Monday, January 09, 2012

KJ Noons vs Josh Thomson on tap for Strikeforce: Barnett vs Cormier

A pivotal lightweight match is likely headed to a yet-unannounced Strikeforce event planned for March.

Sources close to the event today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that K.J. Noons (11-4 MMA, 3-2 SF) and Josh Thomson (18-4 MMA, 9-2 SF) have verbally agreed to meet.

As MMAjunkie.com first reported, "Strikeforce Grand Prix Final: Barnett vs. Cormier" takes place March 3 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The event airs live on Showtime with prelims on Showtime Extreme.

Noons rebounded from a two-fight skid with a decision victory over Billy Evangelista this past month at "Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Masvidal." The win put him one step closer to a coveted title shot against current champ Gilbert Melendez, who outpointed Jorge Masvidal in the event's headliner.

Masvidal spoiled Noons' return to lightweight this past June after his unsuccessful bid for then-welterweight champion Nick Diaz's title eight months prior.

American Kickboxing Academy product Thomson hasn't fought since he lost a decision to Tatsuya Kawajiri at DREAM "Dynamite!! 2010," which snapped a two-fight win streak. He was expected to return this past September at "Strikeforce Grand Prix: Barnett vs. Kharitonov" to face World Victory Road/Sengoku veteran Maximo Blanco, but he was forced to withdraw due to a foot injury.

The setbacks further delayed what many believe to be an inevitable rubber match with Melendez, whom he bested in June 2008 to win the Strikeforce lightweight title and lost to 18 months months later in a hotly contested rematch.

However, the winner of the lightweight bout, which is expected to be part of the event's main card, could very well move into a No. 1 contender position.
mmajunkie

Sunday, January 08, 2012

Why BJ Penn no longer respects Nick Diaz

Allow me to introduce myself, My name is Scott Hernandez and I manage the BJPENN.COM website as well as BJ Penn’s Twitter and Facebook accounts. I work closely with BJ on a daily basis and because of this I have a strong emotional attachment to all things relating to our team and BJ’s life and career.

I went on BJ’s Facebook today to try and informally educate some of his detractors as to why BJ came out on Twitter two days ago and attacked Nick Diaz. For me, it was to the point where after reading several responses and comments I thought it important to put out some flames and explain what is going on.

I was merely trying to educate some of the people who don’t understand where BJ is coming from. But I probably shouldn’t have done it in that manner because it still left glaring questions unanswered and maybe put some words in BJ’s mouth that shouldn’t have been there.

So here I sit, using the BJPENN.COM platform to go into more detail and instead of name calling and calling people disgraceful I would like to run over some items and explain why BJ feels the way he does about Nick following their UFC 137 fight.

First and foremost, BJ and Nick are no longer friends. I understand the media may have painted a picture following the fight that things where cool. But they were not. The one photo of the two together post-fight was taken by Cesar and BJ and Nick did no socializing amongst each other after the fight. This was just a picture painted by the media, but it was never all flowers and butterflies.

Behind closed doors and far from the public’s view, the two have not been friendly and these recent comments are a result of that.

What I offer you now is some media in various forms and an explanation as to why BJ lost respect for Nick.

While many may focus on the pre-fight chatter between the two and how both parties where respectful, Nick caught BJ off guard and the relationship started to fall apart at the weigh-ins when Nick tried to strike BJ.

Check it out:





The shoulder check was disrespectful, unwarranted and unnecessary, but I’ll move on.

The third item of my list of four that I wish to highlight is the post-fight antics of Nick. He took to Jason Parillo, BJ’s boxing coach, with a verbal out lash and again, strained the relationship between himself and BJ further.

Here it is:




The last item on the list is this clip from HDNet. Nick calls BJ bitter for the loss and seems to have more to say about the fight and BJ.

Diaz talks at the two minute mark:



That is all I wanted to express to you guys. Understand it or not, these are the items, these are the actions that changed BJ’s opinion of Nick Diaz and what tarnished their friendship.

I can’t speak on why it took BJ three month’s to finally come out and say it bothered him, but what’s done is done. I know his supporters will and always do understand, but I hope this helps clear up what’s going on with the ones who don’t get it and maybe you can see, from our side, where we are coming from.

