UFC-153 RIO: Anderson 'The Spider' Silva Vs. Stephan 'The American Psycho' Bonnar

According to mmafighting.com the next fight involving the greatest pound-for-pound cagefighter in the world, 37-year-old, São Paulo, Brazil, native and current UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson 'The Spider' Silva will be against the UFC's company/franchise fighter, Stephan 'American Psycho' Bonnar (14-7).

The bout will be the main attraction at UFC 153 and will illuminate on October 13 from the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Bonnar is no 'Joke.'

Known in the UFC as the 'The American Psycho' the 35 year-old Munster, Indiana, born cagefighter, Bonnar, is not-only a Chicago Golden Gloves boxer, and a black-belt in both Taekwondo, and Brazilian Jujitsu, but he's also been mentored by the highly-notable and legendary 9th degree red-belt BJJ Master, Carlson Gracie Sr.

Bonnar has been in there with some great fighters in the past, such as Jon Jones and Lyoto Machida.

However, he's yet to meet the absolute best...until now.

Additionally, Silva will once again venture up one weight-class to 205-pounds to face Bonnar.

Notably, the last time Silva, 32-4, tested the deeper waters of 205-pounds it was to give former light-heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin a first-round boxing lesson at UFC 101 on August 8, 2009.

Before Griffin's embarrassing first round ass-kicking, there was another foray into light-heavyweight for Spider.

Five-long-years ago at UFN 14, Silva gave James Irvin who—even though he tested positive for banned-substances post fight— a woodshed-style-whupping, also in the very-first round.

Bonner comes to fight. We know that about him.

The first Griffin vs. Bonnar—due to the hunger-factor and how evenly matched they were—is now a UFC cult-classic. A 'war of attrition' that saw both men awarded a UFC contract after appearing on "The Ultimate Fighter 1 Finale," on April 9, 2005.

Below is a video of the 'tough as nails' Bonnar facing-off against Spider-Silva's long-time friend and fellow 'Blackhouse' training-partner, 'The Dragon' Machida—it's also a classic.

Stay tuned.

*Follow-me please - on Twitter.com @cagestokerblog

Female MMA: Jujitsu World Champion Kyra Gracie gives 'Props' to Ronda Rousey

In a recent interview with TATAME, the beautiful 27-year-old five-time Jiu-Jitsu world champion, Kyra Gracie, had some very respectful and sports-man-like comments to make regarding the current Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Champion, Ronda Rousey.

Gracie—who is rumored to be soon making her own mma debut—was solidly-impressed by Rousey's, 54-second dismantling of top contender Sarah Kaufman; a match that took place August 18, in San Diego, California, and saw Rousey record her sixth professional win via bjj armbar submission.

“She has great skills pulling off that armbar. Congratulations. I guess she’s doing a great job representing women in MMA. She has a good Judo background and managed to well adapt her skills to MMA. Each fight she comes better and better on ground and stand-up skills,” Gracie commented.“She’s training Jiu-Jitsu with my cousin Cesar in San Francisco, and I can see she’s evolving”.

Aesthetically pleasing to the male eye, this member of the Gracie family, Kyra, is also a Rio de Janeiro native with a long list of grappling credentials:

4x World BJJ Champion (2004, 2006, 2008, 2010)
5x Pan American BJJ Games Champion (2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007)
5x Brazilian BJJ Champion (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004)
5x New York State BJJ Champion (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002)
3x ADCC (Abu Dhabi Combat Club) Submission Wrestling World Champion (2005, 2007, 2011)
1x Asiatic BJJ Champion (2006)

Nowadays however, the 2nd degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Gracie, is currently honing her boxing skills while also 'flying under the radar' awaiting her chance to finally turn pro:

“I’m training right now. I added Boxing to my training routine, I’m training with Claudio Coelho but I always focus more in Jiu-Jitsu because that’s where I come from. The recent MMA growth makes me think about turning professional. I think about it more and more each day. I’m studying some 'contract' propositions and checking with my coaches as to when would be the best moment to do it." says Gracie.

In what seemed like a 'playful' jab at Rousey, Gracie added:

“I have pretty good armbar defense (laughs). I proved that already in Jiu-Jitsu tournaments. I’m an expert at Submission, so…”.

Stay tuned. Follow me on twitter please: @cagestokerblog 

UFC Prediction: Jon Jones Vs. Dan Henderson

UFC President Dana White officially confirmed last night—via Twitter—that the man who holds the crown and seems unbeatable at 205 pounds, Champion Jon 'Bones' Jones, will indeed, be tested next by the aging, mixed-martial-arts pioneer, Dan Henderson.

The fight, Jones's first title-defense in Las Vegas, will be held on September 1, 2012, in the main event of UFC 151.

Born Jonathan Dwight Jones on July 19, 1987, this cagefighter known as ' Bones,' at just 24-years-old, is now a virtually-undefeated human-wrecking-ball.

I used the words 'virtually undefeated' for a reason. The only 'chink' in the seemingly-impenetrable-armor of the young gladiator being a 2009 disqualification loss to Matt Hamill. Other than that, Jones's rise to the UFC light-heavyweight summit has been nothing short of immaculate.

Personally speaking, as a writer who was around during that time period, I have compared Jones to a young Muhammad Ali. Especially after his demolition style victories over former title-holders such as Mauricio Shogun Rua, Quinton Jackson, Lyoto Machida and most recently, Rashad Evans.

At  41-years-old, Henderson (29-8) deserves a ton of respect for his accomplishments over the years.

However, the once decorated-collegiate-wrestler, nowadays, is a mostly one-dimensional fighter. One who has not yet held a UFC title belt. It seems that "Hendo," although successful in recent years, has basically been a one-trick-pony of late.

A wrestler by trade, Henderson, as strange as it seems, chooses most-times to only use his highly-broadcasted, yet fully-loaded, right-hand-bomb, and nothing else.

 The old adage: 'If it ain't broke don't fix it,?' comes to mind.

Also, depending on who you ask, Henderson's previous wins, over a highly-overrated minor-league Russian Sambo-King named  Fedor Emelianenko—along with other victories, most of which took place years-ago in Japan, are nowhere near as relevant today as they were back then. 

Henderson, who has also recently admitted to steroid-usage, has last fought at UFC 139, struggling against a fighter whom Jones had little trouble with, 'Shogun' Rua.

You see where I'm headed here. Don't go out and bet the farm on the H-Bomb. As it may just become a 'dud' or an obsolete-weapon in Henderson's next war. Stay Tuned.  

 -- "A rooster crows only when it sees the light. Put him in the dark and he'll never crow. I have seen the light and I'm crowing." Muhammad Ali

Classic Slugfest Video: Foreman Vs. Lyle Re-visited

One of the greatest slugfests of all time happened 33 years ago when two defensively-challenged heavyweight boxers left one the world's most eloquent sportscasters, Howard Cosell, at a total loss for words. 

For Cosell—a man who made his living from constructing sentences from a wealth of verbs and adjectives—being left speechless was certainly something that didn't happen very often.

Of course I’m speaking of the Jan. 24, 1976, match-up between George Foreman and Ron Lyle.

I don’t know about you, but nothing could be more intensely satisfying to me than witnessing two power-punchers attempting to knock each other’s block off.

Enjoy