Ken Shamrock announced last week that he planned to make a return to the octagon. Dana White, however, said that he terminated the UFC’s contract with Shamrock, which had one more fight left on it.

Dana White was quoted as saying “I like Ken Shamrock, if I saw him tomorrow, I’d say hello to him and see how his family is and everything else. He needs to think about retiring.”

Shamrock was on the losing end of three fights in a row for the UFC.

Dana White continued “He has lost every fight he’s had in UFC except for one, he’s just not at that level anymore as a UFC fighter. He lost to Tito Ortiz three times, he lost to Rich Franklin, who’s a 185-pounder. Before we picked him up from PRIDE, he’d lost like six fights in a row in PRIDE.” (Dana was wrong about this, Shamrock lost 3 out of 4 PRIDE fights, not six in a row).

According to NBC Sports “Weekly Tapout” segment, the UFC is in negotiations to sign Fedor Emelianenko to fight for the UFC. Fans will know more in the next couple of weeks, but it sounds like a done deal. Discuss this on our new UFC Forums.

http://www.nbcsports.com/ufc/index.html

After getting TKO’d by Paul Buentello June 22nd at the Strikeforce-EliteXC event, former K1 champion Carter Williams tested positive for cocaine, according to the California State Athletic Commission wednesday afternoon.

The kickboxer and renowned striker looked out of shape in his fight with Paul Buentello, and he fought like crap. Carter Williams went for a few takedowns, which is odd for a world-class striker. Paul Buentello avoided the takedowns without much problem before knocking Carter Williams out at the beginning of round 2.

Carter Williams, has been fined $1,000 by the CSAC and will be on suspension until Dec. 19, 2007. In August of 2006, He was suspended for six months by the Nevada State Athletic Commission after he tested positive for marijuana. (puff puff pass)

According to realitytvworld.com:

Report: Mark Burnett planning EliteXC mixed martial arts reality series

By Christopher Rocchio and Steve Rogers, 06/25/2007

Mark Burnett has used the reality realm to find heavyweights in numerous areas, from the boxing ring and boardroom to remote islands and the rock ‘n’ roll stage.  Now he’s apparently ready to enter the world of mixed martial arts.

Burnett has joined forces with mixed martial arts company ProElite Inc. to develop a primetime reality series centered around the popular sport with Olympic origins, according to The Hollywood Reporter, which learned of the agreement due to a recent ProElite filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The deal between Mark Burnett Productions and ProElite — which organizes and promotes mixed martial arts events through its EliteXC division and also runs a social networking website for fans of the sport — has the production company developing the potential series with its eventual contestants being signed by ProElite, according to The Reporter.

With the world of mixed martial arts growing more and more popular with young male audiences through the Ultimate Fighting Championship and PRIDE Fighting Championship divisions, ProElite reportedly approached Burnett about expanding the reach of its similar EliteXC division onto television and additional mediums, according to The Reporter. The parties will reportedly pursue Internet extensions of ProElite’s websites and also share revenue from other joint endeavors, such as pay-per-view events.

As part of the agreement, Burnett has received the right to purchase up to 17 million shares of ProElite at $3 a share in eight portions that are “tied to the success of their joint venture,” according to The Reporter.

A format for the ProElite mixed martial arts reality series “remains in the exploration stage,” according to The Reporter, which added matches have been broadcast on Showtime since February 2007 when the premium cable network invested in the company and signed an exclusive programming agreement. Representatives for Mark Burnett Productions could not be reached for comment by The Reporter.

The ProElite deal marks at least the third time that Burnett has signed a development agreement that gives him an equity stake in a publicly traded company.

Back in September 2004, Burnett and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. (MSO) agreed to a deal for the development and production of new Martha Stewart daytime and primetime network television programs. As part of the deal — which eventually resulted in a new Burnett-produced (and still-airing) syndicated Martha daytime show and a poorly-rated Fall 2005 The Apprentice: Martha Stewart spinoff of Burnett’s Donald Trump-hosted The Apprentice reality series — Burnett received a warrant to purchase up to 2.5 million shares of the MSO common stock at an exercise price of $12.59 per share.

