UFC books Gunnar Nelson vs. Ryan LaFlare for Dublin Fight Night

The UFC’s return to Dublin is fast filling out. Among the several bouts announced for the mid-July offering is a bout between newly minted top 15 welterweights Gunnar Nelson and Ryan LaFlare. The bout has tentatively been set as the evening’s co-main event. Though the matchup was originally announced on television in Iceland, the UFC has since confirmed the news over Twitter.

ICYMI: Gunnar Nelson will face Ryan LaFlare and Brad Pickett will meet Ian McCall at #UFCDublin on July 19. Ready to #StepIntoOurWorld?

— UFC United Kingdom (@UFC_UK) April 30, 2014

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For Nelson this feels like another great build up fight for his ascension into top ten status. He’s already picked up a quality win over Jorge Santiago, but this would be his first victory over a ranked fighter. LaFlare may not be a big step up from Santiago (he most certainly is from Akhmedov), but that Santiago fight was also very close for Nelson and this should be a good measuring stick to see if Nelson has improved since then.

For LaFlare, a bout against Nelson is a great opportunity for him to prove that he really belongs among the division’s best. He’s been strong throughout his undefeated UFC run, but has yet to display much in the way of finishing potential and has gotten himself in trouble on the feet more than a few times. Nelson is the kind of fighter who could really take advantage of those opportunites. If LaFlare can get by him, he needs some real consideration as a threat to the best fighters at 170 lbs.

UFC Fight Night Dublin takes place on July 19th, in Dublin Ireland. Here’s a look at the card so far.

Conor McGregor vs. Cole Miller
Ryan LaFlare vs. Gunnar Nelson
Ian McCall vs. Brad Pickett
Ilir Latifi vs. Tom Lawlor
Cody Donovan vs. Nikita Krylov
Phil Harris vs. Neil Seery

Chuck Liddell breaking into the Hip Hop industry with ‘Hamburger, Fries & Shake’ guest appearance

It looks like Chuck Liddell may be on to something here, with his appearance in Hamburger, Fries & Shake by hip hop artist Fitty Smallz (also known as Notorious F.I.T.). We’ve seen him in films, we’ve seen him on T.V. but could Liddell’s next stop be an overhand right to your ear drums? He’s starting out small, with the requisite toe-dip, as a guest artist to a bigger star, but who knows? This could be the start of something more.

Lines like “Easy Little Chuck” and “Just working out in an abandoned pool” do have a certain melodious undertone to them. Maybe a solo project will be forthcoming. His connection with Fitty Smallz could be a boon for a fighter looking to turn musician. (following excerpt taken from Smallz’ website FittySmallz.com)

Fitty Smallz, AKA Notorious F.I.T. is a fitness expert, entrepreneur and author whose experience has spanned over three decades. As a lyricist, producer, rap star and performer, Fitty has pushed the envelope of creative thinking to deliver his message through music and music videos. Breaking into the music scene with a bang, he launched his own record label Notorious F.I.T. Productions and recorded his first two original music tracks, Hamburger Fries & Shake and Sweet Tooth Superstars. Fitty is the #1 ranked Rap/HipHop artist on ReverbNation in Jacksonville, FL and also ranks in the top 100 in the world.

A label like Notorious F.I.T. Productions could be just the thing fans of “The Ice Man” have been waiting for.

Michael Johnson thinks that the UFC rankings panel is more important than getting paid

I’ll be the first person to stand up and say that I’m not all that convinced that T.J. Grant is still the world’s number 3 lightweight. My personal top 4 would probably be some combination of Benson Henderson, Gilbert Melendez, Khabib Nurmagomedov, and Josh Thomson. Not necessarily in that order, but necessarily those fighters. Grant is a very good lightweight, with some solid wins, but the current competitive picture just doesn’t really include him. It’s been just under a year now since Grant last fought. Lingering symptoms of a concussion, suffered in training have kept him on the sidelines. He has yet to face, let alone beat any of the four fighters mentioned above. All, I’m saying is that 3 might be a little high.

Of course, that’s doesn’t make Michael Johnsons’ insinuation that Grant is “milking” his concussion to stay atop the rankings any less ridiculous. Johnson posted the comment via Twitter.

Must Reads

Diego: I’m resurrecting The Nightmare

Bloody Elbow

Sanchez tells Ari LeVaux about his evolution as a fighter, a return to his roots, and what the UFC, and Ross Pearson, should expect on June 7.

