source: abs-cbnnews.com

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) needs to develop new stars after former heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar announced his retirement after UFC 141 last Friday in Las Vegas (Saturday in Manila).

Lesnar was dominated in his last UFC bout, falling to Alistair Overeem via technical knockout in the very first round.

Afterward, he announced his retirement, saying that the past two years have been difficult for him and his family. Lesnar’s bout against Overeem was his first in over the year, having dealt with diverticulitis and undergoing surgery.

According to Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports, Lesnar’s retirement will pressure the UFC into developing new stars who can become major pay-per-view draws.

In his short career, Lesnar became the UFC’s biggest pay-per-view draw. He brought casual fans into the sport, fans who recognized him from his time in the WWE.

“(Lesnar’s) impact upon the business side of the UFC and the sport of mixed martial arts was significantly greater than his actual fighting ability,” Iole wrote.

“Pay-per-view sales were the biggest when the big men fought. Tickets were harder to get when he was topping the bill. Media interest was at its highest. Merchandise sales were more robust. The celebrity quotient was off the charts,” he added.

According to Bloody Elbow, an MMA blog, the pay-per-views that featured Lesnar in the main event all brought in over a million buys.

“When it scheduled Lesnar, the UFC could reasonably count on a multi-million dollar paid gate and pay-per-view sales that would at least approach a million,” Iole said. “Without him, it’s a much greater, though hardly impossible, challenge.”

Iole believes that the UFC can survive Lesnar’s retirement in the short term, but will be pressured to develop new stars in the long term.

“It simply won’t work if some of the younger fighters on the roster, such a light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, don’t morph into reliable drawing cards,” he added.

Tough job

According to Josh Nason of Bloody Elbow, the UFC will find it difficult to find a fighter who can fill the void left by Lesnar.

Two of the sports’ biggest stars, Georges St. Pierre and Anderson Silva, are both injured, with St. Pierre out for the whole of 2012. Jones, the light heavyweight champion and one of the sports’ greatest talents, is still trying to break into the main stream.

“With 32 shows planned for 2012, the UFC will be challenged once again on how to make and create stars that people will plunk down money to see,” Nason said. “They need to create buzz, build challengers and somehow make pay-per-view matter again like they did so well in years past.”

Nason added that Lesnar “was the right guy at the right time for the UFC,” helping the sport elevate into the main stream and giving the promotion a huge financial boost.

“Perhaps (UFC President Dana) White’s toughest fight ahead is how to find the next right guy,” he said.

source: Joey Villar | philstar.com

Fil-Am Mark Muñoz, boosted by his recent victory over Chris Leben, has moved up to No. 4 in the middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship ranking currently paced by Brazilian Anderson “The Spider” Silva.

In the December rankings of Sports Illustrated, Muñoz, dubbed “The Filipino Wrecking Machine” in the UFC, is now behind the world’s mixed martial arts’ best pound-for-pound fighter Silva, Chael Sonnen and Vitor Belfort.

“If it were possible for you to see beyond the 1-2-3 of the division, you’d notice that there’s someone closing in on Belfort, so much so that he’s as much a No. 3 as he is a No. 4 and rising or at least with an opportunity to do so,” said SI’s resident MMA writer Jeff Wagenheim.

“I’m talking about Mark Muñoz, who beat up a pretty tough guy, Chris Leben, a month ago,” he added.

Muñoz, fighting out of Vallejo, California and a former two-time All-American wrestler, made good impression when he overpowered Leben in UFC 138 in Birmingham, England that hiked his record to 12-2 (win-loss) and boosted his stock in middleweight’s pecking order.

It also set up Muñoz against Sonnen, the No. 1 contender in the division, in an interesting showdown early next year.

“He’s 12-2, winner of four straight, and next on his dance card is a meeting with Sonnen as part of the second UFC on Fox telecast next month, that’s a bold step up for “The Filipino Wrecking Machine,” said Wagenheim.

