Quick Hits: Brock Lesnar Update, Rich Franklin Undergoes Surgery, Anderson Silva on Track for May Return, and More
Posted by Kris Karkoski on Jan 5, 2010 at 10:30 pm ET27 Comments
A welterweight matchup between Paulo Thiago and Mike Swick, who is filling in for injured teammate Josh Koscheck, is now official for UFC 109. UFC 109 takes place on February 6 in Las Vegas and features Randy Couture vs. Mark Coleman and Nate Marquardt vs. Chael Sonnen.- Strikeforce’s January 30 “Miami” event, featuring Nick Diaz vs. Marius Zaromskis and Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos will be counter-programmed by a replay of UFC 107, headlined by BJ Penn vs. Diego Sanchez, on Spike TV.
- UFC welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre recently revealed that he is considering wrestling in the 2012 Olympics, but would need to relinquish the title to train for the games.
- The future of UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar, sidelined since November with diverticulitis, is expected to be determined this week, according to UFC President Dana White, and it should finally be known if or when the UFC title-holder can return to action.
- UFC light heavyweight and former middleweight champion Rich Franklin will undergo surgery this week to repair a minor tear in his abdomen that will sideline him for up to 6 weeks, with a May return likely. [MMAjunkie]
- Recovering from a broken thumb suffered in an October victory over Antoni Hardonk, UFC heavyweight Pat Barry expects to fight again in May. [MMAjunkie]
- UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva has resumed training following elbow surgery and is on track for an April or May return. [MMAjunkie]
- Bellator has signed former soccer pro Georgi Karakhanyan (12-1-1) to participate in its upcoming featherweight tournament, that kicks off in April and airs live on Fox Sports Net.
- UFC 108, which is predicted to do 400-500,000 buys on pay-per-view, drew 1.5 million viewers to Spike TV for its preliminary card broadcast on Saturday featuring Cole Miller vs. Dan Lauzon and Martin Kampmann vs. Jacob Volkmann.
- Former WEC featherweight champion Mike Brown has signed a new five-fight contract with the promotion ahead of his Sunday bout at WEC 46 against Anthony Morrison. [MMAMania]
- Featherweight Chad Mendes, who signed a multi-fight deal with the WEC in October, will make his promotional debut on March 6 at WEC 47 in Columbus, Ohio. [MMA Weekly]
- UFC welterweight John Howard, who improved to 3-0 inside the Octagon by winning his sixth-straight over Dennis Hallman in December, has signed a new four-fight contract with the UFC. [MMA Weekly]
- UFC 108 headliner Thiago Silva, who dropped a unanimous decision to Rashad Evans on Saturday, was suffering from a back injury ahead of the bout, not an ankle injury as rumored, and considered withdrawing from the fight. [MMAjunkie Radio]
- Former UFC fighters Ken Shamrock and Seth Petruzelli will square off at a March 6 International Unlimited Fighting event in Cancun, Mexico.
Pictured: Rich Franklin
Tags: Anderson Silva, Brock Lesnar, Chad Mendes, Georges St. Pierre, Georgi Karakhanyan, John Howard, Ken Shamrock, mike brown, Mike Swick, Pat Barry, Paulo Thiago, Rich Franklin, Seth Petruzelli, Thiago Silva
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why to show your true colours george your white and bleed red go canada go
so is thiago making excuses cause he looked fine fighting with his hands at his sides
No, he was actually going to back out from the fight but with the recent plague of injuries the UFC had they told him that they would make it worth his while if he didnt back out. So pretty much they made him an offer he couldnt refuse…
seth will tko ken in 90 seconds. we have all seen this fight before.
This sport owes a lot to Ken Shamrock.
He was a real pioneer, and helped make MMA what it is today.
That being said, and with all due respect, the man needs to step away from competition while he still has some dignity left. That is if you’re in that small minority of MMA fans who don’t use the name Shamrock as a punchline to a joke.
Beatings from guys he could have hooked and submitted a decade or more ago sure as sh!t won’t help secure his legacy in MMA…
I’m thinking that almost every MMA HW on the planet is holding his figurative breath waiting to see if Brock Lesnar will return to the sport.
