Fan favorite Wanderlei Silva weighs in on the fight between his friends UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida and challenger Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, the main event fight at UFC 104 in Los Angeles...
Countdown to UFC 104 -- featuring UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida against Mauricio "Shogun" Rua -- premiers Monday night at 11 p.m. ET on Spike TV.
Fighters often times talk about how well they know their opponents. That usually stems from sitting cageside at their fights and/or watching mountains of video footage of their past fights. But Lyoto Machida and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua have taken it to a whole new level for their UFC 104 showdown.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship brought the main eventers and also Cain Velasquez and Ben Rothwell, who are meeting in a heavyweight bout, to Los Angeles on Tuesday to hold a press conference for media and fans to hype up the event.
Low and behold, with both flying in from Brazil, it was funny to find out that not only were Machida and Shogun on the same plane, but they actually sat next to one another the entire flight.
But in typical Brazilian fashion "it's no problem, my friend."
"To tell you the truth, Lyoto is a nice guy and we have been kind of friends for a while. We know each other for a while," said Shogun, who actually found a little humor in the situation.
"Even though we are friends, I got very surprised to see him on the plane and, actually, sitting next to me, side-by-side, on the whole flight from Brazil to here. It was a funny situation."
In this day and age of mixed martial artists arriving as highly regarded mainstream athletes, Shogun handled the situation with professionalism, having no problem sitting for several hours next to the man that he hopes to punch repeatedly in the face come Oct. 24 at The Staples Center.
"I think this doesn't interfere because we are both professionals and we're training hard. We all want the same goal, so we're gonna do our best."
Attendees Have First Chance at Numbered Series with Personalized Features, Packaging; Couture, 'Shogun,' Wanderlei Silva To Appear Live at Round 5 Booth
Mixed martial arts fans and other collectors attending UFC Fan Expo on Friday and Saturday at Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas will be first in line as Round 5 unveils its premiere "Limited Edition," individually numbered figurines, featuring MMA stars Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and Dan Henderson. Available for the first time at the Round 5 booth (#427), the Rua collectible includes his signature Bad Boy Walk Out t-shirt while Henderson's comes with an American Flag, and both come in packaging that is distinct from the standard Series 4 issue, also debuting at Fan Expo.
Rua will also join Randy Couture and Wanderlei Silva at the booth as they meet fans and sign autographs during the two days. On Friday, "Shogun" will sign from 3 - 5 p.m., while Couture will be there from 6 - 7 p.m. On Saturday, Silva will be available from 2 - 3:30pm and "Shogun" from 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Only 2,548 of the Limited Edition 'Shogun' and Henderson collectibles will ever be made, and just 252 - in numerical order beginning at Fan Expo opening at 10 a.m. on Friday - will be available each day at Expo.
"The UFC Fan Expo is a unique opportunity for us to connect with fans who have enjoyed the first three Series, and we're pleased to reward them with the advance availability of the Limited Edition and Series 4 as well as the meet-and-greets with three of our stars," said Damon Lau, Round 5 president.
The first shipments of Series 4, which includes "Shogun," Henderson, Gina Carano, Cung Le and Matt Serra, are going to Las Vegas. They are expected to be available at retail locations across North America and online at www.Round5MMA.com later this month or in early August.
Round 5 plans to release collectibles of two additional series of athletes later in 2009, one during each quarter. Athletes to be represented in those series are yet to be announced.
Although Lyoto Machida's official website indicates his next fight being September 2009 with a photo of Quinton Jackson below that notice, UFC president Dana White says that he is not slated for the UFC 103 fight card expected for September.
"Not true," said White when asked if Machida was scheduled to fight at UFC 103.
"He will fight. We're working on it right now. As soon as it's signed, I'll announce it... which I'm hoping will be (Thursday or Friday)."
With White posting a photo on his Twitter account of himself meeting with Mauricio "Shogun" Rua on Tuesday, and Thursday's announcement of Quinton Jackson and Rashad Evans coaching on TUF 10 and fighting in December, current speculation is pointing at a bout between Shogun and Machida. Such a bout would likely take place late this summer or early fall.
But again, at this point, that is purely speculation at this point.
On a media teleconference for Saturday's UFC 97, the topic of retirement hung over former UFC light heavyweight Chuck Liddell.
It was against his will, of course. No matter UFC president Dana White's order that Liddell "show him something," he had no intention of retiring any time soon. If he won his title back, maybe.
But he's fighting Mauricio "Shogun" Rua in Montreal on Saturday, and that's all that matters.
"What keeps me motivated?" Liddell asked a reporter. "I love fighting. I get paid a lot of money to do what I love for a living. I don't think there's much motivation past that."
Perhaps for the first time since he hit a rough patch in the division he once ruled, Liddell admitted he was getting older.
"You've got to train smarter," he said. "I think this fight is almost different than the last couple of fights as far as age training goes. A little more warming up."
Gone are the days where he could show up and go.
"I remember when I was twenty-two, you'd walk out and put your gloves on, to warm up for sparring," he continued. "Now, I make sure to get a good fifteen, twenty minute warm-up before I start doing anything."
Rua faces his own questions going into the fight. The former Pride champion was dreadfully out of shape for his UFC 93 appearance against Mark Coleman.
As far as Liddell, he's pretty sure that if he puts Rua to sleep, he'll still have a job on Monday.
"I'm planning on coming out and performing like I normally do, and I plan on coming out and knocking him out so, hopefully that will be enough to keep him interested in me fighting," said Liddell.
As Mark Coleman prepares for his 2nd fight against Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, he will be prepping for the first time ever to compete at 205lbs since debuting as a fighter in 1996.
The former Ohio State wrestler talked to MMAWeekly Radio recently about the decision to drop to the light heavyweight class for his UFC return bout.
"Look at the fighters nowadays," Coleman said. "I said back in '96 that size matters, but today's fighters are so much bigger, and so much heavier and so much stronger. It's common sense."
"It made a lot of sense to make the move down. I'm 6'1 at the most and these guys are coming in at 6'4", 270, it's just too big. Logic told me I need to cut down to 205 and see what we can do there."
Coleman said that to make the weight cut he's been paying strict attention to his diet and nutrition which actually caused him to get a little too lean while in camp for the fight, but says all is well now as he prepares to leave for England and a short training session with the Wolfslair team.
The rest of Coleman's camp consisted of time with his Hammer House squad in Columbus, OH as well as work with the Ohio State wrestling team.
Mark Coleman takes on Mauricio "Shogun" Rua on Jan 17 in Ireland.
Tickets for UFC 93 go on sale to the general public beginning Tuesday, Oct. 21 at 9 a.m. in Ireland and the U.K. There are presale options to purchase tickets before they go on sale to the general public.
Starting Friday, Oct. 17 at 9 a.m. in Ireland and the U.K., tickets for UFC 93 go on sale to UFC Fight Club members. And on Sunday, Oct. 19 at 9 a.m. in Ireland and the U.K., tickets go on sale to newsletter subscribers.
UFC 93 is scheduled to take place on Saturday, Jan. 17 at the O2 Arena in Dublin, Ireland. It features two high profile fights for the Ultimate Fighting Championship as the promotion kicks off 2009. Rich Franklin and Dan Henderson clash in the main event and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and Mark Coleman will also do battle. Both fights are in the light heavyweight division.
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