UFC 137 will take place on Saturday, October 29 from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, NV. The card will be headlined by a welterweight contest between BJ Penn and Nick Diaz.Star-crossed would be a good way to describe the UFC 137 fight card…
UFC 137 will take place on Saturday, October 29 from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, NV. The card will be headlined by a welterweight contest between BJ Penn and Nick Diaz.
Star-crossed would be a good way to describe the UFC 137 fight card as Penn versus Diaz is the third try at the night’s main event. The UFC’s first attempt at getting a fight booked to headline the event was a title bout between Georges St-Pierre and Diaz, but when Diaz no showed two press conferences to promote the fight he found himself replaced by Carlos Condit.
Condit had originally been booked to face Penn in the night’s main event. After some negotiations Diaz was then moved to the co-main event against Penn. That fight was then scrapped when St-Pierre pulled up lame, injuring his knee during training. Diaz vs Penn was then moved to the main event.
The UFC then updated the fight card poster (again) to include the new main event, with the tagline, “Expect the Unexpected.”
With that phrase hanging over the event, below is the (hopefully) final iteration of the UFC 137 fight card:
Pay Per View:
Nick Diaz vs. B.J. Penn
Cheick Kongo vs. Matt Mitrione
Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic vs. Roy Nelson
Hatsu Hioki vs. George Roop
Jeff Curran vs. Scott Jorgensen
Spike TV:
Donald Cerrone vs. Dennis Siver
Tyson Griffin vs. Bart Palaszewski
Facebok stream:
Eliot Marshall vs. Brandon Vera
Danny Downes vs. Ramsey Nijem
Chris Camozzi vs. Francis Carmont
Dustin Jacoby vs. Clifford Starks
If any changes occur of the next few days, Bleacher Report MMA will provide updates
Much like the old westerns that were so popular years ago, you would have two men meet in the center of town to determine which man left and which man stayed.Roy Nelson and Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic will meet in the center of the Octagon in Las Vegas t…
Much like the old westerns that were so popular years ago, you would have two men meet in the center of town to determine which man left and which man stayed.
Roy Nelson and Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic will meet in the center of the Octagon in Las Vegas to determine which heavyweight will live to see another day and which man will be shown the door.
Both fighters are on the wrong end of two-fight losing streaks. In the UFC that is enough to spell doom, so it is not hard to understand why the loser of this showdown will more than likely receive his pink slip in the days after Saturday night’s pay-per-view.
While neither fighter can be mistaken for a title contender, they both bring a loyal following to the table and that can never be discounted, but a win is a win and a loss is a loss.
Cro Cop has a legion of fans dating back to his days in K-1 and Pride. Known for his devastating head kicks, Cro Cop has accumulated a career’s worth of highlight reel knockouts. Unfortunately for him, he has failed to achieve the same success inside the Octagon that he did in Japan.
During two stints with the UFC, he has a 4-5 record with just one head kick knockout, which was thrown by Gabriel Gonzaga and taken by Cro Cop himself.
In his last two bouts, Cro Cop has really begun to show his age and the mileage on a body that has been through 38 mixed martial arts bouts and 23 kickboxing matches.
He was knocked out on the third round by a Frank Mir knee that thankfully put an end to what may have been the worst main event matchup in UFC history. At UFC 128 against Brendan Schaub, Filipovic was controlled by the younger, stronger fighter before being knocked out once again late in the third round.
Nelson is popular because he represents the everyday man more than he does a mixed martial artist fighting in the world’s top organization. With a rotund belly, shaggy beard and an out of style mullet, Nelson embraces his image and endears himself to the average person.
Don’t let his physique fool you: He possesses world-class grappling skills and for the most part has pretty good conditioning.
After winning Season 10 of The Ultimate Fighter by knocking out Schaub in Round 1, Nelson went on to defeat Stefan Struve by first-round knockout. Next, He went lost a unanimous decision to current No. 1 heavyweight contender Junior dos Santos in a heavyweight title eliminator bout at UFC 117.
