Recently in UFC News Category

Thanks to sherdog.com for the photos

Tito Ortiz vs. Forrest Griffin

Pa. native (Waynesburg) Josh Koscheck vs. Anthony Johnson

Big thanks to Dann Stupp from MMAJunkie for the story:
The Ultimate Fighting Championship could return to Newark, N.J., for a March 2010 event, a source close to the organization today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).
The event is expected to take place at the Prudential Center, which was home to UFC 78 in November 2007, and presumably would be dubbed UFC 111.

However, the UFC has made no official announcement regarding the show. Additionally, though "there have been discussions about a date and location," Nick Lembo of the New Jersey Athletic Control Board told MMAjunkie.com no event has been finalized.

See Tito's UFC 106 vlog, "media day" after the jump.

Watch the first part of this video: they both like to salute after they win, so loser has to agree never to do the salute again ... right? or is that just stupid?

from mmajunkie:
Tickets for "UFC Fight Night 20," the UFC's first-ever trip to Virginia, go on sale later this week.

Featuring a main event between lightweight contenders Nate Diaz (11-4 MMA, 6-2 UFC) and Gray Maynard (8-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC), "UFC Fight Night 20" takes place Jan. 11 at Patriot Center in Fairfax, Va.

Tickets go on sale to the general public on Saturday, Nov. 21, at 10 a.m. ET (7 a.m. PT) at Ticketmaster.com, though UFC Fight Club members and UFC.com newsletter subscribers get first dibs a few days prior.

Nice overhand right by Denis Kang on Michael Bisping.

Body kick by Brandon Vera on Randy Couture.

Ross Pearson jumping knees on Aaron Riley

hat thieves

From all that I've read - I haven't seen the fight yet - Couture vs. Vera was a close one. The judges' decisions may have been questionable, but what followed from Joe Rogan and others apparently was determined by Spike to be unfit for public consumption:

from mma fanhouse:"I thought I won," Vera said. "I left it all out there. I gave it to Randy as best as I could. ... I still don't know -- what the hell? -- thanks, judges."

From sherdogger Brandino:"Looked like joe was going to cry because his little friend was handled by an old man.

I could not believe Joe spent that much time crying and saying it was a robbery. UFC really needs to look into replacing Rogan with Florian or Randy.... somebody who doesn't have an agenda and who is not blatantly bias to Eddie Bravo students or buddies of him.

Joe needs to go!

Am I the only one who thought Joe was unprofessional and completely off base saying that Vera should of won?"

From sherdog.com member Goathair33:

Spike edited out the little rant by Rogan about the decision. and comments by both he and Goldberg. as well as Vera's "Thanks Judges". WTF?

OFFICIAL RESULTS from mmajunkie.com:

Randy Couture def. Brandon Vera via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Dan Hardy def. Mike Swick via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Michael Bisping def. Denis Kang via TKO (strikes) - Round 2, 4:24
Matt Brown def. James Wilks via TKO (punches) - Round 3, 2:27
Ross Pearson def. Aaron Riley via TKO (doctor's stoppage) - Round 2, 4:38
John Hathaway def. Paul Taylor via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
Terry Etim def. Shannon Gugerty via submission (guillotine choke) - Round 2, 1:24
Nick Osipczak def. Matthew Riddle via TKO (punches) - Round 3, 3:53
Dennis Siver def. Paul Kelly via TKO (strikes) - Round 2, 2:53
Alexander Gustafsson def. Jared Hamman via knockout (punches) - Round 1, 0:41
Andre Winner def. Rolando Delgado via knockout (punch) - Round 1, 3:22

Nick "Oz" Osipczak knees matt Riddle.

sherdog.com with the call:
Matt Riddle vs. Nick Osipczak
Round 1
Riddle and Osipczak exchange low kicks. Riddle, with a huge smile on his face, pushes forward into a body lock and then a single-leg takedown. Osipczak is active off his back, but riddle lands some nice elbows. The fight is stood up by referee Marc Goddard after a head butt to the body by Riddle. Riddle takes the fight back to the mat and gets reversed with about 20 seconds left in the round. Osipczak takes mount and Riddle can only hang on. Round one goes to Osipczak 10-9 on the Sherdog card.

Round 2

Osipczak vs. Riddle.Osipczak lands a right head kick to lead off the second stanza. Riddle scores a takedown, but is stood back up because of a lack of action. Riddle tries to answer, but Osipczak lands a right hand that forces Riddle to shoot. Osipczak sprawls and forces riddle to his back. He controls from the top and batters him with shots until the round ends. 10-9 Osipczak.

Round 3
Riddle ducks under a right hand and scores a takedown. He is unable to advance position or strike and is stood up. Riddle gets another takedown and moves to Osipczak's back. The Brit gets his guard back and sweeps to mount. He pounds away while Riddle feverishly tries to extricate himself. Goddard decides Riddle has had enough and steps in at 3:53 of
the final round, giving Osipczak the TKO win.

Nick O. vs. Allentown's Matt Riddle.

The Mattster ... don't know if that's his nickname, just seemed to fit, whatever.

Mike Swick's rise to the top, or near the top of the welterweight ranks, has been building for some time, unlike his nickname, "Quick." He's been around since the Ultimate Fighter 1, and only suffered one defeat in the UFC, a decision loss to Yushin Okami two years ago at UFC 69. If he can convincingly beat Dan hardy at 105, we're gonna see him fight for the title soon, so doubt about it. Mike's vlog is on the next page.

At UFC 105 Couture has a gameplan to defeat the younger fighter.

Thanks to bloodyelbow.com for posting this.

That third one looked like a closed fits, but hey, it's machida, he can take it.

From Antonio Inoki's wiki:
During one visit to a school in the 80's, Inoki was punched twice by a student. Inoki slapped the student across the face, knocking him down. The student, who later turned out to be an Inoki fan, then rose, bowed deeply, and thanked Inoki for the slap. The incident became very famous as the then live clip of the binta (slap in the face) was shown many times on Japanese television. Now various celebrities and even common people in Japan ask Inoki to slap them to install courage or even as some sort of strange blessing. The slap's name is the "Fighting Spirit (or Toukon) Slap."

photo from sherdog.com

I blogged about the upcoming light-heavyweight title fight between champion Lyoto Machida and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua recently, saying it should be interesting to see if/how they alter their styles in the fight.

from mmajunkie.com:
"I know Lyoto very well," Rua said. "I have studied his game a lot. I know his style. I trained my strategy for the fight for three months in a row, focusing on that.

"I hope to be able to keep up with the strategy for the whole fight because we know what to expect, and we don't plan on getting frustrated and changing the plan. We worked on that, and we'll follow the plan."

The 2005-era Rua was an aggressive, wild foe. But in facing Machida's patient, karate-based counter-striking style, Rua believes his own patience will be key.

It may prove a test of the mind as much as an examination of Rua's physical form.

"We can only know for sure what's going to happen when the fight starts," Rua said. "You never really know what's going to happen in a fight. You can try to predict something, but anything can happen. Anything can change at any given moment during a fight.

"I trained for something. I plan and hope on doing what I trained and the strategy I prepared for, but a fight is a fight. Let's wait and see."

Holy crap! Even the outside of the Patriot Center is an Octagon.

By B.J. Koubaroulis, Washington Post:
Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White confirmed Tuesday that he plans to make the Washington D.C. market a new destination for his growing martial arts business.

White said that lightweights Nate Diaz (11-4) and Gray Maynard (8-0) will square off Jan. 11 at Patriot Center in Fairfax in the main event of Ultimate Fight Night 20, one in a series of cards that have been televised by Spike TV.

White said that he expects the show's attendance numbers to confirm his belief that the Washington area is a fertile place to bring bigger shows such as Saturday's UFC 104, a pay-per-view event that will take place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. UFC 104 features a main event between current light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua.

I know Machida has said he adapted his style to please the fans - becoming more aggressive - but with the ultra-aggressive Shogun coming at him, we might see Machida revert back to the elusive, patient counter-striker. Either way, we're in for a good one. These are two of the most exciting and talented LHWs out there and so I don't see this one getting out of maybe the second round.

By mmajunkie.com
A rumored bout between Wanderlei Silva (32-10-1 MMA, 2-5 UFC) and Yoshihiro Akiyama (13-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) is apparently set for UFC 110, which takes place Feb. 21 at Acer Arena in Sydney, Australia.

Silva discussed the fight openly in a recent video his camp posted on YouTube.

According to Silva, the middleweight bout serves as the headline fight for the event, which takes place on a rare Sunday (with an apparent live Saturday broadcast in the U.S.).

by MMAjunkie.com Staff on Oct 15, 2009 at 2:50 pm ET
The Ultimate Fighting Championship is expected to make its Virginia debut in January.

Sources close to the event have told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) UFC Fight Night 20, which would air on Spike TV, is currently slotted for Monday, Jan. 11.

However, the UFC has made no formal announcement, and a representative from Virginia's Professional Boxing, Martial Arts and Wrestling Program said no date is official.

After he beat Kimbo Slice on The Ultimate Fighter 10, the portly-and-proud-of-it Nelson said something about how he was going to get some fast food. So I found this gif on sherdog, which provides evidence that Nelson actually thought greasy sustenence would help him win against Arlovski.

This one ranks up there with the KJ Noons "he put his mug on me" gif. The b-g is that Noons and Nick Diaz saw each other outside a hotel and Diaz said later that Noons "Put his mug on me."

From DREAM, to WEC, to UFC, this one's got it all.

from mmajunkie.com:
Maybe we can finally stop with the running jokes.

With Mark Coleman forced to bow out of a UFC 106 clash with Tito Ortiz (15-6-1 MMA, 14-6-1 UFC) due to an injury suffered in training, Forrest Griffin (16-6 MMA, 7-4 UFC) has stepped up to fill the vacant role.

Yahoo! Sports was the first to report the matchup, which will serve as the co-feature of "UFC 106: Lesnar vs. Carwin" on Nov. 21 at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. The UFC has since officially announced the contest.

By Brian Knapp, sherdog.com:
Former International Fight League heavyweight champion Roy Nelson "called his shot" when he ousted Internet street-fighting legend Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson on the latest episode of "The Ultimate Fighter" Season 10. Consider it his ode to the Sultan of Swat.

"I called it the night before," Nelson said during a Thursday teleconference. "I just wanted to point out to the guys that this was how I was going to win. And guess what? That's how I won. I did a Babe Ruth. I hit my home run."

Pegged as the Season 10 favorite by many pundits, Nelson strapped Slice in a crucifix and finished him with strikes on the ground in the second round of their heavyweight scrap, which aired to record ratings on Spike TV. According to preliminary figures, the episode drew 5.3 million viewers and peaked with 6.1 million during the actual fight.

Gotta love the wisdom of Wand: "Only the fighter who persists to the end, gets to the top ...Many guys that I knew gave up, guys who were better than me. My only difference is that I persisted and continued trying."

Topics covered include the Kimbo vs. Nelson fight on TUF, and other UFC and Strikeforce news

Fresh from leaving the UFC after being disrespected by Dana White, Rampage Jackson appears as B.A. Baracus in the A-Team remake movie.

Here's the quick-n-dirty from the Nelson vs. Kimbo fight:

-- Kimbo still has no ground game.

-- Roy draped his huge belly on Kimbo for two rounds, trying to smother him with it, and dropped a few pillow-like punches down. Round 2, Nelson traps Kimbo in a crucifix and throws more pillows and Herb Dean stops the fight.

-- Dana White criticizes Nelson for doing just enough to win and not get hit.

-- At the end of the show, they hype Kimbo returning to the show.

Todd "Duff Man" Duffee, relaxing on the Internets, chowing on a burrito. In his spare time, he knocks guys out in the UFC in record time.

Sneak Peek: Kimbo Fights
I like how they leave us with Kimbo landing a haymaker on Nelson. The onlky question is: does Nelson's chin take it? We'll see.

from a story written by Andy Samuelson of the Las Vegas Sun:

The 6-foot-3, 262-pound Carwin -- who, like Lesnar, is a fellow in NCAA wrestling champ -- offers the Webster, S.D., native his biggest physical test to date.

But neither the Colorado native's extreme size or his unblemished 11-0 record seems to faze Lesnar.

"He's a tough guy. He's undefeated, but some of the guys he's beaten aren't worthy of having on your record," said Lesnar, who squares off against Carwin at UFC 106 on Nov. 21 at Mandalay Bay. "He hasn't fought anybody. He's fought (Gabriel) Gonzaga, so I really think he's 1-0.

"He's a tough guy and a wrestler. But he's a Division II national champion -- enough said."

