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Kimbo Slice cut from UFC after loss to Matt Mitrione in Montreal |
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The pay-per-view (PPV) numbers aren't even in yet, but that didn't stop UFC President Dana White from saying goodbye to one of his most promising, and controversial, box office draws.
Kimbo Slice -- who rose to fame and fortune as a bareknuckle brawler on the streets of Miami, Fla. -- was fired from the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) after his first official loss inside the Octagon.
White made the surprise announcement at the UFC 113: "Machida vs. Shogun 2" post-event press conference, saying the former Elite XC poster boy was "done" after a less than stirring (and losing) performance against his The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 10 castmate, Matt Mitrione.
Slice started off his night in Montreal with a bang, rag dolling the former 250-pound NFL veteran all across the eight-walled cage in the early going of the three-round bout. But it didn't take long for Mitrione to throw up a triangle choke from his back, which appeared to have him in serious trouble.
He escaped the submission attempt, as well as several others, but couldn't get out of the way of Mitrione's powerful leg kicks. It appeared to sap the spirit of Slice and it was only a matter of time before Mitrione mounted and then pounded out Slice en route to a second round technical knockout win.
Referee Dan Mirgliotta gave Slice every opportunity to work his way out of danger, but he just didn't have it in him to continue. And perhaps that fact alone is what helped White come to his decision so quickly ... he just can't handle top-level competition.
But I think we already knew that before this whole "experiment" began in the first place.
Nonetheless, Slice should be commended for his efforts. And he'll likely be rewarded again for them sometime in the near future.
Scott Coker is already likely holding on line one.
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Mitrione: Making Kimbo bleed is key |
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Mitrione, a former linebacker and defensive tackle in the NFL, got a reputation on the Spike TV series as a difficult-to-work-with brooder that rubbed his teammates the wrong way.
"People base all kinds of things on assumptions," Mitrione recently told MMAjunkie.com. "I don't know what Kimbo's going to come in there (with); I don't know what kind of fighter he's going to be. I know last time he came in, he displayed a little bit of a ground game and a lot of patience and maturity."
"I've never seen Kimbo bleed, so I think if you can get in his face and intimidate him, make him bleed, make him taste his own blood ... and see how he reacts to it, I think that would be pretty key."
"Knowing how fast he learns – at least from hearing it firsthand from everybody that was his teammate (on the show) – then I have no idea what to expect."
"I would be surprised if he comes in with flying arm triangles. I'd be shocked about that."
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Strikeforce: Heavy Artillery MAY 15th |
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Strikeforce: Heavy Artillery will take place on May 15, 2010 in St. Louis, Missouri, United States at the Scottrade Center.The event will air live on Showtime in the United States and on Super Channel in Canada.
After a long period of ambiguity, Strikeforce officials have confirmed that the main event will be for Overeem's Heavyweight Championship, which he has never defended since winning it in November 2007.
Main Card
Heavyweight Championship bout: Alistair Overeem vs. Brett Rogers
Heavyweight bout: Andrei Arlovski vs. Antonio Silva
Middleweight bout: Ronaldo Souza vs. Joey Villaseñor
Light Heavyweight bout: Roger Gracie vs. Kevin Randleman
Light Heavyweight bout: Rafael Cavalcante vs. Antwain Britt
Preliminary Card
Welterweight bout: Jesse Finney vs. Justin DeMoney
Lightweight bout: Vitor Riberio vs. Lyle Beerbohm
Featherweight bout: Norifumi Yamamoto vs. Federico Lopez
Light Heavyweight bout: Francisco France vs. Lee Brousseau
Welterweight bout: Mike Chandler vs. Sal Woods
Lightweight bout: Pat Benson vs. Erik Steenberg
Lightweight bout: Matt Ricehouse vs. Tom Aaron
Light Heavyweight bout: Booker DeRousse vs. Darryl Cobb
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Tito Speaks on Arrest and Jenna's Drug Abuse |
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April 26: Former UFC champion Tito Ortiz listens as his attorney Chip Matthews speaks at the Firenze Osteria restaurant in North Hollywood.
After being arrested following an alleged domestic dispute against girlfriend Jenna Jameson on Monday morning, a teary-eyed Tito Ortiz held a press conference with his attorney in Los Angeles late Monday evening to speak for the first time with regards to the incident in which he alleged Jameson is suffering an addiction to the narcotic pain reliever, OxyContin.
"Jenna has been fighting a battle with OxyContin addiction for the past year. For Tito and her family this has been an uphill battle. Unfortunately this morning she had a relapse," attorney Chip Matthews said. "Tito was trying to help her, she has threatened suicide before. Tito has done everything in his power to protect her privacy and the privacy of their children."
According to Matthews, on Monday morning the UFC champ confronted his girlfriend (and mother of their twin boys) about the drugs he had found and she denied it. Jameson was allegedly suffering an "emotional breakdown", prompting a 911 call from Jameson's father Larry who was reportedly not in the room at the time of the confrontation.
Matthews also reinforced numerous times that Ortiz never ever laid a hand on Jameson.
