By Joe Ferarro
While the world of MMA is experiencing a momentary lull in action, due to no major events occurring until August 01st, news and headlines continue to fabricate almost on an hourly basis. Thanks to social media and the online blogosphere, it’s been an interesting week thus far.
On Tuesday morning, TUF 12 coach Josh Koscheck tweeted “can’t wait until TUF 12 airs in Sept! & oh ya did u guys know, that I am going to be the next welterweight champion come dec 11th.”
While the date for this championship bout vs Georges St-Pierre has been out there for quite some time, it’s the location many are wondering about.
There are currently four that come to mind, all of which have been bandied about on numerous occasions: GSP’s home of Montreal, Kos’s home of Pittsburgh, the UFC’s home of Las Vegas, and even the city of Toronto, should the sport become sanctioned in the province of Ontario.
It’s interesting to note that while the UFC could likely pick the MGM or Mandalay Bay for a Vegas show, their Toronto choice would be the Rogers Centre. The other location in town, is the Air Canada Centre, but the date is currently booked by the Toronto Maple Leafs, who will be playing host to, wait for it…the Montreal Canadians.
This means, the home of the Habs is open for business on December 11th.
As for the Pittsburgh Penguins?
Like the Canadiens, they are on the road that Saturday, but, their new arena, the Consol Centre is already booked. Their old arena is set for demolition, so, as it stands, it appears this bout is headed to either Montreal, Vegas, and the long shot of Toronto, Ontario. For whatever it’s worth, I’m predicting I’ll be in La Belle Province for this event.
On Tuesday night, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson tweeted “almost ready 2 sign the bout agreement! i would tell yall who im gonna get down with,but i cant spell his name…hahaha.”
The Sportsnet team chuckled at Quinton’s sense of humour, as we had heard through a few sources that Lyoto Machida, the target of his tweet was an opponent that was rumoured to face Jackson since Rashad Evans decided he’d wait to face Shogun Rua early next year. The bout has yet to be signed, but all signs are pointing that it will be soon, with the two former champions potentially facing one another in November.
UFC 121 on October 23rd is shaping up to be an incredible event.
While nothing is official, the card is set to feature a heavyweight championship bout between Brock Lesnar vs. Cain Velasquez, a welterweight co-main event between Jake Shields and Martin Kampmann, a 170 lbs barn burner between Diego Sanchez vs. Paulo Thiago, anticipated slugfest between Patrick Cote and Tom Lawlor, a lightweight donnybrook between Sam Stout and Paul Taylor, TUF 11 winner Court McGee vs. Ryan Jensen, as well as a middleweight tilt between Chris Camozzi vs. Dong Yi Yang.
And, on top of this, Tito Ortiz is to be added onto this card (vs Forrest Griffin) in Anaheim as well.
WEC 51 just got a whole lot better, as London, Ontario’s Chris Horodecki has been added to the card.
“The Polish Hammer” will be taking on Ed “9 mm” Ratcliffe, a bout that was originally set to take place in June, at WEC 49. Ratcliffe was forced to withdraw from the fight due to injury.
The main event for the September 30th show in Broomfield, Colorado will be a featherweight championship tilt between Jose “Junior” Aldo, who defends his title against Manny Gamburyan. Other tentative bouts include Donald Cerrone vs. Jamie Varner, Miguel Torres vs. Charlie Valencia, Leonard Garcia vs. Mark Hominick as well as “The Korean Zombie”, Chan Sung Jung vs. George Roop.
Misc MMA News and Notes
• I do not think I can ever get tired of James Toney’s trash talk. His stuff, is at times, legendary. At other times, jaw dropping. His latest comments are “Wrestling and Jiu-Jitsu is for Girls”, his UFC 118 opponent Randy Couture is going to the hospital (downgraded from “murder”) while his submission skills continue to grow at an unprecedented rate. First he (allegedly) submitted King Mo Lawal, but now there’s a story that he nearly submitted Grappling Wizard Dean Lister.
• Strikeforce Women’s Welterweight Champion, Canadian Sarah Kaufmann, posted on her blog that she is planning to make a statement during the defense of her title on Friday. That, and a few other shots that many have heard loud and clear.
• Dan Henderson is hoping to return to the Strikeforce cage, sometime this fall, with Renato Babalu Sobral still angling for a rematch with the MMA pioneer.
• Shark Fights has announced “Rameau Thierry “The African Assassin” Sokoudjou will face Houston “The Assassin” Alexander in the co-main event”, underneath the main event of Keith “The Dean of Mean” Jardine vs Trevor Prangley, during Shark Fights 13, on Sept 11th.
• UFC veteran Akihiro Ghono, a former welterweight and middleweight is set to now make his lightweight debut for Sengoku, during their next show, which will be headlined by a middleweight title fight between champion Jorge Santiago and Kazuo Misaki.
• Heavyweight prospect Dave “Pee Wee” Herman is entangled in a lawsuit with Bellator FC - the litigation process is something to behold and it’s unfortunate the business of MMA is preventing the youngster from developing. It’s hard to decipher who is right in this case, but hopefully it can get settled sooner, rather than later.
Click here to subscribe to Ferraro's blog
