November 20th, 2007
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MMA Junkie is reporting that UFC middleweight Yushin Okami has signed a new deal with the UFC:
MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) today heard from UFC Vice President of Talent Relations Joe Silva, who stated that Okami has inked a new deal with the organization.
The length of the contract and financial terms of the deal were not released, and Okami could not be reached for comment.
As painful as Okami is to watch, he’s pretty damn good. Definitely one of the strongest fighters in the middleweight division. It’s good to see that the UFC isn’t dropping fighters based solely on their ability to be exciting. If they want to be looked at as the organization with the best top-to-bottom talent, they can’t afford to cut fighters who are extremely talented, but unexciting.
The big question is who Okami may face in his next bout. Obviously Anderson Silva and Dan Henderson appear to be out of the picture at middleweight for the time being. There are some decent matchups for Okami in the UFC middleweight division, however. Ricardo Almeida, David Terrell, Chris Leben, and the winner of Leites/Marquardt are all interesting fights on paper.
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Just a quick reminder that UFC light heavyweight contender Forrest Griffin will make his network television debut tonight on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (SVU) at 10 p.m. ET on NBC.
The episode — dubbed “Fight” — centers around popular mixed martial artist Mike Kona (Griffin) and his on-screen girlfriend (who happens to be the real-life squeeze of regular castmember, Ice-T). Kona is the suspect in the death of a local teenager.
Should be interesting to see the spin on this one. Let’s just hope Griffin has polished his acting skills since hosting the “Tuffest 25 Moments on SpikeTV” earlier this year with fellow The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) season one alum, Stephan Bonnar.
For more background on the episode, as well as a video trailer, click here.
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Reason #1: You can clearly see it in the picture below.
Reason #2: See above.
Click pic for full size photo
If you liked this picture, you can thank us by clicking here and buying a brand spankin’ new Five Ounces of Pain T-Shirt!
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Here’s the latest rumors on the UFC 82 fight card.
- Dan Henderson vs. Anderson Silva (for the UFC Middleweight Title)
- Jon Fitch vs. Akihiro Gono
- Josh Koscheck vs. ???
We’ll keep updating as fights get rumored and signed…
Check out all UFC 82 content here on FiveOuncesOfPain.com
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From the Brazilian fight magazine, Tatame:
“Today I have no exclusivity with anyone. I am the same as Fedor, I do not have exclusivity. I am the champion of Cage Rage and have one more belt defense to do. I am waiting because of the surgery, but in February I will be ready. We are studying many proposals. M-1 contacted me to fight there, there is an event in , an event in , the government of Amazonas, there´s no lack of money there, and they want me to fight there. In December I am going to to make some meetings with Ultimate also. I want to return to UFC”, said Vitor, that explained the break-up with his former employer, Jorge Guimarães “Joinha”.
I don’t see a return to the UFC as very likely for Belfort. He is a shell of his former self as a fighter and hasn’t beaten anyone of note since 2003. He is a good fit as a big name for a smaller organization, but he is no longer UFC material.
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MMA Mania is reporting that Jon Fitch will be fighting on the UFC 82 pay per view card in Columbus, Ohio on March 1st, 2008:
MMAmania.com (www.mmamania.com) learned earlier this morning that welterweight contender Jon Fitch (15-2) has been approached about fighting Akihiro Gono (27-12-7) at UFC 82 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, on March 1.
Fitch will fight on the card; however, Gono is not a lock to be his opponent at this time. Our sources indicate that the Fitch camp is working hard to line up a showdown with Karo Parisyan instead.
A fight with Akihiro Gono makes no sense for Fitch right now while a fight with Karo Parisyan makes all the sense in the world. While I think a matchup against Gono could be interesting, the welterweight division is best served by having Fitch and Parisyan battle it out to see who gets to face the winner of GSP vs. Hughes/Serra.
The presence of Fitch is a solid addition to the card either way, but I’d rather have him fight someone meaningful. While Gono is a solid fighter, he is nowhere near the top of the ladder at the welterweight division, so the fight is a lose-lose situation for Fitch.
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MMAmania.com (www.mmamania.com) learned earlier this morning that welterweight contender Jon Fitch (15-2) has been approached about fighting Akihiro Gono (27-12-7) at UFC 82 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, on March 1.
Fitch will fight on the card; however, Gono is not a lock to be his opponent at this time. Our sources indicate that the Fitch camp is working hard to line up a showdown with Karo Parisyan instead. That fight makes the most sense in terms of clearing up the 170-pound log jam.
In addition, it doesn’t really offer much of an up-side for Fitch — Gono just won his Octagon debut against Tamdan McCrory via submission (armbar) at UFC 78: “Validation” this past weekend. Fitch, on the other hand, is undefeated in the UFC (7-0) and has not lost a bout since 2002.
His most recent win over Diego Sanchez at UFC 76: “Knockout” moved him closer to a title shot … or so it seemed (Georges St. Pierre has the first crack against the winner of Matt Serra and Matt Hughes sometime in early 2008.)
What makes the most sense?
Have Fitch fight Parisyan in March and the Hughes/Serra winner against St. Pierre should headline a pay-per-view (PPV) shortly thereafter. Then, the Fitch-Parisyan winner would fight the winner of Hughes/Serra vs. St. Pierre later in 2008.
Not to take anything away from Gono — he’s talented and very experienced. He has everything to gain from a fight with Fitch and nothing to lose. It’s the exact opposite for Fitch.
This news makes very little sense, unless of course Parisyan earned a guaranteed spot behind St. Pierre with his recent win over Ryo Chonan and he won’t fight again until mid-2008.
Stay tuned for more details on this developing fight announcement. In the meantime, check out the UFC 82 fight card right here.
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Steve Cofield’s got the audio of Michael Bisping saying the fans in Newark can “go to hell” at the post-UFC 78 presser.
Now, the question is, was he kidding? Cofield didn’t think so:
The Brit was asked for his reaction to being booed often by the fans in Newark before and after the event. Listen to the clip below. He said they can go to hell. It didn’t sound like he was kidding. And it did put a slight grimace on the face of UFC president Dana White, who was standing behind Bisping.
After listening to it myself, it sounds like Bisping’s just frustrated. He may have meant it a little, but it doesn’t sound in any way spiteful towards the fans. Putting a grimace on Dana White’s face, however, is never a good thing.
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First Randy and now Ali.
Say it ain’t so!
Sad news to report today as Ali Sonoma announced via her MySpace page that she is no longer a UFC ring girl.
“I am no longer a ring girl for UFC…I am proud to say I am moving up to bigger and better things. There is always a time when you get comfortable at a job…you seem to lose focus on what your main goal is…I guess I got a little comfortable myself, of course, I loved the fights, loved the experience, but my real dream is to actually speak on camera, to act, not just shake my booty for the crowd. 
(even though it was a lot of fun while it lasted and I met some amazing people)” - Ali Sonoma
So there you have it. Sonoma, who is engaged to UFC welterweight Diego Sanchez, made the decision to leave in order to pursue acting and modeling opportunities.
She will be missed.
It’s interesting to note that there had been rumblings in the past that the UFC brass was none too please that Sonoma and Arianny Celeste were both involved with UFC fighters.
The problem has apparently worked itself out as Celeste and Josh Burkman are no longer an item and Sonoma is no longer a ring girl.
Best of luck to Ali in her pursuit of new endeavors.
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