Ever better: Strikeforce has confirmed to Sherdog/ESPN that rounds will be a full five minutes in duration. About time. There appears to be evidence females have a 10-15 percent lower oxygen consumption rate than men do, which could conceivably limit the kind of interval and muscular endurance performance that MMA demands, but is it really by so much that they needed competition duration reduced by nearly half?
Hopefully, subsequent women’s bouts will follow suit. If any division is in need of curtailed rounds for the safety of participants, it’s the sloppy super-heavyweights. A blended cheeseburger is not a proper post-workout recovery drink.
Once considered to have a legitimate claim to be the best in a murky 160-ish weight class, Gomi has seen stock drop recently with consecutive losses in Sengoku. He’s currently on a one-fight win streak, which may not sound like much, but sure is one hell of a lot better than a three-fight losing streak.
Thursday, June 11 12:26 pm PT: After chastising his gym for not adequately supporting him for a fight with Xavier Foupa-Pokam May 23, Drew McFedries has informed MMAWeekly that camp leader Pat Miletich has shown him the door.
In his post-fight speech, McFedries said “he didn’t get a lot of support from my own team”; Miletich then told him it was “time to move on.”
Thursday, June 11 10:09 am PT: The problem: Everyone wants to train like a fighter, but not everyone wants the groupies, money or fame that goes along with it. Who needs all that crap?
In a press release, the New Evolution Fitness Company (NEFC) and the UFC announced the first in a planned line of UFC Gyms across the country will open in Concord, Calif., at a date TBD. In addition to the standard sweat equipment, members will be able to take mixed martial arts classes and engage in fight-specific training. Can’t wait to see a guy with clogged arteries trying to flip a tractor tire or clobber the poor dope next to him while swinging a heavy chain.
Refreshments will be available at the “Arm Bar,” an in-house beverage center. I wish I were kidding.
If you simply can’t wait, enrollment will begin June 17 at the Willows Shopping Center in Concord. It may be worth it, if only to be a spectator.
“I’d like to reach out with an invitation to Mr. Dana White, Mr. Brock Lesnar and Mr. Frank Mir to come out to our show,” Raimond told MMAWeekly. “… Hopefully we can follow up in the same lines as what the UFC has done for Mr. Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ in a one-fight deal. I think we can make that happen for other occasions, and we’d like to make that happen.”
Thursday, June 11 5:56 am PT: In a move that could have some significant implications in MMA, USA Wrestling has announced an incentive program that would pay amateur grapplers a $250,000 ransom for winning a Gold medal in the Olympic Games.
“MMA is growing, and it’s a basic wrestling sport,” gold medalist Henry Cejudo told the New York Times. “A lot of fighters are ex-wrestlers. A lot of guys take the easy way out, make quick money. This fund will keep wrestlers in wrestling.”
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