Top News Stories for week of 12/27/10
1. Heavyweight Champ Cain Velasquez out of action 6-8 months
Newly crowned UFC heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez will be out of action for six to eight months with an injured shoulder, apparently a torn rotator cuff.
The news was first reported on Wednesday by the MMAFighting.com website and was subsequently confirmed following the UFC 125 “Resolution” press conference by company President Dana White.
This breaking news ends any chance of a Velasquez title defense versus new # 1 contender Junior Dos Santos. It was thought that the two heavyweights would square off this spring on an April UFC card.
The former Arizona State University wrestler and current American Kickboxing Academy fighter came into the UFC in 2008 after one bout each for Strikeforce and Bodog Fight. Velasquez won his first six UFC bouts including five via TKO/KO to earn his first title opportunity. He then defeated former Champ Brock Lesnar in October at UFC 121 via 1st round (4:12) TKO to claim his heavyweight belt.
2. UFC Hall-of-Famer Chuck Liddell becomes top UFC Executive
On Wednesday, also at the UFC 125 press conference, UFC Hall-of-Famer Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell finally made his retirement from mixed martial arts competition official. In addition to his retirement, Liddell was also given the title of UFC Executive Vice President of Business Development. The news of Liddell’s retirement was somewhat expected, especially since UFC President and Liddell’s good friend, Dana White, had been pushing it for some time, however the new job title was something of a surprise. While many expected to see Liddell retained in some capacity, it wasn’t anticipated that he would receive a top executive position with the Las Vegas-based company.
Liddell calls it quits on a twelve-plus year MMA career with a record of 21-8 which included 13 (T) KO’s. Liddell has been with the promotion since 1998 at UFC 17, but became the UFC Light-Heavyweight Champion at UFC 52 almost four years later with a 1 st round KO of Randy “The Natural” Couture. He defended his belt four times before losing to Quinton “Rampage” Jackson at UFC 71. Although always a hit with fans and a big draw in ratings, his success inside the octagon didn’t exactly follow him late in his career, as Liddell has lost five of his last six including his most recent fight this past June at UFC 115 against Rich Franklin.
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4. Strikeforce signs both Nick Diaz and Robbie Lawler to multi-year contracts
Strikeforce Welterweight Champion Nick Diaz (23-7, NC) has come to a new multi-year agreement with the California-based mixed martial arts company. The Stockton-native has grown right along with his current employer into a legitimate champion who is widely respected across the world of MMA. After stints with several notable organizations, Diaz joined Strikeforce in April of 2009. Since his arrival, he won bouts against Frank Shamrock and Scott Smith to earn a much anticipated title shot against Japan’s DREAM Champ, Marius Zaromskis. After capturing the 170-pound title in January 2010 over Zaromskis, Diaz has defended his belt one time and ran his winning streak to eight in a row.
His next challenge is set for January 29th when he meets heavy-handed Brazilian Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos (18-13) in the main event of a Strikeforce Championship doubleheader event.
Also signing a new deal with the San Jose-based organization is former two-time Middleweight World Champion Robbie Lawler (20-6, NC). Lawler joined Strikeforce in June 2009 and has since split four bouts with the organization over the past year and a half. Lawler picked up his most impressive victory to date earlier this month in St. Louis when he knocked out Matt Lindland in 50 seconds.
Lawler will next face Strikeforce Middleweight title-holder Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza in a Championship bout Saturday January 29 th at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California.
By Nick Russel
ProFighting-fans.com MMA Staff Writer