“Sou muito grato ao UFC. Lamento por não ter alcançado meus objetivos dentro da organização, sei que eu não cumpri suas expectativas. Pagaram-me muito bem. Eu realmente sinto muito sobre isso, tentei o meu melhor, eu era um profissional e fiz o meu melhor para me preparar para cada luta, mas depois od Grand Prix do Pride, para ser honesto, eu não tive a mesma motivação para seguir em frente”, disse Cro Cop.

“Tenho algumas propostas, mas primeiro quero estar com meu corpo saudável. Infelizmente, não posso mexer o braço até 20 de dezembro, mas meu plano é lutar em 2012, no dia 10 de março, na Arena Zangreb, contra algum lutador top do K-1. Esse será o melhor tratamento para todos os fãs de luta na Croácia. Quero dar aos meus fãs em Zagreb um grande espetáculo”, completou ele, em entrevista ao site Canal Fight.

E você leitor, acha que será somente uma luta de despedida ou Cro Cop ainda pode lutar bem?

“I’m very grateful to the UFC. I regret not having achieved my objectives in the promotion, and I know I didn’t meet expectations. They paid me very well. I’m really sorry about it; I tried my best, I was professional, and I did my best in preparing for the fight. But to be honest, after the Pride Grand Prix I didn’t have the motivation to continue,” says Cro Cop in the video below.

“I have a few offers to fight, but first I need to get completely healthy. Unfortunately, I can’t move my arm until December 20, but my plan is to fight in 2012 at Zagreb Arena on March 10, facing a top K-1 fighter. That will be the best cure for Croatia’s fight fans. I want to put on a show for my fans in Zagreb,” he added in the interview on Canal Fight website.

What about you, do you think it will be merely a farewell fight for Cro Cop, or could he be planning to keep going afterwards? Let us know what you think in the comments section below:

The "Spider" and Sonnen at pre-UFC 117 weigh-ins / Photo - Josh Hedges

Rumors of a rematch between current middleweight champion of the UFC Anderson Silva and his nemesis Chael Sonnen have been swirling ever since Sonnen’s victory over Brian Stann at UFC 136.

Just after UFC 137 this Saturday, GRACIEMAG reporter Nalty Jr. heard from a reliable source that, yes, it will happen.

In a recent interview on Brazilian TV show anchored by journalist Marilia Gabriela, Silva said he has no reason to offer Chael a rematch. However, ever since Brazilian TV network Globo – the biggest in the country – won its bid to broadcast the UFC and another installment of the event was confirmed for January 14 in Rio, a lot has been going on behind the scenes and pressure for the rematch to take place has been great.

Check back with GRACIEMAG.com for further chapters in the Silva-Sonnen saga.

Aranha na foto da pesagem contra Sonnen, antes do UFC 117. Foto - Josh Hedges

Os rumores da revanche entre o atual campeão peso médio Anderson Silva e o desafeto Chael Sonnen ganharam vida desde o triunfo do americano contra Brian Stann, no UFC 136.

Logo depois do UFC 137, neste sábado, em Las Vegas, o repórter da GRACIEMAG Nalty Jr. escutou de uma fonte confiável  que, sim, a luta vai acontecer.

Em entrevista recente no Brasil, no programa de TV da jornalista Marilia Gabriela, Silva disse não ter motivo para dar revanche a Chael. No entanto, desde a aquisição dos direitos de transmissão na TV aberta brasileira pela Globo – a maior emissora do país – e a confirmação de mais uma edição do Ultimate no Rio, no dia 14 de janeiro, muita coisa rola nos bastidores e a pressão é grande pela revanche.

Aguarde os próximos capítulos aqui no GRACIEMAG.com.

Diaz. Foto: UFC.

Era para Nick Diaz ter enfrentado Georges St-Pierre na luta deste sábado, no UFC 137, combate que valeria o cinturão da categoria meio-médio. No entanto, depois de o polêmico Diaz não ter comparecido numa das coletivas de imprensa que antecediam o desafio, o adversário do americano passou a ser BJ Penn. Para completar, GSP se contundiu e não pode nem participar do evento. Aliás, situação que Diaz fez questão de comentar, logo após o triunfo contra Penn:

“Não acredito que GSP está machucado, acho que ele está com medo”, disparou contra o canadense, presente na plateia do Mandalay Bay.

Na coletiva depois dos combates, o presidente do UFC, Dana White, anunciou que Diaz finalmente vai ter a chance pelo título. O confronto contra GSP deve acontecer no dia 4 de fevereiro, no UFC do fim de semana do Super Bowl,em Las Vegas.

“Eu tenho que ser o cara mau. Você aponta o dedo e me faz ser o cara mau. Eu sou o cara mau agora, e agora eu consegui uma luta”, declarou Diaz.

Atual campeão, St-Pierre também falou no Mandalay Bay: “Isso é o que eu queria desde o início. Vamos fazer o que deveria ter sido feito originalmente. Eu sempre quis esta luta, agora eu a quero ainda mais. Eu mal posso esperar para o fim de semana do Super Bowl”, respondeu.

Se a vitória sobre BJ foi um bom cartão de apresentação para St-Pierre, Diaz garante que vem muito melhor.

“Não estou feliz pela minha performance de uma forma geral. Não estava 100% hoje. Me senti bem, mas para esta luta passei por muita coisa difícil.”

Enfim, agora é esperar fevereiro e ver com Nick vai se portar contra o então imbatível GSP. Até o Super Bowl!

Bj vs Diaz. Foto: UFC.

