Selected by betalabs

• Most Topular Stories

• Bear and wolf, friends for life [video]

  Holy Kaw!

  9 Feb 2012 | 2:12 pm

  All too often we lose track of our friends from childhood, but this bear and wolf appear to be BFFs despite the differences. Full story at YouTube via io9. Can’t we all just get along? Permalink | Leave a comment  »

• John Albert - More Than Just A "TUF" Guy

  UFC News

  By Jordan Newmark

  8 Feb 2012 | 10:00 pm

  If after watching the 14th season of The Ultimate Fighter the name John “Prince” Albert was still foreign to you, then you’re probably not alone. Over the course of 10 episodes, the young bantamweight shared little screen time in either Octagon action or house drama. But Albert’s name jumped to the tip of the fight community’s collective tongue when he bested fellow housemate Dustin Pague at the TUF finale. On December 3rd at The Palms Casino Resort, it took a mere 69 seconds for Albert to go from relative obscurity to future 135er royalty.“I appreciate that fight with Dustin so…

• Diaz Tests Positive for Marijuana After UFC 143 Loss to Condit

  Recent News on Sherdog.com

  9 Feb 2012 | 3:30 pm

  The Nevada State Athletic Commission Tuesday announced that Nick Diaz has tested positive for marijuana metabolites following his UFC 143 decision loss to Carlos Condit.

• With Diaz’s Positive Test, Carlos Condit Moving On

  MMAWeekly.com

  Damon Martin

  9 Feb 2012 | 3:34 pm

  Carlos Condit's manager Malki Kawa reacts to the news about Nick Diaz's positive drug test, and comments on what's next for the UFC interim welterweight champion

• Nick Diaz tests positive for marijuana metabolites, faces discipline following UFC 143

  MMAjunkie.com Articles

  9 Feb 2012 | 2:15 pm

  Carlos Condit and Nick Diaz may ultimately fight again someday, but it doesn't look like it will be anytime soon. Former Strikeforce champion Diaz tested positive for marijuana metabolites following his controversial five-round clash with former WEC titleholder Condit at this past weekend's UFC 143 event. That's according to Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director Keith Kizer, who today emailed the event's drug-testing results to MMAjunkie.com.

• 

  Holy Kaw!

• Bear and wolf, friends for life [video]

  9 Feb 2012 | 2:12 pm

  All too often we lose track of our friends from childhood, but this bear and wolf appear to be BFFs despite the differences. Full story at YouTube via io9. Can’t we all just get along? Permalink | Leave a comment  »

• Can dessert for breakfast help you lose weight?

  9 Feb 2012 | 1:39 pm

  New research suggests that, in the early morning, you can have your cake and shed pounds too A new study from Tel Aviv University finds that eating a small dessert as part of a balanced breakfast can actually help you shed unwanted pounds. Staying skinny and eating chocolate? Here, a brief guide to what sounds, frankly, impossible: Full story at The Week. Photo: CC by ::paqman:: All the top stories from The Week. Permalink | Leave a comment  »

• Romance survey [infographic]

  9 Feb 2012 | 12:02 pm

  Via Hotels.com. Infographics to put you in the mood. Permalink | Leave a comment  »

• Do aliens go invisible by 'going green'?

  9 Feb 2012 | 11:24 am

  As we discover more and more planets around other stars, the Fermi Paradox is becoming, well, more paradoxical. The Fermi Paradox simply asks the question "where are they?" Our Milky Way galaxy is so big and so old -- and we are estimated to be accompanied by at least 100 billion planets -- that aliens should have visited us by now. Instead, when we peruse the heavens, we are faced with the Great Silence, which is one of the biggest challenges to modern astronomy. Full story at Discovery News. More news from Discovery Communications. Photo credit: Fotolia Permalink | Leave a…

• Mysterious sounds reported around the world

  9 Feb 2012 | 11:23 am

  People around the world have reported hearing strange sounds from the skies over the past month. Sometimes they describe it as a hum or low rumble; other times it’s a whine, thump, or even a melody. Often the sounds have been recorded and posted online, fueling rumors and conspiracy theories. One blogger wrote, "either the world is ending, aliens are landing or everyone is getting hoaxed. Or, possibly, there’s an actual scientific explanation for the mass amount of YouTube videos capturing bizarre sounds that are being heard around the globe. Are we witnessing the beginning of a…

• 

  UFC News

• John Albert - More Than Just A "TUF" Guy

  By Jordan Newmark

  8 Feb 2012 | 10:00 pm

  If after watching the 14th season of The Ultimate Fighter the name John “Prince” Albert was still foreign to you, then you’re probably not alone. Over the course of 10 episodes, the young bantamweight shared little screen time in either Octagon action or house drama. But Albert’s name jumped to the tip of the fight community’s collective tongue when he bested fellow housemate Dustin Pague at the TUF finale. On December 3rd at The Palms Casino Resort, it took a mere 69 seconds for Albert to go from relative obscurity to future 135er royalty.“I appreciate that fight with Dustin so…

• From Nightmare to Dream - The Quotable Diego Sanchez

  Compiled by Thomas Gerbasi

  7 Feb 2012 | 10:00 pm

  If there’s one thing practically every mixed martial arts writer can say, it’s that there’s no such thing as a bad Diego Sanchez interview. When The Ultimate Fighter season one winner and former world title challenger gets rolling (and it usually doesn’t take much), it’s best to just set up your recorder and let him roll, because you’re about to get enough quotes to last you for a week’s full of stories. With his UFC on FUEL main event against Jake Ellenberger approaching a week from today, here’s a sampling of memorable musings from “The Dream.”THE GOALS HAVE NEVER…

• UFC 143 Musings - Part II

  By Michael DiSanto

  6 Feb 2012 | 10:00 pm

  NELSON IS AS TOUGH AS THEY COMERoy Nelson is one bad dude. Not bad in the behavioral sense. Bad in terms of toughness. Anyone watching his last four fights knows that this guy is near the top of the food chain in terms of durability, heart and grit. He also has better than average power for a heavyweight. The problem, of course, is that Nelson isn’t a true heavyweight. Not by a mile. The six-foot mixed martial artist has the frame of a middleweight. Despite the fact that he has shed 20 pounds over his last two bouts, he still carries no less than 30 pounds of excess body fat. And I’m…

• UFC Ultimate Insider Premieres on FUEL TV

  6 Feb 2012 | 10:00 pm

  LOS ANGELES, CA – FUEL TV premieres “UFC Ultimate Insider” tonight at 10:30 PM ET/7:30 PM PT. Go beyond the Octagon, as “UFC Ultimate Insider” delivers an all-access pass with unparalleled coverage of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, making it the hardest-hitting sports magazine show ever, bringing you unprecedented access, including in-depth profiles of the UFC’s biggest stars, tell-all features, and compelling backstage footage.Each week, host Jon Anik presents exclusive cinematic coverage of the biggest names and stories in the world’s fastest growing sport. “UFC…

• Jonathan Brookins Returns to the Right Track

  6 Feb 2012 | 10:00 pm

  "Contestants of "The Ultimate Fighter" almost always emerge as vastly improved versions of themselves on the reality-show's finale."They're no longer in the pressure cooker of the house, time has passed, and they've picked up useful skills."'TUF 12' winner Jonathan Brookins largely did what he was good at – taking backs and locking in chokes – during the show and won the competition. But after a nine-month layoff, he appeared not to have improved, but gone downhill in a bout with Erik Koch at UFC Fight Night 25."read full article

• 

  Recent News on Sherdog.com

• Diaz Tests Positive for Marijuana After UFC 143 Loss to Condit

  9 Feb 2012 | 3:30 pm

  The Nevada State Athletic Commission Tuesday announced that Nick Diaz has tested positive for marijuana metabolites following his UFC 143 decision loss to Carlos Condit.

