MMA Conor McGregor's Coach, John Kavanagh, Comments on Next Fight and UFC 200 | Bleacher Report MMA LIFE SHOP

The most talked about free agent signing was finally completed yesterday as the UFC inked former Pride Champion Wanderlei Silva to a contract. Silva wasted no time sending a message to his fellow fighters, ?I want to issue a warning to the other fighters out there: you need to train hard, because ?The Axe Murderer? is here.?



Silva recently moved to the States and landed in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he looks to resume his MMA career with Extreme Couture, the new training facility that current UFC Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture opened to help MMA fighters perfect their craft.







The initial report was that Silva was there strictly to assist Couture prepare for his upcoming bout with Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC 74. However, the more time that Silva trained there the more validity was given to the rumor that Silva had a falling out with Chute Boxe and may be leaving the team that he not only trained with during the most successful years of his career, but helped build as well.



Regardless of where he trains out of, Silvia made it perfectly clear on Friday what his intentions are as he returns to the Octagon, "Many fighters have a dream of fighting for the UFC, and as a champion for six years in Japan my dream has always been to have the UFC belt," Silva stated. "Today, I'm one step closer to this goal."



But how does his new goal affect his relationship with current Top Ranked LHW, and former Chute Boxe training partner, Mauricio Shogun Rua? For years, the two had a mutual understanding that they would never fight each other not only because they trained together, but also the fact the Silva took Shogun under his wing. Now that they are no longer training partners, representing the same gym, it will be interesting to see how their relationship is affected by Silva?s current aspirations.



For over the past two years, it was strongly felt amongst the MMA community that, even though he didn?t own a belt, Shogun was the best 205lb. fighter in the world. Chuck Liddell monopolized the UFC belt and solidified himself atop the Light Heavyweight rankings. During this same time period Shogun was under contract with Pride FC, and since Silva owned the belt there, Shogun would never get an opportunity to challenge for a title.



Understanding this dilemma, Shogun decided to make the move to the UFC where is scheduled to fight Forrest Griffin at UFC 76. Hoping to finally get his day in the sun, seeing as how it is long overdue, has Silvia thrown a wrench into his old training partner?s plans?



Based off of MMAWeekly?s Light Heavyweight Rankings, the UFC current have the top five fighters in the world under contract, including seven of the top ten. With all this talent at his disposal, will UFC President Dana White eventually look to pit former training brothers against one another? Will they agree to face each other? If so, this fight would change the entire dynamic within the LHW division; the entire weight class is fair game.



White knows that the possibilities, and the high quality of fights are endless ?We got him now. Big fights coming baby, big fights, ?he enthusiastically stated after signing Silva.



Silva knows that expectations are high, and he is not running away from them. White said that Silva, ?grabbed my arm and looked me in the eyes like one of his pre-fight staredowns and he said ?I?m gonna fight so good for you, you?re gonna see the best fights ever from Wanderlei Silva.??



Indeed, The Axe Murderer is here, but will he be seeing Shogun during his stay?

MMA Directv Bursts Ufc's Bubble? MMA LIFE SHOP

There?s an interesting story brewing on the Internet and we wanted to bring that to you guys. Apparently DirecTV?s website for the UFC Fight Pack leaked the above image announcing that Chuck Liddell (20-5-0) would be facing Wanderlei Silva (31-7-1) in December. The image has now been taken down off the website, but UFC 79 is still part of the Fight Pack.



The rumor around the UFC is that Wanderlei Silva will be in attendance this Saturday at UFC 77 in Cincinnati, Ohio to officially announce his next fight. Both camps have already verbally agreed to the fight in December, but now there are reports that the fight may be pushed back to February of 2008.







Hopefully fight fans will get to see the fight sooner rather than later because we?ve all seen this before with these two guys. It always seems like something gets in the way and prevents it from ever happening. We?ll have more on this as it comes in.



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Don't forget to check out the special edition of the 5thRound Beat Down Radio Show this coming Saturday (October 20th) at 10PM PT after UFC 77! If you want to call in, the phone number is (646) 716-9824.

MMA Aftermath Of Being Undisputed MMA LIFE SHOP

Quinton ?Rampage? Jackson left no doubt about who?s the undisputed Light Heavyweight champion of the world. He out-pointed ?Dangerous? Dan Henderson who himself looked very impressive, but just couldn?t get the fight to go his way. I do believe that Henderson will stay at 205 pounds and be a top 5 fighter, and will eventually get a rematch with Jackson. The aforementioned Jackson must now wait for the winner for the Mauricio ?Shogun? Rua fight against Forrest Griffin. If ?Shogun? is victorious as many of us expect, then he?ll be the no-brainer #1 contender for the undisputed champion.



Forrest Griffin will definitely prove to be a game opponent for Rua, and with the recent unexpected outcomes in MMA you never really know what will happen. Assuming though that Rua gets past Griffin, the potential #1 vs. #2 Light Heavyweight bout should take place at the first event of the New Year if both fighters are physically cleared to fight. These are dangerous times for Jackson though, as his new found popularity is going to be a distraction as his trainer Juanito has already mentioned that MTV and several other networks are pitching reality shows at the flamboyant champ.







As we saw with Chuck Liddell, when you have distractions it?s easy to lose focus and forget about what got you to the show. Liddell?s bout on a morning show where he looked like he was drunk was followed up by rumors of excessive partying in the week leading up to his rematch with ?Rampage? Jackson may have cost him his belt. Nobody is exempt from having the lights be a little too bright for their own good.



