Dana White Signed Cain Velasquez Without Ever Having Seen Him Fight

(What, me worry?)

Having signed with the promotion with only two MMA bouts under his belt, it’s clear that Cain Velasquez’s route to the UFC wasn’t as arduous as the paths most fighters take to make it to the big show, but considering he is still undefeated in the Octagon and is set to fight for their heavyweight title, it’s obvious that Zuffa’s gamble paid off.

In a recent interview with GracieMag, Velasquez, who will take on UFC heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar at UFC 121 October 23 in Anaheim, Calif.  says that his "tryout" for the UFC wasn’t much more than an impromptu training session in Vegas set up by his manager, Bob Cook, who called Dana White and asked him to check out his star pupil.

According to Velasqez, the UFC president was so impressed with what he saw, he signed him without watching a single one of his fights.

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Mark Hunt is Really Taking His UFC Opportunity Seriously

 
(Who the hell is this guy? I thought you said Mark Hunt was coming here.)

Former PRIDE and K-1 star Mark Hunt is taking his last kick at the can of his mixed martial arts career seriously as evidenced by the photo above. Not only has he transformed his body from its rotund former self, he has also joined American Top Team, where he will spend the last month of his training camp preparing for his September 25 UFC debut opposite former fellow super heavyweight, Sean McCorkle at UFC 119 in Indianapolis.

Hunt’s critics have always pointed to his lack of conditioning and the fact that he didn’t train with a top-tier team in his native New Zealand as the reasons why he never got past his role as gatekeeper in PRIDE. Even fights that Hunt was winning, he always seemed to find a way to lose, usually as a result of his lack of cardio or his lack of a ground game.

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Source: Cage Potato - MMA News, Knockout Videos, and the Hottest Ring Girls

Mark Hunt is Really Taking His UFC Opportunity Seriously

 
(Who the hell is this guy? I thought you said Mark Hunt was coming here.)

Former PRIDE and K-1 star Mark Hunt is taking his last kick at the can of his mixed martial arts career seriously as evidenced by the photo above. Not only has he transformed his body from its rotund former self, he has also joined American Top Team, where he will spend the last month of his training camp preparing for his September 25 UFC debut opposite former fellow super heavyweight, Sean McCorkle at UFC 119 in Indianapolis.

Hunt’s critics have always pointed to his lack of conditioning and the fact that he didn’t train with a top-tier team in his native New Zealand as the reasons why he never got past his role as gatekeeper in PRIDE. Even fights that Hunt was winning, he always seemed to find a way to lose, usually as a result of his lack of cardio or his lack of a ground game.

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Source: Cage Potato - MMA News, Knockout Videos, and the Hottest Ring Girls

Mirko’s Memorable Moments
KO 1 Igor Vovchanchyn – PRIDE Total Elimination 2003 – August 10, 2003
“Right leg hospital, left leg cemetery.” Maybe the greatest, and certainly the most intimidating, quote in mixed martial arts history, and it definitely applies to the fighting style of Cro Cop, who used his signature left head kick to blast out the vastly underrated Vovchanchyn out in the first round. It was Cro Cop’s sixth MMA win against no losses and two draws, and coupled with his knockout of Heath Herring two months earlier, it put him right on track for a shot at the PRIDE heavyweight title.

KO 1 Dos Caras Jr. – PRIDE Bushido 1 – October 5, 2003
Before Cro Cop would get that shot at the interim heavyweight belt though, there was a little business to be taken care of, as he helped kick off PRIDE’s Bushido series against pro wrestler Dos Caras Jr. Now mind you, this will never match some of Cro Cop’s big wins over legit competition, but as far as being a guilty pleasure, it doesn’t get any guiltier than this. Looking almost disdainful at the mask-wearing Caras (yes, he wore his pro wrestling mask during the bout), Cro Cop walked down his opponent until he saw an opening, and a single left kick to the head dropped Caras as if he were shot. It took just 46 seconds.

