There's a reason why ultimate fighting is getting to be so popular - it's bloody great to watch. And I do mean bloody. The action is real, the intensity is palpable and you feel just a little bit less civilized (in a good way) after watching it. And if you watch even a little bit of mixed martial arts, and you start to get hooked, you're inevitably going to start trying to figure out who the best fighters are. Here's my attempt to do just that with my top 10 pound-for-pound MMA fighters. Though the UFC is obviously the top of the MMA heap, and will be the source of most of the fighters on my list, I'll also draw fighters from PRIDE. There are a couple of reasons - the two groups are closely aligned since UFC bought PRIDE, and PRIDE has some truly scary buggers in their ranks.
A quick disclaimer before I start - making a list like this is almost impossible. It would be very subjective at the best of times. It certainly doesn't help that recent upsets have totally thrown things out of whack - Matt Serra over Georges St. Pierre, Rampage Jackson over Chuck Liddell, Gabriel Gonzaga over Mirko Cro Crop. Without further ado:
1. Fedor Emelianenko - PRIDE's heavyweight champion is the kind of guy that shows up in your nightmares. He only lost once, and that was back in 2000. Since then he has run roughshod over his opposition, and he has rarely needed more than a single round to do it. The fight that really showed how good he was was when he beat Cro Crop despite having a hand injury that severely limited his ability to go for a submission. It was also impressive that he beat Mark Hunt in December with a broken toe. His last fight was for BodogFight, and he has shown little desire to move to UFC. However, a fight with Randy Couture would certainly be worth paying for. He's not the biggest guy out there, but he may be the nastiest, and he is certainly the best.
2. Mauricio Rua - Some might argue that I have Shogun too high, but there isn't a better light heavyweight out there. He really showed his might when he dismantled Quinton Jackson in the first round in 2005. What makes Rua so dangerous is his versatility. He's an excellent striker, but his game doesn't suffer once he goes to the ground. He has just two losses in his career, and one was only because he broke his arm by falling awkwardly. On the other hand, he has 13 knockouts. Rua signed with UFC at the end of May, and I can think of about a hundred fights I'd love to see him have.
3. Anderson Silva - The Brazilian has only been in the UFC for a year, and he was relatively unknown when he arrived. What he has done since his arrival, however, is nothing short of amazing. He knocked out Chris Leben in his debut, and Leben has gone on to win five straight since. His second UFC fight was, remarkably, a middleweight title fight against Rich Franklin. He won in convincing fashion. He has defended once, and will defend again in July. His performance to date, plus his record in all the other organizations he has been in, has to get you excited about what is in the future for Silva.
4. Quinton Jackson - Jackson wouldn't have been this high a couple of weeks ago, but he certainly deserves it now. Chuck Liddell would have probably been higher on the list back then, but Rampage dismantled the champ in impressive fashion. The light heavyweight champion is the only guy in the world that can say he has beaten Liddell twice. He has several other impressive wins on his record, too, and he certainly can't be accused of backing down from a challenge. It remains to be seen how Jackson does as champion, but you can't argue that he doesn't deserve it.
5. Georges St. Pierre - You could argue that I'm disrespecting Matt Serra by not ranking him ahead of the man he beat to win the UFC Welterweight championship. I'm okay with it, though, on the logic that I don't think Serra could beat St. Pierre again. The Canadian fighter was very impressive in beating Matt Hughes to win the title, and wins prior to that against B.J. Penn and Sean Sherk make for a pretty impressive streak. It'll take a while for St. Pierre to get another title shot, but chances are more than good that he'll have another reign before it's all over for him. He's the class of a very tough welterweight division.
6. Paulo Filho - It's hard to argue against a guy that is undefeated in 14 career matches. He's yet another Brazilian. Filho is coming back from a knee injury, but he should be back in action at any time. In fact, we should have been watching him in the middle of June, but Rich Franklin refused to fight him at UFC 72. Franklin's fear is testament to the ability and the potential of Filho. UFC needs to work harder to find a spot for this guy, because he could make some serious noise if given a chance.
7. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira - This heavyweight is nasty, and you certainly don't want to get in an argument at his family reunion - his twin brother is a light heavyweight. Minotauro is excellent at drawing submissions, but he is a solid striker as well. He trains every year with the Cuban National Boxing team to sharpen his striking skills. His 29 wins have been over many of the biggest names in MMA. He has four losses, but the three most recent are more than respectable. Most recently he lost to Josh Barnett in a split decision, but he came back three months later and avenged that loss with a unanimous win. The other two losses are against Fedor Emelianenko. Both were by decision, so Minotauro handled himself better against the champ than pretty much anyone else has. Nogueira has signed with UFC and will make his debut at UFC 73.
8. Matt Hughes - The world's toughest farm boy would have been much higher on this list before his loss to St. Pierre. Though he lost the title at that time, he still clearly has the ability to beat almost any welterweight out there. In an organization full of incredibly strong athletes, Hughes may be the strongest fighter UFC has. He came back from his loss to St. Pierre to beat Chris Lytle convincingly, and he is on track for another title shot in November. Regardless of who he fights you have to like his chances of winning it.
9. Dan Henderson - You have to respect a guy that has held both the middleweight and welterweight titles in PRIDE, and you really have to respect Henderson because he currently holds both titles at the same time. He won the middleweight championship in impressive fashion in February by upsetting Wanderlei Silva by KO, thanks to a crushing left hook. Henderson will have a chance to raise his profile dramatically next time out - he is scheduled to challenge Quinton Jackson for the UFC light heavyweight title.
10. Chuck Liddell - Despite his recent embarrassing loss, you really can't have a list like this without the Iceman, He is probably the most popular fighter in the UFC, and deservedly so. A case can be made that the loss to Jackson was the best thing that could happen to Liddell. He obviously wasn't focused going into the fight, given that he spent the night before out in the clubs. Hopefully the loss will cause him to concentrate on his job more to take even better advantage of his immense skill. His next fight will be against Wanderlei Silva, and that will provide and excellent opportunity to begin a climb back to the top.

