MMAjunkie.com Radio: Mike Pierce, Cesar Gracie, Jacob "Stitch" Duran (in studio)

MMAjunkie.com Radio today welcomes to the show fast-rising welterweight Mike Pierce, who submitted Amilcar Alves this past weekend at UFC 118 for his eighth win in his past nine fights.

Also joining the show is famed trainer Cesar Gracie, who updates us on Nate Diaz, Jake Shields, Nick Diaz, Gilbert Melendez and the rest of his all-star team. And veteran cutman Jacob “Stitch” Duran again joins us as in-studio guest host.

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.

UFC 118 weigh-ins draw 380,000 viewers on Spike TV, ratings "pretty good"

Spike TV’s live broadcast of this past week’s UFC 118 weigh-ins resulted in an average audience of 380,000 viewers, an industry source today confirmed with MMAjunkie.com.

The Aug. 27 broadcast aired at 4 p.m. ET (1 p.m. PT) live from Boston’s TD Garden.

Spike TV officials could not be reached for comment, but a source close to the event said the ratings figure was “pretty good” for its timeslot and especially strong among men 18-34.

Escudero vs. Oliveira official for UFC Fight Night 22, main card now set

The ever-changing UFC Fight Night 22 main card finally appears set with the official addition of a lightweight bout between “The Ultimate Fighter 8″ winner Efrain Escudero and Charles Oliveira.

The bout completes the four-fight main-card lineup for UFC Fight Night 22, which takes place Sept. 15 and airs live on Spike TV from the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas.

As MMAjunkie.com first reported, Escudero originally was slated to fight John Gunderson and then Matt Wiman before a series of injuries and fight-card shuffling led to the Oliveira matchup.

Bellator 27 main card set with four bouts, prelims feature six bouts (Updated)

The fight card for Thursday’s Bellator 27 event is set with 10 bouts, four of which are part of the night’s FOX Sports Net-televised main card.

The organization recently announced a champion Joe Soto vs. Joe Warren featherweight title fight and two opening-round bantamweight-tourney bouts.

A third bantamweight-tourney bout between Bryan Goldsby and Ed West is the fourth and final addition to the televised card.

Goldsby vs. West completes Bellator 27 main card, prelims set with five bouts

The fight card for Thursday’s Bellator 27 event is set with nine bouts, four of which are part of the night’s FOX Sports Net-televised main card.

The organization recently announced a champion Joe Soto vs. Joe Warren featherweight title fight and two opening-round bantamweight-tourney bouts.

A third bantamweight-tourney bout between Bryan Goldsby and Ed West is the fourth and final addition to the televised card.

UFC 124, St-Pierre vs. Koscheck II headed to Montreal’s Bell Centre on Dec. 11

As it turns out, UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre will rematch first-time contender Josh Koscheck in his backyard.

The marquee match-up will not take place in Las Vegas, as early reports suggested.

Instead, the promotion will return to Montreal’s Bell Centre for the event, presumably titled UFC 124, on Dec. 11. It’s the UFC’s fourth trip to the Canadian city.

Newcomer Rafael "Sapo" Natal out to defend Gracie family’s honor at UFN 22

UFC newcomer Rafael “Sapo” Natal has taken the losses of teammates Renzo Gracie and Ricardo Almeida to heart.

The Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt feels indebted to the Gracie family and says he won’t let them down when he makes his octagon debut next month at UFC Fight Night 22 against Rich Attonito.

“I’m training harder to make sure that won’t happen again,” he recently told MMAjunkie.com.

Sengoku’s bantamweight quarterfinals set with Inoue, Shimizu, Nakahara, Tamura

With today’s announcement of four new participants, the field is set for World Victory Road/Sengoku’s Asian bantamweight grand prix.

As MMAjunkie.com reported this past week, the Japanese-based promotion announced the four Sengoku fighters who compete at Sengoku 15′s tourney continuation: Wataru Takahashi, Shoko Sato, Jae Hyun So and Shintaro Ishiwatari.

Joining them and coming from outside promotions are Manabu Inoue, Shunichi Shimizu, Akitoshi Tamura and Taiyo Nakahara.

Sengoku’s bantamweight quarterfinals set with Inoue, Shimizu, Nakahara, Tamura

With today’s announcement of four new participants, the field is set for World Victory Road/Sengoku’s Asian bantamweight grand prix.

Joining them and coming from outside promotions are Manabu Inoue, Shunichi Shimizu, Akitoshi Tamura and Taiyo Nakahara.

Team Takedown squad plans expansion, move to Texas with Marc Laimon

Aspiring mixed martial artists find few better places to establish themselves than in the fight capitol of the world, Las Vegas.

Once you’re established, though, it’s nice to get a break from the hum of Sin City.

That’s why the fighters of Team Takedown, one of the sport’s more unique management firms, recently told MMAjunkie.com Radio that they’re turning over a new leaf in the Lone Star State.

Monthly Archives: August 2010