UFC Fight Night 21 Rumors/Discussion

[The HOFF]

Date: Mar 31, 2010

Location: North Carolina
Venue: TBA
Broadcast: Spike TV

• Kenny Florian vs. Takanori Gomi
• Nate Quarry vs. Jorge Rivera
• Lucio Linhares vs. Yushin Okami
• Cole Miller vs. Andre Winner
• Ross Pearson vs. Dennis Siver
• Gleison Tibau vs. Caol Uno*

[JMUplayer]

Weak all around...... The one on Versus makes this one look sad.

[The HOFF]

UFC Fight Night 21 is expected to take place at the 9,600-seat Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, N.C., on March 31, though UFC officials have yet to confirm the event or the venue.

[The HOFF]

The UFC's long-rumored March 31 event is official with today's announcement of UFC Fight Night 21.

The event, which precedes the debut episode of "The Ultimate Fighter 11," takes place at Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, N.C., and airs on Spike TV.

Kenny Florian meets former PRIDE star Takanori Gomi in the headliner, and as MMAjunkie.com first reported on Tuesday, "TUF 10" champ Roy Nelson meets fast-rising heavyweight contender Stefan Struve in the co-headliner.

[Tree Rollins]

The UFC's long-rumored March 31 event is official with today's announcement of UFC Fight Night 21.

The event, which precedes the debut episode of "The Ultimate Fighter 11," takes place at Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, N.C., and airs on Spike TV.

Kenny Florian meets former PRIDE star Takanori Gomi in the headliner, and as MMAjunkie.com first reported on Tuesday, "TUF 10" champ Roy Nelson meets fast-rising heavyweight contender Stefan Struve in the co-headliner.

Stefan Struve? wow, the ufc must have been really unimpressed with Roy after the Ultimate Fighter. Struve is at the bottom of the totem poll in the HW division. He'll make his way onto a lot of greatest KO tapes before his career is done though, as a victim.

[The HOFF]

Also announced for the main card were previously reported matchups of middleweights Nate Quarry (12-3 MMA, 7-2 UFC) vs. Jorge Rivera (17-7 MMA, 6-5 UFC), and lightweights Ross Pearson (10-3 MMA, 2-0 UFC) vs. Dennis Siver (15-6 MMA, 4-3 UFC) and Gleison Tibau (20-6 MMA, 5-3 UFC) vs. Caol Uno (25-12-5 MMA, 3-4-2 UFC).

The UFC also confirmed lightweights Cole Miller (16-4 MMA, 5-2 UFC) vs. Andre Winner (10-3-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) and middleweights Yushin Okami (23-5 MMA, 7-2 UFC) vs. Lucio Linhares (13-5 MMA, 0-1 UFC) for the preliminary card.

[The HOFF]

Stefan Struve? wow, the ufc must have been really unimpressed with Roy after the Ultimate Fighter. Struve is at the bottom of the totem poll in the HW division. He'll make his way onto a lot of greatest KO tapes before his career is done though, as a victim.

Obviously Struve will never hang with the big boys. He was destroyed by Dos Santos in under a minute. But he has handled himself well against mid to lower level heavyweights. He survived a nasty cut against Stonic and pulled out an incredible submission. He also had a nice triangle against Chase Gormley. The fight with Buentello wasn't that impressive, but he survived against and beat someone with KO power. After that fight Dana gave an interview where he said they would be bringing Struve along slowly and admitted he didn't have the bulk to compete with the top guys right now.

As with other TUF winners, I think they want to give Nelson a winnable fight coming off the show. They don't want to have a TUF winner get destroyed by someone in their first fight and have the show lose even more credibility. This is a good match up for Roy and this might be one of those Struve KOs you were refering too. But Nelson himself is another guy that will never hang with the big boys. Nelson will be a mid level gatekeeper in the UFC.

[Tree Rollins]

Obviously Struve will never hang with the big boys. He was destroyed by Dos Santos in under a minute. But he has handled himself well against mid to lower level heavyweights. He survived a nasty cut against Stonic and pulled out an incredible submission. He also had a nice triangle against Chase Gormley. The fight with Buentello wasn't that impressive, but he survived against and beat someone with KO power. After that fight Dana gave an interview where he said they would be bringing Struve along slowly and admitted he didn't have the bulk to compete with the top guys right now.

As with other TUF winners, I think they want to give Nelson a winnable fight coming off the show. They don't want to have a TUF winner get destroyed by someone in their first fight and have the show lose even more credibility. This is a good match up for Roy and this might be one of those Struve KOs you were refering too. But Nelson himself is another guy that will never hang with the big boys. Nelson will be a mid level gatekeeper in the UFC.

Struve has improved since they sent him to slaughter against Dos Santos. His long limbs make his triangle dangerous but also make him susceptible to a lot of submissions ie arm bars and kimuras. He did show some toughness in his last fight against buentello.Against Nelson he should hopefully hold his own in the jiu-jitsu game, hopefully he doesn't get highlight-reeled though. I'm not a Roy fan, i'd like to see Struve KO him.

