Forrest Griffin Out Of UFC 114 Due To Shoulder Injury

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin has been forced to withdraw from his UFC 114 bout with Antonio Rogerio Nogueira due to a shoulder injury. The news of Forrest Griffins injury comes courtesy of a recent report from celebrity news website TMZ. The two were set to co-main event UFC 114 on May 29 in Las Vegas. A grudge match between former light heavyweight champions and “Ultimate Fighter” coaches Rashad Evans and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson heads the fight card.

Sources close to Forrest Griffin’s camp, have confirmed that the TUF alumni has injured his shoulder, causing him to step down from the match. The injury is an unfortunate setback for Griffin after winning a split decision against Tito Ortiz last November at UFC 106, digging himself out a two fight losing streak.

Fans last saw Nogueira making quick work of Luiz Cane in the first round during his debut in the UFC, garnering Knockout of Night honors. The Brazilian was suppose to step in the octagon with Brandon Vera at UFC 109, but was forced out of the bout due to a fractured ankle.

UFC 114 falls on Memorial Day weekend, headlined by main event grudge match between Rashad Evans and Rampage Jackson at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Along with the pay-per-event, the promotion is holding their second annual UFC Fan Expo.

Forrest Griffin who last fought against Tito Ortiz in November, is still on the comeback trail after back-to-back losses to Rashad Evans and Anderson Silva. Although sources close to Griffin have mentioned that his shoulder is injured, no further information is currently available on the situation.

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira is coming off of an impressive showing in his debut fight with the UFC. Nogueira knocked out Luiz Cane in less than two minutes and earned Knockout of the Night honors in their bout last November. He had to previously withdraw from a fight against Brandon Vera at UFC 109 due to an ankle injury. Lil’ Nog is currently on a six-fight winning streak.

Below are the UFC fight night schedule for May 28- 29:

Main Card

Quinton Jackson vs. Rashad Evans

Michael Bisping vs. Dan Miller

Todd Duffee vs. Mike Russow

Diego Sanchez vs. John Hathaway

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. TBA?

Spike TV Prelims

Amir Sadollah vs. Dong Hyun Kim

Efrain Escudero vs. Dan Lauzon

Preliminary Card

Melvin Guillard vs. Thiago Tavares

Luiz Arthur Cane vs. Cyrille Diabate

Aaron Riley vs. Joe Brammer

Jesse Forbes vs. Ryan Jensena

Meanwhile, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira seeks his second UFC win after stunning countryman Luiz Cane with a "Knockout of the Night" performance on the same card as Griffin's win over Ortiz.

The win was Nogueira' sixth-straight overall, and five of the wins during that current streak have come via stoppage. The twin brother of UFC heavyweight contender Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, "Little Nog's" three career losses have to come to current UFC contenders Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and Vladimir Matyushenko, as well as UFC and PRIDE veteran Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou.

Thursday, May 13, 2010 | posted in UFC, ultimate fighter | 0comments [ More ]

UFC Top 10 Middleweights Warriors

The middleweight division in mixed martial arts is tabulated and the undisputed best middleweight in the world is Anderson Silva who looks bored with middleweight division in the UFC since his last fight with Demain Maia, and he's moving up to fight Forrest Griffin at light heavyweight, at least for the time being. The UFC 99 main event of Wanderlei Silva vs. Rich Franklin features one star to Anderson Silva moving down from light heavyweight to middleweight because he wants a shot at Anderson Silva's belt, and another star Rich Franklin moving up from middleweight to light heavyweight because he knows he'll never get another shot at Anderson Silva's belt.

The UFC 100 middleweight battle between Ultimate Fighter coaches Dan Henderson and Michael Bisping will probably produce the next contender to the middleweight throne, but Henderson already tried and failed at beating Wanderlei Silva, and Michel Bisping seems very unlikely to beat Anderson Silva. Meanwhile, the guy who I've been saying forever deserves a shot at Silva -- Yushin Okami -- keeps getting hurt and may never get that shot.

There are questions beyond the UFC as well. Strikeforce middleweight champion Cung Le isn't fighting because he'd rather be a movie star, and the two fighters who won the two middleweight Strikeforce fights on Saturday night – Nick Diaz and Jake Shields who won't fight each other because they're friends and training partners. And anyway, those two fights were technically at catch weights rather than middleweight, and Diaz and Shields should really be fighting at welterweight. There are some good middleweight fights coming up this summer: Henderson-Bisping, Vitor Belfort vs. Jorge Santiago at Affliction Trilogy and Nate Marquardt vs. Demian Maia at UFC 102 will all be fun. 

 

Below are the latest ranking of UFC Top 10 Middleweight Warriors:

• Anderson Silva – The UFC middleweight champion had his title defense against Vitor Belfort in April called off. Will he fight Sonnen instead? Silva seems to want fights against bigger names and bigger challenges, and that may necessitate a move up to light heavyweight — or even heavyweight.
  
  
• Chael Sonnen – Chael Sonnen has won some impressive decisions, but now he needs to start finishing fights — something he hasn’t done since TKO’ing a little-known opponent named Kyacey Uscola in 2007.

• Dan Henderson – Strikeforce’s big acquisition will fight Jake Shields for a title belt on CBS in April. 

• Vitor Belfort – No word yet on how soon he’ll be able to return from shoulder surgery.

• Jake Shields – Jake Shields will be the underdog when he takes on Henderson. 

• Demian Maia – It might seem unfair to have Maia below Sonnen after Maia needed only half a round to submit Sonnen last year. But Sonnen has looked much more impressive than Maia since then.

• Nate Marquardt – Nate  Marquardt desperately wants another chance at Silva. That’s not going to happen.

• Robbie Lawler – His comeback win over Melvin Manhoef was thrilling, and his presence gives Strikeforce a middleweight division with more depth than just the Henderson-Shields fight. 
  
  
• Yushin Okami – The UFC just keeps on burying Okami; his next fight will be against Lucio Linhares on the non-televised portion of the UFC Fight Night 21 card.
  
  
  
• Mamed Khalidov – His rematch with Jorge Santiago at Sengoku 12 in March should be outstanding.
  

Wednesday, April 28, 2010 | posted in UFC, ultimate fighter | 0comments [ More ]