Somehow, B.J. Penn’s fateful showdown with surging Canadian star Rory MacDonald has turned into the most personal fight on Saturday’s card.At UFC on Fox 5, Penn is putting his reputation on the line in a last-ditch effort to salvage what remains of his…
Somehow, B.J. Penn’s fateful showdown with surging Canadian star Rory MacDonald has turned into the most personal fight on Saturday’s card.
At UFC on Fox 5, Penn is putting his reputation on the line in a last-ditch effort to salvage what remains of his legacy. His return to welterweight has been fraught with setbacks, but “The Prodigy” is determined to maintain his elite status.
MacDonald is having none of it, insisting through various interviews and press conferences that he’ll hurt Penn worse than anyone else has yet.
But with such widely different fighting styles, how will the fight go down? Here’s a few bold predictions of how the bout will unfold in Seattle’s KeyArena, round by round.
Looking back on it, UFC 155 was far too stacked to actually happen as intended.Back when the card was first announced, MMA fans were happily looking forward to a heavyweight title clash, a possible middleweight title eliminator and a more likely lightw…
Looking back on it, UFC 155 was far too stacked to actually happen as intended.
Back when the card was first announced, MMA fans were happily looking forward to a heavyweight title clash, a possible middleweight title eliminator and a more likely lightweight title eliminator.
A few months later, we only have one of those left.
As announced today by UFC president Dana White, Forrest Griffin is out of his fight with Phil Davis due to a knee injury—another damaging blow to a card now distinctly lacking in star power.
Moreover, it’s the third major injury that’s altered the card so far.
Not only did Chris Weidmandrop out of his bout with Tim Boetsch on a shoulder injury, but Gray Maynard was also forced to abandon his match with Joe Lauzon due to a bad knee that had been hampering his training for three years.
And just like that, the last mega-stacked blowout UFC event for 2012 has essentially been reduced to a shell of its former self.
So, with just a short 24 days left before the night of the event, the question has to be asked—who’s going down next?
Alan Belcher? Chris Leben?
Even worse, what if Phil Davis doesn’t get a new opponent?
Just looking around the card, there’s still a lot of fights that UFC 155 can’t afford to lose.
While casual fans will likely be tuning in mainly for the Junior dos Santos vs. Cain Velasquez rematch, it won’t be easy to satisfy hardcore fans if they lose guaranteed barn-burners like Brad Pickett vs. Eddie Wineland or Leonard Garcia vs. Cody McKenzie.
Brace yourself, folks. Dana White and Joe Silva have done an admirable job of filling in the rapidly-appearing gaps at UFC 155, but don’t be surprised if things get worse.
Let’s just pray that JDS and Velasquez are being extra careful in practice this month.
McKinley Noble is an MMA conspiracy theorist and FightFans Radio writer. His work has appeared in GamePro, Macworld and PC World. Talk with him on Twitter.
“Bones Knows” that Rory MacDonald will finish B.J. Penn at UFC on Fox 5.That would be quite a feat for MacDonald, especially considering that Penn is notorious for being one of the hardiest fighters in the UFC.In 26 professional fights at various weigh…
“Bones Knows” that Rory MacDonald will finish B.J. Penn at UFC on Fox 5.
That would be quite a feat for MacDonald, especially considering that Penn is notorious for being one of the hardiest fighters in the UFC.
In 26 professional fights at various weight classes, “The Prodigy” has only been finished in the Octagon once—by UFC legend Matt Hughes. Georges St-Pierre technically stopped Penn in their January 2009 superfight at UFC 94 as well, but not by his own hands—Penn’s corner threw in the towel after four grueling rounds of punishment.
UFC president Dana White visited Jon Jones on the set of The Ultimate Fighter during filming for the UFC on Fox 5 video blog (segment at 5:40), where Jones made some bold predictions for the upcoming Fox event:
I got Rory MacDonald on that fight. I think he’s going to finish [Penn]. I respect B.J. a lot, but B.J.’s a guy who’s gotten a little comfortable, I think. [With] Rory, it’s another one of those things—experience versus ambition. I give ambition the edge every time, being a young guy.
Bones also picked Ben Henderson to win his second title defense this weekend, stating that while challenger Nate Diaz was good at many aspects of MMA, Henderson was plain “better” in every area where “Diaz” is simply “good” at them.
Although opposing TUF coach Chael Sonnen picked Diaz and Penn to win their respective fights, Jones agreed with his rival on the two other main card bouts featuring Mauricio Rua vs. Alexander Gustafsson and Mike Swick vs. Matt Brown.
“Bones” stated that youth and ambition would push the rangy Gustafsson to defeat Rua, while he also favored Swick to beat gritty veteran Brown.
Jones and Sonnen will be featured Tuesday nights on Season 17 of The Ultimate Fighter in January—a move predicated by poor Friday night ratings for TUF: Live and TUF 16. Once filming for TUF 17 is over, Sonnen is expected to challenge Jones for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship, making that his third title bout in five fights.
