UFC's next few events....WTF

[CPT]

I don't know what the hell the UFC is doing right now. They've given us some pretty big main events on 3 of the last 4 cards (I'm including Penn vs. GSP in that), but their upcoming main events are ridiculous.

UFC 95: Stevenson vs. Sanchez

UFC 96: Rampage vs. Jardine

UFC 97: Liddell vs. Shogun

UFC 98: Hughes vs. Serra (though they may throw a bigger fight on there as the real main event)

UFC 99: in Germany, so it will probably be crappy. I think they wanted Randy on the card, so I expect him in the main event.

Maybe they really are saving up for UFC 100. If not, I'm not sure what they're waiting for.

There are some other interesting fights on every show, and the fights listed aren't bad fights, just bad main events. That said, if I was the kind of guy who actually ordered PPVs, I'd think about taking a long break from doing so.

[cowboyronnie]

That's over a really short period of time, though. 4 events between now and March 7th (if you count last night).

They've had some pretty great undercards over the past while, if they can add some interesting LW or WW match-ups to these, I'll be perfectly happy.

[Chach]

You have to remember that UFC 95 is going to be free on Spike, Rampage and Liddell are both big names who will draw some decent PPV so long as there is a decent card.

UFC 95
Diego Sanchez vs. Joe Stevenson[2]
Nate Marquardt vs. Wilson Gouveia[3]
Demian Maia vs. Chael Sonnen[4]
Rory Markham vs. Dan Hardy[5]
Josh Koscheck vs Paulo Thiago[6]

That's a pretty good main card for a free show and Junior Dos Santos is on the undercard as well as a few other possible interesting fights so while there is no marque name, I like that card, especially the Marquardt/Gouveia fight. Sonnen's wrestling MIGHT give him a chance to squeeze out a decision by keeping Maia from subbing him.

UFC 96
Quinton Jackson vs. Keith Jardine[2]
Shane Carwin vs. Gabriel Gonzaga[3]
Dustin Hazelett vs. Ben Saunders[4]
Matt Hamill vs. Mark Munoz[5]
Gray Maynard vs. Jim Miller[6]

All one sided fights, in my opinion, except Carwin/Gonzaga but they should be entertaining. Winner of the latter fight probably fights Kongo to face the winner of Mir/Lesnar. This will be Carwin's first non-can opponent and I am mildly surprised by Gonzaga as of late so this should be a interesting night.

UFC 97
Chuck Liddell vs. Mauricio Rua[1]
Anderson Silva vs. Thales Leites
Sean Sherk vs. Roger Huerta[2]

This is the card I dislike so far but they are still putting it together. UFC 98 looks like it will have Hughes/Serra and Mir/Lesnar but I really would like them to hold off on that until UFC 100 because I think that the Lesnar draw could do some major damage.
http://www.aroundtheoctagon.com/?p=507
I have no idea how reliable ATO is but that link was on the Wikipedia page so take it with a grain of salt. I've seen no one else confirm this rumor so I don't know if it's true. I think that UFC 100 would make a killing if that fights on the card.

I'm not quite sure why Rampage is facing Jardine. He beat a crappy Vera and got knocked out by the corpse of Wanderlei so this can't be a #1 contender match, can it? mahalo
~Chach~

[SpReEfOrAlL]

The Rampage/Jardine fight is stupid. Rashad turns down the fight, saying he isnt ready. So not only does his teammate Jardine get a fight he doesnt deserve but he will be able to give Rashad and his camp extra info and strategies on Rampage. Its a lose lose for Rampage. Really gains nothing from winning, and loses every thing in a loss.

[cowboyronnie]

Sonnen vs Maia is an interesting one.

[Chach]

I think Maia wins relatively easily but Sonnen's wrestling could hinder Maia's takedowns and make the fight interesting. Sonnen has enough striking that he could win a decision but I can't see him knocking out or subbing Maia.

Yeah, the Rampage/Jardine fight is pretty worthless and kind of a sneaky move by the Jackson camp but, honestly, Rampage isn't the most complex fighter to figure out. I doubt there is much of an edge to be gained and Forrest looked good in the first two rounds against Evans so I don't know how much the inside edge helped there either. mahalo
~Chach~

[CPT]

Like I said, there are interesting fights on all of the undercards, but those main events are just brutal.

[damo[23]]

Actually not to fussed about those cards.

They do have to spread out the fights - and they've had alot of big fights recently in a short space of time.

Also they are yet to list, beyond BJ vs GSP - title fights there [well I am assuming Silva is defending his but still], so plenty in Lesnar vs Mir, BJ vs KenFlo and also Evans - actually I expect a good few interesting LHW fights leading up to that.

Not to mention what happens after BJ vs GSP - I mean theres a real chance that BJ has to defend two different titles this year.

So plenty still to happen.

Still wish that 95 was a better card - since it'll be my first live UFC event.

[Cammo101]

These cards are fine by me considering they take place within 2 months of each other.

[CPT]

Hazelett is now out of UFC 96 because of injury, so the card now looks like this:

* Quinton Jackson vs. Keith Jardine
* Shane Carwin vs. Gabriel Gonzaga
* Matt Hamill vs. Mark Munoz
* Ben Saunders vs. TBA
* Mike Patt vs. Brandon Vera
* Gray Maynard vs. Jim Miller
* Tim Boetsch vs. Jason Brilz
* Jason Day vs. Kendall Grove
* Matt Brown vs. Pete Sell
* Shane Nelson vs. Aaron Riley

This may be the lowest buyrate for a PPV in North America in modern age of the UFC.

[cowboyronnie]

Hmmm...there's one tough MFer in most of those fights, usually facing an opponent I don't recognize. I know Miller is crafty enough that we'll probably get to see Maynard for a couple rounds. That's exciting.

Boetsch had the best beatdown of the year two fights back. That was just awesome.

If they could just conflate a couple of those fights. Hammill against Boetsch, for example. Killer, but alas...