Just three days away from UFC 144 in Japan and the interviews and trash talk have just about reached their peaks. Let’s review some of the news worth mentioning from today.
Ariel Helwani of MMAFighting.com spoke with UFC president Dana White in his first interview since landing in Japan at 6 a.m. this morning. White discussed how amazing and beautiful the country is, the battle and work that was put in to get the show back to Japan, and how the growth of the UFC will be a gradual climb from this point forward in this weekend’s hosting country of Japan. White also touched on how MC Hammer helped get Nate Marquardt back into the ZUFFA scene and also revisited his current beef with boxing great Floyd Mayweather, stating that Mayweather is only destroying his sport while White is helping his grow.
Ariel Helwani also released a video via MMAFighting.com in which he spends 45 minutes (at least on camera) with UFC 144’s Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. The two talk fights, Jackson’s past in Japan, and everything else that Jackson decides to ramble on about. This is a must see for any true Rampage fan or any fan that wants to walk the streets of Tokyo with the always hilarious Rampage and Ariel.
More big news regarding May’s UFC 146 event hit the airwaves today. We found out late last night that three new fights have been added to the card, including the official UFC debut of TUF14 winner, Diego Brandao. The additions include Del Rosario vs. Gonzaga, Brandao vs. Elkins, and Kingsbury vs. Teixeira. These are all very solid additions to an already stacked fight card. Del Rosario and Teixeira will both be making their octagon debuts with very high expectations following them into the cage. Keep your eyes on these fights, folks.
Many videos were released today revolving around training and interviews with this weekend’s fighters. Of the videos we saw a segment of Frankie Edgar’s training with Muay Thai coach, Phil Nurse and another of his challenger, Benson Henderson, talking about his rise to the top, owning his own gym, and what’s still to come for him in the future. Look forward to saying bye-bye to Lin-sanity and saying hello to “Ben-sanity!” Those were his Benson’s words, not mine…but I do kind of like it.
Joe Lauzon released a very cool video blog of his travels and time in Japan. It’s well edited and gives fans an inside look at what it’s like for the fighters to make the trip, adjust, enjoy, and then fight in another country. The video can be viewed at BJPenn.com
The stare down photos and the video from yesterday’s UFC 144 press conference we’re released today as well. All the fighters seem very well prepared, healthy, and focused. Plus the atmosphere seems electric in Japan. This is truly building itself into an epic fight card for the UFC and MMA as a whole.
And in other news we heard that Demetrious Johnson broke word that he signed a clause in his recent UFC flyweight championship tournament contract that there will be a “sudden death” round if needed. This means that if the fight goes all three regulation rounds and the judges rule it a “draw” or can’t decide on winner then the fight will go one more “winner takes all” round. One for the money, baby! This is something we’ve never seen as UFC fans. What makes this a little odd is that an even number of rounds can win the fight for a contestant. This is the first time we’re hearing anything about this, so I’m sure this will be something that is thoroughly discussed by fans and media members in the coming days.
And then in other news the verbal war between Miesha Tate and Ronda Rousey continued, Vitor Belfort made the latest cover of GQ Brazil (congrats Vitor), and Jake Shields commented on his UFC 144 opponent, Yoshihiro Akiyama, and his previous “cheating” ways.
That just about sums up today in MMA. for more in depth MMA news and coverage be sure to visit BJPenn.com or follow me on Twitter @jchastain45
Until tomorrow, stay classy, fight fans.
-Jake Chastain
@jchastain45
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