The following is a statement released by Marcus Davis following his submission loss to Nate Diaz at UFC 118 in Boston on Saturday, August 28.

Speaking via the Press Herald, Davis said:

“I am now home resting with my family. I want to thank all the people who supported me and all the people with team Irish MMA, team Gurgel, and team Sityodtong for all the help preparing for the match. I left the fight in the puddles of sweat on the floor of Sityodtong. I was over trained and never took the rest to recuperate that I should have. Within minutes of the first round my legs felt like I had just ran a marathon and they never came back. Today my thighs feel as though I spent the weekend lifting weights. I am known to have good footwork but had none that night.”

“The accidental head clashes caused most of the damage to the right side of my face and eye. I have three lacerations, two over the right eye and one under it. My CAT scan came back good. No brakes or fractures. The eye itself is being looked at. I had my second appointment today and my next one is in a week. Although I’m having some cloudy vision it is much better than it was initially and with rest it should return to 100 percent. I apologize to my supporters, team, friends and sponsors for not performing to my full potential. Being recognized for fight of the night honors is great and that’s why I fight — to entertain — but I wish I could have done so the way I have done in previous fights. Thank you again.”

Credit: The Portland Press

Heavyweight boxing champion, James Toney picked up an incredible half a million dollars for his three and a half minutes spent inside the octagon, most of which was spent on his back eating punches and fending off submission attempts from Randy Couture.

Couture himself picked up a cool $250,000 for his efforts that night, while former lightweight champion, B.J. Penn took home $150,000 despite losing on the night. The man who beat him, Frankie Edgar earned $96,000.

Here’s the rundown in full:

Frankie Edgar — $96,000 (Includes $48,000 win bonus) def. B.J. Penn — $150,000
Randy Couture — $250,000 def. James Toney — $500,000
Demian Maia — $68,000 def. Mario Miranda — $8,000
Gray Maynard — $46,000 (Includes $23,000 win bonus) def. Kenny Florian — $65,000
Nate Diaz — $120,000 (Includes $30,000 win bonus, $60,000 “Fight of the Night” bonus) def. Marcus Davis — $91,000 (Includes $60,000 “Fight of the Night bonus)
Joe Lauzon — $84,000 (Includes $12,000 win bonus, $60,000 “Submission of the Night” bonus) def. Gabe Ruediger — $8,000
Nik Lentz — $22,000 (Includes $11,000 win bonus) def. Andre Winner — $10,000
Dan Miller — $30,000 (Includes $15,000 win bonus) def. John Salter — $8,000
Greg Soto — $12,000 (Includes $6,000 win bonus) def. Nick Osipczak — $10,000
Mike Pierce — $24,000 (Includes $12,000 win bonus) def. Amilcar Alves — $6,000

Credit: MMABay.co.uk

**RESULTS**

Main card

* Lightweight Championship bout: Frankie Edgar (c) vs. B.J. Penn

Edgar defeated Penn via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45).

* Heavyweight bout: Randy Couture vs. James Toney

Couture defeated Toney via submission (arm-triangle choke) at 3:19 of round 1.

* Middleweight bout: Demian Maia vs. Mario Miranda

Maia defeated Miranda via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).

* Lightweight bout: Kenny Florian vs. Gray Maynard

Maynard defeated Florian via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28).

* Welterweight bout: Nate Diaz vs. Marcus Davis

Diaz defeated Davis via technical submission (guillotine choke) at 4:02 of round 3.

Preliminary card (Spike TV) & (ESPN UK)

* Lightweight bout: Andre Winner vs. Nik Lentz

Lentz defeated Winner via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27).

* Lightweight bout: Joe Lauzon vs. Gabe Ruediger

Lauzon defeated Ruediger via submission (armbar) at 2:01 of round 1.

Preliminary card

* Welterweight bout: Mike Pierce vs. Amilcar Alves

Pierce defeated Alves via submission (cross-body armbar) at 3:11 of round 3.

* Welterweight bout: Nick Osipczak vs. Greg Soto

Soto defeated Osipczak via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).

* Middleweight bout: Dan Miller vs. John Salter

Miller defeated Salter via submission (anaconda choke) at 1:53 of round 2.

MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view & ESPN UK)

* Champ Frankie Edgar vs. B.J. Penn (for lightweight title)
* Randy Couture vs. James Toney
* Demian Maia vs. Mario Miranda
* Kenny Florian vs. Gray Maynard
* Marcus Davis vs. Nate Diaz

PRELIMINARY CARD (Spike TV & ESPN UK)

* Joe Lauzon vs. Gabe Ruediger
* Nik Lentz vs. Andre Winner

PRELIMINARY CARD

* Dan Miller vs. John Salter
* Nick Osipczak vs. Greg Soto
* Amilcar Alves vs. Mike Pierce

This event will be showen in Ireland and the UK live on ESPN (Chorus NTL (UPC), Channel 407. Sky Channel 417. ESPN HD Sky Channel 442) Sunday August. 29th, 2010 @ 3am. Prelims @2am

UFC 118 “Edgar Vs. Penn 2″ goes down next week (28/Aug/2010) at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BJ Penn will take on UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar in a rematch to the title. Randy Couture will take on boxing star James Toney in the Co. main event. Listen to the FULL press conference call now.

MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view) & (ESPN UK)

Champ Frankie Edgar vs. B.J. Penn (for lightweight title)
Randy Couture vs. James Toney
Demian Maia vs. Mario Miranda
Kenny Florian vs. Gray Maynard
Marcus Davis vs. Nate Diaz

PRELIMINARY CARD (Spike TV) & (ESPN UK)

Joe Lauzon vs. Gabe Ruediger
Nik Lentz vs. Andre Winner

PRELIMINARY CARD

Dan Miller vs. John Salter
Nick Osipczak vs. Greg Soto
Amilcar Alves vs. Mike Pierce

Clan Wars Promotions are delighted to announce we will be holding a seminar with no other than the world famous Pride and UFC superstar Wanderlei Silva on the 12th of Oct – this will be his only Irish seminar.

The seminar will be 2 hours long with 30 mins at the end for anyone looking photos.

It will consist of 1 hours stand up/clinch and 1 hour ground work.

This is an amazing opportunity to meet and train with a legend of Mixed Martial Arts!

Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva is one of the most recognisable figures in the history of MMA and is a fan favourite around the world for his ferocious and fearless fighting style (which is a surprising contrast to his quiet and humble demeanour outside the ring).

His career in PRIDE Fighting Championships is the stuff of legend with a series of classic fights against the likes of Dan Henderson, Kazushi Sakuraba and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. He was the PRIDE Middleweight Champion and the Pride 2003 Middleweight Grand Prix Champion.

Silva currently fights for the UFC and runs his own gym, The Wand Fight Team Training & Conditioning Center, in Las Vegas: http://www.wandfightteam.com

There is a limit of 100 fans for the seminar which will be held in Belfast at 6.30pm on the 12th of Oct.

The fans across the water are paying £90-£100 for the seminar each but we worked out a better deal for the Irish Fans at £70.

This is a once in a life time opportunity so if you are interested please contact phpmcl@yahoo.com to confirm your booking,

Tickets are going fast so book yours today!

See and train with the legend in Belfast!!

It was one of the most hyped fights of the year, the most controversial fighter in mixed martial arts against the brash, trash-talking challenger in the main event of UFC 117: Silva v Sonnen, shown live in the early hours of this past Sunday morning on ESPN here in Britain.

The big boys began the show as Roy Nelson faced Junior Dos Santos in the heavyweight division.

There was a part of me that wanted Nelson to win, but deep down I knew that Dos Santos would be too much for him. The Brazilian had a tremendous first round, rocking Big Country a number of times. But as the fight progressed and as Dos Santos continued to tee off he just couldn’t put Nelson away. Nelson had his moments, but they were few and far between.

No surprise with the decision here, Dos Santos all the way with a dominating performance.

It was down to the welterweight division for the next fight as Matt Hughes took on Ricardo Almeida.

The latest inductee into the Hall of Fame put on a vintage performance. After both men tested the waters Hughes sent Almeida down with a big left hook. Hughes followed him to the ground and immediately went for a guillotine. Almeida was out of it seconds later, giving Hughes and outstanding submission win, and also giving his doubters a lesson. Write him off at your peril.