Nelson had become the first man to take Dos Santos the distance in his sixth career UFC bout. He also showed a ton of heart as he took a beating, but refused to go down or quit.
He would go on to face Frank Mir at UFC 130, and it was apparent right away that something was wrong. Within the first couple of minutes of the opening round, Nelson seemed spent and it was amazing that he was able to last the entire 15 minutes of the fight.
He lost via unanimous decision.
Two days after the bout, Nelson learned that he had walking pneumonia and spent the next month and a half recuperating.
UFC president Dana White took Nelson to task for not taking his career serious enough and trying to get into better shape. After fighting like this his entire career, one would think it would be tough to teach an old dog new tricks. He had talked about getting in contact with Mike Dolce and even mentioned the possibility of attempting to make the cut down to the light heavyweight division.
There has been no recent discussion on that matter. One would have to assume it may be too late to make a serious run at making the 205-pound limit.
At 37 and 35 years old respectively, time is not on either Cro Cop’s or Nelson’s side.
The new breed of heavyweights are bigger, stronger and faster than both men. The opportunities for either fighter to be anything more than a special attraction went out the window a long time ago.
But with a loyal fan base, as long as they can gather a couple of wins here or there, the UFC will keep them around. With so much on the line this Saturday night, here is to hoping we see an exciting fight between two guys just looking to put on a show.
UFC 137 is less than a week away and the promotion has to be hoping that the next few days pass with no drama. The card is now on its third main event, BJ Penn versus Nick Diaz.The original main event between St-Pierre and Diaz was scrapped when the vo…
UFC 137 is less than a week away and the promotion has to be hoping that the next few days pass with no drama. The card is now on its third main event, BJ Penn versus Nick Diaz.
The original main event between St-Pierre and Diaz was scrapped when the volatile Diaz missed two pre-fight press conferences. Diaz was then dropped from the main event; replaced by Carlos Condit. That fight was then scratched when St-Pierre injured his knee while training. The injury to St-Pierre then put Diaz back in the main event against BJ Penn, Condit’s original opponent.
Confused? Don’t be, just savor the fact that you will get to enjoy a main event between two of the more aggressive fighters in the welterweight division.You’d be hard pressed to deny that the winner of this fight should be under consideration for an eventual shot at the welterweight crown.
The change in the card’s main event moved the heavyweight bout between Cheick Kongo and Matt Mitirone to co-main event status. Kongo, coming off a jawdropping come-from-behind knockout victory over Pat Barry in June, will look to use the momentum of that win to firmly entrench himself in the top 10 of the heavyweight division. Mitrione, who has been brought to this point via a slow and steady pace, will face the biggest test of his young UFC career in Kongo.
Another fight of note will be the heavyweight battle between Mirko Cro Cop and Roy Nelson. Both fighters have looked less than spectacular in their last few outings and will be looking to impress on the October 29 card from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, NV.
Bleacher Report MMA will be your source for news, analysis and opinions on all the fights on the upcoming fight card.
Check back often as the fight card nears for all the UFC 137 information you need.
Filed under: UFCAsk Roy Nelson how he’s been preparing for his fight against Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic at UFC 137, and you’ll find that “Big Country’s” sense of humor is still very much intact after two straight losses.
Ask Roy Nelson how he’s been preparing for his fight against Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic at UFC 137, and you’ll find that “Big Country’s” sense of humor is still very much intact after two straight losses.
“I’ve just been working out in the cemetery a lot,” he told MMA Fighting recently. “I’ve got to get ready for the left kick. I want to see what it’s like.”
It’s a typical Roy Nelson answer, which is to say slightly absurd and said with a straight face, as if to daring you to say, ‘No, seriously.’ But these aren’t joking times for Nelson. After coming up short against Junior dos Santos and then Frank Mir, Nelson is facing a potentially dire situation.
