(Wanderlei Silva, seen here mirroring the feelings of everyone who purchased a ticket for any UFC event this summer.)
The tales of UFC 147–UFC 149 are not unlike the tale of Meg Ryan. What started off as a moderately attractive, if not rather inviting group of cards, has undergone so many face lifts and botched botox injections that they have been left a hollowed, sun-dried husk of what it once was. It has gotten so bad, in fact, that most of us can’t even recognize the frumpy, blonde haired cards we fell in love with in the first place and now must resort to faking it. “It” being interest.
So you’ll forgive our apathy as we inform you that TUF: Brazil finalist Daniel Sarafian has been forced to withdraw from his matchup with fellow finalist Cezar “Mutante” Ferreira less than a week out from UFC 147. UFC.com broke the news:
The Ultimate Fighter Brazil® middleweight favorite Daniel Sarafian, who earned a spot in the finals with an impressive flying-knee knockout, has been injured and cannot compete in this Saturday’s UFC® 147: Silva vs. Franklin II.
Stepping in for Sarafian at the Finale will be jiu-jitsu expert Sergio “Serginho” Moraes, a Team Vitor prospect who was switched to Team Wanderlei mid-season and made it to the semifinals. Moraes will now face coach Vitor Belfort‘s protege Cezar “Mutante” Ferreira in a three-round bout to determine the first-ever middleweight winner of The Ultimate Fighter Brazil®.
The featherweight finals will feature Rony “Jason” Mariano Bezerra of Team Wanderlei fighting teammate GodoFredo Pepey, who also started out on Team Vitor.
So, as of this moment, UFC 147 is basically a glorified TUF Finale card…that now lacks both the original matchup between the show’s coaches and the original matchup to determine one of the winners of said TUF season. But, fret not, the featherweight final match will still go down as scheduled. So there’s that.
Since we’re obviously past the point where we can do a fight picking type contest for you guys, does anyone wanna take a swing at how low UFC 147′s PPV numbers will be? Because we’re guessing one level below piss poor.
Here’s the remaining lineup for those of you who give two shits.
Main card:
Rich Frankin vs. Wanderlei Silva
Cezar “Mutante” Ferreira vs. Sergio “Serginho” Moraes (“TUF: Brazil” middleweight final)
Rony “Jason” Mariano Bezerra vs. Godofredo “Pepey” de Oliveira (“TUF: Brazil” featherweight final)
Mike Russow vs. Fabricio Werdum
Yuri Alcantara vs. Hacran Dias
Preliminary card:
Rodrigo Damm vs. Anistavio “Gasparzinho” Medeiros
Francisco “Massaranduba” Drinaldo vs. Delson “Pe de Chumbo” Heleno
John “Macapa” Teixeira vs. Hugo “Wolverine” Viana
Leonardo “Macarrao” Mafra Teixeira vs. Thiago de Oliveira Perpetuo
Marcos Vinicius “Vina” Borges Pancini vs. Wagner “Galeto” Campos
Felipe Arantes vs. Milton Vieira