Hi guys, hope everybody (in Ontario and other places) enjoyed their long weekend. It was Family Day out here in a few provinces in Canada, and President's Day down in the US (Geez, it always seems there's a long weekend down there!). Anyway, let's get into what's really on everybody's mind :
-Tito Ortiz has been scrapped as a competitor in the UFC's first visit to the Pacific Northwest on March 24th in Seattle, Washington. ESPN.com/Sherdog was the first to report that "The Huntington Beach Bad Boy" has been forced to pull out of his fight with Antonio Rogerio Noguiera ("Lil Nog") due to a cut which required 22 stitches in training. Due to some matchmaking shuffling, Phil Davis, who was supposed to fight Matt Hammil (originally before he was moved to the UFC 130 main event against Rampage Jackson, who originally was supposed to fight Thiago Silva...but you all know the story there. Still following me?) then was supposed to fight Jason Brilz in Toronto at UFC 129, steps up to take his place. Vladimir Matyushenko will take Davis' spot against Brilz at the event at Rogers Centre.
Seriously, why is Tito prolonging his career? He's been winless in the octagon in 5 years (0-4-1 in his last 5 fights), that last win coming against a (then) 44 year old Ken Shamrock. His career has been on the slide for so long that the biggest story to come out involving him in recent years also involved his live-in girlfriend. He looked flat against Matt Hammil in his last bout and blamed it on training. Back in the days, when UFC was first getting mainstream exposure, people wanted to see him sell a fight...now, nobody wants to even watch him lose. Liddell, as prolonged as his retirement was, graciously stepped aside and decided enough was enough (it probably helped that Dana White was telling him he wasn't going to let him fight anymore). Why doesn't Dana be the bigger man and tell him its over? Is it worth getting his kicks to watch Tito piss away another fight?
Dana said his next fight was a "must win". Now we have to sit and wait to see if (or when) he gets taken out. Moving on :
-UFC 127 goes this weekend in Australia at Sydney's Acer Arena. Honestly, not looking forward to this card. The main event features the Lord of Lay 'N' Pray (Jon Fitch) taking on a man who clearly has more talent in his middle finger than Fitch does his entire body, BJ Penn. The problem is, that Penn relies on his talent a little too much. Dana White says whomever wins this deserves a "title shot" according to MMA Junkie. I see GSP going up in weight, and I see whomever wins this fight as the best Welterweight in the world (that includes Jake Shields!)
-Cain Velasquez seems to be keeping himself busy. Interviewing on MMAJunkie radio Monday, he said that despite the fact that he's abuzz (as is the rest of the MMA world) with excitement over the Strikeforce World Grand Prix its impossible to actually determine who is the #1 heavyweight in the world, because they all have to be under one banner for it to really be determined.
We won't know unless we get in the same organization," Velasquez told MMA Junkie Radio. "Who's to say that I'm No. 1 or they're No. 1 if we haven't fought yet?".
He also went onto say he was a little shocked by the loss of Fedor, and that he's always been an "undersized" heavyweight.
Hate to break it to Cain, but with these landmasses coming in, he's just as undersized as "The Last Emperor". Giving up 40 pounds to Lesnar blew your shoulder blade out, Cain. But you still won.
-Speaking of Fedor, it seems that I'm a little hypocritical. I really thought the man once the best in the world was officially done after his loss to "Bigfoot" Silva. Now according to several MMA media outlets, he's coming back. A report from ESPN.com/Sherdog said he "rushed his retirement too quickly" and that he's capable "of a few more fights".
Of course, these aren't actually Fedor speaking. These are "sources" close to Fedor (Read : Vladimir Finklestein's cronies). I hated Brett Favre for doing this to NFL fans 3 years in a row, and now if Fedor does this after every loss, i'm going to jump off his bandwagon I've been riding on for so many years. The report also goes onto say a fight between the loser of the 1st round match between Alistair Overeem and Fabricio Werdum in April seems likely.
Honestly, after seeing Bigfoot Silva pummel Fedor to the mat like he did, do i really want to see Overeem mount Fedor and drop him too? M-1 Global has tarnished this mans legacy; In 2008, I wanted to see him fight Randy Couture. Bad. To the point of pain. Now, all I want him to do is come back with a fury and show us why he was great for so long.
Well, that's my snide. Questions? Comments? Are you either Tito Ortiz or Vladimir Finklestein reading this and want to rip my head off? Get back to me mmarmaggeddon@gmail.com
Until next time, Fight Fans!
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