(Word has it that Torres attempted to lure Bowles’ sister into his “surprise van” after the weigh-ins. Big mistake, bro. Photo courtesy of ESPN.)
We’re pretty convinced the real Brian Bowles died in 2011. Following his submission loss to Urijah Faber at UFC 139, Bowles vanished from the MMA scene without a trace and no one seems to know why. Go ahead, try and find a Brian Bowles interview, injury update, photo, credit card receipt, Twitter update or Facebook wall post dated to 2012. You will not. Brian Bowles was as much alive in 2012 as Caylee Anthony.
But unlike the subject of that distasteful and completely unnecessary comparison, it seems Brian Bowles has been given a second chance at life. That, or the Mangalor that is wearing his face has decided to give this MMA thing a try. In either case, Bowles has been booked against fellow WEC vet George Roop at UFC 160, which transpires on May 25th in Las Vegas.
Roop didn’t have a much better 2012 than Bowles, suffering a mouthpiece-ejecting KO to Cub Swanson in his only octagon appearance. This year has already proved more successful for the TUF 8 alum, who was able to outpoint Reuben Duran at UFC 158. Although if history is any indication, Roop’s 2013 is about to get a lot worse.
Also booked for UFC 160…
(Word has it that Torres attempted to lure Bowles’ sister into his “surprise van” after the weigh-ins. Big mistake, bro. Photo courtesy of ESPN.)
We’re pretty convinced the real Brian Bowles died in 2011. Following his submission loss to Urijah Faber at UFC 139, Bowles vanished from the MMA scene without a trace and no one seems to know why. Go ahead, try and find a Brian Bowles interview, injury update, photo, credit card receipt, Twitter update or Facebook wall post dated to 2012. You will not. Brian Bowles was as much alive in 2012 as Caylee Anthony.
But unlike the subject of that distasteful and completely unnecessary comparison, it seems Brian Bowles has been given a second chance at life. That, or the Mangalor that is wearing his face has decided to give this MMA thing a try. In either case, Bowles has been booked against fellow WEC vet George Roop at UFC 160, which transpires on May 25th in Las Vegas.
Roop didn’t have a much better 2012 than Bowles, suffering a mouthpiece-ejecting KO to Cub Swanson in his only octagon appearance. This year has already proved more successful for the TUF 8 alum, who was able to outpoint Reuben Duran at UFC 158. Although if history is any indication, Roop’s 2013 is about to get a lot worse.
Also booked for UFC 160…
From the bantamweight division to the featherweight, a matchup between streaking contenders Dennis Bermudez and Max Holloway is set for the May 25th-scheduled event as well. Since suffering from a last second, come-from-behind armbar defeat to Diego Brandao for the TUF 14 featherweight plaque in December of 2011, “The Menace” has put together a solid three fight win streak. Although Bermudez will find himself at a four inch reach disadvantage, he showed in his routing of Pablo Garza that he will not let it be it a deciding factor in a fight. On the heels of an epic slugfest with Matt Grice, expect this brawl to end up with at least one end of the night award.
(Using so-phisticated technology, Jurassic Park scientists were able to extract the preserved blood from Munoz’s bone spurs and BINGO! Dino DNA. Photo via Munoz’s Twitter.)
Fact: Chris Weidman hits so hard that his victims often fail to quantify the force of his punches until weeks and sometimes months after they’ve been hit. Just ask middleweight contender Mark Munoz, who received such a vicious beating at the hands of Weidman last July that his bones began to disintegrate over the course of the year in an attempt to deal with the shock. Hell, even Weidman’s body cracked under the pressure of possessing two pipe bombs for hands. So it’s quite fitting that, almost a year to the day after their clash at UFC on FUEL 4, both Weidman and Munoz have been booked to return to action at UFC 162.
If you recall, Weidman’s teammate, Costa Phillipou, quickly stepped in as a replacement against Boetsch at UFC 155 and managed to successfully cut “The Barbarian’s” title hopes right out from under him with a series of eye pokes and headbutts that were eventually declared a third round TKO. Prior to the loss, Boetsch had racked up 4 straight wins in the middleweight division over the likes of Hector Lombard and Yushin Okami among others. Will ring rust play a factor in Munoz’s return to the octagon, or will Boetsch launch himself right back into the short list of contenders at middleweight with a win here?
