James Toney: “THROWING THEM BLOWS, THEY AIN’T GOT A CHANCE IN HELL”


Fresh off of his recent signing with the ufc former multi-divisional boxing champion, James Toney, has wasted no time in assessing his future competition:

“If a guy gets in there and try to take me to the ground, he might see his head go into orbit,” said the boxing legend. “The head is going into orbit, for real. These guys in mma, they good wrestlers and good grapplers and good kickers, like girls, but, you know, when it comes to throwing them blows, they ain’t got a chance in hell.”

In reference to Randy Couture’s desire to be the first man who faces Toney in the Octagon (http://twitter.com/Randy_Couture/status/10177842566):

“If he tries to throw blow for blow with me, he definitely gonna get knocked out,” said Toney on a potential match-up with Couture. ”That’s a given, you know what I’m saying? If he tries to take me to the ground, it ain’t going to be easy, you know what I’m saying? He’s still gonna get knocked out. Either way, it’s a lose-lose situation for him.”

While Toney’s all around MMA skills may still be questionable, he clearly doesn’t have a lack of confidence.

The UFC has yet to announce Toney’s first fight in the Octagon.

(source: Five Ounces of Pain)

Some short snippets of Dan Hardy and GSP in the premiere of UFC Primetime St-Pierre vs Hardy can be seen show last night. Come back later for the full episode here at thechokeblog.tk




















Paulo Thiago's Next Challenge: The Hitman @ UFC 115


Four months after he put Mike Swick to sleep at UFC 109 — thereby going up 2-1 in his one-man assault on the American Kickboxing Academy — welterweight rising star Paulo Thiago will step into the cage at UFC 115 (June 12th, tentatively in Vancouver) against highly regarded contender Martin Kampmann. "The Hitman" is coming off a first-round submission victory overJacob Volkmann in January, and was slated to take on Ben Saunders at UFC 111, but lost a large piece of his face during training. Coincidentally, Thiago also holds a win over Volkmann, who has been absolutely thrown to the wolves during his brief time with the UFC. (FYI, "Christmas" Volkmann will have his win-or-GTFO match against Ronnys Torres at UFC Fight Night: Florian vs. Gomi on March 31st.)

UFC 115 will be headlined by Chuck Liddell vs. Tito Ortiz, and is expected to feature Mirko Cro Cop vs. Pat Barry, Ben Rothwell vs. Gilbert Yvel, Tyson Griffin vs. Evan Dunham, and Mac Danzig continuing his slow road back to contendership against Matt Wiman.

Mike Swick: ““Dan Hardy definitely deserves his title shot”


Mike Swick and Dan Hardy have never appeared to be the best of friends. Of course, Hardy beat Swick to earn a welterweight title shot in November and then Swick talked publicly about how he didn’t believe Hardy had done enough to truly earn that shot.

“Dan Hardy definitely deserves his title shot in Newark. I said in a few interviews he didn’t but – I want to clear the air – when I said that I was still upset I’d got beat by him at UFC 105. I made that mistake of talking when I was feeling emotional, when I was feeling down and was disappointed in my performance. But it wasn’t my true opinion; at least not one I’d actually thought about,” Swick revealed today.

“I’m a little embarrassed I said that, and want to say publicly Hardy deserves his shot and has a good chance of winning. He’s a top fighter. I said on my Twitter I hope Dan does well and good luck to him, that he deserves shot. But obviously no-one picked up on that while the other stuff I said before was everywhere.”

“Has Hardy has a fast route to the title? Yes, but he’s taken chances and accepted tough fights when offered to him. It’s true: if I had won that fight no-one would be saying I didn’t earn it. And do I wish I’d have gotten a faster route to a number one contender fight? Of course! You wouldn’t be hearing me complain, or any other welterweight complain, about getting a quicker route to a number one contender fight. He stepped up to fight me and won.

“Overall, GSP has the better chances to win, of course, but Hardy is getting better and better and, honestly, I am more excited to see this GSP fight v Hardy than pretty much anyone else you could put GSP in with. I am super excited about the fight; I can’t wait to see what happens as a MMA fan. Dan can definitely win this if he takes his chances with his strikes,” he said.


