UFC Fight Night 79 (11/28, Seoul, South Korea): Bendo vs. Alves

Post #1 » by **CPT** » Mon Jun 15, 2015 2:55 am

Indulge me here.

The UFC will be making its long awaited debut in South Korea at the end of this year, and even though it's only going to be a Fight Pass Fight Night, I'm pretty excited. It will be my first live UFC event, provided the tickets aren't priced out of my budget.

I'm going to use this space to brainstorm fighters and fights until an official card is announced.

Likely participants (FightMatrix ranking in parentheses):

Dong-hyun Kim (WW#11), last fight 5/23/2015, win over Josh Burkman
Could be the main eventer here, though there are some other guys who may be bigger draws. Not on an ideal schedule, but I'm guessing he will wait for a chance to fight in Korea (this applies to a lot of guys on this list).
Possible opponents: Demian Maia (he wants this rematch, they match up well in rankings)

Hyun-gyu Lim (WW#63), last fight 5/16/2015, loss to Neil Magny
Seems like he should be higher than that ranking suggests, and will probably be one of the higher profile names on the card.
Possible opponents: Nelson/Hathaway loser, Ben Saunders, Thatch/Howard loser

Benson Henderson (LW#4), last fight 2/14/2015, win over Brandon Thatch (at WW)
It feels like I've seen him fight since then, but maybe not. He's said he wants to be on this card, and I think he'll get his wish. Possible main eventer. Would love to see them bring over Eddie Alvarez and do that fight as the main event. His willingness/ability to fight at WW increases the chances of him landing on this card.
Possible opponents: Alvarez, another top 20 LW

Tae-hyun Bang (LW#273), last fight 5/16/2015, loss to Jon Tuck
Could be cut between now and then, but they may keep him around just for this card.
Possible opponents: ????, someone ranked pretty low and also on the chopping block or a fighter making his debut

Doo-ho Choi (FW#46), last fight 11/22/2014, win over Juan Manuel Puig
Would have forgotten about this guy if not for the sort by country feature on FightMatrix. He's got a good record and ranking, but I don't think they would give him a very high profile guy. Last guy he fought was ranked 300+. The long layoff could also mean he won't be on this card.

Yui-chul Nam (FW#109), last fight 5/16/2015, loss to Phillipe Nover
Was never impressed with this guy, but he's been winning fights until running into Nover.

Kyung-ho Kang (BW#33), last fight 9/20/2014, win over Michinori Tanaka
Not sure why he hasn't been active. Wouldn't be surprised to see him get a big(ish) name if he ends up on the card.
Potential opponents: Caraway/Wineland winner, Holdsworth, Mizugaki, Yahya/Kanehara winner

Seo-hee Ham (WSW#24), last fight 12/12/2014, loss to Joanne Calderwood
A long time top 5er at 105, Hamderlei Silva went up to 115 in order to fight in the UFC. Don't see a fight scheduled for her, but she's legit. I'd give her a big(ish) name and put her fairly high on the card.
Potential opponents: Namajunas (would be a great fight IMO), Esparza, Torres, Hill...any of the TUF women really

Potential participants:

Yoshihiro Akiyama/Sung-hoon Choo (WW#199), last fight 9/20/2014, win over Amir Sadollah
Semi-retired, but I'm guessing he fights on this card in a pretty high profile spot. He's a household name in Korea. Could be the opponent to either Kim or Lim, or get another big(ish) name at either WW or MW. I'm guessing they throw rankings out the window and just try to make a fun fight if he's involved.

Ah-Sol Kwon (LW#162), 20-8, RoadFC LW Champ
This guy is pretty good, and fun to watch. RoadFC doesn't seem to have problems with letting their champs go, so he could get a call.

Mu-Gyeom Choi (FW#75), 6-3, RoadFC FW Champ
Haven't been super impressed by him so far, but he's young and already a champ. Could get the call.

Doo-won Seo (FW#114), 10-8
A major figure in Korean MMA. May get the call as a courtesy.

Cammo101 · Post #2 » by **Cammo101** » Mon Jun 15, 2015 2:57 am

I'd be pretty shocked if this card wasn't headlined by either Benson or Stun Gun. I'd love to see Soo Chul Kim end up on this card.

Post #3 » by **CPT** » Mon Jun 15, 2015 5:58 am

Cammo101 wrote:I'd be pretty shocked if this card wasn't headlined by either Benson or Stun Gun. I'd love to see Soo Chul Kim end up on this card.

He's a young and exciting guy, just don't know if he will get the call, with the UFC not doing much with the BW division.

cowboyronnie · Post #4 » by **cowboyronnie** » Mon Jun 15, 2015 11:36 am

Still living in South Korea, CPT? It's been like a decade.

REDDzone · Post #5 » by **REDDzone** » Mon Jun 15, 2015 1:07 pm

Hope Benson is alright by the time this comes around. I really wanted to see that Michael Johnson fight actually. Benson's injury was his eye though, you never know about stuff like that.

