Quinton "Rampage" Jackson (born June 20, 1978 in Memphis, Tennessee) is an American professional mixed martial arts fighter who rose to prominence with his fights in Japan's PRIDE Fighting Championships. He is the former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) light heavyweight champion losing to Forrest Griffin at UFC 86 by unanimous decision. He has a professional record of 29 wins with 7 losses. Jackson is ranked by Sherdog as the number two light heavyweight in the world. Outside the ring, he is known for his humor and colorful personality.
Jackson then defeated PRIDE Middleweight Champion Dan Henderson at UFC 75, on September 8, 2007 in London, England via unanimous decision to unify the two organizations' titles.
Following a stint on The Ultimate Fighter and a title fight with Forrest Griffin, Jackson's next fight, at UFC 92, would be against Wanderlei Silva, the only man to beat Jackson twice. Jackson avenged his previous defeats by knocking Silva out with a left hook at 3:21 in the first round. For the decisive victory Rampage received the Honor of Knockout of the Night.
B.J. Penn
Jay Dee "B.J." Penn (born December 13, 1978 in Kailua, Hawaii) is an American professional mixed martial arts fighter and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner who is currently the Ultimate Fighting Championship Lightweight Champion.
In 2000, he became the first American-born winner of the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship in the black belt category. Penn is also the former UFC welterweight champion and was a coach on the The Ultimate Fighter 5 reality show. After winning the lightweight title at UFC 80, he became the second fighter (after Randy Couture) to win UFC titles in two different weight classes. He is currently ranked by Sherdog as the #1 Lightweight fighter in the world.
B.J. Penn recently told Fighters Club TV that he would face the winner of UFC 87 Welterweight title fight between Georges St. Pierre and Jon Fitch, which St. Pierre ended up winning by unanimous decision. This fight is now scheduled for January 31 2009, the "UFC Super Bowl Weekend", and is hoped to be the biggest UFC PPV ever.
Prior to the fight with George St. Pierre, B.J. Penn has made a controversial comment, stating that he is going to try and kill Georges St. Pierre in the ring but has later explained that he meant that figuratively.
In 2000, he became the first American-born winner of the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship in the black belt category. Penn is also the former UFC welterweight champion and was a coach on the The Ultimate Fighter 5 reality show. After winning the lightweight title at UFC 80, he became the second fighter (after Randy Couture) to win UFC titles in two different weight classes. He is currently ranked by Sherdog as the #1 Lightweight fighter in the world.
B.J. Penn recently told Fighters Club TV that he would face the winner of UFC 87 Welterweight title fight between Georges St. Pierre and Jon Fitch, which St. Pierre ended up winning by unanimous decision. This fight is now scheduled for January 31 2009, the "UFC Super Bowl Weekend", and is hoped to be the biggest UFC PPV ever.
Prior to the fight with George St. Pierre, B.J. Penn has made a controversial comment, stating that he is going to try and kill Georges St. Pierre in the ring but has later explained that he meant that figuratively.
Georges St. Pierre
Georges "Rush" St-Pierre (born May 19, 1981), often referred to as GSP, is a Canadian mixed martial arts fighter. He is the current Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) welterweight champion, and is generally regarded as one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world.
St-Pierre has been lauded by many media outlets for his skills; he is currently ranked by multiple MMA publications as the #1 welterweight in the world, as well as the 2008 Most Outstanding Fighter, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
St-Pierre had dreamed of becoming a UFC champion since watching Royce Gracie fight in 1993 at UFC 1. St. Pierre had his first amateur bout when he was only 16 years old. He states, "When I won my first amateur (MMA) fight, I was 16 years old and I beat a guy that was 25. I was only a Kyokushin karate fighter and the guy I fought was a boxer. At the time my ground skills were very poor, I didn’t know anything on the ground.” St-Pierre won his fight by knockout, going low with several leg kicks and then going high with a kick to the head.
