(I believe that’s the universal puppy expression for “get me away from this crazy fucker.” / Photo via: sportv.globo.com)
World Series of Fighting took a major risk by putting Paulo Filho on the main card of its “Arlovski vs. Johnson” event this Saturday. Eccentric at best and tragically troubled at worst, the Brazilian cautionary tale has suffered countless career setbacks due to drug addiction, emotional breakdowns, and simple clerical errors. So maybe we should start preparing for the possibility that his scheduled match against David Branch might not happen. Let’s just call it a hunch — a hunch based on the fact that Filho missed his flight to Atlantic City on Tuesday due to a panic attack.
MMAFighting passed along that news last night, adding the following: “On Wednesday, though, Filho confirmed that he was on a plane headed to New Jersey, so as of Wednesday night, the Filho vs. Branch fight is still on.” Oh, Filho confirmed it? Well, then. Crisis averted. I’m sure he’s not hiding in an underground bunker somewhere deep within the Amazon rainforest, surrounded by boxes and boxes of sleeveless flannel shirts.
We’ll keep you posted if we hear more. I think at this point, a blown weigh-in and distracted performance would be a best-case scenario. The smart money’s still on “no-show,” though.
(I believe that’s the universal puppy expression for “get me away from this crazy fucker.” / Photo via: sportv.globo.com)
World Series of Fighting took a major risk by putting Paulo Filho on the main card of its “Arlovski vs. Johnson” event this Saturday. Eccentric at best and tragically troubled at worst, the Brazilian cautionary tale has suffered countless career setbacks due to drug addiction, emotional breakdowns, and simple clerical errors. So maybe we should start preparing for the possibility that his scheduled match against David Branch might not happen. Let’s just call it a hunch — a hunch based on the fact that Filho missed his flight to Atlantic City on Tuesday due to a panic attack.
MMAFighting passed along that news last night, adding the following: “On Wednesday, though, Filho confirmed that he was on a plane headed to New Jersey, so as of Wednesday night, the Filho vs. Branch fight is still on.” Oh, Filho confirmed it? Well, then. Crisis averted. I’m sure he’s not hiding in an underground bunker somewhere deep within the Amazon rainforest, surrounded by boxes and boxes of sleeveless flannel shirts.
We’ll keep you posted if we hear more. I think at this point, a blown weigh-in and distracted performance would be a best-case scenario. The smart money’s still on “no-show,” though.
“World Series of Fighting” President and kickboxing legend, Ray Sefo, spoke with The Fight Nerd earlier today at “8 Bit & Up Video Games” at 35 St. Mark’s Place, NYC. Sefo was there to promote this weekend’s WSOF 2 event, headlined by Andrei Arlovski VS Anthony Johnson. We discuss how this match got put together and what has driven this new version of Andrei Arlovski that fans are seeing now, as well as the return of Paulo Filho and the epic lightweight showdown between Tyson Nam and Marlon Moraes.
We also talk about the new fighters signed into the company, Jon Fitch, Jacob Volkmann, and Jorge Santiago, and the longterm plans of the company. Sefo announces that there are plans not only for a championship soon, but a Grand Prix tournament in 2014, as well as international plans to travel, and more!
“World Series of Fighting” President and kickboxing legend, Ray Sefo, spoke with The Fight Nerd earlier today at “8 Bit & Up Video Games” at 35 St. Mark’s Place, NYC. Sefo was there to promote this weekend’s WSOF 2 event, headlined by Andrei Arlovski VS Anthony Johnson. We discuss how this match got put together and what has driven this new version of Andrei Arlovski that fans are seeing now, as well as the return of Paulo Filho and the epic lightweight showdown between Tyson Nam and Marlon Moraes.
We also talk about the new fighters signed into the company, Jon Fitch, Jacob Volkmann, and Jorge Santiago, and the longterm plans of the company. Sefo announces that there are plans not only for a championship soon, but a Grand Prix tournament in 2014, as well as international plans to travel, and more!
(“Why yes, I did smell what The Rock was cooking. In fact, I went back for seconds. Why do you ask?”)
“Anthony Johnson is trying to shed the tarnish of being one of the best welterweights in the world…that couldn’t make the weight.”
In the opening moments of the extended preview for this weekend’s second World Series of Fighting event, we are informed of the above dilemma facing former UFC contender Anthony Johnson by a silky-voiced narrator — over a melancholic piano soundtrack of course, because emotions. And while this bit of info would usually serve as the precursor to an inspiring tale of Johnson’s welterweight redemption, it kind of loses its pop when you realize that Johnson is now fighting at upwards of 50 pounds heavier than he was in the UFC.
But it is Johnson’s horizontal expansion that takes center stage in the above preview, understandably yet somewhat still puzzlingly juxtaposed with Andrei Arlovski’s own tale of hopeful redemption. It’s a shame that Dana White has already publicly written off the fight as “not legit,” or the (implied) idea that we could see “The Pitbull” back in the UFC would probably hold a lot more water in the above preview. Ditto for the idea that Arlovski could do so by beating up a former welterweight who has been fighting at light heavyweight for less than a year now. Then again, if you’re like Sherdog’s Jordan Breen, who is also featured in the video, you probably think “weight classes” and “champions” of said “weight classes” are meaningless restrictions meant for little more than depriving MMA fans for the fights they truly want to see (SUPER HLUK TOURNEY NEVER DIE!).