These actions are not of friends; these are actions of people who do not like each other. Nick crossed the line with BJ on more than one occasion and that was all she wrote.

For BJ’s part, he’s not losing any sleep over this stuff, but for me, I wanted to try and educate and merely answer some of these questions we have been receiving from the fans.

Thanks for listening guys and thank you for all your love and support throughout the years. Hope this helped clear some things up!

- Scott

BJPenn.com

Wednesday, January 04, 2012

Tiago Camilo (judo) e Demian Maia (bjj) Treino dia 2 de janeiro de 2012

Yamasaki: The regulation of MMA in Brazil is a no man's land

Mixed martial arts is the world's fastest growing sport, and UFC President Dana White is the architect. A central element of that success is the regulation of the sport by government bodies. As White succinctly says "We've run toward regulation."

MMA has exploded in popularity in the USA and Canada. UFC 129 for example was the largest live gate in Canadian history, exceeding the Stanley Cup, every major rock act, and the Olympics. The US and Canada provide strict government regulation of the sport.

Japan provides a tragic example of the dangers of MMA without regulation.

When Mark Coleman became the first Pride open weight Grand Prix champion, he was widely hailed as the best fighter on Earth. 'The Hammer' recalls the splendor of the Tokyo Hilton hotel, with its stunning design, service, and food.

“Then the boss hung himself in a room there,” Coleman said blunty, “and that was the end of that.”

The Jan. 9, 2003 suicide of Pride chairman Naoto Morishita was the beginning of the end.

“That’s believed to be the point in which Pride was taken over by organized crime,” explains the Japan-based crime reporter Jake Adelstein. “There’s a lot of speculation that he was killed and it was a staged suicide. And that’s when the Yakuza decided to move in.”

The ties between organized crime and the larger society in Japan are difficult for Westerners to fathom. When President John F. Kennedy visited Japan, an insufficient number of government officials were available to line the route, so Yakuza members and officials stood side by side.

However, to save face, Yakuza involvement has to be unmentioned.

"There’s the public reputation or image, which has to be preserved," Adelstein relates. "And then there’s the reality. While everyone was quite aware there was an organized crime connection, once that’s revealed, Japan’s sense of propriety demands you do something.”

That Pride-Yakuza connection was revealed in 2005, when published accounts quoted industry heavyweight Seiya Kawamata as saying that the Yakuza had a controlling interest in Pride. Further stories alleged that Kawamata himself was a member of the Yamaguchi-Gumi crime family.

Although Kawamata later denied the reports, and sued the journalist, it was over. In late 2006 FujiTV network ended its network deal with Pride, and without television, Pride died.

In early 2007 Zuffa acquired Pride for a reported $63,000,000, but for reasons that have never been revealed, never ran a single show under their banner.

Although it is not an issue with mixed martial arts, boxing had entrenched ties with organized crime, but through governement regulation, those ties were minimized, and boxing flourished for decades. Countless other potential punji sticks including death and injury, inconsistent rules, works, and much more are all minimized by government regulation.

The next major hotbed of growth for MMA apears to be in Brazil, and in an interview with MMA Junkie Radio, leading referee Mario Yamasaki discussed steps he is taking to further MMA regulation in the country of his birth.

"Brazil is no man's land," Yamasaki explains. "Anybody can do anything, and I'm trying to make it the same as the Unified Rules for the whole country."

"I go to a lot of events where they don't even have doctors or inspectors."

The problems are hardly limited to lack of medical care, but extend to officials as well. Several months ago Yamasaki reffed Royler Gracie's final bout, a losing effort vs. Japanese fighter Masakatsu Ueda at Amazon Forest Combat 1, in Manaus, Brazil.

"Royler lost the three rounds, and one of the judges gave it to Royler," Yamasaki said. "After the fight, I said, 'What are you thinking? Why did you give it to Royler?' (He said,) 'Oh, it's his last fight. He did so much for jiu-jitsu.' I said, 'C'mon, man.'

"I'm helping them start a commission and just doing my MMA courses. If somebody dies or gets hurt in Brazil, it's going to be bad for the name of the sport and for Brazil. I'm trying to make it so everybody's the same, so everybody thinks the same."

mmajunkie