Daniel Cormier was slated to fight Frank Mir next month, but in what seems to be a regular occurrence, Mir had to pull out of the fight because of an injury. Cormier and Strikeforce are still looking for a replacement fight, but have not had much in the way of luck yet.
The UFC will return to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on October 13th with UFC 153: Aldo vs. Koch. Tickets for the event will go on sale this Thursday August 23rd and the complete UFC 153 fight card has now been finalized. The card will take place at the HSBC Arena, which held the successful UFC 134 and UFC 142 events.
The May UFC 146 fight card will offer up an experience unlike any other the worlds biggest Mixed Martial Arts promotion has every done, an all heavyweight main card. Following past announcements of four other heavyweight bouts for the May 26th card, the UFC today added a fight between Mark Hunt and Stefan Struve and confirmed that for the first time in UFC history, all five main card bouts will be heavyweight fights.
MMA fans knew it would be just a matter of tick tocks before the entire Strikeforce heavyweight competitors would start to migrate to the UFC, following the announcement that Strike force would be doing away with the largest weight class in their organization. So far the heavyweight imports have fared well in their octagon appearances, as they are 4-0 since the latter part of 2011. Former Strikeforce heavyweight champ Alistair Overeem has already made his statement, when he flattened Brock Lesnar at UFC 141, and is now set to challenge Junior Dos Santos for the title at UFC 146.
Current UFC heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos and title challenger Alistair Overeem won’t be the only large competitors showcased at UFC 146: Overeem vs. Dos Santos in late May. Former top UFC heavyweight contender Gabriel Gonzaga makes his second trip back to the octagon following a lengthy absence against the always double tough Shane Del Rosario.
After a short-lived retirement from MMA and one fight outside the UFC, Gabriel Gonzaga returned to the Octagon as a later replacement at last week’s UFC 142: Aldo vs. Mendes. The veteran was released from the promotion back in October of 2010 following a unanimous decision loss to Brendan Schaub at UFC 121. Filling in for the injured Rob Broughton, “Napao” made short work of newcomer Ednaldo Oliveira to earn his first UFC win since August of 2009 when he defeated Chris Tuchscherer.
The time has come, all the work has been put in and it’s finally time for UFC 142: Aldo vs. Mendes. The UFC’s second trip to Brazil in just under five months hit a pot hole at yesterdays weigh-ins as co-main event fighter Anthony Johnson massively missing the middleweight limit of 186 lbs. by a staggering 11 pounds. The fight will still take place as a catchweight bout but Johnson will lose 20% of his purse and was forced to weigh-in less than 205 lbs. today.
Ahead of his home turf UFC debut against Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC 142, it’s clear from his unbeaten record that Brazilian heavyweight Ednaldo Oliveira is a force to be reckoned with on the MMA scene, but who is this fighter that is taking the MMA world by storm?