‘Dan had to take me by the scruff between rounds’

Trent Reinsmith

Before UFC 172, Jim Miller and his coaches tell Trent Reinsmith what it’s like to corner their man, quicksand vs. lightining, brother Dan taking Jim by the scruff during a fight and a cameo from sensei Eddie Bravo.

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Diego: I’m resurrecting The Nightmare ‘Dan had to take me by the scruff between rounds’

We all know that UFC rankings are a thinly veiled marketing tool to give some extra oomph and narrative to matchmaking. They can help a fighter promote himself a bit better in upcoming fights and provide the UFC with a bit of leverage when it comes time to cut a “guy who’s not even in the top ten anymore.” But, I can’t think of a fighter yet that I’ve spoken to or heard from that would put his ability to earn a living, let alone just go out and fight, behind his standing in the rankings.

Johnson’s got the right idea in some aspect. Call out a notable top fighter, who may be needing a tune up fight soon. It would be a good opportunity for him to jump further up the rankings, and an opportunity for Grant to ease back into the division against a decent, but not elite lightweight. But pushing a narrative that Grant is sitting on the sidelines because that’s where he wants to be is a pretty lame way to go about it. Grant is either available to fight or he’s not. Once he comes back, a fight against someone like Johnson could make a lot of sense. But until then, maybe looking to a fighter who’s been medically cleared to fight would be a better idea.

UFC officially announces Velasquez and Werdum as TUF coaches

It was teased last week, when news that Velasquez may still be suffering injuries to his left hand that would keep him on the sidelines for some time, but now it’s official: Cain Velasquez will coach the upcoming season of TUF Latin America, opposite title challenger Fabricio Werdum. The UFC announced the news via Twitter on Tuesday.

Your coaches for #TUFLatinoAmerica are UFC heavyweight champion @CainMMA and @FabricioWerdum

— UFC (@ufc) April 29, 2014

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Also part of the TUF presser was the announcement that, contrary to prior reports, Velasquez and Werdum would be scheduled to face off in November of this year. Tentatively, the bout has been set for TUF Latin America Finale on November 15th, although many sources are reporting the event as UFC 180. The event will apparently take place in the Arena Ciudad de Mexico in Mexico City.

The week of November 15th will be the #TUFLatinoAmerica Finale and @CainMMA vs @FabricioWerdum will be the main event! #UFCMexico

— UFC (@ufc) April 29, 2014

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As Cain is still recovering from injury, this is the perfect time to line him up as an Ultimate Fighter coach, especially if they can then get him back in the cage by the year’s end. There have been no definitive reports on the cast of fighters for the upcoming season, so be sure to stay tuned for more news on TUF Latin America.

Henderson talks Cormier, Jones vs. Teixeira, and TRT: ‘It’s not a huge thing’

Dan Henderson’s place in the light heavyweight division is complicated. One of the pound-for-pound all time greats, Henderson has fallen on some hard times in the past couple years. A great run in 2011 culminated in a failed title bout in 2012 (made even more so by the disaster that became UFC 151 after Henderson’s withdrawl). 2013 saw Hendo pick up three straight losses, the first such skid of his career, before reasserting himself with a come from behind win against Mauricio Rua in March of this year. Now, he’s looking to make the comeback a happen on a macro scale with a potential title elimination bout against Daniel Cormier, late next month at UFC 173. It’s a big chance that comes sooner than expected for Henderson. As he explained on the MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani.

I was expecting a fight in July, but just the way it happened. For whatever reason they moved it up to May. And it was just, you know, the quickest road back to that title shot. And no matter who I fight to get that title shot, I’m going to have to fight the top guys and that’s what DC is. So, I’m gonna have to beat him anyway. Better while I’m still in shape than having to start all over and get in shape again.

But of course, short notice isn’t the only narrative at play. Henderson’s fight against Shogun was also very likely his last fight on TRT while working under Zuffa. As such, there were a few extra hoops to jump through with the Nevada State Athletic Commission in preparation for this fight.

You know, I think it was a whole lot with the… because it was a short turnaround and just making sure that everything was clear with me through the athletic commission.

In this case, “Making sure that everything was clear” came in the form of additional pre-fight drug testing to ensure that the synthetic testosterone he was being prescribed had fully cleared his system. All in all, it doesn’t appear to be a process that is troubling Henderson too much, as he told Helwani:

You know, it’s not a huge thing, but it just… I was taking the advice of my doctors to be healthy. And I felt better using the supplemental TRT that they gave me. But, it is what it is. I can’t change the rules. Unfortunately it went down this way instead of conquering the whole problem of all the drug problems. But, yeah I think that they’re gonna start trying to clean it up and have more random drug testing as well, from what I hear.

Hendo also talked about his search for a replacement supplement, saying that it’s “a matter of finding something that has everything that’s legal, rather than everything but one thing.” He added that the need to get right back into training camp has hindered his search somewhat. He also offered up a very succinct gameplan as to how he could beat Daniel Cormier.

Punching him and outwrestling him. It’s a simple thing with him.

There’s probably more to it than that, but we may have to wait until UFC 173 to find out.

Check out the video for his thoughts on Jon Jones’ fight with Glover Teixeira and what he’d do differently, as well as his motivation to continue fighting toward a title shot.

Late April UFC fight bookings round-up: 4/13-4/28

Once again our faithful fight tracker Tim Burke has become temporarily indisposed. Last time out, he was “on a boat.” This time, early reports are that he may be “busy at work,” or as the rest of the world calls it: on his couch watching hockey in his underwear. Whatever the case, that leaves me to boldly charge on ahead; rudderless, but filled with optimism nonetheless.

As the UFC now runs somewhere between 40 and 1 billion events a year (estimation isn’t my strong suit) Bloody Elbow is looking to give you your fight announcements in easy to digest chunks. If it’s a big fight, you’ll still see it emblazoned across the front page in all it’s glory. If not, you’ll read about it here.

UFC 173

A few changes for UFC 173. Most notably Daniel Cormier vs. Dan Henderson got bumped into the co-main event after previously being planned for UFC 175. But, also notable, rising young featherweight Doo Ho Choi had his debut scuppered due to injury. Reports are that he should be ready again by the end of summer. No replacement opponent for Sam Sicilia has been found.

Doo Ho Choi will be ready to make his UFC debut for the start of August, after he recovers from his injury

— WhiteViper_x (@WhiteViper_x) April 22, 2014

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UFC Fight Night: Munoz vs. Mousasi

Andy Ogle is set to take on Maximo Blanco in an apparent loser leaves town match for two featherweight fighters badly in need of a win.

Brit @thelittleaxe Andy Ogle faces Maximo Blanco at #UFCBerlin on May 31st. Tickets: http://t.co/Xr1C7hfRF1 pic.twitter.com/ZSfl2ar6z1

— UFC United Kingdom (@UFC_UK) April 26, 2014

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As previously reported, Iuri Alcantara will also be facing off against Vaughan Lee.

TUF Brazil 3 Finale

Wilson Reis has been pulled from his bout with Pedro Munhoz, who will now meet UFC newcomer and Legacy FC champion Matt Hobar.

There are also a few reports out there that Lucas Martins is looking to line up a featherweight fight on this card, although there have been no official announcements.

UFC Fight Night Henderson vs. Khabilov:

We’ve already covered it, but Scott Jorgensen is now set to face Danny Martinez in a flyweight bout.

UFC 174

UFC 174 saw the addition of Andrei Arlovski facing Brendan Schaub, as the former HW champ makes his UFC return.

UFC Fight Night: Te Huna vs. Marquardt

A couple of additions to the UFC’s first New Zealand Fight card. Hatsu Hioki is now set to take on Charles Oliveira in a battle of grapple-boxy featherweights.

We have 3 Fights now – Charles Oliveira vs. Hatsu Hioki in the works for June 28 in New Zealand #UFCNZ @Lucas_NZ_

— UFC New Zealand (@UFC_NewZealand) April 26, 2014

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The other new bout alluded to in that tweet is a light heavyweight booking, as Anthony Perosh is now scheduled to make his return against Gian Villante.

UFC Fight Night: Swanson vs. Stephens

This card has been filling out in a hurry. The big addition has been Myles Jury vs. Abel Trujillo, but flying under the radar are new bouts between middleweights Clint Hester vs. Antonio Braga Neto and Cezar Ferreira vs. Andrew Craig, followed by welterweights Luiz Dutra vs. Sean Spencer.

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The night is also set to see a rematch of Johnny Bedford’s Fight Night Abu Dhabi bout against Rani Yahya that ended in a headbutt in the first.

They nearly had the rematch with @danhardymma as ref but @BrutalBedford & @RaniYahyaMMA will meet on June 28 http://t.co/FCxeL3gjJO

— UFC United Kingdom (@UFC_UK) April 22, 2014

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UFC 175

Apart from losing Cormier vs. Henderson, UFC 175 also gained Chris Camozzi vs. Bruno Santos. Not a one to one trade, but better than a poke in the eye. Apparently Urijah Faber has his sights set on a return at this card, but no official announcements have been made.

UFC Fight Night Atlantic City

Only one bout on this card so far. Hugo Viana is set to face off against Aljamain Sterling in a bantamweight fight.

UFC Fight Night Dublin

Also a one fight card at the moment, with Ian McCall vs. Brad Pickett planned.

Those are all the fight announcements big, small and otherwise from the last two weeks of MMA action. But there are no doubt more to come, so stay tuned.

Hindsight: UFC 172 in retrospect

UFC 172 was a pretty good card for me as a picker of fights and a prognosticator of outcomes. I went 8-2. When I was wrong, I was really wrong. But, mostly I wasn’t that wrong. So I’ve got a few surprises to write about, and then I can talk a bit about reinforcing some previous positions and the performances that more firmly rooted me in those positions. Whether I’m right or not, there’s almost always a lot to be gleaned from a good fight.

Disclaimer Time: For the good of my family, I don’t indulge in many games of chance, even when my better judgement says that much of the chance has been removed. A few UFC events this year have proved that odds are made to be defied, and that even the best MMA minds (not necessarily me) can get things really really wrong. So I don’t gamble, but I like it as a narrative device for fight picking, it adds a nice bit of backing to an otherwise nerdy exercise. I use BestFightOdds for the odds on each fight and take the mode for each fighter.

Hindsight: Chris Beal (-115) vs. Patrick Williams (-105) (I picked Williams, I was wrong)

• Patrick Williams may not have won, but this fight went pretty much like I thought it would. Both guys were really hittable and threw a lot of offense out there. That said, Beal did a great job capitalizing on the fact that Williams was often putting himself in full retreat and off balance.
• I spoke to this a little when looking at him for my Welcome to the UFC article, but Williams tends to get overly comfortable and confident of his own safety while still in range to get hit. He spent a lot of time casually backing, ducking and running away from Beal with his hands and body in no position to defend himself. In general he fought a pretty poor fight given the success he still had and the tools he displayed.
• Beal, for his part, continues to be a fighter that looks like he fights better than he does. His hands are slick and he has some pop in them, but he still got hit hard by Williams, taken down repeatedly, and (apart from the fight ending knee) I’m not sure he threw much of anything other than punches. I’m not comfortable saying he would have won that fight if he hadn’t pulled out that great knockout.

Hindsight: Charlie Brenneman (+320) vs. Danny Castillo (-400) (I picked Castillo, I was right)

• This was a fun scrap that really only had one logical conclusion. I love Brenneman, I think he’s a fun fighter and a great competitor, but competitive grappling may be more his game. Anything that doesn’t involve getting punched is probably a better idea right now. At the very least, some serious time off.
• Brenneman did show his great wrestling and turned that first round into an awesome series of scrambles, in which Castillo held his own, but obviously got outworked a bit. It still speaks well to Castillo that he was able to stay composed after very likely dropping the first round.
• While Goldie was quick to latch onto it as a new trusty meme (one that’s about to go away) I don’t think we saw much of the “Bang Effect” in Castillo’s faked shot to overhand right. That’s been a go to staple of his for years, and one that he’s always made work for him.

Hindsight: Bethe Correia (+120) vs. Jessamyn Duke (-135) (I picked Correia, I was right)

• I get to do a little crowing here, because at least one person was pretty sure I was overlooking Jessamyn Duke’s reach advantage. Physical dominance is still one of the least effective parts of WMMA. There are a few woman who can really bully opponents on the ground, but almost none with polished range striking. Duke is certainly not there.
• Correia is one of those fighters that I could see being an underdog all the way up to a title shot. She’s not flashy (although the backfists were decent), but in a division that’s low on accurate, high output, strikers, she sets herself apart. If she can work just a bit more polish into her combinations I could see here get a TKO or two in the future.
• I hope Duke gets the time and training she needs to put everything together. The actual progress of fighters is a very slow thing. At only five pro fights and two years, Duke may be a half decade from seeing her athletic prime in MMA. If she can stay in the UFC and stay with a good camp, that prime could be pretty great. But, right now, she’s more parts than product as a prospect.

Hindsight: Takanori Gomi (-155) vs. Isaac Vallie-Flagg (+145) (I picked Gomi, I was right)

• Gomi looked terrible in this fight, lets get that out of the way. Some said he looked gassed, others that he looked drunk (his proclamation that he’d stop drinking for a title shot lends credence to the latter). Steph turned me on to the notion that he’d probably end up highly jet-lagged for this fight. That seems like the most likely culprit, but it was ugly.
• That said, Rogan and Goldberg really let appearance dictate commentary, with a never ending stream of insinuation that Gomi was close to done in a fight that he was not handily but still reasonably ahead in.  Gomi didn’t look great, but to hear the commentary, you’d have thought that he wasn’t also matching Vallie-Flagg strike for strike and hurting him a lot more with every blow.
• All of which brings me to IVF. Like Brenneman, he seems like a really fun fighter, both in and out of the cage. I like watching him fight, but I’m not seeing the tools of UFC success. I doubt they cut him right off fight of the night (although they could), but he’s now lost two straight to middle of the pack lightweights. His defense is absent, his offense isn’t overwhelming, if he doesn’t get a big step down next time out, I’m not sure he wins.

Hindsight: Joseph Benavidez (-450) vs. Timothy Elliott (+375) (I picked Benavidez, I was right)

• I’ve really got to hand it to Tim Elliott here. He came out and fought the best possible fight he could against a guy who was almost guaranteed to beat the brakes off him. Rather than his ineffective staredown game he employed against Bagautinov, he actually threw strikes both on the outside and on the inside, and was aggressive in his wrestling. He may not have won, but I have a lot more faith in Elliott going forward.
• Benavidez is still a world above 99% of flyweights. He, Dodson, and Johnson are kind of an impossible triumvirate for young fighters looking to a future 125lb title. He punches with power and accuracy, he scrambles incredibly well, and as he displayed again, he’s still got a crushing submission game. Elliott pressed his size and strength to good effect, but Benavidez had the answer everywhere.
• Unfortunately for the division, this means that order is very much restored. Benavidez has crushed another up and coming fighter, and is no closer to another crack at the belt. He could probably do that for the rest of his days if he stays focused. Sooner or later he’ll get another shot, but until then I expect him to roll through the chaff at 125 lbs.

Hindsight: Andre Fili (-145) vs. Max Holloway (+125) (I picked Holloway, I was right)

• Andre Fili looked very much improved for the first round of his bout against Max Holloway, but as Holloway found his rhythm and distance (and Fili started to tire) his technique really started to devolve. Striking takes a long time to learn. Alpha Male fighters are getting better, but they aren’t just flipping a magic switch over there.
• Holloway is still very much the same fighter that he’s been, basically since his UFC debut. He’s fast, he’s got good basic striking technique, and a bunch of exploitable defensive flaws that stronger, faster fighters can get to. He’s done a great job adding in power techniques, like the spinning back kick, to augment his lack of KO power, but in general this felt like very much the same fighter showing the same skills.
• I’m a little awed by the fact that Holloway was an underdog in this fight. Fili has gained some respect for a nice transition grappling and striking game, but he’s still incredibly raw in “pure” grappling, wrestling, and striking elements.

Hindsight: Yancy Medeiros (+170) vs. Jim Miller (-200) (I picked Miller, I was right)

• Yancy Medeiros was only at +170 for this fight? Really, did people just forget who Jim Miller is? Did they think it was his brother out there fighting? This line makes no sense to me, for a fighter who has lived at the top end of the lightweight division for the past three years. Medeiros could still be a decent prospect but an upset here would have been ridiculous.
• So, we may have to put a little bit of a hold on the “Jim Miller is worn out” talk. Comparatively he hasn’t been fighting for that long, and he’s not that old. He may not be quite in his prime anymore, but this fight was a pretty clear display that he’s a big cut above the rank and file of 155lbs.
• Hopefully the UFC can re-book the Bobby Green fight, or something similar. Maybe Jorge Masvidal if both he and Miller are ready for a quick turnaround. Essentially, there’s still no reason to be feeding Miller guys outside the top 20 or so UFC lightweights. I realize this was a special situation, but the Fabricio Camoes fight wasn’t.

Hindsight: Tim Boetsch (+600) vs. Luke Rockhold (-1000) (I picked Rockhold, I was right)

• Well, this was… a thing. I’d like to say I didn’t see this coming, the surprise would be a bit refreshing, but anyone who didn’t see Rockhold destroying Boetsch and doing it early, wasn’t looking at the right fight. Even with his loss to Belfort, Rockhold is still clearly among the very elite at 185. Boetsch had a brief moment where he was a very relevant fighter at 185, but that no longer seems to be the case.
• That submission Rockhold hit was really gorgeous and the kind of power move that a much larger fighter can really pull out on a smaller opponent. It’s good to see Rockhold taking full advantage of the big size discrepancy between him and most other middleweights.
• This is where things get tricky for Luke. There aren’t many fights at the top of middleweight that he hasn’t fought before. He’s already beat Kennedy and Jacare, and lost to Vitor, and there’s no reason for him to fight Munhoz or Bisping. Maybe Rockhold vs. Romero? I’d appreciate that.

Hindsight: Phil Davis (-250) vs. Anthony Johnson (+200) (I picked Davis, I was wrong)

• So, uh… Anyone see this coming? Oh, that’s right, Patrick Wyman did, and he pretty much called it right down the line. That’s egg on my face, but I just did not expect Johnson’s striking to look that polished. His defense, counters, pacing, and combinations were pretty much all on point. He was better than I think I’ve ever seen him in his career and made a hell of a comeback to the UFC.
• One thing I did think could (not would, but could) happen, was that if Davis got hit hard early, it might erode his confidence in his hands. He got cracked on a few early sloppy attempts to close the distance, and that seemed to trouble him all the rest of the night. Fortunately for Davis, there are still very few LHWs that posses the level of polish that Johnson displayed.
• This was an almost picture perfect lesson on striking defense for MMA from Anthony Johnson. He kept his hands low for most of the fight, but his head and torso moved expertly with his strikes. He also brought his hands up quickly and efficiently to parry blows as they came in. It’s incredibly difficult to master, but active hand defense in MMA is such a joy to watch and shouldn’t be overlooked in a performance like this.

Hindsight: Jon Jones (-500) vs. Glover Teixeira (+200) (I picked Jones, I was right)

• Interestingly, Jones really did spend the majority of this fight in the area that I feel like he had the least advantage. He very much won the fight in that area, but it does make me wonder just a bit about his preparation that his tools for keeping distance or taking the fight down seemed fairly inefficient.
• Teixeira got the best fight he could hope for and still lost it. Partially, that’s a testament to how limited his game can become against a fighter with a better wrestling base, but it’s also a testament to Jon Jones’ chin. It gets overlooked a lot, but Jones can take a hell of a lot of punishment without backing down or abandoning the fight he wants.
• I wonder if Jones’ more lackluster wrestling of late is product of his opponents scouting him better (he’s had 15 UFC fights now) or of a failure to really maintain former technique. I can’t think that a camp as well regarded as Jackson’s would have trouble with that, but this is the second straight fight where Jones hasn’t really effectively controlled range or wrestling. He got to Glover with both as the fight wore on and Glover faded, but I have to wonder if the fact that this became a clinch battle was more out of necessity than opportunity.

That’s all my collected thoughts from UFC 172. The boogens and critters that inhabit my subconscious while more visceral entertainment dominates. So much of it seems obvious now, but as always, that’s the benefit of hindsight. No big fights next week, so I’ll be back on May 12, to talk ultra-violence from Brown vs. Silva.

Report: McCall vs. Pickett rebooked for UFC’s upcoming Dublin card

Ian McCall was all set to face off against Brad Pickett at UFC Fight Night London, when an injury forced him from the card. For McCall, it was his second straight failed booking following an injury leading up to a planned bout the Scott Jorgensen. For Pickett, he ended up facing short notice replacement Neil Seery in what ended up as a surprisingly close contest, from which Pickett narrowly escaped with a win. Now, MMA Fighting reports that the bout will be re-booked for the UFC’s upcoming Dublin card on July 19th. The event is rumored to be hosting a fight between Conor McGregor and Cole Miller as well, although no other bouts have been announced.

A few months after the UFC tried to book Brad Pickett vs. Ian McCall in London, the organization is working towards placing the flyweight fight on the upcoming UFC Dublin card later this summer, according to sources with knowledge of the situation. The promotion has yet to officially announce the fight.

For McCall, a bout with Pickett would represent the next stage in his continued drive to prove himself as one of the top contenders at Flyweight. His time as a champion with Tachi Palace fights, as well as a near brush with victory against Demitirious Johnson during the UFC’s inagural flyweight title tournament, have left him with a not quite earned reputation as one of the division’s elite. He’s coming off a solid win over Iliarde Santos, but it’s hardly the kind of proving fight he needs to cement is spot in the top 5. A win over Pickett, while still not incredibly meaningfull, would go a lot further to proving that he has what it takes to be a dominant force at 125 lbs.

For Pickett, his time in the UFC seems t be nearing “do or die” territory. As a long time top ten bantamweight, Pickett has never quite made it over the hump and into serious title contention talk. Nevertheless, he does hold a win over the current flyweight champ when they were both at 135 lbs, and a nice win streak could see him leverage that into a grudge match of sorts. However any slip up along the way, and it’s likely that Pickett will be releagated to the same kind of top 10 gatekeeper role he found himself in previously.

As that is the matchup and as I see McCall as still very  much a top 5 fighter, I don’t think this is a fight that Pickett wins. Really they have very similar skill sets; polished dynamic boxing and a surprisingly strong wrestling and grappling game that they mix in liberally. It’s just that McCall seems faster, stronger, and just a bit more technical in his standup. He’s also prone to getting himself caught in a firefight, though, so I expect opportunities will be available to the Brit if he can stay competitive.

Dana White mocks Cyborg walking in heels during media scrum

White has been unrelenting in his trashing Cris Cyborg of late. A scrum focused on UFC 172 included a lengthy screed on why Cyborg is almost un-promotable (but they might promote her anyway). The highlight of his UFC 172 outburst was a mimicking little dance where Dana stomped around, pretending to be Cyborg in fancy heels (transcription via Luke Thomas/MMA Fighting)

“I said, when I saw [Justino] at the MMA Awards, she looked like Wanderlei Silva in a dress and heels. And she did, did she not? Who wants to dispute that she didn’t look like Wanderlei?

“She was walking up the stairs, jacked up on steroids beyond belief and looked like Wanderlei Silva in a dress and heels.”

It’s tough to say this is a low point in Dana’s rhetorical attack on dialogue (although I did find him telling the media to “grow up” right before he clomped around especially ironic), but it definitely became the single most interesting thing from a media scrum meant to build up this weekends pay-per-view event.

Dana White talks about Cris Cyborg at UFC 172 media scrum: ‘She’s a nightmare in every way shape or form’

Among the many major topics of discussion for Dana White in the lead up to UFC 172 has been Cris Cyborg’s ongoing war of words with Ronda Rousey. Rousey came out with her “it” comment, and since then White has found himself relentlessly defending the UFC’s bantamweight champion, and relentlessly smearing Cris Cyborg. His media scrum was no different. White spent several minutes going over the problems with Cyborg’s past, including accusations that she’s been on steroids for most of her career and insinuations that women who get busted for steroid use are more more destructive to the sport than their male counterparts.

Eventually asked to sum up his feelings about the possibility of someday signing Cyborg to a UFC contract, white outlined his position (transcription via Luke Thomas/MMA Fighting):

“It’s not that she’s beyond redemption. She’s a nightmare in every way, shape or form to bring in as a professional athlete in an organization like this. At the end of the day, it’s not worth it in the big picture.

“It’s easy to sit there and go, ‘Oh, everybody wants to see that’. She’s a 45 pounder, Ronda’s a 35 pounder. She said she couldn’t make the weight. She’s got steroid issues. She’s got a lot of issues. That’s a lot to take on.”

“But who knows?,” White asked rhetorically, “I’m not saying it could never be done.”

I can’t say I’m surprised that that is White’s eventual choice. It feels more and more that the UFC is in the process of trying to undercut the value of some of the major WMMA fighters outside the UFC in hopes of gaining the upper hand in negotiations down the road. They’ve repeatedly dismissed and low-balled Holly Holm and their comments about Cyborg have gone from dismissive to outright mudslinging. It will be interesting to see how and if the tune changes in the future.