"Minotauro" Noguiera scratched from UFC 108 main event

The hits just keep on coming.

The replacement fight for the scratched Brock Lesnar/Shane Carwin heavyweight title fight, has now been broken up as well for UFC 108 as Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Noguiera has suffered a severe staph infection and will be unable to fight undefeated Cain Velasquez in their No. 1 contender showdown.

If you're keeping score at home, that is two top heavyweights now down for the count -- Lesnar and Noguiera.

Once again, this is devastating news for the UFC which can't seem to buy a break these days.

"Nogueira got staph infection, bad, to the point now it’s in his bloodstream, and he’s probably going to have to be hospitalized and intravenously given the antibiotics," UFC president Dana White revealed at the UFC 105 post-event press conference.

"It’s crazy," White said, "In nine years of being in this business, we haven’t had this many injuries in one year."

So unless White can scrounge up some other sort of main event caliber of fight, it appears that the Rashad Evans/Thiago Silva fight will be promoted up to main event and perhaps some other fight will be put together to boost the main card.

However, this is probably more disconcerting to Noguiera. This is now the second time in just under a year in which the great Brazilian fighter has fallen victim to staph. Do they not clean the mats down there in Brazil? I don't get it. It doesn't seem to be affecting any other fighter from that camp so maybe Noguiera just doesn't like to shower?

Whatever the case maybe, Noguiera needs to recover from this and recover fully to continue to be a force in the heavyweight division. If for whatever reason he is unable to get back to 100 percent, he will be passed over by guys like Velasquez, Kongo and Dos Santos.

Brock Lesnar out indefinitely

Post UFC 105, Dana White talked about his heavyweight champion who has been scratched from two straight events and seemingly unable to shake whatever illness he has.

Speaking with the media during the post fight press conference at UFC 105, White indicated that Brock Lesnar will be out far longer than just UFC 108.

"He's in a hospital up in North Dakota somewhere right now," said White. "He went to Canada and some bad stuff happened to him, so we've got to figure it out.

"He doesn't want to talk about it publicly, but he's in bad shape. He's not well and he's not going to be getting well anytime soon."

Lesnar pulled out of the UFC 106 main event fight with Shane Carwin near the end of October when he realized the illness he had wasn't going away. The fight was then moved temporarily to UFC 108 and didn't stay there long when it was determined shortly thereafter that Lesnar still hadn't recovered.

Now the champ is hospitalized with an undisclosed illness and appears to be out indefinitely.

"I am worried about it," said White of his biggest star's medical situation. "You know, I can't really talk about it right now, but he's in rough shape. He's in really bad shape … and we're going to have to do some stuff to take care of this guy. He is not well and he's not getting any better.

"We're going to have to send him to the Mayo Clinic or to Scripps, or one of those really good hospitals to figure out what's wrong with this guy."

UFC 105 post event analysis

Well I was way off. Out of the five main card fights, I correctly picked all of one of them. So while it was a dreadful performance by me, it certainly wasn't by the victors who included Randy Couture, Dan Hardy and Michael Bisping.

Actually, in the case of Couture, I take back the "non-dreadful performance" remark. While it wasn't quite the "Shogun robbery" of UFC 104, I have to wonder just what Couture did to earn a unanimous decision victory over Brandon Vera. Let's see: Vera opened with a combo that was more devastating than anything Couture threw all night and finished the round withstanding every Couture takedown attempt. Next round Vera drops Couture with another wicked combo that included a kick to the body. Again all Couture does is pin Vera up against the cage. Cool. Final round, Vera yet again denies Couture's takedown attempts and is simply pressed up against the cage. As the round closes both fighters unleash a flurry of attacks but Vera visibly hurts Couture again.

All I saw Couture, 46, do this entire fight was hold his opponent against the cage. How can you win a fight by holding someone against a cage? That isn't even fighting! You should be kicked out of the promotion for a performance like that. If it was anybody else I'm sure today, they'd be a free agent right now. Hopefully, at the very least, the UFC realizes Randy Couture just isn't the same fighter he used to be.

Contrary to the main event, Dan Hardy came out fighting in his No. 1 Contender match with Mike Swick. A nice right hand buckled Swick from the get-go and Hardy took the momentum from there and never relinquished it in dominating Swick 30-27 on all three scorecards.

After the fight Hardy and Welterweight Champion Georges St.-Pierre met in the Octagon and talked about their future fight. It will be an interesting one but I guarantee you St.-Pierre won't be unable to take the Brit to the canvas.

Then there's Bisping. The Manchester native once again put on a career performance in front of his hometown crowd. And he needed it. After dropping the first round to Denis Kang, Bisping came out in the second and realized his opponent was winded. He didn't let him catch his breath. Instead he stormed Kang with an onslaught of strikes and quickly had Kang bloodied and even more tired. It wasn't long after that he got the stoppage.

It was a critical win for "The Count" who needed to show he can hang with the top middleweight fighters. Now, Kang isn't top five in the division but perhaps sits around 10th as a contender so let's not get carried away. On the other hand, Kang has now lost both fights to start his UFC career and you have to start to wonder where this leaves him.

UFC 105 was another good solid event that I'm willing to wager right now will be better than UFC 106 which is on pay-per-view. You can look forward to a breakdown of this event later in the week but I will just say right now that it is a very weak card with no real main event. The key takeaway for me from UFC 105 is that Couture is one fighter I don't want to watch fight anymore. All he's going to do is try to take guys down and if he can't get it (which he probably won't) is hold them up against the cage. I don't want to watch that.

UFC 105 weigh-in results

The official weigh-in event for UFC 105: Couture vs. Vera went down today in Manchester, England from the Manchester Evening News Arena (MEN). All 22 fighters made their respective weights without incident and with no heavyweights fighting, there wasn't any information to be gained on whether a fighter was actively trying to get bigger or smaller, etc.

Here is the breakdown on each fighter and what they weighed in at for their fight on Saturday night:

Main event:

205 lbs.: Randy Couture (204) vs. Brandon Vera (204)

Main card (Televised):

185 lbs.: Michael Bisping (186) vs. Denis Kang (185)

170 lbs.: Dan Hardy (171) vs. Mike Swick (170)

170 lbs.: Matt Brown (170) vs. James Wilks (169)

155 lbs.: Ross Pearson (156) vs. Aaron Riley (155)

Under card (May not be broadcast):

170 lbs.: John Hathaway (170) vs. Paul Taylor (170)

155 lbs.: Terry Etim (155) vs. Shannon Gugerty (155)

170 lbs.: Matt Riddle (171) vs. Nick Osipczak (170)

155 lbs.: Denis Siver (155) vs. Paul Kelly (156)

155 lbs.: Roli Delgado (156) vs. Andre Winner (155)

205 lbs.: Jared Hamman (204) vs. Alexander Gustafson (203)

Once again, UFC 105 will be broadcast on Spike for free at 8 pm EST, 5 pm PST.

UFC 105: Couture vs. Vera preview

This weekend the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) travels across the pond to London, England for its 105th pay-per-view quality event and although it does have the number to its title, UFC 105: Couture vs. Vera will actually be televised via tape delay on Spike at 5 pm PST.

The most attractive aspect of this card besides perhaps Randy Couture, 46, returning to the light heavyweight division, is the overall depth of the card and competitiveness of the three featured bouts.

Those three fights of course are the main event between Couture (16-10) and Brandon Vera, 32, who will be looking to continue his climb up the ladder of the 205 lb division. That climb is certainly a steep one as it is the UFC's deepest division, yet with a win over the ageless wonder, Vera (11-3) will have cemented his status as a top five light heavyweight and a force to be reckoned with.

