[ROUSEY]

[Duke Silver]

It's pretty crazy just how bad the injury situation is affecting match-ups this year. Surely there has to be a breaking point, but it'll be interesting to see what that is. They either need to bring in even more talent or start running less events, because situations like this are becoming all too common, and unfortunately they're inevitable going forward. Less events = stacked cards + options, and I don't think it would hurt the growth of UFC as much as some expect. One PPV per month and a TV card every two months would be ideal, in my opinion. Quality over quantity.

I'm surprised Anderson offered to step-up again, but it's probably a good sign for his future. I know he recently said that he wants to fight for another 6 years. That blows my mind. To think The Spider could potentially end up with a 13 year title reign. Madness.

Edit: I'm really glad to see Big Nog returning as well.

[Premium Walls]

Anderson wasn't supposed to fight again until next year as well, I'm sure Dana had to pay him very well to get him to come in. People can bitch about less events all they want, it isn't going to happen. Personally, I love the how much content they are firing out these days. I just remember back in 08 when I wanted this much content so bad and now I have it, so I'm not going to hate. Yes, a lot of shit get ruined but that's life.

[Rush]

Always amuses me when people complain about injuries like its the UFC's fault. MMA as a sport has grown and as it has, fighters are going to keep pushing themselves harder and harder to be at their peak. Of course its going to mean there are more injuries if fighters are going harder. The other componant is that there are a ton of cards now, so if you do have to pull out through injury then there isn't as much time to wait until another card for a payday comes. There would be a bunch of fighters that pull out of events now with injuries that, even up until a few years ago they'd have just fought through.

[Myers]

The way I see it, if you don't like the card, don't buy it. Everyone knows how to watch fights online anyways. You know I am very excited for another Anderson Silva highlight reel, plus he gets to be the first to KO Stephan Bonnar.

[ROUSEY]

Bonnar has lost already.

[Premium Walls]

The People's Elbow

I don't think I could take it if Anderson fucked with Bonnar to the point of being able to land one. I might have to stop watching tv all together because nothing would ever be able to top it.

[Duke Silver]

There's no-one to blame for the injuries, but there's no denying that the way it's been handled hasn't been ideal. Something needs to happen to ensure that things like this don't continue as rampantly. Simply brushing it off as something that happens due to sport growth/fighter spirit could end up biting UFC on the ass.

One week after cancelling an event for the first time, the same thing almost happened again with 153, because the growth in card schedule has left the UFC with virtually no option when a replacement is needed. A guy that hasn't fought at LHW in six years was handed title shot simply because he picked up the phone and asked for it. Eventually, people are going to tire of unfavorable replacements, and that's not good for a sport as young as MMA.

It's great that fighters have more options, but it's not necessarily providing the viewer with the best entertainment right now. Less interesting cards means less money for everyone involved. It's a hard grind, and I understand what the UFC are doing, it just strikes me as a risky move and perhaps something that should be done with a little more patience. It's clearly a problem right now, and I don't personally see an issue with people bringing it up.

Having said that, I don't think that this will be a permanent problem, it's just something that's very obvious this year. As the UFC grows bigger and bigger, the marketability of each individual fighter should increase. We've seen most divisions strengthen significantly over the last few years, and as more people start training, things should become a little easier. Not that the injuries won't still happen; just that the replacements should be more favourable.

[nazzac]

Alan Belcher vs Yushin Okami is set for UFC 155.

UFC 155 now looks like...


Main Card:
Junior Dos Santos vs. Cain Velasquez II (c)
Chael Sonnen vs. Forrest Griffin II
Chris Weidman vs. Tim Boetsch
Gray Maynard vs. Joe Lauzon
Alan Belcher vs. Yushin Okami
Chris Leben vs. Karlos Vemola

Preliminary Card:
Matt Mitrione vs. Phil De Fries

[ROUSEY]

With the way the last few shows have went, we can expect to see the Sonnen fight, JDS fight and Leben fight to get cancelled somehow.