By Chris Howie
MMANEWS.COM Staff Writer
According to a new report from MMA Junkie, number one UFC Middleweight title contender Chael Sonnen will be on the Nevada State Athletic Commission’s agenda next week at their May 21st meeting.
Sonnen will likely have to answers questions regarding a therapeutic use exemption he app…
By Chris Howie
MMANEWS.COM Staff Writer
UFC on FUEL TV 3 is set to go Tuesday evening after all fighters on the card tipped the scales at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, VA today.
The event will be headlined with a featherweight fight between Chan-Sung Jung and Dustin Poirier.
Complete results below:
Main…
May 14, 2012 – Chan Sung Jung and Dustin Poirier will both look to make their case as a divisional top contender at Tuesday night’s UFC on FUEL 3, but first things first, as both of the featherweights had no problems making weight on Monday’s weigh-ins.
Both Jung and Poirier tipped the scales at 145 pounds for their bout, scheduled as the main event from The Patriot Center in Fairfax, Virginia.
As expected, there was little emotion displayed by either side as they shared a brief handshake after squaring off post-weigh in.
Poirier will be looking to extend his win streak under the Zuffa banner to six. To date, he’s won all four of his UFC fights, beating both Max Holloway and Pablo Garza by submission, and topping Jason Young and Josh Grispi on points.
Jung, the popular “Korean Zombie” overcame a rough stretch in 2010 of two losses to pull off two of 2011′s highlight-reel finishes. The first was a twister submission over Leonard Garcia, the first ever recorded in the octagon, and the second was a seven-second knockout of former top contender Mark Hominick.
In a lightweight fight, both Donald Cerrone and Jeremy Stephens weighed in at 155 for their main card bout.
Both fighters will be looking to come off losses. Cerrone dropped a unanimous decision to Nate Diaz at December’s UFC 141 while Stephens lost a close decision to Anthony Pettis last October.
Main Card
Dustin Poirier (145) vs. Chan Sung Jung (145)
Jorge Lopez (171) vs. Amir Sadollah (171)
Jeremy Stephens (155) vs. Donald Cerrone (155)
Jeff Hougland (135) vs. Yves Jabouin (135)
Fabio Maldonado (205) vs. Igor Pokrajac (205)
Tom Lawlor (186) vs. Jason MacDonald (185)
Preliminary Card
Brad Tavares(185) vs. Dongi Yang (186)
Marcus LeVesseur (155) vs. Cody McKenzie (155)
T.J. Grant (155) vs. Carlo Prater (155)
Rafael Dos Anjos (156) vs. Kamal Shalorus (155)
Jeff Curran (135) vs. Johnny Eduardo (135)
Francisco Rivera (134) vs. Alex Soto (135)
May 14, 2012 – Nick Diaz will be forced to wait at least one more week before learning about the status of his stalled mixed martial arts career.
In a Monday hearing in Clark County (Nevada) district court, judge Rob Bare denied an injunction request that would have effectively overturned his temporary suspension by the the Nevada state athletic commission, stemming from a February drug test that was positive for marijuana metabolites.
The official minutes of the hearing will not be available until Wednesday, but Judge Bare’s executive assistant Tara Duenas confirmed the ruling to MMA Fighting.
NSAC executive director Keith Kizer told MMA Fighting that Diaz’s hearing with his sanctioning body would be placed on the May 21 docket.
Diaz’s suit, filed on April 24 through attorney Ross Goodman, claimed that NSAC had violated his due process right to a timely hearing, a requirement that the commission will determine the outcome of any summary suspension within 45 days.
NSAC rebutted the claim, suggesting that Diaz and his manager Cesar Gracie had precipitated the delay by offering to produce a medical marijuana card, and then failed to present that documentation. (Diaz did produce a physician’s statement from his doctor, Robert E. Sullivan, which said he would “benefit from the use of medical cannabis.”)
In previous legal responses, Goodman has argued that NSAC has no legal authority to suspend Diaz for marijuana metabolites, saying that result suggests out-of-competition use. Under the rules of the strict World Anti-Doping Agency — followed by most sanctioning bodies including NSAC — out-of-competition marijuana use is not prohibited.
“We were ready, willing and able to proceed, and we held it off because his attorney asked to do so to produce the card,” Kizer said. “It now appears that Mr. Diaz and Mr. Gracie were less than honest with Mr. Goodman about having the card.”
