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The UFC 143: Diaz vs. Condit weigh-ins took place today at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

Full results are as follows:

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

Carlos Condit (169) vs. Nick Diaz (169)
Roy Nelson (246) vs. Fabricio Werdum (246)
Josh Koscheck (170) vs. Mike Pierce (170)
Renan Barao (136) vs. Scott Jorgensen (135)
Ed Herman (185) vs. Clifford Starks (185)

PRELIMINARY CARD (FX / UFC.TV)

Max Holloway (144) vs. Dustin Poirier (146)
Alex Caceres (136) vs. Edwin Figueroa (135)
Matt Brown (171) vs. Chris Cope (171)
Jorge Lopez (169) vs. Matt Riddle (170)

PRELIMINARY CARD (Facebook)

Rafael Natal (186) vs. Michael Kuiper (183)
Dan Stittgen (170) vs. Stephen Thompson (171)

@JamesLeesMMA / @FullMountMMA

Strikeforce: 'Tate vs. Rousey' takes place March 3rd from the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. Today, the promotion announced the full prelim and main card lineup, headlined by the highly anticipated lineup between current bantamweight women's champion Miesha Tate and fast rising star Ronda Rousey.

Check out the rest of the main card below:

Main Event:

135 lbs.: Miesha Tate vs. Ronda Rousey

Main card (Showtime):

205 lbs.: Mike Kyle vs. Gegard Mousasi
155 lbs.: K.J. Noons vs. Josh Thomson
170 lbs.: Paul Daley vs. Kazuo Misaki
185 lbs.: Ronaldo Souza vs. Derek Brunson

Preliminary card (Showtime Extreme):

135 lbs.: Sarah Kaufman vs. Alexis Davis
155 lbs.: Caros Fodor vs. Pat Healy
185 lbs.: Scott Smith vs. Lumumba Sayers
155 lbs.: Ryan Couture vs. Conor Heun

There is currently no word on where or if this event will air in the United Kingdom.

@JamesLeesMMA

As previously reported by Full Mount MMA, the UFC have axed the historic gladiator intro that has graced it's pay-per-view and television events for many years.

Today, the UFC released the first details of it's new opener, which has been dubbed 'Evolution'. Here is all of the information we know thus far:

- Here is a list of all of the fights featured in the video (via MMAFighting.com): Royce Gracie vs. Ken Shamrock (UFC 1), Tito Ortiz vs. Evan Tanner (UFC 30), Matt Hughes vs. Frank Trigg (UFC 52), Chuck Liddell vs. Tito Ortiz (UFC 47), BJ Penn vs. Sean Sherk (UFC 84), Georges St-Pierre vs. Matt Hughes (UFC 65), Randy Couture vs. Tim Sylvia (UFC 68), Quinton Jackson vs. Wanderlei Silva (UFC 92), Brock Lesnar vs. Heath Herring (UFC 87), Rich Franklin vs. Nate Quarry (UFC 56), Junior dos Santos vs. Gilbert Yvel (UFC 108), Dominick Cruz vs. Demetrious Johnson (UFC on VS 6), Forrest Griffin vs. Stephan Bonnar (TUF 1 Finale), Cain Velasquez vs. Brock Lesnar (UFC 121), Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard (UFC 125), Jose Aldo vs. Mark Hominick (UFC 129), Jon Jones vs. Stephan Bonnar (UFC 94), Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort (UFC 126).

- Dana White stated that the intro cost the UFC an "obscene" amount of money and was originally scheduled to debut at UFC 142 in Brazil. However, at the last minute the UFC realised that Rich Franklin had not been included, thus the video was delayed.

- The video was produced by Digital Domain, a company founded by James Cameron. Digital Domain has worked on movies such as Titanic, Armageddon, and Transformers.

- MMAweekly said "Evolution…starts in a small gym, the floor of which begins crumbling away as actual fight footage shows Shamrock’s hand smacking the floor, cracking it apart, as he taps out to Gracie. Liddell rushes forth, punishing Ortiz, blasting him through a wall that crumbles to the ground…all the while the Octagon starts to take shape, rising up through the rubble. As the fights wear on — St-Pierre, Hughes, Rampage, Velasquez, Jones — the building tumbles away, the Octagon emerges, and Silva’s face-crunching kick explodes into the 55,000-seat Rogers Centre in Toronto.”

- The UFC hired award-winning German film composer Hans Zimmer, who has produced scores for The Dark Knight and Inception to create the music for the intro.

Thus far, the intro has only been seen by small handful of journalists and Zuffa staff. However, tomorrow night the whole world will say goodbye to the Gladiator and welcome in a new era of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

We can't wait!

@JamesLeesMMA

DVD Review – UFC 134: Silva vs. Okami

Disc 1

The Main Card
Countdown to UFC Rio
The Weigh-ins

Disc 2

The Preliminary Card
UFC Rio Recap
Ultimate Insider: The Best of UFC Rio

The UFC made its triumphant return to Brazil for its first show since 1998; and the first under the Zuffa banner. Would it be a success? Had MMA enough of a following to make this event a success?

Given the Brazilian roots at the heart of the UFC and the involvement of the Gracie family in its conception, many consider Brazil to be the UFC’s spiritual home. It was important then, that the first show in the country in over 10 years delivered.

It definitely did that.

The crowd, the fights, the star performances and the fact that most of the Brazilians won their fights – everything contributed to an electric night that many people considered the fight card of the year.

The Fights

The prelims featured one significant performance – that of young Erick Silva, the mercurial debutante taking just forty seconds to knock out his opponent Luis Ramos. This performance was the standout in a preliminary card featuring decisions in all but one of the other fights.

The crowd maintained its noise throughout, with the arena sounding like a football game all night long. Dana White went so far as to say: “Brazil wins for the loudest crowd ever” in the post fight press conference.

The main card delivered on every level – excellent skills and knockouts throughout and a deserving Fight of the Night winner that went the distance.