That same year, Burnett also received a 5% minimum equity stake in Everlast, a then-struggling boxing equipment maker that served as one of the product placement sponsors for his The Contender reality boxing series.

Discuss this topic on our MMA Forums!

from http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-usbenoit0626,0,3311723,print.story?coll=ny-top-headlines

WWE wrestler Chris Benoit and family found dead
BY ALFONSO A. CASTILLO
alfonso.castillo@newsday.com

June 25, 2007, 8:58 PM EDT

Renowned pro wrestler Chris Benoit, his wife and their 7-year-old-son, were found dead Monday afternoon in their Fayetville, Ga. home, Atlanta police said.

Police would not give any details on how Benoit, 40, his wife Nancy, and son Daniel died, other than to say they were not shot to death, the Atlanta-Journal Constitution reported Monday. Authorities are investigating the deaths.

The news came just a day after Benoit mysteriously pulled out of a World Wrestling Entertainment pay per view event, during which he was expected to be crowned Extreme Championship Wrestling world champion. Various pro wrestling news sources reported that Benoit was unable to appear at the event due to a family emergency.

“There are no further details at this time, other than the Benoit family residence is currently being investigated by local authorities,” the WWE said in a statement on its Web site.

Benoit was a 22-year ring veteran and perennial favorite of wrestling purists, who praised his high-intensity style and technical acumen. His aggressive wrestling technique earned him the nicknames “The Crippler” and “The Rabid Wolverine.” In 2000 and 2004, he was named Oustanding Wrestler of the Year by the Wrestling Observer newsletter and in 2004 he was named Wrestler of the Year by Pro Wrestling Illustrated magazine.

The Edmonton, Canada native trained to become a wrestler in Calgary, and honed his skills in Japan before becoming a regular on U.S. national promotions in the mid-1990s. Benoit’s career highlight took place in New York, when he won his first World Wrestling Entertainment world heavyweight championship in Madison Square Garden in the main event of WrestleMania XX.

Benoit cried as he celebrated in the ring with his wife and son, as well as best friend, wrestler Eddie Guerrero, who died in 2005.

“Wrestling has consumed my life,” Benoit said in a 2004 WWE career retrospective video. “Wrestling is my mistress. It’s my passion. It defines who I am as a person.”

WWE last night canceled its scheduled live 3-hour “Monday Night RAW” program, which coincidentally was originally billed as a “memorial service” for WWE chairman Vince McMahon, whose character was recently killed off in a controversial scripted storyline.

McMahon opened the show from center ring in an empty arena and clarified that Benoit and his family had died “in reality.” McMahon called Benoit “one of the greatest WWE superstars of all-time.”

http://www.siude.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticle&ustory_id=c1045cad-7ac1-4c70-87c8-1f055c337b76
Power Ranger to fight in cage
By: Alejandro Gonzalez
Posted: 6/19/07
As one of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Jason David Frank became famous for his work on TV and movies.

He doesn’t fight monsters anymore. Now, he fights in a cage.
“I just like to fight,” Frank said. “It’s always been in my blood.”

It’s true. Frank has been training in Karate and mixed martial arts since he was 5-years-old and has opened four karate schools.

Now Frank is scheduled to fight against Ron ‘The Badger’ McMasters June 23 at the Williamson County Pavilion in Marion.

The fight will be one of 14 fights in the Illinois Cage Fighting event.

Each fight will last three rounds. The event will also spotlight 13 contests between other amateur fighters.

After years of restrictions from fighting because of contracts with Disney, Frank is now getting a chance to show his skills. But Frank said he’s doing this for more than the rush in a fight.

“It’s not just fighting, it’s the training and preparation before you fight – the training, the sparing,” he said.