Lesnar, a Division I heavyweight champ while at the University of Minnesota in 2000, emphasized that much like this weekend's stop in Las Vegas, when he's in town, he's the star of the show. And he said he's ready for Carwin's challenge.

"I don't know what he is, 11-0, 10-0, but he'll have a loss against Brock Lesnar," Lesnar said with a stone face.

Ted: I'll cut to the chase on this story. Here's what Kimbo said about his fight with Roy Nelson on this weeks' TUF 10 episode: "I was impressed with my performance," Ferguson said. "I'm not crying about anything." Well, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say he lost, but probably by unanimous decision. I'm just going on the implication behind what he said. I could be totally wrong, and even if he did lose, we'll definitely see him on an upcoming PPV - he's just too much of a cash cow for the UFC not to sign.

by Dann Stupp, mmajunkie.com
For anyone expecting an explosive and over-the-top Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson on today's media call to promote this week's new episode of "The Ultimate Fighter 10," the fighter and cast member likely disappointed.

Ferguson, whose fight with Roy Nelson highlights episode three of "TUF 10" on Wednesday night (10 p.m. ET/PT, Spike TV), expertly handled the swarm of questions and came across quite pleasant, if not charming, during the one-hour media session.

His tone changed, though, once he was asked about Seth Petruzelli's recent comments that Ferguson turned down multiple opportunities for the fighters to rematch.

As has been well-documented, Ferguson suffered a loss to late replacement Petruzelli at "EliteXC: Heat" in October 2008. Petruzelli jumped up a weight class and took the fight on just a few hours' notice when Ferguson's original opponent, Ken Shamrock, suffered a facial cut and wasn't cleared to compete. Petruzelli posted a 14-second TKO victory, delivered Ferguson his first career loss, and threw the last bit of proverbial dirt on the grave of EliteXC, which folded a few weeks later.

I haven't always been a fan of Wes Sims - something about him stomping Frank Mir a few years ago - anyway, I'm willing to let that go, now that he's spent time away from the UFC and he's on TUF 10. Watch this video - he is one funny dude. It'll be interesting to see what antics he's up to in the TUF house - he seems like he'll be the one pulling pranks and crap like that. One of the funniest parts is when he talks about Roy Nelson uprooting a shrub and eating it.

I posted a poster somebody designed weeks back, but I guess the UFC didn't like it and wanted to get Coleman/Tito in there.

Griffin fakes the left to the head - Franca buys it - then moves in for the inside leg kick.

from the Los Angeles Times:
Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White told The Times his organization has struck verbal deals for Anderson Silva to defend his middleweight championship against Vitor Belfort on Jan. 2 in Las Vegas.

Belfort, a former UFC champion, returned to the octagon Saturday to defeat former champion Rich Franklin in Dallas.

Silva has emerged as the most elite fighter in the UFC, most recently disposing of former light-heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin.

The Ultimate Fighter 10's most well-known fighter, Kimbo Slice, takes on the house's most experienced and successful fighter, Roy Nelson. We'll see what happens. Thanks to bloodyelbow for the pic.

Rampage vs. Rashad - we may never know ...

According to reliable MMA Web site bloodyelbow, this is straight from Rampage's Web site (I put some paragraphs in here to make it easier to read, ya'll).

"The UFC has done a lot for me but I think I have done more for them ... this movie role came about that I have been trying to get for over a year & as soon as I found out I was close to getting it, I called Dana right away & asked to push the Memphis fight back just a month or so. I told him what this movie role meant to me.

I told him that I used to bond with my father watching the tv show as a kid when my parents where still married & it represents the memories I had with my father when we lived together. My dad became an alcohalic & addicted to drugs & we grew apart. But after my dad got his life back together, I was so proud of my dad & I told him I would always take care of him in the future & make him proud of me. My dad & I are still very big fans of the show & I am basically doing this for the childhood memories I had spending time in front of the tv with my dad.

Dana went on the internet & mocked me because of that & I still did nothing. Dana & I finally talked & we made up & then after that he went back on the internet & said some bullshit & he was talking bad about the movie when information is not even supposed to be released & talking about payments which is not even true could really hurt my future acting career, which could very well last longer than my fighting career.

I'm not like Randy Couture. My body has been getting so many different injuries that I wont be able to fight until my forties & neither do I want to fight that long. So I feel like my second career could be in jeopardy.. so I'm done fighting. I've been getting negative reviews from the dumb ass fans that don't pay my bills or put my kids though college. So I'm hanging it up. I'm gonna miss all my loyal fans but hopefully they'll follow me to my new career & I will gain more loyal fans along the way. & all you hater fans out there can kiss my big black hairy ass! & anybody that don't like what I just said can come try to kick my ass!

I still feel the UFC is a great organization and I felt like I was very loyal to them but they didn't respect my loyalty but I wish the UFC the best. I did a lot of things for them. I wish no bad blood between us but I have kids & a family back in Memphis to provide for & thats all that matters to me!"

Thanks to mma-core.com.

Tonight (Sat.), Damon's in Hanover will be showing UFC 103 (Rich Franklin vs. Vitor Belfort and Mirko Cro Cop vs. Junior dos Santos) and will feature appearances from Hanover-based MMA clothing company Tap or Sleep and members of Hanover Academy of MMA.

So stop by, order up some wings and beer, ogle the waitresses (you know you do) and stop by Jerod Phillips's TOS table and see what he's got, not to mention the raffles he'll be doing throughout the night. Oh, and yeah, there's fights on the tube, too. And, like I said, the boys from Hanover Academy should be there as well.

Here's the address:
375 Eisenhower Dr., Hanover, Pa. 717-632-5600.

DW saying Rampage caused "collateral damage."

By Gavin Vincent of fiveknuckles:
Quinton "Rampage" Jackson's decision to sign a movie contract to play B.A. Baracus in the upcoming "A-Team" movie has left UFC officials, fans and experts with a sour taste in their mouth. Even Rampage's personal website is flooded with negative comments and accusations of him dodging what will be two consecutive fights.

Jackson was rumored to face Lyoto Machida for the light-heavyweight title but chose instead on to sign on as a TUF 10 coach to fight nemesis, Rashad Evans. As with all previous Ultimate Fighter seasons, the coaches generally square off against one another but his decision to do a movie instead has forced UFC President, Dana White, to play musical chairs with the main event for TUF 10 finale on Dec. 12.

Last week, White announced that a lightweight title fight between B.J. Penn and Diego Sanchez will replace the Jackson-Evans bout. White also announced Jackson's decision will have "collateral damage" but has not confirmed what those ramifications will be.

Jackson can't even escape criticism on his personal website as his homepage and "blog posts" section are flooded with negative comments and inappropriate posts.

Just watched the UFC 103 weigh-ins. Here's what I saw:

- Hermes Franca walked up to the stage with light-purple mop-top hair. Looked like a wig had been lowered onto his head. Maybe that's his plan - that could be one hell of a distraction in a fight. He also weighed in at 159 for the lightweight bout against Tyson Griffin, so the fight will be held at a catch weight of ... 159.

- Looked like the Texas Athletic Commission folks were having problems reading the scale. Don't have any evidence of this, other than it seemed they were taking longer to stare at it than other commissions at other UFCs.

- Frank Trigg seemed really nervous hopping on the scale, but was dead-on at 170. So was Josh Koscheck, who then held a fist under Trigg's chin and shook it when the two faced off.

- Paul Daley came out wearing an Affliction T-shirt. Not sure if this is the first appearance of the company since it folded its MMA division and was accepted back into the UFC sponsorship fold. Daley's opponent, Martin Kampmann, was all smiles as he looked out to the packed crowd.

- Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic paid homage to the organization where he had the most success - PrideFC, by wearing a Pride T-shirt. I guess that's OK with the UFC, since they own Pride now, right? Cro Cop weighed in at 226; Junior dos Santos was a full 10 pounds heavier, but that's usually been the case with Cro Cop - he really is a small heavyweight when you think about it.

- In the main event, Vitor Franklin stepped on the scale at 197.5 for his fight with Rich Franklin, set at a catch weight of 195. Vitor stays on the scale, since he is over, and the camera focuses in on this giant ring on his right thumb. He takes it off and hands it to Dana White. Then, they pull out the towel and Vitor drops trow. Looks like he's at 195.25, so he has two hours to lose the .25. Franklin's right on the money at 195.

Jon Anik and co. talk about UFC 103 and the premiere episode of The Ultimate Fighter 10.

From Dave Doyle, Yahoo Sports:
By Round 3, Maynard had the fight under control, including a deep Kimura for which Huerta (20-3-1), who has only been stopped once in his career, refused to tap.

"I had it in deep," Maynard said. "I heard his arm popping. I said to the referee 'Holy [expletive], do you hear that?' I thought it was going to break. I'm glad it didn't break and that's a good ref [Herb Dean] in there, he made the right call [letting the match continue]."

Thanks to mmasportsreport.com:
The UFC 103 press conference was held today in Dallas, preceding this weekend's event headlined by Rich Franklin and Vitor Belfort. The conference was brief with Franklin, Belfort, and Junior Dos Santos saying a couple things about their fight.

Santos' opponent, Mirko Cro Cop, was not present though which President Dana White touched on.

"Cro cop holds the second-best record for wins in pride, and he also holds the best record for most press conferences missed," White said.

He also discussed boxing going head to head with UFC 103, and in an uncharacteristically relaxed demeanor said,

"I don't think us going against boxing is a good thing [for the fans]..." but regardless of the outcome this week on who sells more pay-per-views White said (speaking about the bad economy), "boxing is in trouble. The show we just did in Oklahoma had 75,000 people on a Wednesday night, and people came early at 3 p.m... You can combine WWE and boxing this year, and we beat them both."

Someone in the media asked him what he thought about Quentin Jackson doing the A-team movie and if the fight with Rashad would still take place at a later date.

"When the movie star's done doing his movie we'll find out when that fights happening... " he said criticizing Jackson. "He [Rich Franklin] did a movie when he wasn't fighting, like Randy Couture did."

"The crazy thing about Rampage is he's giving away a lot of money to do the A-Team. You can't fix stupid."

Speaking about Franklin fighting Belfort and how they both seem to be stuck in between fighting at middleweight and light heavyweight, White was asked on his thought about adding a weight class (possibly 195 pounds). He said he was not at all interested and did not want to make the same mistake as boxing did by having too many classes.

Belfort spoke about his fight and said that he likes Franklin and the fight "is going to be a classic"

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Nate Diaz waited for Melvin Guillard to fumble a golden opportunity and made him pay for his mistake.

Diaz, "The Ultimate Fighter" Season 5 lightweight winner, submitted Guillard with a modified guillotine choke 2:13 into round two in the marquee matchup at UFC Fight Night 19 on Wednesday at the Cox Convention Center. The victory snapped a two-fight losing streak for Diaz, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu brown belt under Cesar Gracie who has shown a flare for the dramatic.

Guillard, as usual, had his moments. The talented 26-year-old dropped Diaz with a nice right hand in the first round, scrambled out of two takedowns and punctuated a strong opening stanza with a thudding body kick. By the end of the first five minutes, Diaz, a notorious slow starter, was bleeding heavily from a cut above his right eye.

Sherdog.com has the play-by-play from tonight's Fight Night 19:

Round 1
Cantwell and Stann circle the cage and exchange punches but neither seems willing to sell out on their shots this early in the fight. Stann lands a nice straight right with about two minutes left in the first round. Cantwell doing a lot of the chasing and begins to find his mark. He has reddened Stann's right cheek and lands another heavy punch to his retreating opponent. Stann answers with a body kick with just 20 seconds remaining in the round. Sherdog.com scores the round 10-9 for Steve Cantwell based on his aggression in a somewhat slow round.

Round 2

Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com

Stann edged Cantwell.Stann lands a nice three-punch combination but follows it up with a low blow. Cantwell shakes it off and tells the referee he is ready to continue right away. Cantwell continues to walk Stann down and cut off the cage but he can't find his mark on a consistent basis. Stann lunges into another combination, this one a two-piece that slows down Cantwell briefly. Cantwell misses with a high kick. Stann looks to be gaining more and more confidence as the fight goes on. Stann jumps in and lands another three-punch combination. With 40 seconds left, Stann clinches and looks for a takedown but Cantwell shrugs him off. Stann lands a straight right and fights off a takedown attempt by Cantwell in the final 10 seconds of the second round. Sherdog.com scores the round 10-9 for Stann.

Round 3
Cantwell lands a grazing right that puts a wince on Stann's face. Cantwell lands a kick to the body and a nice left hook. The crowd is booing this fight loudly now. Neither fighter really seems to want to open up, they are trading decent shots in short bursts but they look like they are fighting not to lose. This is the third fight between these guys with each fighter winning by TKO. Perhaps there is too much respect between the foes. With one minute left the boos are back. The third round has been even slower paced than the previous two. Sherdog.com scores the final round 10-10.

