UFCMania.com reported the other day that a potential match at UFC 78 between Andrei Arlovski and Brandon Vera had been discussed.
Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer is reporting that according to the UFC, there’s nothing to those rumors.
You can read the UFCMania.com report by clicking here and you can access the Wrestling Observer report here.
The Brazilian site Tatame (trivia question: first person to e-mail me with the correct answer for what a tatame is wins a case of nothing but will get some props) recently interviewed former Pride middleweight (205 lbs.) champion Wanderlei Silva.
Silva confirmed his move to the U.S. and also stated that he’ll be fighting for the UFC by December. He indicated that he does not yet know who his opponent is.
You can read the article by clicking here.
The Bodog Fight promotion will be holding their next series of tapings for their show on ION television in the U.S. and The Fight Network in Canada on August 24 and 25 in Vancouver, B.C.
FiveOuncesOfPain.com has obtained a bout sheet for the tapings and Bodog Fight welterweight champion Nick Thompson is scheduled to fight in a non-title bout. Former IFL fighter Chris Wilson and former UFC fighter Assuerio Silva are both scheduled to debut for the promotion.
Here is the complete bout sheet as of July 31:
145 lbs & under
1. Sami Aziz (Sweden) vs. Hiroyuki Abe (Japan)
2. JR Sims (USA) vs. DJ Taiki (Japan)
155 lbs & under
3. Rodrigo Damm (Brazil) vs. Darren Elkins (USA)
4. Per Eklund (Sweden) vs. Rafael Dias (USA)
5. Ryan Bow (Japan) vs. Santino Defranco (USA)
6. Chris Ade (Canada) vs. Koji Oishi (Japan)
170 lbs & under
7. Nick Thompson (USA) vs. Mark Weir (UK)
8. Piotr Jakaczynski (Sweden) vs. Dan Hornbuckle (USA)
9. Chris Wilson (USA) vs. Ray Steinbeiss (USA)
10. Diego Gonzales (Sweden) vs. Steve Berger (USA)
185 lbs & under
11. Tim McKenzie (USA) vs. Yuichi Nakanishi (Japan)
12. Kyacey Uscola (USA) vs. TBA
13. Steve Byrnes (USA) vs. Alexander Shlemenko (Russia)
205 lbs & under
14. Antony Rea (France) vs. Steve Steinbeiss (USA)
15. Mikhael Zyats (Russia) vs. Buddy Roberts (USA)
Heavyweight
16. Assuerio Silva (Brazil) vs. Constantin Gluhov (Russia)
17. Andrew Pederson (Canada) vs. Scott Lincoln (USA)
18. Dan Evensen (USA) vs. Dominic Richards (Canada)
19. Kristof Midoux (France) vs. Brad Morris (Australia)
Women’s 125 lbs.
20. Megumi Fujii (Japan) vs. Lisa Ward (USA)
21. Carina Damm (Brazil) vs. Jessica Aguillar (USA)
22. Rosi Sexton (UK) vs. Julia Berezekova (Russia)
Women’s 135 lbs.
23. Kelly Kobold (USA) vs. Julie Kedzie (USA)
24. Tama Chan (Japan) vs. Molly Helsel (USA)
A source close to EliteXC informed me today that plans are in the works to make a match between K.J. Noons and Nick Diaz for September 15 in Hawaii. There is some internal concern about reports stating Noons may have suffered a hand injury vs. Edson Berto last Friday night and the match likely won’t become official until they know for sure that he’s 100 percent healthy.
In regard to an earlier report about a match in San Francisco between Frank Trigg and Jake Shields in October, it looks like Shannon Ritch may have spoke too soon. Apparently, Shields has signed a bout agreement and Trigg has not, according to MMAWeekly.com.
Additionally, there are reports circulating that the match was offered at a catch weight of 175 lbs. and Trigg is maintaining that he has no desire to fight below 185 lbs.
Spike TV has issued a press release officially announcing that the next Ultimate Fight Night is set to take place Wednesday, September 19 at 9:00 p.m. ET.
The release covers a lot of matchups we’ve already reported on, however, it’s been announced that Nate Quarry will be making his return against Pete Sell and Cole Miller will also be fighting on the preliminary portion of the card, against Leonard Garcia (nice matchup!).
