(Jon Fitch is proudly sponsored by Dr. Remus’s Old-Timey Follicular Fertilizer and Invigorator for Males. / Photo courtesy of @jonfitchdotnet)
As first reported by MMAWeekly, UFC welterweight contender Jon Fitch will make his next Octagon appearance against ex-middleweight Aaron Simpson, who will be dropping to 170 for the first time in his career. The fight, which hasn’t been officially announced yet, is rumored to take place at UFC 149, July 21st in Calgary.
The formerly rock-solid Fitch has seen victory elude him in his last two fights. Most recently he was on the wrong end of a 12-second knockout against Johny Hendricks at UFC 141 in December, which followed a disappointing draw against BJ Penn. As for Simpson, the former ASU wrestling star lost a split-decision to Ronny Markes in February — which snapped a three-fight winning streak — and is now looking to relaunch his career in a division where he might enjoy a size advantage over his opponents.
So what you do think: Is this a rebound fight for Fitch, or the best decision that Simpson could have made? And are you psyched to see this matchup?
(Jon Fitch is proudly sponsored by Dr. Remus’s Old-Timey Follicular Fertilizer and Invigorator for Males. / Photo courtesy of @jonfitchdotnet)
As first reported by MMAWeekly, UFC welterweight contender Jon Fitch will make his next Octagon appearance against ex-middleweight Aaron Simpson, who will be dropping to 170 for the first time in his career. The fight, which hasn’t been officially announced yet, is rumored to take place at UFC 149, July 21st in Calgary.
The formerly rock-solid Fitch has seen victory elude him in his last two fights. Most recently he was on the wrong end of a 12-second knockout against Johny Hendricks at UFC 141 in December, which followed a disappointing draw against BJ Penn. As for Simpson, the former ASU wrestling star lost a split-decision to Ronny Markes in February — which snapped a three-fight winning streak — and is now looking to relaunch his career in a division where he might enjoy a size advantage over his opponents.
So what you do think: Is this a rebound fight for Fitch, or the best decision that Simpson could have made? And are you psyched to see this matchup?
Alves’s loss to Martin Kampmann last month dropped his record over the last three years to a disappointing 2-4, with his only wins coming against Papy Abedi and John Howard, so he needs this win almost as much as his opponent does. If Akiyama loses, he’ll become just the second fighter in UFC history (after Steve Cantwell) to suffer five consecutive losses within the promotion. Anybody think he has a chance of breaking his streak?
Check out the current lineup of UFC 149 after the jump…
(Sure, he may look strange to us, but that sort of thing is totally normal where he’s from.)
Alves’s loss to Martin Kampmann last month dropped his record over the last three years to a disappointing 2-4, with his only wins coming against Papy Abedi and John Howard, so he needs this win almost as much as his opponent does. If Akiyama loses, he’ll become just the second fighter in UFC history (after Steve Cantwell) to suffer five consecutive losses within the promotion. Anybody think he has a chance of breaking his streak?
Check out the current lineup of UFC 149 after the jump…
Jose Aldo vs. TBA (for featherweight title)
Thiago Alves vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama (WW)
George Roop vs. Antonio Carvalho (FW)
Nick Ring vs. Court McGee (MW)
Bryan Caraway vs. Mitch Gagnon (BW)
Mitch Clarke vs. Anton Kuivanen (LW)
(Full press conference video, via YouTube.com/UFC. Man, Nick Ring is like a *god* in that town.)
Today’s UFC press conference in Calgary resulted in a tidal wave of major announcements, highlighted by two title-fight bookings and confirmations of three Canadian events in 2012. Here’s what we’re looking at…
– The middleweight championship rematch between Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen will take place at an 80,000-seat soccer stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, not Sao Paulo as originally reported. [Ed. note: R.I.P., Chael.] The exact venue hasn’t been confirmed yet, and the event is expected to take place at UFC 147 on either June 16th or June 23rd. It will be the third time in 10 months that Rio will host a UFC event. We’ll be keeping our eyes out for this guy.
– For the third year in a row, the UFC will hold three events in Canada this year: UFC 149 in Calgary (7/21), UFC 152 in Toronto (9/22), and UFC 154 in Montreal (11/17). No matchups have been scheduled for the Toronto and Montreal shows, although welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre said he’d like to compete at UFC 154 if his knee-surgery recovery allows it.
(Full press conference video, via YouTube.com/UFC. Man, Nick Ring is like a *god* in that town.)
