Jeremy Stephens vs. Donald Cerrone at the UFC on Fuel 3. Anyone else smell a knockout? Here's how it all went down.

Early on, Stephens landed a low kick, then an uppercut as Cerrone came inside. Another low kick from Stephens landed. Then Cerrone hit home with a low kick of his own. A quick right hand from Stephens found its mark; Cerrone followed it up with a hard low kick.

"The Cowboy" is starting out slowly.

But then as they neared the three minute mark, Cerrone began changing his rhythm, coming forward with leg and hand strike combinations before dropping out of harm's way again. And from there, he began gaining confidence and hitting home with sharper strikes of the same variety, ending the stanza with a flying knee.

Cerrone definitely took round one.

The second round saw Cerrone land tons of kicks, hands, and everything. And after a combination that ended with a left uppercut, Stephens was clearly hurt. Though Stephens recovered, he was beaten around the ring with timely punches and hard kicks for the rest of the stanza.

Round three was a lot like round two. Cerrone added a few hard body kicks as well. In the end, this just wasn't that close.

Donald Cerrone defeats Jeremy Stephens by unanimous decision.

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Donald Cerrone Defeats Jeremy Stephens by Unanimous Decision originally appeared on About.com Martial Arts on Tuesday, May 15th, 2012 at 22:24:36.

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Check out our UFC on Fuel 3 results below.

UFC on Fuel 3 Results

Chan Sung Jung defeats Dustin Poirier via D'arce choke at 1:07 of round four

Amir Sadollah defeats Jorge Lopez via split decision.

Yves Jabouin defeats Jeff Hougland by unanimous decision.

Igor Pokrajac defeats Fabio Maldonado by unanimous decision.

Tom Lawlor defeats Jason MacDonald by first round KO.

Donald Cerrone defeats Jeremy Stephens by unanimous decision.

Brad Tavares defeats Dongi Yang via unanimous decision.

Cody McKenzie defeats Marcus LeVesseur via guillotine choke at 3:05 of round one.

T.J. Grant defeats Carlo Prater via unanimous decision.

Rafael Dos Anjos defeats Kamal Shalorus via rear-naked choke at 1:40 of round one.

Johnny Eduardo defeats Jeff Curran via unanimous decision.

Francisco Rivera defeats Alex Soto via unanimous decision.

UFC on Fuel 3 Results originally appeared on About.com Martial Arts on Tuesday, May 15th, 2012 at 21:04:48.

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Coming into their UFC on Fuel 3 bout, Tom Lawlor knew he wanted to keep his fight against Jason MacDonald on his feet. Here's a hint....he did.

Lawlor landed a decent right handed jab early on in round one. MacDonald attempted a takedown that Lawlor shirked. And then, a moment later, Lawlor connected with a hard left to the jaw, followed by a right that dropped MacDonald. One punch later on the ground and it was all over.

Tom Lawlor defeats Jason MacDonald by KO after 50 seconds in round one.

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Tom Lawlor KO's Jason MacDonald originally appeared on About.com Martial Arts on Tuesday, May 15th, 2012 at 20:52:43.

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Back on November 12, 1993, the purest display of martial arts style vs. martial arts style took place. That's right- we're talking about UFC 1. At the time, competitors pretty much knew their own discipline and no other. Boxing, karate, and, of course, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu were on display. As we all know now, those early UFC's proved the worth of grappling arts like Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and wrestling. Meanwhile, they left many with a bad taste in their mouth regarding karate.

These days, karate is making somewhat of a comeback in MMA circles, in no small way due to the success that Shotokan karate practitioner Lyoto Machida has had. And although Machida has skill in a variety of disciplines beyond what Gichin Funakoshi (Shotokan founder) once built, it is always fun to watch his true karate style of striking go up against one of the grappling styles that once dominated, and perhaps continue to dominate, the MMA landscape. Such will be the case when Machida goes up against Ryan Bader at the UFC on FOX 4.

Karate vs. wrestling in the modern era. Got to love it!

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Lyoto Machida vs. Ryan Bader at the UFC on FOX 4 - Karate vs. Wrestling in the Modern Era originally appeared on About.com Martial Arts on Saturday, May 12th, 2012 at 14:10:32.

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I once read a book entitled Me, Chi, and Bruce Lee by Brian Preston. It was an entertaining martial arts read about a self-proclaimed "spineless wuss" (Preston) who embarks on a quest to achieve a black belt within one year. Along the way, he travels the world meeting up with martial artists, instructors, and fighters like Sifu Bob, Royce Gracie, Jeff Monson, Jarek Szymanski and more on his path towards martial arts enlightenment.

