It has recently been announced that, following Renan Barao’s withdrawal from his scheduled interim title fight with Eddie Wineland — the battle between light heavyweight wrestlers Rashad Evans and Dan Henderson will now serve as the headliner for UFC 161. While this change would at first seem like a huge downgrade (hence the kneejerk reaction title) given both fighter’s underwhelming performances against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Lyoto Machida, respectively, it actually has all the makings for one hell of a fight. Perhaps even because of that fact.
The news was passed along by the UFC’s official twitter account earlier today. The fight is still scheduled for three rounds.
Evans has dropped two of his past three fights and is in need of a big win if he is to ever delay any more discussion of a potential (and likely dreadful) drop to middleweight. Henderson also finds his back somewhat against a wall, as the 42-year old’s stock has been decreasing ever since he was forced to pull out from his UFC 151 title fight with Jon Jones. Again, these may sound like criticisms, but in all reality, they only heighten the chance that these two veterans put on a show for the ages come June 15th.
As for the Jake Shields/Tyron Woodley fight that will likely be bumped up to the main card in light of this…
It has recently been announced that, following Renan Barao’s withdrawal from his scheduled interim title fight with Eddie Wineland — the battle between light heavyweight wrestlers Rashad Evans and Dan Henderson will now serve as the headliner for UFC 161. While this change would at first seem like a huge downgrade (hence the kneejerk reaction title) given both fighter’s underwhelming performances against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Lyoto Machida, respectively, it actually has all the makings for one hell of a fight. Perhaps even because of that fact.
The news was passed along by the UFC’s official twitter account earlier today. The fight is still scheduled for three rounds.
Evans has dropped two of his past three fights and is in need of a big win if he is to ever delay any more discussion of a potential (and likely dreadful) drop to middleweight. Henderson also finds his back somewhat against a wall, as the 42-year old’s stock has been decreasing ever since he was forced to pull out from his UFC 151 title fight with Jon Jones. Again, these may sound like criticisms, but in all reality, they only heighten the chance that these two veterans put on a show for the ages come June 15th.
As for the Jake Shields/Tyron Woodley fight that will likely be bumped up to the main card in light of this…
(Symbol of eternal love and devotion…or DEATH TRAP? We’re just kidding. It’s both.)
We’re not sure if we can “thank” MiddleEasy for passing along the image that awaits you after the jump, but out of morbid curiosity, we are going to pass it along to you nonetheless. We do not know who the poor sap on the receiving end of this…flensing is; all we know is that he apparently suffered it while grappling with his wedding ring on. As if we needed another reason to take them off, amiright fellas? *raises hand for high-fives, receives none*
I know I have a tendency to embellish these things. I know this. But if the photo below does not make you recoil in disgust, then vomit into your lap and possibly even denounce the concept of marriage altogether, I will proudly hand over my expired press pass and gun to the CagePotato offices and retire.
You have been warned.
(Symbol of eternal love and devotion…or DEATH TRAP? We’re just kidding. It’s both.)
We’re not sure if we can “thank” MiddleEasy for passing along the image that awaits you after the jump, but out of morbid curiosity, we are going to pass it along to you nonetheless. We do not know who the poor sap on the receiving end of this…flensing is; all we know is that he apparently suffered it while grappling with his wedding ring on. As if we needed another reason to take them off, amiright fellas? *raises hand for high-fives, receives none*
I know I have a tendency to embellish these things. I know this. But if the photo below does not make you recoil in disgust, then vomit into your lap and possibly even denounce the concept of marriage altogether, I will proudly hand over my expired press pass and gun to the CagePotato offices and retire.
Sometime after he had finished spoiling Ryan Couture’s UFC debut at UFC on FUEL 9, it was revealed that TUF 9 winner and TUF: Smashes coach Ross Pearson had allegedly broken his foot warming up. Obviously fearing that those namby pamby Swedes would pull him from the fight, Pearson opted to keep his injury quiet until the fight was over, a strategy commonly known in the fight game as “Ortizing.” The main difference between Pearson and Ortiz being that Pearson saves his complaints for fights he actually wins.
