Souza, on the other hand, recently picked up his third straight UFC win (and sixth in a row overall) over Francis Carmont at Fight Night 36. We highly doubt he’ll be lacking motivation heading into his rematch with Mousasi, who ended his night with an upkick KO when they previously met in the Dream middleweight finals back in 2008. Ah, Dream, how we have forgotten you so.
But Mousasi vs. Souza II isn’t the only big fight to be booked today, not by a long shot…
(Mousasi vs. Souza 1, Dream 6 Middleweight Grand Prix Finals, 2008)
Souza, on the other hand, recently picked up his third straight UFC win (and sixth in a row overall) over Francis Carmont at Fight Night 36. We highly doubt he’ll be lacking motivation heading into his rematch with Mousasi, who ended his night with an upkick KO when they previously met in the Dream middleweight finals back in 2008. Ah, Dream, how we have forgotten you so.
But Mousasi vs. Souza II isn’t the only big fight to be booked today, not by a long shot…
According to BloodyElbow, Fight Night 42 victors Ben Henderson and Rafael Dos Anjos have also agreed to meet in the main event of Fight Night Tulsa, which will be transpiring on August 23rd, a.k.a the same day as Fight Night: Bisping vs. Le in Macau. Way to optimize viewership, UFC!
As I mentioned, both Henderson and Dos Anjos picked up stoppage wins at Fight Night 42, the former by 4th round submission over Rustam Khabilov and the latter by second round TKO of the now-fired Jason High. The fight will serve as both Dos Anjos’ first main event and first five round contest, which is quite an accomplishment for a guy best known as the victim of Jeremy Stephens’ uppercut from Hell for a large part of his UFC career.
Another pivotal lightweight matchup announced earlier today is that of Joe Lauzon vs. Michael Chiesa. Things have been up-and-down for Lauzon both professionally and personally as of late; the TUF 5 alum bounced back from the first two fight skid of his career to trounce Mac Danzig at UFC on FOX 9 and recently saw his newborn son diagnosed with cancer only to kick its ass at just two months of age. Take *that* cancer, ya dick!
I guess I should mention that Chiesa has scored back-to-back wins over Colton Smith and Francisco Trinaldo at Fight for the Troops 3 and UFC 173, respectively. So there’s that.
Finally, a light heavyweight contest between Ryan Bader and Ovince St. Preux as the main event of a Fight Night event in Bangor, Maine on August 16th. The announcement was made by Bader himself on Twitter just moments ago. Similar to the Henderson/Dos Anjos booking, both Bader and OSP picked up decisive victories at UFC 174 last weekend over Rafael Cavalcante and Ryan Jimmo, respectively, and all but agreed to fight one another when some media mark tried to play matchmaker in the evening’s post-fight press conference. Hooray for that guy!
My prediction: OethhP by Submithhion. (I’m sorry, that was a low blow.)
(“Well if I can’t get this guy to wake up and fight, YOU TRY!! Photo via Getty.)
Blah blah blah standard introductory paragraph that you don’t read blah blah blah UFC returns to Cincinnati with Fight Night 40 blah blah May 10th. Fights booked:
Soa Palelei vs. Ruan Potts – Just over a week after signing with the UFC, EFC Heavyweight champion Ruan Potts will face the streaking Australian Soa Palelei in his promotional debut. Since returning to the UFC (after going 10-1 in various promotions following his one-off stint at UFC 79), Palelei has scored back to back (T)KO’s over Nikita Krylov and Pat Barry. Expect a stand up war between these two that ends inside the distance, Nation.
Justin Salas vs. Ben Wall: A potential “Loser Leaves Town” match pits Salas, who has dropped 2 out of his past 3 including a most recent submission loss to Thiago Tavares in under three minutes, against the 7-1-1 TUF Smashes alum who was starched by Alex Garcia in under a minute at Fight Night 33.
Blah blah blah who do you like blah blah this gif of Genki Sudo:
(“Well if I can’t get this guy to wake up and fight, YOU TRY!! Photo via Getty.)
Blah blah blah standard introductory paragraph that you don’t read blah blah blah UFC returns to Cincinnati with Fight Night 40 blah blah May 10th. Fights booked:
Soa Palelei vs. Ruan Potts – Just over a week after signing with the UFC, EFC Heavyweight champion Ruan Potts will face the streaking Australian Soa Palelei in his promotional debut. Since returning to the UFC (after going 10-1 in various promotions following his one-off stint at UFC 79), Palelei has scored back to back (T)KO’s over Nikita Krylov and Pat Barry. Expect a stand up war between these two that ends inside the distance, Nation.
Justin Salas vs. Ben Wall: A potential “Loser Leaves Town” match pits Salas, who has dropped 2 out of his past 3 including a most recent submission loss to Thiago Tavares in under three minutes, against the 7-1-1 TUF Smashes alum who was starched by Alex Garcia in under a minute at Fight Night 33.
Blah blah blah who do you like blah blah this gif of Genki Sudo:
(Alves and Martin Kampmann trade fisticuffs during their epic battle at UFC on FX 2. Photo via Getty.)
After nearly two years away from the game, Thiago Alves finally has his next fight booked. The one-time welterweight title challenger has been out of action since suffering a last-second submission loss to Martin Kampmann in their headlining bout at UFC on FX 2, subsequently pulling out of fights with Siyar Bahadurzadaand Matt Brown at UFC 149 and Fight Night: Shogun vs. Sonnen, respectively.
However, it was revealed last month that Alves was finally healthy again and hoping to return at UFC 171 in March. Yesterday, word was passed along that Alves will actually be returning in April when he faces TUF 11 standout Seth Baczynski at UFC on FOX 11.
Baczynski has a had a rough run of things since putting together a six-fight win streak between 2010 and early 2012. “The Polish Pistola” was decisioned by Mike Pierce at UFC on FX 6 before getting KO’d by the now-retired Brian Melancon in the last second of the first round at UFC 162, and only recently returned to the win column with a unanimous decision over Neil Magny at Fight for the Troops 3 last November.
Also booked for UFC on FOX 11…
(Alves and Martin Kampmann trade fisticuffs during their epic battle at UFC on FX 2. Photo via Getty.)
After nearly two years away from the game, Thiago Alves finally has his next fight booked. The one-time welterweight title challenger has been out of action since suffering a last-second submission loss to Martin Kampmann in their headlining bout at UFC on FX 2, subsequently pulling out of fights with Siyar Bahadurzadaand Matt Brown at UFC 149 and Fight Night: Shogun vs. Sonnen, respectively.
However, it was revealed last month that Alves was finally healthy again and hoping to return at UFC 171 in March. Yesterday, word was passed along that Alves will actually be returning in April when he faces TUF 11 standout Seth Baczynski at UFC on FOX 11.
Baczynski has a had a rough run of things since putting together a six-fight win streak between 2010 and early 2012. “The Polish Pistola” was decisioned by Mike Pierce at UFC on FX 6 before getting KO’d by the now-retired Brian Melancon in the last second of the first round at UFC 162, and only recently returned to the win column with a unanimous decision over Neil Magny at Fight for the Troops 3 last November.
Also booked for UFC on FOX 11…
Speaking of hype trains that came to a sudden halt, Jordan “Young Guns” Mein was flying high after becoming the only man to ever stop Dan Miller inside the distance (in the first round, no less) in his promotional debut at UFC 158. Unfortunately, the Strikeforce vet was paired with the beast that is Matt Brown in his next contest and saw his three-fight win streak broken via a hellstorm of elbows. Said Evangelista Santos while watching the fight from his couch, “Good, now he knows how it feels.”
In any case, Mein will also attempt to get back in the win column at UFC on FOX 11 when he faces Santiago “El Rasta” Ponzinibbio, an 18-2 TUF Brazil 2 alum who dropped a decision in his promotional debut against Ryan LaFlare at Fight Night 32. I have no clue who this Ponzinibbio fella is, but he did just remind me of how versatile and excellent ponzu sauce is, so perhaps the beatdown he will inevitably at the hands of Mein will not be completely in vain. Little victories, Nation.
Finally, TUF 17 vet Josh Samman will face Caio Magalhaes on the FOX 11 undercard as well. Please try and contain yourselves.
