Tag: UFC fight bookings

*Fingers Crossed* Guida vs. Hioki, Grant vs. Wiman, + More Added to Stacked UFC on FOX 6 Card


(We know, Clay, we had a hard time watching your last fight too.) 

It’s looking like the crippling power of this year’s injury curse is going to be tested early come 2013, because the UFC’s first major network event of the year is currently stacked with more budding talent than a Miss Teen USA pageant. Aside from the Cerrone/Pettis, Jackson/Teixeira, and Dodson/Johnson fights that were announced earlier this week, the UFC has recently announced that Clay Guida will be making his featherweight debut again Hatsu Hioki at the same event as well.

Guida’s last performance saw him channel Steve Prefontaine for the majority of five rounds against Gray Maynard at UFC on FX 4, earning him his second straight loss at lightweight following his much more exciting loss to current champion Benson Henderson at the inaugural UFC on FOX event.

Despite the fact that he is coming off a close decision loss to Ricardo Lamas at the same event, there’s no denying that Hioki is still considered to be one of the top contenders at 145, so a win over Hatsu is not only essential for Guida — he has never dropped three straight in his MMA career — but would easily launch him up the list of potential contenders to boot. Let’s just hope he brings a more aggressive strategy against Hioki or we could be in for a long three rounds.

Also booked for UFC on FOX 6…


(We know, Clay, we had a hard time watching your last fight too.) 

It’s looking like the crippling power of this year’s injury curse is going to be tested early come 2013, because the UFC’s first major network event of the year is currently stacked with more budding talent than a Miss Teen USA pageant. Aside from the Cerrone/Pettis, Jackson/Teixeira, and Dodson/Johnson fights that were announced earlier this week, the UFC has recently announced that Clay Guida will be making his featherweight debut again Hatsu Hioki at the same event as well.

Guida’s last performance saw him channel Steve Prefontaine for the majority of five rounds against Gray Maynard at UFC on FX 4, earning him his second straight loss at lightweight following his much more exciting loss to current champion Benson Henderson at the inaugural UFC on FOX event.

Despite the fact that he is coming off a close decision loss to Ricardo Lamas at the same event, there’s no denying that Hioki is still considered to be one of the top contenders at 145, so a win over Hatsu is not only essential for Guida — he has never dropped three straight in his MMA career — but would easily launch him up the list of potential contenders to boot. Let’s just hope he brings a more aggressive strategy against Hioki or we could be in for a long three rounds.

Elsewhere on the card…

A matchup between surging lightweights T.J. Grant and Matt Wiman is also in the works for the UFC’s return to Fox. Despite fighting in the UFC for over three years, one could argue that Grant finally had his coming out party in his last fight against Evan Dunham at UFC 152. The submission specialist actually managed to outstrike the striker for the majority of the fight, mutilating Dunham’s face worse than Mark Dacascos does a Japanese accent en route to a unanimous decision victory. It was Grant’s third straight victory since dropping to lightweight and sixth overall under the Zuffa banner. Wiman is also coming off the biggest win of his career, having submitted undefeated submission whiz Paul Sass via first round armbar at UFC on FUEL 5 in his last octagon appearance. The TUF 5 alum has now won 5 of his last 6 fights.

And finally, the featherweight pairing of two top contenders in Erik Koch and Ricardo Lamas — which was originally reported to be transpiring at UFC 155 — has also been added to the January 26th Fox card. No word yet on whether or not the UFC will bring the winner of the Guida/Hikoi fight into the octagon afterward to engage in a good old fashioned staged confrontation, but we’ll keep our fingers crossed.

Oh yeah, a heavyweight matchup between Mike Russow and Shawn Jordan has also been added to UFC on Fox 6, but judging by their last performances, you probably couldn’t give a shit.

Now here’s a cat attacking a small child. Good day.

