Thursday, January 13th, 2011 :
Well, I've taken a few days off, but I have returned (faster than the 6 months I took last break!). Anyway, a lot of things have happened in the past few days, including :
-It appears that Brock Lesnar isn't done with the UFC, at least not for the time being. Through a conference call on Tuesday, UFC president Dana White has confirmed that the next coaches for "The Ultimate Fighter" season 13 (which was rumored to feature both welterweights and lightweights but will now more likely be 170-ers), will be the former UFC heavyweight champ and #1 contender Junior Dos Santos, who will fight at UFC 131, as reported by MMAJunkie.
This is clearly another attempt by the UFC to cash in on Lesnar's huge marketing potential, as now he's not the champ and its easy to assume that him being on the flagship show of the company will no doubt equal huge ratings. Like him or hate him, you'll tune in on Wednesday nights just to see how he fares as a coach. Well, let's be honest he can't be any worse than Rampage when he was a coach with Rashad Evans!
The early Vegas lines have Dos Santos as a favourite at -155.
-Speaking of UFC 131, It has been announced by numerous MMA outlets that this card will happen on Canada's West Coast, at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, B.C., Interesting considering the City council's 180 on the sport after last summer's UFC 115. Perhaps a lot of discussions will concern this with the UFC brass and the municipal government of the area in the coming weeks ahead.
-Ultimate Fight Night bout has title implications for Hominick
During the conference call, White also announced that Mark Hominick will be the #1 contender for the newly created UFC featherweight title against kingpin Jose "Junior" Aldo. The likely venue for this will be UFC 129, which, if you've been living under a rock for the last little while, will take place at the Rogers Centre in Toronto on April 30th. However (there's always a catch, isn't there), it will mean Hominick must win his fight against Team Tompkins teammate George Roop at Ultimate Fight Night 23 : Fight for the Troops 2 next Saturday, January 22nd from Fort Hood, Texas.
As a Hominick fan (I've met him in person at MMA day last May at Queen's Park in Toronto), I always want to see him do well. His counter punching and crisp boxing will make him a tough out for anybody. That being said, Jose Aldo is a dominant featherweight and it will be a tough night for Mark if he is to pull off the upset.
-Injuries pile up for UFC champions.
You kids at home may think its all roses and sunshine to be a top MMA champ, but ask Mauricio "Shogun" Rua the sacrifices you have to make. He's battled knee injuries the last few years, and is just going to fight Rashad Evans in March after being out for the better part of a year.
Cain Velasquez won the Heavyweight title but will be out for up to 8 months with a rotator cuff injury suffered in his win against Lesnar. Now you can add Bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz to that list. The 135 pound kingpin is set to have surgery on his index finger and will be out for up to 6 months recovering, as reported by MMANews.
Geez, these guys are dropping like flies. Cal Ripken would be ashamed :P
Pettis will fight again
-It appears that Anthony Pettis won't sit back and wait to see who the winner of the Edgar-Maynard rubber match before he fights again. MMAJunkie reported that the WEC 155 lb. kingpin will fight in the springtime against an opponent yet to be named.
My pick? Clay Guida or....Tyson Griffin.
-Fighters bring heavy hype in regards to Strikeforce GP.
So i'm surfing on MMAJunkie, and this stuff I'm reading in regards to the upcoming Grand Prix in Strikeforce is astounding. Alistair Overeem saying he can prove he's "The best fighter in the World" by winning, Josh Barnett (who's not going to show up at the drama that is his appeal for his suspension by the California State Athletic Commission granting him a license that's been going on for almost 2 years) saying whomever wins this tournament will be better than UFC champ Cain Velasquez, and last but not least, Brett Rogers saying this tournament will signal his "return to the top".
First of all, Overeem is in a tournament with 2 men who've already beaten him in this thing. He markets himself well, but let's get real. I'd want to see him fight, and dominate people the way he did Rogers before I say he's in the top...3 heavyweights in the world. Did you hear that, Mr. Barnett? whomever wins this tournament is in the top 3, but in no way shape or form can he be on the top of the mountain unless he's in the UFC. As for Brett Rogers, I wonder if the fight with Fedor gave him a little TOO much confidence. Up until his one round showing against "The Last Emperor", The only thing people remembered him for was his post fight scrum with Kimbo Slice after the first EliteXC on CBS. You'd figure that decimation against Overeem would stifle that swagger, but a fight with Ruben "Warpath" Villareal (who's best remembered as the guy Bas Rutten roughed up in his final fight) in Halifax boosted his morale again. Yeah I can see where this confidence is coming from.
Questions, Comments? want to get back to me? email me at mmarmaggeddon@gmail.com or feel free to tweet me at twitter.com/mmarmaggedon
Until next time, fight fans!
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