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UFC 157: What Will Happen to WMMA If Ronda Rousey Isn’t a Draw?

With the recent report (via MMAmania.com) that UFC 157 has sold less than 5,000 tickets, we are forced to wonder if the UFC audience is going to be receptive to the most dangerous women alive taking center stage.Granted, UFC 157 doesn’t take place unti…

Granted, UFC 157 doesn’t take place until February 23. However, with more than 18,000 available seats at the Honda Center, it is safe to say that tickets are selling slower than Zuffa had hoped.

Dana White and Co. are taking a huge leap of faith by booking Rousey versus Carmouche as a Pay-Per-View main event. After all, the female side of mixed martial arts is as unproven a commodity as they come.

Some may point to Strikeforce: Carano vs Cyborg in support of Rousey’s top billing.

After all, there were two other title fights on the card, yet the females took the spotlight at the exciting event.

However, let’s keep in mind a few variables that the event had on its side that UFC 157 does not.

Most importantly, Rousey’s headlining fight will have a $55 price tag attached, while Carano’s time on top was aired for free to Showtime subscribers.

In the source article, Dave Meltzer talks about how this event is selling faster than UFC 133 and UFC 150, however, both of those events were considered to be failures on PPV, with the former selling 310,000 with Rashad Evans in the main event and the latter generating less than 200,000 buys.

Regardless of what fans may think of the main event, UFC 157 provides a solid card for pay-per-view. The co-main event is occupied by a title eliminator between Dan Henderson and Lyoto Machida.

Also, Josh Koscheck welcomes Robbie Lawler back into the UFC in a welterweight battle, and former WEC champion Urijah Faber is also on the card.

In the event that Rousey’s time in the spotlight generates disappointing numbers, it is hard to imagine that the UFC president will continue showcasing the females who are now signed to Zuffa contracts.

Perhaps the ladies will be moved onto Fox broadcasts.

After all, that’s what happened to Benson Henderson and Demetrious Johnson after the UFC realized that they weren’t capable of carrying a PPV on their own.

In any case, Rousey has taken some major steps towards getting WMMA accepted by the MMA community. If she fails to draw quality numbers for the UFC, it isn’t the end of the world, but corrective measures will need to be taken quickly in order to make sure that the ship doesn’t sink.

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UFC 155: Cain Velasquez Delivers Record Setting Performance in Win over JDS

At UFC 155, Cain Velasquez famously gave Junior dos Santos the beating of a lifetime to recapture the UFC Heavyweight championship. According to a report from FightMetric, it was the most well-rounded beating in UFC history, as Velasquez became the first man in UFC history to score triple digits in the significant strikes department (111) and double digits in takedowns (11) in the same fight.

Considering that dos Santos went into the fight with the apparent possession of the best boxing skills in all of mixed martial arts, it’s shocking to many that he could be on the receiving end of such a record breaking performance.

Prior to the contest, the UFC presented another statistic that makes this record hard to believe. In all of his previous UFC bouts combined, Junior dos Santos had only spent a total of 13 seconds on his back.

The closest that any fighter had come to achieving this feat was at UFC 141 when Jimy Hettes dominated Nam Phan. Although it was only a three round fight, Hettes matched the wrestling output of Cain by scoring 11 takedowns, but only recording 81 significant strikes.

Despite the devastating loss, the former champion is anxious to get back into the cage with Velasquez for an inevitable rubber match.

“I won the first and he had a rematch. Now I lost and I want my rematch. I’m saying I want this fight. I’ll get my belt.”

“Cigano” is going to need a major win before getting another crack at the title, as there are a pair of potential contenders blocking his path. If Alistair Overeem or Fabricio Werdum are successful in their next bouts (against Bigfoot Silva and Big Nog, respectively), they will most certainly be ahead of him in the pecking order.

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Bellator Matches UFC’s Offer on Eddie Alvarez

It appears that Eddie Alvarez might not be UFC-bound after all.After finishing the last bout on his Bellator contract in late 2012, former lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez was considered to be on a one-way train to Zuffa-ville. “The Silent Assassin” …

It appears that Eddie Alvarez might not be UFC-bound after all.

After finishing the last bout on his Bellator contract in late 2012, former lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez was considered to be on a one-way train to Zuffa-ville. “The Silent Assassin” even received an offer from the UFC in December after some Tweets from Dana White gave us a not-so-subtle guess as to whether or not the company was interested in his services.

However, on Wednesday, John Morgan of MMAJunkie reported that Bellator has decided to match that offer.

On December 28, according to John Morgan of MMAJunkie, UFC president Dana White stated that he expected the negotiations with Alvarez to “get ugly,” which led to speculation that Bellator wasn’t going to let go of their former champion without a struggle.

The source article makes it clear that nothing is official as of yet and that there could potentially be some wiggle room for Alvarez to sneak into the UFC’s back door.

