MMA Notebook: New UFC matches announced; fighters changing camps; and much more!

Lots of news to cover this morning and little time. I think it makes sense for another edition of the “MMA Notebook”:

* UFCjunkie.com has broken news about a lot of new UFC fights in recent days. It looks like Jeremy Stephens has preserved his job in the UFC and will be taking on Nate Mohr at UFC 76 on September 22 in Anaheim, Calif.

* Junkie is also reporting that Jorge Gurgel is likely to be facing Doug Evans at UFC 77 in Cincinnati this coming October. Many of Gurgel’s schools are based in the Ohio area, so it will be a home game for him of sorts. All those rumors about him fighting Frankie Edgar are obviously false. They didn’t make sense to begin with. Why would you force one of those guys to not be able to fight in front of a home crowd? It’s not like the UFC has a shortage of lightweight fighters to match up with them.

* Tito Ortiz is back from Iraq and recently did an interview with UFCMania.com. Apparently Tito has been successful thus far in bypassing the chain of command in the UFC and is talking directly to Lorenzo Fertitta about business matters:

“I’m dealing with Lorenzo Fertitta now and he’s awesome to deal with, a great businessman, not like that loser they have as President. What a horrible guy. He’s gonna send the company down the drain because sooner or later the fighters are gonna realize they don’t have to be bullied anymore. They should just get rid of Dana.”

The fact that Tito and Dana White won’t be going to war against each other during contract renegotiations greatly improves the chances of Ortiz re-signing with the UFC. The fact that the UFC is willing to accommodate him in this matter shows they want him back… or, at least not fighting for the competition.

* MMAWeekly.com has confirmed that Fabricio Werdum has officially joined the Chute Boxe camp in Curitiba, Brazil.

* In an interview with MMAWeekly.com, Greg Jackson has confirmed that Diego Sanchez has left his camp and is moving to California. According to the interview, Sanchez is moving further West to reconnect with his son. Sanchez will be working with Rob Garcia in California as he preps for his next fight at UFC 76 against Jon Fitch.

* The archive of my debate with Jordan Breen on his show yesterday is now available on Sherdog.com. The topic was the “Ten Biggest Underachievers in MMA” article that appeared on CBS Sportsline a few weeks back. Some people thought Jordan won and some people thought I won. Listen for yourself and decide.

* If you want to hear more of me on the radio, check out the debut edition of Inside the Cage Radio. Co-host Matt Cava and I interview IFL co-founded and commissioner Kurt Otto and BodogFIGHT analyst Paul Lazenby. Matt and I also discuss the best MMA-related TV show; Sherk and Franca; Liddell vs. Jardine and whether it’s a legit matchup; and much more! We’re cutting our second show tomorrow and Kurt Pellegrino is slated to join us. We’ll be talking about a number of things with him, including his upcoming match in a few weeks at UFC 74 against Joe Stevenson.

Penn’s camp denies reports he’ll fight Sanchez in August

Josh Gross of Sherdog.com has filed a second report that contradicts a story he initially reported earlier in the week. The original report, which had listed Gross on the byline but now lists the Sherdog.com staff, claimed that an anonymous source had informed the site that B.J. Penn and Diego Sanchez had agreed to fight on the undercard of UFC 74 on August 25 in Las Vegas.

Gross is now reporting that Penn’s camp has informed Sherdog.com that Penn will not be facing Sanchez in August. However, they did not rule out the possibility of the matchup taking place at a later date.

You can read the full article by clicking here.

Report: Sanchez vs. Penn at UFC 74

According to Sherdog.com, B.J. Penn and Diego Sanchez have both agreed to fight each other on the undercard of UFC 74 on August 25 in Las Vegas, Nevada. A UFC heavyweight title match between Randy Couture and Gabriel Gonzaga will serve as the card’s main event.

The report is surprising because UFC president Dana White said recently that Penn was in the mix for a UFC lightweight title shot following his dominating win over Jens Pulver during the live season finale of The Ultimate Fighter 5. However, fighting Sanchez at 170 lbs. doesn’t mean he can’t drop back down again before the end of the year and fight the winner of this weekend’s UFC lightweight title bout between Sean Sherk and Hermes Franca.

A TV station in Albuquerque, NM had claimed in the past that Sanchez would be fighting Hayato Sakurai from Pride but it’s looking like that won’t be the case at this point.

I’m looking forward to this match between Sanchez and Penn. I think Penn will win the bout but I expect Sanchez to come back strong following a disappointing loss to Josh Koscheck several months back. Sanchez didn’t look like himself and it was later reported that he was sick. Sometimes injury excuses are bogus but in the case of Sanchez, I think it was legit because it was other people who revealed the information. He’ll be motivated for Penn and I expect a war.

A second consecutive loss for Sanchez would hurt him but he’s a favorite of the UFC so it won’t kill his career. Kudos to Sanchez and the UFC for putting together this match instead of trying to toss him a layup.

Read the report here.

Trigg: Sakurai vs. Sanchez may not happen

I didn’t hear it firsthand, but there are multiple accounts claiming that Frank Trigg said on TAGG Radio yesterday that he’s spoken with people for Hayato Sakurai who claim that Sakurai has not been contacted by Zuffa to fight for either the UFC or Pride. According to Trigg, he’s been told that no one has talked to Sakurai about a fight against Diego Sanchez.

Rumored: Sanchez vs. Sakurai

A local station in Diego Sanchez’s hometown reported earlier this week that according to his camp, his next fight will be at UFC 74 on August 25 in Las Vegas against Hayato “Mach” Sakurai.

I didn’t post the rumor immediately because I wasn’t sure how credible it was. However, MMAWeekly.com now lists Sanchez vs. Sakurai on the UFC 74 fight card in their “rumors” section. While not official, MMAWeekly.com’s decision to add the match is a step up from just a message forum post.

Sakurai has fought in Pride for the past several years and is ranked as MMAWeekly.com’s number two lightweight in the World. He fought at 161 pounds for Pride so it appears for now, if the rumors are true, that he’ll be moving up to 170 as opposed to cutting to 155.

If Sakurai fights at UFC 74, it will actually be the second time he’s fought in the UFC. He last fought for the UFC in 2002, losing at Matt Hughes at UFC 36 in the “Worlds Collide” PPV.

Sakurai holds wins over Frank Trigg, Joachim Hansen, and Jens Pulver.