The other two fights feature a welterweight number one contender match between Mike Swick (14-2) and Dan Hardy (22-6, 1 NC) with the winner projected to fight champion Georges St.-Pierre in early 2010 and a middleweight matchup between Michael Bisping (18-2) and Denis Kang (32-11-1).

Rounding out the televised portion of the card are Matt Brown (12-7) and Aaron Riley (28-11-1)who will take on James Wilks (7-2) and Ross Pearson (11-3) respectively as they each look to continue their rise in their respective divisions (welterweight and lightweight).

Again the great thing about this card is how competitive these fights these top three fights will be. In fact, other than the London native Hardy, all are listed as favorites in the betting lines. Hardy is just a slight underdog to Swick.

The other great thing about these fights is they all have major implications not only to their respective divisions but to each fighter's title aspirations. Bisping will be looking to bounce back after his first ever KO at the hands of Dan Henderson while Kang wants to get his first UFC win. Then there's Couture and Vera, both looking to climb into the top 5 in the 205 lb division. And we already know what's at stake for Swick and Hardy -- a match with St.-Pierre only the best welterweight in the sport and arguably the best fighter overall.

If it sounds like I'm excited for Saturday to come, it's because I am. Who do I like? Well, I'm glad you asked. I'll take Vera by unanimous decision, Kang by split decision and Swick by 2nd round TKO. In the other fights I like Brown and Riley.

Hope you all enjoy the fights.

News and notes around MMA -- week of 11/14

Because I am just one person and I don't have a whole lot of time on my hands, I figured a compilation post of all the significant news pieces for this week (November 8th to November 14th) would make sense not just for me but for all my loyal readers out there that would like to get up to date with all the recent news but not have to spend an hour reading multiple long posts.

So without any more wasted time, here that is with my analysis of the news in italics.

• Strikeforce's Fedor vs. Rogers event was a successful one. "The Last Emperor" was valiantly contested by Rogers but in the end, came through with another crushing knockout. It was also successful in that the event garnered 5.46 million viewers on CBS in the 9-11 pm time slot and scored huge with the 18-48 male and overall demographic. Absolutely huge for the sport.
• UFC 105 goes down this weekend from London, England as Randy Couture looks to return to the 205 lb division successfully against Brandon Vera. The weigh-ins will be live on Friday at 12 pm EST/ 9 am PST. Check out UFC.com or channel 101 on directv for the broadcast.
• UFC 106, which goes down next Saturday, November 21st, will once again broadcast two undercard fights on Spike prior to the pay-per-view broadcast. This time around the two bouts will feature welterweights Marcus Davis and Ben Saunders and a middleweight tilt between Kendall Grove and Jake Rosholt. Once again, this is important for the sport and the UFC as a whole. Continuing with this program is a must because it benefits everyone involved and continues to gain exposure for the sport.
• Fedor Emelianenko will be out up to six weeks due to a hand injury suffered in his fight against Rogers Saturday night. His next bout looks to be against Fabricio Werdum who also won last weekend (defeated Antonio Silva) sometime in early 2010. Important for Strikeforce in that the sooner he recovers the better. They need to be able to showcase their top fighter and probably the third best fighter in the world currently, as often as possible. Six months between fights is not an option.
• With injuries to all title holders sans BJ Penn who is scheduled to fight Diego Sanchez at UFC 107 on December 12, the UFC is left with Big Nog vs. Cain Velasquez and Rashad Evans vs. Thiago Silva as main events for its year end showcase on January 2nd. UFC 108 was supposed to feature Anderson Silva defending his middleweight belt against Vitor Belfort but needs more time to heal his elbow and the Lesnar/Carwin tilt has been postponed further as well. It's certainly disappointing to have to wait as long as we will have to now to see the top fighters like Silva, Lesnar and GSP in action but injuries are a part of this sport and you just have to deal with it. Hopefully the UFC will continue to load up this card with solid fights like the two already mentioned.
• Nate Marquardt vs. Chael Sonnen has been scheduled for UFC 110 in Sydney, Australia. With Dan Henderson still in contract negotiations and unable to fight, apparently Marquardt wasn't willing to sit around and wait. It'll be another big time middleweight contender tilt between two fighters on a roll. This is also good for Hendo if and when he decides to sign with the UFC in that he'll most likely not have to fight Marquardt since the soonest he would be ready after this bout would be May.
• Lastly, the UFC 105 Countdown show aired on Monday, November 9th but here it is in its entirety. Check it out.

Fight Camp 360: Fedor vs. Rogers fight hype on Showtime

We're less than a week away from another big fight event and this time it is not being brought to us by the UFC. Strikeforce, now the main competition to the UFC's plan of MMA global domination since the departure of Affliction, is finally following up their June event with a couple of marquee fights.

The main attraction is a heavyweight bout between Russian superstar Fedor Emelianenko (30-1, 1 NC) who will be making his Strikeforce debut against the undefeated Brett Rogers (10-0) which has title implications. In the other main attraction, welterweight champion Jake Shields will defend his title against Jason "Mayhem" Miller.

Emelianenko, 33, will not only be making his Strikeforce debut but also his debut fighting within a cage. Often regarded by many analysts and fans around the sport as not only the top heavyweight in the game but even the sport's top pound-for-pound fighter.

In Rogers he will be facing an up-and-coming heavyweight with heavy hands but essentially zero ground game. Rogers is coming off a knockout win over former UFC heavyweight champ Andrei Arlovski who just so happens to also be Emelianenko's latest victim. However, "the Grim" is still widely considered to be relatively untested with just Arlovski being an opponent of any consequence to his ledger.

The reason why Emelianenko is so highly regarded is his outstanding all around game. Not only can the Russian strike with the best of them due to his incredible hand speed, he is extremely adept on the ground. There really isn't any weakness in his game other than his physical size. At 6'0" and a little over 230, he's relatively tiny for a heavyweight especially compared to the UFC's heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar who is 6'3" and usually 285-290 by the time of the fight.

So whether this fight -- on paper -- can be seen as your classic mismatch, it is still being paid close attention to by the mainstream MMA media because it is Emelianenko's latest fight and first since beating Arlovski way back in January.

As far as the Shields/Miller bout, well let's just say there's a reason that "Mayhem" Miller isn't on the UFC roster despite being around along time and having friends in the rival promotion. In another instance of fight hype making a fight out of a classic mismatch, Miller is perhaps the worst title contender to be challenging for the Welterweight crown.

The event will take place on Saturday, November 7th at the Sears Centre Arena in Chicago at 7 pm PST.

The Fight Camp video from Showtime:

Koscheck, Johnson agree to replace Lesnar/Carwin at 106

Just days removed from his thoroughly dominating performance over Yoshiyuki Yoshida at UFC 104, Anthony Johnson has agreed to fight another Yoshida victor in Josh Koscheck as a fill in for the Lesnar/Carwin main event at UFC 106.

The news comes according to Sherdog.com which has a source close to Koscheck's camp. Koscheck even twittered that he would be fighting in the 106 main event.

"I got some big fight news for me," Koscheck wrote. "I am fighting Nov. 21 in Vegas. Co main event!! Haha it's on baby!!!"

On Monday, Lesnar officially announced that he had to pull out of the November 21st match-up due to being unable to overcome an illness that has drastically affected his training. The announcement left the UFC with a Texas-sized hole in its pay-per-view event so it rushed to fill that void. Johnson and Koscheck answered the call.

It will be a critical fight for both welterweights as they look to improve their standing in the division. Both fighters are right on the edge of the top five in the division, needing perhaps two more top five wins to earn a shot at champion Georges St.-Pierre.

