Tag: UFC on Fox 2

John Olav Einemo Back in UFC, Likely to Face Mike Russow at UFC on FOX 2

Filed under: UFC, MMA Fighting Exclusive, NewsShortly after losing in his UFC debut in a bout that won Fight of the Night at UFC 131, John Olav Einemo was surprisingly cut from the UFC. As it turned out, Einemo was part of the fallout from an ongoing b…

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Shortly after losing in his UFC debut in a bout that won Fight of the Night at UFC 131, John Olav Einemo was surprisingly cut from the UFC. As it turned out, Einemo was part of the fallout from an ongoing business issue between his Golden Glory management team and the UFC.

Now, it appears a resolution has been struck, as Einemo is back with the promotion and will take on Mike Russow as part of the upcoming UFC on FOX 2 card on January 28, MMA Fighting has learned.

Sources confirmed that both sides have verbally agreed to the bout.

Einemo (6-2) faced Dave Herman at UFC 131, and engaged in a hard-fought battle before falling in a second-round TKO. The fight had been his first MMA bout in over four years. But even after the spirited scrap, he was one of several Golden Glory fighters — including Alistair Overeem and Marloes Coenen to be dropped by Zuffa.

UFC president Dana White later said the issue stemmed from Golden Glory’s management practice of having promoters pay them directly instead of the fighters.

“We don’t work that way,” White said then. “It’s not the way we do business. It’s not how it works in the United States with the athletic commissions. You don’t pay the managers and the managers pay the fighters. You pay the fighters and the fighters pay the managers.”

It remains unclear how the issue was resolved, and whether Einemo — like Overeem — parted ways with Golden Glory or found a way to work within the UFC framework.

Meanwhile, Russow (14-1, 1 no contest) will be hoping to extend his impressive 10-fight win streak. In his most recent fight, Russow stopped Jon Madsen by TKO in the second round of their March 2011 encounter.

UFC on FOX 2 will take place from the United Center in Chicago. Four fights are expected to air on the network television broadcast, but the UFC has so far been mum on matchups.

 

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MMA: Rampage in Japan, Aoki on NYE, Alves-Kampmann and the Week’s Biggest News

Coming off the heels of one of the most exciting weekends in recent history, the MMA world was filled this past week with fight announcements for the coming months.Most notably, former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson got his wi…

Coming off the heels of one of the most exciting weekends in recent history, the MMA world was filled this past week with fight announcements for the coming months.

Most notably, former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson got his wish to return Japan. The one-time Pride star will battle Ryan Bader in January.

Elsewhere in Japan, DREAM lightweight kingpin Shinya Aoki will return to action on New Year’s Eve against former Sengoku champ Satoru Kitaoka.

Additionally, an explosive welterweight battle between striking specialists Thiago Alves and Martin Kampmann is rumored, as well as a number of updates to upcoming events.

 

Rob Tatum is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA. You can also find Rob’s work at TheMMACorner.com.  For anything related to MMA, you can follow Rob on Twitter  @RobTatumMMA.

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Chael Sonnen vs. Mark Munoz: Head-to-Toe Breakdown

Spencer Lazara of MMA Interview.TV is reporting that is is more than likely that MMA’s favorite bad guy Chael Sonnen will take on “The Filipino Wrecking Machine” at UFC on Fox 2.As one would expect, the bout would be a title eliminator for the next sho…

Spencer Lazara of MMA Interview.TV is reporting that is is more than likely that MMA’s favorite bad guy Chael Sonnen will take on “The Filipino Wrecking Machine” at UFC on Fox 2.

As one would expect, the bout would be a title eliminator for the next shot at reigning middleweight kingpin Anderson Silva.

The event scheduled for January 28 at the United Center in Chicago promises another rock-solid main event if matchmaker Joe Silva and UFC President Dana White make this one official.  

Assuming “The Spider” is actually out of action for several more months, this fight makes a ton of sense and is one of the only ones that makes sense for both Sonnen and Munoz.  

Let’s take a look how this thing could play out on the FOX network early next year.   

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Chael Sonnen vs. Mark Munoz to Headline UFC on FOX 2?

Although Chael Sonnen’s next bout won’t be against Anderson Silva, it is believed the outspoken middleweight contender will headline the next UFC on FOX event against Mark Munoz. According to MMAInterviews.tv, Sonnen and Munoz will meet in a No. 1…

Although Chael Sonnen‘s next bout won’t be against Anderson Silva, it is believed the outspoken middleweight contender will headline the next UFC on FOX event against Mark Munoz. 

