The little-known Brian Stann won the World Extreme Cagefighting light heavyweight championship tonight, knocking out defending champ Doug Marshall in the first round with a stunning strike straight to the jaw.

Stann, who improved his record to 6-0, spoke highly of Marshall in the cage after the fight and then thanked, "My mom, my wife, my daughter, and all my Marines." Stann’s nickname is All-American, and he’s got just the kind of wholesome image the sport needs.

WEC is basically a minor league for UFC, and no one should think owning the WEC belt makes Stann one of the top light heavyweights in mixed martial arts. But it was a very impressive showing tonight for a fighter who’s still relatively new to the sport. And given Stann’s impressive personal story -- he’s a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and a recipient of the Silver Star for combat in Iraq -- it would be great for MMA if Stann became a star.

Article courtesy of http://sports.aol.com
By: Michael David Smith

WORLD EXTREME CAGEFIGHTING: Stann continues assault

Brian Stann went through light heavyweight champion Doug Marshall with military precision, much like he has each of his professional mixed martial arts opponents.

That should come as no surprise from Stann, a Marine Corps captain who has served two tours of duty in Iraq and was awarded a Silver Star.

"I try to look at it similarly," Stann said of the comparisons between fighting in the cage and on the battlefield. "I try to revisit the emotions I’ve felt when I’ve been to Iraq. I look at my opponents the same way I looked at my opponents in combat. What are his strengths? What are his weaknesses?"

Stann stopped Marshall with a huge left hand at 1:35 of the first round to win the title on the World Extreme Cagefighting card at the Hard Rock Hotel on Wednesday.

Stann improved to 6-0 in his professional career, with all six wins coming by first-round knockout.

The emotion of the situation hit him seconds later, jubilation turning to tears as Stann dropped to one knee and started crying in the center of the cage.

"The biggest thing that came to my mind is I looked up at the sky and remembered all my friends and all my Marines that aren’t here anymore, and that’s with me every day," Stann said.

"That belt is just leather with some stuff on it. It symbolizes so much more. I have to live my life to the fullest for them, and that’s what this belt symbolizes."

Las Vegan Steve Cantwell, who lost to Stann in March 2007, was nearly as dominating Wednesday in scoring a first-round submission win over Tim McKenzie.

In a lightweight fight, Marcus Hicks finished Ed Ratcliff with a guillotine in the first round to remain unbeaten in his eight fights.

Chael Sonnen had to prepare for a replacement opponent, but it didn’t keep him from dominating Bryan Baker.

Sonnen, who was supposed to fight for Paulo Filho’s middleweight title, instead took on the young, previously unbeaten Baker.

It was a mismatch from the start.

Sonnen took down Baker with ease and controlled the action on the ground to win all three rounds. Sonnen won two 10-8 rounds on two of the judges’ scorecards and one on the third card to gain a 30-25, 30-25 and 30-26 decision.

Sonnen suffered a controversial loss to Filho in December but insisted he wasn’t trying to send a message to the champion, who was forced out of this fight when he entered rehab for substance abuse two weeks ago.

"My coaches were saying, ’You have to make a statement to (Filho),’ but I was just trying to work on my techniques," Sonnen said. "Tonight, it was just about me and Bryan Baker."

Two Las Vegans on the card suffered defeats.

Blas Avena was knocked out in the first round by Hiromitsu Miura, and John Alessio was disqualified when he kneed a downed Brock Larson.

Article courtesy of : http://www.lvrj.com
Photo courtesy of: www.lvrj.com and Craig L. Moran

Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN



LAS VEGAS -- Suddenly, Eyota mixed martial artist Logan Clark finds himself near the top of the World Extreme Cagefighting middleweight rankings.

Clark had a successful return to the cage Wednesday night, winning by technical knockout at WEC 33 in Las Vegas.

Clark defeated Scott Harper at 4:37 of the first round.

After an uneventful first part of the fight, Harper took down Clark late in the round and had a kimura locked in. But Clark was able to escape and eventually bucked off Harper. From there, Clark was able to gain full mount position.

Harper went for a leg lock, but Clark started hammering away, and the referee stepped in to stop the fight at the 4:37 mark.