First off was Luiz Cane vs. Stanislav Nedkov, and this fight threatened to put a damper on the whole night when Nedkov came out with a debut knockout over a man who Mike Goldberg stated had both a six inch reach advantage and the striking advantage.

Both men came out with a tentative opening minute before settling in and trading punches. At 4:13 of the first round Nedkov threw a left hand that caught Cane over the ear and sent him staggering over to the cage. As stand in commentator Kenny Florian noted, Cane’s downfall after superb early work was his poor punch defence. Even though the Brazilian lost, the fight was a great start to the night as both men were willingness to trade all round long. After an initial smattering of boos, applause broke out throughout the crowd and the singing resumed.

The next fight up on the card was the classical Legend vs. Rising Star bout between Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Brendan Schaub. All the signs pointed to a win for the younger man. He was faster, fresher and was on the rise after beating the likes of Gabriel Gonzaga and Mirko Cro Cop. Minotauro was plagued by injuries and surgeries in the lead up. The sensible thing would be to bet on Schaub if you had to.

Re-watching this fight was such a pleasure. Minotauro is easily one of my favourite fighters, and watching him weather the storm against Schaub to get the knockout after some big punches against the cage sent the young pretender face-planting on the Octagon floor, is one of my favourite moments ever in almost 15 years of watching fights. I don’t think the crowd was louder all night, and their appreciation of the legendary former Heavyweight Champion was an awesome moment.

The tone shifted and a technical stand up fight between Ross Pearson and Edson Barboza followed. A very close and competitive fight at Lightweight, showcasing that what the lighter weights lack in one-hit knockouts, they make up for in frenetic pacing and quality technique. This was the only main card fight to go the distance, and you won’t get a single complaint about that. The only down moment of the night was Kenny Florian’s over-zealous support of Barboza while commentating and he didn’t do much to hide his bias. Barboza took the split decision here and first time around I thought it went the other way. Watching it again didn’t make it any clearer as the rounds were close and decided by a few strikes each way.

The co-main event featured a rejuvenated Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua vs. Forrest Griffin, and not much can be said about this fight other than Shogun quickly imposed his will and landed his punches cleanly on a sluggish Griffin, getting the TKO at 1:53 of round 1. The fight promised to be a good one between two former champions who had already endured a gruelling first fight with each other. The second was over almost before it began and even though Shogun looked like his old self (after a poor showing against Jon Jones), you have to say the fight could have been so much more had Forrest acquitted himself better.

The main event gave us Anderson Silva as we all want him – freak like reflexes, speed and ability to read his opponents and deliver devastating finishing blows. He was at his imperious best against an overmatched Yushin Okami. Taking a round to soak in the love and circle his prey, the Spider measured his opponent and seemed continuously dangerous even without throwing a strike for long periods. By halfway through the first round, it seemed clear that he had worked out Okami’s timing and looked totally relaxed even when pushed briefly against the fence.

The second round brought the end of the fight; a knockout flurry that sent Okami down and out, almost as if Anderson had finished toying with his prey and felt it was time that he went home.

Fans of Anderson should own this DVD for this performance if anything else. It showed us a mature, experienced Anderson Silva in full control of all his abilities and arguably at his peak.

Overall

The fights were entertaining, the atmosphere like nothing else before and the big names delivered. We had a sentimental victory for Nogueira, a switched on Shogun and Anderson Silva at his finest.

As a significant chapter in UFC history this DVD is worth the buy, especially if you watched the event live as it happened.

Special Features

Disc 1 features the pre-requisite Countdown and Weigh-in shows, which are standard material on UFC DVD’s by this stage. The surprise to me was that for such a landmark show there wasn’t really much else in the way of extras.

Disc 2 lists two featurettes but the Recap segment is a three minute highlight piece set to music of some backstage warm-ups and post fight comments from Dana White, mixed in with some fans. I question why this segment was even made as it serves no real purpose and doesn’t show us anything special.

The Insider show was slightly longer at six minutes, so at least it was longer than a music video. It featured a few more snippets from interviews with Royce Gracie, Dana White, Wanderlei Silva and Vitor Belfort. Most of these will have been seen in the Countdown show but some bits and pieces add to the overall picture, albeit not enough to justify splitting them off in a separate bonus feature. The meat of this featurette is a countdown of the UFC’s eight best Brazilian fighters at the moment, interspersed with random shots of bikini-clad Brazilian women on the beach (so at least they got that part right).

All in all, for an event such as this, the UFC disappointed me with the lack of special attention to the extras. Brazilian fighters of the UFC’s past besides Vitor and Royce weren’t mentioned, and you would at least expect an extra feature on Brazil’s rich history of fighting sports and combatants, let alone Brazilians that have fought in the UFC to great success (Murilo Bustamante, Marco Ruas, Pedro Rizzo and more).

It felt more like a bog-standard UFC DVD when it should have been a little bit more than that.

However I will say that UFC 134 is worth the money for any collector and hardcore fan of the UFC. It serves as one of those standout events that people will not soon forget and deserves pride of place in your fight collection.

Buy this DVD and others like it at www.fightdvd.co.uk

Adil Qazi
@TheRealAdil.

From his Twitter

"Seems my year in jail wasnt enough. Just got sentenced to another year in Vegas for some old bullshit. Nevermind Im rehabilitated. Nevermind"

Never far from trouble former BAMMA fighter "War Machine" had seemed to have changed his ways and rededicated himself to MMA in recent times. It now seems that his past has caught up with him again.

Still, it seems he is remaining positive

"Cant stop me, all you can do is delay the inevitable. War Machine will always be back!"

@fullmountcraig

WORLDS COLLIDE AS THE MMA SHOW LIVE JOINS

THE MARTIAL ARTS

SHOW LIVE AT THE NEC

IN BIRMINGHAM ON MAY 12^th and 13^th

KENNY FLORIAN, CHE MILLS, TOM WATSON

SOKOUDJOU, IAN FREEMAN

AND SIMEON THORESEN CONFIRMED

Friday February 3^rd, Birmingham, UK

It was confirmed today that MA Inc will be presenting the first ever MMA Show Live at The NEC in Birmingham on May the 12^th and 13^th in a separate hall, alongside The Martial Arts Show Live, giving fans two shows for the price of one. Split Decision, the company founded by Liam Fisher (former Head of Business Development at BAMMA), has partnered with MA Inc to establish a new and very much needed event for the huge and very loyal MMA audience and fan base.