UFC on FOX 11 goes down on April 19th from the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida.
On the heels of a first round dismantling of Shawn Jordan at UFC 166, it seems that the 2006 Mundials champion will be receiving a significant step up in competition for his next bout when he faces Stipe Miocic at UFC on FOX 10 in January. Miocic recently rebounded from his first career loss — a second round TKO at the hands of Stefan Struve — by treating Roy Nelson‘s face like Jenna Jameson treats secretly installed home security cameras at UFC 161 back in June. Gonzaga has struggled when facing the upper-echelon of the heavyweight division his entire career, so this fight may very well be make-or-break if he ever hopes to fight for a title again.
UFC on FOX 10 goes down from the at United Center in Chicago, Ill., on Jan. 25.
On the heels of a first round dismantling of Shawn Jordan at UFC 166, it seems that the 2006 Mundials champion will be receiving a significant step up in competition for his next bout when he faces Stipe Miocic at UFC on FOX 10 in January. Miocic recently rebounded from his first career loss — a second round TKO at the hands of Stefan Struve — by treating Roy Nelson‘s face like Jenna Jameson treats secretly installed home security cameras at UFC 161 back in June. Gonzaga has struggled when facing the upper-echelon of the heavyweight division his entire career, so this fight may very well be make-or-break if he ever hopes to fight for a title again.
UFC on FOX 10 goes down from the at United Center in Chicago, Ill., on Jan. 25.
In other fight booking news…
Less than a fortnight prior to Gonzaga and Miocic’s sure-to-be-slugfest, the seemingly unfirable Thiago Silva will square off with Ovince St. Preux at Fight Night 35, which transpires on January 15, 2014 from the Gwinnett Center in Duluth, Georgia.
Despite missing weight for his fight with Matt Hamill at Fight Night 29, putting on a piss-poor performance, and only defeating Hamill by virtue of the TUF 3 finalist being in even worse shape than he was before he retired, Silva is still tapdancing on eggshells in regards to his UFC career. That he’s receiving a top-15 opponent in St. Preux — who scored a vicious KO over Cody Donovan at Fight Night: Shogun vs. Sonnen in August (improving his overall UFC record to 2-0) — leads us to believe that this the UFC’s way of telling Silva to finally pull his head out of his ass.
In one of the greater upsets of 2013 thus far, Robbie Lawler returned to the UFC last February and successfully smashed former top contender Josh Koscheck in the opening round of their UFC 157 main card scrap. Although the fight was not without its share of controversy (because it is physically impossible to fully knockout a Fraggle), the UFC quickly took notice nonetheless and has now booked “Ruthless” against the final Strikeforce welterweight champion, Tarec Saffiedine, at UFC on FOX 8.
In one of the greater upsets of 2013 thus far, Robbie Lawler returned to the UFC last February and successfully smashed former top contender Josh Koscheck in the opening round of their UFC 157 main card scrap. Although the fight was not without its share of controversy (because it is physically impossible to fully knockout a Fraggle), the UFC quickly took notice nonetheless and has now booked “Ruthless” against the final Strikeforce welterweight champion, Tarec Saffiedine, at UFC on FOX 8.
Also set for UFC on FOX 8 is a battle of exciting lightweights when Team Alpha Male’s Danny Castillo takes on Strikeforce import Bobby Green. Currently 5-2 in the UFC (4-1 in his last 5), “Last Call” recently rebounded from a second round KO loss to Michael Johnson at UFC on FX 5 with a unanimous decision victory over Paul Sass at UFC on FUEL 7. God dammit, we are less than 10 FXs and FUELs in and I am already getting confused by this bullshit. When UFC on Fox Sports 1 1 rolls around, I am out of this bitch. Anyways, Bobby Green will be looking to improve upon a successful SOTN victory over Jacob Volkmann in his UFC debut that earned the seal-of-approval from DW himself. Expect some fireworks in this one.
(Using so-phisticated technology, Jurassic Park scientists were able to extract the preserved blood from Munoz’s bone spurs and BINGO! Dino DNA. Photo via Munoz’s Twitter.)
Fact: Chris Weidman hits so hard that his victims often fail to quantify the force of his punches until weeks and sometimes months after they’ve been hit. Just ask middleweight contender Mark Munoz, who received such a vicious beating at the hands of Weidman last July that his bones began to disintegrate over the course of the year in an attempt to deal with the shock. Hell, even Weidman’s body cracked under the pressure of possessing two pipe bombs for hands. So it’s quite fitting that, almost a year to the day after their clash at UFC on FUEL 4, both Weidman and Munoz have been booked to return to action at UFC 162.
If you recall, Weidman’s teammate, Costa Phillipou, quickly stepped in as a replacement against Boetsch at UFC 155 and managed to successfully cut “The Barbarian’s” title hopes right out from under him with a series of eye pokes and headbutts that were eventually declared a third round TKO. Prior to the loss, Boetsch had racked up 4 straight wins in the middleweight division over the likes of Hector Lombard and Yushin Okami among others. Will ring rust play a factor in Munoz’s return to the octagon, or will Boetsch launch himself right back into the short list of contenders at middleweight with a win here?
Munoz vs. Boetsch is just one of several exciting matchups to be announced within the past few hours, so join us after the jump to check out the chronologically-sorted list.
(Using so-phisticated technology, Jurassic Park scientists were able to extract the preserved blood from Munoz’s bone spurs and BINGO! Dino DNA. Photo via Munoz’s Twitter.)
Fact: Chris Weidman hits so hard that his victims often fail to quantify the force of his punches until weeks and sometimes months after they’ve been hit. Just ask middleweight contender Mark Munoz, who received such a vicious beating at the hands of Weidman last July that his bones began to disintegrate over the course of the year in an attempt to deal with the shock. Hell, even Weidman’s body cracked under the pressure of possessing two pipe bombs for hands. So it’s quite fitting that, almost a year to the day after their clash at UFC on FUEL 4, both Weidman and Munoz have been booked to return to action at UFC 162.
If you recall, Weidman’s teammate, Costa Phillipou, quickly stepped in as a replacement against Boetsch at UFC 155 and managed to successfully cut “The Barbarian’s” title hopes right out from under him with a series of eye pokes and headbutts that were eventually declared a third round TKO. Prior to the loss, Boetsch had racked up 4 straight wins in the middleweight division over the likes of Hector Lombard and Yushin Okami among others. Will ring rust play a factor in Munoz’s return to the octagon, or will Boetsch launch himself right back into the short list of contenders at middleweight with a win here?
Munoz vs. Boetsch is just one of several exciting matchups to be announced within the past few hours, so join us after the jump to check out the chronologically-sorted list.
UFC on FOX 7 – April 20th
Joseph Benavidez vs. Darren Uyenoyama: The former flyweight title challenger in Benavidez is on the heels of a unanimous decision victory over Ian McCall at UFC 156. Uyenoyama, on the other hand, recently made the drop to flyweight following a successful bantamweight debut victory over Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto at the inaugural UFC on FOX card. The grappling specialist looked more dangerous than ever at 125 lbs, successfully choking out Phil Harris in the second round of their scrap at UFC on FX: Browne vs. Bigfoot.
Johnny Bedford vs. Erik Perez: Despite getting viciously knocked out of the TUF 14 tournament by eventual bantamweight winner John Dodson, Bedford has been killing it ever since entering the deep waters of the UFC’s bantamweight division. The hard-hitting Ohioan cruised past Louis Gaudinot en route to a third round TKO at the TUF 14 Finale before absolutely blistering Marcos Vinicius at the TUF 16 Finale last December. Bedford will have his hands full when he takes on fellow slugger Erik Perez, who has finished all three of his opponents since entering the organization in June of 2012. Here’s a video of his 17-second blitzkrieging of WEC veteran Ken Stone in case you are still questioning how this fight will end.
Sam Stout vs. Isaac Vallie-Flaag: Following a successful promotional debut victory over Yves Edwards at UFC 156, the relatively unknown Vallie-Flaag will be given a very similar test for his sophomore appearance when he faces 15-fight UFC veteran Sam Stout. After getting out-jogged by John Makdessi at UFC 154 (at least according to Stout), “Hands of Stone” rebounded with a unanimous decision victory over Caros Fodor at UFC 157 last month.
