Yesterday, the UFC and FOX held an open media conference call, which featured UFC President Dana White, middleweight contender and FOX analyst Brian Stann, and Fox Sports Media Group Co-President Eric Shanks taking questions prior to this weekend’s UFC on FOX event. Among the questions to come up was one regarding the likelihood of the Nate Diaz/Jim Miller winner receiving the next title shot at 155 pounds. True to form, Dana White did not beat around the bush, declaring that to be true for at least half of the participants involved:
Should Diaz win, Diaz is definitely getting a title shot. Should Miller win, Miller’s probably going to be a fight or two away.
White when on to state that the same applied for Johny Hendricks should he get past Josh Koscheck on Saturday, whereas our boy Fraggle would have to get a couple more wins under his belt. Considering that both Koscheck and Miller recently suffered losses to the current champions of their respective weight classes (twice over if your Koscheck), this seems to make sense.
Yesterday, the UFC and FOX held an open media conference call, which featured UFC President Dana White, middleweight contender and FOX analyst Brian Stann, and Fox Sports Media Group Co-President Eric Shanks taking questions prior to this weekend’s UFC on FOX event. Among the questions to come up was one regarding the likelihood of the Nate Diaz/Jim Miller winner receiving the next title shot at 155 pounds. True to form, Dana White did not beat around the bush, declaring that to be true for at least half of the participants involved:
Should Diaz win, Diaz is definitely getting a title shot. Should Miller win, Miller’s probably going to be a fight or two away.
White when on to state that the same applied for Johny Hendricks should he get past Josh Koscheck on Saturday, whereas our boy Fraggle would have to get a couple more wins under his belt. Considering that both Koscheck and Miller recently suffered losses to the current champions of their respective weight classes (twice over if your Koscheck), this seems to make sense.
Diaz is only 2-0 since returning to lightweight, but his victory over Donald Cerrone at UFC 141 was so utterly dominant that it set a record for strikes landed in a three round fight. A win over Miller would provide all we need to know about Nate’s future at 155 *cough* can he defend a takedown? *cough*. Miller recently bounced back from a unanimous decision loss to current champ Ben Henderson by submitting Melvin Guillard in January, but we all know that he needs at least eight victories in a row to earn a title shot, so it’s gonna be a while.
Speaking of win streaks, if Hendricks is able to best Koscheck, it would be his fourth victory in a row and eighth out of the nine fights he has had while under the UFC banner, so a title shot seems justified at this point. Koscheck, on the other hand, has scored two straight against Matt Hughes and Mike Pierce, but his aforementioned pair of losses to Georges St. Pierre doesn’t really give him anywhere to go at the moment. Then again, who knows who will be the champ after GSP/Condit goes down, whenever the hell that may be.
You can listen to the conference call in its entirety here.
So what do you think, Potato Nation? Does Diaz deserve a shot? And if so, how do you think he’d fare against Henderson, or Frankie Edgar for that matter?
Make sure to swing by CagePotato this Saturday, as we’ll be liveblogging all the action starting at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. WT.
The Co Main event features Josh Koscheck vs Johny Hendricks. Koscheck is at the stage of his career where he is near the bottom of the todom poll when it comes to title shots after.
The Co Main event features Josh Koscheck vs Johny Hendricks. Koscheck is at the stage of his career where he is near the bottom of the todom poll when it comes to title shots after having been outclassed by the current champion GSP twice. He is coming off rather unimpressive wins over Matt Hughes and Mike Pierce and seems to be only fighting for a paycheck. Jonny Hendricks is coming of a huge first round knock out win over former number 2 ranked welter weight fighter Jon Fitch. Despite being a major underdog Hendricks was able to pull off a 12 second KO and launch himself a large new fan base and into potential contender status. Hendricks is a Division 1 wrestling champion so his wrestling may neutralize Koschecks take downs. Koscheck seems to only have an overhand right along side a questionable chin where as Hendricks has ko power in both hands and slightly more technical striking. Prediction Hendricks 1st round KO.
On the heels of what was a hugely successful (both in terms of action and PPV sales) UFC 145, the UFC will look to keep the momentum going with this weekend’s UFC on FOX 3 card, which features a smorgasbord of great match-ups (praise be to Joe Silva). And the only way to make a great thing even better would be to walk away with a little extra moolah, don’t you think? Because, to paraphrase what Bobby McFerrin once said, “If you don’t have cash, you don’t have style, and you sure as hell don’t have a gal to make you smile.” Something like that. So check out the tasty betting lines below, courtesy of BestFightOdds, and follow us after the jump for some sound advice that will surely score you one out of the three McFerrin keys to success. And don’t worry, none of the spreads are as insane as the current Akihiro Gono/Michael Chandler odds, which more closely resemble your chances of sleeping with Halle Berry, winning the lottery, and surviving a public bus fire in the same day.
*These lines are taken from Opposingviews.com, which has far different lines than BestFightOdds for the main card fights. They are the only site, however, with current odds for the given fights.