The first six fighters confirmed to attend are UFC fighters Kenny Florian, Che Mills and Simeon Thoresen, BAMMA Middleweight Champion Tom ‘Kong’ Watson, UK MMA legend Ian “The Machine” Freeman and UFC, PRIDE and DREAM veteran Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou.

The MMA Show Live will be an interactive fan experience dedicated to mixed martial arts from around the World. Populating a second hall at the NEC in Birmingham alongside The Martial Arts Show Live, The MMA Show Live will consist of five training areas where some of the biggest names in the business will host special group training sessions, a huge stage & screen for Q&A sessions, an autograph zone where fans can meet their favourite fighters and exhibition stands where some of the biggest brands in MMA will be selling merchandise and much, much more.

Liam Fisher, CEO at Split Decision said “Split Decision is a company made up of huge MMA fans so this is the perfect opportunity for us to help create a show that we all believe every MMA fan would want to go to. There’s going to be over 40 fighters and MMA personalities from all over the World attending, including some A-list superstars, MMA legends and some of the most exciting up and coming talent around today. I’m immensely excited that my company can be a part of this.”

Training sessions with fighters are available for Platinum ticket holders only and are limited to 500 people across the whole weekend. For a limited period only the Platinum tickets are priced at £90 instead of £100 and for this fans will get 1 training session per day, all the benefits of VIP access to both The Martial Arts Show Live and The MMA Show Live across the weekend, exclusive access to the Platinum Room in the MMA hall where fans can sit down and talk with the A-list fighters & celebrities, entrance to the VIP party held on the Saturday evening in Birmingham city centre, a souvenir event program, access to the fast-track line at the autograph zone and premium platinum seating at the Q&A stage.

Every Platinum ticket holder is guaranteed a place at 1 training session per day and there will be 20 different training sessions hosted by 20 different fighters each day. Platinum ticket holders can book their preferred session on a first come first serve basis by registering each day at the registration desk open from 8am each morning although by buying your Platinum ticket now, you will secure your place as one of the limited 500 places available.

More fighters and personalities confirmed to attend will be released in the coming weeks.

Strictly limited reduced price “Early Bird Tickets” are available from 9am on Friday February 3^rd at www.theticketfactory.com and are priced as follows

STANDARD DAY TICKET £15

STANDARD WEEKEND TICKET £25

VIP DAY TICKET £40

VIP WEEKEND TICKET £60

PLATINUM WEEKEND TICKET £90

Follow The MMA Show Live on Twitter at www.twitter.com/themmashowlive and Facebook at www.facebook.com/themmashowlive

For more information go to www.themmashowlive.com

@fullmountcraig

A five round fight between top lightweights Nate Diaz (15-7) and Jim Miller (21-3) will serve as the main event of UFC on FOX 3, which takes place May 5th at the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

It is expected that this bout will determine the number one contender for the UFC Lightweight title, and that the winner will face either Frankie Edgar or Ben Henderson for the title later in the year.

Nate Diaz is coming off dominating wins over Takanori Gomi and Donald Cerrone. Diaz has five 'Fight of the Night' bonuses to his name and if fans were left feeling underwhelmed after the last FOX main event, they can guarantee that Miller vs. Diaz will provide fireworks on May 5th. Jim Miller was last seen in the Octagon just a few short weeks ago, with a quick submission victory over Melvin Guillard and will be looking to put on another impressive performance that would catapult him to a title shot.

The fight was originally announced to take place at UFC on FOX 3 last month, however UFC officials announced earlier today that it would now be the five round main event.

Also announced for UFC on FOX 3 today, heavyweight Pat Barry (7-4) will take on Lavar Johnson (16-5). The fight will take place on the main card live on FOX.

Stay with the Full Mount Mixed Martial Arts Network for all of the latest news on UFC on FOX 3.

What do you think? Are you happy with Diaz/Miller as a main event? What else do you want to see added to the card? Let us know on our forums or via Twitter @FullMountMMA using #UFConFOX3.

@thejameslees

THQ and the UFC have announced extensive downloadable content plans and a Season Pass Program for UFC Undisputed 3.

The content offering, currently scheduled to include a wide variety of new fighters, historic UFC fights, career boosts and early access to unlockable content, will be available via Xbox LIVE Marketplace for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PlayStation Network for the PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system.  UFC Undisputed 3 is currently scheduled for release on 17th February, 2012 for Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 system.

(Feb. 1, 2012) BAMMA, Europe's leading Mixed Martial Arts promotion, is excited to announce three hard-hitting preliminary fights for BAMMA 9, which takes place on Saturday 24th March at Birmingham's National Indoor Arena: Andrew Punshon vs. Matt Howard; Jason Ball vs. Colin Fletcher; and Nick Nembhard vs. Leeroy Barnes.

Hailing from Spennymoor, the Durham destroyer Andrew Punshon has only ever seen one of his fourteen fights leave the first round. With a record of 10-4-0, Punshon has won most of his fights by rapid submission making him a dangerous prospect for any opponent. But, if there's any man fit for the challenge, you won't be wrong to place your bets on undefeated Rough House warrior, Matt Howard (9-0-0). The fierce Ground 'n' Pounder can also boast to have only once needed more than one round to finish an opponent. With 21 fights and 19 first round finishes between them, fans can expect fireworks from this pacey, compelling match. Not only does the bout pit skilled Jiu jitsu against explosive striking power but puts together two dangerous fighters known for demolishing opponents at break-neck speed. Don't blink during this fight.

