MMA Humpday

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WEC 37

I hope all you fight fans out there have the VERSUS channel. Tonight Miguel Torres will defend his WEC bantamweight title against undefeated challenger Manny Tapia. If Torres is victorious, he will look to defend his title against the winner of Brian Bowles vs. Will Ribeiro.

If Urijah Faber is victorious against Jens Pulver, confirmed for WEC 38, he should get a shot at getting his title back against the winner of Mike Brown-Leonard Garcia. If Faber gets his title back, perhaps we can anticipate the biggest fight in WEC history – a superfight between respective champions. Things are really starting to heat up in the smaller weight classes.

K-1 “PREMIUM 2008 DYNAMITE”

Last week we were talking about how Eddie Alvarez’s future opponent was uncertain, but what a difference a week made for the young star. While not yet confirmed, it looks like Eddie Alvarez and Shinya Aoki, two of the world’s top five lightweights will collide at K-1’s year end event.

Alvarez and Aoki were set to collide in the final of the Dream lightweight grand prix, back at Dream 5, but Eddie was unable to continue after his grueling semifinal victory over Tatsuya Kawajiri. Aoki, meanwhile, went on to lose to alternate Joachim Hansen, the man Alvarez defeated in the quarterfinals.

On the same fight card, Joachim Hansen will fight Gesias Cavalcante. Gesias last lost to, you guessed it, Shinya Aoki in the first round of the same Dream Grand Prix tournament. Cavalcante lost to Hansen back in 2004, so he will get the chance to avenge the loss.

Don’t be surprised to see the winners and losers of these fights meet each other – they are the best lightweights in the world outside of BJ Penn. This is shaping up to be a great fight card and will also feature Gegard Mousasi in action for the first time since winning the Dream middleweight tournament.

SOBRAL OUT, BELFORT IN AGAINST LINDLAND

Matt Lindland and Vitor Belfort are once again scheduled to collide in a middleweight bout at Affliction’s “Day of Reckoning” event on January 24. The fight was originally scheduled to go down October 11 but “The Phenom” was forced to withdraw because of a broken hand he sustained in his 185 pound debut when he defeated Terry Martin at Affliction “Banned” back in July. It didn’t really matter because the entire event was postponed shortly thereafter, giving the former UFC champion more time to heal his injury.

It seems Affliction feels more comfortable staging a true middleweight bout between Lindland and Belfort They originally decided to book Lindland against Renato “Babalu” Sobral at a catchweight of 195 pounds, but that decision was reversed when “Babalu” stopped Bobby Southworth a few weeks ago to capture the Strikeforce light heavyweight championship.
Tim Sylvia to fight Ken Shamrock?

Former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia appears interested in fighting the aging fighter Ken Shamrock.  Yes this is serious, no joke. In a recent interview with Sherdog.com Sylvia said:

“I love to fight and a fight’s a fight. He’s a Hall of Famer. He’s a legend. To progress your career you always have to fight somebody like that. I don’t know if he’s a stepping stone or anything, but he’s been on some of the same cards I’ve been on and he’s been highlighted over me, so I want to let people that I am better than this guy and there’s no reason he should have been highlighted over me.”

While this seems shocking at first, it’s hard to not expect the unexpected from Big Tim. This is the same man that once admitted to having sex with the UFC championship belt on. Shamrock’s manager Rod Donohoo told Sherdog.com on Monday that the bout was not under consideration. We will all be left with baited breath waiting to see if this “dream fight” will take place.

UFC 93 CONFIRMED (ALMOST)

Main event:

205 lbs.: Rich Franklin (24-3) vs. Dan Henderson (23-7)

Main card (Televised):

205 lbs.: Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (16-3) vs. Mark Coleman (15-8)
185 lbs.: Denis Kang (31-10-1) vs. Alan Belcher (13-5)
170 lbs.: Marcus Davis (15–4) vs. Chris Lytle (26-16–5)
185 lbs.: Rousimar Palhares (8-2) vs. Jeremy Horn (80-18-5)

The “almost” is because it has also been reported that Martin Kampmann, who recently dropped down to welterweight, will be added to the card against an unnamed opponent. This will be Kampmann’s first fight at welterweight. Check back with Inside Fights for coverage on the event as we get closer to the January 17th date.

EDGAR REPLACED AT TROOPS SHOW

Five ounces of Pain first reported that Frankie Edgar sustained an injury during training which has forced lightweight competitor out of a scheduled bout vs. Matt Wiman during next Wednesday’s UFC Fight Night 16. Replacing Edgar will be up and coming prospect Jim Miller.

LEITES CAMPAIGNS FOR ULTIMATE FIGHTER SPOT

Brazilian middleweight, Thales Leites has become the latest middleweight to express an interest in a coaching role on the upcoming season of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality series.

Speaking with Tatame magazine, Leites said: “I don’t know what’s gonna happen, if they’re going to give me the title shot, put me as the TUF coach, but whatever comes is good to me.”

Leites joins Nate Marquardt and Demian Maia, who have all expressed interest in being the next coach. The spot is coveted because it is believed that the winner between the two coaches, who square off after the season is over, will be likely guaranteed a title shot. Ironically, the two fighters in the front runner position, Dan Henderson and Rich Franklin, have little interest in the position.

CLEMENTI AND TIBAU TO FACE OFF IN FEBRUARY

A lightweight battle between Rich Clementi and Gleison Tibau has been signed and will take place at either UFC Fight Night 17 on February 7th or UFC 95 on February 21st. InTheGuard.tv first reported the bout which will see both fighters return to the octagon after hard fought losses last time out.

Clementi, the longtime UFC veteran, was last seen at UFC 90, losing to emerging star Gray Maynard via unanimous decision, a loss which snapped a six fight winning streak. Tibau has had it rough recently, losing to tough competition in the form of Tyson Griffin and more recently, Joe Stevenson at UFC 86. Look for the winner to stay relevant while the loser falls further down the lightweight ladder.

That’s if for this edition of MMA Humpday – short and sweet. Next week we will be previewing the “Fight for the Troops” card. Until then, Inside Fight fans – be good.

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.