From our recent interview:

Heading into the fight with Radach, what are you expecting of him, what are you planning for, etc?

Well, just like any MMA fight, you’ve got to be ready for anything. Obviously everybody expects us to stand and bang, you know, there’s no secret to my game - I’m going to stand and bang with him.

Following a win over Radach, would you like a chance to fight the winner of the headlining bout between Frank Shamrock and Nick Diaz?

Yeah, absolutely. Those are two great fighters. I like any fight that is going to draw people in to want to watch me fight, and I think Benji is one of those fights. We’re not the main event or anything, but I think the true MMA fans are looking at that as having fight of the night potential right there. And, yeah, Nick and Frank are great fighters and have made great names for themselves, so that would be a great notch on my belt, to beat one of those guys.

From The MMA Fiend

From a  recent interview we did with him:

Benji Radach: I work full time and train in the mornings and the nights just like I’m doing for this one, so it’s pretty hard. It’s a big feat to get wins over big guys when you are working full time, you know?

The MMA Fiend: Yeah, most guys at your level, training is all they do all day. I don’t even like getting up to run when I have to go to work that day, so I can only imagine what it takes to work full time and train at that level.

It really takes a fighter out of training, man, it’s really hard for me to do it anymore. I used to do it all the time when I was fighting in the UFC and stuff. I was an electrician and I trained at night, you know, and it just takes so much out of you that you don’t even really enjoy it anymore. You get burned out really fast. But I took this last two weeks off of work so that I could focus on training, so I should be good to go.

I actually did some work as an electrician for a while until I started electrocuting myself, and after a few times I figured it was best not to temp fate and find another line of work.

Yeah, I’ve been shocked a lot, man, that is for sure. I got burnt by 277 a little bit once, laying some light, and thank God - that stuff usually kills a lot of people, but luckily it didn’t end my life, thank God. But yeah, it’s dangerous, man, I had a couple close calls. I had 480 volts explode right in my face one time and got flash burns - it was pretty bad.

From TheMMAFiend.com

From the press release:

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) organization today officially launched a new text alert service for mobile devices, giving fans the opportunity to receive UFC news as it happens, as well as event updates and other information about UFC.

Using the UFC web site, fans can indicate the specific kind of information they would like to receive via text messages, such as breaking news, event announcements, UFC programming reminders, UFC ticket presale opportunities as well notices of new UFC.com content, including unaired UFC bouts and other exclusive videos. The text message service is powered by 4INFO, the leading text message alert service company in the U.S.

To begin receiving UFC text messages, fans can visit the UFC web site, and click the Mobile link at the top of the page, or they can simply text the word “UFCNEWS” to 44636 (4INFO) from their mobile device to receive breaking UFC news alerts.

Users can choose to stop receiving text alerts at anytime by replying “STOP” to any message.

This has nothing to do with the fights, but actually how Bellator's staff seemed to have no clue what they were doing. From a piece by Paul Sava:

The first thing I noticed leading up to the event is that it seemed like no one at the Bellator offices ever had a clue as to what they were doing. A prime example of this is the weigh ins. I made a call to their offices to try and find out the time and location of the weigh ins and was told they would have to get back to me. They took my information, but never returned the call and I was forced to show up on a whim hoping the weigh ins would be somewhere in the casino. Once I arrived at the weigh ins I realized that no one within the company knew what they were doing as it was one giant cluster fuck.

A day after the disaster that was the weigh ins was the show, but things didn’t get any better from there. I was coming to the show with the assumption that I had press credentials and a spot on press row waiting for me, but that was not the case. I assumed this because Bellator’s PR department confirmed it for me on 2 different occasions, but when I arrived I was given nothing but a general admission ticket(a Shitty One at That) and told there was nothing they could do. I wasn’t the only person in the media who was given the shaft like this either as there were at least 10 other people who had the same thing happen. Once again confirming that the people in charge were clueless.

 

....

 

 

They had strobe lights constantly going off, music playing almost the whole time (Including during the rounds of each fight) as well as manufactured applause that they pumped through the speakers during fighters walk ins. I assure that they couldn’t have had that much applause because there were probably less than a thousand people in the arena. Add that to the fact that they did no tale of the tape and seemed to only do post fight interviews when they wanted and it equals a pretty sloppy show for the in house crowd.

All In all, it was a pretty horrible way to debut a promotion.

From The MMA Fiend

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Promoted from the fan posts by Kid Nate.

“But I’m going to tell you right now, you couldn’t meet a nicer guy, a more friendly, outgoing guy, a more loyal guy. He really was a good person. He’s one of the pioneers, one of the legends of this sport.

