Author: McKinley Noble

UFC 161: Antonio Nogueira Injured, Fight vs. Shogun Rua Officially Canceled

Update: According to MMA Junkie’s John Morgan and MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani, the UFC has confirmed that Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Mauricio Rua is canceled.Currently, the promotion is looking a replacement before pulling “Shogun” of…

Update: According to MMA Junkie’s John Morgan and MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani, the UFC has confirmed that Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Mauricio Rua is canceled.

Currently, the promotion is looking a replacement before pulling “Shogun” off the card.

Another UFC event, another injury.

It appears that the much-anticipated UFC 161 fight between Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Shogun Rua is in jeopardy, with reports claiming that “Little Nog” has an injured back.

Bloody Elbow relays the latest news, straight from Globo:

On his 37th birthday, the light-heavyweight Brazilian Rogerio Nogueira had to deal with an unpleasant situation: he will be forced to give up his rematch against Mauricio Rua at UFC 161 on June 15 in Winnipeg, Canada. A back problem again bothered the fighter.

Nogueira had been preparing well for the fight, but felt back pain because of a herniated disc in training last Monday. The problem is not serious, but it was enough to get him out of the fight, due to the proximity of it.

Naturally, the injury is extremely poor timing, but if it does in fact keep Nogueira from competing on June 15 on the Canada-bound card, there’s replacements available.

In fact, over a dozen fighters could get the call.

Should the UFC desire someone coming off a win, some likely names could include Ryan Bader, Phil Davis, Wanderlei Silva, Matt Hamill or Jimi Manuwa.

Lyoto Machida and Alexander Gustafsson are also awaiting Octagon returns, but both of them are on the short list of current contenders to Jon Jones’ UFC title.

This would also be Nogueira’s third injury since August 2011.

Previously, the Brazilian had actually been set up for bouts against former champion Rich Franklin (at UFC 133) and Gustafsson (at UFC on Fuel TV 2), but both a shoulder injury and a late knee injury derailed both matchups, respectively.

 

McKinley Noble is an MMA conspiracy theorist. His work has appeared in NVision, PC World, Macworld, GamePro, 1UP, MMA Mania and The L.A. Times.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC on Fox 8: John Moraga Says ‘Boring’ Champ Demetrious Johnson ‘Runs Too Much’

Demetrious Johnson may be the fastest man in the UFC, but that doesn’t mean the flyweight champion is exciting fans with his agility-based style.But is the flyweight champion “boring?”That’s what challenger John Moraga thinks, telling MMA Fighting that…

Demetrious Johnson may be the fastest man in the UFC, but that doesn’t mean the flyweight champion is exciting fans with his agility-based style.

But is the flyweight champion “boring?”

That’s what challenger John Moraga thinks, telling MMA Fighting that while he doesn’t have any disrespect for “Mighty Mouse” or his skills, he runs away more than he fights.

In fact, Moraga says Johnson isn’t even as quick as people think:

“He just bounces around. He runs around too much. He don’t fight,” Moraga said during a recent interview. “He don’t put on exciting fights. He’s got a lot of technique and skill, but he doesn’t go in there and try to finish people, I don’t feel.”

“My main thing is I don’t want to go out there and put on boring fights. For this fight, who knows how it’s going to play out? Once we get in there, we’ll adapt to whatever we need to. I know I’m going to have be a little bit patient because he moves around so much and doesn’t get the fight going right away as far as big, heavy exchanges or anything like that.”

Moraga is far from the only person to criticize Johnson for his perceived volume-heavy, low-power style, with UFC president Dana White having to bat for his champion on several occasions.

MMA fans were especially critical of Johnson’s title victory against Joseph Benavidez last September, prompting White to say anyone who hated that fight should never buy a UFC pay-per-view ever again, according to MMA Weekly.

However, fans may just not like flyweight bouts.

Even UFC on FX 5 saw plenty of boos during the John Dodson vs. Jussier da Silva bout, and although the jeers stopped shortly before Dodson’s KO finish, an exasperated White, according to MMA Mania, could only guess that fans would “get 10-12 beers in them” and expect too much.

But maybe Moraga will bring in the cheers next time—he’s finished both of his UFC bouts so far and even earned a “Submission of the Night” bonus in his last outing.

Regardless, both men will need to perform on July 27, 2013, at UFC on Fox 8 in the Seattle Key Arena, with their UFC Flyweight Championship bout headlining a stacked main card.