And although it was later revealed that Pearson did not in fact break his foot, he recently tweeted the above image to prove that he wasn’t exactly telling porky pies either. It’s not often that a foot swells up so bad that it forms a cankle, so we must applaud Pearson for his grit and determination in not only fighting with such a disadvantage, but finishing a tough dude like Couture in the process.
I mean, just look at that thing. It looks like what I imagine Rosie O’Donnell’s inner thighs look like. It looks like someone stuffed a stocking with ground beef and threw it at a red birch tree. It looks like Kirby took a particularly vicious beating on the Planet Zebes level of Super Smash Brothers.
Sometime after he had finished spoiling Ryan Couture’s UFC debut at UFC on FUEL 9, it was revealed that TUF 9 winner and TUF: Smashes coach Ross Pearson had allegedly broken his foot warming up. Obviously fearing that those namby pamby Swedes would pull him from the fight, Pearson opted to keep his injury quiet until the fight was over, a strategy commonly known in the fight game as “Ortizing.” The main difference between Pearson and Ortiz being that Pearson saves his complaints for fights he actually wins.
And although it was later revealed that Pearson did not in fact break his foot, he recently tweeted the above image to prove that he wasn’t exactly telling porky pies either. It’s not often that a foot swells up so bad that it forms a cankle, so we must applaud Pearson for his grit and determination in not only fighting with such a disadvantage, but finishing a tough dude like Couture in the process.
I mean, just look at that thing. It looks like what I imagine Rosie O’Donnell’s inner thighs look like. It looks like someone stuffed a stocking with ground beef and threw it at a red birch tree. It looks like Kirby took a particularly vicious beating on the Planet Zebes level of Super Smash Brothers.
(“Laid up” takes on a whole new meaning when you’re a UFC champion.)
According to his website, Dominick Cruz is “a professional mixed martial artist and UFC champion.” However, according to his MMA record, Cruz has been anything but since October of 2011. The ironic thing? Cruz’s website has not been updated since his coaching gig on The Ultimate Fighter 15, wherein he suffered the ACL injury that has kept him out of action ever since.
But if you were hoping that Cruz would give us a timetable for his return following his second ACL injury last December, you better think again. And while you’re at it, you should just stop asking Cruz about the issue altogether if you happen to be a member of the MMA media (you know, those people who get fancy lanyards at UFC events), because he will wait until 2020 to return to action if he damn so pleases (via Sherdog radio):
I’m not gonna let media or anybody else push me on a date. ‘Give us a date. That’s all we want. We want a date, Dominick. Give us a date to look at!’ I can’t. I want a date. I don’t have one. I’m listening to my doctors because if I don’t do that, I get hurt again. The focus is ‘pull the reigns down’, pull the reigns on myself. Don’t let myself go in there too soon and just do the work I can with the UFC, with my sponsors, do everything I can on Fuel TV and say to the fans I will be back. I’m coming back. I’m working hard. No date yet but I’ll give it out when I have it. I promise.
(“Laid up” takes on a whole new meaning when you’re a UFC champion.)
According to his website, Dominick Cruz is “a professional mixed martial artist and UFC champion.” However, according to his MMA record, Cruz has been anything but since October of 2011. The ironic thing? Cruz’s website has not been updated since his coaching gig on The Ultimate Fighter 15, wherein he suffered the ACL injury that has kept him out of action ever since.
But if you were hoping that Cruz would give us a timetable for his return following his second ACL injury last December, you better think again. And while you’re at it, you should just stop asking Cruz about the issue altogether if you happen to be a member of the MMA media (you know, those people who get fancy lanyards at UFC events), because he will wait until 2020 to return to action if he damn so pleases (via Sherdog radio):
I’m not gonna let media or anybody else push me on a date. ‘Give us a date. That’s all we want. We want a date, Dominick. Give us a date to look at!’ I can’t. I want a date. I don’t have one. I’m listening to my doctors because if I don’t do that, I get hurt again. The focus is ‘pull the reigns down’, pull the reigns on myself. Don’t let myself go in there too soon and just do the work I can with the UFC, with my sponsors, do everything I can on Fuel TV and say to the fans I will be back. I’m coming back. I’m working hard. No date yet but I’ll give it out when I have it. I promise.
