(“Let’s keep it goin’ for Paula Sack, folks. She’s beautiful, talented, *and* she can burp the alphabet in two languages.” / Photo via Getty)
The UFC confirmed last night that UFC 169 — the promotion’s Super Bowl Weekend card that’s scheduled for February 1st, 2014, in Newark — will be headlined by a pair of title fights in the featherweight and bantamweight divisions.
In the main event, 145-pound champ Jose Aldo will attempt to make his sixth UFC title defense against top contender Ricardo Lamas, who’s 4-0 in the UFC including stoppage wins against Cub Swanson and Erik Koch. Aldo is coming off his four-round shredding of Chan Sung Jung at UFC 163, which gave the Brazilian his 16th consecutive victory overall, as well as a broken foot.
In the co-main event, bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz will emerge from a 28-month hibernation to face Renan Barao, the interim champ (and Aldo’s Nova Uniao homeboy) who’s been steady wrecking fools in Cruz’s absence. UFC president Dana White has “made it pretty clear” that if Cruz has to pull out of this title unification bout with another injury, he’ll finally be stripped of his belt and Barao will be named the official champion.
Got any predictions, Potato Nation? And are two competitive title fights in the lighter weight classes just as interesting as one Jon Jones squash match?
(“Let’s keep it goin’ for Paula Sack, folks. She’s beautiful, talented, *and* she can burp the alphabet in two languages.” / Photo via Getty)
The UFC confirmed last night that UFC 169 — the promotion’s Super Bowl Weekend card that’s scheduled for February 1st, 2014, in Newark — will be headlined by a pair of title fights in the featherweight and bantamweight divisions.
In the main event, 145-pound champ Jose Aldo will attempt to make his sixth UFC title defense against top contender Ricardo Lamas, who’s 4-0 in the UFC including stoppage wins against Cub Swanson and Erik Koch. Aldo is coming off his four-round shredding of Chan Sung Jung at UFC 163, which gave the Brazilian his 16th consecutive victory overall, as well as a broken foot.
In the co-main event, bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz will emerge from a 28-month hibernation to face Renan Barao, the interim champ (and Aldo’s Nova Uniao homeboy) who’s been steady wrecking fools in Cruz’s absence. UFC president Dana White has “made it pretty clear” that if Cruz has to pull out of this title unification bout with another injury, he’ll finally be stripped of his belt and Barao will be named the official champion.
Got any predictions, Potato Nation? And are two competitive title fights in the lighter weight classes just as interesting as one Jon Jones squash match?
Both fights will take place at a “Fight Night” event on March 8th when the UFC returns to London. Gustafsson, of course, is coming off of a very close decision loss to Jon Jones, while Nogueira is on a two fight win-streak, including his decision win over Rashad Evans earlier this year, and his TKO of Tito Ortiz way back in December 2011. Bones will face Glover Teixeira in his next bout, for some reason.
After Jones beats Teixeira and Gustafsson dispatches of Lil’ Nog (at least that’s what the UFC is betting on), Jones and his Swede challenger will once more lock horns. No word yet on who Daniel Cormier will get in his light heavyweight debut, yet.
Both fights will take place at a “Fight Night” event on March 8th when the UFC returns to London. Gustafsson, of course, is coming off of a very close decision loss to Jon Jones, while Nogueira is on a two fight win-streak, including his decision win over Rashad Evans earlier this year, and his TKO of Tito Ortiz way back in December 2011. Bones will face Glover Teixeira in his next bout, for some reason.
After Jones beats Teixeira and Gustafsson dispatches of Lil’ Nog (at least that’s what the UFC is betting on), Jones and his Swede challenger will once more lock horns. No word yet on who Daniel Cormier will get in his light heavyweight debut, yet.
How do you feel about all of this, nation? Would you rather just see Gustafsson fight Jones again in an immediate rematch than have another potentially epic fight jeopardized by a fight no one outside of the Teixeira household is particularly excited about? And if Jones and Gustafsson are not fighting each other next, isn’t it just a little bit awkward that their actual next opponents are being dismissed so easily?
What’s the point of doing a fight where we’re the winner is pretty much assumed and plans for them are already being made for afterwards? Sounds a lil boxing-esque in our book.
(Well, I found this on the Internet so it has to be true. Props: @sonnench)
With all the crap they’ve hurled at each other lately, it’s no surprise that Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva would eventually have to get into the Octagon and back up their slam poetry. But we definitely didn’t see this coming: As confirmed by UFC president Dana White on yesterday’s edition of FOX Sports Live, Sonnen and Silva will appear as rival coaches on The Ultimate Fighter Brazil 3, which begins filming early next year. The American Gangster and the Axe Murderer will then face off at a 2014 event to be named later.
The reality-show booking is so unexpected because White previously said it wouldn’t happen — for Chael’s own safety. As White explained during a press-conference in Brazil last month:
“People keep asking me if they’re going to be the coaches (for TUF Brazil 3). I can’t have a Brazilian within 10 feet of Chael Sonnen in America. Imagine bringing Chael Sonnen here for six weeks. I don’t think he’d make it…I mean there’s situations in the United States where we had an event where a Brazilian fan started swinging at Chael Sonnen trying to hit him…Brazilians do not like Chael Sonnen.”
So, was White fooling us on purpose? Or did he have a change of heart and realize that, hey, Sonnen’s life isn’t that important anyway. And would any of the show’s Brazilian prospects want to be on Chael’s team? This has the potential to be all kinds of uncomfortable. For the first time in TUF history, a coach may be savagely soap-whipped by his own team. I’m telling you, these Brazilians do not respond well to motivational speaking.
