Tag: UFC 160

Cain Velasquez vs. Bigfoot Silva Rematch, Dos Santos vs. Overeem Set for UFC 160 in May


(But other than that, how was the fight, Antonio? / Photo via Getty Images)

As first reported by a “random Irish person” and officially confirmed last night on UFC Tonight, Cain Velasquez will defend his heavyweight title at UFC 160 (May 25th, Las Vegas) in a rematch against Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva, just one year after Velasquez tore Silva apart at UFC 146. Though Bigfoot is coming off back-to-back stoppages of Travis Browne and Alistair Overeem, the news still comes as a bit of a surprise; even Bigfoot’s management felt that he should win a couple more fights before testing his fate against Cain Velasquez again.

Unfortunately, there aren’t many better options in the heavyweight division right now. Velasquez won’t fight his teammate Daniel Cormier, and the rest of the UFC’s heavyweight contenders either have their next fight booked already, or lack the kind of hype that Bigfoot currently carries after his comeback win over The Reem. And what are you going to do, have your champion sit out until a totally legitimate contender emerges? Come on. That’s not how you run a business.

So will Velasquez smash Antonio Silva for the second time, or should we start preparing for “The Bigfoot Era”? (Step one: Stock up on canned goods. Step two: Limber up.) In other UFC 160 heavyweight booking news…


(But other than that, how was the fight, Antonio? / Photo via Getty Images)

As first reported by a “random Irish person” and officially confirmed last night on UFC Tonight, Cain Velasquez will defend his heavyweight title at UFC 160 (May 25th, Las Vegas) in a rematch against Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva, just one year after Velasquez tore Silva apart at UFC 146. Though Bigfoot is coming off back-to-back stoppages of Travis Browne and Alistair Overeem, the news still comes as a bit of a surprise; even Bigfoot’s management felt that he should win a couple more fights before testing his fate against Cain Velasquez again.

Unfortunately, there aren’t many better options in the heavyweight division right now. Velasquez won’t fight his teammate Daniel Cormier, and the rest of the UFC’s heavyweight contenders either have their next fight booked already, or lack the kind of hype that Bigfoot currently carries after his comeback win over The Reem. And what are you going to do, have your champion sit out until a totally legitimate contender emerges? Come on. That’s not how you run a business.

So will Velasquez smash Antonio Silva for the second time, or should we start preparing for “The Bigfoot Era”? (Step one: Stock up on canned goods. Step two: Limber up.) In other UFC 160 heavyweight booking news…

Fresh off his five-round thumping at the hands of Cain Velasquez at UFC 155, former heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos will return to action against the aforementioned Alistair Overeem, who saw his stock plummet when he imploded against Antonio Silva at UFC 156. The optimist in me says that Overeem has learned his lesson about underestimating his opponents, and will be much more focused in his next outings. But who knows, maybe Overeem is nothing without his drugs. (Cro Cop’s words, not ours.) Your predictions, please.

Cain Velasquez to Face Antonio Silva in Rematch at UFC 160

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) announced the main event of its Memorial Day Weekend extravaganza, and to be perfectly frank, it’s hard to picture a more fun matchup.Per the UFC Tonight twitter account, Cain Velasquez will headline UFC 160 by defe…

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) announced the main event of its Memorial Day Weekend extravaganza, and to be perfectly frank, it’s hard to picture a more fun matchup.

Per the UFC Tonight twitter account, Cain Velasquez will headline UFC 160 by defending his heavyweight title against Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva:

Velasquez made quick work of Silva in the pair’s first meeting, beating his face to bloody smithereens with a vicious ground-and-pound assault in Round 1. The referee was forced to intervene and call a stoppage after just 3.5 minutes.

The UFC 160 announcement comes less than two months after Velasquez regained his heavyweight title from Junior Dos Santos. In a rematch of UFC on Fox 1, where Dos Santos knocked him out in just over a minute, Velasquez won with a dominant unanimous decision.

Alistair Overeem was long considered the likely competition for Velasquez at UFC 160, but he lost to Silva two Saturdays ago at UFC 156. After getting tossed around like a rag doll for the first two rounds, Bigfoot hit his cocky opponent with a huge right to the back of the ear for a KO.

Now Silva gets a chance to avenge the only loss of his UFC career against Velasquez. He’s only been active since migrating over from Strikeforce in May of last year, but still, that sole blemish will ring true as motivation.

That and a shot at the prestiged heavyweight title.

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Cain Velasquez vs. Bigfoot Silva II Confirmed for UFC 160

A hat trick could be in the cards for Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva, as he looks to shock the world for a third consecutive time. This time, against Cain Velasquez at UFC 160.The heavyweight title bout was officially announced by Ariel Helwani on FUEL TV’s U…

A hat trick could be in the cards for Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva, as he looks to shock the world for a third consecutive time. This time, against Cain Velasquez at UFC 160.

The heavyweight title bout was officially announced by Ariel Helwani on FUEL TV’s UFC Tonight Tuesday night: “UFC President Dana White confirmed to me earlier today that UFC 160 on May 25 in Las Vegas, the MGM Grand Garden Arena, it will host Cain Velasquez vs. Bigfoot Silva II.”

