Rafael dos Anjos Discusses What Led to George Sotiropoulos Knockout

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LAS VEGAS -- MMA Fighting spoke Rafael dos Anjos about his UFC 132 knockout win against George Sotiropoulos, how he developed his improved striking, the finish and overcoming the jaw injury he suffered last year.

 

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Husqvarna Nuda 900R Revealed

UPDATE: Find 23 Official Photos of the 2012 Husqvarna Nuda 900R here. These are the first images of the Husqvarna Nuda 900R motorcycle (taken by our good friends at OmniMoto), the Swedish brand’s first foray into the street bike scene. Making over 100hp and weighing less than 385 lbs, the new Husqvarna will hit dealer floors by the end of the 2011 (hopefully by then they’ll have the spec-sheet ironed out a bit more). What ...

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With Win Over Ryan Bader, Tito Ortiz Salvages UFC Career

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Tito OrtizLAS VEGAS -- UFC president Dana White told Tito Ortiz he needed to win to keep his job, but he also told reporters that Ortiz fights best when his back is against the wall. At UFC 132, Ortiz (16-8-1) did both, dropping fellow light heavyweight Ryan Bader (12-2) with a short right hook and then submitting him with a guillotine choke at 1:56 of the first round.

"Everybody knew that Tito had to win tonight to stay in the UFC, and he did it," White said at the post-fight press conference. "Not only did he win a fight, he won the fight impressively."

Coming into Saturday night's event, the 36-year-old Ortiz hadn't won a bout since 2006, going 0-4-1 in his previous five efforts. That made the win all the more emotional for Ortiz, who struggled through some very public personal problems in the weeks leading up to the bout, but said he was helped through the hard times by his coaches and training partners, as well as his supporters on Twitter.



"About three and a half months ago it was really hard for me to get into my gym and train. When negativity gets you down, you got to find something to uplift you, make you stronger, and get past those downfalls in life," said Ortiz.

Ortiz came into the fight as a heavy underdog against Bader -- a former All-American wrestler at Arizona State who is eight years his junior -- and was counted out by many observers before the bout. But Ortiz surprised everyone by dropping Bader with a punch, which he said felt like "an out-of-body experience."

"I was just kind of watching myself do it," Ortiz said. "Everything was in slow-mo. It was kind of like in 'The Matrix.' It was weird, really weird."

After Ortiz finished the fight by forcing Bader to tap out to the choke, he celebrated with the grave-digger pantomime he popularized in the early days of his UFC career -- a post-fight celebration that hasn't graced the Octagon for the better part of five years. It's a move that Ortiz said he was asked to do when he paid a visit to the contestants on the current season of 'The Ultimate Fighter' recently.

"I told them, 'I can't do it. I've got to wait until Saturday before I do it,'" he said. "And they looked at me and said, 'Do you think so?' I said, 'I guarantee it.'"

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UFC 132 Fight Night Photos
The referee checks on Wanderlei Silva after his knockout loss to Chris Leben at UFC 132 on Saturday, July 2, 2011 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Esther Lin, MMA Fighting
Esther Lin, MMA Fighting

UFC 132 Photos

Urijah Faber knees Dominick Cruz in their UFC bantamweight championship bout at UFC 132 on Saturday, July 2, 2011 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

UFC 132 Photos

Urijah Faber exchanges with Dominick Cruz at UFC 132 on Saturday, July 2, 2011 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

UFC 132 Photos

Dominick Cruz misses a punch against Urijah Faber at UFC 132 on Saturday, July 2, 2011 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

UFC 132 Photos

Dominick Cruz tries to avoid a kick from Urijah Faber at UFC 132 on Saturday, July 2, 2011 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

UFC 132 Photos

Dominick Cruz punches Urijah Faber at UFC 132 on Saturday, July 2, 2011 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

UFC 132 Photos

Dominick Cruz throws a right hand at Urijah Faber at UFC 132 on Saturday, July 2, 2011 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

UFC 132 Photos

Urijah Faber knees Dominick Cruz at UFC 132 on Saturday, July 2, 2011 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

UFC 132 Photos

Urijah Faber takes a breather at UFC 132 on Saturday, July 2, 2011 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

UFC 132 Photos

Urijah Faber punches Dominick Cruz at UFC 132 on Saturday, July 2, 2011 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

UFC 132 Photos

Dominick Cruz throws a flying knee at Urijah Faber at UFC 132 on Saturday, July 2, 2011 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

UFC 132 Photos


But while the win keeps Ortiz's UFC career alive, his relationship with former manager and current boss White is still not entirely harmonious. The two were at odds before this event over what White referred to as "typical Dana-Tito s--t," and even though White awarded Ortiz with the $75,000 bonus for Submission of the Night, the history between the two isn't likely to be forgotten so easily.

"Once again I leave my career in Dana's hands. [13] years ago he came to my apartment and said, 'Let me manage you, I'll take care of your career.' I made some mistakes between now until then, had some people in my ear saying some bad things, and I got lost and I found myself. I kind of reinvented myself."

