UFC 146 - Dos Santos vs. Overeem

[Hoss]

Ideally the winner of those two HW matched will go one to face each other to decide a new number 1 contender. Unless Mir knocks off JDS in which case, JDS will get his obligatory rematch. I mean, unless he gets completely slaughtered that is. Which I doubt.

 

[Swinny]

Ideally the winner of those two HW matched will go one to face each other to decide a new number 1 contender. Unless Mir knocks off JDS in which case, JDS will get his obligatory rematch. I mean, unless he gets completely slaughtered that is. Which I doubt.

There's no obligatory rematches in MMA. :tongue1: Unless the fight is extremely close with Mir winning a controversial decision, there shouldn't be a rematch. It's getting ridiculous with the amount of title rematches, especially in the lightweight division. Bottom line though, I don't see Mir winning anyway.

But which two heavyweight matches are you talking about, since the whole card is heavyweights? I assume you mean Cain and Bigfoot and Nelson against whoever he faces, but I don't think Big Country should be anywhere near a number one contender fight at this point in time, much rather see Mark Hunt get it if he knocks off Struve.

 

[Hoss]

Yes, those are the matches I meant. And anyways, Nelson still has some name value in the division and could be a contender. There's just some space between him and the title which is why I make the suggestion to have him prove himself in two difficult fights back to back before contention.

That being said, I think Rothwell could beat Nelson, and I'm pretty much positive Browne would have little trouble putting him away. Big Foot vs. Cain could be a good one and though I think Cain will win, that's not to say Big Foot couldn't know him off. If Big Foot does, and beats the winner of Nelson vs. Whoever we get an interesting clash of styles in the title fight, and if he loses, we still get fresh blood after title which is always a good thing. If they did it in this manner, we could easily see two new, previously unrecognized contenders introduced to the HW title picture which at this time isn't super interesting. Just my opinion.

 

[Swinny]

I think Cain will easily put down Big Foot, to be honest. I think people severely overrate him do to the Fedor win, but I think Cormier brought him back down to earth after that and proved he's not a legit top guy. Maybe he'll surprise me, but I don't think so. So I don't see there being fresh blood. I'd like to see the heavyweight division be shaken up, but I don't see it happening. At the moment I see it as JDS, Cain, Overeem (if he ever fights in the UFC again) and Mir. And then there's a huge drop and there's everyone else, until someone proves themselves to make the jump.

 

[Hoss]

That would be the point in Browne/Rothwell facing someone like Cain or Big Foot. To move them up to the next level. Plus, Mark Hunt's on the rise (even though I'm not a super fan of his).

 

[Death Dealer]

Thread title needs an updating.

 

[Swinny]

Roy Nelson now faces Gabriel Gonzaga. Which means Shane Del Rosario will now need a new opponent...

 

[Hoss]

What the fuck?

Oh well, didn't even realize Gonsaga was on the card.

To be honest, I didn't even realize Gonzaga still worked for the UFC..

 

[Swinny]

What the fuck?

Oh well, didn't even realize Gonsaga was on the card.

To be honest, I didn't even realize Gonzaga still worked for the UFC..

He was released after the Schaub loss, but then was brought back to fight on UFC 142 in Brazil because of an injury and he won that.

 

[Swinny]

Shane Del Rosario is now facing Stipe Miocic and everything is set now.

 

[Swinny]

And... more changes:

With Gonzaga, Dunham out, UFC 146 gets Herman vs. Nelson, Barboza vs. Varner

The UFC 146 merry-go-round continues to spin, end Gabriel Gonzaga and Evan Dunham are the latest two fighters ejected from the ride.

Replacements Dave Herman (21-3 MMA, 1-1 UFC) and Jamie Varner (19-6-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) have filled the holes resulting in new matchups of Herman vs. Roy Nelson (16-7 MMA, 3-3 UFC) and Edson Barboza (10-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) vs. Varner.

UFC officials announced the changes Tuesday night.

UFC 146 takes place May 26 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. In addition to the PPV main card, which features UFC heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos vs. Frank Mir, FX and Facebook carry the preliminary card.

Herman steps in on less than one-month's notice, looking to rebound from a February loss to Stefan Struve, who also fights at UFC 146. The result snapped a three-fight win streak for the mercurial "Pee Wee," who now seeks the highest-profile win of his career.

Nelson now faces his third scheduled opponent. originally expected to face Antonio Silva, Alistair Overeem's removal from the card resulted in a shift to Gonzaga, who now bows out due to injury. Now, he'll look to get back on the winning track against Herman after going 1-3 against top-tier competition. Decision losses to Junior Dos Santos, Frank Mir and Fabricio Werdum dented his stock, though a win over Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic at UFC 137 likely saved his UFC career.

Barboza, a Brazilian now fighting out of Florida, returns to the cage for the first time since his spectacular spinning-wheel-kick KO of Terry Etim at UFC 142. The 26-year-old former Ring of Combat champion is now 4-0 in the UFC with wins over Anthony Njokuani and Ross Pearson (both via decision in "Fight of the Night" performances) and Mike Lullo (TKO via leg kicks).

Meanwhile, former WEC champ Varner returns to the promotion for the first time since 2007. The lightweight went 1-1 in the octagon before shifting over to the WEC, where he posted a 4-3-1 record that included one controversial title defense over Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone. Varner was released from the promotion following a WEC 53 loss to Shane Roller but has since gone 3-1 on the regional circuit and earning a short-notice call-up.

MMAJunkie