Alan Belcher has come down with a “sever case of bronchitis” and will be unable to take on Ricardo Almeida at UFC 81: “Breaking Point” this weekend at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
In his place undefeated Alaska Fighting Championship veteran, Rob Yundt (6-0), has stepped up to fill-in on ridiculous short notice.
Here’s the skinny from UFC.com:
“Unbeaten UFC newcomer Rob Yundt (6-0) has stepped in on short notice to replace middleweight up and comer Alan Belcher against Ricardo Almeida on Saturday night’s UFC 81 card in Las Vegas. Belcher was forced to withdraw from the bout due to a severe case of bronchitis.”
This is terrible news for Belcher who was looking to tack on his third straight win inside the Octagon. He most recently defeated Kalib Starnes at UFC 77: “Hostile Territory” in November 2007 and prior to that he choked out Sean Salmon at UFC 71: “Liddell vs. Jackson” in just 23 seconds.
It’s a bit bizarre because up until this afternoon Belcher was conducting interviews and appeared to have every intention of fighting.
Yundt is a Wolf Pack fighter who trains alongside UFC veteran Doug Evans at Anchorage Brazilian jiu-jitsu. He last competed in October 2007 and has just two fights to his credit in all of last year. However, that’s two more than his upcoming opponent this weekend, Almeida.
In fact, “Cachorrao” last appeared inside the Octagon back in 2002 and is making a return to mixed martial arts action after taking more than three years off from professional competition. He’s an animal on the ground thanks to the Brazilian jiu-jitsu training of Renzo Gracie.
Back in his heyday Almeida went up against some of the best in the sport: Ryo Chonan (win), Nathan Marquardt (win) and Kazuo Masaki (win), among others.
This should be a very tough fight for Yundt, but kudos to him for even taking the fight.
There’s no telling if the Almeida fight will remain on the main card or it will become the swing bout and the Tyson Griffin lighweight showdown with Gleison Tibau will get promoted to the televised portion of the main card.
Stay tuned. In the meantime check out the latest UFC 81 fight card right here.
33 Comments »
Belcher punked out!
Who the hell is Yundt? They better show Tyson over this.
no one wanted to see belcher on the main card, and def. no one wants to see this no namer…put friggin tyson on the main card, and for gettin everyone upset for previously leavin that fight off, put martin-eastman too…get it right
They better put Griffin on the main card over this!
this is crap now another main card bout changed, i am not paying 45 dollars to watch a ricardo almeida fight even on a swing bout, dana you owe us a freebie!!!!!!!!!
put the tyson griffin fight on as well as add the marvin eastman bout
[quote comment="287201"]Who the hell is Yundt? They better show Tyson over this.[/quote]
AGREED.
bloody hell put TYSON ON ALREADY!!!
BULLSHIT (as i do a fake cough)
On TAGG radio today, Belcher was on the show and didnt say that he was bailing out.
Although….he did hint at problems. Alan said that he was under the weather and still needed to cut around 20 pounds(which probably means 25 or so) in 2 days.
So is he a little under the weather and a LOT more out of shape???
Some highlight on Rob Yundt for those who are insterested ..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tcBPM1zGsw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbT09hmpRaM&feature=related
Check out 4:47 into the second video.
Weak.
[quote comment="287201"]Who the hell is Yundt? They better show Tyson over this.[/quote]
i agree with him or at least the terry martin fight!
[quote comment="287196"]Belcher punked out![/quote]
how about u go in there. u wouldn’t last a half a minute. he is sick. if i have a cold and can’t breath through my nose i’m not fighting in the ufc 1 fight can make u or break u here. i’d want 2 b as close 2 100% as possible.
Mania, are you serious that the # of telivised bouts is now 4 instead of five, I was looking at the previous UFC’s and they always showed at least five fights
this sucks.. I was looking forward to looking belcher
oh man, where’s the 1:11 knockout from belcher that he said?
Bollox ! was well looking forward to see Belcher back at it again – he ripped through kalib in a sweet fashion – love them flying knees!