O UFC 137 trouxe como grande atração a luta entre Nick Diaz e BJ Penn. Com a vitória de Diaz, o ex-campeão de duas categorias de peso do UFC BJ deve pendurar as luvas. Confira então as últimas imagens do havaiano no octagon, nas fotos do UFC:

[flickr set=72157627886368351]

Depois da polêmica na pesagem, Diaz e BJ fazem as pazes nos bastidores, após a luta. Foto: Divulgação.

O UFC 137, neste sábado, em Las Vegas, trouxe um confronto de primeira entre Nick Diaz e o ex-campeão BJ Penn. A luta, movimentada do início ao fim e vencida por Diaz, mereceu o bônus de melhor combate da noite, no valor de 75 mil dólares para cada lutador.

A melhor finalização foi para o cowboy Donald Cerrone, um mata-leão que garantiu a sexta vitória seguida do lutador. Já o prêmio de nocaute ficou com Bart Palaszewski, contra Tyson Griffin.

Diaz / Photo: UFC

Nick Diaz was supposed to have faced Georges St-Pierre in this Saturday’s UFC 137 headliner, fighting for the welterweight belt. However, after the controversy-plagued Diaz failed to appear at the pre-event promotional press conferences, he was plucked from the matchup and put up against BJ Penn. Furthermore, GSP was injured and unable to make it to fight in the main event against replacement Carlos Condit. And Diaz made a point of bringing up the withdrawal, after his triumph over Penn:

“I don’t believe GSP is hurt, I think he’s scared,” he said to his would-be opponent, who was sitting in the front row.

At the post-event presser, UFC president Dana White announced that Diaz would finally get his shot at the title. The showdown with GSP should happen on February 4 at the UFC Superbowl weekend event in Las Vegas.

“I have to be the bad guy. You point your finger at me and make me the bad guy. Now I’m the bad guy, and now I managed to get the fight,” declared Diaz.

Current champ St-Pierre too spoke at the Mandalay Bay: “This is what I wanted since the beginning. We’re going to do what would should have done originally. I always wanted this fight and now I want it even more. I can’t wait till Superbown weekend,” he responded.

If the win over BJ is a good letter of introduction for St-Pierre, Diaz guarantees he’ll be even better next time around.

“I’m not happy with my performance overall. I wasn’t 100% today. I felt fine, but I went through a lot of rough spots in this fight.”

So now we’ll all just have to wait to see how Nick does in February against the seemingly unbeatable GSP. Until the Superbowl!

After a heated moment during weigh-ins and a brutal standup war, Diaz and BJ bury the hatchet and lick their wounds. Publicity photo.

This Saturday at UFC 137 in Las Vegas served up a first-rate bout of MMA between Nick Diaz and former champion BJ Penn. The fight, lively from start to finish and won by Diaz, rightfully earned the two warriors the 75,000-dollar fight of the night bonus.

Submission of the night honors went to Donald Cerrone for the rear-naked choke that earned him his sixth win in a row. Now the best knockout prize went to Bart Palaszewski for dropping Tyson Griffin in the first round.

Nick Diaz in photo by Esther Lin

Las Vegas hosted the 137th installment of The Ultimate Fighting Championship this Saturday. And if most of the bouts didn’t do much to stir the crowd, the main event provided their fair share of emotion.

The Cesar Gracie-trained Nick Diaz only needed to fall back on his Jiu-Jitsu skills in defending a first-round back mount from BJ Penn. The fiesty Diaz went on to dominate the match by outboxing Penn, who wouldn’t make things easy on him. The three rounds played out almost entirely on the feet, with Nick getting better of the firefight and taking the unanimous decision when it was over. To boot, Diaz called out welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre, who would have headlined the event, but had to pull out due to injury.

“I don’t believe GSP is hurt, I think he’s scared,” Diaz said, taunting the champion, who watched on from the front row.

When it came time for BJ to make his statement, the forlorn fighter announced the bout had been his last.

MMA legend Mirko Cro Cop took on Roy Nelson, and it may very well have been his last fight as well. The Croatian’s performance was reminiscent of the days of Pride FC, when he struck fear in the hearts of his opponents with his crisp striking and devastating high kicks. Against the slimmed-down version of Nelson this Saturday, he managed to land a solid combination of strikes that battered Nelson and had his fans hoping the knockout was nigh. But Cro Cop was unable to contain Nelson’s momentum thereafter, and succumbed to a rear-baked choke in the third round.

Cheick Kongo and Matt Mitrione had one of the weaker encounters of the event. The Frenchman used his reach advantage to land strikes through Mitrione’s spacious guard. Landing the better strikes and managing a third-round takedown and ground-and-pound, Kongo was awarded the unanimous decision.

In the prelims, Donald Cerrone needed just over two minutes to impose his will, mercilessly beating Dennis Siver and following up on a high kick by taking back mount and finishing with a choke. Cerrone thus notched his sixth back-to-back win.

Check out the full results:

UFC 137
Las Vegas, USA
October 29, 2011

Nick Diaz defeated BJ Penn via unanimous decision;
Cheick Kongo defeated Matt Mitrione via unanimous decision;
Roy Nelson defeated Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic via TKO in R3;
Scott Jorgensen defeated Jeff Curran via unanimous decision;
Hatsu Hioki defeated George Roop via split decision;
Donald Cerrone submitted Dennis Siver via rear-naked choke in R1;
Bart Palaszewski knocked out Tyson Griffin in R1;
Brandon Vera defeated Eliot Marshall via unanimous decision;
Ramsey Nijem defeated Danny Downes via unanimous decision;
Francis Carmont defeated Chris Camozzi via unanimous decision;
Clifford Starks defeated Dustin Jacoby via unanimous decision.