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Velasquez talks opponents, competition and racing

CREST HILL, Ill. --UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez is the person most affected by Brock Lesnar pulling out of his bout with Junior dos Santos, but he responded to the change of his potential future opponent with a shrug.

"I was surprised, but in any sport, it happens. People get hurt all the time. You have to expect that sometimes," Velasquez told Cagewriter.

It's a predicament that Velasquez understands. Still rehabbing from the shoulder injury that knocked him out of a planned bout with Junior dos Santos, Velasquez spoke with Cagewriter after teaching a seminar at Clay Guida's Gym in suburban Chicago.

Velasquez will fight the winner of the Shane Carwin, who stepped into fight Junior dos Santos at UFC 133. He said that he is open to fighting either fighter. He just wants a good opponent.

"No, to me, it's whoever the better fighter is. Now they're two guys with similar styles. With Brock, it was two different styles. Brock's a wrestler, Junior's a striker. Now both of these guys are heavy-handed, they hit hard, they're bigger guys. It's pretty much the same."

Like Lesnar, Velasquez had to make the hard decision to not fight. He mentioned the UFC's new plan to give fighters health insurance, and how that will make the decision easier for fighters.

"We always go into fights where we're not 100 percent. But now, we're OK. We don't have to worry about. Before, we had to think about it, should I just tough it out, what should I do. It's a big weight off our shoulders."

Velasquez's shoulder has improved, and he's been cleared to start some training, but not full out. At the seminar, he displayed techniques and corrected attendees -- who ranged from wrestlers in grade school to fighters looking for a pro bout -- but stayed conservative with his movements.

As he heals, Velasquez has plenty of other things to keep him occupied. He is getting married at the end of the month, and he engaged in some friendly competition with fellow fighters while in Las Vegas for the Fighters Summit. Velasquez headed out to Exotics Racing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with Phil Davis, Urijah Faber, Jake Ellenberger, Eddie Wineland, Matt Mitrione and his collegiate teammate Ryan Bader. The fighters raced around the track, and Velasquez's competitive side came out.

"I was just trying to beat everyone. Me and Ryan Bader were driving, and I actually lapped him. He was in a Ferrari," Velasquez said. He drove a Nissan GT-R. "It's not the car, it's how you drive it. He was pretty upset about that."

He admits that he is incredibly competitive, and competes with everyone in his life. That includes his fiancee.

"I'm competitive with everybody. It doesn't matter. I'm competitive with everybody. With my fiancee, everybody. Everything. Every little game. I hate to lose."

That's not a bad trait for a UFC champion to have.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Velasquez-talks-opponents-competition-and-racin?urn=mma-wp2277

Tank Abbott Hiroyuki Abe Cyril Abidi Daniel Acacio

2011 Bloody Elbow Tournament of Bad: Jon Hess Region Round of 64 Voting, Part One

Source: http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2011/5/16/2174287/2011-bloody-elbow-tournament-of-bad-jon-hess-region-round-of-64

Luiz Cane Dos Caras Jr Phil Cardella Roan Jucao Carneiro

After '10 Percent' Visibility, St-Pierre's Eye Healed as Champ Resumes Training

Filed under: UFC, News

UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre has returned to training after recovering from an eye injury suffered at UFC 129. The Canadian, who defeated Jake Shields via unanimous decision in Toronto, was poked in the left eye and suffered hyphema -- bleeding in the eye -- that required prescription drops, a temporary eye patch and rest to make a full recovery.

Bruno Fernandes, who is one of St-Pierre's jiu-jitsu coaches as well as a doctor of ophthalmology in Montreal, told MMA Fighting that St-Pierre's vision was drastically compromised by the injury, which reduced his capability of seeing out of his left eye to about 10 percent.

"We don't really measure vision in terms of percentage but he lost field of vision, clarity and depth perception," Fernandes said. "When you have hyphema, it is like looking through a really dirty window. Your vision is significantly impaired, and it is amazing he was even able to fight with such a degree of impairment."

Source: http://mmafighting.com/2011/05/16/after-10-percent-visibility-st-pierres-eye-healed-as-champ-r/

Rashad Evans Urijah Faber Wagnney Fabiano Kevin Kimbo Slice Ferguson

MMA world reacts on Twitter to death of bin Laden

Twitter is essentially where the news of Osama bin Laden's death broke. It's also where many Americans and folks around the world reacted. The immediacy of Twitter is amazing, but can also be dangerous.

Here's a sampling of the reaction from some folks around the MMA world.

Former Ultimate Fighter cast member Brad Tavares was lost when he started seeing bin Laden trending. Inside a movie theater, he hadn't seen the news.

Tiki Ghosn, a trainer partner of Quinton Jackson's, was in celebratory mode.

Brian Stann, a Naval Academy grad and Marine, hopes this is the beginning of real progress in the Middle East.

Tim Kennedy, an Army Ranger, who's served in both Afghanistan and Iraq, wishes he was involved in the bin Laden raid.

Carlos Condit called for extra retribution.

Kenny Florian gave praise to the special force members who sacrificed all these years in pursuit of bin Laden.

Anthony Johnson did the same.

UFC veteran Nate Quarry looked to lighten the mood by turning to the joke that was used no less than 500 times this morning.

Showtime announcer Mauro Ranallo had the strange initial reaction of asking why it took so long to catch bin Laden.

He was greeted with anger and an explanation.

Jiu-jitsu ace and former UFC broadcaster Eddie Bravo began to discuss 9-11 conspiracy theories.

HDNet broadcaster Michael Schiavello said he'd have to retire one of his "time proven" catch-phrases.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/MMA-world-reacts-on-Twitter-to-death-of-bin-Lade?urn=mma-wp1936

Peni Taufa ao Thiago Tavares Paul Taylor Glover Teixeira

Randy Couture says he will Retire after UFC 129 - Randy Couture

Randy the Natural Couture visits the Inside MMA set via satellite to announce that UFC 129 will be his last show

Source: http://mmalice.com/randy-couture/randy-couture-says-he-will-retire-after-ufc-129-video_4ae17c184.html

Josh Burkman Mikey Burnett Murilo Bustamante Grant Campbell

MMA Top 10 Women's Pound-for-Pound

Filed under: UFC, Strikeforce, Bellator, Rankings, Women's Overall

These are uncertain times for women's mixed martial arts. Strikeforce has been the industry leader in female fights, while the UFC has maintained that it has no interest in putting women in the Octagon. So now that the UFC runs Strikeforce, does that mean women's MMA is endangered?

Not necessarily. The Strikeforce women were invited to the UFC's recent fighter summit in Las Vegas, which indicates that Zuffa thinks women have a future within the company, and next month's return of the sport's biggest female star, Gina Carano, will result in a publicity boost for women's MMA.

So as I review the top 10 female fighters in mixed martial arts, I'm confident that it's a list of fighters whose futures are bright. Even if I'm not sure where and when most of them will fight next.

Source: http://mmafighting.com/2011/05/14/mma-top-10-womens-pound-for-pound/

Kiyoshi Tamura Evan Tanner Peni Taufa ao Thiago Tavares