Chris Wilson out, Mike Pyle Will Take on Brock Larson at UFC 98
by Leland Roling on May 22, 2009 3:39 PM EDT
26 comments
Three days ago, it was reported that Xtreme Couture fighter Mike Pyle had signed on as a replacement fighter for UFC 98. Initial reports stated that Chris Wilson was likely the man to be potentially replaced due to the robbery at gunpoint that took place at his home in Brazil. It looks like Pyle will, in fact, replace Chris Wilson and take on Brock Larson on the UFC 98 undercard:
Mixed martial arts veteran Mike Pyle will make his long-awaited UFC debut Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena as he takes on Brock Larson in a UFC 98 prelim bout. Pyle replaces Chris Wilson, who was a last-minute scratch from the event.
Mike Pyle is currently 17-5-1, riding a 4 fight win-streak since his loss to Jake Shields at EliteXC's Renegade event. He comes in with a load of experience like Larson, but he's also a much more formidable opponent for Larson as he has 15 of his wins coming by way of submission. As we all know, Larson's weakness could be considered the submission game. This fight got a whole lot more interesting.
UPDATE: From Chris Wilson's blog:
After several months of training, tapering for the fight, dieting, traveling and even cutting half of my weight the day before weigh-ins my fight has been canceled.
The Nevada State Athletic Commission did not approve some of my medicals and we couldn’t hussle them all out in time despite last minute physicals, blood tests, international conference calls and even a little prayer. No joke, I really prayed.
I’ve been told that I would likely be put on the earliest possible show in any slot that opens at welterweight. That is little relief since I was ready now and need the money but it will have to do.
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Oof
We saw this coming. Pyle’s a stand up kid for taking the fight, but he’s going to have a painful introduction to the UFC.
I poop rainbows.
by Blackout612 on May 22, 2009 2:51 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
He has some slickness on the floor, but I wonder how he’ll deal with Larson’s power.
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by Leland Roling on May 22, 2009 2:52 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Pyle has a future in the UFC and is an underrated commodity, but Larson is one of the most underrated fighters in the world at 170. I’ve got Larson going UD in this bout.
I poop rainbows.
by Blackout612 on May 22, 2009 3:03 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Yeah, I figure it’ll be three rounds of Larson grinding Pyle out.
I love me some Sexyama!
by pud333 on May 22, 2009 3:20 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
mma-elo has Larson ranked at #9 ahead of Koscheck, Karo, Hughes and Condit. Only 2 of his 25 wins have gone to decision too which is pretty impressive. This should be a good fight.
by GeeDub on May 22, 2009 4:15 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I’m excited for Larson to gain some much needed exposure and credibility. I hope that he can finish the fight or that they really go to work so that he’ll make the broadcast. More people should know who he is.
I poop rainbows.
by Blackout612 on May 22, 2009 4:27 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Wow, that’s completely ridiculous. That shows the problem with that system, and I’ve run into that same problem when implementing my own system. There needs to be a volatility factor in there, or something in there to hurt the amount of rating he gains from winning against cans. He has a very very poor strength of record.
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by Leland Roling on May 22, 2009 4:31 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Woooooooooah there cowboy
Very, very poor strength of record? That’s a little much. Prater, Alessio, Jensen, Sanders, Demarques Johnson (who is one of the favorites on this season of TUF), Nakamura; he’s done pretty well considering his previous stay in the UFC was one fight long.
I poop rainbows.
by Blackout612 on May 22, 2009 4:49 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Very poor strength of schedule. His total record is hugely padded. Sure, he has some solid wins over Prater, Alessio, Jensen, etc… but they aren’t that solid. All of those guys are way lower ranked on the ladder. Somehow, that propels Larson to top 10? Yeah right. He’s had some success, but many of his fights are against sub .500 fighters.
Right now, this is the time he can prove he’s a true top 10 guy. That’s why I was a little happy to see him make the transition over to the UFC to ultimately prove if all that padding could go away and we could legitimately see him put top 15 guys under his belt and potentially top 10.
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by Leland Roling on May 22, 2009 4:57 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I didn’t defend that ranking, and disagree with it personally, but I have a major dislike for discounting a professional fighters record. Particularly to the lengths with which you did. Very, very poor strength of record is pretty harsh stuff, Leland. I’d prefer it to be said that his resume isn’t as impressive as that of the other fighters ranked below him.
I poop rainbows.
by Blackout612 on May 22, 2009 5:01 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
He’s beaten some solid opponents as you said. But its the Shannon Ritch, Manuel Quiroz, Kenneth Allen, Troy Allison and Edward O’Daniel type fighters who bring his SoS down.
by GeeDub on May 22, 2009 8:04 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Ahead of Condit with a convincing loss vs him. Puzzling.
by szucconi on May 22, 2009 4:49 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I dont think its ridiculous……….i cant fault it really. You are right about his SoS though……its the lowest out of the top 25 WW at mma-elo. There is a balancing factor or a weight put on his wins against ‘cans’. The 12 fights he had beginning from his Fitch fight resulted in 10 wins and 2 losses. Sounds good on paper, but coz the wins were mostly cans, he gained only 139 points and lost 121 from his 2 losses earning him a net gain of only 18 points. That seems pretty reasonable.
by GeeDub on May 22, 2009 7:50 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
…….and thats 18 points to his total of 1995 points for some comparison. The beauty of the elo system is that it naturally corrects the rankings. If he is overrated now as people suggest, a loss to Pyle will see him lose a substantial amount of points as Pyle is ranked lower than him. He’ll drop well and truly back into the herd.
Thiago Silva and Jason Brilz are another 2 who made their way to the bottom of the top 10 by beating a whole bunch of mid tier fighters. But to get anywhere further, you have to get wins against multiple solid guys. No piggy backs up the ladder due to hype.
by GeeDub on May 22, 2009 8:01 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Pyle has a somewhat significant height/reach advantage over Larson. If he plays it smart and commits to the takedown at the correct moment, he could easily finish Larson on the ground. I think Pyle will take the decision.
by Ahhhoki on May 22, 2009 2:54 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Pyle could gas himself trying to take down Larson. Larson’s very compact and a phenomenal wrestler who trains everyday with some of the greatest wrestlers in MMA today. I can imagine that Pyle will be working off his back a great deal and trying to secure subs from the guard, but Larson also has excellent sub defense (despite losing one of his two fights to an armbar).
I poop rainbows.
by Blackout612 on May 22, 2009 3:05 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Pyle is lean like Condit so maybe he could wrap up Brock and keep him guessing. Pyles submissions have looked sharper lately, its definitely a better fight for Larson.
by toughaintenough on May 22, 2009 3:59 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Stinks if bets are returned on Larson… I had an X/Gus/Brock parlay at the stupid good odds.
by bigweeze on May 22, 2009 3:21 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Ah man.. Sucks to read Wilson’s account. Guy gets robbed and needs the paycheck. Feel bad for him.
I poop rainbows.
by Blackout612 on May 22, 2009 3:22 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Me too. Wasn’t very familiar with him before this event and looked up his site and some interviews. I’m sure if your house was broken into you’d like to get your family the hell outta there. Good luck to him.
by toughaintenough on May 22, 2009 3:55 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
In the short term it sucks for Wilson but ultimately it might be a benefit if they put him in there against someone more suited to his style.
I dislike Matt Hughes.
by MonkeyCHops on May 22, 2009 4:08 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Does anyone know the injury total for this event now? This must be a record for the UFC
by Flyghtt on May 22, 2009 4:09 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Video here – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmuXggf5SNE
by Nick Thomas on May 22, 2009 6:45 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
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