Tag: UFC fight booking

Holly Holm vs. Raquel Pennington Official For UFC 181 on December 6th

(Holm’s most recent performance — a 5th round starching of Julianna Werner at Legacy FC 30)

At long last, Holly Holm‘s UFC debut has been made official, with an opponent and everything! According to a press release sent out by the UFC last night, Holm will in fact be making her promotional debut at UFC 181 on December 6th. As previously reported, it appears that Holm’s potential bout with Russian scrapper Milana Dudieva has been passed over in favor of a bout with TUF 18 semifinalist Raquel Pennington.

Currently 1-1 in the UFC and 4-4 overall, Pennington’s only appearances on the big stage have resulted in an incredibly lackluster decision victory over Roxanne Modafferi at the TUF 18 Finale and a split decision loss to Jessica Andrade at UFC 171. Holm, on the other hand, is 7-0 as a professional with 6 stoppage victories by way of TKO. Expect the odds in this one to be Silva vs. Bonnar-esque.

Said Holm after signing with the UFC:

When I first started doing MMA, people asked me what my goal was in this, and my goal is to be the first female that has titles in both MMA and boxing because nobody’s done that. And it’s totally doable, and that’s my plan.

How do you see this one ending, Potato Nation? A body shot KO victory for Holm, or a head kick KO victory for Holm?

–J. Jones


(Holm’s most recent performance — a 5th round starching of Julianna Werner at Legacy FC 30)

At long last, Holly Holm‘s UFC debut has been made official, with an opponent and everything! According to a press release sent out by the UFC last night, Holm will in fact be making her promotional debut at UFC 181 on December 6th. As previously reported, it appears that Holm’s potential bout with Russian scrapper Milana Dudieva has been passed over in favor of a bout with TUF 18 semifinalist Raquel Pennington.

Currently 1-1 in the UFC and 4-4 overall, Pennington’s only appearances on the big stage have resulted in an incredibly lackluster decision victory over Roxanne Modafferi at the TUF 18 Finale and a split decision loss to Jessica Andrade at UFC 171. Holm, on the other hand, is 7-0 as a professional with 6 stoppage victories by way of TKO. Expect the odds in this one to be Silva vs. Bonnar-esque.

Said Holm after signing with the UFC:

When I first started doing MMA, people asked me what my goal was in this, and my goal is to be the first female that has titles in both MMA and boxing because nobody’s done that. And it’s totally doable, and that’s my plan.

How do you see this one ending, Potato Nation? A body shot KO victory for Holm, or a head kick KO victory for Holm?

–J. Jones

Lyoto Machida vs. CB Dollaway Likely For Fight Night Brazil Card in December


(See? We told you.)

Now here’s some interesting matchmaking.

Following back-to-back KO losses at the hands of Mark Munoz and Jared Hamman in 2011, it looked as if the book was about to close on the UFC career of TUF 7 finalist CB Dollaway. “The Doberman” had provided fans with some memorable highlights — most notably, his peruvian necktie finish of fellow TUF 7 alum Jesse Taylor — but the pair of losses had dropped his promotional record to just above .500, and lets just say that nobody was talking about “CB Dollaway: Future Champion” around the water cooler*.

But then, he was booked against Jason Miller in a “loser leaves town” match for both fighters, and whatever pieces of Mayhem’s soul that Michael Bisping *didn’t* steal, Dollaway did. The win kicked off something of a career revitalization for Launchpad Dollaway, who has notched 4 victories alongside just one defeat in the time since, including an impressive first round KO of TUF Brazil winner Cezar Ferreira and a decision over the highly-touted Francis Carmont.

And now, it looks like Dollaway will be getting the big name he deserves, as UFC Tonight tweeted yesterday that he is being considered for a bout with former light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida. The fight would likely serve as the headliner for the UFC’s return to Brazil in December, on a TBD Fight Night card transpiring on the 20th from the Ginásio José Corrêa in Barueri, Brazil.

Machida, as we all know, last battled Chris Weidman in an uncharacteristically gritty performance at UFC 175 that saw him come up short by way of unanimous decision. While the fight against Weidman has yet to be confirmed, we will keep you updated on this matchup as details are made available.

*Unrelated: Lyoto Machida’s water cooler. 

–J. Jones  


(See? We told you.)

Now here’s some interesting matchmaking.

Following back-to-back KO losses at the hands of Mark Munoz and Jared Hamman in 2011, it looked as if the book was about to close on the UFC career of TUF 7 finalist CB Dollaway. “The Doberman” had provided fans with some memorable highlights — most notably, his peruvian necktie finish of fellow TUF 7 alum Jesse Taylor — but the pair of losses had dropped his promotional record to just above .500, and lets just say that nobody was talking about “CB Dollaway: Future Champion” around the water cooler*.