• UFC Vet Santiago Meets Countryman Pecanha in Titan FC 21 Headliner

  9 Feb 2012 | 3:23 pm

  Jorge Santiago will return to the cage for the first time since exiting the UFC when the Brazilian locks horns with countryman Leonardo Pecanha in the headlining attraction of Titan Fighting Championship 21.

• Gracie, ‘Pequeno’ Nogueira Return to Action March 24 in Brazil

  9 Feb 2012 | 12:35 pm

  Two of Brazil’s fighting sons are set to compete on home soil for the first time next month.

• NSAC Head Kizer: At Least One UFC 143 Drug Test Positive

  9 Feb 2012 | 11:53 am

  The Nevada State Athletic Commission announced Thursday that at least one UFC 143 drug screen has come back positive.

• ‘Shogun’ Rua Talks Changes in Management, Training Camp

  9 Feb 2012 | 7:58 am

  Mauricio “Shogun” Rua surprised many Tuesday when he announced on Twitter that he will no longer work with Eduardo Alonso, the manager who has overseen his career for nearly five years.

• 

  MMAWeekly.com

• With Diaz’s Positive Test, Carlos Condit Moving On

  Damon Martin

  9 Feb 2012 | 3:34 pm

  Carlos Condit's manager Malki Kawa reacts to the news about Nick Diaz's positive drug test, and comments on what's next for the UFC interim welterweight champion

• Nick Diaz Tests Positive Following UFC 143

  Damon Martin

  9 Feb 2012 | 2:19 pm

  Nick Diaz has tested positive for marijuana following his UFC 143 loss to Carlos Condit, and will be subject to a suspension and fine from the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

• Former TUF Finalist Kris McCray Signs with Bellator

  Damon Martin

  9 Feb 2012 | 1:16 pm

  Former 'Ultimate Fighter' finalist Kris 'Savage' McCray has signed a multi-fight deal to compete in Bellator Fighting Championships.

• MMAWeekly Radio Thur: Dave Herman, Sean ‘Shorty Rock’ Santella and Debate in the Sixth Rd

  MMAWeekly.com Staff

  9 Feb 2012 | 12:41 pm

  UFC on Fuel's Dave Herman and flyweight prospect Sean 'Shorty Rock' Santella join MMAWeekly Radio on Thursday along with plenty of debate in the Sixth Round.

• Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson – History in the Making Part 3

  MMAWeekly.com Staff

  9 Feb 2012 | 12:30 pm

  Stephen 'Wonderboy' Thompson presents the final installment of his video blog exclusively for MMAWeekly.com with behind the scenes access for his UFC 143 debut fight and win.

• 

  MMAjunkie.com Articles

• Nick Diaz tests positive for marijuana metabolites, faces discipline following UFC 143

  9 Feb 2012 | 2:15 pm

  Carlos Condit and Nick Diaz may ultimately fight again someday, but it doesn't look like it will be anytime soon. Former Strikeforce champion Diaz tested positive for marijuana metabolites following his controversial five-round clash with former WEC titleholder Condit at this past weekend's UFC 143 event. That's according to Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director Keith Kizer, who today emailed the event's drug-testing results to MMAjunkie.com.

• Michael Bisping splits from longtime team at Wolfslair

  9 Feb 2012 | 1:20 pm

  Top-ranked middleweight Michael Bisping is no longer a member of Wolfslair MMA Academy. A source close to the camp today confirmed the news to MMAjunkie.com but declined to go into specifics about the change. Bisping most recently took on Chael Sonnen at UFC on FOX 2 and suffered a unanimous decision loss, which scratched a middleweight title shot against champ Anderson Silva.

• Fight Path: Fighting businessman Luke Harris parlayed judo passion into MMA careers

  9 Feb 2012 | 12:00 pm

  Six years ago, Luke Harris traveled to Brazil for an international judo tournament. He had participated in the sport since he was 8 years old, and it had been his passion, although he had started paying more attention to mixed martial arts. Before he left, Harris tried to augment his judo by dabbling in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, specifically training in the areas where judo was weak. Harris was instantly hooked, and an MMA career came shortly after. Now, as the founder of Hayabusa Fightwear, he's balancing two roles in the sport.

• 'At least one positive' drug test arising from UFC 143

  9 Feb 2012 | 10:35 am

  The Nevada State Athletic Commission said that at least one competitor from UFC 143 has tested positive for a banned substance. In an email sent today to MMAjunkie.com, NSAC Executive Director Keith Kizer did not specify whether the positive test was for drugs of abuse or performance-enhancing drugs but said a release was forthcoming today. "I am still waiting for all the steroid and drug test results to come back," Kizer stated.

• Bellator lightweight champ Michael Chandler wants fight in early summer

  9 Feb 2012 | 9:30 am

  When he last appeared, Michael Chandler delivered a performance that not only put him on several "Fight of the Year" lists but also won him the Bellator lightweight championship. Now healed from the undoubtedly grueling fight, the champ is ready to get back. "Hopefully, late April or early May is what I would really like, and I'm definitely young and hungry and healthy," Chandler told MMAjunkie.com Radio.

• 

  MMAmania.com

• Nick Diaz's drug test for UFC 143 returns positive for marijuana

  Geno Mrosko

  9 Feb 2012 | 2:21 pm

  Where there's smoke, there's fire -- and there's also Nick Diaz, toking up. Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) Executive Director Keith Kizer today confirmed that Diaz failed his UFC 143 drug test for "marijuana metabolites" following the "Diaz vs. Condit" pay-per-view (PPV) event last Saturday night (Feb. 4, 2012) in Las Vegas. Also screened for performance enhancing drugs, as well as drugs of abuse, were Carlos Condit, Fabricio Werdum, Josh Koscheck, Renan Barao, Ed Herman, Dustin Poirier, Max Holloway, Matt Riddle, Henry Martinez, Edwin Figueroa, Alex Caceres, Matt Brown, Chris Cope,…

• Dan Henderson won't wait for title shot, wants to fight in April or May

  Geno Mrosko

  9 Feb 2012 | 12:45 pm

  Now that Rashad Evans has successfully staked his claim as the number one contender to Jon Jones light heavyweight championship, with their date booked for UFC 145 on April 21 in Atlanta, that leaves former Strikeforce 205-pound champion Dan Henderson in the lurch. "Hendo's" plan all along was to wait for the outcome of the Evans vs. Phil Davis bout at UFC on Fox 2 on Jan. 28 to see if "Suga" would emerge victorious and if so, would he have no injuries. Check and check. Now that that's settled, old "Hollywood" can get back to the business of tossing that "H-Bomb" around. But he needs a target…

• UFC 143 drug test results return with one positive for 'Diaz vs Condit' event

  Geno Mrosko

  9 Feb 2012 | 11:12 am

  Uh-oh. With all the controversy surrounding the UFC 143: "Diaz vs. Condit" event, and most of it swirling around the Nick Diaz vs. Carlos Condit headlining bout, this just puts the cherry on top. Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) Executive Director Keith Kizer sent out an e-mail today confirming that one fighter who competed on the card returned a positive result on their drug test: Thank you for the many email and phone calls. I am still waiting for all the steroid and drug test results to come back. We did have at least one positive test. I will send out an email later today on that…

• Ultimate Submissions: The underrated grappling of Stefan Struve

  Andrew Keller

  9 Feb 2012 | 10:52 am

  Alliteration aside, Stefan Struve's slick submission skills often get overlooked. Of his 22 career wins, 15 have come by way of tap, nap or snap, and you can safely bet he will looking to add one more name to his long list of victims when he faces fellow heavyweight Dave Herman at UFC on Fuel TV next Wednesday night (Feb. 15, 2012) in Omaha. Rightfully nicknamed "Skyscraper," the 6'11" Struve makes excellent use of his very long limbs, but not in the way you would normally expect. Usually, someone so tall would be well advised to use their exceptionally long reach to keep his opponent at bay…

