I hope that everyone in the States is enjoying their extra long weekend and not suffering too much from the after effects of turkey and Black Friday. Up here in Canada it’s just another Friday, but I’ve got some news and comments about the goings on around the MMA landscape.
UFC.com is reporting that Matt Serra suffered herniated discs in training and as a result his UFC Welterweight Championship match with Matt Hughes is off, with no timetable for a return. This will have a domino effect on the division as Georges St. Pierre is supposed to fight the winner and no one else in the interim, and that means that everyone else has to wait as well.
In the meantime, the long awaited Chuck Liddell-Wanderlei Silva fight has been bumped up to main event status and it looks like “Ryoto” Machida vs Sokoudjou is now the co-main.
In Serra-related news, four fights have now been scheduled for the finale of The Ultimate Fighter 6, according to UFC.com, which takes place December 8 at The Palms in Las Vegas. We have:
- Jon Koppenhaver vs. Jared Rollins
- Richie Hightower vs. Troy Mandaloniz
- Roman Mitichyan vs. Dorian Price
- Paul Georgieff vs. Jonathan Goulet
Mitichyan is the stuntman who had to withdraw from the competition right off the bat, while Jonathan “The Road Warrior” Goulet is a UFC vet who’s quite popular in Quebec, judging from the TKO shows I’ve seen on The Fight Network.
MMAJunkie.com says that Patrick Côté will return to the UFC at January’s Fight Night, squaring off against hard-hitting Drew McFedries. Côté is coming off an upset TKO victory against Kendall Grove, and will likely be looking to take McFedries to the ground. Hard-hitting Drew McFedries, meanwhile, was last seen in the UFC generously allowing Jordan Radev to look at the lights at UFC 10. I’m not expecting this fight to last a round.
And in case you’re wondering, McFedries has legally changed his name to “hard-hitting Drew McFedries”, which is why all the MMA websites refer to him as such. (Note: That was sarcasm)
Also scheduled to fight at Fight Night is Mike Swick, although at this point an opponent has not been named.
HDNet Fights is set to return December 15th with Reckless Abandon. The main event features Jason “Mayhem” Miller taking on IFL fighter Tim Kennedy, with the co-main listed as Frank Trigg vs. Edwin DeWees. Other notable names on the card include Yves Edwards, Pete Spratt and Krzysztof Soszynski. Also of interest is that a couple of undercard fights are listed as being five rounds of three minutes each – a reversal of what is listed in the Unified Rules. I’m interested to see how this twist works out, as this may be a solution to minimizing boring fights. Currently, the only MMA organization that utilizes three minute rounds is the World Combat League (who have a card set for Dec 1 in Atlantic City. Hey, don’t laugh – at least they’ve found a way to make the team concept work, unlike the IFL.
And speaking of the IFL, co-founder Gareb Shamus is out as CEO, while Jay Larkin is in. This is perhaps the second major blow in two months for Shamus – the first of course being our good friend Ben Morse leaving the Wizard staff for Marvel.com – but don’t feel too bad for the guy. Wizard Entertainment is still going strong and I doubt that it will be going away anytime soon.
WrestlingObserver.com is reporting that former PRIDE staff members are running a New Year’s Eve PPV from the Saitama Super Arena in Japan (duh). Fighters scheduled to compete apparently include Fedor Emelianenko, Hayato Sakurai, Shinya Aoki, Joachim Hansen, Luiz Azeredo, Kazuo Miaski, Tatsuya Kawajiri, Gilbert Melendez and Mitsuhiro Ishida. This is, apparently, the same building that Hustle is using for a show (featuring Bob Sapp) at 1pm the same day. That’s some serious MMA overload.
As you’ve probably heard by now, The Apprentice is back with a celebrity edition and among the “candidates” are Tito Ortiz and Lennox Lewis. Another candidate with combat sport links is former Playmate of the Year Tiffany Fallon, who hosts IFL Battleground, and Mark Cuban has been rumoured to appear as a Boardroom judge.
I had previously reported that John Cena was also a candidate but alas, he will not be displaying his “ruthless aggression” to Donald Trump.
Regardless, I would mark Tito alongside Nely Galán and Marilu Henner as one of the three favourites to win this, based on his various businesses and his contacts. I mean, just based on who his girlfriend has (ahem) worked with… that’s a huge network that the other candidates don’t have access to, no?
Finally, FiveOuncesofPain.com has a picture of the new (temporary?) Octagon Girl, which I will not link to directly for down-south piercing-based reasons, but I’m sure you can find the picture for yourself. And I suggest you look for it in the privacy of your own home.