Doc's has all your NFL schedules for the 2007 season, including the Atlanta Falcons schedule and the Baltimore Ravens schedule. Doc's is also your home for up-to-the-minute NFL odds and NFL picks.

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Do you remember the Tae Bo infomercials where Billy Blanks showed you how you could intertwine an aerobic workout and learn self defense? Could you really imagine yourself learning self defense from a guy who wore a leotard? What a joke!
What Billy Blanks did do, and he was one of the most influential aerobic instructors of the 90's was find a way to integrate aerobic exercise and having fun. Sure, Richard Simmons tried to do the same thing in the 80's, but his fad faded fast!
Billy tried to show people that you could learn a "trade" while getting a great work out. Now, as time has passed, there are new and better ways to get yourself in shape. One of the best ways that I have found is with an MMA workout. What is an MMA workout, you ask? Well, it is an exercise routine that is based on the same exercise regimens that the UFC fighters and Mixed Martial Artists do.
With an MMA workout, you can create the body that you desire along with truly learning to use the muscles that are needed for fighting in a cage match like the UFC fighters, or simple self defense. With a good MMA workout, you can develop your strength, quickness and endurance just like jiu jitsu fighters, boxers and wrestlers.
You don't need to know a martial art to have a good MMA workout either. All you need is what every athlete needs, a good coach or a good trainer. Sure, you can go to a MMA dojo and pay a lot of money for a trainer, but what would that do? If you are not truly interested in fighting, and just want to work on your body, you just need the tools to know what to do.
If you have ever watched the Ultimate Fighter or seen any of the MMA fights on pay per view, you would see that these fighters have some of the most defined and cut up bodies in sports. You can have the same kind of body by using the same MMA workout methods that they use. Or, you can keep running on a treadmill hoping that you get the body you desire. The choice is yours!

