Officials with the Ultimate Fighting Championship announced their choice for the co-main event for the upcoming UFC 151 event this September. Meeting in a welterweight bout will be former top contender Josh Koscheck (17-6) and recent TUF 15 Finale event headliner Jake ‘The Juggernaut’ Ellenberger (27-6). The promotion announced the news at UFC.com on Wednesday […]
Josh Koscheck
Officials with the Ultimate Fighting Championship announced their choice for the co-main event for the upcoming UFC 151 event this September. Meeting in a welterweight bout will be former top contender Josh Koscheck (17-6) and recent TUF 15 Finale event headliner Jake ‘The Juggernaut’ Ellenberger (27-6).
The promotion announced the news at UFC.com on Wednesday evening.
Two top-ten ranked welterweights have verbally agreed to meet in the co-main event of UFC 151 as powerhouse wrestlers Jake “The Juggernaut” Ellenberger and Josh Koscheck will battle it out September 1st.
UFC 151 is expected to take place on September 1, 2012 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada and is headlined by a light heavyweight title bout between champion Jon Jones versus former Strikeforce champ Dan Henderson.
Koshcheck lost a split to Johny Hendricks in his last outing, losing via split decision at UFC on FOX 3 at the East Rutherford, New Jersey event. The defeat ended a two fight win streak for Koscheck who had rebounded from a decision loss to UFC welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre at UFC 124. Koscheck would stop Matt Hughes at UFC 135 via knockout then defeating Mike Pierce via split decision at UFC 143.
Ellenberger also enters this fight on a loss, having been stopped by Martin Kampmann via knockout at the TUF 15 Finale last June, in a fight ‘The Juggernaught’ was controlling for the most part. The defeat ended a six fight win streak for Ellenberger who won four matches by (T)KO and two by decision. His last victory was by decision this past February, a “Fight of the Night” winning match in the headliner for UFC on FUEL TV 1 versus Diego Sanchez.
The UFC’s welterweight division has picked up a fight between two top ten combatants, as the UFC has announced that Jake Ellenberger and Josh Koscheck will face each other in the co-main event of UFC 151. The fight, which will take place on Septe…
The UFC’s welterweight division has picked up a fight between two top ten combatants, as the UFC has announced that Jake Ellenberger and Josh Koscheck will face each other in the co-main event of UFC 151.
The fight, which will take place on September 1 in Las Vegas, puts most of the top ranked welterweight fighters in play over the next few months.
Also tentatively scheduled to compete before the end of the year are Georges St-Pierre, Carlos Condit, Martin Kampmann and Johny Hendricks. St-Pierre and Condit will face off to determine who is the one true owner of the UFC welterweight crown, while Kampmann and Hendricks will compete to thin the herd at the top of the division. Those two fights are penciled in for UFC 154, which is scheduled for November 17 in Montreal, Quebec.
Also in the welterweight mix, Rory MacDonald will face BJ Penn at UFC 152 in September.
Ellenberger and Koscheck are both coming off losses in their last bouts.
Ellenberger (27-6) was on a six-fight UFC winning streak and hearing whispers about a possible title shot when he ran into Martin Kampmann during the TUF 15 final fight card. Kampmann took that fight by second round knockout. Fighters that Ellenberger defeated during his winning streak included Diego Sanchez and Jake Shields.
As for Koscheck (17-6), he saw a two-fight winning streak come to an end on the UFC on FOX 3 card when Johny Hendricks took a split decision victory over the always-game Koscheck. Before the loss to Hendricks, Koscheck had defeated Matt Hughes and Mike Pierce.
UFC 151 will be headlined by a light heavyweight title bout as champion Jon Jones puts his belt on the line against former Pride and Strikeforce champion Dan Henderson.
French striker Cheick Kongo is set to meet Shawn Jordan this Saturday night in their light heavyweight bout as part of the pay-per-view card of UFC 149 in Calgary, Alberta. Kongo tells Heavy MMA that he is ready for his bout this Saturday and is hoping to use Jordan’s emotions against him.
French striker Cheick Kongo is set to meet Shawn Jordan this Saturday night in their light heavyweight bout as part of the pay-per-view card of UFC 149 in Calgary, Alberta. Kongo tells Heavy MMA that he is ready for his bout this Saturday and is hoping to use Jordan’s emotions against him.
Former UFC light heavyweight, and TUF 8 finalist, Vinny Magalhães (9-5, 1NC) is set to make his return to the Octagon this September when he faces Croatian fighter Igor Pokrajac at UFC 152. News of the matchup was announced by Sportsnet.ca reporter Joe Ferraro (@ShowdownJoe) on Tuesday evening. – Just got word: Light Heavyweight Bout […]
Vinny Magalhaes
Former UFC light heavyweight, and TUF 8 finalist, Vinny Magalhães (9-5, 1NC) is set to make his return to the Octagon this September when he faces Croatian fighter Igor Pokrajac at UFC 152.
News of the matchup was announced by Sportsnet.ca reporter Joe Ferraro (@ShowdownJoe) on Tuesday evening.
– Just got word: Light Heavyweight Bout added to UFC 152 in Toronto: Vinny Magalhaes VS Igor Pokrajac
UFC 152 is expected occur on September 22, 2012 in at Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Canada.
