Despite burnout, Nick Diaz wants fight with UFC Welterweight Champ Georges St. Pierre

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

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Strikeforce Welterweight Champion Nick Diaz has been feeling burnt out on the sport of mixed martial arts, with Strikeforce keeping him very active over the last year, but with the possibility opening up of a fight with UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre, Diaz's trainer Cesar Gracie says he would be very willing to take that fight.

"Nick wants that fight. He would love to take that fight," Gracie said in comments made to MMAWeekly.com. "Obviously, I would like to put another one of my guys against Georges St. Pierre, so we definitely want that fight."

The motivation of a fight with the consensus #1 welterweight in the world is more than enough to pull Diaz out of his doldrums. The 27-year-old complained about his schedule following his win over Paul Daley in April, and said he wasn't sure what his future was in the sport. Now, after St. Pierre defeated his teammate Jake Shields last weekend at UFC 129, Gracie believes Diaz needs the motivation of this fight to keep him going in the sport.

"It's no secret Nick was a little bit burnt out. He needs a bigger challenge," Gracie said. "No disrespect to the guys he's been fighting because each one of them has brought something to the table. Paul Daley hits really hard, good hands, very dangerous opponent. [Evangelista] Cyborg, great kicks, dangerous opponent. K.J. Noons really good boxing also, dangerous, and Nick beat them all at their strengths.

"It's definitely something Nick wants to motivate him even more. I think he kind of needs that, I really do."

Diaz is still wanting to box, but the UFC will try to get him out of that mindset, likely in the form of more monetary compensation than his current contract holds.

"The way we had the Strikeforce contract that we signed about a year ago, maybe a little less than that, was that here we're going to pay you this much money per fight," Gracie said. "It's not quite the kind of money you probably should be making, but you're going to be able to make it up because you're going to be able to do boxing, and that might be the more lucrative deal. There was pluses involved and one of the benefits or bonuses, whatever you want to call it, was being able to box."

"Now all of a sudden if that's taken away, we need to re-structure the contract maybe, that's the only thing. I'm thinking that Dana's going to be perceptive to this and Nick also working with that. It's just one of those things we all have to sit down and figure it out."

Those conversations will be taking place in short order, and UFC President Dana White said last weekend that though Diaz has it in his contract to allow him to box, he's hoping to convince him otherwise. And according to Gracie, it's now pretty much up to White and UFC owner Lorenzo Fertitta to determine what the next step will be.

"There's a lot of questions to be answered and really the only people that can answer the questions are Lorenzo and Dana," said Gracie.

"It'd be great, best case scenario for us would be Nick boxes and then he goes and fights GSP. But again, the person with the answer, the guys that have the answers to all of this and can make everything happen is Lorenzo Fertitta and Dana White."

Link to Original Source Article

Penick's Analysis: I think we're moving towards this fight being a highly likely possibility, with all sides showing a lot of interest in it. I think if the UFC renegotiates Diaz's contract to offer him more money to take out the boxing clause, I think he'd accept. This is a huge fight for him, and one he's talked about a lot over the last couple of years. He's called St. Pierre out when the fight wasn't a realistic possibility, and now that it is he's still on board for the fight. If the UFC can figure out the logistics with the Showtime contract and make this happen, it will be a fantastic matchup at 170 lbs.

[Photo credit Esther Lin via Strikeforce.com]

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_9262.shtml

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Weekend Results: Kevin Randleman Suffers Dislocated Elbow in Loss

Former UFC heavyweight champion Kevin Randleman returned to action after a one-year layoff Saturday and lost to Baga Agaev via first-round armbar submission in the main event of Mayor's Cup in Russia.

Randleman suffered a dislocated elbow in loss, according to agent Ken Pavia, who accompanied the 39-year-old Randleman to the fight overseas and posted before and after x-rays pictures on Twitter.

Randleman (17-16), last seen fighting for Strikeforce one year ago in a loss to Roger Gracie via rear-naked choke submission, has now lost four in a row.

