MMA News and Notes – Henderson vs. Guida set, Diaz skips media event Posted by Drew Ellis (09/07/2011 @ 10:08 am)  Lost in the announcement of Lesnar vs. Overeem on Tuesday were some other big news in the world of MMA, mostly concerning the UFC.
– In another big fight announcement, MMAFighting.com is reporting that top lightweight contenders, Ben Henderson and Clay Guida will collide on the UFC on FOX undercard. Henderson is coming off his dominant win over Jim Miller at UFC on Versus 5 while Guida defeated Anthony Pettis at the Ultimate Fighter Finale. The winner of this bout could find themselves in top contender status for the lightweight title. It should be a good grappling match, but I see Henderson favored based on styles. – MMAFighting.com also reported that Matt Hughes has accepted a fight with Josh Koscheck for UFC 135. Koscheck will replace Hughes’ original opponent, Diego Sanchez. Sanchez had to pull out of the fight with a broken hand. – You can’t a teach a dog new tricks apparently. Despite Dana White insisting that Nick Diaz would conform to the various media requests that are expected of a top contender for his UFC 137 title bout with Georges St. Pierre, apparently the Strikeforce welterweight champion skipped a press conference on Tuesday in Toronto to promote the event. The UFC had to explination for his absence according to the Winnipeg Free Press, but another scheduled press conference is to take place today in Las Vegas. Will Diaz be there? Will he be punished for his absence? – Fedor Emelianenko will return to action on Nov. 12 when he takes on Jeff Monson for a M-1 event in Russia according to MMAMania.com. Fedor has lost his last three bouts and will face Monson, who is coming off a loss to Daniel Cormier on the undercard of Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum. Stylistically, this is a good matchup for Fedor, but will do nothing to get him back into the American spotlight. – Another announcement that took place on Tuesday is that the UFC is heading back to Japan in 2012. Sherdog.com reports that Feb. 26, 2012 is the set date for the organization to make its return to Japan, which is nearly 14 years since the UFC first stepped foot in Japan. Expect to see many of the countries top starts on that card. Posted in: Events, Fighters, News, Strikeforce, UFC Tags: Ben Henderson, champion vs. champion, Clay Guida, Fedor Emelianenko, Fedor vs. Monson, FOX Television, Georges St. Pierre, GSP, GSP vs. Diaz, Henderson vs. Guida, Hughes vs. Koscheck, Japan, Jeff Monson, Josh Koscheck, M-1, M-1 Global, Matt Hughes, mma events, mma lightweights, MMA on Fox, mma welterweights, Nick Diaz, St. Pierre vs. Diaz, strikeforce welterweight champion, title unification, top 10 lightweights, top 10 welterweights, UFC 135, UFC 137, UFC events, ufc lightweights, UFC on FOX, UFC welterweights, Ultimate Fighting Championship
UFC sets Lesnar vs. Overeem for Dec. 30 Posted by Drew Ellis (09/06/2011 @ 4:48 pm)  The UFC has been big with their announcements and another big one dropped on Tuesday.
The organization released through the L.A. Times that on Dec. 30, Alistair Overeem will make his UFC debut against none other than Brock Lesnar. Brock Lesnar will return to the UFC octagon in a five-round main event Dec. 30 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas, facing newly signed former Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem. “Brock is a big name, a dangerous guy, and this is a dream matchup,” Overeem told The Times on Tuesday, just after signing a standard UFC fight contract in the office of Chairman Lorenzo Fertitta. “Brock’s a big guy, an exciting wrestler with his takedowns. “I want to see this fight myself. Overall, I’m a different fighter. A striker, athletic, big. These are going to be two big trucks going at it on a collision course.”
This fight will be as anticipated as the Velasquez vs. dos Santos bout on Nov. 12, if not more, as Lesnar has the drawing power and Overeem was the last Strikeforce champion. It is expected that this will be the main event of UFC 141 from Las Vegas and will take place on a Friday night, with New Year’s Eve being on a Saturday this year. In terms of the fight, this should be explosive and very interesting. Overeem has the clear striking edge, but will he be able to fend off the explosive takedown attempts of Lesnar? Either way, I don’t see this fight lasting too long. Posted in: Events, Fighters, News, Strikeforce, UFC Tags: Alistair Overeem, Brock Lesnar, Cain Velasquez, Dana White, heavyweight division, Junior Dos Santos, Las Vegas, Lesnar vs. Overeem, Lorenzo Fertitta, MMA heavyweights, mma matchups, strikeforce heavyweights, top 10 heavyweights, UFC 141, ufc heavyweight championship, UFC heavyweights, ufc matchups, UFC vs. Strikeforce, Ultimate Fighting Championship
Diego Sanchez out of UFC 135 with broken hand, Koscheck says he is in Posted by Drew Ellis (09/05/2011 @ 6:01 pm)  Well a summer of injuries that plagued the UFC is starting to force its way into a stacked fall lineup.
According to UFC President Dana White’s Twitter account, Diego Sanchez is out of his co-main event bout with Matt Hughes at UFC 135 due to a broken hand. White indicated that the UFC is searching for a replacement for Hughes, but just moments later, Josh Koscheck posted this on his Twitter account: Oh ya 19 days then or something like that!!!! Either way it looks like I am in to fight matt Hugh if he takes it????
The blow is tough for Sanchez, who had won his last two bouts to improve to 23-4 in his career. A fight with Hughes gave Sanchez a chance to pick up a win over a Hall of Fame fighter and really put a stamp on his career. Sanchez was coming into the fight as the favorite to win. Hughes (45-8) hasn’t fought since last November when he was KO’d by BJ Penn in 21 seconds. There don’t seem to be a lot of options left for Hughes in the octagon, but a fight with Koscheck wouldn’t seem too favorable for him. Koscheck hasn’t competed since UFC 124 last December when he lost to Georges St. Pierre and suffered a broken orbital bone. Koscheck indicated he would be returning to action in November as a middleweight. Apparently plans have changed. Koscheck has the skill set to beat Hughes as his wrestling is on par with Hughes and his striking is far superior. UFC 135 takes place Saturday, Sept. 24 from Denver. Posted in: Events, Fighters, News, UFC Tags: 170 pounds, BJ Penn, Denver, Diego Sanchez, Georges St. Pierre, Jon Fitch, Josh Koscheck, Matt Hughes, MMA Injuries, mma welterweights, Sanchez vs. Hughes, top 10 welterweights, UFC 135, UFC Injuries, UFC President, UFC welterweights, Ultimate Fighting Championship, Welterweight Division
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