An official announcement isn’t expected to be made until a legal review of both contracts is complete. Multiple sources indicated Bellator’s offer was made “in good faith” and appears on the surface to match the deal previously offered by the UFC. However, it does not appear Alvarez has yet accepted Bellator’s contract offer and may be seeking clarification on contract language in each of the two deals. Chief among those concerns will likely be whether or not Alvarez has the right to sign with another promotion while still operating inside of Bellator’s matching period.

Despite losing his championship in a 2011 bout with Michael Chandler, Alvarez’s name remains on the tongue on fans and pundits alike. In 2012, the Philadelphia native scored knockout wins over highly regarded submission ace Shinya Aoki and top Bellator lightweight Patricky “Pitbull” Freire.

In addition, he has career wins over UFC veterans Roger Huerta, Josh Neer, Derrick Noble and Aaron Riley.

The loss of Alvarez would be an enormous hit to Bellator. In 2012, then-champions Hector Lombard and Cole Konrad left the organization while reigning champions Christian M’Pumbu, Eduardo Dantas and Zoila Gurgel have each lost non-title bouts.

“It really becomes for us a mathematical analysis,” Rebney said, according to MMA Junkie. “We know where we would want to be with Ed, we know what kind of a deal structure would work for Bellator and our partners at Spike TV, and we’re just waiting.

Apparently, the deal made sense for the tournament-based organization. Now, we just wait for an official announcement. However, fans of seeing the best fighters in the world square off against one another should be praying for Alvarez to wind up in the UFC, fighting the likes of Benson Henderson, Gilbert Melendez and Donald Cerrone.

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Rumor: Mike Goldberg Left the UFC to Enter Rehab for Drug Addiction

The rumor that is circulating on Wednesday surrounds longtime UFC commentator Mike Goldberg and his recent sabbatical from announcing duties. As reported first by TerezOwens.com, the story as of now is that Goldie has entered rehab for drug addict…

On Saturday, it was originally announced that Mike Goldberg would miss UFC 155 due to illness, but that no longer appears to be the case.

UFC president Dana White announced (via Yahoo Sports) that he does not know when Goldberg will return to the announcers’ desk and that Jon Anik will step in to fulfill play-by-play duties for the time being.

Sources close to TerezOwens indicated that Goldberg has a fondness for Adderall, a prescription medication that is commonly prescribed to combat ADHD and narcolepsy. However, recreational use of the drug is popular due to its easy access and associated state of euphoria.

The voice of the UFC has not turned to his Twitter account to comment on his absence from the event, but he did reach out to his fans on Monday evening by wishing them a Happy New Year.

Please keep in mind that although this story has solid sources, it is still a rumor and should be treated as such. All of us at Bleacher Report wish Goldie a speedy recovery.

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UFC on FX 7: Justin Salas Out; Edson Barboza Gets New Opponent

It sure didn’t take long for the injury bug to bite in 2013. MMAJunkie.com reports that only 17 days away from UFC on FX 7, Justin Salas has withdrawn from a preliminary bout with Edson Barboza due to a training injury.This would have been the thi…

This would have been the third UFC fight for Salas, who debuted successfully with the company back in February. Since that time, he was quickly stopped by Tim Means at UFC on FX 3.

Filling in on short notice is Lucas Martins, an undefeated prospect fighting out of Chute Boxe. Sporting a record of 11-0, Martins has been tremendously active in recent months, winning five fights since October 25.

This will be the first fight for Barboza since a shocking loss to Jaime Varner on the undercard of UFC 146. Varner served as a late replacement for an injured Evan Dunham and he overwhelmed the Brazilian in the first round.

Prior to the loss, Barboza was an undefeated prospect himself. At that time, he was 4-0 inside the Octagon and had recently picked up a highlight-reel knockout over Terry Etim that earned him an ESPY Award nomination for Play of the Year.

UFC on FX 7 takes place in Sao Paulo, Brazil on January 19, 2013. In the evening’s main event, former UFC light heavyweight champion Vitor Belfort takes on Ultimate Fighter winner Michael Bisping.

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UFC: Joe Lauzon Posts Photo of Shredded Face After UFC 155

On Saturday night, Joe Lauzon and Jim Miller battled in the co-main event of UFC 155. It was an action-packed affair that saw thrilling standup exchanges as well as breathtaking submission attempts from two of the most exciting members of the lightweig…

In the first round, Miller found major success by grabbing a hold of a single collar tie and delivering short elbows into J-Lau’s face. Not only did it wobble Lauzon, but it also opened a nasty gash above his right eye.

The cut was severe enough that referee Yves Lavigne called in the cageside doctor right away. The amount of blood in the cage was tremendous, but thankfully the cut wasn’t in a place where the plasma was obscuring the vision of Lauzon.

The two lightweights waged war on one another until the final bell sounded, and Jim Miller was victorious in a fight that has been deemed the very best of 2012.

Just days after the contest, Lauzon has posted a photo of his face, and it’s about as sliced and swollen as you would imagine after a war of this kind.

Let’s hope that the medical bills weren’t too bad following the inevitable hospital visit. However, the performance netted each man an extra $65,000, so it’s safe to say that J-Lau has the funds needed to cover the tab.

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