Around The UFC: Nelson Back, Pettis Won’t Wait, UFC Adds Fight To 127
Added on Jan 09, 2011 by John Petit in
2 Comments
Roy Nelson Clears Up Contract Mess
As reported here on Sportsbettingworld.com Roy “Big Country” Nelson was engaged in a contract dispute with boxer/boxing promoter Roy Jones Junior. Apparently, Nelson was still under contract, and Jones filed suit against him AFTER he won the UFC’s “The Ultimate Fighter” show. It sounds like the contract dispute has been all cleared up, and Nelson is coming back to to the Octagon. Nelson will be squaring off against former champion Frank Mir UFC 130 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Most likely the event will be held in late May at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Also rumored to be on the card Quinton Jackson vs. Thiago Silva, Thiago Alves vs. Rick Story, and Travis Browne vs. Stefan Struve.
Anthony Pettis Won’t Wait To Fight
With Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard 3 on the horizon, after their UFC 125 Split Draw, the questions are swirling on what to do with WEC Lightweight Champion Anthony Pettis. With injury suspensions, and this is a worst case scenario, this rematch might not happen for 6 months. When you add in a possibility of injuries after that fight, it could be 10 months before Pettis makes his Octagon debut. The idea was to bring him in, and unify the two belts, but it seems that plan is out the window. Well it sounds like Anthony Pettis isn’t going to wait around for the fight, and it sounds like he is well aware of the risks of losing his shot at the champion. MMAWeekly spoke with Mike Roberts. “Anthony was obviously disappointed in not getting the title shot, but he also understands why Dana made that decision,” Roberts said. “After consulting with Anthony and Duke Roufus, we collectively decided that it would be in Anthony’s best interest to take a fight in the meantime. A 10-month or possible year layoff was just too long. We believe with a win against a top lightweight contender Anthony will still get the title shot later in the year.”
Early rumors are hinting at a possible scrap with Clay Guida, but its way to early to say for sure.
Late Addition To UFC 127
It is sounding like there has been a late addition to UFC 127 as Tiequan Zhang is expected to make his Octagon debut against Jason Reinhardt. Zhang is currently12-1 in his profesional career, and was the first ever Chinese born fighter to sign in the WEC. Now that will apply to the UFC as well. He lost his first pro fight at WEC 53 to Danny Downes, and will look to bounce back against Reinhardt. Jason Reinhardt (20-1) makes his first appearance in the UFC Octagon since a 2007 loss to Joe Lauzon at UFC 78. Reinhardt has been largely out of active competition for the past 3 years, and will have a tough test awaiting him upon his return.
The Rest of the card looks like this:
Main Bouts:
Jon Fitch (23-3) vs. B.J. Penn (16-7-1)
Michael Bisping (20-3) vs. Jorge Rivera (19-7)
George Sotiropoulos (14-2) vs. Dennis Siver (17-7)
Carlos Condit (26-5) vs. Chris Lytle (30-17-5)
Chris Camozzi (14-3) vs. Kyle Noke (18-4-1)
Preliminary Bouts:
Ross Pearson (11-4) vs. Spencer Fisher (24-6)
James Te Huna (12-4) and Alexander Gustafsson (10-1)
Riki Fukuda (17-4) vs. Nick Ring (10-0)
Mark Hunt (5-7) vs. Chris Tuchscherer (21-3)
Maciej Jewtuszko (8-0) vs. Curt Warburton (6-2)
Tom Blackledge (10-6) vs. Anthony Perosh (10-6)
2 Comments
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January 9, 9:05 pm
I like that potential matchup between Showtime and Guida a lot. Hopefully it comes to fruition.
January 10, 1:47 pm
Glad to see Big Country’s back!
I hope Zhang pulls off his submissions in this match up, guy is no joke.