Colin 'Freakshow' Fletcher is called so for a reason. It's not just the circus clown get up nor the entertaining walk-outs that make him stick in fans minds, but also those freaky, unorthodox Jiu jitsu moves that serve to undo his opponents. Freakshow is renowned for high-voltage performances that will make your hair stand on end. One man brave enough to face Freakshow in the cage is none less than talented boxer, Jason 'Daddy Cool' Ball. With 28 fights to his name, Ball is also not the conventional MMA fighter, having trained in array of Martial Arts that include Capoeira, Escrima, Jeet Kune Do and Dog Brothers. This high velocity match promises to break boundaries.

Fighting out of the legendary Wolfslair, BAMMA crowd-favourite Leeroy Barnes made a ferocious comeback at BAMMA 8, where he lost on decision to defending BAMMA-Lonsdale British Middleweight champ, Jack 'The Hammer' Marshman. Coming in as the underdog, Barnes more than proved his worth and demonstrated that he has what it takes to take on the very best. Barnes has a solid reputation as a tough fighter not afraid to face any opponent. As Barnes's game moves from strength to strength, fans can look forward to what he brings to the table for BAMMA 9 when he's faces upcoming knock-out artist, Nick Nembhard. Nembhard is well-versed in all phases of the fight with a background in both Muay Thai and BJJ. His early career losses against tough opponents have demonstrated him to also be a fighter not scared to step up to anyone; making this bout one that brings together two guys always up for a war, who give it their 100% and who never fail to entertain.

Go Daddy, the world's largest provider of Web hosting, domain name registrations and new SSL Certificates, is the presenting sponsor for BAMMA 9. This is the fourth BAMMA event presented by Go Daddy. "What Go Daddy loves about mixed martial arts is the ravenous fan-following and the competitive nature of the sport," said Go Daddy Chief Marketing Officer and Senior Executive Vice President Barb Rechterman. "The battle between Andrew Punshon and Matt Howard has all the ingredients you want in a marquee match-up ... drama, competition and two hard-hitting fighters. We can't wait to see how the story unfolds."

Matchmaker, Jude Samuel says, "Punshon vs. Howard is definite contender for Fight of the Night, with the winner, in my opinion, in line for claiming a shot at the British or even World Title in the near future. Both have devastating knock-out power and most predictions are placing this as possible KO of the night: Either way it's a war in the making. The current British Masters and Central Area Light-Middleweight Champion, Jason Ball, will be making his last appearance at Lightweight before dropping to Featherweight at BAMMA; while Freakshow is hungry for a challenge and a step up to big fights at the top of BAMMA's Lightweight division. Leeroy and Nick are both guys that now need a win. Leeroy wants to get back to title contention, while a win for Nick will pivotal to his MMA career."

Fight Card

with main card fights to be announced

PRELIMINARIES

MIDDLEWEIGHT BOUT

ANDREW PUNSHON VS MATT HOWARD

LIGHTWEIGHT BOUT

JASON BALL VS COLIN FREAKSHOW FLETCHER

MIDDLEWEIGHT BOUT

NICK NEMBHARD VS LEEROY BARNES

UNDERCARD

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT BOUT

FRASER OPIE VS ANTHONY TAYLOR

WELTERWEIGHT BOUT

RUS SMITH VS TOM BREESE

LIGHTWEIGHT BOUT

CHRIS FISHGOLD VS DALE HARDIMAN

HEAVYWEIGHT BOUT

MARC GODBEER VS CATALIN ZMARANDESCU

MIDDLEWEIGHT BOUT

LEE JOHNSON VS SAM HOOKER

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT BOUT

ROBERT TRUESDALE VS SAM MENSAH

Experts have long known that your lung capacity (VO2 or maximal oxygen uptake) is a main determinant of your aerobic fitness and your ability to go 5 rounds if needed and with Rashad Evans and Phil Davis, Chael Sonnen and Michael Bisping all going the distance this weekend, a fighters lung capacity and fitness is now being seen as one of the most important tools in a fighters arsenal. Now obviously a well-designed training program would be the best and most effective way to improve your lung capacity, but research shows that certain foods can also increase your ability to inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide. Here we explore how you could improve your lung capacity and therefore how much ‘gas’ you will have ‘left in the tank’ towards the end of a 5 round fight, all from the comfort of your kitchen.

Firstly a little bit about your lung capacity and sports performance, it’s measured using something called your VO2 max, or maximal oxygen uptake, and it’s essentially the maximum amount of oxygen that an individual can utilize during intense or maximal exercise. As far back as 1985, research published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine showed that lung capacity was potential predictor of performance in elite middle distance runners training for the 1984 Olympic Games (W L Kenney and J L Hodgson, 1985.) It’s measured in millimetres of oxygen per kilogram of bodyweight per bodyweight per minute and the highest ever recorded VO2 max is 94 ml/kg/min in men and 77 ml/kg/min in women, both were cross-country skiers (Astrand P-O and Rodahl K. 1986) Elite MMA Fighters usually have a V02 of 70 ml/kg/min and the average person has a VO2 Max of around 35 ml/kg/min.

So how can you improve your lung capacity through food? Well according to The University of Maryland Medical Centre people who suffer from chronic lung diseases are often deficient in a number of antioxidants and vitamins and that ensuring you have a sufficient supply in your diet could greatly help to reduce the amount of stress on your lungs and increase your lung capacity. Specifically mentioned throughout a lot of studies is Vitamin C (a powerful antioxidant.) In fact in one study conducted at Cornell University, it was found that dietary vitamin C may protect against the loss of pulmonary function i.e. your ability to inhale and exhale air (60 tabs of Vitamin C is £3.99 from Myprotein.com www.myprotein.com/uk/products/vitamin-c-with-bioflavonoids-rosehip.)

Also it has been suggested by The American Lung Association that people who suffer from any type of lung disease should consider having a higher protein diet since protein can help to support the muscles within the respiratory system and help them to expand and contract effectively. Eggs, dairy products, milk and certain meats have all been suggested as great sources of protein and can all help to indirectly improve lung capacity.

