News and notes from Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Kharitonov press conference

CINCINNATI -- In preparation for the semifinals of the Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix, the promotion's top fighters held court with media at the U.S. Bank Area. Here's what you need to know:

-- The start time is at 10:30 p.m. ET because of a documentary airing on Saturday night. Called "The Love We Make," it's a documentary about a show that Paul McCartney put together right after September 11. Strikeforce's bouts will start after that.

-- Daniel Cormier was added to the GP after Alistair Overeem -- who is now signed with the UFC -- dropped out of the tourney. Cormier isn't concerned about being a replacement adding extra pressure because he already puts pressure on himself.

"It's not that big of a deal to me. Pressure would be only if I didn't put high expectations on myself. I put enough pressure on myself to begin with, so being in this tournament could not add anything more."

He also said he was surprised that Overeem, or anyone would drop out of the tournament because it was such a good opportunity.

-- Mo Lawal said that he has been ready since January, but hasn't been able to get a fight until now. Though all of the major MMA media outlets were there, Lawal was disappointed in the turnout at the press conference.

"I was hoping there would be more media. More questions. Roger and me are going to put on a good fight, but everyone's going to miss it because they're worried about other issues."

-- Roger Gracie is known for his ground game, as he is a highly accomplished jiu-jitsu player. But with Lawal's world class wrestling background, Gracie may not be able to control where the bout will take place.

"It's hard to predict. Mo Lawal is a great wrestler. We'll just have to see and be prepared for everything. He's a good striker but an unbelievable wrestler. You try to plan a strategy, but you have to be prepared for everything," Gracie said.

Quoteworthy:

"It'll be a main-event worthy fight. I know he's going to bring a never-say-die attitude. It'll be a good tussle. I think we're going to finish one another. No decisions here." -- Josh Barnett, on his Grand Prix bout with Sergei Kharitonov.

"Josh said that he and Sergei were going to finish their fight. Just to put it out there, I'm fine winning the decision." -- Daniel Cormier

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/News-and-notes-from-Strikeforce-Barnett-vs-Kha?urn=mma-wp6700

Ivan Pack Ido Pariente Karo Parisyan Sherman Pendergarst

Rampage makes weight 9 days before the fight.-.VIDEO

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3FpEuif7r8&feature=player_embedded
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:popcorn:

Source: http://ninjashoes.net/forum/showthread.php?76137-Rampage-makes-weight-9-days-before-the-fight.-.VIDEO&goto=newpost

Thiago Silva Wanderlei Silva Marcus Silveira Aaron Simpson

Healy starts off Strikeforce main card with submission

CINCINNATI -- Pat Healy came from behind for a submission win over Maximo Blanco at Strikeforce on Saturday night.

Blanco quickly sent Healy to the canvas with a takedown. Healy was able to get back to his feet, but Blanco took over from there, knocking Healy around until with knees and punches until Healy was forced to shoot in for a takedown. It didn't work, as Blanco took top position. Healy grabbed Blanco's leg, which forced an odd position where he put his hands on the ground, and kicked back at Healy's head. Since Healy was a downed opponent, the move was illegal. A point was deducted, and Healy was given time to recover.

When the fight restarted, Blanco started with a quick flurry before Healy took over with a takedown and short strikes.

In� the second, Blanco's striking was worlds ahead of a much slower Healy's. He landed several strikes unanswered, but Healy was able to control the bout at times with wrestling. At one point, he was close to choking Blanco out, until he was able to maneuver out. Late in the round, Healy rolled into the same rear naked choke. This time, he held on for long enough for Blanco to tap at 4:24 in the second round.

This is Healy's third win in a row. His last two were decision wins, so this sort of come from behind victory was a nice change of pace. After a long career with Sengoku, this was Blanco's Strikeforce debut. His record falls to 8-3-1, while Healy's moves to 26-16.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Healy-starts-off-Strikeforce-main-card-with-subm?urn=mma-wp6783

Wang Guan Wang Sai Ron Waterman Roman Webber

Giant Turd Wins World Heavyweight Championship

Image: http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/7909/lewin1.jpg

The guy was a midcarder for 15 years and all of a sudden he becomes World Champion. Also last night, John Cena submitted Alberto Del Rio...

