Erick Silva (Courtesy of UFC.com)

MMAWeekly.com
by MMAWeekly.com Staff

Erick Silva wasted no time at UFC 142 Rio recently getting Carlo Prater to the mat and pounding him out in 29 seconds.

It appeared that Silva had run his streak to five consecutive victories.

It wasn’t to be, however, as referee Mario Yamasaki disqualified Silva, saying that he had warned him about repeated blows to the back of Prater’s head, and when the fight had to be stopped, it was due to illegal blows.

The crowd, not seeing what Yamasaki saw, booed the decision heavily.

Even UFC color commentator Joe Rogan felt that Yamasaki’s call was wrong and expressed that opinion in his post fight interview, questioning the referee.

“I was telling him, ‘don’t hit the back of the head,’” Yamasaki said following the disqualification. “I have to decide right then and there. There’s nothing else I can do.”

UFC officials felt strongly enough that Silva shouldn’t have been disqualified that they still paid him his win money.

Because the event was at an international location without a sanctioning body, UFC vice president of regulatory affairs, Marc Ratner, oversaw the event. He reviewed the stoppage and disqualification, issuing the following statement on Thursday:

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Team Punishment photo via Sherdog Forums

For newer fans of MMA it probably should come as no surprise that two of the most charismatic fighters in the game, Jason “Mayhem” Miller and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson used to run with “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” Tito Ortiz as part of Team Punishment.  In this video I watched at CagePotato.com, Ortiz reminisces about Miller & Jackson’s early days and how he would give them advice on how to present themselves to the audience to become more memerable.

Pat Barry photo via UFC’s YouTube Channel

This Friday night January 20, 2012, UFC makes its debut on the FX network with UFC on FX 1: Guillard vs. Miller.  Melvin Guillard was on a 5-fight win streak before getting derailed at the hands of submission expert Joe Lauzon at UFC 136: Edgar vs. Maynard III.  Jim Miller was on a similar path with a 7-fight win streak before losing a unanimous decision to Benson Henderson at UFC Live: Hardy vs. Lytle.  Both fighters are looking to rebound in the main event for FX’s inaugural UFC event and get back into the Lightweight title mix.

UFC on FX: Guillard vs. Miller Preview

Going into his fight with Christian Morecraft on Friday, Pat Barry is coming off of a 2-fight losing streak.  First the devasating KO loss to Cheick Kongo and then a triangle submission loss to Stefan Struve.  Morecraft himself was last seen getting knocked out by TUF 10 Alumni Matt Mitrione at coincidentally the same card Barry was KO’d by Kongo.

Main Card

Jim Miller (20-3) -180 vs. Melvin Guillard (29-9-2) +150
Duane Ludwig (21-11) -130 vs. Josh Neer (32-10-1) EV
Mike Easton (11-1) -335 vs. Jared Papazian (14-6, 1 NC) +265
Pat Barry (6-4) -165 vs. Christian Morecraft (7-2) +135

Preliminary Card

Charlie Brenneman (14-3) -300 vs. Daniel Roberts (12-3) +230
Kamal Shalorus (7-1-2) -130 vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov (16-0) EV
Fabricio Camoes (13-6-1) -365 vs. Tom Hayden (8-0) +275
Jorge Rivera (19-9) +130 vs. Eric Schafer (12-6-2) -160
Nick Denis (10-2) -240 vs. Joseph Sandoval (6-1) +190
Daniel Pineda (14-7) -140 vs. Pat Schilling (5-0) +110

Mark Munoz photo via Sherdog.com / Photo by Dave Mandel

MMAFighting.com
By Mike Chiappetta, MMA Writer

For Mark Munoz, the goal remains the same. It’s just the timeline that needs to be altered.

On Thursday morning at 10 am PT, the UFC middleweight will go from surging contender to surgery center when he undergoes a procedure to remove floating bone chips in his right elbow. The surgery will be performed by Dr. Ronald Kvitne of the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic, the same medical group that recently performed UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre‘s successful ACL repair.

Munoz aims to scale the same heights that St-Pierre has reached in his career, namely as king of his division. It is a goal that seemed in his sights as recently as one week ago, when he was preparing to face Chael Sonnen at UFC at January 28′s UFC on FOX 2 for the right to face middleweight champ Anderson Silva.

Munoz told MMA Fighting that during a training session last Friday, he was engaged in a wrestling scramble when his elbow slipped out and he felt two pops. He sparred four more rounds that night, but by the end of his workout, he couldn’t even pick up his gym bag.

By the next day, he’d flown to Las Vegas, had his arm examined, and received a cortisone shot in hopes of going through with the fight, but it was not to be. The injury had rendered his arm nearly useless, and Munoz’s hopes of becoming No. 1 contender were forced to give way to the reality that he would instead need surgery.

