Tag: UFC bookings

Report: Robbie Lawler to Make Octagon Return Against Josh Koscheck at UFC 157


(“Damn it. I know I came in here for something…” Photo via Strikeforce)

As if we needed any more evidence that Strikeforce is shutting down after their next event, check this out: Orange County Register reports that veteran banger Robbie Lawler will make his first UFC appearance in over eight years when he faces Josh Koscheck in a welterweight bout at UFC 157: Rousey vs. Carmouche (Feburary 23rd, Anaheim). The fight will also mark Lawler’s first match at 170 pounds since his knockout loss to Nick Diaz at UFC 47 in April 2004.

Though Lawler’s recent stint in Strikeforce suggested that the HIT Squad member’s best days are behind him — he won just three of eight fights for the promotion since 2009, and is coming off a decision loss to Lorenz Larkin — “Ruthless” hasn’t lost his savage knockout power, which helped him earn classic victories over Melvin Manhoef and Matt Lindland. (Fun fact: Since leaving the UFC after a middleweight loss to Evan Tanner at UFC 50, Lawler has earned all of his 11 victories by stoppage, with 10 coming via KO/TKO.)


(“Damn it. I know I came in here for something…” Photo via Strikeforce)

As if we needed any more evidence that Strikeforce is shutting down after their next event, check this out: Orange County Register reports that veteran banger Robbie Lawler will make his first UFC appearance in over eight years when he faces Josh Koscheck in a welterweight bout at UFC 157: Rousey vs. Carmouche (Feburary 23rd, Anaheim). The fight will also mark Lawler’s first match at 170 pounds since his knockout loss to Nick Diaz at UFC 47 in April 2004.

Though Lawler’s recent stint in Strikeforce suggested that the HIT Squad member’s best days are behind him — he won just three of eight fights for the promotion since 2009, and is coming off a decision loss to Lorenz Larkin — “Ruthless” hasn’t lost his savage knockout power, which helped him earn classic victories over Melvin Manhoef and Matt Lindland. (Fun fact: Since leaving the UFC after a middleweight loss to Evan Tanner at UFC 50, Lawler has earned all of his 11 victories by stoppage, with 10 coming via KO/TKO.)

Josh Koscheck is coming off a loss as well, dropping a split-decision to Johny Hendricks in May, but he’ll surely be considered a strong favorite in this matchup, as he’s remained competitive with the top welterweights in the UFC — not to mention the fact that Lawler’s drop to his old weight class could wear him out before the fight. So is Robbie dead meat, or is Kos going night-night?

UFC 157 will feature all these people, plus Brendan Schaub vs. Lavar Johnson, Josh Neer vs. Court McGee, and TUF Live winner Michael Chiesa vs. Anton Kuivanen.

Brendan Schaub vs. Lavar Johnson Re-Scheduled for UFC 157 on 2/23


(Brendan Schaub and the always-relevant MC Hammer. / Photo via Brendan’s Facebook page)

UFC heavyweights Brendan Schaub and Lavar Johnson were originally scheduled to bang on the UFC on FOX 5 preliminary card over the weekend, until an ill-timed groin-pull* forced Johnson to withdraw less than two weeks out from the fight. As a result, Schaub was removed from the lineup entirely. Fortunately, they just got their do-over date.

According to MMAJunkie, Schaub vs. Johnson will now take place at UFC 157: Rousey vs. Carmouche, February 23rd in Anaheim. No word yet on if the match will be part of the main card or if it’ll be re-slated for the prelims — but with supporting bouts already in place between Dan Henderson and Lyoto Machida, and Urijah Faber vs. Ivan Menjivar, the UFC’s historic ladies’ night is shaping up to be a can’t-miss event. (For the record, Hendo says his knee is fine and he’ll be ready to roll.)

* Are groin-pulls ever correctly timed? I guess not, huh.


(Brendan Schaub and the always-relevant MC Hammer. / Photo via Brendan’s Facebook page)

UFC heavyweights Brendan Schaub and Lavar Johnson were originally scheduled to bang on the UFC on FOX 5 preliminary card over the weekend, until an ill-timed groin-pull* forced Johnson to withdraw less than two weeks out from the fight. As a result, Schaub was removed from the lineup entirely. Fortunately, they just got their do-over date.

According to MMAJunkie, Schaub vs. Johnson will now take place at UFC 157: Rousey vs. Carmouche, February 23rd in Anaheim. No word yet on if the match will be part of the main card or if it’ll be re-slated for the prelims — but with supporting bouts already in place between Dan Henderson and Lyoto Machida, and Urijah Faber vs. Ivan Menjivar, the UFC’s historic ladies’ night is shaping up to be a can’t-miss event. (For the record, Hendo says his knee is fine and he’ll be ready to roll.)

* Are groin-pulls ever correctly timed? I guess not, huh.

