Chan Sung Jung Submits Leonard Garcia With a Twister

by Michael David Smith
In a rematch of one of the wildest, craziest slugfests in mixed martial arts history, Chan Sung Jung forced Leonard Garcia to tap out with just one second remaining in the second round of their fight Saturday at UFC Fight Night 24.

Although this fight wasn't quite the memorable battle that their first fight was, it was entertaining. And the result was more satisfying: In their last bout, Garcia won a highly questionable split decision. But this time around Jung took it out of the judges' hands, using a nifty twister submission on Garcia to secure the submission victory.

It was the first twister submission in UFC history.

 

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Coker interview: Strikeforce boss uncertain about Daley, Fedor and Barnett in the UFC

Scott Coker, the other guy in the UFC's purchase of Strikeforce, sat down for a lengthy interview with HDNet's Bas Rutten. Coker was grilled on many of the hot button issues that last Monday's  conference call never hit on.

Rutten asked the Strikeforce CEO if he thinks fans will ever see Josh Barnett, Paul Daley or Fedor Emelianenko in the UFC. Coker said he didn't know (11:35 mark), but added that he hoped all three continued to fight with Strikeforce.

Other interesting points included:

Coker confirmed that the deal between Zuffa and SVSE came together quickly. He only informed Showtime of the sale one day before the news leaked on Mar. 12.

He denied the rumors that Josh Barnett will be removed from the Strikeforce heavyweight Grand Prix and replaced by Shane Carwin.

The Strikeforce boss joked about his first meetings with the UFC brass talking about Zuffa's 25-person marketing and P.R. staff. He brought along his two employees in those positions (4:40 mark).

Coker is excited about the new resources behind Strikeforce and growth possibilities which include a goal of pay-per-view by the end of 2011.

Surprisingly, even with a roster of 150-plus fighters, Coker says "business as usual" also includes signing new fighters in the future (9:00 mark).

Read into it anyway you'd like - Coker was asked if the purchase by UFC was a good or bad day, he answered by it's a reality (9:30 mark).

Showtime got the call the day before the news leaked 11 days ago, but Coker still hasn't had a chance to speak with M-1 promotions, Fedor's management team (13:25 mark).

Hopefully, Coker is involved in the MMA business at the highest level for years to come. He's definitely an asset, who puts the fans first. He did an amazing job turning a regional promotion, which held its first big fight in Apr. of 2009, into something worth buying for an estimated $40 million less than two years later.

Tip via MMAConvert

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Gas tanks on E: Lashley and Baroni win, but look exhausted

Bobby Lashley and Phil Baroni picked up wins last night at Titan Fighting Championship 17 in Kansas City, but neither did much to ease questions about their stamina issues.

Lashley pummeled 215-pound John Ott on the ground, but looked tired in the opening minutes of the second round. The former WWE star tried to put a positive spin on the lackluster decision win, 29-27, 30-27 and 29-27.

"No, no no ... I didn't punch myself out [in the first round]. I was looking for something that wasn't there. I felt good. I needed to spend some time out there," said Lashley.

The 6-foot-2, 252-pounder did get in his 15 minutes, but it was rough sledding at times. In the second and third, when it was standing, Lashley could barely hold his arms up and when he did throw punches, they lacked sting.

On the ground, Lashley (6-1) landed some good shots, but Ott wouldn't give in.

"Not as good as I wanted to, but it's a victory. We have stuff to work on, but I felt good out there. I felt like I was in control the whole time. That's what important," said Lashley.

HDNet MMA analyst Frank Trigg refused to put a positive spin on Lashley's effort.

"He showed he can't finish a fight unless it's a guy like Wes Sims, who stands there and let's himself get beat up," Trigg said. "Basically what he is, is a high caliber college wrestler, who spent some time in the WWE, that's crossed over into fighting without learning anything else."

Lashley, just six fights into his MMA career, was trying to get things back on track after a bad loss against Chad Griggs at a Strikeforce card last August.

Lashley, 34, was manhandling Griggs in the first round, but couldn't finish him. He tired badly and was blasted out in the second round. Following the fight, Lashley hit a Houston-area hospital complaining of abnormal fatigue during the match. He was eventually diagnosed with mononucleosis. He went four months with zero training, Five weeks ago when he signed with TFC, Lashley said he felt great.

Clearly, the bout with mono wasn't the only issue. The thickly-muscled Lashley appears to have only four or five good minutes in his gas tank.

