Surprise! another fight off.

[Mr. IWS]

Gonzaga out against JDS

UFC heavyweight Gabriel Gonzaga (11-4 MMA, 7-3 UFC) has been forced out of a scheduled bout with Junior Dos Santos (9-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) at January's UFC 108 event.

The report comes from Yahoo! Sports' Steve Cofield, who stated Gonzaga has a staph infection. MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) could not immediately confirm the report.

The UFC hasn't officially announced the change to the bout, which was part of the event's Jan. 2 pay-per-view main card and set to take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

This the latest in a long string of injuries and illnesses that have plagued the UFC over the past few months. The Gonzaga vs. Dos Santos bout was a pivotal one for the UFC's heavyweight division, and the winner could have earned a title shot.

Gonzaga was returning to the cage for the first time since an August win over UFC newcomer Chris Tuchscherer. "Napao" cracked the UFC rookie with a low blow early in the fight, and Tuchscherer never full recovered. Regardless, Gonzaga had climbed back into title contention with a 3-1 record in his past four UFC contests and was looking for a win over one of the UFC's top prospects.

Dos Santos has quickly climbed up the ranks of the UFC's heavyweight division with three-straight stoppage wins in the organization. Just 25 years old, Dos Santos earned TKO wins over Fabricio Werdum and Stefan Struve before forcing Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic to verbally submit to strikes at a UFC 103 main-card contest in September.

UFC officials will likely keep Dos Santos on the card with a replacement fighter.

[zY|]

LOL deep heavyweight division.

What if Fedor had really signed? Who is he supposed to fight?

[Mr. IWS]

LOL deep heavyweight division.

What if Fedor had really signed? Who is he supposed to fight?

I swear, if Fedor would have signed, and all this went down, his legend would have grown even more.

Fedor goes to the UFC and all the sudden every heavyweight gets "Fedor-itis"

[zY|]

[quote=IWS Zak]

LOL deep heavyweight division.

What if Fedor had really signed? Who is he supposed to fight?

I swear, if Fedor would have signed, and all this went down, his legend would have grown even more.

Fedor goes to the UFC and all the sudden every heavyweight gets "Fedor-itis"[/quote:1rewvr4w]

Haha I would've loved it. Every UFC HW immediately fakes an injury upon Fedor signing.

[Luke]

Tim Silvia will be heavyweight champ again at this rate lol

[Mr. IWS]

I would love to see Cain vs JDS, but I dont think they wanna have two young guns fighting, basically eliminating one of them from title contention for a while.

Somebody call Heath Herring.

[SPX]

I want JDS vs Carwin or Cain. And honestly, I think JDS would fuck both of them up.

[Luke]

I want JDS vs Carwin or Cain. And honestly, I think JDS would fuck both of them up.

I think thats reaching really far man. Santos is getting way to much love imo for beating a over the hill Cro Cop

[SPX]

I want JDS vs Carwin or Cain. And honestly, I think JDS would fuck both of them up.

I think thats reaching really far man. Santos is getting way to much love imo for beating a over the hill Cro Cop

Not just Crocop. He KOd Werdum in about a minute and TKOd Struve in about the same amount of time. Granted, Struve isn't top level, but Werdum was considered to be the top contender before he ran into Junior's fist.

I am very impressed with 2 Santos. I honestly think he would beat both Cain and Carwin and would give him a better shot at beating Brock than I would give Carwin. The thing is that Carwin is powerful, but his actual technique really isn't that great. JDS was a very successful pro kickboxer before coming over to the UFC and those skills have transferred very well for him.

[Luke]

I want JDS vs Carwin or Cain. And honestly, I think JDS would fuck both of them up.

I think thats reaching really far man. Santos is getting way to much love imo for beating a over the hill Cro Cop

Not just Crocop. He KOd Werdum in about a minute and TKOd Struve in about the same amount of time. Granted, Struve isn't top level, but Werdum was considered to be the top contender before he ran into Junior's fist.

I am very impressed with 2 Santos. I honestly think he would beat both Cain and Carwin and would give him a better shot at beating Brock than I would give Carwin. The thing is that Carwin is powerful, but his actual technique really isn't that great. JDS was a very successful pro kickboxer before coming over to the UFC and those skills have transferred very well for him.

I think Cain and Carwain are top level fighters.Werdum and Struve are not and Cro Cop is a shell of his old self .His kickboxing would be worthless when Brock,Cain or Carwain take him down and are laying on him.

He's a good fighter dont get me wrong but he's getting too much hype for not beating top level competition much like Anthony Johnson did and we see how he did against a top level wrestler

[zY|]

I'm impressed with dos Santos as well.

However, we STILL haven't seen his ground game or even his takedown defense against high level opponents.

[Luke]

I'm impressed with dos Santos as well.

However, we STILL haven't seen his ground game or even his takedown defense against high level opponents.

Thats what I'm saying ZY

[Mr. IWS]

As Biggie said...."and anotha one"

Tyson Griffin has withdrawn from a lightweight bout against Jim Miller at UFC 108 on Jan. 2 in Las Vegas, Sherdog.com has confirmed with the fighter’s manager, Tom Call.

Call said the 25-year-old Californian injured himself in training Thursday and following a visit to the doctor, decided to pull out of the bout. Call would not specify the type of injury that the Xtreme Couture fighter sustained.

