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And Now Michael Bisping Is Injured: UFC 149 Sets Up Lombard vs. Boetsch, UFC on FOX 4 Adds Shogun vs. Vera Headliner

Man, this ain’t even funny anymore. After a brutal two-week period that saw the injury withdrawals of Vitor Belfort, Chad Griggs, Thiago Silva, Jon Fitch, Thiago Alves, and Brian Stann (as well as supporting players like Pablo Garza and Edwin Figueroa), news broke late last night that UFC middleweight star Michael Bisping is out of his meeting with Tim Boetsch at UFC 149 (July 21st, Calgary) due to an undisclosed injury.

Boetsch will remain on the “Aldo vs. Koch” main card against Hector Lombard, who was scheduled to make his Octagon debut at UFC on FOX 4 two weeks later until Brian Stann pulled out with a dinged shoulder. Lombard vs. Boetsch should be a hell of a brawl — unless losing two weeks of preparation throws the former Bellator champ off his game. Who ya got on that one?

With Lombard off of the UFC on FOX 4 lineup, the August 4th event has picked up a brand new main event…

The UFC has confirmed that Mauricio “Shogun” Rua will now headline the card against Brandon Vera. Shogun is coming off his 2011 Fight of the Year against Dan Henderson at UFC 139 last November, while Vera most recently out-pointed Eliot Marshall at UFC 137 in October — his first victory in over two years. Before he was drafted for this card, Vera was originally supposed to face James Te-Huna at UFC on Fuel TV 4 on July 11th.

Does “The Truth” deserve a headlining spot on a major UFC card at this point? Probably not. But as you can see, the UFC is losing warm bodies on a daily basis, and their options are limited. Where’s your ~~God~~ reason and science now, Joe Silva?

UFC: Hector Lombard Calls out Michael Bisping to Fight

UFC newcomer Hector Lombard was supposed to headline UFC on Fox 4 until a separated shoulder forced Brian Stann to withdraw from the main event match-up. Needless to say, this has put Lombard’s initial fight in the UFC on temporary stand-by. Lomba…

Lombard may have found a perfect solution, which resulted in him taking to his Twitter account on Wednesday, challenging another middleweight title contender and former Ultimate Fighter winner, Michael “The Count” Bisping.

Lombard simply tweeted, “Bisping I’m calling you out.”

This is definitely a fight that would be accepted by fans and would make the most sense in terms of relevancy to a title shot.

Since the UFC has already named Brandon Vera vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua as the new main event for the UFC on Fox 4, UFC 149 would be the more logical card to change.

Bisping’s current UFC 149 opponent is Tim Boetsch, a good fighter in the UFC whom many do not see as a title contender at the moment.

Bisping has been a very reliable and solid competitor inside of the Octagon but lacks a solid top-five win. A win over Boetsch would mean little for Bisping in terms of receiving a title opportunity.

Lombard is riding a 25-consecutive unbeaten streak into the UFC and I think that would be just the recipe if Bisping wants a UFC title shot.

As for benefiting Lombard, Bisping is a top-five contender with a big name, and a win over “The Count” would immediately silence any doubters.

Bisping would be the better pure striker but Lombard brings a wide array of powerful strikes that are somewhat unpredictable.

This would serve as a very entertaining fight for fans and should easily determine who is the No. 1 contender for the middleweight championship.

Let’s just see if the Dana White and the UFC takes this opportunity and makes it happen.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Brandon Vera Returns to Action Against James Te Huna at UFC on FUEL 4

(“How old are you again, Brandon? I lost count.”)

It’s hard to imagine at this point in his career, but there was a time not too long ago that Brandon Vera was knocking on the door of a heavyweight title shot. Consecutive losses to Tim Sylvia and Fabricio Werdum quickly squashed this notion, and perhaps in an attempt to save his career, Vera dropped to light heavyweight. The results thus far have been nothing short of disastrous.