As for where his career goes from here, Ortiz told reporters that since he's finally healthy after years of being plagued by injuries, he now has "no more excuses." And while many of his contemporaries like Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture have slipped into retirement in recent years, Ortiz thinks his best years as a fighter may still be ahead of him.

"Look at my age," he said. "I just turned 36. Chuck was in his prime at 36. He was knocking people out left and right. Randy was in his prime at 36, dominating people. I'm still young. I got in the game when I was young. I never fought anywhere else."

 

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UFC 132 Video: Carlos Condit Says He's Landed Flying Knee Before

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LAS VEGAS -- Carlos Condit talked about his flying knee against Dong Hyun Kim, how close he was to having to miss the fight and whether he deserves a title shot in a media scrum after his UFC 132 win.

 

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UFC 132 postfight: Bonuses, Tito?s glee and Bieber?s outrage

With the little guys headlining UFC 132, some casual fans may not have been stoked to check out this year's Fourth of July weekend UFC card, but those who tuned in and bought tickets certainly got their money's worth. The card produced three awesome knockouts, some major upsets and one of the best UFC moments in years with Tito Ortiz pulling off the shocker in absolute must-win situation against Ryan Bader.

- UFC president Dana White was impressed and said Tito will be sticking around.

"Not only did he win the fight. He won the fight impressively, you know dropping the younger stronger and many people thought he had better hands. Dropping Bader and then submitting him." White said.

- White said this should be it for another veteran Wanderlei Silva. The soon-to-be 35-year-old was knocked out badly inside of one minute by Chris Leben.

"People love him so much for the way he fights.  The style and the kind of person he is. Yeah, it's probably the end of the road for Wanderlei," said White.

- Not only did Ortiz remove head from the chopping block, he hauled in a nice postfight bonus. Ortiz along with Urijah Faber, Dominick Cruz and Carlos Condit each got $75,000. Ortiz was awarded Submission of the night, Condit Knockout of the Night and Faber/Cruz got Fight of the Night.

The knockout award was a tough decision. A disappointed Melvin Guillard shook his head during the presser and Chris Leben was hoping to get a bonus as well. White revealed that the 25-minute scrap between Faber and Cruz actually screwed Leben and Guillard. Without an obvious fight of the night, the promotion had planned on awarding three KO of the Night awards.

- The Cruz-Faber fight was very difficult to score and left Faber extremely disappointed. At least he kept it together in the Octagon. Matt Wiman failed to hold it together when it was announced he'd lost a close decision to Denis Siver. Wiman ran from the Octagon and eventually out of the building. White no issue with the decision. He scored it for Siver, but did say one celebrity onlooker disagreed vehemently. Justin Bieber thought Wiman won the fight. There's no news on whether the 17-year-old singer also left the arena in disgust. A less than thrilled Bieber is pictured below with the legendary Chuck Liddell. It's hard to smile for a photo after missing on out plus-240 Wiman payday.

- Ortiz admitted he was a little annoyed that he didn't bet on himself. Bader closed as a minus-550 favorite in the MGM Grand sportsbook. A $100 bet on Tito would've brought home $400. Ortiz said he was glad to get the $75,000 bonus which he'll use to "put away for my sons and, I don't know, maybe go gamble a little bit tonight because is so damn good."

- White was blown away by Condit and his knockout.

"How easily he did it. How technical it was. He fought an incredible fight tonight. He's been great in his last two shows," said White. Condit also destroyed Dan Hardy at UFC 120. "Yeah, he's proved himself to be one of the best 170 pounders in the world. The guy that he beat tonight [Dong Hyun Kim] was undefeated in the UFC"

- Both Faber and Cruz admitted they barely remembered the details of their five-round war.

"You get really instinctual in there and I can't really remember the fight. Right after the fight the doctor asked me how I feel and I said 'I feel great!' Now I feel like [expletive]," laughed Faber. "You always have to take a look at the actual fight and see what happened."

"By the end of the fight, you really don't know what happened," Cruz said. "I can't really remember much of anything. You go in there and it's like a whirlwind in there. Feels like I was in a tornado, you know? I was running into stuff (Cruz wobbles his head) likes dressers and what not. My shoulders hurt. My face hurts. I was just going out there to scrap."

- It was a tale of two cards. The four Facebook fights were less than scintillating. According to Yahoo! Sports' Dave Meltzer, UFC matchmaker Joe Silva went into the locker room to give a "pep talk." He told the remaining fighters that the card needed pick-me-up and it was up to them to save it. The next two fights on Spike resulted in a 59-second knockout by Rafael dos Anjos and Guillard finished Shane Roller in 2:12.

- Looking to the future, Ortiz mentioned that he'd like to face the winner of the August fight between Forrest Griffin and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. Guillard mentioned Jim Miller as his choice. When asked about rematching Siver, Guillard said he'd knock him out again. White and matchmaker Joe Silva were asked about what's next for Cruz? Silva then deferred to WEC's former matchmaker Sean Shelby, who said both Brian Bowles and Demetrious Johnson were candidates.

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