Schaub vs Mitrione and Makdessi vs Forte added to UFC 165

UFC 165 adds Schaub vs Mitrione and Makdessi vs Forte

by Tommy Strong @Strong_tea

UFC 165 will now see the rescheduled match up between two heavyweights Brendan Schaub vs Matt Mitrione in Toronto on September 21st 2013. The original bout between the two had been set for the last weeks UFC on Fox 8 card in Seattle, which saw Demetrious Johnson retain his Flyweight belt to John Moraga in a stunning 5th round submission.
Though two weeks out from the event, Mitrione had to pull out citing an injury forcing the fight to be pulled from the card. Luckily the injury for Mitrione wasn't as bad as first thought and the UFC have taken the initiative to reschedule the fight between former TUF cast members.

Matt Mitrione (6-2) maybe counts himself a little fortunate to still have a job after his comments made about transgender fighter Fallon Fox, which earned the American a suspension for his comments. After losing back to back fights against Cheick Kongo and Roy Nelson, Mitrione had it all on the line going in against Britain's Phil De Fries who he easily dispatched within 19 seconds.

Brendan Schaub (9-3) also rebounded from consecutive losses inside the first round via knockout first against Antionio Rodrigo Nogueria and then too Ben Rothwell. Schaub went onto fight Lavar Johnson at UFC 157 in February where he grinded out a unanimous decision win.

Also confirmed for UFC 165, we have a lightweight bout between John Makdessi and Renne Forte.
Makdessi (11-2) is currently on a two fight win streak after defeating Sam Stout and Daron Cruickshank via decision will be looking to get himself in the top 10 of the lightweight division with a win over Forte.

Renne Forte (8-2) competed on season 1 of TUF Brazil, where he fought at Middleweight. Having made it into the house, he lost his first round fight to Daniel Sarafian via submission.

Forte made his UFC debut in the Welterweight division in October 2012 at UFC 153 when he took on fellow Brazilian Sergio Moraes in which he lost via submission. After his defeat to Moraes, Forte decided to drop another 155lbs to make his lightweight debut in London England, when he fought and defeated the highly rated Terry Etim at UFC on Fuel 7 at Wembley Arena taking a very impressive unanimous decision win. 

UFC 165 will be headlined by the much anticipated match up between Light heavyweight Champion Jon Jones and Number 1 contender Alexander Gustafsson, Jon Jones will be looking to defend his belt for a UFC Light Heavyweight record sixth consecutive time.

UFC on Fox 8 card gets a shape up due to injuries

More injuries force a mix up to the Fox card

by Jack Broadey @J3cK_b

UFC on Fox 8 has had a bit of a shape up due to injuries. UFC on Fox takes place in Washington on July 27th. A spate of injuries this week had matchmakers scratching there heads.

On the main card Siyar Bahadurzada, who was originally an injury replacement for Tarec Saffedeine, had to pull out of his bout with Robbie Lawler. So now Bobby Voelker has stepped in to take the fight.

Voelker was originally scheduled to take on James Head in late August so it will be interesting to see how that effects his preparations. Not only in regard to the fact that his camp was design to peak a month after the new date for his fight but also, meaning no disrespect to James Head but Robbie Lawler is in a different league and is a massive step up in competition. A win for Voekler on short notice however could change the route for his career.

Matt Mitrione v Brendan Schaub has also been scratched from the card due to an injury suffered by Mitrione in the buildup. This fight will likely be held at a later event and had been brewing along nicely with tweets back and forth between the two.  

Bobby Green also suffered an injury and has been replaced by Tim Means for his fight with Danny Castillo.

Lastly Yves Edwards also got a change of opponent as Spencer Fisher was forced off the card. Daron Cruickshank will be his replacement.

Matt Mitrione returns to work

Matt Mitrione Returns From Suspension to Face Brendan Schaub at UFC on Fox 8

 by John Haigh @JohnBjayHaigh

On Wednesday several bouts were added to UFC on Fox 8, in one Matt Mitrione returns from suspension to fight another former NFL player in Brendan Schaub.

After an impressive 19 second KO of Phil De Fries in his last fight, Mitrione quickly landed himself in trouble with UFC officials over comments he made about the transgender fighter Fallon Fox on Ariel Helwani's The MMA Hour. He was suspended for breach of contract and was hit with a heavy fine. However just two weeks after the incident Mitrione is back from suspension and booked to fight.