Clark improved his professional record to 10-1, including 2-1 in the WEC and 1-0 in the UFC.

Article courtesy of http://www.postbulletin.com

World Extreme Cagefighting middleweight champion Paulo Filho has withdrawn from his scheduled title defense against Chael Sonnen at WEC 33 on March 26.

Filho has voluntarily checked into a rehabilitation center in Brazil to seek assistance for a substance abuse problem, WEC representatives said Thursday.

"This is horrible news, but we’re proud of him for stepping up and recognizing his problem," Filho’s manager, Ed Soares, told WEC.tv. "At times like this, you realize who your true friends are and who really supports you, and the people around him now are supporting him and are going to be with him when he comes back."

Filho (16-0, 2-0 WEC) finished Sonnen with a second-round armbar at WEC 31 in December. The American challenger controlled much of the fight with superior striking and wrestling before verbally submitting with five seconds left in round two.

One of the world’s premier ground fighters, Filho has secured nearly half (seven) of his 16 career wins by submission. He holds victories against Yuki Kondo, former EliteXC middleweight kingpin Murilo "Ninja" Rua and one-time Pride Welterweight Grand Prix champion Kazuo Misaki.

Sonnen (19-9-1, 0-1 WEC), meanwhile, had reeled off five consecutive wins leading into his first fight with Filho. Based out of Team Quest, his resume includes wins over reigning Bodog Fight middleweight champion Trevor Prangley, former ICON Sport middleweight titleholder Jason "Mayhem" Miller and UFC veteran Jason Lambert. He will have to wait for his shot at redemption against Filho.

"We fully support Paulo in this difficult time, and our thoughts are with him as he goes through recovery," WEC vice president Peter Dropick said.

Light heavyweight champion Doug Marshall will defend his title against Brian Stann in the new main event at WEC 33. Marshall (7-2, 7-2 WEC), who has spent his entire career in the promotion, has posted three consecutive wins. Stann (5-0, 4-0 WEC), meanwhile, has stopped all five of his opponents inside one round.

Article Courtesy of http://msn.foxsports.com

Mixed martial arts enthusiasts aren’t afraid to trade a few rib-busting kicks with their opponents and endure a few bruises. It beats being bored at the gym
PATRICK WHITE

From Friday’s Globe and Mail

March 14, 2008 at 8:48 AM EDT

Inside the front door of Guerilla MMA gym, rap music fuses with the rhythmic slap-slap of fist on heavy bag. In one corner, four teenaged boys learn to wrench one another’s tendons while writhing on mats like a nest of mating snakes. At the rear, two men trade bruising kicks in a boxing ring. Several feet away, a restaurant manager, a jewellery-store clerk and a security guard stretch their tree-trunk legs and swap battle stories.

"The guy had me in a kimura [submission hold] and I heard my shoulder pop like six times," says Nelson Sobral, a short but scrappy 33-year-old who works security at a Toronto radio station. "Just pop, pop, pop and I was done."

One training buddy scrunches his face. "Ohhh, man."

There’s a new vernacular spreading throughout Canadian gyms, one whose vocabulary includes arm bars and omoplatas, heel hooks and anaconda chokes.

In just five years, the free-for-all fight league Ultimate Fighting Championship has grown from a fringe spectacle, attracting fewer fans than a minor-league hockey game, into a pay-per-view phenomenon with audiences that eclipse both boxing and professional wrestling.

The sport - in which combatants endure every physical brutality short of crotch shots, biting, eye-gouging and "small joint manipulation" - even has its own cinematic homage, Never Back Down, a Karate Kid for the ultimate fighting crowd that opened in theatres today.

And as its popularity has grown, the number of Canadian gyms teaching mixed martial arts - the complex fight style favoured by ultimate fighters - has gone from zero five years ago to several hundred, attracting everyone from high-school jocks to 60-year-old accountants.

"My friends all said ’Oh my God, you’ll break your bones’ when I joined," says June Kow, her brow dripping after an hour-long session of practising rib-busting kicks. "At first, I thought they might be right. I was very intimidated because I’m very uncoordinated. I can’t dance. I can’t even run well."

But she can really kick butt.