While Johnson is coming off the big win over Yoshida, Koscheck is coming off a likewise impressive performance from his fight with Frank Trigg at UFC 103. Koscheck is a veteran All-American collegiate wrestler who has faced all the top guys in the division while Johnson is the up-and-coming prospect with impressive wrestling credentials as well. Should be a great test for both fighters.

Illness forces Lesnar out of UFC 106 main event

Just as President Barack Obama proclaims the H1N1 virus aka Swine Flu a national crisis, the UFC has its own mini crisis as Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar announced Monday that he will have to withdraw from his main event showdown with Shane Carwin at UFC 106.

Apparently the Champion has been dealing with a sickness for approximately three weeks and has been left unable to train. With the November 21st event less than a month away and Lesnar still unable to shake the cold he felt he was forced to withdraw from such an important fight.

The UFC reportedly has moved the Tito Ortiz/Forrest Griffin fight to co-main event status and is looking to set up a new fight to fill the gaping hole created by the departure of the heavyweight title fight between Lesnar and Carwin.

Lesnar/Carwin has been rescheduled to the UFC 108 card on January 2nd which is scheduled to take place from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Check back at Fighter's Corner for further updates on the 106 card.

UFC 104 -- Post event analysis

With UFC 104: Machida vs. Shogun now in the rearview, it's time to look at how the event helped or hurt each of the top fighters involved.

Anthony "Rumble" Johnson: It took him barely 50 seconds to overwhelm Yoshida but then again let's hope he's able to beat someone he was probably 30 lbs heavier by the time the fight started. Plain and simple Johnson is a beast at welterweight. For him to cut down to 170 from weighing about 215 every day is huge for that weight class. There aren't going to be a lot of guys that can deal with what he can bring to the table. His next fight should be a big step up in competition, perhaps somebody like Josh Koscheck.

Joe "Daddy" Stevenson: Listening to him in the post fight press conference was like watching a kid at an amusement park. He was just so excited about his new found game, it was really interesting to hear him speak about being re-energized and excited to put his repertoire into action. Stevenson remains one of the top lightweight fighters in the UFC, perhaps a fight with Gray Maynard or Frank Edgar.

Cain Velasquez: Absolutely dominated Ben Rothwell as I thought he would. Rothwell is an overrated fighter, after all he was fighting in the IFL for a reason. Velasquez on the other hand is a very talented prospect and that is why the UFC picked hip up at the starting point of his career. At 7-0 and with some top wins in his last two fights, Velasquez is really positioning himself for a run at a title fight. I think he needs one more top win before getting that shot and I think he should have to fight Frank Mir provided Mir beats Kongo at 107.

Shogun: Looked like the Rua we've all been waiting to see in beating up Machida. "The Dragon" was thoroughly confused in how to deal with Rua's Muay-Thai. Shogun won that fight but was handed probably the worst decision in MMA history when he was robbed of the title. Now he's left having to repeat what he just did a few months down the line after Machida has had a chance to recover and work a new gameplan to try to compensate for what Shogun wants to do.

UFC 104; Machida vs. Shogun aftermath

In the wake of yet another solid, if not spectacular, night of fights provided by the UFC, every fan who watched the action is left talking about one thing -- the decision in the main event.

The decision that literally stole a win -- and thus the Light Heavyweight Championship -- from the challenger Mauricio "Shogun" Rua. There is no doubt that on a night when Rua returned to the form he showed on his way to winning the Pride Open Weight Grand Prix and being labeled as the best 205 lb fighter in the World, he should've walked away in glory rather than having to explain away a loss that he didn't rightfully deserve.

Make no mistake about it, this was highway robbery in a city that has seen more than its fair share. You can watch the fight yourself or just go to any MMA website like Sherdog, ESPN, Bloody Elbow, Yahoo, MMA Junkie, etc. that scores the fights and get the same opinion: Rua defeated Lyoto Machida by unanimous decision 49-46.

An outcome like this already has the MMA blogging community in an uproar. Many fans want something to be done. People are clamoring for a rematch as they rightly should. In the post fight press conference, Dana White did everything but schedule a date for one, so it will happen and soon. A rematch seems a little too little, too late as far as a reward to "Shogun" is concerned. In this writer's opinion, Rua won this fight fair and square so to have to go out and beat Machida again to get what is already rightfully his seems like a waste of time and energy. Nothing short of White coming out and renouncing the decision and stripping Machida of his belt and handing it over to Rua would make most fans today happy.

More discussion will be had about the scoring in MMA after perhaps the most controversial decision in MMA history was handed out last night. The fact that all three judges gave Machida the fight 48-47 when it was so clearly the other way around will have people talking about reforming a system that is somewhat vague.

I don't think that is what needs to be done here. All sports have the element of human error and MMA is no different. All that can be done is the best that the officials have to offer.

It's just a real shame that a fighter was robbed of a championship belt. What would have been his first title victory in his career.

More to come on this event later. I will breakdown all the major winners of UFC 104 and their performances, where they go from here, etc.

UFC 104 bonuses; Knockout of the Night: Pat Barry Submission of the Night: Stefan Struve Fight of the Night: Pat Barry vs. Antoni Hardonk

Each fighter takes home an additional $60,000 for their award.

Previewing UFC 104: Machida vs. Shogun

With its 104th pay-per-view event, the UFC returns to Los Angeles featuring a main event in the Light Heavyweight division as champion Lyoto Machida takes on fellow Brazilian and challenger Mauricio "Shogun" Rua.

Machida, 31, will be making his first title defense and first appearance since dethroning then champion and fellow undefeated star Rashad Evans back in May at UFC 98. Machida will be looking to further establish the discipline of Machida Karate not to mention the "Machida Era" in the UFC Light Heavyweight division.

But he's going to have to do it by beating a very capable challenger in Rua, 27, whom presents a very formidable fighting style with his duo black belts in Muay-Thai and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Rua is capable of dominating the stand-up portion of a fight ala Anderson Silva or take you down and submit you ala BJ Penn. Prior to arriving in the UFC, Rua was widely considered the top 205 lb prospect after his dominance in Pride.

Certainly Rua's first year and a half in the UFC was a brutal disappointment to everyone: himself, his camp, the fans and the UFC brass. But since the Griffin fight and overcoming not one, but two ACL tears in his right knee, "Shogun" appears now to be the "Shogun" of 2006 -- a very dominating and imposing force. He controlled a game Mark Coleman, the veteran wrestler, back in January and then stopped Hall-of-Famer Chuck Liddell in the first round in April via TKO.

In the two fights alone we saw progression Rua's game from poor conditioning to solid conditioning, improved technical striking and aggression in the stand-up game as well as on the ground. He's tenacious and you better believe that he's going to give Machida a test that he has yet to encounter.

Also featured on the UFC 104 card is a heavyweight matchup between rising undefeated star Cain Velasquez (6-0) and veteran Ben Rothwell (30-6) of IFL fame who has finally broken through to the big show and wants to make his presence known.

Velasquez enters this fight after an impressive performance against Cheick Kongo in which he withstood some very hard shots from the imposing French-man and still managed to take the fight to the ground and dominate a much bigger fighter.

Against Rothwell, Velasquez will have to be more precise in his stand-up to minimize his errors while controlling Rothwell with his superior wrestling game. When he enters the Octagon on the 24th, he's going to be facing a fighter in Rothwell who has overcome a number of hardships in his life to get to this very point and he's going to be fighting with a great amount of emotion because of it.