Official scores are 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 all for Brian Stann.

Just watched the Ultimate Fight Night 19 weigh-ins. Here's some highlights:

TUF alum CB Dollaway weighed in, then squared off with oppoenent Jay Silva. Dollaway then went for the handshake, but the grim-faced Silva either saw it and didn't want to shake or turned away too soon. Not sure. Dollaway was like, oh, well.

Light heavyweights Steve Cantwell and Brian Stann had a respectful stare down. This will be the rubber match for these two. Stann won the first, Cantwell took the second with the WEC LHW title on the line. It'll be interesting to see if the loser stays in the UFC, the way the org. has been cutting guys.

After an extended lay-off for running afoul with UFC brass, Roger HUerta returns, much to the chagrin of UFC Octagon Girl Arianny Celeste, his former g-f. Huerta's opponent, Gray Maynard, bounded up the steps to the dais, and chewed gum as he weighed in. Dude looked like he was just out for a walk in the park, no big deal.

Nate Diaz approached the stage with his arms up, fists in the air. Melvin Guillard arrived with his trademark dyed-blond 'do. They squared off and Diaz has got Guillard by at least five inches. Man, he towered over him. That should be a good one - two aggressive fighters, no way it's going to the judges.

If you couldn't tell already, I'm psyched for this season of The Ultimate Fighter, probably like no other, because we get to see all heavyweights, we get to see Rampage and Rashad yap back and forth at each other (see DW's quote above), see how the NFL players do, and then, see how long (or how short) Kimbo's stint on the show will be. It all starts tomorrow night (Wednesday) with Ultimate Fight Night at 8 p.m., and the first episode of The Ultimate Fighter at 10 p.m.

"Banha" Cane.

from mmajunkie.com:
A light-heavyweight bout between Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (17-3 MMA, 0-0 UFC) and Luis Cane (10-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) will take place at UFC 106.

Sherdog first reported that verbal agreements are in place. Sources close to the negotiations confirmed the news with MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) and said the fight was discussed as a possibility as early as this past weekend, though bout agreements have not been signed.

He may never be world champion, but Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson's definitely taking advantage of the offers out there.

from mma unlimited and bloodyelbow: TUF contestant and rising UK star Nick Osipczak is all set to face Allentown's Matt Riddle (who now trains at Xtreme Couture) at UFC 105, sources close to the bout have disclosed to MMA Unltd.

Both men have agreed to the bout and, whilst bout agreements haven't been signed, it looks very likely that it will go ahead at the upcoming UFC 105 event in Manchester, England.

Osipczak impressed on The Ultimate Fighter, fighting his way into the house by knocking out Tommy Maguire and then dishing out another KO to American adversary Mark Miller.

He lost on points to finalist DaMarques Johnson but then went on to dispatch the tough Frank Lester by rear naked choke at the finale.

Riddle proved himself capable of delivering the knockouts as well on TUF 7, brutally separating Dan Simmler from his senses, and he has since gone on to post three wins inside the Octagon via unanimous decision.

A good wrestler, he poses a stern test for the Rough House fighter but it looks set to be an interesting contest.

The action takes place next Wednesday and will serve as a lead-in for the TUF 10 premiere.
MAIN CARD

Nate Diaz vs. Melvin Guillard
Roger Huerta vs. Gray Maynard
Carlos Condit vs. Jake Ellenberger
Tim Credeur vs. Nate Quarry

PRELIMINARY CARD
Steve Cantwell vs. Brian Stann
Mike Pyle vs. Chris Wilson
C.B. Dollaway vs. Jay Silva
Phillipe Nover vs. Sam Stout
Justin Buchholz vs. Jeremy Stephens
Brock Larson vs. Mike Pierce
Ryan Jensen vs. Steven Steinbeiss

MMAMadness.com has learned that Matt Hamill (6-2) and Jon Jones (8-0) have verbally agreed to fight at the The Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale on Dec. 5 as the co-main event.

Hamill was supposed to fight Brandon Vera at UFC 102, but suffered a knee injury that forced him to pull out of the bout.

Jones recently signed a new deal with the UFC, and has yet to suffer defeat.

Both camps have verbally agreed and are awaiting the bout agreement.

Hendo vs. Lil Nog 1

From mmajunkie.com:
Ultimate Fighting Championship executives today officially announced its Nov. 14 UFC 105 event, which takes place at the MEN Arena in Manchester, England.

Tickets for the event, which airs via tape delay in North America on Spike TV (and live in the U.K. on ESPN), go on sale this week.

Currently, officially announced fights for the event include Michael Bisping vs. Denis Kang and Dan Hardy vs. Dong Hyun Kim.

And from The Sun:
ANTONIO ROGERIO NOGUEIRA is in line to make his Octagon debut against Dan Henderson at UFC 105, SunSport understands.
According to sources close to the fighter, 'Little Nog' -- the twin brother of UFC heavyweight Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira -- is set to sign a four-fight deal with Dana White's MMA promotion.

And he will be offered a light-heavyweight fight against ex-Pride superstar Dan Henderson in a bout which would top the bill in Manchester.

However, should Nogueira or Henderson turn the fight down, we understand welterweight legend Matt Hughes is being considered as an alternative big name to appear at the MEN Arena on November 14.

This video was shot just before Couture's loss to Big Nog at UFC 102, but at the end, around 4:55 or so, he talks briefly about Brock Lesnar vs. Shane Carwin.

from The Vancouver Sun, 9/4/09:
Former Ultimate Fighting Championship world light heavyweight champion Quinton (Rampage) Jackson is in Vancouver to star as BA Baracus in an upcoming movie version of The A-Team.

Jackson has been removed from the UFC 107 card where he was set to face Sugar Rashad Evans in an Ultimate Fighter finale showdown, so he can appear in the film. He was spotted on Robson Street Friday afternoon, signing autographs for fans.

I was always a supporter of UFC Octagon girl Edith Labelle. You may have noticed she was replaced recently, but has a new project, which will probably go direct-to-DVD and then on to Sci-Fi channel. Oh well, she can be the new Shannon Tweed of cheesy movies.

Thanks to Kevin Vickers from justbleed.com for the poster concept. Maybe the UFC will like it and buy the design.

Looks like Shane Carwin, who fights heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar at UFC 106, is trying to get his weight up to match that of Lesnar, undoubtedly the biggest UFC heavyweight champ ever.

In this corner: Lesnar, who revealed this on his youtube channel:
Weight Log
============================== =====
Previous Weight Logs:
August 8 '08: 265lbs (Weigh In)
August 9 '08: 289lbs (Fight)
November 14 '08: 265lbs (Weigh In)
November 15 '08: 276lbs (Fight)

Recent Weight Logs:
July 10: 265lbs (Weigh In)
July 11: 287lbs (Fight)
August 18: 304lbs (Pre-Training Camp) (After Workout)
August 24: 298lbs (Pre-Training Camp) (After Workout)
September 1: 306lbs (Pre-Training Camp) (After Workout)

And in this corner, Carwin, who blogged recently:
Question: How's your training going?
And, I know you usually weigh-in right around the 265 limit, will you actually put back on much weight after the weigh-in?
I know Brock usually puts back on quite a few afterwards.

Answer: Training is great all things are smooth.

I shoud be about 290 fight night

I think these guys are evenly matched. Both have great amateur wrestling credentials, massive frames and heavy hands.

A gif usually holds a clip that last a few seconds. Well, Duffee's entire destruction of Tim Hague fits into a gif - all 7 seconds of it.

By Mike Whitman, sherdog.com
PORTLAND, Ore. -- Todd Duffee walked into the Octagon for the first time as one of the sport's hottest prospects. He walked out a UFC record holder.

In the third fight on the UFC 102 "Couture vs. Nogueira" undercard, Duffee crushed Tim Hague with a stunning seven-second knockout, as he set a new mark for the fastest KO in promotional history. Nearly the instant the fight began, Duffee dropped Hague with a stiff left jab, followed up with heavy shots, relieved Hague of his senses and ended a near year-long hiatus from competition.

sherdog.com has the play-by-play:
Randy Couture vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
Round 1
The fighters collide in the center of the Octagon and Couture gets the best of a punching exchange. Nogueira attempts a trip and Couture defends well. Nogueira eats a right hand and tries to pull guard. Couture blocks the technique and lets Nogueira stands. Nogueira drops Couture with a right hand. Nogueira transitions to a brabo choke and Couture defends. The hold is tight, but Couture holds on. The next two minutes are an absolute slugfest, resembling Frye vs. Takiyama at times. Both fighters connect with several heavy punches. Nogueira is cut, but he takes the round.

Jordan Breen scores the round 10-9 Nogueira
TJ De Santis scores the round 10-9 Nogueira
Mike Fridley scores the round 10-9 Nogueira

Round 2
Minotauro clips Couture with a right hook, left hook combo. Nogueira follows by attempting to pull guard with a guillotine, but Couture is game. Couture begins to work from the guard of the Brazilian for the first time tonight. Couture scores with left elbows and short punches. Nogueira sweeps Couture and takes the mount. Couture gets to half guard, a position he's struggled with from the bottom in the past. Nogueira sets up an arm triangle choke and takes the mount. He lets go of the submission to punch the head with his right hand. Couture gets to half guard and to his feet. Couture lands a body shot and backs away from Nogueira. A counter-left hook scores for Couture. Minotauro answers with a knee to the body.

Jordan Breen scores the round 10-9 Nogueira
TJ De Santis scores the round 10-9 Nogueira
Mike Fridley scores the round 10-9 Nogueira

Round 3
Couture kicks the lead leg and scores with a right hand. Nogueira flattens Couture with a right hand and he pounces with punches. Referee Mario Yamasaki watches closely as Nogueira tees off on his prey. Couture comes to his senses, but Nogueira has advanced to side control. Minotauro controls his opponent against the fence. The Brazilian has slowed his offensive attack from side control, and it allows the now bleeding Couture to briefly get to half guard. Nogueira takes the hall of famer's back. After working for a rear-naked choke, Couture escapes danger and takes the top position. From his foe's closed guard, Couture elbows the head with his left arm. 30 seconds remain. Couture rides out the clock and Nogueira sweeps for the mount at the horn.

Jordan Breen scores the round 10-9 Nogueira (30-27 Nogueira)
TJ De Santis scores the round 10-9 Nogueira (30-27 Nogueira)
Mike Fridley scores the round 10-9 Nogueira (30-27 Nogueira)

Nogueira takes the unanimous decision with scores of 30-27 (twice) and 30-28.

Leben out cold after an arm choke.

Jake Rosholt chokes out Chris Leben with an arm-triangle at 1:20 of the third.

Thiago Silva back to his winning ways with a KO over Keith Jardine in 1:35 of round 1.

Evan Dunham beat Marcus Aurelio by split decision.

Mark Munoz gets the win over Nick Catone by split decision.

Todd Duffee KOs Tim Hague is 7 seconds.

Mike Russow over Justin McCully by unanimous decision.

Gabriel Gonzaga over Chris Tuchscherer by TKO, round 1.

Aaron Simpson over Ed Herman by TKO-injury, round 2.

Brandon Vera beat Krzysztof Soszynski by UD.

Nate Marquardt gets a 21-second KO over Demain Maia.

Maia's got the "Where am I?" look. Thanks again to sherdog.com for the pic.

The other day I thought Duffee might have what it takes to make an impact in the UFC; I didn't think it would only take seven seconds. Thanks to sherdog.com for the pic.

All the hard work is done, so Nate "The Great" Marquardt has time to do some light training, eat, do interviews and check out his walk-out shirt from Tapout and training gear from Hayabusa. He seems like a genuinely nice guy.

Tom and I talk UFC 102, and the Pennsylvania MMA scene.

Just watched the weigh-ins. Here are my quick thoughts:

- Randy weighed in at 220, Big Nog at 231, which is probably the lightest he's been in some time. Both look to be in great shape.

- As you can guess, the crowd totally roared for Randy.

- Anderson Silva had a goofy plaid shirt he wore to support Big Nog.

- Thiago Silva had these black wrap-around sunglasses, a la Bono of U2.

- There are a ton of heavyweight fights on this card, when you think about it: Couture/Nog, Gonzaga/Tuchscherererererer (actually it's just Tuchscherer.), McCully/Russow, and Duffee/Hague.

- By the way, Duffee looked yoked. Weighed in at 250 or so, looks to be about 6'3', 6'4" and was cut. Hope to see a good performance out of him, he could be one to watch in the coming years.

