But earlier today, the UFC found an opponent for Condit, and it’s…Tyron Woodley? Huh. We’re not saying that the guy doesn’t deserve the opportunity, considering that he just beat the brakes off of Josh Koscheck and everybody else in the division is either booked or injured. Maybe now we can stop pretending that the UFC’s official rankings mean jack-shit, since they always seem to fly out the window as soon as it’s time to find a warm body. (Though I’ll bet you a nickel Woodley magically appears in the top ten the next time the rankings are updated. Seriously. Just watch.)
According to Dana White, Woodley texted him “15 times a day” when Matt Brown pulled out of his scheduled UFC on FOX 9 match against Condit, but of course, DW digs fighters who step up. “There are guys like (Woodley) that are out there,” White said. “Those are the guys I want to deal with. Those are the guys I want to hear from. I love Tyron Woodley. I love it.”
As MMAJunkie reports, the winner of Condit vs. Woodley is likely to get the winner of Hendricks vs. Lawler, which means that theoretically, MMA dinosaur Robbie Lawler could be defending his UFC welterweight title against currently-“unranked” Tyron Woodley sometime next summer. What a country.
(Woodley might not be in the top ten, but he was definitely the people’s champion that night. / Photo via Getty)
But earlier today, the UFC found an opponent for Condit, and it’s…Tyron Woodley? Huh. We’re not saying that the guy doesn’t deserve the opportunity, considering that he just beat the brakes off of Josh Koscheck and everybody else in the division is either booked or injured. Maybe now we can stop pretending that the UFC’s official rankings mean jack-shit, since they always seem to fly out the window as soon as it’s time to find a warm body. (Though I’ll bet you a nickel Woodley magically appears in the top ten the next time the rankings are updated. Seriously. Just watch.)
According to Dana White, Woodley texted him “15 times a day” when Matt Brown pulled out of his scheduled UFC on FOX 9 match against Condit, but of course, DW digs fighters who step up. “There are guys like (Woodley) that are out there,” White said. “Those are the guys I want to deal with. Those are the guys I want to hear from. I love Tyron Woodley. I love it.”
As MMAJunkie reports, the winner of Condit vs. Woodley is likely to get the winner of Hendricks vs. Lawler, which means that theoretically, MMA dinosaur Robbie Lawler could be defending his UFC welterweight title against currently-”unranked” Tyron Woodley sometime next summer. What a country.
During the GSP-retirishment™ conference call on Friday, UFC president Dana White mentioned that he was working on getting welterweight contender Carlos Condit a big fight for the UFC 171: Hendricks vs. Lawler supporting card. As it turns out, White intended to book a rematch between Condit and currently-inactive star Nick Diaz — but Diaz turned it down.
According to an MMAJunkie report, White offered Diaz the fight in person at UFC on FOX 9, Saturday night in Sacramento. Diaz declined, saying he might return to competition in the spring, but only for a title fight.
“He doesn’t want the fight,” White told reporters following UFC on FOX 9. “I thought he wanted the rematch…but he’s not interested. He said maybe he’d be interested in coming back in May…He said, ‘I’ll fight the winner of Hendricks and Lawler.’ I said, ‘You’re ranked No. 10. It kind of doesn’t work that way.’”
“I’ve got to go back to the drawing board,” White continued. “Condit accepted the fight immediately, but I didn’t get it done (with Diaz)…Obviously the Diaz brothers are very unique individuals. You don’t pressure a guy who’s not interested in fighting. In this business, you’ve got to have the fire or you shouldn’t do it.”
(Photo via Getty)
During the GSP-retirishment™ conference call on Friday, UFC president Dana White mentioned that he was working on getting welterweight contender Carlos Condit a big fight for the UFC 171: Hendricks vs. Lawler supporting card. As it turns out, White intended to book a rematch between Condit and currently-inactive star Nick Diaz — but Diaz turned it down.
According to an MMAJunkie report, White offered Diaz the fight in person at UFC on FOX 9, Saturday night in Sacramento. Diaz declined, saying he might return to competition in the spring, but only for a title fight.
