Five more fights are reportedly in the works for a stacked UFC 121 card at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California on October 23rd. Chief among them is a light heavyweight bout between former champ “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” Tito Ortiz and former TUF 3 student Matt “The Hammer” Hamill.
Heavyweight bouts pitting Gabriel “Napão” Gonzaga against Brendan “The Hybrid” Schaub and Todd Duffee against Jon Madsen are also planned. Also targeted is a bout between Patrick “The Predator” Côté and “Filthy” Tom Lawlor, while Diego “Nightmare” Sanchez faces Paulo Thiago.
The bout between Ortiz (15-7-1) and Hamill (9-2-0), first reported by MMAFighting.com, is a pivotal one for both fighters, but particularly for Ortiz. The former champion is 0-3-1 in his last four fights and has not won since October 2006. Coming off of a Split Decision loss in a rematch with Forrest Griffin, Ortiz needs a big win in order to get back into the title hunt. Hamill has won four straight fights, but was soundly beaten in a December 2009 bout with Jon “Bones” Jones before escaping with a disqualification victory due to illegal elbow strikes from Jones. Hamill most recently edged “The Dean of Mean” Keith Jardine by Majority Decision in June.
Gonzaga (11-5-0) vs Schaub (6-1-0), first reported by Sportsnet.ca, serves as a solid test for both fighters. Gonzaga previously challenged for the promotion’s heavyweight title at UFC 74, but was stopped in the third round by Randy “The Natural” Couture. Schaub advanced to the finals of season 10 of The Ultimate Fighter, but was knocked out by Roy “Big Country” Nelson in the finale. Gonzaga is 3-3 since the title bid, while Schaub has rebounded with two wins since his loss to Nelson. All of Schaub’s wins have come by knockout, with the longest lasting just 87 seconds. All five of Gonzaga’s defeats have come by knockout and a loss to rising prospect Schaub would be devastating.
The Duffee (6-1-0) vs Madsen (6-0-0) fight, first reported by MMAjunkie.com, marks a contrast in styles between the heavy-hitting Duffee and Madsen, who has recently focused almost exclusively on takedowns and ground control. Duffee began his career with six straight knockouts and seemed well on his way to a lopsided decision win at UFC 114 before he was knocked out in dramatic fashion by Mike Russow in the third round. Madsen edged Justin Wren in a fight at the TUF 10 finale, but has since followed with lacklustre decision wins in two subsequent bouts. Both fighters need an impressive stoppage victory in order to progress up the heavyweight ranks.
Côté (13-6-0) vs Lawlor (6-3-0, 1 NC), also first reported by MMAjunkie.com, could serve as a middleweight Loser Leaves Town match. Both fighters are coming off of back-to-back losses and a third, especially for Lawlor, could spell the end of one man’s UFC career. Known for his heavy hands and iron jaw, Côté has met with mixed success inside the Octagon, but held his own in a UFC Middleweight Championship match with Anderson “The Spider” Silva before a knee injury ended his night early. Lawlor did well in bouts with Aaron “A-Train” Simpson and Joe “El Dirte” Doerksen, but came up short in both fights.
Lastly, the Sanchez (21-4-0) vs Thiago (13-2-0) fight, first reported by PennyJoMMA.com, is another pivotal bout between two fighters who are coming off of losses. Sanchez returned to 170 pounds after a failed title bid in the lightweight division, but was dominated by John “The Hitman” Hathaway at UFC 114. Thiago could not follow up on his 2009 knockout of Josh Koscheck, but rebounded with two wins after suffering his first career defeat in a bout with Koscheck’s teammate, Jon Fitch. However, in his most recent outing, Thiago dropped a one-sided decision to Martin “The Hitman” Kampmann and has dropped out of contender status for the time being.
UFC 121 takes place on October 23rd at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
UFC 121 Fight Card (to date; subject to change):
– Brock Lesnar vs Cain Velasquez (UFC Heavyweight Championship bout) [*]
– “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” Tito Ortiz vs Matt “The Hammer” Hamill [*]
– Gabriel “Napão” Gonzaga vs Brendan “The Hybrid” Schaub [*]
– Jake Shields vs Martin “The Hitman” Kampmann [*]
– Paulo Thiago vs Diego “Nightmare” Sanchez [*]
– Todd Duffee vs Jon Madsen [*]
– Patrick “The Predator” Côté vs “Filthy” Tom Lawlor [*]
– Sam “Hands of Stone” Stout vs “Relentless” Paul Taylor [*]
– Court “The Crusher” McGee vs Ryan Jensen [*]
– Dongi “The Ox” Yang vs Chris Camozzi [*]
*Not yet officially announced
(Photo Credit: Sherdog.com)