“Sonnen Says” we’ll have a new UFC champion this weekend.More specifically, UFC middleweight star Chael Sonnen knows that Nate Diaz, Alexander Gustafsson and B.J. Penn will win their respective main-card fights at UFC on Fox 5 this Saturday.UFC preside…
“Sonnen Says” we’ll have a new UFC champion this weekend.
More specifically, UFC middleweight star ChaelSonnen knows that Nate Diaz, Alexander Gustafsson and B.J. Penn will win their respective main-card fights at UFC on Fox 5 this Saturday.
UFC president Dana White caught up with Sonnen during the filming of his semi-regular fight week video blog series, this time covering the last month circulating around UFC 154.
The brash title challenger had this to say about the UFC on Fox 5 main event and co-main event:
First off, I love both guys. We’re going to have a new champion in Nate Diaz. But for me, I can’t wait for Gustafsson versus Shogun. Shogun’s a legend and Gustafsson‘s on the rise. I think Gustafsson‘s gonna have some significant reach, and after his win over Thiago Silva he sure looked good. I’m going to go with Gustafsson in an upset.
When asked about Penn vs. Rory MacDonald, however, Sonnen sided with the underdog instead of the skyrocketing prospect:
I think [for] B.J. Penn, people need to believe the hype. He’s as good as everybody says he is. When a guy retires and comes back to take on a young guy from a new generation, it shows nothing but courage. I’m going with B.J. Penn.
Sonnen also picked Mike Swick for his upcoming fight against Matt Brown, citing his impressive win over DaMarques Johnson despite an extremely long layoff after strings of bad injuries. Sonnen noted that he would normally pick Brown, but the fight was way too close to call for sure.
Two top light heavyweights will reportedly clash at the upcoming UFC on Fox 6 card in Chicago, Illinois next month as Ryan Bader takes on Vladimir Matyushenko.ESPN confirmed the bout with inside sources today, citing that they would join the …
Two top light heavyweights will reportedly clash at the upcoming UFC on Fox 6 card in Chicago, Illinois next month as Ryan Bader takes on Vladimir Matyushenko.
ESPN confirmed the bout with inside sources today, citing that they would join the January card.
This match will be Bader‘s 11th fight with the UFC, not counting three exhibition appearances during Season 8 of The Ultimate Fighter.
Bader walks into this bout coming off a second-round KO loss against former UFC light heavyweight champion LyotoMachida, who shut down “Darth” with a clean counter shot at UFC on Fox 4. Bader is currently 2-3 in his last five fights, with his most recent victory coming against Quinton Jackson at UFC 144 in Japan.
Matyushenko is also trying to get back into the “win” column following a loss against Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 141 last December.
“The Janitor” was previously expected to face returning top light heavyweight Matt Hamill last September at UFC 152, but pulled out of the fight due to a torn Achilles tendon suffered during a training accident.
Both fighters will likely be fighting on Fox’s televised broadcast, as Bader has been a main card staple in all but two of his 10 UFC appearances. Matyushenko hasn’t been promoted as heavily by the UFC, but nonetheless has headlined one card (against Jon Jones) in addition to two main card spots.
UFC on Fox 6 will be headlined with a flyweight title fight between champion Demetrious Johnson and challenger Jon Dodson. Donald Cerrone vs. Anthony Pettis and Quinton Jackson vs. Glover Teixeira are also expected for the main card, while Clay Guida drops to featherweight to face HatsuHioki on the preliminary set.
UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz may not be back next year, a major blow to a 135-pound division that the company launched in late 2010. MMA Junkie confirmed on Monday that Cruz underwent another major surgery last week, according…
UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz may not be back next year, a major blow to a 135-pound division that the company launched in late 2010.
MMA Junkie confirmed on Monday that Cruz underwent another major surgery last week, according to trainer Eric Del Fierro:
The UFC bantamweight champion is in Los Angeles today to meet with a doctor who will give him a timeline for his return, Del Fierro (sic) said, though he estimated it could set the fighter back another six to nine months…
“He’s pissed and disappointed,” Del Fierro said. “But I think he’s doing better now. Once he talked to the doctor and found out what was going on, he felt much better.”
If Cruz is out for six months, the resulting rehab will likely sideline him for the remainder of 2013.
This marks the second major surgery that Cruz has endured in 2012, with a torn ACL sidelining him during the taping of The Ultimate Fighter: Live in May of 2011. The unfortunate turn of events killed a rubber match with opposing coach Urijah Faber, originally set for UFC 148 as the co-main event behind an Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen rematch in Las Vegas.
Replacement bantamweight Renan Barao would go on to win the UFC interim bantamweight title, stepping in to challenge Faber on short notice in the headliner at UFC 149 in Calgary.
Barao’s camp has previously stressed a desire to wait for Cruz’s return, but the linear champion’s long absence and rehab period will almost assuredly force Barao to defend his interim belt.
It is questionable as to whether the UFC will strip Cruz of his title altogether, as welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre was allowed to retain his belt despite an 18-month period of inactivity due to scheduling and an ACL injury of his own.
Looking back on it,