“He doesn’t want the fight,” White told reporters following UFC on FOX 9. “I thought he wanted the rematch…but he’s not interested. He said maybe he’d be interested in coming back in May…He said, ‘I’ll fight the winner of Hendricks and Lawler.’ I said, ‘You’re ranked No. 10. It kind of doesn’t work that way.’”
“I’ve got to go back to the drawing board,” White continued. “Condit accepted the fight immediately, but I didn’t get it done (with Diaz)…Obviously the Diaz brothers are very unique individuals. You don’t pressure a guy who’s not interested in fighting. In this business, you’ve got to have the fire or you shouldn’t do it.”
As for Condit, he still doesn’t have his next opponent booked. All we know is that Condit won’t be fighting Tyron Woodley, because Woodley isn’t currently ranked in the UFC’s top 10, as if that means a goddamned thing.
That’s right, it’s armchair matchmaker time, bitches. Join us after the jump for the only non GSP-related article you will read today.
Rashad Evans: In our eyes, there’s not much to take away from Evans’ dominant victory over Chael Sonnen this past Saturday (*cue Debbie Downer noise*). Sure, he outgrappled and completely controlled an oversized middleweight (who didn’t want to fight him in the first place and already had his next fight lined up, BTW), but anyone who has ever seen a Rashad Evans fight knows that his grappling game is not to be questioned.
Further adding to Evans’ woes is the fact that he’s fought damn near everyone in the LHW division — while he’s a far cry from another title shot, he’s also simply too good to be placed against middle of the pack fighters. There’s only one sensible option for Evans, really, and that’s the winner of the James Te Huna vs. Mauricio Rua fight at Fight Night 33. While Rua has hinted at a drop to middleweight recently, we don’t really believe that he plans to start cutting an additional 20 pounds at this stage in his career. Te Huna, on the other hand, seems like the kind of guy who would fight his mother for the last slice of leftover pizza. In any case, book the winner against “Suga.”
Robbie Lawler: Although I still like our idea of giving GSP (Ed note: Dammit! This is the last time we will mention St. Pierre in this article. We swear.) some much needed time off and booking a Lawler vs. Hendricks interim title fight in his absence, who here wouldn’t rightfully lose their shit over the idea of Lawler vs. the Matt Brown/Carlos Condit winner? Lawler has been on nothing short of a killing spree since reentering the UFC, and a fight with either Brown or Condit has FOTY written all over it. Simple.
Tyron Woodley: Since entering the UFC, Woodley has sandwiched a snoozefest of a decision loss to former top contender Jake Shields between a pair of brilliant first round KO wins over Jay Hieron and most recently Josh Koscheck. Not bad for a guy who was nearly decapitated by Nate Marquardt (who has suffered 2 brutal KO losses of his own since re-entering the UFC) in his final Strikeforce fight. Speaking of Marquardt, we can think of no better fight for Woodley to take at the current time than the last man to defeat “The Great”: Hector Lombard. “Lightning” has been similarly inconsistent since joining the ranks last year, and a fight with Woodley would tell fans a lot about the futures of both men at 170 lbs.
Ali Babaganoushatov: Although our gambling expert, Dan George, correctly predicted that Bageltinov’s grappling prowess would lead him to victory over Tim Elliott, it was still impressive to see how far the Russian has come in just two UFC fights. And being that the flyweight division is currently as shallow as my niece’s SpongeBob Squarepants-themed splashy pool, why not match Borknagarov up with John Lineker?
The Brazilian’s toughest opponent to date by far has been the scale, which has weighed heavily (*self five*) on his current four fight win streak at 125 lbs. It would be interesting, however, to see how Lineker fares against the similarly-streaking Russian, who proved himself to be UFC-worthy in his victory over Elliott (something that most of Lineker’s former UFC opponents have yet to do). What the hell? Give the winner a title shot.