Diaz was not present for the Las Vegas hearing. Through his court filing, Diaz, who has said he smokes marijuana due to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, said he stopped smoking marijuana eight days before the fight, a UFC 143 decision loss to Carlos Condit.
On May 21, he’ll face the prospect of a one-year suspension.
As for NSAC, Kizer said they will take the judge’s advice of putting hearing delays in formal writing to avoid any future confusion.
May 14, 2012 – Jeremy Stephens can’t re-program himself. Even if he could, he probably wouldn’t want to. Win or lose, his style of fighting is pleasing to himself. That doesn’t mean, however, that he doesn’t recognize potential shortcomings. Having entered the UFC at age 20, Stephens’ game – which was arguably too much for his peers in regional circuit around him – simply didn’t have the time to earn the refinement it needed. Of course, his contemporaries in the UFC and the game itself continue to rapidly evolve as well.
In the wake of the loss to Anthony Pettis, Stephens acknowledges some changes had to be made. Some were already in motion, as ‘Lil’ Heathen’ had earned his purple belt in jiu-jitsu with the gi. But other, more immediate alterations to his life and preparation were in order. He needed a camp with more sparring partners, hands-on attention and the right kind of environment to continue to add skills to his arsenal.
Ahead of his bout with Donald Cerrone at UFC on FUEL 3, though, Stephens believes he doesn’t want to get away from who he is or what got him to his current placement. If he’s going to beat Cerrone, he believes it will happen by using a game that at its core is still unchanged. Everywhere else, sure, he’s more than welcome to add a higher degree of sophistication. But as he put it, ‘going for broke’ is part of who he is and not something he’s prepared to let go.
In this interview with MMA Fighting, Stephens discusses what went wrong against Anthony Pettis, proclaims his desire to earn a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, explains why he believes Donald Cerrone broke against Nate Diaz, how Eric Del Fierro has improved his striking, training with Alliance MMA exclusively and getting over staph infection.
Full audio and partial transcription below:
Luke Thomas: Let’s get right into this fight you have with Cerrone. It was originally going to be against Yves Edwards and you’re filling in. Talk to me about why you took this fight on short notice rather than taking a different fight. What was attractive about fighting Donald Cerrone?
Jeremy Stephens: To me, it really wasn’t short notice. I had about 10-12 weeks to prepare for the fight and I was actually looking to fight sooner than that but ended up getting a staph infection which sidelined me for a little bit. Then we got word that Yves was out and Donald Cerrone would be May 15th. I wanted to fight sooner, but when I heard Donald Cerrone, I knew it would be a good fight for the fans and for me and I had to take it. It’s a good opportunity, once in a lifetime to fight someone that’s going to come at me the way that I do and it’s a fight for the fans for sure.
Luke Thomas: How’d you get staph and how bad was it?
Jeremy Stephens: Oh, it’s just something. It’s just on the mat. I’m on the mat all the year-round training. Of course you’re going to get something like that. It was kinda bad. I ended up having it pretty bad so I had to sit back and take care of it. No worries, it gave me time to relax, ease my mind and think about the future.
Luke Thomas: Was that the first time you’ve had staph?
Jeremy Stephens: No, I had it once when I was 18-19 years old. I had it about 2-3 times.
Luke Thomas: Is that common? How often do you see your fellow fighters get staph?
Jeremy Stephens: It’s pretty common. It’s on the mat, staph’s already on your skin. You can get it from ingrown hair. My aunt got it one time from washing dishes, she had a small cut and it just gets infected, you know? It’s pretty common.
Luke Thomas: Alright, let’s talk about Donald Cerrone. Is he in any way in your mind similar in any kind of capacity to any previous opponents you’ve faced?
Jeremy Stephens: I don’t think he’s similar as to fighting, but he brings it. He comes to fight. He comes forward and he’s similar in other aspects. Donald Cerrone likes to fight and so do I, but I feel like I have the advantage over him in that area.
Luke Thomas: You mentioned something in your video blogs or I think it was a video interview that I felt was interesting. Right now, correct me if I’m wrong, you’re a purple belt in the gi, is that correct?
Jeremy Stephens: Yep, that’s correct.
Luke Thomas: Who are you a purple belt under?
Jeremy Stephens: The Gracie Humaita family and Dean Lister.
Luke Thomas: A lot of guys who start MMA who do the no-gi thing, some do no-gi, some don’t. Tell me what your trip through using the gi has been like. Were you initially resistant to using it?
