Roundup: Post-UFC 80 News and Notes
Following his impressive KO win against Jess Liaudin at UFC 80 Marcus Davis revealed that he’s interested in a fight against former PRIDE Lightweight Champ Takanori Gomi.
The UFC will stage its next European in June at the O2 Arena in London, England. The event, tentatively UFC 86, is the first of many upcoming events the UFC plans to hold in Europe. Locations for the future events include Croatia, Ireland, Germany, Scotland, and England.
Dana White revealed that the UFC will continue to recognize Randy Couture as the promotion’s heavyweight champion due to the contractual benefits the UFC receives by doing so. The UFC 81 bout between Tim Sylvia and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira will be for the interim UFC heavyweight championship and the name of the title won’t be changing anytime soon according to White who stated, “We’ll keep it [an interim title] forever.”
Andrei Arlovski will almost certainly return to the UFC in March at UFC 82 to take on Jake O’Brien. The fight will be Arlovski’s last fight on his current UFC contract.
Sean Sherk will face BJ Penn on May 24th at UFC 85 in Las Vegas. The event will also likely feature Tito Ortiz vs. Lyoto Machida.
With his win over Gabriel Gonzaga on Saturday Fabricio Werdum propelled himself to the top of the heavyweight contenders. He will face the winner of next month’s title match between Tim Sylvia and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Behind Werdum, the winner of Cheick Kongo versus Heath Herring at UFC 82 will likely receive the next heavyweight title shot.
The Ultimate Fighter 7 will begin filming this week following UFC Fight Night 12 on January 23rd.
The announced attendance for UFC 80 was 8,412
Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic is reportedly still uncertain about his future with no fight yet booked for his return to the UFC later this year.
The UFC remains in talks with Japanese MMA fighters Takanori Gomi, Kid Yamamoto, and Hayato Sakurai.
The numbering for upcoming UFC shows beyond UFC 82 remains uncertain. Reports suggest that the planned show between UFC 82 in Columbus, Ohio and the April 19th show in Montreal, Canada may have been scrapped all together meaning UFC 83 will be in Montreal, UFC 84 in Las Vegas in May, and UFC 85 in London in June. We’re tentatively leaving the rumored card in our rumors section until we can confirm the event is officially off.
Jonathan Goulet will take on Kuniyoshi Hironaka on April 19th in Montreal.
In a recent interview with Sports Illustrated Dana White guaranteed the UFC will soon sign a deal to air on network television.
Tomasz Drwal has suffered a knee injury which has forced him to withdraw from his UFC 81 bout against David Heath. No replacement has yet been determined for the February 2nd fight.
[via MMA Weekly, Yahoo, Pro Elite, TKO Xtreme, SI, and Ground and Pound]
I definately am not very happy with the state of the Heavyweight divison right now. How in the hell does Werdum get ba title shot. He beat a guy who just lost his title shot????? What the DEUCE!!!!! Not happy at all my friends!!!! On a better note, the lightweight divison is much better, but how the hell is a STRIPPED “STEROID SHARK” #1?????? BJ had some good things to say at the post fight press conference, I recomend looking it up.
i hope the ufc can sign gomi hes top class. i agree that the heavyweight picture is poor at the moment how does werdum get the shot when he lost to arlovski? its only because the ufc havnt got him tied to a long contract yet.
Werdum gets a title shot because there is no one better to give it to!! I’m sorry, but who should they give it to? Brock Lesnar (assuming he beats Frank Mir) - not likely…He will need a few more fights before he can get something like that… Cro Cop?? Ha..no….Arloski? well maybe… that is, if he re-signs…if he doesnt, then duh.. obviously Gonzaga is out….Jeff Monson? I dont even know what happened to him after the Sylvia fight….Brandon Vera? No..he just lost.. so he is out for awhile…which leads to possibly the best bet, which is Cheick Kongo - and if he wins his next bout, then his next fight will be a title shot…so I think the UFC is doing it right..the heavyweight divison isnt stacked like other divisions…not a lot of worthy prospects for title shots…unless georges st pierre wants to move up for this belt too…ha..jk
I would have loved to see the Heavyweight, Welterweight, and Lightweight belts all scrapped. Take the top 4 ranked in each weight class and let them duke it out this year culminating into one huge mega pay per view night crowing 3 different legit champions.
I think they have the lighter 2 right… St Pierre is the champ…he is the best… but i want to see him fight Jon Fitch, not Serra.. but whatever…let him get a chance to redeem himself…as for Lightweight…i think the fight in May will be amazing…sherk and penn…ill be paying to see that!
I think Arloski should re-sign a contract with ufc and him, Nogueira, Sylvia, and Congo can be at the top of the heep fighting to rise to the top. I like the Idea that Tito is fighting again but I dont see his future with the ufc going anywhere as he is pre occupied with television apperances and other buisness propostions. This will get in the way of his fighing and he could lose the fight. I consider him a pioneer of the sport but it seems to be over. The next middle weight bout will be great as I hope Henderson endours Sylvias persission strikes. Henderson is stronger and could pull off the victory, but still the underdog.Diego Sanches is ready for some action and good luck to him as he is from my home town. GSP is still the best, but he frequentlly trains here in Albuquerque. And as far as the Light Weight division goes, BJ is very good but Sherk Still seems to be in much better shape as far as endourance. BJ was really huffing and puffing at the end of the fight despite his six pack. Its a great match as both have lost to GSP,and Huges Once at 170 pounds.
I think Arlovski should fight for the title. I hope the UFC doesn’t think that the heavy weight division will be any good without Arlovski. He is the number one contender and you would think they would sign him. I can’t believe they are giving him such a lame opponent!!!!!! Give him the title shot or someone like Congo!!!!!