Zuffa will continue a huge month of June with its fourth MMA event this Sunday night, UFC on Versus 4 from the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, PA. As always, Bleacher Report will be your home for the latest news, predictions and results of the even…
Zuffa will continue a huge month of June with its fourth MMA event this Sunday night, UFC on Versus 4 from the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, PA. As always, Bleacher Report will be your home for the latest news, predictions and results of the event.
The main event will feature the welterweight debut of former middleweight contender Nate “The Great” Marquardt as he fights up-and-comer Rick Story in what will likely be a very important bout when it comes to future title aspirations for both men.
That fight will replace the original main event which was scheduled to be Marquardt against Anthony “Rumble” Johnson, who recently thoroughly beat Dan Hardy at UFC Fight Night: Nogueira vs. Davis in late-March. Johnson was forced out of the bout, though, with a rotator cuff injury.
The event will air on Versus in the U.S. and Rogers Sportsnet in Canada, with the preliminary fights being available on Facebook. The following is the official finalized fight card.
Preliminary Card (on Facebook):
Michael Johnson vs. Edward Faaloloto (lightweight bout) Ricardo Lamas vs. Matt Grice (featherweight bout) Nik Lentz vs. Charles Oliveira (lightweight bout) Charlie Brenneman vs. TJ Grant (welterweight bout) Daniel Roberts vs. Rich Attonito (welterweight bout) Joe Lauzon vs. Curt Warburton (lightweight bout) Joe Stevenson vs. Javier Vasquez (featherweight bout) Tyson Griffin vs. Manny Gamburyan (featherweight bout)
Main Card (on Versus):
Matt Mitrione vs. Christian Morecraft (heavyweight bout) Matt Brown vs. John Howard (welterweight bout) Cheick Kongo vs. Pat Barry (heavyweight bout) Nate Marquardt vs. Rick Story (welterweight bout)
If you’re looking for a more in-depth look at each fight with some predictions, read on!
Filed under: UFCIt’s been six months since the UFC began experimenting with preliminary card fights on Facebook, and on Sunday it will set a new high-water mark.
The promotion on Monday announced that all eight undercard fights for the upcoming UFC o…
It’s been six months since the UFC began experimenting with preliminary card fights on Facebook, and on Sunday it will set a new high-water mark.
The promotion on Monday announced that all eight undercard fights for the upcoming UFC on Versus 4 show will stream live on the social networking site. Just last week, with UFC 131, the promotion set a new best with six prelims streaming on Facebook.
This will mark the 11th consecutive fight card that the UFC has streamed fights for free at Facebook, and it will be the fifth consecutive show the promotion has provided a way for fans to see each fight on the card live.
UFC on Versus 4 will feature a four-fight main card that airs live on the Versus cable channel, the second of the UFC’s four-fight 2011 deal with the channel. The Facebook live stream is scheduled to begin at 4:55 p.m. Eastern. The main card starts at 9 p.m. Eastern on Versus. Versus will also again produce a live pre-fight preview show and post-fight analysis show before and after the main card featuring Todd Harris, UFC light heavyweight Stephan Bonnar and MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani.
To gain access to the fights, viewers must “like” the UFC on Facebook. As of Monday evening, the UFC has more than 5.7 million fans at the site.
The “main” and “co-main” events of the Facebook prelims are featherweight bouts featuring a pair of former lightweights dropping down – both looking to snap out of disastrous three-fight losing skids.
Tyson Griffin (14-5, 7-5 UFC) returns to featherweight for the first time since the early part of his career to face Manny Gamburyan (11-5, 2-3 UFC), who fights for the first time since a knockout loss to featherweight champion Jose Aldo last November in a WEC title fight. Griffin has split decision losses to Evan Dunham and Nik Lentz in the last year, plus a quick first-round knockout loss to Takanori Gomi last August on Versus. Gamburyan fights in the UFC for the first time in two years after dropping to featherweight and sliding over to the WEC, where he went 3-0 before his loss to Aldo.
And Joe Stevenson (31-13, 8-7 UFC), the Season 2 welterweight winner of “The Ultimate Fighter,” goes for his first win since October 2009 when he takes on Javier Vazquez (15-5), who makes his UFC debut after going 2-3 in the WEC. Stevenson has dropped decisions to George Sotiropoulos and Danny Castillo, and was knocked out by Mac Danzig in December. Stevenson is 3-6 since challenging BJ Penn for the lightweight title at UFC 80 three and a half years ago, including the loss to Penn. Monday, on “The MMA Hour,” Stevenson talked about his dislike of Vazquez and why he dropped to featherweight.
