A day after it was announced that Renato “Babalu” Sobral would no longer be fighting for the UFC, the beleaguered Brazilian appeared in front of the Nevada State Athletic Commission on Friday morning.

According to MMAWeekly.com, the commission elected not to suspend Sobral but did not rule out a fine and will continue to withhold his $25,000 win bonus that he was due to receive following his win over David Heath at UFC 74 this past Saturday.

Richard Wilner, Sobral’s manager addressed the commission at length but Sobral also attended and spoke to the commission as well:

“When he tapped, I didn’t feel it. I then looked to the referee, and he shook my shoulder, and then I let him go. I didn’t understand why this whole thing happened. I’m kind of surprised that it happened, the crowd booing me and stuff like that. I don’t know, maybe it was from the blood. I don’t know. I would like to say sorry to David Heath and the UFC for bringing trouble to my sport that I love a lot. There’s one thing that I know how to do in my life is be a professional fighter. I don’t have like a regular job.”

You can get the full scoop at MMAWeekly.com by clicking here.

Showtime’s countdown show for EliteXC’s next card on Sept. 15 in Hawaii featuring Murilo “Ninja” Rua vs. Robbie Lawler for the EliteXC middleweight title will debut tonight at 1 a.m. ET on Showtime.

I recommend that loyal 5 Oz. readers check out the countdown show because a certain someone you know might be appearing on the show opening his big mouth about the matchups.

If you’re not able to see tonight’s showing, here is a schedule of future airings:

DAY DATE TIME CHANNEL
Friday Aug. 31 1 a.m. SHO
Saturday Sept. 1 12:30 a.m. SHO

Monday Sept. 3 4 p.m. SHO
Tuesday Sept. 4 Midnight SHO
Wednesday Sept. 5 Midnight SHO

Sunday Sept. 9 11 p.m. SHO
Monday Sept. 10 7:30 p.m. SHO

Wednesday Sept. 12 1:30 a.m. SHO
Thursday Sept. 13 Noon SHO
Friday Sept. 14 1:15 a.m. SHO

MMAWeekly.com is reporting that Dean Lister will be training at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas and will be returning to the UFC on the fight promotion’s December 29 card (which is expected to be held in Las Vegas).

According to Lister’s manager, Jerry Villasenor, Lister would like to fight the winner of the middleweight title fight between Anderson Silva and Rich Franklin at UFC 77. I don’t see that happening until Lister gets 1-2 wins under his belt.

You can read the entire report by clicking here.

Yes, I am ripping this idea off from Steve Sievert’s blog on the Houston Chronicle’s web site. Since I’m also a pollster on Yahoo! Sports’ pound-for-pound top ten it doesn’t make sense for me not to post my votes.

Here’s the official 5 Oz. of Pain top 10 pound-for-pound fighters in the world (with comments):

1) Fedor Emelianenko - Inactivity is a concern a this point but his last win against Matt Lindland on a BodogFIGHT card in April is strong enough to last another month or so.

2) Dan Henderson - Henderson’s reputation before his win over Wanderlei was nowhere near what it is now but how can you not be high on a guy who holds world titles in two different weight classes?

3) Randy Couture - His last two wins have been against top contenders and both have been dominant performances.

4) Georges St. Pierre - Being in this poll isn’t just about stature, it’s also about pure fighting skill, which GSP has on loan from God. Yes, I’m officially back on the bandwagon.

5) Mauricio Rua - Doesn’t hold a title yet but put him in there with Chuck Liddell, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, or Dan Henderson and I’d install him as the favorite.

6) Anderson Silva - His pure Jiu-Jitsu is strong but his MMA Jit-Jitsu is suspect. However, a fighter hasn’t exposed his lack of wrestling in quite some time. His recent wins have all been impressive with the exception of his performance against Travis Lutter in February.

7) B.J. Penn - His recent win list doesn’t measure up in comparison to other fighters on this list but I think pure ability should account for something.

8 ) Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira - Is lacking a big recent win against an impressive opponent but few heavyweights are a total package like he is.

9) Matt Hughes - The win over Lytle was not overly impressive and there’s the loss against GSP but I can’t ignore his entire body of work over the course of the past several years.

