A featherweight (145 lb. limit) battle between Bay Area locals Jose Palacios (3-1) and Alvin Cacdac (4-4) will usher the return of Strikeforce’s “Young Guns” mixed martial arts (MMA) series to San Jose’s Civic Auditorium on Saturday, September 13th.
Tickets for the “Young Guns” event, priced from $40, can be purchased by calling Strikeforce corporate headquarters at 408-998-8232 or by visiting the Civic Auditorium box office, on the day of the event.
Both the 25-year-old Palacios and the 24-year-old Cacdac are looking to rebound from defeats that they suffered at Strikeforce’s last event, “Melendez vs. Thomson,” which took place at San Jose’s HP Pavilion on Friday, June 27th. Palacios gave up a three-round unanimous judges’ decision to Bobby Stack while Cacdac tapped out from a rear naked choke placed on him by Bryan Caraway in the first round of their matchup.
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For those who think that you can’t really get hurt in the pseudo-sport of golf, think again, because Nate Quarry has found a sure fire way.
From FCFighter:
“Quarry was at a party in Albany, Oregon, where guests were hitting golf balls into a wooded area. Quarry walked straight into the backswing of a young woman, sending the club directly into his left eye. The force of the blow broke Quarry’s Orbital Floor, a bone that keeps the eye in place. Doctors estimate the original cast member of “The Ultimate Fighter” will not be able to compete until November or December at the earliest.”
Unfortunately, being sidelined due to injury is a tale Nate Quarry knows all too well. Quarry, 36, sat out for nearly two years following his loss to Rich Franklin at UFC 56, while undergoing and recuperating from various surgeries. Quarry was also forced out of competition from the first season of The Ultimate Fighter due to an ankle injury which required significant healing time.
Though this latest mishap is surely aggravating for “The Rock”, the report states that Quarry is in relatively high spirits and has “been a good sport about the whole incident”. The UFC is also rumored to hold a pay-per-view event in Quarry’s native Oregon this November, but we shall see if that is too soon for the recovering UFC veteran to return to action.
- By: Kris Karkoski | Aug 19,2008
UFC light heavyweight James Irvin, in a letter to the Nevada State Athletic Commission obtained by Sherdog, has confirmed his use of painkillers in advance of his 205-pound main event bout against UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva at UFC Fight Night 14 in July.
“In the days leading up to my fight with Anderson Silva, I experienced some residual pain in my foot from a previous injury,” wrote Irvin in the letter. “I made the extremely poor choice to take some pain medications that I did not have a prescription for. I realize this was an ignorant and dangerous decision.”
Irvin faces a fine and suspension for the failed drug test which will be determined at a future NSAC hearing.
For those who follow UFC veteran Evan Tanner, you know that he leads what some might call an unorthodox lifestyle, complete with random, life-threatening excursions that seem above all else, unnecessary.
Tanner is at it again and this time the former UFC middleweight champion is gearing up for a trip into the vast desert of Southern California:
“The idea going into the desert came to me soon after I moved to Oceanside. It was motivated by my friend Sara’s talk of treasure hunting and lost gold, and my own insatiable appetite for adventure and exploration. I began to imagine what might be found in the deep reaches of the untracked desert. It became an obsession of sorts…
One more week. I think one more week, and I’ll be ready to go.”
I’ve been gathering my gear for this adventure for over a month, not a long time by most standards, but far too long for my impatient nature. Being a minimalist by nature, wanting to carry only the essentials, and being extremely particular, it has been a little difficult to find just the right equipment. I plan on going so deep into the desert, that any failure of my equipment, could cost me my life. I’ve been doing a great deal of research and study. I want to know all I can about where I’m going, and I want to make sure I have the best equipment.
Good luck Evan, and be sure to watch out for those man-eating jack rabbits, and that killer cacti.
When Zuffa decided not to pick up former IFL heavyweight champion Roy Nelson, most of us thought it was simply due to Nelson not being a terribly attractive asset…from a business perspective that is, not literally. Now, however, word is emerging that Nelson’s portly physique is in fact what steered him away from the Octagon, and toward the oversized ring of Affliction.
“Joe Silva was telling me to lose some weight and gain some muscle. He said I need the UFC look,” Nelson recently told TAGG Radio. “Nelson went on to say it was the Barnett type treatment and that he didnt want to do steroids or anything stupid [and] said thats just his genetics.”
While the UFC may be acting a bit harsh by utilizing the “No Fatties” policy, I find it difficult to argue with the notion that “Big Country” couldn’t shed a few dozen pounds fairly easily if he had such a desire. I mean, have you looked at the picture? On the other hand, Roy Nelson remains a heavyweight in a world where competitors in such a weight class are scarce to say the least. Should the UFC really be so picky when it comes to beer bellies even if the talent is there? That’s a tough call. Indeed, the business of MMA is about obtaining and building a solid talent roster, but the business of the UFC is very much about marketability, and I guess the powers that be just don’t see Nelson being a very strong draw with his whole third trimester look.
Nelson is slated to face off against UFC veteran Paul Buentello at Affliction “Day Of Reckoning” on October 11th.
- By: Kris Karkoski | Aug 18,2008
Anthony Johnson, who suffered a controversial eye poke TKO loss to Kevin Burns at UFC Fight Night 14 in July, will be cleared to fight in September after undergoing successful surgery to repair a detached retina suffered in the bout.
Johnson, however, will wait until October to return to the octagon to allow his eye further time to heal.
“I had laser surgery to reattach my retina and I got stitches in my eyeball right now. The laceration on my eye was from one end of my eye to the other,” Johnson told MMA Weekly. “I wasn’t really big on the whole appealing the fight anyway. Every single champion has a loss on his record. I’m trying to see myself as the bigger and better guy. If he’s the champion one day, I’ll accept an ‘L’. Everybody was hating on Mazzagatti because of the call, but he was on the side I was blocking on, so he actually didn’t see the guy eye gouge me. All he saw was the uppercut… he called what he thought he saw and I respect him. I was disappointed because I did lose like that… when it should have been a no contest or a DQ. He saw what he thought he saw, so I’m not hating on him about it.”
“The doctor said I can be cleared in September to fight,” Johnson continued. “But I don’t want to fight in September. I’m just going to wait until October and get my eye right.”
- By: Kris Karkoski | Aug 18,2008
The complete, 32-fighter cast of lightweights and light heavyweights for the upcoming season of the UFC’s “The Ultimate Fighter” reality series, “The Ultimate Fighter 8: Team Nogueria vs. Team Mir”, was today announced by Spike TV.
The upcoming season of “The Ultimate Fighter” features both a sixteen fighter, 155-pound tournament and a sixteen fighter, 205-pound tournament.
Two new “Ultimate Fighter” champions will be crowned when the eighth season concludes with a live finale on December 13th at The Pearl at The Palms in Las Vegas. The event will air live on Spike TV and will also feature other fighters from the current and past seasons of the reality series and UFC veterans.
“The Ultimate Fighter 8″ debuts on September 17th on Spike TV immediately following UFC Fight Night 15.
The complete “The Ultimate Fighter 8″ cast is after the jump…
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