“This guy was selling T-shirts out of the trunk of his car and when we first got involved with the UFC, we met them. We really liked them, we liked their energy. They were good people and we got together and we started doing all this grassroots marketing together - the UFC and Tapout. They were very loyal to us and we were very loyal to them.

“And it sucks to see a guy who has worked so hard his whole life, to finally make it and break through, and then have something like this happen to him.”

From an interview with Slam! Sports via MMA Payout

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TapouT Radio has set up a tribute line for Mask. Please call it and tell your story if you were affected by his tragic passing.

There are many, many fans that have been fortunate enough to have met, or been influenced positively by Charles Lewis.  TapouT and TapouT Radio have set up a toll free phone line for people to call and share their stories or just share their thoughts on the untimely passing of our good friend, and co founder of TapouT.  They will be archived permanently and will be aired in parts over the next couple shows.  Please feel free to use it more than once, if you have something lengthy to say, or more than one story.

1-888-6-TAPOUT

We would like to thank Bruce Buffer, Reed Harris, Reggie Warren Jr, Immaculata, Momita, Jeff Cain, Damon Martin and everyone that have been calling in to share their thoughts and stories.  Some of them I have listened to are inspiring, as well as emotional.  We encourage everyone to call in.  We are keeping the lines up until late Sunday so everyone has a chance to get their message logged.  This archive will be included on the official memorial/tribute website that TapouT is making for Charles.  It will also be on the TapouT site and the TapouT Radio site.

1-888-6-TAPOUT

 

According to MMA Mania:

Mixed martial arts legend Ken Shamrock tested positive for three illegal anabolic steroids — Norandrosterone, Noretiocholanolone and Stanozolol — after his first round armbar submission win over Ross Clifton at War Gods: “Valentine’s Eve Massacre,” which took place at Selland Arena in Fresno, Calif., on Feb. 13, according to the California State Athletic Commission.

Shamrock has been suspended and fined $2,500 for the transgression. He has the right to appeal the finding in the future.

If the positive test is upheld it will more than likely erase the first win in four years for “The World’s Most Dangerous Man.” In addition, it will throw a wrench into his upcoming fight against former WWE superstar turned MMA fighter, Bobby Lashley, in the Roy Jones Jr.-promoted hybrid MMA and boxing event from the Pensacola Civic Center in Pensacola, Fla., on March 21.

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Report: Nate Diaz vs Joe Stevenson For TUF 9 Finale

According to MMA Madness, TUF 5 LW winner Nate Diaz will take on TUF 2 WW winner Joe Stevenson at The Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale on June 20th. The fight is a must win for Stevenson, who is on a two fight skid. Don’t get me wrong, Diaz needs the win too considering he recently lost to Clay Guida, but there is no doubt that the majority of the pressure will be on Stevenson.

Also rumored to be on the card is Diego Sanchez vs Clay Guida as well as Anthony Johnson vs John Howard, so needless to say, it looks to be a kick ass night of fights.

Props CagePotato.

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With a full-night sleep to digest what went down last night at UFC 96 I have come to a few conclusions:

• Pete Sell should be cut from the UFC.
• Dana White probably finds Tamdan McCrory annoying now.
• Friends shouldn’t be allowed to commentate on each other’s fights.
• Ref. Yves Lavigne should probably be fired, or at least go back to ref school.
• Ref. Rick Fike should just be fired.
• Rampage don’t give a fuck about no leg kicks.
• Rogan looks weird in orange.
• Jim Miller is a dog (in a good way).
• Brandon Vera is back?
• Kendall Grove has long arms.
• Shane Carwin is legit.
• Columbus got what they paid for.
• Skunk-beer gives me a hangover.

According to a known Zuffa source over on the UG named saucylv33, the UFC will soon be announcing a new Main Event for UFC 98, and it will not disappoint. According to the source it will be a new bout, and not Hughes vs Serra as previously speculated.

The first thing that comes to mind is Lyoto Machida vs Rashad Evans, but we won’t know until it is announced tonight during the broadcast of UFC 96 (thanks Nick).

New Bout To Headline UFC 98

According to Golden Boy over on the UG, his sources have confirmed that Mir is out of his fight with Brock Lesnar at UFC 98 on May 23rd, despite what Dana White said earlier today.

We posted an interview earlier where Mir said that he wanted to have the fight moved, and I guess he got his wish.

The fight will most likely be rescheduled for sometime in the summer.

 

UPDATE: Frank Mir Is Out… For Realz This Time