The UFC is taking their vow of global dominance seriously. After announcing the opening of a Canadian branch, UFC President, Dana White, has his sights set on something bigger. A lot bigger.

“Right now, what we’ve used to go into Europe and even Australia is our U.K. office. But we’re looking right now, and here I go jumping ahead of myself and saying stuff before we do it, but we’re going to open an office in China.”

Home to over 1 billion people, China represents the largest market of potential customers in the world. While communist rule dictates practically every facet of their citizen’s lives, the UFC believes that mixed martial arts has a place in Chinese culture.

“The hardest part in launching this sport and launching the UFC was getting the U.S. done. We’ve got everybody done now except for New York, and we’re on the budget in June. The rest of the world – in Asia, Asia understands martial arts. They’ve been practicing martial arts for thousands of years. It’s going to be a lot easier. We’re there now. Lorenzo has been in China for the last 10 days, and we’re going to make it happen.”

Having established broadcasting deals with Inner Mongolia Television and Sohu.com, the UFC has already introduced their product to the Asian country; however, White has plans to vastly expand that coverage. In addition to hosting live shows in China, a future version of The Ultimate Fighter is on the horizon.

“‘The Ultimate Fighter’ is what really kicks it off, and you build stars in all these different regions. We’re working right now on ‘The Ultimate Fighter Middle East’ and ‘The Ultimate Fighter Canada’ that will be first. Then either before one of those or right at the same time will be ‘The Ultimate Fighter China.’”

After China, the UFC hopes to venture into India.

“In India, there’s 300 million males aged 18-24. That’s more people than are actually in the U.S.”

As White continues to expand the UFC’s empire, the logistics of hosting events in a timely fashion has yet to be vetted.

“This is is a work in progress. We bought this company, and we were doing five fights a year. If you would have told me six or seven years ago that we’d be doing 34 fights a year, I would have said, ‘That’s impossible. It’ll never happen. That’s crazy.’ We’re probably going to end up doing 100 fights a year. We could have a show [in the U.S.] on Saturday night and five more going on in five other countries. That’s what’s going to eventually happen. It’s figuring this thing out, putting the pieces together, and like I said, it’s a work in progress. But I’m telling you guys, I said it years ago, and I’ve been saying it – how big this thing is going to be. I think people are now really starting to realize how big this thing is really going to be.”

With such ambitious plans in the works, it appears that the UFC is determined to become the number one sport around the world. While it may take some time, the organization is working hard to make it an actuality.

“The NBA is over in China right now, and there’s a lot of people that are in to the NBA, but here in the U.S., in my opinion, there’s nothing bigger than the NFL. People that don’t even watch football watch the Super Bowl at the end of the season. I’ve been saying for years that we’re going to be bigger than the NFL, and people were laughing at me. Well, it’s starting to look like a reality now.”

(Source: MMA Junkie)

MMA fans watching last night’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter finally saw footage confirming rumors that Tito Ortiz had dropped out of his upcoming bout with nemesis, Chuck Liddell. Several weeks before the show aired, rumors swirled online that Ortiz was replaced by Rich Franklin. While the former middleweight champion wasn’t shown, previews of next week’s episode allude to the change. Further proof comes from the scheduled Liddell vs. Franklin bout at UFC 115 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Ortiz has since undergone successful surgery to repair damage to his neck. While he tried to work through the pain, it simply became too much. While he still seeks revenge against Liddell, Ortiz has decided to put his health first.

“I can’t fight hurt anymore. I can’t fight injured and look for excuses. I’ll get fusion C-5, C-6 in my neck. I’m scared but Dr. Smith is a great doctor. My lower back was hard but I got through it. He said that this is 10%-15% easier so I don’t know how much more that is. I was having problems wrestling, hitting mitts and getting punched in the head from The Ultimate Fighter. That’s why they pretty much fired me the last 5 days before the Ultimate Fighter was over.”

