UFC on FOX 3: Nate Diaz vs. Jim Miller

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Tavares replaces injured Hallman, faces Ferguson at UFC on FOX 3

With Dennis Hallman injured and forced to withdraw from May's UFC on FOX 3 event, Thiago Tavares (17-4-1 MMA, 7-4-1 UFC) will now face Tony Ferguson (13-3 MMA, 3-0 UFC) in a lightweight contest.

Featuring a lightweight bout between Nate Diaz and Jim Miller, "UFC on FOX 3: Diaz vs. Miller" takes place May 5 at IZOD Center in East Rutherford, N.J.

Tavares looks to build on a pair of big wins over Sam Stout and Spencer Fisher. The Brazilian is now 4-1-1 in his past six fights, but the consecutive wins are his first such back-to-back results since 2007.

Meanwhile, Ferguson remains undefeated in the octagon after racking up three-straight wins over Yves Edwards, Aaron Riley and Ramsey Nijem. The winner of "The Ultimate Fighter 13" boasts six-straight wins overall and is 9-1 in his past 10 official outings.

The nature of Hallman's injury was not revealed, and a timetable has not yet been established for his return.

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UFC, FOX Content Sharing Spotlight With Floyd Mayweather on May 5

FOX will televise its third UFC card in less than a year on May 5, and for a second time they'll compete for headlines with one of boxing's biggest matches of the year.

UFC on FOX 3, headlined by Jim Miller vs. Nate Diaz, takes place on the same night as Floyd Mayweather vs. Miguel Cotto on pay-per-view. The UFC faced a similar scenario when UFC on FOX 1 aired on the same night as Manny Pacquaio vs. Juan Manuel Marquez last November.

Much like last November, the UFC event will be over before the boxing main events kicks off, and according to UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta, FOX doesn't mind sharing national spotlight with boxing's best.

"That's kind of FOX's deal," he recently said. "They do all the research; they're really smart guys. They like that fact that we're going to go on at the same night, but the window is different. Meaning, we'll be done before Floyd fights Cotto. And the last time that that happened was when Junior dos Santos and Cain Velasquez fought on the same night as Pacquaio and we peaked at over 9.9 or whatever million viewers (ed. note: the ratings actually peaked at 8.8 million viewers, a North American MMA record). The theory is that people are home. It's a great fight night; you're going to watch Pacquiao or whatever; you can turn on FOX, you can watch our fight; you'll have a great night.

"The reality is, not to piss any boxing guys off, but nobody watches those undercards anyway at the end of the day. So you can watch the UFC and switch over when it's done. But we do suffer from a press standpoint. He'll (Mayweather) hog the press."

Ironically, it appears as though boxing is starting to learn from its UFC counterparts, because familiar names like Shane Mosley, Canelo Alvarez and Carlos Quintana have been added to the Mayweather-Cotto undercard. Still, from a promotional standpoint, all the focus has been on the Mayweather-Cotto tilt.

Boxing purists have long argued that there is no connection between MMA and boxing fans, however, Fertitta, a long-time boxing fan himself, thinks otherwise.

"I think that they are pretty similar," he said. "I think if you like boxing, for the most part, you like mixed martial arts. I think that there is a bit of an age difference in the demographic, I think boxing generally skews older, but my personal belief, I think HBO always comes out and says, 'Oh, we did research. There's no correlation.' Really? That's interesting. When we have DirecTV and In Demand do research, they see a lot of correlation between who buys boxing and who buys the UFC. There's definitely a correlation there."

And that may be precisely why the UFC won't look to compete against Mayweather or Pacquiao on pay-per-view anytime soon, as they did three years ago when they aired UFC 103 on PPV on the same night as Mayweather vs. Marquez.

"Now, if you would ask me, I would never go head-to-head (with Mayweather or Pacquiao) in a pay-per-view. We tried that once and we got killed. But it's on free TV and people are already home."

Major boxing matches only garner national attention a few times a years when either Mayweather or Pacquaio fight. Of course, the fight everyone wants to see is Mayweather vs. Pacquaio, but Fertitta thinks the promoters involved are doing everything they can to not deliver that mega-fight for the fans.

"It's one of those things where they're fighting one or two times a year and people do care at the end of the day because they're all looking forward and hoping at one point they actually fight each other. Unfortunately for that sport, from a business standpoint based on the way it's structured, it makes more sense for guys like Mayweather and Mayweather Promotions and Bob Arum to keep milking the public over and over again because once they fight it's over, right? Unless they keep doing rematches. I mean, how many times are they going to resell Cotto and Mosley and all these guys? I think I bought that pay-per-view like three or four times, (and) it wasn't that good of a fight. Just get on with it. Make the fight. C'mon."

So while annual pay-per-view estimates suggest the UFC isn’t playing second fiddle to boxing anymore, on May 5, they’ll be content serving as the free appetizer to Mayweather's latest high-profile sparring match. Consider it one of the rare times the perpetual rivals compliment each other.

[Kemal]

Roland Delorme Replaces Johnny Bedford Against Nick Denis at UFC on FOX 3

Johnny Bedford's recent string of bad luck continues.

Bedford was scheduled to meet Nick Denis on the undercard of UFC on FOX 3, but according to Denis' manager Robin Black, Bedford recently pulled out of the fight due to an undisclosed injury. Instead, Denis will meet fellow Canadian Roland Delorme on the undercard of the May 5 event.