Featuring some highlights of Johnson and Arlovski crushing their respective cans at WSoF 1, as well as the aforementioned interviews with everyone from Eddie Alvarez to renowned trainer Mike Winkeljohn, check out an extended preview of WSoF 2 after the jump, along with a full rundown of the card.
(“Why yes, I did smell what The Rock was cooking. In fact, I went back for seconds. Why do you ask?”)
“Anthony Johnson is trying to shed the tarnish of being one of the best welterweights in the world…that couldn’t make the weight.”
In the opening moments of the extended preview for this weekend’s second World Series of Fighting event, we are informed of the above dilemma facing former UFC contender Anthony Johnson by a silky-voiced narrator — over a melancholic piano soundtrack of course, because emotions. And while this bit of info would usually serve as the precursor to an inspiring tale of Johnson’s welterweight redemption, it kind of loses its pop when you realize that Johnson is now fighting at upwards of 50 pounds heavier than he was in the UFC.
But it is Johnson’s horizontal expansion that takes center stage in the above preview, understandably yet somewhat still puzzlingly juxtaposed with Andrei Arlovski’s own tale of hopeful redemption. It’s a shame that Dana White has already publicly written off the fight as “not legit,” or the (implied) idea that we could see “The Pitbull” back in the UFC would probably hold a lot more water in the above preview. Ditto for the idea that Arlovski could do so by beating up a former welterweight who has been fighting at light heavyweight for less than a year now. Then again, if you’re like Sherdog’s Jordan Breen, who is also featured in the video, you probably think “weight classes” and “champions” of said “weight classes” are meaningless restrictions meant for little more than depriving MMA fans for the fights they truly want to see (SUPER HLUK TOURNEY NEVER DIE!).
Featuring some highlights of Johnson and Arlovski crushing their respective cans at WSoF 1, as well as the aforementioned interviews with everyone from Eddie Alvarez to renowned trainer Mike Winkeljohn, check out an extended preview of WSoF 2 after the jump, along with a full rundown of the card.
Date: March 23, 2013
Location: Atlantic City, N.J.
Venue: Revel Atlantic City
Broadcast: NBC Sports Network
MAIN CARD (NBC Sports Network, 9:30 p.m. ET)
-Andrei Arlovski vs. Anthony Johnson
-Marlon Moraes vs. Tyson Nam
-Josh Burkman vs. Aaron Simpson
-Dave Branch vs. Paulo Filho
-Gesias Cavalcante vs. Justin Gaethje
PRELIMINARY CARD (Untelevised, 7 p.m. ET)
-Kris McCray vs. Danillo Villefort
-Igor Gracie vs. Richard Patishnock
-Cameron Dollar vs. Waylon Lowe
-Ozzy Dugulubgov vs. Chris Wade
-Rick Glenn vs. Alexandre Pimentel
World Series of Fighting announced today that it will deliver a stacked, world-class Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fight card, headlined by a heavyweight showdown between superstars Andrei “The Pitbull” Arlovski (19-9) of Minsk, Belarus and Anthony “Rumble” Johnson (15-3) of Boca Raton, Fla., at Ovation Hall at Revel in Atlantic City, N.J. on Saturday, March 23, live on NBC Sports Network.
In the bantamweight (135 pounds) co-main event, red-hot 29-year-old star Tyson Nam (12-4) of Portland, Ore. will face off with two-time national Muay Thai champion and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu brown belt Marlon Moraes (9-4) of Jupiter, Fla. via Nova Friburgo, Brazil.
World Series of Fighting announced today that it will deliver a stacked, world-class Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fight card, headlined by a heavyweight showdown between superstars Andrei “The Pitbull” Arlovski (19-9) of Minsk, Belarus and Anthony “Rumble” Johnson (15-3) of Boca Raton, Fla., at Ovation Hall at Revel in Atlantic City, N.J. on Saturday, March 23, live on NBC Sports Network.
In the bantamweight (135 pounds) co-main event, red-hot 29-year-old star Tyson Nam (12-4) of Portland, Ore. will face off with two-time national Muay Thai champion and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu brown belt Marlon Moraes (9-4) of Jupiter, Fla. via Nova Friburgo, Brazil.
The Fight Nerd caught up with BJJ black belt Igor Gracie at the Renzo Gracie Academy in Manhattan, NY, to preview his upcoming bout against Richard Patishnock at “World Series of Fighting 2”, which is scheduled for March 23 in New Jersey. We spoke about what he expects from his opponent, what has happened since Igor’s last fight in ONE FC, what his deal is with WSOF, training Ottavia Bourdain (Anthony Bourdain’s wife), his opinion on the Lloyd Irvin scandal and why it’s more important than ever for women to learn BJJ, and his thoughts on who will win the WSOF 2 main event between Andrei Arlovski and Anthony “Rumble” Johnson.
The Fight Nerd caught up with BJJ black belt Igor Gracie at the Renzo Gracie Academy in Manhattan, NY, to preview his upcoming bout against Richard Patishnock at “World Series of Fighting 2″, which is scheduled for March 23 in New Jersey. We spoke about what he expects from his opponent, what has happened since Igor’s last fight in ONE FC, what his deal is with WSOF, training Ottavia Bourdain (Anthony Bourdain’s wife), his opinion on the Lloyd Irvin scandal and why it’s more important than ever for women to learn BJJ, and his thoughts on who will win the WSOF 2 main event between Andrei Arlovski and Anthony “Rumble” Johnson.
