Diaz: Sakurai Is Better Than Gomi & Aoki

Diaz: Sakurai Is Better Than Gomi & Aoki

Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz believes Hayato Sakurai still has some fight in him and wants whatever the Japanese legend can dish his way. The outspoken Cesar Gracie fighter faces “Mach” at Dream 14 this Saturday at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, part of a talent trade between the Japanese and U.S. promotions.

Sakurai, who began a hefty double-digit career in Shooto in 1996, is one of the standout fighters of his generation. A veteran of Deep and Pride Fighting Championships, the 34-year-old Sakurai even graced the Octagon at UFC 36 in March 2002, losing a fourth-round stoppage to then-champion Matt Hughes.

Sakurai’s career includes a lengthy 14-fight win streak, as well as three consecutive victories against Dream lightweight champion Shinya Aoki (who he bested a second time in April 2009), former UFC champion Jens Pulver, and top-ranked Joachim Hansen.

In recent times, Sakurai dropped his last two outings to Dream welterweight champion Marius Zaromskis and showman Akihiro Gono, leading some to believe the Japanese fighter’s best days might be behind him.

The 26-year-old Diaz is banking on Sakurai returning to old form.

“I think he’s a lot better than Takanori Gomi and the other Japanese fighters,” said Diaz. “He’s a lot better than Shinya Aoki. He beat him twice, so you’re not going to count this guy out now, are you?”

The non-title fight, which has been nearly a year in the making between the two promotions, will be held in Dream’s “White Cage,” a modified structure built from a material primarily used for Japanese tuna fishing, rather than the traditional steel or aluminum. Diaz, who fought for Dream once before in 2008, told Sherdog.com that the matchup is one that excites him.

“At the same time, though, I want to fight the best Sakurai. I don’t want to fight ‘old, washed-up Sakurai,’ as some might refer to him,” said Diaz. “He’s a Japanese superstar and I want to fight him at his best.”

Stateside, Diaz has been sidelined due to his involvement in an in-cage brawl that erupted following his teammate Jake Shields’ career-topping unanimous decision over Dan Henderson at Strikeforce “Nashville” on April 15 in Tennessee. The Tennessee Athletic Commission issued Diaz, who was licensed as a cornerman that night, and five others a formal complaint following the incident. Potential disciplinary action, which could include suspensions and/or fines, is pending. Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker has said the promotion will not re-book those cited until the TAC concludes its investigation and any potential suspensions are fulfilled.

Once Diaz does get back in play for the San Jose-based promotion, he believes Strikeforce will have difficulties finding him a strong challenge in his own weight division.

“They’ve got heavier guys than me,” said Diaz, who earned the Strikeforce title with a first-round TKO over Dream counterpart Zaromskis last January. “That’s the only thing that’s going to get people’s attention is if I’m fighting somebody either bigger than me or better than me and all they have is bigger than me.”

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Rumble: Koscheck deserves an Oscar, he needs to be careful

Rumble: Koscheck deserves an Oscar, he needs to be careful

Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson recently spent some time in the UK to do some promotional work for his sponsors at BSN, a leading nutritional supplement company. Fighters Only caught up with him to find out what he has been up to since his fight with Josh Koscheck at UFC…

FO: Hey Anthony, thanks for talking to us. What’s been going on?

I’ve been chilling at the BodyPower Expo in Birmingham, England man, hanging out at the BSN stand and meeting the UK fans. They’re cool man. This is my first time in the UK - this is my first time outside the US actually. I was always afraid to leave the US after all that war started, too many terrorist acts going on. I am the one that always wants to stay at home so if something happens I can get away!

FO: Really? I can’t imagine a big fella like you being scared of anything. Was it your first time flying as well?

Hell yeah! I’m scarred of terrorists and my momma, that’s it. I’m not scared of flying, I fly all the time.

FO: looking back at your last fight, a loss to top welterweight contender Josh Koscheck, do you feel like you just made a mistake and got caught there or was it a case of coming second on the night?

