Author: Steven Muehlhausen

Sonnen’s Head Trainer: Sonnen Surprised About TUF, Will Be the Best TUF Season

For a brief moment on August 24, it looked like we were going to see Jon Jones and Chael Sonnen square off at UFC 151. Jones was supposed to defend the UFC light heavyweight title against Dan Henderson, but Henderson suffered a torn MCL …

For a brief moment on August 24, it looked like we were going to see Jon Jones and Chael Sonnen square off at UFC 151. Jones was supposed to defend the UFC light heavyweight title against Dan Henderson, but Henderson suffered a torn MCL in his knee during training. 

After numerous fighters declined the fight, the UFC went to Sonnen, and he accepted the bout. Jones, though, after consulting with his team, declined the fight. Sonnen has been very critical of Jones on Twitter and various outlets calling him every name in the book and then some for not taking the fight. Jones has thrown jabs here and there ripping into Sonnen, saying he doesn’t deserve the fight.

Jones threw some hints on Twitter last week about being more open to fighting Sonnen in the future if that was what the fans wanted.

Well, the fans spoke, and the UFC is listening.

UFC president Dana White told Lance Pugmire from LATimes.com that Jones and Sonnen will be the coaches of the 17th season of The Ultimate Fighter. White also told Pugmire that Jones and Sonnen will square off on April 27, 2013 at a location to be determined for the Light Heavyweight Title.

The season will consist of middleweight fighters with filming set to begin on October 29 and the season debuting in January.

Sonnen had no idea though that he would be coaching on The Ultimate Fighter with Jones.

“It was a surprise to me, and I just talked to Chael a few minutes ago and it was a surprise to him too,” Sonnen‘s head trainer Scott McQuary told Bleacher Report. “I had just walked out of the movie Here Comes The Boom, and one of my students left me a message saying call me right now, Chael‘s made The Ultimate Fighter.

“I called him and he’s (Sonnen) like yea, I just found out myself. I didn’t know. We had no idea this offer was going to be on the table.”

Sonnen was scheduled to face Forrest Griffin at UFC 155 in December. Speculation was running rampant a contract wasn’t signed for the fight due to a lack of an official announcement made by the UFC. McQuary said he was told differently and training had begun for Griffin.

“We had just started our training for him (Griffin) last week,” McQuary stated. “Chael’s been fairly consistent with his training, but we hadn’t been 100 percent focused until this last week. Cheal told me a contract was signed, so we felt up until this morning, the fight was happening.”

Since the announcement was made this afternoon, people on social media sites like Twitter, Facebook and various MMA forums have been split on if Sonnen even deserves this opportunity. The people who have felt he doesn’t deserve it is due to his loss in his most recent fight with UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva at UFC 148. 

Sonnen has only had one fight at light heavyweight in the UFC. That fight was a loss to Renato “Babalu” Sobral at UFC 55 in October of 2005. McQuary feels Sonnen deserves this opportunity for a variety of reasons.

“I think Chael deserves this opportunity because he’s the best there is out there,” McQuary stated. “He (Sonnen) puts butts in the seats. It has to be a combination of putting the two best people together who actually draw the biggest crowd.”

A lot of people had been pegging Jones for a superfight with Silva in 2013, with that fight being the biggest fight out there with Sonnen-Jones and Silva-Georges St-Pierre in the conversation as well. Now, with Sonnen-Jones to happen in April, it could be the biggest fight in UFC history.

“I think with the buildup, The Ultimate Fighter and everything that goes with what I’ve seen with TUF, I think this will be promoted in such a way,” McQuary stated. “The UFC has a long time to get this promoted and built up. I think this will be the biggest fight in history.”

Before we get to the fight, though, a season of The Ultimate Fighter will take place. Sonnen and Jones will have to be around each other for six weeks. People are already speculating this could be the best rated season of the TUF franchise.

“I anticipate that it will be (best TUF season),” McQuary stated. “I think you are going to get more people watching than ever, that’s for sure. I mean you have two of the biggest personalities in MMA, well at least one of them, who is definitely going to speak what’s on his mind.”

You can follow me on Twitter @fightclubchi.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Invicta FC Head on Not Planning to Release Numbers, TV Deal, Status of Titles

233,580. That was the number released by Invicta Fighting Championships for how many unique views they had for their inaugural show in April.The all-women promotion had their second show take place in July with high expectations, with word that show ha…

233,580. That was the number released by Invicta Fighting Championships for how many unique views they had for their inaugural show in April.

The all-women promotion had their second show take place in July with high expectations, with word that show had over 300,000 unique views.

