UFC 153 takes place October 13 at HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro.
Initially the co-headliners were scheduled to be UFC featherweight champion Jose “Junior” Aldo vs Erik “New Breed” Koch and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs Glover Teixeira.
But then began the so-called “injury time”. Curiously Aldo was expected to face Erik Koch on July 21, 2012 at UFC 149. However, Jose Aldo was forced out of the bout because of an injury and the bout was postponed October 13, 2012 at UFC 153. On August 31, it was announced that Koch was forced out of the match with another injury and replaced by Frankie Edgar. Then on September 11, Aldo himself was also forced to pull out of the bout with a foot injury. And the bad luck was only at the beginning!
A few days after Aldo’s forfeit, even the other main event lost a protagonist: Quinton “Rampage” Jackson was forced off the card due to an elbow injury.
UFC president, Dana White, couldn’t believe it. “It was terrible,” White said. “It was the worst day of my life. We’ve gone through rough periods with injuries. It’s crazy. The Achilles’ heel we have now are the injuries.”
But then a (THE) Brasilian Jiu-Jitsu master came to save the situation (and the poor Dana): Anderson “The Spider” Silva. He is the current UFC Middleweight Champion, the promotion’s longest reigning champion and holds the longest winning and title defense streak in UFC history, with 15 consecutive wins and 10 title defenses.
Silva (32-4 MMA, 15-0 UFC) decided to move up a weight class for a non-title fight with light heavyweight Stephan Bonnar (14-7 MMA, 8-6 UFC).
On the other side Fabio Maldonado (18-5 MMA, 1-2 UFC) stepped in to fight Teixeira (18-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC), giving the card another respectable fight.
Dana White now can be happy: “The fights that we’re making kill it, and the events are off the charts,” he said. “But when [a fight] falls off and you have to scramble to fix it … the fact we’re still having a show, the fact the greatest fighter of all time steps up and takes the main event spot, it’s the thing that makes me continue to love this sport.”
Now the situation seems to be ok, but Rio de Janeiro is still far away. And the misfortune is always around the corner…
Event: UFC 153: Silva vs Bonnar
Date: 2012-10-13
Where: Hsbc Arena, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Video UFC 153 Silva vs Bonnar trailer:
