UFC 180 becomes official on Friday afternoon when the 22 fighters step on the scale to make weight.
The 11-fight card will be capped off by the battle for the UFC interim heavyweight strap. No. 1-ranked Fabricio Werdum takes on No. 4-ranked Mark Hunt. …
UFC 180 becomes official on Friday afternoon when the 22 fighters step on the scale to make weight.
The 11-fight card will be capped off by the battle for the UFC interim heavyweight strap. No. 1-ranked Fabricio Werdum takes on No. 4-ranked Mark Hunt. There is little question Werdum will come in well under the limit, but Hunt will have some work to do.
The co-main event features top 15 welterweights Jake Ellenberger and Kelvin Gastelum.
Bleacher Report will have complete coverage of the weigh-in proceedings when they begin at 5 p.m. ET live from Mexico City. Check back for all the updates as fighters struggle to hit their marks.
If some previous UFC cards caught an injury bug, UFC 180 caught zombies.
That’s not how you want to be slouching into Mexico City, the proud cradle of so much combat sports tradition and the epicenter of many an MMA expansion dream. But here we a…
If some previous UFC cards caught an injury bug, UFC 180 caught zombies.
That’s not how you want to be slouching into Mexico City, the proud cradle of so much combat sports tradition and the epicenter of many an MMA expansion dream. But here we are, with Cain Velasquez and Diego Sanchez and Erik Perez and Joe Lauzon watching from the sick ward as Chris Heatherly and Hector Urbina suit up for the pay-per-view.
Never before was injury misfortune so surgically precise in its disemboweling of an event. But you know what? We’re survivors. We’re going to beat this thing. How? By making predictions for the main card, not by turning away from it. And there are a couple of good scraps still breathing, like Fabricio Werdum and Mark Hunt for the interim heavyweight strap. Life goes on.
So you can pretend all you want, bro, but we’re living in the real world. James “The Athlete” MacDonald. Craig “Cookie” Amos. Riley “Kobra” Kontek. Sean “Salmon” Smith. And myself, Scott Harris. Let’s get it on.
Mark Hunt couldn’t wait to get out of there.
That’s the impression you got on Wednesday if you sat through all of Hunt’s long, uncomfortable interview with MMAFighting.com’s Ariel Helwani. Just a few days prior to taking on 4-1 …
Mark Hunt couldn’t wait to get out of there.
That’s the impression you got on Wednesday if you sat through all of Hunt’s long, uncomfortable interview with MMAFighting.com’s Ariel Helwani. Just a few days prior to taking on 4-1 favoriteFabricio Werdum for the interim heavyweight championship at UFC 180, Hunt appeared distracted, displeased with his situation and deeply ambivalent about this weekend’s outcome.
In other words, he didn’t sound like he was about to pull off the upset.
Hunt began the interview by stoically stating he had “other things” on his mind, and after 21 minutes of questioning admitted he “doesn’t care” what happens when he meets Werdum in the cage. In between, he confessed he had to lose more weight than he anticipated for this bout, didn’t know that Mexico City’s altitude would affect him so much and dropped hints that there might be trouble at home.
“It’s not a good time for Mark Hunt the father,” he said at one point.
Before Helwani even finished his final question, Hunt was trying to pull off his microphone. Once their talk ended, he was gone, leaving Helwani standing alone in the middle of a hotel courtyard and awkwardly holding the fighter’s discarded mic in his hand.
Hunt appeared in better spirits at the next day’s media events, even breaking into dance during his staredown with Werdum, when music began blaring through the room’s PA.
“My mind is strong,” he said, via MMAFighting.com’s Shaun Al-Shatti. “I had a bit of a hiccup yesterday, but I think I’m through to the other side now. It’s a hard hump to get over, but hopefully I’m through it. I’ll be good. Of course, come fight night I’ll be trying to get this belt.”
Still, Hunt declined to elaborate on what had been bothering him the day before. After his weird performance with Helwani, concerns were duly raised. At least that day, it didn’t seem at all like he wanted to be there—not just in that interview but in Mexico, or in this fight.
For fans who have cheered on each step of his improbable comeback, it was distressing. Hunt had worked so hard to get to this point, succeeding when nobody thought he would, that it would be a shame to see personal issues derail it now.
Still, it’s hard to blame him if he’s feeling a little bit on edge. This is one time when the strange, shifting sands of the UFC’s live event schedule don’t appear to be doing anyone any favors.
It’s tempting to say Hunt deserved better than this.