[quote comment="287539"]Mania, are you serious that the # of telivised bouts is now 4 instead of five, I was looking at the previous UFC’s and they always showed at least five fights[/quote]
I sure ain’t Mania, but I’ll answer for you. Usually there are 5 fights shown. There is always a swing bout, where, TIME PERMITTING, gets onto the televised portion of the card. Remember UFC Stacked? The main event was Anderson Silva vs Nate Marquardt. It was scheduled for 5 rounds so they had to allow at least 35 minutes of PPV time for the fight. The fight ended quickly, and they rushed Kenny FLorian and Alvin Robinson into the octagon to make it onto TV. In that instance, they were the swing bout.
So if all 4 fights go the distance, we may only see 4. But like you said, typically we see 5.
Last PPV we were treated to 8 fights!!!!
Hope that helps, and anyone, especially mania, feel free to correct me on this if need be.
On the topic, THIS SUCKS. This card gets worse… What’s next, are we going to find out that Nogueira had visa problems and can’t make it into the states… It’s almost to the point where they should just add Mick Foley vs The Rock and have it be a WWF PPV.
YES!!!! finally, the UFC landed Rob Yundt. this should be an intersting fight to see who ranks 18th in the middleweight division.
[quote comment="287866"][quote comment="287539"]Mania, are you serious that the # of telivised bouts is now 4 instead of five, I was looking at the previous UFC’s and they always showed at least five fights[/quote]
I sure ain’t Mania, but I’ll answer for you. Usually there are 5 fights shown. There is always a swing bout, where, TIME PERMITTING, gets onto the televised portion of the card. Remember UFC Stacked? The main event was Anderson Silva vs Nate Marquardt. It was scheduled for 5 rounds so they had to allow at least 35 minutes of PPV time for the fight. The fight ended quickly, and they rushed Kenny FLorian and Alvin Robinson into the octagon to make it onto TV. In that instance, they were the swing bout.
So if all 4 fights go the distance, we may only see 4. But like you said, typically we see 5.
Last PPV we were treated to 8 fights!!!!
Hope that helps, and anyone, especially mania, feel free to correct me on this if need be.[/quote]
VM: U r absolutely right! There is always that swing bout, but sorry to break it to you guys, but we will only see 4 fights during this event. Noguerra/Sylvia and Marquadt/Horn will both last at least 3 rounds. I am pretty sure the Nate fight will go to a decision and I dont see Tim/Noguerra finishing each other anytime before round 3.
This event gets worse and worse by the day. I was really planning on not ordering this event, but I cant miss Noguerra’s shot at the UFC title. I hate Tim, I dont feel like he deserves a shot yet, but I cant miss Noguerra’s shot at really solidifying himself as a Heavyweight Legend!
[quote comment="287281"][quote comment="287201"]Who the hell is Yundt? They better show Tyson over this.[/quote]
AGREED.
bloody hell put TYSON ON ALREADY!!![/quote]
i like Tyson, but there will be no room for this fight. This fight is going to a decision. Griffin is notorious for decision wins and Tibau is also…
If any fight were to sneak onto the televised portion of the event, I would have to guess the Lytle fight because he is going to make quick work of his opponent with a 1st round submission win.
Check out what Dan Henderson had to say:
OMFG! Dan Henderson makes a claim!
This is a quote of an interview of Dan Henderson on mmanews.com.
“MMANews.com: What are your thoughts on Paulo Filho?
Dan Henderson: I don’t think he has been very impressive in his last two performances since coming to the US but I think that’s what not being able to use Steroids will do to you.
MMANews.com: Are you saying Filho may be a juicer?
Dan Henderson: Well that’s my opinion anyway. He hasn’t looked good since he left Pride.
MMANews.com: Was steroid abuse a problem in Pride?
Dan Henderson: People didn’t get tested.
MMANews.com: So I suppose if you can get away with it why not.
Dan Henderson: Exactly.”
[quote comment="287912"][quote comment="287281"][quote comment="287201"]Who the hell is Yundt? They better show Tyson over this.[/quote]
AGREED.
bloody hell put TYSON ON ALREADY!!![/quote]
i like Tyson, but there will be no room for this fight. This fight is going to a decision. Griffin is notorious for decision wins and Tibau is also…
If any fight were to sneak onto the televised portion of the event, I would have to guess the Lytle fight because he is going to make quick work of his opponent with a 1st round submission win.
Check out what Dan Henderson had to say:
OMFG! Dan Henderson makes a claim!
This is a quote of an interview of Dan Henderson on mmanews.com.
“MMANews.com: What are your thoughts on Paulo Filho?
