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  • WWE Leeds, England, house show results (11/7): Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens

    The “Rollins tour” headed to the Frist Direct Arena in Leeds, England, last night with a newly shuffled line-up. Dean Ambrose and Kevin Owens main evented a show that was full but not a sell out. They had the top section tarped off with probably around 8,000 in attendance. 

    – Ric Flair opened the show to a nice pop. He looked frail as he moved down the small ramp to the ring. He anounced that Seth Rollins was injured and that, therefore, the main event was Ambrose v Owens.

    – The Dudley Boyz b WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day in a non-title tables Match when The Dudleys used the 3D on Xavier Woods through a table.

    – Cesaro b The Miz in a long match. Miz was a great heel here.

    – WWE NXT Champion Finn Balor b Sheamus in an non-title match. Sheamus took most of the match but Balor was tremendous. These two worked extremely well together, and probably had the best match of the night.

    – Curtis Axel b Bo Dallas in under a minute. There were kids around me commenting on how big Dallas has gotten. Dallas got on the mic and called out for some more opposition and R-Truth came out and they had a dance off. Truth took a cheap shot from Dallas but eventually this turned into a match, somehow, and Truth pinned him.

    – Kane b Big Show in a tables match with a chokeslam through a table. This was just what you’d expect. I’d have been seriously annoyed if I’d been In Cardiff on Thursday when this was the main event.

    – Dolph Ziggler b Tyler Breeze (w/ Summer Rae) in a very good match. Rae was sent to the back by the ref after she hit Ziggler with one of her shoes.

    – Becky Lynch & Divas Champion Charlotte b Brie Bella & Alicia Fox. Paige was the special guest referee. After the match, Paige attached Becky and Charlotte. They fought her off and celebrated on the ramp.

    – Dean Ambrose b WWE Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens by DQ after Owens used a chair. After a good match, Owens used the chair twice and Ziggler came out to make the save. Then the ring filled with Sheamus, Cesaro, The New Day and The Dudley Boyz all coming out. The faces stood victorious to send people home happy.

    Notes:

    Merchandise on sale was Cena, Balor, Reigns, Rollins and tour shirts. Programmes were a ridiculous £20. Kids were eveywhere drenched in Cena merchandise and many clearly had no idea that he was going to be there. Every year, I find this so irritating that they don’t do more to communicate to parents who is going to be there.

  • WWE Madrid, Spain, house show results (11/7): Bray Wyatt vs. Roman Reigns street fight

    Submitted by Carlos Gascó

    From the sold-out Barclays Center. Yesterday’s Barcelona show was also sold out.

    – Lilian Garcia welcomes us to the show singing in Spanish.

    – Neville defeated Stardust after the Red Arrow, and gets a standing ovation.

    – Damien Sandow defeated Heath Slater with a roll up in less than a minute.

    – The Wyatt Family defeated Ryback and The Usos after Jay Uso tapped to a submission by Strowman.

    – Fandango defeated King Barrett with a roll up. Before the match, Barrett did a speech talking about being the real king of Spain.

    – The Lucha Dragons defeated The Ascension and Los Matadores after Salida del Sol from Kalisto to Viktor. During the match, Matadores wore Spanish soccer team t-shirts that, in the middle of the match, they threw out. doing a turn heel. Torito interfered to help the Dragons.

    – Natalya & Bayley defeated Team Bad (Sasha & Naomi) w/Tamina. People are chanting “NXT NXT”. Natalya submitted Naomi with the Sharpshooter.

    – WWE U.S. Champion Alberto del Rio def. Jack Swagger. ADR did a pre-match promo in Spanish. ADR retained after a foot stomp from the top rope.

    – Roman Reigns def. Bray Wyatt in a street fight match that featured chairs, tables and kendo stick shots. Reigns wins after a spear.

  • WWE London 11/6 house show results: Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens

    Submitted by Gary Sweetapple

    – From London’s O2 Arena

    – Dudleys over WWE Tag Team Champions New Day in a non-title handicap tables match when Xavier took the 3D through the table. Crowd was hot for this and was a good start to the evening. Both teams worked very professionally.