But then, he was booked against Jason Miller in a “loser leaves town” match for both fighters, and whatever pieces of Mayhem’s soul that Michael Bisping *didn’t* steal, Dollaway did. The win kicked off something of a career revitalization for Launchpad Dollaway, who has notched 4 victories alongside just one defeat in the time since, including an impressive first round KO of TUF Brazil winner Cezar Ferreira and a decision over the highly-touted Francis Carmont.

And now, it looks like Dollaway will be getting the big name he deserves, as UFC Tonight tweeted yesterday that he is being considered for a bout with former light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida. The fight would likely serve as the headliner for the UFC’s return to Brazil in December, on a TBD Fight Night card transpiring on the 20th from the Ginásio José Corrêa in Barueri, Brazil.

Machida, as we all know, last battled Chris Weidman in an uncharacteristically gritty performance at UFC 175 that saw him come up short by way of unanimous decision. While the fight against Weidman has yet to be confirmed, we will keep you updated on this matchup as details are made available.

*Unrelated: Lyoto Machida’s water cooler. 

–J. Jones  

Paige VanZant vs. Kailin Curran Reshuffled to Fight Night Austin, Which Also Gets Joseph Benavidez vs. Dustin Ortiz


(Photo via Getty.)

Although they were originally scheduled to throw down at Fight Night Halifax in October, it appears that the spine injury Paige VanZant recently suffered will in fact delay her long-awaited UFC debut against fellow stunner Kailin Curran.

Instead, “12 Gauge” and “Punkie Bruise-ter” (our tentative nickname for Curran) will now square off at Fight Night 57, which goes down on November 22nd from the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas. This is normally the part of the article where we’d start listing Van Zant and Curran’s relevant/recent wins, but with a *combined* record of 6-1 and their only notable opponent being Tecia Torres (who defeated VanZant via UD at Invicta 4), let’s just skip the formalities, shall we?

Also joining Fight Night 57 will be a flyweight clash between Joseph Benavidez and Dustin Ortiz. After being KO’d by Demetrious Johnson in their rematch at UFC on FOX 9, Benavidez bounced back in style at UFC 172, submitting Tim Elliott with a guillotine so vicious that it forced him to tap with his feet. Ortiz, on the other hand, has made it two in a row since being outworked by John Moraga at Fight Night 35, notching split decisions over Ray Borg and highly-touted prospect Justin Scoggins in back-to-back appearances.

After the jump: Kailin Curran kicks the shit out of two interns on The Jason Ellis show. You know, for science.


(Photo via Getty.)

Although they were originally scheduled to throw down at Fight Night Halifax in October, it appears that the spine injury Paige VanZant recently suffered will in fact delay her long-awaited UFC debut against fellow stunner Kailin Curran.

Instead, “12 Gauge” and “Punkie Bruise-ter” (our tentative nickname for Curran) will now square off at Fight Night 57, which goes down on November 22nd from the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas. This is normally the part of the article where we’d start listing Van Zant and Curran’s relevant/recent wins, but with a *combined* record of 6-1 and their only notable opponent being Tecia Torres (who defeated VanZant via UD at Invicta 4), let’s just skip the formalities, shall we?

Also joining Fight Night 57 will be a flyweight clash between Joseph Benavidez and Dustin Ortiz. After being KO’d by Demetrious Johnson in their rematch at UFC on FOX 9, Benavidez bounced back in style at UFC 172, submitting Tim Elliott with a guillotine so vicious that it forced him to tap with his feet. Ortiz, on the other hand, has made it two in a row since being outworked by John Moraga at Fight Night 35, notching split decisions over Ray Borg and highly-touted prospect Justin Scoggins in back-to-back appearances.

In semi-related news, here’s Kailin Curran kicking the shit out of two interns on The Jason Ellis show. You know, for science.

Jim Norton would be proud.

–J. Jones

Tim Kennedy vs. Yoel Romero Booked for UFC 178 Co-Main Event


(Still not as scary as this photo. via Kennedy’s Instagram.)

A battle between top middleweights Tim Kennedy and Yoel Romero has just been added to UFC 178: Jones vs. Gustafsson II in the co-main event slot, which must mean that it is only a matter of time before an injury moves it into the *main* event slot. Regardless, the active duty Army Ranger and the Cuban powerhouse have been booked for a fight that could earn the winner a shot at middleweight champion Chris Weidman. “Middleweight champion Chris Weidman.” Still feels kind of weird to write that.

