Gerald Harris Meets Newcomer Dave Branch at UFC 116 on July 3
Undefeated Bellator veteran Dave Branch, who recently signed a four-fight deal with the UFC, will make his Octagon debut against fellow middleweight Gerald Harris on the preliminary card of “UFC 116: Lesnar vs. Carwin” on July 3 in Las Vegas, the UFC today announced.
A castmember on The Ultimate Fighter 7, Harris (15-2) wasn’t immediately picked up by the UFC, but made his UFC debut in January with a “Knockout of the Night” of John Salter, then scored a first-round TKO of Mario Miranda at UFC Fight Night 21 in March.
Branch (6-0) has never gone past the second round in six professional fights, scoring three knockouts and three submissions to remain undefeated, including a second-round rear naked choke of Derrick Mehman on the preliminary card of April’s Bellator 15.
UFC 116 is headlined by the return of heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar vs. interim title-holder Shane Carwin, and also features Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Wanderlei Silva.
For the latest UFC 116 news, UFC 116 rumors, and UFC 116 fight card, as well as UFC 116 results on July 3, stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com.
Pictured: Gerald Harris
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ah here, why must gerald constantly get undefeated nobody’s? it seems he has everything to lose and nothing to gain, its bullsh1t
You know I think slowly but surely the UFC roster is being packed with undeserving untalented dudes whom will never be anything more than a name on the under card
What?
Seriously?
I’ve posted this before, and I’ll repost it for your benefit, but the UFC model has been predicated [since the day Zuffa sent SEG packing] upon them signing and featuring the best MMA talent in the world at every weightclass they promote fights in.
Therefore, what POSSIBLE reason would Dana White have for “packing the UFC roster with undeserving, untalented dudes whom will never be anything more than a name on the undercard”??
Do you honestly think the UFC would remain both the planet’s top MMA org and a company valued at half a billion dollars [or more] with a roster full of nothing happening fighters?
Maybe you want to re-think that last post…
How about no! I won’t ‘re-think’ that post at all.
Intact I’m going to reiterate . . . . I think the UFC roster is slowly filling up with pointless talent, talent that will never be contenders. Thankyou jchol for the brief company history/valuation info but to quote yourself shouldn’t ‘the planets top MMA org and company’ be announcing the big name signings, the cats that can come in and not need the so called tune up fight before challenging champion or top contenders rather than signing to 4 fight deals unknown entities that will only get the pay day for 2 of those fights as most likely they will be cut before the contract is honoured
Best of luck trying to get the people who know the sport to share your POV on this…
. . . . . Thankyou
Of course, it’s hard to keep bringing in “big name signings” when nearly every big name is already in your organization and the only big fish still out there is demanding the one thing Zuffa will never under any circumstances give up…
Yeah, that darn UFC signing those 6-0 nobodies that have finished every fight, that couldn’t possibly ever challenge for a title… I bet they’ve never signed anybody new that was only 6-0 that turned out to be any good… oh wait, that Jon Jones guy was 6-0 and had finished all of his fights when he was signed….oh and geez, Rashad Evans was a 5-0 nobody when he signed with the UFC (sure he went through TUF, but that’s clearly not a guarantee of success – Mac Danzig anyone?) You know who else was a 5-0 nobody? GSP.
Come on, MJ. When the best North American talent in almost every division is already in the UFC, and those that aren’t are in Strikeforce with a few select standouts excluded the best way to really judge how a fighter will pan out is to sign them and give them a chance, Branch is getting that chance. He could turn out to be a Jon Jones or GSP, or he could turn out to be a Brian Cobb or Neil Grove (both were one and done).
on the flipside of the 6-0 thing… remember that guy who was 3-2 in his last five and the UFC signed? oh yeah that was Anderson Silva…
Dudes with the amount of fighters that’s passed through the UFC bread line there was always going to be true potential/diamond in the rough discovered, I can also give examples such as Phil Davis and Shane Carwin, I just personally believe that the premier fight org in the world again should be pinching the signatures of the Eddie Alvarezs, the Hector Lombards and even the Alistair Overeems rather than packing the roster with these chancers like Dave Branch, Ricardo Romero and the whole Wolfslair stable whom considering they are British fighters and with me being a Brit too can honestly say following BAMMA and seeing a handful of these guys really don’t expect much from any of these fighters. For me I suppose the impending announcements of Ricardo Arona and Jake Shields signing deals should cool my jets
I don’t know exactly what the contract statuses of Alvarez and Overeem are, but if they are under contract with another organization, it would be unethical at best and illegal at worst for the UFC to have professional contact with them. By professional contact, I mean talking contracts and joining. Hence why Zuffa waited as long as they did after Jake Shields’ contract expired before they got into negotiations against Strikeforce. They tend to get the best available talent. Available being the operative word.
Just to continue the point BSBiz made: before Lombard and Alvarez became Bellator champs, they were basically nobodies themselves and you probably would have complained about the UFC signing them. Now they’re under contract with Bellator and you’re complaining because the UFC hasn’t signed them, which is something they currently cannot do.
The other thing you’re forgetting MJ is that big name signings fail just as often as the small name signings the difference is that the big names fail on a larger scale. For example, Mirko Cro Cop, Royce Gracie’s and Jens Pulver’s returns, etc… your “diamond in the rough” philosphy is flawed Carwin, JDS, Velazquez, Gray Maynard, Frankie Edgar, Kenny Florian, etc… were all signed at some point. Fighters have to start somewhere and smaller names usually have less complications than the big name signings.
Alistair is 3-5-0-1 against current UFC fighters .
You’ll also have to forgive me if I’m not jumping up and down celebrating the Arona rumors… he was dropped by Sokoudjou… and is 1-3 against current UFC fighters. He’s a good signing but by no means a game changer…
Just so were clear your talking about the other guy not gerald right? Gerald is a beast.
Yus I was