Erik "El Terrible" Morales wants to be champion again

After months of speculation and uncertainty if he will be fighting again, Erik "El Terrible" Morales from Tijuana had just confirmed that he would be back to fight again; ready to be world champion one more time. The question that's kept hanging is on what weight would he be fighting in.

There are talks that he will be entering the hot and exciting welterweight division where the names of Manny Pacquiao, Shane Mosley, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Miguel Cotto and Joshua Clottey are making some loud buzz. If some may not know, Morales was the last boxer to defeat the pound-for-pound champion Pacquiao during their first meeting of their trilogy match.

After a long rest, I've been thinking if Erik still got his power and speed; especially that he had lost his last four fights: unanimous decision against Zahir Raheem and David Diaz, a KO and a TKO from Pacquiao. Though he had claimed that he had been in the gym almost everytime, getting shape-up, the latest photo that I've seen is that he's somewhat overweight. Morales will be sporting a 48W(34KO)-6L-0D record.

UFC 109: Relentless (Clash of Legends)

The UFC 109 (Relentless) could be one of the most exciting UFC events for the year 2010! Though it will be happening early for the year, the main event, along with the supporting bouts, is already considered as a powerhouse of fights.

The clash of legends!

I've been waiting for a fight like this, I know you do too. A fight between two great fighters of all time. UFC fans have waited ten years for when Hall of Famers Randy “The Natural” Couture and Mark “The Hammer” Coleman finally square off in a battle for the ages.

Couture will be entering the octagon with a record of 17W-10L-0D; his last fight was a victory against Brandon Vera on UFC 105. On the other hand, Coleman will try to make his record 16W-9L-0D look better.

The UFC's top two middleweight contenders, Nate Marquardt and Chael Sonnen, collide in a bout that will move the winner one step closer to a world title shot. Plus, two of the game's 170-pound superstars, former champion Matt Serra and two-time title challenger Frank Trigg, meet for the first time in a pivotal matchup.

UFC 109: Relentless, Saturday, February 6, live on Pay-Per-View from the Mandalay Bay Events Center, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Mosley for Mayweather?

So after years of waiting it's going to happen this year, Floyd Mayweather versus Shane Mosley. Or is it?

The Mayweather-Mosley fight had been on deck for a very long time that most boxing fans had almost believe that it will never happen, especially when Floyd had been saying that Mosley is not good enough for him. If the fight would really get ironed out then it would likely take place on May in Las Vegas, no official announcement yet. The only thing that I could be sure of is that there is no Top Rank-Golden Boy showdown.

For me, this would be a good and interesting matchup since the two great boxers had been throwing trash talks to each other till now. Mosley had been wanting to fight Mayweather. He is going to get it, hopefully.

Hopefully?

Well, if the camp of Mayweather will not be throwing their terms again about that random blood testing prior to fight then the bout will happen. Definitely.

There are talks around that Manny Pacquiao had said 'NO' to the random blood testing even though he's clean then how would Mosley react? 'NO! NO! NO!' (There was a claim that he'd been into 'it' before.)

I would say that Mayweather is doing a good thing in finding himself accepting Mosley as his opponent after the $40M fight with the Pacman went off. It would be better if it would really happen.

The EVENT: Pacquiao vs Clottey

Who will win The EVENT?

Pacquiao-Clottey tickets

Tickets to Manny Pacquiao vs. Joshua Clottey go on sale this Saturday (January 23) at 10 a.m. CT. Priced at $700, $500, $300, $200, $100, and $50, tickets can be purchased in-person at the Cowboys Stadium box office in Arlington, Texas, or by calling Ticketmaster at 800-745-3000. Tickets can also be purchased online at www.ticketmaster.com. Cowboys Stadium will be configured for over 40,000 fans for THE EVENT with elevated floor seating similar to NBA games.

Maynard defeats Diaz

UFC lightweight contender Gray Maynard kept his unbeaten streak in tact by defeating The Ultimate Fighter 5 winner Nate Diaz by split decision on the campus of George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. Judges’ scorecards read 29-28 Diaz, 30-27 Maynard and 29-28 Maynard.

