BELLATOR ANNOUNCES DANIEL GRACIE SIGNING

With a fighting history that can be traced directly back to the origin of mixed martial arts nearly two decades ago, the legendary Gracie family will now bring its unique Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu influenced fighting style to the Bellator cage in 2011. Bellator Fighting Championships announced today the signing of fourth degree BJJ black belt Daniel Gracie to the Season 4 Light Heavyweight Tournament.

Daniel is a cousin to Renzo Gracie, Ralph Gracie, and the late Ryan Gracie. The two-time Jiu-Jitsu World Champion is currently set to enter the next chapter of his professional MMA career in Bellator’s first Light Heavyweight Tournament slated for March 2011. Gracie enters the tournament with a professional record of 5-2-1, recently ending a four-year hiatus due to a plaguing elbow injury with a comeback submission victory over Martin Wojcik just 2:17 into the first round.

“The Gracie family has truly influenced MMA as we know it today and I’m proud to say that heritage continues when Daniel steps into the Bellator cage to try to become our Light Heavyweight Champion” said Bellator Chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney. “A Gracie back in the tournament format, is reminiscent of the days when the Gracie’s dominated MMA and that’s something I’m excited to see”.

The decorated submission grappler and PRIDE Fighting Championships veteran has competed primarily in the heavyweight division for much of his career but feels strongly that he will be better than ever at 205 lbs.

“I feel faster and like my technique is better when I fight at light heavyweight. I also feel like my cardio is much improved and I’m much more explosive at 205 lbs.,” said Gracie. “I feel like I’m just better all around at light heavyweight.”

Signing with Bellator is not only a return to MMA for the submission specialist but also a return to the tournament format for the Gracie family.

“This Bellator tournament is the Gracies getting back to our origins,” said Daniel. “The tournament is the way the Gracies got started in MMA. That will give me extra motivation to win this tournament.”

Born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Gracie first began training Jiu-Jitsu at six years of age, eventually earning his black belt under Carlinhos Gracie at the ripe age of 23. Following two world championships in the sport, Gracie decided that he had done all he set out to do in Jiu-Jitsu and set his sights on MMA. Daniel began traveling to the United States to train alongside Renzo Gracie ten years ago and decided to make the move a permanent one in 2004. He currently operates his own Gracie school in Stamford, CT while training to fight out of the Renzo Gracie Academy in New York, New York.

Gracie says that although his eye is on the prize, he’s also focused on putting on good fights.

“I’m imagining myself winning this tournament, I have nothing but winning this tournament on my mind right now,” said Gracie. “Of course I know that anything can happen in MMA, but one thing I guarantee everyone that tunes in is that I’m going to put on a great show. You can bet on that.”

CHICAGO CAGEFIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIP RETURNS IN MARCH

Chicago Cagefighting Championship announced via their Facebook page that their next show will take place in March:

“Chicago Cagefighting Championship would like to officially announce our third event will take place on March 5, 2011 at the Odeum Sports Complex in Villa Park, IL. More details to come shortly.”

This will again be a pro card, and CCC mentioned that they aren’t sure if they will add any amateur bouts to the card.

The last event from Chicago Cagefighting Championship was on October 16th. Mike Lullo submitted Tyler Combs in his last fight before heading to the UFC and Chase Beebe submitted Jared McMahan in the main event.

DETHRONE CAIN VELASQUEZ LONGSLEEVE SHIRT

Dethrone has two new Cain Velasquez shirts available. First up is the “Victory” longsleeve shirt. It’s a performance fitted shirt that comes in black or grey.

The second shirt is the new Cain “Snake” tee. This is a short-sleeve tee.

WEC 32: MIGUEL TORRES VS. CHASE BEEBE

Two of the best MMA fighters to ever come out of the Chicagoland area did battle for the WEC Bantamweight title back in February of 2008. Here is the fight between Miguel Torres and Carson Beebe at WEC 32.

CUT THROAT MMA: OAK BROOK FIGHT NIGHT 2

Cut Throat MMA kicks off the new year with one of the first local MMA shows. They head back to the Doubletree in Oak Brook for “Oak Brook Fight Night 2″.

