MMA Marketplace: Kinda cool Octagon art

Generally, anything I find on Etsy that is MMA-related is either tacky or snarky. Sometimes it's both. I was surprised to find this depiction of the Octagon that fits neither description.

MMA Marketplace: Kinda cool Octagon art

It's an abstract depiction of the UFC's Octagon, and if you look closely, you can see a fighter at the center of the cage. It is original art, so it doesn't come cheap. You can buy it here for $249.

Would you hang MMA-inspired art in your home? Tell us in the comments or on Facebook.

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Cormier takes out ?Big Foot? with vicious KO at Strikeforce Grand Prix

Daniel Cormier doesn't look like the prototypical new age, massive heavyweight, but he proved Saturday that athleticism and technique will usually beat the giants of the division. Cormier, a former Olympic wrestler, flashed excellent boxing in dropping Antonio "Big Foot" Silva twice in less than four minutes. On the second occasion, Silva couldn't recover and referee Greg Franklin jumped in to save him at 3:56 of the first round at U.S Bank Arena in Cincinnati, OH.

Cormier, a late replacement for the deposed Alistair Overeem, advanced to the finals of the Strikeforce heavyweight Grand Prix. The 5-foot-11, 247-pound Cormier was ecstatic seconds after the fight.

"It was great man," Cormier shouted to the crowd during his postfight interview. "I fought one of the top five heavyweights in the world and knocked him out. Give me some respect now!"

Even with his wrestling background, Cormier has constantly had to address the issue of dropping down to light heavyweight. But Saturday was a prime example of what a skilled heavyweight can do against one of the big boys of the division. Fighting out San Jose's American Kickboxing Academy, Cormier's growth as a fighter was on full display. His hands were relaxed from the start and he threw punches in bunches.

Silva is a massive 6-foot-4 and probably fights in excess of 280 pounds on fight night. Against Cormier, he looked like a statue. The smaller fighter worked effectively behind a double jab. Just 45 seconds into the fight, Cormier dropped Silva with a well-placed overhand right. Silva stayed on his back and Cormier wisely chose to stay out of his guard to get the fight back on the feet.

The next two minutes looked like Cormier was putting on a boxing clinic. Silva was too slow to defend himself. He nearly went down again after getting drilled by a left hook with 3:30 left. A little over two minutes later, Cormier dropped the hammer on Silva with a beautiful three-punch combo.

"I hit him with the jab, left hook, uppercut," said Cormier, speaking of the finishing flurry. "He's no Cain Velasquez and that's who I train with everyday."

Velasquez, the UFC heavyweight champ, is the No. 1 big man in the world right now. If Cormier truly hangs in the gym with that beast, we know why he's so good. Cormier landed an amazing 26-of-38 (68 percent) strikes. He delivered this upset as a plus-125 underdog.

Overeem, the pre-tourney favorite and former Strikeforce heavyweight champion, was dumped from the tournament because an injury and management squabble with Zuffa, the parent company of both Strikeforce and UFC. That dispute was settled this week and Overeem was signed to a new deal with the UFC. He faces Brock Lesnar on Dec. 30 in Las Vegas at UFC 141.

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You tell us: What to do with Luke Rockhold?

You tell us: What to do with Luke Rockhold?

Luke Rockhold was one-fourth of American Kickboxing Academy's dominant evening at Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Kharitonov. He predicted an AKA sweep, then delivered with a five-round decision win over Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza to win Strikeforce's middleweight belt.

But what does that belt mean? After Strikeforce was purchased by the UFC, the promotion's future is hazy. Some of Strikeforce's biggest stars, like Alistair Overeem, Nick Diaz and Cung Le, have been cherry-picked by the UFC. With a talent pool that gets shallower with every UFC signing, what would you do with Rockhold?

Give him a bout with Tim Kennedy: He lost his last title shot, but since dropping a tight decision to Jacare, Kennedy won a decision over Robbie Lawler. He seems to be the most likely fighter to Rockhold in Strikeforce, and Rockhold told Cagewriter that he would be open to this fight.

