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Fedor Emelianenko has signed a multi-fight agreement that will see the world’s No. 1-ranked heavyweight compete for Strikeforce, the promotion announced Monday. "Fedor is a f---ing joke," UFC President Dana White responded Monday after learning that Emelianenko had signed with Strikeforce. “He turns down a huge deal and the opportunity to face the best in the world to fight nobodies for no money!"

Chuck Liddell has fought his last UFC fight. MMA's first superstar, who helped catapult the niche sport to the mainstream, retired from the Octagon after his KO loss to Mauricio Rua before 21,000 fans at the Bell Centre on Saturday. It was Liddell's fourth loss in five fights. "That was probably the last one," Liddell said. "I want to take the next couple of days, go home and talk to my friends and right now, go for some drinks." UFC president Dana White, who had earlier said Liddell needed to "impress" in this fight in order to keep his job,...

In a mixed martial arts event with plenty worth noting, UFC 97 will likely be remembered for Chuck Liddell's fourth loss in five fights and his apparent departure from the sport he helped build from the ground up. The 39-year-old Liddell said it was "probably safe to say" his career was over after he was knocked out by Mauricio Rua in the first round on Saturday night.

LAS VEGAS – Brock Lesnar won the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s heavyweight title in stunning fashion on Saturday at UFC 91 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, forcing a referee stoppage of legendary champion Randy Couture at 3:07 of the second round. Lesnar, the former NCAA wrestling champion who became a superstar in World Wrestling Entertainment, vindicated himself as a mixed martial artist by defeating one of the sport’s greatest fighters. Lesnar (3-1) landed a booming right hand that sent Couture tumbling backward and onto his back in the center of the ring. Lesnar pounced immediately and jumped on top of...

The promoters kind of hinted to me, and they gave me the money to stand and trade with him,” he told “The Monsters in Orlando” radio show. “They didn’t want me to take him down, let’s just put it that way. It was worth my while to try to stand up and punch with him.” The quote spoke of an attempt to if not rig the fight, then make it favorable for Slice, the main star and cash cow of the EliteXC promotion. Such an action would be a disaster for mixed martial arts as it attempts to convince mainstream...

I believe there are people out there that just have a warrior spirit, whether it’s fighting or something, they’ve got to do it. It’s hard to identify with me; it’s just something I do.” ---Evan Tanner, 2005 Tanner, on a camping trip in the Palo Verde mountain area, was found by an Imperial County Sheriff’s Department Deputy on Monday. The cause of death is not known at this time. He had not answered friends’ text messages since last Wednesday, and was officially reported missing on Friday.

Randy Couture, longing to resume his fight career and wearying of the drain his legal battle with the Ultimate Fighting Championship was having on his bank account, settled all outstanding lawsuits with the company Tuesday and agreed to defend his heavyweight championship on Nov. 15 against Brock Lesnar as the main event of UFC 91 at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas. The 45-year-old Couture, who submitted his resignation to the UFC on Oct. 11 in a bid to force a fight with ex-PRIDE heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko, said he was satisfied with the legal resolution. It was a...

MONTREAL -- A revised edition of the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts was passed Thursday by the Association of Boxing Commissions via a majority vote at the ABC's annual conference. The amended document -- drafted by the ABC's MMA Chairman Dale Kliparchuk, New Jersey State Athletic Control Board Deputy Attorney Nick Lembo, ABC President Timothy Leuckenhoff and veteran referee "Big" John McCarthy -- primarily provided clarifications to the already existing Unified Rules instituted in April 2001 that serve as a regulatory beacon for the sport throughout North America. The motion to pass the revised document was introduced by Commissioner...

[6/2/2008] SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Urijah Faber showed a potent standup game Sunday in outpointing Jens Pulver to retain his World Extreme Cagefighting featherweight belt, getting the biggest win of his career in a fashion few envisioned. Known for inventive moves and top-notch conditioning, Faber displayed both along with solid punches and clever defense. He nullified Pulver's vaunted knockout power and used creative setups to constantly keep the challenger guessing. The five-round bout was spent mostly in standup mode, though the two did hit the mat on five occasions. Pulver used a solid guard to limit Faber's punches when the champ...

The fighters for Saturday’s CBS-EliteXC Saturday Night Fights weighed in on Friday outside the Prudential Center, where the event will take place, in Newark, N.J. Despite most fighters making weight, one the most notable did not. Gina Carano, contracted to fight Kaitlin Young at a weight of 140 pounds, weighed in at 144.5 pounds. Since the bout is not a title fight, it will be allowed to take place, but Carano will have to forfeit 12.5 percent of her purse to Young as a penalty. Young weighed in at 140.5 pounds, which is allowable as there is a one-pound...

Nine pm. Sunday. June the 1st. That could be the time and date that future MMA scribes point to when asked how the featherweight and bantamweight divisions closed the popularity gap with the sport's more traditional weight classes. Let me tell you now, tradition goes out the door when you're talking about a card headlined by a featherweight super fight between reigning champion Urijah Faber and the legendary Jens Pulver. Throw in a bantamweight title bout pairing Japanese sensation Yoshiro Maeda and pound- for- pound phenom Miguel Torresand you could be looking at the WEC's coming out party as North...

