Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Jon Fitch vs. Paulo Thiago signed for July's UFC 100 fight card

by MMAjunkie.com Staff on Mar 18, 2009 at 12:10 pm ET

A rumored welterweight bout between former top UFC welterweight contender Jon Fitch (18-3 MMA, 9-1 UFC) and Paulo Thiago (11-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) has been signed for UFC 100.

The news comes from Tatame.

The fight could take place on the televised main card of UFC 100, which is set for July 11 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

Fitch could very well be fighting to avenge his American Kickboxing Academy team. His teammate, Josh Koscheck, suffered a shocking TKO loss to the UFC newcomer Thiago last month at UFC 95.

Thiago entered the UFC with a stellar 10-0 record, but the Brazilian had little name recognition with mainstream fans. However, he made a splash in his octagon debut with a first-round TKO stoppage (though Koscheck protested the referee's decision to halt the fight).

Thiago will now go for his 12th consecutive victory when he meets Fitch, who recently rebounded from a title loss to Georges St. Pierre with a unanimous-decision win over Akihiro Gono at UFC 94. Fitch, who launched his UFC career with a record eight-straight wins, is now 16-1 in his past 17 fights.

In addition to Fitch vs. Thiago, UFC 100 features a title-unification bout between heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar and interim champ Frank Mir, and St. Pierre defends his welterweight title against top contender Thiago Alves.

Additionally, as MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) recently reported, Yoshihiro Akiyama is expected to make his highly anticipated UFC debut against veteran middleweight Alan Belcher, and "The Ultimate Fighter 9" coaches Michael Bisping and Dan Henderson are slotted to fight at the show.

Vinicius Magalhaes vs. Eliot Marshall set for UFC 97 prelims

by MMAjunkie.com Staff on Mar 18, 2009 at 10:10 am ET

"The Ultimate Fighter 8" light-heavyweight runner-up Vinicius Magalhaes (2-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC) will meet fellow cast member Eliot Marshall (6-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) next month at UFC 97.

The news comes from FiveOuncesofPain.com.

UFC 97 takes place April 18 at the Bell Centre in Montreal. The Magalhaes vs. Marshall bout will be part of the unaired preliminary card of the pay-per-view broadcast.

Marshall was originally expected to fight Mike Ciesnolevicz at UFC 97. The reason for the change was not immediately known.

In his place steps Magalhaes, a stand-out jiu-jitsu fighter who fell short to eventual show winner Ryan Bader on the eighth season of the UFC's reality series.

Magalhaes entered "TUF" with a 2-2 record with two submission victories. He suffered his third career loss when Bader scored a first-round TKO at the show's live finale. Magalhaes hasn't fought since the December event.

He now meets Marshall, who lost an opening-round bout but earned a spot on the "TUF8" cast as an injury replacement. Marshall then submitted Shane Primm but was knocked out of the competition by Bader in the semifinals.

Marshall returned at the show's live finale and submitted Jules Bruchez for his first career UFC win.

For complete UFC 97 coverage, including the event's official fight card, check out the UFC Rumors section of MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).

The Eccentric Gomez


By Ronan Keenan

In the fight game, publicity is not always directly proportionate to talent. Just ask Juan Carlos Gomez. Despite being one of the most dominant cruiserweight champions in history, tallying ten defenses of the WBC cruiserweight title, and owning a 44-1 (35 KOs) record, his name in the Stateside fight media is more allied with failure than success.

The German-based Cuban will challenge Vitali Klitschko in Stuttgart on Saturday for the latter’s WBC heavyweight belt in a fight that has been derided by most sections of the US boxing media. Ron Borges advised potential viewers of Klitschko-Gomez that, “If it ends up on your television screen here in the States [it will be screened live on ESPN] remember this – the TV comes with a channel changer and an ON/OFF switch. Use them.” The downbeat air surrounding the matchup has been bolstered by a plethora of negative headlines that have constantly followed the 35-year-old Gomez. Most notably, his shocking 106 second knockout loss to club fighter Yanqui Diaz, in which Gomez was nailed with 17 consecutive right hands, is a Youtube favorite among boxing fans. In what was his third US appearance, Gomez sauntered into the ring in his characteristic laid-back manner with a glossy 37-0 résumé, but the subsequent bludgeoning brought glee to those that take pleasure in deriding foreign heavyweights.

