By
Anthony De Franco 
November 25, 2009, at 6:00 pm
My god. This was ridiculous months ago. Now it’s just getting to the point where I don’t know if there is a healthy heavyweight left on the roster. From Cagewriter:
The hits keep coming for the UFC, Dana White and matchmaker Joe Silva. The fellas have to scrounge up a quality heavyweight to fight Junior Dos Santos Jan. 2 in Las Vegas at UFC 108. Sources with the UFC confirmed that Gabriel Gonzaga is off the card because of staph infection.
Gonzaga (15-4, 7-3 UFC) last fought Chris Tuchsherer at UFC 102 in August. He’s won 3-of-4 fights. Dos Santos, 25, is unbeaten in the UFC. The promotion will wait until after Thanksgiving to come up with a list of candidates to replace Gonzaga. It’s slim pickings at the top of the UFC heavyweight food chain right now. The most logical choice would be Cain Velasquez, who just lost his opportunity to fight on the card against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Big Nog is also out with staph.
The reason why this really sucks for the UFC is what Steve mentioned in the last paragraph. The thing that makes the most sense is to have Dos Santos fight Cain Velasquez. However, think about exactly what that means: One of your two best heavyweight prospects is going to lose that fight and be forced to build himself back up before he gets anywhere near the winner of Lesnar-Carwin.
If this keeps up, the UFC is going to start being in serious danger of having plenty of cards in the new year without championship fights on them. Hell, they might not even be able to have any kind of name fight on them.
How far away are we from Kampmann-Condit II headlining a pay-per-view?
By
Anthony De Franco November 25, 2009, at 5:25 pm
Looks like everyone’s favorite Long Island based fighter is getting back in the cage for the UFC.
Matt Serra has announced that he is taking on Frank Trigg at UFC 109. Here’s the news from MMA Weekly:
Matt Serra on Wednesday confirmed his next fight, posting on his official facebook page that he has signed to fight Frank Trigg on Feb. 6 at UFC 109. The event is scheduled for the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
“Signed to fight Frank Trigg on Feb. 6 in Vegas (UFC). Should be an exciting fight!!!” wrote Serra. “I love the UFC… they keep hooking me up with the most arrogant guys to punch in the face!!!”
Serra (9-6) is currently on a two-fight skid, losing the UFC welterweight title to Georges St-Pierre and then dropping a decision to former champion Matt Hughes in May of this year. He is 1-2 in the Octagon since making his return via “The Ultimate Fighter 4: The Comeback.” Serra was granted a title shot for winning the reality series, taking full advantage by taking the belt from St-Pierre before losing it in their rematch.
Trigg (19-7) made his return to the Octagon at UFC 103 in Dallas, where he quickly suffered a TKO loss to Josh Koscheck in the opening round. Having captured titles in many smaller organizations, he is currently 37 years old and making what is likely his last run at success in the UFC.
This is a matchup between two veterans who desperately need this fight. Serra is coming off a loss to Matt Hughes that he claims he won, but I think he was a little delusional. Trigg is coming off a loss to a top five welterweight in Josh Koscheck where he thinks that the fight was stopped early.
This is a fight where you have two guys whose base arts are on the ground. If Trigg was to take Serra down, could “The Terror” use his excellent BJJ to submit him? Sure. Could Trigg put enough pressure on Serra to grind out a decision? Probably.
For whatever reason, I see this fight staying on the feet, and I see Trigg outclassing Serra in a decision.
That being said, I love both these guys and wish them the best of luck.
By
Anthony De Franco November 25, 2009, at 2:58 pm
This fight just got a whole lot more interesting.
Wanderlei Silva went from taking on a little known Japanese star to fighting Britain’s MMA poster boy in the span of a few short days.
From MMA Weekly:
Wanderlei Silva and Michael Bisping have verbally agreed to meet at UFC 110, MMAWeekly.com confirmed Tuesday evening with sources close to the fight.
The news was first reported Monday by Fighters Only.
UFC 110 is slated for Feb. 23 at Acer Arena in Sydney, Australia, though the event has yet to be confirmed by the promotion.
Until news of the match-up broke, Silva was originally expected headline the down under event with Yoshihiro Akiyama. The Japanese star’s fate is unknown at this time. Silva vs. Bisping is expected to be a co-main event.
Silva (32-10-1) last fought in January at UFC 93, losing a unanimous decision to Rich Franklin in a 195-pound catchweight fight. Silva disagreed with the call and said he would like to rematch the former middleweight champion down the line.
Following the fight, Silva underwent surgery to reduce scar tissue around his eyes and took the second half of 2009 off.
There are a ton of interesting story lines to talk about around this fight. Is Bisping completely back from his defeat at the hands of Dan Henderson? Will the knockout effect his chin long term? Speaking of chis, how will Wanderlei’s facial surgery effect his ability to take a punch? Will he have problems cutting down to his new weight class?
Most of all, Does Silva have anything left?
We’ll find out in Australia.
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