Tag: UFC fight booking

Diego Sanchez to Absorb the Lifeforce of Poor, Poor Myles Jury at UFC 171


(Hey guys, you forgot to write “In Memoriam” at the top. Photo via Jury’s official website.)

Myles Jury might be one of the most talented up-and-coming prospects in the UFC that I couldn’t pick out of a lineup if a police officer was holding a gun to my mother’s head. I don’t how or why that situation could arise, I’m just saying. The TUF 15 alum is currently 4-0 in the UFC with wins over fellow TUFers Michael Johnson, Mike Ricci, and Ramsey Nijem, but since he’s been stuck in FX/FS1 prelim hell for those fights, his accomplishments have gone largely unnoticed by the general public.

Well that’s all about to change, because it appears that Jury has been selected to be cleansed by the holy flame of Diego Sanchez’s vengeful God, as tribute, at UFC 171.

It’s a classic matchup of undefeated vs. mentally unstable undefeatable.


(Hey guys, you forgot to write “In Memoriam” at the top. Photo via Jury’s official website.)

Myles Jury might be one of the most talented up-and-coming prospects in the UFC that I couldn’t pick out of a lineup if a police officer was holding a gun to my mother’s head. I don’t how or why that situation could arise, I’m just saying. The TUF 15 alum is currently 4-0 in the UFC with wins over fellow TUFers Michael Johnson, Mike Ricci, and Ramsey Nijem, but since he’s been stuck in FX/FS1 prelim hell for those fights, his accomplishments have gone largely unnoticed by the general public.

Well that’s all about to change, because it appears that Jury has been selected to be cleansed by the holy flame of Diego Sanchez’s vengeful God, as tribute, at UFC 171.

It’s a classic matchup of undefeated vs. mentally unstable undefeatable.

Since dropping back to lightweight, Sanchez has gone 1-1, scoring a controversial split decision win over Takanori Gomi at UFC 161 before being upended by Gilbert Melendez at UFC 166 in a “Fight of the Year” contender. I say “contender,” because PRIDE. Sanchez also recently reupped with the organization and will likely continue putting on three-round wars until he is forced to be carted into the octagon, at which point he will still manage to stay above .500 on sheer willpower alone.

Seriously, I feel kind of bad for Myles here. He finally receives a shot in the real big time, and it comes at the cost of facing this fucking guy. It’d be like asking your boss for a raise in front of your entire office while naked and being pelted with cow pies. Diego Sanchez is Richard Simmons’ spirit animal. When monkeys are injected with RAGE-virus, they see Diego Sanchez, which is why I find it all the more brash that Conor McGregor has recently taken to mocking Sanchez on Twitter. It’s almost as if he isn’t aware that Sanchez has likely already purchased the plans to his home and begun installing Rube Goldbergian death traps in it while McGregor is sleeping.

You just don’t fuck with that kind of crazy, and I can only hope that Jury comes out of this alive. He seems like a nice kid with a very full life ahead of him. Even if that’s not the case, he’s simply too young to be trapped in a dry well with Greenskeepers playing on loop for the rest of his life.

–J. Jones

Jake Shields (Zzzz) vs. Hector Lombard (!!) Added to UFC 171


(“For the last time, I’m not Charlie Brenneman and I don’t have any weed for sale.”)

This morning, the UFC announced (via ESPN.com) that a welterweight contest between former title challenger Jake Shields and former Bellator middleweight champion Hector Lombard has been booked for UFC 171: Jones vs. Teixeira. While we assumed that this matchup was just Dana White’s way of further punishing anyone and anything related to Bellator, it turns out that “Lightning” actually requested the matchup because, like the rest of us, he finds Shield’s style somewhat underwhelming:

I think he’s been so boring and me always trying for the KO, it’s going to be exciting. He’ll make it boring, or I’m going to end up knocking him out. It’s going to be one or another. 