The lightweights were up next as Clay Guida faced Rafael Dos Anjos.

This proved to be another enjoyable encounter. There were some nice exchanges early in the first, with both guys getting in some good shots. From there we had some good ground work in round two.

The ending came in the third round. After Guida scored with a big take down he took control of Dos Anjos’ head and arms. That was enough for the Brazilian. His jaw broken, he just couldn’t take any more and tapped out. Another great encounter, and a good performance from Guida.

The only filler material of the evening saw Stefan Struve going up against Christian Morecraft.

The proverbial back and forth affair saw Morecraft dominating in the first round with his ground and pound, to the point where the doctor considered pulling Struve out because of his cut and badly swollen bottom lip.

This just seemed to fire up the big guy as both men began the second round swinging, with a big right from Struve knocking Morecraft down, with the referee stopping the fight after a few seconds of ground and pound. A remarkable comeback from the big guy.

It was back to the welterweight division for the next fight as Jon Fitch took on Thiago Alves.

A bit of controversy before this fight even began saw Alves failing to make the weight limit by just half a pound, forfeiting twenty per cent of his purse.

A re-match four years in the making saw some good ground and pound work from Fitch as he dominated the grappling side of things. It was as if he was able to take Alves down at will. Alves managed to get in a couple of good shots in the striking game, but in the end the weight cut seemed to take too much out of him.

In the end all three judges scored in favour of Fitch, the only decision there could be really.

The main event saw Chael Sonnen challenging Anderson Silva for the Middleweight title.

Now this is what a championship fight should be about. For over four rounds Sonnen took it to Silva, and did something that nobody else has managed to do in the UFC – he made Silva look human.

But then, with just two minutes of the fight left, and with Sonnen looking like he was going to win, it turned. Silva synched in a triangle choke, and seconds later Sonnen tapped. It was all over. The greatest fight I’ve seen this year was done, and Silva was still the UFC Middleweight Champion.

In conclusion – I know I say this almost every time, but this was a great show. The five undercard fights delivered big time, while the main event, well, what more can I say?

It was an outstanding fight, with the sort of drama you only get to see in Hollywood blockbusters, and if Chael Sonnen doesn’t get a re-match with Anderson Silva after that performance then there really is no justice in this world.

Credit: Julian Rodbourne www.twoshedsreview.blogspot.com

***RESULTS***

Preliminary card

* Welterweight bout: Ben Saunders vs. Dennis Hallman

Hallman defeated Saunders via unanimous decision (29–28, 30–27, 29–28).

* Heavyweight bout: Stefan Struve vs. Christian Morecraft

Struve defeated Morecraft via TKO (punches) at 0:21 of round 2. This fight was broadcast on PPV following the Guida vs. dos Anjos fight.

* Light Heavyweight bout: Tim Boetsch vs. Todd Brown

Boetsch defeated Brown by unanimous decision (29–28, 29–28, 29–28).

* Welterweight bout: Johny Hendricks vs. Charlie Brenneman

Hendricks defeated Brenneman via TKO (punches) at 0:40 of round 2.

* Light Heavyweight bout: Phil Davis vs. Rodney Wallace

Davis defeated Wallace via unanimous decision (30–26, 30–27, 30–27).

* Welterweight bout: Dustin Hazelett vs. Rick Story

Story defeated Hazelett via TKO (punches) at 1:15 of round 2.

Main card

* Heavyweight bout: Roy Nelson vs. Junior dos Santos

Dos Santos defeated Nelson via unanimous decision (30–26, 30–27, 30–27).

* Welterweight bout: Matt Hughes vs. Ricardo Almeida

Hughes defeated Almeida via technical submission (anaconda choke) at 3:15 of round 1.

* Lightweight bout: Clay Guida vs. Rafael dos Anjos

Guida defeated dos Anjos via submission (broken jaw) at 1:51 of round 3.

* Catchweight bout (171.5 Ibs): Jon Fitch vs. Thiago Alves

Fitch defeated Alves via unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, 30–27).

* Middleweight Championship bout: Anderson Silva (c) vs. Chael Sonnen

Silva defeats Sonnen via submission (Triangle Choke) at 3:32 of round 5.