Munoz vs. Boetsch is just one of several exciting matchups to be announced within the past few hours, so join us after the jump to check out the chronologically-sorted list.
(Using so-phisticated technology, Jurassic Park scientists were able to extract the preserved blood from Munoz’s bone spurs and BINGO! Dino DNA. Photo via Munoz’s Twitter.)
Fact: Chris Weidman hits so hard that his victims often fail to quantify the force of his punches until weeks and sometimes months after they’ve been hit. Just ask middleweight contender Mark Munoz, who received such a vicious beating at the hands of Weidman last July that his bones began to disintegrate over the course of the year in an attempt to deal with the shock. Hell, even Weidman’s body cracked under the pressure of possessing two pipe bombs for hands. So it’s quite fitting that, almost a year to the day after their clash at UFC on FUEL 4, both Weidman and Munoz have been booked to return to action at UFC 162.
If you recall, Weidman’s teammate, Costa Phillipou, quickly stepped in as a replacement against Boetsch at UFC 155 and managed to successfully cut “The Barbarian’s” title hopes right out from under him with a series of eye pokes and headbutts that were eventually declared a third round TKO. Prior to the loss, Boetsch had racked up 4 straight wins in the middleweight division over the likes of Hector Lombard and Yushin Okami among others. Will ring rust play a factor in Munoz’s return to the octagon, or will Boetsch launch himself right back into the short list of contenders at middleweight with a win here?
Munoz vs. Boetsch is just one of several exciting matchups to be announced within the past few hours, so join us after the jump to check out the chronologically-sorted list.
UFC on FOX 7 – April 20th
Joseph Benavidez vs. Darren Uyenoyama: The former flyweight title challenger in Benavidez is on the heels of a unanimous decision victory over Ian McCall at UFC 156. Uyenoyama, on the other hand, recently made the drop to flyweight following a successful bantamweight debut victory over Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto at the inaugural UFC on FOX card. The grappling specialist looked more dangerous than ever at 125 lbs, successfully choking out Phil Harris in the second round of their scrap at UFC on FX: Browne vs. Bigfoot.
Johnny Bedford vs. Erik Perez: Despite getting viciously knocked out of the TUF 14 tournament by eventual bantamweight winner John Dodson, Bedford has been killing it ever since entering the deep waters of the UFC’s bantamweight division. The hard-hitting Ohioan cruised past Louis Gaudinot en route to a third round TKO at the TUF 14 Finale before absolutely blistering Marcos Vinicius at the TUF 16 Finale last December. Bedford will have his hands full when he takes on fellow slugger Erik Perez, who has finished all three of his opponents since entering the organization in June of 2012. Here’s a video of his 17-second blitzkrieging of WEC veteran Ken Stone in case you are still questioning how this fight will end.
Sam Stout vs. Isaac Vallie-Flaag: Following a successful promotional debut victory over Yves Edwards at UFC 156, the relatively unknown Vallie-Flaag will be given a very similar test for his sophomore appearance when he faces 15-fight UFC veteran Sam Stout. After getting out-jogged by John Makdessi at UFC 154 (at least according to Stout), “Hands of Stone” rebounded with a unanimous decision victory over Caros Fodor at UFC 157 last month.
Silva’s media roundabout, budding movie career, and occasional trips to the light heavyweight division had fans questioning whether or not we’d ever see the middleweight champion return to the division he has dominated since 2006. So if you’re one for optimism, you’ll find comfort in the fact that multiple sources including Brazil’s Tatame are reporting that Silva vs. Weidman is “in the works” for a July event. Finally. However, if you’re like the rest of us, you’ll realize the futility of phrases like “in the works” or “probably coming back to the UFC” or “will get the next title shot” in regards to the UFC and just move along. Nothing to see here.