    – Cesaro over the Miz with the sharpshooter after a short swing. This was a standard and safely worked house show match, good crowd work by both men.

    – Becky Lynch over Brie Bella with the armbar. Funny that people still Yes the Daniel Bryan spot with the kicks from Brie. Crowd felt a bit flat for this, it was ok.

    – Curtis Axel over Bo Dallas in a short match. He lost quickly and then asked someone to come out from the back to fight as the first fight wasn’t fair. R Truth came out and Bo wanted a dance contest. He danced to “I’m Too Sexy” by Right Said Fred with some goofy moves. Then, as R Truth went to dance, Bo attacked but was quickly beaten again. You can mark this under fun filler.

    – Kane over Big Show in a street fight. Ending was a top rope choke slam through a table. Kane was over and Big Show even got a respectable round of a applause as he left. The match was well worked.

    – WWE Divas Champion Charlotte over Paige. She got the win with the figure eight. Paige was over with the crowd, Charlotte was booed. Both girls worked hard and put on a respectable match. Much better from these women.

    – NXT Champion Finn Balor over Sheamus. Finn won with the double diving foot stomp. Both guys worked well together and worked hard to put on a show. Finn didn’t get the superstar reaction but Sheamus did. However, Finn won over a few people by the end. Match of the night.

    – Dolph Ziggler over Tyler Breeze with the zig zag outta nowhere. Tyler, much like Finn, didn’t get a superstar reaction but Ziggler was a welcome star for the crowd. Summer played her part well and both guys worked hard. Good little match.

    – Dean Ambrose over WWE Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens by DQ. Well worked with the usual Ambrose & Owens spots, which are always good. They worked well together but a chair shot DQ ending was lame. Cesaro, Sheamus, Ziggler, New Day and Dudleys all came out for the brawl at the end, ending with Big E taking a 3D, then Owens surrounded by the babyfaces and taking Dirty Deeds before Ambrose’s music hit, sending the crowd home fairly satisfied.

    Notes:

    – Well attended. The o2 was pretty much full, although the show ran a little long and people started to leave during the main event. It’s not the fault of the guys or the quality of the main event. It’s was a little late (10:30 local time) and with it being a very young crowd, people need to get home Everybody worked well, especially the last few matches of the night.

  • WWE NXT Lakeland, FL, house show results: Dawson & Dash defend, conga lines, Chad Gable & Jason Jordan

    Submitted by Chris H.

    From the Lakeland Armory in Lakeland, FL

    – Enzo Amore def. Angelo Dawkins with a DDT off the middle rope. Sloppy in parts as Dawkins missed some boots in the corner by a mile.

    – Billie Kay (w/ Sylvester LaForte) def. Gionna Daddio. Daddio had Kay pinned with a jumping enziguri but LaForte put Kay’s foot on the rope.  Daddio went after Sylvester and got pinned with a roll-up.  They played the wrong music at the end.  Gionna got stiffed in the nose mid-match, requiring the ref to get the gloves out.

    – Riddick Moss def. Josh Woods with a neckbreaker. Woods is an ex UCF wrestler doing an MMA gimmick, wearing the shorts with logos on it.

    – Next came a wacky segment. Levis Valenzula Jr. came out to dance and say how happy he was to be here. Emma came out to say that dancing got her nowhere.  Valenzuela danced anyway, and developmental guys came out, including Josh, Sara Lee, Mada and Patrick from Tough Enough, and did a conga line around the ring.

    – Solomon Crowe def. Tino Sabatelli. Tino is ex-Bucs player Sabi Piscatelli and was pretty good in the ring for a beginner.  Good charisma and has a build like Orton from the mid-2000s (similar trunks too).

    – Jason Jordan and Chad Gable def. Marcus Louis and Sawyer Fulton. Louis has a new gimmick where he shook hands with Gable and then enjoyed smelling his hand. Yup.

    – Bull Dempsey def. Alexander Wolfe

    – Nia Jax def. Aliyah.  Jax played heel and won when Aliyah jumped off the top rope and got power bombed.

