Did Dana White study voodoo from Michael Jackson or something? Because Bellator has had worse luck than than nearly any promotion in the history of MMA when it comes to launching a successful PPV.
In case the headline didn’t tip you off, Eddie Alvarez is out of Bellator 120—the promotion’s second attempt to break into the PPV market. His rubber match with Michael Chandler will have to wait.
(Well, in a way, MMA’s “greatest trilogy” did kind of end at Bellator 120…)
Did Dana White study voodoo from Michael Jackson or something? Because Bellator has had worse luck than nearly any promotion in the history of MMA when it comes to launching a successful PPV.
In case the headline didn’t tip you off, Eddie Alvarez is out of Bellator 120—the promotion’s second attempt to break into the PPV market. His rubber match with Michael Chandler will have to wait.
Sherdog’s Greg Savage broke the news on Twitter last night. Initially, Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebneydenied the rumor, saying the fight was still on. Less than 24 hours later, Bellator hasn’t officially announced anything but mediaoutlets are accepting Alvarez’s withdrawal as fact.
What’ll they do now? Hopefully they convert it to a free card on Spike, like they did with their last ill-fated PPV. It’s unlikely Rampage Jackson vs. King Mo, Tito Ortiz vs. Alexander Shlemenko, Michael Page vs. Rick Rainey [Editor’s note: They were charging money for that fight?] and Will Brooks vs. Nate Jolly will be worth the price of admission. Regarding the last fight, Brooks vs. Jolly, it’s speculated that Brooks will be bumped into the main event against Chandler but who can say for sure.
These days the most compelling question when discussing Ronda Rousey — aside from whether or not she’ll fight Cris “Cyborg” Justino at some distant point in the future — is if she’ll ultimately defect to Hollywood. The trailblazer for that trajectory was Gina Carano, who put women’s MMA on the map in the late aughts only to segue to the silver screen.
Today Carano is contemplating a return to MMA after five years away (possibly to fight Rousey). And Rousey, the UFC’s first ever women’s bantamweight champion whom Dana White considers the company’s biggest star, is reciting dialogue from scripts in-between title defenses.
Since debuting in the UFC against Liz Carmouche at UFC 157, Rousey has scored roles in Fast and Furious 7 and The Expendables 3. She’ll also cameo in the movie version of the popular HBO show Entourage, which comes out in 2015.
So, will she follow in the footsteps of Carano and leave mixed martial arts at some point to focus on Hollywood? One of her co-stars from Entourage, Jerry Ferrera — a.k.a. “Turtle” on the show — doesn’t think so. He appeared on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour, and said Rousey bleeds fighting.
“I don’t ever want to speak for Ronda, I got to know her while we’re shooting, but I don’t know her all that well…but the impression I got is, she is not going anywhere,” the 34-year old Brooklyn-born actor told Ariel Helwani. “Ronda is a fighter, and everything that we talked about was [acting’s] great, as long as I don’t have a fight coming up.
“When that girl’s fighting, she’s fighting, and nothing else exists to her. She’s one of the more focused, driven people I’ve ever met and it’s almost like this was her night gig and fighting’s her day job. She’s a fighter. She’s not going anywhere. She loves fighting too much. That’s the impression I got. She’s not going anywhere.”
Ferrara didn’t shed light on the role that Rousey plays, but did say that it was centered on his character, leaving things to be inferred. He’s long been a fight fan, and has recently began training jiu-jitsu with Ryron Gracie in California (“I am literally like a blank piece of clay right now,” he said as to his progress).
He’ll also play the boxer Arturo Gatti in an upcoming role.
When asked how Rousey’s acting chops were, Ferrara said that she was dishearteningly good.
“You know what? This has happened a couple of times,” he said. “Years ago we had Tom Brady on the show and he was very good. And now we have Ronda on the show, and Ronda was very good. So, what happens to me is we get these cameos of athletes who are very, very good at what they do and they became famous for that reason, and when they come to work on the show, in my mind I’m saying, ‘well, alright, at least I know I’m a better actor.’
“And then Ronda comes on and kills it, so I’m like wow — you can beat me up, and you can possibly out act me? What are we going to play, chess? I’ve got to beat you at something.”
Ferrara said that Rousey arrived halfway through shooting and brought not only a spark of enthusiasm to the set — “fresh legs,” he said, using sports patois — but a sense of awe that could be felt amongst his castmates.
