LAS VEGAS -- In an impromptu press conference held this morning, UFC President Dana White had an important announcement to make, revealing that late last month he made the decision to purchase international fighting promotion MMAPunks. Though the fighting company never received mainstream media recognition, it has held events in USA, Mexico, Japan, Korea and The Netherlands in the past and was recognized for it’s popular tournaments which would often feature local talents facing off with MMAPunks superstars.
The most recent MMAPunks event, fittingly titled “Dawn”, took place in Stockholm, Sweden last month. In the main event of the card, Canadian fighter Alex “Gunslinger” Cochrane reclaimed his Lightweight Title from Israel “Big Papi” Hernandez in a five round epic for the ages. Cochrane was present as an ambassador for MMAPunks at the press conference and made a speech on their behalf and also took the opportunity to announce that he would be dropping down to compete in UFC’s Featherweight division.
As a fighter, Alex is 18-3. Nothing overly remarkable, but also nothing to sneeze at. He is a 2-time MMAPunks Lightweight Champion and holds a win over former UFC fighter Hermes Franca. Along with being a champion in the promotion, Alex’s high profile feud with Mexico’s Israel Hernandez was a major highlight of the promotion.
Middleweight competitor and MMAPunks homegrown Jesse “Hollywood” Hickman was also at Dana White’s side as the announcement was made and a fight between he and Jason Macdonald was announced for the upcoming UFC 130 fight. Hickman was a competitor in MMAPunks inaugural tournament held in Atlantic City, New Jersey in 2009 and went undefeated for his next six fights and would go on to claim the Middleweight championship in that time, quickly becoming a face of the company until suffering a submission defeat to “Stunning” Carter Jackson which left him sidelined with a major arm injury. His fight against Macdonald will be his first MMA fight since losing his gold to Jackson.
Other MMAPunks fighters who will be making the jump to the UFC include Brandon Kyle (LHW), John Steele (HW), Stacey Wasilewski (LW), Jason King (MW), Carter Jackson (MW), Isaiah Kelly (WW), Dakota Montgomery (WW), Israel Hernandez (WW), Dean Jurek (LHW) and Matt Cooper (LHW) with possibly more to come.
The final MMAPunks Champions were John Steele at HW, Dean Jurek at LHW, Carter Jackson at MW, Isaiah Kelly at WW and Alex Cochrane at LW.
All of MMAPunks assets and video library will now belong to UFC and Zuffa.
Your first fight's against a retired UFC middleweight?
Geez, of course you'll win :
Not getting on the card makes me a sad boy... :sad:
Since the closure of MMA Punks and the announcement of the majoraty of the fighters moving over to the UFC roster. Several fighters have been waiting patiently on the sidelines to see who they will be matched up with once they finally make their way to the Octagon. Certainly enough though, one of these fighters decided to break this silence in a recent interview with Sportsnet.
Former MMA Punks Lightweight Champion Alex Cochrane was an ambassador on behalf of MMA Punks at a recent press conference that included UFC President Dana White and Zuffa CEO Lorenzo Fertitta where he announced his intention to drop down to the Featherweight Division. Just recently, Alex was a guest on Joe Ferraira's "MMA Connected" and definitely didn't shy away when asked who he'd like to make his debut against.
"I'm here to fight the best in the world. So why should I be promised anything less?" said Cochrane "I'd definitely like to fight a top name like Kenny Florian or even if I was to get thrown right in the mix and fight Jose Aldo.. that'd be great." Cochrane is currently anxious to get back to competition and also stated that in the interview. "I just can't wait to finally get back to action and know who I'm fighting. I love to compete and I can't wait to test myself in new waters."
Cochrane (18-3) was last seen defeating Israel Hernandez in the rubber match of their high profile feud by walking away with the lightweight strap by a back and forth Unanimous Decision. The UFC has yet to announce who he will face when he makes his debut and drops down to the Featherweight division.
Heavyweight
Junior dos Santos (c)
Cain Velasquez
Brock Lesnar
Shane Carwin
Frank Mir
Minotauro Nogueira
Roy Nelson
Brendan Schaub
Cheick Kongo
Travis Browne
Mirko Cro Cop
Ben Rothwell
Stefan Struve
Pat Barry
Gabriel Gonzaga
Sean McCorkle
Light Heavyweight
Jon Jones (c)
Rashad Evans
Rampage Jackson
Shogun Rua
Lyoto Machida
Dan Henderson
Tito Ortiz
Forrest Griffin
Rich Franklin
Matt Hamill
Ryan Bader
Thiago Silva
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
Vladimir Matyushenko
Brandon Vera
Cyrille Diabate
Jason Brilz
Middleweight
Anderson Silva (c)
Yushin Okami
Vitor Belfort
Chael Sonnen
Demian Maia
Wanderlei Silva
Michael Bisping
Rousimar Palhares
Chris Leben
Mark Munoz
Alan Belcher
Court McGee
Yoshihiro Akiyama
Jorge Rivera
Kendall Grove
Welterweight
Georges St-Pierre (c)
Jon Fitch
BJ Penn
Jake Shields
Josh Koscheck
Carlos Condit
Thiago Alves
Matt Hughes
Diego Sanchez
Martin Kampmann
Matt Serra
Dong Hyun Kim
Nate Diaz
Dan Hardy
Paulo Thiago
Mike Swick
Chris Lytle
Lightweight
Frankie Edgar (c)
Gray Maynard
Sean Sherk
Jim Miller
Clay Guida
Anthony Pettis
Ben Henderson
Melvin Guillard
Donald Cerrone
Dennis Siver
Evan Dunham
Takanori Gomi
George Sotiropoulos
Ross Pearson