Since dropping to 205, Vera:
1. Scored a weak UD over Reese Andy in his debut at UFN 14
2. Was made Keith Jardine’s personal whipping boy at UFC 89
3. Was nearly bear hugged to death by Randy Couture at UFC 105
4. Had his face ground into a fine powder by Jon Jones at UFC Live 1
5. Suffered the second most embarrassing loss in UFC history* when Thiago Silva used him as his personal set of bongos before treating his face like that of a three dollar hooker at UFC 125. But hey, the fight was changed to a no-contest, so that’s something, right?
6. Had his arm broken by a guy he was supposed to destroy at UFC 137.

*We all know the most embarrassing loss in UFC History will always belong to Matt Lindland

Regardless of his track record, it looks like Vera will be getting yet another chance to silence his naysayers when he takes on the heavy-handed James Te Huna at UFC on FUEL 4 in July.

(“How old are you again, Brandon? I lost count.”)

*We all know the most embarrassing loss in UFC History will always belong to Matt Lindland

After Silva was popped for steroids in the aftermath of his win over Vera and served a subsequent year-long suspension, “The Truth” was supposed to welcome that “piece of shit juice monkey” back to the octagon at UFC on FX 3. However, when Vera found out that the aformentioned broken arm he sustained against Elliot Marshall would not be healed up in time, he was forced to withdraw from the rematch.

Vera might want to consider wearing his protective face guard ala Kobe Bryant when he squares off against James Te Huna, because that New-Zealander packs some serious power in his hands. Te Huna is currently 3-1 in the octagon, with all of his victories coming by way of uber violent (T)KO. He suffered his only UFC loss via rear-naked choke to top contender Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 127, so if Vera is smart, he’ll be looking to take this one to the ground, as Te Huna has shown a weakness for submissions in the past.

No date or location have been named for UFC on FUEL 4, though it is expected to place sometime in July.

Who you got?

-J. Jones

Lil’ Nog Out, Thiago Silva in Against Alexander Gustafsson at ‘UFC on Fuel 2? in Sweden Apr. 14

(Fun fight between two hungry 205’ers.)

Our friends at StudioMMA broke the news minutes ago that Antonio Rogerio Nogueira sustained an injury training for his upcoming UFC on Fuel 2 bout with fast-rising light heavyweight Alexander Gustafsson and that stepping in for Lil’ Nog will be fellow Brazilian Thiago Silva.

Silva, who is returning from a one-year suspension for submitting artificial urine to the California State Athletic Commission in an attempt to mask steroid use ahead of his UFC 125 win over Brandon Vera, was originally slated to rematch “The Truth” at UFC on Fuel 3 on May 15 before a training injury forced his opponent out of the bout. Igor Pokrajac stepped up to replace Vera, but it looks like the UFC will now have to find a replacement for the Croation.

(Fun fight between two hungry 205′ers.)

This bout definitely provides a step up for Silva in competition from his previously slated two opponents, but this isn’t the first time the 29-year-old has faced a highly-touted adversary. A win over a bright prospect like “The Mauler” could propel the American Top Team fighter, who is 1-2 and 1 NC in his past four fights, back into the mix of 205-pound UFC contenders.

Gustafsson (13-1) will have the home crowd in Sweden on his side, as well as the momentum of four-straight wins — three in the past year — inside the Octagon. Silva’s inactivity may be the biggest factor in this fight, but Gustafsson may have a chink in his armor that the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt might be able to expose. The sole loss of the 25-year-old’s career came against Phil Davis via first-round anaconda choke, which makes the pairing with Silva — a known knockout artist with unheralded submission skills, very intriguing.

UFC on Fuel 2, AKA UFC Sweden
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Ericsson Globe Arena
Stockholm, Sweden

Main Card (Fuel TV):
Thiago Silva vs. Alexander Gustafsson
Brian Stann vs. Alessio Sakara
Paulo Thiago vs. Siyar Bahadurzada
DaMarques Johnson vs. John Maguire

Preliminary Card (FX):
Diego Nunes vs. Dennis Siver
Brad Pickett vs. Damacio Page
Papy Abedi vs. James Head
Cyrille Diabate vs. Jörgen Kruth
ason Young vs. Eric Wisely
Reza Madadi vs. Yoislandy Izquierdo
Francis Carmont vs. Magnus Cedenblad
Simeon Thoresen vs. Besam Yousef

Booking Roundup: Donald Cerrone vs. Yves Edwards, Thiago Silva to Face Igor Pokrajac at UFC on FX 3

(Are you there God? It’s me, Cowboy…)

A lot of fight booking action today, Potato Nation.

