UFC 130 gets some betting men looking for the next edge, a good breakdown of the fighters that will perform. Full on with betting odds here are some of my breakdowns for the main card fighters.The UFC 130 main card will now most likely feature the bout…
UFC 130 gets some betting men looking for the next edge, a good breakdown of the fighters that will perform. Full on with betting odds here are some of my breakdowns for the main card fighters.
The UFC 130 main card will now most likely feature the bout between Thiago Alves and Rick Story from the welterweight division. Alves was a former welterweight contender and fought for the welterweight title at UFC 100, but lost to Georges St-Pierre.
Without Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard, UFC 130 now has a completely different look.
The Quinton “Rampage” Jackson versus Matt Hamill bout has become the main event and the battle between Frank Mir and Roy Nelson has become the co-main event.
Will UFC 130 surprise and become a great card without the lightweight championship bout? Or will UFC 130 flounder and become one of the least-viewed cards in recent memory?
Here are picks for UFC 130 with betting odds courtesy of Betus.com.
UFC 130 is closing in and it will be the ending to a month where barely any MMA had happened at all. The card will now have to go on without the third installment between lightweights Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard. Instead, UFC 130 will be headlined b…
UFC 130 is closing in and it will be the ending to a month where barely any MMA had happened at all.
The card will now have to go on without the third installment between lightweights Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard. Instead, UFC 130 will be headlined by light heavyweights Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Matt Hamill with the co-main event between heavyweights Roy Nelson and Frank Mir.
The card features some nice undercard fights and the main card will now feature names like Frank Mir, Roy Nelson, Thiago Alves and Jorge Santiago.
UFC 130 seems to look like a lackluster to some, but can the card be hyped up enough to do some solid pay-per-view numbers?
Whatever the case may be, UFC 130 is certainly following up a great UFC 129 card that wowed fans. Now with top light-heavyweight Rampage Jackson fighting in the main event, could there still be some fireworks provided?
Earlier today, MMA Junkie reported the overnight release of promising now-former UFC Middleweight prospect Maiquel Jose “Big Rig” Falcao Gonclaves, better known to us all as Maiquel Falcao.The release comes as a shock to the MMA World, who last heard F…
Earlier today, MMA Junkie reported the overnight release of promising now-former UFC Middleweight prospect Maiquel Jose “Big Rig” Falcao Gonclaves, better known to us all as Maiquel Falcao.
The release comes as a shock to the MMA World, who last heard Falcao’s name when talked had risen about a spot on the UFC 134 fight card opposite Tom Lawlor, with the consensus pointing to a 2002 assault charge as the primary motivation behind the release.
Supposedly, the charge—coupled in with fan demand for the fight with “The Filthy Mauler”of The Ultimate Fighter 8 variety—eventually led to the release of the prospect and has now made the once-promising UFC Middleweight a free agent.
Some might agree with it, but for those who do agree with this fully, there is a question to answer, and that question is this:
Why is this the correct move?
If anything, this move is a downright ridiculous move fueled by the resurrection of an issue that should have been laid to rest in 2004 when Falcao debuted.
Falcao admitted that there indeed was an argument at a nightclub with some people, a girl did get injured in the lips as a result, he and his friends were taken to court, and of course, there’s also the charge of aggression—assault, in other terms.
He admitted to that and was given two years of house arrest, and he did admit that eight years later when he moved from his old house, he was advised by his legal counselors that the rest of the remaining sixteen months of house arrest could be finished in the new home.
Nobody can quote Falcao as saying anything to the contrary.
He admitted to his sins, but he did his time—his MMA career didn’t start until April of 2004, which is the year when the charges should have been dropped.
The charges should have never been spoken of again after Falcao began his MMA career, but somehow they magically reappeared after the win over Gerald Harris.
Now if the release really was because of Falcao not accepting the Lawlor fight, then maybe the release is understandable because that might just lead to Dana thinking Falcao doesn’t “want to be a f**king fighter.”
Unfortunately, that is not the case.
