UFC

“Our television ratings in Salt Lake City have always been strong, and when we finally found the opportunity to bring a UFC event there with a great card, I was very surprised and disappointed in ticket sales. As a result, for the first time in UFC history, I decided to pull the plug and move this August 1st event to the San Diego  Arena,” said UFC President Dana White.

That’s odd, the heavily populated  doesn’t want to watch violent MMA action on a SUNDAY afternoon???

was the first to report the venue change on Monday afternoon.

The card will be headlined by a pivotal light heavyweight scrap between up-and-coming superstar Jon Jones and MMA journeyman Vladimir Matyushenko. In addition, fast-rising middleweight stud Mark Munoz will be pitted against former top contender Yushin Okami in the night’s co-main event.

Here’s the lineup for the freebie Versus broadcast:

Preliminary Bouts:

Rob Kimmons vs. Steve Steinbeiss

Paul Kelly vs. Jacob Volkmann
James Irvin vs. Igor Pokrajac
Brian Stann vs. Mike Massenzio
DaMarques Johnson vs. Matt Riddle

Main Bouts:

Joe Stevenson vs. Takanori Gomi
Jake Ellenberger vs. John Howard
Mark Munoz vs. Yushin Okami
Vladimir Matyushenko vs. Jon Jones

Article written by: Tom Ngo (5th Round)

A middleweight bout has been added to the upcoming UFC on Versus 2 show in Salt Lake City as former NCAA champion Mark Munoz returns to action to face Japanese fighter Yushin Okami.

The fight was confirmed to MMAWeekly.com on Wednesday by sources close to the bout.

Since dropping to middleweight, Mark Munoz (8-1) has won his last three fights including a 2nd round stoppage over former “Ultimate Fighter” winner Kendall Grove in his last fight at UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi.

The powerful wrestler has displayed some of the most vicious and devastating ground and pound in the sport with his wins over Grove and Ryan Jensen, who he blasted at UFC 108 in January. Now looking to make an even bigger impact in the division, he faces top ten middleweight Yushin Okami.

Okami (24-5) has always been a threat to the top contenders in the middleweight division, but has come up short in his two bids to get into title contention. A unanimous decision loss to Rich Franklin in 2007 kept him away from the championship, and then a defeat at the hands of current top contender Chael Sonnen late last year.

Always known as one of the hardest fighters to match-up with, Okami’s style has been described as suffocating, and he will have to fight a perfect gameplan with a wrestler the caliber of Munoz in this fight.

While the bout has not been officially announced by the UFC, it’s expected that Munoz vs. Okami will make the night’s televised broadcast.

Article written by: Damon Martin (MMA Weekly)

Fans got everything they expected, as Grove used his reach to time and drop Munoz in the 1stRound with a vicious uppercut after the former Oklahoma State Cowboy shot for a takedown.

Although he was thoroughly rocked, Munoz was able to keep his whits about him, even when Grove appeared to have the Filipino submitted on two separate occasions.

Thankfully for the fighter, he found a way to survive the final three-plus minutes of the opening stanza.

“You got to have will to survive in the cage, and that’s what I have. I want to make it to the top and that’s what you need in order to be a champ,” an ecstatic Munoz said after the biggest win of his career.

Munoz appeared to recover from the initial beating he received, as he immediately shot for another takedown to start the 2ndRound. Unfortunately, he was greeted with a knee to the face for his troubles.

The 32-year-old was able to recover and ultimately brought Grove to the canvas. From there, Munoz showed why everyone raves about his vicious ground ‘n pound, by dropping from the top position.

“That’s one of my strong points. I just love it when I’m on top. I just know I got heavy hands on top and I’m a wrestler and that’s where I’m at. I’m on top a lot,” Munoz continued.

It was Munoz’ heart and huge punches that forced Grove to wilt during a humid night in Abu Dhabi. It looks like all the work at paid off for the middleweight up-and-comer.

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Written by:  Tim Ngo (5th Round)

Featured picture courtesy of ESPN

Munoz got caught by a nasty uppercut from Grove and had to battle through two deep submission attempts to survive the first round.

But in the second, Munoz got the fight where he wanted and proceeded to deliver some of the best ground and pound seen in the octagon for a while. A few hammer fists and big shots from the top lead to the referee stopping the fight at the 2:50 mark of the second round.

The win at UFC 112 means that Munoz is undefeated at Middleweight and is now riding a three fight win streak since dropping down from the Light-Heavyweight division.

