Surviving Hump Day with MMA

Columns, News

Welcome to the first edition of “MMA Humpday”. If you are reading this article then you are surviving your work week. Remember MMA fans: after hump day the weekend is that much closer.

UFC 91: Will it live up to the hype?

Speaking of closer, we are only 10 days away from what the UFC is billing as “the greatest fight in MMA history”. It has been interesting to watch the betting line move in the favor of Brock Lesnar, the closer we get to fight time.

This officially puts Couture in underdog status, something he has come to revel in.

Let’s hope this fight doesn’t turn into “the most boring fight in mma history.” With a weak undercard, the UFC’s “all the eggs in one basket” strategy could backfire. Following the disappointment of UFC 90, the UFC needs to be guarded against mainstream fan criticism.

The winner of this fight will be set to face the winner of Frank Mir vs. Antonio Nogueira, who fight at UFC 92. The last man standing will be the unified heavyweight champion.

Steroids strike again

Now to the Hot Stove issue of the week. It turns out Chris Leben looked extra ripped in his fight with Michael Bisping for a reason. The already controversial fighter failed a post-fight drug test, testing positive for steroids.

Dave Meltzer of Yahoo! Sports was first to report that Chris Leben has been suspended by the UFC for nine months and fined a third of his undisclosed purse for the fight.

Dana White expressed his disappointment with Leben, saying the fighter had made great strides getting his life back on track. He did give Chris credit for taking responsibility for his actions and accepting the punishment that’s been handed down.

The loss of Leben, following the loss of Patrick Cote, has left an already thin middleweight division looking depleted. That might explain the UFC’s latest move to sign journeyman Dennis Kang.

New “old” blood

Kang has compiled a 31-10-1 record in a variety of promotions which include PRIDE, DREAM, and Spirit MC. He his considered a top level middleweight and has agreed to a four-fight contract with the UFC and will make his promotional debut in early-2009.

His most prominent fight, of recent, was a loss to Gerard Mousasi in Dream’s middleweight Grand Prix tournament. Mousasi went on to win that tournament and was crowned middleweight champion.

Kang has told the UFC he will be ready for inclusion on one of their fight cards in January, and if he had his way he’d love to be on the UFC 94 fight card, Jan. 31st, alongside friend and training partner Georges St. Pierre, who will be taking on B.J. Penn.

UFC 93 taking shape

One last bit of UFC news. It looks like a Marcus Davis vs. Chris Lytle fight is all bet set for UFC 93. The two fighters were both featured on UFC 89’s main card and they both got wins over their respective opponents.

This fight has “fight of the night” written all over it. Believe it or not neither these two fighters have ever been stopped by strikes in their respective MMA careers.

Davis has openly questioned whether or not Lytle deserves of the opportunity to fight him at this time. Looking at where each fighter is at in their career I’d tend to agree with him.

Davis looks like a Top 10 fighter in the welterweight division while Lytle looks to be a gatekeeper at best. Nonetheless Marcus will have to shut Chris up if he wants to stay in contention.

WEC 36: Filho full of himself

Not to be outdone by the hype of UFC 91, the WEC will be hosting their final fight card, which features middleweight and light heavyweight fighters. You can see this fight card live tonight on VERSUS.

The UFC recently announced plans to fold the WEC’s two divisions into their organization. Their rationale was to allow the WEC to focus on the smaller divisions, like featherweight, which features their poster boy, Urijah Faber.

If he is able to get by Mike Brown, Faber looks to solidify his position as one of the best P4P fighters in MMA, alongside Anderson Silva, Georges St. Pierre, and BJ Penn.

But Faber will take a back seat until fight time. Filho stole the show at the weigh-ins by tipping the scales at 192 pounds. That’s 7 pounds over the 185 pound limit. He later weighed-in at 189 pounds.

The fight between Paulo Filho and Chael Sonnen will go forward, but in a non-title, three-round affair. It is probably a moot point though since the middleweight belt will be defunct at the end of the night.

In their first fight, Chael was getting the best Paulo until the champion caught his opponent with a slick submission. Look for Filho to win for a second time and be on a UFC fight card early in 2009.

The most exciting fight of the night could be between Jens Pulver and Leonard Garcia. Look for it to be an all out stand-up war. Anything can happen between these two cagey fighters.

Also keep an eye on Jake Rosholt. That’s all I am saying for now. Check back with Inside Fights for post fight analysis.

That’s it for the first edition of “MMA Humpday.” Check back next Wednesday for the latest news & notes in the world of MMA.

Brian has been an avid fan of MMA ever since he saw Randy Couture beat Vitor Belfort back at UFC 15. In 2008, he decided to embark on a new career by combining his love of MMA and writing. Brian received his M.B.A. from Texas Tech University and currently resides in New York City.