The only thing that is going to be clear though is that fans are foaming at the mouth to see a rematch between Brazil?s Mauricio ?Shogun? Rua and Quinton ?Rampage? Jackson. There?s no limit to the amount of hype that would be surrounding that fight, the first hurdle has already past, no we?ll have to wait until September 22nd on Pay-Per-View from the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.

MMA Conor McGregor Releases Statement On Retirement | SevereMMA.com - UFC, Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), Irish MMA MMA LIFE SHOP

Yoga is an ancient Indian practice, built for meditation and revered for it's effect on the human body. Martial arts are a form of precise fighting, originating in the East and spreading world wide as far as it could have. So, how then, could the two be combined to make a complete art? What are the benefits behind this combination and what styles of martial arts is it used for, if any? The benefits are many - since martial arts require discipline of the body and yoga teaches this, you have more control and flexibility. People that practice muay thai and Brazilian jiujitsu benefit most from using yoga because of their dependency on grappling and ground fighting, and also breathing control. Chuck Liddell, Ken Shamrock, Diego Sanchez has even been known to endorse, knowing the benefits of yoga and making the most of it.

Yoga is a series of mental and physical disciplines and is associated with meditative practice. The goal of which, of course, is to lead the practitioner to spiritual enlightenment, but it also has it's effects on the body as well. With the practice of yoga comes increased flexibility, intense bodily control, breathing control, and mental clarity - all of which are important to practicing martial arts, because you are teaching your body these things as well, and this is one of the reasons that yoga and martial arts go hand in hand, especially to those who practice MMA, muay thai, or Brazilian Jiujitsu.

Muay Thai one martial art that relies on bodily control. Most of the moves are dependent on the gyration of the hips to drive the blows home to their destination - even on simple kicks and punches. It uses eight points of contact to strike and requires excellent balance, extreme concentration and fast reflexes - all of which can be achieved and strengthened by using yoga.

Brazilian Jiujitsu is another form of martial arts that is reliant on holds and grappling and there is a lot of ground rolling as well. The holds and grappling must be tight enough for the opponent not to wriggle free, and they must be held and concentrated upon for them to work properly. This is something that yoga will also teach us. It can, in fact, improve function so much that prize fighters often use yoga and endorse it as a tool that has helped them win.

Fighters such as Diego Sanchez have proudly boasted that yoga has helped his concentration and has worked to improve his mind. He claims that this form of meditation, along with physical drills is the best way to train. Other fighters agree. Ken Shamrock and Chuck Liddell are two of the most famous mixed martial artists and they also advocate yoga as a key to their training. Shamrock even has his own routine of yoga combined with mixed martial arts to train himself with the utmost discipline and readiness. All of them agree, and many physical trainers and other experts say that yoga is good practice for any sport, but especially mixed martial arts.

MMA ?hollywood? To Put On A Show MMA LIFE SHOP

It has taken nearly nine years, two Pride title belts and a 22-5 record to bring Dan ?Hollywood? Henderson to get back into the UFC. Henderson has already become the only fighter in MMA history to simultaneously hold two title belts in different weight classes, and at UFC 75 will again look to write a new page in the record books by unifying title belts. If Henderson is able to beat Quinton ?Rampage? Jackson for the UFC Light Heavyweight belt, he will be the first ever to become the Undisputed World Light Heavyweight Champion.



Although Henderson has accomplished so much in his MMA career, including his most impressive victory over Wanderlei Silva in his last fight, many people are counting him out against Jackson.







"People may think I'm the underdog because they don't know me. But in my mind I'm not the underdog," said Henderson. "They will definitely know who I am after this fight, especially after I beat the hell out of Quinton."



Henderson comes from a decorated wrestling background, and has deadly knockout power, especially with his left hand, just ask Silva. But in comparison to the reigning UFC Champ, Henderson feels that he has advantages across the board.



"I've got a little bit better grappling. I'm a little smarter when I'm out there," Henderson said. "I don't make as many mistakes. He's athletic, but so am I. I feel I have the bigger heart ... I don't have any quit in me."



Henderson feels that although Jackson is a talented fighter, he tends to take too many chances and is rather unpredictable with his striking and ground game.



"Quinton is more skilled and technical as a striker than Silva," Henderson states. "Quinton's athleticism and explosiveness gets him out of a lot of those mistakes that he makes. He gets caught in triangles and arm-bars and powers out of a lot of stuff that a lot of people don't when they get caught in those positions."



Look for Henderson to try and exploit Jackson?s mistakes utilizing his superior ground game to possibly squeak out a decision. Out of Henderson?s twenty-two victories, eleven of them have been left at the hands of the judges.



However, don?t let that number fool you. As most MMA fighters with strong wrestling backgrounds, they do look to win most of their matches by decision. Henderson is a different bread in a sense that ten of his victories have come in explosive (T)KO fashion.



So Henderson feels that he is ready for anything, and he hopes that the current UFC Champ is too.



"Quinton is going to try to take me down a little more than Silva. He's going to try to knock me out just like Wanderlei did," said Henderson, who's devised a way to counter Jackson's solid striking ability. "I've been working on my left hand a little bit more."



Whether this fight is decided on their backs or their feet, it is guaranteed to be an exciting show. Come September 8th, the lights will be on, the curtain will be drawn and the cameras will be rolling as these fighters look to make history.