–J. Jones

Four Fights in the Works for the UFC’s Return to Brazil on January 19th


(P-p-please, Ben! Don’t knock me out! You’re making a big mistake!)

Although none of the bouts have been officially confirmed by the UFC as of this writing, it looks like the UFC will be sticking with their time-tested method of stacking its foreign cards with local fighters, as Brazilian’s Gabriel Gonzaga, Diego Nunes, Milton Viera, and Iuri Alcantara have been booked to face Ben Rothwell, Nik Lentz, Godofredo Castro, and Johnny Eduardo, respectively, at an unnamed event scheduled for Janurary 19th in Brazil.

Rothwell vs. Gonzaga is probably the biggest fight out of the four that us non-Brazilians can get excited about. Both men are big heavyweights who aren’t afraid to throw leather and have knockout power when they choose to do so. Although Gonzaga has relied heavily upon his grappling base (and rightfully so) since un-retiring and returning to the UFC, it’s only a matter of time before we see “Napao” revert to the whimsically hopeful striker that we came to know and love in his victories over Mirko Cro Cop and Chris Tuschsererererer’s balls and his losses to Shane Carwin and Junior dos Santos. Speaking of dos Santos, Gonzaga was scheduled to square off against Geronimo dos Santos at UFC 153, but the bout was cancelled when “Mondragon” failed his medical exam due to Hepatitis B (Author’s note: Brazilian prostitutes, they’ll get you every time.). Rothwell, on the other hand, recently saved his UFC career by knocking out Brendan Schaub in hilarious fashion at UFC 145.


(P-p-please, Ben! Don’t knock me out! You’re making a big mistake!)

Although none of the bouts have been officially confirmed by the UFC as of this writing, it looks like the UFC will be sticking with their time-tested method of stacking its foreign cards with local fighters, as Brazilian’s Gabriel Gonzaga, Diego Nunes, Milton Viera, and Iuri Alcantara have been booked to face Ben Rothwell, Nik Lentz, Godofredo Castro, and Johnny Eduardo, respectively, at an unnamed event scheduled for Janurary 19th in Brazil.

Rothwell vs. Gonzaga is probably the biggest fight out of the four that us non-Brazilians can get excited about. Both men are big heavyweights who aren’t afraid to throw leather and have knockout power when they choose to do so. Although Gonzaga has relied heavily upon his grappling base (and rightfully so) since un-retiring and returning to the UFC, it’s only a matter of time before we see “Napao” revert to the whimsically hopeful striker that we came to know and love in his victories over Mirko Cro Cop and Chris Tuschsererererer’s balls and his losses to Shane Carwin and Junior dos Santos. Speaking of dos Santos, Gonzaga was scheduled to square off against Geronimo dos Santos at UFC 153, but the bout was cancelled when “Mondragon” failed his medical exam due to Hepatitis B (Author’s note: Brazilian prostitutes, they’ll get you every time.). Rothwell, on the other hand, recently saved his UFC career by knocking out Brendan Schaub in hilarious fashion at UFC 145.

Also in the works for January 19th is a featherweight clash between Nik Lentz and Diego Nunes. Following a pair of losses at lightweight to Mark Bocek and Evan Dunham (the latter of which was one HELL of a fight), Lentz recently made the cut to 145, where he picked up a first round TKO victory over Eiji Mitsuoka at UFC 150. Nunes was also able to bounce back in the win column in his last fight when he defeated Bart Palaszewski via unanimous one-sided ass whooping at UFC on FX 5.

You might not recognize any of the names booked in the other two matchups, being that most of them last participated — or made their UFC debut, in some cases — at UFC 147 a.k.a the TUF Brazil Finale. Strikeforce veteran Milton Viera fought to a draw that night, whereas Iuri Alcantara was bested by Hacran Dias, another name I have no clue of but will just assume for the time being that he was on TUF Brazil as well. Ditto for this Godofredo Castro feller.

