May
09
2014
0

After Falling From PPV Co-Main Event To Fight Night Prelims, Eddie Wineland Looks To Gain Respect At UFC Fight Night 40


By Adam Martin

I’m not sure what Eddie Wineland did wrong, but for whatever reason, the top-five bantamweight isn’t getting the respect he deserves from the UFC. At UFC 165 last fall, Wineland took on Renan Barão in the co-main event of the Jon Jones-headlined card. Despite entering the bout as a massive underdog, Wineland looked very good in round one, stealing the round against the champ before he was stopped in devastating fashion via spinning back kick in round two.

No one expected for Wineland to win that fight though, and he actually did better than most people thought he would. Yet, for whatever reason, the UFC didn’t seem to appreciate the performance as much as others did, and Wineland has now dropped from the main card to the prelims.

In his last outing at UFC on FOX 10, Wineland took on Yves Jabouin in his bounce-back fight and won the bout via brutal knockout. That fight was on the Fox Sports 1 prelims, but considering only four fights can be shown on big FOX, it made sense for Wineland to be on the prelims. However, it doesn’t make any sense for him to be on the prelims this weekend at UFC Fight Night 40.

Despite this being a fight night card, and despite mediocre fights like Ruan Potts vs. Soa Palelei being on the main card, Wineland has once again been relegated to the preliminary card, as he’ll take on veteran Johnny Eduardo on the Fox Sports 2 prelims. That’s right, he’s not even on Fox Sports 1. And not only that, he’s not even the prelim “main event,” but the opener.

Wineland should absolutely be on the main card this weekend, and he should arguably be in the co-main event of the card. Instead, a middleweight bout between two fighters coming off of losses, Costa Philippou vs. Lorenz Larkin, is the co-main event. Don’t ask me why the UFC booked the card in this manner, but I don’t like it.


UFC Fight Night 40

Lorenz Larkin vs. Constantinos Philippou



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I really have no clue why Wineland is now a prelim fighter, . The guy is a stud who has only lost to amazing fighters in his UFC career, and every single one of his matches has been fun to watch, win or lose. Not only that, but you’d think in a shallow UFC bantamweight division, the promotion would try to showcase him and try to get his popularity up, just in case he rematches Barao down the road (which is a very real possibility if Barao keeps eating all his title challengers for dinner).

As for what Wineland can do to get himself off of the prelims, well, he can only do one thing: Keep winning. If he keeps winning, especially if it’s in impressive fashion, the UFC will have no choice but to put him back in featured main card bouts, and maybe even have him headline a Fight Night card or two in the future, especially in the Midwest area, where he hails from.

For now, though, Wineland just has to keep his eyes on the prize. I’m sure he’s frustrated he’s on the prelims this weekend, but that frustration could be a good thing for him, as he can use it to fuel his hunger for the belt again. And if he ever does get that second crack at the title, you’d best believe it will happen on a main card. But hopefully he gets that main card status even before then, because he definitely deserves it.

UFC Fight Night 40

Eddie Wineland vs. Johnny Eduardo



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UFC Fight Night 40: Brown vs. Silva is due to take place on May 10, 2014 at U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio.


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