• UFC Quick Quote: Ed Soares on the 'strange' departure of Jose Aldo

  Jesse Holland

  9 Feb 2012 | 10:07 am

  "It wasn't really much of anything. Other than his coach, who used to be his manager, felt like he didn't need our services. It pretty much was one of those things. It was really strange the way it all went down. His coach sent us an e-mail and that was it." Ed Soares, manager to some of mixed martial arts' top Brazilian fighters, including Anderson Silva, Lyoto Machida and the Nogueira brothers, comments to MMA Fighting on the "strange" nature in which Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo severed their business ties. "Junior" had his coach send him an Email,…

• 

  MMA Videos, UFC Videos | MMA moz

• Knockout of the week: Frankie Edgar takes out Gray Maynard

  Maggie Hendricks

  9 Feb 2012 | 2:01 pm

  Frankie Edgar will head to Japan soon to defend  his UFC lightweight belt against former WEC champ Ben Henderson at UFC 144. How about a little reminder of what Edgar did in his last bout?His fourth-round knockout of Gray Maynard ended any question about who was the better fighter. With Henderson, he'll have to face a fight who has never been knocked out, and was submitted once in 2007. Who will take the belt home from Japan? Tell us in the comments or on Facebook.

• Stephen Thompson interview: ‘Wonderboy’ could shake up welterweight division

  Steve Cofield

  9 Feb 2012 | 9:08 am

  The welterweight division has been a rough place for pure strikers, but Stephen Thompson may have a chance to change that.With a decorated karate background, "Wonderboy" is looking to alter the way MMA fans, fighters and trainer look at that discipline.Lyoto Machida is one of the only high level MMA star to still use karate as his main discipline. No one is saying Thompson is near Machida, but he has a little "Dragon" in him.In a blog with Fightline, Thompson said the karate stance can be a big advantage in a world filled with takedown artists."The average MMA guys have a boxer's stance which…

• Chael Sonnen and Anderson Silva trade advice

  Maggie Hendricks

  9 Feb 2012 | 7:58 am

  With Chael Sonnen expected to take on Anderson Silva for the UFC middleweight belt in June, you would think they wouldn't want to help each other out. Even the fighters who are friends before their bout usually cut off communication in the months leading up to their fight. But Silva and Sonnen are so kind that they actually are trading advice.In an interview with Fuel TV, Silva gave Sonnen training tips."Chael talks too much," Silva said. "Chael needs to train. No more talk, train. Going to Brazil? Big problem."See? So helpful of Silva to not only help Sonnen with his training, but to do it…

• Bellator 64 Headlined by Askren vs. Lima Championship Bout

  Shawn Smith

  9 Feb 2012 | 7:29 am

  After a tear through the Bellator welterweight tournament that included a knockout of UFC veteran Ben Saunders in the final, Douglas Lima will get his championship opportunity in the country where he made his name. April 6 in Windsor, Ont. Lima will get his first opportunity at a major world title when he takes on [...]

• UFC 143 initial PPV buy rates and other ratings

  Jason Cruz

  8 Feb 2012 | 9:00 pm

  Dave Metzler of the Wrestling Observer reported the initial PPV buy rate for UFC 143 were approximately 400,000 buys. The numbers seem to be a pleasant surprise for the overall viewership for UFC 143 which includes improved prelim ratings on FX.MMA Junkie reported that the UFC 143 prelims on FX earned 1.4 million viewers. While the prelim numbers still do not compare with Spike TV’s version of the prelims, its a significant improvement from 142 and the FX version is a 2 hour show.Also, the UFC 143 weigh-ins on Fuel TV scored 38,000 viewers for the fighters just getting on the scale.As for…

• 

  MMATorch.com

• Alert for Android MMATorch Users: Please read as you may need to get new version of MMATorch

  20 Jan 2013 | 5:10 pm

  If you are using an Android Device, and if you are using our "classic" original version of MMATorch, we need you to migrate to our newer version as the "classic" version will be discontinued soon. Please click on the link below to download our latest version. https://market.android.com/details?id=com.mmatorch2.android If you phone tells you you've already downloaded this version, then you already have it and are using it. If it gives you the option to download it, you are likely using the older version that will soon stop being supported and updated. This newer version of MMATorch is faster,…

• Dan Henderson wants to fight in April or May, not wait for UFC 145's Jon Jones vs. Rashad Evans winner

  9 Feb 2012 | 6:35 pm

  By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief Rashad Evans defeated Phil Davis last month at UFC on Fox 2 to secure his fight with Jon Jones this April for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. That win moved him ahead of the other potential challenger in Dan Henderson, and UFC President Dana White said last week that Henderson was going to wait for the winner of that bout instead of taking a fight in between. However, Henderson now says that's not the case, and he is hoping to get a fight lined up in the spring. "That was never what I said or anything,” Henderson said in an interview with…

• UFC 143 CONTESTS: Confidence Pick and Betting Game Results

  9 Feb 2012 | 5:35 pm

  By Rich Hansen, MMA Torch Columnist: Well, that didn’t last long. I come up with a great idea, dangle a prize in front of you people, but make it darn near impossible to obtain so that I can dangle it for several months in a row if not longer. I said, Just submit a perfect betting and a perfect picks entry, and you win a copy of Total MMA. Brilliant. After all in the entire time I’ve administered these stooped little games, only three people entered a ‘perfect perfect.’ And one of those people was me. So I figured I could use that little promotion for several months. Or, maybe it…

• UFC 143: Nick Diaz tests positive for marijuana out of Carlos Condit fight, faces disciplinary action from NSAC

  9 Feb 2012 | 4:25 pm

  By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief For the second time in his MMA career, Nick Diaz has tested positive for marijuana out of a fight in the state of Nevada. Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director Keith Kizer revealed on Thursday that Diaz failed his drug test for the fight against Carlos Condit last weekend at UFC 143, testing positive for marijuana metabolites. A complaint for disciplinary action has been filed against Diaz, and his ultimate punishment will be handed out in the coming weeks. There had been talk this week that a Condit-Diaz rematch would happen, but on…

• NSAC executive director reveals one fighter failed drug test at UFC 143; name to be released this afternoon

  9 Feb 2012 | 1:45 pm

  By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief In following up with previous rumors and reports on the Nick Diaz situation, Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director Keith Kizer confirmed to The MMA Show with Mauro Ranallo that there was one positive drug test out of UFC 143. Kizer wouldn't reveal who the positive test was from, but stated a release from the NSAC would be sent out this afternoon. @FrontRowBrian on Twitter on Wednesday finally did comment on what he was informed regarding the issue that was rendering Diaz "unable to compete," and it had to do with the NSAC and a failed…

• 

  MMAFrenzy.com

• Nick Diaz UFC 143 Drug Test Positive for Marijuana

  Kris Karkoski

  9 Feb 2012 | 2:39 pm

  Nick Diaz has tested positive for marijuana following his loss to Carlos Condit in the main event of UFC 143 this past Saturday in Las Vegas, the Nevada State Athletic Commission announced on Thursday. The positive test is seemingly why plans were scrapped for an immediate rematch between Diaz and Condit, who edged Diaz by unanimous decision to take home the interim UFC welterweight title and earn a shot at champion Georges St-Pierre. UFC President Dana White said Tuesday night that Condit had agreed to the rematch Diaz’s camp wanted, but by Wednesday the rematch was off. According to…

• UFC 143 Drug Tests: NSAC Confirms “At Least One” Positive Test

  Bryan Robison

  9 Feb 2012 | 11:06 am

  The Nevada State Athletic Commission has confirmed that someone from this past Saturday’s UFC 143 event in Las Vegas has tested positive for a banned substance, but will not confirm who it was or what drug they tested positive for until later today. “Thank you for the many email and phone calls. I am still waiting for all the steroid and drug test results to come back. We did have at least one positive test. I will send out an email later today on that matter,” NSAC Executive Director Keith Kizer said in an email. The UFC 143 main event saw Carlos Condit narrowly outpoint…

