D. Mandel/Sherdog.com
The UFC appears poised to shuffle the deck significantly for some upcoming pay-per-view shows.
UFC President Dana White said in interviews this week that the company would move UFC 113, set for Montreal, from May 1 to May 8. Boxing superstar Floyd Mayweather is now expected to fight Shane Mosley on May 1, a bout that became an option after Mosley's planned opponent, Andre Berto, withdrew due to the stress of losing several relatives in the earthquake that rocked his native Haiti. The last time the UFC and Mayweather went head-to-head on pay-per-view was Sept. 19, which pitted UFC 103 versus Mayweather's fight against Juan Manuel Marquez. The boxing show drew some 1.05 million buys compared to an estimated 375,000 for the UFC card, headlined by Rich Franklin against Vitor Belfort.
The UFC 113 card was looking extra strong from a marquee standpoint, with Lyoto Machida vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Rashad Evans vs. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, both main-event caliber fights, on tap. However, Yahoo Sports reported that the Evans-Jackson grudge match will likely be pushed back to a May 29 card in Las Vegas, which may also host Brock Lesnar’s return. That Memorial Day weekend card coincides with the UFC’s second fan expo event in Las Vegas. A Paul Daley-Josh Koscheck bout was confirmed by both fighters’ camps this week for UFC 113, a fight that will now get co-main-event billing.
There may be another change on the horizon regarding UFC 112 on April 10. White has said the company's Abu Dhabi partners were looking to build a new arena in the city to host the card, but UFC Managing Director of International Development Marshal Zelaznik told Sherdog.com the company has a couple of venues in the United Kingdom and a few in the United States as back-up sites if the quixotic Abu Dhabi plan doesn't come to fruition. A press conference is set for Wednesday to announced particulars for the event, a loaded card with Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort, B.J. Penn vs. Frankie Edgar and Matt Hughes vs. Renzo Gracie.