Jon Fitch is arguably the No. 2 welterweight in the UFC. The Gray Maynard of the welterweight division, he’s fought some of the sport’s best, including B.J. Penn, Georges St-Pierre and Thiago Alves. He’s made it very clear to matchmaker Joe…
Jon Fitch is arguably the No. 2 welterweight in the UFC. The Gray Maynard of the welterweight division, he’s fought some of the sport’s best, including B.J. Penn, Georges St-Pierre and Thiago Alves. He’s made it very clear to matchmaker Joe Silva and head man Dana White that he only wanted to fight either Penn or GSP. When that didn’t come to fruition, he opted to agree to what some saw as a tune-up fight versus Johny Hendricks at UFC 141.
One problem with that:
Hendricks is a hot welterweight looking for a three-fight win streak (including a knockout of the night win over TJ Waldburger at UFC Fight Night 24) to add to his fabulous record of 11-1. He’s not whom Fitch would want as a tune-up for a title shot.
With nothing to lose and everything to gain, Hendricks looks to move into contender status with an upset of Fitch. But how will he do it? Let’s take an in depth look at the man known as the “Happy Beard Guy.”
After a blockbuster week that saw UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones successfully defend his belt at UFC 135 against Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, there were plenty of other news items that took center stage.UFC President Dana White briefly announce…
After a blockbuster week that saw UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones successfully defend his belt at UFC 135 against Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, there were plenty of other news items that took center stage.
UFC President Dana White briefly announced a highly-anticipated showdown between light heavyweights Phil Davis and Lyoto Machida, only to pull back the news almost immediately.
Consensus No. 1-ranked female fighter Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos will return to Strikeforce to defend her 145-pound title on Dec. 17.
UFC welterweight kingpin Georges St-Pierre announced that he will be training with former challenger Dan Hardy in preparation for his UFC 137 title defense against Carlos Condit.
Rob Tatum is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA. You can also find Rob’s work at TheMMACorner.com. For anything related to MMA, you can follow Rob on Twitter @RobTatumMMA.
(“What is he doing with his face? Is that supposed to intimidate me?”)
According to a report by MMAMatrix.com, a welterweight match-up between Jake Ellenberger and Diego Sanchez is in the works for UFC 141 December 30 in Las Vegas.
Ellenberger leapfrogged to the front of the line of UFC welterweight contenders with his first-round knockout of Jake Shields at UFC Fight Night: Shields vs. Ellenberger two weeks ago. As such, it’s likely that the winner of the bout, if it happens, will be second in line behind Nick Diaz to face the winner of the UFC 137 showdown between Georges St-Pierre and Carlos Condit on October 29.
(“What is he doing with his face? Is that supposed to intimidate me?”)
According to a report by MMAMatrix.com, a welterweight match-up between Jake Ellenberger and Diego Sanchez is in the works for UFC 141 December 30 in Las Vegas.
Ellenberger leapfrogged to the front of the line of UFC welterweight contenders with his first-round knockout of Jake Shields at UFC Fight Night: Shields vs. Ellenberger two weeks ago. As such, it’s likely that the winner of the bout, if it happens, will be second in line behind Nick Diaz to face the winner of the UFC 137 showdown between Georges St-Pierre and Carlos Condit on October 29.
Sanchez bypassing the queue is a bit a bit of a head-scratcher though, considering he is 2-1 since returning to the UFC’s 170-pound class with decisions in both fights, and was supposed to fight Matt Hughes in his last bout at UFC 135 before getting injured and pulling out. But it isn’t a total surprise since UFC president Dana White seems to have a soft spot for the TUF 1 finalists. How else do you explain Kenny Florian getting more title shots than any fighter on the UFC’s roster in spite of him having lost every championship bout he’s fought in, other than blackmail?
Ellenberger shrugged off the news of the bout when asked today on Twitter, but it wouldn’t be the first time a fighter denied a fight was happening only to have the UFC announce the pairing down the road.