Thoughts…
On the heels of what was a hugely successful (both in terms of action and PPV sales) UFC 145, the UFC will look to keep the momentum going with this weekend’s UFC on FOX 3 card, which features a smorgasbord of great match-ups (praise be to Joe Silva). And the only way to make a great thing even better would be to walk away with a little extra moolah, don’t you think? Because, to paraphrase what Bobby McFerrin once said, “If you don’t have cash, you don’t have style, and you sure as hell don’t have a gal to make you smile.” Something like that. So check out the tasty betting lines below, courtesy of BestFightOdds, and follow us after the jump for some sound advice that will surely score you one out of the three McFerrin keys to success. And don’t worry, none of the spreads are as insane as the current Akihiro Gono/Michael Chandler odds, which more closely resemble your chances of sleeping with Halle Berry, winning the lottery, and surviving a public bus fire in the same day.
*These lines are taken from Opposingviews.com, which has far different lines than BestFightOdds for the main card fights. They are the only site, however, with current odds for the given fights.
Thoughts…
The Main Event: A lot is on the line for Nate Diaz come Saturday night. Sure, he’s looked nothing short of perfect in his victories over Takanori Gomi and Donald Cerrone, but Jim Miller is not a technically flawed striker in the twilight of his career, nor is he a brawler that will let his pre-fight emotions get the best of him. We all know that this fight is going to come down to a Diaz’s ability to stop a takedown, which has proved to be their undoing time and time again. That being said, we will NEVER count a Diaz out. Their ability to make a fighter look completely off their game is second to none, and they have few holes in their game to exploit (wrestling aside, of course). We’d recommend keeping Miller in your parlay, but placing a decent-sized side wager on Diaz is definitely a smart move.
The Dogs: Anytime Josh Koscheck is listed as an underdog, it’s probably worth your time (unless he’s fighting GSP). A bet on him won’t get you much in return, but the same goes twice over for Hendricks. There are several things to consider when looking at this matchup. First off, let’s look at the obvious: both guys come from a wrestling background, and both guys have solid power in their hands. Secondly, let’s look at their last fights: Kos looked rather one-dimensional in his squeaker victory over Mike Pierce, whereas Hendricks showed us that he only needs one punch to turn your lights off against Jon Fitch. Where you want to place your bet is mainly dependent on whether or not you think Hendricks will be able to defend Kos’ takedowns, or whether he can finish him before he’ll have to. Then again, maybe Koscheck’s new training camp has helped him add a few tools to his toolbox. What we’re saying is; a vote for Koscheck is a vote for tools.
At +240, Alan Belcher would look pretty damn tempting…if he wasn’t fighting a genetically engineered, psychopathic wildebeest in Rousimar Palhares. With and ever-improving striking game, as documented in his typically disorienting win over Dan Miller, ”Toquinho” has made the step up from “mini-Hulk” to full-on “eater of worlds,” and there’s nothing we can do to stop him. Unless Belcher catches Palhares early, he is going to be limping out of that octagon. The ONLY reason we are going to place a small bet on “The Talent” is because of the large chance that this fight will end by some form of DQ as a result of Palhares’ frenetic incompetence. Also, we’re masochists. Also, Belcher’s Johnny Cash tattoo.
As for the undercard, one name that stands out is John Hathaway. For a while, many people thought he was going to be the next big thing at 170. A loss to Mike Pyle all but derailed his hype train, and the fact that he’s spent a year on the shelf doesn’t help matters. Until you look at Pascal Krauss, that is, who has spent even more time on the shelf nursing various injuries, and whose only UFC win came over a late injury replacement. Hathaway should have this, just like he would have had it if these two had met at UFC 138 like God intended.
Stay the Hell Away From: The Lavar Johnson/Barry brawl. Barry is undoubtedly the more technical striker, but Johnson has a pair of Mac trucks at the end of his arms, and we’ve seen Barry fall to an inferior striker before (seriously, TRY and convince us Cheick Kongo was anything but). We think Barry will be able to catch Johnson first, but if you really want to place money on this one, save it for a prop bet on whether or not the fight lasts over a round and a half. Our bet is it doesn’t.
Official CagePotato Parlay: Miller + Palhares + Ferguson
Suggested stake for a $50 wager
$25 on the parlay
$10 on a Diaz-Hathaway parlay
$10 on Koscheck
$5 on Belcher
(“Are you getting a Pulp Fiction vibe right now?”)
Ecko Unlimited pulled a pretty good prank on two of its sponsored fighters recently.
Duping UFC vets Johny Hendricks and Brendan Schaub into participating in a training session by an escape artist (who was actually just an Ecko employee) at Ecko HQ, reps from the clothing brand brought in the dude from “Will It Blend” to destroy one of the duo’s phones. Unable to escape from the chair he was tied up to, Schaub, who lost the coin toss, watched in horror and anger as his precious cell, that he assumed was not backed up, was dropped into the blender and turned on.
Brendan usually comes off as a fairly happy and easygoing guy, but anyone who has lost all of the data on their phone can relate to how upset he was.
