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All Even Griffin Gets Revenge with Split Verdict over Ortiz
Thomas Gerbasi, UFC - After Forrest Griffin and Tito Ortiz' two fights together, one thing has been made crystal clear - it's an almost impossible task to separate the two former light heavyweight champions. Saturday night's rematch at the Mandalay Bay Events Center was the latest example, as Griffin avenged his split decision loss to Ortiz in 2006 with a split decision win of his own over 'The Huntington Beach Bad Boy' in the main event of UFC 106.Whos Number One? Kos Says He Is after Win over Johnson
Thomas Gerbasi, UFC - With the combined knockout power of welterweight contenders Josh Koscheck and Anthony Johnson, many expected their UFC 106 co-main event at the Mandalay Bay Events Center to end in quick and explosive fashion. But it was Koscheck, a former NCAA National Champion, going back to his roots to take Johnson down and submit him in the second round Saturday night.Killer Performance from Killa B, as Saunders KOs Davis
Thomas Gerbasi, UFC - Before Saturday night's clash with Marcus Davis at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, welterweight prospect Ben Saunders said that he hoped to become the first fighter to knock "The Irish Hand Grenade" out. His wish came true, as he used his deadly knees to halt the veteran contender in the first round of their UFC 106 preliminary bout.Official UFC 106 Weigh-In Results
Click below for the official weigh-in results for Saturday's UFC 106 event. UFC 106, which is headlined by the light heavyweight rematch between Tito Ortiz and Forrest Griffin and the welterweight showdown between Anthony Johnson and Josh Koscheck airs live on pay-per-view from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas beginning at 10pm ET / 7pm PT. Fans can also tune in to Spike TV at 9pm ET / 6pm PT to see live UFC 106 preliminary bouts.Tito Ortiz New Beginning
Thomas Gerbasi, UFC - The UFC 59 fight poster read "Reality Check", and for five minutes, it certainly was for Forrest Griffin, who was battered for much of the opening stanza of his 2006 bout on the card by a man who had reigned over the light heavyweight division longer than anyone else in UFC history, Tito Ortiz.The best bartender/mattress salesman/rock star/cage fighter in Portsmouth
Meet Cyrus Clark, an undefeated mixed martial arts champion ... after one fight
Cyrus Clark is not a fighter.
Sure, he's had a few scraps in his life (10 by his count). But he claims he's never started one. And with his laid-back, skater-dude demeanor, he's the last guy you'd expect to see throwing down.But there he was earlier this year, moments before his mixed martial arts debut, hopping up and down like a madman, ready to rip his opponent's head off.
"It was pretty sudden for all of us," said Ted Roberts, Clark's friend from Portsmouth High School. "He wasn't a wimp, but he wasn't the kind of guy going around picking fights."
"Starting his career at 32, I think, was pretty funny," said Jay Krecklow, another longtime friend.
Clark, a lifelong Portsmouth resident and drummer for the band The Han Solos, used to watch mixed martial arts on TV at the Daniel Street Tavern, where he has bartended for the past 2½ years. But it wasn't until he and Krecklow attended a fight at the Ioka Theater in Exeter last year that he came up with his crazy idea.
"Immediately after that, that's all I kept talking about — how I wanted to do it," Clark said. "I had watched UFC, but then once I saw it in real life, it was way better, and I wanted to do it."
So Clark got a hold of Scott Millette of Hampton, who runs the 8-month-old Global Fight League, and told him he wanted to fight at the group's February show at the Capitol Center in Concord .
"He was like, 'No, no, the card's lined up,' and there was really no room for me." Then, suddenly, there was an opening. One of the fighters scheduled for the show had to pull out after losing by technical knockout in another fight.
Millette called Clark. "Here's your chance," he said.
As they approach their mid-30s, it's not unusual for men to try out extreme activities like sky diving or bungee jumping in an attempt to cling to their fading youth. But that's not Clark. He did it for the fun of it, and because, as his friend Roberts noted, it would give him a great story to tell to every girl he meets.
But in order to have a story to tell, Clark had to win the fight. And it wasn't going to be easy, as he only had two weeks to get ready, and no experience as an MMA fighter. He scarcely had time to get the required medical paperwork together, let alone train.
Cyrus had worked briefly as a bouncer, but dealing with drunks isn't much of a challenge.