Continue reading at MMAFighting.com…

Ryan Seacrest & Mark Cuban photo via AceShowbiz.com

Here’s an interesting note coming from the HDNet world.  Cynopsis.com reports that the popular hub for MMA programming, Mark Cuban‘s HDNet is undergoing a facelift.  Cuban, is teaming up with Creative Artists Agency (CAA), AEG Worldwide, one of the leading Sports and Entertainment companies around and media juggernaught Ryan Seacrest to form AXS TV (pronounced “access”).  Seacrest will be a part owner.

Not one of the elite who actually have HDNet?  Well lucky for you thanks to Cuban’s new partners a deal is in place to expand their distribution which would still inlcude MMA programming:

“HDNet is presently on DISH’s HD tier and as part of the new deal a standard-def version of the network will launch and be included in DISH’s America’s Top 120 channel package.  To date, HDNet reaches 27 million homes and the expanded DISH deal will take AXS TV’s distribution to more than 35 million.  Content on AXS TV will include lifestyle programming, as well as concerts, music festivals, red carpet premieres, award shows, parties, pop culture events and in-depth interviews.  Select HDNet programming including HDNet Fights, Inside MMA, Dan Rather Reports, Sunday concert series and more will continue to air on AXS TV.”

Karyn Bryant & Rampage Jackson via MMA Heat

When MMA Heat‘s Karyn Bryant and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson get together things can get a little out of control.  This time around though Rampage left the motorboats in the docks.  Bryant sits down with “Rampage” to discuss the recent announcement that his rival “King Mo” Lawal had tested positive for Performance Enhancing Drugs.  Also, they discuss his thoughts on his training partner Michael “The Count” Bisping replacing the injured Mark Munoz against the man UFC President Dana White thinks is the best talker since Muhammad Ali, Chael Sonnen.

UFC’s Rampage Jackson on King Mo’s Positive Drug Test + Bisping Facing Sonnen

Rener & Ryron Gracie via GracieBreakdown

In the latest edition of the Gracie Breakdown, sons of UFC creator Rorion Gracie, Ryron and Rener pick apart UFC 142: Aldo vs. Mendes.  First they show how Mike Massenzio could have avoided becoming another victim of Rousimar “Paul Harris” Palhares’ heek hook submission.  Then they focus on Vitor Belfort‘s rear-naked choke submission over Anthony “Rumble” Johnson.  They also discuss Jose Aldo‘s KO knee over Chad Mendes and discuss Brock Lesnar‘s loss to Alistair Overeem from UFC 141.

UFC 142: Aldo, Palhares, Belfort (Gracie Breakdown)

UFC President Dana White has just announced via Twitter the “The Filipino Wrecking Machine” Mark Munoz is injured and that Michael “The Count’ Bisping will replace him to face Chael Sonnen at UFC on FOX 2.   The evnet takes place next Saturday night for and will still be for number one contender spot in the Middleweight division.

by MMAjunkie.com Staff on Jan 17, 2012 at 2:20 pm ET

Zuffa is making it a bit more difficult to become a UFC or Strikeforce fighter.

Officials today announced that all potential UFC and Strikeforce fighters, including those who compete on “The Ultimate Fighter” reality series, must first pass a mandatory pre-contract screening for performance-enhancing drugs.

The policy has been put into immediate effect.

Once signed, fighters will undergo the normal event-related drug testing performed by state athletic commissions (or outside agencies Zuffa hires when no regulatory body is available in a specific region, such as Brazil and the U.K.).

“We’re committed to the health and safety of our athletes, and we take it very seriously,” UFC Chairman and CEO Lorenzo Fertitta stated “We already work closely with athletic commissions to protect our athletes, and now we’re taking it one step further. We’re going to test any potential UFC or Strikeforce fighter before finalizing their contract. This shows that we don’t want performance-enhancing drugs in our sport.”

Continue reading at MMAJunkie.com…

Fred Ettish vs. Johnny Rhodes at UFC 2

MMA filmmaker Bobby Razak is at it once again.  This time with the upcoming film “The History of Mixed Martial Arts.”  If his name doesn’t sound familiar you’ve likely seen his work.  If you’ve ever watched a MMA sponsor commercial from TapouT, Bad Boy or Hayabusa it’s probably Razak’s.  He’s been involved in the MMA landscape for quite some time and his previous film, the critically acclaimed film “Rites of Passage,” was even screened at the Sundance Fillm Festival.

The three previews of the upcoming “History of MMA” film come in the form of videos focusing on two of MMA’s lesser known legends of the sport and one of the greatest.

First Fred Ettish who participated at UFC 2 and for years has been mocked for being a “fetal fighter.”

History Of MMA: Fred Ettish

The other is former King of the Cage champion and UFC veteran Mike “The Joker” Guymon who toiled in the independent scene for years and contemplated suicide before finally being called up to the UFC in 2010.

History Of MMA: Michael “The Joker” Guymon

And finally a true legend in the sport former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, Strikeforce Middleweight Champion and current Strikeforce color commentator Frank Shamrock.

History Of MMA: Frank Shamrock