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UFC on FX 7 Injury Watch: Why Belfort vs. Bisping Card Is Still at Risk

Injuries have become more than a way of life in the UFC. Now, they’re a constant shadow covering over every event, with each one hitting at the absolute worst possible time.That’s why MMA fans should be very paranoid about UFC on FX 7.Like so many othe…

Injuries have become more than a way of life in the UFC. Now, they’re a constant shadow covering over every event, with each one hitting at the absolute worst possible time.

That’s why MMA fans should be very paranoid about UFC on FX 7.

Like so many other fight cards last year, this event is pretty much all about the main event with nothing else to support it.

If everything goes off without a hitch, Vitor Belfort and Michael Bisping should both make it to Brazil’s Ibirapuera Arena for their bout.

But what if one of them doesn’t?

Unlike UFC 158, a card stacked with two headliners and four possible replacements, UFC on FX 7 appears to have no back-up plan. There’s no safety net if anything happens to Bisping or Belfort, and it’s made even worse by the fact that they’re the only two stars on the card.

With only 13 days left, that’s plain dangerous.

If Belfort goes down, there’s no hometown headliner, and the UFC doesn’t have another big-name Brazilian fighter coming off a win to play foil to Bisping’s “arrogant foreigner” character.

Should something happen to Bisping, practically the only person who could fill in would be Hector Lombard—and since UFC champion Jon Jones has made it clear that you can say “no” to Dana White, there’s no telling if he would take that fight on such short notice.

Anderson Silva won’t be riding in on a white horse like he did with UFC 153.

Chael Sonnen is out of the middleweight division. Chris Weidman and Luke Rockhold are still injured.

Unless Ronaldo Souza is hiding out as a secret understudy, there’s no other decent option.

And practically no one else would take a fight with Bisping or Belfort in less than two weeks, either, as they’re two difficult opponents to prepare to fight against.

Hopefully, nothing happens during the injury watch for UFC on FX 7—at least, not to the headliners.

Even though the UFC would probably never cancel a Brazil card (overly-ravenous ticket buyers would make it a wash), it would still be a major step down for the main event to suddenly be something like Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Ben Rothwell.

McKinley Noble is an MMA conspiracy theorist and FightFans Radio writer. His work has appeared in GamePro, Macworld and PC World. Talk with him on Twitter.

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12 MMA Fighters on the Hot Seat in the Month of January

January 2013 might go down in history as one of the busiest months in MMA history. The UFC has two events, Bellator has three and Strikeforce hosts the final event in their seven-year history. That doesn’t even include fight cards coming from Invicta F…

With all of the action coming your way in January, it might be hard to keep up with everything. That’s where Bleacher Report comes in.

Several top names are competing this month, and there is a lot that they can gain. However, many fighters have much more that they can lose in January.

Here is a look at 12 MMA fighters who are on the hot seat in January.

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Chris Weidman Fires Back at Bisping; Calls UK Star ‘Funnier in His Old Age’

The rivalry between middleweights Michael Bisping and Chris Weidman is heating up nice within the last 24 hours. In a self-penned article that was published by Yahoo Sports, Bisping claims that the injured Weidman retired back in June. It’s a part…

The rivalry between middleweights Michael Bisping and Chris Weidman is heating up nice within the last 24 hours.

In a self-penned article that was published by Yahoo Sports, Bisping claims that the injured Weidman retired back in June. It’s a particularly odd claim when you consider that Weidman knocked out Mark Munoz in July, however, it doesn’t appear that Bisping is actually trying to convince people that the Serra/Longo fighter has hung up his gloves.

On Friday morning, Weidman must have come across the article and had himself a laugh.

Chris “Sick Note” Weidman. bisping is getting a lil funnier in his old age 😉

— Chris Weidman (@ChrisWeidmanUFC) January 4, 2013

The old age comment appears to be a jab at the fact that Bisping is entering his seventh year inside the Octagon, yet still has been unable to earn a title shot. For those of you playing the home version of this game, Weidman entered title talks only 16 months into his UFC career after the Munoz beatdown.

The two contenders currently compete in a division that has redefined trash talk in MMA, mostly thanks to Chael Sonnen’s epic war of words with Anderson Silva. With the obvious perks of slamming your opponents, why shouldn’t other contenders get in on the fun.

Weidman fired the first shot in the war in late July. Just weeks after slaughtering Mark Munoz in his first main event, “Sick Note” sat down with Fighters Only Magazine.

I know he is good and talented and he has faced some good guys but every time he has faced a top ten guy he has lost. Like with the Chael Sonnen fight he did awesome and a lot of people thought he could have won but he didn’t find the way to win.

And I am not knocking him – I think he’s a great fighter, I really do – but I question his mentality against top guys when the pressure is on. Which is pretty much what everyone says about him. He has had chances to fight for the title twice now and he doesn’t come through when the pressure is on.

It didn’t take long for “The Count” to return fire by calling Weidman a wiesel. However, the gloves really came off in a November interview with MMAmania.com. Bisping called out Weidman and entirely dismissed his standup.

Weidman’s stand-up is very very poor, it’s not good at all. He’s a very good wrestler, very good grappler, but I do well against those guys. I’d get back to my feet and knock him out.

Stay tuned to this heated rivalry, because a fight is inevitable between the two. If Bisping gets passed Vitor Belfort at UFC on FX 7 on January 19, he has been promised a title shot. However, with champion Anderson Silva reportedly disinterested in fighting until late 2013, it’s very possible that Weidman’s summer return could be a title eliminator against “The Count.”