10. Quinton Jackson - I’m not sure what Rampage we’ll see at UFC 75 but a win over Chuck Liddell and the UFC light heavyweight title around his waist speak volumes.

The two names omitted from my ballot that I’m sure will cause the biggest complaints are Chuck Liddell and Takanori Gomi.

In regard to Gomi, I can’t put him in my top ten due to inactivity. In the eyes of NSAC his match against Nick Daiz might be a win. But my eyes saw what they saw. Gomi lost. At the very least, he shouldn’t be credited with a win.

Liddell was a tough call and some will ask why I have Hughes ranked on his overall body of work and not Liddell. When it came down to it, I don’t think the competition Liddell fought during his reign was top-notch. It was due to no fault of his own but I’m not overly impressed with wins over Tito Ortiz and Jeremy Horn. Losing to Rampage in under two minutes was a big negative.

EliteXC heavyweight fighter Jon Murphy’s next fight will be for the Extreme Challenge promotion on October 6 in Trenton, NJ at the Soverveign Bank Arena (the same venue BodogFIGHT ran a show at earlier in the summer). Murphy will be defending his Extreme Challenge Northeast heavyweight title on the card.

We’ll have more details about the card as they become available.

UFCjunkie.com has posted an interview it recently conducted with UFC middleweight Terry Martin. In the interview Martin accuses James Irvin of using steroids but really doesn’t have much factual evidence to go on:

UFCjunkie.com: So if you had the chance to fight Irvin again, you would?
Terry Martin: We’re headed in two different directions. I told people that guy sucked. He was lucky. What about that last fight? He was fighting and all the sudden his knee blows out? Like that? I don’t want to say it, but…

UFCjunkie.com: So you think he may have been on something? Steroids perhaps?
Terry Martin: Oh, come on now. You know that. No one’s knee goes out like that. And look at him. You know and I know that no body is shaped like that naturally — maybe close to that, but nobody has a body like that.

UFCjunkie.com: So you’re basing it off his looks alone?
Paper-thin skin and everything. Something’s going on. He’s was up to something.

Martin also revealed that he has signed a new four fight contract. He became a free agent after his last fight and the print edition of the Wrestling Observer reported that BodogFIGHT was interested in Martin’s services.

Martin has been impressive since dropping from light heavyweight to middleweight and with the current landscape of the division, he could earn a shot at the title with a win over Chris Leben at UFC Fight Night 11 on September 19.

Click here to read the entire interview.

5 Oz. reader Chris Schultz sent me the following link:

CNN.com

As you’ll see, the dude’s name is Charles Bennett (of Ohio) and he’s got a very similar look to Charles “Krazy Horse” Bennett (from Florida). If I hadn’t seen that the chase took place in Ohio then I would have been pretty convinced it was Krazy Horse.

FiveOuncesOfPain.com contacted former UFC heavyweight champion Josh Barnett to get his reaction to comments that UFC president Dana White directed at him during a conference call this afternoon to promote UFC 75.

White was asked to respond to Barnett’s recent assertion that Randy Couture was a “paper champion” (that was the phrase the reporter used), to which White replied, “Nobody gives a shit about Josh Barnett, especially not me.”

“He cared,” Barnett responded after White’s quote was read. “He gives a shit because if he didn’t he wouldn’t say anything and he wouldn’t get so worked up about it. He only uses his coveted swear words at important moments like when he tries to get fighters pumped up or gives them pep talks.”

Five Ounces Of Pain then asked Barnett if he was still in negotiations at the time of his original comments.

“I was not negotiating with the UFC at the time of the comments but I can’t really talk about all the negotiations that I’ve been involved with and will be involved with at this point,” he answered.

When asked if he felt there was still a chance he could sign with the UFC, Barnett didn’t rule it out.

“I could always sign with the UFC,” responded Barnett. “It’s only a matter of making things work right for the both of us.”

Furthermore, Barnett doesn’t believe he burned a bridge with the UFC with the negative comments he made towards Couture.