Well, I did make a mistake and get caught but at the end of it all he was the better man on the night and he beat me. But I will get my rematch and when I do I will knock his head off. I am gonna get it no matter what, I will get it whenever I want.

FO: Did you watch his fight with Paul Daley at UFC 113?

Yeah it was boring, all he did was lay on top of dude so he wouldn’t get knocked out because he was scared to strike with him. The part that Daley punched him [after the bell] and at the beginning where Koscheck picked him up and slammed him, they were the only two good points of the fight.

FO: What did you think of the ‘grounded knee’ incident in that fight?

He is an actor, he needs an award for his acting! But its funny how it has finally caught up to him and he cant do it anymore. Next time somebody is going to catch him with something for real and it will be an injury so bad he can’t continue so he needs to stop playing around.

FO: Do you think Koscheck was acting in your fight when he complained of a poke in the eye?

Yeah definitely he was playing around the whole time. He was playing that I poked him in the eye and that I kneed him in the eye. Koscheck don’t know what he wants to be, a fighter or an actor. How do you even knee somebody in the eye? Hell if I know.

FO: Koscheck is going to fight Georges St. Pierre later this year after they finish a stint as rival coaches on The Ultimate Fighter 12. St. Pierre has also been accused of being a boring fighter recently - is there a danger that this fight could be a blanket match?

Well the thing is, GSP is a more technical fighter and a better fighter overall than anyone else in the welterweight division so he can get away with that stuff, he causes damage whenever he is on top of someone. Koscheck doesn’t do damage, he just lays and prays. GSP will work for a submission or he will posture up and start raining down punches on you, Koscheck just lays there until you give him something.

FO: You think the fight will go GSP’s way then?

Its gonna be an easy win, its gonna be an easier win than the first time they fought

FO: As a UFC welterweight yourself, what do you think it takes to beat GSP?

(pauses for a good while, laughs) Jesus

FO: (laughing) Does that not stifle the division, if its champion can only be troubled by the hand of the Almighty?

Well he is a good athlete too, there is nothing bad you can say about the man. He has made the sport look so good with the way he carries himself and the way he fights. And he is a good looking guy, he does what he has to do and he stays out of trouble. GSP is making MMA what it is right now.

FO: Is that squeaky-clean image something you try to emulate?

I try to - if people leave me alone!

FO: So when can we expect to see you back in the Octagon?

I don’t know, I just had knee surgery about a month and a half ago and I am still doing physiotherapy on my knee. Hopefully by September or October I will be fighting again. Hopefully I can get two fights in by the end of the year. It was a meniscus (MCL) tear. It was bad enough that I needed surgery but nothing that I can’t come back from.

FO: Alright, Anthony thanks for talking to us. Any shout outs before we go?

I would like to thank TapouT, KNOXX Fight Gear and everyone that has ever supported me!

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UFC targets Chinese expansion, TUF China promised

UFC targets Chinese expansion, TUF China promised

Having just announced the opening of a dedicated Canadian office, the UFC is already hard at work in Asia. China and India are two countries high on the target list and White revealed this week that the UFC is to open an office in China, although he did not say when.

"What we've used [until now] to go into Europe and even Australia is our UK office but we're looking right now [at opening] an office in China," he said during a press conference this week to announce the opening of the Canadian office.

"We're there now. Lorenzo has been in China for the last 10 days, and we're going to make it happen… Asia understands martial arts. They've been practicing martial arts for thousands of years. It's going to be a lot easier."

The UFC recently put a deal in place with Inner Mongolia Television, a major broadcaster in China. Having learned a lesson from The Ultimate Fighter, White and the UFC see the reality show as the gateway to new regions.

According to White, ‘TUF Middle East’ and ‘TUF Canada’ are “currently being worked on” and ‘TUF China’ will follow after that. He also mentioned - and not for the first time - India as being on the target list for market penetration, pointing out that the country has hundreds of millions of young men in the UFC‘s key demographic.

