Jackson and Rua’s upcoming meeting will be a rematch of their PRIDE Total Elimination 2005 fight, which Shogun won by vicious first-round knockout. Jackson has lobbied for a rematch ever since, and Rua recently expressed interest in the matchup as well. Rua most recently competed at UFC 139, losing a decision to Dan Henderson in what was widely considered to be the 2011 Fight of the Year, while Jackson is riding the first two-fight losing streak of his career, with losses to Jon Jones and Ryan Bader.
After the jump: The full fight video of Rampage vs. Shogun 1.
Jackson and Rua’s upcoming meeting will be a rematch of their PRIDE Total Elimination 2005 fight, which Shogun won by vicious first-round knockout. Jackson has lobbied for a rematch ever since, and Rua recently expressed interest in the matchup as well. Rua most recently competed at UFC 139, losing a decision to Dan Henderson in what was widely considered to be the 2011 Fight of the Year, while Jackson is riding the first two-fight losing streak of his career, with losses to Jon Jones and Ryan Bader.
After the jump: The full fight video of Rampage vs. Shogun 1.
(Seriously, if you have any shred of humanity, you’ll “like” Roy’s Facebook page to help convince him to drop to light-heavyweight. Otherwise, be prepared for a lot more of this.)
Carrying a 4-0 UFC record, and producer of one of the greatest comebacks in UFC history, Russow last competed on the UFC on FOX 2 card, taking a rather uninspiring unanimous decision win over John-Olav Einemo. Werdum represents a massive step up in competition for the full-time Chicago police officer, but then again, Russow always seems to find a way to win. His last defeat came five years ago, against Sergei Kharitonov at Pride 33.
(Seriously, if you have any shred of humanity, you’ll “like” Roy’s Facebook page to help convince him to drop to light-heavyweight. Otherwise, be prepared for a lot more of this.)
Carrying a 4-0 UFC record, and producer of one of the greatest comebacks in UFC history, Russow last competed on the UFC on FOX 2 card, taking a rather uninspiring unanimous decision win over John-Olav Einemo. Werdum represents a massive step up in competition for the full-time Chicago police officer, but then again, Russow always seems to find a way to win. His last defeat came five years ago, against Sergei Kharitonov at Pride 33.
In the heavyweight division, undefeated former Strikeforce contender Shane Del Rosario will make his UFC debut against the suddenly-not-retiredGabriel Gonzaga. Del Rosario’s 11-0 record includes 10 wins by first-round stoppage, but he hasn’t competed since his submission of Lavar Johnson a year ago. Meanwhile, Gonzaga just picked up his first win in the UFC since 2009 when he choked out Ednaldo Oliveira at UFC 142. Gonzaga’s last three UFC victories have come against Octagon first-timers, which might be a bad omen for Del Rosario.
In the heavyweight division, undefeated former Strikeforce contender Shane Del Rosario will make his UFC debut against the suddenly-not-retiredGabriel Gonzaga. Del Rosario’s 11-0 record includes 10 wins by first-round stoppage, but he hasn’t competed since his submission of Lavar Johnson a year ago. Meanwhile, Gonzaga just picked up his first win in the UFC since 2009 when he choked out Ednaldo Oliveira at UFC 142. Gonzaga’s last three UFC victories have come against Octagon first-timers, which might be a bad omen for Del Rosario.
Also on the UFC 146 card, TUF 14 featherweight winner Diego Brandao gets his first non-relaity-show opponent in the UFC when he meets Darren Elkins. Elkins is 2-0 in the UFC since dropping to featherweight, with unanimous decision wins against Michihiro Omigawa and Zhang Tiequan. In other words, he’s no pushover, and Brandao might not be able to destroy him quite as easily as his victims on TUF.
Dunham, who was a much-hyped undefeated prospect himself at one time, is back on the upswing after compiling back-to-back victories against Shamar Bailey and Nik Lentz, which snapped a two-fight losing streak. Dunham’s biggest advantage against Barboza should be on the mat, but if he can’t get the fight there, he’ll be in for a long, painful night, full of feet flying at his face and shins slamming into his thighs. Anybody think Evan can derail the Edson Barboza hype-train?
