ESPN “The Magazine” of all places is running a report that Fedor Emelianenko — considered among many as the top heavyweight fighter in mixed martial arts — will be a free agent again within the next week and will entertain offers from the UFC.
Here’s a snip from the Russian’s long-time manager, Apy Echteld:
“Officially, yes, Fedor will be a free agent…. We’re open to a discussion [with UFC]. If everybody is willing to put a little wine in the water, then we have something to work with. There is space for this to happen.”
Emelianenko opted to sign with the newly-formed M-1 promotion in late 2007 instead of competing inside the Octagon. That decision prompted UFC Heavyweight Champion, Randy Couture, to fax in his resignation from a South African movie set.
“The Natural” indicated — and still does — that the only fighter left to prove himself against is the Pride FC heavyweight champion. He’s currently in the midst of an intense legal battle with the UFC about his decision and actions ever since.
Here’s a snip from UFC President Dana White:
“People think he’s the best — I don’t, not even close. But if it’s somehow possible, I would make it happen…. I like Randy, I genuinely like to think he’s a good guy. As much as we’ve gone back and forth on this, I would sign Fedor and do everything possible to get Randy in the Octagon with him. I’d do anything, because a., it’s a great fight and b., I think Randy would smash Fedor.”
M-1 has yet to stage a show and there’s talk that infighting between the Russian side of the operation and the American side has hindered its progress. Emelianenko, however, was loaned out to fight Hong Man Choi at the Yarennoka! Japan event this past New Year’s Eve, winning via submission (armbar) in round one.
This is the latest bizarre development in perhaps the most bizarre MMA storyline of all time. The storybook ending, after all that has transpired, would be a showdown between Couture and Emelianenko under the UFC banner.
But can the fight, if it ever happens, even come close to living up to the lofty expectations?
We may never know … or will we? There’s apparently no end in sight for this rollercoaster ride. Or is there?
Another late March cancelled fight is now back on, but a mid-March battle is off. We’re just trying to keep up. Strikeforce lightweight champ Gilbert Melendez was originally scheduled to fight Jorge Masvidal at the Strikeforce/EliteXC March 29th event. That match was called off when Masvidal had to drop out because of a shin injury. It looked like Melendez was going to skip the event as he was rumored to be competing in the Lightweight Grand Prix at Dream 1 on March 15th.
MMAWeekly reports that Chute Boxe jiu-jitsu coach Cristiano Marcello has stepped in to fight Melendez, so Gilby is on the March 29th fight card. Marcello confirmed the fight:
“Melendez is an excellent fighter and I am very happy to face him, especially on Strikeforce, which is a great event. We are going to travel together, me, (Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos), Master Rafael (Cordeiro) and Rudimar (Fedrigo). Cyborg will fight at the same event and we are going to make a huge presentation for the fans.”
Melendez spoke on why he is defending his belt on the 29th instead of going to Japan for Dream 1, and that he’s going to defend the belt “ferociously”.
“I think it’s a great opportunity to fight in the Dream tournament. I love fighting in Japan, but right now I have a commitment with Strikeforce. I’m looking to just put my focus on Strikeforce; I’ve got a contract there and want to fulfill it.”
“More than anyone, fans, people, my family, it’s important to me to come out ferocious, mean and show people I’m here to stay,” he exclaimed. “I’m focused and it means a lot to me to not only win, but win with bad intentions and put on a good show for the fans.”
Both Melendez and Marcello are vets of PRIDE, but also share the fact that their last loss was to Mitsuhiro Ishida. You can check out the first part of Melendez battling Ishida after the jump. For parts two and three of the fight, go here and here.
We told you yesterday that Paulo Filho went all Britney Spears and pulled out of the WEC event on March 26th where he was to fight Chael Sonnen. That fight had reportedly been pushed to June, provided Filho could stay on his happy pills. Well, scratch that. If Filho’s manager, Ed Soares, is to be believed, the fight is now back on for March 26th.
“He went through some personal issues, and he basically pulled everything together,” Soares said.
Training at the Black House gym in Rio de Janeiro, Filho has been preparing with Ricardo Arona (Pictures) and Rafael Feijao. Soares said UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva will join the training camp on March 17.
Said Soares: “During difficult times you get to see who your true friends are, and everyone is coming together to help him get ready for this fight.”
So for now the rematch we thought we had to wait for is back on for later this month. One has to wonder how much pressure the WEC was putting on him to fight since their event card was looking weak at best. Sherdog is also saying that 5-0 middleweight Nissen Osterneck has also pulled out of the March gig. The fighter was set to battle 6-0 Bryan Baker, even though the fight had never been officially announced by the WEC. The withdrawal was due to a shoulder injury that will keep the fighter out for eight months after surgery.