(If you ask us, it looks like someone is just ducking Kimbo. Photo via Esther Lin/MMAFighting. )
Put the rumors, hearsay, and outright troll jobs to rest; Alexander Gustafsson will not be fighting Gegard Mousasi this Saturday at UFC on FUEL 9. The Swede, who received a cut in training a few days back, was scheduled to undergo a second pre-fight exam earlier today to determine whether or not he would be cleared to face Mousasi. And unfortunately, the Swedish Mixed Martial Arts Federation just passed along the news (via MMAFighting) that Gustafsson’s cut was simply too severe to allow him to fight on the 6th:
The SMMAF Medical Committee has today reviewed the circumstances regarding Gustafsson and his injury. The SMMAF Medical Committee recognizes that a competitor cannot be medically cleared earlier than the day before the match. However, bearing in mind that a correct medical examination that met the regulatory demands has been performed, nothing in the SMMAF regulations hinders the SMMAF Medical Committee from making a decision to stop Gustafsson from competing. As it is clear that Alexander Gustafsson will not be fit to compete as planned and cannot be medically cleared on Friday the 5th of April, the SMMAF Medical Committee has today decided that Alexander Gustafsson will not be allowed to participate in the planned match on April 6th.
We will update you as soon as we learn of Gustafsson’s replacement, although Wikipedia has currently pegged none other than Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the man to step up in Gustafsson’s absence. Should be a good scrap, but considering how garbage-ass the rest of the card is, the UFC might also want to consider forcing Wanderlei Silva to make good on his promises.
After the jump: A video of Gustafsson wrecking Jared Hamman in his UFC debut, because something good needs to come out of this news.
(If you ask us, it looks like someone is just ducking Kimbo. Photo via Esther Lin/MMAFighting. )
Put the rumors, hearsay, and outright troll jobs to rest; Alexander Gustafsson will not be fighting Gegard Mousasi this Saturday at UFC on FUEL 9. The Swede, who received a cut in training a few days back, was scheduled to undergo a second pre-fight exam earlier today to determine whether or not he would be cleared to face Mousasi. And unfortunately, the Swedish Mixed Martial Arts Federation just passed along the news (via MMAFighting) that Gustafsson’s cut was simply too severe to allow him to fight on the 6th:
The SMMAF Medical Committee has today reviewed the circumstances regarding Gustafsson and his injury. The SMMAF Medical Committee recognizes that a competitor cannot be medically cleared earlier than the day before the match. However, bearing in mind that a correct medical examination that met the regulatory demands has been performed, nothing in the SMMAF regulations hinders the SMMAF Medical Committee from making a decision to stop Gustafsson from competing. As it is clear that Alexander Gustafsson will not be fit to compete as planned and cannot be medically cleared on Friday the 5th of April, the SMMAF Medical Committee has today decided that Alexander Gustafsson will not be allowed to participate in the planned match on April 6th.
We will update you as soon as we learn of Gustafsson’s replacement, although Wikipedia has currently pegged none other than Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the man to step up in Gustafsson’s absence. Should be a good scrap, but considering how garbage-ass the rest of the card is, the UFC might also want to consider forcing Wanderlei Silva to make good on his promises.
After the jump: A video of Gustafsson wrecking Jared Hamman in his UFC debut, because something good needs to come out of this news.
And being that Mein was able to come away from the fight practically untouched, it was announced earlier today that “Young Gun” will now being making a quick turnaround against Matt Brown at UFC on FOX 7, as Brown’s original opponent, Dan Hardy, has been forced to withdraw from the fight due to injury. Barns, they will be burned.
So, Potato Nation, do you have Mein by murder or Brown by…murder?
[UPDATE]
Turns out Hardy wasn’t injured; he was not given medical clearance for the fight due to a pre-existing condition. Hardy gives us the details via his Twitter after the jump.
And being that Mein was able to come away from the fight practically untouched, it was announced earlier today that “Young Gun” will now being making a quick turnaround against Matt Brown at UFC on FOX 7, as Brown’s original opponent, Dan Hardy, has been forced to withdraw from the fight due to injury. Barns, they will be burned.
So, Potato Nation, do you have Mein by murder or Brown by…murder?
[UPDATE]
Turns out Hardy wasn’t injured; he was not given medical clearance for the fight due to a pre-existing condition. Hardy gives us the details via his Twitter after the jump.
