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By Jason Comack  January 18, 2010, at 2:45 pm  The UFC is loading up their first card on Versus. Cheick Kongo vs. Paul Buentello has been confirmed for the card headlined by Jon Jones vs. Brandon Vera.
MMAWeekly has the scoop:
The Ultimate Fighting Championship is going big for its debut on the Versus network on March 21. The promotion on Monday added another heavyweight showdown to the card, announcing Cheick Kongo vs. Paul Buentello.
The UFC also confirmed an MMAWeekly.com reported lightweight bout between Duane Ludwig and Spencer Fisher.
Kongo vs. Buentello adds to an already top-heavy roster that features No. 6 ranked heavyweight Junior Dos Santos against Gabriel Gonzaga.
Kongo (14-6-1) is looking to Buentello to get back on track. He’s dropped two-straight, to Frank Mir at UFC 107 and Cain Velasquez at UFC 99.
Kongo and Buentello are both strikers so this should be a fun fight. Buentello is more of a boxer then kick-boxer and moves surprisingly well given his size and appearance. Kongo is a highly regarded kick-boxer who has never put together a ground game to go along with his striking.
Smart matchmaking here as were all but guaranteed both guys will stand and bang. I like Kongo to get the way. His striking is just much more crisp and technical then Buentello.
The rumored card for the Versus show on March 21rst now looks like this:
-Jon Jones (9-1) vs. Brandon Vera (11-4)
-Junior Dos Santos (10-1) vs. Gabriel Gonzaga (11-4)
-Anthony Johnson (8-3) vs. John Howard (13-4)
-Spencer Fisher (23-5) vs. Duane Ludwig (19-10)
-Eliot Marshall (8-1) vs. Vladimir Matyushenko (23-4)
-Brendan Schaub (4-1) vs. Chase Gormley (6-1)
-James Irvin (14-5) vs. Alessio Sakara (14-7)
As well as Bunetello/Kongo. We’ve seen PPV cards that aren’t this loaded.
By Anthony De Franco December 16, 2009, at 11:22 am Oh baby. I am pumped for this fight. It looks like Brock Lesnar will continue to be out of commission for awhile, and while it sucks for the UFC’s bottom line, we will get to see all his possible opponents go at it for a chance at the champ. Starting with this one, via MMA Weekly:
It appears the wait for a heavyweight title fight for Shane Carwin has finally been set, except it will be for an interim title, as current champion Brock Lesnar remains on the mend. Carwin will now likely face Frank Mir in an interim heavyweight title match at UFC 111 on March 27 in Newark, N.J.
The rumored bout has started to take shape sources close to the negotiations disclosed to MMAWeekly.com on Tuesday night. Possibility of the bout was first reported by AOL Fanhouse.
The likelihood of this fight came about most likely in two parts following the UFC 107 weekend that just past. First, UFC president Dana White said the company was looking to make a decision in the next 6 to 8 weeks about the future of the title with Lesnar still sidelined.
The second part was Mir’s first round destruction of Cheick Kongo at UFC 107, putting the former champion squarely in the sights of another run at the title belt.
It looks like all the pieces of the puzzle have fallen together and Carwin vs. Mir is now a reality.
I really like this fight. As said above, Mir’s enhanced striking really looked good against Kongo. I really do believe that between that and the extra 25 pounds of muscle he’s added in the last few months, that he is ready to compete with any heavyweight in the world. That means you, Brock.
However, Frank Mir himself called Carwin a better version of Lesnar. Shane is a solid 265, has great wrestling and packs the hardest punch in all of MMA. His striking is nice and tight, and I just don’t see Mir achieving a takedown on him.
As you can probably tell, I like Carwin in this one, but it will be a damn good fight.
By Anthony De Franco December 2, 2009, at 10:00 am With all these injuries currently haunting the UFC, it’s time for all of the young prospects to start stepping up, taking bigger fights, and sink or swim. We’ve seen it with Jon Jones, Cain Velasquez and now it’s Ryan Bader’s turn. MMA Weekly bring us:
A light heavyweight bout has been added to the UFC’s first trip to the land down under. “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 8 winner Ryan “Darth” Bader looks to keep his undefeated record in tact as he faces “The Dean of Mean” Keith Jardine.
The bout was confirmed to MMAWeekly.com on Tuesday by multiple sources close to the fight, who indicated bout agreements have been issued for the upcoming fight.
Bader (10-0) has looked strong in both of his fights since winning The Ultimate Fighter competition, most recently in a unanimous decision victory over Eric “Red” Schafer. The former All-American from Arizona State showed some dangerous stand-up to compliment his impressive wrestling background to batter Schafer for the better part of the fight to get the win.
Now taking a step forward in competition, Bader sets his sights on Jardine (15-6-1), who has been a perennially tough fighter, always in or hovering around the Top 10 of the 205-pound division.
Bader is still the most potential filled 205 fighter this side of Jonny Bones, but he is moving up big time. He’s a great wrestler with a huge right hand, but his game is far from perfect. He lacks brisp boxing, and relies far too much on his power to get him through fights.
He’s never fought anyone anywhere close to the talent level of Jardine. While I’m very tough on Kieth, he is always hanging around the top 10 of the UFC light heavyweight division. The list of names that he fought reads like a list of legends of the sport: Rampage Jackson, Chuck Liddell, Forrest Griffin, and Wanderlei Silva are just a few of the high quality opponents that he’s fought. He features some bizarre striking that sometimes gives people problems, but has generally figured by most higher end fighters. He’s got pretty good takedown defense, but there seems to be a pattern. When he gets taken down, he loses. When he can avoid them he wins. One look at his report on FightMetric will show you that one.
I like Bader to take “The Dean of Mean” down and get a victory here.
By Anthony De Franco November 27, 2009, at 4:30 pm Awhile ago, we got really really pumped for the UFC 108 fight that would likely tell us who was the number one contender for the heavyweight title would be. When Cain Velasquez and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira took to the cage, it was going to be a battle of a MMA legend against one of the hottest prospect in the sport. What a fight.
Until it was found out that Nogueira had staph infection in his blood and wouldn’t be able to fight in January. We even surmised that Velasquez would get a different opponent, but it turns out we were wrong. Here’s the news from MMA Weekly:
Ask and ye shall receive.
“In February I’ll be ready to fight when they ask me to fight. In February I think I’ll be in shape. I’d love to fight in Australia. If they put me on the card, I would love to fight there,” Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira told MMAWeekly.com recently, addressing his return from a fourth staph infection in the past year.
He was initially slated to face fellow heavyweight contender Cain Velasquez on Jan. 2 at UFC 108, but the infection derailed those plans.
Despite several reports that UFC 109 on Feb. 6 was under consideration, MMAWeekly.com has confirmed an MMAJunkie.com report that UFC 109 is not likely. Sources close to the bout informed MMAWeekly.com that UFC 110 in Sydney, Australia, is expected to host the bout.
It looks like Nogueira gets his wish.
All of a sudden, That UFC 110 card is looking very strong with Velasquez and Big Nog, and Bisping taking on Wanderlei Silva.
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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