As a result of the mess that is the originally planned UFC 196 pay-per-view on February 6th, Conor McGregor vs. Rafael Dos Anjos will now no longer be headlining the UFC 197 event scheduled for March.
UFC announced on Wednesday that due to the cance…
As a result of the mess that is the originally planned UFC 196 pay-per-view on February 6th, Conor McGregor vs. Rafael Dos Anjos will now no longer be headlining the UFC 197 event scheduled for March.
UFC announced on Wednesday that due to the cancellation of the Cain Velasquez vs. Fabricio Werdum fight, and then the cancellation of the Werdum vs. Stipe Miocic replacement fight, the UFC 196 pay-per-view, which was originally announced as being headlined by Johny Hendricks vs. Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson, will now be referred to as UFC Fight Night 82.
UFC 197, which was scheduled for March 5th, will now be called UFC 196, but will still be headlined by the aforementioned McGregor vs. Dos Anjos UFC Lightweight title fight.
How this affects future events, such as the landmark UFC 200 event scheduled for July 9th, remains to be seen. It’s worth noting that while the fights, dates and venues will remain as scheduled, the name of the events coming up in the next few weeks and months could be a disaster to try and follow.
The UFC may be heading to Newark, New Jersey, for this weekend’s (Sat., January 30, 2016) UFC on FOX 18, but almost the entire focus of the collective MMA world is fixated on Cain Velasquez’s withdrawal from his UFC 196 heavyweight title rematch against current champion Fabricio Werdum on February 6 from Las Vegas. The
The UFC may be heading to Newark, New Jersey, for this weekend’s (Sat., January 30, 2016) UFC on FOX 18, but almost the entire focus of the collective MMA world is fixated on Cain Velasquez’s withdrawal from his UFC 196 heavyweight title rematch against current champion Fabricio Werdum on February 6 from Las Vegas.
The story goes that Velasquez pulled out of yet another title fight due a back injury, and rising No. 2 heavyweight Stipe Miocic was signed to replace the oft-injured former champion. It was a large blow to an already somewhat weak pay-per-view (PPV) card, but things only sank when Werdum withdrew from the short-notice bout the next day after claiming back and foot injuries of his own.
Disappointing yet understandable; however, things truly hit the proverbial fan when Werdum came out and admitted that he would have fought through the presumably nagging injuries if Velasquez were able to fight at the event. The puzzling statement not surprisingly elicited a rather negative backlash directed at Werdum, most of which was the to-be-expected belief that he was ‘scared’ and wasn’t willing to step up and save an event for his employers.
While there is certainly merit to both sides of the discussion, ultimately Werdum simply had too much at stake to risk in a short notice bout against a dangerous but largely unpopular champion, one where his PPV points weren’t likely to be all that good as a result. Whether you can accept Werdum’s points of view or not, the currently targeted champion spoke up in a detailed statement (courtesy of MMA Fighting) explaining his decision.
Hop to the next page to find out what Werdum thinks about his choice and his critics….
With Cain Velasquez pulling out, followed by Fabricio Werdum, the UFC 196 pay-per-view has officially been scrapped.
UFC President Dana White announced to Yahoo! Sports that UFC 196 will be pulled from…
Well, UFC finally made an official decision.
With Cain Velasquez pulling out, followed by Fabricio Werdum, the UFC 196 pay-per-view has officially been scrapped.
UFC President Dana White announced to Yahoo! Sports that UFC 196 will be pulled from pay-per-view and moved to FOX Sports 1, with Johny Hendricks vs. Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson scheduled as the new main event for the FS1 card.
UFC 196: Hendricks vs. Thompson is scheduled for February 6, 2016 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
UFC 196 isn’t cancelled, but it isn’t going to be on pay-per-view, either. Following the collapse of the card’s main event, the UFC has opted to pull UFC 196 off of pay-per-view and put it on its regular television broadcast partner, Fox Sports 1. …
UFC 196 isn’t cancelled, but it isn’t going to be on pay-per-view, either. Following the collapse of the card’s main event, the UFC has opted to pull UFC 196 off of pay-per-view and put it on its regular television broadcast partner, Fox Sports 1. The announcement came from UFC President Dana White through Yahoo Sports’ Kevin Iole.
The decision was prompted by the suddenwithdrawals of UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum and his challenger, Cain Velasquez. That title fight, a rematch of their UFC 188 clash which Werdum won via submission, served as the backbone to UFC 196’s pay-per-view status. Unfortunately, within the span of 24 hours, both Werdum and Velasquez would pull out of the fight with back injuries.
With the card less than two weeks away, cobbling together a replacement main event was next to impossible. What’s more, there were no realistic options elsewhere on the card, with the co-headliner being a solid—but only solid—welterweight tilt between Johny Hendricks and Stephen Thompson.
Rather than cancelling the event entirely, as they did with UFC 151 and UFC 176, the UFC is instead calling an audible by moving the card to cable television. While other numbered UFC events have been broadcasted outside of pay-per-view in the past (UFC 122, for example, aired on same-day tape delay on Spike TV), this is the first time the UFC has moved an intact card off of pay-per-view.
Good for UFC. Moving UFC 196 to Fox Sports 1 is the right move, even though I’m sure calling the PPV providers was painful.
Though a Werdum-less UFC 196 was unlikely to be worth the asking price, the remaining fights combine for a strong Fox Sports 1 card. In addition to the headliner, there are other interesting matchups in Jared Rosholt vs. Roy Nelson, Joseph Benavidez vs. Zach Makovsky and Derrick Lewis vs. Damian Grabowski.
