THE MMA NEWS ROUNDUP: 5/1/08

Posted on | May 1, 2008 | 1 Comment

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1.More wacky MMA legal troubles

May 1, 2008 – 12:24 pm by fightlinker

http://www.fightlinker.com/Your.Fight.Community/

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Patrick Bouvier Smith, 44, Durant, was charged earlier this month with failing to register as a sex offender when he moved to a residence east of Durant, according to court papers.

The charge was the result of an investigation by Bryan County Sheriff’s Investigator Victor Porter, who began investigating Smith in March, following Smith’s arrest for attempting to elude police and speeding.

Smith, according to court documents, was convicted in 1999 in Adams County, Colo., for sexual assault on a child. According to Porter, Smith was convicted of fondling a 14-year-old girl.

2.MMA regulation coming to Arizona

by MMAjunkie.com Staff on May 01, 2008 at 11:35 am ET

http://mmajunkie.com/news/4254/mma-regulation-coming-to-arizona.mma

Major MMA events could he headed to Phoenix, Tucson and other Arizona cities.

On Monday Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano signed a bill, HB 2834, which calls for the regulation of mixed martial arts in the state. The legislation was first introduced by state representative Jonathan Paton.

Longtime MMA fighter and UFC hall-of-famer Ken Shamrock, who recently opened a Lion’s Den gym in Scottdale, Ariz., was the bill’s chief backer outside of the political arena.

“I wanted to clear up any misconceptions members had about MMA,” Shamrock stated. “It is far from the ‘human cock-fighting’ analogy used years ago by John McCain. There are rules in place to ensure the safety of participants. Over the years fighters have sustained fewer injuries during MMA competitions than in boxing. Mixed martial arts is a legitimate sport that takes considerable skill and intelligence.”

3.UFC fighter Chris Leben arrested for probation violation (updated)

by MMAjunkie.com Staff on Apr 30, 2008 at 11:43 pm ET

http://mmajunkie.com/news/4250/ufc-fighter-chris-leben-arrested-for-dui.mma

[img]http://mmajunkie.com/dyn/images/fighters/chris-leben.jpg [/img]

Chris Leben, a UFC middleweight who recently signed to fight Michael Bisping at UFC 85, turned himself in and was arrested in Oregon on Wednesday for a probation violation stemming from a previous DUI offense, according to the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office.

As of late Wednesday evening, Leben remained behind bars.

A representative from the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office told MMAjunkie.com that Leben will go before a judge at 3 p.m. on Thursday. It was determined upon his booking that he was not eligible for bail because of the probation violation, according to the representative.

Leben (18-4 MMA, 8-3 UFC), 27, most recently defeated Alessio Sakara in March at UFC 82. After Chuck Liddell was forced to pull out of a UFC 85 main-event bout with Rashad Evans, the UFC booked fights between Leben and Bisping, as well as Matt Hughes and Thiago Alves. The popular fighter found his way to the UFC via the first season of the UFC reality series, “The Ultimate Fighter.”

(UPDATE: According to an online forum posting from ICON Sport president T. Jay Thompson, who run a Hawaii gym where Leben teaches, the fighter turned himself into authorities on a previous DUI charge to assure he would get a visa for UFC 85. He expects Leben to remain in jail for eight to 10 days.)

4.UFC releases Joe Doerksen

by MMAjunkie.com Staff on Apr 30, 2008 at 10:25 am ET

http://mmajunkie.com/news/4240/ufc-releases-joe-doerksen.mma

[img]http://mmajunkie.com/dyn/images/fighters/joe-doerksen.jpg [/img]

Veteran fighter Joe Doerksen (39-12 MMA, 1-5 UFC), a 30-year-old fighter who made his UFC debut in 2004, has been released by the organization.

Doerksen confirmed his release with Sportsnet.ca but said the UFC has left open the door for a possible return if he can string together some wins outside the organization.

Doerksen is the latest casualty in the UFC’s current purge of talent. MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) was the first to report the UFC’s intention to trim its roster of fighters after heavyweight prospect Jake O’Brien was also cut from his contract.

A return to the UFC isn’t out of the realm of possibility for Doerksen. He had been forced out of the UFC twice before only to win his way back in. Most recently, after a unanimous-decision loss to Nate Marquardt at UFC 58, Doerksen strung together seven consecutive victories outside the organization to earn a WEC title shot with Paulo Filho. Despite a loss, he was then tapped as a late replacement for an injured Dave Terrell and fought Ed Herman at UFC 78 this past November.

However, Doerksen lost that fight — and a subsequent bout with Jason MacDonald earlier this month at UFC 83.

Doerksen said he hasn’t been scheduled for his next bout and likely won’t consider fighting until June.

Leben’s next fight is June 7 against Bisping and takes place overseas in London, England.

5. KALIB STARNES’ STATEMENT REGARDING UFC 83 PERFORMANCE

Thursday, April 24, 2008 – by Tom Hamlin – MMAWeekly.com

http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=6145&zoneid=13

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Following one of the most contentious performances of 2008, middleweight Kalib Starnes has released a statement regarding his fight with Nate Quarry at UFC 83.

Irked by what he characterized as inaccurate accounts of his status with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Starnes also promises to release details on the injuries he sustained in the fight.

Below is Starnes’ statement as sent to MMAWeekly.com:

“I would like to begin by saying that I was very happy to fight in Montreal, and that I trained really hard for my fight. I know that there were many people, including myself, who were disappointed with my performance, and I would like to apologize to my coaches, trainers and the fans for what happened. It was by far the worst fight of my career, much to the credit of my opponent who proved to be a real monster in the ring, I think that they should keep him in a cave somewhere and feed him raw meat!

6. – RICH FRANKLIN MOVING TO 205?

Thursday, May 01, 2008 – by Jeff Cain – MMAWeekly.com

http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=6192&zoneid=13

[img]http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/articlefiles/6192-headline.jpg [/img]

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight titleholder Rich “Ace” Franklin is considering a return to the light heavyweight division according to his manager, Monte Cox.

“Rich has to make a decision,” Cox told MMAWeekly Radio. “We’ve certainly considered going to 205 and seeing how he does up there.”

Franklin obtained the middleweight championship at UFC 53 by defeating Evan Tanner. He lost the belt to current champion Anderson “The Spider” Silva at UFC 64 and was defeated again by Silva in a rematch at UFC 77.

“He’s fought almost everybody in the 185-pound division,” said Cox. “There are some guys that he could fight, but if he beats them it knocks them out of title contention. And nobody is looking to see Rich and Anderson Silva 3 right now, including me.”

Franklin competed as a light heavyweight for the first half of his career losing only once, to the still undefeated Lyoto Machida, but hasn’t fought at 205 pounds since 2004.

“It’s one of those deals where he’s such a big star, which helps. He’s loved everywhere he goes, a big ovation in Canada and all that. But he’s not helping the 185-pound division right now by beating everybody up in it,” commented Cox.

“We’ve talked about going to 205 and how would he match up with some of those guys, with a Forrest Griffin or a Keith Jardine. I think there’re some really good fights. There’s a whole bunch of 205’s that I think would be interesting.”

He continued, “In the end, we do what the UFC wants. If they want us to try 205, we’re up for it. If they want to keep us at 185, then we’ll do that too.”

Franklin is coming off a win in the middleweight division over Travis Lutter at UFC 83 and isn’t expected back in action for another three to four months.

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