Gomez then went under the radar, fighting exclusively in Europe before returning to the US for a stint at Freddie Roach’s Wild Card Gym in LA. But the venture did little to boost Gomez’ pitiable reputation after Roach told reporters earlier this year that MMA fighter Andrei Arlovski was competing “50-50” with the Cuban in sparring sessions. The comment generated significant exposure for Gomez in the MMA community, with many followers erroneously using it as evidence that top martial artists could beat boxers at their own game. Moreover, Gomez’ actions outside the ring have not helped endear him to an already skeptical media. Following a lopsided points win over a 40-year-old Oliver McCall in 2005, Gomez failed a postfight urinalysis, testing positive for cocaine.

The bout was subsequently declared a “no contest” and Gomez was let go by his then-promoter Universum. The Cuban vociferously denied taking such a substance and released a test several months later that showed no illegal drugs in his system. He claimed his postfight sample had been tampered and accused officials of trying to sabotage his career. The fighter maintains the ordeal left him disillusioned and in need of solace. “After they stole my victory over Oliver McCall because of doping in October 2005 I was totally devastated,” Gomez said in 2007. “I swear that I never doped in my life.

After the fight I went to the USA where I was built up by the Black Muslim community. That’s why I converted to Islam.” Yet things didn’t get much smoother for Gomez. After signing with Arena Box-Promotion, he attempted to terminate the deal in late 2007, and left Germany for the US without notifying the promoters. A war of words broke out between the fighter and head of the promotional outfit Ahmet Öner, with both sides using the media to ridicule each other. Gomez claimed Arena Box weren’t paying him sufficiently, while Öner provided the Cuban with some sage advice, stating: “Everybody knows that you’re better using your hands in the ring than using your brain and mouth outside”.

The two sides ultimately reconciled, but the incident only solidified Gomez’ reputation for eccentricity. It is perhaps not remarkable that his focus on boxing has been so unsteady given that he never had any intention of becoming a boxer. “I didn’t choose boxing, they chose it for me in Cuba,” Gomez alleged.Gomez originally had aspirations to be a baseball player, but in Cuba citizens can’t always make their own decisions and he was purportedly forced into boxing by the authorities. Annoyed with his homeland’s system, Gomez absconded while competing in a tournament in Germany and thereafter began his professional career in the cruiserweight division.

The 6’3” southpaw made light work of the weak contenders, claiming the WBC title in 1998 from the durable but limited Marcelo Dominguez in Argentina to become the first Cuban to win a professional boxing championship since Fidel Castro’s ascension to power some 39 years earlier. And despite prevailing over Dominguez in a rematch the following year, Gomez’ mental fragility was evidenced when he surprisingly admitted he felt like quitting after the eight round of his apparently undemanding points victory.

Despite not possessing one-punch knockout power, Gomez finished off most of his cruiserweight challengers by overwhelming them with speedy combinations from his languid, free-flowing style. After growing bored with turning back obscure opposition, Gomez made his heavyweight debut by stopping Al Cole in 2001 before making his US debut two years later in an HBO-televised encounter with the unbeaten Sinan Samil Sam.

Gomez cruised to a wide points win over the plodding Turk and while it was not a performance that excited the masses, he impressed many observers with his swift footwork and fluid punching. Yet any momentum generated was lost as Gomez remained inactive for eleven months, while his next fight was the 2004 demolition by Diaz in Texas.

Gomez appeared out of shape that night, scaling a then-career high of 228 pounds and looking plainly disinterested as the contest commenced. “I knew Yanqui Diaz was no match for me. I was then given just two weeks notice for the fight,” claimed Gomez. “[Diaz] surprised me in the first round. That’s what can happen to a heavyweight when you’re not in shape.”

But Gomez brought that lax attitude into subsequent fights, most notably when he was staggered by McCall during their October 2007 rematch. Gomez, who has a habit of taunting opponents, seemed to grow bored with his dominance of that fight and apparently lost concentration as McCall caught him with a right hand. Gomez recovered to triumph by unanimous decision, but the experience may have jolted him into a renewed sense of dedication. In his most recent outing, a comfortable points win over the 6’5” 240-pound Vladimir Virchis last September, Gomez fought diligently, utilizing his speed and sharp jab to avoid the heavy-handed Ukrainian.