There are only two remotely negatively things that Falcao has done since he signed on to face Gerald Harris, lest we forget.
The first one was coasting through round three of the fight with Harris, which caused the bout to be one of the most panned non-title fights in the sport, and the other—depending on whose side you take—was the brief war of verbal body hooks between him and Sakara.
This “2002 assault charge” nonsense, however?
I cannot classify it as anything more than just that without coming across as more overly-vulgar than I normally am, because “nonsense” is exactly what this is.
In less than three years with the UFC, Dan “The Outlaw” Hardy has gone from hot welterweight prospect to fighting for his UFC life.Hardy came into the UFC with a 19-6-0-1 record and proceeded to run up a four-fight winning streak that earned him a shot…
In less than three years with the UFC, Dan “The Outlaw” Hardy has gone from hot welterweight prospect to fighting for his UFC life.
Hardy came into the UFC with a 19-6-0-1 record and proceeded to run up a four-fight winning streak that earned him a shot at welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre.
St-Pierre defeated Hardy via unanimous decision in their March 2010 bout. Since then Hardy has fallen to Carlos Condit via first-round knockout and more recently Anthony Johnson via unanimous decision.
Following the loss to Johnson, Hardy posted the following on Twitter:
Feeling very frustrated today. No excuses, sometimes you just dont win. I hate having boring fights though.
I want to fight again. I feel like Ive been robbed of the reward at the end of training camp.
An oldschool shootout with a guy that wants to throw down. Screw the rankings, records are for DJs.
Win in a blaze of glory or go out on my shield. Someone like Mr Lytle…
It seems as if Hardy has received his wish, as ESPN has reported that Hardy and Chris Lytle will meet on August 14 in Milwaukee on the UFC on Versus 5 fight card.
Lytle, the recipient of eight UFC Fight Night bonus awards, has never been shy about giving the fans a fight they want to see and that is exactly what Hardy is looking for.
“This is the kind a fight you can define your career around,” Hardy told ESPN. “You can guarantee Chris Lytle will bring it, that he will have an exciting fight. He’s someone I have always respected because of his attitude. Everyone loves to watch this guy fight; the UFC, the fans and I but especially his bank manager with all those Fight of the Night bonuses he gets.”
Hardy knows the stakes are high in this fight and that a fourth consecutive loss would put his UFC career in serious doubt. With that in mind, he plans on moving to Las Vegas to train for his fight with Lytle. “I am getting a place in Las Vegas and I’m training full-time with Roy Nelson and some of the best in the world. I used to split my time between LA and Nottingham, but there’s more MMA in Vegas so me and my girlfriend are getting a place there. Roy is already adding things to my game but we’ve not scratched the surface of what he can teach me.”
UFC on Versus 5 will take place on August 14, 2011 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
When you consider the horrible reviews that the latest Manny Pacquiao fight is receiving due to its predictability and boredom, you’d think the UFC would be having a good week. Though they surely are happy to see their rival of violence continue to see…
When you consider the horrible reviews that the latest Manny Pacquiao fight is receiving due to its predictability and boredom, you’d think the UFC would be having a good week. Though they surely are happy to see their rival of violence continue to see its sport go down the toilet, the UFC was forced to cancel yet another main event just weeks before the fight was to take place.
Lightweight champion Frankie Edgar and Gary Maynard took part in a thrilling title fight on New Year’s Day that ended in a draw. Obviously, UFC’s Dana White had to schedule a rematch, which was slated for UFC 130 on May 28. However, not one, but both fighters sustained injuries in recent weeks that have forced the postponement of this fight until the summer, possibly as late as September.
It was just the latest case of a big UFC fight being postponed due to injuries incurred during a training camp. The notion of athletes getting injured during training is nothing new. Every year in the NFL, we see several big stars sustain season ending injuries before they ever take the field.
But the rate of UFC fighters dropping out due to injury and constantly forcing the organization to alter their pay-per-views is a growing issue that is angering fans and could cause the great wave of momentum the UFC has created over the past six years to come crashing down if they’re not careful.