“She’s really, really funny,” he said. “That girl has a great sense of humor, and she was very patient with my probably idiotic fan boy questions that I had for her.
“I was blown away. She’s a very, very impressive person besides just an impressive fighter.”
These days the most compelling question when discussing Ronda Rousey — aside from whether or not she’ll fight Cris “Cyborg” Justino at some distant point in the future — is if she’ll ultimately defect to Hollywood. The trailblazer for that trajectory was Gina Carano, who put women’s MMA on the map in the late aughts only to segue to the silver screen.
Today Carano is contemplating a return to MMA after five years away (possibly to fight Rousey). And Rousey, the UFC’s first ever women’s bantamweight champion whom Dana White considers the company’s biggest star, is reciting dialogue from scripts in-between title defenses.
Since debuting in the UFC against Liz Carmouche at UFC 157, Rousey has scored roles in Fast and Furious 7 and The Expendables 3. She’ll also cameo in the movie version of the popular HBO show Entourage, which comes out in 2015.
So, will she follow in the footsteps of Carano and leave mixed martial arts at some point to focus on Hollywood? One of her co-stars from Entourage, Jerry Ferrera — a.k.a. “Turtle” on the show — doesn’t think so. He appeared on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour, and said Rousey bleeds fighting.
“I don’t ever want to speak for Ronda, I got to know her while we’re shooting, but I don’t know her all that well…but the impression I got is, she is not going anywhere,” the 34-year old Brooklyn-born actor told Ariel Helwani. “Ronda is a fighter, and everything that we talked about was [acting’s] great, as long as I don’t have a fight coming up.
“When that girl’s fighting, she’s fighting, and nothing else exists to her. She’s one of the more focused, driven people I’ve ever met and it’s almost like this was her night gig and fighting’s her day job. She’s a fighter. She’s not going anywhere. She loves fighting too much. That’s the impression I got. She’s not going anywhere.”
Ferrara didn’t shed light on the role that Rousey plays, but did say that it was centered on his character, leaving things to be inferred. He’s long been a fight fan, and has recently began training jiu-jitsu with Ryron Gracie in California (“I am literally like a blank piece of clay right now,” he said as to his progress).
He’ll also play the boxer Arturo Gatti in an upcoming role.
When asked how Rousey’s acting chops were, Ferrara said that she was dishearteningly good.
“You know what? This has happened a couple of times,” he said. “Years ago we had Tom Brady on the show and he was very good. And now we have Ronda on the show, and Ronda was very good. So, what happens to me is we get these cameos of athletes who are very, very good at what they do and they became famous for that reason, and when they come to work on the show, in my mind I’m saying, ‘well, alright, at least I know I’m a better actor.’
“And then Ronda comes on and kills it, so I’m like wow — you can beat me up, and you can possibly out act me? What are we going to play, chess? I’ve got to beat you at something.”
Ferrara said that Rousey arrived halfway through shooting and brought not only a spark of enthusiasm to the set — “fresh legs,” he said, using sports patois — but a sense of awe that could be felt amongst his castmates.
“She’s really, really funny,” he said. “That girl has a great sense of humor, and she was very patient with my probably idiotic fan boy questions that I had for her.
“I was blown away. She’s a very, very impressive person besides just an impressive fighter.”
Update:
Bellator held a conference call which Bleacher Report took part in confirming Sherdog’s and MMAFighting’s reports and elaborated on their future plans. The card will remain on pay per view and will be headlined by Mo Lawal vs. Quinton Jack…
Update:
Bellator held a conference call which Bleacher Report took part in confirming Sherdog’s and MMAFighting’s reports and elaborated on their future plans. The card will remain on pay per view and will be headlined by Mo Lawal vs. Quinton Jackson. The bout between Michael Chandler and Will Brooks will be a five-round interim title fight.
Alvarez’s injury was suffered last week, and as such, it is too early to give a definite timetable for his return.
Brooks was pulled from a fight with Nate Jolly. The Season 9 Heavyweight Tournament final bout between Blagoy Ivanov and Alexander Volkov is being elevated from the Spike TV portion of the preliminary card to pay per view. Jolly may or may not receive another opponent, and it is unknown what fight will replace Ivanov vs. Volkov on Spike TV.
