For anyone questioning the decision to put women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey in the main event of UFC 157, the rock-star reception Rousey received Wednesday answered a lot of doubts.
With some fans pressed against the Octagon and others at least four-deep behind the ropes, Rousey was easily the star of the open workout at the UFC gym in Torrance.
The Venice resident, who in the first women’s fight in UFC history will defend her belt against Liz Carmouche (7-2) on Saturday at the Honda Center in Anaheim, stepped into the cage with striking coach Edmond Tarverdyan and other members of Glendale Fighting Club. Rousey (6-0) worked on her throws, sparring, grappling and cardio before greeting fans who were clamoring for photos and autographs.
While Rousey has been in high demand with the media leading up to this historic fight, even she was taken aback by the attendance
“I didn’t think it would be this big. It’s a little bit surprising. I just feel bad I can’t get to everybody,” Rousey said. “A lot of people go through a lot of trouble to come to these events and to see me for a few seconds, and I just don’t have a few seconds for everyone. So to everybody I missed, I’m sorry. I appreciate you guys taking the time, but there’s only one of me.”

Ariel Helwani just came out with a blockbuster on Twitter that the UFC has cut 16 fighters, including former welterweight championship contender Jon Fitch.

Helwani’s story also listed the other fighters cut: Wagner Prado, Mike Russow, Jacob Volkmann, Vladimir Matyushenko, Che Mills, Jay Hieron, Terry Etim, Paul Sass, Jorge Santiago, Mike Stumpf, Simeon Thoresen, C.J. Keith, Motonobu Tezuka, Josh Grispi and Ulysses Gomez.

Making it a tad awkward was Gomez’s reaction to Helwani’s tweet:

@arielhelwani I got released?!?!? What! Serious?

— Ulysses Gomez (@uselessgomez) February 20, 2013

Each of the 16 fighters had lost his most recent fight, but one usually had to piece together a two- or three-fight losing streak to get dropped by the UFC. Those days are apparently no longer.

The 34-year-old Fitch (24-5-1) lost a three-round unanimous decision to Demian Maia at UFC 156 on Feb. 2 to fall to 1-2-1 in his past four fights. He was ninth in the most recent UFC welterweight rankings, which are voted on by the media.

We asked UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey to discuss some of the people chiefly responsible for her success. We will post one each day leading up to Rousey’s first defense of her 135-pound title Saturday against Liz Carmouche at UFC 157 at the Honda Center in Anaheim.

Today, Rousey talks about Gene LeBell, a longtime family friend and legendary judo champion who helps run Hayastan MMA Academy in North Hollywood and has been in Rousey’s corner — figuratively and literally — throughout her MMA career:

Gene’s great. He’s known my mom from before I was born. Him and Gokor (Chivichyan) are kind of tied together in my mind in a way. I’ve never really been one to see them separately.

Gene’s been fantastic. He just always got caught up in ways of being so respectful, so supportive when a lot of people had burned their bridges with me and thought I was a waste of time. He’s just had such unwavering faith in me since the beginning that I really cherish him as a really close family friend.

We wrote this story about women’s bantamweight title challenger Liz Carmouche, who fights champion Ronda Rousey in the main event Saturday at UFC 157 at the Honda Center in Anaheim.

Here are some quotes from Carmouche that didn’t make it into the story:

ON DEALING WITH THE INCREASED MEDIA AND PRESSURE:

I’m able to manage it. I’m really enjoying getting a chance to meet new people and to interact and that’s really I think what’s getting me through this. I think it might be overwhelming if I wasn’t making connections and getting to know each person that I get to interview with.

ON THE LACK OF TRASH-TALKING BETWEEN HER AND ROUSEY:

I really feel like we both understand where we’ve come from. I respect the fact she’s the current champion and she was the Strikeforce champion and I respect everything she’s done in this sport. And there are things she’s doing to help make the sport grow for women’s MMA. And she’s the reason it’s in the UFC. But it takes two to tango and I think she knows that and respects my approach and understands where I’m coming from and that’s not my personality. I’m not a trash-talker. I’m not gonna engage, and in all honesty you’re not gonna be able to get in my head if you really want to.

ON HER UNPREDICTABLE FIGHTING STYLE:

It just happens. I never plan to do some crazy stuff. I’ll have these dreams where I’ll just wander off  and thought about, “Oh, I’m gonna do this craziness! I’m gonna jump off her shoulders and then spin her back and do this!” but I never really think that’s gonna happen. … Some of it I control and half the time it’s just my body going on auto-drive doing its own thing.

ON BEING FROM SAN DIEGO AND THE FIGHT BEING IN ANAHEIM:

I can’t even really put numbers on how many people are gonna come up for this fight. I’ve had so many friends and family and people that go to the gym say that they’re gonna come out. If we were open Saturday night at my gym, nobody would be there because everybody’s either at somebody’s house watching on pay-per-view or they’re making the trip all the way from San Diego to Anaheim to see me in person.