Don’t tell him that, of course.
“All fights are dire,” Nelson said. “I’ve seen guys get cut after one. I’ve seen guys lose three or four and still have a job. In this business, there’s no rhyme or reason. It’s MMA. It’s like when you go into the Octagon: anything can happen.”
If Nelson didn’t already know that, he got a quick education in his fight against Mir. He knew he was getting sick before the bout, he said. He’d been shaking hands at a recent UFC Fan Expo and “I must have touched some dirty people and didn’t wash my hands enough.”
Even when he realized he was coming down with something, he refused to take antibiotics because he worried about the effect they might have on his cardio, Nelson said. Then again, not taking them didn’t do much to help him either.
“In that fight, I just hit a wall. And I hit a wall fast. I hit the wall, like, the first minute. I think it kind of showed on my face in the fight. But I pushed through it, gave a hundred percent of what I had, and just came out on the losing end.”
The Tuesday after the fight, Nelson would stagger into the emergency room and find out that he had walking pneumonia. Even with a course of antibiotics, he’d spend the next month or so trying to kick the illness. He’d also end up questioning whether taking a fight against a former UFC heavyweight champion in this state was really the best career move.
“The one thing that I definitely learned from this one is, I’m always a fighter first and a businessman second, and that one taught me to be a businessman before a fighter. When you’re injured or sick, the thing is, you’ve still got to provide for your family. I hadn’t fought for ten months before that, and I’m just trying to put food on the table and take care of my bills. It was one of those things, plus it was an awesome opportunity. You beat Frank and you’re right back in the mix.”
Since Nelson couldn’t beat ’em, however, he decided to join ’em. He’s been working out with his old foe Mir in preparation for the bout with Filipovic. He and Mir don’t talk about their fight, Nelson said, because “it’s in the past.”
Nelson’s future lies in the cage with Cro Cop. If he doesn’t come out on the winning end of that one, it will bring his losing streak to three, which is often the magic number that brings the ax down on a fighter’s UFC contract. Since Cro Cop has also lost two straight — and since he’s in the last fight of his current deal — the loser in this fight could very well end up out of a job.
“It’s so cliche, you know. You have to beat a legend to be a legend. But I think just to fight Cro Cop, period, is something that, as a fighter, you just want to do,” Nelson said. “You want to be able to say, hey, I competed with some of the best of the world.”
You want to be able to say it eventually, when you’re looking back at a long successful career. But if Nelson doesn’t find a way to beat Filipovic, he’s in danger of reaching that point sooner than he wants to.
Maybe “anything can happen” in the Octagon, but one thing that can’t happen is coming out on the losing end and remaining employed indefinitely. You can bet that a businessman-fighter like Nelson knows that as well as anyone. Now he just has to fight accordingly.
Roy Nelson has called upon Frank Mir to help him prepare for his bout against Mirko Cro Cop at UFC 137. Mir, who holds victories over both Nelson and Cro Cop, is good friends with the former IFL heavyweight champion. Nelson has trained with Mir oc…
Roy Nelson has called upon Frank Mir to help him prepare for his bout against Mirko Cro Cop at UFC 137.
Mir, who holds victories over both Nelson and Cro Cop, is good friends with the former IFL heavyweight champion. Nelson has trained with Mir occasionally in the past, however this is the first time Mir has offered his services to The Ultimate Fighter season 10 winner.
In fact, Nelson said their training regimen happened by coincidence.
“This one actually just fell in place. He was a southie, (like) Cro Cop, and me being a good jiu-jitsu guy, like Nogueira, so it was just a perfect fit,” Nelson told NBCSports.com.
Nelson is entering his bout after two consecutive losses to Junior dos Santos and Mir. A potential third loss could send the 265-pound heavyweight down the ladder in the division and prevent him from entering title contention. Also, Nelson has not performed to expectations, often entering bouts looking out of shape and flat-footed.
