February 4th, 2008
You are currently browsing the articles from MMA Factor written on February 4th, 2008.
The most recent ShoXC event on Showtime was an impressive show, but one fighter stood out.
After watching this fighter score a first round knockout in a fight against a guy, Sam Morgan, who had only been knocked out two other times in 28 professional fights, I was left challenging my own fanhood because I had never seen him fight before.
That night Paul Daley (17-6-2) put Morgan on queer street with the nastiest standing elbow I’ve seen since Anderson Silva’s knockout of Tony Fryklund almost two years ago.
Daley — who hails from Nottingham, England, and is the reigning Cage Rage British welterweight champion — is one of the most feared strikers in his weight class.
He’s aggressive, hits hard and is as strong as an ox. And the scariest thing about him is that at 24-years-old he’s only going to get better.
“Semtex” turned down a contract to fight in the UFC and then signed with EliteXC, shocking many fans throughout the MMA world. It’s a decision that perhap was the best move for his young career at this time.
Here’s a snip from Daley:
“EliteXC has offered me a more flexible contract, plus the UFC 170-pound division is stacked. I want more time to develop and grow as a fighter. I want to be the greatest and I am in no rush.”
It’s difficult to argue with a guy that young who is realistic, wanting more quality fights under his belt before getting in there with the big dogs.
Daley’s last lost came to Luiz Azeredo at Cage Rage 19 in December 2006. He was taken down numerous times in the unanimous decision loss and some people questioned if Daley was just a striker and not well rounded enough to ever become great.
Here are his thoughts:
“I continue to evolve, I have good wrestling, and my Jiu Jitsu is improving. I think my wrestling is underrated, because it is something that people have not seen a lot of. For the Azeredo fight I had to cut 7kg the day before the Weigh-In, so I was very weak and drained for the fight at 73kg. I have been working on lots of stuff, I have great focus and I will prove this.”
Since that loss, Daley has reeled off an impressive five-fight win streak all of which by stoppages (strikes). And his opponents were not chumps — Daniel Weichel (14-3), Paul Jenkins (38-36-7), Duane Ludwig (16-7), Mark Weir (18-15) and Morgan.
Daley has found his confidence and is at the top of his game. He’s looking to challenge all comers in the welterweight division of EliteXC. After his most recent win, Semtex was not shy when asked about possible upcoming opponents.
Final snip:
“I’ll fight Jake Shields, Eddie Alvarez, anybody they put in front of me. I’m the fucking best, I’ll beat all of them.”
A young fighter with aspirations of being the best combined with confidence and talent like that is a recipe for success in any sport. Don’t be surprised to see Daley in the hunt for the 170-pound EliteXC title real soon.
If he isn’t already.
James Iannotti now covers EliteXC news here on MMAmania.com. In addition to regular news updates he plans to provide frequent features on certain fighters to introduce them to our readers.
Written by admin on February 4th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on Paul "Semtex" Daley and EliteXC and MMA.
This is what happens after 90 seconds locked in a cage with Brock Lesnar:
Props: NapkinNights.com
This is what happens after more than 10 minutes locked in a cage with Tim Sylvia:
Props: TMZ.com
Written by admin on February 4th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on UFC Photos and UFC 81 and UFC After Party and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and Frank Mir and MMA.
MMAmania.com (www.mmamania.com) has received the fighter payouts for UFC 81: “Breaking Point” from the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) for the pay-per-view (PPV) event held on February 2 at The Mandalay Bat Events Center in Las Vegas.
No surprise, Brock Lesnar was the top earner of the night, raking in a quarter-million dollars for his 90-second submission loss to Frank Mir. He could have pocketed another $200,000 with a win in his Octagon debut.
Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira took home a nice chuck of change ($200,000) for his stoppage of Tim Sylvia, and Nate Marquardt didn’t make out too bad, either, with his convincing win over Jeremy Horn.
Here are all the UFC 81 payouts:
Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira — $200,000 ($100,000 to show, $100,000 to win)
Tim Sylvia — $100,000
Nogueira defeated Sylvia via submission (guillotine choke) in round three
Frank Mir — $80,000 ($40,000 to show, $40,000 to win)
Brock Lesnar — $250,000
Mir defeated Lesnar via submission (kneebar) in round one
Nate Marquardt — $52,000 ($26,000 to show, $26,000 to win)
Jeremy Horn — $25,000
Marquardt defeated Horn via submission (guillotine choke) in round two
Ricardo Almeida — $40,000 ($20,000 to show, $20,000 to win)
Rob Yundt — $5,000
Almeida defeated Yundt via submission (guillotine choke) in round one
Tyson Griffin — $36,000 ($18,000 to show, $18,000 to win)
Gleison Tibau — $11,000
Griffin defeated Tibau via unanimous decision
Chris Lytle — $24,000 ($12,000 to show, $12,000 to win)
Kyle Bradley — $4,000
Lytle defeated Bradley via technical knockout (strikes) in round one
Tim Boetsch — $12,000 ($6,000 to show, $6,000 to win)
David Heath — $6,000
Boetsch defeated Heath via technical knockout (strikes) in round one
Marvin Eastman— $14,000 ($7,000 to show, $7,000 to win)
Terry Martin — $12,000
Eastman defeated Martin via unanimous decision
Rob Emerson — $16,000 ($8,000 to show, $8,000 to win)
Keita Nakamura — $5,000
Emerson defeated Nakamura via split decision
Keep in mind the salaries listed above do not include fight bonuses, sponsorships, percentages and other unofficial payments. It also does not include deductions for expenses such as insurance, taxes, etc.