Interestingly, Muñoz’s picture now appears for the first time in UFC’s official website www.ufc.com as one of the middleweight contenders alongside Sonnen, Belfort, Michael “The Count” Bispin, Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva, Japanese Yoshin Okami, Brian Stann and Jason “Mayhem” Miller.

Muñoz was actually one of the few Fil-Ams competing in the UFC including close buddy light heavyweight Brandon “The Truth” Vera.

source: Camille B. Naredo | abs-cbnnews.com

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) light heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones successfully defended his title for the second time, submitting former champion Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida in the second round of the main event of UFC 140.

Machida’s unique striking skills gave Jones considerably more trouble than any previous opponent had as “The Dragon” was able to land clean punches and kicks at Jones.

But Jones took control late in the second round with a left hand to Machida, and followed it up with a knee to the body. The champion was able to catch Machida in a standing guillotine choke, and the referee stopped the fight after seeing Machida’s right arm go limp.

The official time was at 4:26 of the second round.

Jones admitted afterward that Machida’s range and kicks gave him some trouble. “It was a very tough puzzle,” he said.

“He didn’t have me hurt, but he did punch me pretty good, he wobbled me a little bit,” Jones added. “I’m glad to prove to myself and to everyone that I can take a legit hit.”

Jones became the first light heavyweight champion to defend his title more than once since Chuck Liddell in 2006. Liddell defended the belt four times before losing it to Quinton “Rampage” Jackson at UFC 71.

Jones had defended his title against Jackson at UFC 135, also winning that bout via a guillotine choke.

Machida gave Jones the toughest test of his young career so far, often causing the champion to cover up from a flurry of punches. But he could not recover after being taken down by Jones in the middle of the second round, where a nasty gash opened up on his forehead due to an elbow from Jones.

The fight was Jones’ fourth bout in 2011, all of which ended in dominant victories for him. He also submitted Ryan Bader last February, and went on to defeat Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 128 to become the youngest champion in UFC history.

Jones and Machida each took home $75,000 bonuses for putting on the “Fight of the Night.”

Submission of the night

In the co-main event, former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir scored a stunning technical knockout victory over Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira in the first round of their fight.

Nogueira had Mir in trouble after connecting with a right hand, sending the latter to the canvas. Nogueira then attempted a guillotine choke, but Mir managed to escape the submission and caught Nogueira’s left arm in a kimura.

The referee stopped the fight just as Nogueira started to tap out after his left shoulder popped.

“I’m the first person to knock him out, and I’m the first person to submit him,” Mir said, referring to his 2008 knockout victory over Nogueira at UFC 92, which made him the interim heavyweight champion.

Mir won a “Submission of the Night” bonus of $75,000.

Meanwhile, Nogueira’s younger brother, Rogerio, defeated Tito Ortiz via a first-round technical knockout in their undercard bout.

Rogerio caught Ortiz with a left hand and swarmed him, targeting the former champion’s ribs. The referee stopped the fight after Ortiz could no longer fight back as he took more punishment from the Brazilian fighter.

In the first fight of the night, Chan Sung Jung knocked out Mark Hominick in only seven seconds to win the “Knockout of the Night” honors.

Jung tied Todd Duffee for the fastest knockout in the history of the UFC.

by Camille B. Naredo | abs-cbnnews.com

source: abs-cbnnews.com

Mixed martial arts (MMA) light heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones is full of confidence going to his title defense against Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida this weekend.

The 24-year-old Jones said he was destined to fight Machida, the former light heavyweight champion.

“I always knew I’d fight Lyoto one day,” he said in UFC.com.

Jones will take on Machida in the main event of UFC 140. The fight will take place at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Canada on Saturday (Sunday in Manila).

“He’s unpredictable, and he’s fast. Lyoto works distance and I love distance, but I’ve got longer limbs and I believe I’m just as fast,” said the 6’4” MMA champion.