The two fighters both made there way to the octagon by the way of TUF 10: The Heavyweights, as part of Team Evans they never fought on the show but that changes on July 27th in Seattle.

Both fighters won there last fight after back to back losses in the cage and both will be keen to turn it in to back to back wins come fight night.

Dana White and Fallon Fox respond to Matt Mitrione's suspension

Dana White and Fallon Fox comment on the events which led to Matt Mitrione's suspension from the UFC

by Ben Heather @benheather

The big story yesterday was the news that Matt Mitrione let rip with an outburst of abuse directed at Fallon Fox on The MMA Hour, which ultimately led to him being suspended by the UFC for breaching its new code of conduct. Today both Dana White and Fallon Fox commented on the situation.

Dana White touched on the subject during a UFC on Fox 7 media conference call and was puzzled as to how the situation even arose. White struggled to see why Mitrione was even doing the interview in the first place as he had fought and as White put it interviews should only be done in the lead up to a fight.

Dana's full comment can be found below.

"It's one of those thing, it's just a pain in the ass. You know what I mean? First of all, he didn't even need to be doing an interview. And I'm going to talk to these guys. The only time these guys need to be doing interviews is leading up to fights. It ended up being a nightmare for him.

What was the point of that interview? There's no point in it. Now it's causing him a bunch of headaches and problems for no reason whatsoever. He just fought and he wouldn't fight again for another few months. And he is still over there enjoying himself in Sweden. What was the point of doing that interview? What was the upside to that interview? There was none. No upside."

As you can see this incident may now lead to a change in how and more importantly when interviews with UFC fighters take place as Dana said he will "talk to these guys" and was certainly not happen that this happened.

Although Mitrione is not the first UFC fighter to make offensive comments, either on twitter/ Facebook or in interviews I believe he is the first to breach the new code of conduct which the UFC expects all fighters to stick to.

 Fallon Fox however was contacted by Ariel Helwani, who was interviewing Mitrione when he made the comments on The MMA Hour. Although Fox did not say much she thinks that Mitrione personally attacked her, not just as a fighter but as a woman and a human being.

Fox's statement can be found in full below

"Matt Mitrione went well beyond disagreeing with the medical experts who say I should be able to compete as a woman, and personally attacked me as a fighter, as a woman, and as a human being.

"His comments do not reflect the spirit of our sport, where most competitors uphold values like respect and dignity."

For more on this subject which i believe will stick around for some time, as well as all the latest news from the world of MMA keep checking  www.KingdomMMA.co.uk.

UFC suspends Matt Mitrione for comments about Fallon Fox

Mitrione suspended for abusing Fallon Fox on the MMA Hour

by Ben Heather @benheather

Matt Mitrione the UFC heavyweight who got back to winning ways at UFC on FUEL TV 9 in Sweden on Saturday night when he knocked out Phil De Fries in 19 seconds let rip on Mondays episode of The MMA Hour.

Mitrione chose his interview with Ariel Helwani as his time to open up on his feelings about the transgender fighter Fallon Fox.  Mitrione started with what he called jokes but then that let to full on abuse when Ariel Helwani asked him what he had against Fox, below is a quote of what Mitrione said.

"Because she's not a he. He's a he. He's chromosomally a man. He had a gender change, not a sex change. He's still a man. He was a man for 31 years. That's a couple years younger than I am. He's a man. Six years of taking performance de-hancing drugs, you think is going to change all that? That's ridiculous.

"That is a lying, sick, sociopathic, disgusting freak. And I mean that. Because you lied on your license to beat up women. That's disgusting. You should be embarrassed yourself. And the fact that Florida licensed him because California licensed him or whoever the hell did it, it's an embarrassment to us as fighters, as a sport, and we all should protest that. The woman that's fighting him, props to you. I hope you beat his ass, and I hope he gets blackballed and never fights again, because that's disgusting and I'm appalled by that."

After these comments it didn't take long for the UFC to react and on Monday night they released a statement which said that Mitrione had been suspended for violation of the company's code of conduct. That statement can be found below.

