Quick Hits: Fitch Inks Extension, Bellator Announces Cards, Additions to UFC 101, and More
Posted by Kris Karkoski on Mar 25, 2009 at 2:08 pm ET20 Comments
Jon Fitch
- Gray Maynard says he’d like to fight Diego Sanchez, Clay Guida, or Sean Sherk next. [MMA Junkie]
- Takanori Gomi will return to Shooto for the first time in almost six years to fight 154-pound champion Takashi Nakakura on May 10th at JCB Hall in Tokyo, Japan.
- Tito Ortiz says he’ll pass on Affliction, instead attempting to sign with Strikeforce. [Youtube]
- Former EliteXC lightweight champion KJ Noons suffered a unanimous decision loss over the weekend in his return to boxing. [MMA Junkie]
- Former EliteXC middleweight title-holder Murilo “Ninja” Rua has signed with DREAM and will make his debut for the promotion at DREAM 8 on April 5th in Japan. [Gracie Mag]
- Former NFL player and heavyweight prospect Rex Richards (8-1) will tryout for the tenth season of The Ultimate Fighter. [MMA Junkie]
- Andrei Arlovski’s boxing debut has been postponed until May. [Sherdog]
- Gina Carano says her anticipated bout against Cris “Cyborg” Santos is likely to take place before the end of 2009. [MMA Weekly]
- Former WEC fighters Johny Hendricks and Danillo Villefort will be transferred to the UFC’s welterweight division. [Five Ounces of Pain and MMA Junkie]
- Bellator has announced the complete lineup for its April 3rd debut. [MMA Junkie]
- Kendall Grove is likely to fight at UFC 101 on August 8th in Philadelphia. [Five Ounces of Pain]
- Bellator’s third event will take place on April 17th in Norman, Oklahoma and will feature the first round of the promotion’s middleweight tournament, which includes notable Hector Lombard, with Brandon Vera’s wife Kerry Vera also slated to be in action in a non-tournament bout. [MMA Junkie]
- Jon Fitch has signed a five-fight contract extension with the UFC. [MMA Mania]
- Wilson Reis vs. Henry Martinez will headline Bellator’s second event on April 10th at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. [MMA Junkie]
- Ultimate Fighter cast members Jon “War Machine” Koppenhaver and Joe Scarola will fight for the welterweight and lightweight titles respectively at MMA Big Show’s June 10th “Conviction” event at the Belterra Casino in Belterra, Indiana.
- Alexandre “Xande” Ribeiro vs. Keiichiro Yamamiya and Makoto Takimoto vs. Michael Costa have been added to the official lineup for Sengoku Eighth Battle on May 2nd in Tokyo.
- New Jersey has refused to sanction a planned boxing bout between former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia and former boxing champion Ray Mercer, which was to headline Adrenaline MMA’s third show on May 30th in Atlantic City. This bout is now tentatively scheduled to take place in June at a location to-be-announced. [MMA Weekly]
- The Ultimate Fighter 7 teammates Matt Riddle and Dan Cramer are likely to square off at UFC 101. [Five Ounces of Pain]
- Welterweight bouts featuring Josh Koscheck against Chris Wilson at UFC 98 and Paul Taylor versus Peter Sobotta at UFC 99 have been officially announced.
Tags: Alexandre Ribeiro, Andrei Arlovski, Cristiane Cyborg, Dan Cramer, Danillo Villefort, gina carano, Gray Maynard, Hector Lombard, Henry Martinez, Joe Scarola, Johny Hendricks, jon koppenhaver, Keiichiro Yamamiya, Kendall Grove, Kerry Vera, KJ Noons, Makota Takimoto, Matt Riddle, Michael Costa, murilo rua, Rex Richards, Takanori Gomi, Takashi Nakakura, Tim Sylvia, Tito Ortiz, Wilson Reis
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While I don’t mind seeing new MMA promotions sprouting up here and there, and it’s good that this sport is picking up ground, but War Machine actually in a title fight right now really shows how far ahead of the game the UFC really is. He should be nowhere near a title fight.
neither should joe “the whiny quitter” scarola
Now that I think about it more, maybe these little po-dunk circuits are bad for the sport. If the only MMA that some people experience are circuits like these where War Machine is a champion and quadriplegics fight normal people, then maybe MMA is not shown in the brightest of lights here.
Small circuits have their place, while some may put on stupid stuff like this, others like UWC, PFC, Adrenaline (for the most part), and MFC provide a place for amateur fights to take place so guys can test their skills before going pro, as well as providing a venue for guys to grow up in the sport and prove themselves worthy of the UFC. There will always be a need for small time promotions, but I’m relatively confident that people will not have these smaller regional shows as their only exposure to the sport. I believe instead that most people that are attending the smaller shows are people that have already had exposure to the big time (UFC/Strikeforce/DREAM) and are looking to take advantage of seeing the up and coming fighters in their area, plus maybe a couple of UFC washouts.
maynard vs anyone of those guys would b a sick fight. tito will pass on affliction or is it the other way around… gina vs guyborg im gonna b so sad when ginas pretty face gets smashed up. john fitch gettin an extension is great. and big doofus timmeh cant get his boxin match sanctioned and i would just like to thank the NJSAC for not allowin that dibacle to go on.
