When Glover Teixeira made his debut in the UFC, there was a small buzz that had been circulating about him for years. Fighting out of The Pit with John Hackleman, Teixeira has been training with high-caliber partners and fighting some of the best in th…
When Glover Teixeira made his debut in the UFC, there was a small buzz that had been circulating about him for years. Fighting out of The Pit with John Hackleman, Teixeira has been training with high-caliber partners and fighting some of the best in the independent circuit for years.
In 2006, Teixeira went 3-0 in the WEC, winning all of his fights in under two minutes. Clearly, he would have transitioned over to the UFC once the WEC phased out their light heavyweight division, but he had visa issues.
Now that Teixeira is making waves in the UFC, let’s take a look at some other fighters poised for a major breakout who you should be aware of.
Some of the fighters on this list have already fought for the UFC. Some of them are under contract to Zuffa but have yet to debut. The rest are still battling it out on the smaller circuit in hopes of being noticed.
We don’t have an easy way to break this to you, so we’ll just come out and say it: Afghan knockout artist Siyar Bahadurzada has been sent to live with our friend who owns a farm upstate. He’ll be able to frolic in an open field to his heart’s desire, and he’ll have plenty of friends to play with. Because of this, he won’t be fighting at UFC 149 against Chris Clements.
Just kidding, he’s out with an undisclosed injury. What, you actually believed your parents when they told you your dog was living on a farm upstate? That’s adorable.
Injury victim, or karma victim?
We don’t have an easy way to break this to you, so we’ll just come out and say it: Afghan knockout artist Siyar Bahadurzada has been sent to live with our friend who owns a farm upstate. He’ll be able to frolic in an open field to his heart’s desire, and he’ll have plenty of friends to play with. Because of this, he won’t be fighting at UFC 149 against Chris Clements.
Just kidding, he’s out with an undisclosed injury. What, you actually believed your parents when they told you your dog was living on a farm upstate? That’s adorable.
Replacing Bahadurzada will be Matt Riddle. Riddle is coming off of a split-decision over Henry Martinez, a lightweight who took the welterweight bout on short notice, at UFC 143. The victory snapped a two fight skid which saw him drop unanimous decisions to Sean Pierson and Lance Benoist.
Okay, so it’s not the most compelling matchup, but given the way that injuries have ravaged this card, it’s a small miracle we even have a UFC 149.
For those of you keeping score, this bout was initially set to be Thiago Alves vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama, which became Alves vs. Bahadurzada after an injury to Sexyama, which became Bahadurzada vs. Clements after an injury to Alves, and is now Clements vs. Riddle after an injury to Bahadurzada. And this doesn’t even put a dent in the injuries that have plagued the rest of the card.
We’d ask who ya got for this one, but honestly, the odds are pretty good that this bout is going to be changed before it’s all said and done.
(These UFC 149 posters may be getting a little grim, but at least their marketing department is being honest for once.)
*Sigh*
At this point, UFC 149 is kind of like my dog, Zeus. You see, Zeus is one old-ass beagle, whose wrinkled, saggy countenance most closely resembles a wet bag of laundry or an old wicker chair dipped in mayonnaise. Zeus is so old, in fact, that he often trips over his testicles when shuffling his way across the room for a drink of water, or to bark at the ice cream truck as it makes its rounds. But just a few years ago, Zeus was a prime specimen, a real Westminster worthy creature. And as sad as it is to watch him basically devolve from Earl to Baby Sinclair, if you will, I have neither the heart nor the desire to place his fate in my hands and simply put him out of his misery. Plus, who in their right mind would deprive themselves of the endless entertainment that a dog tripping over it’s own testicles provides?
But where I am weak, the UFC brass needs to be strong. If they do not cancel UFC 149 right here and now and give the swindled saps who actually purchased a ticket to this event a full refund, then something terrible is going to happen. I can feel it, like Devon Sawa could feel that Volée Airlines Flight 180 was going to explode, or people with bum knees can feel when it’s going to rain. First it was Sexyama. Then it was Silva. Then Koch. Then Aldo. Then Bisping and even Big Nog. And now, it is being reported that George Roop has been forced to withdraw from his scheduled contest with Antonio Carvalho.
(These UFC 149 posters may be getting a little grim, but at least their marketing department is being honest for once.)
*Sigh*
At this point, UFC 149 is kind of like my dog, Zeus. You see, Zeus is one old-ass beagle, whose wrinkled, saggy countenance most closely resembles a wet bag of laundry or an old wicker chair dipped in mayonnaise. Zeus is so old, in fact, that he often trips over his testicles when shuffling his way across the room for a drink of water, or to bark at the ice cream truck as it makes its rounds. But just a few years ago, Zeus was a prime specimen, a real Westminster worthy creature. And as sad as it is to watch him basically devolve from Earl to Baby Sinclair, if you will, I have neither the heart nor the desire to place his fate in my hands and simply put him out of his misery. Plus, who in their right mind would deprive themselves of the endless entertainment that a dog tripping over it’s own testicles provides?
But where I am weak, the UFC brass needs to be strong. If they do not cancel UFC 149 right here and now and give the swindled saps who actually purchased a ticket to this event a full refund, then something terrible is going to happen. I can feel it, like Devon Sawa could feel that Volée Airlines Flight 180 was going to explode, or people with bum knees can feel when it’s going to rain. First it was Sexyama. Then it was Silva. Then Koch. Then Aldo. Then Bisping and even Big Nog. And now, it is being reported that George Roop has been forced to withdraw from his scheduled contest with Antonio Carvalho.
