(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.)
The News
1. The long-long-long awaited return of UFC Bantamweight Champion Dominick Cruz (19-1) has a date. Cruz will make his comeback from an ACL injury in a title unification bout with Interim Champion Renan Barao (31-1, 1 NC) at UFC 169. Cruz last fought on October 1st, 2011.
Another championship fight was announced for UFC 169 as Jose Aldo (23-1) is slotted to defend his featherweight crown against Ricardo Lamas (13-2). The other scheduled fight on that Super Bowl weekend card is Alistair Overeem (36-13) vs Frank Mir (16-8).
Lastly on the UFC match-making front, two fighters now have new opponents. Scott Jorgensen (14-7), originally scheduled to face a now-injured Ian McCall (12-4-1), will take on John Dodson (15-6) at UFC on FOX 9, and Cody Donovan (8-3), originally scheduled to face Robert Drysdale (6-0), will now take on Gian Villante (10-4) at UFC 167. Drysdale was scratched from the contest after failing to receiving medical clearance from the NSAC due to an elevated T/E ratio.
2. In an interview with the Denver Post, UFC Lightweight Donald Cerrone (20-6, 1 NC) announced that he planned on dropping down to the featherweight division following his UFC 167 fight with Evan Dunham (14-4). Cerrone has lost two of his last three in the division, and he has gone 7-3 in the UFC since the merger with his former MMA home, the WEC. You can’t blame Cerrone for the move down as four of the top ten featherweights, per the UFC’s completely and totally uncontroversial rankings, were formerly UFC lightweights. Standing 5 foot 11 inches, Cerrone will be a large featherweight [thought not as large as PXC’s 6′ 4″ Will Chope]. The drop down provides some intriguing potential match ups such as Cerrone/McGregor, Cerrone/Korean Zombie, and Cerrone/Poirier.
3. Details for the WSOF/Pancrase deal are out, and the most notable detail is that there will be a fighter exchange between the companies that will kick off with UFC veteran middleweight Yushin Okami (29-8) heading to the World Series of Fighting. The first WSOF Japan event is expected to happen some time in early 2014. Also, starting in 2014, Pancrase will use the unified MMA rules and adopt the decagon as the habitat for it’s fighters.
4. MMAViking.com reported that UFC welterweight Gunnar Nelson (11-0-1) was in a vehicle accident that gave him an arm injury that required stitches. Thankfully, Nelson will be fine, but the accident could have been much worse. According to Nelson’s father, the vehicle was dangerously close to a Icelandic river with a powerful current.
5. The Bernard Hopkins fight with Karo Murat on Showtime drew one million viewers.
Fights Made
UFC 169, February 1st, 2014
Bantamweight Unification Bout
Dominick Cruz (19-1) vs Renan Barao (31-1, 1 NC)
Background: It’s been over two years since we’ve last seen Dominick Cruz’s energizer bunny style of striking frustrate opponents, and during that time period Renan Barao has attempted to overtake his throne by piecing together victories over Brad Pickett, Scott Jorgensen, Urijah Faber, Michael McDonald, and Eddie Wineland. When Cruz was champion, there was no question that he was the top bantamweight in the world. But now in 2013, Renan Barao provides a serious question for that statement, and quite frankly, that question deserves an exclamation point.
Excitement Level: 10 out 10. No one has any idea what is going to happen when these two bantamweights collide onFebruary 1st, but after the dust settles, we’ll have an undisputed bantamweight champion. I can’t wait.
Featherweight Championship
Jose Aldo (23-1) (c) vs Ricardo Lamas (13-2)
Background: In August, Jose Aldo extended his win streak to sixteen with a victory over the Korean Zombie, who injured his shoulder in the closing moments of the bout. Prior to that fight, Aldo defended his UFC championship against Frankie Edgar, Chad Mendes, Kenny Florian, and Mark Hominick. Ricardo Lamas earned a much-deserved opportunity at the champ with wins over Erik Koch, Hatsu Hioki, and Cub Swanson.
Excitement Level: 9 out of 10. This is yet another fresh match-up for Aldo. Believe it or not, the featherweight champion has never fought the same opponent twice in his 24 fight career. Lamas has an above average wrestling game, vicious ground and pound, and the ability to finish Aldo if the Nova Uniao product relaxes at any point during the contest.
UFC on FOX 9 – December 14th, 2013
Flyweight Bout
John Dodson (15-6) vs Scott Jorgensen (14-7)
Background: After knocking out UFC newcomer Darrell Montague, Dodson will look to do the same against Scott Jorgensen, who is making the move down to the flyweight division. Jorgensen is coming off of a tough 1-3 stretch in the bantamweight division [the losses came against top bantamweights in Renan Barao, Urijah Faber, and Eddie Wineland].