• UFC Planning Event in Hawaii, Wanted BJ Penn to Headline

  Kris Karkoski

  9 Feb 2012 | 10:24 am

  The UFC is still planning to visit Hawaii in the near future, but its hopes to have former champion BJ Penn headline a stadium event were dashed when the Hawaiian decided to take time off after being dominated by Nick Diaz at UFC 137 in October. “We’re still working on that, but we want to do it. I was kind of hoping to go to Hawaii again and do a B.J. (Penn) fight at the Aloha Bowl, but B.J. wants to take some time off. He’s going to relax for a while,” White recently told MMA Weekly. “We’re coming regardless. But that was the fight I really wanted to do there.”…

• Diego Sanchez’s Life Has Gone From a “Nightmare” to a “Dream”

  Bryan Robison

  9 Feb 2012 | 7:00 am

  Often when talking with fighters, whether it be before or after a fight, they are usually brief with their words and do not stray from the topic at hand. That is not the case with Diego Sanchez. Sanchez, the longtime UFC veteran since winning The Ultimate Fighter in 2005, returns to the Octagon next Wednesday, taking on Jake Ellenberger at UFC on Fuel TV 1. While Sanchez is deeply focused on the upcoming match, acknowledging how tough of a challenge Ellenberger is, it has been an even tougher challenge dealing with personal events outside of the cage. Those events have shaped Sanchez’s life…

• Bellator Champ Ben Askren Faces Douglas Lima at Bellator 64 on April 6

  Kris Karkoski

  9 Feb 2012 | 6:29 am

  After completing the cards for Bellator 60 through Bellator 63 in March, Bellator has booked welterweight champion Ben Askren to defend his title against season five tournament winner Douglas Lima in the main event of Bellator 64 on April 6 at Caesars, Windsor in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Askren, a two-time NCAA champion wrestler, remained unbeaten as he defended his title over Jay Hieron by split decision in October, while Lima (21-4) beat Steve Carl, Chris Lozano, and Ben Sauders to win the season five tournament. Bellator 64 will also host the semifinals of the season six featherweight…

• 

  MMAPlayground.com Web Headlines

• Score Fighting Series Officially Adds Top Bantamweight Fight

  9 Feb 2012 | 6:14 pm

  A showdown between two of Canada’s top bantamweights (135 pounds) – undefeated Stoney Creek sensation Josh Hill (7-0) and rising star Eric Wilson (5-1) from Saskatoon – has been added to The Score Fighting Series (SFS) event at the Hamilton Place Theatre on Friday, March 16th. Additionally, a lightweight (155 pounds) matchup between unbeaten Jason Meisel (2-0) of Caledonia and Mike Sledzion (3-2) of Barrie; a featherweight (145 pounds) battle between Lyndon Whitlock (5-2) of Hamilton and Cory Houston (4-1) of Winnipeg; and a heavyweight (max 265 pounds) clash between John Macphearson…

• BAMMA 9: Marshman vs. Watson set for March 24th

  9 Feb 2012 | 6:12 pm

  (Feb. 9, 2012) BAMMA, Europe’s leading Mixed Martial Arts promotion, is excited to announce that BAMMA-Lonsdale’s British Middleweight Champion, Jack Marshman, is set to challenge Tom ‘Kong’ Watson for the BAMMA World Middleweight belt at BAMMA 9. BAMMA 9 takes place on Saturday 24th March at Birmingham’s National Indoor Arena. BAMMA’s Middleweight champs have made waves as two of the promotion’s most iconic faces. Etched into UK mainstream memory as the man who beat Alex Reid at BAMMA 4, World Middleweight Champ Tom Watson is known by fight fans for his catalogue of tough…

• Nick Diaz tests positive for marijuana metabolites, faces discipline following UFC 143

  9 Feb 2012 | 5:28 pm

  Carlos Condit and Nick Diaz may ultimately fight again someday, but it doesn't look like it will be anytime soon. Former Strikeforce champion Diaz tested positive for marijuana metabolites following his controversial five-round clash with former WEC titleholder Condit at this past weekend's UFC 143 event. That's according to Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director Keith Kizer, who today emailed the event's drug-testing results to MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). Diaz was one of 18 fighters on the card tested for performance-enhancing drugs and drugs of abuse. The remaining tests…

• Nick Diaz Test Positive For Marijuana

  9 Feb 2012 | 5:27 pm

  one minute ago: @arielhelwani Ariel Helwani NSAC announces Diaz tested positive for "marijuana metabolites, add that "a complaint for disciplinary action against Diaz has been filed." EDIT: The Nevada Athletic Commission has confirmed that Nick Diaz tested positive for marijuana at UFC 143 and will face disciplinary action, almost certainly canceling his planned rematch with Carlos Condit and throwing his future into question. "Mr. Diaz tested positive for marijuana metabolites. A complaint for disciplinary action against Mr. Diaz has been filed," Nevada Athletic Commission Executive Director…

• Former TUF Finalist Kris McCray Signs with Bellator

  9 Feb 2012 | 5:26 pm

  Former ‘Ultimate Fighter’ finalist Kris ‘Savage’ McCray has signed a multi-fight deal to compete in Bellator Fighting Championships. Sources close to the fighter confirmed the deal to MMAWeekly.com on Thursday. Since his exit from the UFC, McCray has racked up two wins in a row on the regional fighting circuit and will not hope to continue that success as he competes for Bellator starting later this year.

• 

  Cagepotato

• Diaz’s UFC 143 Drug Test Positive for Marijuana; Fighter Now Faces NSAC Disciplinary Action

  Mike Russell

  9 Feb 2012 | 3:06 pm

  By Mike Russell We know the suspense has been killing you, so we’re just going to break it to you. Apparently Nick Diaz partook in the stick icky a little too close to his UFC 143 welterweight interim title bout with Carlos Condit as the Nevada State Athletic Commission has announced this afternoon that the Stockton native’s post-fight urinalysis came back positive for marijuana metabolites. According to NSAC executive director Keith Kizer, 18 of the 22 fighters who competed on Saturday night’s card were tested and only Diaz yielded a positive result. Carlos Condit, Fabricio…

• Video Roundup: Fedor at the Waterpark, The Next Anderson Silva, and More

  J. Jones

  9 Feb 2012 | 2:20 pm

  You read that correctly. Russia…has water parks. Not only do they get to have Sambo, awesome sweaters, and The Dude’s favorite beverage, but now they have waterparks as well. YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE THE LAND OF SNOW AND SORROW GOD DAMN IT. We have no clue where this video came from, or what the true purpose of it is, but we’d be lying if we said that Piterland doesn’t look like the bees knees, and apparently former PRIDE Heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko and his daughter Masha agree. We are still waiting to hear who “The Last Emperor’s” next…

• Caption Contest: Chuck Likes Meat, Guida the Mime and Forrest’s Groupie Downgrade

  Mike Russell

  9 Feb 2012 | 2:09 pm

  (Hover-hands… making UFC fighters not seem like germophobes since 1993.) We realized we haven’t had a good old fashioned caption contest in a while, so to make it up to you guys we figured we’d do three for the price of one. That way you can pick your favorite photo to mercilessly carve, rather than having us disappoint you by choosing one that dries out your creative juices. And you say that we never listen. You know the drill. Come up with your best captions for these three Tracy Lee photos from last weekend’s “It Ain’t Chemo” fundraiser. Best one…

• Quote(s) of the Day: Dana White’s ‘State of the Union’ on MMA Judging and the UFC Coming to Hawaii

  J. Jones

  9 Feb 2012 | 12:35 pm

  (If Dana were to give an actual State of the Union, we imagine it would sound a little something like this.) Now, I know I am going to take a lot of flack for writing this, but it’s good to see that UFC President Dana White is at least addressing our concerns when it comes to the clusterfuck that is MMA judging and refereeing. No matter what, or should I say, whose, side you took in the whole Diaz/Condit debacle, you probably agree that there need to be some serious changes made when it comes to choosing the winner of a given fight. And don’t even get us started on the…

• Let the Breathless Speculation Begin: Keith Kizer Says *Somebody* Pissed Dirty at UFC 143

  Mike Russell

  9 Feb 2012 | 10:40 am

  (Maybe this is why the Condit fight ain’t happening?) According to Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director Keith Kizer, an unnamed fighter that competed on Saturday night’s UFC 143 card in Las Vegas had a drug test come back positive for an unspecified substance. Here’s Kizer’s quote from an email we received today: “Thank you for the many email and phone calls.  I am still waiting for all the steroid and drug test results to come back.  We did have at least one positive test.  I will send out an email later today on that matter.” Although…

• 

  MMA News, Results, UFC blog, Ultimate Fighter, Rumors, Video and Opinion

• UFC 143: Nick Diez Gets Popped For Weed By The NSAC, Again

  CagE

  9 Feb 2012 | 2:50 pm

  The rumors are true, Nick Diez tested positive for Marijuana metabolites following his UFC 143 loss to Carlos Condit. Nevada State Athletic Commissioner Keith Kizer hinted earlier today that one fighters test came back positive before sending a letter to media later in the day confirming the news. A disciplinary hearing shall be held to [...]

• Someone Did It Dirty At UFC 143 [NSAC]

  CagE

  9 Feb 2012 | 11:27 am

  The Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) executive director Keith Kizer told The MMA Show that an unnamed fighter that competed on Saturday night’s UFC 143 card in Las Vegas has come back dirty. “Thank you for the many email and phone calls. I am still waiting for all the steroid and drug test results to [...]

• Video: Frankie Edgar Gets Punked [FAIL]

  CagE

  9 Feb 2012 | 11:04 am

  Blindsided: UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar was having any of it when training partner Akira Corassani set up this little prank. The answers comes out after a hard training session to find his sweet BMW M5 about to be towed away by repo men.

• Alistair Overeem Not Very Fast At Getting The Ladies Naked (Video)

  CagE

  9 Feb 2012 | 9:37 am

  Alistair Overeem might be a stud inside the cage, but when it comes to removing the ladies bras’, he is as slow as a turtle. On a Dutch variety show, the UFC fighter must remove the bras’ on a line of half-naked women while holding a beer in the other. After failing miserably, the Dutch [...]

• Referees and Judges Are Driving Dana White Crazy

  CagE

  9 Feb 2012 | 9:21 am

  Outspoken UFC President Dana White has never had a problem sticking it to athletic commissions. And rightfully so, there are some piss poor judges in the sport that are uneducated and/or blind calling fighter careers. “In the evolution of this sport right now, one of the big problems we’re having right now is judging and [...]

• 

  WordPress.com News

• New Themes: Splendio and Suburbia

  Michelle Langston

  7 Feb 2012 | 10:00 am

  Happy Tuesday! We’ve got two unique free themes for you today, and they are quite a study in contrasts. Our first theme, Splendio, dazzles with an unconventional yet stylish design from Design Disease that pops out of the box — literally. How you use this theme is limited only by your imagination! It comes loaded with features: six widget areas (one in the right sidebar and up to five in the footer), featured header images, and a custom background. In addition, there’s a showcase page template (pictured in the screenshot above) that includes a featured slider for sticky posts,…

• Post Videos from Your iPhone or iPad

  Gary

  3 Feb 2012 | 3:01 am

  Would you like to post videos to your blog while you’re on the go? Are you interested in a photography theme that’s also video-friendly? Well, look no further, because we have some news for you. The VideoPress upgrade, which allows you to upload and embed your own videos on your blog, now comfortably handles videos from iPhones and iPads. You can shoot vertically or horizontally, and we’ll take care of rotating it for you so that your video looks great when it’s published on your site. If you don’t already have VideoPress on your WordPress.com account, head on…

• New Themes: Currents and Debut

  Takashi Irie

  2 Feb 2012 | 12:00 pm

  Today, I’m excited to introduce the latest additions to our collection of premium themes. Designed by Andy Rutledge, Currents, is a responsive, minimal yet attractive premium theme from WooThemes. Currents is perfect for news driven sites. The phrase, “less is more” couldn’t be more true. This clean and minimal design maximises your reader’s focus on the content. Having said that, the theme is packed with many customization options — a wide featured post slider, custom news areas, six alternative color styles, and more. Together, all of these features help…

• Import from Tumblr in 3 Easy Steps

  Peter Westwood

  2 Feb 2012 | 4:06 am

  We’ve recently noticed that a fair number of you have been bringing your tumblelogs over from Tumblr to WordPress.com using one of the variety of Tumblr to WXR conversion tools which exist on the web. We thought you would appreciate an easier way to import your content, so we bring you 3 easy steps to import your content. Authenticate with Tumblr To bring your tumblelog’s content to WordPress.com, head to Tools → Import in your WordPress.com dashboard and look for the Tumblr importer. If you don’t already have an account here on WordPress.com then head over and sign up…

• Chrome Users: Try the WordPress.com Extension

  Christopher Finke

  27 Jan 2012 | 11:54 am

  Want to receive WordPress.com notifications instantly, even when you’re not on WordPress.com? Add the new WordPress.com extension for Chrome and as soon as you get a new follower or a new like on one of your posts, a notification will appear in your browser: Simply click the icon to view your latest WordPress.com notifications: Start following new blogs without visiting WordPress.com The Chrome extension also makes it easy to follow sites from your WordPress.com account by displaying a Follow button whenever you’re browsing a site that has an RSS feed. Clicking the Follow button…

• 

  Twitter / WordPress

• WordPress: Happy birthday, @otto42. Thanks for all you do for the WordPress community!

  8 Feb 2012 | 9:06 am

  WordPress: Happy birthday, @otto42. Thanks for all you do for the WordPress community!

• WordPress: Alles Gute zum Geburtstag, @ocean90! Thans for your contributions to WordPress this year -- may 2012 be filled with even more. Team Gandalf!

  4 Feb 2012 | 3:19 am

  WordPress: Alles Gute zum Geburtstag, @ocean90! Thans for your contributions to WordPress this year -- may 2012 be filled with even more. Team Gandalf!

• WordPress: @miamiolivia If you're asking about servers, do you mean @wordpressdotcom? Different entity.

  30 Jan 2012 | 10:44 am

  WordPress: @miamiolivia If you're asking about servers, do you mean @wordpressdotcom? Different entity.

• WordPress: Save the date: this year's WPBBQ at SXSW will be on Monday, March 12 at the Pure Volume House 6-9pm. More details and RSVP page to come.

  30 Jan 2012 | 10:14 am

  WordPress: Save the date: this year's WPBBQ at SXSW will be on Monday, March 12 at the Pure Volume House 6-9pm. More details and RSVP page to come.

• WordPress: @rmccue @Skyzyx It's definitely not perfect, true. But the overall community benefits are worth it. That said, we inherited it, too. :)

  30 Jan 2012 | 9:57 am

  WordPress: @rmccue @Skyzyx It's definitely not perfect, true. But the overall community benefits are worth it. That said, we inherited it, too. :)

• 

  Free WP Themes

• New theme: darkera

  4 Feb 2012 | 9:15 pm

  Added darkera, a new fixed WordPress theme.

• New theme: embodied

  30 Jan 2012 | 5:14 pm

  Added embodied, a new fixed WordPress theme.

• New theme: gentlebreeze

  25 Jan 2012 | 9:49 pm

  Added gentlebreeze, a new fixed WordPress theme.

