http://www.640toronto.com/Sports/BeyondTheOctagon/Blog/Home.aspxJamie Twail's MMA blogen-usCopyright 2010, CFMJ-AMThu, 17 May 2012 02:17:43 GMTSun, 28 Mar 2010 18:19:08 GMT1http://emmisinteractive.comTHE CANADIAN PRESS NEWARK, N.J. -- Welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre had his way with England's Dan (The Outlaw) Hardy but couldn't finish him en route to a lopsided decision Saturday night at UFC 111. St-Pierre pitched a shutout, winning by scores of 50-43, 50-44 and 50-45 and has now won 25 rounds in a row in the UFC. The 28-year-old from Montreal used his wrestling skills to dominate Hardy, who was unable to mount any offence in the face of St-Pierre's relentless attack. A game but outmatched Hardy showed his grit by refusing to tap during two wicked submission attempts. "I thought he was made of rubber," St-Pierre said. "It's a win but I'm not very happy with myself. I made a lot of stupid technical mistakes." St-Pierre (20-2) took Hardy down 10 times during the mixed martial arts fight and the brash Brit was never able to use his ...http://www.640toronto.com/Sports/BeyondTheOctagon/Blog/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10104649tawil@640toronto.com (Jamie Tawil)http://www.640toronto.com/Sports/BeyondTheOctagon/Blog/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10104649Sun, 28 Mar 2010 18:19:08 GMTThe Canadian Press NEW YORK -- Dan (The Outlaw) Hardy sat patiently on stage at the Radio City Music Hall on Wednesday as UFC champion Georges St-Pierre answered fan questions about possible super-fights with Anderson Silva or another fight with B.J. Penn. With St-Pierre a 13-1 favourite at one Las Vegas bookmaker to beat Hardy on Saturday, the stylish English welterweight smiled and bit his tongue as GSP was quizzed about his championship future beyond the brash Brit. "It wasn't nothing that I didn't see coming, to be honest," Hardy said later. "People are going to ask these questions. Obviously with me being just four fights into my UFC career, I still feel I have a lot to prove. And obviously the fans decided to voice that opinion. But they're entitled. When you become a public figure, you become public property, and people can say what they like about you....http://www.640toronto.com/Sports/BeyondTheOctagon/Blog/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10104317tawil@640toronto.com (Jamie Tawil)http://www.640toronto.com/Sports/BeyondTheOctagon/Blog/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10104317Thu, 25 Mar 2010 21:18:34 GMTFrom MMAjunkie.com Less than 72 hours before his chance at redemption against Jon Fitch (21-3 MMA, 11-1 UFC), Brazilian slugger Thiago Alves (16-6 MMA, 9-3 UFC) was told he wouldn't get the chance to step inside the cage. An irregularity in a pre-fight CT scan was the culprit, but Alves' agent, Malki Kawa of First Round Management, told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that his client is aiming for a quick return. "Thiago is very disappointed," Kawa said. "But he remains in good spirits and hopes to get back in the cage very quickly." Alves was expected to meet Fitch on the main card of Saturday night's UFC 111 event in Newark, N.J. As MMAjunkie.com first reported earlier today, with the removal of the matchup, a bout between Kurt Pellegrino and Fabricio Camoes has been promoted from the preliminary card to the night's pay-per-view portion of the broadcast. Kawa said the CT scan ...http://www.640toronto.com/Sports/BeyondTheOctagon/Blog/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10104254tawil@640toronto.com (Jamie Tawil)http://www.640toronto.com/Sports/BeyondTheOctagon/Blog/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10104254Thu, 25 Mar 2010 16:38:26 GMTThe Canadian Press TORONTO -- UFC president Dana White rolls into Toronto on Tuesday, looking to give mixed martial arts fans a taste of the UFC while reminding local authorities of the popularity of the sport. A question-and-answer session with White followed by a chance to get fighter autographs from Canadians Sam (Hands of Stone) Stout and Krzysztof Sosznynski is bound to draw a crowd at the Eaton Centre. The UFC, looking to get the sport of mixed martial arts sanctioned in Ontario, no doubt hopes provincial politicians will take notice. South of the border, the UFC is working on the final pieces in the sanctioning puzzle. Massachusetts and New York top that list, along with West Virginia, Connecticut and Vermont. Those are the final U.S. jurisdictions without MMA regulations, other than Alaska and Wyoming which do not have athletic commissions. With Montreal slated to hold a UFC event in ...http://www.640toronto.com/Sports/BeyondTheOctagon/Blog/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10103551tawil@640toronto.com (Jamie Tawil)http://www.640toronto.com/Sports/BeyondTheOctagon/Blog/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10103551Mon, 22 Mar 2010 16:18:24 GMTThe Canadian Press BROOMFIELD, Colo. -- Light-heavyweight Jon (Bones) Jones lived up to the hype Sunday night, stopping Brandon (The Truth) Vera by TKO in the first round of the UFC event at the 1st Bank Center. Vera, on his back, took a big Jones elbow and immediately turned away in pain, prompting referee Herb Dean to stop the mixed martial arts fight at 3:19 of the first round. Jones (10-1) controlled the bout from the get-go, taking Vera down and keeping him there for much of the fight. "I knew he would be a step up in competition and I trained to the point where I felt as if I won it before I got in here," Jones said in the cage afterwards. The former junior college wrestling champion took his opponent down twice in the first round and absorbed an illegal upkick from Vera, who had a point ...http://www.640toronto.com/Sports/BeyondTheOctagon/Blog/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10103548tawil@640toronto.com (Jamie