 

McKinley Noble is an MMA conspiracy theorist. His work has appeared in NVision, PC World, Macworld, GamePro, 1UP, MMA Mania and The L.A. Times.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 161: 5 Reasons Why Roy Nelson May Get Cut Next, Win or Lose

Generally, fighters in the UFC aren’t supposed to look like Roy Nelson.Not in modern-day MMA, at least.Today, if fighters are competing in the UFC’s heaviest division, they usually don’t have beards resembling a coral reef or a profile that looks like …

Generally, fighters in the UFC aren’t supposed to look like Roy Nelson.

Not in modern-day MMA, at least.

Today, if fighters are competing in the UFC’s heaviest division, they usually don’t have beards resembling a coral reef or a profile that looks like “Santa Claus on a bender.” And they’re typically not lugging around huge, sagging beer bellies.

But despite it all, “Big Country” has survived in the world’s biggest fight promotion—on the strength of an iron chin, one-punch knockout power and an improbable run on The Ultimate Fighter.

And sadly, Nelson’s UFC run may come to an end after his next match.

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Ronda Rousey’s Mom on TUF 18 Coaching Switch by UFC: ‘That’s a Pretty Dick Move’

Replacing Cat Zingano with Miesha Tate on the upcoming co-ed season of The Ultimate Fighter was a huge swerve that reportedly set Rousey into an angry fit.Not just UFC champion Ronda Rousey but also her mother.That would be none other than Dr. Ann…

Replacing Cat Zingano with Miesha Tate on the upcoming co-ed season of The Ultimate Fighter was a huge swerve that reportedly set Rousey into an angry fit.

Not just UFC champion Ronda Rousey but also her mother.

That would be none other than Dr. Ann Maria Rousey DeMars, the first American to win a world judo championship title and the master who taught “Rowdy” her dangerous grappling techniques.

In reaction to the coaching shift for TUF 18, Dr. DeMars wrote a scathing post on her official blog, calling the ploy “a dick move” by the UFC:

When I heard about the last-minute switch in coaches for the show Ronda is on, my first thought was,

“That’s a pretty dick move.”

Not so much replacing Cat, who was injured (ouch!) but keeping it from Ronda until the last minute. If you’re going to have an athletic competition, then it should be fair. Among other things, that means you don’t give one competitor information that the other doesn’t have. You don’t let one player know something weeks in advance of the other player.

So, it is pretty clear that whoever is making the decisions here has decided this is not an athletic competition, it’s a reality show. That’s what a lot of people have been saying all along, it’s just going to be a side show and not a serious athletic event.

Tate’s move into the title picture has caused a tremendous amount of controversy in the MMA community, especially since the former Strikeforce champion is coming off a loss to Zingano from their battle at The Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale.

Although the bout was a competitive three-round “Fight of the Night” barnburner, Zingano finished Tate via TKO with knees to the face and punches which drove her into the Octagon fence.

Tate would later protest the stoppage by referee Kim Winslon, stating that the fight-ending strikes to her head were illegal due to her hand touching the canvas.

Later replays wouldn’t prove Tate’s claims, however, so the loss stuck to her record regardless, moving Tate towards a match against former title contender Liz Carmouche at UFC on Fox 8 (who will now face newcomer Jessica Andrade).

But as soon as Zingano turned up injured due to a torn anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus, as reported by Yahoo Sports, the UFC immediately covered up the news, surprising Rousey during the first day of filming for TUF 18 by bringing Tate to the TUF gym.

Despite all the outcry over “Cupcake” getting the title shot, Tate says that she is the rightful No. 1 contender to Rousey‘s title, citing gross incompetence by referee Winslow and telling MMA Junkie that UFC fans can hate her as much as they want.

 

McKinley Noble is an MMA conspiracy theorist. His work has appeared in NVision, PC World, Macworld, GamePro, 1UP, MMA Mania and The L.A. Times.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Ronda Rousey’s Mom Slams UFC for TUF 18 Coaching Switch: ‘That’s a Dick Move’

Replacing Cat Zingano with Miesha Tate on the upcoming co-ed season of The Ultimate Fighter was a huge swerve that reportedly set Rousey into an angry fit.Not just UFC champion Ronda Rousey but also her mother.That would be none other than Dr. Ann…

Replacing Cat Zingano with Miesha Tate on the upcoming co-ed season of The Ultimate Fighter was a huge swerve that reportedly set Rousey into an angry fit.

Not just UFC champion Ronda Rousey but also her mother.

