By: Joyce Lynda Valdes
BRITTNEY PALMER’S PLAYBOY ISSUE, GIVES UFC A WEEKEND OF SILENCE?:
The UFC organization must have purposefully not scheduled a fight this weekend so you could enjoy a private intimate weekend with your Brittney Palmer March issue of Playboy, which was released this past Friday. No wonder, UFC on Fuel TV 1 was on a Wednesday… There are practically zero pictures we can show you here on our respectable site, but we will support the guys at MMA Spartan and tell you to take a peak over there if you need any incentive to buy the issue.
UFC ON FUEL TV 1: SANCHEZ VS. ELLENBERGER, WOULD 5 ROUNDS HAVE MADE A DIFFERNCE?:
UFC on Fuel TV 1: Sanchez vs. Ellenberger gave us an outstanding night of performances, most notably by the headliners themselves, Diego Sanchez and Jake Ellenberger. Ellenberger clearly dominated the first 2 rounds, but by the 3rd round, Diego finally woke up from his beating and was able to give Ellenberger clear trouble, as he struggled on the ground in the last minutes. Jake was able to break free with seconds to spare, but Diego was still showing a strong exchange. The problem was, after that 3rd bell, the fight ended, leaving many viewers confused. We became conditioned that all main events were now 5 rounds and had not realized that the fights on Fuel TV and FX were still under the 3 round rule unless it is a Championship fight. It was a definite disappointment as it looked rather obvious, that there was still more to give from both opponents and perhaps, had the rounds continued, Sanchez may have been victorious. Regardless, it was an excellent fight and strong showing from Ellenberger who deserved the Unanimous (29-28) Decision. *In the post fight press conference, it was announced all main event fights on FX and Fuel TV will now go 5 rounds.
GEORGES ST. PIERRE ASKS NICK DIAZ “PERSONALLY” NOT TO RETIRE:
Jon Anik sat down with Georges St. Pierre on the Ultimate Insider to ask about the recovery process of his knee and his upcoming fight with Carlos Condit, but of course, you really can’t start talking about all that until you first ask GSP about his thoughts on not being able to fight Nick Diaz. GSP seems to express more respect for Diaz these days than pure disdain for him. St. Pierre thinks for sure they will get a chance to fight and says:
“fighting is what he [Diaz] do best. He shouldn’t have to retire. He is in his prime. I’m asking him personally not to retire, for the fans, for me, also for himself. Let’s do it. It has to be done”
Of course, not to overlook Carlos Condit, (his actual next opponent) GSP says that Condit is without a doubt the best fighter that he will meet in his entire career [up to now].
THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER PREMIERES MARCH 9TH ON FX:
The new season of The Ultimate Fighter will makes its long awaited debut on FX this March 9th, bringing a new live fight format to viewers. The 2 hour season premiere will kick off with live fights featuring the 32 potential castmates in 16 bouts to determine which mix of Lightweights and Welterweights will get to stay inside the fighter house to be coached by either Dominick Cruz or Urijah Faber. Cruz vs. Faber 3 is set for UFC 148 on July 7th. The Ultimate Fighter 15 will air its 2 hour first episode on FX at 9pm ET/PT. Each weekly 1 hour episode will air Fridays at 10pm ET/PT, concluding with a live fight.
RUMOR MILL AND FIGHT GOSSIP:
It is unclear whether or not UFC Ring Girl, Chandella Powell will continue her employment with Zuffa as it was discovered this week that Powell had a brief softcore past, 10 years ago under an assumed name. Chandella took to Twitter to address the matter:
When you are young, you often don’t realize that your actions have consequences. I made a bad decision about ten years ago, but you learn from these moments. There is nothing I can do to change the past, and believe me, if I could, I would. That decision doesn’t represent who I am today. All I can do now is put the past behind me and move forward. I am sorry to disappoint any of my fans and my family at Zuffa. I love you guys
* Editorial Note: Powell is no different than the rest of us who make poor decisions in our youth (or even just yesterday) and do our best to learn and not repeat them. And we have all at least once, wiped our forehead thinking, “Phew, I hope there are no repercussions for what I just did and I hope no one finds out about that. ” Don’t Judge.
Rashad Evans maintains that having trained with Jon Jones, he’s pretty much got his number. Evans said in a UFC 145 press conference: “I’ve got a big advantage, just knowing what he’s going to do. Just knowing the range where I need to fight him at. Just training with him and knowing what he’s good at.” But Evans should keep in mind that he hasn’t trained with Jones in over a year and Jones is one of the most diverse fighters to step into the cage. The guy keeps getting better, continually fighting the most elite in the division and successfully defending his Light-Heavyweight title, since his days training with Rashad. Greg Jackson has also decided to train Jones for the fight, so he may be giving up every secret he knows of his former protege to benefit Jones.
Dana White said Dan Henderson turned down an offer to fight Lyoto Machida, but Hendo tweeted out this denial: “Was never offered machida. And even though he has lost 3 out of his last 4, I’m sure it would be entertaining.”
Dan Henderson is likely to be the next title-shot contender in either the Middleweight or Light-Heavyweight divisions, but with Jon Jones facing Rashad Evans on April 21st and Anderson Silva set to fight Chael Sonnen in June, it may be several more months before we see him back in the cage, unless he actually does take on Machida. Whether he turned it down before or not, maybe Dana should ask him now.
Want some more insight into the elusive Nick Diaz? Check out his in-depth pre-UFC 143 fight interview with Joe Ferraro: here.