    – The Vaudevillains def. NXT Tag Team Champions Dash and Dawson by DQ in a title match. English and Gotch hit their finisher but Dash pulled the ref out of the ring during the count for the DQ.  Enzo came back out to save the Vaudevillans from a beat down to end the show.

  • Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt headlines WWE Glasgow, Scotland, house show

    Submitted by Jonathan Mitchell

    – From the SSE Hydro

    – Lilian Garcia was the ring announcer for the night, and she began the show with an impressive rendition of the Scottish national anthem, ‘Flower of Scotland’.
    This was the first time I had heard this sung prior to a WWE live event in Scotland.

    – Neville beat Stardust, pinfall after red arrow.

    – Damien Sandow beat Heath Slater, schoolboy roll up for pinfall. The match lasted less than one minute. Sandow was the babyface but using original gimmick with navy blue robe, pink trunks, purple knee pads. Slater’s entrance theme was the ‘3MB’ version, with distinct lyrics stating: ‘We’re a three-man band!”

    – Jack Swagger beat King Barrett, submission to patriot lock. Barrett cut excellent pre-match promo in a mock (but reasonable attempt at) Scottish accent, playing on the fact he is English and the rivalry between the countries, saying that he was the crowd’s local hero because there are no Scottish wrestlers in WWE because they are “pish”.

    – The Wyatts (Braun Strowman, Luke Harper, Erick Rowan) beat The Usos and Dean Ambrose, one of the Usos (I was too far away to tell which one) submitting to Strowman’s standing triangle choke). Wyatt family entered to Luke Harper music and video (one with crazy eyes).

    – Ryback beat WWE Intercontinental Champion Kevin Owens, disqualification after eye rake by Owens.

    – Natalya and NXT Women’s Champion Bayley beat Sasha Banks and Tamina Snuka (w/ Naomi ringside), Tamina submitting to Natalya sharpshooter. Bayley entered to generic rock music and not her regular NXT theme. A no frills entrance without inflatable, waving figures. Garcia announced Tamina Snuka as ‘accompanying team BAD members Naomi and Sasha Banks’ but Snuka wrestled the match with Naomi ringside.

    – WWE U.S. Champion Alberto Del Rio beat Fandango, pinfall after double-foot stomp into Fandango who was balanced between middle ropes on turnbuckle. Del Rio came out waving Mex-American flag.

    – Lucha Dragons beat Los Matadores and The Ascension in a triple threat, pinfall by either Sin Cara or Kalisto on either Diego or Fernando [can’t remember which]. El Torito ran out to generic music to aid the Lucha Dragons against Los Matadores and turn the match.

    – Roman Reigns beat Bray Wyatt in a no holds barred fight, pinfall after spear. Reigns entered through crowd, despite logistical difficulties in SSE Hydro arena layout, while Wyatt entered alone. Use of kendo stick, chairs, steel steps (once quite inventively) and tables, with both competitors put through a table, Harper and Rowan ran down ramp to interfere, Usos made the first save, Strowman followed and destroyed Usos single-handedly while Ambrose made second save

    Notes:

    • Biggest pops of the night were for the use of tables in main event!
    • Reigns was extremely over with young fans and sold lots of merchandise.
    • There was problems with the PA/sound, with Garcia’s mic failing for periods at a time

  • Big Show vs. Kane street fight main events WWE Cardiff, Wales house show

    Submitted by Ross Owen Williams

    – Ric Flair out to start with a basic ‘hello Wales’ promo and wave at the nice people. Nice work if you can get it!

    – Dudleys over WWE Tag Team Champions New Day (all three) in a handicap tables match. Fine. Short. Xavier took the plunge. 

    – Cesaro over Miz. Cesaro was actually, probably the most popular guy of the night, close call between him and Dolph. Plenty of Cesaro section signs. Obviously not connecting still. Really good match actually, my favorite of the night. 31 second swing and sharpshooter finish. 

    – Miz whined. R-Truth came out and beat him in seconds. 

