Evans is currently riding a three-fight win streak, including decisions over Thiago Silva and Quinton Jackson, and a second-round TKO of Tito Ortiz, who came in as Davis’s short-notice injury replacement. Davis has gone 5-0 in the Octagon, most recently out-pointing Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in March. You’d have to assume that if Evans manages to deal “Mr. Wonderful” his first loss, he’ll be awarded a title shot against the winner of Jones vs. Machida — but considering Suga’s run ofbad luck when it comes to that sort of thing, anything’s possible.
In other UFC on FOX 2 booking news…
(Let’s just hope this fight doesn’t affect their friendship.)
Evans is currently riding a three-fight win streak, including decisions over Thiago Silva and Quinton Jackson, and a second-round TKO of Tito Ortiz, who came in as Davis’s short-notice injury replacement. Davis has gone 5-0 in the Octagon, most recently out-pointing Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in March. You’d have to assume that if Evans manages to deal “Mr. Wonderful” his first loss, he’ll be awarded a title shot against the winner of Jones vs. Machida — but considering Suga’s run ofbad luck when it comes to that sort of thing, anything’s possible.
Coincidentally, Einemo lost his UFC debut to Herman in June, and his only win in the last five years came at a show in Bosnia that’s not even recognized by MMA databases. In other words, Russow vs. Einemo is a bit of a squash match; if Russow was hoping for a step up in competition for his next outing, this ain’t it.
Filed under: UFC, News, UFC on FOXA light-heavyweight match pitting former division champion Rashad Evans and rising contender Phil Davis will take place at the upcoming UFC on FOX 2 show in January, sources told MMA Fighting on Wednesday, confirming a…
A light-heavyweight match pitting former division champion Rashad Evans and rising contender Phil Davis will take place at the upcoming UFC on FOX 2 show in January, sources told MMA Fighting on Wednesday, confirming an overnight report from ESPN.
Late on Tuesday night, UFC president Dana White told MMA Fighting that he could not yet confirm the show’s main event. But while the promotion has yet to announce the pairing, barring any unforeseen setbacks, it is expected to be made official within days and is likely to serve as the headliner.
Evans (16-1-1) lost out on a pair of possible title shots against current champ Jon Jones due to respective injuries to both men over the last few months. At UFC 133, he was nearly set to face Jones until a hand injury sidelined the champ. Evans was then paired with Davis, but a knee injury scuttled that fight as well.
Instead, Evans ended up facing and defeating Tito Ortiz in a second-round TKO.
Unfortunately for Evans, he injured his hand during the fight and could not take a December 10 date with Jones either, allowing Lyoto Machida to step in and fight for the belt.
If Evans wins, the UFC will once again attempt to set him up for another title shot, this time against the Jones-Machida winner.
To do so, he’ll have to get past the unbeaten Davis, who has not fought since earning a unanimous decision victory over Antonio Rogerio Nogueria in March. At 9-0, Davis has cracked the top 10 of most light-heavyweight polls, but the former Penn State collegiate wrestling All-American faces a big step up in competition against Evans. His knee now healed, he’s being asked to jump right into top competition.
The UFC on FOX 2 card takes place at Chicago’s United Center on January 28 and is the official kickoff to the seven-year deal signed between UFC and FOX in August. A one-hour teaser event held in November drew an average of 5.7 million viewers, with 8.8 million watching Junior dos Santos capture the heavyweight title by knocking out Cain Velasquez.
Filed under: UFC, NewsSurging welterweight contender Jake Ellenberger will attempt to capture his sixth straight octagon win and thrust himself into the No. 1 contender debate on February 15, and he’ll need a win over Diego Sanchez to do it.
Surging welterweight contender Jake Ellenberger will attempt to capture his sixth straight octagon win and thrust himself into the No. 1 contender debate on February 15, and he’ll need a win over Diego Sanchez to do it.
The UFC confirmed the two will square off in the first installment of the UFC on FUEL. Previously, UFC president Dana White had said all non-title main events going forward would be five rounds, the announcement noted that the main event matchup would be a three-round bout, but no explanation was given for the change.
Ellenberger (26-5) has vaulted himself into the division’s top 10 with a series of dynamic recent performances. In his most recent bout, he knocked out former No. 1 contender Jake Shields in just 53 seconds. Prior to that, he’d stopped three of four opponents via KO or TKO.
Sanchez (23-4) has captured two straight since struggling in his return to welterweight after a run at 155. In his most recent bout, he earned the judges’ nod in a controversial unanimous decision against Martin Kampmann.
The UFC said the inaugural FUEL event would take place in Ellenberger’s hometown of Omaha, Nebraska, though they did not specify a venue. The likely landing spot is the CenturyLink Center Omaha, an 18,300-seat arena.
The new broadcast partner, FUEL, is a unit of FOX cable networks and is expected to host over 2,000 hours of UFC programming in 2012. According to TV by the Numbers, the channel is currently available in just over 32 million U.S. households, about 27 percent of available homes.
M-1 and Showtime will team up for the fourth time when the two sides air M-1 Challenge 30 live on December 9 at 11 pm.
The event is the final one on the current deal which expires at the end of 2011, and a source with knowledge of the negotiations said the two sides are still in discussions for a 2012 extension.
In the headline slot of the Dec. 9 card is a rematch between M-1 Global welterweight champion Shamil Zavurov and Yasubey Enomoto, the promotion announced on Tuesday. The event will take place at The Hangar at the O.C. Fair and Event Center in Costa Mesa, California.
Zavurov is 18-1 so far in his career, and in April defeated Enomoto by unanimous decision in a five-round fight. That victory extended his win streak to 13 straight bouts.