Lastly the University of Maryland Medical Centre recommends consuming a lot of fish such as salmon, herring, rainbow trout and tuna since they are high in omega-3 fatty acids which have been shown to reduce inflammation in the lungs, which in turn will increase your lung capacity. This idea was later supported by the Linus Pauling Institute that discovered consuming omega-3 fatty acids can help reduce inflammation in people who suffer from asthma. (90 tabs of Omega 3 is £4.69 from Myprotein.com http://www.myprotein.com/uk/products/omega_3 .)

In conclusion, whilst the Vitamin C, sufficient protein and Omega 3 won’t give you the lung capacity of an elite cross-country skier, they can certainly help to take care of one of the most important organs for any fighter; the lungs.

References:

W L Kenney, J L Hodgson (1985) ‘Variables predictive of performance in elite middle-distance runners.’ British Journal of Sports Medicine, 1985; 19:207-209

Guizhou Hu, Xin Zhang, Junshi Chen, Richard Peto, T. Colin Campbell and Patricia A. Cassano (1998) ‘Dietary Vitamin C Intake and Lung Function in Rural China’ American Journal of Epidemiology, Volume148, Issue 6, Pages 594-599.

Astrand P-O and Rodahl K. (1986) The Textbook of Work Physiology: Physiological Bases of Exercise (3rd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill

As far as UFC posters and event artwork goes, in our opinion it doesn't get much better than this.

UFC 144 takes place February 25th from the historic Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan and will be headlined by a highly anticipated Lightweight title bout between Frankie Edgar and Ben Henderson. Also on the card, Yoshihiro Akiyama takes on Jake Shields and Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson battles Ryan Bader. Full Mount MMA will have more on the event in the coming weeks.

@TheJamesLees / @FullMountMMA

Take a look at this weekend’s UFC 143 card and pay close attention to the main events. Between them, they offer two opposing sets of personalities, split into two intriguing fights and at two different points in the respective careers of the principals.

On one hand you have Nick Diaz vs. Carlos Condit – to call each fighter intense would be an understatement. Both remain focussed on their goals, and don’t offer too much in the way of sparkling conversation as they approach fight time (or even in general for that matter). They are men who believe that fighting is the one true way to express themselves, and that anything along the lines of talking too much about it serves little purpose. Try to outlast Diaz at your peril, try out go punch for punch with Condit and risk unconsciousness. These fighters release their pent up aggression during their fights, but retain a measure of discipline uncommon in most. It reflects on their styles; both have almost as many submission wins as knockouts in their careers (Diaz on 26 with 13 KOs and 8 Subs and Condit on 26 with 13 KOs and 13 Subs).

On the other hand you have Roy Nelson vs. Fabricio Werdum. Both are easy going, easy to interview and ready to converse heavyweights. Nelson has established a reputation as a self-deprecating yet defiant individual, always ready to back up his unique body shape both in the Octagon, on the microphone and in his mullet. Werdum has been a gentle giant, smiling his way through training in various video blogs and pre-fight interviews where he can’t hide his excitement at impending contests. Both are usually accessible and friendly and these traits belie their conduct in the ring, with Werdum’s lethal Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Roy Nelson’s solid mix of grappling and boxing prowess. Both are rugged competitors, possessing good chins and capable of mixing it up when necessary.

For Diaz and Condit, Saturday night is a culmination of years of work in lesser organisations and the final step to the pinnacle of the sport. Regardless of whether or not the UFC is classing their fight as being for the ‘interim’ Welterweight Championship, both of these men know that they are fighting for the right to be called the best Welterweight in the world ‘right now’.

Whosoever has the belt wrapped around their waist by Dana White will call themselves Champion, and then face the task of defending that title against the Champion ‘Emeritus’ George St. Pierre.

GSP himself comments on the situation surrounding his inability to defend his title through injury and the implications that holds (in an interview with MMAwarlike.com):

“The way I see it, I am not the champion anymore on Saturday night. You have to put the belt on the line in order to call yourself champion, the best in the world. Right now, I am not the best in the world; I am injured,”

He goes on to say,

“The winner of this fight on Saturday will be more than just the new No.1 contender, but he won’t be the new champion either. The winner of this fight will have to beat me to become the true world champion and I will have to beat the winner of this fight in order to call myself the best in the world again. We have to beat each other to be the undisputed champion.”

And so, the two champions will each call themselves ‘The Man’, but will have to prove it in a classical superfight between division stars.

The shadow of St. Pierre loomed large over the second UFC Primetime episode, with a sizeable chunk of the show devoted to show the Canadian hard at work on his return at the same time as Diaz and Condit both strive to take his title.

Will he be impressed by the winner’s performance? (I’m sorry, I had to)

Diaz will head into Vegas as the favourite, both in betting terms and fan following. GSP has stated publicly that it is the Stockton native that he wishes to fight and who for one night only therefore he will be rooting for. In terms of bringing the entire circle of events that led up to this fight to a close, Diaz vs. GSP will be the fight that the UFC will be looking to promote if they have their way.

The problem is that Carlos Condit doesn’t seem like he cares, and that’s all the better for the viewing public. This has Fight of the Night written all over it.

In the co-feature, Roy Nelson and Fabricio Werdum have more in common than laid back attitudes: both have been brutalised by Heavyweight Champion Junior Dos Santos. Both have had a patchy couple of years: Nelson going 1-1 since his encounter with Cigano; dropping a UD to Frank Mir and looking horrible in the process and stopping a faded Mirko Cro Cop to rebound – and Werdum bringing a slightly better 3-1 record to the fight after being knocked out (in the fight and out of the UFC) by JDS; with the major notable win coming against Fedor Emilianenko (when that was really something) but most recently losing a lacklustre decision to Alistair Overeem.

Instead of fighting for the title, or even contention, both of the participants are fighting for relevance in an ever changing heavyweight landscape. Strikeforce fighter will soon be transplanted en masse to the UFC, and much like when WEC lightweights transferred to the Octagon, the prospect of being lost in the shuffle is just one loss away. Neither is in danger of being let go unless they perform very poorly, with Werdum re-debuting under a multi-fight deal and Nelson coming off a win and having a fan-friendly style. The loser however will be struggling to find his place on an expanding list of contenders, so if either wants to try to avenge his loss to the current Champion and at least maintain his place in the rankings, he needs to make a statement.

