(Welcome to The Daily Haymaker, a new feature here at Undercard that sums up the day’s goings on and whathaveyous)
Fight Announcements:
Sam Stout vs. Isaac Vallie-Flagg and Sean Pierson vs. TJ Waldburger at UFC 161
M-One (not THAT M-1) is holding a Muay Thai event in California on May 16
Consumables:
Ronda Rousey on Jay Mohr Sports (3/7)
Jim Lampley on JT The Brick (3/7)
Roy Jones Jr. on JT The Brick (3/6)
Round 1: Fight!
@NickFury16 @markhunt1974 with his win last week he broke into the top 10. He will get a top 10 fight but as of last nite he turned down JDS
— danawhite (@danawhite) March 7, 2013
(Well, Dana just put spike strips down in front of the Mark Hunt War Wagon, which was trying to cross into city limits. That’s a damned shame, especially since Mark was campaigning for it on Twitter. The Rally for Mark Hunt is more flaccid right now than The Rally for Sane UFC Conference Calls. 10-9 Hunt for successfully trolling his own supporters. K-1 Level subterfuge.)
Round 2: Fight!
Which brings us to this lunacy. All Nick Diaz was missing was a sandwich board about the Apocalypse, a scraggly beard, and a donation cup. Did Nick finally cross into full-blown “easy there, fella…” mode, or was he just rambling as Nick is wont to do?
(GSP, to his credit, was masterful. In a stark foreshadowing of what’s to possibly come, he landed short, hard counter-jabs, waited for Nick to tire himself out, then lunged ferociously. It was a veteran performance by Georges that gets him a 10-8.)
Round 3: Fight!
The Baby Bull is back! After a three-year hiatus to focus on school, Juan Diaz, most famous for his fights with Juan Manuel Marquez, returns to the ring April 13 on a Fox Sports card against Pipino Cuevas Jr. Cuevas is only 16-9 with his last loss coming in two rounds.
(Boxing’s lightweight division needed a shot in the arm, and Diaz can provide that. He’s going to need a little to shake the rust off, but is still only 29 and has a lot left in the tank. The 135-lb division takes a nice 10-9.)
Round 4: Fight!
One of my personal all-time favorite fighters, Joachim Hansen, was signed by Korean promotion, RoadFC. The Pride veteran is expected to debut April 13 for the promotion.
(I really like Road. Their production values are off the charts and seem to be doing it the right way. This is absolutely the kind of signing an international promotion getting off the ground needs to make. Not the Bob Sapps and James Thompsons of the world, a versatile fighter with a great Asian brand and presence. 10-8 for RoadFC.)
Round 5: Fight!
From the Rumors Dept., there’s talk of an Adrien Broner vs. Paulie Malignaggi matchup in June.
(Don’t like this at all. Broner jumping to 147 from 135 is a mistake. There are many, many, many great matchups for him at 140. If he’s truly cleaned out Lightweight, then Junior Welterweight is the next logical step not only from a development standpoint, but a matchup standpoint. So many fun fights there. And as for Paulie, I like him, but he loses this fight 12 times out of 10. He’s a purely finesse fighter, but he’s not going out finesse a guy like Broner who’s faster, more athletic, younger, more elusive, and smoother than him. 8-8 after multiple deductions.)
Winner of the Day: Georges St. Pierre
(I really think that in trying to get in Georges’s head, Nick has gotten into his own head and his talk about cameras being on him and pressure is finally doing him in. He’s never liked the pressure and the spotlight and it seems he’s finally cracking, while GSP adores the bright lights and the big crowds. He came off cool as a cucumber, while still revved up and full of Diaz-bashing fury.)
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