Excitement Level: 8 out 10. Scott Jorgensen is really being thrown in the fire with this matchup as Dodson is one of the best flyweights. Jorgensen’s tough chin will test Dodson’s KO power, and his fight history leads me to believe that this clash could be a fight of the night contender. A win for John Dodson should absolutely warrant him a title shot.
UFC 167 – November 16th, 2013
Light Heavyweight Bout
Cody Donovan (8-3) vs Gian Villante (10-4)
Background: Triumphs in Bellator and Instinct MMA got Cody Donovan the call to compete in the UFC, and thus far, the light heavyweight has gone 1-1 in the company with a victory over Nick Penner and a loss to Ovince St. Preux. Villante made the jump to the UFC following a 3-2 Strikeforce run and was disappointed in his promotional debut due to a majority decision loss to Ovince St. Preux.
Excitement Level: 2 out of 10. The winner of this fight can boast the claim of being the most impressive victory on Ovince St. Preux’s record. Hooray!
Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2013 – December 31st, 2013
Heavyweight Bout
Satoshi Ishii (10-2-1) vs Kazuyuki Fujita (15-9)
Background: Satoshi Ishii has looked better than ever in his most recent run. He’s on a six fight win streak that is highlighted by wins over Tim Sylvia, Pedro Rizzo, and Jeff Monson. Those wins would probably put Ishii in serious consideration as the best heavyweight in the world…… in 2004. Kazuyuki Fujita was a PRIDE veteran and a prominent professional wrestler in Japan. The 34 year-old last fought in December of 2009 in a “contest” that saw Alistair Overeem knock him out with a knee.
Excitement Level: 1.5 out of 10. I just can’t get that excited for Kazuyuki Fujita fight anymore, but it’ll be good to see Ishii fight once again.
DEEP 64 – December 22nd, 2013
Flyweight Bout
Yuki Motoya (8-4) vs Kiyotaka Shimizu (13-8-3)
Background: Former DEEP Flyweight Champion Yuki Motoya lost his belt to Tatsumitsu Wada at DEEP 63 in a close fight that ended with a split decision. Prior to that loss, Motoya reeled off five consecutive wins in DEEP. Kiyotaka Shimizu is the King of Pancrase Flyweight Champion. His most impressive victory would have to be his decision win over Mitsuhisa Sunabe that garnered him the title. Since then, Shimizu has gone 3-3-1.
Excitement Level: 4 out of 10. Although I wouldn’t put either of these guys at the top the Japanese flyweight food chain, both fighters definitely have the potential to reach those heights, especially Motoya.
Must Reads
1. Ben Fowlkes of MMAJunkie penned a fantastic article that looked at when a corner should throw in the towel. He talked to Greg Jackson, Rosi Sexton, and John McCarthy for the piece. Check it out here: http://bit.ly/1irhFac
2. Chuck Mindenhall of MMAFighting continued his year-by-year review of the UFC’s twenty year history with a recap of 2012. The main points of the article are the deal with FOX, the injury epidemic, and the addition of the flyweight division. Read all about it here: http://bit.ly/Ht4h9J
3. Sherdog writer Brian Knapp previews some of the under the radar MMA fights in November here: http://bit.ly/1dmjMf4
4. Boxing Scene’s Thomas Hauser wrote a brilliant profile on HBO Sports Director Marc Payton. Payton is considered one of, if not the best boxing directors. You can find it here: http://bit.ly/17pv6s2
Must Watch
1. If you missed the main event of Agon 1 between Bellator champion Ben Askren and two-time NCAA champion Quentin Wright, you can watch it here for free: http://bit.ly/1bAybSL
The other Agon matches can also be found at flowrestling.com.
My Sports Parlay of the Day: First, let me revisit the previous day’s parlay. I went 3-0, nailing the Heat (-4 1/2), Lakers (+9 1/2), and the Flyers (+1 1/2). For some reason I decided to prognosticate a World Series game that actually happens today. So far I’m 4-3 with sports picks.
Here’s my parlay for today: the Cardinals to win straight up, Celtics (+8 1/2), Red Wings (+1 1/2), and the University of Cincinatti (-3).
That’ll do it for today’s Haymaker. Thanks for reading, and I’ll leave you with a quote from Boris Yeltson.
“A man must live like a great brilliant flame and burn as brightly as he can. In the end he burns out. But this is far better than a mean little flame.”
-Daniel can be reached at [email protected] or @danielgal.
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