Other distinct personalities that feature on the card include Josh Koscheck; looking to build on his knockout win over Matt Hughes against wrestler Mike Pierce, the much improved Alex ‘Bruce Leeroy’ Caceres and fellow TUF alum Chris ‘Wooo’ Cope (Wooo sounds better than C-Murder in this writer’s opinion).

UFC 143 will air live on ESPN UK on Saturday night (Sunday morning) at 3:00 AM UK time. Prelims will start on UFC.tv at 1AM.

@TheRealAdil / @FullMountMMA

[Image: UFC.com]

Full Mount's James Lees and Craig Devlin discuss the UFC on Fox 2 and the upcoming UFC 143.

Subscribe to our podcast here

UFC fans will be pleased to hear that ESPN, the home of the Ultimate Fighting Championship in the UK, will be free-to-air this coming weekend, beginning at 6am on Friday 3rd February. The news means that fans can see the highly anticipated interim Welterweight Championship bout between Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit and the rest of the UFC 143 card completely free! Now, there's no excuse for missing this weekend's epic bout.

So, even if you aren't an ESPN subscriber, simply tune in live this Saturday night and watch UFC 143, live and in high-definition, completely free! ESPN couldn't have chosen a better weekend to give viewers a free sample. If there's one main event you don't want to miss, it's this one.

From ESPN.co.uk

'Watch ESPN & ESPN HD for Free* this weekend, plus ESPN America.

Catch Live and Exclusive action of :

- Barclays Premier League
- Serie A and Bundesliga
- UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship)
- NBA (American Basketball)
- ATP World Tour 250

ESPN will be entirely free this weekend, allowing you to see top sporting action including Saturday’s Premier League match between Manchester City and Fulham.

Brought to you by Nokia Lumia, the weekend of Free Sport begins at 6am on Friday 3rd February and will make ESPN & ESPN HD available to all subscribers on Sky (channel 417), Top Up TV and BT Vision (channel 34). Additionally, for the first time ever, a live Premier League match will be available to the 10 million households that solely have Freeview and no other form of digital TV service (channel 34)'.

@thejameslees / @FullMountMMA

As Mixed Martial Arts and the UFC continues its inexorable rise to world domination it's easy to think that it's all champagne and wads of cash for the fighters of the world. Now, of course we all understand that not everyone that straps on a pair of fingerless gloves is going to end up living the high life and wearing a UFC title belt around their waist but it's easy to think that if you do make it to a decent level then a healthy bank account is a given and people will be lining themselves up to have you fight on their cards. If after all that you go one further by continually winning and winning in spectacular style then surely it's only a matter of time before Bruce Buffer is reading out your name? If that's even part way true why did I read on twitter that BAMMA lightweight champion Rob “C4” Sinclair is considering retirement from MMA?

It was a shock to me, Rob's one of my favourite fighters and at 31 he's surely got a good few years left in him. It'd be easy to understand if he was coming off a loss or was on a poor run but that couldn't be further from the truth, his last fight was a fantastic KO of Diego Vital to defend his BAMMA lightweight championship belt at BAMMA 7 and he was on a 4 fight win streak. Infact Rob has only ever lost twice in his career once by submission to Greg Loughran 4 years ago and the other time was a split decision to Paul Sass. Now Paul is tearing up the UFC these days and submitting people left right and centre but he could only get a decision from Rob when they fought and now they train together at one of the UK's top teams, Kaobon.

So when I asked Rob why he'd consider leaving the sport it seems he just doesn't feel he's getting anywhere. It was a sad realisation that while I as a fan get to watch top level MMA pretty much every week now there are fighters out there that will be watching it and wondering how much more they have to do to get a shot at the top.

Rob wrote some blogs for us at fullmount.co.uk in the run up to his title fight at BAMMA 7 and they were a real eye opener.

http://www.fullmount.co.uk/index.php/mma-news/1-latest-news/1458-rob-sinclairs-bamma-7-training-blog-part-4-bamma-baby

Rob works full time and fits his training around his work and family life, the sacrifices are immense. When you or I will be dozing in bed before work Rob will be out pounding the streets running already, then after work we will be tucking into some food and watching rubbish on the TV Rob will be down the gym training and sparring to stay in top condition, to stay sharp and to learn the new skills that a top Mixed Martial Artist must to allow himself to keep up with the ever evolving sport. It must be a harsh existence and one I can't contemplate myself, I know because I tried briefly. Back when I was younger I was in the Scottish national Judo Squad and trained 6 days a week and then 8 hour sessions with the national squads on a Sunday every few weeks. I was still at school back then and didn't have to worry about running a household as I still lived with my parents. It was tough for me back then without having anything else to worry about, doing that on top of having a job etc would have been really tough. Plus I was just doing the one sport, MMA as we all know means you need to be proficient in a whole armada of different disciplines and sparring involves getting hit in the face which isn't the most pleasant of things! I'm full of admiration for the fighters who do this and it's understandable when, if they feel they're not going to get beyond the level they've reached it's time to make a decision. To go out at their peak or struggle on chasing the dream that may never come.

One thing is for sure though, I Rob does choose to retire it will be a great loss to BAMMA, UK MMA and in my opinion the UFC. Rob is massively popular in UK circles, mainly because he is one of those rare lightweight fighters who has genuine one punch knock out power. It's not something he rarely displays either, out of his 11 wins 9 have been by (T)KO including all of his recent 4 fight win streak. If you take the time to look through Rob's record it's not one padded with easy fights either, the fighters he's KO'd have records like 28-7 and 12-4. These are good fighters he's taken out and now, with the BAMMA title around his waist it seems he doesn't feel he's going to get the opportunity to take that step to the next level which is a shame as there's a couple of UK fighters that I'd like to see inside the UFC Octagon and one of them is Rob “C4” Sinclair.

