Junior dos Santos and Alistair Overeem have been booked to fight on two separate occasions over the past year, yet both times the bout failed to come to fruition due to setbacks on Overeem’s side.
As a result the pair’s rivalry, which was once primed to boil over, has been reduced to a light simmer. And after being “avenged” in thunderous fashion by his friend Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva at UFC 156, it seems that dos Santos is done with the Dutchman’s excuses.
“Bigfoot put him on his place. I no longer feel the wish to face him, but I fight whomever the UFC puts in front of me. I will train aiming at that guy and to be very well prepared to win,” Dos Santos told Brazilian outlet Terra, translated by Fighters Only.
Dos Santos was then asked about Overeem penchant for trash talk, which is precisely what ignited the rivalry in the first place. Not surprisingly, “Cigano” was frank in his response.
“The limited fighters,” he said, “Guys who don’t believe in themselves, who don’t dedicate to the training and don’t take it seriously, are the ones who [trash talk] to call for attention. They do it to hype themselves.”
Maybe I’m just a sucker for bad blood, but I’d still like to see these two goliaths collide at some point. Now with that said, let’s climb aboard the Friday express and chug along to some headlines.
6 MUST-READ STORIES
JDS over Overeem. Junior dos Santos told Brazilian outlet Terra that he stopped caring about the rivalry between he and Alistair Overeem the moment ‘Bigfoot’ Silva destroyed Overeem at UFC 156.
Shamrock on Fight Master. Frank Shamrock returns to recap the latest episode of Fight Master, from why he coveted Mike Dubois to why Greg Jackson needed to be taken out of the equation as soon as possible.
Kennedy apologizes. In a lengthy statement, Tim Kennedy apologized for his critical remarks about the UFC’s pay scale, claiming they were, among other things, “not properly informed.”
GLORY, Spike TV deal. Kickboxing organization GLORY inked a multi-year broadcast deal with Spike TV. The first event to fall under the deal is expected to take place in October, with 14 events to follow in 2014.
Hunt’s troubles continue. According to a post on his Facebook page, Mark Hunt’s skin graft to repair an infected hematoma didn’t take and the heavyweight slugger expects to undergo reparative surgery next week.
Bellator ratings. Early ratings for the second episode of Fight Master indicate an “increase (of) 26 percent from the first week premiere, with the show doing a 0.4 rating and 545,000 viewers.” Fight Master‘s debut episode pulled 432,000 viewers.
MEDIA STEW
Pros picking Anderson Silva over Chris Weidman isn’t shocking, although to be honest, the final tally is closer than I anticipated.
Check out Ronda Rousey breaking down the nuances of her 54-second armbar victory over Sarah Kaufman.
March 5, 2006: Dennis Siver was a welterweight. Jonas Ericsson was an unlucky man.
Slow days mean just one thing: it’s time to open up the vault for another MMA classic. I’d say this fits the bill nicely.
So this is pretty bizarre. Check out a women’s Jiu-Jitsu self-defense video from 1926. Yep, you read that right.
Joe Riggs is only 30 years old. Somehow I’m shocked by that.
BAD NEWS
well troops jus wanted u guys to know the skin graph didnt survive,and i think i will be back in hospital next… http://t.co/htAU7wNUh0
— mark richard hunt (@markhunt1974) June 27, 2013
BETTER NEWS
Me and my lil superman going to watch superman 3d pic.twitter.com/tmKh0Vyye6
— mark richard hunt (@markhunt1974) June 27, 2013
@Wolvengray I’m trying to move his idea of Fatman to superman lol
— mark richard hunt (@markhunt1974) June 27, 2013
ON TRACK
Gotta love @ChrisWeidmanUFC ‘s @Profile_Perform weight loss for his @UFC fight July 6th! 203lbs this morning. pic.twitter.com/JKNFWpOq1T
— Aaron Simpson (@aaronsimpson) June 25, 2013
DREAMCAST!!!
SOUL CALIBUR!!! DREAMCAST!!! http://t.co/qGvHYMl6mq
— Pat Barry (@HypeOrDie) June 24, 2013
WAR MACHINE’S THURSDAY
My friend Brad is about to bet me $1,000 that he can last 2 minutes in a grappling match vs me, right now on the carpet…haha!
— War Machine (@WarMachine170) June 27, 2013
If he sacks up and does it I bet I choke him out in less than 45 seconds, watch!
— War Machine (@WarMachine170) June 27, 2013
Brad thought he could last 2 mins without getting tapped out…haha Now he has to cosign for my… http://t.co/TwArGMJCYS
— War Machine (@WarMachine170) June 27, 2013
Damn, shouldn’t have done that, now my rib hurts again! Grrrrrr….lol
— War Machine (@WarMachine170) June 27, 2013
Don’t you guys think that @ChristyMack should give me a more appropriate nickname than Princess Sprinkles!?? Tell her please.
— War Machine (@WarMachine170) June 27, 2013
TOURISTS, BEWARE THE OREGONIAN
I’m at the Hard Rock. Some poor guy is outside laid out on the ground. I say poor guy cuz he only had $5 in his pocket. @Hooters
— chael sonnen (@sonnench) June 27, 2013
CULINARY REFERENCES MAKE THE BEST TRASH TALK
@rory_macdonald the difference is, I’m not a 155’er – I am a VERY DIFFERENT CHEF with a …HEAVIER menu. MUCH heavier.