“He sustained an injury that wasn’t too serious, but it will prevent him from training against the caliber of opponent that Jim Miller is,” Call told Sherdog.com.

Call said the decision was difficult for Griffin, who’s never withdrawn from a bout before. Call added that Griffin would return to training in mid to late January.

New Jersey native Miller, who’s won four of his five UFC appearances, is expected to remain on the Jan. 2 card. With a mix of strong wrestling and striking, the 26-year-old Miller earned a second-round technical knockout against Steve Lopez at UFC 103 last September in Dallas.

[SPX]

Well shit. I had a little over 2u on Griffin, too.

[zY|]

You forgot that Condit also pulled out of his fight with Daley, LOL. He's been replaced by Hazelett though, and Griffin has been replaced by Sherk.

[Mr. IWS]

I have a feeling this thread will fill up fast:

Undefeated Korean welterweight Dong Hyun Kim (12-0-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) has been forced to withdraw from a planned UFC 110 bout with Chris Lytle (27-17-5 MMA, 6-9 UFC).

Kim's apparent knee injury was first reported by AOL FanHouse, and MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) has since verified the report.

UFC 110, which is already a sell-out, takes place Sunday, Feb. 21 at Acer Arena in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. With the time difference, the show will air on pay-per-view in the U.S. live on Saturday, Feb. 20.

A replacement for Kim wasn't immediately known, but Lytle is expected to remain on the card.

Kim had sought his fourth-straight UFC win, thought the road to his first three victories hasn't necessarily been a smooth one. "Stun Gun" narrowly edged Matt Brown in a September 2008 split decision, and Kim also had a loss to Karo Parisyan overturned to a no-contest when "The Heat" failed a post-fight drug screen.

Kim also holds UFC wins over T.J. Grant and Jason Tan. Six of Kim's 12 career victories have come by knockout or TKO.

Meanwhile, Lytle will hope for another scrappy opponent as he looks involve himself in another potential "Fight of the Night." Already a four-time winner of the award, Lytle's subpar career record in the UFC is offset by his scrappy style and willingness to stand and trade with any fighter in the UFC's welterweight division.

Lytle has won three-straight "Fight of the Night" awards with wins over Kevin Burns and Paul Taylor sandwiched around a split-decision loss to Marcus Davis.

For complete coverage of UFC 110, including the latest rumored fight card, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of MMAjunkie.com.

[SPX]

Damn it! I was looking forward to that fight, too. Probably would've had some money on Stun Gun if I could've gotten good odds.

[Mr. IWS]

Lil Nog now out.

21573
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira has withdrawn from his co-headlining light heavyweight contest against Brandon Vera at UFC 109 on Feb. 6 in Las Vegas due to injury, Sherdog.com has learned from multiple sources.

Nogueira, the brother of former UFC interim heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, suffered a fractured ankle, said both sources. Nogueira’s manager, Ed Soares, could not be initially reached to confirm the injury.

The 33-year-old Brazilian had debuted strong for the promotion with a first-round technical knockout against Luis Arthur Cane at UFC 106 on Nov. 21 in Las Vegas. Nogueira has won six consecutive bouts; his last loss was a 23-second knockout at the hands of Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou at Pride 33 in February 2007.

Sources said the UFC is currently working to secure a new opponent for Vera on the same card.

Vera lost a unanimous decision to UFC hall of famer Randy Couture at UFC 105 on Nov. 14 in Manchester, England. The 32-year-old kickboxer had clocked in victories against Krzysztof Soszynski and Michael Patt before that.

[Luke]

Vera fighting Jones now

Jon Jones and Brandon Vera will meet in a light heavyweight headliner at a UFC event on March 21 in Denver, Sherdog.com has learned from multiple sources.

The event and its venue have not been officially announced by the promotion yet, though Sherdog.com has learned the event will air live on Versus.

Versus, which broadcasts the UFC’s sister promotion World Extreme Cagefighting, announced on Monday that it would air two live UFC events in 2010.

Vera was left without an opponent this week when Antonio Rogerio Nogueira withdrew from their featured UFC 109 contest, scheduled for Feb. 6 in Las Vegas, with a fractured ankle.

Jones had originally been offered Nogueria’s vacated slot at UFC 109, said the fighter’s manager Ryan Ciotoli, of Bombsquad Management. However, Jones’ camp requested the bout be moved to March as the fighter and his wife had just welcomed the birth of their daughter.

Vera lost a unanimous decision to UFC hall of famer Randy Couture at UFC 105 on Nov. 14 in Manchester, England. The 32-year-old kickboxer had previous victories against Krzysztof Soszynski and Michael Patt this year.

The 22-year-old Jones opened eyes with his non-traditional striking techniques, which led to a unanimous decision against “Ultimate Fighter” runner-up Stephan Bonnar at UFC 94 last January. Jones was disqualified from his Dec. 5 bout against Matt Hamill at "The Ultimate Fighter 10" finale for using illegal elbow strikes, but was dominating the bout until the referee intervened. Jones’ camp filed an appeal this week, arguing that the illegal strikes were not what had caused Hamill’s inability to continue.

[SPX]

WOW WOW WOW!!!

That's going to be a hell of a fight.

I think I just might take Jones in that one, especially at underdog odds.