be one of the greatest moments in the history of TheFightNerd.com!
Long before directors like Steven Soderbergh and Sylvester Stallone got the idea to cast mixed martial artists in films, former stuntman and always visionary Hector Echavarria was bringing MMA champions to the silver screen without the frills of a budget or actors. Echavarria’s latest romp into the glamorous world of straight to DVD features, “Unrivaled”, actually has a lot to teach viewers about where MMA and its athletes’ future really lay in the world of cinema.
3. Drama is not going to work
For those unfamiliar with Echevarria’s work before “Unrivaled”, the reviews could be summed up as such: God bless him, the movies just aren’t that good. The actresses straight out of soft core porn, the plotlines as nonsense as soft core porn, and the actual soft core porn on screen between fight scenes didn’t exactly make for award winning cinema.
“Unrivaled” attempts to create a more dramatic and character driven story than its predecessors with blatant theft. The plot of a washed up underdog fighter who is given shot at glory via a publicity stunt from a charismatic champion is taken directly from the pages of “Rocky”. It also has crammed in there an unathletic young sidekick who demonstrates the true meaning of heart a la Danger Barch in “Million Dollar Baby”, two mysteriously overeducated stripper with a heart of gold, a head strong rival who learns that money isn’t everything, and just about every other stereotype you could ask for.
After the jump, more about this epic drama fail, and the top two things to take away from Echavarria’s latest gem! Read More…
I get asked a lot of questions about MMA equipment all the time. Things like,”What are the best shorts? Who makes the best gloves? What supplements should I use?” I have answers for all the questions, which I make available to readers like yourself such as my pieces on KNOXX Legionnaire Fight Shorts and Fairtex BGV1 Training Gloves,but a question I never get asked is, “How should I keep track of my training?”
Well, I have found the answer to that question. It would be the Mixed Martial Arts Training Journal. No, this isn’t the kind that your little sister keeps under her mattress, or the one you wrote in as a kid saying what you wanted to be when you grow up. Not even the one that says who ate a bug on recess. This is an MMA Training Journal. So, hit the jump and read about one of the most interesting and unique products I have come across.
I can not tell you which one is more daunting, get in the ring with him or trying to pronounce his name. Both are tough, but I suppose fighting against him could be more lethal. Magomed Sultanakhmedov will be making his American debut at the fourth M-1 Global selection show on September 18 against an opponent soon to be named, and he looks to leave a mark on this foreign soil.
Sultanakhmedov, who is awesomely nicknamed “The White Wolf,” was one of the most experienced fighters in the whole European tournament and last defeated Alexei Belyaev in Moscow, Russia on July 22 by TKO in round 2 to earn his spot in the middleweight division of the European selection finals. With a background in traditional Karate and kick-boxing, as well as a veteran tournament participant for M-1, Dream and K-1 Hero ’s (and also, he fought Alexey Oleinik of YAMMA fame). He brings a record of 14 wins and 4 losses with him, 8 of those victories coming by TKO. Many have compared his style to Mirko Cro Cop – a great left-handed fighter with good defense and deadly kicks, although I would have to say that Sultanakhmedov is much more well-rounded than the Croatian.
At the end of last year’s championship M-1 Selection Russia , he won by TKO Dmitry Samoilov and together with his club won the title of champions of Russia. In the quarterfinals of this tournament Magomed completely cemented himself as a star of M-1 fighter by defeating the hard-hitting Pavel Kusch, which you can watch after the jump, by a stunning knockout early in the third round.
Tyson Jeffries and Mike Geurin will be meeting on September 18 to decide who will eventually face Sultanakhmedov once the team events begin. The scary thing is he is just slightly older than me, which means this fighter has plenty of room to continue to grow and improve, so New Jersey better beware, if they thought they had wildlife problems before, now they have to deal with “The White Wolf!”
Boxing VS MMA has been a debate raging on for years between the two combat sports. We almost had an answer in the form of Din Thomas VS Ricardo Mayorga earlier this year, but unfortunately Don King (and the executives at Shine Fights) had another thing to say about that match happening. Enter James Toney, a portly former heavyweight champ who has gone against some of the best in boxing. After harassing Dana White for months, Toney got his contract in the UFC and his first fight against a little fighter named Randy Couture.
The time to put up or shut up is only days away, and Toney has been running his mouth for months leading into this match that some believe is a turf war between the two sports. At the UFC 118 press call earlier this week, BJ Penn, who will be attempting to reclaim his UFC lightweight championship from New Jersey native Frankie Edgar, offered his thoughts on the situation.
“I really would like to see Toney do good. It only helps the sport. If Randy goes in there and runs over Toney in five seconds … that doesn’t do anything.” Penn continued, “I look for what tries to build this sport, what tries to put more fans in the seat. More fans in the seats is more money in our pockets. I would like to see Toney go out there and do good.”
When asked about the trash talk coming from Toney, Penn responded, “People get confused. People think all this hype and they think all these things. You think Chael Sonnen is serious when he says all these things? Think Toney is serious when he says this stuff? They are hyping up the fight and doing their job. I would like to see Toney go out there and do something.”
Just to be clear, this does not necessarily mean that Penn wants to see Toney win, but he does want to see that Toney took this seriously and that it helps the sport grow by bringing in news fans and to turn skeptics from both sports into believers. The question at hand now is how Toney will perform against Couture, and we just have to wait a few more days for all of these dilemmas to be resolved! What do you think will happen this weekend in Toney VS Couture, and Penn VS Edgar while we are on the subject?
.JPG)