I have, however, heard of Johnny Eduardo, who is expected to face Alcantara at the same event. He’s currently 1-1 in the UFC and is coming off a unanimous decision win over Jeff Curran at UFC on FUEL 3.

I know, try to hold back your excitement.

–J. Jones

Injury Replacement Roundup: Maguire in Against Riddle, Pierce in Against Baczynski, + More


(Pierce celebrates after successfully thwarting Mario’s plans with a well-timed barrel.) 

We here at CagePotato have literally taken every possible step in order to rid the MMA world of the great injury curse of 2012: we’ve prayed (lol!), we’ve had our cleaning lady Concepcion rid the office of evil spirits, we’ve resorted to Pagan rituals involving pentagrams, we’ve even had Rex track down “thisredengine” and sacrifice his virginal body to the Gods. And after all that fell flat, we tried to go Freddy Kruger on the curse and simply stop talking about it in the hopes that it would eventually just leave us be and move on to some other, less important sport. Like women’s ______.

But alas, our efforts were a complete failure. In the past few days, at least four fighters have come down with a case of the injury bug, leading to some small yet noticeable changes in several of the UFC’s upcoming cards. And we wonder why even Canadian fans are cautious to buy a ticket these days. (Author’s note: You see, Dana? THIS is what happens when you read from the Necronomicon. Side effects include nausea, meniere’s disease, Saturday night palsy, and possessed hand.) 

We shall begin today’s trip down injury lane with Kyle Noke…


(Pierce celebrates after successfully thwarting Mario’s plans with a well-timed barrel.) 

We here at CagePotato have literally taken every possible step in order to rid the MMA world of the great injury curse of 2012: we’ve prayed (lol!), we’ve had our cleaning lady Concepcion rid the office of evil spirits, we’ve resorted to Pagan rituals involving pentagrams, we’ve even had Rex track down “thisredengine” and sacrifice his virginal body to the Gods. And after all that fell flat, we tried to go Freddy Kruger on the curse and simply stop talking about it in the hopes that it would eventually just leave us be and move on to some other, less important sport. Like women’s ______.

But alas, our efforts were a complete failure. In the past few days, at least four fighters have come down with a case of the injury bug, leading to some small yet noticeable changes in several of the UFC’s upcoming cards. And we wonder why even Canadian fans are cautious to buy a ticket these days. (Author’s note: You see, Dana? THIS is what happens when you read from the Necronomicon. Side effects include nausea, meniere’s disease, Saturday night palsy, and possessed hand.) 

We shall begin today’s trip down injury lane with Kyle Noke, who is coming off a first round blistering of Charlie Brenneman at UFC 152 that, although a little premature in its stoppage, led to “The Spaniard’s” current place in the Zuffa unemployment soup line. Noke was scheduled to face streaking Polish powerhouse Seth Baczynski at UFC on FX 6, but withdrew earlier this week. He has been replaced by Mike Pierce, who is on the heels of a come-from-behind KO of Aaron Simpson at UFC on FX 5. Baczynski is coming off a skull-shattering knockout win of his own against Simeon Thoreson at UFC 152, so expect fireworks here.

Next up, we have a welterweight matchup that features neither of its original participants, as everyone’s favorite stoner, Matt Riddle, and “butter-toothed Brit” John Maguire have stepped in to replace Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson and Besam Yousef, respectively, at UFC 154. Due to his positive test for marijuana, Riddle’s previous UFC 149 submission victory over Chris Clements was recently changed to a no-contest, moving his record to 1-2 1 NC in his past four fights. You could argue that Maguire is in an even worse position, however, despite the fact that he has only lost one of his three UFC bouts. That loss came to fellow Brit John Hathaway at UFC on FUEL 5 in the worst possible fashion: a dreadfully boring three round affair that was forgotten about before the judges could declare a winner. I blame the general politeness of the British for that one.

