UFC 144: Edgar vs. Henderson

[No More Sorrow]

An injury has forced former ‘Ultimate Fighter’ competitor George Sotiropoulos out of UFC 144 in Japan. In his place Eiji Mitsuoka will step in and face Takanori Gomi.

Sources close to the fight confirmed the news to MMAWeekly.com on Friday with bout agreements issued for the Feb contest.

Eiji Mitsuoka will make his UFC debut on just a month’s notice, where he will fight at home in Japan against former Pride champion Takanori Gomi.

A former Sengoku and Dream fighter, Mitsuoka has won his last two fights in a row and will look to make it three in a row when he faces Gomi in February.

MMAWeekly.com

 

[The Cork]

booooooooooooooooooo

 

[Troy]

Well that sucks. Was hoping to see Soti win and start his quest back towards a title shot.

 

[The Cork]

I don't wanna write off Edgar for the 5th consecutive fight, but Bendo looked so good against Guida on the Fox show......I think I've changed my mind, he can pull it off here. Hes way too active and I think that'll be the difference, even though Edgar hasnt really had any stamina issues before.

 

[No More Sorrow]

I've been saying Bendo is going to win since the fight was announced, just think his athleticism and will to win will take him to the title. It wont be easy at all though, I'm one of the people also who have written Edgar off on numerous times and he just keeps winning, just thinking its Bendo's time.

 

[Troy]

I am another that wrote Edgar off for both the Maynard fights but I am going against him here again. Henderson looks like a beast in this division and I can't see Edgar stopping him. Henderson should be able to do what Maynard could not, he should be able to finish him.

 

[No More Sorrow]

Here we all are betting against Edgar again, then he comes out with a 20 sec Ko.

 

[The Cork]

Sort of off-topic, but I don't see how guys like Anderson Silva and GSP can still have a legit claim to #1 P4P anymore...

Frankie Edgar is top of the most competitive division in the biggest company in MMA, surely that's more of an achievement than anything GSP and Silva have done recently?

 

[No More Sorrow]

The UFC has retained an independent drug-testing laboratory to screen fighters for performance-enhancing drugs and drugs of abuse later this month at UFC 144 in Japan.

The event's headliners – lightweight champ Frankie Edgar and challenger Ben Henderson – will be tested along with six to eight random competitors on the fight card, a source close to the event today told MMAjunkie.com (UFC blog for UFC news, UFC rumors, fighter interviews and event previews/recaps | MMAjunkie.com).

Approximately 15,000 tickets have been sold for the show, the source said.

UFC 144 takes place Feb. 25 at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. The event's main card airs live stateside on pay-per-view. The preliminary card is expected to air on FX.

A light-heavyweight bout between former champ Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Ryan Bader serves as the co-main event, and a handful of Japanese fighters also are booked for the card.

The UFC frequently hires outside firms to conduct drug testing for international shows, where athletic commissions often aren't available.

UFC 144 is the organization's first event held in Japan since UFC 29, which took place in December 2000 when the fight promotion was under the control of its former owners, Semaphore Entertainment Group.

MMAjunkie.com

 

[No More Sorrow]

Main Fight Card

Lightweight Championship bout: Frankie Edgar (c) vs Ben Henderson

Light Heavyweight bout: Quinton Jackson vs Ryan Bader

Heavyweight bout: Mark Hunt vs Cheick Kongo

Welterweight bout: Yoshihiro Akiyama vs Jake Shields

Lightweight bout: Anthony Pettis vs Joe Lauzon

Middleweight bout: Yushin Okami vs. Tim Boetsch

Preliminary card

Bantamweight bout: Norifumi Yamamoto vs Vaughan Lee

Lightweight bout: Takanori Gomi vs. Japan Eiji Mitsuoka

Middleweight bout: Riki Fukuda vs Steve Cantwell

Bantamweight bout: Takeya Mizugaki vs Chris Cariaso

Featherweight bout: Tiequan Zhang vs Leonard Garcia


UFC's next PPV in 3 weeks, and i still cannot get over how stacked this card is. This last week they shuffled the prelim card around a bit they took Okami/Boestch and addied it to the main card and got rid of three other prelim fights all together leaving only five on the prelims and six fights on the main card.
​

 

[The Cork]

Really excited for this.

One of the guys who trains at my gym UTC is on the card, Vaughan Lee.

 

[No More Sorrow]

[video=youtube_share;NV0qI9z_690]http://youtu.be/NV0qI9z_690[/video]

 

[No More Sorrow]

Bader, who won the "The Ultimate Fighter 8," was a fan of Jackson's in his days as a wrestler and before he made it to the UFC. But things have changed now that the two are set to fight.

"You can go back with your career afterwards and say I fought all these guys, but now's not the time," he said. "Now, I get a name like 'Rampage,' and my mindset changes."

Bader brings a strong wresting pedigree to all of his fights, but since emerging from the reality show, he's focused on becoming a dangerous striker. He's so far managed to stop three of his UFC opponents by strikes as well as defeat more experienced strikers such Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.

Jackson, though, presents a more significant threat in that department. Known for heavy hands and a strong chin, he has largely abandoned his wrestling roots for a boxing-centric style. He's managed to stop three of his UFC opponents with his hands and wobble several others with punches.

But Bader agrees with observers that say Jackson has become predictable over the years, and therefore easier to beat.

"You fight a guy like Jon Jones, you really don't know what he's going to bring," he said. "It's hard to bring somebody in and have somebody replicate that.

"But fighting 'Rampage,' you know what he's trying to do. He's trying to walk you down, use head movement, and throw those big bombs on you. He does have some elbows and knees, but watching his fights, you pretty much know what he's going to do."

"But we'll be ready for whatever. Maybe he changed some things up for the Japanese crowd."

Jackson spoke of returning to his roots in a press conference held in Japan announcing the Feb. 25 event. A star of the now-defunct PRIDE, he said the Japanese audience encouraged him to take more risks when he fought, which lead to more exciting performances.

Jackson's powerbomb of Ricardo Arona at "PRIDE Critical Countdown 2004" remains one of the most spectacular pieces of highlight tape in the sport.

Bader isn't sure which fighter he's going to face, so he's prepared for either.

"It's not 'Rampage' the guy I grew up watching," he said. "It's 'Rampage' the guy standing across the cage that I've got to go out there and beat."

Think i might pick Bader for this fight.

I'm a huge Rampage fan have been since his days in PRIDE. But Bader has a similar style to him, he's younger, faster and he's got the power as well.

It's going to be close and Page is going to put up a fight and I'd love to see him get the win here, but I got a feeling it just won't be his night.

Bader Via Unanimous Decision

 

[The Cork]

I obviously agree, and look forward to telling Slim "I told you so".

Rampage is so mediocre.

 

[Troy]

Really good video, Edgar's has an impressive list of victims and it makes him look so strong as champion. Really think that Henderson will challenge him in this fight and I think that Henderson can take it.

I agree that Bader should be able to take Rampage who is definitely near the end of his career.