Thankfully, the man stepping up on short notice to take Rumble’s place will be none other than the last man to be defeated by him, former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski. “The Pit Bull” has not fought since his aforementioned loss at WSOF 2, where he dropped a unanimous decision to Johnson in an entertaining slugfest.
While we imagine that Kyle is probably elated to learn that he is now fighting a guy he stands a decent chance of actually knocking out, expect him to be a huge underdog heading into this one nonetheless. Minus his setback at the hands of Johnson, Arlovski has gone 4-0 with 1 NC since exiting Strikeforce back in 2011 (well, 5-0 if you also happen to think that ONE FC’s stance on soccer kicks is f*cking ridiculous). Kyle, on the other hand, recently scored a quick KO over Travis Wiuff in his comeback bout last May.
Thankfully, the man stepping up on short notice to take Rumble’s place will be none other than the last man to be defeated by him, former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski. “The Pit Bull” has not fought since his aforementioned loss at WSOF 2, where he dropped a unanimous decision to Johnson in an entertaining slugfest.
While we imagine that Kyle is probably elated to learn that he is now fighting a guy he stands a decent chance of actually knocking out, expect him to be a huge underdog heading into this one nonetheless. Minus his setback at the hands of Johnson, Arlovski has gone 4-0 with 1 NC since exiting Strikeforce back in 2011 (well, 5-0 if you also happen to think that ONE FC’s stance on soccer kicks is f*cking ridiculous). Kyle, on the other hand, recently scored a quick KO over Travis Wiuff in his comeback bout last May.
Like me, there are plenty of you who years ago gave up the quest to make sense of the things that often come out of Tito Ortiz‘s mouth. You know as well as I do that Ortiz is an emotional man, and those emotions can often lead to the former UFC light heavyweight champion handing […]
Like me, there are plenty of you who years ago gave up the quest to make sense of the things that often come out of Tito Ortiz‘s mouth. You know as well as I do that Ortiz is an emotional man, and those emotions can often lead to the former UFC light heavyweight champion handing […]
Anthony Pettis isn’t even scheduled to face Jose Aldo, and still the barbs are flying between their respective camps. Aldo’s long-time coach Andre Pederneiras told Brazilian radio show Mundo da Luta (via Guilherme Cruz of mmafighting.com) on Sunday afternoon that he believed Pettis faked the recent injury that forced him out of the UFC 163 title fight with […]
Anthony Pettis isn’t even scheduled to face Jose Aldo, and still the barbs are flying between their respective camps. Aldo’s long-time coach Andre Pederneiras told Brazilian radio show Mundo da Luta (via Guilherme Cruz of mmafighting.com) on Sunday afternoon that he believed Pettis faked the recent injury that forced him out of the UFC 163 title fight with […]
Jose Aldo will be out of action for at least the rest of 2013 after sustaining a broken foot in his UFC 163 victory over Chan Sung Jung. A report from MMAFighting.com‘s Guilherme Cruz reveals that X-ray results confirmed that the UFC featherweight champion fractured his foot in his title defense bout Saturday night in Rio […]
Jose Aldo will be out of action for at least the rest of 2013 after sustaining a broken foot in his UFC 163 victory over Chan Sung Jung. A report from MMAFighting.com‘s Guilherme Cruz reveals that X-ray results confirmed that the UFC featherweight champion fractured his foot in his title defense bout Saturday night in Rio […]
(Gold Bond foot lotion: So soothing, it’ll knock you right off your motherfucking feet.)
Since we know how much you guys love a good old fashioned conspiracy theory, try this one on for size: Everyone in the middleweight division is still scared shitless of Uriah Hall and will do anything within their power to avoid fighting him. Yes, despite the fact that he dropped a unanimous decision to Kelvin Gastelum in his UFC debut, Hall seemingly cannot find an opponent brave (or healthy) enough to face him at UFC on FOX Sports: Shogun vs. Sonnen on August 17th.
First, Nick “mumblegumblemurglegurgle” Ring was scheduled to face Hall at the event. Then we posted this video, then Ring suspiciously went down with the first “blown asspussy” in UFC history. Ring was quickly replaced by Hall’s fellow TUF 17 alum, Josh Samman, and everything seemed to be back on track. Until yesterday, that is, when Samman likely realized that he would never be able to complete his Ethnography of Women and Violence in Post-war Guatemala thesis while comatose. Subsequently, Samman has also been forced to withdraw from his fight with Hall, paving the way for a certain UFC veteran (and Boston native) to reclaim the spotlight…
(Gold Bond foot lotion: So soothing, it’ll knock you right off your motherfucking feet.)