Dan Henderson: I don’t think he has been very impressive in his last two performances since coming to the US but I think that’s what not being able to use Steroids will do to you.
MMANews.com: Are you saying Filho may be a juicer?
Dan Henderson: Well that’s my opinion anyway. He hasn’t looked good since he left Pride.
MMANews.com: Was steroid abuse a problem in Pride?
Dan Henderson: People didn’t get tested.
MMANews.com: So I suppose if you can get away with it why not.
Dan Henderson: Exactly.”[/quote]
But don’t you think they will replace this no name fight with the Tyson fight since bascially all of his are fight of the night?
[quote comment="287951"][quote comment="287912"][quote comment="287281"][quote comment="287201"]Who the hell is Yundt? They better show Tyson over this.[/quote]
AGREED.
bloody hell put TYSON ON ALREADY!!![/quote]
i like Tyson, but there will be no room for this fight. This fight is going to a decision. Griffin is notorious for decision wins and Tibau is also…
If any fight were to sneak onto the televised portion of the event, I would have to guess the Lytle fight because he is going to make quick work of his opponent with a 1st round submission win.
Check out what Dan Henderson had to say:
OMFG! Dan Henderson makes a claim!
This is a quote of an interview of Dan Henderson on mmanews.com.
“MMANews.com: What are your thoughts on Paulo Filho?
Dan Henderson: I don’t think he has been very impressive in his last two performances since coming to the US but I think that’s what not being able to use Steroids will do to you.
MMANews.com: Are you saying Filho may be a juicer?
Dan Henderson: Well that’s my opinion anyway. He hasn’t looked good since he left Pride.
MMANews.com: Was steroid abuse a problem in Pride?
Dan Henderson: People didn’t get tested.
MMANews.com: So I suppose if you can get away with it why not.
Dan Henderson: Exactly.”[/quote]
But don’t you think they will replace this no name fight with the Tyson fight since bascially all of his are fight of the night?[/quote]
I dont know. As a veteran mma fan, I was excited about the return of Aleida, but a lot of UFC fans that started watchingf the UFC after TUF 1, probably didnt know who he was, and I thought it was odd that the UFC would have this fight over the Tyson fight. Personally i want to see Almeida instead of another Griffin unanimous decision, but I think airing the Tyson fight instead of the Almeida fight would probably be in the UFC best interest. I still want to see Almeida but from a business standpoint I would think that they would rather air the Tyson fight….We will see what happens!
Paulo has offered Chael Sonnen a re-match at MW, if he accepts that will be Paulos last fight at MW.
Paulo has claimed to have had a real hard time cutting to 185 lb. that may explain his sluggish performances. Then there is always the steroid theory. He is going to move up to 205 lbs, which means the middleweight division has lost another top 10 fighter….it gets worse and worse,
I would like to see Filho vs. Lindland at 185….It would be an interesting match up! Very unlikey that Lindland will ever be a Zuffa employee again!
[quote comment="287909"][quote comment="287866"][quote comment="287539"]Mania, are you serious that the # of telivised bouts is now 4 instead of five, I was looking at the previous UFC’s and they always showed at least five fights[/quote]
I sure ain’t Mania, but I’ll answer for you. Usually there are 5 fights shown. There is always a swing bout, where, TIME PERMITTING, gets onto the televised portion of the card. Remember UFC Stacked? The main event was Anderson Silva vs Nate Marquardt. It was scheduled for 5 rounds so they had to allow at least 35 minutes of PPV time for the fight. The fight ended quickly, and they rushed Kenny FLorian and Alvin Robinson into the octagon to make it onto TV. In that instance, they were the swing bout.
So if all 4 fights go the distance, we may only see 4. But like you said, typically we see 5.
Last PPV we were treated to 8 fights!!!!
Hope that helps, and anyone, especially mania, feel free to correct me on this if need be.[/quote]
VM: U r absolutely right! There is always that swing bout, but sorry to break it to you guys, but we will only see 4 fights during this event. Noguerra/Sylvia and Marquadt/Horn will both last at least 3 rounds. I am pretty sure the Nate fight will go to a decision and I dont see Tim/Noguerra finishing each other anytime before round 3.
