Dana must just think its a lock Shogun will win. If Vera somehow won I think there will be some back-tracking.
Vera's only shot is if he can turn it into a kickboxing match..even then his chances are slim if Shogun remembers how brutal his own MT attack can be. If Shogun takes him down and pounds him...Vera will be broken again.
This reeks of nothing more than Dana trying to promote this Fox card even more. Although if Vera does beat Shogun, that vaults him right up near the top of the division.
Main Card (Fox)
Light Heavyweight bout Maurício Rua vs Brandon Vera
Light Heavyweight bout Lyoto Machida vs Ryan Bader
Lightweight bout Joe Lauzon vs Jamie Varner
Welterweight bout Mike Swick vs DaMarques Johnson
Preliminary Card (Fuel TV)
Featherweight bout Cole Miller vs Nam Phan
Light Heavyweight bout Phil Davis vs Wagner Prado
Featherweight bout Josh Grispi vs Rani Yahya
Heavyweight bout Phil De Fries vs Oli Thompson
Featherweight bout Manvel Gamburyan vs Michihiro Omigawa
Flyweight bout Ulysses Gomez vs John Moraga
__________________ "I don't know what the stronger emotion would be, the joy of winning or the pain of losing"-Sidney Crosby.
Last edited by End of Line: 07-31-2012 at 10:54 AM.
This reeks of nothing more than Dana trying to promote this Fox card even more.
That's exactly what this is. This way on the telecast they can keep talking about how it's a number one contender fight, thus making it seem as though it's a bigger/better fight than it actually is. As we all know, if Vera wins there isn't a chance in hell he fights Jones next, but by then obviously the Fox broadcast is long over, so mission accomplished. And on a side note, I still can't believe both Shogun and Machida are only -350 (Machida's actually closer to -320).
Main Card (Fox)
Light Heavyweight bout Maurício Rua vs Brandon Vera
Light Heavyweight bout Lyoto Machida vs Ryan Bader
Heavyweight bout Travis Browne vs Devin Cole
Lightweight bout Joe Lauzon vs Jamie Varner
Preliminary Card (Fuel TV)
Featherweight bout Cole Miller vs Nam Phan
Light Heavyweight bout Phil Davis vs Wagner Prado
Welterweight bout Mike Swick vs DaMarques Johnson
Featherweight bout Josh Grispi vs Rani Yahya
Heavyweight bout Phil De Fries vs Oli Thompson
Featherweight bout Manvel Gamburyan vs Michihiro Omigawa
Browne isn't fighting on this card anymore. He's fighting Bigfoot in the main event of an FX card on October 5th now.
It says on wiki that a flyweight fight between Ulysses Gomez and John Moraga has been added to the undercard and the Swick/Johnson fight has been bumped to the main card.
Why are Phil Davis, Alexander Gustafsson and Glover Teixeira not part of the Jon Jones discussion? Davis's wrestling, Gustafsson's power and Glover's boxing / sheer brutality all look more interesting than either rematch.
Why are Phil Davis, Alexander Gustafsson and Glover Teixeira not part of the Jon Jones discussion? Davis's wrestling, Gustafsson's power and Glover's boxing / sheer brutality all look more interesting than either rematch.
No one knows what they have in Glover...he beat Kyle Kingsbury. Gustaffson would be interesting but he needs a top win first. Phil Davis would get tooled...his striking is trash and he wouldn't be able to wrestle with Bones..he'd end up getting hellbowed or choked out.
That's exactly what this is. This way on the telecast they can keep talking about how it's a number one contender fight, thus making it seem as though it's a bigger/better fight than it actually is. As we all know, if Vera wins there isn't a chance in hell he fights Jones next, but by then obviously the Fox broadcast is long over, so mission accomplished. And on a side note, I still can't believe both Shogun and Machida are only -350 (Machida's actually closer to -320).
Yep, and as expected Dana has altered his earlier claim, now the winner of Machida/Bader will also get consideration.
