Pettis Out, KZ Gets Title Shot

Anthony 'Showtime' Pettis has been ruled out of his debut in the UFC's featherweight division. Pettis was originally slated to drop to the 145-pound weight class to take on division king Jose Aldo in a title fight that has been drenched in controversy since its conception. 

Dana White's decision to approve Pettis' wish to drop to featherweight and challenge Aldo for the belt was a surprise for a number of reasons, but mainly due to two factors. 1. Pettis had been campaigning for a title shot against UFC Lightweight champion Benson 'Smooth' Henderson for months.

2. The featherweight division already had worthy contenders in: Chan Sung Jung and Ricardo Lamas (to name a couple).

Either way, a slight tear to the miniscus has sidelined Pettis temporarily and resulted in him being pulled from the August 4 fight only to be replaced by arguably the best replacement choice in 'The Korean Zombie' Chan Sung Jung.

Jung is coming off an extended lay-off, recovering from surgery to get him back to fighting fit following an impressive submission victory over Dustin Poirier that earned him  both fight and submission of the night honours. 

Aldo vs. Jung will headline UFC163 on Sunday 4th August and will be joined on the card by Lyoto Machida vs. Phil Davis and Demian Maia vs. Josh Koscheck as well as other bouts.

BLACKZILLA's TIP: I'm pretty bloddy excited to see this main event. I think KZ is one of the few featherweights in the UFC that pose a legitimate threat to Aldo's reign at the top of the division. I'll take KZ by Split Decision.

Until next time,

Peace!

Upcoming Fight Cards On The UFC Schedule

Just figured i'd get everybody excited and post up some of the upcoming cards that are on the UFC schedule and highlight some of the fights i can't wait to see.

So here goes...

UFC On Fuel TV 10

Preliminary Card:
- Antonio Braga Neto vs. Anthony 'Lionheart' Smith.
- Caio 'Hellboy' Magalhaes vs. Karlos Vemola.
- Rodrigo Damm vs. Mizuto 'Pugnus' Hirota.
- Ildemar 'Marajo' Alcantara vs. Leandro Silva.
- Godofredo Pepey vs. Felipe 'Sertanejo' Arantes.
- Ronny Markes vs. Derek Brunson.
- Raphael Assuncao vs. Vaughan Lee.

Main Card:
- Rony Jason vs. Mike 'The Warrior' Wilkinson.
- Erick Silva vs. Jason 'The Kansas City Bandit' High.
- Daniel Sarafian vs. Eddie Mendez.
- Thiago Silva vs. Rafael 'Feijao' Cavalcante.
- Antonio 'Minotauro' Nogueira vs. Fabricio 'Vai Cavalo' Werdum.

BLACKZILLA's choices: I'm interested to see how the fight betwen Mike Wilkinson and Rony Jason goes considering both are alumni of different TUF seasons (TUF: Brazil Series 1 and TUF: Smashes, respectively). I'm also hanging out to see the slugfest between Big Nog and Fabricio Werdum. Hopefully, Werdum and Wilkinson pull off the victories, i'd like to see Werdum to work his way back into title contention.

UFC161

Note: This is the UPDATED card after the 'Renan Barao vs. Eddie Wineland' bantamweight title fight was pulled after Barao withdrew due to injury. The change forced the Rashad Evans vs. Dan Henderson into the Main event slot and moved Stipe Miocic (who was originally billed to fight Soa 'The Hulk' Palelei in the prelims) onto the main card for a heavyweight matchup against Roy 'Big Country' Nelson. Soa Palelei has been left without an opponent and will be used as an alternate should any of the heavyweights pull out of the card.

Preliminary Card:

- Yves 'Tiger' Jabouin vs. Dustin 'The Disciple' Pague.

- Mitch 'Danger Zone' Clarke vs. John 'The One' Maguire.

- Roland Delorme vs. Edwin 'El Feroz' Figueroa.

- Sean 'The Punisher' Pierson vs. Kenny Robertson.

- Ryan 'Big Deal' Jimmo vs. Igor 'The Duke' Pokrajac.

- Sam 'Hands Of Stone' Stout vs. James Krause.

Main Card:

- Jake Shields vs. Tyron 'The Chosen One' Woodley.

- Pat 'HD' Barry vs. Shawn 'The Savage' Jordan.

- Alexis Davis vs. Rosi 'The Surgeon' Sexton.

- Roy 'Big Country' Nelson vs. Stipe Miocic.

- Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.

- 'Suga' Rashad Evans vs. Dan 'Hendo' Henderson.

BLACKZILLA's choices: I can't wait to see Jake Shields throw down against fellow 'Strikeforce' veteran Tyron Woodley. I see Shields being a better all-round fighter but Woodley has power in his hands and i'd like to see him get the KO/TKO finish. Also, i'm backing 'Suga' Rashad Evans to get the win over Henderson. As much as i am a fan of Hendo, I see youth getting the better of him. Evans has looked a little inconsistent of late, and i'm hoping he can make a statement in this fight. I'm picking Evans by Unanimous Decision.

I'm really looking forward to these two cards and hopefully they can both produce some real solid fights. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Until Next Time, 

Peace!