    – Becky Lynch over Brie Bella. Not good. Becky seemed lost and her offense was weak, especially leg drops that weren’t even coming close to connecting.

    – Curtis Axel over Bo Dallas. Yep, you read that. As rubbish as you’d expect.

    – Dolph Ziggler over Tyler Breeze with a superkick and zig zag. Long match but very good towards the end. Great false finish with all the kids rushing the barrier as Tyler kicked out of the first zig zag.

    – WWE Divas Champion Charlotte over Paige via Figure 8. Paige was cheered but they didn’t flip roles. Better than the other women’s match but still lackluster. I just can’t get into Paige, she seems so confused about who and what she is. Audience wasn’t that interested. 

    – Finn Balor over Sheamus, sunset flip out of the high cross. Good final five minutes but the first 10 was pretty much a slaughter. Sheamus gave him nothing and the lack of hope spots made for a very subdued audience. Good pop for the Balor win, nobody seemed to expect that. 

    – Kane over Big Show in a street fight after a choke slam off the top through a table. Insane bump for Show at his size and age. Dull match though, crowd weren’t really feeling it. Tyler vs. Dolph would have better to close with. We want Cena/Cena Sucks chants during the main event! 

    Notes:

    – Great efforts by Cesaro, Miz and Dolph.

    – Enjoyable show though it didn’t really feel enough effort was made to replace Seth Rollins. Tricky, I appreciate, but given he was the top guy on the bill, replacing him with Show (which is how they presented it despite Show having already been advertised) didn’t really feel good enough. They offered refunds during the first match but after driving a couple of hours with a couple of excited kids in tow, not an option!

  • WWE Dublin, Ireland, house show results: Seth Rollins possibly injured, Finn Balor vs. Sheamus

    Submitted by Clan Bushell

    Cesaro vs. The Miz

    Cesaro was super over in Dublin with Miz playing his part as the heel very well telling the crowd to shut up when he raises his hand. Cesaro hit the big swing and finished with the Sharpshooter for the win. Curtis Axel then came out and for a moment played the face but then told the Irish fans when his hand goes up, everyone shows up. He says he respects the Miz and he is the WWE’s must see superstar. Axel then says he and Miz could beat anybody in the arena or in the back.

    Big Show vs. The Miz & Curtis Axel

    Big Show comes out and sets up a 2 on 1 handicap match against Axel/Miz. Finishes with a double chokeslam Big Show win.

    Bo Dallas vs. R-Truth

    R-Truth gets a great reaction in Dublin for his What’s Up gimmick. R-Truth wins. Bo then looks upset before shouting Boo You Boo You at the Irish fans before running to the back.

    WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day vs. the Dudleys

    Both got a good reaction from the crowd. TND did the bit where they pretend to throw the crowd their shirts but fake it and leave it on the ring apron. Good back and forth match between the two teams with the New Day getting the roll-up for the win. Xavier attacked Bubba after the match and jumped on the turnbuckle to celebrate. Dudleys clean house and Xavier gets hit with the 3D.

    Tyler Breeze vs. Dolph Ziggler

    Breeze and Summer come out and Summer says “I’m so happy to be back in London, England” to a lot of boos from the Irish fans. Ziggler out with his hair long and straightened look like a glam rocker. I thought this was a great match with a few near falls and some good chemistry between the two. Ziggler eventually hits the superkick into the zig zag for the win.

    Brie Bella & Alicia Fox vs. Becky Lynch & WWE Divas Champion Charlotte with Paige as special guest ref

    Strange thing I found here was Becky came out with Charlotte to Charlotte’s entrance music. Thought the hometown girl would have got an entrance. Not a bad match. Paige doing a lot of heel ref work stopping Becky helping Charlotte, etc. Becky got the win with the disarmer, then they played her music for a few seconds before turning back to Charlotte’s.

    Finn Balor vs. Sheamus

    Best match of the night for me. Both got good reactions from the crowd. Started off slow but then near falls and some good action in and out of the ring. Balor got the win to a huge reaction from the crowd. Sheamus and Finn then shook hands after the match which the fans loved.