Dunham, who was a much-hyped undefeated prospect himself at one time, is back on the upswing after compiling back-to-back victories against Shamar Bailey and Nik Lentz, which snapped a two-fight losing streak. Dunham’s biggest advantage against Barboza should be on the mat, but if he can’t get the fight there, he’ll be in for a long, painful night, full of feet flying at his face and shins slamming into his thighs. Anybody think Evan can derail the Edson Barboza hype-train?
Lavar Johnson scored the Knockout of the Night during last weekend’s UFC on FOX 2 card, by smashing Joey Beltran in the first round of their preliminary card meeting. The win snapped a two-fight losing streak that Johnson had carried over from his stint in Strikeforce. His upcoming scrap with Barry seems like a way for the UFC to guarantee some much-needed excitement for their next FOX broadcast. As for Barry, it’s an opportunity to bump his UFC record over .500 and secure back-to-back victories for the first time in his UFC career.
In other May booking news…
(Dude. Don’t even get me started about mustard water. / Props: hypeordie)
Lavar Johnson scored the Knockout of the Night during last weekend’s UFC on FOX 2 card, by smashing Joey Beltran in the first round of their preliminary card meeting. The win snapped a two-fight losing streak that Johnson had carried over from his stint in Strikeforce. His upcoming scrap with Barry seems like a way for the UFC to guarantee some much-needed excitement for their next FOX broadcast. As for Barry, it’s an opportunity to bump his UFC record over .500 and secure back-to-back victories for the first time in his UFC career.
In other May booking news…
The UFC has confirmed that their third FX card will take place May 15th in Fairfax, Virginia, and will feature a light-heavyweight rematch between Brandon Vera and Thiago Silva. Their first meeting in January 2011 was originally a unanimous decision win for Silva, until he popped positive for a urine adulterant and the fight was changed to a no-contest; Silva later admitted to using prohibited “injections” to treat a back injury he had suffered before the fight. This will be Silva’s first match since coming back from a one-year suspension, while Vera scored a follow-up decision win over Eliot Marshall in October.
(Nate Diaz poses with future UFC bantamweight champ Ronnie Ortiz-Magro.)
The UFC confirmed this morning that their third FOX show will take place May 5 at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, N.J. Though it hasn’t been officially marked as the headliner, a high-profile lightweight bout between Nate Diaz and Jim Miller will be featured on the main card.
Diaz is coming off a three-round domination of Donald Cerrone at UFC 141 — arguably the greatest performance of his career — making it two wins in a row for Diaz since he returned to lightweight last fall. Meanwhile, New Jersey native Jim Miller bounced back to the win column last Friday with a first-round submission of Melvin Guillard, proving that he still belongs among the division’s elite. Though the fight probably isn’t a #1 contender’s match, it’ll certainly bump the winner very close to a title shot. Fun fact: In 27 combined UFC fights, neither man has ever been stopped.
(Nate Diaz poses with future UFC bantamweight champ Ronnie Ortiz-Magro.)
The UFC confirmed this morning that their third FOX show will take place May 5 at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, N.J. Though it hasn’t been officially marked as the headliner, a high-profile lightweight bout between Nate Diaz and Jim Miller will be featured on the main card.
Diaz is coming off a three-round domination of Donald Cerrone at UFC 141 — arguably the greatest performance of his career — making it two wins in a row for Diaz since he returned to lightweight last fall. Meanwhile, New Jersey native Jim Miller bounced back to the win column last Friday with a first-round submission of Melvin Guillard, proving that he still belongs among the division’s elite. Though the fight probably isn’t a #1 contender’s match, it’ll certainly bump the winner very close to a title shot. Fun fact: In 27 combined UFC fights, neither man has ever been stopped.
In other UFC on FOX 3 booking news…
Also returning to the cage on May 5th is TUF 14 bantamweight winner John Dodson, who will be dropping back down to 125 pounds for his first post-TUF appearance. His opponent will be Darren Uyenoyama, who will also be dropping to flyweight after outpointing Norifumi Yamamoto in a bantamweight bout during his Octagon debut on the “UFC on FOX 1″ undercard. We’re pulling for Dodson here, just so we can see the victory celebration.