“You don’t burn bridges with Dana,” the youngest heavyweight champion in UFC history stated. “If you can make him money, he puts you in there. If he thinks he’s going to get rich, he uses you or in some instances he has his guys that he calls his ‘boys,’ or whatever. He knows where his bread is buttered and if he sees green — it’s a go. Randy got an instant title shot coming out of retirement. You know why? Because he saw green.

“I’m not the only person to ever have issues with Dana and I’m sure — in fact I know for a fact — that there are fighters that are in the Ultimate Fighting Championship right now that have a problem with Dana White. But this is a completely different scenario. If he wants to have personal issues with fighters then there’s nothing I can do to help that guy.

“In terms of business, I make promoters money and promoters make me money and that’s what it comes down to and when it comes to calling somebody unbeatable you better make sure next time that the guy that beat him for the heavyweight title before isn’t in the same room.”

Five Ounces also took the opportunity to get Barnett’s comments about Renato Sobral’s contract not being renewed by the UFC. Barnett cornered Sobral for his fight against David Heath at UFC 74 this past Saturday. UFC president Dana White announced that Sobral’s contract has not been “renewed” and I asked Barnett that if the decision was indeed based on the extended choke applied to Heath if he felt the punishment was fair?

“I think it’s completely overblown and an overreaction. It takes two to tango. Why didn’t he release David Heath? Babalu said not a single unkind word about David Heath leading into that fight. Everything was just fine until he decided to get in Babalu’s face and call him an MF’er. He provoked the guy. This is someone that’s been fighting since the Vale Tudo days of Brazil. Maybe to sportswriters and fans it was a really ugly scenario — and you know what, if I had known he was going to do something like that I would have told him not to — but it’s not uncommon. It’s not something as a fighter — and I’ve been in this business 11 years — I have seen it more than I can count on both hands and both toes. That happens. Things happen.

“First off, if you’re going to provoke somebody then they now have a little extra incentive to come after you. That’s something you created and if the NSAC wants to fine or suspend, they’re going to make their decision. But I think it’s really ridiculous to put him to the floor and treat him like that when Dana, if he’s really hip to MMA and he’s used to follow it then he knows what’s going on, and he’s just trying to play a part in the media to make the CYA real happy at the expense of Babalu.

“Should he have done that? No, I don’t think he should have. Plus, with all the blood everywhere and the very dominating performance he put to David Heath, it made it look even worse. But it’s not just a simple matter of this guy was trying to hurt him. And you know what? People pass out all the time from refusing to tap and nobody faults them for that. It’s certainly within their own control.

“If I remember, B.J. Penn held a choke long on Jens Pulver and we don’t see him getting released from his contract?”

The UFC held a media conference call today to promote UFC 75 on September 8 in London. The event will be televised on a tape delay basis on Spike TV in the United States.

On the call was UFC president Dana White, Pride middleweight and welterweight champion Dan Henderson,  UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Michael Bisping, and Matt Hamill.

Here are what I consider to be the biggest stories coming out of the press conference:

1. Dana announced that Renato “Babalu” Sobral has been released from his contract. My editor at CBSSports.com, Denny Burkholder, asked Dana if he felt the media was making too much out of the Sobral vs. Heath situation. White said that the fans expressed how they felt after the match and that up until that point Sobral had been a fan favorite. He said if it had been an arm, leg, or an ankle he would have been fired on the spot. He then added that Sobral has been cut from his contract. It was confusing because he made mention that Sobral would have been cut if had done something other than a choke, only to reveal seconds later that it had been cut. Some people are reading it as that Sobral was going to be cut regardless of what he did to David Heath but I did not hear it that way at all. He did term Babalu’s departure several different ways though such as “not renewed” and “cut.” It was a little opened ended.

A reporter later asked if Babalu was finished with the UFC forever and Dana said he doesn’t like to say never.

I asked a followup in regard to Dana’s comments in the Las Vegas Sun where he said he would talk to Babalu and that he was considering disciplinary action. I said it didn’t sound like Dana was going to dismiss him at the time and I asked what changed his mind? Dana didn’t agree with my assessment and said the writer from the Sun asked right after the incident happened. He said he wasn’t going to talk about disciplinary steps before speaking to Sobral and that he never changed his mind.