(Source: Bloody Elbow)

Two days before the most highly publicized fight of his career, “Sugar” Rashad Evans won’t allow fickle MMA fans to interfere with his mindset. Standing across the cage from Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Evans knows that he must focus squarely upon his opponent, not the opinions of others.

“I’m never gonna please the haters, and I’m not gonna try to. At one point earlier in my career, I did wish it wasn’t like that because I’m a likeable person. But I realized people are gonna hate me no matter what. My momma told me a long time ago, ‘not everybody has to like you.’ And it’s very true. I’m ok with that. I just gottta get back to doing me. Part of the reason I started standing up (and) banging so much was because everyone said all I do is lay and pray and I’m boring. So I said, alright, I’m gonna develop my standup, and then I started knocking people out, and it was all good. But then I get knocked out in one fight, and all of a sudden I suck. Then I go back to my wrestling and win, and everybody is like, ‘oh my God, all he does is lay and pray.’ I can’t win with these people. But you know what? If they’re gonna hate me, let ‘em hate me.”

“Sugar” will have the chance to win over his detractors this Saturday night at UFC 114 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

(Source: MMA Mania)

A strange thing happened after UFC welterweight champion, Georges “Rush” St. Pierre, defeated Dan Hardy back in March. Rather than be showered with accolades, some fans actually took issue with his performance.

The unanimous decision victory was the French-Canadian’s fourth consecutive title defense, one win shy of the record currently held by Matt Hughes. Despite his dominance over the division, St. Pierre has received some flak for his wrestling based strategy. With three out of his last four bouts going the distance, there has been criticism that “Rush” is holding back and fighting not to lose.

Somewhat surprisingly, St. Pierre doesn’t refute those claims.

“I fight safe, and I’m not going to hide it. Every time I step into the octagon, my life is in jeopardy. For me, it’s more important to not get hit than to hit the guy. I will never fight in a way [in which] I fight like I flip a coin. I never took risks. The only fight I took a risk was when I fought Matt Serra, and I went in a stupid exchange, and it was not smart. I got caught; Serra beat me fair and square, and he deserved the victory that night. But it taught me a good lesson, and I don’t want it to happen again.”

The champion does take issue with fans who believe that he relies on his wrestling to avoid having to engage in an actual battle. Citing his bout with Hardy, St. Pierre believes he demonstrated the best jiu jitsu of his career, something that casual fans may not have the knowledge to understand.

“I did add some great highlights that people don’t even acknowledge. At the end of the third round, for example, the best grappling highlight of my whole career was in (my fight with) Dan Hardy.”

St. Pierre is most proud of his transition game, particularly when he took Hardy’s back before moving to a leglock and then passing guard in quick succession.

“That was a beautiful display of jiu-jitsu. People don’t even know this because they don’t have the knowledge to appreciate what happened. Some do, but a lot of people did not acknowledge what happened.”

Although he is aware of the negativity, St. Pierre refuses to give in to the talk and change his strategy. First and foremost, he fights for himself. To take unnecessary risks to please someone else, according to the champ, is not a smart idea.

“When I’m standing up, I hit the guy, I pick my angle, and I’m smart. I’m not afraid to say it: I’m not a brawler and I’m not a coward. I’m not going to trade punch one-for-one with a guy. I’m going to hit the guy and not get hit. That’s a smart way to fight. I’m not going to give names, but if I would tell you names, you would know who’s a brawler (and) who’s not and who now has a problem with his career because he got hit too much. They can’t take a punch anymore.”

St. Pierre attributes his success to fighting intelligently. Never allowing himself to believe that he is the best at something keeps “Rush” motivated to work on his game.

“I don’t fight like an idiot. That’s what defines me. I’m (not the) champion because I’m the strongest guy in the division. It’s not because I’m the fastest guy. I’m not the best grappler. I’m not the best striker. I’m not the best wrestler. But why I’m champion is because I fight smart every single fight. It’s like F-1; you need a good driver and a good car. If you have a very good driver but a bad driver, you’re not going to win the race. If you have a very good driver and a bad car, you’re not going to win, either. So I have a good car and a good driver, which is even more important.”

