Archived News Posts - 2008 Q1
Hardcore Championship Fighting "Crow's Nest" Results
Rebounding from disappointing losses, David "The Crow" Loiseau scored a big win over Todd Gouwenberg in front of his hometown fans in Gatineau, Québec, while HCF Women's Bantamweight Champion Sarah Kaufman retained her title.While Loiseau did not get a stoppage victory in his bout with Gouwenberg, it was definitely a return of the old Loiseau, whose aggressive style wreaked havoc on opponents in years passed. |
EliteXC/Strikeforce Results
Following a number of last-minute changes, the EliteXC/Strikeforce event in San Jose turned out quite well in the end, and the night concluded with Cung Le capturing the Strikeforce Middleweight Championship from Frank Shamrock.While the card did not turn out as it had originally been planned to, EliteXC and Strikeforce did manage to put on a solid event. |
Tim Sylvia Leaving The UFC
Following a week of speculation, Tim Sylvia has officially stated that he is leaving the UFC. He has signed a multi-fight deal with Adrenaline MMA - the former M-1 Global - and would like to fight as often as six times per year.The former UFC Heavyweight Champion also expressed a desire to fight Fedor Emelianenko sometime in the near future, as his new deal allows him to fight for other promotions as well. |
M-1 Global & Fedor Emelianenko Part Ways
After a week of reports detailing the imminent split between M-1 Global and Fedor Emelianenko, the parting of ways was made official today, with both parties now free of legal obligations and the M-1 Global brand now ceasing operations.The now-defunct M-1 Global will carry on with a new name, which is expected to be announced soon, along with the date for their debut event. |
Carano vs Young Added To EliteXC's CBS Debut
In what will surely be a high-impact women's bout, undefeated Gina "Conviction" Carano will battle devastating knockout artist Kaitlin Young in the latest fight added to EliteXC's debut on CBS, which will air on May 31st.Young but burst onto the scene at a HOOKnSHOOT tournament, where she knocked out all three opponents in a combined total of 1:45. Carano will have her toughest test to date, by far. |
Exclusive Interview - Sarah Kaufman, Part I
In the first of a two-part interview, MMARising.com speaks with Hardcore Championship Fighting Women's Bantamweight Champion Sarah Kaufman as she prepares for her upcoming title defence against Molly Helsel this Saturday.In just a short time, Sarah has quickly risen to become the top female mixed martial artist in Canada and one of the best in North America. |
Nick Diaz Off EliteXC Card
Late last night, California State Athletic Commission executive officer Armando Garcia pulled Nick Diaz from this Saturday's EliteXC/Strikeforce card for supposedly failing to turn in his medical information in a timely manner.As a result, Diaz will also miss out on the $50,000 purse that he was scheduled to be paid for his fight with Jae Suk Lim. |
World Extreme Cagefighting 33 Results
The main event of WEC 33 saw "All-American" Brian Stann knock out Doug "The Rhino" Marshall to capture the WEC Light Heavyweight Championship, while Chael Sonnen dominated late-replacement Bryan Baker on the undercard.With most of the fights ending early in the first round, the fans were treated to an exciting night of action from the WEC. |
Pulver vs Faber Scheduled For June 1st
Following up on his quick submission victory over Cub Swanson, Jens "Lil' Evil" Pulver will look to make it two in a row in the WEC, as he will face "The California Kid" Urijah Faber for the WEC Featherweight Championship on June 1st.Also on the June 1st card will be a WEC Bantamweight Championship bout between champion Miguel Torres and challenger Manny Tapia. |
Hardcore Championship Fighting Sold
In a statement earlier today, Hardcore Championship Fighting CEO Keith Crawford revealed that his Calgary-based promotion had been purchased by an as-yet unidentified individual. The new owner will be announced in the coming weeks.These are big changes for what has quickly risen to become the premier mixed martial arts promotion in all of Canada. |
Shields vs Fickett Postponed
