The MMA News Report 01.09.08
Posted by Morgan Marx on 01.09.2008
Additions and subtractions to both UFC 81 and UFC 82, MMA and Dana White in Boston, which Mario Party character will Luke Cummo be fighting, and where will Diego Sanchez be spending 2008. We’re chock full of news in the Wednesday News Report!
INTRODUCTION
It's an all news addition of the column, as a number of fight updates and news notes have broken in the last few days.
NEWS LEG KICKS
We're running through numerous fight updates that have either been acknowledged by the UFC or confirmed by one or more of the rumored participants. Starting with UFC 81…
UFC 81 Fight Additions
Leites out, Marquardt's status unknown UFC.com is reporting that middleweight contender Thales Leites has been forced to withdraw from the card with a broken hand. Leites is set to undergo surgery this week. It remains to be seen whether the UFC will have enough time to find a replacement. Leites' scheduled opponent, Nate Marquardt, is looking to put his name back among the title contenders after a disappointing loss to Anderson Silva.
Ricardo Almeida returns against Alan Belcher Almeida, widely considered one of the top grapplers at 185, is returning to the UFC just when the division is desperate for challengers. Though Almeida's UFC record is a pedestrian 1-2 (with losses to Matt Lindland and Andrei Semenov), Almeida has successfully beaten the likes of Nate Marquardt, Kazuo Misaki, and Yuki Sasaki abroad. Belcher should be an interesting test. Almeida will be facing a large, athletic fighter with good striking technique. Belcher only has one submission loss to his name, but whether he can hang on the ground with a Renzo Gracie trained black-belt will be the story of the fight.
Tyson Griffin back on the main card fighting Gleison Tibau With Thales Leites dropping off the card, it looks like this enticing match-up of lightweights will take its place on the televised portion of the show. Apparently, Griffin will never be given a lay-up fight. After running through Clay Guida and Thiago Tavares (and dropping a razor thin decision to Frankie Edgar), Griffin now gets to test himself against an American Top Team BJJ specialist in Tibau. Gleison went undefeated in 2007, winning four straight fights (3 in the UFC). Griffin handled Tavares, another jiu jitsu fighter, somewhat easily with his powerhouse wrestling. But Tibau is bigger and can strike. It should be another tremendous lightweight battle.
Heath, Emerson round out the card Two men trying to put controversial defeats behind them will finish out the UFC 81 card. David Heath is coming off two losses to fighters he matched up poorly with, including the infamous submission loss to Renato Sobral. At UFC 81, Heath will take on Tomasz Drwal, someone he should be able to brawl with. Drwal is known for standing and trading with his opponents. Heath will probably relish the prospect of coming into a fight as the superior grappler for a change. Similarly, TUF veteran Rob Emerson is hoping to rebound from the bizarre double KO that occurred against Gray Maynard. Emerson may also have to answer questions about his bouts with the Orange County Sheriff's Department. For full details, head Here. Emerson will be taking on Keita Nakamura, who's looking to score his first UFC win.
Kongo to Face Herring at UFC 82? Let's just consider it a strong rumor at this point. MMAmania is reporting that French kickboxer Cheik Kongo will fight next at UFC 82 in Ohio. Kongo, who was mentioned as a possible title contender, may be fighting former Pride fighter Heath Herring. Semi-confirmation of this fight came from Kongo's trainer, Juanito Ibarra, though a finalized contract has not been signed. Should the fight take place, it's an interesting match-up. Herring has not had the success he probably imagined when he jumped to the UFC. But his near-miss knockout of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira served as reminder that Herring is very talented. In Kongo, he'll be fighting someone with a shaky ground game and a stand-up style that should play into Herring's favor. Also, Kongo won't be able to bully Herring around as he did the much smaller Mirko Filipovic. If ever Heath Herring was going to resurrect his UFC title hopes, this could be the fight.
Luke Cummo v. Luigi Fioravanti One of the UFC's most interesting characters will be taking on a fighter looking to regain lost momentum. Luke Cummo announced via a picture of Super Mario Brothers characters on his personal website that he will be taking on the hard-hitting Luigi Fioravanti at UFC 82. Fioravanti lost his last two UFC outings before posting a win outside the company in July. Cummo is 3-2 in the UFC, but coming off two straight impressive victories by TKO/KO. I highly recommend checking out Cummo's website for an interesting look inside the training methods of a unique character.
In a somewhat vague Myspace posting, Diego Sanchez made clear some of his goals for the upcoming year. Of most interest to fight fans is probably Sanchez's decision to stay at welterweight. After consecutive losses to AKA teammates Josh Koscheck and Jon Fitch, many assumed that Sanchez would have a better go of it at lightweight. Instead, Sanchez will remain in a division dominated by Georges St-Pierre, with Fitch emerging as a possibly future titleholder. Sanchez once looked like a possible contender himself, but now must rebuild his reputation.
While many people recommended the drop to 155, it's not like Sanchez would have immediately been a top contender. Sanchez's destruction of Kenny Florian, a lightweight title challenger, at the maiden TUF finale seemed to suggest that Sanchez would be a beast at 155. But with the addition of fighters like Frankie Edgar, Tyson Griffin, Joe Stevenson and a much improved Florian (not to mention welterweight stalwarts BJ Penn and Sean Sherk) once could argue that 155 contains more top level fighters than 170. It may prove to be a more prudent decision for Sanchez to stay at 170, where three wins could earn you a title shot. After GSP and Serra fight for the true welterweight belt, Karo Parisyan and Fitch seem to be the next in line for title shots. But after those fights, someone will need to fight GSP. Perhaps Sanchez will find himself waiting to fill the spot.
Dan Lauzon, Dana White, and UFC Fighters to Appear at WCF Show in Boston
World Championship Fighting is putting on its next show in the metro-Boston area on February 8th. The scheduled headliner pits UFC veteran (and brother of Joe Lauzon) Dan Lauzon against 5-1 Nate Lamotte. Lauzon dropped his lone UFC fight to Spencer Fisher and has since won three straight fights. WCF is also reporting that a score of UFC personalities will make appearances at the event, most notably Boston's own Dana White. White typically does not promote rival MMA organizations, so his acknowledgment of the event is interesting. UFC fighters (and New England residents) Marcus Davis, Kenny Florian, and Jorge Rivera will also be in attendance.