A year and a half after joining Kombat Arts Training Academy in Mississauga, Ont., the 5-foot-1 dental-office administrator isn’t afraid to toss knuckles with anyone. Like most gym members, she has no intention of fighting professionally, but she still makes the half-hour drive to Kombat Arts five days a week.

"When I joined I could barely do 25 squats; now I can do a few hundred."

Training for MMA involves a strange array of exercises. At Kombat Arts, fighters roll 400-pound tractor tires across the 15,000-square-foot facility and swing a sledgehammer to simulate "throwing someone over your head," says gym owner and trainer Joey de Los Reyes. "It’s a real caveman way of training."

In 2002, Mr. de Los Reyes opened a claustrophobic space barely larger than a boxing ring. At around the same time, detractors of ultimate fighting had tagged the sport as "human cockfighting" and matches were soon banned across North America.

But as the UFC rejigged its rules to prevent losses of blood and brain cells, states and provinces started embracing the sport (Quebec and Alberta hold regular MMA matches. Nova Scotia, Manitoba and British Columbia have hosted matches) and amateur pugilists started embracing Mr. de Los Reyes.

Since then, he’s picked up 500 members and expanded the gym four times. There’s now enough room to fit three basketball courts.

But competition is coming. Almost every kung fu and karate dojo in the country is hanging an MMA sign out front to make hay from the trend. By month’s end, the Xtreme Couture franchise, named for UFC legend Randy Couture, will open a 33,000-square-foot facility in Etobicoke, Ont.

"A lot of guys my age are just bored of the gym," says Mr. de Los Reyes, 33, raising his voice over a class of 30 kick-boxers whose striking practice erupts like Canada Day fireworks. "They want to work out and learn a skill at the same time."

While most fighters harbour no ambitions of becoming the next Randy Couture, some do walk in with lofty goals.

"They come up to me fresh off the couch and say ’I want into the UFC,’ " Mr. de Los Reyes says. "Within one class they realize it’s more hard work than they’d realized."

Mixed martial arts incorporates several different methods of self defence, including Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Muay Thai, judo, karate and Greco-Roman wrestling. Pursuing such a disparate range of fight styles takes the body of a Hulk Hogan and the mind of a Bobby Fischer, enthusiasts say.

"It a real chess match," says David Abreu, a 33-year-old restaurant manager who trains once a week at Guerilla MMA gym in Toronto. "You have to anticipate your opponent’s next few moves. It’s a mind game."

But it’s also a brawn game. Fighters in training always have the option of low-contact sparring in which there’s no risk of bruises or blood, but those who do take up more aggressive training generally become hooked.

"You’re never more alive than when you’re doing this," says Mr. Sobral, who has entered several professional fights in the United States. "Say you have a little blood in the mouth, your arm’s nearly breaking, you’re about to pass out - that’s better than sleepwalking your way through life."

Submission holds

A blend of martial arts styles from around the world, ultimate fighting is a language unto itself. Here are a few terms for submission holds used in matches.

Guillotine Choke Common form of finishing a fight when the competitors are sprawled

on the mat. The choker tucks his opponent’s head in his armpit, wraps his arm around his opponent’s neck and then lifts. Arm Bar One fighter uses his entire body to bend his opponent’s elbow joint backwards.

Can Opener Involves pulling or twisting an opponent’s head as far as the ligaments and tendons will go.

Kimura or Chicken Wing Using both arms to bend an opponent’s shoulder backward. Known to cause separations and dislocations.

Omoplata One fighter uses his legs to bend his opponent’s elbow and shoulder joints backward.

Heel Hook Outlawed in many tournaments. On the ground, the fighter wraps both legs around either of his competitor’s legs and twists the ankle with his arms. Good for dislocating knees and snapping ACLs.

Article Courtesy of Patrick White & www.theglobeandmail.com

By Todd Martin
Special to CBSSports.com

Late last week, EliteXC announced a partnership with CBS to televise fight cards on major network television. Examining the most pressing questions coming out of the deal:

How big of a deal is this for mixed martial arts?

It has the potential to be very big, on three separate fronts.

First, from the standpoint of MMA's mainstream popularity, this is a significant development. A major network television fight card will grab the attention of mainstream sports fans and the media in a way Spike TV cards do not. Thus, this is an opportunity for MMA to demonstrate its broad popularity.

