UFC Fight Night 26
Shogun vs. Sonnen
August 17, 2013
TD Garden
Boston, Massachusetts

Main Card:
Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (21-7) vs. Chael Sonnen (27-13-1)
Alistair Overeem (36-12-1) vs. Travis Browne (14-1-1)
Urijah Faber (28-6) vs. Yuri Alcantara (28-4)
Matt Brown (17-11) vs. Mike Pyle (25-8-1)
Uriah Hall (7-3) vs. John Howard (20-8)
Joe Lauzon (22-8) vs. Michael Johnson (12-8)

Prelims:
Brad Pickett (23-7) vs. Michael McDonald (15-2)
Conor McGregor (13-2) vs. Max Holloway (7-2)
Mike Brown (26-8) vs. Steven Siler (22-10)
Diego Brandao (17-8) vs. Daniel Pineda (18-9)

Prelims on Facebook:
Manny Gamburyan (12-7) vs. Cole Miller (19-7)
Cody Donovan (8-2) vs. Ovince St. Preux (13-5)
Ramsey Nijem (8-3) vs. James Vick (4-0)

UFC on Fox Sports 1
TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
17 de agosto de 2013

Mauricio Shogun x Chael Sonnen
Alistair Overeem x Travis Browne
Urijah Faber x Iuri Alcantara
Matt Brown x Mike Pyle
Uriah Hall x John Howard
Joe Lauzon x Michael Johnson

Card preliminar

Brad Pickett x Michael McDonald
Conor McGregor x Max Holloway
Mike Brown x Steven Siler
Diego Brandao x Daniel Pineda
Manvel Gamburyan x Cole Miller
Cody Donovan x Ovince St-Preux
Ramsey Nijem x James Vick

Rafael dos Anjos is a prideful UFC fighter. The Brazilian lightweight holds his team and family in the highest regards and counts on them to climb the ranks of the UFC’s 155-pound division.

When he faces Donald Cerrone at UFC on Fox Sports 1 #2 in Indianapolis, dos Anjos will have another chance to take a step towards lightweight stardom. If he gets past Cerrone, then he’ll get closer to competing for UFC gold and accomplishing the goal he most desires: representing Brazil as UFC lightweight champion.

Check out excerpts from GRACIEMAG.com’s exclusive interview with Rafael dos Anjos:

GRACIEMAG: Have you started camp for the Cerrone fight and how is it going?

RAFAEL DOS ANJOS: Yeah, I don’t stop fighting. I’m always training. After my last fight, I just took 10 days off, but I’ve been training since.

When you got the call about the fight, what went through your mind? Did you say ‘this will shoot me up the rankings” or do you not really care about that kind of thing?

When I got this call, I said, ‘this is a good fight for me.’ He’s higher than me in the rankings. If I beat him, I’m going to be in a good place in the rankings. But I’m not thinking about that. Right now I’m just thinking I have to be in good shape, go there and do my job.

Looking at the UFC rankings, you’re now in the top 10. If you continue your win streak, it means that a title shot may be relatively close. What does that mean to you?

It means a lot. It’s my dream to become the first Brazilian lightweight champion. In Brazil, we’ve never had a chance to hold the belt. This is motivation and that’s my goal and I’m going to go hard for that.

Cerrone is a guy that’s been around for a long time, made a lot of waves from his time in the WEC to now. How do you see yourself doing in a fight with him and where do you see an advantage for yourself?

He’s a complete fighter that has a good Jiu-Jitsu game, and one of those guys that’s good standing up. But man, I think my Jiu-Jitsu – I think I’m more prepared for this fight. I’ve been training hard with the best partners, the best coach … I’m real motivated for this fight and I will do my best.

How important is it for you to have a strong camp/team like the one you have at Kings MMA?

Actually, it’s not just a camp; it’s more like a family over there. We have a strong team and everybody wants to help each other. No one wants to hurt each other. You go to other places and people just want to hurt people. You go to [Kings MMA] and everybody cares about their partners. We have a strong family and strong team. That, I think, is the most important.

