UFC Manila Cancellation: Fight Rescheduling Tracker
UFC Featherweight Ricardo Lamas: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports
After UFC Manila’s cancellation you might be wondering, “What about all the fighters?” Keep track of this article to find out where everyone is being rescheduled.
Late last week, UFC Manila was cancelled after headliner and MMA legend BJ Penn fell victim to another injury. Instead of trying to scrap together a main event for the Fight Pass card, the promotion outright cancelled it.
The original fight card was:
As a side note, this has been the second time Ryan Janes has been robbed of his UFC debut. Janes was set to fight Adam Hunter in August, but Hunter was pulled from the card less than 24 hours away from fight night due to a USADA violation. Janes’ fight has yet to be rescheduled.
Fortunately for all of these fighters, there are plenty of landing points with 10 events scheduled for the remainder of 2016. The closest one being the TUF Latin America 3 Finale in Mexico City on November 5.
So far, seven fights/fighters have been rebooked to either UFC Melbourne, UFC Mexico City (AKA TUF Latin America 3 Finale), and UFC Belfast.
As more fights get rescheduled, more slides will be added to this article, so keep coming back!
Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports
Sam Alvey vs. Alex Nicholson to UFC Mexico City
The UFC officially announced this bout switch first.
Sam Alvey has been the definition of a workhorse recently, taking four fights in just under four months. Unfortunately, the fourth has been pushed back, making it four bouts in 140 days which is still really impressive.
After his three-fight first round knockout streak came to an end in 2015 against now top contender Derek Brunson, “Smilin’ Sam” took 10 months off. Alvey returned to the Octagon against Elias Theodorou, who was anything but interested in trading with the heavy-handed striker, kicking his way to a decision.
Alvey got right back on the horse and defeated Eric Spicely 25 days later with a first-round submission. The Team Quest product then knocked out Kevin Casey a month and change after that. The recent surge in activity has pushed his UFC record to 5-3, with all of his wins failing to reach the final bell.
Alex Nicholson is a training partner of the very polarizing “Platinum” Mike Perry, and is 1-1 in the Octagon. After having his jaw crushed by top light heavyweight prospect Misha Cirkunov, Nicholson moved to the middleweight division.
“The Spartan” was successful in his second venture to the Octagon, withstanding a knockdown to knock out Lookin’ for a Fight beneficiary Devin Clark in the first round at UFC Sioux Falls.
UFC Fight Night 98 takes place on November 5 in the Mexico City Arena of Mexico City. The card is headlined by top lightweight contenders Rafael dos Anjos and Tony Ferguson.
Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports
Ricardo Lamas vs. Charles Oliveira at UFC Mexico City
Flocombat first reported this matchup.
With BJ Penn falling victim to injury again, Ricardo Lamas was left without an opponent and needed one to “give his family a nice Christmas.” Fortunately, he will still have a chance to do so with a win on November 5 against Charles Oliveira.
Ricardo Lamas is a top talent in the featherweight division, with a great 7-3 record in the Octagon. Lamas started his UFC career at 4-0 including wins against Cub Swanson and Erik Koch, and earned a title shot against then-kingpin Jose Aldo.
Since the 2014 defeat against Jose Aldo, Lamas is 3-2 with the wins coming against Hacran Dias, Dennis Bermudez, and most recently, Diego Sanchez. Lamas last fought at UFC 199 in a thrilling battle with rising star Max Holloway.
Charles Oliveira is an incredible submission artist, forcing eight of his nine UFC victories to end with a tap. Oliveira is not a traditionalist whatsoever with his jiu-jitsu either. He has ended contests with anaconda chokes, a calf slicer, a standing rear-naked choke, and an inverted triangle.
“Do Bronx” has five wins in his last seven contests, and recently welcomed Anthony Pettis to the featherweight division, losing by submission in the third round.
As mentioned on the previous slide, UFC Mexico City goes down on November 5. Lamas and Oliveira has earned a spot on the main card, behind Diego Sanchez and Marcin Held for now.
Matt Roberts-USA TODAY Sports
Seo Hee Ham vs. Danielle Taylor and Yao Zhikui vs. Jenel Lausa to UFC Melbourne
South Korean outlet SpoTV first reported the strawweight fight’s move, and the UFC officially announced the flyweight bout’s move.
Seo Hee Ham is an incredibly entertaining strawweight who will have a rare height advantage in this bout. Ham stands at 5-foot-2-inches, but Taylor stands at just 5-feet flat.