- Oh, and with his Portuguese accent, Big Nog calls Randy, "Handy."

Ted: Dana White gives a hilarious rant about acting while fighting professionally. But, as one member of the mmajunkie forum said, maybe he should just let it go, because more mainstream exposure will most likely lead to more asses in the seats.

By John Morgan and dann Stupp, mmajunkie.com
PORTLAND, Ore. - Dana White wants to make one thing very clear: He's no fan of fighters who also want to launch simultaneous acting careers.

While the likes of Randy Couture, Heath Herring and Georges St-Pierre have appeared in recent Hollywood flicks, the UFC president was none too pleased when he learned Quinton Jackson will reportedly play the role of B. A. Baracus in a film remake of "The A-Team."

The event is this Saturday. here's more info. from mmajunkie:

Location: Portland, Ore.
Venue: Rose Garden
Broadcast: Pay-per-view

MAIN CARD

Randy Couture vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
Keith Jardine vs. Thiago Silva
Chris Leben vs. Jake Rosholt
Demian Maia vs. Nate Marquardt
Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Brandon Vera

PRELIMINARY CARD
Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Chris Tuchscherer
Justin McCully vs. Mike Russow
Todd Duffee vs. Tim Hague
Nick Catone vs. Mark Munoz
Marcus Aurelio vs. Evan Dunham
Ed Herman vs. Aaron Simpson

Here's a photo I'm told is untouched and lo and behold, it looks like the photo below that is labeled "fake." Mystery solved, my friends.

I do know that Wanderlei Silva did in fact have facial surgery, to repair years of scar tissue build-up and to repair his nose, which had been broken repeatedly. Silva and Bisping were scheduled to fight at an upcoming UFC in England, but Bisping blogged recently that the fight was off, due to Wand's surgery. Still, the question remains - which pic is real, which is fake, or are they both photoshopped? I have no idea, I'm just here to add fuel to the fire ...

Shane Carwin is the babyface to Brock Lesnar's heel - except in the UFC, the finish isn't planned out backstage.

By Greg Savage, sherdog.com
UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar will meet Shane Carwin in his second title defense at UFC 106 on Nov. 21 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

Sherdog.com has confirmed the news through several sources with knowledge of the agreement. MMAMadness.com was the first to report on the card shift that will see Carwin move from a scheduled bout against Cain Velasquez at UFC 104.

Carwin has not answered calls for comment, but posted a message on his official Web Site Wednesday night.

"I can't confirm or deny anything. I can just tell you guys that I am training harder then ever and your support and loyalty will carry me through any fight they send my way," he wrote.

Hey, let me squish your cauliflower ear ...

Fighters Only, a great MMA magazine from England, which has recently made inroads into the U.S., has some cool shots of Wanderlei Silva, Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture. Click here to see more. Interesting how Randy beat Chuck once, and then Chuck won their next two, and also has a UD win over Wand. Randy and Wand never fought, but have trained together at Randy's Xtreme Couture academy in Las Vegas.

Tom and I discuss UFC 101, Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg, Tim Boetsch, Jimmy Chappell, and CPWC III.

Slightly off-topic here, this is the trailer for the movie, "I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell," to be released on Sept. 25. What's the MMA connection you say? Forrest Griffin and Mac Danzig have cameos as cops in the movie.

For more info., go to Inkosi's Web site.

The fight-finishing jab.

Heels to the liver (it's on that side of the body, right?) leads to an RNC for Penn.

Hendricks unloads on Sadollah, but was it enough for Mirgliotta to step in? You decide.

Here's an excerpt from John Morgan's story on Anderson Silva on mmajunkie.com:
While Silva has always said defending the middleweight title is of utmost importance to him, the Brazilian suggested he may be willing to continue a run at light heavyweight - despite the difficulties of fighting bigger men.

"It's a big problem, because these guys at 205 (pounds) are a lot bigger than me," Silva said. "But I want to fight against the best. Whoever the best is at the time, that's who I want to fight."

Silva is now an astounding 10-0 in the UFC, and his dominance in two divisions warrants real consideration for the dangerous striker as the world's top pound-for-pound fighter.

Ted: Notice Silva didn't say "I want to fight against the best, but not my close buddy Lyoto." OK, so we know that Silva and Lyoto Machida, UFC's light-heavyweight champ, have said they will not fight each other. They train together, although I did not see Machida in attendence at Silva's training camp for last night's fight.

As to who would win, man, I'm just shaking my head right now.

By John Gonzalez, Philadelphia Inquirer
Philly used to be America's favorite fight town, and for good reason. But it's been a long time since a crowd drunk on bloodlust materialized out of the ether and followed Muhammad Ali through the streets after hearing a rumor that he was on his way to rumble with Joe Frazier in Fairmount Park. A city raised on brutal bouts at the Blue Horizon and fiercely proud of its history has been all but forgotten as a fight destination - replaced by Vegas and other points West.

No longer. Last night, the UFC put Philly back on the mega-fight map, holding its first-ever event here. Philly, in turn, did for the UFC and its athletes what it did for boxing for so many years - bestowed legitimacy and importance on the event. Because when you fight in this town, in front of these people, you become part of a long and noble tradition, and you're remembered well after the blood and sweat is scrubbed clean from the canvas.

from mmajunkie.com:
OFFICIAL RESULTS

B.J. Penn def. Kenny Florian via submission (rear-naked choke) - Round 4, 3:54 (to defend lightweight title)
Anderson Silva def. Forrest Griffin via knockout (punch) - Round 1, 3:23
Aaron Riley def. Shane Nelson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Johnny Hendricks def. Amir Sadollah via TKO (strikes) - Round 1, 0:29
Ricardo Almeida def. Kendall Grove via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 20-27)
Kurt Pellegrino def. Josh Neer via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

PRELIMINARY CARD RESULTS
John Howard def. Tamdan McCrory via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Alessio Sakara def. Thales Leites via split decision (29-28, 27-30, 29-28)
Matthew Riddle def. Dan Cramer via unanimous decision (29-27, 30-26, 30-27)
George Sotiropoulos def. George Roop via submission (kimura) - Round 2, 1:59
Jesse Lennox def. Danillo Villefort via TKO (cut) - Round 3, 3:37

from sherdog.com:
Thales Leites vs. Alessio Sakara
Round 1
The entrance is messed up, and Leites comes out to Sakara's music and name. Sakara, in turn, enters to Leites' music, which Leites sings while Sakara makes his way to the Octagon. Leites slips throwing a haymaker but stands back up. He shoots from too far out for a takedown, and Sakara stuffs it. 1:30 in. Sakara is mostly waiting back. Leites gets a single leg, but as Leites is taking top control Sakara lands a short forearm that hurts him and keeps him off. Back on the feet, Sakara fires a one-two that's blocked. Leites misses another shot from afar. The audience boos. 10-9 Sakara. Sakara won by split decision.

With Roy Jones Jr., who reportedly was a guest of Anderson Silva. Silva has said he wants to box Jones after his UFC contract is done.

From Sherdog.com message board member Adouble27:
"the philly media is covering the s--- out of UFC 101..its everywhere down here. This is arguably the biggest boxing town in the world and finally bigtime fights are coming back. I heard this will be the most widely watched sports event in the history of PA. This is what MMA needs. East coast mainstream media exposure.....Wait till you hear the fans tonight. They will be CHEERING louder than anywhere you've ever heard......UFC in Phiily is HUGE for MMA. DOnt be scared..come to south Philly and you'll have a blast...just leave your cowboys jersey at home."

CPWC II Highlights:

from mmajunkie.com:
MAIN CARD

Champ B.J. Penn (155) vs. Kenny Florian (155)
Champ Anderson Silva (205) vs. Forrest Griffin (205)
Ricardo Almeida (185) vs. Kendall Grove (185.5)
Josh Neer (155.5) vs. Kurt Pellegrino (154.5)
Johny Hendricks (171) vs. Amir Sadollah (166.5)
PRELIMINARY CARD

Shane Nelson (156) vs. Aaron Riley (154)
John Howard (169.5) vs. Tamdan McCrory (170)
Thales Leites (185) vs. Alessio Sakara (185.5)
Dan Cramer (169.5) vs. Matthew Riddle (170)
George Roop (154) vs. George Sotiropoulos (155)
Jesse Lennox (171) vs. Danillo Villefort (170.25)

from Eric "Performify" Foster at mmajunkie.com:
If you're attending UFC 101, or if you live in the Philadelphia area, the Buckhead Saloon is the place to be when you're not at the arena. For those of you in the area but without tickets, venue officials are giving away a pair on Friday during happy hour, and they will be showing the PPV on Saturday if you're looking for a place to watch with your fellow junkies.

After the fight, the saloon is the home of the official B.J. Penn afterparty and features appearances by multiple fighters and UFC personalities, including the beautiful Arianny Celeste. Check out this thread on our forums for more details.

Ted: If you're in the York area, Hooters of York is the place. That's where I'll be, camera in hand.

MMA Videos | Countdown to UFC 101 Video

Dan Henderson did a seminar and an appearance at a club this past weekend in Hagerstown, Md. From sherdog.com message board member Flokk:
-The DJ played Bisping's entrance song from 100 about 10 minutes before Dan got there.
-Dan didn't get an entrance song, he just pulled up in a white limo and strolled in.
-Dan was wearing jeans, a t-shirt, and flip-flops.
-He seemed pretty uncomfortable with the people mobbing him at first but by the time we got up for a second round of pictures he was very relaxed. My friend asked him how he felt about the Bisping KO and he said, "You know how you felt watching it? Well imagine that times a billion." I just told him he was the man and he laughed. On the way out he was sipping a soda next to the exit and I said thanks for the pictures Dan, and he laughed and gave me a thumbs up.
-Don't laugh at me, haha. On a 7 month layoff so running 20 pounds heavier than normal. And I'm 6'3, 260 so the size difference between me and Hendo was crazy (he's definitely not 6'1 like Fightfinder says, *maybe* 5'10), made it very hard to get a good picture.
-Dan's head looks like a concrete slab! And his jaw really is THAT f------ big.
-He was in the area for a seminar of some kind and the bar paid him a (rumored) 7 grand for the 2 hour meet and greet.

Originally posted on sherdog.com

By Loretta Hunt, sherdog.com:
Fedor Emelianenko has signed a multi-fight agreement that will see the world's No. 1-ranked heavyweight compete for Strikeforce, the promotion announced Monday.

Emelianenko, who became a free agent after Affliction Entertainment canceled its Aug. 1 event two weeks ago, will make his debut on Showtime under a co-promoted Strikeforce/M-1 Global production this fall. Emelianenko was to have faced Josh Barnett at Affliction "Trilogy" on Aug. 1, but Barnett failed a pre-fight test for an anabolic steroid and was refused licensure by the California State Athletic Commission.

"Strikeforce is a top fight promotion that houses some of the greatest fighters in the world," said Emelianenko in a press release. "I am prepared to fight any of them."

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker told Sherdog.com last week that he plans to match the stoic Russian against the likes of Brett Rogers, Fabricio Werdum and the promotion's heavyweight champion, Alistair Overeem.

"I feel pretty confident that we could give him four or five opponents that would make sense for him," Coker told Sherdog.com in an exclusive video interview.

Emelianenko, along with his promoters and management team at M-1 Global, had negotiated with the UFC last week, but could not come to an agreement over co-promotion.

"Fedor is a f---ing joke," UFC President Dana White responded Monday after learning that Emelianenko had signed with Strikeforce. "He turns down a huge deal and the opportunity to face the best in the world to fight nobodies for no money!"

White also addressed fans: "I feel sorry for the real fight fans. I wanted to make the deal, but it takes two and it is very obvious Fedor doesn't want to fight the best, and doesn't give a sh-t about the fans!"

This article was updated at 3:52 p.m. EST and 7:35 p.m. EST with quotes from Dana White that the UFC's PR Director Jennifer Wenk sent directly to Sherdog.com.

The other day, I blogged about how Forrest Griffin might win against Anderson Silva at UFC 101. Then I found this recent quote from Silva on bloodyelbow.com:

"I try to win through the mistakes of my opponents. It's not interesting for me to expose myself and run unnecessary risks. I'm getting old and since I started fighting I never had a scratch or my face broken. Anyone who knows about fighting can see what I mean."

What a psychological advantage this would be to Griffin during the fight if Griffin were about to open up a cut or get Silva bleeding from the nose, or something like that.

Griffin is crazy from way back, even in high school.

