Larry Pepe

Watch today’s ‘Fight Day’ UFC 148 Pre-Show LIVE at 6 p.m. ET

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Heavy.com’s “Fight Day” UFC 148 Pay-Per-View pre-show will stream LIVE on ProMMAnow.com today starting at 6 p.m. ET (3 p.m. PT). Host Dave Farra will bring viewers up to speed on all the news and drama surrounding UFC 148. Also, leading MMA journalist John Morgan, along with Larry Pepe of Pro MMA Radio, will preview the UFC 148 fight card. “Fight Day” correspondent Maggie Krol will take viewers on a tour inside the UFC Fan Expo taking place this weekend in Las Vegas and she will check in with Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen to get their final thoughts on the fight.

Kenny Florian reflects on loss to Penn

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On Aug. 8, 2009, Kenny Florian had the most important fight of his life at UFC 101 against “The Prodigy” B.J. Penn. It was a lightweight title fight that ended up going four rounds.

Penn kept it standing most of the fight despite Florian’s repeated attempts to take him down. Florian also could not seem to find his rhythm with his striking. In the fourth round, Penn got his own takedown, mounted Florian, and ended up choking the number one contender until he tapped.

Two days after his biggest fight, and undoubtedly his biggest loss, Pro MMA Radio spoke to Kenny Florian about the tough defeat, what went wrong, what he learned from the fight, where he goes from here, and more.

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Miguel Torres wants to take Bowles’ heart

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He is one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world with a record of 37-1. He carries a five-year, seventeen-fight win-streak. He is the current WEC Bantamweight Champion and will be defending his title this weekend at WEC 42 against Brian Bowles.

Frank Mir, who is known for singing the praises of Miguel Torres, is reported as saying if he was Torres’ manager, Brian Bowles would be the one person he would have the champ avoid.

However, this Sunday, Torres won’t be avoiding anyone. He wants to defeat Bowles and get on with his bigger mission of becoming a legend. “I want to make history. I want to be the most dominant champion at 135 lbs. in the world,” said Torres on this week’s edition of Pro MMA Radio.

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An in-depth talk with WEC General Manager Reed Harris

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WEC General Manager Reed Harris was this week’s guest on Pro MMA Radio with host Larry Pepe. Harris started at the beginning, and talked about how the promotion got started. He talked about the growth of the company and the Zuffa acquisition, the decision to eliminate the higher weight classes, and much more.

It is a very interesting in-depth conversation with one of the most successful promoters in MMA but also one of the least talked about. Here are some of the highlights of Pro MMA Radio’s interview with Reed Harris:

Along with former partner Scott Adams, Reed Harris started the WEC in 1999, and today the organization is the number one MMA promotion in the world for the lighter weight classes.

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Bobby Lashley: one step closer to the big show

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With a recent first round TKO over Bob “The Beast” Sapp, Bobby Lashley is now 4-0 in his young MMA career. With each new fight Lashley has taken steps up in competition. At the same time, his MMA skills are noticeably improving.

Many expected the former WWE wrestler to take a similar path as UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar who joined the UFC after just one professional fight. Lashley, however is taking a more gradual approch. In fact, he is actually paying his dues in the MMA world. There was a lot of talk when Lesnar first entered the UFC and got a quick title shot that he did not deserve it. Lashley wants to avoid that kind of controversy.

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Sapp at lightest fight weight ever for Lashley

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Bob “The Beast” Sapp stopped by Pro MMA Radio on Monday to talk about, among other things, his upcoming fight this Saturday night against fast rising heavyweight prospect Bobby Lashley.

“The Beast” said he is on target to come into this bout at the lowest weight of his fighting career, possibly weighing as little as 320 lbs. That is considered light for a man who spent most of his career fighting anywhere from 365-400 lbs.. In fact, 320 lbs. is how much he weighed during his last year in the NFL.

Sapp admitted he knew it was time to lose weight when he sat down on his toilet and it cracked. So with the help of trainers Maurice Smith, Antonio McKee, and others, he began running, concentrating on conditioning, and started to incrementally shed the pounds.

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Joe Riggs fires back at Shields’ comments

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Joe Riggs defeated “The New York Badass” Phil Baroni in a throw-down that ended in a unanimous decision on June 6 at Strikeforce’s “Lawler vs. Shields” event in St. Louis. In the headliner of the same card, Jake Shields defeated Robbie Lawler rather easily and quickly in the opening minutes of round one with a guillotine choke.

In the “Lawler vs. Shields” post-fight press conference, in which Riggs was absent, Shields was asked how he felt about a potential match-up with Riggs. Shields responded candidly, saying Riggs did not even belong in the same cage as him. Shields is also quoted as saying in a recent interview, “Joe Riggs is of no concern to me, he’s not even worth my time. I’m not even giving him the time of day.”

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Soares says Rashad Evans is no joke

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In anticipation of UFC 98, Pro MMA Radio host Larry Pepe spoke earlier this week with mixed martial arts manager Ed Soares, who manages Lyoto Machida. However, their conversation started off talking about one of Ed’s other and probably most well-known clients, Anderson “The Spider” Siva. 

It seems the UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva is currently in the Mojave Desert filming a pilot. According to Ed Soares, Silva’s manager, the film is set back in ancient times following the death of Christ and Silva plays a character who works for a King.

Soares said they are using a new type of technical filming where they use a lot of “green screens” and he is looking forward to see how it turns out. He said they are shooting a three or four minute pilot that could be turned into an Internet series or possibly a movie.

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Matt Serra explains origin of bad blood with Hughes

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On Saturday May 23, 2009, Matt “The Terror” Serra will face Matt Hughes in the main event at UFC 98 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Years of bad blood will finally come to a head as these two former UFC Welterweight Champions finally meet inside the Octagon.

Pro MMA Radio host Larry Pepe had the privilege of speaking to “The Terror” this past week as a guest on his weekly “Toe-to-Toe” segment. Serra talked about the origins of the bad blood between he and Matt Hughes and if he thought there was a chance this fight could put an end to the hard feelings.

Serra also discussed what he felt would be his advantage as well as the biggest downfall for Hughes coming into the fight. He also shared his thoughts on UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva’s recent performance, “Grease Gate,” and more.

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