After suffering a back injury in training last week, Jake Shields has been forced to pull out of his March 29th EliteXC Welterweight Championship bout with Drew "The Master" Fickett. The fight has now been rescheduled for June 14th.Fickett will still compete on the March 29th EliteXC/Strikeforce card, and will likely be involved in a fight on the undercard. |
EliteXC's CBS Debut Announced
EliteXC will make its debut on primetime CBS television on May 31st at 9:00 P.M. Eastern and Pacific, with a live event featuring an EliteXC Middleweight Championship bout and also the return of Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson.The inaugural EliteXC Saturday Night Fights event on CBS will be broadcast from the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. |
Fedor Emelianenko Update - Not Signed To M-1 Global
According to a report from earlier today, despite an agreement announced last October, Fedor Emelianenko is not officially under contract to M-1 Global and could once again be a free agent, possibly as early as this coming week.At this point, the only thing tying Emelianenko to M-1 Global is a $1.5 million signing bonus, and Emelianenko is said to be returning that bonus to M-1 Global within the next few days. |
Spencer Fisher Injured, Out Of UFC Fight Night 13
In an unfortunate turn of events, exciting lightweight contender Spencer "The King" Fisher has been forced to pull out of his upcoming UFC Fight Night 13 bout with Marcus "Maximus" Aurelio after suffering a shoulder injury in training.Aurelio will still compete on the stacked card, and will likely face UFC newcomer Jim Miller, who is on a five-fight winning streak and whose lone defeat came against UFC standout Frankie Edgar. |
DREAM: Heiwa Dream.1 Results & Recap
After an incredible night of fights, the main event of DREAM's Heiwa Dream.1 ended with an unfortunate No Contest after Shinya Aoki was unable to continue, following an illegal elbow to the neck region from Gesias Calvancante.Though the main event ended controversially, the remainder of the opening round of the inaugural DREAM Lightweight Grand Prix was incredible, and marked an excellent beginning for DREAM. |
Women's MMA Division
In the first of many articles looking at the current state of mixed martial arts, MMARising.com examines the world of women's MMA, which has quickly risen to become one of the most entertaining divisions in the sport today.In this article, we will take a look at each of the top females in mixed martial arts, with lists of the champions, contenders and wildcards. |
Strikeforce To Air On NBC
In the wake of EliteXC's deal with CBS, the California-based Strikeforce promotion has reportedly finalised a deal with NBC to air Strikeforce programming on the network on Saturday nights, with live events soon to follow.An official announcement is expected within the week, but the deal is reportedly done, and could have been completed as early as this past January during the writers' strike. |
Filho Withdraws From WEC Bout
After a week of bizarre statements and occurrences, Paulo Filho has officially withdrawn from his upcoming WEC Middleweight title defence against Chael Sonnen, and has checked into a facility to treat his ongoing clinical depression.This is merely the latest step in a series of recent incidents which are plaguing Filho's career. For his sake, this will hopefully be the end of it. He will face Sonnen in June. |
Cage Rage 25: "Bring It On" Results
Cage Rage 25 was not a lucky night for the Shamrocks, as Ken was knocked out by a jab from Robert "Buzz" Berry in the main event, while his son, Ryan, was forced to withdraw after one round of his fight with a broken hand.The main event marked Ken Shamrock's return to heavyweight, but he was knocked out by a jab, of all things, and his career seems to be hanging on by a thread. |
World Victory Road "Sengoku" Results
World Victory Road's debut "Sengoku" event was a great success, with Takanori "Fireball Kid" Gomi defeating Duane "Bang" Ludwig and "The Babyface Assassin" Josh Barnett submitting Hidehiko Yoshida in the main event.Overall, "Sengoku" was an extremely good debut event for World Victory Road, and we can only hope that future events live up to the high standing that WVR has already created. |