Lightweight Evan Dunham impressively submitted The Ultimate Fighter 8 winner Efrain Escudero in the final round of an exciting lightweight contest. The tap came at 1:59.

Battling back from tremendous adversity in the first round Aaron “A-Train” Simpson used his heavy hands and tremendous wrestling to defeat “Filthy” Tom Lawlor via split decision. Judges’ scorecards read 29-28 in favor of Lawlor and 29-28 twice in favor of Simpson.

In his first Octagon appearance of 2010, The Ultimate Fighter 7 winner Amir Sadollah soundly defeated “Bad” Brad Blackburn over three rounds en route to winning a unanimous decision. Judges’ scorecards all read the same, 30-27 in favor of Amir Sadollah.

Rory MacDonald finished MMA veteran Mike “The Joker” Guymon in the first round with a tight armbar at 4:27.

Middleweight Gerald Harris defeated newcomer John Salter via TKO in the third round after landing a vicious series of punches and elbows from the top position.

In a middleweight match up, Nick Catone defeated The Ultimate Fighter alum Jesse Forbes via split decision. After three rounds of action highlighted by numerous exchanges, all three judges’ scorecards read the same, 29-28, twice in favor of Catone giving him the split decision victory.

Lightweight Rafael dos Anjos outworked Kyle Bradley over three rounds to earn a unanimous decision victory. All three judges’ scorecards read the same, 30-27.

After three grueling rounds, lightweights Thiago Tavares and Nik Lentz battled to an unpopular majority draw. Scorecards read 29-27, and 28-28 twice.

Middleweight star and former reality star Chris “The Crippler” Leben defeated Jay Silva via unanimous decision. Scorecards all read the same, 30-27.

Rick Story received the judges’ nod over opponent Jesse Lennox after three rounds. Scores read 30-27 twice and 29-28 in favor of Story.

Mike Tyson is back in the ring

Former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson returned to professional wrestling on Monday night in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Tyson who has previously worked with the WWF/WWE several times, appeared in the ring wearing a black t-shirt and black full length trousers in a tag-team match, which ended when “Iron Mike” suddenly turned on his own partner Chris Jericho and floored him with a right hand.

UFC Fight Night™: Maynard vs Diaz

The Maynard-Diaz main-event for the UFC Fight Night™ Live on 01/11/2010 may not be a high-profile one but it is a very important fight under the lightweight division as to know who could have the bragging rights to have a possible match-up for lightweight champion BJ "Prodigy" Penn. As we all know, just recently, Penn demolished Diego Sanchez on their UFC 107 championship match. In addition, The Prodigy had already defeated three more top contenders in Joe Stevenson, Sean Sherk and Kenny Florian.

Gray Maynard’s nickname “The Bully” is a picture perfect way to describe his fighting style. With strength that would make Hercules jealous, Maynard bullies his opponents around the cage with his powerful wrestling base and overwhelming ground control.

Recently, the All-American wrestler has tightened up his boxing ability along with his submission defense, making “The Bully” even more difficult to deal with than before.

If there’s one thing that can be learned from this sport, it's that there is never a sure-thing for any fight. No matter how much a fighter is favored to win, anyone can be beat on any given night. It’s that type of unpredictability that makes MMA so much fun to watch.

It’s mind-boggling that everyone is looking past Nate Diaz in this fight. Diaz has already submitted Maynard before so he very well could do the same thing again. His long reach-advantage frustrated Maynard in the first fight; and while Maynard has developed his striking over the years, the long reach of Diaz will still be a problem for him in the octagon.

Pacquiao-Mayweather: Update

After nine hours of mediation with retired federal judge Daniel Weinstein, the proposed March 13 super fight between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao is no closer to fruition. Among those on hand at Tuesday’s meeting in Santa Monica were Bob Arum and Todd duBoef of Top Rank, Oscar De La Hoya and Richard Schaefer of Golden Boy and Mayweather’s manager Al Haymon. Weinstein has placed a gag order on the proceedings, so neither camp is talking although negotiations are said to be ongoing.