Frank won his two previous bouts, but he said fighting is something he wants. It’s not necessary for him.

“I don’t need to fight for money like all these other guys,” he said. “I just do it because I like to.”

Although Frank will get paid, most amateurs don’t receive money for fights, said Jim Thomas, president of Fists of Glory, the organization sponsoring the event.

“If they get paid, they become a professional,” he said. “Different guidelines. These are amateurs.”

Mark Ratner, Ultimate Fighting Championship vice president of regulatory affairs, who is not involved in the June 23 event, said the sport is becoming more mainstream.

Ratner said when UFC – the largest promoter of mixed martial arts in the world – first began it was no-holds barred, but the athletic commission would not accept it as a sport.

Political pressure was also thrown on the sport. Sen. John McCain (R-Az) coined the UFC as “human cockfighting” in 1998, which caused fights to be outlawed in many states. The rules were added so the sport could be sanctioned.

Ratner said the UFC continues to expand across the globe thanks to regulation of the sport. The UFC is waiting for a law to be signed by Gov. Ron Blagojevich that would regulate the fights throughout the state. UFC would then be allowed to hold fights in Illinois.

“The sport is blowing up,” Ratner said. “Most of young males know about the sport, whereas they might not know so much about boxing.”

Alejandro Gonzalez can be reached at agonzalez@siude.com or 536-3311 ext. 256

Kimbo charged in at Mercer aggresively, went for takedown and Ray Mercer tried to use the cage to stay standing but went down anyway. Mercer found his way back up and they clinch, Kimbo lands knees, Mercer punches back but Kimbo gets the takedown again and gets Ray Mercer in a guillotine choke.

watt wiman defeated brian geraghty by TKO in rd 1

leonard garcia defeated Allen Berube by submission (choke) in rd 1

Gray maynard and Rob emerson had the craziest fight of the night, ended in a No Contest, Gray Maynard slammed Emerson to the mat, Emerson tapped but Maynard was knocked out from landing on his head.

Cole Miller tko’d Andy Wang with strikes in round 1

Joe Lauzon defeated Brandon Melendez by Triangle Choke in round 2

Roger Huerta defeated Doug Evans by TKO in round 2 (strikes)

Thales Leites defeated Floyd Sword by arm triangle choke in round 1

Nate Diaz won the TUF finale after Manny Gamburyian tapped due to a shoulder injury

and BJ Penn defeated Jens Pulver by Rear Naked Choke in round 2

and im still pissed that my PPV isnt showing the Kimbo/Mercer fight at Cage Fury. I heard a fight already broke out in the audience.

Here we go, finally get to see Frank Shamrock battle a veteran MMA fighter. Frank’s only 34 years old, so he should still be in prime shape for fighting. It’s only because he fights so infrequently that makes him seem older to me…well that, and the fact that he’s been around since the early days of MMA.

Steve Mazzagati is referee for this fight. He’s cool with me, I dig Steve Mazzagati.

Here comes the staredown, this should be entertaining.
Whattup New York Bad Ass. Whattup Frank. Whattup Ref.

Baroni backs Shammy up to the fence unloads body shots, their back to the center, shamrock leg kick, uh oh Baroni takes down Shamrock, lets him back up. Shamrock tagged Baroni, didnt seem to hurt him, TAGGED him again, BARONIS OUT BARONIS OUT!

GUILLOTINE!! BARONIS STILL ALIVE!!
damn! getting the shit beat out of him.. ref calls time out? WTF? hits behind the head by Frank Shamrock. Illegal punches, Baroni is staggered still. Back to the fight, Baroni takedown shamrock

Shammy looking for a triangle, Baroni now in his guard trying to regain his composure.

damn baroni has been getting owned so far in this fight. back to their feet now

Shamrock is owning Baroni with his punches on the feet, and on the ground. This fight might as well be done folks, OH SHIT BARONI ESCAPED, will he make it out of the 1st round?
BARONI’s chin is friggin SOLID evidently, dude can take a punch.