Visit UFC Workout for more information on how you too can get the body of a UFC fighter. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bryan_Kobus

A lot of people want to know ways that a Mixed Martial Arts fighter makes money, and how much they make. This could be our of pure curiosity, or perhaps due to the growing popularity of MMA, there are a lot of potential fighters researching their options. Whichever the case, I decided to outline some of the ways that MMA fighters can make an income, and the potential earnings for each one. There are 5 main ways that MMA Fighters make an income: Fights, Endorsements, Owning a School, Seminars, Appearances.
Fights
One of the main ways that an MMA fighter makes money is through their fights. Smaller promotions will pay between $500 - $800 per event for showing. Fighters may get an additional pay out for a win. As you get to the larger factions such as WEC, UFC, Strikeforce, etc. Fighters will get anywhere from $2,000 to $10,000 for lower or middle card fighters. The big name fighters can make anywhere from $20,000 to over $200,000 per event. Some of this salary is based on PPV buys. The main event fighters usually get a portion of the PPV as opposed to a flat salary. Fighters can also receive incentive based bonuses. In a recent UFC event, Dana White announced pay outs of $25,000 for the "Knock Out of the Night" and $6,500 for anyone who won their match by submission. It was also reported that at UFC 95 each fighter received a $40,000 bonus for Fight, Submission and Knock Out of the Night.
Endorsements
Once again, the amount of money you receive depends on your popularity, status and frequency of fights. Beginning or lower card fighters will be lucky to get free equipment and apparell, while big name fighters receive cash payments and reasonably sized contracts to endorse and wear the manufacturers products. Middle card fighters will receive a small amount of cash in addition to freebies. The details of such contracts are typically not public information and finding even the littlest piece of information on the numbers is particularly difficult, however it has been reported that bigger names of the sport such as Randy Couture or Frank Mir have received endorsement contracts that are multi million dollar deals.
Owning A School
There are a decent amount of MMA fighters that are capilatizing on their popularity by opening up their own school, whether it be for Muay Thai, MMA or BJJ. Such names include Randy Couture, Matt Serra, Ricardo Almeida and even current The Ultimate Fighter contestant, Santino DeFranco. Depending on the size and popularity of the school, owner/instructors can make anywhere from $35,000 to over $250,000 a year. This is dependant on student population, tutition rate, private lessons and merchandise sales. UFC is currently opening 3 gyms that are targeted exclusively towards training for Mixed Martial Arts. These locations will be in California, Hawaii and Montreal. There is no doubt that these locations will be top of the line training facilities that will become cash cows for the company.
Seminars
Some MMA fighters who may not own a school hit the seminar circuit visiting different MMA or BJJ schools across the country doing seminars and making pretty good money in the process. Kenny Florian recently did this along with his brother Keith, visiting several schools including Balance Studios in Philadelphia, which I have trained at. Depending on the popularity of the star they can receive anywhere from $1000-$4000 per appearance. In addition they usually have their expenses such as flight, food and accommodations paid for.
Appearances
As opposed to a seminar which is a private instructional appearance, some stars get hired for other public events such as opening of a store, night club appearance, casino appearances, trade shows and other public events. The contract for this is usually the same as for a seminar covering room, travel and food expenses. Rates can be anywhere from $1,000 to $50,000 per event depending on who the event host/sponsor is.
I hope this gave you some insight into the ways that an MMA fighter can make money. There are many factors that help determine this such as the popularity of the fighter, how good their agents are, etc. This is the first of an ongoing "How To" series that I am starting which will cover everything from training techniques to personal inquires.

http://www.dansmuaythaimma.com - Traveling The World Training Martial Arts!