How native Chinese promotions such as Art of War will react to news of UFC expansion on their turf is unknown, but if the UK experience is anything to go by it could actually help rather than hinder domestic promtoers. The UFC garners press attention that regional promotions can only dream of and in the long run it all serves to highlight awareness of MMA as a whole.

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Official: KnoqOut MMA Radio for the fans, by the fans!

Official: KnoqOut MMA Radio for the fans, by the fans!

Hey guys, I am Arthur from KnoqOut MMA Radio, MMA's sexiest podcast! (a little joke we have running with the show) and we love being the fans, about the fans, voice of the fans, for the fans!

I am doing a preview episode for UFC 114 and a little news recap! also, want to do a pick ems! whoever gets the most points gets an ill shout out on the show along with whatever site (if any) you might be into, besides MMACrypt.com and the forums of course!

so let's jump right into it...

rules: pick winner, round and type. one point for each. going to do a total tally of all the points after the event! also, if u guys stick with this on an every-event basis, we will announce a monthly winner, let's say from UFC 114 until the end of June and that winner will get a free KnoqOut MMA Radio t-shirt...it will be dope

please include winner/round/type in a different color so it's easier for me to tally it up later!

Main card

Quinton Jackson vs. Rashad Evans Evans by UD
Michael Bisping vs. Dan Miller Dan The Man by UD
Todd Duffee vs. Mike Russow Duffee by UD
Antônio Rogério Nogueira vs. Jason Brilz Lil Nog by TKO R1
Diego Sanchez vs. John Hathaway Diego by TKO R2

Preliminary card (Spike TV)

Amir Sadollah vs. Dong Hyun Kim Kim by UD
Efrain Escudero vs. Dan Lauzon - Escudero by TKO R3

Preliminary card

Melvin Guillard vs. Waylon Lowe Guillard TKO R2
Luiz Cane vs. Cyrille Diabaté Cane TKO R1
Aaron Riley vs. Joe Brammer Riley by UD
Ryan Jensen vs. Jesse Forbes Jensen by Sub R2

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Which ‘Rampage’ will show up on Saturday?

Which ‘Rampage’ will show up on Saturday?

LAS VEGAS – Quinton “Rampage” Jackson would be on any short list of the greatest mixed martial arts fighters of all time, but it’s always seemed like, despite all of his accomplishments, something was missing.

Yet, for much of his career, the sum of his parts was greater than the whole.
Jackson is rarely what you expect him to be. For instance at Wednesday’s news conference to promote his grudge match with Rashad Evans at UFC 114 on Saturday, many sought the wise-cracking, fun-loving guy he is at most public appearances. Instead, onlookers got the serious, almost brooding man who seemed miserable as he sat through the hour-long session in the Hollywood Theater at the MGM Grand.
Expect the lazy, unmotivated athlete who relied on brute strength and physical prowess to defeat world-class opposition and you sometimes get the elite athlete who pushed himself every day during a grueling, 13-week training camp.
Because of his dislike for Evans, Jackson discovered a newfound passion for training. He gives the impression of a guy ready to finally harness his immense talents.

Jackson snarled as much as he smiled Wednesday, clearly sick of talking, sick of promoting and, mostly, sick of Evans. What has become the most intense grudge match in UFC history has left Jackson ready to explode, eager to unleash his fury on a man he believes is beneath him athletically and whom he feels has disrespected him personally and professionally.
When Evans repeatedly referred to Jackson on Wednesday as an Uncle Tom and urged him to “quit acting stupid,” Jackson gritted his teeth and stared straight ahead.

Much has been made about whether Jackson can control his emotions and fight a smart fight. Those asking the questions weren’t in his training camp working alongside him daily like Michael Bisping, who says that Jackson can keep the ultimate goal in mind, but it’s not a bad thing if he gets angry when the bell rings.
“Personally, I think he fights way better when he’s like he is now,” said Bisping, who meets Dan Miller in the semi-main event on Saturday.
Bisping got a first-hand look for the better part of three months. He saw Jackson push like he’d never pushed before and watched as Jackson was intense in every practice.