"Whoever wins the most impressively on Saturday night gets the shot at the title," White said.
Nobody should ever take what Dana says at face value. If neither fight is won impressively Dana will once again change his tune.
Browne isn't fighting on this card anymore. He's fighting Bigfoot in the main event of an FX card on October 5th now.
It says on wiki that a flyweight fight between Ulysses Gomez and John Moraga has been added to the undercard and the Swick/Johnson fight has been bumped to the main card.
Yep, and as expected Dana has altered his earlier claim, now the winner of Machida/Bader will also get consideration.
"Whoever wins the most impressively on Saturday night gets the shot at the title," White said.
Nobody should ever take what Dana says at face value. If neither fight is won impressively Dana will once again change his tune.
Yeah I was happy to see this. Aside from Vera, a case could be made for any of the other three guys being the most deserving of the next title shot, and if the UFC doesn't feel Gustafsson is ready then I'm ok with whoever wins most convincingly getting the next opportunity. Only problem is it's going to be much easier for Shogun to get a decisive finish than either of the other two IMO. I can see where the UFC is in a bit of a difficult predicament though as there's not a clear top contender, so at least this way they can point to an impressive win when building the rematch with Jones.
Yeah I was happy to see this. Aside from Vera, a case could be made for any of the other three guys being the most deserving of the next title shot, and if the UFC doesn't feel Gustafsson is ready then I'm ok with whoever wins most convincingly getting the next opportunity. Only problem is it's going to be much easier for Shogun to get a decisive finish than either of the other two IMO. I can see where the UFC is in a bit of a difficult predicament though as there's not a clear top contender, so at least this way they can point to an impressive win when building the rematch with Jones.
As of right now Shogun has the edge because Vera is such a wild card at this point. Machida/Bader is a bit more even but I still give Machida the edge due to his diverse striking and tdd...plus he has a good ground game. Bader is a big and powerful athlete with heavy hands and good wrestling but I think he will struggle getting and keeping Machida contained.
Main Card
Light Heavyweight bout Maurício Rua vs Brandon Vera
Light Heavyweight bout Lyoto Machida vs Ryan Bader
Lightweight bout Joe Lauzon vs Jamie Varner
Welterweight bout Mike Swick vs DaMarques Johnson
Preliminary Card
Featherweight bout Cole Miller vs Nam Phan
Light Heavyweight bout Phil Davis vs Wagner Prado
Featherweight bout Josh Grispi vs Rani Yahya
Heavyweight bout Phil De Fries vs Oli Thompson
Featherweight bout Manvel Gamburyan vs Michihiro Omigawa
Flyweight bout Ulysses Gomez vs John Moraga
Why are Phil Davis, Alexander Gustafsson and Glover Teixeira not part of the Jon Jones discussion? Davis's wrestling, Gustafsson's power and Glover's boxing / sheer brutality all look more interesting than either rematch.
Davis & Teixeira have no business getting the next crack at Jones. Gustafsson is definitely deserving but I get the sense that they're trying to bring him along slower.
They can use Machida or Shogun as a stopgap and that gives them time to set up a superfight with Anderson, fast track Chael to a title shot or see if a consensus #1 contender emerges.
Last edited by DeathFromAbove: 07-31-2012 at 07:11 PM.
