Another New Jersey native has been added to the UFC’s upcoming FX 4 card set for this summer in Atlantic City.
Jimy Hettes (10-0), the undefeated 24-year-old featherweight phenom who impressed us all in his first two UFC bouts, trouncing TUF veterans Alex Caceres and Nam Phan, will join fellow New Jerseyans Dan Miller, Nick Catone and Rich Attonito on the June 22 card.
Main Card
Thiago Alves (170.5) vs. Martin Kampmann (170.5)
Joseph Benavidez (125.5) vs. Yasuhiro Urushitani (125.5)
Demetrious Johnson (125.5) vs. Ian McCall (125.5)
Constantinos Philippou (185.5) vs. Court McGee (184.5)
Preliminary Card
Aaron Rosa (205.5) vs. James Te Huna (206)
Nick Penner (203.5) vs. Anthony Perosh (205)
Cole Miller (146) vs. Steven Siler (146)
Kyle Noke (185) vs. Andrew Craig (185)
Jake Hecht (171) vs. T.J. Waldburger (170)
Mackens Semerzier (146) vs. Daniel Pineda (146)
Shawn Jordan (245.5) vs. Oli Thompson (235)
After the jump: FUEL TV’s “UFC on FX 2″ weigh-in special, hosted by Jay Glazer and Stephan Bonnar.
(After making his UFC featherweight debut Friday, Miller will finally be able to put his embarrassing past fighting as a morbidly obese fat man [above] behind him.)
Cole Miller is in Sydney, Australia cutting weight for the first time in years. The young UFC fighter has competed at lightweight (155 pounds) since he entered the organization in 2007, but before that time he often fought at 145 pounds.
The UFC didn’t used to have a 145-pound division and even after it purchased the WEC – which did feature lighter weight classes – Miller says he was intent on staying in the promotion in order to take advantage of its larger fight bonuses (which, incidentally, he’s won several of), so he stayed at lightweight.
But now the promotion has lighter weight divisions and this Friday Miller will once again return to fighting where he says he belongs: at featherweight.
(NOW we get why Kyle’s friends often refer to him as “The Poke” Noke.)
After collecting three straight stoppage victories in as many UFC contests, EliteXC and TUF 11 veteran Kyle Noke was quickly building up a reputation as one of the top up-and-comers in the middleweight division. Being one of the few successful Australian fighters to grace the UFC (sorry, Elvis), Noke carried a bit more pressure on his shoulders than the average TUF alum, especially when heading into his UFC Live 5 match against resurgent TUF 3 veteran Ed Herman. Unfortunately Noke (and therefore the Australian MMA community), would fall to a first round heel hook in that fight, placing all Aussie UFC hopes in the hands of a man nicknamed after an animal relative to Africa.
But fret not, ye Fosters enthusiasts, for Noke’s path to redemption will begin in the land from which he was birthed. Yes, “KO” recently announced that he will be taking on Jared Hamman at UFC on FX 2, which goes down at the Allphones Arena in Sydney, Australia. Hamman, whom we will forever be in debt to for knocking CB Dolloway out of the UFC, will also be looking to build up a win streak; he was most recently flattened in the first round by Constantinos Philippou at UFC 140. This match has yet to be confirmed by the UFC.
Join us after the jump for some juicy featherweight and bantamweight gossip…
(Brandao vs. Siler. Fight starts at the 1:09 mark. Props: IronForgesIron)
After the fiasco that followed the Akira/Neace fight last week, Team Mayhem coach Ryan Parsons wants to give Michael Bisping a piece of his mind. “You’re the kind of guy that can’t keep his motherfucking mouth shut,” Parsons tells him. “Which is why you’re the most hated fighter in the UFC. I get it now.”
“I earn a lot more money than you, motherfucker,” Bisping says, clearly a 1%’er.
“Go spit on somebody,” Parsons says. And so on. Bisping feels that Team Miller should take their loss like men, and that Parsons should fuck off.
The next fight has already been announced as Diego Brandao (Bisping’s #1 featherweight) vs. Steven Siler (Miller’s #4). Siler thinks that people don’t believe in his skills, but Team Bisping isn’t taking him lightly, especially because Brandao’s cardio is a little lacking during practice. Still, Bisping is excited to see what the half-crazy Brazilian can do.