    WWE Champion Seth Rollins vs. Kane — No DQ

    Rollins out doing his usual heel work. Kendo sticks were used. Kane was put through two tables. Rollins seems to have injured himself going for the monkey flip into powerbomb through the table. Seemed to tweak his knee and the match could of been ended a bit early, but I’m not 100% on that though. Rollins got the win and when was then helped to the back by a WWE trainer.

  • Chad Mendes: “I train a proper fight, I kill Conor.”

    Chad Mendes was a guest on Submission Radio and had a lot to say about two of his biggest featherweight rivals. Regarding Frankie Edgar and their upcoming fight on December 11th at the TUF 22 Finale in Las Vegas, he doesn’t feel like the wrestling skill of both competitors will cancel each other out:

    “He’s a great MMA wrestler, he’s good at timing, but I feel like – obviously he just fought Urijah Faber. I train with Urijah every single day. And so I have insight. Like, I know what he’s going to be feeling like in certain positions. I’ve been training a lot with Urijah on Frankie, feeling this out……. I feel very confident. I feel like my wrestling, obviously I’m gonna be looking to mix it up everywhere with this fight”

    He went on to say that he feels that his power will be the big difference in the fight with Edgar

    “He has a lot more output, he uses more volume punches, but you know, there’s a lot of mistakes that I see, that he makes when he’s in there, throwing punches. So I think someone like me, who’s fast, explosive, powerful, can be a big danger for someone like him, that’s coming in a lot and loves to be in the pocket, [where] you get hit with big punches”

    When pressed about questions regarding his conditioning, Mendes lashed out at fans of Conor McGregor and brought up his own past as evidence that conditioning will not be an issue

    “The only people that are questioning my conditioning are Conor McGregor nut-hangers, and that’s just because he said that…. look at my fight with Aldo. I fought Aldo, who’s one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world. I went five rounds with him and pushed the pace the entire time. When I’m prepared, my cardio is never an issue. It never has been. There’s been one other fight with [Nik] Lentz, where I was sick and fought through it, and still beat that guy, who in my opinion would destroy Conor…… I took that fight on short-notice, and that’s why it was an issue in that fight.”

    And in regards to a rematch with Conor McGregor, Mendes has no doubt how that fight would go

    “I train a proper fight, I kill Conor. And I don’t think my conditioning is gonna be a problem in this fight. You guys got to see what happened in the first two rounds. I mean, I took him down and was able to land shots at will. I mean, big elbows, big punches. The guy doesn’t have much off his back. And me in shape, I’m able to bounce around on the feet, stay light on my feet, take him down whenever I want. I feel like I could beat that guy just with the cardio alone with my wrestling.”

    On back to back night in Las Vegas in December, Mendes will fight Edgar for the #1 contender’s spot and Jose Aldo and McGregor will battle for the Featherweight title. The two winners are expected to fight in 2016 in what will be one of the year’s most anticipated fights.

  • Interview: Santino Marella talks working as a woman, John Cena, believability

    The following is from: Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling: www.tmptofwrestling.com

    In the PG Era of WWE there are very few undeniable characters that resonate with today’s fan base and on today’s Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling John and Chad are joined by perhaps the most identifiable, Anthony Carelli also known as Santino Marella. Getting a deep look into the inside of Battle Arts Academy in Mississauga, Ontario Canada we learn how much more there is to “Santino” then just a “Cobra” and a funny walk. With an accomplished MMA background and desire to train a new generation of conditioned athletes, Carelli’s time is spent operating the fully functioning facility made for both young and old to experience training on a different level. But we also get into the story and origin of Santino Marella and follow the journey from relative unknown to WWE funny man and dive deep into the insight of the man behind the “Milan Miracle”. 

    Was playing Santina at WrestleMania 27 and competing in a “Divas” match detrimental to his character: 

    I’m always up for a challenge and when you get a role like that some people would be concerned like “oh GOD” this is the end of his career because once you dress like a woman that’s it. I thought I was going to do a good job and knock this out of the park, do a good job and kind of reverse the joke. Well like if the joke was supposed to be on me well I did a good job it’s like I got praised for it. I know the girls were pissed. But I was given the job by the boss and you just do the best you can.