SDM · Post #6 » by **SDM** » Mon Jun 15, 2015 1:10 pm

CPT, is there any chance at all that KZ can get out of his military service for this card?

Cammo101 · Post #7 » by **Cammo101** » Mon Jun 15, 2015 3:06 pm

CPT wrote:
Cammo101 wrote:I'd be pretty shocked if this card wasn't headlined by either Benson or Stun Gun. I'd love to see Soo Chul Kim end up on this card.

He's a young and exciting guy, just don't know if he will get the call, with the UFC not doing much with the BW division.

I think the bigger issue is that he may still be under contract with OneFC.

Cammo101 · Post #8 » by **Cammo101** » Mon Jun 15, 2015 3:07 pm

SDM wrote:CPT, is there any chance at all that KZ can get out of his military service for this card?

I miss Korean Zombie.

Post #9 » by **CPT** » Mon Jun 15, 2015 11:06 pm

cowboyronnie wrote:Still living in South Korea, CPT? It's been like a decade.

Yeah, just about. Time flies. Seoul is a great city, and I have more roots here than anywhere else at this point.

SDM wrote:CPT, is there any chance at all that KZ can get out of his military service for this card?

I doubt it. It might be possible, but from what I've heard, his military service is a joke. He commutes, does office work, and still gets to his gym every day. I think there are exceptions, but even if granted, it would probably draw unwanted attention. He should have been granted exemption in the first place.

Would love to see him on this card. Maybe the next one if it does well.

Post #10 » by **CPT** » Fri Aug 21, 2015 3:58 pm

Fantasy matchups no more, we finally have a fight announced:

Bendo vs. Alves (don't know if it's official official, but being reported in several places)
Cro Cop says he's fighting
Dong-hyun Kim vs. someone is still likely (I'm hoping for Maia, saw something about Masvidal)

Cammo101 · Post #11 » by **Cammo101** » Mon Aug 24, 2015 10:57 pm

Stun Gun vs. Masvidal would be a war.

Post #12 » by **CPT** » Tue Aug 25, 2015 2:49 am

That fight is official, and so far the card is:

Bendo vs. Alves (170)
Kim vs. Masvidal (170)
Akiyama vs. Mina (not sure...mainly because I'm not sure who Mina is)
Cro Cop vs. Anthony Hamilton

Could do a lot worse for a fight night, but a lot better for a debut in a big market like Seoul. As long as the tickets aren't completely ridiculous, I'll be satisfied with this + some other Korean/Asian fighters.

REDDzone · Post #13 » by **REDDzone** » Tue Aug 25, 2015 3:06 am

I read on sherdog that Brown was offered the fight vs Stun Gun but turned it down so they turned to Masvidal.

Post #14 » by **CPT** » Sat Sep 12, 2015 1:42 pm

A few things:

Tickets for this were (roughly) $77/99/165/264/495/1650 and sold out a 15,000 seat gym (not sure on the configuration) fairly quickly (not in an hour or anything crazy though) for this card:

Benson Henderson vs. Thiago Alves
Mirko Filipovic vs. Anthony Hamilton
Dong Hyun Kim vs. Jorge Masvidal
Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Alberto Mina
Doo Ho Choi vs. Sam Sicilia
Marco Beltran vs. Ning Guangyou
Hyun Gyu Lim vs. Elizeu Zaleski
Jake Collier vs. Dongi Yang
Tae Hyun Bang vs. Leo Kuntz

It's about as good as I expected, but at the same time, looking at it, it's pretty underwhelming. Was only going to go if I could get a $99 ticket and I couldn't. Kinda shows how hot the Korean market is for the UFC. Hope they bring a bigger and better show here soon.

Really looking forward to Bang-Kuntz.

SDM · Post #15 » by **SDM** » Sun Sep 13, 2015 8:56 pm

They call me Leo Kuntz, because whatever Leo wants Leo Kuntz.

Post #16 » by **CPT** » Tue Nov 10, 2015 11:41 pm

Cro Cop has retired and is (obviously) off this card.

It's too bad Benson is already on it, because I'm sure he'd take the fight.

Post #17 » by **Shaazzam** » Wed Nov 11, 2015 2:31 pm

best poster ever

Post #18 » by **CPT** » Sat Nov 14, 2015 1:09 pm

Alves out as well.

I'm sure Benson will fight anyone available at 155 or 170, but that's a big hit to this card.

REDDzone · Post #19 » by **REDDzone** » Sat Nov 14, 2015 5:55 pm

Masvidal in for Alves.

Masvidal has huge balls to take this unfavorable matchup half a world away on such short notice.

Post #20 » by **CPT** » Sat Nov 14, 2015 11:38 pm

REDDzone wrote:Masvidal in for Alves.

Masvidal has huge balls to take this unfavorable matchup half a world away on such short notice.

?

Masvidal is already fighting Kim on this card. So now they need a new opponent for Kim. Not sure how that's better.

Kim and Akiyama are bigger draws locally, but I guess they've sold all the tickets they're going to and are now trying to make it more interesting for the international audience?