• New theme: vividorange

  15 Jan 2012 | 7:26 pm

  Added vividorange, a new fixed WordPress theme.

• New theme: elegantblue

  8 Jan 2012 | 11:38 pm

  Added elegantblue, a new fixed WordPress theme.

• 

  BBC Sport | Football | Premier League | UK Edition

• Everton sign Jelavic from Rangers

  1 Feb 2012 | 7:20 am

  Everton sign Croatian international striker Nikica Jelavic from Rangers.

• Swansea 1-1 Chelsea

  1 Feb 2012 | 2:56 am

  Neil Taylor's late own-goal saves 10-man Chelsea as the Swansea City defender denied his side a famous win.

• Sunderland sign Kyrgiakos on loan

  1 Feb 2012 | 1:42 am

  Sunderland complete the signing of defender Sotirios Kyrgiakos on loan from VfL Wolfsburg until the end of the season.

• West Ham sign Man Utd's Morrison

  1 Feb 2012 | 1:40 am

  West Ham United sign Manchester United's Ravel Morrison for an undisclosed fee.

• Spurs agree to sell Pavlyuchenko

  1 Feb 2012 | 1:40 am

  Tottenham reach an agreement with Russian club Lokomotiv Moscow over the sale of striker Roman Pavlyuchenko.

• 

  BBC Sport - Football

• Kean expects Samba to play again

  9 Feb 2012 | 2:40 pm

  Blackburn manager Steve Kean expects wantaway captain Chris Samba to play for the club again although he is injured for Saturday's match with QPR.

• Redknapp's the man, says Shearer

  9 Feb 2012 | 1:40 pm

  'Move heaven and earth' to get him, Alan Shearer tells FA.

• Johnston seeks Gers buyout probe

  9 Feb 2012 | 1:17 pm

  Questions raised over the Old Firm giant's takeover.

• Cousin agent irked by Gers delay

  9 Feb 2012 | 12:28 pm

  Football agent Willie McKay tells BBC Scotland progress with the deal to bring Daniel Cousin to Rangers is "very slow".

• Robinson takes on NI Under-21 job

  9 Feb 2012 | 11:22 am

  Former Luton Town and Bournemouth midfielder Stephen Robinson is appointed manager of Northern Ireland's Under-21 team.

• 

  Arseblog ... an Arsenal blog

• Notes on no scandal

  blogger@arseblog.com (Arseblogger)

  9 Feb 2012 | 10:21 am

  Just another week in paradise. With the resignation of Fabio Capello from his post as England Manager / press voodoo doll, we’re being reminded of some of the less savoury sides of the game. The politicking, the whooping hyenas in the press, the reminder that the never ending cuntishness of John Terry seems to hurt everybody expect John Terry. I had made a note to discuss the cynical, tiresome negativity with which the game seems to be reported by the fourth estate nowadays in this week’s column as it was. But this issue has brought it from the margins of the notepad into bold type. Does…

• Consistency the key as busy period approaches

  blogger@arseblog.com (Arseblogger)

  9 Feb 2012 | 12:38 am

  There’s a story about David Bentley. I kid, I kid. I’m all out of Bentley stories. I could tell you my epic about Arturo Lupoli, his secret agent dog and his layabout sidekick, but it’s all a bit too similar to an episode of Scooby Doo and I need to give it some work. So, what’s going on in the world of Arsenal? Not a great deal. A win generally brings about a quiet week and this has been no different. With less to examine in great details that’s no surprise, nor a bad thing, but the Blackburn game was just the first step in what is going to be a very difficult…

• Why AOC won’t be new DB (I hope)

  blogger@arseblog.com (Arseblogger)

  7 Feb 2012 | 10:48 pm

  There’s a story about David Bentley. When he went to Norwich on loan from Arsenal they were in a training session and he, thinking he was some kind of comedic genius, belted the ball straight up into the air and said ‘ave it!’, like Peter Kay in that ad for John Smiths. Nobody thought it was funny, least of the all Norwich manager. There’s another story about David Bentley. When he scored his first Arsenal goal, a rather delicious but utterly irrelevant 90th minute chip against Middlesbrough in January 2004 people said he was the new DB. Seriously. In fact, it was…

• Wenger’s profit comments require more examination

  blogger@arseblog.com (Arseblogger)

  7 Feb 2012 | 12:30 am

  Morning all, some interesting quotes from Arsene Wenger appeared in a Belgian newspaper yesterday. For those that wish to cream yourselves on the bits about Eden Hazard, he had this to say: I like him a lot, and for several reasons. His creativity, his ability to unbalance the opposition, his vision and his consummate art of giving the final ball make him a player coveted by many. Hazard has the right profile to play at a top level club, and Arsenal is a top level club. To be fair to the manager, he was asked straight out by the reporter if Hazard was a player he liked. I’m not sure…

• Boss and RVP love the Ox, but AW has warning

  blogger@arseblog.com (Arseblogger)

  6 Feb 2012 | 12:19 am

  So, Monday morning, eh? After a win, eh? Tends to be quiet, eh? That last one wasn’t a question. It’s true. After a win there’s a lot less to talk about than after a defeat. This, my friends, is not a bad thing at all. Much as I love the chatting and the breaking up of the online discourse to tell people not to suggest such things about their opponent’s mother and the like, a day when there’s little to complain about (although I’m sure some will find a way), is no bad thing at all. Beating Blackburn on Saturday was just what was needed but was not a panacea…

• 

  Twitter Blog

• Twitter SMS: Now available for satellite providers

  twitter

  9 Feb 2012 | 1:02 pm

  Twitter began as an SMS service. Today, we continue to build out SMS capability because we recognize the importance and value of making our service available to every person on the planet. No matter what device people use — from the most advanced smartphone to the simplest feature phone — people around the world should be able to send and read Tweets. Of course, there may be times when people cannot access SMS. We’ve been working on some solutions when that occurs:Satellite operatorsWe’ve partnered with the two largest satellite operators, Iridium and Thuraya, to give their…

• Post-Bowl Twitter analysis

  twitter

  6 Feb 2012 | 1:06 pm

  The results are in: People love to share the experience of watching the Super Bowl with millions of other viewers from around the world. Whether it’s cheering for your team, commenting on the halftime show or discussing the ads, it seems you have a lot to say about this annual tradition—and you’re using Twitter to say it.Here’s a fun fact: in 2008, Twitter’s largest spike in Tweets per second (TPS) during the Super Bowl was just 27. Three years later, fans sent 4,064 TPS, which was the highest TPS for any sporting event at that time.This year, the TPS peak was 12,233 Tweets. The…

• Roar of the crowd: Super Bowl on Twitter

  twitter

  2 Feb 2012 | 11:34 am

  From @TimTebow leading the Denver Broncos to a shocking overtime win (and a new record for sports-related Tweets per second: 9,420) to San Diego Chargers receiver @ericweddle1’s sideline Tweets from the Pro Bowl—we watched all of the NFL post-season’s most memorable moments come alive on Twitter.And while the @Giants and @Patriots’ rematch and halftime show play out on TV, the national conversation is happening well beyond your den: it also happens on Twitter. Follow your favorite NFL players, coaches and commentators during the game, or just search for #SuperBowl to see how everyone…

• Tweets still must flow

  twitter

  26 Jan 2012 | 11:25 am

  See below for an update.One year ago, we posted "The Tweets Must Flow," in which we said,“The open exchange of information can have a positive global impact … almost every country in the world agrees that freedom of expression is a human right. Many countries also agree that freedom of expression carries with it responsibilities and has limits.”As we continue to grow internationally, we will enter countries that have different ideas about the contours of freedom of expression. Some differ so much from our ideas that we will not be able to exist there. Others are similar but, for…