Danny Downes, Gerald Harris, Efrain Escudero and others also stepped inside the cage over the weekend. Check out some of the notable results below.

Source: http://mmafighting.com/2011/05/09/weekend-results-kevin-randleman-suffers-dislocated-elbow-in-los/

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Some Early Thoughts On Matt Hughes vs. Diego Sanchez

Recently, it?s been rumored that a bout pitting Matt Hughes against Diego Sanchez is nearing completion. Sanchez is coming off of a horrendously blown judge?s decision that gave him a victory over Martin Kampmann after Kampmann spent much of the fight leaving Diego a bruised and bloody mess. UFC Hall of Fame member Matt Hughes [...]

Source: http://www.fighters.com/04/30/some-early-thoughts-on-matt-hughes-vs-diego-sanchez

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Super 7 Q & A: Jones explains how he’s not a “swagger-jacker” and thinks Evans fight will change the sport

During a Q & A with Joe Rogan and six fellow UFC champions, Jon Jones met the with the fans before the UFC 129 weigh-in. He detailed injury that forced him out of his fight against teammate Rashad Evans. He still wants that fight.

"It's definitely going to change the sport and you're gonna have teammates fighting each other left and right now. It's just business. Like if the Patriots had a teammate on the Jets. It's not like they can't play each other for the Super Bowl," Jones said. "You know you just have to get the job done."

Well, technically New England and New York can't meet in the Super Bowl, but we get his point.

Jones is still confused as to why Evans has been upset with him for the last few months saying Rashad gave him his blessing to fight Mauricio Rua at dinner the night before his fight against Ryan Bader.

"I guess the biggest thing that made him upset is that I didn't call him right away to let him know I had done the interview about fighting him," Jones said. "But what I said on the interview was something that I would've said to his face, but he didn't take it very well."

Evans has been talking trash on Twitter and during several Internet interviews since. He even cracked on Jones for a being a swagger-jacker. He explained to the Canadian fans and Rogan what that meant.

"[Before The Tonight Show appearance] I was sent to the same exact stylist and I ended wearing the same shirt, the same suit and the same tie [that] Rashad wore like a year earlier. I show up on Jay Leno, he sees the suit and he's like 'oh you're copying my style.' I have my own swag," joked Jones.

Jones says he has small tears between his thumb and forefinger. It's something that's happened once a year since his days in college. His management decided it was time to get it surgically repaired.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Super-7-Q-amp-A-Jones-explains-how-he-8217-s?urn=mma-wp1723

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Royce Gracie: - Royce Gracie

*** Watch Complete 1/2hr HD Episodes on http://www.MMAheat.com ***MMA H.E.A.T.'s Karyn Bryant catches up with the legendary fighter Royce Gracie at the UFC 129 press conference, and gets his thoughts on Randy Couture's fight with Lyoto Machida. Royce also answers the question of whether or not he'll be fighting when the UFC goes to Rio in August, 2011, and he lets us know what his secret for staying young and in top fighting shape is.Be sure to visit http://www.MMAheat.com for more interviews and archived episodes of our 1/2 hour TV show. Nós falamos Português! * We're on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MMAheat * Follow MMAheat on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/MMAheat * Follow Karyn on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/KarynBryant

Source: http://mmalice.com/royce-gracie/royce-gracie-video_3038d2c21.html

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TUF Talks: "The Ultimate Fighter" Season 13 Episode 6

Hello again fans and friends and welcome back to another edition of ?TUF Talks?! ?TUF Talks? is my weekly rundown of the latest episode of the popular UFC reality TV show ?The Ultimate Fighter?, with a heaping helping of commentary thrown in. With this week?s episode, TUF Season 13 is now six episodes deep. With [...]

Source: http://www.fighters.com/05/05/tuf-talks-the-ultimate-fighter-season-13-episode-6

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Bellator 43 Betting Odds

As we all know, the Octagon is currently on hiatus allowing Manny Pacquiao and Shane Mosley to hoard the combat sport spotlight this evening. However, for those not interested in seeing if Pac-Man can uphold his 8.5-to-1 status, Bellator 43 will be hosting a small MMA show in Oklahoma that will be offering up some [...]

