Fate really does work in mysterious ways. A month ago Stephan Bonnar was half-retired, nearly a year removed from a fight, and languishing on the sidelines trying to figure out where the next stage of his life could take him. Now, Bonnar has an opportunity to make this Saturday the most memorable night of his life.
Not only is “The American Psycho” slated to live out his own surprise Rocky IV fantasy against the greatest fighter of our generation, he already has an emergency escape route worked out with UFC President Dana White, just in case. Bonnar made headlines last week when he announced he may name his unborn son Griffin, an affectionate ode to his rival-turned-friend. And apparently, the expected arrival date for Bonnar’s son is dangerously close to his date with Anderson Silva; close enough, that according to a report from TMZ, White has granted Bonnar access to his private jet to fly back to the United States immediately after the event to re-join his wife in case baby Bonnar decides to introduce himself early.
Few moments could top the miracle of childbirth. But stunning the world and witnessing the miracle of childbirth on the exact same night? Now that would be something to remember.
5 MUST-READ STORIES
Bonnar, White planning Brazil escape. Regardless of the outcome, following UFC 153’s main event Stephan Bonnar is expected to board Dana White’s private plane and immediately fly back to the United States to potentially experience the birth of his newborn child, according to a report from TMZ.
Cormier’s coach wants Werdum. With Frank Mir injured, American Kickboxing Academy head trainer Javier Mendez told The MMA Show that he’d like his pupil, Daniel Cormier, to meet Fabricio Werdum in his final Strikeforce fight.
Johnson cut. TUF 9 runner-up DaMarques Johnson was released from the UFC following a short-notice submission loss to mega-prospect Gunnar Nelson at UFC on FUEL TV 5.
Stephens’ bail set. Jeremy Stephens, who is currently behind bars at the Hennepin County Jail in Minneapolis, Minnesota, had his bail set at $100,000 and will be extradited to Iowa for an assault charge.
Ratings report. UFC 152 drew an estimated 450,000 pay-per-view buys, the fourth-highest take of the year, behind UFC 148, UFC 145 and UFC 146. Meanwhile, UFC on FX 5 drew 1,084,000 viewers — marking a new low for FX events — while the fourth episode of The Ultimate Fighter 16 rebounded 36-percent from last week’s record low, collecting 1,056,000 viewers.
Teixeira eyeing Jones. Speaking to MMA Interviews, Glover Teixeira said that while he isn’t qualified yet to be thinking about title shots, if the UFC offered him a fight against Jon Jones, he would “say yes, bring it to him and get that title.”
MEDIA STEW
If you’ve seen their ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson short film, you know Roots of Fight does quality work. So it’s worth checking out check out their latest project, a mini-doc on TUF 1 and the impact of Forrest Griffin vs. Stephan Bonnar.
(HT: Reddit)
These rumors have been swirling around for a few days now. Nothing concrete has happened yet, but if and when anything actually goes down, we’ll be sure to let you know.
In a weekend that had literally everything, Saturday night’s Invicta 3 event may have been the most electrifying of the bunch. A ton of highly competitive bouts, with 10 out of 14 ending in finishes. So if you missed out the first time around, we’ve compiled the entire event in the playlist below. Trust me, it’s much more fun than getting actual work done.
“King Mo” Lawal and the ever-fascinating Diaz brothers, both Nick and Nate, joined our own Luke Thomas on MMA Uncensored Live recently, and we’ve got the whole episode here to check out. (Click to watch.)
Two things from this ONE FC 6 bout: 1.) Ryo Kawamura’s style is simultaneously frustrating, intriguing and insane; and, 2.) Melvin Manhoef is a scary, scary man. Seriously. Remember when he knocked out Mark Hunt? He’s a middleweight. That’s ridiculous.
OPTIMISM
No way! When one door closes another door opens, I’m not worried at all. @ufc here we come!!! @josephdiano77
— Miesha Tate (@MieshaTate) October 9, 2012
No I have no idea if SF is closing or not but if they are I hope the we have proven we deserve to be in the UFC @schafft10
— Miesha Tate (@MieshaTate) October 9, 2012
DARKNESS OUT
And the hits keep on coming… No longer a UFC fighter.
— DaMarques Johnson (@DaMarques_UFC) October 9, 2012
Thanks for the love from the fans. Its a small detour. Not the end of the road. I got brains in my head&feet in my shoes.
— DaMarques Johnson (@DaMarques_UFC) October 9, 2012
BUT… YOU’RE FAMOUS
When the shit goes down I’m eating the famous people first. Ya gotta assume they taste better then regular people.
— Forrest Griffin (@ForrestGriffin) October 8, 2012
MAKES SENSE
When traveling abroad you should always dress to impress! twitter.com/davehermanmma/…
— Dave Herman (@davehermanmma) October 8, 2012
FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Announced yesterday (Tuesday, October 9, 2012):
N/A
FANPOST OF THE DAY
Today’s Fanpost of the Day is a depressingly accurate live account, courtesy of Steve Borchardt: Seas of empty seats: live perspective on UFC on FX 5
The first thing that caught my eye after arriving at the Target Center for this past Friday’s UFC on FX 5 event in Minneapolis wasn’t Jacob Volkmann’s celebratory post fight interview after defeating Shane Roller via neck crank submission; rather it was the decidedly scanty audience that joined the former Golden Gopher in the University of Minnesota’s traditional cheer.
To my left and right were seas of empty seats at both ends of the inner-bowl. Here and there the heads of a few scattered fans stood out like bits of flotsam and jetsam floating in a placid sea. The area directly in front of me was more full in comparison, but intermittent gaps created the impression of a second grader’s smile after losing a few teeth. A glance at the upper deck revealed it to be closed for the evening. The overall effect was akin to arriving at a much anticipated party and being greeted by the sight of a dozen or so morose dudes gathered around a keg and swapping stories about the good ‘ol days.
I thought perhaps the early start time was the reason for the tepid attendance and that the place might fill up some once people who were unable to get out of work early started arriving. It turned out I was wrong. The crowd remained sparse all night when viewed against the backdrop of the massive Target Center. With all those empty seats it felt like those of us who had shown up for the show were the uncool kids who didn’t know where the more exciting party was being held.
One might think that the majority of those who paid for tickets to a show headlined by relatively obscure fighters like Travis Browne and Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva would be the type of hardcore fans who actually watch Facebook fights and read sites such as MMAFighting.com on a daily basis, but based on the fans sitting in my section this didn’t seem to be the case.
To my immediate left was a particularly vocal fan who offered this sage bit of advice to whoever happened to be in the cage at the time, “Kick him in the pooper!” That nobody ever laughed at this feeble attempt at humor didn’t discourage him from repeating it at least once per round.
Sitting behind me was a trio of drunks who didn’t feel shy about shouting churlish insults whenever there was a lull in the action. Among the few printable epithets these guys hurled at the combatants in the cage were witticisms such as, “Kill somebody already!” and “We wanna see blood you [expletives]! Listening to these clowns was like watching the show with Just Bleed Guy on commentary.
Found something you’d like to see in the Morning Report? Just hit me on Twitter @shaunalshatti and we’ll include it in tomorrow’s column.