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ESPN MMA Live: Anderson Silva Retirement Talk; Fedor NYE Or Affliction? DREAM.6 Recap
September 25th, 2008
Ryan Hockensmith of ESPN.com believes that Anderson Silva is using the retirement talk as leverage to land bigger pay days in the future.
As I said on MMA Live, I don’t expect him to quit any time soon. Shelf lives are short in MMA. Silva’s on an amazing run (7-0 in the UFC, including a 61-second knockout win), but he needs some big paydays. He’s 33 years old. He’s spent the past eight years in non-stop training and weight-cutting mode (Silva is one of the biggest 185-pounders to ever walk into the Octagon). Now he’s hit it big time as one of the UFC’s top pay-per-view draws. He’s looking to make some money for when he does retire. Can’t blame him for that, and can’t blame him for leveraging the situation a little by dangling the idea of walking away. For his fight at 205 pounds on July 19, Silva earned $200,000. No doubt he’d like to up that amount for the future.
It’s an interesting theory, and certainly one that makes sense. Whatever the reason is, I seriously doubt we’ll see Anderson retire in the next two years.
More From Cro Cop; Alistair’s Camp Doesn’t Think Rematch Is ‘Appropriate’
September 25th, 2008
Cro Cop looks awfully chipper in that video considering how everything went down. Maybe his ball finally dropped. Anyways, the whole video is Croatian, however this article has the gist of what he said, and once again, Betwwx.com was kind enough to translate it for us.
“I’m disappointed with the outcome of the fight, I was immaculately prepared for this fight, but things happen. The third strike to my balls was very strong, but thats part of the sport and the job.”
Cro Cop Expects Overeem Rematch On NYE, But Will DREAM Still Be Around? (Update)
September 24th, 2008
More DREAM.6 photos at MMAWeekly.com
As we reported yesterday, Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ wants a rematch with Alistair Overeem following the devastating knees that allegedly retracted Cro Cop’s right testicle into his body. Speculation quickly pointed to New Year’s Eve as the date for the potential rematch, and according to Cro Cop, that looks to be the case.
Cro Cop made the comments in another Croatian article that was translated by the fine folks at betwwx.com.
Cro Cop Says He Wanted To Continue, Overeem Says He Was Faking
September 23rd, 2008
DREAM.6 was supposed to end the beef between Alistair Overeem and Mirko ‘Cro Cop.’ But, as you probably already know, it didn’t when the bout was ruled a no contest due to the knee shots Cro Cop took to the groin. Instead, it appears the animosity between the two has only risen further.
According to this Croatian report, Cro Cop claims he actually wanted to continue. Translation via Bloody Elbow.
Fedor Fighting In Japan On NYE? Reason For Uncertain Affliction Date? (Update - Atencio Comments)
September 23rd, 2008
More Fedor photos at M1MixFight.com
With numerous MMA sites reporting that Affliction’s second event has been rescheduled for January 17, and multiple Affliction officials stating Fedor Emelianenko has been confirmed to compete on it, everyone pretty much assumed that Fedor would be skipping his traditional New Year’s Eve fight in Japan this year. However, as we previously reported, Tom Atencio stated late last week that the date for “Day of Reckoning” has not been finalized, and will take place sometime in the first quarter of 2009.
1 CommentDREAM.6 Results & Wrap-Up
September 23rd, 2008
DREAM.6 took place earlier today at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.
It was the finals of the DREAM middleweight grand prix. Four fighters—Gegard Mousasi, Melvin Manhoef, Zelg Galesic, and Ronaldo Jacare—battled it out in the semi-finals with the winners coming back at the end of the show to fight for the grand prix championship.
Mirko Cro Cop was back in action for the second time this year. He didn’t get a softball this time around though. Instead, he looked to end months of trash talking from the always dangerous Alistair Overeem.
Shinya Aoki, Hayato ‘Mach’ Sakurai, Yoshihiro Akiyama, and Sergei Kharitonov were also in action.
If you haven’t seen the fights yet, and want to before spoiling yourself with the results, you can check them out here.
Results and wrap-up after the jump.
DREAM.6 Weigh-In Results
September 22nd, 2008
More DREAM.6 photos at MMAWeekly.com
The DREAM.6 weigh-ins took place earlier today at the East 21 Hotel in Tokyo, Japan.
All fighters made weight.
The weigh-in results (in pounds) via MMAJunkie.com:
- Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic (225.9) vs. Alistair Overeem (241.8)
- Shinya Aoki (153.8) vs. Todd Moore (153.6)
- Yoshihiro Akiyama (184.8) vs. Masanori Tonooka (184.1)
- Kuniyoshi Hironaka (167) vs. Hayato “Mach” Sakurai (167.2)
- Masakatsu Funaki (198) vs. Ikuhisa Minowa (193.4)
- Hideo Tokoro (138.4) vs. Atsushi Yamamoto (138.2)
- Jimmy Ambriz (290.4) vs. Sergei Kharitonov (253)
- Adriano Martins (154) vs. Keita Nakamura (154)
- Zelg Galesic (184.6) vs. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (184.4)
- Melvin Manhoef (184.8) vs. Gegard Mousasi (184.6)
- Andrews Nakahara (183.7) vs. Yoon Dong Sik (184.8)
DREAM.6 will take place tomorrow, Sept. 23, at 3AM ET at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. The event will air live on HDNet.
DREAM.6 Promo: Shattered Dreams
September 22nd, 2008
I’ve been waiting for hiostaja to come out with a DREAM.6 promo ever since his sick DREAM.5 promo hit the net earlier this summer. And trust me, he doesn’t disappoint. If this doesn’t get you fired up about tonight’s event, I don’t know what will. Someone seriously needs to hire this guy.
The full DREAM.6 fight card and event info can be found in our fight cards section.
Thanks to Fightlinker.com for the find!
No Comments | Filed under: DREAM.6Cro Cop Wants DREAM Heavyweight Title On New Year’s Eve
September 21st, 2008
Before Cro Cop gets a shot at the title he has to pass his toughest test in over a year when he faces Alistair Overeem this Tuesday, Sept. 23, at DREAM.6.
[UPDATE 9/22/08 9:29AM ET] - Apparently at yesterday’s DREAM.6 pre-fight press conference, upon learning that ‘Mighty Mo’ had withdrawn from his fight with Sergei Kharitonov, Cro Cop, not short on confidence, decided why wait till New Year’s Eve to take out Kharitonov too.
“Well I’ve just heard that Mighty Mo is not going to fight since he is injured,” said a serious Filipovic. “We are all professional fighters. I’m ready to jump in, in his place. If Dream agrees, I’m ready to fight two fights tomorrow. It doesn’t mean that I underestimate Alistair, I would like to fight him first –- the fourth fight against him and the eleventh fight against Sergei. Sergei definitely trained hard for this and I’m sure he doesn’t want to go home without a fight.”
Then like a scene out of Bloodsport (at least that’s how I like to envision it), Overeem replied with this.
“I think after I fight Mirko, he will never fight again,” said Overeem before throwing down the microphone.
Cro Cop’s not going to get his wish though. Jimmy Ambriz has been named as the late replacement for ‘Mighty Mo.’