Magalhães hasn’t been in action since last October when he defended the M-1 Global light heavyweight title, stopping opponent Mikhail Zayats via third round TKO in Arizona. The victory was Magalhães fifth straight and fourth match with M-1. He and the Russian based promotion had a falling out, with Magalhães putting his belt up for sale on Ebay. The Brazilian made his last Octagon appearance back in April 2009 after losing a decision to Eliot Marshall at UFC 97. It was his second straight UFC defeat after losing in the TUF 8 Final to Ryan Bader.
‘The Duke’ is on a bit of a win streak himself, having won three straight including two first round (T)KO finishes. Pokrajac was last inside the Octagon in May at UFC on FUEL TV 3 where he won a unanimous decision Fabio Maldonado. Pokrajac’s two other wins were over Krzysztof Soszynski by knockout at UFC 140 and versus Todd Brown via TKO at UFC on Versus 3.
During our Inside MMA Extra Rounds Facebook exclusive UFC middleweight Alan Belcher was asked what skills he possessed that would aid him in beating Anderson Silva. Belcher gives a great answer and gives us a glimpse of a possible gameplan vs. the Spider.
More from Belcher as he continues to state his case on why he deserves a title shot next above everyone else at 185-lbs.
During our Inside MMA Extra Rounds Facebook exclusive UFC middleweight Alan Belcher was asked what skills he possessed that would aid him in beating Anderson Silva. Belcher gives a great answer and gives us a glimpse of a possible gameplan vs. the Spider.
More from Belcher as he continues to state his case on why he deserves a title shot next above everyone else at 185-lbs.
ONE Fighting Championship held a press conference yesterday at the Discovery Hotel in Pasig City, Metro Manila, Philippines for its ONE FC: Pride of a Nation, presenting internationally renowned fighters Shinya Aoki, Andrei Arlovski, Bibiano Fernandes,…
ONE Fighting Championship held a press conference yesterday at the Discovery Hotel in Pasig City, Metro Manila, Philippines for its ONE FC: Pride of a Nation, presenting internationally renowned fighters Shinya Aoki, Andrei Arlovski, Bibiano Fernandes, Gustavo Falciroli, Eduard “The Landslide” Folayang and Eric “The Natural” Kelly.
ONE FC CEO and owner Victor Cui—who shared to the media that his parents are Filipinos from the Southern province of Cebu—proclaimed that for the Singapore-based MMA company’s Philippine debut,
We have put together the greatest card in ONE FC history for our Manila event. When you put Shinya Aoki and Bibiano Fernandes on the same card, one can expect nothing less than an epic night of world-class MMA action like Manila has never seen before…We are beyond excited to hold this incredible card in such a passionate and pride driven city.
For the Filipino fight fans, the main event of “Asia’s largest MMA organization” pits DREAM Bantamweight Champion Bibiano Fernandes against CFC Australia Champion Gustavo Falciroli, with the venue being the historic SMART Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City. (The Araneta Coliseum also hosted the legendary boxing event “Thrilla in Manila” between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier in 1975, among other important sporting and non-sporting events in the nation’s history.)
In the other matches, former UFC heavyweight champion Arlovski will face rising star Soa Palelei of Australia. Another past UFC champion, Jens Pulver, will face undefeated Filipino fighter Eric Kelly.
Aoki and popular hometown fighter Folayang so far have unnamed opponents, which Cui said will be announced soon.
Clearly still the most world-famous fighters in the card, Aoki, Pulver and Arlovski aim to impress the Filipino fans with emphatic wins in their debut in Manny Pacquiao’s home country.
DREAM Lightweight Champion Aoki looks to rebound from his TKO loss in his last fight, against Eddie Alvarez in Bellator 66 last April. (Negotiations are still ongoing for a possible fight between Aoki and Kazushi Sakuraba, according to the Tobikan Judan’s interpreter.)
Little Evil Pulver wants to make it a two-fight winning streak, after winning his last match, at flyweight, last April.
Arlovski is currently running high on two consecutive knockout wins versus Ray Lopez and Travis Fulton, respectively, both in ProElite fights.
The Pit Bull commits not to repeat his folly versus legend Fedor Emelianenko, who knocked him out three years ago during their Affliction main event after he attempted an ill-timed flying knee. He vows,
I’m not going to jump again like I did to Fedor. I lost a lot of money. I learned from those fights.
The former UFC heavyweight titlist was the wackiest in the press conference, even imitating Gerard Butler’s King Leonidas character in the action movie “300” (when told by a reporter that they look alike) by extending his arms laterally and shouting, “This is Sparta!“
And this is ONE FC.
Note: The ONE FC organizers advise MMA fans who plan to watch One FC: Pride of a Nation live to purchase tickets at TicketNet Philippines as early as possible to avoid the precedent in Indonesia, when there were fans who were not able to get inside the jam-packed fight venue of its Battle of Heroes event, after the tickets were sold out.
This upcoming event will be shown via live stream at www.onefc.com, at delayed telecast on ESPN Star Sports and local Philippine TV’s Channel 13 AKTV, which will run a series of build-up episodes beginning August 19.
The UFC’s welterweight division has picked up a fight between two top ten combatants, as the 