ON HEADLINING UFC 157 OVER DAN HENDERSON VS. LYOTO MACHIDA:

You know, it came as a shock to me too when I found out. “You’re gonna be in a UFC fight, you’re gonna be fighting Ronda.” I thought OK, maybe we’ll be on the undercard or preliminaries instead of headlining. I have so much respect for Machida and for Henderson and I’m fans of both of them as athletes, so it’s kinda awkward for me to be headlining over them. And I don’t wanna take anything away from them because I do respect them so much. But I’m also grateful for this situation and being able to be that person and be in that position and I’m not gonna downplay that at all.

We asked UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey to discuss some of the people chiefly responsible for her success. We will post one each day leading up to Rousey’s first defense of her 135-pound title Saturday against Liz Carmouche at UFC 157 at the Honda Center in Anaheim.

Today, Rousey talks about Gokor Chivichyan, a longtime family friend who runs Hayastan MMA Academy in North Hollywood:

“Gokor, I’ve known since I was a little kid. He had the place where the tough guys were.

My mom was very smart where she’d make me go to different judo clubs a week. She’d make me go to four to five different judo clubs a week. She would have me go to some places where the kids were my size and I could really fight hard and try all my judo stuff. She’d have me go to judo places where they had very traditional Japanese style of judo where I’d fight and learn how to defend that kind of style.

And then she had me go to Gokor, where everyone beat me up and knocked me around and they had that European wrestling style. I think I’ve been going there since I was around 12 or so. And they were great. They really helped my confidence a lot. You’re a 13-year-old girl and you completely walk into a room full of men who don’t even speak your language. That really translates into every facet of your life. They really helped me learn not to be intimidated by anyone, because let’s be honest: They’re an intimidating bunch.”

We asked UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey to discuss some of the people chiefly responsible for her success. We will post one each day leading up to Rousey’s first defense of her 135-pound title Saturday against Liz Carmouche at UFC 157 at the Honda Center in Anaheim.

Today, Rousey talks about manager Darin Harvey, president of Fight Tribe Management:

“Darin’s been fantastic. He believed in me from the very beginning.

I’m not the type to accept charity. When I was training, if I asked him to, he would’ve paid for my rent and everything and made everything easy on me, but I wouldn’t accept that from him.

There was a point where my strength and conditioning coach Leo (Frincu) asked, “What’d you eat for dinner last night?” I told him Top Ramen. He said, “WHAT? What the hell are you doing eating that?” I told him, “I’ve eaten that pretty much every day. I’m broke!” And he said, “This is totally not acceptable.” And he called Darin and talked to him.

I told him, “I’m not accepting money from anybody.” And he was like, “You let me take you out to dinner and lunch and stuff, don’t you? Well, think of this as Darin taking you out to a very extended lunch.”

And so every two months or so, Darin would take me to Costco and we would build the grocery cart up with unperishables. Frozen vegetables, frozen salmon burgers, frozen everything. I pretty much had the same meal every day. Frozen salmon or frozen chicken or frozen vegetables. But it wasn’t Top Ramen.

He really helped me in that way in the very beginning, getting proper nutrition and being able to train properly so I would have money left over to actually put the gas on in our apartment. That’s the other reason why we only had Top Ramen. Because I couldn’t afford to turn on the gas. So all we had was like the hot water from the sink.

And there was a point where our hot water got cut off so I had to just put it in cold water and let it sit forever so the noodles would get soft. It was bad. It was bad for a while. And Darin taking care of the groceries like that really helped us to cut a lot of expenses out. He made it so where we weren’t living a destitute lifestyle. We were living more of a spartan lifestyle.”

After asking for her release from the UFC, Cristiane ‘Cyborg’ Santos announced Friday at a news conference in Huntington Beach that she has reached an agreement to make her debut at Invicta FC 5.

With manager and former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz by her side, Cyborg stepped on a scale to show her current weight of 160 pounds. Part of Cyborg’s reluctance to stay with the UFC, which had its eyes on a future superfight with bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey, is her insistence that she cannot make the 135-pound weight limit.

Ortiz and Cyborg have campaigned for a 140-pound catch weight against Rousey, but the UFC is sticking to its guns. And with no other women’s weight division in the UFC, Cyborg has gone elsewhere.

Cyborg (10-1, 1 no-contest) will face Ediane Gomes (10-2) at the Ameristar Casino Hotel in Kansas City, Mo. It will be her first fight since December 2011, after which the Strikeforce featherweight champion was suspended for a year and stripped of her title for testing positive for the steroid Stanozolol.

Invicta has indicated that the winner of the Cyborg-Gomes match will face former Strikeforce 145-pound champion Marloes Coenen, whom Cyborg dominated for a TKO victory in January 2010.

