The undercard features six welterweight bouts, the most notable of which includes Amir Sadollah's attempt to bounce back from a quick stoppage at UFC 101 and Anthony Johnson's second attempt to make weight in a month against Josh Koscheck. Karo Parisyan also returns from suspension and "Minotauro" Nogueira's twin brother Antonio Rogerio makes his UFC debut. Johnson's previous fight barely made the televised portion of UFC 104; here, he's a step below the headliner. That has less to do with Johnson's KO than the overall weakness of this card.
By the end of the month, we'll also know who will be facing each other in the finals of The Ultimate Fighter 10 which, given the fitness on display this season, may have to be shortened to a one-rounder. A better watch is UFC's counter-programming on November 7th, which will be showing the main events from UFCs 101-103 on Spike. It's a good one to tape, especially if you haven't seen Anderson Silva toying with Griffin, Vitor Belfort's return, or the instant classic between Couture and Big Nog.
Why the sudden generosity from UFC? Well...
Strikeforce: ...that's because it's showtime for Strikeforce. But not on Showtime. Wait, that was confusing; I'll start again.
MMA will be back on CBS in November with Strikeforce stepping into the (hopefully not cursed!) primetime slot EliteXC used to occupy. And they've brought in the big gun to kick things off: The Last Emperor himself, Fedor Emilianenko, in his first major public exposure in the US (although he's fought once in Vegas for PRIDE and twice in Anaheim for Affliction). While he doesn't have the primetime name recognition that Kimbo Slice did, Fedor benefits from being maybe the best MMA fighter in the world as opposed to being maybe the best MMA fighter in the backyards of Miami. Strikeforce is attempting to win MMA converts over with credibility, and that's a smart move. The opposition's not bad either, with Brett Rogers sporting a 10-0 record and one of the best mohawks in sports. Fresh off a 22-second knockout of Andrei Arlovski, Rogers would love to play spoiler on national TV. Rogers has a bright future, but there won't be any Strikeforce execs cheering for him in this one.
Despite what the advertising may lead you to believe, the championship fight on the card is actually in the middleweight division, as Strikeforce's heavyweight champ is - though he hasn't fought in a Strikeforce ring in almost two years - Alistair Overeem. Cung Le's given up his Strikeforce middleweight title and Jake Shields and Jason "Mayhem" Miller will scrap for it. The card rounds out with a non-title tilt for rising star Gegard Mousasi against Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou and an interesting heavyweight matchup between Fabricio Verdum and Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva.
Article comments
1 - Matthew T. Sussman
Fedor is just trying to bring in the Bill Cosby demographic.
2 - Brian aka Guppusmaximus
So much for Brett Rogers,eh? Seriously, what a poor sport! If you let the mental aspect beat you, that is your own fault. Don't act like a baby on national television... Have some fucking class!