A member of the famed Black house Team, Munoz is certainly at the right place to continue his improvement and really challenge at the top end of the Middleweight division.

Already a top level wrestler, he shows improved striking every fight and against Grove he once again showed that he has some of the most viscous, heavy ground and pound in the UFC.

With Chael Sonnen showing the way for what top level wrestlers can achieve, maybe the rest of the Middleweight Division will now take notice of “The Filipino Wrecking Machine” and start to fear his ground and pound.

UFC Middleweights have been served notice—do not let Munoz get you to the floor!

Written by:  Greg Parfitt

Click here to read article

He answers the typical questions politely, and on a variety of topics his tone is remarkably calm. His opponent at UFC 112 Kendall Grove?

“I like Kendall. I have a lot of respect for him.”

The team that fills out his latest training camp at his own brand new Reign Training Center?

“I’ve pretty much kept the same guys [as before] but there have been a few additions.”

This is the man in first gear.

But Munoz has a thoughtful and scientific mind. Dig a bit deeper in the right direction, and he animates slightly. Two fights ago, he dropped twenty pounds to fight at 185-pounds. Since then, he’s changed up his strength and conditioning regimen under the guidance of Todd Norman.

“I feel like a beast at 185,” Munoz laughs. “It is all about functional strength. Todd Norman has really chiseled out my body and made me more athletic as far as footwork, speed and agility. It’s almost like cheating when I step into the cage.”

Munoz is smiling now. He doesn’t seem to be bragging, just genuinely excited at what he can do in the Octagon as a result of his work.

Munoz fights next on April 10th on the UFC’s first ever card in Abu Dhabi. He’s currently riding a two-fight win streak and is favored over his Hawaiian opponent.

Makes sense. Grove is a dangerous kickboxer and has excellent Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, but with Munoz’ wrestling pedigree (2001 Division I NCAA national champion), he should be able to control where the fight goes, and his ground striking is brutal.

Grove has been working hard on his wrestling, but “The Filipino Wrecking Machine” is confident that the skill gap there cannot be closed that quickly.

“The thing about wrestling is that it takes years and years to actually get to know a certain type of technique,” Munoz says.

Another thing about wrestling is that its high-level practitioners get used to dealing with unbelievable pressure. Munoz makes no effort to deny that the fight with Grove is crucially important because the winner will take a huge step closer to becoming a bona fide title contender.

But don’t expect the former Oklahoma State wrestler to be overwhelmed. He has all those national and international tournaments to thank for that.

“For me to be able to compete at the top levels of wrestling, it’s like a pressure cooker, man. If you lose one match, that ruins your dreams of becoming a national champion, which everyone dreams to become. There’s so much pressure, especially when I wrestled at Oklahoma State, to win because of the expectations. ‘Oh, you’re an Oklahoma State wrestler, you should win.’ And the Coach expects you to win; if you don’t win he’s going to find someone to take your spot,” Munoz recounts.

Many former top wrestlers simply cannot ever get as nervous for an MMA fight as they did as young wrestlers. Munoz’ Masters degree in sports psychology from the University of California-Davis certainly doesn’t hurt his ability to stay calm and perform well, either.

“I do a lot of psychological exercises in my head; visualizing and positive self-talk,” he explains. “I make sure I convince myself that I belong here. ‘I’ve trained my butt off, I’m prepared, I’ve trained my butt off in all these positions, I’m going to win this fight.’”

Munoz is the favorite, but he knows that his opponent isn’t simply going to cower in the face of his impressive resume. And while he may have the applicable advanced degree, the wrestling skills and strength, Grove, 6’6, has a heck of reach advantage, heart, and he flat out loves to scrap.

Munoz calmly explains his technical and strategic approach to overcoming Grove’s reach and skill. “It’s both speed and timing. I’ve been going with a lot of boxers and kickboxers. He’s really tall so he’s going to want to keep me away. He’s going to want to keep me away as much as possible with straight kicks, by establishing his jab and working his angles. If I was a tall fighter, I’d fight tall too,” Munoz says.

“I’ve been learning to approach the game with a Mike Tyson type of pressure, slipping and parrying and catching kicks and looking for takedowns.”

Munoz and his team have dissected Grove and have prepared with scientific rigor. He enjoys talking tactics and technique, it is clear. This is his second gear – He is cerebral and he livens when analyzing fights.

