Lightweights Thiago Tavares (13-1) and Matt Wiman (9-3) are penciled in to scrap at UFC 85 at the O2 Arena in London, England, on June 7, according to Sherdog.com.
Tavares recently out-pointed DEEP veteran Michihiro Omigawa at UFC Fight Night 12 this past January, elevating his record inside the Octagon to an impressive 3-1 (13-1 overall). Aside from a lone defeat to lightweight phenom Tyson Griffin at UFC 76, Tavares has been steamrolling the competition with 10 of his 13 wins coming by way of submission.
Wiman has been making some noise himself, having gone 3-0 since his debut loss to Spencer “The King” Fisher nearly two years ago at UFC 60. Aside from his experience on The Ultimate Fighter 5, “Handsome” cut his teeth in Oklahoma’s Extreme Fighting League from 2004-05.
Both fighters are trying to climb a very tall ladder in a division that is teeming with exceptional talent. Names like Huerta, Edgar, Griffin, Florian and Lauzon (just to name a few), are all gunning for the right to be considered a title contender.
UFC Lightweight Grand Prix? Anyone?
But I digress. UFC 85 features the main event between light heavyweights Chuck Liddell and Rashad Evans, as well as a heavyweight showdown between Brandon Vera and Fabricio Werdum.
To check out the remainder of the rumored UFC 85 fight card click here.
25 Comments »
A LW Grand Prix would be crazy…
Huerta vs Diaz
Stevenson vs Edgar
Clay vs J-Lau
Kenny vs Griffin
BJ vs Danzig
Sherk vs Cory
Thaigo vs Din
..just to play around with some names.
ROFL!
Why even put Wiman in there? So he can cry about how much better he is post fight?
Grand Prix would be crazy!
I’m gonna go with Wiman on this one. He seems more hungry as of late.
Mania, Tavares is 13 and 1 inside the Octagon? I didn’t know he has had that many UFC fights.
[quote comment=”360180″]Mania, Tavares is 13 and 1 inside the Octagon? I didn’t know he has had that many UFC fights.[/quote]
He is had 4 UFC fights.
[quote comment=”360191″][quote comment=”360180″]Mania, Tavares is 13 and 1 inside the Octagon? I didn’t know he has had that many UFC fights.[/quote]
He is had 4 UFC fights.[/quote]
Still Tavares is a tough guy. This is another solid match up booked by Joe Silva. No complaints here, but if I was to nit-pick, I would say that this match up seems a little UFN-ish. Regardless it should be an exciting undercard match up,
This is a pretty good matchup. Thiago Tavarez looked invincible in his fight against Jason Black, and then he followed it up with a close fight, that was a Top 10 fight of the year with Tyson Griffin. But then he did not look very impressive against Omigawa.
After his win against Black, I had Tavarez tagged as “the next big thing in the LW division”. His standup and BJJ looked world class. In his last fight with Omigawa, his striking did not look anywhere near as crisp as it did against Black.
Matt Wiman has been looking better and better since his stint on TUF. Omigawa is actually a common opponent of these two fighters, and they both won by decision. Tavarez has fought the tougher competition (Griffin) and I think he will be favored in this fight. If he is only a slight favorite, I would see value in betting on him.
TYPO MANIA
“his record inside the Octagon to an impressive 13-1″
His overall MMA record is 13-1, think he’s 3-1 in the UFC. Sorry i’m being picky, bored at work.
Agreed this is a solid matchup.
Great match up, and I would love to see a Grand Prix in the Octagon!
[quote post=”5301″]UFC Lightweight Grand Prix? Anyone?[/quote]
Man I’ve been saying that for ages…one for the LHW division Too!!!
i surprised that tiago was offered another contract.during the last UFN J.Rogan mentioned that Tiago was on the last fight of his contract & that he may not get offered another contract becasuse of his lackluster preformance.IMO he didnt use his striking enough against Omigawa.he relied to much in his BJJ.
