Cage Gossip: MMA News & Rumors for the UFC & Strikeforce
Your weekly source for MMA news & rumors about Tito Ortiz, Matt Hammil, Rampage Jackson, Lyoto Machida & more!
1) Joe Silva's perfect macth-up; Tito Ortiz vs Matt Hammil
After years of match-ups, UFC Matchmaker Joe Silva has finally made the perfect match. This fall at UFC 121, Tito Ortiz will face Matt Hammil in the headlining bout of the evening. Why is this the perfect match-up? It is a known fact that Tito Ortiz is not afraid to share his opinion on any subject, whether he sounds intelligent or not. To counter Tito’s inability to stay quiet and out of the spotlight, Silva has paired Ortiz up against Matt Hammil, a deaf fighter. Leading up to the fight, Tito can talk all he wants, and Hammil can just simply choose to ignore the Huntington Beach Bad Boy and prepare for the fight. An interesting storyline leading up to the fight is that Hammil was on Team Ortiz during Season 3 of The Ultimate Fighter and trained with Tito for Tito’s Team Punishment. This appears to be the first of many fights that the UFC has pushed in recent memory between teammates to come to fruition.
2) Sarah Kaufman is tired of the Challengers cards, wants fights on main Strikeforce fight cards
As previously posted on profighting-fans.com, Sarah Kaufman retained her Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight belt against Roxanne Modafferi last week by way of vicious slam. In response to being on Strikeforce’s lesser known Challengers card as well as not even being the main event in her title fight, Kaufman was understandably not happy. She told si.com that she has twice fought for the title on the Challengers card and has been the only title holder on the Challengers card. She wants Strikeforce to know that she wants to be on the main cards, rather than on the Challengers card.
3) Strikeforce to develop a 125-pound women's division
Speaking of Strikeforce and heavy-hitting women’s action, Scott Coker (CEO of Strikeforce) mentioned back in February that Strikeforce would be adding a women’s 125 lb division. It has come to our attention here at profighting-fans.com that this division is in the works and will be signing fighters in the upcoming weeks. As anyone who watches fights in the WEC, we have found that just because fighters are smaller, it does not mean that the action is less intense. To the contrary, typically the fighters in the lighter weight classes have more in the gas tank and can throwdown non-stop for the fight’s entire duration. We will keep you posted with more on the proposed weight class as more information is made available.
4) Lyoto Machida vs. Rampage Jackson at UFC 123
Earlier this week, Sherdog broke the news that former UFC Light Heavyweight champions Lyoto Machida and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson would be stepping into the cage at UFC 123 in November. Following his devastating knockout loss to Shogun Rua, Machida is anxious to get back into the cage and showcase his skills against Rampage, even calling Jackson an “ideal opponent".
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5) Diego Sanchez vs Paulo Thiago at UFC 121 & more fight announcements
In other fight announcements, former TUF winner Diego Sanchez announced that he will be taking on Brazilian Paulo Thiago at UFC 121, Phil “Mr. Wonderful” Davis (who I should mention is rapidly becoming one of my favorite fighters in the UFC) is stepping in on short notice to take on Rodney Wallace in next month’s UFC 117, and Bellator’s Heavyweight tournament announces it’s first matchup with Eddie Sanchez taking on Neil Grove at Bellator 24.
That’s it for this week’s edition of Cage Gossip, be sure to check back next week for the latest MMA rumors universe!
By Curt Heinrichs
ProFighting-fans.com MMA Staff Writer