Boetsch will remain on the “Aldo vs. Koch” main card against Hector Lombard, who was scheduled to make his Octagon debut at UFC on FOX 4 two weeks later until Brian Stann pulled out with a dinged shoulder. Lombard vs. Boetsch should be a hell of a brawl — unless losing two weeks of preparation throws the former Bellator champ off his game. Who ya got on that one?
With Lombard off of the UFC on FOX 4 lineup, the August 4th event has picked up a brand new main event…
Boetsch will remain on the “Aldo vs. Koch” main card against Hector Lombard, who was scheduled to make his Octagon debut at UFC on FOX 4 two weeks later until Brian Stann pulled out with a dinged shoulder. Lombard vs. Boetsch should be a hell of a brawl — unless losing two weeks of preparation throws the former Bellator champ off his game. Who ya got on that one?
With Lombard off of the UFC on FOX 4 lineup, the August 4th event has picked up a brand new main event…
Does “The Truth” deserve a headlining spot on a major UFC card at this point? Probably not. But as you can see, the UFC is losing warm bodies on a daily basis, and their options are limited. Where’s your God reason and science now, Joe Silva?
UFC newcomer Hector Lombard was supposed to headline UFC on Fox 4 until a separated shoulder forced Brian Stann to withdraw from the main event match-up. Needless to say, this has put Lombard’s initial fight in the UFC on temporary stand-by. Lomba…
UFC newcomer Hector Lombard was supposed to headline UFC on Fox 4 until a separated shoulder forced Brian Stann to withdraw from the main event match-up. Needless to say, this has put Lombard’s initial fight in the UFC on temporary stand-by.
Lombard may have found a perfect solution, which resulted in him taking to his Twitter account on Wednesday, challenging another middleweight title contender and former Ultimate Fighter winner, Michael “The Count” Bisping.
Lombard simply tweeted, “Bisping I’m calling you out.”
This is definitely a fight that would be accepted by fans and would make the most sense in terms of relevancy to a title shot.
Since the UFC has already named Brandon Vera vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua as the new main event for the UFC on Fox 4, UFC 149 would be the more logical card to change.
Bisping’s current UFC 149 opponent is Tim Boetsch, a good fighter in the UFC whom many do not see as a title contender at the moment.
Bisping has been a very reliable and solid competitor inside of the Octagon but lacks a solid top-five win. A win over Boetsch would mean little for Bisping in terms of receiving a title opportunity.
Lombard is riding a 25-consecutive unbeaten streak into the UFC and I think that would be just the recipe if Bisping wants a UFC title shot.
As for benefiting Lombard, Bisping is a top-five contender with a big name, and a win over “The Count” would immediately silence any doubters.
Bisping would be the better pure striker but Lombard brings a wide array of powerful strikes that are somewhat unpredictable.
This would serve as a very entertaining fight for fans and should easily determine who is the No. 1 contender for the middleweight championship.
Let’s just see if the Dana White and the UFC takes this opportunity and makes it happen.
After news broke Wednesday afternoon that Brian Stann was out of the main event for UFC on Fox 4, there were concerns that the UFC would be unable to find a new bout suitable for the top spot. Well after some deliberation, it appears that Joe Silva has…
After news broke Wednesday afternoon that Brian Stann was out of the main event for UFC on Fox 4, there were concerns that the UFC would be unable to find a new bout suitable for the top spot. Well after some deliberation, it appears that Joe Silva has come to a decision.
Just minutes ago the UFC broke the news that Brandon Vera would be facing former UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in the main event. Rua was originally slated to fight at UFC 149 in Calgary, Alberta, but when Thiago Silva went down with an injury, Rua’s future on the card was up in the air.
This is a case of the UFC making the best out of a bad situation, and for some, the fight is more deserving of the top spot. There were concerns that UFC fans were not familiar enough with Hector Lombard, which would have been disastrous on Fox.
This summer has been an absolute nightmare for the Zuffa brass as they’ve had to constantly rearrange cards due to so many injuries. Though they have “saved” the Fox event, they weakened UFC 149 and, in the process, UFC on Fuel TV: Munoz vs. Weidman.