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Power Ranking the 15 Best MMA Fights to Take Place in January

The month of January is jam-packed with great MMA action from the UFC to Bellator to the regional circuit. Each weekend of the first month of 2013 promises to provide fans with numerous quality matches.Chicago and Brazil play host to UFC cards, while S…

Chicago and Brazil play host to UFC cards, while Strikeforce puts on its final show in Oklahoma. Add to that the fact Invicta will provide us with another astounding all-female card, and things are really looking up for the kickoff of 2013.

Here are the best 15 fights for January.

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UFC on FX 7: Michael Bisping Slams ‘Boring’ Middleweight ‘Simpletons’

Michael Bisping is sorely disappointed with several of the UFC’s middleweight contenders.However, Alan Belcher and Tim Boetsch drew the most fire from “The Count” during a guest blog on Yahoo Sports, where he heavily criticized the two for their perfor…

Michael Bisping is sorely disappointed with several of the UFC’s middleweight contenders.

However, Alan Belcher and Tim Boetsch drew the most fire from “The Count” during a guest blog on Yahoo Sports, where he heavily criticized the two for their performances at UFC 155.

But even though he had strong words for just about everyone within the 185-pound roster, the biggest heat was reserved for Belcher, whom Bisping took to task for boring the crowd in a heavily one-sided unanimous decision loss to Yushin Okami:

Belcher lost every minute of every round in a fight so boring I was afraid my brain was going to melt and start to dribble out of my ears. It was like someone detonated a nuclear bomb of boredom in the arena—everyone in the seats around me was playing Angry Birds.

Moreover, Belcher seemed to have been working behind the scenes prior to UFC 155, allegedly going as far as telling UFC president Dana White that he would step in for Vitor Belfort at UFC on FX 7 if the Brazilian happened to pull out of the fight due to any training injury:

What delusions of grandeur Belcher has. This is a guy who didn’t fight for a year after giving himself career-threatening eye-strain by watching too much internet porn, and he thinks he’s god’s gift to MMA.

He even told UFC president Dana White that after he beat Okami, he’d fight me on January 19 if something happens to Belfort. This is a guy who got his arse kicked by two guys I smashed (Yoshihiro Akiyama and Jason Day) but he thinks he can not only beat me on a couple weeks’ training, but also assumed he was getting passed [sic] Okami, who is not to be underestimated.

Bisping did acknowledge Chris Weidman as the only other credible threat in the division, but nonetheless wrapped up his guest post by declaring himself the top contender at middleweight.

England’s most famous UFC fighter will have the chance to back up his words on Jan. 19 at the Ibirapuera Arena in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where he’s set to battle Belfort for the right to face middleweight champion Anderson Silva at a future date.

However, Belfort won’t be in line for a title shot if he defeats Bisping, as UFC president Dana White claims (via MMA Weekly) that there’s little interest seeing “The Phenom” and “The Spider” in a rematch. Silva previously knocked out Belfort with a highlight reel front kick at UFC 126 in February 2011, finishing their fight inside the first round.

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Unluckiest SOB Ever Draws Edson Barboza for UFC Debut at ‘UFC on FX 7?

(Sad. He was so young.)

Not too long ago, I wrote a piece about six of th e worst possible opponents debuting UFC fighters have drawn in the past. As I predicted, it was almost universally panned by you Taters, but if I could update the article today, a feller by the name of Lucas “Mineiro” — which I can only assume means “Marked for Death” in Portuguese — Martins would be included somewhere on that list. Because now that Justin Salas has withdrawn from his UFC on FX 7 fight with Edson Barboza, the UFC’s matchmaking department has thrown the poor bastard pictured above into the octagon on short notice in Salas’ place (for his UFC debut, no less), presumably with a steak tied around his neck and a guaranteed bed at the nearest hospital.

(Sad. He was so young.)

Not too long ago, I wrote a piece about six of th e worst possible opponents debuting UFC fighters have drawn in the past. As I predicted, it was almost universally panned by you Taters, but if I could update the article today, a feller by the name of Lucas “Mineiro” — which I can only assume means “Marked for Death” in Portuguese – Martins would be included somewhere on that list. Because now that Justin Salas has withdrawn from his UFC on FX 7 fight with Edson Barboza, the UFC’s matchmaking department has thrown the poor bastard pictured above into the octagon on short notice in Salas’ place (for his UFC debut, no less), presumably with a steak tied around his neck and a guaranteed bed at the nearest hospital.

Martins record may currently stand at a perfect 10-0, but the combined record of his opponents is just 27-24. Adding to that is the fact that he’ll be taking on an Edson Barboza that is on the heels of his first professional loss and will likely be looking to reestablish himself as a top lightweight via Martins’ untimely destruction. So yeah, expect this one to go down in roughly the same fashion as the Anglo-Zanzibar War or Michael Bisping on his prom night, which is to say, quickly. I just pray the EMT’s have a fisherman’s net handy to catch Martins’ head when it is inevitably removed from his shoulders via Barboza’s robot thunderlegs. Because casual MMA fans are judgmental and easily impressionable to boot, and we wouldn’t want them to witness how backwards and barbaric the sport we love truly is while discussing the fiscal cliff over black garlic-rubbed salmon croquettes and strawberry-infused champagne, the yuppie bastards.

Sorry, I’ve been watching a shitload of Iron Chef lately. But if you think I’m just being presumptive here, feel free to correct me in the comments section. Go ahead. Do it.

UFC on FX 7 goes down on January 19th in Rio and features a headlining middleweight matchup between Michael Bisping and Vitor Belfort.

–J. Jones