It would be one thing if the Edgar/Maynard postponement were something new. But it’s just another example of a growing trend of big pay-per-view fights being put off due to injuries. It would be one thing if it were affecting bouts that didn’t have title implications, but these are occurring most noticeably to those fighting for a title, or for a chance to be the number one contender.
Just look at the crazy road former champion Rashad Evans has had to lead since he beat Rampage Jackson nearly one year ago at UFC 114.
With that win, Evans was slated to take on the then-champion, Shogun Rua. Due to a shoulder injury though, the fight was put off until UFC 128 in March. However, several weeks prior to the fight Evans sustained a knee injury while training, forcing the UFC to put camp teammate Jon Jones into a title fight many feel he had not yet truly earned.
However, Jones systematically destroyed Rua en route to a third-round TKO. Immediately following the fight, it was announced the two one time friends would fight, and was later announced that they’d go at it in August at UFC 133.
But now it was diagnosed that Jon Jones was injured (in fairness this was during his fight), forcing Evans to now take on Phil Davis in a number one contender fight. What does this all mean for Evans? He won a title shot just about one year ago, has not yet fought for a title, and will now have to “defend” his number one contender spot nearly 17 months from when he last fought.
The case of Evans may be the worst we’ve seen in the UFC, but it’s far from the only one. A rematch between BJ Penn and Jon Fitch was scrapped when both fighters got hurt training. Chris Leben famously replaced Wanderlei Silva to take on Yoshioro Akiyama due to the Axe Murderer’s numerous camp injuries. Leben did this despite fighting just one month prior.
UFC 126 was another shining example. Anderson Silva finally fought Vitor Belfort in a title fight that was originally supposed to take place at UFC 108 but both fights sustained, guess what, injuries prior to the fight. Kenny Florian also stepped out due to injury in a fight against Evan Dunham.
At the upcoming UFC 130, three additional fights to the postponed Edgar/Maynard fight have been altered due to training camp injuries. If you glance at Wikipedia, you’ll see this occurs almost every pay-per-view.
This situation, which is growing worse by the month is something that must be addressed. Altering three to four fights ever pay-per-view is not good business. Dana White, who has overseen the rapid rise of the UFC, should realize this.
As bad as the sport of boxing is right now, you don’t see fighters routinely go down to injuries in training camps. In a business where the top stars make up to $10 million or in Pacquiao’s case, $20 million per fight, you train but you also stay healthy.
The question is what to do? Dana White needs to speak with fighters and trainers and work together to come to one of two conclusions. The first is more logical: lighten up the load at these camps. Don’t have as much hands on sparring that leads to injuries.
The other option is put these guys in the octagon more than three or four times a year. If these fighters are so eager to go at it to the point of injuring themselves in a camp, then let them do it in the bright lights of a pay-per-view or Spike TV show.
Whether they lighten the load in camp, or fight more, something has to give here. There are only so many times you can advertise a product and not deliver to those shelling out $50 at home or spending money at the local sports bar. As it stands, the UFC is going to have to showcase one of the weaker pay-per-views in recent memory in a few weeks due to this growing issue.
As a fan of the UFC, I hope this issue gets fixed. It’s grown increasingly frustrating to see big fighters go at it once a year due to his personal injuries, or that of his opponent. One can hope this situation gets resolved before it is too late.
It has been a few months now since Zuffa, the parent company that owns the UFC, purchased the Strikeforce promotion. Dana White, president of the UFC, has stated numerous times that the two organizations would remain separate, with only minor cha…
It has been a few months now since Zuffa, the parent company that owns the UFC, purchased the Strikeforce promotion. Dana White, president of the UFC, has stated numerous times that the two organizations would remain separate, with only minor changes behind the scenes affecting Strikeforce.
But how long will this separation last?
As fighters and fans alike clamor for superfights between champions like Dan Henderson and Jon Jones or Gilbert Melendez and Frankie Edgar, it seems that cross promotion is already on the horizon.
But if history has taught us anything, a merger may come sooner than most people will expect.