Shogun Injured, Out Of UFC 85
In an unfortunate turn of events, it was announced earlier today that Mauricio "Shogun" Rua had re-injured his left knee - this time with a complete rupture of the ACL - and has withdrawn from his UFC 85 bout with Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell.Shogun originally injured his knee just prior to (some claim during) his UFC 76 loss to Forrest Griffin, and had surgery shortly after. |
World Victory Road "Sengoku" Preview
Tomorrow, World Victory Road presents its debut event, "Sengoku," with many exciting fights, featuring #1-ranked lightweight Takanori "Fireball Kid" Gomi and #3-ranked heavyweight "The Babyface Assassin" Josh Barnett."Sengoku" promises to be an excellent debut event for World Victory Road. If all goes well, one of the two new major players in Japanese MMA - along with DREAM - will be off to a great start. |
UFC 82: "Pride of a Champion" Results
UFC 82 was an extremely solid event for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, with "The Texas Crazy Horse" Heath Herring defeating Cheick Kongo, and Anderson "The Spider" Silva submitting "Dangerous" Dan Henderson in the main event.With the UFC's upcoming Fight Night event unquestionably the best to date, and UFC 83 the largest event in UFC history, things look bright for the coming months. |
IFL "New Blood, New Battles" Results
Although the show started off slowly, and had an unexpectedly methodical Lightweight title fight, IFL's "New Blood, New Battles" ended with two solid fights, as Roy Nelson and Ryan McGivern walked out as Heavyweight and Middleweight champions.While the event was not quite as good as expected, it was still a reasonable night for the IFL, and an excellent Middleweight title fight to conclude the evening. |
IFL "New Blood, New Battles" Preview
Tomorrow night, live on HDNet FiGHTS, the International Fight League presents "New Blood, New Battles" from the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. MMARising.com breaks down the card, including all three title fights.Overall, this looks to be another great event for the International Fight League. It will air live tomorrow night on HDNet FiGHTS. |
EliteXC To Air Live On CBS
Earlier this afternoon, CBS Broadcasting Corp. and ProElite, Inc. announced a multi-year deal which will see CBS air four live Saturday-evening Elite Xtreme Combat (EliteXC) events in 2008, bringing MMA to mainstream television.This is unquestionably the biggest accomplishment to date for EliteXC, as well as one of the largest in the history of North American mixed martial arts. |
Exclusive Interview - John Gunderson
The International Fight League presents New Blood-New Battles this Friday, which will be airing LIVE on HDNet FiGHTS! In one of three title fights, John Gunderson will be taking on newly-crowned IFL Lightweight Champion, Ryan 'The Lion' Schultz.Gunderson sits with Daniel Regan of MMARising.com for an exclusive interview, where he discusses the title fight with Schultz. |
More DREAM Grand Prix Fights Announced
Earlier today, Fight Entertainment Group announced three new quarterfinal bouts for the inaugural DREAM Lightweight Grand Prix, including fights featuring top-10 lightweights Tatsuya "Crusher" Kawajiri and Joachim "Hellboy" Hansen.While the Grand Prix may not be quite as stacked with top-10 fighters as it would have been in 2007 in PRIDE, it is still shaping up to be an amazing tournament. |
UFC 82: "Pride of a Champion" Predictions
UFC 82: Pride of a Champion features two incredible middleweight fights, as former UFC Middleweight Champion Evan Tanner will battle Yushin Okami, while current champion Anderson Silva will take on PRIDE's final 183-pound champion, Dan Henderson, in the main event.This event also features a heavyweight battle between Heath Herring and Cheick Kongo, as well as a solid undercard with many top fighters competing. |
Exclusive Interview - Mauro Ranallo
Taking time from his extremely busy schedule, famed mixed martial arts commentator Mauro Ranallo talks extensively and exclusively with MMARising.com on topics ranging from the many promotions he has worked for to the top fighters of today, and everything in between.Mauro Ranallo is one of the most well-known announcers in mixed martial arts history. Though his schedule is jam-packed, he has kindly taken time for an in-depth interview with MMARising.com. |
