Article by Kelvin Hunt
Fighter weigh-in’s for the UFC on FUEL 2 event took place earlier today in preparation for Saturday afternoon’s fight card at the Ericsson Globe Arena in Stockholm, Sweden. All fighters made weight and are ready to get it on tomorrow.

Main event fighters Alexander Gustafsson and Thiago Silva hit the 205 weight limit right on the dot with no issues. The co-main event saw Alessio Sakara at the middleweight limit of 186 pounds with Stann right on the nose at 185 pounds.

The only fighter with an issue was Dennis Siver who originally weighed in at 147 pounds before finally making weight on his second attempt. This is his first fight in the featherweight division.

The preliminary card will stream live on Facebook beginning at 12:30 pm ET/9:30 a.m. PT, and the main card will air on FUEL TV with a start time of 3 pm ET/12 p.m. PT.

Join us here at ProMMAnow.com (www.prommanow.com) Saturday afternoon for LIVE UFC on FUEL 2 fight results and play-by-play commentary. The full weigh-in results can be found below:

MAIN EVENT
Alexander Gustafsson (205) VS Thiago Silva (205)

FUEL TV MAIN CARD
Alessio Sakara (186) VS Brian Stann (185)
Siyar Bahadurzada (170) VS Paulo Thiago (170)
Diego Nunes (146) VS Dennis Siver (145*)
John Maguire (170) VS DaMarques Johnson (171)
Damacio Page (135) VS Brad Pickett (136)

ONLINE FIGHTS
James Head (170) VS Papy Abedi (171)
Tom DeBlass (205) VS Cyrille Diabate (206)
Magnus Cedenblad (185) VS Francis Carmont (186)
Yoislandy Izquierdo (155) VS Reza Madadi (155)
Besam Yousef (170) VS Simeon Thoresen (170)
Jason Young (145) VS Eric Wisely (145)

*Siver made weight on his second attempt after initially weighing in at 147 pounds

The post UFC on FUEL 2 Weigh-in Results appeared first on Alliance Training Center.

Article by Kelvin Hunt
The UFC on FUEL 2 main event features a light heavyweight bout between Alexander Gustafsson and Thiago Silva that’s set for Stockholm, Sweden. It’s an important fight in the grand scheme of things as Gustafsson is looking to solidify himself as a legitimate challenger for the title, and Silva is looking to get back on track after a one year suspension for a failed drug test. Let’s see how this one breaks down.

Thiago Silva (14-2, 1NC) was last seen in action against Brandon Vera winning via unanimous decision only to have the victory turned into a no contest because of a failed drug test from Silva. Silva was forced to serve a year suspension as a result and hasn’t fought since Jan. 2011. Silva is a big light heavyweight with powerful striking and a legitimate ground game where he inflicts heavy damage from the top position. His two losses are to former UFC light heavyweight champions Lyoto Machida and Rashad Evans. Silva has battled back problems in the past and used the time away from fighting to get that corrected.

Alexander Gustafsson (13-1) was last seen in action mauling Vladimir Matyushenko at UFC 141 to win via TKO in the first round. In fact, Gustafsson has won four consecutive fights (finishing all four opponents) since suffering his lone defeat against Phil Davis at UFC 112. Gustafsson is a big light heavyweight standing six feet five inches, and has good takedown defense with knockout power.

Our sponsor Top Bet has Gustafsson as the betting favorite at (-230) and Silva s the underdog at (+190).

I’d have to agree with those odds. Silva will more than likely be affected by the long layoff, so it’ll take a while to get his timing down coupled with the reach advantage Gustafsson will have. It’ll be interesting to see how Silva looks in there tomorrow afternoon.

This fight will more than likely stay on the feet for the most part as both fighters prefer to strike. However, I can see Silva looking to take Gustafsson down if he finds little success while on the feet. Gustafsson has a nice straight right hand with good power, so be on the lookout for that to land against Silva.

Silva has demonstrated fairly accurate striking but is wild at times while on the feet. However, he does major damage with strikes on the ground once he attains a dominant position. The problem is I’m not sure he can get the fight there, especially with all the back problems he has had in the past. You never really fully recover from those in my opinion.

I like Gustafsson in this fight via TKO.

The post UFC on FUEL 2 preview: Alexander Gustafsson sets sights on Thiago Silva appeared first on Alliance Training Center.

Article by Mark Wayne
The UFC’s Spring drought will come to an end this weekend with UFC on Fuel TV 2: Gustafsson vs. Silva. For their second offering on the network, the promotion is taking their traveling road show to Sweden for the first time.

In the night’s main event, rising Swedish light heavyweight Alexander Gustafsson will appear before his countrymen to take on the returning Thiago Silva. Silva has been out of action since January of 2011 for trying to beat a drug test in the state of Nevada by submitting fake urine instead of his own (which he admitted was laced with banned substances). With his suspension run out, Silva will look to reestablish his presence in the 205lbs division. The 25-year-old Gustafsson is riding an impressive four-fight winning streak (all wins came via stoppage before the third round) into this fight and will have the added motivation of avenging teammate Brandon Vera, who Silva thrashed in his last fight.

Today, those fighters and a few more filled the dais for the UFC on Fuel TV 2 pre-fight press conference, which you can view in its entirety below, courtesy StudioMMA.

The post UFC Sweden Press Conference – Alex Gustafsson vs. Thiago *VIDEO* appeared first on Alliance Training Center.

Article By Riley Kontek

Although the UFC has been on hiatus for a couple weeks now, it returns the 14th of next month with its first show in Sweden. Headlining the card is Swedish superstar Alexander Gustafsson and hard-hitting Brazilian Thiago Silva.