( Swick speaks to mmafighting.com )

UFC announces Asian broadcast deal with Hong Kong-based All Sports Network


As other fight promotions scramble for relevance in the U.S., the Ultimate Fighting Championship continues its own worldwide expansion.

The UFC today announced a new long-term distribution agreement with All Sports Network, a 24-hour high-definition sports channel Asia.

The new deal provides UFC programming to Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, Macau, Indonesia, Brunei, Singapore, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand.

The programming kicks off with a live broadcast of April's UFC 112 event from Abu Dhabi.

All Sports Network, known as ASN, was launched in 2009 as the region's first all-high-definition sports channel and also broadcasts the NFL, NHL and NASCAR.

"We are excited to sign a deal with ASN and to distribute UFC on this HD sports channel," UFC president Dana White stated in the official release. "Asia is a huge market for us; it has a deep-rooted history and appreciation for the martial arts. We are thrilled to be working with ASN and to deliver the UFC to all of our fans in Asia."

In addition to broadcasting live UFC events, ASN will also feature the "UFC Unleashed" series and will air select seasons of "The Ultimate Fighter."

"ASN is thrilled to deliver UFC, the world's fastest-growing sports organization, to audiences in Asia, and with HD production quality, our viewers will not miss a single striking detail," ASN CEO Thomas Kressner stated.

All Sports Network is the second sports network from the Hong Kong-based Yes Television Limited. Yes TV is a media company which produces and distributes premium sports channels across Asia. Its football network Goal TV, comprises two 24-hour channels featuring top European soccer clubs and live games from major European soccer leagues.

The UFC now has a television presence in more than 100 countries, and the company is the largest pay-per-view content provider in the world.

WEC 47 Payouts: Joseph Benavidez Leads the Pack, Pulver Takes a Major Pay Cut


The WEC paid out $276,500 in disclosed salaries and bonuses for their WEC 47 card on Saturday, with bantamweight contender Joseph Benavidez taking home the biggest cut. Benavidez's $39,000 haul — including his win bonus andsubmission bonus — made him one of just three fighters to earn over $20,000 from the event. The numbers are below; keep in mind that they don't include income from sponsorships or undisclosed "locker-room bonuses," or deductions for taxes, insurance, and licensing fees.

Dominick Cruz: $18,000 (includes $9,000 win bonus)
Brian Bowles: $12,000

Joseph Benavidez: $39,000 (includes $14,500 win bonus, $10,000 Submission of the Night bonus)
Miguel Torres: $26,000

Javier Vazquez: $12,000 (includes $6,000 win bonus)
Jens Pulver: $14,000*

L.C. Davis: $18,000 (includes $9,000 win bonus)
Deividas Taurosevicius: $9,000

Exclusive: Jim Miller Talks UFC 111, New Jersey's MMA Talent Pool, and More


Like fellow New Jersey native Frank Sinatra, UFC lightweight Jim Miller has been doing things his way. A former Cage Fury Fighting Championship and Reality Fighting title holder, Miller has used his ferocious style to catapult himself to the bright lights of the UFC Octagon, but the fire in Miller’s belly is not lit by the prospect of championship gold or the adulation of the masses. Instead, he maintains a deep commitment to his own personal standard of excellence and is poised to fulfill his own destiny, win or lose.

With a dominating win over the heavy-handed Duane “Bang” Ludwig at UFC 108 just two months ago, the New Jersey native is set to take on submission maven Mark Bocek at UFC 111 on March 27. I caught up and talked with Miller about his upcoming match, personifying a Creedence Clearwater Revival song, and a few of New Jersey’s finest exports.

So have you let the excitement of fighting Mark Bocek at UFC 111 in front of your hometown New Jersey crowd get to you, or have you been keeping it business as usual?

For me it really is business as usual. You know, it really doesn’t matter where I’m fighting. It’s cool that I’m going to have a lot more fans there, and that I don’t have to fly, but other than that, I’m stepping into the Octagon against a tough opponent, and that’s really what I’m focused on. Fortunately, the UFC fans have been great wherever I’ve been.