“Quinton Jackson will join LeBron James and other star athletes this weekend in Los Angeles to film a Nike commercial dubbed ‘Human Chain’…. The spot, featuring a premise of ‘overachieving with victory, getting knocked down and getting back up,’ said Jackson’s trainer Juanito Ibarra, will be the second Nike ad to showcase a mixed martial artist. Randy Couture (Pictures) became the first in a 1996 spot called ‘Scars’ that featured close-ups of his famously cauliflowered ears.”
Congrats, Rampage … that’s big news and even bigger exposure.
UFC Light Heavyweight Champ Quinton “Rampage” Jackson’s trainer, Juanito Ibarra, has told Sherdog that his boy is helping MMA step into the mainstream. A Nike commercial called “Human Chain” shoots this weekend in Los Angeles and Rampage will be a part of it. Ibarra says the premise of the ad is “overachieving with victory, getting knocked down and getting back up.” NBA star LebRon James and others are also reportedly participating in the shoot.
According to the report:
“We have been working on it for quite a while, and things are just coming around now,” said Ibarra, who credited Jackson’s charisma for the fighter’s increasing notoriety.
“I’m sure the UFC brand helps, being the UFC champion,” the trainer said about his charge. “But when people meet ‘Rampage,’ they really get it.”
Ibarra also said that Rampage isn’t looking at this “like a Nike commercial.” Sure, he’s looking at it as a chance to bed the unassuming 19-year-old production assistant from Kansas, but it’s still a Nike commercial. Regardless of how Rampage views it, the ad is the latest in a string of mainstream moves for mixed martial arts. The EliteXC joining forces with CBS, Randy Couture shooting his own Nike ad, Tito Ortiz gettin’ fired, and Bud Light becoming a UFC sponsor, are all indicators that MMA has in fact arrived to the mainstream.
A source close to the costume designer of “Human Chain” claims Rampage will wear some sort of large chain and a scowl in the ad, while King James will again insult his hometown of Cleveland by wearing Yankee gear. Bravo, Boys.
“I really don’t know much about his ground game – if he even likes hanging out on the ground,” said Villasenor. “I know he’s a really big banger so it’s an exciting matchup. I need to be more technical than him and be better conditioned.”
“I always look for the knockout,” stated Santos. “I think this will be a duel between his boxing and my Muay Thai techniques. Villasenor is an ideal opponent for me.”
You’ll recall that UFC vet and paraplegic grappler-owned Joe Riggs was the original opponent for Villasenor, but “Diesel” had to bow out because of that whole spinal injury thing he picked in February 23rd’s Strikeforce at the Dome. Villasenor rocked it early in his career, but then hit some speed-bumps on the way to his current 24-6 record. He has been inactive since September of last year. And the guy seems to wear a lot of yellow - not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Most importantly, “Cyborg” (15-11) is fighting in a few hours against Makoto Takimoto, and Strikeforce heads will be shittin’ bricks - or shittin’ something else large and difficult to pass through a rectum - because if Santos gets jacked up in his “Sengoku” fight, they’ll be left with signing this guy to fight Villasenor.
Written by admin on March 4th, 2008 with comments disabled.
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The Shooto light-heavyweight champ will be facing off against Kazuo Misaki at tomorrow’s Sengoku event in Tokyo. Bahadurzada has sick knockout power and an interesting personal history, so watch the vid and be informed.
Scheduled to make his return to the Octagon this June against Chuck Liddell at UFC 85 in London, light heavyweight star Mauricio “Shogun” Rua has instead been forced to withdraw from the bout due to a ruptured ACL in his left knee, the same injury he had surgery on to repair last October after his UFC 76 fight with Forrest Griffin.
Surgery on the injured knee will be scheduled shortly, and there is no word on when Rua will be cleared to return to the Octagon.
Liddell’s opponent for UFC 85, which will be held at London’s O2 Arena on June 7th, will be announced shortly.
Damn it, we were really looking forward to that one. All we can say to Rua is find a competent surgeon or find a new line of work; we’ve seen more pictures of you in a hospital bed than in a gym. And who knows who Liddell’s replacement opponent will be, because all of the UFC’s other top 205ers are already busy around that time. Check it…
Quinton Jackson, Forrest Griffin: fighting each other in July Lyoto Machida, Tito Ortiz: fighting each other in May Wanderlei Silva, Keith Jardine: fighting each other in May Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou: scheduled to fight Kazuhiro Nakamura in May Thiago Silva, Rashad Evans: likely to fight each other in May
That doesn’t really leave anyone else that would give Chuck a serious challenge. We’d guess that either T. Silva, Evans, or Sokoudjou will be pulled off the match they were slated for to fight Chuck. Thiago and Sokoudjou might be interesting opponents, but a win for Chuck wouldn’t do much to prove he’s ready for another title shot, and a loss would sink him. Fucking Shogun — this kind of ruins everything.
On January 8 we submitted a list of seven (7) fighters to the IFL that would be available to fight in the IFL event from the Xtreme Couture gym. The fighters were: Dennis Davis 145lbs (16-8), Jay White Heavyweight (2-5), Phil Friedman Heavyweight (1-0), Eric Uresk 155lbs (2-3), Josh Haynes 185lbs (8-8), Johnny Hendricks 170lbs (3-0), and Karina Taylor 135lbs (0-1).