Santos Out Of HCF "Crow's Nest"
Today, Hardcore Championship Fighting announced that the main event on their March 29th card, "Crow's Nest," in Gatineau, Quebec, has an opponent change. Terminated from his contract is Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos.In Santos's place, in the main event against David "The Crow" Loiseau, will be Canadian Todd Gouwenberg, who will drop down to 185. |
EliteXC: "Street Certified" Results
EliteXC began their 2008 schedule with a bang at "Street Certified," as an incredible night of fights and knockouts concluded with Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson knocking out David "Tank" Abbott in the first round of their battle."Street Certified" was an excellent event for EliteXC, especially on the heels of a pair of disappointing events, and EliteXC is definitely off to a great start in 2008. |
PRIDE & HERO's Gone, DREAM Emerges
Rising from the ashes of PRIDE and the now-former HERO's division of K-1, Fight & Entertainment Group and the Tokyo Broadcasting System announced that they will co-promote a new Japanese MMA promotion named DREAM.With World Victory Road also holding an event soon, and M-1 Global working with many of the world's top promotions, the future of MMA around the world is now very bright. |
World Extreme Cagefighting 32 Results
World Extreme Cagefighting put on another exciting event at WEC 32, with three title fights and a solid undercard. However, only WEC Welterweight Champion Carlos Condit would be able to successfully defend his title.WEC 32 was another very solid event for World Extreme Cagefighting, and their plan of having multiple title fights on nearly every show is a very good one. |
MMARising.com Seeks Sponsors
MMARising.com is now actively seeking out sponsors for both our website and the fighters at MMARising.com. If you are looking for a prime opportunity to promote your company or products, please read on for further details.Our site is ever-growing in both size and visitors, and our unique and exclusive content is quickly making our site more well-known. Your support is greatly appreciated. |
Exclusive Interview - Ryan Schultz
After defeating Chris Horodecki to capture the IFL Lightweight title, Ryan "The Lion" Schultz talks exclusively with MMARising.com about his training, past fights with top competitors and his plans for the coming year in the IFL.Ryan Schultz has had many great battles in his career, and is the only person to hold a credited victory over Roger "El Matador" Huerta, as well as a Draw with Gesias "JZ Calvan" Calvancante. |
UFC 81: "Breaking Point" Results
One night after his twin brother Rogerio was victorious in Alberta, Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira came back from the brink of defeat in the first round at UFC 81 to submit Tim "The Maine-iac" Sylvia in round three and become UFC Interim Heavyweight Champion.In the co-main event, Frank Mir survived an early onslaught from Brock Lesnar and, after a timeout called by referee Steve Mazzagatti, submitted Lesnar in the first round. |
Exclusive Interview - Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
Immediately following his victory over Todd Gouwenberg at HCF "Destiny," MMARising.com caught up with Antonio Rogerio "Minotoro" Nogueira to get his thoughts on the fight with Gouwenberg, HCF and his future in mixed martial arts.MMARising.com sincerely thanks Antonio Rogerio Nogueira for taking the time for this interview, and wishes him and his brother the best in all of their future endeavours. |
Hardcore Championship Fighting "Destiny" Report & Results
MMARising.com was on-site to provide coverage of Hardcore Championship Fighting's "Destiny" event at the Stampede Corral in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, in a night which concluded with Antonio Rogerio Nogueira stopping Todd Gouwenberg.The crowd was very large, but well-behaved, and loudly cheered throughout the night. Overall, this was an incredible night of fights which I was privileged to be a part of. |
Hardcore Championship Fighting "Destiny" Preview
