Lister Joins Xtreme Couture, Fighting at UFC 79
Dean Lister has joined Xtreme Couture and will be making his UFC comeback at UFC 79 on December 29th. No opponent has been named for the return bout but he is reportedly looking to be granted a (very, very unlikely) immediate middleweight title shot against Anderson Silva or Rich Franklin.
Lister is a submission specialist holding a 9-5 MMA record. 8 of his 9 wins have come by way of submissions with the lone exception being a decision win at UFC Fight Night 6 last year. After opening his career by winning 6 of 7 bouts Lister has struggled of late going 3-4 in his last 7 fights. In the UFC he defeated Alessio Sakara and Yuki Sasaki but was defeated by Nate Marquardt at UFC Fight Night 8 in his last trip to the octagon. The loss and his mild success in recent fights means the UFC is likely to ease him back into action.
Since his loss to Marquardt in January he has refocused on his standup skills training with Mirko “Cro Cop” according to the report. He will be cornering him in his fight against Cheick Kongo at UFC 75. Following the bout he will be returning to the US to become the head instructor and part owner of Xtreme Couture in San Diego.
For more on UFC 79 check out the MMAFrenzy.com UFC rumors section.
Tags: Dean Lister
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I watched Lister helping Couture train before his fight with Gonzaga. Lister is a very well respected Jitz instructor(he was part of Tito Ortiz's team on TUF 3) I hope he gets his MMA career back on track. I always expected big things from him, but was suprised by his defeats in the octagon. I really don't think he deserves a title shot just yet, and I hope the UFC makes him rack up a couple of wins before the give him one. I also hope they start focusing some of their recruting efforts twords the middle and welterweight divisions because both seem to be thinning out.
After the beating that Marquardt gave Lister, it would be shocking to see him get a title shot anytime soon, especially as soon as UFC 79.
I think Franklin would eat Lister up, but Lister might give Silva a problem or two. I think Franklin is more well rounded than Silva and would be able to dominate Lister more than Silva.
Franklin would definitely eat him alive - Rich's striking would abusively overpower him (he doesn't deserve the shot anyway). Lister's a great ground fighter, but every time I watch him I think "He's a much better coach than he is a fighter."
Lister isnt even 5th in line for a title shot. Swick would probably tool him for christ's sake
I agree Johnny that Lister seems to be a very good coach. Lister is doing something right, since the guy is gonna work at Xtreme Couture now and some ownership, as well.
It's not unheard of where a fighter gets a title shot coming off a loss: the fighters I can think of are BJ Penn losing to GSP at UFC 58 and Penn getting a title shot at UFC 63 against Hughes. Justin Eilers lost to Paul Buenetello at UFC 51 and Eilers got a title shot against Arlovski at UFC 53.
As far as Bj goes, GSP got hurt. A lot of people look at the GSP/Penn fight as a victory for Penn. Bj was a legitamite substitute for GSP. Eilers probabll shouldn't have got a shot, but the heavyweight division was pretty scarce back then.
Right, St. Pierre was hurt so BJ got the call. Coincidentally I don't think this would ever happen in the UFC today. Say for example GSP gets hurt again I think it's really unlikely they give a title bout to Koscheck. Now how the actual fight plays out is a major factor but I really think something like that is unlikely to happen.
It's not like this debate means a whole lot because Lister really needs wins and there is no chance he gets a title shot immediately.
Hopefully GSP doesn't get hurt again. I think Hughes and Serra are both in trouble because GSP is coming for them. GSP looked amazing against Koscheck.