It's been a while since we caught up with “The Crazy Bear” Stav Economou so with him returning to UCMMA we were keen to grab a word with him to see how things were going. Coming off the back of a huge win over Bob Sapp in Abu Dhabi he suffered what was only his second career loss to Phil De Fries at Ultimate Warrior Challenge 16 in July the big man will be keen to return to winning ways against Tomas Czerwinski at UCMMA 26 on February 4^th at The Troxy. Always a colourful character in UK MMA (and not just because of his hair!) Stav will be a welcome addition to the stacked UCMMA heavyweight division and it'll be great to see how he stacks up against the monsters that inhabit the division! So without further ado here's what the Crazy Bear himself has to say.

This isn't the first time you've fought on a Cage Rage card but it is the first time for a while so why have you chosen to return now?

Well after my last fight there (against Neil Grove) I got offered a fight against Oli Thompson for Kudegra which got cancelled, then against Bob Sapp for Bamma…which got cancelled too (luckily got to fight him in Abu Dhabi later) but at the end of the day it was just kind of how it worked out but I’m really excited to be fighting for Dave again!

Your last fight didn't go too well, losing by submission wasn't what I was expecting at all despite Phils BJJ purple belt, what went wrong?

Enough things

Have you made any changes to your training since the loss?

Not many to be honest, just kept working on improving my all round game

Your opponent on Cage Rage 26 is Tomas Czerwinski and I'll be honest and say I don't know much about him, what do you know about him and what kind of fighter are you expecting him to be?

Best way for me to describe Tomasz is that when he fights, its kill or be killed. He will come out and he will knock you out or he’ll get knocked out so he is pretty dangerous

Cage Rage have an outstanding heavyweight division with some absolute monsters in it, are you looking forward to getting stuck into them in future?

Of course but one fight at a time

Dave O'Donnell is well known for going in to bat for his fighters with regards to them moving on to the UFC if they do well, is that something you're looking for should you put a good run together at the Troxy?

I think it’s safe to say that it’s everyone’s aim to get into the UFC

Also, any advice for James Thompson when he faces one of your more recent conquests, Bob Sapp, in India?

He doesn’t need my advice, I just want to see him do the old school ‘Gong and Dash!’

As ever, if you'd like to give your sponsors or anyone else a mention go right ahead

I’d like to thank my management team UKMMA1, my trainer, Daniel Burzotta, without him I’d be nothing as well as all my sparring partners at TSG and my sponsors Search for Count Dante, The Bakery & Padrae!

Get ready Glasgow - on April 28th, Scottish Fight Challenge will return to the Kelvin Hall Sports Arena in Glasgow, Scotland for SFC 6: 'Uprising' and today, SFC officials announced the full lineup, in what many are already calling quite possibly the best lineup in Scottish MMA history.

Brian Hyslop and Declan Williams will battle for the vacant SFC Flyweight title in a bout that is certain to blow the roof off of the Kelvin Hall, while Dinky Ninjas veteran James Doolan and the dangerous David Häggström of the Ren-Yi Fight Camp in Sweden will go to war for the SFC Bantamweight title in the night's main event.

Check out the full card below:

SFC BANTAMWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
James Doolan (DNFT) vs David Häggström (Ren-Yi Fight Camp) (5 rounds)

SFC FLYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
Brian Hyslop (DNFT) vs Dec Williams (Predators) (5 rounds)

MAIN CARD

Adam Stevenson (SMAC) vs Alan Mcaully (DNFT) Lightweight No. 1 Contender fight
Robert Whiteford (DNFT) vs Johannes Isaksson (Finland) Flyweight
Keiran Malone (DNFT) vs Phil Flynn (Predators) Lightweight
Brian Gallagher (SHS) vs Darren Gilchrist (Fighters Hive) Flyweight
Davie Galbraith (Gladatorial) vs Shaun Eddmonson (Ronin) Lightweight
David Hamilton (EK MMA) vs Paul Patrick (Shooters) Welterweight

UNDERCARD

Paul Craig (SHS) vs Tony Chan (Urban) 95kgs
Paul Lopez (Asylum) vs Kev Devine (SHS) 69kgs
Wully Mcurdy (Asylum) vs Barry Mchugh (Griphouse) 70kgs
Graham Black (Lycans) vs Marco Luzarri 75kgs
Chris Bungard (SHS) vs Scott Mulgrew (Lions Den) 77kgs
Ross Stewart (Grip SS) vs Darren Kinloch (Shooters) 68kgs

The card will mark SFC's first event of 2012 and their second at the historic Glasgow venue, which has played host to many classic boxing bouts, as well as SFC's wildly successful fifth show, 'Rivals', which took place December 3rd. The sold out show saw Martin Svensson defeat fan favourite John Cullen in a thrilling bout to become the SFC Featherweight Champion, in what was the fight of the night. Will David Häggström follow in Svensson's footsteps or will James Doolan keep the Bantamweight title firmly in Scotland?

Tickets for SFC 6: 'UPRISING' are priced at £30.00 (General Admission) and are on sale now. You can get your tickets from the SFC website by clicking HERE You can also buy Cage Side tickets (£40.00) via TicketSoup.com by clicking HERE

Tickets are also available from any EZ Sports store in Scotland. Visit EZ SPORTS for further information.

For VIP tables, please contact SFC directly via their official website (fightchallenge.net), Facebook or Twitter.

SFC 5 'Rivals' is also now available to buy. Click here to purchase the DVD.

Full Mount MMA will be bringing you exclusive SFC 6 coverage in the coming weeks!

@FullMountMMA
@TheJamesLees

In a move that has made this commentator incredibly happy UFC president Dana White has announced that the Gladiator intro has been cut at last. Speaking to mixedmartialarts.com he revealed that the PPV broadcast intro has been redone and a new intro will be present on Saturdays UFC 143 Diaz vs Condit card.