Tawil)http://www.640toronto.com/Sports/BeyondTheOctagon/Blog/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10103548Mon, 22 Mar 2010 16:16:02 GMTThe Canadian Press UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre says his opponents' trash talk has always fuelled his fire in the Octagon. Lucky for him, the next man in line is as mouthy as they come. England's Dan (The Outlaw) Hardy has already taken a few shots ahead of his bid for St-Pierre's welterweight title at UFC 111 on March 27 in Newark, N.J. Hardy (23-6 with one no contest) started nipping at the Quebec-born mixed martial arts star back in November. The clean-cut St-Pierre doesn't offer much of a target outside the cage so the 27-year-old Hardy, undefeated in his four UFC fights, has had to settle for calling the Canadian "boring." Hardy has focused instead on how he believes he can score an upset win over St-Pierre. "I know that I can give GSP hell when the times come," he said in an excerpted quote from Wednesday's first episode ...http://www.640toronto.com/Sports/BeyondTheOctagon/Blog/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10102168tawil@640toronto.com (Jamie Tawil)http://www.640toronto.com/Sports/BeyondTheOctagon/Blog/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10102168Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:39:12 GMTThe Canadian Press TORONTO -- Georges St-Pierre's welterweight title defence at UFC 111 will be aired in three dozen Canadian cinemas, Cineplex and the UFC announced Tuesday. The March 27 show in Newark, N.J., will be shown in high-definition on the big screen in select locations in Alberta, B.C., Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan. General admission tickets will cost $19.95 plus taxes. St-Pierre, a mixed martial arts champion from Montreal, takes on England's Dan (The Outlaw) Hardy in the main event at the Prudential Centre. The UFC announced last month that UFC 111 would be aired in more than 300 theatres south of the border. UFC 111 marks the first time the UFC has opted to show a pay-per-view card in theatres nationwide in the U.S. and parts of Canada. --- For more information, go to www.cineplex.com/events http://www.640toronto.com/Sports/BeyondTheOctagon/Blog/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10101501tawil@640toronto.com (Jamie Tawil)http://www.640toronto.com/Sports/BeyondTheOctagon/Blog/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10101501Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:45:08 GMTThe Canadian Press LAS VEGAS - Boxer James Toney is taking a crack at mixed martial arts, signing a multi-fight deal with UFC. The 41-year-old Toney is a former super middleweight and cruiserweight champion who fought Roy Jones Jr., Evander Holyfield, John Ruiz and Hasim Rahman. But he hasn't had a significant title shot since March 2006, and he also tested positive for steroids twice. UFC president Dana White believes Toney has the proper attitude to succeed in a crossover to MMA. Toney isn't the first athlete to try the move. Herschel Walker won his MMA debut for Strikeforce on Jan. 30, and former boxer Ricardo Mayorga will make his MMA debut May 15 for a small Florida-based promotion. The UFC hasn't determined the date or opponent for Toney's MMA debut. http://www.640toronto.com/Sports/BeyondTheOctagon/Blog/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10100724tawil@640toronto.com (Jamie Tawil)http://www.640toronto.com/Sports/BeyondTheOctagon/Blog/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10100724Thu, 04 Mar 2010 17:21:09 GMTThe Canadian Press SYDNEY, Australia -- Unbeaten Texan Cain Velasquez knocked out veteran Antonio Rodrigo (Minotauro) Nogueira of Brazil at 2:20 of the first round Sunday to claim the featured heavyweight bout at UFC 110. The 27-year-old Velasquez unleashed a flurry of punches at Nogueira to knock the Brazilian down, then began another set of combinations to his head before the referee stopped the fight. Velasquez improved to 8-0 in the UFC and has beaten all but one of his opponents inside the distance. Former UFC heavyweight champion Nogueira dropped to 32-6-1. "The plan was push the pace whenever we could, and then when the takedown was there, take it," Velasquez said. "I tried to stay focused, and when I got in a good position, I beat him to the punch." Nogueira said he was disappointed with himself, but was outclassed. "He had the fast hands tonight," he said. "He's ...http://www.640toronto.com/Sports/BeyondTheOctagon/Blog/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10098201tawil@640toronto.com (Jamie Tawil)http://www.640toronto.com/Sports/BeyondTheOctagon/Blog/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10098201Mon, 22 Feb 2010 17:16:08 GMTThe Canadian Press SYDNEY, Australia -- Ultimate Fighting Championship executives say they'd support a move for mixed martial arts to become an Olympic sport. UFC president Dana White, in Sydney ahead of Sunday's sold-out UFC 110 at Acer Arena, said while his company would not actively lobby the International Olympic Committee, he would support their inclusion in the games. Although UFC matches feature caged fighting, the different disciplines of mixed martial arts -- boxing, wrestling, taekwondo and judo -- feature in the Olympics as individual events. "It would be a huge benefit to us if mixed martial arts became an Olympic sport," White said. "It would create instant awareness around the world, and it would be huge. "I would support it 100 per cent. I personally am not out there trying to get mixed martial arts as an Olympic sport ... but if it popped and they said, 'Yes, we're ...http://www.640toronto.com/Sports/BeyondTheOctagon/Blog/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10096382tawil@640toronto.com (Jamie Tawil)http://www.640toronto.com/Sports/BeyondTheOctagon/Blog/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10096382Fri, 19 Feb 2010 17:13:46 GMT