Jason “The Athlete” MacDonald (21-10-0) 6’3”/185 lbs., fighting out of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, came into the UFC with little fanfare in 2006, but quickly made a name for himself by submitting highly touted Chris Leben and Ed Herman in successive bouts. He has since become a mainstay at 185 pounds, stopping Joe Doerksen at UFC 83 in April. After a tough loss to Demian Maia at UFC 87, a win over Jason “The Punisher” Lambert (23-8-0) is a must if he is to remain in title contention. Despite almost always being the smaller fighter, Lambert (5’10”/185 lbs., used a mix of heart, talent, and determination to establish himself in the UFC’s light heavyweight division with wins over the likes of Renato Sobral and Terry Martin. Tiring of giving up key advantages to his opponents, Carlsbad , California ’s Lambert is dropping to his optimum weight of 185 pounds. On a level playing field, “The Punisher” is expected to be more dangerous than ever.
From SlashFilm.com:
REDBELT
A curious departure from the usual films he makes, writer/director David Mamet’s Redbelt is a martial arts film that follows a self-defense instructor who finds himself the victim of a con and is pressed to enter the ring for pride and profit. Critics have said the movie interweaves action and intelligence in a way that’s not always smooth but is effective overall. It currently holds a 71% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 7.2 on IMDB.
Blu-ray? Yes.
Notable Extras: Commentary with David Mamet and Randy Couture, 3 featurettes (’Behind-the-Scenes of Redbelt’, ‘Inside Mixed Martial Arts’, ‘The Magic of Cyril Takayama’), a Q&A with Mamet, an interview with Dana White (President of the UFC), and Fighter Profiles.
While he must get past Rashad Evans first in September at UFC 88, Chuck Liddell still yearns to get another crack at Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, the man who beat him twice. “I want to fight Rampage real badly. I actually think I match up very well against him, but I’ve managed to lose to him twice now”, commented Liddell to The Sun. “But the third fight will not have anything to do with the first two, it will be a fresh start. Rampage is the one fight I really want, as much as I want my title back.” A self admitted super competitive person, Liddell is still burnt by the two losses he has yet to avenge. Aside from Keith Jardine, it is the only opponent he has yet to avenge a loss to, and despite not having the title, Quinton Jackson is far up on the list of fighters Liddell wants to square off against. “He’s lost the belt now, so I can’t beat him and win the title back in one fight, but I want to fight him just as bad as when he was champion.”
George St-Pierre’s manager Shari Spencer noted on Monday’s edition of Sherdog’s Beatdown Radio that GSP will likely take on BJ Penn on Jan. 31, 2009 in Las Vegas.”That’s my understanding,” Spencer said. “I know Dana [White] has been announcing it publicly. We haven’t officially signed a bout agreement, but everything is pointing toward Jan. 31 in Vegas against BJ Penn.”
Source: MMAfighting.com
On August 27, 2000, Pride 10: Return of the Warriors took place Saitama, Japan. Kazushi Sakuraba defeated Renzo Gracie via a technical submission by kimura in the main event. Kazuyuki Fujita defeated Ken Shamrock after Shamrock’s corner threw in the towel and Wanderlei Silva knocked out Guy Mezger. Other bouts saw:
Vitor Belfort defeat Daijiro Matsui via decision
Ricco Rodriguez defeat Takayuki Okada via choke
Gilbert Yvel defeat Gary Goodridge via a head kick
Mark Kerr defeat Igor Borisov via neck crank
Igor Vovchanchyn defeat Enson Inoue via TKO
Ryan Gracie defeat Tokimitsu Ishizawa via TKO
Masaaki Satake defeat Kazunari Murakami via TKO
“We’re not looking past Patrick Cote, but I think we’ll take one step at a time and see what happens. If a Chuck Liddell fight came up, we’d take it.”
–Ed Soares, manager of Anderson Silva, talking to MMAweekly.com
Despite going into his bout with Anderson Silva at UFC 90 in Chicago as the big underdog, Patrick Cote feels his style is a great matchup to thwart the Brazilian champ. “I think I have the best style to beat this guy”, Cote tells the Daily Star.
“I have a good chin, I’ll go forward and I won’t be scared of him like many of his opponents have been.”