Picking up right where they left off in 2007, Hardcore Championship Fighting returns to Calgary, Alberta, Canada for a stellar card, in "Destiny." MMARising.com will be on-site to provide in-depth coverage of the excellent event.Hardcore Championship Fighting is quickly establishing itself as the premier mixed martial arts promotion in Canada and is already one of the best in North America. |
UFC 81: "Breaking Point" Predictions
UFC 81 features two high-profile heavyweight battles, as Tim "The Maine-iac" Sylvia and Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira will battle for the UFC Interim Heavyweight title, while former champion Frank Mir battles former WWE professional wrestler Brock Lesnar.MMARising.com looks over the card with full predictions for each fight, including a middleweight showdown between Nate "The Great" Marquardt and Jeremy Horn. |
Exclusive Interview - Jay Hieron
Fresh off of his IFL Welterweight Championship victory over Delson Heleno, "The Thoroughbred" Jay Hieron sits down with MMARising.com for an exclusive interview on fighting, training and what he feels are the keys to success in mixed martial arts.Jay has a professional record of 14-4, and has competed in numerous top promotions and against many of the best welterweights in the world during his career. |
UFC Fight Night 12 Results
Just days after a solid UFC 80 event, a rather lacklustre UFC Fight Night 12 concluded with a controversial Majority Decision victory for Mike Swick in the main event, while Patrick Côté's winning streak in the UFC continued with a TKO victory over Drew McFedries.Also on the main card, Nate Diaz picked up a first-round submission win over Alvin Robinson, while Kurt Pellegrino defeated Alberto Crane by TKO. |
UFC 80: Rapid Fire Results
What looked like a mediocre card on paper turned into a solid night of action, with only two fights going to the judges and "The Prodigy" BJ Penn battering and bloodying Joe "Daddy" Stevenson to become the new UFC Lightweight Champion.In a heavyweight battle, Fabricio "Vai Cavalo" Werdum stopped Gabriel "Napão" Gonzaga for the second time. 2008 is off to a good start. |
UFC 80: Rapid Fire Predictions
On the heels of a great end to 2007, UFC 80 offers an exciting Lightweight title fight between "The Prodigy" BJ Penn and Joe "Daddy" Stevenson, and a rematch between Gabriel "Napão" Gonzaga and Fabricio "Vai Cavalo" Werdum.MMARising.com breaks down the card with predictions for each fight, beginning with the entertaining main event title bout. |
Exclusive Interview - Mike Ciesnolevicz
Mike Ciesnolevicz is one of the IFL's hottest up and coming fighters, and is on the fast track to becoming a serious force in the sport. As a member of the Silverbacks, Ciesnolevicz has helped to lead his team to success.Taking time for this interview with MMARising.com, Mike tells us about how his goals and title aspirations for the coming year. |
"Yarennoka!" - A Look Back At 2007
With 2007 now a year of the past, MMARising.com looks back on "Yarennoka!" and the fall of Pride Fighting Championships, as New Year's Eve saw the return - if only for one night - of many familiar faces from PRIDE's history in Japan.Thanks to the co-operation from all involved, fans were treated to a revival, of sorts, of the greatest mixed martial arts promotion in Japanese history. |
"Yarennoka!" Results
Fedor Emelianenko made short work of Hong Man Choi, but submission wizard Shinya Aoki had all he could handle in his battle with the debuting Jung Bu-Kyung. An amazing undercard saw Kazuo Misaki knock out Yoshihiro Akiyama, and Mitsuhiro Ishida handed Gilbert Melendez his first defeat.In what was easily one of the best mixed martial arts events in 2007, M-1 Global's co-promoted "Yarennoka!" was a worthy replacement for PRIDE's former "Shockwave" New Year's Eve event. |
K-1 Premium 2007 Dynamite!! Results
K-1's year-end MMA and kickboxing event saw legendary Masakatsu Funaki return from a seven-year absence to take on another legend, Kazushi Sakuraba, and featherweight phenom Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto destroyed Rani Yahya.Bizarre fights aside, Premium 2007 Dynamite!! was an exciting card with none of the fights making it to the judges' scorecards. |