2. Dana White said “Nobody gives a shit about Josh Barnett.” Dana was asked to respond to Barnett’s questions about Randy Couture being a “paper champion,” to which Dana replied, “Nobody gives a shit about Josh Barnett, especially not me.” Mauro Ranallo contacted Barnett to get his reaction. Those comments from Barnett will be played on Fight Network Radio. I also spoke with Barnett and will be posting his reaction online after I finish my guest spot with Mauro.

3. Dana said that they “aren’t even close” to finalizing a new contract with Spike TV.

4. There were a TON of questions about Pride and a ton of comments from Dana about them. The most notable in my mind being that soon after they signed a deal with Pride, the UFC lost its TV contract in Japan. It sounded as though Dana insinuated it had to do with Pride having a bad name in Japan right now and that they suffered repercussions because of it.

5. I never followed up on reports yesterday about Ryo Chonnan signing with the UFC because they sounded like bunk. A reporter asked Dana if Chonnan had signed. Dana paused after the question (it sounded like he was conferring with someone in the room with him) and then responded “No.”

Other highlights:

- Dana was asked about Fedor and he confirmed he’d be meeting with him on Thursday (today). He was pressed if he thought there might be a press release announcing a signing today and Dana responded, “We’ve been talking with these guys for months. Who knows what will happen.” A followup was asked about a pending announcement and Dana said something to the effect, “Sure, put in a good word for us with them?”

- After the fight on Sept. 8 the Pride middleweight title will be retired. The UFC light heavyweight title will serve as the unified title.

- Rampage said he’s preparing for Dan Henderson the same way he prepared for Matt Lindland when he fought him last year in the WFA.

- Dana congratulated Dan Henderson on the birth of his baby daughter. Henderson’s wife had a planned delivery last night.

- Dana once again said Pride went out of business for a reason. He indicated that fighters can’t sit around and wait until Pride gets back on its feet and that is why guys like Henderson are making their way into the UFC. Dana added that Japan is a tough place to navigate through business-wise and that it was much tougher than they thought.

- Dana said Pride lost its TV deal due to “rumors” and that the Pride name is not good in Japan right now. He said they’re lucky just to be able to rent office space because of the company’s reputation. He would not offer a timetable for a final decision on Pride’s fate (so there is still some small hope) and that it was their every intention to keep it running when they bought it. He cited their activity with the WEC as an example of them keeping a company alive after acquiring it. He said he wouldn’t rule out doing UFC shows in Japan but that the UFC no longer has a TV contract after they announced the acquisition of Pride.

- There were a lot of questions about Dan Henderson and what weight class he’ll be fighting in long-term. He said he’s not thinking past this fight at all. At another point he asked why should he cut to 185 lbs. when he can beat anyone at 205 lbs.? Henderson didn’t sound cocky when he said it. He said it in a matter of fact tone and it sounds as though he’s very confident coming into this bout.

- Dana did not rule out the possibility of Randy Couture’s next fight being on Super Bowl weekend (damn, that’s an entire football season away!). They aren’t sure about an opponent. Dana said if Fedor signed he might get an immediate title shot. He also said that Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira will likely fight before the end of the year and if he wins, he could be next in line for a title shot.

- White said it will be awhile before they can gauge their success overseas.

- A question about Shogun came up and Dana said Shogun is a contender right now.

- Rampage was asked about Henderson having not fought in the cage for about 10 years. Jackson didn’t think it was an issue and said fighting in the Octagon is “like riding a bike.”

- Dana was asked about bringing in all the Pride stars and basically said that outside of Fedor that they have all of them under contract. Denis Kang’s name was brought up and Dana said Kang is talented, that they are interested, and that they’ve talked but that he doesn’t consider Kang one of the bigger names from Pride. Can I just say that I’d like to beg to differ?

UFC president Dana White announced today during a conference call to promote UFC 75 on September 8 that Renato “Babalu” Sobral has been released from his contract due to applying a choke too long during this past Saturday’s match against David Heath at UFC 74.

White was asked by a different reporter whether there was a chance Sobral would ever fight for the UFC again. White didn’t shut the door on a return when he responded to the question by saying he didn’t want to say never.