This event gets worse and worse by the day. I was really planning on not ordering this event, but I cant miss Noguerra’s shot at the UFC title. I hate Tim, I dont feel like he deserves a shot yet, but I cant miss Noguerra’s shot at really solidifying himself as a Heavyweight Legend![/quote]
Thanks for clearing that up, I cant recall a ufc card were there were only 4 televised fights, I will be looking to see in future threads your analasys and predictions for the FULL ufc 81 card
[quote comment="287520"][quote comment="287196"]Belcher punked out![/quote]
how about u go in there. u wouldn’t last a half a minute. he is sick. if i have a cold and can’t breath through my nose i’m not fighting in the ufc 1 fight can make u or break u here. i’d want 2 b as close 2 100% as possible.[/quote]
LOL! He punked out cause he was going to have to cut 22lbs! He knew he would get his A@@ handed to him!
[quote comment="287912"][quote comment="287281"][quote comment="287201"]Who the hell is Yundt? They better show Tyson over this.[/quote]
AGREED.
bloody hell put TYSON ON ALREADY!!![/quote]
i like Tyson, but there will be no room for this fight. This fight is going to a decision. Griffin is notorious for decision wins and Tibau is also…
If any fight were to sneak onto the televised portion of the event, I would have to guess the Lytle fight because he is going to make quick work of his opponent with a 1st round submission win.
Check out what Dan Henderson had to say:
OMFG! Dan Henderson makes a claim!
This is a quote of an interview of Dan Henderson on mmanews.com.
“MMANews.com: What are your thoughts on Paulo Filho?
Dan Henderson: I don’t think he has been very impressive in his last two performances since coming to the US but I think that’s what not being able to use Steroids will do to you.
MMANews.com: Are you saying Filho may be a juicer?
Dan Henderson: Well that’s my opinion anyway. He hasn’t looked good since he left Pride.
MMANews.com: Was steroid abuse a problem in Pride?
Dan Henderson: People didn’t get tested.
MMANews.com: So I suppose if you can get away with it why not.
Dan Henderson: Exactly.”[/quote]
Thanks for the info John! I’ll have to check out that full interview…
[quote comment="287909"][quote comment="287866"][quote comment="287539"]Mania, are you serious that the # of telivised bouts is now 4 instead of five, I was looking at the previous UFC’s and they always showed at least five fights[/quote]
I sure ain’t Mania, but I’ll answer for you. Usually there are 5 fights shown. There is always a swing bout, where, TIME PERMITTING, gets onto the televised portion of the card. Remember UFC Stacked? The main event was Anderson Silva vs Nate Marquardt. It was scheduled for 5 rounds so they had to allow at least 35 minutes of PPV time for the fight. The fight ended quickly, and they rushed Kenny FLorian and Alvin Robinson into the octagon to make it onto TV. In that instance, they were the swing bout.
So if all 4 fights go the distance, we may only see 4. But like you said, typically we see 5.
Last PPV we were treated to 8 fights!!!!
Hope that helps, and anyone, especially mania, feel free to correct me on this if need be.[/quote]
VM: U r absolutely right! There is always that swing bout, but sorry to break it to you guys, but we will only see 4 fights during this event. Noguerra/Sylvia and Marquadt/Horn will both last at least 3 rounds. I am pretty sure the Nate fight will go to a decision and I dont see Tim/Noguerra finishing each other anytime before round 3.
This event gets worse and worse by the day. I was really planning on not ordering this event, but I cant miss Noguerra’s shot at the UFC title. I hate Tim, I dont feel like he deserves a shot yet, but I cant miss Noguerra’s shot at really solidifying himself as a Heavyweight Legend![/quote]
that really doesn’t matter bj penn was a 5 round bout it got 5 fights, in dec nemesis had a 5 fight card with a title fight, as well as champion vs champion, stacked, respect say all 4 go the distance that is 1 hr and 10 min of fighting on a 3 hour card, so your saying that their will be another 1hr and a half of interviews and entrances??
Rob Yundt is a good fighter that has more to offer than most think. He is pretty much the best of what Alaska Fighting Championship has to offer. I found it hard to believe that they have had 2 other guys (lightweights) from this organization fight before Yundt…
Belcher Bitched out
Rob was the first alternate for the new TUF show. He had to go in case one of them did not make weight and then he would be put on the show. His medical was already done and his is more than a worthy opponent for Ricardo…
I gurarentee Rob cut 20 something punds…haha
THERE GOES MY BOY, GET EM ROB!!!! SHOW ‘EM HOW WE DO IT!!!!