Lsub2 “Minotauro” Nogueira – PRIDE Final Conflict 2003 – November 9, 2003
Unbeaten in nine mixed martial arts bouts, the K-1 kickboxing standout finally got his first shot at the belt against Brazilian superstar “Minotauro” Nogueira, and for the first round of their interim title fight, Cro Cop was firing on all cylinders as he inflicted a frightful beating on Nogueira, punctuating the round with a kick to the head that dropped his foe to the canvas. Expected to finish the job in the second stanza, Cro Cop instead got taken to the mat immediately by Nogueira and submitted via armbar. It was a crushing defeat, but the first round did show what Cro Cop could do to a future Hall of Famer.

KO 1 Aleksander Emelianenko – PRIDE Final Conflict 2004 – August 15, 2004
Following the loss to Nogueira, Cro Cop won four of his next five bouts, with the only loss coming via an upset knockout by former UFC heavyweight boss Kevin Randleman (a defeat later avenged). Hoping to put himself in line for another title shot against then-champion Fedor Emelianenko, Cro Cop made his case for a championship fight by fighting the champ’s brother, Aleksander. Only problem was that Emelianenko was perhaps the most physically imposing opponent Cro Cop had met in the PRIDE ring, making him a difficult style matchup. And it was evident in the early going that the Croatian wasn’t going to walk recklessly at Emelianeko, but when he got his shot, he pounced, ripping off straight left hands that would make Manny Pacquiao blush before finishing the bout with – you guessed it – a kick to the head.

KO 1 Wanderlei Silva – PRIDE Final Conflict Absolute – September 10, 2006
After beating Aleksander Emelianenko and sending Josh Barnett, Randleman, Mark Coleman, and Ibragim Magomedov down to defeat, Cro Cop got his shot at the PRIDE belt in August of 2005, but lost a decision to Fedor Emelianenko. Two fights later, he would lose again, this time to Mark Hunt, and some questioned whether he had run his course among the best in the world. But reports of his demise were greatly exaggerated, as he proved in this 2006 Open Weight Grand Prix semifinal matchup against “The Axe Murderer”, who wasn’t only outmatched size wise, but in the striking game. Cro Cop delivered one of his most frighteningly effective performances before lowering the boom 5:22 into the bout.

Wsub1 (strikes) Josh Barnett - PRIDE Final Conflict Absolute – September 10, 2006
There would be no rest for Cro Cop after his win over Silva. In fact, he would fight fellow contender Josh Barnett for the Open Weight Grand Prix crown the same night in Saitama, Japan. But there would be no denying Cro Cop, and after he finished the former UFC heavyweight champ via strikes at the 7:32 mark of the first round, we saw the emotion come rushing to the usually stone-faced Croatian, who had just scored the biggest win of his career.

Wsub3 Pat Barry – UFC 115 – June 12, 2010
Despite three previous wins in the UFC Octagon, there was nothing that brought to mind the fearsome striker that terrorized Japanese rings for much of the previous decade. That changed this June, when Cro Cop survived two knockdowns from equally dangerous striker Pat Barry to roar back, drop Barry with his own strikes and then finish him off with a rear naked choke in the third round. Add in that Cro Cop was more accessible than ever before and after the fight, showing off his sharp sense of humor, and it was as if he finally realized that he’s at his best when he’s enjoying everything in and around the fight. If he does it again this month against Mir, he may be closing in on a UFC title shot.

Source: UFC

Bellator 27 recap: Joe Warren claims belt with stunning knockout win
For the opening five minutes of Thursday’s Bellator 27 main event, the
self-described “baddest man on the planet” looked like anything but.

Then came round two.

After getting tagged throughout the first round with lead left hands and
nasty right uppercuts, Joe Warren uncorked a
powerful barrage of strikes that left former champion Joe Soto unconscious on the floor.

Source: MMAjunkie.com Articles