For information on how exactly we came up with our Hall of Fame class, please listen to Episode 139 of It's MMAzing Radio. Categories
1) Modern Era: Fighters who debuted in the UFC or Pride FC on or after November 17, 2000
2) Pioneer Era: Fighters who debuted in the UFC or Pride FC before November 17, 2000
3) Fights of great historical significance (UFC & Pride only for now)
4) Outstanding contributions to MMA outside of active competition (ie non-participants)
It's MMAzing Hall of Fame Class of 2015 Modern Era
Rich Franklin
Fedor Emelianenko
Nick Diaz
Pioneers
Frank Shamrock
Kazushi Sakuraba
Fights
Dan Henderson v. Shogun UFC 139
Frank Mir v. Brock Lesnar II UFC 100
Ronda Rousey v. Liz Caramouche UFC 157
Contributors
Fertitta Brothers
Dana White
Ariel Helwani
One of the key match-ups for the UFC's 'The Time is Now' promotion has been the highly anticipated Super Fight between former UFC champion Anderson Silva and fan favorite Nick Diaz. The wait is just about over, but before we witness one of the most intriguing match ups in UFC history, let's break down this, and the other pay per view fights taking place at UFC 183.
Anderson Silva vs Nick Diaz
This is a dream match up, and one that previously just seemed like a pipe dream. However, after a serious leg breaking injury for Silva, and a couple inactive years for Diaz, this match just kinda makes sense right now for the fighters and the fans. On paper this should be a great action fight as both guys like to push the pace, especially Diaz. Personally, unless Silva is just no longer the fighter he once was, I think Anderson should match up well against Diaz. I believe that Silva has the advantages in power, movement and the ability to finish the fight. That being said, some fighters just can't deal with Diaz's volume of strikes when he's at his best. If Silva is hesitant throwing kicks because of his last injury it's not crazy to think he might just be over whelmed by Diaz's aggression. The x-factors going into the fight are the big questions in this one. How has the injury effected Silva's offense? Will Diaz have ring rust? Either way I suspect an entertaining fight out of these two. Silva by TKO 2nd round.
Anderson Silva: Dr. Law, Kid P, Lavender Gooms, DJ Mark Nick Diaz: we're all just a bunch of haters
June 22, 2013 was an important day in MMA history for two reasons. The first reason is clear: it was the first event for Nick Diaz's new promotion: War MMA. The second reason is that it was first event It's MMAzing was invited to as a member of the press. Being that this was the first show for the promotion, I'm going to take you through what stood out from the event.
As all of you regular fans (Phil) out there know, the staff here at It's MMAzing love themselves the Diaz brothers. With that in mind tonight marks the beginning of a new era in the professional career of Nick Diaz. After his loss to Georges St. Pierre for the UFC welterweight title in March, Nick retired and we were all left with questions; Would it stick this time? Will he never fight again? What's he going to do now?
He answered those questions for us in spades with the launch of his new promotion WAR MMA, which airs it's inaugural card tonight. It's taking place in Stockton, California (hometown of Nick Diaz) and features UFC vet and Cesar Gracie Fight Team member Daniel Roberts versus Justin Baseman in the main event. This card is also a first for this website as it will be an Official Official (yes it's that official) It's MMAzing event, with press passes and everything.
For those who can't be there in person you can stream it live for free or enter a donation, with the largest donation winning a pair of signed gloves from Nick and Nate Diaz.
War MMA 1 Fight Card:
-Justin Baesman vs. Daniel Roberts
-Caleb Mitchell vs. Evan Esguerra
-Darin Cooley vs. Cody Gibson
-Roy-Boughton vs. Liron Wilson
-Chris Quitiquit vs. Dominic Clark
Invicta FC notwithstanding, the
first major card of year is the final Strikeforce card this weekend. With that in mind, the year is still
in it’s young phase and no major fights haven taken place; this is a great time to
make some well thought out (and absolutely absurd) predictions for the next 12
months.
The sun has set on yet another year and as the old is put to rest, a new year with new beginnings, new opportunities is upon us. Although when you woke up on January 1, 2013 nothing really changed from December 31, 2012 (considering the fiscal cliff was avoided, whew!), a new year is a symbolic time to reflect on the last 12 months. To think about where you were a year ago, the happy moments along with the hardships that we all encounter at some point in our lives. But here's the thing, although you may encounter some cuts, scrapes and generally get your ass kicked in the game of life sometimes, there's always something you should remember. Chicks dig scars and they serve as a great teacher for the future. But that's enough of Philosopher Gooms
Now that I've gotten that out of the way, we now look at back the how great a year this was in the world of MMA by giving you each ItsMMAzing staff member's top two MMA (and one non-MMA) moments of the year. Just like last year we took a look at moments we enjoyed personally from the year of events. Hope you enjoy them.
UFC president Dana White has announced on Twitter that welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre has torn his acl and will be out for the next year or so. Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit will now meet at UFC 143 in Las Vegas for the interim title.
It is an interesting turn of events that has led to this situation. GSP and Diaz were originally set to square off at UFC 137 until Diaz no-showed a couple of press events and Dana White removed him from the fight in place of Carlos Condit. That was until of course, GSP was injured and the fight was scrapped altogether. That night however, Diaz put on an amazing display against BJ Penn and earned another shot at GSP as Condit was pushed to the side. With GSP injured once more, this love triangle for the welterweight title takes another turn as two of the most dangerous strikers will now go head to head. Will Diaz be the first Strikeforce champion able to unify a belt? Don't be scared, Carlos. 209 bitch!