"The UFC was appalled by the transphobic comments made by heavyweight Matt Mitrione today in an interview on 'The MMA Hour.' The organization finds Mr. Mitrione’s comments offensive and wholly unacceptable and - as a direct result of this significant breach of the UFC’s code of conduct – Mr. Mitrione’s UFC contract has been suspended and the incident is being investigated. The UFC is a friend and ally of the LGBT community, and expects and requires all 450 of its athletes to treat others with dignity and respect." 

At the time of writing this no comment has been made as to how long Matt Mitrione will be suspended by the UFC.

Keep checking www.KingdomMMA.co.uk for the latest news on this story as well as all the latest news from the world of MMA.

UFC on FUEL TV 9 Main Card Results - Matt Mitrione vs Phil De Fries

Matt Mitrione def. Phil De Fries by KO at :19, Round 1

by John Haigh @JohnBjayHaigh

After back to back loses Mitrione needed to make a statement in his next fight and he sure did at UFC on FUEL TV 9.

Round one: DeFries tries for a take down but its stuffed, he tries again but runs in to a brick wall. Mitrione dives on top landing bombs laying DeFries out cold after all of 19 seconds of the round. I don’t think DeFries landed a punch, one of the contenders for KO of the night.

This fight saw Mitrione get himself back on track and could very well have ended De Fries employment with the UFC. Mitrione now has a MMA record of 6-2 with all the fights coming in the UFC. De Fries record now slips to 9-3-1 MMA after being 8-0-1 in November '11. De Fries UFC record is now and could end 2-3.

UFC on Fuel TV 9 Main Card Picks

UFC Stockholm 2013 Main Card Picks

by Ben Heather @benheather

Gegard Mousasi vs Ilir Latifi

Chris: By all accounts Latifi has pretty descent wrestling, and has been able to translate his skills to MMA with good effect, but Mousasi is one of the best 205ers in the world. Sure, if he does have a weakness its his takedown defence but Mousasi showed his improvement in this area of his game in the Jardine fight, and I doubt very much Latifi's wrestling is on Lawals level.

While I can image the Swedish fans who love a Rocky style victory, I cant see it happening – Mousasi by first round TKO.

Prediction: Mousasi TKO Rd 1

Ben: Before we get to the prediction of this fight (which will come as no surprise) I would like to say that I have got so much respect for Latifi. For a fighter to step up on 4 days notice and not only fight in the UFC for the first time but to headline the card in your home country takes some balls and I hope Dana rewards him for this fact and gives him another fight after this.

But for this fight I struggle to see anything other than Mousasi dominate until he finally finishes Latifi, I cant see anyway in which Mousasi loses this fight unless he gets in the cage and just is not focused on the fight. I predict heart alone will see Latifi get out of the first round but then I see Mousasi finishing him in the second with a TKO.

Prediction: Mousasi TKO Rd 2

Ross Pearson vs Ryan Couture

Chris: Fact – Ryan Couture is not on Ross Pearson's level. Sure he is durable, and hasn’t done too bad so far in his MMA career (certainly better than I expected), but I don't see how he wins this fight. Pearson has fought, and finished better fighters and I expect him to do the same in this bout.

Prediction: Pearson

Ben: Some people have said that Ryan is being punished by Dana because of the beef between Dana and his dad. I don't think that is the case however I really do think that Pearson will be too powerful for Couture. Just look at the last fights of both fighters, Couture won on the final Strikeforce card but that was a split decision win over K J Noons (a fight which many thought Noons should have got the decision win). Now compare that to the last fight Pearson had where he destroyed George Sotiropoulos. Ross did not rush in when he had George rocked in the first round but instead kept a cool head and knew he had him beat it was just a matter of when.

I accept that Couture is a very good wrestler and may be able to test Pearson in that area but i think that Pearson will come in to this game with a plan for that which give him another third round TKO win and back to back wins for the first time since 2010. Pearson's experience in the UFC will prove ultimately too much for him.

Prediction Pearson TKO Rd 3

Matt Mitrione vs Phil De Fries

Chris: I know Ben isn't keen on this fight, but I can see this one being a pretty descent battle, one which could ultimately prove to be a loser goes home fight. I know most people are backing Mitrione going into this one, making him a sizeable favourite with the book makers, but I like De Fries to stay in Mitrione's face, push him against the cage, work for takedowns and grind out a unanimous decision.