The corny gladiator intro has not appeared on the UFC on Fox cards but was used on the UFC 142 card but it now seems that was his last fling.

Dana White said: "He's been cut."

Main card (FOX / ESPN in the UK)

Middleweight bout: Demian Maia vs. Chris Weidman
Middleweight bout: Chael Sonnen vs. Michael Bisping
Light Heavyweight bout: Rashad Evans vs. Phil Davis

Preliminary card (Fuel TV / UFC.TV in the UK)

Heavyweight bout: Joey Beltran vs. Lavar Johnson
Lightweight bout: Michael Johnson vs. Shane Roller
Featherweight bout: Charles Oliveira vs. Eric Wisely
Featherweight bout: Cub Swanson vs. George Roop
Heavyweight bout: Mike Russow vs. John-Olav Einemo
Lightweight bout: Evan Dunham vs. Nik Lentz

Preliminary card (Facebook)

Middleweight bout: Chris Camozzi vs. Dustin Jacoby

All eyes were on Chael Sonnen this week at the UFC on FOX open workouts. A sea of cameras and microphones surrounded the middleweight star as he entertained fans and the media and hyped his fight with Michael Bisping, which takes place this Saturday night live on FOX. Sonnen, who has masterfully built his character into one of the most fascinating and controversial in MMA, is no stranger to media attention, and will be looking to earn another shot at Anderson Silva for the division's championship later this year. The controversial middleweight has been appearing on various media outlets over the week with a replica UFC middleweight title belt, referring to himself as 'the real champion of the world'. It's a genius move by Sonnen, who seems to be doing a great job of promoting this weekend's card by himself, even without the UFC's help. Sonnen is the best talker in combat sports and Zuffa clearly realise this. Everyone wants to see him fight, whether it's to finally capture the middleweight title or take a beating on the road to the rematch he desires. Regardless, people will tune in and the UFC will be expecting huge numbers on FOX, even if they aren't publicly saying it.

Despite the spotlight being focused on Chael Sonnen, his opponent Michael Bisping has been doing his own fair share of trash talking and has made it clear that when it comes to verbal confrontation, he is more than capable of handling himself. The big question for Michael Bisping going into Saturday's fight will be if the added pressure of now fighting for a middleweight title shot will play any kind of factor in his performance. Bisping says that it won't, however only time will tell. Dana White has guaranteed that the winner of the fight will face Anderson Silva for the Middleweight title later in the year. While Sonnen vs. Silva would clearly be the bigger fight of the two, especially if it takes place in a stadium in Brazil as reports have suggested, a Silva/Bisping fight would generate a lot of buzz in it's own right. Despite a rocky television situation in the UK, the UFC is more popular on our shores than ever before and a homegrown talent fighting for UFC gold would be huge for business. The UFC are likely to announce a new UK television deal this August, with the most likely partner looking like BSkyB. A huge middleweight title fight featuring Michael Bisping would be the perfect way to kick off such a partnership.

(Chael Sonnen was a guest on ESPN's 'Dan LeBatard is Highly Questionable' this week)

In an unusual situation, the fight between Bisping and Sonnen, which is the night's co-main event seems to be overshadowing the headline bout between Rashad Evans and Phil Davis. Not to be outshone by Chael Sonnen, Davis and Evans have also upped the trash talk in the run up to Saturday's fights. Evans, who suggests that Davis doesn't belong in the Octagon with him, is looking to finally earn his shot against light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, after a wave of injuries has continuously delayed the much anticipated bout. Many will be looking for Rashad to finish this fight decisively and in impressive fashion. With a huge audience watching on television and in such a high profile bout, an impressive win would ensure that people want to come back for more and to follow Evans' road to the title and his rivalry with the champion. All of these plans, however, could be derailed by rising star Phil Davis, who boasts an impressive 9-0 record and has climbed to the top of the division faster than most. Davis, who is the underdog going into the fight, has the look and personality to make him a star and he knows, that by shocking the world with a win this Saturday he could very well take Rashad's place in the title hunt. Dana White has hinted that, should Davis beat Rashad, that Davis would then step aside and Dan Henderson would get a shot at Jon Jones instead. However, if Davis does what nobody is expecting and shocks the world with a decisive finish, those plans could quickly change and a new star could be born this Saturday night.

Discuss Saturday's event with us @FullMountMMA using #UFConFOX

@thejameslees

THQ has released information on the downloadable content that will be available for the upcoming UFC Undisputed 3 game, which is set to be released next month on both Playstation 3 and XBOX 360 consoles.

Some content, such as Alistair Overeem are available for free via the UFC Undisputed 3 Facebook page and others, such as the 'Ultimate fighters' pack, featuring Phil Davis, Nick Diaz, Brian Stann and Jason Miller are only available by pre-ordering the game prior to launch. The rest of the content, as listed below, will be released via the XBOX marketplace and PSN store.

- ALL UNLOCKABLES – Unlock over 150 attires and nicknames for instant use! (Available Day 1)
- ALISTAIR OVEREEM – Available for the first time in the Undisputed™ franchise! (Available Day 1)
- FIGHTER PACK: FIGHT OF THE NIGHT PACK – A collection of fighters who’ve stolen the show on UFC Pay Per Views! (Available March 2012)
- ULTIMATE FIGHTS: ULTIMATE UPSETS PACK – The unpredictability of the UFC is the focus of this Ultimate Fights collection. Relive some of the most surprising outcomes in the Upsets Pack! (Available March 2012)
- FIGHTER PACK: INTERNATIONAL PACK – A set of UFC’s best fighters from every corner of the globe! (Available April 2012)
- ULTIMATE FIGHTS: MIXED BAG PACK – Download this bundle for a collection of some of UFC’s most memorable fights! (Available April 2012

XBOX 360 and PS3 owners can download a free demo of UFC Undisputed 3 now via XBOX marketplace and PSN store. The full game will be released on February 14th (US & Canada) and February 17th (United Kingdom). Full Mount MMA will have a full review of the game closer to release date.

@FullMountMMA
@TheJamesLees