This is the February 8, 2012 episode of Ringside Report Radio hosted by Dave Simon and Kevin “Big Tuna” McKough.

Ivan Menjivar appeared on this episode to discuss his upcoming bout at UFC on Fuel TV 1 versus John Albert on February 15, 2012.

Dave and Kevin discussed the results from UFC 143 including the controversial decision victory by Carlos Condit over Nick Diaz, Fabricio Werdum’s victory over Roy Nelson and the rest of the card.

All this plus much more MMA on this 2-hour episode of Ringside Report Radio.

This is the January 27, 2012 episode of Ringside Report Radio hosted by Dave Simon and Kevin “Big Tuna” McKough.

Dave and Kevin previewed and gave their predictions for UFC on Fox 2 including every preliminary bout and the main events of Chael Sonnen v. Michael Bisping and Rashad Evans versus Phil Davis.

Dave and Kevin discussed the latest episode of UFC Primetime, Dana White’s problems with the internet and much more MMA on this 2-hour episode.

This is the January 13, 2012 episode of Ringside Report Radio hosted by Dave Simon and Kevin “Big Tuna” McKough.

Sarah Kaufman appeared on this episode to talk about her upcoming Strikeforce fight against Alexis Davis, Ronda Rousey getting a title shot against Miesha Tate and much more.

Antonio Carvalho also appeared on this episode and talked about his bout at UFC 142 against Felipe Arantes.

Dave and Kevin previewed UFC 142 including Vitor Belfort versus Anthony Johnson and Jose Aldo defending his UFC featherweight title against Chad Mendes.

All this and much more MMA on this 2-hour episode of Ringside Report Radio.

On Jan. 1, 2011, Edgar and Maynard fought to a close draw. For almost a year UFC fans had to wait for the rematch to occur. Fortunately, the wait was well worth it. The third and final bout felt like deja vu at first with Maynard coming out strong in the first round with a furious onslaught. Maynard looked to have Edgar beat, but somehow Edgar was able to get up from the bombs Maynard was landing. In the second and third rounds Maynard looked gassed from his near win as Edgar started to gain momentum and started to take control of the fight. Unlike their new year’s day fight, this time there was a clear winner via TKO.

In possibly his last UFC title bout, Kenny Florian dropped weight to face UFC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo. Aldo has looked almost untouchable since winning the championship and continue to look so against Florian. Aldo used his lethal kicks to slow down Florian and nearly stuffed all of Florian’s takedown attempts. In the championship rounds it looked like a struggle for Florian to continue as the welts on his legs continue to grow in colour.

Leonard Garcia continued to give fans of his work another outstanding performance in his rematch with Nam Phan. Garcia won the last one by a controversial split decision. This one ended up in a unanimous decision victory in favour of Phan, but it still a very close and entertaining fight. Garcia knew that Phan had won the first round and came back firing wildly in order to win the last rounds. While Garcia ate a lot of wild jabs, he also gave his fair share as well. In the most dominate performance of the night, Chael Sonnen submitted Brian Stann in the second round. While it took Sonnen a few minutes there was no question he was going to win the fight right from the start, barely giving Stann any chance to hit him. Sonnen immediately challenged Anderson Silva following the win and that got a laugh from the Middleweight Champion.

Eight fights went the distance at UFC 136, making it the longest UFC event of all-time. Even with the long grueling bouts there are still great submission endings, which include the 47 second victory Joe Lauzon scored over Melvin Guillard. Although this is becoming a familiar pattern with the 2011 UFC DVDs, this was definitely a must see show and delivered in almost every aspect for MMA fans.

UFC 136: Edgar VS. Maynard III

Anchor Bay Entertainment Canada

Run time of 300 minutes

Released on Dec. 20, 2011

Prelims

Steve Cantwell vs. Mike Massenzio

Aaron Simpson vs. Eric Schafer

Zhang Tie Quan vs. Darren Elkins

Joey Beltran vs. Stipe Miocic

Anthony Pettis vs. Jeremy Stephens

Demian Maia vs. Jorge Santiago

Main

Melvin Guillard vs. Joe Lauzon

Leonard Garcia vs. Nam Phan

Chael Sonnen vs. Brian Stann

Featherweight Championship José Aldo vs. Kenny Florian

Lightweight Championship Frankie Edgar  vs. Gray Maynard

This is the December 28, 2011 episode of Ringside Report Radio hosted by Dave Simon and Kevin “Big Tuna” McKough.

On this episode, Dave and Kevin previewed every fight on the UFC 141 card including all preliminary bouts and the heavyweight main event of Brock Lesnar versus Alistair Overeem.

Dave and Kevin also previewed DREAM’s New Year’s Eve card that will take place on Saturday December 31 at 1am Eastern, right after UFC 141.

All this and more on this 90-minute edition of Ringside Report Radio.

This is the December 23, 2011 episode of Ringside Report Radio hosted by Dave Simon and Kevin “Big Tuna” McKough.

