September 9, 2011 – It’s an exciting time to be a fight fan. Beginning with the UFC on FOX announcement little over two weeks ago, it’s been a whirlwind of activity on the national MMA scene. From significant signing to matchups made and changed and other news, there has been a lot to keep up with so let’s recap some of the biggest headlines.
Heavyweight Championship Matchup Set to Headline UFC on FOX 1
UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez and challenger Junior dos Santos were supposed to headline the UFC 141 PPV set for San Jose this coming December before it was recently announced that the fight would instead be moved up to the UFC’s November 12th Debut on the FOX network, set for Anaheim’s Honda Center at 8PM Texas Time.
With the organization being given a one-hour time slot for their prime time network debut and one fight to showcase what the UFC (MMA) is all about, the powers-that-be couldn’t have chosen a more legitimate fight to introduce the sport to casual fans. Velasquez and dos Santos are two hard-hitting technically-skilled heavyweights that will no doubt present action in the octagon. The fact that they are fighting for a meaningful prize in the belt makes this choice all the more appealing. Kudos to the UFC for going this route in present the sport over a ratings grab like say, Lesnar vs. Overeem. Putting the heavyweight title on the line in front of a nationwide audience will prove to be much more legitimizing in the long-run. This is the biggest fight on network TV since the days of Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier.
Here’s a simulation of the fight. Does it go this way or do you think it’ll end differently?
Below is the rest of the card rumored for UFC on FOX 1 as of now, probably to be broadcast on FUEL TV.
155 lbs – Clay Guida vs. Ben Henderson
135 lbs – Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto vs. Darren Uyenoyama
145 lbs – Dustin Poirier vs. Pablo Garza
145 lbs – Cub Swanson vs. Ricardo Lamas
Strikeforce HWT Champion Alistair Overeem Signs Multi-Fight Contract with UFC; ‘Reem to face Brock Lesnar at UFC 141 in Title Eliminator
As announced by the organization, “Former Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem has found a new home – in the UFC.”
This is something we speculated upon ever since Alistair was pulled from the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix. Overeem was nearing the end of his Strikeforce deal and his management team (Golden Glory) was at odds with the UFC …now all that gets wiped under the rug in one swoop and the world’s top heavyweight not with the organization now gets his chance to prove he’s the best against the likes of Cain Velasquez, Junior dos Santos, and the rest of the crew.
With his feet firmly planted in the UFC as of this past week, “The Demolition Man” will debut in grandiose fashion on December 30th when he takes on Brock Lesnar at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Talk about a behemoth matchup! Pairing two of the sport’s most powerful figures this close to NYE would make even the most fervent PRIDE FC fan proud.
Fedor Set for Comeback Fight at M-1 Event in Russia; Set to Take on “The Snowman”
As the man formerly known as the #1 pound-for-pound MMA fighter around, “The Last Emperor” Fedor Emelianenko has experienced quite a fall from grace in current times, most recently losing by TKO to Dan Henderson in late July. That defeat would mark his third loss in a row after also falling to Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva and Fabricio Werdum. With his recent performances proving Fedor to be far from the unbeatable cyborg he once reigned as in PRIDE, many have been calling for the humble Russian to hang up the 4OZ gloves but apparently the end is not hear yet as he returns to action in two-months time.
Former UFC HWT contender, ADCC grappler, and 50+ fight veteran Jeff “The Snowman” Munson recently announced that he will be headlining an M-1 promoted event opposite Fedor on November 12th in Russia. No further details are available at this time but this certainly seems like a winnable fight for the Russian legend. What do you guys think? Will he finally be able to go out on top or will he go out on his shield?
UFC 137 Switcharoo – GSP versus Condit and BJ Penn versus Nick Diaz
As far as MMA personalities go, none may be more mercurial than Nick Diaz. The former Strikeforce 170 champion dumped his belt just a few months ago for what he called the “opportunity of a lifetime” to go back to the UFC and face Georges St. Pierre. Now he’s thrown that fight away after failing to show at pre-fight pressers this past week in Toronto and Las Vegas. Even his own coach (Cesar Gracie) couldn’t find him and get him to fulfill his pre-fight commitments. Many are speculating Diaz’s failure to “play the game” as Dana White has called it in the past to a social anxiety disorder that triggered this “fight or flight” response. Others are saying he simply folded under the pressure of being in a big-time main event. SMH either way but you can watch Nick Diaz’s Response to being ousted from this bout here and judge for yourself.