Fight of the night: Anderson Silva (c) vs. Chael Sonnen

Submission of the night: Anderson Silva & Matt Hughes

Knockout of the night: Stefan Struve

Q. When did you get started into mixed martial arts & why?

A. My family is filled with men who were fighters, boxers, my grand father Kenneth MacKinnon (adopted by the Thayers), was a very good boxer and was very popular in his time where I grew up so I heard stories all the time about him so I knew I wanted to be a fighter. Well I started training in traditional martial arts at age 8 (1981) I then started boxing in 1985 had my first AM fight in 1987. Turned PRO in boxing 1993. I watched the very first UFC the night it aired. I remember I was over to my brothers house and we watched it on his TV and I thought it was fake. In 1995 I was living in Boston and found a BJJ place and that was my first experience with learning that the ground was a scary place for those that were uneducated. With all that said I believe I was always a type of mixed martial artist but didn’t truly become a well rounded one in my opinion till 2006.

Q. What was your worst injury?

A. Actually its a toss up. In a boxing match I had almost all my facial bones broke- cheek, orbital, nose, all from repetitive head buts. But It probably goes to the Joe Stevenson fight on TUF2. See when he slammed me to the mat I had stuck my arm out and when I landed my shoulder separated and damaged all the tissue in and around my AC joint and my clavicle. Because of that I will always have impingement syndrome and bursitis. I deal with it about twice a year and its painful and really disrupts any type of training.

Q. What was you most memorable fight and why?

A. Obviously the Lytle fight. First I had the flue, badly. The night before the weight in I was in my bed sweating and running to the bathroom every few minutes. Mark Dellagrotte got some EMT’s in the room and they called a doctor who then was trying to stop the fight. So come fight day Mark had told me after the fight that he felt when we were walking to the octagon he was walking me to my execution. Fighting in Dublin has to be every Irish American fighters dream and I got to do it. I never hear anything other than Marks voice when I fight but that night I could hear the crowd signing the fields of athenry. Was a very emotional night for me.

Q. If you could fight anyone in the cage who would it be with and why?

A. Now I really don’t know. Back when Gomi was hot in Japan I thought that would have been a great fight for me. I spoke about wanting to be his first fight in the UFC and I was willing to go to 165 if needed but Kenny got him and its funny that Kenny used boxing, really the jab, to beat him down till he finished him.

Q. What has been the highlight of your career?

A. UFC 93 Dublin at the O2

A message from Marcus.

To anyone and everyone supporting me I truly mean it when I say thank you. Thank you for your support of me and just for supporting MMA the sport.

Fighthounds.com wold like to thank Marcus for taking the time out to be apart of “5 Questions With” and wish him the best of luck in hes upcoming fight with Nate Diaz at UFC 118 (28/Aug/2010)

The oft-criticized former cast member of “The Ultimate Fighter 5″ Gabe Ruediger (17-5 MMA, 0-1 UFC) is making his return to the UFC.

Ruediger announced on his Twitter account Thursday evening that he will replace British lightweight Terry Etim and face Joe Lauzon (18-6 MMA, 5-2 UFC) at UFC 118.

The UFC has yet to officially announce the switch, but MMAFighting.com first reported the switch was necessary after Etim suffered a broken rib.

The much-maligned Ruediger appeared once in the octagon and was stopped by a devastating Melvin Guillard punch to the body. Ruediger then went just 1-2 on the regional circuit before a recent career resurgence.

“Godzilla” is currently riding a six-fight win streak that includes a pair of 2010 stoppage wins under the Tachi Palace Fights banner. The most recent, a first-round TKO of the previously undefeated Lenny Lovato, landed Ruediger the Tachi Palace Fights lightweight belt.

Meanwhile, Lauzon, a fellow veteran of “The Ultimate Fighter 5,” looks to bounce back from a Janaury loss to Sam Stout at UFC 108. Lauzon was returning to the cage after a severe knee injury kept him sidelined for nearly one year. “J-Lau” fought admirably in January, but Stout controlled the action throughout.

Lauzon is just 2-2 in his past four fights, though he’s 8-2 in his previous 10 outings.

Credit: MMAJunkie.com