What seemed like a slow week in MMA — quickly turned into a busy one — so let’s get right into it:
UFC Fight Night
UFC Fight Night: Machida vs. Mousasi had mixed reviews by fans, with some saying it was boring and others enjoying the technical main event between middleweights Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida and Gegard Mousasasi.
It was a great technical fight; Machida used his speed and distance to outpoint the dangerous Mousasi, but exciting it wasn’t: the fight went the full five rounds with neither fighter hurt.
10 out of the 12 fights ended in decisions, with the only finishes coming when Brazilian Erick Silva took out UFC newcomer Takenori Sato and Charles Oliveira submitting Andy Ogle. The co-main event saw fan favorite Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza outpoint George St. Pierre’s teammate Francis Carmont in a three round battle that Jacare almost finished via rear naked choke. (Here’s a pic with GSP at McDonald’s in Brazil…What?)
Bellator signs El Nino
It’s no secret now that Bellator has made a multi-fight, multi-year contract offer to Gilbert “El Nino” Melendez and that he has signed the offer sheet. Question is, will the UFC match their rival’s offer?
For more info on this, read this to see if Melendez should be signed.
Evans Out
Shortly after the UFC 170 conference call, former UFC light heavyweight cham-pion Rashad Evans pulled out of his co-main even fight with Daniel Cormier due to an undisclosed injury. I was extremely disappointed when I heard the news, as this was the fight I was looking forward to the most, with the injury putting Evans out four weeks.
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This was to be Cormier’s first fight at light heavyweight and instead of waiting for Evans, Cormier asked UFC President Dana White for another fight. The UFC was initially going to cancel the fight, but in a weird twist, Patrick Cummins, an un-known fighter with a 4-0 record (against competition that has gone 9-19) said he would fight “D.C.” via Twitter and the UFC decided to sign Cummins to take on the AKA star.
A mismatch of a fight, so if you’re betting on the fights this weekend, my pick of the week would be Cormier by Mortal Combat — “Finish him…”
Sonnen vs. Silva moves down south
The co-main event of UFC 173, a bout with Chael Sonnen and Wanderlei Silva has been moved — to Silva’s home country of Brazil. Sonnen has been calling out Silva the past couple years, and the two are currently coaches on TUF Brazil. It will be interesting to see how Sonnen will be received by Brazilians at the event. In the midst of Sonnen’s rematch with Anderson Silva in 2012, he referred to Brazil-ians as “playing in the mud, while me and my friends were working on the latest in American ingenuity.”
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UFC stands up against racism
The UFC has said it will not sign TUF Nations prospect Australian Tyler Manawaroa after the 19-year-old’s Instagram was discovered to have a derogatory picture and tagline depicting black people. Manawaroa quickly apologized via Twitter, but it was too little too late as the UFC said it would not sign him to any contract with the promotion.
Dutchman jonesing for a fight against WWE star
After Alistair Overeem’s decision victory over Frank Mir at UFC 169, the heavyweight called out Brock Lesnar in his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan. This seemed a bit odd since Lesnar is back in his starring role with the WWE and has no contract with the UFC.
ESPN reported that Dana White offered Overeem a fight with former UFC light heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos, but the Dutchman turned him down.
“I bet you his rib wouldn’t be hurt if we got Brock Lesnar,” Dana White said. “I bet you his rib would be fine, then.”
Whew! That’s it for this week’s MMA Update, but keep it here as TVMix covers UFC 170: Rousey vs. McMann live!
David Kano is lead writer for MMA Show News and co-host of The Hollywood MMA Show. You can follow him on Twitter @TheDKano.
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