Kevin Iole reveals in latest Yahoo!Sports mailbag that up-and-coming UFC light heavyweight star John Jones declined a slot on the upcoming UFC 114 card as a fill-in for Forrest Griffin against Antônio Rogério Nogueira because he didn't feel that one month was enough time to prepare for the fight. Jones explained that he hadn't been in the gym since his win over Brandon Vera a month and a half ago at UFC LIVE: Vera vs. Jones in Broomfield, CO.
Brilz (18-2-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) has been quietly heating up as a light-heavyweight prospect, most recently scoring a unanimous decision win over Eric Schafer at UFC on Versus: Vera vs. Jones. His only loss in his last 15 fights was a decision against Eliot Marshall last September, and he also holds career wins over Tim Boetsch, Brad Morris, Jason MacDonald, and Alex Schoenauer. Of course, holding his own against a world-class 205'er like Lil' Nog on less than a month's notice will be a tall order, but at the very least, Brilz is tough enough to avoid being steamrolled. As long as Nogueira stays on the card, we can't really complain...
The loss of Griffin vs. Nogueira is an unfortunate hit for UFC 114, which coincides with the UFC's second Fan Expo — but the lineup is still nicely-stacked; you can check it out after the jump. We'll update you when we know more on Forrest's injury, and if a replacement steps up to face Lil' Nog.
(I know 114 is more than a month away, but this fan-made pre-fight video by KirbyLovesTacos got me excited for two reasons: A) The fight between Forrest and Lil' Nog is going to be a slugfest and B) he used Hendrix in the clip)
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The last few times I've posted my rankings of the Top 10 light heavyweights in mixed martial arts, I've heard from readers who insisted that I had Gegard Mousasi too low. It turns out I was ranking Mousasi too high, and not giving enough credit to the man who thoroughly whipped him on Saturday night, Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal.
Like most MMA fans, I questioned whether Lawal was ready for a fighter of Mousasi's considerable talents. But in reality Lawal showed that he has incredible strength and great takedowns, and he makes my list of the sport's best light heavyweights, which is below.
Popular former UFC light-heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin will be unable to compete at UFC 114 due to injury, according to several published reports.
Griffin, who was scheduled to face Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, reportedly injured his shoulder, forcing him to pull out of the event, which is to be held on May 29 in Las Vegas.
When Forrest Griffin had to pull out of his UFC 114 co-main event with Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, I hoped the UFC would replace Griffin with Jon Jones in a fight that would have matched the most impressive up-and-comer in the light heavyweight division with one of the divisions most accomplished veterans.
Instead the UFC has decided to put Nogueira in the Octagon with someone who won't get fans quite so excited.
If the UFC really wants to give fans a great fight on May 29, and really wants to put together the kind of matchup that can separate the contenders from the pretenders in the light heavyweight division, it will put Nogueira in the Octagon with Jon Jones.
When UFC matchmaker Joe Silva first contacted Jason Brilz about filling in at UFC 114 on four weeks' notice, Brilz assumed they were talking about a fight on the preliminary card. Maybe fellow light heavyweight Luis Cane had gotten injured and had to pull out of his bout with Cyrille Diabate. Maybe it was the other way around.
Regardless, he told Silva, he was up for the challenge.
"I was planning on running a triathlon this summer with my dad, so I'm in shape," said Brilz. "I've been working on some stuff in the gym. I thought, hey this gives me four weeks to concentrate on it. My girls are still in school right now, so yeah, I can do that."
It's been a long road to the top for Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. He was one of the UFC's most celebrated acquisitions in 2007, but he lost his only fight in the Octagon that year, to Forrest Griffin. Then he sat out all of 2008 with a knee injury, and his 2009 started with a victory over Mark Coleman that was derided by many fans because he ran out of steam late in the fight, and ended with a controversial loss to Lyoto Machida.
Now, in 2010, he has knocked Machida out, earning the UFC light heavyweight belt in his fifth fight in the Octagon. He has also earned the top spot in our latest ranking of the Top 10 light heavyweights in MMA, which is below.
Nogueira talked about having to deal with a late change in opponent due to Forrest Griffin's injury, not looking past the relatively unknown Brilz and whether he sees any similarities between this fight and his 2007 fight against Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou.
LAS VEGAS -- Antonio Rogerio Nogueira was ready for his breakout performance in the US. He was ready for the big audience and the big hype that fighting Forrest Griffin would bring, until it all went away. Griffin got hurt, withdrew from the fight, and Nogueira waited to hear who the UFC could round up.
When he got the call about his UFC 114 replacement, Nogueira and the rest of his team had little idea of just exactly who exactly Jason Brilz is.
Brilz, who took the biggest fight of his career on four weeks' notice when Forrest Griffin pulled out of the fight with Nogueira, stunned everyone by going toe-to-toe with Nogueira both on the feet and on the ground for 15 minutes before losing a very close split decision that left the crowd booing.
LAS VEGAS -- This is the UFC 114 live blog for Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Jason Brilz, a light heavyweight bout on tonight's pay-per-view card from the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Brilz fills in for the injured Forrest Griffin and will look to beat the odds against Nogueira.
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