• Hack Week @ Twitter

  twittereng

  25 Jan 2012 | 12:20 pm

  Hack Week is one of the ways we actively promote innovation through experimentation around the company. This week, a wide range of folks here are taking time away from their day-to-day work to collaborate and develop ideas that they are passionate about. Get comfortable with uncertainty; it leaves room for inspiration. #hackweek— benji shine (@bshine) January 24, 2012Employees across the company have formed nearly 100 teams to work on a variety of projects. Some are developing ways that could make Twitter even easier to use; others are testing out a new feature or tool that people might…

• 

  twitter - Google News

• Brazil Files Injunction Against Twitter - ABC News

  9 Feb 2012 | 3:54 pm

  Brazil Files Injunction Against TwitterABC NewsA request for an injunction to stop Twitter users from alerting drivers to police roadblocks, radar traps and drunk-driving checkpoints could make Brazil the first country to take Twitter up on its plan to censor content at governments' requests.and more »

• Workplace policies on tweeting - Atlanta Journal Constitution

  9 Feb 2012 | 3:20 pm

  New York Times (blog)Workplace policies on tweetingAtlanta Journal ConstitutionBy Nedra Rhone On Wednesday, CNN analyst Roland Martin was suspended for a Twitter post during the Super Bowl airing of David Beckham's H&M commercial. Martin's 109 character Tweet -- techno speak for succinct Twitter updates -- read “If a dude at your CNN Suspends Roland Martin for Remarks on TwitterNew York Times (blog)Monday Morning Quarterbacking With Roland MartinHuffington PostTwimmolation Alert: Roland Martin Gets His Ascot in Hot Water at CNNTIMEReuters -Washington Post (blog)all 729 news…

• Mets GM takes to Twitter - SI.com

  9 Feb 2012 | 2:40 pm

  Mets GM takes to TwitterSI.comThe team tweeted Thursday afternoon that Alderson had started a Twitter account @MetsGM. Alderson's first tweet: "Getting ready for Spring Training-Driving to FL but haven't left yet. Big fundraiser tonight for gas money.and more »

• Twitter now available in emergencies with satellite providers - ZDNet (blog)

  9 Feb 2012 | 2:20 pm

  Twitter now available in emergencies with satellite providersZDNet (blog)By Rachel King | February 9, 2012, 2:18pm PST Summary: Twitter is being pumped up to save the day with the help from a couple of satellite providers. Despite how big Twitter has grown over the last few years, there are still plenty of naysayers who and more »

• Tweetbot Releases iPad App, Updates iPhone Version - PC Magazine

  9 Feb 2012 | 2:05 pm

  Tweetbot Releases iPad App, Updates iPhone VersionPC MagazineBy Angela Moscaritolo Popular iPhone Twitter client Tweetbot this week released an iPad app and gave the iPhone version an update. The revamped iPhone app, which is free for current users, comes with a number of improvements to the timeline and direct and more »

• 

  Search Engine Watch

• adCenter Increases Ad Text Limit to 71; Adds Budget Overview, Mobile Targeting

  John Rampton

  9 Feb 2012 | 2:00 pm

  To simplify importing ads for AdWords to adCenter and align with industry standards, adCenter has changed the allotted character count in ad descriptions from 70 to 71. Here's a quick look at all the latest changes to Microsoft adCenter.

• A Good Social Media Marketing IDEA: Identify, Deliver, Empower, Amplify

  Miranda Miller

  9 Feb 2012 | 1:00 pm

  Josh Bernoff of Forrester Research and co-author of bestseller "Groundswell", shared tips for success in social and instigating positive change by causing trouble in a way that’s disruptive at Covario’s recent INFLECTIONPoint 2012 conference.

• Google Screenwise Pays People to Search the Web With Chrome

  John Rampton

  9 Feb 2012 | 12:00 pm

  A new Google project called Screenwise is offering web surfers the chance to get paid to surf the web and help "make Google better." You have to search the web using the Chrome browser and share your data with Google, according to the signup page.

• DOJ to Approve Google's Motorola Acquisition

  V3

  9 Feb 2012 | 11:00 am

  Google's proposed acquisition of Motorola Mobility could soon be approved by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ,) sources told the Wall Street Journal. The DOJ is reportedly poised to issue a formal approval on the deal as early as next week.

• New Signals to Search Engines Revisited

  Mike Grehan

  9 Feb 2012 | 8:30 am

  Search engines have evolved from primitive crawling technology and now have a very powerful combination of signals. This downloadable PDF “thought paper” shows how end user data, social, mobile, and personalization are shaping the future of search.

• 

  SEO Book.com

• Focus on The Business Model

  Aaron Wall

  4 Feb 2012 | 4:43 pm

  Google's Take on Search Plus Your World A few weeks ago Google announced the launch of Search Plus Your World, which deeply integrates social sites (especially Google+) into the Google search experience to make it more personalized. While Google claimed that the socialization was rather broad-based, the lack of inclusion of Facebook & Twitter along with the excessive promotion of Google+ raised eyebrows. While the launch was claimed to be social for personalizing results, the Google+ promotions appeared on queries where they were clearly not the most relevant result even when users are…

• Kill The Bugs!

  Aaron Wall

  3 Feb 2012 | 7:47 am

  You can learn a lot more about what Google really thinks by reading what their new hires say. They are not yet skilled in the arts of public relations & make major gaffs like this one: Instead of being able to SEO the entire Internet, businesses can now only affect the search results for a tiny percentage of users. That's a good thing because SEO can't scale, and SEO isn't good for users or the Internet at large. If you look at the Google experience from the standpoint of customers, it's pretty good. Users get relevant search results and ads. Advertisers get their content on top of…

• AHREFS Review: An In-Depth Look at a New Link Research Tool

  Eric Covino

  31 Jan 2012 | 5:28 pm

  Ahrefs is the newest entry into the link research tool space. They use their own bot and their own index (which they state is based on information from a trillion website connections). They claim their index is updated every 30 minutes and the fresh data is available to their users within 30 minutes of the actual index refresh. Ahrefs also has a ranking database of roughly 45 million keywords from 9 different countries (US GB FR RU DE ES IT AU BR). The tools within their membership are: Site Explorer SERPs Analysis Reports Labs/Tools Their pricing is very straight-forward and only increases…

• Goldilocks SEO

  Aaron Wall

  31 Jan 2012 | 11:56 am

  Sharing is caring! Please share :) Embed code is here. Categories: seo tips

• The Future of SEO Campaigns with Jon Henshaw & Taylor Pratt from Raven

  Eric Covino

  26 Jan 2012 | 10:50 am

  Here is the audio if you'd prefer to listen :) Play File (mp3 link) Eric: All right, this is Eric over here at SEO Book and today I'm fortunate enough to be joined by Taylor Pratt and Jon Henshaw from Raven SEO Tools, thanks for joining us today guys. Taylor Pratt: Yeah, thanks for having us. Jon Henshaw: Yeah, good to see ya! Eric: All right, so we just have some questions here that I think our readers will appreciate and some of our members have been interested to know about as well. So, without further ado I'll jump right in here. Obviously you guys are essentially the creators of an…

• 

  Matt Cutts: Gadgets, Google, and SEO

• It’s time to stop PROTECT IP

  Matt Cutts

  18 Jan 2012 | 4:47 am

  A couple months ago, I wrote this about SOPA: SOPA galvanized the tech community, from start-ups to venture capitalists to the largest web companies. SOPA was an unexpected shock and a wake-up call. Well, guess what? Now the internet is awake. And I don’t think it’s going back to sleep any time soon. We might need to rally again in the near future, but we can do that. The internet learns fast.Now it’s time to rally and get loud. It’s time to call your Senators. Heck, it’s time to ask your parents to call their Senators. If you think the internet is something different, something…

