21 Health Insurance for Fighters Posted by Zach | at 1:03 PM

Now if you've followed my blog or another MMA news sites you'll see where the UFC has offered to give the free health insurance benefits to fighters, which is a huge step forward for the sport.

Here was the original quote from the UFC press release about the health insurance:

To date, Zuffa event-related insurance has always met or exceeded Athletic Commission requirements and has covered all injuries sustained during competition. After exploring the purchase of “training insurance” for its athletes for several years – much of which was met with difficulty in finding an insurance company willing to insure mixed martial artists – Zuffa officials were able to secure a comprehensive plan through A+ rated Houston Casualty.

The new policy adds 24-hour worldwide medical life insurance and dental coverage, as well as emergency medical evacuation. Zuffa will pay 100 percent of the premiums for its athletes and have an employee dedicated to handling and filing all claims.

 Now of course, having this health insurance plan is a great way to insure fighters won't go broke if they injure themselves in training camp (reason being because they won't get the fight pay), and now there is a lot less fear due to having a legitimate health insurance coverage.

However, I have been noticing some things that may have been influenced off the new health coverage. Any UFC or really general MMA fans will know that a lot of the past couple of events have had a plethora of injuries (compared to the earlier UFC events). It raises an interesting question, and I'd like to see some of my readers join in on answering:

1. Were fighters that were previously injured in camp (before this health insurance update came about) coming in injured even before the fight started?

or

2. With the new benefits of health insurance are the fighters more willing to gain insurance benefits from smaller injuries? (IE pulling out of a fight for a minor injury that they might not have pulled out of pre-health insurance)

Of course, if you disagree with either please let me know, I'm all about opinions!

5 UFC 134 - Results and GIFs Posted by Zach | at 5:58 PM

So the UFC returned to Rio last night, and it's return was the first UFC event held in Rio since the original UFC event. As expected, the crowd was absolutely insane. Dana White tweeted saying that the crowd was the best it had in UFC history. The only negative I'd say about the event was Kenny Florian's commentation, he's a bit boring. Joe Rogan was gone because he is starting to film for the upcoming season of Fear Factor.

Main Event

-Anderson Silva def. Yushin Okami via TKO (strikes) - Round 2, 2:04 - 

Lets face it, Anderson has been cleaning out the MW division for a long time now. Okami, who had previously been on a UFC tear was definitely a title contender, and a training partner to Chael Sonnen (who lost previously to Silva). Okami is also the last man to 'beat' Silva. I say 'beat' because the win was by DQ, so nothing really impressive. However, last night Silva absolutely had his way with Yushin Okami, knocking him down with jabs and straight punches. 

A fucking jab with his hands completely at his side.

4 UFC 134 - Weigh In Results Posted by Zach | at 11:09 AM

UFC 134 is returning to RIO this Saturday night, and it brings a stacked card with it. Here are the results of yesterday's weigh ins.

MAIN EVENT:

Anderson Silva (184) vs. Yushin Okami (183)

5 Skilled Security Guard vs Man (street fight) Posted by Zach | at 11:59 AM

I saw this fight on mixedmartialarts.com. It's a pretty crazy fight, and the guard showed a decent knee and boxing skills. I haven't seen a guy keep his hands up in a street fight like that in awhile. Although with the wild flailing from the other man you'd think he would be able to land a KO shot.



Even funnier that the guy on the other end thought he won the fight.

6 The Ultimate Fighter S14 - Promo Video Posted by Zach | at 12:57 PM

TUF Season 14 starts September 21st on SpikeTV, but here's a promo video to keep your appetites satiated. This season should be awesome, with the lower weight classes we will see much more skill involved, and I'm going to guess some exciting fights.

TUF 14: Premieres September 21
Get More: Watch The Ultimate Fighter TUF 14 Michael Bisping Jason "Mayhem" Miller bantamweights featherweights

8 Bellator 48 - Results and GIFs Posted by Zach | at 11:04 AM

Bellator 48 took place last night and ended it Summer Series. The next season of Bellator will begin to air September 10th, so don't miss out! Last night's fights had a couple of finishes, including a highlight reel headkick KO.

Featherweight Tournament Final
Pat Curran defeats Marlon Sandro via KO (Round 2, 4:00) - 

This fight was a very good match up. An aggressive, heavy-handed striker (with good BJJ credentials), versus a technical, well-rounded counter puncher. Sandro was definitely taking it to Pat Curran, bloodying up his eye. That was until Sandro got too wild and Curran landed a BEAUTIFUL head kick that sent Sandro to the canvas. 

8 UFC Live on Versus 5 - Results and GIFs Posted by Zach | at 1:42 PM

Sorry for taking so long to make a post about this, the event actually happened Sunday night but I just got lazy haha. First off, congrats to Chris Lytle for his fantastic MMA career and win against Dan Hardy. He also won Fight of the Night, and Submission of the Night, racking up over $500,000 in UFC bonuses in his career. Now, on to the show....

Main Card (Televised on Versus)
Chris Lytle def. Dan Hardy via submission (guillotine choke) - Round 3, 4:16 -

I found this fight really funny, Dan Hardy coming off a 3 fight losing streak and asks for Chris Lytle. Now Chris is definitely a game and tough opponent, but Hardy only called him out because he knew Chris would trade stand-up the entire fight (which Hardy thought would play right into his game). While Lytle isn't known for his knockout power, he has had professional boxing experience, and showed that against Hardy on Sunday. 

