Tag: UFC 133

Brock Lesnar, Jon Jones, Edgar & Maynard: How Losing Them Impacts UFC PPV Buys

The UFC has recently run into a string of bad luck, losing their next two pay-per-view card’s main events due to injury and illness.First, Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard were both injured while training for their UFC 130 main event. Neither fighter wil…

The UFC has recently run into a string of bad luck, losing their next two pay-per-view card’s main events due to injury and illness.

First, Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard were both injured while training for their UFC 130 main event. Neither fighter will be able to compete on the May 28 card, as Edgar has back issues while Maynard has sustained a knee injury.

Due to the short notice, the new main event of UFC 130 will be Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs. Matt Hamill.

On Thursday, the promotion revealed that Brock Lesnar would be forced out of his UFC 131 main event battle with Junior dos Santos due to a recurrence of the diverticulitis that forced him out of action for a year, earlier in his career.

The UFC moved fast, replacing Lesnar with Shane Carwin, who was already scheduled to fight on the June 11 card with his original opponent being Jon Olav Einemo.

Jon Jones is another fighter whose loss will be felt by the UFC in 2011. Jones was set to face his former friend and training partner Rashad Evans when a hand injury forced him out of that fight.

At the time Jones withdrew from the fight, there was no official date or location for the Jones versus Evans match up, but they hype for that fight had been building even before Jones defeated “Shogun” Rua for the UFC light heavyweight championship in March.

Phil Davis has been booked in Jones’ place and he will face Evans at UFC 133, which will take place on Aug. 6.

Bleacher Report takes a look at how the injuries and illness could impact the pay-per-view buys for these upcoming events.

All UFC PPV numbers provided by MMAPayout.com Blue Book.

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Brock Lesnar, Jon Jones, Edgar & Maynard: How Losing Them Impacts UFC PPV Buys

The UFC has recently run into a string of bad luck, losing their next two pay-per-view card’s main events due to injury and illness.First, Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard were both injured while training for their UFC 130 main event. Neither fighter wil…

The UFC has recently run into a string of bad luck, losing their next two pay-per-view card’s main events due to injury and illness.

First, Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard were both injured while training for their UFC 130 main event. Neither fighter will be able to compete on the May 28 card, as Edgar has back issues while Maynard has sustained a knee injury.

Due to the short notice, the new main event of UFC 130 will be Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs. Matt Hamill.

On Thursday, the promotion revealed that Brock Lesnar would be forced out of his UFC 131 main event battle with Junior dos Santos due to a recurrence of the diverticulitis that forced him out of action for a year, earlier in his career.

The UFC moved fast, replacing Lesnar with Shane Carwin, who was already scheduled to fight on the June 11 card with his original opponent being Jon Olav Einemo.

Jon Jones is another fighter whose loss will be felt by the UFC in 2011. Jones was set to face his former friend and training partner Rashad Evans when a hand injury forced him out of that fight.

At the time Jones withdrew from the fight, there was no official date or location for the Jones versus Evans match up, but they hype for that fight had been building even before Jones defeated “Shogun” Rua for the UFC light heavyweight championship in March.

Phil Davis has been booked in Jones’ place and he will face Evans at UFC 133, which will take place on Aug. 6.

Bleacher Report takes a look at how the injuries and illness could impact the pay-per-view buys for these upcoming events.

All UFC PPV numbers provided by MMAPayout.com Blue Book.

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Our Favorite 2011 Maxim Hotties Bring You the Fix Friday Link Dump

Mike Brown vs. Nam Phan in the works for UFC 133: here.
Jon Jones will not seek surgery for his thumb injury. Plans to return to the cage in a few months: here. Rashad Evans claims he ducked him: here.
Bellator 44 Weight-in results: here.
XFO 39’s Felice Herrig vs. Nicdali Rivera-Calanoc bring you the hottest female face-off […]

rachelle-leah_l1

Mike Brown vs. Nam Phan in the works for UFC 133: here.

Jon Jones will not seek surgery for his thumb injury. Plans to return to the cage in a few months: here. Rashad Evans claims he ducked him: here.

Bellator 44 Weight-in results: here.

XFO 39’s Felice Herrig vs. Nicdali Rivera-Calanoc bring you the hottest female face-off ever!!!!!: here.

JZ Calvacante vs. Justin Wilcox on tap for Strikeforce in June: here.

Fun pictures from Zuffa’s Fight Summit: here.

This girl also should have made it to the 2011 Maxim Hot 100 List: here.

Our favorites from the 2011 Maxim Hot 100 list below:









UFC News: Rashad Evans Doubting Jon Jones’ Injury, Focused on Phil Davis

The war of words between former training partners, Rashad Evans and Jon Jones, continues to intensify. With recent reports of Jones opting out of surgery to fix a torn ligament in his right hand, the former UFC light heavyweight champion seems qui…

The war of words between former training partners, Rashad Evans and Jon Jones, continues to intensify. 

With recent reports of Jones opting out of surgery to fix a torn ligament in his right hand, the former UFC light heavyweight champion seems quite confused regarding the 23-year-old’s actions.

In fact, Evans believes that Jones is faking his injury in order to avoid fighting him. 

“It’s obvious he doesn’t want to fight,” Evans told MMAJunkie.com.

