Well at least that’s settled.After spending the better part of two months searching, UFC 147 has landed a new home, as reported by Tatame.com earlier today.The event was originally supposed to take place in Sao Paulo, but was relocated to Rio de Janeir…
The event was originally supposed to take place in Sao Paulo, but was relocated to Rio de Janeiro. While this change was met with widespread enthusiasm—largely because UFC 147 was poised to become the largest MMA event in history—that darn United Nations swooped in and snatched up all of Rio’s hotel rooms the same weekend the fights were supposed to happen.
Rather than compete with the UN for the city’s attention, the Zuffa decided to bow out and take the show on the road.
The move to Belo Horizonte means that Brazil will get to keep the event in country, but the preservation of UFC 147 came too late to salvage the Anderson Silva-Chael Sonnen main event, which has been pushed back to UFC 148.
As of now, the card has three confirmed bouts—Milton Vieira vs Felipe Arantes, Fabricio Werdum vs Mike Russow and Vitor Belfort vs Wanderlei Silva. The TUF Brazil championship fight is expected to happen at UFC 147 as well.
Whether or not Belfort-Silva will function as the night’s main event remains to be seen, but the card as a whole needs to be filled out before June 23.
It will be nearly impossible for the promotion to garner the interest they were originally hoping for without Silva-Sonnen on the card, and these lowered expectations are reflected in the venue choice for the show.
UFC 147 will happen at Journalist Felippe Drummond Stadium, which fits about 14,000 people.
Easier to fill than a soccer stadium, yes. But also less fun to fill.
As recent as a year ago, it would have seemed inconceivable for the UFC to put on an all-heavyweight fight card. But, here we are today, readying ourselves for just that very thing.The promotion’s heavyweight division has enjoyed an influx of talent of…
As recent as a year ago, it would have seemed inconceivable for the UFC to put on an all-heavyweight fight card. But, here we are today, readying ourselves for just that very thing.
The promotion’s heavyweight division has enjoyed an influx of talent of late, beginning with a version of The Ultimate Fighter that featured the big boys, and continuing as Strikeforce roster members have begun trickling into the UFC.
Thanks to the star-building reality show that brought in Roy Nelson, Jon Madsen and Brendan Schaub, as well as the Strikeforce acquisitions of Antonio Silva, Shane del Rosario and Fabricio Werdum, the division is as strong as it has ever been.
Add in some talented youngsters like Stipe Miocic and Stefan Struve, and you’ve got a nice looking collection of heavyweights standing in the same stable.
So what is the UFC to do with this newly flourishing division? Well, conventional wisdom tells us that if you’ve got it, flaunt it.
But in spite of the depth and talent characterizing the over-205-pound weight class, there have been naysayers out there who are not too high on the idea of allotting an entire event to showcase it.
The balance of a fight card is usually dependent on the variation of fighter sizes that comprise it. Smaller divisions, like bantamweight and flyweight, often provide an event with fast-paced action, while the heavier groups often supply the powerful knockouts.
While this view tends to oversimplify things a bit, it is not entirely without validity.
In addition to this concern, the all-heavyweight card comes off somewhat gimmicky. There is an aura about the heavyweight class that can be tapped into, but is stacking fight consecutive bouts in a row force-feeding it to fans?
I understand why some people are skeptical about how successful this event will be, but if we look at every fight individually, this card is actually loaded.
Junior Dos Santos versus Frank Mir may not get the juices flowing like Dos Santos-Overeem would have, but it is certainly a main event-worthy contest.
Cain Velasquez is one of the division’s brightest stars and has headlined PPVs before. He will be taking on Antonio Silva who has headlined Strikeforce events in the past.
Stipe Miocic versus Shane del Rosario features two of the sport’s most promising up-and-comers.
Gabriel Gonzaga versus Roy Nelson promises to have some good exchanges and be a competitive fight, while Mark Hunt versus Stefan Struve will depict an intriguing contest of styles between two fan favorites.
And lest we forget, the undercard to this event is utterly stacked with good matchups.
UFC 146 will be the promotion’s announcement that the division is stronger than ever before and will act as a precursor to some exciting things to come.
If this style of card becomes a regular thing, it runs the risk of suffering from overexposure, but if left as a one-shot deal, the all-heavyweight fight card at UFC 146 will be a cleverly symbolic way of letting everyone know that the promotion’s former weak link is primed for big things.
With a loss to Ben Rothwell at UFC 145, Brendan Schaub dropped to 4-3 for his UFC career. Just one short year ago, Schaub had reeled off four straight wins and positioned himself rather close to the heavyweight title.As a wise man once said, “The …
With a loss to Ben Rothwell at UFC 145, Brendan Schaub dropped to 4-3 for his UFC career.
Just one short year ago, Schaub had reeled off four straight wins and positioned himself rather close to the heavyweight title.
As a wise man once said, “The times they are a-changin’.”
It would be in the best interest of Brendan Schaub to halt this growing trend of knockout losses and return to his winning ways sooner rather than later. As it is, he is already in severe danger of being stuck in the gatekeeper mud.
Here, we’ll take a look at five things the heavyweight slugger can do to right the ship and return to contention sooner, rather than later.
The smoke has cleared and the dust has settled—UFC 145 is over.While this weekend was supposed to answer all the questions—Could Rashad dethrone Jones? Could Jones finish Evans? Would the feud between them end with the fight?—we head …
The smoke has cleared and the dust has settled—UFC 145 is over.
While this weekend was supposed to answer all the questions—Could Rashad dethrone Jones? Could Jones finish Evans? Would the feud between them end with the fight?—we head into Monday with a new batch of queries that may be even more difficult to answer.
Perhaps the most pertinent question to come of UFC 145 concerns Rashad Evans. After talking so much trash, telling everyone so definitively that he would win and preparing for the fight of his life only to come up short, where does he go from here?
The first question posed to Rashad during the UFC 145 post-fight press conference was whether or not he might drop down to middleweight.
He answered in the negative. So, at least we know where he isn’t going—middleweight.
Rashad explained that he intends to reassert himself as the light heavyweight division’s No. 1 contender by continuing to improve and reeling off wins.
But can a guy really ever come back after losing a fight that he was so emotionally invested in? Or will everything from here on out seem meaningless by comparison?
It may be difficult for Evans to get up for bouts against anyone not named Jon Jones for the next little while, but if he takes the right mindset in addressing the situation, he will be just fine.
If he is having trouble training for his next opponent, whoever it might be, he can instead train for Jon Jones. When he fights his next opponent, he can address the fight as if he is fighting Jon Jones.
Such mental direction is difficult to assume, but Evans is a smart guy and he has to know that the barriers he faces are extensions of Jones himself.
Like salesmen may see a bag of groceries rather than a customer walk through the door of their store, Evans needs to see Jon Jones when he looks at opponents.
This is not to suggest he can, or should, overlook anyone. On the contrary, he needs to address each fight as if he is in fact fighting the best 205-pounder in the world—Jon Jones.
If Evans keeps his eye on the prize, he will make it back into the cage with Jones someday, and with the marketability of a rematch, that day might come sooner rather than later.
Evans remains one of the top light heavyweights in the world. He is the all-time leader in takedowns for any UFC light heavyweight to have ever graced the Octagon and his lightning-quick strikes were on display when he staggered Jones with a head-kick in Round 1 and wobbled him with a right hook in Round 2 of last night’s bout.
He has the tools to reclaim No. 1 contender status and if he wants Jones badly enough, nothing will be able to stop him from getting there.
Sometimes, losses make fighters better—this is a reflection of an individual’s intelligence, persistence and drive. With Jon Jones as the motivator to fuel these attributes, you can bet your bottom dollar that the next time Evans mixes it up in the UFC, he will do so as the best version of himself that there has ever been.
Whether Evans one day dethrones Jon Jones remains to be seen. But he will one day take another kick at the can.
Brendan Schaub is set to take on grizzled MMA vet Ben Rothwell at UFC 145 this Saturday. “The Hybrid” is looking to rebound from a knockout loss to mild-hitting Minotauro Nogueira last August.Schaub will enter the heavyweight bout as a decisive fa…
Brendan Schaub is set to take on grizzled MMA vet Ben Rothwell at UFC 145 this Saturday. “The Hybrid” is looking to rebound from a knockout loss to mild-hitting Minotauro Nogueira last August.
Schaub will enter the heavyweight bout as a decisive favorite, but questions about his legitimacy will follow him into the Octagon this weekend. And his performance will go a long way in either rehabilitating his image or condemning him to gatekeeper status.
The following are six questions surrounding Brendan Schaub, as he preps for his April showdown with Rothwell.
The UFC’s flyweight division continues to take form with the addition of highly regarded 125-pounder Timothy Elliott.Elliot is the ninth official member of the promotion’s newest division and will join Championship Grand Prix participants Joseph Benavi…
The UFC’s flyweight division continues to take form with the addition of highly regarded 125-pounder Timothy Elliott.
Elliot is the ninth official member of the promotion’s newest division and will join Championship Grand Prix participants Joseph Benavidez, Demetrious Johnson, Ian McCall and Yasuhiro Urushitani, TUF alums John Dodson and Louis Gaudinot, and John Lineker and Darren Uyenoyama to fill out the roster.
Since posting a 0-2-1 mark over his first three MMA contests, Elliott has strung together eight consecutive victories, including seven finishes.
Elliott is a well-rounded fighter with slick submissions, solid wrestling and good power for the division. He fights aggressively and usually mixes in his takedowns well with his strikes.
As reported by MMAjunkie.com, Elliott will debut in the UFC against John Dodson as part of the UFC on FOX 3 fight card on May 5. He takes the fight as a replacement for Dodson’s original opponent, Darren Uyenoyama.
Dodson, a part of Team Mayhem on The Ultimate Fighter Season 14, is one of the more highly regarded fighters in the flyweight division and will be the stiffest test of Elliott’s fighting career to date.
Well at least that’s settled.