Metal Reviews

Joe Lauzon is also off the UFC 180 card, he was supposed to fight Diego Sanchez. Lauzon was a replacement for injured Norman Parke.

Also Conor McGregor vs Denis Siver in Boston next year, and Chris Weidman vs Vitor Belfort for the MW title at the main event of UFC 184.

Picks for tonight?

Aldo-Teixeira-are there other ones?

Should be a spectacular main event. Mendes is way more confident this time around and will be better, but Aldo is still the superior striker and is so hard to keep on the mat. I like Chad and he definitely has a good chance to win tonight but I think Jose will end up knocking him out late in the fight. Phil Davis looked awful against Anthony Johnson, but if he can keep space and use his athleticism, he might be able to decision Glover. That being said, I think Texeira will win this fight. He should be aggressive early and keep the pressure on Davis until he can find a seam and knock him out.

I hope we get an aggressive and motivated Aldo. He's been getting a lot of flack for lack of finishes, but now he's the last Brazillian champ fighting on home soil in a building the Gracie's use to compete in back in the day. Hopefully he comes out like an animal and kicks Mendes legs to oblivion.

If Mr Wonderful wins, it'll be jabs and clinching and kicks and a unanimous decision. But Glover is nasty and I can see him looking to knock Phil's head off, and doing it.

Best Aldo fight in his UFC career and the hardest he's ever been pushed. Mendes brought it and had the champ in trouble multiple times throughout the fight, but man a motivated Aldo is scary. He's just so fast and crisp and his combinations are deadly. When Dillashaw beat Barao to win the 135 lbs title, he did it with footwork. Mendes would start to move around a bit, then just stop in front of Aldo with his hands down. I wanted Aldo to win, but I was yelling at Mendes through my TV to "Move!". He'd plant his feet in front of Aldo and drop his hands. Sure he connected with some serious punches, and his leg kicks looked good (until Aldo started throwing some), but he needed to move more to try and tire Aldo out, and he didn't. I don't see anybody at FW dethroning Aldo, but the build up to Aldo-McGregor (if it happens) will be a fun ride.

Aldo vs Edgar/Swanson winner, or McGregor (should he beat SIver), or Dennis Bermudez (should he beat Ricardo Lamas)
Mendes vs the loser of either Edgar/Swanson or Bermudez/Lamas

As for Mr. Wonderful, it wasn't the most exciting fight and Glover looked way out of shape, but it was a dominant win nonetheless. Everybody, me included, thought Teixiera was going to walk right through Davis, but Phil used his wrestling (although the look on his face in the 1st round when he couldn't get the takedown was priceless) and dominated the fight for 15 minutes. I don't think Teixeira had really any moments in the fight. I'm sure he landed some punches, but it was all Phil. Coming off that bad loss to Anthony Johnson, he needed this in a big way and it should put him right back into title contention. Give Glover Dan Henderson next and watch the leather fly.

Davis vs Ryan Bader or Shogun (should he beat Jimi Manuwa)
Teixeira vs Hendo or OSP (should he win his next fight)

The rest of the (main) card was pretty meh. Maldonaldo has won 4 straight at LHW now, but against bottom tier guys (plus that KO loss at HW), so it's still hard to figure out exactly where he fits in. Gateway guy? Fun fights only guy? Darren Elkins took a boring split decision (the judge that gave it to Martins 30-27 should never be allowed near an MMA cage again) over Lucas Martins, handing Martins his first loss at 145. On the undercard, Wilson Ries earned arguably his biggest career win with a 1st round submission to Scott Jorgensen. At first it looked like Jorgensen gave the fight away, but after watching the replays and seeing the damage done of the body kick landed, I gained a lot of respect for Scott. Both men really. But I think this may be the last we see Jorgensen in the UFC. He's 1-3 at flyweight, and 4-6 overall in the UFC. Most of his losses are 1st-2nd round submissions. He's the future WSOF fly/bantamweight champion.

The UFC sent out a "save the date" email to all major MMA media outlets today. Apparently we have a major announcement coming November 17th. The return of GSP? Announcing the next TUF coaches and format? (rumoured to be changing TUF to gym vs gym instead of unsigned prospects) All PPVs going to Fight Pass like the WWE Network? Have 3 weeks until we know.

I'm well and truly behind on my UFC, only just finished watching Jones TKO Sonnen (dodgy call). Big Country's first round knockout from that card was impressive though I think if he cut some weight he would be a lot better fighter.

Aldo-Mendes had Fight of the Year written all over it and both guys delivered. Chad is going to be in championship limbo ala Urijah Faber for a little while but he has gotten better every fight and will wear the belt sooner or later. Aldo is a tough match-up for him since hasn't been able to effectively use his wrestling in either of their fights. MacGregor will be an interesting opponent for Aldo should he be victorious over Siver. I think Aldo will pick him apart but wrestling clearly is not the strategy that will bring down the champ.

A disappointing effort from Texeira against Davis who owned this fight from the get-go. This win should put him back in the hunt for the LW belt though a few more good victories will be needed to count him as a legit contender. The Anderson Silva call-out by Davis at the end was very random.

That could be an interesting fight. Davis does NOT want to stand up against Silva. His best wrestling game may cause Silva some issues.

Benson Henderson vs Eddie Alvarez will co-main event in Boston the night of the McGregor-Siver fight.

Also, Donald Cerrone vs Myles Jury to co-headline UFC 182, Ronda Rousey vs Cat Zingano has been moved to the UFC 184 co-main event.

And, Jimi Manuwa is hurt, now Ovice Saint Pruex will fight Shogun Rua coming up next week. And Shogun will coach TUF Brazil 4 opposite Anderson Silva. They are not expected to fight at seasons end.

Huge weekend for MMA coming up next Saturday with events from UFC, Bellator and WSOF. Notable fights: Mark Hunt vs Fabricio Werdum for the UFC Interim HW belt (Go Super Samoa!!), Yushin Okami takes on Dave Branch for the WSOF MW belt and Mike Chandler faces off against Will Brooks at Bellator 131. A fight between tomato cans Tito Ortiz and Stephen Bonnar headlines the Bellator card but the Chandler-Brooks rematch is the one I'm excited to see. Also, Rockhold chokes out Bisping, Iaquinta TKOs Pearson and Palelei beats Harris at Fight Night in Aussieland.

Went to see Glory 18 live last night and had a lot fun. Some excellent KOs courtesy of Zak Mwekassa and Robert Thompson highlighted by a hotly contested LW title bout made for a solid evening of fights. The turnout was disappointing for such a major promotion but it was nice not having to deal with drunk rednecks who don't know shit about kickboxing.

Poor Bisping :(

Even though he can be a chode at times, I've always liked Bisping and was really pulling for him to win this fight. He's had such terrible luck and so many unfortunate setbacks over his UFC career. This loss puts him out of the title picture for the foreseeable future and was probably his last chance at a run for the belt. At 35 years old, he's still a solid mid-level guy with a great motor but has been totally outclassed by every top 10 MW he's faced of late.

Alexander 'The Mauler' Gustafsson vs Anthony 'Rumble' Johnson in Stockholm this January in a 30k capacity arena. I think I'm gonna have to get tickets for this one.

Not to mention Hendo vs Mousasi and Matt Brown vs Tarec Saffiedine also on that card.

Also, Frank Mir vs Bigfoot Silva added to UFC 184, Miesha Tate vs Sara McMann added to UFC 183.

Think the last time I saw Mir fight he still had the title to his name. That could be a good fight if both are on their A game.

If Hendo gets drubbed by Gegard then he will likely be done in the UFC. Dan has only won one out of his last five fights and gatekeepers are pretty high on Dana White's shit list.

No title implications here with Tate vs McMann but it should be a good fight regardless. Sarah is a salt of the earth kind of chick with a great work ethic and that will always get my support.

They are a combined 1-6-1 in their last 8 fights. Their A games are long gone.

Holly Holm injured, out of her UFC debut fight vs Raquel Pennington.

Also huge middleweight fight announced today, as Yoel Romero will fight Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza at UFC 184 this February. Same night as Weidman-Belfort.

Dana White also said that if Cain Velasquez is not ready to fight by March, then he will be stripped of his heavyweight title.

I just love Tate. Big nose and all. I will always cheer for her, but I see McMann using he wrestling and grappling to win a decision. Tate will have to pull off a submission to win this one.

Hopes for a speedy recovery for Holly. She will be a great addition to the women's BW division and a real threat to Rousey's belt once she gets a little more experience.

Jacare should have leap-frogged Belfort for the title shot against Weidman IMO but he will cement his claim to the number 1 contender spot with a victory here. Romero is a solid fighter but Souza's BJJ is just so ridiculously good.

Glad to see the brass is finally holding the champ's feet to the fire over these injury delays. Pettis above all people should have been the one called out by White though.