After losing six consecutive fights from 2006 to 2010, Hunt became the UFC’s most improbable contender, amassing a 5-1-1 record in seven Octagon appearances dating back to Feb. 2011. Along the way, he established himself as a bona fide fan favorite and maybe even a marketable draw in a division that sorely needs one.
Now, all of that is at risk. Hunt could see his contender status evaporate and his feel-good story brought to a screeching halt if things go wrong for him against Werdum.
Fighting for the UFC heavyweight title is obviously a tremendous opportunity, but now he’ll do it without the benefit of a full fight camp, after a substantial weight cut and after arriving later than his opponent to get acclimated to the city.
It appears he’s on pace to make the 265-pound limit, but there’s no telling which version of Hunt we’ll get on Saturday night. As far as we know, he wasn’t training for a fight when he inherited this matchup against Werdum after Cain Velasquez dropped out with yet another injury.
Here’s hoping Hunt was telling the truth about being beyond the problems that dogged him on Wednesday and that on Saturday he’ll be having one of his good days.
It will take all of his faculties to stand a chance against the Brazilian.
One thing we can say in UFC 180’s favor: There is no shortage of intrigue.
As the UFC prepares to make its first trek to Mexico City on Saturday, the future of injured heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez casts a large shadow. If all goes smoothly…
One thing we can say in UFC 180’s favor: There is no shortage of intrigue.
As the UFC prepares to make its first trek to Mexico City on Saturday, the future of injured heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez casts a large shadow. If all goes smoothly, either Mark Hunt or Fabricio Werdum will emerge from that gloom with an interim title and a date with Velasquez some time in 2015.
We just don’t know who it will be. Or when Velasquez will return. Or where they’ll fight, though the early plan is for the Octagon to return to Mexico. Best laid plans, as they say.
In addition to that, Kelvin Gastelum tries to make his case as a top-10 welterweight, and Dennis Bermudez attempts to keep his eight-fight win streak alive at featherweight.
The other eight fights will be intriguing too, as we try to figure out just who the heck all these people are.
Bleacher Report MMA Lead Writers Chad Dundas (that’s me) and Jonathan Snowden can’t help you with that last part, be we can see the future. Read on to find out how it all goes down this weekend…
The UFC makes its triumphant entrance to Mexico on Saturday with UFC 180 on pay-per-view. Headlined by an interim heavyweight title fight, the card is full of Latin American talent and world-renowned stars alike.
Fabricio Werdum and Mark Hunt will batt…
The UFC makes its triumphant entrance to Mexico on Saturday with UFC 180 on pay-per-view. Headlined by an interim heavyweight title fight, the card is full of Latin American talent and world-renowned stars alike.
Fabricio Werdum and Mark Hunt will battle for gold in the main feature, but there are some interesting prelims before that featuring the cast members of TUF Latin America. The winners will likely stick around, while the losers will head back to the regional circuit to hone their crafts.
Last weekend was up and down for picks. We stayed just above the .500 mark, which kept our solid record intact.
With that, let’s take a look at the preliminary card predictions for UFC 180 and make some picks.
If you enjoyed The Ultimate Fighter Latin America, I have some good news for you.
You’re going to see a lot of familiar faces this Saturday night at UFC 180. Five of the evening’s 11 bouts feature contestants from this branch of the venerable real…
If you enjoyed The Ultimate Fighter Latin America, I have some good news for you.
You’re going to see a lot of familiar faces this Saturday night at UFC 180. Five of the evening’s 11 bouts feature contestants from this branch of the venerable reality series. That means 10 of the season’s 16 fighters are in this event.
But hey, if you didn’t watch TUF Latin America, at least you have Cain Velasquez to look forward to. Ah, wait. Velasquez got injured? In a way, this entire event was built around him. UFC 180 is happening in Mexico City. Velasquez, a proud Mexican-American, was anchoring the card by defending his heavyweight title against Fabricio Werdum after they coached against each other on the aforementioned television program.
And then Erik Perez, Joe Lauzon and Diego Sanchez fell injured, too? This is not what you want from an event that is a key tent pole in the UFC’s blueprint to become more popular in Mexico and South America, thus making their sports domination of the Western Hemisphere complete.
Well crap.
Some of the air may be out of the balloon on this one. And fans may feel pressed for their MMA minutes this weekend, what with Bellator 131 and World Series of Fighting 15 also on the schedule for Saturday. But there are still some good fights to be had at UFC 180. For example, ever heard of Mark Hunt, now fighting Werdum for the interim heavyweight belt? That could be an interesting one.
There are others. Here are information capsules, predictions and viewing coordinates for the full UFC 180 card.
Mark Hunt couldn’t wait to get out of there.