Source: http://www.5thRound.com/75354/bellator-43-betting-odds/

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HOBAUGH: Randy Couture's top ten victories in the UFC

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By Erick Hobagh, MMA Torch Contributor:

Words like legend, superstar, pioneer, and ambassador are overused in the sport of MMA. The sport is so young, it is easy to overuse these words when describing fighters. Some fighters are one of these things, but there are only three fighters that are deserving of all these adjectives. (Please send your complaints to me at erichobaugh@gmail.com)

Fedor Emelianko. Chuck Liddell. Randy Couture. In my opinion, these are the only names deserving of that list. Without those fighters, MMA would not be where it is today. (I am aware of how many readers are right now groaning with disgust I am not putting Royce Gracie on that list. He was the first great fighter, but he did not stay around long enough to be on the same list as Fedor, Chuck, and Randy.) These three fighters not only put MMA on the map, they carved it into something it was not until they got into the game. They changed it in a fundamental way. They changed the way fighters fought and the way we watched.

Randy Couture may finally be retiring after his UFC 129 fight this Saturday with Lyoto Machida. I have compiled a list of what I think are the top ten victories in the career of Randy Couture.

10. Mark Coleman- Technical Submission (rear naked choke) at UFC 109: ?Relentless? on February 6, 2010 in Las Vegas, Nevada. What a shame this fight did not happen in 2005 instead of 2010. At least we did get to see it. In this fight, Couture made Coleman look old and slow. This was a battle of UFC hall of fame fighters. Couture dominated this fight from start to finish. One interesting side note about this rivalry: Coleman defeated Couture in 1989 in a freestyle wrestling match at the Olympic Festival at Oklahoma State.

9. Maurice Smith- Decision (majority) at ?UFC Ultimate?: on December 21, 1997 in Yokohama, Japan where Randy won the UFC Heavyweight Championship. This was a slow paced fight. Neither fighter was able to gain much of an advantage, except Couture was able to take down Smith several times during the fight. Those takedowns and control on the ground were enough for Randy to win the UFC Heavyweight belt.

8. Vitor Belfort-TKO (strikes) at UFC 15: ?Collision Course? on October 17, 1997 in Las Vegas, Nevada where he established himself as the number one contender for the UFC Heavyweight championship. Couture was a HUGE underdog in this fight. Vitor was called ?The Phenom? for a reason. He was 19 at the time and was the UFC Heavyweight 12 Tournament winner. He was a Carlson Gracie black belt in BJJ with the fastest and most powerful hands ever in MMA. Randy Couture?s strategy was perfect. He stayed away from Belfort?s powerful left hand and used his wrestling to control the fight and wear Belfort down. Every time they were stood up Couture clinched again and took the fight to the ground. The fight was stopped around the seven minute mark with Couture on top due to strikes. Randy Couture had completed the biggest upset the UFC had ever seen.

7. Kevin Randleman-TKO (strikes) at UFC 28: ?High Stakes? on November 17, 2000 in Atlantic City, New Jersey where he won UFC Heavyweight Championship. In this fight, Randleman was able to take Couture down several times in the first two rounds. Couture defended himself on his back and Randleman was unable to inflict much, if any, damage. In the third round Couture tripped Randleman for a takedown and was able to get full mount. From there Couture landed several unanswered strikes and the referee stopped the fight in the this round.

6. Gabriel Gonzaga-TKO (punches)at UFC 74: ?Respect? on August 25, 2007 in Las Vegas, Nevada where he defended the UFC Heavyweight Championship. In this fight Randy was again fighting as the underdog against a fighter considered the future of the sport in the heavyweight division. Gabriel Gonzaga was younger and stronger and was a world class BJJ black belt. He was fresh off his amazing head kick finish of Mirco Cro-Cop. He was also considered one of the best strikers in the division. Couture picked up and then slammed the much bigger Gonzaga, breaking his nose. Couture dominated this fight from every position and even won the striking aspect of this fight. One interesting side note about this fight is Couture suffered a broken arm early in this fight, but was able not only to continue, but win convincingly.