Donald Cerrone: After an up and down year saw “Cowboy” drop 2 out of 3 fights for the first time since his WEC days, Cerrone was finally able to show some flashes of his old self against Evan Dunham last weekend, locking up a SOTN-earning (by default) triangle late in the second round. Cerrone has also been hinting at dropping down a weight class — much to the shagrin of Dana White — but should he stay at lightweight, we’d like to see him take on whoever emerges victorious from the Michael Johnson/Gleison Tibau scrap at UFC 168 next month. Both guys are solid, strong lightweights who have simply failed to break into the upper-echelon of the 155 lb. division over the years, so a fight with Cerrone would make sense for all parties involved.
Who do you think the big winners from UFC 167 should face next, Nation? Let us know in the comments section.
Check out the numbers below, and keep in mind that they don’t include additional revenue from sponsorships or undisclosed “locker room bonuses,” or deductions for taxes, insurance, and license fees.
Georges St-Pierre: $450,000 (no win bonus, includes $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus)
def. Johny Hendricks: $100,000 (includes $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus)
Check out the numbers below, and keep in mind that they don’t include additional revenue from sponsorships or undisclosed “locker room bonuses,” or deductions for taxes, insurance, and license fees.
Georges St-Pierre: $450,000 (no win bonus, includes $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus)
def. Johny Hendricks: $100,000 (includes $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus)
Underpaid: I was kind of surprised to see that Sergio Pettis is being paid like any other eight-and-eight rookie. Not that he deserves more money simply because he’s the lightweight champion’s brother, but I figured his hype would have earned him a slightly bigger contract. Also, Thales Leites has had ten fights in the Octagon and once fought for the middleweight title…and he’s still only making $10,000 to show. Jesus Christ. And yeah, Johny Hendricks just had a $50,000 win bonus and untold future endorsement revenue stolen from him by the judges, but we’ve probably bitched about that enough already.
Overpaid: Nobody, really. I wouldn’t have guessed that Tyron Woodley makes over $50k to show, but hell, everybody at his level should be making that kind of money.
The card was exciting, and the main event, after the last round but before the decision was announced, seemed like it was going to be a passing of the torch. Instead, we got a terrible decision that overshadowed the celebratory atmosphere around the UFC’s 20th anniversary show.
Josh Koscheck suffered a brutal KO loss to Tyron Woodley. One might think that the UFC would let Koscheck go since he’s a 35-year-old on a three-fight losing streak and they’ve cut otherfighters for less. Yet Koscheck is going to stay in the UFC, at least if he doesn’t retire.
Dana Whitesaid that Koscheck will not be cut, and also stated that he had a soft spot for TUF season 1 veterans (aww). However, White also mentioned that he received a text message from Koscheck which “sounded like retirement” but that sometimes fighters say things after fights, presumably things they don’t mean.
“It used to be the best commission in the world…I’m fucking scared to come back here and do fights,” Yet, when pressed for specifics about how the UFC would proceed, White was mum. “What more can I do?” he said. “I just don’t know what else needs to be done. It’s unfortunate.”
Of course, the biggest issue we’re all waiting on is a rematch between Georges St.Pierre and Johny Hendricks. Will it happen?
Maybe.
(The pre-fight UFC 167 press conference. The belt didn’t change places. / Photo via Getty)
The card was exciting, and the main event, after the last round but before the decision was announced, seemed like it was going to be a passing of the torch. Instead, we got a terrible decision that overshadowed the celebratory atmosphere around the UFC’s 20th anniversary show.
Josh Koscheck suffered a brutal KO loss to Tyron Woodley. One might think that the UFC would let Koscheck go since he’s a 35-year-old on a three-fight losing streak and they’ve cut otherfighters for less. Yet Koscheck is going to stay in the UFC, at least if he doesn’t retire.
Dana Whitesaid that Koscheck will not be cut, and also stated that he had a soft spot for TUF season 1 veterans (aww). However, White also mentioned that he received a text message from Koscheck which “sounded like retirement” but that sometimes fighters say things after fights, presumably things they don’t mean.
“It used to be the best commission in the world…I’m fucking scared to come back here and do fights,” Yet, when pressed for specifics about how the UFC would proceed, White was mum. “What more can I do?” he said. “I just don’t know what else needs to be done. It’s unfortunate.”
Of course, the biggest issue we’re all waiting on is a rematch between Georges St.Pierre and Johny Hendricks. Will it happen?
Maybe.