Silva was set to fight later in the year, but agreed to take this fight when Antonio Rogerio Nogueira backed out. Silva has just completed a one-year suspension for a failed drug test and will be chomping at the bit to get back in action.

Let’s look at the head-to-toe breakdown for this great fight.

Striking

A very interesting stylistic matchup here, as Alexander Gustafsson is more of a boxer and Thiago Silva is more of a Muay Thai-based striker.

Gustafsson has very technical boxing. He has been training as a boxer before he got into mixed martial arts. Nine of his 13 wins have come via knockout, including UFC knockouts of Vladimir Matyushenko, Matt Hamill and Jared Hamman. Although he is very technical and accurate, he also does have power in his fists.

Silva is more of a power puncher, but don’t be fooled because his punches land. Eleven of his 14 wins have come by knockout, including UFC knockouts of Keith Jardine, Houston Alexander and Tomasz Drwal. He has a natural killer instinct, which allows him to finish the fight when he smells blood.

Takedowns/Takedown Defense

Neither of these men is a power wrestler, but both have the ability to take the fight to the mat.

Gustafsson has decent takedown defense, but was exposed in his fight against Phil Davis. Since then, Gustafsson has started training with Davis and has sharpened that part of his game. He does not usually go for takedowns, but that doesn’t mean he can’t, especially when he has been working on it with Davis.

Silva has a very aggressive takedown game when he wants to use it, which almost resembles a wrestling background. His fight with Rashad Evans exposed this takedown defense, but Evans can do that to a lot of fighters.

Both men are more than happy to stand and bang with each other.

Grappling/Submissions

This one is pretty simple if you ask me. Gustafsson is a purple belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and Silva is a black belt. You do the math.

Three of Gustafsson’s wins have come via submission, as well as his lone loss. All of his submission wins are by rear-naked chooke, but were usually set up with his hands and dropping his opponent.

Only two of Silva’s wins have come by submission, but that might be because he uses brutal ground- and-pound to win his fights. A testament to his submission skills is his heel-hook victory back in 2006. When he is in top position grappling, he is almost impossible to deal with.

Conditioning

Conditioning may be a huge factor here, and it may not be on the side of the returning Silva.

Although I have never seen an issue with Silva’s cardiovascular shape, he has not competed in the Octagon for more than a year, which may hurt his conditioning. Ring rust can take that toll on people.

Meanwhile, Gustafsson has stayed busy in the last year and has looked in great shape every time. If the fight goes deep, do not be surprised if Gustafsson is the fresher of the two men.

X-Factors

Gustafsson: The key here for Gustafsson is to stick and move. He does not want to get into a brawl with the scrappy Brazilian because that is where he can get hurt. Keep the fight technical, use the reach advantage he will have and score points. An occasional takedown can go a long way in winning rounds for the Swede.

Silva: The key here for Silva is to get the fight to the ground and use his brutal ground strikes to go for a stoppage. He is obviously the better ground fighter, but Silva often times likes to engage in striking battles. Although it rarely fails him, the key with this fight is to get a win to erase the memory of the suspension.

The post Head-to-Toe Breakdown: Alexander Gustafsson vs. Thiago Silva appeared first on Alliance Training Center.

See how UFC Fighter Alexander Gustafsson is training for his bout against Thiago Silva for UFC on FUEL TV 2

The post UFC Fighter Alexander Gustafsson’s Training Camp in Las Vegas Video Blog 2 – UFC on FUEL TV 2 appeared first on Alliance Training Center.

The UFC was able to avoid the injury bug for a nice stretch it seems, but it has reared its ugly head this week for Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. He as scheduled to take on Alexander Gustafsson in the main event of the UFC on FUEL TV 2 event that’s scheduled for April 14th, in Stockholm Sweden, but has been forced to pull out of the event due to a knee injury.

The UFC announced today that Thiago Silva will replace Nogueira and face Gustafsson in the main event.

Thiago Silva (14-2, 1NC) will return to action for the first time since his year long suspension for a failed drug test after his UFC 125 fight against Brandon Vera. It was originally ruled that Silva won a unanimous decision, but that was overturned to a no contest once the results of the drug test were confirmed. Silva was thought to be a top ten light heavyweight prior to the year long layoff, and will look to put a halt to the recent success experienced by Gustafsson.

Alexander Gustafsson (13-1) is coming off a two minute KO victory over Vladimir Matyushenko at UFC 141. He has won four consecutive fights, all by stoppage after suffering the first defeat of his career against Phil Davis. This will mark the first time that Gustafsson has fought in his native country since defeating Vladimiar Shemarov via TKO in 2009.

The event will take place the Ericsson Globe Arena and will air on FUEL TV. The tentative fight card is below:

Brian Stann vs. Alessio Sakara
Paulo Thiago vs. Siyar Bahadurzada
DeMarques Johnson vs. John MaGuire
Brad Pickett vs. Damacio Page
Dennis Siver vs. Diego Nunes
Jason Young vs. Eric Wisely
Papy Abedi vs. James Head
Cyrille Diabate vs. Jorgen Kruth
Francis Carmont vs. Magnus Cendenbald
Simeon Thoreson vs. Besam Yousef

The post ‘Lil Nog’ injured, Alexander Gustafsson vs. Thiago Silva now headline UFC on FUEL TV 2 appeared first on Alliance Training Center.

Brandon Vera talks about what happened with his UFC MMA Fight against Thiago Silva.

The post Brandon “The Truth” Vera UFC Fight Update appeared first on Alliance Training Center.