Up next for St. Pierre is a stint on The Ultimate Fighter 12 against opposing coach, Josh Koscheck.

(Source: MMA Junkie)

Surprise everyone. Shaq Disel is an unlockable character in UFC Undisputed 2010. We received an email today from someone who is very close to THQ and he gave us the Shaq code which we are giving to you guys free of charge.

Be sure to credit the site when you republish it on message boards today. Oh, who are we kidding. Feel free to steal it and not give us credit. Don't worry, we're used to it.

sorce: middleeasy.com

Of the many things that set UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre apart from his competition, one of the most notable is his willingness to travel great lengths in order to improve elements of his game. While many fighters are content to hang out in one camp, GSP has traveled to Brazil for jiu-jitsu training, spent time learning from the Canadian wrestling team, and regularly leaves his Montreal home base to bang with the all-star team at Jackson's MMA in Albuquerque or drill his Muay Thai at the Wat in New York. The latest piece of the puzzle is a familiar one: St. Pierre is now working on his boxing with legendary trainer Freddie Roach, at the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood. As he told Yahoo! Sports:

According to Evgeni Kogan, M-1 Global’s Director of Operations, Californians can expect to see a lot of Fedor “the Last Emperor” Emelianenko next month. In an effort to interact more with American fans, the stoic, Russian fighter plans to attend the Strikeforce: Los Angeles event, featuring Robbie Lawler vs. Renato “Babalu” Sobral, on June 16 at the Nokia Theatre. That same week, Emelianenko will appear at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), the annual video game industry conference, to promote “EA Sports: MMA.”

Less than ten days later, “the Last Emperor” will head north to face Fabricio Werdum on June 26, in an unofficial number one contender match. The winner will likely fight current Strikeforce heavyweight champion, Alistair “the Demolition Man” Overeem, for the title.

The champ has made it clear that he wants to face Emelianenko. After dispatching Brett Rogers on May 15, Overeem called out Emelianenko during his post fight interview. “The Demolition Man” also insinuated that M-1 Global turned down previous offers to set up a fight between the two heavyweights.

Kogan refutes those claims, stating that their management team has never seen an official request for Emelianenko to square off against the Golden Glory fighter.

“If (Overeem) can point to where Fedor turned down a proposed fight, we’d like to hear it.”

Despite what Overeem says in the media, Kogan insists that M-1 Global is open to discuss the future title bout.

“We have nothing against Overeem as an opponent and we’re completely open to discussing that fight after June 26, if Fedor does well.”

Should Emelianenko defeat Werdum, Strikeforce will have virtually no other choice, but to set up the long awaited Overeem vs. Emelianenko fight. With demands coming from both Golden Glory and M-1 Global, it will be a tenuous, but necessary balancing act. To not put this bout together would be a travesty in the eyes of many MMA fans.

Strikeforce: Los Angeles and Strikeforce/M-1 Global: Fedor vs. Werdum will air on Showtime.

(Source: Sherdog)

UFC President, Dana White, sat down with The MMA Hour to discuss various topics including the Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs. “Sugar” Rashad Evans bout, Josh Koscheck and Jake Shields.

White touched on…

The possibility that “Rampage” has been distracted with his burgeoning acting career:

“The one saving grace for Rampage in this whole thing is how much he hates Rashad Evans. The motivation for him to train and how angry he is and fired up he is for this fight. I think the fact that he’s fighting Rashad is probably the best thing in the world for him.”

Jackson’s upcoming appearance on WWE Monday Night Raw as part of the A-Team cast:

“Stuff he does on the side, If he was going to professionally wrestle on the WWE, then he’d have to talk to me, but if he’s making an appearance, absolutely not.”

The UFC Undisputed 2010 video game:

“It’s actually a lot different. I’m actually blown away by how much the game has changed in just a year, how much they’ve upgraded it in just a year. People who liked it last year are going to love this new game.”