The undercard bouts feature some talented fighters such as welterweight stud Anthony Johnson (7-2) who takes on Yoshiyuki Yoshida (11-3), lightweights Joe Stevenson (35-10) and Spencer Fisher (24-4) as they prepare to do battle and top middleweight contender Yushin Okami (24-4) as he takes on Chael Sonnen (24-10).

The General's Predictions:

Shogun by submission, 4th round Cain Velasquez by unanimous decision Gleison Tibau by TKO, 2nd round Joe Stevenson by submission, 3rd round Anthony Johnson by TKO, 2nd round Antoni Hardonk by TKO, 1st round Eric Schafer by unanimous decision Yushin Okami by submission, 2nd round

"Shogun" Rua training for UFC 104 title shot

As the days wind down before Mauricio "Shogun" Rua steps into the Octagon this Saturday night for the biggest fight of his life against UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Lyoto Machida, the Brazilian takes us inside his camp for a short but in depth look at his preparation for the penultimate battle.

And if you haven't already, be sure to check out the UFC 104 'Countdown' show on Spike. It's gonna be a great fight.

UFC coming to Australia in early 2010

In continuation with its plans for taking the sport of Mixed-Martial Arts (MMA) global according to UFC president Dana White, recent reports indicate that the Ultimate Fighting Championship will indeed be going to the land down under in early 2010.

According to The Sydney Herald, a future event will be held at the Acer Arena in Sydney, Australia as soon as perhaps February 2010.

From the paper:

"Legal representatives of the company have approached the Combat Sports Authority to seek permission to stage a bout in February, with organisers understood to be looking at the Acer Arena in Sydney Olympic Park."

The arena -- built in preparation for the 2000 summer Olympic games -- can seat up to 21,000 fans.

Bringing the sport to Australia will be instrumental to its expansion. The land down under is home to some of the most physical sports in the world, including Australian Rules football and Rugby which are immensely popular to the nation's citizens.

If MMA would be appealing to any one country, it would seem that Australia would be that one. With the sport's talented athletes, awesome displays of technique and strength, not to mention the charisma of the fighters there would seem to be no reason why the people of Australia would not fall in love with it as so many people around the world already have.

The first step, however, is to bring it to them and it appears the UFC is now ready to do so.

UFC 108 card starting to take shape

As per usual, the UFC will be holding another year end card in Las Vegas featuring some of the promotion's most talented fighters.

Only this time there are a few differences. Most notably, the fact that the year end card -- UFC 108 -- will actually be held in the new year, January 2nd to be exact.

The usually star-studded event is trending that way again with three of its first four rumored bouts. The main attraction looks to be a middleweight title defense as Anderson Silva (25-4), the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world, defends his title against recent middleweight acquisition Vitor Belfort (18-8).

Silva, 34, is coming off a dominating performance in the light heavyweight division against former champion Forrest Griffin. Belfort, 32, meanwhile, is coming off a big win over another former champion in Rich Franklin in his return to the Octagon. It will certainly be an intriguing showdown between two of the best and most explosive middleweight fighters in the sport.

In addition to that fight, there is a rumored battle between light heavyweights Rashad Evans (18-1-1) and Thiago Silva (14-1) and a heavyweight fight between top contenders Gabriel Gonzaga (11-4) and Junior Dos Santos (8-1).

Each of those two rumored contests has numerous intriguing storylines. Evans is coming off a brutal knockout loss to Lyoto Machida in which he lost his belt while his opponent, Silva, will be looking to continue his winning ways by completing the Jackson camp sweep by knocking out best friends Keith Jardine (who he KO'd at 102) and Evans. Which fighter will put himself back into title contention at 205?

Meanwhile at heavyweight, two Brazilian natives will do battle. Will youth prevail? Or will the veteran savvy Gonzaga have too much power and speed -- not to mention experience -- to derail the up-and-comer?

We shall see if the card develops as expected. So far so good however, for the promotions' highlight event of the year.

Spike to air UFC 104 prelim bouts

Following in the tradition -- albeit short -- of UFC 103, the UFC and Spike will once again join forces to air UFC 104: Machida vs. Shogun preliminary bouts.

The fights will air at 6 pm PST or one hour prior to the pay-per-view (PPV) broadcast featuring a main event with Lyoto Machida defending his Light Heavyweight belt for the first time against Mauricio "Shogun" Rua.

In similar fashion to its debut at UFC 103 last month, Spike will show two guaranteed fights while potentially showing a third depending on how the prelim fights go. The two guaranteed fights will feature a light heavyweight contest between Ryan Bader and Eric Schafer as well as a heavyweight matchup between Antoni Hardonk and Pat Barry.

Simply, it is another step in the right direction for the UFC. While once can be called a fluke, twice becomes a trend and there really is no reason to believe that the trend will not continue. Ultimately, the more the UFC is on cable television the better it is for the sport, the fighters and the fans.

UFC 104 main event an important fight for UFC as well as both fighters

As the UFC has grown over the past few years, it has been widely recognized that their glamor division, strongest division was its 205 lb league of Light Heavyweight fighters. Over the years it's had some of the sports most widely recognized champions: Randy Couture, Tito Ortiz, Chuck Liddell, Quinton Jackson, Forrest Griffin and Rashad Evans.

Now not only does the division have the star power it has easily the most depth. Which can be a bane as much as it is a positive.

Current champion Lyoto Machida, 31, will face fellow Brazilian native Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, 27, at UFC 104 from Las Vegas on October 24th in his first title defense. Machida is the organization's first champion whose primary language is anything other than English since Vitor Belfort held the belt shortly more than a decade ago.

The onus, thus, will be on the undefeated karate specialist to re-establish the fading brightness of a once brilliant division. That isn't to say that the division has suddenly fallen on hard times, more that it is in need of a powerful champion to reign supreme like that of Anderson Silva for middleweights or Georges St.-Pierre does in the welterweight division.

At 15-0 Machida certainly has shown the ability to be dominant especially in his most recent victory -- a two round demolition of Rashad Evans which he finished with a brutal TKO. The question isn't whether he has the talent to remain champion, he has shown this at least in the opinion of this writer, but whether he can move the audiences around the world enough with this next performance to be a constant main event draw.

Rua (18-3), the latest contender of the deep 205 lb division, has the chance to do the same. If he can upend the undefeated champion in spectacular fashion, the crowd could easily fall behind a fighter who only a few short years ago was considered by most as the elite light heavyweight talent in the world.

Regardless of whether Machida or Rua emerge victorious on Saturday night less than three weeks from now, the key will be whether one of them takes up the torch left by the former stars of the elite division.

Chuck Liddell has most likely fought his last battle inside the octagon. TUF alums Rashad Evans and Forrest Griffin have been exposed. "Rampage" Jackson has taken an indefinite hiatus. Tito Ortiz is, well, past his prime to be nice. The division appears to be there for the taking, in desperate need of a future star to emerge.

The UFC hopes it will happen at 104 with either Machida or Rua.

"Rampage" Jackson retirement talk won't last

There is a well known saying throughout the sporting landscape that deals with important decisions: Don't make them emotionally.

Or something like that.

I don't know but what I do know is that Quinton "Rampage" Jackson's decision to "retire" from the MMA via a post on his website at a time when a lot of heated discussion surrounding his participation in the "A-Team" remake movie seems pretty emotional to me.

Sure, my writing this column with the side that I have taken also has to do with emotion considering Jackson is my favorite fighter. The thing is at 31, Jackson just isn't ready to retire as a fighter.

He's a born fighter. Plain and simple, fighting is in his blood. Since growing up on the streets of Memphis, Tennessee as the youngest of 15 children, Jackson has had to fight for everything that he has earned in his life. He doesn't know anything different. He can't.