The "Queen of Porn" has been transforming herself from adult film star to mother and businesswoman. "It means the world to me, my friends and family for their support. My parents have been through an addiction and I see it in the mirror again. I am not going to let my family go through that," a sobbing Ortiz told us. "I speak from my heart, I hold everything dear to my heart that Jenna will be okay."
Matthews also claimed that Jameson's family have now sided with Tito since learning his side of the story, and are well aware of her alleged drug problems that they tried for so long to keep this out of the public eye. He also insisted that the police do not have to have visible signs of injury to make an arrest in domestic disputes, and that the police report indicated that Jameson had "a scratch on her elbow" which may explain why she was photographed leaving a CVS pharmacy wearing a medical brace on her right arm just hours after the arrest.
"When you're dealing with people on OxyContin they don't always have the best sense of balance," Matthews added. "Jenna and Tito have two children together, they planned on spending the rest of their lives together. They want nothing more than to work together on this."
It is unclear if Ortiz and Jameson's children are with their mother, however Matthews assured us that they are "well taken care of". Ortiz remained quiet for most of the conference and was unable to directly answer questions due to the ongoing criminal investigation surrounding the incident. But after just a few minutes the UFC fighter broke down and bolted from the room, in which Pop Tarts heard him hysterically crying.
A rep for Jameson was not immediately available for comment.
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Sonnen confirms title fight with Silver August 7th in Oakland |
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Chael Sonnen (24-10-1 MMA, 4-3 UFC) will get his shot at champion Anderson Silva (26-4 MMA, 11-0 UFC) on Aug. 7 at UFC 117 in Oakland, Calif.
The mercurial middleweight confirmed the upcoming bout at a UFC Fight Club Q&A session on Friday, though he did say one condition existed for the fight.
Sonnen is in for the contest, but he's giving the champion a chance to back out.
"That is true on one condition: if diplomacy fails," Sonnen said. "I am giving Anderson Silva the fair chance to back out. But as sure as night follows day, if he does not heed my warning, I will declare war, and on Aug. 7 at 7 p.m. his 15 minutes of fame will come to an abrupt halt."
Sonnen earned his shot at the middleweight title with a February win over fellow contender Nate Marquardt. Due to injuries suffered in the contest, Sonnen was unavailable to face Silva at UFC 112 earlier this month, so Demian Maia took the fight, instead.
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BJ Penn vs. Frankie Edgar 2 set for UFC 118 in Boston |
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After losing his UFC lightweight championship to Frankie Edgar at UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi, BJ Penn is set to get his immediate rematch against the man who took his gold, Frankie Edgar, at UFC 118 in Boston, Massachusetts.
According to Fighter's Only Magazine:
"Former UFC lightweight champion BJ Penn will get his rematch with Frankie Edgar on August 28th, Fighters Only can reveal after speaking with several key sources. The fight will headline UFC 118, the UFC’s first card in Boston, Massachusetts."
"Penn lost the title to Edgar at UFC 112 on April 10th by way of a controversial unanimous decision. Edgar outworked and out-manoeuvred Penn for much of the fight, but it was an extremely close affair that produced three very different judges’ scorecards. One judge gave all five rounds to Edgar, but that score has been widely ridiculed."
"Both Penn and Edgar have since given interviews to Fighters Only and other media outlets in which they stated an immediate rematch was the most likely prospect. Placing it on the Boston card makes sense geographically as Edgar’s New Jersey home is only a five-hour drive away, allowing plenty of his fans to travel for the fight."
Also rumored for the UFC’s first trip to Boston is a lightweight battle between Gray Maynard and Kenny Florian. The bout will likely determine the number one contender and next in line for a title shot at 155-pounds. UFC 118 is scheduled for August 28.
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Dana White: Shame on CBS for putting a bush league product on national television |
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Quoteworthy:
"Of course, everyone thinks I'm anti-competition, but I'm not. Everyone knows that they didn't belong on CBS. Even if you're the biggest UFC hater out there, you know that. Shame on CBS for this. They knew they should have been with us, but they went out and let those Showtime idiots talk them into going with Elite XC. Now, they're stuck with a bush league, C-level promotion that will probably be out of business next month. And what you saw on Saturday is the kind of thing that happens when you put a product like that on national television... When have you seen anything remotely close to that happen at a UFC event? What kind of ridiculous commentary was that [speaking of Gus Johnson's ‘these things happen in MMA' comment? That was an idiotic thing to say. And then he was yelling at them to stop, telling them they are on national television. That was just another example of how bush league they are."
Well, we knew this was coming. Whether or not you think what happened Saturday night was worse for the Strikeforce brand or the sport of mixed martial arts as a whole, you had to figure that UFC president Dana White was enjoying every minute of it. And he makes some very valid points here. Do you really think anything like what happened post Shields vs. Henderson between Jason "Mayhem" Miller and the Cesar Gracie camp would ever occur inside the Octagon? White also shared his not so favorable opinion of Gus Johnson's commentary during the broadcast which absolutely did not help the unfortunate situation.
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