Jeremy Stephens: Just actually when I started. I live in San Diego now. I’ve been there four years and I originally started in Iowa. The highest belt there was a purple belt at the time and I never got into it. When I started in California, I realized that a lot of the fighters were getting into the gi and it was just something that interests me after my career. I want a good longevity career and I want my black belt to go along with my gym as my credentials in the sport afterwards. I don’t want to just be known as a UFC fighter. I want to have my black belt and have some credentials that would be to my advantage after my fight career is over.
Luke Thomas: And you fundamentally believe that training in the gi sharpens technique versus strictly no-gi?
Jeremy Stephens: Living proof, brother. (laughs)
Luke Thomas: Tell me what it has done to your game. Obviously submission defense is a component, but do you feel like you’re in a position now where, obviously you’ve won Knockout of the Night three times, do you feel like you’re in a position now where you can leverage your submission game to win UFC fights?
Jeremy Stephens: Yeah, definitely. I use it, when it comes to fighting, I use it to a fighting advantage. Like when I get a guy in a good situation or inside, I’m not just going to try to submit you. I’m gonna try to cut your eyes open or go for the knockout at all times, but it does help my game.
It helps my defense. It helps me get in better position. It really slowed me down and made me focus on technique instead of just using strength or scrambling. Yeah, it’s definitely an advantage for everyone who gets in the gi that’s a fighter. Everybody is also different as well, too, but as far as my game, it helped me out a lot.
Luke Thomas: Let’s talk about Alliance MMA. How long have you been with them?
Jeremy Stephens: I’ve been training with them off and on since I came to San Diego, but full-time was actually for this camp so I’ve been with these guys anywhere from 15-20 weeks now and I’ve been training with them full-time and mixing things up over there. Coach Eric Del Fierro has been my gameplanner and he’s been a bright coach to have in my corner.
Luke Thomas: Talk to me about your evolution. What was it before where you were part-time with them and now you’re sort of exclusively with them. What changed?
Jeremy Stephens: I was just living on the other side of town. I was living in Point Loma which a half hour away from Chula Vista. I was training with another group of guys at some other gyms. I was training with K.J. Noons and a lot of different guys and I just needed a good team, a solid team around me and some of the guys were starting to disappear and I needed to be in a gym were a lot of guys had the same similar aspects as me and were getting after it so I had to make that change.
Luke Thomas: Coach Eric Del Fierro is an interesting guy. The reason why, fairly or unfairly, is he has a reputation of taking guys who are strikers and gives them very polished technique but, this is not my personal opinion, playing devil’s advocate here, maybe he also makes fighters not go for the kill. How would you respond to that?
Jeremy Stephens: I think that’s the fighter’s aspect. You’re the only one going into the Octagon for 15 minutes. You have to know how to train and know what to do. As far as guys not going for the kill or playing the technical aspect, you can’t place that on a coach. Maybe that has some of an influence on that, but the fighter has to know that he’s only in there for 15 minutes and he has to do everything he can to take that guy out.
That’s not my mindset. You can train me jiu-jitsu technique and put me in a fight knowing I’m just going to be dropping bombs on you the whole time. Yeah, I know the technique’s there, but I’ll use it to land my strikes. That’s how I evolve. I get around the best grapplers, the best wrestlers, the best strikers and I use their techniques, but my mindset’s always to take guys out, to go for the kill. To me, that’s the fighter’s aspects. I think maybe some guys are thinking a bit way too much and are maybe trying to stick to the game plan just to win the fight. There’s a lot of pressure there, but my style’s always to go for broke and to swing big.
Luke Thomas: So what has Eric Del Fierro done for your particular game?
Jeremy Stephens: He’s just helped me get back to pressuring guys the old style. Pretty much no respect of any of the guys’ combinations or power. I know guys ain’t hitting as hard as me and I know I have a good chin. He’s got a good style for me. He makes me pressure when he holds pads. He makes me throw a lot of explosive powerful combinations.
He really hasn’t changed too much of my game. He’s just sharpened me up and helped me out mentally. That’s the big part, just the mental aspect. He’s really helped me define the person I am as a fighter and I’ve truly sharpened that tool back up and I think that was something I lost in my last fight and now it’s back again and it’s a whole new energy.
Luke Thomas: What’s notable in this fight is you’re coming off a loss and so is Cerrone. I want to start with you. The Pettis fight is weird because I didn’t expect him to wrestle as much as he did. What went wrong for you in that particular fight?