Before dropping a unanimous decision to Nate Diaz at UFC 141, Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone had arguably the best 2011 of any fighter out there, scoring victories over Paul Kelly, Vagner Rocha, Charles Oliveira, and Dennis Siver, three of which came by way of stoppage. And although he ended the year on a loss, Cerrone will be looking to start off 2012 with a big win when he takes on 60 fight veteran Yves Edwards at UFC on FX 3, which goes down at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Virginia on May 15th.

After suffering one of the most brutal knockout losses of 2011 at the hands of Sam Stout, Edwards has gone 1-1 in the UFC, picking up a second round TKO over Rafaello Oliveira at UFC Live 6 before being outpointed by TUF 13 winner Tony Ferguson at the TUF 14 Finale in December. Edwards will likely be a considerable underdog going into this one, so Yves, for the sake of the Thugjitsu nation, lay off the KC Masterpiece.

And in other UFC on FX news…

(Are you there God? It’s me, Cowboy…)

A lot of fight booking action today, Potato Nation.

And in other UFC on FX news…

It appears that Thiago Silva will be squaring off against Igor Pokrajac now that Brandon Vera has pulled out of their rematch due to injury. Silva has not fought since getting busted for steroids in the aftermath of his bizarre and humiliating win over Vera in January of 2011. Pokrajac, on the other hand, has won two straight for the first time in his UFC career, defeating Todd Brown by TKO due to retirement at UFC Live 3 before KO’ing Krzysztof Soszynski into retirement at UFC 140.

Then again, it’s really hard to judge what an MMA fighter means by “retirement” these days.

Let’s switch gears from the UFC on FX, to the UFC on Fox, shall we?

Coming off a brilliant second round TKO of his own over Mitch Clark in his UFC debut back at UFC 140, Jersey native John Cholish has agreed to face Danny Castillo in a lightweight clash of rising contenders. “Last Call” has racked up two in a row over Shamar Bailey and Anthony Njokuani since being out wrestled by the Carlos Mencia of comedy, Jacob Volkmann, at UFC Live 5. Yes, the Carlos Mencia of comedy.

UFC on Fox 3 is set to transpire on May 5th in East Rutherford, NJ, and is headlined by a lightweight battle between Jim Miller and Nate Diaz.

-J. Jones

Brandon Vera Pulls Out of Heated Rematch with Thiago Silva Due to Injury

Vera can’t stand to even look at that “Juice Monkey“. (Pic: MMAFighting.com)

The report we filed two days ago on the Brandon Vera-Thiago Silva grudge match is already woefully out of date. According to “The Truth”, he was so eager to ‘welcome’ Silva back to the Octagon that he jumped the gun and accepted the rematch before discussing the bout with his coaches or doctors. A consultation with his physician revealed that he wouldn’t be recovered from an injury in time for the May 15^th fight.

The bad blood stems back to their UFC 125 bout. Silva showed incredible disrespect toward Vera, bitch slapping him repeatedly before playing him like a pair of bloody bongos. The humiliating loss earned Vera his walking papers, at least until he was un-fired when Silva’s post-fight urine sample tested positive for steroids.

Silva eventually copped to ‘roiding and was himself slapped with a hefty fine and one-year suspension. The rematch with Vera, scheduled to go down on the UFC on FX 3 card, would have been his first fight back from that suspension. Following a successful nose transplant, Vera rebounded with a unanimous decision win over Eliott Marshall at UFC 137, but he’ll now spend a little more time on the sidelines. Zuffa is currently looking for an alternate dance partner for the Brazilian.

Vera can’t stand to even look at that “Juice Monkey“. (Pic: MMAFighting.com)