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?
Bleacher Report’s Sal DeRose:UFC 131 is set to take place in Vancouver, Canada. It will follow not only the The Ultimate Fighter 13 finale, but also UFC 130 and the great card that was, UFC 129.UFC 131 produces some big names, and MMA reigns supreme wi…
Bleacher Report’s Sal DeRose:
UFC 131 is set to take place in Vancouver, Canada. It will follow not only the The Ultimate Fighter 13 finale, but also UFC 130 and the great card that was, UFC 129.
UFC 131 produces some big names, and MMA reigns supreme with numerous month-long events by Strikeforce and the UFC.
The card will end with a No. 1 contender bout for the heavyweight title, featuring Junior dos Santos, and Brock Lesnar.
Bleacher Report’s Bryan Levick:Today the realization that UFC 130 has lost its extremely exciting and much anticipated main event has probably began to sunk in. No one would have thought that a third fight between UFC Lightweight Champion Frankie Edg…
Bleacher Report’s Bryan Levick:
Today the realization that UFC 130 has lost its extremely exciting and much anticipated main event has probably began to sunk in. No one would have thought that a third fight between UFC Lightweight Champion Frankie Edgar and UFC No. 1 Lightweight Contender Gray Maynard would spark so much interest.
Yet that is exactly what happened in the early hours of January 2, not too long after Edgar and Maynard put on a thrilling back and forth affair that encompassed the entire 25 minutes allotted to them for their main event matchup. Once the judges’ scorecards were read and a draw was determined, UFC President Dana White made the decision within an hour or two to have Maynard and Edgar square off one more time.
With Edgar-Maynard leading the way, the main card was shaping up pretty nicely. Rampage Jackson was set to face Thiago Silva, but Silva was suspended and Matt Hamill stepped up to face the former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. Two heavyweights with backgrounds in both Las Vegas and grappling will meet up as Roy Nelson fights former UFC heavyweight Champion Frank Mir.
And so on and so forth, the wheels keep spinning. With just under three weeks and having both Maynard & Edgar injured, the UFC was forced to scrap the fight altogether and bump the Hamill-Rampage fight to the main-event slot.
So that leaves me with the task of trying to drum up some serious interest in the remaining bouts on the main pay-per-view portion of the card. Let’s take a look at some highlight videos and try and get the blood flowing in anticipation of these fights.
Wanderlei Silva will make his anticipated return to the Octagon following a string of injuries that have kept him on the shelf since last year. The former Pride FC star is a legend in mixed martial arts and will look to improve on his already-esta…
Wanderlei Silva will make his anticipated return to the Octagon following a string of injuries that have kept him on the shelf since last year.
The former Pride FC star is a legend in mixed martial arts and will look to improve on his already-established legacy against Chris Leben at UFC 132.
While he is not recognized as the most technically proficient striker, Silva intends to bring a fight to his opponent when he competes, whether he wins or loses.
And although he understands the fact that he is nowhere near title contention, that is not his motivation.
“This comeback, is really to prove to you all, that there’s always a way,” Silva said in a recent video blog, courtesy of DoggedTV. “So this comeback is really important.”
At 34 years old, Silva is certainly on the downside of his career; going 2-3 in his last five fights.
However at UFC 132 Silva is motivated to return and views his opponent, Chris Leben, of having a similar style as him.
“My next opponent, Chris Leben, is a brave guy who comes to fight,” Silva said of his opponent.
While preparing for Leben, Silva said the only advantage he might hold over his opponent is speed. Other than that, there is not much else to compare. Both men prefer to stand and trade, as it has been a successful trait for them in past fights, and it motivates the Brazilian to perform to the best of his ability.
“I’m preparing for a lot. I’m preparing for a bloody fight. He has a good chin; I know I must be prepared to beat on him for three rounds.”
UFC 132 will take place on July 2nd, live from the MGM Grand from Las Vegas, Nevada.
Bleacher Report’s Dale De Souza:I’ve been thinking about this for weeks, but until now I hadn’t had the time to get it out in the open. Considering how quickly we’ll be closing in on UFC 131 after this Saturday’s UFC 129 event, I figured now would be a…
Bleacher Report’s Dale De Souza:
I’ve been thinking about this for weeks, but until now I hadn’t had the time to get it out in the open.
Considering how quickly we’ll be closing in on UFC 131 after this Saturday’s UFC 129 event, I figured now would be a good time to talk about one Chris Weidman.
Remember Weidman—the guy who was brought into the UFC as a replacement for Maiquel Falcao and was supposed to get smashed by Alessio Sakara?
He wound up dominating Sakara for the majority of the bout and was instantly put on the map as a guy to keep both eyes on in the UFC’s otherwise-cleared-out middleweight division.
He gets relative newcomer Jesse Bongfeldt at UFC 131 in what should be an entertaining fight—one that was supposed to be Court McGee’s fight before an injury took McGee out of the picture temporarily.
This has led me to draw out a scenario that may or may not work at this point in Weidman’s UFC run, but nonetheless, I find that while it might stylistically be a nightmare for Weidman. It could also wind up being an action-packed encounter that might be a candidate for Fight of The Year.
Bleacher Report’s John Heinis:The main event of UFC 131 is heating up, as Junior Dos Santos has now taken a verbal swing at former heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar.Dos Santos’ latest comments with The MMA Hour showed how confident he is for the June 11 s…
Bleacher Report’s John Heinis:
The main event of UFC 131 is heating up, as Junior Dos Santos has now taken a verbal swing at former heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar.
Dos Santos’ latest comments with The MMA Hour showed how confident he is for the June 11 showdown between the two heavyweight contenders.
“He’s a wrestler, so he feels uncomfortable when people throw punches on him. I think his fight against Cain Velasquez shows good things for me, because I think he’s got a weak chin.”
The Brazilian power puncher also had his comments fueled by what Lesnar said in an interview with The Aftermath.
After acknowledging that his boxing needs improvement, the former “Next Big Thing” went on to say: “As far as learning…I don’t know if you ever get used to taking punches, but that’s not the problem.”
UFC 130 is closing in and it will be the ending to a month where barely any MMA had happened at all.