Forrest Griffin's got a shot - a decent shot - at beating Anderson Silva at their fight at UFC 101 on Aug. 8 at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia. ... Aw heck, I'm gonna get crazy here - dammit, he's gonna do it! Who's with me? Here's why I think so:

- Forrest is used to fighting at 205; Silva is not. Yeah, Silva made the jump once before, but it appeared as though he put on mostly water weight or fat rather than muscle to get up to 205 from his usual 185. Of course, that didn't matter 'cause he knocked out James Irvin in a matter of seconds. We might see Silva's cardio start to fail from the extra weight if Forrest can take him into the third round.

- In connection with the first point, Forrest is bigger than Silva, although not by much. Forrest is listed at 6'3", whereas Anderson Silva is 6'2". That's only an inch, but it could be a big difference because Silva is used to looking down on opponents, not eye-to-eye or maybe up a little. Forrest reportedly walks into the cage around 220 or so, so he'll defnitely have a weight advantage over Silva, who is bulking up to 205, so I don't expect him to walk into the cage much heavier than that.

- The biggest factor in this fight is Forrest's heart. The guy's got tons of it. He's like the Chuck Wepner (the boxer on whom Stallone based Rocky) or even Chuck Cecil (NFL safety who used to smash his nose in nearly every game because of how hard he hit) of the UFC - a guy who doesn't care that he bleeds in every fight, who may not be technically the most proficient fighter out there, but more than makes up for it by giving it his all every damn time. Silva, on the other hand, was reportedly matched up with Forrest because of his last two fights, which were, putting it mildly, crappy. Dana White knew Forrest would push Silva, basically force him to fight. Fans have wondered if Silva's heart is still in the game, or if he's just coasting until the end of his UFC contract, so he can have a boxing match with his idol, Roy Jones Jr.

None of this is to take away from Silva. The factors I listed might not amount to anything in this fight. Silva's a great fighter and could end the fight with one punch, kick, elbow or knee. But you just can't count Forrest out. Most people said he wouldn't beat Shogun Rua, but he did, with an RNC. Most people didn't think he could take the title from Rampage, but he did, with devastating leg kicks and tight ground control.

News from Dana White's news conference today, as reported by several Web sites, including sherdog.com, mmajunkie.com and bloodyelbow.com:

No deal yet that would make Fedor vs. Lesnar a reality. The UFC agreed to allow Fedor to compete in combat sambo, but would not agree to co-promote with M-1 Global, Fedor's management company.

Headlining UFC 103 will now be Vitor Belfort vs. Rich Franklin, not Dan Hnderson vs. Franklin, as had previously been annoucned. Kinds funny, as Belfort didn't want to fight Gegard Mousasi at 205, but is willing to fight Franklin at that weight.

As I had reported earlier, Tito Ortiz is back in the UFC, and will most likely face Mark Coleman at a future event.

Receiving UFC contracts are Paul Buentello, Paul Daley, Ben Rothwell, Chase Gormley, Dan Lauzon and Rafaello Oliveira

Getting WEC contracts are Mark Hominick, L.C. Davis and Javier Vazquez

from mmajunkie.com:

Weigh-ins for "UFC 101: Declaration" take place Friday, Aug. 7 at Wachovia Center in Philadelphia.

The event, which takes place from 3-5 p.m. ET (with the first fighter hitting the scale at 4 p.m.), is free and open to the public.

Prior to the weigh-ins, UFC Fight Club members will have access to a special Q&A session hosted by UFC president Dana White and co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta.

Check-ins for Fight Club members begins at 1 p.m. ET, with the Q&A session beginning at 2 p.m. ET.

Ultimate Fighting's Cold War Gets Hotter
By Sean Gregory and James Osborne
Imagine a pro quarterback with Peyton Manning's talent playing up in the Canadian Football League instead of the NFL. Or picture Tiger Woods shunning the PGA and all the major championships to star in the second-string Nationwide Tour. It may sound ridiculous, but the fast-growing, wildly popular sport of mixed martial arts (MMA) is grappling with such an unthinkable, uncomfortable scenario.

Just as the sport's premier league, the Ultimate Fighting Championship, prepares to stage its milestone UFC 100 event in Las Vegas this Saturday -- which is expected to attract more than 1 million pay-per-view purchases -- the top fighter in the world has no plans to participate. Instead of slugging it out in Sin City, Fedor Emelianenko, 32, will be training in a small Russian mining town 385 miles south of Moscow, preparing for an Aug. 1 pay-per-view fight in Anaheim, Calif., against former UFC champion Josh Barnett. That fight is being co-promoted by M-1 Global, an Amsterdam-based organization in which Fedor has an ownership stake, and Affliction Entertainment, an upstart UFC challenger whose financial backers include Donald Trump and Mark Cuban (Cuban's cable network, HDNet, televises Affliction fights). Why isn't Fedor fighting for the more established brand? "The UFC wants his mind, his soul, his body," says Joost Raimond, chief operating officer for M-1 Global.

Talked with George McGinnis, owner/trainer at York Mixed Martial Arts Academy in Red Lion and he tld me that he and several of his students would be at the Lancaster Family Martial Arts Center for a BJJ tournament today. Not sure when it's over, so I'll have to check in with him next week.Site address - http://www.lfmac.com George has a purple belt in BJJ.

The next day, Sunday, he'll more than likely be Keystone Games at the York Fairgrounds competing in judo as a brown belt.

From Dana White's Twitter account about 2 hours ago:

"I am going on espn 1100 in vegas at 6pm. I will be talking anything mma. Call in number is 702 364 1100! Oh yea and welcome back tito :)"

from Kevin Iole:
After promoting two critically acclaimed but financially disastrous mixed martial arts cards, Affliction on Friday first canceled its pay-per-view card scheduled for Aug. 1 and then opted to get out of the promotional business, Yahoo! Sports has learned.

The company and the Ultimate Fighting Championship are expected to release a statement sometime on Friday in which it is announced that Affliction will cease operations as a promoter and that its clothing division will become a UFC sponsor.

Affliction had a card slated for Aug. 1 with a main event of Fedor Emelianenko, the No. 2 fighter in the Yahoo! Sports mixed martial arts rankings, against former UFC champion Josh Barnett at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.

from mmamania.com:
Former WEC light heavyweight champions Steve Cantwell (6-2, from Las vegas, Nev.) and Brian Stann (6-2, from Scranton, Pa.) will duke it out in a rubbermatch inside the Octagon at UFC Fight Night 19 from the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City, Okla., on Sept. 16.

The 205-pound match up, which was originally supposed to take place back in Dec. 2008, was today confirmed by the promotion.

Stann -- a former Marine who earned a Silver Star for valor while serving his country in Iraq -- defeated Doug Marshall early last year to capture the WEC title. However, his reign atop the weight class was short lived (just five months later) thanks to Cantwell and a second round technical knockout.

In the process, Cantwell avenged the first loss of his career to the "All American" back in early 2007. He rebounded after the loss with a three-fight win streak, stopping all of his opponents to earn another shot at Stann.

Stann and Cantwell were brought over to the UFC when the WEC eliminated its heavier divisions in late 2009.

Sadollah, the winner of TUF 7, is fighting Johny Hendricks at UFC 101 at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia on Aug. 8.

I'm not sure if this girl was actually at UFC 100, or if they chose her that weekend, and she'll be at the following events. I'm not sure I woulda went with her - there seemed to be some other hot ones in the group, although the video is a little blurry. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, they say, I guess. Anyway, just wanted to keep you updated on all things MMA ...

from mmaweekly.com:
Could it be? On the same day that Tiger Woods missed the cut for only the second time in his professional golfing career, it appears that hell may just have frozen over.

Apparently, the longstanding feud between former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz and UFC president Dana White is over.

Yes, over.

At least according to their Twitter exchange on Friday afternoon.

"Yeah, me and (Dana White) made up. I'm expecting to be inside the Octagon again soon," Ortiz posted on his Twitter account.

Minutes later, White confirmed Ortiz' comments, posting on his own Twitter account, "Yes, Tito and I made up."

Former WWE wrestler Bobby Lashley and Shane Carwin talk recently - I'm thinking it was at the UFC 100 expo? Anyway, maybe it's the camera angle, but Lashley looks to be a bit bigger than Carwin ... Not that it really matters. If Lashley can string together a few more wins - convincing wins over increasingly stiffer competition - we might see him in the UFC. Lashley's last win was against Bob Sapp, nothing that would really impress Dana White and Co. He said recently his sights are set on HW champ Brock Lesnar, but if Brock's still the champ by that time, he'll have to go through guys like Carwin, who have helped to make the UFC's heavyweight division one of the better ones as of late.

Look for Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and one of the Nogs (must be Big, 'cause Lil is not with the UFC) toward the end of the video.

Sherdog message board member AnaCondomChoke made this post: "Dan LeBetard, as much as I hate him, just said on PTI (Pardon The Interruption) that the UFC "came out" Saturday into the mainstream and it was all thanks to Brock Lesnar. LeBetard called Lesnar "the biggest villain in mainstream sports" and he's right. The short-term thinking and reaction by fans is that "Oh, he dissed us and the sponsors and made us seem like pro wrestling." The long-term is he's become up there with TO and Bonds and other "bad boys" of legitimate sports. Those people are draws. Bonds saved the Giants from bankruptcy and legit helped attendance across the league. TO gets ratings for his games. And they can back it up, just like Brock.

Face it, people are STILL talking about the UFC, STILL talking about Brock Lesnar. You can't BUY this type of publicity. And the fact that all the "old people" are dissing it will make it MUCH more attractive to that key demographic of 25-49 year old men.

The Hendo Hammer

Bisping's shot

Do Not Copy Paste The Password. You Need to Type it In

Password: 95533


MMA Videos | Lesnar vs Mir 2 Video

Cold.

thanks to mmajunkie.com:
LAS VEGAS - All 22 competitors taking part in Saturday's UFC 100 event have officially made weight for the show.

Weigh-ins took place today at a packed (albeit scaled-down) Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, and much of the crow remained ontheir feet throughout the ceremony.

While co-headliners Georges St-Pierre and Thiago Alves used every bit of the allowed 170-pounds in making their welterweight title fight official, so too did main-event fighter Brock Lesnar, who tipped the scales at the heavyweight limit of 265 pounds. Mir registered well-under the limit at an impressive-looking 245 pounds.

British middleweight Michael Bisping received a chorus of emphatic boos from the gathered mass, while Dan Henderson was cheered just as loudly. Bisping kept a firm gaze as Henderson smiled, and "The Count" refused to shake hands with his opponent as he walked off stage.

Thanks to Robert K. from BigOddsMike for the story, which he gleaned from Croatian site index.hr. Make sure to go there for all your UFC 100 odds.

After making a successful UFC comeback against Al Turk, Mirko Cro Cop's next fight will most likely be on September 19th , at UFC 103, in Dellas, Texas. Although we're still awaiting an official confirmation, Mirko's opponent will likely be 24-year Brazilian Junior Dos Santos.

The rising star exploded into the heavyweight division against former UFC contender Fabricio Werdum. The fight lasted only 81 seconds.

Dos Santos, known as "The Gypsy" in Brazil was set to fight in August, but UFC organizers cancelled the bout planned for UFC 102 in favor of a possible main event with the Croatian.

"I think I'll fight September 19. They took me off the August 29 show," he said, also announcing he will no longer be facing the same opponent. "My opponent's changed. I'll probably face Cro Cop. If I beat him I'll be in really good standing. If that's truly the case, I'm guaranteed on the main card and in the main event of the evening. If I were to fight now it wouldn't be on the main card," he said

UFC 100 preview.

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman reviews what
many regard as the greatest fight in UFC history, the showdown between
Frank Shamrock and Tito Ortiz at UFC 22, held September 24, 1999, at
the Lake Charles Civic Center in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

We spoke about this fight with the man who won that fight with a come-
from-behind, fourth-round TKO, the mixed martial arts legend himself,
Frank Shamrock (http://frankshamrock.com).

Not surprisingly, the current owners of the UFC have been trying to
rewrite history by staging an online poll online poll (http://
www.spike.com/ufc-100/) for fans to choose the best fights ever in
UFC. Along with Spike TV, they presented a list of 181 UFC fights from
which to choose. Absent from that long list was the Frank Shamrock-
Tito Ortiz fight at UFC 22, and any fights involving Frank Shamrock,
even though true historians and honest commentators of mixed martial
arts regarded Frank Shamrock as the top mixed martial arts fighter in
the world in the decade of the 1990s.

To set the record straight, and to counter the propaganda of those who
want to keep their fans ignorant, simple-minded, and obedient, we
spoke at length with Frank Shamrock about this fight itself, why it
was so important and significant, and how it was received before the
present bunch bought UFC. We also discussed the possibility of a long-
awaited rematch between Frank Shamrock and Tito Ortiz.

A video of this fight might still be found by searching for it online.

