Cain out! Stipe in! Once again, Cain is injured. According to his fb he's been suffering with a dodgy sciatic nerve for the past few weeks and feels he won't be up to scratch come February. Stipe was next in line and (assumingly) healthy from his last fight anyway. And personally, I think it's a better match up anyway. It's fresh for once, a new Champ and a new Challenger combo we haven't seen yet. Although Werdum's striking has come leaps and bounds, Stipe I feel is the better technical striker. But then strikers have fallen in front of Werdum. Thoughts? (Apologies for poor grammar etc, posting via phone)
Though I prefer this fight to another rematch, I don't give Stipe much of a chance. He crosses his feet and can't really on grappling against Werdum to get him out of trouble. I see him getting knocked down and TKO'd early in the third.
Love Werdum's guard game. There aren't too many people using the guard well at high level in MMA today. I think Cain might be done though if he can't shake off his injuries.
This is a tough fight to call, but I'll go with Werdum. I'd have to watch both of their previous fights from the past 3-4 years to analyze their styles to make a good prediction. I think Werdum has the more dangerous skill set, but Stipes cardio is better. The fact Werdum doesn't have to worry about being taken down is a HUGE advantage.
Dang-nammit!! Werdum out! No one in! Werdum was also injured (foot and back). Said he would've fought on if Cain was still an opponent. http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2016/1/2...f-ufc-196-main-event-vs-stipe-miocic-mma-news
Up in the air at the moment. The Co Main is Hendricks vs (Wonderboy) Thompson, so theres the option of bumping that to main and then throwing in more fights on the undercard. Or keep Miocic and give him another fighter for #1 contendership. Werdum is out for 3 months. So we may still get Werdum/Valesquez 2 after all.
Cain is so injury prone, I wouldn't be surprised if Stipe was to "keep healthy". Since Werdum is only out for effectively 1 or 2 PPV it's not realistic to grant an interim title.
I wonder if the UFC is concerned about Wonderboys drawing power if he's going to be the main event with Hendricks. I think he's one of the type of fighters the UFC should have already been putting massive marketing dollars behind. IMHO the UFC really screws themselves by only hyping champs and very occasionally prospects like Sage. They need to dump marketing money into way more prospects.
They're more scared of giving fighters negotiating leverage, e.g. helping them build a brand with some independent value, than they are of leaving a bit of money on the table by under-promoting fighters.
Ya that's true. It's a damn shame. This is from Wonderboys twitter: I'm 56-0 kickboxer and 5 time world champion working hard every day to become an elite MMA champion. Currently 6-1 in the UFC. And yet most people have no idea who he is..
Wonderboy is a very exciting fighter to watch. Hope the ppv is not canceled. Shots fired...https://twitter.com/stipemiocicufc/status/691771641630736385
"UFC 196 has been moved to FS1, per @KevinI. Hendricks-Wonderboy main event." -Helwani https://twitter.com/arielhelwani/status/692098506513911808
I like Josh Barnett's take on it, I think Werdum was scared he might lose the title and his earning power would really diminish if he took the fight and lost. Dana White tends to like fighters who step up when people pull out. I don't think they'll punish Werdum for the pull out, but I can't say it'll help him with the UFC.
It's utterly ridiculous that the UFC ties earnings into PPV points and will can a fighter after a few losses (sometimes only a couple) and yet still expects them to take short notice fights that will substantially effect their earning potential (a PPV with Stipe being much less likely to sell than one with Cain) and move them closer to being fired if they lost. Can't really have it both ways. Being willing to fight Cain injured but not Miocic is absolutely understandable.
Totally agree. One example was getting rid of Roger Gracie after one fight and one loss was crazy. Okay it wasn't a great performance against Tim Kennedy, but he was in against someone who was vastly more experienced in terms of MMA. With time and the right matches I think Roger could've done well in MMA.
