World Of Swords

Gina Carano put womens MMA on the map, but Cris Cyborg Santos may have become the sports first dominant female champion by virtue of her overwhelming TKO victory in the main event of Saturdays STRIKEFORCE event. Cyborg simply was too physically strong and her punches too powerful for Carano, who fought valiantly before succumbing to a barrage of ground and pound punches at the end of the first round.

Before a near capacity crowd at San Joses HP Pavilion, Carano and Cyborg made history as the first women to headline a major US mixed martial arts event. Cyborg entered the cage first to a mostly negative reaction, stopping along the way to shadow box and throw kicks on the entrance ramp. The crowd went nuts for Carano, who was accompanied into the arena by Randy Couture who trained her for the matchup.

Despite the fight being scheduled for five rounds of five minutes each, the women set a frantic pace from the opening horn. Cyborgs size and strength advantage was apparent from the outset, as she landed an immediate flurry of punches before taking Carano to the canvas. Carano landed in top position, but quickly found herself in trouble as Cyborg worked for a kneebar and then a heel hook. Carano was able to extricate herself, and get to her feet but Cyborg took her back and immediately took her down again. Carano landed in top mount, however, and was able to score with some big punches from the top. Inexplicably, she backed off and let Cyborg get to her feet instead of pressing what may have been her best opportunity to win the fight.

Carano was able to land a couple of effective jabs on the ensuing standup exchange, but Cyborg caught a body kick attempt and quickly closed the distance again. Cyborg once again took her opponent to the mat and after an unsuccessful armbar attempt mounted Carano and began a brutal punching assault that eventually forced the stoppage.

Despite Cyborgs triumph the most dominating performance of the evening belonged to former DREAM middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi. In his first fight at 205, Mousasi destroyed STRIKEFORCE light heavyweight champion Renato Babalu Sobral via TKO at the 1:00 mark of the first round. Mousasis victory wasnt a shocking outcome, but the utter ease with which he handled a tough, experienced and well rounded opponent in Sobral was stunning and evoked comparisons to recently signed heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko.

Earlier in a card full of decisive finishes, Gilbert Melendez became STRIKEFORCE interim lightweight champion with a third round TKO victory over the double tough Mitsuhiro Ishida. Melendez will now face Josh Thompson to unify the belts once Thompson is medically cleared to resume fighting.

Mixed martial arts fighting is fast becoming one of the biggest sports in America. Will it ever be the number one sport? Well, I guess that depends on who you ask. I personally think the sport is just going to continue getting bigger. Im not sure if it will ever be the number one sport though. This sport does appeal to a lot of age groups, which could be why the sport is expanding at such an incredible rate

Why is, mixed martial arts growing so fast? Is it because of the short, fast paced, 5 minute rounds, which can be a non-stop adrenaline rush! With fights ending in knockout or submissions before the first round even ends. Is it because the sport appeals to so many different age groups or is it because its new and exciting, will it phase out in a few years?

With the UFC stars being noticed now for being athletes, that train just as hard, or even harder than normal athletes. Will this sport finally gain the respect it deserves? It used to be called a blood sport or cock fighting. In fact I believe some people still regard the sport as that. Do people realize the discipline involved now, the constant workouts for strength, conditioning and of course the martial arts training.

This sport has gone through some remarkable transformations over the years. The UFC has done remarkable things for MMA. What one was viewed only by a few thousand people at most, to now viewing live UFC nights to millions of people worldwide!

With impressive sales and huge demand, the UFC is the number one place for fighters to go to. If you want to fight the best fighters in the world you will have to break into the UFC ranks. Once there you will be able to make a very nice living, well if youre good.

So if youre new to this sport, and you have just starting to follow the UFC you are in for a great ride. If youre already a fan and have been following MMA Im sure you will agree with me. This is a fantastic sport which will only get bigger.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship has introduced a form of fighting which it classed as no-holds-barred. In the beginning the Ultimate Fighting Championships had very few rules. There were no weight classes and no time limits or rounds. The only rules were that fighters could not eye gouge, bite, or fish hook, and fights could only end with a referees stoppage, knock out, or submission, which could be done verbally, or by a tap out, where the fighter must tap the mat, or his opponent three times with his hand or foot to signal that he submits.

The event was a one night tournament, where competitors would fight several times in one night, in a single elimination style tournament until a champion was named. The lack of weight classes was an obvious problem, when 415 pound sumo wrestler was allowed to fight 216 pound kick boxer. This scene was later repeated in the third UFC event, when 6-foot-8inch tall, 600 pound sumo wrestler, was allowed to fight 5-foot-11-inch tall, 200 pound karate fighter.

As the UFC gained popularity, it became a political topic, as one Arizona Senator launched a campaign against the UFC. As a result, in 1997, pay-per-view companys dropped the Ultimate Fighting Championship events from their line-ups.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship remained out of sight, without pay-per-view coverage, and banned from all but a handful of states for several years, until the franchise was purchased by Zuffa, LLC. Zuffa, a Las Vegas based media and casino management company owned by Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta, took over the UFC franchise with the intention of returning it to its former popularity, and eventually gaining the sport mainstream acceptance. The Fertittas and Zuffa President Dana White sought to turn the UFC into a good, clean sport with actual rules, which allowed the sport to eventually become sanctioned. This would be a huge step for the UFC, as sanctioning provides a legitimization for the sport, according to Bruce Buffer.

Dana White and the Fertittas work hard work came apparent in 2001, when the UFC returned to pay-per-view, with record PPV sales, and record ticket sales at their live events. The new and improved UFC returned with a stricter set of rules, which included rounds, time limits, five weight classes, a list of 31 fouls, and 8 possible ways to win. The UFC fighters were very different from those that entered the Octagon in 1993. Current UFC fighters are among the best conditioned athletes in the world. Often, fighters train for more than six hours a day.

Today, the UFCs pay-per-view sales are rising quickly, and most of live shows are sold out at the arenas. A lot of fighters now spend a few years fighting in smaller events, getting experience before they go to the UFC. Mixed martial arts is also currently the fastest growing sport in the United States, as mixed martial arts events and training centers spring up all over the country, and the money the sport is making continues to grow at a nearly exponential rate.