I love the idea of seeing Shogun on Fox as he’s arguably the most exciting fighter on the roster. Even his boring fights keep me on the edge of my seat, however few they may be. Vera has also been exciting at times, and a win over Rua will vault him back into relevancy.
After learning that Thiago Silva had withdrew from UFC 149, it appeared the UFC was aiming to promote another Brazilian in Glover Teixeira, but Mauricio “Shogun” Rua’s camp reportedly turned down the offer.But according to TATAME.com, Rua and his camp …
After learning that Thiago Silva had withdrew from UFC 149, it appeared the UFC was aiming to promote another Brazilian in Glover Teixeira, but Mauricio “Shogun” Rua’s camp reportedly turned down the offer.
But according to TATAME.com, Rua and his camp have denied the rumors and they were also unaware of Silva’s injury.
“(Turning down a fight with Glover) it’s not true at all,” Rua’s manager Julio Heller said.
Teixeira made his debut last weekend at UFC 146 and defeated Kyle Kingsbury in the opening round. Despite only competing in his first fight with the company, Teixeira is veteran in the sport, having fought in over 20 professional bouts. His dominant victory over Kingsbury should earn a rapid rise throughout the rankings at 205 pounds.
Although Rua and his camp have yet to accept the bout, there is little upside to facing Teixeira for the former UFC light heavyweight champion. Rua is coming off a close unanimous decision loss to Dan Henderson at UFC 137 last year.
However, due to Teixeira’s sudden impact, the UFC might want to jump on the Brazilian’s early success and try to build him as a potential contender.
And with other competitors out due to injury or already scheduled to fight, whether he approves the matchup or not, may have to settle with Teixeira.
Regardless, Rua will be featured in the co-main event when the UFC makes a trip to Calgary, Alberta on July 21.
(Photographic proof that Mayhem Miller stole his idea to give C.B. Dollaway a noogie just moments before doing so.)
Call it “The Curse of the 140’s,” because it appears that yet another big fight in what has been a goat rope of a month in MMA matchmaking has been scratched from the books. Those of you expecting a sure-to-be-slugfest between former UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and noted brawler Thiago Silva at UFC 149 are going to be more disappointed than a CagePotato contest winner, because word broke this morning that Thiago Silva has been forced to withdraw from his co-main event matchup due to a back injury. Go fucking figure. At this point, it seems the only thing that can save Silva’s spine from shattering into a million pieces would be the back brace that Sweet Dee Reynolds wore to her high school reunion. Or perhaps he just needs to find the David Dunn to his Mr. Glass.
But fret not, Potato Nation, for every shit-filled tunnel has a light at the end of it. In Silva’s absence, the UFC has called upon fellow Brazilian slugger Glover Teixeira to step up and fill the void. Here’s where things get a little muddy, so to speak. It was initially reported, by none other than Dana White, that Shogun had apparently turned down the fight. Here’s what he told MMAJunkie:
With Thiago hurt, we turned to Glover and asked him to go right back in to fight ‘Shogun’ at UFC 149. But ‘Shogun’s’ people are adamantly refusing to take the fight. They want nothing to do with Glover.
Shogun’ wants nothing to do with Glover. But that’s the fight Lorenzo and I are trying to put together.
According to members of Shogun’s camp, however, White’s claims are just a bunch of profanity-ridden malarkey, as they had not even been made aware of the fact that Silva was injured, let alone of a potential replacement.
(Photographic proof that Mayhem Miller stole his idea to give C.B. Dollaway a noogie just moments before doing so.)
Call it “The Curse of the 140′s,” because it appears that yet another big fight in what has been a goat rope of a month in MMA matchmaking has been scratched from the books. Those of you expecting a sure-to-be-slugfest between former UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and noted brawler Thiago Silva at UFC 149 are going to be more disappointed than a CagePotato contest winner, because word broke this morning that Thiago Silva has been forced to withdraw from his co-main event matchup due to a back injury. Go fucking figure. At this point, it seems the only thing that can save Silva’s spine from shattering into a million pieces would be the back brace that Sweet Dee Reynolds wore to her high school reunion. Or perhaps he just needs to find the David Dunn to his Mr. Glass.