Rousey fans might recognize Gomes’ name. It was in March 2011 that Rousey, after a 3-0 amateur MMA career , made her pro debut against Gomes at King of the Cage Turning Point in Woodland Hills. The 2008 Olympic judo bronze medalist needed just 25 seconds to slap an armbar on Gomes and secure the victory.

First up, news broke Wednesday that Zuffa, parent company of the UFC, and the state of New York are headed toward a mediation session that could allow the UFC to legally run an event in the state.

Professional mixed martial arts has been illegal in the state of New York since 1997. UFC president Dana White has expressed a desire to host the UFC’s 20th anniversary show in November at Madison Square Garden.

The exceptional Luke Thomas of mmafighting.com explains why this could become a reality, although several obstacles remain.

UFC president Dana White held a Q&A with the media Friday in London one day prior to the UFC on FUEL TV 7 card. By far, the most surprising part of the news conference was White’s tough stance against fighters given exemptions to use testosterone replacement therapy (TRT).

It wasn’t long ago White didn’t have a problem with TRT and Therapeutic Use Exemptions (TUE) granted to fighters by various athletic commissions. Perhaps the sudden increase in fighters using TRT — which is legal — is what caused White to change his mind.

Some fighters who have used TRT are among the biggest names: Vitor Belfort, Chael Sonnen, Dan Henderson, Forrest Griffin, Quinton ‘Rampage Jackson, Frank Mir, Alistair Overeem.

Among White’s statements to the media in London today (edited for language):

“TRT has become a way for people to cheat. If this is what your normal level should be and then you have guys training at huge levels (of testosterone) for their whole camp then tapering down to get to normal levels before the … fight, that’s cheating, and I don’t like it anymore.”

“There are plenty of guys in the UFC that are naturally gifted and talented fighters. If you’re testosterone levels are too low then you’re probably too old to be fighting, stop fighting! “

“We can test everybody. I’m telling you right now, if you are using testosterone replacement therapy, get ready … because we’re going to test the … out of you.”

“Some things recently have led me to believe that people are … cheaters, people are taking good things and turning it into a bad thing and if you want to play those games then guess what, we’ll play!”

“There’s so much … out there. Right now there’s banned substances and and we follow the regulations and we’re going after the banned substances. TRT was never one of them and they would be tested leading up to the fight to make sure the levels are good. If you’re on TRT now, you’re going to wish you weren’t. We’re going to test the living … out of you.”

“You have guys that go in there 100% natural with his talent and natural ability, against someone on TRT, basically someone that’s on steroids. I’m absolutely 100 percent against TRT and now I’m going to start fighting it 100 percent with the athletic commissions and I want nothing to do with it.”

For more background on TRT and TUE, check out the in-depth interview Brent Brookhouse of bloodyelbow.com conducted with Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency president Dr. Margaret Goodman. The money quote from Goodman:

“I think TRT is widely used in boxing and MMA–either illegally or with a TUE. Except in the most rare of circumstances, TUEs for TRT should not be granted. Period.”

We recently had the opportunity to interview ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ contestant Kevin “King” Casey to discuss his experiences on the UFC reality show.

Casey, a 1999 graduate of West Torrance High, took time to discuss life on ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ without giving away too much since the Las Vegas-based series has wrapped taping and the finale has secretly been set.

The 31-year-old black belt in Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, whose first-round fight against Collin Hart airs Tuesday on FX, has been involved in MMA since striking up a friendship with the late Rockson Gracie, son of Rickson Gracie. Among the topics covered were the Uriah Hall “knockout heard ’round the world,” being coached by UFC light heavyweight contender Chael Sonnen, living in the “TUF” house, winning his elimination fight despite getting cut, growing up around the Gracies, and how he feels post-“TUF.”

How’s the experience been on “The Ultimate Fighter”?

It was a phenomenal experience, especially being in this new season where they went with a new production company as far as the whole layout of the show and the look of the fights and how they filmed them. And also being part of a big season where (UFC light heavyweight champion Jon) Jones and Sonnen as the coaches, you know those guys did a really great job and it was amazing do be part of that season in particular.

So here you are, you’ve got this fight with Collin Hart coming up, but you guys have to follow up last week’s Uriah Hall knockout of Andy Cella. What was that like for you to see that, to actually be there for that knockout?

You know, that knockout was a devastating knockout. And watching it on the television, it didn’t come across as powerful as it did physically. But we knew going in that Uriah was the more talented athlete and we knew potentially that he could knock Adam out. But to see it happen in that devastating fashion was a shock to all of us. But, you know, myself and I think others included expected it to be that type of fight.

I know you can’t give much away on this fight that’s going to air Tuesday. Can you give us one to word to describe the fight versus Collin Hart?

