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Written by Mark Long
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Tuesday, 29 December 2009 11:17 |
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The UFC played Scrooge and handed out several holiday pink slips recently. With the climate in MMA changing, I'm sure these fighters won't be out of work long, but it still stinks. Nothing personal, it's just the way business is right now. Those sent packing include: Ex-TUFer, Shane Nelson Eye-poker, Kevin Burns Winning until he lost, Edgar Garcia Retired from MMA and the NFL, Marcus Jones Rampage's whipping boy, Darill Schoonover Best of luck to all these guys. Meanwhile, Kendall grove was given a contract extension. Nice job for a guy who was very close to being on the list of cuts.
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Written by Mark Long
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Tuesday, 29 December 2009 11:00 |
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NCAA standout wrestler and recent UFC signee, Phil Davis, will make his organizational debut at UFC 109 against Brian Stann. Pretty tough debut for Davis as he steps in against a tough veteran. Stann will try to keep the fight standing and finish Davis off with his superior striking. The obvious route for Davis, will be to take Stann down and finish him there, using his huge wrestling advantage. With only four fights under his belt, I'm not sure why the UFC isn't bringing him along a little slower, but I think this is far from un-winnable for Davis. Should be interesting.
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Written by Mark Long
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Tuesday, 29 December 2009 10:46 |
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Yet another star fighter has been forced out of his upcoming UFC bout. This time it is Josh Koscheck, who suffered an injury in training for his upcoming rematch with Paulo Thiago. Filling in will be Koscheck's teammate, Mike Swick, who will be trying to rebound from a loss to Dan Hardy and keep hiss name in consideration for a future title shot. Thiago is coming off of a tough decision over Jacob Volkmann and a win here could propel him into a chance at GSP's belt. This should be a good, tough fight and I personally find this more intriguing than the Kos vs Thiago match up. Props again to the UFC for scrambling and putting together a good replacement fight.
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Written by Mark Long
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Tuesday, 22 December 2009 08:43 |
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Much speculation has been made about the imminent integration of the WEC into the UFC, especially after the demise of the higher weight classes. Is it good for the UFC to have more weight classes? Will being a part of the UFC make the fighters more well known? What about the TV contracts? Will we have more free cards or more PPVs? I could go on and on with questions surrounding this possible merger, but in the end it comes down to one thing...numbers. So, here is one reason why I think this must happen, in numbers, not words! See the numbers after the jump!
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Written by Mark Long
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Monday, 21 December 2009 16:33 |
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Nick Diaz returns to face Dream Champion, Marius Zaromskis, for the Strikeforce Welterweight Championship on January 30th, 2010. Zaromskis has made a name for himself with several wins by head kick, reminding many of a smaller Mirko "CroCop". Diaz will be looking to join fellow Cesar Gracie fighters, Jake Shields and Gilbert Melendez as Strikeforce Champions. That would leave the team with the lightweight, welterweight and middleweight champions! The card will also feature Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos defending her title against Marloes Coenen and the MMA debut of former NFL great, Herschel Walker. I am a little disgusted by this news. Diaz was supposed to fight for the title against Jay Heiron, but failed to get licensed due to his marijuana use. Heiron was left without a title or even a fight and now he gets completely passed over for Diaz? I would be steaming mad if I were him!
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Written by Mark Long
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Monday, 21 December 2009 16:12 |
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"The Last Emperor", Fedor Emelianenko, will make his return against BJJ ace, Fabricio Werdum in April on CBS. Coming off a knockout of Brett Rogers, Fedor will take on the UFC veteran, in what should lead to a fight with Heavyweight Champ, Alistair Overeem. Due to Overeem fighting in K1 and and MMA overseas, Strikeforce has been unable to pair the two. Overeem has one fight left on his K1 contract, then is taking some much deserved time off, before returning to action later in the year. In the mean time, the shot at the world's number one heavyweight, goes to Werdum. After competing at the 2009 Abu Dhabi grappling tournament, Werdum returned to MMA, defeating Antonio Silva in a close decision. I'm not sure how Werdum can beat Fedor, but I would guess catching him in a devastating submission is the best opportunity, though nobody has accomplished that yet. Looks like the April card is going to be outstanding!
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