("It's like handling a 6 year old," he said.) Other than that, his only physical training was running regularly, and carting around mattresses for his day job at National Discount Mattress on Islington Street.
What he did have, though, is a lot of what his friend Krecklow calls "pent-up aggression." And some experience getting beaten up as a kid by his older brother.
To get Clark ready for the fight, Millette took him to a gym in Haverhill, Mass.
"They beat the crap out of Cyrus for three weeks," Millette said.
"He gave me a crash course in stand-up boxing," Clark said. This entailed how to stand, where to hold his hands, and how to protect himself. "There's definitely an art to that."
When Clark broke a rib sparring just four days before his fight, he kept his mouth shut, afraid he might lose his chance to fight.
"I didn't realize at first I had broken a rib," he said. "Then it started to hurt. I definitely knew I was still gonna fight, though. I wanted to bad enough. I was afraid I wouldn't get another chance." For his corner team, Clark hooked up with Team Burgess at the weigh-in on Friday, the night before the fight. Then he worked his regular shift at the mattress store.
Saturday morning, a few hours before the bout, Team Burgess gave him his game plan for the fight. That helped him stay calm. It also helped that he had experience playing in a band.
"I know what it's like stepping out onto the stage," he said. "It was just a different event." The night of the fight, a group of friends showed up to support Clark.
"He was pretty pumped up," said Jason Stiles, his boss at the Daniel Street Tavern. "He was in the zone. He walked right past us." Physically, Clark seemed to match up pretty well against his opponent — at 6 feet tall, he had a 3-inch height advantage, and they both weighed in the neighborhood of 175 pounds.
Still, "Me and pretty much the rest of my friends all thought he was going to get his a** kicked," Roberts said.
When the fight started, it flashed through Clark's mind that he was going to have to try to kill the other guy, or be killed himself.
His plan had been to box, but the punches he was throwing kept missing. His opponent, on the other hand, had little difficulty landing a number of strong punches. Eventually, Clark grabbed the guy around the waist and pulled him to the ground.
Once on the mat, Clark managed to get his opponent in a full nelson. His cornermen started screaming, "Choke him out, baby" — a legal MMA move in which one fighter wraps his arm around the other's throat and chokes him into submission.
A minute and 20 seconds into the fight, Clark's opponent tapped-out, signaling that he was giving up.
Clark leapt into the air. As the referee raised his hands in victory, he pointed to his supporters in the crowd.
Despite his easy win, Clark said he has no plans to fight again.
"I'm already working 55 hours a week," he pointed out. "To really do MMA, you need to give 20 to 40 hours a week. There's no way. I'm officially retired, undefeated." Millette said he'd love to see Clark fight again. In fact, the GFL is building a new campaign, "So you want to be a Global Fighter?" around Clark's sudden success.
Still, Millette figures it's unlikely that he'll lure Clark back into the ring.
"He just wanted to do it once," he said. "He pretty much likened it to the top three experiences in his life, next to losing his virginity — he couldn't think of the third one."
By Marc Fortier
May 03, 2009 6:00 AM
Sign up to be part of the GFL community- What is it? Well its place where you can socialize with fans, and fighters from all over the Globe sharing one common bond- MMA. So whether you want to learn a new move from inside the ring, or your checking up on events, or schools in your area the GFL community takes you inside the CAGE!
Every Week Watch Inside MMA - Here on the GFL WEBSITE
Cyrus Clark is not a fighter.
Sure, he's had a few scraps in his life (10 by his count). But he claims he's never started one. And with his laid-back, skater-dude demeanor, he's the last guy you'd expect to see throwing down.But there he was earlier this year, moments before his mixed martial arts debut, hopping up and down like a madman, ready to rip his opponent's head off.
"It was pretty sudden for all of us," said Ted Roberts, Clark's friend from Portsmouth High School. "He wasn't a wimp, but he wasn't the kind of guy going around picking fights."
"Starting his career at 32, I think, was pretty funny," said Jay Krecklow, another longtime friend.
Clark, a lifelong Portsmouth resident and drummer for the band The Han Solos, used to watch mixed martial arts on TV at the Daniel Street Tavern, where he has bartended for the past 2½ years. But it wasn't until he and Krecklow attended a fight at the Ioka Theater in Exeter last year that he came up with his crazy idea.
"Immediately after that, that's all I kept talking about — how I wanted to do it," Clark said. "I had watched UFC, but then once I saw it in real life, it was way better, and I wanted to do it."