[shady610]

i thinkk this looks good. im always ready to watch florian fight. cole is another favorite

[whatsgood5]

Long way away, gonna be tough to wait

[The HOFF]

Takanori Gomi +230
Kenny Florian -270

Stefan Struve +230
Roy Nelson -270

[solepride]

Gomi, I like him as a dog

[Cappy]

Shouldn't he not have a career, how do you keep lining a guy up with fights if he's being knocked out

[RobbReport]

Winner for the win.

[terpkeg]

Nelson opened at -180, was some real value there imo. I still think he is good at -285. Struve real green still. Looked like he gasses hard last time out. I think Nelson can us ehis weight and beat him up.

But i think i will watch line some.

[Kaladarus]

cant believe that line moved so fast

[terpkeg]

Yea, I try to check the mma lines at least twice a day. The week of an event you typically know when the undercard will be released. But, i miss alot of 5Dimes openers. And they put out some real duds. Must not take much to move them.

[The HOFF]

Recent Ultimate Fighting Championship signee Charlie Brenneman (10-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) meets a fellow UFC newcomer next month when he takes on welterweight Jason High (9-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC) at UFC Fight Night 21.

High today posted a Twitter message about the fight, and a source close to the fighter confirmed with MMAjunkie.com that he has signed a four-fight deal with the UFC.

[The HOFF]

Middleweight Gerald Harris (14-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) meets undefeated UFC newcomer and highly touted prospect Mario Miranda (11-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) at next month's UFC Fight Night 21 event.

Sources close to both competitors today told MMAjunkie.com that bout agreements have been distributed and will be finalized in the coming days.

[afmsu9441]

Like Florian in the fight, but those are tempting odds on Gomi...

[Kaladarus]

I think Florian takes this one

[The HOFF]

Bodog:

Lucio Linhares +325
Yushin Okami -500

Caol Uno +110
Gleison Tibau -140

[The HOFF]

Former welterweight Jacob Volkmann (9-2 MMA, 0-2 UFC) is dropping to lightweight and meets Ronys Torres (14-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) next month at UFC Fight Night 21.

Volkmann today announced the fight via his Twitter account, though Ultimate Fighting Championships officials have made no official announcement.

[The HOFF]

MMAjunkie.com has learned that a contest matching lightweights Cole Miller (16-4 MMA, 5-2 UFC) and Andre Winner (10-3 MMA, 1-1 UFC) has been scratched.

Sources close to the event said Miller is injured and unable to make the fight. It is unknown at this time if the bout has been rescheduled for a later date.

[The HOFF]

MMAjunkie.com has confirmed a report first issued by MMAWeekly.com that Rafaello "Tractor" Oliveira (10-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) has agreed to take the UFC Fight Night 21 bout on slightly more than one-month's notice.

[JMUplayer]

I've made a lot of money the past 3 years betting against asians and former supposed "pride" stars from 4-8 years ago.

[The HOFF]

A lightweight contest pitting Rob Emerson (9-8 MMA, 3-2-1 UFC) against Nik Lentz (17-3-2 MMA, 1-0-1 UFC) is targeted for UFC Fight Night 21, MMAjunkie.com has learned from sources close to the situation.

Though bout agreements have yet to be signed, both fighters have agreed to the fight and are expected to put pen to paper shortly.

[toober89]

I love watching these fights...might be one of the most entertaining things to watch on television right now (especially that john cena character hahahaha!)

[The HOFF]

The lineup for this month's UFC Fight Night 21 event, which features a lightweight headliner between lightweight contender Kenny Florian and newcomer Takanori Gomi, is now set.

Eleven bouts are official for the card, which takes place March 31 at Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, N.C.

UFC officials have chosen a Spike TV-televised fight between "The Ultimate Fighter 10" winner Roy Nelson and fast-rising heavyweight prospect Stefan Struve as the night's co-main event.

[The HOFF]

MAIN CARD

• Kenny Florian vs. Takanori Gomi
• Roy Nelson vs. Stefan Struve
• Nate Quarry vs. Jorge Rivera
• Ross Pearson vs. Dennis Siver

PRELIMINARY CARD

• Rafaello Oliveira vs. Andre Winner
• Ronys Torres vs. Jacob Volkmann
• Rob Emerson vs. Nik Lentz
• Gleison Tibau vs. Caol Uno
• Lucio Linhares vs. Yushin Okami
• Gerald Harris vs. Mario Miranda
• Charlie Brenneman vs. Jason High

[Vaughany]

Easy money to be made on Nelson, Quarry, Torres and Tibau

[The HOFF]

I made an early play on Tibau. Not much I like with the lines out now. Waiting for a line on Emerson - Lentz.

[Vaughany]

I think Torres should smash Volkman...waiting for the line on tht one.

[The HOFF]

2 days away and they still don't have the full card odds. WTF?

[cky312]

Remaining card odds now up on bookmaker, any thoughts on the lines?
Personally I don't know enough about most of the fights to make a wager, most likely only wagering on a Florian Nelson parlay plus a small play on Linhares as an underdog