Earlier this week Jackson made a very important decision based completely on emotion. He has been called out by the likes of Dana White and nearly every MMA fan that frequents the blog sites and doesn't know anything. For a man who revolves around his ego, the way he is perceived, it was very emotional for him to be essentially disrespected.

So what did he do? He responded in an emotional way. He gave everyone something they didn't want to hear because nobody wants to see one of the best light heavyweight fighters to fight in the sport's short history. Not to mention at 31, the former UFC champion is still very much in his prime. Seeing him hang up the gloves would be an unwelcome sight to everyone.

My bet is by November, when his filming of the "A-Team" is over, "Rampage" will be clamoring to fight his nemesis Rashad Evans. Shortly followed by a great urge to get his title back.

Because Rampage is a fighter.

Previewing UFC 103: Franklin vs. Belfort

This Saturday night won't be for the faint of heart but rather the enduring fight fans around the country as boxing and MMA go head-to-head with some of the very best their sport has to offer. Two big fights, one night, who will emerge victorious?

The UFC presents its 103rd PPV broadcast with "Franklin vs. Belfort", a catchweight bout at 195 lbs which is now being challenged by Floyd Mayweather who decided to take on the UFC and Juan Marquez on the same night. A dubious task that only the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in boxing would try to shoulder.

Regardless of what ensues, it will be an interesting night but I am here to break down the 103 card so let's get into it.

It seems that with every hole in its pay-per-view scheduling, the UFC turns to middleweight, no light heavyweight, no catchweight, no seriously light heavyweight, ok so maybe a catchweight fighter Rich "Ace" Franklin to fill the void. Since succumbing to a second brutal defeat at the hands of middleweight king Anderson Silva, Franklin has bounced around in weight fighting everywhere from 185 lbs to 205 lbs and in between (195 lbs).

He fought and lost to Dan Henderson in January at 205 lbs, then filled a void for the UFC in June on its Cologne, Germany excursion facing middleweight Wanderlei Silva at a 195 lb catchweight (won decision) which made little sense for either fighter.

So when the UFC faced yet another main event hole for its mid-September card to take place in Dallas, Texas who else did they turn to but Franklin? Originally the plan was for Franklin to do battle with Henderson for a second time at 205 but as this fight made little sense the first time, it made far less for a second time in less than a year to the vast majority of fans so the UFC signed Vitor Belfort when Affliction folded up shop and immediately made the swap.

Although intriguing as a pure fight goes, the Franklin/Belfort main event fight at 195 lbs does little to inspire interest in divisional ramifications. When the fight is over, win or lose both fighters are going their separate ways -- Franklin back to light heavyweight's weight class of 205 lbs (barring a sudden miracle creation of a 195 lb weight class by the UFC) and Belfort to middleweight's 185 lbs.

Both fighters are no doubt talented and top contenders, but fighting outside of their weight classes doesn't really say much about where they are in their division so ramifications of a win or loss are hard to judge.

At the end of the day though, fans want to see great fights and this could certainly be one. However, for a fighter it can be rather difficult to continually wage battles that do little to further one's career except in the bank account. Perhaps Franklin at his age has decided it's best for him to fight the big money fights than to chase a belt that he most likely is unable to attain?

The 103 fight card has mostly flown under the radar, but it is much more solid in this writer's opinion than that of the two previous (102 and 101).

A heavyweight tilt between Junior Dos Santos (8-1), 25, and Mirko "Cro Cop" (25-6-2), 35, is getting second billing but two welterweight showdowns between Martin Kampmann (15-2) Paul "Semtex" Daley (21-8-2) and Josh Koscheck (14-4) versus Frank Trigg (19-6) look appetizing as well. Then there is a very interesting lightweight match between Hermes Franca (20-7) and Tyson Griffin (13-2).

The event will also mark the first time the UFC will air a portion of its preliminary pay-per-view fights on free television courtesy of Spike TV. Two fights are guaranteed to air in the 6 - 7 pm time slot: Drew McFedries vs. Tomasz Drwal (185 lbs) and Efrain Escudero vs. Cole Miller (155 lbs).

Picks: I like Koscheck's youth and wrestling prowess to help him prevail over Trigg in an unanimous decision; Franca's power to be too much for Griffin's solid but non-lethal attack to endure (3rd rd TKO); Kampmann to prove to be too experienced for the replacement Daley (2nd rd submission); Dos Santos to prove to be the real deal in brutal KO fashion over an over-the-hill "Cro Cop" who will be sent packing by Monday; and Vitor Belfort to stun many a Rich Franklin fan by storming the former middleweight champ with a barrage of punches, knees and elbows in the 3rd and final round to score a TKO stoppage.

The dilemma that is Roger Huerta

UFC lightweight fighter Roger Huerta makes his return to the Octagon on Wednesday night as he takes on Gray Maynard at UFC Fight Night 19.

Huerta, 26, was last seen dropping a decision to Kenny Florian at UFC 87: Seek and Destroy last August. Since then Huerta (22-2-1) has reportedly been working on an acting career while healing a beat-up, worn down body. He also recently turned down a five fight contract extension in January from the UFC.

On Wednesday, September 16th, Huerta makes his return to fulfill the last fight on his UFC contract but the question that man analysts and fans alike have on their minds is where is his head at entering a such a big fight?

It would be easy to believe -- if not understand -- that Huerta wouldn't be devoting too much of his time and energy to a final fight, essentially a "lameduck" fight if you will. Without any guarantee that he will return to the UFC, let alone if he even wants to continue his fighting career, there's essentially no reason for him to want to do well except personal pride. A win doesn't position him better for a title shot nor will it put him in better standing to get an improved contract from Dana White and the UFC brass.

So unless Huerta has thoughts about continuing a fighting career that was once so promising, could we possibly be watching a fight on Wednesday that is, for all tense and purposes, already over?

If so, Huerta isn't acting like it. From Sherdog:

“I had an amazing camp. I isolated myself from the world from TV, Internet, you name it. I’m back up to Minnesota training with my mentor Dave Menne. He just brought in phenomenal athletes to help me prepare for a great opponent like Gray because Gray has phenomenal wrestling, but not only that, he has evolved so well in the sport. His striking looked great against Jim Miller. Obviously his wrestling is spectacular. Gray deserves that attention. He deserves all of my attention and that’s all I set my mind on, is Gray Maynard, putting myself in situations mentally where I know how to scramble out, how to get in top position, or if he throws a right cross or a jab and how to counter. How to move. How to cut angles. The guys have put me in all different situations where we pretty much prepared in every way for Gray. To be a person like myself who leaves everything out in the Octagon, the time off was good. I was able to heal some old injuries so I’m able to perform the way I’ve always performed, which is leaving everything in there. With that said, I don’t think I’ll have any cage rust or ring rust.”

So if we are to believe Huerta, that he has been training hard and focusing all of his energy on beating a very tough lightweight fighter in Maynard (7-0), then we should be in for a treat tomorrow night on Spike.

Here's what I think is the deal in this unique situation. I think Huerta is a true professional and sees this final fight as an opportunity to prove his worth not only to himself and all of his camp that devotes so much of their time to helping him, but as well as to his fans and the UFC.

I also think Huerta is a true competitor who wants to beat Maynard just because he whole-heartedly believes he can. I think he wants to give it 110% in that cage because every fighter this side of Kalib Starnes doesn't know how to give anything less. And finally, I also think that deep down Huerta knows he's a fighter and will in a few short years be right back to the profession that gave him the opportunity to branch out in his career.

Tomorrow night, turn on Spike to watch Roger Huerta in his farewell fight, that is until he returns from his hiatus.

Dan Henderson on future, UFC deal

From MMAFanhouse:

“I’m holding firm for what I think I deserve. I think I’ve earned that…. If they sign me I’ll fight who they want me to fight. Even if I get Silva now, after I beat him Marquardt would be the top contender, so I’d have to fight him next. Beat him now or beat him later, it doesn’t matter. I’ll have to fight [Nate] Marquardt eventually…. If I was the UFC I wouldn’t waste a fight between [me and Marquardt]. If they want challengers for the middleweight belt they shouldn’t want one of us to beat the other…. It all depends on Anderson Silva,” Henderson said. “If he’s not going to fight until April, I don’t want to wait that long. But I’ll do what I have to do to fight him…. I’m getting in shape like I’m going to fight,” Henderson said. “I want to stay in the UFC.

Former and now current UFC middleweight No. 1 contender, Dan Henderson, addresses the issues currently facing him including contract status and possible fight against Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva.

It has been rumored recently that the highly debated No. 1 contender fight between Henderson and fellow middleweight contender Nate Marquardt would take place, perhaps as soon as at UFC 105 in mid November as the main event on that card.

Well, just as Henderson comments here, that fight makes little to no sense even if Silva does indeed need some time off to heal an elbow injury. Despite previous reports circulating the web recently, Silva's manager has denied his fighter having elbow surgery to ESPN's MMA blogger Jake Rossen.

To me, this whole Middleweight situation is attempting to be dictated by Ed Soares, Silva's manager. He believes that Silva shouldn't be required ultimately to defend his title against both Henderson and Marquardt when he has already beat both in the past.

What Soares and Silva need to understand is both have improved since the last time they contended for the title, Marquardt in particular. Whereas Henderson has always been right at the top of the heap in the 185 pack as a former champion (in Pride), Marquardt has continually impressed with each successive fight by simply getting better.

Whereas Henderson is banking on the experience of fighting Silva already to pull off the upset, Marquardt can point to being markedly improved since their fight in July 2007.

It doesn't make sense to risk both contenders in an "eliminator" match when you can have both fight for the belt in a division that has historically been starving for contenders. Let's face it, an "eliminator" bout is thusly named for a reason -- it eliminates one contender if not both. The fighters could get injured, they could look bad, etc. It does nothing to promote the division, to promote the belt.

Henderson isn't going anywhere. He will remain in the UFC because that is the only place for him, period. Props to him, though, for holding out for the fight that makes sense and money he deserves.

"A-Team" filming to scratch "Rampage" Jackson from UFC 107 card

It appears scheduling conflicts will postpone the heated grudge match between light heavyweights Quinton "Rampage" Jackson (30-7) and Rashad Evans (18-1-1) at UFC 107 on December 12th.

Jackson, 31, recently landed the role as B.A. Baracus in the upcoming "A-Team" remake and will soon begin shooting according to the Vancouver Sun. The six-week film shooting schedule will apparently hamper Jackson's ability to put in a solid camp in time for the December 12th, UFC 107 date with Evans which was set to take place in his hometown of Memphis, Tennessee.

The former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion will oppose Evans , 29, as coaches on The Ultimate Fighter season 10 set to air on Spike beginning on September 16th. The two will be coaching two teams of eight prospective heavyweight fighters for the UFC which includes Kimbo Slice and three former NFL players.

It has been a rough year filled with scheduling conflicts for Jackson. Ever since exacting revenge upon his nemesis Wanderlei Silva at UFC 92 back in December, "Rampage" has seen his title shot get put off because Evans wasn't ready and then put off again because Evans couldn't beat Lyoto Machida.

It will also mark the second time this year, "Rampage" has now chosen to put off fighting for the big screen. Instead of taking on a guaranteed title fight with new Light Heavyweight Champion Machida, Jackson opted to coach alongside the former champion Rashad Evans on TUF season 10. Now despite begging for an opportunity to fight in his hometown, he will pass in favor of more training camp time.

With a six week film schedule, "Rampage" should be free to return to training at his Wolf's Lair camp in England by mid-October. This would give him roughly an eight week camp to train, seven at the worst, for the fight with Evans. I guess that's just not good enough for the Memphis native.

The postponement shouldn't go longer than a few weeks, with the fight taking place sometime in early January 2010 in Las Vegas on the UFC's annual Christmas/New Year's show.

Let's hope 2010 brings more of Jackson in the Octagon and less behind the camera.

"Minotauro" Noguiera would like re-match Frank Mir at UFC 107

Move over Cheick Kongo says, Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Noguiera after taking a unanimous decision win against Randy Couture last weekend at UFC 102. Now "Minotauro" would like to re-match Frank Mir at UFC 107 (where Mir is set to face Kongo) to redeem himself after being knocked out for the first and only time in his illustrious career at UFC 92 last December.

"Minotauro" Noguiera:

"If I was making excuses, I would have been making excuses right after the fight. I’m not making excuses, I’m giving you a reason…. If Mir feels it’s an excuse, then lets get in the Octagon and see whether it’s an excuse or a reason in December and settle it. I’d love to fight Frank Mir at UFC 107."

I'm sure you would love to face Mir at UFC 107 there Big Nog. Sadly Mir is set to face Kongo and has no reason to face you again at this time. Mir has already beaten Noguiera, why would he want to face re-match him so soon? It serves no purpose for the former Heavyweight Champ. Now if Noguiera were to earn himself another win and Mir were to lose to Kongo then that fight would make sense but right now it reeks of a desperate man trying to find a shortcut to the title.

Sorry, no takers here.

Paul "Semtex" Daley fills in for injured Mike Swick at UFC 103

According to reports first published by The Sun, UFC welterweight newcomer, Paul "Semtex" Daley, 26, will fill in for injured Mike Swick against fellow welterweight contender Martin Kampmann at UFC 103 on September 19th, in Dallas, TX.

Swick, 30, recently suffered a minor concussion in training and apparently will be unable to compete in two weeks against Kampmann, 26. The injury comes as a disappointment to fans and MMA analysts alike who had been anticipating the No. 1 contender showdown in the welterweight division as I'm sure it does to the entire Swick camp.

The winner was set to face Welterweight Champion and renowned No. 2 pound-for-pound fighter in the World, Georges St.-Pierre for the title. With so much on the line, it sure comes as a shock that a mere minor concussion is going to sideline Swick.

It is a disappointment, no doubt, but the show must go on as they say. Kampmann (15-2) will now face Daley and there is currently no word yet on whether a win for Daley will mean a title shot as well.

Rising British star, Daley will be making his UFC debut at 103. He previously fought in EliteXC before coming over to the UFC after the promotion folded. He had been scheduled to fight Brian Foster and there is no word yet on Foster's future opponent for the event.

Swick confirmed the news of his injury on his Twitter account. "I got foot swept while sparring this week and lost my legs.

"I landed on back of my head and neck and suffered a pretty bad concussion. I am out of UFC 103. It sucks and I am sorry guys..."

This news is terrible for Swick. He had a real legitimate shot at beating Kampmann and thus propel himself into a title fight with the dominant GSP and into the limelight. Now he's injured and forced to watch another fighter given the opportunity that he had from the sidelines. A Daley/Kampmann showdown looks a lot like the Kampmann/McFedries bout that took place in way back at UFC 68. Despite the amount of time between the fights, McFedries and Daley present a very similar skill set as well as challenges for the "Hit Man". Will Kampmann still be granted a title shot with a win over Daley? Or will Daley pull off the upset and earn himself a shot at GSP? Will GSP be sitting for longer than the UFC wants? We shall find out soon.

BJ Penn vs. Diego Sanchez scheduled for UFC 107

UFC Lightweight Champion BJ Penn's third title defense has been confirmed to be against Diego Sanchez and is scheduled for UFC 107 on Saturday, December 12th live from Memphis, TN according to Penn's website.

The bout had been rumored for some time, ever since Penn vanquished top lightweight contender Kenny Florian at UFC 101: Declaration at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia. Sanchez seemed to be the next in line and all that had to be done was to find a time and a place that worked for both parties. Apparently December 12th was that date.

Sanchez is fresh off two impressive wins in his first two fights since making the cut to 155 pounds from the welterweight division of 170 pounds. The first coming against Joe Stevenson, outpointing the former title challenger in January, and then "Nightmare" followed it up with another impressive unanimous decision win over Clay Guida in June.

"Nightmare" will be looking to do what no other fighter at 155 has done -- defeat BJ Penn. Penn looks to be re-dedicated in the sport and at his weight class since moving a portion of his training camp to California in the build-up for his fight against Florian. He has said he wants to cement his legacy in the sport, be the best lightweight and seems to be completely driven to do just that.

Will Penn (12-5-1) be able to slow down Sanchez (23-2) and continue his dominance at 155 or will Sanchez be able to do the unthinkable and dethrone Penn? We'll find out at UFC 107.

Also rumored to be on the 107 card is a Light Heavyweight No. 1 contender war between The Ultimate Fighter season 10 coaches Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Rashad Evans as well as a heavyweight tilt between Frank Mir and Cheick Kongo.

UFC should ignore thoughts of middleweight No. 1 contender eliminator match

Every now and then in life things will break easy, making one's decision a whole lot simpler. Do I date the beautiful girl with no personality or the beautiful girl with the personality? Gee, let me think.. Or how about joining the gym that charges $30 a month with every amenity you need plus modern equipment or the gym that charges $40 a month that's really just a weight room with no pool, sauna, aerobics, etc. and run down? Another no brainer.

Every now and then.

But sadly, every now and then happens perhaps every 100 decisions you're faced with which is why you should never make decisions harder than they have to be.

Which brings me to the current middleweight No. 1 contender dilemma facing Joe Silva, Dana White and the UFC. They have a very positive situation: two very good fighters in line for a shot at perhaps the best fighter to walk the face of this planet.

They can do one of two things: 1) have Anderson Silva face Dan Henderson in October or November and then have the winner fight Nate Marquardt or 2) have Henderson and Marquardt fight each other in November or December with the winner facing Silva sometime in early 2010 while Silva waits idly.

Let's take a closer look at these scenarios.

If the UFC does scenario uno, Silva will fight as soon as possible, perhaps even in October at UFC 104 which needs a solid No. 2 fight now that the Shane Carwin and Cain Velasquez fight has been disbanded and the two title fights would certainly give it that. Also, the UFC allows each contender -- both Henderson and Marquardt -- the opportunity to fight for the belt within the next six months.

So the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter keeps busy, both No. 1 middleweight contenders get to fight for the belt and the UFC sells two legit middleweight title fights in the span of six months if not less.

I think it's clear that this scenario pretty good for all parties involved -- the fighters, the fans and the promotion as a whole.

Now let's analyze scenario dos. Here the UFC puts on a No. 1 contender fight for Silva's belt sometime at the end of the year. With Marquardt just removed from a quick dismantling of Damien Maia on Saturday at UFC 102, his most likely return date would be sometime in December, hypothetically.

The UFC would probably be able to market the Henderson/Marquardt showdown alongside a main event like Quinton "Rampage" Jackson vs. Rashad Evans at UFC 107 and call it "The No. 1 contender special" or something similarly catchy.

In the meantime, Silva gets to work on his tan down in Brazil. As nice as that vacation would be, I don't think Silva really needs it nor would want it over a chance to get to do what he does best -- fight.

If all things went according to plan in this scenario, a winner would emerge triumphantly and unscathed by injuries ready for a title shot against the pound-for-pound king sometime around March of 2010. If, however, there is any sort of hiccup as there is known to be on occasion in MMA, this neat and tidy option could see a title fight pushed even farther back or both contenders fall depressingly on their faces due to poor performances.

This scenario could still be good for one fighter (the one who wins the eliminator match), some fans (the ones who believe their favorite fighter -- either Marquardt or Henderson -- will still get a title shot) and ok for the promotion since they are selling a nice No. 1 contender match as a co-main event.

Clearly, not the same win-win as scenario one is though.

Sometimes it's nice to make things neat and clean. But it's also nice to walk away when you're ahead instead of losing your bankroll by continuing to play.

Memo to Dana White and Joe Silva: Don't mess with something good. Two title fights are better than one.

Frank Mir dishes on UFC 102, loss to Lesnar at 100, Anderson Silva and Fedor

Arguably the most intelligent, well-spoken fighter in the sport, Frank Mir talks with Raw Vegas about his loss to Brock Lesnar at UFC 100, fighting Anderson Silva and why Fedor should just quit.

Watch Frank Mir Says Fedor Should Retire, Go Home And Disappear on RawVegas.tv

Mir is scheduled to fight fellow top heavyweight contender Cheick Kongo at UFC 107 in December.

UFC eyes Vancouver, B.C., Canada for June, 2010 event

The big news coming out of the UFC camp in the build-up to UFC 102: Couture vs. Noguiera was that the UFC is eyeing a third trip to Canada in June of 2010 with the likely destination being Vancouver, B.C.

A trip to Vancouver, B.C. would be huge for both the city and the UFC. Being from there and having traveled to the city numerous times, I can personally attest to the passion for MMA that the people have up there. Plus, with the olympics set to hit the city in February of 2010, there probably is no city that is going to be more ready for a big time event, not to mention how much publicity it will give the UFC for doing a show just four months after the world's best winter sport athletes perform in the same building.

It will also be the UFC's second trip to the Pacific Northwest after this weekend's venture into Portland, Oregon. From all looks of it, the venture into Portland was a very successful one. The event was attended by 16,000 plus, drew a $1.92 million gate and had some very exciting fights.

The biggest obstacle right now for the UFC is the fact that the province of British Columbia doesn't currently sanction MMA. The UFC hopes that that will change within four months, giving the promotion plenty of time to plan a summer 2010 event for the second biggest city in Canada.

What makes the sport hard to ignore for the city and the province as a whole is the revenue that it will bring to a city that desperately needs some after all the expenditures dished out in preparation of it hosting the olympics. This event accompanied by a possible UFC fan expo will do just that for the city.

The target venue according to UFC president Dana White is GM place, home to the Vancouver Canucks and a 19,000 plus seat arena.

Post event analysis of UFC 102

The UFC brass can't be much more proud of how their first foray into the Pacific Northwest fared Saturday night as they displayed UFC 102: Couture vs. Noguiera in Portland, Oregon live from the Rose Garden.

Over 16,000 fans filled the arena, producing a gate over $1.9 million while almost every one of the 11 fights proved to be exciting. None more than the main event between the two heavyweight legends.

Randy "The Natural" Couture (16-10) entered the fight against Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Noguiera (34-5-1) as a heavy favorite but it was Noguiera's superior boxing and ground game that was the difference in the fight as Noguiera went on to scrape the unanimous decision.

It was a battle in every round with the two Hall-of-Famers going toe-to-toe while unleashing the best of their striking arsenal upon their foe's face. The heavily Couture-sided crowd rose to its feet everytime Couture landed some big strikes that had Noguiera retreating or whenever he reversed the Brazilian's efforts on the ground.

An epic battle from start to finish that will certainly find a spot in the UFC's "top 100 fights".

Noguiera's win should propel him into the discussion for No. 1 contender of Brock Lesnar's heavyweight belt where about four or five other fighters consistently reside. The 34-year-old Brazilian says he's in top form, if he can keep it up a win over a guy like Cain Velasquez or Gabriel Gonzaga down the line could further propel him.

On the other side of the coin is Couture, who announced on Sunday that he has signed a six fight, 28 month contract extension with the UFC. What's amazing is the fact that at 46 years of age, Couture believes he is in the best shape of his career. So the Hall-of-Famer will go on fighting for another 28 months which will carry him well past his 48th birthday.

God bless "The Natural". What lies ahead? We'll see in the near future but rest assured, Couture will be fighting only the best.

Outside of the main event, there were a number of important developments from undercard fights. First off was Nate Marquardt dispatching fellow middleweight contender and previously undefeated Damien Maia (11-1) in 22 seconds with a highlight reel knockout.

Marquardt joins Dan Henderson as No. 1 contenders for Anderson Silva's middleweight belt. Both have previously fought -- and lost -- to Silva before and both, however, have improved especially Marquardt. Who the UFC chooses still looks to favor Henderson but remains in the air.

The other action was just as compelling and noteworthy.

Thiago Silva stunned Keith Jardine with a vicious right hand and some quick ground-and-pound for a TKO victory in under two minutes of their fight. Silva bounced back nicely with the win after the KO loss to Lyoto Machida, inserting himself right back into the picture while Jardine continues his trademark one step forward and one step backward march through the elite of the division. It leaves Jardine in a precarious position. He's a top 7 or 8 guy in the division but firmly set there -- no better and no worse.

Jake Rosholt took "submission of the night" honors and a $60,000 bonus for his choke out of Chris Leben. Gabriel Gonzaga finished Chris Tuchscherer impressively in one round with strikes and another heavyweight, Todd Duffee, continued bolster the division's depth by scoring a very impressive, seven second KO which set the UFC record.

The other nightly honors:

Fight of the night: Couture vs. Noguiera
Knockout of the night: Nate Marquardt

UFC 102: Couture vs. Noguiera interest lies beyond main event

At first glance the UFC 102: Couture vs. Noguiera card looks rather unspectacular, disappointing is a word I would use. In the main event, we have two fighters in the twilight of their careers looking to prove that they still have it against a similar past-his-prime fighter.

Randy Couture (16-9) will take on the legend Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera (31-5-1) in the consolation bracket of the heavyweight tournament that began almost a year ago at UFC 91 with Couture facing Brock Lesnar. As far as implications to the division, this fight is about as interesting as watching a tournament on the Nationwide Tour.

Other than seeing a tactical fight between a great wrestler and the ultimate gameplanner in Couture against the world class jiu-jitsu of Noguiera, the main event offers little in the way of excitement.

But if you look further, beyond the main event you see four fights that are much more intriguing. The first of which is what appears to be a No. 1 contender match-up in the middleweight division between Nate Marquadt (31-8-2) and Demian Maia (11-0).

Both fighters are on impressive winning streaks. Obviously Maia has never lost, winning against former WEC middleweight champ Chael Sonnen and contenders Nate Quarry and Jason MacDonald most recently. Meanwhile, since losing a split decision to Thales Leites at UFC 85, Marquadt has gone on to impressive wins over Martin Kampmann and Wilson Gouveia via TKO stoppages.

This fight has exciting written all over it.

Then there is the light heavyweight clash between top 10 contenders Keith Jardine (14-6-1) and Thiago Silva (13-1). Both fighters are coming off of tough losses that knocked them back out of the title discussion -- to "Rampage" Jackson and Lyoto Machida respectively.

The fighter who can bounce back on Saturday night will find himself right back in the mix while the other will have some searching to do after two straight losses to guys now ahead of him.

Two other fights also have my interest piqued. Another light heavyweight clash between two guys that are right on the edge of the top 10: Brandon "The Truth" Vera (10-3) and Krzysztof "The Polish Experiment" Soszynski (19-9-1). Soszynski has been extremely impressive since breaking into the UFC after The Ultimate Fighter season seven while Vera has been inconsistent since making the drop to 205 lbs.

The last fight I've got on my radar is a clash between former heavyweight title contender Gabriel Gonzaga (10-4) coming off a loss against Shane Carwin, and UFC newcomer Chris Tuchscherer (17-1). Gonzaga has been said to be in the best shape of his life, with a new determination in the sport since the knockout loss to Carwin.

In a division that has suddenly found some much needed strength at the top and depth in the middle, Gonzaga will need a big win to get himself back into the fray with the heavyweights. It is perhaps this fight, rather than the losers battle between a couple of past-their-primers in the main event, that could have greater implications to the future of the heavyweight division in the UFC.

UFC to broadcast pay-per-view prelim fights on Spike

*UPDATE* Spike TV confirmed Friday that it will indeed televise the undercard fights for UFC 103: Franklin vs. Belfort on September 19th. However, contrary to the report published by the OC Register, Spike will air just one hour of uninterrupted coverage of the undercard with two fights guaranteed.

Those fights are Efrain Escudero versus Cole Miller which will be a match-up of previous winners of 'The Ultimate Fighter' and a middleweight slugfest featuring Tomasz Drwal and Drew McFedries.

Currently, the UFC 103 card is scheduled to feature eight undercard bouts. Spike TV's hour of coverage immediately prior to the 10pm EST/7 PST PPV broadcast will probably be enough to show between four and five fights depending on their length.
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In a move that could be a breakthrough for the sport of mixed-martial arts, the UFC apparently will begin broadcasting the undercard fights of its pay-per-view events with UFC 103 on September 19th on Spike TV according to the Orange County Register.

As things are now, the unaired prelims or "dark bouts" as they are sometimes referred to as, only reach the air of a PPV when there is extra time in a PPV broadcast created by early fight stoppages. These days, the UFC generally puts on six or seven fights on the undercard and rarely do more than one or two of them reach the air.

This could be huge news not only for all fighters on the UFC roster, but for the sport in general as it will give added exposure to the sport's best. If this is indeed the case, showing the undercard fights with no commercial interruption on Spike as essentially the lead-in to the PPV broadcast, all parties included will benefit. We are talking the fans, the sport, the fighters and certainly the UFC and Spike.

We are still waiting to get official comment from the UFC, however, make no mistake that when we get that word, I will bring you the latest and greatest from the organization.

Carwin to face Lesnar at UFC 106 main event

According to multiple sources Shane Carwin has been tabbed to face Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar at UFC 106 on November 21st.

This news comes as a bit of a surprise considering Carwin was set to face fellow top heavyweight contender Cain Velasquez at UFC 104 in October, but it also comes as music to the ears to many MMA fans around the world. Now instead of a No. 1 contender match that would have eliminated one if not both fighters (injury or poor performance), fans will get to see the heavyweight title defended sooner rather than later and perhaps against both fighters within the next six months.

The reason for this seems to be a quick recovery by Lesnar who had minor surgery after defeating Frank Mir at July's UFC 100 in his first title defense. With the quick recovery, the UFC was in a pickle to get Lesnar a suitable title contender with virtually every top heavyweight fighter already scheduled to fight.

Lesnar vs. Carwin is a matchup that has been anticipated since Carwin defeated Gabriel Gonzaga in March. The two fighters are eerily similar with their wrestling pedigree and overwhelming size. In the entirety of the UFC's heavyweight division, Lesnar and Carwin are the only two fighters who cut down to make the heavyweight limit of 265. For that very reason, many MMA pundits feel Carwin is the best bet to beat the unstoppable force that is Lesnar.

Now on November 21st MMA fans and analysts alike will find out if he can.