It's been two months, but The MMA Hour is finally back, and it's better than ever. Behold episode 31 of the show in our new studio in New York City. On this edition, we talk to Jens Pulver, who lost to Javier Vazquez at WEC 47 last weekend, about his fighting future and whether he believes it's time for him to makes the transition over to broadcasting.
Later, we spoke to Miesha Tate, who will face Zoila Frausto at Strikeforce Challengers VII on March 26. Tate discussed why she dislikes Frausto, Sarah Kaufman's recent title victory and whether women's MMA needs Gina Carano to continue her fighting career in order to grow. Enjoy the show below.
Rachelle Leah will reprise her role as a UFC Octagon Girl at UFC 111 on March 27 in Newark, NJ, the organization announced Wednesday.
According to the report, Leah will only return for one night only. No word on whether she will replace current Octagon Girls, Arianny Celeste or Chandella Powell.
Aleksander Emelianenko, the younger brother of Fedor, will compete against former Olympic wrestler Eddy Bengtsson at ProFC: Commonweath Cup on April 23 in Moscow.
Aleksander Emelianenko, the younger brother of Fedor, will compete against former Olympic wrestler Eddy Bengtsson at ProFC: Commonweath Cup on April 23 in Moscow.
Strikeforce has yet to officially announce their May show, but light heavyweight Antwain Britt told MMA Fighting Wednesday that he has agreed to fight Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante on the card. Britt said he hasn't been told when and where the fight will take place, but he believes it will air on the televised portion of the card.
"I think it's a good matchup for me," Britt said. "He's a big, strong guy. Of course, the fight camp he has over there, he trains with a lot of good guys, so I think he brings a lot to the table. You got a puncher's chance in this game. You know, him getting knocked out by Mike Kyle, it showed some of his weaknesses, but in the big scheme of things, anybody can get caught on any given day. So any time I train, I train for the most dangerous guy in the world, and I'm really training hard for this fight."
Nicknamed "The Teacher," Holscher (5-0) works as a full-time health teacher at Clovis High in Clovis, Calif., He trains out of Josh Koscheck's American Kickboxing Academy gym in Fresno. The former Division 2 wrestler has won both his fights on Strikeforce Challengers cards.
Saturday night's WEC 47 show on Versus featured promotional videos for Urijah Faber's upcoming fight, commercials starring Faber and an interview with Faber. In fact, it felt like Faber was on the TV screen more than any of the fighters who actually fought on the card.
The reason for that is simple: Faber is, by far, the WEC's biggest draw, and the success of his pay-per-view bout against Jose Aldo next month will go a very long way toward determining what kind of promotion the WEC is going forward.
There are no shortage of interesting storylines surrounding the Georges St-Pierre vs. Dan HardyUFC 111 fight, but one more has just surfaced, and this could be the most intriguing one of them all.
Check out the beginning of Hardy's latest video blog above, where it states that Hardy, who has already set up the final portion of his training camp in New Jersey, recently met with Matt Serra to talk shop and has been training at Ray Longo's gym on Long Island.
Georges St-Pierre says that when you see him compete at UFC 111 against Dan Hardy on March 27, you'll notice a very different fighter. In the video below, GSP talks about how he has drastically changed his game since defeating Thiago Alves last July.
The welterweight champion also talks about why he has no interest in fighting BJ Penn a third time and how he's popularity has grown in Canada as of late. Check out the video below.
While the UFC is in town in Charlotte, N.C. for UFC Fight Night 21 on March 31, the promotion and Spike TV will hold a casting call the following day for The Ultimate Fighter 12.
UFC president Dana White along with show producers will oversee the open tryouts in search of lightweights (155 pounds) and light heavyweights (205 pounds).
The world of boxing has for years drawn in literary giants from Ernest Hemingway to Norman Mailer to Joyce Carol Oates. Though mixed martial arts treads on similar ground as the so-called "Sweet Science," it has yet to capture the imaginations of the cognoscenti, who seem to view it as some type of combination of bar fight and circus.
Progress, however, can be seen, at least in the insightful words of Sam Sheridan, a Harvard-educated author who continues his examination of the fight game in the recently released "The Fighter's Mind: Inside the Mental Game."
Though the book is not solely devoted to MMA, Sheridan delves further into the sport than most surface examinations would dare, examining the undervalued role of the mind in a sport that appears almost entirely physical. Indeed, his book serves a valuable function to MMA in an assertion that some critics may find shocking: yes, fighters actually employ brain power.
No one has more respect for Fedor Emelianenko than Randy Couture. For years, Couture has proclaimed Fedor the best fighter on the planet, and Couture's burning desire to test himself against Fedor was a big reason that he tried to leave the UFC in 2007.
So it's telling that Couture has now joined the growing number of people in the mixed martial arts community who are questioning what's going on with Fedor.
Mike Swick and Dan Hardy have never appeared to be the best of friends. Of course, Hardy beat Swick to earn a welterweight title in November and then Swick talked publicly about how he didn't believe Hardy had done enough to truly earn that shot.
So with that in mind, you might be surprised to hear that Swick has changed his tune about Hardy's right to face Georges St-Pierre later this month at UFC 111 and his chances of pulling off the upset in Newark, NJ.
As Dream lightweight champion Shinya Aoki prepares for his first fight outside Japan and his first fight in a cage, he says that he doesn't see much reason for concern in going over the differences between Strikeforce rules and Dream rules.
by Ariel Helwani
It's been two months, but The MMA Hour is finally back, and it's better than ever. Behold episode 31 of the show in our new studio in New York City. On this edition, we talk to Jens Pulver, who lost to Javier Vazquez at WEC 47 last weekend, about his fighting future and whether he believes it's time for him to makes the transition over to broadcasting.
Strikeforce has yet to officially announce their May show, but light heavyweight 
Saturday night's 
While the UFC is in town in Charlotte, N.C. for UFC Fight Night 21 on March 31, the promotion and Spike TV will hold a casting call the following day for 
The world of boxing has for years drawn in literary giants from Ernest Hemingway to Norman Mailer to Joyce Carol Oates. Though mixed martial arts treads on similar ground as the so-called "Sweet Science," it has yet to capture the imaginations of the cognoscenti, who seem to view it as some type of combination of bar fight and circus.
Mike Swick