    Having heat with the Divas locker room for “taking a spot”: 

    I guess the girls always have something to prove in regards to their place in the industry because they want to be viewed more and these days they are very technical and very smart, they are awesome performers but they have that unspoken association to back in the day when it was just like a hot chick so they are constantly working hard to gain respect in the industry. At that time I wasn’t making a joke out of women’s wrestling but I was in women’s wrestling and making a joke. But it wasn’t about women’s wrestling it was more about Santino. I hope the girls were able to distinguish between the two because they are an integral part of our show and they do the exact same stuff as us and they travel, they work out and take bumps they do the exact same stuff we do.

    Being paired with Emma briefly: 

    At that point I was pretty established and she was a pretty up and coming young girl and was really sweet and very funny. It was kind of for her to get her going but she was just taking the ball and running with it.

    Creating the Cobra finisher: 

    There was a guy who showed me this cobra move a long time ago at a bar in Japan and I just did it one time and tried it in a match and I asked John Cena to watch and tell me what he thought of it and when I came back because the crowd laughed immediately when I did it we kept it and it just took on a life of its own. It’s an entertaining move. It’s a little bit silly but the people loved it so you gotta give them what they love.

    Is John Cena the leader of the locker room or the “captain of the ship”;

    Well, he definitely was the locker room leader. But what happens is when guys like get their own bus they are not in the locker room anymore. He has his own bus, Randy has a bus, Big Show has got their buses and you literally don’t see them in the locker room because they have a different bus. But on European tours he’s still in the locker room, but that being said he was definitely the locker room leader or at least I saw him like that and the reason I saw him there was because of his work ethic and he is just a good guy, really good principles and morals and values. Just a standup guy and he works so damn hard. You could not be but awe inspired that this guy can just go and go and go and not complain or whine and he leads by example and that is what a real locker room leader is supposed to be.

    Do Superstars that have the private buses feel above being in the locker room:

    No, if anyone could afford it they would have one too. It’s an investment in your career. You are pro-longing your career because they have high quality mattresses and they sleep on the same one every night. They’ve got their fridge and their kitchen so they can make their smoothies and they can take care of their nutrition better than us because we actually have to search around for an IHOP and get some egg whites. If John Cena or Randy Orton are putting asses in seats in which I am benefiting from because I am on the same show well then I want my stars and my headliners and main events to be healthy because the more they put asses in seats, the more I get paid. That’s the opinion of the wrestlers in the locker room if you take care of the guy in the main event then he has some leeway because he’s feeding your family.

    Were Santino and Vladimir Kozlov underused by WWE in singles and as a tag team: 

    Was I underused no. I was on TV for many, many years and yes I wasn’t the tough guy but I’m also 5’10” and I know you can have bad asses at that size that could kick everyone’s ass like Benoit and Malenko and Eddie they were tough guys and had the ability and Kurt Angle for sure. Kozlov was almost such a monster that it was actually not going to be believable because I can’t do anything to him, he’s a monster. He’s a 300lb, ripped, SAMBO machine and if at one point in a match I am going to be on him and I have the advantage then it looks fake because I can’t hurt this guy. Guys like Shelton Benjamin, with what he did when you had any offense in a match it looked like just your turn because it was so obvious that he could easily dominate you physically because of his physical abilities. But I think pro wrestling is evolving to a point where we can utilize these guys now that have this shoot background because guys are doing triangle chokes and arm locks and Kimora’s. They are able to work a little more realistically. With Kozlov every time there is a big monster like Rusev or Kozlov once they lose it’s just like a glow stick that doesn’t glow anymore it’s just a stick. It’s tough to keep these monster guys fresh once they have lost because they lose their whole mystique.

