One Bodyboarder...One Photographer

Maggie Gyllenhaal Majandra Delfino Malia Jones Malin Akerman

UFC 119: Ryan Bader Beats Antonio Rogerio Nogueira

Filed under: UFC, News

Former Ultimate Fighter winner Ryan Bader earned the biggest victory of his MMA career Saturday at UFC 119, beating Antonio Rogerio Nogueira by unanimous decision.

The bout may set Bader up for a showdown with Jon Jones, in what would be a match-up of the two best young fighters in the light heavyweight division. If Jones is next for him, Bader will need to be better than he was Saturday night against Nogueira.

Lori Heuring Lorri Bagley Lucy Liu Luján Fernández

The Dark Side of The Lens

We highly recommend you check out a really beautiful and inspiring video by Astray Films and COTW featured surf photographer Mickey Smith titled "The Dark Side of The Lens". This is the first in a new series called "Short Stories" by Relentless Energy. Click on the video screenshot below to watch…



- Mickey's website
- Mickey's blog

Elena Lyons Elisabeth Röhm Elisha Cuthbert Eliza Dushku

Re-Rigged

Lucy Liu Luján Fernández Magdalena Wróbel Maggie Grace

Movie Monday

As you’ve likely heard me say before, Mondays are bad for me. They’re the busiest day of the entire week at the office and most of the time I’m trying to catch up with chores at home from being away all weekend. The former still applies, however having kept close to home this weekend I [...]

Audrina Patridge Autumn Reeser Avril Lavigne Bali Rodriguez

UFN 22 weigh-in: Marquardt must be wary of having a limb removed

Nate Marquardt is being put through the mental meat grinder. It's been the story around much of his UFC career. Tonight at Ultimate Fight Night 22, he's got two mental hurdles to cross. Rousimar Palhares isn't exactly the "title contender or holder" Marquardt thought he'd be facing at this point in his career and the Brazilian's questionable tactics on the mat can play mind games with any opponent.

Marquardt and Palhares both made weight yesterday in anticipation of their main event bout at UFN 22 and now it's time to see what unfolds if the fight hits the floor. That's basically Palhares' only shot at pulling the upset. But if it gets down there, the guy has developed a reputation as a beast who'll attempt to take a limb home, legally or not. 

"I don't care about that, to really be honest," Marquardt told Tristen Critchfield from Sherdog. "The way I think about it is that any time someone goes for a submission hold, or a joint lock or whatever it is, they're putting your body in danger. So I defend it with everything that I have. I don't need to worry about what he's done in his past fights because I'm not going to allow him to catch me."

Palhares (11-2, 4-1 UFC) has more than a rep, he's already paid the price for dirty tactics. At UFC 111, he refused to let go of a heel hook on Tomasz Drwal. The Pole yelped in pain (pictured above) and was lucky to walk away without long term damage. New Jersey handed down a 90-day suspension to Palhares.

It's got to be in the back of any fighter's mind that Palhares is more than willing to end someone's career if necessary. Marquardt said he won't let it affect him and if it's time to hit the deck, it'll go down there.  

"I'm leaving the option open to go to the ground if necessary; I'm not afraid of going to the ground with a guy like that," Marquardt (30-8, 8-3 UFC) told ESPN U.K. "I've fought three high-level grapplers in my career, he is dangerous and I have a huge advantage on the feet, but at the same time if I see the takedown and the chance to ground and pound him, I'll go for it."

Nineteen fighters hit the scales without an issue. Efrain Escudero was the lone exception on the card. He came in at an obscene 159 pounds for a bout at 155. He forfeits 20 percent of his purse against Charles Oliveira.