Meanwhile, Enomoto is 8-3 and coming off back-to-back wins since losing in his first crack at the belt. In that first encounter, Enomoto had just eight days’ notice after replacing the injured top contender.
In the co-main event, undefeated Alexander Sarnavsky will put his perfect 16-0 record on the line against Francisco Drinaldo (10-1).
The rest of the main card is comprised of Tyson Jeffries (7-6) vs. Eddie Arizmendi (15-5), Jose Figueroa (10-5) vs. Artiom Damkovsky (9-6), and Alessandro Ferriera (10-1) vs. Bao Quach (18-10).
True story: at the UFC 139 post-fight press conference, Dana White not only referenced a Strikeforce Challengers fight, he also referenced a women’s fight.
Crazy, I know.
Basically, when talking about the late stoppage in the Chris Weidman–Tom Lawlor bout, White said he felt there was also a late stoppage in the Ronda Rousey–Julia Budd fight the night before at Strikeforce Challengers in Las Vegas.
The mention was a surprising one for obvious reasons, but it got me wondering whether White, who, along with his partners at Zuffa, now owns Strikeforce, was warming up to the idea of promoting women’s fights.
Not so fast. The UFC president still believes the divisions are too shallow on talent right now.
“As the sport continues to grow and as time goes on, maybe that will change,” White said. “Maybe it will change or maybe less women will get involved, I don’t know. We’ll see what happens. Time will only tell. I don’t know. But yeah, I still feel the same way.”
Of course, White has made his stance on women’s MMA pretty clear over the years. In short, he’s not against women competing in MMA, but he simply doesn’t believe there are enough top-level athletes fighting right now to build divisions around. It’s a fair argument that even the most devoted supporter of WMMA would probably agree with.
That said, the times they are a changin’, and after Gina Carano‘s absence took some of the spotlight away from the female fighters, the buzz seems to be coming back, thanks in large part to the emergence of Rousey, who White admitted after the presser that he was impressed with.
“She’s talented,” White said. “Great fights.”
So for now, women’s MMA fans will have to settle on a mention from White. You gotta start somewhere.
True story: at the UFC 139 post-fight press conference, Dana White not only referenced a Strikeforce Challengers fight, he also referenced a women’s fight.
Crazy, I know.
Basically, when talking about the late stoppage in the Chris Weidman–Tom Lawlor bout, White said he felt there was also a late stoppage in the Ronda Rousey–Julia Budd fight the night before at Strikeforce Challengers in Las Vegas.
The mention was a surprising one for obvious reasons, but it got me wondering whether White, who, along with his partners at Zuffa, now owns Strikeforce, was warming up to the idea of promoting women’s fights.
Not so fast. The UFC president still believes the divisions are too shallow on talent right now.
“As the sport continues to grow and as time goes on, maybe that will change,” White said. “Maybe it will change or maybe less women will get involved, I don’t know. We’ll see what happens. Time will only tell. I don’t know. But yeah, I still feel the same way.”
Of course, White has made his stance on women’s MMA pretty clear over the years. In short, he’s not against women competing in MMA, but he simply doesn’t believe there are enough top-level athletes fighting right now to build divisions around. It’s a fair argument that even the most devoted supporter of WMMA would probably agree with.
That said, the times they are a changin’, and after Gina Carano‘s absence took some of the spotlight away from the female fighters, the buzz seems to be coming back, thanks in large part to the emergence of Rousey, who White admitted after the presser that he was impressed with.
“She’s talented,” White said. “Great fights.”
So for now, women’s MMA fans will have to settle on a mention from White. You gotta start somewhere.
“The Big Deal” will put his 16-fight undefeated streak on the line as he steps into the Octagon for the first time against Vemola, who is 1-1 in two UFC starts.
(Jimmo will trade his precious metal to finally test his mettle in the UFC)
“The Big Deal” will put his 16-fight undefeated streak on the line as he steps into the Octagon for the first time against Vemola, who is 1-1 in two UFC starts.
We spoke with Ryan today, and as expected, he was ecstatic about “the big deal,” but couldn’t disclose any of the details of his new multi-fight contract as per Zuffa policy.
“I’m very happy and excited to be joining the UFC and to be given this opportunity to prove myself on the world’s biggest stage. I started training 27-years ago with my father and have worked very hard to get to where I am. I’d like to thank Joe Silva, Dana White and the Fertittas for giving me my shot and everyone who helped me achieve this goal including my manager Bobby, all of my sponsors, training partners, family, friends, and Mark and the MFC for helping me get here,” Jimmo said. “Without all of their help and support I never would have gotten to where I am. Karlos Vemola is a stiff test for my first UFC fight and I’m going to make sure I entertain the fans and put on a great fight on January 20.”
A handful of other match-ups for the event, which will be headlined by a lightweight tilt between Jim Miller and Melvin Guillard, were announced for the card, bringing the number of scheduled bouts to eight.
UFC on FX 1
Saturday, January 20, 2012
Bridgestone Arena
Nashville, Tennessee
Jim Miller vs. Melvin Guillard
Eric “Red” Schafer vs. Jorge “El Conquistador” Rivera
Josh ‘The Dentist’ Neer vs. Duane ‘Bang’ Ludwig
Christian Morecraft vs. Pat ‘HD’ Barry.
Mike Brown vs. Vagner Rocha
Reza “Mad Dog” Madadi vs. Rafaello Oliveira
Ryan “Big Deal” Jimmo vs. Karlos Vemola.
Kamal Shalorus vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov
A light-heavyweight match pitting former division champion 
Surging welterweight contender 
M-1 and Showtime will team up for the fourth time when the two sides air M-1 Challenge 30 live on December 9 at 11 pm. 
True story: at the 