UFC 140: Jones vs Machida Preview Video

Jones said he will use his versatility and wrestling abilities against Machida, who is known for his ability to evade strikes.

“I have tons of confidence and faith on my wrestling abilities against Lyoto… I have tons of versatility in my take downs from the clinch,” said Jones.

Jones is coming off a successful title defense against Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, whom he defeated by submission in UFC 135.

Machida, on the other hand, beat MMA legend Randy Couture to retirement via knockout in UFC 129.

“I will defeat Machida,” said Jones. “That’s my destiny: to be UFC champion for many years.”

source: abs-cbnnews.com

An ESPN mixed martial arts (MMA) analyst believes Filipino fighter Mark Muñoz can potentially prevent the much awaited rematch between Chael Sonnen and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight king Anderson Silva from happening.

Muñoz will face Sonnen at UFC on FOX 2, with the winner getting a shot at Silva’s championship.

Sonnen has already challenged Silva once, at UFC 117, and was able to give the dominant champion his toughest challenge yet. Silva pulled out the win, however, submitting Sonnen with a triangle choke late in the fifth round.

Fight fans have long been waiting for a rematch between Silva and Sonnen, but ESPN analyst Chuck Mindenhall says Muñoz is at the unique position of preventing that fight from happening. [http://espn.go.com/blog/mma/post/_/id/6788/munoz-in-colossal-spoiler-role]

“Muñoz is in the very unique spot to thwart perhaps the biggest rematch in the history of the UFC,” Mindenhall said.

Mindenhall says Muñoz can give Sonnen a very strong challenge inside the Octagon. Although both are wrestlers, Muñoz has a one-punch knockout power in his right hand that can end a fight quickly.

“This is not a stay-busy fight so much as a trap fight, with so much more than a title shot hanging in the balance,” Mindenhall said.

Muñoz, nicknamed “The Filipino Wrecking Machine,” has won his last four fights, including a technical knockout win over Chris Leben at UFC 138. Meanwhile Sonnen was impressive in his ring return at UFC 136, submitting Brian Stann is the second round.

Muñoz responded to Mindenhall’s article in his Twitter account, saying that he “would love the chance to rewrite history.”

source: Abac Cordero | philstar.com

Philippine Sports Commission chairman Richie Garcia yesterday said he sees no problem with the immediate release of the cash incentives for all Filipino medal winners in the recent Southeast Asian Games.

The problem, the PSC chief said, is with the incentives for the winning coaches.

Garcia said he has instructed his office to finish the computation yesterday so he can coordinate with Malacañang or Pagcor regarding the release of the P12 million cash incentives for athletes.

“With the athletes’ money we will have no problem. But with the coaches, we still need to certify,” said Garcia.

Based on policy, each athlete has to declare or certify the name of his or her coach heading to an international competition. But for this SEA Games, there were athletes who did not follow the procedure.

“And now we have a gold medalist and yet there are two or three who are claiming to be the coach, and the right for the incentive. This delays the procedure,” Garcia said.

The Philippines won 36 gold, 56 silver and 77 bronze medals to finish sixth overall among 11 countries in the SEA Games.

Under Republic Act 9064, also known as the Incentives Act, a gold in the SEA Games is worth P100,000, a silver P50,000 and a bronze P10,000. Coaches are entitled to a certain percent of what the athletes get.

For the coaches, Garcia said the total incentives amount to P4.1 million.

Garcia said once the money is released, they could release the incentives to coaches who have been certified by their athletes, and the PSC will put the questionable ones on hold.

Garcia said the incentives should be distributed among the athletes before they go on a break for the Christmas holidays, and that if President Aquino would have time, the distribution will be held in Malacañang.

source: abs-cbnnews.com

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) superstar BJ Penn said he might put up a mixed martial arts (MMA) gym in Manila someday.

Penn, known to MMA fans as “The Prodigy,” said setting up an MMA gym can help further popularize the sport in the Philippines.

