If there was ever such a thing as a moral victory in an MMA fight, Brandon Vera achieved just that. He battled former UFC champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua through four rounds and showed flashes of the old Vera that became one of the top prospects in the …
If there was ever such a thing as a moral victory in an MMA fight, Brandon Vera achieved just that. He battled former UFC champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua through four rounds and showed flashes of the old Vera that became one of the top prospects in the UFC.
In the end, however, it was not enough, as Vera dropped to the canvas after another offensive barrage from “Shogun.”
Vera had found himself in the rare position to earn a title shot with a questionable record and will likely find himself back in the middle of the pack in the 205-pound division.
Dana White seemed to be impressed with Vera’s performance, which will likely earn him another shot at victory inside the Octagon.
Let’s face it: there really aren’t any UFC fighters that you’d want to meet in a dark alley.Not if you have bad intentions on your mind, anyway. You’d go from being the aggressor to testing out your speed in a foot race in a blink of an eye. That’s als…
Let’s face it: there really aren’t any UFC fighters that you’d want to meet in a dark alley.
Not if you have bad intentions on your mind, anyway. You’d go from being the aggressor to testing out your speed in a foot race in a blink of an eye. That’s also a fight you probably wouldn’t win.
But there are certain guys on the UFC roster that instill a little more fear than the rest. Or, I should say, the thought of running into these guys in anywhere but an absolutely public place puts the fear of God into me.
Let me state, for the record, that all of the guys I’ve included on this list are incredibly nice human beings. We’re not talking about Mike Tyson in the ’80s or ’90s here, folks. All of these fighters would be more inclined to take you out for a beer than bash the ever-loving stuffing out of you.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at 10 of the scariest fighters in the UFC.
(Photographic proof that Mayhem Miller stole his idea to give C.B. Dollaway a noogie just moments before doing so.)
Call it “The Curse of the 140’s,” because it appears that yet another big fight in what has been a goat rope of a month in MMA matchmaking has been scratched from the books. Those of you expecting a sure-to-be-slugfest between former UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and noted brawler Thiago Silva at UFC 149 are going to be more disappointed than a CagePotato contest winner, because word broke this morning that Thiago Silva has been forced to withdraw from his co-main event matchup due to a back injury. Go fucking figure. At this point, it seems the only thing that can save Silva’s spine from shattering into a million pieces would be the back brace that Sweet Dee Reynolds wore to her high school reunion. Or perhaps he just needs to find the David Dunn to his Mr. Glass.
But fret not, Potato Nation, for every shit-filled tunnel has a light at the end of it. In Silva’s absence, the UFC has called upon fellow Brazilian slugger Glover Teixeira to step up and fill the void. Here’s where things get a little muddy, so to speak. It was initially reported, by none other than Dana White, that Shogun had apparently turned down the fight. Here’s what he told MMAJunkie:
With Thiago hurt, we turned to Glover and asked him to go right back in to fight ‘Shogun’ at UFC 149. But ‘Shogun’s’ people are adamantly refusing to take the fight. They want nothing to do with Glover.
Shogun’ wants nothing to do with Glover. But that’s the fight Lorenzo and I are trying to put together.
According to members of Shogun’s camp, however, White’s claims are just a bunch of profanity-ridden malarkey, as they had not even been made aware of the fact that Silva was injured, let alone of a potential replacement.
(Photographic proof that Mayhem Miller stole his idea to give C.B. Dollaway a noogie just moments before doing so.)
Call it “The Curse of the 140′s,” because it appears that yet another big fight in what has been a goat rope of a month in MMA matchmaking has been scratched from the books. Those of you expecting a sure-to-be-slugfest between former UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and noted brawler Thiago Silva at UFC 149 are going to be more disappointed than a CagePotato contest winner, because word broke this morning that Thiago Silva has been forced to withdraw from his co-main event matchup due to a back injury. Go fucking figure. At this point, it seems the only thing that can save Silva’s spine from shattering into a million pieces would be the back brace that Sweet Dee Reynolds wore to her high school reunion. Or perhaps he just needs to find the David Dunn to his Mr. Glass.