For example, the UFC often hands out extra cash for “Fight of the Night,” “Knockout of the Night” and “Submission of the Night.” To check out these figures for UFC 81 go here.
The total base fighter payroll for UFC 81 was $892,000.
For complete results and coverage of the “Breaking Point” click here and here.
Written by admin on February 4th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on Gleison Tibau and Brock Lesnar and Tim Boetsch and Marvin Eastman and Jeremy Horn and Ricardo Almeida and Rob Yundt and Kyle Bradley and Keita Nakamura and UFC 81 and Tyson Griffin and Terry Martin and Nate Marquardt and Robert Emerson and UFC Payouts and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and Frank Mir and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Tim Sylvia and David Heath and Chris Lytle and UFC Pay Per View (PPV) Events and MMA.
Despite earlier reports that indicated middleweight Patrick Cote would not compete at UFC 83 on April 19 at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, it now appears that “The Predator” will be in action when the promotion “invades” Canada for the first time ever, according to UFC.com.
No opponent has been named.
It was speculated that Cote would be a guest commentator during the pay-per-view (PPV) event. Things have since changed — perhaps the the desire to fight in front of a hometown crowd was just too much to pass up after all.
Cote is on a three-fight win streak inside the Octagon after dropping his first four matches. He has stopped Kendall Grove and Drew McFedries each in the first round his last two times out. It’d be good to see him get a solid opponent in a fight that would mean something in the 185-pound division contender picture.
In addition to the Cote fight announcement, the UFC made official several rumored bouts for UFC 83: “Serra vs. St. Pierre II.” We already knew all of them were booked, but let’s take a quick look at the complete card regardless:
170 lbs.: Matt Serra vs. Georges St. Pierre
185 lbs.: Rich Franklin (22-3) vs. Travis Lutter (9-4)
185 lbs.: Michael Bisping (15-1) vs. Charles McCarthy (10-4)
185 lbs.: Patrick Cote (12-4) vs. TBA
155 lbs.: Mac Danzig (17-4-1) vs. Mark Bocek (5-1)
185 lbs.: Jason MacDonald (19-9) vs. Joe Doerksen (39-11)
185 lbs.: Ed Herman (14-5) vs. Demian Maia (6-0)
185 lbs.: Kalib Starnes (8-2-1) vs. Nate Quarry (9-2)
170 lbs.: Jonathan Goulet (21-9) vs. Kuniyoshi Hironaka (11-4)
155 lbs.: Sam Stout (13-3-1) vs. Rich Clementi (30-12-1)
For more on UFC 83 hit up this archive.
Written by admin on February 4th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on UFC Canada and UFC 83 and UFC Middleweight Division and Patrick Cote and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and MMA.
“I now know what it feels like to be in a rodeo. That was a bull.”
Frank Mir has some more great insight on his win over Brock Lesnar this weekend at UFC 81: “Breaking Point” this weekend thanks to Mr. Sunshine.
Here’s the audio:
Written by admin on February 4th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on Brock Lesnar and UFC 81 and Frank Mir and UFC Heavyweight Division and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and MMA.
The UFC will hold a press conference in about a half-hour at 10 a.m. ET time to announce its first-ever event in Canada.
UFC 83 is booked for April 19 at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, featuring the welterweight title fight between Georges St. Pierre and Matt Serra.
To watch the press conference LIVE online at 10 a.m. ET click here.
In addition, St. Pierre and Serra will be available during an autograph session today from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. ET. Fans who attend the meet-and-greet will also be eligible to purchase tickets during an exclusive presale.
Get over there if you can swing it — sounds like a great opportunity.
Update: UFC President Dana White revealed during the press conference that more than 13,000 tickets were purchased during the UFC Fight Club presale yesterday. That’s more than half the seating for the venue (about 22,000). Act fast if you plan to attend — tickets are being gobbled up.
Written by admin on February 4th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on UFC 83 and UFC Canada and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and MMA.
Props: 15Rounds.com
Quoteworthy:
“We’re waiting to hear from him. We told him we’d wait for him to make a decision, but he’s not making a decision…. The deadline is pretty much up, and I need decision from him by Monday (February 4).”
UFC President Dana White provides an update on the Mirko Cro Cop situation — the 2006 Pride FC Open Weight Grand Prix Champion has a losing record inside the Octagon (1-2) and has not competed since UFC 75: “Champion vs. Champion” in September 2007. No word on what will happen if the deadline expires with no word from the Croatian.
Written by admin on February 4th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic and UFC Heavyweight Division and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and MMA.