Tag: UFC fight booking

Demetrious Johnson vs. Ali Bagautinov Headlines *Stacked* UFC 174 Card in Vancouver


(“I’ll see you there, NOBODY!” Photo via Sherdog.)

The baseless cheap shot I just took in that caption aside, I’m actually pretty excited about the UFC’s decision to book a flyweight title fight between Demetrious Johnson and Ali Bagautinov as the main event of UFC 174. As Ariel Helwani noted when breaking the news earlier today, the fight will serve as Johnson’s first time headlining a pay-per-view and should make for another highly-technical, entertaining fight on his resume. Plus, with a maybesortaprobably #1 contender bout between Rory MacDonald and Tyron Woodley serving as the evening’s co-main event, UFC 174 is quickly becoming the most stacked card of the summer, amiright guyz?!!


(Sadly, there is no MMA equivalent of this reaction gif. Yet.)

After leaving his first seven UFC contests in the hands of the judges, “Mighty Mouse” has scored back-back-finishes of John Moraga and Joseph Benavidez via fifth round submission and first round KO, respectively. Bagautinov, on the other hand, has notched three straight victories over someone, someone else, and John Lineker since entering the UFC back in September of 2013.

As for the rest of UFC 174, well, we’ll just let these random Twitter users break it down…


(“I’ll see you there, NOBODY!” Photo via Sherdog.)

The baseless cheap shot I just took in that caption aside, I’m actually pretty excited about the UFC’s decision to book a flyweight title fight between Demetrious Johnson and Ali Bagautinov as the main event of UFC 174. As Ariel Helwani noted when breaking the news earlier today, the fight will serve as Johnson’s first time headlining a pay-per-view and should make for another highly-technical, entertaining fight on his resume. Plus, with a maybesortaprobably #1 contender bout between Rory MacDonald and Tyron Woodley serving as the evening’s co-main event, UFC 174 is quickly becoming the most stacked card of the summer, amiright guyz?!!


(Sadly, there is no MMA equivalent of this reaction gif. Yet.)

After leaving his first seven UFC contests in the hands of the judges, “Mighty Mouse” has scored back-back-finishes of John Moraga and Joseph Benavidez via fifth round submission and first round KO, respectively. Bagautinov, on the other hand, has notched three straight victories over someone, someone else, and John Lineker since entering the UFC back in September of 2013.

As for the rest of UFC 174, well, we’ll just let these random Twitter users break it down…



“If u don’t liek it dont by it dummy!” — Anonymous

Actually, now that I look over the Twitters and Youtubes, it would appear that many people aren’t even sharing my enthusiasm for the main event:

Jeez, a bunch of size-ists in here (although I will agree with Mr. Bowker that UFC 174 will draw shit numbers, you know, because of the main card being garbage-ass and all).

Considering the last two events to take place in Vancouver (UFC 115 and 131) didn’t even feature a title fight, Canadian fans should be more than satisfied with at least one of the (likely) twelve fights transpiring on June 14th. And that’s what the modern era of MMA is about, right? Stringing together just enough mildly intriguing fights to warrant charging less and less fans $50 to watch it?

One more time.

–J. Jones

Chael Sonnen vs. Wanderlei Silva FINALLY Booked For ‘Fight Night’ Event on May 31st. Maybe. Probably.


(“And sometimes, professionals decline the fight altogether because of personal reasons.”)

At this point, you’re probably sick of hearing whether or not Chael Sonnen vs. Wanderlei Silva is actually going to happen. For weeks/possibly months now, the “biggest rivalry in the *history* of MMA” has been booked and shuffled between events, only to be placed on hold due to Silva’s refusal to sign a bout agreement (possibly because he didn’t have his video crew around to angrily vlog about it afterward). Our frustration with Silva has only been matched by Sonnen, who has recently taken to threatening Silva with the release of some incriminating evidence (more incriminating than this?) over Twitter should he not sign the bout agreement by March 31st.

But thank f*cking God, Sonnen vs. Silva is finally a go. Probably. That’s according to MMAFighting, at least, who was the first to pass along word that the TUF Brazil 3 coaches have finally agreed to do battle in Sao Paulo, Brazil on May 31st at an unnumbered “Fight Night” event.

The announcement was made by UFC officials on Sunday night. While there are a few members of the MMA media claiming that Wanderlei has still yet to sign on the dotted line (it wouldn’t be the first time that the UFC has put the cart before the horse if this turned out to be true), the “Fight Night” card is already starting to fill up with supporting fights…


(“And sometimes, professionals decline the fight altogether because of personal reasons.”)