You’d think that Lombard would have already learned his lesson about calling out “boring” fighters after he fought the Jake Shields of the UFC’s middleweight division and came up short, but it appears otherwise. Let’s hope Lombard can bring the same kind of ferocity against Shields as he brought against Nate Marquardt or we’re gonna be in for a long night, folks.


(“For the last time, I’m not Charlie Brenneman and I don’t have any weed for sale.”)

This morning, the UFC announced (via ESPN.com) that a welterweight contest between former title challenger Jake Shields and former Bellator middleweight champion Hector Lombard has been booked for UFC 171: Jones vs. Teixeira. While we assumed that this matchup was just Dana White’s way of further punishing anyone and anything related to Bellator, it turns out that “Lightning” actually requested the matchup because, like the rest of us, he finds Shield’s style somewhat underwhelming:

I think he’s been so boring and me always trying for the KO, it’s going to be exciting. He’ll make it boring, or I’m going to end up knocking him out. It’s going to be one or another. 

You’d think that Lombard would have already learned his lesson about calling out “boring” fighters after he fought the Jake Shields of the UFC’s middleweight division and came up short, but it appears otherwise. Let’s hope Lombard can bring the same kind of ferocity against Shields as he brought against Nate Marquardt or we’re gonna be in for a long night, folks.

Currently 3-0 1 NC in his past 4, Shields is apparently coming off a unanimous decision win over Demian Maia at Fight Night 29. I say “apparently” because I have no recollection of this fight happening and neither do any of you, right? Come to think of it, I have no recollection of Shields ever fighting Tyron Woodley or Ed Herman for that matter…

…if you guys will excuse me, I’ve got some investigating to do regarding this so-called fighter name “Jake Shields.”

–J. Jones

Barnburner Alert: Rafael Dos Anjos vs. Rustam Khabilov Booked for UFC 170 in February


(When Keeping it Real Sarcastically Slow-Clapping Goes Wrong. Photo via Getty.)

After his promotional debut at UFC 91 ended in the most hellacious uppercut KO defeat of all time, it was generally assumed that Rafael Dos Anjos would retire from MMA and spend the rest of his life feeding bread crumbs to pigeons on a park bench while sipping broccoli puree through a straw. But lo, Dos Anjos would rise from the proverbial ashes two fights later, picking up a decision win over Rob Emerson at UFC 103. In the time since, he has been lawn-chairing motherfuckers left and right, compiling an astounding 8-2 record including a dominant decision win over Donald Cerrone at Fight Night 27 back in August.

While many of us expected Dos Anjos — who is currently riding a 5-fight win streak in the UFC’s most stacked division — to receive a top 10 opponent in his next bout, Fox Sports is reporting that Dos Anjos and Russian suplex machine Rustam Khabilov have verbally agreed to meet at UFC 170: Scratch That on February 22nd.

Khabilov exploded onto the scene back in December of 2012, suplexing the ever-loving shit out of Vinc Pichel at the TUF 16 Finale. “Tiger” followed the victory with a first round TKO via takedown-induced thumb injury over Yancy Medeiros (YAAAANCY!!) at UFC 159 and most recently outgunned former Strikeforce title challenger Jorge Masvidal in a FOTN affair at Fight for the Troops 3.

A sure to be barnburner if there ever was one, Taters. Who do you like?

–J. Jones


(When Keeping it Real Sarcastically Slow-Clapping Goes Wrong. Photo via Getty.)

After his promotional debut at UFC 91 ended in the most hellacious uppercut KO defeat of all time, it was generally assumed that Rafael Dos Anjos would retire from MMA and spend the rest of his life feeding bread crumbs to pigeons on a park bench while sipping broccoli puree through a straw. But lo, Dos Anjos would rise from the proverbial ashes two fights later, picking up a decision win over Rob Emerson at UFC 103. In the time since, he has been lawn-chairing motherfuckers left and right, compiling an astounding 8-2 record including a dominant decision win over Donald Cerrone at Fight Night 27 back in August.