    Full Episode Download Link

    Santino Marella On The Honk-A-Meter and The WWE Intercontinental Title

  • Interview: Tito Ortiz talks his loss, Fedor and Jon Jones

    The following is from Submission Radio

    On getting caught in the reverse triangle and losing to Liam McGeary

    “I made a mistake. I will never make that mistake again. I haven’t been submitted since 1998 and I won’t ever let that happen again. I was so mad at myself. We worked so hard in training. I mean, I put so much in into that fight, I mean so much. Twelve weeks I put into it. So much triangle defences, reverse triangle defences, arm lock defences, like everything. And Liam was just a little longer, a little faster, a little step ahead of me, and in the last two seconds of the fight I made mistake (laughs). And I’m like, ‘damn. Damn to me’. But you know what? If I’m gonna lose to anybody, like I said, I’ll lose to the champ.”

    If retirement crossed Tito’s mind during the post-fight speech at Bellator Dynamite

    “Never. No. I have one more fight. I make really, really, really, really good money and I love it. This is fun, I like to fight, and I don’t know, I fulfil everything that is given to me. I had a contract with four fights on it, I’m gonna have one more fight to finish up four fights and I’ll fulfil it. There was no idea of retiring at all. It would be nice. Maybe it is time, but I think one more good fight. My body’s right, my mind’s right, everything’s just firing on all cylinders and I like the way life is right now, and it’s fun again to do it. Like I said, I lost to the champion. It wasn’t like I lost to a nobody. I look back on it, and should I have picked an easier fight? Should I have fought a Kimbo, or a Ken Shamrock, or a Frank Shamrock? No. I fought the best man and he was better than me that night. But it wasn’t like I got dominated. Wasn’t like he was gonna knock me unconscious. No, I fought him and I made a mistake.”

    On if this loss to Liam was one of Tito’s toughest losses in years

    “It was one of the toughest losses in years, ’cause I put so much into it and everything at home was so perfect, and I felt like I was gonna win. It was hard, it was really hard. It took a couple of weeks, you know, it took all the way until now. I took a couple of weeks to kind of lick my wounds and understand that things happen for a reason. I think I feel better after a loss than I would if I won. It’d be nice to win, but still I gotta be challenged in my life like this to understand that just ’cause everything is perfect, don’t mean that life is going to end up perfect. But I can make it as perfect as possible for my kids and my family, and that’s number one. And so long as I’m happy doing it, that makes most sense. But I took it hard, I took it really hard. But I just…I already got back into the gym, I started doing weights and speed bag work. So I wanna keep my shape, I want to compete again, and I don’t know – does that spring Shamrock fight happen. I mean, do one of those other super-fights happen where someone wants to watch it? ‘Cause I mean, I’m not going to get my title shot anymore. I have one more fight on my contract, so let’s make a spectacle of it and let’s get  somebody that I can kill almost.”

    On what his Motivation would be for his next fight, considering he won’t be getting another title shot

    “I guess draw the fight out and make it 15 minutes of just pure punishment and entertain the fans that go watch it. Let them all go out and see a beating unfold in front of them.”

    On who Tito will pick for his last fight

    “I don’t know, I guess I have to sit down with Scott Coker and, I mean, possibly just make the fans pick the fighter. Let the fans choose. Somebody that they want to see a spectacle, somebody that will just ‘wow’ the fans. I think that’s what it comes down to. I don’t know, maybe they can do a vote and let the fans pick who I fight next.”

    On if Tito will fight Fedor in Japan on NYE

    “Not on New Year’s Eve, no. I would love to. I just gotta go in and get some little, light surgical work done, I guess you could say. I gotta go get a bone shaved down. So I’ll be healed by next year. But I’m going to enjoy Christmas, I’m going to enjoy Thanksgiving, I’m going to enjoy New Year’s, I’m going to enjoy my birthday for the first time in a long, long, long time. I miss missing those times, and right now my kids are six years old and I want to enjoy the holidays with my children. I think that’s the number one thing for me right now, is to be a Dad and to be happy. New Years Eve, I’ll be having a cold beer in my hand, saying “happy new year’s” to my family, instead of going out and trying to kill somebody. It sound a lot funner to me (laugh). I’ve been putting a lot of work in over a last few years, so I think it’s time to take a little break.”