Kennedy is on the heels of a dominant, if less-than-thrilling victory over Michael Bisping at the TUF Nations Finale, which saw him completely neutralize the Brit with his takedown-oriented offense and ground-n-pound. Methinks Kennedy will have a tougher time doing the same against Romero, a hulking middleweight and Olympic silver medalist in freestyle wrestling who, like Kennedy, will be riding a four fight win streak into their matchup at UFC 178.

Following vicious KO wins over Clifford Starks, Ronny Markes, and Derek Brunson in his first three UFC appearances, Romero most recently bested TUF 11 alum Brad Tavares via unanimous decision at UFC on FOX 11 back in April.

Predictions, please.

–J. Jones


(Still not as scary as this photo. via Kennedy’s Instagram.)

A battle between top middleweights Tim Kennedy and Yoel Romero has just been added to UFC 178: Jones vs. Gustafsson II in the co-main event slot, which must mean that it is only a matter of time before an injury moves it into the *main* event slot. Regardless, the active duty Army Ranger and the Cuban powerhouse have been booked for a fight that could earn the winner a shot at middleweight champion Chris Weidman. “Middleweight champion Chris Weidman.” Still feels kind of weird to write that.

Kennedy is on the heels of a dominant, if less-than-thrilling victory over Michael Bisping at the TUF Nations Finale, which saw him completely neutralize the Brit with his takedown-oriented offense and ground-n-pound. Methinks Kennedy will have a tougher time doing the same against Romero, a hulking middleweight and Olympic silver medalist in freestyle wrestling who, like Kennedy, will be riding a four fight win streak into their matchup at UFC 178.

Following vicious KO wins over Clifford Starks, Ronny Markes, and Derek Brunson in his first three UFC appearances, Romero most recently bested TUF 11 alum Brad Tavares via unanimous decision at UFC on FOX 11 back in April.

Predictions, please.

–J. Jones

Booking Roundup: Gegard Mousasi to Rematch “Jacare” Souza at UFC 176, Ben Henderson Gets Rafael Dos Anjos + More

(Mousasi vs. Souza 1, Dream 6 Middleweight Grand Prix Finals, 2008) 

Fresh off an absolute tooling of Mark Munoz in their headlining bout at Fight Night 41, it has been announced that Gegard Mousasi will once again face fellow top contender Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza. The matchup will serve as the co-main event of UFC 176: Aldo vs. Mendes II on August 2nd, which should come as a sigh of relief to Los Angeles-based MMA fans who had purchased tickets to the event only to find that Bethe Correia vs. Shayna Baszler had previously held that distinction.

Souza, on the other hand, recently picked up his third straight UFC win (and sixth in a row overall) over Francis Carmont at Fight Night 36. We highly doubt he’ll be lacking motivation heading into his rematch with Mousasi, who ended his night with an upkick KO when they previously met in the Dream middleweight finals back in 2008. Ah, Dream, how we have forgotten you so.

But Mousasi vs. Souza II isn’t the only big fight to be booked today, not by a long shot…


(Mousasi vs. Souza 1, Dream 6 Middleweight Grand Prix Finals, 2008) 

Fresh off an absolute tooling of Mark Munoz in their headlining bout at Fight Night 41, it has been announced that Gegard Mousasi will once again face fellow top contender Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza. The matchup will serve as the co-main event of UFC 176: Aldo vs. Mendes II on August 2nd, which should come as a sigh of relief to Los Angeles-based MMA fans who had purchased tickets to the event only to find that Bethe Correia vs. Shayna Baszler had previously held that distinction.

Souza, on the other hand, recently picked up his third straight UFC win (and sixth in a row overall) over Francis Carmont at Fight Night 36. We highly doubt he’ll be lacking motivation heading into his rematch with Mousasi, who ended his night with an upkick KO when they previously met in the Dream middleweight finals back in 2008. Ah, Dream, how we have forgotten you so.

But Mousasi vs. Souza II isn’t the only big fight to be booked today, not by a long shot…

According to BloodyElbow, Fight Night 42 victors Ben Henderson and Rafael Dos Anjos have also agreed to meet in the main event of Fight Night Tulsa, which will be transpiring on August 23rd, a.k.a the same day as Fight Night: Bisping vs. Le in Macau. Way to optimize viewership, UFC!

As I mentioned, both Henderson and Dos Anjos picked up stoppage wins at Fight Night 42, the former by 4th round submission over Rustam Khabilov and the latter by second round TKO of the now-fired Jason High. The fight will serve as both Dos Anjos’ first main event and first five round contest, which is quite an accomplishment for a guy best known as the victim of Jeremy Stephens’ uppercut from Hell for a large part of his UFC career.