His relationship with welterweight Josh Koscheck:

“It’s not like me and Koscheck are buddies. Don’t think that Koscheck came out of the Ultimate Fighter and we’re buddies and I’m looking out for Koscheck. I think Koscheck is as much of a dick as anyone else does. We have no beef. It’s — he’s not a team player. His personality — you’re never going get along with Koscheck and hang out and be good buddies with him. Just can’t. He’s not that type of guy. It’s not a bad thing. It’s who he decides to be. It doesn’t mean I can’t do business with him. But I’ll tell you this, I respect Koscheck as a fighter. I think that he’s getting better and better every time he fights. He goes out there and goes after it.”

Koscheck’s upcoming title shot:

“To say that Koscheck doesn’t deserve a shot is crazy. Koscheck’s been out there beating guys left and right. A lot of people are judging him on the knee. It’s not like me and Koscheck are best buddies, but who are we to say that Koscheck didn’t get hit with that knee. We’re not in there fighting.”

Tuesday’s major announcement from Toronto:

“The reason that we’re holding the press conference up there is we’re basically going to show everybody how committed we are to Canada and how much Canada means to us.”

The UFC Primetime series on Spike TV:

“I like the real time of it, how real time it is and and you actually get the look and try to figure out their head And that’s why I like so much about the weigh-ins. At the weigh-ins you get to see what shape your guy is in. You find out if he makes weight easy. How does he look? How does the stare down look? I love all that stuff. The other thing I love about Primetime is that we have so many different guys and so many different characters that you can see. How many times can you watch Floyd [Mayweather] throw money around? it’s the same thing every time. Boxing doesn’t have enough depth.”

Strikeforce middleweight champion, Jake Shields:

“I don’t know what the deal is with his contract, but when his contract is up, I can guarantee you that he and I will be on the phone.”

(Source: MMA Fighting)

UFC middleweight, Michael “the Count” Bisping, heads into his bout with Dan Miller this Saturday on a mission. First, he wants to put away the 28-year-old in devastating fashion. Second, he wants his shot at current champion, Anderson Silva, before the Brazilian moves up to the light heavyweight division.

After seeing Silva’s bizarre performance at UFC 112 against Demian Maia, “the Count” has become fed up with the champ’s actions. According to Bisping, Silva would not be able to pull the same kind of shenanigans on him should the two ever square off in the Octagon.

“I think everyone wants to fight Anderson Silva off the back of the Demian Maia fight — I want to fight him after that. If he tried that s**t with me he’d get a toe-punt right on the chin! I couldn’t understand it. I suppose it was a bit disrespectful to start with and, to be honest, I thought Demian Maia won the last two rounds. When it came to the decision I wasn’t sure, you’re never sure, Demian might have stolen it.”

Before Bisping can even be considered for title contention, he must first defeat Miller, a young, but talented fighter. If he should win, would Bisping be worthy of the next shot at the champ after Chael Sonnen or does the Brit need to put together a few more victories?

(Source: ESPN.co.uk)

Former UFC heavyweight champion, Tim Sylvia, can never seem to win in the court of public opinion. After defeating Mariusz Pudzianowski at Moosin: God of Martial Arts, Sylvia found himself answering to critics rather than celebrating his victory. Heading into the bout, the Miletich fighter tipped the scales at over 300 pounds. MMA message boards lit up with fans questioning the fighter’s dedication to the sport. According to Sylvia, the extra weight was all part of the plan.

“I did that on purpose. I wanted to be heavy for the fight. I wanted to be as big as he was. When we took the fight, he was 336 pounds and then he was 300 during the press conferences we were doing. He lost another 23 pounds between the press conferences and when it came to the actual fight day. I actually hit 285 during training and then I just went back to eating five times a day again. At the peak of my training, I was 285, which is pretty much what I am when I fight for the UFC, actually about 275 and then I cut 10 pounds to make the weight when I fight (at 265).”

Pudzianowski proved to be not much of a challenge. Although successful in strong man competitions, Pudzianowski’s lack of MMA skills quickly showed.