“We have a UFC gym ‘BJ Penn’ in Hawaii so why not a ‘UFC BJ Penn’ in Manila? Makes sense,” he told ANC’s Boyet Sison in an interview.

Penn is currently in a hiatus from professional fighting after suffering a loss to Nick Diaz in UFC 137.

He visited Manila to promote MMA.

Penn said the Philippines reminds him of his home country.

“Weather’s just like Hawaii, just like home,” he said.

source: Dennis Gasgonia | abs-cbnnews.com

It was already 4 p.m. and there was still no sign of BJ Penn. The crowd at the Mall of Asia Music Hall appeared restless while waiting for their mixed martial arts (MMA) hero to emerge from the backstage.

They wanted to see the legend. They wanted to see “The Prodigy.”

Legendary status

Penn is just one of two fighters in the world to win two MMA titles in two weight classes.

He first caught the attention of fight fans in 2001 when he knocked out Caol Uno in just 11 seconds in Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 34.

In 2004, Penn won his first UFC title after beating Matt Hughes with a rear-naked choke to become the welterweight champion.

Three years later, he became the UFC lightweight champion by defeating Joe Stevenson in a bloody beat down in UFC 80.

What made him a legend in the MMA circle was his willingness to take on anyone regardless of weight class.

Penn, who is a natural MMA welterweight, fought as high as heavyweight when he competed but lost to Lyoto Machida in 2005.

‘Great time in PH’

At 4:55 p.m., Game Day host Boom Gonzalez and disc jokey Mia Bayuga climbed on stage and held two games to entertain the crowd.

The organizers, meanwhile, were preparing some towels and Penn’s training stuff in the ring.

At 5 p.m., the 5’9” Penn emerged from backstage and waved to the crowd.

On his way to the ring, he slapped hands with fans and then greeted them.

“I’m having a great time in the Philippines… great time, having fun,” he said to the delight of MMA fans.

Penn did an MMA exhibition with his elder brother, JD.

Before the exhibition, he threw free UFC freebies to the spectators.

Superior stand up, ground skills

Penn wowed the crowd with his outstanding stand-up and ground fighting skills that made him one of the toughest MMA fighters in UFC.

He actually sparred not only with his brother, but also with 3 other training partners.

He showed his stand-up attack and how he slams his opponents to the ground. He even caught his brother in a triangle choke.

Although it was just light sparring, the take downs were real. The crowd actually heard BJ’s partners being slammed down the canvass.

He also showed how why he became a black belter in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

Penn demonstrated that he can still gain the upper hand even while his opponent is on top of him.

He demonstrated the rear-naked choke, the arm bar, and the ground and pound. He also demonstrated superior balance despite being caught in a single-leg take down.

By the time he finished with his last training partner, Penn was already soaking in sweat.

“I wanna thank all the fans, thank you guys for accepting and loving the sport,” said Penn.

Fans

Local MMA followers were thrilled to see their idol in the flesh.

Rowell Domingo and his wife, Candice, didn’t mind the long wait just to be able to see their MMA hero up close.

“BJ Penn is a legend talaga, everyone wants Prodigy… he works himself up talaga, laban talaga,” said Rowell.

“Actually mas more of a fan pa nga ako kesa sa husband ko,” said Candice. “Ever since, ‘yung mga first fights n’ya, I’ve been watching him.”

Henry Ebarle, a jiu-jitsu practitioner, considers Penn a pillar of MMA.

“Isa na sa mga haligi yan eh, sobrang galing niya at isa lang sya sa 2 taong nanalo ng title in 2 weight divisions. So masasabi ko talagang isa siya sa pinakamagagaling na MMA fighter na hindi na makakalimutan kahit kelan,” he said.

They also hope Penn would reconsider his decision to retire from MMA.

Penn hung up his gloves after losing to Nick Diaz in UFC 137 last October 29.

“Sa akin, feeling ko madami pang ipapakita yan… kaya pa n’ya, p’wede pa,” said Ebarle.