Original story:
Originally reported by Sherdog.com, Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez is reportedly withdrawing from his scheduled title fight with Michael Chandler next Saturday at Bellator 120. MMAFighting.com’s Guilherme Cruz confirmed the news and discovered that Alvarez had suffered a concussion in training and will be unable to compete.
The news comes a week in advance of the rubber match, which was scheduled to headline the event. Bellator has yet to address the news, and it is unknown if the card will remain a pay-per-view event or if it will make the card available on Spike TV.
According to Sherdog’s report, Chandler will remain on the card and will face off with Season 9 lightweight tournament winner “Ill” Will Brooks. It’s unknown whether Chandler vs. Brooks will remain atop the card, or whether the co-main event between Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Muhammed Lawal will be featured. Additionally, it is unknown if the bout will be a three-round “feature fight” or if Brooks vs. Chandler will be dubbed an interim lightweight title fight.
This is the second time Bellator has seen a proposed pay-per-view headlining fight fall apart. Last year, at Bellator 106, a scheduled non-title fight between former UFC champions Jackson and Tito Ortiz fell apart due to a neck injury suffered by Ortiz. The bout falling through resulted in Jackson being pulled from the card and the event being moved from pay-per-view to Spike TV.
Once again, Bellator has not addressed the news, and its website still has Bellator 120 being advertised as Alvarez vs. Chandler 3. Stick with Bleacher Report for more details as they become available.
What, you haven’t heard of Bo Fung Do? Are you some kind of martial arts hobbyist or something? We only cater to hardcore fans at CagePotato, so here’s the rundown:
Bo Fung Do is “a martial art system geared for practical self defense against one or more opponents.” It’s a Wing Chun offshoot whose name means “The Way of the Sudden Storm.”
Judging by the above video, there’s no better way to prepare for a street fight against multiple opponents than to flail at opponents adorned in more padding than a self-conscious teenage girl’s bra.
Actually, we’re not being fair. There’s another crucial aspect to this ancient, prestigious art: Fighting in front of some strobe lights while being blasted with fake snow. See a video of it after the jump.
What, you haven’t heard of Bo Fung Do? Are you some kind of martial arts hobbyist or something? We only cater to hardcore fans at CagePotato, so here’s the rundown:
Bo Fung Do is “a martial art system geared for practical self defense against one or more opponents.” It’s a Wing Chun offshoot whose name means “The Way of the Sudden Storm.”
Judging by the above video, there’s no better way to prepare for a street fight against multiple enemies than to flail at opponents adorned in more padding than a self-conscious teenage girl’s bra.
Actually, we’re not being fair. There’s another crucial aspect to this ancient, prestigious art: Fighting in front of some strobe lights while being blasted with fake snow.
To be fair, this isn’t the worst school we’ve seen on Martial Arts Fail. The facilities these guys have (the foam padded rooms, the environmental hazard rooms) are actually pretty cool. It’d be interesting to train some real martial arts in those rooms to see what it’s like to fight on a hard surface in the rain rather than open mat space or in a cage. And it’s good that they’re at least trying to do some full contact…they just do it wrong. Look at the video. What is that going to teach the guy getting “attacked?” If three dudes were trying to beat you down, they wouldn’t be awkwardly smothering you, they’d be stomping the shit out of you and punching you. And they wouldn’t be easily dispatched by some slaps either.
The verdict on Bo Fung Do? Their hearts are in the right place, but pretty much everything else is as far from real fighting as you can get. Check out the rest of their YouTube channel to see what we mean.
If you see any video that’s good (or bad) enough to make the cut, let us know! Send it to [email protected].
According to reports from both Sherdog and MMA Fighting, Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez will not make his planned third meeting with Michael Chandler next Saturday night at Bellator 120.
Alvarez, who won the belt from Chandler last year in…
According to reports from both Sherdog and MMA Fighting, Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez will not make his planned third meeting with Michael Chandler next Saturday night at Bellator 120.
Alvarez, who won the belt from Chandler last year in a rematch between the two, suffered a concussion in training. The reports state that Season 9 tournament winner Will Brooks will move from a main card bout with Nate Jolly to face Chandler.
Bellator was hit with the same devastating news in 2013 when it attempted to host a pay-per-view event for the first time. Just days before the card was to go down, Tito Ortiz suffered a neck injury and could not make his planned main event fight with fellow former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.
