Twitter personality Front Row Brian was first to break the news, not Ariel Helwani and Fox like some might say.
Pettis last fought at UFC 181 in December, thrashing Gilbert Melendez and submitting him in the second round with a guillotine choke.
Dos Anjos, too, is coming off a hot victory. He dominated Nate Diaz at UFC on FOX 13. Prior to that, he knocked out former lightweight champ Benson Henderson at UFC Fight Night 49.
While we were hoping for Pettis vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov, Pettis vs. dos Anjos isn’t a terrible booking decision either. We’re looking forward to this one.
Originally, Ellenberger was slated to fight Tarec Saffiedine at UFC 172 in Baltimore next month. However, an injury Saffiedine sustained in training changed all that. Not to diss Saffiedine, but Ellenberger-Lawler is a much more exciting fight to daydream about.
(Robbie Lawler storms the Octagon, refusing to leave until Joe Silva offers a sacrifice. / Photo via Getty)
Originally, Ellenberger was slated to fight Tarec Saffiedine at UFC 172 in Baltimore next month. However, an injury Saffiedine sustained in training changed all that. Not to diss Saffiedine, but Ellenberger-Lawler is a much more exciting fight to daydream about.
Lawler is coming off a decision loss to Johny Hendricks in what was basically the fight of his life. He had the title within his grasp, but couldn’t reach it. Watching him (try to) bounce back will be interesting. Ellenberger, too, is coming off a loss. His was to Rory MacDonald at UFC on FOX 8 last July. He looked disinterested and flat. He’ll likely be looking to erase that performance with his efforts against Lawler.
UFC 173 needed a match like this—one between two top fighters that actually matter and that has implications in the weight class. The card started off well enough, with Chris Weidman vs. Vitor BelfortLyoto Machida as the main event. Then Weidman hurt his knee, and the MMA fandom collectively breathed a sigh of woe as the main event became Renan Barao vs. TJ Dillashaw. But thanks to Ellenberger-Lawler, as well as Junior Dos Santos vs. Stipe Miocic, UFC 173 might actually be worth paying for now.
Of note: The fight is taking place in Las Vegas. Belfort’s last three fights were located in Brazil. Conspiratorially minded individuals suspected this clever booking had something to do with Belfort’s much-maligned TRT use. When venerable MMA journalist Kevin Iole tried to separate himself from Dana White’s cheerleaders (aka the MMA media) and call attention to the issue, he was reprimanded.
The TRT issue will, in some ways, overshadow the combatants and the other narratives present in the fight—Weidman coming into his own as champion after definitely proving his superiority over Silva, Belfort’s resurgence as a top contender, etc. The Nevada State Athletic Commission is unsure of whether they’ll award Belfort a therapeutic use exemption, while Dana White has switched stances on the TRT issue. He’s now hoping the commission denies Belfort’s TUE request and TRT gets banned from MMA. Go figure.
It’s going to be an interesting spring.
(Chris Weidman cheers on NSAC officials as they deliberate. / Photo via Getty)
Of note: The fight is taking place in Las Vegas. Belfort’s last three fights were located in Brazil. Conspiratorially minded individuals suspected this clever booking had something to do with Belfort’s much-maligned TRT use. When venerable MMA journalist Kevin Iole tried to separate himself from Dana White’s cheerleaders (aka the MMA media) and call attention to the issue, he was reprimanded.
The TRT issue will, in some ways, overshadow the combatants and the other narratives present in the fight—Weidman coming into his own as champion after definitely proving his superiority over Silva, Belfort’s resurgence as a top contender, etc. The Nevada State Athletic Commission is unsure of whether they’ll award Belfort a therapeutic use exemption, while Dana White has switched stances on the TRT issue. He’s now hoping the commission denies Belfort’s TUE request and TRT gets banned from MMA. Go figure.