How big of an accomplishment would it be to represent Brazil as a UFC champion?

I always say that to become a champion is not the [hardest] part. The worst is keeping the belt … It’s harder to hold the belt. To hold that belt … and represent my team, my family, that means a lot to me.

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Pitbull terá que esperar mais um pouco para voltar ao UFC. Foto: Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Mais um retorno ao UFC foi suprimido por conta de lesão. Nesta quarta-feira, dia 3 de julho, o UFC comunicou que o brasileiro Thiago “Pitbull” Alves havia sofrido nova lesão, e que o mesmo não estaria apto a lutar no UFC on Fox Sports 1.

Thiago Alves (19v, 9d) está sem lutar desde março de 2012, quando foi finalizado por Martin Kampmann. Após o revés, Pitbull estava marcado para lutar no UFC 149, deixando o card também por conta de lesão.

No lugar de Thiago,  entra o americano Mike Pyle, para enfrentar Matt Brown na terceira luta do card principal desta edição do UFC, realizada em Boston, no dia 17 de agosto. Confira como fica o card:

UFC on Fox Sports 1 : 1
TD Garden, Boston, EUA
17 de agosto de 2013

Mauricio Rua x Chael Sonnen
Alistair Overeem x Travis Browne
Urijah Faber x Yuri Alcantara
Matt Brown x Mike Pyle
Uriah Hall x Josh Samman
Joe Lauzon x Michael Johnson

Card preliminar

Brad Pickett x Michael McDonald
Andy Ogle x Conor McGregor
Mike Brown x Steven Siler
Diego Brandão x Daniel Pineda

Card preliminar (Facebook)

Manvel Gamburyan x Cole Miller
Cody Donovan x Ovince St. Preux
Ramsey Nijem x James Vick

The UFC’s return to Boston is no longer in jeopardy.

According to UFC President Dana White, company officials have “straightened out” issues regarding foreign-born fighters without Social Security numbers being unable to compete on the Aug. 17 UFC on Fox Sports 1 card.

The fight promoter spoke with BostonHerald.com in a story published today, Sunday, and ensured that the Massachusetts state law disallowing fighters without proper documentation from licensure is no longer a problem.

“The fights will happen,” White told the newspaper’s website. “We ended up getting everything straightened out.”

As reported by GRACIEMAG.com, the UFC initially attempted overcoming this hurdle by asking the state’s Department of Public Safety (DPS), the government body overseeing the event, by asking for a one-time exception to the law. Terrell Harris, a spokesman for the DPS, told the Herald that no such exception would be given, and that the UFC is bound to the same rules as any other promotion looking to feature MMA contests in the state.

“This law has been in existence since we legalized mixed martial arts in the commonwealth of Massachusetts,” Harris said weeks prior. “It’s been brought to the attention of the UFC more than a few times since we legalized the fighting here. But they’ve chosen basically to ignore the law and hope that they could skirt it somehow.”

Due to the law, the UFC would have to consider alternative locations to host the card if steps to securing the necessary documents for their fighters weren’t taken. White, however, said his company has faced problems like this in the past. Although they considered moving the card’s location, White said, the UFC’s immigration department made it so they wouldn’t have to do such a thing.

“When that starts happening, it’s like ‘Yeah, maybe we can’t do the fight here,’” White said. “But, you know, we figured it out.”

UFC on Fox Sports 1 #1 takes place at Boston’s TD Garden, and features a main event between Brazil’s Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Chael Sonnen.

Glover Teixeira (pictured applying submission) will face Ryan Bader in Brazil. Photo via UFC.

Two Brazilians are all the talk since entering the UFC, and now they have more fights coming up.

Glover Teixeira will face Ryan Bader, and Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza will fight Yushin Okami at UFC on Fox Sports 1 #3 in Belo Horizonte on Sept. 4, according to a report from Portal do Vale Tudo.