Now, it is Alvarez (25-3) who will be out of action for an unknown amount of time at the moment. The two-time Bellator champion was involved in a lengthy legal battle with the promotion after first losing the title to Chandler in 2011. He was offered a deal by the UFC, but Bellator fought to match it in the court room, and Alvarez eventually agreed to the contract.
He returned last year and earned a split decision over Chandler to become the champion. All of Bellator‘s promotional work for this pay-per-view event has centered around Alvarez-Chandler fighting for a third time, including many preview shows on Spike TV.
The card is expected to feature Jackson taking on Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal in the Season 10 light heavyweight tournament final along with Ortiz making his debut with Bellator against middleweight champion Alexander Shlemenko in a non-title fight.
Bellator officials, including chairman and CEO Bjorn Rebney, have yet to make a statement regarding the Alvarez injury. When asked during the Bellator 119 post-fight press conference, Rebney stated the fight was still on, per MMA Junkie.
Ready or not, the MMA schedule is about to pick up.
Saturday’s UFC Fight Night in Cincinnati kicks off a head-spinning stretch of fights, which includes the May 17 Bellator pay-pay-per view card; UFC 174 on Memorial Day weekend; a pair of UFC events halfway around the world on May 31, then right on into June and leading up to Fourth of July.
It’s enough to satisfy even the most voracious fan’s cravings … and it is enough to provide ample fodder for conversation. In fact, we don’t even have to wait for the deluge to start. Let’s get right into anther edition of Fightweets, then.
What if Conor McGregor fails?
@Auggie85: What happens if Connor loses to Miller in decisive fashion? Can he rebound from that?
Given McGregor’s potential as a breakout star, these are the million-dollar questions.
The UFC is going all in by placing McGregor in the main event of the July 19 card in Dublin. The pressure on McGregor will be enormous: He’s fighting in his hometown, in the main event, after a year off due to a serious knee injury.
Oh, and, boy the way, he’s doing it against by far his toughest opponent. If McGregor can keep the fight against Cole Miller standing, he can win. Just look at the way Nam Phan was able to neutralize Miller’s size and reach advantage, and you have yourself a blueprint.
But if Miller, one of the craftier ground guys in the biz, gets McGregor to the ground? Better say a prayer to St. Patrick. McGregor’s two losses were submissions to Artemj Sitenkov (career record 15-11) and Joseph Duffy (best known for losing a get-into-the-TUF-house fight on the GSP vs. Koscheck season premiere). Granted, the Duffy loss in 2008, and it’s not like McGregor hasn’t improved by leaps and bounds since. But it’s not like he’s been knocking off ADCC medalists in the interim, either.
If McGregor wins? Then it’s on. Full-steam-ahead stardom, the type of attraction the sub-lightweight classes have been lacking for so long. Fighters who draw a crowd because half the people love him and the other half hate him are worth their weight in gold.
But if McGregor suffers a bad loss? Like, say, Miller smothers him on the ground for 15 minutes and McGregor can’t do anything about it? Well, remember the hype Houston Alexander had coming off his quick knockout of Keith Jardine? And how fast that ended once Alexander’s weaknesses were exposed? Multiply that by about 1,000.
Fight Pass PPVs?
@PhillieMills: With UFC ppv #s slowly declining, do you think they follow the WWE network and show live PPVs to its FP members?
I think we’re talking apples and oranges a little bit, here. The WWE made its move because their PPV numbers, outside of Wrestlemania, have dropped off in a major way over a period of several years and — this is an overlooked point — the WWE is a publicly traded company and is under Wall Street’s gun to produce satisfactory numbers every quarter.
UFC isn’t under that pressure (Do you think Zuffa would have lasted long enough to go $44 million in the hole if the Fertittas had to answer to the people who nearly destroyed our economy with their shortsightedness?). Yes, Zuffa is going through a bit of a thin year after losing several major draws and losing several others to injuries. But the fact that recent stretch of fights, with Ronda Rousey and Jon Jones both taking on opponents with zero history as draws, and the Johny Hendricks-Robbie Lawler title fight, all drew in the 300,000-350,000 buy range shows that PPV isn’t exactly dead, even if those numbers can’t be called home runs.
Things have the potential to pick up in the second half of the year: You’ve got the stacked UFC 175 over Fouth of July weekend; the Jones-Alexander Gustafsson rematch; Cain Velasquez’s return; presumably a Rousey fight against a real draw, whether it be Gina Carano or Holly Holm; and a potential Anderson Silva return.
