...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!
By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief It's not just this month that's packed with action around the world of mixed martial arts. The UFC is jam packing the early part of this year with seven events already scheduled or reported through the end of April, three of which are free. We've already gotten most of the fights set for February, and earlier this week MMAJunkie.com reported that bout agreements were signed for another undercard bout for UFC 95, this one between Troy Mandaloniz and Paul Kelly.
Now in the last couple of days the events set for March and April have begun to take shape. For the March 7th UFC 96 event, there have already been reports of possible bouts between Dustin Hazelett and Ben Saunders, Gray Maynard and Jim Miller, Shane Carwin and Gabriel Gonzaga and then Shane Nelson and Aaron Riley. Throw in David Bielkheden to the UFC 96 mix as well, as he blogged this week that he would be returning at the event and has agreed to a fight, though he wouldn't reveal that opponent's name until bout agreements are signed.
Two more fights have been verbally agreed to for UFC 96, according to reports yesterday by MMAJunkie.com. Tim Boetsch and Jason Brilz look set for a light heavyweight bout, and former WEC light heavyweight will be making his UFC debut in the middleweight division against Ryan Jensen. There is still no main event for this card from Columbus, Ohio.
Next up is the 18th edition of the Ultimate Fight Night on Spike TV, which is likely to take place on April 1st as a lead in to the ninth edition of the Ultimate Fighter. Efrain Escudero is expected to face Jeremy Stephens in Escudero's first bout since winning the Ultimate Fighter in the lightweight division, and now the man he defeated in the semi-finals could be joining him on this card. Junie Browning could face Cole Miller at the event in Miller's first fight since a July 2008 submission victory over Jorge Gurgel.
That brings us to UFC 97. Tentatively scheduled for April 18th and expected to take place in Montreal, the event could get the Middleweight Title bout between Anderson Silva and Thales Leites. Another fight possible for the event is Keith Jardine against Luis Cane in a light heavyweight bout.
Suffice to say it's a busy time for Zuffa in the first part of this year. In addition to the seven UFC events, WEC has three events of their own scheduled in that time frame.
Penick's Analysis: With no main event scheduled yet for UFC 96, it's hard to tell if they're going to be able to pull off a pay-per-view quality event. Right now there looks to be some good under card fights, but nothing to really carry a show on name value alone, so unless they pull something out that's unexpected in the next couple of weeks this could be a bit of a disappointing pay-per-view card. The fights themselves will more than likely deliver, it just doesn't seem to be something that everyone's going to want to pay for at first glance.
As far as Junie Browning and Cole Miller is concerned that should be a very good battle on Spike TV. Junie's still got a ways to go to prove all his detractors wrong, but he made huge strides at the Ultimate Finale with his performance there. If he can keep his training up for all of his fights like he did for the one against Dave Kaplan, the sky's the limit.
Luis Cane vs. Keith Jardine is a great match up for both fighters. Jardine is far too streaky to be a serious contender right now, but his wins over Liddell and Griffin are still impressive feats nonetheless. Cane is on of the rising stars in the light heavyweight division, and a good performance against a game Keith Jardine will definitely help his climb up the ranks. It's a great test for both guys, and it's primed to be a very exciting fight.
The UFC is going to have to deliver with every show, especially the free cards, to make shows like UFC 93 and 96 worth justifying for pay-per-view. If they can provide action that people would consider pay-per-view caliber on UFC 95 and their two fight night events, it takes the sting out of paying for less than pay-per-view caliber main events or cards for those other two. UFC 94's a no brainer, of course, and depending on what all gets added to the UFC 97 card that one could be as well. Cane vs. Jardine and Silva vs. Leites should be two good bouts, though I suspect Silva will not have much trouble dispatching Leites, but either way those two fights belong on pay-per-view cards and it should be good to watch either way. There's a lot ahead to look forward to, and this is just the beginning for 2009.
DON'T GO YET... WE SUGGEST THESE MMATORCH ARTICLES, TOO!
Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
STAFF COLUMNISTS: Shawn Ennis - Jason Amadi
Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
Interested in joining MMATorch's writing team? Send idea for a theme to your column (for Specialist section) or area of interest (i.e. TV Reporter) along with a sample of writing to mmatorch@gmail.com.
