Paul Buentello

(Any man who can come out looking like Frankenstein and laugh it off is okay by us.)

Despite our pleas to see Dutch beanstalk Stefan Struve take on the UFC's shortest heavyweight in Pat Barry, Struve is now official as the replacement for the injured Todd Duffee against Paul Buentello at UFC 107 in December.  While it's not the David vs. Goliath fight we were hoping for (Buentello is 6'2", which isn't funny at all), there's still the young punk (21-year-old Struve) vs. grizzled old veteran (Buentello's 35) angle. 

Buentello is returning to the UFC after wins in both of Affliction's events, first against Gary Goodridge and then against Kiril "Little Fedor on Steroids" Sidelnikov.  The last time Buentello fought in the Octagon was February of 2006, when he beat Gilbert Adana via TKO at UFC 57.  The very next night, on another continent, Struve competed in his fourth pro MMA bout at the "Staredown City" event in Oostzaan, Holland.  He defeated Murat Bourekba via disqualification.  When Buentello made his MMA debut in April of 1997, Struve had just recently celebrated his ninth birthday.  Should be an interesting scrap.       

"That was an appetizer, Dana. Let me eat."

So said undefeated American Top Team prospect Todd Duffee after his seven-second storming of Tim Hague at UFC 102. It was one of the most fearsome debuts in UFC history, and Duffee made it clear afterwards that he wanted to get right back into the cage to show fans what he's really capable of. And it looks like the UFC has found him a suitable challenge for his follow-up performance.

MMA Junkie is reporting that Duffee (5-0) will return at UFC 107 (December 12th, Memphis) to take on seasoned striker Paul "The Headhunter" Buentello (24-10). Buentello previously had a four-fight stint in the UFC in 2005-2006, where he scored stoppage wins over Justin Eilers, Kevin Jordan, and Gilbert Aldana, but suffered a knockout loss to Andrei Arlovski in a heavyweight title fight at UFC 55. Following his exit from the Octagon, he went 3-1 in Strikeforce, with his sole loss coming at the hands (and knees) of Alistair Overeem in a fight for Strikeforce's heavyweight title. Now, the Headhunter is coming off back-to-back victories in Affliction over Gary Goodridge (via decision) and Kirill Sidelnikov (via third-round TKO).

(Photos courtesy of Sherdog.)

If you want an idea of how not-seriously Tim Sylvia was taking his fight against Ray Mercer, check out the above photos, which show Timmy entering the cage looking like Jamie Varner's fat uncle. He's as bloated as the Montauk Monster, and clearly hadn't shaved his face or stomach in over a week. And goddamn did Ray make him pay for it. Sylvia now has the unenviable task of losing 45 pounds in a month-and-a-half for a scheduled "Affliction: Trilogy" bout against Paul Buentello on August 1st — though Buentello now wonders if the fight will even happen. Way to go, tubby.

UPDATE, 3:12 p.m. ET: Tim Sylvia has officially been taken off the 8/1 Affliction card.

(Yeah, the doughy dude on the left. Crazy. Photo courtesy of Esther Lin.)

Bad news via MMA Mania:

You may remember Sidelnikov as "Baby Fedor," the trusted Emelianenko training partner who went into a heavyweight match against Paul Buentello at Day of Reckoning looking like he should be competing at middleweight, and got raped. Between his performance and his appearance, he'd be the last guy we'd suspect of having a chemical advantage. And yet he pissed dirty for a synthetic anabolic steroid derived from testosterone. This world is full of surprises.

Dollars to donuts he'll be using Tim Sylvia's patented "I was only using it to trim my physique" defense, which will probably be good enough for him to compete again in Russian MMA leagues, where they don't even care that Aleksander Emelianenko is competing with tainted blood. But from our view, this might cast some suspicion on Fedor himself. The WAMMA champ and his protege trained together every day — might he have been aware that Sidelnikov was cutting corners?

(When you absolutely, positively need someone who will poke you repeatedly in the eye, there really is no substitute.)

While there are any number of reasons why an athletic commission might not license Gilbert Yvel (he is, after all, one of MMA’s most despicable people), it seems as if the CSAC is going to let him fight.  They’ve cleared him to apply for a license, which basically means that all he has to do pass medicals and not pull an Aleks Emelianenko and get himself benched at the last minute.  

But just in case Tom Atencio says he has “people in line if it doesn't work out."

Trouble is, finding a credible replacement to face someone like Josh Barnett isn’t the same as finding someone to go against Paul Buentello in an undercard fight.  There you could just call up Gary Goodridge and nobody would feel as though they’d lost out.  In the case of Barnett, you’ve got to get a high-level replacement in order for the fight to feel like anything other than a consolation prize or premeditated ass-whipping.  

Atencio wouldn’t say who he has lined up, but whoever it is can’t be a serious opponent for Barnett.  It would have to be someone with enough of an ‘I don’t give a fuck attitude’ to take that fight on short notice, and also someone who is a non-UFC heavyweight not already on the Affliction card, which rules out Paul Buentello, thank God.

Fortunately Affliction has set hopes low by giving Barnett someone like Yvel to begin with, but dammit, if we see “Big Daddy” Goodridge come shuffling out at the last minute again, whatever credibility Affliction has left will be destroyed just as surely as he will.