While many of us expected Dos Anjos — who is currently riding a 5-fight win streak in the UFC’s most stacked division — to receive a top 10 opponent in his next bout, Fox Sports is reporting that Dos Anjos and Russian suplex machine Rustam Khabilov have verbally agreed to meet at UFC 170: Scratch That on February 22nd.

Khabilov exploded onto the scene back in December of 2012, suplexing the ever-loving shit out of Vinc Pichel at the TUF 16 Finale. “Tiger” followed the victory with a first round TKO via takedown-induced thumb injury over Yancy Medeiros (YAAAANCY!!) at UFC 159 and most recently outgunned former Strikeforce title challenger Jorge Masvidal in a FOTN affair at Fight for the Troops 3.

A sure to be barnburner if there ever was one, Taters. Who do you like?

–J. Jones

Booking Roundup: Gonzaga vs. Miocic at UFC on FOX 10, Thiago Silva vs. OSP at Fight Night 35


(Tanksgiving, you are a good. Photo via r/MMA)

While Robbie Lawler‘s career resurgence has been the talk of the town lately, there’s been a certain Peking man quietly racking up wins in the heavyweight division in equally impressive, not to mention violent, fashion. His name is Gabriel Gonzaga, and after being released from the UFC/semi-retiring (the latter of which is all the rage these days) back in 2010, “Napao” has strung together five wins (all finishes) alongside just one loss, with four of those wins coming in the UFC.

On the heels of a first round dismantling of Shawn Jordan at UFC 166, it seems that the 2006 Mundials champion will be receiving a significant step up in competition for his next bout when he faces Stipe Miocic at UFC on FOX 10 in January. Miocic recently rebounded from his first career loss — a second round TKO at the hands of Stefan Struve — by treating Roy Nelson‘s face like Jenna Jameson treats secretly installed home security cameras at UFC 161 back in June. Gonzaga has struggled when facing the upper-echelon of the heavyweight division his entire career, so this fight may very well be make-or-break if he ever hopes to fight for a title again.

UFC on FOX 10 goes down from the at United Center in Chicago, Ill., on Jan. 25.

In other fight booking news…


(Tanksgiving, you are a good. Photo via r/MMA)

While Robbie Lawler‘s career resurgence has been the talk of the town lately, there’s been a certain Peking man quietly racking up wins in the heavyweight division in equally impressive, not to mention violent, fashion. His name is Gabriel Gonzaga, and after being released from the UFC/semi-retiring (the latter of which is all the rage these days) back in 2010, “Napao” has strung together five wins (all finishes) alongside just one loss, with four of those wins coming in the UFC.

On the heels of a first round dismantling of Shawn Jordan at UFC 166, it seems that the 2006 Mundials champion will be receiving a significant step up in competition for his next bout when he faces Stipe Miocic at UFC on FOX 10 in January. Miocic recently rebounded from his first career loss — a second round TKO at the hands of Stefan Struve — by treating Roy Nelson‘s face like Jenna Jameson treats secretly installed home security cameras at UFC 161 back in June. Gonzaga has struggled when facing the upper-echelon of the heavyweight division his entire career, so this fight may very well be make-or-break if he ever hopes to fight for a title again.

UFC on FOX 10 goes down from the at United Center in Chicago, Ill., on Jan. 25.

In other fight booking news…

Less than a fortnight prior to Gonzaga and Miocic’s sure-to-be-slugfest, the seemingly unfirable Thiago Silva will square off with Ovince St. Preux at Fight Night 35, which transpires on January 15, 2014 from the Gwinnett Center in Duluth, Georgia.