— Jake Ellenberger (@EllenbergerMMA) June 27, 2013
FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Announced yesterday (Thursday, June 27, 2013):
- Invicta FC 6: Julia Budd (5-2) out with injury, Charmaine Tweet (4-3) in against Ediane Gomes (10-2)
FANPOST OF THE DAY
Today’s Fanpost of the Day sees dpk875 return for the latest edition of: Prospects to watch this Weekend
Here are some of the better MMA prospects in action this weekend.
Gladius Fights 6 – 29 Jun – Berlin, NH
WW
Lewis Corapi (5-0) vs. Marc Stevens
Corapi is a 25 year old who trains out of the Sityodtong Academy in Mass, and could have a bright future moving forward at LW. He returned from nearly 2 years off from the sport earlier this year to pick up a couple of stoppage wins. One of the stoppages came from a leg kick TKO, where the ref was forced to step in, and that isn’t surprising considering that he trains with team Sityodtong, but he has also shown solid top control, and a well rounded game in other fights I’ve seen. He will be facing a UFC, Strikeforce, and Bellator veteran in Stevens that would be a good name to have on a resume moving forward if he can pick up the win.
Substance Combat – 29 Jun – Toronto, Canada
LHW
Todd Stoute (4-0) vs. Pat Walsh (3-1)
Walsh recently dropped to LHW, and then lost his first fight at the weight class but I’m still pretty high on his long term prospects. He brings a college wrestling pedigree and good transitions from striking to grappling into the cage, but will need to rebound against the undefeated Stoute to remain a prospect to watch. Stoute will be fighting for the first time since Dec 2011, but has the quickness and movement to give Walsh problems on the feet. Stoute appears to have a bit of a criminal history relating to rape back in 2004, not relevant to the fight, but something that will come up if he ever ends up in a UFC or Bellator fight.
FW
Neelan Hordat-Reece (3-0) vs. Kyle Nelson (3-0)
A couple of un-defeated young Canadian prospects meet in this one. Hordat-Reece started his MMA career in 2010 while living in Singapore, and training with Evolve MMA, but appears to be back living and training in the Toronto Canada area. He had UFC fighter Sean Pierson in his corner last time out in May. Nelson is a striker first with good power, but appears a little stiff at times in his fights.
PinnacleFC – 29 Jun – Canonsburg, PA
FW
Mark Cherico (4-0) vs. Donny Walker
Cherico is a 27 year old prospect who was 9-0 as an Amateur before turning pro, and racking up 4 straight 1st round submissions. In his last fight he arm barred fading Strikeforce vet, Billy Vaughn, and now faces UFC vet who has seen better days in Donny Walker. The best skill I’ve seen from Cherico is his ability to transition from strikes to takedowns before his opponent reacts. When he gets top position, he is very active at working for the submission, and transitioning from one attempt to the next until he gets what he is looking for.
Inka FC 22 – 29 Jun – Lima, Peru
MW
Ben Reiter (10-0) vs. Marcos Rogerio de Lima (11-2)
Reiter has built a nice record fighting 9 of his 10 fights in the Inka Fighting Championships in Peru. This time out he will be facing a Strikeforce veteran who should be the toughest challenge of his career.
Jungle Fight 54 – 29 Jun – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
BW (Female)
Bethe Correia (5-0) vs. Erica Paes (2-1)
I was going to pass on this fight, as Correia is listed as a FLW… but her opponent Paes is the only women who owns a win over Cyborg, albeit back in 2005. Paes lost her next fight after the Cyborg fight, and then did not fight again until this April where she won by submission. A win by either women would have to put them on the radar for at least Invicta, if not UFC.
Review from Last Week
RFA
Lance Palmer remained undefeated in a very close fight, that many people watching believed was a draw, when Palmer lost a point late in the 5th round for a low blow. It also appeared during the fight that Palmer has been working so much on his striking, that his elite level wrestling has suffered, as he was taken down several times, and struggled to get his own takedowns. It was a good fight, that will give Palmer and his coaches a lot to work with when he gets back in the gym. Sergio Pettis looked great as he scored a 1st round KO, and moved one step closer to UFC. Pedro Munhoz also looked very good with a 1st round submission, where he looked like he was just on a different level than his opponent.
CFFC 25
Chris Birchler (5-0) won the CFFC HW title with a split decision win over Joe Stripling. I haven’t seen the fight, but I found some varying accounts of how close the fight actually was. A few people made it sound like Birchler won easy, while a few others thought Stripling won the fight.
KOTC
Cody East (7-1) won an unanimous decision victory over veteran fighter Nick Rossborough. This is East’s fourth straight win, and second straight over a Strikeforce veteran, that can only help to get him on the radar of UFC, and Bellator.
Vale Tudo Japan
Caol Uno put a quick halt to Anthony Avila’s 10 fight win streak with a submission in Japan.
Shooto Brazil – Manaus
In a battle of two FLWs that should be on the UFC’s radar, Adriano Moraes improved to 9-0 with a 3rd round TKO over fellow top prospect Dileno Lopes (12-1). Don’t be surprised if both of these guys end up in UFC at some point.
Found something you’d like to see in the Morning Report? Just hit me on Twitter @shaunalshatti and we’ll include it in Monday’s column.