    On how Tito sees the fight between him and Fedor going and what advantages he holds over him

    “Wrestling of course. On our feet, he’s a little older. He’s not the young guy who throws super fast now. I think in the wrestling area. Him going for submissions, and they’re not crisp for submissions. So just try and punish him. But of course if we fought each other, it’d be at light heavyweight. I mean I’ve always fought at Light Heavyweight. There’s no reason to go . I think my weight class, when I’m in the best shape possible is 205, and that’s what I’ll to fight at. But you know, I think my wrestling will keep it at par. I know the fight on New Year’s, I’ve heard of a few opponents, so it will be a question of if he can handle the competitors he competes against.”

    Tito on if Fedor is one of the best of all time

    “Well, one of the best of all time? Of course. You know, there’s ‘one of’. I mean ‘one of’ is how many? Ten? I mean, you put the number on that and that’s the number. But the best of all time? No way. Pound for pound, the best of all time? No. He fought a lot of guys that were great at their time and his time, but you gotta go for all time, for everybody he’s competed against. You know, in Japan they did give him a lot of ‘gimme fights’. Of course it’s Japan and they want to do spectacle fights, where it’s a completely one sided match. But he did beat a lot of good guys. You can’t take that away from him. And he’s one of probably the biggest names in MMA. Fedor has dominated so much and so many other competitors, but the greatest of all time? No. One of? Yes. He’s one of the greatest of all time. Yes. You gotta give him that. He’s a great, great fighter.”

    On who is the greatest pound for pound fighter

    “Well if Jon Jones can get his shit together, I think it’d be Jon Jones for sure. As a fighter, that guy is amazing. I mean he has to be an adult and stop being a kid”

    On the disappointing TV ratings that Bellator 142: Dynamite drew

    “I think you can’t go head up (against) Stanford and USC. I think that was a bad one, there was a big upset here in the states for football. I mean there was over eight million viewers on that television. So eight million people watching that sport, you know, a lot of people watch football. I mean, that’s plain and simple. A lot of people watch football. And I think Bellator or Spike and whoever was doing the PR for it could’ve promoted it a little bit better. I did all my own PR. I did pretty much more than fifty percent of it. And for a fighter to do fifty percent of the PR for an event, somebody needs to step their game up. But hey, Bellator’s still learning, they’re getting better. But to compete against the football, that just makes a big difference.”

    Tito shares his thoughts on the NSAC’s suspension of Nick Diaz

    “You know, as (far as) Nick Diaz having his third offence – I guess when you say ‘three times, shame on you’, and this is a complete shame on him on this one for his third time. But for five years? I think that’s getting a little drastic. I mean, the guy has a license to smoke marijuana.”

    “In my eyes, I don’t see it as a stimulant to make you a better fighter. I’m not saying this is ok to do, or anything like that, but five years is a little drastic. And I see Jon Jones just get a slap on the wrist from getting a felony and wrecking into a car, or wrecking into a girl who was pregnant and (has) 72 public appearances at a ‘Boys and Girls’ club and 18 months probation. I just scratch my head about that, going ‘this is crazy’. And there’s so many other instances that happen. I mean, as far as Anderson Silva. He only gets popped for a year for doing steroids, which is an enhancement drug for mixed martials. It just doesn’t make any sense. I don’t know. I’m glad I don’t have to deal with it. I’m glad it’s never been a problem that I’ve had. So I just gotta sit back and let the athletic commission do their job. I don’t agree with it, but I sure don’t agree with any athlete using any type of drugs, whether it does help you or doesn’t, during training, during fights.”

    On if Cybrog can get down to 135 lbs to fight Ronda Rousey

    “Well if Ronda ever wants to fight. Cris told Ronda she’d cut down to 135 to fight and Ronda won’t do it. So she said she wants to get more fights under her belt. So they keep feeding 135-pounders to Ronda and Cris is just (gonna) keep dominating at 140-145, until Ronda finally says ‘ok, we’ll fight’. So we’re just waiting for Ronda to step up.”

    If Tito gives Holly Holm a shot against Ronda

    “Submission in two minutes.”

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