2nd round coming up.
KNOCK ‘IM OUT PHIL.
Little bit slower this round for both of them, but still socking the hell out of eachother. Baroni is landing a few good ones, decent jab. Baroni turned shammy around a few times with his punches, BARONI is hurt now, goes for takedown, doesnt get it, ends up under Shamrock, Shammy looking guillotine, takes Baronis back, looking for rear naked choke, almost has it not quite under his chin yet, Baroni is asleep. unconcious! FIGHTS OVER

The fight’s not over yet, and anything could happen, but so far to this point CUng Le’s striking has been fun to watch. I actually wouldn’t mind seeing Tony Frykland win this fight, but he needs to take Cung Le down. Frykland has taken some ferocious looking shots to the dome, but he’s still standing in Round 2.

Round 3 coming up.

Damn, Cung Le opened up round 3 with a heel kick to the face. Followed a body kick, Fryklund is out.

Cung Le wins by TKO.

Murilo Rua defeated Joey Villasenor by TKO in the 2nd round.

Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou, who has made a name for himself by knocking out both Ricardo Arona and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in his last two fights, has agreed to fight for Showtime’s EliteXC fight organization. Rumors are that the contract is for a 4-fight deal, and will pay Sokoudjou nicely. The Ultimate Fighting Championship was hoping to sign 23-year-old Soko, one of the most exciting fighters of the year so far, but it looks like EliteXC won. After DSE (Dream Stage Entertainment) sold PRIDE FC to the Fertitta’s, Soko became a free agent.

Sokoudjou has been training with Dan Henderson at the Team Quest gym along with Jason Miller and others. Sokoudjou’s lone defeat (TKO) was last October against Glover Teixeira.

I’m not sure who he’ll be fighting in EliteXC, i would’ve liked to see him in the UFC at 205lbs.

I swear it’s MMA everywhere you turn these days. I get the Versus channel where I live, and they are constantly showing WEC fights, or the WCL (which I never watched originally, but I gotta say, it’s pretty damn cool for the little bit I’ve seen).

To start off this weekend we have Phil Baroni fighting Frank Shamrock. Back in the day, I would’ve hoped Shamrock would win, but my opinion has changed. Baroni by KO.

I’d also like to see Ray Mercer knock out Kimbo, but I’m thinking less and less that it’s going to happen. I’m starting to think Kimbo is going to dominate this.

As for the TUF Finale, who I *want* to win is Jens Pulver, Nate Diaz, Joe Lauzon, Cole Miller.

Oh and no I don’t want to see Roger Huerta win, but it seems like he will, considering he’s scheduled to fight some dude that’s 3-10 with a long losing streak? Oh yeah, and sign up for my new UFC Forums.

Sign up for the free UFC forums!

I had to watch a recorded version since I didn’t get to watch it live. Anyway, it was an OK event. Here are the results:

Rich Franklin Vs. Yushin Okami
This fight was kinda boring for the first two rounds, with Okami doing little offensively, and Franklin winning both rounds. The third round was different, with Okami putting Franklin in danger quite a few times, but ultimately getting beat on some more by Rich Franklin until the fight was over. Result: Rich Franklin defeats Yushin Okami via judges decision (3 rounds)

Forrest Griffin vs. Hector Ramirez
Forrest just outboxed Hector Ramirez the entire fight, with Hector seeming like he was looking to connect with a 1 punch KO, which he failed to do.
Result: Forrest Griffin defeats Hector Ramirez by unanimous decision (3 rounds).

Jason MacDonald vs. Rory Singer
McDonald got beat up by Rich Franklin in his last UFC fight, but looked better tonight. The first round I gave to Rory Singer, but in round 2 Jason McDonald overwhelmed Rory with punches.
Result: Jason MacDonald defeats Rory Singer by TKO in round 2

Tyson Griffin vs. Clay Guida
One of the best fights of the night, but in my opinion a bad judges decision. I had Guida winning the fight, but the judges saw differently.
Result: Tyson Griffin victorious over Clay Guida by judges split decision.