Here’s the official release:
New York, NY, July 31, 2007 – For The Ultimate Fighter® alumni Din Thomas (Season 4), Nate Diaz (Season 5 champ) Chris Leben (Season 1) and Mike Swick (Season 1), the Ultimate® Fight Night™ on Spike TV Wednesday, September 19 at 9:00pm ET/PT will provide a golden opportunity to showcase their talents in front of a nationally televised audience. Each fighter is facing a tough test with the winners moving up the UFC® ranks and another step closer to a title shot. The two-hour live fight card will take place live from The Pearl at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, NV.
Din Thomas (23-7) may have gained national recognition on Season 4 of The Ultimate Fighter last year, but the 30 year-old fighter was already well-known to mixed martial arts fans with a resume including an impressive win over current welterweight champ Matt Serra at UFC 41 in 2003. Now, the American Top Team product out of Port St. Lucie, Fl. looks to ascend the lightweight ranks against Spencer “The King” Fisher (21-3). The 31 year-old Team Miletich fighter from Bettendorf, Iowa earned national acclaim when he won a hard-fought decision over Canadian Sam Stout on Spike TV in June. With three wins in his last four UFC fights, “The King” is inching closer for a shot at the UFC lightweight throne.
A bold personality from Season 1 of The Ultimate Fighter, Chris “The Crippler” Leben (16-4), was a rising star in the UFC with five straight victories until his career was sidetracked by a devastating stoppage at the hands of current middleweight king, Anderson Silva, last June. Leben, fighting out of Gresham, Ore., has lost two of his last three bouts, and is desperate for a win against Chicago’s Terry Martin (18-2). The 26-year-old Martin, working toward a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology, is on a two-fight winning streak in the UFC including a first round TKO over Ivan Salaverry at UFC 71 in May.
The Ultimate Fighter 5 champ Nate Diaz (6-2) gets his first big opportunity as a UFC fighter against the tough Atlanta-based Junior Assuncao (6-2). Diaz was awarded a six-figure multi-fight deal with the UFC when he defeated Manny Gamburyan in the second round of their nationally-televised bout in June. Diaz will look to use his impressive array of submission skills against the hard-charging Assuncao.
Mike Swick (10-2) was on the fast track to a UFC title shot with a five-fight winning streak since appearing on The Ultimate Fighter 1 with wins over vets David Loiseau and Joe Riggs. However, the talented 28-year-old fighting out of San Jose, Calif. lost a decision in a three-round war to Yushin Okami at UFC 69 in April. Now he is dropping down to welterweight to fight Canadian Jonathan “The Road Warrior” Goulet (19-8), who trains with UFC star Georges St-Pierre, and is making his fifth appearance on a Spike TV fight card.
The undercard will also feature prominent The Ultimate Fighter alumni as Gray Maynard (Season 5) takes on Joe Veres, Cole Miller (Season 5) battles Leonard Garcia, and Pete “Drago” Sell (Season 4) takes on Nate Quarry (Season 4).
Fighter and promoter Shannon Ritch is claiming through his official account on the Underground forum at MMA.tv that a match between Frank Trigg and Jake Shields has been signed for a card on October 19 to be held in San Francisco, Calif. at the Cow Palace.
Both Trigg and Shields have had a mini-war of words via the Internet. Shields made recent comments during a video interview for ProElite.com and I believe Trigg addressed what Shields said on his show, Tagg Radio.
According to Ritch, the match will be the main event of a card to be shown on PPV.
Ritch is also claiming that Ruben “Warpath” Villareal, Charles “Krazy Horse” Bennett, Jake Hattan, Bryan Pardoe, Zane Frazier, Gabe Rivas, and Leland Chapman (son of Dwayne “The Dog” Chapman) are scheduled for the card.
Trigg vs. Shields is a very interesting matchup of two former college wrestlers. I’m surprised this match is happening for Ritch and not EliteXC. Also, Ritch had been trying via the Underground to get in contact with Kimbo Slice to have him booked for the card. There’s been no update in regard to the status of whether Ritch was able to get in touch with Slice’s people.