Though the changes leave the UFC heavyweight title picture a complete mess, fans will still get a solid night of fights out of it.
After a veritable media windfall erupted when Cain Velasquez pulled out of his scheduled main event title bout against Fabricio Werdum at February 6’s UFC 196, the promotion has decided they could not save the pay-per-view (PPV) event and has been forced to air it live on FOX Sports 1 instead. Werdum was originally slated
After a veritable media windfall erupted when Cain Velasquez pulled out of his scheduled main event title bout against Fabricio Werdum at February 6’s UFC 196, the promotion has decided they could not save the pay-per-view (PPV) event and has been forced to air it live on FOX Sports 1 instead.
Werdum was originally slated to face late replacement Stipe Miocic in the event’s headliner, but pulled out yesterday one day after the announcement, citing both back and foot injuries as a reason. But ‘Vai Cavalo’ curiously said he would have fought if it were Velasquez across the Octagon, which evoked a doubtful response from many.
MMA fans hoping out hope that a deal could be somehow brokered for former light heavyweight champion Jon Jones to face Miocic for the heavyweight title will have to quell their expectations, as the decent but not headliner-worthy welterweight bout between former champion Johny Hendricks and Stephen Thompson will now serve as the depleted event’s featured bout.
If the old cliche is true and “luck” is what happens when preparation meets opportunity—well, the UFC, Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic all have a chance to get really lucky right now.
But the window is fleeting.
Jones gave the fight compan…
If the old cliche is true and “luck” is what happens when preparation meets opportunity—well, the UFC, Jon Jones and StipeMiocic all have a chance to get really lucky right now.
But the window is fleeting.
Jones gave the fight company a prime chance to turn calamity into a coup on Monday when he posted on social media he’d be willing to step in on short notice to fight StipeMiocic for the heavyweight title at UFC 196.
UFC 196 is currently taking on water and sinking fast after first Cain Velasquez and then Fabricio Werdum pulled out of their main event bout with injuries within 24 hours of each other. Miocic was originally tabbed to replace Velasquez against Werdum, but now the entire pay-per-view event is on the verge of collapse without a suitable headliner.
Up until the moment Jones sent that tweet, exactly what to do to salvage it has been a quandary for the fight company.
Conventional wisdom has the UFC pulling either Josh Barnett or Ben Rothwell out of their bout at Saturday’s UFC on Fox 18. Both Barnett and Rothwell would no doubt be down for that last-minute switch:
Unfortunately, the UFC likely can’t do that without upsetting its broadcast partners at Fox, who are depending on Barnett vs. Rothwell to help prop up a lackluster main card lineup. The UFC could also turn to No. 3-ranked Alistair Overeem, but Overeem is currently a free agent after fighting out his existing contract with a win over Junior dos Santos in December 2015.
End result? The organization’s back could be up against the wall. With just 10 days remaining before UFC 196, it could be time for a crazy Hail Mary.
And what could be crazier—or bigger—than putting Jones into a fight for the heavyweight title?
The former light heavyweight champion and consensus No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world hasn’t fought in the Octagon since January 2015. He spent most of last year stripped of his title and suspended while the fight company waited for a hit-and-run charge against him to play out in the New Mexico court system.
Since his reinstatement in October after a judge sentenced him to probation and community service, it has largely been assumed Jones would rematch Daniel Cormier for the 205-pound title. But with desperate times upon us, it could be time to throw out the expected playbook.
Jones has long said he would one day wind up in the heavyweight division, and recent pictures of him have him looking in great shape—not to mention large and in charge.
Why not put him into the realm of the big boys right now?
Jones implied he would only be willing to take the bout against Miocic if it was for the undisputed heavyweight title, with no interim tag applied. That would provide the UFC with one small hurdle—specifically, stripping Werdum of his belt—but it seems like a small price to pay in order to fast forward Jones into the 265-pound class.
We shouldn’t let one little word get in the way of last-minute matchmaking magic. Once Werdum is healthy, the details of a bout against the new champion can surely be worked out.
For PPV buyers, there would simply no more enticing short-notice heavyweight title fight than Jones vs. Miocic. It would instantly turn the beleaguered UFC 196 card from a strikeout into a slam dunk.
It might also provide Jones with some much-needed political capital with fans.
A certain segment of MMA spectators have always had a problem with Jones. For the most part it’s unseemly and unwarranted, though in recent times—after first testing positive for cocaine leading up to UFC 182 and then the hit-and-run—the fighter has given people some valid reasons to dislike him.
Things really seemed to hit rock bottom in September 2012, when the UFC summarily (and unfairly) blamed Jones for the cancellation of UFC 151. It was a bum rap, but some fans never forgave Jones, who UFC president Dana White said “murdered” the event by refusing to fight ChaelSonnen on very short notice after Dan Henderson pulled out with an injury.
What better way for Jones to erase those bad memories than to step in and save UFC 196?
A fight against Miocic would not only be a dandy—and potentially winnable for Jones—it would rob his haters of some of the primary ammunition they use to hurl at the fighter.
The hatred for Jones has never been fully justifiable, but it would start to feel downright untenable if the man fans once blamed for the death of UFC 151 brought UFC 196 back to life.
Perhaps this idea is just a fairy tale. Perhaps Jones wasn’t serious about taking the fight. Perhaps Miocicwouldn’t accept it at such a late hour. Perhaps UFC brass wouldn’t want to disrupt their plans for later in the year by forcing Jones into action on a whim.
But right now UFC 196 needs a little magic, and Jones might be the only guy on the roster with the power to suddenly turn it into a bonafide blockbuster.