Grant Jacare's wish for a rematch: At the post-fight press conference, Souza said he wanted to fight Rockhold again. This is not a surprise, considering how close Saturday's bout was. Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker was open to the idea, but wouldn't commit either way. Rockhold said that he would like to see Jacare win another fight before a rematch.

Ship him to the UFC: At 26, Rockhold is young, talented and hasn't lost since 2007. Should he really spend the best years of his career languishing in Strikeforce, the promotion that Mo Lawal called a dying cancer patient? Rockhold told Cagewriter that he isn't quite ready for a fight with Anderson Silva, but he would love to get tested in the UFC.

So what would you do with Rockhold, Cagereaders? Tell us in the comments or on Facebook.

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Dana White Confirms Dan Henderson vs. Shogun Rua at UFC 139

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UFC 139 was once scheduled to host the UFC heavyweight championship, but after that bout was moved up a week to the UFC on FOX headliner, the search began for a replacement fight.

Now, it's set. Dan Henderson has re-signed with the promotion and will take on Mauricio "Shogun" Rua at the event to be held at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California.



UFC president Dana White confirmed both Henderson's signing and the fight's booking to 5thRound.com after Tuesday's UFC on FOX press conference in Hollywood, California.

The bout was originally reported by MMA Weekly on Monday, but at the time, multiple sources told MMA Fighting that the deal was not yet done, though it was the intended direction of the promotion.

Signing with Strikeforce, Henderson (28-8) becomes the third organizational champion since the Zuffa-Strikeforce merger to vacate his belt, following welterweight Nick Diaz and heavyweight Alistair Overeem.

Henderson went 3-1 during his Strikeforce run, losing his debut bout to Jake Shields in a decision before scoring consecutive knockout wins over Renato "Babalu" Sobral, Rafael Cavalcante and Fedor Emelianenko.

The 41-year-old will be in his third go-round with the UFC. He won two matches in the organization in 1997, then spent several years fighting overseas in Japanese organizations before returning to the UFC in 2007, going 3-2 along the way.

Rua (20-5) is fresh off an August 27 first-round knockout win over Forrest Griffin at UFC Rio. It was Rua's first fight back since losing the light-heavyweight championship to Jon Jones.

UFC 139 also features former Strikeforce star Cung Le making his UFC debut against Vitor Belfort, and Brian Bowles facing Urijah Faber in a key bantamweight bout.

 

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White video scrum: Henderson and Le wanted to be in the UFC, Showtime?s deadline is quickly approaching

The defection of Strikeforce fighters to the UFC was inevitable, but even the most cynical MMA viewer has to admit it's happening at an accelerated pace.

Cung Le is gone from Strikeforce and slated for a fight in San Jose at UFC 139 against Wanderlei Silva. Dan Henderson just left the promotion as well to headline that same UFC card against Mauricio "Shogun" Rua.

Strikeforce, purchased by Zuffa back in March, has now lost its heavyweight, light heavyweight and welterweight champions to the UFC. How much longer is Showtime interested in broadcasting a promotion that's losing all its big stars?

"It depends on whether they want to seriously stay in the business, in the mixed martial arts business," White told the gathered media following the UFC 135 prefight press conference. "There's a deadline on the deal. [...] I think it's another month [they need to decide] if they want to be in the business."

White said the problem with smaller promotions is their desire to get a television deal come hell or high water.

"Everybody that comes into this business thinks pay-per-view or free TV is the answer, is the Holy Grail, it's the answer to everybody's problems. [Expletive]. Either one of those two things will put you out of business. They get into these bad deals with companies, and next thing you know, you're $30 million in the whole," White said. "I would classify everybody who's done a television deal out there besides us has done a bad deal. Everyone."

As far as Le and Henderson, White said in matter-of-fact fashion that both wanted to fight in the UFC. He also called the Rua-Henderson match up a great fight and that the winner is probably in line for the next 205-pound title shot after Rashad Evans gets his crack.

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