Teixeira won MMA fans with four straight wins in the organization, which have earned him No. 3 on the UFC light heavyweight rankings. Jacare, a former Strikeforce middleweight champion, debuted doing what his fans are accustomed to: Finishing with a submission.

Teixeira should have faced Bader at UFC 160 last May, but an injury took the American off the card. He was replaced by James Te-Huna, which resulted in the Brazilian getting the submission win, as well as a Submission of the Night bonus.

As reported by GRACIEMAG.com last month, Jacare and Okami will face off in a pivotal middleweight match-up. Currently, the Japanese fighter is third in the UFC middleweight rankings, behind only Chris Weidman and Vitor Belfort. The fight will have heavy influence on who is next to be in the mix for the 185-pound title.

The UFC is yet to confirm the match-ups, but announcements are expected to happen soon.

Continue following the GRACIEMAG.com for updates about UFC on Fox Sports 1 # 3.

Miami Heat forward LeBron James is Chael Sonnen’s new target. Photo: Keith Alison

Yes, we know 90 percent of 36-year-old Chael Sonnen’s statements are made to get him some publicity.

But we admit we got reeled in by him again. After all, this time he’s shooting at someone totally unexpected. Not an MMA athlete at all, but instead the current king of basketball.

Sonnen, who has a fight vs. Mauricio Shogun scheduled for August 17, now lashes out at LeBron James, the Miami Heat star and MVP of the finals.

The American wrestler told Bleacher Report where the grudge comes from, calling James a dork. “Let me tell you a story about LeBron. He asked the UFC for tickets for my fight against Anderson Silva. We sit the guy front-row, and all through the night he snubs our fans. He’s a guest in our house and he refuses to sign any autographs or take any pictures unless your cup size was later in the alphabet than he was able to learn,” said Sonnen, who even accuses James of coming on to his wife. “I had a UFC employee tell me he saw a mother wheel her handicapped child up to him to get a picture. LeBron was walking towards them. When he
reached the kid, the mother stopped the wheelchair. LeBron took the wheelchair, wheeled it out of the way and kept walking.”

“I’d like to slap the divots right off his face,” he provoked.

What do you think, reader? Is Sonnen a raving lunatic, or does he have a case here in calling out LeBron?

UFC on Fox Sports 1
TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
August 17, 2013

Mauricio Rua vs.Chael Sonnen
Alistair Overeem vs. Travis Browne
Urijah Faber vs. Yuri Alcantara
Matt Brown vs. Thiago Alves
Uriah Hall vs. Nick Ring
Joe Lauzon vs. Michael Johnson

Undercard

Brad Pickett vs. Michael McDonald
Andy Ogle vs. Conor McGregor
Mike Brown vs. Akira Corassani
Diego Brandão vs. Daniel Pineda

Undercard (Facebook)

Manvel Gamburyan vs. Cole Miller
Cody Donovan vs. Ovince St. Preux
Ramsey Nijem vs. James Vick

Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, who is scheduled to fight Chael Sonnen at UFC on Fox Sports 1 #1, could be one of the foreign fighters affected by Massachusetts law if UFC officials find a resolution. (Getty Images)

UFC on Fox Sports 1 #1 could be in jeopardy due to a Massachusetts state law that prevents fighters without Social Security numbers from obtaining licenses to fight, according to a report on Tuesday from the Boston Herald.

The law would prevent a number of fighters on the card, for example, main event participant Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, from being able to compete in the Octagon in Boston’s TD Garden on Aug. 17.

“This law has been in existence since we legalized mixed martial arts in the commonwealth of Massachusetts,” Terrell Harris, a spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety, told the newspaper. “It’s been brought to the attention of the UFC more than a few times since we legalized the fighting here. But they’ve chosen basically to ignore the law and hope that they could skirt it somehow.”

