THURSDAY NEWS DIGEST: UFC beefs up UFC’s return to London in March, Brett Rogers charged, Weidman vs. Mousasi (w/Hiscoe’s Analysis)

By Michael Hiscoe, MMATorch contributor

Chris Weidman (photo credit Gary A. Vasquez © USA Today Sports)
A slew of fights have been announced to beef up the undercard of UFC’s return to London in March.

First is a light heavyweight bout between hometown boy Jimi Manuwa and Corey Anderson. Mauwa is coming off of a vicious knockout of Ovince St-Preux at UFC 204. Anderson, a former “Ultimate Fighter” winner, most recently defeated Sean O’Connell at December’s Fight Night from Albany. Manuwa is currently ranked no. 8 in the most recent MMATorch Rankings in the Light Heavyweight Division, while Anderson finds himself just outside the top ten of our rankings but #9 on UFC’s internal rankings.

Also announced is a women’s bantamweight fight between Lina Lansberg and Veronica Macedo. Both women debuted in the UFC last year with losing efforts but left an impression. Lansberg lost a main event bout to the seemingly unbeatable Cris Cyborg at 140 lbs., lasting until the second round before losing by TKO. The 21 year old Macedo put up a valiant fight against Ashlee Evans-Smith back in September, losing by TKO in the third round but fighting up until the end.

Finally, a fight between “Irish” Joe Duffy and Reza Madadi was made. Duffy last fought in July, scoring a quick submission over Mitch Clark. Duffy, the man once known as “the last person to beat Conor McGregor,” has only one loss on his UFC record, that coming to Dustin Poirier in a tight fight early last year. Madadi has traded wins and losses in his UFC career, with his most notable win being a submission over Michael Johnson back in 2013.

The official UFC listing for the event has ten fights announced, but lists the main event as “to be determined.” The event goes down on March 18 from the O2 Arena in London, England and will likely be broadcast on UFC Fight Pass. Tickets go on sale to the public next Friday.

Hiscoe’s Analysis: These are three solid fights that help the undercard but the show is still lacking a main event two months out. Last year’s London show was headlined by Michael Bisping vs. Anderson Silva and they recently ran Manchester with Bisping vs. Dan Henderson so they will need something more than either Joe Duffy or Jimi Manuwa to headline this show. With Bisping being middleweight champion, the aren’t likely going to put him on this show as it’s on Fight Pass and not PPV. They will need to pull a rabbit out of their hat, or risk running a show in a half empty arena in a big and valuable market. Hopefully they can get a main event together before tickets go on sale in eight days. The trend of UFC announcing shows without having main events for them when tickets go on sale or without having full cards announced until the week of the show is becoming more and more common.

THURSDAY NOTEBOOK ITEMS…

-Chris Weidman vs. Gegard Mousasi is the first fight announced for UFC 210 from Buffalo on April 8.

-Former Strikeforce fighter Brett Rogers has been charged with sexual misconduct in St. Paul, Minnesota after he allegedly engaged in sexual misconduct in a public library elevator, in the bathroom of a St. Paul skyway, and in a Ramsey County Jail cell with a fellow inmate. Rogers was reportedly homeless at the time of the incidents. Rogers is probably best known for his Strikeforce loss to Fedor Emelianenko that did over 5 million viewers on CBS back in 2009.

THROWBACK THURSDAY…

Valentina Shevchenko vs. Sarah Kaufman from Dec. 2015: CLICK HERE


NOW CHECK OUT YESTERDAY’S UPDATE: WEDNESDAY NEWS DIGEST 1/18: Hendricks and Lombard may headline UFC’s FS1 card next month (w/Hiscoe’s Analysis)


(MMATorch’s Daily News Digest features the top story of the day with added analysis, plus smaller tidbits in the News Notes section. Mike Hiscoe, who writes the News Digest Sundays through Thursdays, has a background in film criticism and previously wrote for the DVD Town and Movie Metropolis websites. His passion for Mixed Martial Arts goes back to 2005, but it was in the promotion for UFC 60: Hughes vs. Gracie that he really got hooked.”This is my house, I build it,” is still among the all-time great UFC promos. You can follow Mike on social media under the tag @mikehiscoe. He now provides his experienced writing and perspective on live MMA events for MMATorch.)

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