We don’t have an easy way to break this to you, so we’ll just come out and say it: Afghan knockout artist Siyar Bahadurzada has been sent to live with our friend who owns a farm upstate. He’ll be able to frolic in an open field to his heart’s desire, and he’ll have plenty of friends to play with. Because of this, he won’t be fighting at UFC 149 against Chris Clements.
Just kidding, he’s out with an undisclosed injury. What, you actually believed your parents when they told you your dog was living on a farm upstate? That’s adorable.
Injury victim, or karma victim?
We don’t have an easy way to break this to you, so we’ll just come out and say it: Afghan knockout artist Siyar Bahadurzada has been sent to live with our friend who owns a farm upstate. He’ll be able to frolic in an open field to his heart’s desire, and he’ll have plenty of friends to play with. Because of this, he won’t be fighting at UFC 149 against Chris Clements.
Just kidding, he’s out with an undisclosed injury. What, you actually believed your parents when they told you your dog was living on a farm upstate? That’s adorable.
Replacing Bahadurzada will be Matt Riddle. Riddle is coming off of a split-decision over Henry Martinez, a lightweight who took the welterweight bout on short notice, at UFC 143. The victory snapped a two fight skid which saw him drop unanimous decisions to Sean Pierson and Lance Benoist.
Okay, so it’s not the most compelling matchup, but given the way that injuries have ravaged this card, it’s a small miracle we even have a UFC 149.
For those of you keeping score, this bout was initially set to be Thiago Alves vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama, which became Alves vs. Bahadurzada after an injury to Sexyama, which became Bahadurzada vs. Clements after an injury to Alves, and is now Clements vs. Riddle after an injury to Bahadurzada. And this doesn’t even put a dent in the injuries that have plagued the rest of the card.
We’d ask who ya got for this one, but honestly, the odds are pretty good that this bout is going to be changed before it’s all said and done.
Thiago Alves was just one casualty of the heavily cursed UFC 149 card.While training in Florida for his upcoming fight against Siyar Bahadurzada, Alves tore his pectoral muscle and had to pull out of UFC 149.Now, though, Alves seems poised and ready to…
Thiago Alves was just one casualty of the heavily cursed UFC 149 card.
While training in Florida for his upcoming fight against Siyar Bahadurzada, Alves tore his pectoral muscle and had to pull out of UFC 149.
Now, though, Alves seems poised and ready to get back into fighting by December.
“Great news, just talked to my doctor and my (physical therapist). They both told me I’ll be back fighting again by December. I can’t wait!” Alves wrote on Twitter.
Alves was just one of many fighters who have pulled out of the plagued UFC 149 card.
Including Alves, the total number of changes to the card has reached six. That also includes a change to Alves’ fight—he was originally set to face Yoshihiro Akiyama, who later pulled out due to injury.
The Brazilian-born fighter is currently still rehabbing and going through recovery at home in Florida and waiting for the doctor’s OK to return to the cage.
Alves seemed like he was back and better than ever in his last fight against Martin Kampmann. He controlled the first two rounds and eventually got caught in a guillotine that helped Kampmann complete his come-from-behind win.
The 28-year-old American Top Team member is currently 2-3 in his last five fights since being beaten by Georges St-Pierre for the welterweight title at UFC 100 in July of 2009.
With fighters dropping like flies off the UFC 149 card, Canadian welterweight Chris “The Menace” Clements jumped quickly for a fight after Thiago Alves was forced out of his bout with Siyar Bahadurzada.”I called and asked for it”, Clements said over th…
With fighters dropping like flies off the UFC 149 card, Canadian welterweight Chris “The Menace” Clements jumped quickly for a fight after Thiago Alves was forced out of his bout with Siyar Bahadurzada.
“I called and asked for it”, Clements said over the phone this week. “My agent was over in Singapore and I emailed him and phoned him and when he got the information from me, he checked his messages and Joe Silva had already called asking. I was asking for it and Joe Silva was asking for it so it just worked out well.”
Many fans and experts are already calling dead meat in this one for the Ontario-born and Adrenaline Training Center fighter who was crafty and effective in a close decision win over Keith Wisniewski in his UFC debut in April. Bahadurzada himself burst on the UFC scene with a stunning 42 second knockout over Paulo Thiago earlier in the same month.
Clements is a very experienced fighter, and he sees this as a great stylistic match up for him.
“I actually think it’s a better fight for me than Wisniewski. With him, I couldn’t really let go because he’s a really experienced guy so I had to fight him kinda crazy. I had to do a lot of weird stuff and keep moving.
I couldn’t really set down on anything because all he wanted to do was hold me down and lay on me. He’s a grinder.
Siyar, he’s a stand up fighter, he’s more up my alley so, yeah he’s a higher ranked guy in the world and stuff like that and he’s got a lot of hype behind him but as far as matchup wise I don’t see him as a big step up in competition or any more difficult.