Baroni is 27 fights into his career and is still battling a similar issue. "The New York Badass" beat a kid with five pro fights, but it wasn't easy. Baroni, who used to consider MMA wrestling kind of wimpy, was forced to scrap a striking gameplan. He scored takedowns against Nick Nolte (3-3) in each round and looked to grind down the clock. Baroni (14-13) limped across the finish line with a unanimous decision victory, 29-28, 30-27 and 29-28.

"I was really tired there. I was really tired in the second," Baroni said. "He got me with some good knees to the body. Give him credit, more than saying I was out of shape. I was in shape. I had to take the fight to the ground because [of the knees]."

The 30-27 score was baffling considering Baroni, leaning against the cage for much of the final round, basically allowed Nolte to beat the snot out of him with knees, kicks and punches.  Booing and screaming loudly, the Kansas City crowd didn't appreciate Baroni's efforts.

"I needed a win. I could've stood there and made it a shootout, but I needed the win. I'll give Nick Nolte another fight. Thank you very much. I appreciate all the applause. I'll do a little better next time," Baroni said sarcastically.

Abe Wagner, a former "Ultimate Fighter 10" alum, failed to build on the momentum from his upset win over Tim Sylvia in January. He lost via submission (rear-naked choke) against Aaron Rosa.

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Got a minute? Watch Jose Aldo take out Rolando Perez

One month from today, UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo Jr. will defend his belt from Mark Hominick in Toronto. Who wants to wait that long to see him in action?

Watch him here as he takes out Rolando Perez at WEC 38.

And that is why you don't throw a body shot with bad form, kids. Aldo's stand-up is already terrifying, but he has been training in Holland to pick up more skills from the masters of kickboxing. At this point, I wouldn't want Aldo to pat me on the shoulder, as I would probably end up with a concussion.

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The completely confusing UFC lightweight title picture

Joe Silva is the UFC matchmaker, the man who is in charge of deciding fights, title shots and the like. He is also a man whose job I don't want, as it's his job to sort out the ridiculously confusing lightweight title picture.

Ready for the confusion? OK. Start with the fact that the title will already be tested on May 30. Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard have a rematch scheduled that should finally decide who is the better fighter among the two.

It's a title shot that was promised to WEC champ Anthony Pettis. Before Maynard and Edgar fought to a draw in January, Pettis was told that if he won the WEC belt in his last fight for the promotion, he would get a chance to unify the championships. A wrench was thrown into that plan because of the Edgar/Maynard draw, and now Pettis will fight Clay Guida in June for his first UFC bout.

And what of Jim Miller? He won his seventh straight bout on Saturday with a TKO of Kamal Shalorus. Four of those seven wins have been by stoppage. That resume reads like that of a title contender, but Miller has flown under the radar.

To make things even more confusing, consider what will happen if in the future, the UFC absorbs Strikeforce's roster of lightweights. Would Gilbert Melendez -- or whoever holds the belt at that point -- get an immediate title shot?

It's enough to make you dizzy. But if you had Joe Silva's job, how would you map out the UFC lightweight title? Does Pettis, Miller or someone else get a title shot next? Tell us in the comments or on Facebook.

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Bellator Books Top Prospect Tony Johnson vs. Carlos Flores

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Whether the Bellator Fighting Championships can carve out a niche for itself and survive in the UFC-dominated world of American mixed martial arts is an open question. But there's no question at all that Bellator continues to sign talented fighters.

Heavyweight Tony Johnson is the latest acquisition to demonstrate just how good Bellator is at attracting top fighters: Bellator formally announced Thursday that Johnson has signed, and that he'll fight the 4-0 Carlos Flores at Bellator 41 on April 16.

"Tony is a fighter we have had our eye on for quite some time," Bellator boss Bjorn Rebney said. "He's one of the top heavyweight prospects in the world right now, and will make a great addition to our already impressive heavyweight lineup."

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Brock Lesnar Teaches Jimmy Fallon a Rear-Naked Choke

by Michael David SmithBrock LesnarFor the second straight week, a UFC fighter got a spot on NBC's late-night schedule, and for the second straight week it was a good PR moment for the UFC, which got to show off an engaging, likable fighter to an audience consisting largely of people who don't buy UFC pay-per-views.

Words like "engaging" and "likable" haven't often been used to describe Brock Lesnar, but that's how he came across on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, where he talked up The Ultimate Fighter and his June fight with Junior dos Santos. Then Lesnar gave Fallon a one-on-one MMA lesson.

 

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