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"Boxing's dead."
"Boxing's not what it used to be."
"There are no good fighters out there today."
These are just a few of the comments thrown around by fans of the sport of kings waiting patiently for a breath of life into the flailing lungs of boxing.
In spite of a virtual plethora of organizations boasting their own version of a world title, most people would fail to name even one of the men who stake claim to a form of the fragmented heavyweight championship. WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO, IBO (quite possibly, another organization surfaced as this article was being written), does it matter anymore?
Yet with at least five world heavyweight belts, can the casual observer name even one champion? If so, rest assured that person is in a rare group. Try naming two, three, or four. I'll bet that my eight year old niece would have a better chance at naming all four Beatles.
Raised on boxing, I was lucky enough to see many of the sport's greatest warriors, some in their prime. I sat transfixed in front of an enormous television that was set inside of a wooden cabinet. There were two round knobs to change the channels on the right side of the monstrosity, one for the UHF channels which regularly broadcast static.
Somewhere within the channel selection of 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, and 13, I witnessed Ali win his title back from Leon Spinks; Sugar Ray Leonard win the welterweight championship from Wilfred Benitez; Alexis Arguello fall to Aaron Pryor two times - I watched a few cartoons back then too.
As I grew into adulthood, the archaic television was upgraded to one with a remote control and the addition of a cable box. Between closed circuit TV and cable, my boxing fix was satisfied with wars from some of the greatest fighters to ever lace up gloves. Duran beat Leonard. Leonard beat Hagler. Hagler beat Hearns. Hearns beat Duran. These men all fought each other, and were so dominant that they only need to be referred by their last names to be recognized.
Is it really necessary to say "Mike" when speaking of Tyson? Nuff said.
Iron Mike was boxing's last personality that can be recalled by the average person or casual fan. Sure there was Holyfield, Big George Foreman, and Lennox Lewis - all great champions, two of who bested Tyson. Still, most people remember Iron Mike.
Tyson fights transcended the sport of boxing. They weren't fights; they were grand spectacles: events of their own. It didn't matter who the opponent was. Mike could have been pit against the Pope, Elvis, or even God; and it still would have been called "The Tyson Fight."
Today's boxing PPV numbers pale in comparison to the consistent record breaking cards that Tyson pulled even when his career was on the decline. Delahoya and Mayweather drew a record PPV number for their recent bout, but it was not without spending an enormous amount of money on promotion. Commercials, print media ads, and - for the first time in boxing history - an entire cable reality TV series was filmed to hype the fight. Deduct those extra expenses and see if Iron Mike isn't still boxing's PPV king.
Tyson fights needed no hype, just a date and a time. People tuned in just to see if someone could last at least two minutes with the champ. Round two of a Tyson fight was rarer than an honest politician. Once, PPV providers had to promise a three round guarantee or the fee was reduced.
With the absence of Tyson, many boxing fans have found solace in a newer combat sport: MMA (mixed martial arts).
MMA combines one dimensional combat sports, like boxing and wrestling, and packages them together, extending the competitor's arsenals. MMA bouts are a much truer representation of a real fight because the fighters are not limited to simply punching (above the waist) or kicking. Even when they engage wrestling skills, the objective is not to pin the opponent, but to win the fight by submission or stoppage. A judge's decision is rendered if the time limit expires in the bout.
Rules are incorporated to ensure safety and eliminate the barbaric brutality of a street fight. Biting and poking in the eyes are two examples of banned offensive tactics.
Mixed Martial Artists are fighters. In comparison, boxers have been called fighters, but the claim is somewhat of a misnomer. Real fights incorporate any offensive strategy that can win the fight, not merely punching.
Though many boxers have had success in street fights, many factors - outside of being a great fighter - come into play to account for the success. A boxer trains to punch faster, harder, and more accurately. They also exercise to have great stamina. When pitting an in shape athlete against an average person who is not training, the stamina factor alone will sway the fight in favor of the athlete. Coupled with boxing skills, you have a no contest in favor of the boxer.
Have a wrestler face that same boxer in a street fight, and the results are likely to be far different.
An MMA fighter, theoretically, should be victorious over both due to training equally in all areas of fighting. The MMA fighter strives to become well rounded in punching, kicking, wrestling, and submissions. They train their hands, not for a boxing match, but for a real fight where they may be taken down to the ground. Boxers don't train to defend against kicks or takedowns.
A perfect example was when former street fighter, Kimbo Slice, destroyed former world heavyweight boxing and Olympic gold medalist, Ray Mercer in under two minutes in Slice's debut MMA bout. Mercer racked up knockout victories over the likes of Tommy Morrison and had two very controversial losses to Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis. Many feel Mercer was robbed in these bouts, and even Lewis is rumored to have conceded that to be true.
Still, the former champ's great boxing skills were relegated to nothing when a street fighter turned mixed martial artist took him down to the mat and pounded him before submitting him with a guillotine choke.
Yet, even as MMA seems to be the evolution of boxing, it could stand to learn a thing or two from the successful sport. Many people may not know that Wladimir Klitschko holds three of the alphabet soup of heavyweight boxing titles, but he still earned more money in his unification bout with Sultan Ibragimov than every MMA fighter on the last UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) card combined.
Felix Trinidad came out of retirement to lose to Roy Jones Jr. and can boast that he also earned more for the losing effort than most MMA fighters, even champions, have earned in their entire career.
For MMA to evolve as a sport, it will have to incorporate what boxing has incorporated. The PPV numbers have already eclipsed boxing's, now it's time to reward the competitors whose fighting careers will certainly be short ones.
Elite XC is an MMA company with a Showtime television deal. The company is run by Gary Shaw who still promotes boxing events. Maybe Shaw is the man who will bring MMA into the spotlight that has embraced boxing during the golden years and still seems to even today.
Only time will tell.

