Ultimate Fighting Sport

Herschel Walker used to tell friends at the University of Georgia that he aspired to be considered one of the greatest athletes in history. "And not just in football," Walker recalled this week. Since running the Bulldogs to the 1980 national championship and winning the Heisman Trophy in 1982, Walker rushed for more than 13,000 yards in the USFL and NFL, then retired in 1997 with the second-most all-purpose yards in NFL history. During his pro football career, he also earned a spot on the 1992 Olympic two-man bobsled team, and won television's "Superstars" event three times.

Heavyweight Brock Lesnar, speaking publicly Wednesday for the first time since suffering a major intestinal infection that could have ended his Ultimate Fighting Championship career, said he expects to return to the octagon in the summer. "I have a different outlook on life from this, but when it comes to fighting, I'll still be dishing out pain," Lesnar said. He anticipates fighting against the March 27 winner of the Frank Mir-Shane Carwin bout. After defending his UFC heavyweight title in July with a second-round demolition of Mir, Lesnar, 32, had to scrap two scheduled bouts with Carwin as he struggled through diverticulitis, a severe intestinal infection that can cause extreme pain and even prove fatal.

The champion of UFC 1 who later won two more titles in the era when mixed martial arts champs were crowned after four fights in a single night, and when there were no gloves or weight classes, took a look at a poster for tonight's UFC 100 and sized up the competition. "Brock Lesnar? Been there, done that. Bring him on," Royce Gracie said of the UFC's 265-pound heavyweight champion. "[Georges] St-Pierre? I'm a prize fighter. Put me in any card and I'll sell it out. I can do it, man.

Former mixed martial arts fighter Kim "Kimo" Leopoldo woke up Tuesday afternoon not knowing friends and fans were deeply concerned about his welfare. His manager Ron Kort, of Santa Ana-based New Era Fighting, broke the news to him: "According to the media, you're dead," Kort recalled saying. Reports of Leopoldo's demise originated from MMA websites that incorrectly reported the 41-year-old died from complications of a heart attack late Monday night, Kort said.

Were boxer Antonio Margarito's fists of steel actually aided by concrete? Did Ultimate Fighting Champion Georges St-Pierre defend his title bout with enough Vaseline so that he was as slippery as a greased pig? Fighting lore is sprinkled with colorful tales of questionable gamesmanship, yet even in this age of high-definition cameras and intense state testing, athletes are still swayed to sometimes bend the rules.

A heavyweight fight between Fedor Emelianenko and Brock Lesnar is the bout most mixed martial arts fans want to see, but contractual obligations and medical problems are likely to prevent a showdown between the two for another year, Emelianenko's camp said Monday. Emelianenko survived a cut nose Saturday to retain his unofficial standing as the top MMA heavyweight in the world by defeating Brett Rogers in a second-round technical knockout. He closed the victory with a stand-up, right-handed punch, then pounced on Rogers to deliver a left-right combination on the canvas before the referee ended the fight.

Pastor T.J. O'Donnell thought that by offering mixed martial arts training, he had found a sure way to lure young people away from vice and direct them toward the word of God. He didn't expect to encounter the long arm of the California State Athletic Commission. O'Donnell rented out the second floor of a San Bernardino carpet store where volunteers at his 777 Ministry taught aspiring fighters jiu-jitsu, karate, wrestling and boxing.

Anderson Silva is the longest reigning champion in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He hasn't lost in five UFC fights, and his most serious challenger in the middleweight division is Temecula's Dan Henderson, whom Silva fights tonight at UFC 82 in Columbus, Ohio. Another victory affirms Silva's status as UFC's best pound-for-pound fighter, and could possibly leave him void of any legitimate competition in a beaten-up middleweight division.

Brock Lesnar's second-round technical knockout Saturday of Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran Randy Couture delivered the widely seen adrenaline shot that organization executives anticipated. But as Couture fell to the canvas, some casual fans of mixed martial arts may have wondered why Lesnar was allowed to pounce atop Couture, hold him down and then deliver more than 30 punches to the 45-year-old's head before being awarded a technical knockout.

The promoter of a mixed martial arts card March 7 in Tulare, Calif., confirmed Friday that one of the competitors was allowed to fight despite testing positive for Hepatitis C and having no test results on file for HIV. Al Joslin, who has promoted nine cards in California, said he learned of the situation about a week ago, when he was leaked a copy of a memo from the California State Athletic Commission. The commission is responsible for medical clearance of all MMA and boxing shows in the state.