Now with even higher expectations, their third show takes place tonight from Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kansas. The card starts at 7 p.m. ET with the event’s six-bout preliminary card and continue with the eight-bout main card. You can watch the live stream of the card, which is free on InvictaFC.com.

People were wondering why Invicta didn’t release their numbers from the second show, and their President Shannon Knapp doesn’t understand what the big fuss was about in not releasing those numbers.

Knapp told Bleacher Report:

What I plan on is validation. What I don’t plan on is telling anyone how many (people watched Invicta 2). It seems that everybody is so focused on those numbers, which means nothing to everybody else. It takes away from the athletes and their performances. I believe on the Sunday, Monday and Tuesday after this Saturday, the only thing people should be talking about is, ‘Wow, what a show. Those were amazing fights.’

It’s insane that other people that have no dog in the fight are concerned more about the numbers than I am. Sadly, I did release the numbers from the first show and it absolutely 100 percent took away from the fights. When the focus should have been about the athletes and their performances, the promotion and the barriers we are breaking down everyday.

A lot of promotions have come and gone with a third show never happening. Promotions like Affliction and the return of Pro Elite have not done a third event. Expectations are high for Invicta, but Knapp says she doesn’t have any heading into tonight:

I always think the third show is the most significant show. One reason is there are a lot of promotions that haven’t made it to a third show. I think when you get to a third show, it’s that statement that you make and you’re saying, ‘yes we are and we are staying.’

I think this is the one that proves a lot of things. It proves that second show always proves that you’re not a one-hit wonder on the first show. The third one shows stability of what the first shows did. I don’t really have expectations. I just want to put out the most amazing product out there and platform for the female athletes. I’m going to promise you these women, when they step into the cage, they’re going to take care of the rest.

The main event of tonight’s show will crown Invicta’s first champion, as Jessica Penne will square off against Naho Sugiyama for atomweight title, which is contested at 105 pounds. Knapp feels that Invicta will have champions in every division by the end of 2013:

I believe that in early 2013, I look for us to do maybe two championship fights on the next card. The 125-pound title fight will be on the next card for sure. The next card will be taking place at the end of January or early February as we wait to see when other promotions get their dates locked in, as we always respectfully don’t want to schedule shows on the same day. I think we will have a champion in every division by the end of 2013.

When you talk about Invicta, people bring up how they air their shows for free on their website. Knapp feels a television deal can happen in 2013, but she’s not going to just take any deal and will do what is best for the promotion.

She continued:

I think it’s (a TV deal) going to happen in 2013. I want to get on the other side of the show. It’s always been our plan. It is exactly what we mapped out for the first year to be where we are at right at this moment. I have had offers. We’re not saying no to those offers. We just want to get the on the other side of this event before we really start the process to see what works out best for the promotion and the athletes.

For us, it is about getting the product out there, but it’s also about finding a good home for the athletes as well. We just want to take our time. It’s more important for us to have a good partner and a partnership that works for them and us. We aren’t greedy. We’re not those kind of people that impose our will on them.  We just want it to be a partnership that works for both parties and makes a difference.

You can follow me on Twitter @fightclubchi.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Tara Larosa Feels Invicta Is the Big Stage She’s Been Looking for

You would think that a fighter who has been around for 10 years with a record of 21-2, going undefeated for five and a half years, facing some of the best in the world, could be recognized as one of the best fighters in the world. Who is the fighter yo…

You would think that a fighter who has been around for 10 years with a record of 21-2, going undefeated for five and a half years, facing some of the best in the world, could be recognized as one of the best fighters in the world. Who is the fighter you might be asking?

The fighter is former Bodog world champion Tara Larosa. She returns to the cage this Saturday for Invicta Fighting Championships, as Larosa squares off against MMA veteran Vanessa Porto.

Larosa has been around the block in the last 10 years in various promotions and has seen the MMA landscape changed drastically for the better.

“My very first fight took place as an amateur,” Larosa told Bleacher Report. “The fight was only one round, but lasted 10 minutes. The weight classes were all over the place back then. It wasn’t uncommon for people to fight each other from different weight classes. Now we have specific weight classes, medical testing, rules and regulations and fighting in a cage.

“Back then, fighting in a cage was a novelty. The UFC had a cage. Here and there were a couple more promotions that started having cages, but most fights were in a ring. There are so many fighters, especially on the male side. The amount of talent that’s come out in recent years is unbelievable. For the women, we have seen a lot more emerge and have crossed over from other sports like judo with Ronda Rousey, wrestling with Sara McMahon, kickboxing and some from boxing. It’s insane.”