Silva’s media roundabout, budding movie career, and occasional trips to the light heavyweight division had fans questioning whether or not we’d ever see the middleweight champion return to the division he has dominated since 2006. So if you’re one for optimism, you’ll find comfort in the fact that multiple sources including Brazil’s Tatame are reporting that Silva vs. Weidman is “in the works” for a July event. Finally. However, if you’re like the rest of us, you’ll realize the futility of phrases like “in the works” or “probably coming back to the UFC” or “will get the next title shot” in regards to the UFC and just move along. Nothing to see here.
As much as it excites us to hear that Silva could be close to defending the middleweight title against anyone, doesn’t the timing of this fight seem a little…off? Again, we are not complaining here, but for starters, Weidman is coming off a shoulder surgery in December and will not have fought in a year if the fight does in fact go down in July. And while his ass-kicking of Munoz last July surely boosted his name power, a year away from this sport might as well be a decade. The Serra-Longo prodigy’s name has not exactly been on the tip of anyone’s tongue lately, and one would think that the UFC would throw Weidman a tune-up match upon his return to both re-familiarize him with fans and determine how well he was able to recover from surgery. Then again, Weidman has been calling out Silva for what feels like years now, so…
…What are we saying? Let’s just celebrate the fact that Andy kinda sorta might be fighting soon and leave it at that.
(I tell you what, if Maynard is able to catch Grant in his patented Indian rug burn, this shit is gonna be all over.)
Figuratively speaking, Gray Maynard has not been involved in a UFC fight since he came up short against Frankie Edgar at UFC 136 in October of 2011. Sure, he did his best to nullify the “offense” of Clay Guida at UFC on FX 4 last June, but that exercise in tedium was less a fight and more like watching your cataract-stricken friend try to wrangle up all the cuccos in Kakariko Village on The Legend of Zelda. Although “The Bully” was expected to face Joe Lauzon at UFC 155last December, he was forced out of the bout with a knee injury that has sidelined him ever since.
But if the above gif is any indication, Maynard has been staying quite active on the sidelines and will be more than ready for his return to the octagon on May 25th at UFC 160, where he will face the streaking veteran T.J. Grant in a battle of top contenders. Grant has been on something resembling a killing spree lately, collecting four straight wins including a first round annihilation of Matt Wiman at UFC on Fox 6 last month. The far-and-away most impressive aspect of Grant’s recent wins has been the drastic improvement to his stand up game, an attribute he credits to the time he spent training in Thailand.
(I tell you what, if Maynard is able to catch Grant in his patented Indian rug burn, this shit is gonna be all over.)
Figuratively speaking, Gray Maynard has not been involved in a UFC fight since he came up short against Frankie Edgar at UFC 136 in October of 2011. Sure, he did his best to nullify the “offense” of Clay Guida at UFC on FX 4 last June, but that exercise in tedium was less a fight and more like watching your cataract-stricken friend try to wrangle up all the cuccos in Kakariko Village on The Legend of Zelda. Although ”The Bully” was expected to face Joe Lauzon at UFC 155last December, he was forced out of the bout with a knee injury that has sidelined him ever since.
But if the above gif is any indication, Maynard has been staying quite active on the sidelines and will be more than ready for his return to the octagon on May 25th at UFC 160, where he will face the streaking veteran T.J. Grant in a battle of top contenders. Grant has been on something resembling a killing spree lately, collecting four straight wins including a first round annihilation of Matt Wiman at UFC on Fox 6 last month. The far-and-away most impressive aspect of Grant’s recent wins has been the drastic improvement to his stand up game, an attribute he credits to the time he spent training in Thailand.
In a way, this fight is kind of a lose-lose for Maynard, at least by Ed Soares’ concept of the term. On one hand, Grant would make for another solid win in Maynard’s column, but on the other, he is still a relatively unknown commodity as far as casual audeinces go. While a win for Maynard would pretty much solidify the theory that he is a perennial top contender without likely earning him another title shot, a win for Grant would skyrocket him to the top of the division while sending Maynard careening down the ranks.