Get tickets at Cut Throat MMA

WOULD YOU LIKE A PIECE OF MMA CAKE?

Check out this MMA cage cake that was made for Cut Throat MMA by Molino Bakery.

The always busy Cut Throat crew has an event coming up right after the new year:

Oak Brook Fight Night 2
January 7th, 2011
Double Tree in Oak Brook
1909 Spring Road
Oak Brook, IL 60521
Get tickets at:
Cut Throat MMA

THE OLD MAN’S CLUB: BEST MMA FIGHTERS 35 & OVER

Randy Couture may or may not have retired this week. He tweeted: “I think I’m at the end of it all”. But rumors persist that he wants to fight either Shogun Rua or Lyoto Machida. So until we get a definite answer, I’m saying “The Natural” will fight again in the Octagon. And he heads our list of the top MMA fighters over 35. Here they are in no particular order.

Randy Couture, 47

The guy is 47 years old. 4-7. It’s kind of insane just how in shape he is — for any fighter — let alone one that is 47 years old. The Toney fight was an easy match. Does he want to go out that way? It doesn’t really matter. He’s the man. But plenty of fans want to see him back in the Octagon.

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Anderson Silva, 35

The UFC middleweight champion of the world turned 35 in April. He’s somewhat of an enigma when it comes to judging his desire, but he remains at the top of his game. Silva has won 13 straight fights and will defend his title against Vitor Belfort at UFC 126 in February.

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Rich Franklin, 36

The move to light heavyweight seems to have given a Franklin some rejuvenation. He’s as solid and professional as they come, and always puts on entertaining fights. He will get Forrest Griffin at UFC 126. The light heavyweight division is stacked, but a win over Griffin keeps Franklin in the mix for a title shot, even if the possibility is slim.

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Shane Carwin, 35

Carwin will turn 36 in January and is coming off back surgery. The loss to Brock Lesnar was crushing for him, but he is still one of the top strikers in the heavyweight division. There are a number of great matchups for him out there, and he should be able to make another title run. Fight fans are hoping to see him back in the cage early in 2011.

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Dan Henderson, 40

Hendo didn’t look all that good in his first Strikeforce fight against Jake Shields, and the “too old” cries started rolling in. But after knocking out Babalu in the first round just a few weeks ago, people are anxious to see him fight again. And Mauro wants to see “The H-Bomb” again.

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Matt Hughes, 37

Hughes recently was KO’d by BJ Penn and started dropping retirement hints. I’m hoping he reconsiders because from his previous fights it’s obvious he has plenty left in the tank. His submission of Ricardo Almeida was simply amazing, and Hughes’ striking is vastly improved from his championship days.

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Cung Le, 38

The kickboxer turned MMA fighter turned actor has fought just one time in each of the last three years. Making movies pays better and no one is trying to choke you unconscious. But Le should be back in the cage at some point in 2011. Would love to see him fight Robbie Lawler.

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Mirko Cro Cop, 36

Cro Cop is currently serving a medical suspension until April of 2011, but we should see him again soon after that. His last fight against Frank Mir was somewhat uneventful, but his fight against Pat Barry was one of the more exciting bouts of the year. He seems to vacillate between saying he’s too old for MMA and not too old for MMA, so who knows what his plans are. I think most fans would like to see him continue to fight.

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Chris Lytle, 36

Lytle is “Mr. Bonus” in the UFC, having been the recipient of 7 fight bonuses. And the fun will continue when Lytle faces Carlos Condit at UFC 127. And he’s not all just stand and bang. His last 2 fights before his decision win over Matt Serra were submission victories over Matt Brown and Brian Foster.

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Megumi Fujii, 36

Fujii will skip entrance into the “Old Man’s Club”, but she deserves to be on this list. She just had one of the most impressive win streaks in MMA history stopped when she lost to Zoila Frausto at Bellator 34. Prior to that “Mega Megu” had won 22 straight fights with an amazing 17 wins by submission.