And while Gomez entered that bout at his highest ever weight of 233 pounds, the mass gain was due to extensive strength work and the fighter looked well-defined and sturdy. Gomez will need to be in similar condition if he is to withstand the 6’7”, 250-pound Vitali Klitschko. Gomez’ opposition at heavyweight has been soft and even the encounter with Virchis will have done little to prepare him for Klitschko’s sharp, unorthodox left and jerky upper-body movement. Gomez likes to fight with his hands low and maintain a relaxed tempo with a prodding jab, but that approach will be his undoing in the face of Klitschko’s rugged determination.

Klitschko, 36-2 (35 KOs), made it clear that had little interest in making his mandatory defence against Gomez, preferring a more lucrative showdown with David Haye, but the titlist eventually decided to adhere to the WBC’s wishes. And even though the Ukrainian may initially have been disinterested in Saturday’s event, for Klitschko that doesn’t necessarily translate into a lacklustre attitude come fight time.

Some verbal jousting has added a little spice to the occasion, with both fighters claiming superiority in sparring sessions that took place a decade ago, but that has failed to ignite significant interest in what will be ESPN’s first ever live screening of a heavyweight title fight. Regardless, Gomez will prove a more diverse challenge for Klitschko than what Samuel Peter provided last October. Unlike the immobile Nigerian, Gomez should offer movement and speed that should be a sterner test of the 37-year-old champion’s questionable stamina.

“I am more experienced than Vitali though I am younger and faster than him,” Gomez told ESPN. “And I know exactly what to do in the ring. I will be too fast and too much to handle for the robot. Of course, I know that he can punch, but he will not even see me and you cannot hit what you cannot see.” Gomez has recently been working with the Miami-based Cuban trainer, Orlando Cuellar, who has a reputation for being a strict taskmaster.

To be competitive with Klitschko, Gomez should box an efficient, tactical fight involving lateral movement and rapid-fire combinations. And he must stringently adhere to that strategy – something he is unaccustomed to doing. Yet as Freddie Roach says, “As long as [Gomez] is disciplined he can become heavyweight champion of the world.”

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Karmazin Targets Abraham

By Alexey Sukachev

Amidst rumors that Arthur Abraham’s next title defense will take place in the United States, current #5 ranked IBF middleweight Roman “Made in Hell” Karmazin (37-3-1, 23 KOs) has welcomed the IBF middleweight champion to fight in Karmazin’s adopted hometown of Los Angeles.

“I believe there are many Russians and Armenians in Los Angeles and boxing fans all around the world that would welcome this match-up,” proclaimed Karmazin. “Abraham has been protected in Germany and defending his title against inferior competition. It would be good for him to try and spread his wings and fight a real fight against me in the U.S.”

Karmazin, the current NABF and IBF Intercontinental middleweight champion and also ranked #10 by the WBC, intends to fight this Saturday, March 21st at Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles. “We have had a couple of fights fall through the past few weeks but Roman intends to keep busy until one of the world champions agrees to fight him,” confirmed long-time Karmazin attorney and now promoter, Steven Bash.

The former IBF junior middleweight king Karmazin, became a member of the 160lb division’s elite thanks to a dominant decision over rugged and grizzled former world champion Bronco McCart on Dec. 20, 2008. “I can still make 154 pounds if the right fight is available but I am more looking forward to a possible challenge to (Arthur) Abraham, (Kelly) Pavlik, or (Felix) Sturm,” expressed Roman about his future plans.

“I have a Topps “co-signers” trading card with Karmazin and Abraham on the same card sitting on my desk and I have always thought this would be a REAL fight for boxing fans,” revealed Bash (trading card photo enclosed). “Arthur has made nine defenses of his IBF world title and only Edison Miranda is of notable worthiness. You don’t see anyone making trading cards of Arthur’s other title challengers.”

Tua-Cameron Update

By Eugene Carnachan

Word on the street is the June 6th bout to be held in Hamilton, New Zealand between big hitting heavies Shane Cameron and David Tua could possibly be postponed due an injury sustained to Cameron’s right hand. Cameron sustained the injury in his keep busy bout against journeyman Robert Davis. Cameron hurt his hand early and knew immediately it wasn’t good but continued on to give his hometown Gisborne crowd a show. The injury probably accounted for the more measured approach given spectators are used to see Cameron walking forward throwing a lot of heavy shots while taking his fair share. Tua is expected to take a warm up bout himself but the Cameron injury could change his short term plans for the timing of that bout, given he could have more time to ready himself for his first bout in nearly 18 months; a big lay off for a compact unit like Tua and the more time he can invest in putting sweat on the boards the better for him and fight fans alike.