Seo Hee Ham is 1-2 in the Octagon losing to Joanne Calderwood and Bec Rawlings, and defeating Cortney Casey. All three fights were entertaining, with the Casey bout earning
“Fight of the Night” honors at UFC Seoul. Her wild style has earned her the nickname “Hamderlei Silva.”
Danielle Taylor has heavy hands for the strawweight division, ending three of her seven career victories by knockout. Taylor made her UFC debut on short notice at UFC Salt Lake City, replacing Justine Kish against Maryna Moroz. The bout was painfully unexciting, with only 34 combined strikes landing over 15 minutes.
In the flyweight division, TUF China veteran Yao Zhikui will attempt to even up his Octagon record at 2-2 in his bout against Jenel Lausa.
Zhikui is 2-3 in his MMA career, most recently losing to Fredy Serrano due to an unfortunate arm injury. He was 1-1 on TUF: China, with the victory being a first round knockout.
Jenel Lausa is a Filipino prospect with a 6-2 record. Unfortunately, he will no fight in front of his home fans anymore, but he won’t have to travel far to Melbourne. Lausa is on a four-fight win streak and has finished four of his six victories.
Per Haljestam-USA TODAY Sports
Jon Tuck vs. Damien Brown and Alex Volkanovski vs. Yusuke Kasuya at UFC Melbourne
Jon Tuck was set to fight Alex Volkanovski at UFC Manila after his original opponent, Mehdi Baghdad fell victim to injury. Now both will receive new opponents for UFC Melbourne.
Yusuke Kasuya was also set to fight in the Philippines against Damir Hadzovic. The Tuck bout was announced by The Courier Mail, and the Kasuya bout was announced by The Daily Telegraph.
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Jon Tuck is an Ultimate Fighter veteran who has yet to hit his stride in the UFC. The Guam native has alternated wins and losses in his six-fight UFC career. Two of his three Octagon wins are via submission, with one of those being a submission due to strikes.
Damien Brown is an Australian Military veteran with a 1-1 record in the Octagon. Brown’s five fight win streak was stopped in his short notice UFC debut against Alan Patrick. However, the Aussie recovered with a great knockout against Cesar Arzamendia in July.
Alex Volkanovski is known as “The Hulk” and is currently on a 10-fight win streak. The Aussie has eight knockouts and three submissions on his 13-1 record.
Yusuke Kasuya was 9-1-2 before dropping his promotional debut to Nick Hein. Since then, Kasuya has been matched up twice with Damir Hadzovic, and twice the fight has fallen through. Of course the second one was not Hadzovic’s fault as the event as a whole fell through. The Japanese fighter has seven victories by submission in his career.
UFC Fight Night 101 takes place on November 26 in the Rod Laver Arena of Melbourne Australia. A great middleweight rematch between Jacare Souza and Luke Rockhold headlines the card. Future middleweight greats Derek Brunson and Robert Whittaker do battle in the co-main event.
Per Haljestam-USA TODAY Sports
Kyoji Horiguchi vs. Ali Bagautinov to UFC Belfast
Sports Joe first reported the move.
Kyoji Horiguchi and Ali Bagautinov were oddly buried on the prelims of the cancelled card, so hopefully it will receive a better slot at UFC Belfast. Horiguchi is the third best flyweight contender according to Cage Pages, while Bagautinov comes in at sixth.
Kyoji Horiguchi might just be a future flyweight champion after Demetrious Johnson moves on. The super-talented striker is 6-1 in the Octagon, with the lone loss coming against the champion, Demetrious Johnson.
Prior to entering the UFC, Horiguchi was 11-1 with seven knockouts and one submission. Horiguchi is now living full-time in the United States, training at American Top Team. He most recently defeated Neil Seery in May
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Ali Bagautinov has also reached the top of the ladder in his UFC career, earning a shot at Demetrious Johnson after his first three victories in the Octagon. After being outclassed by Johnson and failing a drug test, the Russian was defeated by Joseph Benavidez.
Bagautinov got back on track in June with a very dominant performance against Geane Herrera. Before his promotional debut, Bagautinov was 11-2 in Russia.
UFC Fight Night 99 will take place on November 19 in the SSE Arena of Belfast, Northern Ireland. Great welterweights Dong Hyun Kim and Gunnar Nelson headline the card.
Stay tuned for more rescheduled bouts!
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