The report added that UFC officials approached the Department of Public Safety to make a one-time exception and allow fighters on the August card to compete with or without Social Security numbers, but the governing body told the MMA promotion that state law prohibits licensure to fighters without the proper documentation.

“They’ve approached us and asked us if we could make exceptions to the law for them,” Harris said. “But the law is the law. The law doesn’t allow us to make exceptions.”

Harris added that the Social Security Administration can issue a temporary work visa to fighters that are not American citizens, but that it’s up to the UFC to “do their due diligence.”

GRACIEMAG.com attempted contacting UFC officials about the issue, but an email requesting comment was not returned at the time of this publication.

Shogun is currently scheduled to face Chael Sonnen in the card’s featured bout, while Alistair Overeem, another foreign-born fighter, is tabbed to fight Travis Browne in the co-main event.

UPDATE: 4:16 p.m. PT

The UFC issued a statement Thursday afternoon through their website, addressing questions about the licensure of fighters without Social Security numbers.

“There were some questions that surfaced regarding licensing requirements for mixed martial artists and boxers to have social security numbers in order to compete in the state of Massachusetts,” the statement read. “Last week, these requirements were brought to UFC’s attention and we immediately began working to ensure that all athletes affected by this are in full compliance. We are continuing to work on this and anticipate a positive outcome.”

Tickets for the event went on sale today, Tuesday, according to a press release received by GRACIEMAG.com.

O mês de junho começou movimentado para os brasileiros do UFC.

O mês de junho foi de definições no UFC, principalmente para o mês de agosto. Só no início desta semana, 10 lutadores brasileiros do UFC foram designados a entrar no octagon com adversários e datas de eventos definidos.

Os nomes e eventos em questão nós vemos a seguir, na lista que GRACIEMAG compilou para você, leitor fã de MMA e Jiu-Jitsu. Confira:

UFC 163 (UFC Rio4) – 3 de agosto

Em sua quarta edição na cidade maravilhosa, considerada por muitos como o berço do MMA, o UFC 163, que tem no evento principal o aguardado embate entre José Aldo e Anthony Pettis, teve também nesta semana a definição do seu coevento. Lyoto Machida, o feroz carateca do Pará terá pela frente o “caçador de brasileiros” Phil Davis, que em suas três últimas vitórias foi algoz de três brazucas.

Também para o UFC Rio 4 tivemos o anúncio de dois cascas-grossas do Jiu-Jitsu: Rani Yahya, faixa-preta de segundo grau, terá mais uma luta para tentar acrescer sua contagem de finalizações, com 15 até o momento, ao encarar Josh Clopton, e Robert Drysdale, que contou a GRACIEMAG no Mundial de Jiu-Jitsu que já estava com o “pé dentro” foi confirmado para enfrentar o também brazuca Ednaldo Lula.

Além disso, a edição carioca do UFC chega para fazer história, teremos o primeiro embate feminino do UFC em terras brasileiras, com a soteropolitana Amanda Nunes em ação contra Sheila Gaff.

Outro brasileiro no card seria o atleta do “TUF Brasil 2” Viscardi Andrade, que entraria no cage para enfrentar Bristol Marunde. O informação, ainda não oficial, é do Combate.com.

 UFC on Fox Sports 1 – 17 de agosto

O evento em questão, que marca a estreia da organização maior do MMA em parceria com a Fox Sports, fazendo o primeiro card com o nome do canal. O card, que terá lutas como Overeem vs Browne e o fenômeno do “TUF 17”, Uriah Hall, teve sua luta principal definida também nesta semana. Shogun vs Sonnen, que estava marcado para ser realizado no UFC 161, foi cancelado pois o falastrão Chael não conseguiu um visto para o Canadá a tempo. Com isso, a luta foi empurrada para frente, e será o último embate do dia 17 de agosto.

