Queen of Sports

Athlete Sighting: Gina Carano At Haywire Premiere

The face of women’s MMA, Gina Carano, was spotted on the red carpet last night at the premiere of the upcoming Steven Soderbergh movie Haywire. Carano stopped for a photo with her co-star, Channing Tatum, at the Director’s Guild in Los Angeles.

The film also stars Antonio Banderas, Ewan McGregor, and Michael Douglas. Also spotted on the red carpet: Georges St-Pierre, Sasha Grey, Gene Simmons and Shannon Tweed, and Hugh Hefner’s son Cooper.

Photo: Suntzulynn for LE / Splash News

Celebrities And Fighters At UFC On Fox Red Carpet

Loads of celebrities and UFC fighters showed up to the Honda Center on Saturday night to check out and promote the UFC’s first event televised on Fox. On the red carpet set up for arrivals were Mandy Moore, who posed with Jon “Bones” Jones. Other celebrities who came out for the fights included Glee’s Matthew Morrison, Mickey Rourke, comedian Nick Swardson, most of the cast of FX’s Sons of Anarchy including Ron Perlman, and David Arquette.

Former UFC champion Chuck Liddell arrived with his fiance Heidi Northcott. The couple are expecting their first child together next month. Tito Ortiz was there with his girlfriend Jenna Jameson, and other fighters like Anderson Silva and Georges St-Pierre were also spotted.

Mixed martial arts fighter Gina Carano, who stars in the Steven Soderbergh movie Haywire coming to theaters in January was also in attendance.

Cain Velasquez and Junior Dos Santos fought for the heavyweight belt. After only one minute, Dos Santos knocked out Velasquez and won the title.

Photos: Richard Shotwell / PR Photos

UFC Fighter BJ Penn Retires After Loss To Nick Diaz

Former UFC lightweight and welterweight champion BJ “The Prodigy” Penn lost via unanimous decision to Nick Diaz at UFC 137 this weekend.

Following the fight, Diaz gave credit to Penn, saying, “B.J.’s the man, I always loved watching him fight.” When announcer Joe Rogan turned the microphone to Penn, he said, “Hats off to Nick Diaz, he’s the man. Joe, this is probably the last time you’re ever going to see me in here. I want to perform at the top level. That’s it.” Penn continued, “I’ve got a daughter, another daughter on the way, I don’t want to go home looking like this. I’m done.”

Neither Penn nor the UFC have made any official announcements.

Diaz will be fighting Georges St-Pierre for the welterweight title in February.

Sports Date Of The Week: UFC 137

On Saturday night, the UFC will be hosting an action-packed event at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. The card is stacked with fights that are sure to have some stunning outcomes. Host a party at your house and invite friends over to watch the fights, or go out to a restuarant or bar that will be showing the fights.

The main bout between welterweights Nick Diaz and BJ Penn has been highly anticipated. Diaz was scheduled to fight Georges St-Pierre for the title originally, but Diaz’s fight got moved to a non-title fight after he didn’t show up to media events. Diaz ia a lose cannon and Penn is known for licking his opponent’s blood off his gloves after winning. With these two matched up, there’s no telling what will go down.

Also on the main card: powerful heavyweights Cheick Kongo vs Matt Mitrione, and Mirko Filipovic vs Roy Nelson, featherweights Hatsu Hioki, vs George Roop, and bantamweights Scott Jorgensen vs Jeff Curran. The preliminary card, with two fights lined up, will air for free in Spike TV, and four more preliminary fights will be aired on Facebook.

To get some background on Penn and Diaz, watch the Countdown to UFC 137 video below:

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Posted in MMA, Sports Date of the Week

Georges St-Pierre Injured; Out Of UFC 137

Georges St-Pierre was originally scheduled to defend his welterweight title against Nick Diaz at UFC 137. After Diaz did not show up to media appearances for the scheduled fight, UFC President Dana White took him off the roster. White replaced Diaz with Carlos Condit on the main fight, and later scheduled Diaz to fight former lightweight and welterweight champion BJ Penn at UFC 137.

A little over a week away from the fight, Georges St-Pierre was forced off the card after sustaining a knee injury. White announced he would have Condit wait for St-Pierre to heal, and would push the Penn-Diaz fight to the main event.