Ultimate Fight Night 22 weigh-in (Courtesy MMA Junkie)

SPIKE card:
Nate Marquardt (186) vs. Rousimar Palhares (186)
Efrain Escudero (159) vs. Charles Oliveira (154)
Jim Miller (155.5) vs. Gleison Tibau (154)
Cole Miller (156) vs. Ross Pearson (156)

Non-televised undercard:
John Gunderson (156) vs. Yves Edwards (155)
Jared Hamman (205) vs. Kyle Kingsbury (206)
Dave Branch (186) vs. Tomasz Drwal (185.5)
Rich Attonito (185) vs. Rafael Natal (186)
David Mitchell (170.5) vs. Anthony Waldburger (171)
Brian Foster (170.5) vs. Forrest Petz (170)

Shannon Elizabeth Shannyn Sossamon Shiri Appleby Sienna Guillory

Koscheck, Part II: Trash talk, family and Fitch

Josh Koscheck will make his debut as a coach on season twelve of "The Ultimate Fighter" on Wednesday evening, airing after Ultimate Fight Night 22 on Spike. Read part I of Cagewriter's interview with Koscheck here.

Josh Koscheck is known as one of the bigger trash talkers in MMA. He has a brash side, but immediately softens when you bring up his friends and family.

Koscheck and Jon Fitch, teammates at American Kickboxing Academy, are two of the UFC's best welterweights. However, they refuse to face off because their friendship means more than the belt.

Koscheck says that if he wins the title from Georges St. Pierre on Dec. 11, and he is forced to face Fitch, he'll vacate the title.

"When I win the title, I'd vacate it and let Fitch win it. They can't make us fight. I would vacate the title and say, Fitch, you fight. You win the title."

Though he does not have any children of his own, Koscheck is close with his four nieces and nephews, and says that a family of his own is the one thing missing.

"I'm happy with my success. 99.9 percent of my life is complete. I just need that one percent. That one little thing, and that's a family."

"It's everything. One of the things I've learned over the last two years is that money isn't important and winning the title isn't as important as family. Money, winning the title, that's icing on the cake. What I want is a family and kids."

'You're so slow. That's all you have Paul?'

But that soft side doesn't show up in the Octagon, where he has developed a reputation as a trash talker. He even admits that he talks throughout his fights, including his bout with Paul Daley. Koscheck won the unanimous decision, but Daley sucker punched Koscheck after the fight had ended.

"He was talking [profane]. He said, 'Let me up, you [profane.] All you want to do is hold me down.' I said, 'This isn't [profane] kickboxing, this is MMA.' He started eye-gouging me. I could feel his finger in the back of my head. I couldn't see out of that eye for a month.We were talking [profane] the whole fight. The first round, he threw a jab, and I said, 'Oh my God. You're so slow. That's all you have Paul?'"

He does admit that the mid-fight talk doesn't always pay off.

"When I fought Georges, when Georges got the last takedown, I was talking the entire time. I said, 'You got lucky today, Georges,' and he cracked me with a big elbow."

After the fight, Koscheck taunted the crowd in Montreal, saying that his Pittsburgh Penguins would beat the Montreal Canadiens in the Stanley Cup playoffs. (The Canadiens went on to win the series, but were knocked out by another Pennsylvania team, the Flyers.)

Even after the crowd booed, spat and threw things at Koscheck, he said he regrets nothing.

"Why would I regret anything I say? I don't live my life with regrets. I try to do what I feel is right at the time. If it's the wrong thing to say, it's the wrong thing to say. I can't change the past."

But he wasn't afraid that night, and he's not concerned about going to Montreal again to fight GSP.

"The UFC already has plans to hide me this time around, and I'll have security with me 24x7. Dana White gets death threats every day. I get death threats every day. I see the messages, but, it's life. What am I going to be? A [profane] and hide forever? If some one wants me, they're going to come get me."

He has a message for anyone who wants to go after him: Come and get me.

"If they want to fight me, come to the gym. We'll sign a waiver and throw down. I'll fight everyone who wants to."

The invitation is open.

Lisa Snowdon Liz Phair Lokelani McMichael Lori Heuring