But there is a third gear, evident when he’s smashing opponents in the ring. Watch Munoz’ WEC debut TKO win over Chuck Grigsby. Mere tacticians don’t hit like that.

Munoz knows he’ll beat Kendall Grove. He’s done the work, has the right strategy and physical characteristics. But in the end, it will come down to something else. Something more primal.

In the end, the Quiet Man believes it’s about volume. And he plans on being loud.

“I liken it to a conversation,” he says. “We’re both trying to talk and the person that talks the loudest gets heard. I want him listening to me. I’m going to be talking the whole time. I’m going to run the conversation.”

Article Written by: Elias Cepeda

Click Here to view article

Public Invited to Witness MMA, Wrestling and Motocross Demonstrations; Discuss Training Methods

LAKE FOREST, Calif. (February 22, 2010) — Mixed Martial Arts superstars Urijah Faber, the number one contender for the World Extreme Cagefighting Featherweight Championship and current #3 ranked featherweight fighter in the world and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, widely recognized as having the best Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in the heavyweight class, will join fellow MMA and wrestling champion Mark Munoz for the Saturday, March 13 grand opening of Reign, a training center developed by Munoz for professional and amateur athletes. A full slate of activities, including games, food and demonstrations for the whole family, will take place between 1 p.m. – 5 p.m.

“The concept behind Reign is to educate individuals to acquire the discipline needed to attain their goals – whether that is someone looking to learn self defense, maintain good physical fitness, or is currently involved in athletics and needs to “reign” in their training regimen,” explained Munoz, the former NCAA and high school national wrestling champion who currently competes in the middleweight division of the UFC and holds a 7-1 record in MMA competitions.

“What my friends Urijah and Antonio bring to this event is the opportunity for guests to talk one on one with these athletes about how they’ve trained to handle their challenges and to see them in action. Combined with other stunts and performances, I can guarantee everyone in the family will have fun and walk away with some information they can apply in their lives,” Munoz added.

Other athletes scheduled to appear and provide demonstrations include Ryron Gracie of the legendary Gracie family and developer of Gracie Jiu Jitsu (along with family members Rener and Ralek) ; motocross stunt rider Eric Whitcomb; and Pro Muay Thai and boxing trainers Billy Schiebe and Abel Nunez.

“This is exactly the type of center Mark and I envisioned – a place where those interested in developing their mind and body could work alongside world-class athletes and learn from each other,” said Andre Julian, business partner in Reign and a fellow MMA competitor. “We look forward to opening the doors and challenging our clients to be their very best.”

Also on hand will be fellow wrestlers and Mixed Martial Arts contenders Joseph Benavidez, King Mo Lawal, Jason “Mayhem” Miller and Renato “Babulu” Sobral; and Todd Norman, a top 5 Nike Sparq Trainer and owner of Cutting Edge Sports Training. The event will be catered by Boneheads of Lake Forest. Giveaways will be provided by Warrior International and Form Athletics.

For more information about the grand opening, please visit www.train2reign.com or call 949/916-9898.

“Da Spyder” today announced the 185-pound showdown via Twitter.com, wishing the former NCAA national wrestling champion from Oklahoma State University a safe training camp and encouraging him to put on a good show.

And that should not be much of a concern for these two talented fighters.

Grove has won three of his last four fights, losing only to Brazilian jiu-jitsu wizard Ricardo Almeida via unanimous decision at UFC 101: “Declaration” in August 2009 during that span. The 6’6″ Hawaiian most recently strangled another decorated wrestler, Jake Rosholt, via triangle choke at UFC 106: “Griffin vs. Ortiz” two months ago.

He likely won’t have such an easy time against “The Philippino Wrecking Machine.”

Munoz has been perfect (2-0) since his 185-pound debut against Nick Catone at UFC 102: “Couture vs. Nogueira” in August 2009. It wasn’t a convincing win, however, earning a split decision nod from two of the three judges sitting ringside.

He didn’t make the same mistake his next time out, smashing Ryan Jensen via verbal submission (punches) at UFC 108: “Evans vs. Silva” earlier this year. Now Munoz will look to make it two straight against the dangerous and experienced The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 3 winner.

UFC 112 is expected to feature two world title fights, including middleweight champion Anderson Silva taking on Vitor Belfort and lightweight kingpin BJ Penn putting his belt on the line against Frank Edgar.

Stay tuned to MMAmania.com for more information on this still-developing fight card.

MMA Mania