The hardship though in Women’s MMA is finding fights. Fights don’t happen due to fighters missing weight, not showing, finding out that their opponent is better than them. The list goes on and on. Larosa has had that problem, having gone as long as 14 months without fighting and recently went without fighting from March 11, 2011 until March 30 of this year.

“I had a lot of fights fall through between these two dates (March 2011-March 2012),” Larosa stated. “I had between six-eight fights fall through. Your in the gym training, trying to stay motivated and a promotion tells you, ‘I’m going to create a title for you and I’ll get you on the next show.'”

“Then the show falls through for some reason. You get really fed up with it. You get really unmotivated. It’s just one promotion after another making promises and getting lip service. Then it’s opponents getting injured, pulling out, declining fights or some other reasons.”

Larosa sometimes finds it hard to get that motivation, but has learned to channel the struggle and use her teammates at Salaverry MMA in Seattle.

“I used to do a lot of grappling tournaments, and that really kept me going in between fights,” Larosa stated. “I haven’t really done any of those in recent years. It’s tough to stay in the gym and stay motivated. You really try to get into your teammates, help them train for their fights and try to get excited for that.”

Invicta Fighting Championships made their debut in April and had their second show take place in July. Larosa has been campaigning to fight for Invicta since they came out, and now she gets her chance versus Porto on Saturday night. Larosa is glad she’s with Invicta, thinks she will get a lot of fights and feels this is the stage she needs to be talked about among the best fighters of today and all-time.

“They (Invicta) seem to be able to offer something more steady and able to bring in opponents from all over the world,” Larosa stated. “Whereas with the smaller shows I’ve been contracted with, they have a limited budget and can’t bring someone in from Japan, Europe or Brazil. Invicta is dedicated to bringing in women from all over the world. I need somebody to bring in high-level opponents. I saw Invicta opening up and seen what they have done, the people they are working with, I was like, ‘”oh my god I have to be there.'”

“This is the place for women. They came around at the perfect time. Before there had been a lot of women’s shows here in the United States, they never did real well because they didn’t come around at the right time or didn’t have the right people running them. With Invicta, they are coming around at just the right time when Women’s MMA is starting to get a lot of exposure.

There’s a buzz going on about Women’s MMA with Gina (Carano), Cris Cyborg and Ronda Rousey. Women’s MMA is getting a lot of attention. With Shannon Knapp (President of Invicta) at the helm, who knows what she’s doing. She’s been around the sport forever, as she’s worked with the UFC, the IFL and Strikeforce.

“She really knows the ins and outs of the sport. She knows how to make it work. I’m really optimistic that this is a steady place to find fights and they’re going to be able to bring in the best women in the world to fight me.”

 You can follow me on Twitter @fightclubchi.

 

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Bellator 75’s Brett Rogers: "This Is Brett Rogers 2.5"

In life, you don’t get many chances to make a second impression. Brett Rogers almost lost that chance last June. Rogers had a physical altercation with his wife and left her with injuries to her neck, ear, back, jaw and a missing tooth.Rogers was …

In life, you don’t get many chances to make a second impression. Brett Rogers almost lost that chance last June. Rogers had a physical altercation with his wife and left her with injuries to her neck, ear, back, jaw and a missing tooth.

Rogers was arrested and then the following day was released by Strikeforce. The worst was yet to come when he was sentenced to 60 days in jail. Things weren’t so great for Rogers when he was released from jail and went back to his profession, being an MMA fighter. He has gone 1-1-1 since his release. Rogers knew something good needed to happen. Enter Bellator Chairman, Bjorn Rebney.

Rebney was reluctant at first as he needed to be reassured Rogers had put the past behind him. After talking to Rogers, Rebney knew he was a changed man and decided to give Rogers a shot.

Rogers made his debut for Bellator at the end of June and defeated Kevin Asplund with a second-round TKO. It was his first win by KO/TKO since he defeated former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski via TKO in June of 2009. Rogers felt a sense of relief to get a win like that once again in spectacular fashion.

“It was the greatest feeling,” Rogers told Bleacher Report. “This is my sport. I love what I do. When you’re in someone’s face and you catch them with a nice hook or a straight right hand, they go down and you go down to finish them, it is the greatest feeling.”

Their was a different feeling though about the fight with Asplund. The fight took place on the preliminary portion of the card. After main-eventing cards against the likes of Fedor Emelianenko and Alistair Overeem, it was a humbling experience for Rogers.

