MMA Weekly reports that Dan Henderson’s next Octagon appearance will be a middleweight bout against Rousimar Palhares at UFC 88 (September 6th, Atlanta). Palhares (8-1) is the Brazilian Top Team rising star who pwned Ivan Salaverry so hardcore during his Octagon debut at UFC 84 that Salaverry retired from fighting. Henderson is coming off of back-to-back title fight losses, to Quinton Jackson at UFC 75 and Anderson Silva at UFC 82. Palhares has serious potential, to be sure, but his relative lack of experience puts him at a great disadvantage against one of the most accomplished fighters in the world. Still, if Palhares can pull off an upset, he’ll put himself in the mix for a middleweight title shot.
In other UFC fight-booking news…
— Joe Lauzon has agreed to fight Kyle Bradley at UFC Fight Night 15 (September 17th; Omaha, Nebraska). Bradley, a Team Voodoo product and veteran of various regional leagues, made his Octagon debut as a welterweight at UFC 81, where he was destroyed by Chris Lytle in 33 seconds. He’ll now be fighting at his natural weight of 155.
— Rory Markham, a Bettendorf-based IFL standout who most recently submitted Jay Ellis at Adrenaline 1 on June 14th, will be making his UFC debut at UFC Fight Night 14 (July 19th, Las Vegas). His opponent will be Brodie Farber, a former Rage in the Cage middleweight champion who’s won his last six fights in the MMA Xtreme organization.
— Thomasz Drwal, the Polish light-heavyweight whose 13-fight win streak was snapped by Thiago Silva at UFC 75, will make his second Octagon appearance at UFC 87 (August 9th, Minneapolis) against 5-0 IFL veteran Andre Gusmao. Drwal was slated to fight David Heath in February, but was forced to pull out of the bout with a knee injury.
($225,000: Enough to buy a new pickup truck and a healthy white baby.)
Official salary and bonus numbers for UFC 84’s fighters have been released by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Here’s how the guys stacked up:
B.J. Penn: $250,000 ($125,000 to show, $125,000 to win) Wanderlei Silva: $225,000 ($150,000 to show*, $75,000 for Knockout of the Night) Tito Ortiz: $210,000 Lyoto Machida: $100,000 ($50,000 to show, $50,000 to win) Wilson Gouveia: $93,000 ($18,000 to show, $75,000 for Fight of the Night) Rousimar Palhares: $85,000 ($5,000 to show, $5,000 to win, $75,000 for Submission of the Night) Goran Reljic: $81,000 ($3,000 to show, $3,000 to win, $75,000 for Fight of the Night) Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou: $80,000 ($40,000 to show, $40,000 to win) Thiago Silva: $50,000 ($25,000 to show, $25,000 to win) Rich Clementi: $40,000 ($20,000 to show, $20,000 to win) Dong Hyun Kim: $40,000 ($20,000 to show, $20,000 to win) Sean Sherk: $35,000 Kazuhiro Nakamura: $20,000 Ivan Salaverry: $20,000 Shane Carwin: $12,000 ($6,000 to show, $6,000 to win) Yoshiyuki Yoshida: $12,000 ($6,000 to show, $6,000 to win) Terry Etim: $10,000 Keith Jardine: $10,000 Christian Wellisch: $10,000 Jon Koppenhaver: $8,000 Antonio Mendes: $4,000 Jason Tan: $3,000 * Wanderlei Silva’s guaranteed $150,000 salary doesn’t depend on a win bonus.
Overpaid: Wilson Gouveia. Looking back on UFC 84 a year from now, is the two-round almost-war between Gouveia and Goran Reljic going to be remembered by anyone? Yes, Reljic’s relentless left head-kicks were pretty, but Gouveia should have eventually figured out that they were coming. (For us, the presence of Mirko Cro Cop in Reljic’s corner was the early tip-off.)
Underpaid: A lot of people — particularly Shane Carwin, whose Knockout of the Night bonus was robbed from him by Wanderlei Silva. The way I saw it, Carwin’s single-punch, mouthpiece-ejecting KO of Christian Wellisch was more deserving then Wandy’s slightly more prolonged ground-and-pound TKO of Jardine, and Carwin could probably use the money more. Other than that, what the fuck is up with the UFC’s newcomers making three, four, and six thousand dollars to show? Goddamned slave wages. The UFC made $3.7 million off of “Ill Will”’s gate; they could certainly afford to establish a minimum base salary of $10,000 for their fighters if they wanted to.
The official weigh-in event for UFC 84: “Ill Will” at the MGM Marquee Ballroom in Las Vegas, Nevada, has concluded. And it certainly had it’s share of memorable moments.
In particular, former light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz — in more than likely his last appearance for the promotion — is not going out quietly as expected. “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” donned a t-shirt the read, “Dana is My Bitch,” referring to his nemesis, UFC President Dana White.
It was no coincidence that White was not present at the festivities. Regardless, Ortiz will have one last opportunity to take a dig at White when he takes on Lyoto Machida tomorrow night.
Expect something even more over the top.
Here are the official results:
155 lbs.: B.J. Penn (155) vs. Sean Sherk (155)
205 lbs.: Wanderlei Silva (205) vs. Keith Jardine (205)
205 lbs.: Goran Reljic (205) vs. Wilson Gouveia (205)
205 lbs.: Tito Ortiz (205) vs. Lyoto Machida (203)
205 lbs.: Thiago Silva (205) vs. Antonio Mendes (203)
185 lbs.: Rousimar Palhares (185) vs. Ivan Salaverry (185)
205 lbs.: Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (204) vs. Kazuhiro Nakamura (206)
155 lbs.: Terry Etim (155) vs. Rich Clementi (155)
170 lbs.: Jon Koppenhaver (170) vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida (170)
170 lbs.: Dong Hyun Kim (171) vs. Jason Tan (170)
265 lbs.: Shane Carwin (252) vs. Christian Wellisch (230lbs)
*Note: Fighters are allowed to weigh one pound more than the division limit in non-title fights.
Remember that MMAmania.com will also provide LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the main card action on fight night, which is slated to air at 10 p.m. ET on pay-per-view (PPV) from the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Saturday, May 24.
Of course, the latest quick updates of the prelim bouts will begin to flow earlier than that at around 8:30 p.m. ET.
It’s going to be a sick night of fights … check us out for all the pre, during and post-fight coverage you can handle.
One UFC newcomer we forgot to mention in our post on the UFC 84 lineup was Rousimar “Toquinho” Palhares, a 7-1 Brazilian Top Team fighter who will be facing off against middleweight Ivan Salaverry on the show’s undercard. Five of Palhares’s seven wins have come via first-round submission. To give you a taste of what “Toquinho” is capable of, here are his two fights from a single-night, four-man Fury FC tournament last December, where Palhares defeated Fabio Negao and Daniel Acacio, both by leglock.