More details to come.

Former UFC fighter Dan Lauzon, the younger brother of Joe Lauzon, will return to fighting on September 21 when he takes on Wayne Harnois in a bout for the fight promotion World Championship Fighting.

The 16-fight card will take place at the Aleppo Shriners Auditorium in Wilmington, Mass. and will also feature matches between Mike Varner vs. Randy Rowe, Seth Davis vs. Mike Curtis, Phil Gizzi vs. Jarod Tirrel, and more.

Special guests at the show are expected to include Kenny Florian, Marcus Davis, Drew Fickett, Jorge Rivera, Sean Gannon, and Mark Della Grotte.

For more info, go to WCFighting.com.

I first came across the rumor that Matt Hughes has left MFS to start his own gym while reading Luke Thomas’ site, BloodyElbow.com. Luke first heard rumor on the Savage Dog Show. Since then this story has taken on a life of its own with a lot of people speculating over Hughes’ motives for starting his own gym.

I was able to speak with Monte Cox, Hughes’ manager (and the manager for Tim Sylvia, Rich Franklin, and a host of other big name fighters), and Jens Pulver, another client of Cox’s and a good friend of both Hughes’ and Robbie Lawler’s.

What I can tell you is this: Cox has confirmed that Hughes will be starting his own gym in the St. Louis area and Lawler has accepted a lucrative offer to help Hughes run the gym. The gym location actually isn’t that far from where Hughes currently resides. Meanwhile, Lawler and his wife will be relocating.

All the talk of insidious plots and bad blood appears to be erroneous though. I think Pulver said it best when he claimed that a lot of people on the Underground forum have “taken this whole thing six steps too far.”

First, there was some rumor that Hughes slept with Pulver’s wife. This is comical because Jens isn’t married and never has been. He said he doesn’t even have a girlfriend right now.

Second, Hughes doesn’t technically train full-time at MFS in Iowa. His family is based outside of Iowa and he primarily lives with them. He travels down to Iowa for training camps to get ready for upcoming fights. In fact, it hasn’t been established whether Matt has even left MFS. If Matt wants to continue to compete at a world class level he will need world class training partners. Lawler is a great guy to train with but Cox indicated that Matt will probably need more partners than just Lawler to get ready for Matt Serra on Dec. 29. It’s very possible that Matt is still in fact with MFS.

According to Jens, there is no ill will. It’s a family atmosphere down there and he’s surprised by a lot of what he’s hearing because a lot of what’s being written simply isn’t the case. Jens likened Matt opening a gym in St. Louis to Jeremy Horn opening a gym in Salt Lake. It’s nothing personal, it was just business because all the guys who train in Iowa primarily come from other parts of the country. It’s always been joked down there that people will grow up and eventually “leave the nest.” I think that’s exactly what’s going on with Hughes’ gym in St. Louis, and nothing more.

MMA is hot right now with more and more people looking to train at various levels. It makes sense for Hughes try to capitalize on the business potential out there and start up his own gym. I don’t think it’s much different than when Dan Henderson branched off from the Oregon location of Team Quest and set up shop in Temecula, Calif. Jens even mentioned that he’s looking to open a gym in Seattle and or Idaho after his career is over. When I asked him if I could quote him about that he said it was no big deal because he’s already talked about it with friends at MFS.

So to clarify, FiveOuncesOfPain.com can confirm that Hughes is starting a gym in the St. Louis area but it’s still not certain whether he’s leaving MFS altogether. Also, virtually all of the conspiracy theories out there that have surfaced are false.

Update: UFCjunkie.com is reporting that Hughes has indeed left MFS and will be starting a fight team of his own at the new gym called H.I.T. (Hughes Intensive Training) Squad.

Alex Marvez of FoxSports.com has written a good article about how he feels the UFC should handle the debut of Brock Lesnar if they are able to sign him.

Marvez belives that Lesnar would be an ideal coach for a seventh season of The Ultimate Fighter and that his adversary should be a veteran heavyweight on the downside of his career who has an eye on getting back to the top at Lesnar’s expense (he suggests Frank Mir and Heath Herring).