Earning a victory over Cro Cop next weekend isn’t only expected, but it is crucial for “Big Country.” But despite the pressure, Nelson seems unfazed.
“Everybody always talks about my weight, but that’s throughout my whole entire life. It’s nothing new,” he said. “I hope I just perform better. Looks are in the eye of the beholder.”
Believe it or not, UFC 137 will go on without Georges St. Pierre. When news came from Dana White that GSP had injured his knee and was pulling out of his fight with Carlos Condit, I immediately began to hear from “fans” that this card now “sucked.” The…
Believe it or not, UFC 137 will go on without Georges St. Pierre. When news came from Dana White that GSP had injured his knee and was pulling out of his fight with Carlos Condit, I immediately began to hear from “fans” that this card now “sucked.” These “fans” would even go so far as to say the card should be moved to Spike and shown for free. Are we looking at the same card?
One of the great things about the UFC is that a PPV event isn’t ruined if a fighter in the main event can’t fight. Today’s pool of UFC fighters is so deep that each card can still hold it’s $55 value even without the scheduled main event. Yes, GSP is out, but let’s take a look at what we have coming up on October 29th:
BJ is coming off a less than exciting draw with Jon Fitch. Previous to that, he had a knockout win over a fading Matt Hughes and two decision losses to Frankie Edgar. It has been nearly two years since BJ’s last impressive victory, which was over Diego Sanchez at UFC 107.
Nick Diaz hasn’t lost a fight since 2007, but he hasn’t been competing against the UFC roster for four years. There were times during his last fight against Paul Daley where I thought he was going down, only to turn things around in that one round fight and score the TKO.
BJ is only 32 years old, but I get the sense he is on his way out. Although Diaz is a loose cannon, at 28 years old, he is finally back in the spotlight of the UFC and this is his time to shine.
PICK: Nick Diaz by TKO (2nd Round)
Cheick Kongo vs. Matt Mitrione
Kongo recently completed one of the greatest comebacks in the history of the UFC. In the first round against Pat Barry, he was being knocked all over the place. At one point, he looked like a slinky in the octagon. Somehow he pulled it together and knocked out Barry in dramatic fashion. If you still have the fight on your DVR, play it in slow-mo and watch the expression of the Octagon Girls as Kongo completes the knockout; it is classic.
Is there anybody in the UFC more surprising than Matt Mitrione? The way he has gone from a goof on TUF 10, to what appears to be a refined MMA fighter in such a short time is astonishing. Matt is now 5-0 in the UFC but is fighting a “name” for the first time.
If this fight is classified as a “Co-Main Event” then we may be in store for one of the most unique stare downs we’ll ever see. Cheick Kongo has one of the deadliest stares, and Matt Mitrione is always smiling, the combination of the two will make for a good laugh. As far as the fight goes, I think it comes down to who has the toughest chin. Although Kongo did come back and win against Barry, he sure did go down initially like a ton of bricks.
PICK: Matt Mitrione by TKO (2nd Round)
Mirko Filipovic vs. Roy Nelson
Cro Cop jumped into the UFC with much fanfare in 2007. Since then, he has compiled a record of 4-5 in the Octagon. Interestingly enough, he’s also had three fights outside of the UFC during this time and is 2-0 with 1 NC. For one reason or another, he isn’t consistent in the UFC. He is coming off KO losses to Brendan Schaub (UFC 128), and Frank Mir (UFC 119).
Big Country is carrying a 2-2 UFC record heading into this fight and he needs to win badly. While Roy has lost his last two fights, they have been against top tier opponents (Frank Mir, Junior Dos Santos) and he didn’t get knocked out or submitted.
Big Country may be sending Cro Cop out of the UFC Saturday night. I do think Roy can win by knockout, but both fighters may be near the top of the UFC cut list, and this could result in them dancing around more than usual.
Much like the old westerns that were so popular years ago, you would have two men meet in the center of town to determine which man left and which man stayed.
Ask