The IFL informed us that Dennis Davis would be booked to fight a prelim bout against Ian Loveland and that none of our other fighters would be utilized. According to the IFL none of our fighters were a proper matchup for Mario Sperry’s team of Brazilian fighters. The IFL intended to field a team of Benji Radach (who due to injury was replaced by Josh Haynes), Santino DeFranco and Lew Polley. Radach had been a member of Shawn Tompkins’ Anacondas team, while DeFranco and Polley are from American Top Team.
Lew Polley and Santino DeFranco are tremendous athletes and excellent fighters. However, they are members of American Top Team not Xtreme Couture. American Top Team is a great squad and by all means seem to be deserving of having their own team in the IFL. We have 35 athletes that train in our Las Vegas gym and proudly wear the Xtreme Couture patch on their shorts during fights. Yet the IFL decided to field a team called “Xtreme Couture” without putting any Xtreme Couture athletes on the team. The Patriots didn’t show up in the Super Bowl with a bunch of players from the Packers. Why would the Xtreme Couture name be put on the line and not be represented by Xtreme Couture fighters.
It is because of this that the team name was changed to ”Team Tompkins”.
DeFranco and Polley lost their fights, and Josh Haynes won, so nyeh nyeh nyeh on you, IFL. It’s kind of shocking that they would reject the guys that Randy Couture wanted to compete for his gym, and replace their actual fighters with ringers. When Couture signed on to field a team for the 2008 season, I figured that the IFL would bend over backwards to keep him happy. But they had their own plans, and now Randy’s like “I’m done with these jokers, let Tompkins worry about it.” The main reason we were excited about the IFL’s new camp vs. camp system was the idea that we’d be seeing the relatively unknown guys that each coach had hand-picked to represent their gyms. Unfortunately, the new season isn’t any less artificial than the last. Oh well; maybe they can get their shit together in 2009.
There’s another notable recent post on the Xtreme Couture blog which mentions Ken Shamrock swinging through the gym to work out when he was in town for the IFL event: “The World’s Most Dangerous Man tells us he hopes to fight Kimbo and his brother Frank after his March fight in the UK.” Could we be seeing Slice/Shamrock on CBS this summer? Cross your fingers and toes, because that would be huge — not only as a ratings draw, but because Kimbo would finally get the challenge he deserves.
What do y’all think, Kimbo by KO or Shamrock by leg-lock?
Mauricio “Shogun” Rua has ruptured the Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) in his left knee and it will require surgery to repair, meaning his 205-pound clash with Chuck Liddell at UFC 85 on June 7 at the O2 Arena in London, England, is scratched, according to UFC.com.
Here’s the snip:
“Scheduled to make his return to the Octagon this June against Chuck Liddell at UFC 85 in London, light heavyweight star Mauricio “Shogun” Rua has instead been forced to withdraw from the bout due to a ruptured ACL in his left knee, the same injury he had surgery on to repair last October after his UFC 76 fight with Forrest Griffin. Surgery on the injured knee will be scheduled shortly, and there is no word on when Rua will be cleared to return to the Octagon.”
Rua was looking forward to redeeming himself inside the Octagon after a poor performance against Griffin in his debut. Prior to the loss he was considered to be the man to beat in the 205-pound category.
He’ll now have to wait a little while longer to prove that the statement is indeed true.
Liddell is still slated to compete on the card. In fact, the announcement indicated that a new opponent would be revealed “shortly.” It more than likely has to be a notable fighter because “The Iceman” will be featured in the main event.
It’s hard to determine who the UFC would tab as a worthy replacement, considering that most of the top light heavyweights are seemingly booked.
That list includes Rampage Jackson, Forrest Griffin, Rashad Evans, Thiago Silva, Lyoto Machida, Tito Ortiz, Keith Jardine, Wanderlei Silva, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou and Houston Alexander.
Who’s left?
(Thanks to MMAmania.com contributor “Mr. NC-17,” as well as readers “roy,” “VNDK8,” “Brandon” and “Kyle” for the assist.)
Despite absorbing a slew of body kicks and a shoulder-lock attempt in the second round that nearly had him tapping, Ryan McGivern got the better of Matt Horwich during their IFL middleweight championship match on Friday and took the fight to a unanimous decision. So, Horwich loses his belt after just a two-month reign, and the title now goes to a guy who’s 4-4 in his last eight fights.
“The last man to own a victory over UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva, Japan’s Yushin ‘Thunder’ Okami has won six out of seven UFC fights, putting him firmly in line for a rematch with the champ. At UFC 82 on March 1st, Okami may have been at his most impressive as he knocked out former UFC champion Evan Tanner in the second round.”
The blurb above is for an auction in which the gloves Okami wore against Tanner are up on the block. It reveals that Okami did indeed break his hand against Tanner because the gloves will be signed “with his left hand since he broke his right hand during the fight.”
Here’s how the first fight went down for those interested:
(Thanks to MMAmania.com reader “Toga” for the assist.)
Props: Sherdog.com
It sure sounds like it:
