Tag: UFC 157

Report: Josh Koscheck vs Robbie Lawler Booked for UFC 157

The historic UFC 157 fight card, headlined by the first ever women’s bout in the promotion, is beginning to take shape with Josh Koscheck set to face Robbie Lawler at the Feb. 23, 2013 event. The two welterweights are both coming off losses, and the fi…

The historic UFC 157 fight card, headlined by the first ever women’s bout in the promotion, is beginning to take shape with Josh Koscheck set to face Robbie Lawler at the Feb. 23, 2013 event.

The two welterweights are both coming off losses, and the fight is probably a disappointment for Kos, who had his eyes on the likes of Carlos Condit, BJ Penn and Rory MacDonald over the past year.

Instead, the UFC has lined up Lawler, according to MMA Junkie, a man who’s coming into the UFC following a chequered 3-5 record in Strikeforce.

Lawler’s had plenty of experience in the UFC. As a youngster he fought for the organisation between 2002 and 2004, and was eventually cut following back-to-back losses to Nick Diaz and Evan Tanner.

Before joining Strikeforce, Lawler managed to win titles in several lesser promotions, including EliteXC as a middleweight, and was notable for knocking out the dangerous striker Melvin Manhoef in 2010.

Still, this is not the fight Kos wanted. The 35-year-old has struggled to re-establish himself as a UFC welterweight contender following his championship fight loss to Georges St-Pierre at UFC 124 (his second career loss to the incumbent 170 pound kingpin), and, despite commanding wins over Matt Hughes and Mike Pierce, he suffered a setback after losing a close split decision to Johny Hendricks in May.

Hendricks is now widely considered the number-one contender. More recently, Kos was meant to face top welterweight Jake Ellenberger in September, but was sidelined due to an injury.

As things have shaken up in the UFC during his seven-month absence, Hendricks is now taking on Ellenberger in Montreal in March 2013, on the same card that will feature rising welterweight MacDonald against Condit and a title fight between GSP and Nick Diaz.

That has left Kos out in the cold somewhat, and he is now slated to be Lawlor’s first UFC opponent in almost nine years.

UFC 157 will be headlined by a women’s bantamweight title fight between champion Ronda Rousey and Liz Carmouche. The action will take place at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, and will also feature light heavyweight Dan Henderson taking on Lyoto Machida for the 205-pound contender’s spot.

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Report: Robbie Lawler to Make Octagon Return Against Josh Koscheck at UFC 157


(“Damn it. I know I came in here for something…” Photo via Strikeforce)

As if we needed any more evidence that Strikeforce is shutting down after their next event, check this out: Orange County Register reports that veteran banger Robbie Lawler will make his first UFC appearance in over eight years when he faces Josh Koscheck in a welterweight bout at UFC 157: Rousey vs. Carmouche (Feburary 23rd, Anaheim). The fight will also mark Lawler’s first match at 170 pounds since his knockout loss to Nick Diaz at UFC 47 in April 2004.

Though Lawler’s recent stint in Strikeforce suggested that the HIT Squad member’s best days are behind him — he won just three of eight fights for the promotion since 2009, and is coming off a decision loss to Lorenz Larkin — “Ruthless” hasn’t lost his savage knockout power, which helped him earn classic victories over Melvin Manhoef and Matt Lindland. (Fun fact: Since leaving the UFC after a middleweight loss to Evan Tanner at UFC 50, Lawler has earned all of his 11 victories by stoppage, with 10 coming via KO/TKO.)


(“Damn it. I know I came in here for something…” Photo via Strikeforce)

As if we needed any more evidence that Strikeforce is shutting down after their next event, check this out: Orange County Register reports that veteran banger Robbie Lawler will make his first UFC appearance in over eight years when he faces Josh Koscheck in a welterweight bout at UFC 157: Rousey vs. Carmouche (Feburary 23rd, Anaheim). The fight will also mark Lawler’s first match at 170 pounds since his knockout loss to Nick Diaz at UFC 47 in April 2004.

Though Lawler’s recent stint in Strikeforce suggested that the HIT Squad member’s best days are behind him — he won just three of eight fights for the promotion since 2009, and is coming off a decision loss to Lorenz Larkin — “Ruthless” hasn’t lost his savage knockout power, which helped him earn classic victories over Melvin Manhoef and Matt Lindland. (Fun fact: Since leaving the UFC after a middleweight loss to Evan Tanner at UFC 50, Lawler has earned all of his 11 victories by stoppage, with 10 coming via KO/TKO.)

Josh Koscheck is coming off a loss as well, dropping a split-decision to Johny Hendricks in May, but he’ll surely be considered a strong favorite in this matchup, as he’s remained competitive with the top welterweights in the UFC — not to mention the fact that Lawler’s drop to his old weight class could wear him out before the fight. So is Robbie dead meat, or is Kos going night-night?

UFC 157 will feature all these people, plus Brendan Schaub vs. Lavar Johnson, Josh Neer vs. Court McGee, and TUF Live winner Michael Chiesa vs. Anton Kuivanen.