If you haven’t noticed yet, Tito Ortiz and Jenna Jameson are pretty damn good at marketing themselves. Since the gossip magazines haven’t cared enough about them as a celebrity couple to invent a cutesy hybrid nickname (i.e., Brangelina, Tomkat, EllenPagepotato [yeah, we’ve been trying to keep that one on the D.L., but we’re happy, and we ask that you respect our privacy]), they’ve taken it upon themselves to invent one. Will it catch on? Fingers crossed!
Of course, there’s more to this Hollyscoop.com video than ‘tarded nicknames. Ortiz strongly reiterates that he’s done with the UFC, and also reveals that he’s come around on his Kimbo Slice-hate. Jenna, as always, plays the supportive g.f., smiling and nodding and biting the inside of her cheeks while the little voice in her head screams “SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP OH MY GOD YOU ARE SO BORING ARE YOU STILL TALKING YOU OGRE-HEADED LOSER FOR FUCK’S SAKE WRAP IT UP!”
(YAMMA 1’s official fight card. Click for larger image. Bro-grabs to BloodyElbow.)
You should seriously check out YAMMA’s official website. Like, now — drop whatever you’re doing and gaze upon the unbelievable tackiness of this ill-fated promotion. First of all, the slogan: “On the streets it’s against the law / In the pit it is the law,” which sounds like the tagline to every shitty Steven Seagal flick ever made. There’s also that amazing bullet-pointed list on the homepage: “The new fighting surface offers NO escape, NO give and NO mercy!” Is it quicksand? It’s quicksand, isn’t it.
The superfights should provide some decent entertainment value, in a used-up-whore-who-now-has-to-give-it-away-for-cheap kind of way, but that heavyweight tournament is gonna be brutal. Can you imagine sitting through seven matches of these bloated journeymen slapping up against each other?
The only way we’ll become fans of YAMMA is if it looks like this:
Ken Shamrock fights Robert “Buzz” Berry at this weekends Cage Rage event for EliteXC which takes place at Wembley Arena in London. Also on the fight card is Ken’s 19-year-old son, Ryan Shamrock, who will have an untelevised fight against Giorgio Andrews.
The current rumors are that if Ken Shamrock wins this weekend, his next opponent will likely be Kevin Ferguson aka Kimbo Slice. EliteXC recently made a deal with CBS that will put the sport of Mixed Martial Arts on a major TV network during prime time, and they would like to have a big name match-up of Kimbo/Shamrock to draw in viewers, and it would. I don’t care that Ken Shamrock is past his prime, and I don’t care that Kimbo is relatively new to the sport of MMA, people will watch this fight.
Oh, and if Shamrock vs. Kimbo does indeed happen, Shamrock by heel hook.
After Mauricio “Shogun” Rua was forced to withdraw from his bout with Chuck Liddell due to a knee injury, Rashad Evans has been picked to replace him as Liddell’s opponent on the June 7th event that will take place in London, England.
Kazuyuki Fujita vs. Peter Graham — Their pre-fight-beef gets squashed quickly in the ring as Fujita takes Graham down and chokes him out in 83 seconds.
Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos vs. Makoto Takimoto — ‘Borg comes out swinging in his usual style, but is even more dominant on the ground and gets the better of Takimoto in a heel-hook war.
Kazuo Misaki vs. Siyar Bahadurzada — Bahadurzada dishonors his Shooto belt by succumbing to a guillotine choke in the second round.
“Gambling is in his blood. Last year, with his brother Frank and private equity money from Colony Capital, he [Lorenzo Feritta] took Bingo Palace, the Las Vegas casino and bingo hall built by his father, private for $9 billion, including debt. In 2001 he purchased the professional mixed martial arts league Ultimate Fighting Championship, which gained mass appeal from the reality TV show The Ultimate Fighter.”
It must be nice. Interesting nugget that has been known for awhile and is never brought up much: If Frank and Lorenzo ever have to resolve a deadlock between the two it will be settled with a jiu-jitsu match with the winner having the final say. Oh … and the referee? UFC President Dana White. I doubt Bill Gates or any others on that list have clause like that.
ESPN “The Magazine” of all places is running a report that Fedor Emelianenko — considered among many as the top heavyweight fighter in mixed martial arts — will be a free agent again within the next week and will entertain offers from the UFC.