He then suggests that Lesnar should fight said veteran on the live finale of the show on Spike TV. The idea of having Lesnar make his UFC fighting debut on free TV (well, not completely free, but you get the idea) is genius because it would really go a long way towards building him up as a major draw.

If it were up to me, I’d love for the UFC to sign Kurt Angle and have him coach against Lesnar on TUF and then the two fight on PPV. That’s a dream scenario on my part and I realize there’s next to know shot of that happening. It never hurts to dream.

I really recommend you check out the column. Marvez also discussed the Sobral/Heath incident at UFC 74 and mentioned that a lot of fighters backstage were none too pleased with Babalu. I saw the show with a lot of fighters in the stands and I can tell you they were none too pleased either.

You can check out the article by clicking here.

I’m now seeing several sites that are stealing content from FiveOuncesOfPain.com. These sites are copying and pasting entire entries on this blog and passing it off as their own with no author listed and no reference to FiveOuncesOfPain.com.

If you’re one of these sites that are committing copyright infringement, it needs to stop and it needs to stop now. You might think you’re slick because you have disabled comments on your page and have no contact info available but I can find out how to get a hold of you. If it comes to that, chances are I will have my attorney contact you on my behalf and you can explain your actions to him.

If you want to use an excerpt of something that appears here and or post a link back, I’m more than okay with that. But I have no idea why people think they can steal content from this site and others and get away with it? I work too hard on this blog to stand by and watch other people steal my stuff and make money off of it when I currently don’t see a dime from this blog.

Update: I realize it isn’t easy trying to work a job or go to school, spend time with your family, and also maintain a blog. But if you’re so cramped for time that you have to steal content, then maybe you should re-examine the idea of you doing a blog? I’m always open to working with other writers, bloggers, and just about anyone. You can always e-mail me at SCaplan8@comcast.net if you are new (or old) to blogging and are looking for feedback or ideas. I can’t guarantee I can always help, but I will always listen and do what I can. This offer also applies to people who aren’t lifting content. I’m always open to the idea of working with others in the industry.

Last night UFCjunkie.com was kind enough to allow me to participate in a chat with Dan Henderson. Henderson fielded a ton of questions and I was able to incorporate some of my own.

I’ve been asked a lot of people about Jason “Mayhem” Miller and when he’ll be fighting next for the WEC. A few e-mails I received asked me if he was a free agent. According to Henderson, who trains with Miller on a regular basis at Team Quest in Temecula, Miller has one fight left on his WEC contract. The WEC doesn’t plan on running an event right now in October so the next time we might get to see him fight could be in November or December.

A lot of people asked about Sokoudjou. His contract with K-1 is not finalized yet but Henderson reiterated that Hero’s is where he expects him to end up fighting.

To read the chat in its entirety, just click here.

According to the MySpace page of WEC featherweight fighter Cub Swanson, his match against Jens Pulver that had originally been scheduled for Sept. 5 has been moved to Nov. 3.

Pulver was removed from the card after injuring his knee during the final weeks of his training camp. Swanson’s name remained on the card as it was believed that Scott Adams and the WEC were looking for a replacement fighter. He’s no longer listed on the Sept. 5 card.

Special thanks to reader Matt Kaplan (no relation) for the heads up. 

I came across a couple of interesting links on FightOpinion.com (a site I recommend everyone check out if you don’t already) today.

First, there are strong signals that Rickson Gracie intends to fight MMA again on New Year’s Eve. Gracie doesn’t specify for who or for where, but K-1 is the only major MMA promotion left in Japan and I don’t see Gracie fighting in the States.

Also, it appears a life has been spared. Sherdog.com is reporting that Kazushi Sakuraba’s next fight will be on Sept. 17 for K-1 Hero’s in Yokohama, Japan against former pro wrestler Katsuyori Shibata. There had been rumors that a bout between Sakuraba and Denis Kang was going to take place but Kang apparently is not formally signed to K-1 (the UFC has no idea how bad its middleweight division needs Denis Kang). Kang would have wrecked him.

I also noticed in the Sherdog.com report that former Pride and Cage Rage fighter Zelg Galesic will be fighting Dong Sik Yoon on 9/17. Galesic is a strong prospect who would have been perfect for the WEC’s 185 lbs. division.

