More changes to UFC 133: Nogueira-Franklin scratched

The UFC's second trip to Philadelphia took another hit over the weekend as Antonio Rogerio Nogueira's shoulder injury forced him to pull off the card. After the UFC already went to the light heavyweight well to find a replacement to fight Rashad Evans in the main event, they were unable to find someone to fight Rich Franklin on such short notice. He was pulled off the card, and Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Vitor Belfort was promoted to the co-main event.

In the space of a week, UFC 133 lost three fighters from the top of the card. The main and co-main events were supposed to settle many questions about the future of the light heavyweight division, but without Phil Davis, Franklin or Nogueira, it will no longer do that.

But the card is far from a dud. It does feature Belfort's first fight since he was kicked in the face by Anderson Silva. The rest of the main card has Jorge Rivera vs. Alessio Sakara, Rory MacDonald vs. Mike Pyle, Brian Ebersole vs. Dennis Hallman, with Alexander Gustafsson vs. Matt Hamill and Chad Mendes vs. Rani Yahya airing on Spike. Is that enough to make you order the pay-per-view or head to a bar to catch the fights?

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/More-changes-to-UFC-133-Nogueira-Franklin-scrat?urn=mma-wp4750

Faith Garnes Federico Perza

Fertitta interview Part 2: Expanding the schedule and big television deal on the horizon

This is a huge year for the UFC. Unlike 2004 and 2005, when the promotion was basically begging television executives to work with its product, the UFC's in a position of strength.

Back then, the UFC would run events every few months. The schedule has expanded to the point where its approaching 30 events each year. Another five years from now, there may only may only be a few weeks a year without an event.

"I could definitely see potentially a fight a week. There's only so much we can push on the pay-per-view side of it. there's only so many big fights we can ask the public to pay for, " UFC president Lorenzo Fertitta told ESPNRadio1100's "The MMA Insiders" show. "But if you're getting it on free TV, I don't see why people wouldn't want to watch."

If the UFC has that many fight cards, it'll be looking for more outlets. or control of its own network.

"The reality is as the sport continues to grow, not just here in North America, but around the globe ... there's going to need to be dates to cultivate that talent as well," said Fertitta.

Fertitta joined Kevin Iole and myself on ESPNRadio1100 on Friday. In Part one of the interview, Fertitta was critical of the Culinary Union for blocking MMA's legalization in New York.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Fertitta-interview-Part-2-Expanding-the-schedul?urn=mma-wp4762

Cesar Trembinski Caitlin Sendejo

Rosholt moves one step closer to UFC return with win over Horwich

It's never easy against Matt Horwich, but if you fight smart and stay out his guard, you can get a win. Jake Rosholt didn't thrill the crowd in Frisco, Tx., but he stuck to his gameplan and took out the veteran to improve to 5-1 away from UFC in the main event of Shark Fights 17.

Rosholt (12-3, 1 NC) got a unanimous decision victory, 30-27 on all cards. He mixed takedowns with some solid body work on the feet. The former three-time NCAA Div. 1 national champion wrestler at Oklahoma State scored five takedowns in all, but never went to the ground with Horwich, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt fighting under Eddie Bravo.

"I'm just glad to get out here and get a win against him. It was a scrap. I knew it would be 15 minutes of scrapping," Rosholt told HDNet's Ron Kruck. "I was going to land some strikes, land some to his body and wear him out a little bit. I don't see very many people end Matt Horwich .

Following a loss against Kendall Grove at UFC 106, Rosholt was dropped by the UFC. He's only been a pro in MMA since July of 2007. He entered the WEC as a green fighter and got just one fight with Zuffa's smaller promotion before it phased out the middleweight division. Rosholt was probably thrown to the wolves a little too early in UFC. He went 1-2 with a win over Chris Leben and losses to Grove and Dan Miller. Clearly, his goal is to get back to the UFC.

"I just want to keep fighting and keep getting better all the time. Sooner or later I'll get there. That's where I deserve to be. That's where the best fighters are. That's where I want to fight," said Rosholt.

The takedowns always score with the judges and Horwich stayed on his back too long. On the feet, Horwich's charging flurries confused Rosholt a bit in the first, but it was the wrestler who did more damage in the long run. In the final round, he tried an unorthodox flying knee that missed, but followed it up with a left hook that opened a cut over Horwich's right eye. Horwich also had significant swelling under the eye by the end of the fight.

Former UFC heavyweight champion Ricco Rodriguez was also on the card. He ran through a very overmatched Doug Williams and won via rear-naked choke at 2:16 of the first round. Williams (5-13-1) was a late replacement after a wacky weigh-in day where Rodriguez's original opponent missed the catchweight by 23 pounds. This is a career rebirth for Rodriguez (47-11), who's fighting back from a well-publicized battle against drug addiction. The UFC champ back in 2002 ballooned to 300-plus pounds. Last night, he was 227 pounds and still looks like he should eventually fight down at 205 with some more conditioning work. Rodriguez's previous two fights were at a 215-pound catchweight.