Another pivotal lightweight matchup announced earlier today is that of Joe Lauzon vs. Michael Chiesa. Things have been up-and-down for Lauzon both professionally and personally as of late; the TUF 5 alum bounced back from the first two fight skid of his career to trounce Mac Danzig at UFC on FOX 9 and recently saw his newborn son diagnosed with cancer only to kick its ass at just two months of age. Take *that* cancer, ya dick!

I guess I should mention that Chiesa has scored back-to-back wins over Colton Smith and Francisco Trinaldo at Fight for the Troops 3 and UFC 173, respectively. So there’s that.

Finally, a light heavyweight contest between Ryan Bader and Ovince St. Preux as the main event of a Fight Night event in Bangor, Maine on August 16th. The announcement was made by Bader himself on Twitter just moments ago. Similar to the Henderson/Dos Anjos booking, both Bader and OSP picked up decisive victories at UFC 174 last weekend over Rafael Cavalcante and Ryan Jimmo, respectively, and all but agreed to fight one another when some media mark tried to play matchmaker in the evening’s post-fight press conference. Hooray for that guy!

My prediction: OethhP by Submithhion. (I’m sorry, that was a low blow.)

–J. Jones

Dan Henderson vs. Daniel Cormier Officially Booked as UFC 173 Co-Main Event in May


(Cormier opens a can of whoop ass on Phil Cumens…er…Paul Cummings…let’s just call him “Pete” at UFC 170. Photo via Getty.)

Although the fight was originally being targeted for UFC 175 on 4th of July weekend, Dana White broke the news on Sportscenter earlier today that the light heavyweight #1ish contender match between Daniel Cormier and Dan Henderson has officially been booked as the co-main event of UFC 173: Weidman vs. Belfort vs. Machida Barao vs. Dillashaw, which transpires on May 24th from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

The fight will serve as a quick turnaround for Henderson, who was getting his ass handed to him by Mauricio Rua at Fight Night 38 in March before scoring a miracle comeback KO via H-Bomb in the third round of their hotly-anticipated rematch. Cormier, on the other hand, barely broke a sweat in his last fight: a 79-second TKO over Pete Cumpins…Pat Culmings (damn it, so close!) at UFC 170.

Recovery advantage: Cormier. Age, speed, size, and strength advantage: Also Cormier. “You darn kids quit skateboarding on the sidewalks!” advantage: Hendo. Call me crazy, but I’m liking Hendo here.

The full UFC 173 lineup is after the jump.


(Cormier opens a can of whoop ass on Phil Cumens…er…Paul Cummings…let’s just call him “Pete” at UFC 170. Photo via Getty.)

Although the fight was originally being targeted for UFC 175 on 4th of July weekend, Dana White broke the news on Sportscenter earlier today that the light heavyweight #1ish contender match between Daniel Cormier and Dan Henderson has officially been booked as the co-main event of UFC 173: Weidman vs. Belfort vs. Machida Barao vs. Dillashaw, which transpires on May 24th from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

The fight will serve as a quick turnaround for Henderson, who was getting his ass handed to him by Mauricio Rua at Fight Night 38 in March before scoring a miracle comeback KO via H-Bomb in the third round of their hotly-anticipated rematch. Cormier, on the other hand, barely broke a sweat in his last fight: a 79-second TKO over Pete Cumpins…Pat Culmings (damn it, so close!) at UFC 170.

Recovery advantage: Cormier. Age, speed, size, and strength advantage: Also Cormier. “You darn kids quit skateboarding on the sidewalks!” advantage: Hendo. Call me crazy, but I’m liking Hendo here.

The full UFC 173 lineup is after the jump.

MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)
Champ Renan Barao vs. T.J. Dillashaw – for UFC bantamweight title
Daniel Cormier vs. Dan Henderson
Jake Ellenberger vs. Robbie Lawler
Takeya Mizugaki vs. Francisco Rivera
James Krause vs. Jamie Varner

PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX Sports 1, 8 p.m. ET)
Michael Chiesa vs. Francisco Trinaldo
Tony Ferguson vs. Katsunori Kikuno
Chico Camus vs. Chris Holdsworth
Mitch Clarke vs. Al Iaquinta

PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass, 6:30 p.m. ET)
Anthony Njokuani vs. Vinc Pichel
Doo Ho Choi vs. Sam Sicilia
Jingliang Li vs. Danny Mitchell

–J. Jones