You can play or download No Holds Barred at
http://nhbnews.podOmatic.com/entry/2009-07-06T02_11_00-07_00.

You can also download No Holds Barred at http://www.mediafire.com/?uniiek2oznn.

My wife was listening to Nipsey and Earl (The People's Morning Show) this a.m. on 105.7 the X when they started talking about Lytle appearing in Mechanicsburg at the Hardware Bar for UFC 100. Thought I'd pass it along.

Thanks to bloodyelbow.com for posting it first.

Go to 1:11, that's where HM makes her appearance.

A truly awesome video by Ghenghis Con.

MMACanada.net has the pics, bloodyelbow.com is where I found out about them:

After UFC 99, Mirko Cro Cop Filipovic drew the ire of the MMA community when he announced he was leaving the UFC, although it had been reported he was supposed to fight several more times there. Most speculated he was jumping back to DREAm, the Japanese promotion he had fought under after leaving the UFC the first time. here's an exclusive from Robert K from Big Odds Mike who translated an article from the Croatian site index.hr.

Exclusive UFC owner visiting Cro Cop in Croatia

Index understands that Lorenzo Fertitta, the head honcho and part owner of the UFC flew to Zagreb with his own private jet earlier this morning. He was driven to Mirko's residents shortly after, where he stayed for two hours talking with the Croatian fighter. He returned to the airport afterwards, smiling, where his private jet flew off in to an unknown destination.

from mmajunkie.com:
Any doubts about the ability to draw big crowds in the Northeast will be put to rest at UFC 101.

The Aug. 8 event, set for the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, has already resulted in nearly 14,000 tickets sold and more than $3 million in sales.

UFC Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Marc Ratner discussed the success of the show, headlined by UFC lightweight champion B.J. Penn vs. top contender Kenny Florian, with MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) on Wednesday.

The state of Pennsylvania only recently began regulating mixed martial arts, but Ratner said UFC 101 has already shattered long-standing boxing records in The Keystone State.

"We put tickets on sale, I believe sometime at the end of April or early May, and we've sold almost 14,000 tickets," Ratner said. "It's the biggest event in Pennsylvania history, as far as a live gate, already."

MMA legend Pat Miletich helps out with the UFC 100 preview and Jacob "Stitch" Duran talks about why he's one fo the best cutmen in the fight game.

The latest video from Wand Fight Team. Wand - fresh from his fight with Franklin (cuts on his nose and ear) trains his team and gives them a heartfelt psych-up, complete with a classic Chute Boxe-like cheer at the end.

Do it again: Riggs and Diaz for Strikeforce 8/15?

MMAJunkie.com has some interesting rumors, so I'll run 'em down real quick:

- We may see Shane Carwin vs. Cain Velasquez at UFC 104 in Los Angeles.

- For UFC 107 in Memphis, it looks like native son Quinton "Rampage" Jackson will take on nemesis Rashad Evans, in a fight that will most likely determine the number-one contender to Lyoto Machida's title.

- Jow Riggs and Nick Diaz fought once in the UFC, and once unofficially afterward in a hospital ER. They make it official for the second time at Strikeforce's Aug. 15 event.

Right now, the two LHWs are coaches on the set of The Ultimate Fighter 10 (which is actually for heavyweights, but whatever) and ever since their in-Octagon confrontation a while back, can't stand each other.

Been out-of-town for a few days, but I'm back and it's time to get back to MMA. Here's this week's MMA Live.

It's live and it's free Saturday night on Spike at 9 p.m.

Nice shot. Wanderlei has asked for a rematch and I'd like to see it - at 205. Looks like it won't happen, since Dana White wants Franklin to take a run at the LHW title and Wandy to drop down to 185. ... Hey, here's another one: how about Silva vs. Liddell II? Man, that first one was a war. We'll see what's next for both fighters - I'll keep you updated.

According to UFC.com, limited tickets are still available for UFC 101 on Aug. 8 at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia. Click here to get tickets.

Main card
Lightweight Championship bout: B.J. Penn vs. Kenny Florian
Light Heavyweight bout: Anderson Silva vs. Forrest Griffin
Welterweight bout: Amir Sadollah vs. Johny Hendricks
Middleweight bout: Kendall Grove vs. Ricardo Almeida
Lightweight bout: Josh Neer vs. Kurt Pellegrino

Preliminary card
Lightweight bout: Shane Nelson vs. Aaron Riley
Welterweight bout: Tamdan McCrory vs. John Howard
Middleweight bout: Thales Leites vs. Alessio Sakara
Welterweight bout: Matt Riddle vs. Dan Cramer
Lightweight bout: George Sotiropoulos vs. Rob Emerson
Welterweight bout: Jesse Lennox vs. Danillo Villefort

UFC 102 poster. According to MMAweekly.com, the event will also feature Nate Marquardt vs. Demian Maia, Matt Hamill vs. Brandon Vera and Jake Rosholt vs. Chris Leben.

Meet and greet with Logan, Arianny and Edith - nice.

I'm telling you, man, if you get a chance, go. There will only be one 100. Here's what's in store:

Autograph Sessions with UFC, WEC, former Pride, and Hall of Fame Fighters.

Limp Bizkit is scheduled to sign autographs at the show!

Keynote Addresses lead by Dana White & Lorenzo Fertitta.

Hall of Fame Induction - Join us immediately following Dana White's keynote as these worthy members join the ranks.

Interactive Training & Development Sessions lead by industry icons.

The Octagon - experience in person where it all goes down!

Dana's 71' Cuda - Join us for the big reveal of Dana White's overhauled muscle car!

Fight Bikes - Check out these custom bikes specially-made for Lorenzo & Frank Fertitta and showcased right on the UFC Fan Expo Show floor.

UFC 100 - The grand finale to the biggest weekend in UFC history.

Leading 150 Exhibitors showcasing everything MMA.

Online Storefront where you can see and learn about the newest products, technologies, insights, and innovations in MMA.

Show Specials highlighting exhibitor discounts and fighter appearances on the show floor.

Grappling Tournament - the largest submission, grappling, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournament in history taking place only at UFC Fan Expo!

Here's the Web site for more info.

Amber Nichole visits the Arnold Classic in Columbus, Ohio to talk to UFC fighters and fans.

Here's the description written on his youtube channel: "The Fight Camp" is a Documentary Feature Film about the legendary, mixed martial arts fighter Wanderlei Silva, preparing for the greatest fight of his career in the UFC. Motivated by his loyal fans from around the world, and with the heavy burden of his last career loss, Wanderlei Silva like a true champion, overcomes all obstacles, to push forward through the toughest fight camp of his life.

by Kevin Iole, mmajunkie.com:
COLOGNE, Germany - Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic's return to the UFC was a short one.

Not long after stopping Mostapha Al-Turk in the first round of UFC 99 on Saturday at Lanxess Arena in his first fight in the UFC since back-to-back losses in 2007, Filipovic informed UFC president Dana White that he had signed a three-fight contract with the Japanese-based DREAM organization.

White had signed Filipovic less than a month ago to a one-fight deal, the first time in more than nine years that he'd done that. He had worked out terms on two additional fights, but said he'd only put pen to paper for Saturday's bout.

To see the fight, click the red circle with the arrow in it, then click the green circle with the arrow in it. The video should play.

OFFICIAL RESULTS from mmajunkie.com:

Rich Franklin def. Wanderlei Silva via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Cain Velasquez def. Cheick Kongo via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic def. Mustapha Al-Turk via TKO (strikes) - Round 2, 3:47
Mike Swick def. Ben Saunders via TKO (strikes) - Round 2, 3:47
Spencer Fisher def. Caol Uno via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Dan Hardy def. Marcus Davis via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Terry Etim def. Justin Buchholz via submission (D'Arce choke) -- Round 2
Denis Siver def. Dale Hartt via submission (rear-naked choke) - Round 1
Paul Taylor def. Peter Sobotta by unanimous decision
Paul Kelly def. Roli Delgado via unanimous decision
Stefan Struve def. Denis Stojnic via submission (rear-naked choke) - Round 2, 2:37
John Hathaway def. Rick Story via unanimous decision

From Jake Rossen's live blog of the Mike Swick-Ben saunders fight, as the two are on the ground:
"Are you going to hold me all night?" Swick asks. "We can stand back up, b-tch," Saunders responds. Actual exchange.

Swick won in the second round by TKO.

From what I understand, during the UFC 99 Countdown show for the Marcus Davis- Dan Hardy fight, Hardy made a joke about how crappy Davis' Web site looked, and Rogan laughed. Not only that, but Hardy trains at Eddie Bravo's 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu, where Rogan trains (Rogan and Bravo are good friends).

Just watched the weigh-ins for UFC 99: The Comeback, and since I can't find a video that will allow me to pirate it and put it up here, I'll give you the highlights:

Couple of shoving matches in the undercard. Denis Stojnic and Stefan "The Skyscraper" Struve squared up and got really, really close. Stojnic - maybe feeling a little bit uncomfortable at that point - pushed Struve, which prompted Joe Rogan to say, "First I thought they were gonna make-out, then a fight breaks out."

Then we had Roli Delgado and Paul Kelly. Joe Rogan said Delgado had an "epic beard" and called him the "Crazy Jew-ban" which I'm guessing is a reference to his mixed heritage. Anyway, it was Delgado with a push on Kelly after the two went forehead-to-forehead.

The crowd gave its biggets pop for the return of Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic, who is fighting Mostapha Al-Turk. It'll be very interetsing to see if Cro Cop can channel some of that left high kick magic from days gone by.

Marcus Davis, who has engaged in a pre-fight war of words with Dan Hardy, looked to be in his best shape ever. I guess he really was motivated for this fight, having said he spends a considerable amount fo time each day thinking about how much he hates Hardy. We'll see if his condition plays a role tomorrow. Surprisingly, the two had an uneventful stare-down.

In another version of the ol' grappler vs. striker match-up, French kickboxer Cheick Kongo and collegiate wrestling sensation Cain Velasquez weighed in and squared off. Kongo stuck his face in Velasquez's, but unlike when he squared off with Al-Turk, he didn't jab his head in there like he was gonna head-butt him. Maybe it was something in Velasquez's eyes, although I don't know if that's going to prevent Kongo from throwing his patented nut-shots. Let's hope Cain is ready.

Finally, Wanderlei Silva and Rich Franklin weighed in. Silva was very tight, Franklin looked about the same. I truly believe this fight could go either way. People talk about how Silva is old, but Franklin is about two years older than him. Silva has more losses, and has been knocked a few times, but Franklin was destroyed by Anderson Silva twice and knocked out by Lyoto Machida a while back. We'll see. I like both fighters, so it sucks they have to fight, because someone's gonna lose.

By GREG BEACHAM
AP Sports Writer

Mirko Filipovic joined the UFC two years ago amid more hype and expectation than perhaps any fighter in mixed martial arts history - and Cro Cop flopped.
After three desultory fights forced Filipovic into a yearlong retreat for mental adjustments and knee surgery, he returns to the octagon at UFC 99 on Saturday night in Cologne, Germany, against Mostapha Al Turk. The former anti-terrorist policeman in his native Croatia should have plenty of countrymen cheering the start of his second run toward the UFC heavyweight title.

After a heartfelt message to all his fans, Wand gets back to the snorkel training at about 4:30 in this video.

from mmaweekly.com:
Former UFC light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans spoke out for the first time about his loss to Lyoto Machida at a media day for the tenth season of "The Ultimate Fighter."

Evans, who will coach opposite Quinton Jackson, said he accepted the reality show position to move beyond the loss, refusing to wallow.

"I got my ass whooped, so, I was like, you know what, I could sit in the dark and cry myself to sleep every night... or I can do something about it," he said in a green room of the "TUF" training center. "I think that me losing was probably one of the best things for me just because it helped me see a lot of things clearer.

DW talks to Wanderlei, Rampage, Rashad, Gray Maynard and Tyson Griffin about the upcoming Urijah Faber vs. Mike Brown featherweight title fight at this weekend's WEC 41.

The coaches have been announced for The Ultimate Fighter 10 - Rampage Jackson and Rashad Evans - Kimbo has been announced as one of the contestants, but what about the others? Sherdog forum member Sticksta13 has some insight, particularly those who have professional football backgrounds:

Here's the crop of football-players-turned-MMA-fighters you're likely to see on "The Ultimate Fighter 10" in September:

Marcus Jones, the 1996 first-round draft pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, enters "TUF" with a 4-1 professional MMA record, which includes four first-round victories via stoppage (with an average time of just 91 seconds per win). Three of the wins came via TKO and one via submission.