At this point, you’re probably sick of hearing whether or not Chael Sonnen vs. Wanderlei Silva is actually going to happen. For weeks/possibly months now, the “biggest rivalry in the *history* of MMA” has been booked and shuffled between events, only to be placed on hold due to Silva’s refusal to sign a bout agreement (possibly because he didn’t have his video crew around to angrily vlog about it afterward). Our frustration with Silva has only been matched by Sonnen, who has recently taken to threatening Silva with the release of some incriminating evidence (more incriminating than this?) over Twitter should he not sign the bout agreement by March 31st.

But thank f*cking God, Sonnen vs. Silva is finally a go. Probably. That’s according to MMAFighting, at least, who was the first to pass along word that the TUF Brazil 3 coaches have finally agreed to do battle in Sao Paulo, Brazil on May 31st at an unnumbered “Fight Night” event.

The announcement was made by UFC officials on Sunday night. While there are a few members of the MMA media claiming that Wanderlei has still yet to sign on the dotted line (it wouldn’t be the first time that the UFC has put the cart before the horse if this turned out to be true), the “Fight Night” card is already starting to fill up with supporting fights.

Following up on the Silva-Sonnen announcement, UFC officials also announced that a do-or-die welterweight fight between Paulo Thiago and Gasan Umalatov has been booked for the May 31st card as well. CONTAIN YOUR EXCITEMENT.

It pains me to say that Thiago is one of those fighters who has never quite lived up to the hype created by his brilliant UFC debut victory over Josh Koscheck (and subsequent destruction of Mike Swick). The real-life action movie character has dropped five of his past seven contests including a most recent first round submission via strikes to rising prospect Brandon Thatch, and is all but guaranteed a pink slip if he isn’t able to secure a victory over Umalatov. As a big fan of anyone who knocks out Josh Koscheck, I pray that Thiago is able to find his rhythm and stick around the UFC for a couple more years.

Umalatov, on the other hand, also doesn’t have a Wikipedia page. Using the awesome power of the Internet, I was able to discover that the Russian dropped a decision to Neil Magny in his UFC debut at UFC 169. The only question that remains now is whether or not this fight will be granted co-main event status. My vote: A resounding “Yes.”

–J. Jones

Ex-Hockey Enforcer Steve Bosse Signs with the UFC, Faces Ryan Jimmo at TUF Nations Finale

According to multiple reports, notorious former North American Hockey League enforcer turned MMA fighter Steve Bosse has signed with the UFC. The French Canadian knockout artist will debut at TUF Nations Finale (*armpit fart*) on April 16th in Quebec City, Quebec.

Currently 10-1 in professional competition, Bosse is perhaps best known for his standing elbow KO of Houston Alexander at Instinct MMA 1 back in October of 2011. “The Boss” has fought just once since then, scoring a first round TKO via doctor stoppage over Caleb Grummet. We’ve thrown a video of the Alexander finish above, because when Houston Alexander gets knocked out, he does it FOR REAL!!

Standing across the cage from Bosse in his promotional debut will be fellow Canadian (and former CP guest blogger) Ryan Jimmo, who after scorching Anthony Perosh in just 7 seconds in his own UFC debut, has dropped two out of his past three fights to James Te Huna (via UD) and Jimi Manuwa (via mind-bullets). While losses to those two upper-echelon fighters aren’t exactly confidence-crushing, they have to be discouraging to a guy who was riding a 17 fight win streak into the UFC.

Who do you like in this battle of Canadians, Nation?

–J. Jones

According to multiple reports, notorious former North American Hockey League enforcer turned MMA fighter Steve Bosse has signed with the UFC. The French Canadian knockout artist will debut at TUF Nations Finale (*armpit fart*) on April 16th in Quebec City, Quebec.

Currently 10-1 in professional competition, Bosse is perhaps best known for his standing elbow KO of Houston Alexander at Instinct MMA 1 back in October of 2011. “The Boss” has fought just once since then, scoring a first round TKO via doctor stoppage over Caleb Grummet. We’ve thrown a video of the Alexander finish above, because when Houston Alexander gets knocked out, he does it FOR REAL!!

Standing across the cage from Bosse in his promotional debut will be fellow Canadian (and former CP guest blogger) Ryan Jimmo, who after scorching Anthony Perosh in just 7 seconds in his own UFC debut, has dropped two out of his past three fights to James Te Huna (via UD) and Jimi Manuwa (via mind-bullets). While losses to those two upper-echelon fighters aren’t exactly confidence-crushing, they have to be discouraging to a guy who was riding a 17 fight win streak into the UFC.

Who do you like in this battle of Canadians, Nation?

