Heavyweights Gabriel Gonzaga (8-3) and Justin McCully (8-3-2) are penciled in to tangle at UFC 86: “Jackson vs. Griffin” at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, on July 5, according to MMAWeekly.com.
Gonzaga is on a two-fight skid since smashing Mirko Cro Cop at UFC 70: “Nations Collide” with a devastating fight-ending head kick back in April 2007.
He earned a title shot against then-division champion, Randy Couture, which he lost via technical knockout (strikes) in round three at UFC 74: “Respect.” “Napao” then failed to avenge the first loss of his career to Fabricio Werdum, losing to the Brazilian jiu-jitsu player via technical knockout just after two rounds at UFC 80: “Rapid Fire” earlier this year.
It’s been quite a fall from grace for the Team Link member — he was being touted as the next big thing in the heavyweight division after his upset of Cro Cop. Gonzaga will have his chance to get back on track against “The Insane One.”
McCully has not competed in more than one year. In his most recent fight at UFC Fight Night 9, McCully outpointed Antoni Hardonk on all three judges scorecards en route to a unanimous decision win.
Even though he has not seen any action since April 2007, McCully has been linked to possible match ups against Cheick Kongo and Frank Mir while on hiatus. However, the Team Punishment camp member just returned from a USO tour in Iraq when the Kongo bout was proposed and the Mir fight was scratched when the former champion was tapped to coach on the next season of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF).
Gonzaga and McCully share strengths (jiu-jitsu), which makes this a tough fight for McCully. That’s because Gonzaga more than likely has the tighter ground game, as well as marked edge in the stand up.
But as we all know anything can and often does happen in mixed martial arts. That’s the reason the fighters fight in the fights.
To check out the latest UFC 86 card click here.
25 Comments »
gonzaga will eat his heart.
am I the only one who feels GG is way over rated? I like him too, but the cro cop win was lucky, then a couple losses in a row. I don’t know, maybe I’m crazy!
Good match,, GG is better than he has looked,(Two looses in two fights). McCully is better than his record. I see Gonzaga, not even close.
Glad to see Gabe again. Heck, I’m just glad to hear anything about him. He disappeared after his loss to Werdum. I couldn’t even find a post fight interview! Hopefully he makes another run for the title. I think the only two that can beat him have beaten him.
bas saying that kimbo should’ve lost the fight..
“People ask me if the fight should have been stopped at the end in the second round, I say YES because those are the rules, it should have been stopped because Kimbo didn’t do anything to improve his situation. But I think what made the ref NOT do it was the fact that Kimbo was giving his thumbs up the whole time to let the referee know that he was OK.
This was the refs decission, not Kimbo’s.”
http://basrutten.tv/newskimbo.htm
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weoweoweo.deviantart.com
Who gives a shit about KIMBO!!??!! I saw the fight and I think he has VERY little skills. I could give 2 shits about KIMBO. He is nothing!! Gonzaga would KILL him.. Enough about KIMBO. He sucks!!!!!!!!!
i actually agree that he is nothing and GG or even any other UFC lower tier HW fighter would kill him haha. i just found it funny that even his trainer thought that he lost the fight. elite xc is crap and doesnt want their boy to lose, the end.
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http://weoweoweo.deviantart.com/
go gonzaga, this is your another chance,
Gotta do something with the heavyweight division. Giving Gonzaga a easy McCully to get him a win under his belt so he can get back up there for a title push..
McCully looks quite douche-tastic in that pic…
war gonzaga
you guys ready to be 100 to win 30? lol
huh?
Last Chance Big Guy.
This is insulting toward GG! I would rather quit MMA and work fast food then take a fight with McCully. Pathetic!!
well theyve got to get GG some wins. i’d think that brock lesnar would get the same level of opponents if he still loses to herring. the UFC’s HW are starting to get thinner thats why they cant lose both of them.
http://weoweoweo.deviantart.com/
Can’t believe they waste Gonzaga on a guy like McCully. Is McCully the Bisping of the heavyweight division?
G.G. should be fighting kongo about right now, but in this case im happy he’s fighting mcCully because i know he will own him and send his ass packing. bisping? mcCully is a boring laynpray fighter and i dont see the comparison to bisping, who is anything but boring. brash and cocky maybee, but not boring, i dont get the comparisonof the two?
If McCully’s last win was outpointing Antoni Hardonk, I don’t see how Gonzaga loses this fight. I think GG needs this fight to get his confidence and swag back. The world knows he has the power and ground skills to be a champion. He’s 28 years old. He lost to champion Randy Couture’s (broke his forearm) and a very game Werdum. Nothing to be ashamed of.
Honestly, if Gonzaga is on his “A” game, there isn’t a HW I believe he couldn’t beat.
Gonzaga used to be my favourite fighter in all MMA (starting from the beautiful armbar against marrero) but his conditioning is ridiculous, all he does in training is kick the damn pads.. and the way he gives his back to people (couture and verdum) is amateurish..
I have faith in his trainer marco alvan, I hope he did something drastic after his last loss, he looked very upset after the fight..
I like Gonzaga as a fighter as a lot too. He generates a A LOT of power in his strikes and his BJJ is just awesome for a big man. I’m still surprised he lost to Werdum. Anyway, if I had to put money on it, it’d be on GG. I hope he climbs the ladder quick.
Gonzaga is going to (cro-cop) kick that smile off of that dudes face.
I still think Gonzaga would beat Werdum most times. He did hit his head pretty hard going for that take down…..but That might just be me.
this is bad news dammit!!!!!!
War Justin McCully. I don’t see how McCully loses this fight. Gonzaga is lost to old Randy Couture and Werdum.