Will Trujillo be able to stop the freight train that is Nurmagomedov, or will the Russian roll through yet another opponent? Let’s just hope both fights are entertaining, or we’re pretty sure all of these dudes will be out of a job come May 26th.
(It took forty minutes and 13 Vodka cranberries before War Machine realized that this wasn’t the Jenna Jameson cutout he had ordered.)
Although Bellator’s current bidding war with Eddie Alvarez has snagged all of the headlines, the promotion actually does have a card worth discussing at the end of the month in Bellator 86. Including King Mo’s promotional debut and a headlining welterweight title fight between Ben Askren and…WAIT, WHERE ARE YOU GOING? DON’T YOU DARE LOOK AWAY FROM ME. Askren will be fighting Karl Amoussou, who stands a better chance at ending the most uneventful title reign in MMA history than most of Askren’s challengers so far. I’M SERIOUSLY YOU GUYS.
In news you might define as “exciting,” elsewhere on the card will be the first round of action in Bellator’s next welterweight tournament, which features such former tournament participants as Ben Saunders, Douglas Lima, and Raul Amaya taking on Koffi Adzisto, Michail Tsarev, and Jose Reyes respectively. Also booked for the tourney is cursed in America fighter and recipient of truly the worst beating of 2012, Marius Zaromskis, who will be squaring off against Brent Weedman. Nearly half of these participants have faced one another before (Saunders has fought Amaya and Lima, who has fought Weedman) and six of the eight men have been knocked out of a Bellator welterweight tournament before. I’m not sure what to do with that information, but there it is.
As we know, both War Machine and Paul Daley were pulled from the tourney following a knee injury and a pub brawl, respectively. And in the twisted nightmare this universe has truly become, War Machine was not responsible for the latter. Bellator 86 goes down from the Winstar World Casino in Thackerville, Oklahoma on January 23rd.
And in UFC fight booking news…
(It took forty minutes and 13 Vodka cranberries before War Machine realized that this wasn’t the Jenna Jameson cutout he had ordered.)
Although Bellator’s current bidding war with Eddie Alvarez has snagged all of the headlines, the promotion actually does have a card worth discussing at the end of the month in Bellator 86. Including King Mo’s promotional debut and a headlining welterweight title fight between Ben Askren and…WAIT, WHERE ARE YOU GOING? DON’T YOU DARE LOOK AWAY FROM ME. Askren will be fighting Karl Amoussou, who stands a better chance at ending the most uneventful title reign in MMA history than most of Askren’s challengers so far. I’M SERIOUSLY YOU GUYS.
In news you might define as “exciting,” elsewhere on the card will be the first round of action in Bellator’s next welterweight tournament, which features such former tournament participants as Ben Saunders, Douglas Lima, and Raul Amaya taking on Koffi Adzisto, Michail Tsarev, and Jose Reyes respectively. Also booked for the tourney is cursed in America fighter and recipient of truly the worst beating of 2012, Marius Zaromskis, who will be squaring off against Brent Weedman. Nearly half of these participants have faced one another before (Saunders has fought Amaya and Lima, who has fought Weedman) and six of the eight men have been knocked out of a Bellator welterweight tournament before. I’m not sure what to do with that information, but there it is.
As we know, both War Machine and Paul Daley were pulled from the tourney following a knee injury and a pub brawl, respectively. And in the twisted nightmare this universe has truly become, War Machine was not responsible for the latter. Bellator 86 goes down from the Winstar World Casino in Thackerville, Oklahoma on January 23rd.
And in UFC fight booking news…
After having his brains literally squeezed through his nose by Demian Maia at UFC 153, Rick Story has been booked in a likely win or GTFO match against Canadian brawler Sean Pierson at UFC 158. After compiling an incredible 6-1 run to start his UFC career, Story has seemingly fallen apart at the wheels since being upset by Charlie Brenneman at UFC Live 4. He’s now dropped 3 of his last 4, with his lone victory coming against UFC newcomer Brock Jardine last June. Pierson, on the other hand, has had a slight career turnaround as of late, following up a pair of tough losses to Jake Ellenberger and Dong Hyun Kim in 2011 with a two-fight streak of his own in 2012.