In the book, Preston questioned Szymanski, a man extremely skilled and knowledgeable in the Chinese martial arts, about how traditional martial arts practitioners would do against the modern sport martial artists of today in combat. I'm really taking great lengths in paraphrasing here, but his response indicated that most traditional practitioners might lose, primarily because they don't practice the arts as much as they should, and perhaps aren't as good at them as they could be as a result. In a way, he was saying that extreme practice is the only way to be able to use the traditional arts at a very high level, but if someone did practice them at that rate, they could do quite well.

...

Mas Oyama and the Difference With Modern Traditional Martial Arts Practitioners originally appeared on About.com Martial Arts on Sunday, April 22nd, 2012 at 19:29:45.

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Yes, Alistair Overeem will still plead his case to NSAC regarding his testosterone-to-epitestosterone ratio of 14:1 on Tuesday. But that won't keep him on the UFC 146 fight card, nor will it promise him another shot at current UFC Heavyweight Champion Junior dos Santos. Overeem has now been pulled from the UFC 146 main event in favor of former champion Frank Mir.

"Anybody who knows anything about the pay-per-view business knows we're way past the deadline," UFC President Dana White said. "We've got to run with it, and I wasn't feeling too optimistic."

In other words, they couldn't wait on Overeem anymore. The show must go on.

Mir, of course, brings a whole new flavor to this bout. He'll want to get things to the ground, whereas Overeem probably would've sought a striking battle. In the end, it's hard not to be disappointed, as that dos Santos-Overeem battle would've been a striker's delight. Still, Mir is as good a submission artist as there is in the heavyweight division, which makes it interesting.

As for Overeem, his UFC job is tenuous at best.

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Frank Mir to Fight Junior dos Santos for the UFC Heavyweight Belt originally appeared on About.com Martial Arts on Sunday, April 22nd, 2012 at 14:38:02.

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Coming into his UFC 145 bout against Matt Brown, everyone simply knew Stephen "Wonderboy" Thompson as that new karate fighter in the UFC. Of course, with karate still somewhat stigmatized as less than useful in the sport of mixed martial arts, there was some pressure on Thompson to do well. Wondering how it all went down?

You've come to the right place.

Early in round one, Thompson landed a side kick to Brown's body. ...

Matt Brown Defeats Stephen "Wonderboy" Thompson by Unanimous Decision at UFC 145 originally appeared on About.com Martial Arts on Saturday, April 21st, 2012 at 21:39:55.

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Former Bellator champion Eddie Alvarez has only lost twice since July of 2007. One of those losses came to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu superstar Shinya Aoki at K-1 - Dynamite!! Power of Courage 2008. Simply put, the two entered the ring, and only 92 seconds later they left with Aoki taking home victory by way of heel hook. Enter 2012 and Bellator 66. Alvarez, coming off of a loss to Michael Chandler, really needed a victory badly to reaffirm his top lightweight status. Aoki, on the other hand, could once and for all prove to be a better fighter than his counterpart.

Alvarez landed a punch to the body and several grazing shots early in round one.  Alvarez then hit home with two more body punches over time.  Aoki fell on his back; Alvarez didn't even consider following him there.  Alvarez connected with a right hand.  Several moments later, Alvarez hit home with another right hand that dropped Aoki.  From there, the former Bellator champion started landing punches in bunches on the canvas.  All Aoki could do is cover up.  That's when the referee stepped in.

Eddie Alvarez defeats Shinya Aoki by TKO at 2:14 of round one .  PS- Aoki's corner threw in the towel during the beating.  Wow!  Big win for Alvarez.  That's revenge for you.

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Eddie Alvarez vs. Shinya Aoki Bellator 66 Results originally appeared on About.com Martial Arts on Friday, April 20th, 2012 at 08:54:32.

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Jim Miller has some solid stand up. That said, his upcoming opponent at the UFC on FOX 3, Nate Diaz, has a big time reach advantage over him. Further, Diaz's boxing skills are top notch in the MMA game, and his cardio, as good as Miller's is, is also top level. Adding to Miller's problems is the fact that their bout is a five rounder. In other words, he probably doesn't want to stand with Diaz for that long. Which leads to a game plan likely designed to take the Cesar Gracie fighter to the ground. Yep, a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt vs. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt match up.

So, the questions. First, is our game plan guess correct, or does Miller think he can stand and bang with Diaz? He's a very tough, seasoned, and well-rounded fighter. This could lead to some over-confidence on his feet, which could end with a stand up war. Not the kind of war he probably wants to engage in with Diaz. Guess is, however, that he realizes what his best shot is here. Which leads to the following question- can he take Diaz down?