Miguel Cotto, Sr. passes at 57

Miguel Cotto Sr., the father of former two-division titleholder Miguel Cotto, passed away at the age of 57 in Puerto Rico on Sunday morning, the apparent victim of a heart attack, according to El Nuevo Dia.

The the Puerto Rican daily newspaper reported that Cotto Sr., who suffered from health problems such as asthma and sometimes needed the assistance of an oxygen tank to assist his breathing, was driving early Sunday, felt ill, stopped the car and reportedly asked for help before collapsing.

Cotto Sr., who served in the Puerto Rican National Guard for 25 years and worked Cotto's corner during the fighter's loss to Manny Pacquiao on Nov. 14, was very close to his son.

Rest in peace.

Evans defeats Silva, wants Rampage

Thiago Silva nearly knocked out former light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans with a pair of crushing right hands midway through the third round of their fight Saturday in the main event of UFC 108 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Silva, though, did precious little other than that, particularly in the first two rounds, and that cost him a potential victory.

Evans (14-1-1) won the first two rounds and Silva (14-2) took the third, but Evans won a unanimous decision victory, earning 29-28 scores from all three judges.

The former UFC light heavyweight champion used his wrestling and his movement to keep Silva off-balance for most of the first two rounds. Silva never seemed to be able to mount much offense and Evans took him down repeatedly.

But the fight turned dramatically in the third. Silva connected with a pair of hard right hands as they were fighting near the fence and it was clear that Evans, who had been knocked out by Lyoto Machida in May at UFC 98 to drop the title, was in danger.

Silva, though, made a huge mistake by not pressing his advantage and going for the finish. Evans took a long time to gain his bearings and he fought the final minute or so very defensively, hoping to let the clock run out.

Evans said after the fight that he’s looking forward to a bout with another former champion, arch rival Quinton “Ranpage” Jackson. The men were supposed to meet after coaching on Season 10 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” but Jackson opted to make a movie instead.

Jackson, though, has returned to the UFC and Evans said Saturday he hopes that bout can be made.

UFC 108 Results

Here are the results:

Rashad Evans def Thiago Silva via Unanimous Decision
Paul Daley def Dustin Hazelett via TKO (Strikes) round one
Sam Stout def Joe Lauzon via Unanimous Decision
Jim Miller def Duane Ludwig via Submission (Arm Bar) round one
Junior Dos Santos def Gilbert Yvel via TKO (Strikes) round one
Martin Kampmann def Jacob Volkmann via sub (guillotine choke) rnd1
Cole Miller def Dan Lauzon via submission (inverted triangle choke) in rnd1
Mark Munoz def Ryan Jensen via submission (strikes) in round one
Jake Ellenberger def Mike Pyle via technical knockout (strikes) in rnd2
Rafaello Oliveira def John Gunderson via unanimous decision

Danny Green: Accept the offer Bernard

After the controversial win over Roy Jones, Jr., former WBA light heavyweight champion and current IBO cruiserweight champion Danny Green is doing his best to make a fight with Bernard Hopkins happen by taking a smaller purse than the future Hall of Famer. Green originally offered a 50-50 split of a multi million dollar purse with Hopkins and this offer was accepted but later the American had requested a 60-40 split in his favour after it was revealed HBO would televise the fight on prime time USA television. Green said, “When I left the States two weeks ago we had an agreement that whatever goes into the pot we were 50-50 which is what we did with Roy Jones. And after the momentum of the Roy Jones fight, I could fight SpongeBob SquarePants and still make good money. But it’s not about the money for me. It’s about continuing to try to build a legacy and knocking out two future hall-of-fame fighters. Knocking out two legends, bringing two legends to my backyard and helping the sport of boxing. I spoke to Bernard again on Christmas Eve and then I had the Sydney to Hobart, so I haven’t spoken to him for the past week. I’ve got one more phone call to make to him to try to make this happen. I’m confident that he’s going to take this deal. He’s squabbling over making millions. Let’s just make it happen and get it on!”

Go ahead Bernard and accept the offer, you still can make it right?