5. Pedro Rizzo-TKO (strikes) at UFC 34: ?High Voltage? on November 2, 2001 in Las Vegas, Nevada where he defended UFC Heavyweight Championship. This fight was an immediate rematch of their May 4, 2001 fight. Couture made many adjustments to Rizzo?s style and had little trouble in this fight and won in the third round by TKO.

4. Pedro Rizzo-Decision (unanimous) at UFC 31: ?Locked and Loaded? on May 4, 2001 in Atlantic City, New Jersey where he defended the UFC Heavyweight Championship. This fight is in my top five all time fights. Couture wrote in his 2008 book ?Becoming The Natural? that he suffered so many leg kicks in this fight, he to this day has in indention in his left leg. This fight was a five round war with both fighters inflicting huge amounts of damage, which I, and many other observers thought Rizzo won. In watching the replay, you can see the surprise on Couture?s face when they announced the decision. If you have not seen this fight, you need to!

3. Tito Ortiz-Decision (unanimous) at UFC 44: ?Undisputed? on September 26, 2003, in Las Vegas, Nevada where he won the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. If you have ever watched UFC unleashed on Spike, you have seen this replay. Couture controlled Ortiz in every aspect of this fight and used his wrestling for multiple take downs and position control. Who has not seen the replay where Couture is on top of Tito and open hand slaps his butt? What a classic replay. This was a great fight in which Randy proved again he could dominate a younger fighter.

2. Chuck Liddell-TKO (punches) at UFC 43: ?Meltdown? on June 6, 2003, in Las Vegas, Nevada where he won the Interim UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. In this fight, Couture was again a huge underdog. Liddell was the best striker in the weight class at the time and was nearly impossible to take down and keep down. The event was essentially a kick boxing match. Liddell was by far on paper, the better striker and kick boxer. Couture won the striking part of the bout and then was able to take Liddell down in the third round and ground and pound for the victory. This is clearly one of the best fights in history of MMA.

1. Tim Sylvia-Decision (unanimous) at UFC 68: ?The Uprising? on March 3, 2007 in Columbus, Ohio where he won UFC Heavyweight Championship. After a year-long retirement, Couture came back against Tim Sylvia who was at the time the UFC Heavyweight Champ. Again, the underdog to a much younger and larger fighter, no one gave Couture much of a chance. Tim Sylvia is six feet eight inches and was the elite of the division?s strikers at that time. Ten seconds into the first round Randy landed a right that sent Sylvia to the ground. From that point on, Couture controlled every aspect of the fight. He out struck the striker and was able to take Sylvia down at will. He used his dirty boxing, wrestling and ground and pound to earn the victory. At 43, Randy Couture became the oldest champion in UFC history. This is my all-time favorite fight.
If his fight this Saturday is his last, I will be sad not to see ?Captain America? fight again. It will be refreshing to see a fighter retiring and walking away from the sport on his own terms. At 47, he has nothing left to prove. He won five UFC Championships, an Interim world title, the UFC 13 Heavyweight championship and is in the UFC Hall Of Fame.

Time and time again he proved so many of his doubters wrong . He says that whether or not he wins, he will retire. I agree with that and think it is time for him to put the gloves away. I keep reading the ?experts? online saying Randy Couture has no chance to win at UFC 129. I have picked against him many times myself and many of those times I have been wrong. I have been wrong so many times, I will not make that mistake in this fight.

My Prediction: I see Randy Couture winning in his fight against Lyoto Machida by decision. If Couture can close the distance and use his dirty boxing and Greco Roman Wrestling skills, he should be able to take Machida down. Couture will do this and win a close decision.

[Randy Couture art by Cory Gould (c) MMATorch.com]

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/Staff_Editorials_19/article_9181.shtml

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