Strong ratings would lead to greater mainstream coverage of the sport and over the long haul would provide an outlet for creating new fans and broadening the sport's consumer base. Weak ratings will make it hard for the sport to get another major network deal and could prove to be a big step backward.

Second, from a promotional competition standpoint, it creates a legitimate potential challenger to the Ultimate Fighting Championship. MMA's popularity growth since 2006 has for the most part really been UFC's. This deal, which features investment in EliteXC by CBS, creates another player in the market. UFC still has pretty much all the advantages, but EliteXC can potentially threaten UFC's dominance.

This is also a huge blow to other upstart MMA organizations. It was the deal that would get one of UFC's challengers into the game, and EliteXC won out. Strikeforce will continue to succeed with its intelligent targeting of a specific region. But M-1 Global and the IFL are in big trouble, at risk of being lost in the shuffle.

The third and perhaps biggest effect of this deal will be on fighters. Currently, they have very limited negotiation leverage with the UFC. While other organizations might be willing to guarantee slightly more money, UFC is the star-maker. Fighters know that in the UFC they have the opportunity to establish a name and move toward the pay-per-view main events that bring in the biggest paydays.

EliteXC's CBS deal changes that dynamic. Free-agent fighters can now sign with EliteXC and be featured on network television. This will provide them the opportunity to become bigger stars in either the UFC or EliteXC. Free agents Josh Koscheck and Andrei Arlovski can now genuinely try to get the best financial offer rather than simply attempting to leverage the best UFC offer possible.

Did UFC president Dana White blow it?

CBS had long negotiations with UFC before signing EliteXC. UFC was clearly the network's first choice, but the two sides could not come to terms. Disputes over control took center stage. By rejecting CBS' terms, UFC has handed its opponent an opportunity. Now UFC and White will have to wait and see what EliteXC does with the opportunity.

UFC is a well-run organization that understands how to promote MMA. It was rightfully hesitant to hand over control of its shows to someone else. White recognized that the wrong deal would reflect poorly on the UFC and hinder its long-term prospects. But this might have been a case of not seeing the forest for the trees.

While UFC might not have had sufficient control over the MMA programming that would have been on CBS, now it has no control over the MMA programming on CBS. Any mistakes EliteXC makes could, right or wrong, hinder UFC's future success and alter the general perception of MMA as a sport.

UFC can explain to network executives and sponsors in the future that they are run very differently from EliteXC, but those executives might not differentiate. If EliteXC's promotion of Kimbo Slice as a street fighter advances the perception of MMA as a blood sport with few rules, that's not just EliteXC's problem. It's also UFC's.

What type of TV rating can we expect for EliteXC's first show?

It's way too soon to say. The card for the first show will be important, and even more important will be the media attention the show receives. The quantity and nature of that coverage is likely to strongly affect viewership. The more of a novelty and curiosity the show appears to be, the higher the likely rating.

Some have compared EliteXC's foray into network television to World Wrestling Entertainment's poor ratings in 2006 and 2007 for Saturday Night's Main Event on NBC. But pro wrestling has an exceedingly negative stigma among the general public that makes it hard to draw outside its core audience. MMA doesn't have that same negative association. There is a broader base of people who would consider spending two hours watching an MMA show with a compelling main event.

Depending on the card and the level of promotion, the first rating could vary wildly. A 2.0 would be a massive disappointment, while a 7.0 would be an enormous success. Somewhere between a 3.0 and a 5.0 is most likely. CBS will also be looking at the demographics. EliteXC is expected to draw in younger men, an elusive but key group.

How should Elite XC approach these shows?

Elite XC's promotional philosophy has focused on creating larger than life stars. That is the smartest approach to building a young promotion. Fans know that UFC has the best talent roster, so the key is showcasing performers who capture the public imagination while gradually improving the overall talent level.

That philosophy led to the promotion of controversial street fighter Kimbo Slice, knockout women's star Gina Carano and colorful larger-than-life talents Frank Shamrock and Nick Diaz. Unquestionably, this will be the approach EliteXC takes to the CBS shows. EliteXC's gamble on Slice has already paid dividends, and he figures to be the focus of at least the first show.