–J. Jones

UFC on Fox 11 Booking Roundup: Thiago Alves Returns, Jordan Mein & Josh Samman Face Little Known Brazilians


(Alves and Martin Kampmann trade fisticuffs during their epic battle at UFC on FX 2. Photo via Getty.) 

After nearly two years away from the game, Thiago Alves finally has his next fight booked. The one-time welterweight title challenger has been out of action since suffering a last-second submission loss to Martin Kampmann in their headlining bout at UFC on FX 2, subsequently pulling out of fights with Siyar Bahadurzada and Matt Brown at UFC 149 and Fight Night: Shogun vs. Sonnen, respectively.

However, it was revealed last month that Alves was finally healthy again and hoping to return at UFC 171 in March. Yesterday, word was passed along that Alves will actually be returning in April when he faces TUF 11 standout Seth Baczynski at UFC on FOX 11.

Baczynski has a had a rough run of things since putting together a six-fight win streak between 2010 and early 2012. “The Polish Pistola” was decisioned by Mike Pierce at UFC on FX 6 before getting KO’d by the now-retired Brian Melancon in the last second of the first round at UFC 162, and only recently returned to the win column with a unanimous decision over Neil Magny at Fight for the Troops 3 last November.

Also booked for UFC on FOX 11…


(Alves and Martin Kampmann trade fisticuffs during their epic battle at UFC on FX 2. Photo via Getty.) 

After nearly two years away from the game, Thiago Alves finally has his next fight booked. The one-time welterweight title challenger has been out of action since suffering a last-second submission loss to Martin Kampmann in their headlining bout at UFC on FX 2, subsequently pulling out of fights with Siyar Bahadurzada and Matt Brown at UFC 149 and Fight Night: Shogun vs. Sonnen, respectively.

However, it was revealed last month that Alves was finally healthy again and hoping to return at UFC 171 in March. Yesterday, word was passed along that Alves will actually be returning in April when he faces TUF 11 standout Seth Baczynski at UFC on FOX 11.

Baczynski has a had a rough run of things since putting together a six-fight win streak between 2010 and early 2012. “The Polish Pistola” was decisioned by Mike Pierce at UFC on FX 6 before getting KO’d by the now-retired Brian Melancon in the last second of the first round at UFC 162, and only recently returned to the win column with a unanimous decision over Neil Magny at Fight for the Troops 3 last November.

Also booked for UFC on FOX 11…

Speaking of hype trains that came to a sudden halt, Jordan “Young Guns” Mein was flying high after becoming the only man to ever stop Dan Miller inside the distance (in the first round, no less) in his promotional debut at UFC 158. Unfortunately, the Strikeforce vet was paired with the beast that is Matt Brown in his next contest and saw his three-fight win streak broken via a hellstorm of elbows. Said Evangelista Santos while watching the fight from his couch, “Good, now he knows how it feels.”

In any case, Mein will also attempt to get back in the win column at UFC on FOX 11 when he faces Santiago “El Rasta” Ponzinibbio, an 18-2 TUF Brazil 2 alum who dropped a decision in his promotional debut against Ryan LaFlare at Fight Night 32. I have no clue who this Ponzinibbio fella is, but he did just remind me of how versatile and excellent ponzu sauce is, so perhaps the beatdown he will inevitably at the hands of Mein will not be completely in vain. Little victories, Nation.

Finally, TUF 17 vet Josh Samman will face Caio Magalhaes on the FOX 11 undercard as well. Please try and contain yourselves.

UFC on FOX 11 goes down on April 19th from the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida.

–J. Jones

Big Country vs. Big Nog Being Considered for UFC’s Return to Abu Dhabi in May


(Looks like that horse skipped leg day. Photo via Nelson’s twitter.)

On the heels of back-to-back losses to Stipe Miocic and Daniel Cormier, Roy “Big Country” Nelson is in need of a big win if he ever wants to be viewed in a more positive light than “a fucking idiot who couldn’t get a job at Kinkos” by his current employer. Just kidding, Dana White will hate Nelson regardless of how he performs in the octagon. In any case, it looks like Nelson’s bid to become the next executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission was about as successful as Mary Carey’s bid to become governor of California, as his next fight is already being lined up.

During last night’s edition of UFC Tonight, Ariel Helwani hinted that a bout between “Big Country” and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (a.k.a “Big Nog”) is being targeted for the UFC’s return to Abu Dhabi in May. Here’s how I know this:

It takes a keen investigative eye to be an MMA journalist, it does.


(Looks like that horse skipped leg day. Photo via Nelson’s twitter.)

