Issue 036

April 2008

Chuck Liddell and Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua to meet in London

Liddell, who beat Shogun’s former training partner Wanderlei Silva in his last outing, is gunning for a rematch with Rampage but doesn’t mind a shot at Rua first. “He’s a good fighter, had a great career in Pride, and I’ll be glad to show him again why UFC is better than Pride. I have the edge in the stand-up game and the wrestling game, too. His submission game is decent, but I don’t think I’ll have a problem with his submission game, either. I didn’t think I needed two wins in a row to get a title shot. But two fights definitely give me the credibility to get a title shot.” The event will take place at the O2 Arena on June 7th, tickets go on sale in March. Details can be found at UFC.com. 

‘Pequeno’ to sign with WEC

K-1 veteran and Shooto’s longest reigning champion Alexandre Franca ‘Pequeno’ Nogueira is set to sign a contract with the WEC, according to Sherdog.com. Nogueira is said to face Nick Agallar in a featherweight bout. The acquisition of Pequeno adds depth to an already stacked featerweight division. 

Tito: “I’m done with the UFC”

In answer to what the likelihood is he will continue to fight with the UFC after his May 24^th fight with Lyoto Machida, Tito Ortiz bluntly answered: “As Dana White president, zero percent.” The two have been engaged in an increasing war of words, with White firing back with “The guy’s an embarrassment, he’s a walking, talking freakshow.”

Gina says she’ll be back

Gina Carano may have been busy acting as an American Gladiator, but says she did so “to promote her fighting career and EliteXC”. She plans on doing another American Gladiators in March or April, and says she hopes to be back in the cage “after April”.

Barnett wants Gracie

Josh Barnett, who faces Hidehiko Yoshida in March, says he would like to fight Roger Gracie. Barnett has not fought MMA since his loss to ‘Minotauro’ Nogueira on 31st December 2006. Since then, he has been keeping busy with pro wrestling and training fighters such as Meguimi Fujii.

Wanderlei training with Couture

Wanderlei Silva may have been training out of Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas for his last fight with Chuck Liddell, but it seems he was only working with his team and doing a bit of sparring with guys like Shawn Tompkins. Well now he’s back in training, he’s been getting twice weekly one-to-ones with the big guy himself, and Randy’s been showing him his tried-and-tested methods of fighting off the cage, something Wanderlei found difficult in his fight with Liddell. 

Huerta out until September

UFC lightweight contender Roger Huerta is taking a break from fighting until at least September this year to finish school and, bizarrely, star in an upcoming movie based on the popular beat ‘em up video game Tekken. He fought five times in 2007 and was involved in some of the most exciting fights of the year.  

The NY Badass signs with EliteXC

Phail baroni returns from his suspension and has signed to fight for EliteXC. His first fight will be for the vacant Icon Sport middleweight title in Hawaii. “I’m 100 percent now, ready for anybody. I pity the guy I fight next or the one after that. Trust me; everybody is going to pay from here on out.”

Matt Lindland gets no love from the UFC

Middleweight fighter Matt Lindland may be one of the top ranked athletes in his division, but he can’t go any love from the UFC. “I made it very clear that I was looking for them to make me an offer. I said, ‘Make me an offer, and let’s talk. Let’s do business.’ I got back a, ‘We’re not going to make you any kind of an offer’ response.”

Gomi returns with a ‘Bang’

Takanori Gomi will fight Duane ‘Bang’ Ludwig in March on World Victory Road’s upcoming event ‘Sengoku’. WVR is another major Japanese promotion that has sprung up following the death of Pride, and also features Hidehiko Yoshida vs. Josh Barnett along with appearances from Kazuo Misaki, Kazuyuki Fujita and Evangelista ‘Cyborg’ Santos.