Today’s UFC press conference in Calgary resulted in a tidal wave of major announcements, highlighted by two title-fight bookings and confirmations of three Canadian events in 2012. Here’s what we’re looking at…
– The middleweight championship rematch between Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen will take place at an 80,000-seat soccer stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, not Sao Paulo as originally reported. [Ed. note: R.I.P., Chael.] The exact venue hasn’t been confirmed yet, and the event is expected to take place at UFC 147 on either June 16th or June 23rd. It will be the third time in 10 months that Rio will host a UFC event. We’ll be keeping our eyes out for this guy.
– For the third year in a row, the UFC will hold three events in Canada this year: UFC 149 in Calgary (7/21), UFC 152 in Toronto (9/22), and UFC 154 in Montreal (11/17). No matchups have been scheduled for the Toronto and Montreal shows, although welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre said he’d like to compete at UFC 154 if his knee-surgery recovery allows it.
– Jason MacDonald is already scheduled to face Tom Lawlor at UFC on FUEL 3 (May 15th; Fairfax, VA), but the Calgary native hopes to have his UFC retirement fight at UFC 149.
(“How ’bout this, bro: If neither one of us are married in ten years, *we* get married.”)
According to a tweet sent out last night by Tito Ortiz, the Huntington Beach Bad Boy will return to the Octagon at UFC 148 (July 7th, Las Vegas), where he’ll face Forrest Griffin for the third time. Ortiz and Griffin’s first two fights both ended in split-decisions, with Ortiz winning their first meeting at UFC 59 in 2006, and Griffin taking the rematch at UFC 106 in 2009.
(“How ’bout this, bro: If neither one of us are married in ten years, *we* get married.”)
According to a tweet sent out last night by Tito Ortiz, the Huntington Beach Bad Boy will return to the Octagon at UFC 148 (July 7th, Las Vegas), where he’ll face Forrest Griffin for the third time. Ortiz and Griffin’s first two fights both ended in split-decisions, with Ortiz winning their first meeting at UFC 59 in 2006, and Griffin taking the rematch at UFC 106 in 2009.
Though multiplesources are referring to this fight as Ortiz’s swan song, we just don’t see Tito quietly walking away from the sport if he manages to pull off an impressive victory here. So what do you think: Who’s getting their hand raised, and does the Ortiz/Griffin trilogy fight interest you to begin with?
Following his monumental comeback win over Yushin Okami at UFC 144 — you know, the one that made Joe Rogan soak his seat? — Tim Boetsch respectfully called out Michael Bisping, telling MMA Junkie Radio: “I had wanted to fight [Bisping] even when we were both back at light heavyweight. I’ve had an eye on him…For some reason, I think Bisping rubs a lot of people the wrong way. That’s not the reason I want to fight him, though. I want to fight him because he’s ranked higher than me. I think I can take that from him…I like being the underdog. I like going into somebody else’s house and knowing everybody wants the other guy to win…That fires me up and gets me excited.”
At the time, we let this little tidbit pass us by without mention because come on, Bisping vs. Boetsch? It’s exactly the kind of fight that the Count would turn up his well-bred nose at. But according to the UFC, it’s actually happening. The fight is slated to be on the main card of UFC 148 (July 7th, Las Vegas), which already features Rich Franklin vs. Cung Le, and a cruel bantamweight mismatch between Renan Barao and Jeff Hougland.
Following his monumental comeback win over Yushin Okami at UFC 144 — you know, the one that made Joe Rogan soak his seat? — Tim Boetsch respectfully called out Michael Bisping, telling MMA Junkie Radio: “I had wanted to fight [Bisping] even when we were both back at light heavyweight. I’ve had an eye on him…For some reason, I think Bisping rubs a lot of people the wrong way. That’s not the reason I want to fight him, though. I want to fight him because he’s ranked higher than me. I think I can take that from him…I like being the underdog. I like going into somebody else’s house and knowing everybody wants the other guy to win…That fires me up and gets me excited.”
At the time, we let this little tidbit pass us by without mention because come on, Bisping vs. Boetsch? It’s exactly the kind of fight that the Count would turn up his well-bred nose at. But according to the UFC, it’s actually happening. The fight is slated to be on the main card of UFC 148 (July 7th, Las Vegas), which already features Rich Franklin vs. Cung Le, and a cruel bantamweight mismatch between Renan Barao and Jeff Hougland.
For Tim Boetsch (now 3-0 as a UFC middleweight), the July matchup is a chance to launch himself in the upper ranks of MMA competition for the first time in his five-year career. For Michael Bisping, it’s yet another opportunity to insult a surging veteran for not being on his level before inevitably kicking the snot out of him. (See also: Jason Miller, Jorge Rivera.) Bisping’s last performance, a unanimous decision loss to Chael Sonnen at UFC on FOX 2, snapped a four-fight win streak for the Count. He’s never lost two consecutive fights in his entire career. Let the colorfully-accented trash-talk begin…
