Light heavyweights Andre Gusmao (5-1) and Antonio Mendes (15–3) will look to score their first wins inside the Octagon when the two clash at UFC 93 at the O2 Arena in Dublin, Ireland, on January 17, according to WrestlingObserver.com.
Gusmao was undefeated until he locked horns with the up-and-comer Jon Jones at UFC 87: “Seek and Destroy” in August, losing via unanimous decision in his debut for the promotion (and enduring some low blows that may or may not have been illegal).
Prior to joining the UFC, Gusmao competed in the International Fight League (IFL). In fact, his first round knockout win (knee) of Mike Ciesnolevicz sealed the victory for the Renzo Gracie-led New York Pitbulls at the 2007 Team Championship Final in September 2007.
Mendes, too, was on a nice run before he made his Octagon debut against Thiago Silva at UFC 84: “Ill Will” back in May. The Brazilian lost via submission (strikes) in the first round. Before the loss, Mendes was on an 11-fight win streak, competing primarily in his native Brazil and throughout Europe.
Rich “Ace” Franklin (24-3) and Dan “Hollywood” Henderson (23-7) — two of the world’s most elite 205-pound fighters — will headline UFC 93. Also featured is the return of Mauricio “Shogun” Rua as he takes on UFC pioneer Mark “The Hammer” Coleman.
To check out the latest UFC 93 fight card and rumors click here.
27 Comments »
Seriously, why does Mark Coleman still fight. I am not even a bit interested in watching him fight shogun! I think shogun deserves to fight someone better and someone that will help him move up the ladder. These guys gotta get out of the sport, Shamkock, Mark the Rubber Mallet need to quit and stop wasting out time. I bet that coleman will get injured or do somthing stupid like shamrock and not even fight. Also Hendo vs Franklin is a no brainer. I bet Hendo takes him out round 1. How I know? Because we saw what happend to franklin vs silva and then we saw how Hendo took that fight. He lost due to a mistake and a good shot by sivla, but he didnt get killed 2 times!!
i agree about the coleman fight but shogun does need a tune up fight being off so long and going through 2 acl reconstructions plus there is some bad blood because of how there last fight ended.
roy, Shogun should be careful what he wishes for! What happens to Shogun if he loses to Coleman? And if Shogun wins, so what, it was Coleman!
secretly (not anymore) i hope coleman pulls a groin and they insert stephan bonnar in. i know that he is slated to fight jon jones, but that could easily be changed. bonnar is a game opponent and should be able to provide shogun with a stern enough challenge without too much risk. (if shogun is his old self).
jv i don’t see shogun begging for this fight or real asking for it, i think it was the fight they gave him of course he probally wants some revenge so he is not going to turn it down but i do agree with you a loss to coleman would be horrible for him especially for the fans who real don’t know him other than the forrest fight and a win will not help him in the rankings but will help him get back on track. bw i agree that would be the best scenario.
b.w. Bonnar would be a way better opponent! Coleman hasnt fought in 2yrs. Bonnar is atleast on a 2 fight win streak and only been out for about a year.
Keep in mind that Shogun does NOT turn down fights with anyone! whoever THE ufc ASKS HIM TO fight he fights! The UFC wants to get him a win under his belt and I for 1 have no problem with it!
Enjoy the Massacre and stop Bitching, FOCKERS!!!
by the way, Mendes vs. Gusmao will be a very good fight!
no complaints, i know the ufc is just trying to protect their investment in shogun (in contrast to some that think dana just signed all those pride fighters to lose), but i would still rather see shogun/bonnar from a fans perspective. it’s not even close to being the 1rst time the ufc has given a star fighter a gimme fight after a loss (too many to name). and yes gusmao/mendes should be a good fight.
No MMA math please. When one guy is known for his superior striking and the other is known for his wrestling you should realize they don’t fight the same way.
me neither…Coleman is handpicked for Shogun…he’s not on roids anymore so has no chance of winning
u seems to have no knowledge of mma
shogun fighting coleman is a great thing for both parties. the first fight ended because shogun broke his arm. if shogun beats coleman this time, which he should be able to, he will get a lot of publicity and fans in the US. not that many knows who shogun is here in america. if coleman beats shogun, then dana will sell him as one of the top dog because he beat one of the best lhw in the world.
as of hendo and franklin. its better to have it at 205 rather than 185 but it should be at 185. at 205 if hendo wins, they will do a rematch of hendo and anderson, if hendo loses it really doesnt effect the 185 division, but instead pushing rich franklin into the contendership picture at 205
anybody can win or lose on any given day, thats like saying rampage beat chuck twice, and wandy owns rampage twice, so that means wandy will own chuck… but wrong.
Jon Fitch vs. Dong Hyun Kim is apparently taking place on this card aswell.
nice, this card is getting STACKED this is way better than 91 “the biggest PPV ever” and it may even be free!
Fitch vs. Stun Gun should be an amazing match up!
im suprised you werent all over that news john
i think fitch will dominate the donger.
This card looks to be shaping up pretty well. im really liking this fight as well. I will have to go with Mendes int his one. Dude has some mean headkicks. If the Fitch Hyun Kim fight is true, that should be an okay matchup aswell. I’ll be taking Fitch of course. Hendo Franklin is a dream fight for me, and many other mma fans. Really close one to call, but i will have to go with Henderson. I personaly am pumped for this card.
Andre had problems with the low level striking of that lanky black guy, hes defintly gunna get ko’d by a head kick here.
Andre Gusmao lost the Black Belt Super HW gold match via RNC at the 2008 Pan Ams to a guy by the name Misha Cirkunov who trains out of Xtreme Couture in Toronto and is associated with Tap Star (Mark Laimon’s gym) a few weekends back in NY. Keep an eye on Misha, this guy will probably get an invite to the Abu Dhabi’s mid 09′ - in case anyone cares - cheers.
http://www.graciemag.com/news/151/ARTICLE/12034/2008-10-06.html
about 10 pics down on the link
Good looking out.
i hope mendes gets the V.
The best 4 pound for pound fighters and close seconds in the world are
Fedor with Arlovski comming in second
Miguel torres
Anderson Silva
Urija Faber
Just by looking at the two guys pics it looks like a mismatch in Gusmao’s favor.
So after Shogun whips Coleman, where does that put him? Seems like backwards logic to me. Some considered Shogun Top 3 LHW maybe the best, he loses to the next LHW Champ (and grants him a title shot) and now he’s fighting an old man who doesn’t even fight anymore. Not to mention I still think he’s way up in the top 10, and he’s still mid-20’s! Shittty for him.
Mendes didnt look that bad against silva in his last fight, he had him rocked twice. I think he could probably fight at 185, he doesnt look like a true lhw.
Mendes didnt look that bad against silva in his last fight, he had him rocked twice. I think he could probably fight at 185, he doesnt look like a true lhw.