Thumbs Down: 5 fights that didn’t happen in 2012

It is midway through 2012, and it seems to be a bad year for injuries in the UFC. Five important fights have been cancelled or postponed this year due to injury, surgery, illness or suspension. These things are all part of the fight game and have been since day one. The nature of the sport is brutal, but injuries are not isolated to fights. Most fighters suffer their injuries in training.  As well-rounded as a UFC fighter is expected to be, it is quite easy to “overtrain”, that is, put the body

Injury forces Thiago Alves out of UFC 149

News broke today that Thiago Alves is out of his UFC 149 bout with Siyar Bahadurzada. Forced to withdraw due to an undisclosed injury, it is a disappointing setback for Alves. Looking to bounce back from a submission loss to the surging Martin Kampmann, Alves was set up to face Bahadurzada in an exciting war of two fast-paced strikers. The Brazilian kickboxer had dominated Kampmann on the feet before an ill-advised takedown spelled his doom. Alves was originally set to face Yoshihiro Akiyama on the card

UFC on Fuel TV 3 results: Korean Zombie crushes Dustin Poirier by D’Arce choke

Chan Sung Jung aka “The Korean Zombie” defeated Dustin Poirier in the Main Event of UFC on Fuel TV 3  in Virginia by D’Arce choke in the fourth round. This was a thrilling fight which did not disappoint anyone. Jung’s grappling was much more impressive than it had been in the past and his transitions were simply flawless.Poirier was highly favored going into this match as his performance in the Octagon showed as he listened to his corner and outmaneuvered his opponent on numerous occassions with a

UFC 149: Thiago Alves now faces Siyar Bahadurzada

News broke today that Thiago Alves will find himself with a new opponent at UFC 149 from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Originally scheduled to face Yoshihiro Akiyama on the card, he will now fight surging prospect Siyar Bahadurzada. This announcement adds some fireworks yo the card, as both fighters love to throw leather with bad intentions. The bout holds different but important implications for both fighters.
Alves is looking to get a win streak going,having once been a title challenger against Georges St.

Urijah Faber responds to Dominick Cruz’s injury, wants Renan Barao as a replacement

Earlier today, news broke that Dominick Cruz tore his ACL training for his UFC 148 title bout versus arch-nemesis Urijah Faber. Instantly, the status of UFC 148 as potentially the biggest card ever was in jeopardy. While no longer possessing two title fights, it appears that Urijah Faber does still want to fight on the card, revealing the following via Twitter.com:

Sucks about @thedomin8r hope recovers fast! Sounds like 9 months aftr surgery @renanbaraoufc seems like the best replacement!

With Rio de Janeiro out of the question, UFC 147 moves to Minas Gerais, Brazil

After much debate the proposed stadium setting of Engenhao in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil has been officially ruled out. In it’s place, Belo Horizonte in Minas Gerais will serve as the location, at the  Estadio Jornalista Felippe Drummond. Dana White had high hopes of reaching upwards of 80,000 fans in a soccer-stadium setting as Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen continue their colossal rivalry. However, a much-publicized conflict with the previously scheduled UN conference on Sustainable Development

UFC 144 Recap: Benson Henderson leaves Japan as the new UFC Lightweight Champion

The odds for UFC 144’s main event had Frankie Edgar as the slight favorite, but that may have been a bit of a sentimental pick, because on paper it looked like Benson Henderson was the better fighter. However after betting against Edgar for so long and coming up wrong it looked like he had finally convinced many that he was the real deal.
That’s not to say that Edgar is not the real deal, it was just that tonight Edgar’s “heart of a champion” just wasn’t enough to

Dustin Poirier vs. Chan Sung-Jung to headline UFC on Fuel 3

The UFC will visit the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Virginia on May 15 when the promotion presents UFC on Fuel 3. Today the UFC announced the main event for the card, a three round Featherweight battle between Chan Sung Jung and Dustin Poirier.
Jung is 2-0 with the UFC, defeating Leonard Garcia and Mark Hominick. The Garcia victory via the first twister submission in UFC history earned him “Submission of the Night” honors as well as “Submission of the Year” at the 2011 World MMA

UFC 143 Recap: Carlos Condit becomes the Interim UFC Welterweight Champion

Leading up to UFC 143 many thought that Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit would be a striking battle with two of the most accomplished strikers in the Welterweight division just throwing down and going for it. Things didn’t exactly go that way, instead Carlos Condit used a perfect game plan to counter Nick Diaz’s style and take home the interim UFC Welterweight title after the five round battle.
Questions after seeing Nick Diaz vs. Carlos Condit:
-Did the UFC just see a lot of pay per view buys

UFC 142: Silva vs. Prater fight will be reviewed by the UFC

UFC 142 did not go off without some controversy. At first glance it appeared that Erick Silva was going to get his hand raised after his fight against Carlo Prater was stopped the 29 second mark of Round One. Early signs indicated that the fight would go Silva’s way as he had been raining hammerfists down upon the head of Prater when referee Maria Yamasaki stepped in to end the fight. However, the television camera microphones were picking up whispers from Michael Buffer that made viewers think