“Because if you don’t need surgery and you’re not going to have it, then why tell the UFC that you’re going to have surgery and not have it?”

Both competitors were scheduled to meet at UFC 133, but Jones sustained an injury and was forced to withdraw. Jones was scheduled for surgery, but after being evaluated by a specialist, it was declared that the surgery was not necessary. As a result, Jones plans to make a return to the Octagon by late summer or early fall. 

The situation has irritated Evans so much, that the two former friends nearly came to blows after Evans confronted Jones at a nightclub last week in Las Vegas. According to Evans, nothing escalated but they did share a private conversation afterwards.

“He pulled me over, and he’s like, ‘I just want to tell you right now—I’m going to destroy you,'” Evans said.  “‘You’re going to be my first knockout highlight.’

“I’m looking at him in disbelief like, is this dude serious?,” he continued. “So I was like, ‘Okay, you are. Then why didn’t you take the fight?'”

Nevertheless, Evans will now have to turn his attention on Jones’ replacement, Phil Davis. Evans said he has already begun preparations for Davis, for a chance to earn a shot at Jones.

Evans looks at his rivalry with Jones as nothing more than a distraction. 

“I even hate the fact that I’ve got to talk about Jon Jones because I’ve got a great fighter in front of me,” he said.

“I’m coming back from injury and I need to go out there and have a good fight. So that’s my main focus.”

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 131 Fight Card: Junior Dos Santos on Shane Carwin: "It Will End by Knockout"

While all the attention has been on Brock Lesnar recently, his former opponent, Junior Dos Santos has been left lurking in the shadows. Lesnar’s withdrawal from his bout with Dos Santos at UFC 131 has left the Brazilian a bit surprised, to say the…

While all the attention has been on Brock Lesnar recently, his former opponent, Junior Dos Santos has been left lurking in the shadows. 

Lesnar’s withdrawal from his bout with Dos Santos at UFC 131 has left the Brazilian a bit surprised, to say the least.

“I got a little upset about this change, but I’m happy that the UFC got another opponent for me,” Dos Santos told Sherdog.com. 

The opponent that Dos Santos is referring to is heavy-handed, Shane Carwin. Carwin has been out since last year after a back injury put him out of action. Carwin was originally scheduled to compete on the same card against Jon Olav Einemo, but was slotted in the main event to replace the former UFC heavyweight champion. 

Although it is not the opponent he had been hoping to face, the fact that Dos Santos is still receiving the opportunity to fight is fine with him. 

“His boxing skills are great,” Dos Santos said of his opponent. 

“It’s gonna be a great fight with tough blows from both sides. I would say that it will end by knockout.”

Although Carwin is taking a risk of fighting Dos Santos on a thirty day notice, the winner of the heavyweight bout will be next in line to challenge UFC heavyweight champion, Cain Velasquez. 

While there is hardly any time to change his strategy, Dos Santos will not let this opportunity go to waste, realizing his dream of becoming UFC heavyweight champion. 

“I’m in the best moment of my career and I want to make my dream of being a UFC champion come true,” Dos Santos said.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC News: Jon Jones Declines Surgery; Bout with Rashad Evans Still Possible

While currently nursing a torn ligament in his right hand that kept him off of UFC 133, MMAJunkie reveals that Jon Jones will not require surgery.
Jones suffered the injury as a result of wear and tear from his previous collegiate wrestling years, and …

While currently nursing a torn ligament in his right hand that kept him off of UFC 133, MMAJunkie reveals that Jon Jones will not require surgery.

Jones suffered the injury as a result of wear and tear from his previous collegiate wrestling years, and the injury amounted more pain through each mixed martial arts bout. 

According to MMAJunkie, Jones was originally scheduled to go in for surgery yesterday, but after specialist Dr. James Vahey inspected the injury, he determined that the surgery was optional more than anything. 

“The actual thumb itself, the actual ligaments that attach to the knuckles, are torn,”Jones’ manager, Malki Kawa said of the injury.

“Initially, Jon didn’t want to have surgery,” Kawa continued. 

“But as we kept getting additional opinions from doctors we all trusted, they all recommended having surgery based on the initial report from the UFC’s orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Steven Sanders.” 

For the time being, Jones will attempt to avoid the procedure and fight through the injury. Kawa said Jones has been fitted for a hard cast and has been asked not to train until June 11. 

The news of the injury couldn’t have come at a better time as both Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard were forced off the UFC 130 card, as well as former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar, who had to pull out of the main event of UFC 131 after contracting diverticulitis again. 

Kawa said that Jones does not want to delay anything further and will only go under the knife when it is absolutely necessary.

“When the pain is unbearable and/or he has an issue with the function of his thumb, that’s when Jon will have to have surgery,” he said.

Kawa added that Jones is hoping to return to defend his title as soon as he can, citing Rashad Evans as a possible opponent, should he get past light heavyweight prospect, Phil Davis, at UFC 133. 

“We met with Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta and let them know we would like to set up a fight to get back in the cage as quickly as possible,” Kawa said.

“It could very likely still be Rashad if he gets by Phil Davis, but we could fight sooner, maybe September, October or November depending on what the UFC wants to do.”

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com