The 35-year-old played football at the University of North Carolina, where he was a four-time letterman, an All-American and the 1995 ACC Defensive Player of the Year. The 6-foot-6 defensive tackle played six NFL seasons with the Bucs. In his best season, 2000, he ranked eighth in the league with 13 sacks. He spent two additional seasons with the Buffalo Bills (but didn't play in the regular season) before giving up the sport. Soon after, he joined instructor Rob Kahn at Gracie Tampa and eventually made his professional MMA debut in 2007.

The line-up:
B.J. Penn vs. Kenny Florian
Anderson Silva vs. Forrest Griffin
Amir Sadollah vs. Johny Hendricks
Kendall Grove vs. Ricardo Almeida
Josh Neer vs. Kurt Pellgrino
Shane Nelson vs. Aaron Riley
Tmadan McCrory vs. John Howard
Thales leites vs. Alessio Sakara
Matt Riddle vs. Dan Cramer
George Sotiropolous vs. Rob Emerson
Jesse Lennox vs. Danillo Villefort

For tickets, click here.

from sherdog.com:
"Kimbo Slice" will be among the 16 heavyweight fighters to join the 10th season of "The Ultimate Fighter," which starts shooting this week in Las Vegas.

"He just really wants to fight right now," Slice's manager, Mike Imber, told Sherdog.com.

UFC President Dana White confirmed the news with Yahoo Sports on Monday. Slice appeared on White's latest video blog in advance of WEC 41 this Sunday in Las Vegas.

"It's an opportunity for me to prove myself, being a mixed martial artist coming from the backyard, coming from being a street fighter and all," Slice said. "It's time for me to step my game up. I'm coming here to kick ass and take names and to continue to feed myself and my family."

With Mike Brown and Urijah Faber going at it again this Sunday, June 7, for the WEC featherweight title, Dana White lends his vlogging prowess to promoting the card.

Thanks to sherdog.com:
Thales Leites now understands how Jon Fitch felt.

One fight removed from a main event, Leites will creep onto the undercard at UFC 101 "Declaration" when he meets American Top Team's Alessio Sakara on Aug. 8 at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia. The UFC made the middleweight matchup official on Sunday.

Leites (14-2) last appeared at UFC 97 in April, when he dropped a unanimous decision in a lackluster bout with middleweight champion Anderson Silva. Though Silva bore the brunt of public criticism, Leites performance apparently did him no favors with UFC management.

I don't like to use this space to complain - but when there's an argument to be made and I feel strongly enough about it, I'll say something. What the hell am I talking about? Not long after Lyoto Machida won the LHW title from Rashad Evans, the pundits took to the Internets, waxing about how long his reign will last, and who will be the one to dethrone him.

To which I say, who cares? Just enjoy the moment (unless, of course, you can't stand the guy), live in the now, dammit! Hug his nuts a little.

He may string together a number of title defenses, he might lose it the next time he fights. That's why I love this sport - you truly never know what can happen on any given night. I'm fine with predicting fights, everybody does that. But the dude just won the title and hasn't even made one defense yet. It's a bit premature to try to say how long his reign will last.

The only thing I know is that he won the title, it looks like Quinton "Rampage" Jackson gets the next crack at him, and it may not be until after the two serve as coaches on the next The Ultimate Fighter.That's it.

I called up Greg Sirb, executive director of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission, this afternoon, with several questions on my mind:

- The UFC traditionally has weigh-ins the day before their events. A by-product of this is that fighters are able to "diet-down" i.e., come in as shredded as they can, hit the maximum weight allowed in their weight class on the mark, and then gain back 10-15 pounds of water weight before their respective fights.

As you probably know, the UFC has announced that UFC 101 will be held at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia on Aug. 8. I asked Sirb - because as I understand it, the state athlectic commission has same day weigh-ins - what would be done in the UFC's case.

"We're going to be discussing that over the next week or two," he said, referring to the himself and the state athletic commission.

On MMA in Pennsylvania in general, Sirb said things are ging great, with no major problems after several shows. Iron Will Fighting, an event that was held in Johnstown recently, drew 3,400 attendees. Respect is Earned's first event, held in Oaks (just outside Philly) had 1,200 spectators, Sirb said.

The next event, this weekend in Reading, Pain on Penn Street, is an MMA-boxing event. When Ia sked what he thought of hybrid events, Sirb said, "We'll see, it might work." I said asked him if he thought, as others have said, that boxing is trying to bring itself up by catching on to MMA's popularity, he said, "Not at all, I think they can both coexist."

from mmaweekly.com:
Now that Lyoto Machida has cemented himself as the #1 light heavyweight in the world, the next step for him is to defend his title, and possibly build his reputation with more fans all over the world.

A natural step to build that bridge would seem to be placing Machida on the next season of the "Ultimate Fighter" reality show, and have him opposite his next opponent, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, who previously served on the show during season 7.

UFC president Dana White was asked point blank if the coaches for the tenth season of the show had been picked, and while he was able to confirm they have been chosen, he wouldn't divulge any names.

I think it's a good idea. Wanderlei, who's coming off a loss to Rampage, is moving down to middleweight and has a main event fight against Rich Franklin at the next UFC, which is 99, in Germany.

McFedries, who's been hot and cold in his UFC career, just absolutely destroyed Xavier Foupa-Pokam at UFC 98.

Both of these guys - Wanderlei and McFedries only know one thing - push forward and bang. It would be an all-out war until someone drops.

here's wanderlei's latest video, Knockout Secrets

McFedries vs. Foupa-Pokam FOR THIS VIDEO, JUST ENTER THIS SEQUENCE, 73433, IN THE BOX AND THEN CLICK THE BENT ARROW TO THE RIGHT. THE VIDEO SHOULD PLAY.

It was a great night of fights at Hooter's of York last night. The place was packed and many of the MMA academies in the York area were represented.

Tom and I were there, doing some filming, so hopefully that video should be up later today.

Fresh from a training session with "Tatu" Taborda - and working as an extra in "Warrior" George McGinnis of York Mixed Martial Arts Academy in Red Lion, stopped by.

James Olewiler, who owns MACE in Red Lion, was there with one of his top students, Jimmy Chappell.

York County pro Biff Walizer and aspiring fighter Casey Bush were there, along with Tap or Sleep owner Jerod Phillips.

I also met Sibora Chan, a guy I had heard a lot about, but had never met. He runs Sibora Chan's American Kenpo Karate Studio.

Tom and I also ran into Red, who had helped us do a wrap-up show a while back, so we had to do it again.

Tom and I talk Pain on Penn Street, UFC 98 and the Super Hulk tournament.

I just watched the UFC 98 weigh-ins and although I had the sound down for most of it, it looked like everybody made weight.

There were no confrontations when the fighters squared off, although Hughes and Serra did not shake hands. No surprise there.

For the main event, Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida got a warm welcome from the crowd, but LHW champ Rashad Evans got a mix of boos thrown in. As Joe Rogan said, maybe it has to do with the fact that Evans has beaten two of the most popular UFC fighters of all time (or "of all times" according to Dana White) in Chuck Liddell and Forrest Griffin. Or it could be his in-cage antics, which are seen by some to be cocky and arrogant.

Anyway, Machida made a good stab at English in his post-weigh-in comment to Rogan, and that probably endeared him to the crowd as well.

When Evans and Machida squared off, Evans chose not to raise his hands. Machida, on the other hand, struck a Shotokan stance and put his right fist up to Evans' face. He bowed deeply to Rashad before and after he did that though.

It's personal when Hughes meets Serra at UFC 98
By GREG BEACHAM
AP Sports Writer

Although their sport is among the world's most violent, it's actually rare to find two mixed martial artists who genuinely dislike each other. The UFC is a largely respectful, sportsmanlike league of fighters who often train together, sometimes socialize together and realize they're in business together.

Matt Hughes and Matt Serra can't stand each other, and that's only one reason they're fighting Saturday night at UFC 98.

The card's main event might be Rashad Evans' 205-pound bout with Lyoto Machida in a matchup of unbeaten fighters, but the grudge match right before it is the reason so many fans are salivating for the league's latest Las Vegas event.

"The Answer" is taking on Sean Sherk at UFC 98.

Evans vs. Machida

Hughes vs. Serra

MMA Live looks at UFC 98.

from mirko's Web site:

These days the boys from Cro Cop team are training in full force. After a long break and highly demanding recovery process, Mirko Cro Cop is ready to fight in MMA again.

All problems with injuries are history and Cro Cop is very optimistic to start another chapter in his career:
"I feel great, the recovery process is going well and we train at high intensity now. I never had such a strong desire to prove myself and I'll climb up again, or die trying."

Mirko's next fight is set for June 13th in Germany, which means that he's back in the UFC, a place that he didn't have his best moments:
"I decided to fight in the UFC again, because of the stronger competition in the heavyweight division. My next opponent will be Mustapha Al-Turk. I didn't do well in my first three appearances - I wasn't myself. By returning to the cage I want to prove that I can still fight at highest level, no matter when or where," he said.

UFC 99 will be Cro Cop's first fight this year with the possibility of three fights coming by years end.
"It's hard to talk about concrete plans, but I would really like to fight at least three times this year. I wish to fight against quality opponents and to fight my way up to a title shot but for now, I'll focus only on my next fight and after that we'll see what's going to be on the menu next," says Cro Cop.
Although the UFC 99 card looks stacked, it seems that the UFC officials can see the benefits of hiring a top European fighter for their first ever UFC show in Germany.

"I want to say thank you Mr. Dana White for your interest and for an invitation back to the UFC. I owe you a lot from our first deal, and I'll make it up to you," promises Cro Cop.

All news related to Mirko Cro Cop's career are posted on Mirko's official MMA-ID profile on http://www.mma-id.com/CROCOP and Mirko's official homepage http://www.mirko-crocop.com.

Yours truly,
The CROCOP Team

A quick look at the life of Lyoto Machida, who takes on LHW champ Rashad Evans at UFC 98.

Former friends, now enemies: W. Silva and A. Silva

from Fighters Only:
Wanderlei Silva has told Anderson Silva to put his money where is mouth is ahead of his UFC 99 fight with Rich Franklin.

The two Silvas have had a war of words outside the Octagon since Anderson stated his thoughts about Wanderlei dropping to the 185lbs category on Sensei SporTV, calling the move "pretentious". Since then both have created a tough environment and speculation about a match has grown as they fire verbally at one another.

The latest episode of the series was the announcement of an Anderson Silva/Rich Franklin camp ahead of Franklin's fight with Wanderlei at UFC 99.

The Axe Murderer today shot back: "If Anderson believes in Franklin so much, bet U$ 50,000 and let's see who takes the money".

Tom and I talk about all things MMA in Pennsylvania.

from mmajunkie.com:
Following Wednesday's official announcement of a main event between UFC lightweight champion B.J. Penn and top contender Kenny Florian, the UFC officially named its Aug. 8 pay-per-view event "UFC 101: Declaration."

The event takes place at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia.

The addition of a preliminary-card bout between Shane Nelson and Aaron Riley brings the fight card to a total of 10 bouts, which includes a five-fight main card.

from mmajunkie:
Tickets for UFC 101, the organization's star-studded debut event in Pennsylvania, go on sale next week.

UFC 101 takes place Aug. 8 at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia and features UFC lightweight champion B.J. Penn vs. top contender Kenny Florian and UFC middleweight champ Anderson Silva vs. Forrest Griffin (in a non-title fight).

Members of the UFC's fan club can purchase tickets May 21, and the general public can buy tickets May 23.

Members of the UFC Fight Club get first dibs on the tickets, priced from $50 to $600, at 10 a.m. ET (7 a.m. PT). (Annual UFC Fight Club memberships cost $74.99 and include a variety of perks.)

UFC.com newsletter subscribers (subscribe for free at UFC.com) can buy tickets starting May 22 at 10 a.m. ET.

Finally, the genera public can purchase tickets beginning May 23 at 10 a.m. ET.

Keep in mind, however, that the event is likely to be a quick sellout. The UFC has never ventured to Pennsylania, which only began regulating MMA events recently, and the UFC has never ventured to many nearby states. However, the region is a hotbed for MMA and has a strong fan following.

As a comparison, the highly anticipated UFC 100 event, was announced as an official sellout before tickets ever went on sale to the general public.

Tickets for UFC 101 are available online at www.ComcastTIX.com or UFC.com, by phone at 1-800-298-4200, or in person at the Wachovia Center Box Office or select ACME markets.

Video chronicles the LHW title fight between Lyoto Machida and Rashad Evans, plus the ultimate grudge match, Matt Serra vs. Matt Hughes.

Another fun-filled day with Matt Serra as he gets ready for his fight with Matt Hughes at UFC 98.

