Trending: UFC 160
With Chael Sonnen sidelined after testing positive for steroids, the winner of UFC 122′s main event between middleweight contenders Vitor Belfort and Yushin Okami will earn the next shot at 185-pound champ Anderson Silva early next year.
UFC 122, which takes place on November 13 in Oberhausen, Germany, was made official on Monday along with Belfort-Okami, which headlines the tape-delayed Spike broadcast.
The latest UFC 122 fight card includes:
- Vitor Belfort vs. Yushin Okami
- Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Goran Reljic
- Jorge Rivera vs. Alessio Sakara
- Amir Sadollah vs. Peter Sobotta
- Vladimir Matyushenko vs. Jason Brilz
- Dennis Siver vs. Andre Winner
- Kris McCray vs. Carlos Eduardo Rocha
- Kyle Noke vs. Rob Kimmons
- Seth Petruzelli vs. Karlos Vemola
- Duane Ludwig vs. Nick Osipczak
- Darren Elkins vs. Edson Barboza
- Pascal Krauss and Kenny Robertson
For the latest UFC 122 news, including UFC 122 results on Nov. 13, stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com.
Pictured: Yushin Okami
RECOMMENDED
24 COMMENTS
LEAVE A COMMENT!
Latest
belfort!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BELFORT BY KO!
??!! i’m confused there is nothing herre that could come close to being a co-main event
Lets hope this card isn’t finalized, it’s pretty weak. Spike Tv Dana?
last time i checked, the card will be on spike
Yeah, Dana’s about a month and a half ahead of you there, buddy.
http://mmafrenzy.com/15428/ufc-122-to-air-on-spike-tv-on-same-day-delay-from-germany/
duh! so surprise there
It’s a free night of fights…FREE…maybe it could be a little better, but it’s free, I know I’ll be watching.
Do I need to break out a fresh batch of “you get what you pay for”?!
;)
Pretty decent card IMO for an overseas free-per-view, and the Belfort-Okami scrap getting bumped to title shot status should please a LOT of people, including but not limited to the Belfort and Okami supporters, the Sonnen detractors, and the Anderson Silva supporters who spend a lot of their time sticking pins in their Sonnen voodoo dolls…
As I just stated about the free card, I agree with you. The free cards aren’t always as good as the ppv’s, but this is still a pretty decent card IMO.
A lot of people seem to be counting Okami out in this one, I wouldn’t be so quick to do so. I am looking forward to watching and seeing how it turns out.
im not counting okami out he is a great fighter and with his style and grappling has a chance in this fight..
however im pulling for belfort because him vs silva should produce fireworks
as a silva fan i was looking forward to the sonnen rematch to see what would happen.
but mannn like Ed sores said sucks that the performance is now tarnished and that we dont get sonnen silva too
Despite the lack of household names to please the casuals I see some really good match ups and interesting fights on this card.
Rivera and Sakara has been a long time in the making and both of them (particularly Sakara) have shown some amazing potential. Also consider that both of them have strongly finished twice in their last three outings. Expecting a war and maybe KO of the night or fight of the night on this one. What I don’t see is it going the distance.
Matyushenko vs Brilz is going to be a battle between two decorated wrestlers with different approaches and backgrounds. Looking forward to seeing who can out muscle who and who’s brand of wrestling comes out superior. With Brilz being an assistant coach and Matyushenko’s experience rolling with Olympic squads these are two master tacticians who bring top level wrestling into the cage with them. A lot of intrigue going into this fights imo.
Belfort vs. Okami – I’m really excited about this fight, mostly because I’m a long time fan of Vitor, and don’t care for Okami much at all. Looking forward to watching The Phenom run right through Okami likes nobodies business. The amount of pomposity it would take to accept a DQ win instead of fighting it out with the point deduction and free round win when your still able to fight (Silva vs Okami) just goes beyond my ability to accept. I think Vitor will avoid the take downs, and quickly overwhelm Okami with his power and speed. Okami has never earned a top ten spot by beating top ten guys, the times he has fought top level opposition he has folded. His national consensus is #8 which is one of the most debatable rankings out there imo. If I were to bet on this I would give any taker Okami with 4:1 odds.
Good stuff Natural,
I agree and think this is a great card despite the lack of title match/big names.
I would like to see vitor take okami out so we can see vitor vs silva but vitor is coming in a little rusty and okami (besides the fact that he’s a huge 185er) has been working a lot more on his wrestling.grappling with fighters such as mr chael sonnen and I just think it will be difficult for vitor who is smaller to stuff the takesdowns. If he does then he should own okami in the stand up and with his speed.
Marginally off-topical here, but suddenly 122 is a lot more than just a Spike free-per-view and another overseas attempt to promote MMA.
Even under a huge stormcloud of controversy and possible wrongdoing, Chael Sonnen, this time indirectly, helps the UFC promotionally.
Until yesterday not too many MMA cognoscenti were dropping detailed breakdowns for Belfort-Okami, and now suddenly its Ali-Frazier 2.
Nor were we seeing a lot of time spent on 122 as a whole, and now its moving center stage with a main event with a title shot on the line.
Of course it could all come crashing down depending on what unfolds in the coming hours/days/weeks, but those posters who have suggested that Sonnen’s UFC job is in jeopardy should consider that even peripherally and under the gun Sonnen benefits the org, and other fighters with similiar testing issues have been kept on by Dana White and have delivered a LOT less…
Another thing to remember when complaining about 122 is to remember that originally Cro Cop was supposed to be featured on the card. The Nog had his issue.
I’ve been fairly critical of the european cards in the past (120 especially), but see this card as pretty decent and glad I bought a ticket. On the face of it the amount of household names is comparable to the standard uk cards but this has number 1 contender matchup which is something we rarely get in the uk.
All in all should be a good night
@jpmm – Hey, if memory serves I posted that I thought the UFC should have dropped 111 on the UK, mostly so that Dan Hardy could have had the “home field” advantage against so skilled an opponent, but Dana White & Co. thought it was better in NJ, as sort of a “fu<k you" to neighboring New York, who is still inexplicably dragging their feet on MMA.
However with this Sonnen thing in the wind, it'll be awhile before GarRule gets to see his boy Matt Serra do his thing in the Nassau Coliseum…
;)
Yeah, I had double disappointment over the 111 card. Firstly it was a bit of a kick in the teeth that it wasn’t staged in the uk and secondly my holiday this year that I booked like 6 months earlier put me in NJ but only 3 days after the event took place. Sadly I was always destined to miss that one.
If im being honest if this was a PPV here in the U.S. I would not buy it, It is subpar by U.S. standards. But since it’s free I guess it’s decent, only the main event intrests me. But what I find intresting is that DW keeps saying he wants to make MMA big in the UK but he keeps putting these subpar cards over there. Does he think these cards are good enough or does he think the UK just doesnt know any better?
Great decision here..This gives Belfort a chance to earn his title shot and then we get the real fight that many MMA fans want..
Anderson Silva vs Vitor Belfort
If Okami happens to pull the upset that will make for an interesting fight also..I know it won’t sell as well but thats not our problem guys
I wish they would put hughes vs penn on this card coz it needs another big fight
I kind of wish the Petruzelli fight would be on watchable pre-lims. His last fight was pretty exciting and imo this fight could be FOTN. (In which case they will probably show it on the main card anyways ;P)
“Big Names”? this card has a lot of them. Cant wait :D
Belfort withdraws from fight due to yet another injury, Marquardt steps in VS Okami ??
http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=12664&zoneid=13