UFC 158 transpires at the Bell Centre in Montreal on March 16th.
UFC newcomer Isaac Vallie-Flagg is set for the toughest test of his career at UFC 156, where he will take on 60 fight veteran Yves Edwards. The “Thugjitsu Master” most recently did what no man has been able to do when he knocked out Jeremy Stephens at UFC on FOX 5. While it’s quite a feat considering who Stephens has faced, Edwards will have a hell of a fight on his hands in Vallie-Flagg, a Jackson’s MMA product who has not dropped a fight since October of 2007.
Now here’s a supercut of “Pre-Mortem One Liners” I stumbled across earlier today, for those of you who cared enough to read all the way to the bottom of this article.
(Damn, Brittney, where’d you get those vintage Brawlin’ Buddies?)
It’s a good time to be Chad Mendes, Nation. Not only has he been all but cleared of the battery charges he was facing following a massive bar brawl in October, but the UFC apparently feels so bad for sacrificing his undefeated virginity to Jose Aldo at UFC 142 that they’ve thrown him three straight gimme fights against dudes who would be lucky to wash his jockstrap at Team Alpha Male.
First he got called out by Cody McKenzie, which somewhat justified their insane pairing at UFC 148 (which ended in just over 30 seconds, by the way). And last weekend, Mendes dispatched promotional newcomer Yaotzin Meza in just under two minutes at UFC on FX 6. That’s two fights at 36K a piece with a total fight time of under half a round. No wonder he calls himself “Money,” the dude’s somehow become the most efficient worker in the UFC. Think about that for a second, Potato Nation, then take a moment to wonder aloud why Mendes has been paired against TUF 5 runner-up Manny Gamburyan at UFC 157.
(Damn, Brittney, where’d you get those vintage Brawlin’ Buddies?)
It’s a good time to be Chad Mendes, Nation. Not only has he been all but cleared of the battery charges he was facing following a massive bar brawl in October, but the UFC apparently feels so bad for sacrificing his undefeated virginity to Jose Aldo at UFC 142 that they’ve thrown him three straight gimme fights against dudes who would be lucky to wash his jockstrap at Team Alpha Male.
First he got called out by Cody McKenzie, which somewhat justified their insane pairing at UFC 148 (which ended in just over 30 seconds, by the way). And last weekend, Mendes dispatched promotional newcomer Yaotzin Meza in just under two minutes at UFC on FX 6. That’s two fights at 36K a piece with a total fight time of under half a round. No wonder he calls himself “Money,” the dude’s somehow become the most efficient worker in the UFC. Think about that for a second, Potato Nation, then take a moment to wonder aloud why Mendes has been paired against TUF 5 runner-up Manny Gamburyan at UFC 157.
While both of these men have had the privilege of getting their asses handed to them on a silver platter by Jose Aldo, claiming that these two are within earshot of one another in the featherweight division is ludicrous. Gamburyan just broke a three fight losing streak with a decision win over Michihiro Omigawa — a fighter with a 1-6 octagon record who was released from the UFC immediately after the fight – at UFC on FOX 4. The only logic we can see behind this matchup is that the UFC must believe Mendes is destined for another title shot down the road and they might as well help him add another clip to his somewhat vacant highlight reel in the mean time. Otherwise, what in the hell are they doing booking a top 5 featherweight against these guys?
Also on tap for UFC 157 is a matchup between fellow featherweights Dennis Bermudez and Matt Grice. Bermudez has notched up two straight victories in the octagon since falling short of the TUF 14 featherweight plaque thanks to a last second Diego Brandao armbar. On the heels of a first round submission over Tommy Hayden at UFC 150, Bermudez should have little trouble dispatching Grice, who recently picked up just his second UFC win in six contests by decisioning the similarly struggling Leonard Garcia at UFC on FX 3 in June.
UFC 157 goes down from the Honda Center in Anaheim, California on February 23rd.
Who do you like for these, Potato Nation? That was a rhetorical question.