St-Pierre's pro debut was against Ivan Menjivar and ended in a first round TKO win. St-Pierre went on to win his next three fights before making his TKO debut against Pete Spratt at TKO 14 (November 29, 2003). St-Pierre defeated Spratt with a rear naked choke in the first round.
St-Pierre has been lauded by many media outlets for his skills; he is currently ranked by multiple MMA publications as the #1 welterweight in the world, as well as the 2008 Most Outstanding Fighter, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
St-Pierre had dreamed of becoming a UFC champion since watching Royce Gracie fight in 1993 at UFC 1. St. Pierre had his first amateur bout when he was only 16 years old. He states, "When I won my first amateur (MMA) fight, I was 16 years old and I beat a guy that was 25. I was only a Kyokushin karate fighter and the guy I fought was a boxer. At the time my ground skills were very poor, I didn’t know anything on the ground.” St-Pierre won his fight by knockout, going low with several leg kicks and then going high with a kick to the head.
St-Pierre's pro debut was against Ivan Menjivar and ended in a first round TKO win. St-Pierre went on to win his next three fights before making his TKO debut against Pete Spratt at TKO 14 (November 29, 2003). St-Pierre defeated Spratt with a rear naked choke in the first round.
Miguel Torres
Miguel Torres (born January 18, 1981) is a Mexican American mixed martial artist (MMA) who fights for the World Extreme Cagefighting organization. He is the current WEC Bantamweight champion. Prior to fighting with the WEC, Torres also held the bantamweight title for the US Shooto organization, as well as for the Ironheart Crown. Torres specializes primarily in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and also possesses a potent Muay Thai striking arsenal. As reported by UFC.com, in September 2008 Torres received his black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu from Carlson Gracie, Jr.
Sherdog.com ranks Miguel as the #1 Bantamweight mixed martial artist in the world and the #5 Pound for Pound mixed martial artist in the world.
Miguel received several offers to fight overseas in Brazil and Japan after the challenge was issued. Because these offers were not lucrative, he turned them down and continued to fight locally instead. His first fight with the WEC came on September 5, 2007 against Jeff Bedard. After beating Bedard, Torres went on to challenge Chase Beebe for the title, earning the bantamweight belt.
Today, Miguel continues to fight for the WEC, defending his title. He also owns and operates a mixed martial arts academy in Hammond, Indiana where he teaches nearly 200 students. Among these students are several up and coming fighters whom he trains to fight in the same local shows that he once competed in himself.
Sherdog.com ranks Miguel as the #1 Bantamweight mixed martial artist in the world and the #5 Pound for Pound mixed martial artist in the world.
Miguel received several offers to fight overseas in Brazil and Japan after the challenge was issued. Because these offers were not lucrative, he turned them down and continued to fight locally instead. His first fight with the WEC came on September 5, 2007 against Jeff Bedard. After beating Bedard, Torres went on to challenge Chase Beebe for the title, earning the bantamweight belt.
Today, Miguel continues to fight for the WEC, defending his title. He also owns and operates a mixed martial arts academy in Hammond, Indiana where he teaches nearly 200 students. Among these students are several up and coming fighters whom he trains to fight in the same local shows that he once competed in himself.
Fedor Emelianenko
Fedor Vladimirovich Emelianenko (IPA: ['fʲodər jemilʲja'nʲenkə], Russian: Фëдор Владимирович Емельяненко, sometimes romanized as Fyodor Yemelyanenko) (born September 28, 1976) is a Russian heavyweight mixed martial artist (MMA), the current World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts heavyweight champion and the last holder of the PRIDE heavyweight championship.
Emelianenko has been considered the best heavyweight fighter in the world for the last five years by many major publications, including ESPN, the Orange County Register, The Fight Network, the Houston Chronicle, The Wrestling Observer, Sherdog.com, and Inside MMA. He was also chosen as the greatest fighter of all time across all weight classes by the expert panel of the television show "Inside MMA".
He has won numerous tournaments and accolades in multiple sports, most notably the PRIDE 2004 Grand Prix and the World Combat Sambo Championship on four occasions, as well as medaling in the Russian national Judo championships.