Herschel Walker used to tell friends at the University of Georgia that he aspired to be considered one of the greatest athletes in history. "And not just in football," Walker recalled this week. Since running the Bulldogs to the 1980 national championship and winning the Heisman Trophy in 1982, Walker rushed for more than 13,000 yards in the USFL and NFL, then retired in 1997 with the second-most all-purpose yards in NFL history. During his pro football career, he also earned a spot on the 1992 Olympic two-man bobsled team, and won television's "Superstars" event three times.

Heavyweight Brock Lesnar, speaking publicly Wednesday for the first time since suffering a major intestinal infection that could have ended his Ultimate Fighting Championship career, said he expects to return to the octagon in the summer. "I have a different outlook on life from this, but when it comes to fighting, I'll still be dishing out pain," Lesnar said. He anticipates fighting against the March 27 winner of the Frank Mir-Shane Carwin bout. After defending his UFC heavyweight title in July with a second-round demolition of Mir, Lesnar, 32, had to scrap two scheduled bouts with Carwin as he struggled through diverticulitis, a severe intestinal infection that can cause extreme pain and even prove fatal.

Last summer, as the Ultimate Fighting Championship prepared for its 100th event, its owners were poised to celebrate that the combat sport of choice was no longer boxing but mixed martial arts. Things have changed a bit. Today, fight fans are whetting their appetites for the most anticipated bout in years. And it's boxing that has the buzz because of the Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. mega-fight scheduled for March. And the UFC? It's been hit with a slew of injuries to key fighters and other negatives that have watered down its recent events.

A heavyweight fight between Fedor Emelianenko and Brock Lesnar is the bout most mixed martial arts fans want to see, but contractual obligations and medical problems are likely to prevent a showdown between the two for another year, Emelianenko's camp said Monday. Emelianenko survived a cut nose Saturday to retain his unofficial standing as the top MMA heavyweight in the world by defeating Brett Rogers in a second-round technical knockout. He closed the victory with a stand-up, right-handed punch, then pounced on Rogers to deliver a left-right combination on the canvas before the referee ended the fight.

The last time the Ultimate Fighting Championship was held at Staples Center, the unknown was whether a gifted Brazilian champion could be defeated. More than three years later, the question remains the same. Lyoto Machida, the UFC's new light-heavyweight champion, is 15-0 and has never lost a round on a judge's scorecard in seven UFC fights. "If I think about that, that's a lot of pressure," Machida said Tuesday, when he stopped across the street from Staples at LA Live to promote his Oct. 24 title defense -- his first -- against fellow Brazilian Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. The most recent Staples UFC show was headlined by Brazilian mixed martial arts legend Royce Gracie, but he lost to Matt Hughes.

The California State Athletic Commission has faxed a letter of apology to the promoters of a mixed martial arts card on which a fighter with a positive test for hepatitis C was allowed to compete. The commission also said it had been told, but had no documentation as of Tuesday, that the test had been a false positive and the fighter did not have hepatitis C. Al Joslin and Shelly Matlock, owners of PureCombat Promotions, which held a March 7 MMA card in Tulare, said they received the letter Sunday.

The promoter of a mixed martial arts card March 7 in Tulare, Calif., confirmed Friday that one of the competitors was allowed to fight despite testing positive for Hepatitis C and having no test results on file for HIV. Al Joslin, who has promoted nine cards in California, said he learned of the situation about a week ago, when he was leaked a copy of a memo from the California State Athletic Commission. The commission is responsible for medical clearance of all MMA and boxing shows in the state.

Former mixed martial arts fighter Kim "Kimo" Leopoldo woke up Tuesday afternoon not knowing friends and fans were deeply concerned about his welfare. His manager Ron Kort, of Santa Ana-based New Era Fighting, broke the news to him: "According to the media, you're dead," Kort recalled saying. Reports of Leopoldo's demise originated from MMA websites that incorrectly reported the 41-year-old died from complications of a heart attack late Monday night, Kort said.

The champion of UFC 1 who later won two more titles in the era when mixed martial arts champs were crowned after four fights in a single night, and when there were no gloves or weight classes, took a look at a poster for tonight's UFC 100 and sized up the competition. "Brock Lesnar? Been there, done that. Bring him on," Royce Gracie said of the UFC's 265-pound heavyweight champion. "[Georges] St-Pierre? I'm a prize fighter. Put me in any card and I'll sell it out. I can do it, man.

The spectacle that is UFC 100 is underway. Ticket brokers say the sold-out mixed martial arts bout Saturday at Mandalay Bay is driving a frenzied resale market. UFC President Dana White expects this to be the fourth pay-per-view event in its history to reach 1 million sales. And a record number of credentialed reporters are documenting the event.