UFC 146
- Thread starter Chuy Savedra
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Mark Hunt Out of UFC 146; Lavar Johnson Now Meets Stefan Struve
Mark Hunt has been forced to pull out of his UFC 146 fight against Stefan Struve due to a knee injury, MMA Fighting has learned from sources close to the fight. As a result, Struve will now face Lavar Johnson on less than two week's notice.
Johnson last fought just 12 days ago at UFC on FOX 3. He knocked out Pat Barry in the first round of their main card fight.
Hunt, a winner in his last three fights, has enjoyed a career renaissance in the UFC, so much so that there was a strong online movement to get him to replace Alistair Overeem against Junior dos Santos in the UFC 146 main event. As fate would have it, neither Overeem or Hunt will end up fighting on the card after all.
Both Struve and Johnson enter the fighting riding two-fight winnings streaks.
Mark Hunt has been forced to pull out of his UFC 146 fight against Stefan Struve due to a knee injury, MMA Fighting has learned from sources close to the fight. As a result, Struve will now face Lavar Johnson on less than two week's notice.
Johnson last fought just 12 days ago at UFC on FOX 3. He knocked out Pat Barry in the first round of their main card fight.
Hunt, a winner in his last three fights, has enjoyed a career renaissance in the UFC, so much so that there was a strong online movement to get him to replace Alistair Overeem against Junior dos Santos in the UFC 146 main event. As fate would have it, neither Overeem or Hunt will end up fighting on the card after all.
Both Struve and Johnson enter the fighting riding two-fight winnings streaks.
weigh-ins just started
http://mmajunkie.com/news/28878/watch-todays-ufc-146-weigh-ins-live-on-mmajunkie-com-at-7-p-m-et.mma
I'll edit in pics
hahaha Kingsbu was wearing a pink snoopy shirt and took his shorts off to reveal a pink speedo, and then put on a wrestling singlet for the staredown.
mayhem & munoz
http://mmajunkie.com/news/28878/watch-todays-ufc-146-weigh-ins-live-on-mmajunkie-com-at-7-p-m-et.mma
I'll edit in pics
hahaha Kingsbu was wearing a pink snoopy shirt and took his shorts off to reveal a pink speedo, and then put on a wrestling singlet for the staredown.
mayhem & munoz
didn't really diss it, he's just trying to get Struve to not take him down lol.
UFC 146's Johnson: 'Save the jiu-jitsu for jiu-jitsu tournaments; the UFC is for fights'
LAS VEGAS – Lavar Johnson (17-5 MMA, 2-0 UFC) hasn't really had the time to peruse the Stefan Struve (23-5 MMA, 7-3 UFC) library in the UFC.
Nevertheless, he's pretty sure what Struve will try to do when they meet at UFC 146, and he has a pretty simple plan to ensure that doesn't happen.
"I don't really have a gameplan except for just hit him in the mouth," Johnson said.
Struve vs. Johnson serves as the first fight on the pay-per-view main card of the event, which takes place Saturday at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Preliminary-card fights air on FX and stream on Facebook.
Struve has already told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) he's a better fighter than Johnson on the feet, but the fight is all but done if the two hit the mat.
There, he already has stats on his favor in that case: 15 opponents have tapped to one submission or another.
Johnson, meanwhile, has lost three of five fights by submission. He might have lost four had he not escaped the clutches of Pat Barry before escaping and taking revenge with a flurry of punches to earn a TKO at UFC on FOX 3.
It's in that performance, and others, that the Central California native might counter Struve's stat. When the towering Dutchman has lost inside the octagon, he's lost against big punchers such as Junior Dos Santos, Roy Nelson and Travis Browne. In each of them, he's lost within the first round.
And if ever there was an opponent with heavy hands and fast charge, it would be Johnson. Back-to-back first-round stoppages – both for the "Knockout of the Night" bonus – prove that.
In all likelihood, Struve knows this, and he'll work to survive the early storm and submit Johnson in later rounds, where Johnson has seldom been.
"We start off standing, so we'll see what happens," Johnson said. "If he gets me there, he gets me there. I think I should be able to get back up. Hopefully I don't have to go to the ground."
But this is where Johnson would like to make a plea. A self-serving one, but nonetheless.
"We're here to put on a show," he said. "Let's save the jiu-jitsu for the jiu-jitsu tournaments, I say. The UFC is for fights. So let's fight."
It's a nice idea to guys like him, and probably a good chunk of the crowd that typically show up at UFC events. A short notice replacement for the injured Mark Hunt, Johnson didn't have the luxury of a long camp with which to prepare an intricate game plan.
Thus, his plea to slug.
But MMA is more than just slugging, and an Ezekiel choke is just as valid as an elbow. Both will put you to sleep, and in the case of Johnson vs. Struve, it's a matter of who's first.
Like it always is.
UFC 146's Johnson: 'Save the jiu-jitsu for jiu-jitsu tournaments; the UFC is for fights'
LAS VEGAS – Lavar Johnson (17-5 MMA, 2-0 UFC) hasn't really had the time to peruse the Stefan Struve (23-5 MMA, 7-3 UFC) library in the UFC.
Nevertheless, he's pretty sure what Struve will try to do when they meet at UFC 146, and he has a pretty simple plan to ensure that doesn't happen.
"I don't really have a gameplan except for just hit him in the mouth," Johnson said.
Struve vs. Johnson serves as the first fight on the pay-per-view main card of the event, which takes place Saturday at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Preliminary-card fights air on FX and stream on Facebook.
Struve has already told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) he's a better fighter than Johnson on the feet, but the fight is all but done if the two hit the mat.
There, he already has stats on his favor in that case: 15 opponents have tapped to one submission or another.
Johnson, meanwhile, has lost three of five fights by submission. He might have lost four had he not escaped the clutches of Pat Barry before escaping and taking revenge with a flurry of punches to earn a TKO at UFC on FOX 3.
It's in that performance, and others, that the Central California native might counter Struve's stat. When the towering Dutchman has lost inside the octagon, he's lost against big punchers such as Junior Dos Santos, Roy Nelson and Travis Browne. In each of them, he's lost within the first round.
And if ever there was an opponent with heavy hands and fast charge, it would be Johnson. Back-to-back first-round stoppages – both for the "Knockout of the Night" bonus – prove that.
In all likelihood, Struve knows this, and he'll work to survive the early storm and submit Johnson in later rounds, where Johnson has seldom been.
"We start off standing, so we'll see what happens," Johnson said. "If he gets me there, he gets me there. I think I should be able to get back up. Hopefully I don't have to go to the ground."
But this is where Johnson would like to make a plea. A self-serving one, but nonetheless.
"We're here to put on a show," he said. "Let's save the jiu-jitsu for the jiu-jitsu tournaments, I say. The UFC is for fights. So let's fight."
It's a nice idea to guys like him, and probably a good chunk of the crowd that typically show up at UFC events. A short notice replacement for the injured Mark Hunt, Johnson didn't have the luxury of a long camp with which to prepare an intricate game plan.
Thus, his plea to slug.
But MMA is more than just slugging, and an Ezekiel choke is just as valid as an elbow. Both will put you to sleep, and in the case of Johnson vs. Struve, it's a matter of who's first.
Like it always is.