MMA

The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 13 coaches Brock Lesnar and Junior dos Santos announced for March 30 debut on Spike TV

2011-01-11T15:58:00.000-08:00

Turns out all that talk about Lesnar leaving the UFC was nothing but a Brock-and-bull story.

That's because Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) today announced that the former heavyweight champion has been put on the fast-track to reclaiming his lost gold when he assumes one of two vacant coaching slots for the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 13.

Now the only thing standing between Brock Lesnar and a rematch with division champion Cain Velasquez is his opposing TUF coach, a Brazilian wrecking ball named Junior dos Santos, who risks his number one contender spot for a chance to pound on his pasty foe -- and get his piece of the Lesnar pay-per-view pie, which historically has made boku bucks for all involved.

Today's somewhat surprising announcement ends weeks of speculation surrounding the coaching gigs on the Spike TV reality show, which was until now a see-saw of popular names including Wanderlei Silva, Brian Stann, Gray Maynard and Frankie Edgar.

Lesnar (5-2) is coming off a first round shellacking at the hands of new division champion Cain Velasquez, who survived a beefy bumrush at UFC 121 to topple the former WWE star and capture the crown.

It was Lesnar's first loss inside the Octagon since serving up a ham-hock to Frank Mir in his Octagon debut at UFC 81 way back in February 2008.

The artist formerly known as the sport's "toughest S.O.B." avenged his loss to Mir with a July 2009 bloodbath at UFC 100, battering the trash-talking grappler and forcing a first round TKO stoppage.

After a falling out with his lower intestine in 2009, ol' Sword 'N Chest clung to dear life while Shane Carwin beat him like a rented mule at UFC 116, only to come back and steal the submission win when Carwin unveiled his Madame Tussaud-inspired defense.

Now Lesnar can avenge another loss and convince the Spike TV audience that his defeat at the hands of Velasquez was nothing more than a bump in the proverbial road.

Assuming Dos Santos doesn't make that road a dead end when they face off later this year.

"Cigano" cemented his place among the heavyweight big guns after a string of impressive performances against the likes of former Pride FC star Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic at UFC 103, Gilbert Yvel at UFC 108 and most recently against Roy "Big Country" Nelson at UFC 117 last August.

In fact, the Brazilian has enjoyed something of a UFC Cinderella story, being brought in for what was thought to be a squash match against Fabricio Werdum in his 2008 debut.

Dos Santos had other plans, knocking out "Vai Cavalo" and forcing the UFC to give him the best the division has to offer, mostly because he's destroyed everyone else worth mentioning in the 265-pound weight class, going 6-0 with five stoppages.

Can he withstand the wrestling of Lesnar? And will this odd couple make for entertaining television? One thing is for certain, you can expect this season of TUF to pull some impressive ratings. Love him or hate him, win or lose, Brock Lesnar can draw.

But for how much longer? That may depend on Dos Santos.

TUF 13 debuts on March 30 via Spike TV with a live finale scheduled for June 4. No date or venue has been named for the Lesnar vs. Dos Santos contest at this time, but is expected to be announced in the coming weeks

Heavyweight Champ Cain Velasquez Out 6-8 Months With Shoulder Injury

2010-12-31T09:06:00.001-08:00

Newly crowned UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez will have to wait at least six to eight months before he will be able to defend the title.

Velasquez, who defeated Brock Lesnar in October to become the champion, was suffered a shoulder injury earlier this week in training and will be forced to sit on the bench, taking out of a rumored April title defense against Junior Dos Santos.

Dana White confirmed the news earlier today with MMAFighting.com.

Although in the past the UFC has crowned interim champions in the absence of their current champs due to injuries, White gave no indication that would be the case this time around.

courtesy of MMANEWS.COM

Poll results: Up next for GSP? Voters want Anderson Silva or Jake Shields

2010-12-27T19:06:00.000-08:00

courtesy of mmajunkie.com

Following a recent win over Josh Koscheck at UFC 124, UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre's future now appears uncertain.

UFC president Dana White and even Koscheck's own trainer admit St-Pierre pretty much has cleaned out the 170-pound division.

But in our latest MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) poll, voters picked a potential next opponent for GSP, and one welterweight and one middleweight were the clear favorites.

They include UFC middleweight champ Anderson Silva, who earned 48 percent of the vote, and former Strikeforce champ and top UFC welterweight contender Jake Shields, who picked up 31 percent.

Rounding out the list were the UFC 127 winner of a Carlos Condit vs. Chris Lytle bout (12 percent), UFC 127's Jon Fitch vs. B.J. Penn winner (8 percent), and Thiago Alves (1 percent).

St-Pierre vs. Silva, of course, is the potential matchup getting the most play. After St-Pierre's title defense over Koscheck (which followed title defenses over Matt Serra, Jon Fitch, Penn, Alves and Dan Hardy), White said Shields is up next for St-Pierre. But he admits St-Pierre vs. Silva makes sense now that both fighters have cleaned out their weight classes.

"[St-Pierre] has cleaned out the division now," White said. "Georges St-Pierre has beaten everybody. He lost to Serra, but he came back and avenged it. That's what it's all about for me.

"I don't like guys fighting each other at different weights until they've done what St-Pierre and Silva have done, and they've both done it."

Silva, though, must first get by Vitor Belfort. They meet in the headliner of February's UFC 126 event. If Silva is victorious, little is on the horizon, barring a rematch with Chael Sonnen, who's serving a suspension because of a failed drug test that followed their first meeting.

Shields, on the other hand, is available immediately. The former EliteXC welterweight champ and Strikeforce middleweight titleholder made a successful UFC debut in October and earned a split-decision victory over Martin Kampmann in a No. 1 contender's bout. The St-Pierre vs. Shields fight currently is a possibility for April's UFC 129 event in Toronto.

While sometimes criticized for an action-light fight style – and though he's fought just once in the UFC – Shields' body of work speaks for itself. He currently rides a 15-fight win streak going back to 2005, and the wins have come over notables such as Yushin Okami, Condit, Mike Pyle, Paul Daley, Robbie Lawler, Jason "Mayhem" Miller and Dan Henderson, among others.

So who should be up next for St-Pierre? Silva? Shields? Or someone else?