I was a guest on Fight Network Radio with Mauro Ranallo today. Mauro and I discussed a number of topics and Mauro revealed that K.J. Noons has been discussed as a possible opponent for Nick Diaz on EliteXC’s next card slated for September 15 in Honolulu.
I want to stress that Mauro didn’t say the match was signed, only that Noons is receiving consideration for the bout. He did mention that the bout would be contested at 160 lbs., if signed.
The potential matchup makes only a little bit of sense to me. Noons is a strong prospect who was finally able to show off his boxing skills to a mainstream MMA audience this past Friday vs. Edson Berto. The performance was impressive, but Noons simply isn’t ready for Diaz. Not by a long shot.
On the other hand, I understand the potential logic. Diaz won’t be fighting for Zuffa so right now he’s contracted only to EliteXC. Coming off what had been a win this past February against Takanori Gomi (the decision was overturned after Diaz tested positive for marijuana), Diaz has a chance to be one of EliteXC’s signature stars. They need to have him start fighting again as soon as he’s eligible.
With the way their roster is aligned now, the only other candidates to face Diaz are Victor Valenzuela, Edson Berto, and Charles “Krazy Horse” Bennett. Berto is coming off a loss and Bennett is rumored to be finally rematching Valenzuela on the 9/15 card. Unless EliteXC brings in a fighter off roster, Noons is really the only choice.
I’ll be a guest on Fight Network Radio with Mauro Ranallo in a short while at 3 p.m. ET. You can listen to the show on Sirius Channel 186 or listen online at HardcoreSportsRadio.com.
Also, I wanted to apologize for the lack of updates today. Right now there really isn’t much going on. It actually worked out well because I resumed training today after a two-month layoff and it wasn’t pretty. I had to make not one, but two trips to the bathroom. To make matters worse, I am starting at a different school (MFS Philly still rocks, but it’s a long commute for me and my schedule keeps changing… the school I go to now is well-regarded as well and is an affiliate school, so everything is all good) so I looked like a total bitch on my first day. I’m sure you all wanted to know that.
Jeremy Stephens and Josh Neer are just two fighters of note to win matches on small shows held in Iowa this weekend.
Stephens, fighting outside of his UFC contract, defeated Nick Walker on Saturday night at Midwest Cage Championships 9 in Urbandale, Iowa.
A day earlier in Iowa, former UFC fighter Josh Neer made his debut at 155 lbs. and was victorious against former UFC and Pride fighter Paul Rodriguez in Des Moines at GreenSparks Fighting Championship 5.
Neer won via TKO at 1:38 in the first round while Stephens also recorded a TKO at 4:45 of round one.
Former UFC heavyweight champion Mark Coleman is interested in a possible second tour of duty in the UFC.
In an interview with MMAWeekly.com, Coleman expresses his desire to continue fighting and to also do so for the UFC:
With an 4-4 record in his past eight bouts, including two losses to Fedor, Coleman hasn’t maintained the influence of the early days of his career, but he hasn’t hung up the gloves yet. In fact, he still has two fights left on his current Pride contract and with the buyout of that organization by Zuffa, it sounds as if Coleman sees a possible return to his old stomping grounds in the near future.
“I’ve always wanted to get back in that cage and I always knew I’d get back in there at least one more time. That’s were I got started. I like the cage and I like the UFC rules better anyways,” said Coleman, obviously in reference to the brutal forearms and elbows he was so famous for. “I can be more effective in the cage than I was in the ring.”
At 42, I just don’t see the UFC having much interest in Coleman. No one can deny his place in MMA history, but look at how the UFC dealt with Ken Shamrock’s request to make another comeback.
I know he still wants to fight, but Coleman would be a great fit as a coach for the IFL if they had interest in adding an Ohio franchise.
There’s also this little nugget of info that I found particularly funny:
Interestingly, Coleman is also the subject of a new movie that is readying for production. Entitled “The Smashing Machine,” the same as the movie about his friend Mark Kerr, it sounds as if Jean-Claude Van Damme could be portraying the former UFC and Pride champion… an “interesting” choice that Coleman even seems to find odd.
What’s next, Steven Seagal as Chuck Liddell?
In order to find out how you can access the entire Coleman interview on MMAWeekly.com, just click here.