Good question. Diaz is not the strongest lightweight fighter going. His balance is excellent, as is his technique. But if there is one chink in the armor, it's his takedown defense due to the aforementioned. Is Miller a world class takedown artist? No, but he's up there.

But even if Miller can take Diaz down, is that safe? Diaz has one of the best guards in the game; he's literally a killer off of his back. It's a double edged sword for sure.

In the end, Miller's best shot is to put his stellar BJJ against Diaz's on the canvas. It won't be easy, but he may have the stuff to put his adversary on his back. Of course, the question then becomes, can he win there?

Should be a good one.

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Jim Miller - Takedowns and What the Game Plan for Nate Diaz Must Be originally appeared on About.com Martial Arts on Tuesday, April 17th, 2012 at 07:59:54.

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Dennis Siver was once considered one of the better lightweight strikers in the world, with a Tae Kwon Do based arsenal that included excellent spinning back kicks, front leg kicks, and more.  So when he dropped down to featherweight to fight contender Diego Nunes, many thought he'd do quite well.  That said, dropping down in weight doesn't always prove to be as smart a move as it sounds.  Would it be for him?

Keep reading for the answer. ...

Dennis Siver Defeats Diego Nunes by Unanimous Decision originally appeared on About.com Martial Arts on Saturday, April 14th, 2012 at 16:53:01.

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© Henrik Moltke via Flickr

Crack open up any mountain biking magazine and you'll no doubt find a feature story about wheel size. Why all the recent press?

Say "hello" to 650B. Not exactly new - just ignored for a while - 27.5-inch wheels have been garnering a lot of attention these days.

Find out what all the fuss is about--and while you're at it, learn a bit more about 26-inch and 29-inch wheels. There are a lot of options out there, and it's important to know the difference between them before you commit to one.

• POLL: What Wheel Size Do You Ride?

Which Wheel Size Is Right For You? originally appeared on About.com Mountain Biking on Monday, April 30th, 2012 at 15:43:31.

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Better Skateboarding Wheels is coming out with a new system where you can have any picture you want printed on their skateboard wheels! This is a crazy time to be a skater - combine this with the companies who will print your own pictures on skateboard decks, and you can pretty much have a completely customized skateboard deck! Ride up at the park with your face on your wheels, on your deck, on your shirt, and ... well, on your head. That might be a bit much. Or how about giving your buddy a set of wheels with his name on em? Pretty sweet. Or, give everyone you know wheels with YOUR face on them! Again, I'm back at shameless self promotion... It's fun!

And just to let you know, Better Skateboard Wheels aren't junk blank wheels from China or anything. They're real skateboard wheels, the company is here in the USA, and they came up with their own urethane formula for wheels. They feel that they are better (thus the clever name) than the other wheels out there. They might be! I skated the ones they sent me, and they ride very nice. No flatspotting. No weird problems. Of course, it takes a while to know for sure, but I'm happy with them. Plus, they have my name and face on them! Check out this video about Better's custom printing for more info.

Better Wheels to Offer Custom Printed Wheels originally appeared on About.com Skateboarding on Monday, May 14th, 2012 at 19:17:41.

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Summer is right around the corner - why not make this summer be the one that you check out a professional summer skateboarding camp? They can be great ways to get away, have some fun, make new friends and most of all to get personal and professional skateboarding instruction!

Depending on where you live, we have the Top Skateboard Camps of the Western US, and the Top Skateboard Camps of the Eastern US. For outside the US, I know of the Rubicon skate camp in the UK! They've been in business for a while now, and have a very solid reputation.

If you know of other skateboard camps that you'd like to let the world know about, OR if you've been to one of these camps and want to tell other skaters what it was like, please leave a comment below!

Skateboarding Summer Camps Offer Training, Experience and Fun originally appeared on About.com Skateboarding on Friday, May 11th, 2012 at 21:30:26.

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Being a skater can sometimes feel like being an outcast. In Afganistan, a group called Skateistan has been teaching skateboarding to young kids in the middle of war, religious conflict and oppression. Here you can find girls who must disguise themselves as boys. You can find pain, heart ache and loss. And in the middle of all of that? You can find this group of amazing people working with the local kids to bring hope, joy and life.