That’s not to say things will never change in terms of the business model. This is a monkey-see, monkey-do business, and whether any of them the care to admit it, MMA, wrestling, and boxing all borrow business ideas that work from one another. If the WWE model is a runaway success, sure, UFC will give it a look. But WWE went there out of desperation, after years and years of decline.
UFC isn’t there yet, and given their FOX network money, aren’t likely to anytime soon. I would expect Fight Pass to stay what it was intended as, an ancillary product for the hardest-core fans.
Rumble vs. Li’l Nog
@maceseyebrows: Anthony Johnson vs Big Nog? wtf how does that fight make any sense?!
Well, it’s Li’l Nog, not Big Nog, but for the sake of discussion here I’ll assume you meant Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.
Let’s break down the potential, viable opponents for Rumble at the moment. Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson are already intertwined. Daniel Cormer and Dan Henderson are fighting in a couple weeks. Nothing besides a title shot makes sense for DC if he wins. Rashad Evans is in the middle of a long injury rehab, and is a fellow Blackzilian besides. Glover Teixeira isn’t going to be in fighting shape again for awhile after going 25 minutes with Jones.
That’s everyone ranked ahead of Johnson, who is No. 6 in the current SB Nation 205 poll, plus Henderson, who is accounted for. Looking below him? No sense rematching with Phil Davis, and Chael Sonnen and Ryan Bader have opponents. That pretty much leaves us with Nogueira. Is he the ideal opponent if you’re looking to build Johnson’s momentum coming off his beatdown of Davis? No. But sometimes you have to make the best of the hand you’ve been dealt. In this case, Rumble wants to stay active; the fight is slated for UFC on FOX in San Jose, which gives them a chance to showcase a hot new contender on network TV, and Nog is the most credible name available.
@chjobin: What should the UFC do with Lil Nog if he pulls out of another fight other than rename him “Lol Nog”?
I think you should walk into your nearest Nogueira Brothers gym and tell them your new nickname for Rogerio, then report back to us on which limb of yours got snapped.
Fabio’s big gamble
@dpop2: I thought Maldonado was a smallish lhw is taking a fight at hw really the best career choice?
I get what you’re saying, but in some ways, this is probably his best career choice. I mean, look at it from his long-term perspective: Maldonado is 34. He’s been in the UFC for four years and has only been on one UFC pay-per-view event in his past six fights. At some point, you have to make your move and take an opportunity when it presents itself. If he loses, he can always go right back to light heavyweight, where he’s on a three-fight win streak. He stepped up and saved a main event when the UFC needed it and he already fights in the sort of style his boss approves of. If he wins, though highly unlikely, he becomes a star in Brazil, where he’s already a respected name on the card.
Of course, all this glosses over the fact that he could very well take a beating from a much larger man and whether this fight should have be made at all. But I understand why Maldonado would accept the bout.
The Immortal One
@Paperboy_ca (and several others with similar questions): What’s next for Matt Brown if he gets his 7th in a row on Saturday?
A top-five opponent, hopefully. A win over Erick Silva obviously won’t mean as much as one over Carlos Condit would have. I can’t blame Brown for jumping on the opportunity to fight in his home town. But this is welterweight, not a division like bantamweight where the ranks are so thin that a solid win streak in and of itself is enough to propel you to a title shot. There are killers ahead of Brown in the pecking order, and he’s going to need to defeat at least one of them to get his title shot, no matter how many lower-tier guys he’s mangled along the way.
End of the road for HD?
@thecanEHdiankid: Do you think it’s time for Pat Barry to hang up the gloves. At least for the short term?
When Pat Barry went back to kickboxing, my first thought was “good for him.” It’s long been clear he’s a striker first and the ground stuff was simply something he had to learn if he wanted to make it in MMA, as opposed to a passion.
But after seeing him get knocked out in Glory last weekend? Well, I think he’s crossed that line where you simply don’t want to see someone get beat up anymore, especially when it’s someone you know is a good dude. Barry’s now been finished in the first round of four of his past five combat sports matches. His past three MMA KOs weren’t exactly to real contenders. As always, retirement is the fighter’s choice choice, but boy, do I hope he makes the right one.
The Maaaaaaaaaine-iac!
@dpop2: ooooo does the Maine fight mark the return of Tim Sylvia? Lol!!
