MMA Twitter Mailbag: WEC, UFC 102

By Michael David Smith - Lead Blogger

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The mixed martial arts world is focusing mostly on Saturday night's big UFC 102 card, with the main event of Randy Couture vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. But before we get to that in our latest MMA Twitter mailbag, we first take questions regarding the WEC's decision to postpone its upcoming fight card, and my interview with WEC Vice President Peter Dropick.

Your questions and comments, and my responses, for the MMA Twitter mailbag are below.

mmascrapsradio Does this have anything to do with DirecTV and Versus?
I asked Dropick whether the ongoing dispute between DirecTV and Versus had anything to do with the decision to push the card back from September 2 to October 10, and he was adamant that it did not. My own opinion is that the WEC and all of the other sports leagues on Versus -- NHL, Pac-10, bull riding, the new United Football League -- should be concerned about this.

WatchKalibRun: Ask about ticket sales. The Ohio economy is awful and Youngstown is really bad plus the city is tiny.
Dropick said ticket sales were fine and were tracking as expected. He said the Covelli Centre in Youngstown is not available on October 10, and that's why they have to find a new venue.

WatchKalibRun: Youngstown is available on the 10th according to the Centre's official website.
I checked with the WEC and was told the conflict on October 10 at the Covelli Centre was something called motorcycle ice racing. That matches what Covelli Centre officials told a local newspaper. I didn't even know motorcycle ice racing existed. Learn something new every day.

tshirtmaker: I definitely want to see Torres and Bowles again. I think Torres underestimated him and paid for it. Will not again.
I want to see a Miguel Torres-Brian Bowles rematch, too, but I think Torres needs to earn that rematch by winning another fight first -- just as Urijah Faber had to win another fight before he earned his rematch with Mike Brown. Dropick told me Torres and Bowles are both likely to fight in December. I think Torres should fight Takeya Mizugaki, Bowles should defend his title against Dominick Cruz, and then if they both win, they should fight each other in 2010.

PJHarrison: How do you think Russow is going to do? Have you seen him fight live yet?
I haven't seen Mike Russow fight in person, but I've seen a bunch of his fights on TV, and I like him a lot. If you don't know about him, you should read this article by Thomas Gerbasi at UFC.com, but the short version is that he's a big, tough Chicago cop who has good jiu jitsu skills and will make his UFC debut Saturday against Justin McCully. He doesn't have as much experience at the highest levels of MMA as McCully, but I think he's going to use his superior size and strength to win at UFC 102.

Nitrayn: Couture beats Nog 29-28 by out boxing him and roughing him up in the clinch game. If Nog does get him down, Randy will pop up.
My full preview and predictions will go up at FanHouse on Thursday, but for now I'll just say that the closer we get to this fight, the more I'm leaning toward your way of thinking. Nogueira's ground skills are outstanding, but I don't know if he'll be able to get Couture down and keep him there.

Want to be part of our next UFC Twitter mailbag? Post a question or comment on Twitter.com, and be sure to start it with @MichaelDavSmith.

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