So Clark got a hold of Scott Millette of Hampton, who runs the 8-month-old Global Fight League, and told him he wanted to fight at the group's February show at the Capitol Center in Concord .
"He was like, 'No, no, the card's lined up,' and there was really no room for me." Then, suddenly, there was an opening. One of the fighters scheduled for the show had to pull out after losing by technical knockout in another fight.
Millette called Clark. "Here's your chance," he said.
As they approach their mid-30s, it's not unusual for men to try out extreme activities like sky diving or bungee jumping in an attempt to cling to their fading youth. But that's not Clark. He did it for the fun of it, and because, as his friend Roberts noted, it would give him a great story to tell to every girl he meets.
But in order to have a story to tell, Clark had to win the fight. And it wasn't going to be easy, as he only had two weeks to get ready, and no experience as an MMA fighter. He scarcely had time to get the required medical paperwork together, let alone train.
Cyrus had worked briefly as a bouncer, but dealing with drunks isn't much of a challenge.
("It's like handling a 6 year old," he said.) Other than that, his only physical training was running regularly, and carting around mattresses for his day job at National Discount Mattress on Islington Street.
What he did have, though, is a lot of what his friend Krecklow calls "pent-up aggression." And some experience getting beaten up as a kid by his older brother.
To get Clark ready for the fight, Millette took him to a gym in Haverhill, Mass.
"They beat the crap out of Cyrus for three weeks," Millette said.
"He gave me a crash course in stand-up boxing," Clark said. This entailed how to stand, where to hold his hands, and how to protect himself. "There's definitely an art to that."
When Clark broke a rib sparring just four days before his fight, he kept his mouth shut, afraid he might lose his chance to fight.
"I didn't realize at first I had broken a rib," he said. "Then it started to hurt. I definitely knew I was still gonna fight, though. I wanted to bad enough. I was afraid I wouldn't get another chance." For his corner team, Clark hooked up with Team Burgess at the weigh-in on Friday, the night before the fight. Then he worked his regular shift at the mattress store.
Saturday morning, a few hours before the bout, Team Burgess gave him his game plan for the fight. That helped him stay calm. It also helped that he had experience playing in a band.
"I know what it's like stepping out onto the stage," he said. "It was just a different event." The night of the fight, a group of friends showed up to support Clark.
"He was pretty pumped up," said Jason Stiles, his boss at the Daniel Street Tavern. "He was in the zone. He walked right past us." Physically, Clark seemed to match up pretty well against his opponent — at 6 feet tall, he had a 3-inch height advantage, and they both weighed in the neighborhood of 175 pounds.
Still, "Me and pretty much the rest of my friends all thought he was going to get his a** kicked," Roberts said.
When the fight started, it flashed through Clark's mind that he was going to have to try to kill the other guy, or be killed himself.
His plan had been to box, but the punches he was throwing kept missing. His opponent, on the other hand, had little difficulty landing a number of strong punches. Eventually, Clark grabbed the guy around the waist and pulled him to the ground.
Once on the mat, Clark managed to get his opponent in a full nelson. His cornermen started screaming, "Choke him out, baby" — a legal MMA move in which one fighter wraps his arm around the other's throat and chokes him into submission.
A minute and 20 seconds into the fight, Clark's opponent tapped-out, signaling that he was giving up.
Clark leapt into the air. As the referee raised his hands in victory, he pointed to his supporters in the crowd.
Despite his easy win, Clark said he has no plans to fight again.
"I'm already working 55 hours a week," he pointed out. "To really do MMA, you need to give 20 to 40 hours a week. There's no way. I'm officially retired, undefeated." Millette said he'd love to see Clark fight again. In fact, the GFL is building a new campaign, "So you want to be a Global Fighter?" around Clark's sudden success.
Still, Millette figures it's unlikely that he'll lure Clark back into the ring.
"He just wanted to do it once," he said. "He pretty much likened it to the top three experiences in his life, next to losing his virginity — he couldn't think of the third one."
By Marc Fortier
May 03, 2009 6:00 AM
Sign up to be part of the GFL community- What is it? Well its place where you can socialize with fans, and fighters from all over the Globe sharing one common bond- MMA. So whether you want to learn a new move from inside the ring, or your checking up on events, or schools in your area the GFL community takes you inside the CAGE!
Every Week Watch Inside MMA - Here on the GFL WEBSITE
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