At UFC 163, the No. 1 light heavyweight contender, Lyoto Machida, will face a formidable opponent in Phil Davis, who is ranked No. 8. Machida is riding a two-fight win streak and intends on returning to his glory days as the light heavyweight champion….
At UFC 163, the No. 1 light heavyweight contender, Lyoto Machida, will face a formidable opponent in Phil Davis, who is ranked No. 8. Machida is riding a two-fight win streak and intends on returning to his glory days as the light heavyweight champion.
With this fight, Davis will attempt to re-establish himself as a contender, with hopes of a title shot in the near future.
Both men have a lot at stake at UFC 163.
For Machida (19-3), a win on August 3 would likely garner him an opportunity to fight for the light heavyweight championship. While a loss wouldn’t see him drop to far in the rankings, the 35-year-old would risk never attaining another title shot again.
Before his loss to Rashad Evans at UFC on Fox 2, Davis (11-1-1) was on the fast track to a title shot. Since that loss, however, the former NCAA Division I All-American wrestler has fought nonranked opponents. His bouts against no-named foes have lowered Davis’ stock and have left him at the lower end of the 205-pound division’s totem pole.
This bout is Davis’ largest test to date. A win could lead him to a matchup against the light heavyweight champion or the man whom Davis beat at UFC 112—Alexander Gustafsson.
Pettis met with a UFC-approved doctor in Las Vegas who informed him that his torn meniscus injury will require him to sit out for six weeks, UFC president Dana White confirmed the news to MMAFighting.com after ESPN.com first reported it. Pettis originally believed he would return to full-strength in half that time.
The good news for Pettis is that he does not require surgery to fix his injured knee.
Pettis met with a UFC-approved doctor in Las Vegas who informed him that his torn meniscus injury will require him to sit out for six weeks, UFC president Dana White confirmed the news to MMAFighting.com after ESPN.com first reported it. Pettis originally believed he would return to full-strength in half that time.
The good news for Pettis is that he does not require surgery to fix his injured knee.
When Amanda Nunes and Sheila Gaff face off at UFC 163: Aldo vs. Jung in Brazil, fans can almost be assured of frenetic violence. The card’s title fight between Jose Aldo and Chan Sung-Jung will be on the forefront of most fans’ minds for good reason. T…
When Amanda Nunes and Sheila Gaff face off at UFC 163: Aldo vs. Jung in Brazil, fans can almost be assured of frenetic violence.
The card’s title fight between Jose Aldo and Chan Sung-Jung will be on the forefront of most fans’ minds for good reason. That said, the only female fight on the card is an early darkhorse for Knockout of the Night or Fight of the Night. Nunes and Gaff may well end up looking similar to any betta-fish battle seen inside a small aquarium. That is the kind of fight Brazilians love, and MMA fans worldwide can enjoy.
The out-of-the-gate hectic styles of the two fighters can make predicting an outcome nearly impossible. However, if the two combatants fail to knock each other out early, Nunes could well enjoy a decided advantage.
UFC 163 was bit hard by the injury bug recently, when Anthony Pettis was forced to withdraw from his featherweight title fight with Jose Aldo. Luckily, a suitable replace for “Showtime” was waiting in the wings and has been called upon to step in and s…
UFC 163 was bit hard by the injury bug recently, when Anthony Pettis was forced to withdraw from his featherweight title fight with Jose Aldo. Luckily, a suitable replace for “Showtime” was waiting in the wings and has been called upon to step in and save the card’s main event.
Aldo’s new opponent will be Chan Sung Jung, a fan favorite holding an unblemished 3-0 UFC record. Jung was originally scheduled to take on fellow 145-pound contender Ricardo Lamas, but the injury to Pettis forced a shake up, and “The Korean Zombie” now finds himself competing for UFC gold.
With the late addition of Jung, the UFC 163 card is now officially set. The event, which will go from the HSBC Arena in Rio deJaneiro, Brazil, on August 3, boasts 13 bouts and is scheduled to air on Facebook, FX and pay-per-view.
As is customary with UFC shows in Brazil, the event will feature a strong Brazilian flavor, with each fight showcasing at least one native combatant.
On Monday, June 18, MMA Junkie confirmed UFC 163’s official lineup.
MAIN CARD (pay-per-view)
Jose Aldo vs. Chan Sung Jung
Phil Davis vs. LyotoMachida
Josh Koscheck vs. Demian Maia
CezarFerreira vs. Clint Hester
John Lineker vs. Phil Harris
PRELIMINARY CARD (FX)
Vinny Magalhaes vs. Anthony Perosh
Sheila Gaff vs. Amanda Nunes
Neil Magny vs. Sergio Moraes
Thales Leites vs. Tom Watson
PRELIMINARY CARD (Facebook)
Josh Clopton vs. Rani Yahya
Ian McCall vs. Iliarde Santos
ViscardiAndrade vs. Bristol Marunde
Robert Drysdale vs. EdnaldoOliveira
While UFC 163 is now “official,” it doesn’t mean there won’t be any future alterations made to the card. We are still about a month-and-a-half out from fight night, and rarely does a period that long pass without at least one fighter going down with an injury. The confirmation does, however, paint a fairly accurate picture of what the event will look like.
At least it should.