(Well, I found this on the Internet so it has to be true. Props: @sonnench)
With all the crap they’ve hurled at each other lately, it’s no surprise that Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva would eventually have to get into the Octagon and back up their slam poetry. But we definitely didn’t see this coming: As confirmed by UFC president Dana White on yesterday’s edition of FOX Sports Live, Sonnen and Silva will appear as rival coaches on The Ultimate Fighter Brazil 3, which begins filming early next year. The American Gangster and the Axe Murderer will then face off at a 2014 event to be named later.
The reality-show booking is so unexpected because White previously said it wouldn’t happen — for Chael’s own safety. As White explained during a press-conference in Brazil last month:
“People keep asking me if they’re going to be the coaches (for TUF Brazil 3). I can’t have a Brazilian within 10 feet of Chael Sonnen in America. Imagine bringing Chael Sonnen here for six weeks. I don’t think he’d make it…I mean there’s situations in the United States where we had an event where a Brazilian fan started swinging at Chael Sonnen trying to hit him…Brazilians do not like Chael Sonnen.”
So, was White fooling us on purpose? Or did he have a change of heart and realize that, hey, Sonnen’s life isn’t that important anyway. And would any of the show’s Brazilian prospects want to be on Chael’s team? This has the potential to be all kinds of uncomfortable. For the first time in TUF history, a coach may be savagely soap-whipped by his own team. I’m telling you, these Brazilians do not respond well to motivational speaking.
Tryouts for TB3 will be held on Nov. 11 in Rio de Janeiro, and will be open to middleweights, light heavyweights, and heavyweights. This will be the second Ultimate Fighter coaching stint for both men; Sonnen previously appeared opposite Jon Jones on TUF 17, which aired in the beginning of this year, while Silva coached on the first installment of TUF Brazil alongside Vitor Belfort in 2012. And in case you forgot, Sonnen already has a fight against Rashad Evans scheduled for next month at UFC 167. Must be nice to have job security.
Update: There are reports indicating that TUF Brazil 3 will feature a Brazil vs. U.S.A. theme, which makes a lot more sense. We’ll let you know when the UFC officially confirms this.
Normally, this would be the part where I’d lament the fact that the UFC is throwing a total rookie (and such a pretty girl!) up against a veteran with 28 professional fights, but you know what, I’m not going to do that this time. Kedzie has spent her career tangling with elite fighters like Tara LaRosa, Gina Carano, Shayna Baszler, and Miesha Tate…and she’s been beaten by all of them. The crazy cat lady is currently on a three-fight losing skid, and hasn’t won a fight in over two years. Maybe her “experience edge” just means she knows how to lose. I don’t know. I’m not going to count Alexandra out yet. There’s just something about this woman.
The current UFC Fight Night 33 lineup is after the jump…
Normally, this would be the part where I’d lament the fact that the UFC is throwing a total rookie (and such a pretty girl!) up against a veteran with 28 professional fights, but you know what, I’m not going to do that this time. Kedzie has spent her career tangling with elite fighters like Tara LaRosa, Gina Carano, Shayna Baszler, and Miesha Tate…and she’s been beaten by all of them. The crazy cat lady is currently on a three-fight losing skid, and hasn’t won a fight in over two years. Maybe her “experience edge” just means she knows how to lose. I don’t know. I’m not going to count Alexandra out yet. There’s just something about this woman.
The current UFC Fight Night 33 lineup is after the jump…
As for Pettis, he’ll be hunting for his 10th consecutive win overall, and his fourth of 2013. The 20-year-old “Phenom” may have been a terror on the regional circuit, but those first-time Octagon jitters can be tough on anyone. In other UFC 167 news…
(Sergio Pettis, shown here with the third Pettis brother nobody ever talks about. / Photo via Sherdog)
As for Pettis, he’ll be hunting for his 10th consecutive win overall, and his fourth of 2013. The 20-year-old “Phenom” may have been a terror on the regional circuit, but those first-time Octagon jitters can be tough on anyone. In other UFC 167 news…
Herman’s most recent appearance netted him a split-decision win against Trevor Smith at UFC on Fox: Johnson vs. Moraga in July — his first win since February 2012. Leites was also victorious in his last UFC appearance, winning a unanimous decision against Tom Watson in his Octagon return at UFC 163 in August. Leites is on a four-fight win streak overall, including submission wins against Matt Horwich and Tor Troeng
Moraga’s loss to Johnson snapped a seven-fight win streak and dropped his UFC record to 2-1 — the same promotional record as Uyenoyama, who was most recently TKO’d by Joseph Benavidez at UFC on FOX 7. Though we normally wouldn’t call a fight like this a “must win” (especially in the relatively shallow flyweight division), it’s becoming harder and harder to predict which fighters will be considered expendable by the UFC.
Moraga vs. Uyenoyama becomes the ninth matchup added to the action-packed UFC on FOX 9 lineup, which currently lacks any fights above 170 pounds. Check out the current fight card after the jump…
Moraga’s loss to Johnson snapped a seven-fight win streak and dropped his UFC record to 2-1 — the same promotional record as Uyenoyama, who was most recently TKO’d by Joseph Benavidez at UFC on FOX 7. Though we normally wouldn’t call a fight like this a “must win” (especially in the relatively shallow flyweight division), it’s becoming harder and harder to predict which fighters will be considered expendable by the UFC.
Moraga vs. Uyenoyama becomes the ninth matchup added to the action-packed UFC on FOX 9 lineup, which currently lacks any fights above 170 pounds. Check out the current fight card after the jump…