Jonathan Chaimberg appeared on this episode to discuss some of the fighters he helped prepare for UFC 140, New York Yankee Russell Martin and much more.

John Morgan from MMAjunkie.com also appeared on this episode to talk about UFC 141: Overeem v. Lesnar and the best moments of 2011 in MMA.

Dave and Kevin talked about 2011 in MMA including the Top 10 MMA stories of the year, fighter of the year, knockout of the year, submission of the year and many other highlights.

All this and much more MMA on this 2-hour episode of Ringside Report Radio.

Under the new agreement, SHOWTIME will produce and televise up to eight live events. STRIKEFORCE athletes such as lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez, middleweight champion Luke Rockhold, women’s featherweight champion Cris “Cyborg” Santos, women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate and other world-class MMA fighters will continue to compete for the organization on SHOWTIME.

The new deal kicks off during the network’s Free Preview Weekend, Saturday, Jan. 7, as champion Rockhold defends the STRIKEFORCE 185-pound title against dangerous veteran Keith Jardine at The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, live on SHOWTIME at 10 p.m. ET/PT. Notable STRIKEFORCE contenders such as Robbie Lawler, “King Mo” Lawal and Tyron Woodley are also set to compete on the televised card, which—as part of Free Preview Weekend—will be available in more than 60 million households nationwide across SHOWTIME, SHOWTIME HD™ and SHOWTIME On Demand®.

Beginning with the Jan. 7 card, SHOWTIME will also televise undercard fights for all STRIKEFORCE events live on SHOWTIME EXTREME. The live SHO Extreme preliminary telecasts will afford network subscribers with expanded live fight coverage by up to two hours and provide invaluable exposure for the sport’s next generation of STRIKEFORCE contenders.

Under the new deal, the World Grand Prix Heavyweight Tournament champion will be determined when Josh Barnett battles Daniel Cormier. The winner will compete again on SHOWTIME under the STRIKEFORCE banner in the months to follow.

“Since its advent on SHOWTIME in 2007, live mixed martial arts has always performed well with our subscribers, particularly in the younger demographics,” said Espinoza, who now heads the division of the network responsible for programming live boxing, studio shows from National Football League and NASCAR as well as multiple sports documentary series. “As the one and only premium network in the MMA business, we are proud to renew our commitment to the sport and to our partners at Strikeforce.  This agreement ensures that we can continue to deliver the edge-of-your-seat programming that each live MMA event produces in the New Year and beyond.

“This exciting announcement could not have come at a better time,” he continued. “During our nationwide Free Preview Weekend a whole new crop of MMA fans will have the opportunity to sample the Strikeforce brand free of charge.”

“We’re excited about this renewal with SHOWTIME and I expect to put on some big STRIKEFORCE events next year,” White said.  “I never thought I would say this, but I am very much looking forward to building STRIKEFORCE and working very closely with SHOWTIME.”

“SHOWTIME has been a great TV partner for us and we’re happy to renew our agreement with them,” Coker said. “Together, we’ve put on some really amazing events and we’re going to keep doing that with this new deal. We have a great core of talented fighters on our roster and MMA fans are in for a real treat.”

STRIKEFORCE®: MELENDEZ vs. MASVIDAL airs live on SHOWTIME this Saturday at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on West Coast) as lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez defends the title against hard-hitting contender Jorge Masvidal. In the night’s co-main event, women’s featherweight champion Cris “Cyborg” Santos meets gifted Japanese star Hiroko Yamanaka.

—Strikeforce press release—

This is the December 14, 2011 episode of Ringside Report Radio hosted by Dave Simon and Kevin “Big Tuna” McKough.

Tyron Woodley (9-0) appeared on this episode to discuss his upcoming bout against Jordan Mein for Strikeforce, his victory over Paul Daley in his last bout and the opening of his gym in St. Louis, Missouri.

Dave and Kevin discussed the results of UFC 140 including Jon Jones’ choking out Lyoto Machida, Frank Mir submitting Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira defeating Tito Ortiz.

All this and much more MMA talk on this 2-hour episode of Ringside Report Radio.

This is the December 9, 2011 episode of Ringside Report Radio hosted by Dave Simon and Kevin “Big Tuna” McKough.

Director of operations for UFC Canada, Tom Wright appeared on this episode to discuss UFC 140 and the 2012 calendar for the UFC in Canada.

Dave and Kevin are on location in Toronto for UFC 140 and previewed the entire card including the main event of Jon “Bones” Jones defending the UFC Light-Heavyweight title against Lyoto Machida.

All this and much more MMA talk on this 1-hour episode of Ringside Report Radio.

Dustin Pague stops the van on the way to the gym to give some food to a homeless man.

Mayhem wants Dustin Pague to “move his feet” and use angles to “avoid the takedown” against TJ Dillashaw. Footage is shown of Pague training for his bantamweight semi-final.