It’s a win-win right, I get to stay on the main card and so I get some nice exposure and if I lose I lose. I’m supposed to lose. If I win, you know I jump way up. At my age, I’m looking for the fastest possible way to get up there so to be on the Pay-Per-View in my second UFC fight it’s huge for me.”
Both of these fighters certainly like to stand and trade, and it will be an entertaining fight no matter how long it lasts. I asked him if he is going to hype it up to make sure it is a battle.
“He’s gonna get mad, he’s gonna get frustrated by me. I’m gonna do some things he’s not going to like.” He laughed.
“I just have a way of messing with people when I fight so I think I’ll frustrate him by doing things. I’m not much of a hype guy, I like to just do my thing in the cage.”
Clements has taken this fight on slightly short notice, and he started his camp right away after securing the fight on Monday.
“It’s gonna be tough but I just have to be really disciplined. I’m a little out of shape right now. Training for my last fight was basically the first few weeks of with my daughter so I have been catching up on the time with her and the family more than training. I wasn’t really thinking about or prepared to fight but this is a great opportunity so I just wanted to jump on it.”
Prior to signing with the UFC earlier this year, Clements rose through the Canadian ranks and made his name as a dangerous knockout fighter, mostly in the province of Quebec. He may tap in to his roots a bit leading up to this key match up with Bahadurzada.
“I’m thinking about heading to Tristar to train for about a week or so. I’ve known Firaz for many years from TKO and stuff like that but I haven’t talked to him about it yet or anything. They have a great camp there for welterweights with Sean Pierson, Ryan Ford, Rory MacDonald, George St-Pierre, Alex Garcia you know there’s so many top ten welterweight’s in the country.”
With it being the first ever UFC event in Alberta, he will have a boisterous following of fans hoping and screaming for him on July 21st in Calgary.
“I’m the only Canadian on the main card”
The doubters are out there. There are many who think this is a mis-match from the get go, but I am not one of them.
Clements is a tough, dangerous and experienced gamer, and this one will be closer than people may think.
Dwight Wakabayashi is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report MMA, MMA editor at CKSN.ca and guest blogger for Sportsnet.ca.
Based on the way that Bahadurzada smoked Paulo Thiago in his own UFC debut back in April, we have a feeling that Clements could be in deep do-doo here. And speaking of potential mismatches…
(Well if you’re trying to give yourself a hernia and a dislocated jaw, then by all means, keep doing what you’re doing.)
Based on the way that Bahadurzada smoked Paulo Thiago in his own UFC debut back in April, we have a feeling that Clements could be in deep do-doo here. And speaking of potential mismatches…
On paper, Delorme’s 8-1 record and failed TUF stint look far less impressive than Fernandes’s credentials, but he’s already notched two official wins in the UFC — a pair of rear-naked choke victories over Josh Ferguson and Nick Denis — which gives him an experience advantage where it counts. Anybody picking the Canadian for the upset?
Siyar Bahadurzada (21-4-1) has officially stepped in to replace injured Yoshihiro Akiyama (13-5) at UFC 149 to face Thiago Alves (19-9) on July 21st in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. There is no word as yet of the nature of Akiyama’s injury.Thiago Alve…
Siyar Bahadurzada (21-4-1) has officially stepped in to replace injured Yoshihiro Akiyama (13-5) at UFC 149 to face Thiago Alves (19-9) on July 21st in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. There is no word as yet of the nature of Akiyama’s injury.
Thiago Alves was controlling a fight against Martin Kampmann and was surely on his way to a decision victory before shooting in for a late takedown and being caught in a guillotine choke at UFC on FX 2 in March. Alves was forced to tap at 4:12 of the third and final round.
Alves is just 2-4 since earning a title shot at welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre at UFC 100 but hasn’t lost two in a row since the first two fights of his professional career.
Bahadurzada, meanwhile, comes into this fight on the back of a seriously impressive knockout win over Paulo Thiago in just 42 seconds. The fight took place at UFC on FUEL TV 2 and marked Bahadurzada’s UFC debut and earned him “Knockout of the Night.” Siyar is now on a seven-fight win streak and brings in a 21-4-1 overall record.
This one has the potential to be a “Fight of the Night” standup war, and I, for one, can’t wait to see it happen.
April is coming to a close and that means a third of the year is already gone.Many mixed martial arts events have hit the airwaves to thrill and surprise us. From the UFC to Strikeforce to Bellator and beyond. As fans of mixed martial arts we never kno…
April is coming to a close and that means a third of the year is already gone.
Many mixed martial arts events have hit the airwaves to thrill and surprise us. From the UFC to Strikeforce to Bellator and beyond. As fans of mixed martial arts we never know what to expect, and that is part of the fun with MMA.
2012 has already provided us with some remarkable action: impressive submissions, toe-to-toe wars, come-from-behind victories and so on down the line.
Let’s go back and review some of the most unexpected outcomes that we have had so far in 2012.
