Chael is by self admission too beat up to do a camp AND has been banned from competing for 30 days to heal that cut Nate gave him.
I think there's enough time to find a replacement but who? No Hendo, no Sonnen, no Okami (thanks to Sonnen), that leaves us with... a 205 superfight instead?
Akiyama might be the only available middleweight...he fought last July and hasn't even been rumored for a fight since, so he should be as fresh as a daisy.
Kirk, crackers are a family food. Happy families. Maybe single people eat crackers, we don't know. Frankly, we don't want to know. It's a market we can do without.
Originally posted by Big BadAkiyama might be the only available middleweight...he fought last July and hasn't even been rumored for a fight since, so he should be as fresh as a daisy.
1. That's even more egregious line jumping than Belfort.
2. He may be Asia's gift to women, but he's a welterweight who doesn't know it yet. The person next to me in the bar asked if the Belcher fight was catchweight.
Dana's sworn that Anderson's atill fighting at 185 at the card (and presumably, defending the strap). He won't say who it's against, which to me means one of two options:
1, the more likely: they don't know yet 2, the less likely: it's Sonnen, and they won't announce it until his medical suspension is up.
Either way, another clusterfuck that wouldn't have happened if Anderson hadn't been such a roadblock about defending the strap in the first place.
Originally posted by CarlCXDana's sworn that Anderson's atill fighting at 185 at the card (and presumably, defending the strap). He won't say who it's against, which to me means one of two options:
1, the more likely: they don't know yet 2, the less likely: it's Sonnen, and they won't announce it until his medical suspension is up.
Either way, another clusterfuck that wouldn't have happened if Anderson hadn't been such a roadblock about defending the strap in the first place.
The suspension's up in early March, right? That would still give them a month to promote it I guess, so it's not impossible. Whether Sonnen would want to take a fight on relatively short notice against Anderson Silva is probably another matter. It sure wouldn't seem the smartest thing he could do.
At 185 Akiyama might actually be about their best option. Which is to say, they don't really have any good options.
Originally posted by J KyleI fear an intervention is in Rich Franklin's future.
Well that sucks. I wonder if high level fighters are getting injured more often nowadays, or if coaches and trainers are starting to recognize that fighters shouldn't be going in at anything less than 100%. Either way, this has been a crappy 6 months or so for UFC matchmaking.
Lloyd: When I met Mary, I got that old fashioned romantic feeling, where I'd do anything to bone her. Harry: That's a special feeling.
Demian Maia, come on down. (mmajunkie.com) This...bothers me, mostly because it means the universe played right into Anderson's hands. They wanted the fight with unproven, easily-outstruck Maia beforehand, and talked down Marquardt and Hendo to try to get it, and even talked down Vitor, and now, they get the fight they wanted in the first place.
Originally posted by CarlCX Demian Maia, come on down. (mmajunkie.com) This...bothers me, mostly because it means the universe played right into Anderson's hands. They wanted the fight with unproven, easily-outstruck Maia beforehand, and talked down Marquardt and Hendo to try to get it, and even talked down Vitor, and now, they get the fight they wanted in the first place.
Welp, good luck, Maia. You're gonna need it.
Maia's incredible, but (to say this kindly) his stand up is a work in progress.
I'd always assumed Leites and Cote getting shots was someone at Zuffa's fault but this is disheartening to those who've tried to defend Anderson when people said he/his people were ducking fights for whatever reason. Fight at 205 or give Chael a month, c'mon.
No one short of Hendo/Nate should take this fight on such short notice. Even Jacare (who's Maia-now with standup!) wouldn't be ready at this point or at such short notice.
I really, really, hope Demian remembers that The Spider won't give you a rematch unless you're Rich Franklin. When (if?) he loses this there's no second title shot until after Silva abdicates or loses.
Just a bad day for MMA news.
But at least Mousasi's been emancipated right? See you in 2 years Gegard!
The Cote fight was actually supposed to go to Yushin Okami--but before they could get serious about promoting it Okami broke his hand, and out of desperation and the strength of a five-fight winning streak, Cote got slotted in. I have to agree that this fight is pretty wonky, but Anderson's been a tremendous bitch to work with, so I suppose they want to strike while they can. As I recall, he only planned to fight in the UFC two or three more times before retiring anyway. If/when he does take off, there's going to be a big, hilarious power struggle at the upper echelons of the division, given Marquardt, Sonnen, Okami, Maia, Franklin and possibly even GSP. It'll get interesting.
If Maia can in fact get any sort of control on the ground, this could be an extremely interesting fight--it's the only place Anderson's ever looked vulnerable, and if Maia was good enough to beat Jacare and hang with Marcelo, he can take advantage.
That being said, if he can't, it's not going to be much of a challenge.
I'm picturing Hendo sitting at home staring at his Strikeforce contract asking himself why he left the UFC, as the fight he so desperately wanted would have likely fallen right into his lap...
Originally posted by CarlCXIf/when he does take off, there's going to be a big, hilarious power struggle at the upper echelons of the division, given Marquardt, Sonnen, Okami, Maia, Franklin and possibly even GSP.
All you'd need is Hendo back and I'd thoroughly expect Rich or Nate to dominate as the only two strikers in the top 10 of the newly renamed Wrestlemania division.
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