On the heels of back-to-back losses to Stipe Miocic and Daniel Cormier, Roy “Big Country” Nelson is in need of a big win if he ever wants to be viewed in a more positive light than “a fucking idiot who couldn’t get a job at Kinkos” by his current employer. Just kidding, Dana White will hate Nelson regardless of how he performs in the octagon. In any case, it looks like Nelson’s bid to become the next executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission was about as successful as Mary Carey’s bid to become governor of California, as his next fight is already being lined up.

During last night’s edition of UFC Tonight, Ariel Helwani hinted that a bout between “Big Country” and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (a.k.a “Big Nog”) is being targeted for the UFC’s return to Abu Dhabi in May. Here’s how I know this:

It takes a keen investigative eye to be an MMA journalist, it does.

Nogueira has also been struggling in the consistency department as of late, coming off a submission loss to Fabricio Werdum at UFC on FUEL 10 and going win-loss since 2008.

This is normally the point in the article where I’d plea for Big Nog to just walk away from the sport, say he has nothing left to prove, curse the MMA gods for allowing this to happen, etc. But you know what, fuck that. If Nogueira wants to continue fighting until he has to eat through a straw, I say we let him. Sure, he’s 37 going on 60, but he’s an MMA legend dammit, and MMA legends are only truly immortalized if they continue to fight well past the twilight of their career. It’s why Ken Shamrock is as universally admired today as he was ten years ago, why Chuck Liddell *still* has that look in his eyes, and who are we to question where greatness ends and depressing, unnecessary punishment begins? NO-GUEI-RA! NO-GUEI-RA!!

–J. Jones

It Looks Like Michael Bisping and Tim Kennedy Might *Finally* Have a Date Set for Their Grudge Match


(Kelsoburn.gif via Kennedy’s twitter.)

For what has felt like years now, middleweight contenders Michael Bisping and Tim Kennedy have been locked in a (revolutionary?) Twitter war, throwing petty and occasionally hilarious insults at one another like the sweet burn seen above. For a while, the dispute held about as much credibility as your average internet argument, as neither man seemed truly willing to sign on the dotted line. With Bisping out nursing an ironic eye injury and Kennedy busy picking off Brazilians like they were members of Al Qaeda, the digital back and forth quickly began to lose steam amongst MMA fans with Twitter accounts and unlimited free time.

Earlier this month, however, Bisping was cleared by his doctor to resume fighting and was immediately offered a bout with Kennedy. Yesterday morning, Fox Sports broke the news that Kennedy and Bisping have finally set a tentative date for their grudge match: April 16th, at the TUF Nations finale (no, I don’t know what the fuck a TUF Nations is either). Kennedy confirmed the matchup via his Twitter, and barring the results of Bisping’s upcoming tests with the UFC’s doctors, this fight is all but a lock. At the risk of sounding jingoistic…(*clears throat*)…USA! USA! USA!!


(Kelsoburn.gif via Kennedy’s twitter.)

For what has felt like years now, middleweight contenders Michael Bisping and Tim Kennedy have been locked in a (revolutionary?) Twitter war, throwing petty and occasionally hilarious insults at one another like the sweet burn seen above. For a while, the dispute held about as much credibility as your average internet argument, as neither man seemed truly willing to sign on the dotted line. With Bisping out nursing an ironic eye injury and Kennedy busy picking off Brazilians like they were members of Al Qaeda, the digital back and forth quickly began to lose steam amongst MMA fans with Twitter accounts and unlimited free time.

Earlier this month, however, Bisping was cleared by his doctor to resume fighting and was immediately offered a bout with Kennedy. Yesterday morning, Fox Sports broke the news that Kennedy and Bisping have finally set a tentative date for their grudge match: April 16th, at the TUF Nations finale (no, I don’t know what the fuck a TUF Nations is either). Kennedy confirmed the matchup via his Twitter, and barring the results of Bisping’s upcoming tests with the UFC’s doctors, this fight is all but a lock. At the risk of sounding jingoistic…(*clears throat*)…USA! USA! USA!!

As previously mentioned, Bisping has been out of action since picking up a technical decision win over Alan Belcher in *their* grudge match at UFC 159. As is typically the case in a Bisping grudge match, the fight featured its fair share of eye pokes, taunts, and probably a loogie or two. Kennedy, on the other hand, recently scored a first round knockout over Rafael Natal at Fight for the Troops 3 back in November, improving his UFC record to 2-0. Natal has yet to confirm or deny whether loogies were hocked during the main event matchup.

Will this be a slugfest for the ages, Nation? Or will Kennedy vs. Bisping suffer the same fate as the last great supposed grudge match, MacDonald vs. Ellenberger, and suck beyond all belief?

–J. Jones