And in bantamweight injury news, TUF 14 runner-up T.J Dillashaw has been replaced in his upcoming UFC on FOX 5 bout against Mike Easton by fellow castmate Bryan Caraway. The Canadian has scored two straight rear-naked choke victories in the UFC since getting the tar beat out of him by Diego Brandao on the reality show, while Easton is coming off his third consecutive octagon victory over Ivan Menjivar at UFC 148. It’s an incredibly tough fight for “Kid Lightning,” but something tells us that the Caraway household could use the money right about now.

–J. Jones

Rumor: Wanderlei Silva vs. Chael Sonnen Being Eyed as Potential UFC 153 Main Event Replacement


(“What kind of backwards country is this? The game is called Whac-a-Mole, not Whac-a-Capybara, and the animals aren’t supposed to be alive!”)

Just a few hours ago, we promised that a few beautiful knockout videos would successfully help us all blissfully drift into a world where injuries no longer determined both the content of every other CP article and the makeup of every other UFC card, but it seems our vision of an impossibly awesome MMA utopia is merely that…an impossibility.

Be that as it may, some of you might be pleased to hear that amidst the UFC 153 clusterfuck of injuries lies a potential silver lining. According to FightersOnly, who have sited several anonymous sources, a grudge match years in the making between Wanderlei Silva and Chael Sonnen is being looked at as a possible replacement for UFC 153 now that Jose Aldo — or perhaps, the general incompetence of Brazilian drivers — has massacred our dreams of a featherweight title superfight.

Details remain sketchy at the moment, but in a recent interview with Portal do Vale Tudo, Silva stated that he would be more than willing to step up for the good of the UFC and his home country’s fans if asked to do so:

I think fighting in Rio would be great. Under no circumstances could I turn that down. I would love to fight for the crowd in Rio, and if it were against that guy who everybody wants me to face, it would be beautiful.

Spoiler alert: Chael Sonnen is “that guy who everybody wants me to face.”

More on this potential showdown after the jump.


(“What kind of backwards country is this? The game is called Whac-a-Mole, not Whac-a-Capybara, and the animals aren’t supposed to be alive!”)

Just a few hours ago, we promised that a few beautiful knockout videos would successfully help us all blissfully drift into a world where injuries no longer determined both the content of every other CP article and the makeup of every other UFC card, but it seems our vision of an impossibly awesome MMA utopia is merely that…an impossibility.

Be that as it may, some of you might be pleased to hear that amidst the UFC 153 clusterfuck of injuries lies a potential silver lining. According to FightersOnly, who have sited several anonymous sources, a grudge match years in the making between Wanderlei Silva and Chael Sonnen is being looked at as a possible replacement for UFC 153 now that Jose Aldo — or perhaps, the general incompetence of Brazilian drivers — has massacred our dreams of a featherweight title superfight.

Details remain sketchy at the moment, but in a recent interview with Portal do Vale Tudo, Silva stated that he would be more than willing to step up for the good of the UFC and his home country’s fans if asked to do so:

I think fighting in Rio would be great. Under no circumstances could I turn that down. I would love to fight for the crowd in Rio, and if it were against that guy who everybody wants me to face, it would be beautiful.

Spoiler alert: Chael Sonnen is “that guy who everybody wants me to face.”

Rumor has it that the bout is being considered at a catchweight of 195 pounds, which might sound familiar to the three of you who actually paid for UFC 147. At this point in his career, Wandy is basically the go-to guy for any Brazilian MMA card that is circling the drain.

Wanderlei also stated that although he wasn’t exactly in fighting shape at the moment, he is on weight and healthy enough to fight if needed:

From experience, a fighter always has to be ready. I am not in a competition training schedule but I am training, on-weight and feeling good. It’s just a case of if I am offered the fight.

I accept to fight any one and with him it would be tasteful. It would be a bout that people would like to see. I wasn’t offered it yet, but if the boss needs me and I can contribute to make the fans happy, I would feel so glad.