maynard vs any of those guys will be awesome..i believe he could win all three- maynard > diego by UD(the same way kos and fitch did)
maynard > guida because maynard is just better and has a former guida opponent in tyson as a best friend
and sherk i believe this would be a great wrestling match but neither would be able to get the other down and maynards superior boxing beats sherk…also roger huerta how dare you gina is gonna kill cyborg
hey i hope she does i hope its quick and guyborg doesnt even get to land a punch on her pretty face… but im a realist and in all likly hood even if she wins her face is gonna b pretty messed up but im keepin my fingers crossed. as for ur assesment of maynard i agree wit wat u got wit diego the guida fight i see a lil tougher then u but i think maynard takes that as well and i see the sherk fight as a replica of sherk vs griffin where its just a boxing match and ill say its a split decision for who tho im not sure
In the small print in Jon Fitchs contract under the number of fights it has “undercard” in brackets
John Fitch should try 185, he’s a big 170 fighter, he’d make that division more exciting.
My observations-
Maynard needs to fight one of these guys even as just a step in competition
where can I watch Gomi?
Ortiz going to Strikeforce for a contract pretty much signs Afflictions execution order
KJ Noons losing in boxing…his striking was never that crisp to begin w/ so no surprise, needs to quit whining and stick w/ MMA
One Rua back to Japan…if Shogun loses it will be two…
Rex Richards is a monster his only loss is to Carwin by guillotine so him actually fighting at 265 should be interesting.
AA’s boxing being postponed is a bad indicator for him being ready for Affliction 3
Cyborg vs. Carano…finally
Hendricks coming to the UFC…he’s one of the best collegiate wrestlers of the decade and his striking is pretty sick, watch for him to make some noise soon
Glad to see Fitch resign, always like to see him fight.
re-sign…
I bet Tim Sylvia’s next stop will be that promotion in Indiana to fight for their HW belt!
Tito should patch things up with Dana and come back to the UFC. I know a lot of people don’t like Tito, but he’s still a really good fighter and he can still be significant at 205 in the UFC. I know he lost to Machida, but if you watch that fight again Machida was running more than he was attacking. Yes i know he’s just being “elusive”. Anyway i’ve always been a big Tito fan and i would like to see him fight Rich Franklin, Keith Jardine or possibly a rematch with Rashad Evans. But i am very aware that that’s a long shot.
Gray Maynard vs. Sherk would be a cool fight, If he were to fight Sanchez, i think the fight would end up going to decision, and if he fought Guida, well that would be an exciting fight. But i’d rather see Maynard fight Sherk instead of Guida and Sanchez.
I think Tito is avoiding the ring (or Babalu) as it doesn’t suit his style. I also smell a re-match between Frank Shamrock to make it there second battle, 10 years later. It would be a big fight, regardless of most peoples interest. In fact, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that by the fall those two will be fighting, gauranteed.
You’re right. I think Tito Ortiz vs. Frank Shamrock2 would be a big fight. I wouldn’t mind watching Tito beat the crap out of Frank Shamrock because as annoying as Tito is, Frank Shamrock IS worse. And his head is bigger than Tito’s.
Interesting point. Frank does seem to come across as a big headed dude, but I do have to give him props. Like him or not, when he left the sport he was as dealy as it got. I do think Tito would have the upper hand these days though, and he’ll need to cage to do so.
i can’t stand the shamrocks especially frank shamrock. I hope nick diaz puts him to sleep with a ko or choke.
Tito tied rashad, didn’t really fight against machida, just had twins with jenna jameson…i honestly think he should retire dude. He hasn’t evolved at all and he’s been out of the cage for a long time. I like tito but i don’t see a comeback.
Glad fitch is re-signed. He’s a great fighter and role model for the sport.
Fitch, signing an extension is awesome tho I wish he would have done like Kos did and signed a month extentsion not a fight # extension but hey whatever Fitch will be in the UFC for another year and that is awesome..
Bellator in Norman, Oklahoma wooooooooooooo hooooooooooooo seriously whatever, I do think they have some good fighters fighting in the tourneys, but I have read somewhere that their contracts are absolutely retarded and the fighter essentially has no power ie if a fighter wins two in a row the Org has the automatic option to extend the fighters contract 18months with no renegotiation, things of that nature
Maynard wanting to fight those guys um ya definately
Hey Gomi start training again you won’t be losing all the time, You use to be the best and you use to state you were the best til you got choked out in 2003 by BJ Penn, but he was great now he just needs to start training hard again hope he can make one last run….
Ninja going back to Japan is definately a good move for him and should be an exciting addition to a really good org, atleast its interesting for conspiracy theroists
Gina Should fight Cyborg and I hope it happens in the StrikeForce org, I really wouldn’t mind seeing that match, the first great female MMA match, I mean com’on who doesn’t want to see it
Ninja belongs in DREAM for sure . His style is better in a ring and they love him already there so it works out . Carano and cyborg should be good … hopefully the layoff for carano doesnt hurt her as I believe Cyborg had one fight since xc when under . Should be a good spring for fights .
Yahoo Sports reported that “War Machine” will be fighting “Roger Bowling” at “MMA Big Show” June 20th. Here is the link
http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/news;_ylt=AmafxYJ50kzr4MxNwjLFLH89Eo14?slug=ys-bowling032509&prov=yhoo&type=lgns