Cage Gossip: MMA Rumors for UFC, DREAM and Bellator MMA Rumors
Your weekly source for MMA news & rumors
5. The Return of the New York Bad Ass
MMAJunkie.com is reporting that The “New York Bad Ass” Phil Baroni will be making his return to the Octagon at UFC 118 in Boston, Massachusetts.
After losing a lopsided decision to Amir Sadollah at UFC 106 in November, Baroni has done a bit of soul searching, traveling to Thailand to work on his Muay Thai at Tiger Muay Thai under the tutelage of famed coach Kru Yod.
While Baroni’s opponent has yet to be announced, Tom Lawlor’s name has been thrown around. A fight with Lawlor would make for fireworks, as both fighters like to throw bombs early and worry about their gas tanks later. Regardless of the opponent, this is a huge fight for Baroni, two losses in a row could mean a pink slip from the UFC.
4. DREAM to Hold Light Heavyweight Tournament in July
After DREAM was unable to scrap together 8 light heavyweights in May worthy of competing for the first ever DREAM Light Heavyweight Title, the promotion has decided to condense the tournament to just four fighters and push the opening round of the tournament to the DREAM 15 fight card on July 10.
So far the only fighter confirmed for the tournament is former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Gegard Mousasi. Other possible participants include Sokoudjou and “Babalu” Sobral.
Tournaments are always fun, but a 4-man tournament just isn’t the same as an 8-man or 16-man tournament. In a way, one could say that the UFC is having their very own 4-man Light Heavyweight Tournament this month, with Shogun Rua, who defeated Lyoto Machida a week ago, now expected to face the winner of this weekend’s UFC 114 main event between Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Rashad Evans.
I’m all for seeing Mousasi fight again after a disappointing performance against newly crowned Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion “King Mo” Lawal, but I hope two of the other three participants in the tournament aren’t fighters we’ve already seen Mousasi defeat convincingly in Strikeforce over the past year (Sobral and Sokoudjou).
3. Hector Lombard vs. Paulo Filho Still Possible for Bellator Season 2
The two fighters were scheduled to meet in the Bellator cage at Bellator 18 two weeks ago, but due to visa issues, Filho was unable to make it to the states in time for the fight. Instead, Lombard fought UFC-veteran Jay Silva and demolished him Mike Tyson-style in all of 6 seconds.
Now with 5 events still remaining before Bellator Season 2 ends, Bellator CEO, and soon to be every fight fans’ favorite promoter, Bjorn Rebney, tells MMAJunkie.com that he wants to see Lombard in the cage again before the season’s up, and he wouldn’t mind Paulo Filho being the man standing opposite Lombard when those cage doors shut.
Rebney said of the proposed fight between the two star middleweights, "It's still a fight that I look at, and I think if there were any way to make it, I would love to make it. ... I hope it can happen. It would have been a great fight."
With Filho now scheduled to fight three times for Impact FC in July, I don’t see Bellator getting Filho to fight Lombard this season. I would love to see this fight in June, but realistically I think if this fight is to happen, it will be during Bellator Season 3.
2. Vitor Belfort's Next Fight? For UFC Middleweight Title in November?
Fabiano Farah, Vitor Belfort’s representative, told MMAJunkie.com that Belfort will be returning from his shoulder injury in November and immediately thrust into a title shot.
Farah wrote, "Vitor will be in (the best) absolute physical condition to return to the octagon and fight for the UFC title by November 2010."
I’m surprised that the UFC would throw Belfort into a title fight right away without giving him a tune-up match. But at the same time, the UFC is a business and you have to strike while the iron is hot. They can’t risk having Belfort lose to another fighter and diminish his credentials as a middleweight challenger when they know that a Belfort vs. Silva or Belfort vs. Sonnen match-up will draw more PPV buys than any other middleweight title fight.
You also have to take into account the fact that if Anderson Silva wins against Chael Sonnen, the UFC doesn’t want to waste time in moving Silva up to light heavyweight for even bigger fights, especially now that Lyoto Machida, Silva’s friend and training partner, is no longer the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion.
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1. UFC to Make Major News Announcement Today
The UFC has scheduled a press conference at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Canada for today, May 25, to make a “major announcement.”
As to what the “major announcement” may be, no one knows for sure. I think their scheduling it for the Rogers Centre hints that the Ontario Athletic Commission, which currently has a ban against MMA, may be sanctioning MMA sometime in the near future; and the UFC plans to capitalize on said sanctioning by making their newly announced UFC Welterweight Title fight between Champion George St. Pierre and Josh Koscheck, the main event for the first ever UFC card held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Cha-ching!
That’s it for this week’s edition of Cage Gossip, be sure to check back next Tuesday for the latest rumors in MMA universe!
By Jeffrey Concerto
ProFighting-fans.com MMA Staff Writer