Photo: PhamousFotos / Splash News

Queen Of Sports 101: Rear-Naked Choke

This weekend at UFC 136 in Houston, a major upset in the lightweight division was the result of a submission successfully executed by  underdog Joe Lauzon. Lauzon was able to force Melvin Guillard to tap out within 47 seconds of the fight’s start.

The submission Lauzon used is called a “rear-naked choke” in mixed martial arts. If you think it sounds like something NSFW, then get your mind out of the gutter! The word naked in the name refers to the fact the submission, which originates from techniques used in jiu jitsu and judo, does not require the use of a “gi” or training uniform. (The training uniform in these sports was sometimes utilized as a means to perform techniques.)

The rear-naked choke can be executed two ways: with either the attacker’s arm encircling the opponent’s neck and then grabbing onto his own biceps on the other arm, or the attacker clasping his hands together instead after encircling the opponent’s neck.

The choke can restrict blood flow to the brain, which can result in temporary unconsciousness (getting “knocked out“). MMA practitioners know their limits and know when to tap out of a move that will likely knock them out, as was the case with Melvin Guillard. At the same time, the person performing the submission must be aware of their opponent’s physical state. The choke should never be applied for more than three seconds, and should be immediately stopped the moment a person loses unconsciousness.

Now that you know about this submission, you can impress your friends by explaining what it is the next time you see it executed in the UFC. The next UFC fight will take place on October 29, with Georges St-Pierre and Carlos Condit fighting for the welterweight title.

Anderson Silva Chosen To Cover Latest UFC Video Game

Anderson “The Spider” Silva was chosen by fans to be featured on the cover of the new “UFC Undisputed 3″ video game. Fans selected Silva from a list of five other nominated UFC fighters: Cain Velasquez, Jon Jones, Georges St-Pierre, and Frankie Edgar.

Dana White made the announcement at the Fan Expo in Houston, Texas ahead of UFC 136.

Brock Lesnar covered the 2010 version of the game, and a number of fighters covered the game’s first installment in 2009, based on region.

“I’m very happy,” said Silva. ”Thank you to my fans and my family. For me this is a great, great, great dream.”

The game will be released in January of 2012.

New Under Armour Spot Featuring Tom Brady, Cam Newton And Georges St-Pierre

Under Armour launched a new spot today titled “Footsteps” featuring NFL star Tom Brady, NFL rookie Cam Newton and Octagon king Georges St-Pierre. The latest campaign is the largest footwear advertising for the company to-date and will debut the 60-second and 30-second commercial spots on MTV, BET, and ESPN, while online and print distribution will include Facebook, Yahoo! Sports, and STACK Magazine, amongst others.

The new footwear collection will be available at retail nationwide in December 2011; however, consumers will receive an advanced look at the product in October during a limited distribution to select retailers, including City Sports and Dick’s Sporting Goods.

We brought you a sneak peak of the spot a couple weeks back, you can watch that here. Check out the full 60-minute spot below:

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We dig this spot! What do you think?

Chad Ochocinco Calls Out Georges St-Pierre

While doing a photo shoot for MMA brand Tapout to promote their mouth guards and Real G wristbands, newly traded New England Patriot Chad Ochocinco called out UFC Champion Georges St-Pierre. He asked the crew who the best fighter is in the UFC right now, and when they reply, “Georges St-Pierre,” Ochocinco throws out some expletives. The PG version of what he said is, “I’d mess him up.” He further insults St-Pierre, saying, “I’m not going to lose to no [expletive] Canadian.”

Now that Ochocinco is playing with one of the best quarterbacks in the league, he can’t spend time to train for other sports, so he better watch out who he calls out. What if someone challenges him? Ochocinco isn’t one to deny a challenge or back down.

Photo: Tapout

Posted in Football, MMA

UFC’s George St-Pierre Working Out In LA

Check out UFC’s George St-Pierre getting a workout in at a Hollywood area boxing gym. Boxer Amir Khan was also working out at the same time, prepping for his upcoming fight in Las Vegas.

George was nominated for “Best Fighter” for the 2011 ESPY’s. Tune in tonight to see if he takes home the statue. We’ll be live tweeting from Nokia Theater!

To get a glimpse of George’s extracurricular activities click here…

Photo: Splash News