Since we know how much you guys love a good old fashioned conspiracy theory, try this one on for size: Everyone in the middleweight division is still scared shitless of Uriah Hall and will do anything within their power to avoid fighting him. Yes, despite the fact that he dropped a unanimous decision to Kelvin Gastelum in his UFC debut, Hall seemingly cannot find an opponent brave (or healthy) enough to face him at UFC on FOX Sports: Shogun vs. Sonnen on August 17th.
First, Nick “mumblegumblemurglegurgle” Ring was scheduled to face Hall at the event. Then we posted this video, then Ring suspiciously went down with the first “blown asspussy” in UFC history. Ring was quickly replaced by Hall’s fellow TUF 17 alum, Josh Samman, and everything seemed to be back on track. Until yesterday, that is, when Samman likely realized that he would never be able to complete his Ethnography of Women and Violence in Post-war Guatemala thesis while comatose. Subsequently, Samman has also been forced to withdraw from his fight with Hall, paving the way for a certain UFC veteran (and Boston native) to reclaim the spotlight…
That’s right, Taters, none other than John “Doomsday” Howard will make his long-awaited return to the UFC on short notice to face Hall at the TD Garden. Howard posted the above video to his Youtube account yesterday to break the good news (as well as guarantee a FOTN-worthy performance); now let’s just hope he can make it to fight night in one piece.
Since being ousted from the UFC in 2011 following three straight losses — bringing his promotional record to 4-3 overall — Howard has gone 6-1 with five stoppages and is coming off back-to-back first round knockouts. “Doomsday” has offered to fight on the Boston card for free in recent months and even broke Boston bomber Tamerlan Tsaranev’s nose once, so it was kind of DW’s patriotic duty to include him on this card.
Will Howard be able to score an upset in his UFC return? Or is Hall destined to receive an endless loop of opponents who will never actually fight him?
(If you enjoy seeing someone immediately regret a decision they made on camera, it doesn’t get much better than this.)
For better or worse, we as a society have become completely incapable of accepting any information at face value. It’s why some of us simply can’t believe that, yes, if you drop your hands and clown around a little too much against a world class fighter, you might get knocked the fuck out even if you’re Anderson Silva. It’s also why some of us simply refuse to believe that T.J. Grant was actually injured when he pulled out of his title fight with Ben Henderson, despite all the evidence pointing to the contrary.
Well, conspiracy theory or not, the concussion Grant suffered while rolling will keep him out of action until at least November. Unfortunately for Grant, his stock will have plummeted so far by the time he returns that he will likely have to fight his way back to a title shot that he will never truly receive once again. That’s UFC politics, baby — greed, get the money, dollar, dollar bill, y’all.
During an appearance on yesterday’s edition of The MMA Hour, Grant spelled out what the future had in store for him and also detailed his decision to pull out of the fight. And again, he would like you to know that it was actually his decision to make:
I’m not scared to fight anyone. If I was healthy and I knew that I could get in shape, I would’ve [tried it.]. It’s a little scary. I wanted to kind of make the best decision for myself. I want to do what’s best for me.
(If you enjoy seeing someone immediately regret a decision they made on camera, it doesn’t get much better than this.)
For better or worse, we as a society have become completely incapable of accepting any information at face value. It’s why some of us simply can’t believe that, yes, if you drop your hands and clown around a little too much against a world class fighter, you might get knocked the fuck out even if you’re Anderson Silva. It’s also why some of us simply refuse to believe that T.J. Grant was actually injured when he pulled out of his title fight with Ben Henderson, despite all the evidence pointing to the contrary.
Well, conspiracy theory or not, the concussion Grant suffered while rolling will keep him out of action until at least November. Unfortunately for Grant, his stock will have plummeted so far by the time he returns that he will likely have to fight his way back to a title shot that he will never truly receive once again. That’s UFC politics, baby — greed, get the money, dollar, dollar bill, y’all.
During an appearance on yesterday’s edition of The MMA Hour, Grant spelled out what the future had in store for him and also detailed his decision to pull out of the fight. And again, he would like you to know that it was actually his decision to make:
I’m not scared to fight anyone. If I was healthy and I knew that I could get in shape, I would’ve [tried it.]. It’s a little scary. I wanted to kind of make the best decision for myself. I want to do what’s best for me. I want to fight for a long time. I want to live a long time. I want to enjoy my baby girl and all that stuff, so I thought about it a lot and talked to the UFC doctor and all the doctors here. The decision was 100 percent mine.
Additionally, Grant told Helwani that UFC matchmaker Joe Silva “never made any promises one way or the other” in regards to whether or not he would receive a title shot upon his return. However, Silva did tell Grant that “if [his next fight] was a step back, it would only be one step back.”
Oh, T.J., you ignorant slut. Ask Dan Henderson, Rashad Evans, or Lyoto Machida what it’s like to take a step back (and that’s just one division!). One day, you’re the top dog of the office, and the next, you’re fighting for the right to stay employed. It’s kind of like working at Walmart.