“He didn’t have the reach, and him being so muscle-bound, he couldn’t throw straight punches to begin with. We knew he was going to kick and then try to get me down to the ground. It wasn’t a good leg kick. It was just hard and powerful. He didn’t kick me where he was supposed to kick me. If you kick anybody, like the three I put on him, you want to kick on the quad. That way it takes your legs away. He kicked me in the calf. And then the next one was just below the knee and the third one I was able to check.”

After a short feeling out process, Sylvia made Pudzianowski tap to strikes at 1:43 in the second round. In typical Sylvia fashion, he proceeded to irritate fans by declaring himself “something of a legend in MMA” during his post fight interview. While he certainly shows no humility, Sylvia stands firm in his belief that he is one of the best in the sport.

“I know what I’ve done. I know no one else has been a five-time UFC heavyweight champ besides Randy (Couture). As soon as Brock (Lesnar) defends it and makes that, then he’s in that division too, but no one else is. Not even Arlovski.”

Being a fan favorite doesn’t matter to Sylvia. He knows that he has critics, but he refuses to change.

“It is what it is. I am who I am. I’ve made statements and stuff. If you hate me, I hate you. I don’t care. I don’t care if you don’t like me, to be honest with you. That’s just the way it is. I’m not going to change for anybody. I’m not going to kiss people’s butts and so on and so forth. That’s just not me. I’m from the East Coast, and that’s just the way we’re all brought up.”

Part of the public’s perception, according to Sylvia, may stem from the fact that fans typically see him during the final week of preparation for a fight. During that time, he becomes solely focused on the task at hand, which often comes across as abrasive.

“I’m drastically different. I have no patience. I’ve worked my butt off for 10 weeks to prepare myself for my opponent, and it’s constantly going through my mind. When I go to bed, when I get up, it’s all about who I’m fighting and what I have to do to win this fight. That’s when a lot of the fans, they’ll come in to the show and they’ll see this standoffish guy who’s set on beating the guy in front of me.”

Whether he’s being booed or not, Sylvia continues his quest for bigger fights. After putting a couple of more wins together, he hopes to reintroduce himself to the masses.

“I’d like to think (by) 2011. I’d like to be with Strikeforce or UFC.”

(Source: Sherdog)

UFC CEO, Lorenzo Fertitta, and President, Dana White, made their “big announcement” today from the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Leading up to the press conference, there was heavy speculation that the news would revolve around the Canadian province finally legalizing MMA.

Instead, the UFC officially opened a Canadian field office and appointed former Canadian Football League Commissioner, Tom Wright, as the head of the new division.

Establishing this branch of the UFC, along with hiring Wright, reflects the company’s “full court press” toward regulating MMA in Toronto.

“When we thought about what we had accomplished in the U.S., we decided we had a product we really wanted to take global,” Fertitta said. “Obviously things have gone well for us in the U.K. and Europe. As we sit here today, our focus is now Canada.”

While the news wasn’t as ground breaking as fans had hoped, it does pave the way toward an eventual UFC event in Ontario.

UFC middleweight, Alan “the Talent” Belcher, is ready for higher profile fights. After defeating Patrick Cote at UFC 113, Belcher believes he has proven his worth within the 185 pound division. That said, the organization hasn’t been quick to offer “the Talent” a chance to move up the ladder.

“I don’t know what [UFC matchmaker] Joe Silva’s deal is. Through my career, I’ve pushed for certain fights, and I don’t know if it’s Joe’s personality or what, but I think he’s not an Alan Belcher fan. They haven’t brought me in to lose any fights. They haven’t tried to set me up or anything. [Joe Silva is] cool and everything; it’s just … I don’t know. It seems like I’m sitting there screaming: ‘The fans want to see me fight big fights.’ I’ve got a big following, and I’ve got not just a flashy style; I have an explosive striking style. The fans want to see it, but he’s not hearing it, man. It doesn’t matter. As time goes by and I keep winning fights, they have to give me the big fights.”

