(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. Jimi Manuwa will replace an injured Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and face Alexander Gustafsson in the marquee fight of the March UFC London card. The fight will be in the top slot on a Fox Sports 2 card. I’ll have my thoughts on this fight in the fights made section.
2. The bantamweight championship unification match between Dominick Cruz and Renan Barao will be the main event of UFC 169. The fight will take place after the featherweight title bout between Jose Aldo and Ricardo Lamas. It isn’t unprecedented for the UFC to place a lighter weight class’ championship fight over a heaver one’s, although it is rare. At UFC 65 a welterweight title clash between George St. Pierre and Matt Hughes was the headliner while a battle for the company’s heavyweight strap that pitted Tim Sylvia against Jeff Monson was relegated to the co-main event slot.
3. Sergio Pettis’s UFC debut at UFC 167 looks to be in jeopardy as his opponent, Vaughan Lee, has pulled out of the fight. The event is scheduled to take place in ten days.
4. Everyone on today’s Ultimate Fight Night 31 card made weight. Somewhere, John Lineker is shocked.
5. Ratings/Buyrate Report: Bjorn Rebney announced that Bellator 106 drew 1.1 million viewers while Top Rank President Todd duBoef announced that the Timothy Bradley/Juan Manuel Marquez PPV did 375,000 buy-rates. In my uneducated opinion, both of those numbers are simply okay. The numbers weren’t spectacular, but they also weren’t dumpster fires.
6. Speaking of Bellator, top welterweight Douglas Lima has signed a new 8 fight deal with the promotion. Also, the heavyweight championship fight between Alexander Volkov and Vitaly Minakov has been moved from Bellator 109 to 108 while Alexander Shlemenko’s middleweight title defense against Doug Marshall has been moved from Bellator 108 to 109.
7. Boxingscene.com reported that Jorge Arce will return to the ring on November 16th to face William Prado in Mexico.
Fights Made
UFC in London – March 8th, 2014
Light Heavyweight Bout
Alexander Gustafsson (15-2) vs Jimi Manuwa (14-0)
Background: Gustafsson rode a six fight UFC win streak into a championship match against Jon Jones that ended up evolving from a match to a war. Gustafsson gave the Jones the toughest fight in the champion’s young career and arguably won the bout, but the judges’ disagreed. Jimi Manuwa’s last four victories have come by way of leg injury, retirement, doctor stoppage, and retirement. This dude is an absolute animal. His three UFC victories come over Kyle Kingsbury, Cyrille Diabate, and Ryan Jimmo.
Excitement Level: 8 out of 10: Even though Jimi Manuwa isn’t as highly regarded as Lil’ Nog, I’m anticipating this fight much more than the original matchup. Manuwa provides a more intriguing fight style, and he’ll get a boost from the hometown crowd. I could definitely see Manuwa sucking Gustafsson into a firefight, and if that happens, we all win.
UFC Fight Night 34 – January 4th, 2014
Welterweight Bout
Jake Ellenberger (29-7) vs Tarec Saffiediene (14-3)
Background: Ever since Jake Ellenberger knocked out Jake Shields at UFN 25, he’s been a constant presence in the top of the welterweight division. Ellenberger has gone 3-2 in his last five fights in the UFC. Tarec Saffiedine will make his UFC debut after retiring the welterweight championship in Strikeforce. Saffiedine is on a four fight win streak that is highlighted by victories over Nate Marquardt and Roger Bowling.
Excitement Level: 8 out of 10. Jake Ellenberger will provide the best litmus test for Tarec Saffiedine on whether or not he should be considered a legitimate welterweight title contender. With that potential question being answered, and the possibility of a stellar stand-up battle, this bout gets a high score.
Bantamweight Bout
Shunichi Shimizu (28-8-10) vs Kyung Ho Kang (11-7, 1 NC)
Background: Shimizu will make his UFC debut after a lengthy career on the Japanese fight scene. Shimizu has won his last five fights and has finished nineteen of his opponents by way of submission. Despite competing twice in the UFC, Kyung Ho Kang has yet to capture a victory in the company. A win here is a must if Kang expects to remain as a fighter under the ZUFFA banner.
Excitement Level: 2 out of 10. This fight lacks relevance to the bantamweight division, save for the unknown potential of Shimizu that will be partially translated with his debut contest.
Welterweight Bout
Hyun Gyu Lim (12-3-1) vs Kiichi Kunimoto (15-5-2, 1 NC)
Background: Hyun Gyu Lim strengthened his Mixed Martial Arts resume with a 4-0 stint in the PXC and has looked great since his call-up by the UFC. In his two UFC fights, Lim has knocked out both Pascal Krauss and Marcelo Guimaraes. Kiichi Kunimoto is making his promotional debut thanks to a 6-1 run in his last seven fights in Heat and Pancrase. Kunimoto has submitted his last three opponents, one of them being Edward Faaloloto.
Excitement Level: 5 out of 10. Although Kiichi Kunimoto is planning to spoil Hyun Gyu Lim’s momentum, I expect this fight to end up being a showcase fight for the Korean fighter.
Must Reads
1. MMAJunkie’s Ben Fowlkes spoke to a few fighters about the idea of ring rust and wrote a thought-provoking piece on his findings. Read it here: http://bit.ly/174PcC1
2. On his blog, Jordan Burroughs blogged about why he’s chosen to continue with his wrestling career and not pursue one in the sport of Mixed Martial Arts. You can find it here: http://bit.ly/18XpyyG
3. Here’s my daily recommendation of Chuck Mindenhall’s remarkable series of reviewing each of the UFC’s first twenty years as we approach the company’s historic anniversary. Read this piece on the year 2005 here: http://bit.ly/1apnWOC
4. BleacherReport’s Duane Finley wrote a great piece on the passion of Vitor Belfort here: http://bit.ly/175gTA2
5. Cage Potato provided a fun read with a piece on the 27 ways you know you’re part of the MMA media. Check it out here: http://bit.ly/177ccpd
6. Corey Haddad of FloWrestling.com released his top 25 preseason high school wrestling squad rankings with insight from each team’s coach. You can find it here: http://bit.ly/1ar3pcE
7. Fightland.vice.com has a crazy story about surfer Jeff Horton boxing a shark and surviving a near-death experience. It can be found here: http://bit.ly/1dKR9IQ
That’ll do it for today’s Haymaker. Thanks for reading, and I’ll leave you with a quote from Nelson Mandela.
“There is no passion to be found playing small – in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.”
-Daniel can be reached at [email protected] or @danielgal.
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