Alan Belcher has come down with a “sever case of bronchitis” and will be unable to take on Ricardo Almeida at UFC 81: “Breaking Point” this weekend at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
In his place undefeated Alaska Fighting Championship veteran, Rob Yundt (6-0), has stepped up to fill-in on ridiculous short notice.
Here’s the skinny from UFC.com:
“Unbeaten UFC newcomer Rob Yundt (6-0) has stepped in on short notice to replace middleweight up and comer Alan Belcher against Ricardo Almeida on Saturday night’s UFC 81 card in Las Vegas. Belcher was forced to withdraw from the bout due to a severe case of bronchitis.”
This is terrible news for Belcher who was looking to tack on his third straight win inside the Octagon. He most recently defeated Kalib Starnes at UFC 77: “Hostile Territory” in November 2007 and prior to that he choked out Sean Salmon at UFC 71: “Liddell vs. Jackson” in just 23 seconds.
It’s a bit bizarre because up until this afternoon Belcher was conducting interviews and appeared to have every intention of fighting.
Yundt is a Wolf Pack fighter who trains alongside UFC veteran Doug Evans at Anchorage Brazilian jiu-jitsu. He last competed in October 2007 and has just two fights to his credit in all of last year. However, that’s two more than his upcoming opponent this weekend, Almeida.
In fact, “Cachorrao” last appeared inside the Octagon back in 2002 and is making a return to mixed martial arts action after taking more than three years off from professional competition. He’s an animal on the ground thanks to the Brazilian jiu-jitsu training of Renzo Gracie.
Back in his heyday Almeida went up against some of the best in the sport: Ryo Chonan (win), Nathan Marquardt (win) and Kazuo Masaki (win), among others.
This should be a very tough fight for Yundt, but kudos to him for even taking the fight.
There’s no telling if the Almeida fight will remain on the main card or it will become the swing bout and the Tyson Griffin lighweight showdown with Gleison Tibau will get promoted to the televised portion of the main card.
Stay tuned. In the meantime check out the latest UFC 81 fight card right here.
Written by admin on January 30th, 2008 with comments disabled.
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“… in this fight it looks like I’m going to be able to use a lot of half guard and closed guard maneuvers, because that’s his style. And no matter what training he’s done, even if he tries to throw punches and back up to use his wrestling to counter my takedowns, eventually he’s going to take me down…. Definitely a finish cause that’s the only way I’m going to win. I’m not going to out-wrestle Lesnar for 15 minutes and put him on his back and hold him down. So for me to win I either have to take his arm or neck, or knock him upside his head.”
– Frank Mir offers up a realistic assessment via MMAWeekly.com on his upcoming heavyweight bout with Brock Lesnar at UFC 81: “Breaking Point” this Saturday, February 2, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. This actually seems dead on in a fight that seems damn near impossible to predict an outcome.
Written by admin on January 30th, 2008 with comments disabled.
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Props: MySpace.com
Quoteworthy:
“I was ready for a war and so was Swick. I saw it in his eyes at the press conference, weigh-ins and the staredown I thought it would be a war! But when the fight started Swick realized he was not the better fighter… he was in there with a better fighter than he prepared for. Half way through the first round that look he had was gone and he wanted out! He wasn’t in there to fight after the first round, I took it from him and we both know it. He’s still trying to figure out what happened, but sometimes you forget things when you’re scared! After the first he knew I was there to fight and He wanted no part of it! When I would get a hold of him he would just hold on cause he felt safe there… I probably should have backed of the takedowns and clinch but I felt i was in control of the fight and that it was obvious. 2 criteria’s for judging are aggressiveness and Octagon control. When did you start getting as point for good defense! I stood in the center most of the second round just to prove a point. Maybe it would have been better received if i would have called him on, but that’s not my style. I felt if he didn’t want to fight I could at least throw some kicks and some other crazy stuff to show I was there to fight or maybe it would get him to engage… I guess I was wrong.”
Josh Burkman comments on his recent unanimous decision loss to Mike Swick during the main event at UFC Fight Night 13 on January 23. It did not live up to expectations and “The People’s Warrior” intimates that it could have been because Swick was scared. In the bulletin, Burkman goes on to say that he feels he won the fight.
Written by admin on January 30th, 2008 with comments disabled.
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