Here’s hoping all parties stay healthy and compete in August!
When it comes to UFC title shots, Anthony Pettis just can’t seem to catch a break.The WEC’s last lightweight champion was slated to face featherweight king Jose Aldo later this summer before a knee injury forced “Showtime” out of the scheduled UFC 163 …
When it comes to UFC title shots, Anthony Pettis just can’t seem to catch a break.
The WEC‘s last lightweight champion was slated to face featherweight king Jose Aldo later this summer before a knee injury forced “Showtime” out of the scheduled UFC 163 main event bout.
Losing out at a chance at UFC gold would be devastating to any fighter, but it’s an especially hard pill to swallow for Pettis considering his previous issues with securing a shot at the lightweight strap.
While injuries and bad luck certainly deserve most of the blame, Pettis‘ lack of patience has also played a major role in his recent title shot struggles.
Regardless of whether he deserved the shot or not, “Showtime” took a huge risk by accepting this superfight with Aldo. Not only was he making a date with one of the best fighters in MMA today, a dangerous task in and of itself, but Pettis was also betting all of his chips on just this one bout.
If he had beaten Aldo, Pettis would likely have been forced to defend the featherweight title and stay at 145, a move that could come with consequences for his body since he has never had to stay at that weight before.
And if “Showtime” lost, then it would have been back to square one all over again.
But Pettis also had a third option—wait for a shot at the lightweight belt.
At the time, the former WEC champ was already being considered to face the winner of the Benson Henderson vs. Gilbert Melendez bout at UFC on Fox 7, but ultimately decided not to wait in order to challenge Aldo.
Now, that honor will go to TJ Grant, whom Pettis has no right to ask to replace, by the way, since he basically gave that title shot away.
In hindsight, it was a huge mistake by Pettis.
If he had just waited, not only would he have received a much-anticipated rematch with Henderson, but he would have also gotten a shot at the lightweight strap in his hometown of Milwaukee. “Showtime” vs. “Smooth” 2 would have been a huge seller and, in all likelihood, would have probably been a better matchup for Pettis.
And while I understand that “Showtime” didn’t want to go through another lengthy wait like his first attempt at the 155-pound belt, the two title shots weren’t even that far apart in dates; UFC 163 and UFC 164 are both happening in August.
Now that he’s injured, he’ll have to wait even longer for a chance at either weight class belt.
Even going back to 2011 during his first potential shot at UFC gold, Pettis opted to face Guida instead of waiting for then-champ Frankie Edgar to end his series with rival Gray Maynard.
Granted, it was a bit of a longer stint than this time around, but why not wait for the sure thing?
Barring any injuries, next time he’s offered a shot at a title, I hope Pettis goes for the safer option instead of the quick shot at glory.
UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo looked forward to a fifth title defense against Anthony “Showtime” Pettis at UFC 163 inside the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, but when UFC president Dana White tweeted that a knee injury would…
UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo looked forward to a fifth title defense against Anthony “Showtime” Pettis at UFC 163 inside the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, but when UFC president Dana Whitetweeted that a knee injury would force Pettis from the bout, it left an opening for “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung to fill in against Aldo.
Jung anticipated a UFC 162 bout with Ricardo Lamas before the injury to Pettis. With Jung fighting Aldo, Lamas awaits a new opponent, and fans are already inquiring as to what they can expect from UFC 163’s new headliner. Given UFC 163’s location, Jung’s cage rust and Aldo’s skill set, many feel this fight should end in a one-sided, dominant victory for the champion.
It would make sense for fans to expect domination from Aldo. Aside from his 15-fight winning streak and 4-0 run as UFC featherweight champion, Aldo’s dominance stems from a more strategic approach, given that three of his four title defenses ended in decision wins. With Jung most likely to demonstrate his willingness to stand and trade, Aldo appears most likely to once again implement his leg kicks, impose his jab and press Jung against the cage.
While Aldo can do all of those things to Jung, however, does it mean he necessarily will on fight night? He certainly knows how to negate his opponents’ strengths, even if for only four rounds of a scheduled five. However, with almost seven weeks to go until UFC 163, Aldo should expect to find himself in arguably the most ferocious firefight of his career.
Jung may come off of a year-plus layoff, but with the title on the line, Jung will still look to pressure Aldo in every area of the fight, from the feet to the floor. At the end of the day, Aldo remains a striker first, so if he thinks about out-wrestling Jung, he should consider how Jung persists in finding submissions off of his back.
Just the same, however, Jung should consider a number of things, also. Aside from his endurance, his striking and his ability to adapt to any opponent, he also holds a number of Brazilian jiu-jitsu titles, and despite only one win by arm-triangle in two career submission wins, Aldo can fall back on his BJJ skills if he needs to.
With these two explosive styles and the intensity of the Brazilian crowds, as well as the allure of championship gold in the balance, fans should expect one of the most action-packed bouts in recent memory. Aldo will come in looking to retain his belt, but if Jung goes down, he will go down swinging. After five rounds, the action could deliver enough of a case for a certainly controversial decision, but while we may not see the legendary striking battle that Pettis looked to bring to Rio, we will still see ferocity and fireworks from two of the world’s premier featherweights this August.
When it comes to UFC title shots, Anthony