New video just posted of Wanderlei Silva being put through a gauntlet by trainer Rafael Alejarra in preparation for his UFC 99 fight with Rich Franklin.

Thanks to profighting-fans.com for the pics.

For those who don't know, Anderson Silva and Wanderlei Silva were longtime teammates on the Brazilian MMA team known as Chute Boxe. Apparently, they were cool with each other for many years, but now that Wanderlei has announced he will be moving down to middleweight, where A. Silva is king, there's reportedly some bad blood brewing. Of course, the other interesting thing is that A. Silva beat Franklin twice - really, destroyed him twice _ the first time taking Franklin's UFC middleweight belt.

By John Morgan, mmajunkie:
Boxing legend Roy Jones Jr. continues to strike out in a search for potential homes for a mixed martial arts debut.

After UFC President Dana White recently declined on promoting a potential bout between his middleweight champion Anderson Silva and Jones Jr., Showtime Senior Vice President Ken Hershman today called a Strikeforce bout between the boxer and Nick Diaz a "very long shot."

After his April 11 win over Frank Shamrock, Diaz had challenged Jones Jr. to a boxing-rules match. Jones Jr. has since expressed his willingness to compete under full MMA rules.

"I get a Roy Jones call once a week pitching me things," Hershman said on today's Strikeforce media call. "[A fight between Diaz and Jones Jr.] would be a very long shot of ever happening."

Matt Serra is taking on his old arch-nemesis Matt Hughes at UFC 98. You probably couldn't find two more polar opposites than these guys, they should really do a whole 24/7 special on them, like, who is it - Showtime - does when they have big boxing fights? And something I didn't really know about Serra before - the dude is funny as s---.Have a look.

New Cumberland-based Tattoo Fightwear has a new sponsored fighter, Matt Bentley, who has a cool look - reminds me of an outlaw from the Wild West or something. Here's something he wrote:

My name is Matthew Bentley and I am an amateur Muay Thai and MMA fighter out of Omaha, NE. I am 24 years old and have been training in Muay Thai for 17 years. My
amateur Muay Thai record is 9-1-0. I am a two time national amateur Muay Thai Champion in the IKF.

My amateur boxing record is 6-1-0 having won the Nebraska State Championships
and my MMA record is now 3-2-0. I am an exciting striker with an evolving ground game. I do my best to try and set a very quick pace and always look to finish fights.

from mmajunkie.com:
While an anticipated main event between UFC lightweight champion B.J. Penn and challenger Kenny Florian has not yet been made official, seven other bouts were announced by the organization today.

In addition to several previously reported matchups, the UFC also announced a middleweight contest between Ricardo Almeida (10-3 MMA, 3-3 UFC) vs. Kendall Grove (10-5 MMA, 5-2 UFC), and a lightweight showdown between Rob Emerson (8-7 MMA, 2-1 UFC) and George Sotiropoulus (9-2 MMA, 2-0 UFC.

UFC 101 takes place Aug. 8 at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia.

Jon Anik & Co. talk about quadraplegic Kyle Maynard's MMA debut and the upcoming Anderson Silva vs. Forrest Griffin fight at UFC 101.

by Thomas Gerbasi, ufc.com:
UFC is coming to Philadelphia for the first time on Saturday, August 8th, and its bringing the big guns for UFC 101, as BJ Penn defends his UFC lightweight crown for the second time against number one contender Kenny Florian, and UFC middleweight boss Anderson Silva jumps back to the 205-pound weight class to take on former light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin.

Tickets for UFC 101, which will take place at Philadelphia's Wachovia Center, will go on sale shortly. Stay tuned for further details.

Dana White talks with Steve Cofield about the debacle that was UFC 97's main event. Which leads to this gem from sherdog:

Anderson Silva will meet Forrest Griffin in a light heavyweight co-main event at UFC 101 on Aug. 8 at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia.

MMABay.com was the first Web site to report the matchup Tuesday. UFC President Dana White confirmed the bout with Yahoo Sports shortly after.

The rivalry between former Chute Boxe teammates heats up. Here's what happened before this video.

by Tom Hamlin - MMAWeekly.com
UFC light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans can relate to middleweight champion Anderson Silva, if it's the case that the record-setting fighter is bored with his job.

"I've been out there and felt like not even fighting," he told MMAWeekly.com. "You never know who's going to show up on fight day. You go out there, and that night, you just don't feel it. Sometimes you just walk into the arena, and you're like, 'you know what, man? Today, I just don't feel like it. I don't feel like I got that same spring.' It just happens like that. Maybe he just woke up and felt like he was rhyming slow that day."

by Dann Stupp, mmajunkie.com:
MONTREAL - One of the most storied careers in mixed martial arts has come to a close.

According to UFC President Dana White, longtime UFC fighter Chuck Liddell, who suffered a first-round TKO loss to Mauricio "Shogun" Rua in the co-main event of Saturday's UFC 97 event, is retired from fighting.

"He's a huge superstar, and we could still sell lots of tickets (with Liddell)," White said. "But I don't care about that. I care about him. I care about his health, and it's over, man. It's over."

The loss to Rua was Liddell's fourth in his past five fights and the third to come via knockout in that span. Although Liddell said he retooled his training camp, and though some of those new skills were on display on Saturday at Montreal's Bell Centre, Liddell still suffered the career-ending loss.

by Marcelo Alonso for sherdog.com :
Saturday, 5:00 a.m. ET: Anderson Silva discussed former teammate Wanderlei Silva's move to 185 pounds last week, calling it "pretentious." Wanderlei hasn't taken too kindly to Anderson's remarks.

"I thought it was excellent being quoted by the champion without having had a fight in (Anderson's) division," Wanderlei told Sherdog.com. "It's a sign that I'm already bothering him. Nobody kicks a tree that is not able to give fruits."

Wanderlei also criticized Anderson for discussing Chute Boxe training sessions.

Thanks to Fightticker.com:
MAIN CARD

Anderson Silva (182) vs. Thales Leites (185)
Chuck Liddell (206) vs. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua (206)
Cheick Kongo (232) vs. Antoni Hardonk (249)
Luis Cane (206) vs. Steve Cantwell (205)
Krzysztof Soszynski (204) vs. Brian Stann (206)
PRELIMINARY CARD

Vinicius Magalhaes (204) vs. Eliot Marshall (205)
Xavier Foupa-Pokam (185) vs. Denis Kang (185)
Jason MacDonald (186) vs. Nate Quarry (186)
Ed Herman (186) vs. David Loiseau (185)
David Bielkheden (157) vs. Mark Bocek (154)
Ryo Chonan (171) vs. T.J. Grant (169)
Sam Stout (155) vs. Matt Wiman (155)

It's hijinks and hysteria galore as Tom and I are pumped for this weekend, equal parts UFC 97 and York's own Central Pennsylvania Warrior Challenge.

Thanks to Baudelaire at bloodyelbow for posting this.

This video was posted for his training camp for UFC 94, but it's cool to watch and get psyched for UFC 98.

Could we see this before A. Silva retires? For now, we have Anderson Silva taking on Thales Leites at UFC 97 and Wanderlei Silva fighting Rich Franklin at UFC 99.

By Marcelo Alonso, sherdog.com:
They have the same surname, grew up in the same Brazilian city and trained together for years at Chute Boxe. But things have changed, and destiny has put Wanderlei Silva and Anderson Silva on different sides.

"I always helped Wanderlei in training," Anderson explained in a November 2007 interview with Tatame magazine. "We were really close."

Anderson eventually left Chute Boxe, though, and in the Tatame interview he said that the team's coach, Rudimar Fedrigo, forbid him from fighting in Pride, where Wanderlei was a champion.

"Wanderlei didn't say anything to help me," Anderson said. "He even knew that I had four children to raise. If it were not for 'Minotauro' putting pressure and bringing me to Pride, I would certainly be retired."

Jon Anik & Co. preview Strikeforce's Shamrock vs. Diaz and talk about the fall-out from the Dana White-Loretta Hunt controversy.

Thanks to mmajunkie.com:
Spike TV will join in the celebrations surrounding July's historic UFC 100 event.

The UFC's cable broadcast partner will debut a five-part series entitled "UFC's Ultimate 100: Greatest Fights" prior to UFC 100, which takes place July 11 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

Fans can begin voting on the top 100 UFC fights of all-time on May 1 at Ultimate100.spike.com, and highlights from the chosen bouts will air on the series, which debuts July 5.

That first episode airs at 9 p.m. ET/PT on a Sunday. Subsequent episodes air in the same timeslot on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday. Prior to Saturday's series finale, Spike TV will re-air the other four episodes.

The UFC this week announced three official bouts for UFC 100, which is becoming the can't-miss event of 2009. UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar takes on interim heavyweight title-holder Frank Mir (in a title-unification bout), and UFC welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre meets top contender Thiago Alves. Additionally, "The Ultimate Fighter 9" coaches Michael Bisping and Dan Henderson are also slated to fight at the event, and as revealed on this past Wednesday's episode "The Ultimate Fighter 9," Stephan Bonnar will take on Mark Coleman.

Two more fights have been added to UFC 101, which is all but confirmed for Philadelphia on August 8. They are:

Amir Sadollah vs. Johny Hendricks

John Howard vs. Tamdan McCrory

Here's what mmajunkie has so far for the card:

Location: Philadelphia
Venue: Wachovia Center
Broadcast: Pay per view

Champ B.J. Penn vs. Kenny Florian (for UFC lightweight title)*
Forrest Griffin vs. Thiago Silva
Josh Neer vs. Kurt Pellgrino*
Matt Hamill vs. Brandon Vera*
Rousimar Palhares vs. Alessio Sakara*
Johny Hendricks vs. Amir Sadollah*
John Howard vs. Tamdan McCrory*
Dan Cramer vs. Matthew Riddle*
Jesse Lennox vs. Danillo Villefort*
* - Not officially announced

from mmajunkie.com:
SEATTLE - An open tryout for the upcoming 10th season of "The Ultimate Fighter" today netted 250 UFC hopefuls, including three former NFL players.

Spike TV officials today announced the turnout for the casting session, which took place at the Marriott Seattle Airport Hotel in Seattle.

Among those trying out were former Tampa Bay Bucaneer Marcus Jones (4-2), Indianapolis Colt Rex Richards (8-1) and Green Bay Packer Herbert Goodman (9-6).

Today's session was open to middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight fighters. Jones and Richards compete as heavyweights, and Goodman recently defeated former UFC fighter Jordan Radev as a light heavyweight.

No coaches have been announced for "TUF 10," which begins taping this summer with a September debut date on Spike TV.

White's apology and lowering his public profile, from f4wonline.com:
The fallout of Dana White's video blog yesterday has been huge and it appears will result in a scaling back of White as a public figure representing UFC.

White's apology to GLAAD largely regarding using a homophobic slur is already up at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=360SEiiO7Uo

In addition, as things stand at this point, White's public profile is going to be greatly reduced

*White will be doing no more video blogs

*White has pulled out of doing a reality show based on his life that was scheduled to start filming

*He is going to cut back greatly on dealing with the media and greatly reduce his public role in the company

I spoke with Greg Sirb, executive director of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission earlier today, starting off with the upcoming event - the state's first MMA event - happening in a little more than two weeks in York County.

Sirb said he is "Excited as hell," to attend the event. He added that Wisehaven's intimate setting - the venue only seats about 800 - will be "perfect." It's better to pack in a small house to start off, and then move to a bigger venue, he said.

Sirb said he'd definitely be at the April 19 event, or more specifically, "me and probably about four or five of my guys, inspectors. ... we approve all the matches. There's not a damn thing that goes down without us being involved."

As far as the buzz about the sport around the state, Sirb said it's "Even more crazy than it was before - everybody's calling."

He also announced two other events in the state state: April 30 at the Convention Center in Oaks, which is just outside Philadelphia, promoted by David Dussault, and May 16 at the Cambria County War Memorial Arena in Johnstown, promoted by T. Regala.

As for UFC 101, which UFC officials its president and fighters have said will happen on Aug. 8, Sirb said the event is still under discussion.

By Alex Marvez, msn.foxsports.com
Dana White has long chirped that the Ultimate Fighting Championship deserves mainstream media coverage.

Well, he's got it now -- but for every wrong reason imaginable.

So what is this whole rant about? Check out the story that sparked White's attack.
The UFC president did far more than verbally assault a female reporter Wednesday in a video blog entry. White slurred women, homosexuals and the mentally disabled in the obscenity-laced rant. The diatribe already was yanked from UFC's web site, but footage can still be found across the Internet. Next up: News outlets (this one included) that will salivate at the chance to show White at his worst.