Ray Mardo owns Ultimate Fighting Championship.com and various websites that earn revenue through pay per click, adsense, and selling products. Many of his MMA articles are posted at http://www.ultimatefightingchampionship.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ray_Mardo

If you are looking to place a couple of bets on mixed martial arts but don't have to time go to Vegas or Atlantic City, betting online is a great alternative. However, knowing the ins and outs of an online sports book can mean the difference between winning and loosing. There are a few things to remember with online gambling especially when waging on mixed martial arts.
First, make sure you have a few sports books that you comfortable using. The top 3 Sites to Bet on MMA are Bodog, BetUS and Bookmaker. A lot of people sign up for more than one. Why should you have more than one you ask? It allows you to do something called line shopping, which basically mean shopping around for the best price or odds on a fight.
After you have signed up for a sports book or two and are comfortable with the next step is funding them. Believe it or not, if you live in the US it can be a difficult task due to federal laws. You do have a couple of options to make it a bit easier. Some sport book sites have a secure credit card option. It allows you to fund your account with your credit card and is really easy to use. If your sport book site does not have this option, don't worry. There are a few other ways to fund your account. There is a sites like ewalletxpress which allows you transfer money into your account much like paypal. However, if you are a first time user, it can take up to 3 days before those funds have cleared and you are able to use the money. There is also a funding limit. If you can deal with the few draw backs of ewalletxpress, it is a great, secure way of transferring funds. There are a number of other reputable companies that have been around for a very long time that you can use.
As you can see getting started with a few online sports books is easy. Just be sure to check them out before transferring any money. Try to remember that the steps you are learning are about the big picture, not a one time win. Also be sure to check your state and local laws about online gambling. Good luck!

Don't Bet on Mixed Martial Arts Until You Have Read This 100% Free ebook - Ultimate Guide to Betting on MMA Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=David_O