Uh … one word. It’s hard to sum it up in one word. I can’t think of one word. Just a battle. A war.

What’s it like having Chael Sonnen as a coach?

You know, I felt that Chael was a phenomenal coach. Going into the season, I think we all expected Chael to be kind of a vocal promoter for himself and promoter for his fight with Jones and we expected a little back and forth with those two, but it was exactly the opposite. Chael was very supportive of the athletes and he seemed to be very sincere with our well being and what were going through because he was a guy who has been through similar situations coming up. It felt like he was there for us and wanted 100 percent to support us sincerely.

I thought that last show, the knockout was such a tremendous highlight, but the session Chael Sonnen had with Uriah Hall talking about dealing with self-doubt — that was such a  great part of the show. And I think we’re seeing a lot different aspect of the show with the fighting and training and not guys playing grab-ass in the house. Is that true?

Definitely. You know I think that was a tribute mainly to the athletes this season. All the athletes this season were dedicated fighters and everyone was really there to be competitive and not there to just showboat in the house. I think that goes to the casting. They went and got the toughest guys from around the world in the (185-pound) divsion and put us all in the house. So everyone there is a tough person and a sincere competitior.

What was it like living in the house?

Being separated from society and just not knowing what’s going on day to day with your life and the people involved in it was difficult. You go into the situation with an expectation, but there’s no real way to grasp the concept of what you’re gonna walk into until you’re there. And then you’re in the middle of the action. I think this is the first time that I had an opportunity to sit back, looking at myself from the otuside in, and look at what I do for a career, and just say, “Wow, this is what I really do. This is what we really do.” It was just a crazy revelation.

Leading up to this fight, Bubba McDaniel of Team Jones was kind of calling you out. And it sure looked like it was going to be Kevin Casey vs. Bubba McDaniel. But then you guys threw a curve at him at the last second. You guys picked Collin Hart. Was that your decision? Was that Coach Sonnen’s decision? Was that a team decision?

It was 100 percent a coaching staff decision and ultimately Chael’s decision. When Bubba challenged me after the first matchup, immediately my ego was involved and I told Chael and the coaching staff that I wanted that fight next although I didn’t feel physically prepared for that fight due to the cut. My ego was involved and I wanted to fight. From there, Coach Chael advised me to play it smart and to look to the longevity of the tournament and look down the road as opposed to taking the bait of Bubba’s challenge that he issued. In one way, I felt disappointed that I didn’t just go with that fight right away. But in another way, I’m forced to really assess the longevity of really trying to be the champion of the tournament. Everyone in the house has some sort of idea who they want to fight and when they want to fight them. So for me to deviate from my initial plan because someone else called me out to try to implement their own strategy or their own agenda would be working against myself.

The elimination fight against Eldon Sproat to get into the house, you won by rear-naked choke but you did get cut over the eye. How concerning was that for you?

For one, it was definitely a devastating psychological effect the cut had on me. I’ve never been cut before. It sent me into the house feeling vulnerable. I knew that everyone there is looking for potential matchups. I knew I was potentially one of the favorites going in, I know it made the target on my back a little bigger. Even though it was a cut on the surface, there was still some damage underneath the eye to some of the bone around the orbit. I really felt very vulnerable at that point. It changed me a little bit psychologically. And also, in my training sessions, because of the cut I was forced to train with a kendo mask. which is basically this kind of face shield which prevents the cut from reopening. But at the same time, the mask restricted my breathing. So from the point that I got the cut, I had to wear this mask that basically exhausted me during my training. It just made my training hell.

How did you get your start in MMA?

I grew up in the South Bay and that’s where I met the Gracie family. I met Rockson Gracie, the son of Rickson Gracie. I grew up around those guys. And those guys were the ones who brought Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to the states and also were involved in the start of the UFC. I remember growing up and being around Rickson Gracie and Royce Gracie and then they started to make their strategy for being in what they called the UFC. Being young and being impressionable, these were the guys I looked up to. And to watch Royce, a guy who I was in the backyard eating BBQs with, going to win the first (three of the first four) UFCs, it was very exciting for me. And I felt like I was a part of this. To watch the growth of the UFC and see what it has become today and to be so close and connected with the guys that were the pioneers of the UFC, I guess I feel honored to make it to “TUF” and to be working my way and getting into the UFC.

How do you feel about your career after this experience on “The Ultimate Fighter”?

I feel great about my career. I feel the exposure especially this season of “TUF,” will help open some doors for me. Also, the valuable experience I’ve gained from being involved in production and working with those coaches and being able to spar with guys like Chael Sonnen and Yushin Okami, guys like Vinny Magalhaes, it boosted my confidence and I’m looking forward to working my way up the ladder.

Without getting you in trouble and giving anything away, what can “The Ultimate Fighter” fans expect the rest of the way?

They can expect to see me give everything I have till I have nothing left.