Bedford was supposed to face Mitch Gagnon on the undercard of UFC on FOX 2 in January, but the bout was scrapped after Gagnon couldn't get a work visa to enter the United States. Bedford (18-9-1) hasn't fought since defeating Louis Gaudinot at the TUF 14 Finale in December.

Denis (11-2), a native of Ottawa, ON, Canada, won his UFC debut in January when he defeated Joseph Sandoval via knockout in just 22 seconds. Delorme (7-1), of Winnipeg, MB, Canada, defeated Josh Ferguson via third-round rear-naked-choke at the TUF 14 Finale.

UFC on FOX 3, headlined by Nate Diaz vs. Jim Miller, takes place at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, N.J.

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Rousimar Palhares Says Sports Psychologist Will Make Difference Against Alan Belcher

There's no doubt Rousimar Palhares possesses the tools to become a title contender in the UFC's middleweight division.But can the world-class jiu-jitsu ace from Brazil put them all together and make good on his potential? That's the question that's followed him since a bizarre series of incidents in the Octagon.

In 2010, Palhares took his eyes off a fight with Nate Marquardt to complain to a referee, and was TKOd for his troubles. Last year, Palhares thought his fight with Dan Miller was waved off, and he scaled the Octagon to celebrate his apparent victory. The problem? The fight, which he ultimately won via decision, was still going.

Following the Miller incident, Palhares began seeing a sports psychologist. And heading into his UFC on FOX 3 main-card bout with Alan Belcher on Saturday night at the Izod Center in New Jersey, Palhares believes the results are going to pay off.

"Yeah he's helped me," Palhares said through interpreter and manager Alex David. "He's helped so that when I get into a fight, I get focused on the fight and I don't get distracted by anything else."

If the sports psychology sessions pay off, it could be bad news for the rest of the middleweight division. Palhares, a silver medalist at last year's ADCC world championships, has claimed four of his past five UFC wins via forms of leg locks. He's won six of his past seven bouts overall, with his mental hiccup against Marquardt his only loss in that span.

Belcher, for his part, isn't buying into the notion Palhares doesn't have his act together.

"He's hardcore, man," said Belcher. "He's an amazing grappler, one of the best of the world. ... If I don't keep my focus, if I get lazy or something, that's how he's going to beat me."

As far as UFC boss Dana White is concerned, Palhares has tremendous upside, comparing him to some of the greatest jiu-jitsu practitioners MMA has ever seen.

"It seems like as soon as the fight gets to the ground, he submits guys," White said. "You talk about some of the best submission guys in the UFC, Frank Mir, [Antonio Rodrigo] Nogueira, the list goes on and on. [Demian] Maia, everyone was saying how awesome Maia was on the ground. There's never been another guy since the early days when nobody knew jiu-jitsu and Royce Gracie was around that, no matter what, when it goes to the ground, you're getting submitted."

That's the type of praise that can add pressure to a fighter. But Palhares continues to see his sports psychologist, and he's gotten comfortable enough with the situation to joke about it.

"My head's right here on my shoulders, thank god."

[Kemal]

Hector Lombard Could Be Fast-Tracked To Title Shot With Win Over Brian Stann

The stakes for Hector Lombard's debut have just gone up significantly.

The Cuban-born fighter was recently signed to the UFC and announced as Brian Stann's opponent for the UFC on FOX 4 show in August. His debut comes against a top 10 middleweight for a very specific reason. If he wins, he'll likely vault to the front of the line and become the middleweight division's top contender, UFC president Dana White said.

"Yeah, it would make sense," White said on Thursday from the Beacon Theatre after a UFC on FOX 3 press conference. "The guy has won, I think it’s 25 fights in a row or something like that. If he comes right into the UFC, main events and knocks out Stann, it makes sense."

Stann could move into such a position so quickly particularly if current champ Anderson Silva beats Chael Sonnen for a second time when the true square off at UFC 148 in July. Silva has already beaten several top middleweights, including Sonnen, Vitor Belfort and Yushin Okami, so Lombard would offer a fresh challenger.

Lombard is 31-2-1 with 1 no contest in his career, and hasn't tasted defeat since a November 2006 split decision loss to Gegard Mousasi. In fact both of his career losses have come in close split decisions (the other is to Akihiro Gono).

Though some have been critical of his list of opponents, there's no arguing with the results, as Lombard has finished 24 of his 31 wins. His last fight came in November, when he knocked out veteran Trevor Prangley in the second round of their Bellator 58 fight.

Lombard was the reigning champion of Bellator's middleweight division when his contract expired.

The UFC had previously tried to sign Lombard to their roster, but that deal in the fall of 2007 came undone due to visa issues.

Ironically, if Lombard catapults to a title shot in only his second fight, he will pull off the same trick done by Silva in 2006 when he beat Chris Leben to advance to a championship bout with Rich Franklin.

While Lombard comes in on an impressive run, Silva boasts the longest winning streak in UFC history, having won 14 straight.

[XanaduNL]

Hier een 10 minuten scrum met Dana White, inclusief wat lovende woorden over Lucia Rijker (3:05):
http://www.mmafighting.com/2012/5/3/...-presser-scrum

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