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UFC 152 Fight Card: Is Evan Dunham the Most Underrated Lightweight in the UFC?

When one thinks about UFC lightweights fighting today, there are many different names that come up. Champion Ben Henderson, Nate Diaz, Donald Cerrone, Anthony Pettis, Jim Miller, Joe Lauzon, Gray Maynard and more.One name that rarely gets mentioned now…

One name that rarely gets mentioned nowadays is Evan Dunham.

Evan Dunham made his UFC debut at UFC 95. He had rattled off four straight wins before facing Sean Sherk. At this point, the hype train behind Dunham was massive. He was easily heading towards elite status in the lightweight division.

Here is where the first incident occurred.

Dunham lost a very controversial decision to Sherk that night and his hype took a big hit. Many thought he could get back on track with a win against Melvin Guillard at UFC Fight for the Troops 2. It just wasn’t Dunham‘s night, as he got TKO’ed by Guillard via knees and punches.

I believe this was the night when people, in a sense, swept Dunham under the carpet.

I didn’t here much about Dunham after that day, even when his next fight took place. Since his loss to Guillard, he has reeled off two consecutive victories over Shamar Bailey and Nik Lentz. Despite this, no one is talking much about Dunham. He has all the skills to be a top lightweight. He possesses slick boxing and holds a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

I’m not completely sure why no one is giving Dunham any credit right now. Maybe it’s because he needs to gain some more momentum or introduce himself to the casual fans. It might be because the UFC lightweight division is the most stacked right now.

I don’t believe Dunham is the most underrated lightweight in the UFC today, but he has to be pretty close. If he wins a few more fights and get’s that confidence he had early on back, Evan Dunham will be a force. He can resume his quest to become a lightweight elite with a convincing win over T.J. Grant at UFC 152.

Shoot me a comment on the article or tweet me @FuscoNation16.

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UFC 146 Injury Switcheroo: Roy Nelson Now Facing Dave Herman, Jamie Varner Returns Against Edson Barboza

(Just don’t come between Dave and his cubs.)

A pair of injuries have led to even more changes to the already chaotic UFC 146 lineup. As confirmed last night, heavyweight Gabriel Gonzaga has been forced to withdraw from his scheduled fight against Roy Nelson, and will be replaced by Dave Herman, who suffered a TKO loss to Stefan Struve in his last Octagon appearance. This is the second opponent switch for Nelson, who was originally supposed to face Antonio Silva on the “Dos Santos vs. Mir” card.

Meanwhile in the prelims, lightweight contender Evan Dunham is out of his fight against undefeated rising star Edson Barboza, and will be replaced by former WEC champ Jamie Varner. Since exiting the WEC after going 0-3-1 in 2010, Varner has won three of four fights outside the Zuffa fold, most recently stopping Drew Fickett in 40 seconds at XFC 16. However, all of Varner’s recent fights have come at 160-170 pounds, and one of those matches resulted in a loss to Dakota Cochrane, of all people. Will Varner be at a disadvantage trying to make 155 again on short notice? Will it even matter, considering that Barboza vs. Varner is the biggest UFC squash match of the year?

UFC 146 goes down May 26th at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The current (but probably not final) lineup is after the jump…

(Just don’t come between Dave and his cubs.)

UFC 146 goes down May 26th at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The current (but probably not final) lineup is after the jump…

Main Card (PPV)
Junior dos Santos vs. Frank Mir
Cain Velasquez vs. Antonio Silva
Shane del Rosario vs. Stipe Miocic
Roy Nelson vs. Dave Herman
Mark Hunt vs. Stefan Struve

Preliminary Card (FX)
Diego Brandao vs. Darren Elkins
Edson Barboza vs. Jamie Varner
Jason Miller vs. C.B. Dollaway
Jacob Volkmann vs Paul Sass

Preliminary Card (Facebook)
Dan Hardy vs. Duane Ludwig
Kyle Kingsbury vs. Glover Teixeira
Mike Brown vs. Daniel Pineda

(Varner does his happy-dance after scoring the only UFC win of his career, against Jason Gilliam back at UFC 68 in March 2007.)