Dan Henderson vs. Lyoto Machida Verbally Agree to UFC 157 Meeting in February


(“Thank you for this honor, Bader-san. I will now honor your ancestors by getting drunk on a boat and attending a foam party.” Photo via Tracy Lee/Yahoo! Sports)

The UFC’s spite-booking between light-heavyweight contenders Dan Henderson and Lyoto Machida is close to being finalized. Sources close to the event have informed MMA Fighting that Hendo and Pervo have verbally agreed to meet at UFC 157, which will go down February 23rd at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. The bout isn’t expected to be the card’s main event, which is still TBA at this point. Not that we wouldn’t want to speculate.

Due to a poorly-timed knee injury, Henderson has gone all of 2012 without a single Octagon appearance — not an ideal situation for a 42-year-old athlete, but at least the layoff has given him time to enroll in shit-talking school — while Machida is coming off his August knockout of Ryan Bader. The winner will likely take on Jon Jones, after he champ finishes thrashing Chael Sonnen in April. (No, I’m still not going to give Sonnen a chance, no matter how many insulting specialty pizzas he creates.)


(“Thank you for this honor, Bader-san. I will now honor your ancestors by getting drunk on a boat and attending a foam party.” Photo via Tracy Lee/Yahoo! Sports)

The UFC’s spite-booking between light-heavyweight contenders Dan Henderson and Lyoto Machida is close to being finalized. Sources close to the event have informed MMA Fighting that Hendo and Pervo have verbally agreed to meet at UFC 157, which will go down February 23rd at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. The bout isn’t expected to be the card’s main event, which is still TBA at this point. Not that we wouldn’t want to speculate.

Due to a poorly-timed knee injury, Henderson has gone all of 2012 without a single Octagon appearance — not an ideal situation for a 42-year-old athlete, but at least the layoff has given him time to enroll in shit-talking school — while Machida is coming off his August knockout of Ryan Bader. The winner will likely take on Jon Jones, after the champ finishes thrashing Chael Sonnen in April. (No, I’m still not going to give Sonnen a chance, no matter how many insulting specialty pizzas he creates.)

Booking Alert: Jon Fitch vs. Demian Maia Added to UFC 156 in February


(Demian Maia’s neck-crank of Rick Story — it just never gets old, does it? / GIF via Fightlinker)

With Jon Fitch coming off a redemptive Fight of the Night victory over Erick Silva at UFC 153 — his first win in over two years — the Indiana-bred wrestler is suddenly a factor again in the welterweight division. And so, the UFC will be giving him another opportunity to cement his contender status at UFC 156: Aldo vs. Edgar (February 2nd; Mandalay Bay Events Center, Las Vegas), where he’ll face off against Brazilian grappling specialist Demian Maia. The promotion confirmed the booking last night.

After hitting a wall at middleweight, Maia dropped to 170 earlier this year, debuting with a fluke-ish TKO-via-muscle-spasm victory over Dong Hyun Kim. But against Rick Story at UFC 153, we finally saw flashes of the Old Maia, as he picked up his first submission victory since his triangle-choke of Chael Sonnen in February 2009. And man, was it nasty.

We all know that this is going to be a grapple-fest, and odds are that it’ll go the distance. But considering that Fitch has turned over a new leaf in his approach to fighting — and that Maia has located his jiu-jitsu again — it could be an entertaining scrap. Who y’all got?


(Demian Maia’s neck-crank of Rick Story — it just never gets old, does it? / GIF via Fightlinker)

With Jon Fitch coming off a redemptive Fight of the Night victory over Erick Silva at UFC 153 — his first win in over two years — the Indiana-bred wrestler is suddenly a factor again in the welterweight division. And so, the UFC will be giving him another opportunity to cement his contender status at UFC 156: Aldo vs. Edgar (February 2nd; Mandalay Bay Events Center, Las Vegas), where he’ll face off against Brazilian grappling specialist Demian Maia. The promotion confirmed the booking last night.

After hitting a wall at middleweight, Maia dropped to 170 earlier this year, debuting with a fluke-ish TKO-via-muscle-spasm victory over Dong Hyun Kim. But against Rick Story at UFC 153, we finally saw flashes of the Old Maia, as he picked up his first submission victory since his triangle-choke of Chael Sonnen in February 2009. And man, was it nasty.

We all know that this is going to be a grapple-fest, and odds are that it’ll go the distance. But considering that Fitch has turned over a new leaf in his approach to fighting — and that Maia has located his jiu-jitsu again — it could be an entertaining scrap. Who y’all got?

‘UFC on FOX 6? Announced With Flyweight Title Fight, Cerrone vs. Pettis; Rampage/Teixeira Also Reported


(…sit back there and say his jacket ain’t luxurious when you know it is, bitch.)

The UFC announced yesterday that its next UFC on FOX event — slated for January 26 at Chicago’s United Center — will be headlined by Demetrious Johnson‘s first flyweight title defense against TUF 14 winner John Dodson. Dodson has gone 2-0 at 125 pounds since his stint on the reality show, including his recent TKO of top contender Jussier Formiga.