Without opening up a whole new can of worms (or perhaps a can of worms that just won’t close), we’d just like to say that we wish every MMA fighter had this attitude. But there we go again, dreaming of a world that will never exist.

Sonnen has yet to comment on the potential matchup, and is still scheduled to face Forrest Griffin in his return to the light heavyweight division at UFC 155.

We will have more on this potential matchup as things develop, but in the meantime, here’s a video (courtesy of MMAFighting) in which Dana White laments over UFC 153 and how frustrating it is to be poor Frankie Edgar these days. Without trying to sound like a kiss ass, I must say that I honestly feel sorry for both guys in this situation, as both of them can’t seem to catch a fucking break lately. Oh well, I guess the fact that DW is richer than most, if not all Central African countries combined should help him sleep tonight. That, and the custom orthopedic Serta Sealy memory foam angel cloud mattress he sleeps on, of course.

So, Potato Nation, would Sonnen vs. Wanderlei be enough to quell your disappointment over the loss of Edgar vs. Aldo? Pick the less obvious answer here.

–J. Jones

Lamb to the Slaughter: Cody McKenzie vs. Chad Mendes Booked for UFC 148 in July


(You have no idea how right you are.) 

What in the name of Science is this bullshit? Fresh off a victory over Marcus LeVesseur at UFC on FUEL 3, it has been announced that the inventor of the deadliest guillotine choke known to man, TUF 12 veteran Cody McKenzie, will be making his featherweight debut at UFC 148, which transpires from the MGM Grand Garden Casino in Las Vegas on July 7th. Welcoming him to 145 lbs will be…Chad Mendes? Didn’t he just fight JOSE F’ING ALDO FOR THE F’ING TITLE?! Did McKenzie piss off Dana White, or is this Karma’s way of punishing him for making Josh Koscheck look like even more of a clown on the set of TUF 10? If it’s the latter, then Karma is a dick. A high school Letterman jacket wearing, clove cigarette smoking, man ass motorboating dick.

As we all know, McKenzie has won 11 of his 13 professional victories by way of his signature vice-grip like submission, aptly dubbed “The McKenzietine,” which has earned him a spot amongst the greatest one-trick ponies of all time. Mendes, on the other hand, has never been submitted, and is coming off the first blemish of his career, which came via brutal first round knockout to Aldo. Why it was decided that these two should face off is nothing short of baffling.


(You have no idea how right you are.) 

What in the name of Science is this bullshit? Fresh off a victory over Marcus LeVesseur at UFC on FUEL 3, it has been announced that the inventor of the deadliest guillotine choke known to man, TUF 12 veteran Cody McKenzie, will be making his featherweight debut at UFC 148, which transpires from the MGM Grand Garden Casino in Las Vegas on July 7th. Welcoming him to 145 lbs will be…Chad Mendes? Didn’t he just fight JOSE F’ING ALDO FOR THE F’ING TITLE?! Did McKenzie piss off Dana White, or is this Karma’s way of punishing him for making Josh Koscheck look like even more of a clown on the set of TUF 10? If it’s the latter, then Karma is a dick. A high school Letterman jacket wearing, clove cigarette smoking, man ass motorboating dick.

As we all know, McKenzie has won 11 of his 13 professional victories by way of his signature vice-grip like submission, aptly dubbed “The McKenzietine,” which has earned him a spot amongst the greatest one-trick ponies of all time. Mendes, on the other hand, has never been submitted, and is coming off the first blemish of his career, which came via brutal first round knockout to Aldo. Why it was decided that these two should face off is nothing short of baffling.

When assessing McKenzie’s performance after his career-saving win, we came to the conclusion that he “isn’t exactly ready for a huge step up in competition” and should face someone like Reza Madadi to see where he stands. Although dropping to 145 lbs. surely changes things up for him a bit, matching him against one of the most elite guys in the division for his debut seems a little harsh, don’t you think? Can you imagine how insane the odds are going to be for this fight when UFC 148 rolls around? Cyborg/Yamanaka insane would be our prediction.