UFC 144 Results: 5 Fights for Takanori Gomi to Take Next

Tonight at UFC 144, Takanori Gomi made both an in fight and career comback when he defeated Eliji Mitsuoka by second round TKO. Gomi was nearly submitted in the first round, but found a way to survive and came back in the second. Following th…

Tonight at UFC 144, Takanori Gomi made both an in fight and career comback when he defeated Eliji Mitsuoka by second round TKO.

Gomi was nearly submitted in the first round, but found a way to survive and came back in the second.

Following the fight, Gomi stated he wanted to bring the UFC lightweight title to Japan.

Gomi will have a long way to go before he’s in a title fight, but here are some fights he could take to get him there.

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Edson Barboza vs. Evan Dunham Booked for UFC 146 in Las Vegas

(In Brazil, it’s customary to destroy your own cornermen with flying knees after an impressive victory.)

With a flawless 10-0 record, three Fight of the Night awards, and a legendary spinning wheel-kick knockout of Terry Etim in his last performance, Brazilian lightweight Edson Barboza is arguably the greatest undefeated prospect on the UFC’s roster. And he’ll be going for his fifth win in the Octagon on May 26th, when he faces Evan Dunham at UFC 146 in Las Vegas. UFC president Dana White confirmed the pairing yesterday via Twitter.

Dunham, who was a much-hyped undefeated prospect himself at one time, is back on the upswing after compiling back-to-back victories against Shamar Bailey and Nik Lentz, which snapped a two-fight losing streak. Dunham’s biggest advantage against Barboza should be on the mat, but if he can’t get the fight there, he’ll be in for a long, painful night, full of feet flying at his face and shins slamming into his thighs. Anybody think Evan can derail the Edson Barboza hype-train?

(In Brazil, it’s customary to destroy your own cornermen with flying knees after an impressive victory.)

UFC 146 Gets Lightweight Matchup Between Edson Barboza and Evan Dunham

A lightweight contender’s matchup between standout striker Edson Barboza (10-0) and Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Evan Dunham (13-2) is set to take place at UFC 146 in May, according to a recent tweet by UFC president Dana White:For the UFC 146 card M…

For the UFC 146 card May 26th in Vegas we just signed Edson Barboza vs Evan Dunham!!

The card, which is set to be headlined by UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos and Alistair Overeem, has only had three official bouts announced, and Dunham vs. Barboza is likely to go down as one of the featured bouts on the pay-per-view.

Barboza enters the fight with a perfect 10-0 record, including victories over Terry Etim, Ross Pearson, Anthony Njokuani and Mike Lullo. His wheel-kick knockout of Etim from UFC 142 is the top candidate for 2012’s knockout of the year.

Dunham rebounded from two back-to-back losses to defeat Shamar Bailey and Nik Lentz. His split-decision loss to Sherk was one of the more controversial decisions of 2010. Other UFC wins include those over Tyson Griffin, Marcus Aurelio and Efrain Escudero.

With other lightweight matchups like Nate Diaz vs. Jim Miller and Joe Lauzon vs. Anthony Pettis set to go down at future events, the winner of this fight could be very close to finding themselves in a top contender’s bout.

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Photo of the Day: Roy Nelson By Way of Marvin Eastman

(The shirt says it all.)

Roy Nelson’s UFC 143 scrap with Fabricio Werdum was truly an exercise in futility for “Big Country,” because it more or less showcased what we already knew about him (the man can take a beating like no other), while at the same time reinforcing the idea that Nelson has damn near refused to evolve as a MMA fighter. Yes, he has recently shown a commitment to slimming down and yes, not many of us expected him to try and submit Werdum on Saturday, but if Roy doesn’t start switching up his striking routine (aka looking for anything but a big overhand right), he can expect several more axe wounds like the one above in his future.

We love you Roy, but it might be time to depart from The Country Club for a while, because you can only change the tee box and hole locations for so long until you just get sick of playing the same course over and over again.

Speaking of axe wounds, join us after the jump for a brief look back at some of MMA’s nastiest cuts…

(The shirt says it all.)

Speaking of axe wounds, join us below for a brief look back at some of MMA’s nastiest cuts…

The “Goat Vagina” – Marvin Eastman