But hey, maybe you don’t care about that sort of thing. Luckily, the UFC also confirmed that UFC on FOX 6 will feature the long-rumored lightweight tilt (and possible #1 contender match) between Donald Cerrone and Anthony Pettis, a guaranteed barnburner for which Cerrone has already promised to “pack a lunch.” Considering that Pettis has been out of action since February due to injuries, Cowboy might be the favorite here. Of course if he wins, Cerrone could be booked against a guy who already beat him twice in the WEC, or a guy who punked him as badly as any UFC fighter has ever been punked — which makes us wonder if this is one of those “#1 contender match for one guy but not necessarily the other”-type scenarios.

But wait, there’s more…


(…sit back there and say his jacket ain’t luxurious when you know it is, bitch.)

The UFC announced yesterday that its next UFC on FOX event — slated for January 26 at Chicago’s United Center — will be headlined by Demetrious Johnson‘s first flyweight title defense against TUF 14 winner John Dodson. Dodson has gone 2-0 at 125 pounds since his stint on the reality show, including his recent TKO of top contender Jussier Formiga.

But hey, maybe you don’t care about that sort of thing. Luckily, the UFC also confirmed that UFC on FOX 6 will feature the long-rumored lightweight tilt (and possible #1 contender match) between Donald Cerrone and Anthony Pettis, a guaranteed barnburner for which Cerrone has already promised to “pack a lunch.” Considering that Pettis has been out of action since February due to injuries, Cowboy might be the favorite here. Of course if he wins, Cerrone could be booked against a guy who already beat him twice in the WEC, or a guy who punked him as badly as any UFC fighter has ever been punked — which makes us wonder if this is one of those “#1 contender match for one guy but not necessarily the other”-type scenarios.

But wait, there’s more…

Though it hasn’t been formally announced by the promotion yet, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson let the cat out of the bag via twitter that his match against Glover Teixeira is a go for the 1/26 event. The two light-heavyweight bangers were originally supposed to meet at UFC 153 in Rio, but Rampage injured his elbow before the match, which has given him a lot of free time to complain and complain and complain.

Just like December’s UFC on FOX: Henderson vs. Diaz card, it’s a pay-per-view caliber lineup that we’ll be getting for free. Early predictions: Johnson/Dodson goes to decision, Cerrone/Pettis wins Fight of the Night, and Rampage blames his impending loss on an injury. Fine, call me a hater — but see if I’m wrong.

Barnburner Alert: Melvin Guillard vs. Jamie Varner Booked for TUF 16 Finale


(And we mean that literally — Guillard is an arsonist with a deep hatred for farm structures.)

Between Carwin vs. Nelson, Barry vs. Del Rosario, and Brookins vs. Poirier, December 15th’s TUF 16 Finale is shaping up to be one of the best free cards of the year. It’s also looking like only the season’s welterweight finalists will get a spot on the finale card, which would be a first for the show, though I doubt too many people (outside of the hardcore Sam Alvey fanbase) will be disappointed, since it makes room for even more great matchups between proven UFC vets.

Case in point: The UFC announced yesterday that a lightweight smash-up between Melvin Guillard and Jamie Varner has been added to the lineup. Both fighters are coming off of losses in August, although they earned Fight of the Night bonuses for their gritty efforts. Guillard was the victim of a knockout against Donald Cerrone, in a wild 76-second firefight at UFC 150; it was Guillard’s third first-round loss in his last four fights. Meanwhile, Varner’s improbable UFC comeback was stopped abruptly when Joe Lauzon finished him by triangle choke during their battle at UFC on FOX: Shogun vs. Vera.

So which fighter will get back on track, and which bonus check(s) will be handed out? Shoot us your predictions in the comments section.


(And we mean that literally — Guillard is an arsonist with a deep hatred for farm structures.)

Between Carwin vs. Nelson, Barry vs. Del Rosario, and Brookins vs. Poirier, December 15th’s TUF 16 Finale is shaping up to be one of the best free cards of the year. It’s also looking like only the season’s welterweight finalists will get a spot on the finale card, which would be a first for the show, though I doubt too many people (outside of the hardcore Sam Alvey fanbase) will be disappointed, since it makes room for even more great matchups between proven UFC vets.

Case in point: The UFC announced yesterday that a lightweight smash-up between Melvin Guillard and Jamie Varner has been added to the lineup. Both fighters are coming off of losses in August, although they earned Fight of the Night bonuses for their gritty efforts. Guillard was the victim of a knockout against Donald Cerrone, in a wild 76-second firefight at UFC 150; it was Guillard’s third first-round loss in his last four fights. Meanwhile, Varner’s improbable UFC comeback was stopped abruptly when Joe Lauzon finished him by triangle choke during their battle at UFC on FOX: Shogun vs. Vera.

So which fighter will get back on track, and which bonus check(s) will be handed out? Shoot us your predictions in the comments section.