[quote comment=”360128″]A LW Grand Prix would be crazy…
Huerta vs Diaz
Stevenson vs Edgar
Clay vs J-Lau
Kenny vs Griffin
BJ vs Danzig
Sherk vs Cory
Thaigo vs Din
..just to play around with some names.[/quote]
thats only 14 fighters you need 2 more.
you forgot
Gray Maynard
Manny Gamburyan
Sam hands of stone Stout
i wolud put these 3 in and take out corey hill for a 16 man tourny.
WAR Tavares. I hope he comes back and dominates.
I like Wiman a lot. Since he got knocked out via flying knee by Spencer Fisher. That was a brawl but even though I am a fan I don’t know if he can handle Tavares. So I will pick Tavares and root for Wiman.
I love the thought of a Grand prix. I wish we could see more frequent fights like the Pride days. Some guys fought 7 times in one year and in UFC average 1-2 fights. I wonder if that is a money issue or a problem with the athletic comission.
im going with wiman, Tavares has look gun shy scince his loss, wiman will bring it
I think Wiman will be alright if he keeps the fight standing. I don’t like his chances if it goes to the ground. I think Tavares by submission 3rd round.
Hope 85 is on free TV! This is an awesome fight. Nice to see TUF5 guys getting big fighters Diaz vs Pelligrino, Maynard vs Edgar, Lauzon vs Florian, and this. That season really churned out some good fighters.
[quote comment=”360385″][quote comment=”360128″]A LW Grand Prix would be crazy…
Huerta vs Diaz
Stevenson vs Edgar
Clay vs J-Lau
Kenny vs Griffin
BJ vs Danzig
Sherk vs Cory
Thaigo vs Din
..just to play around with some names.[/quote]
thats only 14 fighters you need 2 more.
you forgot
Gray Maynard
Manny Gamburyan
Sam hands of stone Stout
i wolud put these 3 in and take out corey hill for a 16 man tourny.[/quote]
thanks. GPX complete. only if it can really happen.
UFC LW grand prix would be awesome! here’s some seeding Ideas for a 16 man field:
1st seed: BJ Penn
2nd: Sean Sherk
3rd: Frank Edgar
4th: Roger Huerta
5th: Kenny Florian
6th: Tyson Griffin
7th: Clay Guida
8th: Joe Stevenson
9th: Joe Lauzon
10th: Nate Diaz
11th: Thiago Tavares
12th: Kurt Pelligrino
13th: Din Thomas
14th: Spencer Fisher
15th: Gray Maynard
16th: Matt Wiman
wiman’s screwed…
“Handsome” Matt Wiman, has to be one of the worst nicknames in mma. Its up there with The “Manic Hispanic” Eddie Sanchez.
Question:
Worst nicknames in mma?
Matt Wiman has been bringing it his last couple fights. Tavares definitely looks shakey after that loss to Griffin.
Wiman continues his streak…
[quote comment=”360886″]”Handsome” Matt Wiman, has to be one of the worst nicknames in mma. Its up there with The “Manic Hispanic” Eddie Sanchez.
Question:
Worst nicknames in mma?[/quote]
come on THE MANIC HISPANIC is a awesome nickname
one of the worst has got to be J-Lau.
after Eddie strings some wins together he will quickly move up the rankings of a weak Hwt div. i hope he gets to fight some big name fighters. after all he did take a Cro-cop kick to the head without going down.this was a topic on sherdog radio yesterday.i agree with them that a nickname has to be more reconizable than your real name to be considered great.
eg. RAMPAGE
the ICEMAN
Cro-cop
and hopefully in the future the Manic Hispanic
[quote comment=”360886″]”Handsome” Matt Wiman, has to be one of the worst nicknames in mma. Its up there with The “Manic Hispanic” Eddie Sanchez.
Question:
Worst nicknames in mma?[/quote]
“FARMBOY”!
Tommy Speers
[quote comment=”362513″][quote comment=”360886″]”Handsome” Matt Wiman, has to be one of the worst nicknames in mma. Its up there with The “Manic Hispanic” Eddie Sanchez.
Question:
Worst nicknames in mma?[/quote]
“FARMBOY”!
Tommy Speers[/quote]
i always thought ” The thing of Rock and Rumble ” good get some votes.