Either way, as the old saying goes, “the show must go on.” In this instance, Diaz’s loss and Carlos Condit’s gain as “The Natural Born Killer” now steps up to play the part opposite GSP at UFC 137 on October 29th. According to GSP, Condit is the more dangerous opponent compared to Diaz anyways after winning his last four bouts in a row (and 12 of 13 overall) against impressive competition. We’re not sure if he’s more or less dangerous than Nick Diaz but Carlos Condit is certainly a skilled fighter and deserving of the opportunity but will he present a challenge to GSP? And is this a fight the public wants to see? Comment and let us know.
In other ramifications to this bout, a new opponent had to be found for BJ Penn. Condit was supposed to fight the Hawaiian on the co-headliner for UFC 137 but that bout had to be scrapped to move him. Who’s going to replace him in that bout? The suspects included guys like Thiago Alves, Nick Diaz (if he gets another chance with the UFC), or even Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez. Low and behold, it looks like the UFC decided to keep Diaz on the card after all except he’ll be taking on Penn instead of GSP.
“This is crazy but here we go again! You wanted it so you got it,” said UFC President Dana White. “BJ Penn vs Diaz Oct 29th in Vegas. What a week!!! I love it!”
Bellator Announces Fall Season Prelims Will Air on SPIKE TV’s Website
Many would point to this as a precursor to as a sign of a jump by Bellator from MTV2 to Spike TV coming soon but its important to note that Spike owns rights to the UFC’s fight library until 2012. As Ariel Helwani of NBC Sports pointed out, the details of that contract say that they can’t air another promotion while they continue to utilize this UFC content. As is such, SPIKE can’t have Bellator on unless the UFC buys that content back – something they may consider doing as the network’s strategy is sure to be counter-programming live UFC events on other channels with UFC programming of their own. We’re not sure if that’s enough incentive for the UFC to cut a deal to purchase a year’s worth of rights back. Either way, playing Bellator prelim content on the SPIKE website is a good move to slowly integrate the Bellator brand to the minds of SPIKE’s customer base until they are able to show Bellator’s main event fights on the network itself.
Strikeforce World Grand Prix Semi-Finals Set for this Saturday; Jacare to Defend 185 Title
Strikeforce isn’t dead (yet).
In fact, this weekend’s Strikeforce card may be the best card top-to-bottom that the promotion has put on in quite some time. Headlined by the two HWT tournament bouts pitting Josh Barnett vs. Sergei Kharitanov and Anontio Silva vs. Daniel Cormier, the card also features three other strong bouts set to air on Showtime. Preceding the tournaments bouts, Strikeforce 185 champ Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza puts his title on the line against Luke Rockhold and “King Mo” Muhammed Lawal takes on arguably the best grappler in the world in Roger Gracie. An exciting 155 bout between Pat “Bam Bam” Healy taking on rising prospect Maximo Blanco to close out the Showtime card.
As if that weren’t enough, the prelim card will be showcased LIVE on HDNet as well. Here’s the full slate of action below.
Strikeforce World Grand Prix Semi-Finals – Main Card (Showtime)
Heavyweight Grand Prix Semifinal bout: Josh Barnett vs. Sergei Kharitonov
Heavyweight Grand Prix Semifinal bout: Antonio Silva vs. Daniel Cormier
Middleweight Championship bout: Ronaldo Souza (c) vs. Luke Rockhold
Light Heavyweight bout: Muhammed Lawal vs. Roger Gracie
Lightweight bout: Pat Healy vs. Maximo Blanco
Strikeforce World Grand Prix Semi-Finals – Preliminary card (HDNet)
Light Heavyweight bout: Mike Kyle vs. Marcos Rogerio de Lima
Light Heavyweight bout: Rafael Cavalcante vs. Yoel Romero Palacio
Welterweight bout: Evangelista Santos vs. Jordan Mein
Women’s Bantamweight bout: Alexis Davis vs. Amanda Nunes
Middleweight bout: Dominique Steele vs. Chris Mierzwiak
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