"A skateboard park and school surrounded by war makes perfect sense in a senseless world, doesn't it?" These are the opening lines of the new book, Skateistan: The Tale of Skateboarding in Afghanistan. This book shares the strange and beautiful intersection of traditional Afghan society and a new generation of Afghan skateboarders and artists. This 320-page color book features stunning, previously unpublished photographs accompanied by essays, interviews and personal stories from Skateistan's founder Oliver Percovich and the young Afghans that have gone from being students to teachers in the skatepark and classrooms. Full of hope, beauty, gritty honesty - and skateboards! - this is a story about Afghanistan that you won't find anywhere else.

The book comes out this summer. Check out the Skateistan website to pre order your copy!

Book About the First Skatepark in Afganistan to Come Out This Summer originally appeared on About.com Skateboarding on Tuesday, May 8th, 2012 at 16:02:59.

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This year's summit will host three special events: The Skateboarding Hall of Fame and Icon Awards (The 2012 inductees are Danny Bearer, Jay Adams, Mark Gonzales, Peggy Oki, John Humphrey, Frank Nasworthy, Glen E. Friedman and Black Flag), as well as special screenings of the new Bones Brigade Documentary by Stacy Peralta and the new Danny Way documentary Waiting for Lightning by Jacob Rosenberg.

2012 IASC Summit - Skateboarding Companies Meet to Plan and Celebrate originally appeared on About.com Skateboarding on Thursday, May 3rd, 2012 at 15:05:18.

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Pro skaters are often the face and voice of skateboarding. So, what do they have to say?! Over the years I've collected a good amount of pro skater interviews, and today I put together a list of the best. Check out the top 10 pro skateboarder interviews, and see what the pros have to say about their lives, skateboarding, the future, and anything else on their minds.

Top 10 Best Pro Skater Interviews originally appeared on About.com Skateboarding on Monday, April 30th, 2012 at 19:37:22.

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"The selected filmmaker will have the chance to work as part of a professional crew on an exciting LA-based video featuring the skater, actor, shop owner, shoe and skate park designer, and X-Games winner known as P-Rod. The video will be featured on AT&T's U-verse, YouTube, and a whole bunch of other places too. We'll be accepting applications via Facebook until April 22nd (11:59 PM EDT).The selected candidate will be notified in early May."

More details can be found at AT&T's official Facebook page - as well as email submission for applicants to enter.

On the Road with Paul Rodriguez originally appeared on About.com Skateboarding on Tuesday, April 24th, 2012 at 20:03:26.

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Rob Dyrdek's Wild Riders is now going to be a full fledged cartoon! I guess it was inevitable - the toys have done well, and are pretty cool. Plus, Dyrdek seems to come out with a new show every year and a half, and so it's about time! The first episode comes out April 27th, a little less than two weeks.

"I came up with the name when I was eleven years old," says Dyrdek, "when I needed a name for my first skate crew - who knew it would turn into such a mega brand."

Check out Wild Grinders Cartoon to find out more, hear more from Rob Dyrdek, read about who's involved, the characters, and the first episode.

Rob Dyrdek's Wild Grinders Comedy Cartoon About to Debut originally appeared on About.com Skateboarding on Sunday, April 15th, 2012 at 00:20:35.

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I got an email from a skater named Joe who got into skateboarding a couple of years ago, and is now giving it another shot. "I always just got so discouraged when I messed up and lost interest," he says. "Last time I had a go I was thirteen. I'm really going to try hard this time, because it just looks so fun and rewarding."

Joe's right, it IS fun, and that's the key, I think! Make sure you're always having fun. Some people are having fun when they are trying hard, bleeding and sweaty. Some people are having fun when they're laughing and fooling around. What about you? Don't try to force it - skateboarding can be whatever you want it to be! Just make sure that you are enjoying it, and the discouragement shouldn't be so bad. Don't compare yourself to other skaters - skate for yourself, and to have a good time.

For me, I like to skate alone and at night. That's my favorite. I like to skate with friends, too, but alone at night - that's the sweet spot.
And, tricks actually aren't my favorite thing about skateboarding! I like em, but I more enjoy the feel of flow, and the speed, and the wind, and the clack clack of the wheels. And there's something about the sound of a tail pop. I love it.

So, if you're having a tough time staying motivated, I'd encourage you to find your fun! How do YOU want to skate? Maybe you never really want to do a single trick? Maybe you hate skateparks? Maybe you don't like wearing pants?! Whatever it is, make sure that skateboarding is something you're doing because you're enjoying it, and you'll skate better, be happier and be more satisfied! (read How to Get Back Into Skateboarding for more help on getting back on board)

Finding Your Fun - the Key to Staying Motivated originally appeared on About.com Skateboarding on Tuesday, April 10th, 2012 at 23:31:10.

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