But fret not, Potato Nation, for every shit-filled tunnel has a light at the end of it. In Silva’s absence, the UFC has called upon fellow Brazilian slugger Glover Teixeira to step up and fill the void. Here’s where things get a little muddy, so to speak. It was initially reported, by none other than Dana White, that Shogun had apparently turned down the fight. Here’s what he told MMAJunkie:
With Thiago hurt, we turned to Glover and asked him to go right back in to fight ‘Shogun’ at UFC 149. But ‘Shogun’s’ people are adamantly refusing to take the fight. They want nothing to do with Glover.
Shogun’ wants nothing to do with Glover. But that’s the fight Lorenzo and I are trying to put together.
According to members of Shogun’s camp, however, White’s claims are just a bunch of profanity-ridden malarkey, as they had not even been made aware of the fact that Silva was injured, let alone of a potential replacement.
Rua’s manager, Julio Heller, spoke with Brazilian publication Tatame.com:
TATAME called Rua’s manager, Julio Heller, who guaranteed they never turned down a fight with Teixeira. In fact, Silva’s injury is not official to them yet.
“I just sent a message to the UFC. I’m waiting for their call”, Heller said. “(Turning down a fight with Glover) it’s not true at all.”
Julio said they’ll wait for the UFC before making further comments, and the decision to fight Glover, or any other opponent, is in Shogun and his coach Andre Dida’s hands.
While it’s understandable that Shogun would be hesitant to accept the fight, given he has much more to lose than a relatively unknown (not to mention dangerous) guy like Teixeira has to gain, he has also gone 2-3 in his past five fights, and isn’t exactly in the position to be turning down fights that don’t suit him. Plus, it’s not like a win over Teixeira would lower his stock or anything. Then again, all of his UFC losses have come to either current or former champions (be it PRIDE or UFC), and his loss to Machida at UFC 104 is disputed to this day, so maybe he can do whatever the fuck he wants.
Teixeira is fresh off a first round arm-triangle submission win over TUF 8 veteran Kyle Kingsbury at UFC 146, his sixteenth victory in as many contests, whereas Shogun is on the heels of a unanimous decision loss to Dan Henderson at UFC 139.
As for Silva’s umpteenth injury to his back, his manager, Dan Lambert, told MMAFighting that they are hopeful that he will not be sidelined for too long, but he will surely not be back in enough time to prepare for a guy like Shogun. If you recall, Silva’s ever-aching back was the main factor behind his positive test for steroids following his UFC 125 UD win over Brandon Vera.
As of this writing, there have been no updates on the situation, but we will keep you updated as things transpire.
Would you like to see Rua/Teixeira at UFC 149, Potato Nation? And if not, who would make for a fitting replacement?
The train of injuries that continues to shut down major UFC bouts in 2012 is still rolling on.MMAJunkie.com has reported that Thiago Silva has had to pull out of a July contest with former light-heavyweight champion Shogun Rua due to an injury.There ar…
The train of injuries that continues to shut down major UFC bouts in 2012 is still rolling on.
MMAJunkie.com has reported that Thiago Silva has had to pull out of a July contest with former light-heavyweight champion Shogun Rua due to an injury.
There are a handful of options who do not have upcoming fights on the docket, including former champion Rashad Evans and rising contender Alexander Gustafsson.
What’s surprising, however, is that the UFC is interested in promotion newcomer Glover Teixeira squaring off against the former champion.
Teixeira had an incredibly impressive debut against Kyle Kingsbury on the undercard of UFC 146 last weekend, and the UFC thinks he is ready to swim with the sharks.
“With Thiago hurt, we turned to Glover and asked him to go right back in to fight ‘Shogun’ at UFC 149,” White told MMAjunkie.com. “But ‘Shogun’s’ people are adamantly refusing to take the fight. They want nothing to do with Glover.”
There are a pair of good reasons that Shogun’s team may not be interested in the contest. First and foremost, they may feel that Teixeira hasn’t earned a bout of such stature. Another possibility is that they recognize how dangerous of a challenge he presents, and they would like to avoid the matchup until they can get more tape on him.