Outra luta bastante aguardada será Iuri Marajó contra Urijah Faber. O marajoara, que busca redenção após o no constes contra Pedro Nobre, terá a chance de mostrar que está bem na categoria ao enfrentar aquele que está sempre entre os três melhores pesos-galo do UFC.

Além de Shogun e Iuri,  Diego Brandão também atua na noite de 17 de agosto. O vencedor do “TUF 14” terá pela frente o versátil finalizador Daniel Pineda.

UFC on Fox Sports 1 – 28 de agosto

Não, amigo leitor. O que vos escreve não errou o nome do evento no subtítulo. O UFC on Fox Sports 1 será dividido em duas etapas, em eventos distintos. O primeiro no sábado, dia 17 e o seguinte na quarta-feira, dia 28, sendo mais um a ocorrer fora do padrão do Ultimate. O card, encabeçado por Condit vs Kampmann tem, até agora, dois brasileiros confirmados: o militar do Bope de Brasília, Paulo Thiago, enfrentando o vencedor do “TUF 17” Kelvin Gastelum, e o faixa-preta Rafael dos Anjos, que terá pela frente o colecionador de bônus Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone, ao tentar somar mais uma vitória ao seu retrospecto de quatro sucessos consecutivos.

E você, leitor, qual desses embates foi o que você mais gostou? Comente conosco!

It has become increasingly easy for Chael Sonnen to acquire fights on the basis of provocation. The victim this time is “The Axe Murderer” Wanderlei Silva, who has said in the past that he does not have much patience for the “loudmouth.”

Wanting to promote a fight against the Brazilian, Sonnen went back to using his Twitter to subpoena Silva and this time gave a deadline for accepting a fight.

With a background screen already showing a possible sign of the scheduled match-up between them, Sonnen posted the following:

Wand- you have 24 hours to accept. If you do, I will donate 10% of my purse to help schools in your hometown of Curitiba .. I mean, VEGAS.

— chael sonnen (@sonnench) May 9, 2013

This is a typical approach for Sonnen, who often picks fights with Brazilian fighters who take up residence in the United States.

Dana White, presidente do UFC. Foto: Josh Hedges/Zuffa LCC via Getty Images

O presidente do UFC, Dana White, anunciou a volta da maior organização do mundo à cidade de Boston, capital de Massachusetts, nos EUA. A edição será a estreia do UFC on Fox Sports, e será realizada no dia 17 de agosto deste ano.

“Nós finalmente estaremos de volta a Boston no TD Garden no dia 17 de gosto para o do UFC on Fox Sports 1”, disse White por meio de sua conta no Twitter.

Nenhuma luta foi confirmada para o evento, apesar do manda-chuva ter dito que será “um card alucinante”.

A última vez que o UFC realizou um evento em Boston foi em agosto de 2010. No evento, o de número 118 do Ultimate, Frankie Edgar, na época campeão categoria dos leves, defendia seu cinturão na revanche contra BJ Penn, além de Randy Couture, atleta integrante do Hall da fama do UFC, vencendo com facilidade o campeão de boxe James Toney.

UFC President Dana White. Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

The UFC’s partnership with Fox is taking them back to Boston.

UFC President Dana White announced on Friday that his company will host a card on the broadcast partner’s new channel, Fox Sports 1, on Aug. 17.

“We are finally going back to Boston at the TD Garden on Aug. 17 for the launch of FOX Sports 1,” White posted on Twitter.

No fights have been announced for the card, but White added that UFC fans can expect something many will enjoy.

“We are bringing a sick card,” he exclaimed.

The UFC last visited Boston for UFC 118 in August 2010, a card that featured then-lightweight champion Frankie Edgar winning a rematch with B.J. Penn, as well Randy Couture making quick work of former boxing champion James Toney.

The TD Garden is a 19,600-seat arena, according to the venue’s website, and hosts the NBA’s Boston Celtics and NHL’s Boston Bruins.

GracieMag.com will have updates on who will fight on the inaugural UFC on Fox Sports 1 card as more information becomes available.