“Every fighter in training has the aches and pains and you might ask a training partner, ‘Hey, don’t hit me here because it’s a bit sore,’” Bisping said. “Somebody accidentally did it and you could see the look on Rampage’s face change. He almost killed the guy. He just landed some big shots. … He wants this fight so badly and you can see the change in him in the way he has worked and the way he’s gone about his business, getting himself ready.”

The fight is one of the most anticipated in UFC history. Company president Dana White spent much of Wednesday trying to figure where he’d put the many celebrities, including California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone and Jessica Biel, who plan to attend. White said the ticket has been the toughest one ever to get in Las Vegas and said the pay-per-view is tracking for between 800,000-850,000 sales. Much of that is because of the public’s fascination with Jackson, who does things in the cage that few men can do. He hits like an MMA version of Mike Tyson.

“I fought Rashad and I’ve been in there with Rampage and I can tell you he hits way, way harder than Rashad,” Bisping said. “Honestly, it’s not even close. Wherever Rampage hits you, you feel it.”
Unlike someone like Randy Couture, who squeezed every bit out of his talent, Jackson too often coasted and took shortcuts in training. Jackson is nearly 32 now, though, and clearly a different man. He doesn’t want to waste his peak years while he’s at the height of his earning power. And he’s developed a resolve he rarely showed.

He desperately wanted to play B.A. Baracus in “The A-Team” movie, a role that was offered to him last year. Growing up in Memphis, Tenn., Jackson watched “The A-Team” on television with his father. The movie offer was the chance of a lifetime, working alongside such A-list actors as Liam Neeson and Biel.
Jackson, though, was contractually committed to fight Evans in the main event of UFC 107. Jackson and Evans had served as coaches on Season 9 of “The Ultimate Fighter” and one of the payoffs was a fight between them, which was held at the FedEx Forum in Memphis.
The entire fight card was designed around Jackson and UFC president Dana White was apoplectic when Jackson said he was going to pull out.

“That hurt us,” White said. “At the time, it hurt a lot.”
Jackson, though, was in no mood to discuss the movie, which hits theaters June 11, on Wednesday. Asked by a local television reporter what his favorite line in the movie was, Jackson got snippy.
“I don’t even remember one line from the movie,” he said, refusing to play along even when prodded.
He’s in fight mode, ready to do damage, and was of no mind to be cute and playful.
“I like it when he’s this way,” White said.

Jackson hasn’t fought since March of 2009, an uninspiring victory over Keith Jardine at UFC 96. This has been the longest layoff of his career. Such is his disdain for Evans, whom he repeatedly calls a tune-up, that he’s hardly worried about the impact the rust will have upon him.

“I was ring rusty against Jardine, and I may be in this fight in Las Vegas,” Jackson said. “That gives Rashad a teeny-tiny chance. Not a good chance, just a teen-weeny chance. Like 0.05 percent. If I had fought more recently? He’d have no chance, he wouldn’t have needed to show up. He’d have fainted in the hotel room and we could have sent the referee with room service to wake his ass up and call that a KO.”

Evans won his title from Forrest Griffin, the man who took the belt from Jackson, a defeat that Jackson still seethes about, but much of it was his own doing. He wasn’t prepared and he wasn’t focused, expecting to easily deal with Griffin. The memory of his poor training camp has helped fuel him in his preparations for Evans.

Despite Jackson’s frequently derogatory words about Evans, he knows Evans is talented and dangerous.
“I’m not underestimating Rashad at all,” Jackson said. “He’s got fast punches and he’s got a pretty good takedown. I’m not underestimating him at all. This is going to be a really good fight for me. This is going to be a really good test for me. And I’m not underestimating anybody else. I learned that from Forrest. I underestimated Forrest. I didn’t train properly for him and I was way over weight and just didn’t do things right.

“So I learned my lesson over and over again. Things like that would prepare me for days like this, when it really counts. I think everything happens for a reason. I lost that fight to Forrest. I beat myself. I didn’t train hard, but for this fight I trained the hardest I ever trained.”
A properly trained and motivated Jackson can be a dangerous thing. And he might finally start taking advantage of all of that talent.