Source: http://ninjashoes.net/forum/showthread.php?76132-Giant-Turd-Wins-World-Heavyweight-Championship&goto=newpost

Matt Hume Mark Hunt Brad Imes Enson Inoue

Off UFC 137, Nick Diaz speaks his mind via YouTube

In a matter of days, Nick Diaz went from headlining UFC 137 in the title fight against Georges St-Pierre that he has asked about for years to a much-maligned man without a fight. He did not show up for multiple press obligations, with a no-show at today's press conference in Las Vegas being the breaking point for UFC officials. In what was supposed to be a routine pre-fight press conference, Dana White announced that Diaz was off the card and that Carlos Condit would step in to fight GSP for the UFC welterweight title.

Now, Diaz spoke his mind through his YouTube channel. Be warned that this video contains NSFW language.

Entitled, "Looks like someone didn't want me to win," it's possible that Diaz will spin this as a grand conspiracy to keep the belt in GSP's hands, but it's just not true. Diaz had the opportunity that he has begged for within his reach, but he had to "play the game," as Dana White would say. Show up for media appearances. Talk to reporters. Sell the fight.

Diaz didn't want to do that. Guess what, Nick? Everyone has a part of their job that they hate. Filling out timesheets. Cashing out drawers. Speaking at board meetings. Cleaning counters. Playing politics. For me, it's transcribing interviews. But you do it so that you can do the part of your job that you love and get paid.

Few fighters want to break camp to talk to media, but it's what they do so that they can headline fight cards and walk away with a big paycheck. Fighters have done it before, and they'll happily do it again for the chance that Diaz walked away from.

Instead of filming videos and wondering what happened, Diaz should take a hard look at himself and ask why he sabotages himself when he gets so close to the top of the mountain.

Thanks to Leland Rolling for the heads up.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Off-UFC-137-Nick-Diaz-speaks-his-mind-via-YouTu?urn=mma-wp6660

Josh Barnett Ricco Rodriguez Tim Sylvia Frank Mir

Four kids climb a bridge in Kiev

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjAMdbEXSdo&feature=player_embedded

This fucking video gave me a bit of anxiety. I like the girl's snoopy sweatshirt.

Source: http://ninjashoes.net/forum/showthread.php?76122-Four-kids-climb-a-bridge-in-Kiev&goto=newpost

Phil Cardella Roan Jucao Carneiro Shane The Engineer Carwin  Jason Hollywood Chambers

B.J. Penn doesn?t want to make it personal against Nick Diaz

In last week's UFC 137 switcheroo, B.J. Penn ended up facing Nick Diaz instead of Carlos Condit. Because of that, the producers of "Countdown," the show that airs to hype up UFC cards, had to work with Penn again to make the show suitable for the new line-up.

Penn says that the UFC asked him to say Diaz's name and "I'm going to beat Nick Diaz," something Penn found a problem with.

A few things to mention here:

1. Countdown's role is to hype up fights. Of course they want Penn to say something about his opponent. That will help sell pay-per-views, which is a good goal for everyone, right?

2. Penn has threatened to lick blood off his opponents. He has trash-talked before every fight, except for when he fought his friend Matt Hughes. Now he's worried about saying, "I'm going to beat Nick Diaz?" C'mon, son.

3. He says that he is worried that Diaz will be edited to look like a bad guy. Really, B.J.? This video was not edited, and Diaz still didn't come out looking that hot.

If Penn doesn't want to talk trash, that's fine. But that's not what he was asked to do. He was asked to say he was going to win the fight. Is that really all that bad?

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/B-J-Penn-doesn-t-want-to-make-it-personal-again?urn=mma-wp6892

Mikhail Avetisyan Luiz Azeredo  Luciano Azevedo  Ba Te er