If he doesn’t, it opens things up in the UFC, with men like Frank Mir, BigNog, and Shane Carwin all thinking gold. And suddenly those HWs fighting at the 230-240 mark don’t feel so damned overmatched in theoretical throwdowns with Lesnar.
However if the Vanilla Gorilla returns 100% to rampage thru his particular stretch of the MMA jungle, I imagine quite a few HWs will mimic Frank Mir and try getting bigger along with getting better, so they don’t get ragdolled by MMA’s Neanderthalic champion…
so may for rich to return eh..so would that mean
shogun vs machida 2
page vs shad
rich vs ?
and rumor is silva is looking to return in april in may
montreal is gonna be insanee
Can’t lose GSP and Lesnar, too much damage at one time.
GSP in the Olympics will legitimize the sport even more and only add to his legacy, but it’ll leave the WW division with a paper champion, someone who didn’t beat the champ and even GSP haters like me will admit, no one was going to knock him off for a long, long time.
Lesnar having to leave the sport is just plain sad, for him and his family. But same as WW, we get left with the next best champion. Love him or hate him, he is a monster in there and is/was the reason we clamored for Fedor to come to the UFC. No one before him had a chance. Although I will throw in that Lesnar causing Mir to pack on weight makes me believe that Mir has a more than legit shot of beating Fedor now.
maybe after the olympics he can move up to middleweight?
Whatever happens to Brock, I hope we dont have to “read” about it on youtube again.
Depending on the timeframe required, I think it would be a great move for GSP and the UFC. First of all, it would be great for GSP to give up the title, go do his hting at the Olympics, then return and win it back as the number 1 contender. And if the UFC followed and supported his Olympic training: UFC, GSP, and the Olympics all win.
-I really hope and pray Lesnar can come back and beat down Mir again to show him that he can bulk up as much as he wants but you can’t bulk up athleticism and speed and just think you can out match a huge super fast great wrestler in Brock just by gaining muscle.
-Wow GSP giving up the title to compete in the olympics?
-Can’t wait to see Rich Franklin back in action, hopefully he’ll fight Forrest Griffin, that would be super sick and a big draw.
-I think that Mike Brown has a champions heart and will make another run at the Featherweight title before his career is over.
-I can’t wait to see Anderson Silva defend his belt again so we can get this going again at 185
-Even though UFC is counter-programming Strikeforce, since i already saw my boy Diego get beatdown i am for sure going to watch Nick Diaz vs Whitemare because i am a newly found fan of Whitemare thanks to the Frenxy and of course Diaz has always been one of my favorite fighter, Thhh-tockton-Threprethent.
-Ken Shamrock still fighting is super funny and kind of sad, i guess the guy never cared about his legacy being tarnished….and Seth will always and forever be known as the Kimbo-killer period.
In a recent interview Brown said he had taken a hard knee from Thiago Silva while training seven days before the Aldo fight, and that he was not mentally in the fight that night. I didn’t think he was mentally in it when I watched, but the guy still lost, it’s his duty to show up mentally ready, and he didn’t.
I LOVE that GSP is considering the Olympics again. From what I hear, his weight class is STACKED at the Olympic level and he will be hard pressed to knock off the guy that currently represents Canada in that division, but you can’t knock a guy for trying to live his dreams. The three AKA guys are holding their breath to see who gets the first title shot.
As for Lesnar, I don’t see him coming back. This diet that he is on is really gonna hurt his weight cutting ability and I seriously doubt he’ll be able to make 265. If he can, we have seen the last of the old Brock Lesnar and this new Brock will be a shell of his former self. I could see him asking for a release and either
A) going to TNA Wrestling with Bobby Lashley and Kurt Angle where there is a much lighter work schedule than the WWE – like 8 days a month
B) fighting in Japan where he can fight freakshow fights against Bob Sapp, Minowa, and Hong Man Choi and doesn’t have to worry about weight cutting
I’d lean towards A, but obviously I want him back in the UFC at 100% health. Here’s hoping!
I hope that if GSP vacates the belt, however Dana and Joe set it up, that the AKA guys are forced to fight each other.
