Do not worry DirecTV subscribers, you won’t miss the best free card the UFC has ever offered this Sunday night.
Just days before the event, The satellite TV company came to terms after a long standoff with the Versus network. Now, if you had Versus before the blackout, you’ll have it again, as it remains part of the same package it was offered in before.
CageWriter’s Steve Cofield wonders if “The UFC has Juice” in the situation, and I think that it does in two different ways. First off, this is probably the biggest event ever to air on Versus. Not to offend any hockey fans or Pro Rodeo guys, but the UFC has the mass appeal that Versus needs if they are seriously considering trying to challenge the ESPN throne. I’m sure the people at Versus knew that they had to be willing to make some concessions to get themselves in as many homes as possible before this Sunday.
Also, did the UFC maybe put a little pressure on DirecTV themselves? Yea, probably. Hell, the means justifies the ends here.
Phil Davis is being treated differently than just about any prospect in the history of the UFC. His first fight was shown on PPV despite not being a terribly exciting contest. He was at the post-fight presser alongside names like Chael Sonnen, Randy Couture, and Matt Serra. He is being pushed to the moon very early in his bright career.
Another example of that is his next fight. Alexander Gustafsson is a prospect in his own right. He’s 9-0 and won his UFC debut against Jared Hamman by knocking him out in just 41 seconds.
Despite both of these guys being prospects, they will go at it at UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi, according to MMAFrenzy.com:
Phil Davis, fresh off his successful UFC debut at UFC 109, is expected to return to action against Alexander Gustafsson on April 10 in Abu Dhabi, MMAFrenzy.com has confirmed with a source close Gustafsson.
This fight doesn’t make a ton of sense for the UFC. While I never, ever question Joe Silva, it seems to me that it is too early in both careers to be matching these guys up with one another. Unless they have an epic war, one of them is going to lose some luster off their stock. Why do that to two undefeated guys? There has got to be some veteran 205er out there who is not doing anything right now.
As for what the fight will look like, I believe that Davis has serious superstar written all over him. He has simply amazing wrestling, and used it in innovative ways in his last fight with Brian Stann. His standup looked sloppy, and he won’t have much time to really work on it, so expect the gameplan to be to take the swede down and do it quickly.
As for Gustafsson, he will want to stand with the all-American wrestler. He has seven T/KO victories to his credit, and doesn’t want to be on his back at any point.He does have some freestyle wrestling background, but I just can’t imagine it’s anywhere near the level of Davis’. Swedes are too busy playing hockey, and listening to Bjork to learn how to wrestle.
Expect Davis in tougher fight than Stann, but still kind of a walk.
No, I’m not scared of having Ilya Kovalchuk on the Devils for the rest of the season, for a few reasons.
1) The Devils aren’t the Rangers’ competition this year. If he was traded to a team close to the Rangers in the conference standings, then yes, I wouldn’t like it much.
Just got home from the Coliseum a little while ago… WOW. Of all the things I thought I’d see tonight, a 6-0 Islanders win would have been at the very bottom. A perfect performance from the Islanders tonight, and that is no exaggeration. Maybe the bright future of the New York Islanders isn’t as far away as we all thought.
As for the Blueshirts, they lost in the shootout to the Devils. However, by all accounts, this was one of the best games in the entire league this season. Unfortunately, a quick search of the iO Channel Guide does not indicate a replay of this game airing anytime soon, which means that those of us who didn’t see this game missed out on something special. Hopefully, Zach will be by later on or tomorrow to post his thoughts.
In closing, thanks to the Islanders and the Rangers for giving us great performances tonight. Here’s hoping the season’s second half is full of many more nights like this one.
Let me start by saying I’m a Rangers fan. My Grandpa Allan was a season ticket holder in the 60s and 70s; my dad was a huge fan; one of my happiest moments ever was when the Rangers won the Stanley Cup in 1994; I cried when Mark Messier skated his last game in 2004 against the Sabres; I chanted “We Want the Cup” when the Rangers clinched the playoffs in 2008; and I’ve been to every Home Opener since 2006.
That said, those 2 saves by Dwayne Roloson tonight might go down as the best combination of saves this decade.
I can only think of a few better saves off the top of my head: Marty Turco in the playoffs a few years ago; Henrik Lundqvist on Marc Savard in Boston; and someone getting a piece with the shaft of his stick (can’t remember – Craig Anderson?).
But two in succession like that? That’s Patrick Roy-Mike Richter territory. That was unbelievable. Of course, if the 2nd one was counted a goal, we wouldn’t even be talking about it right now, but as it stands, incredible hockey by Dwayne Roloson.
It’s been a crazy couple of days, but my forgetting to post this probably means I’m going to hell. But, let’s be honest, that was probably happening anyway.
Nonetheless, We have another member to our ever expanding family here. One of our tremendous hockey writers, and co-founder of NYHockeyRivalry.com, Bryan Berg welcomed his second daughter into the world on Sunday night!
Logan Ashley Berg, Born 10/18/09, 7lbs, 3 oz.
Congrats go out to Bryan and his wife Cory. Want to get him a gift? Tell the Islanders not to move to KC.
Side note: Best baby joke so far goes to Zach Schiff from a post the other day.
And no, rumors the baby being named Avery Henrika are greatly blown out of proportion.
March 15, 2010, at 4:41 pm
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