The UFC middleweight division continues to be in the news as yesterday reports surfaced that Vitor Belfort (19-8) was out of his scheduled main event fight with Yushin Okami at UFC 122. The fight was supposed to determine the number one contender in the middleweight division. Nate Marquardt, who just fought at UFN 22 was quickly announced as the replacement against Okami in the UFC 122 main event.
Tag Archives: UFC 117
Vitor Belfort out of UFC 122, but not injured!
MMA rankings updated after UFC 117
Following an awesome night of fights last Saturday it was once again time to update the MMA Valor fighter rankings. Unlike several MMA rankings on the internet that are one person’s opinion, our rankings are compiled from 8-10 different people’s rankings. This is meant to cut back the bias of a single person views to better represent an honest ranking.
Rick Story dominates, ready for the main card
Rick Story came into UFC 117 as the underdog against Dustin Hazelett, but left with his hand raised after dominating the entire fight. Story clearly came into this fight with a game plan for the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Hazelett.
Right as the bell sounded to begin round one, Story was all over Hazelett using his aggressive striking to get inside. Once inside, Story kept the pressure on and repeatedly slammed him to the canvas. Once on the mat, Story then continued the punishment until he’d back off to let Hazelett up.
Chael Sonnen Walks the Walk
For months leading up to UFC 117, Chael Sonnen told the world that he was the guy to bring the fight to Anderson Silva. Sonnen proclaimed that he would take Silva down and pound a hole in his face; he would be the man to beat the best pound for pound fighter in the world.
Not too many people gave Sonnen a chance in this fight but he proved the haters wrong. Sonnen did not disappoint with his comments nor did he disappoint when it came time to fight. From the moment the fight started, Sonnen did everything that he said he was going to do except walking out of UFC 117 as the new middleweight champion of the world.
A look at Junior Dos Santos’ future
“Cigano” means “gypsy” in Portuguese, but not even Junior can foresee his future and who he will have to fight for the UFC Heavyweight Championship. With a dominant performance in his unanimous decision victory over Roy “Big Country” Nelson, Junior Dos Santos cemented his spot as #1 Contender for the Heavyweight Championship. However, for the first time in his professional career he was taken to the final bell of the fight.
UFC 117 was an epic main event
When Bruce Buffer announced Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen’s name we knew things were about to get real interesting, the cage was shut and there was no turning back for either fighter. The fans saw some very aggressive and unexpected standup from Sonnen and he came out swinging with strikes and kicks. The first person stunned by strikes in this fight was surprisingly Anderson Silva, and the first person taken down was Chael Sonnen, did they reverse rolls? We all knew we were in for a good fight, and a fight that took both Silva and Sonnen fans on a four and a half round roller coaster of emotion.
