The Day in MMA

So we’re one day away from UFC 144 in Japan. Today’s news, although mostly build-up for tomorrow’s card, was very interesting and informative.

First things first and most importantly, the fighter’s for UFC 144 hit the scales today for the weigh-in. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson failed to make the 206 lbs weight limit and forfeited 20% of his fight purse. Jackson weighed-in at 211. Everyone else made weight, including Yoshihiro Akiyama, who is making his welterweight debut against Jake Shields. You can view the weigh-in ceremony in its entirety at BJPenn.com. Rampage recently released an interview explaining why he missed the weight. Here is what he had to say about the situation:

“I wasn’t going to say anything. I thought I was going to make weight. I got injured in my camp and it kind of hindered me from doing a lot running. I didn’t want to miss this fight, this fight was important to me and I fought so hard to get it so I said forget it I’m just going to man up and still make the fight. I kept training in other ways but I just couldn’t get the road work in, then I healed up and starting get road work in but it was a little bit too late. I started cutting weight but I had a lot of weight to cut. I cut 21 pounds I just couldn’t get the last six. It’s kind of difficult you got to weigh-in earlier and I kind of underestimated the time. I woke up at three o’clock this morning to cut weight. I cut everything I had. I’m not going to say [what the injury is] because I don’t want Ryan Bader to find out and go for it. I’m pretty much healed up right now. I had to cut a lot of weight, I’m not comfortable with saying how much weight I had to cut but it’s the most weight I’ve ever had to cut in my life and when I got off the airplane I knew that I retained a lot of water and I really didn’t eat that much on the airplane, just a few snacks that I brought with me and I was even more surprised that I gained more weight on the airplane. I was like ‘Whoa, what is going on?’, it kind of surprised me. By now I can run so I was running on the treadmill and stuff and I was trying to get it off, I didn’t know I wasn’t going to make weight until a couple of hours ago.”

We’ll see if the sudden drop in a lot of weight or the injury that Rampage claims is healed have any effect on his performance tomorrow night.

On another note, a video interview with Nick Diaz was released today. This kicked up a lot of attention because it is Diaz’s first interview since his fight with Condit and testing positive for marijuana. This video can also be viewed at BJPenn.com

A lightweight bout between Carlo Prater and TJ Grant was announced today as well. The two will meet at UFC on FUEL TV 3 on May 15th. Both men are coming off of big victories so this fight will heavy implications on the near future of their careers.

Brian Stann made the media streamline today by commenting on who he would like to fight next. He explained that he would love to fight Michael Bisping next, mainly because of some comments that Bisping made following Stann’s last fight. Here is a portion of what Stann said: Michael Bisping. I wouldn’t try to anything but walk straight through him with a right hand. Here’s the deal: I don’t know Michael personally, sometimes I think he gets a bum rap and I’ve learned not to judge people off the media and things of that nature. After my last fight he had a few comments about my technique and who I was as a fighter that I thought were a little odd. He called me a ‘white belt’ and said that I was ‘exposed’ so I’d love to see him put his money where his mouth is. We can fight and we can solve that. He may be a great guy, I don’t know, and maybe he is, but I would just like to compete against him since he made those comments.”

MMAJunkie.com today broke news that the UFC was targeting its first trip to Canada in 2012 to happen in Calgary, at the 19,000 seat Scotiabank Saddledome. The event is still just a “rumor” but the plan is to make this happen in July for UFC 149. We’ll see if these plans stick.

Bellator today signed DREAM champion and former Strikeforce welterweight title challenger Marius Zaromskis (16-6 MMA, 0-0 BFC) to a multi-fight deal. Zaromskis will likely make his debut in Bellator’s upcoming sixth season, which starts in two short weeks.

We also found out today that two new fights have been scheduled for Bellator's season-six debut. Anthony Gomez (5-1 MMA, 0-0 BFC) will face Travis Wiuff (65-14 MMA, 1-0 BFC) in a light-heavyweight contest and Sean McCorkle (15-2 MMA, 0-0 BFC) will take on Richard White (15-12 MMA, 0-0 BFC) in a super-heavyweight bout.

The UFC on FX 2 weigh-ins were inked in today. The fighters will hit the scales on March 2nd in Sydney, Australia. We also found out that the 11-fight card was finalized today and the prelims will air on Facebook.

And that just about wraps up the final day before UFC 144 take place I Tokyo, Japan. The day mostly revolved around the weigh-ins and the build up for tomorrows stacked card. For more MMA news and interviews, videos, and updates be sure to visit BJPenn.com or follow me on Twitter @jchastain45

Happy Eve of UFC 144, fight fans! See you all tomorrow for post fight discussions!
Cheers!

-Jake Chastain
@jchastain45