With Josh Koscheck's AKA relations strained, is Jon Fitch fight finally possible?
LAS VEGAS - UFC 143 winner Josh Koscheck dropped
the first hint of trouble at this past Thursday's pre-fight press
conference, when he talked about the importance of "Team Me."
Following his split-decision win over Mike Pierce at Saturday's event in Las Vegas, Koscheck opened the flood gates.
"I'll be training out of Fresno for now," Koscheck told MMAjunkie.com. "I'm no longer affiliated with some of the people
at the gym that I've been training at."
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UFC 143 results: Disciplined Carlos Condit tops stifled Nick Diaz, wins interim title
LAS VEGAS - Carlos Condit solved one of the most challenging puzzles in MMA.
The former WEC champ implemented a remarkably effective game plan and
won the UFC's interim welterweight title by stifling ever-active but
ultimately frustrated ex-Strikeforce titleholder Nick Diaz, who
suggested he may retire after the loss.
The fight headlined UFC 143 and aired on pay-per-view from Las Vegas' Mandalay Bay Events Center. Prelims aired on FX and streamed on Facebook.
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UFC 143 winner Barao wants title shot; boss says contender becoming Brazilian treasure
LAS VEGAS - The Ultimate Fighting Championship's own media notes on
Brazilian bantamweight Renan Barao sum it up nicely:
"Has best record, on paper, in all of MMA."
On Saturday night, Barao earned his 28th-straight win by downing onetime
title-challenger Scott Jorgensen via unanimous decision.
The 24-year-old is now 5-0 under the Zuffa banner, and while UFC
president Dana White isn't ready to grant him a title shot just yet, he
admits the Nova Uniao product is quickly becoming one of Brazil's most
popular fighters.
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Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen II set for June in Brazil
LAS VEGAS - The rematch is happening.
At Saturday night's UFC 143 post-fight press conference, UFC president
Dana White confirmed that both UFC middleweight champ Anderson Silva and his nemesis Chael Sonnen
have verbally agreed to meet in Brazil on an as-yet-undetermined date
in June.
Silva was in Las Vegas for Saturday's fight card, and White said an agreement was reached during the event.
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UFC 143 draws a reported 10,040 attendance for $2.3 million live gate
LAS VEGAS - Saturday's "UFC 143: Diaz vs. Condit" event drew a reported
10,040 attendees and generated a live gate of $2.3 million.
UFC president Dana White revealed the figures at the evening's post-event press conference, which MMAjunkie.com attended.
Featuring an interim welterweight title contest between former WEC
titleholder Carlos Condit and former Strikeforce champ Nick Diaz, UFC
143 marked the company's first 2012 event in Las Vegas.
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UFC 143 results: Fabricio Werdum tops Roy Nelson in successful UFC return
LAS VEGAS - After three-and-a-year absence from the organization and picking up some major wins in Strikeforce, Fabricio Werdum made a successful return to the UFC.
The Brazilian heavyweight outlasted and even out-struck fellow big man Roy Nelson en route to a unanimous-decision victory.
The fight co-headlined UFC 143 and aired on pay-per-view from Las Vegas' Mandalay Bay Events Center. Prelims aired on FX and streamed on Facebook.
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Dana White, new champ Carlos Condit perfectly content with UFC 143 result
LAS VEGAS - Depending on who you talk to, Carlos Condit's
unanimous-decision win over Nick Diaz in the main event of Saturday
night's UFC 143 event in Las Vegas was either a brilliantly designed and
perfectly executed gameplan or a mockery of mixed martial arts.
While it's obvious, of course, which Condit believes, you can also count
UFC president Dana White among those who thinks the "Natural Born
Killer" did all the right things.
"Carlos Condit won," White said following the evening's post-event press
conference. "He went in there, and he fought a great fight."
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'Matured' Ed Herman thankful for UFC 143 win, career resurgence
LAS VEGAS - In 2007, Ed Herman's UFC future looked bright.
Despite falling short in the finals of "The Ultimate Fighter 3" and then
subsequently losing to Jason MacDonald, Herman then
rattled off three-straight wins, scoring three bonus checks in the
process.
But Herman's career then took a horrible detour, with "Short Fuse" going
1-3 and spending nearly two years out of the cage. Despite being one of
the worst periods in Herman's life, the 31-year-old admits it helped
him value what he has today.
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Terry Martin replaces injured Jeremy Hamilton at Superior Cage Combat 4
Hard-hitting UFC and Strikeforce veteran Terry Martin will step
in on short notice for an injured Jeremy Hamilton and face
middleweight prospect Tim Ruberg at this month's Superior Cage Combat 4
event in Las Vegas.
MMAjunkie.com today confirmed the change, and an official announcement is expected shortly.
Featuring a main event between UFC veterans Kendall Grove and Jay
Silva, "SCC 4: Grove vs. Silva" takes place Feb. 16 at Orleans
Arena in Las Vegas.
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UFC 143 bonuses: Thompson, Poirier, Werdum and Nelson earn $65K awards
LAS VEGAS - Stephen Thompson, Dustin Poirier, Fabricio Werdum and Roy Nelson each earned
$65,000 fight-night bonuses for their performances at Saturday's UFC 143 event.
Thompson earned the night's "Knockout of the Night" award, Poirier
picked up the "Submission of the Night" bonus, and Werdum and Nelson
earned "Fight of the Night" honors.
MMAjunkie.com learned of the bonus winners and award amounts at UFC 143's post-fight press conference.
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UFC boss praises Roy Nelson's durability but unsure what his future holds
LAS VEGAS - On Saturday night in Las Vegas, Roy Nelson did what Roy
Nelson does best: Walk forward, opponent be damned, and wing right
hands.
And while his gutsy performance earned "Big Country" one-half of UFC
143's "Fight of the Night" bonus, the loss leaves Nelson at just 1-3 in
his past four fights.
So despite earning one of the loudest welcomes of the night from the
Mandalay Bay Events Center crowd, is Nelson's spot in the UFC's
heavyweight division secure?
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Will Nick Diaz's retirement stick? Following UFC 143, UFC boss not so sure
LAS VEGAS - UFC president Dana White understands why Nick Diaz is upset, even if he doesn't agree with the fighter's belief that he won Saturday's UFC 143 main event.
He also understands if Diaz goes through with an announced retirement, even if he thinks it'd be financially foolish to do so.
Quite simply, White has given up on trying to predict the 28-year-old's often-erratic behavior.
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The Sunday Junkie: Feb. 5 edition
The MMAjunkie.com e-mailbox could hardly contain the flood of entries that came in this week for The Sunday Junkie.
Nor surprisingly, Carlos Condit's heavily debated victory over Nate Diaz in Saturday's UFC 143 headliner was a popular topic, and readers tackled all aspects of the pay-per-view fight.
This week's winner of our weekly reader-feedback feature, Indiana reader "Gallbladder_Flush," thinks angered Diaz fans need to look at the facts and realize there was, in fact, a clear winner in the title fight.
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