Stay tuned to Bleacher Report for more information on this as it’s available.
UFC newcomer Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva has welcomed Octagon veterans Mark Hunt and Thiago Silva to his training camp leading up to his co-main-event showdown with Cain Velasquez. He has also recruited a wrestler who defeated Velasquez, a former UFC …
UFC newcomer Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva has welcomed Octagon veterans Mark Hunt and Thiago Silva to his training camp leading up to his co-main-event showdown with Cain Velasquez.
He has also recruited a wrestler who defeated Velasquez, a former UFC heavyweight champion, three times on the mats in high school.
“I brought a couple of wrestlers to help me out. One of them (Steve Mocco) fought Cain Velasquez three times in high school and defeated him every single one,” Silva told Tatame.com. “He’s spending a couple of weeks here to give me tips and tell me why I should worry about Cain Velasquez.”
“He’s a good guy. He’s very strong, about the same height as Cain and has a lot of experience for having fought him before. It’s a great thing for me,” he added.
Silva enters the fight as a huge underdog, with many fans and analysts alike saying he will be no match for Velasquez’s striking, wrestling and non-stop cardio.
That’s why he has brought in a couple of high-level strikers as well in an attempt to level the playing field: “There’re some strikers coming to support me too, like Mark Hunt, who’s being really helpful. There’s Thiago Silva, who’s a great helping hand at this point.”
The former Strikeforce fighter is looking forward to the fight and encourages fans to tune in for it.
“I was really glad about the opportunity. It’s my UFC debut, and they are giving me a chance to fight one of the top two guys of the division, a former champion. I have two-and-a-half weeks ahead of me and I guarantee it’s going to be a good fight”, the Brazilian heavyweight said.
Bigfoot said he is “focused” on Cain Velasquez but still hopes to work his way up to an eventual title shot:
I guess there’re many people ahead of me on the line. It’s my UFC debut. Fighting for the title is the consequence of a long-term work. Just like the champion had to do like four or five fights, knocked out everybody who crossed his way and got his chance at the title and earned it. It’s a longer way, but I guess that, in the end of the day, it pays off.
Velasquez was originally scheduled to face another fellow UFC heavyweight champion in Frank Mir in a title eliminator bout.
However, Mir now meets reigning champion Junior dos Santos, the man who defeated Velasquez for the belt, at the May 26 event hosted at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Does anyone feel like these additions to Bigfoot’s camp can lead him to an upset over the former Arizona State Sun Devil, Cain Velasquez?
The first feeling I had when I learned that Mauricio Rua was scheduled to fight Thiago Silva was pure excitement, because of both of their vicious striking abilities and their willingness to use them (via Yahoo Sports). But on second thought, it occurr…
The first feeling I had when I learned that Mauricio Rua was scheduled to fight Thiago Silva was pure excitement, because of both of their vicious striking abilities and their willingness to use them (via Yahoo Sports).
But on second thought, it occurred to me that Silva is not on the same level as Rua at this point in time.
Although Rua is 2-3 in his last five fights, he’s been competing with some of the best fighters in the league. Lyoto Machida, Jon Jones, Forrest Griffin and Dan Henderson aren’t opponents that can be overlooked.
In fact, they are all former UFC champions.
Silva, on the other hand, has only fought twice in the last two years, the most recent being a loss to Gustafsson and the other a no contest for submitting nonhuman urine (via MMA Junkie) for his UFC 125 post-fight drug test. Both of these fights were against mid-level talent and followed his loss to Rashad Evans in 2010. Before that, he was knocked out by Machida, the man that Rua arguably beat twice.
Yes, Gustafsson is now a credible opponent, but he has just recently broken into the top ten for the first time in his career.
It’s possible that this fight was scheduled because of a lack in top ten athletes currently available. Rua and Quinton Jackson were expected to rematch this year but Jackson’s need for knee surgery takes him out of competition possibly for the rest of the year (via MMA Junkie).
Although I don’t believe this fight to be right for Shogun, it may be the only reasonable possibility. It’s also a very lucky and advantageous opportunity for Silva if he happens to defeat his fellow Brazilian.