But there is a decided downside to over-reliance on this philosophy. MMA has always featured a balance between the best fighters and the most colorful personalities. There is room for both, but when the sport goes too far in one direction, business suffers.

Promoting strictly who is the best with no mind for creating stars or grudge matches will lead to diminished business. The flip side of that is that if the sport goes too far toward personalities instead of high-level fighters, it will eventually diminish revenue. Fans will lose interest when the personalities lose and have little appreciation for the underpromoted high-level fighters.

Thus, it is imperative that Elit XC approach these shows with an eye toward what has happened in recent years to the K-1 kickboxing outfit. K-1 is a popular sport in Japan, and since the early 1990s, it has done strong business built around tournaments to crown the best kickboxer in the world. But around the year 2001, K-1 began to drift more toward freak show fighters. Its emphasis on the best kickboxers diminished, and the promotion instead gradually moved toward relative amateurs like Bob Sapp and Akebono.

The approach in the short term produced huge ratings, better than anything EliteXC could dream of. Unfortunately, over time the approach hurt the core interest in crowning the best kickboxer. Now K-1 draws lower gates for its major shows than it did before the popularity boom.

EliteXC should promote Kimbo Slice and other personalities to generate widespread interest in its shows. But it also needs to be careful to generate interest in fighters who have established high level talent. Those fighters will still be around when the freak shows have been exposed, and they need to mean something if EliteXC is to have long term success.

Todd Martin has covered mixed martial arts for the Los Angeles Times, Wrestling Observer, SI.com and CBSSports.com. He can be reached at ToddMartin4L@aol.com.

Article courtesy of cbssports.com

According to ESPN The Magazine, Fedor Emelianenko is in the process of separating from M-1, and his people are open to re-opening negotiations with The UFC:

With Couture embroiled in a nasty legal dispute with the UFC and Emelianenko tied to M-1 Global's MMA franchise, the heavyweight dream matchup has long seemed to be the world's best bout that would never happen.
Now it could. Apy Echteld, one of Emelianenko's agents, confirmed what a source close to the situation previously told The Magazine: M-1 Global and Emelianenko will part ways some time in the next week, making the Russian a free agent. Divorce negotiations are ongoing right now, with a formal announcement likely for in the next few days. "Officially, yes, Fedor will be a free agent," Echteld says.

Of course, the UFC would have to be willing to re-open negotiations with Emelianenko's management. Previous talks dragged on for almost a year before falling apart amid plenty of name-calling and finger-pointing from both sides. UFC president Dana White was vocal in pinning the blame on Emelianenko's team, saying he never once spoke or met with the fighter. Would the head of the UFC be willing to enter the Fedor fray again? "Absolutely, 100 percent, in a heartbeat," says White. "People think he's the best--I don't, not even close. But if it's somehow possible, I would make it happen."

No use getting too excited yet, but this would be the best outcome possible. Maybe the sides can finally make this damn thing work for all the fans.

Of course, Dana can't help himself and has to throw in this remark:

"I like Randy, I genuinely like to think he's a good guy," White says. "As much as we've gone back and forth on this, I would sign Fedor and do everything possible to get Randy in the octagon with him. I'd do anything, because a., it's a great fight and b., I think Randy would smash Fedor."

I'm sure that's really going to make Fedor feel welcome and eager to sign on with the UFC.

Article courtesy of www.bloodyelbow.com

Sportsnet.ca -- It appears (Sugar) Rashad Evans will put his undefeated record on the line against The Iceman.

According to Sherdog.com, Evans has agreed to take on Chuck Liddell in the main event of UFC 85 on June 7 in London, England.

The event had previously been announced with the former light heavyweight champion Liddell confirmed and he had reportedly agreed to take on Mauricio (Shogun) Rua. But Rua was forced to pull out this week with an injury to his left knee.

The UFC has apparently offered the fight to Evans, who accepted the challenge. He was previously rumoured to be scheduled to take on Thiago Silva at UFC 84 in May.

Evans (11-0-1) is coming off a decision win over Michael Bisping at UFC 78: Validation in November. Prior to that he fought to a draw against Tito Ortiz in July.

Liddell (21-5) beat Wanderlei Silva in December to break a two-fight losing streak which began when he lost his belt to Quinton Jackson in May.