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Honorable Mention: Sean Sherk, Sexyama, Joey Villasenor, Rick Hawn, Jeff Monson, Neil Grove, Trevor Prangley, Kevin Randleman, Ray Sefo, Bobby Southworth, Matt Lindland, Aaron Simpson, Vladimir Matushenko, Tito Ortiz, Cheick Kongo, Marcus Davis, Mike Guymon, Matt Serra, Jorge Rivera and Nate Quarry.

KILLER FINISHES: NICK BOULHANIS KNEE STRIKE

Check out this devastating KO by knee from Hackney’s Combat fighter Nick Boulhanis. This fight took place at American Predator Fighting Championship’s “Aftershock” in November.

FABIO PRADO BJJ SEMINAR AT COUNTERSTRIKE MMA

Counterstrike MMA is hosting a 1-Day MMA Seminar with Fabio Prado, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Coach of Team Alpha Male. He coaches Urijah Faber, Joseph Benavidez, and Chad Mendes amongst others. The seminar will be on Monday, Dec. 20th from 7:30p-9:30pm at the CounterStrike MMA Academy, 1730 Ogden Ave. Downers Grove, IL 60515. Call the number on the graphic for more information.

PALASZEWSKI, DOWNES, WINELAND FIGHTING IN LAST EVER WEC EVENT

The Chicago area will be well represented at WEC 53 in Arizona on Thursday night — the last ever WEC event before the full absorption  of the WEC into the UFC. Here’s a preview of the three local fighters that will do battle.

Team Curran’s Bart Palaszewski vs. Kamal Shalorus

Bartimus has been dominating recently and enters the bout with Shalorus on a 4-fight win streak. He’s coming off an impressive performance when he was on the televised card at WEC 50 against Zach Micklewright. In the 2nd round, Bart rocked Micklewright with a barrage of punches, landed a vicious body kick and then finished him with a right hook. Before that he submitted Karen Darebedyan at WEC 47, beat title contender Anthony Pettis by split decision at WEC 45 and TKO’d Tyler Combs at XFO 32

Although the lightweight division is packed with the merger, a win against Shalorus surely gets Bart a solid opponent in his first official UFC fight. He already told us he would like to fight Kenny Florian, but maybe he’d like to avenge a loss he suffered at the hands of another local fighter all the way back at XFO 6: Clay Guida. Wouldn’t that be something?

Duneland Vale Tudo/New Breed Jiu Jitsu’s Eddie Wineland vs. Ken Stone

Duneland Vale Tudo and New Breed Jiu Jitsu’s Eddie Wineland will be a part of two pieces of WEC history after Thursday night. He was the WEC’s first Bantamweight Champion and he will have fought on the last ever WEC card. He’ll get WEC first-timer Ken Stone in the prelims. Wineland injured his shoulder and has to pull out of his fight with Damacio Page, but he told NWI.com’s Matt Erickson that he’s doing great.

“The shoulder is feeling really good, really strong,” Wineland said. “I was really only set back about a week and a half, but three weeks out from a fight could have been devastating — especially against a guy of Damacio Page’s stature.”

Wineland has won 3 straight and 5 of his last 6. He’s also extremely eager to get back into contention for the Bantamweight title.

Roufusport’s Dan “Danny Boy” Downes vs. Tiequan Zhang

Duke Roufus-trained Dan “Danny Boy” Downes was born and raised in the Mount Greenwood neighborhood and is an honors grad of St. Ignatius High School and Marquette University. He fights out of Milwaukee and the Duke Roufus camp. In his debut at WEC 49, you might say that Downes was thrown to the wolves. He was fighting Chris Horodecki in his hometown and he took the fight on short notice. He gets a different kind of wolf this time.

Downes will be battling China’s Tiequan “The Mongolian Wolf” Zhang at WEC 53, with the fight televised all across China. Zhang is unbeaten in 17 fights, including a first-round submission win over current UFC fighter Pablo Garza in his WEC debut back in September. The China Top Team fighter is the first from mainland China to fight in the WEC. A win over Zhang will be huge for Downes. This time he has had a full camp and his father told Chicago’s MMA that Danny says he is in the best shape of his career.

Watch WEC 53 live on Versus at 8pm central.

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