UFC
Lorenzo Fertitta Q&A: Velasquez vs. Mir, Ortiz vs. Griffin III in the works
Quite active on Twitter last night was UFC co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta, who in addition to answering on several fan questions, confirmed multiple high-profile match-ups planned for 2012.
Opening the floor to questions from his 76,000-plus followers (@lorenzofertitta), Fertitta provided information on a variety of topics, including plans to book Cain Velasquez vs. Frank Mir, Tito Ortiz vs. Forrest Griffin III, and a target date for the Heavyweight title clash between Junior dos Santos and Alistair Overeem.
According to Fertitta, the highly anticipated Heavyweight showdown between division champion dos Santos and top contender Overeem is currently in the works for Memorial Day weeked in Las Vegas.
Awaiting the winner of that match-up could possibly be the fighter who emerges victorious from Velasquez vs. Mir. With the AKA product just one bout removed from losing the strap to dos Santos and Mir currently riding a three-fight win streak, it's a match that may very likely serve as a title eliminator.
Ortiz, meanwhile, has been vocal about his intentions to hang-up the gloves after making one final octagon appearance. It now appears he will get his wish in the form of a rubber-match with Forrest Griffin. Currently split 1-1 after their first two encounters, each fighter has picked up a split decision victory over the other. Ortiz came out on top back in 2006, while Griffin got the nod in 2009.
In addition to the aforementioned match-ups, below are highlights from Fertitta's late night Q&A:
• Described a potential "superfight" between Lightweight Champion Frankie Edgar and Featherweight kingpin Jose Aldo as a "good idea."
• In response to Diaz's failed drug test, he admitted to being "a sap for real fighters," and indicated that the former Strikeforce champ would not be released. "Really like the kid just needs to get it together," said Fertitta.
• Confimed Dominick Cruz vs. Urijah Faber III for July 7th in Las Vegas. Added that Rich Franklin's return is also possible for this event.
• Carlos Condit's next fight is yet to be determined. Unsure whether or not he will defend the interim Welterweight title or await GSP's return.
• Was complimentary of UFC 143 "KO of the Night" winner, Stephen "Wonderboy" Thompson.
• Expressed interest in signing Bellator Middleweights Hector Lombard and Alexander Shlemenko.
• Stated that the UFC would still possibly sign Fedor Emelianenko for the right price.
• Responding to a potential "superfight" between Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva and Light Heavyweight champ Jon "Bones" Jones, Fertitta said, "Maybe."
Photo: Francis Specker
exactly what needs to be done! Reply 3 months ago
Who is their right mind is interested in that fight?
Velasquez vs mir on the other hand. That's interesting. Reply 3 months ago
I think it's a good match up. I'd also say Griffin vs. Bonnar III, given that it would give Stephan a chance to get one of those losses to Forrest back, and he's good enough now I think he might be able to. Reply 3 months ago
Neither of them are in the title hunt so this is a great match-up for Ortiz to retire on. Reply 3 months ago
Werdum vs Mir is a must!!
and Cain vs Fedor would be epic also Couture vs Fedor would be
a dream fight , one that shoulda happen since 2007. Reply 3 months ago
Forrest vs. Tito III = c'mon Reply 3 months ago
and yea, after saying they'd sign fedor he says 'for the right price', which means they don't want to pay him a lot anymore, so carry on dreaming its not happening Reply 3 months ago
Wears a patch on his right eye and loves Parrots. Reply 3 months ago
he's called John. Reply 3 months ago
chris lebem vs wanderlei 2 when he returns from suspension (2 bangers)
Aldo vs edgar (speed vs speed)
Chuck liddel vs tito for the last fight would be ****in awesome...come out of retirement Chuck for one last beating of tito
forest griffin vs retirement
wonderboy vs dana white
these are the fights i want to see Reply 3 months ago
Silva VS Jones would definitely be a super fight everyone would die to see. I feel the further this fight gets pushed back the better chances Jones would have. A huge benefit factor would be Silva fighting Jones before Jones becomes more experienced and masters an impenetrable fighting style that no one can break, given his unique size and build, just like Anderson Silva has built against his opponents. In the event, I'm going to have to choose Silva for my personal pick. Seeing Silva retire unbeaten would be an amazing achievement. But seeing Jones defeating the legend, the one and only, worlds best Anderson Silva would be pretty epic also.
I think the best news of all is the fact that the UFC is still open to Fedor. I hope some how, some way this comes to a merge. I'm a huge Fedor fan. Even if Fedor signed with UFC and lost 5 in a row, it would be amazing just to see him in the UFC period. Reply 3 months ago