But fret not, Potato Nation, for every shit-filled tunnel has a light at the end of it. In Silva’s absence, the UFC has called upon fellow Brazilian slugger Glover Teixeira to step up and fill the void. Here’s where things get a little muddy, so to speak. It was initially reported, by none other than Dana White, that Shogun had apparently turned down the fight. Here’s what he told MMAJunkie:
With Thiago hurt, we turned to Glover and asked him to go right back in to fight ‘Shogun’ at UFC 149. But ‘Shogun’s’ people are adamantly refusing to take the fight. They want nothing to do with Glover.
Shogun’ wants nothing to do with Glover. But that’s the fight Lorenzo and I are trying to put together.
According to members of Shogun’s camp, however, White’s claims are just a bunch of profanity-ridden malarkey, as they had not even been made aware of the fact that Silva was injured, let alone of a potential replacement.
Rua’s manager, Julio Heller, spoke with Brazilian publication Tatame.com:
TATAME called Rua’s manager, Julio Heller, who guaranteed they never turned down a fight with Teixeira. In fact, Silva’s injury is not official to them yet.
“I just sent a message to the UFC. I’m waiting for their call”, Heller said. “(Turning down a fight with Glover) it’s not true at all.”
Julio said they’ll wait for the UFC before making further comments, and the decision to fight Glover, or any other opponent, is in Shogun and his coach Andre Dida’s hands.
While it’s understandable that Shogun would be hesitant to accept the fight, given he has much more to lose than a relatively unknown (not to mention dangerous) guy like Teixeira has to gain, he has also gone 2-3 in his past five fights, and isn’t exactly in the position to be turning down fights that don’t suit him. Plus, it’s not like a win over Teixeira would lower his stock or anything. Then again, all of his UFC losses have come to either current or former champions (be it PRIDE or UFC), and his loss to Machida at UFC 104 is disputed to this day, so maybe he can do whatever the fuck he wants.
Teixeira is fresh off a first round arm-triangle submission win over TUF 8 veteran Kyle Kingsbury at UFC 146, his sixteenth victory in as many contests, whereas Shogun is on the heels of a unanimous decision loss to Dan Henderson at UFC 139.
As for Silva’s umpteenth injury to his back, his manager, Dan Lambert, told MMAFighting that they are hopeful that he will not be sidelined for too long, but he will surely not be back in enough time to prepare for a guy like Shogun. If you recall, Silva’s ever-aching back was the main factor behind his positive test for steroids following his UFC 125 UD win over Brandon Vera.
As of this writing, there have been no updates on the situation, but we will keep you updated as things transpire.
Would you like to see Rua/Teixeira at UFC 149, Potato Nation? And if not, who would make for a fitting replacement?
The train of injuries that continues to shut down major UFC bouts in 2012 is still rolling on.MMAJunkie.com has reported that Thiago Silva has had to pull out of a July contest with former light-heavyweight champion Shogun Rua due to an injury.There ar…
The train of injuries that continues to shut down major UFC bouts in 2012 is still rolling on.
MMAJunkie.com has reported that Thiago Silva has had to pull out of a July contest with former light-heavyweight champion Shogun Rua due to an injury.
There are a handful of options who do not have upcoming fights on the docket, including former champion Rashad Evans and rising contender Alexander Gustafsson.
What’s surprising, however, is that the UFC is interested in promotion newcomer Glover Teixeira squaring off against the former champion.
Teixeira had an incredibly impressive debut against Kyle Kingsbury on the undercard of UFC 146 last weekend, and the UFC thinks he is ready to swim with the sharks.
“With Thiago hurt, we turned to Glover and asked him to go right back in to fight ‘Shogun’ at UFC 149,” White told MMAjunkie.com. “But ‘Shogun’s’ people are adamantly refusing to take the fight. They want nothing to do with Glover.”
There are a pair of good reasons that Shogun’s team may not be interested in the contest. First and foremost, they may feel that Teixeira hasn’t earned a bout of such stature. Another possibility is that they recognize how dangerous of a challenge he presents, and they would like to avoid the matchup until they can get more tape on him.
Stay tuned to Bleacher Report for more information on this as it’s available.
UFC newcomer Hector Lombard was supposed to headline 
After news broke Wednesday afternoon that Brian Stann was out of the main event for 