He kept going to the body and back up the head, and was well on his way to winning a 3 round decision. For whatever reason, Dan Hardy tries to shoot in on Lytle (hypocrisy at it's finest - Hardy hates wrestlers winning on points, yet tries to win the 3rd round with a takedown), but he also forget one thing - Lytle's strong point is his great grappling. Lytle immediately turned it into a guillotine and finished Hardy off fast. Amazingly enough, Dan Hardy has lost 4 fights in a row and still won't be cut by the UFC. Bias much?

8 UFC signs with Fox? Posted by Zach | at 1:53 PM

Admire my legit paint skills

In what would represent a major push into the mainstream for the UFC, Fox has agreed to a deal that will see the broadcast channel air as many as four MMA events per year, according to several sources. The multiyear deal would mark the first time the UFC will have consistent airtime on a broadcast network. Fox execs refused to comment on the deal, but sources with knowledge of the negotiations said bidding had gone as high as $90M per year.

The Fox deal is believed to be for seven or eight years. As part of the deal, most of the weekly programming that UFC has on Versus and Spike TV will move to FX starting in January. That includes several fight cards, plus shows like the reality series "The Ultimate Fighter." Fox-owned Fuel also will wind up with some UFC content. But rumors that Fox will rebrand Fuel as a UFC channel are not true, sources said.

 Not sure what to think about with this deal. I guess the bright side would be that UFC will be acquiring a huge television market and perhaps reach out to more homes that didn't have SpikeTV. I hope that this won't change any of the major things about the UFC, like removing Joe Rogan and replacing him with FOX commentators.

What do you guys think?

sources:
http://www.awfulannouncing.com/2011-articles/august/fox-scores-nice-win-by-landing-ufc-deal.html
http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Daily/Issues/2011/08/16/Media/UFC.aspx
http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/news?slug=ycn-8977249

4 Distinguished MMA coach Shawn Tompkins dead at 37 Posted by Zach | at 7:08 PM

Shawn Tompkins, notable MMA striking coach, has passed away.. The news broke late Sunday night via Mike Strata's twitter

1st tweet - Guys, it is with great sadness that I report the passing of our great friend & trainer Shawn Tompkins. Details developing. Autopsy pending.

2nd tweet - Details are pending Shawn was in Ca with the team. That's all right now. I spoke with Emilie Tompkins and Sam Stout.

 Shawn was married to Emilia Tompkins, who is Sam Stout's sister. Details are still unclear but according to John Gunderson, Tompkins "didn't wake up". It was made official when Mike Goldberg, UFC commentator, said on air that Shawn had passed away.

I know this is a big blow to the MMA world, Shawn has trained many fighters including one of my best friends, who I actually broke the news to me last night.

RIP

6 Chris Lytle to retire after UFC Live 5 Posted by Zach | at 9:17 AM

Win or lose tonight versus Dan Hardy, veteran UFC and MMA fighter Chris Lytle has announced that he will retire. If you watched the weigh- ins yesterday, Lytle was seen handing a note to Dana White after he had weighed in, presumably letting Dana know his retirement.

And like I said, this guy is a true veteran fighter. 15 professional boxing fights, 53 total MMA fights (30-18-5), 19 UFC fights, 2 WEC fights, and a participant on UFC's The Ultimate Fighter. Another crazy statistic - in his 18 losses he has never been TKO'd or KO'd. You know what his other job is? He is a firefighter. This guy is tough as nails and ALWAYS brings a good fight, he will surely be missed by the MMA community. I will definitely have to do a career highlight post for him later this week.

Thanks for the exciting career Chris.

4 Pat Barry vs Stefan Struve preview Posted by Zach | at 10:22 PM

12 UFC 133 - Results and GIFs Posted by Zach | at 9:45 AM

After so many injuries leading up to this card, we finally had our anticipated matchup: Rashad Evans vs Tito Ortiz. Now many people believed that Tito Ortiz was 'back' after beating TUF prospect Ryan Bader, but I had my doubts. Anyways, 133 turned out to be a decent card, the main card was exciting but the FB prelims were a bit dull.

Main Card (Live on PPV)

Rashad Evans def. Tito Ortiz via TKO (strikes) - Round 2, 4:48 -

Rashad Evans has been waiting for nearly 14 months to get a fight in, and in that time it was obvious that he spent it getting into the best shape of his life, and it showed. In the 1st round he got into some wild exchanges with Tito, after Tito had pressed Rashad up against the fence. Rashad got a huge slam in after that. In the 2nd, Tito went for a guillotine and a rolling leg lock but couldn't finish. Rashad had him in a vunerable position, kneed him in the solar plexus and finished Tito off with strikes.

7 Zuffa cuts notable Golden Glory fighters Posted by Zach | at 8:44 PM

In somewhat of a controversial decision, parent company of the UFC and Strikeforce, Zuffa, has decided to cut some notable fighters from Strikeforce's roster, including 1 UFC fighter.

These fighters include:

• Alistair Overeem - was the current HW Strikeforce Champion)
• Marloes Coenen - previous Strikeforce women's champion prior to her loss to Miesha Tate)
• Valenitijn Overeem  - brother of Strikeforce HW Champion Alistair Overeem
• Jon Olav Einemo - UFC HW

6 New training pics of Vitor Belfort Posted by Zach | at 9:32 PM

After suffering his most recent loss to the hands of UFC welterweight champion Anderson Silva, Vitor Belfort was slated to fight the iron jaw/iron puncher in Yoshiro Akiyama. Akiyama has also been on a slide, losing to Chris Leben via triangle choke, and Michael Bisping in a 3 round decision. 

Akiyama always brings a fight though, and I have no doubt this will be fight of the night material. Lowkick.com caught some pretty badass pictures of Vitor training for his fight, looking massive.