Despite missing weight for his fight with Matt Hamill at Fight Night 29, putting on a piss-poor performance, and only defeating Hamill by virtue of the TUF 3 finalist being in even worse shape than he was before he retired, Silva is still tapdancing on eggshells in regards to his UFC career. That he’s receiving a top-15 opponent in St. Preux — who scored a vicious KO over Cody Donovan at Fight Night: Shogun vs. Sonnen in August (improving his overall UFC record to 2-0) — leads us to believe that this the UFC’s way of telling Silva to finally pull his head out of his ass.

The numbers suggest that neither of these fights will go the distance and history suggests that Silva will definitely fail his post-fight drug test, so does anyone care to make a prediction for these fights, Nation?

–J. Jones

Tim Kennedy to Face the Only UFC Fighter He *Didn’t* Call Out Rafael Natal at ‘Fight For the Troops 3?

Matthew 7:7 states, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” The MMA career of Tim Kennedy, however, states, “Ask and all will be taken away from you and maybe replaced with something inferior.” Indeed, the extent to which Kennedy has been continuously screwed out of opportunities to fight upper level opponents is nothing short of bewildering. If it wasn’t his active military status nullifying his ability to secure a fight, it was Strikeforce’s inept matchmaking department or all the scared little bitches that made up their middleweight roster. And even when Kennedy was able to book a fight, his opponents were usually traded in and out like sex slaves at an Albanian brothel.

Most recently, Kennedy was finally given a shot at the big time when he was booked to welcome Lyoto Machida to the middleweight division in the main event of Fight For the Troops 3. That was until Michael Bisping injured his eye and was replaced by Machida against Mark Munoz. So what did Kennedy do in response? Call out every fighter in the middleweight division, the light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions, the women’s division, and various members of the MMA media via Twitter, of course.

Fortunately for Kennedy, the UFC was finally able to meet his “terrorist demands” and book him an opponent for the November card. Unfortunately for Kennedy, it’s the only guy he neglected call out on Twitter  (Ed note: Nevermind, turns out he called out Natal as well). Kennedy will now face Rafael “Sapo” Natal in what has to be the least intriguing main event matchup since Arlovski vs. Eilers at UFC 53. Hip hip hooray?

Matthew 7:7 states, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” The MMA career of Tim Kennedy, however, states, “Ask and all will be taken away from you and maybe replaced with something inferior.” Indeed, the extent to which Kennedy has been continuously screwed out of opportunities to fight upper level opponents is nothing short of bewildering. If it wasn’t his active military status nullifying his ability to secure a fight, it was Strikeforce’s inept matchmaking department or all the scared little bitches that made up their middleweight roster. And even when Kennedy was able to book a fight, his opponents were usually traded in and out like sex slaves at an Albanian brothel.

Most recently, Kennedy was finally given a shot at the big time when he was booked to welcome Lyoto Machida to the middleweight division in the main event of Fight For the Troops 3. That was until Michael Bisping injured his eye and was replaced by Machida against Mark Munoz. So what did Kennedy do in response? Call out every fighter in the middleweight division, the light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions, the women’s division, and various members of the MMA media via Twitter, of course.

Fortunately for Kennedy, the UFC was finally able to meet his “terrorist demands” and book him an opponent for the November card. Unfortunately for Kennedy, it’s the only guy he neglected call out on Twitter  (Ed note: Nevermind, turns out he called out Natal as well). Kennedy will now face Rafael “Sapo” Natal in what has to be the least intriguing main event matchup since Arlovski vs. Eilers at UFC 53. Hip hip hooray?

To be fair, Natal is currently riding a three-fight win streak including a Fight of the Night-earning defeat of Tor Troeng in an absolute slugfest at Fight Night: Teixeira vs. Bader, so maybe this fight won’t be as terrible as we initially thought. To be completely unfair, Natal is a guy who couldn’t be picked out of a random lineup of Brazilian fighters by most casual MMA fans. We’ll give him credit for stepping up, though.

Kennedy, on the other hand, is coming off a tepid unanimous decision victory over Roger Gracie at UFC 162 in his promotional debut. If he’s hoping to book a big name (or any name, really) in the near future, one would think that he will be looking to finish his short-notice opponent impressively come November 6th.