During his post fight interview following his victory over Cote, Belcher made it known that he had eyes on taking the belt away from Anderson Silva. With the champ already scheduled to battle Chael Sonnen at UFC 117, Belcher will have to wait his turn. As Nate Marquardt and others have signed contracts for future bouts, the 26-year-old finds himself on the outside looking in. Nevertheless, the stars are aligning for a possible fight with a competitor that fans have been anxiously waiting to return: Vitor “the Phenom” Belfort.

Although a definitive timetable for the Brazilian hasn’t been set, the circumstances could be right for Belcher to get the opportunity to welcome Belfort to the UFC middleweight division.

“I’m down. I’d love that fight. Vitor Belfort’s a legend. I haven’t fought anyone with that kind of name yet. It’d be an awesome fight for me. It’d definitely tell us who the next number one contender is.”

There has been some speculation on whether or not Belfort will be given an immediate title shot upon his return. He was set to face Silva before injuries forced him to take a hiatus. The UFC has not revealed their plans, but Belcher would find it peculiar if “the Phenom” jumped right into a championship bout.

“I think it may be something with Belfort’s contract. Probably said if he beats Rich Franklin, he gets a title shot or something. It’s probably something like that, because have you ever heard of someone getting a title shot after someone else gets a title shot? Chael gets this, [and] then after he loses, Vitor gets the next one? I never heard of that before.”

Increasingly frustrated, Belcher is critical of the UFC’s lack of a structured ranking system.

“It’s all a mess, man. All the best guys in our division have all been losing. It’s just weird. The ranking system in the middleweight division … it’s all jumbled up. You’ve got Belfort trying to get better. It just sucks, man. I just wish there was a little bit more of a clear path to know who I [have] got to beat to get where I want to go. Even if I’ve got to fight two or three more fights, I wish there was just an easier way of ranking us and moving us along that way.”

Feeling like he’s in his physical prime, Belcher wants his chance to be properly promoted by the UFC. In order to do so, he’ll have to face stiffer competition and thus far the organization has opted not to give it to him.

“What do I have to do to get on a poster? What do I have to do to get on a ‘Primetime’ show or when Spike TV comes to your school and stuff? I need to put a lot of work into this, and I feel like I’m on top of the game and there [are] a lot of fans out there that haven’t gotten the opportunity to know who I am yet. I just feel like I should be pushed a little bit more, and I feel like I should be making more money. The part of my career where I’m at right now I just feel like I’m one of the top guys. I just want to get the reward from it, and I don’t want to miss out on it. And if it’s going to take more work or more wins or whatever, that’s cool. I don’t want to be here two or three fights from now in the same situation.”

(Source: Sherdog)

There was a lot of media hype following the announcement that former professional boxer, James Toney, had signed with the UFC. Some MMA fans scoffed at the idea, likening it to the “freak show” fights that are prevalent in Japan. Nevertheless, UFC President, Dana White, welcomed the brash pugilist to the fold.

Rather than give Toney an easy transition into the Octagon, the UFC chose to set him up with former multi-divisional champion, Randy Couture. The two will meet at UFC 118 on August 28 in Boston, Massachusetts.

Once the bout became official, some critics questioned the wisdom of pitting a boxer with a wrestler. For White, the mismatch is simply part of the sport.

“Why would I put him in with a wrestler? Why not? Why would I put Randy Couture in with a boxer? This isn’t boxing. It’s mixed martial arts. Couture’s a wrestler. Couture’s going to try to implement his game, and Toney’s going to try to implement his, and we’ll see who wins. To be honest, who knows if he’s going to lose? I say it all the time about all different kinds of fights. You never know until they fight, but if you look at the things and you weigh it out. He has a puncher’s chance of course. Can he clip Couture and knock him out? Of course of he could, but all signs point to Randy Couture should win the fight.”

Most MMA fans consider it a foregone conclusion that Couture will emerge victorious. Normally one to avoid outright predictions, White was uncharacteristically quick to offer his insight.

“I think James Toney is going to lose too.”

UFC 118 will be available on pay-per-view.

(Source: MMA Fighting)