96 Degree heat often means some generator ten blocks away is going to explode and mysteriously make my cable go out. It happens every summer on the first hot day of the year, and it always leaves me with nothing to do all day. I spent the past two days wrestling with my DVR to cope with the power outages in NYC so that I can finally record re-runs of Sunday’s True Blood and Entourage episodes. After heading to Starbucks and reading that New York still hasn’t passed the MMA bill, I decided to ditch the complimentary newspaper and stare aimlessly out the window for the next few hours. Unfortunately, people-watching gets old and there are only so many cups of coffee you can drink before your heart starts palpitating like one of Ubereem’s past nine opponents.
When your highlight reel consists of sending the greatest K-1 Strikers to the emergency room on flamboyantly-colored stretchers, it’s hard to find someone to step up and say ‘I got next’. Ubereem knows boredom well, and to keep busy he accepts fights anytime/anyplace with anybody willing to fight him. The last time Ubereem accepted an MMA bout in DREAM on short notice, most of the world was wondering if Kazuyuki Fujita would survive the severe concussion delivered via devastating 1st round knee to the head. That same knee ended Ewerton Teixeira K-1 Heavyweight Grand Prix hopes. To remind the world that he remembers how to knock people out with his fists, he made short work of Brett Rogers while he awaited the winner of Fedor and Fabricio Werdum. It’s been three days, and even if you’ve been living under a rock (hopefully one with air conditioning and working cable TV), you’ve probably seen the clip of Fedor getting caught in Werdum’s triangle at least a dozen times. You may even read that Fabricio wants to offer Fedor a rematch in Russia, Rocky Balboa style. Initially, the winner of that fight was supposed to determine the #1 contender for the Strikeforce heavyweight belt, but the moment Scott Coker entertained the thought of offering Fedor an immediate rematch with Fabricio Werdum, Ubereem (32-11) decided he’d verbally accept a fight with Ricco Rodriguez (42-11) at Dream 15 on July 10 (yes, that’s next Saturday) to return the favor.
Although this fight is being put together at the last minute, Ricco Rodriguez may be the biggest threat to Ubereem’s win-streak outside the UFC and Strikeforce. Ricco has been steadily making a comeback from his glory days in the UFC and currently riding a seven-fight win-streak of his own. At age 32, Rodriguez will enter this fight with a considerable size disadvantage, but let’s face it, the “Demolition Man” makes most people look like hobbits and what he Ricco “Suave” lacks in size, he makes up for with a plethora of experience including notable wins over Randy Couture, Jeff Monson, Andre Arlovski, Paul Buentello, and some dude named George Bush back in 2008 according to his Wikipedia page. There were rumors of Ricco striving for a comeback to the UFC and a win over Ubereem will certainly put him on Dana White’s radar. It might even generate another qwerty-based smiley face on Twitter, which these MMA experts have mixed feelings about.
Whatever ends up happening between now and DREAM 15, we certainly hope this doesn’t inspire Alistair to go AWOL from Strikeforce for another two years. Hopefully by then, my electricity will be restored and Sloan is still on the cast of Entourage. The moment she gets cut from that show, I’m canceling HBO. [Source]
Update: It looks like Ken Pavia, Ricco’s agent, has the contract but De Jong, Overeem’s agent, does not. Fight is officially off. Bummer