At the post-fight press conference, an infuriated White claimed that he wouldn’t let GSP take a furlough from the sport.
“I want what’s fair and that wasn’t fair,” White said about the decision. “You owe it to the fans, you owe it to that belt, you owe it to this company, and you owe it to Johny Hendricks to give him that opportunity to fight again, unless you’re gonna retire…There’s no ‘Hey listen I’m gonna go on a cruise and be gone for two years,’”
During the post-presser media scrum, Dana White, though much calmer, no-sold St.Pierre’s problems.
“His problems aren’t as bad as he thinks they are. They’re personal problems…it might seem like the end of the world, but it’s not.” “He’s a strong kid. He’ll get through this…he wants to fight…I’m very confident he’s going to work it out.”
Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Snowden seems to think that the rematch is more or less decided upon, which is likely but nothing is official yet, so don’t bank on it.
The card was exciting, and the main event, after the last round but before the decision was announced, seemed like it was going to be a passing of the torch. Instead, we got a terrible decision that overshadowed the celebratory atmosphere around the UFC’s 20th anniversary show.
Josh Koscheck suffered a brutal KO loss to Tyron Woodley. One might think that the UFC would let Koscheck go since he’s a 35-year-old on a three-fight losing streak and they’ve cut otherfighters for less. Yet Koscheck is going to stay in the UFC, at least if he doesn’t retire.
Dana Whitesaid that Koscheck will not be cut, and also stated that he had a soft spot for TUF season 1 veterans (aww). However, White also mentioned that he received a text message from Koscheck which “sounded like retirement” but that sometimes fighters say things after fights, presumably things they don’t mean.
“It used to be the best commission in the world…I’m fucking scared to come back here and do fights,” Yet, when pressed for specifics about how the UFC would proceed, White was mum. “What more can I do?” he said. “I just don’t know what else needs to be done. It’s unfortunate.”
Of course, the biggest issue we’re all waiting on is a rematch between Georges St.Pierre and Johny Hendricks. Will it happen?
Maybe.
(The pre-fight UFC 167 press conference. The belt didn’t change places. / Photo via Getty)
The card was exciting, and the main event, after the last round but before the decision was announced, seemed like it was going to be a passing of the torch. Instead, we got a terrible decision that overshadowed the celebratory atmosphere around the UFC’s 20th anniversary show.
Josh Koscheck suffered a brutal KO loss to Tyron Woodley. One might think that the UFC would let Koscheck go since he’s a 35-year-old on a three-fight losing streak and they’ve cut otherfighters for less. Yet Koscheck is going to stay in the UFC, at least if he doesn’t retire.
Dana Whitesaid that Koscheck will not be cut, and also stated that he had a soft spot for TUF season 1 veterans (aww). However, White also mentioned that he received a text message from Koscheck which “sounded like retirement” but that sometimes fighters say things after fights, presumably things they don’t mean.
“It used to be the best commission in the world…I’m fucking scared to come back here and do fights,” Yet, when pressed for specifics about how the UFC would proceed, White was mum. “What more can I do?” he said. “I just don’t know what else needs to be done. It’s unfortunate.”
Of course, the biggest issue we’re all waiting on is a rematch between Georges St.Pierre and Johny Hendricks. Will it happen?
Maybe.
At the post-fight press conference, an infuriated White claimed that he wouldn’t let GSP take a furlough from the sport.
“I want what’s fair and that wasn’t fair,” White said about the decision. “You owe it to the fans, you owe it to that belt, you owe it to this company, and you owe it to Johny Hendricks to give him that opportunity to fight again, unless you’re gonna retire…There’s no ‘Hey listen I’m gonna go on a cruise and be gone for two years,’”
During the post-presser media scrum, Dana White, though much calmer, no-sold St.Pierre’s problems.
“His problems aren’t as bad as he thinks they are. They’re personal problems…it might seem like the end of the world, but it’s not.” “He’s a strong kid. He’ll get through this…he wants to fight…I’m very confident he’s going to work it out.”
Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Snowden seems to think that the rematch is more or less decided upon, which is likely but nothing is official yet, so don’t bank on it.