That would be none other than Dr. Ann Maria Rousey DeMars, the first American to win a world judo championship title and the master who taught “Rowdy” her dangerous grappling techniques.

In reaction to the coaching shift for TUF 18, Dr. DeMars wrote a scathing post on her official blog, slamming the UFC and Fox for keeping her daughter in the dark:

When I heard about the last-minute switch in coaches for the show Ronda is on, my first thought was,

“That’s a pretty dick move.”

Not so much replacing Cat, who was injured (ouch!) but keeping it from Ronda until the last minute. If you’re going to have an athletic competition, then it should be fair. Among other things, that means you don’t give one competitor information that the other doesn’t have. You don’t let one player know something weeks in advance of the other player.

So, it is pretty clear that whoever is making the decisions here has decided this is not an athletic competition, it’s a reality show. That’s what a lot of people have been saying all along, it’s just going to be a side show and not a serious athletic event.

Tate’s move into the title picture has caused a tremendous amount of controversy in the MMA community, especially since the former Strikeforce champion is coming off a loss to Zingano from their battle at The Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale.

Although the bout was a competitive three-round “Fight of the Night” barnburner, Zingano finished Tate via TKO with knees to the face and punches which drove her into the Octagon fence.

Tate would later protest the stoppage by referee Kim Winslon, stating that the fight-ending strikes to her head were illegal due to her hand touching the canvas.

Later replays wouldn’t prove Tate’s claims, however, so the loss stuck to her record regardless, moving Tate towards a match against Liz Carmouche at UFC on Fox 8 (now facing newcomer Jessica Andrade from Brazil).

But as soon as Zingano turned up injured due to a torn anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus, as reported by Yahoo Sports, the UFC immediately covered up the news, surprising Rousey during the first day of filming for TUF 18 by bringing Tate to the TUF gym.

Despite all the outcry over “Cupcake” getting the title shot, Tate says that she is the rightful No. 1 contender to Rousey’s title, citing gross incompetence by referee Winslow and telling MMA Junkie that UFC fans can hate her as much as they want.

 

McKinley Noble is an MMA conspiracy theorist. His work has appeared in NVision, PC World, Macworld, GamePro, 1UP, MMA Mania and The L.A. Times.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC on Fox 8: Jessica Andrade Replaces Miesha Tate, Will Debut vs. Liz Carmouche

Fortunately for Liz Carmouche, it looks like a sudden switch-up in the women’s bantamweight division won’t cancel her next UFC appearance.Now that Miesha Tate has been called up to the title picture, “Girl-Rilla” will instead greet a newcomer in Brazil…

Fortunately for Liz Carmouche, it looks like a sudden switch-up in the women’s bantamweight division won’t cancel her next UFC appearance.

Now that Miesha Tate has been called up to the title picture, “Girl-Rilla” will instead greet a newcomer in Brazilian prospect Jessica Andrade at UFC on Fox 8 on July 27.

According to MMA Fighting, this will also be the first-ever UFC women’s fight shown on Fox.

Carmouche will look to get back on the winning track after losing a competitive main event title fight against champion Ronda Rousey at UFC 157, which ended in a first-round submission defeat for the challenger by armbar.

Although Carmouche was a significant underdog, the former Marine Corps technician nearly toppled “Rowdy” with a standing face crank and rear-naked choke attempt, faltering a mere 11 seconds before the end of the round.

Still, she’s only lost to elite competition so far, with her two other losses coming at the hands of former Strikeforce champions Sarah Kaufman and Marloes Coenen.

Jessica Andrade, on the other hand, is a more unknown quantity.

Hailing from Brazil with an 11-fight record (9-2), the 21-year-old has fought in regional promotions such as ProFC, Heavy Fighting Championship and Ring of Fire.

Until her last bout in Russia, Andrade had also never fought outside of Brazil.

UFC on Fox 8 is currently scheduled to feature a main event bout for the world flyweight championship, with Demetrious Johnson defending his title against John Moraga.

Interestingly, the event features another women’s bantamweight bout between Julie Kedzie and Germaine de Randamie, making this the first UFC card to include two women’s bouts on the same night.

To boot, the card will also feature a pair of high-profile matches with Rory MacDonald vs. Jake Ellenberger and Robbie Lawler vs. Tarec Saffiedine. According to the official UFC rankings, all four men are currently listed in the Top 10 of the welterweight division.

 

McKinley Noble is an MMA conspiracy theorist. His work has appeared in NVision, PC World, Macworld, GamePro, 1UP, MMA Mania and The L.A. Times.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com