A Heavy Favorite at UFC 160, Cain Velasquez Cautions “This is a Whole New Fight”
By Kelsey Mowatt
Heading into this Saturday’s UFC 160 card in Las Vegas, much of the pre-fight talk has focused on who Cain Velasquez will fight next, rather than if he’ll defeat Antonio “Big Foot” Silva on May 25th. Of course, this is not entirely unexpected, since Velasquez quickly bloodied and stopped Silva at UFC 146 one year ago. Velasquez is also coming off a one sided, unanimous decision win over Junior dos Santos to reassert his position as the sport’s top heavyweight fighter.
If Velasquez is looking past Silva, one certainly couldn’t conclude that based off what he’s been saying heading into his rematch with “Big Foot.” It’s also extremely difficult, if not impossible, to look past the man who sent a shockwave throughout the MMA world in February, by stopping Alistair Overeem.
“This is a whole new fight. Obviously we saw what “Big Foot” can do in his past two fights,” Velasquez noted on a recent media call about Silva, who prior to facing Overeem also stopped Travis Browne. “You can’t take him lightly. He’s a tough competitor; he is really dangerous in the Octagon. I don’t see this as anything less than a hard, grueling fight. That’s what I’m expecting.”
Another reason speculation as to who Velasquez will fight next has been so widespread, is due to the fact that the former champion dos Santos is scheduled to fight Mark Hunt in the co-headliner. Of course, dos Santos is the only man to defeat Velasquez to date, so talk of a rubber match continues to persist. UFC President Dana White has relayed that the winner of the dos Santos-Hunt fight, particularly if it’s the former, will receive a title shot.
“No preference for me at all,” Velasquez responded when asked if he would rather fight dos Santos or Hunt next. “I think the best man will win, but hey, I’m not thinking about that fight at all. I’m thinking about the fight with “Big Foot.”
“This is the position I want to be in,” the 30 year-old Velasquez added later on in the call. “I have to go out there and perform.”
Velasquez cruised to victory over Silva last May by promptly taking the powerful Silva to the mat and punishing him with a vicious ground-and-pound assault. With their previous encounter in mind, it will be interesting to see how Velasquez approaches Silva in the rematch.
“For me, the game plan is to stay in his face but on this one, I have to be ready for everything,” said Velasquez. “Whatever his game plan is, if he comes out more aggressive…I’m looking for different stuff out there, but I’m looking, as far as my game plan to be the same.”
“Obviously there may be a different game plan from “Big Foot”; that’s the only thing that’s different in this fight,” the American Kickboxing Academy fighter said while discussing his outlook heading into the rematch. “As far as being hungry, and wanting this win, I’m 100% there.”
UFC 160 will be hosted by the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada and the main card will be available via pay-per-view
UFC 160: Velasquez vs. Bigfoot II Event Card
The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to Las Vegas for this weekends UFC 160: Velasquez vs. Bigfoot II event as heavyweight champ Cain Velasquez defends his title in a rematch with Brazilian Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva.
UFC 160 takes place this Saturday, May 25, 2013 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The event features a twelve bout card with five matches on pay-per-view, while the prelim card has four matches on FX and three on Facebook.
The rest of the main card has former heavyweight champ Junior dos Santos taking on Mark Hunt, while light heavyweights Glover Teixeira and James Te-Huna square off, while lightweight matches have Gray Maynard taking on TJ Grant and Donald Cerrone meets KJ Noons.
Check out the full event card for UFC 160 below:
Main Card (Pay-per-view)
Heavyweight bout: (c) Cain Velasquez vs. Antonio Silva
Heavyweight bout: Junior Dos Santos vs. Mark Hunt
Light Heavyweight bout: Glover Teixeira vs. James Te-Huna
Lightweight bout: Gray Maynard vs. TJ Grant
Lightweight bout: Donald Cerrone vs. KJ Noons
Prelim Card (FX)
Welterweight bout: Mike Pyle vs. Rick Story
Featherweight bout: Dennis Bermudez vs. Max Holloway
Welterweight bout: Colton Smith vs. Robert Whittaker
Lightweight bout: Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Abel Trujillo
PrelimCard (Facebook)
Welterweight bout: Stephen Thompson vs. Nah-Shon Burrell
Bantamweight bout: Brian Bowles vs. George Roop
Featherweight bout: Jeremy Stephens vs. Estevan Payan
Gladiator Challenge Returns To Central Calif May 25Th
By:Daniel "BigTrip" Quintana
Gladiator Challenge makes its way back to the Central Valley Saturday, May 25th at The Twilight Park in Woodlake, Ca. Gladiator Challenge is one of the best regional MMA promotions, that many known fighters have made their way through to get to the big shows. Gladiator Challenge "Showdown" will be headlined with a super fight featuring Valley favorite Kenny Ento taking on Jaime Yager. Visalia's (12-9) Kenny "The Dragon" Ento, a well known name to most mma fans in the Central Valley.Steps back in to the main event spot light but he doesn't let the bright lights get in the way of what's important saying,
"I try not to think too much about the spotlight. I seem to get offered tough fights and every fight matters, so I try to focus on just bettering myself and not losing focus. I enjoy training and it helps relieve some of my others stresses, so I just focus on training hard and put the rest in Gods hands."