And while we’re fantasizing, suppose McKenzie somehow manages to choke Mendes into next week, what does the UFC do with him then? If Erik Koch can earn a title shot with a win over Jonathan Brookins a year ago, #RallyforMcKenzie campaigns are going to be popping up on the Twitter accounts of every Deadliest Catch and Ice Road Truckers cast-member overnight. Tins of Grizzly chewing tobacco are going to quadruple in value, and children are going to start guillotining each other on playgrounds across the nation. It will be complete and utter chaos. Sean Shelby, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!!

The full lineup for UFC 148 (minus some changes that we will be made aware of this evening) lies below.

Preliminary Card:
Melvin Guillard vs. Fabricio Camoes
Gleison Tibau vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov
Shane Roller vs. John Alessio
Riki Fukuda vs. Constantinos Philippou
Chad Mendes vs. Cody McKenzie
TBD Renan Barao vs. Ivan Menjivar

Main Card:
Demian Maia vs. Dong Hyun Kim
Rich Franklin vs. Cung Le
Tito Ortiz vs. Forrest Griffin
Urijah Faber vs. TBD *cough* Renan Barao *cough*
Chael Sonnen vs. Anderson Silva

–J. Jones

Ryan Jimmo’s Long-Awaited UFC Debut Pegged for UFC 149 Against Anthony Perosh


(No, I did not buy this belt at Wal-Mart as a joke. Who the hell would do that?) 

After being forced out of his originally anticipated debut match against Karlos Vemola back in January due to a last minute injury, Maximum Fighting Championship Light-Heavyweight king and CP guest blogger Ryan Jimmo finally has a date set for his UFC debut. July 21st, at UFC 149 in Calgary. Since dropping his first professional contest to Adam Braidwood in February of 2007, Jimmo has gone 16 fights in a row without a blemish, most recently outpointing (emphasis on the “point” aspect) UFC veteran Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou in October of 2011. Jimmo also holds notable victories over Wilson Gouveia, Marvin Eastman, and Jesse Forbes. He also does one hell of a robot.


(No, I did not buy this belt at Wal-Mart as a joke. Who the hell would do that?) 

After being forced out of his originally anticipated debut match against Karlos Vemola back in January due to a last minute injury, Maximum Fighting Championship Light-Heavyweight king and CP guest blogger Ryan Jimmo finally has a date set for his UFC debut. July 21st, at UFC 149 in Calgary. Since dropping his first professional contest to Adam Braidwood in February of 2007, Jimmo has gone 16 fights in a row without a blemish, most recently outpointing (emphasis on the “point” aspect) UFC veteran Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou in October of 2011. Jimmo also holds notable victories over Wilson Gouveia, Marvin Eastman, and Jesse Forbes. He also does one hell of a robot.

Next to Mark Hunt, Australian submission specialist Anthony Perosh has probably had the most unexpected 2011-2012 season of any fighter in the UFC. His original tour of duty with the promotion, which dates back to 2006, featured a pair of losses to Jeff Monson and Christian Wellisch at UFC 61 and 66, respectively. After compiling a 5-2 record in various promotions, “The Hippo” was brought back to the UFC to fill in for Ben Rothwell against Mirko Cro Cop on just two days notice. The results were as one would expect, but Perosh would follow up that brutal loss with a drop to light heavyweight, resulting in a three fight win streak over the likes of Cyrille Diabate, Tom Blackledge, and most recently a minor upset win over Nick Penner at UFC on FX 2.

It’s been a while since we’ve seen Jimmo in action, but a guy like Perosh is a pretty good litmus test for the Canuck. His last win over Sokoudjou was a snoozer, and he’s only finished one opponent in his last six fights, so let’s hope he brings the fury come May 12th, because Perosh does not go down easy.

Who do you got, Potato Nation?

-J. Jones