Kimbo Slice, a one-time homeless man, one-time strip club bouncer, one-time backyard, back-alley brawler turned Internet sensation/big money mixed martial artist isn’t a problem. Only in America, right? He’s said to be a great guy, a boot-strap success story who deserves everything coming to him. I’ve watched him maul “Adryan” a half dozen times alone. You have, or will, too. Kimbo Slice being a street fighter, rather than a Brazilian jiu-jitsu or Muay Thai master, isn’t a problem either. No, he isn’t the best and brightest in MMA. He’d probably get whipped in a second by the sport’s elite, as...

Saturday night’s Ultimate Fighting Championship event at the Mandalay Bay Event Center promises to be the promotion’s mega-event of the year. Georges St-Pierre and Matt Hughes battle it out for the interim welterweight title, former champions Chuck Liddell and Wanderlei Silva finally get the opportunity to get it on, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou makes his UFC debut against top contender Lyoto Machida, and several undercard fights promise impending fireworks. UFC WELTERWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP BOUT:GEORGES ST-PIERRE VS. MATT HUGHES Former champions collide for the third time as Georges St-Pierre battles Matt Hughes for the interim UFC welterweight championship. St-Pierre has a 14-2...

The latest and strongest EliteXC, airing Saturday on Showtime, features a study in the dichotomy of MMA. On one end of the spectrum you have several quality bouts featuring up-and-coming talent, and then of course there is the MMA debut of Kimbo Slice. While the possibility of Nick Diaz (Pictures) and YouTube's fistic patriarch striking up a conversation on the evils of Yellow 5 intrigues me to no end, we can always take solace in the fights should such a meeting of the minds fail to materialize. Headlining is Diaz against Karl James Noons (Pictures) for the vacant EliteXC lightweight...

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill., Nov. 3 -- The first chapter of the IFL Grand Prix had few surprises. At the Sears Centre just outside of Chicago, 4,107 fans watched the favorites prevail in every match. In fact, almost everything played out as expected. It wasn't pretty, but Vladimir Matyushenko won his first title belt with a unanimous decision over a very game Alex Schoenauer. "The Janitor" spent the first round of their light heavyweight bout in his most comfortable place -- on the ground. He easily took down Schoenauer and controlled his hands while pounding on his head. Schoenauer hung tough,...

MMAWeekly.com is live on location in Cincinnati bringing you all the action, as it happen, from Ultimate Fighting Championship 77, which features middleweight champion Anderson Silva attempting to defend his belt from the man we took it from one year ago, Rich Franklin. RESULTS: Anderson Silva def. Rich Franklin by TKO (Strikes) at 1:07, R2 Tim Sylvia def. Brandon Vera by Unanimous Decision, R3 Alvin Robinson def. Jorge Gurgel by Unanimous Decision, R3 Stephan Bonnar def. Eric Schafer by TKO (Strikes) at 2:47, R2 Alan Belcher def. Kalib Starnes by TKO (Doctor Stoppage) at 1:39, R2 Yushin Okami def. Jason...

With little interest at age 44 of fighting anyone other than the man regarded as the best mixed martial artist in the world, UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture announced his retirement Thursday. Couture, a five-time champion and UFC Hall of Famer, had hoped to land a bout with Fedor Emelianenko, the top-rated fighter in the Yahoo! Sports MMA poll of the world's best fighters. But when reports surfaced Wednesday that Emelianenko had spurned the UFC to sign with the Russian-based M-1 Mix Fight organization, Couture opted to retire. The story was broken by Brian Knapp of The Fight Network, which...

“Champions aren't made in the gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them -- a desire, a dream, a vision.” -Muhammad Ali Randy Couture once again showed why he is one of the greatest champions the world will ever see as he dominated Gabriel Gonzaga on his way to a 3rd round referee’s stoppage at UFC 74, retaining his UFC heavyweight title. Entering his 15th championship fight in the UFC, Randy Couture really had nothing left to prove except that he can still be a dominant champion after moving back up to the heavyweight division in...

Finally. After the long lay off I'm finally in full on excitement mode for UFC 74. 73 was ok, but this one is serious business. Couture's all access show was awesome, so let's hope the all access curse was broken with Jackson and that curse is off to the Tapout show. Sherdog's MMA round table was excellent Everyone made weight. One note was that Gonzaga weighed in at 252 and Couture at 228 or so. Gonzaga was 240 or so for the CroCop fight, so for his sake I hope he's got some gas in the tank. Picks rock so...

Well folks, we are finally here. Easy to talk about this PPV Fight Card Sherdog had a great breakdown on their MMA Round table show. Roundtable w/ Heath Herring Sherk taking on Franca is an interesting Bout. Tons of press on Sherk for this fight. If you didn't see his All Access show, you missed out. My favorite article about Sherk so far has been in CityPages of all places. Ballad of the Muscle Shark I actually grabbed the print copy of this while picking up fine tasty beverages. My jaw dropped seeing Sherk on the cover. Big Nog's Debut...