Who you like for this one, Potato Nation?

–J. Jones

TUF Winners Kelvin Gastelum and Court McGee Collide at UFC on FOX 9 in December


(Gastelum celebrates after beating the brakes off Brian Melancon at Fight Night 27. Photo via Getty Images) 

Earlier today, UFC officials announced that TUF winners Kelvin Gastelum (season 17) and Court McGee (season 11) have been booked to face one another at UFC on FOX 9: Pettis vs. Thomson. Featuring a pair of guaranteed barnburners in Carlos Condit vs. Matt Brown and Ian McCall vs. Scott Jorgensen, as well as Joe Lauzon vs. Mac Danzig and Chad Mendes vs. Nik Lentz, UFC on FOX 9 transpires at the Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento on December 14th.

The matchup is the latest in the long history of TUF winners fighting one another — the inaugural fight being Rashad Evans and Michael Bisping‘s headlining scrap at UFC 78: Validation. Did you forget about that fight? Because you are not alone, brother. Another fun fact: Of the 8 fights to take place between The Ultimate Fighter winners, just three of those fights have ended inside the distance (Danzig KO’d Joe Stevenson at UFC 124, Evans KO’d Griffin at UFC 92 and Robert Whittaker TKO’d Colton Smith at UFC 160).

What does this all mean? That McGee vs. Gastelum will likely go the distance. Unless Gastelum comes out like he did against Brian Melancon, in which case McGee is a dead man. Again.

Also recently booked for UFC on FOX 9…


(Gastelum celebrates after beating the brakes off Brian Melancon at Fight Night 27. Photo via Getty Images) 

Earlier today, UFC officials announced that TUF winners Kelvin Gastelum (season 17) and Court McGee (season 11) have been booked to face one another at UFC on FOX 9: Pettis vs. Thomson. Featuring a pair of guaranteed barnburners in Carlos Condit vs. Matt Brown and Ian McCall vs. Scott Jorgensen, as well as Joe Lauzon vs. Mac Danzig and Chad Mendes vs. Nik Lentz, UFC on FOX 9 transpires at the Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento on December 14th.

The matchup is the latest in the long history of TUF winners fighting one another — the inaugural fight being Rashad Evans and Michael Bisping‘s headlining scrap at UFC 78: Validation. Did you forget about that fight? Because you are not alone, brother. Another fun fact: Of the 8 fights to take place between The Ultimate Fighter winners, just three of those fights have ended inside the distance (Danzig KO’d Joe Stevenson at UFC 124, Evans KO’d Griffin at UFC 92 and Robert Whittaker TKO’d Colton Smith at UFC 160).

What does this all mean? That McGee vs. Gastelum will likely go the distance. Unless Gastelum comes out like he did against Brian Melancon, in which case McGee is a dead man. Again.

Also recently booked for UFC on FOX 9…

Edson Barboza, the man who secretly underwent a procedure to have his original legs replaced by metal ones back in 2006 (it was a risky operation, but totally worth it), will face Danny Castillo in a classic striker vs. grappler match up. Since seeing his unblemished record tarnished by Jamie Varner at UFC 146, Barboza has scored back-to-back stoppage victories over Lucas Martins (submission due to strikes*) and Rafaello Oliveira (leg kicks of Death).

Castillo is also riding a two-fight win streak at the moment, having collected a pair of upset decision victories over Paul Sass and Tim Means at UFC on FUEL 7 and UFC on FOX 8, respectively. Methinks Castillo’s strategy of holding a motherfucker down and pitter-pattering the piss out of him will once again be on full display here. Unless Barboza can stop the takedown, in which case Castillo is a dead man.

*For some reason, Sherdog currently lists Barboza’s win over Martins as coming via TKO (retirement). You can watch a video of the fight here, but Martins clearly taps to strikes, in any case. 

–J. Jones