Although this latest injury may not be as significant as the rest, it is just another one of the legs being chopped out from underneath what will go down as one of the most cursed MMA events of all time.
I may not be a man of religion, but I think that someone, or something, is trying to give the UFC a hint: cancel the show, of suffer the unrepentant wrath of a vengeful God. If the UFC continues with its insolence and actually allows for this event to take place, I predict that no less than 8,000 people will be killed during the PPV broadcast, be it by a roof collapse, an electrical malfunction, or a freak tap dancing accident.
Roop was likely fighting for his UFC career against Carvalho, having dropped three of his last four fights in the promotion and most recently getting KTFO by Cub Swanson at UFC on FOX 2. Carvalho will also be looking to rebound from defeat against Daniel Pineda, who will be stepping in for Roop, as he suffered a unanimous decision defeat at the hands of Felipe Arantes in his UFC debut back at UFC 142. Pineda most recently saw his nine fight win streak snapped at UFC 146, where he dropped a unanimous decision of his own to former WEC featherweight champion Mike Brown in his probable retirement bout.
Unless you’re a devoted fan of Adam Carolla, you probably didn’t know that the famed TV/radio personality and podcaster got his start in the entertainment business after being hired as a boxing coach for Jimmy Kimmel back in 1994. Seriously. Before Loveline, The Man Show, The Celebrity Apprentice, and all the rest, Carolla was just a smart-assed carpenter who knew how to throw hands.
Urijah Faber was the guest for today’s installment of The Adam Carolla Show, which gave the two a chance to get in a focus-mitt session — with Carolla offering the California Kid some advice on his punching technique — ending in some mildly awkward shadow-boxing. With Faber’s UFC 149 headlining bout against Renan “The Streak” Barao scheduled for July 21st in Calgary, every advantage counts, right?
Unless you’re a devoted fan of Adam Carolla, you probably didn’t know that the famed TV/radio personality and podcaster got his start in the entertainment business after being hired as a boxing coach for Jimmy Kimmel back in 1994. Seriously. Before Loveline, The Man Show, The Celebrity Apprentice, and all the rest, Carolla was just a smart-assed carpenter who knew how to throw hands.
Urijah Faber was the guest for today’s installment of The Adam Carolla Show, which gave the two a chance to get in a focus-mitt session — with Carolla offering the California Kid some advice on his punching technique — ending in some mildly awkward shadow-boxing. With Faber’s UFC 149 headlining bout against Renan “The Streak” Barao scheduled for July 21st in Calgary, every advantage counts, right?
The UFC’s voyage to Calgary this year has gone through a crazy amount of changes already, and the event is still a month out. The biggest changes have affected the main card, as the stars of the card have gone through injuries and numerous opponent cha…
The UFC’s voyage to Calgary this year has gone through a crazy amount of changes already, and the event is still a month out. The biggest changes have affected the main card, as the stars of the card have gone through injuries and numerous opponent changes.
To present day, the card is pretty much set, barring any more injuries. In looking at the original card and the current card, let’s compare the two and see if the changes were for better or worse.
(As Dennis Reynolds once said, “I’m not gonna take no for an answer, because I just refuse to do that. Because I’m a winner, and winners… we don’t listen to words like ‘no,’ or ‘don’t,’ or ‘STOP!”)
Well at least he gave you fair warning, Amish communities of Florida.
As he was told in his April hearing, the earliest Alistair could reapply for his license would be December 27th, meaning that the earliest he could compete would be in the UFC’s always loaded New Year’s Eve card, exactly one year after he demolished Brock Lesnar at UFC 141.
(As Dennis Reynolds once said, “I’m not gonna take no for an answer, because I just refuse to do that. Because I’m a winner, and winners… we don’t listen to words like ‘no,’ or ‘don’t,’ or ‘STOP!”)
Well at least he gave you fair warning, Amish communities of Florida.
As he was told in his April hearing, the earliest Alistair could reapply for his license would be December 27th, meaning that the earliest he could compete would be in the UFC’s always loaded New Year’s Eve card, exactly one year after he demolished Brock Lesnar at UFC 141. Fun fact: Overeem is 3-0 in MMA on New year’s Eve cards, with all of those wins coming by TKO.
But if Ubereem really is somehow already scheduled for that card based on the assumption that he will undoubtedly receive a license just a few days before a fight, this could spell potential disaster for the UFC. Like, UFC 149 levels of disaster. And given the run of luck the promotion has had as of late, we’d think they’d be a little hesitant to take a risk as big as this, so perhaps Overeem’s tweet was more of a general reminder than anything else.
Given that the Nevada State Athletic Commission was basically giving Overeem a handy under the table before they doled out his suspension, constantly reminding him (likely out of fear) how much they respected him as both an athlete and a human being, to believe that Overeem would be denied his license, barring any major screw-ups on his part, of course, would seem a little off kilter. Then again, booking a likely headlining event with a guy who doesn’t even have a license to fight at time doesn’t exactly strike us as a genius move either.
That’s speculation. It’s in the NSAC’s hands. (The UFC) can’t be presumptuous.
So is Overeem just yanking our collective chains, or has he really been booked for what will undoubtedly be the biggest card of the year? Do any of you expect to see him competing by the end of 2012? And if so, who would you like to see him face?
And while we’re talking about UFC 149 (because we kind of were for a second there), check out this hilarious fan-made poster for the event, which is easily the most telling poster in UFC history:
