Tuesday, August 25 3:10 pm PT: Observant readers will note that this began as a Monday Mailbag, returned as a Wednesday Mailbag, and now appears as a Tuesday Mailbag. The lesson: it’s the Whenever I Get to It Mailbag.
Belfort/Franklin
I am a casual fan of MMA, so it is no wonder I am confused as to why the Rich Franklin/Vitor Belfort fight is considered a catchweight at 195lbs when it falls neatly into the 205 lb. division.
Also, what is Ace's place in the UFC: is he a pilot for a cruiserweight division with his last two fights? His whole situation confuses me.
--Thomas
It probably confuses Franklin, too. He’s knocked off the 185 lb. perch by Anderson Silva, packs size back on to move to 205 lbs., then keeps getting sucked into these dopey middleman fights with Wanderlei Silva and Belfort. (Oh, and Anderson is fighting at 205 now, too. Merry Christmas, Rich.)
The belief is that Belfort’s camp requested the 195 lb. cap: I imagine that’s due to his recent 185 lb. run and the idea that he needs more time to grow back into the 205 lb. division, which is where he’s apparently thinking of competing -- another stinker of an idea. Hopefully, the scale awkwardness is to give the UFC a needed main event for their 9/19 card while Belfort decides where he wants to wind up. 205 shouldn’t be the address.
Women’s MMA
Do you think that “W-MMA” will gain the large upswing in popularity that men’s MMA had in the late 90's or will it fizzle like women’s basketball?
--Jeremy
Tuesday, August 25 2:42 pm PT: FightHype spoke to manager Ed Soares about stablemate Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira’s chances against Randy Couture this Saturday: while you probably can’t expect anything less than total confidence from a caretaker, there’s an enthusiasm that might be hard to manufacture.
“He’s probably in the best shape that I’ve seen him in since managing him,” Soares told Percy Crawford. “This is the best I’ve ever seen Nogueira…he’s probably 8-10 pounds lighter than he was before.”
Soares also played up the “legends” angle of the bout, which is more or less the story in lieu of a title on the line, but it’s also very much about the consequences for his athlete. Nogueira cannot afford another flatlining performance after getting knocked down by Heath Herring, battered by Tim Sylvia, and clubbed by Frank Mir. If he appears as disoriented as he did against Mir, discussion will probably get very serious about his remaining time in the sport.
Couture, fair or not, will get in as many fights as he likes from now until his 50th birthday. If not later.
Tuesday, August 25 12:40 pm PT: After serving a nine-month suspension for painkillers -- for an MMA practitioner, pills that should come in a Pez dispenser -- judo artist Karo Parisyan will be making his return to the UFC on November 21 against ground expert Dustin Hazelett. This according to MMAWeekly.
Lack of finishing ability is usually a source of derision among fans, but Parisyan is probably the most exciting decision fighter in the sport: in 12 UFC bouts since his debut there in 2004, nine have gone the distance. You’d be hard-pressed to find a stinker among them. And against someone as dangerous as Hazelett on the ground, it wouldn’t be so foolish for either man to start spending their Fight of the Night bonus now.
Tuesday, August 25 10:42 am PT: Former champion “Razor” Rob McCullough and undefeated prospect Anthony Pettis will meet in a lightweight contender matchup at WEC 44 on Nov. 11, according to a source close to the promotion.
The fight will take place on the card headlined by featherweight champion Mike Thomas Brown and No. 1 contender Jose Aldo. A location and venue have yet to be named for this event.
McCullough (17-5) has won two of three bouts since relinquishing the lightweight belt to Jamie Varner in February 2008. His loss came to interim title hopeful Donald Cerrone in one of the better fights of 2008.
Pettis (7-0), a recent addition to the WEC stable, scored a submission victory over Mike Campbell by triangle choke in his first bout with the promotion in June. A victory over McCullough would not only extend his unbeaten record, but could propel the talented Duke Roufus product into title contention.
Tuesday, August 25 9:00 am PT: Two more who find it challenging to talk any great amounts of trash: Randy Couture and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, making the viral video rounds in anticipation of their headlining fight Saturday.
Choice quotes:
Nogueira: “I’m still hungry. Very hungry. More than ever. I’ll look for the submission.” (It’s a trick. He’ll box.)
Couture: “I think it’s probably to my benefit to keep the fight standing.” (It’s a trick. He’ll shoot.)
There’s also talking-head footage available of co-headlining Keith Jardine and Thiago Silva, but for whatever reason, no one seems particularly concerned with that fight or its outcome. Jardine is the very definition of a 50/50 fighter: some days he’ll beat Chuck Liddell and Forrest Griffin, and some days Houston Alexander will unhinge his jaw. Kind of hard to get a reading on the guy.
Tuesday, August 25 12:10 am PT: Just hours after the Ohio State Athletic Commission told MMA Junkie that they might wind up insisting fighters for September 2’s WEC 43 weigh in on the day of the event -- causing no end of problems for any athletes cutting extraordinary amounts of mass -- Sherdog.com reports that the event will be re-scheduled for October 10. (Location TBD. Location probably not Ohio.)
Officially, the WEC is citing an injury to main event athlete Ben Henderson, who was scheduled to face Donald Cerrone, as the reason for the delay. If that’s the sole rationale -- and others point to DirecTV’s negotiation problems with the Versus network as another roadblock -- it would be fairly unusual for Zuffa to scrap an entire advertised card based on a late main event dropout. If the weigh-in protocol wasn’t a factor, it probably didn’t have the effect of making anyone too happy.
