Contributor: Daniel Galvan
(The Daily Haymaker is a daily series that takes a look back and covers the news, fights being made, and all the other insanity revolving around combat sports. The Haymaker’s purpose is to keep you up to date with the ever changing combat sports world and also provide thought-provoking [hopefully] analysis from yours truly.)
Here’s a look back at all of the big news and notes that happened in combat sports on Wednesday, October 23rd, 2013.
The News
1. On his instagram, Kron Gracie, the son of Rickson Gracie, announced that his upcoming submission match at the 2013 World Jiu Jitsu Expo against Rodolfo Vieira was scrapped because Vieira suffered an injury. Gracie also announced that he’ll take a break from BJJ competition and begin his transition to Mixed Martial Arts. The recent ADCC champion is at a BJJ level that few, if any, fighters are at in MMA, so his progress as an Mixed Martial Artist will be something that I’ll be keepings a tab on.
2. On Fox Sports Live, Dana White announced the UFC schedule in 2014. Next year there will be 13 pay-per-views, 4 FOX shows, 14 FOX Sports 1 events, and 4 FOX Sports 2 broadcasts. That adds up to 35 total events in 2014 [I may or may not have used a calculator to tabulate that]. I’m perfectly fine with that many shows because it creates more opportunities for my hero Mamoru Yamaguchi to get a shot in the UFC. White also announced that the first FOX show of the new year will be on January 25th in Chicago.
3. It looks like Joey Beltran was released by the UFC. Today, Beltran tweeted, “Thank you to @ufc @danawhite @lorenzofertitta & #JoeSilva for the opportunities you have given me. Time for a new chapter in my fight life.” Beltran lost a split decision in his last fight against Fabio Maldonado at UFN 29. In his second run with the UFC, “The Mexicutioner” went 0-2 with one no contest. Joey Beltran should land on his feet and then immediately start clobbering fools in the face. He’ll be a great addition to any promotion. Beltran isn’t a world beater, but he’s a virtual lock for an entertaining brawl every time he steps in the cage.
4. In yesterday’s Haymaker, I brought up the UFC 166 medical suspensions, and one of the major notes coming from that was Cain Velasquez being out until April because of a possible broken jaw. Well, Daniel Galvan of Undercard Superstar is reporting that the champ’s jaw is fine. Velasquez was on UFC Tonight today, and aside from being a tad bit swollen, his jaw looked healthy. The prognosis is another error for a Texas Athletic Commission that would make Pete Kozma proud.
5. After signing Julio Cesar Neves (28-0), Bellator signed two more Brazilian fighters, lightweight Cleiton Duarte (13-2) and featherweight Diego Marlon (23-8). Duarte is a heavy handed striker that is coming off of a loss. He’s finished twelve of his opponents with strikes. Marlon has won 8 of his last nine. I wouldn’t anticipate either of the two to do much damage in Bellator.
6. Ariel Helawani reported on UFC Tonight that Melvin Guillard switched camps once again. Guillard made the move from the Grudge Training Center to American Top Team in Florida because of financial issues he had with the camp. Prior to training at Grudge, Guillard spent time at Jackson’s MMA and the Blackzillian camp. The UFC lightweight told Helwani that he expects to train at ATT until his career is over.
7. UFC EVP Gary Cook talked to Mike Chiappetta of Fox Sports and announced that the UFC will start a European Fight Night series in 2014. There will be a minimum of six of such events in 2014.
8. MiddleEasy.com found a report from RIA.ru that detailed a recent restaurant fight involving Aleksander Emelianenko. Allegedly, Emelianenko hospitalized a man after getting into an argument with him. Bill Simmons came up with something called the Tyson Zone which is basically a state that a person can get to where any story, no matter how insane, about a particular individual is believable, and Aleksander Emelianenko has entered that zone.
For no reason whatsoever, here’s my list of five insane but believable Aleksander Emelianenko stories that haven’t happened, yet.
- Aleksander Emelianenko hospitalizes a bear.
- Aleksander Emelianenko lives with a pack of wolves and helps create an advanced civilization of super wolves.
- Aleksander Emelianenko takes up a side job as a babysitter.
- Aleksander Emelianenko is signed by the Houston Texans to start as quarterback.
- Aleksander Emelianenko becomes the oldest living man at the age of 2030.
Fights Made
One FC 13
ONE FC Featherweight Championship
Koji Oishi (24-9-10) vs Honorio Banario (8-2)
Background: Oisho knocked out Banario at ONE FC 9 to win the company’s featherweight strap in what was a fantastic fight. At 36, Oisho is looking to put together a few more wins to validate this point in time as the pinnacle of his career. Banario is an up-and-coming powerful striker from the Philippines that is one of the country’s premier fighters.
Excitement Level: 7 out of 10. I don’t have too much Koji Oishi stock, but this fight promises to be great. As I mentioned above, their previous contest was [hold on, let me put my UFC commentator hat on] one of the greatest fights in the history of ONE FC. Expect this one to be action-packed.
2013 World Jiu Jitsu Expo – Nov. 9-10
Dean Lister vs Rousimar Palhares
Background: This match will be a no-gi, 20 minute submission-only contest. Dean Lister is a former UFC fighter whose MMA career hasn’t matched the success he’s had in the grappling world. Lister is a 3-time ADCC champion. Rousimar Palhares has been a big topic of discussion lately in the MMA world because of his inability to let go of a heel hook when his fight against Mike Pierce at UFN 29 was stopped.
Excitement Level: 10 out of 10. I don’t really know what I think about Rousimar Palhares. I can’t decide if he’s a scumbag that likes hurting his opponents or a genuinely nice guy that makes a lot of bonehead mistakes. Personally, I’m leaning towards the latter. Regardless, I can’t wait to see the spotlight on Palhares after his latest bit of controversy.
Must Reads
1. Ben Fowlkes of MMAJunkie talked to Gilbert Melendez before and after his fight against Diego Sanchez at UFC 166 about his game-plan for the fight. There’s a lot of great nuggets in here about Melendez’s assessment of Sanchez’s game. I can’t recommend this one enough. Check it out here: http://bit.ly/1cdHLjC
2. Chuck Mindenhall of MMAFighting wrote a fantastic piece about Josh Burkman’s revitalization in light of his upcoming WSOF 6 bout against Steve Carl. Read it here: http://bit.ly/Hb7lrn
3. Bloody Elbow’s Connor Ruebusch examined some of the key parts of the Velasquez/Dos Santos, Sanchez/Melendez, and Kaufman/Eye bouts at UFC 166. The article can be found here: http://bit.ly/1cXsIYh
4. Robert Sargent is one of the best writers on the Women’s MMA beat. Check out his weekly report on all things Women’s MMA here: http://bit.ly/18Mn628
That’ll do it for today’s Daily Haymaker. Thanks for reading, and I’ll leave you with a quote from George Carlin.
“People who say they don’t care what people think are usually desperate to have people think they don’t care what people think.”
-Daniel can be reached at [email protected] or @danielgal.
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