Elsalvajeloco Posted January 25, 2016 Author Share Posted January 25, 2016 So yeah, Fabricio got cold feet and pulled out of the fight. That's not going to win him brownie points. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheVileOne Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 *Ahem* So we are less than two weeks out from UFC 196. The main event just lost the heavyweight champion, who hasn't fought since June, and the No. 1 contender. Quite a pickle here. Based on Cain Velasquez, Werdum doing this as champion should earn him brownie points. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted January 25, 2016 Author Share Posted January 25, 2016 So he fought Cain injured last time and was willing to fight him injured again NOT knowing Cain himself was compromised as well. Yet, he isn't willing to fight Miocic on one week's notice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig H Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 Ugh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted January 25, 2016 Author Share Posted January 25, 2016 Ariel Helwani @arielhelwani 1m1 minute ago Was told plan right now is still for Werdum to see a dr. in the next 24 hrs as one last ditch effort but he's banged up. Tough spot for all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheVileOne Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 Yeah, dude is hurt and doesn't want to fight next month. That simple. We have to regulate training camps. They said random drug testing was impossible and they got it done. This is the next step. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted January 25, 2016 Author Share Posted January 25, 2016 Yeah, that's not gonna happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheVileOne Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 Yeah, that's not gonna happen. White said they couldn't randomly drug test their entire roster year round because half of them would fail for pot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted January 25, 2016 Author Share Posted January 25, 2016 Yeah, that's not gonna happen. White said they couldn't randomly drug test their entire roster year round because half of them would fail for pot. We already discussed this asinine idea before several months ago, and you had nothing valid to say then. So any further mention of it going forward is getting deleted. We're not entertaining this stupid idea anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted January 26, 2016 Author Share Posted January 26, 2016 In other news, Demian Maia is fighting Matt Brown on the Belfort/Jacare card. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AxB Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 So he fought Cain injured last time and was willing to fight him injured again NOT knowing Cain himself was compromised as well. Yet, he isn't willing to fight Miocic on one week's notice. Styles make fights. Rematching a guy you've beaten once (and prepared for twice) is one thing. Changing opponent with less than a fortnight to prepare, who you don't know if you can beat them or not, that's another thing. He thinks/knows he can beat Velasquez when not at 100%. He doesn't want to risk it against Miocic if he's not 100%. Arguably, that's prudence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted January 26, 2016 Author Share Posted January 26, 2016 So he fought Cain injured last time and was willing to fight him injured again NOT knowing Cain himself was compromised as well. Yet, he isn't willing to fight Miocic on one week's notice. Styles make fights. Rematching a guy you've beaten once (and prepared for twice) is one thing. Changing opponent with less than a fortnight to prepare, who you don't know if you can beat them or not, that's another thing.He thinks/knows he can beat Velasquez when not at 100%. He doesn't want to risk it against Miocic if he's not 100%. Arguably, that's prudence. The problem here is he agreed to fight Stipe while he was injured and then changed his mind. Apparently, at some point, the UFC knew Cain probably couldn't go and had Stipe as the backup. Then, Cain decided that he couldn't go officially and then they got Werdum's approval to go ahead with that fight. Right there is the perfect opportunity to tell the UFC, "yeah, I'm also hurt. I can't go either" without leaving the UFC in an awkward position. It's happened a few times before where both guys pull out of a fight simultaneously. Soon as you say yes, they're putting your name on promo materials and changing other stuff around.Now, it makes Werdum look like a giant pussy and a dick to fans who were still planning to go to UFC 196. It also makes Ali Abdelaziz look very incompetent as a manager. Keep in mind, he was coming in with a back and ankle injury. Sounds like he had a different (and only one) injury against Cain at UFC 188. He could've taken a huge beating or basically been reduced to flopping to his back for several minutes. If he was a huge puncher, I could see how he could chance that. However, an immobile grappler needs some Houdini magic to pull off a win. He would've needed the finish in fight one to happen again but way sooner and without him getting pummeled beforehand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glfpunk Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 It doesn't really matter how it looks to you or me and really shouldn't be Werdum's consideration. He's not fighting for brownie points, he's fighting to keep his belt. So if he feels like he needs more time to prepare, then that's what he has to do. There's no huge push by the UFC behind Werdum as the champ. They've been on Cain's nuts for forever now. The only leverage that Werdum has is that belt. You can't count on the UFC to look out for you because you stepped up and fought a guy you weren't prepared for and injured when you get knocked out. Shit, circumstances might work out to where it would take him a long time to get back to a title fight again. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted January 26, 2016 Author Share Posted January 26, 2016 It doesn't really matter how it looks to you or me and really shouldn't be Werdum's consideration. He's not fighting for brownie points, he's fighting to keep his belt. So if he feels like he needs more time to prepare, then that's what he has to do. There's no huge push by the UFC behind Werdum as the champ. They've been on Cain's nuts for forever now. The only leverage that Werdum has is that belt. You can't count on the UFC to look out for you because you stepped up and fought a guy you weren't prepared for and injured when you get knocked out. Shit, circumstances might work out to where it would take him a long time to get back to a title fight again. What kind of push do you expect the UFC to give him? He's only been champ for 6-7 months and 85% of that was vacation and rehab. He's made the rounds doing Q&A stuff, and they put the camera on him everytime he shows up at UFC events unless that's an imposter Fabricio Werdum. The UFC really doesn't do much hype (besides the UFC Insider stuff I'm assuming not many people watch) on the non fighting platforms. So unless you're a Cormier, Bisping, or Dom Cruz who can hype up your fight or potential fights while being an analyst on UFC Tonight, you're better off doing pressers, media days, and whatnot before fights. Werdum's only scheduled one was for UFC 196, which he is most likely no longer a part of. This isn't like Bellator's treatment of Vitaly Minakov. He won the belt, defended it maybe once or twice, and then was never mentioned on a Bellator broadcast again whether it be in reference to the division or potential opponent. They've tried their best to keep Werdum out there despite his or his management's insistence to not fight ASAP. And again, I'm not saying Werdum should have fought at UFC 196. I'm questioning his (or Abdelaziz's) logic to accept a fight (1) knowing he was in no condition really to fight in the first place and (2) that he possibly felt Miocic was the worst style matchup when both fights are really dangerous given his state. Because if you're Ali, why would you rather your client fight Cain with a bad back and ankle knowing that as you said, his only bargaining chip is wearing the HW strap. Cain Velasquez lost the fight the first time, but he also painted the octagon with a man's blood one time. So you know what's on the extreme opposite end of the spectrum and it ain't good. So the smart thing to do is not to allow Werdum to make those statements, and allow him to pull out of UFC 196 without accepting any substitute fight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted January 26, 2016 Author Share Posted January 26, 2016 Then again, I'm expecting a manager who posted a tweet for one of his fighters while logged into his own Twitter account to do something smart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheVileOne Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 Werdum saying he would've still fought if it was Cain Velasquez and he would've fought injured was stupid and he didn't need to share that. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted January 26, 2016 Author Share Posted January 26, 2016 Kevin Iole reports that UFC 196 will now be on FS1 with Hendricks-Wonderboy as the main event. Best move possible, really. No way in the world was Miocic going to accept a fight with Jon Jones on a week's notice. Doesn't really do anyone favors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheVileOne Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 Better than nothing I suppose. Luke Rockhold said Velasquez had been dealing with back issues for a while. So why not get his back issues checked out in this latest time in between fights instead of waiting until two weeks before to pull out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glfpunk Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 He didn't have time because he was over-training so hard. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted January 26, 2016 Author Share Posted January 26, 2016 Ariel Helwani @arielhelwani 2m2 minutes agoThe other option? Nate Diaz vs. Pettis. It was discussed, on the table. In fact, Diaz was the one who brought it up. Couldn't come to terms. Ariel Helwani @arielhelwani 2m2 minutes ago BTW, I was told @JohnyHendricks weighed 180 pounds after training last night, so he seems to be on point weight-wise. BTW, Hendricks-Thompson is five rounds now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted January 27, 2016 Author Share Posted January 27, 2016 Looks like Tony Ferguson is going to fight someone other than Michael Johnson. I'm guessing Nate, but I would settle for Pettis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheVileOne Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 I do think Pettis vs. Nate Diaz should be the next fight for both guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted January 27, 2016 Author Share Posted January 27, 2016 I think Ferguson vs. Nate makes more sense if Khabib won't be healthy enough to fight at 197. Whoever wins that has a legitimately argument for a title shot. Coming off two losses, Pettis probably should be fighting an Edson Barboza who is a good name and really be an entertaining bout for however long it lasts. If Barboza isn't healthy enough, Pettis vs. Chiesa would be another good fight on short notice. If you want to put Pettis back in the winner's bracket, there are plenty of good choices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted January 27, 2016 Author Share Posted January 27, 2016 It's the second attempt at Ferguson vs. Nurmagomedov. This time on 4/16 on Fox and tentatively taking place in Florida: http://www.mmafighting.com/2016/1/26/10838404/khabib-nurmagomedov-vs-tony-ferguson-targeted-for-april-ufc-on-fox Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted January 27, 2016 Author Share Posted January 27, 2016 Jason Floyd @Jason_Floyd 24m24 minutes agoIf UFC on FOX 19 ends up in Florida, 3 likely cities would be Orlando, Tampa and Miami. Major venues in those cites are available on 4/16 Helwani has hinted the frontrunner is Amalie Arena (the old Ice Palace/St. Pete Times Forum). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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