He also revealed his intent to set up a unification bout with UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture as his first UFC fight (Ultimate Fighting Championship).
Emelianenko has been considered the best heavyweight fighter in the world for the last five years by many major publications, including ESPN, the Orange County Register, The Fight Network, the Houston Chronicle, The Wrestling Observer, Sherdog.com, and Inside MMA. He was also chosen as the greatest fighter of all time across all weight classes by the expert panel of the television show "Inside MMA".
He has won numerous tournaments and accolades in multiple sports, most notably the PRIDE 2004 Grand Prix and the World Combat Sambo Championship on four occasions, as well as medaling in the Russian national Judo championships.
He also revealed his intent to set up a unification bout with UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture as his first UFC fight (Ultimate Fighting Championship).
Anderson Silva
Anderson "The Spider" Silva (born April 14, 1975) is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt and mixed martial artist (MMA). Since October 14, 2006 he has been the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight champion. He has also competed in PRIDE Fighting Championships, Cage Rage, Shooto, and Rumble on the Rock.
Once a member of Chute Boxe Academy, he left to form the Muay Thai Dream Team. In late November 2006, he joined a new team called Black House with Lyoto Machida, Vitor Belfort, Assuerio Silva, and the Nogueira brothers. On May 16, 2008, Silva and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira opened the Team Nogueira MMA Academy in Miami, Florida.
Multiple MMA websites currently rank Anderson Silva as the number one middleweight in the world, while Yahoo! Sports and Sherdog rank Silva as the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world. Silva has announced his intentions to retire by mid 2009, as soon as his current contract with the UFC is complete.
Once a member of Chute Boxe Academy, he left to form the Muay Thai Dream Team. In late November 2006, he joined a new team called Black House with Lyoto Machida, Vitor Belfort, Assuerio Silva, and the Nogueira brothers. On May 16, 2008, Silva and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira opened the Team Nogueira MMA Academy in Miami, Florida.
Multiple MMA websites currently rank Anderson Silva as the number one middleweight in the world, while Yahoo! Sports and Sherdog rank Silva as the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world. Silva has announced his intentions to retire by mid 2009, as soon as his current contract with the UFC is complete.
Ultimate Fighting Championship - UFC
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is a U.S.-based mixed martial arts (MMA) organization, currently recognized as the largest MMA promotion in the world.[2] The UFC is owned and operated by Zuffa, LLC, headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The UFC began as a single-event tournament to find the world's best fighters irrespective of their style, and was based upon Brazilian vale tudo fighting. Although there were a limited number of rules, promoters marketed fighting in the UFC as no holds barred, and contests were often violent and brutal. Early UFC fights were less sport than spectacle, which led to accusations of brutality and "human cock fighting" by Senator John McCain and others. Political pressures eventually led the UFC into the underground, as pay-per-view providers nixed UFC programming, nearly extinguishing the UFC's public visibility.
Fights that occur on The Ultimate Fighter are classified as exhibition matches under NSAC sanctioning, and thus do not count toward the professional record of a fighter. Match outcomes also do not need to be immediately posted publicly, which allows for fight results to be unveiled as the series progresses.
The UFC began as a single-event tournament to find the world's best fighters irrespective of their style, and was based upon Brazilian vale tudo fighting. Although there were a limited number of rules, promoters marketed fighting in the UFC as no holds barred, and contests were often violent and brutal. Early UFC fights were less sport than spectacle, which led to accusations of brutality and "human cock fighting" by Senator John McCain and others. Political pressures eventually led the UFC into the underground, as pay-per-view providers nixed UFC programming, nearly extinguishing the UFC's public visibility.
Fights that occur on The Ultimate Fighter are classified as exhibition matches under NSAC sanctioning, and thus do not count toward the professional record of a fighter. Match outcomes also do not need to be immediately posted publicly, which allows for fight results to be unveiled as the series progresses.
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