The most dramatic moment of the night came when Alan Jouban crushed and finished Andrew Goldthwaite with a left hook (3:25 mark).

Video tip via Bloody Elbow's Mike Fagan

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Rosholt-moves-one-step-closer-to-UFC-return-with?urn=mma-wp4733

Andera Sill Terence Gesualdo

Professor Paddle Ball 2011 Videos

The 2011�Professor Paddle Ball took place over Memorial Day weekend outside of Leavenworth, Washington, one of my favorite places.� The Ball is�a once-a-year gathering of the Northwest kayaking community organized by ProfessorPaddle.com founder James Amandus and a crew of volunteers, including Adam Ales, maker of the awesome Big Air Ramp over the past few years.� [...]

Source: http://www.ireneskayakingblog.com/events/professor-paddle-ball-2011-videos/

Ying Bobowiec Wilfredo Carriedo

Coker video: Is Overeem ever fighting again for Strikeforce?

This is a bizarre position for Scott Coker. The Strikeforce CEO is technically under the umbrella of Zuffa. In a recent interview with SI.com, Dana White swore up and down that he has absolutely no hand in decisions with Strikeforce. Yet when you watch or listen to Coker talking about the future of his fighters and future cards, there seems to be a hesitance about answering questions. That could be the nature of the business or he simply can't promise anything because its out of his hands.

Coker did a 12-minute interview with AOL.com and had some interesting takes on what comes down the road for Dan Henderson and Fedor Emelianenko. A small part of the convo revolved around Alistair Overeem and his future with Strikeforce.

"I mean that's something we're going to sit down with his manager Bas [Boon] and have a conversation about," said Coker (8:00 mark).

That's not a yes or a no, but it seemed pretty curt. White recently said Overeem is definitely sticking around so it was odd for Coker to ride the fence on the question.

Coker also explained that Overeem sort of forced the bold move in the Strikeforce heavyweight Grand Prix. When the Strikeforce heavyweight champ and tourney favorite said he was out for a fight on Sept. 10, Strikeforce had no choice but to replace him.

"We've been very good to Alistair. We've been very patient. It just didn't work out," Coker said. "If we could've took this fight to October or November we definitely would've done it."

Coker said between the busy UFC schedule, Showtime's boxing slate, the Floyd Mayweather fight in November and MLB's World Series, there weren't many dates that made sense.

On other matters, Coker said Fedor vs. Hendo is not a make or break fight for either fighter's future with Strikeforce. Even with a Henderson loss, he definitely wants to keep Henderson around. He's jazzed about Marloes Coenen vs. Miesha Tate being the first female title fight under the Zuffa banner. Coenen was a no-show at the Thursday press conference. Coker joked that he had no idea what happened calling it a "makeup issue or breakfast issue or wardrobe malfunction."

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Coker-video-Is-Overeem-ever-fighting-again-for-?urn=mma-wp5140

Buddy Antonellis Kristie Bacher

Don?t bring Jon Jones a fake belt to sign

Jon Jones' ascent to the top of the UFC's light heavyweight division has been fast, but also filled with plenty of hard work and growth as a fighter. It has been far from easy. He's proud of that belt and even keeps it wrapped in a special case when not carrying it with him.

So you can understand why he's not wild about the fact that someone can go to Toys 'r' Us and buy a similar belt for $12.99.

I hate it when people come up to me with a belt that looks exactly like mine and they ask me to sign it. I worked three times a day for three years to get this belt, and now this guy asking me for an autograph has one just like it. Are you serious? I mean it's not as heavy, but it looks just the same.

Fair enough, Jon. He has grown close to that belt, and doesn't want to see the fakes out there. He will have to put it on the line on Sept. 24 against Quinton "Rampage" Jackson.

Thanks to With Leather. Read the whole interview to hear what Jones will sign and Urijah Faber's thoughts on how to improve MMA.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Don-8217-t-bring-Jon-Jones-a-fake-belt-to-sign?urn=mma-wp4690

Deandre Bossardet Charise Bisceglia

Jewel of the Sierra

The North Fork of the Stanislaus whitewater rafting season is usually over by now.  But this year, with a mind-boggling snow pack in the Sierra and unusually cool spring temps, I recently found out there’s still time to get in on the action.  “It’s never been like this,” said James Rodger, California Regional Manager at [...]

Source: http://whitewaterraftingblog.oars.com/post/jewel-of-the-sierras

Remedios Bergseng Felipe Illig