Tag: UFC 125

The Big Announcement: UFC Absorbs WEC, Featherweights/Bantamweights Debut in January

(Props: MMAFighting)
The cat’s out of the bag, and the "major announcement" turned out to be pretty damn major after all. Dana White announced during a media call today that the UFC is absorbing the WEC beginning in January 2011; the UFC…

(Props: MMAFighting)

The cat’s out of the bag, and the "major announcement" turned out to be pretty damn major after all. Dana White announced during a media call today that the UFC is absorbing the WEC beginning in January 2011; the UFC will now feature seven championship weight classes. Here’s how it’ll work…

– Jose Aldo is automatically the UFC Featherweight Champion; he’ll defend his UFC featherweight title at UFC 125 on January 1st against a yet-to-be-determined opponent.

– WEC 53 (December 16th; Glendale, Arizona) will be the final WEC event. The winner of the bantamweight title fight between Dominick Cruz and Scott Jorgensen will become the UFC Bantamweight Champion. The winner of the lightweight title fight between Ben Henderson and Anthony Pettis will automatically face the winner of Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard at UFC 125.

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Shane Carwin to Withdraw From UFC 125 Fight Against Roy Nelson

Filed under: UFC, NewsShane Carwin plans on withdrawing from his previously announced fight against Roy Nelson at UFC 125 on Jan. 1 in Las Vegas.

Carwin blogged Tuesday morning that he will need at least a couple of months to recover from a back injur…

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Shane Carwin plans on withdrawing from his previously announced fight against Roy Nelson at UFC 125 on Jan. 1 in Las Vegas.

Carwin blogged Tuesday morning that he will need at least a couple of months to recover from a back injury and much longer if surgery is required.

“I am going to pull out of the fight with Roy Nelson,” Carwin said. “As many of you know I have been having some back pain. I had an MRI yesterday and I have some damage that may really require surgery. If the doctors do not have to perform surgery then I will be out eight to 12 weeks. If they do have to perform surgery, I do not know how long I will be out of action.”

Shane Carwin Bows Out of UFC 125 Bout With Roy Nelson Due to Nagging Back Injury

(Carwin in less painful times, leading the crowd in a spirited rendition of "YMCA.")
UFC heavyweight contender Shane Carwin announced today via his website that he will be puling out of his planned UFC 125 bout on January 1 against Roy Nelson…


(Carwin in less painful times, leading the crowd in a spirited rendition of "YMCA.")

UFC heavyweight contender Shane Carwin announced today via his website that he will be puling out of his planned UFC 125 bout on January 1 against Roy Nelson to rehab a nagging back injury that could require surgery.

Here’s what Carwin had to say about the situation:

"I am going to pull out of the fight with Roy Nelson. As many of you know I have been having some back pain. I had an MRI yesterday and I have some damage that may really require surgery. If the doctors do not have to perform surgery then I will be out 8-12 weeks. If they do have to perform surgery I do not know how long I will be out of action.

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Armchair Matchmaker: UFC 121 Edition

(Worst ‘America’s Got Talent’ audition ever. Photo courtesy of UFC.com)
Cain Velasquez has a date with Junior Dos Santos, and Jake Shields — God help us — is still likely to face the winner of GSP vs. Koscheck. But the fates of UFC 121’s…

Jake Shields Martin Kampmann UFC 121
(Worst ‘America’s Got Talent’ audition ever. Photo courtesy of UFC.com)

Cain Velasquez has a date with Junior Dos Santos, and Jake Shields — God help us — is still likely to face the winner of GSP vs. Koscheck. But the fates of UFC 121‘s other winners and losers are yet to be determined. As usual, we have some brilliant suggestions…

Brock Lesnar: Assuming that nobody really wants to see a Lesnar vs. Mir rubber match, there are a surprising lack of options for the new ex-champ. If Roy Nelson beats Shane Carwin at UFC 125, Lesnar vs. Big Country would make perfect sense. (Lesnar vs. Carwin II is also an option for down the road, considering Carwin never felt like Brock beat him fair and square.) But at the moment, the best available opponent for Lesnar is Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, who’s coming off his own nasty loss to Velasquez. The fading Big Nog would likely take a beating, but the UFC needs to re-build their most bankable star against a credible name, and letting Lesnar whale on a legend is an effective way to do it.

Martin Kampmann: The first name that comes to mind is Dan Hardy, though the UFC probably wants to avoid the possibility of one of their British stars dropping three straight. So how ’bout this: Nate Diaz. The TUF 5 winner and moneyweight contender is facing Dong Hyun Kim at UFC 125. If Diaz wins, Diaz vs. Kampmann is a great matchup between two guys who are on the same upper-middle region of the welterweight ladder. If Diaz gets outgrappled by DHK, then Kampmann gets a rebound against an "easier" opponent. Either way, it’s a scrap.

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Exclusive Interview: Phil Baroni, ‘Too Old for the Jersey Shore’

Phil Baroni Sits down with Cagepotato.com – Watch more Funny Videos
With his fight against Brad Tavares booked for 1/1/11, Phil Baroni has two options in front of him — victory, or possible banishment from the UFC. Our friend Ruben Vera…

Phil Baroni Sits down with Cagepotato.com – Watch more Funny Videos

With his fight against Brad Tavares booked for 1/1/11, Phil Baroni has two options in front of him — victory, or possible banishment from the UFC. Our friend Ruben Vera tracked down the New York Bad Ass at the American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, and grilled him on everything from his brawl-based gameplans to his cardio problems to his fondest MMA memories. Honestly, it’s one of the most revealing interviews with Baroni that we’ve ever seen. Some highlights…

On his gameplan for Tavares: "You know me. I’ve been doing this for ten years, there’s no surprises. I’m gonna do what I do best."

On his conditioning struggles: "It’s genetic, dude. I’ve been training cardio for the last ten years, hard. It’s genetic. You got a guy like Cain Velasquez who just don’t get tired. He can just train all day. Even a guy like Koscheck…I don’t think there’s anything I’m not doing that other guys are doing. I have a lot better punching power than those guys. And I think I’m faster, I have more fast-twitch. I know I can beat them both in a race. But in a longer duration, those guys can keep going, and that’s one of the things that separates us…It seems like a lot of the Mexican guys have real good cardio, throughout history and in the UFC. Diego Sanchez has great cardio, Cain Velasquez, a ton of guys. I don’t know what it is, man, but I do the best with what I got."

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UFC 125 Fight Card: Edgar vs. Maynard, Carwin vs. Nelson

Filed under: UFCThe UFC 125 fight card is shaping up with a total of six bouts confirmed as of Oct. 18 for the Jan. 1 event at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Helping the UFC kick off the New Year is a lightweight title bout between champion …

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The UFC 125 fight card is shaping up with a total of six bouts confirmed as of Oct. 18 for the Jan. 1 event at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Helping the UFC kick off the New Year is a lightweight title bout between champion Frankie Edgar and challenger Gray Maynard as well as a heavyweight showdown pitting former interim champ Shane Carwin and TUF 10 winner Roy Nelson.

And for the first time since UFC 112 “Invincible” in April, UFC 125 has a name: “Resolution.”