Jason Miller goes to the fighter’s house to have a barbecue. Coach Miller finds a cockroach and a beetle and pays Dustin Pague $60 to eat them. Pague says he was surprised he did that and says: “What is wrong with me?” Indeed.

Team Bisping and Team Mayhem are brought together for the coaches’ challenge for the season. Jason Miller and Michael Bisping play air hockey against each other in a best of 5 series for $10,000 put up by Dana White. Bisping wins the series 3 games to 1 and wins $1500 for each member of his team and $10,000 for himself. Bisping jumps on the air hockey to celebrate but falls off and lands hard on the floor. Dana White laughs at him.

TJ Dillashaw is seen training for his fight. Bisping says he wants Dillashaw to take Pague down, keep him on his back and work the ground and pound.

TJ Dillashaw (4-0, Team Bisping) v. Dustin Pague (10-4, Team Mayhem) (Bantamweight Semi-Final)

Round 1- TJ Dillashaw scores a takedown in the first minute but Pague attempts an arm-bar from guard. Dillashaw escapes the hold and scores some punches to Pague from inside his guard. Dillashaw lands solid punches and elbows and manages to keep Pague on his back despite Pague attempts to get to his feet. Pague did eventually manage to get back to his feet with 30 seconds remaining in the round and landed a solid knee to the face of Dillashaw. Dillashaw controlled the round and easily takes it 10-9.

Round 2- Pague and Dillashaw exchange several solid punches in the first 30 seconds of the round. Dillashaw scores a takedown and works some punches from the half-guard of Pague. Dillashaw works more ground and pound and improves into side-control. Dillashaw lands solid knees to the body from side-control but Pague pushes him back into his guard. Dillashaw lands solid elbows from inside the guard. Dillashaw controls the entire round but does get cut from an elbow from Pague while in his guard. Dillashaw wins the second round: 10-9.

Round 3- Dustin Pague scores a knee to the face but TJ Dillashaw responds with solid punches and a takedown early in the round. Dillashaw scores some punches from inside Pague’s guard. Dillashaw improves to side-control and lands knees to the body and punches to the face. Pague works him back into his guard but can’t get back to his feet. Dillashaw works his ground and pound to win the final round 10-9.

TJ Dillashaw def. Dustin Pague via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27) to advance to Bantamweight Finale that will air live on December 3.

The final two semi-final bouts will take place next week.

Team Mayhem’s John Dodson and Johnny Bedford will face off in the final bantamweight semi-final where the winner will face TJ Dillashaw in the finale.

Team Bisping’s Diego Brandao will face Team Mayhem’s Bryan Caraway in a featherweight semi-final where the winner will fight Dennis Bermudez in the finale.

***Results so far***

Team Bisping Bantamweights:  1.Louis Gaudinot (BW), 3. TJ Dillashaw  (BW), 5. John Albert (BW), 7. Josh Ferguson (BW).

Team Bisping Featherweights: 1. Diego Brandao, 3. Akira Corassani, 5. Marcus Brimage, 7.Stephen Bass

Team Mayhem Bantamweights:  2. John Dodson (BW), 4. Johnny Bedford (BW), 6. Dustin Pague (BW), 8. Roland Delorme (BW).

Team Mayhem Featherweights:  2. Dennis Bermudez, 4. Bryan Caraway, 6. Dustin Neace, 8. Steven Siler

Week 2- September 28: Bryan Caraway advances to semi-finals of FW tournament with a 2^nd round RNC submission win over Marcus Brimage

Week 3- October 5: Johnny Bedford advances to semi-finals of BW tournament with  unanimous decision win over Josh Ferguson.

Week 4- October 12: Dennis Bermudez advances to semi-finals of FW tournament with a TKO win over Stephen Bass. Dustin Pague advances to semi-finals of BW tournament with a submission win over Louis Gaudinot.

Week 5- October 19: Akira Corassani advances to semi-finals of FW tournament with a majority decision win over Dustin Neace

Week 6- October 26: Diego Brandao advances to semi-finals of FW tournament with a KO win over Steve Siler. John Dodson advances to semi-finals of BW tournament with UD win over John Albert.

Week 7- November 2, 2011: TJ Dillashaw advances to semi-finals of BW tournament with a submission win over Roland Delorme.

Week 8- November 9, 2011: Dennis Bermudez advances to finals of FW tournament with a submission win over Akira Corassani

Week 9- November 16, 2011: TJ Dillashaw advances to finals of BW tournament with a unanimous decision win over Dustin Pague

FW semi-finalists: Bryan Caraway, Dennis Bermudez, Akira Corassani, Diego Brandao

BW semi-finalists: Johnny Bedford, Dustin Pague, John Dodson, TJ Dillashaw

FW finalists:  Dennis Bermudez v. winner of Diego Brandao v. Bryan Caraway

BW finalists:  TJ Dillashaw v. winner of Johnny Bedford v. John Dodson