Brock will not return to pro wrestling under any circumstances, Japan is a small chance, but if he can’t return to UFC, I’d bet the farm that he retires to private life.
Here’s an article on GSP wrestling for Canada from November 17. It’s from Suite101.
We prefer that people not just copy/paste articles from other websites into the comments, but we do allow it at times, however we prefer that you link to the original article if you do so. I have added a link to the original article to this comment. – Justin H
Thanks to both of you for the article and the link…
Great Article THESTANDARD,
Very informative.
This article basically covered all the angles.
This would be a huge risk on GSP’s part. “He’d have to relinquish his title and be out for atleast a year…and not even be gauranteed a spot on the team”? That’s a huge risk dude.
Another good point was the fact that he’d take a year out of mma while he’s in his prime and when he decided to return, he won’t be as dominant and would likely lose his focus and a lot of his game.
I admire the fact that he wants to expand his horizons and shoot for the stars when it comes to his overall athletic/pro career. Whatever he does i wish my boy well.
Why does GSP have to give up the belt to go to the Olympics? Is that part of his UFC contract or something? I’m sure some sort of deal could be worked out if thats the case.
According to Wikipedia, the only sport where professionals cant compete in the Olympics now is boxing, so I don’t think the issue is on the Olympic side.
Giving up the belt is not a requirement by the Olympics, it’s GSP being a decent human being and not tying up the belt for a year or more while he tries to be a wrestler.
So does Brock Lesnar not giving up his title to sort out his medical issues make him a INdecent human being?
:P
Personally, I dont want to see anyone give up their title unless the UFC demands it. It’s the UFC’s title and they can let someone sit on it if the UFC wants. I haven’t found fault with the interm fights they have held in the past and I think they would strip someone if it was warrented.
Jcohl,
There is a big difference between having a medical issue, which Brock clearly did NOT choose to go through, and choosing to leave the sport to pursue other endeavors for a period of time. I assume there was some level of sarcasm in your comment, but the differences should be obvious, and I rather dislike that you forced me to explain it.
Wow, Justin, no worries.
Just having a little fun at Brock’s expense.
I’ve repeatedly wished the guy well, and have defended him on multiple occasions even though he’s FAR from my favorite fighter, and far from being a model sportsman.
If this really bothered you THAT much, especially when contrasted with the frightening level of troll-ism you and fr702 deal with on a daily basis here on the main page, then I sincerely apologize for the whole matter.
As for the intended sarcasm, I assumed that the smiley after the post indicated that, but if not then again, my bad.
Although is it really that odd and out of character for me that I took a passing minor shot at the man, having already publicly wished him a speedy recovery and return to the cage?
Taking me to task for a posted smart-a$$ comment towards Lesnar would be like taking one of the bizzes to task for a posted smart-a$$ comment of any sort.
We are who we are.
I would respectfully suggest that maybe some of that dislike that I inadvertently raised in you be redirected towards those who contribute far less to this site in terms of both their posted content and their skewed MMA POV which gives rise to said content.
Peace, and again, apologies…
Like I said, I assumed it was sarcastic, particularly based on the smiley. My frustration is that those sort of comments are like Troll-bait and I just don’t want someone coming along and trying to agree with you. My dislike is not that great, and we’re good, from my end anyways, just voicing a little frustration, sorry if it seemed like I was flaming you. No worries.
The best of luck for GSP ! I hope we will see him in London at 2012 for the team Canada. He is the icon for the sport of MMA and I really like him talking about releasing the belt while he is dedicated to not MMA.
I think this is the first situation when we have successful MMA fighter going to complete in Olympics, usually we have the Olympians come to MMA
After his back heals, I would like to see Silva fight Evans again. I believe the outcome would be much different the next time around. He could have pulled out of the fight, sure, but he would never do such a thing, even if it costs him a win. He needs to re-think his decisions, because if he would have pulled out, it would not have made him look bad at all. Look at all the other fighters who pulled out of UFC 108: Rory Markham, Gabriel Gonzaga, Carlos Condit, Tyson Griffin, then his replacement, Sean Sherk, The Anderson Silva/Vitor Belfort fight and the Brock Lesnar/Shane Carwin fight. That is a lot of fighters who pulled out.