I’m not the only writer out there calling for the UFC to remove Babalu from its roster, as Kevin Iole from Yahoo! Sports also believes that he deserves a much more harsher penalty than a potential fine of $25,000.

Iole believes that Babalu’s transgression could in fact cost him his job:

Well, now it’s time for Babaloser to learn a lesson. And this lesson, quite likely, is going to cost him his job as well as a pile of money.

It sounds like he might know something because he spoke with Dana White, who didn’t want to comment on what he has in mind as far as a punishment:

White was very ill Monday but worked up enough of his fiery temper to summon a few choice words for Babaloser.

He declined to discuss what actions he would take because he said it’s his policy not to discuss such matters publicly, but he clearly condemned Babaloser’s actions.

You can access Iole’s article by clicking here

Josh Barnett has left the following message on his website, JoshBarnett.tv, in which he speaks out on UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture’s win over Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC 74 this past Saturday:

Let’s get straight to it and say that Randy did a phenomenal job at UFC 74 in defending his title. As a fan and a fellow Washingtonian I was happy to see him win. But as for the title itself — it still sits in my house. No one in UFC ever beat me for it, and as far as I am concerned, no one in the UFC can be the heavyweight champion until they take that belt off of me in the cage.

At the post fight press conference, Dana White said ”there isn’t anyone in the world that can beat this guy” in reference to Randy. All this because Randy beat a guy that had less than ten fights and only one noteworthy win? That’s not even a world championship level fight, let alone reason to proclaim the winner as “unbeatable”. This comment was made even more ridiculous by the fact that I was standing right there, living proof that Randy Couture is definitely beatable.

“Unbeatable”, Dana says. If he actually believes that, I’m more than willing to step into the cage and prove him wrong. It wouldn’t even have to be for the belt. I already got the real belt. They can keep their pile of brass they purport as the UFC Heavyweight Title and put it on their next paper champ.

Josh

That’s some pretty harsh stuff but before you comment please keep in mind that Barnett is a student of pro wrestling and has done a lot of it in Japan in the past. In fact, he’ll be wrestling for Antonio Inoki’s promotion in Japan on September 8 against former NCAA wrestling champ and ex-WWE wrestler Sylvester Terkay. Barnett’s comments could simply be a ploy to get him some headlines and keep his name in play. Just like Brock Lesnar, it’s another mission accomplished.

I just wanted to say our thoughts and prayers should go out to BodogFIGHT women’s champion Tara LaRosa, who made the following announcement through a bulletin sent via her MySpace account:

I don’t know how to write this.

I talked to Adrian, my boyfriend, on Monday August 20th. He was giving me grief about not doing enough cardio, we talked about what we would do when he got home. I told him my intenerary for the coming weeks. I gave him shit for being short, he gave me shit for not being able to tap him in close to 2 years. I told him I had been playing with playing with the rubber guard, and that I was working on adding the twister into my arsenal… to which he replied “that’s great, but you have to get me to the ground first.” …LOL he’s a really good wrestler, greco mainly. He had to go, someone in the background needed help with something, he’d call again later in the week.

My boyfriend, SFC Adrian M Elizalde was killed when an IED hit his truck on Thursday August, 23rd. He was 30 years old.

I found out at 3:30pm PST on Friday, 24th. I was in my hotel room in Vancouver, Bodog had brought me up to do some promo stuff and commentary for the season 6 shoot. For those of you that were up there, this is why I had sunglasses on throughout the fights, and why I would get up and leave periodically. The only people that knew were Jessica Aguillar, who had been 3 doors down and found me in a heap on the floor of my hotel room, and the staff. I didn’t want any of the fighters to know, I didn’t want anyone upset or distracted in any way before their fights.

Adrian was my hero in so many different ways. I used to tell him he was “my superman.” Adrian meant so much to me, I loved him so much. He was everything I had ever wanted….. I had hoped we’d spend a lifetime together.

-Tara LaRosa

It’s really sad news. We’ve lost a lot of brave men and women in Iraq and Afghanistan and I just hope we bring everyone home soon.