Being a former champion under the PFC banner, Ento knows what it takes to get to the top. Although he is coming off a loss, "The Dragon" has been training hard to get back on track. "I have done most of my training over at Vitruvian Fight and Fitness. Horizon Strength and Conditioning has also been a big help."
Ento will be facing (6-4) Jamie Yager from Huntington Beach, Ca. Yager was on Season 11 of The Ultimate Fighter and trains with Kings MMA. Yager is currently on a two fight losing streak but is always a dangerous opponent. "I have seen a couple of his fights on youtube and have met Yager before. He was cool the time I met him. In his fights, he seems really explosive. Heard he used to play football." said Ento about his opponent.
Not looking past this fight, Ento just wants to keep doing what he does best to support his family. Weather it's here on the local scene or else where, Ento just wants to fight saying, "As far as future plans, I just want to keep fighting for as long as I can. Doesn't really matter where. I would love to travel. I just want to fight. I think there is a show up north that has a champion that I am better than. Not calling anyone out, I just want to fight I got babies I want to buy things for." "I would like to thank Downtown Rookie's here in Visalia for all the support they have given me. Visalia MMA Gear for hooking me up, the gyms I go to, and the people who have helped me prepare. Gonna be an awesome show."
In the co main event the Gladiator Challenge welterweight championship will be on the line. Champion (13-12) Jack Montgomery out of Carson City, NVwill defend his title against (19-10) Fernando Gonzales from Manifest, Ca. Both fighters are on a two fight win streak, with Montgomery training out of Lowell Anderson BJJ and Gonzales training out of Next Generation.
Visalia's Elite Team MMA will be showcased, with four of their fighters competing on the card. The Valley's top up and coming bantamweight Cody "The Renegade" Gibson returns to the cage to take on (7-5) Kiko Lopez. Gibson is on a three fight winning streak, last defeating Junior Villanueva in January. Another Valley favorite representing Elite Team MMA, Visalia's (9-6) Darren "DC" Crisp takes on Porterville's (11-14) Tony Llamas. Both fighters will be looking to get back in the win column, after falling short in their last outings to very tough opponents.
Undefeated woman's featherweight (2-0) Marion Reneau out of Visalia will meet (2-0) Tierra Arnold. Reneau has finished both her pro fights in impressive fashion, finishing her bouts by tko and ko. She needed only :10 seconds to stop her last opponent in the first round. Arnold won her last fight by submission in October of last year.
After a successful pro debut Visalia's (1-0) Cameron Ramirez, also representing Elite Team MMA takes on (1-1) Jimmy Marquez
Also on the card:
Team Ochoa'a (4-3) Joey Cabezas out of Lemoore, Ca faces (2-3) Joshua Miranda
(20-18) Anthony "A-Train" Ruiz vs Tulare's (6-18) Rafael Del Real
Hanford's (6-4) Chris BotelhovsFresno's (10-5) John Reedy
Exeter's (1-1) John Wadkins vs (1-0) Cody Orrison
also some Amateur MMA fights.
Tickets available at www.gladiatorchallenge.com, Visalia's MMA Gear, and from most of the fighters on the card.
Fighters used to fear former UFC light heavyweight champion Vitor Belfort for his lightning fast fists. Now, after his second head kick induced knockout in a row, Saturday night’s coming against debuting former Strikeforce middleweight champion Luke Rockhold in the UFC on FX 8 main event at Arena Jaragua in Jaragua do Sul, Brazil, it’s his feet that will have Belfort’s fellow 185-pound contenders enduring plenty of sleepless nights
Main Card
Middleweight bout: Vitor Belfort def. Luke Rockhold via KO (Kick-punches) – R1 @ 2:32
Middleweight bout: Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza def. Chris Camozzi via Technical Submission (Arm-triangle choke) – R1 @ 3:37
Lightweight bout: Rafael dos Anjos def. Evan Dunham via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Middleweight bout: Rafael Natal def. João Zeferino via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Prelim Bouts
Featherweight bout: Nik Lentz def. Hacran Dias via Unanimous Decision (28-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Lightweight bout: Francisco Trinaldo def. Mike Rio via Submission (Arm-triangle choke) – R1 @ 3:08
Lightweight bout: Gleison Tibau def. John Cholish via Submission (Arm-in guillotine) – R2 @ 2:34
Welterweight bout: Paulo Thiago def. Michel Prazeres via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Bantamweight bout: Yuri Alcantara def. Iliarde Santos KO (Punches) – R1 @ 2:31
Light heavyweight bout: Fabio Maldonado def. Roger Hollet via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Prelim Card
Flyweight bout: John Lineker df. Azamat Gashimov via TKO (Punches) – R2 @ 1:07
Flyweight bout: Jussier Formiga def. Chris Cariaso via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Lightweight bout: Lucas Martins def. Jeremy Larsen via KO (Punch) – R3 @ 0:13