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UFC 141: Lesnar vs. Overeem
December 30, 2011
MGM Grand Garden Arena
Las Vegas, Nevada
Alistair Overeem vs. Brock Lesnar
Vitor Belfort vs. TBD
Alexander Gustafsson vs. Vladimir Matyushenko
Diego Sanchez vs. Jake Ellenberger
Johny Hendricks vs. Jon Fitch
Sam Stout vs. TBD
Former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar is known to be an avid sportsman, both inside and outside of the cage.Following his first-round TKO loss to Cain Velasquez, who snatched the crown from Lesnar in October of last year, the native of North Dak…
Former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar is known to be an avid sportsman, both inside and outside of the cage.
Following his first-round TKO loss to Cain Velasquez, who snatched the crown from Lesnar in October of last year, the native of North Dakota wasted little time in taking pleasures in the simple things.
Just a month later, Lesnar, who still had his Rocky-esque beard going, took to Alberta, Canada, in order to hunt for Mule Deer—prized deer who are indigenous to Western North America, with the adults weighing upwards of 300 pounds.
UFC President Dana White has talked in the past about Lesnar’s competitive nature, proclaiming that their heavyweight star is truly one of a kind.
“He’ll fight as much as we want him to fight. This guy just wants to fight, but he says ‘I need September and October off—it’s hunting season'”, said White during an interview with the popular Opie and Anthony Radio Show, based out of New York City.
“Joe Rogan always says this, it’s so funny, he’s like ‘this guy, when he’s not smashing people in the cage, he’s killing animals!'”
“Brock Lesnar is not like any other guy that I’ve ever met, he’s really not.”
“He probably just punches the animals, too. No gun, no bow and arrow, just walks up and belts the deer in the head,” speculated co-host Anthony Cumia.
The video takes place nearly a year ago, though details how serious Lesnar takes up his extracurricular activities.
Let’s hope he can prepare just as vigorously for his next outing, as the former UFC champ will take on K-1 and Strikeforce veteran Alistair Overeem in a blockbuster matchup come this December at UFC 141, which takes place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
When the UFC announced its multi-year deal with FOX last month, they sent the MMA world buzzing about the magnitude of how many more eyes will be able to now see this sport.Then came the announcement of the first fight event on FOX: Cain Velasquez vs. …
When the UFC announced its multi-year deal with FOX last month, they sent the MMA world buzzing about the magnitude of how many more eyes will be able to now see this sport.
Then came the announcement of the first fight event on FOX: Cain Velasquez vs. Junior Dos Santos for the UFC Heavyweight Championship.
Originally this fight was not set to take place until late November, but when the opportunity arose, both fighters jumped at the chance to be seen by such a wide audience.
If you are new to the sport, or are still holding on to the antiquated idea that Mixed Martial Arts is “Human Cockfighting,” grow up, listen up, and allow Bleacher Report MMA to give you a few reasons why you can’t afford to miss out on this milestone event.
A compelling light heavyweight matchup between former IFL champion Vladimir “The Janitor” Matyushenko and rising star Alexander Gustaffson has just been booked for UFC 141. The match was originally intended to transpire at UFC 133 in Philadelphia, but Matyushenko pulled out due to a last minute injury. Matt Hamill took “The Janitor’s” place and was subsequently beat into retirement by the Swede, so it’s fair to say that Matyushenko has one of his toughest tests to date ahead of him. Well, other than that one guy, which I’m pretty sure was a fluke.
A compelling light heavyweight matchup between former IFL champion Vladimir “The Janitor” Matyushenko and rising star Alexander Gustaffson has just been booked for UFC 141. The match was originally intended to transpire at UFC 133 in Philadelphia, but Matyushenko was forced to pull out due to a last minute injury. Matt Hamill stepped in for “The Janitor” and was subsequently beat into retirement by the Gustaffson, so it’s fair to say that Matyushenko has one of his toughest tests to date ahead of him. Well, other than that one guy, which I’m pretty sure was a fluke.
Matyushenko is coming off his quickest and perhaps most impressive octagon appearance to date, a 20 second storming of Jason Brilz. “The Mauler” on the other hand has put together a three fight win streak since his first round submission loss to Phil Davis at UFC 112, but it was his destructive TKO of Hamill that opened a lot of eyes to he Swedish prospect. UFC 141 also features the epic number one contender match between Brock Lesnar and Alistair Overeem and a slightly less epic welterweight tilt between Jon Fitch and Johny Hendricks. So Potatoites (Potatoians?), how do you see this one going down?
Former UFC heavyweight champion 