Marcus Davis vs. Jason Tan
Marcus Davis wanted to put on a good show in front of an Irish Crowd, and he had a new more “politically correct” nickname tonight as well. He used the nickname “Celtic Warrior” instead of his usual “Irish Hand Grenade” nickname.
Result: Marcus “Celtic Warrior” Davis defeats Jason Tan by KO (right hook) early in round #1. Also, Jason Tan kept going for a single leg takedown long after the ref had stopped the fight. That was mildly entertaining for a few seconds.

Eddie Sanchez vs. Colin Robinson
Undercard fight, I didn’t see it. UFC fed Eddie Sanchez to CroCop last time I saw him, since then, CroCop got his head kicked off.
Result of tonights fight: Eddie Sanchez beats Colin Robinson by TKO (punches), round 2.

Ed Herman vs. Scott Smith
BOOOO! I wanted Scott Smith to win this. Oh well, he tapped to a RNC. Great fight though.
Result: Ed Herman subs Scott Smith by Rear Naked Choke in round #2.

Dustin Hazelett vs. Stevie Lynch
I didn’t see this fight either, but Dustin Hazelett is awesome. I don’t know why I like watching this dude fight, but I hope he keeps winning. +1 for D’Arce chokes.
Result: Dustin Hazelett by sub (D’Arce Choke) in round #1.

He goes by the name Reggie Warren, Jr.

and +1 for the “Pat Mitelich Militia”…

Yeah I would never have thought Royce Gracie would take steroids, but ya gotta admit he looked thicker than he ever has. On Thursday the CSAC said Royce failed both of his drug tests when traces of Nandrolone showed up in his piss (Nandrolone is a steroid).

Royce is on vacation in Spain, but the word is that he’s denying that he used teh roids.

Royce is reported as saying in an email to sherdog that “I have never in my 14-year fighting carrier taken anything other then natural supplements and natural proteins, as such, I am shocked that anything was found in my system. I am looking into this issue right now and will file an appeal with the CSAC,” Gracie’s e-mail continued. “I have been training this fight since October of 2006, as initially the show was supposed to be on March 15th. Over the course of training I have taken legal supplements that are available in GNC to anyone that wants to get them. Outside of that I have never taken anything nor ever would consider taking anything. My good name is all I have and I do not want my fans to think that I would ever be with anything like this.”

This was the first fight that Royce Gracie has ever had to take a drug test for, he hasn’t fought in the United States in several years.

Discuss Royce Gracie and his piss test on our MMA/UFC Forums!

Damn, I thought he looked a bit more diesel than usual at his Sakuraba borefest. Romeboy Royce has been juicin.

It was reported yesterday by the California State Athletic Commission that MMA legend Royce Gracie, who is usually rather slim, tested positive for Nandrolone, which is an anabolic steroid, after his decision victory over Kazushi Sakuraba on June 2 in Los Angeles.

Royce Gracie is suspended from June 2, 2007 through May 30, 2008, and will be fined $2,500, which is the maximum penalty by the CSAC. Royce has until July 13th to appeal. No comments from the Gracie family yet.

Discuss this topic on our MMA Forums!

This UFC even is headlined by Spencer Fisher vs. Sam Stout. The fight card has a few fighters making their UFC debuts.

The undercard fights have already started right now, with two being completed. So far, Nate Mohr won a decision over Luke Claudillo.

In the second fight of the night, Anthony (170lb) made a big UFC debut by knocking out Chad Reiner at 13 seconds into round 1.

The fight I’m most looking forward to is probably Jason Black vs. Thiago Tavares. I hope to see Jason sub this guy or better yet, KO him.

Forrest Petz vs. Luigi Fioravanti should be a good one too.

Go sign up on my new MMA forum so I don’t have to talk about the fights by myself.