The Facebook prelims stream opens with a lightweight bout between TUF 12 runner-up Michael Johnson, fighting for the first time since losing to Jonathan Brookins in December on the show’s finale, against Edward Faaloto, who makes his UFC debut after a loss in his WEC debut last November.
Nik Lentz (21-3-2, 5-0-1 UFC) tries to remain unbeaten in the UFC against submission specialist Charles Oliveira in a lightweight bout.
Rich Attonito drops from middleweight after a loss to Dave Branch in December to make his welterweight debut against Daniel Roberts, who lost to Claude Patrick at UFC 129 in April. Attonito was original scheduled to face Matt Brown, but an injury to Martin Kampmann forced him out of a fight with John Howard, and Brown moved up the card for that fight. Roberts stepped in to face Attonito.
Other bouts include a featherweight contest between Ricardo Lamas and Matt Grice, a welterweight bout between Charlie Brenneman and TJ Grant, and Joe Lauzon returns for the first time since a UFC 123 loss in November to Sotiropoulos to face England’s Curt Warburton.
The UFC began streaming preliminary fights in January with its Fight for the Troops 2 show at Fort Hood, Texas. Since then, the promotion has included free Facebook fights for each event, regardless of the main card’s platform – be it on pay-per-view, Spike or Versus.
UFC on Versus 4 takes place Sunday at the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, and will be the promotion’s first event in the Pennsylvania city. The card features a main event between Nate Marquardt and Rick Story – with Marquardt making his welterweight debut and Story fighting on short notice after a win just a month prior against Thiago Alves at UFC 130. Marquardt was scheduled to face Anthony Johnson, but an injury forced Johnson off the card.
And in a pair of heavyweight bouts, kickboxing specialists Pat Barry and Cheick Kongo clash, and Matt Mitrione looks to stay unbeaten against Christian Morecraft, whose last win sent Mitrione friend and training partner Sean McCorkle packing from the UFC.
These 10 fighters need a win, and they need it bad. They are all currently on losing streaks, and that is something that reduces their chances of fighting in the leading MMA organization in the world.Some of have upcoming bouts where their ca…
These 10 fighters need a win, and they need it bad. They are all currently on losing streaks, and that is something that reduces their chances of fighting in the leading MMA organization in the world.
Some of have upcoming bouts where their careers will be on the line. Others are waiting to hear from UFC matchmaker Joe Silva on whether or not they will actually get another chance or a pink slip.
Whatever is the case, expect them to fight as if their careers are on the line in their next bouts.
Competition is steep at the highest levels of the mixed martial arts game. In the UFC, it is just downright wrong how competitive it is. Job security can come and go as fast as a Machida crane kick to the jaw, no matter who taught it to him. There…
Competition is steep at the highest levels of the mixed martial arts game. In the UFC, it is just downright wrong how competitive it is. Job security can come and go as fast as a Machida crane kick to the jaw, no matter who taught it to him.
There are fighters in every division and on every card this summer who are in danger of being released by the UFC if they lose, bore or stink the joint out, in their respective matches. Here is a look at the top 10.
Joe “Daddy” Stevenson fans can rest easy, as although the former TUF winner has dropped three straight in the Octaogn, the UFC has announced today that he is dropping to featherweight and will fight Javier Vazquez in June. The tilt will take place at the UFC on Versus 4 card, which hasn’t officially been assigned […]
Joe “Daddy” Stevenson fans can rest easy, as although the former TUF winner has dropped three straight in the Octaogn, the UFC has announced today that he is dropping to featherweight and will fight Javier Vazquez in June. The tilt will take place at the UFC on Versus 4 card, which hasn’t officially been assigned a date as of yet.
Well, if you’re going to give a struggling fighter another go in the UFC, why not Joe right? Should be interesting to see how he looks at 145.
Filed under: UFC, NewsJoe Stevenson will drop to featherweight with the hopes of snapping his three-fight losing streak and keeping his job in the UFC.
Stevenson will face jiu-jitsu black belt Javier Vazquez at UFC on Versus 4, the promotion confirmed…
The longtime UFC fighter most recently lost a decision to Danny Castillo on March 3. Prior to that, he suffered a knockout at the hands of Mac Danzig, and lost a decision to George Sotiropoulos.
It’s been six months since the UFC began experimenting with preliminary card fights on 