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Nick Diaz Makes His Case: A Cage versus a Ring

Nick Diaz Makes His Case: A Cage versus a Ring

Nick Diaz is an American fighting in Japan this weekend at Dream.14, but he's not trying to impose American values on Japanese mixed martial arts. In fact, Diaz says he's disappointed that he's going to be fighting in an American-style cage, rather than the ring that Dream and other Japanese MMA promotions usually use.

"It's a little disappointing that it's going to be in a cage and not in a ring," Diaz said at his press conference Thursday. "I enjoy fighting here in Japan under the regular Dream/Pride rules with the ring and the whole rules criteria. You know, same rules but unfortunately you've got to switch it around. But I usually fight in a cage anyway, you know, so it's not any different for me."

Diaz has more experience fighting in a cage than his opponent, Hayoto Sakurai, and he acknowledges that in that respect it's probably advantageous to him to be fighting in a cage.

"It's going to be to my advantage I would imagine," Diaz said. "I have a cage at home, I have a cage at all the gyms I train. Always training in a cage, fighting in a cage so I would imagine it's going to be to my advantage. I don't think it's going to make a difference in this fight. I really don't think it's going to make too much of a difference to the outcome."

But in general, Diaz believes that the ring is superior to the cage for MMA.

"I think this is the wrong idea and Japan should stay with the ring and the rules that it goes by," Diaz said. "They shouldn't give up what they've got going. I think the rest of the would should adjust to it. I think that it favors the more technical fighter and the more technical aspects of mixed martial arts and it's going to favor the better fighter and the more mixed martial arts aspect of the sports instead of the athletic part. You know, I think it's really important how they yellow card people and there's no elbows. You are going to have to punch down onto your opponent and in which case the guy on the bottom can make some space and try to get up and it's the same space that your trying to make to punch.

"It makes for transitions, it makes for action, it makes for the martial arts. It makes for the martial arts aspect to come out in the sport and for people to see who is actually who is the best mixed martial arts fighter. That's what's really important.

"I think for hundreds of years or for a much longer time, people have been fighting, professional athletes have been fighting in a ring. So it's just the way it should be. There's no sense in making it a cage."

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UFC fighter Brian Stann needs your help to get heroes hired

UFC fighter Brian Stann needs your help to get heroes hired

Brian Stann is best known as a UFC light heavyweight and former WEC champ, but before he held those titles, he was known as sir. Stann was a captain in the Marines, and continues to help his brothers and sisters in the military as the executive director of Hire Heroes, a not-for-profit organization that gives career placement assistance to veterans.

To help as many veterans as possible, he needs your help. The Call of Duty Endowment has already given Stann and Hire Heroes a grant, but it can grow much larger with your help. Over Memorial Day weekend, starting today and ending Monday, the C.O.D. Endowment will give one dollar to Hire Heroes for every fan they get on Facebook.
Seriously, it's that easy. Become a fan, and they get a dollar. The group can get up to $50,000 in a grant from the makers of the Call of Duty video game.
Stann says that the money is needed to help returning service men and women transition into civilian life.

An employer can tell you ‘I want an out of the box thinker who’s a team player,’ but they don’t know how to pull that all the time from a guy who in his resume is talking about reducing improvised explosive devices and training a foreign army whose language they don’t speak. That’s one of the main things my organization does with the guys we work with. Before we go out and try to find them a job, we work on translating their skills and quantifying them on their resumes and in their interview responses so that the employers can understand that. We also try to explain that to the companies that we recruit and advocate with to hire veterans. We try to educate them that they’re not just order takers, trigger pullers, or heavy equipment operators.

After the parades and welcome home parties, veterans still need to find a job. Stann and Hire Heroes have already placed more than 200 veterans. With your help, they'll assist many more.
Become a fan of the Call of Duty Endowment on Facebook here, and while you're there, become a fan of Cagewriter. If you are a returning service man or woman, you can register with Hire Heroes here.

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