RealGM

w/ Weidman vs Machida down:

UFC 173 takes place May 24, 2014 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, NV. An updated fight card can be seen below.

Main Card (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)
Renan Barao vs. T.J. Dillashaw
Junior dos Santos vs. Stipe Miocic
Takeya Mizugaki vs. TBA
Tony Ferguson vs. Katsunori Kikuno
James Krause vs. Jamie Varner

Preliminary Card (FOX Sports 1, 8 p.m. ET)
Michael Chiesa vs. Francisco Trinaldo
Chris Holdsworth vs. Kyung Ho Kang
Mitch Clarke vs. Al Iaquinta
Anthony Njokuani vs. Vinc Pichel

Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass, 6:30 p.m. ET)
Yves Edwards vs. Piotr Hallmann
Doo Ho Choi vs. Sam Sicilia
Jingliang Li vs. Danny Mitchell

The shuffling described:

According to the report, No. 3 ranked contender Raphael Assuncao, who narrowly defeated Dillashaw last October, was initially chosen to challenge Barao, however lingering injuries prevented Assuncao from accepting the short notice bout.

Dillashaw was previously scheduled to fight Takeya Mizugaki on UFC 173's main card. A replacement opponent for Mizugaki is expected to be announced in the coming days.

Assuncao vs Barao could def not have headlined here, "lingering injuries" help the card very much.

It's tough to judge how well known a lot of these guys are in popular consciousness...so I can't tell if it's a "weak card" or not. A bunch made their names in WEC or Dream, they're exciting fighters. But not too many who've been on UFC mains or prelims.

Obv Dos Santos is a huge name. Stipe is being heralded, Junior has to prove himself. That is a perfect march sportingly and promotion-wise.

Kikuno!!! What a tough match-up, though. Ferguson has great boxing and appears to be really working on his BJJ.

That little worm from TUF, TJ, has turned into a really skilled, exciting fighter. Who'd have thunk he'd be a legit contender for the title?

cowboyronnie wrote:That little worm from TUF, TJ, has turned into a really skilled, exciting fighter. Who'd have thunk he'd be a legit contender for the title?

Me. Early stoppage from Dodson or else the dude may still have never lost a fight. The bout with Assuncao may have literally been the closest decision I've ever seen. Literal coinflip.

oh

Lol sorry not trying to toot my own horn, I just thought he was always seen as a good prospect by most. I remember other dudes being jealous of him on tuf and I think that's why (remember the whole Brandao/Akira trying to injure him during training thing?).

Wow, Robbie Lawler vs Jake Ellenberger is now on this card after Tarec Saffedeine got injured.

Lawler is a warrior.

I bet all of the Alpha Male guys are on the Urijah Faber "always be ready for the call" program. Don't see what Dillashaw brings to the table that Faber doesn't, but it's still a legit title fight.

Heavy TUF presence on this card, but it looks good to me. Especially with Lawler/Ellenberger added.

This is the kind of card I was talking about in the Oversaturation thread. You supplement the lower weight class title fight with a title eliminator in a glamour weight class (in this case HW, though it's one of those one sided deals since JDS won't be getting a shot any time soon...I hope), AND a title eliminator in the title fight weight class for symmetry (Mizugaki vs. Dillashaw was clearly going to be that; I hope they can find someone good enough to put in that spot). Then beef up the card with fights like Lawler/Ellenberger, Ferguson/Kikuno, and some interesting stuff on the prelims.

CPT wrote:I bet all of the Alpha Male guys are on the Urijah Faber "always be ready for the call" program. Don't see what Dillashaw brings to the table that Faber doesn't, but it's still a legit title fight.

I wouldn't be surprised if Dillashaw is a better striker at this point, tbh.

JDS vs. Miocic removed from this card and will now happen on the TUF Brazil finale May 31.

Ellenberger vs. Lawler takes its place as co-main event (forget where that was scheduled originally), and Mizugaki's opponent will be Francisco Rivera.

CPT wrote:I bet all of the Alpha Male guys are on the Urijah Faber "always be ready for the call" program. Don't see what Dillashaw brings to the table that Faber doesn't, but it's still a legit title fight.

Hopefully he doesn't bring Herb Dean to the table.

Cormier/Henderson added as co-main.

SDM wrote:Cormier/Henderson added as co-main.

If Cormier comes out of this fight unscathed, maybe he can take on Brandon Vera on the July 4th card!

REDDzone wrote:

SDM wrote:Cormier/Henderson added as co-main.

If Cormier comes out of this fight unscathed, maybe he can take on Brandon Vera on the July 4th card!

Vera is 36 years old and has 1 win in his last 6 UFC fights

UN-Owen wrote:Vera is 36 years old and has 1 win in his last 6 UFC fights

You're right, too difficult an opponent for Cormier. Would Tito be available if he loses his Bellator fight?

Tito's got a scheduled injury unfortunately, he'll be out for 6 months roughly a day after the fight.

Maybe he could fight a barista. Ok sorry, that one wasn't very believable.

LOL

He's aging right through his prime w this ****.

UN-Owen wrote:

REDDzone wrote:

SDM wrote:Cormier/Henderson added as co-main.

If Cormier comes out of this fight unscathed, maybe he can take on Brandon Vera on the July 4th card!

Vera is 36 years old and has 1 win in his last 6 UFC fights

Henderson is 43 and has 1 win in his last 4 UFC fights.