Lil Nog Pulls Out Of Shogun Fight, Sonnen To Replace?

Antonio Rogerio 'Lil Nog' Nogueira has just announced his withdrawal from his upcoming bout with Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua at UFC161 due to a back injury. UFC Correspondant Ariel Helwani confirmed this via his twitter account not long after. This now leaves Rua without an opponent for his co-main event bout and possibly even without a bout.

But not to worry... 

*cue cheesy superhero entrance music*

It seems Chael Sonnen has put his hand up to take this fight on short notice, and just 7 weeks after losing his light heavyweight title fight to 205-pound king Jon 'Bones' Jones. Chael is coming off two losses from two title fights in two different divisions (middleweight and light-heavyweight) while Rua is coming off a disappointing loss to fellow light-heavyweight contender Alexander Gustafsson. 

Whilst Sonnen has thrown his hand up for this fight, it has to be noted that the UFC haven't confirmed him to be Rua's replacement opponent.

So until then... Rua remains without an opponent....

Anyways, I'll keep you all updated on whether or not this possible fight becomes official as well as any other events within the world of the UFC or the MMA world at large.
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!

Griffin And Bonnar To Join UFC Hall Of Fame

The UFC160 post-fight press conference saw one of the UFC's favourite sons announce his retirement from active competition. Forrest Griffin made the call that he was finally hanging up his gloves for good naming a recent bad run of injuries as one of the more conclusive factors that helped him make his decision. 

Griffin retires sporting a healthy 19-7 record and having won his last fight by Unanimous Decision at  UFC148 against the also retired Tito Ortiz. He was also a former UFC Light Heavyweight champion after having beaten Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson to claim the strap at UFC86 in 2008.

Shortly after Forrest's announcement, UFC President Dana White announced that Griffin along with his TUF Season 1 Finale opponent Stephan 'The American Psycho' Bonnar would be the next two fighters to be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame joining the likes of legends such as: Royce Gracie, Chuck 'The Iceman' Liddell, Randy 'The Natural' Couture and 'The Huntington Beach Bad Boy' Tito Ortiz. 

Griffin and Bonnar are remembered for their performance in the finale of the first season of The Ultimate Fighter which turned out to be a one of the all-time greatest fights in MMA history. Griffin won a close Unanimous Decision. 

While Griffin won the inaugural 'Ultimate Fighter' title for the 205-pound division as well as the UFC Light Heavyweight title, Bonnar never quite reached championship heights, despite having challenged for the title on more than one occasion. This, in conjunction with his having tested positive for illegal performance enhancing substances on two occasions, has caused people to question whether he really deserves a spot among such a highly regarded group of MMA personalities.

Either way, the dynamic pair will become the 10th and 11th members (respectively) of the Hall of Fame when they are inducted at the UFC Fan Expo that takes place in the lead up to UFC162: Silva vs. Weidman.

Until next time, 
Peace!