Sports betting had been an age-old tradition found in every society. If you glance back into the history you will find that gamblers use to bet their money on just about anything unpredictable like games, animal racing or combats. The trend continues even today and betting is an interesting indulgence for sports fans and bookies all over the world. Sports betting in case popular games like soccer or baseball is carried out only during their seasons.
However, in case of combat sports and fighting competitions like wrestling, boxing and marital arts betting is an ongoing process. MMA or Mixed Martial Arts is one of the major combative sports that has become popular among sports bookies in the recent times. Nevertheless, sports betting in case of various fighting events are not openly allowed in some countries or states. It is just treated like gambling in several places; however, for fanatic bookies nothing matters. And unless you are into high-level betting, there won't be any trouble as long as you are betting through a reliable source.
In order to bet on an MMA tournament you need not attend it. If you are up to date with MMA news and events, you would know that tickets for popular MMA events are sold out pretty fast and it is not always feasible to attend the venue just for betting. However, you can easily make a bet through authorized betting sites. There are various MMA news site and online sportsbook that allow such betting. These sites keep their members updated with all the latest events and results. They have their own rules and regulations and specific modes of payment that requires to be thoroughly understood before you start out with your bets.
For most of these online booking services payments are made and received by way of electronic money transferring systems. It is best suited for such online betting agencies. However, while betting online you should always select an authentic website. There are quite a few websites that deals only with MMA news and information. They post the commentaries and reviews on all the events related to MMA. You can also easily find out the positions or ranks of all the champions in the game. Besides, you will be able to meet more MMA fans in here who can aid you in your betting endeavors. More than relying on MMA news flashes it would be beneficial if you follow an expert's opinion while betting.
Even if you are betting directly, you will have to depend on such sites to get real-time updates from bookies who have years of experience to their credit. If you are new in the business of sports betting then it is advisable to observe others before making your own moves.

One stop destination to access latest MMA news and events related to MMA - Fight Mania

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MMA or Mixed Martial Arts continues to grow in popularity. But it' not just a man's sport anymore. If you go to an average event you can not only see men but women, teens and even children enjoying the spectacle. It's shocking how much they enjoy the fights and how much merchandise they're buying.
But the biggest shock comes from knowing whose raking in the most money. Why don't you try to take a guess. Do you think it's the managers who make the most money? No. How about the fighters.? Nice try, but no. Of course it's the fight promoters, right? Wrong. Here's a hint. To turn a profit most fight promoters depend on this activity. Have you guessed it yet? O.K, I'll end the suspense. The fighters, managers or promoters don't make the most money from MMA.
The people who make the most money are the people who market MMA products. Yes, companies and individuals including promoters make most of their money from merchandising. The fighters merely provide the attraction. The ticket sales barely cover the cost. But it's the product marketing that rakes in the huge profits.
For example, Mixed Martial Arts clothing, work out equipment, books, T-shirts, training videos, baseball caps you name it. The good news is the list continues to grow as the sport grows and the sport continues to grow by leaps and bounds even during this recession. People just can't get enough of it this sport. Don't believe me, check out the sold-out ticket sales, the record shattering viewers who order pay per view matches and the high TV ratings MMA matches enjoy.
This is quickly growing from a mere sport to a cultural movement. As with any movement there's money waiting on the table for those who get in early.
The good news is many average men and women continue to discover ways to make money from this new but fast growing sport - without fighting. That's the merchandisers and marketers of Mixed Martial Arts products. Yes, this sport is quietly making small fortunes for alert minded people who had the wisdom to get in early and secure their financial future. Most provide MMA related products to a bulging fan base. The relatively unknown ways these people make money continues to go unnoticed by the general public. Most hope to keep these lucrative profit generating secrets under wraps for as long as they can to rake in juicy profits.
But more people discover the market is so huge and growing so fast they could never cover it themselves. So, more of these savvy marketers continue to let more people in on the MMA marketing and merchandising money train. What makes this so valuable is the low start up cost. All the average person needs to start is a computer and an internet connection. The rest involves knowing what to do and who to contact. Armed with the right information the fan base or Mixed Martial Arts market is easy to find.

However, trying to promote to the Mixed Martial Arts market has many pitfalls for the newbie. That's why you need to know what the pitfalls are, and how to avoid going around in circles. Find out "The 6 Most Effective Ways to Make Money From Mixed Martial Arts - Without Fighting" - read my free report MMA Wealth

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