Arreola L.A Presser

By Edgar Gonzalez

Rumors were circulating all over the Internet and the Eastern European media that Wladimir Klitschko might defend against Chris Arreola. The rumors began last week when negotiations between Klitschko and former cruiserweight champ David Haye were stalled after a disagreement over the location of the bout. The postponement of a Goossen Tutor press conference to announce the Cristobal Arreola-Jameel McCline showdown didn’t help either. But those rumors came to an end when Goossen Tutor Promotions hosted a press conference today at the Sisley Italian Restaurant in Sherman Oaks, CA. to officially announce Cristobal “The Nightmare” Arreola’s WBC Continental Americas and NABF heavyweight title defense against four-time world title challenger Jameel “Big Time” McCline alongside the previously announced April 11th main event between three-time world champion Paul “The Punisher” Williams and former unified and undisputed world champion Ronald “Winky” Wright in a scheduled 12-round middleweight bout on HBO’s world championship boxing from the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada.

“I was sick and had a few personal problems that caused the re-scheduling of the original press conference,” stated Dan Goossen. “We’re here today to make it clear there’s no heavyweight that will beat Arreola, not even Klitschko.”

Arreola (26-0, 23 KOs) received a traffic citation while driving to today’s event, but was still able to address the media, on the other hand the 6-foot-7inch, 270 -pound McCline was a no show.
In Jameel McCline’s (39-9-3, 23KO’s) statement sent via e-mail he wrote:

“I planned on attending today, but my new trainer Stacey McKinley and I discussed it over this past weekend and decided that I could not afford to lose the training time by flying from South Florida to Los Angeles.”

“Chris Arreola is not missing any gym time by doing a press conference in his hometown. I, on the other hand, would have missed two to three days for a match that is under a month away.”
“I’ve been around long enough to know that training is essential and I’m really enjoying my new trainer right now. I have what it takes to win this fight, but you only get so many opportunities in this game. I want to give myself the best chance to win by training every day I can.

“I apologize to Dan Goossen and all the media in Los Angeles but I will catch up with everyone during fight week in Las Vegas when I will be fully prepared to take on Chris Arreola on April 11.”

Arreola revealed his thoughts about McCline’s absence, “I respect that he couldn’t make it due to training. I know he wants to take my ‘0′ away, but he’s wrong. I will send him to retirement before anything.”

“I am in a different level now. I realize I was out of shape when I got on my knee against Travis Walker. I realize this is no joke, its time to play the part of a professional athlete.”
Arreola declared he’s not going back to Big Bear to train.
“I hated Big Bear and that is why I am working my butt off. It feels good to train in my backyard. Floyd Mayweather parties in Las Vegas and trains in Las Vegas why can’t I do that? It’s my comfort zone for me.”

“Thanks to my electrifying trainer,” chuckles Arreola. “Who keeps me on the track, we’re currently sparring 3 minute rounds with 30 second rest. I am 260 right now, but come fight night I will be 240.”

“I’m going to win impressively, remember that! Because when I win I want people to say he earned it.”

Tickets are still available and are priced at $300, 200, $150, $100 and $50 they can be purchase at all ticket master locations or the Mandalay Bay box office.

Klitschko-Gomez Presser

fightnews.com

WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko (36-2, 35 KOs) and mandatory challenger Juan Carlos Gomez (44-1, 35 KOs) faced off at today’s prefight presser in advance of Saturday’s world title showdown at the Hanns Martin Schleyer Halle in Stuttgart. Germany. “I’ve heard a lot of statements from Gomez’ camp recently and all I can say is that they can dream on, they are all dreams,” said Vitali. “I can promise him the hardest fight of his life. I think he is a very good boxer, with technical skill, and he showed it all at cruiserweight. But heavyweight is something else. I will show him. It will be a lesson, but it won’t last long.” It was also announced that the Klitschko camp rejected the WBC’s appointment of a referee and judge. Gomez commented, “Vitali claims everywhere that he will knock me out, so why does he even care about the judges? To me, it completely makes no difference who is in the ring. I invite ‘Dr. Sissy’ to bring it, so I can outbox him and there will be no two opinions about the decision. On Saturday the ‘Black Panther’ will again be a world champion. He added, “I will beat his face in.”