The announcement likely comes as a surprise to some who were hoping to see Fabricio Werdum, Stefan Struve and Mark Hunt in the mix for a potential heavyweight title shot.

Silva’s monumental upset victories over Alistair Overeem and Travis Browne threw a major wrench in the UFC’s plans for the heavyweight title picture. So it’s tough to fault the UFC for going this route, seeing as how there really isn’t a definitive No. 1 contender in the heavyweight division.

Unfortunately, it’ll be tough generating interest for a rematch of a one-sided bout that took place less than a year ago.

At UFC 146, Velasquez handed Silva one of the most brutal beatdowns of 2012. Alex Smith, Silva’s manager, complained afterward about the fight being stopped too soon, but there was nothing about Silva’s performance that night to indicate a rematch would be in the cards so soon.

It’s amazing how quickly things change in the fight business. Less than a year ago, Silva was coming off back-to-back first-round knockout losses. Now, he’ll be contending for a world title after knocking out two of the top heavyweights in the world.

Will lightning strike a third time for Silva, or will his unexpected title run come to an abrupt end?

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 160 Picks Up Junior Dos Santos vs. Alistair Overeem

In addition to the heavyweight title fight between Cain Velasquez and Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva, UFC 160 has another big fight scheduled. Really big, actually. As reported by Ariel Helwani on UFC Tonight, UFC 160 will also feature a bout betw…

In addition to the heavyweight title fight between Cain Velasquez and Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva, UFC 160 has another big fight scheduled. Really big, actually.

As reported by Ariel Helwani on UFC Tonight, UFC 160 will also feature a bout between former UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos and former Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem. The two fighters have been in a heated war of words ever since Overeem failed a drug test that nixed a fight between the two at UFC 146.

This is a fight that fans have been itching for, but many feared would never come to fruition. Overeem was a heavy favorite in his UFC 156 bout with Antonio Silva, and there were rumbles that a win would move him directly into title contention. Silva, though, shocked the world with an electrifying knockout that had fans leaping from their seats.

Dos Santos, like Overeem, is coming off a rough loss. While “Cigano” scored a quick knockout over Velasquez to earn the belt at UFC on Fox 1, and followed that up with another knockout of Frank Mir, his rematch with Velasquez was downright lopsided.

Velasquez bullied dos Santos with his high level wrestling and inimitable pace, which earned him scores from judges of 50-45, 50-44 and 50-43. Both fighters coming off a loss, though, set this fight up.

UFC 160 is set to take place on May 25 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. In addition to the aforementioned heavyweight tilts, we will also see a matchup between crafty kickboxer Stephen Thompson and TUF7 winner Amir Sadollah.

Stick with Bleacher Report for more information on the card as it develops.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Report: UFC to Increase Number of Fights on Cards to Accommodate Strikeforce Transfers


(Illustration via OctagonBuzz)

By Elias Cepeda

In a move that will likely make both fans and former Strikeforce fighters quite happy, CagePotato has learned from multiple sources close to the UFC that the promotion intends to increase the average number of fights per event in order to accommodate former Strikeforce fighters.

The UFC currently plans to feature twelve fights at UFC 160, their May 25th card in Las Vegas (main event TBA). From then on out, we are told, the organization plans to regularly produce twelve- and thirteen-fight cards in order to create more spots for former Strikeforce fighters. This would be a 1-2 fight per card increase over what the promotion has been doing lately. Most of the UFC’s recent cards — including UFC 156, UFC on FOX 6, and UFC on FX 7 — have each featured 11 fights.


(Illustration via OctagonBuzz)

By Elias Cepeda

In a move that will likely make both fans and former Strikeforce fighters quite happy, CagePotato has learned from multiple sources close to the UFC that the promotion intends to increase the average number of fights per event in order to accommodate former Strikeforce fighters.

The UFC currently plans to feature twelve fights at UFC 160, their May 25th card in Las Vegas (main event TBA). From then on out, we are told, the organization plans to regularly produce twelve- and thirteen-fight cards in order to create more spots for former Strikeforce fighters. This would be a 1-2 fight per card increase over what the promotion has been doing lately. Most of the UFC’s recent cards — including UFC 156, UFC on FOX 6, and UFC on FX 7 — have each featured 11 fights.

Over the last month, transfers of fighters from Strikeforce to the UFC have been announced individually or a few at a time, but the complete scope of just how many former Strikeforce fighters would keep their jobs fighting for Zuffa was unknown. While we still do not have an exact number, this development seems to suggest that a significant number of Strikeforce fighters have been picked up by the UFC, with more announcements potentially to come.

Either Zuffa is legally obligated to provide contracted former Strikeforce fighters with these spots or they are choosing to make use of the talent pool available to them in order to expand their cards. In any case, it means more opportunity for lesser-known fighters and a bigger bang for fans’ bucks. At least that’s the theory. Will you make use of the extra one to two bouts per UFC card, or will they just get in the way of your pre-game drinking?