The UFC’s end of year event is quickly shaping up to be one of its best cards all year. A tantalizing middleweight fight between Alan Belcher and Yushin Okami has been added to the card which features the heavyweight championship rematch between …
The UFC’s end of year event is quickly shaping up to be one of its best cards all year.
A tantalizing middleweight fight between Alan Belcher and YushinOkami has been added to the card which features the heavyweight championship rematch between Junior Dos Santos and Cain Velasquez.
MMA Junkie reports that the two middleweights will join Phil Davis v Forrest Griffin, Tim Boetsch v Chris Weidman and Joe Lauzon v Gray Maynard at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas, on 29 December.
Belcherand Weidmanhave both been hotly tipped for title contention earlier this year after beating RousimarPalhares and Mark Munoz respectively.
No opponent has been lined up for the long-serving Brazilian champion, and even Michael Bisping believes he deserves to fight for the belt if he gets past VitorBelfort in January in Brazil.
UFC 155 will be Belcher’s second fight against Okami after losing to the Japanese fighter all the way back in 2006.
MMA Junkie also reports that that the event will see the return of Chris Leben after a year long suspension. He will face KarlosVemola on the undercard.
I love to see young, hungry guys tangle in a battle for supremacy. However, when both are on pace to emerge as legit, dangerous, top-10 material in a few years, I think sometimes letting things simmer can be a bit more beneficial. Michael Johnson is ev…
I love to see young, hungry guys tangle in a battle for supremacy. However, when both are on pace to emerge as legit, dangerous, top-10 material in a few years, I think sometimes letting things simmer can be a bit more beneficial.
Michael Johnson is evolving into a complete, competitive fighter who now looks to stand as one of the top talents produced by the 12th season of The Ultimate Fighter. Since his loss to Jonathan Brookins at the season finale back in 2010, he’s put together a solid 4-1 record, including his recent consecutive victories over Shane Roller, Tony Ferguson and Danny Castilloe; he’s building himself a future.
Myles Jury, in contrast, has been plagued by the injury bug, but he did earn his first promotional victory at the TUF 15 finale, and he’s still an unbeaten man who has never won by decision. He’s a prospect, plain and simple.
I see this as a fight that should have been shelved and put together in a year or so, after each man has been afforded the chance to pick up a few more wins inside the promotion; a stronger sense of cage comfort would benefit both men.
But I’m not Joe Silva, I don’t assemble matches, I just watch and report. For better or worse, this match goes down at UFC 155.
Ever since former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez lost the title to Junior dos Santos in November of last year, he hasn’t thought about much besides getting the belt back. Velasquez said as much in a recent media luncheon (via MMA Fighting…
Ever since former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez lost the title to Junior dos Santos in November of last year, he hasn’t thought about much besides getting the belt back.
Velasquez said as much in a recent media luncheon (via MMA Fighting), admitting:
It’s been eating at me for a while. [The loss] definitely did happen, and it hurt. It sucked. I’ve been waiting for a while to get revenge back.
At the UFC’s initial event on Fox last year, Velasquez was knocked out by JDS in just 64 seconds in the card’s headlining bout.
This past May, the former Arizona State Sun Devil showed he still belongs with the division’s elite when he brutally battered and bloodied Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva in his UFC debut at UFC 146.
The win was enough to earn Velasquez a rematch against the hard-hitting Brazilian at UFC 155, which takes places on Dec. 29 in Las Vegas, Nev.
Velasquez, who had a 13-month layoff due to rotator cuff surgery after winning the title from Brock Lesnar at UFC 121, also told reporters on hand at the luncheon his take on injuries in MMA:
It’s just so easy to get hurt in this sport. Whether it be cuts, your joints, bones, everything can mess up at any given time. The way that we train is just so much like a real fight …You definitely don’t know (who’s going to be on the card until fight night). Because guys, we’re going to just be in the gym training our butts off, and that’s it. We don’t worry about getting hurt in the gym. We just don’t. We go in, and we just try to get the best workout we can, compete against our teammates, because that’s what we’re doing. We’re always trying to be the best even inside the gym.
The 30-year-old Mexican-American fighter gets another chance at championship gold largely due to the fact that former Strikeforce champion Alistair Overeem is serving a Nevada State Athletic Commission-issued suspension for elevated testosterone levels.
Clearly, there are zero inappropriate jokes to be made here.
In the territorial days of professional wrestling, the loser leaves town match was a way for wrestling promoters to wrap up a storyline when one of the wrestlers left his company for a rival promotion. Even though MMA is much different from professional wrestling, our sport still books these fights every so often. It isn’t exactly uncommon for the UFC to book fights between two not-quite-contenders, where the losers receive a pink slip and a call from Ray or Bjorn.
Case in point: The UFC announced yesterday that featherweights Leonard Garcia and Cody McKenzie will meet up at UFC 155. With both men being a combined 3-7 in their last ten fights (2-8 if you aren’t blind, deaf and dumb), and both coming off of less-than-impressive losses, the loser of this fight will almost certainly be spending time outside of the UFC.
On paper, Leonard Garcia is heading into this bout in worse condition than his opponent. Garcia has only won once in his last five fights, and that victory was a total bullshit decision over Nam Phan. The only thing that may save Garcia is the fact that he’s usually entertaining in defeat – his Zuffa career includes a total of five Fight of the Night awards, one Knockout of the Night and 2010’s Fight of the Year, a total bullshit victory over The Korean Zombie at WEC 48. Oh, and if you haven’t noticed, judges have an inexplicable love for the guy.
Clearly, there are zero inappropriate jokes to be made here.