Dan Henderson’s Coach Says Ronda Rousey Doesn’t Deserve UFC 157 Main Event

Despite having no UFC fights on her record, Ronda Rousey will make history by becoming the first woman to headline a UFC pay-per-view event on her very first fight with the promotion.But some members of the MMA community don’t like it, and that include…

Despite having no UFC fights on her record, Ronda Rousey will make history by becoming the first woman to headline a UFC pay-per-view event on her very first fight with the promotion.

But some members of the MMA community don’t like it, and that includes Dan Henderson‘s striking coach, Gus Pugliese.

Gracie Mag reports that Henderson’s trainer made a detailed post on Facebook explaining his stance on UFC 157 being headlined by the newly-crowned women’s bantamweight champion, whom Pugliese claims doesn’t deserve to take a main event five-round fight away from Henderson:

Ronda is the champion of Strikeforce with 6 wins in less than 2 years of a mma professional career. That’s impressive regardless of who she has fought. However, she is not the UFC champion yet. She still has to win this fight to get that belt.

On the other hand, we have Hendo, who has also been the Strikeforce champion (never lost the belt),Pride champion in 2 different weight classes; he has been ranked #1 contender for the UFC 205lbs, and by many pound for pound best fighter. His resume is second to none, moreover, he is fighting a former champion, Lyoto Machida.

Now why aren’t they main event? Is Ronda a better market value?

I don’t know, but her fight could be quick as usual and we could be missing another historic 5 rds fight between 2 legends and possible hall of famers. I’m not saying she doesn’t deserve to headline an UFC event, but certainly not this one.

As noted before, this is the first time that Henderson has not been featured as a headliner since April 2010, with four Strikeforce events and a UFC 139 bout against Mauricio Rua on-record since then.

UFC president Dana White has expressed his own stance on the issue as well, telling MMA media members after the TUF 16 Finale that no matter what, the champion of a division will headline a card over a non-champion.

Obviously, that includes Ronda Rousey, whom Dana White describes as a “badass” that deserves to lead UFC 157 on Feb. 23 at Anaheim’s Honda Center. Rousey will therefore make her first title defense against top-ranked female bantamweight Liz Carmouche as the main event, while Henderson vs. Machida remains a three-round co-main event.

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UFC 157: Rousey vs. Carmouche — Yes, Those Are Women on a UFC Poster


(Above: UFC 157 poster via @rondarousey. / Below: UFC 157 tickets banner via UFC.com. Click both for larger versions.)

See? I told you guys this wasn’t just an elaborate prank. Here we have Ronda Rousey and Liz Carmouche front-and-center in the first official promo poster for UFC 157, while Dan Henderson and Lyoto Machida lurk in the background, just a couple more innocent men subjugated by the gynocratic culture of the UFC.

From the moment this event was announced, fans and pundits have debated whether the UFC made the right choice in having its first women’s match headline a pay-per-view, especially when one of the competitors has no name value with casual fans. I thought Zach Arnold at FightOpinion had an interesting take on it yesterday:

When Gary Shaw was promoting Gina Carano as his women’s ace, was he in the women’s MMA business or the Gina Carano business?…Gina drew plenty of eyeballs against female fighters who had lower media profiles. She saw her run end against Cyborg, but it was a hell of a run. You can’t say that the experiment was a failure…

Much in a similar vein to Gary Shaw with Gina Carano, Dana White sees Ronda Rousey as his vehicle to reach the masses who only care about Entertainment Tonight, Extra, The Insider, Access Hollywood, Inside Edition, and random Youtube video clips where Rousey can make remarks about sex & testosterone and know that a billion people are going to talk about her comments. Rousey is completely shameless in the way she attracts what political pundits call ‘low information voters’ and she’s proud of it…


(Above: UFC 157 poster via @rondarousey. / Below: UFC 157 tickets banner via UFC.com. Click both for larger versions.)

See? I told you guys this wasn’t just an elaborate prank. Here we have Ronda Rousey and Liz Carmouche front-and-center in the first official promo poster for UFC 157, while Dan Henderson and Lyoto Machida lurk in the background, just a couple more innocent men subjugated by the gynocratic culture of the UFC.

From the moment this event was announced, fans and pundits have debated whether the UFC made the right choice in having its first women’s match headline a pay-per-view, especially when one of the competitors has no name value with casual fans. I thought Zach Arnold at FightOpinion had an interesting take on it yesterday:

When Gary Shaw was promoting Gina Carano as his women’s ace, was he in the women’s MMA business or the Gina Carano business?…Gina drew plenty of eyeballs against female fighters who had lower media profiles. She saw her run end against Cyborg, but it was a hell of a run. You can’t say that the experiment was a failure…

Much in a similar vein to Gary Shaw with Gina Carano, Dana White sees Ronda Rousey as his vehicle to reach the masses who only care about Entertainment Tonight, Extra, The Insider, Access Hollywood, Inside Edition, and random Youtube video clips where Rousey can make remarks about sex & testosterone and know that a billion people are going to talk about her comments. Rousey is completely shameless in the way she attracts what political pundits call ‘low information voters’ and she’s proud of it…

So, why is there more heat on Dana White for promoting Ronda Rousey the way Gary Shaw would promote Gina Carano? Rousey’s a significantly better fighter & athlete. Combine that with the media buzz that Zuffa’s consumer behaviorologists in Las Vegas are focusing on and you have a pretty fail-safe combination here.

In other words, the UFC isn’t aiming to please the hardcore fans on this one — they’re aiming for novelty, and the mainstream media coverage that will no doubt result from that novelty. So enjoy it, because it won’t be like this forever.

UFC 157: Dana White Explains Why Ronda Rousey Will Headline in Her First Fight

Just in case anyone is wondering why Ronda Rousey is headlining her first UFC event ahead of title contenders Dan Henderson vs. Lyoto Machida, Dana White has three simple words for you.”She’s the champ.”That was the backbone of the UFC president’s rebu…

Just in case anyone is wondering why Ronda Rousey is headlining her first UFC event ahead of title contenders Dan Henderson vs. Lyoto Machida, Dana White has three simple words for you.

“She’s the champ.”

That was the backbone of the UFC president’s rebuttal to media members at the Ultimate Fighter 16 Finale on Saturday as he fielded questions (via MMA Fight Corner):

She’s the champ. You will never see a situation in any fight, whether men, women, the lightest weight division there is. If you’re the champion, you’re the headliner. You’re the top of the card. I’ve seen some people talking s— about, “Oh, the women’s fight is headlining.” Ronda Rousey is a badass, she’s the champ, her opponent stepped up to the plate and wanted this fight with her when no one, others didn’t. I don’t give a s— what they say, that’s a fact.

White also reiterated the fact that the UFC, unlike other promotions, has made a point to never underbook their own fighters where they’re holding a champion belt.

Regardless of the fighter or the specific weight class, the champion always gets top billing—which apparently includes the UFC’s newly-crowned women’s bantamweight title-holder:

What people don’t realize is there was a time and a day when we put the [155-pound] division and headlined it with a title fight and people said, “You can’t headline a title fight [with] BJ Penn and Jens Pulver in a title fight headlining. This is ridiculous.” BJ Penn became one of the biggest stars in mixed martial arts and a huge pay-per-view draw.

Public skepticism aside, Rousey will enter the UFC as the main event for her first bout on Feb. 23 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.

“Rowdy” Rousey will be defending her title against top-ranked bantamweight Liz Carmouche, a fellow Strikeforce veteran and two-time Invicta FC fighter.

This marks the third MMA event in a row where Rousey‘s led the card as the main attraction, following two Strikeforce title bouts against Miesha Tate and Sarah Kaufman.

Notably, Henderson vs. Machida will be slotted as the co-main event for the evening, marking the first time that the former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion and two-division PRIDE champion has not headlined an MMA event since his UFC 100 bout with Michael Bisping.

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UFC 157: Dan Henderson vs. Lyoto Machida Confirmed as Co-Main Event

History will be made in February next year, as the UFC has officially confirmed their main event and co-main event for UFC 157 in Anaheim.Despite rumors that former No. 1 light heavyweight title contender Dan Henderson’s knee injury could oust him from…

History will be made in February next year, as the UFC has officially confirmed their main event and co-main event for UFC 157 in Anaheim.

Despite rumors that former No. 1 light heavyweight title contender Dan Henderson‘s knee injury could oust him from the card, the UFC has confirmed via Twitter that he will indeed be facing former champion Lyoto Machida in UFC 157’s co-main event. Tickets will be on sale starting on Dec. 21.

So far, this is the current lineup of confirmed fights for the UFC’s return to Anaheim’s Honda Center on Feb. 23:

• Women’s Bantamweight Title: Ronda Rousey (Champion) vs. Liz Carmouche
• Light Heavyweight Title Eliminator: Dan Henderson vs. Lyoto Machida
• Men’s Bantamweight Bout: Urijah Faber vs. Ivan Menjivar

Notably, this will be Henderson’s first time not headlining a card since UFC 100 in July 2009.

Previously, Henderson has been featured as the main event for his last five fights, including UFC 139 and four separate Strikeforce events, which included a stint as the promotion’s light heavyweight champion.

Concordantly, this will be Rousey’s third time as the main event star, following her two previous appearances in Strikeforce where she won and defended the women’s bantamweight championship.

This will be a bit of a test for the UFC, as the Honda Center previously drew record-low attendance for their last event at the first UFC on FOX card.

As outlined before, UFC heavyweight title fights have been the biggest draws for that venue.

Additionally, the card is planned to feature Brendan Schaub vs. Lavar Johnson, in a heavyweight match that was pulled from UFC on FOX 5 due to an injury suffered by Johnson. Ultimate Fighter Season 11 winner Court McGee will also drop to welterweight to face Josh Neer, as reported earlier today.

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