Strikeforce’s upcoming four-woman 135-pound tournament is in danger of
losing a competitor, but company officials insist there’s still a chance
the field will remain intact.
With a little more than two weeks remaining until the tourney, which
takes place at Strikeforce Challengers 10, Brazilian veteran Carina Damm has yet to secure a work visa needed for entry to
the U.S.
Damm’s troubles were first reported by MMARising.com, and Strikeforce officials confirmed the news late Wednesday night.
With the start of Bellator Fighting Championships’ third season now just
three weeks away, company officials have announced Jose Vega as the fifth fighter in the upcoming eight-man bantamweight
tournament.
Vega earned his way into the tournament with his stunning 39-second finish of Jarrod Card in a non-tournament bout in June.
“Jose showed everyone in MMA what he’s capable with his highlight-reel
knockout at Bellator 22,” Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney stated in today’s
release.
As expected, August’s WEC 50 event is set with a 10-bout lineup.
The Versus TV-broadcast event takes place Aug. 18 at The Pearl at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas.
WEC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz meets challenger Joseph
Benavidez in the night’s main event, a rematch of an August 2009 affair
between the two, and lightweight contenders Anthony Pettis and Shane
Roller face off in the evening’s co-feature.
Jon Jones likens his instant stardom to surfing a wave. The key to staying upright is to not think about where the water is taking him.
“That whole ‘next big thing’ stuff, it sounds cool,” Jones told MMAjunkie.com. “But it doesn’t change anything about me or my family and my personal life. It doesn’t hold that much weight.”
And while many critics say his next opponent, Vladimir Matyushenko, is a lightweight obstacle, the 23-year-old fighter believes “The Janitor” is a better fighter than previous opponent Brandon Vera, whom he defeated in March.
UFC on Versus 1 headliner Jon Jones will throw out a ceremonial first pitch prior to Friday’s San Diego Padres game.
Jones, a top UFC light-heavyweight contender, meets Vladimir Matyushenko on Sunday at the San Diego Sports Arena.
A couple days prior to the fight, he heads to PETCO Park and tosses a pitch prior to the Padres 7:10 p.m. PT game with the Florida Marlins.
MMAjunkie.com lead staff reporter John Morgan is a guest on today’s edition of “The Fight Show with Mauro Ranallo.”
Morgan joins Ranallo to discuss the UFC on Versus 2 and UFC 117 events, as well as a variety of topic around the landscape of mixed martial arts.
Catch the segment at 4:15 p.m. ET (1:15 p.m. PT) on Hardcore Sports Radio,
which is available on Sirius Satellite Radio channel 98 or online at HardcoreSportsRadio.com
Now that officials have booked some big names and marketable matchups for its star-studded Shark Fights 13 event, the first question is obvious: How do fans watch it?
Brent Medley, president of the successful Texas-based promotion, today told MMAjunkie.com Radio that fans can expect an announcement shortly.
“It’ll be available for people to see,” he said. “I wouldn’t stack this card and not show it to essentially the world.”
The biggest card in Shark Fights history just got some additional starpower.
After already announcing four fights for the Sept. 11’s main card, the Texas-based promotion unveiled a near-complete 10-fight lineup that includes a surprisingly deep preliminary card.
Notable additions include Bellator heavyweight Dave Herman vs. Aaron Rosa, WEC vets Karen Darabedyan vs. Marcus Hicks, and UFC vet Pete Spratt vs. Eric Davila.
With a meager 2-0 pro mixed-martial-arts record, Daniel Cormier, a two-time JUCO national wrestling champion and NCAA Division I national runner-up, needs more fights and cage time.
Of course, that’s easier said than done.
That’s why the Strikeforce heavyweight prospect, who also fights at next month’s Strikeforce Challengers 10 event, heads to Australia this weekend for an XMMA fight with heavyweight champ Lucas Browne.
MMAjunkie.com Radio today welcomes to the show in-studio guest and WEC 50 co-headliner Shane Roller, who meets Anthony Pettis in a likely No. 1 contender’s bout.
Additionally, promotional newcomer Todd Brown discusses his UFC 117 fight with Tim Boetsch, and Shark Fights CEO Brent Medley discusses the upcoming and star-studded Shark Fights 13 event.
MMAjunkie.com Radio airs from 12-2 p.m. ET (9-11 a.m. PT) live from the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino’s Race & Sports Book. Listen to and watch a video stream of the two-hour show at www.mmajunkie.com/radio.