Check out the hilarious video after the jump.
(“Are you getting a Pulp Fiction vibe right now?”)
Ecko Unlimited pulled a pretty good prank on two of its sponsored fighters recently.
Duping UFC vets Johny Hendricks and Brendan Schaub into participating in a training session by an escape artist (who was actually just an Ecko employee) at Ecko HQ, reps from the clothing brand brought in the dude from “Will It Blend” to destroy one of the duo’s phones. Unable to escape from the chair he was tied up to, Schaub, who lost the coin toss, watched in horror and anger as his precious cell, that he assumed was not backed up, was dropped into the blender and turned on.
Brendan usually comes off as a fairly happy and easygoing guy, but anyone who has lost all of the data on their phone can relate to how upset he was.
If anything, UFC on Fox 3 is looking like it has the potential to surpass that of its first two cards in terms of excitement. Dana White announced via his Twitter last night that a battle between top welterweight contenders Josh Koscheck and Johny Hendricks has just been booked for the UFC’s third go-around on Fox, which is already set to feature a lightweight clash between Jim Miller and Nate Diaz, as well as a heavyweight sure to be slugfest pitting Pat Barry against Lavar Johnson. Yes, it’s looking like there is little stopping this card *cough* Jon Jones’ commentary *cough* from finally delivering a good lineup to the masses. The first Fox card had the fights, but failed to showcase enough of them, whereas the second card was simply too underwhelming to reel in any new fans, but the addition of Hendricks/Koscheck to this card will surely push it over the top.
Hendricks is coming off a 12 second knockout over former #1 contender Jon Fitch, which snapped a 5-0-1 streak Fitch had put together since dropping a unanimous decision to Georges St. Pierre back at UFC 87. Koscheck, however, is fresh off a controversial split decision victory over Mike Pierce at UFC 143. Despite being outsruck for the majority of three rounds, Koscheck was able to secure the decision by converting on two of his three takedown attempts, because that’s apparently all it takes these days.
If anything, UFC on Fox 3 is looking like it has the potential to surpass that of its first two cards in terms of excitement. Dana White announced via his Twitter last night that a battle between top welterweight contenders Josh Koscheck and Johny Hendricks has just been booked for the UFC’s third go-around on Fox, which is already set to feature a lightweight clash between Jim Miller and Nate Diaz, as well as a heavyweight sure to be slugfest pitting Pat Barry against Lavar Johnson. Yes, it’s looking like there is little stopping this card *cough* Jon Jones’ commentary *cough* from finally delivering a good lineup to the masses. The first Fox card had the fights, but failed to showcase enough of them, whereas the second card was simply too underwhelming to reel in any new fans, but the addition of Hendricks/Koscheck to this card will surely push it over the top.
Hendricks is coming off a 12 second knockout over former #1 contender Jon Fitch, which snapped a 5-0-1 streak Fitch had put together since dropping a unanimous decision to Georges St. Pierre back at UFC 87. Koscheck, however, is fresh off a controversial split decision victory over Mike Pierce at UFC 143. Despite being outsruck for the majority of three rounds, Koscheck was able to secure the decision by converting on two of his three takedown attempts, because that’s apparently all it takes these days.
Depending on the outcome, this matchup poses an interesting conundrum for Joe Silva. If Hendricks wins, you have to believe he’s done enough to warrant a title shot. He may not have a big name at this point in his career, but knocking off two former title challengers in a row would be enough to earn Urijah Faber title shots in the weight classes of his choosing for the rest of his natural born life, and possibly beyond that. If Koscheck wins, on the other hand, there isn’t really much to give him in return, outside of a possible match against interim champ Carlos Condit, who he was originally scheduled to face at UFC 143, while GSP recovers. Kos has fought the current welterweight champ twice to no avail, and suffered a broken orbital bone in his last attempt at UFC 124, so you can’t imagine that many people will be clamoring for yet another unnecessary trilogy to come to fruition.
Early ratings for UFC on Fox 2 show about 4.3 million viewers. The event earned 1.2 million at the gate with over 17,000 fans in attendance. Johny Hendricks says he’s ready for the Interim Welterweight.
Early ratings for UFC on Fox 2 show about 4.3 million viewers. The event earned 1.2 million at the gate with over 17,000 fans in attendance.
Johny Hendrickssays he’s ready for the Interim Welterweight title-shot after Diaz vs. Condit because he knocked out the number 2 ranked Welterweight, Jon Fitch.
Dana Whitevisits the home of the woman whose phone number was released by hackers that mistakenly thought it was White’s number and offers his apology to her.
Injury forces George Sotiropoulos off UFC 144 card. Eiji Mitsuoka to replace him against Takanori Gomi.
Leonard Garcia also pulled off UFC 144 due to injury. His opponent, Tiequan Zhang awaiting to hear a replacement.
Jackson’s Submission Fighting camp’s Henry Martinez joins UFC to face Matt Riddle on one week’s notice at UFC 143.
Jon Jones opens as -600 favorite against Rashad Evans at UFC 145.
