The injury bug continues in the UFC as Brian Stann is out with an injury for UFC on Fox 4. Replacing Stann and UFC newcomer Hector Lombard is Mauricio “Shogun” Rua versus Brandon Vera.
In addition, Pablo Garza pulled out of his fight with Josh Grispi and Yani Yahya is replacing Garza.
On an unrelated note, Jon Fitch was forced to pull out of his fight at UFC on Fuel TV 4 due to injury.
(H/t: MMA Junkie)
Payout Perspective:
If you thought Stann-Lombard was not a main event-type fight for network television what does everyone think about this replacement? While it is understandable that fighters are tied up with other scheduled fights, I do not think this fight will get ratings. UFC on Fox 3 ratings were down from the first 2 network shows and it looks like 4 may be lower. Another decrease and network execs may be fidgeting a little.
Vera you may remember was dismissed from the UFC after Thiago Silva played the bongos on his back and made Vera basically quit at UFC 125. But, Vera was brought back after Thiago Silva tested positive for an illegal substance. Vera was then scheduled to fight Silva in a rematch in May but had to pull out due to injury. So, does it make sense to put him in the main event of a big card?
The Rua placement isn’t as bad considering he had an exciting fight against Dan Henderson in November. Hopefully Vera will step it up against Rua. But if this goes 5 rounds we may be looking at a lot of holding in place.
Vera lost that fight against Eliot Marshall, the judges were wrong. He should not be in the UFC right now. This is worse than the injury glut of 2010. Very unfortunate.
I don’t think this new main event will draw great ratings, but it has more star power than the Lombard-Stann match did.
Vera makes more sense in the main event slot than Boetsch does…
MV,
You are correct. I forgot he fought in October. That was the one where he broke his arm (or close to it). I would think main events should be awarded to fighters that have earned it. Vera has some name recognition but has not earned a main event shot.
Well they had little choice. We are a few weeks away and there is not many people out there who are not already booked. The UFC wanted to set up Glover Texeria vs Shogun which would have been a great fight but Shogun is scared to fight him and turned it down. Now we are left with a bum like Vera who is passive to even put on a good showing. There is no one to blame here but Shogun. Glover was going to take it on short notice after recently fighting and Shogun still wouldnt accept. Shgun claims Glover doesnt help his career. Yet a Vera who was recently released by the UFC and has only 1 win in his last 4 fights will some how boost him up the rankings. This is just a case of ducking a fighter and hand picking fights. If you have to hide from UFC rookies and there is already a dozen guys in the UFC who would beat you. I think its time to find another line of work. Man up and fight!
Absolutely agree Brain, Vera does less for him than Texeira does, and it does seem that he’s more worried about losing two in a row than the “name deficiency” of Texeira. Sure Brandon Vera has somewhat of a “name”, but that name… is not a good name in 2012.
Jason, you didn’t need to include the Marshall fight in your article. It was forgettable and as I said, was a terrible decision that actually angered me a bit as it directly lead to Mashall’s decision to retire. If that’s not an example of how important it is for judges to get things right, I don’t know what is.
brandon vera is a bum and a clown, he shouldnt even be in the ufc, the ufcs cards this summer are very weak.
they will continue to see a decline in ratings and ppv sales and dana white will have many excuses as usual
You’re right about that Chris. Last night’s event on FX drew a paltry 6,600 and Dana blamed Florida for not coming out and buying up the tickets. Haha.
No disrespect to Uncle Creepy and Mighty Mouse but I don’t think having them as your main event sells tickets.