In the territorial days of professional wrestling, the loser leaves town match was a way for wrestling promoters to wrap up a storyline when one of the wrestlers left his company for a rival promotion. Even though MMA is much different from professional wrestling, our sport still books these fights every so often. It isn’t exactly uncommon for the UFC to book fights between two not-quite-contenders, where the losers receive a pink slip and a call from Ray or Bjorn.
Case in point: The UFC announced yesterday that featherweights Leonard Garcia and Cody McKenzie will meet up at UFC 155. With both men being a combined 3-7 in their last ten fights (2-8 if you aren’t blind, deaf and dumb), and both coming off of less-than-impressive losses, the loser of this fight will almost certainly be spending time outside of the UFC.
On paper, Leonard Garcia is heading into this bout in worse condition than his opponent. Garcia has only won once in his last five fights, and that victory was a total bullshit decision over Nam Phan. The only thing that may save Garcia is the fact that he’s usually entertaining in defeat – his Zuffa career includes a total of five Fight of the Night awards, one Knockout of the Night and 2010′s Fight of the Year, a total bullshit victory over The Korean Zombie at WEC 48. Oh, and if you haven’t noticed, judges have an inexplicable love for the guy.
In reality, Cody McKenzie is in worse standing with the UFC heading into this contest. The TUF alumnus has been a one-trick pony, using his McKenzietine to rack up victories. While this strategy works in the bush leagues – and even against the lower end of the UFC’s roster – it has been disastrous for him against legitimate competition. McKenzie may only be on a one fight skid, but he could not have possibly looked worse in his last outing. Cody McKenzie managed to do jack shit before Chad Mendes crumbled him with a body shot just thirty-one seconds into their fight. Another loss would put the former lightweight at 2-4, and demonstrate that he just isn’t UFC material.
Based on a completely scientific formula I just made up involving both fighters’ recent fights and the very nature of loser leaves town matches, you can expect this fight to be an epic striker-vs-grappler clash. For three rounds, expect Cody McKenzie to put on a grappling clinic against Leonard Garcia, powering his way through Garcia’s wild striking, while attempting the dreaded McKenzietine numerous times throughout the fight. Garcia will win this match 30-27 on all scorecards, and give a post-fight interview that mostly consists of him shrugging his shoulders. McKenzie will scream “I’LL BE BACK!” while Dana White has security drag him out of the arena.
At UFC 156, a masked featherweight will absolutely destroy some hapless jobber while Joe Rogan comments that nobody knows who this new guy is, but it’s crazy how much he physically resembles Cody McKenzie. The masked grappler will end the fight with a McKenzietine, and we will all smile, knowing that the guy under the mask is clearly Cody McKenzie. The new guy will demand a fight against Leonard Garcia, and Dana White will happily grant him that fight at UFC 157. The new guy will destroy Leonard Garcia, take off his mask, and reveal to us all that he is actually just some random featherweight that has thick chest hair. Our collective minds will be blown away by this.
So that’s our prediction for this fight. Call your bookie now and bet on all of that happening. Do it.
Can Cody McKenzie submit Leonard Garcia with his trademark guillotine?That’s a question that’ll be answered at UFC 155, as both fighters will head to the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas for a featherweight matchup on December 29…
Can Cody McKenzie submit Leonard Garcia with his trademark guillotine?
That’s a question that’ll be answered at UFC 155, as both fighters will head to the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas for a featherweight matchup on December 29.
Recently confirmed on the official UFC Twitter feed, it’s unclear where on the schedule this bout will fall, as both the main and preliminary cards still have potential vacant slots for reported but unconfirmed fights.
Here’s where everything currently stands for the UFC’s final 2012 event:
McKenzie comes into the fight with a 2-3 record in his UFC career, riding three losses in his past four fights. Formerly a competitor at lightweight, McKenzie’s debut in the featherweight division ended quickly with a 31-second knockout loss to Chad Mendes.
Garcia is on a losing streak of his own, dropping three straight fights with a 1-3 UFC record after joining the promotion from the WEC merger. However, the Greg Jackson-trained fighter has notably racked up six post-fight bonuses since 2007 in the UFC and WEC—five “Fight of the Night” awards (two of them against Nam Phan) and a single “Knockout of the Night” award.
Excited for winter? Sure, brutal weather and cold barren darkness isn’t the most appealing thing to look ahead to, but at least we have December 29—a glorious beacon of radiance that makes the whole forsaken season bearable.That’s becau…
Excited for winter?
Sure, brutal weather and cold barren darkness isn’t the most appealing thing to look ahead to, but at least we have December 29—a glorious beacon of radiance that makes the whole forsaken season bearable.
That’s because the UFC’s end-of-the-year show is set for December 29, and will feature one of the promotion’s strongest cards in recent memory.
The event will be headlined by a heavyweight title fight between reigning champion Junior Dos Santos and challenger Cain Velasquez. The bout is a rematch and signifies the second time the two rivals have competed for UFC gold in just over a year’s time.
The night’s main event is supplemented by a bevy of intriguing contests that promise to excite from start to finish.
Featherweight title hopefuls Erik Koch and Ricardo Lamas will compete to take a step closer to Jose Aldo’s crown.
Brad Pickett and Eddie Wineland will square off in a bantamweight showdown with title implications.
YushinOkami and Alan Belcher will go at it to help break apart the knotted middleweight title scene.
Chris Weidman and Tim Boetsch will also being vying to leap ahead of their middleweight counterparts at UFC 155.
Gray Maynard and Joe Lauzon will compete against one another in a battle of TUF 5 alum, which will impact the title scene at 155 pounds.
All this, not to mention rising star Phil Davis will test his mettle against fan-favorite Forrest Griffin.
If this list of UFC 155 clashes isn’t enough to get you salivating, take a look at the teaser.
The UFC’s end of year event is quickly shaping up to be one of its best cards all year.