“It was definitely a humbling experience for me because I feel in my mind a lot of people knew me, but I realized a lot of people didn’t know me,” Rogers stated. “I knew I was at the building point. I take everything into consideration. Wins and losses are important in this sport. It doesn’t do any good to go out there and get your a** kicked and expect to bounce back.

“I’m not trying to fight like that and be that fighter. I’m going to go out there and fight to the best of my abilities. I learned through the losses you can’t be whatever in the cage, you have to give your all. That’s the only way of survival.”

Now Rogers returns to the Bellator cage on Friday night, where he will be competing in the first round of the heavyweight tournament as he squares off against Alexander Volkov. The card takes place at the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Indiana. The Rogers vs Volkov fight is apart of the main card and you can watch it on MTV 2 starting at 8 PM ET.

The man known as “Da Grim” knew changes needed to be made to his career, so Rogers packed his bags, left the cold of Minnepolis to head down to Cocunut Creek, Florida to the gym of American Top Team.

“I have to credit my manager Jerry Millen. He’s opening my ears and eyes as far as the do’s and don’t’s of MMA,” Rogers stated. He said you are not going to be able to do what your have been doing (in terms of his career) in Minnepolis. All the heavyweights there, are spread out. We got great wrestling programs in Minnesota, but after those programs are done, they go home and don’t want to do nothing to step up in MMA.

“That’s when I decided to go to ATT. It’s a great feeling to be here. Ricardo Liborio (head trainer at ATT and Brazilian Ji-Jitsu black belt) is a master of his craft. He has great coaches and a great team. I can’t complain whatsoever. I’m training with Bigfoot Silva, Steve Mocco, who drilled Cole Konrad to the ground every time they rolled and wrestled in college.

“They are constantly in my face and taking down in multiple training sessions per day. It’s definitely a step up for me and being around guys who definitely want it, will definitely make me rise to the top.”

A lot of people feel Rogers doesn’t deserve this opportunity in Bellator and feel this is his last shot at glory. Rogers doesn’t feel this is the case and is ready to make the most of this second chance.

“I wouldn’t necessarily say that (in this being his last shot at glory),” Rogers stated. “I’m a hard worker and I love this sport. I’m getting older and I have a lot of wants and needs. I’m going to make it happen and not lose out on this chance on showing that a lot of stuff happened to me and have overcame a lot in my personal life. I’m going to capitalize on this chance.”

Rogers feels this is a new version of himself and he plans on showing that to the world, starting tomorrow night.

“This is Brett Rogers 2.5,” Rogers stated. “Everbody is going to see a difference. I’m going to come out cool, calm, collected and collect my money. I’m not overlooking Alexander Volkov because he is a fighter, but I believe he hasn’t fought a fighter like me.”

 

You can follow me on Twitter @fightclubchi.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Stefan Struve Plans to Stop Stipe Miocic, Get One Step Closer to a Title Shot

At 24 years of age, most people are graduating from college and looking for that elusive first real job. For Stefan Struve, he’s about to have his 34th professional fight this Saturday.
Struve will have his first shot as the main event o…

At 24 years of age, most people are graduating from college and looking for that elusive first real job. For Stefan Struve, he’s about to have his 34th professional fight this Saturday.

Struve will have his first shot as the main event of a UFC card, as he will be squaring off against the undefeated Stipe Miocic this Saturday at UFC on Fuel 5 in Nottingham, England. You can watch the preliminary portion of the card on Facebook at 1:30 PM ET, with the main card starting at 4 PM ET.

The 11-fight UFC veteran from Beverwijk in the Netherlands, who normally has to fly into the United States early to prepare for his fights and get used to the time difference, doesn’t have to worry this time about that. It is only about a 50 minute flight to England, and Struve enjoys that aspect of fighting close to home.

“It’s perfect,” Struve told Bleacher Report. “I love it. It’s been a few years since I fought in Europe (UFC 99 vs Denis Stojnic in Cologne,Germany). I cannot wait to perform once again over there. I love the U.K. I fought a bunch of times over there before I got into the UFC. It’s going to be an amazing show.”

After suffering a loss to Travis Browne at UFC 130 in May of 2011, Struve has won three straight, all by stoppage. He has attributed this recent success to a variety of things, and he has his sights set on the UFC Heavyweight Championship.

“My success as of late is due to hard work, working with the right people, having the right attitude, training hard every single day and believing in myself,” Struve stated. “I believe that I will become the champion in a few years, if not sooner. If you work hard enough and you believe in yourself, you can reach any goal you want.”

Struve will face a tough test in the undefeated Miocic, but he saw some holes in Miocic’s game when he faced off against Shane Del Rosario at UFC 146 in May. Struve feels he is Miocic’s toughest test to date and will pose more problems than Del Rosario.

“I think Shane gave him a really tough fight,” Struve stated. “Shane’s a kickboxer and I think with my skills, I could give him an even tougher fight. I train with some of the best kickboxers in the world every single week. If you can compete with those guys in the gym, then I think you can do well against anybody in the Octagon standing up.

“He (Miocic) took Shane down and it looked like Shane didn’t know what to do. I think that if Stipe takes me down, he’s in real trouble. I’m going to work my open and closed guard. I’m going to try and submit him from every single angle. I’m going to give him his toughest fight to date. I want to make sure he’s 9-1 after Saturday.”

This is the first main event in the UFC for Struve. He plans on showing the world the improvements he’s made in his game and why he belongs on this stage; Struve feels that with a victory, it will get him one step closer to a title shot.

“I think I really need to show that I’m improving, still getting better and stronger every single fight,” Struve stated. “I’m climbing the ladder step by step. I think being in a main event fight shows that next logical step.

“I feel a victory would bring me close to the top five in the division. We’ll see what happens Saturday. I plan to win and then we will see who the UFC has for me next. If I keep on winning, a title shot will come in the next couple of fights.”

You can follow me on Twitter @fightclubchi.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Stefan Struve Plans to Stop Stipe Miocic, Get One Step Closer to a Title Shot

At 24 years of age, most people are graduating from college and looking for that elusive first real job. For Stefan Struve, he’s about to have his 34th professional fight this Saturday.
Struve will have his first shot as the main event o…

At 24 years of age, most people are graduating from college and looking for that elusive first real job. For Stefan Struve, he’s about to have his 34th professional fight this Saturday.

Struve will have his first shot as the main event of a UFC card, as he will be squaring off against the undefeated Stipe Miocic this Saturday at UFC on Fuel 5 in Nottingham, England. You can watch the preliminary portion of the card on Facebook at 1:30 PM ET, with the main card starting at 4 PM ET.

The 11-fight UFC veteran from Beverwijk in the Netherlands, who normally has to fly into the United States early to prepare for his fights and get used to the time difference, doesn’t have to worry this time about that. It is only about a 50 minute flight to England, and Struve enjoys that aspect of fighting close to home.

“It’s perfect,” Struve told Bleacher Report. “I love it. It’s been a few years since I fought in Europe (UFC 99 vs Denis Stojnic in Cologne,Germany). I cannot wait to perform once again over there. I love the U.K. I fought a bunch of times over there before I got into the UFC. It’s going to be an amazing show.”

After suffering a loss to Travis Browne at UFC 130 in May of 2011, Struve has won three straight, all by stoppage. He has attributed this recent success to a variety of things, and he has his sights set on the UFC Heavyweight Championship.

“My success as of late is due to hard work, working with the right people, having the right attitude, training hard every single day and believing in myself,” Struve stated. “I believe that I will become the champion in a few years, if not sooner. If you work hard enough and you believe in yourself, you can reach any goal you want.”

Struve will face a tough test in the undefeated Miocic, but he saw some holes in Miocic’s game when he faced off against Shane Del Rosario at UFC 146 in May. Struve feels he is Miocic’s toughest test to date and will pose more problems than Del Rosario.

“I think Shane gave him a really tough fight,” Struve stated. “Shane’s a kickboxer and I think with my skills, I could give him an even tougher fight. I train with some of the best kickboxers in the world every single week. If you can compete with those guys in the gym, then I think you can do well against anybody in the Octagon standing up.

“He (Miocic) took Shane down and it looked like Shane didn’t know what to do. I think that if Stipe takes me down, he’s in real trouble. I’m going to work my open and closed guard. I’m going to try and submit him from every single angle. I’m going to give him his toughest fight to date. I want to make sure he’s 9-1 after Saturday.”

This is the first main event in the UFC for Struve. He plans on showing the world the improvements he’s made in his game and why he belongs on this stage; Struve feels that with a victory, it will get him one step closer to a title shot.

“I think I really need to show that I’m improving, still getting better and stronger every single fight,” Struve stated. “I’m climbing the ladder step by step. I think being in a main event fight shows that next logical step.

“I feel a victory would bring me close to the top five in the division. We’ll see what happens Saturday. I plan to win and then we will see who the UFC has for me next. If I keep on winning, a title shot will come in the next couple of fights.”

You can follow me on Twitter @fightclubchi.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com