Jeremy Stephens: I think, no excuses, I think my head just wasn’t in the game. I had a good camp. I was in good shape, but my head was just not in the game. I had a lot of things going on outside the ring and I just didn’t show up to that fight mentally. That’s the biggest asset of the fight game is having your mental backing you up and it just wasn’t there for me that night. I wasn’t my normal self. I had to take some time off to kind of re-energize and reboot the system.
Luke Thomas: You’re 25 years old and, if I’m not mistaken, you’re UFC debut was against Din Thomas at UFC 71. Were you burnt out?
Jeremy Stephens: No, I wouldn’t say I was burnt out. I think I just had some personal things going on in my life that distracted me a little bit. I allowed that to get into my mind and I just really wasn’t focused 100 percent on the fight and that’s some change that I had to make and some mistakes that I had to learn from to move and grow forward and grow as a man. It happens. Things go on and life goes on. You can’t dwell on it. You’ve just got to move forward and just try to get better and learn from it.
Luke Thomas: Donald Cerrone lost to Nate Diaz. Nate Diaz is a top competitor and there’s no shame there, but from your vantage point, why did Cerrone lose that fight?
Jeremy Stephens: I just don’t think he knows how to move his head. He didn’t capitalize. He fought with a lot of emotion and gassed himself out and I felt like he kind of gave up in the third round. Nate Diaz was fingering him from across the cage like he was a little girl. He didn’t have it in his eyes. He kind of just broke and took his ass-whooping.
Luke Thomas: That’s interesting you say that. Out of all the guys that have a reputation for toughness, Donald Cerrone is probably at the top of the list. Do you believe that reputation is undeserved?
Jeremy Stephens: No, I think Donald Cerrone is a tough guy. He’s definitely a game competitor but when someone is just as tough as you and they’re putting on the pressure and beating you up, you have plenty of time, five minutes of the last round to go in there and go for the kill, go for broke. You’ve got nothing to lose, everything to gain and I just don’t think that he really went for it. There’s times where I’ve been losing in the third round and I’ve come out with the knockout in the last couple seconds and I felt like he just kind of gave up, took his ass-whooping.
Luke Thomas: So 2012, we’re almost halfway through. Obviously this is a big fight for you. Have you thought about what you want out of 2012? Obviously you want a bunch of wins, but have you thought about how many times you want to fight and where you want to be by the time 2013 starts?
Jeremy Stephens: No. All my focus is on this next fight. I have nothing else on my mind besides Donald Cerrone, getting that win and moving forward from there, but as of right now, this is the big picture. This is the light at the end of the tunnel. Tuesday is right around the corner. I’ve never felt so energized, never felt so good mentally and spiritually in my life. I’m ready to go take Donald Cerrone out and look forward to the future after that.
Luke Thomas: Who’s gonna be in your corner on Tuesday night?
Jeremy Stephens: Eric Del Fierro and then Adrian who’s also with Alliance and he’s my boxing coach, been helping me out and my coach Chaco. He’s from the other gym, but he’s a good mental aspect and a good person to have in my corner. He’s one of those guys that will probably be always in my corner.
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AUTOS: Mini Unveils John Cooper Works GP
New performance coupe reprises 214-horsepower limited-edition model of 2006 with exclusive motorsports tweaks.
Mini unveiled its latest Mini Cooper S John Cooper Works GP performance coupe over the weekend at the Mini United festival in Le Castellet, France.
The first Mini JCW GP was produced in 2006 to mark the end of the first generation of the Mini developed by BMW. Only 2,000 were produced. Mini is bringing the GP name back in 2012 in the same limited number, with the cars arriving at dealerships later this year. The Works GP gets motorsports-bred powertrain, chassis and aero upgrades, as well as its own styling enhancements. (Photo: Mini) The Mini JCW GP gets an exclusive powertrain, chassis and aero technology directly from motorsport. It gets large front and rear aprons, lower side skirts, a roof spoiler and a rear diffuser that smoothes turbulence on the underbody. Final power figures and pricing will be announced closer to launch, along with the volume allocated for the United States. The last Mini GP delivered 214 horsepower; we expect that much or more from this car. We do know that the new Mini GP made its way around the Nürburgring’s Nordschliefe circuit in just eight minutes, 23 seconds, which makes it the fastest factory-produced Mini ever. That time puts the car in good company: Just above it on the Wikipedia lap-time list for Nürburgring is the E46 BMW M3, and below it are the 2008 Lotus Exige S and the older Jaguar XKR. This story originally appeared at AutoWeek.com.