• Sharing a search story

  Matt Cutts

  11 Jan 2012 | 12:20 am

  I’ve been reading a lot of the coverage of the Search plus Your World launch and I wanted to share my story and then clarify something.I love to stay up until early in the morning playing Werewolf. In early December I went to a journalism conference called “News Foo Camp” in Phoenix and played a lot of Werewolf. When I got back, for some reason I searched for [werewolf] — maybe I was thinking about making a custom deck of werewolf cards. Because I was dogfood-testing Search plus Your World, this is what I saw:In the top row of pictures, you’ll see a bunch of people playing…

• Larry Lessig on the corrupting influence of money

  Matt Cutts

  13 Dec 2011 | 1:37 pm

  Larry Lessig has a new book called Republic, Lost which discusses the corrupting influence of money on politics. I would highly recommend the book, because it gets to the heart of why things so many things in Washington, D.C. seem broken today and how to fix them.If you don’t have the time to read the book right now, you’re in luck. Lessig recently stopped by Google and gave a brief overview of the themes from the book. I had the honor of introducing him, and the video is live on the web now. Lessig’s talk is about 45 minutes long (the rest of the video is questions and…

• Beware of fake Matts leaving comments

  Matt Cutts

  11 Dec 2011 | 5:20 pm

  A lot of the time, I dispel misconceptions by leaving comments on blogs. That works great, except for the rare occasion when someone pretends to be me and leaves a rude, fake, or otherwise untrue blog comment. Over the previous decade, I’ve only seen 4-5 times where someone impersonated me. But in the last month, I’ve seen at least three nasty comments written by “fake Matt Cutts” impersonators.The first fake-Matt comment I remember was over Marketing Pilgrim around November 14th, 2011. When Frank Reed checked out the fake comment, it came from 74.120.13.132, which is…

• Progress against SOPA

  Matt Cutts

  21 Nov 2011 | 8:01 am

  When I did my blog post about the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) last week, things looked quite grim. The fight isn’t over, but there’s been a lot of great developments in the last few days. If you’re not familiar with SOPA (and the PROTECT IP Act in the Senate), here’s a video that covers the basics:This internet censorship under SOPA editorial by Rebecca MacKinnon also describes why SOPA would be really bad for the internet.I also wanted to take a minute and thank everyone who called or wrote their Congressperson to speak out against SOPA and PROTECT IP. As a result…

• 

  Shoemoney - Skills To Pay The Bills

• The secret for local marketing (affiliates and business owners)

  Jeremy Schoemaker

  9 Feb 2012 | 8:00 am

  2 months ago I put up a survey to blog readers and newsletter readers. I asked what content people were interested in that I could create from you. From that we have released software, lots of free videos, and done webinars. But one particular top we got a TON of questions on was local marketing. But it was a big mix between people who were business owners looking to learn more and people who were looking to offer services to local businesses. If you’re an affiliate looking to make money working with local business owners or if you’re a local business owner who wants a flood of…

• Why Most Affiliate Bloggers Don’t Last

  Jeremy Schoemaker

  8 Feb 2012 | 4:55 am

  Recently I got a interesting question: Shoe – How come you see all these affiliate bloggers startup,  deliver awesome content,  then dissapear into the woodwork?  I am talking about sites like Nickycakes,  bluehatseo, seoblackhat, ppc.bz and the like. That is a really good question. There are several reasons why people stop.  I would say the average lifespan of an affiliate blog is about 1 year… or 200 posts on average. When people start an affiliate blog they are super gung ho and want to show the world how smart they are.   And they are unbelievably smart……

• Questions About Affiliate Marketing

  Jeremy Schoemaker

  7 Feb 2012 | 5:53 pm

  I leave this morning to head to Los Angeles for the Startups Uncensored Event The morning of the event I am filming a 30 video series which will part of a free iPad/iPhone application. My section of the application is on affiliate marketing. I have a pretty extensive list of questions that I think people have on affiliate marketing but would love to hear from you. Please post what questions about affiliate marketing you would like to see in the series in the comments below.

• So you want to take over linkcontrol.com ?

  Jeremy Schoemaker

  7 Feb 2012 | 6:38 am

  Since we announced we were going to look for a partner for LinkControl.com to take it open source. The main qualification is pretty simple.  We are just looking for someone who has managed an opensoure project before. We have had a lot of people offer to do it but nobody has really maintained an opensource project. Please let us know if you are interested. 

• Retention and Aquisition Email Sequences

  Jeremy Schoemaker

  6 Feb 2012 | 9:21 am

  About 6 months ago we started a new division of ShoeMoney called Elite Internet Solutions. This is a full service internet marketing company for business in the 1 million to 100 million in gross revenue range. We don’t solicit any business. Its all been word of mouth so far. One thing that amazes me is how many businesses neglect email. We divide emails into 2 things. Retention and Acquisition. The acquisition sequence is when a person gives their email directly on the site or the data was obtained by a 3rd party. We send them a series of emails which educate them about the company,…

• 

  Online Marketing Blog

• Good Content Marketing vs. Great Content Marketing: Learn the Difference From Joe Pulizzi #OMS12

  Ashley Zeckman

  9 Feb 2012 | 3:00 am

  If you are part of the online marketing or content marketing industry you have undoubtably heard of Joe Pulizzi (@juntajoe) and his company the Content Marketing Institute (CMI).  Joe has been a member of the content marketing community for over a decade, and has made it his mission to help brands create quality content and distribute that content through multiple online channels.   This was my first time seeing Joe speak and he made it a great interactive experience, and was of course wearing his trademark Orange. I enjoyed the history that Joe shared with the audience as well as his…

• Innovative Search Features Drive Engagement – Paul Vallez #OMS12

  Ashley Zeckman

  8 Feb 2012 | 3:30 am

  "Google taught us how to search." - Paul Vallez Paul Vallez admits that when he started at HP less than a year ago he had just come from Ask.com and was pretty cocky about what he knew.  Vallez also shares that he wasn’t very open to new ideas and wanted to step into his new position at a big brand and immediately demonstrate value. What was his approach? 75% Cocky 25% Open to new ideas In Vallez’s presentation he identified what he called “3 Key Learnings” that he shared with the audience for improving the way that your search strategy is implemented for…

• #Optimize This: Online Marketing Summit 2012 Presentation

  Lee Odden

  6 Feb 2012 | 7:21 am

  I’m headed to (hopefully) sunny San Diego today for the annual Online Marketing Summit conference where I’ll get to present on one of my favorite topics: Optimization. Of course, if you read Online Marketing Blog very often, you’ll know my definition of optimization is a bit different than traditional SEO.  My post last Thursday “Are You Optimized?” touched on this. The competition for attendance during the breakout sessions at OMS is really tough during the time slot I’m scheduled for. SAP, Wider Funnel and SAP are all presenting at the same time as…

• Online Marketing News: Facebook IPO, Harmonize with Google+, Pinterest Dominates Traffic

  Ashley Zeckman

  3 Feb 2012 | 4:55 am

  Facebook in Numbers: Prior to the IPO The big news in social media and business this week is Facebook’s new IPO.  This infographic from statista and creative commons shares some very interesting figures about Facebook, before it goes public. Highlights include: In 2012 Facebook is expected to reach: 90% of U.S. Social Network Users & 60% of Internet Users. Assuming a valuation of $100 billion, Facebook would be work 67 to 100x’s it’s estimated 2011 net income. The Social Media Buzz “How to Harmonize Google+ With Your Other Social Platforms”  Search Plus has placed even more…

• Essential Shifts in Online Marketing: Are You On Board? Are You Optimized?

  Lee Odden

  2 Feb 2012 | 7:21 am

  Is your company adaptable? Is your marketing optimized? I think most online marketers get the fact that marketing and communications on the web is a fast changing place and that most companies are structured to move at a slower pace than the digital world is evolving. Take for example, the notion of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). It’s been around for about 15 years or so and in just the past few months Google has made the most significant changes ever. Despite the crystal clear focus towards search integration with social, many companies and digital pundits are still skeptical about…