Fighters Only

Issue 079

September 2011

All the head-turning information every MMA fan needs to know

St PIERRE AND DIAZ TO MEET IN HISTORIC UFC SHOWDOWN

In a possible precedent-setting matchup, UFC welterweight champion Georges St Pierre will defend his belt against Strikeforce 170lb title holder Nick Diaz in October. After months of speculation the pair are officially set to square off at UFC 137 in Las Vegas.

The bout came to fruition after Diaz threatened to pursue a boxing career, allowed by his Strikeforce contract, if he wasn’t matched up with GSP due to his claims he had no legitimate competition left to tackle in the Californian promotion. The demand was made viable due to the UFC parent company’s purchase of Strikeforce in March.

Via Twitter UFC president Dana White was the first to announce the bout, stating: “You wanted it, you got it! GSP vs Diaz, Oct 29th, UFC 137 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.”

The fight agreement also cues a new eight-fight, multi-year contract for Diaz that doesn’t allow the Stockton bad boy to compete in boxing but does let him enter both the UFC Octagon and Strikeforce cage.

Cesar Gracie, Diaz’s trainer and manager, said with a win from Diaz it would mark the end of his charge’s tenure in Strikeforce. He added the UFC were “very fair” during negotiations of the new contract.

Georges St Pierre will be coming off a decision win over Diaz’s stable-mate Jake Shields at UFC 129 in April. Whilst Diaz’s last ‘W’ came over heavy-hitter Paul Daley 20 days prior, finishing the UFC veteran in the first round.

Gracie said: “Nick is going to counter [Georges’] wrestling with true black-belt jiu-jitsu – Gracie jiu-jitsu.”

JON JONES FACES RAMPAGE AT UFC 135

Two of the UFC’s most exciting light heavyweights will touch gloves when champion Jon Jones takes on fellow fan favorite Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson at UFC 135. Set to go down on September 24th in Denver, Colorado, the fight will be Jones’ first defense of the 205lb strap he won from Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua at UFC 128 in March. Outside of a DQ loss to Matt Hamill, ‘Bones’ is unbeaten in 13 fights, while former champion Jackson is coming off decision victories against Hamill and Lyoto Machida.

UFC MAIN EVENTS INCREASED TO FIVE ROUNDS

UFC president Dana White has confirmed that all UFC main events will be five-round fights. The rule will apply to all non-title marquee matchups signed after June 9th. Currently, title fights are five rounds while all non-belt bouts are three rounders.

The significant shift comes after much debate inside the UFC about the merit of extending big fights after a handful of debated decisions and disappointing draws.

White made the announcement to journalists but clarified: “What I don’t want to do to guys is alter fights that we’ve already made and they’ve signed the bout agreement, you’re mentally training for a three-round fight. To come back and say, ‘Oh, it’s five rounds now.’ You can’t do that to a guy.”

According to Canada.com around 40% of the MMA fan base is female

UFC president Dana White says he believes the UFC is the number-two sport in Canada behind hockey

WHAT'S HOT

BALLET

MMA fighters are tapping out to tutus in the latest Train Hard Fight Easy

‘VIVO BRASIL!’

As you might be able to tell, we’ve gone a little bit ‘louco’ over UFC Rio

CHAEL SONNEN’S TWITTER ACCOUNT

@sonnench is the new @shitmydadsays

WHAT'S NOT

YOUTUBE PREDICTION VIDEOS

Video blog warriors’ 20-minute rants.on upcoming fights? Snore