According to MMAInterviews.tv, Sonnen and Munoz will meet in a No. 1 contender bout to determine the next challenger to face UFC middleweight champion Silva. 

The Brazilian is currently rehabilitating from a shoulder injury he suffered during his bout against Yushin Okami at UFC 134, and Sonnen has previously stated he would opt to compete in another matchup as opposed to waiting for the champion to make a full recovery. 

Also rumored to be on the card is a welterweight bout between Jake Ellenberger and Diego Sanchez, as well as a potential bout between Melvin Guillard and Jim Miller. 

The winner of Sonnen vs. Munoz is expected to challenge Silva when he is slated to make his return to the Octagon in June 2012. 

UFC on FOX is scheduled for January 28, 2012, from the United Center in Chicago.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Why UFC on FOX 2 Will Draw More Viewers Than UFC on Fox 1

It hasn’t even been a month and already details are starting to leak out about the UFC’s second fight on FOX.It was revealed just recently that the next program will be two hours long and have four fights on the card.Fans who complained about the …

It hasn’t even been a month and already details are starting to leak out about the UFC’s second fight on FOX.

It was revealed just recently that the next program will be two hours long and have four fights on the card.

Fans who complained about the fact that there was only one fight on the first UFC event on FOX should be overjoyed.  There were rumbles of discontent from fans who wanted to see more fights, but it has to be remembered that this wasn’t technically part of the FOX deal.  It was a way for the UFC to introduce itself to new casual fans.

And that is exactly what it did.  The build-up to the fight presented Junior Dos Santos and Cain Velasquez as both decent people and quality human beings instead of two vicious fighters who were about to beat on each other.

It helped ease first-time viewers into the sport without getting much negative attention.  Now that the first event is over and the UFC has made a good first impression, fans can start seeing a somewhat typical fight card.

Last time, the UFC pulled in 8.8 million viewers.

Though the event might have been hurt by the quickness with which the fight finished, 64 seconds, it remains to be seen if it actually will hurt the UFC’s return to network TV.

It most likely won’t and the UFC putting on more fights will probably help it.  As the fights progress more people will turn in and realize that the event has already started with viewership peaking at the main event.

The other thing helping the UFC is the fact that FOX has stood behind them firmly after how the last event went. Having such incredible support from such a well-known and established brand like FOX will help the UFC to dispel a lot of the myths and rumors that have long-plagued the sport.

It will also help to remove some of the stigma that has been a part of the sport for so long.  Not only will people be able to see more fights, but they will see that a major franchise like FOX is okay with it being put on their station.

Perception is a lot of what plagues MMA and most people might be stuck with the perception that it is still like it was in the ’90s.  The working relationship between FOX and the UFC can help dispel that.

As the two brands get closer together more people will continue to tune in.

The best bet that UFC on FOX 2 will pull better numbers is the fact that the UFC is brilliant when it comes to marketing itself and knows how to do it well.

Dana White, the president of the UFC, uses Twitter constantly.  The UFC has a Facebook page.  Many fighters even have Twitter accounts.

As the media world evolves people have better access to search out knowledge on anything in the world.

Those who watched the UFC and had never heard of it before or became interested after seeing it have the opportunity to go out and check out the promotion’s Web site, Facebook or a number of different sites.

All of these different parts lead to one thing: more viewers and better fights on free TV.

And hopefully it just keeps getting bigger.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

MMA Monday Headlines with Amber Nichole

Amber Nichole tweeted this proof picture [above] and we’re not exactly sure what it’s for…maybe for her calendar. Regardless, it’s lovely. Gray Maynard is expected to leave Xtreme Couture as announced on HDNet’s Inside MMA.

Amber Nichole tweeted this proof picture [above] and we’re not exactly sure what it’s for…maybe for her calendar. Regardless, it’s lovely.

Gray Maynard is expected to leave Xtreme Couture as announced on HDNet’s Inside MMA by his [former] boxing coach, Gil Martinez.

Demetrious Johnson vs. Eddie Wineland rumored for UFC on Fox 2 card in January.

UFC 144 adds Cheick Kongo vs. Mark Hunt and Takeya Mizugaki vs. Chris Cariaso.

Stephan Bonnar vs. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson may be in the works.

Chael Sonnen accepts (via Twitter) Anderson Silva‘s offer to fight in Brazil.

Cung Le gets paid $350,000 for loss to Wanderlei Silva at UFC 139.

Check out the pay differences of Saturday nights UFC 139 fighters to Friday night’s Strikeforce Challengers 20 fighter payouts.

Junior dos Santos looking to box in the 2016 Olympics.