Poor Tim. I’m kind of hoping the UFC signs him for this summer’s Bangor card, if only to spare us the sight of “The Maine-iac” sitting in the front row all night, directly in front of the camera, pouting, with his UFC belt propped over his shoulder since it doesn’t fit around his waist anymore. Do it, UFC, even if you have to book your first super heavyweight fight. I’d rather watch him on Fight Pass for a couple minutes than have him stare at us frowning all night long.
Ready or not, the MMA schedule is about to pick up.
Saturday’s UFC Fight Night in Cincinnati kicks off a head-spinning stretch of fights, which includes the May 17 Bellator pay-pay-per view card; UFC 174 on Memorial Day weekend; a pair of UFC events halfway around the world on May 31, then right on into June and leading up to Fourth of July.
It’s enough to satisfy even the most voracious fan’s cravings … and it is enough to provide ample fodder for conversation. In fact, we don’t even have to wait for the deluge to start. Let’s get right into anther edition of Fightweets, then.
What if Conor McGregor fails?
@Auggie85: What happens if Connor loses to Miller in decisive fashion? Can he rebound from that?
Given McGregor’s potential as a breakout star, these are the million-dollar questions.
The UFC is going all in by placing McGregor in the main event of the July 19 card in Dublin. The pressure on McGregor will be enormous: He’s fighting in his hometown, in the main event, after a year off due to a serious knee injury.
Oh, and, boy the way, he’s doing it against by far his toughest opponent. If McGregor can keep the fight against Cole Miller standing, he can win. Just look at the way Nam Phan was able to neutralize Miller’s size and reach advantage, and you have yourself a blueprint.
But if Miller, one of the craftier ground guys in the biz, gets McGregor to the ground? Better say a prayer to St. Patrick. McGregor’s two losses were submissions to Artemj Sitenkov (career record 15-11) and Joseph Duffy (best known for losing a get-into-the-TUF-house fight on the GSP vs. Koscheck season premiere). Granted, the Duffy loss in 2008, and it’s not like McGregor hasn’t improved by leaps and bounds since. But it’s not like he’s been knocking off ADCC medalists in the interim, either.
If McGregor wins? Then it’s on. Full-steam-ahead stardom, the type of attraction the sub-lightweight classes have been lacking for so long. Fighters who draw a crowd because half the people love him and the other half hate him are worth their weight in gold.
But if McGregor suffers a bad loss? Like, say, Miller smothers him on the ground for 15 minutes and McGregor can’t do anything about it? Well, remember the hype Houston Alexander had coming off his quick knockout of Keith Jardine? And how fast that ended once Alexander’s weaknesses were exposed? Multiply that by about 1,000.
Fight Pass PPVs?
@PhillieMills: With UFC ppv #s slowly declining, do you think they follow the WWE network and show live PPVs to its FP members?
I think we’re talking apples and oranges a little bit, here. The WWE made its move because their PPV numbers, outside of Wrestlemania, have dropped off in a major way over a period of several years and — this is an overlooked point — the WWE is a publicly traded company and is under Wall Street’s gun to produce satisfactory numbers every quarter.
UFC isn’t under that pressure (Do you think Zuffa would have lasted long enough to go $44 million in the hole if the Fertittas had to answer to the people who nearly destroyed our economy with their shortsightedness?). Yes, Zuffa is going through a bit of a thin year after losing several major draws and losing several others to injuries. But the fact that recent stretch of fights, with Ronda Rousey and Jon Jones both taking on opponents with zero history as draws, and the Johny Hendricks-Robbie Lawler title fight, all drew in the 300,000-350,000 buy range shows that PPV isn’t exactly dead, even if those numbers can’t be called home runs.
Things have the potential to pick up in the second half of the year: You’ve got the stacked UFC 175 over Fouth of July weekend; the Jones-Alexander Gustafsson rematch; Cain Velasquez’s return; presumably a Rousey fight against a real draw, whether it be Gina Carano or Holly Holm; and a potential Anderson Silva return.
That’s not to say things will never change in terms of the business model. This is a monkey-see, monkey-do business, and whether any of them the care to admit it, MMA, wrestling, and boxing all borrow business ideas that work from one another. If the WWE model is a runaway success, sure, UFC will give it a look. But WWE went there out of desperation, after years and years of decline.