Prediction: De Fries UD

Ben: As Chris said I am not really a fan of either of these fighters and i really believe that this is a fight between two guys who's jobs are on the line. The loser in my opinion will be cut from the UFC, and if they are not then they certainly should be. De Fries started his career 8-0 but now finds himself 9-2 after a 1-2 run in 2012 with defeats to Stipe Miocic and Todd Duffee. As for Mitrione, who has only ever fought for the UFC as a professional fighter, he also started his career with a 5-0 run but has lost his last 2 fights and is now 5-2. Mitrione's last win in the octagon was way back in June 2011. 

I believe De Fries has the better chance of winning this fight but it is not a fight that i am looking forward to going in to this card and the fact it is the third from last fight on the card proves the card doesn't have much depth to it. I predict this fight as a good time to go and refill your drinks or pop to the toilet and wait for the Pearson fight. I do however think that De Fries will have enough to eek out a Unanimous Decision victory.

Prediction: De Fries UD

Brad Pickett vs Mike Easton

Chris: Mike Easton is a talent guy, but is it me or does it feel like he holds back in his fights? Not taking anything away from Easton, I think this fight could go either way, both guys are great on the ground, but Pickett is definitely the better boxer – he has better movement and throws better combinations.

Prediction: Pickett

Ben: This is my prediction for fight of the night, we all know all Pickett wants to do is get in to a scrap and have a stand up war, if this happens I think will win the fight and potentially even finish Easton.

However Eddie Wineland proved how to beat Pickett in his last fight so if Easton comes out and does the same again it will ultimately be very disappointing for the crowd and all the fans watching around the world.

I still think that Easton will want to come out and put on a show so this will be great for all of us fans, just not so good for him in my opinion.

Prediction: Pickett TKO Rd 3

Diego Brandao vs Pablo Garza

Chris: This is a flip a coin fight for me. Part of me can see Brandao going out there and absolutely destroying Garza, another part of me can see Garza weathering the storm, using his experience and awkward frame, tiring Brandao out and getting the decision – either way I see this fight as a fight of the night contender. I'm picking Brandao. I think he look great against Joey Gambino, he can credit Jacksons MMA for his ever improving game (takedown defence), and as a rule of thumb I find it hard to back against Brazilians.

Prediction: Brandao

Ben: After seeing Diego fight on the ultimate fighter i thought this guy was going to be a real contender and then his first fight after the show he came out the blocks flying before getting tired early which cost him the fight vs Darren Elkins. I cant see Diego letting that happen again especially against Garza.

Garza ended a two fight losing streak with his win against Mark Hominick but i think this fight will see Brandoa steam roll through Garza and pick up the first round KO. This fight also has a lot of potential to put on a show for the fans and should be a fun fight.... while it lasts.

Prediction: Brandao KO Rd 1

Akira Corassani vs Robbie Peralta

Chris: While it appears Corassani has come a long way since his time on the ultimate fighter – his ground game is greatly improved, I wasn't too impressed with him in his win over Ogle, a fight which I scored for Ogle. His opponent Peralta is a fast, aggressive fighter who enter the bout unbeaten in his last 9 fights. While the home town crowd with be all over the Swede Corrassani, I like Peralta to spoil the parade just as he did in Nottingham either winning by TKO or decisive unanimous victory.

Prediction: Peralta

Ben: Both of these fighters last fought at UFC on Fuel TV 5 and on that night they both picked up wins but in very different circumstances. Peralta won via a 23 second knock out in the very first fight of the night which got people talking about his power. Whereas Corassani won a split decision against Andy Ogle in a fight which i still think Ogle won.

Seeing those fights live, being in the arena in Nottingham was a great experience and it changed my opinion on both of these fighters. If this fight took place 12 months ago I would have predicted Corassani to win but after seeing how powerful Perelta was i cant look past that. I see this fight going the distance but Peralta will disappoint the home crowd in Stockholm and take a Unanimous Decision win.

Prediction: Peralta UD

Keep checking Kingdom MMA for all the latest news on UFC on Fuel TV 9, UFC and all the latest MMA news from around the world.