“I don’t think he needs to retire,” said Bong Tamayo. “Kelangan lang sigurong i-improve ‘yung concentration n’ya, ‘yung cardio nya. He has nothing to prove, pero can still fight para maganda ang retirement n’ya kung sakali.”

First Pinoy champ in UFC

After the MMA exhibition, Penn went down the ring to sign autographs.

He may be a brutal MMA fighter inside the Octagon, but to fans, he has a heart of gold.

For Penn, the fans are king.

Penn said he was astonished with the turnout of fans in the MMA exhibition.

“It’s amazing how MMA got popular here,” he said.

Penn believes that because of Filipinos’ love for MMA, there’s no doubt that there will be a Filipino UFC champion soon.

“I say it again just I said in past interviews, and I say it again right here, it ain’t gonna be too long for a Filipino world champion in UFC.”

by Dennis Gasgonia | abs-cbnnews.com

source: Mark Giongco | inquirer.net

From strikes to submissions, UFC legend BJ Penn gave frenzied MMA fans a glimpse of his techniques Wednesday during an open workout at the SM Mall of Asia Music Hall in Pasay.

Penn, only the second fighter to win two championship belts in as many divisions, had quite a workout as he enthralled the crowd with his versatility.

A Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu specialist, Penn showed a several tricks up his sleeve with his single and double-leg takedowns and maneuvers while defending on his back.

The crowd packed up to the second floor, weren’t the only ones in astonishment as the former Lightweight and Welterweight champion was as amazed by the huge turnout.

“I wanna thank the fans for coming out and for the support and for loving the sport,” said the 32-year-old Penn, who lost to Nick Diaz via unanimous decision in his last fight at UFC 137.

After sweating it out with his team, Penn circled around the venue and gamely posed for pictures and signed autographs as the fans cheered his name.

Penn profusely thanked his Filipino fans and left them with something to rave more about.

“It won’t be too long until there’s a Filipino world champion in the UFC,” said Penn, dubbed as The Prodigy.

Hall-of-Famer Randy Couture was the first fighter to hold two UFC world titles in two different divisions.

source: Joey Villar | philstar.com

With the emergence of Mark “The Filipino Wrecking Machine” Munoz, the ambitious bid of holding an Ultimate Fighting Championship card here in the Philippines is being revived by the UFC and television giant ABS-CBN following failed attempts in the past.

“There’s a chance the UFC will hold fights in the Philippines. The UFC is working it out with ABS-CBN and Balls, maybe next year,” said Kevin Chang, UFC-Asia’s senior director for media, at a press conference that was highlighted by the appearance of former two-division champion BJ Penn in Quezon City today.

Chang is here along with Penn, a two-division UFC champion (lightweight and welterweight), for a promotional tour set at 4 p.m. tomorrow at the Music Hall of Mall of Asia.

The UFC has already invaded Asia, with the world’s premier mixed martial arts organization holding UFC 144 in Saitama, Japan – the first time such a card was staged in the region.

And if plans push through, the UFC could put Munoz, who is reportedly fighting top middleweight contender Chael Sonnen next year, in the prospective fight card here along with recent Manila visitor Brandon “The Truth” Vera.

The UFC has actually been thinking of holding bouts in the Phl as early as three years ago since top honcho Lorenzo Fertitta himself flew to the country to show their seriousness in making it happen.

While the plan didn’t push through because of the global economic crisis then, the UFC kept treating Filipino fans by sending to the country popular fighters, including Vera, retired legend Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell, reigning welterweight titlist George St. Pierre or GSP and now Penn.

And Penn, now on his second visit since coaching a pair of students in an international MMA fight held in the country eight years ago, is enjoying every minute of his short but meaningful stay in the country.

“I never got to go outside too much but it’s the same temperature and vibes here just like in Hawaii,” said Penn, who signed autographs, took photo opportunities for fans and granted interviews with several media outlets.