Shogun over Vera
Machida over Bader
Varner over Lauzon
Swick over Johnson
Davis over Prado
Miller over Phan
Yahya over Grispi
Thompson over de Fries
Gamburyan over Omigawa
Moraga over Gomez
Main Card (Fox)
Light Heavyweight bout Maurício Rua vs Brandon Vera
Light Heavyweight bout Lyoto Machida vs Ryan Bader
Lightweight bout Joe Lauzon vs Jamie Varner
Welterweight bout Mike Swick vs DaMarques Johnson
Preliminary Card (Fuel TV)
Featherweight bout Cole Miller vs Nam Phan
Light Heavyweight bout Phil Davis vs Wagner Prado
Featherweight bout Josh Grispi vs Rani Yahya
Heavyweight bout Phil De Fries vs Oli Thompson
Featherweight bout Manvel Gamburyan vs Michihiro Omigawa
Flyweight bout Ulysses Gomez vs John Moraga
Main Card (Fox)
Light Heavyweight bout Maurício Rua vs Brandon Vera - Sure, why not. It would be funny if Vera won, so I'm all for seeing some amusement. Shogun is basically just a much better version of Vera, so in some ways Vera should be completely outclassed. We've seen a questionable Shogun against guys like Coleman and Griffin though, and if that version shows up who knows..
Light Heavyweight bout Lyoto Machida vs Ryan Bader - I really like this matchup for Bader. Machida has not looked good at all recently, and he's 1-3 in his last four fights with his lone win against Randy Couture. Might as well go with another upset..
Lightweight bout Joe Lauzon vs Jamie Varner - Talk about no idea what will happen, Varner is a wildcard.
Welterweight bout Mike Swick vs DaMarques Johnson - Again, who knows where Swick is at. I'm a big fan of his, so hopefully he comes ready.
Preliminary Card (Fuel TV)
Featherweight bout Cole Miller vs Nam Phan
Light Heavyweight bout Phil Davis vs Wagner Prado
Featherweight bout Josh Grispi vs Rani Yahya
Heavyweight bout Phil De Fries vs Oli Thompson
Featherweight bout Manvel Gamburyan vs Michihiro Omigawa
Flyweight bout Ulysses Gomez vs John Moraga
Main Card (Fox)
Light Heavyweight bout Maurício Rua vs Brandon Vera
Light Heavyweight bout Lyoto Machida vs Ryan Bader
Lightweight bout Joe Lauzon vs Jamie Varner
Welterweight bout Mike Swick vs DaMarques Johnson
Preliminary Card (Fuel TV)
Featherweight bout Cole Miller vs Nam Phan
Light Heavyweight bout Phil Davis vs Wagner Prado
Featherweight bout Josh Grispi vs Rani Yahya
Heavyweight bout Phil De Fries vs Oli Thompson
Featherweight bout Manvel Gamburyan vs Michihiro Omigawa
Flyweight bout Ulysses Gomez vs John Moraga
Not a big fan of the fight but I'm really looking forward to seeing Shogun put a beating on Vera. Vera is just one of those guys who deserves to get his ass kicked. He's cocky and he comes off as an ***hole. The UFC has just given him an opportunity that he doesn't deserve but he's still going around acting all arrogant and talking smack about the people who think he shouldn't be in the main event. Hopefully Shogun breaks his face and the UFC sends him packing just like they did after Silva slapped him around and embarrassed him.
I normally wouldn't pick Johnson but Swick has been out for way too long. I hope he gets the win but I can't pick him here.
Main Card (Fox)
Light Heavyweight bout Maurício Rua vs Brandon Vera
Light Heavyweight bout Lyoto Machida vs Ryan Bader
Lightweight bout Joe Lauzon vs Jamie Varner
Welterweight bout Mike Swick vs DaMarques Johnson
Preliminary Card (Fuel TV)
Featherweight bout Cole Miller vs Nam Phan
Light Heavyweight bout Phil Davis vs Wagner Prado
Featherweight bout Josh Grispi vs Rani Yahya
Heavyweight bout Phil De Fries vs Oli Thompson
Featherweight bout Manvel Gamburyan vs Michihiro Omigawa
Flyweight bout Ulysses Gomez vs John Moraga
I wish that Prado vs. Davis was on the main card. I am more interested in that fight than the bottom 2 main card matches. I'm taking Prado. I haven't learned my lesson after watching Hector look less than spectacular last card.
Hoping Phan can pull out the win. He's a good fighter to watch and loves to stand and trade.
