Dennis Siver lands on George Sotiropoulos - Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
It looks like Dennis Siver will make his featherweight debut in Sweden after all. Although initial reports pointed to a rematch with Ross Pearson, it appears that the UFC either scrapped that plan or never booked the fight in the first place, and now Siver will instead face Diego Nunes on the Fuel-televised card in Stockholm on April 14th. MMANytt.se reported the booking:
World ranked Diego Nunes will welcome Dennis Siver to the UFC's Featherweight division in a showdown between great strikers on April 14th in Stockholm, Sweden,", a source close to the organization told MMAnytt.se
Siver decided to drop down to 145 lbs. after getting outmuscled in a one-sided submission loss to Donald Cerrone at UFC 137. Although already stocky at lightweight and having competed at welterweight earlier in his career, a test weight cut was apparently successful for the kickboxing specialist and he'll get his chance to find success at a new weight class, not far from his native Germany when he fights in Stockholm in April.
Nunes, a member of the famed Nova Uniao team, seemed to be on a fast track to a title shot last year, but a close decision loss to Kenny Florian derailed those hopes temporarily and "The Gun" must now work his way back up the ladder. There's an interesting dichotomy in Nunes's career, given that his first 11 fights (all on the Brazilian regional scene) all ended in first or second round stoppages (6 by submission, 5 by (T)KO)), but as soon as he took a step up in competition and started fighting in the U.S. for the WEC, and now the UFC, all eight of his fights have gone to a decision. Certainly, the tougher competition in larger American promotions makes finishing fights more difficult, but despite winning fights, Nunes has still struggled to demonstrate the KO power and slick submissions he showcased earlier in his career
Dennis Siver (19-8)
L Donald Cerrone (submission) - UFC 137
W Matt Wiman (unam. decision) - UFC 132
W George Sotiropoulos (unam. decision) - UFC 127
Diego "The Gun" Nunes (17-2)
W Manny Gamburyan (unam. decision) - UFC 141
L Kenny Florian (unam. decision) - UFC 131
W Mike Brown (split decision) - UFC 125
0 recs | 26 comments
I see a UD in the immediate future for one of these two
Good fight though. This fight is FOR REAL, OHHH!!!
menckenstein - January 25, 2012
Awesome fight..
They’re throwing Siver in the deep-end for his first fight at FW… Still, I’ll take him by a very close UD.
skeebop - January 25, 2012
Nice!!!
Afrotikiman - January 25, 2012 via mobile
If the cut goes well, Siver blows through Nunes
Too big, strong, and powerful. If the cut goes average or poorly, Nunes wins by being faster and accumulating damage.
Cocytus - January 25, 2012
Diego has some great leg kicks, though. regardless of how well the cut goes, he’s still faster than Siver. that being said, i certainly won’t argue against Siver being stronger and hard to take down. this matchup is excellent.
Victor Rodriguez - January 25, 2012
ZOMG Someone has replaced Joe Silva with an imposter!!
Cuz I know Joe Silva very well and he would never match a winner with a loser!!!
RashadsLeftNipple - January 25, 2012
you forgot about change in weight class!
if you move down and you’re on a losing streak, it converts it into a winning streak. and if you’re on a winning streak, it makes you an immediate contender!
mattsterguy - January 25, 2012
dana white
is actually the official matchmaker for this event, purely for bureaucratic reasons but still..
the guy with the big nose - January 25, 2012
This is going to be excellent
Earl Montclair - January 25, 2012 via mobile
Ok, whatever. But what happened to G-Sot? Does he have a fight planned?
Shnak - January 25, 2012
He's fighting Gomi
in Japan next month.
Scott Haber - January 25, 2012
Cool, I didn’t know. Weird matchmaking, though. G-Sot is likely getting KO’d again. Or Gomi is getting subbed, again. Either way, one of the two is looking bad and will get cut by the UFC.
Shnak - January 25, 2012
Smolderingashes Kid has much less of an upside at this point
Unless they want to put him on Japan only cards for pity buys like poor Saku :(
menckenstein - January 25, 2012
I suppose. Oh well. I would’ve much preferred to see G-Sot against someone that would want the fight to be on the ground, like Volkmann. That would’ve been a good ground battle.
Shnak - January 25, 2012
If G-Sot wins I want to see him against Mark Bocek
menckenstein - January 25, 2012
I like that matchup a lot.
T.C. Engel - January 25, 2012 via mobile
Yes. Great call.
Cocytus - January 25, 2012
There you go, that’s awesome too. Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure Gomi finds a way to knock him out… :(
Shnak - January 25, 2012
meh
war siver
Cunny - January 25, 2012
much better fight
siver vs pearson 2 wasn’t very exciting.
Tats16 - January 25, 2012
I wonder....
Nova Uniao is a pretty tight knit team.
If Nunes continues on a win streak and he was given a title shot, would he fight his team mate Jose Aldo?
jack knight starman - January 25, 2012
Good question
Perhaps he is waiting for Aldo to move up, and will be looking to put together a good streak till then, so that he can have the best claim to the title if it is vacated.
Drunken cutman - January 26, 2012
Curious for this weigh-in.
Will Siver look more or less like Daniel Craig.
NickRingp4pGOAT - January 25, 2012
Probably more
He might have a neck.
halitosis - January 25, 2012
WAR SIVER
I think he takes this fight but Nunes is game. With another winner after this I see either of these guys in a title shot
sitnam90 - January 25, 2012 via mobile
This one’s tough to call. It seems like a lot of it depends on how well Siver cuts weight and performs in the cage. Nunes will be faster, and I think that he may be the more well-rounded fighter. However, Siver has some power, good standup and is tough to take down.
chrisbboy82 - January 26, 2012
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