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By MATT BOONE
MMANEWS.COM Staff Writer
It happened again.
Nick Diaz no-showed his internet pay-per-view main event BJJ match against Braulio Estima at the World Jiu-Jitsu Expo tonight in California.
There had been rumors throughout the evening that Diaz was not in the building, however it wasn’t until just before t…
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You could spend your entire trip to Napa Valley doing nothing but eating and drinking. It’s a good plan. The food is tasty here and the wine delicious and copious. And we make it easy for you to do nothing but eat and drink. So have at it.
However, there really is more here than food and wine. You could go golfing between sips and bites. For those inclined to spoil a good walk, the Napa area provides some pretty interesting choices. And many don’t require you to mortgage your home. Here are some excellent choices.
Eagle Vines Golf Club
Located about 15 minutes east of the town of Napa in American Canyon, Eagle Vines is a challenging but fair Johnny Miller-designed track that will give you the opportunity to swing away and practice your target golf. It’s a pretty course, surrounded on many holes by vines and water coming into play on eight holes. It’s nicely groomed and the greens tend to be quite true and of moderate to quick speeds. The two putting greens leave something to be desired. And be careful, in my experience, the putting greens tend to be slower than the course greens. You can find green fees ranging from $39 to $80. My favorite hole is #11, a par five with water to to the left off the tee and a second shot that requires first a carry over a stream then a carry over a lake to reach in two; or a precision shot between water and bunkers to set up a pitch to the green.
Chardonnay Golf Club
Located direct adjacent to Eagle Vines is Chardonnay Golf Club. It, like Eagle Vines, is incorporated into a vineyard landscape with vines coming into play on a number of holes. The views from many of the elevated tees are spectacular. Uniquely, Chardonnay presents six par 3s, six par 4s and six par 5s. Beware that the par fives are difficult holes. Many of them are long and demand a careful carry over ravines and washes. The practice facilities here are quite good with a large putting green and a grass range. There are numerous elevated tees here, some of them monumentally elevated. And like its neighbor, Eagle Vines, wind can be a serious factor later in the afternoon. My favorite hole is the elevated par 3 8th that hits to a undulating narrow and wide green. Given the wind factor, I’ve hit everything from a 52 degree wedge to a 7 iron on this hole.
Napa Golf Course at Kennedy Park
This is Napa’s local municipal course, and it’s a good one with lots of challenges. Like most municipal courses it’s not in absolutely pristine shape (some sand traps remain “rock traps”). However, water comes into play on 14 of the 18 holes and in many cases, this isn’t just incidental water. It’s you-better-hit-your-tee-shot-straight kind of water. As you would imagine, prices as Kennedy are lower. You can easily get on for $35 or less. There is a driving range with mats as well as a fine putting green. My favorite hole is #8, a medium length par 5 with water on both sides and lake about 100 yards out that must be traversed. You can get to the green in two with two good shots, but you’d better not be errant.
Vintners Golf Club
This is the Valley’s local 9-hole track located smack dab in the middle of the Valley in the culinary haven of Yountville. They keep this little nine holer in very good shape and it is mightily popular with locals not only for the quick round it provides but also for the driving range that allows for hitting off mats as well as grass. Water comes into play on three holes but only on number 4 is it of any consequence. The folks that run this place are fantastic and the local pro, Jeff Dennis, is outstanding. Rates range from about $20 up to $40 for a round of 18.
Hiddenbrook Golf Club
This one is located about a 25 minute drive from the town of Napa and it might be the best course around that you can easily get on. It’s an Arnold Palmer-designed course that has hosted LPGA events and it is a challenge, well-groomed and well worth an afternoon.The course features some huge elevation changes, a number of holes with wide open fairways and holes that require you traverse water to reach the green. In my mind, it is the most challenging of the easy-to-get-on-courses in the area. From the blue tees you have a 71.1 rating and 133 slope. This course comes highly recommended. Rates for a round range from $40 to $100 depending on when you play. Hiddenbrook also provides a driving range, an undulating putting green and a chipping green.
Mare Island Golf Club
Located about a half hour from Napa in the town of Vallejo on a former army base located on an island of sorts, Mare Island Golf Club is unique. Opened in 1892 as a nine hole track it claims to be the oldest golf course still operating west of the Mississippi River. In 2000 an additional 9 holes were added providing for two very different golfing experiences between the original nine and the new nine holes. The front nine is a traditional layout with tree-lined fairways and greens like postage stamps. The new back nine opens up, and provides a more links-like experience Much of Mare Island is target golf, made even more difficult by the frequent afternoon winds that can turn a 9 iron into a 5 iron. The green fees are great values ranging from $15 to $45 depending on day and time of play. A small putting green is provided with an irons only driving range.
There are other courses in the area, most of which require membership or a stay at the connected resort. All of the courses described above require no more than a tee time. I tend to rotate around these course and find something to like about all of them. For golfers coming to Napa, a few hours away from the food and wine will be rewarding. And the wine will always be here.
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May 13, 2012 – There are two separate worlds in professional sports. The one with the money, bright lights and headlines, and the one that lies beneath it all, where the true talent separates itself from the pack while the wannabes try to hold on to a dream.
The latter is a proving ground, a necessary stop on the way to stardom or an unwanted roadblock on the way to obscurity. It is also the landscape examined by the new documentary “Fightville,” which was recently given a limited release in US theaters.
Beyond that, it is a portrait of two lives in flux, centered on the careers of a pair of aspiring MMA stars. To fans of the UFC, the star of the movie is Dustin Poirier, the fast-rising featherweight who happens to be fighting in the main event of Tuesday’s UFC on FUEL 3. In the film — shot over the course of one year from mid-2009 to mid-2010 — Poirier is depicted as a hard-working kid from a hard-scrabble background, using his talent to overcome a rough start in life and head to the bigtime. All the while, the filmmakers tell the parallel story of Albert Stainback, a 20-something with a tortured youth and a dream of a worry-free future.
The contrast between the two is subtle but striking. They both have the same goal, they both come from similar backgrounds, they both end up at the same gym, Gladiators Academy in Lafayette, Louisiana, but that’s where their paths separate.
While Poirier illustrates unwavering dedication to his personal improvement to go with his natural talent, Stainback seems to spend more time talking about his goals than putting in the time necessary to achieve them.
The brutal truths about success or failure in the sport are immediately brought to the forefront by their trainer, UFC veteran Tim Credeur, who notes that the current MMA movement represents the natural evolution of martial arts. After years of outrageous claims from practitioners of various disciplines, MMA has managed to separate the legitimate from the pretenders.
“To make it for everyone is to make it not what it really is,” he says.
The same holds true for individuals, as Stainback learns.
The Kentucky native comes across as a complex and sympathetic character. Early on in the film, he recalls his father beating his mother senseless. Later, when he was nine, his father committed suicide.
“I honestly attribute me wanting to fight, if I had to give some kind of Freudian guess at it, is I wanted to be a defender,” he says.
Stainback is clearly intelligent. He is introspective, well-spoken and it seems, well-read, since he clearly harbors a fascination with Alex from the 1960s novel “A Clockwork Orange.”
Yet as bright as he is, he can’t keep from getting in the way of his own success. After winning his pro debut, he is booked for a rematch, but because of relationship issues and stress, he loses the desire to get into the gym to train. As a result, he is forced out of the fight.
“It sucks knowing that I let something like this go by,” he says. “It might be small, it might be big, but it was there.”
All the while, Poirier is seizing the moment, training for the same show, his determination unwavering. We see him making sacrifices in his diet to make weight, and we see his work ethic, and it’s clear what the difference is between the two.
The most powerful shot in the movie comes when Poirier goes off to Canada to fight. He wins in a flash, and as he celebrates, the scene cuts to Steinback watching video of Poirier’s win while back home. As Poirier basks in the glory of a victory that sends him to his dream job — he soon after signed a contract with Zuffa — Steinback has literally and figuratively been left behind.
While MMA enthusiasts are no doubt Fightville’s most likely audience, it’s biggest importance is to non-fans, for a look at the dedication it takes to succeed as well as the real people and real ambition behind an often-misunderstood sport. MMA is ultimately both simple and complex; a fight with many layers of depth. Because of that, it will never be for everyone. But as Fightville teaches through Poirier’s resolve, once you get past the sport’s proving grounds, it can lead to a little slice of the American Dream.
By MATT BOONE
MMANEWS.COM Staff Writer
It happened again.
Nick Diaz no-showed his internet pay-per-view main event BJJ match against Braulio Estima at the World Jiu-Jitsu Expo tonight in California.
There had been rumors throughout the evening that Diaz was not in the building, however it wasn’t until just before t…