We all probably think our bosses are full of shit to some extent, but saying it in public isn’t the smartest idea. Nate might be accompanying Nick at the welfare office sooner rather than later. However, knowing Dana White, it’s possible that he’s making the whole thing up. Maybe Nate will pull the “I don’t have a manager” card like his brother did late last year? There’s a lot of uncertainty and speculation around the issue. The only sure thing is that Khabib Nurmagomedov still not fighting a legit top-10 opponent sucks. He’s 21-0 and just came off a dominant unanimous decision win over Pat Healy. He needs to fight a top guy at this point or else he’s just wasting his time. But if Dana White is telling the truth, fighters are avoiding Nurmagomedov like thugs avoid bodyguard Ken Shamrock.
He’ll continue to sit on the sidelines for now. We’ll have more updates as we get them.
UPDATE: Nate Diaz’s manager Mike Kogan claims that the fight not coming to fruition is the UFC’s fault. “There are conditions that we asked for that were turned down by the UFC, so the fight didn’t happen,” he told MMAmania. Diaz himself, however, adopted a less diplomatic stance…
(If MacDonald’s fighting career doesn’t pan out, he can always get a job as a male model. / Photo via Getty.)
The UFC announced that welterweights Rory MacDonald and Demian Maia would face off at UFC 170 this February. They made the announcement when the MMA world was abuzz with talk about the stellar fight card taking place. You know, the one that hosted one of the most exciting main events ever? So the news didn’t really stick.
Maia is coming off a disappointing loss to Jake Shields at UFC Fight Night 29 back in October. He looked his age, 36, during the fight.
MacDonald recently had his hype train derailed by a resurgent Robbie Lawler at UFC 167, snapping a five-fight winning streak and presumably a fight with Georges St.Pierre.
MacDonald-Maia is good booking. The well-rounded MacDonald is an atrocious match-up for Maia—who has average striking and deficient takedowns. It’s clear that the UFC wants to get their 24-year-old, Canadian prospect back in “the mix” as soon as possible, and the best way to do that is give him a name opponent that he has a high chance of beating. They want to make him their next GSP sooner rather than later.
(If MacDonald’s fighting career doesn’t pan out, he can always get a job as a male model. / Photo via Getty.)
The UFC announced that welterweights Rory MacDonald and Demian Maia would face off at UFC 170 this February. They made the announcement when the MMA world was abuzz with talk about the stellar fight card taking place. You know, the one that hosted one of the most exciting main events ever? So the news didn’t really stick.
Maia is coming off a disappointing loss to Jake Shields at UFC Fight Night 29 back in October. He looked his age, 36, during the fight.
MacDonald-Maia is good booking, at least from a business perspective. The well-rounded MacDonald is an atrocious match-up for Maia—who has average striking and deficient takedowns. It’s clear that the UFC wants to get their 24-year-old, Canadian prospect back in “the mix” as soon as possible. The best way to do that is give him a name opponent that he has a high chance of beating. They want to make him their next GSP sooner rather than later.
Despite Rashad Evans‘s belief that Jon Jones will fake another injury to duck him, it’s looking like the two best frenemies could settle their grudge by the end of the year. MMAFighting reports that the UFC is in the process of setting up a light-heayweight title match between Jones and Evans at UFC 140 (December 10th, Toronto), and the booking could be made official within the next 24-48 hours.
Despite Rashad Evans‘s belief that Jon Jones will fake another injury to duck him, it’s looking like the two best frenemies could settle their grudge by the end of the year. MMAFighting reports that the UFC is in the process of setting up a light-heayweight title match between Jones and Evans at UFC 140 (December 10th, Toronto), and the booking could be made official within the next 24-48 hours.
Jones has already fought three times this year, and a UFC 140 booking would mean just a two-and-a-half month turnaround; wear-and-tear might be a concern for Bones at this point. Still, the UFC was lacking a marquee fight for their return to Toronto, and this is one that fans have been clamoring for. Here’s what the lineup looks like right now…
MAIN CARD
Jon Jones vs. Rashad Evans
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Frank Mir
Antônio Rogério Nogueira vs. Tito Ortiz
Brian Ebersole vs. Rory MacDonald
Mark Hominick vs. Chan Sung Jung
PRELIMINARY CARD
Dennis Hallman vs. John Makdessi
Mark Bocek vs. Nik Lentz
Igor Pokrajac vs. Krzysztof Soszynski
Rich Attonito vs. Claude Patrick
Mitch Clarke vs. John Cholish