UFC isn’t there yet, and given their FOX network money, aren’t likely to anytime soon. I would expect Fight Pass to stay what it was intended as, an ancillary product for the hardest-core fans.
Rumble vs. Li’l Nog
@maceseyebrows: Anthony Johnson vs Big Nog? wtf how does that fight make any sense?!
Well, it’s Li’l Nog, not Big Nog, but for the sake of discussion here I’ll assume you meant Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.
Let’s break down the potential, viable opponents for Rumble at the moment. Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson are already intertwined. Daniel Cormer and Dan Henderson are fighting in a couple weeks. Nothing besides a title shot makes sense for DC if he wins. Rashad Evans is in the middle of a long injury rehab, and is a fellow Blackzilian besides. Glover Teixeira isn’t going to be in fighting shape again for awhile after going 25 minutes with Jones.
That’s everyone ranked ahead of Johnson, who is No. 6 in the current SB Nation 205 poll, plus Henderson, who is accounted for. Looking below him? No sense rematching with Phil Davis, and Chael Sonnen and Ryan Bader have opponents. That pretty much leaves us with Nogueira. Is he the ideal opponent if you’re looking to build Johnson’s momentum coming off his beatdown of Davis? No. But sometimes you have to make the best of the hand you’ve been dealt. In this case, Rumble wants to stay active; the fight is slated for UFC on FOX in San Jose, which gives them a chance to showcase a hot new contender on network TV, and Nog is the most credible name available.
@chjobin: What should the UFC do with Lil Nog if he pulls out of another fight other than rename him “Lol Nog”?
I think you should walk into your nearest Nogueira Brothers gym and tell them your new nickname for Rogerio, then report back to us on which limb of yours got snapped.
Fabio’s big gamble
@dpop2: I thought Maldonado was a smallish lhw is taking a fight at hw really the best career choice?
I get what you’re saying, but in some ways, this is probably his best career choice. I mean, look at it from his long-term perspective: Maldonado is 34. He’s been in the UFC for four years and has only been on one UFC pay-per-view event in his past six fights. At some point, you have to make your move and take an opportunity when it presents itself. If he loses, he can always go right back to light heavyweight, where he’s on a three-fight win streak. He stepped up and saved a main event when the UFC needed it and he already fights in the sort of style his boss approves of. If he wins, though highly unlikely, he becomes a star in Brazil, where he’s already a respected name on the card.
Of course, all this glosses over the fact that he could very well take a beating from a much larger man and whether this fight should have be made at all. But I understand why Maldonado would accept the bout.
The Immortal One
@Paperboy_ca (and several others with similar questions): What’s next for Matt Brown if he gets his 7th in a row on Saturday?
A top-five opponent, hopefully. A win over Erick Silva obviously won’t mean as much as one over Carlos Condit would have. I can’t blame Brown for jumping on the opportunity to fight in his home town. But this is welterweight, not a division like bantamweight where the ranks are so thin that a solid win streak in and of itself is enough to propel you to a title shot. There are killers ahead of Brown in the pecking order, and he’s going to need to defeat at least one of them to get his title shot, no matter how many lower-tier guys he’s mangled along the way.
End of the road for HD?
@thecanEHdiankid: Do you think it’s time for Pat Barry to hang up the gloves. At least for the short term?
When Pat Barry went back to kickboxing, my first thought was “good for him.” It’s long been clear he’s a striker first and the ground stuff was simply something he had to learn if he wanted to make it in MMA, as opposed to a passion.
But after seeing him get knocked out in Glory last weekend? Well, I think he’s crossed that line where you simply don’t want to see someone get beat up anymore, especially when it’s someone you know is a good dude. Barry’s now been finished in the first round of four of his past five combat sports matches. His past three MMA KOs weren’t exactly to real contenders. As always, retirement is the fighter’s choice choice, but boy, do I hope he makes the right one.
The Maaaaaaaaaine-iac!
@dpop2: ooooo does the Maine fight mark the return of Tim Sylvia? Lol!!
Poor Tim. I’m kind of hoping the UFC signs him for this summer’s Bangor card, if only to spare us the sight of “The Maine-iac” sitting in the front row all night, directly in front of the camera, pouting, with his UFC belt propped over his shoulder since it doesn’t fit around his waist anymore. Do it, UFC, even if you have to book your first super heavyweight fight. I’d rather watch him on Fight Pass for a couple minutes than have him stare at us frowning all night long.
